Anon asked Staff ago I agree that the aggadot in the Shas are not comprehensible, but in the Halachic discussions in the Gemara one sees the depth of Chazal’s wisdom, and I don’t think you will see in-depth Halachic discussion in other books of that same period.
Gadi
jsadmin Staff answered 22 years ago
Dear Gadi,
We will cite a Halachic discussion and you can judge for yourself.
The Gemara (Eiruvin 43a) discusses whether one is permitted to walk long distances on the Sabbath (and not have the prohibition of techum Shabbat apply) when one walks 10 tefachim (nearly a meter) above the ground. He could, for example, walk on stilts of a meter or be levitated through the power of the Tetragrammaton, or sail in a boat whose floor is a meter above the level of the sea.
The Gemara tries to bring proof that this is permitted from an incident which once happened: On one Sabbath morning seven laws were said before Rav Hisda in Sura, and six hours later those same seven laws were expounded before Rava in Pumbedita, distant from Sura by some 100 kilometers. Who said these laws in two such distant places in such a short time? Of course it was Elijah the prophet! But since Elijah the prophet keeps the Sabbath, how did he not transgress the prohibition against going outside the Sabbath boundaries? You are forced to say that he flew above the ground, and this manner of traveling does not make a person transgress the Sabbath.
The Gemara rejects this conclusion and claims that it is possible the one who expounded on the seven laws was “Joseph the demon” who was not Sabbath observant.
The Gemara tries to bring another proof for the prohibition, from the laws of a Nazarite: A person who vowed to be a Nazarite on the day the Messiah comes may drink wine on the Sabbath and holidays but is forbidden to on weekdays. The Gemara explains the difference between weekdays and the Sabbath–on weekdays one is forbidden to drink wine because the Messiah may arrive on that day, but on the Sabbath he is permitted to drink for the Messiah will not come on a Sabbath lest he violate the prohibition on leaving the Sabbath boundaries.
(This conclusion, too, is rejected and there is no final decision on the topic in question.)
On these nonsense bits of sophistry do yeshiva students sit, and they debate irrelevant issues with arguments and proofs from the world of mysticism.
Sincerely,
Daat Emet
jsadmin Staff answered 22 years ago
Dear Emuna,
I did not understand just what it is you wanted to say.
Daat Emet