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Menahot 99: On Honoring Torah and the Influence of the Sages’ Own Experiences

04.20.2026 | ג׳ באייר תשפ״ו

More on King Solomon’s 10 tables, and how the kohanim put the shewbread on Moses’ table and not Solomon’s (or was it one table at a time, including Solomon’s tables?). Also, the concept of increasing in holiness and never diminishing it – as familiar from Chanukah, and applied here. Plus, not mocking one who has forgotten his Torah, but treating such a person with respect — and a key example of how a sage’s own life story may have impact on the positions he takes in the Gemara. Also, a new mishnah! Of the tables, and of two at the entrance of the sanctuary, one was marble and one was gold – with the preparation for the shewbread and then the staged removal of the old shewbread. Plus, the pageantry of switching in the new shewbread for the old. And the brief days during which eating the bread was valid (and how two days of not cooking led to Babylonian returnees eating raw meat). Also, the question of when to learn non-Torah subjects like Greek philosophy.

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Anne and Yardaena

Anne Gordon is the deputy editor of Ops & Blogs at The Times of Israel. She is a veteran educator, having taught in high school and post-high school institutions in Israel and America for several decades. Yardaena Osband is a pediatrician and teaches in her community and online. They both hail from Boston, proud alumna of Maimonides School, where they first learned Gemara. Talking Talmud is their conversation (via podcast) on the daf yomi. They say: “Learning the daf? We have something for you to think about. Not learning the daf? We have something for you to think about! (Along with a taste of the daf…) Join the conversation with us!”

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