Category Archives: Talmud

(By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times)

Yes, it is true. Six Hamas terrorist were killed and 7 were foiled because of Matzah and a Teshuvas HaRashba (Volume 7 #20).

It happened almost seven years ago, in Kibbutz Sufa at 4:00 AM Thursday morning on July 17th, 2014.

Kibbutz Sufa was founded in 1982 by evacuated settlers. It is on the border of Central Gaza very near the Egyptian border. It was shortly after 4:00 AM that the Matzah and the Teshuvas haRashba did the deed.

THE VERY BEGINNING

The story actually begins well over 3300 years ago. The Jews are taken out of Egypt. To commemorate the miraculous occurrence that has happened and to imbue the Jewish nation with an ever-constant source of nourishment of faith itself the Jewish people are given the Mitzvah of consuming Matzah.

We fast forward 1600 years.

THE PASSAGE IN THE TALMUD

We are now in Babylonia, as the Talmud is being written. Torah scholars are discussing a difficult topic. There is a fascinating exposition that the Talmud presents (Psachim 33a) in regard to the obligation to give a Kohain the gift of Trumah. The verse in the Torah states, Venasata lo and you shall give it to him. The Talmud expounds Lo velo luro to him, but not to his flame.

In other words, the Terumah that is given to the Kohain must, at the outset, be completely edible, it cannot be something that is prohibited in consumption to the degree that the Kohain would be obligated to burn it as soon as it reaches his hands.

The Talmud is searching for an illustration of such a thing. The Talmud is looking for an example where this exposition might apply. Finally, an answer wheat that is still attached to the ground which became Chometz. This is the first section of our tale, which took place in Babylonia in the late 300s.

The observant reader may now be thinking: Wait just one second. Wheat still attached to the ground that became Chometz? Wheat that got wet? Every plant gets wet! Thats how they receive nutrition! What is the Talmud talking about? A question that requires an answer.

Now we move on to the next part of our tale.

BARCELONA SPAIN

We are now in Barcelona, Spain. It is the late 1200s. We are at the home of the well-regarded Rashba, Rabbi Shlomo Ben Aderet. Indeed, the Rashba is so well regarded that even Queen Isabella of Spain has sent him to rule upon some of her countrys most perplexing cases.

The Rashba receives a letter concerning our section of Talmud. It is the very same question that the observant reader had above. It is now posed for the first time to the Rashba. He responds (Volume 7 #20) with the following explanation:

That section of the Talmud refers to wheat that became completely ripened while still attached to the ground, and it does not need any further nutrients at all. Everything that has dried out completely while still attached to the ground it is considered as if it is resting in the pitcher and thus susceptible to becoming Chometz if rain falls upon it.

TZFAT, ISRAEL

It is now 1563. We are in Tzfas, in Eretz Yisroel. The author of the Shulchan Aruch has just codified the Rashbas explanation of our Talmudic passage into his Shulchan Aruch (Chapter 467:5). Wheat that has completely ripened can become Chometz if it is rained upon. If it still requires sustenance from the ground to reach full develop then there is no problem.

RADIN, POLAND

We move to Radin, Poland. It is now the late 1890s.

The Chofetz Chaim, in his Mishna Brurah explains, what apparently has been the custom for Jews in Europe for some time. He states that Shulchan Aruch only refers to an abundance of rain. However, if it rains a little bit then the fully developed wheat is fine and can be used for the highest standard of Matzah. However, he does mention a tradition cited by Rabbi Avrohom Danzig in the Chayei Adam that the custom of the very pious is to cut the wheat earlier, while it is still somewhat green in order to ensure that there are no problems. The concern, of course, is the issue first mentioned in the Rashba.

The Chofetz Chaim mentions this custom of cutting the wheat early twice in his Mishna Brurah. Once regarding this topic and once earlier in a discussion (SA 453:4) about whether the wheat has to be guarded when it is cut or when it undergoes the grinding process. In his Biur Halacha, the Chofetz Chaim cites the practice of the Vilna Gaon who was careful only to eat Matzah that was watched from when it was cut. This too, the Chofetz Chaim points out, is because of the Rashbas position.

GAZA, HAMAS HEADQUARTERS

It is now either 2013 or early 2014. Hamas leaders plan a devastating attack on Israeli citizens. They will send terrorists through a tunnel. They will tunnel across the border and emerge in a completely camouflaged, carefully chosen, wheat field. The thirteen terrorists will have several types of weapons, including AK 45 Assaullt Rifles and Rocket-Propelled Grenade Launchers. The plan is perfect. The wheat is high enough to serve as camouflage but not yet ripe enough to be harvested. Who would harvest green wheat in July? The plan to kill Israelis is more than perfect. It is brilliant.

BNEI BRAK, ISRAEL

It is now 2014. A group of Matzah bakers in Bnei Brak are in serious need of some green wheat still on the ground in order to fulfill the requirements of the responsum of the Rashba. They search almost all of Eretz Yisroel. Finally, they come across a wheat field located in the Hevel Shalom area of the north-western Negev desert. It was an area administered by the Eshkol Regional Council.

Time is of the essence. They cut a deal with the farmer and arrange for the wheat to be reaped immediately. They compensate the farmers nicely for the wheat. It is mid-July.

KIBBUTZ SUFA

As planned, 13 terrorists emerge from the tunnel. But wait. Lo and behold, the wheat field is bare. It is completely bare! The terrorists think: Who moved our wheat stalks?! And wait. Oh no! An IDF watch station spotted us! Arghh! Bombs! They are bombing us! Lets crawl back into our hole in the ground! Arghh! Six of us are hit! Lets abandon them! Lets go back to Gaza!

Watch the IDF blow up the terrorists here:

Were it not for the Teshuvas HaRashba, the wheat field would never have been plowed. The Teshuvas HaRashba saves the day.

The author can be reached at [emailprotected]

Excerpt from:

How Matzah and the Teshuvas HaRashba Saved Yidden From Hamas Terrorists - Yeshiva World News

What's the likely identity of the "forbidden fruit" described in the Bible's Garden of Eden, which Eve is said to have eaten and then shared with Adam?

If your guess is "apple," you're probably wrong.

The Hebrew Bible doesn't actually specify what type of fruit Adam and Eve ate. "We don't know what it was. There's no indication it was an apple," Rabbi Ari Zivotofsky, a professor of brain science at Israel's Bar-Ilan University, told Live Science.

Related: What led to the emergence of monotheism?

The pivotal scene is described in Genesis, the first book of the Hebrew Bible, shortly after God warns Adam not to eat from the "tree of knowledge." A serpent in the garden, however, tells Eve to go ahead and take a bite.

"When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave some to her husband, and he ate" (Genesis 3:6), according to the Jewish Publication Society's translation at Sefaria.org.

As for the type of fruit, it's described as "just the 'fruit of the tree,'" Zivotofsky said. "That's all it says. No identification. We don't know what kind of tree, we don't know what fruit."

The Hebrew word used in that verse is "peri," a generic word for fruit in both biblical and modern Hebrew, according to Zivotofsky. The modern Hebrew word for apple, "tapuach," on the other hand, does not appear anywhere in Genesis or in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, Zivotofsky said. (It does appear in other, later biblical texts.) In biblical times, "tapuach," was a word for generic fruit.

So, if the forbidden fruit wasn't an apple, what was it?

Rabbis commenting on the Hebrew Bible in the Talmud, a collection of rabbinic teachings and biblical law, and other writings completed by around A.D. 500, have noted several ideas about the mystery fruit's identity, but spoiler alert apple is not one of them, Zivotofsky said.

Over the years, rabbis have written that the fruit could have been a fig, because in the Hebrew Bible, Adam and Eve realized they were naked after eating from the tree of knowledge, and then used fig leaves to cover themselves. Or maybe, some rabbis wrote, it was wheat, because the Hebrew word for wheat, "chitah," is similar to the word for sin, "cheit," Zivotofsky said. Grapes, or wine made from grapes, are another possibility. Finally, the rabbis wrote that it might have been a citron, or "etrog" in Hebrew a bittersweet, lemon-like fruit used during the Jewish fall festival of Sukkot, a harvest celebration in which Jews erect temporary dwellings.

Given all of these potential forbidden fruits, how did apples which aren't even from the Middle East, but from Kazakhstan in Central Asia, according to a 2017 study in the journal Nature Communications become the predominant interpretation?

It turns out this interpretation likely didn't originate in Jewish lore, Zibotofsky said. "I don't think that within Jewish tradition it ever did become the apple, meaning in Jewish art, you don't find that," Zivotofsky said.

