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Author: Aryeh Leib Heller
Composed: c.1765 – c.1805 CE
The Shev Shmateta (“Seven Passages” in Aramaic) is an 18th-century work on cases of doubt in the Talmud by the Ketzot (Rabbi Aryeh Leib HaKohen Heller). The work isolates the talmudic principles that relate to cases of doubt, testing each principle against a series of talmudic passages to clarify and elucidate the nature of the principle. The work includes an extensive theological introduction explaining the author’s outlook on Judaism, in which he explains his conviction that wrestling with talmudic analysis is the highest form of religious endeavor. The Shev Shmat’ta is considered a classic work in yeshivot, serving as a cornerstone of a popular analytic method of Talmud study.