Tosafos Kesubos, 63a:
אדעתא דגברא רבה מי נדרת, וא”ת והלא אסור לפתוח בנולד דאמרינן בנדרים בפרק רבי אליעזר כיצד אמר קונם שאיני נהנה לפלוני ונעשה סופר כו’ וי”ל דהכא לא חשיב נולד כיון שהלך לבי רב דדרך הוא בהולך ללמוד שנעשה אדם גדול אי נמי כגון דתלה נדרו בדבר שפירש בשעה שנדר על דעת אם לא יעשה סופר דבענין זה לא הוה נולד כדתנן…
The Mussarites take this to convey the incredible effect of Torah study (literally not credible).
But actually, this lowers the standard referred to throughout Shas as “Adam Gadol” to whatever can be attained by a standard bench-presser who stays the course. And of course, our Mussarites ignore the presence of an alternative answer in Tosafos.
Perhaps I ought to be pleased of the admission there exists a “greatness” apart from Mussar in their worldview at all, but I suspect the message is rather that Torah scholarship doesn’t require as much input as Mussar. After all, Tosafos doesn’t say “דרך הוא בהולך ללמוד שנעשה משגיח בישיבה”…
נצפה.
Rabbi Dov Landa once noted that the entire Shas only uses the expression “Lich’ura” once, while in later works it is found constantly.
Where is our self-confidence?!
Where?
The self-confidence?
You know what I mean!
Oh. In Kesubos 54a.
The narrative common to all preachers is that any and all previous generations were superior to any and all later generations.
Here’s one counter-example: Shulchan Aruch Even Ha’ezer Siman 24 forbids Yichud with males. This clearly shows that the Jews at the time and place the SA was written suffered more from the sin of homosexuality than we do. The Bach is explicit.
(Although the Gra on Yoreh Deah 153:3 seems to disagree.)