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People from other religions (like the Conservatrive and the Reform, religions) also have leaders they call “Rabbi”.
I don’t call them that, but those who follow those religions, do.
photoman,
Yes, I’m familiar with Rav Moshe’s tshuvah, but my own rav earned semichah from Rov Soloveitchik who pasked otherwise.
Trying my best,
Rav Soloveitchik and Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin paskened that a 40 inch high mechitzah is kosher l’chatchila. Rav Henkin also paskened that a mechitzah must be rigid, so some of the high mechitzahs I’ve seen would not be kosher according to his opinion.
charliehall: Rav Soloveitchik agreed with Rav Moshe’s psak on the size of the mechitza (i.e. 66″, which is a lenient opinion.) Rav Henkin never published a psak on the minimum size.
Rav Soloveitchik and Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin paskened that a 40 inch high mechitzah is kosher l’chatchila.
I’m sorry, I do not believe that.
Perhaps the reference was to a mechitzah for the purposes of a rshus or a Succah.
80 and TMB-
read footnote 9 on page 8
I doubt you will question the integrity of both R’ Yehudah Herzl Henkin and R’ Herschel Shachter.
yitayningwut,
R.Y.H. Henkin is completely unreliable, including in his reporting of his grandfather Hagoen Hatzaddik Harav Yosef Eliyahu Henkin ZT”L’s positions — which he very frequently is completely at odds with himself. (This is aside from the fact he is not accepted for his positions and reliability in general in the Torah world.)
The only thing that footnote then shows is that Harav Schachter shlita said that Rav Soloveitchik zt’l allowed this only in dire circumstances (“of duress”).
qa-
You are incorrect, as R Y. H. Henkin’s reports about his grandfather are taken seriously by many mainstream poskim. See for example http://www.torah.org/advanced/weekly-halacha/5762/vayigash.html where Rabbi Doniel Neustadt, a rav who has a halacha coulumn in the Yated no less, quotes him matter-of-factly regarding this very psak.
As for Rav Solovetchik, yes the quote says he only allowed it in times of duress, but who’s to say that charliehall’s situation does not fit the criteria for that. That is for a competent rav to decide.
My point is that you cannot simply dismiss charliehall’s claim that these great poskim did indeed, at least in some circumstances, permit a mechitzah of only 10 tefachim, for it is backed up by reliable sources.
Rav Soloveitchik and Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin paskened that a 40 inch high mechitzah is kosher l’chatchila.
This is what I quoted. This is what I DO NOT BELIEVE and I see no reason in that footnote to change my belief. It is certainly possible that they permit such a mechitza in a shas d’ chak. What I absolutely do not believe is that they permit it l’chatchila as in the above quote from another post.
yitayningwut: The Torah.org article you cited actually demonstrates Rav Henkin ztv’l agreeing with Reb Moshe ztv’l’s 66″ height (which as mentioned previously is itself a lenient position.)
And WADR to Rabbi Doniel Neustadt shlita, a Young Israel Rov in Ohio, his utilizing Bnei Banim (and irregardless if he is published in Yated or no Yated) as a source provides no additional creditability to R.Y.H. Henkin (the grandson). I actually fully agree with “qa”‘s comment about him. If you would like, check out his seforim, inclding his Teshuva on mixed dancing, see what he says and decide if this is a person you want to quote. Or the funniest Teshuvah he has is about – and I promise I am not making this up – whether you are permitted (yes, permitted!) to say “Zatzal” on the Satmar Rebbe ztv’l, or is it prohibited to say Zatzal on him, since Zatzal would imply that he was a Tzadik. I am not kidding. He really has a lengthy discussion about this.
80-
You are right, I stand corrected. However I do still think charliehall’s general position can be maintained, albeit with a ‘loophole’ due to shas had’chak and not l’chatchila, as I have demonstrated.
TMB-
I disagree with you. For Rabbi Neustadt, a rav respected in the chareidi world to quote R. Y. H. Henkin for a source clearly indicates that he is considered reliable IN TERMS OF SOURCES. Obviously it has no bearing on how reliable he is in terms of psak. But it clearly shows that he is believed by the mainstream-right when he quotes his grandfather and he isn’t regarded as a liar.
And yes, I’ve been through his seforim, but his personal views are irrelevant to what I am trying to say here. All I am saying is that he is considered reliable when he quotes his grandfather.
My information regarding the position of Rav Soloveitchik z’tz’l came from my own rav, who earned semichah from The Rav in the 1960s.
My information regarding the position of Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin z’tz’l is from a response by Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin to a comment I had posted on another internet forum.
I stand by my statement.
doesn’t matter if the rabbi has a seruv issued on him (signed by 8 dayanim including Rav Belsky shlita):
ABSOLUTELY NOT!
If 8 dayanim were involved you know as well as any logical person who has EVER had dealings witha Bais Din before knows, it’s all POLITICS. A seruv is not something that should be a part of the equation.
If you have a PERSONAL problem with this rabbi, DEAL WITH HIM as you see fit. It is quite apparent that this is a PERSONAL issue and really has no place being discussed in the public forum.
How about davening somewhere where the Rav was summoned to Beis Din by a huge Gadol, but chose to ignore it? Then, when the gadol issued a psak based on the fact that the Rav ignored the summons, the psak was also ignored by the Rav? What would you say about such a place?
How can someone issue a “psak” if one party wasn’t present?
P.S. I would strongly advise all parties to omit any names or references that would make it obvious to whom they refer — if your point is anything other than theoretical — since you probably know less than half the facts.
Tmb: he paskened that they had a din of a lo tzayis dina, and lost many rights in a beis din. Additionally, he ruled that until the matter was resolved, the Rav in question was not allowed to do certain things which were the main point of the summons. The psak was ignored.
Feif Un: And how are you privy to all the facts? More likely you are going on third hand information from interested parties, and you are not knowledgeable of all the pertinent background details. Even what you do know may well be half baked information.
Moderators:
The conversation has now effectively deteriorated to a point of no return and all benefits from this thread have been exhausted.
I submit a motion to close this thread!!
I think that is a good idea
but before I do:
You are right, I stand corrected. However I do still think charliehall’s general position can be maintained, albeit with a ‘loophole’ due to shas had’chak and not l’chatchila, as I have demonstrated.
The difference between l’chatchila and a shas d’chak is a very big difference in many respects and is hardly a “loophole”
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