EPISODE · Jul 24, 2023 · 12 MIN
Gittin 69: More Than Old Wives' Tales
from Talking Talmud · host Yardaena Osband & Anne Gordon
Talmudic medical remedies, which may or may not work (we don't know). Certainly, there was some scientific method, while others seem much farther flung. For example, writing Levi backwards, as compared to curing bleeding from the mouth, depending on whether it sticks to a straw, and therefore is understood to have an ailment of the lung or alternatively of the liver. Note also that the gemara supports the remedy with a claim from a mishnah. Also, remedies for the heart. And others that may smack more of the placebo effect.
What this episode covers
Talmudic medical remedies, which may or may not work (we don't know). Certainly, there was some scientific method, while others seem much farther flung. For example, writing Levi backwards, as compared to curing bleeding from the mouth, depending on whether it sticks to a straw, and therefore is understood to have an ailment of the lung or alternatively of the liver. Note also that the gemara supports the remedy with a claim from a mishnah. Also, remedies for the heart. And others that may smack more of the placebo effect.
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Gittin 69: More Than Old Wives' Tales
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