Talmud - SpeedyLook encyclopedia

Stages of the formation of Talmud

The oral Law

Mishna

Baraïta

Guemara

Halakha and Aggada

Talmud Bavli and Yeroushalmi

Guemara was done in the two great centers of the Jewish scholarship of the time, the Ground of Israel (more precisely, the Galileo) and the Babylonia. Although these two centers corresponded, two distinct corpora of analysis developed and it resulted from them two Talmud S. the first compilation carried out was that of the academies galiléennes at the fourth century, and bears the name of Talmud Yeroushalmi (Talmud of Jerusalem). The Talmud Bavli (Talmud of Babylon) was completed one century later, although it continued to be published then. When one speaks about the " Talmud" without another specification, one refers usually to Bavli, an ascribable fact, according to Heinrich Graetz with the comment that made Rachi of it.

Talmud of Jerusalem

Talmud of Babylon

Comparison of style and subject

In many points, Talmuds do not resemble itself: in addition to the difference in dialect previously evoked, the Talmud Yerushalmi is often fragmentary and of arid reading, even for the raftered talmudist, whereas the drafting of the Talmud Bavli more precise and is worked. The law exposed in two compilations is overall the same one, but differs by minor details and the emphase on certain points (the rare traditional comments on Talmud of Jerusalem aim at proving that its lesson is identical, or little is necessary oneself some, with the Bavli ). Talmud of Jerusalem is overall more complete (more studied treaties) but less deep than Bavli. This one is not interested in the agricultural laws limited to the ground of Israel, nor with the objects of the Temple or the laws of ritual purity, this one being practical little of interest in Babylonia).

The Rabbanim galiléens having precedence of their Babylonian counterparts, their opinion is often exposed in Babylonian Talmud but the reciprocal one is not true. Moreover, being developed on a longer amount of time, Talmud of Babylon includes/understands opinons them of more than generations than its counterpart galiléen. He is thus more frequently consulted, the more so as the prestige of the Babylonian community was with its zenith until the era of the Gueonim whereas the radiation of the centers galiléens did not cease weakening.

Language

The Mishna, as well as the baraïtot quoted and frays in Guemara are in Hebrew mishnaïque. Certain quotations of older works, like Meguilat Taanit, are written in older dialects araméens. Nevertheless, the whole of the discussions between Amoraïm and the structure of the work are written in a dialect characteristic of Babylonian Judéo-araméen for the Bavli , in a Western dialect araméen, near to the araméen employed in the Targoum Onkelos, for the Yeroushalmi .

The role of Talmud in the Jewish life

Talmud quickly became integral part of the study and the Jewish life, through the generations and in the large majority of the Jewish communities. " Pillar of the judaïsme" , it was as of the 13th century the target of the Christian attacks when them-Ci realized that the faith of the Jews rested as much on him as on the Bible. 24 cart-loads filled of works talmudic were burned in Paris in 1242. Subjected to the Christian censure, put at the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1565, it did not continue any less to be studied, so much so that even the poorest Jews of Eastern Europe had a rack of " livres" talmudic. It became the only material taught in the Yeshivot after the Haskala (Jewish equivalent of the Movement of the Lights).

Editions

The first complete edition of Talmud of Babylon was printed in Italy by Daniel Bomberg at the 16th century. It was determining for the later editions, in particular for its pagination. In addition to the Mishna and the Guemara , the Bomberg edition contained the comments of Rachi and the Tossafistes.
En 1795, the Szapira brothers very published in Slavuta an edition of Talmud appraisal of the hassidic Rebbe S
. In 1835, following an acrimoniously argument with the family Szapira, a new edition (censured) of Talmud was printed by Menachem Romm of Vilna (Vilnius), known as the '' Shas de Vilna ''. This edition (and the following ones, printed by its widow and its sons) was used for the production of the more recent editions of Bavli, including the edition Schottenstein d' Artscroll.

The number of a page of Talmud, called Daf , refers to its two faces; each face is called amoud and is titrated א and ב, or face " a" and " b". This use is relatively recent, going back only to the editions of the 17th century, the authors of rabbinical Littérature former referring only to the treaty or the chapter. The current format of reference is thus " Name of the treaty , number of the Daf , amoud has or B " (for example Taanit 23b). The Vilna edition includes/understands a total of 5,894 pages.

The text of the Vilna editions carries the trace of the Christian censure, and is thus not considered absolutely reliable by the scholars. At the beginning of the 20th century, Nathan Rabinowitz published a series called Dikdouke Soferim , which shows the textual alternatives between handwritten and printed editions. In the last decades, the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud started a similar series under the name of Guemara Shelema . Some carried out critical editions of particular treaties (for example the edition of the Taanit treaty of Henry Malter), but there does not exist critical edition of Talmud in its entirety. Footnotes, present in the edition Schottenstein and that of institute OZ veHadar, indicate however the textual alternatives.

