The Rav's Pursuit of Halachic Truth

Rabbi Blau delivers Torah U'Madda Lecture to YC Students

On Tuesday, March 24 in the Rubin shul, Rabbi Yosef Blau delivered the first lecture of Yeshiva University's Torah U-Madda Project, Spring 1998 evening lecture series. Rabbi Blau, Mashgiach Ruchani of the Mazer Yeshiva Program and the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, entitled his lecture "From the Legacy of the Rav - The Rav's Attitude Towards Halakhic Truth: The Rav as Posek."

R' Blau contended that the Rav's views on halakha were not widely discussed because he published very little on the subject. The reason for this, said R’ Blau, is that the Rav felt that the most important part of the halakhic process was not the final decision, but the method used to arrive at that decision. It is for this reason that there were some who interpreted a number of the Rav’s statements as contradictory. According to R’ Blau, this stems from the fact that the Rav judged each situation di fferently, taking into account not only the literal halakhic ruling, but the pertinent circumstantial factors as well.

R' Blau gave an example of this principle in action. When the young Blau was asked to be a scholar-in-residence at a synagogue that did not have a mechitza, he sought the input of the Rav. The Rav told him that he was allowed to speak there, but shou ld not daven there. Interestingly enough, however, the rabbi of the synagogue had received the Rav’s permission to be a rabbi there. According to R’ Blau, this is an instance in which someone could misconstrue the two rulings of the Rav and believe them to be contradictory.

R' Blau maintained that the main feature of any of the Rav's shiurim on halakha was the lack of a definitive answer. Always interested in the creative process, the Rav was so convincing in explaining the thought processes behind a particular viewpoint that people came to believe that this was the Rav's own position. His personal position, in fact, mattered very little to the Rav when deciding a question posed to him. Even his influential book, Halakhic Man, was not a personal opinion. As R’ Blau put it, "Ish Ha-Halacha is Rav Chaim [Soloveitchik], Rav Moshe [Feinstein], Rav Velvel [the Rav’s uncle]; but not the Rav – he never says it is himself. He is just explaining a particular viewpoint."

In order to fully comprehend the Rav's view of halakha, according to R' Blau, one must realize that the Rav believed that halacha accepts multi-valued truths. An example given is that of bein hashmashos (twilight), a sort of halakhic no man’s l and. This period is usually seen as either day or night; the Rav saw it as day and night. Although day and night are distinct, halakha accepts that they are both possible at the same time.

As the lecture neared its close, R' Blau hammered the point home that in the Rav's Halakhic rulings everything was taken into account. "The history and unity of the Jewish people are fundamental themes in many of the Rav's talks and writings," R' Blau maintained. Halakha is sensitive to cultural and technological change, and every new scientific invention gives halacha a new category to analyze. In rulings the Rav issued, the key was not the actual decision at which he arrived, but rather how he came to that decision.

Even though the attendance was embarrassingly sparse - only twenty students and no faculty in attendance - those who did attend enjoyed the lecture. Eric Schubert, YC '99, exclaimed, "While listening to Rabbi Blau's speech, I realized the importance of the halakhic process, not just the outcome. To understand why we do certain things is an often overlooked aspect of Jewish life. It is unfortunate that I did not have the opportunity to hear the Rav while he was alive."

Information about upcoming Torah U-Madda Project lectures is available through Joshua Cypress who may be contacted at all hours of the night.