[Avodah] eye pains on shabbat

[Micha Berger]

On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 10:25:03AM -0400, Rich, Joel replied to my post:
:>> So we have three senses of the term on the table:
:>> 1- RAbhR: theory changed
:>> 2- The population changed due to breeding, nutrition and medicine
:>> 3- The biology changed
...
:> 4. For the non-philosophical types, something changed , I don't
:> really know or care what, as long as it allows me to not have cognitive
:> dissonance (I'd say this is the one most contemporary observant Jews
:> assume)

Is not caring about an answer to the question the same as an answer?

In reality, the term exists and was used. If we wish to understand
halakhah, we need to understand the concepts used.

On Tue, Jun 21, 2011 at 01:13:55PM -0400, Joseph C. Kaplan added:
: 5. For just some regular, average MO types, nothing has changed, since
: we believe that scientific or medical statements by great Jewish scholars
: of the past may be, in some cases, simply wrong. And I'd say that this
: is what many (who knows about "most") contemporary MO Jews believe.

But that's not a possible interpretation of nishtanah hateva. Or, to
put it another way, if you wish to hold this opinions without abanonding
use of the phrase, you're back to #1 -- NhT means that theory changed,
and Chazal spoke based on older and obsolescent theories.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Nothing so soothes our vanity as a display of
micha at aishdas.org        greater vanity in others; it makes us vain,
http://www.aishdas.org   in fact, of our modesty.
Fax: (270) 514-1507              -Louis Kronenberger, writer (1904-1980)