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<DIV><FONT face=Arial><A
href="http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/text_context/shadow_destruction">http://www.thejewishweek.com/special_sections/text_context/shadow_destruction</A></FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><SPAN class=760393014-07102011><FONT face=Arial>"</FONT></SPAN>The
mechanics of compiling, editing and transmitting an oral text like the Talmud
are still in the process of being sorted out, but already one cannot help but
marvel at the optimism of the Talmudic rabbis who handed this encyclopedic text
to their students in the hope and expectation that the next generation of rabbis
would do the same<SPAN class=760393014-07102011>"</SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=760393014-07102011></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=760393014-07102011><FONT
face=Arial>============================================================</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=760393014-07102011><FONT face=Arial>I've always wondered about
this (forgetting about for now the trend at the time to written works
etc.), did the Talmudic Rabbis prior to Rebbi have an expectation that
their talmidim would master the entire corpus of what had been said prior to
their time? What about prior to Ravina ands Rav Ashi? or was there
an expectation that only "major themes and opinions" (TBD) would be
preserved (e.g. do we think that every position of every tanna on every subject
was preserved?)</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=760393014-07102011><FONT face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=760393014-07102011><FONT face=Arial>GCT<BR>Joel
Rich</FONT></SPAN></DIV><br><br><table bgcolor=white style="color:black"><tr><td>THIS MESSAGE IS INTENDED ONLY FOR THE USE OF THE <br>
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