[Avodah] Consumer Alert: Minhog Scams On The Rise!

[Lisa Liel]

At 03:22 PM 6/20/2011, Micha Berger wrote:
>On Mon, Jun 20, 2011 at 12:40:15PM +0300, Danny Schoemann wrote:
>: Conclusion: Halocho is a free for all. There's a correct way to do
>: things and then there's the way everybody does it, which is OK since
>: everybody does it.
>
>I would conclude that halakhah is a balancing act between conflicting
>desiderata. You have rules, but they often "just" produce sets of pros
>and cons that the poseiq then has to weigh (shiqul hadaas).
>
>One such desirable is that there be cultural continuity (mimeticism).
>Another is the textual strength of only replying the pesuqim in Qedushah.
>
>If the norm to violate the text is widespread enough, it may be enough to
>outweigh the fact that this is a second-best pesaq on the textual level.
>
>But while that's grayer an "hairier" than straight algorithmic rules,
>it's not a "free for all".

Agreed.  If halakhah was a mathematically rigorous system, we 
wouldn't need rabbis at all.  We could just pick up a book and look 
things up.  But that's why there's Torah she'b'al peh.  That sort of 
system isn't a living one.

Lisa