Talk:Rabbinic authority

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Lenghty quotes

Placing them here if someone cares to summarise in better copy writing. I.am.a.qwerty (talk) 23:17, 23 August 2021 (UTC)

Haredi and Orthodox views

According to Avi Shafran of Agudath Israel of America:

[Da'at Torah] is that those most imbued with Torah-knowledge and who have internalized a large degree of the perfection of values and refinement of character that the Torah idealizes are thereby rendered particularly, indeed extraordinarily, qualified to offer an authentic Jewish perspective on matters of import to Jews - just as expert doctors are those most qualified (though still fallible, to be sure) to offer medical advice... The phrase da'at Torah may be a relatively new one, but the insinuation that the concept it reflects is some sort of modern invention by "unmodern" Jews is absurd... The Talmud and Jewish history are replete with examples of how the Jewish community looked to their religious leaders for guidance about social, political and personal decisions - decisions that, as believing Jews, they understood must be based on authentic Torah values.

Rabbi Pesach Eliyahu Falk writes:

That which Poskim cannot prove from an explicit source, is decided upon by a thought-process which has been tuned and refined by tens of thousands of hours of Torah study (and with elderly Talmidei Chachamim even hundreds of thousands of hours) which enables them to perceive where the pure truth lies. This process is called da’as Torah - an opinion born out of Torah thought. Their thought-process has not been affected by secular and non-Jewish ways of thinking.

Rabbi Alfred Cohen argues:

"[F]rom time to time rabbinic figures will make pronouncements about political agendas or personalities... Do great Torah scholars possess some kind of special insight even into mundane matters? The Gemara says that "a talmid chacham is preferable to a prophet." What does this mean, in what sense is he superior? ... It is my understanding that these great Rabbonim are describing a phenomenon very close to what is colloquially perceived as daat Torah: That a person who spends his nights and days immersed in Torah wisdom eventually becomes imbued with an almost intuitive grasp of what [God] wants; in that sense, his advice can be wonderfully insightful for the individual and of great assistance to the community. Written centuries ago, these opinions hardly constitute a "modern phenomenon" reflective of a breakdown in traditional communal structures, and the concomitant weakening of the influence of community rabbis and lay leaders. Although the role of Roshei Yeshiva, possessed of great Torah scholarship and often personal charisma, may indeed be far more prominent nowadays than in the past, it is hardly indicative of a new phenomenon."

Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein writes:

“…I find the alternative view, that gedolei Torah are professional experts whose authority and wisdom can ordinarily be regarded as confined to the area of their technical proficiency, simply inconceivable. Our abiding historical faith in the efficacy of Torah as a pervasive, ennobling, informing, and enriching force dictates adoption of the concept of da'at Torah in some form or measure.”

Rabbi Nahum Rabinovich argued conversely that the practice found in some Haredi circles of blindly following the advice of rabbinic leaders for all personal decisions is not related to the mishnaic concept of emunat chachamim.

References