[Avodah] Fables and Lies

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Micha Berger wrote:
> Thus the rav needn't identify /the/ spiritual cause in order
> to honestly claim that some sin was a factor. Every sin ever
> committed was a factor....
> And so,
> When a rav identifies a sin to motivate teshuvah, he really
> has quite a bit of leeway. His burden of proof is REALLY low.

I would agree with this, PROVIDED that both paragraphs are kept in mind. The rav has an extremely low burden of proof ONLY because his claim is merely that some sin was the cause, or that a specific sin was one factor among many.

The problem many of us see is that certain rabbanim do seem to specify that a specific sin WAS THE cause - or people misinterpret the rav as having said that.

Akiva Miller