[Avodah] Choices?

[Rich, Joel]

[In reply to 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.

Yes-consider a med student who has a slight preference to be an emergency
medicine md but could just as well become a dermatologist. Assumedly
the latter would be less likely to put one in questionable situations
in the future.

>: 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!

Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya said:1 "The Holy One, blessed be He, wished
to make the people of Israel meritorious; therefore He gave them Torah
and mitzvos in abundant measure, as it is written:2 'The Lrd desired,
for the sake of his [Israel's] righteousness, to make the Torah great
and glorious.'"

some mfarshim explain 1. As avoiding a prohibition is not just neutral
but rewarded


KVCT
Joel Rich