Monday, February 04, 2008
interesting Abrabanel on aliya la'regel
My wife pointed out (see her post) an interesting Abarbanel that says the mitzvah of aliya la’regel is incumbent upon all males between 20 and 50 years old. I have no idea why he would be compelled based on pshuto shel mikra to say such a thing or what possible halachic explanation there could be. It seems pretty clear that all males (from bar mitzvah) are obligated in aliya la’regel, and even children are included as part of the mitzvah of chinuch (see Rambam, Hil Chagiga ch. 2). Any ideas?
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I can't tell you where he gets it from, but I can tell where he doesnt' get it from, and that's Shas Bavli and Yerushalmi, because I checked in R"H 6b and Chagiga the first few blatt, and it's as clear as day that a pochos miben chof and a guy older than 50 is chayov mide'orayso UNLESS he can't walk, is depressed, smells bad, or doesn't own land in Eretz Yisroel. I haven't looked at the Abarbanel yet to see if he really says it, but you better not have sent me on a wild goose chase.
ReplyDeleteI looked at the Abarbanel. He does say that the chiyuv is on men between twenty and fifty, but then he says that the petur is on taf and zekeinim who are unable to walk from the wall of Yerusholayim to the Beis Hamikdosh. So I would say that he used the twenty to fifty thing as just another way of describing infants and the elderly. I know it's a docheik, but it's better than saying that he has a singular shittah that is unsupported by anything we have.
ReplyDeleteCan somone supply an Exact MAreh Mokom for this Abarbanel
ReplyDeleteIn our edition it is on p. 217 toward the bottom on the right hand column.
ReplyDeleteI've changed my mind about the Abbnl. See Torah Temimah Vayikra 5 #58; he brings that the Ab holds that there is a din of oleh veyoreid by all chato'os, which is not just a chidush, it directly contradicts Bavli, Yerushalmi, and The Rambam.
ReplyDeleteSo what's pshat? I think the answer is exactly the question. Just as Rashi brings chazals and says Chazal say x and y, but pshuto shel mikra is z, so, too, the Abb likes to say what he thinks is pshuto shel mikro, even when it contradicts Chazal. The Arabs will like that-- they learn vekatozosa es kappoh and the din of sekilla just like pshuto shel mikro.