Talking Talmud

So many ways of not *meaning* to do melakhah. Partially defining "melekhet machshevet," and its requirements. Intent (davar she'eino mitkaven). And needing the physical outcome of the action (melakhah she'ainah tzerichah legufah) (as per the dispute between R. Shimon and R. Yehudah (and everyone less). Plus: Cooking spices indirectly, away from the heat source. That is, kli rishon, sheni, etc. And...

Who's Who: Rabbi Zera. Also: What the Gemara learns from Rabbi Yehuda's conduct in the bathhouse. Plus: Warming devices for heating on Shabbat.

The decree against full showers or baths on Shabbat, even when the water has been heated prior to Shabbat. Plus: the hierarchy of rabbinic authority, in which " Tannaim trump Amoraim. Two caveats from Anne: 1) when I said 3 days of yom tov in "America," I did not intend to exclude the rest of the Diaspora!; 2) in the discussion of long-haired bathing, yes, I'm well aware that there are women with...

Still more cooking - frying your egg on the sidewalk ( is the sun)? Acceptable or not? What about-face hot springs. Also: Drawing inferences vs. a tradition handed down -- and who gives in in matters of dispute?

More cooking! A decree that sheds light on halakhic cooking - and human nature. Defining terms: acting be-mezid, be-sho-geg, or forgetting. Also: Why intention matters, and how forgetting means you're not cooking anyway. How completing the prohibited action doesn't automatically mean the outcome (cooked food) is prohibited too - except it is. Plus: Ovens - the cooking apparatus, if you will - and...

Cooking! When more time on the fire is better or worse for the food. Also: Understanding the variables in cooking as a melakhah. Including how Yardaena likes her steak (just so you know) and why that matters.

Shofar, aravot, and the name of Babylonia - definitions in the absence of the Temple and losing the nuances of language. Also: Cooking! We begin the discussion of leaving food on fire on Shabbat, or returning it to fire on Shabbat.

Erev Shabbat preparation, beginning with the 6 shofar blasts announcing the coming day. And the 5 shofar blasts of the Babylonian diaspora - of some concern to those in Israel.

A brief mention of "hatmanah" and crock pots. More: The checklist going into Shabbat. Keeping tension in check, and welcoming Shabbat well. Also: Bein Hashmashot - between the suns - and different kinds of definitions for this amorphous time.

One of those dapim we were eager to get to - it's got drama and conflict and religious pathos; it's got spying and flighty women; it's got the ability to provoke a serious discussion about whether Judaism is ideally integrated into the world, or held apart from the world. Namely, the story of how Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son came to live in a cave for more than a dozen years. Plus the conne...

Three sins for which women die in childbirth - from "women's mitzvot," such as they are. Why these are so severe, and the cautionary mishnah. Also: Rabbi Yannai and not relying on miracles. Plus: Theodicy (again). And: Cause and effect between sins and negative outcomes for society.

Hillel and Shammai themselves, the famous stories. The dare to anger Hillel, who takes every question seriously, patiently. "Convert me while I stand on one foot." The ways Hillel and Shammai were so different, and yet also the same. Also: The value of Yirat Hashem.

Extinguishing a flame to prevent the flame from being seen vs doing so to save the candle... For example, saving a life... Or improving the sick person's situation. Also: King David's death and what God doesn't tell man, and how nobody outsmarts the Angel of Death, not really. Plus: The effort to keep Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) out of the canon of the Bible, and why it didn't work.

Repurposing a garment to be wicks - yea or nay? Plus: The prohibition of getting up an oil dispenser for candle from an egg shell (never mind the challenge in securing eggs in Israel right now), and it would be permitted. Also: The need for context in understanding halakhah and how psak works (including what happens on social media).

Still talking about ritual impurity... Including non-kosher animals. Holy endeavors must use a kosher animal, and the Gemara explains where this rational doesn't apply to tefillin, which are defined by Halakhah le-Moshe mi-Sinai - and no argument. Plus: The "tachash" - an unknown animal (kosher? unkosher?) used in making this Mishkan.

The impurity of Tzara'at and the impurity of the creepy-crawlies -- can one be inferred from the other? Different ways one happens upon tumah - vs. the tumah and experience of Tzara'at. Also: Tzitzit. With Sha'atnez. Literally. Plus: Learning from verses in proximity to each other. And: Some musing on the surreality of the discussions of these mitzvot (and Yardaena's story of sha'atnez). Also: why...

The audio is a little wonky today - with gaps and overlaps - we don't know why (why tried to fix it) - we are sorry about that....... Back to the oils for Shabbat candle use (or not-use, as the case may be). And: a very strange drama that illustrates the volatility (flammability) of balsam oil and some family dynamics... What if you don't have olive oil? Because plenty of locales did not.

Some basic terms of what invalidates kodshim - the sanctified offerings - including immediate mourners who cannot partake. Also: welcoming Shabbat with nice candles, with washing in hot water. Preparing for Shabbat, with a focus on what matters. The complications of the current era and our changes under the coronavirus. Who's Who: R. Yehuda bar Ilai.

The influence of Chanukah: should it be mentioned in Birkat HaMazon? What about Musaf? How do we incorporate new-fangled holidays into the liturgy, without casting aspersions on the biblical holidays?

Blessing the "commandment" of Chanukah. Lighting at every entrance to prevent suspicions. Pe'ah - leaving gleanings the right way. Also: human nature. And concern for community norms and well-being. Plus triage for when you can't afford everything, and don't want to diminish the value of any mitzvah.

How do we treat ritual objects? Disgracing a mitzvah. Are the tools and byproducts of a mitzvah inherently holy? 3 debates between Rav and Shmuel, including R. Shimon's opinion on the physical outcome of melakhah.

Bad oil, bad wicks. Also: Chanukah! Embarking on everything you wanted to know about the holiday and its halakhot, at least from the texts of the Sages.

What does it mean for something to be cooked? How much must be cooked before Shabbat starts? The measurement of Ben Dorsai. Welcoming Shabbat - to exclude a whole host of possible candle materials (ch. 2). Plus a discussion of vocabulary.

All kinds of things come together: Jew/non-Jew interaction, Pesach, selling chametz... Kutach. Shabbat responsibility (when those who are not obligated in Shabbat do what would be violating Shabbat for Jews). Plus: Passive Shabbat "violation." And: When the talmudic text is absent and that changes psak. Also: Muktzah, and the limits of local authority (or: how halakhah is supposed to function).

A new mishnah, a new machloket between Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai: beginning a process before shabbat that continues into shabbat, with no new involvement on your part. Namely letting your tools and vessels rest on shabbat. Plus: the concept of a "shabbos clock" (timer). And the concept of mar'it ayin (the appearance gives the wrong impression). Also, the beginning of the conversation of Jew/non...