Talmud Bavli Hullin 85a-b - translation by Tzvee

[85a] Rather [the case must be] where there is a doubt whether [the person who blows the shofar] is a man of a woman. And R. Yose is consistent with his view elsewhere. For he said that a person who is certainly a woman also may sound the shofar. [Accordingly there is not question about this case of doubt while the question remains about the law in a case of doubt for a koy.]

L.            For it was taught on Tannaite authority: The sons of Israel may lay their hands [on the sacrifice]. But the daughters of Israel may not lay their hands. [The verse is: “He shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” (Lev. 1:4).] R. Yose and R. Simeon say, “Women are permitted to lay their hands [on the sacrifice].” [And for Yose the principle may be extended to instruct us that women may sound the shofar.]

Golan v. Holder, Copyright and the Soncino Talmud

Golan v. Holder is now before the Supreme Court and will be heard in October. It addresses the following issues:

Section 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994 granted copyright protection to millions of works that the Copyright Act had placed in the public domain of the United States, where they had remained for years as the common property of all Americans and free to use without restriction. The questions presented here are:
1. Does the Copyright Clause of the United States Constitution prohibit Congress from taking works out of the public domain?
2. Does Section 514 violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution?

There are two sides to this case in our Talmudic view. Copyright must be enforced for commerce in published works to be carried out in any meaningful manner. However a major concern of this case is those works that were in the public domain by virtue of legalities pre-1994, which now would be wrested from the public domain by the URAA 1994.

That universe of publications does not include the Soncino translation of the Talmud, published  between 1935 and 1948 in London. That set has long been in the public domain due to the gracious wishes of the publisher and authors to make their work universally available as  resource for the Jewish people. No matter what the decision in Golan v. Holder, the public domain status of the Soncino Talmud will not change.

We believe the Supreme Court's logic for interpreting the law of public domain publications will be as follows. What was in the PD before 1994 should remain there. Going forward from 1994, the URAA may govern copyright for publications issued after that date. But how it will govern the materials after 1994 in the PD, that is another more complex question.

The Center for Internet and Society (CIS) at Stanford Law School has several postings on this matter.

Koren Sacks Rosh Hashanah Machzor: 1000 beautiful pages for $22

No doubt the new Koren Sacks Rosh Hashanah Machzor is a deal for us Jews in the pews - 1000 beautiful pages for $22.

The typesetting by Koren Israel is immaculate. No printer we know of surpasses the aesthetics of the Koren Hebrew prayerbooks.

The theology of Rabbi Sacks is without peer. No interpreter we know of surpasses his ability to portray the graces and meanings of Jewish religious ideas.

Yet, we have two issues with the new book.

Talmud Bavli Hullin 84a-b - translation by Tzvee

[84a] But why not let him redeem it and then cover the blood [since the act of slaughter would then be valid]? [You cannot do this because] you need to assess and appraise [the value of the animal by bringing it to a priest before you redeem it]. And in accord with whose view is this? If you say that it is in accord with the view of R. Meir who said that all cases [of Holy Things] fall under the rule of having to be assessed and appraised, lo he said, “An act of slaughter that is improper, is a valid act of slaughter.” [He must cover the blood in any case.]

I.              And if it is in accord with the view of R. Simeon who said [cf. b. 80a], “An act of slaughter that is improper, is not a valid act of slaughter,” lo, he said that all cases do not fall under the rule of having to be assessed and appraised.

Talmud Bavli Hullin 83a-b - translation by Tzvee

As it was taught on Tannaite authority: [The verse says:] “And you shall let none of it remain until the morning, anything that remains until the morning you shall burn” (Exod. 12:10). [83a] “The verse comes to connect a commandment to a prohibition to tell us that they do not incur stripes for violating it [i.e., for letting it remain past the appointed time],” the words of R. Judah. R. Jacob says, “This is not the reason [that they do not incur stripes for violating it]. But it is because [violating] the prohibition [of leaving over the sacrifice] does not require an overt act. And [we have a principle that for violating] any prohibition that does not require an overt act, they do not incur stripes.”

Talmud Bavli Hullin 82a-b - translation by Tzvee

[82a] And said R. Simeon b. Laqish, “R. Simeon used to say that a cow could be redeemed even when it was laying upon the pile of wood [after it was already slaughtered. Therefore the act is valid. Cf. M. Parah 3:9].”

C.            Said R. Shaman bar Abba, said R. Yohanan, “The cow of purification is not supposed to be in our Mishnah.”

II.2

A.            And is the [slaughter of] a heifer whose neck is to be broken [M. 5:3 C] an act of slaughter that is invalid? But lo, it was taught in the Mishnah on Tannaite authority: [If] the murderer was found before the neck of the heifer was broken, it [simply] goes forth and pastures in the herd [M. Sotah 9:7 A]. [If it is then slaughtered, it is valid.]

Is Japanese Ironman Robot Evolta Jewish?

We thought at first that we had evidence that no, Japanese Ironman robot Evolta is not a Jew. News stories report that the 20 inch robot will compete in the Hawaii Ironman in October.

And we know that the Ironman race in Kona Hawaii is going to take place on Yom Kippur this year, October 8. We talmudically concluded that Evolta is probably not a Jew.

Note that Jewish ironman athletes are upset by this timing of the Kona race. But in fact, there are not a lot of (religious) Jews who qualify for the difficult event.

We personally completed one real leg of the ironman event. Last January (2011) when we were in Kona, we swam out into the ocean from the Kona pier and back on the 2.4 mile open water ironman swimming course. We swam with other swimmers who come regularly to work out at the site. We did not try "yet" to complete the other two legs, the 112 mile bike route or the 26 mile marathon run. See the map.

It turns out that Evolta will complete the ironman course over a span of several days in October, but not on Yom Kippur. Accordingly, we cannot use this information to judge whether the robot is Jewish.



Evolta is a cute little fellow. Actually it appears that he is a team of three robots, each one designed for another part of the ironman event, as the picture shows. The Daily Mail explains, citing the inventor:

Of the three bodies, which include one mounted on a tiny bicycle and another in a round hoop with a supporting rear wheel, the 51-cm (20 inch) high swimming robot -- mounted on a curved, fin-like blade with its arms stretched out -- presented special challenges.

'I had to think of the ways to make it waterproof and protect it from rust, as much as possible,' Takahashi said.

We point out that many or most Jews will be in another grueling ironman event on Yom Kippur, October 8, this year. The "pentathlon" of the five synagogue services recited by Jews while fasting in a 24 hour span challenges even the best conditioned spiritual athlete.

Talmud Bavli Hullin 81a-b - translation by Tzvee

R. Zira said, “Leave out [of our discussion] the prohibition of [offering a sacrifice] at the wrong time. For Scripture [81a] has linked that [prohibition] to a positive commandment.” [That puts it into a different category of prohibition.]

F.             What is the basis for this assertion? For Scripture stated, “[When a bull or sheep or goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother]; and from the eighth day on it shall be acceptable [as an offering by fire to the Lord]” (Lev. 22:27). “From the eighth day on” — yes [it is acceptable]. From before this time — no [it is not acceptable]. [That makes this into] a prohibition that derives from a positive commandment, that is deemed itself to be a positive commandment.

Nebraska Regents purchase Jewish book publisher JPS

This makes no sense to us.

The University of Nebraska buys up the Jewish Publication Society?

Why didn't it get bought by Hebrew Union College or the Jewish Theological Seminary or Yeshiva University or the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College or New York University or Harvard or Yale or Penn or Magnes Press of Hebrew University?

A great Jewish book publisher goes under and gets buried in Nebraska? The Cornhuskers? The birthplace of Kool-Aid. Home to the world's largest ball of stamps and Carhenge. Location of the Museum of the Fur Trade?

The Journal Star reports:

The University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved an agreement Friday allowing the NU Press to buy the book inventory of a 123-year-old Jewish publisher in Philadelphia.

The press plans to buy nearly 250 book titles, including the most widely read version of the Jewish Bible, from the Jewish Publication Society. Several regents expressed concern about whether the purchase would be profitable for NU Press and requested future updates.

The $610,000 purchase means the press will publish, market and distribute existing and new books by the Jewish society.

The society's annual revenue is between $1 million and $1.5 million, and it sells more than 50,000 copies of the Bible each year, representing nearly half of its book sales, according to NU Press Director Donna Shear.

But wait, the story on the JPS site is a bit different in its details.

JPS will continue its 120-year-old mission as an independent, not-for-profit publisher of Jewish books of enduring worth, including the Jewish Bible (TANAKH). The Society will concentrate exclusively on content production of such manuscripts....

JPS Director Rabbi Barry Schwartz will continue to acquire new JPS titles, while the University of Nebraska Press will handle production of those titles, including design, editing, typesetting, and printing and sales and marketing. The University of Nebraska Press will also handle warehousing and distribution of the JPS backlist.

So they are collaborating with Nebraska. Oh, now that makes sense.

Talmud Bavli Hullin 79a-b - translation by Tzvee and 80a-b

[79a] And in accord with the view of Hananiah [in L] it is written [both] “it” [masculine pronoun] that implies it is a male. And it is written “its young” [that implies] one [animal] whose young trails after it [i.e., the mother] a female. Therefore the rule applies to both males and females.

S.             Said R. Huna bar Hiyya, said Samuel, “The law follows in accord with the view of Hananiah.” And Samuel is consistent with his view elsewhere. For it was taught in the Mishnah on Tannaite authority: R. Judah says, “All offspring of a [female] horse, even though their sires are asses, are permitted [to mate] with one another... But the offspring of a [female] ass are prohibited [to mate] with the offspring of a [female] horse” [M. Kil. 8:4 C, E].