HALACHA-----shopping for a psak

Yaakov1 Posted - 30 December 2001 22:24

---

I'm a little unclear the idea of "shopping around" for poskim. Once a posek is asked something and he gives a psak, is it ever mutar to ask someone else who is meikle?

I had a question about studying for school on Yom Tov. There was a huge test right after Sukkos and I didn't know what to do. I asked one posek who said it was assur, but when I told him that I've heard of Rabbanim who are meikle he said to go ask them. When I asked how this was allowed, he told me that he is mochel.

Is that enough? Is there anything in the Shulchan Aruch (or anywhere else) about this issue of asking poskim?

MODERATOR Posted - 30 December 2001 22:57

---

You are allowed to ask a Posek a question even if you previously asked a different one, provided you inform the second posek that you already asked the question, and you tell him what the first posek answered.

However, just because you find a posek that gives you the answer that you want does not mean you can go follow him against like the first 100 poskim who told you differently. You have to be objective about it: Was any of those asked bigger than the others? if there is a disagreement, is this a question of a D'Oraysa, or a D'Rabonon, etc. and factors such as these will determine the measure of flexibility you may have in determining what to do in the bottom line.

rabbinyc Posted - 23 July 2004 7:34

---

Moderator: in the last post you wrote: "However, just because you find a posek that gives you the answer that you want does not mean you can go follow him against like the first 100 poskim who told you differently”. My question to you is where did you take that ruling from?...please respond. Thank you

MODERATOR Posted - 23 July 2004 8:12

---

Because since you do not know who is right, to you, the issue is still a safek, and we have rules regarding what to do in a case of safek d'oraisa or drabonon etc. If you want to see this in detail in writing, Rav Shlomo Zalman ZTL says it in his Minchas Shlomo - and he’s talking where its 1 against 1; not 100 against one.

See also the pischei Teshuva (YD 100 I think) where he brings a machlokes between the Tzemach Tzedek and Bais Yaakov - whether if you follow a Rav (i.e. an average Rav who is not a renown Posek) and the Rav happens to be wrong, whether you are or are not considered a Mazid (purposeful sinner) - that itself is a machlokes.

A psak of a Rav is not a permit to do anything except to the extent that you can assume that the psak of the Rav is correct. If you have equal and opposite reason to assume it’s not correct then you are faced with a safek, not a psak.