Can wondrous signs determine law? A comparison of two talmudic traditions

The story of the oven of Akhnai has been discussed extensively in various contexts, but not enough attention has been paid to the relationship between the differing accounts in the Babylonian and Palestine Talmuds. This article attempts to present, in a systematic way, the differences between the two rabbinical traditions of the story - that of the Palestine Talmud and that of the Babylonian Talmud. We propose that the differences are grounded in differences of opinion as to the weight or status of miraculous signs within the framework of halakhic proceedings. These differences, it is claimed, arise from the Judeo-Christian controversy which, in fact, is the principal factor in the molding of the Jerusalem tradition.