[Avodah] Modern Day Sifrei Torahs

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Dec 31, 2008 at 04:56:50PM -0500, Jesse Abelman wrote:
: JA: I think there may be a fundemental misunderstanding of the Rambam here,
: which needs to be clarified.  However you understand the 8th ikkar broadly,
: as being about general concepts, meaning,"semantics," in RMB's words.  It is
: also explicitly about syntax (and not just syntax, but morphology as well,)
...
:                             In it he says explictly (this is my translation
: of R. Kapach's translation of the original Arabic, the emphasis), "EACH
: LETTER which is in it has wisdom and wonders beyond words to whomsoever God
: gives understanding..."  It is clear that he means this to include spelling

Ibn Tibon has "word", which I actually cited as proof to my understanding.
R' "Kapach" (el Qafeh) has "Kol dibur udibur mipi haGevurah".
(See <http://www.daat.ac.il/daat/mahshevt/rambam/hakdamat-2.htm#6>.)

And his phrasing of the denial is "eileh pesuqim vesipurim".

I don't think the text actually supports your diyuq.

:         In hilkhot Sefer Torah chapter 7 halakha 11 he specifically says
: that plene and defective spellings (Maleh and Chaser) pasul a Sefer Torah.
: For the Rambam, the Torah text of the Ben Asher Sefer Torah IS the EXACT
: Torah Moshe brought down from sinai, including spellings, and all other
: versions are simply wrong, and are pasul for that reason.

That doesn't follow. Saying that a given spelling follows azlinan
basar ruba and is thus mandatory lehalakhah doesn't mean it's that it's
historically authentic.

: The truth is, this is a makhlokes Rishonim, which made it into the Shulchan
: Arukh.  The Rema mentioned earlier in the conversation follows the standard
: Ashkenazi view that we don't know plene and defective spellings, and so we
: do the best we can...

R' Meir said it. How can this be an Ashekanzi / Sepharadi thing?

Unless again, we separate the historical question and R Meir's
uncertainty with the halahic question of its pragmatic import.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Live as if you were living already for the
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