tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324278.post7996146828997728176..comments2024-03-13T19:19:04.945+02:00Comments on All Your Beis: The place of brachotUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324278.post-70943331526649610072012-10-15T03:01:03.623+02:002012-10-15T03:01:03.623+02:00It's not really the book's thesis. The the...It's not really the book's thesis. The thesis is a Jewish philosophy in which the point of the Torah is to bring sanctity to the natural cycles of life. Along the way, RMA notes that the agrarian life assumed by the division of nachalah and life before artificial lighting put man more in touch with the cycles of the year and the day than the "indoor Judaism" of today.micha bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11612144735431285113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324278.post-39932687593115099282012-10-14T22:58:43.163+02:002012-10-14T22:58:43.163+02:00Chazal placed a very high value on the beit midras...Chazal placed a very high value on the beit midrash. I'm not sure whether agriculture is necessarily spiritually better than other professions, whether Jews in Spain owned land and farmed, or whether a few pilgrimage holidays could ever give a tone to the entire year. I don't know too much about the rhythms of Sefardi life, but my impression is that most exiles went to Muslim not Christian countries. For all reasons, I'll have to read the book before I believe the thesis.Beisrunnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12091613751643079470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324278.post-91579217968456788542012-10-14T15:20:16.658+02:002012-10-14T15:20:16.658+02:00I agree that a shift occurred, I was only talking ...I agree that a shift occurred, I was only talking about whether it was reflected in the Tur and SA. I am not even sure it had occurred yet when the SA came out.<br /><br />In The Rhythms of Jewish Living, R' Marc Angel (of the Spanish & Portugese Synagogue, NYC) blames the Ashkenazim. (And despite obvious cause for partisan bias, I think he's right.) He describes it as a shift from the Judaism of the farmer (as you honed in on Seder Zera'im) who could truly relate to Chag haQatzir and Chag haAsif to the indoor Judaism of the Beis Keneses and Bes Medrash of today. RMA blames overexposure to Xianity, which fits his thesis that it didn't happen among Sepharadim until after they left Spain and the Arab countries to live among Ashkenazim.micha bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11612144735431285113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324278.post-61854152625205088432012-10-14T09:32:53.825+02:002012-10-14T09:32:53.825+02:00I think you are right on about Orach Chaim, due to...I think you are right on about Orach Chaim, due to the name and content as you say (and it even contains a siman in the middle about your day job, sort of like Zeraim for non-farmers).<br /><br />Your point might be weaker with Yoreh Deah. It contains a multitude of unrelated laws, some of which (trumot/maasrot, tzedaka, etc.) might logically fit elsewhere.<br /><br />In any case, my distinction reflects the gap between what I sometimes see in my own life and the ideal well articulated by Chazal. That is really what motivated me to post this, and it is an important point to me whether or not it can actually be illustrated by the example I gave.Beisrunnerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12091613751643079470noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11324278.post-9553797252490021612012-10-14T07:17:04.479+02:002012-10-14T07:17:04.479+02:00I don't see your "but" here. The Tur...I don't see your "but" here. The Tur and SA, looking at halakhah for chu"l before mashiach comes, has little reason for the rest of zera'im. Just as the Talmud Bavli didn't. So, Orakh Chaim became Zera'im + Mo'ed. Just as Mes' Niddah was regrouped so that Yorah Dei'ah becomes Qodshim + Taharos.<br /><br />BTW, what does "Orach Chaim" mean if not "part of 'normal life'"?micha bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11612144735431285113noreply@blogger.com