Rav Schachter Clarifies

To the Editor:

As a rule, I do not allow myself to be interviewed by newspapers. One's position on sensitive issues is usually misrepresented by a short quotation taken out of the context of one's entire position.

When the writer for The Commentator approached me several weeks ago to speak about Edah, my initial reaction was to avoid granting him an interview for the above reason. But when he told me that he only had a quote from Rav Tendler, I was concerned lest it appear that the other Rabbeim in the Yeshiva are not in agreement with Rav Tendler in his opposition to Edah. I felt compelled to agree and make some statement.

I was most surprised to hear last week that some people had the impression, after reading the article in the March 9^th edition of The Commentator, that I was disagreeing with Rav Tendler. This is clearly a misunderstanding. Allow me to state again briefly my position.

Although the halakha does not change, the world is always changing. In every generation, even the shailos already worked out in former generations have to be reexamined because changing circumstances may have caused the shailos to be so different as to require different p'sokim. This is the theme of the introduction to my sefer "B'Ikvei HaTzohn." It is for this reason that new volumes of shailos u'tshuvos are still being published in every generation to determine how the immutable halakha relates to new circumstances. And this is exactly what the Edah group is dealing with.

The challenge and the engagement are most commendable, but only for those who qualify as poskim. This is exactly what Rav Soloveichik and Rav Moshe Feinstein worked on; how to translate the Torah principles into contemporary terms and how to apply the immutable Torah laws to the changing times. The Shulchan Arukh (Yoreh Deah 242:13) quotes from the Rambam that Talmidei Chachomim who are not qualified to pasken and nonetheless issue their opinions on halakhic matters are "responsible for causing rifts in the Jewish people, destroying the world, and causing the light of the Torah to become extinguished."

In the days of R. Akiva Eger and the Chasam Sofer, the Reform movement consisted of Orthodox rabbis who introduced changes in religious observance based on the Shulchan Arukh but without consultation with Rabbonim who were clearly greater Talmidei Chachomim than they were. There is clearly a tradition in p'sak. When that tradition is not adhered to, one is in violation of Torah law.

Rabbi Hershel Schachter

The author is a Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshiva University's affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.

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