A Little WisdomTalmud stories for everyday life
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118 · 8 panels

After Our Time Was Up

While they took one more photo, the next person to use the studio arrived.

Inspired by a source · Creative adaptationNo sign-up · All stories free
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Jin handled the camera and Ara adjusted the mug's angle.
Story

Jin and Ara had booked the shared studio to photograph a mug.

Jin handled the camera and Ara adjusted the mug's angle.

Jin looked up at the clock, too.
Ara

Look at the clock. Our time is up.

Jin looked up at the clock, too.

Ara turned the mug and Jin pressed the shutter.
Jin

Let's take just one more from the handle side.

Ara turned the mug and Jin pressed the shutter.

A message from the studio coordinator came up on Ara's phone.
Ara

The next person is waiting in the hall.

A message from the studio coordinator came up on Ara's phone.

Jin said he had thought it was fine to keep going when Ara turned the mug.
Ara

I only turned the mug. You were the one who wanted another shot.

Jin said he had thought it was fine to keep going when Ara turned the mug.

Jin said he knew their time was up and had asked for another shot.
Ara

Still, I knew our time was up and I turned it anyway.

Jin said he knew their time was up and had asked for another shot.

Ara picked up the mug and cleared the stand.
Jin

Let's clear the room now. I'll fold the tripod.

Ara picked up the mug and cleared the stand.

They added that the room was clear and left the door open.
Story

Together they apologized for making the next person wait.

They added that the room was clear and left the door open.

A thought from the Talmud

The orchard owner heard what each guard said and considered what the two had done together.

The source idea in our own words · Not a direct quotation

Sanhedrin 91a:17–91b:3 · Read the source ↗

A lesson for today

Jin suggested taking another photo. Ara knew their time was up and still turned the mug for the next shot. While they did that, the person with the next booking had to wait. Once each named the choice they had made, they cleared the studio and apologized together. When something goes wrong in a shared task, we can start by naming what we each did.

A modern interpretation for this story

A question to take with you

When something goes wrong in a shared task, how could I describe both my role and the choice I made?

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About the source and this adaptation

In Sanhedrin 91a:17, Antoninus suggests that the body and the soul might each avoid judgment by blaming the other. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi replies with an orchard parable. In 91b:1–2, a guard who could not walk and a blind guard work together to take and eat figs. When the owner asks about the fruit, each says he could not have done it on his own. The owner has one sit on the other’s shoulders again, as they did when they took the figs, and judges them together. In 91b:3 the parable illustrates a religious teaching about the body and the soul being judged together. The wisdom line paraphrases the parable. Jin, Ara, the studio, their choice to go past their booking and their apology are AI-assisted modern fiction.

Read the source ↗

AI-generated artwork · Creative adaptation

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