<HTML>I am confused. Apparently I stand accused of "intellectual dishonesty" for advocating a "traditional" approach to Chazal (that of the Gra) rather than a more "modern" approach (that of Rav Avraham Bno shel HaRambam). If we want to be intellectually honest, I imagine we have to present both in
the classroom. Rav Kook, in his Ein Aya on the Chanuka sugya in Meseches Shabbos, warns that while the Torah can coexist with contemporary ideas, we must be careful not to let them become so holy to us that we lose sight of the difference between the eternal truth of the Torah and the ephemeral
popularity of today's fads. Time and again the eternal words of Chazal turn out to be more accurate than the theories of modern thinkers.
Steve</HTML>
