From an email sent by a beloved friend:
The Klausenbeger's anava....
Rebbi Akiva Eiger was such an עניו that he wasn’t sure if he should publish his תשובות. רבי עקיבא איגר זצוק"ל wrote letters to his sons telling them directions in how he wants them to be מסדר his כתבים for publication. In the letters, גרעק"א says that he always had a tremendous trepidation when he was deciding הלכה. He says that the only reason he ever consented to decide הלכהand publish his תשובות is because he was worried “פן” – lest – he should be in violation of the איסור for a חכם שהגיע להוראה to avoid being מורה הלכה.
What we see from here is that even רעק"א, one of the greatest geniuses andטהור וקדוש we have ever had was מסופק whether he was הגיע להוראה. He was worried that he “may” be considered הגיעה להוראה and therefore consented to pasken שאלות!
Rav Moshe Feinstein זצוק"ל quotes this in הקדמה to אגרות משה ח"א. At first he says it looks like it should be a קל וחומר, and if רעק"א wasn’t sure, then certainly he cannot be sure. Then Rav Moshe says that he thinks that he need not measure himself up against רעק"א, rather it varies depending on the דור. One is considered הגיעה להוראה in comparison to those in his generation.
Rav Twersky commented that מסתמא Reb Akiva Eiger also agreed to this concept of Rav Moshe’s. He wasn’t measuring himself against previous generations. He genuinely was unsure whether he was הגיעה להוראה in his own דור.
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I add that Rebbi Akiva Eiger also writes in the preface to his Tshuvos that he can't say that he ever had students [עיין שם!]. Who is to say that he taught them more than they taught him? I get squeamish when people tell me that someone is my talmid. If Rebbi Akiva Eiger couldn't claim talmidim - I certainly cannot.
And anyway, I have been uniquely unsuccessful in transmitting to the talmidei ha-yeshiva in which I have taught, the derech that I try to pass on - in lumdos, halacha, mussar, chasidus, hanhagos ha-chaim etc. 25 years and so little to show. I CERTAINLY have no talmidim.
Maybe one day:-).
I won't stop trying.
