[Avodah] Characterizing our era

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

I wrote:
> Consider the comparison **you've** made between the Tur and the MB:
> The Tur (and it's relatives, such as the SA) were the standard-
> bearers for centuries. The a major upheaval occurred, in which a
> new standard-bearer appeared (the MB), which focused only on a
> particular section of the prior one, concentrating on those
> halachos considered most relevant for the times.

R"n Lisa Liel and R' Micha Berger have called me on this, and to put it simply, they are correct, and I was wrong.

I was focusing on the simple differences in material covered: The Gemara contains both halacha and aggada, and also majority and minority views. The Rambam deliberately shortened this, and omitted aggada and minority views, while still including all halacha, whether relevant or not nowadays. The Tur shortened that to only the halachos which are relevant nowadays.

The MB focused on a still-smaller area. But why? I think I was working on the presumption that he was continuing a long tradition of writing for balabatim. Like the Rambam and Tur before him, perhaps the Chofetz Chaim felt that shtark lerners have no excuse but to learn Kol HaTorah Kulah, but the ordinary people are unable to do this, and aren't even able to learn what the common folk of the last generation learned; and therefore, perhaps, the Chofetz Chaim took it upon himself to write the MB.

The problem with the above analysis is that it gives the impression that the Chofetz Chaim considered Orach Chayim to be less [something] than Yoreh Deah. I hsve no idea why there's no MB on YD (or EH or CM). Perhaps it was simply a lack of time, or perhaps there were other considerations. But the bottom line is that my post gave the impression that the Other Three Turim are less [something] than Orach Chaim, and I regret giving that impression.

Akiva Miller


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