Strange blunder
Hello Rabbi. When I draw a clear line between Halacha and Musar, I encounter something that doesn't add up. , First assumption: Musar is distinguishing between good and evil (things that are right to do and things that are wrong to do). Second assumption: The divine commands are things that are right to do (because God commanded) and God will not tell me to do something that is wrong. Conclusion: Every divine command is actually moral by definition. It follows that when there is an apparent contradiction between Musar and Halacha, there is really no contradiction because the right thing to do (what Halacha commands) is the will of God and therefore is moral. So there is never a contradiction between Musar and Halacha because in fact they are the same thing(??)
I know something is wrong but I can't quite put my finger on it. I would appreciate any help. Thank you very much.
You are playing with words. The identification between morality and the will of God is wrong. Morality is indeed the will of God, but the reverse is not true. Alternatively, not everything that is right to do is moral. There is also halakha. Therefore, sometimes God commands you to do something immoral, because that is what is right to do in such a situation (in order to achieve religious value).
I've already heard your videos and read columns on the subject (I guess I'm not grasping something). After all, morality comes from God and there is no meaning to valid morality without Him. In other words, He could have decided that being cruel to someone is moral and then it is simply defined as moral. So what's the difference? Let's simply say that the decision to murder an Amalekite baby is moral simply because God said so (it's not that He ever detailed everything that is moral and what is not in every situation, so how do we know that it really conflicts??). On the one hand, there is no morality without God, on the other hand, we simply know everything that is moral simply because we know it alone and that's it? If we go by what is inherent in us, I'll bring you one of the cannibal tribes who will tell you that he kills when he's hungry and that's the most moral thing there is because he really feels it the same way you feel that murder is forbidden. My whole problem is that there is no explicit definition of whether every act is moral and in what situations... Sorry for digging.
See column 457
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