Pt1 Trending Talmud: Top Queries, Popular Posts, and Plain Readings of Controversial Talmudic Passages

Controversial Talmud Topics: Non-Jews; Jesus; and Halachic Sexual Maturity

This is the first part of a three-part series. The outline of the series is below.

This post displays the top 30 queries and the most popular pieces on my website, according to Google. It also responds to the clear search interest in controversial Talmudic passages, as indicated by keyword analytics from this blog and ChavrutAI usage patterns.

The approach here follows my established methodology: examining the pshat (plain meaning) of these texts to increase accessibility, with minimal annotation.

For readers interested in the post-Talmudic history of controversies surrounding the Talmud (especially historical Christian critiques and censorship), Wikipedia, “Talmud”, section “Criticism”, provides an overview.

I’ve discussed many related topics already in previous posts: the Talmudic principle that “a non-Jew has no father” in tractate Yevamot (and see my introductory note there), the stylized narrative of the execution of Jesus’ students (censored from the 19th-century Romm-Vilna edition), and discussions of non-Jewish wine, including notes on the term “worshipper of stars” (עובד כוכבים) as a censorship-driven substitute for “non-Jew.”

Unsurprisingly, both antisemitic critics and Orthodox Jewish apologists often approach these passages with a lack of intellectual honesty, offering interpretations that are either incorrect or deliberately misleading. This analysis does not engage in apologetics. It aims to present the passages as they are, without distortion.

Outline

Intro

Outline

Top Queries and Popular Posts

1. Top 30 queries leading to my website (ezrabrand.com) in the last 3 months, according to Google

   1. Screenshot

2. The 20 most popular pieces on my website (ezrabrand.com) in the last 3 months, according to Google

   1. Screenshot

3. Top 30 queries leading to my ChavrutAI (chavrutai.com) in the last 3 months, according to Google

4. The 20 most popular pages on ChavrutAI (chavrutai.com) in the last 3 months, according to Google

Controversial Talmudic Passages - A Plain Reading Without Apologetics

Jesus’ parents: Stada, Pandeira, and Mary (Shabbat 104b)

1. Name Confusion and Identity Debate re Ben-Stada

Intro to Ages of Sexual Maturity and Legal Status in the relevant Talmudic passages

Legal Sexual Maturity: Girl - at age 3; Boy - at age 9 (Sanhedrin 55b; = Niddah 44b-45a ; Mishnah Niddah 5:4-5)

The Ages of Female Sexual Maturity and Ability to Give Birth (Niddah 45a)

1. Anecdote of Justenia and R’ Yehuda HaNasi

2. Baraita - minor, pregnant, and nursing women are permitted to use a contraceptive cloth

3. R’ Meir defines the minor as between age 11 and 12; younger girls, he says, face no risk because they cannot conceive

4. The (majority) Rabbis disagree, saying all may have sex without precaution, trusting divine mercy (“YHWH preserves the simple,” Psalms 116:6)

5. Explaining Justenia’s Pregnancy: non-Jews are different, or she lied

6. The Case Before R’ Akiva: A woman told R’ Akiva she had sex before age 3 and asked if she was fit to marry a priest

Determining Which Midianite Women Were Killed in Numbers 31:17–18 (Yevamot 60b)

1. Fit for Sex, But Didn’t Actually Have Sex

2. Testing for Sexual Maturity via the High Priest’s frontplate (tzitz); a sallow face (from dropsy, hydrokan) signifies sexual transgression

3. Testing for Virginity (Judges 21:12)

4. For Jews, the tzitz serves only “for acceptance” before God, not for punishment

Impurity of a Non-Jewish Child Experiencing Ziva (Avodah Zarah 36b-37a)

1. R’ Zeira, R’ Asi, R’ Yoḥanan, R’ Yannai, R’ Natan ben Amram, and R’ Yehuda HaNasi query re the age at which a male non-Jew becomes subject to the impurity of ziva (a genital discharge associated with sexual function)

2. Disagreement Between R’ Yehuda HaNasi and R’ Ḥiyya: a non-Jewish male imparts impurity from birth (“one day old”), or from age 9

3. Ravina extends this reasoning to a female non-Jew, who acquires this capacity—and hence this form of impurity—at the age of 3

Appendix - Child Testimony About Personal Status and Family Lineage (Ketubot 28b)

1. Scope of Credible Testimony that an adult may later testify about things heard or seen as a child: that his father said a certain family was kosher or disqualified, that the family ate at a communal ceremony marking a socially unsuitable marriage, or that they brought ḥalla to a certain priest

