Posted January 6, 2008, by Rabbi Judy Abrams. Please refer to Maqom's home page for information about previous passages.
Dear Friends,
The Yerushalmi, the Talmud produced in the Land of Israel, is
something like the ugly sister who never gets any attention when
compared with the Bavli, the Talmud of Babylonia. So this new
year, we'll attempt to address that wrong. The Yerushalmi has
glories to rival the Bavli's…so let's get started! (She ends
up being quite as pretty as her sister!)
We'll begin with something that just about every Jew owns: a Kiddush
cup. Whether you got it when you were 13 or when you were getting
married or you collect them, the Yerushalmi has this to say about
it:
The earlier sages asked: Can the left hand help the right hand hold the Kiddush cup when we are saying the blessing? We learn from this question three things:
You must hold the cup in your right hand.
You must hold your hand up at least a handbreadth above the table.
You must pay attention to the cup while saying the blessing it (i.e., you don't set it down to check the oven, for instance).
Said Rav Aha: Three things were said concerning the Kiddush cup:
It must be full.
It must be decorated.
It must be clean. (Y. Berachot 7:5)
Discussion Questions:
First some words on the Yerushalmi. There
are two versions: the Venice edition which has all the tractates
in one volume and the P'nei Moshe edition in 7 volumes. The latter
looks more like a page of Bavli. However, always, in the Yerushalmi,
a mishnah is called a halachah, so if you're looking into the
actual text itself, don't let that trip you up.
The only complete translation of the Yerushalmi into English is
edited by Jacob Neusner, entitled, The Talmud of the Land of Israel,
in 35 volumes from University of Chicago Press. You can buy individual
volumes, so you can go for the tractates which most interest you.
Finally, the Yerushalmi has Talmud on Mishnah tractates that the
Bavli does not…so we're in for a fun ride!
Now, to the questions:
Enjoy!