[Avodah] Inconceivable! (was: (no subject))

[Jonathan Baker]

Subject: Re: [Avodah] (no subject)
Daniel Israel:
> On Mon, 10 Aug 2009 10:30:09 -0600 Akiva Blum <ydamyb at gmail.com> 
> > [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?

R' Yonason says (you see why I remember that line), there was one and
I sat on his grave.

So is the maskana that it's impossible, or is it that it's rare and
extremely unlikely?

1/0 = infinity, as it were, so there is a real difference.

--
        name: jon baker              web: http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker
     address: jjbaker at panix.com     blog: http://thanbook.blogspot.com