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09:14 pm: If You Don't Like Sacrilege, You Won't Like This Post

You know how sometimes Gemara gets a little boring? Like, you're sitting in gemara class and it's all 20 cubic feet this and 15 cubic feet that and your mind wanders to other, more mundane matters?

So I think that this happens to people in the gemara too. The rabbis in the gemara were probably so bored being in the Gemara. I mean, in the beginning, it is probably exciting. Woo-hoo! Look, I'm in the gemara! Check it out, Ma! But after a while, it gets tedious. Twenty amahs here and 15 amahs there. Eventually, an interlude is needed.

Rebbi Yochanan stated that the "Ever" of Rebbi Yishmael bar'Rebbi Yosi was like a flask the size of nine Kavim. Rav Papa stated that the "Ever" of Rebbi Yochanan was like a flask the size of five Kavim (or, according to others, three Kavim). The Gemara continues and says that the "Ever" of Rav Papa himself was like a Harpanian basket...The Gemara relates that Rebbi Yochanan used to sit next to the Mikvah so that the women would see his beauty when they came out and would have children as beautiful and as learned in Torah as he. The Rabanan asked him, "Are you not afraid of the 'evil eye'?" Rebbi Yochanan answered that he is descended from Yosef, over whom the "evil eye" had no power. From here.

By the way, I just want to see that last one. I want to come out of the mikvah and instead of the mikvah lady, I want to see Rabbi Yochanan explaining to me that the reason he sits in the mikvah is so all the women should bear children with his likeness.

Channeling Frum Satire.

Tags: gemara

09:08 pm: The Talmud on Gentiles



So here is a Antisemitic website which tries to prove that the gemara subscribed to the doctrine of Jewish Supremacy. I am sure you have all seen these, there are so many of these on the web.

And here is an Orthodox Jewish website trying to reject these accusations and explain the gemara's statements to make them more palatable. Okay, that's to be expected as well.

Yep, and here is an Orthodox Jewish website trying to prove that the gemara ( as well as other sources) did, in fact, subscribe to the doctrine of Jewish Supremacy. Ever seen that before? No?  

 Well, then here are some highlights: 
 ( Read more... )

Tags: chabad, gemara, gentiles

09:23 pm: Am Hanivchar, again
 
There is a popular argument for the veracity of Judaism and it goes something like this. 

The Jews have survived for so long in galus. A small nation, a tiny fraction of the world's population, statistically speaking, the Jews should have long ago been assimilated or destroyed. And yet, through all the Crusades, Inquisitions, Pogroms and Holocausts, they still survive and even flourish! All the while, the nations who have persecuted them vanish into the pages of history books. Where is the great Roman Empire? Where are the mighty Greek rulers? All gone, while the Jews survive. Here is another version of the same.

 I am sure you have heard this argument in many forms over many years. It is quite appealing emotionally. The Jews are a small nation who defy all odds and survive. This somehow proves that they are indeed the Chosen Nation and that the Torah is true. Presumably because it is impossible for the Jews to have survived under these conditions if God did not will it to be so and the only reason God could will the survival of the Jews is because they are to be a beacon of light for everyone else.  Some people like to tack on something about how this also means that Orthodoxy is the way to go because the Conservatives and Reform movements will become completely assimilated over the next few decades. 

 So this past Shabbos, I was at a table where someone mentioned the Karaite moshavim in Israel. I looked it up a bit and found that the Karaite sect, the small minority who took the Torah literally and discounted the entire Talmud, managed to survive throughout the diaspora just fine and are now doing well in Israel. They apparently have 11 shuls and 30, 000 members, if this article is accurate.  

So now let us apply the logic of the previous argument to the Karaim. They are even a smaller fraction of the Jews. They were rejected by Orthodox Judaism itself.  They were persecuted right along with the other Jews. And hey,  despite all the negative press and extreme adversity, they survived! This must mean that the Karaite way is the Chosen Derech. Right?

Tags: chosen nation, gemara, gentiles, hashkafa, rabbis

09:15 am: Ethics of the Talmud
 
The Jewish Learning Institute (JLI) people came out with another class, Ethics of the Talmud. 

It is an excellent example of what bothers people most about kiruv & shlichus classes.  Over six weeks, the not-yet-frum Jew, who has never studied gemara in depth, will be exposed some of the ethical dillemmas the Talmud discusses. Abortion, euthanasia, honesty and so on. The goal of the class is to demonstrate how Judaism and the Talmud offer "a moral compass to guide you through the labyrinth of life."  JLI managed to secure endorsements from several prominent attorneys and professors, including Harvard's Alan Dershowitz and Columbia's Thomas Zweifel. Interestingly, this course somehow received accreditation for continuing education credits for attorneys (CLE) and physicians (AMA) as well. 

I don't know how to tell you this, Professors Dershowitz and Zweifel. But out of all the texts in Judaism, the talmud is the one I would use last for my moral compass. True, it may have been pretty progressive for 500 C.E., but to use the gemara for ethical guidance in 2008 could really get you into hot water. 

I'm gonna guess that the JLI course does not mention some of these halachik points: 

* You are not allowed to save a gentile's life on shabbos, unless you fear reprisals against Jews for failing to do so. 
* When you see a man and a woman drowning, all other things being equal, you must save the man first, because he has more commandments to fulfill. 
* Abortions may be assur for you and me, but the sanhedrin was allowed to beat a pregnant woman until her fetus was aborted if she committed a capital crime. This was done to save her the embarrassment of giving birth posthumously. 
* The laws of honesty are different for Jews and gentiles. If  a Jew overpays you, you are obligated to return the money. If the same happens with a gentile, you are not. 
* In general, many punishment laws are much stricter for  gentiles than for Jews. A gentile is allowed to be put to death with circumstancial evidence only, a Jew must be admonished by two witnesses during the act itself. A gentile is executed for stealing whereas a Jew is not.
* Women, for the most part, are not allowed to serve as witnesses or judges in a court of law.

And so on, there are plenty of other examples that I have discussed at some point or another in this blog.

So, Dr. Zweifel, when you said that this course offers "21st century leaders of all stripes a crucial lighthouse in the sea of ethical uncertainty", were you aware of these talmudic conclusions? Do you think the American system of justice in 2008 has much to learn from the conclusions of the gemara about women or goyim?  

Now, to be clear, I am not positing that the Judaic system of ethics is completely antiquated. There are  texts which would appropriate for the study of ethics and morality as an introductory course in Judaism. Pirkei Avos, for example, or later shailos u'teshuvos about medical ethics. But If you are going to teach unaffiliated Jews about the ethical system proposed by the rabbis in the talmud, please be sure and teach them that the gemara is not all sweet roses and moral lighthouses. 

Otherwise, you are no better than a used carsalesman who only points out the new coat of paint and the shiny exterior, while forgetting to mention the need for new brakes and the recent trouble with the engine. I wonder what the Talmud would say about the ethics of used carsalesmen. 



Tags: gemara, gentiles, kiruv, women