Wednesday, 19 February 2014

succah 14

building with boards

closed secret succahs in dangerous dark times and open succahs where everything hangs out.

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

succah 13

unravelling the willow shelters

(this drawing is based on a photograph of a shelter made from willow in a park in Brooklyn. I saw it a few days after a storm and it was in a state of dissary. it looked beautiful. I thought of it because this page discusses using a shelter made of willow as a succah, which is permissible only if it was untied at the top)

succah 12

bundled and beaten

neither is suitable for the succah roof

(this page discuss not being able to use tied bundles of straw as roofing, or beaten flax)

succah 11

what covers them?
these two who argue about fire and water.

is the succah like the cover of clouds of glory, mists rising from the ground.

or are they like the actual shelters in the wilderness years. and preparing them is like preparing the festive offerings that will be consumed in fire.

(- yet another argument between Resh Lakish and R. Yohanan. Resh Lakish argues that the succah is like a mist, cloud. a watery substance. R. Yohanan is fiery, and he makes a connection to the offerings on the altar. These two men have long intrigued me. Their relationship, intimate yet adversarial, is echoed in a theme in their continual debates - fire v. water. opposites that can destroy each other)

succah 10

succah decorations fade into nothing when they mix with the roofing. they have no significant dimension or cover. they are just beautiful. they are nothing.

(don't need to consider how low the decorations hang when calculating the space under the roofing of a succah. interestingly the examples given in a baraita of succah decorations include fabrics and various fruits and food - items that could become impure and therefore not permitted to be used as roofing)

succah 9

comparing cutting branches for the succah roof and tzitzit.

succah 8

calculating the area of a circular space, depending on the area of people sitting.

even if they don't have to sit in the succah

succah 7

succahs should be like permanent residencies. sturdy. with corners.

succah 6

the hair-splitting details of the origins of the measurements and obstructions
was it written or said on the mountain?
verbal or textual?

succah 5

the heavenly cloud came down but didn't touch the mountain.

Moses and Elijah went up the mountain but they didn't touch heaven.

in-between heaven and earth is a gap of 10 hands.
and no hands, not human or divine, can bridge that

succah 4

when is not-a-wall a wall

discussing making the walls of a succah a post, abstract extensions of the extend the walls beneath, or a hole in the ground.

succah 3

small houses and succahs made of small spaces

succah 2

how high is too high to look up with you are a queen?

max height of a succah is 20 cubits, as any higher and the roof is too high to be noticable. discussed is the succah of Queen Helen, whose succah was taller than this.

Thursday, 6 February 2014

bye meschet yoma

a 'happy finish' to Mesechat Yoma....?

Yoma, this part of the talmud that deals with the temple service of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. one of the more serious moments in the calendar. And, for the High Priest, one of the busiest. More offerings than usual, that all require his involvement. And all the vessels, garments, animals, etc that need to be in the right place, at the right time, unblemished and pure so that they can be used, in the right order, at the right part of the temple.

and part of that etc is the High Priest's wife. She is an essential part of the proceedings. sort of. The opening page of Yoma states that the High Priest must always be married, and not single, when he makes the confession for his "house" (house = wife). The situation of the wife suddenly dying on Yom Kippur, leaving the High Priest a widower and single, without a house, is discussed. The solution - have substitute wife ready in waiting. Much like there is a substitute High Priest, should anything happen to him on the big day.

Yoma ends with the rabbis discussing seeing semen on Yom Kippur - if that is a good or bad omen. (it's a good thing) A sign that all your sins have been forgiven! If you survive the year, then means guaranteed place in the World to Come! (no sniggering) A sign that you will have a long life! Hurrah! Whilst part of me understands that Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is about providing a structure to atone, to make amends when things go wrong. Slip ups, errors, mistakes, accidents happen. And here is a structure where that can be ritually acknowledged and repaired. And so a potential embarrassing, shameful accident - a man ejaculates on this day where sex is not permitted, the rabbis are turning it around and reassuringly say - it's ok.....

....sigh.... it's not ok.

