[Avodah] Daas Torah

[T613K at aol.com]

I need to clear up something confusing in Avodah Digest, Vol 25, Issue 147,  
which happened through no fault of my own.  In the table of contents you  have 
this item:  
 
==begin quote==
 
Today's Topics:

1. Re: Daas Torah (_T613K at aol.com_ (mailto:T613K at aol.com) )
 
==end quote==
 
This leads the reader to expect the first item to be a post by me.   However, 
that item was not written by me, but by R' Rich  Wolpoe. Below is the correct 
sequence, as it should have appeared.  
--TK
 
 
The corrected sequence should read:
 
RRW:  >>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.<<

TK:  >>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.<<

RRW then responded with the following long post -- ALL of  which was written 
by him, including the subdivisions marked off with double  lines:  
 
 
 
 
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

Torah,  sechel and experience = da'as Torah

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/_ (http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/)    












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