Torah She'be'al Peh - pt. 1
What does the term Torah SheBe’al Peh refer to?
The Oral or Spoken Torah
What does the word Amora (אמורא) literally mean?
Explainer
How did Rabbi Eliezer first try to prove that he was correct?
By using logical arguments
What does Reish Lakish’s story with the gladiators (source 1) show most clearly about him at that time?
He was physically strong and fearless
What question originally troubled Honi about the verse from Tehillim (“we were like dreamers”)?
Whether a person could sleep for seventy years
How was the Torah SheBe’al Peh passed down before it was written?
Through spoken teaching from one generation to the next
What is a Sugya (סוגיה)?
A topic or section of Talmudic discussion
How did the Rabbis respond to Rabbi Eliezer's miracles?
They said miracles do not decide halakha
How is Rabbi Yochanan’s personality portrayed in his story about sitting in front of the mikveh (Source 3)?
Confident and full of himself
Why did the man plant a carob tree even though it would take seventy years to bear fruit?
He was planting for future generations
Which two languages were mainly used by the Sages when writing the Talmud?
Hebrew and Aramaic
How are Mishna (משנה) and Gemara (גמרא) similar and different?
Similar: Both are parts of Talmud
Different: Mishna is concise, Gemara explains and analyzes
What does Rabbi Yehoshua mean by saying “Lo b’shamayim hi” (“the Torah is not in heaven”)?
Torah was given to humans to decide
What does Reish Lakish’s loss of strength after deciding to learn Torah most likely symbolize?
His separation from his violent past
When Honi returned to the study hall after seventy years, why was he most upset?
He felt unrecognized and lonely
T/F - Aramaic was spoken both in Israel and Babylon
True
When someone says, “the Gemara (גמרא) says,” what does that really mean?
That one of the Amoraim in the Gemara said it
Why was the Divine Voice not accepted as final proof?
Halakha follows the majority of human sages
Why did Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish’s argument in the Beit Midrash become so painful and destructive?
Personal insults turned a Torah debate into an emotional conflict
Rava’s statement, “Either friendship or death,” suggests that
Life without human connection is unbearable
Who were the Zuggot?
Five pairs of early sages who led the Jewish people
Why is the Talmud Bavli (בבלי תלמוד) the primary source for Jewish law, rather than the Talmud Yerushalmi (תלמוד ירושלמי)?
Bavli is better organized and covers more topics
God’s statement at the end of the story, “My children have triumphed over Me,” suggests that God:
approved of human responsibility in determining halakha
Why did Rabbi Yochanan feel like Reish Lakish was his best learning partner?
Reish Lakish challenged him and pushed back, so both were able to learn more deeply
In the story of Moshe and Rabbi Akiva, what reassured Moshe and put his mind at ease?
Rabbi Akiva traced his own Torah teaching back to Moshe at Mt. Sinai