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Category: Aggadah & Talmudic Narrative

Mikva Revisited – Understanding Shabbat 13a-b in light of Parshat Metzora

Mikva Revisited – Understanding Shabbat 13a-b in light of Parshat Metzora

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(with some additional comments by Marc B. Shapiro) It is well known that when describing the purification of niddah and zava the Torah does not explicitly mention that immersion is required. The present article will briefly examine the proofs given for such an immersion and show a novel understanding of a story brought in the Talmud (Shabbat 13a-b). There are 5 most commonly brought proofs for mikva immersion. Three are brought in Tosafot (Hagiga 11a s.v. lo nitzrecha, Yevamot 47b…

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How many children did Michal have? Explanation of a Talmudic passage in light of the writings of Josephus Flavius

How many children did Michal have? Explanation of a Talmudic passage in light of the writings of Josephus Flavius

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The following Talmudic passage appears in Sanhedrin 19b (we are using mostly Soncino translation): R. Yossi was asked by his disciples: How could David marry two sisters while they were both living? He answered: He married Michal after the death of Meirav. R. Yehoshua ben Korha said: His marriage to Meirav was contracted in error, as it is said, Deliver me my wife Michal whom I betrothed unto me for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. How does this prove…

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Demythologising the Rabbinic Aggadah: Menahem Meiri

Demythologising the Rabbinic Aggadah: Menahem Meiri

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Many of the mediaeval Jewish teachers, partly in defence of the Talmud against attack by the Karaites, partly because of their own rationalistic stance, engaged in what Marc Saperstein in a fine study has called ‘decoding the Rabbis’. That is to say, passages, especially in the Talmudic Aggadah, which seemed to them offensive to reason and general religious sensibilities, these teachers interpreted in the light of their own philosophical views, treating the Talmudic Aggadah as if it were a code…

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Talmudic Humor and Its Discontents

Talmudic Humor and Its Discontents

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In honor of Purim, I’d like to discuss a few aspects of humor in the Talmud . But first, a short overview of topic of Jewish humor in general. A lot has been written about Jewish humor . A very good overview of Jewish humor, in general, is that of Avner Ziv in the second edition of Encyclopedia Judaica, under the entry “Humor” . However, most of the piece is about Jewish humor from the eighteenth century and on, with…

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Answers to Quiz Questions and Other Comments, part 2

Answers to Quiz Questions and Other Comments, part 2

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1. In my previous post, in discussing the words in Ecclesiastes 2:8 עשיתי לי שרים ושרות, I referred to the interpretation in Kohelet Rabbati. This very section of Kohelet Rabbati has an amazing comment, which as far as I know was never referred to in the dispute over Sara Hurwitz’ rabbinical ordination. Commenting on the words שדה ושדות, which appear in the same sentence as שרים ושרות, the Midrash states: שדה ושדות: דיינים זכרים ודיינות נקבות In other words, Solomon…

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Was Avraham a Lamdan?

Was Avraham a Lamdan?

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I would like to thank Eliezer Brodt for reviewing this article and discussing it with me, and my father for editing this article. Some time ago there was a discussion in cyberspace regarding whether the Avos kept all of the mitzvos. The discussion was started when a video on Youtube made fun of the idea, and a response to the video was published on the Hirhurim blog (here), as well as counter-response (here). I’d like to discuss some of the…

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How much Greek in “Greek Wisdom”? On the Meaning of Hokhmat Yevanit

How much Greek in “Greek Wisdom”? On the Meaning of Hokhmat Yevanit

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In the medieval controversies over the study of philosophy, one of the major points of contention was the Talmudic prohibition against hokhmat yevanit. Modern historians, who are generally well-disposed toward the Maimonidean proponents of philosophy (often at the expense of the anti-rationalists), nevertheless often assume that the anti-rationalists had the better of this particular argument. The Maimonidean defense of philosophy against the Talmudic stricture, if not an outright distortion, was at least a forced explanation. However, the truth seems to…

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תפילת בית המדרש, התיאטרון הרומי וישיבת הקרנות

תפילת בית המדרש, התיאטרון הרומי וישיבת הקרנות

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דוד סג”ל מלבורן, אוסטרליה אף שלתפילה צורות הבעה ושמות שונים , הרי עיקר התפילה הוא אחד, והוא מוגדר ע”י הרמב”ם כך: “… חיוב מצווה זו /התפילה/ כך הוא, שיהא אדם מתחנן ומתפלל בכל יום ומגיד שבחו של הקדוש ברוך הוא ואחר כך שואל צרכיו שהוא צריך להם בבקשה ובתחנה ואחר כך נותן שבח והודיה לה’ על הטובה שהשפיע לו, כל אחד לפי כחו”. עיקרון זה מופיע בדברי הרמב”ם גם במקום אחר , בו הוא כותב: “לעולם יצעק אדם על העתיד…

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R. Flensberg, Donkeys, Antelopes and Frogs

R. Flensberg, Donkeys, Antelopes and Frogs

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Recently, a book, Aggadata de-Ve Rav, Machon Limud Aggadah, Ashdod, 2010, pp. 50, 176, 56, collecting various works attempting to explain the difficult and, on their face, rather odd stories (aggadot) that appear in Baba Batra (73a-74) many of which involve odd animals do odd things. In addition to these passages, there is another odd passage in Bechorot (7b) which also involves an animal, a donkey also engaging in odd behavior. This passage was too was also the subject of…

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Bitul ha-Tamid: the History and Application

Bitul ha-Tamid: the History and Application

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Bitul ha-Tamid and Edgar Allan Poe* The Mishna in Tannit records that 5 bad events occurred on the 17th of Tamuz, one being the cessation of the daily sacrifice, the tamid. The Talmud Bavli offers the background to the other four events. When it comes to the cessation of the Tamid, all the Bavli does is state “Gemara.” It is left to the Yerushalmi to fully explain the story. The Yerushalmi, (Tannit, 4:5), records that the Jews to maintain the…

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Where are the Temple Vessels?

Where are the Temple Vessels?

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It seems that among many, it is assumed the temple vessels (klei haMikdash) are housed in the Vatican. In 2004, Rabbis Amar and Metzger asked the Pope to return the temple vessels. Earlier, Shimon Shetreet, the minster of religion, also asked the Pope to return these, and, according to Shetreet’s account, told the Pope he was unwelcome in Israel until he did so. But, it seems that although these people were willing to issue demands about these vessels, they did…

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