Let's Study Talmud

- With Rabbi David Eidensohn

You don't need any Jewish background, but you may need a  brain. Is that a problem?

Table of Contents

1. Remembering grandfather

2. What is Talmud?

3. What is Mishneh?

4. Let's get to work. What is the first Mishneh in the Talmud?

5. Links to Other Websites of Rabbi Dovid Eidensohn

6. Contact Us

Remembering Pesach Paul Brem

        Paul Brem was born in Poland in the early part of the twentieth century, and lived in Lida, a small town in northeastern Poland, near Lithuania. For many years, things were good. The ruler of Poland was a general well-disposed to Jews, and despite the rampant poverty, Paul was a skilled locksmith, a good trade. Paul married Leah, the grand-daughter of a great Polish rabbi, Rabbi Yehuda Kval Ginsberg, who was once the rabbi of Radin, near Lida, where Paul lived. Things looked good for Paul, but outside of Poland Hitler was building his power.

        Each morning at five, people rose and went to the synagogue to recite Psalms or study Torah (the Jewish Law), and then they said the morning prayers. Paul lived in Lida, not far from the village of Radin, home of the famed Rabbi Yisroel Mayer Kagen, the saint of the generation, whose every blessing was fulfilled. Paul's father brought Paul for a blessing, and it came to good use many times during the war. These villages, Radin and Lida, were near Lithuania and the thriving centers of Talmudic learning. The greatest of the locales was Vilna. Vilna was an ancient Jewish community that once boasted 300 laborers who knew the entire Talmud! Some scholars preferred such jobs so that their minds would remain free to review the Talmud while they did physical labor. In those days very few positions were available for scholars, so they either entered into business, where their minds were occupied with business, or they became laborers, and reviewed the Talmud by heart on their errands.

        In 1939, the Germans drove into Poland. They lined up the Jews into two lines, the "slaves" lived and the "weak" were sent to die. Leah, pregnant at the time, was sent to die. Paul was sent to be a slave. Paul could not watch his wife die. He awaited the opportunity, which soon came, because the Germans did not watch to see that the slaves did not run into the line to die. Paul mingled with the people who were to die. While the guards were  distracted, Paul heaved Leah to the line of the living. How did he do it? "An angel came and took her," said Paul, because he could not throw her so far.

        Paul then rejoined his wife and they went into the ghetto, where Leah gave birth to Sandra, my wife. Paul somehow got papers and escaped from the ghetto, and the family fled to the huge forests of Poland. These wild forests could not support women and children, only very hardy men, who were constantly on the run, from Germans and even from Poles who delighted in murdering and robbing a Jew. 

    The Germans planted a rumor that they were going in a certain direction. Many people, including Leah, went in the other direction, and was caught and killed.. To save bullets, the Germans shot one bullet  into two heads. Someone's brains blew out and covered the woman next to her. The Germans thought that the woman was dead and left her. She waited until they left and fled. Paul put Sandra in the home of a gentile, who did this for money. About this time, Hanna Orlansky's husband was murdered, and she fled. Eventually, Paul married Hanna. Hanna saved Sandra while Paul was fighting in the woods. Sandra was in the home of the peasant who was paid to watch her, and the peasant family did not want to give her back. Hanna took Sandra and fled with her. The peasants gave chase, firing weapons, but G-d watched over Hanna and Sandra and they escaped.

     Paul and Hanna escaped from Poland through the woods  after the war and made their way to Italy, and from there, to Portland, Maine. They had two children, Ellen and Benny, and when Paul retired, he moved to Israel with Hanna. Paul died several years ago in Jerusalem, surrounded by many children and grandchildren, just as the sun set on Friday to usher in the Sabbath. May his memory be blessed. He left behind a rare treasure, children raised in America who are determined that they and their progeny will be Jews.

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What is Talmud?

