Q&A: The Greats of Israel
The Greats of Israel
Question
What do you say about an argument like this?
The Mesilat Yesharim writes about piety: that a person who wants all his actions to be in the way of God, including thinking about the relevant factors, can only be someone whose entire will is to do God's will, who constantly examines his actions, and who casts his burden upon the Holy One, blessed be He (afterward).
And since I am not like that, and no one else I know is like that either, I am obligated to do what he says, because presumably that is God's will.
Answer
I didn't understand the question. If you think this is not God's will and he says that it is, are you supposed to accept his view because he is pious and righteous? For me to accept his opinion, he has to be wise, not righteous. And even if he is wise, there is no necessity that he is right.
Discussion on Answer
I explained. Even if we assume that he really wants to do God's will, who says he is right that this is in fact God's will? And beyond that, there is a right and an obligation of autonomy: to act according to what you think (see my article "Authority and Autonomy").
Are you not accepting what Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto writes, or the conclusion that follows from it—that I need to listen?
If we assume that Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto is right, then presumably he is carrying out God's will more correctly.
And what do you think in a neutral case?