Tuesday, March 05, 2013

Great Regulars: However, Rava bar Rav Chanan points out

in a rare moment of empirical candor, "We see that people do these things, and we do not say anything to stop them." Why is it that the rabbis, who have so many decrees to enforce, allow these particular ones to be ignored? Here the rabbis are following a surprising principle: "Leave the Jewish people alone, and do not rebuke them. It is better that they be unwitting in their halakhic violations and that they not be intentional sinners, for if they are told about these prohibitions they may not listen anyway."

from Adam Kirsch: Tablet: Leave the Jewish People Alone

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