Talking Talmud

Complicated incestuous relationship - such as a man with a woman he raped and the daughter of that rape (don't we know that that's an unacceptable!?!). Plus, a discussion of poverty and the potential for moving on or, conversely, falling back. Plus, the counter to the loving family, as presumed from the ceiling decoration And the ambiguity a word "et'hen," the meaning of it,...

Chapter 9! With a new mishnah too - on those whose crimes warrant execution, at this time, the death penalty is to be burning, including the adulterous daughter of a kohen. Plus, the man who sleeps with both a wife and her mother, as an example of other cases of incest that get the "burning" execution. And then Gemara works hard to show that the cases are learned from each other, via the...

A gathering of sages in an attic in Lod, and they were discussing martyrdom and when it was mandated. That is, most of the time, saving one's life takes precedence, except for "the big 3" - idolatry, adultery (and other illicit sexual relations), and murder (because who can say "whose blood is redder"?!). But whether the violation of the mitzvah is to be public or private a...

A new mishnah! When a person who is committing a crime can be killed - and what kind of crimes warrant putting such a person to death before he can commit the crime. With sources from the Torah to derive the cases. Also, the many sins that one can save another from sinning by killing him - take his life in order to save him. But not every sin! With rape, even of the betrothed young woman as a comp...

The case of the burglar who is judged now for what is determined to be certain to happen later. Such that the homeowner would not be held liable if he killed the burglar while burgling. Plus, the burglar would not be held liable for damage to property during this action of willingness to kill, as if he "bought" it with his risk-taking. Plus, "if someone comes against you to kill you...

A page with 5 mishnayot: 1. To become a ben sorer u-moreh, the kid has to steal food from his father and eat it while on the property of others. 2. For the kid to be a ben sorer u-moreh, both parents need to be in agreement in bringing him to court. Plus, the parents have to be suited for each other (and not in violation of prohibited relationships -- but also the Gemara establishes them as more t...

A new mishnah! From when is this son going to be liable as "ben sorer u-moreh"? He needs to eat and drink a certain amount of meat an wine (with dispute as to how much) -- but then the mishnah lists many ways that this person could eat and be exempt from being a ben sorer u-moreh (both for good kinds of meals and or sins, which carry their own punishment or consequence, but can't mak...

On the age of eligibility to be a ben sorer u-moreh the Gemara stipulates 3 months only, at the age of 13. But the mishnah stipulated physical signs of majority. So the Gemara minimizes the time to say that whichever comes first - the second physical sign of majority OR the end of 3 months. Also, a fairly difficult amud about how young one may have fathered children - in this case, the lineage of...

Finishing chapter 7 and beginning chapter 8. First, a story about Rabbi Eliezer ben Hyrcanus and his death, put in context. The backdrop includes the oven of Akhnei and the fact that Rabbi Eliezer was put into cherem/ostracized for his different approach in that case. When Rabbi Eliezer became ill, Rabbi Akiva (and others) went to visit him, apparently in violation of the cherem. Plus how he was r...

Two mishnayot and some stories: An instigator and his manner of convincing people to sin -- plus, his death sentence, and the rationale for making sure to entrap him if need be, to get him off the streets, as it were. Plus, the one who engages in the sin to convince others to join him. Also, the subverter - who tries to convince a whole city to sin. Also, returning to the topic of sorcery - first,...

A daf of mishnayot - 3! Beginning with violations of the law that incur the death sentence with the execution of stoning. Beginning with Shabbat -- with just the exception of either exceeding the boundary of Shabbat OR igniting a fire -- different opinion as to which -- where the violation is a Torah prohibition, but the punishment is lashes. Next: One who curses his father or mother is only liabl...

A new mishnah! On the "ove ve-yedoni," necromancer and sorcerer, and when their death sentences (stoning) kick in. Plus, what are the differences between these two. With a parallel, but just the ove, in the tractate Keritot. The Gemara explains why only the ove is there (hint: machloket). Also, a story in which Rabbi Akiva meets the Roman leader Turnus Rufus. With more on the ove -- in a...

