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Correction of dimensions

שו”תCategory: Talmudic studyCorrection of dimensions
asked 9 years ago

Hello,
 
I saw on the Atzor forum that they think the rabbi was referring to Midot and Maimonides in the Book of Numbers 8, which indicates that there are commandments regarding Midot.
 
I don’t know when all the litigation was, though,
 
In what I skimmed through the thread, two sources that discuss the subject were not addressed:
 
Os Reish Hilchot 1000, in his remarks on the commandments of 1000, briefly addresses why the Torah did not command about measurements.
And at length, Tefai Kedushin Pa Mishnah 10 Letter E9.
 
From these words it emerges that Mitzvah 8 speaks of a goal, namely, one must be merciful and compassionate like God, one must strive for good qualities.
But the Torah does not command to be humble or not to be angry as a defined and fixed measure, the reason being that measures that are not according to the commandments are not a defined unit and do not change; they depend on the person, place, time, and context.
The Tefai cites cases in which one should be angry, etc. It cites Moses, who sometimes got angry and was punished, and sometimes not.
Therefore, the Torah did not command this as a clear and permanent commandment, making it impossible.
 
Good day,


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מיכי Staff answered 9 years ago
Hello A. This is what the Ramban and the MM wrote in the book Neighbors, and Rabbi Lichtenstein expanded on this in his article. I do not agree with this. There are other commandments that are immeasurable, and yet they are included. Love of the crowd, fear and love of God, and more. These commandments could be defined as commandments of action and not commandments of result. Therefore, I prefer the explanation of Rabbi Kook and the Rabbis. In any case, I don’t remember what I wrote there, but I have always wondered about the question of the Reverend Father (why did the Torah not command the improvement of one’s virtues), since the Torah does command this in the mitzvah to adhere to one’s virtues, for he who is merciful, you are merciful (mitzvah 8 that you mentioned). So how can you say that there is no mitzvah to be merciful and compassionate like God? My argument is that the mitzvah speaks of actions and the Reverend Father speaks of the improvement of one’s virtues as mental work. This is similar but not identical to what you said.

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