Q&A: Questions about the Talmud
Questions about the Talmud
Question
Hello Rabbi,
1) What is the difference, or distinction, between "if you want, say" and "alternatively," when the Talmud gives an answer?
2) Why is it the way of the Talmud to explain the first Mishnah at length, while the Mishnahs that follow are explained briefly?
Thank you, Rabbi.
Answer
- I think that usually "if you want, say" is brought for an overall line of reasoning in the Talmud (like "another version"), whereas "alternatively" is brought for specific answers. But I haven’t checked. In principle, I don’t think there has to be a difference.
2. I hadn’t noticed that phenomenon. If it really exists, one can think of explanations, some of them very prosaic. For example, the editor put all the material relevant to the first passage in because he didn’t know whether it would make it in later on. Or after the first passage he got a bit tired.
Discussion on Answer
Maybe originally the Talmud came after the end of the Mishnah chapter and not after each individual law, and the explanation of the basic issues was inserted immediately after the Mishnah chapter, and the editors simply put the explanation of the Mishnah first and then the explanation of the issues.
Interesting questions. It seems to me the Ratio site would be happy to answer them. They deal quite a bit with things like this.
Even though in this case I’m not sure, because I don’t think there’s even a single source for this; it just developed over the generations.
Usually, in the discussion on the first Mishnah, foundational issues are dealt with that also relate to the later Mishnahs and to the chapter as a whole, and in the Talmud’s usual way they pull in discussions on similar topics and so on. So on average the first Mishnah is indeed longer (that’s my personal impression; anyone with the time and the nerves can survey the entire Talmud).