Footnote Page #6

Out of the thousands of footnotes

in this book,

I'm the only one who's still alive,

who Prof. Feinstein

mentions by name.

"His many publications...

"few publications in various subjects...

"his publications are like chaffed wheat...

"a little that holds a lot."

From my conversations with

your colleagues I understood that...

during the last couple of years

you had a lot of criticism

about the way the Israel Prizes

were awarded.

"His vast knowledge

in the Hazal Literature

"and his creativity...

"and his meticulous research..."

I think that the Israel Prize lost

a lot of its prestige lately.

When they started to hand out

the Jewish Sciences Prize

to those who study the Rabbinical Literature,

which is actually just folklore.

So what you are...

- What?

Sorry. Continue. - Those who won

during the last couple of years

can't be called real researchers.

Researches about the use of

ratchets in the Hazal period

or anecdotes about the marital life

of some ancient scholar,

or about cookies recipes

from the Babylon Diaspora period,

are not true researches,

and they don't...

bring honour to the

Israel Prize institute.

This is a somewhat uncomfortable

situation for me

since they decided

to award me the prize,

but in all modesty,

I hope that choosing me would mean

returning to the days

when truly deep and meticulous research

was appreciated,

not just because it was meant

for the consumption of the general public.

Didn't your son write a book about

marital relations during the Hazal period?

Uriel wrote many books.

"The greatness and uniqueness

"of Prof. Shkolnik..."

How come that in one family two people

are involved in such a narrow field?

"Prof. Shkolnik's fortress

"spans all the branches

of the Talmudic Literature

"as well as its counterparts

in present-day culture."

Is there a father-son rivalry?

Like is says in the Babli Sanhadrin:

"A man should be jealous of all,

except his son and his student."

My impression was that

the two of you represent

almost opposite approaches to research.

Who gave you that impression?

I spoke to people, and...

and I read your son's book.

Let me demonstrate it for you thusly:

Let's say we both study earthenware.

Broken pottery.

One looks at these pots,

cleans them meticulously,

catalogs and sorts them,

measures them in a

scientific and accurate fashion,

tries to figure out their period

and maker,

and if he is successful,

then he did his job well,

and his research will be used

for generations to come!

The other looks at the broken pots

for a couple of seconds,

sees that they have

the same colour, more or less,

and immediately

constructs a vase out of them.

He doesn't care that they might

come from different periods,

that they don't quite fit,

as long as you have a vase!

The vase is very pretty,

but it has nothing to do with

the scientific truth. It's an empty vessel,

a fairy tale,

without touch with reality!

It sounds like this vase infuriates you...

- There is no vase!

That's the entire point. It's fiction.

You can't be angry at something that doesn't exist.

Does this dispute manifest itself

in your family life?

Uriel is very good

at what he does,

but I wouldn't call it

"Talmud Studies".

"His work is the infrastructure

"for all of those who

study the Talmud.

"Due to all of the aforementioned,

the jury finds Prof. Eliezer Shkolnik

"deserving the Israel Prize."

Did you hear the conversation?

Partially.

Was I clear enough? - I think so.

I didn't hear all of it.

I hope she'll be accurate.

She's a total ignoramus.

"Of his son:
he has nothing to do with the

scientific truth. An empty vessel.

Without touch with reality"

" A high-brow family soap opera"

" the young charlatan... "

"An empty vessel."

"The jury's decision"

"Re:
Israel Prize"

Did you happen to check the

text in the Oxford manuscript? - No.

Yitzhak Ber's article about this subject?

- No.

Menachem Ben-Sason?

Reuven Bunfil? Salo Brown?

Those are the relevant researchers

to your paper starting with B.

I read good and bad papers,

but yours requires a whole new category.

Measuring bits of clay all day,

without any interesting conclusions,

is that science?

It's masturbation!

What are you doing?

- What are you doing?

Nothing.

What are you going to do? - When? -

Tomorrow morning, maybe,

in a week, in 3 years...

Do you have some kind of plan?

I'm so close to giving up on you.

Do you understand what it means

when a father gives up on his son?

Do you understand what that means?

Let me tell you.

You're one millimeter away

from the point of no-return

in your life's path.

Giving up on you means that

instead of trying to help you,

before it's too late,

I want to see you suffer,

so I could gloat.

That's what it means.

If you have a problem with your autistic

father, shout at him, not at Yosh!

I told you to talk with him.

Not to take a bat and kick his ass.

You have only one role

in this house:
to be a mother.

Now you want me

to do that as well?

"If he's not right,

then look for another,

"If you'll find a young man

"a nice man, a smiling man

"I'll finally have a husband."

Today I'm not just the driver,

I'm also a horse.

So how is it so far?

Did you get any responses

about the article? - A few.

I don't think many people

found it interesting.

And it was in the back pages,

so it was difficult...

Talk to him.

- Really...

Let him apologize.

- Has he ever?

I don't need his apology.

I don't care about him!

A fine dowry you gave to my daughter Tzeitel

on the day of her marriage.

I ask you:

was that really necessary?

Never mind, never mind.

Either way, Motel and Tzeitel are married

for two months now, working hard at it...

Change places with me, please.

But they are so happy, they

don't know how miserable they are.

This year's Israel Prize was supposed to be

given to me, not to father,

but because of a clerical error,

he got the message instead of me

and when that become known,

I gave up the prize for him.

No one knows it, but you.

Not even Dikla.

"Tradition, tradition...

"tradition, tradition...

Come in.

- Prof. Shkolnik's fortress -

This is your first TV interview, right?

You shouldn't wear a white shirt.

You should know for the next time.

Maybe if you had a jacket.

But you can't wear just white.

It gives a reflection.

Try this...

Prof. Eliezer Shkolnik, the renown student

of the greatest Talmud scholar,

Prof. Yonah Naftali Feinstein,

has studied the text of the

Jerusalem Talmud for many years,

as well as the various manuscripts

and has arrived to various conclusions...

"Surprising conclusions".

Fix it.

And arrived to various

surprising conclusions.

We'll talk to him about research methods...

Blah, blah, blah...

And about the monumental work

to which he dedicated his life:

a scientific version of the

Jerusalem Talmud... - Sorry...

And whether it is at all possible to

arrive to a scientific text... - Excuse me...

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