An Odd Halachic (Jewish-Law-Related) Question

[gnomi]

Now, I know one is not supposed to go psak shopping (that is, one should not ask the same question of multiple rabbis until one gets the answer one likes). However, is there a statute of limitations (as it were) on asking a question and not receiving an answer at all before you can pose it to a second rabbi? In other words, if I sent a question with some time sensitivity to Rabbi A, how long do I have to wait for an answer before I can feel comfortable sending the question to Rabbi B?

(not a current concern; I'm just wondering)

Comments

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Narf!

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Rabbi Narf? I'm not sure I know him.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

He spends every evening trying to take over halacha.

[ckd]

I suppose "ask a Rabbi" is a bit less useful as an answer in this situation....

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Yeah, unfortunately.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I would probably go to another rabbi affiliated with the same shul, or ask a rabbi affiliated with another shul of which I am a member. Or ask a rabbi of the same standing as the first.

Or, perhaps, ask the first rabbi who you should contact in the event of an emergency and he's unreachable.

[tygerseye.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about this. However, were I to ask a question of a clergyman and not received a response, I would send a follow-up reminder that I had asked, and mention that it is a time-sensitive matter and with all do respect, if he couldn't help me I would need to move on to ask someone else on X date. :)

[epj.livejournal.com]

I don't know official rules, but I'd say if you haven't received an answer in 50% of the available time, go ahead and ask a different rabbi. If there's time sensitivity involved, I'd think a reasonable person would see the difference between psak shopping and needing *an* answer by a deadline.

[abbasegal.livejournal.com]

You say you "sent a question." It might be worth calling Rav A to be sure he received it (in the process giving a subtle, or not-so-subtle, reminder about the time sensitivity of the question). (This is sort of the Miss-Manners way of nudging ;-) )

[aunt-becca.livejournal.com]

Nomi-
He's not checking email frequently during his vacation. I'd call his cell phone, and if you can't reach him, call the other rabbi I told you about last night.

[gnomi.livejournal.com]

Actually, he responded to the question I sent him. This was more a pondering about whether I *could* have asked another rabbi had I felt he was taking too long to respond.

I'll need contact info for Rabbi Other, actually, if you could e-mail it to me. :-)

[sethg]

IIRC one is allowed to go to Rabbi Y and say "I'd like you to answer the following question ... which I also asked of Rabbi X, and got the following answer ...", thus giving Rabbi Y a chance to decline to overrule Rabbi X's judgement. So kal vachomer you could also say "I'd like you to answer the following question ... which I emailed to Rabbi X on Tuesday but haven't received an answer yet."

[zsero.livejournal.com]

As far as I know there is not in general a problem with asking multiple rabbis the same question, so long as ones motive is to get closer to a correct answer, rather than to an answer that one likes. Getting a second opinion is fine, even if you didn't like the first one, so long as you can honestly say that you would have done so even if you had liked it.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

I have no idea what the halacha of it is, but my commonsense reaction is that if both of them are legitimately authorities you'd be permitted to use, you could send the question to both at the same time and use whichever answer arrived first.

[lisafeld.livejournal.com]

I think it depends on the relationship between how long you've been waiting and how urgent the question is. For example, if there's really no rush, spamming a bunch of rabbis over a three-hour period is not okay. But you could say that, especially if there's a rush on and you haven't even been able to follow up with the first rabbi, you will abide by the ruling of whatever rabbi gets back to you first without picking and choosing among the rulings.

[angwantibo.livejournal.com]

This depends upon your anxiety level. When the anxiety level of the situation surpasses your desire to respect your rabbi, you ask another rabbi.

[cellio]

Presumably the first is "your" rabbi, the one whose decisions you are bound by -- except that for whatever reason you haven't been able to get an answer. Assuming that, I would ask the second rabbi (explaining the circumstances) and follow his ruling until you get a ruling (or waiver) from your own rabbi.

If it's two rabbis of equal status (that is, neither is yours or both are), I think you could ask the second if you waive your interest in the first answer -- that is, you agree to be bound by the second even if the first later gets back to you with an answer you like better. (I'm not saying you would shop, of course, but there's an appearance issue.)