Question

Hello, honorable Rabbi. I haven’t known the Rabbi for very long, but from the little I’ve gotten to know him, I was both amazed and shocked in two respects. I was amazed by the breadth and knowledge in every part of Torah, and there is no need to elaborate on that at all. But I was shocked in several ways, and I will state them briefly. A. Why is it that on almost every issue the Rabbi differs from what the leading sages of the generation—who have led the public for hundreds of years—have determined? For example, the concept of da’at Torah, which the Rabbi has turned into a ridiculous matter; yet as far as I know (and the matter is explicit in the Hazon Ish’s book Faith and Trust), the concept of da’at Torah comes from the power of Torah and not necessarily from knowledge of reality. And see also chapter 6 of tractate Avot, in what Midrash Shmuel writes there, if I remember correctly, on mishnah 2. Torah has a unique power to give the rabbi the correct advice and the true opinion in all areas of Torah and life, even if in practice he does not have the relevant factual knowledge. [By the way, regarding da’at Torah, in my humble opinion it is absolutely forbidden to insert our personal opinions—as, for example, the Rabbi wrote regarding iPhones. First, because we have many personal biases, chief among them the evil inclination, which the leading sages of the generation do not have (as is explicit in the Hazon Ish’s Faith and Trust). Second, because otherwise you have nullified the entire concept of listening to the leading sages of the generation (which is explicit in Sefer HaChinukh, that today the Torah command of “do not deviate” applies to them). And although I joked that the reason the Hazon Ish ruled against electricity was because he had shares in a generator factory… dust in the mouth of those who speak so… and think carefully about it.] B. Forgive the audacity of the question, but sometimes the Rabbi lacks the desired tact in the religious area, and I will give two examples. a. On the matter of iPhones— even if in the Rabbi’s opinion the thing is permitted, etc., does the Rabbi not think that a young man, or even a kollel student, who holds such a device could fall and reach the depths of the pit, even if pornography sites are blocked? And all this only because he heard from the Rabbi that perhaps the matter is permitted. We already find in the Talmud and the halakhic decisors the concept of “it is the law, but one does not instruct this publicly,” and here too, in my humble opinion, everyone would agree that one must erect a fence, since the matter is dangerous and can easily lead to the depths. Would the honorable Rabbi teach his son something that might cause him to jump into the road?? I don’t think that in such a case the Rabbi would say, “Let him cope,” or the like, and that it depends on each individual. And regarding this, we say that a Torah-level doubt is ruled stringently by Torah law itself, even according to Maimonides. b. On the matter of wasting seed, the Rabbi referred someone to a certain article saying that it is not as severe as people make it out to be, etc. Although there is some benefit in that, in that perhaps he will repent, what about the concern that a young man may fall into such a grave sin??? I would be happy to receive a response from his honor, and forgive me if I did not write with the proper respect, but Torah makes one passionate. Thanks in advance.