[Avodah] Chillul HaShem when NJ are the observers

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Nov 15, 2011 at 05:10:18PM -0500, Zev Sero wrote:
>> Nidon didan wasn't the case you cited either. It was spitting when
>> passing the galach.

> Same thing.  Umordechai lo yichra` velo yishtachaveh.  More chilul
> haShem!  He would not have enraged Haman any more by spitting.

(It's not chilul "haShem", it's "hasheim". It's the name / reputation
being mechalel, not the Creator Himself. No reason for caps, IMHO. Also,
since "Hashem" is a kinui, why capitalize the noun rather than the
article prefix? If you split the idiom, it's not a kinui anymore.)

Lemaaseh, you agree that people in Europe didn't spit at the galach.
So what exactly is this "minhag Yisrael"?

Also, it's quite likely German Jews gave up the practice of *discreetly*
spitting when passing a kenesiah because the Emancipation changed the
cheftzah.

>> In the meantime, you're not working on a definition of qiddush hasheim
>> that relates to the usage in Yuma. (Which is only as aggadic as the
>> entire topic.) The embarassing is a chilul hasheim, which appears to
>> explicitly validate the position you're arguing against.

> Again, it *must* depend on who is doing this judging, and what their
> values are...

Must it? I thought it was all about whether more or fewer people are
pushed to yir'as Shamayim. Is that not the Rambam?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The true measure of a man
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