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)

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Shabbat 106 - Animal Traps

Trapping an animal, or bird on Shabbat is forbidden (fish and insects are not mentioned in the Mishnah, but the rabbis include them). But what is "trapping"? Forcing say a deer into a house is clear, but what about into a garden or an animal sanctuary?

R. Judah and the sages disagree on the definition. Some try to leave that disagreement alone but that doesn't go over too well ("should we learn the tradition as if it were a mere song?" [just repeating the words without thinking about the meaning] Abaye says, sarcastically.

So R. Shimon ben Gamliel comes up with a compromise: it depends on the size of the garden:

"Said R. Ashi: Where one can run after and catch it with a single lunge, that is a small sanctuary (where one is liable) any other is large (where one is exempt)."

Or if the shadows of the walls overlap, or if there are recesses for an animal to hide - it is considered "small" and therefore a forbidden trap.

"THIS IS THE GENERAL PRINCIPLE: IF IT [STILL] NEEDS TO BE CAUGHT, HE IS EXEMPT IF IT DOES NOT STILL NEED TO BE CAUGHT, HE IS LIABLE." The Mishnah says.

And just to cap the discussion:

"Jeremiah b. Abba said in Samuel's name: If one catches a lion on the Sabbath he is not culpable unless he entices it into its cage."

As opposed to all the other ways we might catch a lion. Glad we got THAT settled!

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