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v. 19-JLO
CAVEN LIBRARY
KNOX COLLEGE
TORONTO
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Af
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t
v..
THE
HISTORY OF THE TALMUD
ffrom tbe Tlime of
200
35.
C. t
up
1Fts
formation, about
to tbe
DIVIDED INTO
present Tlime
TWO VOLUMES
VOLUAiE
ITS DEVELOPMENT AND THE PERSECUTIONS SINCE
BIRTH UP TO DATE, INCLUDING ALL RELIGIOUS DISPUTES
AND BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF THE SEPARATED SECTS
I.
VOLUME
II.
NEW
ITS
THE HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION TO THE
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
EDITION: ETHICS, METHOD,
CRITICISM, ETC.
BY
MICHAEL
L.
Volume
RODKINSON
I.
(XIX.)
CAVM4
KNOX COUEGf
TORONTO
COPYRIGHT,
MICHAEL
L.
1903,
BY
RODKINSON
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,
THIS BOOK
IS
MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR
MICHAEL
NEW
YORK,
IN
ESQ.
MONTH
L.
ELUL, SEPTEMBER
RODKINSON
IST, 1903
PREFACE.
THE
ancient authors used to begin the prefaces to their
works with the proverb Sepher be Lo Hakdamha keguph be
"
Lo
which means
book without a preface is
a
without
soul"; and, indeed, this proverb
body
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 suf
fice for the student who desires to have a clear idea of all that
he is studying.
nechamaha,"
"A
similar to a
However, the translation has taken up so much of our time
it has hitherto been impossible for us to look up every
thing 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
that
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
History of the Talmud."
It may be inferred that
two volumes which form our
what was written several years ago
had
has
to be thoroughly revised and corrected, according to
the literature which has appeared since that time. There is an
PREFACE.
vi
Me
Koshe Atika
old witticism,
Chadtha"; i.e., "It is
difficult to correct an old thing than to write a new one
"
more
"
as a matter of fact,
has taken a great deal of time to
it
;
and,
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 Talmud
the history of
new information.
little
sertations
much
only, as to which there has been
True there have been some new dis
on the Talmud
in
Germany, but they do not add
it, and may therefore be
to our knowledge concerning
ignored.
The second volume, however, we have had to recast and
In this labor the wonderful work of that western
which
was recently extinguished we mean the Rev. Dr.
light
rewrite.
Talmud," which has reached
a second edition and has been so favorably received by all stu
dents of both continents, was of great service to us. As Dr.
Mielziner s work contains essentially all that concerns the Tal
Mielziner
"Introduction
mud
we
itself,
to the
resolved to take
introduction, adding
it
as a text for our historical
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
our
have added whatever, according to
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.
PAGE
....
PREFACE
INTRODUCTION
v
...
J
CHAPTER
I.
THE SAMARITANS.
TALMUD."
OF THE NAME
ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES. THE SADDUCEES
THE ORIGIN
"
.
CHAPTER
5
.
II.
OF THE TALMUD DURING THE LAST CEN
TURY OF THE SECOND TEMPLE S EXISTENCE (i.e. THE
THE DEVELOPMENT
FIRST A.C.) SHEMAIA. ABTALIAN. HILLEL. SHAMMAI.
THE PRINCES (NASIS) OF ISRAEL. R. JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI.
SANHEDRIN OF JAMNIA. THE JEWISH CHRISTIANS
.
CHAPTER
7
III.
OF THE TEMPLE. THE FALL OF BETHEL.
OF THE SAGES OF THE TALMUD, TILL THE
WRITING OF THE MISHNA IN THE BEGINNING OF THE
THE DESTRUCTION
THE MASSACRE
THIRD CENTURY
.
.10
.
CHAPTER
IV.
THE THIRD CENTURY. THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE MISHNAS.
THE TALMUDIC COLLEGES OF PALESTINE AND BABYLONIA.
CHAPTER
13
V.
THE TALMUD OF JERUSALEM, THE TALMUD OF BABYLONIA,
THE CHARACTER OF THEIR HALAKHA AND HAGADA, THE
DATES OF THEIR COMPLETION AND THEIR SYSTEMAT.ZAX
TION
CHAPTER
7
VI.
OF THE TALMUD IN THE PERSIAN AND BY
ZANTINE EMPIRES IN THE SIXTH CENTURY AFTER THE
CLOSE OF THE TALMUD
THE PERSECUTIONS
23
CONTENTS.
viii
CHAPTER
VII.
PAGE
THE EIGHTH CENTURY. THE DOMINION OF THE GAONIM. THE
OPPOSITION OF THE KARAITES. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF
A SECT OF THAT NAME
CHAPTER
ISLAM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE
VIII.
....
TALMUD
CHAPTER
25
33
IX.
THE VICTORY OF KARAISM OVER THE SPIRITUAL DOMINION OF
THE TALMUD AND THE MIND OF THE JEWISH NATION.
THE LAST GAONIM AT SURA AND PUMBEDITHA. THE
CENTRE OF TALMUDIC STUDY TRANSFERRED FROM MESO
POTAMIA TO SPAIN. THE SCHOLARS OF KAIRUBAN. THE
PERIOD OF THE GREATEST DIFFUSION OF TALMUDIC
STUDY
36
THE SPANISH WRITERS.
CHAPTER X.
A BRIEF SURVEY
OF THEIR WRITINGS
RELATING TO THE TALMUD
CHAPTER
43
XI.
THE SCHOLARS OF GERMANY AND OF NORTHERN FRANCE, AND
WHAT THEY CONTRIBUTED TO THE STUDIES OF THE TAL
MUD
CHAPTER
THE DOCTORS
OF FRANCE.
XII.
AUTHORS OF THE TOSPHOTH
CHAPTER
.
.
.
....
76
XV.
POLEMICS WITH MUSSULMANS AND THE DISPUTES WITH THE
FRANKISTS
,
61
XIV.
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD IN THE SIX
TEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES
CHAPTER
57
XIII.
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES OF ALL PERIODS
CHAPTER
50
99
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER
ii
XVI.
PAGE
THE PERSECUTIONS
OF
OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, THE
WHOM WAS JOHANN ANDREAS EISENMENGER
CHAPTER
.
.
IN
THE
106
XVIII.
THE AFFAIR OF RHOLING-BLOCK
CHAPTER
104
XVII.
THE POLEMICS AND THE ATTACKS UPON THE TALMUD
NINETEENTH CENTURY
CHAPTER
HEAD
109
XIX.
EXILARCHS; THE TALMUD AT THE STAKE AND ITS DEVELOP
MENT AT THE PRESENT TIME
APPENDIX
115
A.
i TO 18 CONTAINS EIGHTEEN EXPLANATORY NOTES TO
THE TEXT
No. 19 CONTAINS AN EXTRACT OF THE CONCLUSION OF OUR
REVIEW TO DR. KOPF S BOOK, MENTIONED IN TEXT
No. 20 CONTAINS A TRANSLATION OF A FEW PAGES OF OUR
BOOK, DER SCHULCHAN ARUCH UND SEINE BEZIEHUNGEN
ZU DEN JUDEN UND NlCHTJUDEN," CONCERNING THE
TRIAL BEFORE THE
LANDESGERICHTE," AT MUNSTER,
DEC. 10, 1883, ABOUT THE ACCUSATION OF THE TALMUD
Nos.
.
.
.
.
121
125
"
"
AND SCHULCHAN ARUCH
126
No, 21 LETTER OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
No. 22 JEWISH ENCYCLOPAEDIA
APPENDIX
.
136
136
B.
CHAPTER VII. (KARAITES). THE BELIEFS OF
SADDUCEES, KARAITES, AND OF THE REFORMED JEWS, AND
ALSO ABOUT RESURRECTION
CRITICISM TO
138
INTRODUCTION.
The persecutors
from the
first
of the
century
B.C.,
Talmud during the period ranging
when it began to take form, to the
present day, have varied in their character, objects and actions.
In one respect, however, they all agreed, namely, in their general
wish to destroy its existence. Careful consideration of
its
many
vicissitudes certainly justifies the assertion that the Talmud is
one of the wonders of the world. During the twenty centuries
them has passed without great and
enemies
with
each other and exhausting every
powerful
vying
effort to destroy it still it survived in its entirety, and not only
has the power of its foes failed to destroy even a single line,
of its existence not one of
;
but
it has not even been able materially to weaken its influ
ence for any length of time. It still dominates the minds of a
whole people, who venerate its contents as divine truth, and
countless
numbers have sacrificed
it from perishing.
their lives
and
their posses
sions to save
A
review of
persecutors, before going into their history
They are the Seleucidae, in the time of
its
would not be amiss.
Antiochus Epiphanes, the Roman Emperor Nero, Domitian,
Hadrian, etc., the Samaritans, the Sadducees, Boethuseans, the
followers of Jesus,
and
all
the sects opposed to the Pharisees.
Before the development of the Talmud had been completed,
when hardly a single section had been arranged systematically
and written down,
it
having been known merely as oral teach
ing in the mouths of the sages, and reconsidered and analyzed
constantly by their disciples in the colleges, it was violently at
tacked. But no sooner had the Talmud been completed in Bab
ylonia, and the Saburites had put their seal upon it, so to speak,
deciding that nothing was to be added to or substracted from,
when Justinian decreed practically its death that is to say,
;
what amounted
those
to the
same
who were occupied
thing, capital
in its
study (550)
Karaites, in the days of the Gaonim,
who
.
punishment to
all
Then followed the
seriously threatened
INTRODUCTION.
2
Time and time again they triumphed over Taland
were near making an end of the Talmud and
mudic Rabbis
of them.
The Rabbis next encountered the Popes. From the
time of Pope Innocent III., the Talmud was burned at the
stake in nearly every century from the i ith to the 1 8th, in Italy,
France, Germany, Spain, and many other countries, and in the
1 8th, also in Poland by the Frankists, by Bishop Dembovski,
where copies were dragged through the streets of the city, tied
to horses tails and then delivered to the executioner to be
burned at the stake in Kamenetz, Lemberg, Brody and else
where. In most places, before it was resolved what was to be
done with Talmud, the Israelites were forced to dispute with
its enemies, and had to pay heavy fines for arriving late to the
its
existence.
dispute, as well as for being vanquished in argument, the judges
being their enemies. Still what has been the result ? The Tal
mud exists to-day, and not one letter in it is missing.
It is true,
the persecutions against it are not yet at an end accusations
and calumnies by its enemies, under the new name of antiSemites, are still directed against it, while the government of
;
Russia legislates against and restricts the rights of the nation
which adheres to the Talmud. No modern persecutions, how
ever, can seriously endanger its existence, and it would appear
that the Talmud will also survive them and continue as long as
the sky spans the earth.
A desire to know all that has befallen the
Talmud and all
its
vicissitudes since its inception would require the reading of all
the scattered passages in countless volumes which have been
compiled in various ages, languages, and countries. Its his
tory, however, has never yet been written by a single author.
Treaties on the Talmud itself, or on certain subjects contained
therein, have briefly related part of its history, each according
to the subject and the aim of its theme.
Such are the works of
Zunz and Gratz, the one dealing with rabbinical literature, and
the other writing concerning the history of the Jews. Similarly
the historians of the world, relating in detail the occurrences of
every century, have briefly made mention of what happened to
the Talmud in each century. Even in the year there appeared
a pamphlet entitled "Anklager und Vertheidiger des Tal
(accusers and defenders), by Dr. B. Kurrein, of
Frankfort-on-the-Main, apparently giving the entire history of
mud"
INTRODUCTION.
the
Talmud from
its origin
to the present time, but
only dates (and not even these in
full)
3
it
contains
and not occurrences. No
is made of Karaites, who persecuted it in the times of
the Gaonim, or of the Frankists of the i8th century, of its fate
during the i5th century; the Pfefferkorn and Reuchlin episode
mention
is mentioned only in part, and by no means
satisfactory to the
reader curious about the details, not to speak of the Rohling-
Bloch, at the end of the igth century. It is, indeed, a matter of
astonishment that hundreds of books have been written about
Talmud by exponents
of all sects and in all ages, to say
of
the
extensive
modern
literature dealing with the
nothing
Talmud in whole or in part, amounting to thousands of volumes
the
a work,
Dikduke Sophrim," published in the
containing only the dates and publishers names
of the various editions of the Talmud, in seventeen large vol
umes, with a comparison of all words and letters of the different
in particular
"
last century,
and manuscripts, and this only of two-thirds of the
Talmud the fate of the Talmud, the charges brought against
it, the repeated persecutions, the burning at the stake, have
editions
not been recorded in a separate work, as though unworthy of
It has been thus left for us to supply the deficiency.
notice.
For we, who have taken upon ourselves the difficult task of
editing the old Talmud, to punctuate it in conformity with
works in other languages, to systematize and arrange it for a
new edition, and to translate it into a modern language, deem
it our duty to collect into one book all the records of the vicis
situdes of the Talmud in a systematic manner, at the same time
stating the causes of
It is quite true,
many occurrences.
many places we have been constrained
that in
more ample account would not have been out
must be borne in mind that to expatiate on
every incident would lead to the writing of a volume equal in
bulk to the Talmud itself, perhaps even larger, and time would
to be brief where a
of place,
but
it
not permit such an undertaking. In one respect, however, we
will do our duty we will arrange all the events chronologically,
and we have taken pains to denote the time and place of differ
ent events and likewise to name the persecutors of the Talmud.
;
We trust this volume will meet with a favorable reception from
the readers, for our
utmost of our
work was done
talents.
To save
conscientiously,
space,
and to the
we have not on every
INTRODUCTION.
4
whom we derived our
had
when
we
refer
the
reader for details to
to
but
facts,
only
of
we
the
name
and
the book. We may
other books
gave
page
state, however, that the sources on which we have drawn are all
the books which speak of this subject, viz. the Talmud itself,
the books of the Gaonim, and those written on this topic in the
occasion mentioned the authorities from
:
Middle Ages, as well as the extensive literature relating to it of
the last century, from Zunz, Jost, Herzfeld, Graetz, etc., to the
pamphlet we have mentioned. At the conclusion of the book
the reader will find an explanation of the method employed in
new edition and translation of the Talmud, and at the same
the
time a full introduction. We made it as lucid as possible, and
endeavored to reply to some criticisms that have appeared
in various periodicals since the new publication had first
also
appeared.
MICHAEL
NEW
YORK, August,
1903.
L.
RODKINSON.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
CHAPTER
I.
THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME "TALMUD" THE SAMARITANS
ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES THE SADDUCEES.
The name "written law" was given to the Pentateuch,
Prophets and Hagiographa, and that of "oral law" to all the
teachings of the sages consisting of comments on the text of
the Bible.
The word Torah alone was applied to the entire
Bible, the term "Talmud" was reserved for the oral law,
though the meaning of these two words is identical namely,
"
"
;
"teaching"
or
"
"study.
Still,
because
it is
written Velimdo
(Deut. xxxi, 19), and teach it the children of Israel (put it in
mouths that is to say that the teacher s duty was to ex
their
;
plain and comment on the laws and ordinances until the chil
dren understood them thoroughly and were conversant with
them by heart) the name "Talmud was applied to what was
styled by a long phrase "Oral Law" (Torah-she b al-Peh). This
word designated all the commentaries of the sages on the Script
ures which the Pharisees had begun to interpret figuratively.
Figurative interpretation was inaugurated in the days of the
Great Assembly when its members resolved to keep themselves
distinct from the Samaritans, their inveterate enemies, who ad
"
hered to the
the text, which, in the
opinion of the Pharisees, was falsified by them. This study,
however, commenced to make progress at the time of the Sanliteral interpretation of
from that of the Macedonian conquest of Judea, when
Great Assembly was changed to the Greek SanhcIt spread into every college where were assembled sages
hedrin, or
the term
drin."
"
"
"
entrusted with the guidance of congregations, with instruction
of the Law, of ordinances relating to clean and unclean, to prop-
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
6
All sages who interpreted the biblical passages
figuratively, unlike the Samaritans, were called "Pharisees."
The Samaritans of course persecuted those Pharisees (see App.
erty, to crimes.
objected to their interpretation, and did them great in
whenever
they had the power. At last, Janai, Hyrcanus
jury
the First, overcame them, burned their temple, devastated
their city, and compelled them by force of arms to conduct
No.
i),
themselves according to the doctrines of the Pharisees, though
he himself in his latter years became a Sadducee.
Until the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, before which period
the high priests since the erection of the second temple had
been of the family of Zadok, King David s high priest (see App.
2), and the priests had been also among the sages of the Phari
all
sees
and no disputes arose between them as to the interpreta
From the time of Antiochus, however, when
the high priesthood passed from the descendants of Zadok to
other families, finally coming into the possession of the Macca
bees, who were not descendants of the house of Zadok, began to
tion of the law.
from the Pharisees in the interpretation of the Torah, and
on the basis of oral tradition.
They
founded a distinct sect, styled Sadducees (after Zadok), and
the dispute with the Pharisees and their teaching, i.e. with the
Talmud, was begun. They persecuted the Pharisees to the
utmost being mostly men of wealth and rank, and in their
hearts leaning toward the Hellenes, who then held sway in Pal
estine, they joined the Samaritans, the foes of the Jews, whose
aim was to eradicate the study of Judaism. Thus united, they
gave their aid to Antiochus Epiphanes, who was anyhow the
enemy of the Jews, and who decreed on the pain of capital pun
ishment that the Pharisees should discontinue their studies,
that circumcision should be performed in a manner other than
that prescribed by the Pharisees (see App. No. 3) that the Sab
bath should not be observed according to the interpretation of
the Sabbath law by the Pharisees, etc. The obvious intention
was to destroy the Talmud together with Pharisees who adhered
to it. These persecutions against the Talmud ended usually in
favor of the Sadducees until the time of Simon ben Shetah, and
the above mentioned Janai, Hyrcanus I. (Johanan the High
Priest). Then the Pharisees triumphed over their foes, and the
oral law was the absorbing subject of the Sanhedrin, under the
differ
to explain the texts
"
"
;
;
THE FIRST
A. C.
7
leadership of Joshuahb. Prachia, Simon b. Shetah and Jehudah
The Talmud was then studied in all colleges of Pal
b. Tabai.
estine, Egypt and wherever Jews lived. Owing to the enmity
and the opposition of the Sadducees, many
laws and regulations were added to the Talmud of the Pharisees.
of the Samaritans
From
that time the Pharisees began to restrict their interpreta
make them agree with the deep though literal
tions so as to
employing therein much sophistry. They
the letters of the Torah, and if they found a word or
meaning of the
texts,
counted all
letter not absolutely necessary to the understanding of the
they said it was placed there only to add to or subtract
from the meaning. But at that period the Mishna was not a
separate and distinct thing from the Talmud, though many
ancient Mishnas already existed in writing, but without a sepa
text,
The Pharisees studied the ancient Mishnayoth,
(see App. No. 4) to them, and explained the biblical texts.
this was entitled Oral Law, or, shortly, "Talmud."
rate
title.
added
All
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 SHAMMAI THE PRINCES
SANHEDRIN
R. JOHANAN B. ZAKKAI
(NASIS) OF ISRAEL
CHRISTIANS.
THE
OF JAMNIA
JEWISH
After the triumph of Simon b. Shetah over the Sadducees,
the
finally cleared the Sanhedrin of them, and only
Talmud
of
the
the
remained
Pharisees
pro
there,
development
when he had
gressed rapidly, for the number of the sages, the adherents,
reverers, sanctifiers of the Talmud, increased greatly in the col
She
leges of the Ashkaloth (Duumviri) who succeeded to ben
tah: Shemaia and Abtalian, and, after them, Hillel and Shammai. And although at that time new enemies arose, in the
Boethuseans, Essenes, and
many
other sects
who were opposed
check
particular doctrines, yet those had not the power to
all
on
not
influence
Israelites,
or
weaken
its
to
only
progress
wherever they dwelt, but also on many Gentiles for at that
to
its
its
:
time
5)
we
come
see that prominent persons of other nations (App. No.
to the chief men of Israel and express their wish to
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
8
adopt Judaism. Hillel the Elder received them with open
arms. Helen the Queen, and her son, Isotis, also accepted the
creed of the Talmud. All this was due to the fact that its
morality came at this time to be before the world. The Polytheists began to perceive the great difference between the teach
ing of their priests in the names of the gods, and the Torah as
explained by its sages. From all places of the world came per
sons to learn the doctrines and the morality of the Talmud.
This period of good fortune, however, was only of short dura
tion, as the time of the destruction of the Temple was nigh, and
with it the victims of the sword and of hunger were many.
Among these were the great sages who bore the banner of the
The Sanhedrin
Talmud, and their wisdom died with them.
had been forced, while the Temple was still in existence, to
transfer their meeting places from the "marble hall" to the
Rabban Gamaliel the Elder, the son of Hillel the
"shops."
Prince (Nasi) was persecuted by them, and his son Simeon
was slain, together with many sages. Thus, if R. Johanan
b. Zakkai had not, risking his life, petitioned Vespasian to
spare the Sanhedrin, who had been compelled during the
tumults at Jerusalem to move with their college to Jamnia,
there would have remained no vestige of the Talmud, since most
of those
who
cherished
it
had passed away by the sword, by
hunger and by the plague. Besides, the disciples of Jesus (see
App. No. 6), who then believed in his Messiahship, but not in his
divinity, began secretly to undermine the Talmud, which laid
more stress on external ceremonies than they deemed necessary,
and endeavored with all their might to weaken its influence
among the populace, but R. Jehanan b. Zakkai and the Sanhe
drin in Jamnia, with Rabban Gamaliel, the son of the slain
Simeon, at their head, restored the Talmud to its prestige,
and took pains to raise up others in the places of the mur
dered sages.
Thus the study
of the
Talmud
flourished after the destruc
and
was
dispute with Sadducees and Bathueians and, no
tion of the Temple, although beset with great difficulties
desperate struggles. All his days, R. Johanan b. Zakkai
obliged to
doubt, with the Messiahists also
;
for although these last were
from the teaching of the
Pharisees, they differed in many points
Talmud after their master, Jesus, had
broken with the Phari-
THE FIRST
sees
was
A. C.
9
and
their doctrines in public.
So R. Johanan b. Zakkai
obliged to introduce many reforms and Rabban Gamaliel
;
of Jamnia, notwithstanding his office of Nasi, and his lofty bear
ing towards his colleagues and adversaries, was compelled to go
many
Rome to ask for mercy for his college and
And this first Nasi, after the Temple s
sages.
times to
Pharisaic
the
de
had
to witness the evil consequences of quarrels
in the midst of his own nation, added to the calamities from
struction, also
without.
As the
and vowel point of the
written law had multiplied, and liberty had been given to every
interpretations of every letter
man to construe biblical texts at his pleasure, the dif
ferences of opinion multiplied, and the disciples of Shammai
and Hillel, whose master s characters differed to the utmost,
learned
two factions and studied in separate colleges. Thus
the teaching of the Talmud was differently interpreted by two
This
parties, and what the one permitted, the other forbade.
split in to
circumstance was of more danger to the Talmud than any ex
ternal foe, for when there is no internal union, the whole fabric
will
go to pieces, and
its
influence will, of course, diminish.
Therefore the sages of Jamnia, with R. Gamaliel at their head,
strove not only to decide the law according to the school of
Hillel, but also to decree that the words of Shammai s school in
the place of Hillel s had no value at all. And what a world of
difficulty the sages
had
to
surmount before they succeeded
!
R. Simeon ben Gamaliel rightly says If we proceeded to record
all the troubles and calamities we had endured, time would
"
not
suffice."
But
in the long
run they did succeed
in
widening and in
creasing the sphere of influence of the Talmud, for both the in
ternal dissensions and external opposition only tended to sink
more deeply into the hearts of the people its doctrines (Hala-
At the end of the first
khas), legends (Hagadas) and morals.
for
their
a
substitute
it
was
to
them
destroyed Temple
century
;
was their stronghold, their entertainment by day and by night.
It was only when they were occupied with it that they forgot all
the calamities past and present it was the sole bond which
kept together the scattered colonies of Israelites, which
strengthened them to bear the yoke of the Romans, to hope for
it
;
brighter days, to be patient unto the end.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
io
CHAPTER
III.
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE THE FALL OF BETHEL THE
MASSACRE OF THE SAGES OF THE TALMUD, TILL THE WRIT
ING OF THE MISHNA IN THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD CEN
TURY.
The Temple had been destroyed; Rabban Gamaliel and
of his colleagues were dead the family of the Nasi extir
pated, excepting only his son R. Simeon, who succeeded to his
many
;
and established a college at Usha and new per
secutions, awful in their extent, were directed against those who
were engaged in the compilation of the Talmud. The sages,
father as Nasi
;
men of Israel, were slaughtered without pity by Trajan
the chief
and his successors through the entire period of fifty-two years
from the destruction of the Temple to the fall of Bethel. Some
Talmud who forfeited their lives for its
known to us only by their names R. Ishmael, Simeon
of these founders of the
sake are
:
b. Azai,
b.
Papus
Dragoman
Jehudah, Yishbab the Scribe, Huzpeth the
Jehudah the Baker, Hananiah b. Tra-
(interpreter),
dion and Aqiba the last, the main pillar of the Talmud, and who
contributed much to its diffusion and completion, died with joy
at being enabled to sacrifice his life for it.
;
One of the causes
this time
of the great revolt against the
Romans
at
was the prohibition by the Roman government of the
the Torah, wherein alone the Jews found comfort,
study of
since only in their houses of learning could they enjoy complete
peace and freedom. But as the death penalty had been de
creed against all who occupied themselves with religious study
and observed its precepts, and as this prohibition deprived
them of their only source of consolation, they rebelled, led by
Bar Kochba. R. Aqiba was the first to become his adherent,
who journeyed from town to town, inciting the Israelites to
rebel, and bringing them the message that a saviour of Israel
had arisen in Bar Kochba, the Messiah. It is not surprising,
therefore, that Hadrian, when he had ascended to the throne,
was not content barely with the massacre of the sages of the
Talmud, but was intent also on the destruction of the Talmud
itself.
kept
it
Unable to find a pretext for killing all the sages who
up, he decreed that if any of the old rabbis should
THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD CENTURY.
n
qualify a young rabbi for Israel, both should be put to death,
and the place in which such took place should be destroyed, be
lieving that with the death of the elder generation the Talmud
Israel would blend with the nations and
would be forgotten and
its
memory be
obliterated
;
because he very well knew that as
long as the Talmud existed there was little hope for the assimi
lation of the Jews with other nations.
This decree, however,
was not executed, and his murderous plan was further frus
trated by R. Jehudah b. Baba, who, forewarned of the decree
and comprehending its consequences, betook himself to a place
between two great mountains between Usha and Shprehem and
licensed six of the older
men
of R.
Aqiba
s disciples to
be rabbis
R. Meir, R. Jehudah b. Elai, R.
(i.e.,
Jose b. Halaphta, R. Simeon b. Jochai, R. Eleazar b. Shemua,
and R. Nehemiah. Having done this, and feeling sure that as
long as these men lived the Talmud would be kept alive, he
thus addressed them
Fly, my sons, and hide from the wrath
teachers of the Talmud)
:
"
:
I alone will remain, and will offer
of the enemy.
body to
And in fact the Romans pierced his
satiate their vengeance."
body with three hundred iron lances, so that it resembled a
my
sieve
;
but the newly consecrated rabbis were saved, and with
them the Talmud. (See Sanhedrin, p. 30.)
Thus the efforts of Hadrian met with no
he said to himself:
last
seventy
wolves."
"
Great
is
success, so that at
the sheep that stands
He saw the Talmud
still
among
existing, bringing
naught his plan for converting the Jews, uniting Israel into
one people, and establishing it still more firmly as a national
and a religious whole. For the six rabbis named above very
soon became the soul of Talmudic study some of them were
with R. Simeon, the Nasi, in Shprehem, and others founded col
leges of their own.
Through them the Talmud regained its
former power and influence, and one of them, R. Ilai, became
to
;
the chief teacher of R. Jehudah the Nasi, the compiler of the
Mishna.
The
translation of the Bible (written law) into Greek also
contributed very much to the popularization of the Talmud.
As long as the Torah was in the sacred language only (for the
Aramaic version of the time of Ezra had been concealed or de
stroyed as early as the time of Rabban Gamaliel the Elder, the
son of Simeon who had been slain, or probably even during the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
12
of the latter),* all Jewish sects and foreign scholars inter
But a wise Greek, a convert of
preted it in their own way.
life
who received
Judaism, Aquila the Proselyte,
the doctrines of
the disciples of R. Johanan b. Zakkai and also
from R. Aqiba, translated the Bible into Greek. This version
was not acceptable to the Jewish believers in Jesus (Messianwho must already at that period have constituted a large
ists)
Talmud from
the
sect
because their construction of
many
passages in the Mes
sianic spirit was flatly disregarded by the new translation nor
to the Romans, because all expressions seeming to imply the
;
materiality of the Deity were translated in a figurative sense
as for example, "the hand of the Lord"; "the glory of the
which the statue-worshipping Romans could not en
Lord,
dure with equanimity, and further because by this translation
the nature and doctrines of the Talmud became known to manv
J
In our opinion the version of
nations, who found no evil in it.
Aquila was the sole cause of the despatch of censors from Rome
to revise the Talmud, and these censors avowed that its teach
Be it as
Talmud during the first
ing was true.
it may, in studying the history of the
three centuries the reader is easily con
vinced of the great courage and patience of the sages of the Tal
mud. For no year of that period passed without trouble from
its
external as well as from
its
Simeon
internal foes, as R.
b.
Gamaliel, the Nasi of Jamnia, himself testifies. (See above, p. 9.)
For even after the death of Hadrian it enjoyed but a short re
Antoninus Pius renewed the decree of Hadrian, and
with
much trouble and at great risk of his life did the Nasi
only
succeed in inducing R. Simeon b. Jochai and R. Josi to go with
him to Rome to petition the Cassar to repeal the decree, which,
spite, for
according to the tradition of the Talmud, they effected only
through the intervention of Ben Temalion (a demon, accord
"
"
ing to
some a man, according to
;
others)
.
And yet,
in spite of
during this very period, the Talmud became so popular
that every town wherein Jews had their habitation possessed
also a house of learning for the study of the Talmud so that
this,
;
it
and bore the
bloomed and
flourished,
everywhere
Mishna, as we shall see in the next chapter.
* See our
"
Pentateuch,
its
Languages and
Characters,"
fruit of the
pp. 16-17.
THE MISHNAS.
CHAPTER
13
IV.
THE THIRD CENTURY THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE MISHNAS
THE TALMUDIC COLLEGES OF PALESTINE AND BABYLONIA.
The
sages, the
commentators
of the
differed in
Talmud,
opinion as to the epoch when the Talmud began to be written
down. The scholars of Spain, and their colleagues and disci
ples, said that it had been recorded from notes possessed since
had begun in Israel, a long time before R. Jehudah the
The scholars of France, among them Rashi," however,
declared that not a line was written till the completion of the
Talmud, before which its study had been oral. Each school
adduced proofs in behalf of its assertion. Modern scholars have
schools
"
Nasi.
made a compromise between
these various versions,
by
assert
ing that during the first centuries the commentators of the Tal
mud in the beginning had taken notes of their studies, and later
had written them out
in a
permanent form.
that as the persecutions had at their
severe, and the sages (see App. No. 7)
It
would seem
commencement been very
felt
that their lives were in
they decided to write its teaching in secret and to conceal
its foes.
No sooner had the Pharisees granted permis
sion for this (for till then it was absolutely forbidden to put in
writing oral law) than the number of manuscripts became very
great and when R. Jehudah the Nasi came to occupy the seat
of his father and had been confirmed in authority (since he en
joyed the friendship of one Antonius, who was in power at
Rome), he discovered that from the multitude of the trees the
forest could not be seen; that is, from the multitude of the
Mishnas the people had lost sight of the Talmud. He therefore
resolved to compile, selecting out of all the written and the un
written law, clear Mishnayoth, and to systematize them.
peril,
it
from
;
Indeed, the period was very favorable to this undertaking,
for the Talmud enjoyed a respite from persecutors external and
The Jewish followers of the Messiah, Jesus, began at
time to gradually blend with the foreigners who adopted
the new creed hence their influence on their brethren who per
Still he met with many
sisted in the old faith was weakened.
internal.
this
;
obstacles.
The chief one was the division of opinion among the
Talmud themselves. For although his grand-
students of the
i
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
4
Rabban Gamaliel
the Elder, had succeeded in fixing the
law in accordance with Hillel s school, and declared, with the
father,
many of the sages of the Talmud, the school of Shamno validity when at variance with Hillel s, still the de
cree was weakened, when later he was deposed for a short time
from his office of Nasi, and in his college were assembled four
hundred students more, of diverse opinions. In view of this,
and it was decided again that individual opinions, even those
of the minority, should be considered, the differences between
the students and the sages of his college were renewed with
consent of
mai
of
This state of things continued till the time of
Rabbi, and in order that his Mishnayoth might be accepted he
was compelled to give due weight to all the varying opinions,
greater vigor.
slighting none, even of those
of the decision.
who were
in direct contravention
The second difficulty
of incongruous doctrines
was in selecting, from among the mass
and laws many of which had become
found
and
others
to be unnecessary or impracticable
obsolete,
those which were both practicable and of direct application
(for a tradition relates that Rabbi found six hundred sections
of Mishnayoth; and even if we admit that this number is
greatly exaggerated, still if even one hundred existed, it was no
light task to reduce them to six).
The third difficulty was that as the subject had been studied
in divers places, differing in dialect or language, all the Mish
nayoth had to be made uniform in their dialect. Added to all
this, he was forced to clear the Mishnayoth from the insertions
incorporated into it by the Messianists; for being many and
considerable persons, and in close alliance with their colleagues
the Pharisees during two centuries, they could not have failed
to introduce into the Mishnayoth their
own
peculiar opinion
and beliefs, many such passages, indeed, being found in the
Gemara.
Reason compels us to admit, at least, that there were pass
ages in the Mishnayoth concerning Jesus and his teachings for
how is it possible that an occurrence which holds so important
a place in the history of Israel, and which has spread its influ
;
ence
among the nations
at in the
for centuries, should not
Mishnayoth?
Rabbi thought it well to
We
be even hinted
must, therefore, conclude that
clear the
Mishnayoth of any reference
THE SUBJECTS OF
to the occurrence
itself,
ITS SECTIONS.
15
as well as to the adherents of the
new
In this he acted wisely, for he knew beforehand that the
Mishnayoth would be the foundation upon w hich Judaism and
faith.
T
the Talmud should be built, and that the interpretations of it
would be many, each interpreter following the bias of his mind.
Therefore it was deemed best by him to avoid all mention of the
new event, to treat it as though it had no existence. Nothing
can withstand a strong will. When once he had resolved to
He
carry out his project at any cost, all difficulties vanished.
went from college to college, in cities far and near, in places
where the great masters taught and learned and though they
surrounded him as cocks of Beth Bukia," he was not shaken
in his resolution, and with the help of his many friends and
sympathizers he was finally enabled to arrange in order six
sections of Mishnayoth, condensed from hundreds.
Each sec
tion is given up to a general subject, and is subdivided into
tracts dealing with matters which come naturally within the
scope of the section. The tracts are further divided into chap
;
"
ters.
The subjects
of the sections
and the
tracts are as follows:
The Section of Seeds. The general subject of this section
is the law relating to vegetables, heave offerings, tithes, the
sabbatical year, Kilaim, etc. and at the head of this section he
placed the tract on benedictions which man owes to his Maker
every morning, beginning with those of the evening, which com
mences the day according to the Jewish custom.
The Section of Festivals. This treats of the Sabbath holi
2
days (to each holiday being devoted a separate tract), and in
cidentally also of the duty of taxes before the holidays, and of
1
.
;
.
mourning during the festivals. (See App. No. 8.)
This deals with laws having refer
3 The Section of Women.
ence to women, marriage, divorce, in separate tracts, and there
to are added laws concerning vows and Nazarites, as women s
vows are dependent on the decision of their fathers and hus
bands, and Nazarites depend on women, who may legally con
.
secrate the child previous to its birth, as for example,
and the mother of Samson.
4.
The Section
of
Damages.
Hannah
This section treats of laws of
property, of the judges, of the penalties which the court may
prescribe, and is divided into the tracts "Sanhedrin," "Penal-
1
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
6
part treats only of dam
ages and their prevention, it is divided simply into three parts
without distinct titles but as first, second and third Geths, and
as it treats of damages for which men are responsible, a tract on
"
ties
(Makkoth),
etc.
;
but as the
first
:
Abboth.
morals has been added
(Sections Festivals and
Jurisprudence" have been already translated into English by
us in eighteen volumes the synopsis of which will be here ap;
pendixed.)
The Section of Sacred Things (sacrifices), divided into
tracts on sacrifices (Zebachim) firstlings (Bekhoroth), and by
it treats of slaughtering, and examina
the way also Chulin
tion of the slaughtered animal used for profane purposes.
This deals with
6. The Section of Purifications (Tohoroth)
the subject of defilements and purifications in general, and has
5.
;
.
for special topics the defilement of vessels (Kelim), of plagues
(Nega im), of tents (Aholoth), etc., and a tract relating to a
Nidah (menstruated woman)
Thus he arranged all the laws relating to the Hebrew religion
and to civil matters, and called his entire work Mishnayoth
(Mishna), i.e. meaning "teaching" to distinguish it from
"Torah" and "Talmud," and probably because it is written
(Deut. vi. 7) V shinantam "and thou shalt teach them dili
.
gently to thy children" in the original version (Mishna Tohroh),
which signifies really to explain and comment upon it. Thus
the Mishna is an explanation of and a comment upon the Pen
tateuch (see footnote for a different explanation, in the intro
and teaches men how to conduct them
duction to Sabbath
"
"),
selves in relation to their fellow-men,
good and praiseworthy
and
incites
them
to all
(actions).
In the short introduction to
"Sabbath"
(vi.-vii.)
we have
already described briefly the character of the Mishnayoth
which Rabbi arranged, and how he succeeded in imparting to
the sanctity of the Pentateuch itself, so that nothing is to be
added to them, and what was done later after Rabbi s death,
it
is
not the place to expatiate on this subject
;
we may, however,
state briefly that as soon as the Mishnayoth was completed, col
leges were founded in Palestine and Babylonia to explain the
Mishnayoth and develop their laws to their
ultimate consequences. After Rabbi s death, when Boraithoth
and Toseptheth were discovered which did not form part of his
meaning
of the
THE GEMARA.
17
compilation and which in many places contradicted the Mishnayoth, these colleges busied themselves in reconciling them
with the Mishnayoth and with each other. They accounted
for contradictions in Baraithoth by saying that one spoke of a
case under same circumstances, while another meant a like case
under different circumstances. So they explained the differ
ences in the Mishnayoth themselves, often dividing a Mishna,
whose parts seemed to contradict each other, and giving as ex
planation of the contradictions that the first part was accord
ing to one tana, but the latter part according to another.
These discussions and comments on the Mishna they called
in Aramaic, which
"Gemara," which also signifies "teaching"
was the spoken language
of the sages of the
Gemara
(see in the
above-mentioned introduction for a different reason), and to
the combined Mishnayoth and Gemara they gave the old name,
"Talmud."
CHAPTER
V.
THE TALMUD OF JERUSALEM, THE TALMUD OF BABYLONIA, THE
CHARACTER OF THEIR HALAKHA AND HAGADA, THE DATES
OF THEIR COMPLETION AND THEIR SYSTEMATIZATION.
The
sages of the Gemara, called
Amaraim, and the commen
Mishnayoth were of different characters. Some were
intent only on diligently collecting Mishnayoth and Barai
thoth, wherever found, to compare them with each other, to
correct their reading in conformity with Rabbi s Mishnayoth,
and to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e. to decide which
Boraithoth was valid and which was not worthy of considera
tion (Boraithoth which were not studied in the colleges of R.
Hyya and R. Ushia were not considered). On the other hand,
there were others who devoted themselves to ingenious con
struction of the Mishnayoth and the Boraithoth itself, without
adducing proofs from elsewhere. (See App. No. 9.) This con
tators of
sisted in scrupulously examining the letters in the Mishna, to
eliminate or to amplify it where they judged necessary, to trace
law s to their origin and to discover what tana agreed with this
Mishna and what differed from it, whether the same tana con
T
tradicted himself at different places, and whether
it
was incom-
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
i8
In the
patible to explain them in various ways, and the like.
language of the Gemara they are distinguished by different
Those who studied the Mishnayoth were styled Sinai,
the master of the wheat," and the dialecticians "the uprooters
of mountains" or acute men
and although the preference
was given to the former, as it was said, all must resort to the
master of the wheat," yet the study of the Babylonian Talmudists being based on scholasticism, their acuteness is evinced
in their so harmonizing the contradictions and disagreements,
that they appear to point to the same meaning.
"
titles.
"
";
"
Not only did they
interpret the Boraithas at variance with
the Mishnayoth, but when even one of the great Amoraim ap
peared to differ from the Mishna they so distorted the latter
should seem to agree with the Amora. A similar dif
ference existed among the authors of the Hagada some gave
that
it
;
to biblical texts a
interpreting
them
new
reading remote from the plain meaning,
in strange and marvellous ways, and basing
on them legends of natural impossibilities, while some adhered
closely to the literal meaning of texts, without adorning them
with exaggerations. Though in the Palestinian and the Syrian,
as well as in the Babylonian colleges, there were many scholars
who assisted each other in their studies and comments on the
Mishnayoth, the Palestinian differed from those of Babylon in
this respect, that in the former the chief labor consisted in the
collection of Halakhas, without profound researches into the
deeper meanings and implications, even in the study of the mere
Mishnayoth, all of which was totally unlike the manner of study
in the Babylonian schools.
Indeed, the Palestinians were in
ferior to the Babylonians in scholastic profundity and ingenuity,
of them distinguished themselves therein, except
R. Johanan, R. Simeon b. Lakish, and several others of that
Therefore, in the schools of Palestine, scholasticism
period.
was esteemed of little value, and in them the study of Halakhas
and but few
fell
into decay, so that finally the
Hagada came
to
occupy the
principal place, the Halakhas holding a subordinate position.
In addition to this, they found themselves compelled to give
their attention to the biblical texts, as the Messianists,
who had
grown in numbers, construed these texts favorably to Chris
There
tianity, and challenged the Jews to dispute with them.
fore,
the sages found themselves obliged to give the preference
HALAKHA AND HAGADA.
to the study of the Scriptures
and Hagada.
19
As at that time
the impression was general that the most important element in
the study of the Torah is ingenious reasoning on Halakha, it is
not surprising that the Babylonian Talmud came to be received
as the important and essential part of the Oral Law, while that
of Palestine held a subordinate position.
It is difficult to describe accurately
thinking and ways
is
of reasoning of the
known only to one who has made
is easier,
it
and
clearly the
Talmud, which
the study of his
mode
of
in truth
life.
It
however, to give a picture of the Talmudists views
In this respect the
and notions as gathered from the Hagada.
of the Palestinian
Hagada
lon, as it
had
its
Talmud
birth in Palestine,
is
superior to that of
Baby
and was borrowed thence by
the Babylonians.
Many books of Hagada had
existed in Palestine, whose con
tents were incorporated later in various Midrashim, and some
also in the Talmud, and even at that period there was a differ
ence of opinion as to their value. Some valued them, and some
despised them. The Hagadas consist of two elements first,
the external garment of the thought, the tradition, and sec
:
ondly, the internal idea, allegorically shadowed forth, which
The latter can be divided into three
constitutes literary value.
kinds:
words;
"P
shat,"
"Drash,"
the interpretation of the meaning of biblical
a free untrammelled interpretation of the
the deep mystic, religious meanings
construed from the texts. By these three kinds of construction
of Scripture, all subjects, topics and times are embraced and
scriptural texts;
"Sod,"
The Hagada, with its mystic and veiled religious
has
exercised a great influence in the Oriental and
wisdom,
heathen world, which has borrowed from it many precious
discussed.
of profound religious thought having Palestine for their
And indeed we find that the multitude of legends
birthplace.
gems
based on the Bible which have been current in, and reverenced
by, the Mohammedan world for twelve hundred years, delight
ing both sages and the unlearned, are to be found in the Tal-
mudic Hagada.
their identity
is
Whether
entire or only in the leading idea,
Many also of the legends of the
recognizable.
Middle Ages to be found in the works of Dante, or those of
Boccaccio, Cervantes, and Milton, arc taken, consciously or
unconsciously, from their original source, the Talmudic Hagada.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
20
The Fathers
of the Christian church
have likewise drawn on
it,
as Basilius of Cappadocia, Hieronymus, Chrysostomus, and
many others who construed passages in the Bible in accordance
with the Hagada.
teaches
man how
situations of
life.
The moral code contained
to conduct himself toward
in the
all
Hagada,
men and
in all
We shall deal with this moral law in a future
chapter on the Ethics of the Talmud.
The two Talmuds contain, then, Halakhas, Hagadas, refer
ences to all branches of science known in those days, but with
out any system or order. Many times a Hagada is interpolated
middle of a Halakha, and again in like manner a digres
sion on a scientific subject extraneous to the Halakha is inserted
in it.
The compiler of the Talmud, whether from careless
method or from the great labor involved, could introduce no
in the
In this respect there is little difference between the two
Talmuds; nor is there much difference in the sources whence
order.
each drew
its
material.
Sayings from the Talmud of Palestine
are quoted in that of Babylonia, sometimes under the name of
their author or their citer in Babylonia; other passages are
stated to emanate from the
it
was
said."
In the
"
"
West."
Talmud
In the West (Palestine)
Palestinian, similarly (vide
I.
H.
the Babylonian authority is often
There
learn"
or
It is clear however
given; e.g.,
they
when
Talmud
that
the Babylonian
was compiled that of Pal
Weiss, Vol.
III., 127, etc.),
"
"say."
estine
was unknown to
opinion of
many, the
its
compilers, although, according to the
of Palestine was arranged by R.
Talmud
Johanan and concluded by R. Jose bar Bun about one hundred
years before the Babylonian others, however, affirm that the
Talmud of Palestine was concluded only in the eighth century
;
or even as late as the ninth (in the time of Anan, the founder of
the Karaite sect), and adduce evidence in substantiation.
We
may
assume, as a compromise, both assertions to be true
;
the
greater part had indeed been arranged and systematized in the
time of Hillel, the last of the Nasis in the West, but it was not
employed to any extent in the colleges remaining in Palestine
and Syria, because the Babylonian Talmud had spread until it
reached the West. But in the time of the Karaites many
things were added to the Talmud of Palestine (to oppose the
doctrines of the Karaites, as the small tract on Tephilin and the
like, which that sect repudiated) by those who wished their
ABBI ARIKHA AND
R. ASHI.
21
words to be held as of equal sacredness with the Talmud, as was
then customary.
(We shall speak of this further on.) The
bulk of the Palestine Talmud, after all the additions, is much
less than that of the Babylonian, albeit it contains Gemara on
two additional
tracts (thirty-nine instead of thirty-seven, as
will
be explained) and fragmentary chapters of other
This
is
tracts.
owing to the fact that the discussion of the Mishnayoth is
not so elaborate, and there is less of scholastics.
have
We
already stated that its quality, as regards the Halakhas, is also
inferior.
It was not as popular as that of Babylonia, therefore
fewer copies were
made of it than of the latter.
since its conclusion its opponents
have been
For this reason,
less
numerous,
was very much persecuted at the time when it was
studied in the colleges. The government rulers persecuted
Israel and its Torah, since the death of Rabhi, and the perse
though
it
cutions did not stop until the death of Hillel, the last of his
descendants, with whom the office of Nasi ceased to exist (360).
This was alone one of the causes
why
the
Talmud
of Palestine
younger brother of Babylonia. The
spread
lot of the Talmud in Babylonia was better, since from the time
of the death of Rabbi (223) till Mar b. R. Rah Ashi, one of the
last of the Amoraim (500), it was not persecuted by the Persian
For about a hundred years, the heads of the Exile were
rulers.
less
widely than
its
diligent in their studies, uniting thereunto its political power.
sometimes happened that some kings were ill-disposed to
the Jews, still they did not interfere with their studies.* For
If it
this reason the
study of the Talmud flourished in the colleges
Nahardea and Pumbeditha, and the number of its
students was counted by thousands.
(The Talmud counts the
And so
as 1 2 ooo )
of
Rabb
lectures
auditors
Abba Arikha s [
s]
the Talmud became a vast sea, and its waves rose with might.
R. Ashi (355-427) saw, therefore, that the time had come for
revising, systematizing and concluding it, when he came to re
store the college of Sura (Matha Mekhasia), which had fallen
into decay on the death of Rabh.
About this R. Ashi it was said (Sanhedrin, p. 108) that from
the time of Rabbi to his time there is not to be found a man who
was unique in the possession of wisdom, riches and glory. He
of Sura,
,
* See
Getzow,
"
Al Naharoth
Babel."
.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
22
with King Izgadar II., rich and long-lived. There
he undertook in the course of one year to systematize two
Whether he arranged them in the order in which they
tracts.
are found in the Mishnayoth, or differently, or whether he re
vised and improved them, is not known to us; but this, at
least, is clear, that some tracts he revised twice, and the second
was
in favor
fore,
time in a manner opposite to the first.* Be this as it may, it is
also certain that the Talmud which we possess is not that which
came from R. Ashi s hands, since additions by seven heads of
who succeeded him in Sura, and by their colleagues,
Meremar, Idi bar Abin, Nahman bar Huna, Tabyomi (Mar b. R.
Ashi) his son, Rabba Tosphoah, Rabina bar Huna, Rabbana
Jose, who presided together 125 years, are mentioned in the
Talmud, none of which are found in R. Ashi s edition. Perhaps
the colleges
they also made eliminations in his edition though they did not
attain the learning and religious wisdom of R. Ashi, except his
Tabyomi. The latter filled the place of his father in learn
ing and wisdom, though not in his breadth of view, for in his
time reigned King Peros, the son of Izgadar III., who perse
cuted the Jews, the Talmud, and those who cherished it.
Therefore, even if we suppose that his son Mar was diligent in
arranging and revising the Talmud, as traces of his insertions
and corrections are found in it, yet he did not succeed in com
son,
pleting it, owing to the persecutions of the government, espe
cially as he did not occupy his office long, and thus the Talmud
has remained uncorrected. But as the sages became aware that
the times were changing, the number of learned men diminish
they began to fear lest in the course of time, passages would
multiply in the Talmud which would rather detract from than
add to its value therefore they concluded it, and decreed that
thenceforth nothing should be added to it. They also ordered
that the sages should no more be called "Amoraim" (signify
ing commentators of the Mishna), but Saburaim (i.e., explainers
ing,
;
of the
Talmud
to the people).
Thus the Talmud was con
cluded in the age of Rabbana Jose (about 525), without further
In reality, however, these sages
or rearranging.
revision
achieved almost nothing; for, despite their decree, the Sobumany of its enemies) as well as the Gaonim and the
rites (as also
* Vide
"
Last
Gate,"
3s6b.
THE SOBURITES.
23
rabbis succeeding them, added to and eliminated from
it
and
H. Weiss has proved
many places
we
in
our book
also
ourselves
L baker
and
beyond dispute
"Hakol"
many times, as will be
Mishpat" and in the journal
mentioned further on. (See App. No. 10.)
as
its version,
altered in
I.
"
CHAPTER
VI.
THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE TALMUD IN THE PERSIAN AND BY
ZANTINE EMPIRES IN THE SIXTH CENTURY AFTER THE CLOSE
OF THE TALMUD.
In the reign of
named Mazdak
Kobad
(Cabades) in Persia, a fanatic reformer
desired to introduce the doctrine of the
com
munity of property and wives, thus modifying the Zoroastrian
creed (501). The king became an adherent of the new doc
The lower
trine and decreed its acceptance by the people.
classes eagerly availed themselves of the license thus granted.
To this communism, the Jews, led by Mar Zutra II., son of R.
Huna, the young
exilarch, offered
an armed
occasion of the revolt was the murder of
of one of the colleges.
It is related
resistance.
Mar
The
Isaac, president
that they established an
for king the Prince of
Cap
independent Jewish state, having
At last, after seven years,
tivity, with Machuza as the capital.
Mar Zutra and his grandfather, Mar Chanina, were taken
prisoners, executed, and their bodies nailed to the cross on the
On account of the ensuing
bridge of Machuza (about 520).
persecutions the office of Exilarch remained for some time in
abeyance. The colleges were closed, as the teachers were com
pelled to conceal themselves, and Abuna and Giza, two of the
most eminent,
fled.
When
peace was restored after
Kobad
s
death, the college at Sura received Giza as president, and that
at Pumbeditha, Semuna. A third name of eminence survives,
that of Rabbi or
Rab
(near Nahardea), of
whom little is known.
Men
of religious mind of the period devoted themselves to the
study of the Talmud, the love for which persecution had but in
creased,
which
quillity of
satisfied
religious
mind, and the knowledge of
to positions of honor
and
and promoted tran
which raised its possessor
zeal
trust.
The original development
of the
Talmud had
at that period
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
24
ceased.
Giza and
Semuna conceived
the desire to fix the laws
for practical use, casting aside theoretical speculation, for it
was necessary that there be no doubts or wavering. Their
activity in this work was but a continuation of that which had
begun at the close of the Talmud. The labors of the presidents
of the colleges were confined to this task and to assembling, as
of old, the disciples in Adar (March) and Ellul (September) and
instructing them by lectures, and to assigning themes for pri
vate study. To fix the laws, the arguments pro and con needed
to be weighed therefore they were called Sabureans (Saburai)
Many points of practice in the ritual, the civil law, and the mar
;
riage code were settled at this period.
Giza and Semuna gave chief attention to
.
committing the
Talmud to writing, making use of oral traditions and of notes
made to aid the memory by various individuals. All legends
were incorporated, and the obscure passages elucidated by their
additions, for everything emanating from the Amoraim was
thought important. In this form it has reached us. The
vowel points to the Bible were also invented at
this time, ac
cording to Graetz.
names
of the immediate successors of Giza and Se
not been preserved either by chronicles or tradi
tion"
forgotten in the persecution visited on the colleges dur
ing this century by both Christian and Zoroastrian churches.
Hormisdas IV., Chosroes Nushirvan s son, was unlike his
"The
muna have
father.
Led by the Magi, who strove
to check the approach
ing dissolution of their religion by persecution of the adher
ents of other faiths, he vented his wrath upon the Jews and
The Talmudical colleges at Sura and
and again many teachers fled (about
Firuzshabar, where, under an Arabian gov
Christians of his empire.
Pumbeditha were
581) this time to
closed,
New colleges arose
ernor, they were less exposed to espionage.
there, among which that of Mari was eminent, and there they
continued their Talmudic labors. A general, Babram Tshubin,
who had experienced the ingratitude of the king, usurped the
Persian throne. In this. he was assisted by the Jews with
in return granted them many favors and
As a result, the colleges of Sura and Pumbeditha
were reopened Chanan of Iskia returned from Firuzshabar to
Pumbeditha, and restored the college there it is also probable
money and men, and
concessions.
;
;
HORMISDAS
IV.
25
that the president of Sura, which was of far greater repute, was
elected at that time, though his name is not mentioned in the
chronicles.
With Babram
s fall
the vengeance of the lawful heir to the
With the aid
throne, Prince Chosru, was visited on the Jews.
of the Byzantine emperor, Mauritius, and the loyal portion of
the Persian people, he defeated the usurper, putting to the
sword also the greater part of the Jewish population of Machuza,
and probably of other cities as well.
CHAPTER
VII.
THE EIGHTH CENTURY. THE DOMINION OF THE GAONIM. THE
OPPOSITION OF THE KARAITES. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A
SECT OF THAT NAME.
The Pharisees had been
victorious over the Sadducees
and
the other sects opposed to the Oral Law, but had not annihil
ated them entirely since only because these latter could not
withstand them, they kept silence and were discontented in
;
As the Talmud gained strength and became more
decrees against the Sadducees and Samaritans, so
that in the end the Kuthim were declared as idolaters in all
their hearts.
severe in
its
respects, then their indignation burned and they awaited a
In the time of the dominance of
favorable time for revenge.
the Gaonim,
ure became
who
full,
carried out the
Talmud
and Anan, the nephew
in practice, the meas
of the Gaon at Sura,
when he was not
ideas
and
elected as Gaon, for the reason of his liberal
his opposition to the Talmud, established the Karaite
sect.
Those who hold that the Karaites were a new sect founded
by Anan (760 C.E.), are mistaken, for a small sect under the
name
of Karaites, or adherents of the Text,
had
existed already
in the days of the Talmud, where they are mentioned in many
places, as adherents of the Text," or once "the Karaites add
"
"
(Pesachim, nya in text; in our edition, Vol. V., p. 145).
Doubtless the remainder of the Sadducees assumed this name,
having lost political influence since they had been vanquished,
and the word
Sadducees being hated by the people. There
fore the remains of the sect called themselves
Karaites," i.e.
"
"
"
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
26
who occupy themselves with the text of Scripture, and
endeavor to understand its real meaning. Owing to their
small numbers, or to the lack of a great man to head them, this
sect kept secret its hatred of the Talmud, though it existed so
long as to outlive even the close of the latter, and the Talmudic
sages paid no attention to them. Finally, however, chance gave
them a man fit to be their leader, who publicly opposed the
Talmud so that all its enemies made one league against it, and
they were at first a great power and in the course of 700 years
those
;
they did not cease to persecute the Talmud and almost desstroyed it; finally, however, they lost their influence which
they never regained, and to-day are decayed so that small
numbers only live in Austria, Crimea, and many other places
in Russia, numbering in all to-day no more than 4,000 or 5,000
souls altogether.
man was Anan ben David, nephew of the exilarch
Solomon, in Bagdad, who had died childless. Anan expected
This
to be elected as his successor, but his younger brother was
chosen instead, and he was rejected because of his liberal ideas
sympathy with the Talmud. Then he publicly
began to make war on the Talmud and Talmudists, and became
the head of all its opponents and ill-wishers. He made his
and want
of
headquarters at Jerusalem, after having been,
There he assumed the
to leave Babylonia.
it
seems, obliged
title of exilarch,
and around him were assembled a great multitude who made
war on the Oral Law, its scholars, and in particular on the two
colleges of Sura and Pumbeditha.
By
his general precept,
"Search
well in the
Scriptures,"
he
declared as naught the whole Oral Law. And wishing to find
favor in the eyes of the Caliphs, who fixed the dates of their
by observation of the new moon, he also renewed this
in force among the Jews while the Temple had ex
once
custom,
isted, repealing thus the calculation of R. Adda received among
He openly said to the Caliph Almanzur that
all Talmudists.
the Jews had been guilty of persecuting Jesus and opposing
Mahomet, though (said he) both these men did much to drive
idolatry out of existence, and cannot be attacked without guilt.
Of the first he said that he had been a holy man who did not
want to appear as a prophet, or a god, but only desired to re
festivals
form the
faith
which the Pharisees had perverted.
Of the
sec-
THE KARAITES.
ond he
said that he really
does not believe that the
was a prophet
27
for the Arabs, only
he
Law (of Moses) is repealed by Mahom-
medanism.
first work was to separate himself from the Jews by fix
of Pentecost to be fifty days after the first Sabbath
date
the
ing
The dates
after Passover, as the Sadducees fixed it formerly.
Passover
and the
of
of New Year and the Day
Atonement,
His
Feast of Booths were determined by watching for the new
moon, which did not agree with the Jewish dates. As in the
leap year one month is added to the year, he allowed, in case of
need, to begin Passover
when barley
ripe in the fields.
among the Jews, at
is
Phylacteries (not a grave ceremony
The
any
Lulab and the semi-holiday Hanuka (Dedication), he abolished. On the other hand he made
the observation of Sabbath more burdensome, so that the light
ing of candles was prohibited on the eve of Sabbath, even by a
non-Jew, also the leaving of one s house during Sabbath when
rate), the four species of the
most neighbors are not Jews,
i.e.
Karaites; the dietary laws
made stricter, so as to prohibit his adherents eating in
company with Jews for the latter are not careful enough and
he also
oftentimes eat with Gentiles.
Soon Anan saw
that if every
one were
left to
interpret the Bibli
own mind, etc., his sect would be split,
and not endure (as actually was the case in the course of time,
as will be explained further on), and that a fixed commentary
is needed at least for those passages which can by no means be
cal text according to his
Therefore he claimed many great authori
interpreted literally.
as
Karaites, and declared that R. Jehuda b.
ties, long deceased,
Tabai, the colleague of Simeon b. Shetah, etc. Shamai the elder,
the colleague of Hillel the Elder, and other such, were some of
the founders of their sect, and he ascribed to them some inter
pretations of passages which he claimed to have received by
Abandon the Talmud and Mishna," he
tradition from them.
"
said to his followers,
"
and
make you a Talmud of my own,
have.
Though in reality he took
I will
according to the traditions I
the rules of the Mishna as basis, yet he said that as far as details
are concerned he is as wise as the sages of the Mishna, or more
so,
if
and can construe the
Biblical texts
by his own
intellect.
His hatred of the Talmud became so great that he said that
he could have swallowed the Talmud, he would cast himself
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
28
into a lime-kiln, that it might be burned with him and leave no
Thus the people of Israel separated
vestige of its existence.
itself
then into two hostile hosts.
The Talmudists declared the
Karaites not to be Jews, and forbade to give them any holy
ceremony to perform, while the Karaites said of the followers
of the rabbis that they are Jewish sinners,
and
it is
sinful to
intermarry with them. The city of Jerusalem witnessed for
the third time a splitting of Israel into parties.
writing we know nothing, although according to
he
wrote some comments on the Bible and prayers.
the Karaites
From the compositions imputed by them to him, we can see
that only the love of resistance and victory absorbed him how
great his learning was we can not judge, as in general his biog
raphy is unknown to us, but it is known that he was not given
One
to philosophy, nor ingenious in interpreting Scripture.
good effect we can ascribe to him, that, owing to his opposition,
the Talmudic rabbis were also forced to pay more attention to
Of Anan
s
;
and make researches and learn the niceties of
the Hebrew language, so that Anan and his sect were the prime
cause of all the compositions on grammar, Massorah and vowel
points, and even poetic compositions that the Talmudists gave
the,
Scriptures,
birth to in the course of time.
Anan
death Saul, his son, succeeded him as exilarch
of the Karaites, but Anan s disciples separated from him, as
they did not agree with him about some ceremonies, according
ing to Saul s interpretation of biblical passages.
They became
a distinct sect calling themselves Ananites so it also happened
after the death of Saul, who was succeeded by Josiah, his son.
And so almost every age sprang a new Karaite sect with a name
of its own, each interpreting Scripture in its own way.
Some
of them will be mentioned presently.
It is self-evident that
an attempt to get at the profound meaning of the Scriptures
After
s
;
was the business
of
of every such sect through their activity the
of Massorah, the vowel-points
;
Hebrew grammar,
knowledge
and punctuation marks, was diffused theological philosophizing
was also not strange to some Karaites, as they had to explain
such words as God s
eye,"
finger," which they were
unwilling to take literally and materialize God, just as the other
Jews. Thus gradually a large literature sprang among the Kara
;
"
"
"hand,"
ites,
not
inferior,
taken as a whole, to the Talmud
itself in
bulk.
THE KARAITES.
29
events, the Talmud was menaced by a much greater
danger from these internal enemies than from its external foes.
For the latter did not attack the Talmud itself, except so far as
At
all
was an obstacle in their way, but their main and avowed ob
ject was to convert the Jews to another religion, or even merely
it
to
fill
their
own pockets with Jewish
gold, given to avert the
persecution instigated for that very purpose.
then attacked only incidentally, not for
was something else.
But the Karaites made
its
The Talmud was
main
sake, while the
object
mud
their great aim to drive the Tal
itself out of existence, to direct their arrows against it for
it
own sake, and endeavored to bring about, that the Jews
should become Christians, or Mussulmans, or join any sect
whatever, the Karaites did not care which, provided that the
its
Jews should forsake the hateful Talmud, and its Halakhas and
Hagadas should get lost. Therefore the struggle with them was
very great, especially as they pretended that their traditions
were based on the great authorities of the remnants of the
nation.
As
their doctrines, however,
were not
fixed,
and as almost
every age the Karaites were split into diverse sects, therefore
they could not resist or make headway against the Talmud,
whose strength is, to those who rightly understand it, that it
has never purposed to make fixed rules, to last for all ages;
deliberation and reasoning concerning the Halakhas according
to the circumstances, is the principle of the Talmud; and the
saying of the Talmud, even when they say to you of right that
"
it is left,
and
of
left
that
it is right,
thou shalt not swerve from
the commandment," shows the opinion of the Talmud, that the
practice of the ceremonies and precepts is dependent on the
and other circumstances. With this power the
Talmud combatted all its enemies, and was victorious.
The controversies between the Jews and the Karaites are
recorded in many books, Karaite and Talmud istic, from the age
of R. Saadia the Gaon, and his opponent Sahal ben Matzliah to
time, place
them can also be found the history of
But this is not our task here: we
triumphs.
the present time.
their alternate
will
In
remark only that from the days
of R. Saadiah the
Gaon,
when the Rabbis had begun to have polemics with them, can be
seen the deep mark the Karaite literature left on the Rabbinical
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
3o
Philosophy was from that time used in conjunction with
the Torah many Gaonim followed R. Saadiah s method of har
monizing the Torah and the philosophy of that time, that they
should seem as mutual enemies. So the Karaites charged such
men with infidelity, but others were themselves compelled to
one.
;
imitate them, and called in the aid of philosophy, of the divin
ity, to interpret the texts of the Holy Scriptures.
The
effect of the Karaites
to write
down
on the Talmudist Rabbis
is
made
that since their time the rabbis also began
fixed Halakhas taken from the Talmud, that the
evident also in this
:
readers should not otherwise
by error adopt the Karaite rules,
made by the Karaite leaders, which they might mistake for the
rules of the Talmud itself, since they could not know the whole
Talmud by heart. They composed, therefore, the "Hala-
G doloth"
khoth
(Great Halakhas),
"Sh
iltoth
derab
A
hai"
(Queries of R. Ahai), for the sake of the students,
who could not
themselves wade through the whole Talmud.
they opposed the spirit and object of the Talmud
But thereby
itself,
that the
and modified in ac
cordance with the requirements of the time and place. As soon
as the Gaonim had permitted to propound decisions of the
Halakhas, and to fix them, those Gaonim, who succeeded them,
Halakhas should be matter
for discussion,
were compelled to teach that these decisions of the former
Gaonim, even though given without proofs, are holy for the
This circumstance added
people, as if given from Mount Sinai.
fuel to the quarrel of the Karaites,
and gave them new points
of
The hope of some great men of the nation to reconcile
the Jews with the Karaites became naught, for although the
Karaites quarrelled among themselves, and split into rival sects,
attack.
equally hated the Talmud, reviled it, and insulted
it, styling the two colleges, at Sura and Pumbeditha, "the two
harlots" spoken of in Ezekiel, who (claimed they) referred to
all
yet they
these colleges in his prophecy.
According to Makrizi there were
among
the Karaites ten
from each other in their opinions, practice and
they had no permanence, some rose, some fell, and in
the tenth century only five large sects were found, named
1. Jod anim or Jodganim.
2. Makrites or Magrites.
sects, differing
festivals
;
:
3.
Akhbarites.
THE KARAITES.
4.
Abn Amronites
5.
Balbekites.
or
31
Tiflisites.
The reader will find in the books of Jost, Gratz, Fiirst,
Bequoreth L toldoth Hakaraim"
Geiger, and in Hebrew, in
"
an account of the particulars about which the various sects of
the Karaites differed, and also the names of their leaders. We
do not think it necessary to give these details in this place. We
will
mention
for illustration the latest sect,
which wished to
fix
the day of Atonement only on a Saturday every year, because
Sabbath Sabbathan," which means a Sabbath of rest
Sabbath of Sabbaths,"
and they translate
(Lev.
on
Passover
of
and the first day
Thursday. Thus each Karaite
sect celebrated the Biblical festivals on different days, for each
"
it is
said
xxiii. 32),
"a
sect construed the texts in the Pentateuch by preference with
out being able to come to an agreement. Thus also in respect
of the observation of Sabbath for some Karaites, their houses
were during the Sabbath their prisons, where they did sit in
:
darkness, and which they could not leave when their neigh
In this we
bors happened not to be Karaites like themselves.
who
inimical
were
those
even
that
of
the
see the power
Talmud,
or hostile to a large portion of it, Halakhas never had dif
ferent opinions concerning the festivals and other such things,
to
it
important to one particular nation
;
for they could not
deny
its
general tradition.
The effects of
Karaism are also traceable in some religious
the people of ancient
practices, which had not been usual among
Thus Phylacteries, which it had not been customary
times.
to use, in spite of the literal interpretation of the Talmud of the
passage "and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand,
and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes," (Deut. vi. 8)
;
perhaps
for the reason that Hillel
had
said:
"Leave
Israel
they are not prophets, they are children of prophets,"
in favor
(Pesachim) for after all, the arguments of the Talmud
was
it
felt,
that
only
of the literalness of that passage, the people
a figurative expression; and the Talmud itself prohibited the
to the people, permitting it only to con
use of
alone
;
if
;
phylacteries
firmed scholars.
But when the Karaites interpreted the pas
the use of Tephilin to
sage figuratively, the Gaonim permitted
the people also, to show their difference from the Karaites.
The opposition of the Karaites effected also that the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
32
Gaonim should
declare that the
Hagada
obligatory to believe for any man
taken literally, but as allegorical.
;
of the
and that
Talmud
it
is
is
not
not to be
to every one the
right to hold what opinions he chooseth about the Hagada of
the Talmud" says R. Samuel b. Hopni, father-in-law to Hai
Gaon, to ward off the attacks of the Karaites and opponents of
the Talmud generally, who made
things cautioned in
it.
And
"Leave
responsible for many Hagadic
indeed we see that the collections
it
Halakhas from the Talmud, as Rab Alphasi and his col
leagues inserted but little of the Hagada, as if to show that the
Hagadas are not minded. Though in truth the Hagadas of the
of
Talmud relating to morality are the main element of the Tal
mud, mostly require no change, addition, or subtraction, even
in our age.
While on the other hand, the absence of the ethics
of the
Talmudic Hagada
is
painfully felt in Karaite literature to
In points of morality their opinions are as
the present day.
various as concerning the Halakhas, in the course of time issued
from the Karaite ascetics who abstained from meat and wine,
left their
homes, dwelt in deserts, and mourned over the de
The Karaites styled them "the sixty
Solomon s bed," for there were sixty in
number, and called them the great teachers, for they had been
taught by them that it is not legal to eat meat in exile, since a
struction of Jerusalem.
who are around
heroes
In con
text says one should not slaughter outside the camp.
trast with these, from among the Karaites came also Hiri
Hakalhi or Habalki who, owing to his opposition to the Tal
mud, denied also Moses Torah, providence, creation, etc., so
that the Karaites repulsed him also. There were among them
also some who believed in a material God, eating something of
the sacrifices, and enjoying the agreeable flavor of them. Such
was the destiny of those who rejected tradition, and relied on
their
own
The
intellect.
issue
was
that,
though among the Karaites were also
men and
great sects and many times they triumphed
great
over the Talmudists for centuries the following peculiarities
made them a
sect secluded from the whole world (especially
from the Rabbis, who were to them as if unclean) their scrupu
lousness about cleanliness and uncleanliness, their separation
from anybody who was not a Karaite Jew, so as not to take
from him bread and other articles of the bakery, and so as not
;
THE KARAITES.
to eat anything that
prohibited even meat
33
had been touched by a non-Jew (some
fit
for a sacrifice)
.
Gradually their
num
bers diminished, so that now they number only about four
thousand souls in the world, and even these few differ among
themselves in their usages and festivals. To this day the
Karaites in Egypt and the East remain in the dark during the
eve of Sabbath the dates of their festivals are not alike every
;
and by their attacks on the Talmud they not only failed
to weaken its influence or diminish the number of its adherents,
but brought about its increased influence and accepted holiness.
Though the Rabbis kept apart from them, and said to those
who wished to make peace between them, "the Karaites (or
torn pieces, Kraim Kra tm), never became joined," still they did
not forbear to borrow from them what seemed to them good,
adopting the Massorah and vowel points of Ben Asher, who
was one of them.
About the Judaized Chazars, of their time, the Karaites say
that they had the Karaite form of Judaism, but modern scholars
contradict this. They say that the Chazars were Talmudic
Jews and A. B. Gottlober has written admirably about this
His argument seems to savor of the truth. But
subject.
there is no doubt, that among the Jewish tribes of Arabia, and
those of the Judaized Arabian kingdom, there were Talmudic
year,
Jews who rendered many services to the Jews of the Byzantine
empire but as these matters do not pertain to our subject, we
will not speak further of them, and conclude hereby the present
(See App. at the end of this volume.)
chapter.
;
CHAPTER
VIII.
ISLAM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE TALMUD.
In 622, the Hebrew religion gave birth to a second daughter,
Mohammedanism founded by Mahomet of Mecca among the
tribes of Arabia, who had lived unprogressive for ages in the
peninsula between the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf,
keeping by the usages received from their ancestors tradition
large
Hundreds of years had passed without making any
impression on the development of this people, until Mahommed arose, and in the space of twenty years subdued with the
ally.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
34
sword and by the tongue the whole great land of Arabia. And
like a stream of mighty waters the Arabs burst from their
bonds, animated by a spirit of war, and fired by religious
zeal, tore away from the Byzantine empire the whole of Syria
and Egypt, and conquered also Persia, extended their em
pire to India and Caucasus, on the one hand, and to West
ern Africa, on the other, spreading, at last, over Spain and
Southern Italy to the heart of Christendom, preaching Islam,
and bearing the banner of their prophet wherever they stepped.
For the second time, after an interval of six hundred years,
Judaism witnessed a new faith born, all whose choice portions,
all whose good and beauty, were taken from the storehouse of
the Talmudic Hagada. When Mahomet arose to say that
through Gabriel, the angel, the Lord had destined him to con
firm the truth of the Divine revelation previously to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, Moses and the rest of the saints who had been
borrowed only the foundation of his idea from
Likewise he borrowed many say
the Hagada of the Talmud.
and
historic
traditions,
ings,
legends from the same source, and
on
earth, he
him as the foundation of the principles
he prescribed for the guidance of his people. All the Hebrew
plants succeeded speedily on the Arabian soil, as if they had
been native.
Islam grew in power and soon made progress, political and
It reared a new civiliza
ecclesiastical, for new forces joined it.
these materials served
tion
on the ruins
of the
heathen culture of Syria.
During the
century of its existence it likewise exercised an influence
on the scholars of the Talmud. As the Greek spirit had for
first
merly been wedded to the Jewish spirit, so now the Arabian
was wedded to it. It might have supplanted Jewish thought
altogether had not the many sages, adherents of the Talmud,
written excellent books in Arabic, extolling the Talmud, its
system and its spirit.
When the Jewish tribes of Arabia, some of these powerful
and independent, had refused to believe in the inspiration of
the new prophet, Islam arose on its parent Judaism, as Chris
tianity had done before; persecutions, massacres, blood and
fire and exile were visited on the adherents of the Talmud.
As long as Mahomet had entertained the hope of gaining
Jews for converts, his treatment of them was favorable and
ISLAM AND ITS INFLUENCE.
35
he enjoined in the Koran not to be inimical to adorers of
One God. He even wanted to make the date of the fast of
Rhamadan on the tenth of Tishri (the Day of Atonement) as
make Jerusalem the centre of the pilgrims instead of
,
well as to
Perceiving, however, that notwithstanding all this,
Islam gained few Jewish converts, he turned the enemy of the
Mecca.
Jews and became wroth against them The Vision of the Cow
a chapter in the Koran) and persecuted them with fury and
But at his death his hatred and
bloodthirstiness as infidels.
intolerance died with him, the Jews found peace and protection
under the Caliphs, and the Gaonim could establish their col
When Spain was added in 711 by the General Torick
leges.
Aben Zara, bright days ensued for the Jews they were able to
"
;
("
;
devote themselves to spiritual activity undisturbed, also to
take a large part in the culture of science which flourished in
Great offices and high posts were given to Talmudic
Spain.
authors of law articles, court physicians
were
taken from among them. Together with
and ministers
Jews;
councillors,
their civic prosperity their spiritual activity
made
progress,
and they made great contributions to Judaism, and benefited
their co-religionists.
Rarely were they visited by storms, as in
and
at Cordova, in 1157, and then they suf
in
Granada,
1603,
fered only as citizens.
In Egypt, Syria, Fez and Morocco, wherever Islam domi
In contrast to this, the
nated, Jewish communities flourished.
study of the Torah decayed in the East, and from Babylonia
changed its place to Spain.
it
The prosperity and the power of the Jews called forth envy
and opposition, resulting in the desertion of some Jews to
Islam; and this spirit of opposition was kindled yet more by
false Messiahs arising frequently, as Shiraini in 720 and Abu
1464, in the reign of the Caliph Merian, who op
to the Talmud with all their might (the last
themselves
posed
In spite of all that, the Talmud was
also
abolished
divorce).
honored as before. For the Gaonim and the two colleges at
Eiei
in
all the exiled Jews till
Only a singular accident,
which happened about 960, put an end to this unlimited and
undivided dominion of Babylonia over the Jewish minds. Four
Sura and Pumbeditha were as beacons to
the second half of the tenth century.
scholars
had
left
Sura with the purpose of collecting money
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
36
among their European brethern, for the benefit of encouraging
a more assiduous study of the Talmud at the college of Sura;
the vessel being captured by an Arab pirate, the four sages
were sold as slaves. One, R. Shemariah b. El hanan was then
brought to Alexandria there the Jewish community ransomed
him, and appointed him as supervisor of religion and teacher of
;
The second, R. Hushiel, was sold into
slavery at the African coast, and brought to Kairuban. The
third, R. Moses b. Enoch was ransomed from his owners after
many hardships, at Cordova, where the community chose him
as Rabbi.
The name of the fourth has not transpired. It is
The four men, not having
possible that he reached France.
attained their object of collecting money for Sura, and its
the
Talmud
in Cairo.
having been closed seven hundred years after its founda
tion, brought to an end the spiritual dominion of Babylonia
over the Jewish mind and scattered the seeds of Talmudic
study throughout all lands.
The college of Pumbeditha, though it continued to exist for
college
some period after that of Sura, spreading the light of the
Torah among all the exiled, sank from its preeminent rank,
With
gradually, till its existence came to an end (about 1040).
From that time
it was extinguished the light of the Gaonim.
the centre of religious activity for the Jews was in Europe.
The Talmud had its home in Spain, whence it spread to other
countries, as will be seen in the
coming chapters.
CHAPTER
IX.
THE VICTORY OF KARAISM OVER THE SPIRITUAL DOMINION OF
THE TALMUD AND THE MIND OF THE JEWISH NATION THE
LAST GAONIM AT SURA AND PUMBEDITHA THE CENTRE OF
TALMUDIC STUDY TRANSFERRED FROM MESOPOTAMIA TO
SPAIN THE SCHOLARS OF KAIRUBAN THE PERIOD OF THE
GREATEST DIFFUSION OF TALMUDIC STUDY.
Though Rabbinism came out
with Karaism,
it
victorious
from the struggle
can not be denied that in one respect the latter
triumphed. The unlimited dominion which the Talmudic
spirit of the colleges of Sura and Pumbeditha had at that time
on the minds of the nation of Israel in general in all places of
SHERIRA, HAI, BEN HOPHNI.
37
abode this spiritual dominion waned greatly. The
of
these colleges irresistibly declined, in spite of all efforts
glory
to the contrary, even of a supreme man like Saadiah the Gaon.
their
spirit of investigation and free thought at Bagdad induced
the disciples, to whom the religious teachings of their master
Saadiah gave the example, to engage in the study of philosophy,
The
grammar and the interpretations of the text of the Scripture, and
to
abandon the hard and exhausting studies
A
of Sura.
slight
cause, the voyage of the four scholars mentioned above to
Europe, sufficed to hasten the end of this college, which did
not exist long after the death of R. Saadiah the Gaon, so that
was closed forever after centuries of its existence.
The college at Pumbeditha continued some time longer it
put forth its last efforts, before the lights of its Gaonim and
Exilarchs were extinguished, before the glory and religious and
it
;
pre-eminence of Babylon departed from there to
honor Spain and as the light of a candle blazes up before it is
extinguished, so there shone on the Babylonian horizon three
spiritual
;
Gaonim, Sherira
b.
Hanina, Hai his son, and Samuel
these
men
b.
Hophni
The
activity of
(960-1038).
in the field of Talmudic literature persists and exer
the father-in-law of the latter
cise their influence yet.
R. Sherira placed the Talmudic studies too much above all
other studies, whereas in the college at Sura, in accordance with
the spirit of Saadiah the Gaon, the sciences also stood in the
rank of studies and a critical spirit reigned in studying
At Pumbeditha
Scripture and in commenting on the Talmud.
first
Talmud was
the only dish offered to the students, the only
R. Sherira was the first who fear
subject of the curriculum.
lessly taught and said: "The utterances of the Gaonim require
the
no demonstration whoso rebels against their decisions, rebels
His book
Megilath
against God and betrays His Torah."
Stharim" (Scroll of Mysteries), which was undoubtedly writ
ten in this autocratic spirit, is lost. But, on the other hand, he
has bequeathed to us a fragment which enlightens us at present,
being the chief basis of all Jewish literary and theological his
tory. This is the letter he sent to the congregation of Kairuban
termed R. Sherira s Epistle," which treats of the history of
the Talmud and of the Gaonim and is the key to the otherwise
;
"
,
"
mysterious history of that epoch.
From
this letter
only can
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
38
we take
the essential information for arranging the history
from the close of the Talmud to his time. Without this docu
ment many and important
periods,
from the time of the Macca
bees to those of the Gaonim, over a thousand years, would
remain to us obscure and unknown. The epistle is wonder
fully accurate in respect to chronology, and is free from any
bias.
Only by means of it, and of other compositions of this
the Megilath Taanith (Scroll of Fasts), Seder Olam
of
the World), the Sedar Tanaim and Amoraim, together
(Order
with the remnants of information of R. Nathan bar Izhak the
class, as
Babylonian (956) concerning the colleges at Sura and Pumbeand the methods of study at their time, can the modern
scholar compile the known histories, so very necessary to the
understanding of the Talmud and its literature.
R. Hai, his son, was indeed more inclined towards the
He was proficient in Arabic learning.
sciences than his father.
Nor was he averse to philosophic studies. He opposed himself
with all his might against speculations about the hypothesis of
In theological and Talmudical knowledge, R. Hai
religion.
ditha,
surpassed
all
his colleagues
and stood alone
in his age.
From
Northern Africa and Spain, whither sparks of Talmudic literary
and kindled, came to him questions
in great number.
He replied to them in Arabic or in Hebrew
the spirit of reconciliation between philosophy and theology is
His list of Hebrew roots, commentaries on
in all his answers.
the Mishna, and compositions examining Scriptures exist
mostly no longer, and only fragments of Talmudic Jurisprud
ence, as laws of buying and selling, of oaths, etc., which he
activity had just penetrated
;
attempted to methodize in verse are preserved.
ascribed to
him a
didactic
poem
entitled
"Musar
So also
is
Haschel"
(Morality of Reason) very excellent in its thoughts, matter, and
intention (purpose, aim, conception), albeit we can not extole
the style or the poetic form. At all events this R. Hai, the last
Gaonim
Talmudic scholars even at this
day, and his words are oracular for all commentators and all
those who decide Halakhas according to the Talmud.
His father-in-law, Samuel b. Hophni, held of the same
opinions as he, but was more free in his criticism of the Scrip
Of his many works only frag
tures than all his colleagues.
ments (which originally written in Arabic, we have in the
of the
is
the
first
of all
THE SAGES OF KAIRUBAN.
Hebrew
39
garb) of his commentaries to the Scriptures remain.
about Halakhas and essentials of religion
The fundamental
their names survive.
was:
thinker
of
this
"Things opposed to human
principle
common sense should not be admitted." He combated vio
lently also the Karaites and was attacked desperately, as they
mocked and scoffed at him and even wrote satiric Hebrew
But
are
his compositions
all lost,
and only
poems about him.
Those three were the last of those remaining at these col
wisdom in Babylonia
leges, and at their death the sources of
were stopped off. After the decease of ben Hophni (about
after
1034) the college at Sura was abolished, and two years
the death of R. Hai (1640) the college of Pumbeditha was
The wisdom of Israel removed to North Africa (Kairuclosed.
ban) and Spain and bore fair fruit there.
The city Kairuban had a great reputation. In an antique
commentary, imputed to a disciple of R. Saadiah the Gaon, this
As is known,
city is mentioned as "the city of great sages."
R.
Hushiel, who with
one of the four above-mentioned rabbis,
his colleagues had been voyaging to collect money for the col
All four introduced mental
lege of Sura, was cast thither.
R. Hananel, the son of R.
activity in all places they visited.
his
Hushiel, succeeded to his position (in 1050) and surpassed
us
to
He bequeathed
frag
father in wisdom and in energy.
ments of commentaries on Scriptures and the Talmud, which
were of great help to the study in the conditions at that time,
when Talmudic activity was diffused among Jews. He and
his contemporary, Nisim b. Jacob, who also resided in Kairuban,
renewed the youth of the Palestinian Talmud, which had been
about
Especially did the latter contribute to bring
several
for
book
He also issued the
this.
Maphteah" (Key)
tracts of the Babylonian Talmud and in it he cast light on many
difficult passages in the Palestinian Talmud by comparing the
neglected.
"
two Talmuds.
R. Hananel also wrote a commentary on the Talmud, which
was published in separate parts. Therein he explains the sub
in Hebrew, and draws a parallel
ject and meaning of the words
between the Babylonian and Palestinian Talmud. He wrote
also a book containing abstracts arranged in Talmudic order of
the Halakhas, concerning service and pecuniary matters.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
40
A careful examination of the books of the two men will show
that they were in unison with their opinions with Saadiah the
Gaon, and diffused his teaching and ideas among the Jews.
Friendship existed between these two men and Hai and the
learned men of Spain, as is seen from their large correspondence.
There is also a third one of the sages of Kairuban, who contrib
uted to the study of the Talmud, he is Hephetz b. Jatzbiah,
held in great esteem by his contemporaries, and upon whom all
titles of honor that great men receive were bestowed.
Of his
works nothing is known except the name "Sepher Hephetz"
(the book of Hephetz or Desirable book) which he wrote as a
commentary to the "books of duties."
The sages of Kairuban witnessed the end of the two colleges
and the extinction of the Gaonim, but also the flourishing of
Jewish literature in Spain, whither it had been spread from
Northern Africa.
After the decease of these learned
men
the
glory of Kairuban became also extinct, and Jewish intellectual
activity left the East and emigrated to the West.
An examination of
Gaonim
the literary period after the death of the
shows that it surpassed by far the preceding period.
Whereas, in the time of the Exilarchs and the Gaonim, only the
Talmud had been the subject chiefly studied and only to it had
contributions been made which helped to perpetuate the spirit
Now, when Jewish learning removed to Spain and
Southern France, it blossomed and became split into many
of Judaism.
branches, to each of which many good books were contributed.
On the study of the Scriptures shone forth the light of free
the studies of Masorah reached perfection grammar
and linguistic researches came to the front rank; the Talmud
criticism
;
;
and Midrash, long ago concluded, were subjected to the analysis
of commentaries and abridged into systematic abstracts. The
basis of the philosophic conception of the Jewish faith was laid
and religious and ritual poems succeeded, when treated by the
;
sublimely inspired Spanish poets. A broader and deeper com
prehension of the Talmud was also the result of the intellectual
awakening. It is true that the cause of this intellectual activity
were the Arabs, while the polemics with the Karaites enhanced
and made it penetrate through the wall of Judaism but,
taken up by the Jews, it made progress and continued to do so
even when both Arabs and Karaites had abandoned knowledge
it,
;
THE GOLDEN AGE OF JEWISH LEARNING.
41
This spiritual awakening caused even the re
motest branch of Israelite stock, from which almost all life had
altogether.
bloom up and to awake to new life. Even the small
community of Samaritans, whose existence had been quite for
The
gotten, came to life and took part in the Jewish culture.
book of "Joshua of the Samaritans, the "Reminiscences of
fled,
to
"
these events), the Samari
tan version of the Pentateuch, and the Arabic version of the
Also fragments
Scriptures by Abu-Laid appeared at this time.
of ritual composition there are a few left of many, but their
Abul-Pathah" (a historical treatise of
value
is
thought.
small and they are not as ancient as had been at first
On the new Jewish literature the Samaritan sect
made any
impression; but the intellectual movement
involved
also the remnant of the Samaritans and
Jews
aroused it from its slumber. But in the time of the Gaonim,
never
of the
when the
bearers of the banner of the
Talmud ranked them
selves to battle with the Karaites, they did not condescend to
notice the Samaritans.
When we
far
say that this period surpassed the former,
we
are
from disparaging the great Gaonim, and from thinking
them men
inferior to their successors.
In truth, these
men
were only dwarfs who stood on the shoulders of giants for had
they not stood on the shoulders of those giants they could not
have investigated deeply all those subjects to which in time of
the Gaonim no attention had been paid.
For, in spite of the
of
above
that
the
utterances of the
mentioned,
Sherira,
precept
Gaonim require no demonstration," they did not cease to give
proofs, reasons, and to advance arguments in their replies to
"
Only by means of thorough and deep research
Talmud, by comparing and by reasoning, did the Gaonim
questioners.
in the
bring the ideas of their time in accordance with the ancient
Halakhas, thus increasing the practical importance of tradition
and giving to the Torah a living interest. The Spanish and
French scholars took up their work and carried it on, extending
it to all branches of science.
Then literature, therefore, at
tained
its
highest development, so that this period has been
The replies of
"golden age of Jewish learning."
Gaonim only were the basis of their superstructure, reared
when intellectual activity had removed from the banks of the
termed the
the
Euphrates to the banks of the Tagus and the Rhine.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
42
Their explanations of Halakha were of two kinds; either
those induced by the bare love of knowledge, or answers which
had to be given to question arising from practical exigencies,
which occasioned the analysis of the Halakhas and the investi
gation whether the spirit of the Halakhas held good only at
their time or applied to other times also.
Five compilations of this kind, termed
"Replies
of the
exist in the Jewish literature, which have been com
from
the beginning of the seventh to the eleventh cen
piled
The first of the authors of those replies was the Gaon
turies.
Gaonim,"
Hananai and the
Gaonim
s
last
is
Hai the Gaon.
a large
field
This literature of the
for scientific researches in
replies
literary history in general, of historic events,
progress.
In
all their replies
and
decisions
and
of intellectual
we see that their aim
knowledge, not authoritativeness as is usual in the case of
For their decision they gave rea
priests or even of Gaonim.
sons and advanced arguments, and also forbade no learned or
is
ingenious man to object to them.
This spirit of employing reason found in this literature of
Replies still continues.
By it the present is linked with the
and
the
with
the present. These replies touch
future
past
almost
all
branches of thought as well as
all
practical questions,
Talmudic literature; the value
of the studies of the mysteries opinions on philosophy, on the
rights due to sciences, answers to questions about chronology
and calculations of time. History, geography, and mathemat
There are also
ics in some of their replies are also discussed.
answers with reasons to questions about Laws of Marriage,
viz.
:
the value of the
Agada
in
;
Gentiles, Proselytes, Testaments, Mourning, Sermons, Divorce.
They also explain to those who question them different pas
sages in Mishna and Talmud questions even without any
practical aim only to increase and advance the Torah by the
discussions
made
in the
house of learning.
SAMUEL HANAGID AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES.
CHAPTER
43
X.
THE SPANISH WRITERS. A BRIEF SURVEY OF THEIR WRITINGS
RELATING TO THE TALMUD.
Although the aim of this, our work, is to give a history of the
alone, not of the whole Jewish literature of that period
which
is devoted a work by Dr. Karpeles and others), we
(to
can not, however, skip over the w riters of Spain and France
of that time, who extended the literature according to the
fundamental principles of the Talmud, and shine in history,
Talmud
r
the admiration of succeeding generations. We will not, how
ever, speak at length of their work or examine it minutely, but
merely mention the names only those whose main work was
;
we except from this rule of
work as far as is neces
about
their
speak
of
work.
for
this
the purpose
sary
elevated to Talmudic subjects
brevity, and
The
first
shall
of the distinguished
men
of Spain,
whom
the
Babylonians honored with the title of Resh Kalah" (synony
mous with "Head of College"), was R. Hisdai b. Itzhak Ebn
Spurt (915-970), who was counsellor and physician to the
Caliph Abdul Rahman III., and he was the one who helped his
Besides his dili
co-religionists to rise from their degradation.
as
of
books
in
the
translation
the
botanical
other
sciences,
gence
of Disscroridus, the Greek, for his sovereign, the Caliph, he car
ried on a correspondence with the Gaonim of the colleges of
Sura and Pumbeditha, and through them succeeded in bringing
scholars and books to his own country, and to found a college for
Talmudical studies. He wrote the well known letter to the
king of the Chosars, in which his love for his co-religionists and
his zeal for their welfare are manifested. Menahem b. S ruk and
"
b. Labrat, the grammarians known through their polem
about the roots and the grammar of the Hebrew language,
were invited by R. Hisdai to come to popularize the study of
Hebrew. Jehud b. David Chilveg, Isaac b. Kapron and Isaac
Giktalia were the disciples of Menahem, and Jehudah b. Shesheth was the disciple of Dun. These men by their contro
versies about the grammar carried it further and perfected the
Duns
ics
study.
Jonah Ebn Ganah (1000-1050) surpassed even
those,
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
44
for
he composed seven books about grammar in Arabic and
Hebrew which
are preserved to the present time.
Samuel Hanagid (and the Nasi Ebn Nagdilah, 993-1055)
was a patron of Jewish learning in Spain, as Ebn Spurt had
been before him. He was the author of twenty- two books,
but not even one of them survives completely. Even from
his great book "Introduction to the Talmud" only a small
preserved, but this testifies to the greatness of his
knowledge and the acuteness of his intellect. With all his ad
portion
is
herence to the traditions and to the cardinal principles of the
Talmud, he did not exclude the use of common sense and
He says: "Every comment in the Tal
of
passages
Scriptures other than commandments we
to admit only so far as seems to be rational, but as for
human judgment.
mud on
have
the rest,
it is
not
authoritative."
From
this
we
see that in his
he went a step in ad
His poems and pray
Mishle
are based on
Ben Koheleth noth
ing was preserved by us. He was held in great esteem by the
contemporary learned men. Many wrote poems in his praise,
ideas about the
Hagadah of the Talmud,
vance of the Gaonim, Saadiah, and Hai.
Ben Thilim" and Ben
ers in his works
of
Talmud. But of his
the
the tradition
"
"
"
"
among them
is
the
"Orphan"
The poets
"
(Jethoma), by R. Joseph b. His"
In the days of R.
at that time used to say,
dai.
Hisdai, the Nasi, they began to twitter (in poetry) and in the
days of Samuel the Nagid, they lifted their voice." (See App.
No.
ii.)
He was
the lofty poet Solomon b. Gabirol,
need not here dwell on his biography and
succeeded
by
(We
1012-1070.
work, as Messrs. Senor Sachs and Salomon Munk wrote whole
books about him.) In his time, Jekuthiel Ebn Hassau, who was
high in the court of King Jahia Ibu Mundhir at Saragossa, was
also a patron of all Jewish learning, especially of ben Gabirol.
The latter s poem, "Kether Malchuth" (Crown of Royalty),
was very favorably received by all who bore the banners of the
Talmudic and Kabbaldic studies, and also by Christian priests,
so that it was translated into Latin by the priest Dominicus
Gondizallo (1150) and also into Hebrew by him, with the
assistance of Johannis Abudalu (an apostate Jew).
The fact
was
his
"Ebn
Gabirol"
altered
to
that
name
Abizatrol or
Abizabran has been illuminated by Salomon Munk.
THE
Bahayi
b.
is
THE SAGES OF THAT DAY.
ISAACS,
45
Joseph Ebn Pekira, Judge in Saragossa, his con
the author of the wonderful book "The Duty of
temporary,
Hearts"
(Chobath Halbaboth) in Arabic, which has been
translated
by Samuel Ebn Tabun
and accepted
into Hebrew,
as a guide in life by Israel everywhere they were found.
(It
has been translated also into German by Herr Baumgarten of
Vienna.)
This teacher Behayi absorbed himself wholly in the
it the preference to Arabic or Grecian phi
Talmud and gave
losophy.
His object in
this, his
wonderful work,
is
the follow
ing: to conciliate morals with commandments and the duties
of the heart with those of the other members of the body.
The
duty of the heart
is
bers to carry out the
purity of thought, that of the other
commandments.
(See App. No.
mem
12.)
Five sages bearing the name Isaac lived at that time, viz.
Isaac b. Reuben of Barcelona (1043), great in knowledge of
:
i.
the
Talmud and an expert
at translating.
He
translated the
Hai Gaon, about buying and selling, from Arabic
to Hebrew.
2. Isaac b. Jehudah Ebn Giath (1089), who com
posed prayers and ritual poems considered remarkable at that
time.
3. Isaac b. Moses Sochni, who emigrated from Spain to
the East, where he was qualified as Gaon and became the suc
cessor of R. Hai. Only his fame survives, his writings, however,
are all lost.
4. Isaac b. Baruch Abudaly (1035-1094), who was
a sage and astrologer to Caliph Al Mahmed. The latter made
him Nasi over the Israelite communities in his domain, Seville.
He wrote a commentary to difficult Halakhas in his book
decisions of R.
