[Avodah] Lesheim Yichud Source Please and explanation

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 12:37:22PM -0500, Rich, Joel wrote:
: In this and similar situations , the interesting questions to me are
: what do most people who say it think it means, what do most people who
: think about it think it means?

Lehavdil: The Hindu hair donor population contains many ignorant people
who think the temple is collecting offerings of hair. The priests teach
that they are providing a ceremony of denial of physicality via baldness.
Is the hair taqroves AZ or not?

BTW, the Noda biYhudah was vociferously against saying "Lesheim Yichud"
(YD 93). Even modifies Hoshea (14:10, which you may remember from the
Chazal and Rashi justifying the lashon rabim of "na'aseh adam") from
"For the ways of Hashem are yesharim, and tzadiq'im walk in them while
posh'im yikashelu vam" into "vechassidim yikashelu vam".

The NbY's objection appears to reflect this problem -- telling the
masses to say something that requires subtle reflection in order to not
be AZ. This is much like the NbY's resolution WRT the RYE-RYE debate. He
agrees that RYEibshitz's kemei'os were valid qabbalah (and heaped on much
praise of RYEibshitz), but since many might misunderstand and think they
were Sabbatean, they should be placed in geniza and not copied.

I hear the Chida defended the practice. (He and the NbY were
contemporaries. R' Yechezqeil Landau was rav in Prague, niftar in 1793.
R" Chaim Yoseif David Azulai [CHYD"A] was in EY and Livorno Italy,
niftar in 1807.)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             It is harder to eat the day before Yom Kippur
micha at aishdas.org        with the proper intent than to fast on Yom
http://www.aishdas.org   Kippur with that intent.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rabbi Israel Salanter