Bas Kol - Conclusion

So what have all these Gedarim left us? Some 95% - 98% of Jews are no longer halacha following, whatever the reasons may be. The Reform movement was a result of some angry people who were tired of being held back. We are told to have Emunas Chachamim because they knew best and halacha can therefore not be changed. Nor can minhagim that are practically considered halacha.

Examples:

Second day of Yom Tov. Hillel Hakatan came up with and set the calendar. From then on, we all know when Yom Tov is. However, the chachamim of the day admonished those living far enough outside of Eretz Yisrael (who up to that point had to keep two days of Yom Tov because notification of the new month would not reach them in time) to be careful about observing Minhag Avoseichem - the customs of their fathers. The only reason those people kept two days of Yom Tov was because they weren't sure up to that point when Yom Tov was, so they created the best system they could FOR THEIR TIME PERIOD by creating a second day of Yom Tov to be sure they did not violate Yom Tov. However, they were then told to continue keeping two days of Yom Tov just because they were in Chutz La'Aretz. So here's the question: Let's say they had had telephones, or even telegraphs back in those days (forget faxes, email, and the internet - let's just go with something as primitive as a telegram). Information regarding the new month would only take moments, maybe hours, to reach pretty much anywhere. Would people in Bavel or further have kept two day Yom Tov then? I would say absolutely not!! The only reason there was a concept of second day Yom Tov was only to be sure Yom Tov would not be violated. With a telegraph system in place, this geder would not have been necessary and the concept would never have come up! But here we are, some 1700-1800 years after Hillel Hakatan set the calendar, and we still have to keep a completely obsolete Minhag! Why? No one have EVER given me a good reason. EVER!! And if we do have to keep it based on the calendar set by Hillel Hakatan, why do those living in Israel not need to do so? They don't have a Beis Din deciding when Rosh Chodesh is any more than those living outside of Eretz Yisrael do! Shouldn't we be deciding halacha based on the times in which we live? I'm not saying change Halacha that is immutable, like keeping Shabbos and Kashrus. I'm talking about Halacha that was set by Chachamim based on the times in which they lived. Had they had access to technology such as ours, second day Yom Tov would never have been necessary, and probably would not have even come up for discussion! And yet we are told now that we have to keep it because of Minhag Avoseinu. I still haven't heard a GOOD reason.

Kitniyos! Again, Pesach is only 7 days long (ok, eight outside of Israel). If you eat Gebrokhts, not a problem, life's good. I've made stuff that tastes just like Chametz. Couldn't tell the difference at all. But here, you have stuff you know is Muttar to eat on Pesach, as Sephardim do eat Kitniyos on Pesach. And yet, the Ashkenazic rabbis simply decided: Nope. You can't have Kitniyos on Pesach. WHY?! Why did they decide to make the muttar assur? As we know from the Vidui of Rabbeinu Nissim, we are NOT supposed to do that: "That which you have permitted, I forbade, and what you have forbidden, I have permitted." This is part of a Vidui. We saying sorry for doing something we were NOT supposed to do. And here, we have our chachamim making assur that which is muttar, be it Kitniyos or being forced to keep second day Yom Tov.

Here's a good one: How long to not eat dairy after eating meat. Love this one. The source for this is in Chulin, Daf 105A, which says you're not supposed to eat meat and dairy in the same meal, but should wait until the next one. There, Mar Ukva relates how his father will not eat dairy after a meat meal, but rather will wait until the next day. Mar Ukva himself will not eat it at the same meal, but will have it at the next one. This started the controversy as to what ‘until the next meal’ means. Tosphos on daf 105a in Chulin explains that as long as one has cleared the table after the meal and benched, then one may begin a new meal with dairy. Rambam explains the waiting because meat can get stuck in teeth longer than other foods. Another reason is that it takes approximately six hours to digest meat. Because he says about six hours and not just six, some people interpret this to mean that 5 ½ of waiting is allowed. He also connects it to health issues and idolatry. The Shulchan Aruch says that one must wait six hours for meat, including birds, even if one has just been grinding up food for a baby and not really eating. This is the type of minhag that should really be dependent upon the time and place in which one lives. But here, we're told that once adopted, we cannot change it. At all. Period. End of story! That's just ridiculous!

