The Dog Jumps-הכלב קופץ » Talmud

Global Update

Nathan — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 21:15:36 +0000

So it has been a long time since I wrote regularly on this thing. I have no singular excuse, but a combination of a few. I thought it was about time to just post a general update to what has been going on in the last 4-5 months. A quick list:

I sold my first [...]

Talmud Tidbit: What is a Koy?

Nathan — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 04:25:34 +0000

A randomish note in tractate Nazir 34a: the koy. An animal that is speculated to be one of the following: off spring of a he-goat and a hind a distinct species, not a hybrid unknown if it is a domesticated animal (בהמה) or a wild animal (חיה). it is indeed kosher The implication in this Gemara revolves around a “bet” [...]

Moses Was Wise

Nathan — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:24:18 +0000

Nedarim 38a lauds Moses for his unique abilities. Offering some questions about why the messiah was not mentioned in Moses’ time and if there is a messiah what else beyond what Moses achieved is necessary for one to be the messiah. Was it the same moment of doubt that kept G-d’s most faithful servant from [...]

Talmud Tidbit: Raasan

Nathan — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 04:37:50 +0000

Another creepy disease from Talmudic times, from Ketubot 77b:

What are its symptoms? His eyes tear, his nostrils run, he brings spittle from his mouth, and flies swarm around him.

And what is its cure? Abaye said: Take the following ingredients: Pennyroyal [a kind of mint] and wormwood, the bark of a nut tree and [...]

Talmud Tidbit: Lowly Nations

Nathan — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 19:11:37 +0000

Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakki wept and said, “Fortunate are you, O Israel. When they do the will of the omnipresent, no nation or tongue can rule over them, but when they do not do the will of the omnipresent, he delivers them to the hands of a lowly nation. And not into the hands of [...]

Yevamot. Done.

Nathan — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:52:50 +0000

Wow! Yevamot was 3 volumes and 122 pages, I am guessing about 850 total pages. The Daf Yomi cycle is both sides of the Hebrew each day; meaning this mesechet took 121 days to complete. Why they all start with 2, I don’t know.

The entire tractate was devoted to the complexities of yibum: when [...]

Kares is Jewish Hell

Nathan — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 13:00:53 +0000

Kares is defined in the back of one of my books as excision; early death imposed for certain classes of transgressions. It occurred to me in the shower this morning (I often do my best thinking there!) that one of the reasons for a lack of a hell like concept in Judaism is that in [...]

Talmud Tidbit: Accidental Consummation of A Relationship

Nathan — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 02:28:33 +0000

It has been a while since I posted a Talmud tidbit. This is partly because I have been traveling and because work has been killing me. Not since a certain South African took over my company have I battled such usurpers. On top of all this, I am in the midst of Yevamot which is [...]

iCal Daf Yomi

Nathan — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 23:29:33 +0000

From Wikipedia: Daf Yomi (Heb. דף יומי “page [of the] day” or “daily folio”) is a daily regimen undertaken to study the entire Talmud Bavli one daf (i.e. two actual pages), one day at a time, so that it can be completed in a cycle of seven and a half years.

I started the cycle [...]

Proud Owner: New Shas

Nathan — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 12:27:46 +0000

What is a Shas you ask? Well it is a Hebrew abbreviation of shishah sedarim, the “six orders” of the Mishnah. Still confused: I bought the 73 volumes on the Schottenstein Edition of The Talmud. It arrived in 6 boxes. Only one is open – the current daf yomi tractate – the others I am [...]

Talmud Tidbit – 9th & 15th of Av & 17th of Tamuz

Nathan — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 17:06:17 +0000

Most know some of these, but they were delineated at the end of the last Tractate.

17th of Tamuz – 5 bad things:

Tablets were broken by Moses upon seeing the Golden Calf Tamid offering discontinued Jerusalem city wall was breached Roman military leader Apostumos burned the Torah in the temple He also placed and [...]

Talmud Oddities: Sexual Ambiguity

Nathan — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 21:44:59 +0000

It has been a while since I found a Talmud oddity that was worth posting about. The last couple of tractates have been a bit dry. I am fully versed in the number of doves I am allowed to kill for a Yom Tov and what to do if when I decide they are for [...]

Holiday Haul

Nathan — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 02:02:49 +0000

It was a super cool holiday! I got some wonderful gifts from my family and friends. A gift certificate to Artscroll that allowed me to get a new Tanach and some missing back volumes of the Bavli Talmud, a new bulb for my fishtank, a cool Lego car kit, some misc books and magazine, a [...]

Honey! We are out of stones!

Nathan — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 22:49:00 +0000

In Talmudic times people would use sharp edged stones to remove fecal material from the rectal area after defecation. And in typical form, there is a discussion in the Talmud about the size and number of the stone one is allowed to carry on Shabbat. I am not a fan of paper, as my brother [...]

Dude! Check Out My Lemon!

Nathan — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 04:44:00 +0000

פרי עץ הדר – The fruit from the beautiful tree. The Talmud goes on and on, as it does, about how the term beautiful really REALLY means it. The fruit has to be yellow, or on its way, larger than an egg, small enough that you wont drop it, picked a certain way, blemish free, [...]

Virgins Are A Distraction For Men

Nathan — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 16:33:00 +0000

In trying to resolve the relationship between how and when a man has to say the Shema while performing or engaged in another mitzvah, the Talmud makes it clear that a man who has just been married to a virgin, not a widow, does not have to say the Shema nor does he have to [...]

MAD DOG!!!! RUN!!!!!

Nathan — Thu, 31 Aug 2006 16:46:54 +0000

Yoma 84a: Tips for encountering a mad dog:

Kill it with something thrown. If it touches you, remove your clothing and run. If it bites you, you will die. But you can also skin a male polecat, write something on the skin, bury your clothing for a year in a graveyard. After a year, burn [...]

Talmud Tidbit: The Jewish Version of an Oracle

Nathan — Mon, 21 Aug 2006 02:10:04 +0000

I want to share another fun tidbit from my reading yesterday. It has to do with consulting the Urim VeTumim. There are rules, this is Judaism, after all, there are always rules, about the proper method of consultation. However, the gist is there is a piece of parchment, given to Moses by G-d, with the [...]

Taking on evil inclination

Nathan — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 02:24:43 +0000

Talmud tidbit, from 2 days go, a short version: Jews asked to be forgiven for sin of idol worship, and were sent a flaming lion cub to deal with, they did, putting it in a lead pot and sealing the pot closed. They figured, we are on a roll, lets ask for evil inclination [...]

ככלב שב על קאו כסיל שונה באולתו

Nathan — Tue, 27 Jun 2006 23:41:09 +0000

I am proud of myself! I finished my first full tractate of the Talmud Bavli: Yoma. The ending note from these last few readings is

Like a dog that returns to its vomit so is a fool who repeats his foolishness

As a dog owner, watching Ellie eat her vomit makes me nauseous, so this [...]