        Talmud, which means "learning," is a collection of the historical arguments among scholars about the interpretation of the biblical books, the Laws G-d gave to Moses, called "Laws to Moses from Sinai," and just about all aspects of life and how Judaism weighs in on them. There are laws of charity, family, marriage, monetary laws, holiday laws, even advice about money and health. Of course there are sections about prayers and the Temple Service, may it be built speedily. And everything is done by arguing. Talmud sharpens your mind and it shows how people thought thousands of years ago; amazingly like we do! Human problems are from life, and the challenges to be a good person are still the same, with all of the machinery we have.

          There are two parts to the Torah Law G-d gave to Moses at Sinai, the Written, or Bible, and the Oral. The Oral is a huge literature, and one of them, the major one, is the Babylonian Talmud. There is also an early but not so authoritative Jerusalemic Talmud, and there are many other works written about the Revealed and Esoteric Torah, or Law from Sinai. None, however, is as crucial to Jewish law and survival as the Babylonian Talmud. The Oral Law has more sections than the Talmud, such as the Zohar and other mystical books, but the Talmud is the main section. It is decisive. The Oral Law was just that, studied by memory, with a little "cheating" when memory was too difficult, for thousands of years. From Sinai, over three thousand years ago, until about 2,000 years ago, the Talmud was in a fluid Oral Form. Scholars studied the major opinions and arguments in the phrases of their choice, or how they heard it from their mentors. After the Destruction of the Second Temple, in 70 CE, the Jewish people needed a universal text of Talmud, so Rabbi Judah the Prince organized the teachings of the Oral Law into the Mishneh, which is the beginning of the Talmud. This was the period of writing down and organizing the centuries of Jewish arguments, a process begun by Rabbi Akiva two generations before Rabbi Judah the Prince. At last,  many books were published for the first time, because the Jews were now in a bitter exile, and could not longer rely on a central and communal learning system to preserve the Talmud.

    At about the same time that Rabbi Judah the Prince organized the Mishneh, the older part of the Talmud, Rabbi Yochanan took the Mishneh and added commentaries to it and clarifications, known as the Jerusalemic Talmud. However, after the Destruction of the Temple, and the increased persecution of the Israeli community, the focus of Torah and Talmud moved to Babylonia, or Iraq. There Rav Ashi and Ravina organized the Babylonian Talmud about 500 CE, several centuries after the Mishneh. In fact, Rabbi Judah the Prince, who organized the Mishneh, sent the great scholar Rav to Babylonia to teach the Mishneh to the large community that had existed there for about five centuries, since the Destruction of the First Temple in 586 BCE.

        The Talmud and Mishneh is divided into six sections: They are:

1. ZEROYIM, or SEEDS, is Laws of Agriculture, emphasizing the obligations for farmers to tithe their property and other laws. The first book of ZEROYIM/SEEDS is "Blessings" about prayers and blessings. We study this first book, as it begins, with the laws of reciting the Shema, Hear O Israel, etc., for instance.

2. MOED, or HOLY DAYS. It deals with the Jewish holidays, such as the Sabbath and Passover.

3. NOSHIM, or WOMEN. It deals with marriage and divorce.

4. NIZIKIN, or DAMAGES. It deals with monetary laws, such as damages, property acquisitions and rights, theft, etc.

5. KODSHIM, or HOLY THINGS. It deals with the Temple Service.

6. TAHAROSE, or Purify. It deals with the laws of purity in the Temple and with sanctified things.

    Today, we have no Temple and don't deal in general with the laws of KODSHIM, HOLY THINGS, or TAHAROSE, PURITY. Nonetheless, we study these laws as well because they are Torah and also because the Temple will be rebuilt and we will need these laws. Furthermore, many teachings in these areas can be utilized elsewhere. Nonetheless, the major emphasis is on studying those sections of the MISHNEH that are applicable, such as Jewish holidays, etc.

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What is Mishneh?

        From the time of Moses, when the Jews received the Ten Commandments at Sinai, and Moses received from G-d the Torah, or Law, the Jews have interpreted the Law. "It is not in heaven," means that G-d did not expect perfection, but only sincere intellectual effort, to interpret the Law. The caveat to that is that a person must study Torah or the Law with a disciple of a disciple of Moses, because only Moses received the Law from G-d, and only Moses knew the rules for interpretation.

        The era of Moses was the era of prophecy, where people not only studied Torah with their intellect, but could also attain communication with heaven. This period ended one thousand years after Moses, in the time of Alexander the Great. This initiated the new era, led by Rabbi Shimon the High Priest. The Jews had just built the Second Temple and were on a high spiritual level. Rabbis devoted their energies to studying the Torah, and to understand all of it. In the first few generations there were scholars who had mastered the entire Torah, and could answer any question. These glorious generations were known as the Grape Clusters, as the grape is a lovely fruit and also produces wine, which is a symbol of deep wisdom. As time went on, the Jewish priests rebelled against the Greeks and drove them from Israel in the Hanuka miracle. Then learning continued with greater enthusiasm, as the Jews were free of an oppressor and led by High Priests of supreme piety. This, however, did not last that long, and the Jews began to quarrel and there was civil war. The Romans then entered Israel and began to oppress the Jews. The level of learning suffered, and the rabbis began to prepare the entire Torah in various groupings, to preserve them. This was the beginning of what became the Mishneh.

        The Second Temple was destroyed in 70 C.E., and the Romans slaughtered huge numbers of Jews. The spiritual and physical survival of the Jews was threatened, as was the Torah Law. Rabbi Akiva organized the initial systems of the Law, which two generations later became the Mishneh and other works. Rabbi Judah the Prince, the disciple of Rabbi Shimon the disciple of Rabbi Akiva, made the final arrangement of the Mishneh, around 200 C.E. When we study Mishneh, we study that work arranged by Rabbi Judah the Prince.

    There were other works organized around that time, such as the official commentaries on the bible, the Zohar and related mystical works, and various Mishneh-type material done by other scholars, such as Shmuel, the Babylonian seer. Soon after Rabbi Judah the Prince finished the Mishneh, a commentary on it was arranged by Rabbi Yochonan, known as the Jerusalemic Talmud. The commentary on the Mishneh is known as gemora. Another gemora, that of Babylonia, was organized a few hundred years later, around 500 C.E. and the process of commentary continues to this day. Nothing after the Talmud, however, has the authority of the united sages, but may reflect the teachings of a great individual, or even several of them. The Talmud's authority is that it is not an individual's work, the but the organization of the thoughts of the generations, and the rabbis who sat with other sages to debate the issues in public congress.

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The First Mishneh in the Talmud

(The text of the Mishneh is in the yellow box, followed by commentary.)

        What is the Shema? What is the "evening Shema"? The Jewish people is descended from three male Patriarchs and Four Female Matriarchs. They are Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah. Jacob had two wives, Rachel and Leah, and from this family came the Twelve Sons of Israel, who became, with their progeny, the Twelve Tribes of Israel. When the Jews went to Egypt during a famine in Israel, Jacob became sick and died. Before he died, he assembled his children and asked them if they would follow the Jewish tradition or become pagans. They replied, "Hear O Israel (Jacob was called Israel, also) the Lord our God, the Lord is One." It was then that the Jewish people, prepared for the Exile and eternity, entered a high phase, and for all generations, Jews recite the Shema, meaning "Hear" to continue this custom.

    The Shema prayer has three paragraphs taken from the bible. The beginning passages are "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. (Blessed be His Glorious Kingdom for Ever and Ever.) And you shall love the Lord your G-d with all of your heart, and with all of your soul, and with all of your might. And these words which I command you this day shall be on your heart, and you shall teach them to your children and speak them when you go in the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up. And you shall tie them as a sign on your hand and for frontlets between your eyes, and write them upon the doorposts of your house and gates."

