[Avodah] Who he could have been

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Dec 25, 2007 at 10:02:35AM -0500, Rich, Joel wrote:
: As I argued lshutatam on the blog, one could argue that even such an
: individual as under discussion had a greater tafkid (learning, teaching
: torah) and had he completed that alternative tafkid HKB"H would have
: sent the refuah quicker, more expansive through other sources...

I was justg saying that any option that didn't enter the person's nequdas
bechirah (in REED-speak) couldn't have been an alternative tafqid.

And, while I can't comprehend Izhbitzer concepts of bechirah, it would
seem that if the person didn't do it, then it obviously wasn't his
tafqid. This is a logical extension of the notion that if A harms B,
it was because HQBH set things up for B to get harmed. Thus bechirah
becomes about intent, not the consequences of ones actions -- and in
the Beis Yaaqov and Mei haShiloach (R Mordekhai Yoseif Leiner) and as
elaborated repeated by R' Tzadoq, even one's actions themselves.

Still thinking out loud... Victor Frankl (who gets a z"l for having gone
through the camps, in addition to the number of people helped by his
Logotherapy) would actually include our thoughts in man's tafqid. As
he notes, the Nazis could take away almost everything but how the
person responds to their suffering. And that response could make all
the difference. A universe in which that person accepts his suffering
with internal dignity is a different one; even if that's all one can
contribute.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             I slept and dreamt that life was joy.
micha at aishdas.org        I awoke and found that life was duty.
http://www.aishdas.org   I worked and, behold -- duty is joy.
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