[Avodah] Just what ARE the rules of p'sak anyway?

[Richard Wolberg]

The Rebbe spoke to us once about the rules of psak. I've forgotten most of
it, but one particular point made a deep impression, and I still remember it
clearly. The point was about the importance of *local* psak, and the
precedents set by previous poskim of that particular makom. The example he
gave (these are not his exact words, but he did use these names and places)
was that someone paskening in New York - even if he is Sefardi - has to give
a lot more weight to Rav Moshe Feinstein's opinion, compared to that same
posek if he was paskening in Yerushalayim. And for the same logic, someone
paskening in Yerushalayim - even if he is Ashkenazi - has to give a lot more
weight to the opinions of the Ben Ish Hai, compared to that same posek if he
was in New York.

 

This is just the opposite of an old saying: “An expert is someone who comes
from more than 50 miles away to give advice.”  I’m not sure from where that
comes.  ”  

 

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