[Avodah] Ends-Driven Halachic Reasoning in the Aruch haShulchan?

[Micha Berger]

I wanted to talk this out here, as this se'if in the AhS appears to use
the kind of reasoning that is exactly what I argued for decades with
C rabbis (and more recently with one or two of the more innovative OO
rabbis) isn't how halakhah should be done.

AhS CM 89:2 discusses the reason for a taqanah that if a sakhir and the
BhB disagree about whether the sakhir had been paid, the sakhir can make
a shevu'ah binqitas cheifetz, and the employer would have to pay.

Normally, f two sides make conflicting unsupported claims, the rule
would be that the defendent (the nitba) would make a shevu'as heises
(which is a less demanding shevu'ah than the shevu'ah BNC) and not pay.
A taqanah beyond the usual hamotzi meichaveiro alav hara'ayah to
disuade liars.

The stated reason for treating the sakhir as a special case is that many
times the employer has many workers, and it's more likely he wouldn't
remember the details of who he paid what than the employee not remembering
the details of getting paid.

However, the AhS continues, this doesn't explain why chazal worried more
about employers than salespeople. Someone who has a lot of customers
is prone to the same parallel likelihood of confusion. So, he explains
that the iqar haataqanah is because employees have a lot riding on
getting paid, "nosei es nafsho lehachayos nafesho venefesh benei beiso,
chasu chaza"l alav..." And therefore even if it's a boss who has only
one employee, and he isn't overhwlmed keeping track of vay, lo chilqu
chakhamim.

Doesn't this sound bad? Chazal really had some social end in mind, so
they invented some pro forma excuse to justify their conclusion.

I guess that in dinei mamunus, Chazal can do whatever they want --
hefqer BD hefqer -- and therefore on /that/ ground they can force
payment of a worker for the sake of social justice. But that's not
what the AhS invokes.

Thoughts?

:-)BBii!
-Micha

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