Category Archives: Talmud
Truth Will Spring Up
The first few weeks in quarantine were not too difficult. For one thing, we had just returned from Israel and we were tired—and frightened. For another thing, the world seemed painted in pandemic colors and moods: grey and foreboding. But … Continue reading
Posted in Midrash, Poetry, Talmud, Torah
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On That Day
“Living with halacha is risky—living without halacha is impossible,” said David Hartman. On that day, in the bet midrash our teacher was probing a core Talmud text of the Hartman canon, “The Oven of Achnai,” a story that underscores Rabbi Hartman’s style, … Continue reading
Posted in Talmud
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Wholly Complete And Holy Incomplete
The Torah’s first creation story concludes: Va-yechulu…And the heaven and the earth and all of their ranks were finished. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done and rested on the seventh day from all … Continue reading
Posted in Parshat HaShavuah, Poetry, Prayer, Shabbat, Talmud
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Jerusalem And The Held Back Scream
The Jerusalem Talmud recounts: When David came to dig the foundations of the Temple he dug fifteen thousand cubits but had not reached the Deep. Finally, he uncovered a cluster of stones and was about to lift it when one rock … Continue reading
Posted in Jerusalem, Poetry, Talmud
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Each Person’s Stamp and Seal
The end of the matter, all things being heard: Revere God and observe his commandments, for this is the sum of human life. With this verse, the liturgical reading of Ecclesiastes comes to an end; the penultimate verse is repeated … Continue reading
Posted in Midrash, Poetry, Talmud
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Blossoms of Seder Night, Fruits of New Year’s Day
Rabbi Eliezer was sure that the world was created in the fall month of Tishrei, the season of the New Year. His rival, Rabbi Joshua, was equally positive that the world was created at Passover time, in the spring month … Continue reading
Where The House Once Was
It’s hard to imagine Torah scholars having such a furious argument that they ripped a Torah scroll. But… It happened, did it not, in the synagogue of Tiberias over the issue of a doorstop that had a knob on the … Continue reading
Posted in Poetry, Talmud, Torah
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Before and Within
A strange Yom Kippur story was told by Rabbi Ishmael, a High Priest of the 2nd Temple: Once, I entered before and within (the Holy of Holies) to offer the incense and I saw Akatriel Yah, the Lord of Hosts, sitting on … Continue reading
Posted in Blessing, Days of Awe, Holidays, Poetry, Talmud
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Beginnings Ripe And Ripening
Rabbi Eliezer asks: From where do we learn that the world was created in Tishrei? From the verse: God said, let the earth sprout grasses, seed bearing plants, fruit trees of every kind on earth bearing fruit with the seed … Continue reading
Posted in Days of Awe, Holidays, Passover, Poetry, Talmud
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Amen: The Final Word
On my table sits a stone amen written upon it, a grave stone fragment, a remnant of a Jewish graveyard destroyed more than a thousand years ago, in the city where I was born. One word, amen, cut deep in … Continue reading
