Avodah Mailing List

Volume 42: Number 49

Sat, 20 Jul 2024

• 1. Ana [with a Heh] HaShem (Rabbi Meir G. Rabi)
• 2. psak rules (Joel Rich)
• 3. mezuza checking (Joel Rich)
• 4. Re: mezuza checking (Micha Berger)
• 5. Chok (Micha Berger)

R Joel noted in the name of HaRav Asher Weiss
ana in ana hashem ki ani avdecha [Tehillim 116:16]
is spelled with
a hei not an alef.

He therefore proposes
The radak says ANA is lashon hodaah ?
(ie we are thankful to be ovdei hashem).
we just want a relationship with HKBH
====

ANA is however seen earlier in the same Kapittel [116:4]
Ana HaShem Malta Nafshi

Hirsch translation offers the following
I beseech Thee O Lord, deliver my soul [116:4]
If, O Lord, I am Thy servant only as the son of Thy handmaiden [116:16]



Best,

Meir G. Rabi

0423 207 837
+61 423 207 837
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I?ve asked before about general rules of psak. I just heard R H Schachter
say that each of the machloketim of Abaye and Rava were paskined
individually and that only in yal kgam did they individually hold like
abaye (not that there was a general rule)
bsorot tovot
joel rich
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I find the question of checking mezuzot a subset of a broader issue.
Firstly, the strange language of twice in seven years without clarity on
how that was arrived at. Secondly, the question as to whether once it was
arrived at, is it normative law applicable, no matter what has changed (
writing materials, climate, etc.) or do we say zil basar tama? this seems
applicable across many issues

The question of protection, especially against spiritual forces as per
Rashi also makes one wonder how that is changed over the years and how we
relate to them (eg zugot) In my humble opinion part of the issue is looking
at the master of the universe as an instrument to personal happiness rather
than seeing that as a side benefit of a close relationship with him.

Thoughts?

bsorot tovot

joel rich
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On Wed, Jul 17, 2024 at 06:32:41AM +0300, Joel Rich via Avodah wrote:
> I find the question of checking mezuzot a subset of a broader issue.
> Firstly, the strange language of twice in seven years without clarity on
> how that was arrived at...

And the truth is, the mezuzah does not need the checking to be kosher.
Which is why, when the mezuzah is owned by a qehillah (like chatzeir or
city gates), it only needs to be checked twice a yovel. (See Abayei
quoting a beraisa on Yuma 11a, with Rashi "pa'amayim beyovel".) Rashi
says this is because if we make the job too hard on the tzibbur,
everyone will punt the job thinking "someone else will do it".

The AhS (YD 291:1, AhSY a week and a half ago) clarifies that twice
a shemittah means every 3.5 years.

So, to answer the question about the "strange language", one would
have to understand why Chazal saw a connection between mezuzah on
one hand, and shmittah and yovel on the other.

Like asking on the first mishnah, Berakhos 1:1, why Rebbe ties Shema times
to kehunah and terumah rather than just giving the zemanim. Apparently
seemingly disparate mitzvos are linked in ways we don't know.

Back to the AhS YD 291:1:

He cites the Bach that even if the home is shared, it is still considered
a single reidence (2:7) in this regard.

The aforementioned Rashi says the check is to make sure the mezuzah didn't
rot or get stolen. So the AhS advises that in their climate, which is
often damp and condusive to rot, one should check annually. (And RYME
says this is what he does lemaaseh.)

(Since the AhS recommends elswhere a case from which you can see the
"Shakkai" on the back, I don't know what the threat of theft would be.
Obviously it's not iqar hadin, so for many the qelaf could be stolen
without your knowledge. It's just very unlike the AhS not to mention
the connection as another reason to follow the advice about mezuzah
container.)

And last, that this isn't checking vegetables. You can't check three
and rely on the resulting chazaqah for the rest. Because each location
is different.


So, li nir'eh:

We are trying not to rely on the chazaqah demei'iqara that a mezuzah
once checked and was kosher is still equally kosher. And the question is
just how "efshar" the "efshar levareir" is.

Another data point I've cited here in the past... R SZ Auerbach said
that the way we make ink today, unrolling the mezuzah for checking and
rolling it up again is the biggest source of pesulim. And therefore
we shouldn't be checking every 3.5 years.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 The purely righteous do not complain about evil,
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   but add justice, don't complain about heresy,
Author: Widen Your Tent      but add faith, don't complain about ignorance,
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF    but add wisdom.     - R AY Kook, Arpelei Tohar

I was taken by R J Sacks zt"l's idea for what a choq is. See his essay
"Descartes' Error"
<https://rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/chukat/descartes-error>,

Much, and probably most, of the human decision-making process is not based
in the rational part of our brain. First, we get too many stimuli to be
fully aware of all the "inputs", never mind our thoughts about much of
it. And thus emotion is very involved. So RJS argues that this is why
some of halakhah is not aimed at rational comprehension.

    "There have been many interpretations of the chukim throughout the
    ages. But in the light of recent neuroscience, we can suggest that
    they are laws designed to bypass the prefrontal cortex, the rational
    brain, and create instinctive patterns of behaviour to counteract
    some of the darker emotional drives at work in the human mind."

And since their role is to ingrain habit and instinct, the word "choq"
fits the /ch-q-q/ etymology.


The problem is that it wouldn't work with the Rambam's explanation of
Elazar b Azaryah (Toras Kohanim) that the reason why one should say, "I
would love to eat pork, but what can I do since my Father in heaven
decreed against it," is specifically because it is a choq. That for
mitzvos we comprehend, trying to align oneself with the values inherent
in the mitzvah is better. Which would rule out an explanation of choq
that is about internalizing.

But then, the Rambam's whole idea of how Da'as and Dei'os interact isn't
what we believe today. Too much emphasis on thought causing emotion, and
not enough about the role of emotion shaping thought. He denies the
conclusion RJS makes (and buttresses from neuroscientific findings, but
I think all the modalities of psychology assume as much) about the role
of parts of our mind and soul other than rational thought.

In contrast, the Moreh Nevuchim's idea of the ideal person is someone
who understands Hashem so well that their Dei'os reflect His. (After all,
the only positive statements we can make about Hashem are really about
the examples of behavior He shows us.)

So, if we are willing to say that the Rambam's approach to psychology
and akrasia are provably wrong by experimentation, we don't need our
idea of choq to fit that approach.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger                 Never must we think that the Jewish element
http://www.aishdas.org/asp   in us could exist without the human element
Author: Widen Your Tent      or vice versa.
- https://amzn.to/2JRxnDF                   - Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch


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