What is Talmud Tweets?

What is Talmud Tweets? A short, personal take on a page of Talmud - every day!

For several years now, I have been following the tradition of "Daf Yomi" - reading a set page of Talmud daily. With the start of a new 7 1/2 year cycle, I thought I would share a taste of what the Talmud offers, with a bit of personal commentary included. The idea is not to give a scholarly explanation. Rather, it is for those new to Talmud to give a little taste - a tweet, as it were - of the richness of this text and dialogue it contains. The Talmud is a window into a style of thinking as well as the world as it changed over the centuries of its compilation.

These are not literal "tweets" - I don't limit myself to 140 characters. Rather, these are intended to be short, quick takes - focusing in on one part of a much richer discussion. Hopefully, I will pique your interest. As Hillel says: "Go and study it!" (Shabbat 31a)

Friday, September 28, 2012

Berachot 57 - Dreaming the Opposite

Dream interpretation continues. Often seeing something in a dream which one would consider bad (a corpse, tearing one's clothes, being arrested by the police, an elephant [ok, that was random]) is actually a good sign.

Interestingly with the strong biblical and rabbinic emphasis against sexual immorality, seeing oneself engaged in it (incest, adultery) in a dream can be a positive sign. this strikes me as an example of the strong separation in Judiasm between thought and deed - only the latter being regarded as "sin." (Of course there is a caveat to the adultery dream: "provided, that is, that he does not know her and did not think of her in the evening." - which seems to be a way of avoiding obsession!)

And, one more for Sukkot:

"If one sees citron [hadar] in his dream, he is honoured [hadur] in the sight of his Maker, since it says: 'The fruit of citrons, branches of palm-trees.'" (Lev. 23:40)

Happy - or at least interesting - dreams.

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