Q&A: And You Shall Do According to What They Instruct You (the Haredi Public’s Joker Card)
And You Shall Do According to What They Instruct You (the Haredi Public’s Joker Card)
Question
What do you think about the joker card all the religious guys use in arguments—that they are obligated to listen to the leading sages of the generation and therefore they do not enlist, along with all kinds of other foolish decrees, based on “and you shall do according to what they instruct you”? Is this really Jewish law, trolling, custom, or some particular interpretation?
Answer
From the standpoint of Jewish law, there is no obligation nowadays to obey any sages. That was said about the Sanhedrin. But it certainly makes sense to listen to Torah scholars who understand Jewish law in order to do the right thing. Except that the instruction not to enlist is not Jewish law.
But beyond all that, the essential discussion is not about the obligation to obey the leading sages of the generation, but about the reason those leading sages themselves instruct people not to enlist. So what is the point of focusing on the duty of obedience?
There is such a concept as “Da’at Torah,” meaning genuine great Torah sages, the greatest Torah scholars, understand what the Creator wants in a case where there is no clear ruling about it (like all the great sages who made fences and safeguards, and there is an obligation to obey them under the rule of “and make a fence for My charge,” etc.)