Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site utcsrgv.UUCP
Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!dave
From: dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: roundabout question regarding "onaat devarim"
Message-ID: <496@utcsrgv.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 22-Nov-84 00:13:41 EST
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.496
Posted: Thu Nov 22 00:13:41 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 22-Nov-84 00:42:51 EST
References: <626@hou5a.UUCP>
Reply-To: dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman)
Organization: The Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 25

In article <626@hou5a.UUCP> hbb@hou5a.UUCP (H.B.Braude) writes:
|| There is a halacha that I was told in  the  name  of  the  Mishna
|| Brurah, obligating one  to close a window in a room where someone
|| in that room feels uncomfortable due to the cold   outside   air.
|| This  ruling  would apply  even  if there was only one person who
|| was bothered by the cold   weather  among   several  people.   In
|| fact,   according  to  this halacha,  if   the other people would
|| feel bothered by the window being closed (they're too  hot,)  the
|| window would still have to be closed.
|| 
Harlan goes on to ask about whether an analogy can be drawn from
this to emotional sensitivity. It seems to me that it's hard to
draw such an analogy, because in the first example there are people
who are sensitive to the heat, and their problems are being disregarded.

It looks to me as though the quoted halacha is really making a
statement about the relative danger of "too cold" vs. "too hot";
that is, it's more important to protect someone from feeling too
cold than it is to alleviate someone who is too hot. Not unreasonable
from a medical point of view, I presume.

Dave Sherman
Toronto
-- 
 { allegra cornell decvax ihnp4 linus utzoo }!utcsrgv!dave