(Yeah, I know, once you start saying stuff like that people start looking at you a little strangely and you might as well get yourself a soap box in Times Square or strait jacket, but on the other hand the Rambam (Ta'anis 1:3) says:
אבל אם לא יזעקו, ולא יריעו, אלא יאמרו דבר זה ממנהג העולם אירע לנו, וצרה זו נקרוא נקרית--הרי זו דרך אכזרייות, וגורמת להם להידבק במעשיהם הרעים, ותוסיף הצרה וצרות אחרות
So make of it what you will.)
>>>experienced an earthquake
ReplyDelete& who readily trembled the bracha,
"...oseh ma'aseh breishis"?
>>>Is the alarm clock ringing
"kol Y-K-V-K bakoach"!!
>>>make of it what you will
"Even in the midst of calamity,
one can spark a new positive
beginning", for "good things can't wait" (8/24)
> Is the alarm clock ringing to wake us up?
ReplyDeleteIt's always dangerous to guess at what God might be thinking. See Rav Adlerstein's latest piece on Cross Currents for a good example.
It's more dangerous, as Chaim B says, to be tofes be'umanuso shel Amalek and to say Mikra, Mikra, Minhago shel Olam, Hester Panim, Gilgulim, and so forth.
ReplyDeleteWhat I agree is dangerous is seeking the cause in other people's behavior and not your own. YOUR dress is too short, YOUR kashrus is inadequate, YOUR car is too extravagant.
I agree with your statement 100%. If something bad happens, it's time for a personal cheshbon, not one on my fellow.
ReplyDeleteAs my son points out, it is the responsibility aspect of Bishvili nivra ha'olam.
ReplyDelete>>>your own[behavior]
ReplyDelete>>>personal cheshbon
in the 1st place, relentlessly, perhaps mercilessly so; but in the 2nd place, kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh, not only as to olam hazeh(basic provisions), but olam haba too(from safe instruction, to iffy rebuke, to the certainly
"dangerous" extreme of a Pinchas spearing with public zeal)
Anonymous, let me start my rebuke with you. Pick a name, be it Lucretia Borgia or Rumpelstiltskin, and stick with it. Although your style of writing is singular, it's more convenient when a commenter uses a name.
ReplyDeleteAs for your point, yes, there are times for tochacha. But human beings are multi-dimensional and hard to judge, so while tochcha can be necessary in black and white issues, there are many grey areas that require much more understanding. Zimri was not one of them.
b, you sound riled (a no doubt inconvenient feeling); may you
ReplyDeletefind calm before Shabbos, &
calm find you thereafter...
was there any denial that "much
more understanding" than that of the extremes may often be required? "iffy" was used;
greydations are simply assumed
Bo(rgia)