[Avodah] kamtza and bar-kamtza

[Micha Berger]

On Fri, July 20, 2007 7:52 am, R Eli Turkel replied to my objection:
:>: The Jews on the contrary always act without thinking of the
:>: consequences (see last Tosafot Gittin 65b).... In the last two
:>: stories the Jews start up with the Romans over minor customs that
:>: certainly are not within "yehareg ve-al ya-aovor".

:> Except that besha'as hashemad, you can't even cave in on shoelace
:> color, no? Is that because one is hiding Jewish identity, or because
:> in times of shemad, every hanhagah is yeihareig ve'al ya'avor?

: The Romans were not trying to stop the minhag. The Jews took the
: initiative (not passive) because of what the Romans did inadvertently.
: This was not  besha'as hashemad,

I understood things differently, particularly because of the inclusion
of the word "beshe'as" in that idiom. At a time of shemad, giving in
on any element of Jewish identity is prohibited. I do not see this as
being about those elements they particularly banned. Otherwise, why
generalize saying "at a time of"?

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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