[Avodah] radical honesty?

[Akiva Miller]

.
R' Joel Rich quoted a translation of Rav Mendel Shafran:

> And the reason that most of the gdolim do not use this (tcheilet)
> is not because they doubt the truth of the matter, but rather
> because in the last two hundred years there has been established
> an internal feeling that we don’t change things even if according
> to the strict hlacha one should have instituted them or changed
> them, and this is as a defense against destroyers who try to
> change and adapt.(halacha?)
> And to such an extent has this principle been established that
> there is power in daat torah to uproot a matter from the Torah,
> like the commandment of techelet. the rule being that even a
> change for the better is viewed by Torah scholars as the beginning
> of a breach whose end is not foreseeable, and this matter is in
> the category of 'the chachamim are able to uproot a matter from
> the Torah through inaction' (shev v'al ta'aseh).

This attitude is very consistent with what I've seen and heard from various
quarters over the decades. And it is consistent with certain writings that
have been written in recent centuries. In fact, I would agree that in many
cases, this attitude HAS been an effective protection against certain
influences which would be negative in the long run.

But one must be reasonable! I shudder to imagine that this attitude would
be used indiscriminately, even against halachos where (to use his words)
the gedolim do not doubt the truth of the matter.

What will happen when Moshiach comes? What will be the reaction of people
who have been nurturing this attitude for (direct quote:) "the last two
hundred years"?

When the circumstances arise that these selfsame gedolim no longer have
doubts about some Moshiach-related issue or person, will they be able to
follow THEIR OWN TRUTH? Or will inertia keep them locked into a "what might
this lead to" mindset?

Even worse: I can too easily imagine a situation where the gedolim might
accept their own truth about Moshiach, but their *followers* will reject
it. "Chadash assur min haTorah", they will cry! "Our leader has gone off
the derech! Our leader has been brainwashed by the modernists!"

Hashem Y'rachem.

Akiva Miller

DISCLAIMER: Do not extrapolate anything from the above to suggest my own
feelings about modern techeiles, or about any Moshiach-related issue. This
entire post is about honesty in paskening, and my fear that some might (to
paraphrase Rav Mendel Shafran) uproot Moshiach from the Torah through
inaction (shev v'al ta'aseh).
.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20250901/c97dc5e1/attachment.htm>