A review of our learning:
What is Oral Torah? How did it develop? Who were the key personalities that influenced its evolution?
What is Oral Law as opposed to Written Law? (Unit 1)We began our course with explaining what the Talmud is, why we need an Oral Tradition and used an example (from the Talmud) to show how the Oral Law provides another layer of understanding to the Written Torah.
How does a page of Talmud look differently than the average book? (Unit 2) We discussed how to navigate the different sections of a Talmud page and learned of the historical period when each section was written.
Who are some of the main figures that are featured in the Talmud? What significant stories and impact did they have on the Jewish people & Judaism in that particularly turbulent time of Jewish history?
We learned of Hillel & Shammai (Unit 3) who lived during the Second Beit HaMikdash (Temple) period. We compared their personalities and explained an important Talmudic concept that they are famous for- machloket-dispute in Torah study. We discussed some of the famous examples of their disagreements. We evaluated the positive contribution of machloket to society.
Rabban Yochanan Ben Zakkai (Unit 4) was our next personality. A student of Hillel who lived during the turbulent times of war both with the Romans and within the Jewish people. We defined sin’at chinam (baseless hatred) and analyzed its message as it emerges from the Kamtz/Bar-Kamtza story. We learned of his initiative and creativity in requesting what he did from Vespasian, and we evaluated how his bold choice kept the Torah relevant.
Our learning continued with explaining the challenges facing the Jewish people after the Sanhedrin (High Court)’s move to Yavneh (unit 5). We learned of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai’s edicts to remember the Temple (takanot Zecher l’mikdash) helping retain the centrality of the Beit HaMikdash in the Jewish collective memory. We interpreted the story of R’ Yochanan on his deathbed as he worried about his own life accomplishments, and we too evaluated his decisions.
We then moved on to Unit 6 where our central figure was R’ Akiva.We learned of his determination to transform from a simpleton to a leader of the Jewish people. We discussed his approach to Torah learning and contrasted it with a contemporary of his day, R’ Yishmael. We also noted the different approach he took regarding the Romans (different than R’ YBZ). We learned of his commitment to faith and defiance of the Romans through his parable of the fox and fish. R’ Akiva’s legacy is one of optimism in the face of despair.
The last unit (7) which we have started is focused on R’ Gamliel, a leader who emphasized the authority of his position of Nasi. His position was to discourage dissenting opinions and unite the people under one authority and set of practices. (Very different from Hillel & Shammai) This, at times came at great cost. We will continue after the break to analyze the advantages and costs of maintaining a central religious authority.