[Avodah] Noach "Oppression Of One's Fellowman Is The Worst Sin"

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

Cantor Wolberg posted many examples to illustrate the idea summarized in this thread's title.

R' Micha Berger commented:
> It's not like lo sa'ashoq is yeihareig ve'al ya'avor.

Indeed, it is both difficult and dangerous to try to divine which sin is worse, by comparing their punishments, or by seeing which one is "yeihareig ve'al ya'avor". Using such crude tools, one might easily come to the wrong conclusion.

My favorite example is one in which the Chofetz Chaim held (for a particular individual in a particular situation) kashrus to be more important than Shabbos. For more details, see my post in the Mail-Jewish thread titled "Big Mitzvah", at http://ottmall.com/mj_ht_arch/v40/mj_v40i14.html#CDX

Disclaimer: This post is not intended to dispute Cantor Wolberg's post. In fact, I'd like to offer another example that he might have included: Churban Habayis from such a "minor" thing as not giving enough respect to each other.

Akiva Miller