Talking Talmud

Shifting focus from the object that is carried to the subject who is doing the carrying. Right hand, left hand, in your lap, on your shoulder. Alternatively, carrying in an alternative way - with a "shinui," not the normal way of carrying - that exempts the carrier from culpability for the act of carrying. What about carrying on your head?! Anshei Hotzel (or Hutzal) did regularly carry their baske...

Purpose and intent, when it comes to carrying tiny amounts. And how that differs across people, and across plans, which change. Plus: Lining up the opinions of the mishnah. Also: what happens when the act of carrying even this tiny amount is not completed? And what happens when one person completes the plan of another - can we really transfer intent? And if so, how far does that principle go? Fina...

Back to Shabbat topics, and minimums for carrying to be obligated in bringing a sin-offering - including a list of items that require an offering no matter how little of them you carry. In contrast: When it comes to metals, various substances were used to protect the Temple, to clean the lamps, etc. That is, when it comes to donations to the Temple, "any amount" is too little - rather, the amount...

When the Satan went to God, asked for the Torah, searched the world for it, and finds it, as per God's instruction, with Moshe Rabbenu. What is this all about? Namely, what is "the Satan" in rabbinic literature? Again, what's going on here? What is this passage all about? Exploring the place of Torah and humanity in creation - and the need for people doing mitzvot. How could the perfect Torah be g...

Were Bnei Yisrael forced to keep the Torah? That seems inappropriate. But was there any other way for God to give the Torah? An encounter between humanity and the Divine seems to go beyond human experience. Also: the semblance of free choice, from former refuseniks to our post-Israel experiences, and the potential paradox of choice. So is that coercion per se, or helpful? That close encounter with...

When did the giving of the Torah actually take place? Figuring the precise date of the first year. Also: preperatory separation between husbands and wives. And his personal kal vachomer, to separate from his own wife,in perpetuity. Breaking the tablets. Moshe's own sense of the right thing to do. Also: an interplay between God, Moshe, Bnei Yisrael, in the context of getting the chronology of event...

The fourth of the four asmakhtah mishnayot, with four topics within the one mishnah: polatet shikhvat zera, bathing an infant who has undergone brit milah on Shabbat, separation of husband and wife, anointing on Yom Kippur. Which leads into a discussion of the separation between husbands and wives during the giving of the Torah. Via hints of non-legal verses from Tanakh. Also, how the Gemara delve...

Asmakhtah, again. And a whole new discussion: kilayim, the prohibition against sowing seeds together. Mapping out the garden... And on to the salvation of the Jewish people at the end of days. Which leads into a question about rabbinic authority when it comes to agriculture, of all things. Yet the Torah itself, claims the Gemara, teaches a great deal about agriculture - for example, the inference...

What's What: Midras tumah. When boxes are contaminated, as it were, with tumah - when they open from the side or from the top. Whereas a very large box is not rendered impure. Now, what about earthenware? That's not able to be rendered impure in this way. So, what about the ship? The difference between midras tumah and the handling of an object that renders it impure.

The importance of context, when the backdrop of idolatry shows up here. Also: What's What: Tumat Heset - the tumah that is transferred when moving an object of idolatry. Plus: A new mishnah, with another divergent, and somewhat cryptic topic, and the unpacking of it by the Gemara, about the impurity - or lack thereof - of a ship.

A nod of appreciation to the topic of witchcraft. Also: When a father tells his son that learning the basics is important. Plus: Those basics - some moral lessons about going to the bathroom when you need to. Also, some health lessons to assist one who is constipated -- so many recommend solutions. And: a new (unusual) chapter begins. Asmakhtot.

How heavy is the rock you throw at a bird? What's the amount that makes a rock a problem to carry on Shabbat? It can't be muktzah, because it has essential use. Namely, bathroom etiquette involved setting aside rocks and leaves and more as functional toilet paper in a world that didn't have indoor plumbing. Plus: Kavod ha-briot, in its essential form.

More on blue eye shadow: whoever shadows just one eye?! Modesty vs. hypermodesty - not just a tension of the modern era. Plus: Lime qua depilatory and emollient - as applied to R. Bivei's daughter, in contrast to R. Bivei's neighbor's daughter. Until R. Nachman shuts it down. Also: Maaseh Merkavah - with a stinging hornet, no less. With incorrect study (appropriately blamed on the instructor). And...