"
Kupath
Haruchim"
not complete.
5.
The
of Spices), which, however, he did
greatest of all, Isaac b. Jacob Alphassi
(Book
(1013-1103), who came from North Africa to Lucina (Alisa)
and there founded a college for the study of the Talmud,
which he surpassed all his colleagues in Spain. Alphassi
was the first to abridge the Talmud, compiling only the neces
sary Halakhas, transcribed textually. Sometimes he appended
his opinions, and by this work is immortalized among all Israel
In times of misfortune, when it was difficult to pro
in exile.
in
cure the Talmud, students occupied themselves with his work,
called after him
taries.
"Alphassi,"
His decisions, called
to which they wrote
many commen
Questions and Replies of Hariph,"
It is true that he wrote in
times.
"
have been accepted for all
Arabic and that it was translated into Hebrew.
He
also wrote
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
46
three great Halakhas with an extensive commentary in Arabic,
which was also translated into Hebrew, as well as 320 of his
decisions above mentioned.
(One was recently published with
a new translation from the Arabic.)
The
spirit of
deep research, distinguishing this Spanish
in his works.
found
The most difficult subjects
period,
in the Talmud and all intricate questions he explains easily.
He strove in his books to smooth the contradictions between
the Torah and Wisdom, reconciling them. His decisions ex
tend over all provinces of the Torah in all questions concerning
law and judgment to all laws, both written and traditional
laws, his reasons, based upon sound logic, were stated in a con
In the same way, he also explains
cise and ingenious manner.
the Hagada, to bring it in conformity with reason. He, Alphassi, did not devote himself to theological philosophy and
criticism of the Scriptures, like his contemporaries, but to
Talmudical studies, thus giving an example to those thinkers
is
also
;
not to presume to give their religion a philosophic garb. At
his death, all Jewish scholars, wheresoever found, lamented
him.
R. Jehudah Halevi, whose muse began then to shine,
for him thus:
mourned
Mountains on the day of Sinai for thee quaked,
For angels of the Lord met thee
And inscribed the Torah on the tablets of thy heart.
The glorious crown was placed around thee.
The wise had not power to stand
If they did not from thee wisdom beg.
Moses b. Samuel Ebn Giktali and Jehudah Ebn Bilan (1070)
were free thinkers in his age and his opponents, but many of
those scholars who explained the Talmud by simple logic were
his disciples.
Among
these
mentioned above.
The
Joseph Ebn Migash
b.
position in his college
wisdom.
him
His new
was
Baruch Albalia,
disciples, however, was
also Isaac b.
greatest of his
Mair (1076-1141),
and inherited
who
succeeded to his
his greatness in
Talmudic
contributions to Talmudic study, called
by
(The Revelation of Hidden Scrolls)
and the queries and answers collected into one book under the
title of "Questions and Replies of Ebn Migash," bear testi
"Megilath Setharim"
and gentleness. (These
books were reprinted the second time by us in 1870, in Warsaw,
mony to his ingenuity,
loftiness of spirit
THE
ISAACS,
THE SAGES OF THAT DAY.
47
with our preface and some remarks, but even this edition is
Most of his answers and
already nearly out and scattered.)
questions were written in Arabic and translated later into
Hebrew only his explanations were written in Hebrew and in
;
Talmud ic
the
Particularly wondrous is his manner of
of a subject, so that not one possibility re
idiom.
all sides
examining
mains unconsidered.
As Ebn Migash was the
Rabbi after the death of
were addressed to him from all
sides, and he, always following his disposition, answered them
Let us cite one of his
according to his inclinations, leniently.
answers as an example:
A question was addressed to him by one who had vowed to
abstain from meat and wine till he shall have reached the Holy
Land, and found the project too difficult to carry out, but could
find no ground for repenting.
Ebn Migash found for him a
ground for repentance, that, while he vowed he undoubtedly
greatest
his master, Alphassi, questions
was ignorant
of a saying in the
against a life.
were the disciples
Talmud Whoever
:
afflicts
him
self is guilty
Many
steps
and
carried
on
who
Ebn Migash s
Among
spirit.
trod in
their activity in his
foot
these
who succeeded him also in his college. Of his con
temporaries, who distinguished themselves as philosophers or
poets, it is proper to mention Rabbi Joseph Ebn Zadok of
was
his son
Cordova (1070-1149), author of "Olam Katan" (Microcosm),
a religious philosophy in which he is of the opinion (see App.
No. u) that man must know himself in order to attain to the
The rabbi who was his predecessor
knowledge of Divinity.
at Cordova, Joseph b. Jacob Ebn Sahl (1103), was a poet and
ritual author.
(See App. No. 12.) In the north of Spain were
also then found scholars and poets
Abraham b. Hyya, a
minister in a Mahometan ruler s court, was a great astronomer
and mathematician, who wrote four books on astronomy, three
of which were printed, viz.
The Form of the Earth (T urath
;
"
"
:
Book of Leap- Years" (Sepher Haibur), of the
the
latter
third, only
part, treating of mathematics, optics, and
astronomy was printed. Next to him is Jehudah b. Barzilar,
Hoaretz),
"The
author of the book
"
Hoetim" (The Times).
have reached to the three great poets, who enjoy a
world-wide renown, Moses b. Ezra, Abraham b. Meir Ebn Ezra,
We
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
48
and Jehudah Halevi, all of whom were bearers of the banner of
the Talmud, and contributed to diffusing its ideas and morals
We think it, however, superfluous to ex
the nation.
on
as
them,
they are well-known to every cultured per
patiate
as
books
have been written about them at dif
son, and,
many
ferent epochs, we cannot refrain, however, from giving briefly
their biographies, as far as they bear on no subject of this work.
The dates of the birth and death of the first of these, Moses
b. Ezra, are unknown to us it is known only to us that he lived
His opinions in his poems and other
later than ben Gabirol.
He composed ritual poems and lamenta
works vacillate.
tions, which have a place in the prayer-books of the Spanish
Jews; also the "Arugath Habossem" (Bed of Spices), on
theological philosophy, and the "Sepher Hassichoth V hazichronoth" (Book of Discourses and Reminiscences), about the
poems of ben Gabirol and his character.
The second, Abraham Ebn Ezra, was one of the most won
His commentaries on the Bible,
derful phenomena of his age.
his poems and ritual poems, are known to everyone; but the
contemporary scholars found it impossible to know his real
opinions, nor can modern scholars fathom them.
among
:
The third, Jehudah Halevi, the father of poets, before whom
none lived equal to him, and who knows whether after him any
one like him will live. Besides inspiring with a very exalted
national spirit every reader of his poems and lamentations, he
powerfully defended the Talmud in his book the "Chosar,"
where the eloquent defender of the Talmud is represented by
the disputant arguing with the King of the Chosars, and which
to the present time is a shining example of compositions of this
kind.
(A lengthy account the reader can find in the works of
Karpeles.)
After them
is distinguished Abraham b. David Halevi (Ebn
died as a martyr (1180). He defended the Tal
Daud) who
mud
in his
great
work
book
(Exalted Faith) and in his
(The Tradition), in which he power
the deniers of tradition, and shows
"Emuna Rama"
"Hakabala"
fully argues against all
them in the wrong; supporting his logical
torical facts,
arguments by his
proving the continuance of tradition from the
time of Moses to that time. In his polemics against the Kara
dumb dogs."
ites, he is so irritated that he styles them
"
I
JEHUDAH HALEVI, ABRAHAM
With Moses
monides"
or
b.
Maiman, the Spaniard,
DAVID.
called
by
all
49
"Mai-
(1135-1204), the Spanish period
died the mental activity in Spain, after
"Rambam"
With him
concludes.
B.
having flourished there for three centuries. About this great
man we have nothing to add to what the historians who have
preceded us have written about his
life,
and disputed about
his
(The reader desiring minute information is referred
opinions.
to the Life of the Rambam, "Taldoth Horambam," by I. H.
Weiss, and also Karpeles work.)
But we do not think it
superfluous to remark on two points, viz.: i. That the opin
ions of Maimonides are found to differ in the three different
periods of his life thus, in his commentary on the Mishnayoth,
they are not the same as in his work "Yad Hachazaka," nor
:
are they similar to that of his last work, "More Nebuchim,"
which he wrote in the evening of his life. For in all of them we
see a
development of his ideas according to the increase of his
and knowledge it is not true as some affirm that there
We have made it evident, long
is no change in his opinions.
Phylacterien-Ritus," that his decisions in
ago, in our book
his "Yad Hachazaka" or "Mishna Torah," do not accord
with those in his commentary on the Mishnayoth and, it is
studies
;
"
;
"
needless to say, that his statements in the More" are at vari
And in truth,
ance with things said in all his former works.
this is the case
with
main at a stand
still
all
we may apply [Job,
make wisdom known."
this
2.
great thinkers, that they can not re
their youth to their old age, and to
from
xxxii.
7].
"Multitude
That Maimonides has omitted
all
of years shall
references in the
Talmud which
treats of witchcraft, demons, interpretation of
not
dreams, etc.,
only because they were considered by him as
vain superstitions and follies, for this reason alone he would
not have ventured to omit them, in spite of the Talmud, for he
left all that is found in the Talmud of Halakhas and moral
Hagadas, even with which he himself could not agree but his
motive was, that, in his opinion, they had originally not been
;
found in the Talmud, and that only the later men inserted
them, according to their own ideas, for whatever purpose it
might have been. (I. H. Weiss has insinuated this long ago,
and it seems that the probability tends that way.)
So also, about the apology advanced by many for the words
4
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
5o
Maimonides at the head of his work "Mishna Torah," that
he had chosen this title, because if a man first read the Penta
teuch, and then this work, he will know the entire Oral Law,
and need read no intermediate book that by these words he
of
did not
mean
work should be a substitute for the
we do not think this apology needful, even
For as Maimonides had observed that much
that his
Talmud, etc., etc.
if lie meant this.
had been superadded to the Talmud, also things opposed to
no wonder if he wished to prevent those
his general opinions
not
who could
distinguish between the good and the evil, from
reading the spurious passages, to which they would attach as
great importance as to the Talmud itself. After he had sifted
it, and arranged all that is found in that sea, the Talmud, in
fourteen volumes, of his Mishna Torah," there is no pre-emp
tion or oddity in these words, whereby he merely sought the
;
"
real
good of the students.
To enumerate
in detail all his books,
writings, epistles,
polemics and apologies, we think superfluous here as all bio
graphical and critical facts have already been given in detail in
;
We will only remark, that after
the great things which Maimonides had done and accom
As the study of the
plished, he did not attain his object.
Talmud did not cease in any of the colleges, and, on the con
trary, they who desired to criticize Maimonides, brought the
the above-mentioned works.
all
rabbis to study yet more profoundly and attentively the Tal
mud, and to add new commentaries, decisions of Halakhas, etc.,
etc.
CHAPTER
XI.
THE SCHOLARS OF GERMANY AND OF NORTHERN FRANCE, AND
WHAT THEY CONTRIBUTED TO THE STUDIES OF THE TALMUD.
At the
made
shone
time,
progress,
"the
when Talmudic study flourished
and diffused itself in all corners
luminary of the
exile"
in
in Spain,
and
of the earth,
Germany, who con
structed a strong fortress around the Talmud, in his great
wisdom which was accepted in all places of the exiled as
though canonical, and which not only contributed to strengthen
the Talmud, but also to prevent all its adherents from perishing.
Like Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai formerly, when he saw that
GERSHON,
"THE
LUMINARY OF THE
EXILE."
51
the end of Jewish civic independence approached, founded by
wisdom a Jewish spiritual kingdom, which nothing could
his
and by saving from the jaws of that lion, Vespasian,
Yanmia and its sages, saved the existence of the Jewish people
itself; so did Gershon b. Jehudah who came from Carraibe
to Mayence, where his great teacher Jehudah b. Meir resided.
This most important task he found to be his prohibition, which
he made in the name of the Talmud, and at once all Israel (in
Europe) hailed this luminary, and accepted without protests
or hesitation, his prohibition, and made it a permanent law.
He saw and understood that the Jews scattered among
Christian nations, among whom divorce is prohibited and
ruin,
polygamy regarded as a
sin, will
not exist long,
if
they persist
to permit themselves these things, according to their laws, and,
as he had not the power to forbid what was permitted in the
Torah expressly, he strove to remove the causes leading to
divorce and thereby he made his co-religionists so far like the
Christians that they should be able to live side by side.
He decreed, on pain of excommunication, and without re
;
vocation or qualification, that polygamy be prohibited to every
Israelite (see App. No. 13), and only monogamy should be
add
legal, and as long as the first wife lives, it is prohibited to
to her another, in the capacity of wife or concubine.
Thereby,
did not
he
but
also
divorce
was
for
main
cause
the
removed,
a
added
thereto
but
content himself with this decree alone,
decree opposed to the Pentateuch, that divorce cannot take
man and
place without the assent of the divorced wife, if the
impossible to live together, then only if
the woman is also willing, the husband can divorce her.
Whereas, till then, the woman was dependent on the will of
his wife should find
it
It is superfluous for us to
her husband, for good or for ill.
two decrees, or rather
of
these
on
the
consequences
expatiate
they have been to social life and
the feeble sex as every thinking man can understand this.
Added to these prohibitions, he permitted Jewish apostates,
reforms of
how much
utility
;
are penitent, to return to their faith, and also prohibited,
on pain of excommunication, to open a strange man s letter
and read it, without the assent of the person to whom it is ad
who
dressed.
His energy, great wisdom, and deep observation of his
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
52
s life, and strong wish to ensure its existence, we can
from these reforms, which we do not find made by any rabbis
of his predecessors and he was justly called, afterwards, "The
Luminary of the Exile," as he illuminated in truth the eyes of
all Israelites and gave to them a new life.
He composed com
mentaries on several tracts of the Talmud, which became dis
tinguished in his age, and the commentator on the Torah,
Rashi (whom we are going to mention) borrowed from him
much.
R. Machir, his brother (1030), was also a Talmudic scholar
and the author of a Talmudic dictionary. Several ritual poets
were also found in Germany and Northern France, as Meshulam
bar Kleinmus, R. Simeon, b. Isaac, b. Abun of Mayence, who
lamented the miseries of their paytonim in ritual poems and
prayers for mercy (Sli choth), but their work in the study of the
Torah was small and only in Metz and Mayence in Germany,
and Rheims, Loiret, in Northern France and Narbonne, Montpellier and Beziers in Southern France were many scholars,
whose active occupation was mental activity in the field of the
Talmud. (The college of Talmud in Narbonne was erected by
R. Machir, who had arrived from Babylonia to France and in
the second half of the eleventh century came from this college
R. Moses Hadarshon, known as the commentator on some tracts
in the Talmud, and some books of Scripture and later gener
ations drew much on his wisdom, and made many quotations
from him. All or most of his writings are collected in one
nation
see
;
;
;
;
work entitled Breshith Rabthi." R. Joseph Tob Aim (Baufils,
of Lemans) who has edited and systematized many subjects
and speculations of the Talmud, a list of the Tanaim and
Amoraim, and the answers of the Gaonim, and R. Elijah the
"
,
Elder, both men of that age, were esteemed as poets, but did
not approach those of Spain.
What
is
notice, considering the various countries
that whereas the scholars of Spain (see App.
worthy of
at that age,
is
No. 14) exerted their great powers and displayed their knowl
edge in collecting Halakhas of the Talmud, the scholars of
Germany devoted themselves wholly to collecting Hagadas
and Midrashim,
so that various compilers rose.
Of the dis
are:
of
Midrash
R.
Moses
of
Narbonne,
tinguished compilers
R. Jehudah of Toulouse, R. Simeon, author of
Yalkut
"
RASHI OR ISAACIDES.
53
where he compiled words of wisdom, morals and
from
Hogada,
fifty various ancient works and arranged them
to
the
portions of the Pentateuch. This Yalkut is
according
a comprehensive reference book for Agadic lore, and drove
out of the field the Agadic compilation
Lekach Tob," or
R.
Tobiah
Zutrha"
b.
his
Eliezer,
by
"Psigtha
contemporary,
Simoni,"
"
who
lived in Greece (Byzantium) at that time.
will skip over a number of lecturers and
We
for
want
and we
of space,
will
come
Pashtanim
to our great teacher,
through whom only we are enabled to comprehend the Talmud,
and to read it and study it, namely: R. Soloman b. Isaac of
Trayes, called (by using the initials) "Rashi" (1040-1105).
He was the first who gave a complete piece of work in his com
He is one of the most wonder
mentary on the Talmud.
ful phenomena given by Nature, perhaps once in thousand
years his advantage over Maimonides, his peer, is in the fact
that he met with general acceptation in the whole world, and
no one presumes to study the Talmud without him. The in
fluence he has on Jewish students has met with no opposition
;
The generations subsequent
or discontent.
him
"
"
Parshandatha
Explainer of the
no man arose
"
(a
proper
name
to Rashi, styled
in Scripture), that
is,
Justly was he called thus; in truth
with such ability to shed light on the
Law."
after
him
law or on obscure passages in Scripture.
His comprehensive intellect embraced that mighty and
eternal structure, the whole vast province of the theological
literature of Israel.
By his commentaries he has introduced
intricacies of the
common
sense into the study of the vastest and profoundest
The study of the tracts lacking his commentary,
subjects.
although many different other men have attempted to supply
much trouble, till we
As what Rashi eluci
dates in a few words, or sometimes even by one word added
to the text before us, has to be commented upon by others in
the deficiency, gives us many pains and
to understand the real meaning.
come
many
laborious lines to
make
the student
understand the
Talmud.
simple meaning
The life of Rashi has been written by many scholars, who
have discussed at length his commentaries, legal decisions, and
The latest, A. H. Weiss, in the periodical "Beth
ritual poetry.
Talmud and in separate pamphlets. We think it therefore
of the
"
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
54
We
superfluous to repeat them, as this is not our task here.
have to remark, however, on several points relating to the
Talmud here, on which those scholars have left something for
us to add
:
An
examination of Rashi
s
commentaries on
the Talmud, on the Bible, and legal decisions in his Hapardes,"
and so also his ritual poems, will show that they differ in their
"
nature totally.
In his commentary on the Talmud, which
general criticism places above his other writings, we see that he
is very cautious to decide any Halakha, and to draw from the
statements of the Talmud definite conclusions as to a law or
custom.
We
do not remember
in his
whole commentary on
the Talmud, any place where he should decide "that such a
Halakha prevails," or even, "so was the custom in his days,"
as we find on many occasions in the commentaries of his
disciples "Tosphath," and we have long ago shown in our
work about Phylacteries (p. 24), that he has interpreted an
obscure passage in the Talmud in contradiction to the cus
tom and Halakha accepted among the Gaonim, because, ac
cording to his method,
(see there, p. 30).
it is
the plain meaning of the passage
Everywhere he bewares of dialectics, and of
some passages of the Talmud and others,
contradictions between
but he explained the subject of the passage according to its
In case of Agadoth he also
simple meaning in its own place.
was careful to give only an explanation of the words, literally
without any remark or opinion of his own, even hinted. This
is his custom in his whole commentary on the Talmud.
Where
he found the text corrupted, he corrected it according to his
opinion, and in accordance to his profound knowledge of the
and language
and, if necessary, removed
the old version, not fearing additions or eliminations, provided
the real meaning of the Talmud he comprehended, without
Talmud,
of its style
resorting to forced
;
and far-fetched reasoning.
His commentary on the Bible, however,
mostly he construes according to the Halakha
had explained the
biblical passages in the
is
;
different,
i.e.,
as
as the sages
Talmud and Mid-
rashim, without regard to the fact that the literal meaning of
the biblical texts often does not bear out these constructions.
Often he was not averse to interpret the text according to
the Talmudic interpretation, even when its meaning is mani
His
festly contrary thereto by all the rules of language.
RASHI OR ISAACIDES.
55
object in this is unknown to us, and it can only be conjectured
that he did not like that his commentary should be at variance
with the Talmudic interpretations and conclusions, which cor
rectness and justice he forces himself in his commentary on
Talmud to make manifest.
Not so in his decisions; he endeavors always to interpret
the laws leniently (mildly), and is averse to rigor. There he
the
also avoids dialectics, tries not to attain his object
by
strange
and eccentric reasonings, but is only intent on finding the real
deep meaning of the law, and to interpret it as mildly as it is
It is true, that most of his decisions are written
in his power.
by his disciples, and we cannot find there that clearness of
language and wonderful felicity of expression which he displays
The Replies of
in his two above-mentioned commentaries.
the Gaonim and their works served to him also as a guide,
but he did not tread in their footsteps blindfold, but he
sifted their statements and construed them ingeniously into
accordance with his own opinion this we witness in his book
Pardes,* which has been accepted as a great authority for all
Poskim deciders of the law subsequent to him.
We do not possess his commentary on all the tracts of the
;
Talmud, for of three tracts we know with certitude that the
commentaries arc not his; and in the case of other tracts,
And it
criticism is doubtful whether they are from his pen.
may be that they got lost in the course of time, either because
he did not compose his comments on the Talmud in the natural
order, but in the order in which they were studied in the great
college at the head of which he was, and whither pupils flocked
from all places of the earth, after the decease of the celebrated
scholars of Lorraine; or perhaps he left this world before he
had completed his commentary on the whole Talmud, as lie
did not complete the commentary on the Bible, for those on
the books of Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah, and a part of the
commentary on the books of Ezekiel and Job have not issued
from his pen, though they bear no name, for they are easily
distinguishable from his version in their style and by their
nature.
What
Rashi had done to the Talmud, his disciples have
*
also reprinted
It
was
by us
at
Warsau, 1870, with our preface and a few notes.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
56
done to his commentary, which they have surrounded by com
ments and remarks on the margins, sometimes to make plainer
his meaning, and sometimes they also made additions to
amplify his statements by Agadas and Halakhas, and in the
course of time they crept into his own commentary and were
interpolated into the words of Rashi, but to separate them
from his own words it is very difficult, even for the lancet of
sharp criticism.
Modern
criticism has rightly thought that Rashi (Isaacides)
commentary on the Talmud, which was
began
composed gradually, by the lectures which he delivered to the
students.
After this he turned to the Midrash, and from
And as soon as his com
it passed to the books of Scripture.
was
heard
the
among
living, an echo sounded in the
mentary
his labor of the
camp
of Israel that
if
not Isaacides
who
laid his
hand upon
it
to investigate and to commentate it, it would remain almost
No wonder,
neglected as its brother, the Palestinian Talmud.
some fifty commentaries on the
commentary of Rashi sprung up, which examine nicely every
word and syllable that has proceeded from him and the last,
Kabbalist, R. Samson, of Astropol, was not incorrect when he
said in his book,
Likute Shoshanim
Collections of Roses
that every drop of ink that has come forth from Rashi s pen
it is needful to sit seven days and to examine with one s whole
therefore, that after a short time,
;
"
"
["
"],
attention.
Thus while Alphassi illuminated Spain by
his elucidations
of the Halakhas, another sun, Rashi, rose also in
shed yet more
light, to
comment on
the Talmud,
its
France to
Halakhas
And
the latter had more success, in so far that
was
commentary
accepted in all the world (among Chris
tian scholars also, as has avowed Nicholas de Lyra, some two
hundred years after Rashi s decease, that to the right under
standing of the words and simple meaning of the texts, Rashi s
and Agadas.
his
commentary has
led him)
by
universal assent.
And
therein
also is France superior to Spain, that though the latter has
been studying diligently Torah, even from the ancient times,
while the colleges at Sura and Pumbeditha existed yet, and
after their fall, assumed pre-eminence in the usages and litera
ture of Israel, their scholars could never agree, and were for
But in France, since Rashi s commentary
ever disputing.
RASH BAM AND TAM.
57
began to shine, no voice dissented from the universal approval,
and those who sometimes were at variance with him, did not
withhold the great honors which were justly due to him, and
endeavored to reconcile their own opinions with his. For two
hundred years continuously, after Rashi s decease, his disciples
were diligent at the holy work of spreading the study of the
Talmud and a correct understanding of the great work of their
master.
They called
their labors only
Additions
their thoughts which suggested themselves to
to his commentary, and to explain it.
i.e.,
CHAPTER
THE DOCTORS OF FRANCE.
(Tosphoth)
them
to
,
add
XII.
AUTHORS OF THE TOSPHOTH.
Through the Tosphoth which were begun by Rashi s own
descendants as his two sons-in-law, Meir b. Samuel and Jehudah
bar Nathan and the sons of the first Samuel and Jacob Tarn,
the activity of the scholars of France and Germany assumed
great proportions and was exalted, so that all Israel in the
Middle Ages accepted them unanimously, and in the course of
time the numbers of their disciples and the pupils of their
So that more than two hundred great
disciples increased.
Talmudists are known to the historian, but whom it is needless
to enumerate here, except a few which we deem necessary for
our work.
His grandson, R. Samuel b. Meir, or Rashbam (1085-1158),
did not content himself with the commentary of his grand
father on the Bible, as well as on the Talmud, and tried his
strength to explain them after his own method, that is, accord
ing to their deep literal meaning, and leaving ingenious but
forced constructions to dialecticians, even when the literal
interpretation will thus be in direct contradiction to the Halakha (see App. No. 15) however, without any opposition to the
traditions expressed.
He only added in his commentary ac
one to think
to
the
literal
meaning," but leaves
cording
deep
"
that even the traditional interpretation about the Halakha
can find place. To the Hagada, however, which tries to inter
pret biblical texts according to its legends, he opposes with all
the strength of his intellect, and makes manifest their contra-
5
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
3
demolish the Hagada to the foundation. In
on
the Talmud, however, he is given to lengthy
commentary
and also endeavors to arrive at deci
and
dialectics
reasonings
sions of Halakhas, which his grandfather took care to avoid.
Whoever sees critically, Rashi s commentary on Tract Baba
Bathra up to 2gb, and from there onwards, Rashbam s
commentary which is its substitute from that place onwards,
will be astonished at the great difference between them, if but
at the relative quantities of Rashi s comments and Rashbam s.
From his commentaries and compositions we see that he had
much knowledge of diverse languages, and of the manners and
customs of nations and their modes of life, and gave human
diction, so as to
his
reasons for
many commandments
of
the
Pentateuch.
In
Northern France his commentaries were accepted in the colleges
and it became their main authority.
But his younger brother, Jacob, styled Rabenu Tarn,"
devoted his whole mind to studies of the Talmud chiefly, and
he became the center of the authors of the Tosphoth, to him
flocked men with questions from all ends of the earth, to whom
he was as an oracle. Justly we may entitle him the Pillar of
He went to the depths of the sea of the Talmud,
the Talmud.
and made it his first task to reconcile apparent contradictions
"
He
mended many corrupted texts in the
Talmud, though of him it has been said that he decreed on the
pain of excommunication not to amend any text in the Talmud,
therein.
likewise
and in many places he disagrees with his grandfather. Aside
from this he did not at one s own conjecture, neglect com
mentaries on Scriptures and grammatical studies, and decided
in favor of Menachem b. Sruk against Duns b. Labrat in his
book "Hahakhraoth" (Reconciliations) he also tried his ability
for poetry.
As his biography has been written by the learned
A. H. Weiss in a separate book, it is unnecessary to expatiate
on it.
Here is the place to remark that in late generations the
second pair of phylacteries which pietists put on after the
prayer, have been styled after him on account of two or three
words which he wrote in his commentary on an obscure passage
in Tract Mena hoth in opposition to Rashi s commentary, on
;
account of a hair-splitting discussion in the language of the
Gemara, though he had never the intention to decide so the
JOSEPH KARA, ISAAC THE ELDER.
59
Halakha, as his grandfather Rashi had also not intended in his
commentary on the Halakha, still those phylacteries are called
after him. In truth neither the one nor the other was used yet
as phylacteries, as testifies the greatest
Tosphoth, R. Isaac the Elder (as this
book on Phylacteries)
among
is
the authors of
explained in one
.
whom Pashi had in the college
to
mention
R. Joseph b. Simeon
proper
Troy
Kara who was revealed to us recently by modern criticism
and R. Joseph Bchor Shor who was a disciple of Rabenu Tam,
Among
at
the faithful disciples
it
is
;
and composed a commentary on the Pentateuch in the spirit
Rashbam. The other commentators on Scripture
the
authors of the Tosphath and their disciples, how
among
as
author
of Hagan (The Garden) a commentary on
the
ever,
the Pentateuch, which is to be found in two different versions,
and some more commentaries by R. Hezekiah b. Manoah, R.
Isaac Halevi, R. Jehuda b. R. Eliezer, R. Jacob d lllesques, do
not cling to the principle of literal interpretation, but of Drash
and Mysticism. Rashi s commentary was, however, their
model. The chiefs of the authors of Tosphoth in the period
R. Isaac b. Samuel, called R.
of from 1167 till 1300 were
Isaac the Elder, from Dampirere, the nephew of Jacob Tam,
his son Elchanan, Eliezer b. Samuel ("Ram") of Metz, author
of that of
"
"
:
of
"Sepher
Yereim"
(Book
of
the
God-Fearing)
,
Isaac b.
brother, Simsan of Chanz
(Ritzba),
his
are
called Tosphoth of Chanz,
labors
(Rashba),
great
Jehudah b. Isaac from Paris, called Sirlian, Ephraim b. Isaac
Abraham, Junior
from Reugspurk, and Nathan
his
Official,
who
will
be mentioned
by us further in a separate chapter. Among the latest of the
authors of the Tosphoth, however, we may name the Rabbi
Moses of Caucy, author of "Smag" who is also mentioned in
Tosphoth thrice (Berakhoth, i4b, 43a, Aboda Zarah, i3a),
and R. Jacob of Courbel to whom have been attributed the
questions and answers from Heaven, and we doubt whether
Isaac of Vienna author of the well-known book Or Zarua
(Diffused Light), who also lived at that time, has also been
mentioned in Tosphoth (see our work on Phylacteries, p. 140),
"
by the name of R. Isaac-simply, as not every time when
name R. Isaac-barely is mentioned in Tosphoth, R. Isaac
Elder
is
meant.
"
the
the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
60
R. Moses of Caucy, contributed much to restore
the study of the Talmud to its former splendor in his days,
when in Spain it was almost stopped, and along with it many
This
last,
ceremonies, as phylacteries, Mezuzoth and Tzitzith, which were
not seen in his time in any part of Spain or other countries.
to the oppression of the other religions by the dominant
religion, the Israelites began to blend with the nations, and
Owing
thousands of them embraced ostensibly the dominant religion,
and some even conscientiously, having despaired of the former
hope of Israel, Moses of Coucy therefore devoted himself to his
work and travelled from city to city, and from land to land, to
encourage Israel in the study of the Talmudic literature, and
restore the activity, and he is the first who required help for
aim from gentiles, his friends, though not co-religionists, and
that his works should find acceptance he backed them by
dreams and natural phenomena that took place at the time,
which he warned the people that they were signs from heaven,
and also by astrology, to arouse the people to return to the
study of the Talmud and its commandments. As he testified
himself in his book which he wrote in his later days (1288),
Sepher Mitzvoth Gadol" (Positive Commandments) whose title
his
"
is
abbreviated
he concludes
:
After writing the sermons in exile,
the year 4995 after creation (1235), an
"Smag."
"After
And in the year
event took place from heaven to chastize.
and
I
in
to
was
Spain preaching
1236
reproving them, God
arms
and
Gentiles
dreams, and
strengthened my
by Jews
visions of the stars and extended his mercy to me, and the earth
trembled* and there was general terror, great repentances were
made, and thousands as well as myriads accepted the sacred
ceremonies of Tephilin, Mezuzoth, and Tzitzith. So I was
afterwards in other countries, and they were accepted in all
places, and I was asked for a commentary on these command
in brief." Not only in France and Spain were such books
written about the practical ceremonies in the spirit of the Tal
mud, but also in Germany, R. Baruch of Germisa composed
ments
"Sepher
and R. Isaac from Vienna, his book
(Or Zarua) which all treat of ceremonies and
the rules of the Talmud, which those sages saw
Hatrumah"
"Diffused Light"
Halakhas after
* See our
tioned here.
"
Phylacterien,"
page
85,
concerning the trembling of the earth,
men
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.
61
a great necessity to renew and arouse the nation to observe
had become
them, after the Halakahs of Alfasi and Maimonides
violent
and
the
in
their
persecutions
ancient
tone,
already too
then directed against the Talmud diminished the number of the
It would seem that at that time was composed also
students.
in the
the small book "Questions and Answers from Heaven"
name of R. Jacob of Corbel who was known as a holy man,
at end, that in
to show to the people that its hope was not yet
are
venerated, and so are all
heaven all wards of the Talmud
who occupy themselves with it, as seen from the contents
sages
in
of the questions and answers given from heaven especially
it was
case of R. Isaac Alfasi, about whom from heaven
Not in an old man is wisdom, nor in schoolboys
answered:
with Isaac," and this
counsel, but my covenant I shall fulfil
Shem Tobb,
may be a kind of basis for the programme made by
Alfasi
of
may sub
that
diligent study
Joseph Falkira (1264),
"
stitute the
study of the Talmud.
CHAPTER
XIII.
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES OF ALL PERIODS.
From the earliest recorded times there have been disputes
between men on faith and religion. When, in pagan countries,
man consid
the idols had become great in number and each
ered his
his
own
own
the right one, he strove to convert his fellows to
whether through benevolence or from wrath
opinion,
than
that the idol of his neighbor should be considered greater
in
the
found
are
Prophets.
Traces of such disputes
his own.
To the Jewish people was probably due the increase in the
its mission was
violence and frequency of such disputes, since
monotheistic,
always the annihilation of idol-worship. Being
its own.
besides
with
any gods
it could not live at peace
such
to
disputes among
historical importance can be attached
idols was often
of
and with the heathen, because the number
But when Christianity,
as large as that of the worshippers.
and to extinguish
all
convert
humanity
whose great aim was to
the world,
dominate
to
and
over
all theologies, began to spread
baleful
and
new
a
the matter of religious disputes assumed
aspect, for presecutions
and
trials
were mercilessly
inflicted
on
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
62
all
who opposed
it,
whether those who took an active part in
who refused to enter into them.
the controversies or those
In recording the history of the Talmud and of its persecu
tions we cannot pass over the disputes concerning it from the
time of its birth, and continuing throughout its troubled history
in succeeding ages.
A minute history of all these controver
sies, however, their dates, the names of the disputants, the
topics of the disputes, as well as the consequences to the Tal
mud, would require a volume twice the bulk of the Talmud
We
content ourselves with devoting to
it a separate chapter, mentioning only the greater historical
controversies and giving a rsum of the subject matter of the
itself.
will therefore
we deem them of value to our readers.
Already in the first century we have seen that
disputes as
the disputes
between the Jewish Christians and their brethren who did not
believe in Jesus Messiahship were many.
In the Talmud are
many sages and Amoraims who were com
to
enter
upon disputations with their Christian brethern.*
pelled
But in the second and third centuries, houses for disputations
given the names of
(see App. No. 10) had already been established, as well in Pales
tine as in Babylonia, and doubtless also in many other places
where Jews dwelt. Those known to us by name are the house
and that of Nitzraphi. The
Jews were forced to come hither, or to
of Abidan, the house of Abiani,
Talmud
relates that the
furnish sufficient explanation for not so doing.
have no record of the results of these disputes, but in
We
the sixth century we see Priscus, a Jewish officer of King
When ordered to embrace
Eilprich, forced to a controversy.
"
Christianity he naively replied that he could not believe that,
to save sinners, God was compelled to enter into marital rela
woman, and
order to redeem the world,
underwent the death-agony, when at his command were hosts
For this he was imprisoned.
of angels not needed in heaven."
Henceforward in almost every century of the Christian era
tions with a
finally, in
who forced the Jews into controversy. In
the seventh century these disputes were used as weapons
against the Jews of Spain in documents issued by Isidorie,
Bishop of Seville. These and other writings against the Jews,
there arose fanatics
* R.
Aqiba with R. Gamaliel, Joshua
others.
b.
Hanania, Ishmael, Abuhu, and many
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.
added to the verbal disputes,
finally resulted in the
63
ninth cen
tury, during the reign of Charles the Bald, in invectives pro
mulgated by the Bishop of Amulo, denouncing the Jewish
and
inciting all Christians to their
in eradicating the error
from the minds of the Jews, to
creed as
duty
them
to accept the Gospel in place of their belief in the
Messiahs, one a descendant of David and the other a de
force
two
"superstition"
scendant of Joseph. It is remarkable that in these documents
the bishop complains that the Jews, by their eloquent sermons
and lectures, made more impression on their hearers than did
the preaching of the Christians, as he was convinced by per
sonal experience. And, indeed, in this he was not mistaken;
where the Jews lot was ameliorated, as in the reign of Louis
who, as well as his wife, Judith, honored the Jews, so
much so as to change for their sake the fair-day from Saturday
to Sunday many Christians came to the synagogues to hear
the Rabbis and the scholars among them read with pleasure
the writings of Philo and Flavius instead of the Gospel, and
likewise learned from Jewish scholars the interpretation of
Scripture, as Rhabanus Maurus of Fulda avows in his commen
tary on the Bible.
The Jews in Arabia also were forced to dispute with the
for
the Saint
Mussulmans, who assured them that the teaching of the Tal
mud had its day and Islam was even then usurping its
When Basilius the Macedonian ascended the throne
place.
of Byzantium he summoned learned Jews to argue with
Christian priests, who strove to convince them that Jesus had
become the center of the law and prophets. But these dis
putes are insignificant compared with those of the last four
centuries of the Middle Ages; during this period the number
of Jewish apostates increased, who challenged their brethern
Massacre and pillage were the
of the old faith to arguments.
results of these disputes, the invitation to which was, briefly,
ye be willing and obey, the good of the land
shall ye eat but if ye refuse and rebel, by the sword shall ye be
devoured."
And, as if no loophole should exist through
which the Jews might evade persecution, if a Christian were
as follows:
"If
;
converted to the Jewish faith and mocked his former religion
the Jews were held responsible and punished. Thus in the
ninth century the priest Boda accepted Judaism and ridiculed
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
64
the Christians, going even so far as to beg the Mohammedan
rulers in Spain to permit residence in that country only to
Jews and Mussulmans, and not to Christians.
Coystan Becele-
lonus in 1005, in the reign of Henry II., wrote a pamphlet in
Fools
which he addressed his former co-religionists thus
:
read the prophet Malachai, who says in God s name, I am
How then can you believe that the
God, without change.
Divinity underwent any change?" The culmination of all
was a renewed outburst of wrath and persecution directed
against the Jews.
this
The
Christians did not consider the fact that he
who ex
changes his religion for another, from any motive whatever,
by so doing is held in enmity by his former co-religionists and
esteemed of no value. They declared that the
Satan had seduced the Jewish proselytes, while at the
same time they gave credit to all the calumnies uttered by the
his affirmations
spirit of
Christianized Jews and granted them power to compel the
Jews to enter into dispute with them. For this alleged guilt
of Satan they punished the Jews with restriction of rights, con
An instance is recorded
fiscation of property, or total exile.
of the conversion in London in 1275, during the reign of Henry
II., of the great Dominican preacher Robert de Redinge to
Judaism, who adopted the name of Haggai. The Christianized
Jews of France and Spain were also the cause of great trouble
to the Jews in those countries during the Middle Ages, though
Christianity had been the dominant religion but for a short
period.
Of the more prominent controversies of that time may be
mentioned that of Rabbi Nathan Haupniel, one of the writers
of the commentaries called "Tosphoth" (Taanith IX., the
Tosphoth beginning at Aser T aser"), known among Gentiles
as Nathan Official, the colleague of Rabenu Tarn and perfect
under the Archbishop of Cens, with this same archbishop, and,
near the close of the twelfth century, with Pope Alexander and
"
At this epoch the status of the Jews of
France was one of peace and prosperity, and R. Nathan and
his colleague, Rabenu Tam, were honored at court.
The
bishop attempted to prove by the passage, Let us make man
the king himself.
"
in our
image,"
used.
R. Nathan
that the Trinity
s
answer was:
is
meant, since the plural
"Before
replying to this,
is
I
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.
65
you a question in law concerning myself. You
are aware that I loan no money at interest (this he mentioned
because the Jews were then charged with usury)
I gave to a
friend a sum of money with which to purchase merchandise,
and in the profits arising from which I was to share. He trans
ported the goods to Paris, but finding that their market price
had greatly diminished, he threw all into the Seine without
I am therefore of opinion that I may de
consulting with me.
mand of him to return to me the whole sum for by what right
did he inflict on me a financial loss without first asking my
desire to ask of
.
;
The bishop replied: "You may without doubt;
and according to my opinion you are entitled to additional
consent?"
compensation besides, since how dared he destroy your prop
answered R. Nathan, "you will of
that is
erty?"
course grant that God is at least as just as men, and if, accord
ing to you, he had created men with the assistance of the other
two Persons of the Trinity, how comes it that he declares, I
will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the
"If
so,"
[Gen. vi. 7], without first consulting the other Persons
of the Trinity?
They also were entitled to a part in disposing
of man."
On another occasion, being asked why the Jews
earth?
were obstinate in refusing to worship Mary, the mother of God,
R. Nathan replied: "Tell me, you who are so learned, whether
the question never occurred to you: how was it possible that
the idea of worshipping the golden calf entered the Jews minds
after they
had been
and wonders
witnesses, shortly before, of all the signs
and the thunders and lightnings on
True whenever I read
replied
But I am not
seems a great problem to me."
of the Eternal,
Mount Sinai ?
The bishop
:
;
"
this passage it
answered R. Nathan, with hidden irony.
"The
Jews saw that the gold when thrown into the fire was
made into a calf, and they doubted not that the Holy Ghost
had clothed itself in this precious metal but you who affirm
in the least
surprised,"
;
that the Holy Ghost became incarnate in a woman must needs
remember that when God wished to give to the Israelites the
For three days you shall not ap
Decalogue he warned them
:
proach a
woman
[Ex. xix. 15].
when He
How,
then, can the
endow
Jews be
with a
a
woman?"
Re
new testament, He should himself approach
plies of this kind were numerous from R. Nathan, as well as
lieve, after this, that
desired to
Israel
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
66
Joseph and Asher. Thus it is also told of R.
Bchor
Shor
that to the question, "Why did God choose
Joseph
to appear to Moses in a thorn?" ("bush" in the incorrect ver
Because from it no image can be made, nor
sion), he replied,
can it be used to form a cross."
These disputes, however, did not bring about the terrible
calamities which usually followed those in the Middle Ages,
Judith, the Queen of Louis the Saint, protected the Jews and
their studies, preventing the priests from taking vengeance
from
his sons
"
for such ironical expressions as those given above.
Bishop Bodo perceived that his aims were not furthered
When
by
the
disputes, he prohibited altogether such controversies with the
few decades passed, and not only was this pro
hated Jews.
A
hibition ignored, but the Jews were again constrained to dis
pute in the presence of Louis IX. and his wife, and the chief
civil
and
ecclesiastical dignitaries, the latter representing
Pope
the four rabbis, R. Jechiel of
of
the
Pious R. Moses of Coucy,
the
Paris,
disciple
Jehudah
the famed travelling lecturer R. Jehudah b. David of Melon,
and R. Solomon b. Samuel, to dispute with the apostate Donin,
Gregory IX.
It fell to the lot of
;
;
who took
the
name
of Nicolus.
evinced a tendency, as
it
This
man
while yet a
Jew had
appeared to the rabbis, to rebel against
Judaism, and therefore they had excommunicated him. In
revenge, he went to Rome in 1239, and charged that the Tal
mud contained sacrilegious sayings as to Jesus Christ and his
mother, and so distorted the Scriptures by its interpretations
and comments that thereby the Dietywas blasphemed. He
further charged that it gave license to illegally deprive Gen
tiles of their
property and granted permission to deceive them.
The sum of his libel, which contained thirty-five points, was
that the Talmud was the enemy of Christian truth and the sole
cause of the refusal of the Jews to recognize the divinity of
Jesus.
be in place here, before further consideration of the
character and consequences of this and many other disputes in
which Jewish apostates were the accusers and disputants, to
speak of the Jews of the Middle Ages, what they were, and,
having in view only the truth, to expose their faults. For by
their great intolerance, and their conduct towards all who en
It will
tertained opinions of the least liberality,
differing ever so
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.
67
from their own, they brought down upon themselves,
There was
were by their own hands, terrible calamities.
slightly
as
it
is well known, a division of opinion among
themselves
Rabbis
the
concerning the books of Maimonides.
Many Rabbis excommunicated him after his death, and even
defaced his epitaph; and the intolerant R. Solomon of Montpelliers, with his colleagues and disciples, resorted to the
Flagellants and Dominicans for aid, saying: "Behold, there
are among us heretics and infidels, for they were seduced by
Moses ben Maimon of Egypt. You who clear your community
at that period, as
of heretics, clear ours
too"
(Karpeles, p. 346).
They assented
gladly, and the books of Maimonides were burned at the stake
From the conduct of these fanatics
in Paris and Montpelliers.
towards that lion of Israel (they themselves avowed that he
was infinitely superior to them in science and learning) we can
conceive their terrible vengeance against an ordinary man or
when he ventured
to express opinions in any degree at
variance with their own, or to transgress the Sabbath by carry
ing a handkerchief or drinking of Gentile wine, which in their
scholar
opinion
is
against the law.
Who,
then, could resist their ter
rible weapon
excommunication, which they used for the pur
pose of making a man a ravenous wolf whom every human being
fled from and shunned as though plague-smitten?
Many who
drank of that bitter cup were driven to the grave, and many
But woe to the excommunicators if the
others went mad.
excommunicated afterward received baptism from the Domini
Then the vengeance of those who had been banished was
cans
fearful; like serpents they stung their former brethern, and
of
!
caused misfortunes to thousands of souls
who became
as sheep
for the slaughter.
Thus on the 24th of July, 1240, the complete Talmud was
brought by Donin to the royal palace, and R. Jechiel, who,
because of the fact that he had disputed with many priests, had
been elected head of the disputants, was asked by him, in the
presence of the king and the whole assembly, whether he be
lieved in all that was written in all these books, now more than
four hundred years old. To this R. Jechiel replied, addressing
the king: "Our Talmud is not four hundred years old, but
more than fifteen hundred, and this alone suffices to prove that
the controversy concerning what is said in it is superfluous;
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
68
up to this time there have been Jewish apostates and many
learned Christian priests who were conversant with its con
tents and found no evil in them.
"Hieronymus," continued
for
"
the Rabbi,
who was
known
to all as a wise
and devout Christian
familiar with Jewish literature,
much
writer,
better than
would doubtless have sought the destruc
Talmud, he had found therein such terrible things
this apostate sinner,
tion of the
if
as this apostate alleges.
Therefore I feel sure that this
who seeks our lives, will never attain his object; he
liar,
may
indeed deprive us of our lives, but not of our Torah, dear to us
If you vent on us here in France all
as the pupil of our eye.
will
still
the
Talmud be found in Spain, Greece,
your anger,
Babylon, Media and Mesopotamia, in possession of the Jews of
and there you cannot reach to destroy
these countries,
it."
The king was not
this, but bade R. Jechiel give
a direct answer to Donin. To this the rabbi answered that
the moral and legal doctrines of the Talmud were held sacred,
but that full credence need not be given to the Hagada, which
should not be taken too literally, since it is for the most
with
satisfied
The Ramban gave expression to a like
To
opinion, but it would be superfluous to quote him entire.
the other accusations of Donin, that the Talmud terms the
followers of Jesus Christ Minim" (infidels), that it condemns
part allegorical.
"
allows ill-usage of people of other nationalities,
In the Talmud there is no mention of Jesus
etc., he replied
but
Christ,
only of another Jesus (Jeshua) who was a
(Jesu)
Jesus, that
it
"
:
disciple of R.
before Christ
all
who deny
b. Prachia, who lived two hundred years
that the term Minim in the Talmud includes
Joshua
;
the Oral
Law
;
that
it
grants equality before the
men, idolaters included, and commands visita
tion of sick idolaters, support of their poor, and interment of
their dead even in Jewish cemeteries.
He also proved that
civil
law to
all
according to the Talmud, the Christians are not included among
idolators, since the prohibition as to sharing in divine power is
directed only to Israel and has not been enjoined on other
people; and, moreover, since the Christians abhor idolators,
they cannot themselves be counted among them.
distinction
laws of
There is no
drawn between them and Jews by the criminal
all civilized
No. 15.)
lands,"
as well as in the Talmud.
(See App.
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.
Thus two days passed
69
with R. Jechiel, whose
were written down by a disciple and collected later in a
On the third day,
book, "Joseph Ham qane" (The Zealot).
R. Jehudah b. David, having been prohibited from holding
intercourse with R. Jechiel the first two days, was called to the
dispute, and when his assertions were found to agree with those
of R. Jechiel, the controversy came to an end.
The second dispute which must be noted is that started by
in disputing
replies
the apostate Pablo Christiani, in July, 1263, with the rabbis of
This was the reverse of the previous dispute, in that
Spain.
the first charged the Talmud with despising Jesus and Chris
endeavored to prove from the Talmud
Pablo claiming that the book
itself the Messiahship of Jesus
contained many such passages. Rabbi Moses ben Nachmani
tians, while this dispute
;
(Ramban) was selected as disputant. This controversy also
took place in the royal palace in Barcelona, and lasted four
The principal topics for discussion were Whether the
days.
:
Messiah had already appeared or was still expected; whether
he would appear as a warrior, to restore the kingdom of the
Jews, or as God s son, as Jesus. The passage, "the sceptre
shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh come" (which the
Jews also understand as referring to a Messiah) Pablo adduced
,
as proof that after the destruction of the Temple and the fall
of the Jewish kingdom it must of necessity be considered that
Again, the Talmud itself says,
the Temple was destroyed," and
the Messiah had arrived.
Messiah was born when
jah said to R. Joshua the son of Levi,
gates of Rome, among the sick," etc.
The Messiah
Thereupon Nachmani addressed the king.
he,
"we
Bible, in
"The
"
sits at
"Know,"
Eli
the
said
possess three different books; before every other, the
which we implicitly believe; then the Talmud, which
we hold
sacred as an indispensable commentary on the biblical
but
the third book, which we call Midrash, comprises
laws;
mere sermons or speeches, which are listened to by the Jews
but which exercise no authority over them. "The Hagada,"
he continued,
as its name indicates, a mere collection of
a
creation
of fancy, communicated by one per
legends, fiction,
son to another, but not held by the Jews as dogma, and which
I myself do not believe."
Then turning to Pablo, I will reply
"is,
"
directly to
you as to the question at
issue.
If
the Talmud, as
7
o
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
founder of your church as the true
Messiah, why have not the Talmudists believed in him? Why
did they not avow him, as you, Pablo, have done? For five
you
assert, regards the
hundred years have men been at work on the Talmud, and
none had been convinced or induced to enter the church.
is it to be found in the Bible or the
Where," he asked further,
Talmud that the Messiah will suffer at the hands of men ? On
the contrary, it is said of him, He will reign from sea to sea,"
"Dwellers of the desert will kneel before him" and "nations
will adore him," which certainly was not the case with your
Messiah, who, by the way, was born long before the destruction
of the Temple of Jerusalem, and therefore the Talmudic pass
age can have no reference to him. Rome had not your alleged
Messiah to thank for its greatness on the contrary, its power
and dominion gradually declined after his advent, and since the
"
"
;
birth of your religion a
new creed,
the world-dominating Islam,
has arisen. Further, were the omens and prophecies of the
Messianic time fulfilled ? Of this the prophets predicted that
homicidal war will cease, a universal peace reign in the world
the swords will be beaten ploughshares, the spears into pruning
hooks, and the harmless animal will graze by the side of the
;
wild one; that no injustice will occur, a moral elevation will
ennoble men, God s spirit will enlighten all peoples, and a uni
versal purified knowledge will be
But
introduced.
since
your Messiah appeared, numberless wars have disturbed man
kind, justice, morality, and brotherly love have not yet become
the ruling principles of the world, your religious truths have not
satisfied the adherents of Islam, and one God does not as yet
If you make of your Messiah a God, then we
reign on earth.
cannot believe at all in him. The Messiah must be, according
he must be
to the prophets, a man out of the stem of Jesse
a
born
of
son
of
a
not
God need
child
ordinary parents,
sprung
he be. Nay, the passage in the Talmud which you bring for
ward as favoring the Messiahship of Jesus, that Messiah sits
on God s right, and Abraham on his left, shows him not to be
a God, else could not the Talmud say directly after this that
Abraham s countenance darkened on account of the favor
Were he God s son, surely Abraham
shown the Messiah.
would have known him as Divinity and have yielded to him,
with no feeling of jealousy, the first place. The language of
;
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.
Talmud
71
and by its assertion that the Messiah
was born with the Temple s destruction must be understood
the revival among the Jews, through this barbarity and in
They assuredly do not
justice, of the hope of a Messiah.
who
saw
Messiah
the
light of day fully a hundred
accept him as
years before this event, and who, in spite of his sufferings,
the
is
peculiar,
brought to the world neither salvation nor redemption. And
how stands it with your assumption that your Messiah re
deemed the world from original sin ? The penalties decreed for
that sin
still
exist.
the sweat of the
Women
still
suffer pain in childbirth
;
in
brow must the ground be ploughed, and Death
thins the hosts of the living evils which, according to
your construction of the Bible, result only from original sin.
still
As
to the passage quoted
significance:
The
ad being
nally
meaning
demned
it,
the Bible, this
Judah
The
is its
eter
clear
dependence, if he be con
will not last forever, for the Messiah will come
of this
to
by you from
sceptre shall not depart from
equivalent to load (forever).
is
that Judah
s
him his independence simply, that he will ap
For the rest," continued Nachis
not
but
yet come.
pear,
for
I
do
not
the
Messiah.
With us it is accounted
mani,
long
and
restore to
;
"
as of greater merit
if
we, living in foreign lands, among strange
of the king, worship our God,
people, and under the protection
than if we, as free masters, adhere to the law in our own land."
Pablo was no match to Nachmani and his striking proofs.
The next Sunday, King Jacob I. of Aragon appeared with
The general of the Dominicans
Pefiaforte in the synagogue.
resumed the dispute, and sought to prove the Trinity by the
simile of wine, which also contains a trinity in it, color, flavor
and odor, and yet is one thing. Nachmani, however, refuted
him, and demonstrated that to accept this argument would be
Peftaforte became per
to assume also a fifth person in God.
and
is
so
that
the
deep a mystery that
replied
plexed
Trinity
the angels are unable to comprehend it. When Nachmani
had asked the modest question, "Why, then, should men raise
themselves above the angels to dispute about and to hold fast
to so deep a
mystery?"
The king dismissed him with
Nachmani was banished.
He
did
rich
have never yet heard
presents, adding these strange words:
a wrong cause so masterfully defended."
"I
not,
as
Nevertheless,
contemporary
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
72
deep shame, but was
expatriated through the intrigues of the clergy, and emigrated
to Palestine, which, in his opinion, should be a Mecca for every
Jew, and arrived there shortly after Jerusalem had been re
duced to ashes by the Mongols. There he continued his labors
in behalf of Judaism and compiled his commentary on the
To his disciples whom he left behind it is related that
Bible.
he said, on their asking of him a sign of the day of his death,
that his mother s grave stone would be rent in twain.
ecclesiastical chronicles affirm, flee in
After seeing, however, that the dispute led to no satisfac
tory results, and that Nachmani and other Jews were not con
vinced by the argument of "no salvation outside the church,"
changed his tactics and impeached the Talmud
before Pope Clement IV., claiming that it abused and blas
Pefiaforte
phemed the founder of the church. The Pope appointed a com
mittee to examine the matter, and on their adverse report the
obnoxious passages were stricken out, the erasing stylus was
drawn through the pages of the Talmud by ignorant Domini
cans,
and
was subjected to the fudgement
a sad concurrence of historic events!
for the first time it
of a censor.
What
Maimonides were again
consigned to the stake at Acco through the efforts of the Kabbalistic fanatic Solomon Petit; in Tiberia the tombstone of
Moses b. Maimon, the greatest thinker to whom Judaism had
given birth in a thousand years, was shamefully dishonored
and its epitaph replaced by the words; Here rests an excom
municated heretic."
Of far more importance were the attacks on Judaism and
the Talmud in the dispute which took place at Tortosa, in
Aragon, in 1413, under the supervision of Pope Benedict XIII.,
and which required no less than sixty-eight sessions. Long
before this time the Jews had held polemics with Christian
scholars, and the Jewish literature in defense of the faith
which had been current in the thirteenth century, and which
included also attacks on Christian dogma, was now in full
bloom. Raymond Martin, a Dominican Hebraist and one of
Twenty years
later the writings of
"
the censors of the
Talmud appointed by the Pope, who
the
Talmud with comparative
two
hostile
of Faith)
books under the
and
"Scourge
leniency, wrote against
treated
Judaism
"
titles
for the
(Dagger
wherein arguments in
Religious
Jews,"
Dagger"
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.
73
favor of Christianity were adduced both from Scripture and
from rabbinical writings. These books were imposing not less
from their powerful logic than from their exhibition of pro
found scholarship, and the renowned Talmudist, R. Solomon
The apostate Abner
b. Adereth, was called to refute them.
Alfonso Burgensis, a polemic of more danger to Judaism, at
the commencement of the fourteenth century, wrote a number
of controversial works against his former religion, to whom
Isaac Pulgar replied with a trenchant satirical poem as well
In 1375, Moses Kohen de Tordeas an argumentative work.
sillas disputed in the church at Avilla with the renegade John
of Valladolid, and soon after this proselytizing cardinal Pedro
de Cuna challenged Shem Teb b. Isaac Shoprat to a public
The latter published in 1380, a compre
Eben Bochan," and also translated the
Hebrew to enable his co-religionists to arm them
religious discussion.
hensive defensive work,
Gospels into
"
from the Christian arsenal; they subsequently found
themselves obliged to use these weapons only too often. In
1391 occurred the first great persecution of the Jews in Spain,
during which many, to escape the sword, embraced Christianity.
Whereas the greater part of those who were forced into con
version usually returned to the fold of Judaism, some of these
selves
new
Christians were, conversely, possessed by a great zeal for
proselytizing, as, for example, the physician Astruc Raimuch,
and particularly the former rabbi, Paul Burgensis, the latter
of whom was a source of much mischief to his people.
The
satirical poet, Solomon Bonfed, the ingenious thinker Chasdai
Crescas, the physician and philosopher, Profiat Duran, indited
convincing replies to the attacks of these apostates. But in
the foremost rank of these polemic writings stands the circular
letter of Joshua Lorqui, which he addressed in an apparently
submissive tone to his former teacher, Paul Burgensis, where
in, along with keen attacks on Christian dogma, he tells Bur
gensis that as a thinking and learned man he could not have
accepted Christianity through conviction. When one reads
this letter he must hold it almost a psychological impossibility
man who adopted such an attitude towards Christian
in later years have gone over to the Christian church
should
ity
and become a scourge to his co-religionists of the Jewish faith
and yet this Joshua Corqui was, with scarcely a doubt, identical
that the
;
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
74
who later assumed the name of Geronimo Santa Fe,
and came forward to impeach Judaism and the Talmud at the
with him
dispute in Tortosa.
Benedict XIII., one of the three popes who were then striv
ing for dominion, had a particular interest in this dispute. This
pope had been deposed at the Council of Pisa as a heretic and
perjurer, and had been excommunicated; in Spain, however,
he was recognized as pope, and from that place he set in motion
If he could
his plans to make himself universally recognized.
succeed in breaking the obstinacy of the Jews and effecting
finally their conversion as a people, it would be a great triumph
for the church, and for himself personally. From these motives
he willingly permitted King Fernando of Aragon to invite
Jewish rabbis and scholars to a theological discussion at Tor
Sixteen of the most prominent appeared at that mem
tosa.
orable dispute, which lasted, with many interruptions, from
February, 1413, till November, 1414. The apostate Geronimo,
the physician-in-ordinary of the pope, had arranged previously
First he de
the following programme for the controversy.
prove from the Talmud that the Messiah must already
have arrived. Should this argument be ineffectual, however,
then a war to the death was to be declared against the Talmud,
sired to
which sustains the Jews in their unbelief.
notables appeared in the session hall on the
When
first
the Jewish
day, the thou
sand there assembled, presided over by the pope (who was
pompously arrayed and seated on an elevated throne), made
upon them an overwhelming impression. The pope himself
opened the session with an address, wherein he laid emphasis
on the fact that the question now was not as to the truth of
Judaism or Christianity Judaism once had been true, but was
;
The discussion must turn
by
on
the
point whether, according to the Talmud, Jesus is
only
the promised Messiah or not. Thereupon, Geronimo delivered
a lengthy speech, which he concluded with the text, If ye be
willing and obey, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye
In his
refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword."
replaced
the later revelation.
"
reply, Don Vidal Benvenisti placed the apostate s wickedness
in its true light, inasmuch as he had threatened with the sword
before
any proof
sequent sessions,
had been brought. In the sub
Geronimo cited passages, more or less famil-
for or against
RELIGIOUS DISPUTES.
iar,
75
from the Talmud and Midrash, to prove to the unbelievers
Talmud
that the
itself,
when
rightly understood, attested
of the Jews
But as the representatives
Messiahship.
explained these passages according to their real meaning, and
at the expiration of sixty-two sessions evinced not the slightest
inclination to be converted, Geronimo, at the pope s bidding,
came forth as impeacher of the Talmud, asserting that it con
tained blasphemies and abominations of all kinds and must
Jesus
To prove this, he
therefore be unconditionally condemned.
Halwickedly or ignorantly perverted many passages. The
akha
teaches, for example, in relation to the verse in Exodus
"He that smiteth his father or his mother shall be put
xxi. 15,
to
death,"
guilty of death who wounds his
from this Geronimo inferred that the Tal
that he only
is
parent by beating
mud allows the beating of parents. The Halakha also teaches
in reference to blasphemy that
only he who blasphemes God
;
"
by
his
name
of four letters (Jehovah)
is
guilty of
death,"
and
from this Geronimo concluded that the Talmud permits blas
phemy. Geronimo was also the first to affirm that the Jews
"
break oaths, in conformity to the prayer Kol-Nidre."
for
Every one at all familiar with this prayer knows that it is
taken
and
vows
of
non-fulfillment
oaths,
forgiveness for the
or broken through forgetfulness, and is but an
may
unconsciously
argument
matter.
in favor of the Talmud s scrupulousness
The Jewish delegates defended themselves, it
in this
is
true,
with skill against these accusations, but were finally so hard
Most declared
pressed that they divided into two parties.
that the passages of the Hagada brot.ght forward by Geronimo
had no authority whereas Don Vidal Benvenisti and the relig
;
ious philosopher Joseph Albo declared that the Hagada was
held by them as of full authority, but must not be construed
events, the pope did not
succeed in causing even one of the delegates to waver or in
of the Jews. Driven
effecting the hoped-for general conversion
in a very unfriendly
them
to anger at his failure, he dismissed
and soon thereafter issued a bull in which he inter
literally
and then judged.
At
all
manner,
dicted the reading or study of the Talmud by the Jews, and
ordered that search be made for copies of the book and they
be then destroyed. He also directed that in Spain the Jews
should live separately from the Christians,
fill
no
official sta-
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
76
tion, practice
no
trade, nor devote themselves to medicine.
The
Fortunately the hostility of the pope had no effect.
Council of Costnitz deposed him; his former protectors, King
Fernando and Emperor Sigismund, renounced his cause, and
the fanatic Flagellator and preacher, Vincent Ferrer, preached
openly that such a man as this pope deserved to be persecuted
"
to the utmost and to be killed
by any good
Christian."
Filled
with rage at the issue of the dispute, Geronimo published later
a voluminous book against the Talmud, and the apostate Paul
Burgensis,
who was
elevated to the bishopric, composed in his
To these
eightieth year, a work hostile to Jews and Judaism.
and similar attacks the Jews were free as yet to reply without
Answers were published by Joseph Albo, Vidal
ibn Lobi, and Josegh ibn Shemtob, defending their own creed
and winging arrows at Christian dogmas also. Several dec
ades later the Jews of Spain were attacked not with the pen,
but with the fist, not with spiritual weapons, but with physical
force, and met with bloody persecutions till finally, in the total
exile of 1492, the proud Spanish Jews were compelled to empty
restriction.
the cup of misery to the dregs.
CHAPTER
REUCHLIN,
XIV.
AND THE TALMUD IN THE SIX
AND
SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES.
TEENTH
PFEFFERKORN,
Joseph or John Pfefferkom was a German Jew, who lived in
He was ignorant of
and
had
a
but
limited
worldly knowledge,
very
acquaintance
with Jewish literature. He became a Roman Catholic to es
cape the penalty for a theft. The Dominican monks of Cologne,
the beginning of the sixteenth century.
surbordinate to Hochstrater, the Judge of the Inquisition, re
him into their community with great honor. Hoch
ceived
was a great fanatic and the enemy of every one who bore
of Jew.
His colleagues were Arnold Tangersky and
Arthurin Gracia. This latter had committed to a Jewish apos
strater
the
name
tate, Victor
the task of writing a pam
In this pamphlet the author brings
Karbensky (1504
A. c.),
phlet against Judaism.
various accusations against the Jewish people, the responsibility
for which he places on the Talmud.
He recounts fabulous
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
77
charges of Jewish persecution of apostates, and complains that
even the poorest and most criminal and hardened Jews subject
themselves to
all manner of hardships rather than embrace
The pamphlet concludes with these words:
Christianity.
"All this is due to the
Talmud, which is the source of all evil,
and which the Jews hold in greater reverence than the ten com
mandments of God." The Dominican monks found that this
pamphlet failed of due effect, and asked Pfefferkorn if he could
write a better one.
He wrote
the
"
"
(The
Warnungsspiegel
Mirror of Warning), wherein he pretended to be a friend of the
Jewish people, and, for their own good, desired to introduce
He urged them to convince the
Christianity among them.
Christian world that the Jews do not need Christian blood for
their religious rites.
He
also tried to induce his Christian
brethren not to persecute the Jews unto destruction; for, he
said, the Jews are also, in a way, human beings.
Along with
these pretences of friendliness he evinces in the pamphlet the
desire (and in this he was seconded by the Dominican monks)
The causes which
to take the Talmud by force from the Jews.
hinder the Jews from becoming Christians," said Pfefferkorn,
"are
three: first, usury; second, because they are not com
pelled to attend Christian churches to hear the sermons; and
third,
because they honor the
Talmud."
Therefore he appealed
to his co-religionists and the rulers to remove the first two
causes as to the third, he advised the government to take the
;
Talmud from the Jews and burn it. But even this pamphlet
was not \vholly successful, because the rulers and the people
understood that depriving the Jews of the Talmud would inure
to the benefit, financially, of the Dominicans for these latter,
being the Judges of the Inquisition, possessed the power of de
;
claring the books harmless and of returning them to the Jews
for a consideration.
Therefore Pfefferkorn hastened to issue
another pamphlet, in which he used harsher expressions, and
tried to convince the people that the hatred of the Jews for
He issued
Christianity was due solely to their religious books.
also a third pamphlet, on Jewish history, in which he con
tradicted
what he had written
in his first pamphlet.
He
said
plainly that every Jew considers it a good deed to kill, or at
least to mock, a Christian
therefore he deemed it the duty of
;
all
true Christians to expel the Jews from
all
Christian lands
;
7
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
8
even
if
or obey
the law should forbid such a deed, they need not heed
it in this respect.
is the duty of the people," he
"It
ask permission of the rulers to take from the Jews all
said,
their books except the Bible," as well as all the pledges of
Christians to be found in Jewish hands; also, that Jewish
children should be taken away from their parents and educated
"to
in the Catholic religion.
He
concluded his work thus:
the Jews is doing the will of God, and
benefit will incur damnation."
afflicts
who
"Who
seeks their
Although the religious hatred of the times of the Crusades
was then far from extinguished, Pfefferkorn s books did not
find favor with the rulers, as the Jews were their chief treas
urers, from whom they at all times exacted enormous taxes.
Therefore they did not desire to drive them from their terri
tories; and to compel them to embrace Christianity did not
suit them either, as most of the Christians disliked Jewish
apostates and looked upon them disdainfully since they well
knew that in most instances they did not accept Christianity
through belief in the religion, but from more worldly reasons.
In addition to this, all the Jews of Germany, as also the physi
cians of the rulers, who were for the greater part Jews, did all
in their power to prevent Pfefferkorn s advice from being
Many Christians, too, asserted that
they were convinced that Pfefferkorn was bad at heart, a
carried into execution.
flatterer,
and that
his sole object
the expense of the Jews.
was to enrich himself at
Therefore Pfefferkorn wrote a fourth
all he had written previously,
and declared that the only way to be rid of the Jews was
either to expel or enslave them the first thing to be done was
pamphlet, in which he reiterated
;
to collect all the copies of the Talmud found among the Jews
and to burn them. Arthurin Gracia, who was the Censor of
Art, revised and corrected Pfefferkorn s works and rendered
them
;
into Latin
and German, and sent them to
all
the rulers
Besides this, the Dominicans addressed them
of the period.
selves to the sister of the Emperor Maximilian, Princess Kuni-
gunde,
who was
a nun in a Dominican convent at Munich.
They begged her to intercede with the Emperor in behalf of
Pfefferkorn.
They eulogized Pfefferkorn, telling her of his
knowledge of Jewish
life
her to confide in him.
and of his good character, and urged
Finally they persuaded her to give a
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
79
copy of his pamphlet to the emperor, who was then at war in
As a result of all this, Pfefferkorn at
Italy with the Venetians.
once set out for Italy, and succeeded in obtaining from the
emperor a decree that all the Jews of Germany should yield
up their books to him (Pfefferkorn), to be revised by him;
if he should find in them anything relating to Christianity,
In this task he was granted the power
it should be destroyed.
to call to his assistance, in each city, a priest and two of the
The Jews were warned under severe penalty not
civic rulers.
to resist the royal command.
Pfefferkorn and his party of inquisitors first visited Magde
burg, for in that city dwelt rabbis who were renowned through
out the Jewish world; and although they resorted to every
device to prevent the surrender of their literary treasures
even the Bible, the removal of w hich was not included in the
royal mandate, was also taken away every Jew was com
r
pelled to surrender his entire store of religious books.
But many Gentile scholars, to whom Pfefferkorn s conduct
did not appeal, assisted the Jews by testifying before the
emperor that Pfefferkorn was ignorant on many subjects,
and that he wrongfully deprived the Jews of books contain
ing no allusions to Christianity; besides, they referred, in
their request to the emperor, to the privileges accorded to the
Jews, by previous emperors and popes, of worshiping in their
own way.
The Elector
Mayence, Archbishop Uriel, en
raged at Pfefferkorn s action (we cannot learn why), sum
moned him to the city of Aschaffenburg, and informed him
that the emperor s decree was in opposition to the law of the
of
prosecutor, witness, judge, and executor
in one; therefore, the Jews or the people, in disregarding the
He
decree, would be guilty of no crime against the law.
counselled him, in fine, to ask the emperor to alter the mandate
land, as
it
made him
conform with law. Pfefferkorn agreed to do so, and the
Dominicans of Cologne advised him to find a prominent Gentile
who would actively interest himself in the matter. This man
they found in Reuchlin, at that time very popular and respected
all over the world.
The Dominicans told Pfefferkorn to get a
from
Reuchlin
letter
to the emperor, before going again to see
to
the latter.
John Reuchlin,
of
Paszheim (1455-1522), had a great
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
8o
reputation as a scholar; in addition he had a benevolent
He devoted himself especially to the study of Hebrew,
heart.
in
which
della,
his interest
was enhanced by Count Pick de Marsunto him the study of Kabbala, i.e., Jewish
who opened up
mysticism.
of Hebrew.
Even
this did
not satisfy his desire to be master
He formed
the acquaintance of Jacob Laanson,
a Jewish physician at the Court of Frederick III., from whom
he acquired a further knowledge of the language at this court
;
he came in contact with many Jewish scholars, and attained
to such skill in the study that he afterwards wrote a book where
in he praised Hebrew as the best of all languages.
He claimed
in this work that the dogmas and rites of false religions were
due to the ignorance of Hebrew, and to the misconception of
the meaning of significant Hebrew terms. As for the Kabbala,
he ranked this study with any other branch of learning, and
stated that he himself was far from understanding thoroughly
its sublime mysteries, for a complete knowledge of which even
a lifetime would scarce suffice. Afterwards, when he became
the Ambassador of the Elector Palatine to the Court of Pope
Alexander VI., he became acquainted with the physician
Obadiah Eipminah, the renowned commentator on the Mishna
;
and it was interesting to see the celebrated German
whose discourses in Italian were greatly admired by the
scholar,
Italians
themselves, stooping to ask a Jew to be his teacher of Hebrew
It was always his habit, when he came in contact
literature.
with learned Jews, to obtain some useful knowledge from them.
Nevertheless, Reuchlin was not entirely free from prejudice
In a letter to a knight who
against those of the Jewish faith.
the
of
his
dominions to Christianity,
desired to convert
Jews
he wrote that the whole trouble with the Jews was they were
disbelievers, who did not care for Christ and his apostles, and
that they held in general contempt all Christians although it
is true that later he repented of having written this letter, as
will be seen further on.
;
The Dominicans relied on Reuchlin, knowing that the
words of one so throughly acquainted with Hebrew literature
would be respected by all the rulers of Germany. But Reuchlin
declined to take an active part in the matter, although he com
mended the project of destroying all books written against
Christianity.
He
also called Pfefferkorn s attention to the
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
injustice of the
whether
it
emperor
s
decree,
and told him
it
81
was doubtful
could be executed.
Despite his not securing the wished-for testimony, Pfefferkorn succeeded in persuading the emperor to ignore the peti
tions of the Jews and their defenders, and to give him the power
to deprive the Jews of their books, in a new decree, while
harshly reproving them for failing to strictly obey the first.
This time the emperor commissioned Archbishop Uriel to
carry out the decree. He also ordered him to seek, and to
follow the advice of the German universities of Cologne, May-
and Heidelberg, and also to take counsel with
Reuchlin, Victor Karbensky and Hochstrater (although the
latter was totally ignorant of Hebrew).
Uriel commanded
ence, Erfurt
the director of the University of Mayence, Herman Hess, to
visit all the cities of Germany, and to remove all the Jewish
books.
Hess did
He
so.
travelled through Germany accom
and in Frankfort alone fifteen hundred
panied by Pfefferkorn
manuscripts were taken away (printed books were as yet rare).
They did the same in Worms, Lorch, Birgin, Lamuven, Mayence
and Dertz. Pfefferkorn said that the Jews, to save their
;
literary treasures, offered to enrich him, but he claimed he did
sell his soul and therefore did his duty.
The Jews on the other hand, did not cease in their efforts
not care to
to prevent their despoliation.
They secured
testimonials from
the more prominent among the Gentiles, and sent a committee
to the emperor to petition him to prevent these attacks on
They adduced proofs to show that their books
contained nothing against Christian communities. They
brought forward the privileges granted to them by former
emperors and popes, enabling them to worship their God with
their religion.
out the interference of the Church or State. These facts so
favorably impressed the emperor that he commanded that all
the books should be returned to their owners.
The joy
of the
Jews on learning of this decree cannot be described, since
thereby not only were they granted possession of their books,
but a peaceful residence in Catholic countries was accorded
them.
This joy, however, was only momentary, as both the Do
minicans and Pfefferkorn still continued their malevolent
To add to the misfortune of the Jews, an event befell
activity.
6
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
82
which the Dominicans were not slow to
utilize as
a weapon in
their warfare against, the faithful, with the aid of which they
Sacred
finally to bring about the latter s destruction.
hoped
vessels were stolen from a Christian church by a Gentile, who
was arrested and who thereupon confessed that he had sold
them to the Jews. As a result, all Jews were severely perse
cuted by the Bishop of Brandenburg. At the same time, or
somewhat later, the Jews were accused of having killed a Chris
tian child in the performance of their religious rites, and at the
command of the same bishop the accused Jews were removed
to Berlin, and thirty-eight of them were burned at the stake
on the rack.
These events the Dominicans made use of to arouse the
after suffering tortures
fanaticism of the people of Germany. They addressed them
selves to the emperor s sister, Kunigunde, to whom they
painted these occurrences in the blackest colors, at the same
time extolling Pfefferkorn as a converted Jew conversant with
Jewish customs and manners. They stated that the Talmud
contains the evil teachings which had become rooted in the
hearts of the Jews. They represented to her the danger to
Catholicism in the latest command of the emperor, and placed
hopes in her keeping, as she was the only one who could
save Catholicism from injury. At the same time they strove
all their
to find favor in the eyes of the people
who
protested against
A new
pamphlet was prepared, in Pfefferkorn s name, which was dedicated to the Emperor Maxi
milian, praising him for his zeal for the Catholic religion.
This pamphlet, after complaining that the Christians do not
this persecution.
give full weight to the activity of the Jews against Catholicism,
and charging that the whole fault lay with the Talmud, since
its teachings prevented the Jews from embracing Christianity
and permitted usury, affirmed that the one thing necessary was
that the emperor should deprive the Jews of his books, and that
it was the duty of all good Christians to help him in this matter,
furthermore, that this cause met the approval of the emperor s
It further stated that all Christians
sister, the nun Kunigunde.
who defended Jews should be treated as heretics, and Jewish
apostates who did the same should be presumed to have taken
up Christianity, not from belief in the Holy Trinity, but for
baser reasons. The Princess Kunigunde actually interceded
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
for them,
and, presenting herself
83
before the emperor, she
begged him on her knees to grant the request of the Dominicans.
The emperor again ordered Archbishop Uriel to hasten to seek
the advice of the above-mentioned German universities, and
especially to get the opinion of Reuchlin, Karbensky and Hochstrater, and transmit the same to him (the emperor), so that
he might be prepared to judge whether or not the Talmud
should be destroyed.
Reuchlin did not hasten to give his answer, and when, after
three months his answer was composed, and delivered to the
In
it was found to be unfavorable to Pfefferkorn.
answer he divided Jewish literature into six classes, ex
emperor,
this
clusive of the Bible, as follows: (i) poetry, fable
(2)
commentaries;
losophy and science
;
and
sermons, songs and prayers;
(5) the Talmud, and (6) Kabbala.
(3)
said Reuchlin,
satire;
phi
In the
(4)
"
to be found books which
deny
but he could name but two
of them of his own knowledge, and these were the pamphlet
of Lipman (of the existence of which we have no records) and
He declared, however, that the Rabbis them
the life of Jesus.
selves prohibit the possession of them by Jews and threaten
severe penalities upon any one venturing to read them.
is self-evident," he stated, "that this class of books must be
destroyed without scruple."
With regard to the second class, he affirmed that they not
only contain nothing harmful to Christianity, but, on the con
first
class,"
"are
or criticize the Christian religion
;
"It
they are of great value in the interpretation of the Scrip
Many Gentile scholars, could not, in many cases,
fathom the depths of meaning of the Bible, because of insuffi
that scholars
It is true, he said,
cient knowledge of Hebrew.
had been heard to declare, we do not care for the Jewish com
trary,
tures.
"
He
mentaries, as we have a sufficient number by Christians."
a
a
these
same
to
light garment in
compared
person wearing
cold weather, since the basis for right understanding of the
Scriptures is the knowledge of the original language wherein
they were written.
"As for books of the third class, it would be an
injustice
to deprive the Jews of them, because they had received from
emperors and popes the privilege of unmolested worship.
"Regarding the fourth class," he said, "they stand on an
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
84
equal footing with books of the same class in Latin, Greek or
German. But of the Talmud I must own that it is to me a
and it is evident that those who pass judgment
have as little knowledge of it as I. They have no idea
sealed book,
upon
it
of its nature
;
or of
its
history
;
nevertheless they talk as if they
that it contains.
I can only
knew and understood
compare such people to those who would venture to
clearly all
criticise
algebra while they are totally ignorant of the rudiments of
The fear is expressed that the Talmud might
arithmetic.
injure Christianity; this is absurd for nothing can withstand
the proofs in its favor that are found in the Bible. If the Tal
mud really were as bad as they affirm, then our ancestors, who
were much more religious than we, would long ago have put an
end to its existence."
He declared that the testimony of Pfefferkorn and Schwartz against it, being inspired by unworthy
motives, should not be given consideration.
"Moreover, if
we would but study the Talmud we would not destroy it, but
rather encourage the Jews to hold it in still greater reverence
and study it the more assiduously, for as a consequence there
would be copies not alone in Germany, but also in Italy and
To what
Turkey, where many colleges for its study exist.
purpose is the burning of a few copies of the Talmud, if you are
unable to annihilate it entirely? Besides, by such action we
should commit a breach of faith for we would thus abrogate the
privileges granted to
them by former emperors and
popes."
Regarding the sixth class, he praised the Kabbala in the
highest terms, and cited Count Picko de Mirandella, who, he
says, induced Pope Sixtus VI. to study it the latter discovered
;
much
support of Christianity that he translated
Kabbalistic books into Latin.
Reuchlin concluded that to
in it so
in
deprive the Israelites of their books could only be likened to a
duke challenging a knight to combat and then taking away his
weapons. He advised the German rulers who were desirous
of having the Jews embrace Christianity, to establish in all the
German universities for a period of ten years, chairs for the
study of the Hebrew language; then the students having a
thorough knowledge of the language, could convince the Jews,
by proofs from their own Bible, of the truths of Christianity.
Returning again to the apostates (he plainly referred to Pfefferkorn, though he did not name him), he said: "Of what value
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
is
advice given
85
by people who abandon Judaism through
animosity, fear of persecution, penury, revenge,
of pleasure, or even through mere recklessness?
love
ambition,
Such individuals bear the name of Christians, but in heart they
jealousy,
I know of some whose faith in both re
and
ligions, Christianity
Judaism, is weak, and who, if their
schemes were brought to naught, would become disciples of
Mohammedanism. The Jews have been citizens of Germany
for three centuries and should be protected by the law.
It
would be ridiculous to adjudge them heretics, for they were not
born Christians, but have been Jews from a time antecedent
are not Christians.
to the birth of Christianity.
However, the answer of the
German universities was differ
The theological faculty of Mayence replied that not only
were the Talmud and all rabbinical books full of falsehoods and
ent.
heresies, as Christian scholars testify (the faculty themselves
confessed that they were ignorant of the Talmud and Hebrew),
but that the Hebrew Bible also was not altogether free from
on points of Christian doctrine. The faculty deemed it
advisable, therefore, that the books be revised by Christian
scholars, and if anything be found contrary to Christian belief
it should be burned.
The University of Erfurt counselled in like manner, but
the Faculty of Heidelberg advised the emperor to select a
committee from the faculties of all the universities of Germany
to judge the Talmud and all Jewish literature, and let their
decision be final.
Reuchlin sent his answer under seal to Archbishop Uriel,
but by some means not recorded its contents became known to
When he and the
Pfefferkorn before it reached the emperor.
Dominicans had perused it they were greatly perturbed. They
were aware of the esteem in which Reuchlin was held by the
emperor, and the weight his answer would be given to by the
latter, and resolved to do something to weaken the effect of this
answer on the emperor and the public. (In their haste to fore
error
Reuchlin they did not consider the risk to themselves in
making public his answer before it reached the emperor.) A
Handspiegel," in
pamphlet was issued under the title of
Pfefferkorn s name, couched in flowing sentences, giving
prominence to all the weak points in Reuchlin s answer, charg-
stall
"
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
86
ignorance, abusing him and ridiculing his theory
misrepresenting it to the common people. The pamphlet
him with
ing
and
stated that Reuchlin himself understood nothing of the Hebrew
language, and that his book on Hebrew grammar was written
other hands; therefore, they asked, how can such a man
counsel the emperor in matters of which he himself is ignorant ?
by
It stated, further, that Reuchlin s declaration that the Jews
must be protected by the law proves the utter absurdity of his
whole answer, and that it may be justly suspected he did not
do this for nothing. To add force to their contention, they
published a letter which Reuchlin himself had written to a
knight five years before, and called upon Reuchlin to deny his
statement in this letter that the Jews slander Christianity;
his refusal to do so would indicate a desire to wantonly mis
It said, moreover,
lead the emperor and all good Christians.
that the fact of Reuchlin s renown among the Jews alone
showed that he had
fallen a victim to their wiles.
At the end
of the pamphlet, Pfefferkorn charged Reuchlin with having
accepted money from the Jews, and blamed him for defending
them, since
it
was
his
duty to regard them only as
heretics.
He
also charged Reuchlin with countenancing usury (nothing
about this was mentioned in Reuchlin s answer).
known and much respected
a commotion, and the
made
pamphlet
As Reuchlin was
many,
this
well
evinced a desire to read
cused.
on
As
it
it,
was written
in
Ger
people
what Reuchlin was ac
the popular jargon, many went
to learn of
in
days to Frankfort-on-the-Main to purchase the pam
from
Reuchlin himself was astonished at
Pfefferkorn.
phlet
Pfefferkorn s impertinence, and annoyed at the imputation
fair
he therefore complained to the emperor. The
angry at the action of Pfefferkorn, promised Reuchlin
that he would entrust the task of the revision of the Jewish
books to the Bishop of Augsburg; but the emperor being at
that time deeply occupied with matters of state, this affair
was for the moment forgotten. Meanwhile a second fair was
on
his honor;
latter,
held at Frankfort, and Pfefferkorn hoped to distribute the
remaining pamphlets among the people. As soon as this point
in the contest was reached, Reuchlin resolved, since the quarrel
had from a religious become a personal one, to uphold his
wounded honor. He wrote a work entitled Augenspiegel," in
"
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
87
which he complained that a Jewish apostate should endeavor
to destroy the Talmud.
He told the public
had come to him, asking his co-operation, and
ble
means he became aware
how Pfefferkorn
how by despica
of the contents of his answer to the
emperor, so as to be able to heap more calumnies upon him.
He charged that there were thirty-four lies in PfefTerkorn s
He said,
further, that he had not lost hope of facing
Pfefferkorn in court, and that the latter had merited the sen
tence of death for inciting the people against the Jews. He
pamphlet.
declared the charge that he had received money from the Jews,
a false one, adducing many proofs to show that the Domini
cans and Pfefferkorn merely intended to stain his name. He
further proved that he himself had written the Hebrew gram
To the main accusation, that he had learned Hebrew
mar.
from a Jew, he replied that Christianity did not forbid Chris
tians from having dealings with, or learning from, Jews,
especially as this was often productive of good in the con
version of the Jews.
Now, instead of Pfefferkorn
distributed at the
fair,
and was
s
pamphlet, Reuchlin
s
was
sold in large quantities to the
The Jews it is fair to believe, greedily bought the
people.
work and did their utmost to spread it among the people. A
preacher named Peter Mayer, of Frankfort-on-the-Main, while
reading Reuchlin s pamphlet in the presence of Pfefferkorn,
exclaimed that it ought to be burned at the stake and, with
the sanction of the Archbishop of Mayence, he prohibited its
;
But the
Mayence, all friendly to Reuchlin, at
their convocation begged the archbishop to recall the prohibi
tion and he consented.
In a short time all Germany was in
of
of
the
work, and Reuchlin received many
possession
copies
However, the strife was not yet over.
congratulatory letters.
His enemies did everything they could to overthrow Reuchlin.
Paul Mayer, after his attempt to suppress the sale had proved
futile, announced that Pfefferkorn would lecture on Reuchlin s
sale.
priests of
Church during the coming holidays. As
Pfefferkorn was a married man, and not a priest, and therefore
unable to preach from the pulpit, he lectured in the hall of the
books
in the Catholic
church in the popular jargon, holding a cross in his hand. The
burden of his lecture was that the Jews should be persecuted
unless they accepted Christianity.
It was the first time in the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
88
history of the church that a Jew had stood in the corridor of a
church with a cross in his hand and preached against the Jews.
The monks meanwhile gave Reuchlin
for revision,
s work to Arnold
and he naturally, being himself a
Tangersky
Dominican, denounced it as heretical. The Dominican, Ulrich
of Sternheim, wrote a letter to Reuchlin, in which, speaking as
a friend, he says: "The scholars of Cologne are not yet united
in their opinion as to what should be done with your work.
Some of them maintain that it should be burned; others say
the author should be punished and still others are stronger in
This letter did not fail of its purpose.
condemnation of
Reuchlin understood full well that if the Dominicans openly
declared against him, he would be in great peril, since at that
time their power was supreme and they were feared even by the
emperor himself. The Pope, Alexander VI., himself exercising
a power to which kings themselves were subject, declared he
would offend a rule sooner than the humblest Dominican.
Reuchlin hastened, therefore, to indite, in Latin, a letter to
Tangersky, the reviser of the book, in which he modified his
He said he judged the Talmud, not as
previous statements.
a theologian, but as a layman, and he could not know, when
writing his book, that the scholars of Cologne would disagree
with him. He also stated that he had not intended to cast
blame on any one in his pamphlet, and besought Tangersky to
;
it."
show him his errors
him before doing so.
his teacher, Koln.
Augenspiegel and not condemn
wrote a letter of a different tenor to
in the
He
"
In this he ventured to blame the head of
the Dominicans, Hochstrater, whom he charged with having
written the pamphlet under Pfefferkorn s name, and he begged
him
to explain his words to the faculty, so that they
would see
the truth and not blame him (Reuchlin) unjustly. The re
sponse to this letter to Koln was not sent to Reuchlin for a long
The Dominicans obviously sought, by delaying it, to
time.
He finally
furnish him a pretext for committing an overt act.
from
two
one
the
received together
letters,
Cologne students
and the other from Koln. The faculty scolded him for inter
fering in a quarrel which did not concern him, and at the same
time preventing the emperor from performing a meritorious
This fact, they claimed
act in suppressing the Jewish books.
and his writing the "Augenspiegel," went far to confirm the
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
89
suspicion that he inclined to Judaism, and therefore it was
their duty to punish him severely.
They could not, however,
refuse the request of Arnold Tangersky and of Koln to defer
punishment until he was given opportunity to write a second
all his words
blame of Pfefferkorn.
Koln wrote him that he should
pamphlet, retracting
and
in defence of the
Talmud
in
feel grateful to
him
for in
ducing the faculty to withhold his sentence and for pacifying
the Dominicans. At the same time, he reminded him of the
danger which hovered over him, and advised him to hasten
and repair
his error
by another pamphlet, contradicting all his
As to Reuchlin s accusation that the
previous statements.
pamphlet Handspiegel was from the pen of Hochstrater he
maintained complete silence.
Reuchlin at once answered his enemies in two letters. He
thanked them for their intercession in his behalf, but claimed
"
"
man (even twice married) he could not be
counted
among theologians, and therefore knew very
longer
He also cited proofs showing
little of the teachings of faith.
that he was not a friend of Judaism or the Jews.
Nevertheless
that as a married
he refused to contradict the statements contained in his first
pamphlet; on the contrary, he reiterated them, but asserted
his willingness to write a
commentary on
"
his
Augenspiegel,"
He again urged
explaining any ambiguous passages therein.
them to point to him the passages because of which they accused
him
of heresy, saying that only then could he either defend his
assertions or confess that he was in error and revoke them. The
Dominicans, seeing that correspondence was of no avail, com
first, to stop the circulation of his pamphlet;
all he had previously said; thirdly, to
contradict
to
secondly,
restore the lustre of his name by showing himself a good Chris
manded him,
and a persecutor of the Jews and their literature. If he
should refuse to do this, he must stand trial before the judges
of the Inquisition.
Koln also wrote him again, saying that
but for this (Koln s) pleading, Reuchlin s pamphlet would long
before have been burned and himself brought before the Inqui
tian
sition therefore he again urged him to respect the command
of the faculty, as, should he fail to accede to their order, he
;
could do nothing more for him.
Reuchlin, seeing that further argument was useless resolved
9o
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
First
firmly to take up the gage of battle, happen what may.
of all, he replied that he could not stop the circulation of his
work, since it was no longer his, but was the property of the
He could only write a commentary as an explana
publisher.
tion of doubtful passages.
To his supposed friend Koln, he
wrote that if the latter had indeed prevented his work from
feel grateful to him (Koln)
them from doing wrong, but that he himself
entertained no feelings of gratitude for it.
He told him he
did not fear a contest with the Dominicans, as he had many
defenders, men of prominence and power in Germany, and if
the matter were attended with any danger it was to his enemies.
It was easy, he said, to begin a fight, but much more difficult
being burned, the faculty should
for restraining
He could not understand why his enemies
to gain a victory.
failed to consider how the people would judge them if they took
the part of a Jewish apostate against a born Christian and a
firm believer in Christianity.
He was certain that Pfefferkorn,
thereby he could derive any benefit, would become an apos
To
tate even to Mohammedanism or any other religion.
think that Pfefferkorn should preach against the law of the
land and columniate him! The Dominicans, he continued, to
if
seek to accuse
many
him
of trivialities,
great sins of the apostate.
and
close their eyes to the
He also said that poets
and writers of history would stamp with shame the entire
faculty, and would make of him (Reuchlin) a martyr for the
truth.
Reuchlin kept his promise of writing a commentary to his
but it had the effect of adding fuel to the fire.
The Dominicans were more than ever enraged, and Tangersky
wrote a pamphlet which he dedicated to the emperor, and
which contained the following concerning Reuchlin s interfer
ence in religious matters which are above his understanding:
In his pamphlet one can see that he favors the Jews, and in
"
Augenspiegel,"
"
keeping with this he has written sentences which border closely
on heresies." The work concludes by saying that it is un
doubtedly necessary to put the Talmud to the stake. This
pamphlet effected what the author had intended. The em
peror, who had hitherto defended Reuchlin, now turned against
him, and on his arival at Cologne he commanded that ReuchThe
lin s pamphlet and commentary should not be circulated.
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
91
Elector of Mayence, acting in conjunction with the Archbishop
of Cologne, displayed this order on the churches, and threatened
the public with excommunication
lin s pamphlet to the churches.
if
they did not return Reuch-
But even
this failed of the
desired effect, for Reuchlin s friends were too numerous, greater
even in number than those of the Dominicans the people had
;
but small liking for the latter, and they especially despised the
head of the order, Hochstrater. Therefore Pfefferkorn issued
a new pamphlet, entitled
Brandspiegel," wherein Reuchlin
was accused and debased. Therein he was styled a man who
had forsaken the church, and whose hands were sullied with
"
Jewish bribes. As for the Jews Pfefferkorn stated that they
ought to be persecuted without pity, and incited the people to
plunder them and devote the spoils to convents and hos
This was Pfefferkorn s last pamphlet, from this time
pitals.
he ceased to take part in the fight. Reuchlin, under a pseu
donym, wrote another pamphlet, "The Defender." In this
If any one asserts that Reuchlin did not, in the Jew
he says
ish controversy, conduct himself as a true and upright Chris
"
:
he utters a fasehood." He attacks all the Cologne schol
ars, especially Arthur Gracia and Jacob Hochstrater.
Why,"
he asks, do they make such an uproar and hold themselves up
as greater authorities than other scholars of German universi
And to the emperor he says: "Permit, your majesty,
ties?"
the Dominicans to judge the Jews by the Inquisition, that will
fill their pockets with the gold and silver of the
Jews. That is
what they want obtaining it, they will then leave me unmo
To Arnold Tangersky, \vho accused him of protecting
lested."
the Jews, he says:
is true I am the protector of the Jews.
tian,
"
"
;
"It
I
protect them against
false accusations.
I
know
that
my
assertion that they are citizens of Germany and entitled to the
protection of the law, as other citizens are, will excite their
but I say and repeat again, the Jews are our brothers
brothers to Arnold, brothers to the Dominicans, brothers to
all the theologians, and the fathers of the Church long ago made
enemies
;
To the assertion of the Dominicans that he
what he had written in his former letter, he replies
that it is true he had been prejudiced against the Jews until he
was convinced of his error. The calumny that Jewish prayers
MAINTAIN that all Catholic rulers should be put to death he
a
like declaration
contradicts
"
.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
92
by quoting a Mishna: "Thou shalt pray for the peace
kingdom wherever thou abidest."
This pamphlet was sent to the emperor, who received it
refutes
of the
favorably, and, owing to the complex questions involved, his
mind wavered in the course he should pursue. First he as
sured Reuchlin of protection against the attacks of the Domini
Then his father-confessor, an enemy to Reuchlin, spoke
cans.
in favor of the Dominicans, and the emperor again prohibited
s work.
Finally he commanded
Even
this command failed
cease
their
strife.
to
both parties
The imperial decree was unheeded by the
of its purpose.
the circulation of Reuchlin
Dominicans, and the head of the Inquisition, Hochstrater,
summoned Reuchlin to appear within six days before the judges
of
of
Mayence to defend himself against the charges of heresy and
defending the Jews. This summons was couched in lan
guage unprecedented in its insolence. Reuchlin did not appear
Hochstrater opened the court.
at the trial, but sent a deputy.
He was both prosecutor and judge, and was certain that the
trial would result in the success of his scheme against Reuchlin,
and would cover the latter with ignominy, more especially as
he had received favorable opinions from the German universi
The University
ties that had been ordered to afford counsel.
of Loewen had replied that the pamphlet should be burned,
that of Cologne, that besides its misleading nature, it showed
decided leanings to heresy the University of Erfurt gave an
swer of like import. Those of Heidelberg and Mayence alone
;
did not respond.
Hochstrater therefore felt sufficiently sup
ported and certain of winning the trial. He recited a long list
of grave accusations against Reuchlin, and gave it to his col
leagues of the court, calling upon them to adjudge the defend
ant guilty and order his pamphlet to be burned. Reuchlin s
deputy protested that Hochstrater had no right to be perse
cutor and judge in one the less so as he was known to be Reuch
lin s bitterest enemy.
