gedalya and shaving
Question
Regarding the repply to Gedalya, is Rabbi Abadi saying that halacha can be decided based on whether a person will "look funny" or not? I do not understand the pesakim of Rabbi Feinstein because many of them I've heard of do not appear to be based on basic primary sources of the oral tradition. This does sound apikoros at a first glance, but let's think about the topic more deeply. Is there any halachic source besides the tanakh, the mishna, the talmud yerushalmi, the talmud bavli, and the tosefta that we can rely upon? I don't think so. And we have everything clearly codified in the Mishne Torah leha rambam, what more can we ask for? In his introduction to this code, the rambam clearly states that, after studying the written law, a jew should study the mishne torah and after that he will know the entire written and oral law without having to read any other book between them. That means that, by today's standards, the rambam would be considered an apikoros because of his statement that the only code we should follow until the reestablishment of the sanhedrin is the mishne tora. The problem that we have today is that people like gedalya like to justify their transgressions by looking at irrelevant contemporary teshuvot. And since everything that comes after the rambam is "also part of the oral law" we can rely upon that. I challenge to show me where feinstein's concept appears in one of the five sources I listed.
Answer
Answered by Aaron AbadiYou need to spend some real time looking into your religion. Not just picking a few opinions that suit you and run with them. Rabbi Feinstein's Pesakim are very well thought out, clearly written by a serious Talmid Chacham. You don't understand them, because you didn't read them through. You just heard bits and pieces and you're ready to pass judgment. His opinion on the shaving on Chol HaMoed is clearly based on the Mishna, the Talmud Bavli, the Talmud Yerushalmi, and the Tosefta. And even the Ramba"m. It isn't outright in the Torah, because it is a Gezera of the Chachamim, however I'm certain that it is mentioned in some way in Parshat Ha'azinu. He addresses the source of the Gezera showing how this was not a part of it. The source of the Gezera is that we don't let you cut your hair on Chol HaMoed, because if you can cut it on Chol HaMoed, you might be lazy and instead of cutting it before Yom Tov in honor of Yom Tov, you'll say to yourself, "Hey, I can do it on Chol HaMoed." In order that you should go into the holidays well groomed, the Rabbis decreed that you cannot cut your hair on Chol Hamoed. This was set for the type of hair cutting in those days, which was cutting the hair on their heads and trimming their beards. The Gezera said that you must cut it before and then they would go another month and cut it again. Today's shaving of our beards is something we need to do constantly, if not daily, every other day. It would have the opposite effect if this Gezera would apply, because in order to be well groomed on the first day of Yom Tov, we should walk around every day Chol Hamoed and both of the second days looking like a mess?! Isn't that absurd?! Rav Moshe learned the whole Torah, he read the Tana"ch, he learned through Sha"s, he read the Rishonim and many Acharonim, and he knew what it takes to determine a Halachah. Your statements are ridiculous and insulting. If the Ramba"m did mean his statement the way you understood it, is that acceptable? From the day the Ramba"m died there is no more Torah?! All future Rabbis can't make Halachic decisions anymore. You need to do better research or find a more honest Rabbi. I feel bad for you, but it takes a lot more knowledge than that to be able to proclaim yourself an Apikores. AA