Why all the rabbinic safeguards?

passover is here and let us remember that if you are just doing these rituals mindlessly, you're no better than the israelite slaves making bricks. The story of passover is the story of addiction. The slaves found their "high" from the routinized work of making bricks. What do you do in your life that is routinized and done without thinking of Hashem? We do a lot of things to bury our shame and guilt. And by doing repetitive behaviors, we can escape those problems temporarily. People who do drugs yearn for another fix. The israelites, in the desert, despaired because they yearned to go back to their brickmaking in Egypt. My prayer is that all people start with this notion before they undertake anything. Hashem doesn't want zombies. He wants righteous people trying to bring holiness back to this world. Reply

Follow-up Question Are the Rabbinic fences considered divinely inspired? Reply

Fences I don't understand why the fence is built so far from the Torah. Take the meat and milk thing. Chickens do not even nurse, but you can't have a glass of milk with a chicken dinner. Reply

fences i agree in essence, but not all insurance plans actually safeguard what is precious. i am not going to rape my dentist when she is sticking a needle into my head just because we are alone. but i will buy a "net nanny" to prevent myself from watching pornography on the internet. i will wear modest clothes to insure that i don't cause women to have lustful thoughts but i dont want my wife to humiliate herself by showing her sanitary towel to the rabbi to make sure that she is pure, surely she has eyes to check herself. if she was going to sin she would do it anyways and the rabbi wont always know when she used that towel. Reply

RE: Halacha While Conservative does adhere to a modified version of the original halacha, Reform Judaism does not accept halacha at all. their leadership said quite clearly that they choose to be outside of halacha. Reply

Halachah There are both basic halachah that many if not all forms of Judaismregonsize and preform, then there are sect specific, from very observant to community basics secular version.

SO the question should be, (rephrasing your statement) Do the members and leaders of these sects compare the fence laws to the Torah and decide on observance or treat the fences as if they are the Torah and preform without questioning. Reply

you're right to ask why so many fences the reality is: G-D says in the Torah, "follow my rules, NO MORE, NO LESS". Chabad is great. but, let's face it. life is very subjective and we all make judgments about following the rules. the ridiculous precautions (fences) should be tested against G-D's admonition to not go "over board" with our alacrity to hold true to the rules. how many cars drive to shabbat services? of course rabbis from all sects look the other way. you'd be crazy not to Reply

Fences - 200bce Durring the Hellinstic period, beforethe take over and rededication by the Macabees, the political and religious structure took a turn. The Cohenim office became both political and religious. In this time frame, the Rabbis took new authority to make binding Torah like laws (Fences) and thus the fences began. That was for both political and religious reasons.

It is still for the reason: to not transgress Torah, and not to be in exile again.
Yet these fences are good, if you see them as a fence. Realize what Torah is and where the fence is, that is good. I have personal issues calling the fences Torah, for they are not one in the same. As some in Judaism do believe.

So the fences are both respect and problhematic. ALTHOUGH Torah does give commads in which lack definition of preformancee. If the Fences of tradition, how to observe, did not exist, we would be pretty lost or disorganized.

example: The Passover SEDER. Meaning: Order) Reply

But why SO many fences? Reply

parapet i think its a torah mitzvah to put a fence about the roof of a home. Reply

Yah but only our house is not as precious to us as is our mitzvohs, so you can take the argument either way.

Generally you find a pattern for there being a larger amount of fences around a more serious transgression. That could be why there are so many fenses in the laws of Shabbos. I heard that explanation from Tzvi Freeman's son Chanina. Reply