Q&A: Not So Stupid
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Not So Stupid
Question
A dispute among the amoraim about whether a king was wise or whether the king was foolish.
Sennacherib, Ahasuerus, and maybe others as well.
Each side explains its own view.
But it comes out that whoever says he was foolish is basically mocking that king’s reasoning, even though it is exactly the reasoning of the amora who disagrees with him.
So that is strange: the king gets a not-bad grade if he thinks like a certain amora.
So how is he foolish?
Answer
I didn’t understand. Bring a specific argument and we can discuss it. By the way, we find disputes like this among the amoraim too. For example, in Bava Metzia 36, between Abaye and Rava, where each says about the other that any judge who rules like him is no judge at all.
Even harder is that in effect each amora is indirectly claiming that his colleague is foolish.