[Avodah] Shnayim Mikra

[Micha Berger]

On Thu, Aug 09, 2012 at 03:44:13PM -0400, Rich, Joel wrote:
: The gemara brachot (starting bottom 8a) says "R. Huna b. Judah says in
: the name of R. Ammi: A man should always complete his Parashoth together
: with the congregation, [reading] twice the Hebrew text and once the
: [Aramaic] Targum... for if one completes his Parashoth together with
: the congregation, his days and years are prolonged."

: The Aruch Hashulchan seems to understand this as a takana from Moshe, not
: clear to me how he knew [siman 285 se'if 2]...

Maybe he is being medayeiq in R' Huna bar Yehudah's wording to conclude
that this is part of the taqanah of regular leining.

Tangent: When it says Amar X besheim Y, does that mean the words are
the X's? Notice here I am assuming that RHBY picked the exact words. In
contrast to Amar X amar Y, which I would take to mean it's an exact
quote of Y's words. (One of my givens that I have held on to so long,
I don't recall where I got them from and it they're valid.)

: So if it is a rabbinic takana(granted an early one);
: 1. why was it stated as simply something that is a life extender?

Perhaps the key word is "le'olam". As in the list of early tannaim who are
asked on Megillah 27a what they did to earn long life. R' Each begins,
"Miyamai, lo..." They had very different answers as to what they never
did, but all the answers for long life invoke the notion of constancy
and consistency. I put this more poetically in "My Life as a [Focault]
Pendulum": <http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2006/03/my-life-as-pendulum.shtml>.

: 2. was the life extension an intrinsic result (i.e. learning more
: extends your life) or do the rabbis have the "power" to determine reward
: for listening (and why is this takana different from others)?

Related is the machloqes over heter mekhirah. One of the variables is
whether shemittah derabbanan carries the same berakhah for a double crop
in years 6 and 8 as shemittah deOraisa does. If not, then there is more
room for qulah.

The Meshekh Chokhmah (Devarim 17:11) says that derabbanan are behaviorally
good ideas, unlike a deOraisa, which describes a spiritual reality. Eg:
Chicken with milk doesn't cause timtum haleiv.

R' Elchanan Wasserman (qunterus Divrei Soferim) argues that even
deRabbanans are revealed wisdom and Ratzon H', and therefore carry
metaphysical reality.

The SA haRav says that yom tov sheini shel goliyos represent a rabbinic
connection to the same lemaalah min hazeman spiritual essence of the
Yom Tov as HQBH connects us to on Yom Tov rishon.

So REW's and SAhR's shitos would explain how a derabbanan can carry
a reward, because they alter the metaphysics that cause the physical
reality.

Alternatively, many dinim derabbanan are implementations of deOraisa
ideas. Pirsumei nisa is deOraisa, even if Qerias Megillah and Neir
Chanukah are not. Now, if Pirsumei Nisa causes some metaphysical effect,
then LAD, Miqra Megillah would even if one holds like the MC.

See <http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2007/07/safeiq-derabbanan.shtml>, where I
discuss this issue at more length (including more acharonim). The title
question: If one holds that dinim derabbanan have metaphysical reality,
how does one explain safeiq derabbanan lequlah? It's just as precarious
as playing the odds with deOraisos!

:-)BBii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             One doesn't learn mussar to be a tzaddik,
micha at aishdas.org        but to become a tzaddik.
http://www.aishdas.org                         - Rav Yisrael Salanter
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