In a piece for the Forward, Reconstructionist rabbi Michael Strassfeld writes:
So this High Holiday season, as a rabbi, I want to declare that it is forbidden to post comments anonymously on social media. It is unusual for a liberal rabbi to issue a psak din – a legal ruling. In the Orthodox world, the greatest rabbinic scholars are the leading poskim – authoritative deciders of Jewish law. I am not claiming to be such a person. But I am claiming that rabbis have the responsibility and authority to apply Jewish tradition to moral issues of our time, and that this should be done carefully not casually. Yet, framing my opinion as a psak din is a statement about the seriousness of the underlying issue in our society.
Intrigued? Read more at the Forward’s site: Online Trolling Isn’t Just Petty — It’s A Sin Against The Torah