Yoma begins with the woman being like a temple vessel. necessary, but an object. It is not that High Priest should be in an intimate relationship with another before performing these rites to come close to God. But he needs a house. any house. (it is debated that should his wife actually die, is he allowed to mourn her... ) Questions not asked are: what is the status of the substitute wife after Yom Kippur should wife no1 not die. Although what happens to the substitute High Priest after Yom Kippur is discussed in this mesechet. a lot. What happened to the women? and what did the women feel about the situation - if they felt shame, or rivalry, the way the High Priest and his deputy are described as feeling - that is also not discussed.

and Yoma ends with men talking about their bodies, a fascination with the white sticky stuff that comes out of their bodies and glorifying it. Male virility and vitality.

of course I am going to focus on the women. Because I am a woman. and I cannot help but see the world through the eyes that are in this woman's body. This is not a gender neutral world, but in my interactions, my identity as female is out there. it is no secret. It shapes how people see me, treat me, expect of me, and how I see and treat them. it is impossible to truly escape from this gendered perspective. And looking back at the last page of Yoma, the rabbis in the talmud certainly didn't. They are having a male conversation about a man's world. They are limited by their biology just as much as women. They see the world with eyes in a masculine body.

yes, I am having a bad week and this ending of Yoma didn't help. it wasn't a happy finish for me. There is just too much nonsense floating around at the moment about seeing women's participation in Torah life as threatening. Mesechet Yoma has left me wondering why we are trying to engage with a conversation that very clearly we are not meant to be part of......

and my scanner/printer is broken and so these last 29 drawings were uploaded late. Many apologies to those who are trying to follow this blog.

So goodbye and good riddance to you Mesechet Yoma. I am not going to be learning you again in a hurry. And I am dreading other sections of the Talmud that might be worse.... I may be ranty, deeply ambivalent about this project, and have unreliable technology. But I am not giving up on this daf yomi project yet. I am tenacious....

So, onwards to Mesechet Succah.

yoma 88

seeing semen on Yom Kippur - is this a good or a bad sign?

or just a sign that minds can only see out of the gendered bodies that hold them.

(being a ba'al keri, seeing semen on Yom Kippur, is interpreted positively - forgive all sins! guarantee place in World to Come! - snigger - long life! but this fascination with semen, if it is good or bad, shows how male-centric the life-expereinces described in the Talmud. it's not a newsflash! sudden revelation! that the male experience is the norm. but it is still shocking when you have laid bare just how much the gender of bodies we have determines how we see the world)

yoma 87

standing naked at the exit. as the gate is closing
as naked as you were when you came in

(starts with discussing that judges should be naked in the judgements, and their entrance should be like their exits ie have not picked up any sins during their time as a judge. this page finishes by discussing Neliah - the prayer at the end of Yom Kippur, when the gates are closing)

yoma 86

binding and building God's good name and reputation.
because once broken and desecrated, only death can repair it.

(only death can atone for the sin of desecrating God's name. for R. Yohanan, this would be if he walked 4 cubits without wearing his tefillin. where the letter shin is wrapped on his body.

but for those who don't wrap... are they always desecrating God's name?)

yoma 85

returning the breath of life
the ultimate return

(checking a body for signs of life - either the breath or heartbeat. and death itself is the last thing that will atone for someone's sins, the time when the breath returns....)

yoma 84

revealing secret remedies and uncovering what is buried in the deep

yoma 83

the bark that cannot be heard
the eye that cannot see
and the knowledge of names that cannot warn

(on this page is discussed various remedies, and their effectiveness. Including being bitten by a mad dog  - a sign of the dog's madness is that it barks silently; how to cure a particular illness that causes blindness; and finally a strange tale of R. Meir travelling, who knew how to decipher from names if a person is trustworthy. but does not share his suspicions with his fellow travellers, who end up being robbed by an inn-keeper. who in turn eventually kills his wife when she returned the money)

yoma 82

training the appetites of the young, and the very very young, to not feel hunger and when not to want.

