Science in the Talmud

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בבא בתרא – Bava Basra (20)

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Talmudology on the Parsha

Other Topics (25)

Essays and Lectures

The Eleventh Plague Book Talk at the Library of Congress

Talmudology on Seforimchatter

Can Elephants Jump?

The Shvarzter Chassanah

Overnight Eggs and the Evolution of Humrah

Influenza at the National Archives, Washington DC

Influenza- Book Discussion

Vaccines, Hysteria and Rabbinic Responsibility

The Great American Eclipse of 2017

Talmudology on NPR

Lecture at the Library of Congress

Can Judaism and Science Coexist?

Review of the Koren Talmud

The Transit of Venus

David Friesenhausen’s Zemirah for the Solar System

Translation of Friesnehausen's zemirah

Reuven Landa & Copernican thought in 19th century Europe

Books

The Eleventh Plague

New Heavens and a New Earth

Talmudology

Science in the Talmud

Topics by Tractate (389)

בבא בתרא – Bava Basra (20)

בבא קמא – Bava Kamma (16)

בבא מציעא — Bava Metzia (7)

ביצא – Beitzah (2)

ברכות - Berachot (22)

בכורות - Bechorot (11)

גיטין – Gittin (11)

הוריות – Horayot (1)

זבחים – Zevachim (9)

חגיגה - Chagigah (6)

חולין – Chullin (16)

יומא – Yoma (18)

יבמות Yevamot (20)

כריתות – Keritot (3)

כתובות – Ketuvot (25)

מדות - Middot (2)

מועד קטן - Mo'ed Katan (4)

מכות- Makkot (3)

מנחות - Menachot (8)

מגילה – Megillah (4)

נדה- Niddah (29)

נדרים-Nedarim (10)

נזיר – Nazir (7)

סנהדרין – Sanhedrin (13)

סוטה – Sotah (10)

סוכה – Sukkah (8)

עבודה זרה – Avodah Zarah (12)

עירובין – Eruvin (10)

ערכין- Arachin (7)

פסחים – Pesachim (16)

קידושין – Kiddushin (9)

ראש השנה - Rosh Hashanah (8)

שקלים – Shekalim (4)

שבת – Shabbat (25)

שבועות - Shavuot (3)

תמיד - Tamid (2)

תמורה – Temurah (2)

תענית - Ta'anit (6)

Talmudology on the Parsha

Other Topics (25)

Essays and Lectures

The Eleventh Plague Book Talk at the Library of Congress

Talmudology on Seforimchatter

Can Elephants Jump?

The Shvarzter Chassanah

Overnight Eggs and the Evolution of Humrah

Influenza at the National Archives, Washington DC

Influenza- Book Discussion

Vaccines, Hysteria and Rabbinic Responsibility

The Great American Eclipse of 2017

Talmudology on NPR

Lecture at the Library of Congress

Can Judaism and Science Coexist?

Review of the Koren Talmud

The Transit of Venus

David Friesenhausen’s Zemirah for the Solar System

Translation of Friesnehausen's zemirah

Reuven Landa & Copernican thought in 19th century Europe

Books

The Eleventh Plague

New Heavens and a New Earth

Pesachim 94b JTS Rab 1623.png

SCIENCE, MEDICINE, AND THE TALMUD

David Friesenhausen

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Nedarim 15, Shavuot 25

Shavuot 25a ~ How Long Can You Go Without Sleep?

Nedarim 15, Shavuot 25

Nedarim 15, Shavuot 25

Shavuot 18

Shavout 18b ~ The Regularity of the Menstrual Cycle

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Shavuot 15

Shavuot 15b ~ The Forgotten Havdalah of Rabbi Akiva

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From The Talmudology Archives:

