[Avodah] A Heathen Expression

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Dec 25, 2008 at 12:45:16PM -0500, Yitzchok Levine quoted RSRH
on Ber 42:4:
: 4 But Binyamin, Yosef 's brother, Ya'akov did not send with his 
: brothers, for he said: An accident might befall him.

: The common expression that something "happens" is a heathen 
: expression. Nothing happens by itself; everything is designed by the 
: Designer of all things.

I see this as placing RSRH in the universal HP camp.

But if the statement is "heathen", why would Yaaqov avinu say it?

: Only man, by exercising his free and moral will, shapes his own destiny.

Second, it's common for criminals to speak about the crimes in the
passive voice. "I feel terrible about what happened." I would think,
therefore, that this pasuq betrays Yaaqov having feelings of guilt about
Yoseif's fate.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Mussar is like oil put in water,
micha at aishdas.org        eventually it will rise to the top.
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