Following a Ta Shma back to the dispute

In his words

"Come and hear" brings a source to settle a question, and the source may be on a completely different subject. His instruction is to make the connection back: find the common denominator between the Ta Shma and the case of Abaye and Rava 2:12 (that is, the Ta Shma and the dispute of Abaye and Rava).

Worked example from a class

Encino, Mar 18, 2014 (from the start): the dispute is Abaye and Rava on yiush she-lo mi-da'as, whether a mindset we only discover later counts. The Ta Shma is a Braisa on making produce susceptible to tumah (ki yutan): fruit that got wet without the owner's knowledge, where his joy came only after it had dried. The common denominator is a mindset known only after the fact, so the Braisa looks like a proof for Abaye (5:40).

Hear him teach it

259 moments found so far in 220 transcribed classes; more appear as transcription continues. Tap one to play from that moment.

1. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 5, 2011 · 18:05“Still, the Mishnah says you're allowed to keep it. That's an exact proof to?”Links the Ta Shma back to the dispute: a proof for Rava and a question on Abaye.
2. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 7, 2011 · 11:43“every time that the Gemara brings down a Ta Shma, the format is like this. There's something that was disputed and we want to resolve it.”A Ta Shma deflection only offers another possible reading; it never disproves the first, so the result is no proof either way.
3. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 12, 2011 · 2:18“And again, Ta Shma is come here. So that always is an indication that we're coming to resolve something.”A Ta Shma signals an attempt to resolve the dispute, so keep the Abaye-Rava argument in mind.
4. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 14, 2011 · 2:15“Exactly, to try and resolve, if we can, from an earlier source, right, the dispute between Abaye and rabba, right?”Keeps the purpose of each Ta Shma in mind: using a Mishnah to settle the Abaye–Rava dispute.
5. Westwood · Beginner class, Dec 19, 2011 · 41:10“And we know that we have this dispute between Abaye and Rava. And we know this Ta Shma is coming to try and resolve that dispute.”Keeps the dispute in mind to see what a Ta Shma that only states facts is coming to prove.
6. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 2, 2012 · 5:42“The fact that it's bringing it in as a Ta Shma means that it does relate to somehow being able to resolve, if we can.”A Ta Shma must bear on the dispute; keep Abaye and Rava in mind while learning the source.
7. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 4, 2012 · 56:18“we're supposed to figure out why we brought this down, how it affects Abaye and how it affects Rabbah.”Here the Gemara leaves it to us to see how the source bears on each side of the dispute.
8. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 9, 2012 · 27:24“So, part of this step, because we're not going to have it in the Gemara, is to figure out how does this step relate to Abaye and Rava.”The Gemara does not spell out the point of this Ta Shma, so students must link the Mishnah back to the dispute themselves.
9. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 11, 2012 · 18:25“If we're bringing it as a Toshmah, that means that that's the way we're reading this Mishnah.”A Ta Shma shows that the Gemara reads the Mishnah as bearing on the dispute of Abaye and Rava.
10. Westwood · Beginner class, Jan 16, 2012 · 11:51“In order to bring a proof against somebody, it has to be what? That the source that you're bringing has to be 100% against that person.”A source refutes someone only if it cannot be explained his way.