In his most recent posting at the Tradition Seforim Blog, which, as usual, is both enlightening and entertaining http://seforim.traditiononline.org/index.cfm/2008/8/12/Marc-B-Shapiro-A-Tale-of-Two-Lost-Archives, my friend Marc Shapiro writes, cryptically:
Since my book appeared I have also discovered many more letters, including a collection sent to one of the leaders of the yeshiva world (whose identity I am not at present able to divulge). In my Note on Sources, found after the preface, I mentioned that while such letters might cause me to reevaluate some of my conclusions, I was confident that the picture I presented would not be substantially altered. I was happy to see that nothing in these letters caused me to change any of my earlier thoughts.
WADR to Marc's judgment, I would like to see an impartial third party be the judge of whether and to what extent these new sources should "change any of [his] earlier thoughts"...
Unfortunately, you and Dr. Shapiro may have differing opinions on the meaning of impartiality in this context.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to imagine any standard under which a guy who has published a book asserting one position can be considered impartial in judging whether he has been refuted by new evidence.
ReplyDeleteOn another subject, why not just point this out in the Seforim blog thread? Posting it here and just going there to direct people to your post here seems like just an effort to promote this blog.