giving nicknames to your family (do you purposely hurt your family’s feelings with the nicknames, or are you by extension condemning every parent of an Avi, Ruthie, Shoshi, Rivkie, Malkie, etc.?)
I don’t make any statements about anyone else. Unlike other people on these boards, I would never dare to suggest that anyone else has no chelek in Olam HaBah — regardless of their actions. That’s between them and HKBH — and I am not a party to that relationship. What other people call their kids and if they’re comfortable with their portion in the hereafter regarding that is not my business.
In any event, my reading of the Rambam doesn’t seem to make any distinction between if one intends to hurt people’s feelings or not. Obviously I don’t intend such a thing. Nonetheless, I started calling Eeees Eeees well before I learned the Rambam. It’s a part of our shared relationship — and one that I do not want to alter. If I stopped calling my kids things like “kiddo,” they’d probably start to wonder if there was a fundamental shift in our relationship.
If the Rambam wants to consign me to hell for that, then that’s fine. I’m willing to accept punishment for disobeying the Rambam. I value my relationship with my wife and kids that much.
It does not make sense to think it is impossible for the world to be 5771 years old. If you believe G-d created the world, is it any harder to create a world that looks old than one which looks young?
Popa,
Suffice it to say that I find the Ompholos theory unsatisfying and just about as valid as Last Thursdayism. I don’t really want to debate the point here… I just picked it as an example. There are many other examples I could have picked. So, please, let’s not argue age of the universe here. Just accept that we agree to disagree.
The Wolf