Two fabulous passages on the daf! The first is an argument about just how righteous Noah was (there are other places that argue maybe he wasn’t so righteous). The second is also about Noah, and it’s a quote I teach often (including in my chapter on climate justice in Moral Resistance and Spiritual Authority). So,Continue reading “Sanhedrin 108”
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Sanhedrin 107
Oh what a daf!! It’s a good one. It starts with Dvid asking why we say “God of Abraha, God of Isaac, God of Jacob” in our prayers, but we don’t say “God of David.” Let’s see: Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: A person should never bring himself to undergo an ordeal, as David,Continue reading “Sanhedrin 107”
Sanhedrin 106
How do we react when someone (with power) says something that we think is wrong or immoral? What if we were standing before them? On our daf, we learn that three men were standing before Pharaoh when he decided to drawn all the Jewish baby boys in the Nile. And that is what Rabbi ḤiyyaContinue reading “Sanhedrin 106”
Sanhedrin 105
When is a good time to curse someone? When God’s angry at them! When is that? Explaining the cause of God’s anger, it was taught in a baraita in the name of Rabbi Meir: When the sun rises and the kings place their crowns on their heads and bow down to the sun, the HolyContinue reading “Sanhedrin 105”
Sanhedrin 104
Okay, there was too much to pick from. But I settled on just two. The first: With regard to the phrase: “Great among the nations, and princess among the provinces” (Lamentations 1:1), Rava says that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Every place they go, when exiled among the nations, the Jewish people become princes to their mastersContinue reading “Sanhedrin 104”
Sanhedrin 103
We might be familiar with the prophet Micah, but our daf today tells us of an evil Micah, the one from Judges 17. This Micah induced others to idol worship. In Judges 17:1-4 we read: “There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, “TheContinue reading “Sanhedrin 103”
Sanhedrin 102
Two little gems for you today. (Though the entire daf is interesting if you want to study Israel’s kings and how they went astray.) Our first gem teaches us to say blessings and not to take anything for granted. If you take without blessing, it’s equivalent to theft. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Pappa says: With regardContinue reading “Sanhedrin 102”
Sanhedrin 101
Yesterday was lasers coming out of the eyes. Today we have fire coming out of a penis. Again, who ever thought talmud was boring? The daf takes a tangent today to discuss three people who misinterpreted signs of the future. The message? Don’t try and predict the future. Even if you’re given a message, youContinue reading “Sanhedrin 101”
Sanhedrin 100
What does it mean to mock the statements of the Sages? On our daf today, we get a few examples, including my gem. It’s a wild story with a pretty extreme ending. If you heard that someone mocked the statements of the Sages, this is what you heard: It is like that case in whichContinue reading “Sanhedrin 100”
Sanhedrin 99
In a proof that no detail in the Torah is without meaning, we get a lesson about the importance of inclusion. The Gemara asks: With regard to that verse that we came to discuss, in any event, what is the significance of the phrase in the verse “And Lotan’s sister was Timna”? The Gemara explains: Timna was the daughter of kings, asContinue reading “Sanhedrin 99”
2,711 pages of Talmud. A gem a day. 