[Avodah] daat

[Akiva Miller]

R' Joel Rich asked:
> What is daat? When we say a cheresh, shoteh or katan doesn't have it,
> it seems like intellectual acuity. Some commentaries link daat to bechira
> (choice -- as in eitz hadaat tov v'ra). Is it possible to have intellect
> without choice or choice without intellect? 

Your last line seems to be a rhetorical question, asserting that it
is indeed possible to have intellect without choice or choice without
intellect, and then asking how that could be possible.

I suggest that perhaps you have already figured it out: No, it is not
possible. These people who lack daas therefore also lack bechira. (Or
perhaps they don't totally lack daas and bechira, but the amount they
have is less than the minimum shiur.) Once it has been established that
someone lacks bechira for whatever reason, it's obvious that they are
exempt from any responsibility for mitzvos.

Akiva Miller