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Studying the Responsories

שו”תCategory: Talmudic studyStudying the Responsories
asked 10 months ago

Hello Rabbi Michael,
When studying an issue carefully, is it worth also looking at halakhic answers, despite the concern that they do not always aim at the truth of the Talmudic issue? After all, sometimes a posk comes before a very complex case that requires him to consider practical, social needs as well, and if he does not find a way to make it easier, a major problem will result. So even if he comes to analyze the issue with the Rishonim – he will of course not do it with a pure analysis but with a certain trend (even if it is justified).
It is not always clear from the context of the question whether there was truly a great need at that moment to permit, or whether the posk is truly interpreting the issue as he understands it. Therefore, when you study an issue carefully, should you also consult the Responsa literature to see how the issue was analyzed, or should there be no reason to?


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מיכי Staff answered 10 months ago
Of course it should. I don’t understand what the problem is. You study their analysis and then decide what you accept and what you don’t. To May NPM, was the adjudicator biased? You examine his words, not him.

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דוד replied 10 months ago

Is there also something to try to determine from the answer? For example, if I read a restitution by some rabbi – do you believe that one should scrutinize it as if I were reading his novellas on the Gemara? Try to prove from his restitution in favor of a particular side in the investigation I raised? It is possible that he himself did not intend this interpretation, but what can be done? A question came before him and he had to interpret it this way – even if we accept that there is a certain interpretation that makes sense to me in the restitution, is it even possible to develop moves from it beyond what is written?
And besides, there are certainly times when you examine the posek. Not him himself, but if I read the restitution of the Rashba, I can determine from this that his own method is such and such on the issue. And if he were truly biased, there is nothing to prove that he actually believes this way systematically, and he would not necessarily disagree with another rabbi.

מיכי Staff replied 10 months ago

I don't see where this discussion is going. I said there's an interest in reading answers and it doesn't matter what the writer's method is. So what do I care if he meant it or not? Accuracy is also irrelevant unless the result seems correct to you.
And in general, how do you expect a general answer to a question like this? Of course, each answer and all context are separate. You need to use common sense and not accumulate rules about whether to be accurate or not. The assumption is that if someone writes something, they mean it. They're not lying. You can claim that the fact that they believe this stems from some need or distress. So what?

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