A. To all those posters who wrote that he must listen to what his Rav told him: There are a few problems with that:
1. We don’t who his Rav is. He may not be the Gadol Hador. He may be someone who is capable of making mistakes. The title “Rav” is very ambigious. There are many people who have the title Rav who are not necessarily qualified to answer every single question asked of them.
No matter how qualified someone is, most people are capable of making mistakes, so if one has reason to believe the Rav is mistaken, he should certainly ask another Rav, certainly if it is a situation of possible pikuach nefesh.
2. No matter how qualified the Rav is in terms of knowing halacha, it is possible that he didn’t understand the situation fully.
Personally, it has happened to me that I asked Rabbanim questions and I realized that they were mistaken or had not understood the question fully, so I reasked the question in some cases, and in some cases I didn’t. Whenever I did, I was happy that I did so, and when I did not I regretted it.
Please note: I am not talking about reasking a question because you don’t “like” the answer, so you want to find a Rav who will give you the answer you want. I am referring to a situation in which you are honestly concerned that the Rav may be mistaken or may have misunderstood the situation.
If you do reask the question, it should only be reasked to someone much more reliable than the first one. Since this is a very serious issue (yes, being “moiser” is a very serious thing and should only be done after getting a clear psak), one should only do so after speaking to a Gadol and not any Rabbi.
B. To all those who are sayng that of course, he must report him since it’s pikuach nefesh:
1. It might not be pikuach nefesh at all. Many people scream. That is not necessarily life-threatening and a reason to call the authorities! From the description in the OP, it really doesn’t sound like a pikuach nefesh situation to me. (although it sounds like it warrants investigating).
I assume that is why the Rav said not to say anything. Also, please keep in mind that just like we don’t know the Rav and may be skeptical of his “psak”, we also don’t know the OP.
If you are willing to consider the possibility that the Rav could be wrong in his evaluation of the situation, why not consider the possibility that the OP might be wrong in his evaluation as well? Maybe the OP is the type of person gets nervous easily and his Rav is aware of the fact? Bottom-line, don’t be so quick to assume that it’s a pikuach nefesh situation.
We have one person involved who thinks it’s pikuach nefesh (the OP) and one who doesn’t (the Rav).
Why does the fact that the OP is the one who went online make him more reliable than his Rav?
2. As Yekke wrote: “Not every situation warrants reporting to the authorities. If you have a way of dealing with it which doesn’t involve mesirah, you probably are not permitted to report.”
3. Please keep in mind that the pikuach nefesh here works both ways. By reporting when it’s not necessary, you may be destroying someone in a worse way than you would by not reporting. You must be sure that it is the correct thing to do before doing so.
4. If you are really concerned that your Rav isn’t handling it correctly, ask another Rav, but make sure he is more competent than the first. Or find someone who knows the family and will either know if the situation is really life-threatening and/or will be able to do something about it.
Bottom-line: be very careful about making any assumptions in either direction.
One more point: I would call up the Rav again and ask him what he’s done and share my concerns with him, before asking another Rav.