by Rabbi Ephraim Halivni
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
או זה או זה: האם שניהם כאחד טובים?
Either X or Y: are both Options Equally Appropriate?
This article published by Rabbi Ephraim Halivni in Optima studies instances in which the the formula “Either X or Y” actually means to favor one of the options by serving to eliminate a third option leaving only two possible options, where one is clearly preferable. An English abstract of the article appears here.
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Ephraim Bezalel Halivni was born in New York in 1959. He has a BA from Columbia, 1981; an MA from the Jewish Theological Seminary, 1982; a Ph.d from Bar-Ilan University, 1992. He studied for a few years at Yeshivat Har Etzion and received rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, 1993. He taught at the Institute for Traditional Judaism, 1994-1996. Since 1996 he has been working at the Academy of the Hebrew Language in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Halivni has published the following books: