The Ocean of the Talmud1 min read

The term “Yam HaTalmud” traditionally serves as a metaphor for the Gemara’s breadth. However, perhaps even more so, it must be seen as a reference to its awesome and mysterious depth. The black and white columns of static letters ebb and flow; questions and answers, challenge and resolution, Halacha and Aggadah. Those with sensitive hearts are not only overwhelmed by the vastness of the ocean that stretches toward the horizon an eternity away. No, they are moved by the infinite depth they perceive beyond the surface and a feeling that possesses them like a shudder, each time they set sail into the life-giving waters of Torah from the docks of this-worldliness, that the ocean bed represents not the bottom but the very top, folded into the Infinite One Himself.