[Avodah] Dr. Berkovits and R' Marc Angel

[Micha Berger]

On Fri, Apr 17, 2009 at 06:14:02PM -0400, Michael Makovi wrote:
: I was reading Rabbi Marc D. Angel's "The Rhythms of Jewish Living: A
: Sephardic Approach" this past Yom Tov...

I found it hard to read. Much of it is: Seph is right, as it preserved the
natural rhythims. Ashk is wrong, being overly indoors (as opposed to the
mindset of seder zeraim and the agricultural role of mitzvos), unnatural,
nearly Xian cloistering, and a product of other assimilated concepts.

: Now, to quote Rabbi Angel:
: Pp. 66ff:
: The words of the Torah, even with their ancient explanations, still
: leave many questions unanswered. The language of the Torah is not
: legalistic, for the most part. Even in its legalistic sections, it is
: not usually precise as a code of law...

Tanakh is a Mussar work. Halakhah comes from derashah, not peshat,
because peshat tells us the values, not the din. As Rashi quotes on
"ayin tachas ayin".

Therefore, when RMA writes:
:                                 The Torah provides us with the word of
: God - but also leaves much room for human interpretation and
: application of principles....

This assumes a very human creative conept of dershah, something in the
range of the Rambam's. Far from universally accepted, though.

: These categories of halakhah are not based directly on God's command,
: but on the rabbinic application of Torah principles to their
: contemporary situations....

This is overstated to the point of being (IMHO) wrong. If he were to
stress "application to contemporary situations" as basis rather than
outgrowth any stronger, it would be Historical School.

: ...
: The Great Court had the authority to interpret the Torah and to
: declare its judgment concerning the will of God. Yet interpretations
: could change from one generation to the next; the oral law was "oral"
: so that it would retain fluidity and flexibility [the same reason
: offered by Rabbis Glasner and Berkovits]. Maimonides writes (Laws of
: Rebels 2:1): ... [to summarize Rambam: if one Great Court rules the
: halakhah one way, based in its exegesis of the Torah, a latter Great
: Court can overrule that interpretation in favor of its own personal
: exegesis].

For derashos (2:1). For gezeiros (2:5) there is no repeal after it was
nispasheit, and for other legislation or pesaq, overturning requires
BD gadol mimenu bechokhmah uveminyan (2:2).

See RZLampel's DoD pg 103. On pg 107 he notes, thought that such repeal
of a gezeirah isn't actually found anywhere in Shas, but rather the
earliest source is R' Hai Gaon as quoted in Yad Ramah.

: ...
: ... The dissolution of the Great Court changed the method of halakhah.
: No longer was there one universally recognized institution which could
: rule authoritatively for all Jews. No longer did rabbis go directly to
: the Torah in order to determine halakhah.
: ...

Then what's the gemara? Anything that's nispasheit bekhol Yisrael
is as binding as a court. Lemaaseh the Rambam (haqdamah to the Yad)
was wrong about how totally shas was accepted across all of Jewery --
the Ashkenazim had a number of exceptions. (As did Italy and Pravance)
But that is his grounds for the authority of the gemara is based on its
broad acceptance, making R' Ashi's BM akin to a BD hagadol.

RYBS uses this notion to explain the authority of the SA, Rama, and the
usual nosei keilim on the page.

Also, Ravina veR' Ashi, centuries after the end of true semichah, are
the sof hora'ah. Where does RMA base his opinion that derashah is linked
to BD haGadol?

And, as I noted in the past, the various rules of derashah fell out of
use at different times. Gezeira shava was first. Y-m Pesachim 33a (6:1)
places the end of gezeira shava to be earlier than the Benei Beseira,
who challenge Hillel's authority to cite one. Well before the end of
semichah and BD haGadol.

...
: There have been some individuals who have called for the establishment
: of a new Sanhedrin in our times. They would like a revival of a
: central halakhic authority for the Jewish people. The Sanhedrin would
: not only provide unity in halakhah, but would re-institute the
: original methodology of the oral law - interpreting the Torah itself,
: applying the law to life with the freedom to overrule precedents and
: previous decisions.
...

Agsin, only those laws that were established by derashah alone.

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 29th day, which is
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