Unorthodox commenter causes stir
TikToker Miriam Anzovin is having her say on rabbinical texts, and not everyone is a fan.
SAID Rav Hisda,”Oh my God, what the actual f**k is wrong with you, you misogynistic ageist dips**t”?
That was how TikTok creator Miriam Anzovin translated a line of actual Talmudic dialogue, taken from an argument over who is allowed to put on make-up on Chol Hamoed.
Anzovin has posted a series of videos of her journey through the foundational Jewish rabbinical text on the video-sharing platform, but not everyone is a fan.
“This is a particularly provocative and crude use of texts sacred to Judaism to rake in likes,” tweeted Avishai Grinzaig, an Orthodox activist and writer in Israel.
“This is not traditional, this is not religious continuity, this is not accessibility. It’s just a disgrace.”
Anzovin seems willing to roll with the fact that the Talmud is not always the solemn text some may believe.
After all, besides the complicated legal arguments for which it’s famous, the Talmud is loaded with not-so-polite content. Don’t believe us? Ask Rabbi Google.
And if Anzovin’s critics who call her disrespectful had truly watched her videos, they would see she does have respect – only she expresses it a little differently.
As blogger Abby Seitz pointed out, the end of that video sees Anzovin paying the kind of respect to Rav Hisda that would be exemplary in any age:
“I’m Miriam, here in 2022, and I am kvelling over the actions of a man who died in 320 CE. That’s the power of Daf Yomi. What a f**ing legend.”
WITH JTA
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