May 2025
- May 25, 2025 Shavuot 25a ~ How Long Can You Go Without Sleep?
- May 19, 2025 Shavout 18b ~ The Regularity of the Menstrual Cycle
- May 16, 2025 Shavuot 15b ~ The Forgotten Havdalah of Rabbi Akiva
April 2025
- Apr 29, 2025 Makkot 21a ~ Tattoos
- Apr 15, 2025 Makkot 7b ~ A Baby Born After Eight Months
- Apr 10, 2025 Makkot 2 ~ The (In)accuracy of Eyewitness Testimony
- Apr 5, 2025 The 2025 Talmudology Passover Reader
March 2025
- Mar 21, 2025 Sanhedrin 94 ~ For the Increase of the Realm
- Mar 18, 2025 Sanhedrin 91 ~ Spontaneous Generation
- Mar 15, 2025 Sanhedrin 89 ~ Prophecy and Mental Illness
- Mar 13, 2025 The Last Will & Testament of Haman
- Mar 5, 2025 Sanhedrin 78a ~ Where Do Snakes Store Their Venom? (And the Case of Murder by Snake Charmer)
February 2025
- Feb 24, 2025 Sanhedrin 69b ~ The Youngest Mother in the World
- Feb 18, 2025 Sanhedrin 63b ~ The Fireproof Salamander
- Feb 12, 2025 Sanhedrin 56-60 ~ Stoning the Blasphemer, and Blasphemy Laws Today
- Feb 10, 2025 Sanhedrin 55a ~ When a Man (or Woman) Loves an Animal
January 2025
- Jan 31, 2025 Sanhedrin 45 ~ Stoning and the Height of a Lethal Fall
- Jan 29, 2025 We Did It!! World’s Highest Terrestrial Daf Yomi Shiur!
- Jan 28, 2025 Summit Day Special! ~ How High is Jerusalem?
- Jan 1, 2025 Sanhedrin 15b ~ Where the Wild Things Are
December 2024
- Dec 27, 2024 Sanhedrin 11b ~ The Tekufot
- Dec 25, 2024 Channukah, From the Talmudology Archives~ What Have the Maccabees Ever Done for Us?
- Dec 9, 2024 Bava Basra 167a ~ Torture & Coerced Testimony
November 2024
- Nov 27, 2024 Bava Basra 155b ~ Delayed Puberty in Boys
- Nov 14, 2024 Bava Basra 142 ~ Maternal Deaths
- Nov 3, 2024 Help Talmudology Climb Kilimanjaro!
October 2024
- Oct 29, 2024 Bava Basra 126b ~ The Healing Power of Saliva
- Oct 15, 2024 Talmudology for Sukkot~ Take Two Etrogim, and Call Me in the Morning; The Citron as Medicine
- Oct 13, 2024 Bava Basra 110a ~ Uncles and Nephews
- Oct 10, 2024 Yoma 20b ~ From The Talmudology Yom Kippur Archives: Sound Propagation at Night
September 2024
- Sep 30, 2024 Bava Basra 97b ~ Wine and Snake Venom
- Sep 27, 2024 Bava Basra 95 ~ The Smallest Ramanujan Taxicab Number
- Sep 26, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Nitzavim~ I Have a Dream
- Sep 19, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Ki Tavo~ Kri, Ketiv and Hemorrhoids
- Sep 17, 2024 Bava Basra 84a ~ “Why are Sunsets Red?” asked the Rabbi and the Scientist
- Sep 12, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Ki Tetze ~ The Mamzer
- Sep 6, 2024 Bava Basra 74a ~ Where Heaven and Earth Touch
- Sep 5, 2024 Bava Basra 73b ~ The Re'em
- Sep 4, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Shoftim ~ Prophecy and Mental Illness
August 2024
- Aug 29, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Re'eh ~ Gentile Music, Mordechai ben David and Dschinghis Khan
- Aug 22, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Ekev~Holding It In
- Aug 15, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha Va'Etchanan~Jewish Astronomers
- Aug 12, 2024 Talmudology on Tisha B'Av ~ Giving Up
- Aug 8, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha ~ Devarim: Giants, and Giant Beds
- Aug 1, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Massai: The Not So Dead Sea
July 2024
- Jul 31, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Mattot: Books Named for Women
- Jul 29, 2024 Bava Basra 34 ~ Might Makes Right
- Jul 25, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Pinchas: Secrecy, Consequentialism, and Extra-Judicial Killings
- Jul 21, 2024 Bava Basra 27b ~ The Roots of a Palm Tree
- Jul 19, 2024 Bava Basra 24a ~The Chatam Sofer, Rationalism, and Anatomy That Isn't There & Bava Basra 25b ~ The Sun's Orbit Around the Earth
- Jul 18, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Balak: Animal Talk
- Jul 17, 2024 Bava Basra 23b ~ Bizarre Talmudic Scenarios
- Jul 16, 2024 Bava Basra 21a ~ Schools. The Most Important Ruling in the Talmud
- Jul 15, 2024 Bava Basra 20a ~ A Baby Born After Eight Months
- Jul 11, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha: The Fast of Friday, Parshat Chukkat
- Jul 10, 2024 Bava Basra 16b ~ Here Comes the Sun
- Jul 9, 2024 Bava Basra 14a ~The value of Pi in the Talmud
- Jul 7, 2024 Bava Basra 12b ~ Prophecy and Mental Illness
- Jul 4, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Korach: Pittum Haketoret and Plagues
June 2024
- Jun 28, 2024 Bava Basra 3b ~ How to Mellify a Corpse
- Jun 27, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Shelach: How Do You Make Techelet?
- Jun 20, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Beha'alotecha: The Risks & Benefits of Lashon Hara
- Jun 13, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Naso: A Real Nazir
- Jun 11, 2024 Bava Metzia 106b - Kimah, the Pleiades, and the Planting Season in Iraq
- Jun 6, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Bamidbar: The Tachash, and Tutankhamun’s Tomb
May 2024
- May 30, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Behukotai: Where the Wild Things Are
- May 23, 2024 Bava Metzia 85b ~ Rebbi's Many Ailments
- May 22, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Bahar: The Sad, Sad, Sad, Sad, but Inspiring Story of Yisroel of Shklov
- May 16, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Emor ~ The Cohen Gene
- May 9, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Kedoshim: The Drowning of Prince Leopold and Love of The Other
- May 2, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Acharei Mot: Yom Kippur & Sound Propagation at Night
April 2024
- Apr 21, 2024 The 2024 Talmudology Passover Reader
- Apr 19, 2024 Bava Metzia 52b ~ The Not So Dead Sea
- Apr 17, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Metzora ~ The Zov, and Gonorrhea
- Apr 11, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Tazriah: The Baby Born After Seven (or Nine) Months
- Apr 7, 2024 The (Second) Great American Eclipse
- Apr 4, 2024 Bava Metzia 36b ~ Marshes, Miasmas and Bad Air
- Apr 3, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Shmini: ~ How Many Letters are in a Sefer Torah?
March 2024
- Mar 29, 2024 Bava Metzia 30b ~ Visiting the Sick
- Mar 28, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Tzav ~ To the Right. Always to the Right
- Mar 25, 2024 National Jewish Book Award ~ The Eleventh Plague
- Mar 24, 2024 From the Talmudology Purim Archives ~ Gender Fluidity, Male Lactation and Mordechai
