[Avodah] Rishonim and Chazal (was One Opinion)

[Zvi Lampel]

Re: Rishonim and Chazal (was One Opinion)

I chose the five-year old subject line above because this post relates 
directly to the topic discussed under it. The subject is the extent of 
the Ramban's deference to Chazal, specifically regarding the nature of 
the rainbow.

The Ramban in his Torah commentary constantly defers to Chazal and 
severely criticizes others when they do not. (One must bear in mind the 
issue of the Ramban identifying a Chazal as the result of a drash rather 
than peshat, but for the purposes of this post, let's put that aside.) 
One sometimes hears the claim that the Ramban himself however, differed 
with Chazal based upon science, concerning Noach's rainbow: "We see from 
the mishnah in Ahvos (5:6) that Chazal viewed the rainbow as a 
miraculous phenomenon that came into existence after the Flood. Ramban, 
however, says that the scientists say that it is natural and we are 
forced to accept their words. Thus Ramban rejected the view of 
Chazal--all because of scientific data!"

I have written an essay challenging this. The fact is, the Ramban (as 
well as the Ibn Ezra before, and Rav Saadia Gaon even previously) has a 
Midrashic source for his position. Please follow this link.


file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/BOBBY/My%20Documents/The%20Ramban,%20Chazal%20and%20The%20Rainbow.htm 
<cid:part1.07000904.09070607 at gmail.com>


What follows are some key points:

A. The /Radak /cites a passage in /Breishis Rabbah /that says

(a) the rainbow existed in actuality (not just potentially) since 
Creation, and

(b) _the reason for saying so is that Hashem never changes nature after 
Creation._ As the Rambam expounds in his writings, while Hashem does 
indeed enact short-lived aberrations in nature (implanted in latent form 
at Creation), He does not create new entities that thereon remain in 
existence forever.

Evidently, although this /Breishis Rabbah/ passage is no longer extant, 
not only the Radak, but also Rav Saadia Gaon, the Ibn Ezra and the 
Ramban knew of this passage, and knew therefore that: Even if the Ramban 
understood the mishnah as the Rambam did (which is not necessarily so), 
that the author of the /Ahvos mishnah/ held that the ten things in his 
list were all miraculous phenomena that did not materialize until long 
after Creation ,


(a) Chazal did not have a single viewpoint on the matter, which left it 
open to analysis (between the viewpoints offered) for an original 
suggestion or, better yet, as the Rambam explains,

(b) Chazal's principle that "the world follows its natural course," 
based upon the /posuk, "/There is nothing new under the sun," is so 
over-arching that it outweighs the opposing /shitta/ implied in the 
/Ahvos/ /mishnah/.

B*. *The authorities before the Ramban base their discussion on the 
intended tense of the word "Nassassi." The Ramban does so as well, and 
also adds that the expression "My" rainbow indicates that rainbows 
existed before the Flood. It is simply untrue that the "Ramban rejected 
the view of Chazal--all because of scientific data!"

C. The Ramban, like the Ibn Ezra, had a skeptical view of Greek "proofs" 
that indicate ideas contrary to those understood through the mesorah. 
His remark, "we are forced to agree to the Greek scholars that the 
rainbow is caused by the sun's effect on the air [and is therefore a 
natural phenomenon], must be taken in its context. It is a response to 
the Ibn Ezra's remark: "If we were believers in the words of the Greek 
scholars, that rainbows are the natural result of the sun's rays, one 
may say that Hashem strengthened the sun's light after the Flood." The 
Ramban is responding that although we normally do not give credence to 
the Greek's "proofs," his own observations of the sun's effect on water 
in a glass, and the thorough reading of the entire posuk, forces him in 
this case to side with them. He is not saying that science forced him to 
interpret the Torah differently than Chazal took it.


Zvi Lampel

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