Question:
Is it permissible to ask the same question to more than one Rabbi?
Answer:
It depends on what you are asking. The
Gemara in Avodah Zarah (7a) says that one who asks a Rabbi a question and he (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 go 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,
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 should 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 fervently
want to ask a second Rabbi, I can, as long as 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.
By
the way, if someone accidently asked the wrong Rabbi a question, it is
permissible to re-ask the question. If he intended to ask a Rabbi in
general (and not a specific Rabbi), he must follow his answer. And it once happened that a couple had a
question on Shabbat night about the laws of Family Purity. Since
they lived near to Ha-Rav Ovadiah Yosef, the wife went to his apartment
building, but accidentally went to the floor above Rav Ovadiah, where Ha-Rav
Ben Tzion Abba Shaul lived, and he ruled that it was forbidden. When
she returned home, the husband understood that his wife had made a
mistake. He went on his own to Rav Ovadiah, who permitted it, and related
that his wife had accidentally asked Rav Ben Tzion Abba who prohibited
it. Rav Ovadiah said: Rebbe Ben Tzion is a Gaon in Halachah, but my
opinion in this case is that it is permissible. Therefore, if you
originally intended to ask me, it is permissible, but if you intended to ask
any Rabbi, it is forbidden, especially since you asked Chacham Ben Tzion, and I
cannot permit what he did not (Maran by Ha-Rav Michal Shtern pp. 247-248).
