“Maybe the reason they were undoing the original covenant was to give themselves a little breathing room, saying, ‘God actually gave us permission to play.’” - Benay Lappe

Welcome to The Oral Talmud, our weekly deep dive chevruta study partnership, discovering how voices of the Talmud from 1500 years ago can help us rethink Judaism today. 

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This week we’re exploring another foundational origin story in Talmud: a re-writing of the already dramatic scene of receiving Torah at the foot of Mount Sinai. The sages say that when scripture says we “under” the mountain, that doesn’t mean the mountain’s shadow; instead, the rabbis say “under” means that God had literally picked the mountain up and threatened to drop it on us if we didn’t accept Torah! What if the Sinai covenant came out of duress and within a power imbalance? How and where did the Rabbis ratify our obligation if not from Mount Sinai?

This week’s texts: 

• “Beneath” Mount Sinai (Shabbat 88a)
• The Book of Esther (Chapter 9)

The Oral Talmud is a co-production of Judaism Unbound and SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva. 

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