@msh210 OK. Fair enough.

@WadCheber btw you might be interested in what Rambam says in the Mishneh Torah

That's how he rules l'halacha and it's a summary of a position in the Gemara

In contrast to what you cited that he wrote in Mora Nevuchim

cf. Bavli Megila 25a

sefaria.org/Mishnah_Megillah.4.9

@Daniel I read something about that, but somewhere else Rambam writes the opposite.

@Daniel And you cannot challenge me by arguing, “as far as the nest of a bird does Your mercy reach,” because that argument is based on one of the two views which we mentioned, i.e., the approach of those who believe there is no explanation for the commandments of the Torah other than the will of God alone; but we are inclined to follow the other view. (Guide for the Perplexed III:48)

zootorah.com/RationalistJudaism/ShiluachHaKein.pdf

"Why does Rambam present the view in the Commentary and Mishneh Torah that the mitzvah is not related to compassion, if in the Guide he states that he does not follow that view? A variety of solutions have been suggested.18 Amongst contemporary academic scholars, Jacob Levinger claims that Rambam’s halachic works were geared to the masses, and Rambam considered it safer for them to consider that the mitzvot have no discernable reasons; only in the Guide could Rambam reveal his true views.19"

"Roslyn Weiss specifies that Rambam had to pretend for the masses that it was not based on compassion, as otherwise they might think that eating meat is wrong.20 Josef Stern explains that Rambam really means that the mitzvah serves to teach man compassion rather than being based on God’s compassion, in line with the view of Ramban and others that we shall now explore.21"

"Rabbi Yom Tov Heller (1578-1654) softens this explanation of the Mishnah, stating that it is only in the context of prayer that it is forbidden to link this mitzvah with compassion, since one is thereby making an absolute statement regarding the ultimate reason for the mitzvah. However, he states, there is no problem in relating this mitzvah to compassion in the context of peshat or derash.22 "

And so on.

@WadCheber I'm not trying to argue with you. Just pointing out that Rambam writes the opposite in his other major work

Just FYI the "Zoo Rabbi" is considered a controversial source

I don't know the details of the controversy so I'm not sure if it's relevant to what you've cited

I just know that some people don't hold by him

But yes of course there are plenty of different resolutions of the Rambam

The one that I have heard that speaks the most to me is that in the context of Talmud Torah we can learn mercy from the mitzvah of shiluach haken

But in the context of tefila, to make a claim that we understand the "reason" for the mitzvah is chutzpah

This all kind of goes back to the debate over taamei hamitzvot and whether they are real/worth trying to figure out

@WadCheber I suppose I've basically just restated the things you quoted

In any case, the point wasn't a challenge. I just figured you'd be interested in case you hadn't seen it

@Daniel oh, I wasn't arguing either. Just saying that Rambam argued both sides of the point.

@Daniel Worth posting a MY Q about the apparent contradiction IMO. (I know there are published answers.)

Oh, oops -- now I see that @WadCheber quotes (here) R. Slifkin who cites some of those published answers.

@Daniel In this instance (at least as quoted here), he seems to be quoting others rather than opining. Of course, quoting and translating are (individually and certainly in conjunction) opining to some extent, but one can always check the original sources.

What's wrong with the picture?

FWIW the photo is of the gas station on Highway 6 southbound. And, FWIW, the gas station northbound does not have this problem.

Correction: the other direction also has the problem, but differently.

@Scimonster mezuzah on the wrong side of the door

Also thinking there's a need to put a sign on both sides of an automatic sliding door

Actually I'm not sure if it's on the wrong side. I would think since everybody goes through that door from the inside to the outside the mezuzah should be on the right going that direction

But maybe it doesn't matter which direction people generally use the door and the "direction" of a door is always outside->inside

The slant seems to me to be the wrong direction but I also don't know how one is supposed to slant a mezuzah that's on a flat wall not inside the opening for the door

@msh210 a great deal of what he's done that has been the subject of controversy is quoting.

@IsaacMoses what's interesting is that in each respective work he doesn't mention the opinion that he mentioned in the other work

@Daniel not sure what you're referring to

@IsaacMoses sorry I am on my phone so I couldn't see what your previous comment was a reply to. At first I thought you were talking about Rambam quoting the Gemara

@MonicaCellio Yeah my reasoning was basically that

Same applies to many other questions posted by this user

should these questions be closed?

@Daniel They are poor-quality but I don't see that they're off-topic or otherwise fit any of the standard closure reasons. That doesn't prevent people from voting to close if they disagree with me, of course.