- Mar 22, 2024 Bava Metzia 24a ~ Torture
- Mar 21, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Vayikrah: Unicorns
- Mar 17, 2024 New York Lecture: This Tuesday March 19th at Weil Cornell
- Mar 14, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Pekudei: Happy Pi Day
- Mar 7, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Vayakhel: How The Menorah Became the Emblem of The State of Israel
- Mar 1, 2024 Bava Metzia 2a ~ Garments, Game Theory and the Principal of Contested Sums
February 2024
- Feb 29, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Ki Tisah: The Dangers of the Census
- Feb 27, 2024 Maimonides and Medicine - the Movie
- Feb 25, 2024 Bava Kamma 115b ~ Drinking Snake Venom
- Feb 22, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Tetzaveh: Lux et Veritas
- Feb 18, 2024 Join us in NYC - Maimonides and Medicine, Wednesday Feb 21, 6.30p
- Feb 16, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Terumah ~ Kinds of Gold
- Feb 15, 2024 Bava Kamma 105b ~ Teaching By Humiliation
- Feb 14, 2024 Happy Birthday Tomorrow, Galileo
- Feb 8, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Mishpatim: The Rambam, The Ramban, and the Modern Murder of Witches.
- Feb 1, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Yitro: The Fourth Commandment & American Jurisprudence
January 2024
- Jan 31, 2024 Bava Kamma 90a ~ The Prosecution & Punishment of Animals
- Jan 26, 2024 Bava Kamma 85a ~ Is Honey Bad For You?
- Jan 25, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsah, B'shalach: Amalek Forever
- Jan 24, 2024 Tu B'Shavt ~ A New Year for Health
- Jan 23, 2024 Bava Kamma 82a ~ Is Garlic Good for You?
- Jan 22, 2024 Bava Kamma 81a ~ Open Defecation
- Jan 18, 2024 Bava Kamma 77b ~ Pig x Sheep
- Jan 17, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Bo: ~ The Length of the Lunar Month
- Jan 11, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Va'erah: Scientific Explanations of the Plagues
- Jan 4, 2024 Talmudology on the Parsha, Shemot: A History of Jewish Midwives
- Jan 1, 2024 Bava Kamma 60b ~ Quarantine and Social Isolation
December 2023
- Dec 28, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Vayechi: Binyamin the Werewolf
- Dec 27, 2023 Bava Kamma 55a ~ Does a Goose have a Scrotum?
- Dec 22, 2023 Bava Kamma 50 ~ Ten Tefachim to Death
- Dec 21, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Vayigash: Confessions and False Confessions
- Dec 17, 2023 Bava Kamma Bonus ~ What Is An Ox, and Why You Should Not Daven Close To One
- Dec 14, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Miketz: Why Do We Dream?
- Dec 11, 2023 Bava Kamma 39a ~ Injuries from Bullfighting
- Dec 8, 2023 Channukah ~ What Have the Maccabees Ever Done for Us?
- Dec 7, 2023 Bava Kamma 35a ~ Analgesia for Animals
- Dec 6, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Vayeshev: The Strange Story of Theriac
- Dec 4, 2023 Bava Kamma 32a ~ Liability for Intimate Injuries
November 2023
- Nov 30, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Vayishlach: Maternal Mortality
- Nov 29, 2023 Bava Kamma 27 ~ Bizarre Talmudic Scenarios
- Nov 26, 2023 Bava Kamma 24b ~ Dogs, Bites and Liabilities
- Nov 23, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Vayetze: Spotted Goats, Red Heifers, and a History of Maternal Imprinting
- Nov 20, 2023 Bava Kamma 18b ~ Braying Donkeys and Broken Glasses
- Nov 17, 2023 Bava Kamma 15b ~ Where the Wild Things Are
- Nov 16, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Toledot: Esau and Orangutans
- Nov 9, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Chayei Sarah: Camels
- Nov 3, 2023 Kiddushin 82a ~ The Best Doctors Go to Hell. Or to Israel.
- Nov 2, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Vayera: Visiting the Sick
October 2023
- Oct 26, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha: Milah and Credibility Enhancing Displays
- Oct 20, 2023 Kiddushin 69a ~ Nationality, Class and Caste
- Oct 19, 2023 Kiddushin 69 ~ How High is Jerusalem?
- Oct 18, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Noach: Noah, the Aurochs, and the Cave Paintings of Lascaux
- Oct 12, 2023 Talmudology on the Parsha, Bereshit: Evil in the World
- Oct 2, 2023 Talmudology Redux ~ Sukkot and Juggling Records
September 2023
- Sep 20, 2023 Kiddushin 39 ~ Half Way There
- Sep 13, 2023 From the Talmudology Archives - On the Healing Power of Honey, and Happy Rosh Hashanah
- Sep 12, 2023 Kiddushin 30a ~ How Many Letters are in a Sefer Torah?
- Sep 11, 2023 Kiddushin 29a ~ Swimming and Drowning
- Sep 11, 2023 Happy 100th Birthday, Daf Yomi
- Sep 7, 2023 Kiddushin 25b ~ Can Elephants Jump?
- Sep 5, 2023 Kiddushin 25a ~ Polydactyly
August 2023
- Aug 29, 2023 Kiddushin 16b ~ Measuring Puberty
- Aug 25, 2023 Kiddushin 12b ~ The Surprising Birth of Rebbi Chiyyah's Twins
- Aug 20, 2023 Kiddushin 7a ~ Does Marriage Make You Happier?
- Aug 13, 2023 Gittin 89a ~ Breastfeeding in Public
- Aug 10, 2023 Gittin 86b ~ How do Pigeons Drink?
July 2023
- Jul 26, 2023 Gittin 71~ The Relationship between Hearing and Intelligence
- Jul 25, 2023 Talmudology for Tisha B'Av: Titus and Tinnitus
- Jul 21, 2023 Gittin 67b~ Might Talmudic Medicines Really Work?
- Jul 14, 2023 Gittin 60a ~ Queen Helena and Her Gift to the Temple
- Jul 13, 2023 Gittin 58 ~ Maternal Imprinting
- Jul 7, 2023 Gittin 52a ~Why Do We Dream?
- Jul 4, 2023 Gittin 49b ~ Who Wants to Marry More?
June 2023
- Jun 23, 2023 Gittin 39a ~ Rabbi Meir on Maximizing Meaning
- Jun 15, 2023 Gittin 30b ~ Longevity II: Death and Wealth
- Jun 13, 2023 Gittin 28a ~ Longevity I: How Long Do We Live?
- Jun 4, 2023 Gittin 19a ~ Mishnaic Inks
May 2023
- May 24, 2023 Shavuot Redux~ How Many Letters are in a Sefer Torah?
- May 22, 2023 Aaron Levy of London, Long Zanvil of Australia, and the 27,000 Mile Mission to Obtain a Get
- May 18, 2023 Gittin ~ On Divorce, Then and Now
- May 14, 2023 Sotah 45b ~ Talmudic Embryology
- May 10, 2023 Sotah 42~ Goliath, Polydactyly and Hereditary Gigantism
- May 8, 2023 Sotah 40a ~ Gratitude is Good for You
April 2023
- Apr 28, 2023 Sotah 31a ~ What Can a Fetus See?
- Apr 26, 2023 The Nobel Prize, the Paratrooper, and the Maimonides Rule
- Apr 25, 2023 Sotah 27 ~ When is a Woman Most Fertile?
- Apr 24, 2023 Sotah 26 ~ When a Man (or Woman) Loves an Animal
- Apr 18, 2023 Sotah 20b ~ Queen Esther, Mood, and Menstruation
- Apr 11, 2023 Sotah 13a ~ Metal Coffins and Green Burials
- Apr 5, 2023 Sotah 8b ~ Sironechi and Strangulation
