[NFBJ] Fwd: Blind People and Mitzvot--I am just passing this on FYI, not agreeing or disagreeingFW: Blind People and Mitzvot

Tue May 28 17:48:01 UTC 2024

Hello,
Please see the email below from Rabbi Michael Levy. This is being sent for
your information and consideration.  It is important for us to see what is
being written about blindness.

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: mlevy at verse-onality.com <mlevy at verse-onality.com>
Date: Tue, May 28, 2024 at 11:19 AM
Subject: Blind People and Mitzvot--I am just passing this on FYI, not
agreeing or disagreeingFW: Blind People and Mitzvot
To: Stewart Prost <sprost82 at gmail.com>

Ohr Sameach is an Orthodox institution so the sources it quotes are also
Orthodox.  I would comment that Modern Orthodox rabbis would certainly
investigate new technology and techniques and possibly formulate new
approaches to blindness and Jewish law.

____

*Bava Kama 86 - 92 « Talmud Tips « Ohr Somayach*
<https://ohr.edu/this_week/talmud_tips/7010>
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For the week ending 27 August 2016 / 23 Av 5776
by Rabbi Moshe Newman
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*Rabbi Yehuda said, “A blind person is exempt from paying for embarrassing
another person”, and, likewise, Rabbi Yehuda exempted a blind person from
all mitzvot that are stated in the Torah.*
This statement, which is taught in a *beraita* on our *daf*, is the ruling
of Rabbi Yehuda regarding the lack of obligations of a “*suma*”, a blind
person, and is derived from a verse in Devarim 6:1, as explained by Rav
Shisha bar Rav Idi in the *gemara*.
Does this mean that a blind person has no *mitzvot* at all? Tosefot writes
that although Rabbi Yehuda said that a blind person is exempt from “all
*mitzvot* that are stated in the Torah”, a blind person is nevertheless
obligated in mitzvah observance according to Rabbinical law, since
otherwise he would be like a non-Jew who is not part of the Torah of the
Jewish People. Tosefot points out that the Rabbis did not decree for a
woman to “Rabbinically” observe time-bound positive *mitzvot* which the
Torah exempts them from since they are at least obligated in all negative
commandments of the Torah, as well as positive *mitzvot* that are not
time-dependent. A blind person, however, would have no mitzvah obligation
without Rabbical intervention, and therefore the Rabbis obligated him in
order that he will share in the role of the Jewish People in having a share
in mitzvah fulfillment.
Another opinion is found in the writings of Rabbi Akiva Egger in Shulchan
Aruch Yoreh De’ah (1:9), regarding the status of *shechita* (ritual
slaughter of animal for food) done by a blind person who is supervised. The
Shuchan Aruch rules that the *shechita* should not be done, but if it was
(and was properly supervised) it is kosher. Rabbi Akiva Egger explains that
although a blind person is exempt from *mitzvot* according to Rabbi Yehuda,
this exemption applies *only* to positive commands, but not to negative
ones (“*lo ta’aseh*”). Therefore, since a blind person is obligated by the
Torah in the command to not eat meat that was not “*shechted*” correctly,
his act of *shechita* is acceptable if supervised.
I once asked a great Rabbi in Jerusalem a question on the opinion of
Tosefot: “If the blind person is exempt from all Torah *mitzvot*, why is he
required to *obey* the command of the Rabbis who decreed him to be
obligated according to their law? Isn’t the reason why a person must obey
Rabbinical law the statement in the Torah in Devarim 17:11, “According to
the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you,
you shall do; you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either
right or left.” But a blind person is not bound by any mitzvah of the
Torah, including Devarim 17:11, and thereby seemingly not bound to the
decrees of the Rabbis. How would Tosefot answer this?”
The Rabbi answered me that it is “logic”. *Any* person who is part of the
Jewish People, even a blind person who is exempt from *mitzvot*, must
certainly listen to and obey the teachings of the Rabbis. They are the
leaders, the teachers and the authorities in this world who help lead us in
the path of Gd.

   - *Bava Kama 87a*

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-- 
*Stewart Prost*
Phone: 757-572-6891
Fax: 757-210-7504
Email: sprost82 at gmail.com
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