Yalta – The Third Rib: Redaction and Meaning in Bavli Berakhot, Chapter 7
At the end of the seventh chapter of Bavli Berakhot there is a story about Yalta, a woman who acts aggressively against Rav Naḥman and ‘Ulla, who refuse to share the Cup of Blessing with her. The story has been the subject of many analyses, but none has offered a reading in light of the complete cha...
| Published in: | Hebrew Union College annual |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
HUC
2021
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| In: |
Hebrew Union College annual
|
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Talmûd bavlî. Berakhot 7
/ Talmud
/ Quarreling
B Mishnah. Berakhot |
| RelBib Classification: | BH Judaism |
| Further subjects: | B
Rav Nahman
|
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | At the end of the seventh chapter of Bavli Berakhot there is a story about Yalta, a woman who acts aggressively against Rav Naḥman and ‘Ulla, who refuse to share the Cup of Blessing with her. The story has been the subject of many analyses, but none has offered a reading in light of the complete chapter. This article suggests a reading of the story in light of the halakhic deliberations, the stories, and the derashot that appear in the chapter, with an emphasis on identifying the recurring motifs and on the temporal aspect of the act of reading. The article's conclusion is that although the chapter does not offer a halakhic deliberation on the mishnah's ruling that women do not join in the quorum (of three) for the formal invitation (זימון) to join in the Grace after Meals, it does deal intensively with the status of women in its non-halakhic sections and it offers a more complex picture than that which emerges from the halakhic passages alone. The story of Yalta brings the tension between the various attitudes toward women to a crescendo: ‘Ulla presents the chapter's most offensive stance toward women, and Yalta struggles against him with full force, demonstrating an independent outlook. The editors have granted her the last word in the story, and almost the last word in the entire chapter, thereby making it clear toward which side their own opinion leaned. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College annual
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.15650/hebruniocollannu.91.2020.0001 |