Seeing, however, that protest was of no
avail, he left the court, Hochstrater, hesitating to sentence,
;
contrary to public opinion, one who was not present, posted
notices on church doors, requiring Reuchlin s deputy and all
appear before the court. He
on
the
ordered the public,
pain of excommunication, to
who had an
also
interest in him, to
return the copies of the
"
"
Augenspiegel
to the judges of the
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
93
The Dominicans triumphed that day and ReuchBut this triumph
lin s defeat was seemingly close at hand.
was only of brief duration. The people of the better class of
the city openly murmured against Hochstrater s proclamation
and even the archbishop s colleagues advised that the trial be
delayed for a short period, since Reuchlin or his deputies had
Inquisition.
not undergone examination.
The
trial
was therefore postponed
for
two weeks, Hoch-
strater thinking that Reuchlin would be ashamed to appear
in person as a defendant, and feeling certain that at the
expiration of two weeks he could be adjudged guilty by
default.
But Reuchlin did appear in person with the coun
Duke of Wurttemberg, and that of the Duke
The "Kapital" endeavored to make peace
Mayence.
between the two parties, but in vain. The inquisitor Hochsellor of the
of
strater refused to listen to overtures of peace,
and ordered the
judges to do their duty. They obeyed and began to write
down their judgment, when suddenly a rider appeared with a
hand from Archbishop Uriel. He passed through
the crowd and straight to the judges, who were much aston
ished and anxious to know the contents of the letter.
It was
letter in his
read aloud to the assembled people, and was to the effect that
Archbishop Uriel commanded the postponement of the trial
one month, and if this command were disobeyed he would
The Dominicans,
it a mistrial and dissolve the court.
left
the
court
amidst
the
defeated,
laughter of the people.
There was much rejoicing among the Jews, as upon this trial
depended their fate; but Reuchlin was not content with the
mere postponement of the trial, knowing that the Dominicans
would persecute him until they conquered.
He determined,
therefore, to leave his fate to the decision of Pope Leo X. But,
learning that the Dominicans would bribe the advisers of the
pope and persuade him to order the trial to be held in Cologne,
he wrote a letter in Hebrew to the pope s physician, Bangett
for
declare
Delakes, beseeching his influence to prevent this.
Leo, in
volved just then in grave secular matters religious questions,
for the time being, having no place in his councils
and seeing
his quarrel likely to spread over Europe, directed the bishops
of Speyer and Worms to end the contest by issuing a decision
which should be respected by both
parties.
These bishops
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
94
appointed a committee to investigate and report on the matter.
in awe of the Dominicans, conducted
their investigation deliberately, and at the end of a year pro
The committee, though
"
nounced the pamphlet Augenspiegel free from any heresy,
and Reuchlin to have no leanings towards Judaism or the Jews.
They therefore permitted its circulation and ordered Hochstrater, on the pain of confinement in a monastery, to pay to
Reuchlin 300 gulden as the costs of the trial, and threatened
him with excommunication if he disobeyed the order.
Hochstrater then appealed to the pope for an impartial
trial, hoping that by a liberal use of the wealth of the Domini
cans, since Reuchlin was poor, the latter would suffer defeat.
He
also sent Reuchlin s
"
to the University of
"Augenspiegel"
esteemed the greatest university of the time, urging it to
condemn the pamphlet. He appealed also to all of Reuchlin s
opponents and all who were zealous for the welfare of the Catho
lic Church to unite against him.
Reuchlin s friends were not
idle.
Realizing the evil exerted by the Dominicans through
out the world, they, together with a body of Catholics called
Paris,
Humanists who sought the reformation of the Church, united
under Reuchlin s flag and termed themselves "Reuchlinists."
The opposing party adopted the name Arnoldists." These
were the two parties that occupied the public mind before
Luther began the Reformation.
Many scholars of young Germany went over to Reuchlin s
side, particularly Hermann von Busche, Croates Rinbianes,
and the young and sagacious Ulrich von Hutten; also many
of the rulers, among whom were Duke Ulrich of Wurttemberg
and all his family, Count Halfenstein of Augsburg, Count von
Guernor of Patriz, Welsen, Pirkameier, Neitiger, as well as
"
"
"
Italian priests, notably the General of the Augustinians,
Eggodia de Viterba, who loved the Hebrew literature and was
many
"
at that time engaged in translating the Zohar."
Viterba said
in his letter to Reuchlin: "You have saved the books which
have spread light all over the world for centuries, and if they
were lost, darkness would ensue. And in supporting you, we
shield not you but religion and not the Talmud, but the com
;
munity of Christ."
The strife spread all over Germany, and there was scarcely
a city in which were not to be found either Reuchlinists or
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
Arnoldists
the former, for the preservation of the
95
"Augen-
the latter, for the destruction of
spiegel" and the Talmud;
became
each day more intense, and
The contest
both.
although the victory was with Reuchlin, he was still anxious
as to Hochstrater s appeal to Rome, since the latter had great
His friends therefore advised him to publish
he
had
received from all parts of Germany and
all the letters
Italy, to convince the pope of the character of the man the
Dominicans were persecuting. Among these letters was one
from the Emperor Frederick praising Reuchlin in glowing terms
and testifying that he was held in honor and repect by the
father of the pope, Lorenzo de Medici.
influence there.
These
efforts of
appointment by
Reuchlin and his friends brought about the
Gremama, a lover of
the people of Cardinal
and Kabbala, as investigator and judge of
the quarrel. The Cardinal summoned Reuchlin and Hochstrater to appear in Rome, and as Reuchlin was very old, he
was allowed to send a deputy. Hochstrater, however, ap
rabbinical literature
peared in person with all his wealth. This did not, however,
Even the
disturb Reuchlin, as he had many friends at Rome.
Emperor Maximilian interceded for him with the pope.
Among
his
other defenders was
the
emperor
s
secretary,
Wurke, Duke
Ulrich of Wiirttemberg and the Elector of Sax
ony, Frederick the Wise (later the chief supporter of Luther).
Many bishops also defended him, notably those of Strassburg,
of Constanz, of Speyer, and
strater spent large sums of
numerous other churchmen. Hoch
to procure the appointment
of Cardinal Bernardine de Santa as assistant to the judge, but,
money
through the influence of the Reuchlinists, Cardinal Pietro
Ankenotini de Sant Isemblia was selected by the pope for this
office.
The pope s committee forbade any discussion of the
matter until the sentence of the judges of Rome was announced.
But the Dominicans heeded neither this command nor public
opinion, and, in order to influence the pope, they even threat
ened, should Reuchlin be victor at the trial, to secede from the
church and unite with the Hussites of Bohemia.
They also,
in defiance of the prohibition of discussion, placed
hope
in the
University of Paris, for at that period France and Germany
were in conflict in secular matters, it naturally befell that on
religious questions also their views were diametrically opposed.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
96
So the University of
Paris,
in heart
though
and conscience
in
accord with Reuchlin, nevertheless, for purely worldly
reasons, felt compelled to render an unfavorable opinion of him
full
and of
"
"
Augenspiegel contained
and
and
that
its author should be
should be burned,
heresy
compelled to make full retraction. The Dominicans hastened
to published this reply from Paris in a pamphlet entitled
"Glocke" (bell), in the name of Pfefferkorn,
although for this
his works, stating that the
action Hochstrater
The emperor
s
was indicted by the
sister,
Fiscal of the Emperor.
Kunigunde, again
kept
Hochstrater
The Dominicans employed every means
from imprisonment.
to delay the trial, so as to increase Reuchlin s expenses, think
ing that, since he could not afford the necessary expense at
Reuchlin s friends repre
it, he would forego trial.
sented to the public Hochstrater s evil designs, and at the same
time appeared a collection of letters "From the Benighted
tached to
The
volume, written in a satirical style, pro
fessed to be from the pen of Krate Rubian of Leipzig, and con
tained confessions by Dominican monks of their evil deeds
These letters were quickly
since the existence of the Order.
People."
first
spread throughout the entire west of Europe despite the pro
tests of the Dominicans, which protests, indeed, only furthered
their circulation.
Hochstrater, fearing lest the trial would end
in Reuchlin s favor,
demanded that
it
be given to an interna
tional council, since the matter concerned the entire Catholic
The pope, who was, as it were, placed between two
fires, the German Emperor and rulers, on the one hand, and the
King of France and the heir-apparent of Germany (who sided
Church.
with the Dominicans), on the other, resolved to place it before
the Council of the Lateran and all Europe.
Two years passed the strife had not yet ended, and Reuch
;
became sad at heart. He feared that his friends would fall
away from him, seeing no immediate prospects of the close of
the quarrel; he also feared, as he was advanced in years, lest
he should die before its settlement, and the Dominicans win
the battle, while his name would become a reproach. These
fears were unfounded, as his friends did not weaken in their
lin
support of his cause. Finally, on the 2d of July, 1516, the
result of the trial was announced at a session of the council,
signed
by Bishop Gregory
Bengiani, as follows:
The pam-
REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD.
97
The error, in such
Augenspiegel," contained no heresy.
an assumption, rested with the Paris University, and the other
The Bishop of Malta added
faculties in agreement with it.
that the Judge of the Inquistion, Hochstrater, who considered
himself one of the main pillars of religion, ought to be indicted.
Under Bengiani s signature were written those of the other
cardinals, except that of the Dominican Cardinal, Sylvester
As the pope himself had not yet acknowledged or
Priervis.
"
phlet,
sanctioned the sentence, Hochstrater did not despair, and,
with the aid of his friends, he begged the pope to delay the
execution of the sentence for an indefinite period, hoping to
bring, at a future time, the trial before another council and
obtain a decision in his favor.
The pope commanded the
parties to terminate their quarrelings and cease all discussion
of the matter, under the impression that a command from him
would put an end to it. He was mistaken the strife grew in
Both factions were
intensity and spread over Germany.
more than ever determined to continue.
When Hochstrater returned from Rome his life was in
danger from the Reuchlinists, and only by the efforts of Reuchlin himself was bloodshed prevented.
The Dominicans lost
;
favor with the public. This did not, however, prevent the
Dominican, Peter Mayer, from lecturing in all the great
all
churches against Reuchlin and his party, and abusing him in
the vilest language.
Finally, roused to violence by his words,
the Dominicans slew some of the Reuchlinists. This resulted
between the pope and the Dominicans. But when
the second volume of "The Benighted" letters appeared,
wherein the Dominicans were painted in the blackest colors,
they begged the pope to shield them from the wrath of the
This time he listened to them, and prohibited the cir
people.
in a rupture
culation of the pamphlet.
This command was unheeded, as
the light of knowledge was beginning to spread over the
world, and the satire was read by many priests and monks of
and, at the same time, the
Humanists distributed pamphlets and circulars against the
other orders than the Dominicans
;
Dominicans.
After no long interval, a second edition of The Benighted
letters appeared, to the joy of the Reuchlinists.
The Domini
"
can leaders saw
now
"
that there was a rupture in the Catholic
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
98
Church, and announced to the pope that the people ridiculed
their teachings and would not obey the doctrines of Catholi
cism.
This time they told the truth. Hitherto, sufficient
had not been accorded public opinion by the rulers,
although the influence wielded by Luther was almost wholly
due to it, and he acknowledged that the controversy between
these two great parties had paved the way for the Reformation.
After Maximilian s death, the strife became still more intense,
and the topics most often heard were those of the Talmud,
Reuchlin, Luther, and the Reformation. At the meeting of
credit
the electors of Germany, to choose an emperor, they all sanc
Ulrich von Hutten persuaded the
von
knight, Franz
Eickingen, to separate himself from the
tioned Reuchlin s actions.
Catholic Church and join Reuchlin and Luther.
This knight
and his companion, Dalkery, with many other friends of Reuch
lin,
demanded that Hochstrater pay the sum
of
1 1 1
gulden to
Reuchlin to defray the costs of the trial at Speyer, and also
The Dominicans
give bonds not to further molest Reuchlin.
were fully aware that this command must be obeyed, unlike
that of the emperor or the pope, which they would have un
hesitatingly disobeyed.
They were compelled to pay the above
sum, but as the treasury of the government was empty, the sum
did not go to Reuchlin, but to the government. Hochstrater
was deposed from his post of Judge of the Inquisition, and a
committee of monks requested the pope to do all in his power
to end the strife, and allow Reuchlin to live in peace, since he
was a great scholar and a firm believer in Christianity. The
Talmud attained new prestige, since henceforth the pope looked
upon it with favor, and even persuaded Daniel Bamberg, of
Antwerp, a famous printer, to issue a complete edition for the
first time in its history.
And, so, in the year 1520, the Baby
lonian Talmud appeared, with all the commentaries, in twelve
volumes, and from this all later editions have been copied.
Reuchlin in his last years was compelled, like Luther, to leave
his home and seek an abiding place where he could live in
Later, when Luther sent delegates to the prominent
peace.
rulers of Germany, the pope was forced to adopt the suggestion
of the Dominicans and excommunicate Luther, and at the
same time prohibit Reuchlin s works. But both the excom
munication and prohibition were publicly burned by Luther
THE FRANKISTS.
99
on the loth of December, 1520. From this time on, Luther
threw off the chains of the pope, and inaugurated the Reforma
tion.
Again, and for the last time, Pfefferkorn appeared with
a new pamphlet against Reuchlin, but it received no counte
nance on the contrary, he was abused by all factions and his
suggestion to expel the Jews from Frankfort was denounced
by all alike. After this event, nothing more was heard of him.
As soon as the Reformation was established, Reuchlin was
called to take the chair of Hebrew in the University of Tubin
He died in 1522, to the
gen, where he taught many students.
Reuchlin was generally credited
great grief of his admirers.
by the Reformers with being one of the initiators of the Refor
;
;
mation.
CHAPTER
XV.
POLEMICS WITH MUSSULMANS AND THE DISPUTES WITH
THE FRANKISTS
The Jews were not exempt from disputes with
Islam also during the
scholars of
years of the latter s history, but these
those with the Christians in that they
first
disputes differed from
did not involve the Jews in calamities.
In addition to the oral
disputes, many controversial books appeared between the ninth
and the sixteenth centuries, among which were the books of
Saadiah the Gaon against the Karaites, which the Karaites
A great
answered, not with arguments, but with scoffing.
issued
in
of
books
were
the
Karaites
which
by
quantity
they
ridiculed the Rabbis, in particular Saadiah the Gaon, who ex
posed their weaknesses. Like service was performed by the
book
of Samuel ben Chaphni Hakohen, entitled "To Exalt the
Value of Theological Studies," against whom the Karaite
Samuel ben Jehudah Eben Agia wrote a pamphlet under the
Strenuous Denial." R. Jehudah Halevi s Hakusri and
title
Maimonides controversial letters also had for their aim the
"
"
"
strengthening of the foundations of the creed.
But the strife raged with the greatest intensity in Spain in
First appeared the book on
the middle of the twelfth century.
"Sepher
came
Habrith"
by R. Joseph Kimchi. Following this
by R. Jacob b. Reuben, R. Moses b.
controversial works
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
TOO
Tikun, and R. Moses b. Solomon, of
latter s
book being
"A
Word
of
Saliri,
Faith,"
the
title
of the
which he records
in
Jechiel b. Joseph, of Paris, R.
Nathan, of Upsala, R. Joseph, and R. Meir b. Simeon, in his
book "The Battle of Merit," in which are related his disputes
disputes with Christians;
by R.
with the Archbishop of Narbonne; and by R. Mordecai b.
Tehosaph in his book, "The Strengthener of Faith," written
against the Christian, Paul Christianus, who had held many
controversies with
Ramban and
others.
who adopted the
and
who
name of Alphonse of Valladolid,
wrote much that was
hostile to Judaism, appeared works by R. Isaac Ebn Palkara,
as well as by R. Joseph Shalom, under the title of A Reply to
In reply to the book of Abner of Burgos,
"
Alfonso s Writings." How great a degree of tolerance the Jews
manifested in this controversy may be seen from what Moses
of Narbonne wrote of Abner, his former friend namely, that
he was intelligent and virtuous, but dispairing; unable to
endure the calamities heaped upon the Jewish people; not
content with the peace to his soul, but seeking also worldly
happiness and, reading in the stars that the Jews destiny was
to suffer and bear trials, he fell into the error of thinking that
they would never again be strong as a nation, and counselled
;
them
had done, to accept Christianity, not submit
R. Moses de Torsilla also wrote a book entitled
as he himself
to their fate.
Aid to Faith" (1374), consisting of seventeen chapters, in the
form of a dialogue between professors of the two religions. In
all these books it is declared that the Hagadas of the Talmud
are not authoritative but are to be regarded barely as fiction,
and as devoid of any sacredness. In Germany also appeared
"
in defense of
Judaism the work
"Book of Victory" (Sepher
the
excellent
writer, R. Lipman of Muelhausen,
Nitzachon), by
which appears to have made so deep an impression that the
Bishop of Brandenburg, Stephen Batekei, felt it necessary to
reply to
it.
Lastly may be mentioned the two disputes which took place
between the Rabbis and the Frankists in 1 756-1 757, at the com
mand
of Bishops Dembovsky and Micholsky, in Kamenitz,
Podolsk and Lemberg, cities of Poland. These terminated the
disputes which the Jews were compelled to hold with their
opponents
in the presence of the people
and
dignitaries.
They
THE FRANKISTS.
101
were distinguished by the fact that the Frankists impeached
the authority of the Talmud on the strength of the Midrash of
R. Simeon b. Jochai, termed "Zohar," which they considered
These
sacred, while they regarded the Talmud as profane.
the
further
circumstance
were
that
distinguished
by
disputes
the founder of the Hasidismus, R. Israel baal Shem Tob, was
elected as the chief disputant to represent the Rabbis, forced
The
to dispute with the Frankists in Micholsky s presence.
Frankists were an offshoot of the sect of the false Messiah,
Shabattai Zvi, who produced a storm throughout the whole
world in the year 1654.
One Jacob Frank, a Polish Jew,
accepted Islamism at Salonica, where he joined the sect of
Shabattai Zvi, who were seeming Mohammedans and were
In 1754 he arrived in Poland and set to work,
called Dauma.
with the assistance of two Rabbis, Moses and Nachman, who ac
companied him, to revive the creed of Shabattai Zvi. The fol
lowers of Shabattai Zvi, who still remained in Poland, received
him with open arms and entered upon an open propagation of
,
The Jews thereupon informed the
the mischievous teachings.
ecclesiastical authorities of the country of their activity, which
so alarmed
them that they hastened
to the Bishop
and asserted
their belief in the Trinity, and that they were not Talmudic
Jews, but followers of the Zohar "Zoharites." They peti
tioned Bishop
Dembovsky of Kamenitz
to force the
Jews to dis
pute with them and thus afford them opportunity to prove that
the only true belief is in one God in three persons, incarnate in
the flesh, and the teaching of the Talmud all vanity, etc., a re
habilitation of all the old slanderous charges.
The Bishop
ordered the dispute to begin in May, 1754; and the Jews, not
appearing at the appointed time, incurred a heavy fine therefor.
In June of that year there assembled at Kamenitz thirty Rab
bis, from whom were chosen as disputants R. Leib Meziboz, R.
Bar Jozelovitz, R. Mendel Satanow, and R. Joseph Kremenetz
and about the same number of Frankists, headed by Leib Krim
of Nadvarna, Soloman Shur of Rahatin and Nachman of
Bushk. The pleading of the Rabbis that in the Zohar and in
all the books of Israel there is no hint of a Trinity, which was
purely an invention of the Frankists themselves, was of no avail,
for Dembovsky decided against the Jews and fined them 5,000
gold guldens, to be paid to the Frankists, and also directed the
;
102
%
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
Jews to dispute with the latter whenever called upon one
hundred and fifty gold guldens were likewise to be paid by the
Jews for the repair of the Christian Cathedral at Kamenitz. All
copies of the Talmud were to be burned, although the Jews ap
;
pealed to the King, August III., against this decree of Dembovsky, claiming that they possessed the right, accorded to them by
previous rulers, to print the
sustained in this contention
Talmud and although they were
by many princes of the kingdom,
;
owing to the political and religious turmoil then existing
throughout the kingdom, the king or his minister, could give no
heed to the matter, and the Jews were forced to submit to the
yet,
decree of the bishop. Shortly thereafter, however, Dembovsky
died a sudden death (the result of an injury received, it is
related, from a fire which consumed the Talmud), and was suc
ceeded by Labinsky, who showed no favor to the Frankists. The
Jews, with the help of the government officials and an expendi
ture of money, effected the expulsion of the Frankists from
their residence near Kamenitz, for being neither Jews nor Chris
and they suffered persecutions. They were compelled to
shave part of their heads and half of their beard insults and
indignities were heaped upon them, and many fled to Turkey.
But even there they found no rest they were relentlessly perse
tians,
;
;
cuted,
and Elisha Ratin, one of
death.
They
their leaders,
was beaten to
therefore betook themselves to the frontiers
between Poland and Turkey, in constant peril of their lives
from the people of both nations. When their condition became
unbearable, they turned again to the king, and begged him to
In this
restore to them the freedom granted by Dembovsky.
they succeeded the king permitted them in May, 1 75 7, to settle
undisturbed in the province of Podalia. And thus they re
turned to Poland, in poverty and rags. In this state of deg
radation Frank advised them, in order to better their condition,
;
to embrace Christianity.
They therefore, in January, 1758,
a
to
the
sent
Bishop Labinsky by six of their leaders,
petition
asking that they be received into the Catholic Church and be
granted permission to dispute with the Talmudic Jews, who
drink the blood of Christian infants, etc. Labinsky replied
that it was not in his power to improve their material condition
their acceptance of Christianity could affect only their spiritual
;
welfare.
They again addressed themselves
to the king, in
May
THE FRANKISTS.
103
same year, but their petition was not answered. Labinsky suddenly resigned his office and Micholsky was chosen his
of the
The latter exhibited a great zeal for proselyting,
successor.
and the Frankists hastened to present their petition to him,
requesting permission, before being baptized, to dispute again
with the Jews. Perhaps, they urged, they might succeed in
convincing the Jews of their great error and madness and in
inducing them to accept Christianity too. Micholsky acceded
to this request, and ordered the Jewish Rabbis to assemble at
Lemberg on a day appointed by him.
At the time set for the dispute there came
in sorrow to
Lem
berg, forty of the chief Rabbis of Poland, at their head Israel
Besht of Mezibuz, and chose as disputants three of them
Besht, the Rabbi of the district, Haim Rapoport, and R. Bar
The disputants for the Frankists were Frank him
Leib Krim, and Solomon Shur.
Jozelovitz.
self,
lasted three days, beginning June 23, 1758, and
the hopes of the Frankists for a victory were shattered. Though
Micholsky and many Polish nobles sided with them, they failed
The dispute
to prove that the Zohar contained anything that favored their
The judges, even, utterly disagreed with the dis
religion.
which they subjected the passages of the Zohar and
The Jewish Rabbis departed in peace,
Kabbalistic books.
without being fined, and the petition of their adversaries, that
a district in Poland be set apart for their dwelling, was refused,
and they were invited to receive baptism. Thus ended favor
tortions to
The Jews
ably for the Jews the last of these peculiar disputes.
made efforts to induce the Frankists to become Christians as
soon as possible, that there might in future be no relationship
between them. In this they succeeded, and since that time,
between the Frankists, as Christians, and the Jews there has
been nothing in common in either religious or secular matters.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
io 4
CHAPTER
XVI.
THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, THE HEAD
OF WHOM WAS JOHANN ANDREAS EISENMENGER.
The victory of Reuchlin, and the establishment
of the
Ref
ormation by Luther, in the sixteenth century, did not stop
It was ever renewed by men
the persecution of the Talmud.
The most dangerous of
of rank in the different countries.
Andreas
them was Johann
Eisenmenger, who spent almost
all his lifetime in the destruction of the Talmud and its stand
ard-bearers and it seems miraculous that he did not succeed.
Eisenmenger was born in 1654, at Manheim. In 1666 he
came to Heidelberg where he found grace in the eyes of Prince
Carl Ludwig, who was pleased with Eisenmenger s determina
;
tion to learn the
Hebrew language.
Prince Carl
Ludwig sent
own
expense, to travel in different countries to be
accomplished in the study of Oriental languages. But
him, at his
come
when Eisenmenger was about to visit Palestine, the prince
died (1680), and he established himself in the City of Amster
dam, where he lived for some time in friendly relations with
the Hebrew scholars and with Rabbi David Lida of that city.
At the end of the same year it happened that three Gentiles
circumcised themselves and embraced the Jewish faith. This,
according to Eisenmenger s own confession, angered him al
most to death. And this occurrence made him determine to
write a voluminous book on the "wickedness" of the Tal
mud, in order (he said) to save Christianity from danger.
He worked hard and successfully for nineteen years trans
lated into German from 193 different Hebrew books, and a
considerable number of pages from various Tracts of the
Talmud itself.
This book, which he named Endecktes Judenthum
(Un
veiled Judaism) containing two volumes of more than a thou
;
"
"
,
sand pages each, he gave in the year 1700 to the printers of
Frankf ort-on-the-Main
.
The Jews of that city got wind of it, and being afraid that
this book would cause a renewal of massacres of Jews, such as
took place in the cities of Franken and Bamberg in 1699, where
EISENMENGER.
105
houses and other Jewish property were destroyed by the mob,
appealed to Sampson Wertheimer, who was then the banker of
Emperor Leopold, that he should point out to the emperor the
dangers which such a book would lead to.
Remembering that after the destruction of Jewish property,
the mob, in the above-mentioned places, turned to the palaces
of the noblemen, the Emperor commanded the Governor of
Frankfort to stop the printing of the book, and to conceal all
that was printed of the same, until a careful examination of
the book by Gentile and Jewish Hebrew scholars would be
made.
In spite of the assistance of
many prominent men
in the
German Empire, who
petitioned the emperor to release the
books, he retained his decision and paid no attention even to
the special personal letter from the King of Prussia in behalf
When Eisenmenger died in 1704, his books
had not yet been redeemed from their captivity; and only in
1711 did Frederick I, King of Prussia, republish the book at
his own expense, from a copy which was in the hands of EisenIt would take
rnenger s heirs, donating all the copies to them.
of Eisenmenger.
much
space to relate the proceedings of Eisenmenger him
of his heirs against the Jews of Frankfort, and
self,
the various decisions of the courts from the time of Leopold
too
and those
to that of the
Empress Maria Theresa.
We
do not deem
necessary to recount them, since they are in no
the subject of the persecution of the Talmud.*
it
related to
way
We have only to say that in the eleven years since the book
was given to the press in Frankfort, until the circulation was
permitted in Konigsberg, its influence was weakened, so that
did not cause very much harm at that time.
Thereafter, however, many anti-Semites made use of the
material gathered in this book, quoting it as being directly
it
from the Talmud without mentioning Eisenmenger probably
because of his notoriety as an enemy of the Jews.
Concerning the book itself, we would refer the reader to
Professor Franz Delizeh s book,
Rohling s Talmudjude,"
sixth edition, 1881, and many other criticisms of Eisenmenger s
;
"
* The details are
given in Graetz
David Kalian.
s
("
History of the
Jews"),
Hamelitz, 1888, by
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
io6
work by Gentile Hebrew scholars, such as Professor Strack
and others.
We have refrained from stating our own criticism of the
misinterpretation of the quotations from the Talmud, chiefly
because we do not deem it necessary to study Eisenmenger s
book for criticism. As for the explanation of the Talmud,
we do not need to use him as our guide and also in order to
of Berlin
;
avoid apparent partiality; since we are ourselves the bearers
of the Talmud s banner.
(See App., No. 16.)
CHAPTER
XVII.
THE POLEMICS AND THE ATTACKS UPON THE TALMUD IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY.
The nineteenth century was the jubilee of the Talmud s
its beginning, and the twelfth century since
2,000 years since
conclusion, in which it overcome all attacks directed against
This
and
remained safe, not only bodily but spiritually.
it
did not prevent the anti-Semites from renewing the persecu
tions and the accusations of it with increased energy.
its
Although the accusations were not brought to a public dis
pute, and to the intervention of the government, still the pole
mics in books and pamphlets were greatly increased by different
persons in different countries. We do not desire to linger on
these books, as their discussion would take up too much time
and space, still we cannot refrain from mentioning them briefly,
as they pertain to the history of the Talmud.
In 1848, A. Biichner, a teacher in Warsaw, printed a book,
Talmud in Seine Nichtigkeit," and according to Strack,
Jacob Kittseer also printed a volume called Inhalt des Tal"Der
"
muds und
both in the German language.
The contents of these two books were mainly attacks upon
seine
Autoritat," etc,
and accusations upon accusations, rained down upon
Talmud in general and its followers in particular.
At the same time a missionary, McCaul, printed a book in
attacks,
the
the English language, entitled "The Old Paths," and S. Hoga,
an apostate and also a missionary, translated it into Hebrew.
The
latter edition
was distributed
gratis
and
in tens of thou-
LYOTOSTANSKY AT THE TIME OF ALEXANDER
sands
III.
107
We cannot deny that it was some
among the Hebrews.
what effective, as it caused many Jews to embrace Christianity.
At about the same time Isaac bar Levinson of Kremenetz,
named the Russian Mendelssohn, wrote a book, entitled Teuda
b Israel," in which he collected all the sayings of the Talmud
"
relating to the following topics, (a) that every Jew is obliged
to learn the language of his country (6) to engage in scientific
pursuits; (c) that he must learn some trade and occupy him
;
possible, with agriculture, and (d) that he must be
patriotic to his country, and must respect the laws of his coun
self,
if
try just as
much
as the laws of the
"Torah,"
etc., etc.
This
book was so excellent that the eye of Nicholas I., Emperor of
Russia, was attracted to it and he assisted Levinson both
morally and financially. Finally he presented him with 3,000
roubles to enable him to publish his later works, Zerubbabel,"
in which he proved the falsehood of the misinterpretations
Beth Jehuda," and Efes Damin
of McCaul in every respect,
"
"
"
"
His books
(no blood), written against the blood accusation.
were so effective that as a result McCaul s books were almost
ignored.
The
later affair in
on more
to elaborate
stir in
however, we intend
as at that time it created a great
Alexander
fully,
II. s reign,
Russia.
In 1876 a
Roman
who embraced Greek
Catholic priest, Lyotostansky by name,
Catholicism, published a book in the
Russian language which he entitled,
christansky
Krov?"
"
Upotreblayut li Jewreay
(Do the Jews need Christian blood for
religious purposes?)
This book, which contains about 300 pages, was dedicated
He accepted
III., then Crown Prince of Russia.
to Alexander
the dedication with thanks to the author.
Lyotostansky, desiring to have the thanks of the Crown
Prince publicly made known, printed posters announcing the
Crown Prince s thanks for the dedication, and set them up
everywhere, even on the railroad cars.
The dailies and periodicals in Russia also announced the
works favorably owing to the fact that the book found favor
eyes of his highness, the Crown Prince. The contents
chiefly attacks upon the Talmud, accusing it
of being the source of all the bad customs of the Jews, etc.
in the
of the
book are
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
io8
A meeting of the prominent Jews was then called and reso
lutions were passed as follows
:
Lyotostansky attacks upon the Talmud itself
should be silently ignored, for a debate on this subject in
Russia would do the Jews more harm than good.
First, that
s
Second, to republish
of Prof. Chwolson, who
Talmud
and
fair,
and distribute the voluminous book
was a Christian, which defends the
and conclusively proves, both theoretically
the blood accusation is a trumped-up af
that
practically,
and that all investigations in many countries have shown
in general,
that no instance occurred in which the Jews used Christian
blood.
Third, to republish the
"Ukase"
(decree) of Nicholas
I.,
which declared that no blood accusation for religious purposes
should be directed against the Jews as a people, and that if it
should happen that a Jew be accused of murdering a Christian,
he should be tried as an individual merely.
As is well known, there are people who endeavor to benefit
themselves from all current calamities, and to announce them
selves as leaders without considering that from such actions
the calamity or affliction may become still greater.
At that time there were two such men, one in Russia and
one in Austria, who desiring to make themselves popular,
endeavored to place themselves in the front ranks of the de
fenders of Judaism for their own benefit.
In Russia there was Alexander Zederbaum, publisher of
the periodical "Hamelitz" in St. Petersburg, a man of little
knowledge, and who was never fitted for a public debate. He
challenged Lyotostansky to a public debate, which, however,
the latter declined to accept.
The real leaders of Israel, like the
Wilna and Perez Smolensky, editor
and
well
known
of the
S.
I.
Fiinn of
"Hashachar"
in
were angry because of Zederbaum s
such a challenge had caused an ex
that
challenge, believing
tremely unfavorable impression upon the Russian people,
Vienna,
others,
especially as the newspapers declared that Lyotostansky s
declination was due to the fact that the alleged leader of the
Russian Jews was an ignoramus.
The very learned Lazar Zweifel, teacher of the Rabbinical
Seminary in Zhitomir, -who, besides publishing a great book in
ZWEIFEL.
Hebrew, entitled
"The
Defender,"
109
against
Lyotostansky
s
our periodical Hakol, Vol. I. No s 27 to 31,
book, appealed
his
to
co-religionists in Russia that they should appoint a com
mittee to petition the Czar, Alexander II., to forbid all pole
"
"
in
mics about the blood accusation in newspapers, books or
pamphlets, for such incitations always do harm to the govern
ment
itself.
appeal was a voice in the desert, as the
attempts upon the life of the Czar, in which, to our sorrow,
some of our race took part at that time, made it impossible to
bother the Czar with such petitions.
However, Zweifel
We may
s
say, however, that
even
in this case the
Talmud
itself was saved, and the government did not stop the publi
cation and circulation of it in Russia and even the study of
it
in the
ulums
Even in the curricHebrew teachers, established by
of the Talmud were inserted.
Jewish schools and institutions.
of
the institutes for
the government, some tracts
Alas, we cannot say that the blood accusation
by Lyotosin
in many
had
no
effect
as
there
were
massacres
1882,
tansky
these
were
cities where Jews dwelt.
Although
secretly insti
a
itself
from
political standpoint,
gated by the government
the provoking of the mob was on the basis of the blood ac
;
cusation.*
CHAPTER
XVIII.
THE AFFAIR OF ROHLING-BLOCH.
Dr. August Rohling, professor in Prague, wrote a pamphlet,
the "Talmudjude," sixth edition, 1877, in the German lan
guage, the previous editions of which were translated into
many languages, in which he painted the Talmud itself and
all
past Talmudical laws in very black colors. The material
Rohling s writings (which are named in the previously
in all
* In
all
probability the discussion in this chapter will seem very brief and almost
inadequate, but the reason for this is that most of the details of this chapter are
related at length in our weekly
Hakol" of 1877.
Then, again, the entire matter
is not so interesting or so important to warrant giving it more space here.
Of far
"
more
interest
is
the works of Professor Rohlings and their results to which
we
shall
give considerable space in our next chapter, especially as we ourselves were greatly
taken up with this affair and were compelled by the circumstances to write four books
about
this affair, three in
Hebrew and one
in
German.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
no
mentioned introduction of Strack, page 95) were taken from
Eisenmenger, and from other men hired by him, as will be
seen further on. Although the above pamphlet was received
with great joy by the enemies of the Jews, who quoted him as
a great authority, nevertheless, it would have been nothing
more than a mere piece of literary work which could create
no harm to the Jews had not something unusual occurred
which put a different aspect to the affair.
Joseph Samuel Bloch who was at that time a Rabbi in
and who was anxious to get a
a small town of Florisdorf
,
name
for himself, considered all
Rohling
s
work
as a
means
He understood that if he should
of attaining his desire.
a
and should accuse him of per
to
debate
challenge Rohling
jury and falsehood, and thus compel Rohling to sue him for
libel and insult, this would give him a great name and the Jew
ish congregations of Austria, and especially of Vienna, would
be compelled to defend Bloch with all their power, for the case
would not be Bloch vs. Rohling, but the Talmud vs. Rohling.
Notwithstanding that at this time the Israelite congrega
tion of Vienna was full of great men and scholars like the
famous Dr.
deemed
it
Jellinek, Chief
Rabbi Giidemann,
etc.,
etc.,
who
pay no attention at all to Rohling s work,
mere literary piece of work, and the criticism
better to
considering
it
as a
which they thought better to leave to Gentile Hebrew scholars
such as Delitzsch, Strack, etc., who had already criticized Rohlings works. Bloch wrote an article in a weekly paper attacking
Rohling most furiously and reviling him terribly with every
of
possible epithet, including the charge of perjury.
Bloch s desire was then realized, for Rohling not being
able to remain silent, secured the services of the very great
lawyer, Robert Pattai, M.P., and brought suit against Bloch
for libel.
The
Israelite congregation of Vienna, although they were
much incensed at Bloch for his deed, nevertheless felt
very
themselves compelled to secure a lawyer of equal ability to
Pattai for the defense of Bloch, the result of which will be seen
further on.
Circumstances helped Rohling to find an apostate Jew
named Ahron Briman, pseudonym Dr. Justus, who wrote a
book for him named, Judenspiegel," composed of 100 pas"
ROHLING BLOCK.
sages, alleged to
in
be found in the Jewish code,
"Schulchan
according to the ordinances of the Talmud against
Christianity, and asserted that the whole Talmud consists of
Aruch,"
such passages.
This book naturally created a tremendously unfavorable
impression upon the whole Christian world and several papers
,
that were anti-Semitically inclined announced the contents of
One of these papers was Die Merkur," in the City
the book.
of Miinster, which quoted many passages of the book and at
"
the same time inserting a glaring editorial against the Jews.
The District Attorney finding this article to be an incitation
against a race, brought suit against the editor of the paper.
This trial occurred December, 1883, and in order that the reader
may have some
idea of the proceedings, we translate in our
Der Schulchan
pages of our German work,
"
Appendix some
Aruch und seine Beziehungen zu den Juden und Nicht
juden."
(See Appendix, No. 20.)
To
illustrate
of Rohling was,
who the person Ahron Briman the assistant
we have only to translate a few lines written
in our "Hakol," No. 191, page 117, March
was stricken very hard this year.
Anti-Semitism
19, 1885:*
All their leaders are taken one by one to the prison, and they
will have to give an account for their deeds to the judges.
With the imprisonment of Briman, Rohling s sources were
by us about him
"
revealed and annulled, as his right hand, Briman, or Dr.
Brimanus, or Justus, all of which names are identical, is now
behind the bars, and the newspapers are now recounting his
one by one.
We, however, say that he and
worthy of such an honor. There
sins
all his
literature are not
no doctor, nor learned
man, no distinguished being, no Satan, but a simple, ordinary
swindler, who endeavors by everything that comes to his
is
hand to deceive the people. He (according to his biography
which is published in the dailies of this week) has made a
study of the Talmud and the Schulchan Aruch only that
was a student
they might serve as his business schemes. He
in the college of Hildesheimer, where it was easy to imbibe
* At the time he was
imprisoned for
tinuously about this in long articles.
many
crimes and the dailies wrote con
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
ii2
and really become sanctified in the city of Hague.
more
To be still
purified he washed himself in the holy waters
of Protestantism.
Seeing, however, that this act would not
much
for to be a "Pfarrer" (minister) one
him
fruit,
bring
must labor diligently, and this he would not do, he set all
this deed aside at one stroke and swerved over to the Catholic
santification
faith.
And
then he followed his nature to catch
in his
net some
who had
confidence in him, and going further
young girls,
in this way the attention of the police was called to this, who
put a stop to him.
For whom then such a fuss? We are neither a prophet
nor the son of a prophet, but nevertheless we recognized his
character from his so-called literature even as far back as
As the following are our words in our pamphlet Krit1883.
ischer Ueberblick uber den Judenspiegelprozess in Munster,"
December, 1884, page 8, footnote n, (when we were not
such would be written
aware who the author was)
named
criminal, deceiver, misanthrope,
by a Jew he would be
etc."
True, that when we wrote this, we did not know that
he was a Jew, and now we see that he was. For this, how
ever, we have only to be grateful to him because he left the
Judenspiegel,"
Jewish fight before he wrote his hateful
and also before he gave his miserable material to Rohling.
This, because the anti-Semites can no longer blame the Jews
on account of this person as they brought him over to be
"
:
"If
"
come their ally.
But what became
of the suit of Rohling against Bloch?
We have to give the full credit to Dr. Kopp who forced Rohling
to
withdraw
timony
And
his complaint seeing that according to the tes
of his co-religionist scholars he could not win his case.
this
lished
in
may
be seen from the book which Kopp has pub
1886, second edition.
(See criticism of
Leipzig,
page 95.) We, however, deem it necessary to
details
of this book, in order to defend the Talmud,
the
give
as this will throw light upon all past and present accusations
it
in Strack,
against the Talmud.
As we have done
this in
our Hebrew
monthly "Morgenblitze," Vienna, 1886, we have only to
translate here a part of our review to the book of Kopp named
"
Zur Judenfrage nach den Akten des Prozesses Rohling-Bloch
KOPP AND HIS BOOK.
von Dr. Joseph Kopp Hofgerichtsadovkat Zu
113
Wien,"
Leipzig,
1886:
"
Many books are lying before us for review or for announce
However, the book named above is unique in every
It cannot be criticised either way, and the same
respect.
is true of the author of this book as he himself does not give
his own opinion concerning the subject matter of the book.
ment.
Nevertheless,
we may
fully
say that
it is
a scientific book in
every respect.
The author of this book is a Gentile, a prominent member
of the bar in Vienna, and, according to his own testimony, he
knows neither the Hebrew language nor the talmudic and
"
Notwithstanding this, the
post-talmudic literature at all.
a
Talmud and all post-talas
sanctifies
the
book,
whole,
mudical literature.
It can not be taken as a defender of the Talmud because
of arguments, as the whole book contains merely facts which
can never be denied and which prove clearly that the Talmud
and
its
banner-bearers are clear of every accusation and of
every suspicion concerning the love of man, be he who he
may, even according to the present laws and established
etiquette."
The above facts were not given by the author himself,
but by two well-known Gentile Hebrew scholars, upon whom
the Supreme Court of Vienna threw the burden of translating
four hundred passages and quotations.
These the Jewhaters have used as a sample of the wretchedness of the
The
aim of the Jew-haters was to
the pillar of the Jewish race.
The author of this work, whom the Israelite congregation
of Vienna choose to defend Bloch in the case of Rohling-
Jewish literature.
chief
Talmud, which
belittle the
is
He gathered all the quo
Bloch, has done his work well.
tations quoted by Rohling in his writings from both the Tal
mud itself as well as from post-talmudical literature, those
Hebrew language and also in other
by converted Jews who reached then the dignity
which were written
languages,
of Catholic
priests.
in the
All these
quotations he divided into
two groups, (a) the quotations in Hebrew he brought before
the Supreme Court, who appointed Gentile Hebrew scholars
to translate them correctly under oath, into the German
8
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
ii 4
language;
amined
the quotations in the living languages he ex
However, when he found a quotation in
(6)
himself.
another language besides German he submitted it to the
sworn interpreter of the Supreme Court for translation. Then,
when both the translations of the quotations by the Jewhaters and the translations of the same
by those who were
appointed by the Court appeared before the court, it was
revealed that the alleged quotations of Rohling were not
quotations of the Talmud at all, but merely falsehoods. And
thus was it proved that every line written by Rohling in his
and Das Ende der Welt,"
"Antichrist
"Talmudjude,"
Catechism des 19 Jahrhundert fur Juden und Prote(in which he praises the Spanish Inquisition, de
it
holy to the Lord and to the Catholic Church), "Das
claring
Salomonische Spruchbuch," "Meine Antworten an die RabPolemik und die Menschenopfer des Rabbinisbiner," "Die
in his letter to Ghetza Anhadi of June 19,
also
and
mus,"
which never existed since the
all
fabrications
were
1883,
"The
"
stanten
creation of the world.
"
such a falsehood would not be revealed by the learned
it would be impossible to believe that
whose dignity came from a professorship of a university
If
Christians under oath
a
man
should act
so.
The contents
of this
book are as
follows:
All quotations which were translated by the experts as well
as those which Rohling himself falsely quoted,* Dr. Kopp
arranged them thus, preface, instruction, the story proceeding
the trial, the proceedings of the trial, the conclusion derived
from the true testimony which was obtained from non-Jews
Medriki, Rabbi
i.e., the Bishop of Leon Agobardus, Paul
Gerhard
Rabbi
Mendel, August Fabius,
Tickson,
Maldava,
Franz Delitzsch and August Wunsche.
;
After sub-dividing the answers of the above scholars in
parts, (a) those which are mentioned in the Talmud, etc.,
in general, and (6) where it speaks of the subjects in partic
ular, and this he again sub-divided into nine groups; i.e., (i)
"
two
about injuring of Gentile property, (2) harming their lives,
(3) partiality in cases where Christians come before Jewish
* The author
Kopp
points out also
books which never existed.
many
quotations quoted by Rohling from
EXILARCHS.
115
judges, (4) the application of animals and beasts names
to Christians by Jews, (5) about the oath of the Jews, (6)
about Jewish witnesses, (7) the Jews against the Christians
in the laws of slaughtering cattle, (8) about the flattering
divided into two para
graphs, (a) the non-responsibility of the Jews (see Appendix
No. 19), (6) about the infallibility of the Rabbis concerning
and deceiving practised by Jews:
the blood accusation, and (9) the conclusion of the author
All these comprise 196 royal octavo pages.
himself.
It is self-evident that such a book is above criticism, for,
"
as
we
said before, the
book contains only
facts, viz:
(i)
the
translations under oath of the well-known Christian scholars,
and (2) the falsehood of Rohling s quotations translated into
German when compared with the text, and
more evident when it is known that Rohling,
this
is
all
the
after seeing all
these facts, not only withdrew his complaint but pardoned
even the most rigorous accusation of perjury which Bloch ac
cused him of in the past, saying that he was always ready to
swear falsely at any time if only it would cause harm to the
Jews."
CHAPTER
EXILARCHS
;
XIX.
THE TALMUD AT THE STAKE AND
AT THE PRESENT TIME.
ITS
DEVELOPMENT
Since the colleges were open in Palestine and Babylon,
after the destruction of the Temple, there were two kinds of
rulers :the Palestinian were called princes (Nassies), and the
The
Babylonian were called Exilarchs (Rashee Hagula).
former are well known to the students, as every one of them
is
mentioned
historical
Talmud, and their biographical sketches
many books by modern historians, also in our
in the
are written in
and
literary introduction to our
new edition.
Exilarchs, however, who are seldom mentioned in the
Talmud, are almost forgotten by the historians. Notwithstand
The
ing that the duration of their reign is about 450 years, no
arrangement of their names and times is to be found in their
history.
It is true
that some of their
names are mentioned
"
in
Seder
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
u6
Ualam
Zuta,"
"Machzor
Witree"
and
"
Yuchssin,"
but
it is
no order can be found out.
We have to be grateful to the learned Abraham Krochmal,
who first took up this matter, and wrote an excellent long arti
so confused that
seventy-three pages in his
cle of
"Scholein
zum
babylonischen
Talmud."
His suggestions, however, though of a great genius, are
scholastical and were criticised by many in periodicals and
Finally Felix Lazarus, in the
pamphlets.
"
"
Jahrbucher
of N.
Brill, issued a separate pamphlet about this subject, the result
of which the reader will find in a list further on.
And as many of
the Exilarchs were the heads of the colleges
Pumbeditha and Nehardea and took a great part in
the development of the Talmud, they must not be omitted
from the History of the Talmud.
in Sura,
LIST OF EXILARCHS.*
Nahum Johanan Shepot
140-1 70
Huna I
Uqba I
Huna II., his son
Nathan I. b Huna
Nehemiah
1
2 10-240
240-260
260-270
1
270-313
3*3-337
MarUqball. ...
Huna III., his brother
Aba Mari, his son
Nathan
70-2 10
337~35
"
35-37
II
3 70-400
Chanan, son of Aba Mari
400-41 5
Huna IV
415-442
442-455
455-460
Mar Zutra
Chanan II
*
We
instances
Lazarus
spare.
offices,
s
I.,
son of Chanan
are unable to give their biographical sketches in a clear way, as in many
we agree with Krochmal, whose arrangement is much different from
list and the discussion would take up too much space, which we cannot
We
have only to say that many of the Exilarchs were only holding their
but were not so learned as to take part in the colleges.
They were appointed
by inheritance and according to the excellence of their morality. All of them were
descendants of David s kingdom, direct from Solomon.
The Princes of Palestine,
who were
also descendants of the
same kingdom, were only from
descended from Shepetiah b Abital.
their
mother
s side
THE TALMUD AT THE STAKE.
117
Huna V., son of Zutra
Huna VI., son of Chanan
465-475
484-508
508-520
520-560
560-580
580-590
-660
Mar Zutra II. (Achunai)
Huna Mar Chanan
Kafnai
Chanini
Bostanai
With the conclusion
of the first
volume
of this
work
at the
beginning of the twentieth century, we would invite the reader
to take only a glance over the past of the Talmud, in which he
will see that in almost every century and place of the different
countries in Europe, the Talmud was condemned to the stake.
By a glance over the present time, however, he will see that
not only was the Talmud not destroyed, but was so saved that
not even a single letter of it is missing and now it is flourishing
to such a degree as cannot be found in its past history, as will be
;
seen further on.
The
details of all the persecutions of the
Talmud were given
Here we give a list of the places
preceding chapters.
dates in which it was at the stake, as well as the names of
in the
and
the persecutors.
THE TALMUD AT THE STAKE.
Time.
Place.
1244
Paris
1244
Rome
InnocentlV.
1248
Paris
1299
Paris
Cardinal Legate
Philip the Fair
1309
Paris
Philip the Fair
1319
Toulouse
Lous
1322.
Burned
in
Persecutor.
King Louis IX.
Odo
Rome by order of Pope John XXII., and
accompanied by robbery and murder of the Jews by the mob.
Rome: Pope Julius III. Similar burnings by the
1553.
same order took place in Barcelona, Venice, Romagna, U rhino
and Pesaro.
full of books were burned
but first they were carried through
the streets of the city, while royal officers proclaimed publicly that their condem
nation was due to the insults to Christianity which they contained.
(See also
Here three wagons
note, vol.
ii.
p. 52.)
;
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
n8
Burned by hundreds and thousands
Ferrara, Mantua, Padua, Candia and Ravenna.
1554.
1558.
Rome:
Cardinal Ghislieri.
1559.
Rome
Sextus Sinensis
1557.
Poland:
made
:
in
Ancona,
.
Talmud burned because
of the charge
that they used the blood of Christian
against the Jews
children in their ceremonies. This occurred during the Frankist
disturbances.
Such was the past of the Talmud which we hope will never
be repeated. Now a glance at the end of the last century and
the beginning of this one.
The colleges for the study of the
Talmud
are increasing
almost in every place where Israel dwells, especially in this
country where millions are gathered for the funds of the two
great colleges, the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati and the
Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, in
which the chief study is the Talmud and its post-talmudical
The heads of these colleges are of the most learned
literature.
scholars of their time, who are very careful in selecting the pro
and instructors for these institutions of learning.
were honored to be present at some lectures which the late
We
fessors
great Talmudist, Professor Mielziner, delivered before the
senior class in Cincinnati, from which we derived great pleasure
and, we may also say that in some instances they were to a
degree instructive to us in our task of translating the Talmud.
What concerns the theological seminary in our own city, in
which we were not permitted (see App. No. 20) to hear the lec
tures on the Talmud, we are also in the full belief that it will do
much for the study and development of the Talmud in this
and in future generations. We use the statement of the Tal
mud, "One may be certain that a master will not leave out
from his hand a thing imperfect," and as the dean of this
faculty is not only a learned man but also an experienced
teacher, there is great hope that he will do all in his power to
select instructors and perfect lecturers for this institution.
There are also in our city houses of learning (Jeshibath) for
the study of the Talmud in the lower East Side, where many
young men are studying the Talmud every day.
We
are also glad to notice that
among
Gentiles the study
GENTILES STUDY THE TALMUD.
119
of the Talmud is more or less spreading, as we have the experi
ence that a great number of Gentiles and almost all the theo
logical seminaries and public libraries subscribed to the Tal
mud, and also many queries concerning it frequently came to us
from Gentiles.
among
Gentiles
This
is
all
shows that the study of the Talmud
not very rare.
App. 21) which is in pro
gress now is also a great help to the study and development of
the Talmud, as all the treatises of the Talmud are and will be
separately named, with many particulars which will cause
The Jewish Encyclopaedia
many
readers to study the
(see
Talmud
itself.
APPENDIX
A.
No. i. In the history of the "Oral Law," Part I., by I. H.
Weiss, the reader will find an account of the deeds of the Samari
tans in detail, though only a few instances are dealt with.
No. 2. We may refer the reader to the book, "Maamar Haishuth,"
by Holdheim,
Berlin,
who
explains the
belief
of
the
Sadducees, and their opposition to the Pharisees.
No. 3. We agree with those who say that the tearing of the skin
at the performance of circumcision was discovered since the Israel
had begun to undo circumcision at the time when the theatres
were opened by Nero, and the Jews who had to go naked there to
wrestle with the beasts, were ashamed to be distinguished by this
For this purpose the tearing of the skin was devised.
peculiarity.
(See Tract Sabbath, p. 307, in the Mishna: "One who was circum
cised without having had the skin torn open is considered uncirites
;
To this there is neither any source in the Scriptures
cumcised.")
nor any tradition mentioned in the Gemara. Some scholars don t
(See the letter of A. Bernstein in Tract Roshhosagree with us.
honah, in the first edition). We, however, base our opinion on
the fact that
we doubt whether Antiochus Epiphanes would have
prohibited a circumcision, customary then among the neighboring
nations; and therefore it seems to us that he prohibited only the
tearing of the skin which had been ordained by the Pharisees.
No. 4. See our brief introduction in Tract Sabbath.
Our
that some written Mishnayoth had been in existence
Also Jellinek s Kuntrcs Haklalim, Note 4, for the
long before.
Also I. H.
opinion of the French and Spanish scholars about it.
opinion
is
Weiss and our
"Hakol,"
Vol. VI., p.
The London Athenaeum,
n.
VI., 808, has cited our statement in
Most of the Mishnayoth
the general brief introduction, p. 15:
date from a very early period, and originated with the students of
the Jewish Academies which existed since the days of Jehoshaphat,
"
King of Judah [2 Chron. xxii., 9]: And they thought in Judah,
and with them was the book of the law of the Lord, and they moved
as
about through all the cities of Judah and taught the people,
"
This, however, does not terrify us, as notes of com
mentaries on the text of the Scriptures, the whole or in part, have
ridiculous.
APPENDIX
122
A.
been found in the hands of students from the time colleges had
been founded and this opinion of ours has met with approval from
many contemporary scholars.
No. 5. See our "Hakol," Vol. VI., in which we state that the
Gentiles who desired to embrace Judaism, asking Hillel to convert
them, were men of rank, for a common man would not dare to make
such a stipulation as to be a high priest in Israel.
No. 6. The belief in the divinity of Jesus became acute at a much
later period, when the heathens accepted this fight according to all
;
modern
scholars.*
We shall also come to this matter in
7. (See App. No. 4.)
our later notes.
No. 8. In our translation we have added the Tract Ebel Rabbathi, or Sema Hoth, as the law of mourning was taken from this
No.
We have, therefore, added it to the tract "Minor Festivals,"
tract.
which
festival days.
What concerns
with the tract Benedictions,"
H. Weiss for another reason which does not seem probable
also treats of
the beginning of
see
I.
mourning on the
"Section
of
"
Seeds"
to us.
The names
of all the treatises of the tracts of each section,
and
of their chapters in detail, the reader will find in books written
for this purpose by Strack, Mielziner, and also in the encyclo
We
paedias, especially in the Jewish Encyclopaedia, f
necessary to name them here as we give at the
synopsis of each tract, translated and published
*
What
and other
up
concerns Ben Zakkai, according to Heilprin, in bis
Johanan b. Zakkai died 72 years A.C., that
authorities,
after the death of Jesus, at
which time the followers of the
deem
end of Vol
it
not
II.
the
to date.
"
Seder
Hadoroth,"
about forty years
had already begun
is,
latter
We
to dispute with their Jewish colleagues.
also find a disciple of Johanan b. Zak
kai whom he very much respected, very friendly to, and pleased with, Jacob of the
Hence our conjecture.
village Sachnon, who was one of the first disciples of Jesus.
f
Speaking of the encyclopaedias, we are sorry
to say that in spite of the adver
tising of their completeness, with all additional information in every branch up to the
It seems to us that they omit the
time of publication, one can not rely upon them.
interest.
According to our knowledge, books the subject
most students, not to speak of whether they are well done
or not, ought to be mentioned and, if necessary, with a remark about the quality of
Now take the "Century Encyclopaedia-Dictionary and Atlas," which is
the books.
advertised as the best of its kind and which is published in New York City, and if
mention of books of great
of which
we
is
interesting to
look under the subject
"Talmud,"
the fourteen or fifteen volumes of the first
English translation of the "Talmud" by Michael L. Rodkinson, published in the
same city, are not to be found, although about 175 daily papers and periodicals, here
and abroad, noticed and reviewed the publication. The same is the case with Appleton s new encyclopaedia under the same title "Talmud."
Here also Rodkinson s
translation is not mentioned, though some small tracts which were translated into
German
are mentioned.
Still
more remarkable
is it,
that the reviser of this article
APPENDIX
No.
9.
123
Details will be given in the second
in the introduction to our
new
volume of
this
book
edition.
In our book mentioned, we also show additions made
the opponents of the Talmud for the purpose of degrading it.
No.
by
A.
10.
For examples, see Vol.
No.
ii.
We
shall
II.,
come
Part III.*
to this matter in the second
volume of
this book, in the chapter devoted to the Ethics of the Talmud.
No. 12. Almost all ritual poets composed after the Talmudic
Hagada. Sometimes comments will be found, by a critical eye,
there on the Hagada or even Halakha, as the ritual poems relating
to Passover, contain almost all the laws of Passover.
No. 13. His deciee was only for the German, French and Polish
Jews, and extended only until the end of the five thousandth year
after creation.
However, the above-named Jews accepted his de
cree as extending indefinitely. In Syria and in Palestine, however,
where his decree was not accepted, some of the Portuguese Jews,
known there as Franks, marry two wives even at the present time
in such cases when the first wife is barren.
No. 14. See "Measseph Nidachim," Vol. X., by A. E. Harkavy,
where he proves that in Spain had existed houses of learning from
ancient times and that the Gaonim of Babylonia had relations with
them; and in many places they tried to follow their customs. (See
there)
.
No.
15.
As
to
what were these
and who the disputants,
places,
was Dr. Richard Gottheil, who is one of the editors of the Jewish
The Bookman" in 1897 upon
Encyclopaedia, and who himself wrote a criticism in
What concerns the Jewish Encyclopaedia, which is devoted only to
this translation.
matters relating to the Jews, one is still more astonished on examining its bibliogra
On pages 390 and 394 of vol. ii., etc., etc., the contents of Tracts Baba Batra
phies.
Metzia and Kama are explained. In the bibliography of this article are neither men
tioned the excellent translation into French by I. M. Rabbinowicz nor the translation
into English by Michael L. Rodkinson. The same is the case with vol. iv. page 526,
Derekh-Erez Rabba and
Zuta," for in the bibliog
etc., concerning the tracts
raphy there is not mentioned its translation in vol. i. (ix.) into English by the same
M. L. Rodkinson, together with Abotde Rabbi Nathan, which is mentioned in the first
on the
"
Talmud
"
"
,
"
"
"
An English version is given
Here the bibliography reads
volume, page 82.
by M. L. Rodkinson in his translation of the Babylonian Talmud, I. (IX.), New York,
We cannot find any excuse for such a sin of the bibliographer unless we
1900."
"
:
ascribe
it
to the carelessness of the editors, for
even
if
the authors of the articles were
ignorant of it, in spite of the fact that this translation is to be found in almost
libraries of the cities and countries, still the editors ought not to have been so.
* To the critics who will
to find fault with us because of the article
which we
feel for the article
and the author,
Therefore, without any controversies,
able to us, leaving it to the reader to judge.
many
points.
the
by Prof.
try
we will say that in
we do not agree with
Schechter in the Westminster Review of January and April,
of the respect
all
we
state here
spite
it on
what seems reason
APPENDIX
i2 4
whether only Messianists or
modern
ions of
A.
also Persians
scholars differ.
To us
it
and
idolaters, the opin
seems that the Messian
possessed only the house of Abidan, and the Persians and
Magians that of Nitzraphi. Rabh refused absolutely to dispute
with the first, but was forced to do so with the latter, perhaps by
his proximity to the government.
Of the house of Abiani schol
ists
was composed of Messianists.
As his interpretation of the text,
shall be a sign
unto thee upon thy hand, and for a memorial between thy eyes,"
that it is a figure of speech, it shall be memored as if written on thy
ars say
No.
it
1
6.
"it
me
as a seal
upon thy breast," [Song of Solomon, vii.
ornament which it is customary to
6]:
thy eyes,"
and
there
on
the
is
no
mention of the use of Phylacteriens
brow,
put
in his whole commentary, though the Talmud based the custom
of Phylacteriens only on these texts.
We have spoken already of
this in our work on Phylacteriens.
hand,
as,
"set
as an
"between
No.
In the excellent work, "Kritische Geschichte der Tal
Ubersetzungen
by Dr. Erich Bischof, we read, p. 67:
mud
17.
"
,
Trotzdem heute der
friihr
iiberschatzte
Eisenmenger allzusehr
unterschatzt wird, weil er noch nicht den historisch Kritischen
Blick unserer Tage besass lasst sich doch gegen seine Uber* Stellen nichts Erhebliches mit
setzunger der genanten
sie sind vielmehr fast stets richtig, etc.
Fug
ein-
wenden
We may say that though we respect very much the above-men
tioned work as one whose opinions in general are correct, we would
like to call the attention of the learned author to the following facts
:
(a) Notwithstanding the fact that in a period of eight centuries
over a thousand persons of varying opinions were engaged in the
compiling of the Talmud, in the edition lying before us there is not
to be found any designation as to time, and in many places, even
the author of that saying is not mentioned, Eisenmenger gives the
sentence, calling it literal translation, as if it were said by one person
It is self-evident, however, that such literal trans
at a given time.
lation changes the meaning entirely.
it
(b) An opinion of an individual concerning Gentiles, he quotes
in the name of the Talmud, in spite that this saying is immedi
ately opposed by the Gemara.
Margela be
(c) He erred even in the literal translation, e.g.,
Pume de Abye," this paragraph is translated by us in third part of
Vol. II. of this book. He translates, "A pearl was in the mouth of
"
A-";
while the
used,"
*
i.e.,
He
literal translation of
Abye
"used"
the word Margela
is,
"It
to repeat this saying very often.
quotes namely, the places of the
Talmud which were
was
At
translated by him.
APPENDIX
another place he asks
while the word
the teaching
why
"Talmud"
is
And we wonder
should the
A.
125
"Talmud"
in that sentence
means
be called great,
"teaching,"
i.e.,
greater than action; for teaching causes action.
how Dr. Bischoff can say of such, it is rather cor
"
rect."
Concerning the pamphlets and books against the Tal
see Strack, page 95.
No. 19. Rohling declares that the Rabbis had concluded that
all the sins of a Jew, be it against heaven or against man, are for
He also declares that every
given him if he only remains a Jew.
Rabbi considers himself infallible concerning the laws of non-Jewish
No.
1
8.
mud, written by apostate Jews,
blood.
The conclusion
of
interest to the reader,
our review of this book seems to us of
and therefore we translate it here: "The Lord
hath made
all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day
If we will look with an open eye into
[Proverbs, xvi. 4].
the history of Israel, we shall find that at all times, when character
of evil
"
men arose to accuse and oppress Jews because of jealousy or
animosity (except in cases where a man fights for his livelihood,
which is natural), their opponents who fought them openly were
equal to them in every respect. As the poet says, "Also unto thee,
less
O
thou renderest to every man according
If these words should be explained
meaning the question would arise why mercy
Lord belongeth mercy
to his deeds
"
for
[Ps. Ixiv. 13].
according to their literal
Therefore it is to
if to every one is rendered according to his deeds.
be explained thus
mercy belongeth to thee that thou repayest the
wicked man for his evil deeds by one who is equal in deeds to him."
:
Similarly did it happen in the time of the Judges when Sisera
oppressed the Jews terribly, providence transferred him to a pros
titute, Jael, who rebelled against her husband and also against her
lover (Sisera),
and was
slain
who thought
by her
to be saved, being between her knees,
[Judges, v.
27].
Haman, the Agagi whom Harbonah had
assisted in creating
the gallows to hang Mordecai, was transferred to Harbonah s
hands and was hanged by him who was equally devoid of character.
Hadrian who decreed that the Jews should not circumcise their
children under the penalty of capital punishment, and Simon b.
Yohaie who was going to Rome to petition the Caesar to abolish
through Ben Tmalion (a devil).
Notwithstanding that Simon wept saying, "To the servant of my
grandfather (Hagar), when she was in need, an angel appeared
three times [Genesis, xvi. 7-12], and to me who am troubled with
the needs of all Israel, an angel did not appear, even one time, but
this decree, the miracle occurred
APPENDIX
126
A.
only a devil [Me-ila, 17,6], itdid not help him, for who of the angels
would lower himself to appear before such a low person who desires
"
to oppress humanity without
their religion.
any reason but merely on account of
In reality it is revealed before Him, who said a Word and the
World was created, that a man of delicate nature would dislike to
come in contact with men of doubtful character, and would not
fight with a dirty man, as there is a rule that he who fights bodily
with a dirty man must become dirty himself. Therefore the Lord
has created the wicked and characterless men for the purposes of
evil day that he should conquer his opponent, who is equal
him in every respect.
Our sages seem to be aware of this, as we find that when a dis
pute was needed on subjects concerning Israel, they selected a
common man (see Sanhedrin, page 270), and similarly to this, we
have seen last year when the measure of the renowned Stoecker s
such an
to
deeds were
full, his
for a scribe
s
comrade, Greenberg, who exchanged his needle
when driven out from the Socialists in Berlin,
pen, and
became a comrade of Stoecker, and finally his secretary, and later
sold him with all his writings for ten German thalers, so that it
became known who the Preacher of the Royal Court was, and a
case identical to that of Rohling-Bloch, that he (Rohling) fell into
the hands of a equally characterless man, Bloch,* whom God had
created for this dark day, as said above that from all the great Jew
ish men of Vienna, not one of them humiliated himself to enter into
a fight with Rohling. However, if there is need for a miracle to
occur, it matters little from whence it comes, and after all, we have
to praise Bloch that he was the cause for the appearance of such a
book, just as the prophetess Deborah praised the prostitute Joel
"Blessed shall she be of the women of the tent."
[Judges, v. 24]:
No. 20. The following is a translation of a few pages of the be
ginning of our pamphlet, "Der Schulchan Aruch und seine Beziehungen zu den Juden und Nichtjuden." "On the xoth of Decem
ber, 1883, a trial came before the Landesgerichte, at Miinster,
which created a great commotion in
of the anti-Semites,
all Germany "... viz., "one
named Dr. Justus, published a pamphlet in
name Judenspiegel containing 100 law para
Paderborn under the
graphs of the Schulchan Aruch, concerning the treatment of
Akum, abbreviation of three words, Obde Kochabim Umazoleth,
literally,
worshipper of stars and planets.
Justus, put the
word
* In our
pamphlet
his character are related.
Christians
"
Barquai,"
However, the author,
Akum
instead of
Vienna, 1886,
all
Bloch
s
in
every
proceedings as well as
APPENDIX
in
place
The
the text.
editor
A.
127
The Merkur
of
in
Minister
quoted many
pamphlet with a glaring editorial,
and the district-attorney, who considered such as an incitation
The Landesagainst a race, made him responsible for this.
a
one
two
Dr.
Treu, a Hebrew
experts,
Jew,
gerichte appointed
passages of this
teacher in the royal gymnasium,
instructor in Semitic languages." *
and a
Gentile, Dr. Ecker,
an
Ecker Privatdocent at the royal academy of this place
declares, that having devoted the last ten years exclusively to the
study of Semitica, he is in a position to express an opinion. He
then goes on to say
the first place, I feel it my duty to point out that I can in
no way agree with the conclusions arrived at by my esteemed
colleague, Treu, and that concerning the essential point I entertain
a conviction the very opposite of his. Three questions are here
concerned which I am to answer:
(1) Is the Shulchan Aruch vested with legal sanction?
Does the word Akum mean also Christians ?
( 2)
Are
the quotations of Dr. Justus in agreement with the
(3)
Dr.
:
"In
original text."
As his answer to the first question treats about the "Schulchan
Aruch only, and also whether the Jews at that time are to be named
"
Schulchan Aruch Jews or Talmud Jews, we omit it as it does not
belong to the purpose of our history. We begin therefore with
the second point.
"As
do not
see
to the second point,
how
this
whether the word
can be denied.
It is
my
Akum
comprises also Christians,
firm conviction that
Akum
is
I
nothing
nor more than non-Jews. And I believe that the Christians too belong to this
Thus a law book that has appeared in the middle of the sixteenth century in
Krakau should contain laws regulating the behavior of Jews (i) towards Jews, (2)
less
class.
toward planet-worshippers who live hundreds of miles away ? This is indeed ridicnlous.
Gentlemen, allow me to draw a comparison.
Suppose, here in Miinster, a
would
conceive
a
a
law book in which there are
notion
to
sit
down
and
write
new
Jew
how
the Jews should behave toward Jews and toward
well,
them what he may, it means after all non-Jews suppose
further that the prescribed behavior toward non-Jews is very rude and inhuman, and
the author is held responsible for so treating the Christians, the learned Jew says
but two classes of laws,
for
my
part
let
him
call
;
:
Ye
Christians of Miinster are not at
has reference to the
"
Hottentots
Now, gentlemen,
it is
there have appeared laws in
all
included in the class of non-Jews, which class
!
just as ridiculous to assert that in the sixteenth century
Krakau regulating the behavior
of
Jews toward planet
* The testimonies of Dr.
Treu, who was a Jew, we do not deem necessary to
may be understood from the answers of Dr. Ecker.
translate, especially as they
However, the
latter s
testimony and our replies
we
translate literally for the purpose
of enlightening such passages which are to be found in the
Talmud.
APPENDIX
128
A.
And, gentlemen, since this
worshippers, and the Christians are nowhere mentioned.
point has received no emphasis on the part of my esteemed colleague, it is important
If Akum does not comprise Christians, then laws against
to call attention to it
!
In the Shulchan Aruch there are mentioned only
Christians are wholly missing.
Jews and Akum we Christians are surely not Jews, hence we are beyond all doubt
;
comprised in the term Akum.
repeat once more, Akum
"I
is
The Rabbis them
congruent with non-Jews.
I have in my possession a recent Wilna edition of the
Shulchan
selves prove this.
Aruch, in which not infrequently the word Akum of the older editions is substituted
by Eno Ichudi, i.e. non-Jew. The fear for the censor prompted many to an altera
but in this case
tion,
selves say that
Akum
We are in
it
has rather been an unhappy one, since the publishers them
synonymous with non-Jew."
is
a position to meet also this issue of the Herr Expert.
is by no means generic for the term Christian.
The term non-Jews
In order to fully perceive the truth of this statement, it remains
for the learned doctor to merely cross the channel over to England.
This great world dominating nation consists in
majority of pious and strict Christians.
for the propagation of the Christian creed,
all
ings
over the world.
However, they
They
its
overwhelming
sacrifice millions
and the evangelic writ
call
themselves with
self-
gratification,
genuine Jews, sons of The New Union." They
be
to
descendants
of the enigmatically vanished ten
the
pretend
"The
and to still be Jews, body and soul. Very often you
on their worship places and educational institutions inscrip
tions in both English and Hebrew.
Here you read in strikingly
tribes of Israel,
find
"
"Chapel of the Jews-Christians,"
Jewish-Nazaric
In the cosmopolis London the most influential princes
and the highest state officers call themselves with self-conscious
large
letters:
School."
What then is the decisive trait that makes
"Jew-Christians."
the Christian a non-Jew? Furthermore, the theologically educated
Expert can, hardly be believed to be ignorant of the fact that the
ness,
first
the
adherents of Christianity in its statu nascendi had preserved
for a long period, had remained piously obedient
name Jews
and tenets of the Jews, and had in
outward apparel distinguished themselves in nothing from
to the customs, precepts
their
their
former brethren in creed.
Notwithstanding their sincere de
votion to the new movement, they still called themselves, "devout
sons of Israel"; only few were they who assumed an outspoken
antagonistic position with regard to the customary Rabbinic or
Pharisaic ordinances, and were on this account stigmatized by the
Talmud as
Now, has non-Jews always been
"Apikores."
identical with Christian?
Aside from this the first edition of the
Schulchan Aruch" was printed in Adrianople (Turkey), where
the most inhabitants were Mussulmans.
"Min,"
"
APPENDIX
"
Such
falsifications of the text in
A.
129
more recent editions have perplexed me
to
The fourth law reads
When
investigated the laws of Justus.
a Jew is met by an Akum (Christian) with a cross in his hand, the Jew is strictly pro
hibited from bowing his head.
However, in my Wilna edition I find instead of
some
when
extent,
Akum
I
word adani,
the
When
:
man.
i.e.
I
then compared a
new
Stettin edition,
and there
I
worshipper) with abodath kochabim (idol) in
hand meet, whence nothing could, of course, be proved.
Only in an older edition
When an Akum meets you with a sheti vatrtb (i.e. woof
I have found the original
even find
:
an obed kochabim
(star
:
=
and warp
And, gentlemen, this proof is incontrovertible.
cross).
everybody that no heathen reveres the cross. Akum here must mean a
One moment, profound Herr
all
to be very far from
It is
known
to
Christian."
Dr. Ecker, the case appears after
being so manifest
and ultimately
settled.
During their existence, extending over thousands of years, the Jews
had experienced among the various nations many a thing of which
a sage can not even dream and which seems unknown also to
As
Dr. Ecker, the theologian, who bears even the title Doctor.
there is in general nothing new under the sun, the consecration of
many
In the
the cross in Christianity was not a wholly new creation.
Brahman religion the cross had enjoyed great esteem some six cen
turies B.C.
The Hindu symbolized
of the universe.
the Fakirs would
therein the space relations
According to accounts relating to those times,
stand motionless, their hands stretched cross
some would have it, even for weeks until the
would grow to be inches long. By thus blunt
bodily sensibility they endeavored to give palpable ex
wise, for days or, as
on their fingers
nails
ing their
pression to the negation of man s earthly existence. The commen
tary to Eben Ezra.mefcor chaim, gives in the book Margalioth an
account of this custom. Accordingly, it is by no means so in
credible nor could have been so infrequent that a Jew should have
met a heathen with a cross. The assumption is therefore plausible
that the Talmud had in view such heathens.
However, we admit
that this is merely an hypothesis, and that Shulchan Aruch was
no more familiar with Indian mythology than Dr. Ecker appears
to be.
We aim solely at showing that it is possible for one impelled
by judophobic purposes to carry on the study of Semitica for ten
all diluted
years, and yet exhibit drastic ignorance here and there
and
that it is
vain
and
eloquence
presumptions notwithstanding
altogether ill-becoming to venture upon expressing a competent
opinion on Jewish laws that have arisen in ancient times. It is of
this that
we wanted
to remind Herr Dr. Ecker
and
his anti-Semitic
commilitants.
In conclusion one more proof that will of necessity convince everybody. We
that the Jews do not eat meat unless it has been slaughtered by a Jew.
Mea t
slaughtered by Christians is not kosher, and yet the Shulchan Aruch says that
"
all
know
meat slaughtered by an
9
Akum
is
not kosher
;
hence
Akum means
also the
Christian."
i
APPENDIX
3o
A.
Also this your far-fetched remark
Patience, Herr Dr. Ecker.
deserves an answer, and such that will remove the scales off your
eyes. How indeed is it possible that a theologian who has been ex
ploring Jewish literature for ten years should exhibit such salient
gaps? The most ignorant Jew could beat you in this point. Who
does not know that only a trained slaughterer examined and sup
Any other Jew, and
plied with a diploma is allowed to slaughter?
be that the most enlightened and distinguished among the Rabbis
is not entitled to slaughter, and were he to do it the
meat of this animal would be unallowable and regarded as though
the animal had been torn to pieces by a beast of prey, and is there
And upon this case Dr. Ecker bases his
fore "Terefa," (torn.)
deduction that Akum is absolutely a Christian, for the cattle
How ridiculous! Is it
slaughtered by an Akum is not kosher?
kosher if slaughtered by a Jew not in possession of the right to
themselves,
slaughter?
Now comes the important third
question Are the laws of Dr. Justus really con
Shulchan Aruch ? Herr Colleague Treu has made the utterance that
many a point of these laws is not contained in the Shulchan Aruch. Particular stress
was apparently laid on this remark. The case is not set down with precision I have
"
:
tained in the
;
and reached the following result that I
should simply sign my name under all these 100 laws from A to Z, you cannot
In their main substance they are correctly contained in the Shulchan
require of me.
Aruch, but the foundations of some single laws are borrowed by the author from
somewhere else on the whole, however, well grounded. I admit, and this is natural
enough, that the laws are poignantly formulated, and in some cases in a manner which
We read, e.g., in law 79 The Jew is allowed to eat un
I should not approve of.
compared
all
the laws with the original text
:
;
:
clean in case of a dangerous sickness
however, he is not allowed even in this
case to use for his cure something that belongs (in the opinion of the Jews) to the
As already observed, no mention is made
most-unclean, viz., to a Christian Church.
.
.
.
of Christians, and also here in the text
it reads
idol worship.
Of course, the
Christian Church too belongs here.
Thus, the case is not untrue, yet in its above
formulation the law sounds sharper and Dr. Justus should have left the text also here
unaltered and added Christian Church in parentheses."
we
are at a loss to find the proper expression that might
appropriately characterize this expert deposition of a theologically
Truly,
Let us in the first place inquire somewhat more
priest.
in question, which in its formulation is in neither
law
into
the
closely
In the former we read:
If
the Talmud nor the Shulchan Aruch.
educated
"
man
bulimy he may be fed with unclean
Here no mention
become
clear" (Yoma, 125).
food,
In the Shulchan Aruch
is made of either Akum or idol worship.
is allowed to give the dan
the same law is worded as follows:
a
till
is
seized with
his eyes
"It
gerously sick prohibited food to
eat"
(Orach Chaim, 618, 9). Here
Still another pas-
again the word unclean has been eliminated.
APPENDIX
A.
131
sage treating of the same subject reads: "For curing purposes
all is allowed to be used but the wood of an Ashera, Astrate,
that what was in Phoenician an unchaste phallus-idol."
We
read further in
the same place:
mitted to cure one
s
self
"With
all
it
is
per
except by means of idolatry, adul
and shedding of blood."
Turnah = unclean is not met here
this law is restated as follows:
tery
things
The word
(Pesachim, 36.)
In the Shulchan Aruch
all.
at
"It
is
not allowed to seek con
name of idols (Yoreh dea, 155.) Neither is here
Tumah to be found. It thus remains an enigma where
most unclean"
Justus may have borrowed the expression
"
valescence in the
the word
Dr.
which
"the
is
to Dr. Ecker of course
synonymous with the
Christian
Church, since the word is not at all used in the original text in connec
But we must do justice to Dr. Ecker; he pos
tion with this law!
sesses a highly cunning method of polemizing; he displays ad
mirable dexterity in securing for his comrade Dr. Justus an open
back-door. Yes, indeed, Dr. Ecker is master of his art, he leaves
far behind that so-called "Jewish method of polemizing," which
has been according to the
"Germania"
revealed in this action.
Heir Dr. Ecker makes notably the statement that
Dr. Justus has
Shulchan
taken his law from the
Aruch, their interpretations, how
from
somewhere
This open admission
else.
ever, he has borrowed
Dr. Justus has namely
manifests the intention of false conception.
or
to
use
the
borrowed that marked,
language of Dr. Ecker, "poign
expression from a place that has absolutely nothing in com
mon with the law in question. Aboda Zara, i.e. idol worship, is
termed in the Talmud the father of uncleanness: Abh hatumah,
ant"
which
defiles
by touch (Sabbath, Aboda
Zara.)
Now
Dr. Justus
Abh hathmah with
Aboda Zara, idol worship, by
resorts to the following stratagem; he renders
"the
most
unclean,"
substitutes
"Christian Church," then he fabricates a law under the label of
the Shulchan Aruch which has never had any thing of the kind,
and in the name of this firm sends it out into the wide world. Dr.
Ecker, it is true, finds that such method of procedure is "poignant,"
but on the whole correct and to the point. What may criticism
say on such an escapade? If a Jew had the mishap of venturing
upon such a shaky ground, the whole stock of degrading names,
such as rogue, rascal, impostor, misanthrope, etc., would not suffice
to stigmatize so shameless a forger.
Indeed it requires very little
and
still
less
or
witchcraft
to pick out phrases
originality
sagacity
from places that stand in no relation to one another, and compile
them with a view of criminating whomever it may be. Dr. Justus
has done such a work, and a Catholic priest, a custodian of the church
APPENDIX
i3a
who
A.
should adhere to truth, right and peace, has the impudence to
work is in substance correct, though poignant because
assert that this
Church" should have been enclosed in parentheses;
then the falsehood would turn to truth
Can a theologian bear
such false testimony, a priest who declares himself to be well versed
in the Hebrew and hence competent to pass judgment on Rabbinical
"Christian
as
if
!
literature ?
Let us now examine somewhat more closely the Hebrew con
In default of a corresponding similarly express
Tumah,"
cept,
ive German word, one is of necessity prompted to render it with
"
Biblical and Rabbinical
from the current notion unclean.
The German "unclean" is synonymous with the dirt and filth,
which is in no way the case with TumaJi.
According to the
Mosaic law, a human corpse is the very origin, the progenitor of all
Tumah, Abhi aboth hatumah." In Dr. Ecker s German this could
be styled "the most unclean." The tent, the room that shelters
a corpse, with all the utensils therein, is permeated with the fluid
In
"unclean."
"Tumah,"
reality,
is toto ccelo
however, the
different
"
Tumah, uncleanness. Whoever lingers, sits or sleeps there,
whoever touches the corpse, is infected with the Tumah and be
comes in turn "Abh hatumah," the father of uncleanness,
and he who touches the Abh hatumah is called Rishon let-
of
"
timah,"
days
altar.
the
first
of
uncleanness;
from entering the
He
imparts
Tumah
lie
is
sanctuary or
to
prohibited
for
seven
from
him who may
approaching the
happen to touch him.
here absolutely immaterial whether the corpse was, when alive,
sheltering the divine spirit of Moses, of the crowned bard of the
It is
unparalleled psalm songster David, or of one of the lowliest in the
Jewish nation. The assertion that the corpse of Moses, David, etc.,
Are the
is the most unclean would be a sure symptom of insanity.
two words Tumah and unclean congruent? The religious law of
Tumah is laid down in theTorah without foundation at all, and be
longs to those laws concerning which we venture to speculate, yet
are unable to warrant their validity.
Now, the Rabbis, eager to
keep the Jews from following idolatry of those times, to prevent all
contact therewith, were therefore teaching: "An idol defiles by
touch; it is not allowed even for curing purposes." However, it
was not the material part of the idol that was prohibited, such as
the wood, the stone, the dust (for the use of all this was allowed in
case of danger) but the prohibition is to be conceived of in the
,
If one were to whisper in the ear of a dangerously
following sense.
will in your behalf invoke the help of this or that
sick person:
"I
idol,"
as such
was
really the case
with Ben Dama, the nephew of
APPENDIX
R. Ismael (Aboda Zara, 27),
that one
is
it is
energetically warned
A.
133
such a medicinal use of the idol
Supposing now that
against.
the emblems of Christianity too are actually subsumed under the
category of idols, which is by no means the case, supposing further
that
it is
prohibited to seek recovery by their help, even then there
of justifying a rationally thinking person in his
would be no way
attempting to refer such a prohibition to the Christian Church, or
to go further yet, and assert that the latter is in the mind of the
Jews unclean, or, according to Dr. Ecker, altogether the most unclean.
As an illustration of how the Rabbinical school used to term
Tumah, we quote an eloquent account of the Mishnah [lodaim, 4]:
"The Sadducees were once deriding their
antagonists, the Pharisees,
as follows
How amazingly absurd is your procedure in establish
ing laws! the writings of Homer are not defiling while the sacred
books of the Bible should be subject of defiling is it not the height
of absurdity?
Hereupon replied R. Johanan b. Zakai: You could
adduce against us yet other analogous but more drastic facts; the
bones of an ass are not defiling while those of the high-priest Johann
Hyrcan do defile How would you solve this paradox ? Whereupon
The position one holds
the Sadducees answered: "This is obvious.
when alive is in direct ratio with the uncleanness after death the
more revered and beloved one was when alive, the more defiling
:
;
"
!
;
Now you
see, said R. Johanan b. Zakai, this speaks
could turn the very same weapons unto ye! the
profane writings of Homer that are not our favorite are indiffer
ent to us, they do not defile; the sacred books which we revere
is his corpse."
as well as for us,
I
and love are subjects of defiling the hands that touch them!
Now, if according to Dr. Ecker s and Justus s literary artifice,
the Christian Church too belongs
course," to the most unclean,
is it not possible in the rabbinical sense to construe on the contrary
"of
a consecration, a proof of superior esteem for the church? Ye
gentlemen Doctors, where is your wisdom?
Artifices of this kind can be brought about only by a Dr. Justus,
who impregnated with mali ce and J ew-hatred misuses ink and paper
,
,
and scornfully defy the truth. And a consecrated priest,
an academic teacher, stamps his approval upon his tricky work and
in a sacred place where justice is being administered, whither he,
credited agreeably to his sect and position, was summoned to con
scientiously elucidate the truth, where he might have been made
to confirm under oath the veracity of his conviction!
Verily, Dr.
Ecker has badly sinned, not only against the Jewish people, but
to openly
Germany! Is then
book sealed with seven seals?
also against Christian
literature a
in our age the
Hebrew
Are not there in Ger-
i
APPENDIX
34
also Christian savants
A.
who
could detect this arbitrary pro
source
such a groundless absurdity?
cedure,
Would that he may perceive the opinion of the Christian professors,
Delitzsch, Cassel, etc., expressed with reference to his expert opin
many
who
could trace to
its
he would see then whether they regard his depositions as ac
tually impartial, or as of a wholly different nature, he would learn
ion,
whether they agree with him in that the Christian Church too be
longs of course to the most unclean! This is, honorable priest of
the church, your impartiality, such is it prima facie!
"
I
portant
should like yet to touch here upon the point which was thought to be im
pointed out that he has nowhere read in the
when Herr Colleague Treu has
To be sure, it is manifest
Shulchan Aruch that Christians are worse than dogs.
book is not the place to state that the Christians are worse than dogs but
This sentence
it is perverse to infer from here that Dr. Justus has falsified the text.
that a law
;
was namely brought forth as a foundation of law 31, where note
that it is borrowed from the renowned exegete Rashi."
We
3 remarks, however,
do not know the passage attributed to Rashi.
However,
Let us quote such
places of this nature are not rare in the Talmud.
a passage. The question was. discussed, for whom it is allowed to
prepare food on a holiday; in this connection it reads: "What
causes you to exclude the Akum from, and to introduce the dogs into,
The dogs depend on you in their food and rearing, there
the law ?
"
"
fore I treat of
is
them
in the law,
obliged to take care of
him,"
Akum
I
exclude, for no one
(Betza, 2ib).
Rashi has surely
but the
Talmud, and Dr. Justus was
dexterous enough to forge thereof a poisoned arrow and to direct
But is here even a particle of in
it as best it suits his instincts.
and
depreciation of an Akum or a Christian?
sinuating contempt
commented on such a
place in the
In the foregoing quotation the question is discussed as to the pre
paring of food on such holidays that do not coincide with the Sab
bath, which preparing is allowed only for such persons and animals
that depend on others in their food. We refer yet the reader to our
next observation.
Another point was contended against by Herr Treu, in law 17, which treats of
the case that the Jews pray when the plague rages in their midst, but not when the
Here it reads further
But they do (pray) when the
plague is among animals.
plague is among swine, as their intestines resembles those of man, likewise when the
"
:
I agree with Herr Treu that in lieu of
like
plague is among Akum (Christians).
wise should be the more so, and therewith the law loses its poignancy, but it looks
suspicious
with
all
the
same that
in
one and the same
line the
Akum
are coupled together
swine."
The Herr Privatdocent of the royal academy displayed masterly
skill
to excite his audience,
Verily, also
and to unbridle the passions
we must make an extraordinary
of hatred.
effort to control
our
APPENDIX
A.
135
The reasons, however, lie by no means in the
agitated mind.
affected depreciation of the human dignity in general, or of that of
the Akum in particular, no matter who is meant thereby as ascer
tained
in the boundless ignorance of this theo
by the Expert, but
logical doctor, which is truly astonishing, nay startling.
he asserts to have been studying Semitica for ten years!
And
yet
David,
the King of Israel, was considered by the older Rabbis, the high
As
est unattainable authority, the ideal of the Jewish people.
and merits are concerned, they put him above the Patri
archs Moses and Joshua, each of whom, they tell us, had his hands
stained in one way or other, wherefore none of them was honored
far as rank
with saying the benediction over the goblet. David, however, was
found wholly stainless, the goblet was predestined for him, and only
he was allowed to grasp it and praise therewith the Omnipotent!
This legend is to be found in Talmud (Pesachim, 119). But the very
so highly revered David is somewhere else coupled together
with dogs, and, in defiance of all shame and discretion, treated even
worse than a dog in the sense of Justus and Ecker. It is namely
recorded David died, and his son and successor to the throne, Solo
mon had his messenger ask in the college as follows The remains of
my royal father are exposed to the scorching sun rays, the dogs of
same
:
:
,
my father s household are hungry and menace them, may
I in view
touch on the day of Sabbath the remains, and have them
sheltered?"
Hereupon came the answer: "First of all satisfy the
of
the
dogs by having a carcass cut to them thereafter put
hunger
father
s corpse a loaf of bread or a child, then you may
upon your
of
all this
;
have
made
it
removed
into the
shade."
Contemplating
this,
Solomon
in his later years the utterance:
better than the dead
(Sabbath, 32).
"Three
lion."
And more
are insolent, Israel
"Truly the living dog is
Thus reads the legend in the Talmud
own people the sages say:
the nations, the dog among the
yet; of their
among
animals, the cock among the birds (Betza, 25). Who would assert
that in these passages David and Isreal are depreciated? This
elementary point should not have escaped the consciousness of a
"
theologian trained in the Hebrew and Rabbinical literature, viz.,
that expressions of this kind were current among the law teachers
of those days, without, however, any intention on their part to either
elevate or degrade any one
Again, we read in the Talmud (Pesach,
!
rabbis taught, there are three who hate one another:
the dogs, the cocks, and the sages."
Others add yet the rival wo
men, still others also the teachers at the Babylonian academies.
112):
"The
Well, Dr. Ecker, what would you say to this point? Could the
sages find no better company than the dogs, cocks and rivals? And
APPENDIX
136
A.
again, are the Evangelists more moderate in their language?
not Matthew also call the nations dogs and swine f (Mat.,
Where then
on
Does
6,
7).
The patriarch Jacob
for indignation?
Their char
his death-bed blesses his sons who surround him.
here
is
room
and defects he designates by animal forms which
resemble.
they
Jehudah he calls a young lion, Naftali a bitch,
Issachar an ass, Dan a serpent, Benjamin, his youngest favorite,
acteristic merits
a rending wolf.
of Joseph,
"a
Moses, too, calls in his farewell blessing the tribe
ox."
Should these two reverend old men
first-born
have had the malicious intention, at the most serious moment when
they were preparing to part with life, to revile and insult? Here
is a point for Herr Dr. Ecker to meditate on! *
21. As we are lacking in time we requested the dean of this
send us a copy of the curriculum with an admission card,
to
faculty
so that we might arrive at the exact hour appointed for some lec
No.
Talmud and on theology which we saw announced
programme to which we received the following letter
tures on the
the
in
:
;
THE JEWISH THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY OF AMERICA.
NEW
YORK, January
5,
1903.
Dear Sir: Your letter of the 2ist ult. is just before me. I have
not yet been able to send you a copy of the curriculum, which I shall
be very glad to do when it is printed. Whilst a weekly curriculum
*
We
are convinced that
many,
yes, very
many, offensive passages
in the
Tal
mud
are traceable to the Jews-Christians among the Rabbis.
For a long time these
Jews-Christians remained in close relations with their Jewish brethren, refrained
from ostentatiously manifesting their
belief in the
their innermost selves they entertained
messianism of Jesus
;
however,
in
and nourished a more and more unfolding
rancor against the teachings as well as against the authority of the law teachers,
who
would by means of all imaginable contrivances interfere with their clandestine plans
to carry on propaganda for their idea.
Jacob from Kefar Sekania and Jacob Minaah
It
(Megila, 23) are mentioned as such, and there must have been many of this class.
is to these Jews-Christians that we attribute the authorship of some of the above-cited
sentences that sound in a measure defamatory to the Rabbis.
foregoing David legend may have originated in these circles.
In
like
manner
the
Indeed, David was
from being stainless he himself was conscious of it and expressed it in a peniten
psalm to which we refer (Psalm 51). But as the pretended ancestor of Jesus the
adherents of the latter surrounded him with dazzling though undeserved glory. (We,
far
;
tial
in our
new
edition of the
Talmud have omitted both legends concerning David,
see
are certain they are not to be ascribed to the Rabbis of the Talmud
have omitted the whole saying but
also our edition [Betza, 49] footnotes.
as
we
;
We
same reason.) In this, our pamphlet, from page 35 on, we explain
where Akum is mentioned and what it signifies, not by suppositions
and as it is written in the German language, we may refer the reader,
Maelits, for the
all
the passages
but by facts,
who would
like to
know
this, to
them.
APPENDIX
A.
137
has been adopted for the year, some of its provisions are still under
advisement, and I have not deemed it wise to put it in print.
I have not at the moment any copy of the hours of the lectures
either, nor do I really think it would be profitable for you to attend
You realize, too, that the
lecture, as you suggest.
necessarily consist of young men, that practically
every hour involves a certain amount of recitation, and that the
students will feel awkward, or necessarily ill at ease, in the presence
an occasional
classes
of
must
some one older than themselves.
Yours very
truly,
S.
SCHECHTER,
President of the Faculty.
Michael L. Rodkinson, Esq.,
No. 22. The Jewish Encyclopaedia is undoubtedly a monu
mental work and most eminent scholars in both continents are
taking part in it, and there a great many scientific articles which are
and also many laymen are pleased by
(True, that some
reading a great deal of articles in every branch.
articles though scientific would be better if omitted in the encyclo
We refer to Dr. P. Mendus message to the Union Ortho
paedia.
instructive to the students
dox congregations which took place recently.) However, because
is a monumental work, we cannot restrain ourselves from re
it
marking that the editors should be more careful in their revision of
In Appendix No. 8, we show that the bibliographies
are not complete and now we will remark that the editors are not
the articles.
careful in their biographies.
There is a short biographical sketch in Vol. I., p. 16, of Aaron
Ha-Levi Ben Moses of Staroselye, who was our mother s father. In
the American Hebrew, June 28, 1901, we have already remarked
that his family name was Hurwitz, which he received from his
ancestor, the famous Ishiah Halevi Hurivitz, known by the name
Snee Luchoth Habrith," and this was
Shelaw, the author of
"
omitted.
We have then overlooked that his main and wonderful work,
Sharee Haychud ve Haemuna" (Gates of the Unity (of God) and
its Creed) is not mentioned.
This great work has surprised not only
the Cabbalists and Chasidim, but also the Maskilim like Sneier
Zachs and Lazar Zwefel. The former mentioned it in his well"
known
vitz"
it
"
Hathchia"
and
thus:
"and
the wonderful work by Aaron Huri
Solom Al Israel," who speaks of
Remarkable it is that in the
length.
the sketch is mentioned Rodkinson s
Toldath
so also the latter in his
"
enthusiastically and at
bibliography of
"
APPENDIX
138
B.
Amude
Hachabad" and in this book his family name as well as the
above-mentioned work with more particulars are to be found. By
this we see that the editor of this subject did not care to look up the
He should at least have
bibliography at least to make it correct.
Kneset Israel," in which the name and the books
seen Funns
are mentioned.
All this concerns the incorrect biography.
Should we count the
omissions of the names of very great men, even only of Aaron and
Abraham of all classes, who ought to be mentioned in the encyclo
paedia, who played a great role in Israel, it would take too much
space and time. A glance into our Biographic sammtlicher Rabbiner der Gouvernments Vollhynien, Podolien, Ukraine, Gross- u.
"
Klein-Polen
und Galizien von Jahre 1695
1876), pp. 30-34, will
convince the reader of
APPENDIX
bis
1876 (Konigsberg
this.
B.
THE BELIEF OF SADDUAND OF THE REFORMED JEWS.
CRITICISM TO CHAPTER VII (KARAITES).
CEES, KARAITES,
DR. MICHAEL L. RODKINSON.
article about the
The Karaites" in The American
though in general I have found therein likely and probable things,
I cannot forbear from calling your attention to several points on which, in my opinion,
it behooves not a man like you to take a partial view, while presenting to the readers
a historic account. It is the duty of every fair writer of history to give an account of
the facts without any personal bias, and where there is a difference of opinion, with
Sir
Hebrew
:
"
Having read your
(23-24),
out sufficient evidence for demonstrating the truth of any, then it is the duty of the
historian to state as much, and if he is able to decide between them, he should give
if not, he shall leave the task of deciding to some of the readers
his opinion also
;
who might be able, perhaps, to do so. But you have
You have written (p. 685) that when Anan saw,
what the head of our
poets, R.
not done so.
etc.,
and have ignored, or are
"
Jehudah Halevi, wrote in his Cuzari,"
III., 65, that in the time of Jehudah b. Tabi and Simon b. Shetah Karaism com
menced an account of what happened between the Sages and the King Janseus, etc.,
unaware
of,
see carefully that passage, you will find there that R. Jehudah Halevi admits that the
And you ought to mention this fact.
doctrine of the Karaites is an ancient one.
