Julian Ungar-Sargon

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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Ketubot 16: Flattering The Bride כיצד מרקדין לפני הכלה

jyungar July 22, 2022

For the source text click/tap here: Ketubot 16

To download, click/tap here: PDF

Our daf records a dispute between Beis Shamai and Beis Hillel about how we are to praise the Kalah when we dance before her ("Keitzad Merakdim Lifnei ha'Kalah"). The simple understanding of the Gemara is that the Mitzvah is to make the Kalah happy.

What if she does not deserve praise? According to our interpretation, Beit Shammai favors truth, whereas Beit HiIlel prefers peace.

We explore the conflict between truth telling vs flattery, and rabbinic notions of truth and truthfulness.

Samuel Leiter examines the semantic and literary notions of acclamation and worthiness in the talmud and the notion of beauty in contrast to the Greeks.

Despite the arguments and academic discussions, the children of Beis Shammai and Beis Hillel would nevertheless marry suggesting the mutual respect between scholars trumped local theory and praxis.

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​