Monthly Archives: April 2012

Karaite Mishnah (and other friends too)

Posted on April 29, 2012 by

Ofra Tirosh-Becker, Rabbinic Excerpts in Medieval Karaite Literature, 2 Vols. Jerusalem: Mossad Bialik, 2012, 1219 pp., NIS 111. Everyone knows about the Karaites. They need little introduction: Ninth century Jews tired of geonic hegemony, going back to scripture to find law … Continue reading →

Posted in Dissertations, Mishna, Reviews | 3 Comments

Between Words and Ideas in the Reading of The Bavli

Posted on April 19, 2012 by

Amidst much fanfare, immigration lawyer and daf-yomi class teacher Daniel Retter published his index of the Babylonian Talmud, dubbed HaMafteach in both Hebrew and in English. As someone who often studies Talmud on the Sabbath and misses the various digital search … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, Ruminations, Technology | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

The Talmud Blog- Now on Facebook

Posted on April 19, 2012 by

A few weeks ago, we created a Facebook page for the Talmud blog. Our hope is that we can use the page in order to keep our readers up-to-date on Talmudic goings-on that might not merit blog posts. We would also like … Continue reading →

Posted in Announcements | Leave a comment

Prof. Avraham Goldberg ז”ל

Posted on April 15, 2012 by

The world of Talmud scholarship mourns the passing of Avraham Goldberg, professor emertius at Hebrew University’s department of Talmud and Halakha.  Professor Goldberg was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1913, served as a US Army chaplain in the Second World War, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Postscripts | 3 Comments

Piyyut and Modern Hebrew Poetry – The Passover Connection

Posted on April 5, 2012 by

It is well known that modern Hebrew poetry makes extensive use of the Bible and to a lesser extent of rabbinic literature. What is less known is the role of liturgical texts and poetry in the modern poetic corpus. In … Continue reading →

Posted in Piyut, Readings | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

You Rejoice – though not Me: Some Notes on bMeg 10b and its Parallels

Posted on April 3, 2012 by

Does God rejoice at the downfall of the wicked? Surely He wants the good to prosper and the wicked to perish. Yet, the destruction of God’s own creatures, regardless of some poor choices they may have made in the past, … Continue reading →

Posted in Readings, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment