THE REV. MICHAEL L. RODKINSON, D. T.
TO HIM
WHO IS A LIBERAL DONOR TO ALL PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS
A FRIEND OF ISRAEL'S PUREST IDEALS, LITERATURE
AND RELIGION
ADOLPH LEWISOHN, ESQ.
THIS BOOK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL L. RODKINSON
NEW YORK, IN MONTH ELUL, SEPTEMBER 1ST, 1903
THE ancient authors used to begin the prefaces to their works with the proverb "Sepher be Lo Hakdamha keguph be Lo nechamaha," which means "A book without a preface is similar to a body without a soul"; and, indeed, this proverb remains forever true. At the time we began our translation of the Talmud, we were aware that to the study of it a clear preface which should explain its nature and the character of the sages mentioned in it was necessary, as without it there would be great difficulty for students in catching the real meaning, and in some places the reader would be confused, not being aware of its history and of the names mentioned who these were and when they existed.
With this in mind, we had already prepared the present work in 1897, when only a few volumes of our translation had been issued. Although we gave a brief general introduction to the first volume of the translation, and also some prefaces and introductions in the succeeding volumes, they do not suffice for the student who desires to have a clear idea of all that he is studying.
However, the translation has taken up so much of our time that it has hitherto been impossible for us to look up everything pertinent to our purpose that has been written and to submit it in presentable form. Now, after the completion, with the Divine help of. the two large sections, containing twenty-seven tracts, and in response to many inquiries from the reading public for some explanations, we find that now is the time to put forth this work; and, instead of adding two more volumes to the translation of the Talmud in the current year, we have decided to furnish the two volumes which form our "History of the Talmud."
It may be inferred that what was written several years ago has had to be thoroughly revised and corrected, according to the literature which has appeared since that time. There is an
old witticism, "Koshe Atika Me Chadtha"; i.e., "It is more difficult to correct an old thing than to write a new one"; and, as a matter of fact, it has taken a great deal of time to make the necessary changes and corrections in what we had written. As a natural consequence, the work is enlarged, and many chapters have been added since the issue of our prospectus. All this concerns the first volume of this work, as it relates to the history of the Talmud only, as to which there has been little new information. True there have been some new dissertations on the Talmud in Germany, but they do not add much to our knowledge concerning it, and may therefore be ignored.
The second volume, however, we have had to recast and rewrite. In this labor the wonderful work of that western light which was recently extinguished—we mean the Rev. Dr. Mielziner—"Introduction to the Talmud," which has reached a second edition and has been so favorably received by all students of both continents, was of great service to us. As Dr. Mielziner's work contains essentially all that concerns the Talmud itself, we resolved to take it as a text for our historical introduction, adding and abating as we deemed necessary. We have done so, also, with the second part, "The Ethics of the Talmud," which he arranged so admirably. Here, also, we have added whatever, according to our knowledge, there was left for us to bring to the attention of the reader.
Now, the work being finished, we regard it as a suitable preface to our translation and one which will enlighten the understanding of the reader in many places. At the same time, it seems to us to be interesting to the general reader who has neither time nor inclination for the study of the Talmud.
This is all we need say in the preface, referring the reader for more details to our introduction, which follows.
THE AUTHOR.
NEW YORK, September, 1903.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME I.
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| | PAGE |
PREFACE
| v |
INTRODUCTION
| 1 |
CHAPTER I.
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME "TALMUD." THE SAMARITANS. ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES. THE SADDUCEES.
| 5 |
CHAPTER II.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TALMUD DURING THE LAST CENTURY OF THE SECOND TEMPLE'S EXISTENCE (i.e. THE FIRST A.C.) SHEMAIA. ABTALIAN. HILLEL. SHAMMAL. THE PRINCES (NASIS) OF ISRAEL. R. JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI. SANHEDRIN OF JAMNIA. THE JEWISH CHRISTIANS
| 7 |
CHAPTER III.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE. THE FALL OF BETHEL. THE MASSACRE OF THE SAGES OF THE TALMUD, TILL THE WRITING OF THE MISHNA IN THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD CENTURY.
| 10 |
CHAPTER IV.
THE THIRD CENTURY. THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE MISHNAS. THE TALMUDIC COLLEGES OF PALESTINE AND BABYLONIA.
| 13 |
CHAPTER V.
