Browsed by
Tag: David S. Farkas

The Unusual Word Tzafufim in Pirkei Avos

The Unusual Word Tzafufim in Pirkei Avos

Comments 13 comments

* On a recent Shabbos afternoon I was learning the Yerushalmi to Peah when my thoughts turned – for reasons described below – to the famous passage in Pirkei Avos (5:5) עומדים צפופים ומשתחווים רווחים. Every schoolboy is familiar with the phrase. The Mishna sets forth ten miracles regularly experienced in the times of the Temple. The eighth of these, as set forth above, is that though the people stood crowded in the Temple courtyard, they were nevertheless able to…

Read More Read More

The Meaning of the Word Eduyos in מסכת עדיות

The Meaning of the Word Eduyos in מסכת עדיות

Comments 22 comments

Mr. Farkas received his rabbinic ordination from Ner Israel Rabbinical College in 1999. He lives with his family in Cleveland, Ohio, where he serves as Senior Corporate Counsel for one of the largest energy distribution companies in the United States. Masechet Eduyos is a unique volume of the Talmud. It is the only halachic tractate not confined to a single defined area of law. It is, rather, a collection of Mishnayos on diverse topics, some of which appear elsewhere throughout…

Read More Read More

In Praise of the Soncino Talmud

In Praise of the Soncino Talmud

Comments 134 comments

Not long ago one of our local schools hosted a Giveaway day in its library, making many of the older seforim in its considerable collection free to a good home. As expected, the local citizenry plundered and pillaged, carrying off large numbers of books, many still in quite good condition. I was only able to attend towards the end, “after the last of the gleaners had gone.” Only a few scattered Siddurim and Chumashim were left, when I spotted a…

Read More Read More

Rashbam the Talmudist, Reconsidered

Rashbam the Talmudist, Reconsidered

Comments 62 comments

* Abstract Rashbam (Rabbi Samuel ben Meir of Troyes) is known today primarily for his Biblical commentary, which is often seen as a forerunner to modern academic study of the Bible. Rashbam’s Talmudic commentary, by contrast, is often dismissed as merely a more “prolix” version of his grandfather Rashi, devoid of the critical methods that make his Biblical commentary unique. While a proper study of Rashbam’s Talmudic exegesis has yet to be written, this exploratory essay seeks to demonstrate that…

Read More Read More