Most Non-Techeiles Scholars: Even if They Were Right They Would STILL Be Wrong!
I’ll explain what I mean.
Imagine you ask a rabbi\Ben Torah\Yeshiva man\Avreich\etc. why we can’t light candles on Shabbos, and he said “Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky didn’t ignite fire on Shabbos, Rabbi Steinman never did, Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach was known never to light fire on Shabbos. We follow our Greats and don’t light candles on Shabbos either!”
Again, say you ask a rabbi\Ben Torah\Yeshiva man\Avreich\etc. why do we blow the shofar or listen to it on Rosh Hashana, and he told you “Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky definitely did so, Rabbi Steinman too (unless Rosh Hashana came out on Shabbos), Rabbi Shmuel Auerbach even gave a few shiurim (I heard personally) about blowing shofar. We always follow our Greats and therefore do likewise!”
Or you ask a rabbi\Ben Torah\Yeshiva man\Avreich\etc. why he got married, and he told you “I am simply following the unbroken chain of Mesorah from Har Sinai (and before, but never mind)! My father got married, my grandfather got married. My Admor, too, was once married, and so were all the Rebbes who directly preceded him in the holy dynasty of my Chassidus! That’s why I got married – kedas Moshe Veyisrael.”
Do you sense something “off” about this type of answer? I do.
Why not quote the actual source: Torah, Chazal? Surely a Jew with any degree of knowledge should be able to do better than “the Gedolim something something”!
So, even if most non-Techeiles Jews were (for the sake of argument) correct about not wearing Techeiles in Tzitzis for a legitimate reason, the arguments they give are truly an embarrassment. Doesn’t this area of Torah deserve their serious attention, no less than all others? It’s one thing if they have an actual argument they believe in, right or wrong. But davka for a rabbi\Ben Torah\Yeshiva man\Avreich\etc. to resort to the last defense of the “Am Haaretz-see, Am Haaretz-do” is disturbing.
