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From: teitz@aecom.UUCP (Eliyahu Teitz)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Re: The Mitzvot and Humanistic Judaism - round two
Message-ID: <1276@aecom.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Mar-85 14:54:25 EST
Article-I.D.: aecom.1276
Posted: Mon Mar 18 14:54:25 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 19-Mar-85 08:12:47 EST
References: <218@npois.UUCP> <1226@aecom.UUCP> <344@mhuxm.UUCP>
Organization: Albert Einstein Coll. of Med., NY
Lines: 26

> > > I keep the Mitzvot, as I understand them, because I am a Jew.
> > > (unreferenced by name)
> > 	Who says you understand them correctly ?  (Teitz)
> The same question could be put to anyone:  Who says the Rambam understands
> them correctly?  Who says Feinstein undertands them correctly?  Who
> says Teitelbaum or Schneerson (sp?) or Brickner, or even Joseph Caro
> understands them correctly?  It's all open to discussion.  The point
> is therefore not "who is the correct one true interpreter of what
> constitutes Judaism?" but rather "what do I regard as the most correct
> interpretation of what constitutes Judaism?" since this latter question is
> logically antecedent to the first one and is not trivial by any means.
> Though it is logically antecedent, one should expose oneself to others'
> opinions in the attempt to form one's own opinion.  The amount of
> attention devoted to this question is obviously also an issue which
> gets decided based upon factors not related to Judaism. This
> is as it should be, as I regard it as inappropriate to think only
> of halachkic issues in life.

	My response was to the idea that mitzvot are kept because of a certain
 reason  ( ta'amei hamitzvot ). The Rambam and others do not say that a 
 mitzvas observance is dependent on the reason why the mitzva was originally 
 given, for we are not sure why some mitzvot were given. The rabbis listed
 tell us how to observe. They don't tell us that they do or don't apply today 
 for some reason or another..

			Eliyahu Teitz.