Compiled by Rabbi Mordechai Tzion,
based on the
Rabbinical practices of Ha-Rav
Shlomo Aviner Shlit"a
[Be-Ahavah U-Be-Emunah – Shemot
5774 – translated by R. Blumberg]
1.
"Acquire for Yourself a Rabbi." (Avot 1:6)
This
principle is not obligatory. One may ask several Rabbis a question, and if
someone wants a lenient ruling, he is allowed to turn to a Rabbi who is known
to give such a ruling. "If someone wishes to follow the rulings of Beit
Shammai, he may, and if he wishes to follow Beit Hillel, he may" (Eruvin
6b). But one must be consistent.
Nonetheless,
the best way to grow in Torah and the fear of G-d is to select a Rabbi who will
most increase one's good traits, fear of G-d and Torah wisdom.
2. When to
Ask Questions
Anything
that a person can solve himself he should solve himself and not ask a Rabbi.
Maran Ha-Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohain Kook presented a parable in Orot Ha-Torah
(5:4): Some people always go places on foot.
They may well indeed by strong and courageous, yet they arrive at their
destination slowly, and cannot get to places necessitate riding on a horse. There are other people who always ride a
horse, arriving everywhere quickly, yet they are lazy do-nothings. And there are still others who walk whenever
they can, but ride a horse whenever they cannot walk.
It is the
same with asking Rabbis questions. There are people who decide everything on
their own. That is a problem, for with deep, complex questions one must take
council with the Torah, and “the letters of the Torah are horses of fire”. And
then there are those who check everything out with the Torah. That is a problem
as well, because one should exercise one’s mind. Finally, there are people who
decide what they can on their own, and what they cannot decide on their own,
they bring to their Rabbi. That is the ideal path.
3. Precise
Wording and the Art of Summarizing
It is
important to learn the art of summarizing, i.e., relate only the necessary
details to the Rabbi. It pays to write out the question precisely and to read
it out loud instead of rambling on at length. Indeed, a halachic ruling is composed
of two elements: the situation and the law (Commentary of the Gra on Mishlei
22:12).
One time a
Rabbi was learning with his son-in-law. When someone would come to ask a
question, the Rabbi would answer him and then they would continue learning. One
day a woman arrived with meat and asked whether it was Kosher. The son-in-law
said, “I'm just the son-in-law. The great Rabbi went out, and he will be back
in an hour.” The woman responded, “I
don't have an hour. My children are home, crying. You tell me what the law is!”
The son-in- law looked in the Shulchan Aruch, asked questions, found answers, clarified,
came up with an operating principle, and in accordance with that principle issued
a ruling.
Just at
that moment the great Rabbi returned. The son-in-law said: “It's good you're
back. This woman came here with this piece of liver. I asked questions, found
answers, clarified, came up with an operating principle and issued a ruling.”
The Rabbi
answered: “Very good! But it's not liver, it's a spleen...”
The Rabbi
must understand both the situation and the halachah.
So, the
person asking the question has to be precise with his question. Most of the
time, Ha-Rav repeats the question, in order to be certain that he has
understood the reality of the situation.
Shlomo
Ha-Melech did just that in the case of the two women, as it says in Choshen
Mishpat 17:7: “The judge must hear what the two litigants say, and he must
repeat their points, as it says: The King said: 'One says, 'This is my son, the
live one...'” (Melachim 1 3:23). The Rabbi must first get matters clear in his
head, and then issue a ruling. For him
to do this, one needs to provide him with accurate, specific information.
4.
Non-practical Questions
One may
ask a Rabbi a question that has no practical ramifications, or without
intending to follow the Rabbi's ruling, but one must inform the Rabbi of this
in advance. When a Rabbi is issuing a ruling that is going to be followed, he
makes much more of an effort. So one should not deceive him.
When
Ha-Rav Meir Brandesdorfer, author of Shut Knei Bosem and a member of the Beit
Din of the Eidah Ha-Chareidit, was asked a halachic question, he would
sometimes respond by asking in return, “Tell me the truth: Does this question
have practical bearing?” When asked about this, he would explain that when a Rabbi
issues a ruling with practical bearing, he has special, Divine assistance
directing him to the truth of Torah. Another
time he said, “A Rabbi is not an answer factory".
