TALMUD
Lecture 1: Talmud Learning Group
Moderator: Rabbi Sidney Slivko
1. Introduction
For those of you who are studying Talmud for the first time, and want to understand how a Talmud page is structured, you might want to take a look at Eliezer Segal's web site at
www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudPage.html
The Steinsaltz edition is structured in similar format with the body of the main text in the center and the commentaries surrounding. I also recommend Steinsaltz's introduction to the Talmud, an excellent reference guide.
If you are looking for Hebrew-English text, I recommend the Stone edition over the Soncino. If, however, you only have access to the Soncino edition, that, too, is adequate.
(For a list of on-line references, including a history of Talmud and oral law, check the resources at the end of this article).
What is Talmud?
A Roman philosopher once asked a rabbi "What is Talmud?"
The rabbi answered "Let me explain. There were two men who were on a roof and they climbed down a chimney. One's face became dirty and the other's did not. Which one washed his face?"
"That's easy", said the philosopher, "the dirty one washes his face"
"No. The one with the clean face looked at his friend and thought his own face was dirty, so he washed, while the other one saw his friend's clean face and thought his face was clean, too, so he didn't wash."
"Then Talmud is reasoning"!
"No. Let me explain again. There were two men who were on a roof and they climbed down a chimney. One's face became dirty and the other's did not. Which one washed his face?""
"The one with the clean face, right?"
"Wrong!" There was a mirror and the one with the dirty face saw himself and washed his face."
"Aha! Talmud is logic, then."
"Of course not! How could two people climb down a chimney and one get dirty and the other one not?"
"Oh, I see. It's all about common sense."
"You foolish man", said the rabbi, "of course it's possible if the first one brushes away all the dirt."
"Now I understand", said the philosopher. "The Talmud is all about getting at the basic facts."
"No", said the rabbi, "Nobody can ever brush away all the dirt and nobody can ever get all the basic facts."
"So what is Talmud?" asked the philosopher.
"Talmud is about doing the best we can to uncover God's purpose in this world and find our role in it. "
(from THE SOURCE by James Michener)
The first thing we need to do is to tell ourselves that Talmud is oral, not written. Each opinion, each narrative in Talmud is a spoken narrative, whether it's Halakhic debate or Aggadic Midrash. This means the Talmud needs to be spoken not read. It also means that, as a running oral work, it has no beginning or end. We enter in the middle and put ourselves into the dialogue. We have only one real "book" and that is the "Torah She'bikhtav" or the "Written Torah".
The "Torah she'be'al peh" is at least as old as -- and possibly older than -- the "Torah she'bikhtav", and had to have been passed down side by side with the written Torah in one form or another as a means of explaining what was written in the Torah. Practically all the halakhot of tefillin (phylacteries) are considered "Halakhah le'Moshe mi'Sinai", that is, ancient oral traditions which date back to Moshe at Sinai. For generations it was taught and transmitted by master to disciple, and never in writing, adapting to the changing realities without sacrificing its essential truths. This is what is described in the words of the Mishnah in Avot, (1:1), as putting "A fence around the Torah."
The participants in Talmudic discussions relied on midrash (exegesis) to decide or apply the Torah she'bikhtav to everyday life. By the close of the Mishnah period (c. 250 CE) they had systematized the accepted methods of midrash, rejecting some in favor of others. These included the "Kal v'Homer - "lenient_to_stringent" that if a lenient case has a restriction, a stringent case should certainly have the same restriction, or a "Gezerat Shaveh" - "Rule of Equality", where two unrelated cases in the Torah can be connected by the use of similar words. These methods were no longer used after the Mishna (250CE till 6oo CE)to derive Halakhah, though they were used for Aggadic purposes. In addition to deriving Halakhah from the Torah using a specific methodology (which ultimately became halakhah by fiat in many cases) participants in Talmudic dialogue often "sevara" or logic, to deduce a halakhah from experience. As time progressed, the These, too, became accepted laws, although laws which were base on the Torah had greater provenance and acceptance over the latter.