Instead, the possible path from fruit to apple began in Rome in A.D. 382., when Pope Damasus I asked a scholar named Jerome to translate the Bible into Latin, according to Encyclopedia Britannica. As part of that project, Jerome translated the Hebrew "peri" into the Latin "malum," according to Robert Appelbaum, a professor emeritus of English literature at Uppsala University in Sweden and the author of "Aguecheek's Beef, Belch's Hiccup, and Other Gastronomic Interjections" (University of Chicago Press, 2006).

"The word ["malum"] in Latin translates into a word in English, apple, which also stood for any fruit ... with a core of seeds in the middle and flesh around it. But it was a generic term [for fruit] as well," Appelbaum told Live Science. Apple had this generic meaning until the 17th century, according to the Online Etymological Dictionary. Jerome likely chose the word "malum" to mean fruit, because the very same word can also mean evil, Appelbaum said. So it's a pun, referring to the fruit associated with humans' first big mistake with a word that also means essentially that.

Meanwhile, paintings and other artistic recreations of the Garden of Eden have helped solidify the apple as the forbidden fruit. In art, unlike in writing, a fruit cannot be purely generic, Appelbaum said. "Artists, more than writers, had to show something," he said. They didn't always show an apple: Artistic renderings of the "Fall from Eden" depicted the fruit as a citron ("Ghent Altarpiece" by Hubert and Jan van Eyck, 1432), as an apricot ("Eve Tempted By the Serpent" by Defendente Ferrari, 1520-25), and as a pomegranate ("The Fall of Man" by Peter Paul Rubens, 1628-29), according to Appelbaum.

Yet by the 16th century, the apple had also entered the proverbial fruit bowl. In 1504, an engraving by the German painter Albrecht Drer and a 1533 painting by German painter, Lucas Cranach the Elder, depicted the fruit as an apple, according to NPR. Also according to NPR, in the epic poem "Paradise Lost," first published in 1667, English poet John Milton uses the word "apple" twice to refer to the forbidden fruit.

But was the apple in "Paradise Lost" really the apple that we think of today, or was it some generic fleshy fruit with seeds in the middle? There's at least some room for doubt about that, according to Appelbaum. Milton describes the "apple" once Eve takes a bite, "as being fuzzy on the outside, and extremely juicy and sweet and ambrosial. All words which are attached to peaches," Appelbaum said.

The so-called Franken-tree, a modern grafted tree bearing 40 types of fruit, didn't exist in biblical times, but if it did, it just might clear up this mystery.

Originally published on Live Science.

Go here to read the rest:

Was the 'forbidden fruit' in the Garden of Eden really an apple? - Livescience.com

In 2011, on one of my first trips to the United Arab Emirates, I sat in on a class taught by then-New York University president John Sexton on law and religion at NYU Abu Dhabi. It was a thrill to watch this legendary law professor take 20 Emirati students through a Talmudic reading of the Establishment Clause. But little did I know, I was about to be called to the stand.

We have a special guest today. Yehuda, introduce yourself. I said my name and title, explaining that I ran the Bronfman Center for Jewish Student Life at NYU in New York. Thats not enough, Sexton said. Theyve never met a Jew before in their life, let alone a rabbi. Were trying to analyze these Supreme Court cases. Can you explain to the class, briefly, what Judaism is?

I hesitated, realizing suddenly that anything I said could or would be used against me in the court of this classroom. Judaism is the belief that because we were redeemed from bondage, we are obligated to do all we can to bring redemption to ourselves and others. The stories and rituals are largely based on that belief.

At this point, the questions came fast and furious. A rabbi in the classroom? The Establishment Clause was forgotten; Judaism became the subject of curiosity.

Throughout the past decade, Judaism has remained a subject of curiosity. The Jewish community in the Emirates is blessed with diverse voices who are quenching that thirst. Ross Kriel, president of the Jewish Council of the Emirates (JCE), and Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie, senior rabbi of the JCE and rabbi of the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities (AGJC), have provided eloquent explanations of the holidays of Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah, Purim and Passover on the pages of the Khaleej Times (at the newspapers request) the largest English daily newspaper in the UAE. Jean Candiotte edited a chapter on the Jewish community in a book published by the UAE Ministry of Tolerance and Co-Existence. Chabad-Lubavitch emissary Rabbi Levi Duchman has led seminars on kosher ritual law for the tourism sector.

The Bronfman Center at NYU decided to offer the Jewish Learning Fellowship, a 10-week, non-credit course on Jewish texts, to students at NYU Abu Dhabi. We expected that between five to 10 students would sign up. More than 80 students enrolled within a few days after a student sent one single email.

The highlight for me of every class is the Ask the Rabbi segment. The questions range from the most philosophical to the most practical from questions about God and prophecy to differences in head covering. This past week in response to a question about kosher food, I walked my laptop through my meat and dairy kitchens, past the cereal box shelf and into our meat freezer. Next week, I will address a students question about what Jews believe about Jesus.

To be sure, we have respected the sensitivities around teaching texts of non-Islamic religions. We have made it clear that we do not aim to sow confusion in anyones previously held faith; we are not seeking converts. Our purpose is simply to reverse the decades of division that have planted ignorance as a hedge between Judaism and Islam.

These teaching experiences, above all others, give me hope for the region. It may sound strange to hear, but I believe that the key asset the Middle East needs in order to succeed is not oil, natural gas or a booming tourism industry; neither global finance hubs nor strong militaries. The key resource that must be carefully cultivated is intentional curiosity.

There is no time to waste, and we must also do our part. The Passover seder is at its essence an exercise in nurturing our curious instincts, as we find creative ways to prompt questions from younger members of the table, though no one is exempt:

If his son is wise and knows how to inquire, his son asks him. And if he is not wise, his wife asks him. And if even his wife is not capable of asking or if he has no wife, he asks himself. And even if two Torah scholars who know the halakhot of Passover are sitting together and there is no one else present to pose the questions, they ask each other. (Pes. 116a)

A child is deemed wicked if they feign curiosity. A child who does not question must be taught to ask.

Passover is the Jewish festival of curiosity. If we foster it within ourselves, we can, true to Judaisms essence, redeem ourselves and others. JN

Rabbi Yehuda Sarna, NYU University Chaplain, is the Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Council of the Emirates and the Honorary Chairman of the Association of Gulf Jewish Communities. This article was first published on JNS.org.

Read the rest here:

What I've learned teaching Jewish texts in the UAE - Jewish News of Greater Phoenix

Good morning, and welcome to the U-T Arts & Culture Newsletter.

Im David L. Coddon, and heres your guide to all things essential in San Diegos arts and culture this week.

Weve all got a list of those bands we wish wed seen in concert but never did. At the top of mine would be Queen with Freddie Mercury.

Its hard to believe itll be 30 years this November since the passing of Mercury, he of arguably the most distinctive voice in rock n roll history. The 2018 biopic Bohemian Rhapsody was a diverting reminder of Mercurys talent, but a new clips show on Queens Official YouTube Channel honoring the groups 50-year anniversary is a gift for fans that will keep on giving for 50 weeks.

Queen The Greatest episodes are free to watch every Friday beginning at 5 a.m. Pacific time. Unfortunately, theyre only three or four minutes long, which is unsatisfying, though series producer Simon Lupton packs each one with a lot of content: music, of course, but also archival concert footage, photos and interviews.

The episodes will proceed in chronological order and are framed around a different Queen song each week. The debut on March 19 took us back to the bands early days, to 1973, and the breakthrough single Keep Yourself Alive. Besides hearing portions of the song, we learn that composer Brian May intended it to be slightly ironical, but its very difficult to take it as ironical. Performance shots are interwoven with anecdotes about the song and about where Queen was at the time.

All very interesting, but just as you get into it, its over. Have to wait for Episode No. 2. Oh well.

Thatll be on the Queen YouTube Channel tomorrow. Promised are clips of the bands 1974 concerts at the Rainbow in London and the story behind 1974s Killer Queen, written by the legendary Mercury.

Nathan Harrison is the subject of a new book and exhibit at the San Diego History Center called Nathan Harrison: Born Enslaved, Died a San Diego Legend.

(Courtesy of the San Diego History Center)

The incredible story of a local legend, Nathan Harrison, is told in words, photographs and excavated artifacts in a new exhibition from the San Diego History Center titled Nathan Harrison: Born Enslaved, Died a San Diego Legend.

Harrison, a freed slave whod been brought to California during the Gold Rush era, ultimately settled on Palomar Mountain, becoming not only the first Black homesteader in San Diego County but a celebrity to tourists who made the trip up the mountain to visit him.

