Date: Thu, 14 Nov 1996 18:43:44 -0500
Message-Id: <199611142343.AA17151@world.std.com>
To: jpearlma@lynx.neu.edu, pearlman@ll.mit.edu, thundering-horde@MIT.EDU
Subject: When Gemara met the Web...
From: Nomi Burstein <gnomi@world.std.com>
Return-Receipt-To: gnomi@world.std.com
Reply-To: gnomi@world.std.com

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A friend sent this along...

> 
> Sender: eristocracy@merrymeet.com
> Message-Id: <v0300780daeb0262ef2ef@[17.201.21.111]>
> Date: Wed, 13 Nov 1996 17:28:49 -0800
> From: Jon Callas <jon@worldbenders.com>
> 
> [...]
> 
> ... thanks to Mike Goldstein.
> _______
> 
> The Talmudists among you may find this amusing.  It comes from Tractate
> Kombutra.
> 
> 
> Rabbi Tarfon of Bet She'an said of Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of
> Tiverya: It is said that in those days Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of
> Tiverya designed a web site for the mother of his father, Sarah the
> daughter of Pinchas, who begat Yechezkel, who begat Rabbi Shlomo ben
> Yechezkel of Tiverya. Thus Rabbi Shlomo ben Yechezkel of Tiverya
> performed the mitzvah of web site design.
> 
> Rabbi Michal ben Elkanah, who only had one eye, said: But is it not
> also said that in those days there was no web, only gopher?
> 
> Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron said: It is true, but as it is written: "A
> web browser may also use the gopher protocol, in addition to the HTTP
> protocol."
> 
> Rabbi Eliezer asked: Why does it specifically mention that the web
> browser may also use the gopher protocol, when it is written elsewhere
> that a web browser may use any protocol? Because the gopher protocol
> is especially meritorious, since it enables support of legacy systems.
> 
> One time a poor man came into the home of Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron
> and asked for two megabytes of disk space on the web site of Rabbi
> Shmaryahu of Hevron. Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron refused the man, but
> instead gave him a personal web server for his own use. At this point
> Rabbi Yehudah ben Yerachmiel asked Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron: Why did
> you refuse this man's request, but instead give him a personal web
> server for his own use? Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron replied: It [the
> Mishnah] teaches: "When a poor man comes into your home and asks for
> disk space on your web site, first ascertain whether he is going to
> use it for his own purpose or for the purpose of idol worship. If he
> is  going to use it for his own purpose, grant him the space he asks,
> unless it exceeds twenty ephraot [one ephrah ~ 213 kilobytes], in
> which case you may refer him to a local Internet service provider, for
> as it is written: It is not upon you to complete the task, but neither
> are  you free to desist from it. If he is going to use it for the
> purpose of idol worship, then do not give him the space, but instead
> rebuke him, that he might see the error of his ways and refrain from
> idol worship."
> 
> Rabbi Gideon of Sh'chem disagreed, saying: It [the Mishnah] also
> teaches: "When a poor man requests space on an FTP server, you must
> grant it without asking why he is going to use it." Why would the
> Mishnah impose requirements on a web server but not an FTP server?
> Rabbi Shmaryahu of Hevron said: Rabbi Eliezer said: Why does it
> specifically mention that the web browser may also use the gopher
> protocol, when it is written elsewhere that a web browser may use any
> protocol? Because the gopher protocol is especially meritorious, since
> it enables support of legacy systems. Similarly, the FTP protocol is
> especially meritorious. Therefore, it is unfair to deny a poor man
> access to FTP, whereas it is sometimes permitted to refrain from
> giving a poor man access to HTTP, because without HTTP he can still
> serve  files using FTP, but without FTP he will be unable to put his
> files on the server, since the means for saving files over HTTP are
> unreliable.
> 

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