Daf-Yomi treasure from a couple of days ago, Shabbat 20b

[hatam_soferet]

Ravin is from Israel, Abbaye is from Babylonia (otherwise known as Bavel).

We have a Mishnah which discusses various substances and materials one may and may not use for Shabbat lamps. The words it uses are in the Hebrew spoken in Israel. Abbaye is living in Bavel trying to learn the Mishnah, but he doesn't know obscure words for different sorts of cloth in Hebrew, and he doesn't have a dictionary, poor chap.

Well, Ravin comes to visit, and he knows Hebrew, but he doesn't know the Aramaic of Bavel, so Abbaye's all like "What's kalach?" and Ravin goes "Uhhhhh....." (except it's Uhhhhh in Hebrew, obviously), because he doesn't know technical words in Aramaic any more than Abbaye knows them in Hebrew.

So at some point they're hanging out with Ravna Nehemya, and Ravin goes "Look! That shirt he's wearing! THAT'S kalach!"

I so identify with that.

There are other bits where the poor guys in Bavel don't know what the words in the Mishnah mean exactly, and so whenever anyone comes back from visiting Israel they all jump on them and ask them to tell them what various mishnaic Hebrew words mean in Aramaic.

I like the real-life bits.