Igros Moshe (YD III #91) Question: Publishing a sefer with translations and final halacha from the Igros Moshe Answer I heard that someone is publishing a sefer in English citing the rulings from my Igros Moshe. It is clearly forbidden even if the translation is accurate.. Today there is no one who is able to publish halachic rulings without a clear explanation and sources. People have previously requested from me for permission to do this. I replied to them that I will not give permission. In addition I am concerned that it my words will not be described properly. There are many ways to err or to cause others to err. Even to translate the entire teshuva, it is obviously problematic to give to the unlearned masses material to make incorrect deductions and comparisons. I therefore strongly protest with the strongest protest against this.
The background to the tshuva.
Rabbi Rakefet had written an index to the first 5 volumes which he summarized in English in the Introduction. Rav Moshe found out about it and mistakenly thought he was making a summary of the Igros in English or a new shulchan Aruch based on Rav Moshe's teshuvos. R Rakefet's index was never published except for his introduction in his pamphlet for Russian Jews [Rakafot Aharon page 58-71]. In fact this English introduction briefly summarized the Igros. Later a Sefer on Hilchos Shbbos was published which took the psakim of Rav Moshe summarized in English with those of the Debreciner and it had the written haskoma of Rav Moshe. Rabbi Goldberger wrote Rav Moshe asking him to explain his lenient attitude towards the latter and his extremely harsh attitude to the former (Rav Moshe had stated he was willing to go to court to stop its publication). The resulting tshuva was actually a composite tshuva - according to Mordechai Tendler. A reply to Rabbi Goldberger's question and a general discussion about psak and in particular his own in the Igros Moshe.
Igros Moshe (YD IV #38.1) Question What is psak halacha Rav vs Sanhedrin? A clarification of what was written in Igros Moshe YD III #91) Answer I had written that I did not want that there be published a sefer consisisting of my final halachic rulings from Igros Moshe without explanation and sources. The reason for this is that I am fully aware of my insignificance. Despite my knowledge of the entire Talmud both the Bavli and Yerushalmi and in addition the words of all the Poskim and surely the words of explanation and innovation of our Rabbis because there are also those which I have not seen. However I have relied on what I was able to clarify and conclude based on my own ability and that is the essence of poskening. As I have written in the Introduction to my Igros Moshe. In addition as I wrote there I have have written the reasoning which was the basis of my conclusion. Thus I am serving simply as a teacher of halacha not as a decider of halacha since the reader can study the material and decide for himself. I also cite in the Introduction the words of Rabbi Akiva Eiger because I am always afraid to make a final ruling. It is enough that I must reply to those who ask me. I am worried about the statement of our Sages not to be one of those who is capable of making halachic rulings and doesn’t. Nevertheless I rely on the possibility that the questioner will study the matter and my reasoning and decide himself even though I know that there are those who rely totally on me and my conclusions because they weren’t able to study the material. However if they don’t have the time it is possible to rely on my conclusion for the time being and study it later and thus if they don’t agree they can retract their ruling. They can rely on me in an emergency since most of my rulings are definitely correct and study the material later. Since they have the have the ability to study the material that allows them to rely in the mean time on the rulings in my sefer. Thus this is not actually accepting my rulings just because he has my sefer. Aside from this I take no responsibility. However to completely rely on my rulings that I have published in my sefer so that I am the Posek, I am doubtful whether I have that ability. The permission to make halachic rulings is only for the actual case that is brought to the Posek and not for others that seem similar in other places It is in fact permitted for another talmid chachom to rule differently than what I have written if he reasons differently. This is true even if a person was given explicit permission to make rulings for the entire world. There is no vadility in such universal rulings. Only the Sanhedrin can make rulings which apply to cases that don’t come before them. All other rulings merely serve as possible precedents for a Rav for his ruling on a case that comes before him and thus serve as study material
Meanwhile I still have the book in which Rav Tendler, zt"l, translated a bunch of Rav Moshe's, zt"l, teshuvos on medical halakha and I recall being told by the guy who sold it to me about this controversy.
ReplyDeleteBottom line, it seems, is that if you can't read Rav Moshe in the original, you shouldn't be reading it in the English.
"Thus I am serving simply as a teacher of halacha not as a decider of halacha"
ReplyDeleteOk very interesting..
Straight out of his introduction - he's humble, doesn't seem himself as THE major authority, just that people ask him questions and he answers them and they can do what they want with the answer, it's just his opinion.
DeleteAlso
ReplyDeleteThe Yerushalmi was written when there was still a kind of Sanhedrin in Eretz Yisrael.
Shouldn't it therefore be more authoritative than the Bavli, where they couldn't have had a Sanhedrin?
The Bavli is more authoritative because it knew about the Yerushalmi and built on it. Also, the Yerushalmi quite often drops the ball halfway through a discussion without ever coming to a conclusion. You know those Bavlis where they go back and forth for half a daf before saying "teiku"? The Yerushalmi skips all that and just abruptly moves to the next sugya.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the Rambam prefers the psak of the Yerushalmi and supposedly in Moshiach times not only will we follow Beis Shamai but the Yerushalmi over the Bavli.