On the Sixth Day: An Imagined Creation Story
- Leann Shamash
- 13 hours ago
- 4 min read
#masechetshevuot #shevuot #oaths #oathsandpromises #modernmidrash #language #talkingtalmud #wordshavewings #dafyomi #trust #parshatkorach
Hello!
I am doing a two-for one post this week as this past Sunday (6/22/25) was the siyum (the completion ceremony) for the 25th tractate of this cycle of Daf Yomi, Masechet Shevuot.
If you have been following this blog for a while, you might remember that I try to write a post for each tractate of the Tamud. We are now completing the 25th tractate in this sven year cycle where find ourselves well into year five!
Now back to Shevuot! This tractate was rich in detailed cases and poor in Aggadita (non-legal material) and, the material, frankly, was hard for me to follow. You can find a quick overview on Masechet Shevuot here from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz's Alef Society, but the short story is it deals with oaths and who can be a credible witness in a court of law.
On page 28b of this technical tractate appeared a story within a story of two brothers at the Academy in Pumbedita, one testing the other on this very tractate! As I walked along listening to the daf podcast, suddenly I was transported back into the study halls of Pumbedita to witness these brothers jousting over the meanings of different g'maras. I imagined them to be in their teens, whiskers just appearing on their faces. One sits and one hovers above, trying to look imposing, teacher like! How long we have been studying Daf Yomi. What a wide net it covers!
Here is the passage from the Daf.
It is related that the Sage Eifa learned tractate Shevuot in the academy of Rabba. His brother Avimi met him and tested him concerning the halakhot of oaths. Avimi said to him: If one says: On my oath I did not eat, and then again: On my oath I did not eat, what is the halakha? Eifa said to him: He is liable only once if he ate. Avimi said to him: You have confused the issue. Since the oaths are about the past, it is not a question of whether the second oath takes effect. Each time, a false oath was issued, and each was a separate transgression. Shevuot 28b
Somehow or other, this scene on Daf 28b was the inspiration for this concluding poem on Masechet Shevuot. I took this poem from the halls of Pumbedita, to the days of Creation, back to us learning the Daf now.
So, here is an imagined post (not based on any commentators comments) about what I deem to be the bottom lines of the tractate; that we need to think carefully before we make any promises, but also that the law tries to create safeguards for those in courts who need to hear the testimonies of witnesses. How does the court overcome mistrust of those who stand and swear on the truth? It leads us to wonder what the truth is? Can truth ever be absolute and how does perception impact on perceived truths?
The news flies so quickly these days that I am not certain how to end this introduction, so I will stay consistent and wish for better news soon.
Thank you for reading Words Have Wings.
Leann
On the Sixth Day: An Imagined Creation Story for Masechet Shevuot
On that sixth day, Gd created man.
When Gd created the mouth of man, Gd included the ability to speak,
to laugh, to cry out in sorrow.
On that day Gd gave man the ability to tell truths,
but also the occasional proclivity to bend the truth in many directions.
When, on this same sixth day, Gd created the eyes of man
Gd gave man the ability to see, to observe
color, shape and form,
and the ability to discriminate between forms.
Within, between those eyes, was placed perspective,
how we see things clearly,
but sometimes blurred and obscured.
At times those eyes judged,
for good or for naught.
When Gd created hands Gd enabled a myriad of actions;
to work, to build, to raze, to take,
to give and even to create,
but with those hands materials were needed.
Lots and lots of needs,
perhaps more than could be managed.
When Gd created the heart of man,
Gd constructed it to be far more than a mechanism to pump,
but also to love, to hate, to care,
along with the ability to trust,
but hand in hand with trust
came the kernels of suspicion and doubt.
And in that heart seeds of desire, wants
and overwhelming needs were planted.
To possess,
to have and have yet more.
When God created man's mouth, Gd gave him the the ability to speak,
of topics both mundane and important,
but along with the power of speech,
came the ability to tell truths
and even occasionally to bend the truth,
either innocently or by design.
Also on that very important sixth day,
came the gift of nuance in language,
with descriptions precise,
or perhaps even exaggerated!
When Gd was nearly finished with the creation of the mouth, teeth and lips
came a dictionary full of statements and notions.
Why’s and hows,
warnings and whines,
questions, statements
promises, and even oaths
and, if that was not enough,
things spiraled outward and forward generations.
Who may speak?
Who may witness?
Who may offer testimony?
Who do we believe?
How to find the truth when there is doubt?
Perhaps Masechet Sanhedrin was on the mind of The Creator that sixth day,
when the first human was created.
Gd would perhaps foresee the complications of language,
of perceptions.
and so to remedy that,
The Creator foresaw a future of scholars and thinkers,
doers and debaters
Intent upon a range of solutions,
spoken about and then recorded,
read until this very day.
On the page, in the halls, even in one's ears as one walks the dog.
All of this on the sixth day of Creation
What a day it was.
Now, back to Masechet Shevuot...
Here we are.
Together again.
We'll come back to you Masechet Shevuot.
We always do.
We must.
FOR PARSHAT KORACH
Posts From Words Have Wings on Parshat Korach, which will be read this week on Shabbat
The Sons of Korach: A Psalm is Born
Common Ground
You Know How it Feels
One Wonders
Leadership: Moshe, Korach and Beyond
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