- Apr 2, 2023 The 2023 Talmudology Passover Reader
March 2023
- Mar 31, 2023 Sotah 2~ Infidelity: Who Should be Suspecting Whom?
- Mar 29, 2023 Nazir 65b ~ The Zov, and Gonorrhea
- Mar 23, 2023 Nazir 59 ~ Hair Removal and the Influence of Society on Halakha
- Mar 14, 2023 Public Lecture at the Library of Congress - The Eleventh Plague
- Mar 7, 2023 From the Talmudology Purim Archives ~ Gender Fluidity, Male Lactation and Mordechai
- Mar 3, 2023 Nazir 39 ~ Lice, and the Oldest Canaanite Sentence in the World
February 2023
- Feb 20, 2023 Nazir 28 ~ The Not So Dead Sea
- Feb 15, 2023 Nazir 23a ~ Lot and Father-Daughter Incest
- Feb 10, 2023 Nazir 19 ~ The Convert Queen
- Feb 3, 2023 Tu Bishvat ~ The Oldest Palm Tree and its Roots
January 2023
- Jan 27, 2023 Nazir 4b ~ A Real Nazir
- Jan 24, 2023 Nedarim, Vows and Curses
- Jan 13, 2023 Nedarim 80~ Rabbi Yossi on Bathing and Laundry
December 2022
- Dec 30, 2022 Nedarim 66b ~ False Teeth, and False, False Teeth
- Dec 29, 2022 Nedarim 65a ~ Bad Dog. Very Bad Dog.
- Dec 22, 2022 From the Talmudology Archives: Was There a Chanukah Miracle?
- Dec 16, 2022 Just in time for Chanukah! The Eleventh Plague: Jews & Pandemics from the Bible to COVID-19
- Dec 14, 2022 Nedarim 50b ~ Shmuel, Colonoscopies, and the Pillcam
- Dec 5, 2022 Nedarim 41~ The Strange Story of Theriac
- Dec 4, 2022 Nedarim 41b ~ Fever
- Dec 2, 2022 Nedarim 39b ~ Visiting the Sick
November 2022
- Nov 25, 2022 Nedarim 31b ~ Great is Milah
- Nov 14, 2022 Nedarim 20b ~ Blushing and Shame
- Nov 9, 2022 Nedarim 15a ~ How Long Can You Go Without Sleep?
- Nov 2, 2022 Nedarim 8b ~ Heliotherapy
October 2022
- Oct 26, 2022 What's Love Got To Do With It?
- Oct 25, 2022 Ketuvot 111a~Sitting and Learning. And Hemorrhoids. And the Golden Vein
- Oct 19, 2022 Ketuvot 105 ~ Bribery
- Oct 16, 2022 Ketuvot 103 ~ The Death of the Editor
- Oct 13, 2022 Talmudology Redux ~ Sukkot and Juggling Records
- Oct 8, 2022 Talmudology Redux ~ Could the Vilna Gaon Have Stayed Awake Over Sukkot?
- Oct 7, 2022 Ketuvot 93a ~ Game Theory and the Principle of Contested Sums
- Oct 3, 2022 Yoma 20b ~ From The Talmudology Yom Kippur Archives: Sound Propagation at Night
September 2022
- Sep 30, 2022 Ketuvot 86b ~ Who Wants to Marry More?
- Sep 29, 2022 Ketuvot 86 ~ 1,000 pages, and Counting
- Sep 25, 2022 Ketuvot 83b ~ Cucumbers, Gourds and the Marshmallow Test
- Sep 19, 2022 Ketuvot 75a ~ Halitosis
- Sep 15, 2022 Ketuvot 71b ~ Abstinence, Kedushah, and a Spiritual Marriage
- Sep 11, 2022 Ketuvot 67b ~ Blushing and Shaming
- Sep 9, 2022 Ketuvot 65a ~ Too Drunk To Say No
- Sep 7, 2022 Ketuvot 58b ~ Rabbi Meir on Maximizing Meaning
- Sep 4, 2022 Ketuvot 60b ~ Everything is Bad For You
August 2022
- Aug 26, 2022 Ketuvot 52b ~ Who Pays for Mom's Bloodletting?
- Aug 25, 2022 Ketuvot 50a ~ The Economic Costs of Raising Children
- Aug 16, 2022 Ketuvot 41 ~ Good Dog. Bad Dog.
- Aug 11, 2022 Ketuvot 36 ~ The Aylonit Syndrome and Turner's Syndrome
- Aug 4, 2022 Ketuvot 29 ~ The Terror of Rape
July 2022
- Jul 29, 2022 Ketuvot 23b ~ The Cohen Gene
- Jul 21, 2022 Ketuvot 15a ~ Talmudic Probability Theory
- Jul 17, 2022 Ketuvot 11a ~ Conversion
- Jul 15, 2022 Ketuvot 10b ~ More than You Ever Wanted to Know about the Barrel Test
- Jul 14, 2022 Ketuvot 10a ~ Virginity
- Jul 13, 2022 Ketuvot 8b ~ When Some Plagues End, and Others Begin
- Jul 11, 2022 Ketuvot 5b ~ Earlobes and Spandrels
- Jul 8, 2022 Ketuvot 3b ~ The Law of the First Night
- Jul 3, 2022 Yevamot 118b ~ Does Marriage Make You Happier?
- Jul 1, 2022 Yevamot 116b~ Of Snake Bites, Palestinian and Israeli
June 2022
- Jun 13, 2022 Yevamot 98b ~ On the Formation of Twins
- Jun 12, 2022 Yevamot 97a ~ Rava on Delayed Puberty in Boys
- Jun 10, 2022 Yevamot 97a~ Plagiarism, citation, and the lips of the dead
May 2022
- May 29, 2022 Yevamot Interlude~ Henry VIII, Yibum, and the Sotheby's Auction
- May 20, 2022 Yevamot 75a~ Voltaire, Rabbi Yishmael, and the Man with One Testicle
- May 18, 2022 Yevamot 72 a ~ Blood Letting and Permissive Anemia
- May 10, 2022 Yevamot 64b~ Circumcision, death, and Hemophilia A
- May 9, 2022 Yevamot 64b ~ Urinary Tract Infections, and the Class That Went On For Too Long
- May 5, 2022 Israel's Noble History
April 2022
- Apr 29, 2022 Yevamot 54a ~ Bizarre Talmudic Scenarios
- Apr 24, 2022 Looks Like We Made It!
- Apr 18, 2022 Yevamot 42a~ The Baby Born After Eight Months, and Getting Pregnant While Nursing
- Apr 10, 2022 Torah for Pesach
- Apr 4, 2022 New Essay: When Shemitta and a Pandemic Coincide
March 2022
- Mar 29, 2022 Yevamot 22a ~ The Mamzer
- Mar 23, 2022 Yevamot 16a ~ Copernicus is the Firstborn of Satan
- Mar 22, 2022 Yevamot 15a ~ The Aylonit & Turner’s Syndrome
- Mar 18, 2022 Rabbinic Philosophies and the Scientific Method
- Mar 17, 2022 Happy Purim ~ “I am my own Grandpa”, plus Gender Fluidity, Male Lactation and Mordechai
- Mar 16, 2022 Yevamot 8b ~ Ta’amei Hamitzvot in the British Medical Journal: The Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy: Part II
- Mar 15, 2022 Yevamot 8b ~ Science, Torah, and The Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy: Part I
- Mar 14, 2022 Happy Pi Day 2022, and Happy Birthday Albert Einstein
- Mar 9, 2022 Yevamot 2 ~ Levirate Marriage Across Cultures
- Mar 8, 2022 Chagigah 27a ~ The Fireproof Salamander
February 2022
- Feb 25, 2022 Chagigah 16b ~ Wrongful Executions
- Feb 22, 2022 Chagigah 13a ~ On the Origins of the Modern Hebrew Word "Chashmal"
- Feb 21, 2022 Chagigah 12b ~ Rabbinic Cosmology and Rabbinic Allegory
- Feb 17, 2022 Talmudology Bonus ~ Plagues and the Census
- Feb 15, 2022 Happy Birthday Galileo
- Feb 13, 2022 Chagigah 4b ~ Pandemic Theodicy
- Feb 11, 2022 Chagigah 3b ~ Werewolves, Lycanthropy, and Mental Illness
- Feb 6, 2022 Mo'ed Katan 25b ~ Why is Death Bad?
- Feb 4, 2022 Mo'ed Katan 24a ~ Infant Deaths
January 2022
- Jan 28, 2022 Mo’ed Katan 16a ~ Excommunication, Baruch Spinoza and Mordechai Kaplan
- Jan 23, 2022 Mo’ed Katan 11a ~ Nature Changes
- Jan 6, 2022 Megillah 25b ~ Censoring the Torah
- Jan 4, 2022 Megillah 23a ~ The Controversy over Shabbat Chatan
December 2021
- Dec 31, 2021 2021 End of the Year Talmudology Numbers
- Dec 28, 2021 Just published - A New Essay on Tuviah HaCohen and his Ma'aseh Tuviah
- Dec 27, 2021 Megillah 15 ~ Fear, Mood, and Menstruation
- Dec 19, 2021 Megillah 7b ~ There is Always Room for Dessert
- Dec 9, 2021 Ta'anit 27 ~ Askera, Diphtheria and the Jacobi Medical Center
