Q&A: People’s View
People’s View
Question
Hello again,
regarding disputes among the Amoraim and Tannaim about “people’s view,” there seem, at first glance, to be sources in the Talmud pointing both ways. Does the Rabbi have some distinction on this, beyond what is commonly accepted in the name of our later authorities (Acharonim), that one cannot say such a thing?
With faithful regards,
Answer
Certainly one can say that, and there are examples of it. Just as we find disputes about actual facts. But there is no fundamental problem with this. Suppose there were a dispute about whether women do or do not want to live without a partnership (“it is better to dwell as two”). The question at stake in that dispute is not factual. The dispute is whether that desire is strong enough to invalidate a betrothal or not.