[Mesorah] a kleinigkeit

[Akiva Miller]

On Avodah, R' Micha Berger often reminds us that paskening halacha cannot
be reduced to an algorithm of rules. Rather, the posek must often rely on
his personal understanding of the issues. Ultimately, he might not be able
to explain his psak EVEN TO HIMSELF, but that does not indicate a flaw in
the process.

We on Mesorah must realize how this applies to language as well. There are
many rules, and many exceptions to those rules. And we usually apply them
correctly, without even thinking about it.
I  was reminded of this today when I saw the title of a popular movie:

Three Billboards In Ebbing, Missouri

The content of the movie is totally irrelevant. I'm focusing on the comma
in the title. If someone tried to parse the title into a four-word phrase
followed by a single word, he would be making a very serious mistake. It is
true that a comma is *usually* a separator, but this is the exception,
where it actually functions as a connector.

I don't know if there are any cases where an esnachta (or some other
mafsik) functions as a connector, but if you ever see such a claim, think
back to Ebbing, Missouri, and it might not seem so outlandish.

Akiva Miller
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