[Avodah] FW: Worth thinking about

[Rich, Joel]

	From R' Broyde on R' Rackman


> (1) Jewish law is a truth seeking venture which must live by the
> currency of logic and analysis, always living in the present and being
> driven by the data, both Talmudic and scientific.
> (2) Ethical people live lives of compassion with the understanding
> that life is more complex in fact than in theory and are ready to
> recognize that sometimes people are frailand in need of help. Ethical
> people are measured by how they show compassion to the weak.
> (3) Hard work is extremely important. Torah comes to those who work
> hard to acquire it, and virtually no one is a natural master of Torah.
> Regular and intense learning is imperative in being a torah scholar.
> 
> (4) Never be too sure of yourself and listen closely to the voices of
> the wise people around you. Rabbi Rackman once remarked to me that
> "everyone really needs a mentor, since a mentor serves the purpose of
> checking that one is not egregiously in error.[3]
> 
> =====================================================
> 	Judaism's antinomies are important for an understanding not only
> of its theology and ethics, but also its Halakhah. Indeed, the data of
> Jewish theology and ethics are usually derived from the Law which
> fixes the essential character of all of Judaism. Unfortunately,
> however, many who are presently called upon to resolve questions of
> Jewish law are often oblivious to the antinomies which are implicit in
> their subject. Altogether too frequently they seize upon one or
> another of two or more possible antithetical values or interests
> between which the Halakhah veers, and they assume there must be an
> exclusive commitment to that single norm. The dialectic of the Talmud,
> however, reveals quite the contrary. Implicit in almost every
> discussion is a balancing of the conflicting values and interests
> which the Law seeks to advance. And if the Halakhah is to be viable
> and at the same time conserve its method and its spirit, we must
> reckon with the opposing values where such antinomies exist. An
> equilibrium among them must be achieved by us as objective halakhic
> experts rather than as extremists propounding only one of the
> antithetic values.
> 
> 
> 	(me-type 1 and type II errors)
> 	
> 	KT
		Joel Rich

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