“Take your portion and leave.”

Did you ever have friends who drink inordinate glasses of expensive liquors at dinner, while you are a one-glass of wine person and the beverage bill comes to multiple times the amount spent on food and they divide it equally among the table?

“I choose not to be supported by you.”

Today’s Daf Yomi continues the discussion from the previous day on the migration of the Jewish people out of Israel. We are reacquainted with Ulla. We first encountered Ulla when he insulted Yalta, by suggesting that as a woman she had no seat at the table of sages when her husband asked that a glass of wine be passed to her.

“And I will have compassion upon her that had not received compassion.”

Among all the hardness in tone of many portions of the Talmud and the lashings and endless weeks of reading about a roasting lamb, there is a lesson of compassion and forgiveness that makes the daily grind of reading a portion a day worthwhile.

“Upon the houses wherein they shall eat it.” 

We have been on a journey over the last weeks involving the sacrifice of the Paschal lamb on the eve of Passover.  dining roThe discussion today turns to who can be invited to the Passover table, with the general premise that one group shares one lamb, although there is some debate on the matter.

“Barriers are irrelevant with regard to prayer.”

We are provided with guidelines for determining what constitutes inside and outside. The space from the doorway inward is the former, while the space from the doorway outward is the later. A comparison is made with someone who is praying outside a doorway.

“And you shall not break a bone in it”

Just imagine, an entire nation on the move for the holiday. What a sight it must have been. In the end, when it was all over, there was the long slog home and perhaps the letdown of a holiday that did not quite live up to expectations.

“It is impurity of the deep until the entire world knows about it.”

Today’s Daf Yomi reading continues a discussion of “ritual impurity of the deep” which the notes in the Koren Talmud tell us involves a grave found in a place corpowhere people have no previous knowledge of its existence. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish compares such impurity to a road. He said that a road represents impurity of the deep “until the entire world knows about it.” 

“A communal offering is not divided.”

The idea of a second sacrificial Passover ritual – the do-over a month later for the ritually impure – is all about second chances. If I could travel back in time I would return to one of those Passover nights in my grandparents’ home in order to read the Haggadah with my grandfather and taste my grandmother’s brisket and gefilte fish one last time.

“The individual cannot tip the balance of the entire public.”

A friend sent me today an article about a study conducted in Brazil that examined traits associated with people who refuse to wear masks or maintain social distancing. The study found that people who demonstrate a lack of empathy toward others, and high risk-taking traits were less likely to comply with health and safety guidelines.

“He said what was reasonable.”

What is worth noting in many of the Daf Yomi readings is the length the Rabbis and the Gemeara go to in order to explain differences of opinion. Today’s reading provides an example Rabbis who find solutions among divergent opinions, so that everyone has a voice, and everyone’s perspective is respected.

“It is merely an aroma, and an aroma is nothing significant.”

I have one last comment on yesterday’s Daf Yomi reading before I move on because I received a lot of feedback. Everyone, including me, agrees that the execution of a woman accused of adultery by the forced swallowing of molten lead probably never in actuality occurred.

“In fire she shall be burned.”

We are presented with a disturbing discussion in today’s Daf Yomi on the execution of a priest’s daughter who is accused of adultery. This is a death through the forcing of molten lead down a young woman’s throat. I do not believe that we should lessen the severity of this difficult text through the act of rationalization and a shrugging of the shoulders.

A heart is different.”

We start a new chapter today in the Talmud that is focused on roasting of the Paschal lamb which promises to be just as challenging as the past one. We begin with the act of preparing for the roasting itself. The first principle we learn is that the lamb must be roasted by a fire and never cooked.

“What has he improved.”

I have a confession to make. I have a terrible sense of direction and in the days before Google Maps and GPS, I often got lost. Even after living in New York City for twenty years, I would look for the World Trade Center above me in order to orient myself.

“We must accept this conclusion even though it is unusual.”

Intention and attention are the ying and yang of the Talmud. The theme of the dual concept continues to wind itself through today’s Daf Yomi reading, with emphasis on the intention behind mistakes. We are presented with two differing perspectives on such errors, with one Rabbi taking the “it’s just spilled milk” approach, while the other insists that one must account for his actions, regardless of whether they occur unwittingly.

“Dual intentions of these types is valid.”

Since the beginning of this daily journey through the Talmud, the consistent overriding lesson is that intention and attention matter. We learned back in the first Tractate that the intention that one recited a blessing with was critical to carrying it within one’s heart.

“Akiva, how can you say this.”

Is there someone in your life who just gets under your skin? You try really hard to understand their perspective, but no matter how hard you try you just can’t get over a smoldering feeling of irritation. I have a friend who holds very different views than me, and he knows if he brings up certain topics, I will become distressed.

“The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold.”

I find it fascinating when the Talmud mentions the world-to-come. And if there was ever a time to believe in a better world, it is now. We leave the world of blood and roasting lambs and impurity for a brief moment in today’s Daf Yomi and are provided with a glimpse into another world.

“He shall dwell alone.”

It has been almost one year of living inside with invisible but still present bars across our doorways and for those who live in the United States, it feels like we have lost months in the battle against the silent, but persistent virus. There are large factions in the United States that contributed to community spread because they “don’t believe in wearing masks”, flaunted guidelines regarding social gatherings and congregated for weddings and holidays in defiance of CDC guidelines.

“Its appointed time.”

We are told that “anyone who acts haughtily, if he is a Torah scholar, his wisdom departs from him; and if he is a prophet, his prophecy departs from him.” Hillel, who had such deep knowledge about all things Passover, forgot a simple fact because he acted “haughtily” and “was punished for his haughtiness by forgetting the law.”