shevuot 12

what to do with leftovers?

serve as dessert?
or leave to graze?

shevuot 11

being paid in incense
that never decays

shevuot 10

 the inside/outside goat,
the festive goat
and the goat of the new moon

shevuot 9

shevuot 8

inside or outside
the goat will keep it hanging until you wake up

shevuot 7

the falling goat that atones for the impurity of the body and land.

shevuot 6

the fraying shades of white

shevuot 5

concealing, is an act of forgetting and whitewashing over the past.

shevuot 4

the written word expands, contracts, and goes into detail.

the spoken word, once fixed in place, is immoveable.

shevuot 3

being flogged for not acting?
- so perhaps be careful about what you say about your past,
and promise about your future.

shevuot 2

goats, beards & oaths
when 1 becomes 2
and 2 becomes 4

makkot 24

while there are those around who are old enough to remember the essential values on which the 613 are built, then there is hope for the future after the destruction.

Makkot closes with a discussion about how the 613 mitzvot of torah can be built from essential principles - either 11, 6, 3, 2, or 1. It also has the conversation between R. Akiva and some other Rabbis who are witnessing the rise of Rome and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Rabbis weep while R. Akiva laughs. He explains his laughter, as if the destruction which was prophesied happened, then so too will the renewal and rebuilding. There will be old people sitting in the streets of Jerusalem. The verse quoted cites both old men and old women, they will be the ones who hold the memory of how to reconstruct the torah. Perhaps it is a sign of my getting older, that I love that it is the presence of the old people who are symbol of hope. Too much importance is placed on the potential of youth and the future. And while they are important, the value of older generations are too often ignored and disrespected. So I have drawn two elder women, sorting it all out. 

makkot 23

flogging is to humiliate. 
so if they humiliate themselves, 
job done.

makkot 22

plough with donkey & ox
get flogged with hide from a donkey & ox

makkot 21

marking the skin,
for grief
for love
for pain

for devotion

makkot 20

squaring the edges of the head and face.

makkot 19

how can we eat once the place of our eating has gone?
let the food rot and the words go unsaid.
blood has been spilled, so it will not be sprinkled.
the building has been burnt, so the smoke will no longer rise to heaven.

makkot 18

the priest and the non-priest.
together
in waving
and in prohibition

makkot 17

the soul of an ant has value.
but not the fetus who does not become R. Shimon?

makkot 16

send away the mother bird, 
but bring back the exacting teacher, 
even though they endanger children.

makkot 15

to flog or not to flog? 
one requires a definite warning. 
the other a definitive action.

makkot 14

separate bodies but not separate sins

makkot 13

 when flogging, death and cutting off combine

makkot 12

no asylum for angels, only for people. 
who can repent and confess. 
Who can accept public honours, once they can accept and publicly admit to the past. 
no hiding.

Every so often daf yomi feels so relevant. Today in daf yomi, discusses someone who has killed accidentally, and is exiled to a city of refuge, can accept a public honour only once they have made a public statement that they are a murderer. And the public know that they are a murderer, and still want to honour them. There is something powerful here about atonement and turning one's life around. Earlier on in the page is a comment that the cities of refuge are for people only. Not angels. Angels cannot change their nature. But people potentially can. if they do genuine repentance, which involves confession. I note that the case discussed in the talmud is when the public want to honour someone. Not someone who is seeking honour. (and this is referring to someone who has killed unintentionally. so it is tricky to extrapolate to other transgressions that have an aspect of intentionality to them)

makkot 11

WHEN DOES IT ALL END? harsh words & curses, rebuking silence, and the exiles that only end in death and restless bones.

makkot 10

are the elders, the old ones, essential to a city? like water, markets, people & torah.

makkot 9

from before the beginning there was intentional planning in the land's infrastructure for unintentional accidents. 

but ignorance is no defence.

makkot 8

danger zones

who permission for you to enter

and for the father to hit the son?

