Q&A: Maharsha Against Maharshal
Maharsha Against Maharshal
Question
It is already well known that at the end of almost every comment of Maharshal it says "(see Maharsha)," and recently I came to realize that almost without exception Maharsha disagrees with Maharshal on every single comment (99.9%). I do not understand how it could be that Maharsha did not find that at least one out of a hundred times Maharshal had written something true, as though Maharsha came out with sword and spear to find fault in every comment of Maharshal. Now, when it comes to the book The Wars of the Lord against HaMaor, there it makes sense, because he wants everywhere to defend the words of the Rif when HaMaor challenges him. But here, Maharshal did not write in order to dispute anyone; he simply wrote, innocently enough, various notes on the Talmud, and sometimes also made slight emendations. So why did Maharsha become so angry as to find in all his words nothing but emptiness and striving after wind? Perhaps there was some sort of dispute between them? Or perhaps Maharsha wanted to uphold the old text? But even when Maharshal did not emend anything and only made a passing remark, Maharsha disagrees there too! See some of this in the introduction to Tzohar LaBinyan on Maharsha, printed by Oz Vehadar.
What does the Rabbi think about this? (And many thanks for this forum.)
Answer
I don’t understand the question. These comments are written in places where Maharsha commented and disagreed with Maharshal. If he does not disagree, what would there be to comment on and refer you to? And factually too, it is not correct. In most comments there is no reference to Maharsha.