Questions tagged [talmud-gemara]
The Talmud is a central text of Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, metaphorical stories customs, and history.
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Establishing the relative order of Rashi's commentaries
In learning Masekhet Ketubot, I encountered Rashi's definition of בי שמשי on daf 103a. There, since the passage is clearly referring to twilight on erev shabbat in particular, Rashi explains why so ...
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Davening to change nature
In Mashcehes Brachos (Bavli) 60 the Gemara states that one should not pray that his unborn baby be a boy if it's after the time the baby has formed already in the womb. However, in Masheches Brachos ...
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Identification of Censored Areas of Talmud
Unfortunately, the Talmud and other writings have been subject to censorship since their completion. These alterations seem still to be present in many modern editions of the Talmud.
How ...
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Baalei Batim and Daf Yomi versus Learning Halachah
Today, many baalei batim center their learning around gemara bavli, for example through programs like daf yomi. But the Drisha and Shach write that for those who aren't learning all day it's more ...
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R' Chanina B"T's strange behavior at his execution (Kalah 5, 4)
We all know the heroic story of R' Chanina Ben Tardion in its version in Avodah Zarah 18b as he was wrapped in Sefer Torah and burned alive.
Interestingly, Masechet Kalah 5, 4 (sorry couldn't find a ...
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The methodology of Mesores haShas
In Mesores haShas (printed in the margins of the Vilna Shas), is there any order to the sequence of quoted masekhtas? For example, on Sanhedrin 105b, a story is related that concerns the length of ...
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Two additional tests of Joseph in Talmud?
This discussion mentions that besides the test with Zuleica/Zuleicha (Potiphar's wife, according to the reference 166 Book of Yasher cited on p.371 in this Midrash book), there were two even more ...
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How does frequency of a Sanhedrin killing make sense in light of the concept of "Kippah"?
The mishnah on Makkos 7a states:
סנהדרין ההורגת אחד בשבוע נקראת חובלנית רבי אליעזר בן עזריה אומר אחד לשבעים שנה רבי טרפון ורבי עקיבא אומרים אילו היינו בסנהדרין לא נהרג אדם מעולם רשב"ג אומר אף הן ...
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Six fundamental disagreements - The Rogatchover
I heard (in the name of the Rogatchover) that there are six fundamental disagreements upon which all the disagreements in Shas are based. Assuming that this is true, does anybody know what they are?
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Discarding halachic rules on Ketubot 60b
In Masechet Ketubot, 60b there is a discussion of how long a nursing woman has to wait before being remarried. There are 2 opinions:
R. Meir says 24 months (or 21 months as the problem with the milk ...
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Halacha to discourage a convert once every 6 months?
A friend of mine told me that the halacha of discouraging a convert three times has a little nuance - the convert has to make the second and third attempt (to persuade the rabbi to let him convert) at ...
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Are there accepted rules for the exposition of a set of juxtaposed verses (סמוכים)?
This question came about from learning Gemoro Brochos 21b but the question is not limited to this daf.
The Gemoro Brochos 21b quotes Rebbi Yehoshua ben Levi as expounding verses Devorim 4 (9 & ...
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Why is the format for referencing books sometimes backwards?
The Rambam is usually reference in the following way: פרק א׳ מהלכות ק״ש הלכה ט׳ - chapter 1 from from hilchos kerias shma, halacha 9.
Why is it referenced this way? Why not the way many ...
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Why learning from examples vs learning from Halakhah?
Our Talmud uses different methods to teach Halachot, one of them is telling stories about Rabbis and concluding the Halachot from their behavior.
One of the famous is R' Akiva in Brochos 62 (check the ...
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Aryeh Kaplan and Talmud memorization
Aryeh Kaplan’s Jewish Meditation, page 27:
I recall that when I was in yeshivah, a few friends and I decided to have a contest to see who could memorize the most pages of Talmud. For me, it was an ...
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Has completing the entire Talmud ever been a tenet of Rabbinical Ordination?
Has there ever been a requirement in any Rabbinical program to finish the entire Talmud, not just select mesechtas + related halachos?
