- Q. Dear Rov and Magid Shiur. When Hashem spoke to the important people of Babel as, described in the Talmud and Midrashim, did he speak to them in Aramaic?
A. Some significant chapters of Daniel and Ezra, that quote the words of Hashem spoken to the prophets or for Nebuchadnetzar are written in Aramaic, the books of Daniel and Ezra—are written in Aramaic, as are the Babylonian and Yerushami Talmud.
Aramaic was the lingua franca and common language of the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires, facilitating communication between the diverse nations within each empire. When the Jews returned to the Land of Israel from Babylonian captivity in the 4th century BCE, they began using Aramaic as their vernacular for daily speech, reserving the Holy Tongue for Torah study and prayer. The dominance of Aramaic in Jewish communities in the Middle East continued well into the 9th century CE.
The Zohar, the basic work of Kabbalah authored by Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, quotes often the wortds of Hashem and also employs Aramaic as its primary language. Additional uses of Aramaic in common in Divrei Torah writings that include various Midrashic compositions,
Rabbi A. Bartfeld as revised by, Horav Yaakov Hirschman, Horav Dovid Pam, Horav Aharon Miller, Horav Chanoch Ehrentreu and Horav Kalman Ochs Shlit'a
Important Numbers
