Rabbi Gil Student writes:
Because of this responsum’s importance, I would like to summarize its contents:
- Every person has an individual, set lifespan (cf. Ex. 23:26; Isa. 38:5; Ps. 39:5).
- This lifespan can be lengthened as a reward for doing good and shortened as a punishment for doing bad (cf. Deut. 30:16; Prov. 10:27).
- Someone who does not have sins that require shortening his life is not judged on Rosh Hashanah for life or death, but is judged for wealth and other things.
- Someone who is not judged for life or death on Rosh Hashanah is subject to premature death (i.e. not at his set time) due to chance, plague, war, etc. during that year (about death through accident or war, Rashbash quotes the Kuzari 5:29; Emunah Ramah p. 97; Magen Avos 5:21; see also Sefer Ha-Ikkarim 4:21).
- Since you do not know whether or not you were judged for death/life on Rosh Hashanah, you must avoid dangerous situations and flee from a city in which there is a plague.
Jaded Topaz writes: I dont understand how "halachah" by default could entertain any intersections or subdivisions of "hashkafah" (any which way you define it).
Is "hashkafah" always defined as "theology" or is it sometimes defined as "philosophy".
I’m having a little trouble following the argument.
The "Rema" that you reference is this the same "Ramah" that was not so fond of philosophy and or of the Rambam’s philosophical works ? (I’m not quite sure what the "halacha" is regarding slanderous comments of sages that are no longer with us, and cannot defend themselves, so I’ll try to be somewhat vague I guess delete the commen if parts are slanderous, no ill will and or malicious intent intended).
(Just as an aside has anyone done any analytical research on the Rambam’s response to the French Scholar that attempted to translate his "guide to the perplexed" as accurately as possible, I understood his response to be promoting a "transformative" translation as opposed to a literal translation. I never understood his response notwithstannding how busy his life was. Did he ever respond to any of the criticism or did he just admire the erudition of the scholars that asked the questions, (I asked this with all due respect and then some))
So if I got my facts straight the original scholar quoted the Rema is not a confetti tossing fan of philosophy.
Why would the Pischei Teshuvah (no.8) and Darkhei Teshuvah (no. 95) use 15’th Century Algeria law, and the Rashbash’s theological analysis to comment on halachah constructed or documented by a Scholar who could not have included any philosophical fluctuations and or feelings with his "practical ruling", being that he was quite the "anti-philosophist".
Second, the responsum in and of itself is hard to understand .
1. How are you defining "set lifespan". If something is set, like a stone or pink diamond, it is not fluctuating like the weather, unless ure talking about floating diamonds which I dont think are in style this season.
3.What about those who did extra good for the lifespan lengthening incentive, are they judged for "life or death", they need to be in order to get a longer life. Where does "talmud torah" fall on the life lenghening category. If it lengthens life,and if one is judged for "life and death" if they do good for life lenghthening, then they know what they are being judged for.
And then one would thank the Good Lord upstairs be able to avoid #4 which is a morbid concept in addition to quoting philosopher-poets(Kuzari 5:29) right along side Emunah Ramah p. 97 which is uhmm IIRC not a philosophy friendly read.(If i’m getting my Ramah’s mixed up then disregard my points).
Which brings me to #5, what if I do know which "mitzvos" lengthen my life,and then whether or not I was judged for life and death on Rosh Hashanah, do I still have to flee from a city in which there is a plague.
I’m assuming the answer would be, if its clear that Its quite the catchy plague and for some reason in 2009 the only way to avoid catching it is fleeing the city, it might make sense logically to do so because, one is not supposed to put a stumbling block in front of a blind person (biblical law found in every farfetched halacha brief), one is not supposed to put themselves in harms way and one has to protect themselves from harm but here is where "hashkafah" intersects and if one is on the way to do a mitzvah he will not be harmed !
From here we learn that if one finds themselves walking through a plague if they find a mitzvah to walk towards they migh feel safe.
Or perhaps they can start learning torah on the way to feel even safer.
Cuz as I’m sure everyone knows,halacha is all about the feelings ! Whats not to love.
Extra Credit question, do women get the same credit and brownie points for Talmud Torah ( the talmud torah that is equal to alot of other mitzvos and IIRC the reward is not diminished both here and upstairs.
Another great intersection between halacha and hashkafah is a given individiual’s "mood" "mind" and "brain".
Every person is a born with a predestined set mind, mood and brain. (Ein davar haomeid be-fnei harotzon or in 2009 R Blu’s where there is a rabbinic will there is a rabbinic way).
1)One should stay away from bad moods.
2)A persons mood and brain can be worsened as a reward for doing drugs and can be improved as a reward for doing drugs( Ritalin, Adderall, SSRI’s versus Cocaine Pot Extacee LSD and Benadryl).
3.Someone that is sniffing or snorting too much LSD, Exxstacy or Cocaine will be judged for artificial highs.
4. Someone that is purchasing Adderall or Ritalin from the corner Duane Reade (dont you love their new logo and colors) will be judged favorably for responsible drug purchases, and will get great competitive pricing at their fine trustworthy reliable pharmacy, with a proven track record of previous fine purchases.
5.Since you dont know how generics work and the lineage of each individual tablet, on a general level, its always good to go to a pharmacy you can trust, Duane Reade is that pharmacy. One finds this out as a repeat customer.
From here we can conclude that
"predestined" is a myth.
One can fine tune their moods on a daily basis.
One can fine tune their feelings on a daily basis.