For now, the exhibition can be explored virtually. When the Balboa Park-based SDHC opens next month, youll be able to experience up close the recreation of the cabin Harrison lived in and many of the artifacts uncovered by San Diego State professor and archaeologist Seth Mallios and his team of student excavators over the course of eight summertime digs. Harrisons story is not only a personal odyssey but a contextual look at race and ethnicity in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

For more on the Nathan Harrison exhibition, see my story in this Sundays Arts+Culture section.

Jovan Adepo in Christa McAuliffes Eyes Were Blue by Kemp Powers captured at the Kirk Douglas Theatre as part of Center Theatre Groups L.A. Writers Workshop Festival: New Plays Forged in L.A.

(Courtesy of Center Theatre Group)

The film adaptation of playwright Kemp Powers One Night in Miami, for which he wrote the screenplay, earned Powers an Oscar nomination. Having really enjoyed it, I looked forward eagerly to streaming a staged reading of Powers new play Christa McAuliffes Eyes Were Blue.

Its not fair to compare one work by a playwright to another, but this Center Theatre Group presentation suggests that some smoothing out is in order. The staged reading was filmed at L..s Kirk Douglas Theatre last November. (It can be streamed for $10 through April 4.) Its premise is an intriguing one: Bernard (Bear) and Steven (Sevvy) Gentry are twins, though the former is Black and the latter White. The contrasting direction of their lives and deteriorating of their sibling relationship are the basis of this plays dramatic tension. Add a former racist schoolmate who becomes a judge presiding over the incarcerated Bernards fate and the stakes rise even higher.

But neither the performance of Jovan Adepo as Bernard nor the taut direction by Jennifer Chang can overcome a script that attempts to tread too much territory in 75 minutes. The narrative connection between Bernard and the fate of space shuttle Challenger astronaut McAuliffe feels forced and we never really get a firm grasp of what the troubled young man wants, or needs, most.

Art of Elans Open Air concert streaming on the evening of March 16 from the San Diego Museum of Arts May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden in Balboa Park.

(Courtesy photo by Gary Payne)

As I watched Art of Elans Open Air concert streaming on the evening of March 16 from the San Diego Museum of Arts May S. Marcy Sculpture Garden in Balboa Park, I couldnt help wishing Id been there in person: the music (performed by the Hausmann Quartet and members of the San Diego Symphony); the surrounding sculptures; the California Tower in the distance; the sliver of moon overhead. Someday, right?

In the meantime, this 74-minute performance can be enjoyed in your home for $10 (or for free if youre an SDMA member). In a program that includes works by Terry Riley, Hannah Lash and Jonathan Bailey Holland, the best is saved for last: the lovely five-movement piece Make Prayers to the Raven composed by environmental activist John Luther Adams. The suite written for violin, harp, cello, flute and percussion is a fitting complement to the serenity of Balboa Park, especially in the moonlight.

Fleetwood Mac is shown on June 17, 1968, when their instrumental single Albatross was topping the British charts. The bands line up then was, from left, Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, Jeremy Spencer and John McVie. Fleetwood spent several years planning the early 2020 London tribute concert honoring Green, who died six months later at the age of 73.

(Keystone Features/Getty Images)

Few music legends have burned as brightly or faded as quickly and tragically as the late Peter Green, the brilliant guitarist, singer and songwriter who in 1967 founded the English blues band Fleetwood Mac and steered it to rock stardom before quitting in 1970. He is saluted by an all-star lineup in the new concert film, DVD and double-album, Mick Fleetwood & Friends Celebrate the Music of Peter Green and the Early Years of Fleetwood Mac, which was held in 2020. It debuts April 24 on-demand on nugs.net and is released April 30 in Blu-Ray, CD and vinyl formats. Guests range from ZZ Tops Billy F. Gibbons, Metallicas Kirk Hammett and Oasis co-founder Noel Gallagher to The Whos Pete Townshend, Aerosmiths Steven Tyler, original Fleetwood Mac guitarist Jeremy Spencer and three current members of the band Green once led Fleetwood, Christine McVie and Neil Finn. Read more in this story by the Union-Tribunes George Varga.

(Clockwise from left) Ahmed K. Dents, Monique Gaffney, William BJ Robinson, Kimberly King, Joy Yvonne Jones

(Photos by K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune)

On Sunday, the Union-Tribune published its Theaters Day of Reckoning special project, which offered San Diego theater leaders and local Black theater artists the opportunity to talk and write about their views on the topic of social justice in the industry. Heres what local theaters as well as five San Diegans had to say about equity, diversity and inclusion, with reporting by the Union-Tribunes Pam Kragen.

University of California Television (UCTV) is making a host of videos available on its website during this period of social distancing. Among them, with descriptions courtesy of UCTV (text written by UCTV staff):

Tales of Human History Told by Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA: Its well known that as anatomically modern humans dispersed out of Africa, they encountered and mated with other hominins such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. The ability to identify and excavate extinct hominin DNA from the genomes of contemporary individuals reveals considerable information about human history and how those encounters with Neanderthals and Denisovans shaped the trajectory of human evolution. Princeton Universitys Joshua Akey explains how catalogs of surviving hominin lineages reveal insights into hybridization, that gene flow was widespread in both time and geography, and presents new evidence of an early out-of-Africa dispersal of modern humans.

The Talmud as Icon: The Babylonian Talmud is a post-biblical Jewish rabbinic text, written in a hybrid of Hebrew and Aramaic, that is part scripture and part commentary. It is often ambiguous to the point of incomprehension, and its subject matter reflects a narrow scholasticism that should not have broad appeal; yet the Talmud has remained in print for centuries and is more popular today than ever. Northwestern University scholar and author Barry Scott Wimpfheimer describes the books origins and structure, its centrality to Jewish law, its mixed reception history, and its golden renaissance in modernity as an iconic symbol of Jewishness.

Sleep, Inflammation and Metabolism: Proper sleep is crucial for promoting good health, and research has documented the powerful influence of sleep disturbance on the risk of infectious disease, the occurrence and progression of several major medical illnesses, and the incidence and severity of depression. Aric Prather is an expert in the study of stress resilience, inflammation, depression, sleep and longevity. He examines the biological mechanisms of sleep disturbance with an emphasis on the implications of antiviral and proinflammatory immune responses for chronic infectious, inflammatory, and neuropsychiatric diseases. Prather also discusses therapeutic interventions as effective strategies to improve sleep.

The Shell, the San Diego Symphonys new, year-round outdoor concert and events venue.

(Courtesy San Diego Symphony)

In this weeks edition of Arts in the Time of COVID, Pacific editor Nina Garin talks about the latest round of Conrad Prebys Foundation grants, La Jolla Music Societys outdoor concerts and the return of movie theaters. Watch it here.

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Arts & Culture Newsletter: Celebrating 50 years of Queen with 50 weeks' worth of free clips - The San Diego Union-Tribune

Thisstoryoriginally appeared on Kveller, 70 Faces Medias Jewish parenting site.

Had I only gotten out of hosting last years seder,dayenu! But here we are, anotherpandemic Passover, which begins this year at sundown on Saturday, March 27 and lasts through April 4.

Passover celebrates our liberation from slavery in Egypt and rebirth as a free people; it is the mostwidelycelebrated Jewish holiday among American Jews! We prepare by cleaning our homes ofhametz(leavening), refrain from eating most carbs, attend or host two(Zoom) seders, and renegotiate with our oldest child that this year will absolutely be the last year they have to sing theFour Questions.

The Passover story you can find a short recaphere is foundational in Jewish tradition, spanning four of five books in the Torah. Symbolic themes are prevalent throughout: slavery, faith in Gods deliverance and miracles, feminism, rebirth, and freedom.

So, what are you waiting for? Grab a box of matzah, dust off yourhaggadah, pour yourself a glass of wine (or four) and enjoy these lesser known but totally kosher for Passover facts:

Happy spring! Passover is purposely and metaphorically linked with this season. Just as our earth is reawakened after months of harsh weather and dormancy, Passover commemorates our peoples sufferingandcelebrates our re-emergence as a liberated nation. Rabbi Michael Strassfeldemphasizesthe influence the season has on the holiday, from thematic similarities of our story of renewal and growth, to thedreadedact of spring cleaning, to the use of a leafy green vegetable (representing spring) on the seder plate.

Womens roles areintrinsic to the Passover story. Five heroic women are highlighted at the very beginning of our story; biblical scholar Andrea L. Weissrecognizes themas having ensured the eventual deliverance of our people. In the first chapter of Exodus, Pharaoh commands two midwives,Shifah and Puah, to kill all newborn boys with the hope of weakening and decreasing the Israelite population. They refuse, and their excuse is quite believable, even back then: [Hebrew women] arevigorous. Before the midwife can come to them, they have given birth.

