[Avodah] new editions

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Joel Rich asked:

> I've often wondered what responsibility a person has to check
> back with a posek (forget about books) or does he have to ask
> a new shailah when his posek is niftar (e.g.the poseik later
> in life decides hachzara is no good, or is niftar and the new
> rav in town holds differently)

If any such responsibility exists, it would have to be constant -- who knows when the posek might change his mind? And one would also have to maintain a list of such psakim so as to be able to re-ask them. I don't see such a situation as being tenable.

The alternate answer then, would be: One should ask whenever circumstances lead one to think that he should do so. One such situation would be where he notices a conflict between his current posek and his previous one, and so he asks the new one: "I once asked him, and he told me ABC. What do you think I should do?"

Another example would be when one finds his circumstances have changed, for whatever reason. One case would be where he suspects that a lenient psak which he got in his early baal teshuva days might no longer be appropriate. Another might be where he got a strict psak when he was single, and now family or job considerations might make a different approach more proper. Another would be when one moves to a new town and he suspects that there might be a minhag hamakom that he is not aware of.

Too many people feel stuck by a strict psak they got when they were young, or liberated by a lenient one. Neither approach is growth in Torah. Growth is when when you look at who you are, and who you want to be, and look for a way to get there.

Akiva Miller


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