Tuesday, March 1, 2011
When Should a Rabbi say they don't know?
11:50 AM | 
Posted by
Rabbi Chaim Coffman |
Over the years, I have had the privilege to meet many world -class rabbinical authorities. I have heard pearls of wisdom from all of them and was truly impressed how they internalize the lessons of the Torah and make it part of their everyday life.
The most important lesson from all these experiences that I learned was to know when to say "I don't know" better than giving a bad answer. That to me showed the ultimate in humility and honesty. No one is expected to know everything but even more importantly, when we don't know or are not sure or we have to speak to someone greater than ourselves for advice, we shouldn't hesitate to do so.
This also leads to another important point. Even the greatest rabbinical authorities have to know if they are in disagreement with their contemporaries, they have to know when to 'bow' out and go according to the majority. That means when there is a difference of opinion on a certain matter and many other contemporaries disagree with their point, one must be humble and conform with the majority.
I have seen very often in rabbinic literature, that a Talmudic giant will give an opinion on a certain question but will say that even though they think their opinion is right and they have spent the entire responsa proving it, because no contemporary authorities agree with them, they will not 'die' for their opinion.
This means that even if they have all the proofs to back up their theory, they have to be in line with the rabbinical authorities of their time. The Talmud is clear that we have to go according to the majority. We have to know when to bend our will to others when we are in the minority.
Chaim
The most important lesson from all these experiences that I learned was to know when to say "I don't know" better than giving a bad answer. That to me showed the ultimate in humility and honesty. No one is expected to know everything but even more importantly, when we don't know or are not sure or we have to speak to someone greater than ourselves for advice, we shouldn't hesitate to do so.
This also leads to another important point. Even the greatest rabbinical authorities have to know if they are in disagreement with their contemporaries, they have to know when to 'bow' out and go according to the majority. That means when there is a difference of opinion on a certain matter and many other contemporaries disagree with their point, one must be humble and conform with the majority.
I have seen very often in rabbinic literature, that a Talmudic giant will give an opinion on a certain question but will say that even though they think their opinion is right and they have spent the entire responsa proving it, because no contemporary authorities agree with them, they will not 'die' for their opinion.
This means that even if they have all the proofs to back up their theory, they have to be in line with the rabbinical authorities of their time. The Talmud is clear that we have to go according to the majority. We have to know when to bend our will to others when we are in the minority.
Chaim
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2 comments:
This is a great point and we all need to remember that no matter how knowing one is on this earth, Hashem is the only one who knows all. There is much that each of us doesn't know and to assume otherwise is foolish. I look forward to learning more from your writings with ever post and more from Hashem every second of the day.
Thanks so much. It is not so much of how much of ourselves we put in the Torah but how much of the Torah we put into ourselves.
Chaim
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