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Persia will completely annihilate Edom which will cause moshiach to come
I heard that in a passage in the Talmud it says Persia will completely annihilate Edom and the rest of the world which will then spur about moshiach' arrival, the Yalkut Shimoni (Yeshaya 60:499), ...
user8730
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Source for a Talmudic story of three caskets
In the Merchant of Venice, suitors attempting to win Portia's hand must choose from 3 caskets (of gold, silver and lead). Those who chose wrong must leave immediately and never marry anyone. One who ...
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How can using the bathroom be equated to the pleasure of the afterlife?
There are three things which are a taste of the World to Come: Shabbat, the sun, and “usage.” What does “usage” mean? Usage of the bed [i.e. marital relations]? But that weakens the body. Rather it ...
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Why are Masekhtot referred to by content while Humashim by their first word(s)?
Hamishah Humshe'i Torah (i.e. The Five Books of Moses) are most commonly referred to by the first word(s) in each (e.g. "Bereshit bara", "We'eleh HaDevarim"), though I'm aware of commentators (e.g. ...
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Ran comments on Gemara Masechet Shabbath
I did learn several comments of Rishonim on a Suggia in Masechet Shabbath and read a footnote (from Harav Moshe Hershler) on the Ramban (Edition Hamachon Hatalmud Haisraeli).
He refers to a comment by ...
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Source of "You can educate a fool but you can't make him think."
The internet is full of this "quote", attributing it to "The Talmud".
Is this really to be found in Mishnah or Gemara?
If so, what is the source reference?
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List of halakhos that are only relevant in the era of Moshiach
In Zevachim 45a (s.v. הלכתא למשיחא), Tosfos provides a list of instances in Shas where the gemara rules in favour of a particular halakhic position that will only be practically relevant in the era of ...
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Gemara Paskens for itself
Why does the Gemara decide to pasken in a select few cases and otherwise leaves the machlokes open ended for us to decide?
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Can I make a siyum on audio lessons?
I learned an entire Talmudic tractate by listening to audio lessons, without actually reading any words from the printed text. May I make a siyum?
It appears that "shomea k'oneh" wouldn't ...
user17319
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Maps that can aid the locations of the cities referenced in Masechet Gittin?
I’m currently learning Masechet Gittin and would like to know where I can find maps of the cities referenced in the first daf or so that can assist me. Cities like heger, rekem, kfar lud, etc is what ...
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Sefer explaining why Aggada stories in the Talmud are located where they are
I saw a great reason given by R' Tzaddok HaKohen about why the story about the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and its aftermath is specifically in Maseches Gittin 55b-58a:
(adapted from a Jewish ...
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Source for galuta d'galuta גלותא דגלותא?
I so clearly remember from my days of Talmud study the phrase גלותא דגלותא, meaning a place that was REALLY far away, seriously in exile, "deep diaspora", totally removed from eretz yisrael. Maybe it ...
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Middah keneged middah vs Moddedin
I've seen two expressions used by Chazal:
Hashem judges a person מידה כנגד מידה, measure for measure, for example Nedarim 32a
במידה שאדם מודד בה מודדין לו, by the measure a person uses They use to ...
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List of Torah commands that were only meant "for that generation and not to be repeated from generation to generation"?
In a recent Torah reading, it talked about the daughters of Zelophehad choosing to marry within their tribe, in order to keep their father's inheritance within his tribe.
The guest rabbi, whom I ...
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Is there a Talmudic "score card"?
When I am learning a masechta, one thing that shocks me is the ability of those people involved in arguments to cite an authority and know his view on most any other case. So if Rabbi Yehoshua is ...
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Are the talmudic "Prushim" the Rabbinic Pharisees?
In Masechet Sotah, 20a, the mishna details harmful forces and reads (translation from dafyomi.co.il)
The following destroy the world - a foolish Chasid, a crafty evildoer, a woman who is Perushah, ...
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Why do we follow the "basra'a" - later one?
We know in Shas that in various situations, when there is a machlokes as to how to pasken, we follow the opinion of he that was chronologically later. (Ex. see Tosafos to B'rachos 13b s.v. Amar Rava.) ...
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Looking for material on how to 'use' Rashi in the gemara
Where can I find material like 'klalei Rashi'?
I'm looking for things such as what Rashi means when he uses certain words and things like that.
