[Avodah] Local, Non-Global or Global Flood

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 05:57:49AM -0500, Zev Sero wrote:
> On 24/11/2010 5:36 AM, Arie Folger wrote:
>> I actually believe that Rashi "disagrees" with himself when comparing
>> his comment on beyom and on 1:1. On 1:1, he argues that we cannot take
>> it literally that in the beginning G"d created heaven and earth, since
>> heaven was only created on the second day.
>
> No he doesn't.  Look it up again.  The reason he gives for rejecting
> the possibility that 1:1 tells us that the sky and the earth were
> created before anything else, is that water must have been created
> before the earth, and both fire and water must have been created before
> the sky.  And on 1:6 he explicitly says that the sky was created on
> the first day.  He repeats the same point, that everything was really
> created on the first day, on 1:14 and 1:24.  By the time we get to 2:4
> we already know well that this is what he holds, and now we finally get
> to see his proof.

We see his proof in 1:1 vs 1:2, using the reasoning you yourself lay out
early in this paragraph.

When we get to 2:4 he is saying something new -- that the same yom
spans from that "barosh" through the cheit of the eitz hadaas. WADR,
I don't think this is a contradiction, but rather the word "yom" being
applied to a broader concept of era -- the entire Maaseh Bereishis Era,
rather than each Era of Placement.

Arguing over what Rashi means here misses to my mind the main point --
the yom of creation of heaven and earth is the context given in which
the story of the creation of Adam and Chava, the naming of the animals
and the cheit is placed. If yom alway means 24 hours, then it's the
Torah that would be in setirah, regardless of Rashi.

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.
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