The 4-in-One Pen
What is the single best investment I have made since coming to Yeshiva?
The 4-in-1 Pen. Genius.
The last time I checked, a pen like this was a gimmick that would amuse little children. Let me go on the record that I vouch for the 4-in-1 Pen whole-heartedly.
Before picking my own copy of Tractate Kedushin, I used a loner copy and was unable to write in the margins vocabulary words I did not know, and I fell behind. Upon picking up a copy of my own, I found using a black pen to be too limiting: what if I needed to write in a vocabulary word or a note in between pre-existing notes? It would get too messy and claustrophobic. I was distressed.
The 4-in-1 Pen came to the rescue. At a hefty price of 12 Shekels, it was an investment, but one that has paid off in full. Now I can write in Black, Blue, Red, AND Green. Imagine the possibilities! The 4-in-1 Pen allowed me to turn this:
into this:
Now reading Aramaic is easy! I can’t carry on conversations with Israelis, but I am building up a tremendous vocabulary matters pertaining to Marriage, Maid Servants, and Slaves. Note how the use of the different color ink. The colors stand out, making order out of the chaotic. It’s a beautiful thing.
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Now might be a good time to describe how the Talmud is set up. The Mishnah is the actual oral law that is derived from the Written Torah; the Gemara analyzes the Mishnah in great depth, asking questions, issuing challenges, presenting conflicting opinions, and ultimately resolving all the above in order to gain absolute clarity on terms and ideas. Mishnahs and Gemaras are found in the middle column of a given page.
The columns that face the inside of the book (closer to the binding) are the commentaries of Rashi, the medieval French Rabbi who wrote the consummate commentaries of all of Talmud and Torah. The commentaries to the outer corners of a given page are Tosafos, a series of commentators (which include two of Rashi’s grandchildren).
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This may not have been much of an update, but its the best I get for now. Besides, now you know what a page of Gemara looks like. Stay tuned for more eh.
