There are many famous examples of machlokes--differing rulings--in halacha. For instance, Beis Hillel ruled that we should start with one candle and add a candle every night of Chanuka. Beis Shammai ruled that we should start with eight candles and remove one every night. In this case the two opinions are totally contradictory, and we follow the opinion of Beis Hillel. We might wonder: Are there instances in which we follow more than one opinion at the same time?
Sometimes a person is said to fulfill all opinions by following the strictest one. For instance, there are various opinions about where one is allowed to shave the beard, and one can just refrain from shaving altogether and not go against any of these opinions.
Another pattern of following more than one opinion is illustrated by the famous machlokes about the order of the parshios in the shel rosh tefillin. We follow the opinion of Rashi, but some people also put on tefillin in accordance with the opinion of his grandson, Rabbeinu Tam. People who do this are still really following Rashi's opinion because they say the berachah on the Rashi's tefillin.
Another example of following more than one opinion at the same time is the text of the Modim deRabbanan in Shemoneh Esrei, which combines wording from several opinions about what to say. You could say that this is an example of following several opinions in rapid succession.
An especially interesting example involves the placement of a mezuzah. The Gemara states that a mezuzh put up "k'min nagar" is pasul (Menachos 33a). Rashi says that this means that a horizontal mezuzah is pasul while Rabbeinu Tam objects to the idea of a vertical mezuzah. In practice we put up the mezuzah on a slant.
At this point I would like to ask for contributions to this discussion. Can anyone think of other examples of following more than one opinion at once?
Tags: halacha, machlokes
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