Category: Absolutism

Qinyan and Ba’alus 0

Qinyan and Ba’alus

(Originally posted Mar 2007, now enlarged.) “Qinyan” is usually translated “acquisition”, and “ba’alus“, “ownership”. I would suggest that neither translation is precise. And this imprecision only leads to difficulties in understanding the law, rather...

Rights, Duties and Covenants 0

Rights, Duties and Covenants

אמר רבא: כל המעביר על מדותיו מעבירין לו על כל פשעיו Rava said: Whomever is “maavir al midosav“, they [the heavenly court] passes [ma’avirin] over all his sins for him. — Shabbos 17b What...

… The rest is commentary 0

… The rest is commentary

(More material added on May 30th.) There is a famous story in the gemara (Shabbos 31a) about three prospective converts who each came to Shammai saying that they want to convert but only if...

The Butler’s Dilemma 0

The Butler’s Dilemma

A moral dilemma taken from the Dilbert Blog by newspaper cartoonist, Scott Adams: Let’s say you’re the butler to a billionaire who lives alone. The billionaire dies in his sleep. You know he owns...

Politeness and Taharah 0

Politeness and Taharah

The word “polite” comes from the Latin “politus” via the Old English “polit”, to polish. Polish is itself of the same derivation.I think this is a very telling statement about Western Culture. Politeness is...

Psychology and Mussar 0

Psychology and Mussar

The story so far from the previous two entries: Contemporary western society puts its trust in science to the extent that things outside its domain are assumed to have a lesser reality. The current...

The Troubles of Relativism 0

The Troubles of Relativism

Science has proven a fundamental boon in comtemporary culture. To the extent that the word “fact” has taken on two meanings: a single true idea, and something which can be verified experimentally. Thus blurring...