[Avodah] Decentralizing Authority

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

I read Rachel Levmore's "Decentralizing Religious Authority" at
<http://www.thelehrhaus.com/commentary-short-articles/2017/7/26/decentralizing-religious-authority>

Teaser:

   Overview
   Orthodox Jewish life used to be a simpler matter for those who wanted
   to lead one. There was an unspoken system in place. One could approach
   the local rabbi with a question. If he didn't know, scholars higher up
   in the "hierarchy" could weigh in until the question reached the "gadol
   hador." Despite the plurality of approaches which always existed, there
   was a definitive address whose opinion would be accepted by all (or
   almost all).

   Alas, the last of the great Torah giants, those respected by Orthodox
   Jewry the world-over even in cases of disagreement, have passed on.
   Rabbis Moshe Feinstein, Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Menachem Schneerson,
   Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, and Ovadiah Yosef are all gone. The present
   circumstances, which have witnessed a breakdown of authority in general
   society coupled with the absence of an uncontested authoritative Torah
   scholar, has led to absurd situations.

   Lacking agreed-upon "gedolim" today, a void exists...

   Without any proper halakhic discourse between various rabbis who deem
   themselves to be leaders (even if they lack followers)...

And so on, with a pretty sociological take on the problem, and how it
applies to controversy over the halachic prenup. As is usual for me, I'm
intrigued by the theoretical meta-issue.

Given that we've entered an era that there is a dirth of gedolim whose
rulings are followed across multiple communities and eidot, is there a
significant change to how halakhah is done?

And I'm not saying this is entirely about nisqatnu hadoros, and how
today's gedolim aren't like those of my youth. Some of it is also the
effects of universal education, google, social-media cynicism and echo
chamber, and the social trends that cause the popularity of such social
media, and other societal changes that made people less likely to respect
authority that isn't fully in agreement with what they decided the truth
should be.

Returning to snipping from the article:

   The Internet is not the forum for halakhic rows. Rabbinic tradition
   prescribes that halakhic disputes be conducted in depth, not
   superficially through "virtual" statements in cyberspace. Proper
   procedure dictates that rabbinic forums be held where differences of
   opinions can be [19]discussed face to face. If that is not possible,
   then [20]scholarly books are written or [21]rabbinic articles
   published. Alarmist attempts to create fear among innocent lay-people
   cannot be considered credible halakhic writing.

And:
         [I]t is not for naught that the Mishnah directs us to choose who
   is our rabbi: [24]aseh lekha rav. It is your responsibility as a
   God-fearing Jew to determine which rabbi you will follow, according to
   your perception of his righteousness, scholarship, and
   derekh--philosophy of Jewish life.

   For a variety of reasons, it should be a rabbi who lives in the same
   community as you, not least since he would then be familiar with the
   challenges and facts of your life. In the United States, the Rabbinical
   Council of America has assembled an impressive body of rabbinic
   figures...

   Visible links
  ...
  19. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/A-plea-from-Jerusalem-to-the-worlds-Orthodox-rabbis-483210
  20. https://books.google.com/books/about/%D7%9E%D7%A0%D7%A2%D7%99_%D7%A2%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%99%D7%9A_%D7%9E%D7%93%D7%9E%D7%A2%D7%94.html?id=FpsqQwAACAAJ
  24. https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.1.6?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en

My first stab at answering my own question is to wonder how long halakhah
has been centralized around a few globally known gedolim.

>From the geonim until the late 19th century, were there any?

And even when there was a few posqim the whole world turned to (eg the
geonim), how many question did they go to the gedolim for? Wouldn't
the size of the world back then mean that most questions were far more
local, with the mara de'asra having much more of a final say, with
consensus being more of a regional thing?

If halachic authority is being decentralized, is that something new, or
a reversion to the norm, to how non-Sanhedrin (or as the Rambam would have
it, post-talmudic) halakhah supposed to work?

-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Zion will be redeemed through justice,
micha at aishdas.org        and her returnees, through righteousness.
http://www.aishdas.org
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