Talking Talmud

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...

The death sentence for one who desecrates Shabbat (intentionally, with witnesses and warning) - stoning or burning? (the conclusion is stoning, but that's not R. Shimon's opinion). But what if the Shabbat desecrator is the married or betrothed adulterous kohen daughter? Is her execution stoning or burning? Would a kohen who serves in the Temple have greater leniency with regard to Shabbat?...

Coming back to the order of the death sentences of the court - descending order of severity: stoning, burning, beheading, and strangulation, plus the biblical sources for the rabbis' ratings. It would seem that the severity of the act would indicate the severity of the sentence, but which is more severe is not always intuitive. In the end, the conclusion is that stoning is the most severe, and...

Finishing chapter 6: King David's minister of defense, Yoav, who did not rebel against the king (in contrast to the other discussions of those who did, like Avner, whose downfall is described). And beginning chapter 7: Ordering the deaths meted out by the court, depending on the violation that is punished by death. Which leads into the treatment of the mishnah and the way it presents this info...

A dispute between Abaye and Rava whether designating an item - in this case, a shroud - is sufficient to prohibit it from common use, or whether that designating is not enough to do so (Abaye prohibits; Rava permits). Plus, examples (pro and con), though in the end, the halakhah follows Rava. Also, with regard to a condemned person, the Gemara addresses the differences between a king's executi...

If a person ate of the forbidden fats, he needs to bring a sin-offering to atone for it. But if he decides to stop observing the mitzvot between the time of the sin and the sin-offering - and then decides to come back to his observance, he pushed aside the animal and the sin-offering. Can the same animal be used, or once it's been pushed side, is that it? What if the person loses cognitive abi...

More on the issue of putting only one condemned person to death on one day, with discussion over whether the same violation and the same kind of execution (but more than one perpetrators) - would that still require a new day for each case? Also, a new mishnah! On how the body of the person who was executed would be hanged. Including how the body cannot be left hanging overnight. The concern is des...

A daf of (essentially) 3 mishnayot, with the Gemara thereon. 1. When the person to be executed was near to the place of stoning, they would strip the condemned person - or perhaps just a male condemned person, depending on the opinion in the mishnah. Still, the condemned person would have at least some cloth(s) to cover his or her nakedness - for the sake of the person's dignity (and Rabbi Yeh...