Lest you fear that the Talmud is not comprehensive in its coverage of all conceivable situations we may find ourselves on Shabbat, today's Daf covers cases of when we throw…
Author: Beastman
I am a corporate attorney. I was raised Jewish in a slightly observant household. Although I was bar mitzvahed in an Orthodox synagogue, I have never kept kosher or Shomer Shabbos. I love history and particularly Jewish history. I am happily married to a Catholic woman. Our children were raised in a reform synagogue and consider themselves Jewish - in some ways, they are more observant than me.
Campaigns for the Texas Legislature and the Talmud – Shabbat 6
My wife is running for the fourth time in six months in an election for the Texas Legislature. She ran in November in a special election to fill the seat…
Basketball and the Talmud – Shabbat 5
People generally believe that James Naismith invented the game of basketball in the early 1890's. In today's Daf we learn that the game of basketball was actually invented by Rabbi…
Conversations Across Space and Time – Shabbat 4
Talmud is a record of debates about the law and the meaning of sacred texts. These debates did not happen like a presidential debate with everyone standing on the same…
Sin and Punishment – Shabbat 3
Yesterday, we looked at 8 cases to determine what was permissible, what was prohibited and what was punishable. To understand today's Daf, we need to first focus on the difference…
Neil Diamond and the Talmud – Shabbat 2
Hands, touchin' handsReachin' out, touchin' me, touchin' you Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond ran through my head as I read today's Daf. Of course, in the the days of coronovirus,…
I Am Back – Where Are We?
I have not blogged in approximately one month. All I can say is that life got in the way. We have been dealing with illness of our kids, illness of…
Chinese History and the Talmud – Berakhot 33
I love reading history. About 90% of my reading is history from all periods and all areas of the world. My degree as an undergraduate was in Chinese History. If…
The Nature of Evil – Berakhot 32
Yesterday, we read about Hannah praying for a child and how that teaches us about prayer. Today we read about Moses praying for God to spare the Israelites after the…
Hannah Schools the Rabbis – Berakhot 31
In my last blog entry, I gave a very high-level overview of Hannah in I Samuel. You may want to read that introduction before reading today's entry because we are…