[Avodah] Mezuzos for Nachriim

[Zev Sero]

On 29/09/2010 1:10 PM, Micha Berger wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 03:21:08AM +1000, Zev Sero wrote:
>> Either way it's not possible that Rebbi sent the mezuzah to Artevan
>> to prevent eivah.  Artevan did not request a mezuzah, and was taken
>> aback when he received it...
>
> I think this response rules out someone who would assume the best of
> a friend.

How so?  He wasn't angry, just surprised; wouldn't you be?  If you
sent a friend an expensive jewel and they sent you back what looked
like a $20 trinket, with no note explaning it, and it wasn't an
inside joke that you already understood, wouldn't you make a startled
inquiry as to what he meant by sending it?

  
>>                                        who was to say that he'd bother
>> to ask Rebbi for an explanation, rather than immediately jumping to
>> the conclusion that he'd been disrespected, and even if he were sure
>> to ask, who was to say that he'd accept the answer?

> I saw the whole thing as an excercise to drill home the message: If you
> wish Divine Aid for the Parthians, cut the Jews some slack.

But, as I said, if there was a possibility of eivah, how could Rebbi
take the risk?  Surely the safe course would have been to send a
conventional gift in return for the one he'd received.  And it's not
as if Rebbi, with his fabled wealth, couldn't have afforded something
suitable.  This proves that eivah wasn't a consideration; he must have
had good grounds for expecting exactly the response he got, and that
his explanation would be accepted.

-- 
Zev Sero                      The trouble with socialism is that you
zev at sero.name                 eventually run out of other people’s money
                                                      - Margaret Thatcher