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The Talmud is renowned for pilpul, the sort of hair-splitting dialectic which seeks to clarify a point of Jewish law by taking it to its “logical” conclusion. Every page of the Talmud is rife with examples of this method, and for those of us who learn daily, all I can say is – you get used to it.
Even the Talmud, however, has its limits. Consider this example. In the tractate Bava Batra (23a), the sages declare that a bird found within fifty amot (about 75 feet) of a dovecote is returned, but a bird found more than that distance is declared ownerless and, therefore, free for the taking. At this point in the discussion, Rabbi Yeremiah asks – what about a bird with one foot within fifty amot of the dovecote, and the other foot more than fifty amot from the dovecote. The other sages were unamused by this question, and promptly removed Rabbi Yeremiah from the academy! Presumably, some questions were deemed pointless, even from scholars who spent their days pondering legal minutiae.
In this week’s Torah portion, Korach, the leadership of Moses is challenged. Korach in the rabbinic imagination is a scholar. In fact, Korach is depicted as asking questions that, as Tevye would say, could cross a rabbi’s eyes. But the sages recognized that these were pointless questions, very much in the spirit of Rabbi Yeremiah. Consider the following passage, found in Bamidbar Rabbah 18:3:
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Korach quickly said to Moses, “In the case of a prayer shawl (tallit) which is all blue, what is the rule about it being exempt from [having] the thread of blue on the corners?” Moses said to him, “[Such a prayer shawl] is required to have the threads of blue on the corners.” Korach said to him, “Would not a prayer shawl which is all blue exempt itself, when four [blue] threads exempt it?” In the case of a house which is full of [scriptural] books, what is the rule about it being exempt from [having] the mezuzah (which contains only two passages of scripture)?” [Moses] said to him, “[Such a house] is required to have the mezuzah.” [Korach] said to him, “Since the whole Torah has two hundred and seventy-five parashiot in it and they do not exempt the house [from having the mezuzah], would the two passages which are in the mezuzah exempt the house?” “The two passages in the mezuzah would exempt the house.”
In other words, one needs to have in mind the proper religious intention in asking questions. People who use their intellect to prove they’re the smartest people in the room – whether in the Torah or the Talmud – have a tendency to find themselves thrown out of that room.
- Rabbi Scott Hoffman
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