[Avodah] avoiding the issue

[Akiva Miller]

.
R" Micha Berger wrote:

> Using rules of safeiq rather than those of pesaq. We don't
> which which to hold, so... And even then, not always; because
> there are such chumeros in derabbanans, where the rule of
> safeiq would be lehaqeil.

Safeiq "rather than" pesaq?? Can the two be differentiated? Isn't psak
*based* on safek, trying to figure out where Truth resides?

> My largely implied question was how to save this reluctance to
> pasqen from accusations of lack of faith in the entire concept
> of pesaq and deciding halakhah.

As I see it, it's not that we have a lack of *faith* in psak, but that
we're so confused about how it works. And especially, how it works nowadays
when there's no Sanhedrin.

To me, the classic case in bitul is bitul b'rov. Does the minority really
lose its identity to the point that all pieces can be eaten by a single
person at one time? Or is it only a procedural psak, such that we are
fearful for each item, and they must be shared among several people, or
eaten by one person at different times, etc etc.

And it carries through to psak too. Can I really ignore the minority
opinion? Without a Sanhedrin to actually discuss and vote, how can I be
sure that the other camp is wrong? And so, just as we "avoided the issue"
by having several people share the probably-kosher items, we also "avoid
the issue" in psak by finding a situation where we don't choose between the
several opinions.

Akiva Miller
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