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Amoraim Knew Mishnayos!

I spent this Shabbos in Tveria. Only once a year I willingly leave the Old City to spend an uplifting Shabbos with my beloved Rebbe and a few hundred Chassidim. Which obligates me to relate the following story.

Two foreigners are walking down the street in midtown Manhattan where they see men with beards, payos, long black coats etc. So the man says to his friend "Who dem people is?" His friend answers "Hasidim". The first man replies "I see dem too, but I asked you who dem is!"

After that uproariously funny story I will share with you a kashya I heard. Before Shachris we were zoche to hear a shiur from the Rebbe Shlita. I was very delighted when he discussed the sugya that I had been learning this week [and posted two shiurim on in the Chagim section]. The Gemara in Megilla [4a] relates that there were Amoraim who were [seemingly] unaware that we read the Megilla during the morning. Asks the Turei Even: There is an explicit Mishna later on in the masechta [20] that states that we read the megilla during the day [from netz hachama and on]!! It is not plausible that the Amoraim did not know an explicit Mishna.

Food for thought.

Isn't it possible that they didn't hear about this mishna as the mishnayots were told orally?

Not necessarily as much as we'd like to think.
Vide תוס' מועד קטן ה.
וז"ל - א"נ האי דמקשה הך קושיא לא היתה מתניתא שגורה בפיו ולא הוי ידע דגרס בה "ומתקנין את הדרכים".

That Tosaphos is a tremendous chiddush as nowhere [that I am aware of] does the Gemara answer a question on an Amora from a Mishna by saying that the Amora didn't know the Mishna. It is always assumed that he did. So it would seem that this was an isolated case.

If you find me sources that discuss this I would be indebted to you. I assume that R' Reuvain Margaliyos talks about it somewhere.

Thanks for the bringing the Tosaphos to my attention!!

I looked quickly at יד מלאכי but found nothing. I found a 3-volume set called לקט כללי גמרא but the table of contents in the front is completely unorganized and it wasn't under any obvious heading that I could think of in the index. I don't have time to look at every question posed by that ספר. I feel as if Rav Shai or Rav Dukker would have something to say about this. But that's just intuition.

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About me

  • I'm Rabbi Ally Ehrman
  • From Old City Jerusalem, Israel
  • I am a Rebbe in Yeshivat Netiv Aryeh.
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