Reply To: Hedonism in honor of Chanuka, to benefit Tzedaka

Ubiquitin,

The Hellenists followed the example of the Greeks in venerating Pleasure and the physical aspect of man.

The referenced story is a perfect example of such a value system. It subordinates the concept of tzedaka to the deification of Pleasure in order to make the hedonism more palatable to frum people.

This is not tzedaka; certainly not in the sense of “righteousness”, nor even in the sense of “charity.” On the contrary, this is the perversion of those concepts in order to quell the conscience and permit grossly excessive gluttony in violation of the spirit of the Torah.

Reb Eliezer –

I have no idea what your comment has to do with this thread. I also do not think I agree with your particular formulation of the message. Perhaps something got lost in translation. What is the source?