[Avodah] psak and rationality

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Saul Newman wrote:

> in relation to a comment that a certain gadol paskened
> that goyim have different numbers of teeth than jews,
> someone online  remarked--
> Technically speaking, saying that Jews have a different
> number of teeth than non-Jews isn't irrational, it is
> empirically false

I didn't see the original post being quoted, so I can't comment on that. But I do want to say this:

We come back again to my strong belief in the importance of defining one's terms. It seems (and I stress "seems", because I'm admittedly guessing) that the way you and I understand the word "teeth" is not the same as the way that gadol understands that word. Perhaps for non-Jews he counts "teeth" as the white things that stick out of one's gums, and that for Jews, "teeth" are the points and ridges on top of those white things. Or some other distinction.

For example, my understanding is that the word "giluach" has different meanings for men and for women. The act of scraping away facial hair with a blade is called "giluach" for a man, and therefore it is assur because the Torah prohibited "giluach". But that same act is not called "giluach" on a woman, and since "giluach" is what the Torah forbade, a woman is allowed. Similarly, it is possible that some of those white things in a Jewish mouth are called "teeth" while the same things in a non-Jewish mouth are not called "teeth". Or maybe vice versa -- did that gadol say what the different numbers are?

RSN asks:

> does a posek's belief in what appears to be false
> beliefs  figure in ones' assessment of whether one
> should generally follow a particular posek?

It is admirable that you wrote "APPEARS to be false" rather than blindlly branding it as such. And therefore, I suggest that the effort to answer this question might include a followup, to better understand what that posek meant when he made that comment.

Akiva Miller

____________________________________________________________
Best Weight Loss Program - Click Here!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/fc/BLSrjnsEGrHyVS4w6e6NFFY3C0HtIOiJBrhwuIG8GDE8YdlrgPWsFZnEYVa/