[Avodah] Shitas R"T

[Zev Sero]

D&E-H Bannett wrote:
> Re:

>> All that matters is that the earth is in fact a globe.  Which
>> was known in Chazal's time, and certainly in that of the rishonim.
 
> I once had a list of sources which show chazal's knowledge 
> of the earth being a ball.  When I went through them 
> carefully, I felt that, in many of them, we are being 
> influenced by our own knowledge to interpret their remarks 
> as being clear statements of the earth being a ball when 
> they reaslly aren't

This is true.  Many references to "kadur" can be understood to mean a
disc.  If it were the case that the Earth's shape and size was not
generally known, and various references were adduced to show that
Chazal did know it, with the object of demonstrating that Chazal were
either unusually well educated, or had access to Other sources of
knowledge (i.e. "istakel be'oraita uvera alma", and/or "sod Hashem
liyre'av"), then those references would have to be viewed sceptically.

But in fact that the Earth's shape and size were well known in Chazal's
day, and therefore it is to be expected that at least the more educated
among them, especially those in EY, knew this.  Since it is the expected
result, references that may indicate such knowledge need not be treated
with undue scepticism.  OTOH it's not surprising that some of the Bavli
amoraim may not have had this knowledge; they may even have seen
references to "kadur", by which the original writer meant a globe,
and misunderstood them to mean a disc.

-- 
Zev Sero               Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's
zev at sero.name          interpretation of the Constitution.
                       	                          - Clarence Thomas