On the Prohibition of Calling Abraham Abram
Have a good week Rabbi,
In the blessings, page 13, page 1, it is written:
Bar Kapra says: Whoever calls Abraham Abram transgresses in deed, as it is said: And your name shall be Abraham. Rabbi Eliezer says: Transgresses in deed, as it is said: And your name shall no more be called Abram.
1. It seems that the same act can be interpreted as a transgression against a commandment of non-action or action – that is, the difference between a commandment of non-action and an action is not in the action but in the language of the commandment (unlike the researcher you mentioned in the previous lesson).
2. Why was this prohibition not legally abolished?
3. What did the Tanais mean by their statement? Is this a kind of reference/midrash agdah? What is the halakhic validity of this statement?
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- This is exactly what Aharon Shemesh says, that in earlier generations the difference was functional and then they moved on to linguistic definitions. Bar Kafra probably belongs to the later generations. This is also seen in the commandments of the strike on Shabbat and Yom Kippur, and more, as I mentioned in the lesson.
- The first ones probably understood that this was a literary-legendary expression and not a halakhic statement. See a detailed discussion here: https://he.wikisource.org/wiki/%D7%97%D7%91%D7%9C_%D7%A0%D7%97%D7%9C%D7%AA%D7%95_%D7%99%D7%97_%D7%9B%D7%97
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Regarding 3 – Here are the words of the Rabbi in Ein Aya, which is a warning against the cancellation of the universal aspect of Judaism:
Because it must be rooted in the fact that the purpose of Israel's nationalism is not to strengthen ourselves and to oppress the peoples, etc., things that all peoples yearn for out of love for themselves, because our nationalism brings blessing and wholeness to the entire world. Therefore, at the beginning of our construction, that the end of an act in thought is for the improvement and love of all mankind.
Chen Chen. Although there is room to understand that our Torah brings benefit to other peoples, not necessarily because their culture also has value. That is, it is not necessarily universality but in the sense of concern for others, and not necessarily in the sense of recognizing the value of their culture and values.
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