Question

I read the Rabbi’s article (Column 63), “Clarifications and Basic Assumptions for Readers of the Site,” and I find all the talk about love and family-like openness, which supposedly permits speaking freely, very difficult. The Talmud says in Chagigah 22b about Rabbi Yehoshua that he used the expression, “I am ashamed of your words, House of Shammai,” and his teeth darkened all his life from fasting. True, in that case it turned out that he was mistaken, but if that is the reason, then why should he have been distressed? After all, at first he thought they were mistaken and spoke according to his understanding. It would seem, then, that he understood he should have been more careful with their honor. And if that is so with Rabbi Yehoshua, what are we to say—we, the truly orphaned of the orphaned—who need to use every possible language of caution with respect to our early predecessors, the great sages of the generations.
I would be happy to receive an answer on this matter (if possible before the beginning of the term… thank you very much!!!)