Below you will find the original video recording of this episode, the core Talmud sources from the conversation (click their citation hyperlinks to find the texts in their fuller context), and a section of Further Learning (links to books, articles, and additional resources mentioned by our hosts). And remember, the most fulfilling way to deepen your learning is to find a chevruta (a study partner) to share it with!

This week Dan & Benay learn with special guest scholar Shai Secunda! Shai Secunda is Jacob Neusner Professor in the History and Theology of Judaism at Bard College. He received a bachelor’s degree from Ner Israel Rabbinical College, a master’s from Johns Hopkins University, and an MA/PhD from Yeshiva University. He is the author of “The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Talmud in its Sasanian Context” (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014) and “The Talmud’s Red Fence: Menstruation and Difference in Babylonian Judaism and its Sasanian Context” (Oxford University Press, 2020).

• What are some aspects of the geopolitical context in which the Talmud was formed?
• What was it about the time, space, and culture where the Rabbis lived that led them to construct the Gemara, its winding justifications and responses to the rarely justified radical changes of the Mishnah?
• How granular can we get into eras of the Talmudic period?
• Was anyone else doing what the Rabbis were?
• How do we navigate difficult gaps in evidence?

Interview with Professor Shai Secunda of Bard College, author of The Iranian Talmud: Reading the Bavli in Its Sasanian Context

[1] Al-Yahudu “Jew Town” in Babylonia in the 500s BCE (wikipedia entry on the tablets)

[2] Some background on Shamma Friedman and David Weiss Halivni’s work to highlight the anonymous editor(s) of the Talmud, known as the Stama - in an article on TabletMag by Shai Secunda

[3] The Oral Talmud: Episode 4 - Retelling the History - David Kraemer

[4] David Weiss Halivni’s Books “Sources and Traditions/Mikorot u’Masorot” via Gefen Publishing

[5] Damascus Document of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Wikipedia Entry)

[6] Rav on studying with a Zoroastrian Magus (Shabbat 75a)

[7] The Talmud’s story about the Sasanian Queer Mother Ifera Hurmiz/Hormizd on (Bava Batra 8a/b)

[8] Example of the Stamma claiming that the name King Shapur really referred to Shmuel or Rava (Pesachim 54a)

[9] “The First Beit Midrash: The Yeshivah of Shem and Eber” by Miriam Pearl Klahr (on Kol Hamevaser/Yeshiva University’s website)

[10] Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, "The Babylonian Talmud and Jewish-Christian Literary Relations" with Boston College Center for Christian-Jewish Learning (on YouTube)

[11] Simcha Gross “Rabbis in Zoroastrian Fire Temples: A New History of Jews in the Sasanian Empire” with Stanford Iranian Studies Program (on YouTube)

[12] Dr. Yifat Monnickendam, articles on her bio at Tel Aviv University

[13] For an example of mideival C-Texts, explore this wikipedia article about Piers Plowman (including early Robin Hood references!)

[14] Zoroastrian Priest Kartir/Kerdir and his Inscription (on wikipedia)

[15] Perek HaChovel, which overturns “Eye for an Eye, Tooth for a Tooth” begins on Bava Kamma 83b

Visit The Oral Talmud's web site at www.OralTalmud.com

Learn more Talmud with Benay Lappe at SVARA by checking out www.svara.org

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