There should always be a reason to trust, have faith, and or rely on.
Track records are always good to analyze.
A sound reasoning system based on logic and no feelings makes more sense.
But it gets a little tricky when you can fine tune and fiddle around with feelings.
I always thought halacha did not operate on a "feels good to me must be right" level.
There is nothing objective about feelings, in fact they can be fabricated, legally and illegally.
After feelings, the next core argument is jurisdiction and where different halachos were constructed.
Avoiding Danger
Rabbi Gil Student writes:
Because of this responsum’s importance, I would like to summarize its contents:
Jaded Topaz writes: I dont understand how "halachah" by default could entertain any intersections or subdivisions of "hashkafah" (any which way you define it).
Is "hashkafah" always defined as "theology" or is it sometimes defined as "philosophy".
I’m having a little trouble following the argument.
The "Rema" that you reference is this the same "Ramah" that was not so fond of philosophy and or of the Rambam’s philosophical works ? (I’m not quite sure what the "halacha" is regarding slanderous comments of sages that are no longer with us, and cannot defend themselves, so I’ll try to be somewhat vague I guess delete the commen if parts are slanderous, no ill will and or malicious intent intended).
(Just as an aside has anyone done any analytical research on the Rambam’s response to the French Scholar that attempted to translate his "guide to the perplexed" as accurately as possible, I understood his response to be promoting a "transformative" translation as opposed to a literal translation. I never understood his response notwithstannding how busy his life was. Did he ever respond to any of the criticism or did he just admire the erudition of the scholars that asked the questions, (I asked this with all due respect and then some))
So if I got my facts straight the original scholar quoted the Rema is not a confetti tossing fan of philosophy.
Why would the Pischei Teshuvah (no.8) and Darkhei Teshuvah (no. 95) use 15’th Century Algeria law, and the Rashbash’s theological analysis to comment on halachah constructed or documented by a Scholar who could not have included any philosophical fluctuations and or feelings with his "practical ruling", being that he was quite the "anti-philosophist".
Second, the responsum in and of itself is hard to understand .
1. How are you defining "set lifespan". If something is set, like a stone or pink diamond, it is not fluctuating like the weather, unless ure talking about floating diamonds which I dont think are in style this season.
3.What about those who did extra good for the lifespan lengthening incentive, are they judged for "life or death", they need to be in order to get a longer life. Where does "talmud torah" fall on the life lenghening category. If it lengthens life,and if one is judged for "life and death" if they do good for life lenghthening, then they know what they are being judged for.
And then one would thank the Good Lord upstairs be able to avoid #4 which is a morbid concept in addition to quoting philosopher-poets(Kuzari 5:29) right along side Emunah Ramah p. 97 which is uhmm IIRC not a philosophy friendly read.(If i’m getting my Ramah’s mixed up then disregard my points).
Which brings me to #5, what if I do know which "mitzvos" lengthen my life,and then whether or not I was judged for life and death on Rosh Hashanah, do I still have to flee from a city in which there is a plague.
I’m assuming the answer would be, if its clear that Its quite the catchy plague and for some reason in 2009 the only way to avoid catching it is fleeing the city, it might make sense logically to do so because, one is not supposed to put a stumbling block in front of a blind person (biblical law found in every farfetched halacha brief), one is not supposed to put themselves in harms way and one has to protect themselves from harm but here is where "hashkafah" intersects and if one is on the way to do a mitzvah he will not be harmed !
From here we learn that if one finds themselves walking through a plague if they find a mitzvah to walk towards they migh feel safe.
Or perhaps they can start learning torah on the way to feel even safer.
Cuz as I’m sure everyone knows,halacha is all about the feelings ! Whats not to love.
Extra Credit question, do women get the same credit and brownie points for Talmud Torah ( the talmud torah that is equal to alot of other mitzvos and IIRC the reward is not diminished both here and upstairs.
Another great intersection between halacha and hashkafah is a given individiual’s "mood" "mind" and "brain".
Every person is a born with a predestined set mind, mood and brain. (Ein davar haomeid be-fnei harotzon or in 2009 R Blu’s where there is a rabbinic will there is a rabbinic way).
1)One should stay away from bad moods.
2)A persons mood and brain can be worsened as a reward for doing drugs and can be improved as a reward for doing drugs( Ritalin, Adderall, SSRI’s versus Cocaine Pot Extacee LSD and Benadryl).
3.Someone that is sniffing or snorting too much LSD, Exxstacy or Cocaine will be judged for artificial highs.
4. Someone that is purchasing Adderall or Ritalin from the corner Duane Reade (dont you love their new logo and colors) will be judged favorably for responsible drug purchases, and will get great competitive pricing at their fine trustworthy reliable pharmacy, with a proven track record of previous fine purchases.
5.Since you dont know how generics work and the lineage of each individual tablet, on a general level, its always good to go to a pharmacy you can trust, Duane Reade is that pharmacy. One finds this out as a repeat customer.
From here we can conclude that
"predestined" is a myth.
One can fine tune their moods on a daily basis.
One can fine tune their feelings on a daily basis.
There should always be a reason to trust, have faith, and or rely on.
Track records are always good to analyze.
A sound reasoning system based on logic and no feelings makes more sense.
But it gets a little tricky when you can fine tune and fiddle around with feelings.
I always thought halacha did not operate on a "feels good to me must be right" level.
There is nothing objective about feelings, in fact they can be fabricated, legally and illegally.
After feelings, the next core argument is jurisdiction and where different halachos were constructed.