[Avodah] maaseh avot siman lebanim

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Wed, Nov 25, 2015 at 06:52:32PM -0500, Zvi Lampel wrote:
: I agree, and would add that the rishonim likewise guide us in the general
: direction of understanding Chazal (and pesukim and general Jewish thought
: and ideology).

Except WRT pesuqim, where you have pashtanim offering peshatim that ignore
both Chazal's derashos and sometimes their peshatim as well. I think this
is less and less true the further one gets from pure TSBP.

As for the rishonim's guidance... I spoke in the metaphor of momentum,
not inertia, how the TSBP is flowing down the generations, not a snapshot.

>From <http://www.aishdas.org/asp/postmodernism-and-mesorah>:

   ...
   So while the classical academic tried to find the original intent of
   the text, the postmodern found this impossible and therefore doesn't
   try. Instead, he looks to see what social constructs the text implies
   for the primary purpose of questioning it.
   ...

   Mesorah is a living tradition of a development of ideas. The Oral Torah
   is oral, a dialog across the generations. If we see a quote in the
   gemara from Rav Yochanan, we might be curious about the historical
   intent of Rav Yochanan. But in terms of Torah, important to us than
   what R' Yochanan's original intent is what R' Ashi thought that intent
   was, which in turn can only be understood through the eyes of what the
   Rosh and the Rambam understood R' Ashi's meaning to be, which in turn
   can only be understood through the eyes of the Shaagas Aryeh and R'
   Chaim Brisker.  That is the true meaning, in terms of Torah, of Rav
   Yoachanan's statement.

   Definitionally, talmud Torah is entering the stream. Not seeing a
   statement as a point to isolate in time and space, but as a being
   with a current that runs through history from creation to redemption.

FWIW, I also relate this to the Qetzos identifying Torah's Eitz
Chaim with the "emes mei'aretz tatzmiach" that I mentioned recently
on another thread.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The greatest discovery of all time is that
micha at aishdas.org        a person can change their future
http://www.aishdas.org   by merely changing their attitude.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                   - Oprah Winfrey