Rabbi Rosenberg is talking about the Talmud and the Internet. His question: Is the Talmud just like the Internet?

The 6th Century text is printed with commentary all around it. [Illustration] Traditionally it is studied by people in pairs, taking turns reading it aloud and then arguing over the meaning via reference to the commentaries.

The Talmud’s hyperlinked presentation is like the the Internet. But the Internet is “insufficiently oral” and is much less fixed than the Talmud. Blogging is like commenting on the Talmud, but not every commentary counts as part of the Talmud.

He asks what difference it makes whether the Internet is like the Talmud? Are we saying that the Talmud is hip or that the Internet is holy (or both or neither). “Suffice it to say, the Talmud is not just like the Internet.”

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