Q&A: Authority to Issue Halakhic Rulings
Authority to Issue Halakhic Rulings
Question
Who has the authority today to issue halakhic rulings on matters that were not written in the Shulchan Arukh, in light of new developments in the world and so on?
Answer
No one has any authority to issue halakhic rulings. Not even the Shulchan Arukh. Only the Sanhedrin has authority, and the local rabbinic authority in his own community. The Shulchan Arukh acquired a certain authority because the public accepted it upon themselves (like the Talmud), but even that is not absolute. Even its commentaries disagree with it.
Discussion on Answer
There are lots of examples. Already at the time it was composed, people disputed the very pretension behind it (the Maharal and his brother, the Maharshal, and others). Later, the earliest commentators wrote that one should not issue halakhic rulings from the Shulchan Arukh alone (see the Encyclopedia Talmudit entry "Halakhah"), and afterward they permitted ruling in accordance with it because of the commentaries alongside it, which bring differing opinions and discuss its words. As for the Vilna Gaon, see examples here: https://www.machonso.org/hamaayan/?gilayon=58&id=1716
But most of the commentaries disagreed with it more than once. For example, in the Shakh, Choshen Mishpat sec. 46 subsec. 45, and sec. 38 subsec. 1, and many, many more. Must I go through them all like a peddler?!
Its commentaries disagree? Give an example.
As far as I know, people ask it.