“Where there is no one to fill a particular role, accept that role upon yourself.”
Today’s reading provides more guidance on where it is appropriate to spit; it is permitted when wearing shoes in the synagogue. A comparison is made between a synagogue and one’s home and if one allows wearing shoes in their home and expectorating, then its ok to do so in the temple. Can you imagine with all the hysteria today concerning the coronavirus if it was socially allowable to go about the street spitting? One would probably be arrested or worse – perhaps attacked by a panic-stricken crowd.
“Anyone who is modest in the bathroom will be saved from three things: From snakes, from scorpions, and from demons.”
After the dramatic chronicle of Rabbi Akiva’s martyrdom in yesterday’s portion of the Talmud, it is a bit of a come down to read about his bathroom habits. But of course, this also places Rabbi Akiva very much among us; he was a man of the people who started his life as a shepherd and did not start his Torah study until he was in his 40s. This passage is interesting because it demonstrates how Rabbi has learned from Rabbi, student from teacher. Rabbi Akiva learned a lesson about the most basic of human activities from observing Rabbi Yehoshua, while Ben Azzai learned from Rabbi Akiva.
“Woe unto me from my Creator and woe unto me from my inclination.”
Today’s reading examines the dual nature of man: he does good and evil, he is good and evil, he has a good inclination and an evil one, he has two faces, two sides, a back and a front, a front and a tail. We are told that a man’s dual inclination can be demonstrated by his two kidneys, with the one on the right advising him to do good, while the one of the left steers him toward evil. He has two hands and gleans wisdom from his right, while what he gains from the left is foolhardiness.
“One recites a blessing for the bad that befalls him just as he does for the good.”
Rabbi Akiva said that one must always accustom oneself to say: “Everything that God does, he does for the best.” Rabbi Akiva asks a lot of us to say blessings over hardship. It takes a lot of introspection and faith to be able to be able to bless our pain.
“Lightning flashes, the clouds rumble, and the rain comes.”
We are provided in today’s reading with insight into the world of the Rabbis who were making sense of the universe and natural phenomenon without the benefit of science.
“The aura of the comet passes Orion and it appears as though the comet itself passes.”
Ulla appears in a passage that offers insight into grief. The Koren Talmud provides background on Ulla who traveled back and forth from Babylon to Israel (as we are reminded from the earlier comment by Yalta who suggested he carried lice along with him.)
“All species of animals are good omens in a dream, with the exception of an elephant and a monkey.”
We are told today that in fact dreaming of an elephant is good omen if he is saddled and a bad one if he is not. What a wonderful thought of saddling an elephant and jumping onboard and heading out for an adventure with the most majestic creature on earth.
All dreams follow the mouth.”
When I was a young girl I poured over Freud and Jung hoping to find some meaning in the scraps of dreams that I could remember. I was certain that there were fixed, predetermined messages in my dreams and if I could only figure out the precise meaning I would have some insight into my life to come. I felt stuck in my suburban New Jersey adolescent life and was certain there was a much more fabulous life waiting for me. In addition to interpreting my dreams through the psychoanalytic texts I was reading, I taught myself astrology. I was desperate to see my future through a positive lens.
“I have dreamed yet a dream.”
We are reminded of the importance of humility for among the warnings of sitting or standing near an inclined wall is the guidance to not expect our prayers to be answered because doing so suggests we think we are worthy.
“Say to wisdom: You are my sister, and call understanding your kin.”
The trajectory of the Shabbos Tractate, which started in early March, coincided with the emergence of the pandemic and shut down of New York City where I live. I found relevancy to the pandemic in much of the Tractate, starting with the discussions on private, intermediate and public domains and set-aside prohibitions.
“There is no constellation for the Jewish people.”
When I was a young girl growing up in South Jersey, I used the money I saved from my allowance to buy books on astrology. I felt trapped in the body and life of a child in the suburbs of New Jersey and was desperate to look ahead and gain insight into what my adult life might look like. I taught myself how to read astrological charts and I was able at ten years old to read the charts of my friends and family.
“There is no creature poorer than a dog, and no creature richer than a pig.”
We lost Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz this week who made the Talmud accessible to secular people like me. We are also near the end of the Shabbat Tractate which has traked the trajectory of the pandemic. Sometimes the Rabbis seem so accessible as a result of Rabbi Steinsaltz’s lifelong work that I forget they are not speaking directly to each other and lived hundreds of years apart. They enter into what seems like a direct dialog in the pages of the Talmud, but many lived at different times and held the sensibilities of their time and place. There is no one voice in the Talmud and a lot of contradictions.
