[Avodah] Maharat

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

.
I wrote that the Mishneh Berurah, despite a lack of semicha,
> frequently brings various opinions and tells us which one is the
> ikar, or tells us how to follow both, or some other expression
> of his personal opinion.

R' Micha Berger responded:

> Turn to the title page. Or, look at the intro. We've discussed
> this in the past. The MB self-describes as a book to help someone
> know what has been said in the years since the standardization
> of the SA page. Not halakhah lemaaseh.

Yes, he does self-describe as a summary and teaching/learning tool.
But he does *not* specifically disclaim being a posek for halacha
l'maaseh. The Igros Moshe and many other recent seforim do that, but I
do not see it in the Mishneh Berurah.

As an example, let's open to the very first page. He writes in MB 1:2
(near the end) about Netilas Yadayim upon waking in the morning: "Some
say that for this, the entire house is considered like four amos. But
(4) do not rely on this except in a shaas hadchak."

Let's analyze that: He cites an unnamed lenient opinion, and clearly
tells us not to rely on it. Note 4 leads us to his own Shaar Hatziun,
where he gives his source, the Shaarei Teshuva. The Shaarei Teshuva,
fortunately, is printed on this same page, and I direct your attention
to the last four lines of #2, where the lenient opinion is named as
being the Rashba. It is not clear to me whether the psak to *not* rely
on that Rashba comes from the Shvus Yaakov, or whether it is from the
Shaarei Teshuva himself. But either way, it is clear to me that the
Mishne Berurah is taking sides, and IS PASKENING TO US that we should
be machmir unless it is a shaas hadchak.

> In any case, I do not think semichah is required for hora'ah in
> every situation. Semichah today is recieving reshus to pasqen,
> which is unnecessary if one's rebbe passed away or is otherwise
> unreachable.

Then we need to figure out what *is* required for hora'ah. Because it
seems clear to me that the Chofetz Chaim felt that he met the
criteria, and (perhaps more importantly) Klal Yisrael agreed.

Akiva Miller