So also I do not agree with you in what you say, that at present are found only
For, in my opinion, the Reformers in Europe and
5,000 Karaites in the world.
America must be regarded as Karaites, as they decided at their Congress at Rochester
that they do not consider the Talmud as authoritative, and that only the Pentateuch
4
is
the basis of their doctrines.
If
it is
so,
then they are evidently also Karaites.
And
some ceremonies they differ from the contemporary Karaites, for this reason we
cannot separate them from them. You yourself enumerate sects among the Kanaites
distinguished from each other in their ceremonies, and yet they all avow themselves
if
in
to be Karaites.
APPENDIX
B.
139
what I have wanted to remark, and if you are conscientious, you will
not to mislead the future generations who will read your history, and
thereby you will insure yourself against critics, who condemn a whole book when
they find in it one thing which is not quite right.
This
modify
is
this,
Your obedient
servant,
ISAAC LEVI SHALIT.
Answer.
for your ingenious remarks, and for your love
and eagerness to save me from unfair critics, I state at your
desire what I have to say in reply, and what I have omitted in the
With many thanks
of truth
article itself, viz.
:
be known that I am not writing the history of the
Karaites, but that of the Talmud, and mention those who have con
First
let it
tributed to
its
extension and diffusion, as well as those
who
perse
had begun to develop till to-day. For
this purpose it does not matter whether Karaites were an old or a
new sect, from the time of Anan, as all admit that they persecuted
the Talmud to the utmost. And I, who have beea obliged to give
cuted
it,
from the time
it
briefly the history of the Karaites for the reason that they perse
cuted the Talmud, used as authorities the latest historians who have
treated this subject, as Pinsker, Graetz, Fiirst, Geiger and Gottlober,
who have all decided that it was an invention of Anan himself.
But out of respect to truth, I am bound to tell you that I was not
unaware of, nor did I conceal, what is written about the Karaite
For of this has the head of the reformed
sect in the "Cuzari."
rabbis, the learned scholar Holdheim, written long ago, in his book
"Maamar Haishuth," as much as it is worth, and philosophized
about the assertions in the "Chasar," but he also found that he had
been mistaken in this (or that he was compelled to write this, for
unknown
I myself say, he wrote
the
Chasars were reported to also be Kara
days
in the form of a controversy be
who
book
made
his
ites, and he
Rabbi
did
a
and
not
want to charge it with being a
Karaite
tween
reasons
to us at the present day;
thus because in his
new
still
but admitting one point, namely, that
urged that there is no foundation for it).
sect,
it is
And
an old
to
sect,
make
he
you,
and those who entertain the same opinion, to cease to think that
the reformers of the present time are Karaites," and also that the
readers may know what the Karaites plead that the Karaite sect
has been from the time of Moses, who was himself a Karaite, and
the Rabbinical innovation dates from Jeroboam b. Nebat, we have
only to quote from the above-mentioned book of Holdheim, p. 117,
etc., and also what he wrote to refute their assertions, p. 122, and
also what we will find to remark on his words.
"
;
APPENDIX
140
* It
is
B.
known that according to the opinion of the
and their tradition
Karaites them
identical with
with
of
the
the
Pentateuch, the
Together
body
Lord communicated to Moses an oral comment, and he communi
cated to his contemporaries, who transmitted it to the succeeding
When the people was split
generations till the death of Solomon.
into two parties, one adhered to Rehoboam, and the other followed
selves in their books, their belief
is
the Pentateuch.
Jeroboam, who sinned and led
sin.
The Karaites
and
burden, and accord
yoke
to
them
was
all
there
that
time
ing
only one Torah for the
during
whole people, as one God, and the text and its interpretation were
inseparable and sprung from the same source, the father of the
Karaites being Moses himself, the trusted pastor who carried all
his people on his shoulders.
As Jeroboam was one of those who
had received the tradition transmitted from age to age as abovementioned, and one of the men of the Great Sanhedrin, fearing that
the royal power should be recovered by David s dynasty, he in
vented strange and spurious interpretations of the Torah to replace
the good ones and true ones which the Sanhedrin had by tradition.
He presented it to the people, whom he misled, and brought to evil.
The nation believed him, followed in his footsteps, exchanged most
commandments of the Torah for others, subtracted, added, at their
Since then Israel was divided into two sects, and the
pleasure.
Torah became two rival and hostile Torahs. Judea kept the law
according to the ancient custom received from Moses without any
change, addition or subtraction, Karaism being the modern con
tinuation thereof.
Israel, on the other hand, observed the laws
to
the
new
manner, with alterations, additions and sub
according
tractions invented by Jeroboam, and Rabbinism is its continuation;
named
party into
his
their traditions the inherited
later false prophets rose in Israel, and, claiming divine inspiration,
misguided them, and even some of Judea, etc. But Judea, never
continued to be the seat of the Mosaic tradition, as the
theless,
majority adhering most to the truth. However, as the Temple
was demolished, most prophets, priests, Levites and Sanhedrin were
slain, while those left alive were mostly of the sinners. Therefore
at the restoration of the second Temple, even while there still were
who are called the "good
there were two sects and
two separate Torahs. After the cessation of prophetic inspiration
this split grew and widened.
The party holding by the truth said
the Torah was only that one written by Moses and given to Israel
the party believing in the falsehood said there were two Torahs,
prophets,
figs,"
;
* Translated almost verbatim from
Mamar
Haishuth.
APPENDIX
B.
141
written and oral, invented by Jeroboam and the false prophets, and
which they also referred to Moses, who received it (according to
them) from the Lord. Thus it continued till the time of Matthew,
Hasmonean (Maccabee), when Antiochus
the
the Wicked, wishing
to suppress altogether the Jewish lore, in which time of calamities
all great sages of the Sanhedrin who had the true tradition of the
comment and
the Torah were
then transmitted, was
comment and
now
all
murdered, and the tradition
the Torah was lost
tesimal fraction being
left.
and the greater part
and forgotton, only an
severed,
till
of the
infini
This fact took place in the year 3560
after creation.
As Matthew triumphed, and peace was restored in the land, the
of intellect sat down to learn the Torah and understand it with
the aid of their reason.
But owing to its great depth, they could
not comprehend it, and many diverse opinions existed. Thus the
differences between sects, Karaite as well as Rabbinical, arose, and
men
persist to these days.
The quarrel between the two sects grew in violence till the time
and high-priest Janeus was reached, and something
happened between the sages and him, as is well known, so that he
massacred all the sages in his anger, and none remained except one
great man of each sect, Jehudah b. Tabai, who held the truth, and
Simeon b. Shetah, drawn after the false doctrine of Jeroboam b.
Nebat and the false prophets. The king, wishing to kill both,
Jehudah b. Tabai hid in Jerusalem, and Simeon b. Shetah was the
of the king
s brother, who facilitated his escape to Egypt, where he
stayed three years; being there, he learned from the Israelite sages
found there since the destruction of the first Temple, and the days
queen
of Jeremiah, all the strange comments invented by Jeroboam and
the false prophets.
Simeon b. Shetah added thereto some of his
own, and built there a great temple and sacrificed there, though
was not the chosen place; and after his return to Jerusalem he
wanted to be a great lord in Israel, and taught, therefore, the people
what he had acquired in Egypt, as the oral law communicated to
Moses, and transmitted by him; and, because he was the king s
brother-in-law and had much influence at the court, his false doc
trines became popular among Israel, who received the false Torah
it
instead of the true one.
After that Israel was divided into two parties, and the quarrel
also in the Sanhedrin, the heads of the nation, and heirs
commenced
and teachers of the Torah. One sect went after R. Jehudah b.
Tabai and was called Sadducees (Zadikim) (Upright), from the
phrase "hearken unto me, ye that pursue righteousness" (Zadik)
APPENDIX
142
B.
and their justice is everlasting justice, and their Torah
Karaism is a continuation thereof. The second sect fol
lowed Simeon b. Shetah, and were called Pharisees (Parushim),
separatists, for separating themselves from the old faith of Israel.
This state of things continued from 3650 after creation, from the
[Is.
is
li.,
i.J,
truth;
time of Jehudah b. Tabai, till the ruin of the second Temple, year
At that epoch, the majority of the Sadducees were slain,
3828.
but the Pharisees mostly survived, for which there were two causes:
first,
because those of the Sadducaic party were the political and
warlike men, while the Pharisees were humble and were students;
secondly, because the Sadducees were stricter in observing the
their conduct was of much holiness and purity, and had
they were to be exiled, being an unclean earth, and with
out water for removing the uncleanness, they could not keep the
law as it ought to be; therefore they were martyrs, choosing to be
duties,
and
seen that
if
murdered rather than live, and all were killed for the sanctification
of the Lord.
Put the Pharisees who were not strict, and were not
afraid of the ruin of the Temple or exile, and chose life rather than
death, and went out to Titus, the Wicked, and, surrendering, were
all left alive.
Therefore, after the ruin of the Temple the Pharisees
rose in power, whereas the Sadducees declined. Thus it continued
till R. Jehudah the Nassi, the editor of the Mishna.
He collected
comments, good and bad, true and false, ancient and recent, all
together; he wrote them down in a book without making distinc
tions between the sacred and profane, unclean and clean he decided
all
;
and declared that they are
This occurred in 3945.
After the conclusion of the Mishna, rose up those who composed
the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds, and from that time on
all Sinaic.
the quarrel grew in force, and the hate, rivalry and jealousy grew
between the two sects, the Sadducees and Pharisees. For the
Sadducees held the true Torah, written by Moses our teacher, and
comments that have been left from many; but the
Pharisees abandoned the written Torah and ignored it as of subor
those few true
dinate importance, and clung to the oral law, that is, the Mishna
and the Talmud, making it the thing of the first importance, saying
that tradition will be victorious.
the written law has
one who
They
said every one
who
studies
only partially his obligations, but every
studies Mishna or Talmud he has completely discharged
fulfilled
his obligations; every one who trangresses the written
pable of stripes, who transgresses the words of the sages
law
is
is
cul
guilty of
capital punishment, and that one should not object even if they say
to you of the right that it is the left, and of the left that it is the
Thus it continued to be till
right and similar erroneous teachings.
APPENDIX
the time of
Anan
B.
143
the Nassi, the Holy and the Saint, the son of David
the Nassi, in the year 4400 after the creation.
Anan * lived in
Babylonia and was of the Sadducees, and for his great wisdom
Israel, Sadducees as well as Pharisees, chose him as Nassi, as the
head of Beth Din and Exilarch. After his instalment as Nassi and
head of Beth Din by the sanction of the Arabian monarch, and the
will of all Israel, he became zealous for God and his Torah, and
wished to restore it to its primitive purity he commenced to plead
;
against the oral law, i.e., the Mishna, and deny and declare it as
nought. When the Pharisaic sect perceived all this, they rose upon
him and devised stratagems to kill him. But out of fear of the king,
they did not lay their hands on him, but denounced him to the king
that he had rebelled against the law of the government, but the king
pitied him and saved him from them, and so he was left alive. When
Anan
perceived that the Pharisees did not want to return to the
truth, he was disgusted with being a Nassi, left his house and pos
sessions in Babylonia, and departed with his sons and disciples to
Jerusalem, the Sacred City.
He
built there a synagogue,
"The
Temple of God," to pray and to weep morning, noon and evening;
and perceiving that the Pharisees were increasing, and that the
Sadducees decreased, and fearing lest the true Torah be forgotten
entirely, and lest the Sadducees be absorbed in time by the Phari
sees, he commanded his disciples, friends and acquaintances, to
keep themselves apart from the sect of the Pharisees wholly and
with the utmost possible strictness.
He forbade them to eat their
foods, for they are not careful about all kinds of uncleanness, and
eat carcasses and tallow prohibited by the Torah.
So also he for
bade them to intermarry with them, because they had trespassed
And Anan interpreted the Torah
and commandments according to the true comment, as he had re
ceived it from his fathers and masters by tradition, who belonged
to the sect of Sadducees, continuing from the oldest times; and as
the whole Sadducean doctrine is founded on the text of the Holy
Scriptures, Pentateuch, Prophets and Hagiographas, therefore Anan
the Nassi called the Sadducean sect "Karaites," (Karaim), that is,
who are called and go in their simplicity. (Ba ale Mikre): and as
the whole object of the Pharisees was to pursue high positions and
lordliness, and also because they are many in comparison with the
the barriers of consanguinity.
*
known
make Anan s life date 100 years earlier than
Kerem Chemed," p. 203, has
L. Rapoport, in his
explained and proved their mistake, from the testimony of Sherira the Gaon, and
It is well
in reality,
the
"
i.e.,
Book
the Gaon,
of
4400.
that the Karaites
But
by Abraham b. David,
Gaon from 4516 to 4529^.
Tradition,"
who was
a
"
S.
that
Anan
rose in the age of
Jehudu
i
APPENDIX
44
B.
few Karaites, he called them "Rabbanim,"
the adherents of the Mishna and Talmud.
.
This
is
(lords,
.
many), that
is,
.
the opinion of the Karaites themselves about their his
tory, and that every one who wishes to know and understand all
the errors of the Rabbis (according to them), should see the Book
of God s Wars, ("Sepher Milhamoth Adonai"), by Salman b. Jerucham, and the Admonitory letter ("Igereth Hatochachath"), by
Sahal Hakohen, and "Eshkol Hakopher," by Jehudah Hadasi
Haabel (the Mourner), he called himself thus for mourning, and
hem Sheorim," by R.Solomon the Turk,
Apiryon Asah,"and
also the "Asara Maamaroth," of Elijah the Jerusalemite, and the
"
"L
Amuna Omen" by Abraham b. Joshua the Jerusalemite, all
which books are written to refute the false Rabbinical laws and
of the Rabbinical sages after Anan they say that when they saw
that the plain and just truth is evidently on the side of the Sadducees, they invented about them calumnies, that they were Sadducees and Bithusiaus followers of Zaduk and Bithus, the infidels,
and their glory they confounded with shame by conscious falsehood
for whereas they had been called Tzadikim from ancient times,
"
;
they altered their name to Tzadukim (Sadducees, Zadukim), fol
lowers of Tsaduk, etc., etc."
... * Here we have given to the reader what we have briefly
quoted so far as needful for our purpose, and to spare much of our
own discussion by citing the words of another. From "Orah
Tzadikim" treating of the split between the Karaites and Rabbis,
written by the scholarly rabbi, Sim ha Isaac of Lutzki in 5516.
And we, desiring to call the attention of scholars and thinkers to
the affirmations of the Karaites themselves about their ancient
history, both their charges against us and their justifications of
themselves, have abridged their statements, for it is our duty to
hear what they say for themselves, and try to separate the truths
from the falsehoods as impartial judges, not as advocates.
And, before all, I say, the man is dreaming who speaks that the
difference between the Karaites and Rabbis began in the time of
Rehoboam the son of Solomon, and of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat,
when Israel revolted against David s dynasty. And if the Rabbis
;
make such a senseless assertion, that the rebels against
dynasty were the same that the Karaites are, beyond doubt
the Karaites would say that they pervert the words of the living
were to
David
s
God and deny what is
away the people from
*
written in the Prophets, that Jeroboam led
the worship of the true God who had pro-
Page 122, Holdheim
s
opinion.
APPENDIX
B.
145
them *rom the times of Egypt till then, to serve golden calves
which he had made, and made a festival in a wrong month which
he invented that the people should not go to celebrate the holidays
at Jerusalem, and the royalty not be restored to David s house.
The Karaites state here a strange fiction, which is ridiculed by every
tected
one who has any knowledge of books.
Besides that, any one who has eyes to see, ears to hear, and a
palate to taste, that which is written in the Scriptures, is aware that
during all the time of the prophets till the exile of Israel and Judea
from their land and captivity in the land of their enemies, the quar
rel between the parties was not about the interpretation of the
Torah, or about the reasons of the commandments, but about the
Torah itself, between those who knew it and those who did not
know it, between the worshippers of the true God and the idolaters.
The prophets of the true God, and the best element of the people
who followed them, have served God and loved him, and were his
true servants, adhered to him and observed his commandments and
his law.
But the king and the common people devoted themselves
to drink, to idolatry, adultery, and other uncleanness of the other
nations of their time.
And
author of the "Orach Zadikim," as well as the
he quotes, have not adhered to the truth but in
dulged in falsehoods, by fixing the beginning of this quarrel at
And if the author
a time which it was impossible to have begun.
and his co-religionists fully believe that the present Pentateuch
was known to and in the possession of the names in the days of
writers
truly, the
whom
David and Solomon, Rehoboam and Jeroboam, and that, to
gether with the written Torah and its commentaries it was in the
possession of the Sanhedrin and the members of the great and
small Beth Din of those days, as the same belief was entertained
by the Pharisees from the written Torah and its commentaries,
we will not plead with them to question or reflect upon this be
lief, and state from the investigations of the modern as well as
the ancient critics, that the Pentateuch was at that time of recent
date and no one knew of it because it had been written only in
the days of Solomon, and no one had seen it, for it would be
unfair to refute a warranted belief on one hand by a total denial
on the other. But we will argue from the standpoint of the Ka
raites themselves, who adhere to the text and deny the commen
taries which are conflicting with the ordinary interpretation of the
For they themselves have interpreted the Scripture
Scripture.
wrongly, and ascribed to it a meaning which has never been in
tended, by stating that the quarrel between Israel and Judea,
10
1
APPENDIX
46
B.
Jeroboam and Rehoboam, has caused a quarrel, in
no way or manner resembling it, between the Karaites and the
Rabbis regarding the interpretation of the Scripture. This is one
of those falsehoods which have absolutely no foundation what
ever, and are shunned by those who are able to distinguish be
tween truth and falsehood.
The statement that the difference between the Karaites and
Rabbis dates from the time the difference between Jehudah b.
Tabai and Simeon b. Shetah broke out, etc., is nothing but a net
or between
spread out by the Karaites to catch therein the people of Israel,
etc.
But it is up to date not known who is the author of this
statement and who circulated it among the Karaites that they
might make it the foundation of their structure, which founda
tion, if demolished, would cause the ruin of the whole structure.
There is no doubt in our mind that the Karaites have borrowed
this statement from the Pharisees when endeavoring to separate
from the Sadducees, whom they also considered as infidels, and
to erect a new edifice for themselves, for the Pharisees also con
sider Simeon b. Shetah to have restored the Torah to her old
"The world was
glory, as they state in the mentioned Boraitha:
embarrassed until Simeon b. Shetah appeared and restored the
Torah to her former state." And here they found an opportunity
to use the Pharisees arguments against them.
The Pharisees say
that after the massacre of the sages and those learned in the tra
ditional law by Johanan Hyrcanus, the oral law was forgotten in
Israel till Simeon b. Shetah came and restored it.
By oral law
is meant that traditional comment on the Torah as it was after
ward written down and concluded by R. Jehudah the Nasi and
his successors in the Mishna and Talmud against which the Ka
raites protest.
Now, the difference between restoration and inno
vation is insignificant, and what the Pharisees and Rabbis term
restoration the Karaites name innovation, and maintain that Simeon
b. Shetah made a new law, that is the oral law which was unknown
previously, and had not descended to them from their forefathers:
and from this new law a new quarrel sprung forth among those
who believed in tradition, which quarrel has no connection what
ever with the old controversy between the disciples of Sadduk
and Bithus, the infidels, and the Josees, the believers, on whom
all
Israel leant.
As
for the statement of the Karaites
belief dates
only
above mentioned that their
of the second Temple, etc., and that
to light again, after it had disappeared, the
from the time
Anan brought
it
same was very ably
criticised
by the scholarly
rabbi, S. J.
Rapa-
APPENDIX
B.
147
port ("Kerem Hemed," p. 200), by laying out his own plan for
the investigation of the causes of the Karaite history; he says,
namely: "The activity of Anan was not isolated in its kind,
but it was only a link in the chain of the history of the nations
For there existed religious differences among the
of those days.
Arabians, some holding only the Koran and what Mahomet com
municated to his son-in-law Eli, and who are known as the Shitin;
while some held the traditions communicated
wife
and son-in-law,
known
And
as the
his
and many
sons,
by Mahomet,
who
disciples,
his
are
Shonin."
seems that this religious quarrel has, to our shame, in
fected the Jews; Anan and Saul, his sons, tried to establish a
new sect in Israel similar to the Shitin, for they thought that the
Arabian high officers would assist them, for they would be at one
with them in taking for the basis of their belief only what is written
And how many times have
in the text, and to deny tradition.
religious movements, similar to those, taken place among the
nations among which we live, even in our own times.
Having thus laid before the reader the views of the Karaites
themselves, i.e., of those later Karaites who endeavored to justify
Anan for his complete separation from the Rabbanism, although
Anan himself was very far from doing so, as can easily be seen
by every one who has some sense of his own, from the statement
it
prepare you a Mishnaand Talmud myself
(vide supra, p. 27), and also some of the opinions of the scholars
Holdheim and Rapaport, we wish to submit our own opinion
of
Anan:
"And I
will
,"
in regard to this matter.
In our judgment they all erred in making the following two
assertions, viz: that the Sadducees did not believe in retribution
come; and that the Talmudists had no knowledge
naming itself, or which was named by others, Karaites.
in the world to
of a sect
The
error in
making these
assertions caused
fetched inferences and to write a
number
them
draw
to
of articles,
which
far
will
not stand any proper criticism.
For Holdheim, in refuting upon
the assertion of the Karaites that their sect was founded in the
b. Tobai, fixes their origin at a much prior date,
that
the
Sadducees and Karaites are one and the same
by stating
and
that
the
latter
name was adopted by them at a later
sect,
days of Jehudah
Talmud they were known by the
former name, and that accounts for not finding the name Karaites
in the Talmud, (see at length, ibid., p. 25), basing his assertions
date, but at the time of the
on Maimonidus and Abraham
assertions
may
b.
David
of Paskira.
be found in Rapaport, although he
Some
of these
tries to
recon-
APPENDIX
148
B.
both sides. And because the Karaites differed from the Sadducees in that the latter did not believe in resurrection, and,
according to him, also not in retribution after death, Holdheim
cile
asserts that the Karaites, who are the same as the Sadducees,
have adopted that belief only at a later date, when that belief
has already been adopted by all other nations and religions.
And coming to such conclusion he justifies the Sadducees and
their views, and gives them preference over the Rabbanism and
their views, which constitutes almost the whole subject of his
book.
But we will prove his error, and therefore most of his as
sertions will prove of no value, and the Talmudists and their
views and teachings will remain true and everlasting.
But before attempting to explain ourselves in more detail we
feel it our duty to say a few words in regard to Resurrection, which
is the basis of the whole contention between the scholars above
mentioned and the sects themselves.
The first Mishna in Chapt. Halek (Sanhedrin) reads: "The fol
lowing have no share in the world to come the one who says the
Resurrection does not originate from the Pentateuch," which is
he who does not believe in
explained by Rashi as follows:
the inferences drawn later on in the German that resurrection orig
inates from the Bible and even if he does believe in resurrection,
but says that it does not originate from the Pentateuch, he is an
infidel, for if he does not believe in its origin from the Bible what
do we care for him or his belief? Wherefrom does he know that
:
"i.e.,
;
so
it
is
?
He
is,
therefore,
a perfect
infidel."
And
although
some doubt whether these quoted words came from the pen of
Rashi, because it was not Rashi s way to enter into lengthy ex
planations, still all concede that it expresses the true meaning of
the Mishna.
Now, if we will take the true intent of the Talmudists, that
although one believes in resurrection he is an infidel, if he does
not believe that its origin is from the Pentateuch, we will at once
conceive that
all
it
nations and
when the latter belief began to circulate among
among the masses of Israel to such an extent that
was considered an
essential element of the belief in
God, and
that any religion which did not consider it one of its dogmas, was
not worthy of being ranked as a religion at all, the Talmudists
from the Pentateuch
borrowed it from that source,
in order to refute those who asserted that its origin was in the
New Testament and, therefore, the latter was the principal re
ligion and the former ceased to exist.
endeavored to prove the origin of
and that other nations and
this belief
religions
APPENDIX
We
B.
149
now take up another Mishna in Tract Berachoth, p. 540:
the Sadducees have perversely taught that there is only
one state of existence, it was ordained that it shall be pronounced:
will
"Since
From
which Rashi explains, i.e., "that
Eternity to Eternity,
they denied resurrection." Rashi again diverts the Mishna from
its plain meaning, that the Sadducees did not admit the existence
"
i.e., retribution after the soul separates from
the body, and limited their disbelief to resurrection only; (and
that the meaning of "perversely taught" means that they per
of the world to come,
verted from their
own
opinions and taught the masses that belief)
the perversion of the Sadducees consisted,
.
It is self-evident that
according to Rashi, only in denying the inferences drawn to es
tablish the origin of resurrection in the Pentateuch.
But from
the dispute of the Sadducees with the founder of the Christian
religion, or with his disciples, and from the derisive question,
whom of them a widow of seven brothers will marry after resur
which is quoted in the work of Azariah Di Rossi, we
can easily see that the Sadducees did not believe in resurrection
rection,"
at all.
If
we
will
examine carefully the interpretations
of the Tal-
mudists in desiring to find a hint for resurrection in the Pentateuch,
and that they did not infer it from the plain statement (Deutr.
xxxii. 39):
"/
alone
kill
and
I
make
alive;
I
wound and
I
heal,"
which, on every occasion they explained to mean "as the healing
follows the wound, so also does life follow death
(see Ben Ezra),
but resorted to far-fetched interpretations instead, we will clearly
see that the Talmudists did not wish to state that resurrection is
"
expressly stated in the Pentateuch, for in such case they would,
of necessity, have to admit that this belief was known and cir
culating at the time the Pentateuch was given.
They only wanted
to find some slight reference to it in the Pentateuch, and were of
the opinion that the belief in resurrection was known only to a
limited number of select men, but not to the masses, from whom
it
was kept
secret, for fear that
"familiar spirits"
and
"wizards"
they might as well believe in
("Ob
and Yaduni
"),
or in
"in
But only after this belief has been bor
quiring of the dead."
rowed from the neighboring nations and has been adopted by the
masses, the Talmudists found it necessary to find some source
it in the Pentateuch in order to strengthen the latter, although
not explicitly stated therein.
It follows from all this that at the time the Mosaic Law was
proclaimed, that belief was not only not obligatory, but on the
for
contrary every effort was
made
to keep
it
from the masses, and,
APPENDIX
150
therefore,
B.
no promises were made as to resurrection, but only as
and tranquillity during life-time.
to longevity
When, however, the founder of Christianity made this belief
one of its dogmas and minimized the Old Testament, the Talmudists made it obligatory to believe that its source is in the
Pentateuch. And the Sadducees who rejected this belief at all
were considered as disbelievers.
But we find nowhere that the Sadducees ever denied the im
mortality of the soul or that they ever denied the belief in retri
bution after death, for according to all opinions the Sadducees
were not the disciples of Autigonus of Socho, Zaduck and Bithus,
who, according to a statement in Aboth d Rabbi Nathan, rejected
the belief in retribution. The name Sadducees, as we have said
in the beginning of this article, had its origin from Zaduck the
Or, perhaps,
high priest of David, according to Geiger s opinion.
Holdheim s opinion is the correct one, viz. that in the beginning
:
Zadikim," as Simon the high priest was
they were surnamed
surnamed the Zadik.
Neither do we find anywhere that the Sadducees repulsed the
statement of the Talmudists, to wit: "In order that thy days
may be prolonged (Deutr. v. 16), that means in the world to
"
"
"
"
come which
is prolonged (endless), and as the simple proof, if one
say to his son: "go up on the roof and examine the bird s nest,
and take the young ones, and send away the mother, in both of
which (sending away the mother and honoring the father) longev
ity is the promised compensation in the Pentateuch; and the son
in doing so fell and was killed; how can the promise be fulfilled?
We
must, therefore, say that the promised longevity has reference
Nor is it anywhere found that the Saddu
after death."
cees refuted the statement of the Talmudists:
That person
shall be cut off
(Numb. xv. 31); that it means, he should be
cut off from this world as well as from the world to come."
The assertion of those who consider themselves competent to
make it, that there is no basis in the Pentateuch for the immor
tality of the soul, is not correct, for besides the many plain pas
sages indicating that, the same can also be established from the
necessity of the marrying the widow of the deceased childless
brother, for if the soul is mortal what is the benefit of "raising
to
life
"
"
"
So, also, greatly err those who, from
a
draw
contrary conclusion, i.e., by asserting
very passage,
that because the soul dies together with the body the Pentateuch
commanded that decedent s name be raised up if he die childless,
up the deceased
s name?"
this
for
if
the soul dies as does the body,
why
all
that trouble of mar-
APPENDIX
B.
151
rying the widow, or the ceremony of the "Chalitza," and spitting
out before the one who refuses to marry the widow of his deceased
childless brother, as
commanded by
derives no benefit therefrom,
in all that either for the
why
the Pentateuch?
all
There
that?
dead or for the
living,
and
If
is
it is
the soul
no honor
very well
that this custom of raising up the name of the deceased
on his estates was known and observed in ancient times, and the
family that did not observe this custom incurred disrespect.
known
Thus
far as to the Pentateuch, but as regards the prophets or
Hygiogropha only a blind man can fail to find in them retribution
and immortality
Isaiah
full
is
The whole book
of the soul after death.
of that,
and
(Isa. Ivi.
it
of
says plainly
4-5):
concerning the eunuchs (those who die
childless) I will indeed give unto them, in my house and within
my walls, a place and a name better than sons and daughters, an
And not to mention
eternal name
they shall not be cut
thus
saith
"For
Lord
the
off."
about the early and the later Hygiogropha
will
not abandon
had
"Unless
I
Land
life."
"His
of
my
land."
"Thou
also (ibid, xxvii. 13):
grave,"
believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the
And
it
is
also explicitly stated, (ibid. xxv.
send shall abide in happiness;
herit the
(Ps., xvi. 10):
and
soul to the
Now, how can
it
and
13):
his descendants shall in
enter the
mind that the Saddu-
who, according to Holdheim, are the Karaites, whose only
endeavor was to give the whole Scripture, not only the Pentateuch,
the illiteral meaning of the words will deviate from the literal
cees,
meaning, and explain all those passages as referring only to this
earthly life? We can also see from the fact that the Sadducees
were more strict as to purification than the Pharisees in going as
far as saying that profane writings (the
book
of
Homer) make
the hands unclean, to such an extent that if they touch Terumah
the latter must not be eaten; that they believed in immortality
which they considered to such an extent clean that they
not tolerate the least uncleanliness in a sacred thing. And
of the soul,
will
how much did the Sadducees sacrifice themselves in order to pre
vent the enemy from defiling the sanctuary? How much did they
sacrifice themselves for the sake of the Holy name (QS^n^TT
p).
which no one who does not believe in immortality would
But Holdheim seems to advance a strange assertion, viz., that
the Sadducees believed in immortality of the soul and neverthe
less denied retribution, which we can by no means understand, be
do?
cause what is the benefit of immortality if there is no retribution?
If all are equal and alike after death, the righteous and the wicked,
the wise and the fool?
(The philosophy of Aristotle concedes
APPENDIX
152
B.
at least that the soul of the righteous unite with
after death, but according to Holdheim there is absolutely no
It is true
preference to the human soul over that of the animal)
.
we heard some few years ago (in 1885) in Leipsic, at a meet
of
spiritualists, in company of the late Dr. Mandelkern, a profes
ing
that
sor, state in his lecture
that the spirit of a certain
man who,
during
was one of the easy-minded, rested upon his shoulders
for about two weeks, and that he was then of the same disposition
as before death, and from this he drew the conclusion that the
soul remains the same after death, in the spiritual world, as during
the lifetime, but we hardly believe Holdheim ever entertained
this belief, which is contrary to common sense, and still more,
his lifetime
he endeavors to
make
his
beloved Sadducees entertain such
belief.
opinion that the whole contention between the
Sadducees and Pharisees was originally over political affairs, the
Dr. Geiger
s
former struggling to have the control over such affairs, because
of their descent from prominent families, and the latter not de
siring to submit, and from this the contention extended to civil
and
religious matters; the Pharisees being extremely faithful to
their traditions saw in everything the Sadducees differed from
them, a denial in tradition;
also supported by history.
H. Weiss in his work "Dor
seems to be more correct, as being
The same theory is followed by I.
Dor V dorshow," who proves con
clusively that the Pharisees always laid down their decisions in
direct opposition to that of the Sadducees in order to prevent
In fact, we see
the masses from joining the ranks of the latter.
that the differences between the two sects, mentioned in the Tal
minor things which have very little to do with
We also have proved at the end of Tract Sab
religious dogmas.
bath of our new edition, from page 381 on, that all the eighteen
precautionary measures adopted by the Pharisees at the attic of
mud, were
as to
Hananiah, were directed against the priests who mostly belonged
to the Sadducees.
We
do not mean to rebuke the Pharisees for having acted thus,
they did so of necessity, because the Sadducees endeavored
to transplant Hellenism into the Hebrew religion in such a manner
that it should not be noticed, and in order to guard against this they
opposed the decisions of the Sadducees even when the latter were
for
not contrary to the true teachings of the Torah, for (Ps. cxix.
It is time to act for the Lord: they have broken thy law."
126):
"
It is
very probable that because the belief in resurrection was
so deeply rooted among the masses, because it is very natural
that one should desire to meet again his relatives alive after they
APPENDIX
had once
died,
B.
and the Sadducees have opposed
153
this belief
and
the Pharisees assigned so much importance to it and
endeavored to find some source for it in the Scripture, in order to
ridiculed
it,
prevent the names from adhering to the teachings of the Sad
ducees and thereby preventing the transplanting of Hellenism
into the Hebrew faith, although in the very beginning of its de
was kept secret from the masses.
The result of what has been stated is that the Sadducees
as well as the Pharisees, have expounded the Scripture according
to tradition and have believed in the immortality of the soul and
And the animosity of those two sects
retribution after death.
grew from the desire of each of them to have the control over
Therefore, when the Pharisees in the end
political affairs.
gained the overhand, the first thing for Simeon b. Shetah to do
was to remove the Sadducees from the Sanhedrin, in which he
was very successful. But after the quarrel was carried on for
several centuries, and almost during the whole time of the ex
istence of the second Temple, and during that time more than once
the danger was imminent that the teachings of the Pharisees
should be swallowed up by Hellenism, and especially so during
the time of Johanan the high priest and king, during whose reign
the Pharisees were executed by the hundreds, and many emi
grated to Egypt and Babylonia, the animosity and hatred as
sumed such proportions that the name "Sadducee" alone was
contemptible. Still more, when after the Pharisees had already
been successful they were compelled to have public debates with
them in religious matters, for their teachings have been deeply
rooted among the masses and could not easily be rooted out.
This animosity assumed still greater proportions when Chris
velopment
this belief
began to develop; for the latter has confirmed many of
the teachings of the Sadducees, although not directly still indi
rectly, and has opposed those of the Pharisees, although they
tianity
did not differ to a considerable extent from the latter in religious
matters and principles, the masses adhering to the teachings of
the Pharisees, have greatly despised the Sadducees, and consid
ered them infidels and disbelievers in retribution and immortality
of the soul, and in the appearing of a personal Messiah from the
houses of David and Joseph, which belief has been circulating
among the masses during the last days of existence of the second
Temple, and they endeavored, with all their might, to obliterate
Those few Sadducees who lived after the de
their teachings.
struction of the second Temple gathered up all the courage they
could and entered into public debates with R. Johanan b. Zakkai,
APPENDIX
154
B.
but seeing that their hope was forlorn, and that they
rise again, they gave up the battle pub
did
not renounce their beliefs, or abandon
licly, although they
their hatred, and tried to continue the same against the teachings
of the Pharisees secretly.
At least, during the second century
we hear nothing of them publicly.
Now we will stop for a moment to see who the Karaite sect
was. There is no doubt that there existed a sect by this name
in the days of the Talmudists, for they are mentioned several
times in the Talmud under the name "Adherers to the Scripture,"
(fcOpD^D)* and in one place it is plainly stated "the Ka
raites added" (Pesachim, p. 117; our edition, p. 246, see foot
note 3).
Neither is there any doubt that they were not favored
R. Jose,
etc.,
would not be able to
by the Talmudists, as we find in many places in the Talmud re
marks reflecting on them, as f.i.: "They who occupy themselves
with the study of Scripture are not to be blamed, but, on the
other hand, not to be praised
(Baba Metzia, 79), and in Hagiga,
a man goes out from the study
it states plainly; Rabb said:
"
"If
Mishna to read the verses of the Bible, this man can have
no more peace." And there is no doubt that many similar re
marks found in the Talmud have reference to this sect. But we
can not, with exactness, fix the time when and to what extent
of the
this sect openly declared against the teachings of the Talmudists.
However, we do not hesitate for one moment to state that during
all
that time this sect has brooded an intense hatred to every Is
who has not followed them, although at times they were
raelite
compelled to conceal their hatred.
One penetrating glance into the history of the Samaritans and
into that of the Karaites one penetrating glance into the literature
;
of the former
and into that
of the latter; the curses pronounced
both
of
those
sects
by
against the followers of the Rabbanism;
the beliefs and principles common to the religion of both (although
differing slightly ceremonially), will suffice to induce one to agree
with us that the Karaites, whose sect was established in the days
of Anan, and a few of whom are living in our own time, have not
only borrowed from the Samaritans their teachings, but that the
Karaites are the former Samaritans and that even up to date
they have changed slightly only in their outward appearance and
in name, but not intrinsically.
From the whole sect we will pick out only Anan, who descended
from the family of the Exilarch, who came from the house of
David (and perhaps was his mother or grandmother of Samaritan
descent),
and who, from jealously having scorned and despised
APPENDIX
B.
155
had gathered the remainder of the Sa
changed their name and tendency, had
ago
long
become their chief to fight their battles and to separate completely
from the house of Israel, for he could afford doing so, being a de
scendant from a prominent family. But we do not in the least
intimate that Anan founded a new sect with new principles.
the traditional teachings,
maritans,
who had
This, our present view,
is
we do not
not unfounded, but
is
based on his
anywhere in history any such
intense, unchangeable, everlasting and unfounded hatred as that
of the Samaritans and Karaites toward the house of Israel.
torical facts, for
find
Whenever we
find in history that any ill-feelings or hatred
two nations it is easy to find the reason for such
or hatred; it was either the craving for subjugation of
existed between
feelings
foreign countries, or the desire to reign supreme over others, or,
in very ancient times also the desire to prove the supremacy of
one nation s idols over those of the other, and many other rea
sons,
which provoked one nation to go to war with another and
But we find no such reason
to take vengeance of one another.
for the hatred of the Samaritans toward the house of Israel, yet
when the
latter returned
from Babylonia and intended to build
the Temple, no plausible reason can be found for the endeavor
ing of the Samaritans to mislead the Israelites whenever they tried
to establish the
new moon.
(See
Rosh Hashana, Chap.
II.,
our
Hebrew
Neither can there be as
edition, p. 25; English, p. 38.)
signed a reason for the custom of the Samaritans to pronounce
curses over Ezra the Scribe, at the time of the opening of the ark
of scrolls every Sabbath, which prevails up to date. (See our "The
Pentateuch, its Character," etc., as well as for many other things
which the reader
may
find in the
Talmud and Apokrypha, and
in
History of the Jews, which, if quoted here would occupy a
full volume.)
In a word, there can be found no substantial reason
or ground for these things, except that they blindly hated the
house of Israel. Neither do we find any reason for the slandering
Graetz
s
and
reviling by the Karaites of the Rabbanism in general, and of
Rabh Saadiah Gaon in particular, nor for all the false accusa
tions and malicious charges and denunciations against the Rab
banism contained in the extensive literature of the Karaites.
History shows us that nations who hated each other to the
extreme have in course of time laid the weapons aside and made
up. History records numerous instances, that sects between whom
differences existed, and which even reached such a degree that they
resulted in actual fight, have in course of time become reconciled
and associated with each other, and intermarried, and the former
APPENDIX
156
B.
hatred and quarrels were wholly forgotten. We will not cite as
an example the Beth Shammai and the Beth Hillel, who, although
widely differing from each other in their opinions, still intermarried,
as found in the Talmud; but even the Sadducees and the Phari
sees, did they there decline to eat and drink with each other, or inter
marry? We do not find that anywhere.* The Samaritans, how
ever, and Karaites are singular instances in this respect in history.
Although most of them have already intermingled with other na
tions, not a single instance can be pointed out that they have
intermarried with an Israelite or have partaken of his food or
drink.
The
and
toleration of the Pharisees
The
known.
Beth
of their teachings is well
have done all that lay
power to bring them into the house of Israel: they cred
ited them in regard to purification; they permitted them to be
counted in the number of three for the benediction over the meal
an ^ in the number of ten for prayer in the prayer house
disciples of the
Hillel
in their
an d in
PJO
wanted to consider them
f ac t,
as Is
raelites for all purposes, but their animosity and trickery increased
to such an extent that they could no more be tolerated, and there
fore, the leaders of Israel
were compelled to regard them in
all
and prohibited their bread, wine, and oil.
Exactly the same thing happened with the Karaites whom the
Rabbanism endeavored, with all their might, to draw near them
and debate with them, until they convinced themselves that their
hatred toward Israel is so great that they said
^ D^^pri
respects as idolaters,
1
"H"
Q/IJ?;?
pnfc$nD"
raites will
(
tne ren ts
wm never be sewed together),
never make up with
"
us,"
"the
Ka
and they are up to date regarded
as idolators.
We know
well that
we
are too brief in this article
and that we
ought to adduce at length all the facts to prove that all that the
Samaritans and Karaites have done unto Israel was not to derive
any benefit therefrom, or with a view of subduing them, for they
*
An example may
last century when a new sect (Chasidini) es
greatest authority, at least in Russia and Poland, Eliah
Wilner Gaon" in conjunction with all the Rabbis, excommuni
tablished themselves.
"
be given of the
The
Wilna, called the
cated the whole sect, prohibited their eatings and beverages and intermarriage with
Moreover he allowed any one to denounce the new sect, and their rabbis were
them.
imprisoned by the government. But what was the end ? Nothing at all. All the
excommunications, prohibitions, prosecutions, etc., were abolished, without even
the result of a meeting, and as soon as the quarrel was over, not one of either
All are called Israel, all are
party hesitated to mingle with the opposite sect.
Israelites,
then.
and
at the present time
nobody gives any attention
to all that
happened
APPENDIX
B.
157
knew that this was an impossibility, but only out of blind
hatred deeply rooted in them, which descends from generation to
We know this very well, but we can not enter here
generation.
into such details, as it would exceed the limits of an article, and
would comprise a whole book in itself. We, therefore, rely upon
well
the intelligence and knowledge of the reader that he will
where to find those if needed.
know
our own times, when the Karaites number only a few
thousands, which accounts for their enjoying equal rights with the
Even
in
of Russia, they make no secret
toward Israel. When the anti-Jewish disorders
broke out in Russia some few years ago, and many of our co
religionists were exiled from the Middle States of the Russian
Empire, the latter have petitioned the Russian Government to
be permitted to embrace Karaitism. The Minister of the In
natives, since
Emperor Nicholas
of their hatred
terior has expressed his willingness to grant their petition if the
Karaites will consent to receive them into their midst, and di
rected an inquiry to this effect to their Hacham in Odessa, but
the latter answered that there is no desire on the part of the
Karaites to receive the Jews as their co-religionists.
These facts need hardly any comment; they speak for them
In fact, during all the long period since the year 760, it has
not as yet happened that even a few individual Karaites should
intermarry with our co-religionists, or should in any way associate
with us. (Even in business affairs they do it only with great
selves.
Is there any stronger proof neces
reluctance and very seldom.)
of
race-hatred?
No
other
this
race or nation, no matter how
sary
may be, will ever decline to receive into their
he only wishes to gain their faith, and will never
refuse to associate with him; and the masses, as well as the in
telligent classes, have always been favorably inclined toward
the Jews.
But this hatred of the Karaites has no equal among
other nations in any generation.
great their hatred
midst a Jew,
if
As the Samaritans have forged and
falsified
the Pentateuch,
now
well established, so also did the Karaites forge and falsify
the Talmud. And we hereby reproach the writers of the history of
as
is
the Karaites, who without much deliberations wrote For Saadiah
the Gaon, when king, unable to assign any good reason for a state
;
ment found
have
killed
in the
some
Talmud
of the
that the Beth Shammai
and vice versa, has denied the
and Sahl, the son of Matzliah,
(Jerushalmi)
Beth
Hillel,
existence of such a statement at
all;
,
his opponent, in order to prove to the world the delinquency of
R. Saadiah, has descended from Palestine to Babylonia with the
APPENDIX
158
B.
Jerusalem Talmud in his hand! And they did not conceive that
Sahl himself has forged the manuscript of the Talmud by writing in
this statement, and he was not the first one to do so, but was prob
ably preceded by others, as we have remarked in the introduction
to our edition of Rosh Hoshana. In fact, we are surprised at those
who
are handling the Karaite literature that they have not per
should more evidence be given to Sahl the forger,
it.
Why
ceived
than to Rabh Saadiah, who states positively that such a state
ment did not exist in the Talmud ? Why should we not belive R.
Saadiah that in his manuscript such a statement was not in exist
ence? (To our regret this statement was added to, and remains
in the
Talmud through the
that even
now
falsify, as
proved by
in
our
fault of the printers.)
Especially so
the Karaites continue to forge and
modern scholars at the head of which
own days
many
Abraham Harkawy, by exposing the falsifications of Abraham
Firkowitz, the Karaite Hacham, in all his writings.
The result of all that stated is that from the similarity of action,
in all details, of the Karaites and Samaritans we can logically
is
arrive at the conclusion that the Karaites were doing nothing new,
but only stepping in the shoes of their ancestors, the Samaritans,
who they were, only under a different name, and being so they never
descended from Israel. And all that Anan did was to gather the
scattered Samaritans and encourage them to continue their fight
against Israel, which has been hitherto conducted by them secretly,
openly and publicly and with more vigor and animosity.
And if we will examine with a critical eye the literature of the
Karaites we will easily see that they are none others than the Sama
And in vain has Dr. Holdheim held up as a striking proof
ritans.
the "laws of divorce," saying that such were the opinions of the
Sadducees, and that the Karaites who were none else but the Sadducees clung to their old laws. No divorce was granted under the
teaching of the Samaritans, unless on the ground of adultery. And
Talmud bears testimony in stating (as quoted
Beth
Shammai are as the Kuthaiz, i.e., the Beth
above),
Shammai who prohibited a divorce unless on the ground of
adultery, agree with the Samaritans who taught the same thing,
and so also are the laws of the Karaites (even in regard to this
has Dr. Holdheim blamed the teachings of the Pharisees without
any foundation, for formerly even the Pharisees did not allow a
divorce unless on the above-stated grounds, and all the leniency
as to divorce which was afterwards decreed by the Beth Hillel, of
whom R. Aqiba was one, was only introduced because the exigencies
of the time required it, for it was at the time the New Testament
as to this also the
"The
APPENDIX
B.
159
began to gain strength and become popular, which declared every
one who married a divorced woman to be an adulterer; as proved
by I. H. Weiss in his work, and all other laws of the Karaites
").
The
observance of the Sabbath, etc., is nothing else but the
laws of the Samaritans, and the slight difference in the ceremonies
of these two sects is only because the former lived much later than
strict
the latter, and had to struggle with other sects
who were
their
and therefore many ceremonies
superiors,
were forgotten altogether. As to principles and dogmas, we have
never heard that the Samaritans have ever rejected the belief in
and
to submit to them,
On the
resurrection or in the world to come.
in resurrection has circulated
among
all
contrary, as the belief
nations, and as the Samari
tans have produced no great and learned men, and being widely
separated from Israel, it is very natural that they did believe in
resurrection as did their descendants the Karaites.
Another proof can be adduced that the Karaites are the de
scendants of the Samaritans; namely, that the Karaites mourn
much more over the destruction of the Temple (and some of their
Hachams have even adapted the name "Mourner or "Mourners
than we do, because as the Samaritans they mourn over the loss
of their temple on the Mount Gerisim which was destroyed by Janai,
"
"),
and continue to curse him up to date in their prayers.
We could adduce numerous other proofs taken from both the
extensive literature of the Karaites and the inextensive literature
of the Samaritans, to show that we did not in the least exaggerate our
opinion as to the origin of the Karaites, but this article has taken
up much more space than we expected and we are unable to give
them here to the reader.
Before closing this article we find
gentleman who put the question to us:
it
our duty to answer the
are the reformers
"What
of our times, if not Karaites?"
A careful examination of the literature of the reformers in
rope, as Holdheim, Geiger, Ritter, etc.
;
of the
Eu
prayer books of the
reformers in this country, and of the sermons of their preachers all
over the world, we will at once recognize in them the early Sadducees, with all their particularities.
They (generally, not consid
in immortality of the
here
and
believe
there
an
ering
exception)
soul, in retribution after death and in many Talmudical traditions,
shown by the fact that they observe the holidays as es
by the Talmudists but they do not believe in resurrec
tion, neither in the coming of a personal Messiah, and do not recog
nize the Talmud as final authority in all matters; and self-under
stood those rules and regulations established subsequent to the
as can be
tablished
;
APPENDIX
160
close of the
Talmud but
B.
in its spirit, the
same thing did the former
Sadducees.
But as our present reformers are descendants of the Pharisees,
and the Sadducees being no more in existence, therefore they also
have in many things adopted a new form, and recognize the teach
ings of the Pharisees (as for instance the observance of the sixth
day of Sivan as Pentecost) as indisputable laws. But we can by
no means accuse the reformers in not believing in tradition gen
erally, as we cannot well accuse of that the former Sadducees.
(Even those reformers who have changed the Sabbath, for even
can be explained in accordance with the general rule of the
sanctifies the seventh day, but not the Sabbath itself,
and for this reason the Talmud decreed that in case one forgets
which day is the Sabbath, he shall count six days and observe the
seventh as Sabbath, see our article in the Deborah, 1894.) Should
the reader put the question to us whether the reformers are not
to be charged with transplanting Christianity into Judaism, and
whether there is no danger that in course of time Christianity will
swallow up Judaism altogether, as the Unitarism of our own days,
as such danger has already threatened Judaism during the early
Sadducees, we will say that this question requires a deliberate an
this
Talmud which
or
swer, and cannot be answered by
can only state that we have devoted
"no"
"yes"
We
offhand.
much
of
our attention
to this question, and with a penetrating eye have followed the
of the reformers of the School of Holdheim, Ritter and their
work
com
Wise in Cincinnati, and of
and having collected con
and having bestowed much deliberation
panions, in Berlin, of the school of Isaac
the teaching of Emil G. Hirch in Chicago,
siderable data of their past,
upon their future, we consider ourselves competent to give our
In fact we have prepared a long article
opinion about this matter.
dealing specially with the following questions: (i) Does the He
brew religion require any reforms? (2) If it does, what are they
and on what
basis can
we introduce them?
(3)
What
are the
re-
reforms introduced by the conservative reformers, and what are
those of the radical reformers? (4) What benefit resulted from
these reforms in general and in particular?
(5) The result of the
reforms of Cincinnati and of those of Hirch, and (6) What is the
name "Orthodox," and to whom shall it be applied?
are wiHing to submit to the readers (after accom
plishing our task of the translation) if desired.
meaning
of the
This article
we
END OF VOLUME
I.
3from tbe Ufme of
200 B.
c.,
up
flts
^formation, about
to tbe
DIVIDED INTO
present Uime
TWO VOLUMES
ITS DEVELOPMENT AND THE PERSECUTIONS SINCE ITS
BIRTH UP TO DATE, INCLUDING ALL RELIGIOUS DISPUTES
AND BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF THE SEPARATED SECTS
VOLUME
I.
VOLUME
II.
NEW
THE HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION TO THE
WITH ILLUSTRATIONS
EDITION: ETHICS, METHOD,
CRITICISM, ETC.
BY
MICHAEL
L.
Volume
NEW
RODKINSON
II.
(XX.)
NEW YORK
TALMUD PUBLISHING COMPANY
1117 SIMPSON STREET
COPYRIGHT,
MICHAEL
L.
1903,
BY
RODKINSON
CONTENTS OF VOLUME
PART
II.
I.
CHAPTER
I.
PAGE
THE COMBINATION OF THE GEMARA, THE SOPHRIM, AND THE
ESHCALATH, ALSO BRIEFLY NOTICED ABOUT MlSHNA, TOSEPHTA, MECHILTA, SIPHRA AND SIPHRE
CHAPTER
THE
II.
FIVE GENERATIONS OF THE TANAIM, WITH THEIR
ACTERISTICS
AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
CHAPTER
CHAR
...
6
III.
THE
THE AMORAIM OR EXPOUNDERS OF THE MISHNA.
Six
GENERATIONS OF THE AMORAIM, THE PALESTINIAN AS WELL
AS THE BABYLONIAN, AND ALSO THAT OF SURA, PUAIBADITHA AND NAHARDEA, WITH THEIR CHARACTERISTICS
AND BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
....
CHAPTER
i
22
IV.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF HALAKHA AND HAGADA
IN THE CON
TENTS OF THE GEMARA. COMPILATION OF THE PALESTINIAN
TALMUD AND THAT OF THE BABYLONIAN AND THE Two
GEMARAS COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER
...
38
APOCRYPHAL APPENDICES TO THE TALMUD AND COMMENTARIES.
THE NECESSITY FOR COMMENTARIES EXCLUSIVELY ON
THE MISHNA
44
CHAPTER
CHAPTER
V.
VI.
EPITOMES, CODIFICATIONS, MANUSCRIPTS AND PRINTED EDI
TIONS OF THE TALMUD.
INTRODUCTORY.
EPITOMES,
CODES, COLLECTIONS OF THE HAGADIC PORTIONS OF THE
TALMUD, MANUSCRIPTS, AND THE BOTH TALMUDS IN PRINT.
48
CONTENTS.
iv
CHAPTER
VII.
PACK
TRANSLATIONS OF THE TALMUD, THE MISHNAYOTH IN MANY
MODERN LANGUAGES, THE GEMARA IN ENGLISH, AND ALSO
THE TRANSLATION OF THE PALESTINIAN TALMUD
.
CHAPTER
.
55
VIII.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MODERN WORKS AND MONOGRAPHS ON TALMUDIC SUBJECTS. HAGADA, ARCHAEOLOGICAL, BIOGRAPH
CHRONOLOGY AND CALENDAR, CUSTOMS, DIALECTICS,
EDUCATION, ETHICS, EXEGESIS, GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY,
LAW IN GENERAL, JUDICIAL COURTS, EVIDENCE IN LAW,
CRIMINAL LAW, CIVIL LAW, INHERITANCE AND TESTA
ICAL,
MENT, POLICE LAW, LAW OF MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE,
LAWS CONCERNING SLAVERY, LINGUISTICS, MATHEMATICS,
MEDICINE, SURGERY, NATURAL HISTORY AND SCIENCES,
PARSEEISM OF THE TALMUD, POETRY, PROVERBS, PSY
CHOLOGY, SUPERSTITION, AND LECTURES ON THE TALMUD.
CHAPTER
58
IX.
WHY SHOULD
CHRISTIANS FEEL INTERESTED IN THE TALMUD ?
COLLECTIONS FROM GENTILES AND MODERN HEBREW
REASONS WHY THE TALMUD SHOULD BE
SCHOLARS.
STUDIED
CHAPTER
OPINIONS ON THE VALUE OF THE
X.
TALMUD
BY GENTILES
AND
MODERN JEWISH SCHOLARS
PART
70
75
II.
CHAPTER
I.
ETHICS. INTRODUCTION. THE PARALLELS BETWEEN THE TALMUDIC AND THE EVANGELUM REGARDING HUMAN LOVE
.
CHAPTER
80
II.
MAN
AS MORAL BEING, FREE-WILL, GOD S WILL, THE AC
COUNTABLE TO GOD, ETC., LABOR, CARDINAL DUTIES IN
RELATION TO FELLOW-MEN, JUSTICE, TRUTH AND TRUTH
FULNESS, PEACEFULNESS, CHARITY, DUTIES CONCERNING
SPECIAL RELATIONS, THE CONJUGAL RELATIONS, PARENTS
AND CHILDREN, COUNTRY AND COMMUNITY, AND THE
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
84
CONTENTS.
PART
v
III.
PACB
OUR METHOD
......
NEW
OF THE TRANSLATION OF THE
OF THE BABYLONIAN
TALMUD
PART
EDITION
IV.
SOME REMARKS ABOUT CRITICISM IN GENERAL
AND TO OUR NEW EDITION ESPECIALLY
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER II. THE SUGGESTION THAT JESUS is
MENTIONED IN THE TALMUD AS AN AUTHOR OF A LAW
WHICH WAS PRACTISED UNTIL IT WAS CHANGED BY
....
CRITICISM.
AKIBA
...........
PART
94
101
105
V.
THE ARRANGEMENT AND THE NAMES OF THE TRACTS OF THE
SECTIONS OF BOTH TALMUDS, WITH THE SYNOPSIS OF THE
Two SECTIONS, MOED AND NEZIKIN
(134 pages)
.
PART
.
.
VI.
INDORSEMENTS AND SOME PRESS COMMENTS
.
(14 pages)
PART
I.
NEW
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION TO THE
EDITION OF THE TALMUD.
CHAPTER
I.
THE COMBINATION OF THE GEMARA, THE SOPHRIM, AND THE
ESHCALATH.
Voluminous books were written about the text of the
Mishna and Talmud in almost every language, besides valuable
articles by very scholarly men in different books and periodicals.
In the bibliography the reader will find all modern works ar
ranged with various references to subjects. We shall only point
out the special books on this subject, viz., "Darkhe HamishThe
nah," (The Ways of the Mishna), by Zachariah Frankel,
"
Introduction to the
Mishna,"
by Jacob
Tra
Toldat Hamish-
1876,
Brill,
"The
Law," by H. Weiss, and
(History of the Mishna), by Haim Oppenheim, all in
Hebrew; Jahrbiicher," by Dr. N. Brill, Frankfort, A. M.,
"
dition of the Oral
nah,"
"
Hamburger, "Die Lehrer der
Mishna," by M. Braunschweiger, and Graetz s
History of the
all in German. Finally three special introductions were
Jews,"
written (i) "Einleitung in den Talmud," Leipzig, 1894, second
"Real
Encyclopaedic,"
by
J.
"
edition,
by
Dr.
Herman
Strack, in
German;
"
(2)
Introduction
Talmud," 1891 and 1894, second edition, by Dr. M.
Mielziner, in English, and (3) "Introduction to the Mishna,"
in the Russian language, by N. Perferkowitz.*
In these
to the
introductions are mentioned also the different translations of
the Mishnayoth and Talmud in
time these works were written.
the languages up to the
Finally, Dr. Erick Bischoff
all
Kritische Geschichte der Tal
wrote a special book named
mud Uberzetzungen aller Zeiten und Zungen," Frankfort,
"
* This work, which
worthy to be considered.
is
the
first
of
its
kind in the Russian language,
is
also
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
2
All the above mentioned introductions explain
a. M., 1899.
the terms of the text of the Mishna and Talmud, their abbre
viations and the method of both Talmuds, to enable those who
desire to study the text in the original.
We, however, who
wish to give an introduction to our English translation of the
Talmud, deem
it not necessary to trouble the English reader
with the explanations of the text, and shall give only what
pertains to our new edition.
We have already mentioned in our brief introduction to
Sabbath that the Talmud, in general, is composed of Mishna
and Gemara. In this introduction, however, we shall give
all the particulars pointed out by Strack and Mielziner which
we deem of interest to the English reader. As a text we took
Mielziner s "Introduction," which is an excellent work, omit
ting what seems to us not necessary for the reader, supplying
it with necessary remarks and additions.
(i.)
The Talmud
is
a combination of Mishna and Gemara,
a collection of Mishnayoth, Tosephtas, Mechilta,
Siphra, Siphre and Boraithas, all of these, interpreted and
discussed by the Amoraim, Saboraim, and also Gaonim at a
"The Mishna is the authorized codification of
later period.
or
unwritten law, which on the basis of the written
the oral
the latter
is
law contained in Pentateuch, developed during the second
Temple, and down to the end of the second century of the
common era." The author of which was R. Jehuda, the prince
named "Rabbi" (flourishing toward the end of the second
century), taking the unfinished work of R. Akiba and R. Meir
as basis.*
(2.)
"The word Tosephta means Addition, Supplement, and,
as indicated by this name, the work is intended to complete
deficiencies of the Mishna. f
It is
divided into Masechtoth,
generally corresponding to those of the Mishna, but differing
*
The meaning
of the
of this work, as well as
In Mielziner
"
s
its
word Mishna
is
already explained by us in the
first
volume
division into sections.
Introduction, "pp. 18-21, the reader will find
Mechilta Siphra and Siphre and Boraitha, which we deem
as they are not of importance to the reader.
f See also our brief general introduction, vol.
i.,
p. xvii.
it
all
the details about
not necessary to repeat
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
3
from them in the arrangement of their subject, and in the
The
division of their Perakim.
latter are not subdivided into
paragraphs. There are in all sixty Masechtoth and 452 Pera
kim. The Tosephta contains mainly the remnants of the
Halacha made by R. Akiba, R.
and
others
not adopted in the Mishna, and,
Meir, R. Nehemia,
besides additions made after R. Jehuda Hanasi s death by
his disciples, R. Chiya, R. Oshaya, Bar Kappara and others.
But we find in that work also many sayings and decisions
of later Amoraim of- the Babylonian and Palestinian schools.
earlier compilations of the
In
its
present shape
*
it
belongs to the
fifth
or sixth cen
tury."
(3-)
"
mon,
Mechilta, the Siphra and the Siphre have this in com
that they treat of the oral law not according to well ar
The
ranged subjects, as is the case with the Mishna and the To
sephta, but rather in the form of a running commentary and
discussion on the biblical passages from which the law is de
duced or on which it is based.
"The Siphra, also called Torath Cohanin, is a collection of
traditional interpretations of the whole book of Leviticus,
introduced by an exposition of R. Ishmael s thirteen her-
meneutic
rules."
(4-)
"The
Siphre, or, as
its fuller title
reads, the
books of the
Rab, comprises the traditional
interpretations of
the book of Numbers, beginning with Chapter V., and of the
whole book of Deuteronomy. The author of the Siphre on
school of
Numbers was evidently not the same as the author of that on
the last book of the Pentateuch. The style of the former,
being more argumentative and discursive, often resembles
*
The Tosephta is usually printed as an appendix to Alphasi s compendium of
In the Vienna edition of the Babylonian Talmud (1860-72) the
Talmud.
Masechtoth of the Tosephta are appended to the corresponding Masechtoth of the
Talmud. A separate revised edition of the whole Tosephta was published by Dr.
Zuckermandel (Pasewalk and Treves, 1877-82). Dr. Adolph Schwartz is publishing
a new edition of the Tosephta, with notes and text corrections, of which the first
volume is out, Wilna, 1891. Critical researches on the Tosephta are found in Frankel s
Darke Hamishna," pp. 304-307, and in I. H. Weiss s Dor Dor," etc., II., pp.
Wesen und Ursprung der Tosephta," Amster
217-225 also in I. H. Duenner s
the
"
"
"
;
dam, 1874.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
4
that of the Siphra, while Siphre on Deuteronomy
brief, bearing more resemblance to the Mechilta."
is
generally
The author
said to be R. Simeon b. Johai.
Besides the Tosephta, the Mechilta, the Siphra and the
Siphre just described, other collections of a similar character
of
it is
existed during the Talmudical period.
In the course of time
they perished, but many hundred fragmentary passages thereof
are quoted in all parts of the Palestinian and Babylonian
Gemara. Such a passage quoted from those lost collections
as well as from the Tosephta, Mechilta, Siphra and Siphre was
termed Boraitha, or Mathnitha Boraitha, meaning extraneous
Mishna. This term was used in order to distinguish those pas
sages from passages in our Mishna, that is, the authorized
Mishna of R. Jehuda Hanasi, compared with which they had
but a subordinate value. The Baraithoth are often found to
be conflicting with each other or with the authorized Mishna,
and
and
in this case the
Gemara
usually displays great ingenuity
attempt to reconcile them. In some in
stances, however, one or the other Boraitha is declared to be
subtility in the
spurious.*
The authorities mentioned in the Mishna
and Boraitha f
as having transmitted and developed the oral law belong to
three different periods; namely: (i) The period of Sopherim
(Scribes); (2) The period of Zugoth; (3) The period of
Tanaim.
(a) Sopherim or Scribes were the learned men who suc
ceeded Ezra during a period of about two hundred years. To
them many institutions and extensions of the Mosaic law are
The Sopherim are also called collectively the men
of the Great Assembly (Synod)." According to tradition,
this synod consisted of 120 members, but we have no record
of their names with the exception of Ezra, its founder, and of
Simon the Upright (Just), (the high priest Simon I., between
310-292, or his grandson Simon II., between 220-202 B.C.),
who is said to have been one of the last members of the Great
"
ascribed.
Assembly.
*
Some
critical researches
on the Boraitha are found
in
Frankel
"
s
Darke Ha-
Dor Dor," II., pp. 239-244.
pp. 311-313, and in I. H. Weiss s
do not find the Zugoth to be mentioned in the Boraitha. However,
"
mishna,"
f
We
not cancel
it
as
it is
so written by Miel/iner.
we do
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
5
Antigonos of Socho, a disciple of Simon the Just, was the
connecting link between this and the following period.
The word Eshcalath
(6)
(Zugoth),
meaning the
pairs
the appellation of the leading teachers from
ben
Jose
Joezer till Hillel, of whom always two, at the same
stood
at the head of the Sanhedrin, one as president
time,
(duumviri),
is
and the other as vice-president (Ab beth din).
succession of these Zugoth was
(1) Jose ben Joezer and Jose ben Jochanan, flourishing
at the time of the Maccabean wars of independence.
(2) Joshua b. Perachia and Nitai of Arbela, flourishing
(Nasi),
The
:
at the time of John Hyrcan.
Tabai and Simon
Shetach, flourishing at
(3)
Juda
(4)
the time of Alexander Janai and Queen Salome.
Shemaiah and Abtalion, flourishing at the time of
b.
Hyrcan II.
and Shamai,
(5) Hillel
b.
flourishing at the time of
King
Herod.
With the
(c)
period of
disciples of Hillel
and Shamai begins the
Tanaim, which lasted about 210 years (from 10 to
220 Ch. Era).
With the beginning
Rabbi (teacher) for the
Rabban (our teacher)
ordained
of this period the title
and
the
title
for the president of the Sanhedrin
came
teachers,
in use.
In the Mishna, the term Tana, meaning a teacher of the
Those teachers are there sig
oral law, does not yet occur.
nified
or
by
generally adding the title of Rabbi to their names,
calling them collectively the Sages, while the authorities
by
of the preceding period are occasionally designated
the former
elders."
It is first in the Gemara that the term Tana is applied
"
to a teacher mentioned in the Mishna and Boraitha, in con
tradistinction to the Amoraim, expounders of the Mishna, as
the teachers after R. Jehuda Hanasi are called. (In Babylonian
Talmud in Palestinian, however, the Amoraim are also called
:
Rabbis.)
The period
of the
Tanaim
is
generally divided into five or
minor sections or generations. The purpose of this division
is to show which teachers developed their principal activity con
temporaneously, though the actual lifetime of some of them
extended to more than one generation.
six
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
6
The following chronological tables contain the names only
more prominent * teachers of each generation. Every
of the
table
is
followed
short biographical sketches of the teachers
by
mentioned therein.!
CHAPTER
II.
THE GENERATIONS OF THE TANAIM.
FIRST GENERATION.
The principal Tanaim of the first generation, which lasted
about seventy years, from 10 to 80, Ch. Era.J are: (i) The
School of Shamai and the School of Hillel; (2) Akabia ben
Mahalalel; (3) Rabban Gamaliel the Elder; (4) Rabbi Chanina,
Chief of the Priests; (5) R. Simon ben Gamaliel; (6) R.
(Strack adds to this first generation
Jochanan ben Zakkai.
the
[10-90]
Judges), (7) Admon, and (8) Hannan; (9) Nachum
I; (u) Haninah b. Dosa;
Hakanah; and (13) Zadock.
Mielziner counts Adman, Hannan and Nachum of Ma
daith at the end of this paragraph, not numbering them among
the first generation, so also he did with some others in the
the Madaith; (10) Eliezer b. Jacob
(12)
Nechunyah
b.
succeeding generations.
* We do not understand
very well what the learned Doctor Mielziner means by
the word prominent, as it seems that the Tanaim whom he omitted were not less
On the contrary, some of them were
prominent than those whom he mentioned.
We
even more prominent.
ture of the learned doctor,
that
we cannot ask him
are sorry that our work was delayed until after the depar
our friend and whose loss we greatly lament, so
who was
the reason as
we always meant
to do.
(See our remarks
further on.)
f Fuller characteristics of the lives and teachings of the principal
given in the following works
Tanaim
are
:
"
Graetz,
History of the
Jews,"
Vol. IV.
Darke Hamishna."
Zur Geschichte der juedischen
H. Weiss,
Z. Frankel,
"
"
I.
"
Jacob Bruell,
Mebo
"
J.
Hamburger,
Real
Hamishna,"
Vol.
Encyclopaedic,"
Tradition,"
Vols.
I.
and
II.
I.
Vol. II.
"
Die Talmudischen
Artikel."
M. Braunschweiger, Die Lehrer der Mishnah."
H. Strack, Einleitung in den Talmud."
"
"
N. Perferkowitz, Talmud, Part I.
\ This comparatively great length of the
the circumstance that
and
Hillel,
and
it
first generation is easily explained by
refers to the duration of the prevailing Schools of Shamai
not, as in the subsequent generations, to that of the activity of a
single leading teacher.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
Characteristics
and Biographical
Sketches.
The School of Shamai and the School of Hillel were
1.
founded by the disciples of the great teachers whose names
they bear. Following the principles of their masters,* they
differed widely in their opinions on many legal questions the
School of Shamai, in general, taking a rigorous, and the School
In their frequent
of Hillel a more lenient view of the question.
controversies the School of Shamai, having been founded al
;
ready during the lifetime of Hillel, is always mentioned first.
Of individual teachers belonging to either of these two schools
only a very few are occasionally mentioned by name. Both
schools existed during the whole period of the first generation,
and the antagonism of their followers extended even to the
middle of the subsequent generation.
2. Akabia ben Mahalalel.
Of this teacher who flourished
shortly after Hillel only a few opinions and traditions are re
corded. According to what is related of him in Mishna
Eduyoth, V., 6, 7, he was a noble character with unyielding
principles.
He was a son of R. Simon,
3. Rabban Gamaliel the Elder.
and grandson of Hillel, whom he succeeded in the office of
of the Rabbin
Nasi.
Many important ordinances
law are ascribed to him.
ical
He
(HUpPO
died eighteen years before
the destruction of Jerusalem. The epithet "the Elder" gen
erally added to his name, is to distinguish him from his grand
son Gamaliel of Jabne, who flourished in the following gener
ation.
Rabbi Chanina, Chief of the Priests, or the proxy of the
He, as well as "the court of Priests," is inciden
in the Mishna in connection with laws con
mentioned
tally
4.
high-priest.
cerning the sacrifices and the Temple service.
He was the son and successor
5. R. Simon ben Gamaliel.
Rabban Gamaliel the Elder, and was executed by the Ro
mans in the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. Belonging
of
to the School of Hillel, his individual opinions in questions of
law are but rarely recorded in the Mishna. He must not be
* Shamai and Hillel themselves differ in three
questions only.
p. 5.)
Their schools, however,
differ in
316 Halakhas.
(See Eduyoth,
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
8
confounded with his grandson who had the same name and
belonged to the fourth generation of Tanaim.
This distinguished teacher was
6. R. Jochanan b. Zakkai.
one of the youngest disciples of Hillel, occupied a high position
already before the destruction of Jerusalem, and afterwards
became the founder and head of the celebrated academy of
Jabne (Jamnia).
SECOND GENERATION.
This generation lasted about forty years, from 80 to 120.
principal Tanaim belonging to it are
(i) Rabban Gamaliel II., (of Jabne); (2) Rabbi Zadok;
The
(3)
:
R. Dosa
(b.
Elazar
(4) R. Eliezerb. Jacob;* (5) R.
R. Joshua (b. Chanania) (7) R.
Elasar b. Arach;f (9) R. Juda b.
Harchinas);
Eliezer (b. Hyrkanos)
;
b.
(6)
;
Azaria; (8)
(According to Strack) (10) Papias; (n) Alazar b.
Zadock; (12) Samuel the Little; (13) Nachum of Gimzu; (14)
Ben Paturi; (15) Jose the Priest; (16) Elazar of Medium.
Bathyra.
We
,
from giving the sketches of those who were
added by Strack and others, as they would take up too much
refrain
The reader who is interested in
space.
in the reference books pointed out
them
to each of
them the sources
in
them can easily find
by Strack, who gives
the German language from
which he draws.
Characteristics
Rabban Gamaliel
and Biographical
Sketches.
He was
a grandson of Gamaliel
the Elder; after the death of R. Johanan b. Zakkai he became
president of the academy of Jabne, and like his ancestors, he
1.
bore the
title
II.
Nasi (Prince)
;
with the Romans, Patriarch.
In
order to distinguish him from his grandfather, he received the
surname Gamaliel of Jabne, or the Second.
Of him it is related that he, in anticipation
2. R. Zadok.
of the destruction of the Temple, fasted for forty successive
* Strack counts him and Zadok
among the first generation.
f We have added him as his omission by Mielziner can be attributed only to
forgetfulness as his preceeding sages were also disciples of R. Johanan b. Zakkai,
and for the same reason we have added Papus, who was a contemporary of R. Aqiba
and of
whom
the
Talmud speaks
highly.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
9
He then removed to Jabne where he as well as his son,
years.
R. Eliezar b. Zadok, belonged to the distinguished teachers.
3. R. Dosa b. Har chinas belonged to the school of Hillel, and
removed with R. Jochanan b. Zakkai from Jerusalem to Jabne.
where he reached a very old age. He stood in such high esteem
that his most distinguished colleagues appealed to his opinion
in
doubtful cases.
4. R. Eliezer b. Jacob was head of a school, and in possession
of traditions concerning the structure and interior arrange
ments of the Temple. He is also mentioned with commenda
method of instruction, which was "concise
There was also another Tana by a similar name
tion as to his
and
clear."
who
flourished in the fourth generation.
5. R. Eliezer b. Hyrkanos, in the Mishna called simply R.
Eliezer, was one of the most distinguished disciples of R.
Jochanan b. Zakkai, who characterized him as "the limecemented cistern that does not lose a drop." He was a faith
ful conservator of handed-down decisions and opposed to their
slightest modification and to any new deductions to be made
His school was in Lydda, in South Judea. Though
therefrom.
a
formerly disciple of the Hillelites, he inclined to the views of
the Shamaites and consequently came in conflict with his col
Being persistent in his opinion, and conforming to
leagues.
it even in practice, he was excommunicated by his own brotherin-law, the patriarch Gamaliel II.
6. R. Joshua b. Chanania, in general called simply R.
Joshua, was likewise one of the favored disciples of R. Jochanan
b.
Shortly before the destruction of the Temple he
Jerusalem with his teacher, after whose death he founded
Zakkai.
left
a separate school in Bekiin.
As member
of the Sanhedrin in
Jabne, he participated conspicuously in its deliberations and
debates. His discussions were mostly with R. Eliezer, to whose
unyielding conservatism he formed a striking contrast, as he
represented the more rational and conciliatory element of that
generation, and combined with great learning the amiable
virtues of gentleness, modesty and placability which charac
As
on several occasions, was humil
II., with whom he differed on some
by
the
members
of
the Sanhedrin resented this insult
questions,
of their esteemed colleague by deposing the offender from his
terized the Hillelites.
iated
he,
the Nasi Gamaliel
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
io
It was only through
dignity and electing another president.
the interference of the appeased R. Joshua that R. Gamaliel,
who apologized for his conduct, was again restored to his office.
b. Azaria descended from a noble family whose
was
traced
up to Ezra the Scribe. Already while a
pedigree
young man, he enjoyed such a reputation for his great learning
that he was made president of the academy at Jabne in place
When the latter was reinstated,
of the deposed R. Gamaliel.
as
was
His controversies
Elazar
R.
appointed
vice-president.
were mostly with R. Joshua, R. Tarphon, R. Ishmael and R.
Akiba. On account of the noble virtues which he combined
with his great learning he was compared to a vessel filled with
aromatic spices," and R. Joshua said of him:
generation
R. Elazar
7.
"
"a
having a
man
Elazar
like
R. Elazar b. Azaria,
whom
is
not
orphaned."
said (Aboth, p. 61),
all the wise of Israel were in a scale of the balance
8.
b.
Arach, of
it is
"
If
and
Hyrkanos with them, and Elazar b. Arach in the
other scale, he would outweigh them
9. R. Juda b. Bathyra had a school in Nisibis (in Assyria),
already at the time when the Temple of Jerusalem was still in
He was probably a descendant of the family Bene
existence.
Eliezer b.
all."
Bathyra, who were leaders of the Sanhedrin under King Herod,
and who resigned that office in favor of Hillel. Several other
Tanaim had the same family name, as R. Joshua b. Bathyra,
R. Simon b. Bathyra and one called simply Ben Bathyra.
THIRD GENERATION.
Several Teachers of the third generation, which lasted from
the year 120 till about 139 (130-160, Strack), flourished already
The
in the preceding one.
(i)
R.
Tarphon;
principal teachers are
:
R.
Ishmael; (3) R. Aqiba; (4) R.
R. Jose the Galilean; (6) R. Simon b.
(2)
Jochanan b. Nuri; (5)
Nanos; (7) R. Juda b. Baba; (8) R. Jochanan b. Broka.
Strack counts all the above-mentioned in the second genera
with the addition
of, (9) Papus b. Jehuda
(io) Elazar b.
Damascus;
(12) Hananya b. Trodyan;
Chasma; (n)
Elazar
b.
b.
Kisma; (14)
Parta; (15) Simeon b. Azai;
(13) Jos
(16) Simeon b. Zoma; (17) Elisha b. Abuyah; (18) Chaninah
b. Gamaliel (19) Chaninah b. Antigonos (20) Elazar of Bartu-
tion,
;
Jose of
;
;
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION,
tha;
Simeon
(21)
Jechosua
Taimon; (22) Chananiah, the son of
(23) Jehuda b. Buthyra; (24) Matyah b.
Chittkah; (26) Simeon the Shakmone; (27)
brother
s
Cheris;* (25)
Chananiah
n
of
;
b. Chakniel.
Characteristics
and Biographical
Sketches.
He is said to have
1. R. Tarphon, or Tryphon, of Lydda.
been inclined to the views of the School of Shamai. On ac
count of his great learning he was called the teacher of Israel
His
besides, he was praised for his great charitable works.
legal discussions were mostly with his colleague R. Akiba.
2. R. Ishmael (b. Elisha) was probably a grandson of the
high-priest Ishmael b. Elisha who was condemned to death
by Titus, together with the patriarch Simon b. Gamaliel I.
When still a boy, he was made a captive and brought to Rome,
where R. Joshua who happened to come there on a mission,
redeemed him at a high ransom and brought him back to Pales
R. Nechunia b. Hakana is mentioned as one of his prin
tine.
When grown to manhood, he became a mem
cipal teachers.
ber of the Sanhedrin and was highly revered by his colleagues.
He is named among those who emigrated with the Sanhedrin
from Jabne to Usha. His residence was in South Judea in a
His academical controversies were
place called Kephar Aziz.
mostly with R. Akiba, to whose artificial methods of interpret
ing the law he was strongly opposed, on the principle that
"
;
the Torah, being composed in the usual language of man, must
be interpreted in a plain and rational way. As guiding rules
of interpretation he accepted only the seven logical rules which
had been laid down by Hillel, which he, however, by some
A
and subdivisions, enlarged to thirteen.
his
school
he
founded
was
after
which
continued
separate
death by his disciples and was known by the name of "Be R.
modifications
Ishmael."
Of the book Mechilta which
is
ascribed to R.
Ishmael.
R. Aqiba (b. Joseph) was the most prominent among
Tanaim.
He is said to have descended from a proselyte
the
family, and to have been altogether illiterate up to the age of
Filled with the desire to acquire the knowledge
his manhood.
3.
*
22, 23
and 24 were out of
Palestine.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
12
of the law, he entered a school
and attended the
lectures of the
distinguished teachers of that time, especially of R. Eliezer b.
Hyrkanos, R. Joshua b. Chanania, and of Nachum of Gimzu.
Subsequently he founded a school in B ne Brak, near Jabne,
and became a member of the Sanhedrin in the last-mentioned
city.
Through his keen intellect, his vast learning and his
energetic activity he wielded a great influence in developing
He arranged the accumu
diffusing the traditional law.
lated material of that law in a proper system and methodical
and
and enriched its substance with many valuable deduc
His methodical arrangement and division
tions of his own.
of that material was completed by his disciple R. Meir, and
later on became the groundwork of the Mishna compiled by
R. Jehuda Hanasi. Besides, he introduced a new method of
interpreting the Scriptures, which enabled him to find a biblical
order,
basis for almost every provision of the oral law.
method was admired by his contemporaries,
ious
This ingen
and notwith
standing the opposition of some of his colleagues, generally
adopted in addition to the thirteen hermeneutic rules of R.
R. Akiba s legal opinions are very frequently re
Ishmael.
corded in all parts of the Mishna and in the kindred works.
His academical discussions are mostly with his former teachers,
R. Eliezer, R. Joshua, and with his colleagues, R. Tarphon,
R. Jochanan b. Nuri, R. Jose the Galilean and others.
R. Akiba died a martyr to religion and patriotism. Having
been a stout supporter of the cause of Bar Cochba, he was
cruelly executed by the Romans for publicly teaching the Law,
contrary to the edict of the emperor Hadrian.
(See Aboth,
p. 28.)
Nuri was a colleague of R. Akiba, with
on questions of the law. In his
whom
youth he seems to have been a disciple of R. Gamaliel II., for
whose memory he always retained a warm veneration. He
presided over a college in Beth Shearim, a place near Sepphoris
4.
R. Jochanan
b.
he frequently differed
in Galilee.
5.
Of
his
R. Jose the Galilean was a very distinguished teacher.
youth and education nothing is known. At his first
appearance in the Sanhedrin of Jabne, he participated in a
debate with R. Tarphon and with R. Akiba, and displayed
such great learning and sagacity that he attracted general
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
attention.
established.
From this debate his reputation as
He was an authority especially in
13
a teacher was
the laws con
His discussions
cerning the sacrifices and the Temple service.
were mostly with R. Akiba, R. Tarphon, and R. Elazar b.
life it is related that he had the bad
an
fortune of having
ill-tempered wife, who treated him so
meanly that he was compelled to divorce her, but learning that
she in her second marriage lived in great misery, he generously
provided her and her husband with all the necessaries of
life.
One of his sons, R. Eleazar b. R. Jose the Galilean, be
Of
Azariah.
his
domestic
came a distinguished teacher in the following generation and
established the thirty-two hermeneutic rules of the Hagada.
6. R. Simon b. Nanos, also called simply Ben Nanos, was a
great authority especially in the civil law, so that R. Ishmael
recommended to all law students to attend the lectures of this
profound teacher. His legal controversies were mostly with
R. Ishmael and R. Akiba.
7. R. Judah b. Baba, who on account of his piety was called
the Chasid, is noteworthy not only as a distinguished teacher,
but also as a martyr to Judaism. Contrary to the Hadrianic
edict which, under extreme penalty, prohibited the ordination
of teachers, he ordained seven * disciples of R. Akiba as Rabbis,
and for this act was stabbed to death by the Roman soldiers.
8. R. Jochanan b. Broka was an authority especially in the
civil law.
Also his son R. Ishmael was a distinguished teacher
who
flourished in the following generation.
FOURTH GENERATION.
This generation extended from the death of R. Akiba to
the death of the patriarch R. Simon b. Gamaliel II., from the
year 139 to about 165. Almost all leading teachers of this
generation belong to the latter disciples of R. Akiba.
(i) R. Meir; (2) R. Jehuda (ben Ilai)
(3) R. Jose (ben
Chalafta); (4) R. Simon (b. Jochai) (5) R. Elazar (b.
;
;
R. Jochanan the Sandelar; (7) R. Elazar b.
R.
Nehemia; (9) R. Joshua b. Korcha; (10) R.
Jacob; (8)
Simon b. Gamaliel. Strack counts all of them in the third
generation, and adds, (n) Elazar b. Jose the Galilean; (12)
Shamua)
;
(6)
*
We
are aware only of six mentioned in vol.
i.,
p. II.
i
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
4
Jochanan b. Beroka; (13) Abba Schaul; (14)
Akiba; (15) Chananiah b. Akashya; (16) Jose
Akabyah; (17) Issi b. Jehuda; (18) Nehuraye; (19) Abba
Ishmael
b.
Chananiah
b.
b.
Jos b. Dusthai.
Characteristics
i.
R.
and Biographical
Sketches.
Meir, the most prominent among the numerous
was a native of Asia Minor and gained
disciples of R. Akiba,
a subsistence as a skilful copyist of sacred Scripture.
At
he
of
entered
the
R.
first,
Akiba, but finding himself
academy
not sufficiently prepared to grasp the lectures of this great
teacher, he attended, for some time, the school of R. Ishmael,
where he acquired an extensive knowledge of the law. Re
turning then to R. Akiba and becoming his constant and
favored disciple, he developed great dialectical powers. R.
Akiba soon recognized his worth and preferred him to other
This ordination
disciples by ordaining him at an early date.
was later renewed by R. Judah b. Baba. On account of the
Hadrianic persecutions, R. Meir had to flee from Judea, but
after the repeal of those edicts, he returned and joined his col
leagues in reestablishing the Sanhedrin in the city of Usha,
His academy was in Emmaus, near Tiberias, and
in Galilee.
for a time also in Ardiscus, near Damascus, where a large circle
Under the patriarch R.
of disciples gathered around him.
Simon b. Gamaliel II., he occupied the dignity of a Chacham
(advising Sage), in which office he was charged with the duty
A
of preparing the subjects to be discussed in the Sanhedrin.
conflict which arose between him and the patriarch seems to
have induced him to leave Palestine and return to his native
R Meir s legal opinions
country, Asia Minor, where he died.
are mentioned almost in every Masechta of the Mishna and
His greatest merit was that he continued the labors
Boraitha.
of R. Akiba in arranging the rich material of the oral law ac
cording to subjects, and in this way prepared the great Mishna
compilation of R. Judah Hanasi. Besides being one of the
most distinguished teachers of the law, he was also a very popu
lar lecturer (Hagadist), who used to illustrate his lectures by
interesting fables and parables. Of his domestic life it is known
that he was married to Beruria, the learned daughter of the
.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
15
celebrated teacher and martyr R. Chananiah b. Teradyon.
The pious resignation which he and his noble wife exhibited
at the sudden death of their two promising sons has been im
mortalized by a popular legend in the Midrash.
2. R. Jehuda b. Ilai is generally called in the Mishna simply
R. Jehuda. After having received instruction in the law from
his father, who had been a disciple of R. Eliezer b. Hyrkanos,
he attended the lectures of R. Tarphon, and became then one
of the distinguished disciples of R. Akiba.
On account of his
great eloquence he is called, "The first among the speakers."
Also his piety, modesty and prudence are highly praised. He
gained a modest subsistence by a mechanical trade, in accord
Labor honors man," and He
ance with his favored maxims
who does not teach his son a trade, teaches him, as it were,
Having been one of the seven disciples who after
robbery."
the death of R. Akiba were ordained by R. Juda b. Baba con
trary to the Hadrianic edict, he had to flee. After three years
he returned with his colleagues to Usha and became one of the
"
"
:
prominent members of the resuscitated Sanhedrin. The patri
arch R. Simon ben Gamaliel honored him greatly, and ap
pointed him as one of his advisers. As expounder of the law
he was a great authority, and is very often quoted in all parts
His legal opinions generally pre
of the Mishna and Boraitha.
vail, when differing from those of his colleagues R. Meir and
R. Simon. To him is also ascribed the authorship of the essen
part of the Siphra. The Hagada of the Talmud records
many of his beautiful sayings, which characterize him not only
tial
as a noble-hearted teacher, but also as a sound and clear
headed interpreter of Scriptures.
He, for instance, denied
the literal meaning of the resurrection of the dead bones
spoken of in Ezekiel, ch. XXXVII., but declared it to be merely
a poetical figure for Israel s rejuvenation. (Sanhedrin, p. 278.)
R. Jehuda had two learned sons who flourished as teachers
in the following generation.
Mishna called simply R. Jose,
was from Sepphoris, where already his learned father had es
tablished a school.
Though by trade a tanner, be became one
He was a dis
of the most distinguished teachers of his time.
of
R.
Akiba
and
Like
of
his
R.
Tarphon.
ciple
colleagues he
was ordained by R. Juda b. Baba, and on this account had
3.
R. Jose
b.
Chalafta, in the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
16
to flee to the south of Palestine, whence he later on returned
For having kept silent when in his pres
with them to Usha.
ence R. Simon made a slighting remark against the Roman
government, he was banished to Asia Minor.
When permitted
to return, he settled in his native city, Sepphoris, where he died
at an advanced age. Besides being a great authority in the law,
whose opinions prevail against those of his colleagues R. Meir,
R. Jehuda and R. Simon, he was an historian to whom the
authorship of the chronological book Seder Olam is ascribed.
4. R. Simon b. Jochai from Galilee, in the Mishna called
simply R. Simon, was likewise one of the most distinguished
disciples of R. Akiba, whose lectures he attended during thir
"Be satisfied that I and
thy creator know thy
were
words
the
which
with
this
teacher comforted
powers,"
when
he
felt somewhat slighted on account of a certain
him,
He shared
preference given to his younger colleague R. Meir.
teen years.
the fate of his colleagues in being compelled to flee after ordi
Afterwards, he joined them at the new seat of the
nation.
Sanhedrin in Usha.
On
a certain occasion he gave vent to his
bitter feeling against the Romans, which was reported to the
Roman
governor,
who condemned him to death. He, how
by concealing himself in a cave, where
ever, escaped this fate
he
is
said to
have remained
for several years, together with his
engaged in the study of the law, and subsisting on the
which abounded there in the neighbor
hood. In the meantime political affairs had taken a favorable
turn, so that he had no longer to fear any persecution he left
son,
fruit of the carob-trees
;
his hiding place and reopened his academy at Tekoa, in Galilee,
where a circle of disciples gathered around him. He survived
and in his old age was delegated to Rome,
where he succeeded in obtaining from the emperor (Marcus
Aurelius) the repeal of some edicts against the Jewish religion.
In the interpretation of the law, R. Simon departed from
the method of his teacher R. Akiba, as he inclined to the view
of R. Ishmael that "the Torah speaks the common language
of man," and consequently regarded logical reasoning as the
all his colleagues,
proper starting point for legal deductions, instead of pleonastic
words, syllables and letters. In accordance with this sound
principle, he tried to investigate the evident motive of different
biblical laws,
and to make conclusions therefrom
for their
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
17
In regard to treating and arranging the
proper application.
oral law, however, he followed the method of R. Akiba in sub
suming various provisions under guiding rules and principles.
R. Simon is regarded as the author of the Siphre, though that
work in its present shape shows many additions by the hands
of later authorities.*
5.
R. Elazar
b.
Skamua,
in the
those of R. Akiba
was among
of the Hadrian
Mishna simply R. Elazar,
s disciples
who
in
consequence
went to the South, whence he went to
He does not, however, appear to have joined his
Nisibis.
edicts
He is regarded
colleagues when they gathered again at Usha.
as a great authority in the law. The place of his academy is
not known, but it is stated that his school was always over
crowded by
disciples eager to hear his learned lectures.
was also the later patriarch R. Jehuda.
his disciples
Among
On a
journey, he visited his former colleague R. Meir at Ardiscos,
in Asia Minor, and with him had discussions on important
questions of the law, which are recorded in the Mishna and
Boraitha.
R. Jochanan the Sandelar had this surname probably
from his trade in sandals. Born in Alexandria in Egypt, he
6.
came
to Palestine to attend the lectures of R. Akiba, and was
so faithful a disciple that he visited this teacher even in prison,
in order to receive instruction from him. His legal opinions are
occasionally recorded in the Mishna as well as in the Tosephta and Boraitha.
7. R. Elazar (or Eliezer) b. Jacob was a disciple of R. Akiba
and later a member of the Sanhedrin in Usha. This teacher
must not be confounded with a former teacher by that name
who
flourished in the second generation.
R. Nechemia belonged to the last disciples of R.
8.
Akiba
and was an authority
especially in the sacrificial law, and in
laws concerning levitical purification. His controversies are
mostly with R. Juda b. Ilai. He is said to have compiled a
Mishna collection which was embodied in the Tosephta.
9. R. Joshua b. Korcha is supposed by some to have been a
son of R. Akiba, who, on one occasion, is called by such a sur*
The
Cabbalists ascribe to him the compiling of the Zohar, which was revealed
The Talmud also speaks of him as the one to whom miracles
by Moses d Leon.
occurred frequently.
2
ii
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
18
name (meaning
the bald head)
but this supposition is very
would be strange that the son of so illustrious
a man should not rather have been called by his father s proper
name, and that he should never have alluded to his celebrated
;
improbable, for it
parent or to any of his teachings.*
R. Joshua b. K. belonged to the authorities of this genera
tion, though only a few of his opinions are recorded in the
Mishna.
Simon b. Gamaliel was the son and successor of the
Gamaliel
In his youth, he witnessed
II. of Jabne.
patriarch
the fall of Bethar, and escaped the threatened arrest by flight.
After the death of the emperor Hadrian, he returned to Jabne
10.
R.
where he, in connection with some teachers, reopened an acad
As
emy, and assumed the hereditary dignity of a patriarch.
the returning disciples of R. Akiba, who were the leading
Usha as the seat of the
Sanhedrin, R. Simon was obliged to transfer his academy
to that city, and appointed R. Nathan as Ab Beth-din (vicepresident), and R. Meir as Chacham (advising sage, or speaker).
teachers of that generation, preferred
new
Both of these officers had to retire however, when found plan
ning his deposal on account of some marks of distinction
introduced in order to raise the patriarchal dignity. He did
not enjoy the privilege of his predecessors to be titled Rabban
(our teacher), but like the other teachers, he was simply called
Rabbi (my teacher), f probably because many of his contem
Still, his legal
poraries were superior to him in learning.
which
are
in
Mishna and
the
opinions,
frequently quoted
Boraitha, give evidence that he was a man of considerable
learning and of sound and clear judgment as well as of noble
He introduced several legal provisions for the
principles.
protection of the rights of women and slaves, and for the
general welfare of the community. All his opinions expressed
in the Mishna, with the exception of only three cases, are re
garded by later teachers as authoritative (Halakha). His
discussions recorded in the Mishna
and Boraitha are mostly
* That R. Akiba had a son
by the name of R. Joshua
is
stated in a Boraitha
;
but the identity of this son with R. Joshua b. Korcha is conclusively disproved by
the Tosaphist Rabenu Tarn in his remarks on Sabbath isoa, and B. Bathra lisa.
f
called
There are, however, some passages
Rabban.
in the
Mishna and Gemara
in
which he
is
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
19
R. Simon b.
have
been acquainted also with the Greek
Gamaliel appears to
language and sciences.
Apart from the great circle of teachers mentioned above,
the disciples of R. Ishmael b. Elisha formed a school in the
extreme South of Judea (Darom), where they continued the
methods of their teacher. Of this separate school, called Debe
R. Ishmael, only two members are mentioned by name: R.
Josiah and R. Jonathan.
held with his celebrated son, R. Jehuda Hanasi.
FIFTH GENERATION.
This generation extends from the death of R. Simon b.
Gamaliel II., to the death of R. Jehuda Hanasi (from 165 to
about 200).
The
following are the most prominent teachers of this
generation
(i) R. Nathan (the Babylonian);
:
(2)
Symmachos;
(3)
R.
Jehuda Hanasi (the Patriarch), called simply Rabbi; (4) R.
Jose b. Juda (5) R. Elazar b. Simon (6) R. Simon b. Elazar.
Strack places these in the fourth generation and adds (7) Dustayi b. Janai; (8) Simeon b. Jehuda, of the village Akum;
(9) Achia b. Joashai; (10) Jacob; (n) Itzchok; (12) Eliezar
1). Simeon b.
Johai; (13) Pinchas b. Jaier; (14) Ischmael b.
;
;
Menachem b. Jos (b. Chialaphta) (16) Jehudah b.
Lakish; (17) Elazar Charkaper (18) Abba Elazar b. Gamla;
(19) Simon b. Jos b. Lecunia; (20) Simon b. Menascha; (21)
Jos; (15)
;
;
Jehudah b. Tamah.
The junior sages of. the fifth generation Strack quotes thus
(i) Hyye Rabbi (the Great); (2) Eliezer b. Kappara; (3)
Simeon b. Halafta; (4) Lewi b. Sissi; (5) Simai.
