Does halakha really prevail in practice over morality?
I know the rabbi spoke a lot about the relationship between halacha and morality. Bottom line in conflicts where halacha explicitly instructs against morality, it will prevail (from what I understand). But I want to speak practically, would the rabbi agree to have a person executed for desecrating the Sabbath? Having sex with a man? Or any halacha that completely contradicts our conscientious morality assuming we have no interpretive explanation that saves us from doing so? I really don’t get it. These are the kinds of things that always cause me real disgust, and I know that this is not a consideration but simply a sharing of the experience of frustration that I see no way out of.
The argument of “the people of Israel are not there yet (on the spiritual level) and we don’t have a Sanhedrin, etc.” is very problematic in my opinion. It is unlikely that a stage will come when the entire people of Israel will understand that it is moral to act this way and will accept these things. This is completely delusional and I think the rabbi would agree with me about this plausible prediction. If so, then the fact that perhaps the halakha will prevail is just a theoretical statement that will probably not have any meaning in the future either… Maybe a fundamental change in halakha is needed? One that does not directly conflict with morality?
Thank you very much.
This is a meaningless discussion. In order to decide, one must live this situation. I have written more than once that there is no point in discussing what will happen in a situation that is not familiar to us through direct experience.
In a situation where it is clear to everyone that the penalty for desecrating the Sabbath is death, and that person who committed the crime knows that he is a transgressor and also receives the burden of the Torah, and there are two witnesses and a warning and a warning received – then why not? And yet, if we live in this situation and decide that it is not relevant, it will not happen. And certainly if that person is a deviant in his mind or a deviant for some other reason, he is not liable for punishment. Therefore, all your shock is simply a lack of understanding.
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