“Isn’t there the matter of the suffering of a living creature.”
Today’s Daf Yomi is a welcome relief after days of reading about death and dying. We have entered the final chapter of the Shabbat Tractate which is focused on the treatment of animals. There are many troubling portions in this Tractate, including the depiction of women, and those with physical and mental challenges and non-Jews. But what has been consistent reaching back to the Berakhot Tractate, is the moral obligation to take care of our animals. We have been reminded on several occasions of the duty to feed our animals before ourselves.
“This is the path, walk on it, when you turn to the right or to the left.”
We are told that the soul of the righteous descend back and forth between the world-to-come and the world-here-and-now for twelve months before they settle beneath what Rabbi Abbahu said is the “Throne of Glory.” A story is related of an oracle who uses her powers to raise the dead from the grave. (Did anyone else think of Melisandre from the Game of Thrones when they came upon this passage?)
“An old man walks bent over and appears to be searching for something.”
Today’s Daf Yomi is a stark reminder that growing old is not for the faint of heart. The text is about death and aging and the decaying of the body. We are reminded that as one grows old, he is left with memories of what he did in his youth and if he has not acquired wisdom, not much else.
“Before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened, and the clouds return after the rain.”
The topic of today’s Daf Yomi concerns the dead. It is a fitting topic for a day of extreme weather, with tropical storm force winds and driving rain. I know it is not logical, but there is a hope that maybe this heavy rain will rid us of the coronavirus and simply wash it away along with all the death and suffering. There is so much sad poetry in today’s text that is accompanied by the howling wind outside.
“Does it seem that you will join me this evening?
Today’s Daf Yomi discusses work arounds for prohibited acts on Shabbat that involve indirect or inferred speech. This goes against every grain in my body, which is to be direct, say what you mean, and don’t hide behind obfuscated words. I find when I speak in muddled language rather than directly, I do not always communicate effectively and become frustrated when I do not receive the response that I was after. The Rabbis suggest in today’s text that there is a code of alternative words that can be used to get around certain Shabbat restrictions.
“We should actually explain that the writing was on a wall.”
Today’s Daf Yomi reading in many ways has parallels to the blended life that I have been living since the start of the pandemic shut down. The boundaries between life and work have become even more porous than before. My personal and work email are on the same device and alerts from both appear often at the same time across my screen.
“Leave the Jewish people alone, and do not rebuke them.”
What has been interesting about this journey through the Talmud is that I feel like I am right there with the Rabbis as they argue and discuss what is permissible and what is prohibited. They were constructing rules that were designed to build a fence around Torah prohibitions and they constructed a circumference that at times was wider than was needed in order to be secure in their boundaries. They were also trying to steer the Jewish people into a practice of observation, and in the back and forth dialogs you can see how they struggled to get the balance right.
“Whichever way you look at it, there is a difficulty.”
What a journey it has been since we started reading about alleyways and courtyards and crossbeams and signposts back in August. I wish I could believe the Talmud when it tells us over and over that “it is not difficult.” I read diligently each day in order to find just one thing that I could grasp onto and find meaning. There were many days when I was on the verge of giving up but would find that one thing in the last paragraph of the day’s text.
“A living being carries itself.”
Today’s Daf Yomi is a journey through the underbelly of the Talmud, literally warts and all. It is not for the squeamish, of which I am one. The portion is a continuation from yesterday when the recovery of a fallen bandage was analyzed. Today, the discussion turns to the removal of warts.
“Go, roll up the mats.”
We appear to be at the very end of this Tractate where the Rabbis are trying to wrap up a few loose ends so that we can finally move on to something more interesting than today’s discussion of bolts and utensils. At least, I hope that is the case, because I have hung on this long in the belief that if I just finished this Tractate, the daily journey through the Talmud would get somehow easier to maneuver.
“We carve out to complete the necessary dimensions.”
Today’s Daf Yomi is typical of many of the strange texts I have encountered since I started this journey with Tractate Eruvin. I am struggling to envision how objects can be dangled in the air in order to create legitimate closures and to get around the prohibition against building in order to construct a fire and cook a hot meal.
“Without knowledge the soul is not good.”
There is nothing more enigmatic than the roots of a very old and sturdy tree. They create navigational paths beneath the surface and provide nourishment to the roots and branches above. When we find our place in life, we often use the language of finding our “roots.” And yet the roots dig deep beneath the earth and there is so much that is unknowable.
“One certainly considers his mouth a significant area.”
My post today is a public service announcement of sorts. Despite what the Gemara tells us is allowable, there are things that one should just not do for the greater good. We are in the middle of a public health crisis unlike any most of us have experienced in our lifetime, and it is critical that we wear masks and avoid spreading spittle particles.
“Something in the air is not considered to be at rest.”
Today’s Daf Yomi reading is for all the klutzes among us who spend our lives trying to clean up messes resulting from dropping and spilling things. I sympathize with the poor guy who appears in today’s portion who after being cooped up for so long decided to head to the roof of his apartment building with a sacred scroll.
“One who finds phylacteries in a field brings them in to the town pair by pair, whether the finder is a man or a woman.”
Instead of a land of milk and honey, today we enter the land of phylacteries; it is a a strange world where phylacteries seemingly grow everywhere around us; the black boxes swing from trees and gangly weeds of straps sprout from the ground. We step over them as we travel through fields where they reside in piles of leather.
“The Sages did not protest against her behavior, as she was permitted to do so.”
One of the most profound memories I have of my paternal grandfather was how he would wrap himself with his phylacteries each morning. It seemed like a strange and mysterious ritual to me and not one that I ever remembered my father performing.
“One may take unilateral action on another’s behalf when it is to that other person’s benefit.”
President Obama recently posted a photo of the walk he took each day along the West Colonnade of the White House between the Oval Office and his private living quarters; this quiet photo resonated with me as I read today about the passageways that connect two homes.
“The entire settlement of the world rests under one star.”
Pesachim Tracate is all about second chances. I entered the Tractate with great relief that Eruvin Tractate was behind us, but also with some hesitancy about how much patience I would have for a discussion on Pesach that will last for four months. I should have known better from the prior three Tractates – the Rabbis can turnover a topic so many times that your head is left spinning.
“One is asleep but not asleep, awake but not awake.”
I have written throughout this Tractate of the Passover gatherings from my childhood, which was the last time I attended a complete seder. My paternal grandparents were very religious and traditional, and my grandfather would lead the Haggadah reading which went on for hours.
The task of providing a person’s food is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea.”
Back-breaking, tedious, life-long hard work has defined all the generations from the time when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden. We are reminded today that we can trace a lifetime of hard work to Adam who was told after he left paradise that “if he toils he will be able to eat bread.”
“Why is this night different from all other nights.”
It has taken this long in this Tractate to get the four questions. I have been waiting with bated breath because it is the rhythm of the questions that I remember the most from the Passovers of my childhood: Ma nishtanah halailah hazeh mikol haleilot? Why is this night different from all other nights?
“Why is this night different from all other nights?”
Today’s Daf Yomi continues the discussion on what distinguishes Passover from other nights. We already learned that the evening is special because one is protected from all harm, can recline at the dinner table and drink four glasses of wine.
“Devote less to your food and your drink and spend more on your house, as one’s house is a better investment than food.”
My one-bedroom apartment in New York City has good closet space, and a large balcony that faces south. It is a luxury by city standards to have so much, but by any other standard, it is small. I have lived in small spaces since I moved to New York, but the city served as my living room and it was infinite.
“A leader who lords over the community for no cause.”
What does the Talmud tell us about the qualities of an effective political leader? Bear with me today, because I have been thinking a great deal of what makes a strong and effective leader and today’s text informs current events.
“Whatever has many branches, its shadow is dangerous.”
Today’s Daf Yomi continues the discussion from the previous days on witchcraft and superstitions. It is a dark shadowy world we have entered where one must walk on a straight path and be careful where he rests his head. We are reminded from the first Tractate that the act of relieving oneself is an especially vulnerable time.
“And wine that gladdens the heart of man.”
I was afraid of the dark as a child and slept with a night light on for longer than I would like to admit. It was as if the glow of the low watt bulbs could protect me from whatever imagined demons inhabited my dreams. In today’s Daf Yomi reading we are told Passover is a night that is “guarded from demons and harmful spirits of all kinds.”
“Beer is the wine of the province.”
I have a confession to make. I hate beer. It is bitter and heavy and when I am persuaded to try a glass, I am left feeling bloated and somewhat unwell, like Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, who suffers indigestion after he imbibes.
“Guard the month of the spring.”
What is prevalent in all the details of everyday life in this Tractate is the sense of loss associated with the destruction of the Temple that cuts deeply into the narrative of our ancestors. We carry that loss in our liturgy and in our identify of who we are as a people.
“If one diverted his attention.”
Today’s Daf Yomi considers the intricacies of funds that are found on the Temple floor. If you were a priest, would you quietly put the found money in the nearest collection horn, allocate it to the fund that was dearest to your heart or that needed the most assistance?
“Has the time come for this house to be destroyed?”
