Want a NOOK? Explore Now
A fascinating—and fun—look at "the other Talmud" and the possibilities for Jewish life reflected there.
Today's Judaism is based on the Babylonian Talmud, the Bavli. All the law codes we have are based on this Talmud. But what if the other Talmud, the Yerushalmi—the "Talmud of the Land of Israel"—had won? What would that mean for the practice of Judaism today?
This engaging look at the Judaism that might have been breaks open the Talmud of the Land of Israel, which is growing in popularity. It examines what the Yerushalmi is, how it differs from the Bavli, and how and why the Bavli is used today. It reveals how the Yerushalmi's vision of Jewish practice resembles today's liberal Judaism. You'll explore the many ways this Talmud would have influenced all aspects of Jewish life:
Acknowledgments xi
Timeline xii
Introduction 1
Part I Daily Life 13
1 What Would Your Livelihood and Levies Be? 15
Location Scouting 15
What Would You Do for a Living? 16
"Creative Accounting" v. Honesty in Business 17
What Kind of Taxes Would You Be Paying? 18
2 Who Would Your Celebrities Be? 25
Priestly Watches 25
Scandal and the Priestly Watches 27
Disabled Priests 28
Other Celebrities: Helen and Munbaz 29
Rabbi as Celebrity 30
Rabbi Yochanan and Reish Lakish 31
3 The Obnoxious Rich Kid: How Would You Feel about Those Jews in Babylonia? 34
Hillel: The Archetypal Babylonian 35
Tensions Between Sages in Israel and Babylonia 36
Israeli Pride 37
4 Right and Wrong, Crime and Punishment 39
What Would Your Greatest Virtues Be? 39
What Would Your Worst Sins Be? 41
Sin Causes the Temple's Destruction 42
Rogues Gallery: Sinning Sages 44
Response to God's "Unfairness" 51
5 How Can Judaism Compete with Christianity? 54
Intentions Count 54
The Afterlife and Limbo in the Yerushalmi 55
6 Tefillin and Tallit: Essential "Props" and "Costumes" 57
Women, Tzitzit and Tefillin 60
7 Who, Beside Rabbis, Was Running the Jewish Community? 63
Rabbis Who Do It All 65
8 How Would You Be Reading Torah? 66
More Coverage: Translation is a Must 66
Who are the Yerushalmi's "Extras"? 67
9 Con Men and Characters in Disguise 69
The Straight Man: The Honest Townsfolk 70
The Underdog Catches a Break: Dealing with Financial Adversity and Giving Charity 71
Karma: Justice Prevails 72
10 Who Would Your Enemy Be? 78
A Smothering Sense of Danger 79
Craven, Incompetent Government Officials 81
How Do You Carry Out Warfare? 82
Civil Disobedience 83
Martyrdom 84
Part 2 Building Blocks of Prayer 87
11 The Toolbox of Prayers 89
Meditation and the Shena 89
When the Prayer Book Needs a Ruthless Editor 90
The Amidah 91
Short Services, Please 94
Giving Thanks 95
An Attitude of Gratitude: Ben Zoma's Prayers 97
Responses to the Priestly Benediction 99
For the New Moon 100
Prayers from the Cutting Room Floor 101
Prayers for Healing 101
A Blessing for Dessert 102
12 Ad-Libbing 104
A Blessing for Honesty in Business 104
Making the Best of a Bad Situation 105
When Someone Else Experiences Financial Loss 106
Passing Through a Cemetery 106
On Seeing a Rainbow 107
Options for Havdalah 108
13 What Would Your Mysticism Be? 110
Nishmat as Mysticism 111
Aleinu and Kaddish: Not Just Cleanup but Mystical Ascents 112
Other Heichalot Prayers You Know 114
The Tree of Life 115
14 Trailers: Meditation Techniques of the Sages 116
Silent Prayer 118
Shabbat: Looking for Loopholes 120
Women Getting Around the Rules 121
The Kiddush Cup 122
Women and Shabbat 122
Part 3 The Holidays 125
15 What Would the High Holy Days Be Like? 127
God's Three Books 128
High Holy Day Services Don't Have to Be So Long 129
Yom Kippur: The Photonegative of a Pilgrimage Festival 129
Yom Kippur Was a Fashion Show 132
16 What Would Sukkot Be Like? 134
The Sukkah 135
Happy Endings 136
Sukkot = Spring Break in Florida 137
Sukkot = Memorial Day 138
Sukkot = Ritual of Rebellion 139
Sukkot v. Passover 141
17 Passover 142
"The Farmer and the Cowman Should Be Friends" 142
Pesach in Temple Times 143
Massaging the Script 143
Four Cups 144
Exile = Slavery 146
The Real Four Questions 146
The Miracles of Disabilities 147
Catering a Movie: Making the Matzah Look Better 148
Lettuce 149
Shopping for Charoset 150
Fish for the Seder and the Thanksgiving Turkey 150
The Afikoman 151
How to be Happy on the Holiday 152
Fun and Dysfunction at Thanksgiving, and Family Dynamics at the Seder 153
18 What Would Shavuot Be Like? 155
Why Shavuot is the Ugly Duckling 157
Reaping the Omer 157
Everyone Needs Help with the Hebrew: Ancient Cue Cards 158
19 Purim and Hanukkah 161
How to Observe Purim: Lots of Options 162
A Pedagogical Holiday 164
What Would Hanukkah Be Like? 164
The Lulav and the Hanukkah Lights 166
A Different Miracle 166
What's the Point? Resisting the Romans! 167
20 Fast Days 169
The Seventeenth of Tammuz: Stage the Breaking of the Ten Commandments 169
What Would Tisha B'Av Be Like? 171
Messianic Hopes Gone for Good 173
Purim and Hanukkah and the Seventeenth of Tammuz and the Ninth of Av 176
Part 4 Life Cycle 177
21 Childbirth (Women Are in Charge) and Parenthood 179
(Il)legitimacy 180
What Parents Must Do for Their Children 181
22 School, Coming of Age, and Learning Differences 183
A Learning System or a Legal System? 184
Grandparents Are an Important Part of the Educational Process 185
Informal Learning 186
Child Development is an Individual Thing 186
Parental Influence 187
Powerbrokers v. Teachers: The Teachers Are the Good Guys 188
Does Anything Trump Learning? 190
23 What Would Your Wedding and Married Life Be Like? 192
Getting Engaged: Rabbi Yehudah Hanasi Doesn't Get the Girl 192
"Going to the Chapel"? Maybe Not 193
Sex in the Ketubah 194
Wedding Crowns 199
The Chuppah: The Honeymoon Suite 200
Wedding Blessings 200
Blessing before Consummation? 201
Dancing Before the Bride 202
The Romans Threaten the Wedding's Joy 203
24 What Would Old Age Be Like? 206
Honoring One's Parents 207
The Indignities of Aging 208
How to Die: Rabbi Eliezer's Deathbed 209
What Would Funerals Be Like? 210
Grave Changing 211
Rabbi's Instruction at Death 212
Other Sages' Shrouds 212
Buried with a Bit of the Land of Israel 213
Conclusion: What We Can Recapture 215
Abbreviations 216
When, Who, and Where 217
Orders and Tractates of the Mishnah 219
Glossary 226
The Sages 231
Overview
A fascinating—and fun—look at "the other Talmud" and the possibilities for Jewish life reflected there.
Today's Judaism is based on the Babylonian Talmud, the Bavli. All the law codes we have are based on this Talmud. But what if the other Talmud, the Yerushalmi—the "Talmud of the Land of Israel"—had won? What would that mean for the practice of Judaism today?
This engaging...