Hello Everyone,
Until now we have studied passages from the Gemarah which dealt with Halachic issues. These passages are discussions which revolve around points of logic which are actually easy to follow once one understands the vocabulary and syntax of the Gemarah. And this is actually the point of this series of sessions; to teach the vocabulary and syntax of the Gemarah.
Today we will study a different sort of passage from the Gemarah. We will study one of the Gemarah’s stories about the giving of the Torah (since this week is Shavuot I thought that this would be appropriate). The stories that the Gemarah tells are just so strikingly different from the Halachic passages of the Gemarah that it is seems impossible that they appear in the same text and are taught by the same scholars. But they are there and they challenge us. The stories are there, but what are they are teaching us?
So today we will read one short story and the interpretation given by the great Rav Kook zt”l in his commentary titled עין איה.
I hope that I will do justice בעזרת השם both to the Gemarah and to Rav Kook.