[Avodah] birchat hachama

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 05:03:50PM +0300, Eli Turkel wrote:
: On the contrary all the earlier generations understand hachamah betekufata
: as an astronomical event when the sun returns to the same place it was
: in creation.

The "return to location" I agree, but I'm not sure how you know that
they took it as an astronomical event. Again, looking at the beraisa,
that "location" is defined by the rule of Shabetai, which is decidedly
NOT an astronomical event.

: Mainly in modern times when it was stressed that Shmuel's method is
: not accurate did some achronim explain that this is only a pedagogical
: rule and not astronomical.

But even amora'im knew that R' Adda's tequfah was more accurate! So what
sparked this increased interest?

You're arguing that the position changed -- the rishonim assumed science
and these acharonim assume pedagogic.

I instead saw the change as cultural. Until the modern era, no one had a
problem with a mitzvah that was based on astrology and myth rather than
science. The whole distinction wasn't one anyone would have bothered
making until after the death of alchemy, and the separation of natural
philosophy from science.

IOW, it's not that we recently decided it was pedagogic as much as this
wouldn't have been a chiddush until recently. It's not the side of the
distinction we're drawing that's new, it's attention to the distinction
altogether. You're crediting the rishonim with making a distinction few
of their contemporaries would have considered.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Mussar is like oil put in water,
micha at aishdas.org        eventually it will rise to the top.
http://www.aishdas.org                    - Rav Yisrael Salanter
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