חדש באתר: NotebookLM עם כל תכני הרב מיכאל אברהם

Q&A: The Authority of the Sages in the Eyes of the Individual

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This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.

The Authority of the Sages in the Eyes of the Individual

Question

Hello, honorable Rabbi. I read your remarks (which, as I understood it, were written more than a year ago) in an article regarding trust in the sages and their authority. I understood from your words that the Rabbi holds that preserving the current situation, without adapting Jewish law, in matters where the sages’ reasons are no longer relevant, is problematic and is rejected by reason. For opposite the importance of preserving tradition and avoiding a slide into anarchy in Jewish law stand desecration of God’s name, and missing the fulfillment of His will, which are direct or indirect results of preserving enactments/concerns whose rationale (as far as it is known to us) is no longer relevant.
And indeed, I agree with the rejection of the excuse that perhaps the sages had hidden intentions that they did not publicize, and that this justifies the harm caused to people and to God’s name.
My question is about the personal aspect. How can these ideas find expression in my personal life? As long as no body with halakhic authority arises and rules to cancel these enactments and concerns, must I wait and observe them fully? 
Or perhaps, as I tend to believe—though I would be glad to hear the Rabbi’s opinion on this point—the individual has a moral obligation to refrain from observing those enactments and concerns, or at least to practice them with some reservation, since observing them amounts to supporting a phenomenon that promotes desecration of God’s name and missing His command, as in the case of the second festival day of Rosh Hashanah, when one misses putting on tefillin, as the Rabbi explained. Or in the concern about legumes, where this causes desecration of God’s name when many people look—perhaps justifiably—with disdain at this practice. And similarly regarding the repetition of the prayer leader’s Amidah (if we assume that today there is no longer any reason for this enactment).
In summary, I would be glad to hear your opinion regarding the proper private conduct in this matter.
With blessings, Itamar.

Answer

I do not think that a person can change Jewish law on his own. There is a possibility of change, but it requires a reasonable rabbinic consensus.
As for legumes, I wrote a column about that, arguing that there one can change for oneself, because it is neither a decree nor an enactment. 

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