[Avodah] Inconceivable!

[Jonathan Baker]

From: Daniel Israel <dmi1 at hushmail.com>
> Jonathan Baker wrote:
> > Daniel Israel:

> >> The loshon in the gemara is "lo hayah, v'lo l'asid lihiyos."  It 
> > R' Yonason says 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
 
> I'm not clear what you are asking.  Obviously R' Yonason holds it is 
> possible, I was speaking entirely in the other man d'amar.

But how can we, after the fact, speak about history only in one man d'amar?
Do we pasken history based on one opinion only?  Or do we take multiple
opinions into account and try to balance them?  This isn't a question of
"what constitutes zolel usovei" or "is abortion == murder," where you have
multiple opinions and you have to decide among them.
 
> I understand R' Yonason's response as meaning, not only is it possible 
> in theory, but I can prove it can happen, because it did happen.

Therefore, the other man d'amar may be wrong, and we can try to figure out
if the history really is R' Yonason's version, or the other version, or 
what.   The historian has a different task and a different outlook from
the posek.

But it seems a bit anachronistic to say, 1500 years after the fact, 
"I was speaking entirely in the other man d'amar."

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