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<DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent" color=#000000 size=2
face=Arial>From: martin brody <martinlbrody@gmail.com><BR>To:
zev@sero.name, "<BR><BR>>> checking the wheat,
which refers to some sort of fungal growth as"knobblach",<BR>i.e. "garlics",
presumably because its shape is somehow reminiscent of<BR>garlic. If one
has to remove "knobblach" from the wheat to make matzah, then it<BR>makes
sense that this would develop into a minhag not to eat actual knobble.<<
[--RZS]<BR></FONT></DIV><FONT style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: transparent"
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<DIV><BR>Sorry, but no, it doesn't make any sense.<BR><BR>Martin
Brody</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>>>>>></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV>This exchange is a fascinating example of how fluid and slippery language
can be -- even the very words "makes sense" don't necessarily make sense!</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>When RZS wrote that the minhag some people have not to eat garlic on Pesach
"makes sense," he meant that it made linguistic and psychological sense -- how
such a folkloric tradition could have arisen. People heard "You have to
remove the knobelach before you use the wheat" and they automatically thought of
the more common meaning of the word "knobel" -- garlic -- rather than the less
common meaning -- "some kind of white fungus knob." Ignorant of the scientific
facts and perhaps of halacha as well, the common folk undertook to avoid
anything called "knobel" on Pesach. We don't really know how the no-garlic
custom arose, but this is at least a plausible scenario.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>But when RMB reads what RZS wrote -- "It makes sense" -- he thinks, what
are you talking about?! It makes no sense at all! Fungus is nothing
like garlic! He thinks that RZS really believes that it /makes sense/ --
scientifically and halachically -- to conflate garlic with fungus, and he heads
to his keyboard to tell the world that no, it does /not/ make sense. He
thinks RZS is /justifying/ the no-garlic custom rather than /explaining/ its
origin. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>If the very words "it makes sense" can be understood so differently by
different people, it's a wonder that we can communicate at all with
this limited tool we have -- language! One wonders how many halachic
and hashkafic disputes have arisen because different speakers had different
understandings of the very words they were using.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<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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PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR>-------------------------------------------------------------------</FONT></DIV></DIV>
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