[Avodah] Rabbi not answering a question

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Mar 24, 2022 at 11:52:47PM -0000, Chana Luntz via Avodah wrote:
> There are at least three  halachic concepts that directly relate to this:

I am not sure these are three concepts, rather than three different
idioms for variants of the same motive.

> a) mutav sheyihu shogegain v'al heyhyu mezidin (see Beitza 30a)...

The pesaq is for someone who the rav cannot expect to do the right thing,
or a community where far more people will not do the right thing, so he
allows the lesser evil outcome.

> b) Halacha v'ain morin ken - a concept that is used at least seven times in
> the Talmud (see Shabbat 12b, Eruvin 7a, Beitza 28b, Baba Kama 30b, Avodah
> Zara 37b and  Menachot 37b).  Over simplistically - the concept of halacha
> v'ain morin ken is used in circumstances where there are significant risks
> of misunderstanding whether wilful or otherwise, with, usually, the
> potential consequence of more significant breach of the halacha...

The rav needs to give the lesser evil outcome pesaq, but if he pasqens
that in public, the pesaq may be turned in a norm even in situations
where otherwise the right thing might have been done.

Here is is even possible the rav will privately pasqen for the sho'el,
but not take a public stance. Depending on how well they know the sho'el,
the community, and the odds of any pesaq remaining private.

E.g. If the single woman asking about going to the miqvah is embarassed
enough that she lacks the restraint and is in this situation, the rav
might tell her better the miqvah. But, if he doesn't know her, or knows
there is a good chance it will be passed by word of mouth as premarital
relations are "not so assur" this way, he has a harder decision. When
this kind of decision was published, though, the vast majority of posqim
thought the rav was guillty of increasing peritzus in kelal Yisrael.

> c) that the particular person is not able to handle the answer.  While this
> comes up mostly in relation to women (the Torah will be turned to tiflut)
> there is also a concept of a (male) student who is not hegon and should not
> be taught Torah until he returns to good...

Again the poseiq is choosing between lesser evils. Here it's a bit
different that (a) in that the sin to be avoided is in the sho'el's
(or their circle of contacts') attitude toward Torah, which need not be
the mitzvah under discussion.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 When a king dies, his power ends,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   but when a prophet dies, his influence is just
Author: Widen Your Tent      beginning.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                  - Soren Kierkegaard