A Substantial Caveat To The Torah?”: Aggadot of the giving of the Torah on Shabbat 88a
Miriam Gedwiser
Miriam Gedwiser is the Rosh Kollel of the Drisha Summer Kollel and teaches Talmud and Tanakh at the Ramaz Upper School. She has a B.A. in the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from N.Y.U. School of Law. Miriam studied at Midreshet Lindenbaum and in the Drisha Scholar’s circle. She previously practiced commercial litigation at a large law firm and clerked for the Hon. Debra Freeman, U.S.M.J., in Manhattan. Miriam serves as a guest lecturer at synagogues and programs around the Northeast, and has written on topics of Jewish and Torah interest for The Lehrhaus, The Forward, the Center for Modern Torah Leadership blog, and Project 929. Miriam lives Teaneck, New Jersey with her family.
This section of Masekhet Shabbat contains a series of aggadot (non-legal passages) about the giving of the Torah, including a very famous passage about what really happened when the Israelites stood “at the bottom of the mountain.” We will examine these aggadot, in conversation with each other and with later interpreters, to gain insight into the role of accepting Torah in our own lives.