Asking the Gemara's own question

In his words

He treats a student's good question as a sign of accurate learning: You know that you're learning the right way you're supposed to when you start asking questions that Rashi asks 36:44, or the Gemara, or Tosfos. If you've misread the text, your questions won't be found anywhere, because the Gemara is not saying what you're saying it's saying. 37:13

Worked example from a class

A new student asks why the Mishnah says medinas hayam rather than chutz la'aretz. "That's Tosfos' kasha" (36:13). It's the second time that evening the same student had asked a question the commentaries ask.

Hear him teach it

237 moments found so far in 231 transcribed classes; more appear as transcription continues. Tap one to play from that moment.

1. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 5, 2011 · 30:43“Now, predictably, what's going to have to be the next step of the gemara, predictably?”Students anticipate the next step: Abaye either concedes or refutes.
2. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 21, 2011 · 36:00“I thought you were going to ask me a different question that you could really ask over here”Models the commentators' question of why the earlier Ta Shma was needed once we have this one.
3. Westwood · Advanced class, Dec 30, 2011 · 26:32“Since we began this Masakh, we've said many, many more than four things about plotters, right?”Prompting the students to ask why the Braisa says only 'four'.
4. Westwood · Advanced class, Jan 1, 2012 · 33:33“Because in order to ask a question, it has to be based on something. I'm just wondering where you're getting that from.”Requires students to ground their questions in a source before asking them.
5. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 2, 2012 · 44:04“Obviously, if this is a step further, it's got to do something that the previous step didn't do.”Tests a student's reading by asking what progress the step makes in the give-and-take.
6. Westwood · Advanced class, Jan 6, 2012 · 18:26“Very, very good question. That's why I said we have to wait and see if the Gemara is going to”Uses a student's question to anticipate the Gemara's own later discussion.
7. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 9, 2012 · 38:35“Put your finger on it, because it's bothering me too.”Pushes a student to pin down exactly what bothers him, which turns out to be the Mishnah's internal contradiction.
8. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 11, 2012 · 22:15“So you start asking questions even on your own. You want to understand what it's saying.”Using the first Mishnah in Brachos, he shows that real reading of a Mishnah raises the questions the Gemara itself asks.
9. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 16, 2012 · 34:44“That's a very, very good question. As a matter of fact, that's the next question of the Gemara. What about the figs?”A student's question anticipates the Gemara's next step.
10. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 18, 2012 · 21:30“Okay, that sounds good. But we got to see if that's going to be upheld through the Gemara or not.”A student's suggested answer anticipates Rav Papa's answer before the class reaches it.