With “Sacred Techs” we wanted to bring together information focused upon using technology in the real of biblical and ancient studies. It will be periodically updated, on a monthly basis at the least, with articles and interviews on various topics around this general theme. We are very hopeful that others will be willing to contribute to the site, there are many within the world of online ancient studies who are very (and more) adept in these areas, many who are creating the very technology that we will be reviewing, citing, and discussing. This is particularly true if you use something other than Apple products and MacOS, iOS, or Android software. It is not that we are prejudiced against other platforms, but the reality is that Robert and I both tend to use those products and platforms. If you are interested in contributing please drop us a line or leave a comment!

Florence II-I-7: איני והא’ רב אידי בר אבין א’ רב יצחק בר אשייאן אדר וניסן לח

London – BL Add. 25717 402: איני והא’ (רבא ידי)[רב אידי] בר אבין א’ רב יצחק בר אשי אין אדר וניסן לח

Munich 95: איני והא’ רב אידי בר אבין א”ר יצחק אדר וניסן לח

Vatican 119: איני והתני רב אידי בר אבין אמ’ רב יצחק בר אשיין אדר וניסן לח

Vatican 120: איני והאמ’ רב אידי בר אבין אמ’ רב יצחק בר אשיין אדר וניסן לח

Venice 1522: איני והתניא והא רב אידי בר אבין אמר רב יצחק בר אשיין אדר וניסן לח

Vilna: איני והתניא והא רב אידי בר אבין אמר רב יצחק בר אשיאן אדר וניסן לח

I checked a few other printed editions and they all followed the Venice 1522 edition. I can’t think of any explanation other than a simple mistake to explain the version found in MS Vatican 119 that includes the word “והתני” that eventually morphed into “והתניא”. The error was clearly recognized by some commentators (see e.g. Shita Mekubbetz on the daf), yet it is still on the page of most printed editions.

Astrolabes are the medieval equivalent of the kind of handheld technology we’re all very accustomed to in the twenty-first century. They were instruments you could use to find your way, tell the time, track the movements of the sun and stars, and were – still are – complex, and incredibly impressive.

As the researcher working on a project with the British Museum and the Warburg Institute to study these fascinating objects, my recent trip to Israel was not the first time I’ve been there in search of medieval astronomy and astrology. However it was the first time I have returned with a database of about 140 Hebrew manuscripts dealing with astrolabes: a treasure trove of texts describing and explaining how to build or use these instruments in their almost two thousand years of history. In other words, texts written mostly in Hebrew and a few in Judaeo-Arabic (Arabic with Hebrew script) between the twelfth and the eighteenth centuries by Jews from around the world (astrolabes remained in use until the nineteenth century in Islamic countries).

A wise person will easily see that it is impossible that fixed rules about all types of living things, young and old, strong and weak, cannot be built on medical science, becasue wisdom and clear thought (seikhel ha-bari) contradict this.
For there is no comparison between one injury and another, and between one injured and another, and one species and another that they should all be alike unless we go the farthest extreme to say that no animal can be cured of a missing heart or liver. But this halakhah [of the 18 treifot] perforce did not come to permit what would have been forbidden by the evaluation of the
physicians, but to forbid by these rules what would have been allowed by an evaluation in a particular case. As our eyes seen that a small hole in almost any of the inner organs causes the animal to be forbidden, as does a break in one of the bones of the outer limbs, which are conditions that are cured every day both in humans and in other animals.

The laws of treifot is an area that whose historical study was enriched by the discoveries of the Cairo Geniza. Scholars have found numerous fragments in the Geniza of a work on the laws of treifot. They have been collected by Mordechai Margaliot in Hilchot Eretz Yisrael Min ha-Genizah.

A powerful resource for Talmudic research is now available freely on-line. The latest version of Eidei Nusah. This site contains the text of almost all manuscripts of the Talmud Bavli. Previous versions were available on CD-ROM. Many geniza fragments have been added to this version. Some actual images of Talmud and Mishna manuscripts are also available.

The post says that there is some free access to the site, but I can’t see how that works. There are a number of subscription options available, from $30 per month to $149 for a yearly subscription.