2 thoughts on “Lost My Place

  1. I was just going to write a letter to World Jewish Digest about this. Who are these guys? The cartoon is cute, but I’m wondering where they learn, and what they learn, and who’s teaching it to them. A few notes:
    -Rashi is not known to ever have been to the land of Israel, so the “footsteps of the Talmudic masters,” inasmuch as Rashi was one as a commentator on the Talmud, would not have taken him through the alleys of the old city by the alley cats.
    -The Rif is an acrostic for Rabbi Isaac Alfasi. Therefore, you can’t say R. Rif (R standing for rabbi or rav).
    -The Rif is a Rishon, who would quote what Resh Laksish (an amora) used to say but would more likely comment on the Talmud’s interpretation of it, probably only inasmuch as it related to halacha/legal decisions.
    -The sage Yochanan is here referred to as both “Rabbi” and “Rebbe.”
    It’s a fun idea to combine Talmud and cartoons, but it’s much less amusing when the authors don’t know much about Talmud.

  2. oh, i know — i was being half-dorky and half obscure, with a bunch of jokes that didn’t totally make their way through from script to comic to newspaper. the “footsteps of the talmudic masters” line is actually said about the yeshiva and the learning, not the geographical area, but you’re absolutely right on the other counts.
    keep in mind that we were (respectively) in nachlaot and in a forest in new hampshire at the time, and working off minutes of stolen wireless and rented scanners! (linksys, whoever you are, we are so grateful.) and it actually leads into a whole subplot involving r’ yochanan and reish lakish, which i promise you’ll like if you like anything to do with “the sage.”
    thanks for thinking it’s cute, though!

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