[Aspaqlaria] Comments for Aspaqlaria

Wed May 16 05:52:56 PDT 2007

Comments for Aspaqlaria

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Comment on Asher Yatzer by Shlomo

Posted: 16 May 2007 07:52 AM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/06/asher-yatzer.shtml#comment-2737

The time when I had the best kavana, ever, for asher yatzar was in yeshiva right after we publicly shechted and dissected a sheep.

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Comment on What is a Berakhah? by Shlomo

Posted: 16 May 2007 07:49 AM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2005/12/what-is-berakhah.shtml#comment-2736

I always thought that bracha/blessing simply meant to giving/bestowal. When God blesses us, thats the obvious meaning. When we bless God, I think the exact same meaning applies. We are bestowing, granting, and presenting an item of praise to God. When we had a Temple we would literally present physical offerings to God; nowadays we just say a formula. But logically there is no difference, either way we are giving God something, even if its something that God doesnt in any way need.

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Comment on  The rest is commentary by Shlomo

Posted: 16 May 2007 01:21 AM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/05/rest-is-commentary.shtml#comment-2727

There is an Orthodox Forum book on this topic, no?

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Comment on Birkhas Avos by Shlomo

Posted: 16 May 2007 01:04 AM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/05/birkhas-avos.shtml#comment-2725

I see.

The way you explain the Gra there, it seems that might and transcendence dont refer to different qualities - rather that might refers to what Moshe said and transcendence refers to our elaboration.

That makes more sense, but I think it affects your attempt to relate our prayer to the Biblical prayers. If theres no qualitative difference between might and transcendence, then there is little point in dividing the verses between them. Of course, you had trouble making this division in the first place (i.e. with Yehoshafat) so perhaps this difficulty would strengthen your point overall.

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Comment on Hashem and Morality by Aspaqlaria  Blog Archive  Ethics and Morality

Posted: 15 May 2007 05:34 PM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/05/hashem-and-morality.shtml#comment-2706

[] We therefore have two notions of morality: In this entry I am suggesting it means doing what we were made for. However, in that earlier entry (which was also expanded moments before this one) I wrote that being moral is all an elaboration of what is hateful to you, do not do to your peer and that even halakhah is only necessary because of the complexity that arises from applying a simple rule to a complex universe. []

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Comment on Reasons for Mitzvos by Aspaqlaria  Blog Archive  Hashem and Morality

Posted: 15 May 2007 05:31 PM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2005/05/reasons-for-mitzvos.shtml#comment-2705

[] After proving that geonim and rishonim assert the existence of a natural ethic (citing R Nissim Gaon, Ramban, Chizquni and Rav Saadia) he ends up revamping MA to be about supplementing natural ethics with the more refined Divine ethic. For example, one can argue the need for a Divine ethic not on the grounds of Thou shalt not murder but on the impossibility of natural ethic dealing with abortion, euthanasia, and the other borderline cases in any deterministic way. (This ties back to an entry written earlier this week.) []

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Comment on The Butlers Dilemma by micha

Posted: 15 May 2007 04:21 PM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/04/the-butlers-dilemma.shtml#comment-2702

Yeihareig veal yaavor is about lehatzil atzmo. The butlers dilemma is for A to steal from B to save C.

BTW, the litmus test doesnt work that well, as there are other mitzvos beyond those three for which one must risk their life rather than avoid. Milkhemes mitzvah, for one.

-mi

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Comment on Birkhas Avos by micha

Posted: 15 May 2007 04:18 PM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/05/birkhas-avos.shtml#comment-2701

Your sections would defy the Gras notion that birkhas Avos is based around haKel haGadol haGibbor veHanorah. This forces Kel Elyon to be with the subsequent gomeil chasadim tovim.

The categories of might and transcendent come from the predecessor prayers, which all mention gevurah followed by a mention of G-d being in heaven, or changing time, or Master of all on heaven and earth transcendent descriptions. In addition to the three examples on the page, earlier comparisons of these tefillos also include: Daniel 9:4, Nechemiah 1:5, Melachim I 8:23 (which is also DhY 2 6:14). In other words, the categories arent mine, but I may have mislabeled what each of the 5 sections such prayers (except when omitted as redundant to the chasimah) have in common.

-mi

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Comment on The Butlers Dilemma by Shlomo

Posted: 15 May 2007 03:30 PM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/04/the-butlers-dilemma.shtml#comment-2696

In addition to the sources he brought, Barzilais view is supported by the fact that theft is not yehareg veal yaavor (although I think theres an opinion somewhere, which we dont accept, that disagrees).

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Comment on Birkhas Avos by Shlomo

Posted: 15 May 2007 03:23 PM CDT
http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/05/birkhas-avos.shtml#comment-2695

I dont think your categories of might and transcendence are coherent or consistent.

I think it makes more sense to divide into 3 sections:

1) Who God is - everything through El Elyon

2) What God does - through beahava

3) Meein hachatima and chatima

Sections 1 and 2 can each be subdivided into two sections, one particular and one universal.

Im working on a post on this basis on my own blog.

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