Off the Daf and Into Israel

Sky of Blue Sotah 17 R. Meir used to say: Why is blue specified from all the varieties of colours? Because blue resembles [the colour of] the sea, and the sea resembles [the colour of] heaven, and heaven resembles [the colour of] the Throne of Glory, as it is said: And they saw the God of Israel and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness, 28   and it is written: The likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone. 29 This famous saying explains why the color techelet, a beautiful shade of blue, was chosen for one fringe of the tzitzit . The rediscovery of how to make the techelet dye is a fascinating story and for that take a look at http://tekhelet.com// But the techelet color has also been an inspiration in Jewish art and in Jewish homes, particularly in the mystical city of Tzfat. So here, courtesy of Google images, are some memorable Tzfat techelet scenes. 

Land of (Wheat) and Barley Sotah 14 After explaining how a Sotah offering is different from other offerings, the Mishnah brings a statement by Rabban Gamliel. He explains that the offering is made of barley because barley is animal food. . Continuing the train of thought of the last chapter, that God acts with you in a reciprocal manner, he explains that the Sotah acted in a manner befitting animals so she brings animal food as an offering. Let’s talk about barley, שעורה . It is one of the seven species that the land of Israel is blessed with, along with wheat, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives and dates. It is brought as the Omer offering on the second day of Pesach. And it is definitely a staple crop. So why the second-rate status? Barley was always an important crop. It ripens earlier than wheat (see the plague of hail in Egypt, which ruined the barley crop but not the wheat which was not ready yet Shmot 10:31-32) and has many nutrients. But it also contain

Masekhet Sotah Parshandata I have always loved Rashi. I started learning Rashi with Chumash in grade school and studied about Rashi in the context of medieval Europe and the Crusades in college.  I even wrote a paper on him for graduate school. Now that I am learning the daf, my appreciation for Rashi has grown even greater as he is the ultimate guide to the complexities of the Talmud. I seem to recall a saying that God gave you two hands so that one could hold the place in the text and the other could hold the place in Rashi, since you needed to be looking at them simultaneously. Simply put, Rashi is the king, or, as one of his nicknames puts it, “Parshandata, “ THE parshan (commentator), a play on a name in the Megillah. So I have been less than happy having only “pseudo- Rashi” for masekhtot Nedarim and Nazir. While the insights of this mysterious commentator are often helpful, they do not provide the level of explanation and hand-holding that Rashi does. So in honor of R