Many people believe that bad omens are harbingers of real harm. Rambam is not one of them. But even he might hold by the exception noted by R' Yehuda ha'Nasi.
When I was a child, a Roma woman told me something that haunted me for years. Because I believed her, I even made some very poor choices fearing her prediction. So I agree with this article! Of course, letting go of false beliefs is truly liberating. Having had both of these experiences, I can appreciate how true emuna feels rather than just be told about it.
I was having a discussion about how this might be true of all religious beliefs (including of other religions), not just superstition this week..... Which leads one to complex places theologically
One might also say this is why Balak came up with his plan to make Israel stumble- if the women can seduce the men they don't need to bring them to idolatry immediately but even just a minor belief in superstitions that eventually tie back to avodah zara (per the story in the gemara of the women in the shuk and the multistage processes of bringing the men into the world of a"z)
While I certainly appreciate the rationalist perspective, and not to discount the power of our own beliefs and frameworks, but—similar to the our discussion about the potentially theologically problematic phrase in one of the sheva brachos—I think that, from the standpoint of historicity and allowing the Talmudic text to speak on its own terms without being sanitized, zuggos was a real phenomenon for the sages.
The greatest of the rabbis were genuinely concerned with it; the entirety of Pesachim 110 reflects that.
Rashbam’s comment probably reflects the most authentic, authorial meaning of the text:
כל דקפיד – מדקדק יותר מדאי, קפדי בהדיה כמו כן השדים יותר מדאי להזיקו, ודלא קפיד כל כך לא קפדי בהדיה להזיקו. ומיהו למיחש מיבעי ליה [אפילו מאן דלא קפיד דלא קפדינן בהדיה], דאי לא תימא הכי אלא לגמרי לא קפדי בהדיה כלל א״כ זוגות למה נזכרו בתלמוד, כך היה להם לחכמים לומר לא יזהר שום אדם מזוגות ולא ליקפדו בהדיה:
I actually wanted to include that point, and that Rashbam, in the post, but it wouldn't fit into the two pages, and since I set out to write specifically ABOUT the Rambam, I didn't think it warranted expanding the scope of the article.
When I was a child, a Roma woman told me something that haunted me for years. Because I believed her, I even made some very poor choices fearing her prediction. So I agree with this article! Of course, letting go of false beliefs is truly liberating. Having had both of these experiences, I can appreciate how true emuna feels rather than just be told about it.
I was having a discussion about how this might be true of all religious beliefs (including of other religions), not just superstition this week..... Which leads one to complex places theologically
One might also say this is why Balak came up with his plan to make Israel stumble- if the women can seduce the men they don't need to bring them to idolatry immediately but even just a minor belief in superstitions that eventually tie back to avodah zara (per the story in the gemara of the women in the shuk and the multistage processes of bringing the men into the world of a"z)
Well said. That's my understanding of לא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם as a sort of "gateway drug" to עבודה זרה
While I certainly appreciate the rationalist perspective, and not to discount the power of our own beliefs and frameworks, but—similar to the our discussion about the potentially theologically problematic phrase in one of the sheva brachos—I think that, from the standpoint of historicity and allowing the Talmudic text to speak on its own terms without being sanitized, zuggos was a real phenomenon for the sages.
The greatest of the rabbis were genuinely concerned with it; the entirety of Pesachim 110 reflects that.
Rashbam’s comment probably reflects the most authentic, authorial meaning of the text:
כל דקפיד – מדקדק יותר מדאי, קפדי בהדיה כמו כן השדים יותר מדאי להזיקו, ודלא קפיד כל כך לא קפדי בהדיה להזיקו. ומיהו למיחש מיבעי ליה [אפילו מאן דלא קפיד דלא קפדינן בהדיה], דאי לא תימא הכי אלא לגמרי לא קפדי בהדיה כלל א״כ זוגות למה נזכרו בתלמוד, כך היה להם לחכמים לומר לא יזהר שום אדם מזוגות ולא ליקפדו בהדיה:
I actually wanted to include that point, and that Rashbam, in the post, but it wouldn't fit into the two pages, and since I set out to write specifically ABOUT the Rambam, I didn't think it warranted expanding the scope of the article.