Three more women save and protect Moses life: Yocheved, Moses mother, no longer able to conceal her infant, places Moses in abasketand sets it along the Nile to be followed by his sister, Miriam. Miriam watches over her brother andinteractswith Pharaohs daughter, who rescues baby Moses from the river. A non-Israelite, she defies her fathers decree to kill all Israelite boys andadoptshim as her own son.

These actions are nothing short of extraordinary, and together, these women saved our eventual leader and most distinguished of prophets. Now, if only he wanted the job

Talk about chutzpah! Thus far in the Torah, our prophets are known for saying yes to God for example, God tellsNoahandAbrahamwhat to do, and they do it.

Moses, by contrast, already gets special treatment when God appears in aburning bush, which isnt nearly enough to frighten Moses into agreement. Then, there is a unique dialogue between God and Moses inExodus 3:11-4:17that has a pattern of Moses offering an objection and Gods unwavering reassurance and support.

Thefifthtime, however, is my favorite. Moses requests, Please, O LORD, make someone else Your agent. At this point, God begins to losepatiencewith the new prophet, assures him that his brother Aaron will be his spokesperson, and the discussion is officially OVER!

The instructional manual we use to lead us through our seder is called the haggadah, Hebrew for telling. Moses, honored in the Torah as thegreatestprophet of all, is mentioned but one time in the haggadah, in the quoting ofExodus 14:31: [The Israelites] had faith in the LORD and His servant Moses. Thats it!

Biblical scholar Marc Zvi Brettler offers an answer as to why: Much of the haggadah was written during the classical rabbinic period, which spanned the 1st through 6th centuries, and therefore, its contents were filtered through the lens of its rabbinic redactors. The rabbis wanted to emphasize Gods marvels and miracles as divine, stressing the difference between God (deity) and Moses (human).

Im a proud Ashkenazi Jew, but I enthusiastically adopted my IsraeliSephardihusbands Passover dietary traditions upon getting married.

Why? Well, during Passover, all Jews are prohibited from eatinghametz, namelywheat, spelt, oats, barley, and rye. The reason is stated in the Torah: After thetenth plagueclaimed the lives of Egypts first-born children, the Egyptians urged the Israelites to leave immediately. They then baked their unleavened dough quickly and took their freshmatzahon their journey.

However, in contrast withAskenazi Jews(who, broadly speaking, are of Eastern European descent), Sephardi Jews (originally from the Iberian Peninsula) are permitted to eatkitniyot. The Hebrew for legumes, these include beans, corn, rice, and all of their derivatives. Biblical scholar Jeffery Spitzer explains thatkitniyotwere firstbannedin the 13th century for fear of unintentional mixing or substitution for wheat ingredients.

First the Sephardi Passover diet, and now this?! In Exodus, we read that Passover is celebrated from the 14th to 21st of the Hebrew month ofNissan. Why, oh why, then, do Jews living outside of Israel keep Passover for an extra day? Rabbi Daniel Kohn teaches that, around the first century, the Sanhedrin (Jewish governing body), would alert Jewish communities of holidays commencements bylighting firesto be seen by designated witnesses. These witnesses would then light their own fires to help spread the word. Very unfortunately, during times of strife with neighboring non-Jewish communities, random fires would be lit with the hope of sending confusing signals to the Jewish population, ensuring discrepancies as to when a holiday would begin.

To avoid this problem, the Sanhedrin sent messengers by foot. However, depending upon the distance from Jerusalem, communication could bedelayed. Therefore, those living outside of Israel developed the practice of celebrating certain holidays one day longer, overcompensating to make sure the holiday was observed on the correct day. This became known asyom tov shenisecond festival day. Even after the Jewish calendar was set, the Diaspora community continued to extend the holiday of Passover (and Shavuot and Sukkot) by one day.

Also, in Israel, only one seder is held for the same reason!

Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin explains that during our seder, four cups of wine are blessed and consumed to represent Gods four promises to the Israelite people found inExodus 6:6-7, I will free youdeliver youredeem youtake you to be My people.

However, just a verse later, afifthis revealed: I will bring you into the land The Talmud records a dispute over how to categorize this fifth promise: Is it to be counted with the first four, thereby needing an accompanying (fifth) cup of wine? Or should it stand alone, allowing only four cups of wine?

There is a Talmudic term,teku, marking an indecision. (Im totally using this from now on in my parenting!) The cups-of-wine question was determined teku, and the haggadah offers this solution: Four cups of wine would be drunk throughout the seder, and a symbolic fifth cup would be poured and reserved for the Prophet Elijiah.

As awesome as Elijiah is, what role does he have in our telling of the Passover story? Well, Elijiah is associated with two tremendous prophecies: The first is the ushering of the Messiah, who will bring a time of peace and tranquility for the Jewish people, and thesecondis to resolve all the discussions left teku!

Well, I guess thats how the matzah crumbles! Wishing you and your families a safe and pleasant holiday and prayers for Next year together!!!Pesach sameach!

Continued here:

7 facts about Passover that will surprise and delight you - St. Louis Jewish Light

Talmud (literally, study) is the generic term for the documents that comment and expand upon the Mishnah (repeating), the first work of rabbinic law, published around the year 200 CE by Rabbi Judah the Patriarch in the land of Israel.

Although Talmud is largely about law, it should not be confused with either codes of law or with a commentary on the legal sections of the Torah. Due to its spare and laconic style, the Talmud is studied, not read. The difficulty of the intergenerational text has necessitated and fostered the development of an institutional and communal structure that supported the learning of Talmud and the establishment of special schools where each generation is apprenticed into its study by the previous generation.

Want to learn Talmud with us? Daf Yomi is a program of reading the entire Talmud one day at a time, and My Jewish Learning is offering a daily dose of Talmud in your inbox. Sign up for it here!

In the second century, Rabbi Judah the Patriarch published a document in six primary sections, or orders, dealing with agriculture, sacred times, women and personal status, damages, holy things, and purity laws. By carefully laying out different opinions concerning Jewish law, the Mishnah presents itself more as a case book of law. While the Mishnah preserved the teachings of earlier rabbis, it also shows the signs of a unified editing. Part of that editing process included selecting materials; many of the traditions that did not make it into the Mishnah were collected in a companion volume called the Tosefta (appendix, or supplement).

After the publication of the Mishnah, the sages of Israel, both in the land of Israel, and in the largest diaspora community of Babylonia (modern day Iraq), began to study the both the Mishnah and the traditional teachings. Their work consisted largely of working out the Mishnahs inner logic, trying to extract legal principles from the specific statements of case law, searching out the derivations of the legal statements from Scripture, and relating statements found in the Mishnah to traditions that were left out. Each community produced its own Gemara which have been preserved as two different multi-volume sets: the Talmud Yerushalmi includes the Mishnah and the Gemara produced by the sages of the Land of Israel, and the Talmud Bavli includes the Mishnah and the Gemara of the Babylonian Jewish sages.

Studying Jewish texts at Mechon Hadar, an educational institution in New York City working to empower Jews to create and sustain vibrant, practicing, egalitarian communities of Torah learning, prayer and service. (Emil Cohen/Mechon Hadar)

In some ways, the Talmud was never completed; the Tosafist commentators during the middle ages extended to the whole of the Gemara the same kinds of analysis that the sages of the Gemara had performed upon the Mishnah. Other commentators, like Rashi, sought to explain the text in a sequential manner.

Many modern scholars have begun applying the tools of literary and linguistic analysis to the text of the Talmud. Some have used these tools to focus on the underlying uniformity and consistency of the text, while others have done sophisticated analysis of the sources and alleged history of the text. Still others have examined the literary artistry of the Talmud. Many scholars have, with varying degrees of success, tried to use the Talmud as a source for historical inquiry.

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What Is the Talmud? | My Jewish Learning

While it is known that I do not agree with various aspects of the haredi outlook, I still respect this world very much for its passion and its many wonderful characteristics. And it is exactly because of this that I hope that by writing this essay I am making a small contribution toward helping the haredi community to rectify a crucial ideological mistake, which has brought haredi Judaism into disrepute.It seems to me that part of the haredi community has adopted an idea that is totally foreign to Judaism but is, strangely enough, fundamental to classical Christianity.

This is a typical example of how probably because of the experience of exile Christian ideas have infiltrated several dimensions of haredi Judaism through the back door. This may be true even of other segments of religious Judaism that are not at all haredi.

Saving ones soul

Classical Christianity teaches that under all circumstances one must save ones soul, and must even sacrifice life itself for the sake of the salvation of ones soul. This means that one has to live a life of total religious devotion even when it would result in death. And it is exactly against this point of view that the Jewish tradition adamantly protests.

For Judaism, to live is more important than to be saved.

The argument that if we dont live a religious life of shemirat hamitzvot (observance of the commandments), our souls are, by definition, contaminated, and we wont inherit Olam Haba (the World to Come) is totally rejected within the Jewish tradition.

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It is only after we have secured our physical existence that we are obligated to observe the commandments, and it is only then that we have lost out on real life if we did not observe them.

This doesnt mean that we should violate the commandments so as to live a comfortable life. It just means that we must make sure that we can at least live a simple life that allows us to breathe; that we dont become deathly ill or completely unable to live a human life.

Why? Because nothing is holier than life itself, not even when we would combine all the divinely-given commandments. Compared to life itself, they are all secondary.

To live is the greatest mitzvah of all

To put it differently: The most important biblical commandments are Uvacharta bachayim And you shall choose life (Deuteronomy 30:19) and Vchai bahem, vlo sheyamut bahem And you shall live by them [the mitzvot] and not die because of them (Leviticus 18:5; Tractate Yoma 85b).

Only three prohibitions override this obligation to preserve life: When one is forced to kill an innocent person in order to save ones own life; when one is forced to have sexual intercourse with somebody with whom one, by biblical law, it is not allowed to have relations; and when one is forced to worship idols (Yoma 82a). Only in these three cases are we commanded to die rather than transgress.

This is true also in a situation of shmad (religious persecution), when the Jewish community as a whole is forced to be baptized, or compelled by an enemy to violate the laws of Judaism merely for the sake of violation (Sanhedrin 64a).

It is important to remember that we are allowed to take certain reasonable risks such as driving a car, flying in a plane, crossing the street, or similar things as long as the chances of being killed are minimal and, in the words of the Talmud, many have trodden there. Otherwise, life would become totally impossible (Tractate Shabbat 129b).

For the same reason, we are allowed to try to save somebody elses life only when it is reasonably certain that we ourselves will remain alive. We are also allowed to put our lives at risk when we need to defend our country and its population, since this means saving the lives of many. Whether one is allowed to voluntarily sacrifice ones life for another is a matter of dispute.

In all other cases, we are obligated to violate all these commandments. And therein lies the rub.

WHEN PART of the haredi world insists that yeshivot and chederim stay open and large religious gatherings be permitted, etc., that part of the haredi world would be unable to function properly and that social pressure would be required so that many young and not-so-young people would not leave the fold, cease observing the commandments, and thereby forgo the World to Come, it has adopted a Christian idea.

The argument that saving ones soul is the primary value, and if that means that some people will definitely die as in the case of coronavirus then this is preferred, since the people who died will at least not have violated the Torah and will consequently inherit the World to Come, is quintessentially Christian.

What those in the haredi community who believe this do not seem to realize is that they have abandoned one of the most crucial tenets of Judaism: the absolute commandment to preserve life. With the few exceptions mentioned above, preservation of life always has priority.

It is therefore beyond comprehension that a part of the haredi community has rejected a major tenet of religious Judaism.

What Judaism teaches is actually something astonishing: Not only does Jewish law demand that a Jew not observe the mitzvot when they are in danger of death on a single occasion, but that if they are continuously in danger of death, they must violate all the commandments throughout their lives, if that is the only way to stay alive! While such a situation is highly unlikely, theoretically this could mean that one would never be allowed by Jewish law to keep kosher or observe Shabbat, etc., if by doing so, one would constantly be in danger of death. One would have to violate all the commandments for all the years one lives (till 120)!!

In other words, life itself is so important that when we are forced to choose between life and the commandments, we must choose life, even when that life has no Jewish (ritual) context whatsoever.

What we obviously need to ask is: Why? Why is life so important that everything else has to give way, even something as important as the very essence of our identity our Jewishness and Judaism?

DOES CLASSICAL Christianity not make more sense when it claims that we should always save our souls before the body? What, after all, is the meaning of life if not to serve God?

Apparently, Judaism maintains that there is something about life that is untouchable. Life is God-given and a substance that cannot be measured, is beyond all definition, and is totally out of the range of what human beings can ever understand, or even grasp.

That Christianity has taken a different path would seem to be because it considers life more of an obstacle than a virtue. This belief likely owes much to the influence of Plato, who considers the soul to be imprisoned by the body, from which it needs to liberate itself. The body is a hindrance.

Judaism, however, sees the body as a highly important helpmate in the growth of the soul. The soul can grow only through virtuous bodily actions. God created the body not to frustrate the soul but to help it. Otherwise, why have a body? Without the body, the soul has no value, because it cant accomplish anything without it.

For Judaism, God is to be found within the mundane in holy deeds. Judaism is, as Abraham Joshua Heschel states, the theology of the common deed (The Insecurity of Freedom). God is concerned with everydayness, with the trivialities of life, which can be raised to high levels without ever leaving the common ground. It is not concerned with the mysteries of heaven, but with the blights of society and the affairs of the marketplace. It is there that we find God. In doing the finite we are able to perceive the infinite (Man Is Not Alone).

It is for this reason that the need to keep the body alive will always be more important than the need to save the soul. One can save the soul only after the body is secure. Put differently: Saving the body is the highest expression of saving ones soul.

This is one of the fundamental differences between Judaism and classical Christianity.

It is one of the great tragedies that a sector of the haredi community has adopted a Christian idea.

The misguided notion of Talmud Torah

To be sure, there are other important issues at play in explaining why the haredi community reacts the way it does.

One of these issues is the belief that learning Torah is the ultimate goal of every Jew, and that all other endeavors such as the functioning and upkeep of society, the running of the Jewish State, its commerce, its agriculture, and more are of much less importance compared to the study of Torah.

This idea, however, is entirely wrong. This view of Talmud Torah is akin to idol worship. The often-quoted rabbinic statement Vtalmud Torah knegged kulam, the study of Torah is equivalent to all the commandments (Shabbat 127a), does not mean that Torah learning is the ultimate objective of Judaism. If that were the case, it would belong to the category of the few mitzvot we mentioned above, for which one has to give up ones life rather than transgress. But it is not.

The meaning of this statement is figurative. Without learning Torah, we would not know how to fulfill the commandments and transform ourselves into more sublime and moral, holy people; we would not know how to run a just society, how to work the land, how to do business, and how to deal with our fellow human beings.

All the commandments depend on learning Torah. Without that knowledge, one wouldnt know how to observe the commandments. But this has never meant that we need to give up our lives for learning Torah. In fact, doing so is forbidden! Sure, learning Torah is considered to be one of the most virtuous mitzvot and a form of Divine worship. One can only argue that it is of ultimate importance because Torah is the life blood of the Jewish people. But still, its not as holy as life itself.

The notion that learning Torah is the ultimate goal, to which all of life should be subordinated, is a false and dangerous one.

May the haredim move away from this Christian idea concerning saving ones soul and the concomitant mistaken belief about learning Torah. May God bless them

Original post:

The haredi-Christian tragedy and the idol worship of Talmud Torah - The Jerusalem Post

The Talmud (Hebrew: ) is a record of rabbinical discussions pertaining to Jewish law, biblical interpretation, ethics, customs, and history. It is the basis for all codes of rabbinical law and is much quoted in other Jewish literature.

The Talmud has two basic components: the Mishnah (c. 200 C.E.), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 C.E.), a rabbinical discussion of the Mishnah and related writings that often ventures into other subjects and expounds broadly on the Hebrew Bible. Printed editions of the Talmud also contain later commentaries from rabbinical authorities through the Middle Ages. The terms Talmud and Gemara are often used interchangeably.

There are two versions of the Talmudthe Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmudeach containing basically the same Mishnah but a different Gemara. Of these, the Babylonian Talmud is larger, better edited, and more influential. Other commentaries were also added to later editions of the Talmud.

In European history, the Talmud was sometimes suppressed by the Catholic Church, and it became a source of anti-semitic literature in modern times, when excerpts from it were quoted to "prove" ideas of Jewish arrogance and hatred toward Gentiles. In fact, the Talmud contains the opinions of hundreds of rabbis, often including strong disagreements on many subjects. Like the Bible itself, it can be used to support varying positions on many subjects.

Did you know?

The Talmud contains the opinions of hundreds of rabbis, often including strong disagreements on many subjects. Like the Bible itself, it can be used to support varying positions on many subjects.

