[Avodah] history

[Micha Berger]

Here's my argument, with an example quote. (Unfortunately the Rambam
was handiest, although the Rambam's hashkafah isn't really in the center
of today's mainstream.) Peirush haMishnayos, intro to pereq Cheileq,
a little before the list of iqarim. The Rambam lists 3 katim WRT aggadic
stories:
1- Those who assume they are all historical claims, see them as foolish,
and reject the Torah;
2- Those who assume they are all historical, and therefore reduce the
Torah and believe such foolishness;

and then in the Vilna Shas 123 amudah 4 (ie 123b 2nd column) "vehakat":
    And the third kat, and they -- as H' "Lives" -- are very few,
    until it isn't proper to call them a "kat" except in the way it's
    said that the sun is a species and it is unique, and they are those
    people for whom the greatness of the Chachamim z"l is clear. And
    they are the best of all of them, WHICH WE FIND IN *ALL THEIR WORDS*
    TEACH ABOUT TOPICS OF GREAT TRUTH.

    They know that they [Chazal] a"h don't speak foolishness (?), and it
    is known as true to them [those in the 3rd kat] that their [Chazal's]
    words have to them a nigleh and a nistar. And they, IN ALL THAT THEY
    SAY OF DIVARIM HANIMNA'IM THEY SPOKE OF THEM IN A WAY OF RIDDLE AND
    PARABLE For this is the way of the great sages. Therefore the greatest
    of sages started his book and said to understand mashal umelitzah,
    derech chachamim vechidusam...

(This was handy because I pulled it out of posts of mine from vol5
and vol13.)

IOW, my proof doesn't rest on which items the Rambam considers credible
as history or not. Rather on his explanation of why it's appropriate for
him to make such determinations. That it's all about the mashal umelitzah,
and not about the nigleh at all.

These various rishonim and acharonim may argue on the detail, which
happened to happen, and which didn't. But they all agree that one can
make such decisions because Chazal simply weren't engaging in history and
therefore tell history and other stories making no explicit distinction
between them.

The Ramchal in his maamar on the subject, not only says this of historical
narrative, but goes so far as to apply the same rule to scientific
statements that appear in aggadita.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             You will never "find" time for anything.
micha at aishdas.org        If you want time, you must make it.
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