The Talmud of Relationships, Volume 1: God, Self, and Family
Taken all together, this Tetris-like textual architecture comprises a multilayered, multigenerational discussion on what the Torah (broadly defined) is trying to teach us. The fact that the many voices represented on a page of Talmud don’t always agree is a feature — not a bug — of this system. Underlying this polyvocality, and the back-and-forth c
... See moreAdina Allen • The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom
This is one of the strangest and most wonderful features of the Talmud: It’s as if, within its pages, the barriers of time and space do not exist. No matter when or where we live, we can listen in on this epic, centuries-long argument for the sake of heaven.
Sarah Hurwitz • Here All Along: Finding Meaning, Spirituality, and a Deeper Connection to Life--in Judaism (After Finally Choosing to Look There)
The layout of a page of Talmud is a graphic representation of the process-oriented polyvocality that characterizes traditional Jewish study. In the center of the page is a short text from the Mishnah (one of the earliest rabbinic commentaries on the Torah), followed by the Gemara (the earliest layer of commentary on the Mishnah, written in late ant
... See moreAdina Allen • The Place of All Possibility: Cultivating Creativity Through Ancient Jewish Wisdom
Perhaps one reason why Judaism locates its spiritual center in the Torah is because its study is so firmly grounded in human relationships.