I thought the fact Schmuel declared a fast while in Nehardea for place far away is an interesting teaching text. What are the dangers we can ignore because of distance, and which are the dangers that, no matter where they occur, me must concern ourselves with? Certainly, in our world, with the ease of travel (a problem hinted at in the discussion of caravans a bit further down the page) any communicable disease bears concern. (And certainly, America was slow to realize the enormity of AIDS crisis in Africa.)
But thinking less literally, what are the issues which seem distant to our immediate concerns but are in fact direct threats to us? What are the plagues of our world, which, though occurring far from us, either geographically far or mentally far, should actually be front and center?
(This assumes, I understand, that some plagues will not, in fact, be at the forefront of our minds. That is, not all dangers are created equal. We are allowed, it seems to me, to be more worried about a pestilence which has the potential to harm us, than we are about something which can not, or almost certainly will not. How much more concerned? That is a question for a different post.)
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To broaden your comment -- what about the fast decreed by Rav Yehuda when there was a plague among pigs? Why ever would you think that a plague on pigs, completely forbidden to Jews, would have anything to do with us? The Talmud answers that the digestive tracts of pigs are similar to humans, so there was a risk of human disease. But perhaps we could frame that answer in terms of ecosystems. What does it matter to us what some people are doing to the climate or endangered species in far off places? There appears to be a more global concern at work here.
Very nice. Another great teaching point.
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