[Avodah] Ahab

[Akiva Miller via Avodah]

R'Zev Sero wrote:

> Surely she did convert. ... And she did accept her
> new country's god ... But she didn't abandon her
> old gods. She must have accepted the obligation of
> mitzvos, including the obligation not to serve avoda
> zara, and that if she were caught serving AZ she
> could be executed, but either she intended to break
> her obligation and expected not to be caught, or she
> originally intended to abandon her gods but later
> backslid.

My understanding is that if one accepts an obligation with intention to
break it, that does not count as accepting it at all.

This is not quite the same thing as "I accept the obligation, but I don't
think I'll be strong enough to do it 100%", which *would* count as
acceptance. This level must surely be okay, since every ger is human, and
no human is perfect; there will inevitably be some failures, and that
doesn't affect the validity of the acceptance.

The problem is when one *plans* on a violation from the beginning. I can
easily imagine the scenario in which one realizes they might get caught and
be held responsible, but I can't see why that would render the "acceptance"
valid. It is only a description of how things will play out in practice,
and says nothing about the person's da'as and acceptance.

Thus, according to RZS's post, it must be that "she originally intended to
abandon her gods but later backslid."

Akiva Miller
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