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Talking Talmud

Sanhedrin 56: Blessing God: The Need for Euphemism

02.11.2025 | י״ג בשבט תשפ״ה

A new mishnah! A blasphemer is only culpable once he mentions the Name of God. All testimony would be provided using a euphemism, until the very end, when one occasion of direct citation of the blasphemy would take place before any judgement would be brought into effect. The judges who heard this would tear their garments for this desecration. Also, the 7 Noachide laws, and dispute over what they are. That is, the sages had other laws to add – several of which were connected to false approaches to the Divine or witchcraft, but even grafting was recommended for the list, though they weren’t included, in the long run. Plus, a discussion on the nature of civil law, and why it is one of the 7 (except for the view that says it doesn’t belong there, and “sterilization and grafting/kilayim” were substituted instead).

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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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