Thank you to Shmuel Silberman for bringing up the topic of conflicting values - one that is sorely underdiscussed in the Jewish world around me, at least.
I have long believed that "conflicting" or "competing" values are at the heart of Jewish thinking and law, and should be taught explicitly to populations mature enough to absorb the concepts. The lens of competing values helps us understand decision-making, whether in halachic responsa, in societal shifts, or in our personal lives. Understanding it empowers people to make better decisions.
The David Cardozo Academy Think Tank has discussed the issue on more than one occasion. You can see a blog here in which the values of baal tashchit and being careful about bloodspots compete (see also the comments) - [
www.cardozoacademy.org]
And on facebook, the same member brought up the following situation:
What would you do? Touring Tel Aviv, you find yourself hungry and thirsty. You can buy kosher milk in a store also selling pork products (Tiv Taam). The store next door sells apple strudel, and the storekeeper - kipaless - says he is closed on Shabbat and keeps kosher, just doesn’t want to pay for kashrut certification.
Do you buy the milk? the strudel? neither? both?
* What are the various godly, holy, halachic, moral, and social considerations in play here?
* Is there a value of trusting a fellow Jew's words, or is that unnecessarily naive/not relevant here?
* Are we sure we can trust the rabbanut's mashgichim more?
* Should a storekeeper who is not willing to pay be penalised?
(Those who want to see the comments can go to [
www.facebook.com] and scroll to June 25th 2017.
They range from "I stay hungry and thirsty until i can find a store that has the proper kashrut signs " to "Both" via "Is this really a halachic issue...? I don't believe so. Food is either kosher or treif, by their content, production and preparation; that's the bottom line. No matter where it's sold or by whom it is sold. Storekeepers wearing kippot, markets closed on Shabbat do NOT validate kashrut by their personal business ethos.")
It think it would be interesting to ask students to bring in their own competing values situations and then examine halachic and philosophical materials pertinent to those situations? Or, to come in from the other direction, to analyse writings or situations based on the hidden competing values.
Yael
www.yaelunterman.com/hidden-of-things
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/24/2017 06:58PM by mlb.
