{"id":255,"date":"2016-11-06T23:51:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-06T23:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/sons-of-r-gamliel"},"modified":"2019-08-09T23:34:00","modified_gmt":"2019-08-09T23:34:00","slug":"sons-of-r-gamliel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2016\/11\/06\/sons-of-r-gamliel\/","title":{"rendered":"Sons of R’ Gamliel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following have coalesced in my mind: The first module<\/a> of the Mishna<\/em>; the study of Mishna<\/em> vs Torah<\/a><\/em>; the temporal track-marks<\/a> of Judaism. First I’ll introduce these, and then unpack them as a<\/a> whole.<\/p>\n

First<\/h2>\n

The first Mishna<\/em> teaches the times for the recitation of Shema<\/em> in the evening[I]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Torah<\/em> (i.e. as we have it) was created alongside and in parallel to the world, whereas the Mishna (i.e. as we have it) is an echo of Moses’s divine capacity for comprehension.<\/p>\n

The history of Judaism since the second, not yet finished exile, is stratified into e<\/a>pochs<\/a> of greatness, and weaves a tapestry of pragmatics, interactions with the surroundings, and rabbinic ruling<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Before continuing let me anchor these three pri<\/a>nciples: The Torah<\/em> is true; the Mishna<\/a> <\/em>is true; the\u00a0chachamim<\/em> are true. Given these three, I make the following subservient: Divine truths are given to each and every person, and it is the opportunity<\/a> of each individual to seek meaning (i.e. that aligns with the first three principles).<\/p>\n

Then<\/h2>\n

The Mishna<\/em> starts with a question, this alone reminds us of the Jewish tradition<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It is concerned with a temporal aspect; it is concerned with the chapters within that dimension; with the engagements across those chapters; with a central<\/a> edifice of Jewish engagement; with the context of the evening portion of the dimension. It answers with three opinions; it uses various modes of defining points in time; the final opinion unfolds into a narrative with peculiar details; unfolding to purview laws of sacrifice; unfolding to teach about understanding the past.<\/p>\n

How should one read Mishna<\/em>? Most practically, i.e. to understand the best way to be. But it is also viable to learn the sources of these recommendations. But it is also viable to see the genius of its editing the memory of\u00a0the spark; the spark that is unwritable<\/a> (to\u00a0prevent its decay and amnesia).<\/p>\n

[This is one particular understanding of what is carried within the concentrate of the first Mishna<\/em>. It is not the primary lesson. It is very likely inaccurate by errors of confabulation.]\n

The\u00a0Mishna<\/em> is an effort to preserve some of the “wisdom” that accompanied the physical reception of the Torah. Thus it begins with an ethos of intergenerational transmission. It asks, “As we move forward in history, with each and every moment of our lives caught within the net of past-into-future, how should we safeguard the core of our engagement?”<\/p>\n

The transmission of this engagement is a dialectic. On one side – a pol<\/a>e of the unargued, on the other – the division of opinions. And moreso; that pole of division further divides between one generation and the next.<\/p>\n

Thus the Mishna<\/em> teaches: Go forward in history, never abandon the laws of your ancestors, interpret for each generation in such a way that is most complementary to the wisdom of your ancestors; interpret for each generation in light of their needs.<\/p>\n

Ellipsis<\/h2>\n

I hope (in the future) to explain my reading in word-by-word detail. But first I want to renew the intentions with which I set this out.<\/p>\n

The first Mishna<\/em> asks about how to practise the most defining Jewish action: announcing the singularity of a people and their belief in the words of the Shema<\/em>. But in doing so, it reminds us about the conflicts between our understanding of how to best be Jewish. And in doing so, it illustrates a navigation between these straits.<\/p>\n

The Mishna<\/em> can epitomize the Jewish tradition. And the first Mishna<\/em> can help us understand our own place within that tradition.<\/p>\n

Know what is undeniable, assume wisdom in the past, express your own unique and thus invaluable perspective.
\n

<\/div>\n[I]<\/sup><\/a> Mishna Brachot 1-1: “From what time may one recite the Shema in the evening? From the time that the priests enter [their houses] in order to eat their terumah until the end of the first watch, the words of Rabbi Eliezer. The sages say: until midnight. Rabban Gamaliel says: until dawn. Once it happened that his sons came home [late] from a wedding feast and they said to him: we have not yet recited the [evening] Shema. He said to them: if it is not yet dawn you are still obligated to recite. And not in respect to this alone did they so decide, but wherever the sages say \u201cuntil midnight,\u201d the mitzvah may be performed until dawn. The burning of the fat and the pieces may be performed till dawn. Similarly, all [the offerings] that are to be eaten within one day may be eaten till dawn. Why then did the sages say \u201cuntil midnight\u201d? In order to keep a man far from transgression.”<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following have coalesced in my mind: The first module of the Mishna; the study of Mishna vs Torah; the temporal track-marks of Judaism. First I’ll introduce these, and then unpack them as a whole. First The first Mishna teaches the times for the recitation of Shema in the evening[I]. The Torah (i.e. as we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[98,159,90,167,168],"tags":[],"metadata":[171],"class_list":["post-255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-bashful-hope","category-all-posts","category-blog-posts","category-judaism","category-torah-commentary","metadata-editors-footnotes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":566,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2016\/11\/09\/deconstructing-mishna1\/","url_meta":{"origin":255,"position":0},"title":"Deconstructing Mishna#1","author":"Pala","date":"November 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This is an expression of how I've been thinking about the first Mishna. 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The terrible voyage had not yet hinted the breadth of its passages, nor depths,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1474,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2017\/03\/16\/tetzaveh\/","url_meta":{"origin":255,"position":2},"title":"Tetzaveh","author":"Pala","date":"March 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"{Part 1 - 7\/3\/2017} Plan: Some ways of seeing Haazinu Segue into phenomenological vectorized matrix metaphor for Torah Segue into Moshe Midrash re negotiation after golden caf Segue into \"ve'atah\" analytic inverse of Moshe Segue into \"tezaveh\" Via linking Teruma \"vayikchu\" side-track otiyot to add depth to \"tetzaveh\" by \"ve'ata\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Posts"","block_context":{"text":"All Posts","link":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/all-posts\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/kisspng-black-and-white-monochrome-grey-divider-5ab8b367372326.6136383115220539912259-300x15.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1263,"url":"https:\/\/thetravellerslastjourney.com\/shai\/2017\/01\/18\/a-prolegomena-to-a-prolegomena-to-a-study\/","url_meta":{"origin":255,"position":3},"title":"A Prolegomena to a Prolegomena to a Study","author":"Pala","date":"January 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"{24\/10\/2016} Even approaching the approaching of this thing requires consideration. {24\/10\/2016} The goal is a proper study. 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