Dear rabbi
I have come across a puzzling gemra and I figured you would be the best person to ask.
The gemra in nedarim 28a according to the way the RAN explains it says that there was a snake so big it ate 12 wagon full's of straw.
The way the RASH explains it the gemra means 12 pairs of horses but according to the RAN aren't snakes carnivores?
Thanks in advance
nosson sternbach, baltimore md
I think you mean 25a. I didn't see any explanation referring to pairs of horses, but the Rash cited by Gilyon Hashas says it was skins filled with straw (i.e. decoys) made to look like animals.
The Ran and Rosh explain that the snake ate enough hay to fill 12 stables. I see no reason to suppose that they were not referring to decoys filled with hay as well. (They did not mention the skins only because their Girsa was slightly different from that of the Rash)
Best wishes,
Mordecai Kornfeld