I’m still working on something about the scapegoat, etc. but I wanted to take a break to discuss today’s daf,… Read more Finishing Yoma
That’s Not How Trees Work
In this week’s parsha, among all the “G!d will totally wreck you if you don’t love Him” stuff, there’s this… Read more That’s Not How Trees Work
It’s a Mess
Eiruvin 19a returns to one of my least favorite themes in the Talmud: non-Jews are polluted and immoral. It starts… Read more It’s a Mess
Too Smart for your Own Good
There’s a famous discussion at the end of Eiruvin 13b about the futility of human existence: … Beit Shammai and… Read more Too Smart for your Own Good
The Land of the Living
Eiruvin 2 returns to one of my favorite themes in the Talmud, which is relating the circumstances of the diasporic… Read more The Land of the Living
Gamliel is my My Least Favorite Scholar
Gamliel is probably my least favorite scholar. We’re coming up on the end of Tractate Shabbat – or at least… Read more Gamliel is my My Least Favorite Scholar
Take it From the Cops*
(Written with Melissa Schober) This post has been updated. For details, go to the end. Let’s talk about cutting police… Read more Take it From the Cops*
The Haitian Revolution and the Insurrection Act
If you’re one of my students, chances are good that you have at some point either asked yourself or even… Read more The Haitian Revolution and the Insurrection Act
Eating Dirt
At the same time that I was reading Saturday’s daf (Shabbat 85), I was catching up on the previous week’s… Read more Eating Dirt
No Kings
Back at the beginning of January, I started Daf Yomi, a 7.5-year process of reading the Talmud. I’ve been posting… Read more No Kings