- Dec 6, 2021 Ta'anit 24a ~ The Ocular Manifestations of Disease
- Dec 3, 2021 Ta'anit 21b ~ Pandemics in Pigs
- Dec 1, 2021 Ta'anit 19a ~ On the Definition of a Pandemic
November 2021
- Nov 29, 2021 Ta’anit 17b ~ Alcohol Metabolism
- Nov 23, 2021 Ta'anit 11 ~ Marital Intimacy During a Pandemic
- Nov 18, 2021 Tonight - The Longest Lunar Eclipse This Century
- Nov 14, 2021 Ta'anit 2 ~ Rain, and the God of the Gaps
- Nov 11, 2021 Rosh Hashanah 34a ~ On the Uses of Urine
- Nov 4, 2021 Rosh Hashanah 26a~ How Does a Cow Grow Her Horn?
- Nov 3, 2021 Rosh Hashanah 25 ~ The Length of the Lunar Month
- Nov 2, 2021 Rosh Hashanah 24b ~ Starry Images in Synagogues
October 2021
- Oct 31, 2021 Rosh Hashanah 22a ~ Another Tuviah the Doctor
- Oct 29, 2021 Rosh Hashanah 20b ~ When can the New Moon be Seen?
- Oct 15, 2021 Rosh Hashanah 6b ~ How Long is a Year?
- Oct 11, 2021 Rosh Hashanah 2 ~ A New Year for Health
- Oct 1, 2021 Beitzah 32b ~ Lice
September 2021
- Sep 23, 2021 From the Talmudology Archives: ~ Gauss, Tosafot, and Counting the Sukkot Sacrifices
- Sep 20, 2021 From the Talmudology Archives: The Vilna Gaon’s Sleepless Nights over Sukkot
- Sep 14, 2021 From the Talmudology Yom Kippur Archives ~ To the Right. Always to the Right
- Sep 5, 2021 On the Healing Power of Honey, and Happy Rosh Hashanah
- Sep 2, 2021 Beitzah 2 ~ How a Chicken Lays Her Eggs
- Sep 1, 2021 Sukkah 56b ~ Abayye and the Fundamental Attribution Error
August 2021
- Aug 31, 2021 Sukkah 56b ~ Cucumbers, Gourds and the Marshmallow Test
- Aug 29, 2021 Sukkah 53 ~ Juggling Records
- Aug 24, 2021 Sukkah 48b ~ The Uses of Human Skin
- Aug 5, 2021 Sukkah 29a ~ The Causes of a Solar Eclipse - and a Special Talmudology Event
- Aug 2, 2021 Sukkah 26b ~ How do Horses Sleep?
July 2021
- Jul 15, 2021 Sukkah 8a ~ Rashi’s Mathematical Errors
- Jul 14, 2021 Sukkah 7b ~The value of Pi in the Talmud
- Jul 5, 2021 Yoma 85a ~ Brain Death
- Jul 4, 2021 Yoma 85a ~ Talmudic Embryology
- Jul 2, 2021 Yoma 83-84 ~ Rabbis and Rabies
June 2021
- Jun 24, 2021 Yoma 74a ~ Gambling, Addiction and the Rabbi who Lost Everything
- Jun 16, 2021 Yoma 67b ~ Pork, Catfish and Archeological Truths
- Jun 15, 2021 Yoma 65b ~ Counting the Years
- Jun 6, 2021 New Essay: The Plague Wedding
- Jun 4, 2021 Yoma 55a ~ Yom Kippur, Counting, and Why the Chinese Are Good at Math
May 2021
- May 25, 2021 Yoma 44b ~ Gold
- May 24, 2021 Yoma 43a ~ Androgyny and the Fluidity of Gender
- May 15, 2021 Shavuot Redux~ How Many Letters are in a Sefer Torah?
- May 13, 2021 Yoma 34b~ Knives and Quenching
- May 11, 2021 Yoma 30 ~ The Talmud, Congenital Penile Malformations, and a Greek Vase
- May 9, 2021 Yoma 29a ~ Psalm 22 and the Husband Stitch
- May 3, 2021 You Talked: We Listened. Copernicus Now in Paperback
April 2021
- Apr 30, 2021 Yoma 20b ~ Sound Propagation at Night
- Apr 29, 2021 Yoma 18b ~ Yom Kippur, The High Priest and Nocturnal Pollution
- Apr 26, 2021 Yoma 15b ~ To the Right. Always to the Right
- Apr 21, 2021 Yoma 10a ~ On the Origins of Nations
- Apr 19, 2021 Yoma 8a ~ God's Name. Tattooed.
- Apr 15, 2021 Yoma 4b ~ Colonic Purging
- Apr 2, 2021 Shekalim 14 ~ Love of The Other, The Drowned Duke, and Two People named Pinchas
- Apr 1, 2021 Shekalim 13a-b ~ The Cohen and his Stomach Problems
March 2021
- Mar 31, 2021 Shekalim 10b ~ Correcting a Sefer Torah
- Mar 25, 2021 The 2021 Talmudology Passover Reader
- Mar 24, 2021 Shekalim 7~ Plagiarism, Citation, and the Lips of the Dead
- Mar 17, 2021 Pesachim 116a~ Roasting the Paschal Lamb and the Maillard Reaction
- Mar 14, 2021 Pesachim 113a ~ The Problem of Polypharmacy
- Mar 12, 2021 Pesachim 112b ~ The Causes of Epilepsy
- Mar 10, 2021 Pesachim 109b ~ The Square Root of Two and the Danger of Pairs
- Mar 9, 2021 Pesachim 108a ~ The Passover Seder and the Heimlich Maneuver
- Mar 5, 2021 Pesachim 105a ~ What is Askara?
- Mar 4, 2021 Pesachim 104a ~Gods on Coins
- Mar 3, 2021 Announcing an Online Talmudology Event
February 2021
- Feb 26, 2021 From the Talmudology Purim Archives ~ Gender Fluidity, Male Lactation and Mordechai
- Feb 25, 2021 Pesachim 96 ~ Blood to Prevent Plague
- Feb 23, 2021 Pesachim 94 ~ The Orbit of the Sun around the Earth
- Feb 15, 2021 Happy Birthday Galileo
- Feb 12, 2021 Pesachim 84a ~ Cartilage
- Feb 4, 2021 Pesachim 75b ~ Burns and Ritual Impurity
- Feb 3, 2021 Pesachim 75a ~ Where Does Lead Come From?
January 2021
- Jan 28, 2021 Pesachim 68a ~ Resurrection of the Dead
- Jan 15, 2021 Pesachim 56a~ The Snake as a Symbol of Healing
- Jan 1, 2021 Pesachim 41 ~ The Hot Springs of Tiberius
December 2020
- Dec 31, 2020 2020 End of the Year Talmudology Numbers
- Dec 25, 2020 Pesachim 35a ~ The Chemistry of Chametz
- Dec 22, 2020 Pesachim 31b ~ A Dog's Sense of Smell
- Dec 17, 2020 The Great Conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter
- Dec 11, 2020 From the Talmudology Archives: Was There a Chanukah Miracle?
- Dec 10, 2020 From the Talmudology Archives: Rashi and Why Women Light the Menorah
November 2020
- Nov 30, 2020 Pesachim 9b ~ Talmudic Probability Theory
- Nov 17, 2020 Eruvin 100b ~ Spousal Rape
October 2020
- Oct 23, 2020 Eruvin 76b ~ Mathematical Error
- Oct 12, 2020 Eruvin 64 ~ Wine and Cognitive Function
- Oct 7, 2020 Talmudology Redux ~ Could the Vilna Gaon Have Stayed Awake Over Sukkot?
- Oct 5, 2020 Sukkot Redux I ~ Gauss, Tosafot, and Counting the Sukkot Sacrifices
- Oct 2, 2020 Eruvin 56a ~ The Identity of the Constellation Eglah
September 2020
- Sep 30, 2020 Talmudology Redux - Readers Suggest How Rabban Gamliel Did It…
- Sep 21, 2020 Eruvin 43b ~ Rabban Gamliel's Trigonometry
- Sep 17, 2020 Eruvin 43b ~ Jews and their Telescopes
August 2020
- Aug 27, 2020 Eruvin 18a ~ Adam's Tail and the the Recapitulation of Phylogeny
- Aug 23, 2020 Eruvin 14a ~The value of Pi in the Talmud
- Aug 16, 2020 Eruvin 7a ~ Trephination
- Aug 9, 2020 Shabbat 156 ~ Talmudic Astrology
July 2020
- Jul 20, 2020 Shabbat 136 ~ The Tumtum, the Androgyne, and the Fluidity of Gender
- Jul 17, 2020 Shabbat 134a ~ The Imperforate Anus and the Skills of the Midwife
- Jul 13, 2020 Shabbat 129a-b ~ Blood Letting
- Jul 5, 2020 Shabbat 121b ~ Rabbis and Rabies
June 2020
- Jun 23, 2020 Shabbat 109b ~ Curing Snakebites
- Jun 22, 2020 Shabbat 108-110 ~ Might Talmudic Medicines Really Work?
- Jun 19, 2020 Shabbat 107b ~ Can the Leopard Change Its Spots?
May 2020
- May 26, 2020 Shabbat 81 ~ A History of Toilet Paper
- May 21, 2020 Shabbat 77b ~ On the Healing Power of Honey
