Q&A: Binyan Av and “What Do We Find?”
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Binyan Av and “What Do We Find?”
Question
What is the difference between binyan av and “what do we find” (mah matzinu)? Have you ever written an explanation of this?
Answer
I haven’t written about it. I’ve seen people assume there is a difference between them (if I remember correctly, Rabbi HaNazir discusses this in Kol HaNevuah, in the section on the hermeneutical principles). My impression is that there is no real difference. A binyan av from one verse is the same as “what do we find.” See, for example, Rashi on Sabbath 26b, s.v. “and a detail,” and elsewhere.