Shabbos (3b) Rabbi Ḥiyya said to Rav, his sister’s son: Son of great men, didn’t I tell you that when Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi is involved in this tractate do not ask him questions in another tractate, as perhaps it will not be on his mind and he will be unable to answer? The dilemma that Rav asked was not related to the subject matter of the tractate which they were studying. As, had it not been for the fact that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi is a great man, you would have shamed him, as he would have been forced to give you an answer that is not an appropriate answer. Now, he was involved in another tractate. Nevertheless, he answered you well,
Many years ago I was a student in Shor Yoshuv studying under Rav Freifeld. The highpoint of each week was his drasha Shabbos morning after kiddush. One Shabbos he talked about this gemora in Shabbos which I had recently learned with my chavrusa and according to my understanding he was clearly mistaken, I went to him when he finished and commented that I thought he had misunderstood the gemora, His response was not defensive or even how dare I question him from my clearly inferior understanding. He instead said, "What to you expect when I haven't looked at the gemora in 25 years."
The point is that the desirable quality is not being the greatest scholar but an awareness of one's limitation and a readyness to publically acknowledge it
What is your question?
ReplyDeleteIs it about the content of the Gemora?
Is it about an overall definition of a gadol?
Is about humility and intellectual honesty?
I don't know much about Rav Freifeld. Do talmidim generally see their Rosh yeshivas as Gaonim?
There are different qualities of a talmid chacham
It can be outstanding knowledge and learning.
The ability to draw out knowledge and apply to halacha.
It used to be chiddushim too but now that is suspect.
Could be recognition by peers.
A great tzaddik.
Rav Hershel shachter mentioned a letter of the chazon ish
Where he says the difficult part of a psak is to find which part of the shulchan aruch defines the question or problem in case.
Being a "Godol" used to be organic. You learned, you worked hard, you put out teshuvos and survived the blowback. Nu, now you're a Godol. That's how Rav Moshe, zt"l, described the process.
ReplyDeleteToday it's a politicial appointment or haves the z'chus to have Artscroll or Feldheim put out a hagiography about you.
There used to be many Gedolim.
Delete50, 100 years ago there were a large number of Gedolim.
A century ago, even a small town like Dvinsk had 2 major gedolei hador.
Today there's hardly anyone that meets the standard of a great gadol.
There are plenty of scholars who are Gedolim in knowledge and stature but don't get the label because of politics.
DeleteThe Rav, zt"l, was a Gadol but leaving the Aguda for YU meant getting stripped of the label, not because he suddenly turned stupid but because he did something the herd didn't like.
Rav Steinsaltz, zt"l, was the Rashi of our time with his prolific work on making Torah accessible to modern folks. Didn't even get a mention in the Chareidi press when he passed because Rav Shach, z"l, didn't like him. How many people benefited from Rav Schach's Torah? How many from Rav Steinsaltz? But politics.
Rav soloveitchik was still recognised as a gadol by most people
DeletePerhaps not by Rav shach.
There are others who were very great
Rav Kasher for example.
Steinsaltz is a popular writer but he was criticised for making false statements about the Talmud.
Believe it or not this wasn't only by Rav shach
But also by Rav Shlomo Goren.
I remember seeing an article in the Jerusalem post in the early '90s where they were criticising Goren for being intolerant
But he was a very great talmudist probably greater than the above named.