Switching Rabbi

Question

Dear Rabbi,

Firstly, a huge yeshar koach on this website; I feel you are providing an invaluable service to the Jewish community worldwide.

My question is as follows:

My city is blessed with multiple frum yeshivos, each with a slightly different hashkafa.

I am currently in my final year of a 4-year post high school Bais Medrash program. I would like to know whether:

Once I complete my program, I’m allowed to switch to a different rav in the city for general and specific guidance in life—a rav who has a generally more liberal hashkafa (but is still solidly within the Torah framework).
And if so, do I need to obtain my current rav’s (Rosh Yeshiva’s) permission?

(Reason for my question: When I enrolled in my Bais Medrash program, I wasn’t aware at the time how “right wing” and strict the yeshiva was compared to most other yeshivas in my city. Just to cite an example: The hashkafa of my Rosh Yeshiva is that bochurim should ONLY look for a wife who can financially support their full-time Torah learning. I, on the other hand, don’t want to restrict my options. As much as I love learning, I also have other interests/passions and I don’t see the harm in starting my own business, for example, while learning a bit in the mornings and a bit at night. Another example is regarding the use of the internet; my Rosh Yeshiva, in my view, is overly strict in his approach)

Thank you!

ps. On a totally unrelated matter, I noticed that on this template there is a error that you may want to fix: “Do you need a video to description the problem better ?” Should be “to describe”.

 

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Answers

  1. Firstly, thank you for letting us know about the error. I have passed on your comments to the technical crew and I hope that they will take care of it.

    You are absolutely allowed to change your Rav once you leave the Yeshivah you are currently in, and you do not need to ask the Rosh Yeshivah’s “permission” to do so. However, before you do, perhaps it is worth reassessing the impact that your present Rosh Yeshivah has on you and your Avodas Hashem. If you regard your Rosh Yeshivah as being your Rav right now, you may be surprised once you leave the Yeshivah and you come to speak with him about your life decisions and your Halachic queries. If your Rosh Yeshivah knows you well, I would imagine that he will not be fazed by the nature of your questions, and, because you are no longer a part of his Yeshivah, he will be able to answer you according to what is best for you, personally, and not according to the more rigid Hashkafah of the Yeshivah.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team