He also
pointed out that all of the responses of the Rishonim and Achronim were written
based on questions that were sent from all around the world, except for Shut
Terumat Ha-Deshen, as brought in the Shach, Yoreh Deah 196:20 (The author
himself invented the questions). This is so because a change in a small detail
can change the halachic ruling (Heichal Hora'ah, pp. 17-18).
5. Those
Present, and the Locale
One must
take note of who else is present when one is asking a Rabbi a question. If it
is a personal matter or a matter for discretion, it should not be asked with
others present. Likewise, one cannot clarify important matters while walking
along the street. Rather, one must approach the Rabbi in a serious manner in an
appropriate place.
Ha-Rav
Moshe Mordechai Ha-Levi Shulsinger related that he was told by Ha-Rav Yechezkel
Abramsky, author of the work Chazon Yechezkel, “When you ask a question and
expect an answer, look around to see if there is anyone in the vicinity whose
presence could keep the Rabbi from answering, and if so, be prepared not to ask
the question. We derive this from Akeidat Yitzchak. The whole time Yitzchak
wanted to ask his father, 'Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' but he
thought the presence of the lads there would keep Avraham from answering him. Therefore, only after Avraham told them,
“Stay here with the donkey,” and Avraham and Yitzchak walk on alone, did
Yitzchak ask.
Rav
Shulsinger found a source for this idea in the Talmud Yerushalmi (Sanhedrin
1:2). Rabbi Yirmiya asked Rabbi Zeira: Isn't
the city of Lod in Yehudah? He answered:
Yes. He asked: Why then don’t they intercalate
the year there? Rabbi Zeira said:
Because they are arrogant and lack Torah.
Rabbi Zeira turned around and saw Rabbi Acha and Rabbi Yudah ben Pazi
standing behind him (The Pnei Moshe explains that they were from Lod). Rabbi Zeira said to Rabbi Yirmiya: What have
you done now?! The Pnei Moshe explains his word: You saw them, and you
shouldn't have asked this question in their presence (Pninei Mishmar Ha-Levi,
pp. 132-133).
6.
Understanding the Rabbi's Answer
Listen
well to the Rabbi's answer instead of guessing what he's going to say. The
reason we ask Rabbis questions is to receive an answer from them, and not from
ourselves. Sometimes we ask a Rabbi a question and he answers, “I don't know,”
or “I'm not familiar with that.” Even this is a type of an answer, involving
his taking a stand.
The Chazon
Ish said: Even “I don't know” is part of the Torah. In other words, when a
person is reviewing his learning, he has to say, “This I now know and that I do
not know” (Sha'arei Aharon Vol. 1, p. 44, in the “Sha'arei Ish” booklet). The Steipler Gaon once complained to a great Rabbi,
“When I say, 'I don't know,' everyone interprets it as though I was in doubt” (Orchot
Rabbenu Vol. 1, p. 38, in the addenda at the end). Ha-Rav Chaim Kanievsky was asked,
“When you answer a question with, “I haven't heard,” do you usually mean, “I
don't accept that”? He answered, “I mean it literally” (She'elat Rav 1:22, #8;
Segulat Raboteinu 257, note #319).
Sometimes
one asks Ha-Rav about some practice or spiritual remedy, and he answers, “It
has no source.” By this he means, “It has no source in the Torah, the Mishnah,
the Talmud, the Rambam, or the Shulchan Aruch. Everything must be proven. Even
regarding the Mishnah itself, the Talmud asks, “Where does this idea come from?
There are things that are brought in the recent Sages with proofs, and we are
obligated to observe them. Yet if a practice is recommended without proofs,
even if one of the recent Sages mentions it, it is not binding. With all due respect, it is impossible for us
to fulfill every practice recommended by every recent Sage, without proofs from
ancient sources. Otherwise we will collapse under the unending flood of
instructions, for thank G-d, there are a lot of recent Sages, and they've said
a lot of things.
7.
Unconventional Rulings
If a
particular ruling has become very widespread, one should not diverge from it
unless one's own Rabbi rules differently (Shut She'elat Shlomo 2:223, 3:263)
8.
Contradictory Rulings
Sometimes
a Rabbi will answer differently than he has answered in the past. There are
probably different circumstances or a borderline situation requiring the Rabbi
to rule however he is inclined to rule at this moment (Sefer Ha-Chaim, of Rabbi
Chaim ben Bezalel, the Maharal's brother).
