[Avodah] Chayav livsumei

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

On 03/21/2016 11:14 AM, saul newman wrote:
> ------ to that i would think that then , the widespread chillul
> hashem that drinking on purim by the Bochrim teams [the 5th mitzva of
> purim , collecting for anything OTHER than matanos leevyonim] would
> definitionally be not a chillul Hashem , since it 'is in Hashem's
> hands " to quote you----though i think you would answer that the
> drunkenness was supposed to be part of a seudah , and their shtick
> precedes the seudah by many hours , and therefore merits no Divine
> sanction

No, I wouldn't say that, and I don't agree that it *is* a chilul hashem.
But I would say that one has to know one's limits, and while part of
being young is exploring those limits, which is how one learns where
they are, one must explore them with some care.  By all means push your
limits and risk a headache, but don't risk more than that.   And it should
go without saying that there is *no* mitzvah to drive on Purim, so all
serious drinking should take place after one has parked the car for the
night.

On the Rabba/R Zeira incident, see the LR's take here:
http://www.chabad.org.il/Magazines/Article.asp?ArticleID=381&CategoryID=389

Note that RMB's and RLL's idea that this story is a counter to Rava's
memra is the position of Rabbi Efrayim, as cited by the Ran and the
Baal Hamaor, but that is not the Shulchan Aruch's psak.

But the LR's take is that it's all about knowing ones limits, and
R Zeira's fear that his limits were lower than Rabba thought they were.
Rabba was confident that either R Zeira's capacity had increased, or
else if a miracle was again needed it would take place.  R Zeira lacked
this confidence, which might be a flaw in him, but lepo'el he had to
respect his limits, and we don't see that Rabba pressured him to push
them, so it appears that Rabba agreed.

To put it in other words, R Zeira admired Rabba's bitachon and wished
he had it too, but recognised that he didn't, and therefore couldn't
allow himself to be in that situation again.  Because at the end of
the day every nivra is limited.

-- 
Zev Sero               All around myself I will wave the green willow
zev at sero.name          The myrtle and the palm and the citron for a week
                And if anyone should ask me the reason why I'm doing that
                I'll say "It's a Jewish thing; if you have a few minutes
                I'll explain it to you".