THE TALMUD OF JERUSALEM, THE TALMUD OF BABYLONIA, THE CHARACTER OF THEIR HALAKHA AND HAGADA, THE DATES OFTHEIR COMPLETION AND THEIR SYSTEMATIZATION
| 17 |
CHAPTER VI.
THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE TALMUD IN THE PERSIAN AND BYZANTINE EMPIRES IN THE SIXTH CENTURY AFTER THE CLOSE OF THETALMUD
| 23 |
CHAPTER VII.
THE EIGHTH CENTURY. THE DOMINION OF THE GAONIM. THE OPPOSITION OF THE KARAITES. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SECT OFTHAT NAME
| 25 |
CHAPTER VIII.
ISLAM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE TALMUD
| 33 |
CHAPTER IX.
THE VICTORY OF KARAISM OVER THE SPIRITUAL DOMINION OF THE TALMUD AND THE MIND OF THE JEWISH NATION. THE LASTGAONIM AT SURA AND PUMBEDITHA. THE CENTRE OF TALMUDIC STUDY TRANSFERRED FROM MESOPOTAMIA TO SPAIN. THESCHOLARS OF KAIRUBAN. THE PERIOD OF THE GREATEST DIFFUSION OF TALMUDIC STUDY
| 36 |
CHAPTER X.
THE SPANISH WRITERS. A BRIEF SURVEY OF THEIR WRITINGS RELATING TO THE TALMUD
| 43 |
CHAPTER XI.
THE SCHOLARS OF GERMANY AND OF NORTHERN FRANCE, AND WHAT THEY CONTRIBUTED TO THE STUDIES OF THE TALMUD
| 50 |
CHAPTER XII.
THE DOCTORS OF FRANCE. AUTHORS OF THE TOSPHOTH
| 57 |
CHAPTER XIII.
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES OF ALL PERIODS
| 61 |
CHAPTER XIV.
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
| 76 |
CHAPTER XV.
POLEMICS WITH MUSSULMANS AND THE DISPUTES WITH THE FRANKISTS.
| 99 |
CHAPTER XVI.
THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, THE HEAD OF WHOM WAS JOHANN ANDREAS EISENMENGER
| 104 |
CHAPTER XVII.
THE POLEMICS AND THE ATTACKS UPON THE TALMUD IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
| 106 |
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE AFFAIR OF RHOLING-BLOCK
| 109 |
CHAPTER XIX.
EXILARCHS; THE TALMUD AT THE STAKE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT AT THE PRESENT TIME
| 115 |
APPENDIX A.
NOS. I TO 18 CONTAINS EIGHTEEN EXPLANATORY NOTES TO THE TEXT
| 121 |
NO. 19 CONTAINS AN EXTRACT OF THE CONCLUSION OF OUR REVIEW TO DR. KOPF'S BOOK, MENTIONED IN TEXT.
| 125 |
NO. 20 CONTAINS A TRANSLATION OF A FEW PAGES OF OUR BOOK, "DER SCHULCHAN ARUCH UND SEINE BEZIEHUNGEN ZU DENJUDEN UND NICHTJUDEN," CONCERNING THE TRIAL BEFORE THE "LANDESGERICHTE," AT MUNSTER, DEC. 10, 1883, ABOUT THEACCUSATION OF THE TALMUD AND SCHULCHAN ARUCH
| 126 |
NO. 21 LETTER OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
| 136 |
NO. 22 JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA.
| 136 |
APPENDIX B.
CRITICISM TO CHAPTER VII. (KARAITES). THE BELIEFS OF SADDUCEES, KARAITES, AND OF THE REFORMED JEWS, AND ALSOABOUT RESURRECTION
| 138 |
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
PART I.
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| | PAGE |
CHAPTER I.
THE COMBINATION OF THE GEMARA, THE SOPHRIM, AND THE ESHCALATH, ALSO BRIEFLY NOTICED ABOUT MISHNA, TOSEPHTA, MECHILTA, SIPHRA AND SIPHRE.
| 1 |
CHAPTER II.
THE FIVE GENERATIONS OF THE TANAIM, WITH THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
| 6 |
CHAPTER III.