Daniel Bomberg also carried out an edition of Talmud of Jerusalem which met less success, but is used as a basis for the current editions. The frame of reference is different, indicating only the chapter and the paragraph (for example, Yeroushalmi Berakhot 2:1)

Study and comment

As of its completion, Talmud became integral part of the Jewish study. This section reviews some great fields of the study of Talmud.

Gueonim

Extraction of Halakha and Aggada

One of the fields of study of Talmud developed in order to specify the halakha which was there. Rav Isaac Alfasi (Fès, North Africa 1013 - Spain, 1103), figure of transition between Gueonim and the Rishonim, medieval rabbinical authorities, tried to extract from the corpus talmudic its halakhic gasoline, in order to determine those of the opinions which had the force of law. Its Sefer Hahalakhot had a determining influence, and Moïse Maïmonide was inspired some for its Mishneh Torah. Another famous medieval authority on the matter was Rav Asher Ben Yehiel (1250, Germany - 1327, Tolède, Spain)

In addition, the compilation of the aggadot of Talmud of Babylon was carried out at the 15th century by Jacob ibn Habib, leading to the Ein Yaakov. It carried it out with an aim of familiarizing the public with the ethical aspects of Talmud and of disputing many the charges towards work and its contents.

Comments

The pilpoul

Method of Brisk

Towards the end of the 19th century, another tendency was done in the study of Talmud: Rav Hayim Soloveitchik (1853-1918) of Brisk, (Brest-Litovsk), known as Hayim Brisker , developed and refined this process, which one called the Méthode of Brisk. It implies the analysis of the rabbinical arguments in Talmud and among the Rishonim, explaining the divergent options while placing them in a structure of category. Highly analytical, this method is often décriée like a modern form of pilpoul . Nevertheless, its influence is large and it is with the programme of study of the majority of the yeshivot.

It is also by this method that the Mishneh Torah of Moïse Maïmonide started to be read not only like one work halakhic but also like a work of talmudic interpretation.

The yeshivot of Mir and Teltz developed their concurrent methods.

Critical methods

The text of Talmud was, contrary to the Bible, subjected to a critical approach, and this as of the drafting of the first commentaires.
Cependant, if this criticism questioned the shape of the text, and émendait it if need be, the base of Talmud, i.e. its claim to represent a tradition transmitted of word of mount on generations without which the Judaism could not exist, was not called in question before the emancipation of the ghetto, in 1789. Modern methods of analysis either only textual but also historical from now on were applied to Talmud.

Émendation of the texts

Talmud made, as of the time of Rabbenou Guershom, the object of a vigilant monitoring and a emendation of the texts

The émendations of Solomon Louria and Yoël Sirkis are include in the standard editions of Talmud. The Gaon de Vilna carried out émendations on the basis of its only intuition, which were confirmed at the time of the study of the manuscripts of the Gueniza of Cairo.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Nathan Rabinowitz published a study in several volumes, the Dikdoukei Soferim , showing lesz various alternatives textual between the manuscript of Munich and other old copies of Talmud. Other alternatives are reported in the Guemara Shelemah and the edition OZ ve-Hadar .

Critical-history analyzes

A innovating design of the oral Torah was developed at the beginning of the 19th century by Nachman Krochmal and Zacharias Frankel. This one was according to them the product of a process exegetic being built with the time, by application of the techniques hermeneutics authorized by the Wise ones. This position, known as the school critical-history was elaborate front by Isaac Hirsch Weiss in his Dor Dor ve-Dorshav .

This method was also used by Heinrich Graetz in its Histoire of the Jews , when it tries to deduce the personality from the Pharisiens on the basis of of the laws or the aggadot which they teach.

However, this interpretation is valid only if one rather designs the Pharisees as a exégètes independent than in links of the transmission chain of the oral Torah, and such a point of view is in rupture with the traditional vision of the oral Torah. According to this one, when God gave to Moïse the written Torah (the Pentateuque), It communicated moreover amplifications and explanations of the Text to him, which were transmitted orally before being lying on paper in Talmud. There is thus, according to this vision, no " historical evolution of the Halakha " (if one excludes the permanent readjustment with the evolution of the History), it was given very whole on the Sinai.

The method critical-history was favorably accommodated by the leaders of the Réforme of the Judaism like Abraham Geiger and Samuel Holdheim, which pushed the reasoning further and subjected Talmud to crtic intense in order to be detached from the traditional rabbinical Judaism. They insisted on the historical and evolutionary character of Talmud, for concluded that work had, although historically important, makes its time.

