After I finished learning Hilchos Nida, I visited MTJ to meet with the Rosh Yeshiva, R' Dovid Feinstein. Rather than it being a farher, which is what I was hoping for, he allowed me the time to ask him some of the questions that I had in Hilchos Nida. I took the opportunity to focus on those related to the pesakim of his father, Rav Moshe, that were printed in the Igros Moshe (he has some difficult assumptions in his teshuvos regarding bedikos at the time of vestos, and some chiddushim in harchakos). When I asked him one particular question, claiming that the Shulchan Aruch seems to say against what R' Moshe assumes, R' Dovid responded, "if you don't agree with a pesak in the Igros Moshe, then don't pasken like it". Later, I realized that rather than explaining the position of his father on the particular issue that I was asking about, he was actually living and breathing the position and approach of his father in halacha.
The premise of his response emanates from our gemara. Rava said that when a pesak din of his comes before R' Papa and R' Huna brei d'rav Yehoshua and they have a strong question on it, they shouldn't discard it until they bring it to his attention because he may have an answer. But, after his death they should not tear it up because if he was there he may have been able to answer, but should not pasken based on it because אין לדיין אלא מה שעיניו רואות. Rava was teaching that piskei halacha are good for one who is unfamiliar with the sugya. Without having enough knowledge to deal with the sugya, it is safe to follow the p'sakim of the chayei adam, shulchan aruch ha'rav, and kitzur. But, if one learns through a sugya, and understands it differently, they are obligated to pasken against the seforim that just offer the pesak halacha without justification. Similarly, one is obligated to pasken against seforim that offer the reason, when they have a question on the reason that has been offered.
In the hakdama to the Igros, R' Moshe actually says this straight out:
הנני רק כמלמד ההלכה שהשואל יעיין בעצמו ויבדוק ויבחור, שאיני כלל כפוסק ומורה וכו' ולכן מצאתי גם לנכון להדפיסם מאחר שאיני בזה אלא כמברר ההלכה שכל ת"ח ומורה הוראה יעיין בהדברים ויבחון בעצמו אם להורות כן, וכאשר יראה שאני לא סמכתי כסומא בארובה אף על חבורי רבותינו אלא בדקתי בכל כחי להבין שהם נכונים וכו' וכן אני מבקש לכל מעיין בספרי שיבדוק אחרי דברי ואז יורה למעשה
Furthermore, the braisa warns that one cannot act on a sevara that is said in the context of learning or a ma'aseh that he witnessed, until the ruling is given "halacha l'ma'aseh". Relying on something that was said in the context of learning is not allowed because the teacher may not have explored all sides of the issue since it wasn't relevant at the time. Relying on a situation that occurred where there was a p'sak issued isn't allowed because there may have been factors that made that case special. Therefore, one may only rely on a p'sak that is issued for the purpose of a real situation that arose. For this reason, many of the pesakim found in sifrei likutim that gather various teshuvos from across the spectrum becomes completely useless in the realm of p'sak halacha. These type of seforim can be more dangerous than simple piskei halacha, because they enable the reader to sound like he did research and due diligence by name dropping, when in fact the reader is completely unfamiliar with the issue and unfamiliar with the sources he is quoting. In essence these seforim are a violation of paskening from a "ma'aseh" because the reader is unaware of the other tzirufim and tzedadim that helped form the p'sak, thereby misleading the person he is paskening for.
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