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<DIV>"The real question in this case is about pluralism. Do official
and<BR>quasi-official bodies like the Rabbanut and the Chevra Kadisha have
an<BR>obligation to permit anything that is within the generally accepted
bounds<BR>of Orthodox practice, whether or not they personally rule that the
action is<BR>permitted? In which case, how exactly do we define those bounds? Or
should<BR>they follow their own halachic conscience, and forbid activities that
they<BR>consider assur? "</DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV>I'd like to add a sub-question to Ilana's perceptive questions: does
the fact that we're talking about minhagim affecting mourners, who are in a
difficult emotional state, affect the answer to these questions? That
is, should the standards governing demanding that a mourner
follow a minhag of mourning that he/she finds emotionally problematic be the
same as, for example, a rabbi deciding whether to insist that a male not put on
tefillin in the rabbi's shul on chol HaMoed?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Joseph Kaplan</DIV></BODY></HTML>