continuing our attempt to discern the theological basis for the hot halachic controversies related to setting halachic time.
first we set out a schema of different possibilities.
1. Reality is primary and final. all halacha is really a sort of science attempting to figure out what the (material or spiritual) reality is.
2. Halacha is nominalist only. Whatever the rabbis sa yis the law. There isn't really any reality out there to discover. Metaphysical statements are really about education not reality.
3. There is reality. But the Rabbis have literal power over it. When they say it is Rosh Hashana angels set up the court in heaven.
4. Halachic boundaries are somewhat arbitrary lines cutting up the fuzzy spectrum world in ways intelligible to law.
5. Halachic definitions are about the "true essences" of the actual things. (this seems to me to be just a confusion of 1 and 2, hence 4 and a half in the title).
examples discussed based on this:
The time of shabbos. is shabbos mase breshis or matan torah.
the time of din of rosh hashana
the yerushalmi about the cutoff for girls at age 3 based off halachic calendar time and not real time.
In the next class we will discuss historically how these assumptions have played a role in the dateline discussions.