Note: If you are here for the Chavruta Roulette event with A Daily Dose of Talmud, that event has passed. You will have other opportunities to participate in similar events, though! Stay tuned for future Chavruta Roulette updates.
Even though the event is over, you are invited to learn through this sheet on your own (click here to learn it without the chavruta sidebar), or, if you have a specific chavruta in mind, you can learn it with them using Sefaria's Chavruta feature (click here for more information on how to do that).
Welcome to My Jewish Learning's day of havruta learning. To begin, watch this introductory video from MJL Associate Editor Rachel Scheinerman.
If you are not using headphones, please mute yourself while watching the video so your havruta does not hear an echo.
If you were on mute while watching the video, you can unmute yourself now.
In this text, which opens Tractate Avot in the Mishnah (there is no Gemara on this tractate, so we will not do this text in Daf Yomi), the rabbis imagine that the divine word is given first to Moses at Mount Sinai and then transmitted to various leaders through the generations, landing finally with the rabbis themselves.
(א) משֶׁה קִבֵּל תּוֹרָה מִסִּינַי, וּמְסָרָהּ לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ, וִיהוֹשֻׁעַ לִזְקֵנִים, וּזְקֵנִים לִנְבִיאִים, וּנְבִיאִים מְסָרוּהָ לְאַנְשֵׁי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה. הֵם אָמְרוּ שְׁלשָׁה דְבָרִים, הֱווּ מְתוּנִים בַּדִּין, וְהַעֲמִידוּ תַלְמִידִים הַרְבֵּה, וַעֲשׂוּ סְיָג לַתּוֹרָה:
(1) Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be patient in [the administration of] justice, raise many disciples and make a fence round the Torah.
Questions for discussion:
- In this text, what do the rabbis imagine is the basis for Jewish authority?
- Who is in this chain of transmission? Who is not there (that we might expect)?
- What are rabbinic leaders expected to do?
ואמר ר' חייא בר אבא א"ר יוחנן מאי דכתיב (דברים ט, י) ועליהם ככל הדברים אשר דבר ה' עמכם בהר מלמד שהראהו הקב"ה למשה דקדוקי תורה ודקדוקי סופרים ומה שהסופרים עתידין לחדש ומאי ניהו מקרא מגילה:
And Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba further said that Rabbi Yoḥanan said: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God; and on them was written according to all the words which the Lord spoke with you in the mountain” (Deuteronomy 9:10)? This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, showed Moses on the mountain all the inferences that can be derived from the words of the Torah; and all the inferences that can be derived from the words of the Scribes, the early Sages; and also all the new halakhot that the Scribes were destined to introduce in the future in addition to the laws of the Torah. And what is it specifically that the Scribes would introduce in addition to the laws of the Torah? The reading of the Megilla.
Questions for discussion:
- What does this text say about rabbinic authority?
- What does it say about rabbinic creativity?
The sources above suggest that the rabbis stand in line with Moses and thus have similar learning and authority. This next text from Tractate Shabbat articulates an entirely different rabbinic idea of "yeridat hadorot": the decline of the generations.
קָרֵי עֲלֵיהּ: לֵית דֵּין בַּר אִינָשׁ. אִיכָּא דְאָמְרִי: כְּגוֹן דֵּין בַּר אִינָשׁ. אָמַר רַבִּי זֵירָא אָמַר רָבָא בַּר זִימּוּנָא: אִם רִאשׁוֹנִים בְּנֵי מַלְאָכִים — אָנוּ בְּנֵי אֲנָשִׁים. וְאִם רִאשׁוֹנִים בְּנֵי אֲנָשִׁים — אָנוּ כַּחֲמוֹרִים. וְלֹא כַּחֲמוֹרוֹ שֶׁל רַבִּי חֲנִינָא בֶּן דּוֹסָא וְשֶׁל רַבִּי פִּנְחָס בֶּן יָאִיר, אֶלָּא כִּשְׁאָר חֲמוֹרִים.
