“Do not deviate from the word they tell you – neither to the right nor the left.” Devarim 17:11
“even if he tells you that right is left or left is right.” – Rashi

Everyone needs to have a Rabbi, Rav, or Rebbe who he can ask questions to regarding Jewish law and practices. Everyone, no matter how great or small he is, needs to have someone who can guide him to follow the proper path of Torah. Just having a Rabbi and asking him questions, though, is not enough. When the Rabbi gives an answer, the person must accept what the Rabbi said and follow it. A person is allowed to ask questions to make sure he fully understands the answer given to him, but even if the Rabbi does not give a valid reason (or at least the person does not feel it is a valid reason), he is still required to follow his Rabbi’s opinion. The commentators state the reason is because G-d gives Rabbis a special spiritual insight when they are making decisions on questions.

A man once came to Rav Moshe Feinstein during the Three Weeks, which is a time Jews are in partial mourning over the destruction of the Temple and are not allowed to shave. The man asked for permission to shave as he had an important interview during the Three Weeks. Rav Moshe said he could not. The man went home and the night before the interview, he decided Rav Moshe was mistaken. He shaved because he felt he needed to look nice for the interview. The next day, his interview went very well and at the end of it, he was told he had the job. The interviewer had one more question. The non-Jewish boss stated that he had many Orthodox Jewish friends and all of them had beards during this time of the year. He wondered why this Jewish man was clean shaven. The Jewish man tried to find an excuse, but the interviewer stated, “If you cannot be faithful to your own religion, how can you be faithful to me.” He threw the man out of his office and the man did not get the job.

Rav Fischel Shachter once said a story that explains the trust and faith a person must have in his Rabbi. A wealthy businessman, named Yissochar, once came into his Rebbe’s study to ask him a question regarding his business dealings. The Rebbe patiently listened to the dilemma and told Yissochar exactly what he should do. Yissochar left and followed his Rebbe’s advice. There were onlookers who were shocked; they were surprised that a wealthy businessman would ask questions to his Rebbe about business. This is rarely ever seen. They exclaimed to the Rebbe that Yissochar must be his greatest follower. The Rebbe replied that the onlookers were wrong and that someone else was even a greater follower than Yissochar. The Rebbe then called for Berel. Everyone expected to see a very holy man. They did find a holy man, but the word “holy” was spelled differently. It was spelled “holey”. Berel was an extremely poor Jew and had holes in all of his clothes – or maybe I should call them rags. His socks had holes in them and this was known because they could be seen through the holes in his shoes. The Rebbe then stated that Berel used to be an extremely wealthy businessman, like Yissochar. Also, like Yissochar, he came to the Rebbe to ask him every question that dealt with his business. Unfortunately, though, Berel lost all of his money and is now almost broke. But even after this happened, Berel continues to come to the Rebbe to ask every single question he has! That is a true follower and that is how one must behave towards his Rabbi.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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