[Avodah] the cohen gadol and marriage to a pubescent girl

[Zev Sero]

Yaacov Shulman wrote:

> And it would seem that every generation needs wider and new applications 
> of darkei noam as we become sensitized to matters that weren't of import 
> in previous generations.

Why?  If it didn't bother the previous generations, shouldn't that at
least create a strong presumption that it shouldn't bother us either?

 
> It also seems to me that, generally speaking, when we consider the 
> "hypersensitivity" shown in specific areas of Torah thought, the idea 
> that someone concerned for "darkei noam" is oversensitive cannot be 
> supported. For instance, the Talmud mandates that a person choose death 
> rather than embarrass someone else.

And yet the same Talmud has no problem here.  It would seem that QED.


> But where is the context of darkei shalom, which is to say, as I am 
> seeing it, the humanistic context: that 12-1/2 year old girls should not 
> be married, and in particular not to adults?

And yet you've just proved that this isn't so.  Do you not even accept
the possibility that the fault is in your sensitivity and not in the din?

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas