Saturday, March 11, 2023

Chaim Topol of Fiddler On The Roof,’ Learned the Talmud for 40 Years


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Topol, who was born and raised on a kibbutz, once confided in an interview about his love for learning Gemara. “I’ve been learning Gemara for 40 years,” he said in an interview on the Orot channel. “I try never to skip it because I really like it and enjoy it.”

“It’s sitting down and sharpening your mind and saying: ‘Why did Rebbe Akiva say this and why did Reb Shimon Bar Yochai say that and why did Abaye say that and why does it say that?’ The interesting thing is that there’s no consensus, that is that ultimately they say that the halacha is like this – but on the way, they clarify and agree with things.”

Topol said he sometimes needed to look outside of acting to find meaning in his life. He devoted much of his later years to charity as chairman of the board of Jordan River Village, a camp serving Middle Eastern children with life-threatening diseases. Years earlier, he founded a nonprofit that services children with special needs.

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