- May 20, 2020 Shabbat 75a ~ Some Jewish Astronomers
- May 10, 2020 Shabbat 65b ~ Prosthetic Limbs
- May 8, 2020 Shabbat 63 ~ Jews and Their Dogs
- May 6, 2020 Shabbat 61 ~ On the Ubiquity of Amulets
- May 1, 2020 Shabbat 57b ~ "A Well-Fleshed Woman"
April 2020
- Apr 28, 2020 Shabbat 53~ Male Lactation, Gender Fluidity and Mordechai
- Apr 24, 2020 Shabbat 50a ~ Cleanliness is next to Godliness
- Apr 22, 2020 Shabbat 47a ~ Electricity on Shabbat
- Apr 8, 2020 Shabbat 34b ~ Sunrise, Sunset
- Apr 7, 2020 From the Passover Archives ~ The Chemistry of Chametz
- Apr 3, 2020 Shabbat 28b ~ Did Adam Sacrifice a Unicorn?
March 2020
- Mar 29, 2020 Shabbat 23a ~ Rashi and Why Women Light the Menorah
- Mar 27, 2020 Shabbat 21b ~ Was there a Chanukah Miracle?
- Mar 19, 2020 Shabbat 13a ~ The Original Social Distancing: Menstruation Taboos
- Mar 18, 2020 Shabbat 12a ~ Killing Lice and Spontaneous Generation
- Mar 16, 2020 From The Talmudology COVID-19 Dept: Social Distancing in the Rabbinic Tradition
- Mar 15, 2020 Shabbat 9b ~ Haircuts
- Mar 13, 2020 Happy Pi Day 2020, and Happy Birthday Albert Einstein
- Mar 10, 2020 From the Talmudology Purim Archives ~ Gender Fluidity, Male Lactation and Mordechai. And Salt.
- Mar 6, 2020 Talmudology Bonus: The Most Common Words in the Talmud
- Mar 5, 2020 Berachot 62a ~ Open Defecation
- Mar 3, 2020 Berachot 60a ~ Gender Determination
- Mar 2, 2020 Berachot 59b ~ Birkat HaChammah: The Blessing That Isn't There
- Mar 1, 2020 Berachot 58 ~ Where, and What, is Kimah?
February 2020
- Feb 27, 2020 Berachot 55~ Hemorrhoids. And Dreams.
- Feb 25, 2020 Berachot 53 ~ "Bless You" and Sneezing
- Feb 21, 2020 Berachot 50a ~ "The Three Who Ate" - on Yom Kippur
- Feb 18, 2020 From Talmudology: A Purim Good-Read
- Feb 14, 2020 Berachot 43a ~ Musk and Ambergris
- Feb 13, 2020 A Long-Forgotten Jewish Remedy for the Coronavirus Outbreak
- Feb 12, 2020 Berachot 40 ~ “Drink Water and You Will Not be Harmed”
- Feb 10, 2020 Tu Bishvat ~ The Roots of a Palm Tree
- Feb 6, 2020 Berachot 34b ~ Where on Earth is the Garden of Eden?
- Feb 5, 2020 Berachot 33a ~ Injuries from Cows
January 2020
- Jan 31, 2020 Berachot 29b ~ “Why are Sunsets Red?” asked the Rabbi and the Scientist
- Jan 30, 2020 Berachot 28b ~ How Many Vertebrae Do We Have?
- Jan 29, 2020 Berachot 27a ~ The Prosecution & Punishment of Animals
- Jan 27, 2020 Berachot 24a ~ Flatulence
- Jan 24, 2020 Berachot 22b ~ Urinary Incontinence
- Jan 23, 2020 Berachot 20a ~ Rabbi Yochanan, Maternal Imprinting, And The Woman Who Gave Birth To Rabbits
- Jan 13, 2020 Berachot 10b ~ The Snake as a Symbol of Healing
- Jan 10, 2020 Berachot 8a ~ What is Askera (And Did It Kill Rabbi Meir Shapiro of Lublin?)
- Jan 8, 2020 Berachot 5b~ The Infant Mortality Rate
- Jan 6, 2020 Berachot 3a ~ Which Text Are You Using?
- Jan 5, 2020 Berachot 2 ~ How Many Words Are In the Babylonian Talmud?
- Jan 3, 2020 The Final Page of Talmud: The Main Dish and the Appetizers
December 2019
- Dec 31, 2019 2019 End of the Year Talmudology Numbers
- Dec 23, 2019 Niddah 61b ~ Saliva as a Detergent, and the Ig Nobel Award in Chemistry
- Dec 22, 2019 From the Talmudology Chanukah Archives: Rashi and Why Women Light the Menorah
- Dec 20, 2019 Niddah 58b ~ Bed Bugs
- Dec 17, 2019 Niddah 55b ~ The Nasolacrimal Duct
- Dec 11, 2019 Niddah 48a - The Effect of the Environment on Puberty
- Dec 10, 2019 Niddah 47a ~ Measuring Puberty in Girls, Boys, and the Underprivileged
- Dec 6, 2019 Niddah 45a ~ The Youngest Mother in the World
- Dec 3, 2019 Niddah 41 ~ Surviving a Cesarean Section
November 2019
- Nov 29, 2019 Niddah 38a ~ How Long Does A Pregnancy Last?
- Nov 28, 2019 Niddah 36 ~ Fever
- Nov 27, 2019 Niddah 35b ~ The Zov, and Gonorrhea
- Nov 26, 2019 Niddah 30-31 ~ Talmudic Obstetrics
- Nov 24, 2019 Niddah 32a ~ Neonatal Menstruation
- Nov 22, 2019 Niddah 31a ~ When is a Woman Most Fertile?
- Nov 21, 2019 Niddah 30b ~ Talmudic Embryology
- Nov 20, 2019 Niddah 28a ~ Gender Determination
- Nov 19, 2019 Niddah 27a ~ Delayed Interval Twin Births and the Unlikely (But Plausible) Survival of Yehuda and Chizkiyya
- Nov 17, 2019 Niddah 25b ~ Four Cases of Torture & Coerced Testimony
- Nov 15, 2019 Niddah 24a ~ Halachic Reality and Anatomic Reality: Treif People and Treif Animals
- Nov 14, 2019 Niddah 23b ~ Mourning for a Lost Fetus
- Nov 12, 2019 Niddah 20a ~ Rabbis, Pheromones and the Scientific Method
- Nov 11, 2019 Niddah 19a ~ The Many Colors and Properties of Blood
- Nov 10, 2019 Niddah 18a ~ Talmudic Probability Theory
- Nov 8, 2019 Niddah 17a ~ Overnight Eggs and the Danger of Breast Cancer
- Nov 7, 2019 Niddah 17b ~The Chatam Sofer, Rationalism, and Anatomy That Isn't There
- Nov 5, 2019 Niddah 13 ~ Onanism, Self-Pollution and Potential People
- Nov 1, 2019 Niddah 9a ~ Fear, Mood, and Menstruation
October 2019
- Oct 31, 2019 Niddah 8b ~ A Baby Born After Eight Months
- Oct 25, 2019 Niddah 2a ~ The Ethnography of Menstruation Taboos
- Oct 24, 2019 Middot 37b ~ The Lineage of the Cohen
- Oct 20, 2019 Middot 34a ~ The Temple as a Model of the Solar System
- Oct 18, 2019 Tamid 32a ~ How High is the Sky? (And How to Measure It)
- Oct 13, 2019 Tamid 27b ~ Open Defecation
September 2019
- Sep 5, 2019 Keritot 15b ~ Amputation and Ritual Impurity
August 2019
- Aug 28, 2019 Keritot 7b ~ Surviving a Cesarian Section
- Aug 26, 2019 Keritot 5b ~ Hemorrhoids, Plague, and the Ark of the Covenant
- Aug 4, 2019 Temurah 16a ~ Transient National Amnesia
July 2019
- Jul 28, 2019 Temurah 9a ~ Cucumbers, Gourds and the Marshmallow Test
- Jul 8, 2019 Arachin 22a ~ The Psychological Impact of Corporal Punishment
- Jul 5, 2019 Arachin 19a ~ The Mechanical Engineering of a Pledge
- Jul 1, 2019 Arachin 15b ~ The Evolutionary Advantages of Gossip
June 2019
- Jun 25, 2019 Arachin 9b ~ The Problem of the Moving Molad
- Jun 23, 2019 Arachin 7a ~ Post Mortem Cesarean Section
- Jun 21, 2019 Arachin 5a ~ Rabbi Meir on Maximizing Meaning
- Jun 20, 2019 Arachin 4b ~ The Tumtum, the Androgyne, and the Fluidity of Gender
- Jun 11, 2019 Bechorot 55a ~ Where Does Your Blood Come From?
- Jun 2, 2019 Happy Yom Yerushalayim From Talmudology
May 2019
- May 31, 2019 Bechorot 45b ~ Syndactyly, and Talmudology Keeps a Promise
- May 31, 2019 Bechorot 44 (Part II) ~ Urinary Tract Infections, Infertility and Other Dangers of Long Sermons
- May 30, 2019 Bechorot 44 (Part I). The Cohen with Eye Problems - and a Pretty Bad Liver
- May 29, 2019 Bechorot 42b ~ Rabbi Akiva, Voltaire, and the man with one testicle
