On Things I Learned In Yeshiva...And Things I Didn't Learn In Yeshiva

Things I learned in Yeshiva...
And things I didn't learn in Yeshiva...

There was a major Posek in the Middle Ages known as the Rambam. He composed the Mishneh Torah, a major encyclopedial work on Jewish law.
He was highly controversial in his day and was influenced by Aristotlean ideals.

There was a commentary on the Talmud known as the Meiri.
That commentary was lost for hundreds of years and only found long after his death.

That there was a prophet in ancient Israel known as Yeshayahu (Isaiah) who was righteous.
That he preached that substance was more important than form; that what was more important was how your heart felt about the Creator and your relationship with Him rather than how many sacrifices you brought or other external shows of piety.

That there was a book called Iyov that explained why bad things happen to good people.
That the explaination boils down to because "God said so and I know better than you."

That Dovid's soldiers routinely gave their wives divorces before warfare, lest they should be lost in battle and force their wives to remain as agunos.
That there is absolutely no mention of this anywhere in Judaic literature until much, much, much later.

That there are twelve months in the Jewish year, each with their own names.
That the names of the months come from Babylonian dieties.

That the Torah is true and that everything in it is literally true unless hashkafah demands that it be explained differently (such as the anthropomorphical statements about God).
That it is legitimate to state that the Torah sometimes uses metaphor to convey a point and that not every point must be *literally* true.

That Chazal knew science perfectly. The Tana'im and Amoraim could have built airplanes if they wanted to.
That this idea is so totally ridiculous that if you believe it, you're seriously hallucinating. But I didn't have to learn that in Yeshiva. I knew that already.


The Wolf