2. If the witness had been a non-Jew or a slave and later converted or was freed, his childhood testimony is invalid

3. One cannot testify about rights of passage that he saw as a child

4. Meaning of “Ketzatza”: a public ritual condemning a man’s marriage to a woman of flawed lineage; His family broke a jug of fruit in the square

   1. ... and proclaimed their disapproval, warning others not to mix their descendants with his

Top 30 queries leading to my website (ezrabrand.com) in the last 3 months, according to Google

(According to Google Search Console,¹ section “Performance” > “Queries”; after the queries “ezra brand” and “talmud”) :

1. lucky in hebrew

2. ma’aseh bereshit

3. ketoret incense recipe

4. talmud child sex

5. nombres teofóricos

6. theophoric names in the bible

7. talmud sex with children

8. judaism and masturbation

9. talmud and pedophilia

10. freud hydraulic model

11. turnus rufus

12. talmud child abuse

13. patronymic

14. jewish honorifics

15. theophoric names

16. glick

17. avonymic

18. list of tractates in talmud

19. what does the talmud say about sex

20. ketoret

21. kushi meaning hebrew

22. gezerah shavah

23. masturbation in judaism

24. אם בארזים נפלה שלהבת באנגלית

25. talmud sex with minors

26. ezekiel 9 meaning

27. nombres teofóricos en la biblia

28. can jews masterbate

29. ashkenazi jewish surnames

Screenshot:

The 20 most popular pieces on my website (ezrabrand.com) in the last 3 months, according to Google

(According to Google Search console, section “Performance” > “Pages”):²

1. Passions and Prohibitions: Some Notes on Sex in the Talmud

2. “Adultery with the hand”: The Talmud on Masturbation and Guidelines for How Men Should Urinate and Check for Emissions (Niddah 13a-b)

3. Towns in the United States with Names from the Hebrew Bible

4. Divine Symbols and Historical Shifts: The Significance of the Tav Mark in Ezekiel and the Precise Moment of the Patriarchs’ Merit’s End (Shabbat 55a)

5. The List of Ingredients in the Temple Incense: The ‘Ketoret’ Formula in Detail (Keritot 6a)

6. Happy and Lucky: ‘Asher‘, ‘Gad‘, ‘Mazal‘ and other Related Names in Jewish Historical Name Usage

7. The Colorful World of Ashkenazi Jewish Surnames: A Journey Through Colors and Minerals

8. Letter Permutations (Tzerufim) in Medieval Hebrew Literature: Origins and Development

9. Releasing the Pressure: A Dive into Freud’s Hydraulic Model of the Mind

10. Popular Myths About the Talmud: A Critical Examination

11. Godly Nomenclature: Theophoric Names in the Hebrew Bible

12. Word Counts of All Chapters in Talmud Bavli

13. Talmudic Sayings: Exploring The Wisdom of the Talmud

14. How To Download Sefaria’s Entire Talmud At Once

15. The Evolution of Hebrew Script and Ezra’s Role in Torah Transmission (Sanhedrin 21b-22a)

16. The Many Names of God: Divine Epithets in the Talmud

17. The Densest Daf - Which Page of the Talmud Contains the Most Text? A Word Count Analysis That Definitively Identifies the Talmud’s Wordiest Pages

18. The ‘Drawn Foreskin’ (’Moshekh Orlah‘): Undoing Circumcision and Foreskin Restoration in Classical History and in the Talmudic Sources

19. Pt1 The Celestial Spheres According to Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah (Laws of Foundations of the Torah 3:1-9)

20. Identifying the Most Quoted Sages in the Talmud’s Aggada: A Programmatic and Quantitative Study

Screenshot:

Top 30 queries leading to my ChavrutAI (chavrutai.com) in the last 3 months, according to Google

(According to Google Search console, section “Performance” > “Queries”; after the query “chavrutai”) :

1. niddah 45a

2. yevamot 98a

3. avodah zarah 37a

4. sanhedrin 55b

5. baba kamma 37b

6. shabbat 104b

7. yevamot 57b

8. sanhedrin 106a

9. bava kamma 113b

10. talmud sanhedrin 55b

11. yevamot 98a english

12. yevamot 60b

13. yevamot 61a

14. bekhorot 45b

15. shabbat 104b english

16. gittin 51a

17. talmud yevamot 60b

18. talmud shabbat 152a

19. talmud niddah 45b

20. ketubot 39a

21. menachot 43b

22. niddah 44b

23. kiddushin 21b

24. shabbat 152a

25. shabbat 116a

26. sanhedrin 58b english

27. shabbat 32b

28. sanhedrin 59b

The 20 most popular pages on ChavrutAI (chavrutai.com) in the last 3 months, according to Google