Rabbinical tradition holds that the Talmud expresses a sacred Oral Torah, equally authoritative to the Written Law given to Moses at Sinai. Originally, Jewish legal and biblical scholarship was also oral. This situation changed drastically, however, mainly as the result of the defeat of the Jewish Revolt against Rome in the year 70 C.E. and the consequent upheaval of Jewish social and legal norms. As the rabbis were required to face a new realityespecially the fact of Judaism without a Templethere was a flurry of legal discourse and the tradition of oral scholarship was committed to writing.

The earliest recorded Oral Law may have been of the midrashic form, in which Jewish legal discussion was structured as exegetical commentary on the Pentateuch. An alternative form, organized by subject matter instead of by biblical verse, became dominant about the year 200 C.E., when Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi redacted the Mishnah.

The Mishnah forms the core of the Talmud. It is a compilation of legal opinions and debates of leading rabbis of the second century. The rabbis of the Mishnah are known as tannaim, meaning roughly "sages." Since it sequences its laws by subject matter instead of by biblical context, the Mishnah discusses individual subjects more thoroughly than the Midrash, and it includes a much broader selection of halakhic (legal) subjects than the Midrash. The Mishnah's topical organization thus became the framework of the Talmud as a whole.

In addition to the Mishnah, other rabbinical works were recorded at about the same time or shortly thereafter. The Talmud frequently refers to these tannaic statements in order to compare them to those contained in the Mishnah and to support or refute the propositions of various rabbinical authorities. All such non-Mishnaic sources of the tannaim are termed baraitot (lit. outside material, "Works external to the Mishnah"; sing. baraita ).

In the three centuries following the redaction of the Mishnah, rabbis throughout Palestine and Babylonia analyzed, debated and discussed that work. These discussions form the Gemara (). The rabbis of the Gemara are known as amoraim (sing. amora ). Gemara means completion, from gamar : Hebrew to complete; Aramaic to study.

Much of the Gemara consists of legal analysis. The starting point for the analysis is usually a legal statement found in a Mishnah. The statement is then analyzed and compared with other statements in a dialectical exchange between two (frequently anonymous and sometimes metaphorical) disputants, termed the makshan (questioner) and tartzan (answerer).

These exchanges form the "building-blocks" of the Gemara; the name for a passage of Gemara is a sugya (; plural sugyot). A Sugya will typically be comprised of a detailed proof-based elaboration of a mishnaic statement.

In a given sugya, scriptural, tannaic and amoraic statements are brought to support the various opinions. In so doing, the Gemara will often include disagreements between tannaim and amoraim, and compare the mishnaic views with passages from the Beraita. Rarely are debates formally closed; in many instances, the final word determines the practical law, although there are many exceptions to this principle.

The Talmud contains a vast amount of material and touches on a great many subjects. Traditionally talmudic statements can be classified into two broad categories: halakhic and agaddic. Halakhic statements are those which directly relate to questions of Jewish law and practice (Halakha). Aggadic statements are those which are not legally related, but rather are exegetical, homiletical, ethical, or historical in nature (Aggadah).

The process of Gemara proceeded in the two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia. Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of the Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the Jerusalem Talmud or the Talmud Yerushalmi. It was compiled sometime during the fourth century in Palestine. The Babylonian Talmud was compiled about the year 500 C.E., although it continued to be edited later. The word "Talmud," when used without qualification, usually refers to the Babylonian Talmud, which is the better known of the two editions.

The Jerusalem Talmud originated in Tiberias in the School of Johanan ben Nappaha. It is a compilation of teachings of the rabbinical schools of Tiberias, Sepphoris and Caesarea. It is written in both Hebrew and a western Aramaic dialect that differs from its Babylonian counterpart.

Its final redaction probably belongs to the end of the fourth century, but the individual scholars who brought it to its present form cannot be fixed with assurance. By this time Christianity had become the state religion of the Roman Empire and Jerusalem, the holy city of Christendom. The text is evidently incomplete and is not easy to follow. Any further work on the Jerusalem Talmud probably came to an abrupt end in 425 C.E., when Theodosius II suppressed the Jewish Patriarchate and put an end to the practice of formal scholarly ordination in the Jewish community.

Despite this, the Jerusalem Talmud remains an indispensable source of knowledge regarding the development of the Jewish Law in the Holy Land. Opinions based on the Jerusalem Talmud ultimately found their way into both the Tosafot and the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides.

Since the Babylonian Exile of 586 B.C.E., Jews had been living in settlements outside of Judea, and most of the captives did not return home to Jerusalem when this was finally allowed. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. and the later failure of the Bar Kochba revolt, many more Jews moved east. The most important of the Jewish centers were Nehardea, Nisibis, Mahoza, Pumbeditha and Sura.

Talmud Bavli (the "Babylonian Talmud") includes the Mishnah and the Babylonian Gemara. This Gemara is a synopsis of more than 300 years of analysis of the Mishnah in the Babylonian academies.

The man who laid the foundations for the Babylonian Talmud was known simply as Rab, a disciple of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, the compiler of the Mishnah. Rabbi Ashi was president of the Sura academy from 375 to 427 C.E. The work begun by Ashi was completed by Rabina. According to ancient tradition, Rabina was the final amoraic expounder. His death in 499 C.E. marked the completion of the redaction of the Talmud.

The question as to when the Gemara was finally put into its present form is not settled among modern scholars. Some of the text did not reach its final form until around 700 C.E.

There are significant differences between the two Talmud compilations. The language of the Jerusalem Talmud is primarily a western Aramaic dialect which differs from that of the Babylonian. The Talmud Yerushalmi is also often fragmentary and difficult to read, even for experienced Talmudists. The redaction of the Talmud Bavli, on the other hand, is more careful and precise.

In the Bavli, however, Gemara exists only for 37 out of the 63 tractates of the Mishnah. Many agricultural ritual purity laws having to do with the Temple had little practical relevance in Babylonia and were therefore not included. The Yerushalmi, though, covers a number of these chapters.

The influence of the Babylonian Talmud has been far greater than that of the Yerushalmi. This is mainly because the influence and prestige of the Jewish community of Palestine steadily declined in contrast with the Babylonian community in the years after the redaction of the Talmud, as Jews in the Islamic lands received much better treatment than they did in the later Christian Empire.

From the time of its completion, the Talmud became integral to Jewish scholarship. The earliest post-Gemara Talmud commentaries were written by the Gaonimthe presidents of the rabbinical academies(approximately 800-1000 C.E.) in Babylonia.

Early commentators such as Rabbi Isaac Alfasi (North Africa, 1013-1103) attempted to extract and determine the binding legal opinions from the vast corpus of the Talmud. Alfasi's work was highly influential and later served as a basis for the creation of halakhic codes. Another influential medieval halakhic commentary was that of Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel (d. 1327). A fifteenth-century Spanish rabbi, Jacob ibn Habib (d. 1516), composed the En Yaaqob. En Yaaqob (or Ein Yaaqov) extracts nearly all the aggadic material from the Talmud. It was intended to familiarize the public with the ethical parts of the Talmud and to dispute many of the accusations surrounding its contents.

Besides halakhic studies, another major area of talmudic scholarship developed in order to explain these passages and words. Some early commentators such as Rabbenu Gershom of Mainz (tenth century) and Rabbenu Hananel (early eleventh century) produced running commentaries to various tractates. These commentaries could be read with the text of the Talmud and would help explain the meaning of the text. Another important work is the Sefer ha-Mafteach (Book of the Key) by Nissim Gaon, which contains a preface explaining the different forms of talmudic argumentation and then explains abbreviated passages in the Talmud by referring to parallel passages where the same thought is expressed in full. Using a different style, Rabbi Nathan b. Jechiel created a lexicon called the Arukh in the eleventh century in order to translate difficult words.

By far the most well known commentary on the Babylonian Talmud is that of Rashi (Rabbi Solomon ben Isaac, 1040-1105). Rashi's commentary is comprehensive, covering almost the entire Talmud. It is considered indispensable to students of the Talmud and is included as a running commentary in modern editions. Maimonides' commentary on the Mishnah, though limited in scope compared to Rahsi's, exerted a similarly great influence.

Medieval Ashkenazic Jewry produced another major commentary known as Tosafot ("additions" or "supplements"). The Tosafot are collected commentaries by various medieval Ashkenazic rabbis on the Talmud. One of the main goals of the Tosafot is to explain and interpret contradictory statements in the Talmud. Unlike Rashi, the Tosafot is not a running commentary, but rather comments on selected matters. Often the explanations of Tosafot differ from those of Rashi.

Over time, the approach of the tosafists spread to other Jewish communities, particularly that of the Sephardic communities in Spain. This led to the composition of many other commentaries in similar styles. Among these are the commentaries of Ramban, Rashba, Ritva, Ran, Yad Ramah, and Meiri.

