AIMeM thanks Uri Kirshstein for filling in this week.
In Pirkei Avos (1:1), we are taught to,
“raise up many students”; not to teach or inspire, but to raise up. The
primary goal isn’t simply to educate our students and children, but to educate
them to the point where they can think for themselves and become intellectually
and practically independent. Chazal tell us about the interactions between Rabbah
and his student, Abaye, that Rabbah used to test Abaye by purposely giving over
wrong and illogical information. By receiving wrong information, Abaye was
forced to have to examine each situation by himself, and wouldn’t just accept
information given to him. From here we see the incredible importance of being
independent and thinking for ourselves.
However, a pasuk in our Parsha, Parshas
Shoftim, seems to contradict this important teaching. The pasuk commands us to
listen to the Beis Din, “According to the teachings that they will teach
you, and according to the judgement that they will say to you, shall you do.
You shall not deviate from the word they will tell you, right or left”
(Devarim 17:11).
Rashi, quoting a Sifri, explains that
this obligation is so strong that, “Even if the judge tells you that right is
left and left is right [you must listen to them]; how much more so if he tells
you that right is right and left is left” (Ibid). Chazal seem to be teaching us
that our personal opinion and logic does not matter, that we must do as the
Rabbis ask of us regardless of our understanding. What happened to the
importance of thinking independently?
To further complicate this matter, there
is a gemarah in Horayos that discusses a case involving the Sanhedrin mistaking
a piece of cheilev, forbidden fat, for a piece of shuman, permitted fat. One
sage opposes what he believes is a mistaken ruling by the Sanhedrin, and follows
his own opinion. If the dissenting sage eats this fat, he is obligated to bring
a sin offering, usually brought for one who sins mistakenly. The gemarah asks
why is his action is viewed as a mistake when he was simply following the
decision of the Sanhedrin? The gemarah answers saying that he mistakenly
thought that he must follow the views of the Sanhedrin, based on our pasuk,
even if they were wrong! The words of the pasuk do not apply in this case.
We see that there is a time and place
for both of these principles, independent thinking and complete reliance on the
Sanhedrin. But when does each one apply?
The answer to this question lies in the
nature of the ruling. When it comes to judging the merits of one thing over
something else, we must defer to our sages because they are far more educated
in the ways of the Torah, and have a better perspective than we do on what the
Torah wants. But in a case where the reality of a situation is in question, like
the case in Horayos, a person could be far less educated and still know the reality;
so we would be obligated to act as we know it to be, even if it contradicts the
statement of the Rabbis.
We are all responsible to maintain
intellectual curiosity, but we are also obligated to have the humility to
listen to those who have a better understanding on Torah than we do. Still,
just because we subjugate ourselves to the Rav, our viewpoint is not gone; what
we see, our literal views, still make a difference. However, by any
halachic decision, we defer to the Rabbi’s opinion, forfeiting our own logic
and personal views, because we recognize that we are not experts in this
matter, and that our perspective might not be as pure and Torah motivated as a
Talmud Chacham’s.
Shabbat Shalom!
Uri Kirshstein
lives in Charleston, South Carolina. He has studied at Yeshivas Derech Etz
Chaim in Jerusalem and Lander College for Men in Queens, New York. This is his
second contribution to AIMeM Torah.
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