Q&A: States of Doubt
States of Doubt
Question
Hello Rabbi, there is a halakhic rule that in a case of rabbinic-level doubt one rules leniently, and in a case of Torah-level doubt one rules stringently.
I would be glad if the Rabbi could tell me what counts as a state of doubt. I thought of three possibilities:
1. I have no knowledge about the case and its details.
2. The case has been decided in Jewish law, but I do not have the halakhic knowledge.
3. I have all the details of the case, but in order to issue a halakhic ruling I would need to go through many sources, which would take me a long time. But in practice I have only a short time to decide what the Jewish law is.
Answer
According to most halakhic decisors, if it is possible to clarify the matter, this is not considered a state of doubt. Otherwise, you could simply never study rabbinic laws at all and be lenient in every case, and you would completely nullify “do not turn aside.”
If you lack knowledge about the case, that is a factual doubt. That is of course the ordinary case of doubt. If you lack halakhic knowledge, you must study or ask. If you do not have time—not that it is difficult, but that it is impossible—then in my opinion this is a doubt. However, some have argued that in such a situation one may not be lenient regarding rabbinic law, because this is not a real doubt, and the rule that rabbinic-level doubt is treated leniently was not said about that.