Q&A: May the Merciful One Save Us from This View
May the Merciful One Save Us from This View
Question
Hello, honorable Rabbi!
Rashi in Ketubot 45 wrote, under the heading “The Merciful One,” “because the reason for the matter was hidden from him, since it depends on the understanding of the heart,” etc. What is this concept of “the understanding of the heart”? In Bava Kamma 65b, Rabbi Hanina and Rabbi Ila’i are mentioned again, saying to one another, “May the Merciful One save us,” etc., after they disagreed (simply speaking) about what that reasoning (“Did they steal an ox from you?!”) is used for. Is it to exempt him from the fourfold and fivefold payment because he did not slaughter the same thing that he stole, or to obligate him in the fourfold and fivefold payment according to the way he stole and not according to the time of slaughter, because he did not slaughter the same thing that he stole? If so, these are opposite lines of reasoning that were given over to “the understanding of the heart.” What does that mean?
Answer
I didn’t understand the question. In Ketubot there is a line of reasoning brought by the Talmud itself. And in Bava Kamma these two opposite lines of reasoning are also brought. So what is difficult?
Discussion on Answer
As I understand it (= the understanding of my heart) — intuition.
What is “the understanding of the heart”?