The True Purpose of Debate: A Lesson from the Gemara

Ever since I could first coherently assert my own opinions, I have always enjoyed debating with anyone who has ears. As a small child, I often argued with my parents and siblings on various subject matters, whether they were relevant to our daily lives or not. Bedtime, TV time, dessert — any topic was fair game as long as I could convince someone to listen to my wise and obviously very logical reasoning. As I grew older, my arguments became more refined, but the drive to engage in verbal sparring never faded. I thought nothing further of the matter until I came across a singular line in the Gemara that considerably altered my outlook on life. 

Bava Metzia 22a outlines a halachic dispute between the Amoraic sages Abaye and Rava regarding the status of an object that the owner is unaware has been lost, questioning whether it can retroactively be considered ownerless. What follows is a long and highly nuanced debate between the sages, each bringing numerous proofs in support of his opinion, and refuting the position of the other sage. At some point in my learning, I began to wonder, what was the true purpose of this argument? Are Abaye and Rava, two prominent characters in the annals of Talmudic literature, really just glorified debaters? After much back and forth, Abaye seems to be caught in a sticky situation. One of the proofs presented relates to halachot of taking terumah without the owner’s knowledge, where it is nevertheless considered to be a valid terumah separation. According to the Gemara, this appears to disprove Abaye’s assertion that an object cannot be deemed ownerless when the owner is unaware the item has been lost. Abaye appears to have no response, and his only option is to humbly accept defeat.

However, an unexpected exchange follows: “Rava interprets (the case) according to Abaye.” Why would Rava, after proving his opponent wrong, go out of his way to assist him?! 

For me, this moment captures the essence of what talmud Torah is meant to be. The sages of the Gemara were not mere intellectual opponents seeking to one-up each other in debate and display their own wisdom. Their arguments were not ego-driven battles for dominance. Rather, their relentless analysis was in pursuit of a singular goal: truth. The Gemara is not simply a collection of legal disputes or philosophical musings — it is far deeper than that. When one learns Gemara correctly, separate and seemingly unrelated machlokot blend together, singing one harmonious song of truth.

This realization forced me to reconsider my own approach to debate, not only in Gemara but in my daily life. Until then, I had seen argumentation as a means of proving myself right. At times, I even found myself shading the truth to better prove my point. But Rava’s humility and willingness to uphold truth over personal victory revealed a critical flaw in my thinking. I came to understand that I had had it all wrong. Our sages, who spent their entire lives debating every minute detail in the Talmud and its implications, were not doing so for the ego boost. They were engaged in the lifelong goal of explicating and expounding the truth of Torah.

In today’s world, this lesson remains more relevant than ever. We live in a society that rewards intellectual combat but rarely encourages intellectual honesty. Too often, we see people, whether in politics, academia or even our own batei midrash, prioritizing “winning,” and beating each other, over seeking truth together. But the sages of the Gemara understood something deeper: Real wisdom comes not from demolishing opposing arguments, but from engaging with them sincerely.

Perhaps if we internalized Rava’s approach, we could shift the nature of discourse in both the Torah and Western worlds. Imagine debates where the goal was not to “win” but to refine ideas, where intellectual honesty prevailed over ego, and where truth, not personal triumph, was the ultimate prize. This Gemara left a lasting and substantial impression, reminding me that discussions in both Western and Torah worlds should be intellectually honest and in pursuit of the truth. The sages did not disregard the merits of an argument simply because it was not their own, and neither should we.

Photo caption: A timeless lesson from an ancient book 

Photo credit: LGLou / Dieter Hofer