[Avodah] Hypocrisy in halakhah

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Nov 03, 2008 at 06:02:57PM -0500, Zev Sero wrote:
: Let's leave the ontological question aside.  Ontology has never been
: that important to me...

But it is to me, and therefore it's part of what I took exception to.

:                        WRT to the practical issue, what exactly is the
: difference between us? ...

The difference is the amount of greater consideration for nachriim than
for beheimos. IOW, our difference in attitude toward a current events
story I don't want to discuss on Avodah derives from our difference in
definition of the rights of the alleged victims. Similarly our dispute
about chatzi Hallel during most of Pesach, etc, etc, etc...

:                         You seem to assume an absolute scale, and a
: "default state" from which I am "demoting" einam-yehudim, whereas you
: leave them in that state and raise yehudim above it....

I would instead say the difference between us is whether we spend our
time thinking about this person being down, or that person being up. In
that earlier post, I likened it to the difference between arur Haman
and barukh Mordechai. In both cases, Mordechai ends up more blessed
than Haman; but am I trying to raise one or lower the other? Where is
my attention, where do my efforts go?

:>These are two distinct issues that divide us. E.g. the Kuzari says the
:>difference is ontological, not due to lack of common beris and eidah,
:>and yet does so by aggrandizing the Yehudi's nature, not playing down
:>the others'.

: Again, what is the difference here? Mere semantics?

The Kuzari could give the same peshat in "chaviv adam shenivra betzelem"
as the TY. You, OTOH, invoked "atem keruyim adam". With all the
differences mentioned above both ontological and attitudinal.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A person must be very patient
micha at aishdas.org        even with himself.
http://www.aishdas.org         - attributed to R' Nachman of Breslov
Fax: (270) 514-1507

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A person must be very patient
micha at aishdas.org        even with himself.
http://www.aishdas.org         - attributed to R' Nachman of Breslov
Fax: (270) 514-1507