The mistake of stringency

Hi,

"Just as one may not permit the prohibited, so one may not prohibit the permitted… because generally, this will cause a leniency in some other area…"

כשם שאסור להתיר את האסור כך אסור לאסור את המותר... מפני שעל הרוב יש בו צד הקל במקום אחר...

(Rabbi Shabbtai haKohen, Pilpul b'Hanhagat Horaot b'Issur v'Heter, Rule 9)

Have a great day,

Mordechai

48 Ways: #38 - Avoid issuing rulings

Hi,

Pirkei Avot 6:5 teaches that Torah is acquired in 48 ways, which it lists for us. The thirty-eighth of the 48 is lo sameach b'horaah, that one does not enjoy issuing halachic rulings.

One who takes pleasure from instructing others in proper practice runs the risk of glossing over the hard work needed to truly understand the debates which lie behind the law. The result is a superficial understanding which is not up to the task of taking apart new situations and figuring out what the issues are, and how they interact, and this will lead to incorrect rulings - but for the purpose of our mishnah, it will also lead to deficient Torah study.

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Respect for local authority

Hi,

"The sage Ulla went to Pumbedita. A person there brought him a bloody cloth to examine (to determine purity or impurity of its contents), but he refused to examine it.

"He explained: 'Rabbi Elazar is the Master Sage of Israel, and yet when he travels to Rabbi Yehudah's region he won't perform such an examination (out of respect for Rabbi Yehudah), how could I now perform such an examination in Pumbedita?!'"

(Talmud, Niddah 20b)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

The value of a stringency

Hi,

Rabbi Yehoshua once ruled strictly, following the view of the school of Shammai on a particular issue.

"Rabbi Yehoshua's students said to him: Our master, you have made us go extra distance!

"Rabbi Yehoshua replied: Better that I should make you go extra distance in this world, so that you might then 'go extra distance' in the next world!"

(Talmud, Niddah 16b)

המצפה לישועה,
Mordechai

Halachic consistency

Hi,

“The law follows Beit Hillel. One who wishes to follow Beit Shammai may do so, one who wishes to follow Beit Shammai may do so. One who follows the leniencies of Beit Shammai and the leniencies of Beit Hillel is wicked. Regarding one who follows the stringencies of Beit Shammai and the stringencies of Beit Hillel, it is written (Kohelet 2), ‘The fool walks in the dark.’"

"Rather, either like Beit Shammai’s leniencies and stringencies, or like Beit Hillel’s leniencies and stringencies.”

(Talmud, Chullin 43b-44a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Torah is ours

Hi,

The Torah is ours, given to us to study and to apply. Therefore, rulings of Jewish law are determined through an established process of study and adjudication, and cannot be imposed by special intuition or even prophetic revelation:

"Permissive and prohibitive rulings are not for Elijah the Prophet to issue; as it is written (Devarim 30:12), 'The Torah is not in Heaven.'"

(Rashi to Shabbat 108a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai