“And the flesh that touches any impure thing shall not be eaten.”

Today’s reading is the equivalent of threading a needle without my glasses on and with a thick thread that will not fit through the narrow eye slit. I have said this before, but it is ringing true more than ever over the last few days: the Talmud would benefit from a good editor.

“How can this difficulty be dismissed so easily.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 785 million people lack access to readily available drinking water and 2 billion people drink from contaminated water sources. WHO predicts that by 2025 half the world’s population will be living in “water-stressed” conditions. Just imagine turning on the tap in your home and the water that comes out is brown and murky, or nothing comes out at all.

“What difference is there to me.”

There appears to be a rumble today between Rav and the priests concerning the level of impurity associated with a dead creeping animal. My first question is why someone would be carrying a dead creeping animal in his garment in the first place. We were told yesterday that it is because it is a way of avoiding contamination with one’s hands.

“No resolution is found for this contradiction, and the Gemara concludes that it is indeed difficult.”

Days and days of discussion about ritual impurity is almost more than I can take as the numbers of sick and dying in the United States from the coronavirus, and all the pain and suffering associated with businesses shutting down, continue to trend upwards. There is so much uncertainly in what are living through, which is in essence, what today’s Daf Yomi is about.

“The result will be significant financial loss.”

When the coronavirus numbers were relatively low this past summer, I took advantage of the window of opportunity to visit my mother in Philadelphia. I was horrified to find that the city was infested with spotted lanternflies, which were everywhere I walked. The sidewalks, trees in the park, entryway to my mother’s building, were covered with these spotted creeping insects.

“In what sense is there a case of adding impurity to its impurity here?”

I know I am in trouble when the day’s Daf Yomi reading requires elaborate charts. The charts and graphs in the pages of the Koren Talmud present a detailed view of four levels of impurity. If previously asked, I would have said that if something is impure, its impure, and establishing levels makes no sense.

“And you shall be clear before God and before Israel.”

The Talmud tells us today that appearances matter. We learned this before in previous Tractates. Although intention matters and what is in your heart matters, and how you live your life matters, your actions should not be construed to be untoward, even if its untrue. ol

“Testimony is entrusted to the vigilant.”

Today’s Daf Yomi presents the Rabbinic version of Law and Order, which is one of my favorite shows. I love police procedurals and courtroom dramas and the Law and Order franchise brought the two together. Imagine a courtroom where Rabbi Meir is the district attorney and Rabbi Yehuda is the investigating officer.

“It is possible that both witnesses spoke the truth.”

I have an odd talent. If you ask me what time it is at any time of the day or night, I can tell you within five minutes of accuracy. If you wake me up in the middle of the night, I can tell you the time without looking at the clock. I am always aware of the changing of the hours.

“A mouse does not typically generate crumbs.”

Today’s Daf Yomi was written for the absent-minded among us and continues the discussion from the previous day on uncertainty. In addition to crafty martens, we are presented today with mice who carry breadcrumbs and loaves of bread in their mouths as they go from house-to-house foraging for food.

“And is it so that an uncertainty does not override a certainty.”

The last few days of readings inspired me to research the marten, which is a type of weasel I have never encountered in my life. I learned that the marten is shy, nocturnal, and has a coat of soft brown fur.  It has been on the verge of extinction due to demand for its fur. The marten primarily eats fruit, berries, rodents and small birds.

“The spirit of man is the lamp of God.”

Today’s Daf Yomi includes a discussion on a long-standing philosophical problem: if a mitzva is performed out of self-interest does it count? We learned in the early readings back in Tractate Berakhot that intention and what is in someone’s heart matters. Today, the Talmud presents a more complicated view of what constitutes good deeds. 

“No conclusive proof has been found for either side of this debate.”

So much of what I have read in the Talmud to date is about workarounds and contingencies. It can be argued that the entire Tractate Eruvin is a discussion about workarounds established through the construction of an eruv on Shabbat. It is an acknowledgement that we are not perfect, and can be forgetful, and a leavened crumb or two may be missed when a religious home is swept ahead of Shabbat.

“It shall not be found.”

Today’s Daf Yomi had me considering what it means to be an American Jew, and there is no better time to do so than in the tryptophan-induced haze following a Thanksgiving turkey dinner (for one!). Today’s discussion of the obligations to the tax man when one’s share consists of an offering from the animal flock gets at the heart of potential conflicts between obligations owed to one’s religion and the state.

“It shall not be found in your houses.”

I am alone for the first time in my life on Thanksgiving. My family will be together virtually through zoom and that is something. And if there is anything to be grateful for it is for zoom and how we are able to come together virtually. The time and place to be together in person is not this year.

“The bushes on the seashore are cypresses.”

I have struggled all my life with the loss of people I have loved. They are always with us, always inside us, like the hardy cypress trees that remind us of the endearing spirit of those we have lost. There is a reminder buried in the dark, thickly, intertwined branches of the cypress tree of how life continues without those we life, but continues, nonetheless.

“And that which my lips know they shall speak sincerely.”

What I have mostly gleaned from today’s Daf Yomi reading is that night is day and day is night in the Talmud. And it all hinges on the interpretation of the word “or” which represents choices in the English language. In yesterday’s reading the consensus leaned toward the word “or” meaning light and day, but today it appears that there is just as strong an argument that it represents night.

“Goodness is manifest in the sense of security one feels when it is light.”

“Or” in the English language is a word that represents options. It represents both the big and small choices we make in life. We decide each day if we want a caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee, or pizza or salad for lunch. We also decide among the truly monumental choices in life, including whether to be safe or to take risks.