A busy daf: First - a story of how the people prayed for idolatry to be removed from the world, to diminish sin. Including the need for an egg, which seems connected to the interest in idolatry, until they eventually "blind the eyes" of the "evil inclination" to sin. Also, the case of a non-Jewish woman who vows to worship all the idolatries if she recovers from a very serious...

Any of the otherwise innocuous actions (hugging, kissing, washing, etc.) are problematic with regard to an idol, and incur flogging/lashes. But taking an oath in the name of the idolatry, for example, does not get lashes, even though it's a violation of a negative commandment, because it doesn't have a physical action that is necessary for the punishment of lashes to be incurred. Which isn't to sa...

A one-discussion daf: If one did several acts of apparent worshipping of an idol in one time period of unawareness of the violation - that entails one sacrifice in apology, as it were. Except for the machloket on that decision. Which goes back to violations of Shabbat in one time period of unawareness of those violations. Which leads into a fundamental discussion of Hilkhot Shabbat, and back to av...

A halakhic discussion takes place when Rabbah meets Rav Hamnuna, who's looking for his oxen: 2 mishnayot contradict, over what point a person who plans to worship idolatry is held accountable. Is the statement that one will go worship sufficiently close to worship? Also, a discussion about idolatry done out of love of another person (or fear), though that distinction is usually reserved for Go...

One who hears blasphemy from a non-Jew is not obligated to tear keriyah (in mourning for the desecration of the Name of God), as he would have been had the blasphemy been uttered by a Jew. Also, blasphemy only requires that tearing keriyah if the Ineffable Name of God were uttered. Plus, Rabbi Hiyya's caveat that tearing keriyah wasn't done in his day and age, because their garments would...

More on the Noahide laws -- eating the limb from a live animal, in contrast to the Jews being prohibited about the same thing. But why wasn't the one prohibition sufficient to teach them both? The Gemara says that the Noahide commandments were not repeated at Sinai (except for when and why they were). Yet nothing that is permitted for Israel is prohibited for Bnei Noah - except for "eshet...

Establishing the prohibition of the illicit relationship with one's father's sister -- with nods to Moshe's parents and Avraham and Sarah. Also, what happens when a non-Jew hits a Jew -- with another nod to Moshe. A death sentence is warranted, notes the Gemara, given what violence does to society.

More on the Noahide Laws - and the puzzling nature of law for people who are not necessarily paying any attention to Torah's requirements for them. Plus, some contrasts between the Noahide law an ramifications as compared to the Jewish legal system, for example. Also, the academy of the Bnei Menashe, who have a different list. Plus, are women part of the Noahide judicial system? Also, the bibl...

A new mishnah! A blasphemer is only culpable once he mentions the Name of God. All testimony would be provided using a euphemism, until the very end, when one occasion of direct citation of the blasphemy would take place before any judgement would be brought into effect. The judges who heard this would tear their garments for this desecration. Also, the 7 Noachide laws, and dispute over what they...

A challenging daf, with the breakdown of details of activity or homosexual acts, for bestial acts, and so on. The sages tackle the topics with seeming equanimity, until Rav Sheshet reacts in such a way that it opens the question whether they weren't as sanguine about it all. Also, the question of a non-Jew who engages in bestiality - does the animal need to be put to death? What about in the c...

NOTE: A difficult daf for modern sensibilities, specifically with regard to (male) homosexual practice. The sages deliberate how to understand and apply the verses in Leviticus about incest, homosexual practice, and bestiality. Also, the mishnah identifying these practices as death sentence transgressions, with stoning being the mode of execution, in the event of an intentional violation with witn...

How are other crimes determined to be subject ot the death sentence of stoning? That is, as derived from the necromancer and the sorcerer, depending on the phrasing: "mot youmtu" or "demeiham bam" -- the double language of putting the person to death or the phrase of blood be upon him. Note that the default stoning and often the default execution would be decapitation. Also, the mishnah with the l...

3 mishnayot! On the details of the process of the executions: burning, stoning, strangulation, respectively. Along with several rabbinic disputes along the way. Note especially that "burning" isn't a matter of flames, as one might have thought, and the body is not desecrated. The one example provided is the daughter of the kohen, but the Gemara concludes that she is not a useful exam...