In later centuries, focus partially shifted from direct talmudic interpretation to the analysis of previously written talmudic commentaries. These later commentaries include "Maharshal" (Solomon Luria), "Maharam" (Meir Lublin) and "Maharsha" (Samuel Edels).

The first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud was printed in Italy by Daniel Bomberg during the sixteenth century. In addition to the Mishnah and Gemara, Bomberg's edition contained the Tosafot, the commentaries of Rashi. Almost all printings since Bomberg have followed the same pagination. In 1835, a new edition of the Talmud was printed by Menachem Romm of Vilna (Vilnius, Lithuania). Known as the Vilna Shas, this edition (and later ones printed by his widow and sons) have become an unofficial standard for Talmud editions. In the Vilna edition of the Talmud there are 5,894 folio pages.

During the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, a new intensive form of Talmud study arose. Complicated logical arguments were used to explain minor points of contradiction within the Talmud. The term pilpul, which means "pepper" in Hebrew and was applied to this type of study, which hearkens back to the Talmudic era and refers to the intellectual sharpness this method demanded. Pilpul practitioners posited that the Talmud could contain no redundancy or contradiction whatsoever. New categories and distinctions were therefore created, resolving seeming contradictions within the Talmud by novel logical means.

Pilpul study reached its height in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when expertise in pilpulistic analysis was considered an art form and became a goal in and of itself within the yeshivot (schools) of Poland and Lithuania. However, many sixteenth- and seventeenth-century rabbis were also critical of pilpul. Among them may be noted Judah Loew b. Bezalel (the Maharal), Isaiah Horowitz, and Jair Hayyim Bacharach.

By the eighteenth century, pilpul study waned. Instead, other styles of learning such as that of the school of Elijah b. Solomon, the Vilna Gaon, became popular.

In the late nineteenth century another trend in Talmud study arose. Rabbi Hayyim Soloveitchik (1853-1918) of Brisk (Brest-Litovsk) developed and refined this style of study. The Brisker method involves the analysis of rabbinic arguments within the Talmud, explaining the differing opinions by placing them within a categorical structure. The Brisker method is highly analytical and is often criticized as being a modern-day version of the Pilpul. Nevertheless, the influence of the Brisker method is great. Most modern day yeshivot (Hebrew schools) study the Talmud using the Brisker method in some form. And it is through this method that Maimonides' famous Mishneh Torah began to be read not only as a halakhic work but also as a work of general talmudic interpretation.

The text of the Talmud has been subject to some level of critical scrutiny throughout its history.[1] In general, however, traditional commentaries shied away from textual criticism of talmudic passages. In the late eighteenth century, liberalization of social restrictions against Jews resulted in Judaism undergoing enormous upheaval and transformation. Such movements as Reform Judaism and other secularizing and assimilating trends emerged. During this time, modern methods of textual and historical analysis were applied to the Talmud.

Leaders of the Reform movement, such as Abraham Geiger and Samuel Holdheim, subjected the Talmud to severe scrutiny as part of an effort to break with traditional rabbinic Judaism. In reaction, Orthodox leaders such as Moses Sofer and Samson Raphael Hirsch rejected modern critical methods of Talmud study. The methods and manner of Talmud study were thus caught in the debate between the Reformers and Orthodoxy. A middle ground was developed by scholars who believed that, while tampering with Jewish law should be avoided, traditional Jewish sources such as the Talmud should be subject to academic inquiry and critical analysis. Exponents of this view were Zecharias Frankel, Leopold Zunz and Solomon Judah Leib Rappaport.

Because the modern method of historical study had its origins in the era of religious reform, the method was immediately controversial within the Orthodox world. Still, many of the nineteenth century's strongest critics of Reform, including strictly Orthodox rabbis, utilized this new scientific method. Notable among them were Nachman Krochmal and Zvi Hirsch Chajes.

The history of the Talmud reflects in part the history of Judaism persisting in a world of hostility and persecution. The charge against the Talmud brought by the convert Nicholas Donin in 1244 led to the first burning of copies of the Talmud in Paris. The Talmud was likewise the subject of a disputation at Barcelona in 1263 between Nahmanides (Rabbi Moses ben Nahman) and the convert Pablo Christiani. Criticizing the Talmud's Oral Law tradition as a heresy against the Bible, Christiani's attacks also resulted in a papal bull against the Talmud and in the Dominican censorship commission, which ordered the cancellation of passages reprehensible from a Christian perspective (1264).

At the disputation of Tortosa in 1413, Geronimo de Santa F brought forward a number of accusations, including the fateful assertion that the condemnations of pagans and apostates found in the Talmud referred in reality to Christians. Two years later, Pope Martin V, who had convened this disputation, issued a bull forbidding the Jews to read the Talmud, and ordering the destruction of all copies of it. Thankfully, this order was not implemented. Far more important were the charges made in the early part of the sixteenth century by the convert Johannes Pfefferkorn, the agent of the Dominicans whose efforts succeeded in forcing the Jews in several areas to surrender the talmudic books in their possession.

The affair resulted in an investigation which proved some of Pfefferkorn's allegations to be irresponsible. Under the protection of a papal privilege, the complete printed edition of the Babylonian Talmud was issued in 1520 by Daniel Bomberg in Venice. Three years later, in 1523, Bomberg published the first edition of the Jerusalem Talmud. Yet, 30 years after the Vatican permitted the Talmud to appear in print, it undertook a campaign of destruction against it. On September 9, 1553, copies of the Talmud which had been confiscated in compliance with a decree of the Inquisition were burned in Rome; and similar burnings took place in other Italian cities, as at Cremona in 1559. Censorship of the Talmud and other Hebrew works was introduced by a papal bull issued in 1554; five years later the Talmud was included in the first Index Expurgatoriusthe Vatican's list of forbidden books. Pope Pius IV commanded in 1565 that the Talmud be deprived of its very name.

The first edition of the expurgated Talmud, on which most subsequent editions were based, appeared at Basel (1578-1581) with the omission of passages considered inimical to Christianity, together with modifications of certain phrases. A fresh attack on the Talmud was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII (1575-85), and in 1593 Clement VIII renewed the old interdiction against reading or owning it. However, the increasing study of the Talmud in Poland led to the issue of a complete edition (Krakw, 1602-5), with a restoration of the original text. In 1707, copies of the Talmud were confiscated in the province of Brandenburg, but were restored to their owners by command of Frederick, the first king of Prussia. The last attack on the Talmud took place in Poland in 1757, when Bishop Dembowski convened a public disputation at Kamenetz-Podolsk, and ordered all copies of the work found in his bishopric to be confiscated and burned by the hangman.

The external history of attacks against the Talmud also includes the literary attacks made upon it by Christian theologians after the Reformation. Martin Luther and other Reformation theologians harshly criticized Jews and Judaism, and many of these attacks were based on the Talmud.

Later, in 1830, during a debate in the French Chamber of Peers regarding state recognition of the Jewish faith, Admiral Verhuell declared himself unable to forgive the Jews whom he had met during his travels either for their refusal to recognize Jesus as the Messiah or for their possession of the Talmud. In the same year the Abb Luigi Chiarini published in Paris a voluminous work entitled Thorie du Judasme, advocating for the first time that the Talmud should be generally accessible, not to serve the Jewish community, but to serve for attacks on Judaism. In a like spirit, modern anti-Semitic agitators have urged that a translation be made. The Talmud and the "Talmud Jew" thus became objects of anti-Semitic attacks, although, on the other hand, they were defended by many Christian students of the Talmud.

In fact, the Talmud makes little mention of Jesus directly or the early Christians. There are a number of derogatory quotes about individuals named Yeshu that once existed in editions of the Talmud; these quotes were long ago removed from the main text due to accusations that they referred to Jesus, and are no longer used in Talmud study. However, these removed quotes were preserved through rare printings of lists of errata, known as Hashmatot Hashass ("Omissions of the Talmud"). Some modern editions of the Talmud contain some or all of this material, either at the back of the book, in the margin, or in alternate print.

The Talmud is the written record of an oral tradition. It became the basis for many rabbinic legal codes and customs. Not all Jews, in the past and present, have accepted the Talmud as having religious authority. This section briefly outlines such movements.

The Sadducees were a Jewish sect which flourished during the second temple period. One of their main arguments with the Pharisees (the precursors of Rabbinic Judaism) was over their rejection of an Oral Law. The Sadducees rejected the idea of the Oral Torah and insisted that only the five Books of Moses were authoritative. They also were less likely to accept the authority of some of the prophets and other biblical writings, especially those dealing with such topics as the resurrection of the dead. Because they were largely associated with the Temple priesthood, the Sadducees influence rapidly diminished after the destruction of the Temple in 70 C.E.

