We hear much these days about "the death of expertise," a growing tendency to ignore and cast suspicion upon the counsel of physicians, scientists, economists - trained experts of every sort. Why is this? Is it because we're too dumb to listen to people who know better? Well, maybe! But that's only a partial answer, because the experts may bear their share of the responsibility, too. The halakhah instructs us to heed the counsel of the expert (the baki, the mumcheh) in their area of expertise, but it knows that despite their expertise – or sometimes even because of it - experts run into problems. Maybe the halakhic discussion can shed light on the problems faced by today’s experts.

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We liberal Jews are quite familiar with the b'rakhah known as "Shehechiyanu." It's our all-purpose blessing of thanksgiving. We recite it all the time, over almost every conceivable moment of personal and communal celebration. In fact, though, the tradition knows of (at least) three b'rakhot of thanksgiving, each one to be recited at specific moments over specific things and under specific conditions. This doesn't mean we need to stop saying Shehechiyanu at the drop of a hat - er, kipah - but it's not a bad idea to keep the other b'rakhot in mind.

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In this installment, we look at a t'shuvah (responsum) from 1948 by a leading Orthodox posek on the question of draft exemptions for Torah students. We doubt that his opinion would be popular among today's chareidim. Not surprisingly, we find his reasoning impeccable.

Get the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.