Rabbi Akiva Eiger ZT”L, was the Rabbi of Posen and was known throughout Europe as one of the leading Halachic authorities of his time. He received a Shaila (question) on an intricate Halachic matter from the Jewish community of Lutsk almost 500 miles away from Posen, and at the time, in a different country entirely. Nonetheless, Rabbi Eiger responded to the “out of town” question, however, it was not before a significant delay. In his written response to the question, he provided the reason for the delay.
Rabbi Eiger explained that he was engaged as the Rabbi of Posen and was obligated to answer all of the Halachic questions of the city. In addition, he was also obligated to answer the questions of his entire province. He simply had no time to respond to this question that came from a community far outside his province. Therefore, he did not intend to answer the question.
However, after a period of time had passed, Rabbi Eiger realized that the question was already posed to him when he was at a Simcha (celebration such as a Bar Mitzvah or wedding) in Hamberg. Rabbi Eiger recalled that when he was asked if he would assist in answering this question, he did not respond with “Yes” or “No” but rather fell silent. However, Rabbi Eiger felt that in his silence, he may also have nodded his head slightly in the manner that people typically do when saying, “Yes, you have my attention, please continue.”
Rabbi Eiger concluded his explanation for his delay, by saying that he was concerned that this slight nod of his head, may have been misinterpreted as a gesture meant to show that Rabbi Eiger would agree to answer the question. Since there was a slight chance that it would appear that Rabbi Eiger committed to answer the question and then decided later not to answer it, he felt that he must find time in his busy schedule to answer the question from “out of town” and without further delay.
