The Baal HaTecheiles, the Radziner Rebbe, once met with Rav Yehoshua m’Kutna to discuss the issue of techeiles, the blue fringe of tzitzis, and to elicit his support for the project. Rav Yehoshua responded, “We follow the majority, and most people in the world do not wear techeiles.”
When the Radziner Rebbe heard this, he asked Rav Yehoshua to look out the window. He pointed to a simple stevedore working in the street. The Rebbe called out to the worker and asked whether he knew the area in which Rabbi Yehudah and Rabbi Meir—who argue regarding when chametz becomes prohibited – nonetheless agree. The man looked back at him, utterly bewildered, having no idea what the Rebbe was talking about.
The Rebbe then turned to Rav Yehoshua and said, “The Gemora in Pesachim states explicitly. Kulei alma – everyone agrees – that chametz becomes prohibited from the fifth hour. How can Chazal say everyone agrees when there are people like this laborer who have no knowledge at all of the discussion?”
“Obviously,” the Rebbe continued, “the Gemara means that the learned, those engaged in Torah, all agree – not every person in the marketplace.”
“Likewise,” said the Radziner, “the principle of acharei rabim l’hatos – following the majority – refers to a majority composed of those who are capable of weighing the halachic issue. It is a majority of qualified Torah scholars, not a poll of the general population. This, of course, considerably narrows the ‘majority’ that one follows.”