(curbing the cravings of a pregnant woman by telling her it is Yom Kippur. the fetus became R. Yohanan. and when to educate children to fast on Yom Kippur and give them practice at not eating)

yoma 81

food that isn't food
and drink that should never be drunk

- pepper, ginger and brine

yoma 80

can drink up to a cheekful
- but whose cheek? - Og's cheeks?

and for the one who is afflicted by eating, not by not eating
there is no measure

yoma 79

fig settles the mind
egg satisfies the stomach
and olive gives a taste in the mouth

but barley. a teeny tiny grain of barley is enough to contaminate.

yoma 78

fabric and faces
staying beautiful and cool on Yom Kippur

(even though washing is forbidden on Yom Kippur, a bride and and king can wash their faces as they need to maintain their appearance. later in the page is discussed how to use a piece of fabric to keep cool on Yom Kippur)

yoma 77

even angels need to learn when to cross the great divide
and when not to deliver the message

(story of the angel Gabriel who scattered the embers of the people, as a punishment for not rebuking the wicked amongst them. when Gabriel returns that he did it, he is taken out behind the curtain and hit for delivering a bad message. later in the page is discussed when is it permitted, and when is it not permitted, to cross a river on yom kippur)

yoma 76

the flood and the manna
- both covered the earth
and other heavenly messengers
(angel that appeared to Daniel, who suffered by not bathing, eating or drinking)

yoma 75

Manna and quails, the miracle foods
identifies who belongs to whom,
and the righteous from the wicked.

(as manna would appear allotted in family allowances, it made it apparent who was related to whom. paternity and divorce... the manna in the drawing becomes a DNA strand and the form of a quail - that also appeared miraclously)

yoma 74

passive waiting as a form of suffering

(the command to "afflicit one's soul" on Yom Kippur is about not eating, drinking etc. not actively making one suffer. manna is also discussed as miracle food that appeared in the wilderness, also caused hunger and suffering, as it could not be stored overnight. so one would have to just wait and hope that there would be food)

yoma 73

closed mouth

slient lips with talking to the Urim V'Tumim
no eating on Yom Kippur

yoma 72

Torah is a crown for all.
but it isn't good for those who don't deserve it

yoma 71

refreshing the scholars by pouring wine down their throat like pouring wine in the Temple.
to revive the weak feminine bodies of the scholars, until they think their masculine scholarly Torah.
but if their children don't become scholars. then start again, marry the daughter of scholar. through her feminine body, the torah will be returned.

(contradictory statements about women - weak or strong? On the one hand the male scholar is like a weak woman until starts to engage with Torah. And on the other hand, the remedy if one's children are not developing in to Torah scholars is to begin again. this time, marry the daughter of a scholar and have children with her....)

yoma 70

expect the High Priest's mind to be robust enough to recite Torah passages by heart


also make allowances for his frail and delicate physical body

yoma 69

death, pain and the temple

destroying and blinding the ones who seek our destruction
the evil inclination
the Samaritan

(story about a Samaritan who tried to destroy the Temple ends up being dragged and killed. and a story about trying to destroy the evil inclination for idolatry and illicit sexuality. the idolatrous desire took the form of a lion-cub and was killed in lead box. but the sexual desire could only be blinded or else all reproduction would cease)

yoma 68

what to wear when reading
from the scrolls

yoma 67

the unseen things that might be upsetting.

the people shouldn't see the red thread, lest it not turn white
the goat should be pushed backwards off the cliff, and not see the bones of Azazel

(part of the ritual of sending the goat to Azazel was that a red thread was tied on it, and when it turned white, it was a sign that the people's sins had been forgiven)

yoma 66

the man who can only answer questions with answers he already knows, doesn't respect spinning.
the art of taking many strands and forming one clear, distinct thread.

R. Eliezer is asked various questions by students, but instead of answering them straight. or saying "I don't know" - he chooses to answer them in a way that would make them embarressed to be asking such a question in the first place. His behaviour is explained that he only repeated torah that he had been taught by his teachers, not new situations and questions.
He is then asked by a Matronita about the different punishments meted out in the incident of the Golden Calf. R. Eliezer just dismisses her, saying that a woman's wisdom is in her spinning.... 

yoma 65

keep the goat for Azazel alive and well until the one for God is slaughtered.
then it can go to hell..

yoma 64

grazing or burning
how to deal with the lost goat that is found

yoma 63

slaughter at the entrance

this page discusses the offerings sacrificed at the Temple's doorway.

yoma 62

the two identical goats
one for Azazel
one for God

part of the Yom Kippur ritual is the High Priest sending a goat to the wilderness, for Azazel. and an identical goat being offered to God within the Temple.

yoma 61

shaving the head of a bald nazarite

sometimes the symbolic act is all that counts

yoma 60

the to-do list that needs to be done in order,
both inside and outside.
everything has a time and a place