Monthly Archives: October 2011

In a Name: Some Late Night Ruminations on T. Ilan’s Lexicon of Jewish Names 4

Posted on October 31, 2011 by

People with newborn babies often find themselves awake at absurd hours of the night, a kind of teasing reminder of youthful eves long gone, when staying up late meant going out and having fun. Your parents may very well have … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Back to School Shenanigans

Posted on October 30, 2011 by

With the month of November only a couple of days away, the MLB off-season over with a bang, and the first signs of snow falling in the Northeast, the school year here in Israel is just about ready to start. … Continue reading →

Posted in Talk of the Town | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Medicine and the Redaction of the Talmud- Guest Post by Michael Satlow

Posted on October 25, 2011 by

One of The Talmud Blog’s goals is to create a forum for scholarly discussion. This guest post by Michael Satlow is an attempt to start a conversation. Readers are invited to engage in it by writing in the comments section … Continue reading →

Posted in Guest Posts, Readings | Tagged , , , , | 16 Comments

A Sign of Confusion? The Hometown of Elazar Birabi Qilir

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

Archeological sites in Israel feature signs that explain the findings and elaborate on their historical context. Many of these signs quote texts that are relevant to the site in most cases from the Bible and rabbinic literature. To my joy, … Continue reading →

Posted in Piyut, Readings | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

Demons in the Outfield

Posted on October 16, 2011 by

Ishay Rosen-Zvi, the man who brought us the new and improved Sotah ritual, has published his second book, Demonic Desires (not to be confused with another book with the same title). Some of the chapters have previously been published as articles, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

From the Pages of Haaretz

Posted on October 15, 2011 by

One of the best parts of the holiday season here in Israel is that the local papers have to put out more supplemental material to keep everyone occupied. In addition to the regular weekend magazines, each holiday gets its own special … Continue reading →

Posted in Recent Publications, Talmud in the News, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Talmud and the Absurd: The Elephant in the Sukkah

Posted on October 10, 2011 by

Since the 1990′s (and Daniel Boyarin’s Carnal Israel), there has been a fair amount of discussion about the Talmud, the carnivalesque, and the absurd.  Put simply, the Talmud contains a fair number of passages, even halakhic ones, that we might say operate on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Sins Without Borders

Posted on October 6, 2011 by

The confession of sins is a key feature in the classical Jewish process of atonement in general and in the Yom Kippur liturgy in particular. The obligation to confess during Yom Kippur appears already in the Tosefta (Kippurim 4:14) where … Continue reading →

Posted in Readings | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The Safrai Revolution

Posted on October 2, 2011 by

We all have our coping mechanisms. I really do enjoy the soaring liturgy of Rosh Hashana, the tunes, the gravitas. But everyone has their limits. To get through the marathon sessions in shul, an interesting book is quite simply, indispensable. This holiday, it … Continue reading →

Posted in Mishna, Recent Publications | Tagged | 7 Comments