Chazarah Berurah CM Vol. 3

The learning of Choshen Mishpat is out of reach for most people, even the lomdim. It would be a great achievement to be able to learn just Orech Chaim and the applicable parts of Yore Deah. However, in any case they are halachos that apply to everyday living and have to be learned as well. B”H we were fortunate enough to be granted the Sefer Kitzur Shulchan Aruch, which brings all the halachos that come up day to day and amongst them those of Choshen Mishpat. Its main selling point, its brevity, however, is its greatest liability as well, how can a serious learner be content to have his whole knowledge of these very pertinent halachos rest on such a narrow basis? To bridge this gap, Sefer Chazarah Berurah brings all the halachos of the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch concerning monetary laws, that are found in Choshen Mishpat & Yoreh Deah. Beneath each halacha of the Kitzur, are the seifim from the Shulchan Aruch that are the source of that halacha, with their major commentaries. All sources are based on the maare mekomos of the Metzudas Tzion. Hopefully this will help one learn these halachos more beyiun, and use it as a spring board to reach a deeper knowledge of Hilchos Choshen Mishpat.

The layout is similar to the other seforim Chazarah Berurah on the Mishna Berurah and Yoreh Deah, I will therefore quote the description included with those seforim to give a better idea of the layout and its benefits. "Chazarah can be very difficult in the Shulchan Aruch. One of the issues that can be most vexing is the order, since the order of the chazarah affects how well it will be remembered, and many times the Nosei Keilim will discuss similar cases to the Shulchan Aruch before the current case is complete. Other times a definition or explanation necessary for understanding the Shulchan Aruch is hard to locate in the Nosei Keilim. An additional challenge is, when the Taz and Shach and Pischei Teshuvah all discuss the same issue, they aren’t necessarily all lined up one after the next in an organized fashion, either because one of them is located on a different piece of the Shulchan Aruch, or the point is in middle of a long paragraph, and not easily found. Therefore a system has been developed to arrange the Nosei Keilim in the most logical order, with the goal of making the review of the Shulchan Aruch less complicated. Another benefit: in this sefer the Shulchan Aruch is fashioned into a flowing reading that doesn’t require constant looking in and out of the Shulchan Aruch. In order to enable the reader to know the source of each halacha (ie: Mechaber/Rama/Shach/Taz/ R' Akiva Eiger or Pischei Teshuvah) each source is written in a slightly different font and/or size. There is a key at the bottom of each page, which makes this system clear and easy to follow. All of this combined, creates a powerful tool for reviewing and retaining the Shulchan Aruch with clarity".