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From: rhendel@mcs.drexel.edu (Russell Hendel)
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 1997 20:28:03 -0400
Subject: Teamim and OpenMindedness

The recent discussions on rare Teamim reminded me of the rarity in Deut
1:4--ETH SICHON--it "looks like" a mahpach pashtah but it really is a
Yethiv Pashtah (The cantillation on the eth is a yethiv not a mahpach).

In fact the mesorah says that there are 11 times in Tenach when a Yethiv
appears before a Pashtah (and therefore looks like a mahpach).

But what struck me is how this is being dealt with TODAY. The KORAIN
Tenach actually "changed" the "traditional" appearance of the Yethiv so
that >>readers should not be confused between the two teamim>>

Isn't that remarkable? A 1000 year tradition on Teamim notation is
changed >>to make it more readable>> and no one (not even from the so
called Charedi community) objected or raised a storm.

The reason I am bringing this up is that a frequent theme in Postings is
>>Why can't Orthodoxy adjust..>> >>Why can't this change...>>

I think what Korain did shows that change of sacred traditions is
possible IF THERE ARE SOUND REASONS. How far this applies is another
question, but I believe there is room to change some of our opinions on
closedmindedness due to tradition when we see examples such as this.

I am interested in reactions to this observation. Are there other
examples in other areas like it? Am I perhaps overlooking something
exceptional which made the change more palatable here? Am I
overgeneralizing in my statements that "traditionalists" are open
minded?

Russell Jay Hendel; PH.d; ASA; rhendel @ mcs drexel edu