Englishman: I meant no disrespect. And yes, it troubles me greatly that I am troubled that R’ Moshe does that. But what can I do? I have to learn Torah, and when I learn R’ Moshe and see that he says that Rishonim just can’t say what they actually do say, I have no idea what to do. I can’t C”V disagree with any P’sak. But when I want to learn and find Amittah Shel Torah I am very troubled.
(I can perfectly explain what R’ Moshe did and why he did it. He knew Kol Hatorah Kula and learned Ad Amittah Shel Torah and therefore knew that certain Shittos just could not exist in the Rishonim. So he says there must be a typo or misunderstanding somewhere. Because those Shittos would go against Amittah Shel Torah, therefore they can’t exist. But when I (or anyone else) is trying to learn and see that these Shittos do actually exist in the Kidvei Yad or are cited in other sources, I just don’t know what to do. The most famous example is the Sefer Hatziyuni. R’ Moshe says it must be a forgery because it says Apikorsus and attributes it to R’ Yehudah Hechassid. But the Sefer Hatziyuni was a well-accepted and often-quoted Kaballah Sefer for hundreds of years. And the Shittah of R’ Yehudah Hechassid that R’ Moshe said could not exist because it was Apikorsus is stated by or in the name of R’ Yehudah Hechassid in other Mekoros also. So I honestly have no idea what to do with such a Shittah. The Tzitz Eliezer addressed such a Derech very harshly. I am not the Tzitz Eliezer and therefore cannot say anything negative about it, but it does trouble me greatly. In fact, that fact that it troubles me so much is only because of the extreme Kavod I have for R’ Moshe. If most other Poskim would say such a thing I would probably just say he’s against the Rishonim and move on.)
I hope that explains things. It was not at all C”V intended to be a Chutzpah towards R’ Moshe.
Pcoz: That is true. He argues on Rishonim sometimes (albeit very rarely) and is perfectly allowed to. That’s not the issue here.