בבא בתרא מז

When רבי יונתן אייבשיץ was still a youth, he was asked: מסכת שבת states that רב אחא said that if בני ישראל are brought to דין for not being מקיים the תורה that they received at הר סיני, they will be able to respond that they accepted it באונס because הקדוש ברוך הוא compelled them to accept it by suspending a mountain above them. But isn’t the response suggested by רב אחא refuted in דף מ״ז מסכת בבא בתרא, which states תליוה וזבין זביניה זבין, that is to say that if someone was קונה באונס, the purchase stands? If so, there would be no validity to a claim by בני ישראל that it was באונס that they accepted the תורה. The young יונתן replied: “There is no difficulty here. Because when בני ישראל agreed to be מקבל the תורה, they did so without conditions and wouldn’t have accepted the דין stated in בבא בתרא.”

06/10/2021