Both Mielziner and Strack do not count Simon Shezurri,
one of the great Tanaim who belongs to the third generation,
and who is mentioned in the Mishna several times, and of whom
it is said (Menachoth, 30 b),
Everywhere the name of Simeon
Shezurri is mentioned, the Halakha prevails in accordance with
We would also count Wradimus b. R. Jose though
him."
according to some he was identical with Menachem, and who
was one of the greatest Tanaim in the time of Rabbi. (See
I. H. Weiss, p. 166.)
His father,
[See Appendix No. I.]
:
"
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
20
R. Jose, quotes him as the author of a Halakha (Tosephtha,
Baba
Metzia).
Characteristics
and Biographical
Sketches.
1
R. Nathan was the son of one of the exilarchs in Babylon,
and probably received his education in his native country.
For some unknown reasons he emigrated to Judea, and on ac
count of his great learning he was appointed by the patriarch,
R. Simon b. Gamaliel, to the dignity of Ab-Beth-din (chief
He had
Justice or vice-president), in the Sanhedrin of Usha.
to retire from this office because of his and R. Meir s dissension
with the patriarch, but was soon reinstated and became recon
ciled with the Synhedrial president, who held him in high
.
Also the suceeding patriarch, R. Jehuda, with whom
he had many discussions on questions of the law, speaks of him
esteem.
with great respect. R. Nathan was not only an authority in
the rabbinical law, especially in jurisprudence, but appears
also to have been well versed in mathematics, astronomy and
To him
is ascribed the authorship of Aboth
a kind of Tosephta to Pirke Aboth.
2. Symmachos was a prominent disciple of R. Meir and
After the death
distinguished for his great dialectical powers.
he
well
of his teacher,
as
as other disciples of R. Meir were ex
other sciences.
de R. Nathan, which
is
cluded from the academy of R. Jehuda Hanasi, as they were
charged with indulging in sophistical disputations in order to
display their dialectical sagacity, instead of seeking after truth.
Nevertheless the Mishna as well as the Tosephta makes mention
of the opinions of Symmachos.
His renown lay in the rab
binical jurisprudence, in which he laid
often referred to in the Talmud.
down
certain principles
R. Jehuda (Judd) Hanasi, by way of eminence simply
called Rabbi, was a son of the patriarch R. Simon b. Gamaliel
3.
II., and is said to have been born on the same day when R.
Akiba was executed. His principal teachers were R. Simon b.
Jochai and R. Elazar b. Shamua, under whose guidance his
intellectual capacity and splendid talents early developed.
Besides his immense knowledge of the whole range of the tra
ditional law, he had a liberal education in secular branches and
was especially acquainted with the Greek language, which he
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
21
preferred to the Syriac, the popular language of Palestine at
that time. After the death of his father he succeeded him in
the dignity of patriarch, and became the chief authority, eclips
ing all other teachers of that generation. Though blessed with
great riches, he preferred to live in a simple style and applied
maintenance of his numerous pupils and to
The seat of his academy was first at Bethcharitable works.
his wealth to the
Shearim, afterward at Sepphoris, and also at Tiberias. Among
most distinguished disciples were R. Chiya (Simon) bar
Kappara; Levi bar Sissi; R. Abba Areca, later called Rab;
Mar Samuel, and many others. He is said to have been in a
friendly relation with one of the Roman emperors, either
his
:
;
Marcus Aurelius, or more probably, Lucius Verus Antoninus.
By virtue of his authority R. Jehuda abolished several customs
and ceremonies which, though sanctified by age, had become
impracticable through the change of times and circumstances.
His most meritorious work, by which he erected for himself a
monument of enduring fame, was the completion of the Mishna
compilation which henceforth became the authoritative code
of the traditional law and superseded all similar compilations
made by former
teachers.
R. Jose ben Juda (b. Ilai) belonged to the great teachers
of that generation and was a friend of R. Jehuda Hanasi.
His
4.
legal opinions are frequently recorded in the
in the Tosephta.
Mishna as well as
5. R. Elazar b. Simon (b. Jochai) was a disciple of R. Simon
Gamaliel and of R. Joshua b. Korcha. Although an au
thority in the rabbinical law to whom even the patriarch some
b.
times yielded, he incurred the severest censure of his colleagues
for having, on a certain occasion, lent his assistance to the
Romans in prosecuting some Jewish freebooters.
Simon
Elazar (probably E. b. Shamua), was a dis
He estab
ciple of R. Meir, whose opinions he often quotes.
lished several important principles, especially in the civil law.
6.
R.
b.
SIXTH GENERATION.
To
this generation
belong the younger contemporaries and
They are not mentioned in the
disciples of R. Juda Hanasi.
Mishna, but in the Tosephta
and Boraitha, and are therefore
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
22
termed semi-Tanaim, who form a connecting link between the
period of Tanaim and that of the Amoraim. Their names are
:
Plimo; (2) Iseb. Juda; (3) R. Elazar b. Jose (4) R.
Ishmael bar Jose; (5) R. Juda b. Lakish; (6) R. Chiya; (7)
(i)
;
R. Acha;
(8)
R.
Abba
(Areca).
There is no sixth generation according to Strack, and all
who are mentioned here he includes in the fifth generation.
We have to remark that all the eight mentioned above by
Mielziner, as they formed the last generation of the Tanaim,
are also named Amoraim and therefore we find stated in many
places in the Talmud where one of the above-mentioned is in
He is a Tana, and has
conflict with a Mishna or a Boraitha
the right to differ with the authorities of the Mishna or the
;
"
:
Boraitha."
The most prominent among these semi-Tanaim were R.
Chiya and R. Abba (Areca).
1. R. Chiya (bar Abba) the elder, which epithet is to dis
tinguish him from a later Amora by the same name, was a
Babylonian who came at an already advanced age to Palestine,
where he became the most distinguished disciple and friend
Jehuda Hanasi. He and his disciple R. Oshaya (or
Hoshaya) are regarded as the principal authors or compilers
of R.
of the Tosephta.
2. R. Abba (Areca) a nephew of R. Chiya, was likewise a
Babylonian, and a disciple of R. Jehuda Hanasi, after whose
death he returned to his native country, where, under the his
torical name of Rab, he became the principal Amora.
(See
the following chapter.)
Of other distinguished teachers flourishing in this generation
and in the beginning of the period of the Amoraim, we have to
and R. Jonathan (the
The former
elder).
Sepphoris and was one of the
teachers of R. Jochanan bar Naphacha, the greatest among the
Palestinian Amoraim.
mention especially^?. Janai (the
elder),
lived in
CHAPTER
III.
THE AMORAIM OR EXPOUNDERS OF THE MISHNA.
As the Mishna compilation of R. Jehuda Hanasi became
the authoritative code of the oral Law, the activity of the
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
23
teachers was principally devoted to expounding this code.
This was done as well in the academies of Tiberias, Sepphoris,
Casarea in Palestine, as in those of Nahardea, Sura, and later
Pumbaditha and some other seats of learning in Babylonia.
The main object of the lectures and discussions in those acad
emies was to interpret the often very brief and concise expres
sion of the Mishna, to investigate its reasons and sources, to
of
reconcile seeming contradictions, to compare its canons with
those of the Boraithoth, and to apply its decisions and estab
new cases not yet provided for. The
who were engaged in this work, which finally became
lished principles to
teachers
embodied
in the
Gemara, are called Amoraim, meaning speak
ers, interpreters, expounders.*
They were not as independent
in their legal opinions and decisions as their predecessors, the
Tanaim and semi-Tanaim, as they had not the authority to
contradict Halakhoth and principles accepted in the Mishna
or Boraitha. The Palestinian Amoraim, having generally been
ordained by the Nasi, had the title of Rabbi, while the Baby
lonian teachers of that period had only the title of Rab or of
Mar.
The period of Amoraim extends from the death of
R. Jehuda Hanasi to the compilation of the Babylonian
Talmud that is, from the beginning of the third to the end
of the fifth century.
This period has been divided by some
into six, by others into seven, minor periods or generations,
which are determined by the beginning and the end of the
activity of the most prominent teachers flourishing during
;
that time.
The number of Amoraim who are mentioned in the Talmud
amounts to several hundreds. The most distinguished among
them, especially those
who
presided over the great academies,
* In a more restricted
meaning the term Amora({rom
nifies the
same as Methurgcman
(the interpreter), that
is,
"IDK,
to say, to speak) sig
the officer in the academies
who, standing at the side of the lecturer or presiding teacher, had to announce
loudly and explain to the large assembly what the teacher just expressed briefly and in
a low voice.
The term Tana, which
generally applies only to the teachers mentioned in the
Mishna and Boraitha, is in the period of Amoraim sometimes used also to signify one
whose special business it was to recite the memorized Boraithoth to the expounding
A Tana (teacher)
In this sense the term is to be understood in the phrase
teachers.
repeated a Boraitha (or taught same) before so and so, etc.
:
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
24
are contained in the following chronological tables of the six
generations of Amoraim.*
THE FIRST GENERATION OF AMORAIM.
A.
1
.
2.
3.
Palestinian (219-279).
R. Chanina bar Chama.
R. Jochanan (bar Napacha).
R. Simon ben Lakish (Resh
B.
i
.
2.
Babylonian (219-257).
Areca, called simply
Rab.
(Mar) Samuel.
Abba
Lakish).
4.
R. Joshua ben Levi.
Strack adds to the
Hama
first
generation of the Palestinian, (5)
Jehuda; and (8) Hiskiah sons of
b. Biza; (6) Janai; (7)
Hyye; (9) Bnya or Bnaah; (10) Pdaya or Jehuda b. Pdaya;
(n) Hoshia b. Hanninah b. Biza, named Rabbh the Great;
(12) Jose b. Zimra; (13) Simon b. Yehozodak.
To the Babylonian Amoraim he adds, (3) Shila (4) Abba
b. Abba
(father of Mar Samuel); (5) Kama f (6) Mar
;
;
Uqba
(the Exilarch).
All the Palestinian
Amoraim named here are very often
mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud, and as their biograph
ical sketches are interesting we could not omit them.
Biographical Sketches.
A.
PALESTINIAN AMORAIM.
During this generation R. Gamaliel III. and R. Judah II.
were successively the patriarchs.
i. R. Chanina bar Chama (born about 180, died 260), was
a disciple of R. Jehuda Hanasi, whose son and successor, R.
Gamaliel III., bestowed on him the title of Rabbi. He then
presided over his
own academy
regard on account of
and stood in high
As
modesty and piety.
in Sepphoris
his learning,
* Some scholars count the semi-Tanaim as the
first generation, and have con
The period of Palestinian Amoraim
sequently seven instead of six generations.
being much shorter than that of the Babylonian, ends with the third generation of the
Frankel in his introduction to the Palestinian Talmud, treating especially of
latter.
Amoraim, divides them also into six generations.
was appointed by Mar Samuel to examine Rab. (Will be translated
the Palestinian
f
Who
Tract Kethubath.)
in
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
25
teacher he was very conservative, transmitting that only which
he had received by tradition, without ever allowing himself
an independent decision. Of his prominent contemporaries
are R. Ephes, who reopened a school at Lydda, in South Judea
Levi b. Sissi (called simply Levi), who, though not presiding
over an academy, was a distinguished teacher, and later emi
grated to Babylonia; further Chizkia, who was a son of R.
:
;
Chiya the Elder, and whose teachings are frequently quoted
in the Talmud.
This Chizkia, who had not the title of Rabbi,
must not be mistaken for R. Chizkia, who belonged to the
third generation.
2. R. Jochanan bar Napacha, in general called simply R.
Jochanan (born about 199, died 279), was in his early youth a
disciple of R. Jehuda Hanasi, later of R. Oshaya in Caesarea,
also of R. Janai, and especially of R. Chanina b. Chama.
He
then founded his
own academy in
Tiberias,
which henceforth
became the principal seat of learning in the Holy Land.
By
mental powers he excelled all his contemporaries, and
In expounding the
is regarded the chief Amora of Palestine.
Mishna he introduced an analytical method, and laid down
certain rules for the final decision in such cases in which the
Tanaim expressed opposite opinions. His legal teachings,
his great
and exegetical remarks, transmitted by his
disciples, form the principal elements of the Gemara.
He is supposed to have laid the foundation of the Palestinian
Talmud, though, in its present shape, this work can not have
ethical aphorisms,
numerous
been compiled before at least one century after R. Jochanan
s
death.*
3. R. Simon b. Lakish, whose name is generally abbrevi
ated to Resh Lakish, was a man who combined great physical
It is said
strength with a noble heart and a powerful mind.
that in his youth he was compelled by circumstances to gain
his livelihood as a gladiator or soldier, until making the ac
quaintance of R. Jochanan, who gained him for the study of
the law and gave
him his sister in marriage.
Having developed
* As to further characteristics of this and the other
prominent Amoraim, the fol
lowing works may be consulted Graetz,
History of the Jews," Vol. IV.; Z. Fran"
:
"
kel,
"
Mebo"
padie,"
Asien,"
;
I.
II.
Weiss,
Dor
Dor,"
Vol. III.;
"
I.
Hamburger,
Real Encyclo-
Kultur und Literaturgeschichte der Juden in
Besides, J. FUrst,
which treats especially of the Babylonian academies and teachers during the
Vol. II.
period of the
Amoraim.
"
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
26
extraordinary mental and dialectical powers, he became R.
Jochanan s most distinguished friend and colleague. In the
and in legal questions they differed,
and their numerous controversies are re
interpretation of the Mishna
however, very often,
ported in the Babylonian Talmud as well as in the Palestinian.
Also is his Hagadic teachings, Resh Lakish was original and ad
vanced some very rational views.
4. R. Joshua b. Levi (ben Sissi) presided over an academy
He is regarded as a great authority in the law, and
in Lydda.
his decisions prevail even in cases where his celebrated con
temporaries, R. Jochanan and Resh Lakish differ from him.
Though himself a prolific Hagadist, he disapproved of the
vagaries of the Hagada, and objected to their being written
down in books. The circumstance that, on a certain occasion,
his prayer for rain proved to be efficient, probably gave rise
to the mystic legends with which the fancy of later genera
tions tried to illustrate his great piety.
To other
celebrities flourishing in this generation belongs R.
who later settled in Nahardea. He was re
Simlai of Lydda,
teacher of the Halakha than for his ingenious and
lucid method of treating the Hagada.
puted
less as
B.
BABYLONIAN AMORAIM.
Abba Areca (or Aricha) was the real name of the chief
Babylonian Amora, who, by w ay of eminence, is generally
called Rob (the Teacher). He was born about 175 and died 247.
As an orphaned youth he went to his uncle, the celebrated R.
i.
r
Chiya in Palestine, to finish his studies in the academy of R.
Jehuda Hanasi. The mental abilities which he displayed soon
attracted general attention. After the death of R. Jehuda,
Abba returned
to his native country,
and
in the year 219
1,200 pupils flocked
founded the academy in Sura, where
around him from all parts of Babylonia. His authority was
recognized even by the most celebrated teachers in Palestine.
Being regarded as one of the semi-Tanaim, he ventured in
some instances even to dispute some opinions accepted
in the
of the
Mishna, a privilege otherwise not accorded to any
Amoraim.
Most of
his decisions, especially in ritual
questions, obtained legal sanction, but in the
civil
law
his
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
27
Samuel in Nahardea was his superior. Over one hun
dred of his numerous disciples, who transmitted his teachings
and decisions to later generations, are mentioned in the Talmud
friend
their names.
by
Samuel, or Mar Samuel, was born about 180 in Nahardea,
His father, Abba bar Abba, and Levi b. Sissi
died there 257.
were his first teachers. Like Rab he went to Palestine and
became a disciple of Rabbi Jehuda Hanasi, from whom, how
2.
After his return to
ever, he could not obtain the ordination.
in
he
R.
Shela
the
succeeded
Nahardea,
dignity of president of
Besides the law, he
the academy (Resh-Sidra) in that city.
cultivated the sciences of medicine and astronomy. As Amora
he developed especially the rabbinical jurisprudence, in which
he was regarded as the greatest authority.* Among other im
portant principles established by him is that of Dina d malchutha Dina" that is, the civil law of the government is as
valid for the Jews as their own law.
The most friendly and
relation
Samuel
and Rab, although
between
prevailed
brotherly
in
differed
of
the
often
law.
After Rab s death
questions
they
(247), his disciples recognized Samuel as the highest religious
authority of Babylonia. He died about ten years later, leav
ing behind numerous disciples, several of whom became the
"
leading teachers in the following generation.
A distinguished contemporary of
head of the court
first
in Kafri,
and
Samuel was
Mar
later Exilarch in
Uqba, at
Nahardea.
THE SECOND GENERATION OF AMORAIM.
A.
1.
2.
Palestinian (279-320).
R. Elazar b. Pedath.
R. Ame.
5.
R. Assi.
R. Chiya bar Abba.
Simon bar Abba.
6.
R. Abbuhu.
7.
R. Zera (Zeira).
3.
4.
To the second generation
(8)
i.
2.
3.
4.
5.
B.
Babylonian (257-320).
Rab
Rab
Rab
Rab
Rab
Huna.
Juda bar Jecheskel.
Chisda (or Chasda).
Shesheth.
Nachman
Mar Samuel made
Talmud by
the phrase
"
Jacob.
of the Palestinian, Strack adds,
Jehudah the Second (son of Gamalia
*
b.
III.),
(Johanan and
also a compilation of Boraithoth, which
the disciples of Samuel."
is
quoted in the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
28
Simon
Lakish Strack refers to the second generation) (9)
(10) Alexanderi; (u) Khana; (12) Chia bar
Joseph; (13) Jos b. Chaninah (14) Abbab. Zabdah, and (15)
b.
;
Hilfa or Ufa;
;
Simlaie.
To
Ahba
the Babylonian Strack adds, (6) Ktinah
(8)
;
Rabba
b.
Abuhu, and
(9)
Remarks and Biographical
A.
(7)
Adda
b.
Sketches.
PALESTINIAN AMORAIM.
The patriarchate during
in the
;
Mathna.
hands of R. Gamaliel
was successively
and R. Judah III.
this generation
IV.,
R. Elazar ben Pedath, generally called simply R. Elazar,
Tana R. Elazar (ben Shamua), for whom he must not
be mistaken, was a native of Babylonia, and a disciple and
1.
like
the
an associate of R. Jochanan, whom he survived. He
enjoyed great authority and is very often quoted in the Talmud.
2. and 3. R. Ame and R. As si were likewise Babylonians,
and distinguished disciples of R. Jochanan. After the death
of R. Elazar they became the heads of the declining academy
in Tiberias.
They had the title only of Judges, or the Aaronites of the Holy Land," and subordinated themselves to the
growing authority of the teachers in Babylonia. Rabbi Assi
is not to be confounded with his contemporary the Babylonian
Amora Rab Assi, who was a colleague of Rab Saphra and a
later
disciple of
Rab
in Sura.*
4.
5. R. Chiya bar Abba and Simon bar Abba were prob
ably brothers. They had emigrated from Babylonia and be
came disciples of R. Jochanan. Both were distinguished
and
In questions of the law they were
teachers, but very poor.
inclined to rigorous views.
R. Abbahu of Caesarea, disciple of R. Jochanan, friend
and colleague of R. Ame and R. Assi, was a man of great wealth
6.
and of a liberal education. He had a thorough knowledge of the
Greek language, and favored Greek culture. Being held in
high esteem by the Roman authorities, he had great political
He seems to have had frequent controversies with
influence.
the teachers of Christianity in Cassarea.
* See
Tosephoth Chullin, iga.
Besides being a
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
29
prominent teacher whose legal opinions are quoted in all parts
and Babylonian Talmud, he was a verylecturer.
popular
7. R. Zeira (or Zero), was a Babylonian and a disciple of
Rab Juda bar Jecheskel, but dissatisfied with the hair-splitting
method prevailing in the academies of his native country, he
emigrated to Palestine where he attended the lectures of R.
Elazar b. Pedath in Tiberias, and tried, in vain, to unlearn his
former method of study. Having been ordained as Rabbi, he
became one of the authorities in Palestine, together with R.
Ame, R. Assi and R. Abbuhu.
of the Palestinian
BABYLONIAN AMORAIM.
B.
Rab Huna (born 212, died 297) was a disciple of Rab,
after Mar Samuel s death, he succeeded as president of
In this office he was active for forty
the academy in Sura.
He employed fifteen assistants to repeat and explain
years.
1.
w hom,
r
his lectures to his 800 disciples.
learning and
his noble character,
Highly revered for his great
he enjoyed an undisputed
authority to which even the Palestinian teachers R.
R. Assi voluntarily subordinated themselves.
Ame
and
Rab Juda bar Jecheskel, generally called simply R. Juda
Jehuda), was a disciple of Rab, and also of Samuel. The
latter teacher, whose peculiar method he adopted and devel
oped, used to characterize him by the epithet, "the acute."
2.
(or
He founded the academy in Pumbaditha, but after R. Huna s
death he was chosen as his successor (Resh Methibta), at Sura,
where after two years (299), he died at an advanced age.
Rab Chisda
(or Chasda) belonged to the younger dis
Rab, after whose death he attended also the lectures
of R. Huna.
But from the latter teacher he soon separated
on account of a misunderstanding between them, and estab
lished a school of his own.
At the same time, he was one of
3.
ciples of
After Rab Juda s death, R. Chisda,
above
already
eighty
years old, became head of the
though
in
and
remained
in this office for about ten years.
Sura,
academy
Rab
a
Rab and Samuel, was member
of
Shesheth,
4.
disciple
the Judges in Sura.
of the court in Nahardea.
he went to Mechuza
;
later
After the destruction of that city
he settled in
Silhi,
where he founded
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
30
Being blind, he had to rely upon his powerful
R. Chisda s opponent in the Halakha, and
memory.
of
the
disapproved
hair-splitting dialectical method which had
come in vogue among the followers of Rab Juda in Pumbaditha.
an academy.
He was
5. Rab Nachman b. Jacob, called simply Rab Nachman, was
a prominent disciple of Mar Samuel. By his father-in-law, the
exilarch Abba bar Abuha, he was appoined chief justice in
Nahardea. After Mar Samuel s death, he succeeded him as
rector of the
academy in that city. When two years later
Nahardea was destroyed, R. Nachman settled
(259), the city of
He is regarded as a great authority especially in
the rabbinical jurisprudence, in which he established many im
portant principles. Among others, he originated the rabbinical
in Shechan-Zib.
oath, that is, the purging oath imposed in a law suit on claims
even in cases of general denial on the part of the defendant.
Of other teachers belonging to this generation, who, though
not standing at the head of the leading academies, are often
quoted in the Talmud, the following must be noted
(a) Rabba bar bar Ghana, who was a Babylonian and son
:
Abba bar Ghana. After having attended the academy of
R. Jochanan in Palestine, he returned to his native country,
where he frequently reported the opinions of his great teacher.
of
He
to
is
also noted for the
him
in the
many
allegorical narratives ascribed
Talmud.
was a Palestinian who frequently
travelled to Babylonia, where he finally settled and died.
Al
of
without
the
Rabbi
or
title
he
was
Rab,
though
regarded as
a distinguished teacher whose opinions and reports are often
(b)
Ulla
(b.
Ishmael),
mentioned.
THE THIRD GENERATION OF AMORAIM.
A.
1.
2.
3.
B.
Palestinian (320-359).
R. Jeremiah.
R. Jonah.
R. Jose.
Babylonian (320-375).
Rabba bar Huna.
2. Rabba bar Nachmani.
3. Rab Joseph (bar Chiya).
i.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Abaye.
Rabha.
Rab Nachman bar
Rab Papa.
Isaac.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
31
To the Palestinian, Strack adds, (4) Samuel b. Nachman
the
(in
Babylonian he is mentioned as Nachmani) (5) Itzhak
the second (his contemporary in Babylonia is Nachman b.
;
Jacob);
b.
(6)
Abba
eration)
Lewi;
II.
;
Abuhu;
(7)
(8)
Ami;
(9)
Assi; (10)
Hyya
(Elazar b. Pedath he quotes in the third gen
(n) Simeon
mentioned among
b.
Abba;
the second
Itzhak; (14) Hilla or Illeh
;
(12)
Simur
(also
Zera
is
generation); (13) Samuel b.
Hoshia the sec
(15) Zrika; (16)
ond; (17) Chananiah (the colleague of the Rabbinat)*; (18)
Janai b. Ishmael; (19) Joshua; (20) Ban b. Mamal (in Baby
lonia named Abba b. Mamal)
(21) Jacob b. Ide; (22) Itzhak
;
Bibe; (Haggi and Jeremiah
Strack quotes as belonging also to the fourth generation).
To the Babylonian, Strack adds, (8) Chisda; (9) Hamnuna; (10) Shesheth (n) Nachma b. Jacob; (12) Rabba
b.
Nachma;
(23)
Maysha;
(24)
;
b. b.
and
Hanna;
(15)
(13) Ulla b. Ishmael; (14)
Joseph
b.
Remarks and Biographical
A.
Rabba
b.
Nachmene,
Hiah.
Sketches.
PALESTINIAN AMORAIM.
The patriarch of this period was Hillel
the fixed Jewish calendar.
II.,
who introduced
In consequence of the persecutions and the banishment of
several religious teachers under the emperors Constantine and
Constantius, the Palestinian academies entirely decayed. The
only teachers of any prominence are the following:
1. R. Jeremiah was a Babylonian and disciple of R. Zeira,
whom he followed to Palestine. In his younger days, when
still in his native country, he indulged in propounding puzzling
questions of trifling casuistry, by which he probably intended
to ridicule the subtile
method
prevailing
among some
of the
contemporary teachers, and on this account he was expelled
from the academy. In the Holy Land he was more appre
ciated, and, after the death of R. Abbahu and R. Zeira, was
acknowledged as the only authority in that country.
2. R. Jonah was a disciple of R. Ila (Hila) and of R.
Jere* There are
eight Tanaim and twenty-three Amoraim named Chananiah.
do not remember who was called so as Strack did.
We
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
32
His opinions are frequently quoted, especially in the
Palestinian Talmud.
miah.
3. R. Jose (bar Zabda), colleague of R. Jonah, was one of
the last rabbinical authorities in Palestine.
It is
probable that the compilation of the Palestinian
it cannot be
Talmud was accomplished about that time, though
stated by whom.
B.
BABYLONIAN AMORAIM.
bar Huna was not, as erroneously
of
the
son
the exilarch Huna Man, but of
supposed by some,
and
of Rab.
successor
After the death
Rab Huna, the disciple
1.
Rabba
Rab Abba)
(or
of R. Chisda (309), he succeeded him in the dignity of president
academy in Sura. Under his presidency, lasting thir
of the
academy was
eclipsed by that of Pumbaditha,
remained deserted for about fifty years
until Rab Ashe restored it to its former glory.
2. Rabba bar Nachmani, in the Talmud called simply Rabba
was born 270, and died 330. He was a disciple of Rab Huna,
Rab Juda and Rab Chisda, and displayed from his youth great
dialectical powers on account of which he was characterized
Selected as head of the
as "the uprooter of mountains."
he
of
attracted
Pumbaditha,
academy
large crowds of hearers
of
In his lectures which
his
method
teaching.
ingenious
by
all
commented on
parts of the Mishna, he investigated the
teen years, this
and
after his death
it
reason of the laws and
made therefrom
logical deductions.
Besides, he tried to reconcile seeming differences between the
Mishna, the Baraithoth, and the traditional teachings of later
authorities.
He
also liked to
propound puzzling problems of
the law, in order to test and sharpen the mental powers of his
A charge having been made against him by the
disciples.
Persian government that many of his numerous hearers at
tended his lectures in order to evade the poll-tax, he fled from
Pumbaditha and died in solitude.
3. Rab Joseph (bar Chiya) was a disciple of Rab Juda and
Rab Shesheth, and succeeded his friend Rabba in the dignity
of president of the academy in Pumbadita, after having once
before been elected for this office, which he declined in favor of
Rabba.
On
account of his thorough knowledge of the sources
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
33
of the Law, to which he attached more importance than to
Besides being a
ingenious deductions, he was called Sinai.
great authority in the rabbinical law, he devoted himself to
the Targum of the Bible, especially of the prophetical books.
He died in the year 333, after
In his old age he became blind.
over
the
academy of Pumbaditha only for
having presided
three years.
Abaye, surnamed Nachmani (b. 280, d. 338) was a son
Kay HI and a pupil of his uncle Rabba bar Nachmani, and of
4.
of
Rab Joseph. He was highly esteemed not only for his pro
found knowledge of the law and his mastership in Talmudical
After Rab
dialectics, but also for his integrity and gentleness.
Joseph s death he was selected as head of the academy in Pum
baditha, but under his administration, which lasted about five
years, the number of hearers in that academy decreased con
siderably, as his more talented colleague Raba had founded a
new academy in Machuza which attracted greater crowds of
Under these two Amoraim the
pupils.
dialectical
method
of
the Babylonian teachers reached the highest development.
Their discussions, which mostly concern some very nice dis
tinctions in the interpretation of the Mishna, in order to recon
In
cile conflicting passages, fill the pages of the Talmud.*
their
differences
opinion of
Raba
concerning more practical questions, the
generally prevails, so that later authorities
pointed out only six cases in which the decision of Abaye was
to be adopted against that of his rival.
5. Raba was the son of Joseph b. Chama in Machuza.
was born
299,
lectures of Rab
Abaye were
He
and died
In his youth he attended the
352.
Nachman and of R. Chisda. Later, he and
fellow-students in the
academy
of
Rabba bar
Nachmani. Here he developed his dialectical powers, by which
he soon surpassed all his contemporaries. He opened an acad
emy in Machuza which attracted a great number of students.
After Abaye s death this academy supplanted that in Pumba
ditha and during Raba s lifetime became almost the only seat
of learning in Babylonia.
His controversies with his contem
poraries, especially with his rival colleague,
Abaye, are very
* The often
very subtile argumentations of these two teachers became so pro
the critical questions of Abaye and Raba" is used in the
verbial that the phrase
Talmud
"
as a signification of acute discussions and minute investigations.
3
ii
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
34
Wherever an opinion of Abaye is recorded in the
Talmud, it is almost always followed by the contrary view and
argument of Raba.
6. Rab Nachman b. Isaac was a disciple of Rab Nachman
(b. Jacob), and afterward an officer as Resh Calla in the acad
emy of Raba. After the death of the latter he was made
president of the academy in Pumbaditha, which now resumed
In this capacity he remained only four years
its former rank.
and
no remarkable traces of his activity. Still
left
(352-356),
less significant was the activity of his successor, R. Chama from
numerous.
Nahardea, who held the office for twenty-one years (356-377).
7. Rab Papa (bar Chanan), a disciple of Abaye and Raba,
founded a new school in Nares, in the vicinity of Sura, over
which he presided for nineteen years (354-375).
He adopted
the dialectical method of his former teachers without possess
ing their ingenuity and their independence, and consequently
did not give satisfaction to those of his hearers who had for
merly attended the lectures of Raba. One of his peculiarities
was that he frequently refers to popular proverbs people say.*
THE FOURTH GENERATION OF BABYLONIAN AMORAIM.
(375-427).
i.
A.
Sura.
Rab
Ashe.
i.
2.
3.
4.
5.
B. Pumbaditha.
C.
Rab Zebid.
Rab Dime.
Amemar.
Nahardea.
Rafram.
Rab Kahana.
Mar Zutra.
To
the fourth generation Strack adds, (i) Jeremiah (who
though a Babylonian native, emigrated to Palestine, and was
counted among the Palestinian) (2) Haggi; (3) Juda the third
;
(Nassi), son of Gamaliel the fourth; (4)
Jona; (5) Josa the
second (colleague of Jona) (6) Pinchas (who also emigrated
from Babylonia); (7) Judan; (8)Chelbo; (9) Hisda; (10)
Chinna; (n) Tabbi; (12) Juda b. Pazi, from Lydda, and
;
* This
who had
the
Rab Papa must
academy
tical
not be mistaken for an elder teacher by the same name,
ten sons, all well versed in the law, one of
with
of
Rab
Pumbaditha
whom, Rafram, became head of
Neither is Rab Papa iden
in the following generation.
Papi, a distinguished lawyer
who
nourished in a former generation.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
35
Concerning the fourth genera
(13) Jehoshua of Siknin.
also Abbaye and Rabha, and
he
counts
tion of Babylonian,
adds to the
Rabha
b.
list
of Mielziner,
colleges of Sura,
Rabba b.
Mari, Rabbi b. Ulla,
Pumbaditha and Nahardea.
Remarks and Biographical
A. Rob
and
Strack does not distinguish between the
Shilla.
A she
(son of
Sketches.
Simai bar Ashe) was, at the age of
twenty, made president of the reopened academy of Sura, after
the death of Rab Papa, and held this office for fifty-two years.
Under
his presidency, this
since the time of
academy, which had been deserted
its former glory
Rabba bar Huna, regained
Rab had
invested it. Combining the profundity
which
of knowledge
formerly prevailed in this academy with
the dialectic methods developed in that of Pumbaditha, he was
generally recognized as the ruling authority, so that his con
temporaries called him by the distinguishing title of Rabbana
Invested with this great authority, Rab Ashe
(our teacher).
was enabled to assume the task of sifting, arranging and com
piling the immense material of traditions, commentaries and
discussions on the Mishit!which, during the two preceding
in
In
the Babylonian academies.
had
accumulated
centuries,
the compilation and revision of this gigantic work, which is
embodied in the Gemara, he was occupied for over half a cen
tury, and still he did not complete it entirely, but this was done,
after his death, by his disciples and successors.
B. During the long period of Rab Ashe s activity at the
with which
.,
in Sura, the following teachers presided successively
over the academy in Pumbaditha
1. Rab Zebid (b. Oshaya), who succeeded Rab Chama and
held the office for eight years (377-385).
academy
:
2.
Rab Dime
(b.
Chinena) from Nahardea, presiding only
for three years (385-388).
3.
Rafram bar Papa the
Raba, succeeded R.
elder, in his
youth a disciple of
Dime
(388-394).
likewise a disciple of Raba,
was one of the former teachers of R. Ashe. In an already ad
vanced age, he was made president of the academy of Pum
4.
Rab Kahana
(b. Tachlifa),
1
baditha, and died in the year 411.
This
Rab Cahana must
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
36
not be mistaken for two other teachers of the same name, one
of whom had been a distinguished disciple of Rab, and the
other (Rab Cahana b. Manyome), a disciple of Rab Juda b.
Jecheskel.
5.
Mar Zutra,
Rab Cahana
who, according to some historians, succeeded
as rector of the school in
Pumbaditha (411-414),
probably identical with Mar Zutra b. Mare, who shortly
afterwards held the high office as Exilarch.
In the rectorship
of Pumbaditha he was succeeded by Rab Acha bar Raba (414-
is
419), and the latter by Rab Gebiha (419-433).
C. Amemar, a friend of Rab Ashe, was a distinguished
judge and teacher in Nahardea. When his former teacher
Rab Dime became president of the academy in Pumbaditha,
he succeeded him in the rectorship of that of Nahardea, from
390 to about 422. With him this once so celebrated seat of
learning passed out of existence.
THE FIFTH GENERATION OF BABYLONIAN AMORAIM
A.
1.
2.
3.
4.
B.
Rab Ide bar Abin.
Mar bar Rab Ashe.
Rab Acha of Difte.
To
b.
Sura.
Mar Jemar (Maremar).
(427-468).
Pumbaditha.
i.
Rafram
2.
Rechumai.
3.
Rab Sama
II.
Rabba.
b.
Abba
Mana the
the fifth generation of Palestinian Strack adds, (i)
Kohen;
Abba Mare;
(3) Mattanjah;
second b. Jona; (5) Chananiah the second; (6) Jos b. Bune;
(7) Jona of Bozrae;
(8) Tanhum, and (9) Chiah b. Adda the
(2)
(4)
second.
To
the Babylonian
b. Itzhak; (2)
Papa;
fifth
(3)
generation he counts,
Huna
b.
(i)
Nachman
Johusua.
Remarks and Biographical
Sketches.
i. Mar Jemar (contracted to Maremar), who enjoyed
esteem
with the leading teachers of his time, succeeded
high
A.
his colleague and friend, Rab Ashe, in the presidency of the
academy in Sura, but held this office only for about five years,
(427-432).
Ada) bar Abin, became, after Mar Jemar s
death, president of the academy at Sura, and held this office
2.
Rab Ide
(or
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
37
He as well as his pre
about twenty years (432-452).
decessor continued the compilation of the Talmud which Rab
for
Ashe had commenced.
3. Mar bar Rab Ashe, whose surname was Tabyome, and
who, for some unknown reasons, had been passed over in the
election of a successor to his father, was finally made president
of the academy in Sura, and filled this office for thirteen years,
In
(455-468).
authorities,
faculties of
his frequent discussions with contemporary
exhibits independence of opinion and great
he
mind.
Rab Acha
prominent teacher, was on the point
academy of Sura, but was finally
defeated by Mar bar Rab Ashe, who aspired to that office which
his father had so gloriously filled for more than half a century.
B. The academy of Pumbaditha, which had lost its earlier
4.
of Difte, a
of being elected as head of the
had during this generation successively three presi
whose activity very little is known, namely:
1. Rafram II., who succeeded Rab Gebihah, from 433 to 443.
2. Rab Rechumai, from 443-456.
3. Rab Santa b. Rabba, from 456-471.
Toward the end of this generation, the activity of both
academies was almost paralyzed by the terrible persecutions
which the Persian King Firuz instituted against the Jews and
influence,
dents, of
their religion.
THE SIXTH AND LAST GENERATION OF BABYLONIAN
AMORAIM (468-500).
A.
B.
Sura.
1.
Rabba Thospia
2.
Rabina.
(or Tosfaah).
Rab
Pumbaditha.
Jose.
To
the sixth generation of Palestinian Strack adds, (i)
Samuel b. Jose b. Bune, and to the Babylonian, (i) Ashi; (2)
Rabban bar Thachlifa; (3) Mar b. Rabbina; (4) Mar Zutra.
Meremar and Tospha he counts to the seventh
whilst Mielziner counts them to the sixth.*
*
We
generation,
refrain from giving our own opinion on the differences between the genera
and those of Mielziner for the reason, we confess, that we do not
tions of Strack
;
named here should be mentioned among the different
generations, whilst each of them has so many contemporaries named by Halpern in
his special collection of Tanaimand Amoraim, which takes up a great part in Halakha
understand
why
only those
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
38
CHAPTER
IV.
THE CLASSIFICATION OF HALAKHA AND HAGADA
CONTENTS OF THE GEMARA.
IN
THE
commentaries and discussions of the
Amoraim on the Mishna is termed Gemara. (See our Brief
Besides being a discursive
Introd., Vol. I., of our Edition.)
on
the
the
Gemara contains a vast
Mishna,
commentary
amount of more or less valuable material which does not always
have any close connection with the Mishna text, as legal re
ports, historical and biographical information, religious and
The
collection of the
maxims and homiletical remarks.
The whole subject-matter embodied in the Gemara is
generally classified into Halakha and Hagada.
To Halakha * belongs that which has bearing upon the law
hence all expositions, discussions and reports which have the
object of explaining, establishing and determining legal prin
ciples and provisions. The principal branches of the Halakha
are indicated by the names of the six sections of the Mishna,
ethical
;
named
in
Chap. IV. of this work.
The Hagada f comprises everything not having the char
acter of Halakha hence all historical records, all legends and
parables, all doctrinal and ethical teachings and all free and
;
unrestrained interpretations of Scripture.
Hagada in both Talmuds and Medrashim. I. H. Weiss s method is to give
the particulars of those who have much contributed to the development of the oral
law
but nevertheless he mentioned many of the great men without particulars.
Should we say that Mielziner has adopted his method while Strack did not, it would
as well as in
;
also not be correct.
ziner does not mention
There are many whom Weiss speaks of lengthily whilst Miel
them at all and vice versa. The modern scholars like Bacher,
and others, took the trouble to write particulars of each one mentioned by Strack
although even they omitted many who are mentioned by Halpern, and therefore we
hesitate to give our own opinion on this matter.
* Halakha means
custom, usage, practice ; then, an adopted rule, a traditional
In a more extended meaning, the term applies to matters bearing upon that
law.
law.
f Hagada or Haggada means that which is related, a tale, a saying, an individual
utterance which claims no binding authority.
Regarding this term, see W. Bacher s
The Origin of the Word Hagada (Agada)," in the
learned and exhaustive article,
Jewish Quarterly Review (London), Vol. IV., pp. 406-429. As to fuller particulars
"
G. Vortraege," pp. 57-61 and 83 sq.
concerning Halakha and Hagada, see Zunz s
also Hamburger s
Real Encyclopedic," II., the articles Halacha and Agada, also
above, Vol. I., Chap. V.
"
;
"
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
39
According to its different contents and character, the
Hagada may be divided into
:
Exegetical Hagada, giving plain or homiletical
gorical explanations of biblical passages.
1.
2.
Dogmatical Hagada, treating of
God
s
and
and punish
attributes
providence, of creation, of revelation, of reward
ment, of future life, of Messianic time, etc.
H agada
and alle
containing aphorisms maxims proverbs
fables, sayings, intended to teach and illustrate certain moral
3
.
Ethical
,
,
,
,
duties.
Hagada, reporting traditions and legends con
the
lives
of biblical and post-biblical persons or con
cerning
cerning national and general history.
Mystical Hagada, referring to Cabala, angelology, demon 5
4.
Historical
.
ology, astrology, magical cures, interpretation of dreams, etc.
Miscellaneous Hagada, containing anecdotes, observa
tions, practical advice, and occasional references to various
branches of ancient knowledge and sciences.
6.
Hagadic passages are often, by the way, interspersed among
matters of Halakha, as a kind of diversion and recreation after
the mental exertion of a tiresome investigation or a minute
discussion on a dry legal subject.
Hagada appears
in larger groups,
matter with which
Sometimes, however, the
outweighing the Halakha
loosely connected.
Palestinian Talmud,
it is
Halakhas and
Hagadas, see Chap. V. of this volume. However, as an appendix
we add that which was written by Mielziner about this matter.
There are two compilations of the Gemara, which differ
from each other in language as well as in contents; the one
Concerning the
its
made in Palestine is called Jerushalmi, the Jerusalem Gemara
or Talmud the other, originating in Babylonia, is called Babli,
the Babylonian Gemara or Talmud.
;
COMPILATION OF JERUSHALMI, THE PALESTINIAN TALMUD.
As no academy existed
Jerusalem after the destruction
customary appellation Jerusalem
rather a misnomer.
More correct is the appellation
in
of the second Temple, the
Talmud
is
the Palestinian Talmud, or the
West.
Gemara
of the teachers of the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
40
Maimonides
in the introduction to his
Mishna commentary
ascribes the authorship of the Palestinian Talmud to the cele
brated teacher R. Jochanan, who flourished in the third cen
This statement, if literally taken, cannot be correct,
tury.
since so many of the teachers quoted in that Talmud are known
more than a hundred years after R. Jochanan.
at the utmost, have given the first
a
to
such
of
collection
commentaries and discussions on
impulse
the Mishna, which was continued and completed by his suc
to have flourished
This celebrated
Amora may,
academy of Tiberias. In its present shape the
work is supposed to belong to the fourth or fifth century. Some
modern scholars assign its final compilation even to a still later
period namely, after the close of the Babylonian Talmud.*
The Palestinian Gemara, as before us, extends only over
cessors in the
;
thirty-nine of the sixty-three Masechtoth contained in the
Mishna, namely all Masechtoth of Seder Zeraim, Seder Moed,
Nashim and
But
it
Nezikin, with the exception of Eduyoth and Aboth.
has none of the Masechtoth belonging to Seder Koda-
shim, and of those belonging to Seder Teharoth
Masecheth Nidda. (See Chap. V., p. 44.)
Some
it
treats only of
of its Masechtoth are defective; thus the last four
of Sabbath and the last Perek of Maccoth are want
Perakim
Of the ten Perakim belonging to Masecheth Nidda it has
the
first three Perakim and a few lines of the fourth.
only
There are some indications that elder commentators were
acquainted with portions of the Palestinian Gemara which are
now missing, and it is very probable that that Gemara origi
nally extended to all or, at least, to most of the Masechtoth of
the Mishna. The loss of the missing Masechtoth and portions
ing.
thereof
may
be explained partly by the
many
persecutions
which interrupted the activity of the Palestinian academies,
partly
not
by the circumstance that
the Palestinian
command that general attention and
Gemara
did
veneration which was
bestowed on the Babylonian Gemara.
* Critical researches on this
subject are found in Geiger s
Jued. Zeitschrift f.
Gibeath
1870; Z. Frankel s
Mebo," p. 46 sq., and in Wiesner s
"
"
"
"Wissenschaft,"
"
Jeruschalaim
I.
(Vienna, 1872).
H. Weiss
("
Dor
a colleague of R. Jonah
piler of the Pal. Talmud
bar
Bun (Abun).
Dor," III., p. 114 sq.) regards R. Jose (bar Zabda), who was
and one of the last authorities in Palestine, as the very com
which in the following generation was completed by R. Jose
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
OF
COMPILATION
THE
BABLI,
41
BABYLONIAN TALMUD.
The compilation of the Babylonian Talmud is generally
ascribed to Rab Ashe, who for more than fifty years (375-427),
It is stated that it
officiated as head of the academy in Sura.
took him about thirty years to
collect, sift
and arrange the im
mense material of this gigantic work. During the remaining
second half of his activity he revised once more the whole work
and made in it many corrections.*
But Rab Ashe did not succeed in finishing the gigantic
work. It was continued and completed by his disciples and
successors, especially by the last Amoraim, Rabina II., who
from 488 to 499 presided over the academy in Sura, and R.
Some additions were
Jose, the school-head of Pumbaditha.
made by the Saboraim, and even by some still later hands.
The Gemara of the Babylonian Talmud covers only thirtyseven Masechtoth (tracts) of the Mishna, namely:
Of Zeraim only one, Berachoth, omitting the remaining
ten Masechtoth;
Of Moed
eleven, omitting only Shekalim,
editions is replaced by the Palestinian
Talmud
Of Nashim
division
all
;
our
t
of the seven Masechtoth belonging to that
Eduyoth and Aboth
eight, omitting
* See
ibid., Vol. I., p. 21.
Those scholars who maintain that the
Hanasi, but that he merely arranged
same
Gemara
in
;
Of Nezikim
the
which
in regard to
Rab Ashe
s
;
J
Mishna was not written down by R. Jehuda
it
orally (see
Chap. IV.,
p.
17),
maintain
compilation of the Gemara, without being able to
when and by whom it was actually committed to writing. Against this opinion
has been properly argued that it must be regarded as absolutely impossible for a
work so voluminous, so variegated in contents and so full of minute and intricate dis
cussions, as the Talmud, to have been orally arranged and fixed, and accurately
state
it
transmitted from generation to generation.
On the strength of this argument and of
indications found in the Talmud, Z. Frankel (in his
Mebo," p. 47) even
some
"
Rab Ashe
compiling the Gemara made use of some
minor compilations which existed before him, and of some written records and
memoranda containing short abstracts of the academical discussions in the preceding
regards
it
as very probable that
generations.
in
Collecting and arranging these records, he partly enlarged them by
them just as he found them. Some traces of such
fuller explanations, partly left
memoranda, made probably by R. Ashe
passages of the Talmud.
f
In our
new
s
edition in Vol. VIII.,
predecessors, are
we supplied
a
still
new
found
brief
in
numerous
commentary by
Kodkinson.
J We have placed Aboth de Rabbi Nathan under the Mishna instead of the
missing Gemara Jurisprudence, Vol. I. (IX.).
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
42
Of Kodashim nine, omitting Middoth and Kinnim. In
Thamid only chapters I., II. and IV. are provided with Gemara,
but not chapters III., V., VI. and VII.
Of Teharoth only Nidda, omitting eleven Masechtoth.
There being no traces of the Gemara missing to twenty-six
Masechtoth, it is very probable that this part of the Gemara
has never been compiled, though those Masechtoth have un
doubtedly also been discussed by the Babylonian Amoraim, as is
evident from frequent references to them in the Gemara on the
other Masechtoth. The neglect of compiling these discussions
may be explained by the circumstance that those Masechtoth
mostly treat of laws which had no practical application outside
This is especially the case with the Masechtoth
of Palestine.
of Zeraim, except Berachoth, and those of Teharoth, except
Nidda. It was different with the Masechtoth belonging to
Kodashim which, though
treating of the sacrificial laws, are
Babylonian Talmud, as it was a prevail
of
Rabbis
that the merit of being engaged with
the
ing opinion
the study of those laws was tantamount to the actual perform
ance of the sacrificial rites.
(See Talm. Menachoth, noa.)*
The absence of Gemara on the Masechtoth Eduyoth and
Aboth is easily accounted for by the very nature of their con
tents, which admitted of no discussions.
fully discussed in the
THE Two GEMARAS COMPARED WITH EACH OTHER.!
The
each other in
method
the
and the Babylonian Gemaras differ from
language and style as well as in material, and in
Palestinian
of treating the same, also in arrangement.
* This reason
appears doubtful to us as, according to the sages, the study of the
Torah, no matter of which of its branches, is esteemed higher than sacrifices and
they also were not very much in favor of sacrifices at large, just as little as the old
Apart from this we find there lengthy discussions about things which
prophets.
have never and could never have existed. We therefore think that the Gemara was
composed of all the Mishnayoths, and those which are missing were simply lost in
Secondly, discussions to subjects of every Mishna are scat
Talmud, but were not collected, and, indeed, a Rabbi of Ishbitza in
Poland, Gershon Henich Lener, took the trouble to gather the Gemara belonging to
the section Purification and publish them in a very voluminous book, in 1836, with
the approbation of most of the Russian and Polish rabbis.
(See particulars of this
the course of time.
tered in the
in our Phylacterian Retus, p. 122.)
f
ever,
About
we
we have spoken in the first volume of this- work. How
omit what was said by Mielziner concerning this matter, as it is
this subject
will not
very reasonable.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
43
As regards the language, the Palestinian Gemara is com
posed in the West Aramaic dialect which prevailed in Palestine
at the time of the Amoraim.
The language of the Babylonian Gemara is a peculiar idiom,
being a mixture of Hebrew and East Aramaic, with an occa
sional sprinkling of Persian words.
Quotations from Mishna
and Boraitha, and sayings of the elder Amoraim are given in
the original, that is, the New Hebrew (Mishnic) language,
while forms of judicial and notary documents and popular
legends of later origin are often given in the Aramaic idiom.
Although the Palestinian Gemara extends to two more Masechtoth than the Babylonian, its total material amounts only
Its discussions are generally
to about one third of the latter.
and
do
not exhibit that dialectic
and
brief
condensed,
very
The
which
the
acumen for
Babylonian Gemara is noted.
Hagada in the Palestinian Gemara includes more reliable and
valuable historical records and references, and is, on the whole,
more rational and sober, though less attractive than the Baby
lonian Hagada, which generally appeals more to the heart and
But the latter, on many occasions, indulges too
imagination.
in gross exaggerations, and its popular sayings, especially
those evidently interpolated by later hands, have often an ad
mixture of superstitious views borrowed from the Persian sur
much
roundings.
The arrangement
of the material in the
two Talmuds
dif
Babylonian, the Gemara is attached to
the single paragraphs of the Mishna, while in the Palestinian
fers in this, that in the
paragraphs (the retermed Halakhoth), belonging to one
Perek of the Mishna, are generally placed together at the head
The comments and discussions of the Gemara
of each chapter.
the
successive
to
paragraphs are then marked by the
referring
all
headings, Halakha
i,
The two Gemara
Halakha
2,
collections
and so
on.
make no
direct
mention of
each other as literary works. But the names and opinions of
the Palestinian authorities are very often quoted in the Baby
lonian Gemara and in a similar way, though not to the same
;
extent, the Palestinian
Babylonian
effected
by
authorities.
Gemara mentions
This
exchange
the numerous teachers
who
are
the views of the
of
opinions
known
to
have
was
em
igrated or frequently tra veiled from the one country to the other.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
44
The study
Talmud, having been trans
planted from its native soil to North Africa, and the European
countries (especially Spain, France, Germany and Poland), was
there most sedulously and religiously cultivated in the Jewish
communities, and gave rise to an immense Rabbinical litera
ture.
The
veneration
of the Babylonian
Palestinian
and
Talmud never enjoyed such
attention.
Eminent
Rabbis
general
alone were
thoroughly conversant with its contents, and referred to it
in their writings.
It is only in modern times that Jewish
scholars have come to devote more attention to this Talmud,
for the purpose of historical
and
literary investigations.
CHAPTER
V.
APOCRYPHAL APPENDICES TO THE TALMUD AND COMMENTARIES.
Besides the Masechtoth contained in the Mishna and the
two Gemaras, there are several Masechtoth composed in the
form of the Mishna and Tosephta, that treat of ethical, ritual,
and liturgical precepts. They stand in the same relation to
the Talmud as the Apocrypha to the canonical books of the
Bible.
When and by whom they were composed cannot be
ascertained.
Of these apocryphal treatises, the following are
appended to our editions of the Talmud
1. Aboth d Rabbi Nathan* divided into forty-one chapters
and a kind of Tosephta to the Mishnic treatise Pirke Aboth,"
the ethical sentences of which are here considerably enlarged
and illustrated by numerous narratives. In its present shape,
it belongs to the post-Talmudic period,
though some elements
of a Boraitha of R. Nathan (who was a Tana belonging to the
fourth generation) may have been embodied therein. f
:
"
2.
Sopherim (the Scribes), containing,
ters, rules for
twenty-one chap
the writing of the scrolls of the Pentateuch, and
* In our new edition
to
in
it is
translated in Vol.
I.
(IX.) and divided into paragraphs
each Mishna of Aboth.
"
Gottesd. Vortraege," p. 108, sq.
Solomon Taussig pub
f Compare Zunz,
lished in his
Neve Sholom (Munich, 1872), from a manuscript of the Library in
"
"
Munich, a recension of the Aboth d Rabbi Nathan which
recensions
differs considerably
from
Talmud editions. The latest edition of Aboth d. R. N. in two
from MSS. with critical annotations was published by S. Schechter
that printed in our
(Vienna, 1887).
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
of the book of Esther
45
also Masoretic rules, and liturgical rules
on Sabbath, Feast and Fast days. R. Asher
already expressed (in his Hilchoth Sepher Thora) the opinion
that this Masecheth Sopherim belongs to the period of the
Gaonim.*
Mourn ing), f eu
3. Ebel Rabbathi (the large treatise on
Semachoth
is
divided
called
into fourteen
phemistically
(Joys)
as
and
indicated
of
rules
and cus
the
treats,
title,
chapters,
by
toms concerning burial and mourning. It is not identical with
a treatise under the same title, quoted already in the Talmud
(Moed Katon, 243., 26a; Kethuboth, 28a), but seems to be
rather a reproduction of the same with later additions. J
;
for the service
,
4.
Callah (the bride, the
woman
This
recently married).
minor Masechta, being likewise a reproduction of a Masechta
by that name, mentioned already in the Talmud (Sabbath,
ii4a; Taanith, lob; Kiddushin, 4gb; Jer. Berachoth,
II., 5),
treats in one chapter of the duties of chastity in marriage,
in general.
5.
Derech Eretz
(the conduct of
life),
and
divided into eleven
chapters, the first of which treats of prohibited marriages, and
the remaining chapters, of ethical, social and religious teach
References to a treatise by that name are made already
ings.
in the Talmud (B. Berachoth, 22a, and Jer. Sabbath, VI., 2).
Derech Eretz Zuta (the conduct of life, minor treatise),
containing ten chapters, replete with rules and maxims of
6.
wisdom.
7. Perek Ha-shalom (chapter on Peace) consists, as already
indicated by the title, only of one chapter, treating of the im
portance of peacefulness.
Remark: Besides these apocryphal treatises appended to
||
* See
The latest separate edition of Masecheth
Zunz, GD. V., p. 95, sq.
Sopherim from a MS. and with a German commentary was published by Joel Mueller
(Leipsic, 1878).
f Translated
|
by us
in Vol.
See Zunz, G. V.,
Verstorbene"
p. 1-57.
p. 90,
(Jahrblicher
fiir
M. Klotz published
schriften bearbeitet,
iiberzetzt
VIII. with a brief commentary by Rodkinson.
Brllll
Die Talm. Tractate liber Trauer
and N.
"
um
Geschichte und Literatur, I., Frankfurt a. M.),
Der Talm. Tractat Ebel Rabbathi nach Hand-
Jiid.
"
und mil Anmerkungen
versehen,"
Frankf. on the
Main, 1892.
Also these three are translated in Vol. I. (IX.) of our new edition.
On both of these Masechtoth Derech Eretz, see Zunz, GD. V., pp. 110-112.
|
See also Abr. Tawrogi,
Der Talm. Tractat Derech Erez Sutta Kritisch bearbeitet,
"
ubersetzt
und
"
erlautert
(Berlin, 1885).
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
46
our editions of the Talmud under the general title of Minor
Treatises," there are seven lesser Masechtoth which were pub
"
lished
by Raphael Kirchheim from an ancient manuscript.
(Frankfort on the Main, 1851.)
COMMENTARIES.
The Necessity
The Talmud
for such Commentaries.
offers to its students great difficulties, partly
on account of the peculiar idiom in which it is written, and
which is intermixed with so numerous, often very mutilated,
foreign words; partly on account of the extreme brevity and
succinctness of its style, the frequent use of technical terms
and phrases, and mere allusions to matters discussed elsewhere
partly also on account of the circumstance that, in consequence
of elliptical expressions, and in the absence of all punctuation
marks, question and answer, in the most intricate discussions,
are sometimes so closely interwoven that it is not easy to dis
To
cern at once where the one ends and the other begins.
meet all these difficulties, which are often very perplexing,
numerous commentaries have been written by distinguished
Rabbis. Some of the commentaries extend to the whole Tal
;
mud, or a great portion thereof; others exclusively to the
Mishna, or some of its sections.
Up
to date
new commentaries upon commentaries
appear,
so that in the last edition printed in Vilna, more than a hun
dred additional commentaries are given (an illustration of
which we give at the end of
this chapter).
not care to point them out.
Moreover they
We
therefore
do
commen
taries to the text which do not belong to our new edition.
However, the commentaries exclusively on the Mishna we deem
all
are
to be interesting for some readers and therefore do not omit
them.
Commentaries Exclusively on
the
Mishna.
i
The first to write a commentary on the whole Mishna was
Moses Maimonides (XII. century). He commenced it in the
twenty-third year of his age, in Spain, and finished it in his thir
This commentary was written in Arabic,
tieth year, in Egypt.
manuscripts of which are to be found in the Bodleian Library
.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
at Oxford, and in some other libraries.
From the Arabic
was translated into Hebrew by several scholars, flourishing
47
it
in
the XIII. century; namely, Seder Zeraim, by Jehuda Charizi;
Seder Moed, by Joseph Ibn Alfual Seder Nashim, by Jacob
;
Achsai (or Abbasi *) Seder Nezikin, by Solomon b. Joseph,
with the exception of Perek Chelek in Sanhedrin and Masecheth
;
Aboth, including the ethical treatise Sh mone Perakim, intro
ducing the latter, which were translated by Samuel Ibn Tibbon; Seder Kodashim, by Nathanel Ibn Almuli; the trans
lator of Seder Teharoth is not known.
These translations are
all
to
Talmud
after
each Masechta, under
editions,
appended
the heading of Commentary of Maimonides.
The
characteristic feature of this
commentary
of
Maimon
follows the analytical method, lay
down
at
the
ing
beginning of each section the principles and
views
of
the
general
subject, and thereby throwing light upon
ides consists in this, that
it
the particulars to be explained, while Rashi in his Talmud com
mentary adopted the synthetical method, commencing with the
explanation of the particulars, and thereby leading to a clear
understanding of the whole of the subject-matter.
2.
Several distinguished Rabbis wrote commentaries on
on those Masechtoth to
single sections of the Mishna, especially
which no Babylonian Gemara (and hence no Rashi) exists.
Of these commentaries the following are found in our Talmud
editions
:
1
s Commentary on all Masechtoth of Seder Zeraim,
except Berachoth, and all Masechtoth of Seder Teharoth, ex
cept Nidda, by R. Simson of Sens (XII. century), the cele
brated Tosaphist.
(a)
Rashi
Asheri s Commentary on the same Masechtoth, by R.
Yechiel (XIII. century), the author of the epitome
of the Talmud which is appended to all Masechtoth.
Masecheth Middoth, by R.
(c) Rashi s Commentary on
(b)
Asher
b.
Shemaya, who is supposed to have been a disciple of Rashi.
(d) RabacTs Commentary on Masecheth Eduyoth, by R.
Abraham b. David (XII. century), the celebrated author of
critical annotations on Maimonides Talmudical code.
(e ) Commentary on the Masechtoth Kinnim and Tamid by
an anonymous author.
* See
Graetz,
"
Geschichte
d.
J.",
Vol. VII. p. 302.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
48
3.
R. Obadya of Bertinoro in Italy, and Rabbi in Jerusalem
(d. in the year 1510), wrote a very lucid commentary on the
whole Mishna, which accompanies the text in most of our sep
He follows the analytic method of
Rashi, and adds to each paragraph of the Mishna the result
of the discussion of the Gemara.
arate Mishna editions.
4.
Additions of
Yom
Tob.
Additional comments
by Yom
Tob Lipman Heller, Rabbi of Prague and Cracow (XVII. cen
These comments, likewise extending to all parts of
tury).
the Mishna, and accompanying its text on the opposite side
of Bartinoro s commentary in most of our Mishna editions,
contain very valuable explanations and critical remarks.
Of shorter commentaries to be found only in some special
5
.
Mishna text the following may be mentioned
Tree
(a)
of Life, by Jacob Chagiz, Rabbi in Jerusalem (XVII.
century), the author of a Talmudical terminology, Techilath
editions of the
:
Chochma.
Full Spoon of Delight, by Senior Phoebus (XVIII. cen
This commentary is an abstract of Bertinoro s and
tury).
Yom Tob Lipman Heller s commentaries.
6.
(6) Spoon of Delight, by Isaac Ibn Gabbai in Leghorn
(XVII. century), is generally based on the commentaries of
Rashi and Maimonides.*
"
"
Tefereth Israel
to
Mishnayoth, by Israel Liphschitz,
a very reasonable commentary.
all
CHAPTER
VI.
EPITOMES, CODIFICATIONS, MANUSCRIPTS AND PRINTED
EDITIONS OF THE TALMUD.
INTRODUCTORY.
Since the Babylonian
the Jewish communities in
Talmud was considered by most
all
of
countries as the source of the rab
by which to regulate the religious life, it is but
natural that already at a comparatively early period attempts
were made to furnish abstracts of the same for practical pur-
binical law
etc.
,
* The commentaries of the Palestinian Talmud we
omit, but not the Epitomes,
which seem to us of interest for the reader.
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ILLUSTRATION OF THE NAMES OF THE 103 ADDITIONAL COMMENTARIES.
i
x
^fft
a-j
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
49
This was done partly by epitomes or compendiums
which, retaining the general arrangement and divisions of the
Talmud, bring its matter into a narrower compass by omitting
poses.
Hagadic and unnecessary passages, and abridging the legal
and partly by codes in which the results of the
discussed legal matter is presented in a more systematic order.
The first attempts in this direction were made by R. Jehudai
Gaon of Sura (VIII. century), in his book Halachoth Ketuoth
(Abridged Halakhoth), and by R. Simon of Kahira (IX.
Both of these two works,
century) in his Halachoth Gedoloth.
which afterwards coalesced into one work, still extant under
the latter title, were, however, eclipsed by later master works
its
discussions;
of other celebrated Rabbinical authorities.
A. EPITOMES.
The principal epitomes or compendiums
by the following authors:
of the
Talmud
are
R. Isaac Alfasi (after the initials, called
born in
in
in
Fez
died
near
the
of
as
Rabbi
at
Africa,
city
1103
1013
Lucena in Spain) wrote an excellent compendium, which he
called "Halakhoth," but which is usually called by the name
In this compendium he retains the
of its author, Alpassy.
1.
"Rif,"
general arrangement, the language and style of the Talmud,
but omits, besides the Hagada, all parts and passages which
concern laws that had become obsolete since the destruction of
the Temple.
Besides, he condensed the lengthy discussions,
and added his own decision in cases not clearly decided in
the Talmud.
REMARK. Alfasi s compendium comprises in print three large folio volumes in
which the text is accompanied by Rashi s Talmud commentary, and besides by
numerous commentaries, annotations and glosses, especially those by R. Nissim b.
Reuben
by R. Zerachia Halevi (Maor) by R. Mordecai b. Hillel by R.
Joseph Chabiba (Nimuke Joseph), and by some other distinguished Rabbis.
(}"-|)
2.
;
R. Asher
;
b.
Jechiel,
;
a German Rabbi, later in Toledo,
Spain, where he died
in 1327, wrote a compendium after the
of
that of Alfasi and embodied in the same also the
pattern
opinions of later authorities. This compendium is appended
Talmud editions to each Masechta, under the
author, Rabbennu Asher.
in our
4
title of
the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
50
R. Jacob, the celebrated son of this author, added to that
compendium an abstract of the decisions contained in the same,
The Extract
of Asher s Decisions.
B. CODES.
Mishne Tor ah,
1.
"Repetition
of the
Law,"
by R. Moses
Maimonides, flourishing in the XII. century. This is the most
comprehensive and systematically arranged Code of all the
Laws scattered through the two Talmuds, or resulting from
the discussions in the same.
Occasionally also the opinions of
the post-Talmudic authorities, the Gaonim, are added.
This gigantic work, written throughout in Mishnic Hebrew
in a very lucid and attractive style, is divided into fourteen
books hence its additional name, Sepher Ha-yad (having the
numerical value of 14), and by way of distinction, it was later
;
Yad Hachazaka," The Strong Hand. Every book is,
according to the various subjects treated therein, divided into
Halakhoth, the special names of which are given at the head of
each of those fourteen books. The Halakhoth are again sub
"
called
divided into chapters (Perakim), and these into paragraphs.
2. Sephar Mitzvath Godol (abbreviated S. M. G.), the great
Law book, by the Tosaphist R. Moses of Coucy, in France
This work arranges the Talmudical law
(XIII. century).
according to the 613 precepts which the Rabbis found to
be contained in the Pentateuch, and is divided into 248
positive and 365 negative commandments.
REMARK. A similar work, but on a smaller scale, is Sephar Mitzvath Gaton,"
"
also called
"
Amude
Golah,"
by R. Isaac
b.
Joseph, of Corbeil
(d. 1280).
3. Turim (the Rows of Laws), by R. Jacob, son of that
celebrated R. Asher b. Jechiel who was mentioned above.
The work is divided into four parts, called Tur Orach Chayim,
:
Tur Yore Dea, treating of the
Ritual Laws; Tur Eben Ha-ezer, on the Marriage Laws, and
Tur Choshen Mishpat, on the Civil Laws. Each of these four
treating of Liturgical Laws;
subdivided according to subjects under appropriate
This code differs
headings, and into chapters, called Simanim.
books
is
from that of Maimonides in so far as it is restricted to such laws
only which were still in use outside of Palestine, and as it em
bodies also rules and customs which were established after the
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
51
Talmud. Besides, it is not written in that uniform
and pure language, and in that lucid style, by which the work
of Maimonides is characterized.
4. Shulchan Aruch (The Prepared Table), by R. Joseph
Kara (XVI. century), the same author who wrote the commen
taries on the codes of Maimonides and of R. Jacob b. Asher.
Taking the last-mentioned code (Turim) and his own commen
tary on the same as basis, and retaining its division into four
parts as well as that into subjects and chapters, he subdivided
each chapter (Siman), into paragraphs, and so remodelled its
contents as to give it the proper shape and style of a law book.
This Shulchan Aruch, together with the numerous annotations
added to it by the contemporary R. Moses Isserles, was up to
our time regarded by all rabbinical Jews as the authoritative
code by which all questions of the religious life were decided.
Constant reference to the four Codes mentioned above are
made in the marginal glosses which are found on every page of
the Talmud, under the heading of En Mishpat, Ner Mitzwah"
close of the
"
It is
the object of these glosses to show, at every instance when
is quoted or discussed in the Talmud, where the final
a law
decision of that law
is
to be found in the various codes.
authorship of these marginal glosses
The
ascribed to R. Joshua
same scholar wrote also
is
Boas Baruch (XVI. century). The
the glosses headed Torah Or which are found in the space
between the Talmud text and Rashi s commentary, and which
indicate the books and chapters of the biblical passages quoted
Talmud, besides the very important glosses in the mar
gins of the pages, headed Massoreth Ha-shas, which give
The last men
references to parallel passages in the Talmud.
tioned glosses were later increased with critical notes by Isaiah
Berlin (Pik), Rabbi in Breslau (d. 1799).
in the
C.
COLLECTIONS OF THE HAGADIC PORTIONS OF THE TALMUD.
While the above-mentioned Compendiums and Codes are
restricted to abstracting only the legal matter (Halakha) of
the Talmud, R. Jacob ibn Chabib, nourishing at the beginning
of the sixteenth century, collected all the Hagadic passages,
This very popular col
especially of the Babylonian Talmud.
lection,
which
is
usually printed with various commentaries,
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
52
has the
title
of
En Jacob
;
in
some
editions
it is
also called
En
Israel.
R. Samuel Jafe, flourishing in the latter part of that cen
tury, made a similar collection of the Hagadic passages of the
Palestinian Talmud, with an extensive commentary under the
Y phe
Mareh (Vienna, 1590, and Berlin, 1725-26).
with a short commentary was published
edition
abridged
under the title of Benyan Jerusalem (Lemberg, 1860).
title of
An
D. MANUSCRIPTS.
In consequence of the terrible persecutions of the Jews
during the middle ages, and the destruction of their libraries,
so often connected therewith, and especially in consequence of
the vandalism repeatedly perpetrated by the Church against
the Talmud,* only a very limited
number of manuscripts
same have come down to our time.
(sections) and Masechtoih (tracts or
of the
Codices of single Sedarim
treatises) are to be found in
various libraries of Europe, especially in the Vatican Library of
Rome, and in the libraries of Parma, Leyden, Paris, Oxford,
Cambridge, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg. The only known
complete manuscript of the Babylonian Talmud, written in
the year 1369, is in possession of the Royal Library of Munich.
A fragment of Talmud Pesachim, of the ninth or tenth century,
preserved in the University Library of Cambridge, and was
edited w ith an autotype facsimile, by W. H. Lowe, Cambridge,
is
r
1879.
The Columbia College
in the city of
New York
lately ac
quired a collection of manuscripts containing the treatises
Pesachim, Moed Katon, Megilla and Zebaehim of the Babylonian
Talmud. These manuscripts came from Southern Arabia, and
date from the year 1548.!
* It is stated that at the notorious
auto-da-fe of the Talmud, held in the year
1249, at Paris, twenty-four cart-loads of Talmud tomes were consigned to the flames.
Similar destructions of the Talmud were executed by the order of Pope Julius III., in
first at Rome, then at Bologna and Venice, and in the following
year
Ancona and other cities.
Among the 12,000 tomes of the Talmud that were
the year 1553,
in
"
burned at Cremona, in the year 1559 (see Graetz s
Geschichte d. Juden," X., p. 382),
were undoubtedly also numerous manuscripts, though most of them may have been
printed copies.
f
New
See Max L. Margolis
York, 1892.
"
s
The Columbia College MS.
of Meghilla Examined,"
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
53
Manuscripts of the Mishna or of single Sedarim thereof,
some of which dating from the thirteenth century are preserved
in the libraries of Parma, of Berlin, of Hamburg, of Oxford, and
That of the last-mentioned library was edited
of Cambridge.
"The Mishna on which the Palestinian Tal
Lowe:
W.
H.
by
mud
Rests,"
etc.,
Cambridge, 1883.
Of the Palestinian Talmud the only manuscript, of con
siderable extent,
S.
is
preserved in the Library of Leyden. See
Description of the Leyden MS. of the
M. Schiller-Szinessy,
Palestinian
Palestinian
Talmud,"
Talmud
"
Cambridge, 1878.
are also to be found in
Fragments of the
some other libraries,
especially in those of Oxford and Parma.
Fuller information concerning MSS. of the
Talmud is given
Handschriften und erste Ausgaben des Babyl.
See also M. Steinschneider s "HeTalmud," Berlin, 1862.
braische Bibliographic," Berlin, 1862 and 1863.
in F. Lebrecht s
"
E.
a.
THE TALMUD
IN PRINT.
The Mishna Editions.
Already as early as the year 1492, the first edition of the
Mishna, together with the commentary of Maimonides, ap
peared in Naples. It was followed by several editions of Venice
(1546-50, and 1606), of Riva di Trento (1559), and of Mantua
In the last-mentioned editions the commentary
(1559-63).
The editions which have
of Obadia di Bertinoro is added.
Those which appeared
since appeared are very numerous.
since the seventeenth century are generally accompanied, be
sides Bertinoro s
commentary, by Lipman Heller
s
or
some
other shorter commentaries.
b.
The Babylonian Talmud.
complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud was
published by Daniel Bomberg in twelve folio volumes, Venice,
The
first
Besides the text, it contains the commentary of
1520-23.
Rashi, the Tosephoth, the Piske-Tosephoth, the compendium
of Asheri,
and the Mishna commentary of Maimonides. This
model for all editions which subse-
original edition served as
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
54
quently appeared at Venice, Basel, Cracow, Lublin, Amster
dam, Frankfort-on-the-Oder, Berlin, Frankfort-on -trie-Main,
Dyhernfurt, Prague, Warsaw, Lemberg, and re
cently at Vienna and Wilna. The later editions were greatly
improved by the addition of valuable literary and critical
Sulzbach,
marginal notes and appendices by learned rabbis. But the
Basel and most of the subsequent editions, down almost to the
present time, have been much mutilated by the official censors
of the press, who expunged from the Talmud all those passages
which, in their opinion, seemed to reflect upon Christianity,
and, besides, changed expressions, especially names of nations
and
of sects,
which they suspected as having reference to
Christians.
The Amsterdam
editions, especially the first (1644-48), es
at the hand of the censors, and are on
mutilations
those
caped
Most of the passages
this account considered very valuable.
which have elsewhere been eliminated or altered by the cen
have been extracted from the Amsterdam edition, and
published in separate small books. Of these the following
two may be mentioned: "Collected Omissions" and "The
sors
Koenigsberg, 1860.*
the complete editions of the Babylonian
and of the very numerous editions of single Masech-
Omissions,"
A critical review of
Talmud
toth since the year 1484, was published
by Raphael Rabbino-
Hebrew pamphlet, Munich, 1877.!
The same author also collected and published very
vicz, in his
rich
and
important material for a critical edition of the Babylonian
Talmud from the above-mentioned manuscript in the Royal
Library of Munich and other manuscripts, as well as from early
prints of single Masechtoth in various libraries.
The
title
of
very extensive work, written in Hebrew, is Dikduke Sopherim, with the Latin title Variae lectiones in Mishnam et in
this
:
Talmud Babylonicum, etc., Munich 1868-86. The fifteen vol
umes in octavo which have appeared of this valuable work
comprise only three and a half Sedarim of the six Sedarim of
* In our
Schulchan Aruch und Seine Beziehungen, etc.," mentioned in our
appendix about the Mtinster process, we give a clear explanation about all the cor
rections by the censor which does not fully agree with this remark.
Concerning
these omissions, see our
Concluding Words to Vols. XVII. and XVIII.
f This instructive pamphlet is also reprinted as an appendix to Vol. VIII. of
"
"
"
Dikduke Sopherim.
.owmawm .msoin
trap npNirm .nifiDirppofii
BTVSl /^ rajnpD VX-IB c jno nBranrum
pos
TJD
nwofr
mvr DMH *p B*fyy\
pa
3DD)
,-jl^D
1^X1^31 *n ^pS
^3 lisp rrfa vtyi
Vt
neca epite
"01 ,
"ra^nn
>!
omen
.
tya apjr irai
[I^DJ^ 1^2
nun ^NIOP u^a-6
>D
npun B nn mmpa ,-) fffipft
(a*
,^i
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OTB"
,
p ^ a^ mx
tnss)
Vi ns OTID
aw
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pNt:Naxj
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a"no
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nnm D^pn
biw rpv
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(a
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(J
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Ni2
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TKD. o-rb
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V t VI^N O^T ?
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VT:CT)
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--:
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(p-rinc)
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t^tyin mnirn
:a-:r p-fco -EC^ri nacrnm
meoin oy xjT
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p":s
yun xvna mcpiei p mc-pcS nny
n jpn n;eo i:Dn
(a-vi r,o n-a ntixin)
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._..
"-
TITLE PAGE OF THE LAST EDITION OF THE
TALMUD AT WILNA.
I
,
(*
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
the Talmud.
55
be regretted that in consequence of the
death of the learned author the completion of this important
work has been suspended.
It is to
The Palestinian Talmud.
c.
Of the Palestinian Talmud (Jerushalmi) only four complete
editions appeared
1.
The
:
first edition,
published by Daniel Bomberg, Venice,
1523-24, in one folio volume, without
2.
The Cracow
edition, 1609,
any commentary.
with a short commentary on
the margin.
3. The Krotoshin edition, 1866, with a commentary like
that in the Cracow edition, but added to it are marginal notes,
containing references to parallel passages in the Babylonian
Talmud, and corrections of text readings.
4. The Shitomir edition, 1860-67, in several
with various commentaries.
folio
volumes,
Besides these four complete editions, several parts have
been published with commentaries.
CHAPTER
VII.
TRANSLATIONS OF THE TALMUD
A.
THE MISHNA.
English Translations.
W.
Walton.
Translation of
the treatises Sabbath and
Erubin, London, 1718.
D. A. de Sola and M.
I. Raphall.
Eighteen treatises from
London, 1843.
Joseph Barclay published under the title "The Talmud" a
translation of eighteen treatises of the Mishna with annota
the Mishna translated.
London, 1878.
tions.
C.
Taylor.
Aboth).
Sayings of the Jewish Fathers (the treatise
.Cambridge, 1877.
REMARK.
The
European languages.
treatise
"Aboth"
has been translated into almost
all
of the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
56
B.
To
THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD.
translate the
Mishna
is
a comparatively easy task.
Its
generally plain and uniform language and style of expression,
and its compendious character could easily enough be rendered
into another language, especially when accompanied by some
explanatory notes. But it is quite different with the Gemara,
There are, of course, also passages
no great difficulties to a translator
who is sufficiently familiar with the idiom in which the original is
composed. We refer to the historical, legendary and homiletical
portions (Hagadas) which the compilers have interspersed in
every treatise. The main part of the Gemara, however, which
is essentially of an argumentative character, giving minute
reports of discussions and debates on the law, this part, so rich
in dialectical subtilities, and so full of technicalities and ellip
tical expressions, offers to the translator almost insurmounta
especially the Babylonian.
in the Gemara which offer
ble difficulties.
English Translations.
A. W. Streane.
Translation of the treatise Chagiga.
bridge, 1891.
Michael L. Rodkinson
:
Babylonian Talmud
Section
Cam
Moed
(Festivals).
Complete, consisting of the following volumes:
Vol. I.,* Tract Sabbath (first ten chapters); Vol. II., Tract
Sabbath (continued), fourteen chapters; Vol. III., Tract Erubin (Mingling); Vol. IV., Tracts Skekalim (Duties), and Rosh
Hashana (Hebrew Calendar); Vol. V., Tract Pesachim (Pass
over); Vol. VI., Tracts Yomah (Day of Atonement), and
Hagiga (Holocaust) Vol. VII., Tracts Betzah (Feast), Succah
(Tabernacles), and Moed Katan (Minor Festivals) Vol. VIII.,
Tracts Taanith (Fasts), Megilla (Book of Esther), and Ebel
Rabbathi (Great Mourning).
;
;
Section Jurisprudence: Vol. I., Ethics of Judaism, (Tracts
Aboth, Aboth of R. Nathan, Derech Eretz, Rabba and Zutta)
;
Vol.
Bab Kama
II.,
(First Gate, eight chapters) Vol. III.,
Baba Metziah (Middle Gate), five chapters, and the last two of
* Of Vol.
I.
;
and IV. a second revised and enlarged edition was published.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
Baba Kama;
Vol. V.-VI.,
Vol. IV., the last five chapters of
Baba Bathra (Last Gate,
five
57
Baba Metziah;
chapters in each);
Vol. VII.-VIIL, Sanhedrin; Vol. IX., Maccath, Shebuoth, and
Eduyoth; Vol. X., Abuda Zara and Horioth,
New York,
1896-
1903.*
C.
THE PALESTINIAN TALMUD.
a.
Latin Translation.
Blasius Ugolinus, published in volumes XVII. -XXX. of his
Thesaurus antiquitatum sacrarum (Venice, 1755-65), the fol
lowing treatises in Latin: Pesachim (vol. XVII.); Shekalim,
Yoma, Succah, Rosh Hashanah, Taanith, Megilla, Chagiga,
Betza, Moed Katan (vol. XVIII.) Maaseroth, Maaser Sheni,
Sanhedrin, Maccoth
Challah, Orlah, Biccurim (vol. XX.)
;
;
(vol.
XXV.); Kiddushin,
b.
Sota,
German
Kethuboth
(vol.
XXX.).
Translations.
Joh. Jacob Rabe, besides translating Berachoth in connec
tion with that treatise in the Babylonian Gemara, as men
tioned
published: Der
above,
ubersetzt
und
Talmudische
Tractat
Peak,
erlautert.
Anspach, 1781.
August Wunsche. Der Jerusalemische Talmud in seinen
haggadischen Bestandtheilen zum ersten Male in s Deutsche
ubertragen.
Zurich, 1880.
c.
French Translation.
Moise Schwab. Le Talmud de Jerusalem traduit pour
premiere fois. X. volumes. Paris, 1871-90.
D.
M.
la
GEMARA.
Schwab, the author of the French translation published
Talmud of Jerusalem. Vol. I. Berachoth.
in English: The
London, 1886.
* See
In
or
"
Talmud Ubersetzung by Bischof, p. 62.
this book all the translations from both Talmuds in all languages and all tracts
The English translations are given
parts of them, with criticisms, are mentioned.
"
Kritische
Geschichte der
here for the English reader.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
S8
CHAPTER
VIII.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF MODERN WORKS AND MONOGRAPHS ON
TALMUDIC SUBJECTS.
(Arranged with reference to subjects and in alphabetical order
of authors).
HAG AD A.
W.
Backer.
Die Agada der Tannaiten. Strasburg, Als.
Die
1884;
Agada der Babylonischen Amoraer. Strasburg,
Als., 1878; Die Agada der Palastinischen Amoraer.
Strasburg,
Agada der Palastinischen Amoraer, published 1896,
Die Schueler Jochanan s, and 1899 Vol. III., Die letzten Amoraer des heiligen Landes.
5. Back.
Die Fabel im Talmud u. Midrasch (in MonatsAls.,
Vol.
1891
;
II.,
schrift
1875;
f.
Geschichte u. Wissenschaft d. Judenthums, XXIV.,
1876; XXIX., 1880; XXX., 1881; XXXII.,
XXV.,
1883; XXXIII., 1884).
M. Grunbaum.
aus der Haggada
vol.
XXXI.,
Beitrage zur vergleichenden Mythologie
Gesellschaft,
(in Zeitschrift d. D. Morgenl.
1877).
M. Gudemann.
Monatsschrift
vol.
XXV.,
f.
Mythenmischung
in
der
Haggada
(in
Geschichte u. Wissenschaft d. Judenthums,
1876).
Hoffmann. Die Antonius Agadoth im Talmud (in
Magazin fur Wissenschaft des Judenthums, vol. XIX., 1892).
D.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL.
Ad. Brull. Trachten der Juden im nachbiblischen Alterthum. Frankf. on the M., 1873.
Franz Delitzsch. Jiidisches Handwerkerleben zur Zeit
Jesu, Elangen, 1879.
Life."
New
M. H.
Translated
by
B. Pick,
"Jewish
Artisan
York, 1883.
Friedlander.
Die Arbeit nach Bibel
u.
Talmud.
Briinn, 1891.
L.
Herzj eld.
Metrologische Voruntersuchungen, Geld und
bis zum Schluss des Talmuds (in Jahrbuch
Gewicht der Juden
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
fur Geschichte der
Juden
u. des
Judenthums,
95-191, Leipsic, 1863).
Alex. Kohut.
1st das Schachspiel
(Z. d. D. M. G., XLVL, 130-39).
vol.
III.,
59
pp.
im Talmud genannt?
Graphische Requisiten und Erzeugnisse bei
Leipsic, 1870-71; Die Lebensalter in der jiid.
Leopold Low.
den Juden,
Literatur.
H.
Szegedin, 1875.
Die Landwirthschaft in Palestina zur Zeit
Vogelstein.
der Mischna.
Berlin, 1894.
Ueber Talmudische Miinzen u. Gewichte.
Das
Breslau, 1862;
Breslau, 1867;
judische Maassystem.
Technologic u. Terminologie der Handverke in der P. Rieger
B. Zuckerman.
Mischnah.
Berlin, 1895.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
5am. Back. Elischa ben Abuja, quellenmassig dargestellt.
Frankf. on the M., 1891.
A Blumenthal. Rabbi Meir, sein Leben u. Wirken. Frankf.,
.
1889.
M. Braunschweiger
Die Lehrer der Mischna, ihr Leben u.
Wirken.
Frankf. on the M., 1890.
S.Fessler. Mar Samuel, der bedeutendste Amora. Breslau,
.
1879.
M.
Friedldnder.
ten u. Amoraer.
Geschichtsbilder aus der Zeit der Tanai-
Brtinn, 1879.
R. Jehuda Hanasi und die Redaction der
Mischna. Vienna, 1876.
D. Hoffmann. Mar Samuel, Rector der Academic zu Nahardea.
Leipsic, 1873.
5. Gelbhaus.
M. D. Hoffmann.
Biographie des Elischa ben Abuya.
Vienna, 1870.
Armand Kaminka.
Simon b. Jochai (chapter in the
Studien zur Geschichte Galilaeas. Berlin, 1890).
Un Tanah (Rabbi Meir), tude sur la vie
Raphael
et 1 enseignement d un docteur Juif du II. siecle.
Paris, 1883.
L. Lewin.
R. Simon b. Jochai.
Frankf. on M., 1893.
author
s
L<fvy.
M.
I.
Muhlfelder.
des Talmud.
J. Spitz.
Rabh. Ein Lebensbild zur Geschichte
Leipsic, 1873.
Rabban Jochanan
schulc zu Jabneh.
Berlin, 1883.
b. Sakkai,
Rector der Hoch-
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
60
I.
Vie de Hillel
Trend.
1
Ancient.
Some Women
H. Zirndorf.
traying distinguished
women
in
Paris, 1867.
Israel (pp.
of the
Talmudic
119-270, por
Phila
age).
delphia, 1892.
F. Kauter.
Beitraege zur Kenntniss des Rechtsystems
Bern, 1895.
Hillel der Alte, Lebensbild eines jued. Weisen.
und der Ethik Mar Samuels.
A. Kisch.
Prag., 1889.
CHRONOLOGY AND CALENDAR.
Geschichte u. System des judischen
L. M. Lewisohn.
Kalenderwesens. Leipsic, 1856.
B. Zuckermann.
Materialien zur Entwickelung der altjudischen Zeitrechnung.
Breslau 1882.
CUSTOMS.
M.
I.
Talmud
the
New
Non-Jewish religious ceremonies in
Proceedings of the American Oriental Society)
Cassanowicz.
(in
.
York, 1894.
Joseph Perles.
Zeit.
Die jiidische Hochzeit in nachbiblischer
Die Leichenfeierlichkeiten im nachbi-
1860.
I^eipsic,
blischen Judenthum.
in
"
New
Breslau, 1861.
REMARK. An English translation of both of these two monographs is embodied
Hebrew Characteristics," published by the American Jewish Publication Society.
York, 1875.
M.
Fluegel.
Gedanken
iiber religiose
Brauche und An-
Cincinnati, 1888.
schauungen.
DIALECTICS.
Aaron Hahn.
and
Dialecticians
The Rabbinical
Dialectics of the
Dialectics.
A
History of
Cin
Mishna and Talmud.
cinnati, 1879.
EDUCATION.
Blach-Gudensberg.
Das Paedagogische im Talmud.
Hal-
berstadt, 1880.
M. Duschak.
Israeliten.
Schulgesetzgebung
Vienna, 1872.
u.
Methodik der alten
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
Zur Schul-Paedagogik des Talmud.
Sam. Marcus.
lin,
61
Ber
1866.
L
Joseph Simon.
Bible et le
E.
Talmud.
Van
6ducation et
1
instruction
d aprs
la
Leipsic, 1879.
Die
Gelden.
Volkeschule des juedischen Alter-
thums nach Talmudischen Quellen.
Berlin, 1872.
Geschichte und Method ik der Schulwesens im
J. Wiesen.
talmudischen Alterthum.
Strasburg, 1892.
theoretischen und practischen
der
Darstellung
Alterthum.
im
Berlin, 1896.
Paedagogik
juedischen
J. Lewit.
ETHICS.
M. Block. Die Ethik der Halacha. Budapest, 1886.
Herman Cohen. Die Nachstenliebe im Talmud. Ein
Gutachten. Marburg, 1886.
M. Duschak. Die Moral der Evangelien u. des Talmuds.
Briinn, 1877.
H. B. Fassel.
Tugend- und
Rechtslehre
des
Talmud.
Vienna, 1848.
Die Ethik des Judenthums. Frankfort a. M.,
Translated into English.
(The Ethics of Judaism),
1898.
I.
Vol.
Henriette
Philadelphia, 1900-01.
Szold,
by
Die Sittenlehre des Judenthums andern
E. Grunebaum.
M.Lazarus.
Bekentnissen gegeniiber.
M. Gudemann.
Alex. Kohut.
tures.
New
Strasburg, 1878.
Nachstenliebe. Vienna, 1890.
The Ethics of the Fathers. A series of lec
York, 1885.
Zur Charakteristik der talmudischen Ethik.
L. Lazarus.
Breslau, 1877.
Marc. L^vy.
Luzzatto.
Joel.
Essai sur la morale de Talmud.
Israelitische
Moraltheologie,
Paris, 1891.
deutsch
von M.
Breslau, 1870.
Das
5. Schaffer.
talmudischer Sitten-
Recht und seine Stellung zur Moral nach
und Rechtslehre. Frankf. on the M.,
1889.
Geschichtliche Entwickelung des Gebotes
der Nachstenliebe innerhalb des Judenthums, kritisch be-
N.
J. Weinstein,
leuchtet.
M.
Berlin, 1891.
L. Rodkinson.
Ahbath Adam ah pe Torah She Bal
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
62
peh.
In
Hebrew
Vienna, 1885.
nach den
a booklet in the periodical Hakol, Vol. VI.
German as Nachstenliebe
Translated into
Talmud" in
manuscript.
EXEGESIS.
W. Backer. Exegesis and Bible Criticism. Ein Woerterbuch der bibelexegetischen Kunstsprache der Tannaiten.
Leipsic, 1899.
M. Eisenstadt.
Ueber Bibelkritik
Berlin, 1894.
H. S. Hirschfeld.
Halachische Exegese.
Die Hagadische Exegese.
5. Waldberg.
in der talmud. Literatur.
Berlin,
1840;
Berlin, 1847.
Darke Hashinnuyim, on the methods of artifi
the Talmud and Midrash
cial interpretation of Scriptures in
(in
Hebrew).
Lemberg, 1870.
GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY.
A. Berliner. Beitrage zur Geographic u. Ethnographic
Babyloniens im Talmud u. Midrasch. Berlin, 1883.
Essai sur 1 histoire et la geographic de la
J. Derenbourg.
Palestine d
aprs les Taknuds
etles autres sources rabbiniques.
Paris, 1867.
H.
Hildesheimer.
Beitrage
zur
Geographic
Palastinas.
Berlin, 1886.
Armand Kaminka.
Studien
zur
Geschichte
Galilaeas.
Berlin, 1890.
Ad. Neubauer. La geographic du Talmud. M6moire couronne par 1 academie des inscriptions et belles-lettres. Paris,
1868.
LAW.
a.
In General.
Jacques Levy. La jurisprudence du Pentateuque et du
Talmud. Constantine, 1879.
Die Rechte der Israeliten, Athener und Romer.
5. Mayer.
Leipsic, 1862-66.
M. Mielziner.
Legal Maxims and Fundamental Laws of
the Civil and Criminal Code of the Talmud. Cincinnati, 1898.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
M. W.
Der Talmud und
Rapaport.
sein
Recht
fuer Vcrgleichende Rechtswissenschaft,
schrift
63
(in Zeit-
XIV. Band.
Stuttgart, 1900).
7. L. Saalschutz.
Das Mosaische Recht, nebst den vervoll2d
standigenden thalmudisch-rabbinischen Bestimmungen.
Edition.
Berlin, 1853.
Das Recht u. seine Stellung zur Moral nach
talmudischer Sitten- und Rechtslehre. Frankf. on the M., 1889.
I. M. Wise.
The Law (in the Hebrew Review, Vol. I., pp.
5. Schaffer.
Cincinnati, 1880).
12-32.
b.
Adolph Buechler.
Judicial Courts.
Das Synhedrion
in Jerusalem.
Vienna,
1902.
E. Hoffmann.
Das Gesetz ueber das
gerichtlische Beweisver-
fahren nach mosaisch-talmudischen Rechte.
De
J. Selden.
Ebraeorum.
in der Stadt des
Berlin, 1878.
Heiligthums.
J. Klein.
Der oberste Gerichtshof
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Synedriis et praefecturis juridicis veterum
London, 1650; Amsterd., 1679; Frankf., 1696.
c.
Evidence in Law.
Die verschiedenen Eidesarten nach mosaisch-talmudischem Rechte. Frankf. on the M., 1883.
I.
Blumenstein.
Z. Frankel.
Der Gerichtliche Beweis nach mosaisch-talmudischem Rechte. Berlin, 1846.
D. Fink.
Miggo als Rechtsbeweis im bab. Talm. Leip"
sic,
"
1891.
d.
0. Bahr.
Talmud.
Criminal Law.
Das Gesetz
iiber falsche
Zeugen, nachBibelu.
Berlin, 1862.
P. B. Benny.
The Criminal Code
of the Jews.
London,
1880.
M.
Duschak.
Das mosaisch-talmudische
Strafrecht.
Vi
enna, 1869.
J.
thum.
Furst.
Das peinliche Rechtsverfahren im
Heidelberg, 1870.
jud. Alter-
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
64
Das Vergeltungsprinzip im
E. Goitein.
schen Strafrecht
(in Zeitschrift
fiir
bibl. u.
Wissenschaft
talmudi-
d.
J.
Vol.
XIX.
5. Mendelsohn.
The Criminal Jurisprudence of the ancient
Hebrews compiled from the Talmud and other rabbinical writ
Baltimore, 1891.
La peine de mort dans
Thonisson.
ings.
le
Talmud.
Brussels,
1886.
Defence in criminal cases with the ancient
Julius Vargha.
translated
from the first chapter of the author s large
Hebrews,
work Vertheidigung in Criminalf alien," and published in the
Hebrew Review, Vol. I., pp. 254-268. Cincinnati, 1880.
I. Wiesner.
Der Bann in seiner geschichtlichen Entwickedem
Boden
auf
des Judenthums. Leipsic, 1864.
lung
"
e.
L A uerbach
.
M.
Civil
Law.
Das j iidische Obligationsrecht
.
.
Berlin 1871.
,
Die Civilprocess-Ordnung nach mosaisch-rabbinischem Rechte. Budapest, 1882.
Block.
Das mosaisch-rabbinische Civilrecht. Gr.
1852-54; Das mosaisch-rabbinische Gerichtsver-
H. B. Fassel.
Kanischa,
fahren in civilrechtlischen Sachen.
5. Keyzer.
cum.
secundum
jus Talmudi-
Leyden, 1847.
/.
M.
Gr. Kanischa, 1859.
Dissertatio de tutela
Inheritance and Testament.
Der Vertrag nach mosaisch-talmud. Rechte.
1892; Das mosaisch-talmud. Erebrecht. Buda
Block.
Budapest,
pest, 1890;
L. Bodenheimer.
Eduard Cans.
brechts (in Zunz
thums,
M.
sion.
p.
419
s
Das Testament. Crefeld, 1847.
Grundzuge des mosaisch-talmudischen ErZeitschrift fiir die Wissenschaft des Juden
sq.).
Mielziner.
The Rabbinical Law
of Hereditary Succes
Cincinnati, 1900.
Moses Mendelssohn. Ritualgesetze der Juden, betreffend
Erbschaften Vormundschaft, Testamente, etc. Berlin, 1778,
and several
later editions.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
M. W.
65
Grundsaetze des (talmudischen) In-
Rapaport.
testaterbrechts und Schenkungen (in Zeitschrift fuer Vergleichende Rechts Wissenschaft, XIV. Band. Stuttgart, 1900.
De Successionibus in bona defuncti ad leges
Joh. Selden.
Hebraeorum.
A. Wolff.
London, 1646; Frankf., 1696.
Das Juedische Erbrecht.
g.
M.
Block.
Police
Berlin, 1888.
Law.
Das mosaisch-talmudische
Polizeirecht.
Buda
Translated into English by I. W. Lilienthal in the
pest, 1878.
Hebrew Review, Vol. I. Cincinnati, 1881.
Law
h.
Die
Buchholz.
P.
of
Marriage and Divorce.
Familie
nach
mos.-talmud.
Lehre.
Breslau, 1867.
M.
Duschak. Das mosaisch-talmudische Eherecht. Vienna,
1864.
Z.Frankel. Grundliniendesmosaisch-talmud.