There is a pervasive sense of loss throughout the Talmud, with the references to the destruction of the second Temple, which was the golden house that united the Jewish people from its mount in Jerusalem.
“And I will write on the tables the words that were on the first tables which you did break, and you shall put them in the Ark.”
I have always been fascinated by the story of Moses, who ascended Mt. Sinai at the request of God to receive the Ten Commandments. This was the greatest gift that Moses could bring to his people who were waiting at the bottom of that mountain.
“Who sees but is not seen, should render kindness to you.”
Today’s Daf Yomi considers the poor, and how to provide for their needs without embarrassing them. We are told that back when the second Temple stood there were “special” chambers. People who had sins to atone for would contribute money to “the chamber of secret gifts.”
“We have a tradition from our fathers.”
Today’s Daf Yomi discussion considers the professions that supported the second Temple when it stood in Jerusalem. We are introduced to Ben Bevai, who had a very particular skill, which was to braid shreds of discarded cloth into wicks for candelabrum.
“One who consecrates all his possessions.”
Several years ago, I sold the small apartment that I had lived in for thirty years. I had collected a lifetime of stuff, with a frightening amount of my net-worth tied up in shoes and handbags. Moving to a new apartment across town provided me with the opportunity to get rid of some of my possessions.
“Correct placement, is necessary for offerings to be valid.”
The red heifer was the star attraction of purification rituals when the Temple was standing. The priests built ramps to transport the precious red heifers from the Temple where they were collected to the Mount of Olives where they were slaughtered.
“The time of the wood of the priests and of the nation.”
The half-shekel was a great equalizer because everyone who was obligated to contribute this exact amount did so. But as is the case today, there were families that made special donations to the community fund and they must have expected something in return.
“And you shall have no assurance of your life.”
Today’s Daf Yomi analyzes a different hunger than the one that plagued poor Rav Beivai. We are provided with a litany of “worthy traits” that allows one to live a righteous life free from the hunger that permeates one’s soul after not living up to their potential.
“The bed is too short for stretching, and the cover is too narrow for gathering.”
Today’s Daf Yomi portion attempts to explain why both Temples were destroyed. We are told that the First Temple – Solomon’s Temple – stood for four hundred and ten years and was overseen during that period by only eighteen High Priests. The Second Temple stood for four hundred and twenty years and was surprisingly overseen by three hundred Priests.
“It shall be always upon his forehead.”
My only prior knowledge of what it meant to be a Kohen was from family funerals when my Father, Brother and Uncle were left standing at the gates of the cemetery. They were not allowed onto the grounds to pray with the rest of us due to the status of our decedents who were High Priests a very long time ago. ma
“And it will atone for him and for his house.”
We start this new Tractate with the preparations the High Priests went through ahead of the Yom Kippur service during the days of the second Temple. It was an intense a process. The introduction to this Tractate indicates that we will be walking through the holiday chronologically.
Saturday was one of those perfect spring days in New York City. The temperature was in the 60s, the sky was clear, the sun was bright but not harsh and the air felt pure. I met a friend for lunch in Soho and I was pleasantly surprised that there was traffic heading down lower Broadway. There was traffic again in the city.
When the vaccine started shipping from its Michigan facility in mid-December, it was with a promise that someday soon, we would be able to visit our elderly relatives and friends and simply grasp onto each other with the acknowledgement that we somehow made our way through the pain and devastation.
The last trip I took was to London a year ago for a board meeting of a non-profit that I am involved with. I was reading at the time about the virus that had shut down Wuhan, China and considered for a moment if I should take the trip. I had no idea what was to come, and I look back on the life I led in February 2020 with a great sense of loss. It is as though we have all been through a near-death experience.
When I first heard about the Daf Yomi cycle it was through an article in the New York Times that reported on an event attended by 90,000 mostly men who gathered at a New Jersey sports stadium to celebrate the end of a 7 ½ cycle of reading a portion a day of the Talmud. A new cycle was about to start again on January 5, 2020. I was always curious about the Talmud which appeared to be a mysterious repository of all Jewish knowledge.
I never realized before the onset of the pandemic how much I have lived my life through restaurants, until so many beloved establishments were gone. Among all the loss and sadness this year, is the disappearance of so many places that have been part of my life for the decades I have lived in New York City.
“The Torah was not given to ministering angels.”
It’s hard to believe that the reading of tractate Berakhot concludes today. The past 63 days have taken me on a journey I had not anticipated. I approached the reading of the Talmud as a personal challenge to myself with the intention of just skimming gently through the pages for a short while. But here I am sinking deeply into this winding, bewildering and yes, at times illuminating text.