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Monday, August 08, 2005

Shalosh Shudos tales

Long story short, as told by an old man in my shul

Monday: My daughter nearly got hit by a car
Tuesday: A very large branch fell off a tree and almost hit her
Wednesday: She went to a great Rabbi known for his knowledge of the mysticl and the supernatural. He said, "Bring me the plans of your house."
Thursday: She returned with the plans. They showed a window had once been closed, contrary to the teaching of Rabbi Yehuda Hachassid in his last will and testament. She promptly unblocked the window, and ever since, evrything has been fine.

Problems with this story

1- Unusual events are rarely followed by unusual events. This is what makes them unusual. So the fact that the unusual events ceased is proof of nothing. (Mis-Nagid)

2 - It may be true that her window had been blocked. It may be true that weird things happened to her. But there's no reason to believe that there is a connection between the two true events. It is equally likely that the weird things happened to her because she mismatched her socks that morning.

3 - Chazal never said that bad luck would follow if your closed up your windows. How odd that the same people who say Chazal knew everything, have no difficulty suggesting that Chazal were unaware of the connection between closed windows, and bad luck.

4 - The Torah teaches that bad things happen to us because of sin. Not because of blocked windows. Looking at the blocked window, instead of at our own deeds is a quick fix, and there are no quick fixes in real life.