Website Problems

Asked by Concerned · April 8, 2004 · Other

Question

Your site provides an invaluable service to the Jewish community, educating us in true Judaism without politics or censorship. We are all very grateful for this. However, recently, a problematic trend has manifested itself on the site. For years AA almost exclusively provided responses to all queries. Lately, CYA has also become seriously involved. The trouble is that their respective answers often conflict, leaving questioners troubled, confused or worse. As an example, Renee recently asked what could be ordered at Starbucks for Pesach. CYA ruled the idea of going to Starbucks on Pesach totally prohibited. On the other hand, AA has said for years that some things there are 100% OK. There have been similar problems with conflicting answers about kashering, Shabbat laws, etc. It is fairly clear that in general, CYA sticks more to the traditional, by the book Shulchan Aruch types of answers, while AA offers more lenient, "common sense" type responses. (See discussion of changing toothbrushes on Pesach as an additional example). I think we all understand that sometimes one brother has heard an explicit pesak that the other has not yet been privy too. However, I would ask that CYA and AA try to work together toward unifying their approach so that we all can remain on the right track. Oftentimes, when contradictions are pointed out, CYA or AA will ask the questioner to provide a source, rather than discussing it directly with his brother. Maybe this lack of direct communication with one another is one of the reasons why this website appears to lack unity. I feel that the conflicting opinions presented not only confuse readers, they also make them experience a sense of doubt about the reliability of what they learn on the site. I know that at this point I am much more cautious about following the halachic decisions printed here simply because I worry that, a day or two later, a retraction or correction will appear. I would like to feel more secure about what I see here, and to have the conviction that it really represents the decisions of Rav Abadi 100%. Thank You, Concerned

Answer

Answered by Aaron Abadi

I'm sorry you get that impression. I have explained this many times. If you have had the opportunity to study some Talmud you will notice that there are many disagreements between students as to what their Rabbi said. Sometimes it is that one heard wrong. Usually it is a change of decision between the time that A heard it and the time that B heard his version. Even the same Rabbi would often be hot and cold on a specific decision. (In VeLav VeRafyah Beyadey) We are presenting the truth. As far as you are concerned, if either one of us answers a question, it certainly came from our father. We have been hearing these laws from him for over 30 years. At times one of us might have a more updated Psak. If you do notice a contradiction, just say so, and we'll fax our father and get his current Psak. Determining Halachic decisions is a work in progress. It never stops. It is how the Torah works. This is standard in the Talmud and throughout the generations. When a specific rule is "no," then it is not permitted, and if at some point it is changed to "yes," then it is OK. I'm sorry that this wasn't conveyed to you in your initial training of Jewish Law. For example, Starbucks, was just a misunderstanding. CYA cleared it up since. Elevator on Shabbat was OK, but not to be abused. This was clarified later. We had written that deodorant is OK on Yom Kippur and everyone emailed me, "but your father says no in his own Sefer." I faxed it to my father, since I know he told me it's good and he said that he changed his decision, and will publish his reasons in the next Sefer. If what you I am telling you is not correct, then you need to throw out your Talmud and Shulchan Aruch and any Halachah Seforim. This is on every page. Unfortunately the ones that keep the same opinion for life on every law are obviously too proud to retract anything. That is a contradiction to being a Talmid Chacham. My father-in-law studied under Rav Moshe Feinstein. Once a student was arguing with Rav Moshe on an issue and Rav Moshe was not giving in. So the fellow took out Rav Moshe's own Sefer and showed him that he himself (Rav Moshe) wrote like this student, disagreeing on his own current statement. Rav Moshe looked at the Sefer, and then looked up and said, "I argue on this." He argued on his own opinion. If CYA and I were to read each post together and discuss them, it would defeat the purpose. There isn't enough time in either of our lives to answer everything. If you ask a question and you get an answer from either of us, you're all set. We got it from our father. That is how the Halachah works. I hope this clarified it to you. AA