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celliolameid: to learn
talmid: student ("learner")
melameid: teacher
talmud: teaching (noun)
Let's see if I can generalize the pattern yet. If "rodef" means "to pursue", does that mean that a pursuer is a "tardif", the one being pursued is a "merodef", and "pursuit" is "tarduf"? That feels wrong. (This isn't a great example, but it was the first verb that came to mind.) I wish I could develop the intuitive grasp for the grammar that Dani has but cannot explain.
The Torah-study group has gotten to the beginning of Tazria, the part of Leviticus about various impurities caused by various emissions. I really pity kids who get Tazria for a bar-mitzvah portion.
Our assistant rabbi has a commentary he's fond of (the editor's name is Milgram; I don't have more), but I disagree with some of the stuff he was reading from that on Saturday. I ended up being more challenging than usual, and essentially sent him off with questions for further study. That's not how that's supposed to work. :-) (My rabbi had already had to leave by then. I'd be interested in hearing his take on some of this. Perhaps next week.)
For instance, according to the Torah one is made tamei (ritually "impure") if one exports semen, menses, or lochial blood. The rabbi was making the argument that these are all the same type of situation. The commentary was making the argument that the reason for the impurity is contact with pseudo-death -- that is, these emissions represent the loss of a potential life, and, like a corpse, this makes one impure temporarily. At least one of these assertions is clearly wrong, because lochial blood has nothing to do with loss of (potential) life. Quite the opposite.
At one point the rabbi said something like "of course, you do all realize this is all academic now anyway, right?". He asserted that because we don't have the temple, there is no way for people to become tahor (ritually purified), so we're all impure, and we're stuck. I disagree, at least until he shows a source. Isn't that what the mikvah is for? Isn't that why women visit the mikvah monthly, and some men visit at least weekly, before Shabbat?
If we are all tamei anyway, then why does anyone worry about becoming tamei? There are not greater and lesser degrees of impurity; you are or you aren't. It's a toggle, not a matter of degree. Yet I see people in the traditional movements who are quite clearly concerned with these matters, which means they at least think it's not a lost cause.
(In contrast, sinning is not not a toggle. For example, if you violate Shabbat by lighting a fire, and then later by harvesting your grain, and then later by baking bread, you have sinned three times (or more), not once. The manifestation of this is that, when the temple stood, you were liable for an offering (a "chatat", or sin-offering) for each offense. But there is not a corresponding idea with ritual impurity; you don't have to go to the mikvah once for each thing that made you impure.)
Odd trivia of the week: after a woman gives birth, she is required (well, when the temple stood) to bring a chatat, a sin-offering. Why a sin-offering? What sin is involved in childbirth? The answer, according to unnamed sages (that is, I'm sure they're named, but they weren't cited to me) is that sometime during labor she may well have said some inappropriate things due to the pain, and this is "just in case".
(no subject)
Date: 2002-11-04 04:23 pm (UTC)