‘Woe to me if I say it, woe to me if I do not say it’: The Development of a Talmudic Maxim

Originally published in Moshe Hallamish, ed., Ish Bi-Gevurot: Studies in Jewish Heritage and History Presented to Rabbi Alexandre Safran   In tractate Bava Batra of the Babylonian Talmud (89b) three baraitot are quoted, dealing with fraudulent practices when buying and selling. The third baraita reads: ‘Our rabbi taught: the strike may not be made thick…