[Avodah] L'sheim shmayim

[Ben Bradley via Avodah]

'There is an enormous difference between what the acknowledged leaders of
all Jewry can do -- such as during the time of the Gemara -- and what
can be done today.  When members of the left claim that brachot should
be thrown out and other fundamental practices should be modified on the
basis of "kavod ha-briyot", for example, they are not using "kavod
ha-briyot" as Jews have always used it, but rather using it as a label
to apply to external cultural norms that aren't even a century old.'


No argument there at all. The point was really to buttress the truism that halacha and Torah are not synonymous. Halacha works within the larger structure of Torah and is guided by principle and values.
Your point that this idea is mangled and misused throughout heterodoxy is well taken though. I was not suggesting that someone can pick a favourite value, decide that it doesn't shtim with a particular halacha and proceed to mangle the halacha into submission. Not for a moment.

'The question is what you mean by "ethical vacuum".  If you mean that the
system of halakha doesn't and can't operate without paying heed to the
ethical imperatives of the society surrounding us, I have to
respectfully disagree.  The ethics must themselves come from within our
own cultural framework, based on our own traditions'.

Again, agree 100%. Don't think I suggested otherwise. I'm a neo-Hirschian after all. What I was taking issue with was your contention that it is 'It is extremely dangerous to attempt to use non-halakhic elements of Torah in a way that gives them primacy over the halakha.'  That's true for the heterodox tendency to sidestep halacha (or worse) due to what they consider to be ethical issues. But it doesn't take into account the centrality of of values in the whole system of Torah, including underlying TSBP.
Just for example, Pirkei Avos is not halachic but it's vital and has implications for halacha.



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