[Avodah] Beyond BT: Antidote for Baseless Hatred

[Zev Sero via Avodah]

> The Mishnah asks: How do you dance before the bride? -- i.e. what do you
> sing about her? Shammai's school of thought was: Tell it like it is.
> "The bride is nasty, vindictive, selfish" -- say the truth. Hillel,
> on the other hand, said that no matter what she's like, say that she's
> kind and nice (as the groom undoubtedly thinks).

This is not the pshat at all.  Beis Shammai certainly didn't say one should
sing about the kallah's defects!  What they said was that one should praise
whatever qualities she has, and ignore her defects.  If you can't say
anything nice, say nothing, but there's always *something* nice to say.

Whereas Beis Hillel said *every* kallah should be described as "na'ah
vachasudah", regardless of whether these are in fact among her qualities,
because these qualities are expected of every kallah, so by omitting them
from her praises one may as well be shouting from the rooftops that she
lacks them.


-- 
Zev Sero               Meaningless combinations of words do not acquire
zev at sero.name          meaning merely by appending them to the two other
                        words `God can'.  Nonsense remains nonsense, even
                        when we talk it about God.   -- C S Lewis