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style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana">The Sages said
“a wayward and rebellious son never was and never will be,” but R.
Yehonatan said, “I saw one, and sat on his grave.” As a rule, Talmudic
controversies center on questions of law and not of fact. R. Yehonatan’s
first-hand testimony was certainly reliable; on what basis, then, did the
other Sages dispute him?<BR>The answer is that they referred to the
juridical aspects of the rebellious son, while R. Yehonatan testified as
to the reality of the phenomenon: “I saw one, and sat on his grave!” He
had seen a child who matched the Torah’s description, although G-d killed
him and not a court.<BR>This explains the identical disagreement, ibid.,
concerning the apostasized city described in Devarim 13:13-19: the Sages
said it “never was and never will be,” while R. Yehonatan said, “I saw it,
and sat on its ruins.” It is impossible that the destruction of such a
city by Jewish force of arms could have escaped the notice of everyone
except R. Yehonatan, just as it is inconceivable that the Roman
authorities would have allowed such an action to take place. Rather, R.
Yehonatan testified as to the phenomenon: there indeed had been such a
city, which was subsequently destroyed in whatever manner. <BR><BR>(From
New Interpretations on the Parsha--Ktav, 2001)<BR>Rabbi Y.H.Henkin
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