tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post139580129028260487..comments2024-01-21T02:58:08.208-05:00Comments on On the Main Line: Friday miscellaniesMississippi Fred MacDowellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02734864605700159687noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-50744323845791433402011-09-26T10:35:17.856-04:002011-09-26T10:35:17.856-04:00If you're interested in this subject, you shou...If you're interested in this subject, you should really read Masoret ha-Masoret, which is available in translation if that would be helpful.<br /><br />Among other arguments, Levita points out that when in Rome he met some visiting Chaldaic Christians whose ecclesiastical language is Syriac. He noticed that they did not use points, and he asked them how they are able to read it. They replied that they become accustomed to reading it from their youth (kind of like we do? the vast majority of rabbinic texts are unpointed.)S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-12002170152363131912011-09-26T10:28:03.223-04:002011-09-26T10:28:03.223-04:00Very interesting that the "proof" offere...Very interesting that the "proof" offered to show that the points and accents are from God is that otherwise, how could one read the words? We see this type of proof offered time and again in other contexts. How do we know shechitah is from the Torah? Because otherwise what would it mean "slaughter as I have told you". How do we know the shabbos laws are from the Torah? Because otherwise how could anyone be put to death for "melacha". How we do know the lex talionis is from the Torah? Because otherwise it would not be "equal" to put out the eye of one man who happened to have only one eye, vis a vis knocking out the eye of a two-eyed man.<br /><br />Is there a word for this type of rhetoric? All of these "proofs" are not really hard proofs. They are mostly arguments from silence, or logical arguments - but not proofs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-58807407406360049202011-09-26T09:44:14.884-04:002011-09-26T09:44:14.884-04:00Joel,
I was being facetious about him taking side...Joel,<br /><br />I was being facetious about him taking sides. From the point of view of Judaism, as understood by Bartolocci (certainly as a Catholic), Karaism is a Jewish heresy. See <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=heresy&allowed_in_frame=0" rel="nofollow">here</a> for how the word was understood in Latin. I don't think he meant to be pejorative, just factual.<br /><br />R' Shimshon,<br /><br />Yes. Nice idea for a post.S.http://onthemainline.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-7986417160004546882011-09-25T14:10:23.669-04:002011-09-25T14:10:23.669-04:00Nice to see that the Encyclopedia Brittanica takes...Nice to see that the Encyclopedia Brittanica takes sides as well;<br />http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/22658/Anan-ben-David#ref249386<br /><br />There it calls Anan ben David a "heretic"...Joels W. https://www.blogger.com/profile/07902859333047138964noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-5175445961202049292011-09-25T13:05:18.314-04:002011-09-25T13:05:18.314-04:00testtestAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-9360770190176799932011-09-25T09:27:36.228-04:002011-09-25T09:27:36.228-04:00Have you ever seen the tables of alphabets in the ...Have you ever seen the tables of alphabets in the beginning of Abraham Portaleone's שלטי הגיברוים?R' Shimshon of Ostropolianoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12600498.post-75053227989239849942011-09-24T20:32:02.185-04:002011-09-24T20:32:02.185-04:00Did the word “heretic” have the meaning “sectarian...Did the word “heretic” have the meaning “sectarian”? (And of course “sectarian” is also pejorative.) From the etymology of the word it seems plausible that Bartolocci is just identifying “the Karaite sect”.J. C. Salomonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16499605133549720090noreply@blogger.com