Talking Talmud

A focus on the Assyrian king Sennacherib, and the Jewish king, Hizkiyahu (Hezekiah). Why is the wicked king given an honorific, asks the Gemara. And answers: He didn't use derogatory language when speaking about the land of Israel. Is that really the case?! From Sennacherib, we move on to Hezekiah -- and the discussion of him as a possible messiah, which would have meant Sennacherib was to be...

If you dream about a white horse (thanks to Zechariah's prophecy), that's a good thing (alluding to God's anger abating). Also, more on Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. With imports to Babylonia from Alexandria, possibly to the exclusion of breeding Egyptian hogs... Plus, Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar's idol. Plus, sexual immorality that is rejected by Nebuchadnezzar, no less. Plus, the...

A small corrective on Cleopatra and Rabbi Meir (we know they couldn't have actually spoken to each other; they didn't live at the same time!). From there, delving into the teachings of Rabbi Elazar, some of which are about personal conduct, some about personal intellect, and how we interact. Also, the possible people who were resurrected by Ezekiel, in restoring the dry bones of his vision...

Sharpening the questions asked of the sages by secular figures (of leadership), such as Cleopatra -- who wants to know if the resurrection of the dead will bring people back clothed or naked -- and Antony, who asks about the insertion of the soul into human beings. The sages take the questions seriously, to be be sure, and provide answers that have some measure of logic behind them. Other tidbits...

Finishing the 10th chapter - and beginning the 11th. First, the dispute between the sages and Rabbi Shimon for the details and timing of execution for someone who speaks to others to get them to violate the Torah. With idolatry being its own (worse) case. But can those false prophets perform miracles, prophesy, etc., and they then malign it, or are they just lying or deceiving throughout? Onwards...

The daf begins with two mishnayot, basically, and they begin with a dispute between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yehudah over when to put the rebellious elder to death. Namely, did the public need to hear about his execution, or see it for themselves? 2 - False prophets and lesser falsities are executed by the court and in the hands of heaven, respectively. Plus, the adultery case or the betrothed case o...

On the 3 courts identified in the previous mishnah: delving into the dispute between the courts and the individual who is being questioned as a possible rebellious elder. With the prime example of Akavya ben Mehallalel -- who is NOT deemed a rebellious elder. He had a tradition and an opinion that counters the majority, but is a regular dispute, as far as that goes. Plus, initially, the disputes w...

The Gemara specifies what kinds of cases need to be brought before the experts on the court. Plus, discussion of "going up" to the land of Israel, and then Jerusalem, for that expertise. Plus, a return to the case of the rebellious elder who goes against the teachings coming from the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem. Also, Rav Pappa parses each detail of a baraita, quite thoroughly, to line it up...

In the discussion of kidnapping, the source is connected to the "don't steal" of the Ten Commandments (at least, according to a prominent opinion), which seems to revise the translation of that mitzvah! Also, the concern of conspiring witnesses in the context of the gluttonous and rebellious child (among others). Plus, a new mishnah! On a "zaken mamre" - the rebellious elde...

Since a son cannot hit his parents, can that son sit on a court that would decide the case of his father being subject to lashes, for example? Rav Sheshet says yes, and the Gemara jumps to defend his approach, though then his view is countered in a sharp why. Also: 2 new mishnayot: First, one who hits his father or mother is only subject to execution if he actually injures the parent (but only if...

First, finishing chapter 9: If a non-kohen served in the Temple, that would be punishable by death "in the hands of heaven." But that opinion seems to be contradicted by the very sages who said it to begin with. Why so? The Gemara resolves the question. Next, beginning chapter 10, starting with a new mishnah: Those who are sentenced to death by strangulation. Note, again, the special sta...

In the context of death that is meted out in the hands of heaven, the Gemara presents a list of those in this category - specifically, pertaining to the Temple, the required practices of the kohanim, and so on. Plus, other violations by kohanim while performing the Temple service who aren't punished with death, but simply with violating a negative commandment. Also, if a non-kohen eats terumah...

Rav Dimi traveled from the land of Israel to Babylonia: The Hasmonean court isn't decrees against a man sleeping with a non-Jewish woman that puts him in violation of 4 injunctions: a woman who is impure from menstruation (even if she's not Jewish, when that wouldn't usually apply), a non-Jewish maidservant, a non-Jewish woman, and a married woman. That last one was subject to debate,...

Mishnayot! 1 - Someone who has incurred two different kinds of death penalties (but can only be killed once) - he is killed with the worse of them. Someone who has incurred two death penalties with one action, likewise to the more severe punishment. Which is tricky because there are such disputes over the hierarchy of the severity of the ways of execution. Also, 2 - someone who has been punished w...

Ongoing discussion of a guilty party intermingled with innocent people (for example). Beginning with a case of two people standing together - and an arrow being shot from there those two people are, which kills someone. But since there's no way to identify which of those two shot the arrow, both are off the hook. Even if one of them is so righteous (like Abba Halafta) that the perpetrator seem...

Two new mishnayot! First, one with the case of one who intends to kill an animal, but kills a person, or a non-Jew and then Jew, etc. Disturbing cases, but in the effort of determining the parameters of the case - when the perpetrator would be culpable, and when not. Plus, many cases of intending one action (including killing), but where the result is the death of someone else - where the perpetra...

With partial or shared causation, who is culpable? Which leads to a discussion of someone who is already mortally wounded or ill or injured, and then someone kills that person, when is that considered murder (and the perpetrator would be held accountable) - as compared to being exempt because there was no new "death" to perpetrate (because he was already dying)? And what if one's str...

When one person ties up another, and the tied-up person died of starvation, or of the elements (on delay), then the person who tied him up is exempt - unless he tied him up, for example, in such a way that the elements begin their affect on the person who dies immediately. Or a person ties another person up in front of a lion - where the lion might not eat the guy... or mosquitos, which would defi...

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...