(no subject)

[cellio]

I met with my rabbi this morning. More about our rambling philosophical conversation later, but one outcome is that we're going to study talmud together. (This arose from my saying that in order to make informed decisions I need to develop the tools, and how do I do that?) I know it's traditional to start with Bava Metzia, but most of the issues I brought up in passing, to illustrate points, were about Shabbat, so we're going to start there.

I've never done one-on-one talmud study before; this will be neat. I've taken a couple classes with Rabbi Staitman over at Rodef (where I was by far the most engaged person in the class, to the point of feeling self-conscious about it), and I receive "classes" via the net that are not very interactive at all (lectures, really, though questions are taken). But this will be much better, and will let us ramble in whatever direction seems most appropriate.

Comments

Re: Cool!

[cellio]

I respect Rav Steinsaltz too (based on other works of his that I've read). I'm not qualified to compare the two Talmud editions.

Isn't Steinsaltz either out of print or incomplete, though?

I find your comments interesting, in light of the fact that it was a Reform rabbi who told me what to get -- and a Reform rabbi who has issues with some of the Orthodox interpretations.

I wouldn't be surprised if my rabbi has many of the cited sources on his bookshelf, BTW. I never cease to be amazed by what he can casually pull down to answer a question I have.

But thanks for the heads-up!

By the way, it is very nice binding. :-)

Re: Cool!

[goljerp]

Isn't Steinsaltz either out of print or incomplete, though?

It's incomplete. Steinsaltz is only one man, and he puts a lot of effort into it... and the other projects that he does. And that means that it takes a lot of time!

it was a Reform rabbi who told me what to get -- and a Reform rabbi who has issues with some of the Orthodox interpretations

Well, I've heard it's mainly the footnotes you've gotta be wary of... and if you're studying with someone who knows what they're doing, they can tell you where ArtScroll is going out on a limb. (I actually just had this conversation with a Conservative rabbi recently... who said that she uses the ArtScroll translation on occasion, with some salt included.)

Re: Cool!

[cellio]

I wasn't criticizing -- just being too terse. What I meant was that it's possible that the problem is simply that the volume we need hasn't been published by Steinsaltz yet. I don't know; I didn't ask. It could also simply be that this will be easier if my rabbi and I prepare for these sessions from the same edition, and I saw the Artscroll on his shelves. Shrug.

Yes, I will be studying with a rabbi, not on my own. Besides, gemara is hard! I don't think I'm capable of studying it effectively on my own.