- May 24, 2019 Bechorot 37b ~ Trephination
- May 23, 2019 Bechorot 36a ~ How Often do People Lie?
- May 10, 2019 Bechorot 24a ~ Can a sheep suckle a pig?
- May 3, 2019 Bechorot 16a ~ A Flat Earth, The Eye, and the Sky
April 2019
- Apr 25, 2019 Bechorot 8a ~ Rashi on Mermaids
- Apr 24, 2019 Bechorot 7a ~ Pig x Sheep
- Apr 18, 2019 From the Passover Archives ~ The Chemistry of Chametz
- Apr 17, 2019 From the Passover Archives: How the Sarajevo Haggadah was Saved. Twice.
- Apr 16, 2019 Chullin 140b ~ Ornithology, Emotions, and the Reasons for the Commandments
- Apr 10, 2019 Chullin 134b ~ The Right. Always to the Right
- Apr 3, 2019 Chullin 127a (Part II)~ Spontaneous Generation
- Apr 2, 2019 Chullin 127a (Part I) ~ The Fireproof Salamander
March 2019
- Mar 28, 2019 Chullin 121b ~ Shechita, Pain and and Modern Sensibilities
- Mar 21, 2019 Chullin 113b~ Gender Fluidity, Male Lactation and Mordechai
- Mar 20, 2019 From the Talmudology Archives: Queen Esther's Fight or Flight Reaction
- Mar 14, 2019 Happy Pi Day2019, and Happy Birthday Albert Einstein
- Mar 12, 2019 Chullin 105b ~ The Healing Effects of Alcohol
- Mar 11, 2019 Chullin 104b ~ Mordechai, Plagiarism, and the Lips of the Dead
February 2019
- Feb 22, 2019 Chullin 87b ~ Talmudic Hematology
- Feb 3, 2019 New Essay: Vaccines, Hysteria and Rabbinic Responsibility
- Feb 1, 2019 Chullin 66a ~ Do Swordfish have Scales (and are they Kosher)?
January 2019
- Jan 28, 2019 Chullin 62b ~ How do Pigeons Drink?
- Jan 23, 2019 Chullin 57b ~ Ants, Rabbi Shimon ben Chalafta, and the Scientific Method
- Jan 20, 2019 Chullin 60b ~ The Great Tu-Bishvat Eclipse of 2019
- Jan 13, 2019 Chullin 47b ~ Red Babies, Green Babies, and other Neonatal Colors
- Jan 8, 2019 Chullin 42a ~ Halachic Reality and Anatomic Reality: the Case of the Treif Animal
December 2018
- Dec 19, 2018 Chullin 22b ~ Yellow Pigeons, Folk Medicine and Hepatitis
- Dec 18, 2018 New Book Release: Influenza
- Dec 7, 2018 Chullin 10a ~ On the Safety of Drinking Snake Venom
- Dec 5, 2018 December 4th, Shmuel and the Pope
November 2018
- Nov 30, 2018 Chullin 4b~ Circumcision, Shechita, and Hemophilia A
- Nov 28, 2018 Menachot 110a ~ Free Will
- Nov 23, 2018 Mencahot 106a ~ Gauss, Tosafot, and the Sum of Consecutive Numbers
- Nov 11, 2018 Menachot 93a ~ The Relationship between Hearing and Intelligence
- Nov 2, 2018 Menachot 84b ~On the Content of our Dreams
October 2018
- Oct 19, 2018 Menachot 70b ~ The Chemistry of Chametz
- Oct 12, 2018 Menachot 64b ~ Cursed Be He Who Raises Swine
September 2018
- Sep 21, 2018 Menachot 42b ~ How Do You Make Techelet?
- Sep 16, 2018 Mencahot 37a ~ Conjoined Twins
August 2018
- Aug 3, 2018 Zevachim 113b ~ On the Identity of the Re'em
- Aug 3, 2018 Zevachim 112a ~ Caesarean Section in Cows and Ewes
July 2018
- Jul 26, 2018 Are You Ready for the Lunar Eclipse?
- Jul 6, 2018 Zevachim 85b ~ The Tumtum and the Androgyne. In Birds.
June 2018
- Jun 26, 2018 Zevachim 74a ~ Talmudic Probability Theory II
- Jun 22, 2018 Zevachim 70b ~ The Prosecution (& Punishment) of Animals
- Jun 14, 2018 Zevachim 62b ~ To the Right. Always to the Right
- Jun 6, 2018 Zevachim 54b ~ How High is Jerusalem?
May 2018
- May 8, 2018 Zevachim 25b ~ Teaching By Humiliation
- May 4, 2018 Zevachim 22b ~ On the Physical and Mental Dangers of Circumcision
April 2018
- Apr 10, 2018 Horayot 10a ~ Halley's Comet, or Rabbi Yehoshua's Comet?
March 2018
- Mar 29, 2018 How the Sarajevo Haggadah was Saved. Twice.
- Mar 7, 2018 Avodah Zarah 51a ~ The Neck of a Grasshopper
February 2018
- Feb 28, 2018 Queen Esther's Fight or Flight Reaction
- Feb 23, 2018 Avodah Zarah 39a ~ Do Swordfish have Scales?
- Feb 15, 2018 Avodah Zarah 31b ~ Drinking Snake Venom
- Feb 12, 2018 Avodah Zarah 28b ~ Ear Candling
- Feb 11, 2018 Avodah Zarah 27a ~ Circumcision and Hemophilia A
- Feb 8, 2018 Avodah Zarah 24a ~ Maternal Imprinting
- Feb 1, 2018 Avodah Zarah 17b ~ What Gender is that Bee?
January 2018
- Jan 26, 2018 Avodah Zarah 12b ~ Vinegar, Leeches and Rav Huna
- Jan 25, 2018 Avodah Zarah 10b ~ Gangrene and Ulcers
- Jan 22, 2018 Avodah Zarah 8 ~ 2,000 Pages Done!
- Jan 18, 2018 Avodah Zarah 3b ~ Heliotherapy
- Jan 17, 2018 Tractate Avodah Zarah ~ Which Version Do You Use?
December 2017
- Dec 22, 2017 Shavuot 25a ~ How Long Can You Go Without Sleep?
- Dec 15, 2017 Shavout 18b ~ The regularity of the menstrual cycle
- Dec 13, 2017 Rashi and Why Women Light the Menorah
October 2017
- Oct 31, 2017 Sanhedrin 107a ~ Blushing, Shame, and Humiliation
- Oct 15, 2017 Sanhedrin 91 ~ Spontaneous Generation
- Oct 11, 2017 Sanhedrin 87 ~ How High is Jerusalem?
- Oct 2, 2017 Sanhedrin 78a ~ Where Do Snakes Store Their Venom?
September 2017
- Sep 20, 2017 Sanhedrin 69b ~ The Youngest Mother in the World
- Sep 17, 2017 Sanhedrin 63b ~ The Fireproof Salamander
August 2017
- Aug 30, 2017 Sanhedrin 45 ~ Stoning and the Height of a Lethal Fall
- Aug 3, 2017 The Great American Eclipse
July 2017
- Jul 27, 2017 Sanhedrin 11b ~ The Tekufot
- Jul 7, 2017 Bava Basra 167a ~ Torture & coerced testimony
June 2017
- Jun 26, 2017 Bava Basra 155b ~ Delayed Puberty in Boys
- Jun 13, 2017 Bava Basra 142 ~ Maternal Deaths
May 2017
- May 28, 2017 Bava Basra 126b ~ The Healing Power of Saliva
- May 12, 2017 Bava Basra 110a ~ Uncles and Nephews
April 2017
- Apr 28, 2017 Bava Basra 97b ~ Wine and Snake Venom
- Apr 16, 2017 Bava Basra 84a ~ What Color is the Sun?
- Apr 6, 2017 Bava Basra 74a ~ Where Heaven and Earth Touch
February 2017
- Feb 17, 2017 Bava Basra 27b ~ The Roots of a Palm Tree
- Feb 16, 2017 Bava Basra 25b ~ The Sun's Orbit Around the Earth
- Feb 15, 2017 Bava Basra 24a ~The Chatam Sofer, Rationalism, and Anatomy That Isn't There
- Feb 10, 2017 Bava Basra 20a ~ A Baby Born After Eight Months
- Feb 7, 2017 Bava Basra 16b ~ Here Comes the Sun
- Feb 3, 2017 Bava Basra 12b ~ Prophecy and Mental Illness
January 2017
- Jan 25, 2017 Bava Basra 3b ~ How to Mellify a Corpse
- Jan 10, 2017 Bava Metzia 106b - Kimah, the Pleiades, and the Planting Season in Iraq
December 2016
- Dec 20, 2016 Bava Metzia 85b ~ Rebbi's Ailments
November 2016
- Nov 17, 2016 Bava Metzia 52b ~ The Not So Dead Sea
- Nov 1, 2016 Bava Metzia 36b ~ Marshes, Miasmas and Bad Air
October 2016
- Oct 26, 2016 Bava Metzia 30b ~ Visiting the Sick
- Oct 20, 2016 Bava Metzia 24a ~ Torture
September 2016
- Sep 28, 2016 Bava Metzia 2a ~ Garments, Game Theory and the Principal of Contested Sums