Eherechts.
Breslau, 1860.
Die Autonomie der Rabbinen und das Prin-
5. Holdheim.
Schwerin, 1847.
cip der judischen Ehe.
L. Lichtschein.
Die Ehe nach mosaisch-talm. Auffassung.
Leipsic, 1879.
The Jewish Law of Marriage and Divorce
ancient and modern times, and its relation to the law of the
M.
in
Mielziner.
State.
Cincinnati, 1884.
Uxor Ebraica sive de nuptiis et divortiis, etc.
Joh. Selden.
London, 1646.
Stern.
Die Frau im Talmud. Zurich, 1879.
D. W. Amram. The Jewish Law of Divorce.
/.
Philadel
phia, 1896.
i.
Laws Concerning
Slavery.
D. Farbstein. Das Recht der freien und der unfreien
Arbeiter nach juedish-talmudischen Recht.
Frankfort o. M.,
1896.
M.
Mielziner.
s
Verhaltnisse der Sklaven bei den alten
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
66
Hebraern nach biblischen und talmudischen Quellen. Copen
hagen (Leipsic), 1859.
REMARK.
Schmidt
in the
An English translation of this treatise was published by Prof. H. I.
Gettysburg Evanr. Review, Vol. XIII., No. 51, and reprinted in the
Am. Jew s Annual.
I.
Cincinnati, 1886.
Stellung der Sklaven bei den Juden.
Winter.
Breslau,
1886.
L esclavage selon la Bible et le Talmud
nach Bibel u. Talmud. Deutsch von
Sklaverei
(Paris, 1867);
Zadok-Kahn.
Berlin,
Singer.
1888.
LINGUISTICS.
A.
Berliner.
Talmud
Beitrage
u. Midrasch.
zur hebraischen
Grammatik im
Berlin, 1879.
Ad. Brull. Fremdsprachliche Redensarten u. Worter in
den Talmuden u. Midraschim. Leipsic, 1869.
N. Brull. Fremdsprachliche Worter in den Talmuden u.
Midraschim (in Jahrbucher fur jiid. Geschichte u. Literatur, I.,
Frankf.
123-220).
5am. Kramer.
in
o. M., 1874.
Griechische
und Lateinische Lehnwoerter
Talmud, Midrasch u. Targum. 2 vols. Berlin, 1898-99.
Jos. Perles.
Etymologische Studien zur Kunde der rabbi-
nischen Sprache
G. Rulf.
lecte.
und Alterthumer.
Breslau, 1871.
Zur Lautleiire der aramaisch-talmudischen Dia-
Breslau, 1879.
Mich. Sachs. Beitrage zur Sprach- und Alterthumsfor2 volumes.
Berlin, 1852-54.
schung.
MATHEMATICS.
Das Pronomen und das Adverbium des
A. Lieberman.
Berlin, 1895.
babyl.- talmudischen Dialecte.
B. Zuckermann.
Das Mathematische im
Talmud.
Be-
leuchtung und Elauterung der Talmudstellen mathematischen
Inhalts.
Breslau, 1878.
MEDICINE, SURGERY, ETC.
Jos. Bergel.
Joach.
Chirurgie.
Die Medizin der Talmudisten.
Halpern.
Beitrage
Breslau, 1869.
zur
Leipsic, 1885.
Geschichte
der
talm.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
A. H.
Israels.
Babylonico.
Collectanea Gynaecologica ex
67
Talmude
Groningen, 1845.
Die Osteologie der Talmudisten.
Eine
L. Katzenelsson.
talmudisch-anatonische Studie
(in
St. Petersburg,
Hebrew).
1888.
R.
Wunderbar.
I.
umes.
Riga
Biblisch-talmudische Medicin.
2
vol
(Leipsic), 1850-60.
NATURAL HISTORY AND SCIENCES.
Studien fiber die naturwissenschaftlichen
Jos. Bergel.
Kenntnisse der Talmudisten. Leipsic, 1880.
M. Duschak. Zur Botanik des Talmud. Budapest, 1870.
L. Lewysohn.
Die Zoologie des Talmuds. Frankf. on the
M., 1858.
Imm. Low.
Aramaische Pflanzennamen.
1881.
Leipsic,
PARSEEISM IN THE TALMUD.
Alexander Kohut. Was hat die talm. Eschatologie aus dem
Parsismus aufgenommen? (in Z. d. D. M. G., vol. XXL, pp.
552-91) Die jiidische Angelologie und Daemonologie in ihrer
Abhangigkeit vom Parsismus (Leipsic, 1866); Die talmu;
disch-midraschische Adamssage in ihrer Riickbeziehung auf die
pers. Yima und Meshiasage (in Z. d. D. M. G., XXV., pp.
59-94)
mud
Namen der pers.
Kobak s Jeschurun,
Die
;
(in
subject in
Revue des Etudes
babylonischen Feste im Tal
The same
vol. VIII. 49-64).
u.
,
Juives, Vol.
XXIV.
POETRY.
5. Sekles.
The Poetry
of the
Talmud.
New
York, 1880.
PROVERBS, MAXIMS, PARABLES.
L. Dukes.
Rabbinische Blumenlese (Leipsic, 1844)
binische Sprachkunde (Vienna, 1851).
R. Furstenthal.
Rabbinische
J.
Anthologie.
;
Rab-
Breslau,
1834.
Parabeln, Legenden u. Gedanken aus Tal
Midrasch, aus dem Italienischen ins Deutsche iibetragen
Giuseppe Levi.
mud u.
von
L. Seligmann.
Leipsic, 1863.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
68
Sentenzen, Spriiche u. Lebensregeln aus
Lowenstein.
Talmud.
dem
Berlin, 1887.
Talmudic Sayings. Cincinnati, 1895.
G. Tabenhaus.
Echoes of Wisdom, or Talmudic Sayings,
Henry Cohen.
Part
I.
Brooklyn, 1900.
PSYCHOLOGY.
M.
Hamburg,
I.
Versuch einer Psychologic des Talmud.
Jacobson.
1878.
Zur talmudischen Psychologie
Wiesner.
fur judische Geschichte
und
Literatur, Vol.
I.,
(in
1874,
Magazin
and II.,
RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY.
M.
Ben Dosa und
Friedldnder.
der heidnischen Philosophic auf das
thum.
M.
seine Zeit, oder Einfluss
Judenthum
u. Christen-
Prague, 1872.
Giidemann. Religionsgeschichtliche Studien.
Leipsic,
1876.
M.
II.
Joel.
Blicke in die Religionsgeschichte zu
Anfang des
Breslau, 1880.
Jahrhunderts.
A. Nager. Die Religionsphilosophie des Talmud.
Leipsic,
1864.
SUPERNATURALISM AND SUPERSTITION.
Das Transcendentale, Magik und magiim Talmud. Vienna, 1850.
Der Aberglaube und die Stellung des Juden-
Gideon Brecher.
sche Heilarten
David ^foel.
thums zu demselben.
2 parts.
Breslau, 1881-3.
Alex. Kohut. Judische Angelologie u. Daemonologie in ihrer
Abhangigkeit vom Parsismus. Leipsic, 1866.
Sal. Thein.
Das Princip des planetarischen Einflusses
nach der Anschauung des Talmud. Vienna, 1876.
5. Wolffsohn.
Oneirologie im Talmud, oder der Traum
nach Auffassung des Talmuds. Breslau, 1874.
POPULAR TREATISES AND LECTURES ON THE TALMUD.
Tobias Cohn.
Der Talmud.
Ein Vortrag.
Arsem Darmstetter. The Talmud
by
Ilenriette Szold).
Vienna, 1866.
(translated from the French
Philadelphia, 1897.
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION.
69
Emanuel Deutsch. What is the Talmud? (in the Quar
in the Literary Re
terly Review for October, 1867, reprinted
New York,
mains,
M.
1874).
Der Geist des Talmud. Breslau, 1887.
Zwei Reden ueber den Talmud. Frank
Eschelbacher
Ehrentheil.
J.
fort o. M., 1897.
.
Karl Fischer.
Gutmeinung
iiber
den Talmud.
Vienna,
des
Talmud.
1883.
H.
Anklaeger und
Goitein.
Frankf.
o.
Vertheidiger
M., 1897.
Sams. Raph. Hirsch.
thum und zur
Beziehung des Talmuds
zum JudenFrankf.
sozialen Stellung seiner Bekenner.
o.
M., 1884.
P. I. Hershon.
Talmudic Miscellany. London, 1880.
London, 1882.
P. L. Hershon. Treasures of the Talmud.
Rabbis.
New York,
the
from
Stories
Isaacs.
S.
Abram
1893.
A. Jellinek. Der Talmud. Zwei Reden (Vienna, 1865);
Der Talmudjude. 4 Reden (Vienna, 1882-83).
M. Joel. Gutachten iiber den Talmud. Breslau, 1877.
Der wahre Talmudjude. Die wichtigsten
Albert Katz.
Grundsatze des talmudischen Schriftthums iiber das sittliche
Leben des Menschen. Berlin, 1893.
Die Wahrheit uber den Talmud (aus dem Fran5. Klein.
zosischen "La verite sur le Talmud," iibersetzt von S. Mannheimer.
Basel, 1860.
La Contro verse sur
Isidore Loeb.
Louis.
le
Talmud sous Saint
Paris, 1881.
H. Polano.
The Talmud,
that ancient book.
Selections
from the contents of
London, 1876.
Zur Characteristik des Talmuds
Ludwig Philip p son.
Vol.
II.,
The Talmud.
A
"
Weltbewegende
Fragen."
1869).
Em.
Schreiber.
pp. 349~4i6.
series of
(4)
(in
Leipsic,
Lectures.
Denver, 1884.
Ueber den Talmud. Vortrag. Wurzburg, 1875.
dem Talmud. Zurich, 1 883
A. A. Wolff. Talmudfjender (the Enemies of the Talmud),
L. Stern.
J. Stern.
Lichtstrahlen aus
.
in Danish.
Copenhagen, 1878.
Der Talmud.
Wunsche.
August
EineSkizze.
Zurich, 1879.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
70
M.
What
Rodkinson.
L.
the
is
Hebrew, the first chapter of which
as an appendix to the Pentateuch.
ters).
In the
Chicago, 1894.
New Amsterdam Book
is
Talmud?
(A book in
translated into English
language and charac
prospectus issued by the
republished with additional
Its
first
Co., it is
remarks.
CHAPTER
WHY SHOULD
IX.
CHRISTIANS FEEL INTERESTED IN THE TALMUD?*
Christian theology and Jewish theology having really fol
lowed two parallel paths, the history of either cannot be under
stood without the history of the other. Numberless material
details of the gospels find, moreover, their commentary in the
Talmud.
The distinction of epochs is here very important,
.
.
the compilation of the Talmud extending from the year 200 to
the year 500 nearly. Kenan s "Life of Jesus" Introduction.
Is the literature that Jesus was familiar with in his early
years yet in existence in the world ? Is it possible for us to get
at it? Can we ourselves review the ideas, the statements, the
modes
and thinking, on moral and religious sub
jects, which were current in his time, and must have been re
volved by him during those silent thirty years when he was
of reasoning
pondering his future mission ? To such inquiries the learned
Jewish rabbis answer by holding up the Talmud. Here,
say they, is the source from whence Jesus of Nazareth drew the
teachings which enabled him to revolutionize the world; and
the question becomes, therefore, an interesting one to every
class of
Christian,
What
is
the Talmud?
.
.
.
The Talmud, then, is the written form of that which, in the
time of Jesus, was called the Traditions of the Elders, and to
which he makes frequent allusions. What sort of book is it?
The answer is at first sight discouraging to flesh and spirit.
The Talmud appears to view in form of fourteen heavy folio
volumes, of thick, solid Hebrew and Aramaic consonants, with
out a vowel to be seen from the first word of the first volume
*
Many learned men, as is well known to any student, have in each century since
the close of the Talmud written about the necessity of Talmudic studies, even for
have, nevertheless, selected for quotation some statements of modern
non-Jews.
scholars of this century, to the effect that the study of the Talmud is highly useful to
Christian theologians.
We
WHY SHOULD THE TALMUD
BE STUDIED?
71
word of the last. Such is the Jewish Talmud, in
both
the Jerusalem and the Babylonian. Who can
cluding
read it? It can be read, for it has been read
The Talmud is the great repository of the mental products
of a most vigorous and vivid race of thinkers, through long
ages of degradation, persecution, oppression, and sorrow; and,
as such, few human works are more worthy of, or will better
to the last
.
.
.
human nature
What light it may shed on the words of Jesus and Paul to
know the modes of thought which were such a perfect world in
repay, the student of
.
.
.
When
Paul speaks of his studies at the feet of
Gamaliel, one of the principal authors of the Talmud, of his
profiting in the matters of law above many of his equals, we
see him, an ardent young enthusiast, on the way to become an
accomplished rabbi, perhaps even a Nasi, in some future day,
their time!
and we understand what he means when he
But what
says,
It was
these I counted loss to Christ."
things were gain to me,
a whole education and a whole
new
feet of his
life s
"
work that he threw at the
Master.
Looking at the Talmud
with any other ancient
sacred writings extant in the world, except the Bible, we must
be struck with its immense superiority
I desire, in conclusion, to express my obligations to the
ponderous erudition of the two older standard authors on this
in contrast
.
subject
.
.
.
.
.
The writings
of Dukes,
an author of our own day, are
es
pecially rich in regard to Rabbinic proverbs and apologues;
and in one of his prefaces he expresses the hope that they may
be of some use even to that rather numerous body of Christians
who give little other evidence of being Christians at all, except
that of hating the Jews.
Atlantic Monthly, vol. 21, p. 673,
sq.
The science of our day owes to itself the duty of studying the
Talmud impartially. It will judge worthy of its attention this
monument of a religion and a civilization whose influence has
not been void in the world, and whatever its absolute value
may be adjudged to be, science will understand it, and study
It will demand of the Talmud
its formation and development.
instruction, or, at least, information, almost as varied as the
The historian
subjects coming within the compass of science.
will address himself to
it
for light
upon the history
of the
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
72
and of the centuries im
and though not seeking in it precise
earlest centuries of the Christian era,
mediately preceding
it,
data, which it cannot furnish, he will be sure to find a faithful
picture of the beliefs and ideas of the Jewish nation on its moral
The naturalist will ask of it numerous ques
spiritual life.
tions concerning the sciences, physical, natural, or medical.
Has it ever occurred to any one to compile, if not the fauna, at
and
Talmud that is, of the Palestine and
Babylonia contemporary with the Empire ? It were easy with
it as a basis to furnish a second edition of Pliny s Natural His
The lawyer will ques
tory, certainly as valuable as the first.
least the flora of the
tion
it
;
on the history of
its
jurisprudence, will investigate
whether, how, and by what intermediaries Roman law and
Persian customs influenced it, and it will be a curious study to
compare the results that two different civilizations, directed
principles, have reached in the jus civile and the
The mythologist will dive into its legends,
Talmudicum.
jus
a
nice
and, by
application of the comparative method, deter
mine the history of Midrashic mythology. The philologist will
by opposite
devote himself to the language that abrupt, rough language
by means of which the Talmud seems to please itself in heaping
up obscurities of form over those of the thought, and he will be
sure to make more than one happy find.
For, says the author
of the History of the Semitic Languages, "the lexical spoliation
and grammatic analysis of the Talmudic language, according
methods
That language
to the
of
philology, remain to be made
hiatus in the history of Semitic
modern
fills
a
.
.
.
idioms.
Finally, the philosopher will demand of the Talmud the ex
planation of Judaism and the history of Jewish institutions,
and as the Talmudic books offer the completest expression
thereof,
and as he has at hand
all
the component elements, a
the law of the development
scrupulous analysis will give him
The Talmud," p. 96.
of the Jewish religion. --Darmesteter,
Here we have an attempt and the attempt is praiseworthy
"
to put the Talmud, or the substance of it, into plain English,
and for this the Christian reader, if not the learned rabbi, must
be grateful to the translator. Independent, April 7, 1898.
Published in the second prospectus issued by the New Tal
mud Publishing Co., adding to them some remarks of Mielziner s
WHY SHOULD THE TALMUD
BE STUDIED
?
73
Hebrew College at
some
Cincinnati,
years ago
To impress you the more with the necessity of the Talmudic
studies for a clear conception of Judaism and its history, I could
address to the senior class of the Union
:
also quote the opinions of many of our greatest scholars, but
shall confine myself only to a quotation from the writings of two
of our most renowned scholars whom none will suspect of hav
ing been biased by a too great predilection for the Talmud one
is the late Dr. Geiger, and the other our great historian, the late
Dr. Jost.
;
Geiger (Das Judenthum und seine Geschichte, I., p. 155) in
speaking of the Talmud and the rabbinical literature, says
"
:
Gigantic works, productions of gloomy and brighter peri
ods are here before us, monuments of thought and intellectual
I do not indorse every
labor; they excite our admiration.
"
word
Talmud, nor every idea expressed by the teachers
in the time of the Middle Ages, but I would not miss a tittle
thereof.
They contain an acumen and power of thought which
fill us with reverence for the spirit that animated our ancestors,
a fulness of sound sense, salutary maxims a freshness of opin
of the
ion often bursts
livening
and
"Jost
II.,
upon us that even to
its
en
inspiring effect.
in his Geschichte des
202, characterizes the
words
day exercises
this
Judenthum
s
Talmud by the
und
seiner Secten,
following masterly
:
a great mine, in which are imbedded all
ores.
Here may be found all kinds of
and
rarest gems, as also the merest
the
finest
valuables,
gold
Much
has
unearthed
that has realized count
dross.
been
less profit to the world.
The great spiritual work whose out
come has been apparent in the advancement of religion has
"
The Talmud
varieties of metals
is
and
shown that the Talmud
is
not only of incalculable value in the
it has a self-evident significance for
pursuit of wisdom, but that
times, which can not be shown by any mere extracts from its
pages, and that it can not be disregarded on the plea of its antiq
In
uity as valueless in the knowledge of the Jewish religion.
all
it is and must remain the chief source of this knowledge,
and particularly of the historical development of the Jewish
More than this, it is the abode of that spirit which
religion.
has inspired that religion, these many centuries, that spirit from
deed
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
74
which even those who sought to counteract it could not escape.
It is and will remain a labyrinth with deep shafts and openings,
in which isolated spirits toil with tireless activity, a labyrinth
which offers rich rewards to those who enter impelled by the de
sire to gain, not without hidden dangers to those who venture
wantonly into its mazes and absorb its deadly vapors. Re
ligion has created this work, not indeed to give utterance in an
unsatisfactory way to the great questions of Deity and Nature,
Mortality and Eternity, and not to carry on controversies upon
the proper formulation of articles of faith, but to give expres
sion to a religion of deed, a religion designed to accompany
man from the first steps in his education until he reaches the
grave, and beyond it a guide by which his desires and actions
are to be regulated at every moment, by which all his move
ments are to be guarded, that takes care even of his food and
drink, of his pleasures and pains, of his mirth and sorrow, and
seeks to elevate him, at all times, to an enunciation of the pur
;
est faith.
"
It is
thus that this
enters into the nation s
which breathes from the Talmud,
inmost life. It offers repeated recitals
spirit,
modes of thinking, practising, believing, of the
true and false representations, of hopes and longings, of knowl
edge and error, of the great lessons of fate, of undertakings
of the various
their consequences, of utterances and their effects, of per
sons and their talents and inaptitudes, of words and ex
and
amples, of customs, both in matters of public worship and pri
vate life in short, of all the happenings, past or cotemporary,
;
which the Talmud comprises, i.e., a period of nearly
one thousand years, excluding the Bible times.
in the time
"
Hence,
also,
its
great
value
to antiquarians in
the
frequent allusions to facts, opinions and statements, to modes
of expression and grammatical construction, to peculiarities
of every kind, which at the same time afford a view of the
development of mankind, such as no other work of the past
gives.
To treat the Talmud with scorn because of its oddness, on
account of much that it contains that does not conform to our
maturer modes of thinking, because of its evident errors and
"
misconceptions errors from ignorance or errors in copying
to throw it overboard, as it were, as useless ballast, would be
OPINIONS OF GENTILES.
to insult all history, to deprive
to dismember it.
it
-5
of one of its strongest limbs,
To dam up its channels by taking away the Talmud, would
be to close the access to the head waters and living sources of
the Jewish religion, and thus leave her again in a desert land,
after the tables of the law have already called forth a world of
It would be turning one s back, as it were,
life and activity.
and
There is a historical jus
denying
disregarding one s own.
"
modes of worship and religious
forms that have their embodiment in set words and in fixed
For this we must look to the Talmud. Judaism is
deeds.
rooted in the Talmud and would be tossed about in mid-air if
torn from its soil, or require a new planting and a new growth.
tification for the sharply defined
"
In conclusion, my young friends, let me say this
If our College had no other purpose than to graduate
:
com
mon Sabbath school teachers who should be able to occasionally
deliver popular though superficial lectures, the study of the
Talmud, as well as that of our rabbinical and philosophical
is
might have been stricken from the course of your
But our College has a higher aim and object. Its
to educate future guides and leaders of our congrega
tions, to
educate banner-bearers of Judaism, representatives
literature,
studies.
object
and cultivators of Jewish knowledge and
"
You can
literature.
never expect to answer this purpose without a
thorough knowledge of, and familiarity with, that vast litera
ture that offers us the means to follow and understand the
growth and the entire course of devel
its beginning to the present time."
from
Judaism
religious formation, the
opment
of
CHAPTER
X.
OPINIONS ON THE VALUE OF THE TALMUD BY GENTILES AND
MODERN JEWISH SCHOLARS.
No literary monument of antiquity has ever been subject to
so different and opposite views and opinions, as the Talmud.
Its strict followers generally looked upon it as the very em
bodiment of wisdom and sagacity, and as a work whose author
In the non-Jewish
ity was second only to that of the Bible.
literature it was often decried as "one of the most repulsive
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
76
confused medley of perverted logic,
books that exist," as
absurd subtilities, foolish tales and fables, and full of profanity,
superstition, and even obscenity," or at the most, as "an im
mense heap of rubbish at the bottom of which some stray pearls
of Eastern wisdom are hidden."
It is certain that many of those who thus assumed to pass
a condemning judgment upon the gigantic work of the Talmud
never read nor were able to read a single page of the same in the
original, but were prompted by religious prejudice and antag
onism, or they based their verdict merely on those disconnected
and often distorted passages which Eisenmenger and his con
sorts and followers picked out from the Talmud for hostile
"a
purposes.
Christian scholars
who had a deeper insight into the Talwithout
literature,
being blinded by religious preju
dices, expressed themselves quite differently on the character
and the merits of that work, as may be seen from the following
mudical
few quotations.
Johann Buxtorf, in the preface to his Lexicon Chald. et
Talmudicum, says "The Talmud contains many legal, medical,
physical, ethical, political, astronomical, and other excellent
documents of sciences, which admirably commend the history
of that nation and time it contains also luminous decisions of
antiquity excellent sayings deep thoughts, full of grace and
sense; and numerous expressions which make the reader not
only better, but also more wise and learned, and which, like
:
;
;
;
unto flashing jewels, grace the Hebrew speech not less than all
those Greek and Roman phrases adorn their languages."
Other favorable opinions expressed by Christian scholars
of the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries are collected in Karl
Fischer s
Gutmeinung iiber den Talmud der Hebraer."
"
Vienna, 1883.
Of such scholars as belong to our time, the following
quoted here
may be
:
The
late Professor Delitzsch in his
leben zur Zeit
Jesu,"
says
"Jiidisches
Handwerker-
:
who have not
some degree accomplished the
extremely difficult task of reading this work for themselves, will
hardly be able to form a clear idea of this polynomical colossus.
It is an immense speaking-hall, in which thousands and tens of
"Those
in
OPINIONS OF GENTILES.
77
heard to com
mingle.
experience, can never be
so precisely formulated that there does not remain room for
thousand of voices, of at
A
law, as
we
least five centuries, are
all
know from
various interpretations and question upon question constantly
arises as to the application of it to the endless multiplicity of the
;
existing relations of life.
Just imagine about ten thousand
decrees concerning Jewish life classified according to the spheres
of life, and in addition to these, about five hundred scribes and
lawyers, mostly from Palestine and Babylon, taking
up one
after another of these decrees as the topic of examination
and
debate, and, discussing with hair-splitting acuteness
every
shade of meaning and practical application and imagine,
further, that the fine-spun thread of this interpretation of
;
is frequently lost in digressions, and that, after
having
traversed long distances of such desert-sand, you find, here and
there, an oasis, consisting of sayings and accounts of more
decrees
general interest.
Then you may have some
slight idea of this
and of its kind, unique, juridic codex, compared with
whose compass all the law-books of other nations are but
Lilliputians, and beside whose variegated, buzzing market din,
they represent but quiet study-chambers."
J. Alexander, in his book on The Jews; their Past, Present
and Future (London, 1870), says:
"The Talmud, as it now stands, is almost the whole litera
ture of the Jews during a thousand years.
Commentator fol
lowed upon commentator, till at last the whole became an
immense bulk the original Babylonian Talmud alone consists
of 2,947 folio pages.
Out of such literature it is easy to make
which
quotations
may throw an odium over the whole. But
if
the
fancy
production of a thousand years of English literature,
say, from the "History" of the Venerable Bede to Milton s
Paradise Lost," were thrown together into a number of uni
form folios, and judged in like manner if because some super
vast,
;
"
;
monks wrote silly "Lives of Saints," therefore the
of
works
John Bunyan should also be considered worthless.
The absurdity is too obvious to require another word from me.
Such, however, is the continual treatment the Talmud receives
stitious
both at the hand of
its friends
and
of its enemies.
Both
will
easy to quote in behalf of their preconceived notions,
but the earnest student will rather try to weigh the matter imfind
it
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
78
partially, retain the good he can find
reject what will not stand the test of
s
word."
Talmud taken by modern Jewish
may be seen from the following opinion expressed by
The impartial view
scholars
even in the Talmud, and
God
of the
the late Professor Graetz in his
"
"History
of the
Jews
(vol.
IV., 308 sq.).
Talmud must not be considered as an ordinary
work consisting of twelve folios it bears not the least
"The
literary
internal resemblance to a single literary production but forms
a world of its own which must be judged according to its own
;
;
laws.
It
is,
therefore, extremely difficult to furnish a specific
sketch of the Talmud, seeing that a familiar standard or an
alogy is wanting. And however thoroughly a man of consum
mate
talent
versant with
a task.
It
penetrated its spirit and become con
he would scarcely succeed in such
in
some
respects, be compared with the
may,
may have
its peculiarities,
Patristic literature,
on
But
which sprang up simultaneously.
closer inspection, this comparison will also fail.
The Talmud has at different times been variously judged
.
.
.
"
on the most heterogeneous assumptions, it has been condemned
and consigned to the flames simply because it was presented
;
in its unfavorable aspect without taking into consideration its
It cannot be denied that the Babylonian Tal
actual merits.
mud
labors under
some
any other mental product,
course with inexorable consistency and
defects, like
which pursues a single
undeviating dogmatism. These defects may be classified under
four heads: the Talmud contains some unessential and trival
subjects, which it treats with much importance and a serious
air it has adopted from its Persian surroundings superstitious
;
practices and views, which presuppose the agency of interme
diate spiritual beings, witchcraft, exorcising formulas, magical
and interpretations of dreams and, hence, are in conflict
the
with
spirit of Judaism it further contains several uncharit
able utterances and provisions against members of other na
cures
;
lastly it favors a bad interpretation of Scrip
and frequently false commentations. For
forced
ture, absurd,
these faults the whole Talmud has been held responsible and
been denounced as a work devoted to trifles, as a source of im
tions
and creeds
;
morality and trickery, without taking into consideration that
not a work of a single author who must be responsible
it is
OPINIONS OF GENTILES.
79
and if it be so, then the whole Jewish people
Over six centuries are crystallized in the Tal
mud with animated distinctness, in their peculiar costumes,
modes of speech and of thought, so to say a literary Herculaneum and Pompeii, not weakened by artistic imitation, which
transfers a colossal picture to the narrow limits of a miniature.
It is, therefore, no wonder, if in this world sublime and mean,
great and small, serious and ridiculous, Jewish and heathen
elements, the altar and the ashes, are found in motley mixture.
Those odious dicta of which Jew-haters have taken hold were
in most cases nothing else but the utterances of a momentary
indignation, to which an individual had given vent and which
were preserved and embodied in the Talmud by over-zealous
for every word,
was
its
author.
disciples,
who were
unwilling to omit a single expression of the
But these utterances are richly counterbal
of benevolence and philanthropy towards
maxims
anced by the
every man, regardless of creed and nationality, which are also
preserved in the Talmud. As counterpoise to the rank super
revered ancients.
found therein sharp warnings against super
heathen
stitious,
practices (Darke Emori),to which subject a
whole section, under the name of Perek Emorai, is devoted.*
stition, there are
Babylonian Talmud is especially characterized and
distinguished from the Palestinian, by high-soaring contempla
tions, a keen understanding, and flashes of thought which fit
An incalculable store
fully dart through the mental horizon.
"The
and incentives to thinking is treasured in the Talmud,
but not in the form of finished themes that may be appro
priated in a semi-somnolent state, but with the fresh coloring
of ideas
of their inception.
The Babylonian Talmud leads into the
laboratory of thought, and its ideas may be traced from their
embryonic motion up to a giddy height, whither they at times
For this reason
soar into the region of the incomprehensible.
it became, more than the Jerusalemean, the national property,
the vital breath, the soul of the Jewish people *
Sabbath, 66a
;
Toseptha, Ch. VII., VIII.
PART
II.
ETHICS OF THE TALMUD.
CHAPTER
I.
TALMUDICAL ETHICS.
"
Ethics
is
the flower and fruit on the tree of religion.
The
ultimate aim of religion is to ennoble man s inner and outer
life, so that he may love and do that only which is right and
good. This is a biblical teaching which is emphatically re
peated in almost every book of Sacred Scriptures.
only refer to the sublime word of the prophet Micah
:
Let me
He hath
thee, O man, what is good, and what doth the Lord re
quire of thee, but to do justice and to love kindness and to walk
showed
(Micah vi.,
humbly with thy God?
As far as concerns the Bible, its
"
erally
known.
8.)
ethical teachings are gen
Translated into all languages of the world, that
is accessible to every one and whoever reads it with
and
with an unbiased mind will admit that it teaches
open eyes
the highest principles of morality, principles which have not
been surpassed and superseded by any ethical system of an
cient or modern philosophy.
But how about the Talmud, that immense literary work
whose authority was long esteemed second to that of the
holy book
"
Bible ?
What
are the ethical teachings of the
Talmud ?
Although mainly engaged with discussions of the Law, as
developed on the basis of the Bible during Israel s second com
monwealth down to the sixth century of the Christian era, the
"
Talmud devotes
also
much
attention to ethical subjects.
Not
only are one treatise of the Mishna (Pirke Aboth) and some
Boraithoth (as Aboth d R. Nathan and Derech Eretz) almost
exclusively occupied with ethical teachings, but such teachings
are also very abundantly contained in the Hagadic (homiletical)
ETHICS.
81
passages which are so frequently interspersed in the legal dis
cussions throughout all parts of the Talmud.*
It must be borne in mind that the Talmudical literature
"
embraces a period of about eight centuries, and that the nu
merous teachers whose ethical views and utterances are recorded
in that vast literature, rank differently in regard to mind and
At the side of the great luminaries, we find also
At the side of utterances of great, clear-sighted
and broad-minded masters with lofty ideas, we meet also with
utterances of peculiar views which never obtained authority.
Not every ethical remark or opinion quoted in that literature
can, therefore, be regarded as an index of the standard of Tal
authority.
lesser ones.
mudical ethics, but such opinions only can be so regarded
which are expressed with authority and which are in harmony
with the general spirit that pervades the Talmudic literature.
Another point to be observed is the circumstance that the
"
Talmud does not treat of ethics in a coherent, philosophical
system. The Talmudic sages made no claim of being philos
ophers they were public teachers, expounders of the Law, popu
As such, they did not care for a methodically
lar lecturers.
;
arranged system. All they wanted was to spread among the
people ethical teachings in single, concise, pithy, pointed sen
tences, well adapted to impress the minds and hearts, or in
parables or legends illustrating certain moral duties and virtues.
And
Their
this, their method, fully answered its purpose.
ethical teachings did actually reach the Jewish masses, and in
fluenced their conduct of life, while among the Greeks, the
and systems remained a matter that concerned
the philosophers only, without exercising any educating influ
ence upon the masses at large.
Furthermore, it must be remembered that the Talmudical
The sacred
ethics is largely based on the ethics of the Bible.
treasure of biblical truth and wisdom was in the minds and
ethical theories
"
hearts of the Rabbis.
their
This treasury they tried to enrich
own wisdom and
principle contained in
by
Here they develop a
a scriptural passage, and give it a wider
observation.
* Also the
Midrash, a post-Talmudic collection of extracts from popular lectures
of the ancient teachers on biblical texts, contains an abundance of ethical teachings
and maxims advanced by the sages of the Talmud, which must likewise be taken into
"
consideration
6
when speaking
of Talmudical Ethics.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
82
scope and a larger application to
life s
various conditions.
There they crystallize great moral ideas into a pithy, impress
maxim as a guide for human conduct. Here they give to a
ive
new
jewel of biblical ethics a
lustre
by
setting
it
in the gold of
own wisdom.
There again they combine single pearls of
biblical wisdom to a graceful ornament for human
M.
their
life."
Mielziner.
There are many books written upon the ethics of the Tal
which are enumerated in the bibliography. The most ex
mud
the philosophical book of Professor Lazarus,
des Judenthums," in German, Frankfort o. M., 1898,
cellent of these
"Ethik
the
first
volume
is
of
which
is
translated into English
by the Jew
we
The second volume of this work,
ish Publication Society.
have heard, is ready for or already in print.*
However, to enable the reader, to get an idea of the Talmud
Ethics, without troubling him with the various books in differ
ent languages, an extract which was mad-3 by Mielziner shall be
given in this book, whose selections are so excellent that practi
We, however, would call the
cally we have nothing to add.
attention of the reader to a book written
by us
in our period
Hacol, Vol. VI., Vienna, 1885 (translated into German but
not yet published), in which the subject of love of mankind is
ical
explained in two parallels, that of the Talmud and that in
which we have drawn a parallel between the conceptions of
both Talmud and Evangelium as to the moral content of the
principle of Love.
like to give here
An
extract of this explanation
we should
:
The commandment
Old Testament (Leviticus xix.,
as
thyself," the Talmud interprets
17):
thy neighbor
in a negative sense by the words of Hillel, the elder, thus "That
in the
"Love
:
which thou
charity,
*
We
not being done unto thyself do not unto thy
Talmud adopts in all the ways of
all affairs in which man comes in contact with
likest
and
and in
neighbor,"
this rule the
cannot restrain ourselves from expressing our great sorrow over the death
man which occurred this year. He was our friend and patron, and many
of this great
days and weeks we had been fortunate to spend in his company, when, in 1883, we
had the pleasure to read before him the several thousand quotations from the Talmud,
Ethik des Judenthums," at his request. We
which we had prepared for his work,
However, he wrote
certainly do not know how many of them he has made use of.
us a few years ago that our name and service would be mentioned in the second
volume of his book. To our great sorrow he departed before the second volume was
"
published.
ETHICS.
his fellow-man;
it is
83
commandment
woman before seeing her, for he may
based upon this biblical
e.g.,
forbidden to betroth a
and as one does not wish to be disliked
he
not
cause
must
another to be disliked. And so in
himself,
all connections with one s neighbor, it is forbidden to do him
any harm whatsoever, because one dislikes that he himself
should be harmed. Also concerning the duties of charity,
dislike her thereafter,
commandments are to be found in the
Old Testament. The Talmud explains most of them nega
Thou shalt not leave thy neighbor to suffer any
tively, viz.
but thou shalt prevent it by supplying him
whatsoever,
pain
numerous
special
"
:
with whatsoever thou canst
However, the
afford."
rich
man
not obliged to divide his money or property with the poor, nor
to supply him with luxuries if the poor man had not been used
to them before .he became poor.
(More details will be found
is
each subject mentioned further on.) Hence this obligation
which is proper and in accordance with common sense, can be
in
The Evangelist,
difficulty.
the
xix.,
however, interprets
passage (Levit.
17) in a positive
Therefore all things whatsoever ye would
sense (Matt, vii., 12)
fulfilled
by every one without any
"
:
men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this
Law and the prophets." After a deep consideration,
it is almost impossible for one to entirely fulfil this command
ment. According to this, one must divide his money and
that
is
the
property with those not possessing such. "Whatsoever ye
would that men should do to you!" Who then would not
want to be
rich
and to
live luxuriously
;
to ride instead of going
foot, to be dressed in the best garments according to the
Hence if one would like to live up to the
latest style, etc.?
on
must see that the life of his poor
should
be
made
exactly equal to his own life, which
neighbor
and
never
was
never accomplished. The same
can
certainly
words
of the Evangelist, he
with the command in Luke vi., 29: "And unto him that
smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other," which was
never and will never be fulfilled, as this is against the nature of
is
mankind, especially when one
wrath whilst being beaten.
is to be found in the Talmud.
He who raises his hand to
On the contrary the Talmud says
strike his neighbor is already considered wicked even before he
The above-mentioned book quotes this
has smitten him."
is
in
Therefore nothing of this kind
"
:
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
84
parallel in every affair in which human beings come in contact
with each other. It is remarkable that in the explanation of
Deut. vi., 4, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, etc.," the
Talmud also does not interpret this literally, thinking that it is
impossible to impose upon the heart to love, especially
whom
one has never seen, and of
Him
one has not even a
Therefore they interpreted this passage thus,
Lord shall be love d through thy treatment
correct idea.
The name
whom
of the
commerce with men should be just
"thy
and peaceful thy yes should be firm and thy no un variable
so that it should be proclaimed: Hail the man who follows
the Law of the Lord, which is Love thy fellow-men Therefore
let us and our children also study this magnificent Law.
The result evidently is that the name of the Lord is glorified
of thy fellow-men, viz.
;
;
!
through thee
All the ethics of the
Talmud
are thus set
make
is
up with a view
their observance possible in all their particulars,
not the case with the teaching of the Evangelist.
to
which
Finally, we beg to quote the beginning of the first chapter
of the above-mentioned book:
Abyye used to say: "One
should be always keen in the fear of God; use meek talk,
prevent wrath, bestow thy greeting upon every one in the
market, even if he be a stranger. This will cause you to be
by Heaven and liked by thy fellow-men." It was said
about R. Yohanan b. Zakkai, that it never happened that he
should have been greeted first (for he was it who greeted every
loved
one
first,
as soon as he perceived him).*
CHAPTER
Let us
now
teachings of the
II.
try to give a few outlines of the ethical
In the first place, concerning
Talmud.
MAN
AS A
MORAL BEING.
In accordance with the teaching of the Bible, the rabbis
man s dignity as a being created in the like-
duly emphasize
* This
paragraph is said by Abyye in pure Bible-Hebrew, which was not the
We infer from this and also from the
language used by him in every-day talk.
he used to say," that he only quoted a traditional proverb which was
expression
established ever since the oral law had been started.
"
ETHICS.
ness of God.
By
this likeness of
85
God they understand
the
endowed with intellectual and
moral capacities. The higher desires and inspirations which
spring from this spiritual being in man, are called Yetzer tob,
the good inclination but the lower appetites and desires which
rise from our physical nature and which we share with the
spiritual being within us, that
is
;
animal creation, are termed Yetzer ha-ra, the inclination to
evil.
Not that these sensuous desires are absolutely evil for
they, too, have been implanted in man for good purposes.
Without them man could not exist, he would not cultivate and
populate this earth, or, as a Talmudical legend runs: Once,
;
to pray to God that they might
be able to destroy the Yetzer ha-ra, but a warning voice was
some over-pious people wanted
Evil
heard, saying: "Beware, lest you destroy this world!"
are those lower desires only in that they, if unrestrained, easily
mislead man to live contrary to the demands and aspirations of
struggle in man be
submits his evil inclina
tion to the control of his higher aims and desires is virtuous
and righteous. "The righteous are governed by the Yetzer tob,
The righteous have
but the wicked by the Yetzer ha-ra.
their desires in their power, but the wicked are in the power
his divine nature.
tween the two
of their
Hence the constant
inclinations.
He who
desires."
FREE-WILL.
Man
s free-will is
"Everything
is
emphasized in the following sentences:
God s providence, but freedom
ordained by
given to man." "Everything is foreordained by
heaven, except the fear of heaven," or, as another sage puts
it
Whether man be strong or weak, rich or poor, wise or fool
of choice
is
:
ish
depends mostly on circumstances that surround him from
the time of his birth, but whether man be good or bad, right
eous or wicked, depends upon his own free-will.
GOD
S
WILL, THE GROUND OF
MAN
S
DUTIES.
The ground of our duties, as presented to us by the Tal
mudical as well as the biblical teachings, is that it is the will of
God. His will is the supreme rule of our being. "Do His will
Be bold as a
as thy own will, submit thy will to His will."
"
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
86
leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a roe, and strong as a lion,
to do the will of thy Father, who is in heaven."
MAN ACCOUNTABLE
TO
GOD FOR
HIS CONDUCT.
man
s responsibility for the conduct of his life, we are
reminded
Consider three
forcibly
by numerous sentences, as
things, and thou wilt never fall into sin remember that there
is above thee an all-seeing eye, an all-hearing ear, and a record
And again, "Consider three things, and
of all thy actions."
thou wilt never sin remember whence thou comest, whither
thou goest, and before whom thou wilt have to render account
Of
"
:
;
;
for
thy
doings."
HIGHER MOTIVES
IN
PERFORMING OUR DUTIES.
Although happiness here and hereafter is promised as re
for fulfilment, and punishment threatened for neglect
of duty, still we are reminded not to be guided by the consid
eration of reward and punishment, but rather by love and
obedience to God, and by love to that which is good and noble.
Be not like servants, who serve their master for the sake of
reward."
"Whatever thou doest, let it be done in the name
ward
"
of
heaven"
(that
is,
for its OWTI sake).
DUTY OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND SELF-CULTIVATION.
As a leading
rule of the duties of self-preservation and selfcultivation, and, at the same time, as a warning against selfish
ness,
self,
am
we have Hillel s sentence:
who will do it for me? and if
"If
I
I
do not care
for
care only for myself,
my
what
I?"
The duty
of acquiring knowledge, especially knowledge of
(Torah), which gives us a clearer insight in
Law
the Divine
man, is most emphatically enjoined in numerous
Without knowledge there is no true morality and
sentences
Be eager to acquire knowledge, it does not come to
piety."
"The more knowledge, the more spirit
thee by inheritance."
If thou hast acquired knowledge, what dost thou
ual
lack ? but if thou lackest knowledge, what hast thou acquired ?
God
s will
to
:
"
"
life."
"
ETHICS.
But we are
of no value,
87
reminded that even the highest knowledge is
as long as it does not influence our moral life.
The
ultimate end of all knowledge and wisdom is man s inner puri
fication and the performance of good and noble deeds."
He
whose knowledge is great without influencing his moral life is
compared to a tree that has many branches, but few and weak
roots; a storm cometh and overturneth
also
"
"
it."
LABOR.
Next to the duty of acquiring knowledge, that of industrious
and useful activity is strongly enjoined. It is well known
that among the ancient nations in general manual labor was
regarded as degrading the free citizen. Even the greatest philos
ophers of antiquity, Plato and Aristotle, could not free them
selves of this deprecating view of labor. How different was the
view of the Talmudic sages in this respect! They say:
Love
be
a
and
hate
to
lord.
Great
is
the
of
labor
it
labor,
dignity
labor
"
"
"
;
honors
"
Beautiful
the intellectual occupation, if
combined with some practical work." "He who does not
man."
is
teach his son a handicraft trade, neglects his parental duty."
He who lives on the toil of his hands is greater than he who
indulges in idle piety."
In accordance with these teachings, some of the most
prominent sages of the Talmud are known to have made their
living
by various kinds
of handicraft
and
trade.
CARDINAL DUTIES IN RELATION TO FELLOW-MEN.
Regarding
man
s relation
to fellow-men, the rabbis con
sider justice, truthfulness, peaceableness and charity as cardinal
duties.
They say, "The world (human society) rests on three
things
on
on truth and on
justice,
peace."
JUSTICE.
The principle of justice in the moral sense is expressed in
the following rules
Thy neighbor s property must be as sacred
s honor must be as
to thee as thine own."
"Thy neighbor
Hereto
thee
as
thine
to
own."
dear
belongs also the golden
"
:
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
88
would be hateful to
rule of Hillel: "Whatever
thy
thee,
do not to
neighbor."
TRUTH AND TRUTHFULNESS.
The sacredness
and
truthfulness is expressed in the
sentence: "Truth is the signet of God, the Most Holy."
"Let
thy yea be in truth, and thy nay be in truth." "Truth lasts
of truth
but falsehood must vanish."
Admonitions concerning faithfulness and fidelity to given
promises are: "Promise little and do much." "To be faith
"To break a
less to a given promise is as sinful as idolatry."
verbal engagement, though legally not binding, is a moral
Of the numerous warnings against any kind of de
wrong."
is sinful to deceive
ceit, the following may be mentioned:
any man, be he even a heathen." "Deception in words is as
forever,
"It
When, says the
great a sin as deception in money matters."
will
be
the
immortal
soul
called
to
before the
account
Talmud,
divine tribunal, the
first
honest and faithful in
all
"
question will be,
Hast thou been
thy dealings with thy fellow-men?
"
PEACEFULNESS.
Peace and harmony in domestic
life
and
social intercourse
as well as in public affairs are considered by the Talmudic
sages as the first condition of human welfare and happiness,
or as they express it: "Peace is the vessel in which all
blessings are presented to us and preserved by us."
God
"
s
Be a
disciple of Aaron, loving peace, and pursuing peace." To make
peace between those in disharmony is regarded as one of the
most meritorious works that secure happiness and bliss here
and hereafter.
As virtues leading to peace, those of mildness and meek
ness, of gentleness and placidity are highly praised and recom
mended. "Be not easily moved to anger." "Be humble to
thy superior, affable to thy inferior, and meet every man with
"He who is slow to
friendliness."
anger, and easily pacified,
is truly pious and virtuous."
"Man, be ever soft and pliant
like a reed, and not hard and unbending like the cedar."
"Those who, when offended, do not give offence, when hearing
slighting remarks, do not retaliate
they are the friends of
God, they shall shine forth
like the
sun in
its
glory."
ETHICS.
89
CHARITY.
The
last of
the principal duties to fellow-men
is
charity,
which begins where justice leaves off. Professor Steinthal, in his
work on General Ethics, remarks that among the cardinal vir
tues of the ancient philosophers
we look
in vain for the idea
we
charity,
and
idea
find
the
of
con
love, mercy
charity closely
generally
nected with that of justice. And we may add, as in the Bible
of love
and
whereas
in the teachings of the Bible,
so also in the Talmud, where charity is considered as the highest
It is one of the main
degree in the scale of duties and virtues.
on w hich the welfare of the human world
r
pillars
rests.
The duty of charity (Gemilath Chesed) extends farther than
to mere almsgiving (Tzedaka).
"Almsgiving is practised by
means of money, but charity also by personal services and
by words of advice, sympathy and encouragement. Alms
giving is a duty towards the poor only, but charity towards
the rich as well as the poor, nay, even towards the dead (by
taking care of their decent
burial)."
By works of charity man proves to be a true image of God,
whose attributes are love, kindness and mercy. "He who
turns away from works of love and charity turns away from
The works of charity have more value than sacrifices
God.
;
they are equal to the performance of all religious duties."
Concerning the proper way of practising this virtue, the
Talmud has many
table works
practised."
is
beautiful sentences, as "The merit of chari
in proportion to the love with which they are
:
"Blessed
is
the poor, twice blessed he
comforting
words."
who gives from his substance to
who accompanies his gift with kind,
he
"The
noblest of
all charities is
He who
the poor to earn a livelihood."
shall not withold his little mite, for
"
is
as a
enabling
unable to give much
garment
is
made up
of single threads, so every single gift contributes to
plish a great work of charity."
accom
DUTIES CONCERNING SPECIAL RELATIONS.
Besides these principal duties in relation to fellow-men in
of duties con
general, the Talmud treats also very elaborately
Not
life.
various
of
relations
the
intending to enter
cerning
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
9o
here into
all details,
we
shall restrict ourselves to
some
of its
and
ethical teachings in reference to the domestic relations,
regarding the relation to the country and the community.
THE CONJUGAL RELATION.
build a house and plant a vineyard
for the means of the household), and then take a
"First
(i.e.,
provide
Let
"
wife."
youth and old age not be joined in marriage, lest the purity
and peace of domestic life be disturbed."
man s home
means his wife."
Let a man be careful to honor his wife, for
he owes to her alone all the blessings of his house."
If thy
wife is small, bend down to her, to take counsel from her."
man should be
"Who is rich? He who has a noble wife."
careful lest he afflict his wife, for God counts her tears."
in anger the one hand removed thy wife or thy child, let the
"He who
other hand again bring them back to thy heart."
loves his wife as his own self, and honors her more than him
self, and he who educates his children in the right way, to him
"A
"
"
"A
"If
applies the divine promise:
Thou
peace in thy
are shed on
"Tears
tent."
one who forsakes the wife of
is hated before God."
his
shalt
youth."
know that there is
God s altar for the
who divorces
"He
his wife,
PARENTS AND CHILDREN.
Parental love should be impartial, one child must not be
is a father s duty not
preferred to the other."
only to
"
"It
provide for his minor children, but also to take care of their
instruction, and to teach his son a trade and whatever is neces
"The honor and reverence due
sary for his future welfare."
honor
and reverence due to God."
are
to
the
to parents
equal
"Where children honor their parents, there God dwells, there
He
is honored."
COUNTRY AND COMMUNITY.
Regarding duties to the country and the community, the
Rabbis teach: "The law of the country is as sacred and bind
ing as
God
"
s
law."
Pray
without respect for the
for the welfare of the
government
government, men would swallow
;
each
ETHICS.
other."
"Do
interests."
91
not isolate thyself from the community and
"It
and
is
sinful to deceive the
its
government regard
not aspire for public offices;
Those
but where there are no men, try thou to be the man."
who work for the community shall do it without selfishness,
ing taxes
duties."
"Do
"
but with the pure intention to promote
its welfare."
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
To
these short outlines of
Talmud ical
add only
a development of
ethics let us
a few general remarks. Being essentially
the sublime ethical principles and teachings of the Bible, the
Talmudical ethics retains the general characteristics of that
origin.
nothing that is against human nature, nothing
incompatible with the existence and welfare of human
It is free from the extreme excess and austerity to
society.
It teaches
that
is
which the lofty ideas of religion and morality were carried by
the theories and practices of some sects inside and outside of
Judaism.
Nay, many Talmudical maxims and sayings are evidently
Thus
directed against such austerities and extravagances.
they warn against the monastic idea of obtaining closer com
munion with God by fleeing from human society and by seclu
sion from temporal concerns of life: "Do not separate thyself
from society." "Man s thoughts and ways shall always be in
contact and sympathy with fellow-men." "No one shall de
"Better is he
part from the general customs and manners."
who lives on the toil of his hand than he who indulges in idle
,
piety."
They strongly discountenance the idea of celibacy, which
the Essenes, and later, some orders of the Church regarded as
a superior state of perfection. The rabbis say: He who lives
be unmarried is to
without a wife is no perfect man."
"
"To
without joy, without blessing, without kindness, without
"As soon as man marries, his
religion and without peace."
live
sins
decrease."
While, on the one hand, they warn against too much indul
gence in pleasures and in the gratification of bodily appetites
and against the
insatiable pursuit of earthly goods
and
riches,
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
92
as well as against the inordinate desire of honor and power, on
the other hand, they strongly disapprove of the ascetic morti-
body and abstinence from enjoyment, and the
all luxuries that beautify life.
They say:
"God s commandments are intended to enhance the value
and enjoyment of life, but not to mar it and make it gloomy."
tification of the
cynic contempt of
"
If
thou hast the means, enjoy
who
denies himself the use of wine
permitted to afflict himself
fool,
life s
innocent
is
a
"
pleasures."
sinner."
"No
by unnecessary fasting."
He
one
"The
is
pious
the hypocrite, and the pharisaic flagellant are destroyers
human
which beautifies life and gives it
vigor and strength, just as riches and honor, is suitable to the
pious, and agreeable to the world at large."
Finally, one more remark The Talmud has often been ac
of
"That
society."
:
cused of being
illiberal, as
teaching its duties only for Jews
towards fellow-believers, but not also towards fellow-men in
This charge is entirely unfounded. It is true, and
general.
if
quite natural, that in regard to the ritual and ceremonial law
and practice, a distinction between Jew and Gentile was made.
occasionally meet in the Talmud with
an uncharitable utterance against the heathen world. But it
It is also true that
we
in what state of moral corruption and deg
radation their heathen surroundings were, at that time. And
this, too, must be remembered, that such utterances are only
made by individuals who gave vent to their indignation in
must be remembered
view of the cruel persecutions whose victims they were. As
regards moral teachings, the Talmud is as broad as humanity.
It teaches duties of man to man without distinction of creed
and race. In most of the ethical maxims, the terms Adam
and
Beriyot,
favorable
who
"man,"
"fellow-men,"
not despise any
"Do
side."
man."
"Seek
are emphatically used; as:
"Judge
man from
every
peace, and love
fellow-men."
pleasing to fellow-men is also pleasing to
right way for man to choose is to do that which
is
God."
is
his
"He
"The
honorable
own eyes (i.e., approved by his conscience) and at the
In some
same time honorable in the eyes of his fellow-men."
of
reminds
duties
Talmud
that
the
instances, the
expressly
justice, veracity, peacefulness and charity are to be fulfilled
in his
"
towards the heathen as well as to the Israelites as, It is sinful
to deceive any man, be he even a heathen."
It is our duty to
;
ETHICS.
93
poor and needy, to visit the sick and bury the dead
without distinction of creed and race."
relieve the
"
this
Thou
is,
sh alt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Lev. xix., 18);
said R. Akiba, the all-embracing principle of the divine
But Ben Azai said, there is another passage in Scrip
more embracing; it is the passage (Gen. v., 2) "This
is the book of the generations of man; in the day that God
created man, he made him in the likeness of God." That sage
meant to say, this passage is more embracing, since it clearly
law.
tures
still
:
tells us who is our neighbor not, as it might be misunderstood,
our friend only, not our fellow-citizen only, not our co-religion
ist only, but since we all descend from a common ancestor,
;
since all are created in the
man, every human being
we
is
image and likeness of God, every
our brother, our neighbor
whom
shall love as ourselves.
The
liberal spirit of
Talmudic
ethics
is
most strikingly
evidenced in the sentence: "The pious and virtuous of all
nations participate in the eternal bliss," which teaches that
man
s
salvation depends not on the acceptance of certain
nor on certain ceremonial observances, but
articles of belief,
the ultimate aim of
and
holiness of life.
purity of heart
on that which
is
religion
namely, Morality,
PART
III.
METHOD.
The Method
Translation into English of our Revised
Text in the New Edition."
of our
"
After having submitted the text of the Talmud to a thor
ough review, and carried out the corrections thus found
necessary, we have come down to the conclusion that the
translation of the Talmud into English in this corrected form
would be although not one of the easiest, but a possible task. *
Thus we made up our mind to start this task, having considered
as our leading principle to carry it out in a manner that should
facilitate the understanding of the Talmud to such English
readers as are not conversant with the
we did not
Hebrew
text.
There
the discussions of the Mishnas,
and
which
Boraithas
the Gemara quotes for the
Tosephtas
purpose of a contradiction, objection, or comparison with a
fore
care to give
distinguishing expression, as we thought it is immaterial for
the English reader. The method of the Gemara, however, is to
distinguish the expressions for the purpose of letting the
reader
know whether
the quotation
is
from a Mishna, To-
sephta, or Boraitha, or was only said by the Amoraim, the ex
pounders of the Mishna, viz.: (i) Tenan, for the quotation of
a Mishna;
Boraitha
;
(2)
(3)
Tania, for the quotation of a Tosephta or a
Itemar, for the quotation of that which was said
by the Amoraim.
Therefore in the
first
volume
for all the quotations
we have used only one
have
was
learned,"
or
"it
we
taught."
of our editions,
expression, "we
However, after we were
adopted a method of distinguishing
the quotations, which is printed in the Explanatory Remarks
For a quotation from the
to each volume namely Remark i
in
a
have
learned
"we
Mishna," for a Tosephta or a
Mishna,
criticised for this,
also
:
.
;
* See
letter of
Dr.
M. Jastrow
in the prospectus of
our work, on page
10.
OUR METHOD.
95
Boraitha, we have learned in a Tosephta or a Boraitha," and
for the sayings of the Amoraim, it was taught.
Thus have we
also corrected in the second edition of the first and the fourth
"
volumes: Remark
2.
To save space we did not adopt the
method of the German translators who usually write question
and answer to each paragraph where such is to be found we
have indicated the question by an interrogation point, and im
;
mediately follows the answer without being so marked. Com
ing to the third explanatory remark, in w hich we say that we
translate only the second, we have to give here this ex
r
planation at length, as this treats about omissions from the
text in the translation.
In our Hakol, vol. VI., No. 298, 1885, in which we an
desire to revise and correct the Talmud so as
nounced that we
to make its translation possible into a living language, we gave
some examples of the omissions necessary in Halakha and
Hagada for this purpose. And we dare say that the examples
were favorably received by eminent students of the Tal
mud. As an answer to another criticism in a Hebrew monthly
in New York, Ner Hamarobe, we wrote a long article in the
same about our method of the omissions in Halakha, claiming
that in reality we omit nothing of importance of the whole
text, in the shape given out by its compilers, and only that
which we were certain to have been added by the dislikers of
the Talmud for the purpose of degrading it we do omit. We
cannot very well translate the whole
space and time.
We
article here for lack of
will therefore limit ourselves to pointing
out the omissions of Halakha and Hagada with one or two
examples: (i) Omitting repetitions, e.g., in Tract Kethuboth
one betroths a woman with the
72b, there is a Mishna,
"if
not subject to any vows," and the whole
Mishna with its Gemara is repeated in Tract Kedushin 58,
without any change, and the Gemara to this Mishnayoth
stipulation that she
is
questions why the repetition?
was learned by the way,"
To which the same answer,
In
repeated in both tracts.
our edition the Mishna will appear only once, in Tract Kedu
shin, and it is self-evident that the question and the answer
"it
Gemara
is
falls off.
However, the continuation which is
comes in the proper place. This is concerning
The discussions in the Gemara are repeated
the Mishnayoth.
of the
of importance
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
96
sometimes from one to fifteen times, some of them without any
change at all, and some with change of little or no importance.
In our edition we give the discussion only once, in its proper
it is a great difficulty to go over all the repetitions,
the changes wherever they are, and to consider the
matter thoroughly as to which is the most proper place for
place. True,
to
mark
However, we did not spare time and careful study.
according to our ability we left it at the place which
seemed to us to be proper and cancelling all other repetitions.*
(2) There is a custom in the text when it brings a statement
from an Amora (very seldom also from a Tana) which is in
conflict with a Mishna or a Boraitha, and trying to reconcile
them by a long discussion, and after it comes to the conclusion
them.
And
that such a reconciliation
such was taught
We
it
must
impossible, it concludes that
be so and so," contrary to the first
is
"if
in our edition translate only
the conclusion,
whole
or
the
which
discussion,
omitting
partly
wholly is to
be found elsewhere. (Examples of this are given in our abovementioned article, and as they are very numerous, we cannot
statement.
give them here).
(3) Where there are two versions in the
text under the term Lishna achrena (another version), or
Ika d amri (some say), or Waibayiik A em a (if you wish, we
may say), and the second is contrary or entirely different from
the first, we mostly give the second only. However, we are
(See our concluding words
very careful in omitting such.
in Vol. XVII.,
and as to the
last phrase, Waibayith
said
or thrice, the reader
twice
many places
will find all of them translated in our translation, under the
Aema, which
page
in
8),
is
you wish it may be said so, and if you wish, it may
(4) The reader will find in our edition foot-notes
from tract so and
"transferred
in Halakha as well
stating,
in
do
when
as
so
the subject treated is inserted
Hagada. We
in a place where it is disconnected with the preceding and
term,
"if
be said
so."
so,"
following statement; however, there is a special discussion
about the same subject in another tract. (Concerning Hagada
we did so in Tract Sanhedrin, transferring Hagadas which have
* In our
edition,
we mark
and
so,
it
page so and
translated.
if
such an omission comes from that which was already printed,
repeated from tract or from volume so
in parentheses or in a foot-note
so,"
"
:
which we could not do with the
text
which was not as yet
OUR METHOD.
97
no connection in the preceding chapters, to the last (eleventh)
chapter which is all Hagada. This is done for the purpose of
preventing confusion in the reader s mind, which, while engaged
in one subject, is abruptly confronted with a strange subject.
In a very few places we combine two Mishnayoths which
are united in the editions of the separate Mishnayoths, but are
(5)
divided in the
Gemara
two or three
into
(see
Nedarim 32b and
33a), to which the Gemara questions "in accordance with what
Tana the statement of this Mishna is given," and answers
"in
accordance with so and
so,"
and the same
it
does with the
divided Mishna with the same question and answer.
places where the Gemara discusses in a long paragraph,
(6) In
"how
we assume so, then such a statement would
if
be in the way, and we assume so, another statement of so and
The conclusion, however, is
so would be in the way," etc.
In
and
such
cases we often translate
nicely.
explained clearly
was the case?
Shall
the conclusion only, omitting the discussion, which seems to
us to be inserted only for the purpose of sharpening the mind.
(However, we are very careful with such omissions, and if we
them something of importance, we do not omit them.)
To this point, may be added then that all the discussions usual
in the Gemara why the Tana or the Amora A does not say like B,
and why B does not say like C, and C like D, and then why D
does not say like C, B, and A, etc. After then when the reason
see in
given why A does not say like B, and B like C, it is again
asked why should A not adopt the reason of B, etc., etc. We
then give only the questions and answers of the first category,
viz., why does not A agree with B and C, and B and C with A
We omit, however, the second category of the questions and
answers for not adopting the reasons, which in many places
occupy a whole column and after reading it, we do not find
is
.
anything new or important, but simply repetitions after repeti
tions which confuse the mind of the reader without doing any
(7) Questions which remain undecided and many of
good.
them are not at all practical but only imaginary, and very
peculiar too,* we omit.
Many of such questions were ascribed
to the Amora Jeremiah, of whom Rabha said that, "When he
was in Babylonia he never understood what the Rabbis said."
*
E.g.,
7
mtDTypni ijnpDJ,
the translation of which
we do not
care to give.
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
98
When
he (Jeremiah) came to Palestine he expressed himself
concerning the Babylonian scholars thus: "The Babylonians
who are dwelling in a dark land are proclaiming dark Halakhath."
It is the same to us if Jeremiah questioned the abovementioned questions at the time he did not understand the
Rabbis, or, as I. H. Weiss said, that he intended with such
questions to ridicule the Rabbis, for at any rate such questions
must not be placed in our edition. We have good reason to say
that all such questions were inserted in the name of Jeremiah
Amoraim, by the dislikers of the Talmud, who were to
be found from its very beginning, for the purpose of ridiculing
We cannot agree with Weiss that Jeremiah himself put
it.
such questions, as for a similar question
If it happened that
one has put one foot into the Sabbath limit, and the other foot
was still out of it, may he enter or not?" he was immediately
driven out from the college.
Hence, since the other questions
or other
"
:
him
much worse
than the one
would be listened to and
We would also state that
the above statement of the dark Halakhath by the Babylonian
sages was also put in his mouth by the same people, as we
cannot believe that such a great Amora like Jeremiah should
throw stones in the valley from which he drank his water.
Finally, we will give one example concerning Hagadas, in
Tract Zebachin, pp. 1 1 33., in the discussion whether the flood was
ascribed to
are
in every respect
just mentioned, is it possible that he
such inserted as undecided questions ?
in Palestine or not, basing their statements
"there is
no new thing under the
sun,"
i.e.,
upon Ecclesiastes,
no new creatures
and as there are to
were created after the seven days of creation,
be found some creatures which, according to their size, could not
enter into the ark of Noah, and we see their existence, it must
be concluded that the flood which had destroyed all the crea
tures did not take place in Palestine, in which such creatures
The opponents of this say that the flood was
are to be found.
in Palestine also,
there were
to
by
Rabba
some
and
of all kinds of the existing creatures,
in the ark.
the existence of r
b. b.
Hannah,
And when
the last were objected
em
(wild-ox), which, according to
the size of its offspring of one day was
equal to forty miles, hence it could not in any \vay be entered
in the ark, the answer comes that its snout only was in the ark,
and the rest of the body was swimming in the water.
OUR METHOD.
99
Now we
would ask any reader if it is possible that such a
thing should be said by any sage of the Talmud, and especially
by Resh Lakish, who was one of the greatest Amoraim of Pales
tine.
As this Hagada was discussed in connection with a
Halakha it must not by any means be taken as allegorical.
It is therefore more than certain that one who desired to make
the Talmud ridiculous put in the mouths of Jochanan and
Resh Lakish the discussion about the r em with such a ridicu
Hence in our translation it must be omitted.
lous answer.
There is another one which was put as a question: "May the
high priest marry a pregnant virgin ? and to the question "how
the answer comes that perhaps
can a virgin be pregnant?
she became pregnant in a bath where preceding her was a
man who had left there his seed." * We do not believe that
any one with common sense, and without partiality, can be
found who would deny that such things were inserted by the
Talmud haters only for the purpose of ridiculing the Talmud.
It is self-evident then that in our edition such and numerous
similar legends do not find place.
"
"
"
Concerning the translation itself, we translate almost
In those places where the text of
literally but not slavishly.
be
can
understood
Gemara
the
only with the aid of Rashi s
commentary, we reproduce the sense without marking Rashi.
However, in those places where Rashi adds something to
make the text better understood, we put Rashi s commen
See fifth remark on the copyrighting;
tary in parentheses.
but passages inserted from the Gemara itself we put in
Those passages, however, which are not explained
brackets.
or
Rashi
which we found the explanation more detailed in
by
"
other commentaries, we translate according to the latter s,
stating in the respective foot-note that it is according to so and
Our only
so.
desire
was to enable the English student, even
laymen, to understand the sense without difficulty, in which,
according to I. M. Wise in his review of Volume VIII., we
have succeeded.
We may
state also that,
though we have
our method, yet we were compelled in some
It was also impossible for
places to deviate from the same.
us to arrange our new edition in accordance with the old edistrictly followed
*
It
seems
to us that
Mary had borne
Jesus.
such were inserted by one against the belief that the Virgin
zoo
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
tion; based
upon the decision of Sherira Gaon that it is im
what order the tracts should be brought, as the
material in
Gemara
itself states
that the consecutive order of the Mishna
not always to be taken seriously. However, each tract is
numbered from page i, so that if the reader prefers binding
the tracts according to the former order he may do so. There
are, however, many more points concerning our method which
we omit for lack of space and time, especially since the method
is
is
fully traced in its
main
features.
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ILLUSTRATION
OK THE CORRECTED TEXT OK THE BAMYI.ON1AN TALMUD FROM
WHICH THE TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH WAS MADE.
PART
IV.
CRITICISM.
In our table of contents to this history announced in the
prospectus issued in 1897, we have inserted "A Reply to some
Criticism."
This would be in place if this history had been
published at the time when the criticism was still new. Now,
however, after the lapse of six years, during which new proper
criticism has not appeared, a reply to what is almost forgotten
would be out of place. We, however, cannot restrain our
selves to say a few words about criticism in general, and about
In our opinion, true criticism must
our edition in special.
drive only to the point,
his mistakes
and
the critic has to show the author
i.e.,
errors in such
and such
point, page or para
graph, based upon undoubted or uncontradictory evidence, or
sense, taking care, however, to avoid partiality and
common
not criticism but attack. In our
expressed our anxiety to face a
true criticism, which has not appeared thus far as aught we
know. As what concerns the criticism which appeared after
the issue of the first volume, the same may be classified in
personality.
Otherwise
it is
introduction to Vol. VII.,
three categories
we
:
(a) Personality against the reviser of the first volume or
(b) Opposition on the part of those who dis
against ourself
liked for some reason the idea of the Talmud being translated in
.
any
living language,
pressed
study.
no matter which
in all that
by ignoramuses
It
;
and
(c)
concerns the
the views ex
Talmud and its
seems to us that a discussion would not persuade
either of the three categories, as they indulged only in attacks
lacking real evidence, nay, even a basis of probability on which
they might have rested e.g. there were some who claimed that
our edition is not scientifically arranged, our omissions mutila
ting the whole text at large but these did not care to give any
example, which might have served them as evidence.
;
,
;
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
io2
Now, concerning the scientific point of view, we hold that no
translation of the Talmud could answer the requirements of a
scientific work, as the Talmud itself is nothing but a chaotic
mass lacking any scientific order, and should a translator
follow scientific tracks, the result of his work would be a
but not a translation
the Talmud.
And, as
no example was
given, we cannot enter any discussion as to them. Our method
was already clearly explained in a lengthy article in Hebrew,
out of w hich it might have appeared that our method consists
in these very mutilations, and if after that anybody accuses
us of mutilating the text we have nothing to say but let him
try to invent a better method.
treatise on,
what regards the
of,
so-called mutilations, since
T
However, regarding the criticism of the spelling of some
ancient names, which we were not very careful about, and
also as to the distinguishing of the quotations from divers
Mishnas, Boraithas, etc., we have gratefully admitted its truth
and accordingly corrected in the succeeding volumes as well as
in the second edition of the first volume, as it can be seen in our
answer to these criticisms in the American Hebrew, July
29, 1896, which the critic himself admitted thereafter that
it was a gentlemanly answer, though it could not induce him
to deny his policy.
the above categories
And what concerns other criticisms of
we may conscientiously say that they
were not worthy of any consideration whatsoever, as their
basis was the very criticism of this prominent scholar, who en
couraged them to attack, to scold, and to make use of any ex
pression which is fit to disqualify the work at large in the eyes
As an evidence to this latter statement we
of its supporters.*
* To our
great sorrow we must confess that they have succeeded in harming us
The material harm was that, as an immediate result
both materially and morally.
of their attacks, an enormous amount of financial support had been refused to us.
The moral harm they caused us was that, being at loss of the necessary funds, we
could not submit our work to competent men for revising, and so the whole gigantic
labor of issuing all which has been printed so far was carried out only through our
own
endeavors, to which no assistance, moral or material, was given us on the part
And with all our modesty we may say that, had we not been so energetic
and strong-minded, our attackers would have succeeded in destroying the whole plan
of anybody.
and annihilating the publication of our work. A great authority and most influential
man in this city, seeing our struggles and troubles after we had already issued several
volumes, offered us $6,000 as financial aid for the duration of three years, so as to
complete the translation in this period and to submit to him afterwards the whole
manuscript, for which he was willing to take the trouble upon himself to find a pub-
CRITICISM.
beg to quote the
ber
editorial of
The American
103
Israelite,
Septem
1901.
19,
complaint voiced through the Jewish press that RodTalmud is not receiving the support
which its merits deserve is very much in the nature of selfaccusation. The truth is that the great undertaking has never
"The
kinson
s
translation of the
been able to overcome the onslaught originally made upon it.
Recognizing its great value, the late editor of this paper gave
to the work from its initial conception his earnest encourage
ment and support, which, instead of being seconded by the
Jewish press and rabbinate, was met by a torrent of abuse and
Now that his foresight has been justified,
misrepresentation.
and the former detractors of the work complain that Jewish
support is lacking, they have a chance to contemplate their own
the example set by the late editor of this paper
had been emulated instead of neglected and derided, there
would not now be occasion to charge the Jewish public with
doings.
want
If
of appreciation.
was not among Jews alone that the insensate opposition
As is per
Dr. Rodkinson s difficult project was met with.
"
It
to
fectly natural, the non-Jewish press depended largely upon
Jewish sources for their information in regard to the work, and
therefore reflected the unfavorable opinions expressed by sup
posed Jewish authorities.
As soon
as unbiased reviewers were
The above
lisher who would undertake to publish it upon the plan of royalty.
amount he calculated to obtain of three philanthropists, two Gentiles and one Hebrew.
We, however, having conjectured who the Hebrew philanthropist might be, told him
he was mistaken, for he is already influenced by the
that if he meant Mr.
In fact, it was so, and the pro
critics and therefore would not support this work.
fessor was reduced to drop the whole plan.
This case was not the only one. There was another professor who promised to
subscribe for twenty sets of our work for the purpose of distributing them among his
friends.
It was again the critic that prevented him from doing so.
The Jewish Publication Society of America, whose aim it is to help authors in
issuing their works, and who are constantly doing so, have not assisted us with a sin
gle cent, in spite of the fact that all the above-mentioned critics but one had not only
retracted from and moderated their first statements, but afterwards wrote favorably
about our translation in different periodicals and private letters, as can be seen from
the press comments, which will be placed on the last pages of this work.
One cannot imagine our struggles and troubles at each issue of the volumes, and
it is only our ideal that the edition of the Talmud should be completed which spurs
,
us to continue.
We
rely
tions issued by us.
help, that it will not cease to grant us
has lent us to the completion of the two large sec
upon the divine
further on the assistance which
it
THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD.
io 4
made aware
tude, but
the
it
of its merits, they changed their unfavorable atti
late to overcome the prejudice created by
was too
impression.
To-day the non-Jewish press recognizes
that it was misled into antagonizing the work, and speaks of it as
a most important contribution to the world s stock of knowledge,
first
must be disheartening to its editor and his pub
convince possible purchasers that the authorities
upon which they depend for information have experienced a
change of heart. It is an old story, that with one moment s
but
it
certainly
lishers to
not be overtaken by its refutation in a thousand
wholly right the wrong, but at least
years.
amends can be made by those who through ignorance or malice
misrepresented Dr. Rodkinson s great undertaking, and it is
not by taking a fling at the Jews that this is to be accomplished.
start a
lie will
It is impossible to
It is safe to classify the Jews as average human beings, who are
neither better nor worse than the rest of mankind, and taking
them as such, the proportion among them who encourage Jew
ish letters will not
be found to
fall
below what can rightly be
expected. This statement, however, does not include the
Jews who have been blessed with superabundant riches, for the
members
of that class
have not
in this
country given to Jewish
common among
the men of
enable the literature of Christianity to be spread
broadcast over the world."
literature the
wealth
who
same support
so
APPENDIX TO CHAPTER
II.,
page 24
We have to repeat again that we do not see any reason why the
more prominent sages should not be mentioned. To quote all of
those omitted, both of Tanaim and Amoraim, with the sources
where they are taken from would take a whole volume and we also
would not like to devise an entirely new arrangement contrary to
Strack, Mielziner and others whose authority we respect. However,
we cannot
refrain from calling the attention of students to the fact
that after a good deal of deliberation and search we cannot find any
reason why the most prominent sages should not be placed among
the founders of the Talmud.
Take, for instance, Abtulmus, who
is mentioned in Tract Erubin,
who, according to R. Jose, testified in the
name of five elders, etc., and who is also mentioned several times in
the Gemara and is not identical with Abtalyon who was in an
Chapter
III.,
earlier time.
Mishna
Take
4,
also
Baba b Buta who, was in the time
of
Herod
the Great, and who was a disciple of Shamai and cannot be counted
of his school as he was of those who were troubling themselves to
establish the
whom
Weiss
the
Halakha
in
accordance with the school of Hillel and
Talmud put up
"Geschichte
as an
der jxidichen
example
Tradition,"
of
Vol.
morality.
I.,
(See
p. 168.
We also do not find among them Elazai b.
Arach, whom we have
added, the distinguished one of the five disciples of R. Johanan b.
Zakkai, and also no mention of b. Bag Bag, b. Haij Haij, b. Buchre,
and Papus b. Jehudah. The contemporaries of these were Jo
hanan b. Zakkai, Jehudah b. Bathyra, etc., etc., all of whom are
mentioned in the Mishnayoth as great authorities, who according
to our opinion ought to be placed among the Tanaim, founders of the
Mishna.
There
mentioned by Strack and Perferkowitz (the latter
b. Arach and Simon Shezur), Ben Patturo or Ben
Pature, who is to be found only once in the whole Talmud,
namely in Baba Metzia, p. 149. Let us quote his statement
two were on the road (in the desert) and one of them has a pitcher
of water which is sufficient for one only until he may reach an in
habited place, but if both would use it both would die before
reaching a village, and Ben Patturo lectured that in such a case it
is
counts Elasur
:
,
"If
APPENDIX.
io6
is
better that both should drink and die than that one should wit
This teaching seems to us to be of
comrade."
not in accordance with the Talmudical spirit,
and as his own name is not known (there are many who were named
after their fathers only as Ben Dama, b Bathyra, b Azai, but their
own name however is known) we are inclined to say that he lived at
ness the death of his
the Essenes as
it is
earlier time and it should read Ben Pantira, who was in his
*
a
youth disciple of Jehoshua b Prachyah and it would not be sur
in
as so it was done with
was
stated
his
name
that
his
lecture
prising
a
much
Elisha b
Abbuyah
in Tract
Aboth, Chapter IV., notwithstanding
that thereafter he separated himself from his colleagues and was
named Acker.
*
and
Joseph Pantira, who
is usually so mentioned in Tosephta (Chulin,
several times.
In some places Jesu b. Pantira,
in other places Jesu Pantira and also Ben Pantira.
Concerning Jehoshua b.
v. 22),
i.e.,
and
Prachia
Jesu
b.
in the Palestinian
who was
Talmud
his teacher, according to the
Talmud, we are inclined
were two Jehoshuas rather than to claim that there were two Jesuses.
to say there
PART
V.
THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE SIX SECTIONS
IN THEIR
SIXTY
TRACTS.
Section Zeraim (Plants) contains eleven tractates, viz.
Berachoth (Benediction), supplied with Gemara, both Pales
:
and Babylonian, Peah (Corner tithe) Dmai (Uncertain),
Khilayim (Mixtures), Shebiit (Sabbatical year), Therumoth
(Heave offering), Maasheroth (Tithes), Maaser Sheni (Second
tinian
,
(Dough), Orla (Fruit trees during the first
three years), and Biccurim (First fruit), all of which are not
supplied with Babylonian Gemara. The laws of all of them
tithes),
Chala
concern Palestine at that time the Temple was in existence.
Section Nashim (Women) contains seven tracts, viz. Yeba:
moth
(Levirate marriage),
Nedarim (Vows), Nazir
Khethuboth (Marriage
contracts),
(Nazarite), Sota (Suspicious women),
Gittin (Divorces), Kiddushin (Betrothals).
Section Kodashim (Holiness), eleven tracts:
Zebachim
Menachoth (Meal-offering), Chulin (Profane
Bechoroth
(First born), Arachin (Estimations), Thethings),
mura (Exchange), Kherithoth (Excisions), Me-ila (Trespass),
Thamid (Daily offerings), Middoth (Measurements) and Kinnim (Birds nests). All the above tracts, besides Chulin,
treat about sacrifices, offerings used at the time of the Tem
Chulin, however, speaks of the laws of slaughtering
ple.
and of the meats that may be used.
KheSection Teharoth (Purification), twelve tracts, viz.
lim (Vessels), Ohaloth (Tents), Nego-im (Leprosy), Parah
(Heifer), Teharoth (Purification), Mikvaoth (Wells), Nidda
(Menstruous) Mach-shirim (Preparations), Zabim (Running
(Sacrifices),
:
,
issues),
Tebul-Yom (Legal-day
TJktzin (Stalks of fruit)
no Gemara,
;
to
all
bath), Yadayim (Hands), and
of them, except Nidda, there is
for the reason stated
above
tract Nidda, however, treats about
all the laws of sexual intercourse.
Section
Moed
(Vol. II., p. 42).
The
women menstruous and
(Festivals), twelve tracts (in
our Edition
13),
and Section Nezikin (Jurisprudence), ten tracts (in our Edi
tion 13), which are already published in the English language.
We
give, for the benefit of readers, the following synopsis:
SECTION MOED (FESTIVALS).
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
TRACT SABBATH.
I.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
SEVERAL requests have been received by the translator that an index
should be made to the volumes of the Talmud, as is customary with all
modern works. It would be an utter impossibility to give a complete index
of everything contained in the
which
the
treat each
Talmud
it
is
it
like
other scientific works,
but with
;
On one page many different subjects may be
The
single subject may occupy several pages.
different.
and again a
discussed,
Were
Talmud.
subject separately, this could easily be done
had an index, not even the portions which
have been translated.
After careful examination of the volumes, page by page, it has been de
cided to make a synopsis, i.e., to give briefly the heads of the discussions
and conversations upon each Mishna, indicating the page where the
Mishna is to be found, and the Gemara of each one, which serves as a
commentary.
By this the reader should be able to refer to what he desires
therefore, has never
Talmud,
to
know.
A
synopsis
is
therefore given of every
Mishna which discusses a
single
but when several short Mishnas
subject, with its accompanying Gemara
cover the same subject, a single synopsis is given of the whole, including
the Gemara of each one; and where a chapter is short and has but one
;
whole chapter
Mishnas.
This is the best that can be done, and
subject, a synopsis of the
it
is
made, without dividing
it is
hoped that readers
into
it
will find
satisfactory.
CHAPTER
MISHNA
/.
I.
Regulations concerning prohibited and permitted acts of
transfer over the dividing line of adjoining premises and the area of such
premises the classification of premises in which premises transfer is per
;
;
laws of transfer of labor, when committed by the joint efforts of two
1-13
persons transfer from and to doorsteps
MISHNA II. Whether work may be commenced at the approach of the
time for afternoon prayer; what kind of work is referred to; how a man
should pray what he must wear when he may eat his midday meal the
mitted
;
;
;
;
;
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxx
informing of the bestowal of gifts
its origin
various legends of
Sabbath as a valuable
;
gift
............
and
;
,Rabh,
MISHNA
Rabha bar
Ma hassia
in
the
of God
name of
13-19
Tailors and other artisans are not permitted to go out
with their tools on Friday near eventide. Treats also on whether one may
///.
......
read by lamplight on the Sabbath
the laws of visiting the sick
what
prayers may be offered for the sick,
19-22
MISHNAS IV. TO VI. How the eighteen famous ordinances were in
stituted in the attic of Hananya ben Hyzkiyah ben Gorion, and by whom the
Roll of Fasts was written.
Which acts of labor may be commenced on
Friday eve concerning labor which is accomplished without assistance of
;
;
;
man
on Sabbath
laws concerning labor which is accomplished without
laws concerning work given to Gentiles.
Narrative of R. Simeon ben Gamaliel concerning how his father s house
dealt with Gentile clothes-washers.
On transmission of letters and journey
ing on ships on the Sabbath.
Regulations pertaining to the roasting of
meats and baking of bread before the Sabbath the sacrifices at the Temple
on the Passover. Appendix to p. 8,
22-30
assistance of
;
man on Sabbath
;
;
CHAPTER
II.
MISHNAS /. AND II. Permissible and non-permissible oils and wicks for
lamps on the Sabbath and Hanukah (feast of Maccabbees) the law of the
Hanukah lights Hanukah and the miracle the duration of Hanukah
benedictions to be said on that festival the reward of those who keep the
Sabbath-light commandment the reward of those who esteem scholarship.
The second Mishna treats on What balsams may and may not be used
both for light and for the person on the Sabbath a narrative of a woman
;
;
;
;
;
;
:
;
who hated her daughter-in-law who may be called a rich man,
31-42
MISHNAS ///. TO V. What wicks made from parts of trees may be
used whether broken vessels may be used for fuel on a biblical feast day
what may be done with the residue of oil left in a lamp; practical laws of
egg-shells and whether chairs may be dragged on the floor on Sabbath.
The different opinions of R. Eliezer and R. Aqiba concerning the defile
ment of a piece of cloth, and if it is allowed to make a wick of it. What
.
;
;
;
happened with R. Jehudah in the Hall of Beth Nitza and with Abhin of
who committed certain acts which were not allowed, in the
Ziphoris,
presence of the sages,
MISHNA
VI.
.........
Whether alight may be extinguished on Sabbath
fear of accident or to afford rest for the sick
Nav and
;
the question asked R.
42-48
either for
Tan hum
sermon the soul being called the Light of God
the intended concealment of the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes
the
Shekhina (divine presence) not resting with a man except through his joy of
having performed a good deed Rabha s custom when commencing his lec
tures to his disciples. R. Gamaliel s sermon and answers to the disciple who
derided him. The story of the three proselytes rejected by Shamai and
accepted by Hillel. "What is hateful to thee, do not unto thy neighbor;
of
"
his replying
"
;
;
;
;
that
is
the law.
Mishna are
All else
is
but a
commentary."
inferred from a biblical passage.
The
The
first
six sections
of the
thing asked of a
man
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxxi
when standing before the divine judgment is, "Hast thou traded in good
faith
The Fear of the Lord is the chief principle. The wicked fear
"
"
?"
death, although mentioning
MISHNAS
VII.
AND
it
every day,
The
VIII.
48-53
women
sins of
are passed upon
when
confined in childbirth, the sins of men while in danger.
A good deed is
committed through the agency of a meritorious person and a bad deed
through the agency of the wicked all who are about to die must repent of
the defenders of man before divine judgment are repentance and
A thousandth part of one defender saves a man from the
good deeds.
danger threatened him by a thousand accusers. The penalties imposed
upon man for hating without cause for robbery for perverting or pro
for destroying the law
for murder
for adultery
for
crastinating justice
The story of R. Simeon ben Johai,
idolatry; for using obscene language.
who remained in a cave for twelve years. The causes leading up to his
concealment in the cave
his adventures after leaving the cave.
The three
how they are to be
things to be said by a man in his house on Friday eve
;
their sins
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
;
how many signals of the horn were blown
twilight takes place
to remind the people of the advent of the Sabbath.
Is there a difference
said
when
;
;
between a shophar and a
fife ?,
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
AND
53-62
III.
In which hearths or ovens victuals may be depos
The opinions of the school of Hillel and the school of
Shamai concerning the same the different opinions upon the teaching of
/.
II.
on the Sabbath.
ited
;
the two schools.
Victuals having once been taken out of an oven, would it
be allowed to replace them ?
The law concerning a pot of victuals which
had been forgotten and was thus cooked on the Sabbath. Usages of R. Jose
on his way to Zipporah, and of R. Jehudah Hanassi when travelling. A
narrative of R. Ishai while in the presence of R. Hyya the Great. The differ
ence in law between an oven and a hearth also, difference arising from
an oven or a hearth being heated with straw or with wood, etc.,
63-67
;
.
MISHNAS
///.
TO
Customs of the people of Tiberias
VII.
relative to the
Is it allowed to place a pitcher of cold
heating of a pitcher of cold water.
water into one filled with hot water in order to heat the water or, -vice
;
versa, in order to heat the water ? May one wash his body in the warm
water of the Tiberius springs or in water warmed on the Sabbath eve ?
May
the entire
toms
in
body be washed at once or each member separately ? Cus
Are sweat-baths permitted on the Sabbath ?
a bath-house.
Incidents occurring in the bath-house of the city of B ni Brak.
Why
sweat-baths were prohibited.
May one warm himself by a hearth-fire ?
Is bathing one s self in a washtub and
anointing one s self with oils per
mitted on the Sabbath ? Usages of Rabbi Jehudah Hanassi in this matter.
a lake permitted on the Sabbath ?
Incidents attending R.
Abuhu s swimming in a lake on a Sabbath. Concerning
the permissibility of pouring cold water in a muliar or antikhi, the fuel of
Is
swimming
Zera
s
in
witnessing R.
which had been removed or in a kettle, the hot water of which had been
poured out, and the prescribed quantity of such water. Concerning the
addition of spices to a pot of victuals. Concerning the permissibility of
placing a vessel under a burning lamp to receive its dripping oil or falling
;
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxxii
Ordi
and the placing of a vessel under a hen to receive the egg.
nance relating to a corpse lying in the sun. If it is allowed to save a
corpse from fire. Prayers to be offered on Sabbath over the dead. The
accordance of permission to save a corpse from conflagration on the
sparks,
Sabbath,
67-74
Concerning the handling of new and old lamps
on the Sabbath. Ordinances relative to a bed which had been designated for
the purpose of holding money on the Sabbath. The permissibility of handling
a burning Hanukah lamp for fear of the Persians. The law of Muktza.
The ordinance relative to handling a lamp on Sabbath and the dictum of
Resh Lakish in Zidon. The ordinance concerning the nuptial couch. Action
of R. Malkia while the guest of R. Simlai and R. Abuhu at the house of
R. Joshua ben Levi and R. Johanan. The experience of R. Avia, who came
to the house of Rabha and sat on Rabha s bed without removing his dirty
shoes.
Questions put to him by Rabha, and his replies. The law of a prin
What R. Hanina did with a folding-bed that had
cipal prohibited act.
MISHNAS
AND
VIII.
become unfastened on a
IX.
feast day,
74-82
CHAPTER
IV.
MISHNAS /. TO IV. What substances may be used for the preserving of
Rabba s and R. Zera s upbraiding of a slave of the Exilarch, while
victuals.
sojourning
the latter
in
house.
s
Concerning the replacing of feathers
in a
pillow.
Concerning the opening of a bunghead in a barrel and the making
of a neckband in a shirt.
Concerning the permissibility of depositing vict
and shorn wool intended
uals in cloth
for market.
The
derivation of the
thirty-nine principal acts of labor on the Sabbath from the thirty-nine times
work is mentioned in the Pentateuch. The law concerning branches of
"
"
which were bound together
to be used for fuel and were subsequently
intended for sitting upon. R. Hanina ben Aqiba s action in such a case.
The ordinance relating to the use of soap-powder and soap on the Sabbath.
The necessity of washing one s hands and feet for the sake of the Creator.
What is to be done with a pot that had not been covered on the eve of
trees
Sabbath
The
?
The mutual
to Doen his
decision of Ishmael in the matter in the presence of Rabbi.
R. Na hman s statement
.........
respect of the sages for one another.
servant,
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
/.
TO
Levi the son of R.
///.
A
bridle
is
A
allowed as
with a rug, but what
to a feed-bag.
V.
What gear
animals may go out in on the Sabbath.
Hyya and Rabbi the son of R. Huna, occur
bridle may be worn by an ass whose behavior is bad.
a guard but not as an ornament. An ass may go out
Huna
rence on the road.
83-90
is
bar
the law concerning a saddle?
Ordinances relative
The
decision of Arioch of Babylon (Samuel) in the matter.
Concerning bags tied around the udders of she-goats. The miracle that was
wrought for a man whose wife died and left him a nursing child. The discus
sion of the rabbis about such a miracle.
wife was maimed.
on Sabbath.
Narrative relating to a
man whose
Concerning gear which may not be worn by animals
Peculiarities of the Hanun tree and where it may be found.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxxiii
of R. Eliezer ben Azariah.
Penalty for the failure to warn one s
family against evil. The different signs on the foreheads of the righteous
and the wicked. The seal of God. Derivation of the merits of the fathers.
The wealth
Is
death possible without
tioned
in
the Bible
sin
Defence
?
as sinners.
for
Reuben and
Rabbi Hanassi
others
who
s justification
are
for
men
David.
Was
David guilty of listening to slander? Consequences of David s sin.
King Solomon s sin. The Archangel Gabriel s act at the time of King
Solomon s marriage with Pharaoh s daughter. The most fervent penitents,
91-106
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
7.
TO
///.
What garments
a
VI.
woman may go
out
in.
Definition
of totaphoth.
Concerning the garb of slaves. May the rabbis wear their
Effect of a sermon on the women of the city
insignia of office on Sabbath?
Mehuza concerning ornaments in the shape of a crown. Ordinances con
cerning nose-bands, earrings, and finger-rings. What garments a man
must not go out in. Consequences of wearing iron-bound sandals. The
law of majority. How shoes are to be put on. Why one when anointing
himself should first anoint the head. Law concerning amulets, both tried
and untried. Ordinances concerning hairpins and perfume-bottles. Causes
of
The trees of Jerusalem,
MISHNAS IV. TO IX. Concerning bows, swords, and
of poverty.
107-117
shields.
Are they
Inter
is the wearing of such things degrading?
pretation of biblical passages. Are they to be taken literally or figuratively.
Rewards emanating from the proper study of the Law. Customs of scholars
when discussing the Law. God s blessing upon scholars who mutually in
considered ornaments or
struct one another.
Regarding a man who keeps a vicious dog about
his
Why the children of Israel were in need of forgiveness upon
premises.
What garments women,
their return from the war with the Midianites.
young girls, and boys may go out in on Sabbath.
and to children of princes. Concerning the danger
of the Amorites.
Occurrence
at the feast
CHAPTER
References to cripples
of imitating the customs
given by R. Aqiba,
.
117-126
VII.
MlSHNAS /. TO ///. The principal rule concerning the Sabbath. Regu
Re
lations regarding children in captivity among idolaters and converts.
maining with idolaters. Rules concerning one who was ignorant as to what
was conscious of the Sabbath, and
a
man
while
who,
travelling in a desert, had for
Concerning
gotten which day was Sabbath. How labor may be distinguished. Different
instances of forgetfulness regarding Sabbath and the performance of labor
labor
was prohibited on
the Sabbath but
vice versa.
on the Sabbath. Instances of forgetfulness in dietary matters. Instances
of intentional and unintentional performance of labor, and their distinction.
Enumeration of the forty, less one, acts of labor. Principal and incidental
acts.
The degree
of one
who
Condemnation
of guilt involved in learning magic arts.
able to acquire astronomical knowledge and neglects to do so.
Another rule was laid down. Discussions concerning the carrying out of
is
.....
necessary things on the Sabbath and the limitation of quantity.
kinds of food may be counted together,
Different
127-142
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxxiv
CHAPTER
VIII.
The prescribed quantities of wine, honey, and milk
In
out on Sabbath. The strength of different wines.
stances of stronger creatures fearing weaker ones. Why goats precede
sheep in a flock. Why are she-goats not covered with a tail like sheep?
has a camel a short tail? Why has an ox a long tail? Why are the
MlSHNAS /. TO
may be carried
V.
that
Why
feelers of a locust soft?
What
is
the reason that the lower eyelids of a hen
Three creatures grow stronger, etc. The quantity of rope, paper
from which writing has been erased, skins, parchment, bones, loam, etc.,
which may be carried out on the Sabbath. Honor of man supersedes a
turn up?
biblical
..........
commandment.
Isaiah, xxxv. 14,
What
is
magic?
CHAPTER
The explanation
of the verse
H3-I53
IX.
MlSHNAS /. TO VII. Sayings and deductions of R. Aqiba. The day of
week and the month on which the Law was given to Israel. Assump
The name of the month
tion of authority by Moses and God s acquiescence.
on which the Israelites left Egypt, and was it an intercalary month ? The
the
compulsory acceptance of the law by the Israelites and their subsequent
Israel s readiness to
voluntary acceptance in the days of Xerxes of Persia.
obey even before hearing. The publication of every word spoken by God
in seventy languages.
Comparison of the sayings of the Torah with a
nobleman. The understanding of the Law is healthful, its misinterpretation
is poisonous.
Every word leaving the mouth of the Lord filled the world
with aromatic odors. Complaints of the angels upon the ascension of Moses
to heaven.
Moses answer. Satan s search for the Torah. Concerning the
of
a
slave toward his master.
Rabha s lecture upon the patriarchs
bearing
and their answers to the complaints of God concerning the children of Israel.
Isaac s defence of the children of Israel upon the Lord s telling him that
they had sinned. The quantity of spices, dyes, metals, pedler s boxes, and
seeds which may be carried out on the Sabbath,
154-170
.
CHAPTER
.
.
X.
Rules pertaining to one who carries out things
The
quantities in which they may be carried out.
quantities in which they may be carried out by one to whom they are not
valuable.
Concerning eatables which are carried out of the house and left
MlSHNAS
7.
TO
valuable to him.
VIII.
The
on the doorstep, and things that are carried in the left hand, on the shoulder,
on the head, or in the bosom. Concerning one who, while intending to carry
a thing in front, accidentally carries it on his back, or vice versa. Concern
ing the case of two men carrying out a burden which one alone was not
capable of carrying. The law in that case. Concerning the case of one
who carries out eatables in quantities less than the limit in a vessel. Is he
culpable for carrying the vessel or not ? Concerning the permissibility of
paring the finger-nails of one hand by means of those of the other hand on
the Sabbath.
The
forated flower-pot,
case of one tearing off flowers from a plant in an unper171-182
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
II.
TRACT SABBATH
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
I.,
IV.,
II., III.,
and V.
XI.
Throwing from
private into private by
What constituted the sin of the wood-gatherer. The
mysterious scrolls found by Rabh in the house of his uncle R. Hyya concern
ing the principal acts of labor. What was the name of the wood-gatherer.
way
of public ground.
Arraignment of R. Aqiba by Jehudah ben Bathyra for slandering Zelophnaming him as the wood-gatherer, and for slandering Aaron, by
Reward for merit comes
stating that he had been punished by leprosy.
more quickly than retribution for wickedness. Regulations concerning pits
chad, by
in public ground for the Sabbath.
Throwing from a distance of four ells
against a wall. Throwing within four ells, when the object thrown rolled to
a greater distance.
Throwing at sea for a distance of four ells, and throw
ing from the sea to land, or from one ship to another. Throwing a thing on
Sabbath and recollecting that it was Sabbath immediately afterwards. If the
thing thrown was caught by another. The rule concerning what constitutes
committing an act through error, involving the liability for a sin-offering,
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
I.,
II.,
III.,
and IV.
