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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial>From: saul newman via Avodah
<avodah@lists.aishdas.org><BR><BR>1. you see a rainbow in the sky
after the rain . you believe:<BR><BR> a. the RBSO was going
to at this moment destroy the world, but then<BR>the rainbow reminded Him not
to<BR><BR> b. the RBSO set up the rainbow of a reminder of
the time of the Flood<BR>and His promise not to repeat it<BR><BR>
c. the RBSO set up a physical principal [NOTE: should be principle]
that light bent at a certain<BR>angle by dispersed water produces a
rainbow<BR><BR><BR>2. while making the bracha 'zocher habrit' , one
is thinking<BR><BR> a, b, c as
above<BR><BR><BR>[snip]<BR>
2] if one includes 'c' as part or all of his answer to<BR>number 2,
does that detract from his yiddishkeit or make him
non-normative?</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The short answer to your question #2 is that no thought you might have as
you recite the bracha is "non-normative." You can think whatever you
want.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Here in Florida we see rainbows almost every day in the summer for two
reasons:</DIV>
<DIV>1. There are sunshowers almost every day.</DIV>
<DIV>2. There is a complete lack of tznius and there is a lot of immoral
behavior going on. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Those two reasons are not mutually exclusive. A person can get sick
because he has been exposed to a contagious disease AND because he has
sinned. These are different categories of explanation, but not mutually
exclusive. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Personally I think that rainbows are beautiful, and I think there are no
accidents. If Hashem made them beautiful then He meant for us to
appreciate their beauty and to have beautiful thoughts when we see them.
My own thought when I make the bracha "zocher habris" is gratitude for the
beauty that Hashem put into His world, and also gratitude that He has promised
not to destroy His world, no matter how many battles we conservatives lose
in the Culture Wars.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff></FONT><BR><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>--Toby
Katz<BR>t613k@aol.com</STRONG></FONT><FONT lang=0 color=#ffffff size=2
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PTSIZE="10"><BR><STRONG>=============</STRONG><BR><BR><BR>-------------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></DIV>
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