It appears that Eli, the Kohen Gadol, used the Urim V'Tumim when he judged Channah when she was praying that HaShem open her womb. His Psak was that she was שכרה, drunken. Channah replies (Shmuel Aleph, 1:16):
ותען חנה ותאמר לא אדני
And Channah answered and said: "Lo Adoni".Rashi comments to the words "Lo Adoni":
לא אדון אתה בדבר הזה גלית בעצמך שאין רוח הקודש שורה עליך שתדע שאיני שכורת יין
You are not an Adon. Through this matter, you revealed by yourself that Ruach HaKodesh does not dwell on you, as you did not know that I am not drunken.The Gaon MiVilna explains that the Urim V'Tumim displayed the four letters שכרה in no particular order. The Urim V'Tumim are not an automated device. It takes Siatta DiShamaya, help of Heaven, to connect the letters correctly. In this case, the correct reading was כשרה, "like Sarah". Like Sarah, Channah was Akarah and prayed to merit a child.
Pesika is not a simple matter. Sometimes a Psak that has all the ingredients right, is dead wrong, Tartei Mashma: Death may result. In our days, we see this in an urgent fashion:
The Oslo agreements were the result of Psakim of Rav Ovadia Yosef, a great halachic scholar who unfortunately overstepped his limits. The lack of Siatta DiShamaya screams to the Heavens. The Oslo agreements have led to the loss of many Jewish lives, and we must fear that we have not seen the end. May HaShem protect us. The threatening rockets in Gaza are the result of these agreements, without which the "Disengagement" would not have been. The fact that senior rabbis were directly involved in both the Oslo agreements and the Disengagement, in very essential ways, is a revelation that is neglected at our peril. "Lo Adoni" is the proper response.
In the end, we will see the connection between sectorial Pesika and national disaster. We will be forced to recall in shame that the Torah commands us to unite in Pesika, and specifies the mechanism: All must submit to the decisions of the majority of the Sanhedrin.
