Rabbi Heschel Greenberg has launched a new series of classes on the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah in response to the Rebbe’s call to learn at least one halacha in depth.

The Rebbe initiated a major effort to unite all Jews with the study of the entire encyclopedic work, Mishneh Torah, by learning three chapters a day and completing the entire work in less than a year. Alternatively, one can learn one chapter and complete the entire Mishneh Torah in close to three years. The Rebbe also gave a third option to study Maimonides’ companion work, Sefer Hamitzvos that parallel the Mishneh Torah.

In addition, the Rebbe requested that we learn one halacha in depth.

We recently began the 46nd cycle of Mishneh Torah which inspired Rabbi Greenberg to record brief classes on selected passages of the Mishneh Torah.

Rabbi Heschel Greenberg is a shliach of the Rebbe in Buffalo NY and the Director of the Jewish Discovery Center, and, for over 50 years, has taught thousands of classes on all aspects of Jewish knowledge.

Rabbi Greenberg has also authored dozens of works on diverse subjects including several volumes of commentary on the Mishneh Torah.

Many of Rabbi Greenberg’s classes can be accessed on his website rabbigreenberg.com.

If the guardrail on your roof is there to prevent a fall, why does the Rambam have you make a bracha on building it — when he rules that mitzvos done purely to avoid danger, like mayim acharonim, get no bracha at all? And if it’s about danger, why is a barn, a warehouse, or a small house exempt?

The Rambam rules (Hilchos Rotzeach u’Shmiras HaNefesh 11:1): “Mitzvas asei la’asos adam ma’akeh l’gago” — it is a positive commandment to build a guardrail on one’s roof, as the Torah says, “v’asisa ma’akeh l’gagecha” (Devarim 22:8). Then come the qualifications: only a beis dirah, a dwelling; not a storehouse, not a barn; and any house smaller than four by four amos is exempt.