Oral Torah: Talmud
Compared to a sea.
Much is hidden and below the surface
Deep and vast
Purify and nourish
Dangerous and forbidding
Bible and Talmud
Derivative of Hebrew word for “study”
Covers rabbinic teachings from 1st Century to the 6th
and 7th centuries C.E.
Composed of two separate works: Mishnah (the
teaching), Gemara
Mishnah consists of compilation of Jewish laws
written in Hebrew and edited around 200 C.E.
Gemara are rabbinic commentaries and discussions
on the Mishnah written in both Hebrew and Aramaic,
emanating from both Babylonia and Israel over the
next 300 to 500 years
Two Talmuds
the Yerushalmi (the Jerusalem” Talmud)
the Bavli (The Babylonian Talmud)
The latter It is printed in 20 volumes in
over 5,400 pages and takes 7 years to
complete at one page a day.
Mishnah
Topically arranged
Terse and compact easy to memorise
While it often paraphrases Scripture to clarify it, it
does not quote Scripture
Six sections Zeraim (seeds) Moed (holiday), Nashim
(women) Nezikin (damages) Kodashim (Holy things)
and Teharot (clean things)
Each section is further divided into subsections (sixtythree in all) known as Masekhtot or tractates
From Mishnah to Gemara
Was originally called just the Talmud
Rabbis discovered new situations were arising that
were not covered in the Mishnah
Deals more times than not with pedestrian topics,
What objects can be carried in and out of a house on
the Sabbath, how long must a woman wait after her
monthly period before resuming marital relations
Instead of dealing with the marcocosm they
concentrate on the microcosm
The challenge is to look beyond what the Rabbis are
saying and what they are meaning
Talmud and Sabbath
39 basic labours or acts of creation
I.e. threshing, processing of leather,
metal and fabrics
Quantitative - trivial
Qualitative
Intentionality
Talmud and Marriage
Not a sacrament
Only thing required is to say to two
witnesses that the marriage has been
solemnized either by the handing over
of money, written guarantee or sexual
intercourse
Two stages: Betrothal, marriage canopy
Marriage contract
Logic of the Talmud
The Greek approach to logic, is exemplified by the outline form.
It moves from General to the specific, from the simple to the
complex.
A circle is more appropriate to describe Rabbinic logic
There is no beginning or end and it goes on for eternity
You start learning the Talmud with any text and then move from
there
P’shat and D’rash
P’shat refers to the simple, contextual meaning of
the passage
D’rash
Creative reading as an attempt to uncover what God
had put there
“Your breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle,
browsing among the lilies.” (4:5) These are Moses
and Aaron. For just as a woman’s breasts are filled
with milk, so too Moses and Aaron sustained Israel
through the Torah. (Midrash Song of Songs Rabbah
4:5)
Halakhah and Aggadah
Larger portion is called halakhah, which comes from
the root meaning “to go” or “to walk”. It is often
translated as law
It is concerned with what we are obligated to do and
how we are to do it.
Aggadah, - the telling
It is the response to the question “Why?”
Two sides of the same coin
interact the way the heart and mind interact in a
human being
Esoteric Terms
Let us say - - the opinion will be ultimately
rejected
T’nan we are taught – introduces a teaching
from another Mishnah
Tanna (he taught) brings a brief tradition from
the Tosefta
Tanya (it was taught) quotes a passage from
the Gemera
Rabbis
Root meaning “great”
In Babylonia - Rav
Rabbis following the destruction of
Temple - Tannaim “repeaters”
Amoraim Aramaic for “explainers”
Shammai and Hillel
Another story of a non-Jew who came before
Shammai. He said to him, “convert me on the
condition that you teach me the entire Torah
while I stand on one foot.” He (Shammai)
pushed him away with the builder’s
measuring rod that was in his hand. He (the
non-Jew) came before Hillel who converted
him. He said to him what do you hate, do not
do to your friend. That is the whole Torah.
The rest is commentary. Go and learn.”
Mishnah 8:9
He who divorced his wife and spent the night
with her at an inn - Bet Shammai says she
does not need a second get from him, but Bet
Hillel says she needs a second get from him.
Under what circumstances? If she was
divorced from marriage, but everyone agrees
that if she was divorced from betrothal, she
does not need a second get, because he is
not yet intimate with her.
Gemara
Rabbah bar bar Hana said in the name of
Rabbi Yohanan. The disagreement is only if
she was seen having sex. Bet Shammai
thinks that a man would have casual sex,
while Bet Hillel thinks that a man would not
have casual sex. But where she was not seen
having sex, everyone agrees that she does
not need a second get.