“…and you are to be careful to fulfill exactly as they instruct you… do not deviate from the word they tell you, neither right or left.” (Devarim 17:10-11)

“Even if he (the judge) tells you about what appears to you to be right that it is left, or about what appears to you to be left that it is right, you have to obey him; how much the more is this so if actually he tells you about what is evidently right that it is right and about what is left that it is left (Rashi ibid cf. Sifrei Devarim 154:5)

We often hear statements made by great people that are a bit unsettling. We may feel that it is some type of test of our Emunas Chachamim. Though we believe what we are hearing, sometimes it seems counterintuitive to us. There is a famous saying of Chazal: The Torah says, “fulfill exactly as they instruct you.”. Unfortunately, when some people hear Da’as Torah, even though they are respectful and do not say anything, internally they think that they know better.

I would like to share an idea with you, which I heard from a relative of mine who was a student of Rav Yitzchak Hutner (d. 1980). He asked Rav Hutner what he thinks is the proper Torah approach to a certain political issue. Rav Hutner avoided answering the question and when my relative persisted, he said to him as follows: “That which the gedolim have a right to answer questions is partially based on the Siyata d’Shmaya that they have. This Siyata d’Shmaya is because what they say will affect the world. In this particular political situation, that which I have to say will not make any difference, and therefore I do not have the Siyata d’Shmaya necessary to answer the question.”

This same concept is seen in an incident with the Noda B’Yehuda (1713 -1793). On his first day as a Rav in Prague, he was asked a question and came up with a conclusion which was proven to be incorrect. He asked the questioner, “Was this question real or was it just hypothetical?” The questioner said, “It was hypothetical”. The Noda B’Yehuda then said, “No wonder I answered incorrectly! It is because if there is no real question, there is no Siyata d’Shmaya.”

I would like to share with you the test of a true great torah scholar. Imagine someone who learns a sugya for an extended period of time and has a clear proof of what the halacha should be in a certain situation. He then searches for a precedent to support his conclusion, and finds that many earlier acharonim  disagree. What is he supposed to do now?

On the one hand, in his introduction to the Igros Moshe Rav Moshe Feinstein (d. 1986) writes that, “If I disagree with those who came before me, it is not that, G-d forbid, I think my understanding is superior to theirs, but rather the halacha demands that I rule as I see fit, based on my own research of the topic.” On the other hand, in Rabbi Akiva Eiger’s responsa 55, we see where he says that one should be careful not to argue against one who precedes him.

There are those that say that this tension was felt by the Brisker Rav, and therefore he tried to not answer halachic issues. He said, “I cannot repeatedly argue with those greater than me, and yet I cannot rule against my legitimate conclusions.”

Recently I called the head of an institution to try to get a child into that institution. I prefaced my words to the one in charge by saying, “I am grateful to Hashem that I do not have to make the decisions that you make daily. Indeed I see a great amount of good which can come from accepting this child, yet I understand your apprehension. Hashem should give you the proper Siyata D’shmaya.” We need to be careful when judging people in public positions.

I believe that if one would think about it, he would discover that whether the matter is simple or difficult, it is those who have not studied the subject in depth who seem to know the proper answer.

Definitely – even before we suggest that we have an opinion – we should think about whether we are even worthy of having one! This is true even if we study the subject enough to give one. You may be thankful that you are not in the shoes of the Rabbanim as they are often much better equipped to answer the query in full than we are.