Question

What is the Rabbi’s view of Rashi’s reasoning that there is no public domain without six hundred thousand? As is known, this reasoning has no source in the Talmud and contradicts common sense, and yet Ashkenazim have nevertheless been lenient on the basis of it. As part of the Rabbi’s approach of ruling from first principles, should we return and be stringent in accordance with the plain meaning of Jewish law, that a road 16 cubits wide is a public domain?