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

A prophecy that fulfills itself in Halacha

שו”תCategory: Meta HalachaA prophecy that fulfills itself in Halacha
asked 5 years ago

Is there a reference to a situation in which the mere publication of a halakha makes it true? For example, in the case of a protest based on a three-year presumption, does the person protest because it is the halakha or would he have protested regardless? And if he had protested regardless, does that strengthen this assumption?
The same is true when a person does not break his promise within his time.
In addition, is there a connection to the fiction of knowledge of the law? For example, if a person does not commit adultery on the grounds of fornication, is the definition of fornication the halakhic definition of fornication without sanctification or the human definition, and is there a legal basis for this?


Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Leave a Reply

0 Answers
מיכי Staff answered 5 years ago
The situation is more complex. At first, there was a natural situation in which they protested within three years, from which the halakha of possession was determined, and now the halakha is returning and influencing the protest. As far as I understand, there is no fiction of knowledge of the law. If there is no knowledge, it is not assumed that there is.

Discover more from הרב מיכאל אברהם

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

עמנואל replied 5 years ago

I too went crazy when I was at the beginning of the yeshiva trying to understand what was going on here. Because there is another option (which is the most abstract or farthest from reality): Halacha says what reality should be and that is how it should be, even if we see in practice that people do not do it that way. Reality should adapt itself to Halacha. Or Halacha points to an internal reality that is the ideal reality and we should ensure that reality is like that. For example, in the assumption of “Tev Lelamitav Dan Do, etc.” which points to the nature of women and that this is how their nature should be, as God Almighty designed it, and any deviation from this is a disease and a corruption, and Halacha should be treated as reality is supposed to be. It seems to me that this is the Briskian approach (especially as reflected in the article “This is Chinese” by Rabbi Soloveitchik)

But really, for the sake of understanding, one should at least think from the perspective of reflecting social reality as it was in their time. At least that way, the issues are clear. It is true that one should ask why they didn’t go out into the market and check what the reality was. And also according to that, what exactly is the difference between a strong and a majority? Indeed, I have a strong inclination (from the mathematician in me) to the approach I presented at the beginning.

Especially with regard to what a person does on his own account, etc. In light of the reality of our time, it seems completely the opposite. There does not seem to be a connection at all between sexual relations and marriage. But apparently there was a social reality (realistic, not halakhic) of prostitution and marriage - it was related to the status of the different women that each man has and to marriage as reflecting the social status of the person. That is, to the institution of concubinage, etc.

Leave a Reply

Back to top button