I am a bit unclear as to how the first sugiya of the gemarra concludes that the halakha is like Rabbi Yossi. The question is how many times a day (on a fast day, ma'amadot day, or YK) Kohanim do nesiat kapayim. The misha answers four, which Rav Nahman reports in the gemarra as the view of R' Meir, as opposed to the Hakhamin (whose express the opinion of R Yehuda) that nesiat kapayim only happens on those days at Shaharit and Musaf, but not Minha and Ne'ila. We then have a beraita that reports R' Meir and R' Yehuda's opinions, and adds R Yossi's opinion, that the Kohanim do nesiat kapayim also at Shaharit, Minha and Ne'ila. After Rav Yehuda in the name of Rav, R Yohanan and Rava all agree that the halakha (or at least the minhag) is like R' Meir (which corresponds to what the Mishna says also), Rav Nahman (who started us off) jumps in with halakha k'R' Yossi, which the Gemarra affirms. How did we get here?
It seems that Rav Nahman, who first clarified the teacher of this mishna, now reports a different practice that follows R' Yossi that has changed from the original practice that followed R' Meir. Of course this type of change of halakha over the generations (or possibly locations) is not unique to this spot in the Talmud, but this sugiya struck me for its apparent certainty in practice, and then quick aboutface to R' Yossi's position. Am I reading this correctly?
Thursday, January 10, 2008
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Yeah, this is a fascinating sort of discussion. First of all, I love the distinction made between Halachah, minhag, and the way the people behave. Each has its own implications for both teaching and practical rabbinics. This seems to me an extremely interestingn and teachable text on the subject of "ivory tower halachah" vs "pulpit halachah" which is an issue we talked about a bit in R. Roth's class but which is never really worked through systematically. (Or maybe, given it's nature, it can not be worked through systematically.)
I also do not fully understand how we end up with halakah (I know, I know, I am using differing spellings of halakah) c'rabbi Yossi. But what I think is interesting is that in the end, the people still do essentially whatever they like, i.e. nessiat capaim at minchah. It's a great example of popular will overruling the halakhic decisor.
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