A Very Different Daily Daf “The Daf”

Welcome to the Nintieth episode of Daily Daf Differently. In this episode, Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky takes a very different take then usual.

Today we’ll talk not about a specific page of the Talmud but about the shape of the Talmudic page and how it came to look this way. After beginning in oral transmission and then to transmission in manuscript, the Talmud began to be printed in the late 15th century, first in Spain and then Italy. The Soncino family gave us the distinctive format with the Gemara text in the center of the page, with Rashi’s 11th century commentary on the inner margin, explaining the flow of the Talmud’s argumentation and that of the Tosafot (“additions”) on the outer margin, carrying forward the texts dialectics with further sharp questions and answers. Over the years, further study aids were added to the margins, helping us students find relevant Bible verses and parallel Talmudic passages.

If you’d like to see images of Talmudic manuscripts, please check out this website, from the Hebrew University.

To see a folio of Bomberg Talmud, 1520, click here

For a folio of the Soncino Talmud, 1483, click here

To check out the familiar page of the Romm “Shas Vilna”, click here.

The opening and closing music for this podcast is Ufros from The Epichorus album One Bead.

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Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky

Jeremy Kalmanofsky has served as rabbi at Ansche Chesed since 2001. He loves working at this synagogue because our community embodies the best of committed Jewish life: study that stretches the mind, ritual that moves the heart, and acts of caring that improve the world. You will find him engaged in each of these areas of Jewish life at Ansche Chesed.He particularly enjoys opportunities to talk with our members about their own spiritual journeys. “My favorite line of classical prayer is P’tach Libi, open my heart,” he says. “That is what religion is meant for: opening up your heart to life.” He is grateful for the opportunities to share the special moments of your lives, whether joyous or sad.Rabbi Kalmanofsky is a diligent student, especially in the traditions of Jewish thought and mysticism, and engaged daily with Talmud.He was ordained in 1997 by the Jewish Theological Seminary, where he was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. He also studied Torah at Machon Pardes in Jerusalem, and earned a B.A. at Cornell University. He and Dr. Amy Kalmanofsky have four children: Yedidya, Hadas, Isaiah and Odelya.

Latest posts by Rabbi Jeremy Kalmanofsky (see all)

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