Psak Halacha and Having De’os

The Torah gives us a description of what happens, Rashi quotes from Chazal, Macharas referring to Macharas Yom Kippurim, which in effect is the first day that Moshe Rabbeinu is with Bnei Yisrael after the three successive periods of forty days. So this is the first opportunity that we have to see how one implements a Kabbalas HaTorah, to see a snapshot of authentic Torah life.

ויהי ממחרת וישב משה לשפט את העם ויעמד העם על משה מן הבקר עד הערב. וירא חתן משה את כל אשר הוא עשה לעם ויאמר מה הדבר הזה אשר אתה עשה לעם מדוע אתה יושב לבדך וכל העם נצב עליך מן בקר עד ערב. ויאמר משה לחתנו כי יבא אלי העם לדרש אלהים. כי יהיה להם דבר בא אלי ושפטתי בין איש ובין רעהו והודעתי את חקי האלהים ואת תורתיו.

The Rav once suggested a very beautiful exposition of Moshe Rabbeinu's answer to Yisro. Yisro asks what's going on here? This long line, people are waiting for you, what's the consultation about? So the way the Rav analyzed the Pesukim on this level of understanding, Moshe Rabbeinu identifies three different areas where they come to consult. כי יבא אלי העם לדרש אלהים. They come looking for hadracha in avodas Hashem. Second of all,

כי יהיה להם דבר בא אלי ושפטתי בין איש ובין רעהו.

