[Avodah] Psak she'ein hatzibbur yecholin laamod bo

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Liron Kopinsky asked:

> Everyone has been talking about whether a "psak" was given
> that bans the internet.
>
> Is there any significance to the fact that it is called a
> "psak" and not a "gezerah"? If a gezerah is made that the
> tzibbur just can't keep, my understanding is that the gezerah
> does not end up taking effect. But presumably, if it's a "psak"
> then it's based on already existant and accepted halachot, is
> it intended that we have no choice?

I have noticed this also.

I tremble in fear at the thought of putting my words into the mouths of the gedolim who spoke. But in reading the articles that were published, there is a theme that I see recurring, and that is the d'Oraisa of Lo Siten Michshol, not to put a stumbling block in front of someone. Not a fellow Jew, not a family member, not even oneself.

My guess (and I stress that this is only my guess) is that if someone would ask them RLK's question, they would insist that this ban is NOT a new gezera of any kind, and that filterless internet-capable devices are an example of a michshol. Perhaps they'd even compare it to a loaded gun.

This would not be a gezara, which is a new d'Rabanan, and would be obligatory only if most people were capable of abiding by it, as RLK wrote. Rather, it would be a psak regarding a pre-existing d'Oraisa, the psak being that the Torah Prohibition does apply to this new device.

Suppose someone would say that speaking Lashon Hara over the telephone is assur. Would anyone think that this is a new gezera? It is pretty straightforward to me that it is not a new gezera, but an old halacha.

Of course, being a psak, others might hold differently, and argue (for whatever reason) that the internet is NOT a forbidden michshol. I'm not taking sides right now, just trying to suggest an answer to RLK's question.

Akiva Miller

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