[Avodah] Two kinds of humros

[t613k at aol.com]

From: David Riceman <driceman at att.net>
>> So what's  the function of the gzeirah of shniyos?

The Maharal's answer is that  shniyos are inherently immoral, but less 
immoral that Biblical prohibitions,  so the Torah left it to the Rabbis 
to prohibit them.  But according to  the normal explanation, that this 
somehow prevents violations of Biblical  law, how does the decree work? <<

David Riceman

 
>>>>>
It doesn't work like having separate pots for milchig and  fleishig.  It 
works more in a community-wide, cosmic way.  It makes  people in general aware 
that there a lot of people you can't marry and  especially that you can't 
marry most of the people with whom you have close,  family relationships, the 
people you run into all the time and  have a  degree of emotional 
connection with -- aunts and uncles, in-laws, whatnot.   That generalized awareness 
of "can't marry relatives" makes people a little more  wary in an 
incest-taboo kind of way about getting themselves involved  romantically with MOTOS 
with whom they have more than passing contact (precisely  because they /are/ 
"family").
 

--Toby  Katz
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