Why part of the Torah was meant to be transmitted verbally

Hi,

"R' Yehudah haLevi b'R' Shalom said: Moshe requested that mishnah be put in writing as well, but Gd saw that the nations would translate the [written] Torah and read it in Greek and say, "We are Israel, too," and so Gd said, "I will write [only] the majority of My Torah [and so] they will be considered as foreigners." (Hosheia 8:12)"

(Midrash Tanchuma Vayyera 6)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

Greek is special

Hi,

"Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: Even sefarim [Tanach] may only be written in Greek; they checked and found that the Torah can be translated properly only in Greek."

(Talmud Yerushalmi, Megilah 1:9)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The eighth, ninth and tenth of Tevet

Hi,

"On the eighth of Tevet the Torah was written in Greek, in the days of King Ptolemy, and darkness came to the world for three days. Our sages did not say what happened on the ninth, but on that day Ezra and Nechemiah died. On the tenth, the king of Babylon neared Jerusalem to destroy her."

(Baal Halachot Gedolot #18)

Have an easy and meaningful fast,
Mordechai

Magic tricks in the Talmud

Hi,

"Rav said to R' Chiyya: I saw a Bedouin take a sword and slash his camel, and then he knocked on a table and the camel arose! R' Chiyya responded: Afterward, were blood and feces around? Rather, he simply grabbed your eyes."

(Talmud, Sanhedrin 67b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Egyptian magicians of the Bible

Hi,

"[The Egyptian magicians] They performed incantations, appearing to act but not acting, like the story of an Arab merchant who struck his camel, and then it rose… and many stories like these appear in the Talmud, as the sages recorded them from their times. The deeds of the chartumim of Egypt were all deceptions of the eyes."

(Midrash, Psikta Zutrita Shemot 22)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The gravity of the false oath

Hi,

"For all of the Torah's transgressions, the punishment of one who is meritorious may be forestalled for two or three generations. For this sin [of swearing falsely], though, he is punished immediately, as it is written (Zecharyah 5:4)… 'I have brought her out' immediately. 'And she will come to the house of the thief' – This refers to one who fools people, who has no financial claim on others but who lodges the claim and forces the other to swear. 'And to the house of the one who swears in My Name falsely' – This is as it sounds. 'And she will rest in his house and destroy it, its wood and its stones' – You see that a false oath can destroy that which fire and water cannot destroy."

(Talmud, Shevuot 39a)

Have a great day,
Mordechai

The Joy of Tefillin

Hi,

"Abbaye was sitting before Rabbah, who saw that he was very happy. He said, "Is it not written, 'Rejoice in trembling!'" Abbaye replied: I am wearing tefillin.

"R' Yirmiyah was sitting before R' Zeira, who saw that he was very happy. He said, "Is it not written, 'In all sadness there is advantage!' R' Yirmiyah replied: I am wearing tefillin."

(Talmud, Berachot 30b)

Have a great day,
Mordechai