[Avodah] teshuva

[Lisa Liel via Avodah]

On 10/9/2016 9:15 PM, Eli Turkel wrote:
> The language the article uses is "kasheh lo levater" which I assume 
> means that it is too difficult to give up shaving with a razor.
> My interpretation i a aveirah betavayon and not rebellion.
>
> If someone wants to see the original Hebrew I can forward that email ...

Thank you to RET for sending me a copy of the text he's dealing with.  
It's pretty much the way I guessed.  The case ROY is talking about is 
someone who is mekabel ol on all but one mitzvah.  It's not that he 
doesn't do the mitzvah; it's that he refuses to view it as binding on 
him at all.  And so when he does it, there's no possibility of shame, 
which could otherwise lead him to do teshuva.

In the modern world, hypocrisy has become the cardinal sin of all sins.  
And by that perspective, if you're going to violate the mitzvah, it's 
better to say it's not a mitzvah at all.  Because if you say it is and 
you violate it anyway, then you're a hypocrite. But the Torah has a 
different outlook, because we hold that the Torah is Truth.  So it's far 
better to acknowledge that you're falling short of what you know you 
should be doing than to rebel against God and simply refuse to accept 
something because you don't want to do it.

Lisa