The questions kept coming. The speaker hadn’t finished the first answer.
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01
Story
At the neighborhood astronomy group, a speaker explained a model of the constellations.
Jin and Ara listened from the front row.
02
Jin
Which side of the model shows the direction we’re looking from?
The speaker lifted a pointer and began to answer.
03
Story
Before the first answer was over, Jin added another question.
The speaker stopped explaining and lowered the pointer.
04
Story
After the talk, the speaker went over to Jin and Ara.
With one question coming after another, they said, it had been hard to finish an answer.
05
Story
Jin wrote down something else he wanted to ask.
He decided to bring it up after hearing the next explanation.
06
Story
At the next meeting, Jin listened until the speaker had finished.
He raised his hand after the speaker put the pointer down.
07
Jin
Does this marker show a star we can see from here?
The speaker pointed to the model and finished answering.
08
Story
They set their notebooks down on the table and kept talking.
This time each person waited for the other to finish.
A thought from the Talmud
Rav Shimi often challenged Rav Pappa. He heard him pray to be spared the embarrassment he was experiencing because of Shimi. After that, Shimi stopped raising objections.
The source idea in our own words · Not a direct quotation
The speaker told Jin it had been hard to finish an answer. Jin wrote down what he wanted to ask and, at the next meeting, waited until the explanation ended before asking one question. We can raise what we’re wondering about and still leave the other person time to answer.
A modern interpretation for this story
A question to take with you
When I want to ask a good question, have I left enough time for the other person to answer?
Share the question together with a link to this story.
About the source and this adaptation
In the Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 9b:2, Rav Shimi bar Ashi often challenges Rav Pappa’s views. One day Shimi sees Pappa bow after prayer and hears him ask to be spared the embarrassment he experiences because of Shimi. Shimi resolves to remain silent and stops raising objections to Pappa. The wisdom line paraphrases this episode. The neighborhood astronomy group and the later question after waiting for an answer are modern fiction created with AI assistance.
