2,711 pages of Talmud. A gem a day.

Proverbs 30:15-16 compares the grave and the womb. On today’s page the rabbis day that they are alike in that both “take in and give forth.” In his book on mourning practices, Gesher Hachaim, Rabbi Tukachinsky used the following parable to explain the Jewish view on life after death:

Twin brothers, fetuses in their mother’s womb, enjoyed a carefree life. Their world was dark and warm and protected. These twins were alike in all aspects but one. One brother was a ‘believer’: he believed in an afterlife, in a future reality much different from their current, miniature universe.

The second brother, however, was a skeptic. All he knew was the familiar world of the womb. Anything besides what he could feel and sense was only an illusion. The skeptic tried to talk some sense into his brother. He warned him to be realistic, but to no avail. His naive brother insisted on believing in an extraordinary world that exists after life in the womb, a world so immense and fantastic that it transcends their wildest dreams.

The months passed, and the fatal moment arrived. Labor began. The fetuses became aware of tremendous contractions and shifting in their little world.

The freethinker recognized that “this is it.” His short but pleasant life was about to end. He felt the forces pressuring him to go down, but fought against them. He knew that outside the womb, a cruel death awaited, with no protective sack and no umbilical cord. Suddenly, he realized that his naive brother was giving in to the forces around them. His brother was sinking lower!

“Don’t give up!” he cried, but his twin took no heed. “Where are you, my dear brother?”

He shuddered as he heard the screams from outside the womb. His poor brother had met his cruel fate. How naive he had been, with his foolish belief in a bigger, better world!

Then the skeptic felt the uterine muscles pushing him out, against his will, into the abyss. He screamed out …

“Mazal Tov!” called out the doctor. “Two healthy baby boys!”

Usually I comment on the content of the page, but today I want to comment on how the rabbis come to their ruling. First, they assume that every word holds meaning and value and must be unpacked. Second, they believe that their teachers are so wise that if they see them do something that seems incorrect or contradictory to a teaching they assume that they themselves must be mistaken and figure out an argument to defend their teacher. Third, every opinion/interpretation is given and preserved.
Quite beautiful to see people have so much respect for one another, even when they disagree.

One gem from today – that we are only to call people by their current name, not their old ones. I love this for multiple reasons; 1) for those who are labeled one gender upon birth and only later adopt ad name and gender that fits them, the Talmud would support those around you calling you by your chosen(true) name. 2) That we are not necessarily who we used to be. People change and we should allow and embrace that growth.

A second gem is a law that says mitzvot have to have intention to count. I have definitely felt the difference personally between mitzvot I have been thoughtful about, planned, and executed with meaning, verses those that I did not notice or just happened upon. But I feel like there is a bigger lesson to uncover in this as well. Maybe about how we are in the world. That our actions are more meaningful when we are fully present. That intentionality is vital to being our best selves.

“And Rabba bar Ḥinnana Sava said in the name of Rav: Anyone who can ask for mercy on behalf of another, and does not ask is called a sinner.” In a world where we are more and more isolated, it’s always good to have reminders that we are responsible for one another. And in a world with so much brokenness, where it’s overwhelming and the instinct is to tune it out and distract and tell ourselves that we are innocent since we are not actively contributing to injustice – this is a good reminder that those who do nothing to fight against injustice are, in fact, supporting injustice.
1500 years old and still, some woke rabbis.

Two gems. 1) Both Bet Hillel and Bet Shammai give opinions, both are valid, but we follow Hillel because students of Bet Hillel are able to explain and understand the opinions of both their house of study and Bet Shammai and teach both positions. What a powerful lesson in a time where we like to stay in our own echo chambers – not only should you hear from those you disagree with, you shoudl be able to teach the reasoning behind their positions.
2) There is a discussion of the Yotzeir Or prayer, which says God creates light AND dark, and there is an argument made that we should avoid saying God creates dark. But the rabbis agree that we need to see that light and dark all come from the same source. This prayer almost made me drop out of Rabbinical School. When I had cancer, it gave me solace. I talked about it in my TEDx talk. The sound is terrible, but if you would like to watch it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2lp0RLHY8s

We meet Bruryah! Our female sage who comes to teach the men how to properly interpret Torah verse by reminding them not to take things out of context. And she reminds her husband something we say on the high holidays – that we should not pray for the death of sinners, but just that they should repent and change their ways. AKA Hate the sin and not the sinner. God knows not a one of us has ever made it through life without a sin.
Nice to have a woman so respected in a text written by men for men.

In a weird tangent on the story of the Passover, there is a whole discussion of the timing of things on that final day. But one gem – redemption comes after the darkest moment. For anyone feeling darkness, there is always hope. Let’s make tomorrow brighter.

One gem from today’s daf – “respect scholars in their old age even when they forget, they are like the broken tablets in the ark.” LOVE THIS. I am not sure if it needs further explanation. But let’s respect the elderly. I know my goal in life is to reach “old age”. Yet, our modern society tends to shun the elderly and think that only youth bring real wisdom. But, as it says, even when the elderly forget, they are like the broken tablets. Background: There is an idea that after Moses saw the Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf and Moses broke the original tablets, that we carried both the whole and broken tablets with us in the ark of the covenant. So, if our elderly(or forgetful/sick/mentally declining) are the broken tablets, it reminds us that they are still sacred. And they should be precious to us.

Out of a page of so much, two pieces I will comment on for Shabbat: 1) When Rav Nachum is sick and not showing up to services, Rabbi Yitzhak tries to convince him to come. Rav Nachum says, no I am not strong enough. It’s suggested he allow a minyan to come to him house. This he refuses as well. It ends by saying he should pray at the same time as the community. . . I know that some people are overwhelmed by crowds, or are sick themselves, or out of town and so they watch services on-line – here is your Talmudic support, you are one of the community and SO valued!
2) The daf discusses that God gets angry. Holy anger. But only for a moment (to be precise: One fifty-eight thousand, eight hundred and eighty-eighth or a second). This reminded me of a recent study of the minds of Buddhist monks. They found that the monks, who seem the most unflustered people on the planet, actually feel anger deeper than others. The trick is, they feel it deeply, and then immediately let it go. In fact, only by letting ourselves fully feel things can we walk through them, can we let them go.
Which reminds me of a favorite story about Buddhist monks:

A senior monk and a junior monk were traveling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.

The two monks glanced at one another because they had taken vows not to touch a woman.

Then, without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and continued on his 
journey.

The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened. After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.

Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk could contain himself any longer, and blurted out “As monks, we are not permitted to touch a woman, how could you carry that woman on your shoulders?”

The older monk looked at him and replied, “Brother, I set her down on the other side of the river hours ago, why are you still carrying her?”

Again, lots covered on today’s page. I want to focus on two ideas: 1) that just as people pray to be close to God and place verses about God in our tefillin (traditional morning head and arm pieces worn during prayer); God prays to be close to us, and even wears tefillin with verses about us! God wants a relationship, and perhaps feels the same love, longing and loneliness we feel towards Her. And 2) the page ends with a comment that if you don’t greet a pauper, you have stolen from them, because you have stolen their dignity. So, even if you don’t have money to give, give the dignity of a smile, a kind word, of humanity.