The Talmud Prizes Holiness Over Beauty, Action Over Thought, and Ritual Over Belief

THE TABLET
By Adam Kirsch

Much of the Talmud, I’ve discovered in the year and a half since I began reading Daf Yomi, can be understood as a choreography of Jewish life. Just as a dancer must master an intricate series of movements and postures, so the Jew’s daily routine must follow the patterns laid out in the Talmudic tractates: when to pray, what to eat, where and how to move on Shabbat. Usually the follower of a religion is called a “believer,” but the Talmud pays little attention to what Jews believe. What concerns the rabbis is what they do, down to the smallest detail—for instance, which shoe ought to be put on first in the morning. Literary critic Adam Kirsch is reading a page of Talmud a day, along with Jews around the world. [link]