Barry Epstein asked:
Is this Mishnah the only one where the person's opinion (R'Shimon) is not his holding but just an argument against the other opinion? Why wouldn't Rebbi worry that it could be misconstrued and one would consider it R'Shimon's opinion?
Barry Epstein, Dallas, USA
The Kollel replies:
This is a fairly common occurence. Many times Rebi relied on one Mishnah to shed light on another. Since Rebbi Shimon's opinion is stated clearly elsewhere, we are able to infer easily that this statement was made according to the opinion of the Rabannan.
D. Zupnik