[Avodah] Halachah, Mussar, Qabbalah

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Rich Wolpoe wrote:
> My objections to some halacha sefarim is that some have
> blurred/conflated halachah with mussar (EG Mishna Brurah)
> and/or with Qabbalah (EG Ben Ish Chai)
> ...
> So my objection of inserting mussar/qabbalah into Halacha
> is about blurred distinctions and conflations. Not about
> being illegitimate.

First, I note that your post is not about conflating halacha with minhag, or conflating halacha with chumra. If that's what you were writing about, I would understand the distinctions which you're trying to clarify. But that's NOT what your post is about. Your post is about conflating halacha wih mussar, and halacha with kabbala. And that's where you've lost me.

Specifically, if you are saying that others have blurred these distinctions, then I suppose you have some way of clarifying them. What might that be?

For example, are you suggesting that rules which derive from Gemara are "halacha", while rules which derive from Zohar are "kabbalah"? If so, it sounds very arbitrary to me. You might as well say that rules which derive from Mishna are "halacha" while rules which derive from Braisa are "not halacha". But certainly we'd agree that extra-mishnaic sources can be genuine halacha, right? So rules that derive from Zohar (or Tosefta or Geonim or Rishonim) rather than Geonim can also be genuine halacha, it seems to me.

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just not understanding you. Some examples would be helpful.

Akiva Miller

____________________________________________________________
Get the ultimate protection. Click now and get your own armored vehicle!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/fc/BLSrjnsMxB4kSqiFF5wdCI9I84NndKsQtvoN0eFgaBOTCHJh9r0oNqWPLDy/