Ḥizkiya was so impressed by Rabbi Yoḥanan’s comment that he exclaimed about him: This is not a human being, but an angel. Some say that he said: This is an ideal human being. On a similar note, Rabbi Zeira said that Rava bar Zimuna said: If the early generations are characterized as sons of angels, we are the sons of men. And if the early generations are characterized as the sons of men, we are akin to donkeys. And I do not mean that we are akin to either the donkey of Rabbi Ḥanina ben Dosa or the donkey of Rabbi Pinḥas ben Yair, who were both extraordinarily intelligent donkeys; rather, we are akin to other typical donkeys.
Questions for discussion:
- How does or doesn’t this principle of the decline of generations operate in Judaism (or the wider world) today?
In one of the most famous, creative and poignant stories in the Talmud, Moses catches a glimpse of God finishing up the Torah, which leads to a remarkable conversation and a bit of time travel.
אמר רב יהודה אמר רב בשעה שעלה משה למרום מצאו להקב"ה שיושב וקושר כתרים לאותיות אמר לפניו רבש"ע מי מעכב על ידך אמר לו אדם אחד יש שעתיד להיות בסוף כמה דורות ועקיבא בן יוסף שמו שעתיד לדרוש על כל קוץ וקוץ תילין תילין של הלכות אמר לפניו רבש"ע הראהו לי אמר לו חזור לאחורך הלך וישב בסוף שמונה שורות ולא היה יודע מה הן אומרים תשש כחו כיון שהגיע לדבר אחד אמרו לו תלמידיו רבי מנין לך אמר להן הלכה למשה מסיני נתיישבה דעתו
§ Rav Yehuda says that Rav says: When Moses ascended on High, he found the Holy One, Blessed be He, sitting and tying crowns on the letters of the Torah. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, who is preventing You from giving the Torah without these additions? God said to him: There is a man who is destined to be born after several generations, and Akiva ben Yosef is his name; he is destined to derive from each and every thorn of these crowns mounds upon mounds of halakhot. It is for his sake that the crowns must be added to the letters of the Torah. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, show him to me. God said to him: Return behind you. Moses went and sat at the end of the eighth row in Rabbi Akiva’s study hall and did not understand what they were saying. Moses’ strength waned, as he thought his Torah knowledge was deficient. When Rabbi Akiva arrived at the discussion of one matter, his students said to him: My teacher, from where do you derive this? Rabbi Akiva said to them: It is a halakha transmitted to Moses from Sinai. When Moses heard this, his mind was put at ease, as this too was part of the Torah that he was to receive.
Questions for discussion:
- What does this story say about the authority of the rabbis? What is God’s perspective? What is Moses’ perspective? What is Rabbi Akiva’s perspective?
- What does this say about how God understands rabbinic authority?
- How does this text compare to text #2 (Megillah 19b) on this source sheet?
Before finishing up, we encourage you to read this last part of this story, which is particularly heart-breaking:
חזר ובא לפני הקב"ה אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם יש לך אדם כזה ואתה נותן תורה ע"י אמר לו שתוק כך עלה במחשבה לפני אמר לפניו רבונו של עולם הראיתני תורתו הראני שכרו אמר לו חזור [לאחורך] חזר לאחוריו ראה ששוקלין בשרו במקולין אמר לפניו רבש"ע זו תורה וזו שכרה א"ל שתוק כך עלה במחשבה לפני
Moses returned and came before the Holy One, Blessed be He, and said before Him: Master of the Universe, You have a man as great as this and yet You still choose to give the Torah through me. Why? God said to him: Be silent; this intention arose before Me. Moses said before God: Master of the Universe, You have shown me Rabbi Akiva’s Torah, now show me his reward. God said to him: Return to where you were. Moses went back and saw that they were weighing Rabbi Akiva’s flesh in a butcher shop [bemakkulin], as Rabbi Akiva was tortured to death by the Romans. Moses said before Him: Master of the Universe, this is Torah and this is its reward? God said to him: Be silent; this intention arose before Me.
Even though the event is over, you are invited to learn through this sheet on your own (click here to learn it without the chavruta sidebar), or, if you have a specific chavruta in mind, you can learn it with them using Sefaria's Chavruta feature (click here for more information on how to do that).