One time
Ha-Rav Moshe Feinstein was asked a question and he ruled what he ruled, but his
ruling went against what he himself had previously ruled in his Shut Igrot
Moshe. His family wondered, “If you've changed your opinion, how can we go back
and reprint the Igrot Moshe almost every year in exactly the same wording?” He
responded, “What is the problem? There are two approaches. Both are the word of
the Living G-d” (Meged Givot Olam p. 56).
9. The
Same Question to Two Rabbis
Is one allowed to ask the
same question to several Rabbis and in the end to decide whom to follow? A: It
depends on what you are asking. The
Gemara in Avodah Zarah (7a) says that one who asks a Rabbi a question about
something and the Rabbi declares it impure may not ask another Rabbi who will
declare it pure, and one who asks a Rabbi a question and he declares it
forbidden may not ask another Rabbi who will declare it permissible. This ruling is quoted in the Shulchan Aruch
(Yoreh Deah 242:31). Why is it forbidden
to ask the same question a second time to a different Rabbi? Some explain that it is because of the honor
of the first Rabbi (Rashi to Niddah 20b): You asked a question and don't like
the answer so you are going to a different Rabbi?! You are shaming the first Rabbi! Others explain that when the first Rabbi
rules, the object on which he ruled now has the status which he placed upon
it. This means that if I ask a Rabbi if
something is kosher or not and he rules that it is not kosher, the ruling of
another Rabbi cannot change it. The Halachah
follows the second explanation (This is the opinion of most Rishonim – Rabbis
of the Middle Ages – including Ra'avad, Ramban, Rashba quoted in the Ran Avodah
Zarah ibid. and Rosh, ibid. 1:3).
Therefore, when I ask a Rabbi a question about a piece of meat, the meat
has the status of his ruling, but if I have another piece of meat and I have
the same question, I can ask a different Rabbi.
There are also questions regarding a person's activities: How do I act
in a given situation? A Rabbi's ruling fixes
the status of an object, but not the status of a person's activities. Regarding an object, you can only ask one
Rabbi, but regarding a person's conduct, you can ask various Rabbis. Even in the case of an object, if I really,
really want to ask a second Rabbi, I can ask a second Rabbi if I tell him that
I already asked the first Rabbi. If the
second Rabbi so desires, he can talk to the first Rabbi and try to convince him
to change his mind (Rama ibid.). I
remember that someone once asked me a question regarding the laws of Family
Purity and I answered: she is impure.
The questioner went and asked Ha-Rav Mordechai Eliyahu. Ha-Rav Eliyahu
called me and said: "Rav, look at it from this perspective and that
perspective." I then understood
that it was permissible to be lenient and I said: "I retract, she is
pure." Furthermore, it is obvious
that someone who asks a theoretical question may ask as many Rabbis as he
wants. You may also ask questions to
different Rabbis at different times, since all Rabbis are Torah (And this is
also the ruling of Ha-Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach in Ve-Alehu Lo Yiblo Vol. 2
#40).
10. Rabbis
Who Rule Leniently and then Are Strict on Themselves
A Rabbi is
allowed to permit something and then to treat it as forbidden to himself. The
family of Rabban Gamliel were lenient for others but strict for themselves
(Mishnah Shabbat 1:9). Although the
Belzer Rebbe – Mahari"d – said that a Rabbi who provides supervision on a
product and does not eat it at least once will not have much assistance from
Heaven. When Ha-Rav Shmuel Salant, the Rabbi
of Jerusalem, ruled that a particular food was kosher, he would eat from that
food to show that he, too, relied on the food's Kashrut. And Ha-Rav Eliezer David Greenwald, author of
Keren Le-David and Rav and Rosh Yeshivah in Satmar, who did not carry within
the Eruv on Shabbat did so once to show that it was completely Kosher. Similarly, Ha-Rav Mendel of Vitebsk did not
carry within the Eruv on Shabbat in Tzefat, but did so once on Shabbat Shuva to
show that it was Kosher. And Ha-Rav
Moshe Halberstam of the Eidah Ha-Charedit in Yerushalayim related that the
Admor of Pupa was in Yerushalayim and carried out a book on Shabbat in order to
show that the Eruv of the Eidah Ha-Charedit was Kosher. Commentary on Pirkei Avot 'Az Yomru' of Ha-Rav
Yitzchak Aharon Goldberger, Dayan and Rosh Yeshiva for Pupa Chasidim, pp. 73,
77).
