Reply To: Adama Veshamayim – Avoda Zara

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#1714981
balanceisthekey
Participant

RebYidd,
Every single halacha, like every matter in life, has subtle nuances to it, making it subject to different viewpoints and variations– chilukei dayos and chilukim. The big three aveiros are no exception, only that with them we are generally more machmir in cases of doubt (and of course really with any de’oraisa we are machmir in a safek). Despite this severity however, the arguments have been laid out that this case is different because it is a Minhag Yisrael, which is equivalent to a Rav paskening that it is proper, so long as it can be shown not to contradict Halacha either by a) relying on a pre-existing daas yachid (in this case R’ Ovadiah Yosef) or b) relying on a sevara that is within reason, even if it is a chiddush (in this case–the fact that R’ Moshe could very well agree here that is fine since in current times the song seems to be primarily associated with neutral/open-ended intentions of Rainbow-Gathering-members and the like, no longer sung primarily in an a”z context).
This is some of the ‘balance’ within the halacha itself, before even getting to the major balancing act regarding the practical application of the halacha to this particular setting–should we be extra machmir beyond the base-line halacha or would that be an inappropriate chumra, and that gets into all of the complicated social and psychological factors listed above.