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

Chullin 89

What do Abraham, Moses, Aaron, and David all have in common? According to today’s daf, they all passed the same test. The Torah tells us that God chose the Jewish people “not because you are more numerous than all the peoples—you are the fewest.” The rabbis take this in a completely unexpected direction. “Fewest” (ha-me’at)Continue reading “Chullin 89”

Chullin 88

Dust and Ashes Sometimes the Talmud notices details we would otherwise skim past. On today’s daf, Rava says: As reward for that which our Patriarch Abraham said: “And I am but dust [afar] and ashes” (Genesis 18:27), his children merited two mitzvot: The ashes of the red heifer (see Numbers, chapter 19) and the dustContinue reading “Chullin 88”

Avodah Zarah 20

A really beautiful gem today, that reminds me of Chad Gadya, There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, and The Greengrass Grows All Around as well as th emore modern classic book: If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. But, it’s about virtue. Rabbi Pineḥas ben Ya’ir would say: Torah study leads toContinue reading “Avodah Zarah 20”