PHOTO: It’s not every day a cricket lands on a Gemarah, but more so while Learning about that family of insects. While Learning a Daf of Mesechta Chulin at the Shiur of R’ Zev Brown last night, where the Gemarah discusses the Kosher and Non-Kosher grasshoppers and insects, the participants witnessed that unusual sight, right in front of their eyes.
“We were discussing how grasshoppers look, and this grasshopper flew onto the Daf”, one the Shiur’s attendees tells TLS”.
The Shiur is usually given at the Chavrei Hakollel, but due to Bein Hazmanim, last night’s Shiur took place on R’ Zev’s porch. TLS-MK.
That happens to be a Cricket
It’s a good thing they weren’t learning about elephants!!!!!!!!
That’s no Grasshopper!!!!!
please learn the last blats again with any type of picture.
Hope didn’t eat that one 😉
what do you mean its not a grasshopper?! of course it is. they were learning about grasshoppers and that landed on the gemarah so obviously its a grasshopper. why would hashem make a cricket land on their gemarah if they are learning about grasshoppers
This story was said about R’ Kanievsky.
Just wondering…
This article doesnt make too much sense. First it says “It’s not every day a cricket lands on a Gemarah, but more so while Learning about that family of insects”. Later on in the article it says “We were discussing how grasshoppers look, and this grasshopper flew onto the Daf”, one the Shiur’s attendees tells TLS”. The insect pictured is not a grasshopper but a cricket.
From Wikipedia,
Crickets, family Gryllidae (also known as “true crickets”), are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers,
so who knows maybe
Crickets and Grasshoppers have different Yichus, they belong to different families. The grasshopper is an insect of the sub-dynasty Caelifera in the dynasty Orthoptera.
Crickets with the family Yichus “Gryllidae”, are insects somewhat related to grasshoppers but more closely related to katydids or bush crickets of the Tettigoniidae mishpocha. Crickets are night bugs and Grasshoppers are day bugs. Because they have a similar traditional garb including jumping hind legs each dynasty is confused with other. Also the bugs of Caelifera mishpocha usually have rather short antennae (mistaken for Payos) while Ensiferan Orthopterans have longer ones. This is a useful way to differentiate between the two dynasties but some crickets even in the some Ensiferan dynasty have short, grasshopper- like antennae. Sometimes it is hard to tell them apart by their external appearances as some seek to align with Hamas and Fatah. To keep those types away use plenty of Raid, which is treif to them. Submitted by the Grand Bugginer Rebbe.
If this gets posted I will eat a Kosher grasshopper in the Town Square. (Shehakol).
Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_a_cricket_and_a_grasshopper#ixzz1WixFYPzE
Where is Mr Conservative take on the situation he always has some brilliant commentary..or this subject is out of his league
The Torah tells us that flying insects with four walking legs and which have knees that extend above their feet so that they hop, are kosher. According to most, this includes many species of grasshoppers, locusts, and — believe it or not — crickets. We Ashkenazic Jews don’t eat these because we have lost the tradition of which ones are kosher. The fascinating part of the story is that yesterday’s daf (66) speaks about the specific species of kosher insects, one of which is “chargol.” Many claim that chargol is the cricket. (Others say it is a spotted grey locust. Maybe the cricket showed up to claim his rightful place in the shiur).
Hey i am surprised Mr Conservative has no comment on this subject
i guess this one is not one of his expertise…..
Bugged Out- LOL
actually in yesterdays daf the Gemara says that a Tzartzur which is similar to a grasshopper is not kosher – that may be the cricket
The story about HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky shlita was that he had some questions while learning the sugya about the way the grasshopper looked and one came jumping in front of him. The way I heard it, he realized afterward or the next day that he still needed / should have checked one aspect and once again a grasshopper jumped in front of him. I also heard that a prominent maggid shiur or Rosh Yeshiva possibly from America (don’t know who) asked Rav Chaim if the story was true to which Rav Chaim expressed surprise that the rebbe was surprised. He said it’s understandable for some people to be amazed at the story but to someone like you who is immersed in Torah learning, what’s so surprising? We know that H-Shem provides a person with what he needs in order to learn and I needed to see the grasshopper in order to understand the sugya properly!
actually in yesterdays daf the Gemara says that a Tzartzur which is similar to a grasshopper is not kosher – that may be the cricket
Just to clarify as there seems to be some confusion. Grasshoppers and crickets are related and together with the katydids and locusts, make up the Order Orthoptera (meaning ‘straight wings’). They are then cetogerized into sub orders/families where each insect takes on its own characteristics. Whoever studied the blat that deal with these insects would realize that the drashos with klaland prat and tzad hashaveh are specfically excluding many of these species including crickets. So in reality a cricket is obviously one of the species that the gemarah teaches us not to eat. another clarifacation, is that according to halichot teiman, the yemenite tradition was only to permit locust that came in swarms which would exclude other (even officially kosher by talmudic standards) locusts.
I had a similar story. Many years ago I was still in kollel and I was learning bosor vechalav and I sneezed and some leftover milk from my coffee dripped on my gemara and a few seconds later my chavrusa coughed and a few pieces of leftover hotdog he had for lunch went on his gemara. I asked a big mekubal and he said its a sign that we understand the sugia very well.
After everyone’s nice comments, L’ma’aseh, its an amazing story. I would just like to say, those of us who are zoicheh to know R’Zev and the kedusha plateu he stands on are not that surprised by this story. Yes, hw walks around like a reg balabus, an attorney, but we know, WE KNOW, he’s a heiligeh person. Dudi B
hey Mr. Conservative you should feel very honored! It seems like every1 likes ur opinion!