The Talmud is a central text of Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history.
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What is the reason for שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום?
What is the reason for שנים מקרא ואחד תרגום?
Why must it been done in that form of twice reading the verse and once reading the תרגום?
The Gemara in ברכות דף ח states that one who does שנים מקרא ...
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2answers
168 views
No Olam Habah for these?
At the end of Gemorah (Tractate) Sanhedrin, there is discussion of people who are not Zocheh to get into Olam Haba (Gan Eden). Is there a comprehensive list somewhere of people mentioned throughout ...
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3answers
171 views
Practical guide to the Brisker method in English?
Is there a book that serves as a practical guide in English to applying the Brisker method of learning Gemara?
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1answer
414 views
How did the Ten Martyrs actually die?
On Yom Kippur and Tisha B'av we read about the Ten Martyrs who were gathered and killed by Emperor Hadrian to atone for the Sale of Yosef HaTzadik.
In addition to the idea that the Ten Martyrs didn't ...
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1answer
78 views
Where can I find the booklet “Structure of Debate”?
I was in a different shul this past Shabbos when I saw a very interesting booklet of more than 200 pages called "Structure of Debate" by Jonathan Bailey. It's a primer to learning gemara. I tried ...
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What is the difference between Genaiva and Gezaila
The Torah or Talmud uses two terms for a thief -- the "Gonif", (which is the more familiar term) and the "Gazlin", and two corresponding terms for robbery "Genaiva" and "Gezaila". What is the ...
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2answers
260 views
Help with Tosfot “v'HaAmar R. Yochanan” on Brachot 5b
The Gmara on Brachot 5b quotes R. Yochanon:
R. Yochanan says: Leprosy and children are not chastisements of
love.
The Gmara later questions this statement:
But is children not a
...
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1answer
106 views
How was Rabbi Yochanan allowed to walk with his son's bone?
It says in Brachos 5B that R' Yochanan used to show people his tenth son's bone (all of his children passed away, and he used to carry a bone of his tenth child).
How was he allowed to not bury this ...
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1answer
102 views
Plural vs Singular masechtot names
Why are some masechtot names plural (e.g. gitin, kidushin) while others are singular (e.g. tomid, nida and shabos)?
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2answers
323 views
Why does the Talmud assume a woman cannot get pregnant on the first act of intercourse?
There is a rule in the Gemara (Yevamot 34a) that אין אשה מתעברת בביאה ראשונה. The question is why the Talmud assumes that a virgin cannot conceive on her first act of sexual intercourse if the hymen ...
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143 views
Mamzer Question on Kiddushin 72b
The gemarah in Yevamos (78b) says "mamzer eino chai" (A mamzer [who is not known, look later in the daf] doesn't live [for more that 12 months] so not to proliferate mamzeirim).
However, the Gemarah ...
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1answer
60 views
Rashi in Horayos
I'm learning now Horayos, and it seems to me that Rashi there is somewhat different. Too verbose, I would say. Are there any sources that in Horayos Rashi is indeed Rashi, or it is not?
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1answer
103 views
What's the practical difference of what Maveh means?
In the gemara in Bava Kama on Daf 3b there is a discussion about what the word Maveh (מבעה) in the Mishnah [on 2a] means. The gemara brings a dispute: Rav holds that Maveh means "man" (i.e. when a man ...
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743 views
Online English Rashi (Talmud)
Is there an English translation of Rashi's commentary on the Talmud available online?
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6answers
344 views
Chanukah in the Mishnah
Why is the story of Chanukah not mentioned in the Mishnah at all, besides for to Passing references to Halachot which apply to them in the context of Damages an the laws of planting?
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4answers
271 views
Talmudic Terminology
There are a number of English language works which to one degree or another discuss Talmudic terminology, i.e. the wider implication of certain phrases commonly used in the Gemara. Can anybody suggest ...
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3answers
231 views
Why masechet “Beitza”?
Why do we call it masechet Beitza now, and not masechet Yom Tov, as was apparently once common? Unlike the parshiot, which are named after their first words, masechtot are all named after topics, ...
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212 views
Pocket-size Talmud/Gemara
Is there is a pocket-size Gemara? Soft cover preferred. This would be a great invention if it doesn't already exist.
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2answers
136 views
Which Amora is mentioned most often in the Gemara?
Which Amora is mentioned most often throughout Talmud Bavli?
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1answer
130 views
דילמא == Dilemma?
Is there documentation to prove that the Aramaic word "דילמא" is a transliteration or derivation of the Greek word "dilemma"?
If so, this fact is informative to G'mara-learning in understanding the ...
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6answers
2k views
Online glossary of Talmudic terms
Is there an online glossary anywhere that explains important Talmudic terms, with similar scope to the Practical Talmud Dictionary? I'm more interested in an Aramaic-English resource, but ...
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3answers
155 views
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Why is Chulin in Kodshim
Why is the Gemara (Talmud) Chulin which talks about Ritual slaughter of animals not having to do with sacrifices in the Beis Hamikdash (temple) in the SEDER (order) of Kodshim which is talks about ...
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1answer
112 views
Where did Rash"i's commentary leave off when he died?
Where did Rash"i's commentary leave off when died? Did he finish it? What was he working on?
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4answers
595 views
Significance of the gemara statment תיקו Teku?
Why do we say תיקו Teiku when there is no answer in the Gemara?
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1answer
171 views
Sherlock Holmes-ian deduction in the Talmud
I remember learning a story in the Talmud (I think) and am trying to find the source. I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but this is what I remember.
There was a Talmudic Rabbi who was sold into ...
