The ocean of Talmud

THIS WEEK'S DAF YOMI COLUMN BY ADAM KIRSCH IN TABLET: How the Talmud Maps Behavior by Exploring Definitions, Not Listing Rules: Daf Yomi: The rabbis examined practical dimensions of deep questions, including those raised around saliva, urine, and sex.

This week’s Daf Yomi reading was a wonderful example of the range of the Talmud’s concerns, and the twisting paths that connect them. What starts out as a discussion of the laws of tefillin becomes an examination of the biology of urination and spitting, which is really a debate on the definition of substances and objects. Finally the rabbis turn to questions of sex, marriage, and the status of women, in which the notion of original sin and its punishment is refined in very unexpected ways. Chapter 10 of Tractate Eruvin is all by itself a good argument for the idea that the Talmud is not just a book but an ocean.

UPDATE: Almost forgot, earlier Daf Yomi columns are noted here and links.