189-203
XII.
Concerning building.
The amount
of
*
building involving liability for a sin-offering; the amount of ploughing. The
with which
writing of how many letters make one liable for a sin-offering
;
The wonderful statement of some young men at
the schoolhouse, which was not heard of even in the time of Joshua the son
of Nun. Why the letters of the word Sheqer (lie) are so close together (in the
order of sequence of the alphabet) and the letters of Emeth (truth) so far
hand that
apart
Ben
?
is
to be done.
Because
lies
are very frequent and truth very scarce.
Sattadai, being a fool, cannot be cited as an instance,
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
I., II., III.,
one must weave
to
and IV.
become
One who
xli
Tattooing.
204-212
XIII.
Concerning weaving.
culpable.
.
How many
threads
tears an article or breaks a
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiii
in a moment of fury is regarded as one who practises
Concerning one who rends his garments upon being advised of the
death of a relative on Sabbath. Reward for shedding tears over the death
of a righteous man.
Fate of those who fail to mourn the death of a scholar.
If one member of the community die, let the entire community beware.
Rules pertaining to hunting and trapping. May the door be closed on a
vessel
on the Sabbath
idolatry.
stag
who
seeks refuge
.....
a dwelling?
in
CHAPTER
213-218
XIV.
MISHNA I. Concerning the eight kinds of vermin mentioned in the
On what material the Phylacteries may be written. Samuel s and
Kama s experience with Rabh upon the arrival of the latter in Babylon from
Palestine.
Questions put to Rabh by Kama. Samuel s remedies given
Rabh during the latter s illness. Questions put to R. Joshua of Garthi by a
Thorah.
Bathusee, and R. Joshua
s replies,
......
219-222
Concerning the preparation of salt water on Sabbath. A
drop of water the best remedy for sore eyes. Which parts of the body must
not be touched by the hand immediately after arising and before performing
MISHNA
II.
morning ablutions. The comparison of the eye to a princess, who should
not be touched by a hand that had not been washed three times. Is it per
mitted to bathe a sore hand in wine or vinegar on Sabbath?
222-225
the
.
MlSHNAS III. and IV. Concerning foods and beverages which may be
partaken of on Sabbath for medicinal purposes. Definition of the tree-water
mentioned in the Mishna. The aptitude of Babylonian beer as a remedy.
The use of Ikkarim (a preventive against pregnancy),
225-229
.
CHAPTER
.
XV.
MlSHNAS I., II., and III. Concerning the tieing and untieing
The poverty of R. Jehudah, the brother of Sallah the
the manner he and his shared the use of one pair of sandals,
Sabbath.
of knots on
Pious,
and
230-233
.
MISHNA IV. Concerning the folding of clothes and the making of beds
on the Sabbath. Laws concerning a Sabbath that is concurrent with the
Day of Atonement. Distinction of attire on Sabbath from that on week-days.
R. Johanan s statement in reference to clothes. Rules for walking on the
Sabbath. Inferences drawn from the biblical passage "Give unto the wise,
:
become wiser." Boaz s object in marrying Ruth. The mention
made in the Thorah concerning change of attire. The necessity for a scholar
of keeping his attire immaculate.
The degree of trustworthiness required of
and he
will
a scholar in order that he
The degree
may
recover a lost article without identification.
worth required of a scholar to allow of his eligibility to the
presidency of a congregation. Rules concerning the cleansing of food on
the afternoon of the Day of Atonement,
233-238
of
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
I.
and
II.
flagration on Sabbath.
XVI.
Concerning the saving of sacred
is the law
concerning such
What
scrolls
from a con
scrolls
if
written in
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xliii
Aramaic, Coptic, Median, old Hebrew, Elamite, and Greek ? What hap
pened to Aba Halafta on his visit to R. Gamaliel the Great in Tiberias,
while sitting at the table of Johanan the Nazuph. Aba Halafta s reminis
cence of R. Gamaliel s grandfather, in reference to the book of Job, written
in Aramaic.
The law concerning the saving of written benedictions and
amulets from a conflagration. One who writes benedictions is regarded as
one who burns the Law. What happened to men of Sidon, who wrote bene
dictions, which fact became known to R. Ishmael.
Why are the two verses
(Numbers x. 35 and 36) marked by signs ? What is the law concerning the
saving of the Gilyonim and the books of the Sadducees from a conflagration ?
R. Tarphon s dictum in this matter. Ema Shalom, R. Eliezer s wife s, and
her brother R. Gamaliel s experience with a philosopher, who was also a
judge. The law concerning covers of books, and to which place they may
be taken
in
case of
MiSHNA
fire,
.
How much
239-257
may be saved from a conflagration on
Sabbath ? How should bread be cut on the Sabbath ? The number of meals
to be eaten on Sabbath.
The amount of property a poor man may own and
stiil not be debarred from
accepting charitable gifts. What should be given
to an itinerant beggar.
The reward of those who observe the eating of three
meals on the Sabbath. The reward of one who maketh the Sabbath a de
light.
By what means we may make the Sabbath a delight. The good
deeds related by several Tanaim and Amoraim, to have been especially taken
care of by them. The different kinds of work performed by each one of the
Amoraim personally in honor of the Sabbath. Anecdote told of Joseph, who
honored the Sabbath, and his rich Gentile neighbor. The eventual impover
III.
food
ishment of the Gentile through the purchase of a pearl which was swallowed
by a fish, and the sudden wealth of Joseph, who bought the fish and found
the pearl.
Experience of R. Hyya bar Aba while the guest of a rich man in
the city of Ludkai.
How must the Day of Atonement be honored? What
the two angels who accompany man at the close of Sabbath say to one who
had honored the Sabbath and to one who had not. The story of R. Abuha
and his calf. Different opinions concerning the cause of the destruction of
257, 258
Jerusalem,
MISHNAS
IV., V., VI.,
and VII.
saved
allowed to cover a chest with a goat
Partitions to be made with vessels filled with
basket from a conflagration.
in a
How many loaves of bread may be
It is
skin to keep it from burning.
water. Concerning a candle that had fallen on the table.
tiles
and minors
at the extinguishing of a fire
Concerning Gen
on Sabbath.
The miracle
occurring for Joseph ben Simai. What dangerous animals may be killed on
Sabbath. The dissatisfaction of the pious with those who kill on the Sabbath,
and the dissatisfaction of the sages with the pious. Aba bar Minyumi at the
house of the Exilarch.
Samuel,
in
The
story of R. Gamaliel on board of a ship, and of
lit a candle for his own use,
258-265
whose presence a Gentile
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
bath.
Concerning vessels which may be handled on the Sab
be removed for lack of space, also from sunshine
whether fragments of the vessels may be moved with them,
to VI.
I.
Vessels which
into the
shade
;
XVII.
may
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xliv
The questions put to Rabh by Mari bar Rachel, and
266-275
Concerning window-blinds and covers of vessels,
and other such matters.
Rabh
s replies.
CHAPTER
MlSHNA
of guests
I.
How much
on Sabbath.
straw
may
The reward
XVIII.
be removed for the accommodation
Different opinions con
for hospitality.
The six things of which the interest is
cerning the merits of hospitality.
paid to man on earth and the principal
additional
in the
things which include the previous
world to come.
six.
The
four
Concerning one who
judges his neighbor charitably, and his reward above. The story of the man
who was hired by the father of Hyrcanos for three years, and who was not
The story of the pious man who ransomed a
paid at the end of the term.
maiden from captivity. The story of R. Jehoshua and the Roman matron,
and his disciples. Whether salt meat and salt fish may be handled, 276-281
MlSHNA
II.
Concerning a basket
set
down
for chickens to climb.
.....
cerning a woman carrying her child. What
animal falling into the water on Sabbath,
may
Con
be done in the event of an
281, 282
MISHNA III. Concerning animals about to calve on a festival. What
assistance may be given a woman about to give birth to child on a Sabbath.
For how long a period may the Sabbath be violated on account of a woman
From what time is she considered to be lying-in ? Where life is
lying-in ?
at stake, the ordinances may be put to the most lenient construction. Every
thing necessary for a sick person, where the illness is not dangerous, should
be performed by a Gentile. Concerning bleeding. Meals after being bled.
The duty of drinking wine after being bled, and advice to one who has no
On what days one should be bled and on what days one should not.
Everything mentioned in Ezekiel xvi. 4 may be done for a woman lying-in on
Sabbath,
282-287
wine.
CHAPTER
XIX.
MlSHNAS
I., II., and III.
Concerning the bringing of the knife for circum
on Sabbath. When it should be brought publicly and when con
Public carrying of
cealed; when it should be concealed before witnesses.
cision
the knife as a proof of the love of the commandment.
Commandments ac
cepted by Israelites with joy are even now carried out joyfully those received
with protest are now reluctantly carried out. Story of Elisha,
the man of
;
"
The Sabbath may be
violated on account of preparations for cir
wings."
cumcision. Concerning the sucking out of the blood, and bandages neces
sary for circumcision. What Abayi s mother told him. Rabh s experience
with the physicians of Me huzza. Children who have imperfect circulation
should not be circumcised until in perfect health. What happened to Nathan
of Babylon.
How a child should be bathed on Sabbath. The law concern
ing hermaphrodites. Concerning a child born at twilight and a child born
The story of the child of R. Ada bar Ahabha, who was
Whether the Sabbath may be violated on
carried to thirteen circumcisers.
without a foreskin.
account of a child that had been delivered from the side of the mother (with
instruments).
When
a child
is
called a miscarriage.
If
a child was to a
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
certainty regularly born,
it
must
in the
event of
its
xlv
death be mourned
MISHNAS
in the
288-305
regular manner,
IV., V.,
Concerning one who had two children
and VI.
to
be
Under what circumstances a child may be circumcised after
eighth day and until the twelfth. The benedictions pronounced by the
circumcised.
the
..........
circumciser, the father of the
circumcision,
child,
and the assembled guests
CHAPTER
after the
35~38
XX.
I. to V.
Concerning wine-filters. Laws concerning foldingQuestion put by R. Kahana to Rabh. Rabh s
folding-chairs, etc.
The assertion that the
reply and the explanation of same by the Gemara.
Law will be forgotten by Israel, and R. Simeon s ben Jochai explanation of
same. The advisability of investigating amongst the judges in Israel in
MISHNAS
beds,
Corrupt judges the hindrance to the resting of the Lord s
Zion s redemption must come
Shekhina among the children of Israel.
who was accused before R.
The
of
scholar
the
justice.
story
young
through
Ashi. The story told by R. Joseph concerning the goblet of wine served
him by Mar Uqba.
Concerning the soaking of laserpitium on Sabbath.
Several
Indisposition of R. A ha bar Joseph, who was cured by laserpitium.
sayings of R. Hisda, giving advice. How animals must be fed. Concerning
straw on a bed. Concerning customary and unusual handling of things.
Small men should not wear large shoes nor women torn shoes,
309-321
times of trouble.
.
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
I.
to III.
Concerning the
XXI.
lifting of
a child
in
connection with
things held by the child, and the lifting of a corpse in connection with other
Concerning a base to a prohibited thing. Concerning a stone at the
things.
Concerning the removal of husks and
opening of a barrel or on a cushion.
bones from the table. The decision of Abayi that the school of Hillel is
always in conformity with R. Simeon s opinion, that the law of Muktza has
no foundation,
322-327
CHAPTER
MISHNA
How much may
I.
XXII.
be saved from a broken cask.
Concerning
pressed in order to extract the juice. Bunches of grapes may be
biblical
pressed into the cooking pot direct, but not into a bowl. According to
law one is not culpable for pressing any fruit, with the exception of grapes
fruit
which
and
olives.
is
Witnesses testifying from hearsay are not accredited,
328-331
MISHNA
Concerning eatables that are dressed with hot water. The
three questions propounded by R. Hyya bar Aba
Why are the fowls of
Babylon so fat ? Why are the Babylonians so merry during the festivals ?
II.
"
:
The answers of R.
are the scholars of Babylon so well dressed ?
If a thing is as certain to thee as the fact that thou canst not
Johanan
"
Why
"
:
marry thy own
MISHNAS
its
contents.
"
sister,
then say
it.
Otherwise, say
it
not
!
.
331, 332
and IV. Concerning the breaking open of a cask and eating
Rabh shows his respect for his pupils R. Kahana and R.
III.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xlvi
Ashi by refusing to sit on a bolster when they sat on the ground. Concern
ing the depositing of victuals in a cave. Concerning the dusting of clothes
on Sabbath. R. Shesha s, the son of Idi, tasteful arrangement of his cloak.
The
narrative of R.
Dimi
in the
name
MISHNA
of and regarding Rabbi,
.
332-338
a cavern or in the hot springs of Tibe
V. Concerning bathing
How the wine of Purgaitha and the water of Deumseth robbed the
rias.
Israelites of ten tribes.
How R. Jehudah had a pledge taken from Rabba
bar bar
in
Hanna
to insure the latter s
advantage gained by R. Jehudah
in
appearance
learning a
CHAPTER
at his college,
new Halakha,
and the
338-341
.
XXIII.
MISHNAS I. and II. Concerning borrowing and lending. Such acts as
must be performed on festivals should be performed in as different a manner
to what they are performed on week-days as possible. Concerning the count
ing of guests and dishes. Casting lots at meals. A man on whose account
another is punished is not admitted into the abode of the Lord,
342-346
.
MISHNAS III., IV., and V. Concerning the hiring of laborers on Sab
The rule laid down by Abba Saul. Concerning the transaction of
the affairs of a community on Sabbath.
The betrothal of children on the
Sabbath. The miracle which occurred to a man who would not mend a fence
bath.
Concerning waiting at the techoom on account of
Concerning the performance of all necessities for a
of his field on Sabbath.
a bride or a corpse.
corpse on Sabbath,
MISHNA
346-353
VI.
Closing the eyes of a corpse on Sabbath. Concerning the
closing of the eyes of a dying person on a week-day. On account of a living
child, only one day old, the Sabbath may be violated; but not even for David,
King of Israel, if he be dead, may this be done. A living child one day old
need not be guarded from the attacks of rats, but even the dead body of Og,
King of Bashan, must be guarded from such attacks. Practise charity
when the opportunity presents itself and when it is within thy reach.
Poverty is compared to a wheel constantly turning. He who pities living
creatures is pitied also in Heaven.
The explanation of many verses in Ecclesiastes regarding the human body.
Why R. Hanina did not weep over
the death of his daughter.
There are six kinds of tears which are shed
three good and three bad.
The dispute of Joshua ben Kar ha with the
eunuch. Why Barzillai was a liar. Worms are as annoying to a corpse as
a needle is to excrescences on the flesh.
The soul of a man mourns for the
body seven days. The narrative relating to R. Jehudah and his actions
towards a stranger who died in his vicinity.
Return thy soul as clean as
:
"
was given
and the parable connected with the statement. The con
Na hman and the dead body of R. Ahai ben Yashi.
The bones of a man who had no jealousy in his heart will not rot. The souls
of the righteous are ensconced underneath the throne of honor a twelvemonth
after leaving the body.
Make my funeral sermon impressive, for I shall be
To repent one day before death means to repent every day, lest
present."
the morrow bring death.
At all times let thy garments be white," and the
it
thee,"
versation between R.
"
"
parable connected with
it,
353-362
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
CHAPTER
xlvit
XXIV.
MISHNA I. Concerning one who was overtaken by dusk on the eve of
Sabbath while on the road. The Sabbath rest must be kept inviolate as far
as one s animal is concerned, but one is not responsible for the Sabbath rest
of a Gentile.
An additional statement concerning the Sabbath rest, which
On the day the eighteen precautionary ordi
the sages would not reveal.
nances were instituted, according to the opinion of some, the measure of laws
was made heaping full, while, according to others, it was not filled enough.
The examples connected with this statement. Why R. Gamaliel allowed his
ass to drop dead under a load,
363-367
MISHNAS II., III., and IV. Concerning the untieing of straw for cattle.
Concerning the cramming of camels, calves, poultry, and doves. Kneading
on Sabbath. The fate of those born on the different days of the week, accord
The seven planets guiding the
ing to the diary of R. Jehoshua ben Levi.
destiny of man.
Designation (Muktza) on account of filth and on account of
expensive articles. Concerning the cutting up of pumpkins and carrion,
367-376
MISHNA V. What vows may be annulled on Sabbath.
may be annulled before the expiration of twenty-four hours
Whether
after
a
vow
one hears
it
pronounced, or only during the same day. How consultation concerning
vows must be had. Should a Chacham (sage) only be consulted, or will three
ordinary men suffice for that purpose ? How vows are to be annulled on
Sabbath. By thought or by word of mouth may one say merely
Go, eat
and drink
The sages comply with the request of Mar Zutraand annul his
vow on a Sabbath. How water for ritual purposes may be measured on
Sabbath. What happened to Ula at the house of the Exilarch regarding the
376-378
measuring of water in a bath,
"
;
:
"
!
... ....
CUSTOMARY CONCLUDING PRAYER.
Epigraph.
Translator
s
remarks,
379, 380
APPENDIX.*
Concerning the eighteen regulations enacted in the attic of Hananiah ben
Hizkyah ben Garon. Their importance and influence on the government of
the Jews.
The degeneracy of priestdom,
381-390
.....
*
We would call the attention of the reader to the appendix of this volume, which
prove interesting to the general reader and present something heretofore un
published to the student of the Talmud.
will
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
VOLUME
III.
TRACT ERUBIN*
CHAPTER
I.
MlSHNA I. treats If an entry be higher than twenty ells. The size ot
the height is based upon the door and the porch of the pillars of the temple,
If the cross-beam was partly above twenty ells, and
or palaces of kings.
:
The ell used at a booth
partly below.
the ell used at Kilaim is six spans.
and an entry measures
The
five spans,
but
several
prescribed quantities,
the intervention of articles, and the ordinances concerning the walls of
entries and booths were given by Moses at the Mount Sinai, and also Gud,
Lavud, and crooked walls.
About Kal Vochomer
(a fortiori),
which comes
very often in the Talmud. The people there were ignorant, and had to be
How must entries facing
given a liberal interpretation of the ordinance.
public ground be combined by an Erub ? May the rigorous ordinances of
two Tanaim be applied to one case ? What was decided about a village of
a shepherd, where was an entry which opened into a vacant yard.
May the
space underneath the cross-beam be used ? The law about an entry which
was provided with a number of side-beams (with the illustration). The law
about a missing portion of the wall, perceptible from the inside or from the
outside (with their illustrations). Whether an entry measuring twenty ells
could be reduced to thirteen and a third if built as illustrated ? What R.
Jehudah taught to R. Hyya, the son of Rabh, and how Rabh corrected.
1-22
How an apparent door is to be made,
......
II.
What is required to legalize the carrying within an entry.
sages were very lenient with all things pertaining to water.
Whether water may be taken from an arm of the sea which enters a court
MlSHNA
How
the
There
yard.
cross beam.
Why
a tradition about an entry that can be legalized by a side or
Why was Rabbi, or Rabh, more sagacious than his colleagues ?
were the school of Hillel favored ? Because modest. Two years the
schools of
is
Shammai and
........
Hillel disputed
not been created as he was,
* See introduction to
synopsis
in
whether
it
were better that man had
Tract Sabbath, Vol.
ix
I., p.
xxix.
22-28
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
x
MISHNA
III.
The cross-beam must be wide enough to hold a half of a
About a cross-beam put up over an entry but not reaching the oppo
wall.
Anything measuring three spans in circumference is one hand
brick.
site
in width,
28-31
MISHNAS
and VII. The height and thickness of the sidewhatever it may"? About a
beam. How much is meant by thickness
side-beam standing of itself. There was a pillar about which Abayi and
Rabha differed all their lives. Side-beams may be made out of anything.
Every open space ten spans wide may be used as an entry. The open space
must not exceed in extent the fence proper. How can it be that there should
be a contradiction and still the Halakha should prevail according to it ? A
IV., V., VI.,
"
fence
also be constructed with three ropes, or with cane-laths.
may
Any
partition not constructed on the principle of warp and shoot, whether it is a
I swear
by the law of Moses, and by the prophets, and by the
partition ?
Hagiographa, that Rabh said this. It makes absolutely no difference, be it
....
a caravan or an individual, in an inhabited place or in the desert. The
four privileges granted to warriors in the camp,
31-39
CHAPTER
II.
MISHNA I. How enclosures are to be made around wells (and illustra
To make an enclosure around a well of rain-water is permitted only
to the pilgrims to Jerusalem.
Adam, the first man, had a dual face. The
Lord was sponsor to him. The fires of hell cannot gain access to the bodies
Abraham the patriarch, seeing that they are cir
of the sinners of Israel
cumcised, rescues them. How much in size must the larger part of a cow
be reckoned ? May things be carried from a courtyard opening into the
tions.)
;
enclosure around a well, and vice versa ? I have heard that ye go to the
Synagogue of Daniel on the Sabbath upon what grounds do ye do this ?
In the time that Solomon the king ordained the law of Erubin, a heavenly
Solomon said three thousand proverbs for every one of
voice was heard.
;
the biblical
commandments.
and the rewards
will
The commandments
be in the world to come.
are to be fulfilled to-day,
If a public thoroughfare
passes through an enclosure. The paths by which the mountains of Pales
tine are ascended do not come under the head of public ground,
40-55
.
MISHNAS
II.
and
The
III.
An
enclosure of boards must be
made
only for a
Jehudah b. Babah, R.
Aqiba, R. Eliezer, and R. Jose, about a garden or woodshed over seventy
ells square.
How can one hundred ells in length by fifty by fifty in breadth
If a woodshed of more than two saahs
(Ex. xxvii. 1 8) be understood ?
was
fenced
in
for
a
In a bleaching-ground (behind a
capacity
dwelling.
house) things must not be carried except for a distance of four ells. What
was done by R. Huna bar Hinana, R. Papa, and R. Huna, the son of R.
public well.
Joshua
in
difference in the opinions of R.
reference to a garden on the estate of the Exilarch containing a
55~6i
pavilion,
CHAPTER
III.
MISHNA I. With what kind of victuals may the Erub be effected ?
The
man who will explain to me the dictum of Ben Bagbag concerning the oxen,
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xi
to the bath-house." The prescribed quanti
R. Jeremiah went out into the villages and was
asked whether an Erub may be made with bean-pods.
May the lord forgive
I said this to him in reference to a Mishna,
R. Menashiah bar Shegublick.
I
will carry his clothes after
ties of victuals for
him
an Erub.
"
Abayi said My mother told me
and drive away care, etc. An Erub
must not be made with consecrated things. There are sages who hold that
the prescribed quantities which are dependent upon the size of man should
be measured accordingly,
62-70
and he said
this in reference to a
that roasted ears are
good
Boraitha."
:
for the heart,
MISHNAS II., III., IV., and V. Whether an Erub may be made of things
consecrated, or from which heave-offering, etc., has not been separated.
When a man sends his Erub by the hand of a deaf and dumb person, an
The difference of opinion between R. Na hman and R.
idiot, or a minor.
Shesheth, whether the established rule that a messenger will perform his
errand holds good
in rabbinical things only, or also in biblical.
If
he had
If the man should
the pit supposed to be situated ?
put
put the Erub on top of a cane or pole, into a cupboard which he locked and
then lost the key, the Erub is nevertheless valid, providing it was a festival.
it
On
into a pit,
where
is
Erub rolls (or is moved) out of
when it took place is doubt
ful ?
If a clean and unclean loaf were before a man, and he was told to
make an Erub with the clean one, but did not know which was which ?
If thou wilt measure a whole kur of salt and
Said R. Na hman to Rabha
A man may make his Erub
present me with it, I shall tell thee the answer.
If one of the two sages had been the man s teacher, he must
conditional.
go to meet his teacher. It frequently happens that a man has a greater
Sabbath, however,
it is
not valid.
the limit of the Sabbath distance
?
If
If the
the time
:
fondness for his colleague than for his teacher. Why can he not make it
conditional upon the arrival of sages from opposite directions ? R. Jehudah
does not admit of the theory of premeditated choice. Who is the Tana
who
holds that the sages also discountenance the theory of premeditated
?
71-82
choice
MISHNAS VI., VII., VIII. If a festival
how must it be done ? Have two days of
precedes or succeeds a Sabbath,
the festival each a separate de
of
sanctification
?
The
of
the
four old sages is in accordance
opinion
gree
with or contrary to Eliezer s decision. Is an Erub of the first day valid for
the east, and of the second for the west ? My Erub shall be valid for the
first day and on the second I am like my townsmen.
What was said to the
men who prepared
baldachins for marriages.
How
is it
with the benedic
on the days of New Year and the Day of Atonement ? How
the rabbis sent a man to R. Hisda to see his custom about the benediction
Must a fast be completed on a Friday ?
of time.
82-92
tion of the time
.
CHAPTER
MISHNA
What Rabbon
.
.
IV.
Gamaliel, R. Eliezer b. Azariah, R. Joshua,
and R. Aqiba discussed when they were on board the ship from Parendisim.
Three persons will never come to Gehenna. Three classes of human beings
If foes or an evil spirit have
die in the possession of their power of speech.
carried a man into another town ? The Halakha about which R. Gamaliel
I.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xii
and R. Aqiba disputed the whole day on board the ship. The supposition
that the seven Halakhas related on the same Sabbath in the morning in
Sura, and in the evening in Pumbaditha, were through Elijah the prophet.
How a partition with men can be made. It once happened that flasks of
wine were thrown out of Rabba s house on the road in the city of Mehuzza,
and what was done with them,
93-100
.......
MlSHNA
who go forth on an errand of safety are permitted
homes on Sabbath. Besieged cities and those near a
All those
II.
to return to their
boundary. The difference of opinions between R. Meir and R. Jehuclah
about the entering a town at dusk before Sabbath. According to whom the
Halakha prevails when R. Aqiba, R. Jose, and R. Meir, R. Jehudah, Rabbi,
Notes about our omissions in the Talmud, about the abbrevi
etc., differ.
ation of undecided questions, and about the rule laid down by R. MesharIt once happened that rams were brought into the city of Mabrakhta
shia.
on a festival. Whence do we derive the four ells ? If we were to learn the
Talmud
in
manner, we would never be able to learn anything. An
in two parts or deposited in two separate ves
this
Erub divided by a man
1
sels,
MlSHNAS
III.,
Should a
IV.
00-11
1
man
overtaken by dusk on the road single
meant by "legally he has said nothing"?
out a tree or hedge ? What is
If a man made an error and deposited his
Rabba
Erub in two directions. What
name of R. Jose, that it should he accepted, though he
What is the principal way to make an Erub, bread or the
said in the
had not said
so.
One who can prepare an Erub and does not do
so, is like one driving
an ass and leading a camel. R. Jehudah bar Isht tha brought a basket of
fruit to R. Nathan bar Oshiya on the eve of Sabbath.
If one went beyond
the legal limit even a single ell. Opinions of R. Simeon and the sages about
feet
?
one overtaken by dusk,
111-118
CHAPTER
MISHNA
I.
How
V.
can the boundaries of a town be extended
?
The
dif
ference between the hearts of the previous sages and those of the later. Why
the Judeans retained what they had learned, and the Galileans, not. Whence
is it known that the Lord forgave Saul for his sin ?
When Joshua b. Ha-
naniah was disconcerted by a woman, a girl, and a boy. What Brurih, the
wife of R. Meir, told to R. Jose, the Galilean, and also to a young scholar.
The explanation of Netzach, Selah, and Voed mentioned in the Bible. If
the tables had not been broken the first time the law would not have been
How to retain one s knowledge. How the method of
forgotten by Israel.
R. Preida would teach a dis
teaching the law was in the times of Moses.
his
ciple a thing four hundred times, and once twice four hundred times
:
reward
for this
from heaven.
If
to make a town square.
planets of ancient astronomy,
comes
MlSHNAS
II., III.,
form of an arch. If one
The equinoxes. Note about the seven
a town
is
in the
.......
119-131
An
allowance of seventy and two-thirds ells of
to the town.
The difference of opinions whether to
IV., V.
space must be made
each town, or between.
What must
the distance between the outer villages
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiii
One must not measure the legal distance except with a line exactly fifty
The three kinds of cord. What is meant by cutting straight
long.
through the mountain. The measurement must be undertaken only by an
be
?
ells
expert.
If
a town belonging to an individual becomes public property. If
is public property becomes the property of an individual.
The
a town that
inhabitants of Kakunai
man
MlSHNA
came
before R. Joseph and asked him to give them a
an Erub for them
to effect
VI., VII.
....
in their city,
A man who
is
131-140
at the east of his domicile, telling his
son to place his Erub towards the west, or vice versa. What is meant by
toward the east ? (and illustrations). If a town stands on the steep banks
"
"
The discussions about the right of the inhabitants of Hamtan
and Gadar to carry or go. The inhabitants of a large town may traverse the
whole of a small town (but not vice versa}. Mar Jehudah observed that the
of a lake.
inhabitants of
Mabrakhta placed
their
Erub
in the
synagogue of the
Agubar,
CHAPTER
MlSHNA
city of
140-144
I.
One who
dwells in the
VI.
same court with a Gentile, or with
The dwelling of a Gentile,
one who does not acknowledge the laws of Erub.
as far as the laws of Erubin are concerned.
Halakha in the place where his master resides ?
May
a disciple decide a
a slaughtering knife is
Who sends his gifts to one
If
brought to a young scholar for examination.
If several
priest to the exclusion of all others brings famine into the world.
Israelites rented apartments from a Gentile, and one of them forgot to make
an Erub. One who is tipsy should not pray. Prayer of one intoxicated
considered as blasphemy. A quarter of a lug of Italian wine inebriates.
to destroy the effects of wine.
The night made
only for sleep, according to one. The moon made only to facilitate study
at night, according to another.
The cases in which R. Samuel s father,
Three miles walk required
R. Samuel, and R. Papa would not pray. Wine made only for mourners
and to reward for good deeds the wicked in this world. A house where
wine flows not like water cannot be classed among those that are blessed.
What R. Hanina bar Joseph, R. Hyya bar Abba, and R. Assi discussed in
an inn, the proprietor of which was a Gentile. R. Hisda s lips would trem
ble when he met R. Shesheth, because the latter was versed in Mishnaioth
and Boraithoth, while the whole body of R. Shesheth trembled when he met
R. Hisda, because of his sagacity. The discussion about warm water for a
new-born child. How is it possible that two such great men made no Erub.
Whether a Sadducee is considered the same as a Gentile, R. Gamaliel and
the sages differ.
There are two kinds of Sadducees,
145-162
.
MlSHNAS
and IV.
.
one of the householders of a court forgets,
and does not join in the Erub. From what time is the right to be conferred ?
If five men inhabited one court, one must resign his right, if he had forgot
ten to join in the Erub.
May an heir resign his right or not ? The reason
of the difference between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel about the meaning
of resigning the right to a place.
The difference of opinion between the
sages and R. Simeon about partnership in wine or oil. In courts an Erub
must be made with bread, but it is not allowed to do so with wine. DifferII.,
III.,
If
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiv
ence between Beth Shammai and Beth Hillel about five companies occupy
ing during Sabbath one hall. Brothers or associates taking their meals at
one table but sleeping in separate houses. One who has a vestibule, a gal
It happened that
lery, or balcony in the court of another, without an Erub.
an inhabitant of Naph ha, who had five courts in Uqba, did not join in the
Erub with the inmates of the courts. What about the disciples of the col
lege,
eating in the inns of the valley and
passing
the
night
?
college
at
the
162-169
MISHNAS
If five courts open into each other and an
V., VI., and VII.
both
the
courts
and the alley, or only one of these.
combined
they
alley,
How Samuel was asked a question and answered with silence. Does the
If two courts were one within the other, and
silence signify acquiescence ?
if the courts were the prop
all the inmates or one forgot to make an Erub
If an Erub was placed in the outer court and one of
erty of an individual.
if
;
the inmates either of the outer or inner forgot to join in an Erub, carrying is
and how if it was placed in one of the inner courts ? If there
prohibited
;
was a
?......
between the two, also belonging to an individual,
mitted to carry in any of the three
third court
CHAPTER
is it
per
170-178
VII.
MISHNAS
If there be an aperture, four spans square,
I., II., III., and IV.
between two courts. If in the attic of a house there was a hole for the
purpose of fastening a ladder therein, should the house be considered solid ?
If there be a wall ten spans high and four spans wide between two courts.
If a man comes to diminish the size of the wall referred to in the Mishna.
etc.,
An Egyptian ladder does not diminish a wall, but a ladder of Tyre does. If
one erected two benches, one above the other, at the foot of a wall. What
I
have a tra
is the law if several pegs be placed on the pillar in question ?
dition that a ladder standing straight against a wall also diminishes its size.
What is the law if a man used a tree, which grew right at the wall, for a
ladder
wide.
?
"
two courts are separated by a
If
ditch, ten
spans deep and four
Thou wouldst prove a contradiction from
ness to a Sabbath-law
If
spans high.
courts?
"
?
a law pertaining to uncleanIf there be between two courts a straw-rick, ten
a house which
was
filled
with straw stand between two
179-189
How
MISHNAS
are alleys to be combined ? If
V., VI., VII., and VIII.
Whether a transfer of ownership is
alleys or legal limits are combined.
necessary in case of Erubin of cooked articles. R. Zera was asked whether
man
Note about a misprint that has
If the quan
reprinted.
How much
diminished.
of
food
for
the
combination
becomes
required
tity
is this legal quantity.
Eighteen dried figs are sufficient for two meals. The
Erub of courts or combination of alleys may be effected with all kinds of
nutriment except water and salt. Is it permitted to make an Erub with
it
may be
rented from the
existed since the
s
wife.
Talmud has been published and
bread made of rice or millet ? A man may give money to the wine-seller
or baker in order to acquire the right to join in the Erub. About a Meshikha
to a sale and its explanation.
If additional inhabitants came into the alley,
the right of possession
must be transferred
to them,
.
.
189-197
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
CHAPTER
xv
VIII.
How
are the legal limits to be combined ? A
I., II.,
child that is only six years old may go out in the legal limits which have
been combined by its mother. How much is the legal quantity of food
MISHNAS
and
III.
required to effect the combination of limits ? Note about coins and meas
If the inhabitants of a court and balcony
ures mentioned in the Tract.
should have forgotten to combine an Erub. If there were three ruins be
tween two houses, each house may use the adjoining ruin by throwing
therein, except the middle one (with illustrations),
198-204
.
MISHNAS
IV., V., VI., and VII.
If
man
a
deposit his
.
.
Erub
for the
com
If a company was
bination of courts in a vestibule, gallery, or balcony.
seated at table on the eve of Sabbath, the bread on the table may be
depended upon
an Erub.
to serve as
If
a
man
leaves his house and goes to
take his Sabbath-rest in another town
(without previously joining in the
If there be a well between two courts it is not lawful to draw water.
Erub).
If a canal runs through a court it is not lawful to draw water, unless there
be a partition.
tures,
.
If
a canal flows between two walls which contain aper
204-209
.
MISHNAS
VIII.
and IX.
there be a balcony above the water.
The
If the court be less
applicable also on Sabbath.
If
law concerning robbery is
than four ells square it is not permitted to pour water therein on Sabbath,
unless a sewer is made.
All these regulations concerning the pouring of
water apply only
to
summer,
209-213
CHAPTER
IX.
MISHNAS I. and II. All the roofs of a town are considered one private
ground, provided there be not one roof ten hands higher than the rest. If a
man erected an attic on top of his house and provided it with a small door
four spans wide, he may carry things in all the roofs. All roofs are con
sidered as one private ground in their own right.
It happened in a time
of danger that we brought up the sacred scrolls from a court to a roof." If a
"
If there are three woodsheds
large roof adjoins a small one.
opening into
each other, of which the two outer are enclosed while the middle one is not
(with illustrations),
MISHNAS
.........
and V.
214-223
a court (through an incavation of its walls)
III., IV.,
is laid
to
In
a court (the corner walls of which had
open
public ground.
fallen in on Sabbath so) that it has been laid open to public
ground on two
sides.
If
an
attic
If
be built over two houses, also
if
bridges are open at both
ends,
223-226
CHAPTER
X.
MISHNAS I., II., and III. If a man finds tephilin on the road he shou d
watch them and bring them into the nearest town or village likewise his
child he should hand to his companion, etc. If one buys tephilin of a man who
is not an expert, he must examine two tephilin.
How came his child on the
field or on the road ?
This refers to a child that was born there. If a man
reads in a scroll (of sacred scriptures) on the threshold of the house and it
;
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xvi
slips out of his
hand.
On
a ledge outside a
window
it is
permitted to place
vessels,
MISHNAS
227-235
IV., V., VI., VII., VIII.,
and IX.
A man may stand
in private
in public ground.
A man must not,
standing in private ground, drink in public ground. A man may catch
water dropping from a spout on the roof. If a well, standing in public
ground, have an enclosure ten spans high. Beneath a tree, the branches of
which droop and cover the ground. The shutters of a bleaching ground or
thorn bushes,
235-240
ground and move things that are
MISHNAS X. to XVIII. A man must not, standing in private ground,
unlock with a key something in public ground. A loose bolt, with a knob
to it, is prohibited to use on Sabbath.
A loose bolt that is fastened to a
may be used in the Temple only. In the Temple the lower hinge of a
cupboard door may be refitted into its place. Priests who minister may
replace a plaster in the Temple. The Levites performing on musical instru
ments may tie a string. The priests who minister may remove a wart from
an animal on Sabbath. A ministering priest who hurts his finger may bind
it
up with reeds in the Temple. Should the carcass of a dead reptile be
found in the Temple on the Sabbath the priest shall move it out with his
From which parts of the Temple should it be removed ? It is per
belt.
rope
mitted for anyone to enter the
Temple
for the
purpose of building,
240-251
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
VOLUME
TRACT SHEKALIM.*
IV.
CHAPTER
I.
What were the duties of the Beth Din in the month
time of the second Temple. When the Megillah (Book of
For what purpose messengers
Esther) was to be read in the fortified cities.
were sent out, and what were the things to be heralded.
MISHNA
of
Adar
a treats of:
in the
MISHNA
mandments
MISHNA
b treats of
What was
:
the punishment for not obeying the
com
of Kelayim in the former times and later.
c deals with:
When
the
money-changers, with their
tables,
work in the countries of Judea and in Jerusalem. The time for
began
From what persons
pledges which were taken for not paying the Shekalim.
If a father might pay the Shekalim for his
the pledges were to be taken.
their
children.
MISHNA ^treats of: What ordinance Ben Buchri proclaimed in Jamnia
behalf of the priests, and what R. Johanan b. Zakkai rejoined. The
defence of the priests, with their interpretation of biblical passages, which
was accepted only for the sake of peace.
in
MlSHNA
treats of: The voluntary payment of Shekalim from women,
and minors being accepted, but not from the heathens or Samaritans.
Bird-offerings not accepted from persons affected with venereal diseases or
from women after confinement.
Sin and vow offerings, however, were
accepted from the Samaritans. The vow-offerings were also accepted from
<?
slaves,
heathens.
MlSHNA
half-shekel.
The general
f
rule concerning this.
The premium one had to pay in addition to the
to do so ?
The different opinions of the
How much one had to pay if given one Selah and taking
deals with
Who
:
was obliged
sages and R. Meir.
a shekel in exchange.
* See introduction to
This tract has
synopsis in Tract Sabbath, Vol. I., p. xxix.
The synopsis contains the Mishnas, with their commentaries.
no Gemara.
xiii
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiv
MISHNA g
and
The law concerning one who pays
for a poor man,
countryman. Law concerning brothers and part
How much was the
also, law regarding cattle-tithe.
treats of:
for a neighbor,
for a
ners paying together
;
premium.
CHAPTER
II.
MISHNA a. One may put together the Shekalim and exchange them for
a gold coin called Darkon.
Concerning the chests which were given to the
What is the law if money were
collectors in the country and at Jerusalem.
by the messengers of a city, when a portion of the Shekalim
what is the law if not expended.
stolen or lost
was already expended
MISHNA
;
Concerning the law when one gives his shekels to another to
pay his head-taxes for him if he pays his shekels from the money of the
second tithes or from the money of the fruit of the Sabbatical year. Con
cerning how he shall replace it and use it for the same purpose.
b.
;
MISHNA
little
c.
and said:
The law concerning one who gathered single coins little by
"With this money I shall
pay my shekels." The different
opinions of the schools of Hillel and Shamai in this matter.
same case when one gathers money
for sin-offerings.
Concerning the
shall be done
What
with the eventual remains of such money.
MISHNA
Concerning the explanation of R. Simeon of the teachings
The discussion of the former with R. Jehudah. The
claims of the latter that the coins of the Shekalim were also changed in times
and places. The rejoinder of R. Simeon to this.
d.
of the school of Hillel.
MISHNA
The law concerning the remainder of money intended for
Shekalim when considered to be ordinary. Regarding the remainder of the
tenth part of an ephah, bird-offerings, and guilt-offerings what shall be done
with it. A rule concerning this matter. Also, regulations concerning the
remainder of Passover sacrifices, Nazarite offerings, the remainder of moneys
for the poor in general and individuals, of money for prisoners, for burial of
the dead, and R. Meir and R. Nathan s opinions regarding this matter.
<?.
:
CHAPTER
III.
MISHNA a. Regarding the appointed periods of the year when the money
was drawn from the treasury.
The different opinions, concerning this
matter, of R. Aqiba b. Asai, R. Eliezer, and R. Simeon. The same time
appointed for cattle-tithes.
MISHNA
b.
Concerning the ceremony of drawing the money
at all
periods of the year. The law regarding measures of the boxes in which the
coins of the Shekalim were filled, and the numbers of the chests in which
money was drawn from the boxes for the expenses of the Temple.
Which box must be opened first, and which last. What garments the person
drawing the money must wear. How a man must stand unblemished before
the
his
fellow-man and before his God.
MISHNA
when
the
c.
Concerning the custom of the house of Rabban Gamaliel,
of the house had paid their Shekalim.
The law regarding
members
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xv
one who drew money did not commence until he had said to the bystanders,
I will now draw," and
Draw, draw, draw," three times.
they answered,
"
"
MlSHNA
d.
Concerning the covering of the boxes after drawing the
For
which
countries the drawings were performed in the first
money.
period, the second, and the third.
CHAPTER
MISHNA
IV.
What was done with the money drawn ? Concerning the
were sent out to guard the after-growth of the Sabbatical
The
year, of which the Omer and two loaves were taken for sacrifice.
opinion of R. Jose in this matter, and what the rabbis answered.
watchmen
a.
that
MISHNA
b.
Concerning the red
heifer, the
goat that was to be sent away,
the strip of scarlet, the bridge for the cow, the bridge for the goat, the canal,
the city wall, the towers, and other necessities of the city
all were paid for
out of the Shekalim money. What Abba Saul said.
:
MlSHNA
c.
What was done
with the balance of the
money
left
over
in
the treasury.
The discussion of R. Ishmael and R. Aqiba in this matter.
Some of the many things which are enumerated in the Palestinian Talmud
and which were done with
this
money.
Among them was
the hiring of
teachers for priests to teach them the laws of the sacrifices.
MISHNA d. What was done
The different opinions of
with the remainder of the moneys of the
R. Ishmael, R. Aqiba, and R. Hanina, the
assistant chief of the priests, concerning profit
if it
might be raised from
the remaining money or not, and of what money the gold plates for the
chest.
:
decorations of the Holy of Holies were made.
Also, concerning the benefit
of the altar.
MISHNA
e.
incense of the
The
What was done
with the remainder of the incense (as the
New Year
sanctification
must be bought with the new Shekalim money).
of the incense on hand then transferred to that money,
and then redeemed with the money of the new revenue.
MISHNA_/. Concerning the law when one devoted his entire possessions
honor of the Lord what should be done with them. The discussions of
R. Aqiba and Ben Asai regarding this matter.
in
:
MISHNA^. Concerning the law when one devoted his possessions, and
among them were cattle, male and female, fit for the altar. The discussions
of this matter between R. Eliezer and R. Jehoshua.
to the opinion of R. Eliezer, which seems to him to be
that he
had heard that both opinions were right according
MISHNA
fit
R. Aqiba is inclined
more proper, but adds
to circumstances.
one devote his possessions, and among them are things
such as wines, oils, and birds, what should be done with
R. Eliezer decreed it, and no one opposed him.
h.
If
for the altar,
them.
MISHNA i. Contractors, for the delivery of all things for the altar and
the improvements of the Temple, were appointed every month
but if the
;
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xvi
changed during the thirty days, the Sanctuary must not suffer any
Such was the agreement made between them. The illustration
prices
injury.
of this.
CHAPTER
MISHNA
Concerning some names
V.
and the heads of them
Sanctuary during the entire period when the second Temple was in
existence.
What were the officers duties, and how they officiated.
a.
of the offices
in the
MISHNA
Concerning the order of the head officers namely, the king,
the high priest, his assistant, two catholicoses, and seven chamberlains, not
less than .two officers being put in charge of public moneys.
.
;
MISHNA c. Regarding the seals that were in the Sanctuary, serving for
the beverages and meat-offerings which must be brought, according to the
Bible, with every sacrifice.
Concerning the inscription on the seals and
their usage.
Ben Azai added one seal for the poor sinner. The names of
the officers, of the seal-keeper and the officer
MISHNA d. The
surplus money being
belongs
;
and
MISHNA
e.
if
who
the above offerings.
:
who must supply it.
The law concerning one who
a
sells
date must be put on every seal.
The law regarding
found in the treasury of the seal-keeper to whom it
deficit,
lost his seal
;
what must be
done.
MISHNA f. Concerning the two chambers in the Sanctuary, of which
one was called
Chamber of Silence" and the other Chamber of Utensils."
What was done there, during what time they were investigated, and what
was done with the presented utensils which were useless for the Temple.
"
"
CHAPTER
MISHNA
VI.
Concerning the thirteen covered chests and thirteen tables
which were in the Sanctuary. How many prostrations took place in the
How R. Gamaliel and R. Hanina, assistant chief of the high
Sanctuary.
priest,
a.
added one
MISHNA
b.
in the place
Relates
how
where the ark was hidden.
a blemished priest
who was engaged
in select
ing and peeling wood had noticed the place where the ark was hidden, but
before he had time to tell it to the others he expired.
MISHNA c. Concerning the
made. How many gates were in
were so named
also, different
There were two gates which were
;
where the prostrations were
Temple their names, and why they
directions
the
:
opinions of the sages concerning
nameless.
this.
MISHNA
d.
Of what material the thirteen tables were made, where they
what purpose they were used. Concerning the golden table in
the Temple itself, upon which the showbreads were constantly lying.
stood, for
MISHNA
in the
e.
Concerning the inscriptions on the thirteen covered chests
Sanctuary, and what was done with them. The different opinions of
R. Jehudah and the sages as
to
using certain
money
put in
some
chests.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xvii
MlSHNA /. Concerning the amount of articles to be furnished in pay
ment of a vow one made, who did not explain how much he intended to
A rule that was made
give for instance, wood, incense, gold coins, etc.
;
concerning
The
this.
hides of
all sacrifices
CHAPTER
belong to the
priest.
VII.
MlSHNA
If money was found in between the differently marked
a.
which chest the money belonged. Concerning this the rule was
One must be guided by the proximity, even in the case of the less impor
chests, to
:
tant, etc.
MlSHNA
Temple,
b.
in the
Concerning money found in Jerusalem, in the court of the
times of the Festivals and in the ordinary times.
MlSHNA
city,
ites
c.
Concerning meat found in the court of the Temple,
and any place where Israelites resided and where Gentiles and
in the
Israel
together resided.
MlSHNA
d.
Concerning
cattle
found between Jerusalem and Migdal
Eder, and in the vicinity of the city in all directions
The different opinions of some sages.
scribes.
:
what the law pre
MlSHNA e. Relates how, in former days, the finder of such cattle was
pledged to bring drink-offerings, and how afterwards the high court decreed
to furnish them from the public moneys.
MlSHNAS/and g.
R. Simeon
named seven decrees which were promul
gated by the high court, and the above decree was one of them. R. Jehudah,
however, does not agree on some points with him. R. Jose has also some
thing to say about this.
CHAPTER
VIII.
MlSHNA a. Concerning streets in which people must walk during the
time of the Festival in Jerusalem, for the sake of cleanness. The different
opinions, in this matter, of R. Meir and the sages.
MISHNA
baths
:
if
b.
Regarding utensils found on the way towards the plungethey are clean or not, and the different opinions of R. Meir and
R. Jose.
MISHNA
c.
Regarding the butcher-knife, if it was found in the street on
and what is the case if the I4th falls on a Sabbath.
the I4th of Nissan
MISHNA
submerged
d.
if it
;
Concerning where the curtain of the Sanctuary must be
become
spread out for the people
defiled.
to
The
first
time
it
was submerged
it
was
admire the beauty of the work.
MISHNA e. What Rabban Simeon b. Gamaliel had to tell in the name of
Simeon, the son of the assistant high priest. How the curtain was made
the great amount of the cost and how many hundred priests were required
:
to
submerge
it.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xviii
MISHNA/. If meat of the Holy
The different opinions
be burned.
of Holies
became
of the schools of
defiled, where it must
Shamai and Hillel on
this point.
The different opinions of R. Eliezer and R. Aqiba concern
had become defiled through a principal uncleanness.
that
anything
ing
MISHNA^.
MISHNA
h.
The joints of the daily sacrifices, where they were laid down
new moon, where they were placed. The payment of
was obligatory after the destruction of the Temple. The same
;
the sacrifices of the
Shekalim,
if it
law regarding cattle-tithe, tithes of grain, and deliverance of the firstlings.
The law if one sanctified Shekalim or firstlings after the destruction of the
Temple.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT ROSH HASHANA*
CHAPTER
I.
Mishna ordains New Year s Days, viz.: For kings,
ordinary years, and for the planting of trees. A king
who ascends the throne on the 2gth of Adar must be considered to have
reigned one year as soon as the first of Nissan comes. The Exodus from
MISHNA
I.
The
first
for the cattle-tithe, for
When Aaron died Sihon was still living.
is reckoned from Nissan.
heard that Aaron was dead and that the clouds of glory had departed.
The rule about Nissan only concerned the kings of Israel but for the kings
of other nations, they reckoned from Tishri.
Cyrus was a most upright
reckoned
his
as
and
the
Hebrews
years
they did those of the kings
king,
Egypt
He
;
One is guilty of procrastination.
Charity, tithes, the glean
ings of the field, that which is forgotten to be gathered in the field, the
produce of corners of the field.
of Israel.
One
culpable if he does not give forthwith that which he has vowed for
In
the case of charity it must be given immediately, for the poor
charity.
The Feast of Weeks falls on the fifth, sixth, or
are always to be found.
is
seventh of Sivan.
How the law against delay affects a woman. In which month is grain in
It is also the
the early stage of ripening ? Only in the month of Nissan.
New Year for leap-year and for giving the half-shekels. Congregational sac
Nissan should be purchased with the shekels
lets a house to another for a year must
count (the year) as twelve months from day to day but if the lessee says (I
rent this house)
for this year," even if the transaction takes place on the
first of Adar, as soon as the first of Nissan arrives the
year (of rental) has
rifices
brought on the
raised for the
New
first
Year.
of
He who
;
"
The first of Tishri is the New Year for divine judgment. At the
beginning of the year it is determined what shall be at the end of the year.
The Supreme Court in Heaven does not enter into judgment until the Beth
expired.
* See introduction to
synopsis of Tract Sabbath, Vol.
xxiii
I., p.
xxix.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxiv
Din on earth proclaims the new moon. Israel enters for judgment first. If
a king and a congregation have a lawsuit, the king enters first. From New
Year s Day until the Day of Atonement, slaves used not to return to their
(own) homes neither did they serve their masters, but they ate and drank
and rejoiced, with the crown of freedom on their heads. R. Eliezer says,
;
was created
that the world
created
in
Nissan.
of the years of their
Hannah were
New
God grants
visited
to the very
life
on
R. Joshua says, that the world was
in Tishri.
Says R. Joshua,
New Year s
the righteous the fulfilment
Sarah, Rachel, and
day.
Joseph was released from prison
month and
Day.
On New Year s Day
the bondage of our fathers in
Egypt ceased. The Jewish sages fix the time of the flood according to R.
but the sages of other
Eliezer, and the solstices according to R. Joshua
Whoso vows to
nations fix the time of the flood also as R. Joshua does.
derive no benefit from his neighbor for a year must reckon (for the year)
twelve months, from day to day but if he said "for this year," if he made
on
Year
s
Day.
;
;
the twenty-ninth of Elul, as soon as the
vow even on
the
comes that year
is
The New Year
complete.
of Tishri
first
for giving tifhes
is
for a tree
from the time the fruits form for grain and olives, when they are one-third
and for herbs, when they are gathered. R. Aqiba picked the fruit of
ripe
1-20
a citron-tree on the first of Shebhat and gave two tithes of them,
;
;
.
At four periods in each year the world is judged. All are
and the sentence is fixed on the Day of Atone
R. Nathan holds man is judged at all times. God said "Offer before
MISHNA
judged on
ment.
II.
New Year s Day
:
sheaf of produce on Passover, so that the standing grain may be
Recite before Me on New Year s Day the Malkhioth,
unto
blessed
you.
Me
that
the
first
you proclaim
come before Me,
Me King
for good,
;
the Zikhronoth, that your
and how
(shall this
be done)
remembrance may
By the sounding
remember his sins.
?"
Three circumstances cause a man to
Four things avert the evil decree passed (by God) on man viz., charity,
Some add to these four a fifth
prayer, change of name, and improvement.
on New Year s Day one
are
books
Three
location.
of
opened
change
for the entirely wicked, one for the wholly good, and one for the average
The most compassionate
The school of Hillel says
class of
of the cornet.
;
:
:
people.
are those who
the side of mercy.
(the scale of justice) to
leader of a community
them ?
inspire their fellowmen with dread of
who causes the people to fear him over-much, without furthering thereby a
Who
inclines
A
sick and R. Papa went to
high purpose. The legend how R. Joshua fell
The Holy One, blessed be He, wrapped Himself, as does one
visit him.
who recites the prayers for a congregation, and pointing out to Moses the
Whenever Israel sins, let him pray to
regular order of prayer, said to him
"
:
Me
after this order,
and
I
shall
pardon
him."
Prayer
is
helpful for
man
The legend of a certain
before or after the decree has been pronounced.
at
died
members
in
whose
eighteen years of age. They
Jerusalem
family
ben Zakkai. The Creator sees all their
came and informed R.
Johanan
hearts (at a glance) and (at once) understands
MlSHNA
III.
Messengers were sent out
Nissan, Abb, Elul, Tishri, Kislev, and
in
all
in the
Adar.
their works,
.
20-28
in
following six months
of the king
:
The legend
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxv
who had earlier) issued a decree forbidding the study of the Torah
the Israelites, or to circumcise their sons, and compelling them to
desecrate their Sabbath. Judah b. Shamua and his friends cried aloud
O
(of Syria
among
"
:
Are we not all brethren ? Are we not all the children of one
Father ? etc. Samuel said
I can
arrange the calendar for the whole cap
Rabha used to fast two days for the Day of Atonement. Once it
tivity."
2 9~34
happened that he was right,
heavens
!
"
"
:
MlSHNAS IV. to VII. For the sake of (the new moon), of the two months
Nissan and Tishri, witnesses may profane the Sabbath. Formerly they pro
faned the Sabbath for all (new moons), but since the destruction of the
Temple they instituted that (witnesses) might profane the Sabbath only on
account of Nissan and Tishri. It once happened that more than forty pair
Shagbar,
(of witnesses) were on the highway (to Jerusalem) on the Sabbath.
the superintendent of Gader, detained them, and (when) R. Gamaliel (heard
It once happened, that Tobias the physi
of it, he) sent and dismissed him.
and
cian, his son,
his
freed slave
saw
new moon
the
in
Jerusalem.
The
explanation of the passage Exodus xii. I, by R. Simeon and the rabbis.
Who are incompetent witnesses ? Gamblers with dice, etc.,
34-36
.
CHAPTER
.
II.
Beth Din did not know (the witness), another
It once happened that R. Nehorai
(to the character) of one witness.
The legend how the Boethusians appointed false witnesses. Formerly bon
but when
fires were lighted (to announce the appearance of the new moon)
the Cutheans practised their deceit it was ordained that messengers should
be sent out. There are four kinds of cedars. The whole country looked
Each Israelite took a torch in his hand and ascended to
like a blazing fire.
Great feasts were made for (the witnesses) in order
the roof of his house.
How were the witnesses examined ?
to induce them to come frequently.
The sun never faces the concave of the crescent or the concave of a rain
bow. (If the witnesses say) "We have seen the reflection (of the moon) in
their testimony is
the water, or through a metal mirror, or in the clouds,"
It (the new moon)
not to be accepted." The chief of the Beth Din says
MlSHNAS
I.
to IV.
If the
was sent with him to testify in his behalf.
went to Usha on the Sabbath to testify
;
"
"
:
is consecrated,"
and
the people repeated after
When the
Pelimo teaches
all
"
it
is consecrated."
proper time, they used not
:
to
consecrate
Him
"
:
It is
consecrated,
new moon appeared
at its
37-42
it,"
MlSHNAS V. and VI. R. Gamaliel had on a tablet, and on the wall of his
upper room, illustrations of the various phases of the moon. Is this per
It happened
mitted ? Yea, he had them made to teach by means of them.
"We saw the moon in the east
once, that two witnesses came and said
ern part in the morning and in the western part in the evening." R. Johanan
Two other witnesses came and
b. Nuri declared them to be false witnesses.
said: "We saw the moon on its proper day, but could not see it on the
next evening." R.Gamaliel received them but R. Dosa b. Harkhinas said
:
:
;
"They
are false
witnesses."
R.Joshua approved
his opinion.
Upon
this,
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxvi
Gamaliel ordered the former to appear before him on the Day of Atonement,
according to his computation, with his staff and with money. What R.
Joshua did, and what R. Aqiba and R. Dosa b. Harkhinas said about it.
What R. Hiyya said when he saw the old moon yet on the morning of the
Go to Entob and consecrate
twenty-ninth day. Rabbi said to R. Hiyya
the month, and send back to me as a password, David the King of Israel
still lives.
The consecration of the moon cannot take place at a period less
than twenty-nine and a half days, two-thirds and .0052 (i.e., seventy-three
Halaqim) of an hour. Even if the commonest of the common is appointed
leader by a community, he must be considered as the noblest of the nobility.
his days," equal in authority with the greatest of
A judge is to be held,
Gamaliel said to R. Joshua
his antecedents.
Happy is the generation
in which the leaders listen to their followers, and through this the followers
consider it so much the more their duty (to heed the teachings of the
"
:
"
"in
"
:
42-44
leaders),"
CHAPTER
III.
MISHNA I. If the Beth Din and all Israel saw (the moon on the night
is consecrated,"
of the thirtieth day), but there was no time to proclaim,
When three who
before it has become dark, the month is intercalary.
formed a Beth Din saw it, two should stand up as witnesses and substitute
"It
two
of their learned friends with the
remaining one
(to
form a Beth Din).
No greater authority
than Moses, our master, yet God said to him that Aaron
should act with him. No witness of a crime may act as judge, but in civil
cases he may,
45-46
MlSHNAS
II. to IV.
Concerning what kind of cornets may be used on
and Jubilee days. Some words in the Scripture which the
rabbis could not explain, until they heard the people speak among them
selves.
The cornet used on the New Year was a straight horn of a wild
The Jubilee and the New Year s
goat, the mouthpiece covered with gold.
Day were alike in respect to the sounding (of the cornet) and the benedic
R. Jehudah holds that on
tions, but R. Jehudah s opinion was different.
New Year s Day the more bent in spirit a man is, and on the Day of Atone
ment the more upright he is (in his confessions), the better but R. Levi
holds the contrary.
On the fast days two crooked ram s-horns were used,
New
Year
s
;
"
mouthpieces being covered with silver." According to whom do we
nowadays pray "This day celebrates the beginning of thy work, a memo
rial of the first day
?
It is unlawful to use a cornet that has been split and
afterwards joined together. If one should happen to pass by a synagogue,
or live close by it and should hear the cornet, he will have complied with
the requirements of the law.
If one covered a cornet on the inside with
gold it might not be used. If one heard a part of (the required number of)
the sounds of the cornet in the pit, and the rest at the pit s mouth, he has
done his duty. If one blew the first sound (Teqia), and prolonged the
second (Teqia) as long as two, it is only reckoned as one. If one who
listened (to the sounds of the cornet) paid the proper attention, but he that
their
:
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxvii
blew the cornet did not, or vice versa, they have not done their duty until
If special attention in fulfil
both blower and listener pay proper attention.
As long
a
commandment
or
a
is
necessary or not.
ling
doing transgression
as Israel looked to Heaven for aid, and directed their hearts devoutly to
their Father in Heaven, they prevailed
but when they ceased to do so, they
;
All are obliged to hear the sounding of the cornet, priests, Levites,
Israelites, proselytes, freed slaves, a monstrosity, a hermaphrodite, and
failed.
and
one who is half-slave and half-free. One may not say the benediction over
bread for guests unless he eats with them, but he may for the members of
the family, to initiate
them
into their religious duties,
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
I.
to IV.
Regarding
the
if
.
.
.
46-52
IV.
New Year
fall
on Sabbath.
Where
What
the shofer (cornet) should be blown after the Temple was destroyed.
was the difference between Jamnia and Jerusalem ? Once it happened that
New Year s Day fell on the Sabbath, and all the cities gathered together.
Said R. Johanan
b.
Zakkai to the Benai Betherah
"
:
Let us sound (the
R. Johanan b. Zakkai
ordained that the palm-branch should everywhere be taken seven days, in
commemoration of the Temple. Since the destruction of the Temple, R.
cornet)!"
Johanan
b.
"First,"
said they,
"let
Zakkai ordained that
it
us
discuss!"
should be prohibited
(to eat
of the
new
produce) the whole of the day of waving (the sheaf-offering). Once the wit
nesses were delayed in coming, and they disturbed the song of the Levites.
They then ordained that evidence should only be received until (the time
Concerning what songs the Levites had
the afternoon service.
to sing
did the Levites sing when the additional
What did they sing at the
sacrifices were being offered on the Sabbath ?
to
a corresponding
Sabbath afternoon service ?
tradition,
According
of)
What
every day from the Psalms.
number
of times
was the Sanhedrin
exiled.
The witnesses need only go
to
Priests may not ascend the platform in
the meeting place (of the Beth Din).
and this is one of the nine ordinances instituted
sandals, to bless the people
;
by R. Johanan
b.
Zakkai,
53~57
MISHNA V. Regarding the order of the benedictions on New Year s
Day at the morning prayer, additional prayers, and at what time the cornet
must be blown,
etc.
What
passages from the Scriptures are selected for
what do the ten scriptural pas
To
additional prayers on New Year s Day.
Malkhioth
for
the
used
correspond ?
sages
How many
passages must be
We
must not men
recited from Pentateuch, Prophets, and Hagiographa ?
tion the remembrance of the individual (in the Zikhronoth), even if the
passage speaks of pleasant things. What are the passages which must be
said in the benediction of Malkhioth, Zikhronoth, and the Shophroth ?
R.
The Vathiqin used to conclude with a passage
Elazar b. R. Jose says
from the Pentateuch."
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is our Lord,"
may be used in the Malkhioth. The second of those who act as ministers of
the congregation on the Feast of New Year shall cause another to sound the
cornet on days when the Hallel (Service of Praise, Ps. cxiii.-cxviii.) is read.
"
:
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxviii
We
are permitted to occupy ourselves with
teaching (children) until they
learn (to sound the cornet), even on the Sabbath.
The order, and how
many times it must be blown also, the different sounds and the names of
them.
all this is deduced from the Bible, and the difference of
;
How
opinions
between the sages. Generally the soundings of the cornet do not interfere
with each other, nor do the benedictions, but on New Year s
Day and the Day
of
Atonement they do. R. Papa
Samuel rose to recite his prayers. Said he
sound (the cornet) for me." Rabha
said to him, that this may
A man should
only be done in the congregation.
always first prepare himself for prayer, and then pray. R. Jehudah prayed
to his attendant, "When
only once in thirty days,
I
nod
b.
to you,
57-66
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
VOLUME
TRACT PESACHIM.*
V.
CHAPTER
MlSHNA
I.
meant by Or ? The explanation of the phrase (Job
At no time should a man allow an illlight.
sounding word to escape from his mouth. What the two disciples of Rabh
and R. Johanan b. Zakkai said Go and report it to the horses. If a house
was rented and it is not known whether the leavened bread had been
searched for. If a man leave his house and intend to return on the Pass
over.
Two things are without the province of man. If musty bread was
found in a chest. By what light search for leavened bread must be made.
Whether wine-cellars have to be searched,
1-14
xxiv. 14),
"
I.
What
is
with the earliest
:
MISHNAS
man leaves ten pieces of bread and finds
and one heap of Chometz, and finds ten.
Chometz must be made. The reason why Chometz must be
II., III.,
IV.,
V.
If
a
nine, or nine heaps of Matzoth,
When
search for
removed on the fourteenth of Nissan. If a Gentile came into the court of an
Of the Gentile who stored a basketful of Chometz
Israelite on Passover.
with Johanan Hakuka.
The two thanksgiving-offering cakes laid on the
If there were
benches. What R. Hanina the Sagan of the priests said.
doubtful beverages,
14-29
CHAPTER
MISHNA
we know
ever
used.
I.
Why
bread.
it is
What one may do
the
as long as
it is
lawful to eat unleavened
Mishna enumerates domestic and wild animals.
that no benefit
"
written,
II.
Ye
may
shall not
Whence
be derived from leaven on Passover.
eat,"
the object in question
Wher
must not even be
of what a man is permitted to cure himself when in danger.
must rather permit himself to be slain than to slay another. Accord
whom the Halakha prevails when Rabbi differs with an individual or
By means
A man
ing to
the majority,
* See introduction to the
synopsis
30-41
in Tract Sabbath, Vol. I., p. xxix.
vii
viii
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
MlSHNAS II., III.,
Whether a man may
IV., V., VI. Concerning- leaven belonging to a Gentile.
eat the leaven of a Gentile. Whether earthenware pots
used during the year must be destroyed before Passover. About an oven
greased with fat immediately after it had been heated. If a Gentile lent
money to an Israelite, taking as security leavened articles, and vice "versa.
About leaven covered by ruins. About leavened heave-offering. Whether
leavened articles have a pecuniary value on Passover. With which articles a
person acquits himself of the duty of eating unleavened bread on Passover.
Whether one can acquit himself of the duty with bread kneaded with wine,
What is meant by bread of affliction. Why it is not allowed
oil, or honey.
to prepare figured cakes on Passover,
41-59
......
MISHNAS
Whether
lettuce
is
The duty
of eating bitter herbs on the Passover.
to be preferred to other bitter herbs.
About soaking
VII. to IX.
bran on Passover to feed fowls.
Where
the mother of
Mar
b.
Rabhina
bought her wheat for her son. Whether it is lawful to put flour into sauce
or mustard. Whether it is lawful to cook the paschal lamb after it has been
With which kind of water may a woman knead the dough, 59-67
roasted.
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
III.
Whether Babylonian Kuthach, Median beer, etc., may
be used on Passover. About the paste used by scribes. Whether women are
held to be equal to men in regard to prohibitory laws.
About dough in the
holes or crevices of a kneading-trough.
About dull dough. How the first
of the dough due to the priest can be separated on the Passover.
About
the three
I.
leavened.
V.
women who may knead dough
MISHNAS
done.
to
for Passover,
.
.
.
68-77
About dough which commences to become
fourteenth of Nissan fall on the Sabbath, what must be
VI., VII., VIII.
If the
When
one going to
fulfil
a religious duty on the eve of Passover
Chometz left at home. In which case may a scholar
For what meritorious purpose a man should sell all his pos
meal.
What R. Aqiba said about a scholar when he was ignorant.
recollects that he has
enjoy his
sessions.
What
man who occupies himself with
common person. Why it is written
sentiment a
the heart of a
and His name
will
study of the law evokes in
that the Lord will be one,
be one on that day, and not at present,
CHAPTER
.
.
77-83
IV.
MISHNAS I., II., III., IV. How a man should conduct himself who
removes from a place where a thing is allowed to a place where it is not
allowed, or vice versa. If one depends on the earnings of his wife. Those
who write scrolls, etc., or sell them, etc., do not perceive any blessing for
their work.
What Rabba bar bar Hana said to his son. What R. Johanan
b. Elazar related.
May we, being versed in the calendar, do work on the
second day of a festival in exile? Whether roasted meat may be eaten on
the night of Passover. What justified Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah to
permit themselves to be thrown into the fiery furnace. When the fire of
Gehenna was created. In what respect every man should consider himself
a scholar. What it is permitted to do on the eve and intermediate days of a
festival.
What are the six things done by the inhabitants of Jericho and
Four shouts
King Hezekiah, and which met with the rabbis approval.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
What happened
sent up in the court of the Temple.
the village of Barkai
man
of
V.
The time
If
of offering the paschal lamb.
If the pas
the Passover-sacrifice had not been slaughtered for its purpose.
chal lamb was slaughtered for those who will not partake thereof.
The
II., III.,
I.,
IV., V.
to Issachar, the
84-105
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
ix
what places must not be taught the contents of the book of
Since the book of ancestry was concealed, the power of our sages
ancestry.
was on the wane, etc. If a man offers the Passover-sacrifice while still hav
inhabitants of
ing leaven in his possession.
For how many
lamb was
divisions the paschal
offered, etc
106-124
CHAPTER
MlSHNA
Which
I.
supersede Sabbath.
VI.
acts necessary for the sacrifice of the paschal offering
Hiellel the Elder became Nassi, and what happened
How
subsequently. What befalls him who is arrogant, and him who becomes
angry. In the future the righteous would have the power to arouse the dead.
How
pleasing the fulfilment of a religious duty at
proper time was to our
125-133
its
ancestors,
MlSHNAS
festal
Under what circumstances
II., III.
offering
Abhin Thekla
addition to the
in
?
allowed to bring a
What
is
meant by
a person brought a paschal sacrifice on
What R. Hyya of Abel Arab
proper purpose.
(See note.)
the Sabbath not for
is
it
paschal sacrifice.
its
If
declared,
133-142
CHAPTER
lamb
VII.
How
the paschal lamb should be roasted.
it
may be used. If any part of the roasted
had touched the earthenware oven on which it was roasted. The five
MlSHNAS I., II., III., IV., V.
About diluted vinegar, whether
kinds of sacrifices that
may be brought by
those
who
are in a state of ritual
the flesh of the paschal sacrifice has become ritually defiled.
If
If the whole or the greater part of the congregation had become defiled.
uncleanness.
If
one half of the congregation be clean, and the other half unclean,
143-156
MlSHNAS VI., VII., VIII., IX., X. For what defilements the golden plate
of the high-priest atones.
When, and with which wood, must the lamb be
If a slaughtered Passover-sacrifice had been carried
burned, if defiled.
When
beyond the walls of Jerusalem.
burned.
Which
part of the paschal kid or
MlSHNAS XL,
XII., XIII.
What
the bones, sinews, etc.,
lamb may be
penalty
is
due
eaten,
.
must be
156-165
breaking any bones
of the paschal sacrifice
for
If a part of a member
of the clean paschal lamb.
If two companies eat their paschal sacri
the
etc.
beyond
Temple,
protrude
fice in one room, and if there is among them a bride, what they and she
must
do.
What was
and done when R. Ishmael
said
be a guest of R. Simeon
b.
R. Jose
b.
Lakunia,
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
a lying-in
I.,
II., III.,
woman
by her
IV., V.
relatives.
If
....
b.
R. Jose happened to
165-172
VIII.
two paschal lambs were slaughtered for
The Hagadic explanation of the verses
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
x
in Solomon s Song viii. 8, and viii. 10, etc.
The legend of what the Holy
One, blessed be He, said to Prophet Hosea, what he answered Him, and what
befell subsequently.
Woe is to a dominion that overwhelms its own master.
For what purpose Israel was sent into exile. The reason why the Romans
did not destroy all Israelites.
Why Israel was exiled to Babylon. The day
on which all the children of Israel will be recalled from exile will be as great
which the world was created. If a person order his slave to go
and slaughter for him the paschal sacrifice.
If a man say to his sons, I
slaughter the paschal sacrifice for whichever one of you shall arrive first in
Jerusalem. The size of an olive of the paschal lamb suffices for those who
partake of it. If a person had appointed others to partake with him of his
as that on
share,
173-185
MlSHNAS
IX.
VI., VII., VIII.,
Whether one whose seventh day
of
on the eve of Passover may partake of the paschal lamb.
A mourner who has lost a relative on the I4th of Nissan. A prisoner
who has the assurance of a release. Whether the paschal sacrifice must be
sprinkling
fall
slaughtered for a single individual.
W hether a mourner for a near relative,
7
not yet interred, may eat of the paschal sacrifice.
may partake of it,
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
I., II., III.
Who
When
a Gentile proselyte
185-190
IX.
must observe the second Passover.
Must a
woman bring a second Passover-offering ? Concerning neglecting to sacri
fice.
What must be considered a distant journey ? How much the entire
world measures.
What the disciples of Elijah taught. The difference
between the sages of Israel and of the Gentiles. The difference between the
first and second Passover.
Concerning the Hallel at the slaughtering of
...........
sacrifices,
MISHNAS
brought
in
a state of defilement.
Was
on that one night
What
to eat leaven
and could not
?
it
191-201
When
the paschal sacrifice was
prohibited at the Egyptian Passover
IV., V., VI., VII., VIII., IX.
R. Jehoshua heard from his teachers
When the animal must be left
explain, R. Aqiba explained.
a paschal sacrifice had become mixed with other animals.
If a
lost their paschal sacrifice.
When a paschal offering of two
individuals has become mixed
201-209
to graze.
If
company has
CHAPTER
X.
MISHNA I. When and what must be eaten on the eve of Passover, and
how many cups of wine must be partaken during the night. R. Simeon b.
Gamaliel, R. Jehudah, R. Jose were partaking a meal on the eve of Sabbath in
the city of Achu. Once Rabba b. R. Huna came to the house of the Exilarch.
Whether one who has heard
the Kiddush in the synagogue must repeat it
home. If Sabbath had set during the course of a meal at which a company
were sitting. Concerning the order of the benedictions. Concerning the
What should be the conclusion of the
holiday prayers, what must be said.
Habdalah. How R. Itz hak sent his son to Ula, and his answer. Whether
the honor of the Sabbath is more important than that of the eve preceding
it.
The eight things about the Habdalah prayer. How R. Ashi recited the
at
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xi
great Kiddush when he came to Mehuzza. If one had thoughtlessly eaten
before Kiddush or Habdalah, may he say these prayers ? May the Kiddush
be made over beer? What is meant by the time of Min hah, and when King
Agrippa usually took his meal. Whether women must also drink the four cups.
What taste and color must the wine have. It is the duty of every man to
cause his household and his children to rejoice on a festival. About the
even numbers (see note, p. 229). The seven things R. Aqiba commanded
his son R. Jehoshua. The five things R. Aqiba, while in prison, commanded
R. Simeon b. Jochai. The four things our holy Rabbi commanded his chil
The three things R. Jose b. R. Jehudah commanded Rabbi. Why
dren.
a man should not go out alone at night. What Rabbi said to Aibo, his son.
The three things R. Jehoshua b. Levi said in the name of the great men of
Jerusalem. Three kinds of men shall inherit the world to come. How R.
Hanina and R. Oshiya made shoes for the prostitutes. The three kinds of
men whom the Holy One, blessed be He, loves. The three kinds of men
who do not live a life worth living. The three species who hate others of
their own kind.
The three kinds of beings who love others of their kind.
Five things which Canaan commanded his children. Six things said of a
210-236
horse,
MISHNAS
II., III.,
When the
IV., V.
first
cup
is
poured
out.
Herbs and
vegetables are to be brought. The benediction of the bitter herbs. Why
If a man
the bitter herbs should not be placed between unleavened cakes.
swallowed unleavened bread. When the table on which the food is served
What
should be removed.
A
second cup of wine
How
is
serves as a
poured
remembrance
What Rabbon
out.
of the apple-trees.
Gamaliel used to say.
be said ? Why a blind man is exempt
Haggada. With ten different expressions of praise
Who said the Hallel ? What
the entire Book of Psalms was composed.
Is Hallelujah the beginning or the end
the Karaites add to these verses.
of the chapters ? What Rabba discovered that the sages of Pumbaditha
"
Hallelujah."
from the
far is the Hallel to
recital of the
.........
once proclaimed,
MISHNAS
A
cup of wine
236-249
poured out. Why is
The laboriousness of a man s earning his
this called the great Hallel ?
Why the small Hallel must be recited at the Passover-meal.
daily bread.
What occurred when Nebuchadnezzar threw Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah into the furnace. Who said "The truth of the Lord endureth for
What R. Ishmael sent to Rabbi in the name of his father. Who will
ever"?
get the cup of benediction. Is it unlawful to conclude the eating of the
paschal sacrifice with a dessert ? Is it obligatory to eat Matzoth during all
VI., VII., VIII.
third
is
:
the seven days
?
If
any of the company fall asleep during the meal. About
and festal offerings. R. Simlai at the redemp
the blessing of the paschal
tion of a first-born son,
APPENDIX A.
Explanatory of the
plementary to the second note, p. 66,*
*
text.
will
249-259
first
Mishna.
We were told that some readers made reference to
We have therefore, in the synopsis of this tract,
do
so, likewise, in the future.
APPENDIX
B.
Sup
259-264
the synopsis instead of to the
omitted all conclusions.
We
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
TRACT YOMAH.*
VI.
CHAPTER
MISHNA
Why
I.
I.
the high priest, before the
Day
of Atonement, and the
priest who had to perform the ceremonies of the red cow, were removed from
their houses to different chambers in the Temple, and whence we deduce
from the Scriptures. About a substitute of the high-priest. How is it
known, when one person communicates something to another, that one has
no right to tell it to a third without permission ?
How did Moses attire
Aaron and his children on the days of consecration ? Whether the uncleanness of the entire congregation, contracted from a corpse, is not considered,
or only postponed. How were th two priests sprinkled ?
The number of
high-priests during the first and second Temples.
Why had the first Temple
fallen ?
The second Temple, where the occupations were study of the Law,
religious duties, and charity
why fell it ? Which one of the Temples was
better? Which of the nations are descended from Japheth ? Whether the
gates of the Temple needed Mezuzahs. Of what material was the girdle of
the high-priest made, and whether it was the same as those of the common
How was the substitute of the high-priest recognized when the
priests.
it
high-priest
MISHNA
became
II.
the seven days
?
unfit
during the service,
What kind of experience did
What shall he do first trim
.....
1-18
high-priest have during
the lamps or prepare the in
the
On what altar and what corner must the blood be sprinkled, 18-22
MISHNAS III. to V. What the elders of the Beth Din say to him.
What he is free to eat during the seven days, and what on the eve of the
Day of Atonement How the priest selects the offerings he chooses. How
the Beth Din left him to the elders of the priests, and what they made him
swear. What a high-priest of the Sadducees had done, and what happened
What was done when the high-priest began to slumber. How he
to him
cense
?
was occupied, and what was sung to him.
How were the ashes cleared
the Day of Atonement ? The miracles that occurred in
the Temple.
For the crowing of what cock shall one wait before going on
the road any night ?
About the heavenly fire at the second Temple, 22-29
away every day and on
*See introduction to synopsis
end of synopsis in Vol. V.
in
Tract Sabbath, Vol.
xvii
I., p.
xxix.
;
also note at
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xviii
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
and not
less
I.
before.
should the
Why
V.
to
Why
man
II.
the priests were selected by lot in the latter days,
must not be counted. How secure and care
Israel
that
feel
knows
that the
What
Lord helps him.
is
The reward of him
called revenge, and what is called bearing a grudge ?
who leaves his injuries unavenged. The accident that befell two priests.
For performing certain four services a layman deserves capital punishment.
In
what garments were the lots drawn ? Were the lots drawn for each ser
?
In what order the members of the sacrifice were offered.
vice separately
The
so
daily sacrifices are offered by nine, ten, eleven, twelve priests.
ram was offered by eleven, a bull by twenty-four,
A
?
.
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
and why
all
I.
What
to IV.
this
.
How
30-39
III.
the Superintendent used to say to the priests,
What is said about the heat during a
was necessary.
clouded day. Rules for entering the Temple for all.
and where the
high-priest bathed five times, and washed his hands and feet ten times.
is it known from the Holy Scriptures ?
How the service was. When
Why
How
If he was an aged
perform a meritorious act.
was then ?
Concerning the garments of the
What happened to Hillel, to Eliezer b. Harhigh-priest and their value.
sum, and Joseph the Upright,
40-49
one meets an opportunity
to
or delicate high-priest, what
MISHNAS V. to VII. How did the high-priest confess ? and what the
Which of the officers were on his right and
people responded after him.
which were on his left during the service ? What Ben Katin made for the
Temple, and what his mother Queen Helen made. Concerning the house of
Garmo, the house of Abtinas, and Hogros b. Levi (the preparer of shewWhat one of the members of the house of Abtinas
bread, incense, etc.).
related to R. Ishmael.
Whence is it derived from the Pentateuch that when
the names of the just are mentioned they must be blessed, and, vice versa,
those of the wicked ? When a man sanctifies himself a little here below, he
is
sanctified
much
above,
49-57
CHAPTER
IV.
MlSHNAS I. to III. Concerning the lots of the two he-goats, how they
were taken from the boxes, and of what material the boxes were made. What
happened when Simeon the Upright was high-priest, and after. Simeon the
This year I am going to
How dost thou
Upright told the sages
About the six times the high-priest pronounced God s name, as it
know.?"
About the tongue of crimson
is written, during the Day of Atonement.
wool which was tied to the head of the goat that was to be sent away, and
for the red cow, etc.
Concerning the slaughter of the red cow by a layman.
What is the reason that a female may not perform the ceremony of sprink
The measure of the censer in which the coals for the incense were
ling ?
taken, and of what material it was made, and of what color it was on the
Day of Atonement. There were seven kinds of gold. Whence is it deduced
that a special fire was made that day,
58-68
"
"
:
die."
......
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
CHAPTER
xix
V.
MlSHNAS I. to VI. About the two handfuls of incense for the Holy of
What concerning the incense between the
Holies, and how it was used.
middle fingers
?
When
how then
?
If
he had filled his hands with incense, and suddenly
he died while slaughtering, might the blood be sprinkled ?
The difference of opinion between R.Jose and the sages about the vail of the
Holy of Holies. The ell of the entrance (to the Holy of Holies) was a matter
About the ark in the first and second Temples. He
of doubt to the sages.
died,
in
departed
deduce
same manner
The custom of
the
as he had
Whence do we
come (backwards).
the disciples when departing from their mas
difference of opinion between the sages about the ark
according
this
?
The
some it was taken
ters.
:
and according to others it was con
cealed in its place in the Temple. The world was created from the very
middle, beginning with the extremities. Everything was created from Zion.
How many times had he to sprinkle downwards ? One and one, one and
two, etc. What was the law when the bloods of the bullock and the goat got
to
mingled
ion of
?
into exile in Babylon,
Whence does he
some sages about
blood for his
own
begin (the sprinkling)
this matter.
purpose.
How
is
the law
if
The
?
is
guilty
Whether the
order, or in the wrong clothes ?
sins includes the sin of uncleanness in the Temple or not,
a
wrong
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
them
I.
to V.
dies after the lots
difference of opin
when using the
he performed the services in
Whether one
atonement
.
.
for all
69-86
VI.
The law if one of
equality of the two he-goats.
If a substitute was selected, and then
cast.
The expression of the high-priest at his confession
The
were
first one was found.
on the he-goat for Azazel. How the priest delivered the he-goat to its con
ductor.
The question which R. Eliezer was asked, and his answers. How
the prominent men of Jerusalem used to accompany the messenger of the
How far was Jerusalem from the Tsuk (the rock of its destina
he-goat.
What was done with the tongue of crimson wool, and its significa
tion) ?
tion.
About the ten booths between Jerusalem and the Tsuk, and how at
each booth the messenger was offered meat and drink. Whether the highpriest was told when the he-goat reached its destination, or it was made-
the
known
to
him by a
sign,
.........
CHAPTER
87-97
VII.
How the high-priest came to read (the Torah), and
and what section, and who Were the persons that passed
the holy scrolls from one to another until it reached the high-priest.
The
legend of Alexander the Macedonian and the high-priest Simeon the
Upright. The legends about the tempter to idolatry, how he was caught in
the time of Ezra and was burned to death.
Also the legend of the tempter
to fornication, how he was kept prisoner, was blinded in both eyes, and then
liberated.
Concerning the Great Assembly which has renewed the appella
tions of our God, the great, the mighty, and the terrible, said by Moses, and
which some of the prophets left out. What the high-priest did after reading
the Torah.
At what time the bullock and the seven sheep of the burntHow the conductor of the he-goat informs the
offerings were offered.
How the Urim and Tumim were
high-priest that he fulfilled his duty.
MlSHNAS
in
what
I.
clothes,
to III.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xx
How
made.
they were inquired of, and to whom. What letters were
About the three crowns of the altar, the ark, and the
received them ? About the priest who was anointed for war, his
inserted in them.
who
table,
garments, services, and descendants.
the
Urim and Tumim, and how
we deduce
that the inquiries are
How
was
the
ceremony of inquiring
Whence do
the priest received the reply.
made
for kings only
CHAPTER
?
.
98-111
.
VIII.
MISHNA I. The afflictions which are obligatory on the Day of Atone
What were the afflictions coming from the manna written in Deuter
ment.
onomy viii. 16 ? The visage of the Lord is not like
the manna betrayed all the secrets of the Israelites.
What
is
How
man.
that of a
the
meaning
What R. Aqiba said, and what R. Ishmael
why the manna did not descend for the
and its answer. What R. Eliezer the Modeite had
of the bread of
Abirim
answered him.
The
?
question
once a year,
about the manna, which R. Ishmael called a gathering of nonsensical
words. How is it known that abstaining from washing and anointing is an
affliction ?
What is the law in regard of one being soiled in clay, etc.,
whether he may wash himself? When a man goes to receive his father,
master, or superior, and has to wade in water reaching to his neck ? About
the spring that issued from the Holy of Holies. Whether a great man is
permitted to decide the question of a blemish of a firstling, and what R.
Israelites
to say
Tzadok
b.
tions
The
the
?
Haluqah answered.
Whether children are
to
observe the
afflic
quantity of food and beverage prohibited from partaking on
of Atonement,
112-122
Day
MlSHNAS
II. to V.
What is the law regarding one who ate and drank
through forgetfulness ? At what age are children made to fast some hours
on the Day of Atonement ? When a pregnant woman longs for the food
which she has smelled. When a man is seized with bulimy, what he may
What happened to some rabbis who were seized with bulimy.
eat, etc.
When a man is bitten by a mad dog. The five things mentioned as symp
toms of a dog s madness. What happened to R. Johanan and the matron
of Rome. How the Sabbath must be superseded when life is threatened.
The question put to R. Ishmael, R. Aqiba, and R. Eliezer b. Azariah when
on the road about the same, and what they answered,
122-132
.
.
MlSHNA VI. For what transgressions the Day of Atonement atones.
Does the Day of Atonement atone him who says I will sin and God will
forgive me ? What penitence atones for ? What R. Eliezer b. Azariah,
:
while in Rome, was asked by R. Mathiah b. Heresh, and what he answered.
What is called defamation of God. How penitence is great it reaches the
throne of His glory. How repentance is great when an individual repents,
:
:
is pardoned.
Whether one who has confessed his sins on
one Day of Atonement has also to confess on the next one ? The sin of
Moses is compared to a woman who has eaten fruit on the Sabbatical year,
and David s to a woman who has really sinned. He who has provoked his
neighbor, even by words, must appease him. At what place in the prayer
should he confess ? What the disciples of R. Ishmael taught,
132-142
the whole world
.
APPENDIX.
The
nies of Passover,
Temple
letter
of a Gentile
who
has witnessed the ceremo
and the procession of the high-priest
to
and from the
H3-I47
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT HAGIGA.
CHAPTER
I.
MISHNA I. The law concerning the Holocaust, and who are exempt
What is the law in the case of one who is half a bondman and half
it.
free ?
Johanan b. Broka and R. Elazar b. Hasma have related to their
master the wonderful lecture of R. Joshua, and what he rejoined. What is
from
called a fool
The law about
?
the lame, blind, and sick.
An
entire series
of passages from Scripture which the different rabbis wept over when they
met them in their studies, and the reason of it. What is meant by evils
"
and
troubles,"
Minim
?
written in Deut. xxxi. 21
?
What
will
become
of us with the
For three things the Holy One, blessed be He, weeps every day.
to Rabbi and R. Hyya while on the road with the blind
and his beautiful blessings. The law as to minority, and at what
What happened
scholar,
age a child
exempt from
is
MISHNAS
II.
to
V.
.....
this condition,
The law regarding the offerings which
may
1-13
or
may
not be brought from the money of the second-tithe.
Peace-offerings and
burnt-offerings of the pilgrims are divided according to their circumstances.
The
different
What is
opinions of the rabbis regarding the passage
The explanation of Elijah to Ben Hei Hei
straight."
"
:
crooked cannot be made
regarding the passage of Is. xlviii. 10. About a scholar who has separated
himself from the Law. The laws about the dissolving of vows hang in the
air, and which laws are suspended by a hair, and which of them are the
essential parts of the
Law,
13-20
CHAPTER
MISHNA
the
II.
Concerning the discussion of illegal unions, the creation, and
divine chariot.
By ten things the world was created by wisdom, by
I.
:
knowledge, etc. Which was first created, the earth or the heavens ? What
is meant by the term
heavens ? Woe to the creatures which see and
know not what they see, which stand and know not upon what they stand.
The names of the seven heavens, and what is contained therein. What an"
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
iv
swer did the heavenly voice make to that wicked man when he said
I will
ascend above the heights of the clouds," etc. ? To whom the secrets of the
"
:
Law may
be imparted. The king among living creatures is a lion, among
domestic beasts an ox, among birds an eagle, after which comes man, but the
Lord takes His place proudly above them all. The thousands of troops who
The stream
of fire which is issued
comes from
comes from. About the nine hundred and seventyfour generations which were held back from being created.
What are the
eighteen curses of Isaiah. Even at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem
there did not cease from them faithful men.
About the four who entered in
the heavenly garden (Pardes}.
The legends of A her concerning R. Meir
his disciple when he was alive and after his death, and also what R. Johanan
said and did.
About what Rabba bar Shila questioned Elijah, and his an
What R. Jehudah questioned Samuel about the world to come, and
swer.
what the latter rejoined. Nimus of Gardi and R. Meir (see note). The six
minister unto him.
before him.
Where
things regarding the demons.
grow weak,
MISHNAS II.
.
.
.
it
Every one who gazes upon three things,
and the
a
to
The difference of
About the law of
IV.
chiefs of courts.
Which
festival.
reapest
?
About
the feast in
is
the
garments of a
opinions concerning the princes
laying the hand on the offers on
which thou makest proclamation and
common person which are defiled by
pressure for Pharisees,
38-43
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
I.
to IX.
All of
them
treat
III.
about the details of the rigorous
rules of heave-offerings, and vice versa. The conditions in Judah
lee as to which of the inhabitants are trusted and which are not.
salamander and the
fire
and
in Gali
About the
Gehenna will not
of Gehenna, and that the fire of
who are full of merit as a pomegranate
affect the sinners of Israel,
seed,
his
21-38
eyes
is full
of
44-54
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
TRACT BETZAH.
VII.
CHAPTER
MISHNA
I.
I.
a new-born thing on a festival must not be used on the
How is the case
day. The different opinions for the reason of it.
with the same on the two festival days which are kept in exile only but not
Why
same
in Palestine
How is
?
of the exile festivals
the case
when a Sabbath
And how
?
is
falls
the law of the
on one of the two days
the two days of
same on
New Year, which are kept in Palestine also are they considered as
one sacredness or two ? About a burial on festivals and New Year. An
animal or fowl whose blood must be covered when slaughtered, in which
case they may be slaughtered on a festival.
And how is it with a cross
which is doubtful, if it is considered a wild or a domestic animal. The
ordinance of Rabbun Johanan b. Zakkai,
1-15
......
MISHNAS
Concerning the preparing of doves of the cots
*or the festival, and their removal from one cot to another.
The shutters of
If birds have removed from their prepared
shops, may they be removed ?
If one has
place ?
prepared black pigeons and finds white ones, or more
II.
to VIII.
or less than he has prepared previously.
Which utensils are allowed to
be used for the purpose they were made, and for other purposes. If the
tallow of the slaughtered on the festival may be salted.
The three things
is allowed.
What it is allowed to carry on public
lawful to give to the priest the first dough on the festival.
necessary change in laboring from the week-days, how shall it be
the finishing of
ground.
The
done?
If
it
........
MISHNAS
IX. to XII.
about Ptisana
of
which
is
?
How
Rabban Gamaliel
festival,
If
spices
to pick pulse
such cases.
in
.
.
.
.
15-24
may be pounded on a festival. How
on a festival. The custom of the house
How
shoes, sandals, phylacteries, etc
about sending as presents on a
24-27
* See Introduction to
Synopsis iu Tract Sabbath, Vol.
end of Synopsis in Vol. V.
I.,
p.
xxix
;
also note at
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xii
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
I.
to III.
How
prepared.
who has not
it is if
Of what kind
II.
of eatables the cooking
one has forgotten
to
make
it,
and how
Erub may be
with him
it is
made it intentionally. About the purification of vessels on the
About bringing peace, vow, and voluntary offerings on the festi
About the four hundred Zuz which a sick person ordered to give to a
val.
certain man, that he should marry his daughter, and the latter refused. The
discussion of the schools of Shammai and Hillel about laying the hands on
festival.
the offerings on the festival
MISHNAS
IV. to VII.
28-40
The
Shammai. Is it
Appendix on page 45.)
the school of
three things which R. Gamaliel decided as
lawful to paint the eyes on a festival ? (See
How about
About baking thick loaves.
Elazar
on
live
coals.
The
three
which
R.
b. Azariah
things
putting spice
permitted, and the other sages prohibited. The laws about a pepper handmill and a child s carriage,
40-45
also
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
I.
to IV.
The
contradiction
Mishna concerning beasts and
Why
fowls.
R. Gamaliel did not accept the
III.
between the Tosephta and the
Why a certain$bird is called
"
Durur."
which a Gentile brought him as a
a garden must be prepared previously.
fish
If the beasts which are in
present.
In what case a man may be carried in a chair. Why R. Na hman allowed
If it is lawful to examine the blemish of a first-born
his Yalta to be carried.
animal, and how is the case if the animal is born with a blemish ? About
the Amora who was erratic in his teachings (see also footnote). Does the
law of Muktzah exist for the half of a Sabbath ?
46-54
....
How
How to buy
meat from the butcher and things from the grocery without naming a price.
Is it allowed to measure beverages on the festival by the seller ? and what
About the three hun
shall be done to satisfy both the buyer and the seller.
dred pitchers of wine, and the same number of oil, which were gathered
from the froth, and from the vessels after emptying, which were brought
How to feed the animals,
to the treasurer of charity, and his answer.
when measuring is needed. How the wives of R. Joseph and R. Ashi sifted
their flour on the festival, and of the approval and disapproval of their
MlSHNAS V.
to X.
to
buy an animal
for the festival.
husbands,
54-59
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
I.
to VI.
and from what stacks
ruined booth.
How
fuel
IV.
to carry jars of wine from one place to another,
be taken. If some may be taken from a
may
Also from what kind of beams wood
may be
cut for the fes
permitted to make a hole in a tent filled with fruit. How it is
about making a hole in clay for the purpose of using it for a lamp. The six
things which Bar Qappara taught about a wick. There are three men
tival.
If
whose
life is
it is
not called
life,
60-64
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiii
MlSHNAS VII. to IX. How to roast salted fish. Is it allowed to smear
an oven with clay ? The difference of opinion between the Amoraim about
Hisra. If broken vessels may be used for fuel. Branches of spice-trees to
And how to grind spices.
enjoy the odor, whether they may be handled.
How R. Jehudah used to break twigs off from spice-trees, to supply to his
If it is allowed to make
guests.
heaps of fuel in the yard. Ovens or hearths
in
fruit
may
the yard, are they considered as vessels
?
If the hair of an
be removed by fire. If one wishes to partake of the
of a Sabbatical year, what must he previously do ?
In which case
standing
animal s
the
arated
may
feet
same be used
if it
is
doubtful whether the heave-offering
?
was sep
64-69
CHAPTER
V.
MISHNAS I. to VI. The difference between Sabbath and a Festival, in
throwing and covering fruit. About removing fruit from one roof to another.
The things which are prohibited on account of Sh buth (Sabbath-rest rabThe things which are prohibited as optional. The legal limit
within which cattle and utensils may be brought for the use of the festival.
About a barrel of wine and an animal which were bought in
partnership bytwo men from different places, what shall be done, and the different lay
about these two. What R. Abba prayed when he intended to
to
binically).
go
and what he said after he reached there. The five
things which
have been taught about burning coals. The Babylonian travellers. Fruit
which is deposited in another s house, who is to be considered the owner of
Palestine,
same concerning
slaughtering
it
the carrying of
it.
The advice
to
water an animal before
7 o_ 7 8
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
TRACT SUCCAH.
VII.
CHAPTER
I.
