The Palestinian Talmud on Mental Impairment
About This Entry
In rabbinic literature, the concept of mental disease or disability is encapsulated in the rather brutal nomenclature of the shoteh (“fool”), which became a general term for someone with any kind of mental incapacity. This condition was particularly important for its legal and halakhic ramifications. Equally important—for its many halakhic implications regarding a person’s ability to fulfill legal obligations or to act as a reliable witness—was the condition named qordiaqos, which probably had both physical and psychological manifestations. See also The Babylonian Talmud on Mental Impairment.
Hebrew
[What are] the signs [symptoms] of the mentally impaired?
One who goes out [alone] at night.
One who spends the night in the graveyard.
One who tears his clothing.
One who destroys what is given to him.
Rebbi Huna said: [This applies only] to one in whom all of them [the behavioral patterns] can be found. Because if [one should] not [find all of them], I would explain [the behaviors as follows]:
One who goes out alone at night—[this refers to a] “dog-human” [Greek, kunanthropos].
One who spends the night in graveyards—[this refers to] one burning incense for demons [or, spirits].
One who tears his clothing—[this refers to a] kulikus [or, kinukus].
One who forfeits what is given to him—[this refers to a] qordiaqos [or, kinukus].
R. Yoḥanan said: Even one of them [i.e., the behavioral patterns] is sufficient to prove that one is mentally impaired.
R. Avin [alt., Bun] said: I agree with what R. Yoḥanan has said: Even one of them is sufficient to prove that one is mentally impaired. Except for the case of one who forfeits everything that is given to him. For even a person considered to be extremely mentally impaired would not forfeit everything that is given to him.
[In contrast to what has been said above,] the [condition called] qordiaqos does not exhibit any of those [symptoms]. R. Yosi said: One who is confused.
Credits
y. Terumot 1:1, 40b, trans. Markham J. Geller and Lennart Lehmhaus, publication forthcoming. Copyright Markham J. Geller and Lennart Lehmhaus. Used with permission of the translators.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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In rabbinic literature, the concept of mental disease or disability is encapsulated in the rather brutal nomenclature of the shoteh (“fool”), which became a general term for someone with any kind of mental incapacity. This condition was particularly important for its legal and halakhic ramifications. Equally important—for its many halakhic implications regarding a person’s ability to fulfill legal obligations or to act as a reliable witness—was the condition named qordiaqos, which probably had both physical and psychological manifestations. See also The Babylonian Talmud on Mental Impairment.
Related Guide
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You may also like
The Babylonian Talmud on Mental Impairment
b. Ḥagigah 3b–4a
Female Anatomy
b. Bekhorot 45a
Tsafdina’ Illness
b. Avodah Zarah 28a–b
The Mishnah on Qordiaqos Syndrome
m. Gittin 7:1
Explore the Mishnah on Qordiaqos syndrome (m. Gittin 7:1). Learn how ancient Jewish law addresses mental health, legal capacity, and the validity of divorce.
The Babylonian Talmud on Qordiaqos Syndrome
b. Gittin 67b
The Babylonian Talmud explores the medical and demonic origins of Qordiaqos syndrome, suggesting it may be a severe reaction to new wine.
The Palestinian Talmud on Qordiaqos Syndrome
y. Gittin 7:1, 48c
y. Gittin 7:1, 48c on Qordiaqos syndrome. This Palestinian Talmud passage examines mental impairment, medical confusion, and legal fitness in antiquity.