[Avodah] Threats Against A Judge

[T613K at aol.com]

From: Micha Berger _micha at aishdas.org_ (mailto:micha at aishdas.org) 



>>The  opposite of Torah, self refinement, is gilui arayos. (To put it in
my own  thoughts, the only one harmed when conducted "by two consenting
adults  behind closed doors" are the two people  themselves....)<<
             
 
>>>>>
You try to draw a parallel between Torah, avodah,  gemilus chasadim on the 
one hand, and gilui arayos, A'Z and shefichus damim on  the other.  Two out of 
the three work but the first (Torah parallel to  G'A) is strained.  
 
I don't understand what you mean when you say that the only people harmed  in 
the case of G'A are the two sinners themselves (nor why that makes G'A  
parallel to Torah).  It isn't true, most of the time.  If a mamzer is  born as a 
result of this sin, the child is most certainly harmed.  If a  husband has been 
cheated on, he is most certainly harmed.  In a broader  sense, all of Klal 
Yisrael -- indeed, the very fabric of civilization -- is  harmed when individuals 
commit despicable acts, acts that bring down Divine  judgement.  
 
When only two people are engaged in G'A the harm is minimal but the  tendency 
is for such sins to spread and become more widespread, with each such  act 
tending to engender more such acts.  Related to this is the reason why  a person 
who sees a sotah might want to become a nazir -- the very fact that  this 
woman committed adultery (even though the consequence, for her, was death)  tends 
to increase the likelihood that others, too, will commit such sins.
 
You might think that if people sin in private and nobody ever finds out,  
then no one is harmed and such sins will not become "contagious" but it's not  
so.  Somehow, evil does become known and it does influence the wider  society.  
There is just no such thing as a truly private act that has no  repercussions 
for anyone else.
 
 

--Toby Katz
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