The Talmud begins appropriately enough with a question: “From what time do we say the [prayer] shema?” The answer: “From the time the priests enter to eat the terumah,” or offering. Okay . . . but when do the priests eat the terumah? That depends on whom you ask. Rabbi Eliezer says one thing, the wise men another. Rabban Gamliel holds a different opinion, too.
The Talmud’s first few lines set the stage for the next 2,711 pages, front and back, of questions on top of questions, allegories on top of allegories, and interpretations on top of interpretations. The Talmud does not provide simple answers. It requires devoted students, who can offer countless hours for pouring into the intricacies of the text.
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