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<DIV><FONT lang=0 color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial>From: Marty Bluke <marty.bluke@gmail.com><BR>"<BR><BR>R' Micha
Berger wrote:<BR><BR>>I think what changed, though, wasn't the number of
people, since as you<BR>> note in the past few hundred years the change has
been grossly in the<BR>> other direction. But the other criterion, the width
of our public areas,<BR>> did shrink compared to old norms. We no longer have
a public square in<BR>> every city where everyone from that city and
neighboring towns (as per the<BR>> first mishnah in Megillah) would gather,
eg on Mon and Thu market days.<BR></FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial>>> The populations were so much smaller then and
transportation so much more<BR>difficult that it is hard to believe that they
ever had 600,000 people<BR>gather in the public square.
<<</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
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<DIV>I googled Jewish population and found varying estimates but there were
at least two million Jews and possibly 7 million or more in E'Y at the time
of the bayis sheni. If most of them went to J-m for sholosh regalim there
would have been 600,000 people in the city at that time. All in one place
at one time? Think of korban pesach, how many people?</DIV>
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<DIV><FONT lang=0 color=#0000ff size=2 face=Arial FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="10"><BR><STRONG>--Toby Katz<BR>=============</STRONG></FONT><FONT lang=0
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