(According to Google Search console, section “Performance” > “Pages”):³

1. Shabbat 104B (see my analysis below)

2. Sanhedrin 55B (see my analysis below)

3. Yevamot 98A (see my analysis here: “‘A Non-Jew Has No Father’: The Halachic Status of Convert Brothers and Their Wives in the Context of Levirate Marriage and Sexual Prohibitions (Yevamot 97b-98a)”

4. Yevamot 60B (see my analysis below)

5. Avodah Zarah 37A (see my analysis below)

6. Avodah Zarah 26B (see my analysis here: “[Appendix 3 - Treatment of Outsiders and Transgressors: Rules for Rescuing Non-Jews, Shepherds, Heretics, Informers, and Apostates (Avodah Zarah 26a-b = Tosefta Bava Metzia 2:13)]”)

7. Niddah 45A (see my analysis below)

8. Yevamot 57B

9. Yoma 11B

10. Zevachim 37B

11. Yevamot 63A (see my “Preparing Her Mouth and “Turning Her Back”: The Talmud on the “The Bad Wife” (Yevamot 63b)”)

12. Bava Kamma 113B

13. Niddah 44B (see my analysis below)

14. Sanhedrin 106A (see my analysis in my two-part series:“The Prophet, the Prostitutes, and the Curses Reversed: The Biblical Story of Balaam in Talmudic Interpretation (Sanhedrin 105b-106b)”, final part here)

15. Shabbat 152A (see my analysis in my two-part series:“Snowy Mountains and Three Legs: Aphorisms and Metaphorical Portraits of Aging in the Talmud (Shabbat 152a)”, final part here)

16. Niddah 45B

17. Ketubot 9B

18. Gittin 51A

19. Ketubot 28B

Controversial Talmudic Passages - A Plain Reading Without Apologetics

Jesus’ parents: Stada, Pandeira, and Mary (Shabbat 104b)

Shabbat.104b.5⁴

The Mishnah discusses one who scratches letters into his skin (i.e., tattooing) on Shabbat. R’ Eliezer deems him liable; the rabbis exempt him.

A baraita reports that R’ Eliezer cited “Ben-Stada,” who brought magical spells from Egypt scratched into his flesh, as evidence that writing by incision counts as writing. The rabbis dismiss the example: he was a fool, and fools are not probative.

המסרט על בשרו.

תניא, אמר להן רבי אליעזר לחכמים:

והלא בן סטדא הוציא כשפים ממצרים בסריטה שעל בשרו?

אמרו לו:

שוטה היה,

ואין מביאין ראיה מן השוטים.

We learned in the Mishnah: If one unwittingly scratches letters on his flesh on Shabbat, R’ Eliezer deems him liable to bring a sin-offering and the rabbis deem him exempt.

It was taught in a baraita that R’ Eliezer said to the Rabbis:

Didn’t the infamous Ben-Stada (בן סטדא) take magic spells out of Egypt in a scratch on his flesh?

They said to him:

He was a fool (שוטה),

and you cannot cite proof from a fool. That is not the way that most people write.

Name Confusion and Identity Debate re Ben-Stada

The discussion turns to the puzzling name Ben-Stada. Rav Ḥisda proposes that his legal father was Stada, while his biological father was Pandeira.⁵

״בן סטדא״?

בן פנדירא הוא!

אמר רב חסדא:

• בעל

  • ״סטדא״,

• בועל

  • ״פנדירא״.

Incidentally, the Talmud asks: Why did they call him Ben-Stada, when he was the son of Pandeira ( פנדירא)?

Rav Ḥisda said:

• His mother’s husband (בעל), who acted as his father,

  • was named Stada,

• but the one who had sex (בועל - see my discussion on Talmudic Hebrew terms for sex) with his mother and fathered him

  • was named Pandeira.

The Talmud objects that his mother’s husband was Pappos ben Yehuda; thus, “Stada” must refer to his mother.

Another objection identifies his mother as Miriam, a woman known for braiding women’s hair.

The conclusion: “Stada” is not a proper name but a nickname—“she strayed (סטת - ‘setat’) from her husband.”

בעל פפוס בן יהודה הוא?

אלא אמו ״סטדא״.

אמו מרים מגדלא שער נשיא הואי?

אלא כדאמרי בפומבדיתא: סטת דא מבעלה.

The Talmud asks: Wasn’t his mother’s husband Pappos ben Yehuda?

Rather, his mother was named Stada and he was named ben Stada after her.

The Talmud asks: But wasn’t his mother Miriam, who braided women’s hair? The Talmud explains: That is not a contradiction.

Rather, Stada was merely a nickname, as they say in Pumbedita: This one strayed [setat da] from her husband.

