In conclusion, the main Ashkenazi approach is not to allow kabbalah to supersede the halacha. Indeed, R. Moshe Feinstein writes (OC 4:3) that the Arizal is to be viewed as just one of the many revered poskim, not the supreme one. This is also the opinion of even the Sephardic posek R. Ovadia Yosef in Yabia Omer (OC 9:105) and other places.
In the teshuva in the earlier post, Rav Moshe appears to be saying that you pasken by the most lenient opinion. But he equates Kabbalah to the Zohar, according to the MB.
ReplyDeleteSo is it the most lenient Kabbalah opinion, or can a classical halachic opinion be brought as well?
He is dealing with a situation where there is no agreement among poskim and he accepts the rule that in such a case we can accept the view from Kabbala as normative but he notes that doesn't mean the view of Arizal
DeleteThe best answer I ever heard was "The Mechaber and the Rema both knew Kabbala quite well. If they didn't pasken like it, then that should tell you something."
ReplyDeleteBut then you have Chasidim, especially Lubavitchers, who claim that the Zohar is the real Oral Law and always supercedes the Talmud which was only written for simple people at a low level.