[Avodah] Modim Modim

[David Riceman]

From: <kennethgmiller at juno.com>

> My chavrusa and I are currently up to Megila 25a, where we learn that
> one should not daven "Modim Modim", nor "Shma Shma", because it
> appears that the duplications are directed towards different deities,
> chas v'shalom.
<snip>
> My chavrusa and I suspect that this halacha (not to say "modim modim"
> or "shma shma") is based on linguistic realities which existed in the
> time of the Mishna and Gemara, but are not found in Modern American
> English, and that's why we can't understand it -- the concepts simply
> (and literally) "get lost in translation". Can anyone suggest a
> different way of understanding this topic?

How about this: the Rambam in the beginning of Maamar Tehiyyath Hameithim 
says that trinitarians misinterpreted the pasuk shma, which mentions God 
thrice, to be evidence for the doctrine of the trinity.  It could be that 
dualists had their own drashoth which involved shma and modim.  Certainly we 
find Hazal occasionally engaging in drashoth specifically against dualism, 
e.g., "im tzedek ashirah, im mishpat ashira", "k'sheim shemvarchim al 
hatovah kach mevarchim al hara'ah."

In that case what you're missing is not a grammatical construction, it's a 
polemical context.

David Riceman