Reply To: Paskening from the Shulchan Aruch (without knowing the Gemara and Rishonim)

“How can you pasken from the Aruch Hashulchan’s quote not to pasken from The shulchan aruch?”

I’m not PASKENING from the Aruch Hashulchan. I’m just pointing out that having commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch doesn’t solve the problem.

I’ll give an example where if you just read the Sh”a and Mishna Berura without background knowledge,you may end up with the wrong halacha: The Sh”a says (O.C. 9:5) that some say that the tzitzis have to be the same color as the begged. The Rema argues that Ashkenazim should only make white strings regardless of the color of the begged. The Mishna Berura brings down the suggestion of the acharonim that in order to avoid this machlokes one should only wear a white begged with white strings.

Now let’s say that one is deciding whether to wear Techeiles or not. Someone who only learned the Sh”a and Mishna Berura will say (and I’ve heard many people say this) that on the chance that it’s not real techeiles, they will be wearing a white begged with blue strings, in violation of the Sh”a, the Rema, AND the Mishna Berura.

However, if the person had started with the gemara, he would know that the gemara says that even kala ilan (fake techeiles) is no worse than white strings and therefore there would be no problem. AAAIII, the Sh”a says it is a problem! Well if this person would know even more gemara, he would know that the reason why the colors would have to be the same is because the strings have to be min knaf* which doesn’t apply to techeiles strings. While you won’t find this in the Sh”a/ Mishna Berura, you can find it in the Artzos Hachaim, the Chazon Ish, and other more obscure places that this person who learns Sh”a with Mishna Berura won’t see.

*According to Tosafos the reason for the colors being the same is zeh keli veanveihu which would also clearly not apply to the techeiles strings which won’t be the same color as the begged even if it’s real techeiles. (There are those [the Smag as explained by the Chazon Ish, and presumably the Levush) who hold that when you don’t have techeiles, the strings that would have been techeiles take on the status of regular non-techeiles strings, but there’s no problem because they also hold that there is no inyan in the first place of having the colors be the same)