[Avodah] Rakia, maasei bereishis, halacha

[Zev Sero]

On 6/07/2011 4:02 AM, D&E-H Bannett wrote:
> Just an odd thought:
>
> Are the borders of the hatzeir parallel to one another as they go up
> to the raki'a?

Why would they be?  Or rather, how could they be?  When projecting a
particular boundary upward, why would it ever occur to anyone to do so
at an angle rather than directly up?  And if one does project it directly
up then it will of necessity not be parallel to a line projected directly
up from the opposite boundary.

Put it another way: when drawing boundaries on the earth, we don't
refer to the opposite boundary line to make sure we're running exactly
parallel; we draw the boundary where we think it goes, and if that ends
up not being parallel to the opposite boundary then that's how it is.
No law says a person's property must be a perfect rectangle, after all.
So when projecting one boundary up into the sky, why would we think to
refer to the other boundary?


> In other words, is the earth flat or a big ball?

We already know the answer to that, and the Tana'im (though not all
the Amora'im) knew it too.  But even those who didn't know it, wouldn't
think, when projecting one boundary up, to refer to the opposite one.
They would simply imagine that if you project each boundary directly
upward they will end up being naturally parallel; and they would be
wrong.

-- 
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