[Avodah] Mesorah

[Eli Turkel]

If RSZL has any authority WRT the discussion of the CI from an
impact-on-halakhah POV, it's because of the "R", not the "Prof".>>

I am not sure how one subdivides the person. His opinions are not
segregated by title.
R Prof Leiman is not a professional rabbi or posek.

How about Sperber who in addition to be professor is also a rabbi of
a shul in the old city of Yerushalayim. Interestingly he writes that his
congregants are more conservative (small c) than him and wouldn't
allow some of his heterim in the shul.

In general I didn't understand the post of Micha. An academic discussing
a gemara or a shita in the rishonim does not expect to affect psak.
He is writing in his field and why would one expect it to affect a
different field.
I dont think that Haym Soloveitchik intends to change any piskei halacha in his
analysis even though he was a rebbe in YU.

On a personal level I have read many of the books on Jewish customs/history
bu Sperber, Auerbach,Ta Shma, Grossman and others and have found that
I learned a lot
from them and they have even affected my learning of gemara.

As a trivial example I am disturbed by people asking a contradiction between
different tosafot in different masechtot without realizing that they
may have been
written by different people.
Knowing something of the history of how tosafot were composed and how
they entered
our printed editions could affect how one relies on our versions
versus a tosafot
haRosh or manuscript data.
A famous example is women reading megilla. From the printed tosafot it
is not clear what they are referring to. However from Tosafot haRosh
it is clear that they prohibited
women reading for men and not other women.

In summary when I learn or teach I frequently will bring in historical
information (just did that in the discussion about Baba Butra and the
bet hamikdash in Baba Basra)
Doesnt mean that I would change halacha according.
However that doesnt diminish a historical analysis.

BTW there are claims that the Rambam did change psak if he felt that the
answer of the gemara was dechuka.

-- 
Eli Turkel