<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 3:20 AM, <<a href="mailto:T613K@aol.com">T613K@aol.com</a>> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
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<div><font style="background-color: transparent;" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2">RRW wrote:</font></div>
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<div><font style="background-color: transparent;" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2">>>Example: I was taught in junior high that vinegar is Acetic Acid
AND that aspirin is made from acetic acid and salicylic acid. On that basis I
used to assum that aspirin was a product of hametz! But I was
corrected by practical chemists and pharmacists who explained that using
grain vinegar was prohibitive in the manufacture of aspirin! So a little
learning can be dangerous and
misleading.<<<br><br><br>>>>>></font></div>
</div><div><font style="background-color: transparent;" color="#000000" face="Arial" size="2">For that reason, one should not consult a rav who only has a little
learning. </font></div>
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<div>Also one should not consult a posek who is still in junior high
school.</div>
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<div><font color="#0000ff" face="Arial" lang="0" size="2"><br><b>--Toby
Katz<br>=============</b></font></div></div></div></font></div></blockquote></div><br>That's not my point<br>My point is one should not consult any Rav in any area in which he is not expert even if he is k'ven shiv'im shana ....<br>
UNLESS<br>That Rav will himself be wiling to consult experts.<br><br>So my point is that Da'as Torah is really quite limited to the sphere of Torah itself and only to the areas in which that Rav knows what he is talking about!<br>
<br>OTOH, it is often a good idea to consult a Rav for his insight anyway.<br><br>=====================================================================<br><br>Maa'seh shehaya #1:<br><br>A frum Jew drowned off the GW Bridge. <br>
Police Ruled it a suicide.<br>The fellow involved was somewhat involved with the mob<br>I was talking to a "Gadol BaTorah" and he discussed the fellow's suicide as a fact.<br>I corrected that Gadol and said that we cannot be sure and that al pi halacha we MUST give him the benefit of the doubt! The Gadol concurred with my hochachah<br>
<br>What I did NOT tell that Gadol was that the fellow had a mob connection for obvious reasons of LH etc. Anyone aware of that connexion would realize that a suicide is not ALWAYS a suicide and that the fellow may have been either<br>
<ol><li>murdered in a way to APPEAR as a suicide</li><li>OR he was told to jump off the bridge at the point of a gun or similar coercion [like hurting the family]<br></li></ol>Point? That Rav was probably not so aware of how the mob works. I won't go into how I know but suffice it to say that I am more worldly. <br>
<br>Given a realistic probabilty that said suicide was never a suicide we generally give the niftar the benefit of the doubt, and the Gadol would probably concur. Just that he could not fathom WHY it was a feasible reality IOW what's the safeik? The police and the M/E ruled it a suicide! But I had exposure to entire sets of facts that this Gadol Lacked.<br>
<br>==================================================================<br><br>M'aseh #2. A Rav with Semicha - but not practicing - was lecturing that we cannot consider the case of a woman who is to shy to ask sh'eilos about taharas hamishpacha. He was talking BOOK LEARNING. I have heard anecdotal evidence hat there are many sizable communities in which the one-Rav town gets a VERY low number of queries. POINT? Despite this Rav's intentions to uphold book halacha the reality on the ground is that women ask in far fewer numbers than would normally be expected. They don't print those sociological stats in the Mishnah Brurah! But Rabbonim in the know - know what they are up against.<br>
<br>Therefore, Da'as Torah of the ivory tower nature can be downright misleading<br><br>OTOH a very dear friend had a shidduch prolbem ironed out by Hassidc Rebbe about 25 years ago in Boro Park, Rebbes are often well-trained and well-versed in personal and family issues. They not only know halacha but a lot about family dynamics and human nature. Their "da'as" can be very effective, far more than any assimilated social worker would have been. However, how much of that is pure Torah and how much of that is plain "seichel" coupled with years of intense experience I don't know. as far as Siyyatta Dishmaya goes, Rabbonim do not have a monopoly. Doctors have it, too. Ever watch House? He is a Kofeir who gets Siyyata dishmaya! <br>
<br>=====================================================================<br><br>Da'as Torah to me is a function of using good judgment on gray areas. Illustration: equating Electricity to fire [or not] is the kind of halachic judgment a Poseik would do better than an engineer or physicist - because it is not a function of what happens on the molecular level but on the visible Halachic level.<br>
<br>-- <br>Kol Tuv / Best Regards,<br>RabbiRichWolpoe@Gmail.com<br>see: <a href="http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/">http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/</a>