[Avodah] emes

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Aug 11, 2011 at 10:35:04AM -0700, Saul.Z.Newman at kp.org wrote:
: rMB:
:> that caring about historicity is itself a non-mesoretic
:> attitude

: how does that jive with the midah of Emes ? is Truth to be
: defined within a parameter of falseness that is acceptable? ...

If you insist that all these stories are historical, that's sheqer
and assur (midevar sheqer tirchaq). But if you use the story about
Napolean without caring if it really happened or not, you simply
aren't looking into the question of history. Ignoring the topic.

Halakhah doesn't deal in true/false propositions, but in law. Halakhah,
and in fact, the Torah as a whole, isn't the ultimate Emes but the path
one takes to Emes. The original intent of the rav who made a statement
is a fact; how the statement is interpreted by the flow of mesorah is
law. And halakhah is law, and thus is defined by the flow of mesorah,
not historical fact.

History inspires. Some (R Prof Y Levine) more than others (me). But it
isn't the central topic of Torah. So, why is this the particular emes
we need to explore? Why can't we just leave the question open, and
focus on those things the mesorah does?

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             The thought of happiness that comes from outside
micha at aishdas.org        the person, brings him sadness. But realizing
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