New on the site: Michi-bot. An intelligent assistant based on the writings of Rabbi Michael Avraham.

Extra pleasure

שו”תCategory: generalExtra pleasure
asked 8 years ago

Hello Rabbi,
On Shabbat, the question arose in our yeshiva whether there is a good deed in bringing pleasure to someone.
Let’s say there is a person who has never felt the pleasure of a cigarette, and has never heard of cigarettes adding pleasure. And you You kindly gave him cigarettes. Is this a good deed? (Let’s leave aside the health consequences of using them)
 
The doubt is that a good deed is intended to make up for a deficiency. But the creation of an entity is not a good (or bad) deed. If it had not been created, it would have continued to exist in its absence…. Is the creation of a new pleasure an addition to a person or a real creation?
The question can also be asked in another sense, for example, if someone who was blind from birth is doing good by healing him (assuming he has never heard of people who can see or a reality with sight that he would envy).
 
 


Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago
I don’t really understand the question. It’s clear that it benefits him. It’s true that if he hasn’t heard about it then he doesn’t feel bad, but certainly when he has it he will feel better. Benefiting someone is not just preventing a bad feeling but also adding a good feeling.

Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

יוסף replied 8 years ago

And what if, say, someone is disgusted by food x, and I perform surgery on them so they can enjoy food x?

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

Ask him if it's worth the pain of the surgery.

Leave a Reply

Back to top button