How to correctly learn Rashi’s commentary on the Talmud.

When Rashi’s Talmudic commentary stated that Jews could only rely upon the kal v’chomer the Baali Tosafot objected. The grand children of Rashi did not object to the Rashi interpretation but to the טיפש פשט of the Rashi interpretation! The Gemara with Rashi’s commentary: Rav Ashi sealed the Sha’s Bavli. All the Tannaim and Amoraim relied and employed the 13 middot of logic of Rabbi Yishmael. Rabbi Yishmael a contemporary of Rabbi Akiva! The latter introduced as the definition of the revelation of the Oral Torah at Horev as פרדס. This latter logic format which structures rational thought differs from the 3 part syllogism of Aristotle’s logic format!

Hence Rashi’s explanation of Rav Ashi’s sealing of the Sha’s Bavli, on the surface appears absolutely absurd. Rashi disputes tools of logic that Tannaim and Amoraim scholars accepted and embraced? Bunk. Hence the Baali Tosafot challenged the טיפש פשט learning of literal reading of Rashi’s comments divorced from the language of the Gemara itself! Rashi’s declaration that its forbidden to employ any of the other 12 middot of logic of rabbi Yishmael, when weighed against the language of Rav Ashi sealing the Sha’s Bavli, the Rashi commentary explains the purpose of Rav Ashi’s decision to seal the Sha’s Bavli in the first place; like as did Rabbi Yechuda seal the 6 Orders of the Mishna, and the Men of the Great Assembly sealed the T’NaCH. Scholarship of Talmudic Common Law requires and stands upon the foundation of precedents!

Therefore Rashi’s p’shat explanation of the Gemara introduced above where Rav Ashi sealed the Talmud Bavli, when Rashi forbade use of the 12 other middot of logic, which limited later scholars only to Kal V’chomer (How much more so) arguments; Rashi permits employment of all 13 middot of Rabbi Yishmael to learn by means of precedents any Gemarah with other Gemarah precedent sources, exactly how Rabbeinu Tam’s commentary learns the Talmud.

Why? Rav Ashi sealed the Shas Bavli! This means that any scholar thereafter has the same exact sealed masoret as did the scholarship which produced the Talmud in the first place. Meaning a person can take a Talmudic source and learn it as a precedent for some other Talmudic source. Herein describes how Common law works in the first place! Hence Rashi’s explanation: after Rav Ashi sealed the Sha’s Bavli students thereafter can only employ the Kal V’chomer last middah of Rabbi Yishmael’s logic.

mosckerr