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

[Joseph Kaplan]

Given that the Torah was given for all times and all places, you must
consider that where the Torah seems to contradict current mores,  
Torah trumps
current mores and we are supposed to view current mores through Torah  
eyes  rather
than view the Torah through the eyes of current secular mores.  A   
classic
example would be the Torah's attitude towards homosexual activity,  
which  it
unequivocally calls "to'evah."

(But I do agree that the idea of a 12-year-old girl marrying a man   
of 40 or
50 is quite distasteful, and I wonder if there are any other   
opinions that
would enable a widowed KG to get around that.)



--Toby Katz
=============

I'm not sure I understand what's the bottom line.  Is it that you are  
wrong in finding a 12-year-old girl marrying a man  of 40 or
50 is quite distasteful and you should work on changing your tastes  
so you will find it perfectly ok?  Or is it ok to think something the  
Torah permits, indeed even demands, is distasteful?

Joseph Kaplan