- Sep 23, 2016 Bava Kamma 115b ~ Drinking Snake Venom
- Sep 13, 2016 Bava Kamma 105b ~ Teaching By Humiliation
August 2016
- Aug 29, 2016 Bava Kamma 90a ~ The Prosecution & Punishment of Animals
- Aug 24, 2016 Bava Kamma 85a ~ Is Honey Bad For You?
- Aug 21, 2016 Bava Kamma 82a ~ Is Garlic Good for You?
- Aug 15, 2016 Bava Kamma 77b ~ Pig x Sheep
July 2016
- Jul 29, 2016 Bava Kamma 60b ~ Quarantine and Social Isolation
- Jul 25, 2016 Bava Kamma 55a ~ Does a Goose have a Scrotum?
- Jul 20, 2016 Bava Kamma 50 ~ Ten Tefachim to Death
- Jul 15, 2016 Bava Kamma 46a ~ Injuries from Cows
- Jul 8, 2016 Bava Kamma 39a ~ Injuries from Bullfighting
- Jul 5, 2016 Bava Kamma 35a ~ Analgesia for Animals
- Jul 1, 2016 Bava Kamma 32a ~ Liability for Intimate Injuries
June 2016
- Jun 24, 2016 Bava Kamma 24b ~ Dogs, Bites and Liabilities
- Jun 17, 2016 Bava Kamma 18b ~ Braying Donkeys and Broken Glasses
- Jun 15, 2016 Bava Kamma 15b ~ Where the Wild Things Are
May 2016
- May 31, 2016 Kiddushin 82a ~ The Best Doctors Go to Hell
- May 19, 2016 Kiddushin 69a ~ Nationality, Class and Caste
- May 13, 2016 Israel's Noble History
April 2016
- Apr 10, 2016 Kiddushin 30a ~ How Many Letters are in a Sefer Torah?
- Apr 8, 2016 Kiddushin 29a ~ Swimming and Drowning
- Apr 5, 2016 Kiddushin 25b ~ Can Elephants Jump?
- Apr 4, 2016 Kiddushin 25a ~ Polydactyly
March 2016
- Mar 27, 2016 Kiddushin 16b ~ Measuring Puberty
- Mar 18, 2016 Kiddushin 7a ~ Does Marriage Make You Happier?
- Mar 14, 2016 Happy Pi Day 2016, and Happy Birthday Albert Einstein
- Mar 13, 2016 The Changing Institution of Marriage
- Mar 11, 2016 Gittin 89a ~ Breastfeeding in Public
February 2016
- Feb 18, 2016 Gittin 67b~ Might Talmudic Medicines Really Work?
- Feb 11, 2016 Gittin 60a ~ Queen Helena and Her Gift to the Temple
- Feb 3, 2016 Gittin 52a ~Why Do We Dream?
January 2016
- Jan 31, 2016 Gittin 49b ~ Who Wants to Marry More?
- Jan 21, 2016 Gittin 39a ~ Rabbi Meir on Maximizing Meaning
- Jan 12, 2016 Gittin 30b ~ Longevity II: Death and Wealth
- Jan 10, 2016 Gittin 28a ~ Longevity I: How Long Do We Live?
- Jan 5, 2016 Nedarim 41b ~ Fever
- Jan 1, 2016 Gittin 19a ~ Mishnaic Inks
December 2015
- Dec 17, 2015 Gittin 2a ~ A Very Determined Envoy
- Dec 15, 2015 Gittin ~ On Divorce, Then and Now
- Dec 10, 2015 Sotah 45b ~ Talmudic Embryology
- Dec 6, 2015 Rashi and Why Women Light the Menorah
- Dec 4, 2015 Sotah 40a ~ Gratitude is Good for You
November 2015
- Nov 26, 2015 Sotah 31a ~ What Can a Fetus See?
- Nov 15, 2015 Sotah 20b ~ Queen Esther, Mood, and Menstruation
- Nov 9, 2015 Sotah 14b ~ Visiting the Sick
- Nov 8, 2015 Sotah 13a ~ Metal Coffins and Green Burials
- Nov 3, 2015 Sotah 8b ~ Sironechi and Strangulation
October 2015
- Oct 28, 2015 Sotah 2~ Infidelity. Who Should be Suspecting Whom?
- Oct 26, 2015 Nazir 65b ~ The Zov, and Gonorrhea
September 2015
- Sep 30, 2015 Nazir 39a ~ Lice
- Sep 27, 2015 The Lunar Eclipse You Can See From Your Sukkah
- Sep 18, 2015 Nazir 28b ~ The Not So Dead Sea
- Sep 13, 2015 Nazir 23a ~ Lot and Father-Daughter Incest
- Sep 10, 2015 Nazir 19 ~ The Convert Queen
August 2015
- Aug 26, 2015 Nazir 4b ~ A Real Nazir
- Aug 12, 2015 Nedarim 80~ Rabbi Yossi on Bathing and Laundry
July 2015
- Jul 29, 2015 Nedarim 66b ~ False Teeth, and False, False Teeth
- Jul 28, 2015 Nedarim 65a ~ Bad Dog. Very Bad Dog.
- Jul 13, 2015 Nedarim 50b ~ Shmuel, Colonoscopies, and the Pillcam
- Jul 2, 2015 Nedarim 39b ~ Visiting the Sick
June 2015
- Jun 24, 2015 Nedarim 31b ~ Great is Milah
- Jun 12, 2015 Nedarim 20b ~ Shame
- Jun 8, 2015 Nedarim 15a ~ How Long Can You Go Without Sleep?
- Jun 1, 2015 Nedarim 8b ~ Heliotherapy
May 2015
- May 22, 2015 What's Love Got To Do With It?
- May 18, 2015 Ketuvot 105 ~ Bribery
- May 15, 2015 Ketuvot 103 ~ The Death of the Editor
April 2015
- Apr 29, 2015 Ketuvot 86b ~ Who Wants to Marry More?
- Apr 28, 2015 Ketuvot 86 ~ 1,000 pages, and Counting
- Apr 24, 2015 Ketuvot 83b ~ Cucumbers, Gourds and the Marshmallow Test
- Apr 22, 2015 Israel's Noble History
- Apr 17, 2015 Ketuvot 75a ~ Halitosis
- Apr 14, 2015 Ketuvot 71b ~ Abstinence, Kedushah, and a Spiritual Marriage
- Apr 9, 2015 Ketuvot 67b ~ Blushing and Shaming
- Apr 8, 2015 Ketuvot 65a ~ Too Drunk To Say No
- Apr 3, 2015 Ketuvot 60b ~ Everything is Bad For You
- Apr 1, 2015 Ketuvot 58b ~ Rabbi Meir on Maximizing Meaning
March 2015
- Mar 26, 2015 Ketuvot 52b ~ Blood Letting
- Mar 24, 2015 Ketuvot 50a ~ The Economic Costs of Raising Children
- Mar 19, 2015 The Solar Eclipse
- Mar 15, 2015 Ketuvot 41 ~ Good Dog. Bad Dog.
- Mar 13, 2015 Happy Pi Day, Happy Birthday Albert Einstein
- Mar 10, 2015 Ketuvot 36 ~ The Aylonit Syndrome and Turner's Syndrome
- Mar 3, 2015 Ketuvot 29 ~ The Terror of Rape
February 2015
- Feb 25, 2015 Ketuvot 23b ~ The Cohen Gene
- Feb 17, 2015 Ketuvot 15a ~ Talmudic Probability Theory
- Feb 13, 2015 Ketuvot 11a ~ Conversion
- Feb 12, 2015 Ketuvot 10a ~ Virginity
- Feb 10, 2015 Ketuvot 8b ~ When Some Plagues End, and Others Begin
- Feb 6, 2015 Ketuvot 5b ~ Earlobes and Spandrels
- Feb 5, 2015 Ketuvot 3b ~ The Law of the First Night
January 2015
- Jan 30, 2015 Yevamot 118b ~ Does Marriage Make You Happier?
- Jan 28, 2015 Yevamot 116b~ Of Snakebites, Palestinian and Israeli
- Jan 25, 2015 Rabbinic Philosophies and the Scientific Method
- Jan 20, 2015 Ta’amei Hamitzvot in the British Medical Journal: The Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy: Part II
- Jan 20, 2015 Science, Torah, and The Deceased Wife’s Sister Controversy: Part I
- Jan 14, 2015 Yevamot 97a ~ Rava on Delayed Puberty in Boys
- Jan 11, 2015 Yevamot 98b ~ On Twins, and the Sperm that Splits in Two
- Jan 9, 2015 Yevamot 97a~ Plagiarism, citation, and the lips of the dead
- Jan 5, 2015 Yevamot Interlude~ Henry VIII, Yibum, and the Sotheby's Auction
December 2014
- Dec 23, 2014 Yevamot 80a~ The Premature Child is like a Stone
- Dec 22, 2014 Chanukah Interlude
- Dec 18, 2014 Yevamot 75a~ Voltaire, Rabbi Yishmael, and the man with one testicle
- Dec 16, 2014 He's not Rav Ashi*, He's Rav Levin
- Dec 15, 2014 Yevamot 72a~ Blood letting and permissive anemia
- Dec 7, 2014 Yevamot 64b ~ Urinary Tract Infections, and the Class That Went On For Too Long
- Dec 7, 2014 Yevamot 64b~ Circumcision, death, and Hemophilia A
November 2014
- Nov 15, 2014 Yevamot 42b~ The dangers of pregnancy while nursing
- Nov 15, 2014 Yevamot 42a~...an eight month fetus cannot survive

Felix, qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas…

Talmudology