[Avodah] forums for pesak

[Chana Luntz]

RSP writes:

> When one calls for changes in orthodox practices beause of za'ar and
> related issues in a public forum, you eventually get aliyot for women,
> maharit's for men and women, you get Conservative hechsherim who are
> more interested in public ethics than kashrus, you get other great things.

Well I think that Rav Ovadiah Yosef would be slightly horrified (or should I
say unimpressed) to discover that he was being told he was about to head
down this slippery slope - despite the fact that "u'beni habayit mtzaraim
l'shevet ul'matin ad halayla" is one of the reasons he gives, and indeed the
first reason he gives (In Yachave Daat, chelek 6, siman 30 and as his son
repeats in Yalkut Yosef chelek 5 halachot chag hashavuot oit 2) for not
waiting in Europe and places like that and for making Kiddush even mbeod yom
on Shavuos night.  Note though he does say that locally (ie in Israel) it is
a good thing to be choshesh for the achronim who are concerned and to wait,
since it should not cause other problems.

The other main reason he is against waiting in Europe, btw, is for precisely
the issue raised by RZS - that if one waits, in a place where the night is
very short, one may well not have time to do the proper tikun leil as per
the Zohar and the Ari and hence in being choshesh for the divrei achronim,
one is being mevatel a much stronger minhag/halacha/kabbalistic practice.
He does suggest, however, that if one can, one should try and wait until
shkia - which actually, presumably, at least according to the basic position
of the Sephardim, gives you your temimos anyway (this last is my surmise, it
is not explicit in the Yalkut Yosef but it would seem to follow - because,
while the Shulchan Aruch rules that the medakidim wait until tzeis, the
Sephardim certainly take that to mean that m'ikar hadin one can count the
omer from Shkia - and they do, with a brocha, at least when davening with a
minyan - because of the concern that people might then forget, so if
davening after shkia they all count and are yotzei their obligation -  the
Yalkut Yosef discusses this in Hilchot Sfirat Haomer oit 14 - and in the
footnotes there - it all being dependent on the machklos rishonim as to
whether sfirat haomer today is d'orita or d'rabbanan.  Since he and they
hold that it is d'rabbanan today, and shkia is considered night at least
according to some opinions, then you go l'kula and consider it a valid time
to count, even with a brocha.  Now following through on this logic, if one
could have counted (and in fact may well have often counted) from shkia each
night, then once you hit shkia on Shavuos, then if it had been a regular
omer night, you could have then counted with a brocha, so why is that not
temimos?  But this may well not work for Ashkenazim, who seem to be much
more concerned about waiting until nacht proper, and, aside from those who
follow nusach Sepharad may not follow the Zohar and the Ari regarding tikun
leil anyway).

> Rav Moshe zt"l was opposed to teshuvot in journals because they are not
> for the public forums.

This may be a philosophical difference between ROY and RMF.  Yachave Daat
are the teshuvos for the man in the street (as opposed to the Yabiat Omer),
and in fact I believe started out as radio programmes.  You can hardly get
more pulic forum than that.  And the Yalkut Yosef is also certainly aimed at
the man in the street.

> 
> shlomo pick


Regards

Chana