tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post309255724378486259..comments2024-03-28T23:20:49.777-05:00Comments on Beis Vaad L'Chachamim: Mishpatim, Shemos 22:21. Afflicting Widows and OrphansEliezer Eisenberghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16036989084122930226noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-21777873891803950122012-02-15T17:14:44.484-06:002012-02-15T17:14:44.484-06:00the comment "if He opposes oppression of wido...the comment "if He opposes oppression of widow & orphans, why<br>...make more" needs clarification:<br>the states of widowhood & parentlessness are irreducibly<br>oppressive in themselves (so to <br>make more of each is to oppress<br>more of each, even before the addition of human oppressors or of<br>Neverending pain, even after communal compassion)<br><br>this is more than midan k'neged midah (if by that we mean a certain<br>symmetry)-- did the oppressor kill<br>(as Hashem kills him) the husband of the widow, or the father of the child? did he permanently prevent<br>her remarriage, or his receipt of<br>inheritance (even if he did cause<br>them a temporary double pain)?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-71062976410629656512012-02-15T14:03:35.419-06:002012-02-15T14:03:35.419-06:00Punishment is not the same as compensation. Our t...Punishment is not the same as compensation. Our theory of punishment is midda k'neged midda, that the evil action creates consequences, like putting your finger into the electrical outlet has consequences. The consequence of sin is suffering.<br><br>The suffering of the innocent is the foundation stone of atheism. It has puzzled everything in creation, from angel to prophet. How it fits into our image of a loving God is a fine question. I wonder if we'll ever have an answer. <br><br>But I do know that there are some sins that effect the innocent people around the evildoer: These include false oaths, failure to fulfill promises, engendering divisions and fighting in a community, and this- causing pain to widows and orphans.<br><br>In any case, the Gemara says that G-d engineers the existence of the weak and helpless so that we can become Godlike by lifting them up.Eliezernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6453787673476195995.post-62287011247927355982012-02-15T13:10:13.427-06:002012-02-15T13:10:13.427-06:00how does Hashem's anger at the oppressor help ...how does Hashem's anger at the oppressor help the victim? even if she/he actually learns of the killing, is something so drastic as death what she/he wants to hear (is that what they cried out should occur)? <br><br>what's Hashem's logic here? if<br>He opposes oppression of widows & orphans, why then would He decide to make* more of them, & those with the worst possible plight (neverending pain**)? <br>what, it's wrong for us to do, but okay for Him ('do as I say, not as I do')? <br>or is His threat of payback so<br>intimidating that He'll never need<br>to execute? but we know that such victimization nonetheless occurred!<br><br>*collateral damage, like a breath of fresh air!<br><br>**do the oppressor's wife & child<br>necessarily & knowingly benefit from their husband's/father's exploitation of the widow/orphan?<br>no.<br>are they in every case in a position to protest his<br>mistreatings, but don't?<br>no.<br>(maybe one can imagine that only where the above 2 conditions apply, does the victim cry out--<br>"IF they cry out to Hashem He will listen" [though the "if" then resonates less with what Rav Feivelsohn says in the name of Rav Levenstein, penultimate paragraph, jan. 26])Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com