<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Sep 9, 2008 at 9:44 AM, Moshe Y. Gluck <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:mgluck@gmail.com">mgluck@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
R' MB (on Areivim):<br>
> I think chumrot are great -- if people would retain the line between<br>
> baseline halakhah and chumrah, so that they could know when they're<br>
> being machmir on someone else's cheshbon, and when they are violating<br>
> ikkar hadin BALChaveiro to fulfil a chumrah in BALMaqom.<br>
<br>
I agree with you in principle, but in practice, don't Chumros and Minhagim often have a Din Neder? So, yes, someone might be acting inflexibly, but only because he doesn't have a Chacham right there to be Shoel his Neder...<br>
<br>
KT,<br>
MYG<br>
</blockquote></div><br><br>This is a very complex point<br><br>Many humros are very beneficial and many can be harmful. It's like medicine, an overdose can be fatal but sometimes you need to increase your dose, too.<br>
<br>A humra that is a "syag" is basic to rabbinic Judaism, it's fundamental in Maseches Avos etc. <br><br>However, sometimes you get some kind of real off-the-wall ideas.<br><br>For exmaple, someone caame into the Chinese Restaurant where I wokred and DEMANDED that:<br>
Since we are a Koswher REstauratn<br>Therefore we MSUT have a mezuzah.<br><br>This restaurant is owned by a Gentile, He does NOT need to sell his chamez. He does NOT need to toveil his keilim. But now he needs a Mezuzah? This kind of mentality is really misguided. I don't know of too many rabbanim who would go for this idea [some whom I have told them this story chuckled!] And anyway I suspect the guy demanding the mezuszah was himself a sofer. [ he was wearing a light blue smock. Nu go prove his profession.]<br>
<br>But go figure out this one. How come we are machmir on pas paltar for 10 dyas of Tehuva and not the rest of the year. Waht does it buy is if on the 11th of Tishrei we go back to old habits? I have always had a problem with this one. <br>
<br>Now to NOT eat pas Plaster on EVERY Shabbos during the year makes some sense to me. AT least we are re-inforcing the qedushah of Shabbas year-round<br><br><br><br><br>-- <br>Kesiva vaChasima Tova<br>Best Wishes for the New Year 5769<br>
RabbiRichWolpoe@Gmail.com<br>see: <a href="http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/">http://nishmablog.blogspot.com/</a><br>
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