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Available
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A masterful introduction to the to the great repository of Jewish wisdom, the Talmud In The Essential Talmud, the renowned Israeli scholar and teacher Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz succinctly describes the history, structure, and methodology of the sacred text by which the Jewish people have lived and survived through the ages. Rabbi Steinsaltz summarizes the Talmud's main principles, demonstrates its contemporary relevance, and captures the spirit of this unique and paradoxical text as a human expression of divine law. This expanded edition features a historical overview of life in the times of the Talmud and an in-depth look at the content and appearance of the original Talmudic page. As Rabbi Solomon S. Bernards of the B'Nai B'rith Anti-Defamation League puts it, "this book is indispensable to those, Jews and Christians alike, who would like to gain an insight into what it is that moves the contemporary Jew."… (more)
Publication
HarperCollins (USA) (1984), Edition: Reprint, 304 pages
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LibraryThing member bachrach44
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz is one of the greatest talmudic scholars of this generation. This book is an introduction to the talmud. He divides it into three main parts - history, structure, and method.
In the history section he talks mostly about the history of the creation of the talmud from the time of
The structure section dicusees the content of the talmud. The stories, laws, and subject matter that it contains. He covers topics like tumah and tahara (purity and impurity), prayer, holidays, civil laws, criminal law, and family law at a very high level. He is clearly not trying to summarize the content of the talmud, but rather is trying to introduce the topics which the talmud will cover in depth.
The last section discusses the methods of the talmud - the ways in which the talmud thinks, midrash halakhah, relevance of aggadata, and methods of study.
Steinsaltz relies heavily on the talmud itself as a source, as well as traditional rabbinic sources. For the most part he does not use modern academic or historical sources from outside the rabbinic realm. (The only exception seems to the the chapters on the printing and banning of the talmud in section 1).
In the history section he talks mostly about the history of the creation of the talmud from the time of
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mishnah to the time of final redaction. He also discusses the history of the more recent treatment of the talmud, including it's printing, banning and treatment in medieval Europe. The structure section dicusees the content of the talmud. The stories, laws, and subject matter that it contains. He covers topics like tumah and tahara (purity and impurity), prayer, holidays, civil laws, criminal law, and family law at a very high level. He is clearly not trying to summarize the content of the talmud, but rather is trying to introduce the topics which the talmud will cover in depth.
The last section discusses the methods of the talmud - the ways in which the talmud thinks, midrash halakhah, relevance of aggadata, and methods of study.
Steinsaltz relies heavily on the talmud itself as a source, as well as traditional rabbinic sources. For the most part he does not use modern academic or historical sources from outside the rabbinic realm. (The only exception seems to the the chapters on the printing and banning of the talmud in section 1).
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LibraryThing member melsmarsh
Summary of that. I wish there was more information about the Talmud itself. I need my own copy of the Talmud.
LibraryThing member arosoff
This is a very clearly written guide to the Talmud: its history, the material it covers, and methods of interpretation.
R' Steinsaltz is an Orthodox rabbi who has made it his life's work to open up the Talmud, and is writing from that perspective rather than a secular academic one, but he
R' Steinsaltz is an Orthodox rabbi who has made it his life's work to open up the Talmud, and is writing from that perspective rather than a secular academic one, but he
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acknowledges historical sources and credits them when they contradict certain details in the Talmud itself. I'd say it's best for someone who wants this specific perspective, but it's a useful one. Show Less
LibraryThing member goosecap
Well, on the malus side, it probably should have been called Introduction to the Talmud, instead of the Essential Talmud; it’s not that I know anything about this subject, but I thought that I’d be getting edited quotes and a small glimpse of what this very large collection of texts is actually
But, Jewish law is still an instructive topic. In a sense, it’s more like the modern civilization of science than Christianity is, arguably, even if science isn’t Jewish in any particular way (and Yiddishkeit is very particular, of course, very specific). Instead of consisting of abstractions about philosophy and one or two core principles, or abstractions about love or a particular divine Teacher to learn to love from, Judaism, especially in the crucial sense of Jewish law, basically consists of the particular, the specific rules and standards people should adhere to according to religion in all of the many many concrete situations of life, not unlike our practical scientific civilization, which cares more about results than anything else, either for worse or possibly for better at times…. Of course, traditional Orthodox Judaism, of which Adin is an adherent, has some problems common with other pre-modern cultures, not least the separated condition of women, which poses a real difficulty and should not simply be glossed over as it is in most of the old books. Still, Jewish law does provide a good counter-example to the idea that religion is ‘stupid’, unreasoned, not like science in any way. And hopefully there will always be Jewish women and men, in all of the centuries of the future times of Earth.
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like to read, you know—the way Adin wrote it it’s more like a very very long introductory essay at the beginning of a classic novel, (and the length of some novels lol!), with lots of background information and abstract summaries, but no concrete, Rabbi A said…. Rabbi B said…. Rabbi C said…. ~that you’d get if the some portion of the literal text was translated for me. But, Jewish law is still an instructive topic. In a sense, it’s more like the modern civilization of science than Christianity is, arguably, even if science isn’t Jewish in any particular way (and Yiddishkeit is very particular, of course, very specific). Instead of consisting of abstractions about philosophy and one or two core principles, or abstractions about love or a particular divine Teacher to learn to love from, Judaism, especially in the crucial sense of Jewish law, basically consists of the particular, the specific rules and standards people should adhere to according to religion in all of the many many concrete situations of life, not unlike our practical scientific civilization, which cares more about results than anything else, either for worse or possibly for better at times…. Of course, traditional Orthodox Judaism, of which Adin is an adherent, has some problems common with other pre-modern cultures, not least the separated condition of women, which poses a real difficulty and should not simply be glossed over as it is in most of the old books. Still, Jewish law does provide a good counter-example to the idea that religion is ‘stupid’, unreasoned, not like science in any way. And hopefully there will always be Jewish women and men, in all of the centuries of the future times of Earth.
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LibraryThing member datrappert
Detailed explanation of what the Talmud is and a summary of its teachings. Reading this, one can see why there are so many Jewish scholars, scientists, virtuoso musicians, and so on. All of those things take a lot of intense study, and the study of the Talmud is perhaps the exemplar of such study.
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After all, it is not just a commentary itself, but there are commentaries on the commentaries (and probably commentaries on the commentaries on the commentaries!) Now, you can also say that arguing for centuries over things that seem so inconsequential is also a great waste of time. And of course, given that the underlying text--the Torah, i.e., the first 5 books of the Jewish Bible--are full of stories about less than honorable people--and I don't just mean NON-Jews--I can also ask, "What's the point? How can anyone believe in any of this?" But, if I were Jewish, the opportunity to spend my life, supported by the state, endlessly re-reading and trying to find new interpretations of the Talmud, would not be an unattractive prospect. But, this book is well organized, clearly written, and though a bit dense at times, actually enjoyable. Well done job of making a bit of a mystery--for a non-Jew in any case--a bit clearer. Show Less