There is a phenomenon or a pattern that seems in vogue in many circles nowadays, especially those who see Judaism as a set of Holy Tomes..
Here is an illustrative story -
Once upon a time, an intelligent Jew named "Adam" was marooned on a desert island. Adam missed intellectual stimulation. Miraculously, someone parachuted to him a library of solid, classic Halachic texts, Shas, Rishonim, etc. Adam - having no distractions - went on to master these texts and became an expert poseik. Eventually Adam got wi-fi and people started emailing him questions and he gave answers based upon solid sources.
Assuming was both intelligent and intellectually honest, what's missing from this process? Wouldn't expertise on Halachic texts be sufficient to become a world-class poseik?
Kol Tuv,
RRW
2 comments:
Obviously, Rav Eliashiv thought so.
That's no reason the rest of us have to agree.
Well it all depends on your definite of psak.
If you think the human element ruins a great determination of truth from the sources then yes, you've just described Rav Eliashiv's career.
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