Blog: Science in the Talmud

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• Talmudology Bonus: The Most Common Words in the Talmud — Talmudology

  Some 62 days ago we began a new cycle of learning with the opening of the very first tractate of the Talmud, called Berachot . At that time we discussed how many words there are in the Babylonian Ta...

• Other Topics — Talmudology

  I am the Very Model of a Modern Major General, from The Pirates of Penzance. Watch here.

• Arachin 4b ~ The Tumtum, the Androgyne, and the Fluidity of Gender — Talmudology

  ערכין ד,ב זכר - ולא טומטום ואנדרוגינוס “A male” - and not a tumtum or androgyne. In addition to male and female, the Talmud describes two other gender categories: tumtum and androgynous. The ...

• Bava Basra 126b ~ The Healing Power of Saliva — Talmudology

  In a chapter that deals with the rules of inheritance, there is this interesting aside: בבא בתרא קכו, ב  ההוא דאתא לקמיה דרבי חנינא אמר ליה מוחזקני בזה שהוא בכור אמר ליה מנא ידעת אמר ליה דכי הוו אתו...

• Shabbat 156 ~ Talmudic Astrology — Talmudology

  Astrology is mentioned in many pages of the Talmud, but today we study one of the most important of them. The Talmud does not question whether astrology works, for it assumes that it does. Rather,...

• Chagigah 3b ~ Werewolves, Lycanthropy, and Mental Illness — Talmudology

  In this post: The Three Signs of Mental Illness What is Gandrifus? Koren vs Artscroll (and Jastrow) The Parallel Discussion in the Yerushalmi: “Man-dog” Lycanthropy in the Ancient World ...