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what determines what parts of the talmud(if any) are in hebrew rather than aramaic?
I read in this question
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/226412/origins-of-turn-over-in-his-grave-turn-over-in-her-grave-etc-etc/226478?noredirect=1#comment576934_226478
That this line ...
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Source for the oral traditions in Megillas Esther?
I'm trying to understand where the Rabbis in tractate Megillah get their information.
I thought that the way they interpret the five books of Moses was because they already knew all the laws and ...
user8832
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Can a magician cast a spell in water?
The power of magicians and magic, the Talmud speaks plenty about.
One such example is that of Ze'iri and the donkey, in Sanhedrin 67:
זעירי איקלע לאלכסנדריא של מצרים זבן חמרא כי מטא לאשקוייה מיא ...
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List of things that make one 'as if one rejects the core'
I was recently looking up something about lashon harah, and on Erchin 15A, Rav Yosi ben Zimra says that anyone that says lashon harah it is as if they reject everything, and I know I have seen similar ...
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Why is there seemingly such a disconnect between the Geonim and the Rishonim?
It seems that there was a disconnect or upheaval of some kind between the times of the Geonim and the times of the Rishonim and the hakhamim that these two eras contained. Shittoth regarding tefila, ...
user3342
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Connection of Toch Kedei Dibbur to Walking 4 Amot
According to this, the gemara compares Toch Kedei Dibbur (the length of time neccasary to greet someone; see Shalom alecha rebbi (u'mori) ) to the time it takes to walk 4 amot (cubits). Thus, with ...
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Three yods in a Get
https://www.sefaria.org/Gittin.85b.12?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en. The gemara says that there are two words in a get (Jewish divorce document) that should be written with three consecutive yods: ...
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Satan does not "work" On Yom Kippur
The Gemara in Nedarim 32B states;
הַשָּׂטָן בְּחוּשְׁבָּנֵיהּ תְּלָת מְאָה וְשִׁיתִּין וְאַרְבְּעָה
The letters of the term the Satan [haSatan] in numerical value is 364, which equals the number of ...
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Rav ha Meiri's interpretation of the term "notzrim" in Talmud Bavli-Avodah Zarah 6a and 7b
According to the legal determination established in Talmud Bavli -Avodah Zarah 6a and 7b, the halachic status of christians (“notzrim”) appears to be that of idolaters:
Avodah Zara 6a
Avodah Zarah 7b
...
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The possible history of Sefer Za'atutei?
I noticed that one of the changes made by the sages that authored Targum Hashiv'im (the LXX) for King Talmai was:
"וַיִּשְׁלַח אֶת זַאֲטוּטֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֶל זַאֲטוּטֵי בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל ...
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Gemara source regarding Levy in Germania
My name is Levy.
Someone I know from France, where we have the same origins, in Alsace / Germany, and profoundly religious and an intellectual, told me that in the Gemara, it is said that after the ...
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Sugya summary for each mesechta
I am looking for an English sefer that contains a summary of each sugya in a mesechta as well as the halachos learned in that sugya.
Thanks,
Yosef
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Apparent contradiction if Elul was made full when necessary
The Gemara Rosh Hashanah 19b says:
והאמר רבי חיננא בר כהנא א"ר מימות עזרא ואילך לא מצינו אלול מעובר
לא מצינו דלא איצטריך הא איצטריך מעברינן ליה
Didn’t Rabbi Chinana bar Kahana say that Rav said: ...
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Piskei Hilchos Pesach
In Maseches Pesachim 57b, the last page of of the fourth chapter ends abruptly halfway through the page, followed by "הדרן עלך מקום שנהגו וסליקא לה פסח ראשון." The rest of the page is filled ...
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Sotah 34a se’a as unit of weight?
In Sotah 34a, the weight of the stones at the Jordan from Joshua 4:3 is given as “about forty se’a.” Some (for instance Steinsaltz) use this in the discussion of the cluster of grapes brought back by ...
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Source for the menorah represents the wisdoms of the world?
This blog post claims that the Meiri along with other Rishonim taught that the Menorah ,mentioned in Behalotecha represents the 7 wisdoms of the world.
Quoted here:
The Meiri and other Rishonim say ...
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