[Avodah] Theoretical Halakhah

[Micha Berger]

RARakeffetR likes retelling the story of the time RYBS's talmidim managed
to convince him to spend Shabbos with them in YU. To experience Shabbos
with the Rebbe. Came the end of Shabbos, they got a seat ready for the
person to say Havdalah sitting. The Rav was surprised that they knew he
held that havdalah should be said sitting. R' Moshe Soloveitchik held
(I think R' Chaim too) that Havdalah closes the sequence (an extended
se'udah) started at Qiddush -- and thus should be said sitting,
like Qiddush is. But RYBS taught this to them just a couple of weeks
before! And so they asked their rebbe if perhaps he had forgotten giving
that shiur on Qiddush. And he said he hadn't -- but he was speaking
sevara, theory. How did they know he would want it followed lemaaseh?

RRW has made that chiluq here too. He showed that the Gra didn't expect
his theory to become people's practice. And in fact "Minhag haGra",
turning his ideas into lemaaseh, was something the Gra's talmidim started
doing after their rebbe's petirah.

Well, I think I found an example in the Y-mi, Maaseros 1:5, 6b.

Rebbe asked R' Shim'on his son to go upstairs and get a gerogeros (cake
of dried figs). R' Shim'on asked -- but aren't they muqtzah? The upstairs
was long-term storage, usable but without any intent before Shabbos to use
it on Shabbos. Rebbe replies, "Va'adayin at lezu? There is no prohibition
of muqtzah except dates and grapes." Dates and grapes are dried, they are
useless halfway between grape and raisin, and therefore they are muqtzah
during this half-state. But this isn't a simple machloqes, because Rav
Yehudah (spelled Yuda, in the Vilna ed) himself was the source for the
notion that the gerogeres should be muqtzah. before Shabbos to use it
on Shabbos, would be muqtzah.

The sugya to me reads that R' Yehudah spoke sevara, and was surprised his
son was following it "You're still on that kick?" rather than following
the halakhah as accepted lemaaseh.

Yes, it is possible R' Yehudah changed his mind, but to me it seems
unlikely that he would place blame on R' Shim'on for following the old
pesaq, rather than informing his son that his shitah chance. The tenor
suggests that R' Shim'on should have known better than to follow what
R' Yuda was quoted saying.

Not muchrach. I'm not proving. Just discussing peshat in today's Y-mi
daf.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The mind is a wonderful organ
micha at aishdas.org        for justifying decisions
http://www.aishdas.org   the heart already reached.
Fax: (270) 514-1507