[Avodah] Intuition - sources
Micha Berger
micha at aishdas.org
Thu Aug 23 12:59:10 PDT 2007
On Sat, August 18, 2007 11:50 pm, Daniel Eidensohn wrote:
: Any source that "G-d wants the heart" that one should do that which
: seems intutively correct?
The QTYH mitzvos (*Q*edoshim tihyu, ve'asisa ha*T*ov veha*Y*ashar,
ve*H*alakhta biderachav) presume a definition of qedushah, tov, yashar
and derakhav that is accessible without specific instruction. Okay,
maybe one can split-off vehalakhta diderakhav from that list. I'll
stick to QYH.
And, as already discussed here in the past (reference to a 2nd
thread), "man desani lakh" is theoretically intuitive.
But the problem is that one needs the right intuitions. Different
people's intutions will be correct in different situations. I have
even argued that a more authentic definition of da'as Torah (as the
term has been used since RYS's recoinage) would be "Torah shaped
intution" (a third discussion). Which in yet another thread (#4) I
argued was the real basis for banning electricity on Shabbos. There is
more consensus that it simply doesn't intuitively fit the idea of
Shabbos than figuring out the mechanics of the issur.
Along the lines of having a properly developed intuition, so that one
needn't worry about being mislead, we have Nefesh haChaim 1:18 on how
avos kept the Torah before it was given (5th reference to old
discussion). They were able to feel what was missing and thus deduce
what needed doing or needed to be avoided. It would seem that on their
madreiga, one could intuit kol haTorah kulah!
It would seem to me that Rachmana liba ba'i means that Hashem wants
your heart's intuition to match His Will, rather than your suggestion
that He wants you to follow your heart "ba'asher hu sham". (This is
old topic #6, using the leining for Rosh haShanah to argue that din is
not about action, but about the kind of person you have become. Now
I'm adding the role of intuition in defining that "kind of person".)
Tir'u baTov!
-mi
--
Micha Berger Spirituality is like a bird: if you tighten
micha at aishdas.org your grip on it, it chokes; slacken your grip,
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