“A number of Rava’s rulings require intention as a necessary condition for establishing liability for both civil and ritual violations”
Where early generations of Babylonian Amoraim employed a system of strict liability in deciding...
Category Archives: Talmudic Sages
“The fourth century was a period of great innovation in the history of Talmudic jurisprudence and legal conceptualization”
The fourth century was a period of great innovation in the history of Talmudic...
“For the rabbis, breastfeeding offers a fascinating set of variables for academic investigation”
For the rabbis, breastfeeding offers a fascinating set of variables for academic investigation. First,...
“In addition to the biblical distinction between normal and abnormal discharges, the rabbis developed two more categories…”
Leviticus 15 is concerned with normal and abnormal, male and female genital discharges. As...
“The practice of waiting seven blood-free days following the end of a regular menstrual period is variously described in the Talmud as heḥemiru al atzman, minhaga, and halakhah pesukah, indicating that a variety of attitudes existed as to the severity of the requirement”
Zimmerman is correct in saying that a seven-day wait after any bleeding has become...
“…the term halakhah pesukah need not be considered the opposite of minhaga. It may simply mean a rule that cannot be questioned or supported on the basis of conventional talmudic dialectics”
Perhaps it can be argued that the ḥumra of the daughters of Israel is...
“The contrast between wine culture of Palestine and beer culture of Babylonia is well documented in the Talmud…”
One of the important distinctions between the diet of Graeco-Roman Palestine and Babylonia was...
“Through their sharp political interpretations of the Passover story, Rav and Shmuel described the political condition of the Jewish people long after the Exodus from Egypt”
In its transition from Joseph’s death to a new era, the book of Exodus...