Great People, Small Moments: How the Talmud Teaches Us that Nobody is Perfect

64 Pages Posted: 14 Aug 2016

See all articles by Hershey H. Friedman

Hershey H. Friedman

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York

Date Written: August 12, 2016

Abstract

Talmudic stories are a method used by the ancient sages to teach us about ethics and morality. This paper examines stories that teach people an important lesson in life: No person is perfect. Great people have weak moments and make mistakes. The Talmudic sages sometimes made insensitive remarks, experienced strong sexual desires, lost their temper, procrastinated, neglected their wives, and made poor political choices. Despite all this, they were great people.

Keywords: Talmud, Talmudic stories, ethics, morality.

JEL Classification: B11, D63, J78, K00, K40, M14, N00

Suggested Citation

Friedman, Hershey H., Great People, Small Moments: How the Talmud Teaches Us that Nobody is Perfect (August 12, 2016). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2822429 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2822429

Hershey H. Friedman (Contact Author)

Brooklyn College of the City University of New York ( email )

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