Nine times out of ten, when an halacha question is raised, before you even ask the question you know in advance what the answer will be: one rabbi will say “Yes”; another rabbi will say “No”; and a third rabbi will say “Well, it’s better if you don’t, but if you do it anyway you’re also OK”. Every possible outcome in the end is known to be equally valid from the beginning, since all responders are “proving” their points from valid sources. So instead of Halacha being a system that provides clear and meaningful answers to pertinant questions, all these halachic debates seem to be only like a game of amusement, in which the game itself might be amusing, but the outcome is not really important, since all possible outcomes, already known at the beginning, are equally valid in the end. And if the rule is that you can only ask once, it’s a game of trying to hit the right rabbi on the first shot.
So the question is obvious: why waste time even debating these issues? Why not let each individual do what he feels comfortable with, and 90% of the time it will turn out that he has what to legitimately rely on?
Answer:
In fact in the majority of questions there is one accepted answer. When there are varying views it is important to stick with one Rav [as much as possible] being that his approach will be consistent in all ares, by asking different Rabbanim different questions you may inadvertently be relying on contradictory approaches. The ultimate goal is for one to educate himself and hence make an educated decision, not one that just “feels right”.
