[Avodah] Ta'am of eating matzah

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, May 12, 2008 at 11:49:47PM -0400, Richard Wolpoe wrote:
:> When a mitzvah is an os, does it stand on its own, or does HQBH presume
:> we know the history? And how much history beyond what we're given in the
:> Torah?

: HBKH was talking to the dor hmidbar they got the message. The message was
: forgotten.
: The entire point says 2 things:
: good news There was a G-d talking to Refugees from Egypt who understood
: Egyptian metaphors
: bad news: later speculation lost he simple points and  was either
: darshaening or rationalizing. But as we several of Rambam's hypotheses in
: the Moreh have proven true.

Then what kind of os is it if for the majority of its history no one
knows what the symbol signified?

...
: The followed orders.  Ta'amei hamitzvos were never a big deal re:
: performance. Think of parah Adumah.

Which is why I specified a mitzvah the pasuq describes as an os. A
mishpat could be just without us understanding how. A choq is generally
understood (not necessarily by RSRH) as a mitzvah we can not understand
the function of. But an os is a sign, a symbol. What is a symbol if the
people can't figure out what it signifies?

:> I find it hard to believe that a mitzvah ledoros depends on something
:> from Egyptian culture that is not ledoros and not even mentioned in
:> the chumash.

: Self evident to those who grew up in Egypt. That was the original intended
: audicence....

Ch"v -- the original intended audience was the entire history of the
Jewish people! The mitzvah was given ledoros, not to one generation.

: The Hinuch did not like the Ramabm's points either.  But there is a great
: deal of evidence to support that the main thrusts fof many hukkim were
: simpmy anti " ma'seh eretz mitzaryim and  eretz k'na'an."

: I am sorrow that this paradigm shift leaves you uneasy, but as I posted
: about 10 years ago, Rav Sa'adyah Gaon already posited that over time hukkim
: will be seen as more and more rational...

I have no problem with that. I have a problem with the reverse -- mitzvos
that are not described as chuqim that are being described as representing
things most of the people doing the mitzvah wouldn't have figured out.

I would expect an os to be able to relay its own meaning, or HQBH would
tell us the meaning explicitly ("ki sheishes yamim asah H'...")

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 25th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        3 weeks and 4 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Netzach sheb'Netzach: When is domination or
Fax: (270) 514-1507                          taking control too extreme?