[Avodah] Halacha vs. Policy - Poll re: Who To Marry

[Micha Berger]

On Mon, Feb 08, 2010 at 01:11:33AM -0500, T613K at aol.com wrote:
: I do not believe this can possibly be a halachic teshuvah -- IOW it MUST be 
:  meta-halachic -- because no true halachic shailah can ever be couched in 
: these  terms:  "Rabbi, I have absolutely made up my mind to sin and I want 
: you to  tell me which sin to commit, sin A or sin B."  No halachic teshuvah 
: could  ever be rendered to any such phoney shailah...

Isn't that the gemara's concept of "halakhah ve'ein morin kein"? We
do decide which is the less offensive sin, but since we don't want the
decision to lose the aura of "lesser evil" and be accepted by the masses
as appropriate, the LOR tells the person facing this decision quietly.

In the past, I drew a parallel from this to the gap between C's "driving
responsum" and the poseqim who allow people to invite mechallelei Shabbos
to a religious activities even though you know they'll be driving. C
promulgated a public ruling, and the rank and file lost all sense that
driving to synagogue was intended only as a lesser evil to never showing
up at all. Whereas if you make it clear from an unwillingness to discuss
driving that this is a stop-gap temporary measure until hopefully someday
they will choose to observe Shabbos, there are posqim who permit.


Similar to the initial choice between a niddah and a nakhriah, how
about this case:

Someone survives a plane crash in the frozen heights of a mountain. He
has to eat in order to survive. The only available protein is either
pork or those of his passangers who didn't make it. Which should he eat,
lehalakhah? The pork is definitely assur deOraisa, cannibalism is more
complicated.

The Ramban, Raavad, Rashba, Nemuqei Yoseif say that once the blood is
removed, there is no kashrus issue. Perhaps kavod hameis. The blood is
assur derabbanan. The Rosh says the flesh is too. Still, a more minor
issur than the issur deOraisa of a beheimah temei'ah, or the bitul asei
of not burying the meis. The Rambam adds a second bitul aseif of earing
only kosher anmials (Maakhalos Asuros 2:3,3:4). The Rama is the only
one who says it's assur deOraisa (YD 79:1), AFAIK. (The above research
was RGS's <http://www.torah.org/linkedlists/torah-forum/fu/0210.html>.)

Still, would that mean that a true Halakhic Man, whose emotions are
perfectly molded by halakhah, would choose cannibalism over eating pork?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

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