[Avodah] Choices?

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 05:53:48PM +0000, Rich, Joel via Avodah wrote:
: >: Does HKB"H view it as equivalent to any other choice one could've made or
: >: is one dinged for the original choice when it was made? [is moving into
: >: an apartment building knowing one will need to use a manned elevator on
: >: Shabbat another example? How about certain medical specialties ]

: > Questions like these are unanswerable, since we can't know how Hashem
: > judges.

: True-yet we assumedly need to make our best guess when deciding on a course of action.

That question had a nafqa mina lemaaseh? I missed it.

:> How much
:> onesh does he get for whatever moved his nequdas habechirah to the point
:> where he is in that sorry state? And, what if he didn't do the moving,
:> it was a product of nature or nurture? Then he would be a tinoq shenishba,
:> which is an application of oneis in the gemara, and oneis Rachmana patrei?

: Oneis rachmana is an interesting concept - does it mean going to a
: neutral status or crediting as if one did a positive action? ...

Why would you think it's positive? It is not like he thereby moved his
nequdas habechirah in the right direction. Unless maybe, it was an
aveirah be'oneis lishmah. And we haven't revisited aveirah lishmah (even
without the "be'oneis" in years. We're due!

:                                                              And how
: sure should we be that nkudas habechira is actionable and you get a pass
: on other items (iirc r' Dessler is not the only opinion on the matter)

True, but I can only answer what I believe. Seems to me REED's position
aligns with personal experience. I can't say I freely chose something
whose choice didn't even reach my conscious attention.

I also do not know of anyone writing about the nequdas habechirah just
to reject it. If anything, an addict -- one extreme case of a decision
well beyond the nequdah -- is considered a pesi (think of "shomer pesa'im
H'" invoked for smokers) and an oneis. Maybe they would agree, if the
model were part of their lexicon. Who knows?

But in any case, it describes my experience. Discussing other shitos would
be like asking me to seriously consider shitos that are based on the sky
being purple. Yeah, they exist. But can I really consider something at
odds with the vast majority of my experience? (Except one sliver of sky
during a few stunning sunsets, maybe...)

In any case, if you are trying to know what is actionable in an actual
lemmaseh situation, that means the choice in front of you is within your
nequdas habechirah. By definition -- the other choices are when you aren't
considering the existence of options.

My answer would only be theoretical hashkafah.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             People were created to be loved.
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