Identifying as a Jew
7 min read
A dynamic new website is bringing the ancient wisdom of the Talmud to Jews from all backgrounds. Buckle up.
The Bible and the Talmud are the twin axis around which Judaism revolves. But while the Bible is the bestselling book of all time, the Talmud, the repository of 2,000 years of the wisdom of Jewish sages, is a buried treasure. In it are gems about:
Some contemporary Jews dismiss the Talmud as an archaic compendium of the minutiae of Jewish law. While tens of thousands of Jews worldwide study a page of Talmud daily in the 7½-year program called, “Daf Yomi,” for the other 98% the Talmud is inaccessible, a dark, labyrinthine forest with no trail guide.
Animal Kingdom and other worlds yet discovered
Enter Rabbi Gedaliah Gurfein, an innovative genius who has created a hi-tech guide to navigate the Talmud that illuminates the vast terrain and reveals a veritable wonderland of wisdom, practical advice, and mind-bending ideas.
The People's Talmud offers a data base of 8,500 original entries. The purpose, as he puts it, is “to help people who are unable to access the information contained in the Talmud, the ‘raw data,’ gain a meaningful understanding of the Talmud's pertinent relevance to their life.”
The Talmud, called “the Oral Torah,” was written down in the 4th and 5th centuries in order to preserve the oral teachings of the sages of Israel (and later Babylonia) dating back thousands of years to the origins of the Jewish People. The Babylonia Talmud comprises 2711 doubled-sided folios. The Jerusalem Talmud, recording exclusively the teachings of the sages of the land of Israel, comprises about 1554 folios. Each page has the original text surrounded by the classical commentaries of Rashi (11th century) and the Tosofos of the next two generations. The Talmud is meant not to be read, but to be studied, requiring prerequisite learning skills that are not easy to attain.
How then is the non-scholar able to access the Talmud? Rather than an English translation, The People’s Talmud website offers the non-legal content of the Talmud in a colloquial English rendering according to 3,500 subject-based links. For instance, there are dozens of entries for each of these topics: substance abuse, fighting poverty, dream interpretation, eating and drinking habits, work ethic, dealing with evil people, and tons more.
For example, under “Education: Teachers,” one finds:
The Importance of a Smiling Teacher:
The Talmud says that God showed Moses a "friendly" face to teach that a teacher must always show his student a friendly face. This sets the environment for positive education. The Talmud adds that learning Torah each day should be as dear to a person as the day it was given at Mt. Sinai. When a student loves his school, his teacher and his peers, he or she will wake up each morning filled with excitement and joy about going to school. The power of collective learning in a school is the key to a good education. This is why the Talmud points out that Torah is only acquired through group learning.
In a loving school environment, a good student will not fear embarrassing himself by asking questions. A child raised in this kind of atmosphere will grow up loving his Torah study so much that he will be able to turn his studies into what the Talmud calls "butter and cream.”
Faith - More than just believing
Those who would like to see the source text in the Talmud for this idea need merely click on the button, “Show Me.” The original Hebrew/Aramaic with an English translation by Sefaria appears. A “share” button enables one to send the page by email, Facebook, WhatsApp and the “Seriously?” button connects one to online tutors.
Business is a perennial Jewish endeavor. The Talmud’s “Business Advice” is relevant today:
Laziness can stem from depression or our failure to appreciate our own self-worth. Often this is because others have not validated us. It can also result from a lack of purpose, or from spiritual occlusion when the mind’s eye is blind to the reality that we do not live forever. There is no greater lie than “I have all the time in the world”. Time is a more valuable commodity than money which comes and goes while time only goes. Understanding this can become one of the greatest motivators.
As well, self-worth is exactly that, it is the worth one’s own self gives to himself regardless of outside recognition. The incredible gift of our lives means our personal value and uniqueness is viewed as an imperative of Creation. Our abilities and creativity have been entrusted to us that we can pay back into this world. As Rashi says, whatever we do, whether it is our profession or skill, we should strive to excel and be the best we can be. This attitude is based upon seeing our innate greatness as both a responsibility and as a gift from God.
The Talmud both titillates and surprises. Who would have thought that there’s jealousy in Heaven? But under “Life after Death: What’s Happening in Heaven,” we read:
The Talmud says that even though everyone gets a portion in Heaven according to their merit, there is still jealousy in Heaven. Of course, it is hard to understand how there could be jealousy in the world of truth, especially since everybody knows that he got what he deserved. Heavenly jealousy is different than earthly jealousy. In Heaven the feeling of jealousy is pitting a person against himself. When he sees that another person's merits brought him greatness greater than his he realizes he too could have merited the same greatness if he had only made the appropriate effort while he was still alive. Instead, he squandered his opportunity and what he now has is forever.
With the tone of TikTok and the upbeat mood of Instagram, The People’s Talmud introduces the ancient wisdom of the Talmud to Millennials and Generation Z. Quite a maneuver!
End of Days or End of Daze
Rabbi Gurfein spent 30 years building The People’s Talmud. His editors and proofreaders, ranging from 16 to 90-years-old, have all been volunteers. The website, in its first year, has drawn tens of thousands of visits, from more than two dozen countries, including Nigeria and China. Membership is free.
An engaging feature of the site is the avant-guard graphics. Among Rabbi Gurfein’s many areas of expertise is animation. He mentors students at Jerusalem’s Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. To illustrate the various categories, he enlisted the help of his top student, who had no background in religious studies, in order to create the most original artwork and animations.
Another tantalizing feature is the Content Providers. At the bottom of some of the pages a TV set, radio, microphone, or PDF appears, offering a recording of a teacher speaking (or singing) on a topic related to that page. Content Providers range from the venerable Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz to the mystical Sarah Yehudit Schneider, from scientific expositions by physicist Gerald Schroeder to music by Chaim David, from motivational speaker Gedale Fenster to dating coach Aleeza Ben Shalom. Viewers can opt who they want to learn from, or sample from nearly 40 different teachers, a veritable supermarket of contemporary take-offs on the Talmud’s timeless wisdom.
Whether you’re interested in marriage advice or business advice, in physical science or metaphysics, The People’s Talmud opens a Talmudic wonderland for you to explore. Surprises guaranteed.
