[Avodah] (no subject)

[Daniel Israel]

On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:30:09 -0600 Akiva Blum <ydamyb at gmail.com> 
wrote:
>> [mailto:avodah-bounces at lists.aishdas.org] On Behalf Of Zev Sero
>> Daniel Israel wrote:
>> > The opinion in the Gemara regarding the ben sorer umoreh 
appears to 
>> > be making an onological claim, namely, that it is 
intrinsically 
>> > impossible for such a case to happen.
>> 
>> There's nothing inherently impossible about the requirements 
being
>> fulfilled, and the gemara doesn't claim that they can't be, just
>> that they're extremely unlikely -- just like this case.
>
>See Sanhedrin 71a. Hagohos haBach learns that it is instrinsically 
>impossible.

The loshon in the gemara is "lo hayah, v'lo l'asid lihiyos."  It 
would seem to me that pshat in the gemara is that it is impossible. 
  If it is merely unlikely, how could the gemara know that it won't 
ever happen in the future?

The Bach simply gives a sevarh why it is impossible.

--
Daniel M. Israel
dmi1 at cornell.edu