[Mesorah] coda for All that glitters may not be...

[Mandel, Seth via Mesorah]

But that is precisely the point.  Since the word can means a bunch of things, if Chazal wanted to tell us that it meant only one specific thing, the would use a modifןer.  As in P'sahim 3:

אלו עוברין בפסח, כותח הבבלי, ושכר המדי, וחומץ האדומי

Which would show that there are other kinds of vinegar and beer (which indeed we know about) and kutach (which I do not think we know of any other kind).

And as Latin and old English did in specifying copper, which meant the metal from Cyprus.

And so there is no proof that n'hoshet in the T'N'aKh meant any one of the things covered by the term. QED.


Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel

________________________________
From: Mesorah <mesorah-bounces at lists.aishdas.org> on behalf of Akiva Miller via Mesorah <mesorah at lists.aishdas.org>
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2017 1:55 PM
To: mesorah at aishdas.org
Subject: Re: [Mesorah] coda for All that glitters may not be...

The fact that there's only one word is not significant. Don't assign so much importance to the linguistics.  What *IS* significant is whether Chazal distinguished between them.

Compare: In Mishnaic Hebrew, "yarok" was used for both green and yellow, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't tell them apart from each other. Rather, in various contexts, they specify what sort of yarok is intended. It seems to me that it is the lack of specification that tells us that brass / bronze / copper were equally valid, not the mere fact that there was only one word for all three.

Akiva Miller

On Jun 22, 2017 1:08 PM, "Mandel, Seth" <mandels at ou.org<mailto:mandels at ou.org>> wrote:

Which does appear to be the halokho regarding what the Mizbeach in the BhM must be built out of.  It appears to me that it makes no difference to the Halokho whether it is limestone, granite, or even sandstone, as long as it is called "stone."  I would say it cannot be marble, because there is a separate word in Hebrew for that, and indeed is mentioned that some of the tables were made out of marble.

Of course, the artisans that will build the BhM will presumably want better stone, not sandstone.


Rabbi Dr. Seth Mandel
Rabbinic Coordinator
The Orthodox Union

Voice (212) 613-8330<tel:(212)%20613-8330>     Fax (212) 613-0718<tel:(212)%20613-0718>     e-mail mandels at ou.org<mailto:mandels at ou.org>


________________________________
From: Micha Berger <micha at aishdas.org<mailto:micha at aishdas.org>>
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2017 12:36 PM
To: Mandel, Seth
Cc: mesorah at aishdas.org<mailto:mesorah at aishdas.org>; Akiva Miller
Subject: Re: [Mesorah] coda for All that glitters may not be...

On Thu, Jun 22, 2017 at 02:20:50PM +0000, Mandel, Seth via Mesorah wrote:
: However, the Mishkan was a one-time mitzva and is not part of the 613 mitzvos.  The Rambam is referring to the halokho l'doros about the BhM, part of the 613, and indeed in the BhM there is nothing special about n'hoshet, it is just another metal.

Or in the case of the mizbeiach, just another thing you pull out of the
ground.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha
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