“Kanab Creek Wilderness 2” (credit: U.S. Forest Service, Southwestern Region, Kaibab National Forest and P.D. Tilman, license: CC-BY 2.0)

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How does rabbinic Judaism value openness? What does openness mean? This sourcesheet accompanied the shiur “‘Make yourself into a Maqom Hefker’: Rabbinic Teachings on Open Source in Judaism,” a class I taught on Taz biShvat 5774 (January 16th, 2013) in partnership with the Sefaria Project for Parshat Yitro.

The shiur discussed the concept of דִּימוּס פַּרְהֶסְיַא Dimus Parrhesia (δῆμος παρρησία) as a valued ideal in Rabbinic discourse: its cameo appearance in midrashic teachings on Parshat Yitro and its relationship to other relevant ideas and attitudes in the study of Torah and the Jewish stewardship of the Commons.

דִּימוּס פַּרְהֶסְיא (dimus) – openly, from דִּימוֺסיַא (dimosia) δημόσια, translated in Latin coram publica – in the public eye, i.e. open to the public^[1] Many thanks to Dr. Daniel Sperber for his explanation of this in correspondence. He writes, “in Mechilta to Exod. 19:2, ed. Horowitz-Rabin p.205 lines 17-18, [דִּימוּס] is short for דימוסיא found frequently in rabbinic literature. It is the Greek word δημόσια translated coram publica, in the public eye, i.e. open to the public, a meaning found in Sylloge lnscriptionum Graecum, 2nd edition, ed. Diltenberger 1888-1901, no.807, an inscription from after 138 C. E. פרהסיא is merely a gloss to דימוס to explain the word and its meaning, as noted by the editor of the Mechilta.”  ) and (gk. παρρησία, parrhesia) – boldness or freedom in speech

This sourcesheet is derived from the collection of sources gathered on the Wikipedia page, “Open Source Judaism,” where I initially presented them.

Please share this sourcesheet, improve upon it, and continue to share it. As with the wikipedia page, this sourcesheet and its translations are shared under the Creative Commons Attribution/ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

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“📄 ‘Make yourself into a maqom hefker’: Primary sources on open-source in Judaism (sourcesheet)” is shared through the Open Siddur Project with a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International copyleft license.

Aharon N. Varady

Aharon Varady is the founding director of the Open Siddur Project. A community planner (M.C.P, DAAP/University of Cincinnati.) and Jewish educator (M.A.J.Ed., the William Davidson School of Education), his work in open-source Judaism has been written about in the Yiddish Forverts, the Atlantic Magazine, Tablet, and Haaretz. If you find any egregious mistakes in his work, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also transcribes and translates prayers, besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project.)

Stable Link:    https://opensiddur.org/?p=8397

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ויהי נעם אדני אלהינו עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננה עלינו ומעשה ידינו כוננהו "May the pleasantness of אדֹני our elo’ah be upon us; may our handiwork be established for us — our handiwork, may it be established." –Psalms 90:17

Works of related interest:

 

📄 מִדְרָשִׁים עַל אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן וּתְקוּפַת הַחֹרֶף | Midrashim on the Origin of the Winter Solstice and Kalends Festivals by Primaeval Adam

📄 סֵדֶר ט״וּ בִּשְׁבָט | On Sweet Fruit and Deep Mysteries: Kabbalistic and Midrashic Texts to Sweeten your Tu Bishvat Seder, by Rabbi David Seidenberg (neohasid.org)

📄 Sourcetexts on Jewish Prayer and Spirituality, compiled by Rabbi Levi Weiman-Kelman

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