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<DIV dir=ltr align=left>In his most recent weekly shiur, Rav Asher Zelig Weiss
expressed himself about electricity in almost exactly the same terms as RMB does
here: the prohibition was determined first, and then the poskim looked around
for a category to fit it into. </DIV>
<P>He cited a Yerushalmi (which unfortunately I cannot quote pefectly
accurately) in which chazal categorized actions forbidden on Shabbat;
any activity they knew, apparently intuitively, was prohibited which
they could not fit into one of the other categories was classified as
makeh-b'patish. This illustrates the concept that in some cases,the
prohibition anteceded the classification.</P>
<P>I think it's fair to say that he indicated that this phenomenon is uncommon,
but he was emphatic that it definitely exists.</P>
<P>Saul Mashbaum</P>
<P><SPAN class=114260103-18032007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>==========================</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=114260103-18032007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>I have
heard him say the same thing but I think Micha's point iiuc was that this is a
more general phenomena. (I would guess this is what R' YBS was referring to when
he commented on the broad flexibility available to the chochmai
hamesora)</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=114260103-18032007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>BTW
R'AZW also iirc said given the technology explosion we need a broad shouldered
creative thinker (iirc he mentioned like the Rashba) who could deal with all the
new questions.</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=114260103-18032007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN class=114260103-18032007><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff
size=2>KT<BR>Joel Rich</FONT></SPAN></P><br><br><table bgcolor=white style="color:black"><tr><td><br>THIS MESSAGE IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE <br>
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