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person is allowed to entertain in regard to a troublesome colleague are
forbidden in regard to parents.

In our case though grounds apparently exist to allow becoming
angry at one’s parents in one’s heart, for the therapist’s goal is not to
debase the parents but quite the reverse – he is working to dispel the
child’s resentment, ultimately enabling him to honor his parents. The
therapist’s approach in such cases is akin to the halachic concept of
a destructive action undertaken in order to effect repair. In other
words, by initially diminishing his respect for his parents the child
will ultimately honor them – the case can be made that this type of
therapeutic model might be permitted.

We find an example of this reasoning in the sefer Pri Hasadeh
(1, 88, cited in Otzar Haposkim, 5,72), who discusses the case of a
woman whose children used to die immediately after birth. The phy-
sicians judged that it happened due to the weakness of her womb and
that were she to drink a sterilizing potion in order to avoid becoming
pregnant for a number of years, her uterus would grow stronger and
she would be able to give birth to a viable child. The question was,
was she allowed to drink the sterilizing potion? He ruled that it was
permitted because the reason that taking a sterilizing potion is for-
bidden is that it violates the mitzvah of populating the world. Here
though, where the woman would be drinking it with the intention of
being to give birth, she would be fulfilling this mitzvah all the better
and according to all opinions it would be permitted, provided her
husband was agreeable.

Causing [temporary] sterility in order to strengthen the uterus is
thus permitted. The same reasoning would possibly apply here – if
treating parents lightly is for the ultimate purpose of honoring them
it is perhaps permitted. In regard to building a beis haknesses we find
similarly that it is permitted to demolish part of it in order to rebuild
it better than before. This argument is particularly relevant since the
child’s anger towards the parent is already part of him and it is being
brought out and expressed externally for therapeutic purposes.

However, we can differentiate between the two situations. In the
case of the woman’s sterilization it is the elimination of the ability to

Disrespectful thoughts towards Parents 2 189