For the source text click/tap here: Pesachim 65
To download, click/tap here: PDF
Sometimes we we will encounter material that may feel foreign or even, at times, repugnant. (We will of course face this challenge again when we get to entire tractates that deal with laws of Temple service and sacrificial worship.) How can we respond to this challenge? In a number of ways: We can view these pages as material that we have to get through as part of the Daf Yomi cycle.
It may seem boring or irrelevant, but in the spirit of Nike, we’ll “Just Do It.” As part of our Mesorah.
A second approach would be to adopt an anthropological curiosity, approaching the text with the intention of learning about the theology or culture of Temple worship.
Or, third, we can embrace the task of finding meaning, despite the difficult or uninspiring nature of the subject matter. Ultimately, we may come to find meaning in the content itself, or we may derive meaning from the fact and process of our study.
Yet we must never lose our moral compass or critical tools.
So when on this Daf we are told :
: אוֹי לוֹ מִי שֶׁבָּנָיו נְקֵבוֹת
leads us to examineHassidic Women and then
Gender Identity in Halakhic Discourse, and The Effect of Traditional Masculinity on Gender Equality