The Babylonian Talmud is known for its ability to reach increasingly impossible depths in its exploration of the most seemingly simple propositions. In this introduction to the Talmud’s style and content, we will commence with the opening page of Tractate Beitza and try to answer a (surprisingly!) complicated question: when the schools of Hillel and Shammai disagreed regarding the permissibility of an egg, where did the egg come from? No background familiarity with the text is required, and all passages will be presented in the original text and in English translation.

About the facilitator

Simon Holloway

Facilitator

Dr Simon Holloway is Manager of Community and Corporate Programs at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum and a sessional lecturer at Melbourne University, where he teaches Early Rabbinic Interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. In the evenings, Simon divides his time between the Talmud and the writings of JRR Tolkien, subjecting his children to both in roughly equal measure.