Q&A: You Have Only Its Novelty
You Have Only Its Novelty
Question
In the Rabbi’s article on a scriptural decree, part 5, the Rabbi writes that the dispute between Rava and Abaye regarding conspiring witnesses is that Abaye trusts the reasoning there and Rava does not, and therefore applies the rule of “you have only its novelty.” I didn’t understand what it means that he “does not trust the reasoning.” After all, everything the verse introduced is: trust this reasoning, because this is the correct reasoning in this matter!?
Answer
I no longer remember exactly what I wrote there, but as far as I recall this is a novelty in the sense that it is not against the reasoning, but against the ordinary rules of Jewish law. Therefore, from Rava’s perspective, this is a novelty that indeed fits the reasoning, but goes against the normal evidentiary rules of Jewish law (since another form of evidence does not override witnesses, and evidence added to one set of witnesses does not help against another set). Therefore he limits it as much as possible.