Talmudic Mediation: Conflicting Interpretations of the Talmud as Conflicting Needs in Society | Text & Texture
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Gemara food trucks ottawa be-iyun , or the traditional in-depth study of the Talmud practiced in advanced Jewish learning institutes food trucks ottawa around the world, is widely regarded as the study of the Babylonian Talmud together with its Rabbinic interpretations ( Rishonim , Achronim ) not for the sake of understanding the halakhah . The question is: what is the purpose of such in-depth Talmud study? Or, put differently, how might the student of such in-depth Talmud study perceive his or her endeavor? Some students have perceived themselves as Talmudic mathematicians or physicists, food trucks ottawa seeking to define the underlying conceptual principles behind the Talmudic laws. [2] Others have perceived themselves as Talmudic historians or archeologists food trucks ottawa seeking to uncover the various layers of the Talmudic text and the development of the halakhah that was to follow over the course of history. [3] We would like to add a third perspective: That the student of the Talmud perceives him or herself as a mediator, seeking to understand the various needs and interests behind the conflicting interpretations of the Talmudic text, and to be able to relate those same eternal dilemmas back into her or his own reality. [4]
When the student, thinking like a mediator, opens up a page of Talmud and hears the conflicting voices of the Rabbis regarding how to read a particular line in the Talmud, he or she first attempts to listen carefully to how each side presents its case. Once all the possible positions have been presented and heard, she or he then proceeds to explore what may be some of the underlying interests or needs motivating each textual food trucks ottawa interpretation. Finally, the student attempts to translate these rabbinic debates over conflicting needs and interests back to his or her own society which may be dealing with similar conflicts. Therefore, the goal of in depth Talmud study, from this perspective, is both to understand the text through real life, and real life through the text.
This article seeks to present what “Talmudic Mediation” might look like through exploring five discussions of conflicting rabbinic interpretations of specific Talmudic lines from the first chapter of Babylonian Talmud Baba Batra. Each of these discussions will be analyzed by relating to the following questions: 1. what are the different rabbinic interpretations or positions regarding a particular Talmudic statement? 2. What might be some of the conflicting needs and interests motivating these different interpretations? 3. What might be considered food trucks ottawa similar conflicts in our society today?
The question of the needs of the periphery versus the needs of those in the center comes up in the Talmudic discussion on taxes, found in the Babylonian Talmud (B.B. 7b). The Mishnah (B.B. 1:5) there states:
R. Eleazar inquired of R. Yohanan: “Is food trucks ottawa the tax for the town wall collected according to shevach mamon (the wealth of the individual) or according to shevach beney adam (a fixed tax on each individual).” He replied, “It is collected according to shevach mamon , and you my son, fix this ruling firmly in your mind.
R. Eleazar asked R. Yohanan, “whether the tax for the town wall was collected according to shevach mamon (the wealth of the individual) or according to kiruv batim (the relative proximity of the individual to the town wall)? He replied, “It is according to kiruv batim , and Eleazar my son, fix this ruling firmly in your mind.”
The Talmud raises three possibilities of how the tax for the town wall should food trucks ottawa be collected: 1. Shevah mamon, meaning that one pays according to their relative food trucks ottawa wealth; 2. Shevach bney adam , meaning that each person pays a flat rate; or 3. Kiruv Batim , meaning that each person pays according to their proximity to the town wall. The first two possibilities are recognizable within our society today (“progressive” and “regressive” taxes), and within other Rabbinic texts. [6] However, the third possibility, kiruv batim , which is also the position food trucks ottawa accepted as the halakhah , is unfamiliar. Three Rabbinic interpretations have been offered as to how to understand how kiruv batim works.
According to Rashi, the closer one lives to the wall, and the more he needs and benefits from its protection, the more he must pay for it. This interpretation, food trucks ottawa which suggests that the more one is in danger, the more he must pay for his protection, was contested by other Rishonim , and two alternative explanations were offered. Rabbenu Tam, (R. Yackov b. Meir, Rashi’s grandson), is quoted as saying: [7]
Rabbenu Tam interpreted: and poor inhabitant
You are here: Home / Talmud / Talmudic Mediation: Conflicting food trucks ottawa Interpretations of the Talmud as Conflicting Needs in Society Talmudic Mediation: Conflicting Interpretations of the Talmud as Conflicting Needs in Society
Gemara food trucks ottawa be-iyun , or the traditional in-depth study of the Talmud practiced in advanced Jewish learning institutes food trucks ottawa around the world, is widely regarded as the study of the Babylonian Talmud together with its Rabbinic interpretations ( Rishonim , Achronim ) not for the sake of understanding the halakhah . The question is: what is the purpose of such in-depth Talmud study? Or, put differently, how might the student of such in-depth Talmud study perceive his or her endeavor? Some students have perceived themselves as Talmudic mathematicians or physicists, food trucks ottawa seeking to define the underlying conceptual principles behind the Talmudic laws. [2] Others have perceived themselves as Talmudic historians or archeologists food trucks ottawa seeking to uncover the various layers of the Talmudic text and the development of the halakhah that was to follow over the course of history. [3] We would like to add a third perspective: That the student of the Talmud perceives him or herself as a mediator, seeking to understand the various needs and interests behind the conflicting interpretations of the Talmudic text, and to be able to relate those same eternal dilemmas back into her or his own reality. [4]
When the student, thinking like a mediator, opens up a page of Talmud and hears the conflicting voices of the Rabbis regarding how to read a particular line in the Talmud, he or she first attempts to listen carefully to how each side presents its case. Once all the possible positions have been presented and heard, she or he then proceeds to explore what may be some of the underlying interests or needs motivating each textual food trucks ottawa interpretation. Finally, the student attempts to translate these rabbinic debates over conflicting needs and interests back to his or her own society which may be dealing with similar conflicts. Therefore, the goal of in depth Talmud study, from this perspective, is both to understand the text through real life, and real life through the text.
This article seeks to present what “Talmudic Mediation” might look like through exploring five discussions of conflicting rabbinic interpretations of specific Talmudic lines from the first chapter of Babylonian Talmud Baba Batra. Each of these discussions will be analyzed by relating to the following questions: 1. what are the different rabbinic interpretations or positions regarding a particular Talmudic statement? 2. What might be some of the conflicting needs and interests motivating these different interpretations? 3. What might be considered food trucks ottawa similar conflicts in our society today?
The question of the needs of the periphery versus the needs of those in the center comes up in the Talmudic discussion on taxes, found in the Babylonian Talmud (B.B. 7b). The Mishnah (B.B. 1:5) there states:
R. Eleazar inquired of R. Yohanan: “Is food trucks ottawa the tax for the town wall collected according to shevach mamon (the wealth of the individual) or according to shevach beney adam (a fixed tax on each individual).” He replied, “It is collected according to shevach mamon , and you my son, fix this ruling firmly in your mind.
R. Eleazar asked R. Yohanan, “whether the tax for the town wall was collected according to shevach mamon (the wealth of the individual) or according to kiruv batim (the relative proximity of the individual to the town wall)? He replied, “It is according to kiruv batim , and Eleazar my son, fix this ruling firmly in your mind.”
The Talmud raises three possibilities of how the tax for the town wall should food trucks ottawa be collected: 1. Shevah mamon, meaning that one pays according to their relative food trucks ottawa wealth; 2. Shevach bney adam , meaning that each person pays a flat rate; or 3. Kiruv Batim , meaning that each person pays according to their proximity to the town wall. The first two possibilities are recognizable within our society today (“progressive” and “regressive” taxes), and within other Rabbinic texts. [6] However, the third possibility, kiruv batim , which is also the position food trucks ottawa accepted as the halakhah , is unfamiliar. Three Rabbinic interpretations have been offered as to how to understand how kiruv batim works.
According to Rashi, the closer one lives to the wall, and the more he needs and benefits from its protection, the more he must pay for it. This interpretation, food trucks ottawa which suggests that the more one is in danger, the more he must pay for his protection, was contested by other Rishonim , and two alternative explanations were offered. Rabbenu Tam, (R. Yackov b. Meir, Rashi’s grandson), is quoted as saying: [7]
Rabbenu Tam interpreted: and poor inhabitant
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