[Avodah] Kategor and Sanegor

[harchinam]

>  It has always been my impression that the kategor and
> sanegor are not lawyers, but witnesses, for the prosecution and for the
> defense. The deeds you do and even the words you say -- whether words of
> tefillah and Torah, or words of loshon hara and so on -- create angels
> that go up to Heaven and speak for you or against you. "The" kategor is
> the Satan who seems to be in charge of a platoon of all the sins you've
> committed -- all the accusing angels you've created with your sins.
> "The" Sanegor is HKB'H who keeps finding ways to "discredit" the accusing
> angels and give extra weight to the defending angels. (In a human court
> a witness for the defense couldn't also be the judge, but in a divine
> court it's different.)...


What you wrote seems close to what I understand, but with a bit of a
different religion's hashkafa thrown in. I think it is more like that Hashem
is the True Judge and both the defending angels and the accusing angels come
in front of Hashem to testify about the person's deeds who is "on trial" at
that time. The defenders come with all of the mitzvot and good midot and
such to testify as character witnesses and the accusing angels come to
mention all of the less than stellar things that one has done that could
take away from the good. Then Hashem, the Only Judge and equal to none,
makes His decision.

Saying that Hashem is the sanegor [or even The Sanegor] against or across
from the Kategor is just too much like a different religion's ideas of two
equal powers [or even somehwat unequal powers on the same level] for my
taste.

*** Rena
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