Monthly Archives: February 2022

How do we know that, from the letter of the law, work is not permitted on Chol Hamoed? That is the question with which our Daf today begins, ten lines from the top of דף יח עמוּד א: מִכְּלָל דְּתַרְוַיְיהוּ … Continue reading →

Our Daf today opens with the Mishna at the top of דף יז עמוּד א, and one of the classic disagreements between בֵּית שַׁמַּאי and בֵית הִלֵּל. As ArtScroll points, this Mishna actually belongs in מַסֶכֶת בֵּיצָה, which delineates הִלְכוֹת … Continue reading →

Congratulations to my alma mater, Yeshiva University, whose Maccabees handily won the Skyline Championship yesterday with a great team effort. NBA basketball royalty was in the house yesterday, most notably Amar’e Carsares Stoudemire (אמארה יהושפט סטודמאייר), former Sun & Knick … Continue reading →

We are at the bottom of דף טו עמוד ב, as the Gemara lauds רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא, the last of the four spiritual cosmonauts launched into the elevated state of פַּרְדֵס and the only one to have returned unscathed. רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא … Continue reading →

Toward the bottom of דף יד עמוּד ב we find the following Gemara: תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אַרְבָּעָה נִכְנְסוּ בַּפַּרְדֵּס, וְאֵלּוּ הֵן: בֶּן עַזַּאי, וּבֶן זוֹמָא, אַחֵר, וְרַבִּי עֲקִיבָא Our Sages taught that four entered into “פַּרְדֵּס”. Before we even consider who … Continue reading →

Today’s Daf still finds us in the midst of mysticism, eight lines from the bottom on דף יג עמוּד ב. As noted by Adam Kirsch (Come and Hear: What I Saw in My Seven-and-a-Half-Year Journey Through the Talmud), despite the … Continue reading →

Yesterday we pondered a bit about space and time in the context of our Daf, and I mentioned that Rabbi Stern and I carried on a side conversation noting the brilliance of R’ Aryeh Kaplan in contemplating the universe in … Continue reading →

Today’s Daf, carrying on with Cosmology, begins with דף יא עמוּד ב, seven lines from the bottom and questioning how we know that the act of creation should be taught one on one and not with multiple students: ״וְלֹא בְּמַעֲשֵׂה … Continue reading →

Were Teddy Roosevelt doing today’s Daf he might have said: “Speak softly and carry a big script”. For the Gemara begins on דף יא עמוּד א by stating: מִקְרָא מוּעָט וַהֲלָכוֹת מְרוּבּוֹת. There are areas of הַלָכָה about which there … Continue reading →

In yesterday’s blog we cited the Mishnah whic states: עָבַר הָרֶגֶל וְלֹא חָג — אֵינוֹ חַיָּיב בְּאַחְרָיוּתוֹ, עַל זֶה נֶאֱמַר ״מְעֻוּוֹת לֹא יוּכַל לִתְקוֹן וְחֶסְרוֹן לֹא יוּכַל לְהִמָּנוֹת״ If סוּכּוֹת passed and one did not celebrate by bringing the קָרְבַּן … Continue reading →