Rules of jurisdiction and methods of adjudication

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asked 9 years ago

Hello Rabbi,

I wanted to ask you about the methods of ruling on halakhic law:

There is a well-known rule that rabbinic doubt is a word, and that from the Torah it is a matter of doubt.
In addition, there is a rule: after plurals, inflect.

But the Beit Yosef, in its halachic rulings, goes against the two rules above. The Beit Yosef does not consider most of the poskim, but only considers the three pillars of the teaching (the Rif, the Rosh, and the Rambam). In addition, when it has a reasonable doubt between these three pillars (say, one permits, one prohibits, and one did not rule), it usually (from what I have seen) does not use the rules of doubt from the Torah to the rabbinate/rabbinate to the rabbinate, but rather incorporates the opinions of other poskim and even its own judgment at times. Therefore, the question is, how and when is it appropriate to use the two rules above, and why the Beit Yosef did not use them.

In addition, is it correct to take into account the greatness of a particular rabbi when ruling on a halakhic issue between several systems, and if so, how should this be expressed in practice?

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מיכי Staff answered 9 years ago

In general, one should be careful with rules. The rules in the Talmud and Halacha are only recommendations. Furthermore, the rules for deciding in spikot are only in a situation where you are in doubt. The mere fact that there is a dispute does not mean that it is a situation of doubt. The Bible chose to write its codex in a precedential manner according to three jurists, because he thought they were the greatest. In this too, he is not entirely consistent. In my opinion, the greatness of a jurist has no meaning. Every opinion is legitimate, and if anything, what matters is the number, not the greatness. —————————————————————————————— Asks: But Maimonides wrote: Two sages or two courts of law who disagreed outside the Sanhedrin, or before the matter reached them – whether at the same time or one after the other – one defiles and one purifies, one forbids and one permits: if you do not know which way the law inclines – according to the Torah, go with the stricter one; and according to the words of the scribes, go with the milder one. In other words, Maimonides presents a situation where when there is a disagreement between poskim, one should be lenient in the case of the rabbis, and stricter in the case of the Torah. —————————————————————————————— Rabbi: “If you don’t know where the law is headed.”

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