[Avodah] Netziv: Shatnez Blocks Telegraph

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Jul 02, 2013 at 07:44:05PM -0700, Michael Orr wrote:
: The Netziv makes a fascinating claim while commenting on the
: verse in Vayikra (19:19) that prohibits shatnez. He states that it is one of the secrets of nature (mi'sistrei hateva), known to scientists
: (chachmei hateva) that taking a thread that was made of twisting flax and wool together, and tying it onto a telegraph wire...

I'm looking at the Friedman (NY) edition. It doesn't have the page with
all the legalese on it, so I don't know the year. But given the quality of
print, it's old. I don't see what you're referring to. Look for yourself:
<http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=14022&pgnum=157>

Googling around for combinations of "wire" "Netziv" (or "Davar") and
"shaatnez" (or "shatnez") didn't find anyone else discussing the claim,
which would be a rarity for a topic of this sort.

What I do see in the HD with the words you quote is that wearing shaatnez
"mashchis segulas chutei tzemer ufishtim mimah shehayah." And this
is misisrei hateva and are known to chakhmei hateva.

Then the Netziv continues that this warning also applies to keeping peace
in the nation, because disturbing the seder ruchani in the olam haberi'ah
also changes seder hagashmi, because the ruach hachayah which is in all
of creation stands in a spiritual way.

...
: -Isn't this claim easily disproven by experiment?

I was thinking that it could mean splicing in shaatnez INTO the
line. But this would be true for replacing a bit of wire with wool or
linen individually.

: -Does a telegraph wire transmit speech anyway? (Maybe he meant a telephone wire?)

I think it does. You're being caught up on the word "speech", which has
connotations that may not match the original.

The phoe was invented Feb 11 1876 by Elisha Gray -- a member of the tribe.
Gray files a patent caveat on 14 Feb 1872 at 9:30am. Bell patents his
telephone at 11:30am, and Gray completes his patent at 1:30. Thereby
assigning Mr Gray to obscurity. As RARR is wont to say: Ein mazal leYisrael.

1893, when the Netziv was niftar, was a year after the first telephone
switch (capacity 99 lines) was installed in LaPorte Indiana. It was
likely a rarity anyone could make any claim about in Litta and people
would believe it. OTOH, it might have been too young and too rare for
such secondary claims to exist. Just the phone itself was still a marvel.

Still, I think telegraph works, as dibur could well include Morse Code.

: -In my edition (Cooperman, eds.) all these comments are in
:  brackets. Does this mean there is a question about
:  whether it can actually be attributed to the Netziv?

I don't know what their brackets mean, but I'm *guessing* from my
experience that Cooperman added material that wasn't in the original. It
could have been manuscript, so it could still be the Netziv's. Maybe even
(guess upon guess) the Netziv dropped that piece when he found out it
wasn't true!


Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Rescue me from the desire to win every
micha at aishdas.org        argument and to always be right.
http://www.aishdas.org              - Rav Nassan of Breslav
Fax: (270) 514-1507                   Likutei Tefilos 94:964