[Avodah] Leshon haKodesh

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 06:28:24PM -0400, Zev Sero wrote:
>> Of course they are. Every bit of rabbinic legislation is a repair.

> How so?  What was broken before?  For instance, when Moshe
> established eight mishmarot, what was he repairing?  When he
> established the first bracha of benching, what was he repairing?

The situation needing fixing.

...
> You're not getting it; to establish the world, and to establish it in
> His sovereignty are two different things...

The latter doesn't make sense. The world is established. We're here, no?
We can then reestablish the world under His Malkhus. This implies a
discontinuity between the current world and the new establishment. But
then, there is no "re-" in the original Hebrew.

It is a no less valid translation to say "repair the world using His
Malkhus". This, BTW, does not imply a discontinuity, and in fact fits
the general thrust of Aleinu that we are called upon now to praise HQBH
and thereby bring about the change in question.

...
>>> How about Koheles 12:9?

>> What about it? Did he improve or establish those parables? For that
>> matter, how do you establish a parable rather than write it? JPS renders
>> the end of the pasuq as "set in order".

> He composed them.  He caused them to be.  Like legal enactments.

This is like your original claim. You're just asserting and reasserting
your position, in the face of citations that show others saying otherwise.
There is nothing to debate. JPS's translator obviously didn't think it
meant "caused them to be". Why do you think that is? He was in cahoots
with Genesius the BDB, Ben Yehudah and RSRH?

BTW, my off-list emailer poited out that in fact "Tikanta Shabbos" with
a kaf is either rare or non-existent. He checked siddurim from Germany
to Edot haMizrach.

>>> "vesein chelkeinu besorasecha", at least, means "in", not "through".
>>> As in "chavalim naflu li ban`imim".

>> Then your list is all broken, in which "be-" shifts meaning in the middle.

> How do you translate it, then?  What is this portion that we are asking
> to be given, and how can it be given by means of the Torah?

And according to ben Zoma, a true ashir is one who is sameiach with a
portion of what?

But again, this is tangential. You haven't disagreed with the basic
notion that "be-" means "through the aegis of" no less than "in", and
therefore haven't shown any reason to reject "repair the world using
His Melukhah" for something that can be called re-establishment but not
repair and despite any mention of chazarah or sheinis...

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             A wise man is careful during the Purim banquet
micha at aishdas.org        about things most people don't watch even on
http://www.aishdas.org   Yom Kippur.
Fax: (270) 514-1507                       - Rav Yisrael Salanter