[Avodah] bli neder?

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Jun 14, 2018 at 01:19:19PM +0000, Rich, Joel via Avodah wrote:
: Question - is the reward that one receives for doing the stringency
: greater if one takes it on as a requirement vs. saying bli neder?

It depends why gadol hametzuveh ve'oseh.

The accepted theory is that it's because the YhR chimes up when a
prohibition -- issur or bitul asei -- is involved (what pop-psych would
describe as the attractiveness of "forbidden fruit"), so so one gets
greater sekhar for winning the greater battle. Lefum tzaara agra.

In which case, the YhR would work against keeping a neder, and so one
should get more sekhar for fighting that battle.

I argued that it's that someone we are obligated to do is indeed obligated
because we need its effects more than someone who isn't. In which case,
no one *needs* the chumerah for basic development; because if they did,
it would have been obligatory.

Then there would be no added value for keeping the chumerah in terms of
the substance of what he's doing, but there is added value to keeping
a neder.

Meanwhile, it's subject to the Chullin 2a:

   "Tov shelo tidor
   mishetidor velo meshaleim." (Qoheles 5:4)
   Utanya:
       Tov mizeh umizeh, she'eino nodei kol iqar. -- Divrey R' Meir.
   R' Yehudah omer: Tov mizeh umizeh, nodeir umeshaleim.

The gemara then continues by limiting R' Yehudah to nedarim of "harei
zu" not shavu'os of "harei alai". Which would appar to include maintaining
a chumerah.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The goal isn't to live forever,
micha at aishdas.org        the goal is to create so mething that will.
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