Halakhic Crypticity

Abstract

Medieval Jewish philosophers used cryptic writing 1) to protect innocent believers whose faith could be harmed by uncustomary ideas; 2) to protect the philosopher, whose societal standing might be risked through the expression of uncustomary views; and 3) as a normative characteristic of how philosophy was written. This article demonstrates that, in the halakhic literature, this same technique was utilized by halakhic decisors, and for reasons similar to those of philosophers. A contemporary example helps to make the point. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, one of the most prominent twentieth century rabbis, used this approach for two of the three reasons cited: to protect readers from falling into inappropriate religious practice and to protect his own status in a community that valued halakhic uniformity. Rabbi Auerbach thus exemplifies the use of halakhic crypticity to maintain a distinction between theoretical “decisions rules” and practical “conduct rules.”