Mild Frustration, or On Keeping Your Word

[debka_notion]

A bit over a month ago, I asked one of my teachers for source materials on a particular halakhic issue because it is something popularly observed in certain significant parts of the Orthodox world, and by almost no one in the Conservative world, and I realized that I have no particular reasons for not observing it, although I also don't have any particular reasons for observing it. I just don't know so much about it in general, besides how it applies once one assumes that it is obligatory.

The teacher said the sources were primarily late enough that he didn't see reason to follow it, and promised to bring me sources the next week, and maybe to go over them in class (this class doesn't have such a set syllabus).

THe next week, no mention is made of the source materials. The week after that, we find out said teacher's grandfather had passed away recently. Clearly, I'm not going to bother him about some source materials.

But it's been a while, and he's made no mention of anything. So after class, I inquire about the source materials, and he a. didn't remember that he'd said he'd bring me sources, b. said he didn't really know about the topic, and c. said he was too busy to look into it and then referred me to a couple of books that would tell me why it Was required, when part of what I'd been asking him was why he thought that it wasn't. I'm a little miffed.

Comments

[margavriel.livejournal.com]

Well, this teacher seems to have an idea that since earlier ideas are more authoritative, later strictures can be considered less binding than earlier positions....

Yeah, isn't that how virtually everybody views the way the Halakhic Process as working? Everyone, that is, except the so-called "Talmudic Karaites", who believe that after חתימת הגמרא (a term much vaguer than it sounds), everything has merely been interpretation of the Bavli, and the playing field is level between the Rashbo and Rabbi Shmiggeggie from Queens, such that the Talmudic Karaites feel free to ignore anything that either of these people (lehavdil) ever said.

Ahem...

(I'm not denying that the doctrine of "Talmudic Karaism" is attractive, or even comforting. It's just that it's only accepted by a miniscule amount of people-- I estimate about 20 alive today-- and, in my opinion, is wrong, because the halokhic system never worked that way.)

[hotshot2000.livejournal.com]

To be fair to those 20 people (and I think that's a generous estimate -- and I met their rebbe recently totally by chance), the Rambam implies some form of Talmudic karaism in his introduction to the Mishneh Torah, but obviously even Talmudic karaites (like Biblical karaites) need a system of interpretation to deal with the ambiguities.

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Do we really need to talk this way about random people on my blog?

[margavriel.livejournal.com]

Fair point. Feel free to remove my comment.