Talking Talmud

When folk remedies don't heal, and might be worse - superstitious nonsense or "darkei haEmori"? Rabbi Meir and the Sages disagree. But Abaye and Rava agree: that which heals is not superstitious. But do the talismans listed in the gemara fit that bill? Plus: Painting a tree with red paint to spur prayers for mercy. And: when we need to reach out and ask for help, with no guilt or shame (and when w...

Is a prosthetic leg to be considered a shoe? What about going out on Shabbat with prosthetics? The Gemara's discussion does not address what we might think is the key concern. Plus: Some Who's Who: Abaye. Also: Healing practices that don't involve grinding medicine - including... superstition? Some folks remedies seem more medicinal than others (and some of which were allowed on Shabbat).

More things a woman might wear. Including strings in pierced ears, holding the place for future earrings. Medean garments. Etc. With all the implications for the masks we wear today... (eruv aside). Thus, the lasting strength of the Oral Law. Also: Shmuel's father, the girls in the household, and going to the river or mikveh. Sourcing rain water and mixing it with river water. This seems to be a s...

Different ornamental items - how internal and external pieces of jewelry might be treated differently in halakhah. Context matters, and individual sensitivities matter too, with the onus on the person doing the "looking." Also: Hair decor, including wigs, all presumably for beautification - and therefore needing adjudication as to whether that's carrying on Shabbat. Conclusion: appearance always h...

The smell of cinnamon in Jerusalem. The time of the messiah - the perpetual question of how different it will really be after all. Plus: Never forget the plain sense (pshat) of the text. Namely, discovering the layers of meaning of the biblical text, and the possibility of misinterpretation of R. Kahana, without contextual reading. Also: 4 kinds of chavrutot, learning partnerships. And: the best w...

First, defining some terms of armor. Then, a new mishnah introduced several topics: starting with balsam oil, and the absence of a decree when there's no post-Temple joy in the item (how recent the destruction must have seemed). Plus: additional Torah prohibitions for women, in terms of wearing them on Shabbat... In contrast to what a man cannot wear. From shepherds to every man. Also: Are women a...

Going out on Shabbat with one shoe and an injured foot: why do we wear shoes? Plus: Amulets! (What is going on with them?? How are they okay? How do they heal? And reliably, no less? Nonetheless, they seem to have been used without critique.

Parallel structuring, on what a man cannot wear out on Shabbat. The hobnailed sandal and the reason it was prohibited get the focus of this daf. This decree follows tragic events, and finds a culprit in this shoe, with 3 versions of the narrative that led to the decree. The lessons go beyond the danger of the shoe, however. For starters, why would you ever wear something to injure people on Shabba...

The city of gold, which is to say, more ornaments, to be worn (or not) in the public domain. Rabbi Akiva's gift to his wife, Rachel. But in this case, the korban hatat might be required, in contrast to the previous ornaments, this far. The difference that being a particularly distinguished woman makes. Plus, the discussion of the kelilah, that tiara-like adornment, and which of the sages are cited...

What's What: "Atarot Kallot." More on clothing that is decreed against wearing on Shabbat, lest one come to carry. Extending the discussion to focus on a bell - that is worn, that's a "kli," and the importance of the clapper. The value of adornment, including decorative elements in the home - which may not have "kli" status.

A new chapter! The decree against women wearing certain kinds of adornments on Shabbat - lest they take them off to show them off and forget to put them back on, and thereby carry. Plus how all that relates to tevilah, immersion in the mikveh. Also: Sussing out what an unfamiliar name is for one such clothing item, for which multiple halakhot apply.

On the practice of close reading of the biblical text, and the strong interpretive tradition of Chazal. Understanding biblical personalities via the reinterpretation of them. Focus on reinterpreting King David, as a non-sinner, despite the biblical text, and because of it. Who's Who: R. Shmuel bar Nachmani.

Selecting good people to be protected from the angels of destruction and wicked people to be identified for them. But Justice asks: how different are they really?! The Gemara goes on to explain the rebuke in place here. The discussion as to how and why the the tzaddikim were marked at all emerges from why it was done with the Hebrew letter Tav. Also, Zekhut Avot, and what it means to not rely on i...

First, an addendum to the one-armed woman of yesterday. Next: limits on what animals can wear, as it were, on Shabbat -- and the implication of those limits on the animals' human owners. Plus: R. Elazar ben Azariah, and how he apparently let his cow go out on Shabbat wearing exactly the prohibited item - how can that be? A refresher as to who he was and the implications of this decision. Also: wis...

First, the distinction between medicine for a person as compared to an animal; next, no medicine on Shabbat at all. Plus: 2 very strange stories, one involving the miracle of a nursing man, and the other, a man's hypermodesty (are either of these things good? we discuss). Also: a meaningful Yom HaZikaron to you all - may Israel know no more pain.

Animals in the public domain - what can they wear, what counts as "carrying"? We focus on the parah adumah, the red heifer, and today what extent wearing some bridle, bit, reins, etc. would invalidate its status as a parah adumah (or what it doesn't). The means to control the animal does not "work" the animal, which would invalidate it. Also, questions of definition with regard to Shabbat, as comp...

Can you insulate to keep things cold? R. Yehudah HaNasi contradicts himself - until Abaye resolves the contradiction. Also, a lesson in rabbinic authority, and just how oral the Talmud was. Plus: Perek 5: What about your animals' melakhah on Shabbat?

Again, the overlap of hatmanah and muktzah, and again, the importance of intent, as we set items aside... for use on Shabbat. Also: Pursuing beauty, in celebration of God's world Dedicated in memory of Chaya Bayla bat Yeshayahu Yaakov v'Sarah Tziporah

More hatmanah/insulation. Elisha (not the prophet). Explaining why the dove. Plus: The important discussion of the 39 Melakhot and their ostensible source in the Mishkan, with its attendant machloket and absolute agreement.

The new perek! Insulating food on Shabbat, without cooking it. What substances protect the heat without increasing it and cooking. Plus, two stories that happened in the house of the Resh Galuta, specifically regarding violations of Shabbat (different practices, rightly and wrongly, seems to have been an age-old problem).

First, an unusual use of a biblical verse that we found delightful. Next: Carrying ashes on Shabbat - muktzah, no? Which leads into an important discussion about the value of clothing for the poor and the wealthy. Also, "mi'us" in the text! Plus: the final mishnah of the perek, with a new contraption to accompany the ancient candles that leads to concerns of muktzah (they get resolved, not to worr...

Stories of Hazal - how they kept the laws of Muktzah themselves, as per the Gemara's account. Sussing out halakhic positions from observed practice. Also: undoing vows on Shabbat, specifically those that a husband undoes for his wife, and the vow and its nullification relates to Shabbat, Plus: how sha'atnez connects to this discussion of Muktzah. Also: keep in mind the maximalist/minimalist diverg...

More on Muktzah. Including the case in the title, and how it relates to bein hashmashot. Plus: R. Shimon's minority opinion on the dried figs and raisins that are on the category of "muktzah" (a minimalist approach) vs. R. Yehudah's majority opinion (a maximalist approach).

More Muktzah. Still no statement to that effect by the Gemara. That which is disgusting, that which is designated not for use before Shabbat, and that which serves as a "basis" for other things that cannot be moved.

Some overview, and some cases from this daf - of these things that are prohibited to carry on Shabbat. Also: Defining "nolad," which is, of course, muktzah too.