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daf bit: B'rachot 43
Our rabbis taught: six things are unbecoming for a scholar:
- He should not go abroad scented. R. Sheshet says this applies to his clothes but not his body because perfume hides body odor. There is a dispute about whether hair is like the body or like clothing.
- He should not go out at night alone. This is to avoid suspicion. But he can go out if he has an appointment with his teacher because people will know that.
- He should not go abroad in patched sandals. This applies to the upper but not the sole, and applies when he is in public but not when in a home. Also, this applies only in summer; during the rainy season it's ok.
- He should not converse with a woman in the street. R. Chisda says: not even with his female relatives, because people won't necessarily know they're his relatives.
- He should not take a set meal (meaning one where you recline, apparently) with ignorant people. Why? Because he might be drawn into their ways.
- He should not be the last to enter the beit midrash (study hall). The g'mara does not here address the problem that somebody has to be last. Perhaps "scholar" means only one who is accomplished, and there are always students around who have not reached that level? Or perhaps the last two enter together so neither is "the last one". Those are guesses.
We are not told how a community that doesn't know who his female relatives are would know that he's on his way to study at night.
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However, so long as no conversation is done, it would seem to be okay based on those six rules.
(which would appear to suggest it's okay to hang with prostitutes so long as you do not talk to them, although no doubt there are further rules)
(it is also implied that females cannot befome scholars, but, eh, those were the times)
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The above logic would not seem to apply to contact with women in the street, which might happen at any time or place.
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It doesn't say "community". It says "people". The "community" under discussion is not the village, but the community of scholars, or put another way, the men of a community, who know each other through the beit midrash.
Which makes it no different than a job or an SCA practice: you might know who at work is taking a night class, or who in chorus is taking private lessons, because that would come up in the course of discussing your common enterprise, but how many coworkers or co-choristers would you know what their (non-involved in your mutual activity) relatives look like?
He should not be the last to enter the beit midrash (study hall). The g'mara does not here address the problem that somebody has to be last. Perhaps "scholar" means only one who is accomplished, and there are always students around who have not reached that level? Or perhaps the last two enter together so neither is "the last one". Those are guesses.
One of the things I have admired about Jewish principles of conduct is that apparently Jewish scholars are unafraid of asserting impossible standards, with the appreciation of the fact that not all loops need to be terminated, and a standard being attainable is not necessary or even desirable for it to be a good guide for conduct. The fact that somebody will always be stuck being last in no way contradicts the desirability of not being that person, and always striving to never be that person. This is not a rule of the form "just do this, and you'll have done enough". It's a rule of the form, "this is how you should always comport yourself." It is not about a location, it's about a vector.
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You make a good point that others in the beit midrash are likely to know when he's studying but are unlikely to know who his sister is. (Good analogy with work/choir/etc.) If most of the men of the community are part of the beit-midrash community, as you seem to be suggesting, then that would address the problem nicely. (I read the g'mara as being concerned about "what people will think", but if most of those people have a connection to the beit midrash, that may not be a problem.) I had been assuming that most people weren't part of the beit-midrash community and thus wouldn't be dialed into that, but I honestly don't know. In the time of the g'mara, did most men study formally or only a select few? Further research is needed.
One of the things I have admired about Jewish principles of conduct is that apparently Jewish scholars are unafraid of asserting impossible standards, [...]
I agree that this is admirable, and you are right to point out that this is probably one of those cases. Thank you.
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Some thoughts / questions / observations on this one:
Does the study hall have set hours? This would make being last seem like you are not as dedicated in studying as you have limited your time in the hall. (Can you not study elsewhere?)
How long do you wait before you are considered the "last" scholar? Ie, if you are the only one in the study hall you are both the first and the last scholar. Is this meant to indicate that all the scholars should show up at the same time (presuming that there is group study) EDIT: , maybe to not inconvenience the teacher?
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You can certainly study in places other than the study hall, but in the time of the g'mara (and probably continuing until the arrival of the printing press), the books were in the study hall and your private library was unlikely to be anywhere near as good.
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Context might rule this out, but it seems to me that this might be saying that he shouldn't keep others waiting, out of respect for them and/or the subject to be studied. (If each person tries to arrive early so as not to be last, then even if something happens and someone "runs late" they can still start on time.) It could also be a matter of not calling undue attention to oneself.
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I wonder how sessions in the beit midrash were run in talmudic times. Did they wait for a late arrival, I wonder? Or did the lecture start, and if someone slipped in late they'd all stare at him but carry on?
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