Halachipedia:General disclaimer
Do Not be Discouraged by the Breadth and Length of Halacha
Notwithstanding the vastness of the Halacha, one must not lose sight of the goal. A person must be familiar with the basic laws that are relevant on a daily basis, e.g., blessings, prayer, and Shabbat. If one is not familiar with the basics in these areas, it is impossible to strive to fulfill the mitzvot in these areas by merely observing others or by guessing. It is highly advisable to find a simple book that outlines the Halacha (or this website) and to set up a schedule of study to enable one to study on a regular basis. (See the introduction to volume 3 of the Mishna Brurah.)
Your Question May Not be the Same as the General Halacha
The purpose of this website is certainly not a substitute for asking questions to your local rabbi. The website is intended to provide the English-speaking Jewish community with summaries of relevant halachot. Clearly, the site does not always provide answers to your specific question, and for that it is important to either learn the halachot properly from the sources or to ask your local rabbi. Often, a single differentiating factor may apply in your case that can change the halacha from permitted to forbidden or vice versa.
We do not decide the Halacha in cases where there is a major dispute in contemporary authorities
There are a plethora of Halachot that have major disputes between the contemporary authorities. It is crucial to note that it is not the place of this site to arbitrate between two major poskim or gedolei hador. Therefore, in the event of dispute it is important to either consult your local rabbi, or to choose one opinion and consistently follow that opinion. It is certainly improper to simply choose to be lenient or stringent in every dispute because of lack of knowledge. Rather, one must appoint for oneself and one's family a rabbi, whether it is a local one or a book that one can consult and adhere without fail. (See Pirkei Avot 1:6 where Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Parcha says one should appoint for oneself a Rabbi).
If a certain halacha only has one opinion in a case where there are a number of other dissenting opinions, that's usually unintentional. We do not intentionally leave out the opinion of legitimate Orthodox halachic opinions and we welcome the addition of all different opinions and minhagim. As the project grows, it is very possible and likely that certain halachot will be one-sided until someone adds the dissenting opinions. If you are aware of another opinion, not displayed on this site, please add it or let us know. Additionally, for simplicity we encourage summarizing the groups of opinions in the top halachic summaries. However, the details and the nuances in each opinion may and should be presented below in the footnotes.
