yiri@ucf-cs.UUCP (Yirmiyahu BenDavid) (09/23/84)
According to what I've read, the decision to forbid the use of electricity on Shabbat was because it was classified as fire rather than being simply a geder. However, that raises another good question: how desirable is a geder? It seems to me that if a person desires to be observant, then s/he knows best how much safety fence s/he needs and even if the advice of the rabbis is sought (a healthy thing), there would be no need to impose it as a law since the observant person who sought such advice would want to do it. (The sages recognized and preferred keeping the spirit/intent of the law rather than simply the letter of the law as imposed externally.) On the other hand, if a person does not desire to be observant, a geder is futile. The non-observant person observes neither. It appears to me that the net result is that the IMPOSITION of a geder AS LAW is a futile effort wasted on the non-observant and an unnecessary burden when IMPOSED on some of the observant. In the context of second temple Judaism, the Sadducees (and I think the Zadokites, Essenes and most others) saw the imposition of the geder as contravening Torah (Dt. 4:1-2 & 13:1). (The Pharisees were the only sect I can recall which recognized the authority of a geder. Of course, most of the modern traditions stem from the Pharisees.)
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (10/04/84)
In article <1520@ucf-cs.UUCP> yiri@ucf-cs.UUCP (Yirmiyahu BenDavid) writes:
~| It seems to me that if a person desires to be observant, then s/he knows best
~| how much safety fence s/he needs and even if the advice of the rabbis is sought
~| (a healthy thing), there would be no need to impose it as a law since the
~| observant person who sought such advice would want to do it.
The story is told (in the Talmud, I believe) of the scholar who
learned the reason why one is not permitted to study on Shabbos by
the light of an oil lamp - because one might turn up the wick.
Since he knew the reason for the prohibition and that he would
not turn up the wick, he decided it was OK for him to read by the
light of an oil lamp. He became engrossed in what he was reading
and absentmindedly turned up the wick as the flame began to fail.
I believe the same principle applies to other "fences". We should
not strive to break them down, or we will be in danger of violating
the prohibitions they are there to protect. Furthermore, the Torah
tells us to abide by the laws as set down by the Rabbis of our day;
hence, rabbinic prohibitions carry the weight of the Torah with them.
People are human. Except for those who have the attitude that they
should always try to be more "machmir" on a mitzvah (and there is
certainly something to be said for this approach from a spiritual
point of view), people will normally look for routes, within the
bounds of halachah, to make their life easier. An eruv for carrying
on Shabbos is a good example. Well-defined laws with well-defined
fences are, I feel, necessary to balance this tendency.
Dave Sherman
Toronto
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