Talk:Rabbi Tarfon

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Dubious[edit]

According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, Tarfon swore that he would burn any book that came into his possession that was written by a Christian scribe, even if the word "God" occurred in it (see Shab. 116a).[3]

However, some Jewish commentators explain that Shabbath 116a ruled on the question of what was expected of a Jew on the Sabbath in respect of putting out a fire. A Jew may neither put such a fire out, unless life is in danger, nor save any item from such a fire with the exception of any Torah scrolls written by hand on parchment. (Other Jewish books, for example literature, law and other religious books, would be left to the fire on the Sabbath.)

Shabbath indeed starts by talking about what to save from the fire. But his statement was general, that he would burn any book that was written by a Christian including the names of God [that hypothetically, he would light them on fire during the week, so he would certainly let them burn], and I do not know of any Jewish commentator who says otherwise. Who are these some? 206.181.86.98 (talk) 19:29, 19 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Change of article name[edit]

Wikipedia normally does not use titles such as Dr., Sir, etc. Most articles about rabbis are listed without "rabbi". So for consistencies sake, should this article be reverted back to Tarfon? I would say yes unless he is overwhelmingly called "Rabbi Tarfon", instead of "Tarfon". Editor2020 (talk) 22:30, 13 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Need help from a knowledgeable Israeli or other scholar[edit]

  1. The "Legacy and Death" section doesn't mention his grave, but it is pictured near the top of the article.
  2. The picture shows a plaque on the side of the grave, with legible characters. The second name is clearly Tarfon, but the first word equally clearly is not "Rabbi" -- it doesn't start with the Hebrew "R". If that is his given name, it should appear in the text of the article.
  3. This guy appears to be very famous. If you give google maps "Kadita, Israel" the map brought up is for the area, with an "A" balloon on the "Rabi [sic] Tarfon Tomb."
  4. The features of the tomb: great length, concrete cover, two monitoring devices (one broken) are crying out for a more detailed description.

Docduke (talk) 06:02, 23 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]

1) Added. 2) The full text is ציון התנא ר טרפון זיע"א - "grave marker of the tanna R Tarfon, may his merit protect us Amen", so it fits. Ar2332 (talk) 14:15, 9 September 2019 (UTC)[reply]