Pesachim 34a, b

We stretch today, just a bit, from yesterday's discussion regarding the uses of impure terumah.  Today's conversation does not even pretend to be about Pesach. Daf (a) looks at what qualifies as terumah and as impure terumah over time/generations.  Daf (b) looks at the disqualification of terumah in greater detail.

Beyond the arguments, here are some of the points that stand out:

• an animal sacrifice that has a "disqualification of the body" (does this mean 'less than perfect'?) is burned immediately upon arriving at the temple
• piggul is an offering that is not valid because the owner has inappropriate intention
• disqualifications other than "disqualification of the body" are set aside one day until "the form has decayed" and then is burned
• one must pay close attention to terumah at all times to ensure that it has not been in contact with impurity
• ritual impurity comes in two forms: it imparts impurity to other objects or it invalidates other objects but does not impart impurity
• Rabbi Yirmeya was an amora from Babylonia who studied in Israel under Rabbi Yochanan's students Rabbi Zeira and Rabbi Abbahu.  He was punished and removed from the study hall due to his "sharp tongue", saying things like "foolish Babylonians".  He is the often the unnamed amora referred to as, "They say in the West" (Steinsaltz)
• In determining ritual purity, it is significant when/in which order the blood was sprinkled, when/in which order the object was ritually immersed/consecrated, (in which order, in planting, impure water contacted the ritual bath and then was consecrated), and whether/when the object was consecrated in speech.
• when a corpse touches a vessel (1st degree ritual impurity and the vessel touches grapes (2nd degree ritual impurity) and the grapes produce liquid (3rd degree ritual impurity), that liquid is deemed ritually impure by rabbinic decree
• when that vessel touches something other than the grapes (2nd degree impurity) and that item touches the grapes (3rd degree impurity) the liquid produced by the grapes is ritually pure
• spring water that is used for purification offering are considered to be physically connected to the spring

Again, today's daf was one that introduced me to a number of issues I have never considered.  As well, it succeed in proving my lack of background and understanding of many underlying concepts.

I find that sometimes learning Talmud leaves me feeling bright, like I have exercised my brain.  Other times it leaves me feeling dull, as though I might never scratch the surface of this text.  So I tell myself, on both days, "let's see what tomorrow brings".