Around the year 200CE, Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi (The Prince, also known as Rabbi), a descendant of Hillel codified the oral law into a more accessible form called the Mishnah (meaning "Study", "Gift" or"Repetition"). He did this because much of the traditions had been either lost or on the verge of being lost when many of the leading scholars had perished in the preceding generation during the Roman persecutions under the emperor Hadrian. This collection also included dissenting opinions to prevent a future student from saying "Perhaps Rabbi didn't take this dissenting opinion into account." Following Rabbi Akiva's lead, he divided the Oral law into six sections or Sedarim (literally "Orders") of Mishnah as follows:
- Zera'im or Seeds: dealing with agriculture and prayer service which became the form of worship after the destruction of the temple in 70CE.
- Mo'ed or Time: dealing with holidays and the Sabbath - issues pertaining to the calendar
- Nashim or Women: dealing with women in Jewish society
- Nezikin or Damages: dealing with civil cases and court procedures
- Kodshim or Sacred things: dealing with temple life
- Taharot or Purity: dealing with laws of purity and 'impurity'
Rabbi's death in the middle of the 3rd century marked the end of the Tannaitic period. (The word Tanna is the Aramaic translation of the Shana, the verb for Mishnah. The scholars who are mentioned in the Mishna are called Tannaim, Aramaic for Shonim. Aramaic was the language of conversation, Hebrew was the language of Torah). After Rabbi's death, the Mishnah continued to be studied and expanded upon by generations of scholars called Amoraim (Sayers). These men saw their place in the chain of tradition as being lower than the previous generation of scholars, hence they didn't create or invent halakhah, they merely repeated or adapted it to their needs. Their time period ended in the 6th century with Ravina and Rav Ashi in Babylonia. Ravina and Rav Ashi, witnessing almost the same crisis as the generation of Rabbi, collected all the discussions of the Amoraim into one major work called the Gemara or finish. It is also called Talmud (learning), which has come to be the name for the entire inter-generational discourse, Mishna and Gamara.
You can generally recognize the difference between Mishnaic & post Mishnaic by the language. Mishnaic is almost always Hebrew. Post-Mishnaic is almost always Aramaic.
One more thing to remember. As illustrated by the story from Michener's book, The purpose of Talmud is not just to arrive at the conclusion. Each case is different and the understanding the parameters themselves is based on one's personal approach. The purpose is the process of reaching the conclusion by examining all the sides of the story, seeing each case as a play which we direct by asking "What is the setting?" "Who are the players?" What is their motivation?" This gives us insight into how to apply the principles from the Torah, and ultimately make the Halakhah a living, breathing entity.
That is Talmud.
A case for discussion from the Tractate Bava Metzia (Order: Nezikin), First Chapter. If you learned this Mishna before, I encourage you to look it again with a fresh eye for detail. See this as a script with you as the director. Ask yourself who the actors are, where they are, what do they want and what is the motivating principle of the author(the Tana of the Mishna, you are the director) for providing us with the conclusion. Why did the author script it as it appears? In other words, write out the scene for yourself and share your vignette with the list. Above all, ask yourself if you could have reached an alternative conclusion if the scenario were change ever so slightly. How would that change the principle of the Tana as you understand it?
The Case:
Two are holding a garment. One says "I found it!" and one says "I found it!" One says "It's all mine!" and one says "It's all mine!" The one swears that he is entitled to no less than half and the other swears that he is entitled to no less than half and they divide it.
One says "It's all mine!" and one says "half is mine!" The one who says "It's all mine" swears that he is entitled to no less than three quarters and the one who says "half is mine" swears that he is entitled to no less than one quarter. This one takes three quarters and this one takes one quarter.
Two were riding on a donkey or one was riding and one was leading. One says "It's all mine!" and one says "It's all mine!" The one swears that he is entitled to no less than half and the other swears that he is entitled to no less than half and they divide it.
When they admit or when there are witnesses present, they divide it without an oath.
Now, as Hillel said, "Zil g'mor." Go and learn!
For reference texts, I would recommend the following:
- To Be A Jew By Chaim Donin
- The Essential Talmud by Adin Steinsaltz
- The Talmudic Anthology by Louis Neuman
- Legends of the Jews by Ginsburg
- This is My God by Herman Wouk
Other sites of interest on the Talmud:
- What is the Talmud Bavli? http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/03-Torah-Halacha/section-18.html
- Road map to Jewish Learning: http://www.ohr.org.il/judaism/survey/survey.htm
- Webshas: http://www.aishdas.org/webshas/index.shtml