When carrying becomes a topic of documents and of receipts or promissory notes, it's only logical that the discussion would veer to parchment and tefillin and mezuzot. Which leads us to ask, to what extent does the purpose of the act determine the nature of carrying. Plus: More on animal hides than we ever knew before. Also: A truncated quote on repurposing, and the going up in holiness. What's Wh...

The liquids that are beverages or food, and are also used for medicinal purposes - on which measure is used to determine how much one would need to carry to be obligated to bring a korban? It seems leniencies are bred into the system. Also: Blood - using blood to heal... a sty? A cataract? From a chicken? From a bat? Plus: Blue eyeshadow. And still more on the measurements for carrying all kinds o...

Dedicated for the yarzheit of Dr. Michael E. Osband Melech Gershom Channa Ben Eliezer v’Chasya Hesha. Alef vs ayin - the Gemara is figuring out the Mishnah's spelling. Also: the purpose of every (annoying) thing in the world, including mosquitoes. Plus: Rabbi Zera pays a visit to his father-in-law.

Where what you value has impact on what is: namely, is the amount for which one is held accountable an objective measurement, or dependent on the individual's values? More specifically: when you're feeding a cow, that's different from feeding a camel. And how all of the above pertains to the phenomenon of carrying, in terms of violating Shabbat. The different component values do not usually combin...

Mazalot - divination vs. astronomy, that which at worst carries a death sentence for those who practice it vs that which is a mitzvah to undertake, as a means to appreciate the Divine. Also, the hilazon and the number of korbanot hatat one who uses it to make tekhelet... on Shabbat, if one would. Touching on bigger discussions for another time: "mitasek"; "psik reisheih." Plus: Another view (rejec...

Who's Who: Nachmani. Borer - what are the parameters of this melakhah? A tannaitic statement needs rereading by the Amoraim, to establish just that - 5 attempts, 4 refutations. Also, the halakhic upshot of borer. Plus: the melakhah of "ofeh," baking, and not "bishul" - language choice. Also: counting up melakhot in any creative endeavor.

First, Abaye vs Rava on throwing an object in reshut harabim -- if the resultant action alines with your own concerns, don't you have to bring a korban? Which brings us to the component parts of a complete action of melakhah: your act and your intent. Plus: The 39 prohibited creative labors of Shabbat - a list worthy of its own discussion. Including the groupings that help us remember the list bet...

The Gemara claims: Shabbat is a more stringent area of halakhah than other mitzvot - and where it is less so. And then the Gemara twists and turns to figure out exactly what this case is. Which bring us to different applications of "shogeg." And what makes a moment of sin? Which raises questions about the nature of sin itself, and the opportunity to atone for it.

R. Yochanan vs. Resh Lakish on the number of sin-offerings one brings upon eating "chelev," the prohibited fats. Delving in, the biblical verses and beyond. Can the sin multiply, if you discover it at different times? Or is one period of ignorance enough to make it one sin and one sin-offering? To what extent does the sacrifice's designation have impact?

How did we come by these 39 individual melakhot? The Gemara finds an answer in the biblical text on the severity of the punishment. Which, of course, distinguishes between mezid (intentional) violation and shogeg (unintentional) violation. How this teaches the severity of Shabbat! Also: Gematria! Plus: Isn't lighting a fire the quintessential violation if Shabbat? R. Yosi's position suggests other...

Why do we need to know that there are 39 melakhot? After all, there's a list! It's all about what happens in a time period of forgetting (he'eleim). Defining "shogeg" with regard to Shabbat (again). Also: understanding the korban chatat. Plus: The case of the person who loses track of time and doesn't know what day is Shabbat. Do we resolve that in accord with God's count of 7 days or the human ex...

Back to basics: The categories (avot) of prohibited labor on Shabbat, their sub-categories (toladot), and the significance of having both avot and toladot. Now, if one forgot that it was shabbat or forgot that the given action violated shabbat... the avot and toladot lead to careful bookkeeping, which minimize the number of sin-offeringa that would be needed. Also, note that this is all the negati...