[Avodah] Lifnei Iveir

[Kenneth Miller via Avodah]

I asked if Naami had violated Lifnei Iveir:

: It is one thing to dissuade a prospective ger from joining us.
: But Ruth had been living with a Jewish family for ten years! How
: can Naami urge her to go back to avoda zara?

R' Micha Berger answered:

> On a technical level, it would be mesayeia, not lifnei iver, and
> I'm not sure that mesayeia applies to 7 mitzvos benei Noach.

Really? Perhaps I need a better understanding of the difference between the two. I thought that mesayeia was when the other person is going to violate the halacha anyway and I am merely helping him to do it. But in this case, the three of them have been living for ten years as a family unit, and regardless of the geirus (or lack of it) I presume there was no avodah zara under Naami's roof. This status quo could have continued for a long time, as we see even Orpah was reluctant to leave.

But Naami urged and insisted, and it is difficult for me to imagine a bigger michshol. Pasuk 1:15 - "So [Naami] said: Look! Your sister in law has returned to her people and to her god. Go follow your sister in law." One of us might as well hand the car keys to our child on Shabbos and tell him to have a good time.

Akiva Miller
KennethGMiller at juno.com



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