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What might we compare the Torah to? Usually, water, or the tree of life – today, a crouching lion. The Gemara is wondering: if someone vows not to eat something, how much of that thing do they need to eat to be liable? An olive bulk? What if it’s something no one woudl eat? LikeContinue reading “Shevuot 22”

We learned in our last Tractate, Makkot, that the courts only punish people for committing an act forbidden by the Torah (doing a “don’t do”). If you are passive and don’t to a positive commandment, you don’t get punished by the court (if you don’t do a “do do”). Today, the daf asks about oaths.Continue reading “Shevuot 21”

“Shamor v’Zachor b’dibur echad” says the lyrics of Lecha Dodi. What is it saying? The Ten Commandments are given twice in the Torah. But in one location is says “guard” Shabbat while in the other it says “remember” Shabbat. How do we solve this discrepancy? We learn on the daf . . .we also learnContinue reading “Shevuot 20”

Today’s gem is that there is no such thing as repetition for no reason in the Torah. Each repetition is there to teach something we wouldn’t have otherwise known. This is in accordance with what was taught in the school of Rabbi Yishmael: Every passage in the Torah that was stated and repeated was repeatedContinue reading “Shevuot 19”

On today’s daf we see a rabbi throw dirt at another rabbi for asking a stupid question and the rabbis repeatedly talking about flaccid penises. But the gem is the magical thinking of what to do to ensure you have boys when conceiving: Concerning this matter, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says:Continue reading “Shevuot 18”

Short gem today. Rabbi Oshaya, said said: I wish to say something, but I am afraid of my colleagues. I get it! Wow. I love this. How often are we afraid to speak up because we don’t want to look stupid? Rabbi Oshaya, you do your thing. Don’t let them intimidate you.

How do you bow? Usually we associate a bow in services as straight from the waist, or maybe with a knee bend followed by a bow from the waist. But I see people swooping back and forth as well. And then there is the Great Aleinu where we go prostrate. Today, we see that thereContinue reading “Shevuot 16”

When I would bring home my report card, my mom would always ask me if it was the best I could do. She just wanted to know that I was trying my best. It seems she may have gotten this idea from the daf: The Gemara challenges this: Is the size of the offering ofContinue reading “Shevuot 15”

On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, clergy say a confession before we lead the service. The origins are on our daf… The Gemara answers: Two confessions are necessary, one for the High Priest himself, and one for his household, i.e., the priests, as the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: The High Priest must first confess his own transgressions and only afterwardContinue reading “Shevuot 14”

Did you know that man have reversed their circumcision? As it is taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: For all transgressions that are stated in the Torah, whether one repented, or whether one did not repent, Yom Kippur atones, except for one who divests himself of the yoke of Heaven, by denying God’sContinue reading “Shevuot 13”