A learned friend of mine is of the opinion that it is forbidden to learn from a Rabbi (or anyone else) who is known to have sinned. He used the example of a particular Rabbi caught in a scandal so malodorous he was forced to leave his community and indeed the country. After a number of years overseas he has quietly returned and has begun giving a shiur to a small audience who are obviously able to overlook his past. My friend rails against what is happening and compares it to 'drinking from a sewage pipe'.
This attitude seems far too stringent to me. I have asked him for sources for his opinion, which he is preparing.
I expect the halacha is far more nuanced than what he says. I am looking for sources for and against learning from such a person. For example,
- forbidding learning from such a person
- the danger of learning from such a person
- judging someone to have done teshuvah
- learning from any available source
- etc.
Answer
Talmud Chagiga 15b http://dafyomi.co.il/chagigah/points/cg-ps-015.htm
(a) Question: How could R. Meir learn Torah from Acher?
- The verse (Malachi 2:7) teaches that one should only learn Torah from a Rav who is similar to a Malach of Hash-m! (angel of God)
(b) Answer: R. Meir relied on another verse (Mishlei 22:17, or Tehilim (45:11) which teaches that one may learn Torah from a Rasha, as long as one follows Hashem's laws and not the deeds of the Rasha.
(c) Question: If so, the verses (in (a) and (b)) contradict!
(d) Answer: One verse refers to a Gadol (one who knows how to be careful not to learn from the deeds of the Rasha may learn Torah from him), and one verse refers to a Katan (one who does not know how to avoid being influenced by the deeds of the Rasha may not learn Torah from him).
likewise, the Maharsha on Makkot 10a: "gadol (a great torah scholar) can learn even from a Rav who is not hagun (acting properly), like Rebbi Meir who learned from Acher".
This is not meant to be halacha, just a source.
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