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Comments on Can anyone explain the heavenly voice in the oven of Akhnai?
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Can anyone explain the heavenly voice in the oven of Akhnai?
Starting at the beginning, since I don't read Hebrew, how accurate is the translation "Why are you differing with Rabbi Eliezer, as the halakha is in accordance with his opinion in every place that he expresses an opinion?"? There could be nuance in the Hebrew vital to understanding.
A point that I haven't seen addressed, though my studies have admittedly been limited, is that this was an unexpected thing for anyone to say. The heavenly voice did not just say the oven was not susceptible to ritual impurity. It said, according to that translation, that Rabbi Eliezer was always right in his legal opinions.
Even the most learned and brilliant of scholars is subject to human fallibility. Is there analysis anywhere of what it means that a heavenly voice said otherwise?
Is there an idea out there that the miracles and the voice were a test of the Sanhedrin's firmness in their analysis? If so, is it conceivable that a heavenly voice would exaggerate to probe the responses of the listeners?
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