1. This is the main tool that I use for analytics (I’ve found it to be better for my purposes than Google Analytics, for a variety of reasons).

See Wikipedia, “Google Search Console“:

Google Search Console (formerly Google Webmaster Tools) is a web service by Google which allows webmasters to check indexing status, search queries, crawling errors and optimize visibility of their websites.

Until 20 May 2015, the service was called Google Webmaster Tools.

The specific technical URL path to the relevant report is as follows (not publicly accessible):

https://search.google.com/search-console/performance/search-analytics?resource_id=sc-domain%3Aezrabrand.com&breakdown=page

2. I changed the pure URL path to a hyperlinked page, with page name displayed, see the subsequent screenshot.

3. After the homepage itself - https://chavrutai.com/.

As in previous, I changed the pure URL path to a hyperlinked page, with page name displayed, see the subsequent screenshot.

And I added in parentheses whether I’ve analyzed the page later in this series, or elsewhere.

4. On this sugya, compare Wikipedia, “Jesus in the Talmud“, section “As evidence of the historical Jesus“, and ibid., section “Possible Talmudic references“, especially sub-section “Mother and father“.

5. This segment of the passage and the next are censored from the traditional printed version of the Talmud - 19th century Romm-Vilna; see https://manuscripts.sefaria.org/vilna-romm/Shabbat_104b.jpg.

On this name, see my “Four More Stories Relating to Remarriage (Jerusalem Talmud Yevamot 16:4.2-9.2)“, section “Story of the Interrogation of Ben Stara in Lod“, and note there.

And see my “Annotated List of Talmudic Figures Known as ‘Ben X’ or ‘Bar X,’ and Stories of Ben Zoma (Chagigah 14b-15a)“, section “Annotated List of 70+ names of People known Primarily as ‘Ben X’ or ‘Bar X’“, list item #66:

Ben Stada / Setada - the purported true father of Jesus, on him, see my piece “Four More Stories Relating to Remarriage (Jerusalem Talmud Yevamot 16:4.2-9.2)”; and ישו (יהדות) – ויקיפדיה, section “בן פנדירא ובן סטדא”.

In general, see “Jesus in the Talmud“ (ibid.), section “Disputations and censorship“, sub-section “Text-criticism, versions, and alterations“:

Starting in the 13th century, manuscripts of the Talmud were sometimes altered in response to the criticisms made during the disputations and in response to orders from the Christian church.

Existing manuscripts were sometimes altered (for example, by erasure), and new manuscripts often omitted the passages entirely.

Peter Schäfer compared several editions and documented some alterations as illustrated in the following table:

I discuss those passages here:

• “[Appendix 1 - Onkelos Consults Judaism’s Historical Enemies: Seeking Advice from the Dead Titus, Balaam, and Jesus on Judaism and Conversion (Gittin 56b-57a)]“

• “Joy, Waterskin, and Students of Jesus: Talmudic Wordplay on the Names of Heretics (Sukkah 48b; Sanhedrin 43a)“ (as linked to also in my intro), section “The Trial of Jesus’s Five Disciples (=Apostles): A Narrative of Names, Scriptural Wordplay, and Verdicts (Sanhedrin 43a)“.

And see the previous segment there, on the execution of Jesus himself, Sanhedrin.43a.20 (all the sections there on Jesus are censored from the traditional 19th century Romm-Vilna printed edition):

[…]

תניא:

בערב הפסח תלאוהו לישו הנוצרי,

והכרוז יוצא לפניו ארבעים יום:

״ישו הנוצרי יוצא ליסקל

על ש

1. כישף

2. והסית

3. והדיח את ישראל.

כל מי שיודע לו זכות —

יבוא וילמד עליו״.

ולא מצאו לו זכות,

ותלאוהו בערב הפסח

[…]

taught in a baraita:

On Passover Eve they hung (תלאוהו) the corpse of Jesus the Nazarene after they killed him by way of stoning.

And a crier (כרוז) went out before him for 40 days, publicly proclaiming:

“Jesus the Nazarene is going out to be stoned

because he

1. practiced sorcery,

2. incited (הסית) people to idol worship,

3. and led astray (הדיח) the Jewish people

Anyone who knows of a reason to acquit him —

should come forward and teach it on his behalf.”

And the court did not find a reason to acquit him,

and so they stoned him and hung his corpse on Passover eve.

For another Talmudic mention of Jesus, see my “Roman Hegemon and Divine Judgement: R’ Eliezer’s Heresy Trial and a Teaching Attributed to Jesus on Using a Prostitute’s Earnings to Fund a Temple Bathroom (Avodah Zarah 16b-17a)“.