Friday, August 3, 2012

Whose time is it anyway?

A quick thought on Brachot 2 in between my chaplaincy visits....

Who gets to set communal time?  The societal elites, the poorest among us, or the beinoniim?  If we all need to be on the same daily schedule, whose needs and priorities dictate how our time is structured?

3 comments:

  1. Very interesting. I wasn't exactly sure why the poor eat their meals later than others. Any thoughts why that might be?

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    Replies
    1. Hey Roni! Perhaps because they had to work longer days? Just a guess. It is interesting that the Gemara would even look to the poor's eating time as a barometer of scheduling.

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  2. Great question Lauren. I hadn't thought of this text in quite that regard. Your question seems to be the driving force of this text, a sort of political war over legislation between the classes.

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