[Avodah] Women at a funeral

[Micha Berger]

On Sun, Mar 29, 2009 at 07:51:07AM +0300, Samuel Safran wrote:
: I am aware of many of these sources but sources alone do not make
: halacha -- lomudt does.  

I find this statement curious. It doesn't apply to most non-Litvisher
poseqim, and even among Litvaks, how often does it describe the MB?
The AhS, for that matter, so consistently has lomdus that produces
minhag Litta, it seems evident to me that his lomdus is post-facto,
and his real basis is accepted pesaq.

After all, what does lomdus reason with if not the comparison and contrast
of statements made in sources in the same and related cases?

: It might be useful for the Israeli religious community to understand
: what behavior is mandated by halacha (e.g., separation) and what is aggadic.

This is a different distinction. I would agree that not every source
is a halachic source. Statements about where the satan stands are not
necessarily grounds for altering practice.

OTOH, statements about Hashem protecting the mother beshe'as leidah
DO factor into teshuvos on inducing (eg IM YD II #74). R' Baqshi-Doron
(Binyan Av IV #52) adds to that the spiritual development of the fetus,
and causing birth before the mal'akh's shiur completes the entire Torah.
(Does this means that premies' souls are quick learners?) Both therefore
limit induction to cases where the risk to the mother (including her
inability to make it more than 9-1/2 months with her sanity intact)
is greater.

: I realize that some religious trends
: do not want to differentiate between halacha and aggada-kabbala, but it
: is worth reminding
: the community that there are trends that do differentiate...

I think reality is somewhere in the middle, as I tried to show above. I
think these trends are a real "eilu va'eilu", as long as the aggadita is
not being used to override actual halakhah. Which itself is fuzzy -- how
far can you stretch it? Clapping hands for religious music is accepted
pesaq in many circles, but I can't see how. OTOH, I can see the aggadic
value of dancing on Shabbos to justify taking the side that defines the
ban on "riqud" as being about dances where the feet bang out a rhythm. Or
clapping kele'acheir yad. OTOH, I see how others wouldn't. As I said,
fuzzy.

Li nir'eh that in the current post-rupture era, where it's much easier
to find people following every chumrah in bishul beshabas than who feel
the anticipation of Shabbos in their bones all Friday, that we should
favor the trend toward more aggadita in our practice. Whatever inspires.

(WADR to RRW, who is tired of reopening the topic, but RSSafran is new
to it, so I reiterated.)

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             "Man wants to achieve greatness overnight,
micha at aishdas.org        and he wants to sleep well that night too."
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