When there's some kind of sichsuch, if there's a disagreement, they come to me for a din Torah. And finally והודעתי את חקי האלהים ואת תורתיו, when they have shailos of what the proper thing to do is, how to behave, how to conduct themselves, how to act, so I paskin the shaila. And the Rav suggested it corresponds to the three figures, institutions; people go to a Rebbe for hadracha in avodas Hashem, כי יבא אלי העם לדרש אלהים. Go to a Beis Din to a Dayan for a din Torah, and go to a Rav to a Mara D'Asra for psak, והודעתי את חקי האלהים ואת תורתיו. But it's so abundantly clear that to live Torah, to live Torah authentically, we need to seek guidance, we need to ask shailos. We ask shailos whenever we're not clear on what the Torah prescribes, whenever we're not clear what ratzon Hashem is in any given situation. Ke'midumeh that Rav Moshe has in one of his printed teshuvos in Igros Moshe, he reflects on the fact that people ask lots of shailos and ich veis in issur v'heter in Hilchos Shabbos, but there are some areas where people don't ask shailos. I think, and I'm not sure that I'm remembering accurately, I may not be, I think maybe he mentions specifically as one example in terms of inyanei chinuch, that avada avada we're supposed to be asking shailos in Hilchos Shabbos, in issur v'heter, but not exclusively, not to the exclusion of other areas which are דברים העמדים ברומו של עולם. And in this context, it's very, very important that we revisit a distinction which is commonly invoked between halacha and aggadah with the concomitant perspective that psak belongs to the area of halacha, but not to the area of aggadah. And as long as the areas of halacha and aggadah are correctly delineated, carefully and correctly delineated, I've found that there is truth to that distinction and to that delineation and distinction halacha and aggadah and where psak belongs. But it's crucial to understand what belongs, what's included under the rubric of halacha. So for instance, the Rav explains that what the Rambam teaches us in formulating the Yud-Gimmel Ikarim is that the contours of belief are halachic categories. The Torah halacha has halachos which are a function of whether a person is a min or a kofer or an epikoros. So then mimmela the application, the implementation of all those halachos requires a definition of what is, what isn't minos, who rachmana litzlan is a min, who isn't. So that discussion, a discussion of ikarei emunah is not something which is to be classified as inyanei aggadah and certainly, certainly chas v'shalom that we should make the mistake of saying that there's no psak in these areas. These are halachic categories, halachic questions, halachic categories. And the Rambam time and time again uses these terms in halachic context in הלכות רוצח ושמירת נפש, in Hilchos Gezeilah v'Aveidah, in time and time again. The Sefer HaChinuch says that the definition of the law of לא תתורו אחרי לבבכם, the precise definition we're about to try to review בלי נדר בעזרת השם is the Sefer HaChinuch's but he's certainly, in a general sense, following in the footsteps of the Rambam here, says that the definition of לא תתורו אחרי לבבכם is that a person should not gratuitously preoccupy his mind with machshavos which are hepech da'as haTorah. So clearly that those lines need to be drawn and need to be established al pi halacha. So what machshavos are hepech da'as haTorah and what machshavos are not hepech da'as haTorah are part of Torah, are part of an eilu v'eilu in Torah. So those are all halachic questions, all halachic questions, all subject to psak halacha. A talmid is supposed to learn Torah from a רב דומה למלאך השם צבאות, a rebbe is supposed to teach Torah to a talmid hagon. So for those halachos to be applied and observed, so both of those terms need to be defined and need to be understood, and that also belongs to the realm of halacha. It belongs to the realm of halacha, so then memeiyla the standard of higiya l'hora'ah, lo higiya l'hora'ah is to be applied. And it means to to espouse, to advocate, to stake out, to put forth an opinion, a shita, a person has to be higiya l'hora'ah because we're dealing with halacha and halacha of devarim which are mamish עומדים ברומו של עולם. There is a mindset that we need to be aware of. If you're walking down the street and the sidewalk is uneven, maybe the roots of the tree are pushing up the sidewalk, so a person needs to be aware not to trip. We're naturally susceptible to being influenced, so we need to be aware of what's around us. So in American society, politicians pursue certain courses of action. They have certain, I guess, shitas about how to deal with North Korea. And then the rest of the country, everyone gives a deiah, everyone's... למד לשונך איני יודע is not an American value. Everyone has a deiah, everyone has a deiah, not just a deiah, but everyone, but but not expressed with an overabundance of tentativeness either. The shita is right, the shita is wrong, this is what we should be doing. Keeps the decibel level in coffee rooms at a very healthy level. Okay, so that's דברים של מה בכך. Okay. So ein hachi nami if a person should be learning, so bitul Torah, but leaving that aside, okay, דברים של מה בכך. Not to belittle the issue but to belittle the significance of... it doesn't make too much difference whether I think the policy with North Korea is a good one or a bad one. That's דברים של מה בכך, not to belittle the issue itself. But when baalei hora'ah, when morei hora'ah issue piskei halacha or act in a way that embodies, that represents, that manifests a psak halacha, so one can't react that same way, the same way one sits around and discusses whether one likes the president's foreign policy towards North Korea or whether one likes the mayor's policy about homeless shelters. When it comes to homeless shelters, so the mayor is no more entitled to an opinion than anyone else. But that type of attitude of critiquing, of, "I am equally entitled, I really think I'm more entitled but I don't say that, I'm equally entitled to a de'ah on this topic," so that belongs to American political life, belongs to American political life, to democracy, we're all entitled to vote. Belongs to American political life. But it has no place in, avada, avada when ba'alei hora'ah give a psak, we should try to understand, and if we don't understand, we should in a mindset of Talmud Torah, of bikush emes, we should try to understand. But obviously there's a very different mindset that one has in horving over a tshuvah that initially we don't understand in Igros Moshe as opposed to reacting to a president's foreign policy or some initiative a mayor has for his city. It's a very, very different tone and tenor and attitude and the approach. Just parenthetically, only not to try to avoid being misleading, which is not to say that in Agaddah, something which really is classified as Agaddah, there's a free-for-all and the der hefkeirus has its place, but we're talking about halachos, so we're, so this application we're spelling out in terms of the realm of halachah. The ויהי ממחרת וישב משה לשפוט את העם, avada Moshe Rabbeinu triaged his time. Torah, in terms of our connection, in terms of our living Torah, can only, only be sustained when there's a כי יבוא אלי העם לדרוש אלקים, when there's a כי יהיה להם דבר בא אלי ושפטתי, when there's a והודעתי את חוקי האלקים ואת תורותיו. Mitzideinu there has to be, we have to seek that out in all those areas. What's correct emunah, what isn't correct emunah is not something for me to give a de'ah on, not something for me to give a de'ah on. What machshavos are consistent with das haTorah, what are heipech das haTorah. Who are talmidim to teach, who are rebbeim to learn from, and all these things we need to seek guidance, we need to accept, respect, and revere that guidance, and recognize that what we're being told is not a personal opinion, is bevhinah shel והודעתי את חוקי האלקים ואת תורותיו. It's the only, only way that authentic Torah life can be sustained. And that's why Vayehi mimacharas, the first thing Moshe Rabbeinu does, the first thing he does is וישב משה לשפוט את העם. It's the only way authentic Jewish life can be sustained.