“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.

“Do not rely on your understanding alone.”

The discussion of bathhouses and carrying of towels in today’s Daf Yomi reminded me of all my wonderful spa experiences in places like Sonoma, California where I had a wine-infused massage, Taos, New Mexico where I had a body scrub with sage, and Thailand where I was treated by ayurvedic doctors from India who dribbled hot oil on my forehead.

“One may bring a barrel of wine on Shabbat and cut off its top with a sword.”

We have literally, not figuratively, reached the bottom of the barrel with today’s Daf Yomi portion. We are presented with various scenarios of perforating holes in order to reach food or wine on Shabbat that are stored in barrels. The really not very exciting passage today (there are no sleeping or spitting Rabbis!) presents a view into how every last bit of food or wine was to be valued and extracted from its container. And among all this barrel puncturing is a lesson in the end on humility.

“Say to wisdom: You are my sister, and call understanding your kin.”

Rabbi Yohanan takes center stage is today’s Daf Yomi portion. He is a very busy man and spends most of his time teaching and mentoring students. And like many of us these days, he is very tired. He has been staying up late working on his seminal paper on pickled vegetables. Spending so many hours pondering how pickled vegetables can be consumed on Shabbat has resulted in a dislike of milk products, and especially a bitter milk product from Babylonia called kutah.

“The term unvolitionally is referring to a situation where one revealed his mind-set.”

There is much discussion of pomegranates in today’s Daf Yomi. I was in Jerusalem last October and am sure when I walked through the Old City bazaar that I appeared as a typical wide-eyed tourist, with vendor after vendor calling out to me. It was surprisingly hot for October and when I stopped to look in one shop window that had interesting necklaces on display, I was waved in by the shop-owner. Before I knew it, he had me seated on a little stool sipping pomegranate juice.

“An unintentional act is prohibited, as he certainly does not intend to squeeze liquid from the sponge.”

It is difficult for me to not be enthusiastic about a Daf Yomi reading that starts with the feeding of a cat. I am a bit of a crazy cat lady. My bonding with my two Siamese cats has only become deeper since we have been locked up together since March. They are the only living creatures that I come into contact with most days. Having said all that, finding relevant meaning in the last few days of Daf Yomi readings is certainly like the act of squeezing liquid from a sponge.

“Place a loaf or a baby on it and move it.”

We return to one of the odder practices in the Talmud which we were already introduced to in several places in this Tractate: one may use a baby or a loaf of bread to move prohibited objects on the Sabbath. It seems forever since I was first introduced to the baby, bread and corpse scenario. It was April 18th and 19th when this Tractate discussed the work-around in the context of set-aside items and what was allowed to be moved on Shabbat. This tractate converged with the surge of the coronavirus in New York City and its shut-down.

“One has mud on his foot, he may wipe it on the ground.”

I have always been passionate about shoes, although I rarely wear them these days as I spend long working hours in my apartment during the week and have no need for shoes inside. To love shoes, one must understand the shoe last. Shoe manufacturers have a small set of lasts that they use to create many different styles of shoes. Once you understand the underlying structure of the shoe and the shape of the last that created it, you can make informed decisions when selecting shoes.

“It is preferable for one to care for his body by eating higher quality food than to conserve his money.”

Reading today’s portion felt like a visit to the Daf Yomi Gourmet Specialty Store. Everything in the shop is carefully selected by the proprietor for quality. It costs a bit more than what you would pay in the supermarket but is worth it. We are told that it is better to buy higher quality goods than to be cheap and buy generic brands.

“If you see a generation that many troubles are befalling it, go and examine the judges of Israel.” 

In the middle of the discussions on what is allowable activity on Shabbat, with today’s focus on straining, selecting and sifting, is the insertion of a rather somber discussion on leadership. We are certainly living through a time of many troubles. Can these words be translated for our times to say: “If you are the country with the worse record for dealing with a global pandemic, go and examine your leadership.”

“And the wisdom of its wise will be lost, and the understanding of its men of understanding shall be hidden.”

We are living in a time where there appears to be a forgetting of science, knowledge and plain common sense during the worse public health crisis of our generation. How did we get here? There seems to be amnesia among certain government entities about what it takes to control the coronavirus.