[Avodah] mimeticism

[Micha Berger via Avodah]

On Sun, Apr 16, 2017 at 09:28:13AM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
: R' Eli Turkel wrote:
: > However, there are loads of proofs that the shiur of CI is
: > impossible. First the 500x500 amot of the holy part of har
: > habayit doesnt quite fit in the walls.

I pointed out that we know length of the water tunnel in meters and
rounded to two digits precision amos.

In contrast, the current Har haBayis platform post-dates Hadrian y"sh
lobbing off the top of the mountain and dumping it into the valley
between the kotel and the current Moslem and Jewish Quarters. So we really
only have part of one wall to go on. The floor can't possibly date back
to either BHMQ.

But that doesn't mean the shiur is impossible. The shiur may indeed
be at odds with historical interpretations of the halakhah. Even
perhaps by accident. But would that necessarily mean it's not binding?

In either case, the CI's ammah is textual.

RCNaeh's ammah is a textualist's attempt to formalize a precise
number that is basicallhy consistent with the praactice of the Yishuv
haYashan. Mimeticism-driven.

RAM himself replied:
: I think there is plenty of evidence in the other direction as well.
: The minimum shiur for a mikveh is 3 cubic amos, as this is the size
: that a typical person could fit into. Who among us could fit into a
: space 38x38x114 cm? (15x15x45 inches)?

According to http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/13993-stature ,
in 1906, the average Jewish man was about 162cm high. Let's make his
miqvah 165 x 31 x 31 cm. Same volume of water. A maximum belt size
of something like 97 cm (39") would fit.

:-)||ii!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 5th day
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