71 Comments

Sorry, terrible answer. For it to work, you would have to show that there was a common belief that centipedes had asymmetrical legs, which you didn't even try. The simple explanation of Tosafos is the centipede is walking and the legs appear asymmetrical https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ivWcwgfWR7Y

The idea that people didn't check things that were easily observable is ridiculous and ahistorical. The proof from Aristotle is silly, most people were missing teeth in ancient times, it's entirely possible that women on average had less teeth, especially because of pregnancy. https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/fast-facts/pregnancy/index.html#:~:text=During%20pregnancy%2C%20women%20may%20be,to%20gum%20disease%20and%20cavities.&text=Pregnant%20women%20are%20more%20likely,by%20changing%20hormones%20during%20pregnancy.

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"Meanwhile, we are creating a millipede exhibit at the Biblical Museum of Natural History. But the signage will not, of course, make any reference to this Tosafos. Just like dinosaurs and evolution, certain topics are banned at the museum!"

How are you not ashamed to write that?

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Sounds like a geshmak trip! So happy for you.

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That's grub from the Lion King!

Slimy yet satisfying.

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A comment on the next post only for paid subscribers: the picture is wrong.

1- There were no 'horns' of light coming out of Moshe's 'head' in the same place where animals have their horns. Rather, 'rays' came from his 'face'.

2- Also, he didn't stand on the mountain and speak to the people. During the Aseres Hadibros he was downstairs with the people listening to Hashem's words. Whenever else he had to speak to the people he went down to talk. He never spoke from on high

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הנדל השכיח ביותר בארץ והגדול מבין הנדלים המצויים בה. צבעי רגליו בולטים ואורכו עשוי להגיע ל-15 ס"מ ויותר. נשיכתו מכאיבה ביותר ומלווה לעיתים בהתנפחות, בחום ובהקאות. שוכן מתחת לאבנים בכל אזורי הארץ. נקרא גם: נדל ארסי.

The Chilopoda most common to the Land of Israel is the largest one. Its colored legs protrude and it is can be 15 centimeters and longer. Its bite is very painful and can cause swelling, fever, and vomiting. It likes to live under rocks anywhere in Israel. Also called: the poisonous, toxic, hateful, malicious Chilopoda.

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How was the bat killed?

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For the record, I would like to point out that the Rashbam, as quoted by הגהות אשר׳׳י א:ט and the אור זרוע סי׳ קיג explain that the מבוי כנדל is literal - the crossroads connect in the middle, and you can get from one מבוי to the other without turning. This causes a lot of consternation in Halacha. However, the reason that Tosafos say that the מבויות don't connect in the middle isn't because they were unaware of how centipedes look (though I can't verify this one way or another, neither can RDNS). It is because if they were through-streets they would become a מבוי מפולש, and the way to permit them for carrying on Shabbos that is suggested in the Gemara wouldn't make any sense.

Something I would like to point out is that comparing items to the shape of an animal, and thereby trying to derive what the animal looks like is not aa path that will lead anywhere. The Mishna in Bechoros describes that an eye deformity looks like a "תבלול חלזון נחש עינב". There is no eye deformity that looks like a grape, a snake, and a snail. It was a turn of phrase that the Mishna used because the item in question looked a bit like it. The same is true in a "מבוי כנדל". This is in addition to the point that according to Rashi, the מבוי has branches only on one side. Will RDNS now say that Rashi didn't go out of his way to observe centipedes, and thought that they only had legs on one side? אתמהה.

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Imagine, those fools in the past never thought to check if men have more teeth than women. We're so much smarter today, when we know that men and women are actually the same thing.

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"But the signage will not, of course, make any reference to this Tosafos. Just like dinosaurs and evolution, certain topics are banned at the museum!"

http://slifkinchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/03/selling-out.html#:~:text=The%20director%20of,exchange%20for%20money%3F!

"The director of the Biblical Museum of Natural History said that he is willing to forgo any mention of dinosaurs or evolution in his museum in order to make the museum acceptable for Chareidim- the same Chareidim who he has criticized for fundamentally distorting Judaism and contradicting Chazal and Rishonim. Whoever will visit the museum and pay admission prices and buy his encyclopedia will be fully accommodated.

How can he disregard his long-standing, bitter dispute regarding the proper education of our generation in exchange for money?!"

https://slifkinchallenge.blogspot.com/2015/03/stop-lies-part-i.html#:~:text=And%20to%20me%2C%20most%20significant%20is%20that%20Natan%20Slifkin%20considered%20the%20mayor%27s%C2%A0kowtowing%C2%A0to%20the%20most%20extreme%20factions%20amongst%20the%20charedim%C2%A0to%20be%20something%20worthy%20of%20contempt!

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