Question

Hello, honored Rabbi,
I looked a bit into your work and saw your extensive and enriching engagement with matters of the Oral Torah. I know my question is somewhat broad, and it really calls for a book, or at least a trilogy, as the Rabbi has already published and discussed in one of his books on this topic. But regarding commitment to the Oral Torah: if the Rabbi could address our ability, as human beings, to work with the different approaches in Jewish law so as not to narrow the world of Jewish law and the service of God—yet where is the line beyond which the authority of the Oral Torah is nullified? In other words, to what extent am I obligated by the Oral Torah?
For example, regarding absorption in utensils: today we know that according to most approaches they do not absorb, meaning that from the standpoint of absorption there is no longer any issue of separating utensils because of mixing meat and milk. But I think there is also a spiritual idea here—separation on a psychological level, order and organization, as we see in many sources in the Talmud. Therefore, ideally I would separate utensils, but after the fact, if they got mixed up, there would be no need to kosher them.
How far can one go in renewing the sources of halakhic rulings? Are we bound by the Shulchan Arukh, the medieval authorities (Rishonim), and so on? Or is halakhic ruling broader than that, even at the price of losing the national character, the halakhic character, that Maran, the Beit Yosef, aspired to?
Thank you very much, Rabbi, for all your work.