The Sea of Talmud: A Brief and Personal Introduction by Henry Abramson

Author:Henry Abramson [Abramson, Henry]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Smashwords
Published: 2012-06-07T04:00:00+00:00

Parsing the Talmud

Halakhah and aggadata flow smoothly from one to the other in the Talmudic text, which does not follow the norms of most literature in the western tradition. It must be remembered that for several centuries the Talmud was an oral document, memorized and passed down from generation to generation before it was committed to writing. As such, the connections between topics in a given page of Talmud may be thematic or chronological, arranged by the name of the speaker or similarities of expression. The connections between topics may be tenuous, but they follow an internal logic peculiar to the Talmud.

More difficult than the transition between topics, however, is the parsing of the passages within one specific discussion. Let us examine a comparatively straightforward passage in tractate Bava Metsia 34b, reproduced exactly as it appears, but in English translation (one bit of contextual information: selas, shekels, and dinars are units of currency). A word of caution: although this is an example of an easier piece of the Talmud (my sons study it in 6th grade), don’t expect to understand this literal translation on first reading.

the one who loans to his friend on a pledge and the pledge is lost and he says to him sela I loaned to you shekel was equivalent and the other says no but rather sela you loaned me on it sela was equivalent exempt sela I loaned you on it a shekel was equivalent and the other says no but rather the sela that you loaned me on it three dinars was equivalent obligated sela that I loaned to you on it two was equivalent and the other says no but rather sela you loaned to me on it sela was equivalent exempt sela I loaned to you on it two was equivalent and the other says no but rather sela you loaned to me on it five dinars was equivalent obligated

I hope that was sufficiently confusing to make the point! Here’s the same passage, with the necessary fibers of information added to the text to make it comprehensible. It’s still difficult for the untrained reader, but now it should be a little more accessible.

the one who loans [money] to his friend on a pledge [i.e., against some collateral], and the pledge is lost [i.e., the lender loses the collateral]

and he [the lender] says to him [the borrower]: “[The] sela I loaned to you [was against your collateral:] shekel was equivalent [meaning, you deposited collateral worth a shekel, which is half a sela, and since I lost your collateral, you only owe me one shekel now].”

and the other [i.e. the borrower] says “no, but rather [the] sela you loaned me on it [i.e. my collateral] sela was equivalent [my collateral was worth exactly the sela you loaned me, and I do not owe you anything].”

[The borrower is] exempt [from the obligation to take an oath in court over this matter, because one is only required to take an oath if one admits to a

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