THE AMORAIM OR EXPOUNDERS OF THE MISHNA. THE SIX GENERATIONS OF THE AMORAIM, THE PALESTINIAN AS WELL AS THEBABYLONIAN, AND ALSO THAT OF SURA, PUMBADITHA AND NAHARDEA, WITH THEIR CHARACTERISTICS AND BIOGRAPHICALSKETCHES.
| 22 |
CHAPTER IV.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF HALAKHA AND HAGADA IN THE CONTENTS OF THE GEMARA. COMPILATION OF THE PALESTINIAN TALMUD AND THAT OF THE BABYLONIAN AND THE TWO GEMARAS COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER.
| 38 |
CHAPTER V.
APOCRYPHAL APPENDICES TO THE TALMUD AND COMMENTARIES. THE NECESSITY FOR COMMENTARIES EXCLUSIVELY ON THEMISHNA.
| 44 |
CHAPTER VI.
EPITOMES, CODIFICATIONS, MANUSCRIPTS AND PRINTED EDITIONS OF THE TALMUD. INTRODUCTORY. EPITOMES, CODES, COLLECTIONS OF THE HAGADIC PORTIONS OF THE TALMUD, MANUSCRIPTS, AND THE BOTH TALMUDS IN PRINT.
| 48 |
CHAPTER VII.
TRANSLATIONS OF THE TALMUD, THE MISHNAYOTH IN MANY MODERN LANGUAGES, THE GEMARA IN ENGLISH, AND ALSO THETRANSLATION OF THE PALESTINIAN TALMUD
| 55 |
CHAPTER VIII.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MODERN WORKS AND MONOGRAPHS ON TALMUDIC SUBJECTS. HAGADA, ARCHÆOLOGICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, CHRONOLOGY AND CALENDAR, CUSTOMS, DIALECTICS, EDUCATION, ETHICS, EXEGESIS, GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY, LAW INGENERAL, JUDICIAL COURTS, EVIDENCE IN LAW, CRIMINAL LAW, CIVIL LAW, INHERITANCE AND TESTAMENT, POLICE LAW, LAW OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE, LAWS CONCERNING SLAVERY, LINGUISTICS, MATHEMATICS, MEDICINE, SURGERY, NATURALHISTORY AND SCIENCES, PARSEEISM OF THE TALMUD, POETRY, PROVERBS, PSYCHOLOGY, SUPERSTITION, AND LECTURES ON THETALMUD.
| 58 |
CHAPTER IX.
WHY SHOULD CHRISTIANS FEEL INTERESTED IN THE TALMUD? COLLECTIONS FROM GENTILES AND MODERN HEBREW SCHOLARS. REASONS WHY THE TALMUD SHOULD BE STUDIED.
| 70 |
CHAPTER X.
OPINIONS ON THE VALUE OF THE TALMUD BY GENTILES AND MODERN JEWISH SCHOLARS
| 75 |
PART II.
CHAPTER I.
ETHICS. INTRODUCTION. THE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE TALMUDIC AND THE EVANGELUM REGARDING HUMAN LOVE.
| 80 |
CHAPTER II.
MAN AS MORAL BEING, FREE-WILL, GOD'S WILL, THE ACCOUNTABLE TO GOD, ETC., LABOR, CARDINAL DUTIES IN RELATION TOFELLOW-MEN, JUSTICE, TRUTH AND TRUTHFULNESS, PEACEFULNESS, CHARITY, DUTIES CONCERNING SPECIAL RELATIONS, THECONJUGAL RELATIONS, PARENTS AND CHILDREN, COUNTRY AND COMMUNITY, AND THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
| 84 |
PART III.
OUR METHOD OF THE TRANSLATION OF THE NEW EDITION OF THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD
| 94 |
PART IV.
CRITICISM. SOME REMARKS ABOUT CRITICISM IN GENERAL AND TO OUR NEW EDITION ESPECIALLY.
| 101 |
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II. THE SUGGESTION THAT JESUS IS MENTIONED IN THE TALMUD AS AN AUTHOR OF A LAW WHICH WASPRACTISED UNTIL IT WAS CHANGED BY AKIBA
| 105 |
PART V.
THE ARRANGEMENT AND THE NAMES OF THE TRACTS OF THE SECTIONS OF BOTH TALMUDS, WITH THE SYNOPSIS OF THE TWOSECTIONS, MOED AND NEZIKIN.
| (134 pages) |
PART VI.
INDORSEMENTS AND SOME PRESS COMMENTS
| (14 pages) |
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