Q&A: Halakhah Given to Moses at Sinai Regarding Pebble-Damage
Halakhah Given to Moses at Sinai Regarding Pebble-Damage
Question
Hello Rabbi,
- Regarding half-damages for pebble-damage (the dispute between the Rabbis and Sumchus)
The Talmud (Bava Kamma 17b) says about half-damages for pebble-damage, “it is a law that was learned by tradition,” and Rashi writes that according to Sumchus, this law does not exist. Maimonides writes in the Laws of Rebels, chapter 1, that with respect to received traditions there is never any dispute, and if there is one, it is known that it is not truly a tradition from Moses our teacher.
How should this law be understood?
2. Is there room in Maimonides to distinguish between “tradition” and “a halakhah given to Moses at Sinai”? Is this incidental? (For example, in the Laws of Monetary Damages, chapter 2, he uses the term tradition, while regarding the color of tefillin he says halakhah given to Moses at Sinai.)
Answer
There are very many examples like this. See Havot Yair, siman 192, who discusses this at length and suggests several possibilities.
In the introduction to the She’iltot, in Ha’amek She’elah by the Netziv, he shows that the phrase “it was learned by tradition” is interpreted differently by Rashi and by Maimonides. For Rashi, this means a halakhah given to Moses at Sinai, whereas for Maimonides it means an ancient tradition. There is also an article by Rabbi Rabinovitch (from Ma’ale Adumim, in one of his collections of essays) about the meaning of the expression “received traditions” in Maimonides.
Discussion on Answer
Thanks
Thank you!
And congratulations on the trilogy