    The Torah, given to Moses by God at Sinai, commanded the Jews to recite the Shema daily, "when you lie down and when you rise up," or at least, that is how the rabbis of the Talmud interpreted the bible. The first study in the Talmud is about the recitation of the Shema at night. When is the first time at night that we may recite the Shema?

    We now enter the area of defining when night begins. There is, however, another idea here. The Shema is read "when you lie down," meaning nighttime, but not perhaps as defined by the stars, but as defined by people's habits. When do they consider going to sleep? Or perhaps, we can interpret the Torah to tell us that people go to sleep during the night, and therefore, the astronomical night is when we read the evening Shema.

    In ancient times, people did not have electricity, burning candles was expensive and created limited light, therefore, people often rose with the sun and slept at night. When was night? The suns sets and the skies are still bright. Therefore, we must define night as something that begins some time after the sun has set.  People working on farms or in workshops and stores had no way of knowing when night was, as they did not have clocks. Only an expert could figure out, with the existing wisdom, when night was. Therefore, the Mishneh tells people to watch those experts. They were the priests, the COHANIM, who sometimes had to wait for night to eat their sanctified food called TERUMA, for reasons we will explain. When you see a COHEN eating his TERUMA at night, and you know that he could not eat it during the day, you may then say the SHEMA.

        The night is divided into three "watches." The angels in heaven have three watches, so the night, for spiritual purposes, is divided into three. Rabbi Eliezar feels that people go to sleep only during the first third of the night. After the first third of the night we may not recite the evening Shema because it is not the time of "and when you lie down." The Torah says, "and you shall speak in them (words of Torah, or the Shema) when you sit in your house, when you go in the way, when you lie down and when you rise up." Rabbi Eliezar says this means "when you lie down" and go to sleep, not the duration of your sleep. The sages, however, disagreed, and felt that "and when you lie down" means the duration of the sleep period, or all night. They thus felt that one can say the Shema the entire night. On the other hand, if we allow a person an entire night to say the Shema, he will forget, and end up not saying it. Therefore, even though the Torah permits saying Shema the entire night, the rabbis make a rabbinical "fence" to protect the Torah. They decreed that one not read the Shema after midnight, but one should say Shema before midnight.

      Rabbi Eliezar is known as Rabbi Eliezar the Great. He is one of the few Talmudists to be called, "the Great." Rabbi Eliezar was the senior disciple of Rabbi Yochanan ben Zackai, the leader of the Jews at the time of the Destruction of the Temple.

Rabbi Gamliel says that we can read the evening Shema all night. The Torah says, "when you lie down" and this means, not when you go to sleep, but when you are asleep. Thus, all night long is the time to recite the Shema.

    Rabbi Gamliel was a Prince of the Jews, a descendent of Hillel, and the senior personage of the Sanhedrin rabbinical body. Rabbi Gamliel and Rabbi Eliezar lived at the period of the Destruction of the Second Period and its aftermath, about two thousand years ago.

     We thus have an interesting argument between three parties. Rabbi Eliezar was the greatest sage in the world. The sages as a body represented the majority. The Law is usually passed by the majority. Rabbi Gamliel was the Prince, the NASI, a descendent of Hillel.

 One who rejoices at a wedding has performed a mitsvah, or command, and may be exempt from the command to recite the Shema. The sons did not leave the wedding and did not interrupt the singing and dancing so as not to cease performing the great mitsvah or command to dance before the bride and groom. They therefore did not recite the Shema, and returned home after midnight. They did not know if they should now say the Shema, because the sages required it to be read before midnight, and the sages were the majority. Although Rabbi Gamliel was the Prince and their father, they knew that the law went in accord with the majority.

 In other words, the sages made a "fence," or guarding of the Law of Shema. They said, "Even though we may read it all night, don't take chances. read it before midnight." However, if one could not read it by midnight, he must read it all night, until morning.

LINKS to Other Websites by Rabbi Eidensohn

Links and other webs by the author

Rabbi Eidensohn's new book Secret of the Scale is to be found at www.secretscale.com. Rabbi Eidensohn's books