As I mentioned in previous posts, there are many Pesukim that are quoted completely out of context to give the Chachamim carte blanche to decide all halacha for all time. None of those pesukim actually say this. The one oft quoted in Devarim of not deviating left or right from all they tell you to do is a particular favorite one to be quoted. However, the context does not allow for this carte blanche. At the end of the day, those who have quoted these pesukim out of context should really be no better than the missionaries who quote pesukim out of context from Yesha'ayahu and other Nevi'im to prove that Yeshke was truly the son of God and the Messiah! Seriously, what is the difference? Why are they wrong but the chachamim right? I find the basis for all this to be truly rickety and not in any way a solid foundation at all. I need answers. And the ones from all you out there who like to take things on blind faith. That's a very Christian response, and I have no interest in Christianity. Talk about a false religion! When Christian "Gedolim" are asked about the blatant contradictions in their "bible," the answer given is "some things just have to be taken on faith" or some gibberish like that. Judaism, true Judaism, is, or at least should be, a thinking religion, not a controlling one.

Ki Karov Eilecha - How does it relate to me, today, not to someone who live two or three thousand years ago? We find clearly written in the Gemara, as in the case of meat after dairy, that the minhagim were set up based on what a person did, when he ate. If, as many in weight management say, we should be eating five smaller meals a day rather than three large ones, should we not only wait between those meals? This is what I mean by how does halacha pertain to us, today. Why should we keep two days of Yom Tov today? Even without Hillel Hakatan, our scientific knowledge has progressed enough to EXACTLY when the Molad of the moon is, down to the second!! Wouldn't you say this is a much more accurate way of measuring when the new month starts than a couple of Eidim seeing the new moon?

Ki Karov Eilecha - It should be a pleasure to observe Judaism, not a burden. When Halach was set down, it was set down based on how they lived then, not on how we live today. Today.

I am finding many inconsistencies in how we practice Orthodox Judaism today. I don't have any answers. I wish I did. I still send my kids to frum schools, still pay the exorbitant price of kosher food and Jewish education, still live in the better neighborhood in which I can't afford to live because we need to be in a Jewish community. But for what? It's so frustrating!

I think the Gemara missed the point with the Bas Kol story. When that Bas Kol boomed out and declared that Rabbi Eliezer was correct, God meant to hint to Chachamim that halacha is not set, that it can change depending on circumstance. We all know the danger of learning Igros Moshe: We are supposed to use it as a guideline, not a tool with which to Paskin halacha, as each case Reb Moshe Feinstein paskined was unique and had its own set of circumstances that may not apply to other people with the seemingly same question. The point of the Bas Kol was while Torah is not mutable, halacha is based on circumstances. And even the possuk the Chachamim use (out of context, by the way) of "Lo BaShamayim He" proves this point exactly: It's not in Heaven, so far away that we cannot fathom it. It's here, on earth, for us to learn and apply to us as we live our lives TODAY. That's what chachamim did. They applied it to their day. Had circumstances been different, different halachas would have been paskined because the chachamim would have looked at THEIR circumstances, as indeed they did, and paskined Halacha BASED on THEIR circumstances. And while there certainly has been hiskatnus hadoros, which seems to scare people from changing anything, and a Mesorah, which further prevents halachic decisions being made based on when a particular generation lives, Yiddishkeit is about, at its core, the concept of Ki Karove Eilecha - It is close to us, as it pertains to US, not some fluffy ideal of thousands of years ago. Perhaps if more past Gedolei Yisrael had taken this into account, maybe Frum Judaism would not be the minority of Jewish people.