Though some of us are studying Daf Yomi alone or in large groups, one of the more traditional ways to study Talmud is in havruta, paired text study. The goal of havruta learning is to achieve a deeper understanding than one could achieve alone, but paired text study has many other positive outcomes as well.
On today’s daf, Rava paints a picture of a biblical havruta which not only offers new insights and sustains a powerful male friendship, but also has more practical outcomes.
Rava taught: What is the meaning of that which is written: “And he and Samuel went and dwelt in Nayot. And it was told Saul, saying: Behold, David is at Nayot in Ramah” (I Samuel 19:18–19)? But what does Nayot have to do with Ramah? Rather they were sitting in Ramah and were involved in the beauty of the world.
The Book of Samuel states that both the prophet Samuel and the future King David are in Naiot and in Ramah. Rava believes these are entirely different locations, so the juxtaposition of the two must be read not as a geographic marker, but as a signal of what David and Samuel were doing in Ramah — discussing the ultimate beauty of the world. As the rest of the story makes clear, by ultimate beauty, they mean the eventual Temple to be built by David’s son Solomon.
They said: It is written: “Then you shall arise, and get you up unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose” (Deuteronomy 17:8). This teaches that the Temple is higher than all places in the land of Israel. And the land of Israel is higher than all countries. They did not know where the highest place was.
Reading the book of Deuteronomy carefully, this biblical duo determine that one must “ascend” to the Temple. So they next try to determine the highest location in the land.
They brought the book of Joshua. With regard to all of them, it is written: “And went down” (see Joshua 15:10, 16:3, 17:9): “And the border went up to Beth Hoglah.” (Joshua 15:6), and: “And the border was drawn from the top of the mountain to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah” (Joshua 15:9). And with regard to the tribe of Benjamin it is written: “And went up” (Joshua 18:11), but it is not written: “And went down.” They said: Conclude from this that its place is here.
When the book of Joshua lays out the territories of all 12 tribes, it uses a range of verbs to describe their borders. With most tribes, the biblical author uses a mix of verbs that describe both ascending and descending. But when laying out the territory of Benjamin, only verbs of ascent are used. If it goes up and doesn’t come down, then it must be the highest tribal territory in the land.
They thought to build it at Ein Eitam, which is higher. They said: Let us lower it a bit, as it is written: “He covers it throughout the day, and He dwells between his shoulders” (Deuteronomy 33:12).
The highest point in the tribe of Benjamin, according to Rava, is Ein Eitam. But reading Deuteronomy carefully, Samuel and David conclude that the correct location of the Temple, while high, should be lower than the head, the tallest point of the body. The next lowest point was apparently what is today the Temple Mount, the location of the first and second Temples.
Rava’s account offers a wonderful picture of an ancient havruta: two men surrounded by biblical scrolls, reading carefully, making connections and drawing conclusions. But it’s worth noting that Benjamin’s territory was not the highest point in the biblical land of Israel. The highest point would have actually been Mount Meron, located in the north.
So what’s going on? It is possible that Rava, the fourth-generation Babylonian amora, just didn’t know the geographic features of the land of Israel, which was over 500 miles away and in a different empire entirely. But it’s also possible to read this discussion as focusing not on geographic elevation, but on a different kind of height — perhaps a spiritual height, a greater closeness to God. Whatever we mean by highest, Rava insists that Samuel and David, in this incredibly productive havruta, successfully identified the location of the future Temple, and concludes that this understanding is supported by the Bible itself:
“We heard of it as being in Ephrath; we found it in the field of the wood” (Psalms 132:6). “In Ephrath” this is Joshua, who came from Ephraim. “We found it in the field of the wood”; this Benjamin, as it is written: “Benjamin is a wolf that tears apart; in the morning he devours the prey, and in the evening he divides the spoil” (Genesis 49:27).
The Psalms are traditionally attributed to David, so Rava reads Psalm 132 as a first-person testimony. According to this reading, David testifies that he and Samuel discovered in the Book of Joshua that the Temple must be located in the wood – the territory of the wild wolf Benjamin. May all our havrutas be this productive!
Read all of Zevachim 54 on Sefaria.
This piece originally appeared in a My Jewish Learning Daf Yomi email newsletter sent on November 7, 2025. If you are interested in receiving the newsletter, sign up here.
