The Rabbis of the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE began their most central document, the Mishnah, characteristically, with a question.  By asking מאימתי“  ... when ?” they gave shape to the entirety of Jewish prayer. The Rabbis of the Mishnah were speaking for the first time of a prayer known as the Shema , wondering when it could be recited before they could even ask what it was. The Talmud, the classic Rabbinic commentary on the Mishnah begins by asking היכא“where?”   

Writing in a different language, Aramaic, and living in a different land, Sassanian Babylonia,  they wanted to know how anyone could begin asking “when?” about an issue like prayer before they answered questions like “What?” or “Why?”   Exploring these first Rabbinic questions, Loren Spielman will teach an eight session introductory Talmud class on Tractate Berachot. Join us Tuesdays 7:30 – 9:00 pm, as we begin at the beginning .  Study the contours of Jewish prayer in a new way through a very old text.