רב שלמה לוריה, ים של שלמה, קידושין ד':כ"ד
. . . But with regards to being alone with an animal, or lying with men, [men of] Israel are no suspected of these, and anyone who wants to be stringent today is acting arrogantly. [Translation by Rabbi Steven Greenberg]
Suggested Discussion Questions:
1. Note: Rabbi Shlomo Luria was an independent halakhic thinker. Here he disagrees with the author of the Shulchan Aruch, Rabbi Joseph Caro. What also may separate Caro and Luria is local context. Luria lived in Europe and Caro in Spain and then Safad.
2. Luria adds that anyone that employs the stringency of Caro in Europe where it does not apply, is guilty of arrogant behavior. How do you think the social context shapes the way norms are applied?
Time Period: Medieval (Geonim through the 16th Century)