tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35481891.post4344658730326626014..comments2022-05-15T11:52:41.828+03:00Comments on rabbisedley: Rabbi Abahu and Rambam's 3rd Ikkarrabbi sedleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15276453426346276243noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35481891.post-20516019449677879502012-04-29T14:08:14.034+03:002012-04-29T14:08:14.034+03:00I would think the dispute amongst rishonim about w...I would think the dispute amongst rishonim about who or Who was the Man in the Throne when seen at Har Sinai or in the Merkavah would apply to Rav Avohu's words too.<br /><br />I presume the Ramban would say that Shim'on haTzadiq's vision was a message from the Almighty, and there is no problem believing that Hashem's symbol for himself in that message was a person.<br /><br />Whereas the Rambam and R' Saadia Gaon see prophecy as a peering into higher existences, which the prophet's power of imagination wraps into something more familiar. (In the Greek Philosophical sense of the word, imagination includes our perceptions during observation.) Therefore to them, the man in the throne was Hashem's Kavod (Glory / Honor), which is a created entity.<br /><br />I wrote about this once, including their dispute on Avraham's three guests in <a href="http://www.aishdas.org/mesukim/5764/mishpatim.pdf" rel="nofollow">Mesukim MiDevash for Mishpatim</a>, which appears in an earlier form <a href="http://www.aishdas.org/asp/2004/11/aspaqlaria.shtml" rel="nofollow">as the title post of my blog</a>. The two are nearly identical, although the printed version lacks (for space format reasons) the tie-in to the dispute over whether the metaphor used in places in the gemara for prophecy and wisdom is a mirror or a lens.micha bergerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11612144735431285113noreply@blogger.com