[Avodah] Daas Torah

[Richard Wolpoe]

On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 3:20 AM, <T613K at aol.com> wrote:

>   RRW wrote:
>
> >>Example: I was taught in junior high that vinegar is Acetic Acid AND
> that aspirin is made from acetic acid and salicylic acid. On that basis I
> used to assum that aspirin was a product of  hametz!  But I was corrected
> by  practical chemists and pharmacists who explained that using grain
> vinegar was prohibitive in the manufacture of aspirin!  So a little learning
> can be dangerous and misleading.<<
>
>
> >>>>>
> For that reason, one should not consult a rav who only has a little
> learning.
>
> Also one should not consult a posek who is still in junior high school.
>
>
> *--Toby Katz
> =============*
>

That's not my point
My point is one should not consult any Rav in any area in which he is not
expert even if he is k'ven shiv'im shana ....
UNLESS
That Rav will himself be wiling to consult experts.

So my point is that Da'as Torah is really quite limited to the sphere of
Torah itself and only to the areas in which that Rav knows what he is
talking about!

OTOH, it is often a good idea to consult a Rav for his insight anyway.

=====================================================================

Maa'seh shehaya #1:

A frum Jew drowned off the GW Bridge.
Police Ruled it a suicide.
The fellow involved was somewhat involved with the mob
I was talking to a "Gadol BaTorah" and he discussed the fellow's suicide as
a fact.
I corrected that Gadol and said that we cannot be sure and that al pi
halacha we MUST give him the benefit of the doubt!  The Gadol concurred with
my hochachah

What I did NOT tell that Gadol was that the fellow had a mob connection for
obvious reasons of LH etc.  Anyone aware of that connexion would realize
that a suicide is not ALWAYS a suicide and that the fellow may have been
either

   1. murdered in a way to  APPEAR as a suicide
   2. OR he was told to jump off the bridge at the point of a gun or
   similar coercion [like hurting the family]

Point? That Rav was probably not so aware of how the mob works. I won't go
into how I know but suffice it to say that I am more worldly.

Given a realistic probabilty that said suicide was never a suicide we
generally give the niftar the benefit of the doubt, and the Gadol would
probably concur. Just that he could not fathom WHY it was a feasible reality
IOW what's the safeik? The police and the M/E ruled it a suicide!  But I had
exposure to entire sets of facts that this Gadol Lacked.

==================================================================

M'aseh #2. A Rav with Semicha - but not practicing - was lecturing that we
cannot consider the case of a woman who is to shy to ask sh'eilos about
taharas hamishpacha.  He was talking BOOK LEARNING. I have heard anecdotal
evidence hat there are many sizable communities in which the one-Rav town
gets a VERY low number of queries.   POINT? Despite  this Rav's intentions
to  uphold  book halacha the reality on the ground is that women ask in far
fewer numbers than would normally be expected.  They don't print those
sociological stats in the Mishnah Brurah!  But Rabbonim in the know - know
what they are up against.

Therefore, Da'as Torah of the ivory tower nature can be downright misleading

OTOH a very dear friend had a shidduch prolbem ironed out by Hassidc Rebbe
about 25 years ago in Boro Park,  Rebbes are often well-trained and
well-versed in personal and family issues. They not only know halacha but a
lot about family dynamics and human nature. Their "da'as" can be very
effective, far more than any assimilated social worker would have been.
However, how much of that is pure Torah and how much of that is plain
"seichel" coupled with years of intense experience I don't know. as far as
Siyyatta Dishmaya goes, Rabbonim do not have a monopoly. Doctors have it,
too. Ever watch House?  He is a Kofeir who gets Siyyata dishmaya!

=====================================================================

Da'as Torah to me is a function of using good judgment on gray areas.
Illustration: equating Electricity to fire [or not] is the kind of halachic
judgment a Poseik would do better than an engineer or physicist - because it
is not a function of what happens on the molecular level but on the visible
Halachic level.

-- 
Kol Tuv / Best Regards,
RabbiRichWolpoe at Gmail.com
see: http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/
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