What 6 Very Short Stories in the Babylonian Talmud

What Six Very Short Stories in the Babylonian Talmud Tell Us About Jewish Law and Life

Jewish Theological Seminary

Monday, August 1, 2022
01:00 PM - 02:30 PM

By reading six very short stories in the Babylonian Talmud, we will discover that not just rabbinic pronouncements established Jewish law, but so did reports of rabbinic performance of the law. We will see Rabbis complying with, and sometime rebelling against, earlier stated rules. As we read these texts, we will tease out details of everyday life and relations between the sexes. Whether these anecdotes actually took place or not makes no difference. They are an invaluable source for understanding how the Rabbis viewed and modified transmitted traditions.