In reaction, certain influential orthodoxe rabbis like Moïshe Sofer or Samson Raphaël Hirsch became extremely sensitive to any change, rejecting the methods of modern criticism of Talmud.
Samson Raphaël Hirsch, while preaching itself the acceptance of modernity (with the proviso of not contradicting Halakha), wrote a series of articles in its newspaper Jeschurun where he reiterated the traditional sights and underlined the errors of work of Graetz, Frankel and Geiger.

The method critical-history, although discussed in the orthodoxe world, because anchored in a movement of religious reform, did not find of them less members, including among the most savage adversaries of the Reform like the rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes. The orthodoxe rabbinical seminar of Azriel Hildesheimer was founded on the principle of creating a " harmonize between the Judaism and science, " which David Zvi Hoffman adhered particularly.

Methods of contemporary study and analysis

The current study of Talmud in different the Courants from the contemporary Judaism depends mainly on their attitude with respect to Talmud and Halakha:

the orthodoxe Judaïsme maintains the vision traditional of Talmud like exact expression of the oral law transmitted to Moïse at the same time as the Torah. It remains an central element in the curriculum vitae of the Yeshivot. The continuous knowledge of Talmud to be put in high value in traditional rabbinical education, although the Halakha is generally studied starting from the medieval codes and not of Talmud itself. Halakha is applied in strict conformity with Talmud, including when a new situation arises, in order to continue to be applied according to the sentences of the Wise ones.

the not-orthodoxe movements ('' conservative '', reconstructionnist, liberal and reformed) have of Talmud a dynamic vision and admit the critical reading of it.
Le Judaism conservative continuous to grant an important place to Talmud and its study but considers it, in its laboration of Halakha, like a work dependant on the historical and different circumstances for its formation. Consequently, the legislation is often more flexible than that of the orthodoxe ones.
Le British reformed Judaism rather strongly approaches these practices, while the American reformed Judaism, as well as the liberal Judaism, hold its teaching at the schools of training of the rabbis, but not at the fundamental schools. Talmud does not play any part in Halakha, this one being left with the free choice of each one, but preserves a moral value and a character inspiré.
Le Judaism reconstructionnist differs from this diagram only by the role of the congregation of the faithful ones: it is indeed it and not the individual who decides practice. According to the sentence of Mordecai Kaplan, " the tradition has a right to vote, but not veto".

Consequently, Talmud is studied by the majority of orthodoxe like a completely reliable source. The orthodoxe researchers do not apply, in their majority, historical method in Talmud nor do not charge reasons to its authors. Talmud continues to be studied with its comments and supercommentaires. Nevertheless, a minority of “orthodoxe modern” recommends a critical reading of Talmud.
L' regular study of Talmud, including at the simple faithful one, was popularized by the Daf Yomi (" quotidienne" page;), a practice launched in 1923 with Vienna by the rabbi Meïr Shapiro with the first international congress of orthodoxe association Agoudat Israel. A Daf is studied per recto-back day by all the participants of the world, according to a cycle of a little more than seven years. The completion of the cycle gives place to a general celebration. The 12th cycle started on March 1st 2005.

Certain not-orthodoxe talmudists, Louis Jacobs and Shaye J.D. Cohen, consider that the text of Talmud was the subject of extensive rehandlings, so much of the stories than of the sentences. They affirm that in the absence of corrective texts (Talmud having remained oral a long time), one can confirm neither the origin nor the date of the majority of the sentences and the laws, and that one cannot have much certainty on their authors. The put questions thus remain unanswered.

Other talmudists, like Lee I. Levine and David C. Kraemer, share this opinion partly, but estimate that Talmud contains sources which one can identify and describe with a certain reliability. These sources can be identified by recalling the history and by analyzing the geographical areas of origin.

Lastly, of the figures generally closer to orthodoxe interpretations, like Saul Lieberman, David Weiss Halivni and Avraham Goldberg, estimate that the majority of the sentences and events described in Talmud more or less occurred in a described way, and can be used as serious sources of historical study. Holding of this vision thus try to skim the later additions leading (what is in oneself a difficult task) and consider with skepticism the miraculous accounts, in order to obtain a reliable report of the old Jewish life.

Attacks against the oral Law and in Talmud

Within the Judaism

Sadducéens

The Sadducéens formed a Jewish sect of the second Temple near to the sacerdotal and political aristocracy. They are presented by Flavius Josèphe like the adversaries of the Pharisiens and by Talmud like those of the pharisaism, i.e. doctrines pharisiennes, in particular those of the creation of the world and immortality of the heart. If Abraham Geiger presents them like faithful to a former oral tradition, which one would find traces in the school of Wise the Shammaï, Bernard Revel shows that it of it is nothing, as it appears in the texts of Talmud like those of Josèphe.

Sadducéens being strongly related to the Temple of Jerusalem, on which the authority of the High priests rested, disappeared after its destruction.

Karaïtes

The Karaïsme developed, or was affirmed, at the 8th century, in reaction to the talmudic inertia of the Judaism.

The central doctrines of the karaïsme are the reveration of the only written Torah (Miqra) and the rejection of oral Torah like divine revelation. It neither is defended, nor disadvised being inspired some, but the free examination of the Text must take precedence over the interpretation of the Masters, including main karaïtes (in practice, the karaïtes follow the opinion which convinces the majority). The karaïsme is also opposed to the methods of interpretation of Talmud, preferring the analysis of the to them simple direction of the verses according to their context.

The karaïsme knew a golden age of the 9th century at the 11th century, being adopted according to certain sources by 40% of the world Jewish population, as well in Europe as in the Arab Monde. Its influence declined then gradually, and there would not be currently more but 30.000 karaïtes in the world, including 20 to 25.000 in Israel.

The Reform of the Judaism

The Reform of the Judaism was born at the 19th century following the Haskala, which saw the Jews opening with other cultures that theirs clean and with the social sciences.

It in result at some a vision somewhat hégelienne of the history, which made Judaism a revelation moving, and not an already accomplished revelation. The Jews in favor of the reform of the Judaism thus did not regard any more the Torah and Talmud the demonstrations of an untouchable divine word, but as historical works necessary in their time, having to yield the place to the need for the time. Many halakhic observances were considered to be unnecessarily constraining, without base and obsolete.

The reformed movement was particularly flourishing in the countries where the Jews were émancipés in fact, if not right, i.e. countries of Western Europe, in particular the Germany and the France. It had on the other hand less impact in Europe of the east and was practically ignored Jews of North Africa and the East. The Shoah destroyed the German community, but of many Jews reformed having emigrated in the United States before the war established to with it.

The reformed Judaism is currently the current majority Jew in the United States, and has, under the name of liberal Judaism, a strong presence in England.

External attacks

Talmud and Christians

Contemporary attacks

Certain groups and individuals consider that passages of Talmud show the Racisme towards the Goy im inherent in the Judaïsme, like his anti Christianisme, its Phallocratie, its Misogynie, its acceptance of the Pédophilie, its claims with the theological Suprématie and its stressing of the need for not-disclosure of part of judaïque knowledge to the Goy im under penalty of death.

These charges were criticized, the passages in question indicating only one erroneous translation, even selective choices of matter taken out of their contexts or falsifications, on a text whose Maharal of Prague stated already that it cannot be included/understood without including/understanding the rules of Talmud itself. The report/ratio of the Anti-Defamation League on the subject explains:

Gil Student, rabbi and prolific author on Internet, refutes these anti-talmudiques and written charges:

Modern translations of Talmud

Translations of Talmud Bavli

Talmud of Babylon was translated for the first time in English by Michael Levi Rodkinson, and published after the death of the author, in 1918. It was incomplete, only the treaties of the orders Moëd and Nezikin was translated. It is currently available on Internet.
the official and annotated integral translation of Talmud in English language appeared for the first time in language Profane in 1935 at Soncino Press. " The Soncino Edition of Talmud" is published with and without the original text. It also exists on CD-ROM.
Adin Steinsaltz carried out a translation of modern Talmud in Hebrew that it decorated its own notes. It appeared in English with the editions Random House (but was not supplemented to date), in French with the Ramsay editions with the support of the Unified Jewish Funds of a company (FSJU) and in many other languages. It includes/understands a " littérale" translation; as well as a " assistée" translation; and the comment of Rachi. The Steinsaltz edition was applauded for its simplicity, and Adin Steinsaltz compared with a " new Rachi". It allowed the diffusion of Talmud in public the usually far away ones from the study of Talmud, of which women. She was however criticized, inter alia by Jacob Neusner, for her too great simplicity.
the edition Safra, translation French of the Schottenstein edition of the house Artscroll, began in 2003. The translation, abundantly explained and annotated, privileges the exposure of the various opinions rather the obvious direction like the Steinsaltz edition. It is about the one of the editions of Talmud more the appraisals by the beginners.

Translations of Talmud Yerushalmi

There does not exist to date of translation of Talmud of Jerusalem in français.
Les two translations English are:

that of Neusner Jacob, who using of a presentation analyzing the form returns the identification of the units of easier thought of the text, and thus facilitates the reading. However, although generally judged positively, the methodology of Neusner Jacob was described by certain as “idiosyncrasic,” and Saul Lieberman emitted a very reserved criticism of it.
that of the Schottenstein edition, aiming at equalizing the quality of the edition of Talmud of Babylon, currently in hand.

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