[Avodah] Mitzvos and Morality (was: [Areivim] more RCA reaction)

[T613K at aol.com]

redirected from Areivim at moderator request
 
From: Eli Turkel _eliturkel at gmail.com_ (mailto:eliturkel at gmail.com) 

>> There  is also the opinion of Yeshaya Leibowitz that there is no
connection at all  between mitzvot and good or moral. <<

-- 
Eli  Turkel
 
>>>>>
 
 
I cannot understand or process such a statement.  
 
Think of the many exhortations to treat widows, orphans and converts justly 
 and charitably -- often with a reminder, "You know the heart of a stranger 
 because you were strangers yourselves in Egypt."
 
Look at the Haftara of Tisha B'Av, from Yirmiyahu: "Mi ha'ish hechacham  
veyaven es zos...Who is the wise man who can understand this?...al meh avdah  
ha'aretz?...why was Eretz Yisrael destroyed and left desolate, her people  
scattered to the four corners of the earth?  Vayomer Hashem, al azvam es  
Torasi....Hashem says, it is because they abandoned My Torah.....Al yis-hallel  
hachacham bechachmaso, ve'al yishallel hagibor bigvuraso....Let not the 
genius  pride himself on his intellect, let the hero not pride himself on his 
strength,  let not the wealthy man pride himself on his wealth....Rather if 
someone wants  to pride himself on anything, let him pride himself on 
studying and knowing  Me...Ki Ani Hashem oseh chessed mishpat utzedakah 
be'aretz...For I, Hashem, do  chessed, justice and charity in the land...ki ve'eileh 
chafatzti ne'um  Hashem...This is what I desire, says Hashem."
 
"Azvam es Torasi" is here equated with abandoning chessed, mishpat and  
tzedakah.  And there is "no connection at all between mitzvos and  good or 
moral"?!
 

--Toby Katz
==========





-------------------- 


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.aishdas.org/pipermail/avodah-aishdas.org/attachments/20100523/800d73e2/attachment-0002.htm>