[Avodah] Chumros

[Richard Wolpoe]

On Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 9:44 AM, Moshe Y. Gluck <mgluck at gmail.com> wrote:

> R' MB (on Areivim):
> > I think chumrot are great -- if people would retain the line between
> > baseline halakhah and chumrah, so that they could know when they're
> > being machmir on someone else's cheshbon, and when they are violating
> > ikkar hadin BALChaveiro to fulfil a chumrah in BALMaqom.
>
> I agree with you in principle, but in practice, don't Chumros and Minhagim
> often have a Din Neder? So, yes, someone might be acting inflexibly, but
> only because he doesn't have a Chacham right there to be Shoel his Neder...
>
> KT,
> MYG
>


This is a very complex point

Many humros are very beneficial and many can be harmful. It's like medicine,
an overdose can be fatal but sometimes you need to increase your dose, too.

A humra that is a "syag" is basic to rabbinic Judaism, it's fundamental in
Maseches Avos etc.

However, sometimes you get some kind of real off-the-wall ideas.

For exmaple, someone caame into the Chinese Restaurant where I wokred and
DEMANDED that:
Since we are a Koswher REstauratn
Therefore we MSUT have a mezuzah.

This restaurant is owned by a Gentile, He does NOT need to sell his chamez.
He does NOT need to toveil his keilim. But now he needs a Mezuzah?   This
kind of mentality is really misguided.   I don't know of too many rabbanim
who would go for this idea [some whom I have told them this story chuckled!]
And anyway I suspect the guy demanding the mezuszah was himself a sofer. [
he was wearing a light blue smock. Nu go prove his profession.]

But go figure out this one. How come we are machmir on pas paltar for 10
dyas of Tehuva and not the rest of the year.  Waht does it buy is if on the
11th of Tishrei we go back to old habits? I have always had a problem with
this one.

Now to NOT eat pas Plaster on EVERY Shabbos during the year makes some sense
to me. AT least we are re-inforcing the qedushah of Shabbas year-round




-- 
Kesiva vaChasima Tova
Best Wishes for the New Year 5769
RabbiRichWolpoe at Gmail.com
see: http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/
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