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<DIV>In a message dated 4/23/2008 6:39:40 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
rabbirichwolpoe@gmail.com writes:</DIV>
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<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Wed, Apr 23, 2008 at 3:20 AM, <<A
title=mailto:T613K@aol.com href="mailto:T613K@aol.com">T613K@aol.com</A>>
wrote:<BR>
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<DIV class=Ih2E3d>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>RRW wrote:</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000
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" face=Arial color=#000000
size=2>For that reason, one should not consult a rav who only has a little
learning. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Also one should not consult a posek who is still in junior high
school.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff 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>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</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Torah, sechel and experience = da'as Torah</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT
style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>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
title=http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/
href="http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/">http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/</A>
</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT lang=0 face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><B><BR></B>--Toby<BR><B>--Toby
Katz<BR>=============<BR></B><BR></FONT></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Need a new ride? Check out the largest site for U.S. used car listings at <A title="http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851" href="http://autos.aol.com/used?NCID=aolcmp00300000002851" target="_blank">AOL Autos</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>