[Avodah] Love/Mercy as a Factor in Halakhic Decision making - Rabbis Uziel and Halevy

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 07:01:18PM +0000, rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com wrote:
: Michael:
:> So as far as I know, the
:> end of the Tannaitic age was the end of direct Scriptural exegesis as
:> a method of *creating* law."

: See. SA Orach Chayyim 494
: where Taz requires waiting to daven arvis after tzeis due to "temimos"

Since we're glossing over this debate, my I gloss over the reply. I
don't think the Taz considers this ikkar hadin. I recently listed three
uses of the word chumrah (pesaq halakhah, minhag and hanhagah). I would
argue that the Taz was not speaking in the first category, and thus it
wasn'ta real derashah.

: There is also a minhag for unmarried men not to wear a Tallis due a
: drasha of semuchos

Also a hanhagah that since became a binding minhag. There is no chiyuv
to wear tzitzis. Therefore, one can come up with a new sevara or asmachta
not to.

On Wed, May 06, 2009 at 12:11:21AM +0100, Chana Luntz wrote:
: RYG writes:
: > I think that Justice Holmes would be horrified at the insinuation that
: > his jurisprudence did not qualify as "emet l'amito" and "btzedek
: > tishpot amitecha" :)

: Sorry?  You quote the story as follows saying:

: " I [Judge Hand] remember once I was with [Justice Holmes]... I said to him:
: "Well, sir, goodbye. Do justice!" He turned quite sharply and he said: "Come
: here. Come here." I answered: "Oh, I know, I know." He replied: "That is not
: my job. My job is to play the game according to the rules."

Side-note: I assume he didn't mean it, it's just a conversation started
and a way of getting his point remembered. I assume that R' Uzziel
wouldn't even sound like he's denying a fundamental value as a pedagogic
trick, but it doesn't mean they disagree in substance.

I would have presented this whole thing differently, without this
comparison (which in retrospect proved distracting).

RMM presented it as though chessed vs din comes into play; ie that
it's using love/mercy to tone down halakhah. And because he sees the
compassion as extrahalachic, he asked how it was any different than what
we disparage about C's legal process.

However, R' Uzziel is working within halakhah. Not love/mercy in an
extrahalachic sense, but the halakhos of hefseid merubah, Rabba b"b
Chana's barrels, etc.... It's not chessed vs halakhah=din, but that
halakhah tells you how to do the "vs" incorporating both sides of the
balance.

As a side note, RMM is using the very broad terms "love/mercy" to lump
together hefseid merubah and compassion on the sho'eil with mitzvos
BALC and the sho'eil's need to be compassionate to others. They are
very different things, particularly within a legal (incuding halachic)
frame of mind.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 29th day, which is
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