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1answer
55 views
Merit and Ein Mazal L'Yisrael
The Gemara (Shabbos 156b) tells a story with Shmuel and a non-Jewish astrologer named Avlait. They observed people entering a swamp. Avlait said that a certain man would not emerge from the swamp ...
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1answer
142 views
Car falls into my ditch- I'm not responsible?
Halacha dictates that if someone were to dig a huge hole in the middle of the street and a car fell into it, he would not be responsible to pay for the damage to the car. The language of the Talmud ...
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1answer
57 views
Peirush HaMishnah L'Rambam
Anyone know where I can find Rambam's commentary on Mishnah online? I am especially looking for his commentary to Avos.
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1answer
81 views
If the “ten martyrs” didn't happen together, did the punishment-for-Joseph story happen? When?
It's commonly believed that the "ten martyrs" didn't all live in the same time period, and the description of them as a group is conceptual, not historical.
Now the story opens with a Roman ruler ...
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4answers
232 views
Why was the Gemara written in Aramaic?
The Gemara (the Bavli and Yerushalmi) are the fundamental texts that we possess of the Oral law. Why were they written in Aramaic?
At first glance, Ravina and R' Ashi probably knew that this will be ...
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1answer
113 views
Can one make a siyum mesechta if it was learned in English?
If someone has some trouble with Aramaic and learned parts of a mesechta in English (for example with an Artscroll Gemara), can he still make a siyum?
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107 views
Different expressions for “permitted” in the gemoro and elsewhere
The Gemara and other sources use different words to say that something is permitted. There are "shari" "muttar" "leis lon boh".
Is there any difference in shades of meaning between these and others ...
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1answer
67 views
What does R' Shimon mean when he “Expounds the reason of a verse”?
There is a known argument In Kiddushin and other places where it says that R' Shimon "expounds [for Halachic purposes] the reason of a verse" (דרש טעמא דקרא).
What does this mean? Does it mean that ...
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What is the status of the “minor tractates”?
There is a collection of "minor tractates" some of which contain material not found in other works of torah sh'baal peh (the oral law). What is the origin of these tractates? Who wrote/compiled them? ...
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0answers
73 views
When was the bending of the knees in bowing introduced?
The Gemara in Berachos 12a says that we bow at Baruch and we straighten at Hashem. Nowadays the familiar practice is to bend the knee at Baruch, to bow at Atah, and to straighten at Hashem, as stated ...
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Sharp sword on the throat
The Gemara says Berachot 10a
אפי' חרב חדה מונחת על צוארו של אדם אל ימנע עצמו מן הרחמים
Even if a sharp sword is resting on one's thought he shouldn't hold back from (asking for) mercy."
Why ...
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3answers
104 views
The concept of קם ליה בדרבה מיניה
I'm trying to understand this concept. I've Googled around and could't find any straightforward answers. I don't need too many details, just the explanation that's given in the Gemara (I understand ...
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163 views
Connecting Shas and Halacha
What resources are available to trace the connections from the Gemara to the Halachic codifications and the reverse? For example, how can someone learning Daf Yomi find the related Halachic rulings ...
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194 views
Tzlach - source of name?
The Noda BiYehuda has a commentary on Shas known as Tzlach - can someone help me by explaining what that stands for?
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2answers
103 views
When and why does the Gemoro say “vehilchoso”?
Sometimes, after the Talmud records a disagreement, it concludes by saying that the Halacha is like one side of the debate (“vehilchoso”). See e.g. ...
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3answers
133 views
Do the Gemara and the Rema prohibit, or encourage, women putting on talit and/or tefillin?
An article in Ynet Judaism (in Hebrew) addresses the resent controversy regarding the prayer of Women of the Wall at the western wall. And claims the following claims:
אף אחד גם לא הקריא להן את ...
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1answer
305 views
Yerushalmi Versus Bavli
What are the differences between the two Talmuds? or are there differences? Why did the two Talmuds develop separately or did they? Why do we Poskin like the Bavli or do we? Is it true that the ...
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1answer
132 views
Source for story about The Rabbi and the prostitute
I learned a great Gemara about a rabbi who visited a famous prostitute. But before he consummated the deal, his tallitot slapped him on the face, reminding him of his faith.
Where's the story? Any ...
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2answers
93 views
Riddle: Honor-Dishonor [closed]
When is doing an action to honor something considered a dishonor and therefore okay?
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1answer
83 views
Brachos Daf 2a - What does Creation have to do with Krias Shema?
The Gemorah in Brachos Daf 2a asks two questions right away after
learning the Mishnah. The second is: Why is it that the Mishnah
taught about the time at night for Krias Shema first - really we
...
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1answer
69 views
Haman in the Torah
Similar to Alex's question,
Why did the Gemara say "From where is the source of Homon in the Torah? Homin Hoetz." when it could have used "Vechaltem es Homon"?
Anyways, what is the purpose of ...
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1answer
126 views
Can someone explain the meat-vinegar issue in 7th perek of Pesachym?
I have a question with regards to the sugya in Pesachym 74B regarding soaking meat in vinegar.
To start with:
if blood has already been purged, why soak in vinegar to remove the blood?
how can the ...
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1answer
187 views
What's in the new bit of Jerusalem Talmud?
I just read a news story about a newly discovered sentence-long fragment of the Jerusalem Talmud that apparently resolves a previously unintelligible section of Tractate Bikkurim.
Does anyone know ...
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1answer
46 views
Gemara on volunteering?
I heard that there was a Gemara to the effect of "volunteers cost more than employees because their motivation is not as good" -- or somesuch. Any ideas? Thanks.
