Friday, August 7, 2009

Did the term "Average Joe" originate from the Gemara - apprx 2000 yrs ago?

The Gemara (Talmud) written apprx 2000 years ago covers a very wide spectrum of topics. Here is something you probably never noticed.

In Gemara Pesachim 68b it says,
when the Holiday of Shavuot arrived (Holiday in which Israel receives the Torah) Rav Yosef said "Make for me a special animal" a third calf. What's a 3rd calf? Rashi explains that the 3rd calf that comes out of the Mother is the very best meat. Implying that Rav Yosef ate a very special meal on this occasion. So why was Rav Yosef eating such a lavish meal on this Holiday?
Rav Yosef said "If it wasn't for this day of Shavuot" and had we not received the Holy Torah, How would I be able to learn Torah and become a wise scholar? Without, the Torah, "I would have been like every other Yoseph in the street "
(i.e., Had it not been for the Torah, I would have been an average Joe)
Joseph/Joe is the english form of Yosef

Could it be that the term "Average Joe" evolved from this Talmudic source from apprx 2000 years ago?

But let's also learn an important lesson from Rav Yosef z"l
How fortunate we are to have been given the Torah!
A Jew is indeed no average Joe and don't you forget it.

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