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why are so many of these traditions, if not really based in halacha, or real traditions (eg halacha/kabbalah) considered so important? like who really cares how we cut our fingernails and in what order??? isnt there enough minutae in our religion (possibly the most in the world) that we don't need to fight over something that isn't even [real?]......

dont we have bigger fish to fry like world-hunger, jewish children dying and scared from rocket attacks, mothers and fathers abandoned to nursing homes (no one cares) but WHAT we do ask our rabbis is if a drop of milk falls in a fleishig pot.....etc, why not ask our rabbis is it ok to leave our parents in an abusive nursing home,or leave our drug addicted brother "out on the street" because we "cant deal with him" [kibud av' v'aim and pikuach nefesh in that exact order]

since when has minutae taken over the bigger things in life???

mechoel zev
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  • i meant not "possilby" real, [in a halacha/chassidic/kaballistic] sense as opposed to our reality as defined by our senses (which is interpreted (often falsely) by what we are taught by our parent's/teachers/society, rabbanut/etc..... – mechoel zev Aug 21 '11 at 07:25

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I think the answer to your question is really quite basic.

I cut my nails every month, and cook in the kitchen just about every other day. The number of times I have had to be concerned with an abusive nursing home or a drug addicted teenager is exactly 0.

Who says that the minutiae have taken over the bigger things in life? Perhaps you are visiting the wrong shiurim for your tastes, or are reading the wrong books?

That which is common gets more questions than that which is uncommon. Espeically on a site like this, people are only going to ask questions that they need to know the answers to, which is what happens to them in their day to day lives. 'Bigger things in life' are rare and often don't need asking.

avi
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  • i don't quite understand the confusion. we all read about what happened in israel last week (not from books or "sites" but from regular news sources; the same goes for the killing of poor leiby and the stabbing of abuchazera rabbi. these are BIG things happening in our times, and i am wondering if we are focusing on small minutae (cooking importance aside), rather that our brethern are dying all over the world........am i being unreasonable in my concerns? [eg, can't see the forest for the trees???] – mechoel zev Aug 22 '11 at 07:43
  • What exactly are you referring to? I don't go to shiurim to talk about current events, that's what reading the news and chatting on blogs / the kiddush table is for. Where do you want these things to be discussed where they aren't? – avi Aug 22 '11 at 07:49
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See the answer to a very similar question "Why does God care so much about Details" at Why does God care so much about Details. The source for the order of cutting nails is a gemoro (which I can't remember now.)

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Avrohom Yitzchok
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