Tosfos says that according to Reb Shimon soser al minas livnos does not need to be better than the first time like we see by the mishkan. On 93a he says that it does. Maharsha addresses the stira by saying we do not learn out from the building of the mishkan and tosfos changed his mind from what he said on 31. Acharonim disagree from the Maharsha (lashon hazahav, markeves hamishnah) that we do learn from the hakamas hamishkan. But they do not address how to reconcile the stirah between tosfos. Do you have a yishuv for the stirah between his words?
Zev Kraut, Cleveland
Shalon Zev,
Thank you for the excellent question. It seems to me that the Merkeves ha'Mishneh already provides a way to reconcile the two Tosfosim without having to say, as the Maharsha does, that Tosfos changed his mind.
The Merkeves ha'Mishneh disagrees with the Maharsha and explains that both Tosfos on 31b and Tosfos on 93a learn from the dismantling of the Mishkan during the journeys. However, he suggests that "building something better" does not necessarily mean a physically superior structure. After all, in the Mishkan itself they dismantled, and they reassembled the very same Mishkan.
Accordingly, since they were commanded by Hash-m to leave one location and erect the Mishkan in another, the new situation was considered an improvement over the previous one. The second building was not better because the structure itself was superior, but because it was now standing in the proper and desired location.
Based on this, one could suggest that there is no contradiction between the two Tosfosim. On 31b, Tosfos rejects the idea that Soser requires a physically superior structure. On 93a, when Tosfos writes that one must build "better," Tosfos need not mean a more beautiful or improved building. Rather, Tosfos may mean a more desirable or corrected end result. That was indeed true in the Mishkan, since remaining in the original location was no longer appropriate.
Accordingly, there is no need to say that Tosfos retracted. Both statements can be true: Soser does not require a physically improved structure, but it does require that the demolition be part of a transition to a better and more proper state of affairs.
Kol Tuv,
Aharon Steiner