[Avodah] Consumer Alert: Minhog Scams On The Rise!

[Zev Sero]

On 29/06/2011 5:22 PM, Micha Berger wrote:
> To answer RZS in an email I misplaced, near the beginning of his
> haqdamah to Pereq Cheileq, the Rambam discusses three katim of people
> WRT believing aggadic stories: The first think that all these stories
> are meant literally, believe them, and thereby belittle the Torah. The
> second kat think that all these stories are meant literally, find them
> absurd and therefore ridicule the Torah. The third kat understand that
> the rabbis were speaking in parable.
>
> He has very harsh words for those who assume the historicity of these
> stories.

No.  He has harsh words for those who insist that *all* stories *must*
be meant literally.  He never says or even hints that none of them
are meant literally.  And I don't believe he *ever* says that the
stories of R Chanina ben Dosa or R Pinchas ben Yair didn't happen.
I'm still astonished that there exist believing Jews who don't believe
those stories happened.


> Other risnonim and acharonim also tell you not to -- for that
> I again refer you to RDE's sefer and the excerpt at
> <http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol16/v16n052.shtml#13>. R' Mechy Frankel
> <http://www.aishdas.org/avodah/vol03/v03n152.shtml#06>  quotes R' Sheirah
> Gaon, R' Shemuael ben Chofni Gaon, R' Hai Gaon, and R' Shemuel
> haNagid.

None of whom, AFAIK, cast any doubt at all on these stories.


> This notion that no O Jew would question these stories is the effect
> of O counter-reaction after R and C minimalism.

No.  I'm 100% convinced that until the maskilim arose, every Jew
believed these stories.  There's nothing unbelievable about them,
after all.

-- 
Zev Sero        If they use these guns against us once, at that moment
zev at sero.name   the Oslo Accord will be annulled and the IDF will
                 return to all the places that have been given to them.
		                            - Yitzchak Rabin