makkot 7

the path to exile begins by going down. & if you want a 2nd chance, then go up 

(exile is the punishment for unintentional murder, but one is only exiled if one has caused death by a downward motion. This is contrasted earlier in the page about the accused flee after the verdict but before execution. If they go from Eretz Israel to outside, no need for a retrial if the original witnesses are known. If go to Israel, then do need to do a retrial. And thus setting a pattern of perpetrators running to Israel for mercy...)

makkot 6

who can see who is infront of them

and who doesn't know what and who is behind them.

makkot 5

what's likely to happen, is what we expect to happen
so, once she's known to hire liars, can't trust anyone she brings along.

makkot 4

to flog or not to flog? is speech active, like a flowing river? or stagnant like the great sea? 

makkot 3

what can't cancel what
- the debt can't be cancelled by the 7th
- the pure water can't be cancelled by diluted wine
- and the shirt can't be broken open on shabbat

makkot 2

when do lying witnesses get lashed?

sanhedrin 5

who can judge & teach? 
those who get permission from their teacher. 
Provided they don't know too much, and are blemished. 

It is speculated that Rav does not have Rebbe's permission to rule on blemishes found in 1stborn animals, as he is too much of an expert and would permit things that others would forbid. and the untrained eye would not be able to discern the difference, and thus standards would fall... alternatively there could be better teachers out there, teaching accurately so that the community is not kept in ignorance.

Many, many connections to be made about who is a judge, who teaches torah and who decides halacha today...

sanhedrin 4

the spoken vs. the written word

sanhedrin 3

who can sit and judge another? experts only, or those with nothing else to do all day

sanhedrin 2

how many does it take to sit and judge? 

3, 5, 7, 9+1, 23 or 71? 

bava batra 78

 

what is the role of a donkey? 

for riding? 

for carrying? 

to produce and nurture more donkeys? 

or to be a warning to the arrogant ones headed for hell?

bava batra 77

 

when the abstract defines the physical. 

words acquire words,

and money determines what is for sale. 

bava batra 76

 acquiring a ship by pulling. 

but who would park a ship in an alleyway. 

bava batra 75

the ship of future dreams.

following the discussion about the legendary aspects of the sea, including the Levithan, this page explores various visions of the future, including what will happen to the Levithan, Jerusalem, and the stature of humans. These stories finish, and the talmud picks up the original mishna topic - how to buy a ship. And the need for the acquisition to be completed by an action of pulling. It brought to mind that all these future dreams and wishes are bundled together, and can only be kept alive by the scholars and dreamers pulling them into the future. 

bava batra 74

travellers' tales
of what happened at sea,
in the desert,
where hell meets earth,
and where earth meets heaven,
and the mighty creatures who live,
and died, there.

basically, everyone is a bit of bore, prone to exaggeration, when they come back from travelling. The talmudic rabbis were no exception. 

bava batra 73

tall tales of big fish,
big trees,
big snakes, frogs, birds
and juggling demons.

all inspired by the big waves of the sea.

Discussion about the laws of buying ships, and what is included, leads to many stories about the sea. Each one more fantastic than the last. It's a talmudic rabbis story slam. For me the winner was Rabba and his tale of the demon Hurmin, the son of Lilith, juggling wine and dancing on bridges. 

bava batra 72

when the trunk is the tree and the land

bava batra 71

unspecified gifts and particular sales.
- so there's no need to go into detail when giving things to God.

bava batra 70

separating trees from fields,
and partners,
the living from the dead.

bava batra 69

significant trees,
watchtowers,
and stones.

does buying a field include items within it that have their own identity and significance?

bava batra 68

the people and places that are and aren't included with the city.

bava batra 67

selling property or the use of the property. 
like glass made of grains of sand, 
courtyards, olive-presses, and bathhouses, are comprised of different parts. 
Some essential to use. and some not.

what is and isn't implicitly included in the sale of courtyards, olive-presses, and bathhouses. The space themselves? fixed items attached to the ground? or the things that give that space it's function?