Another movement which rejected the Oral Law was Karaism. It arose within two centuries of the completion of the Talmud. Karaism developed as a reaction against the Talmudic Judaism of Babylonia. The central concept of Karaism is the rejection of the Oral Torahand therefore of rabbinical authorityas embodied in the Talmud, in favor of a strict adherence to the Written Law only. Karaism was once a major movement, but has diminished in recent centuries, declining from a high of nearly 10 percent of the Jewish population to a current estimated .002 percent.

With the rise of Reform Judaism, during the nineteenth century, the authority of the Talmud was again questioned. The Talmud was seen (together with the Written Law as well) as being a product of antiquity and of having limited relevance to modern Jews. Reform Judaism does not emphasize the study of Talmud to nearly the same degree in their Hebrew schools as do other forms of contemporary Judaism, but the Talmud is indeed studied in Reform rabbinical seminaries.

Orthodox Judaism continues to stress the importance of Talmud study and it is a central component of Yeshiva curriculum. The regular study of the Talmud among laymen has been popularized by the Daf Yomi, a daily course of Talmud study initiated by Rabbi Meir Shapiro in 1923. Traditional rabbinic education continues to lay heavy emphasis on the knowledge of Talmud.

Conservative Judaism similarly emphasizes the study of Talmud within its religious and rabbinic education. Generally, however, the Talmud is studied as a historical source-text for Halakha. The Conservative approach to legal decision-making emphasizes placing classic texts and prior decisions in historical and cultural context, and examining the historical development of Halakha. This approach has resulted in greater practical flexibility than that of the Orthodox.

Many Jews today define themselves as Jews only in an ethnic or cultural sense. These Jews reject the tenets of Jewish religion outright, defining themselves either as agnostics or atheists. Included in the latter category are Jewish Marxists and Marxist-Leninists, who take a militantly atheistic stance, believing that religion itself is primarily a tool of economic oppression.

There are five contemporary translations of the Talmud into English:

All links retrieved August 27, 2020.

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Talmud - New World Encyclopedia

This op-ed first appeared in The Jewish Week.

Clubhouse is an invitation-only social media application through which users join virtual rooms for dialogue through their iPhones. Users move seamlessly through virtual rooms to listen and discuss topics such as entrepreneurship, marketing, culture and, in my case, Judaism. It is like an interactive podcast. Clubhouses appeal as an audio-only application is reflected in its subscription of 10 million users, an increase of 8 million users since January. It is now the fifth most popular downloaded app through Apple.

The Clubhouse room I entered had the approximate title of Vashti as the unworthy Jewish heroine of modernity. As I joined the virtual room, I was prepared to defend the oft-maligned Vashti the queen banished by an angry King Ahasuerus as the unsung heroine of the Purim story.

The Chabad rabbi called on me and asked for my opinion. I acknowledged that the Talmud and other commentaries provide multiple reasons for Vashtis refusal, and we each need to discern which explanations provide truth for us. I also shared that through this discussion room, I had learned something new about Vashti and the Talmud. This experience reminded me of the famous teaching that wise people learn from every person (Pirke Avot 4:1) and how much there is to learn from new, virtual forms.

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Clubhouse provides an intriguing virtual platform for dialogue. I have listened and engaged in discussions about Judaism, Israel and antisemitism. Participants on Clubhouse reflect a wide range of ages and demographics, a more diverse population than is typically found in Jewish institutions.

Seth Cohen, the founder of Applied Optimism, a community and experience consultancy with a focus on supporting organizations in the Jewish community, has observed that Clubhouse is drawing a younger audience than is often found in our established institutions.

Clubhouse provides a frictionless, inclusive and low barrier environment in which one can explore their Jewish identity in both meaningful and deeply personal ways, according to Cohen.

Clubhouse began with a small membership of prominent tech investors. As it started opening up, general users who joined the platform helped its popularity surge. Today it represents a grassroots initiative led by people, according to Tori Greene, an administrator of the Shabbat Shalom club on Clubhouse, which has 11,000 members and followers.

Greene also points out that Clubhouse is not an intentional Jewish space but a virtual space with Jewish content, and users easily gain access to a variety of different perspectives on ideas and values that they may not encounter from in-person forums, possibly a part of its appeal. As Cohen summarized, Clubhouse is not an end but rather the beginning of ways to foster a playful, experimental way to engage others Jewishly. We can learn a lot about successful Jewish engagement simply by scrolling through Clubhouse, listening in on the rooms with Jewish content and observing the participation of Clubhouse users.

The Talmud teaches that if you want to learn about a new practice, go out and see what the people are doing (Menachot 35b). During these past few weeks, I have seen and heard that our people are on Clubhouse. As Rabbi Hillel wisely advised us, Now go and learn (Shabbat 31a).

Rabbi Wendy Pein and Seth Cohen will appear in a Clubhouse room titled A roomful of rabbis talking about the Jewish future at 8:30 p.m. March 17. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of JTA or its parent company, 70 Faces Media.

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This rabbi has seen the future, and it sounds like Clubhouse - The Jerusalem Post

(Each Saturday, a faith leader offers a personal perspective in this space. To become part of this series, email religion@recorder.com)

As a child, I was alarmed about waste and over-consumption. In my home, we received two newspapers that went unread many days. Appliances were left on day and night. Packaging materials abounded, and so on. As an adult, aversion to waste continues as a guiding light. Waste feels like a sin. My arising on this planet has a cost. I feel an obligation to consume the materials I need to sustain myself and to repay those resources through good works and generosity. Reverence and mutual care are in the divine image.

Stewardship of creation is a foundational norm for Christians and Jews and Muslims. There is a deep mitzvah, or sacred deed, in the Bible enjoining us not to waste. This simple phrase is the basis for Jewish laws that touch upon everything from waste management to basing our diet around foods that take up fewer nutrients from the soil.

In Genesis, God articulates Let us make man in our image. Who is God speaking with? Man is created in the image of God and the image of creation. In a sense, we have two natures our human natures and our Godly, or spiritual nature. The genius of a healthy religious life is to balance between our two natures. We preserve ourselves and enjoy the pleasures of life AND we consider others, consider the impact of our consumption on other life forms and on the planetary future.

A Jewish foundational text, the Talmud, asks the question: Who is rich? The best-known answer is One who has joy from their portion. Other answers include: One who has a compatible life partner; One who provides work for others; and one who has a conveniently located outhouse(!). The biblical system of taxes, donations and tithes worked to prevent vast inequality of wealth. The Bible requires a sabbath (fallow year) for the landowners and the canceling of debts every seven years. The obscene and imbalanced intergenerational hoarding of wealth could never arise in a biblical culture. Could these values and practices infuse our economies now?

Greed is the precise opposite of balanced, modest consumption. Greed is inherently imbalanced. It is fear-based. Hoarding is the attempt to fill a spiritual void with bank accounts and TVs. Greed has a social implication as well. We can only put personal accumulation of wealth above shared human needs if we feel detached from others and from nature. This disconnection opens the door to fear, hiding and lying. Too few are the corporations that put human and environmental health and transparent fairness in their business culture.

I love western Massachusetts because so many of us earn part of our sustenance through the work of our hands, whether through gardening or handicraft. We share, reuse and recycle. We enjoy the beauty of our region as a simple pleasure of life. We make it a priority to support local farmers and producers. We rely on each other. In a modest land-based economy, many of us have the blessing of joy from our portion.

Balance between our more personal needs and the needs of others has always been a hallmark of intentional and religious. Today, rebalancing our culture of consumption is literally a matter of life and death. From Deuteronomy 30:19: I call heaven and earth to record this that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.

Rabbi Andrea Cohen-Kiener serves as rabbi at Temple Israel Greenfield.

Temple Israel Greenfield has a 100-year history of living Jewish values and transmitting Jewish culture in Franklin County.

Services are held Tuesday mornings and Friday or Saturday on each sabbath. A full calendar is here: https://templeisraelgreenfield.org. Diverse service styles are offered from traditional Ashkenazi and Sepharadi to chanting, contemplative and new music.

Hebrew and Torah (Hebrew scriptures) classes are offered on Thursday afternoons. Adult, family and child educational classes and offered on Sunday mornings and other times.

Temple Israel Greenfield has sustained social justice programs in gleaning, food justice, immigrant support and racial justice. TIG works with allies as a member of the Interfaith Council of Franklin County.

The Temple Israel Greenfield facility is currently closed and all meetings and classes are held online. Contact Temple Israel for links to zoom gatherings.

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Faith Matters: Rebalancing our culture of consumption - The Recorder