MISHNA I. About the legal height and width of the booth which is to
be used during the seven days of Tabernacles. What was to be done when
If one has placed four
it was higher or lower than the prescribed size ?
poles and roofed them, how is the law ? The different opinions of R. Jacob
and the sages on this point. Whence is deduced from biblical passages the
prescribed by the sages ? Did the Shekhina descend from heaven to
earth and also Moses and Elijah, did they ascend to heaven, or not ? And
in the latter case, how are to be explained the passages which state that
size
;
they did ? The ells which are mentioned in the Scriptures, how many spans
did they contain ? When there is a difference in the biblical passages
between the Massorah (i.e., how they are written) and the reading of it,
what must be considered
ered
for practice
as a temporary or
?
How shall
permanent dwelling
watchmen, can they be used for a legal Succah
?
the
Succah be consid
The booths
of potters or
i-io
?
How
about an old Succah ? What is called an
How about a Succah under a tree, or if a cloth was spread
old Succah ?
over the roof of the Succah ? If one Succah was over another ? What kind
How to beautify the
of material must be used for the roof of the Succah ?
religious duties for the sake of the Lord, and from what passage of the
If bundles of straw, wood, or
Scriptures this is deduced.
twigs may be used
The two things which R. Jacob heard from R.
for the roof of the Succah.
Johanan and the three things which Rabha bar bar Hana has heard in the
MISHNAS
II.
to VIII.
name of the same, and they could not imagine the real meaning of them, and
how the latter Amoraim tried to find it out. What Hana bar Abba, and R.
Hisda in the name of Rabina bar Shila, and Meremar said and lectured
about the roofing of the Succah. How it is when one wants to cover the
* See Introduction to
Synopsis in Tract Sabbath, Vol.
end of Synopsis in Vol. V.
I., p.
xxix.
;
also note at
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vi
Succah with boards, the size of same, and how they are to be laid. What is
to be done if small rafters, over which is no ceiling, are to be used for a
The difference of opinion between the schools of Shammai and
booth.
Hillel, and R. Jehudah and R. Meir,
10-19
MlSHNAS
one likes to roof his booth with iron spits. If
from the roof downwards. If the roof was
three spans distant from the walls.
How is the case with a court sur
rounded by balconies ? The law of a crooked wall. If one likes to make a
Succah in the form of a cone. About a reed mat made for sleeping on,
whether a Succah can be covered with it the size of it. A mat made of
bark or papyrus, if large, may be used for a cover,
19-25
one
likes to
IX. to XIII.
suspend
If
textile walls
;
.
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
booth
?
I.
to VII.
How
About Tabbi, the
is
it
slave of
.
.
II.
when one sleeps under a bed in the
Rabban Gamaliel, who was a scholar.
If a Succah is covered
to support the Succah with a bedstead.
must
be
more
the
sunshine
or
the
shadow
?
If one constructs
what
thinly,
a Succah on top of a wagon, or on board of a vessel. What happened to
Rabban Gamaliel and R. Aqiba when they were on board of a vessel, and
Whether a Succah can be made on the
the latter made there a Succah.
back of a camel. Can a living animal be used as a wall to the Succah ?
How is it with an elephant a living or dead one ? How is the law about a
If
one likes
partition not
to the
How
made by human hands,
Succah
is it
?
If
if it can be considered
legally as a wall
one makes a Succah between trees which form side-walls.
about the delegates for religious purposes
are they obliged to or
exempted from the duty of the Succah ? How is it with a mourner, with a
bridegroom and his attendants, concerning the duty of the Succah ? How
is it with those who are on the road in the day-time, and those who are on
How
with the watchman of a tower,
How is it about those who are
Zakkai did when two dates were
is
the road in the night-time only.
or the gardens ? How is it with the sick
it
?
What Rabban Johanan b.
?
brought to him to taste out of the Succah, and Rabban Gamaliel when ajar
of water was brought to him when he was out of the Succah
and what
R. Zadok did when food less than the size of an egg was brought to him out
afflicted
;
of the Succah,
26-33
meals must be eaten in the Succah
during the seven days ? The difference of opinion between R. Eliezer and
How they both deduce it from the passages of the
the sages on that point.
Scriptures. If one makes amends with extra dishes in the Succah, has he done
The manager of the house of Agrippa the king asked R. Eliezer
his duty ?
about his two Succahs and his two wives, which he had in two different cities
in Palestine, and what the latter answered. If it is allowed to build a Succah
in the intermediate days, and what is to be done when a Succah becomes
ruined during the seven days. Can one fulfil his duties in his neighbor s Suc
cah, or must each one have his own Succah ? What R. Eliezer said to R. Ilai
MISHNAS
VIII. to X.
when he came to
when he took his
visit
him
How many
There was not one
Lud. What happened to R. Eliezer
booth of R. Johanan bar Ilai in the city of Kisri.
Israel from which a judge did not descend (see
in the city of
rest in the
tribe in
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vii
the explanation of it, p. 35, footnote).
What happened to the same when he
took his rest in Upper Galilea, and was asked thirty Halakhas about the law
What was said of Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai the Master of
R. Eliezer, of all his habits and customs, and fhat R. Eliezer his disciple
conducted himself similarly. About the eighty disciples of Hillel the Elder.
of the Succah.
Who
was the greatest of
What
latter.
and who the
all,
least,
the Elders of the schools of
and what was said about the
Shammai and
Hillel said
when
they visited R. Johanan b. Hahoronith, and found him sitting with his head
and the greater part of his body in the booth, and the table was in the house.
How is it with women, slaves, and minors are they exempt from the Succah ?
What
shall be the
age of a minor
when
be considered so
to
?
What Shammai
daughter-in-law gave birth to a son during the
Feast of Tabernacles. How the Succah shall be used during the seven days
of the festival as a regular domicile, and the house as an occasional abode.
the Elder did
How
is
it
when
it
his
rains
Where
?
the finest vessels and utensils must be
kept during the time of Tabernacles, and which of the inferior of them are
allowed to be kept in the Succah. What R. Joseph did when a wind blew
the chips of the covering into the dish,
when he was
sitting in the
Succah,
and what Abayi asked him. What an eclipse of the sun means to the whole
world. When the sun and the moon are eclipsed, it is an ill omen to the
enemies of Israel, so maintains R. Meir. On account of four things the
sun is eclipsed. For four things the property of householders becomes
annihilated,
33-4
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
I.
to III.
was acquired by
test
The law about
or dried, or
if
it
l
III.
the
palm branch, the size of it, if it
was from a grove. What R. Huna
what they shall do when they buy myrtles of
said to the sellers of myrtles
is the law if a public street is roofed for the purpose of a
Gentiles.
How
Succah.
What
R.
Na hman
plained that the exilarch
and
said to the sages when an old woman com
all the sages of the house of the exilarch are
a robbed Succah. If a citron cannot be found, can it be replaced
by a lemon or not ? If the point of the citron was broken off. If the leaves
How the law is if the "twins" of the
of the palm branch were torn off.
Lulab are divided. The prescribed size of a Lulab and a myrtle. How
many boughs of myrtle ? How the law is if a bough of a myrtle has more
sitting in
berries than leaves.
If
it
was a Tzaphtzapha.
If
a greater
number
of
If a Lulab must be
the tip has been broken off.
tied up, and how it shall be tied together with the myrtle and the willow.
Of what places must a willow be taken. The difference of opinion between
leaves have dropped
off.
If
R. Ishmael, R. Tarphon, and R. Aqiba about the prescribed sizes of the
Lulab, myrtle, willow, and citron. What Samuel said to the sellers of
42-5
myrtles,
How
with a citron which was taken off a tree
less than three years old ?
What, if it was of Demai? What is the mini
mum size of a small citron and the maximum of a large one ? How is the
law if a citron has been peeled and gets the color of a red date ? If it has a
MlSHNAS
IV. to VII.
is it
How is an unripe citron ? What makes a citron unbeautiful ? The
Lulab which must be tied with its own kind only, according to R. Jehudah,
hole.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
viii
what is to be called its own kind ? The objection of R. Meir, who relates
that the inhabitants of Jerusalem tied a Lulab with gold lace, and what the
sages answered to this. What Rabba said to the men who tied the Hosha-
How
noth for the exilarch.
to prevent an intervention between the Lulab
The myrtle bough used
to be tied with it.
and the other things which are
for religious duties
citron ? With what
may
it
be smelled, or not
And how
?
is
it
with the
hands the Lulab and the citron must be handled. Why
do we pronounce the benediction on the Lulab only ? When must the
Lulab be shaken ? How is it to be shaken ? What is the law if one is on
When is Hallel to be read ? Who must read
the road and has no Lulab ?
it ?
From what chapters of the Psalms the Hallel is said. What the reader
shall say, and what the congregation shall answer in the saying of Hallel.
What verses are to be repeated in Hallel,
5-$6
MISHNAS
VIII. to XI.
common man
respects
is
done
?
in
Does
in the
manner
the
What
is
the law
when one buys
a Lulab from a
Is a citron equal to a tree in all
the Sabbatical year.
the fruit of the Sabbatical year become exchanged, if it
of buying
for its fruits.
money exchanged
and of second tithe be exchanged
and
selling
May
?
The Sabbatical year holds
both the
fruit
of Sabbatical year
game, cattle, and fowl, when they
are alive or slaughtered ? How the Lulab was used in the second Temple,
and in the country at that time, and what R. Johanan b. Zakkai has ordained
When the first day of Tabernacles falls on a Sabbath.
after its destruction.
What happened to Rabban Gamaliel, R. Elazar b. Azariah, and R. Aqiba
when the former bought a citron for a thousand Zuz, and what he did with
it.
What R. Elazar b. Zadok relates how the custom of the men of Jerusa
lem was. When the Lulab may be put in water, when water may be added,
and when it must be changed. At what age a minor has to shake the
Lulab, to perform the duties of Tzitzith, Tefilin, and his father to teach him
the Torah, and to read with him the Shema,
56-61
for wild
CHAPTER
MISHNA
IV.
The Lulab and willow
to surround the altar were sometimes
and sometimes on seven days of the festival. The Hallel
and the eating of peace-offerings took place on eight days, and the pipes were
played on sometimes five, sometimes six days. In which case was the Lulab
used seven clays ? Whence do we deduce this from the Scriptures ? Why
do we use the Lulab seven days in memory of the Temple, and not the wil
low ? Do the Lulab and the willow violate the Sabbath or not ? Can one
fulfil the ceremony of the willow with that which is tied to the Lulab ?
May
a man go more than ten Parsaoth on the eve of Sabbath ?
62-66
used on
I.
six days,
.
.
II. to IV.
How was the commandment to take the willow ful
Jerusalem ? What was said when they went around the altar with
the willow ? The saying of R. Simeon b. Jochai, that he could exempt the
whole world from the day of judgment, since he was born till that time, etc.
Must the benediction on the Lulab be pronounced all the seven days, or on
the first day only ? Shall the benediction of the time be pronounced with the
Lulab and the Succah, and when ? Come and see The usages of the Holy
One, blessed be He, are not as the usages of human beings. Can the citron
be eaten during the seven days, or on the eighth day only ? The difference
MlSHNAS
filled in
:
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
ix
Tanaim and Amoraim, if the ceremony of the willow
based upon a tradition of the prophets, or it is only a custom of theirs.
Must the benediction of the time be pronounced on the eighth day of the
of opinion between the
is
Tabernacles, which is a separate holiday ? The Hallel and the enjoying of
the peace-offerings were for eight clays. How so ? How was the pouring out
of the water ? Why the people called out to him who poured out the water:
Raise thy hand." Why were the holes of the two silver basins of which
"
the wine and water were poured out not equal in size ? The saying of R.
Elazar, that the doing of charity is greater than all the sacrifices. Charity
is
rewarded only
In three things
is
accordance with the kindness with which
in
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
sacrifices, if
it
the bestowing of favors greater than charity,
I.
and
it
was
.
is
done.
66-75
V.
The
difference of opinion about the music of the
instrumental or vocal.
pious and distinguished
II.
How
men danced
before the people with lighted flambeaux in their hands, and
what they said. After reaching the gate they turned westward what they
said about their ancestors and themselves.
The beauty of the Temple
;
which was
Egypt,
all
and how
rebuilt
by Herod the Great, and the advice which the sages gave
of the diuplustin (double portico) of Alexandria in
The beauty
to him.
that
it
all this
contained, the seventy-one golden chairs for the Sanhedrin,
was destroyed by Alexander
of Macedonia.
The
separate
places for males and females in the Temple, and how they were changed
in order to prevent levity.
About the lamentation of the death of Messiah
ben Joseph, and the death of the evil angel. The tradition of the two
Messiahs, ben Joseph and ben David, and the different explanations of the
verse Zechariah, vii. 10, according to the believers of the old tradition and
the believers of the Messiahship of Christ.
About the evil angel how he
in the beginning- and how he grows in the nature of human
beings.
the Messiah ben David will ask of the Lord.
The seven names of
appears
What
The evil angel is hidden in man s heart. How he tempts
the evil angel.
scholars more than any one else.
How Abayi watched a man and a woman
who went on the road. What one shall do when the hideousness has
The
attacked him.
judgment day.
three verses of the Scriptures which clear Israel on the
are meant by the four carpenters mentioned in
Who
Who
are the seven shepherds and the eight anointed men
4 ? The four lads who held jars of oil containing 1 20
Was it in all 120 lugs, or did each jar contain so much ? Who said
lugs.
Well be to our youth which does not disgrace our age ? and who said vice
versa ? What Hillel the Elder said when he was engaged in the enjoy
Zechariah,
ii.
mentioned
in
3
?
Micah,
v.
:
ment of the pouring of the water. For what purpose the fifteen songs of
degrees were said by David. What is the meaning of we belong to God
and we raise our eyes to God ?
76-85
"
"
"
"
MISHNAS III. to VI. How many times was the trumpet blown in the
Temple every day, and how many on the festivals ? The different opinions
of the Tanaim about this point.
When was the maximum of forty-eight
?
For what purpose were the seventy bullocks offered on the
seven clays of the Feast of Tabernacles ? And for what purpose was the
one bullock offered [Numb. xxix. 36] ? Three times in the year all the
times blown
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
x
twenty-four orders of priests were alike entitled to share the pieces of offer
?
Whence do
ings of the festival, and in the shewbread, for what purpose
we deduce that all the orders of priests had equal shares in the offerings
If a festival falls before or
that were said to be sacrificed on the festivals ?
after a Sabbath, all the
twenty-four orders share alike in the shewbread.
meant by before or after ? About the order of Bilgah, when Mi
riam his daughter becomes an apostate, and what she said when the enemy
entered the sanctuary, and what was done to the whole order,
85-92
What
is
.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
TRACT MOED KATAN.*
VII.
CHAPTER
I.
MlSHNAS I. to III. How dry and low-land may be irrigated from newly
sprung fountain and rain water, on the middle days. Is grubbing up olivetrees permitted during the Sabbatical year ?
Is one court permitted to
overrule the decision of another ? Where is it deduced from the Scriptures
that tombs must be marked ?
Messengers on account of Kilaim, when
and for what reason they were sent. The irrigating of plants and yardgardens. How to stop a gap in a fence, in the middle days and the Sabbati
cal year,
1-9
MlSHNAS
How
the priests had to make the inspection of
allowed to gather the bones of parents in the minor festivals.
IV. to IX.
If it is
plagues.
If a funeral oration
festival.
About digging
one may espouse a wife in
those days. The explanation of I Kings viii. 66, and the legend of Solomon
and the gates. The allegorical blessings of Jonathan and Jehudah the dis
How
ciples of Ben Jo hi to his son, and their interpretation by his father.
may
and preparing graves
be held thirty days before the
in the
minor
festivals.
If
Rabh
interpreted the advice of Ben Halafta to his own son as a blessing
from the Scripture. The especial labors which may and may not be done on
the middle days, and also the difference between a layman and a specialist
on this subject,
9-18
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
Which
II.
may be done in the usual manner and
manner. If the property of one was fined
by the court for violating the minor feasts, and he dies, is it in force for his
heirs ?
And how it shall be done in the buying and selling places,
19-24
I.
to VI.
which must be changed
labors
in their
.
CHAPTER
MlSHNA
I.
III.
Who may trim their hair.
must be observed on the
festival
If
mourning and the burden of ban
and middle days. Whence do we deduce
* See footnote in Tract Succah.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
iv
power to summon, to appoint a time, and to postpone
and to excommunicate ? For what cases one may be put under the
ban, and what is the fixed time for rebuke, ban, and excommunication.
What happened to a young scholar whom R. Jehudah put under the ban.
How the maid-servant of Rabbi put one under the ban for beating his grown
up son, and what the rabbis said to that. What Mar Zutra the Pious did
when a young scholar was delinquent
25-34
that the court has
trials
MISHNAS
II.
bonds and debts.
to VII.
What documents
are allowed to be written.
About
Do the days of the festival post
Phylacteries, etc.
or abolish ? The difference in this subject between
About
pone the mourning
Sabbath and a festival, and as to a difference also between the festivals them
If the garments are to be
selves, and which of them enter into computation.
rent for certain relatives, and how to do it on the minor feasts.
What
happened to an Ishmaelitish merchant when the coffins of Rabba and Hamnuna passed by. The Elegy of a disciple on them. The funeral oration on
Rabina. The answer of Bar Kipuk to the question of R. Ashi What oration
he would make on the day of his death the oration on a child which died at
birth
all in
the oration on R. Zera when he has departed in Palestine
verse. To whom it must be said
"Go in
and to whom, "Go with
peace,"
:
;
;
:
peace,"
35-45
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
TRACT TAANITH.
VIII.
CHAPTER
MISHNA
The
I.
I.
difference of opinion about the mention of the
power
of
rain in the prayer on the days of Tabernacles.
Whence do we know that
of the readers shall mention it on the feast of
mention must be made.
Who
Must one repeat
Passover.
prayed
to
God
also prayed for an
MISHNA
II.
his
for things that
prayer
improper thing,
Till
what time
is
if
he
made no mention ? Three men
The congregation of Israel
.......
were not
suitable.
the rain to be prayed
for.
1-7
What was
eaten
during the seven years of famine [II Kings, viii.] Jacob, our father, never
When begin the rain fructifications ? The knowledge of the Law is
died.
an elixir of life. Why the words of the Law are compared to water, wine,
To what the day of rain is equal in importance.
explanations of the interpretation of the passage Eccles. x.
see how great are the men who have faith (see footnote, pp.
The
and milk.
10.
18,
different
Come and
When
19).
there are famine and pestilence what shall be prayed for ? The explanation
thou shalt truly tithe." When Aaron died the pillar of
of the passage
"
cloud
What happened to the disciples of Rabha when he died ?
measurements of the Gehenna and the Garden of Eden,
7-24
left, etc.
About
the
.
V. From what time in fall must rain be prayed and
The punishment of one who leaves the
fasted for if it has not descended ?
congregation when the latter is in trouble, in order to avoid it. What means
MISHNAS
the
"God
of
III. to
preceding the
What would
Who
truth."
hours considered
fast
?
?
is
called a sinner
when he
fasteth
?
Is
a fast of
what time may food be partaken of on the day
fast-days pass without answer, what shall be done ?
Until
If
the elders do
when they assembled
Rabbi by the inhabitants of Nineveh.
his clothes (when praying),
to
in the morning ?
The query
Not every one has a right to rend
24-35
.
CHAPTER
II.
the order of procedure on the fast-days ? What has
happened to Halaphta and Hanina b. Teradion ? About the days that are
mentioned in the "Roll of Fasts." On what days of the week the order of
MlSHNA
I.
What
is
may begin. Why do they congregate in an open place ? Why are
ashes strewn on the heads of all ? Who has a right to address the congrefasts
* See introduction to
synopsis in Tract Sabbath, Vol.
of synopsis in Vol. V.
I., p.
xxix.
;
also note at
end
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiv
?
What the reader has to say to each benediction. The strife carried
on between the Pharisees and Bathusees concerning the continual daily
Has one to complete his fast if rain de
offering (see footnote, p. 44).
gallon
scends
?.......
CHAPTER
36-46
III.
must be sounded. What hap
and
what
message Simeon b. Shetah sent to him.
pened
What is considered a plague causing death ? What price must grain reach
The legend of Nakdimon b. Gurion when he
in order to arrange a fast ?
borrowed water from a heathen. For the sake of Moses, Joshua, and Nakdi
mon the sun shone. The good things that R. Huna did, and what Rabha
I.
On what
Honi
Hama gel
MISHNA
to
fast-days an alarm
to say to this.
Concerning the sickness of Shaibatha. The legend of
Hilpha and Johanan when they studied together, and what they heard
What happened to Na hum of Gimzo, and the legend about
of the angels.
The men who have a share in the world to come, who were pointed out
it.
by Elijah (the prophet) to Beroka of Huzaah. An alarm should be sounded
over attacks of wild beasts, etc. For a pest an alarm should be sounded even
on a Sabbath. What is meant by the passage Levit. xxvi. 4. The legend about
had
Honi
The legend
at length, and how he slept seventy years.
his grandson, and also of Hanan the Hidden, who was
Hama gel
about
Abba Helkyah,
a grandson of his daughter. How the Amoraim of Palestine prayed for rain
and how those of Babylon did. What happened to Oshiya, the youngest
of the college, with the Nasi when he had ordered a fast-day. The merits of
for rain in the presence of Rabbi and Rabh (at
answered at once. Legends about different
and
were
places)
Amoraim who have prayed for rain that were or were not answered. The
legend at length of Hanina b. Dosa, his wife, etc. How much rain should
men who have prayed
the
different
in order that the congregation should stop fasting
with Samuel the Little when he ordered a fast
?
fall
CHAPTER
MISHNA
I.
The periods
of the year at
What happened
46-77
IV.
which the
priests shall raise their
the standing men used to fast. The days when Hallei was sung. The five calamities that happened on the seventeenth of Tamuz
and those on the ninth of Ab. What is prohibited during the week of the
hands
for prayer.
When
The festivals of the fifteenth of Ab and the Day of Atone
The twenty-four watches which were in the land of Israel. How
many watches were established by Moses, and how many by David. What
Who were the Gonebe Eli and Kotze
did the men of the watches pray for ?
ninth of Ab.
ment.
Moab ben Jehudah,
p. 84)? Who were the family of Pa hath
Whence do we know that the five calamities have happened on the
seventeenth of Tamuz ? Whence do we know that the second Temple was
Ketzioth (see note,
etc.
?
Also that the city of Bethar was con
also burned on the ninth of Ab ?
quered on that day ? What is allowed to eat on the afternoon of the eve of
the ninth of Ab ? Which ordinance of mourning is applicable to the ninth
of Ab? The custom of Jehudah bar Ilai on the night preceding the ninth
What occurrence makes the fifteenth of Ab a festival ? What
Elazar has to say about the ring of righteousness that the Holy One, blessed
be He, will make in the future in the Garden of Eden,
78-92
of Ab.
.
.
.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
TRACT MEGILLA.
VIII.
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
fifteenth of
I.
The Megilla is to be read from the eleventh till the
so ? Which cities are considered walled since the
Nun. By whom was made the Targum on the Pentateuch
and
Adar.
I.
II.
How
time of Joshua b.
and by whom that of the Prophets. What the Heavenly voice said then
and how the ground of Palestine trembled. Who were the men who were
with Daniel [Daniel, x. 7] ? Who are obliged to hear the reading of the
Megilla ? Which has the preference, the study of the Law or the reading of the
Megilla ? Are women obliged to hear the Megilla read ? What must be
considered a large town ? What Rabbi used to do on Purim, the seventeenth
of
Tamuz, and how he has abolished
planation of the passage Zechar.
sage Ps.
cxl. 9.
MlSHNA
Also what
When
III.
is
to
and
ex
also the explanation of the pas
be inferred from Habakkuk,
the Megilla
The
the fast on the ninth of Ab.
ix. 7,
was read
in the first
i.
13,
.
Adar and
1-14
after
wards the year was declared intercalary. The request that Esther sent to
the sages.
The Book of Esther was dictated by the Holy Spirit. Whence
is this deduced ?
The obligation of sending portions to friends and to give
In what characters and language the Megilla must be
charity to the poor.
written ? When is the festival meal on Purim to be eaten ?
14-17
.
MlSHNAS
.
IV. and V.
Enumerate the difference of a number of things
between one another, among them the difference of the Greek language and
others, and why it has preference over all others except Hebrew. The tradi
men
Assembly about the passages beginning with
came to pass). What a bride who is chaste in the
house of her husband s parents deserves. The enumeration of the passages
with which the different Amoraim began their lectures on the Book of Esther.
The analysis of the name Ahasuerus," and what the different sages had to
Is it to his credit or to his dis
say about it. He was a self-made king.
credit ?
The three kings that reigned over the whole world. Why was
Cyrus called the anointed of God ? Why does the Bible sometimes name
Persia before Media and sometimes vice versa f By what sins did the Is
raelites incur the decree of Haman in that age ?
Who was Memuchan ?
Why was Mordecai called Benjamite and Judean ? The interpretation of
the names mentioned in the Chronicles without any explanation. Why did
tion of the
the
word
of the Great
"
Vahi"
(and
it
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
Esther not reveal her nationality
?
How the Lord
and of Esther.
Saul,
and the servants of
The reward
makes wroth
their masters in order to
explanation of the calamities of Hainan.
Haman. The explanation of the passage,
God."
The seven prophetesses in Israel.
Who
was Hathach
Why
?
modesty of Rachel, of
the masters of their servants
do good
"There
is
of Ahasuerus and
not any rock like our
Pride does not become
Haman
Abahu
detail
to the feast,
mentioned
sixth
in Ezra,
ii.
2,
the
fifth,
women.
and what
Why Israel resembles earth
about the conversation which
?
Esther had with Ahasuerus before the hanging of Haman.
decai
The
to the upright.
The parable
did Esther invite
Elijah, the prophet, said about this to
and why stars ? All the lecturing in
for the
v
and
in
Why
Nehemiah,
vii.
is
Mor-
7,
the
17-44
?
CHAPTER
II.
MISHNAS I. and II. Whence do we deduce that anyone that reads the
Megilla in an irregular manner does not fulfil his duty, that the Patriarchs
must be mentioned in the prayer, that the Megilla must not be read by
and that the name of the Lord must not be blessed any more
heart,
after the
How
is it known that God
pronunciation of the eighteen benedictions ?
called Jacob "El"?
Regulations concerning the reading from Assyrian
If the inhab
characters, from writing in ink, and not to make long pauses.
itants of
which
is
an open town had gone to a walled town. If one reads the Megilla
bound together with other books. How the schoolmen repudiated
Halakha in the name of Johanan,
45-54
MISHNAS III. to V. Who is qualified to read the Megilla ? Which acts
may not be done before sunrise on the day on which they are obligatory,
and which may be done during the whole of the day on which they are obliga
the statement of an
tory,
.
.
.
54-56
.
CHAPTER
III.
MISHNAS I. to VI. Is the Megilla to be read sitting or standing ? What
benediction must be pronounced before and after the reading ? Regulations
concerning the men to be called to read the Holy Scrolls in the prayer houses
on the prescribed days, and their number on each day.
What
when men come
finished
the benediction for
when
the
name
of
is
to
be done
What is
synagogue
mourners ? The number of men that must be present
God is mentioned in a benediction. How many verses
into the
after the prayer
is
?
Holy Scrolls ? Who is allowed
a priest whose hands are deformed raise his hands
to bless the congregation ?
If one say he will not minister at reading desk
If one say in his prayer, "The
in colored clothes.
good shall bless Thee
must each read who
is
to act as minister
May
?
called to read in the
"
(see note, p. 67).
and which are
to
Which
portions of the
Torah must be read and explained,
be read without explanation
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
I.
to III.
?
57-69
IV.
Regulations concerning the investment of the proceeds
of a sale of sacred public property.
May one prayer house be exchanged for
another ? Which articles used in a religious duty may be cast away, and
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vi
which must be hidden
May
old
?
What
Holy Scrolls be sold
?
disposition of the Holy Scrolls when rotten
When are Holy Scrolls allowed to be sold
?
?
Rules of contribution to charity by a visitor of a town. May sacred public
property be sold to private individuals ? The replies of many sages when
they were questioned for the reason of their longevity. What is forbidden
to be done in a prayer house, and may a man go in there for the purpose of
What is meant by the saying
Come and see how the
protecting himself against rain or sunshine
Mishna: "Who uses the crown is
lost"?
Israelites are beloved before the
etc.
of the
the
Mount
Sinai,
Holy One,
?
The Heavenly
voice about
70-81
Treat about the portions of the Bible which are to
be read on the Sabbaths beginning two weeks before Purim up to Passover,
on each day of the Passover, and on each day of the other festivals, and the
different opinions about this,
81-90
MlSHNAS
IV. and V.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
VOLUME
CHAPTERS
VIII.
to III.
I.
How
One who
EBEL RABBATHI.
is in
agony of death
is
regarded as alive
the inhabitants of a village greet each
respects.
shall a suicide be buried,
other if a death occurs in their community ?
in
all
so?
May
How
and who
is
considered such
?
Suicide of a minor.
The
burial of one judi
That of one separating himself from the congregation,
and of those stealing the duties. At what age are poor children to be
lamented, and at what age rich ones ? The funeral meal. At what age is
death considered Kareth (short life)? The days of sickness. The legend
about the conversation of the Angel of Death with many of the Amocially executed.
raim,
.............
CHAPTERS
IV. and V.
Who
are considered relatives of the
i-ll
first
and
second degrees ? The regulations of an Onen (a mourner before the burial
Over
of the dead), and the period of Aninuth (see Commentary, p. 13).
what relatives priests and high-priests may defile themselves. The decision
of the sages as to the exhumation of a body for the purpose of examination
For what purposes the high-priest may
as to age, and the reasons therefor.
Who is considered a Meth-Mitzvah (see Com
or may not leave Palestine.
mentary, p. 17), and what shall be done with him, and how a Meth-Mitzvah
was the incident which caused R. Aqiba to be counted among the wise.
What work may and what may not be done by a mourner. What must be
observed during the seven, the thirty days, and during the whole year of
The exact periods for weeping, lamenting, not to calender
mourning.
Whence is it
clothes, and not to cut the hair, which must not be exceeded.
When one mourning suc
deduced that mourning lasts for seven days ?
ceeds another. The regulations concerning the ban and for how many days
it
.........
shall continue,
CHAPTERS
may wash, and
if
he
house, and what seat
done with mourners and others having trouble
Ordinances
12-23
What a mourner may read, what clothes he
may or may not wear shoes. When he may leave his
he may occupy when in the prayer-house. What was
VI. and VII.
in detail
when entering
the Temple.
relating to calendering clothes, cutting the hair, etc.,
during the thirty days. What happened to Mar Samuel with his
brother Pin has during their mourning. The period after which it is allowed
to remarry after the death of one s wife,
23-30
etc., etc.,
.....
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
iv
CHAPTERS
made
and IX. The different opinions about the canopy that
a dead bridal couple, and what eatables may be destroyed
The execution of Simeon, Ishmael, Aqiba, etc., and the
in their honor.
lamentation over them by the sages, in detail. The a fortiori conclusion,
is
to be
VIII.
for
drawn from many
biblical passages,
how
a
man must
avoid to
come
in
con
About what dead relatives must one rend his
subjects.
garments, and the rending of garments over scholars, chiefs of a college, etc.
When the rent may be mended. The size of the rent. If a mourner travels
tact
with
evil
from one place
CHAPTERS X.
mourner
ers.
is
exempt.
in
obligation of lowering the couches and
The saving of the garment
proper condition.
30-45
From
the performance of
what
religious duties a
The funeral meal. The standing in line of the consol
what may not be discussed in the presence of a dead
to XII.
What may and
The
The
to another.
when they may be placed
which was upon the dead,
and poor people and that of scholars, and what
Aqiba when his son died. The difference in the burial and
lamentation of a man and a woman. The preference of way of a bridal
procession over that of a funeral, and what happened to King Agrippa. The
sweeping and the besprinkling of a mourner s house. A recent and remote
The different societies that were in Jerusalem for attending
information.
body.
happened
burial of rich
to
weddings or
funerals, etc.
The
four sages that
came
to console
R. Ishmael
and what they said. When the consolers are permitted
About the burial of the bones of two dead bodies in
to speak consolation.
one grave. The saying of R. Eliezer b. Zadok as to what his father com
manded him in regard to his burial, and what Abba Saul said in his will to
his son.
When a hearse is used. What Hanina b. Teradion did when his
son was executed as a robber
45~57
when
his sons died,
CHAPTERS
bones
is
XIII.
exempt.
From what religious duties a gatherer of
places in which bones and the Scriptures must be
and XIV.
The
placed when being removed. When is it allowed to remove a corpse from
one grave to another ? If it is allowed to bury two corpses, or one corpse and
bones of another corpse, in one grave. If benefit may be derived from a
How a cemetery must
building over a vacant grave or from a vacant coffin.
If graves may be changed from one family to
not be considered "vilely.
The three
Is occupancy (Hazakah] considered with graves ?
another.
A cemetery which surrounds the city on three
different kinds of graves.
sides.
The seven standings and sittings after the burial. The ten goblets
of wine that the sages have ordered in the house of a mourner. What shall
be said in the fourth meal benediction in the house of a mourner ?
SECTION NEZIKIN (JURISPRUDENCE).
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT ABOTH (FATHERS OF THE
SYNAGOGUE).
[Several requests have been received by the translator that an index should be
to the volumes of the Talmud, as is customary with all modern works.
It
would be an utter impossibility to give a complete index of everything contained in
made
the Talmud.
Were
this could easily
it
like other scientific
be done
;
but with the
works, which treat each subject separately,
it is different.
On one page many
Talmud
may be discussed, and again a single subject may occupy
The Talmud, therefore, has never had an index.
different subjects
pages.
several
After careful examination of the volumes, page by page, it has been decided to
a synopsis, i.e., to give briefly the heads of the discussions and conversations
make
upon each Mishna, indicating the page where the Mishna is to be found, and the
Gemara of each one, which serves as a commentary. By this the reader should be
able to refer to what he desires to know.
A
is therefore given of every Mishna which discusses a
single subject,
accompanying Gemara in this volume, the Tosephtha but when several
short Mishnas cover the same subject, a single synopsis is given of the whole, includ
ing the Gemara of each one and where a chapter is short, a synopsis of the whole
with
synopsis
its
;
;
chapter
is
This
made, without dividing
is
it
into Mishnas.
the best that can be done, and
it
is
hoped that readers
will find
it
satis
factory.]
CHAPTER
I.
MISHNA A. The Great Assembly
Be deliber
originated three maxims.
The books of Proverbs, Song of Songs, and
How was Adam created ? Why was Adam
created on the last hour of the sixth day ? On the same day on which he
was formed, on the very same day his countenance was created. Accord
Be deliberate in judgment" means not to have an irascible
ing to others:
manner. Erect safeguards for the Law. The safeguard of the Lord, of
Adam the First. The legend about Eve and the serpent, etc. The ten
How
so
ate in judgment.
Ecclesiastes were hidden.
?
"
curses with which Eve was cursed at that time.
same trough ?
The tradition about
of Noah, and the ram sacrificed by Abraham,
"
out of the
Shall
and
my
cattle eat
....
the steer
"
I
the ox of
Adam,
i-n
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xii
CONTINUATION OF CHAPTER II. OF TOSEPHTHA. What is the safeguard
Torah made to its words ? What Elijah the prophet answered the
widow of the scholar who died in the prime of his life. What is the safe
guard that Moses made to his words ? The reason why Moses broke the
Tables ? What is the safeguard that Job made to his words ? The safe
guard that the prophets made to their words. The safeguard that the Hagiographers made to their words. The safeguard that the sages made to their
that the
............
words,
CONTINUATION OF CHAPTER
coin from charity when not in need
III.
Whoever
OF TOSEPHTHA.
11-19
takes a
of it, etc.
Study the Law in thy old age,
thou hast studied it in thy youth. If you gave a coin to a poor man
in the morning, and another one begs of you in the evening, give him also.
What happened to a poor man with R. Aqiba. What happened to Benja
even
if
min the
...........
Just,
MISHNA B. The motto of Simeon the
Upon service, how so ? Upon bestowal
hanan
of
19-21
so ?
Upon the Torah, how
Rabban
favors, how so ?
Just.
mankind
Jo-
one from
22-26
the other,
MISHNAS C AND D. Be not like slaves who serve their masters for the
sake of compensation. Let the fear of Heaven be upon you. Let your house
How did R. Aqiba begin his wonderful
be the meeting place of the wise.
career ? Not less astonishing was the literary career of R. Eliezer. How
his father Hyrkanus reached the seats of Ben Zizith Ha Kesseth, Nakdimon
b. Gurion, and Calba Shebua,
26-32
AND F. Let thy house be wide open for the poor. When the
MISHNAS
Teach thy house humility
great affliction came upon Job, he prayed, etc.
Get thee a wise teacher. Judge
the different explanations of this saying.
everyone from his favorable side. The legend about a maiden who was led
Not only were
into captivity and the pious men who went to redeem her.
the upright of former times themselves very strict and particular, but also
b.
Zakkai and Vespasian.
In three things
differ
.
E
their cattle
were
The
ass of R.
Hanina
b.
Dosa,
32-38
Slanderers are pun
ished with plagues.
The legend about Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Do not
consider thyself exempt from God s chastisement,
38-41
MISHNAS
K. Make thyself not as those that predispose the Judges.
MISHNA
G.
so.
Keep
.
.
.
aloof from a wicked neighbor.
....
HTO
how so ? Do not care for superiority. See to it that your name
known to the Government. Ye wise, be guarded in your words.
Love peace how so ? Moses desired to die the same death Aaron did
how so ? The legend of the death of Moses, at length. Pursue peace how
so ? Love all men too, and bring them nigh unto the Law,
41-50
MISHNAS L TO Q. If I do not look to myself, who will do so ? And if
not now, when ? He who does not desire to learn from his masters is not
worthy to live. He who increases not, decreases how so ? He who serves
Love work
be not
.
.
himself with a tiara perishes. Fix a time for study. Promise little and do
much. Receive everyone with friendly countenance. Make a master to
have never found anything better for a man than silence."
Three things support the world. The disciples of Hillel of R. Johanan b.
Zakkai what was said about them and what they used to say. The con
thyself.
"I
;
solation of R.
Johanan
b.
Zakkai by his disciples when his son died.
Thy
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
fellow
s
honor must be as dear
to thee as thine
own.
xiii
Do
not allow thyself
be easily angered. The two proselytes that came before Hillel and
Shammai. Repent one day before thy death,
50-58
....
to
CHAPTER
II.
MlSHNAS A TO M. In choosing the right path, see that it is one which
honorable to thyself and without offence to others. All who occupy them
Do His
selves with communal affairs should do it in the name of Heaven.
Pass
will as if it were thy own, that He may do thy wil is if it were His.
is
not judgment upon thy neighbor until thou hast put thyself in his place.
The boor can never fear sin, and the ignorant can never be truly pious.
The more feasting the more food for worms. What is the best thing to cul
Which is the evil way a man should shun. Warm thyself before
tivate.
An envious eye, evil propensities, and misanthropy
the light of the wise.
man out of the world. The legend about Joseph the Just, R. Zadoq,
drive a
R. Aqiba, R. Eliezer the Great,
evil propensities.
etc.
How
difficult
Love everyone except the
leaders, and the informers.
thine own,
Thy neighbor s
it is
for
man
to avoid the
infidels, the enticers, the mis-
property must be as sacred as
58-65
Set thyself to learn the Law. Johanan b. Zakkai and the
daughter of Nakdimon b. Gurion. Let noble purpose underlie thy every
action.
The sages who were recounted of R. Jehudah the Prince. How
MlSHNA N.
they were
named by
Issi b.
65-70
Jehudah,
CHAPTER
III.
A
TO V. Consider three things, and you will not fall into
MISHNAS
Pray always for the welfare of the Government. Whoever
transgression.
Render unto God what belongs
takes the words of the Torah to his heart.
to
thou and all thou hast are His. Whomsoever fear of sin pre
wisdom prevails. He whose works are in excess of his wisdom,
wisdom will endure. Be pliant with thy chief. Receive every man with
Him,
for
cedes, his
his
cheerfulness.
Mockery and
frivolity
are the forerunners of immorality.
The world is judged by grace.
given.
possess is merely a trust. Without knowledge of religion there
can be no true culture, and without true culture there is no knowledge of
Everything
All that
religion.
dom
is
foreseen and free will
is
we
Qinim, canons, astronomy, and geometry are after-courses of wis
70-81
CHAPTER
IV.
A TO P. Who is a wise man ? He who learns from every
Despise no man, and consider nothing as too far removed to come to
Be exceedingly lowly of spirit. Wear not the law of God as a crown
MlSHNAS
body.
pass.
to exalt thyself withal.
Judge not alone, for none may judge alone save One.
Whatsoever congregation is for the sake of Heaven will in the end succeed.
Let the honor of thy disciple be as dear unto thee as the honor of thine asso-
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiv
ciate.
Be
careful in thy study, for error in study counts for an intentional
81-86
sin,
MISHNA
Q. Neither the security of the wicked nor the afflictions of the
are within the grasp of our understanding. Be beforehand in
righteous
saluting every man.
Be the
lion s tail rather
than the fox
s
head.
Do
not
seek to appease thy friend in the hour of his passion. Look not upon the
Envy, sensuality, and ambition destroy
pitcher, but upon what it contains.
Accept not the assurance of thy passions, that the grave will be a
place of refuge for thee. Without thy consent wert thou created, born into
the world without thy choice. Thou art living without thine own volition,
life.
without thine approval thou wilt have to die. About the death of Eliezer
Set something apart for charity, before you are compelled to do
the Great.
Lower thy seat two or three rows from the place you intend
so by others.
There are three persons whose life is not worth living. The
to occupy.
safeguard for honor is refraining from laughter. The safeguard for wisdom
Whoever marries a woman not suitable to him transgresses five
is silence.
Do not be as the lintel, which no hand can reach,
negative commandments.
etc.,
86-95
Q. (continued). Those that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.
support of the wise, etc. Do not keep away from a precept which has
MISHNA
The
Let the honor of thy disciple, etc. There is grain in Judea, straw
and chaff on the other side of the Jordan. There is no love such
There is no wisdom such as the wisdom of man
as the love of the Torah.
Whoever maintains peace in his own household, etc. The words of
ners.
no
limit.
in Galilee,
Torah are as
the
if
difficult to
acquire as silken garments and are lost as
which are done in private shall be done as
All those things
easily as, etc.
they were done publicly. Do not isolate thyself from the community.
Whoever constitutes the
disciples are divided into three classes, etc.
The
the chief good, and considers worldly affairs as a secondary thing,
Conciliate not thy friend in the hour of his anger. The scholars are
divided into four classes One studies but does not teach others, etc. If
Torah as
etc.
:
one honor his friend for pecuniary considerations, he will in the end be dis
missed in disgrace, etc. On account of the four different means of forgive
ness, etc.
Repentance must be to every one of them. However, one who
has profaned the name of heaven has not the power to repent. Wherefore
do scholars die before their time. Be careful in greeting thy neighbors.
He who neglects the words of the Law on account of his riches. There is a
One who connects himself
case where one transgresses ignorantly, etc.
with transgressors, etc. The punishment of the liar is that even when he
tells the truth he is not believed,
95-103
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
A
TO G. By
purpose is this stated
to the whole creation
all
V.
?
?
ten sayings the world was created. For what
is it deduced that a
single person is equal
The Holy One, blessed be He, showed unto Adam
Whence
succeeding generations, together with their preachers, directors, leaders,
prophets, heroes, criminals, and their pious.
Nine hundred and seventy-
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xv
four generations before the creation of the world, the Torah was already
He created in man all that he created in his world how so ?
written, etc.
Ten generations were there from Adam to Noah. For what purpose was
this stated ?
The Lord said I will not equal the evil thoughts to the good
thoughts so long as their fate has not yet been sealed. Ten generations
were there from Noah to Abraham. For what purpose was it necessary to
With ten temptations was Abraham our father tempted. They
state this ?
:
are as follows, etc. In contrast with these ten temptations the Lord performed
When our fathers stood by the
ten miracles for his descendants in Egypt.
etc.
With ten temptations did our
"Arise, and pass through
ancestors tempt God in the wilderness.
By means of ten trials the Holy
One, blessed be He, tested our forefathers. This sin with which the Israel
sea, etc.
ites
it,"
were
afflicted is
enough
applied to the Holy One,
Ten names of praise are
Ten ignominious names are
for that time, etc.
blessed be He.
There are two sons of the clear oil. This refers to
In the Torah there is written eleven times the word
Ten times did the Shekhina descend
when it ought to be
upon the earth. Ten degrees the Shekhina removed itself from one place to
another. A prophet is called by ten different names. There are ten names
Ten are called living." Ten miracles were wrought
for the Holy Spirit.
applied to the idols.
Aaron and Messiah.
"she"
"he."
"
for
our fathers
in
Egypt
103-115
Ten miracles were performed for our forefathers in
Jerusalem. Jerusalem never was defiled by leprosy. How Kimchith, the
mother of R. Ishmael, saw her two sons as high-priests on the same day.
The men of Sodom have no share in the world to come. About Kora h and
The Lord killeth, and maketh alive he bringeth down to
his company.
has reference to them. The generation of the
the grave, and bringeth
Gather together unto me my pious servants, who make a covenant
desert.
with me by sacrifice," has reference to them. The ten tribes have no share
As the day is first dark
in the world to come.
R. Aqiba, however, said
and then lightens up, so also their darkness will be followed by light." The
MISHNAS
//"TO
O.
"
;
up,"
"
"
:
There are three
following seven have no share in the world to come, etc.
kings and four commoners who have no share in the world to come. Absa
lom has no share
in the
world
come.
to
Seven things mark the
clod,
and
seven there are for the sage. There are seven creations of as many grades
Man possesses six qualifications, three of which belong also
of importance.
and three to the angels. The evil spirits possess six qualifica
which belong to man. There are seven sorts of hypocrites.
That which is hidden is only so from human beings, but not from Heaven.
There are seven things which, if used moderately, are wholesome to the
body, and if in excess are the reverse. With seven things God created the
world. Seven attributes are serving before the throne of Grace. There are
to the beast,
tions, three of
seven dwelling-places.
A
wise
man
does not speak before those
who
sur
and does not interrupt another in his
pass him in wisdom and years
speech admits the truth, etc. Seven kinds of punishments come on account
;
;
About the execution of R. Simeon b.
Gamaliel and R. Ishmael b. Elisha the high-priest. Captivity comes upon
Five are not to be forgiven. Four kinds of views are held
the world, etc.
of seven cardinal transgressions.
by men concerning property,
115-131
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xvi
MlSHNAS PTO GG. There are four kinds of dispositions among men.
There are four kinds of pupils. There are four kinds of chanty -givers.
There are four kinds of visitors of the house of learning. There are four
kinds of the disciples of the wise.
Love inspired by ulterior motives, etc.
Whatsoever gainsaying is for the sake of Heaven will have good results.
Whosoever causes many to be righteous, sin prevails not over him. In
whomsoever are the following three things, he is a disciple of Abraham, etc.
Be courageous as the panther, light-winged as the eagle, swift as the deer,
and strong as the lion. One five years old should study Scripture, etc.
Turn it and turn it again, for everything can be found therein,
131-133
.
CHAPTER
VI.
MlSHNAS A TO R. Whosoever is busied in Torah for the love thereof
many things. Every day a Heavenly voice goes forth from Mount
Horeb and proclaims as follows, etc. He who learns from his companion
one chapter, etc., is bound to do him honor. The path of Torah, etc.
merits
Seek not greatness for thyself, and desire not honor. Greater is Torah than
the priesthood, and than the kingdom.
There are four things which bear
good fruit in this world. A meritorious act has both principal and benefit.
One who causes many to be righteous, no sin prevails Jupon him. Regard
ing dreams, there are four sages, three scholars, three books of the prophets,
and three books of the Hagiographa. Every assembly that is for the sake of
Comeliness, strength,
performing a religious duty remains everlasting.
wealth, honor, wisdom, age, hoariness, and sons are becoming to the right
If thou shouldst give me all the silver, gold, and goodly stones
eous, etc.
and pearls that are in the world, I would not dwell but in a place of Torah.
Five possessions had the Holy One in this world. Whatsoever the Lord
created in this world He created only for His glory. There are three
crowns the crown of Torah, priesthood, and kingdom. Three things were
said of charitable men.
There are three different kinds among scholars.
There are three different kinds of sweat that are beneficial to the body.
There are six kinds of tears. There are three advantages in an earthen
There are three advantages in a glass vessel. The money that the
vessel.
If you do the least
Israelites carried away from Egypt returned to Egypt.
:
....
wrong to your companion, it shall be considered by you
The following articles were hidden, etc.,
etc.
the greatest wrong,
133-143
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT DERECH ERETZ-RABBA
AND
ZUTA.
RABBA.
CHAPTER
II.
common informers, the wicked, the hypocrites, the
the
heretics,
Scripture says, etc. Of the terrifying, the overbearing, the
haughty, the barefaced, and of those who develop only their muscular
Of evil-thinkers, story-tellers, tale-bearers,
strength, the Scripture says, etc.
assaults his neigh
the
Scripture says, etc.
smooth-tongued persons,
OF
bor
in
the Sadducees,
private,
and who
insults
him
Who
Who
in public, etc.
raises the prices, diminishes the measure, accepts
payment
forestalls fruit,
in large-sized
The following leave no inheritance
shekels only, and who lives on usury.
The conceited, the slanderers, and those who indulge
to their children, etc.
Who lets his
in obscene language, who are wise in their own eyes, etc.
young son marry an older woman, and who marries off his daughter
old man, and who bestows favors upon those who are unworthy, etc.
to
an
Who
betrays his partner, does not return a lost thing to its rightful owner, loans
money to another in order to get possession of his house and field, and
who lives immorally with his wife, and maliciously slanders his wife, etc.
Who
are wronged and do not wrong, who consider themselves contemptible,
and who overcome their passion, etc. Who loves his wife as himself, honors
her more than himself, who leads his children on the right path, and who
marries off his son in due time, etc. Who loves his neighbor, loans even a
amount to a poor man, etc. Who truthfully repent, who receive the
repentant into their midst, who judge rightfully, reprove truthfully, propa
gate purity, are pure of heart, are merciful, distribute charity, exert them
Search for an opportunity to do good, pur
selves in the study of the Law.
sue righteousness, etc. On account of the following four things an eclipse
small
of the sun occurs, etc.
of both the sun and the
On account
moon
of the following four things an eclipse
On account of the following four
occurs, etc.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xviii
things the estates of the citizens are destroyed, etc. Do not fret thyself to
be equal to the evil-doers. There is no sitting above, neither is there eating,
1-6
etc.,
CHAPTERS
ONE who
III.
TO VI.
bears in mind the following four things, etc., will never sin.
in the centre of which the vat of a tanner is placed.
Think of a big palace
man
Be careful, each of
Be always pleasant at your entering and
The angels, Abraham, and Lot. It is customary that,
at your leaving.
when entering, the master of the house enter first and the guest after him
Never shall a man enter the house of his neigh
the reverse when leaving.
bor without permission. The philosopher, Rabban Gamaliel, and his com
rades.
Always consider strangers as burglars, and at the same time honor
them as if each of them were R. Gamaliel himself. One who enters his
neighbor s house shall do what he is told by the host (provided it is legiti
mate). The legend about Simon b. Antiptaris, his guests, and R. Jehoshua.
If
a
you, in
allows his lips to pass only respectable words.
honoring your neighbor.
;
A man shall never be angry at his meals. Always shall a man try to agree
with the majority of the people. Hillel the Elder, his wife, and the poor
man. One shall not begin to eat the heads, but the leaves, of garlic or
6-12
onions,
CHAPTERS
VII.
TO IX.
WHEN two are sitting at the table, the elder one commences to eat first
and the younger one after him. One shall not eat before the fourth hour.
One who
invited.
enters a house shall not ask for food, but shall wait until he is
not offer presents to his neighbor, knowing that he
One should
When one who does not intend to buy is in the
market, he should not ask for the prices, for he misleads the sellers. One
should not use a slice of bread to cover therewith a dish. Five things said
Rabbi in regard to bread. One who comes to the table to take his meal
would not accept them.
shall not take his portion and give
anything to the son of the host, etc.,
it
CHAPTERS
......
to the waiter.
X.
AND
Guests must not give
12-15
XI.
ONE who enters the bath-house may say, etc. How should one conduct
himself before bathing ? One who is not careful is an ass s equal one who
One must not spit in the presence of his
eats in the market is a dog s equal.
neighbor, even in a bath-house. One shall not greet his neighbor when he
;
is
washing
sidered such.
A common informer is con
road.
neighbor without cause is also con
time for the redemption of Israel
the world to come,
16-19
He who walks the
He who hates his
One who sets a definite
himself.
sidered a murderer.
through Messiah
will
have no share
in
.
.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xix
ZUTA.
CHAPTERS
I.
TO
IV.
WHAT
are the qualities of sages ? Their thought concerning this world.
have
sustained a loss of your property, remember that Job, etc. When
you
you hear others insult you, do not answer them. Love the Law love all
creatures and respect them. Love doubtfulness.
Keep aloof from everything
that may bring to sin.
Keep aloof from grumbling. Seven patriarchs are
Let all thy ways be for the sake of Heaven. Do not dis
resting in glory.
cuss in the presence of one who is greater than you in wisdom.
Accept the
If
;
words of Law, even when you are
in affliction.
Be
afraid of a light sin.
Do
If thou hast done much good to some
I will flatter this man," etc.
not say,
If others have done thee much wrong, etc.
one, consider it as very little.
Do not hate the one who reproves thee. Let it be thy habit to say, I do
not know." The commencement of making vows is the door to foolishness.
"
"
Be as the lower threshhold, upon
Fifteen customs are ascribed to the sages.
The society of scholars is always agreeable. What
all persons tread.
which
should one study more Scripture, Mishnayoth, or Talmud ? No pay shall
be exacted for teaching. Do not complain of your being less wise than
Do not complain that another one is beautiful and you are ugly.
Let your ears not listen to vain talk. Be not afraid of the court of justice on
If you perform all the commandments with joy, etc.
All that is
earth.
another.
said above
is
a warning to you,
25-27
CHAPTERS
V. TO IX.
A SCHOLAR
must not eat standing, etc., etc. By four things the scholar is
The beauty of wisdom is modesty. The beauty of noble
performance is secrecy. Four things are derogatory to scholars, etc. When
For saying benediction, the greater
entering, the greater shall be first, etc.
The first step to sin is in one s thoughts. A scholar must be care
is first.
recognized, etc.
washing, anointing, etc. After peace but not
Rather follow behind a lion than behind a woman.
Who
Keep aloof from anger. Love the poor in order
respects the sages ?, etc.
If you keep your mouth
that your children shall not come to poverty, etc.
from slander, you will spend all the days of life in peace. When you see
your neighbor has become poor, do not refuse to help him. If you lower
This world resembles the eyeball of a
yourself, the Lord will lift you up.
man, etc.,
27-31
ful in
after
his eating, drinking,
war.
THE CHAPTER ON PEACE.
ALTHOUGH
evil
decrees are enacted, one after another, against Israel,
they endure forever.
Seek peace
at the place
where you
are,
and
if
still
you do
xx
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
All manner of lying is prohibited, except
it, seek it in other places.
make peace between one and his neighbor. Great is peace, in that
the covenant of the priests was made with peace.
When the Messiah shall
come to Israel, he will begin with peace. Great is peace, in that all the
benedictions and prayers conclude with peace. He who loves peace runs
not find
it
be to
after peace, offers peace,
and answers peace, the Holy One,
etc.,
.
31-34
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT BABA KAMA
(THE FIRST
GATE).*
CHAPTER
I.
There are four principal cases of tort, etc. One thing is
They are all likely to do damage and must be guarded
The
case
of doing damage by digging up gravel. The different
against.
mabeh
by Rabh and Samuel (foot-note).
explanations of the word
There are thirteen principal tort-feasors. The depository, f etc. There are
MISHNA
common to
7.
all.
"
"
twenty-four principal tort-feasors. What are the derivatives of all those
principals? Why are the four principals, ox, excavation, mabeh, and fire,
enumerated separately in the Scripture ? From what and what kind of
property must damage be collected ? When the standard is taken, is it
taken of one s own lands or of those of the public in general ? In order not to
close the door to borrowers, the sages have enacted that creditors should be
paid out of the medium estates. If one conveys his estates to one or several
persons, from
whom and
money due them
to one-third,
MlSHNAS
II.
from what estates shall the creditors collect the
one does a meritorious thing he shall do it up
...........
?
TO
In case
V.
In all that
1-16
am
charged with taking care of I have
a more rigorous rule in case of the ox
I
prepared the damage. There is
than in the cases of the pit and the
How so ? If one
fire, and vice -versa.
charge of five persons, and one of them left intentionally and
the ox caused damage, what is the law ?
No appraisement is made for a
If one hypothecates his slave or his ox and thereafter sells
thief or robber.
him. There is a difference between movable and immovable real estate.
Slaves are considered movable real estate.
During the killing, the bring
ing of the suit, and the making of the award there shall be one and the
same owner. There are five cases which are considered non-vicious and
left his
ox
in
* See introduction to
Synopsis in Tract Aboth, Vol. I. (IX.), p. xi.
f Farther on we use the term
gratuitous bailee," as being more compre
"
hensive.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
x
five
which are considered
sume,
What
etc.
meaning
is
of the verse
vicious.
a Bardalis
Is. xxxii.
?
The
What
tooth
is
is
considered vicious to con
meant by
"
best estates
20,
CHAPTER
"
?
The
16-29
II.
MlSHNAS
/. TO III. What
tendency makes the foot to be considered
Cocks that were flying from one place to another, and broke
vessels with their wings.
Cocks that were hopping on dough or on fruit,
and made the same dirty, or that were flying and the wind produced by
their wings damaged vessels, or that were pecking at a rope from which a
water-pail was suspended, and, severing the rope, broke the water-pail
what is the law ? The distinction between primary and secondary force.
A dog that snatched and carried off a cake from the burning coals, and with
the burning coal that stuck in the cake set fire to the barn, etc.
There can
be viciousness in case of gravel in the usual way." If an animal was
walking in a place where it was impossible not to kick up gravel, and she
kicked, and by so doing kicked up gravel and caused damage or if an animal
caused damage by shaking the tail what is the law ?
What tendency
makes the tooth to be considered vicious ? It happened that an ass con
sumed a loaf of bread contained in a basket and chewed up the basket, etc.
If an animal was
standing on private ground and an article was rolling
toward the private ground, etc. About one who takes up his dwelling in
vicious
?
"
;
the court of his neighbor without the latter s knowledge.
One who rents a
house from Reuben must pay the rent to Simeon, etc. If one uses an un
occupied house of another for storing wood and straw, etc., what is the law?
A certain person erected a palace on the ruins belonging to orphans, etc.
A dog or a goat that jumps down from the top of a roof and breaks vessels
whole damage.
If,
however, they fall down, there is no
one s fire considered one s arrow or one s property ? There is
no liability for damages clone by fire to concealed articles. How can such
a case be found in the biblical law ? The mouth of an animal (consuming
something on the premises of the plaintiff), is it considered as if yet in the
court of the plaintiff? There were certain goats belonging to the family of
liable
for the
liability.
Is
Tarbu
that were doing damage to the property of R. Joseph,
30-47
MISHNAS IV. TO VI. What ox is considered non-vicious and what
vicious ? One that has been warned for three days. The three days in
question, are they such as to make the ox vicious, or do they also involve
the owner ? For one who sets his neighbor s dog on a third person, what is
the law ? An ox that gored, pushed, bit, lay down on, or kicked while on
The a fortiori argument regarding the halfpublic ground pays half.
payment of
.
the horn.
premises of the
ment money
?
An
plaintiff,
ox that steps with his foot on a child lying on the
is the law in regard to the
payment of atone
being is considered always vicious. One who
what
A human
carries a stone in his lap without being aware of it, and while getting up
from his seat drops it, as regards damages he is liable. One who drops a
vessel from the top of a roof
upon the ground which has been covered with
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xi
and if another person remove them before the dropping of the
what is the law ? Is a slave considered one s body, and an ox
pillows,
vessel, etc.,
one
s
property
47~$6
?
CHAPTER
III.
V. If one place a jug on public ground and another
/. TO
One who kicks an
it and break it, what is the law ?
over
stumble
person
with the foot, five with the fist,
other with his knee is fined three selas
what is the fine if one strike his neighbor with the handle or the
thirteen
A jug that broke on public ground and its contents caused
iron of the hoe ?
g person to slip and fall, or one to be injured by its fragments, what is the
law ? About one who renounces ownership to his articles that cause
damage. One who empties water into public ground, or one who builds
MlSHNAS
;
;
;
his fence of thorns
;
or a fence that
falls
into public ground,
and some
men used to
persons were injured thereby, he is liable. The former pious
bury their thorns and broken glass in their fields three spans below the
surface.
All those
therein and cause
who
obstruct a public thoroughfare by placing chattels
are liable. If one carrying a barrel followed one
damage
is the law ?
carrying a beam, and the barrel was broken by the beam, what
Potters and glaziers that walked one following the other, and one stumbled
and fell, etc. If they all fell because of the first one, the first is liable for the
damage of all
MISHNAS
of them,
TO XIII.
57-^9
Two
walked on public ground, one running
and the other one walking, etc., what is the law ? One who chopped wood
on public ground and caused damage on private ground, etc. One who
enters a carpenter s shop without permission, and was struck on his face by
About employees who came to demand their wages from
a flying splinter.
About two
their employer and were gored by his ox or bitten by his dog.
VI.
non-vicious oxen that
that
wounded each
other.
About a
difference in the explanation of the verse Exod. xxi. 35.
non-vicious ox that has done damage and was sold, consecrated, slaughtered,
About an ox of the value of two hundred selas
to somebody.
or
The
presented
that gored another ox of equal value and the carcass was of no value what
There are cases when one is liable for the acts of his ox and is free if
ever.
How so ? The rule is that the
his own acts, and vice versa.
are
they
burden of proof is upon the plaintiff. If one claims that he is positive, while
the other one
is
not positive,
what
is
the law
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
/.
TO IV.
An ox that
69-81
?
IV.
gores four or
five
oxen one after another,
the last of them must be paid from the body of the goring ox, if he was yet
considered non-vicious. About an ox that is vicious towards his own species,
but not towards other species, or towards human beings, etc. There is a
case where an ox became
vicious
"
in
alternate
order."
About an ox
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xii
belonging to an Israelite that gored an ox belonging to the sanctuary (see foot
An ox of a sound person that gored an ox belonging to a deaf-mute,
note).
If the reverse was the case there is
idiot, or minor, there is a liability.
none. There is a difference of opinion of the Tanaim as to whether a
guardian is appointed in order to collect from the body of the ox. Guardians
pay from the best estates, but do not pay the atonement money. About one
who borrows an ox with the understanding that he was non-vicious and it
was found out that he was vicious,
82-93
MISHNAS V. TO IX. An ox that killed a man by goring him, if he was
a vicious one, the atonement money is to be paid, but not when he was a
How can there be found a vicious ox in regard to man ?
non-vicious one.
If one confers, saying,
he
My ox has killed a certain person," or his
has to pay on his own testimony. If one s fire has done damage without
About an ox that was rubbing against
intention, is there a liability or not ?
a wall, whereby the wall fell upon a human being and killed him.
About
an ox belonging to a woman, to orphans, or their guardian, etc., that killed
a man. About an ox that was sentenced to be put to death and his owner
consecrated him. About an ox delivered to a gratuitous bailee or a borrower,
etc.
About an ox which was properly locked up, but yet broke out and did
damage. Whence is it deduced that one must not raise a noxious dog in his
house, nor maintain a defective ladder
93-105
"
"
ox,"
?.....
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
TO
/.
was found dead
appraised.
who
law
led
?
A
at
VI.
V.
About an ox that gored a cow and the new-born calf
The cow and her offspring are not separately
her side.
potter that placed his pottery in the court of another, or one
his ox into the court of another without permission, what is the
he assured the safety of the ox, did it only extend to himself or
When
?
About a woman that entered a house to bake, and the
house-owner s goat, having consumed the dough, became feverish and died.
About one who enters a court without permission and injures the courtowner, or the latter is injured through him. About one who said: "Lead
in your ox and take care of him," and he did damage or was injured. About
an ox which intended to gore another ox, and injured a woman and caused
To whom must the compensation for the miscarriage be
her to miscarry.
Does the increase in the valuation
paid, to the woman or to her husband ?
About an Israelite s pledge which is in the
also belong to the husband ?
hands of a proselyte, and the latter dies without heirs. About one who digs
a pit on private ground and opens it into public ground, or vice versa. One
who digs and opens a well and delivers it over to the community is free.
About one who digs a pit on public ground and an ox or an ass falls into it.
Are the vapors therein contained, or is the shock received by the animal, th^
also to all cattle
cause of death when falling into a
MISHNAS
VII.
pit
TO IX. When a
?
pit
.
belongs
.
to
.
.
.
106-120
two partners, and one of
them passes by and does not cover it, and so also does the second, the latter
About a pit which was ten spans deep and which was comonly is liable.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiii
pleted by another one to be twenty, and still by another one to be thirty
spans deep. Each span of water equals two of dry ground. If one dig a
direction only, what is
pit ten spans deep and another widen it toward one
One who sells his house, the title passes with the delivery of the
the law ?
If he sells a flock of cattle, title passes with the delivery of the Mashkeys.
khukhith (the forerunning goat kept at the head of the flock as a leader).
If he covered the pit sufficiently to withstand oxen but not camels, and
camels came along and made the cover shaky and then oxen fell therein,
what is the law ? What about the germon of damage ? About one who
over
places a stone on the edge of the opening of a pit, and an ox stumbles
About an ox and a man who together push
the stone and falls into the pit.
some other into a pit. There is no difference between an ox and another
animal as regards falling into a pit, to have been kept distant from Mount
payment of double, restitution of lost property, unloading, muzzling,
Nor is there any difference between the above-men
Kilayim, and Sabbath.
tioned and a beast or bird.
Why in the first commandments is it not writ
ten "that it may be well with thee," while in the second commandments
Sinai,
it
is ?
120-130
.
CHAPTER
VI.
one drive his sheep into a sheep-cot and properly
manage to come out and do damage, he is free.
There are four things for which one who does them cannot be held respon
sible before an earthly tribunal, although he will be punished for them by
Is armed robbery, when not committed publicly, still
the Divine court.
considered theft as regards the payment of double ? For frightening away
How
a lion from one s neighbor s field the law awards no compensation.
does it pay what it damaged ? About one who came before the Exilarch
and complained of another who destroyed one of his trees. One who de
must he pay ? There was
stroys a young date-tree, what amount of damage
but in his lectures,
a case, and Rabh acted in accordance with R. Meir
however, he declared that the Halakha prevails in accordance with R. Sim
eon b. Gamaliel (see foot-note). About one who puts up a stack of grain on
another s land without permission. One who started a fire through the
MlSHNAS
/.
TO
bolt the gate, but
///.
still
If
they
;
.......
medium of a
MISHNAS
deaf-mute, etc.,
IV. TO VIII. The law about one
sumes wood,
stones, or earth.
131-142
who starts a fire and it con
No chastisements come upon the world un
in existence.
When pestilence is raging in town,
does
the
verse
begin with the damage by one s
Why
property and end with damage done by one s person ? About a fire that
passed over a fence four ells high. If one starts a fire on his own premises,
how far must it pass to make the starter liable ? About one who causes his
less there are
wicked ones
stay indoors, etc.
neighbor s stack of grain to burn down, and there are vessels therein which
If one allowed another to place a stack of wheat and he
also are burned.
covered it with barley, or
versa, what is the law ? Is it customary
with people to keep pearls in a money-pouch ? The law about a spark that
142-148
escapes from under a blacksmith s hammer and does damage,
^>^ce
.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiv
CHAPTER
MlSHNA
7.
VII.
The payment of double is more rigorous than the payment
The law about one who stole a lamb, and while in his
of four and five fold.
possession it grew into a ram, etc. That a change acquires title is both
written and taught. Why did the Scripture say that if he slaughtered and
sold it he must pay four and five fold ?
stolen thing, which the owners
A
have not resigned hope to regain, cannot be consecrated, etc. The pious man
All
used to place money in the vineyard on a Sabbatical year, declaring
that is plucked and gathered of this fruit shall be redeemed by this money."
A writ of replevin which does not contain the following directions
Inves
"
:
"
:
tigate, take possession, and retain it for yourself," is invalid,
MlSHNAS II. TO VI. About two witnesses who testify that the
.
149-159
one
stole
an ox or a sheep, and either the same or other witnesses testify that he
slaughtered or sold the same. If he stole from his father. From what time
on is a collusive witness disqualified to give testimony? If two witnesses
testify that a certain person blinded his slave s eye, and thereafter knocked
out one of his teeth, and they also testify that the owner of the slave admit
ted it, and subsequently the witnesses are found collusive, what must the
If two witnesses testify that he stole it, and one
collusive witnesses pay ?
witness, or he himself, testified that he slaughtered or sold it, he pays only
One who admits that he has incurred the
two, but not four and five fold.
About
liability of a fine, and thereafter witnesses appear, what is the law ?
a confession which is made after the appearance of witnesses, and the dif
If the thief sells all but one hundredth part
ferent opinions in regard to it.
of it or he is a co-owner of it, what is the law ? One who steals an animal
which is lame or blind, or which belongs to a copartnership is liable, but
About one who steals an animal
partners that steal together are free.
within the premises of the owner and slaughters or sells it outside of it, or
Why
vice versa.
did the Scripture treat more rigorously with the thief
?
Ponder over the greatness of labor, etc.,
159-174
than with the robber
MISHNA
forests.
A
VII.
No
.
tender cattle must be raised in Palestine but in
shepherd (who raises tender
compel him
to sell out all
his
cattle) that
cattle at once.
No
its
repented, we do not
tender beasts shall be
A
ha b. Papa said
R.
raised in Palestine, except dogs, cats, and monkeys.
in the name of R. Hanina b. Papa three things.
Upon ten conditions did
Joshua divide the land among the settlers. The ten enactments of Ezra.
No swine is permitted to be raised at any place. Rabbi, the Prince of Pales
tine, objected to the use of the Syriac language, and insisted that only the
Holy and the Greek languages should be used in Palestine. R. Jose objected
to the use of the Aramean language in Babylon, and insisted that the Holy
and the Persian languages should be used. No dogs shall be kept unless
on a chain. In the towns adjoining the frontier they must be kept on a
........
chain only in the day time,
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
time,
/.
AND
and disgrace.
//.
The
How
so
VIII.
four items of
?
It
174-181
damage
:
pain, healing, loss of
happened that an ox lacerated the arm
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xv
of a child, and the case came before Rabha, etc.
When the damage is paid
If pus col
for, how should the pain be appraised separately ?
Healing.
lected by reason of the wound, and the wound broke out again, etc.
The
sages say that healing and loss of time go together. If the defendant should
will cure you myself, the plaintiff may object," etc. Shall we assume
say,
that the appraisement for the deafness is sufficient, or each of the injuries
"I
must be appraised separately?
makes him temporarily unfit
(See foot-note.) If one strikes another and
what is the law ? Disgrace all those
to labor,
who sustain injury are looked upon as if they were independent men, etc.
One who causes disgrace to a nude, blind, or sleeping person is liable. If
one causes shame to a sleeping person who subsequently dies while asleep,
what is the law ? Is the reason because of the hurting of his own feelings,
Is a blind person required to
or because of the feelings of his family ?
per
form all the commandments ? and what R. Joseph, who was blind, said of
that,
182-193
The law is more rigorous in regard to a man than
One who assaults his father or mother, but does not
in regard to an ox, etc.
bruise them, and one who wounds another on the Day of Atonement, are
To whom belongs the compensation
liable to pay all the items of damage.
received by one s minor daughter for a wound ? About an investment for
brother
a minor and the nature thereof. Is a slave considered a
The
Halakha prevails that the benefit in case of a woman who sells her right in
MISHNAS
///.
TO
V.
"
"?
the marriage contract belongs to herself
;
and
if
she bought estates therewith,
her husband has nothing even in their income. If one blow into the ear of
another, he pays one sela for the disgrace he caused him. What if one
strikes another with the palm or with the back of his hand on the cheek ?
This
is
tion.
killed
the rule
:
Rank and
station of the parties are taken into considera
May a witness be a judge in the same case ? A non-vicious ox that
a man and also caused damage to another, must his owner pay for
the damage, besides the payment of the atonement money ? All that was
said concerning disgrace is only for the civil court, as to how much the
to the
plaintiff should receive, but there can be no satisfaction for the injury
which, if he would even offer all the best rams of the world,
The
not
would
atone, unless he prays the plaintiff for forgiveness.
they
If
origin of a series of sayings by the rabbis as well as by ordinary people.
one says to another, "Break my pitcher," etc. A money-pouch containing
charity funds was sent to Pumbeditha, and R. Joseph deposited it with a cer
tain man who did not take good care of it and it was stolen from him, and
R. Joseph held him responsible. What Abayi said to him about it, 193-210
feelings, for
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT BABA KAMA (THE FIRST
GATE).*
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
/.
TO
///.
If
IX.
a change on the face of an article gives
title to
the
possessor and if it is biblically ? Would all the above-mentioned Tanaim
trouble themselves to teach us a Halakha of the Beth Shammai ? Robbers
if
they make a restitution of their own accord, it should not be
accepted, etc. There are three cases in which the increase is appraised and
I and the
the payment is with money.
King Sabura are brothers in regard
and usurers,
Did not I tell you, You shall not change
(See foot-note.)
R. Joseph bar Hama used to compel slaves of his debtors to labor
What were the coins of Jerusalem and what were the coins of
for him, etc.
Abraham the patriarch ? Labor which cannot be recognized on the body
to court cases.
names
?
of the animal as
damaging, the
civil
court cannot
germon considered a direct pecuniary
goring ox
spoiled
in its
A
it.
stones or bricks.
feasor,
and
is
absence
builder
A
loss
If a specialist
?
who undertook
May
?
make him
liable for.
Is
a
the court decide a case of a
took a thing to repair it and he
and he broke the
to take apart a wall,
butcher specialist,
if
also considered wilful, etc.
he has spoiled the meat he
Why so many reasons ?
is
a tort-
"I
think
Rabh
did two good things regarding
He prevented you from using a doubtful thing, and also restrained you
you.
from possible robbery." There was a woman who showed a coin to R. Hyya,
your brain
is
not
"
in
order."
regular
to R. Elazar, and he told him it was a good
211-228
upon you," etc.,
MlSHNAS IV. TO VII. If one gave wool to the dyer, and it was spoiled.
To be dyed red, and it is dyed black, or conversely. To make a chair of it,
and he has made a bench. Is the color of the dyes to be considered as exist
ing upon the wool or not ? In one tract is the order of the Mishna not to be
taken in consideration, but in two different tracts it must be considered ? The
whole of Section Damages is considered as one tract. If one has given money
If one buys a field in
to his messenger to buy wheat, and he buys barley.
Resh Lakish showed a dinar
etc.
one.
the
He
name
said then
:
"See,
of his neighbor.
I
rely
Kahana
.
paid
money
.
for flax.
* Continuation of
previous volume.
.
In the
.
mean time
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
v
became dearer and the seller sold it (for Kahana s benefit). One
who has stolen the value of a coin swears falsely and afterwards confesses.
The same is the case in a deposit. If one has robbed one of five persons,
and he does not know which of them. It happened with one pious man who
bought of one of two persons, and he did not know from which of them. A
messenger must not be made in his absence. It happened with R. Abba, who
was the creditor of R. Joseph bar Hama, and the former asked R. Safra to
My master, do you mean to deduce from this Scripture that it
bring, etc.
the flax
"
common
"
If one has robbed two bunches
and had returned one of them, how is the law ?
He who denies a deposit is considered as a robber. As soon as the owner
has taken an oath, he has not to pay. One who claims "stolen" on a
The three
deposit, or of a lost article he has found, must pay double, etc.
oaths first, that I have done all my duty in taking care of it second, that
and third, that it is not under my control. If a
I did not make use of it
gratuitous bailee swore it was stolen, and, nevertheless, he paid and then the
thief was found.
Where is my bailment ? Lost
Do you swear by God ?
Amen. Witnesses testified that he himself had stolen it. If one robbed his
father and swore falsely, and after his death he confessed.
I swear
you shall
have not any benefit from my estate." If one robbed a proselyte and swore,
and afterwards the proselyte died. The priests who receive the robbery
of the proselyte, are they considered heirs, or only receivers of a dona
must be
paid, or you say
of the value of a parutha
is it
?
;
;
:
!
"
tion
228-250
?
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
TO
know
/.
one
VI. If
left
X.
money made by usury
for
his
heirs,
although they
they are not obliged to return it. The brother-inlaw of R. Jeremiah, who was a minor, shut the door in his face, etc. The
testimony of witnesses can be taken even in the absence of the parties. May
of
it,
a document be approved even not in the presence of the party, or it must
not ? It is an obligation on the court to give notice to the defendant that
his property will be sold.
A messenger of the court should be trusted as
etc.
One must not be summoned by the court on the eve of
Money must not be changed from the treasury of duties, etc.
Why contractors of duty are counted among murderers. R. Ashi happened
two witnesses,
a Sabbath.
on the road, and saw a vineyard in which some grapes were ripe, etc.
contractor of the government has the right to pledge a fellow-citizen for
the duty of another citizen of the same city, etc.
If the contractors returned
him instead of his ass another one, etc. If one saved an estate from the
to be
A
Are a woman and a minor qualified to be
It happened that my mother and I were
prisoners among the heathens, and I did not turn away my eyes from my
stream or from robbers,
witnesses
mother,
?
A
child
was
etc.
telling
:
...........
250-262
one recognizes his utensils or books by another.
If a thief has sold out his stolen articles, and later it was recognized that he
is the thief.
If the thief was a notorious one.
If one destroys his own goods
for the sake of saving the goods of his neighbors.
The redemption money of
a caravan in a desert is to be charged proportionately to the amount each of
etc.,
MlSHNAS IV. TO
VI. If
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vi
them possesses, etc. If a robbed field was taken away by land robbers.
There was a man who showed to the contractor a heap of wheat belonging
to the Exilarch.
There was a man by whom a silver goblet was deposited,
he presented it when he was attacked by robbers,
262-270
.
MISHNAS
VII.
TO XII,
If
.
.
a stream has overflowed the robbed
field.
If
have robbed you, and I don t know if I have returned it to you.
One must not buy from the shepherds kids of goats, etc. And not fruits from
the watchman. One who robs his neighbor, even the value of a parutha, is
considered as if he would take away his life. One shall not buy from the
carder flocks, because they are not his property. What about the splinters
which fall out by the carpenter ?
270-277
one says,
I
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT BABA METZIA (MIDDLE
GATE).
CHAPTER
MlSHNA
7.
Two
that he has found
it.
persons
A
who
hold a garment, and each of them claims
biblical oath
sion in part from the defendant.
I.
is
If the
given only when there is an admis
plaintiff claims a hundred and the
defendant says only fifty, and here they are. If one claims a hundred, and
the other denies all, and there are witnesses for
fifty, what shall the oath
contain ? When one of the two holders overcame the other and took it
away,
what is the law ? There was a bath-house about which two parties
quar
relledone of them arose and consecrated it. When two hold a note, the
lender claims the note is not yet paid, and the borrower
says the note is
Where is "the theory of because" to be used? The law is that
paid.
leading gives title. If one was found riding upon a found ass, and another
was holding the bridle,
1-17
MISHNAS II. TO VI. If one sees an article on the road, and says to his
neighbor, bring it to me. If one picks up an article for another, the latter
does not acquire title. Why so ? If one has seen an article, and he fell
upon
If one has seen
it.
people running after a lame stag on his field. It
hap
which I am going to measure
should be delivered to Joshuah." When one throws a
purse of money through
the open door.
When a thing was found by one s minor son or daughter, or
his Jewish man or maid servant, or his wife.
When one has found a note
which secures real estate. If Reuben sold a field to Simeon with
security,
and the creditor of Reuben came and took it away. Encumbered
property is
pened that R.Gamaliel said:
"The
tithe
the benefit of humanity.
How
one buys an estate, knowing that the seller
is not the real owner of it.
If the robber after he has sold it
bought it from
the real owner.
If one says that the estate which I am about
buy now shall
be transferred to you at the same time that I
acquire title to it. When I was
about six or seven years old, my father was
the scribes of Mar
not liable either for the used
a bill of sale must be written.
fruits, etc., for
If
among
Samuel s court. If one claims a hundred zuz, and the other denies after
wards he says, I have paid it. If one finds documents of divorce, of enfran;
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vi
chisement of a slave, of presents,
What
etc.
is
to
be considered a
will ?
documents signed by the court, documents of a claim, etc. What is meant
by claiming documents ? What is called a roll ? When three borrowed from
one,
i?-43
etc.,
CHAPTER
II.
MlSHNAS /. TO VI. There are found articles which belong to the finder
without any proclamation. If there is a change in the found article which
usually ought not to be. The renouncing of hope in regaining a lost article
whose
Mar
Zutra, and R. Ashi hap
and the gardener placed before
concerning a lost article is this.
loss is not yet certain.
Amaimar,
in the garden of Mari bar Issak,
pened to be
them dates and pomegranates. The rule
Whether a number is considered a distinguishing mark
or not
?
The reason
If one
sages decided that the place is not to be considered a mark.
The following articles he must
finds a purse in the market, how is the law ?
If
(See foot-note, p. 55.)
proclaim. Three coins one upon the other, etc.
why the
one found, under a wooden wall, pigeons tied one to the other. If he found
If one has
If one found anything in a heap of rubbish.
a covered vessel.
seen money dropped on sand, and afterwards found and took it. If one
found something in a store. If one found money in fruit sent to him,
44-59
.
MlSHNAS
lically or
VI.
rabbinically
Ami happened
one
Until what time
?
it
labors for
one found books.
copper. It
a goblet of
is
is
to find a purse with dinars in
identifies the article but not its
a kind that
If
TO XIII. The returning according
food.
its
And
the article
If
marks.
if
marks given
the found article
of such a kind that
was a garment.
R. Ismael
b.
is
he obliged to proclaim ?
the presence of a Roman.
If
better to drink a goblet from the
lukewarm water.
to
it
is
bib
R.
If
of such
does not labor.
Vessels of silver and
hand of a witch than to drink
was on the road, and met
Jose
carrying a bundle of wood. What is to be considered a lost thing ?
he returned it and it runs away again. What is to be deduced from the
twofold expressions in many passages written in the Scripture ? The loss
If
of time must be appraised according to one s loss in his special trade.
he has found the animal in a stable, in a public thoroughfare. The com
mandment of the Scripture is for unloading, but not loading. How is this
a
man
If
If his
If one lost a thing, as did his father before, etc.
?
master were overloaded.
They who occupy themselves
See foot-note,
with the study of Scripture are not to be blamed, etc.
59-80
p. 79.
to be understood
father and
his
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
/.
TO IV.
A
III.
deposit stolen or
lost,
paid by the depository, of
was found, to whom shall the double amount be
etc.
paid ? A gratuitous bailee, when he said, I have neglected my duty,
There was lost a deposited nose-jewel, and R. Na hman made him pay by
If
in value, etc.
force.
Finally the article was found, and was increased
an article was appraised for the sake of a creditor, and the latter appraised
which thereafter the
thief
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vii
From what
creditor, may the returning take place or not ?
the creditor use the products of an appraised estate ? If one has
It can happen that the hirer
hired a cow and he loaned it to some one else.
it
own
for his
time
may
has a right to require several cows from the owner of one cow. How so ?
A bailee who has transferred the bailment to another bailee, how is the
law ? The Halakha prevails, that a bailee who has transferred the bailment
another bailee of any kind is responsible. If doubtful money is to be col
lected or not (illustrated in Mishna III.) ? Do you want to contradict a case
robber must be punished. If there
of deposit with a case of robbery ?
to
A
was an uncertainty of both
the plaintiff and the defendant,
how
is
the
law?
one deposits fruit at his neighbor s ? If one becomes a prisoner, may his
property be transferred to his nearest relatives or not ? The difference
between forsaken, abandoned, and a prisoner s properties. The estate of a
prisoner must not be transferred to a minor relative, and not the estate of
a minor to any relative. There was an old woman who had three daughters;
together with one of them she was taken to prison, and of the remaining
two one died and left a child. A brother of Mari b. Isk came to him and
demanded a share of the inheritance, and he said, I do not know you,
If
81-97
MlSHNAS
TO
XL The
quantity of usual losses one may count to de
Losses of wine and oil depend upon the
posited articles of grain and fruit ?
kind of barrels in which placed. If a barrel is deposited for safe-keeping, and
Peculiar
the depository handled it, and it broke while yet under his hand.
V.
the stretching of hands which reads in regard to a bailee for hire, in con
nection from the same expression in the Scripture which reads in regard
is
to a gratuitous bailee. If one
depository tied it and carried
safety with
money, unless
has deposited money for safe-keeping, and the
on his shoulder, etc. Nothing is considered
it
hidden
it is
in the
ground.
It
happened that one
money with his neighbor, and he gave it to his mother for safe
and
it was stolen.
Money deposited for safe-keeping with a money
keeping,
A depository who stretches his hand for the bailment. If one
changer.
deposited
intends to use a bailment deposited
in
his control
and says
so, the
follows immediately
liability
97-109
CHAPTER
IV.
MlSHNAS /. TO V. If one bought gold and silver coins together and made
a drawing on the gold ones, title is also given to the silver ones, but notvice
Rabh borrowed dinars from the daughter of R. Hyya thereafter
versa.
One holds that the law of exchange applies to
the dinars increased in value.
a coin also, and another holds that it does not. If one were holding some
Sell me your articles for the money I have
coins in his hands and said
If one said
Sell me for this amount,
in my hand, and the other agrees.
title is acquired, and nevertheless the law of fraud applies.
According to
whom do we write in our legal papers, With an utensil which is fit to con
;
:
:
firm with
?
Biblically,
needed
money
paid gives
to
title
Abayi, he
;
why, then, was it said that
retracts ought to be noti
who
drawing
is
fied that
he will be punished by Heaven, and according
?
According
to
Rabha he
shall
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
viii
It happened that one gave money for poppy, meanwhile the
poppy increased in price. Tabuth or Samuel b. Zutra was such kind of a man
that he would not change his word, even if all the goods of the world were
delivered to him, and he told
The above case of poppy happened to me.
Cheating, which according to law makes the sale null and void, is in case
where the sum of which he was cheated counts four silver dinars. Until
what time the retraction may take place ? The law of fraud applies to the
buyer as well as to the seller, to a private as well as to a merchant. There
If one is doing
is no cheating concerning a specialist who knows the value.
be cursed.
:
business with his neighbor in trust. (See foot-note, p. 127). How much less
of the quantity of a sala should be effaced, that the law of fraud could not be
claimed
sala,
............
?
The
MISHNAS
prescribed quantity for cheating
is
four silver dinars to each
110-132
TO X. There are five fifth parts which must be added to
the principal amount. The things to which the law of cheating does not
Does the law of cheating apply to a hire ? The laws of usury and
apply.
cheating apply only to commoners, not to the sanctuary. A gratuitous
If one bought wheat and sowed it in the field, how
bailee does not swear.
If there was fraud to more than a sixth of the value, how is the
is the law ?
law ? As cheating is prohibited in buying or selling, so it is in words.
Cheating in words is more rigorous than cheating in money. To what thing
do the western people pay more attention ? One should always be careful
with the honor of his wife. The noted legend of the oven of the Akhina.
The law is not in the heavens. We do not care for a heavenly voice. Regard
One must not
ing cheating, there are three negative commandments.
mix together
from
cles
VI.
from two separate fields.
and place it in one storeroom.
fruits
five barns,
which are
to
be sold
is
forbidden,
A
merchant may buy grain
The embellishment
of arti
132-144
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT BABA METZIA (MIDDLE
GATE).
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
/.
TO IV. What
is
V.
considered usury, and what increase?
Why
does the Scripture mention separately a negative commandment regarding
usury, robbery, and cheating? A small liquid measure one shall not fill up
manner
in a
to
make foam.
Why
is
the redemption from Egypt mentioned
Scripture in conjunction with usury, zizith, and weight ? Usurers are
That thy brother may live with thee" (but
equalled to shedders of blood.
in the
"
of thyself is preferred to, etc.). One must
i.e.,
before the market prices are announced.
The many
be done in a sale, but not in a loan, as they may appear
shall not die with thee,
not
fix
a price on
the
life
fruit
things which may
usurious. The rule of usury in transactions is: If one sells the article cheaper
because it is not yet in his possession, etc. If one has returned robbed money
with an account of other
to give, he has done his duty.
A
house
for nothing," or even for de
How so ? One is
increased, but not sale.
of an article when the money is to be paid
If for cash, you
(provided he does not say
are cases in which the use of the fruit is per
money he had
lender must not dwell in his debtor
Hiring may be
allowed to increase the price
at a certain time after delivery
creased rent.
will
have
it cheaper").
There
s
"
"
:
mitted to both, prohibited to both, permitted to the seller only. Stipulations
which may or may not be made in selling real estate. What is to be con
Does an asmakhta (for definition see p. 160) give title or
There was a man who sold an estate with the security of his very best
Is usufruct considered direct or in
estates, finally they were overflooded.
direct usury? In places where it is the usage for the lender to use the fruit
from a pledged estate without any deduction of the debt, and the borrower
sidered gossip.
not?
has a right to return the money at any time, then is the law, etc. A scholar,
however, must not do even this. From pledged estates a creditor of the
lender has no right to collect in case he dies.
Also a first-born of the lender
cannot claim the double amount prescribed to him biblically. If the bor
rower say to the lender: Stop using the fruit, etc. The different customs in
pledging real estate at Papuna, Mehusa, Narsha. Why a pledge is called
mashkhantha
145-166
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
x
MlSHNAS V. TO XL The law about giving money or articles for half
The proper payment for raising cattle-. Why R. Papa decided dif
R. H;tma
ferently in the cases of the Samaritans who appeared before him.
profit.
used to rent zuzes daily for the smallest coin for each zuz and he lost his
money. All animals which are laboring for their food may be appraised,
that the increase shall be divided equally.
One may say to a farmer: I shall
give you twelve kur of grain instead of the ten you demand, if you will
lend me some money to manure your field.
One may rent a boat on the
break he shall be responsible. One may say I
it should die, etc.
May
money belonging to orphans be lent for usury or not ? One who lends
money for a business which is very likely to bring profit with little chance of
loss is wicked for one which is likely to bring loss and far from profit, is pious,
etc. An iron sheep must not be accepted from an Israelite, etc. (for explan
condition that should
cow
take your
it
:
for the price of thirty dinars in case
;
ation see
Mishna
VII.}.
An
Israelite
to non-Israelites for usury, etc.
The meaning
The
of verse 24, Ex. xxii.
may
lend to his race
money belonging
interpretation of verse 8, Prov. xxviii.
He who takes usury will lose all his
What
is to be done with the usury promised
by or to a heathen,
been proselyted. A note in which usury is mentioned the lender
must not be allowed to collect even the principal, which he must forfeit as a
fine.
Articles for delivery during the year must not be bought for a certain
If one travelled with stock from one
price before the market price is fixed.
place to another, and while on the road his neighbor asked him to sell to
him at the price of the place he intends to go to, etc. What Samuel ordered
the grain dealers, who used to advance money for grain to the farmers, to do.
Also the order of Rabha to the watchmen. Are the rabbis consuming
usury by paying in Tishri for the wine they will choose in Teveth when
possessions.
after he has
"
"
already in good condition? I call your attention, master, to the rabbis,
head-tax charges for those who cannot pay them, etc. Seuram used
If one of a
to compel doubtful characters to carry the palanquin of Rabha.
company of three partners has given money to a messenger to buy some
it
is
who pay
If
thing, it is to be considered as for the company, and not as for himself.
the grain was to be finished with two kinds of labor only, one may fix the
There was a man who
price, but not if he require three kinds of labor.
paid a stipulated
amount
for
an
outfit to
be delivered at the house of his
meantime the value of the equipment was
reduced, etc. One may lend his gardeners wheat to be returned in the
harvest-time the same measure, etc. (for meaning see p. 184).
Hillel (the
First) says: A woman must not lend a loaf of bread to her neighbor unless
a price is stipulated for it, for fear wheat may become dearer, and then the
return of the loaf (of the same quality) will appear usurious. The Haladaughter
s
father-in-law, in the
One may say to his neighbor Help me
kha, however, does not so prevail.
in weeding or digging to-day and I will help you on some other day, etc.
There is a kind of usury which may be called preceding usury, and another
:
kind which may be named succeeding usury. How so? If one owes his
neighbor money and it was not customary for him to greet him first, before
the loan, he must not do so after the loan took place.
If one is aware that
his debtor has nothing with which to pay he must not pass him by.
There
are three who cry for help and are not heard
166-187
....
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
CHAPTER
xi
VI.
He who
hired day laborers and they deceived one
another, there is nothing but resentment, etc. (seep. 189). Whoever changes
The rabbis
his words or retracts them has to suffer for the injury caused.
MISHNAS
7.
TO IV.
hold that the laborers have always the preference.
Said Rabh
that the employer has the preference.
R. Dossa, however, holds
:
The Halakha
prevails in
accordance with R. Dossa. Did Rabh indeed say so? If one sold a field
for a thousand zuz, and the buyer gave him a deposit of two hundred, and
As to whether a deposit gives title or not Tanaim
the seller retracts, etc.
How a Bill of Sale must be written
differ in their opinions in pages 193-4.
used
R. Simeon
to
according
b.
G.
Payment
in
installments
is
valid,
though
it
If one hired an ass for use on a mountain, and he
so stipulated.
in a valley, or vice versa, although the distance for which it was
was not
it
an accident.
(in both ways), the hirer is responsible for
If one has hired an ass
responsible for an angaria ? (See p. 195.)
for the purpose of riding, and it dies while in the middle of the way, etc.
If one hires a boat
If one hires a boat and it sinks in the middle of the way.
was equal
hired
Who
is
for a certain place,
If
only.
and has unloaded
it
while
in
the middle of the way.
not be placed upon the ass which was hired for ridingone hires an ass to be ridden by a male, the same must not be
What may
or
may
ridden by a female. If one hires a
he plough in a valley, etc. How is
cow
for
ploughing on the mountain and
the plough-handle breaks, and there
has been no change in the agreement, etc.? If one hired an ass to carrywheat and he used it for barley. Which quantity of overloading makes
one responsible
to the
it
if
bearing on shoulders, to a
to a ship
skiff,
to a larger boat,
and
187-201
MISHNAS
V.
TO
VI. All specialists are considered bailees for hire.
One
out a pledge of a poor man and deduct the amount earned from his
indebtedness. If one hires a cow, how shall he pay in case it is lost ? (See
If one bought utensils from a specialist to send to the
p. 202 for meaning).
may
let
house of one s father-in-law, etc. There was a man who sold wine to his
neighbor, and the buyer said: I shall carry it to such a place, etc. Guard
for me this article and I will guard yours to-morrow; or, I will lend you, or
The two
All are considered bailees for hire, one to the other.
vice versa.
cases in which R. Papa and Rabha were embarrassed for their decisions and
were correct. If a depositary said
he has no responsibility whatever, but how is the law
you,"
Leave it "anonymously ? On a pledge he is considered a bailee
if he said
If one carries a barrel from one place to another and breaks it, he
for hire.
finally
it
was found
Leave
it
here
"
that their decisions
:
for
"
:
must swear that there was no neglect, etc. R. Eliezer was wondering how
such a decision could hold good. What shall he swear ? I swear that I
broke it unintentionally. There were carriers who broke a barrel of wine
belonging to Rabba b. b. Hana, while in his service, and Rabh commanded
Rabba
to return their
meaning
garments and pay them
of the verse, Prov.
ii.
CHAPTER
MISHNA
later than is
7.
One cannot compel
customary
for their labor, for this is the
201-208
20
his
at that place,
VII.
employees to come earlier or depart
It hapit was agreed upon.
although
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xii
pened with R. Johanan b. Mathea, who said to his son Go and hire laborers
Resh Lakish s advice to laborers in general. The legend, how
for us, etc.
R. Eliezer b. R. Simeon was appointed by the government to capture thieves.
He who would like to see a beauty similar to that of R. Johanan shall take a
silver goblet just out of the worker s, etc.
The legend of R. Johanan with
Resh Lakish, and how the latter married the sister of the former, and how
the death of both Johanan and Resh LaKish occurred.
The continuation of
the legend about R. Eliezer, how he accepted chastisements upon himself,
how he was kept unburied, in his attic, many years how finally he was
what his wife answered Rabbi (the prince) when he asked her to
burie r
marry him how Rabbi has also accepted chastisements, etc., etc. (wonderful
legends from 211-219). He who is a scholar himself and his son and grand
son are also, the Torah does not depart from their children for everlasting,
R. Zera, when he ascended to Palestine, fasted one hundred days in
etc.
order to forget the Gemara of the Babylonians, etc. Resh Lakish used to
mark the caves of the rabbis. R. Zera s dream. Elijah (the Prophet) fre
quently appeared in the college of Rabbi. (See the whole legend, pp. 222The Hagadah about Abraham with the Angels the names of those
224.)
Angels. Why did the Lord change Sarah s words when telling them to
Abraham ? Until the time of Abraham there was no mark of old age until
the time of Jacob there was no sickness; until the time of Elisha there was
no one who became cured from sickness.
208-229
MlSHNAS //. TO IX. Who are the laborers who have a right, according
to the law of Scripture, to partake of the fruits of their labors ?
Whence is
all this deduced ?
The particular law about muzzling an ox while laboring.
How is the law if the animal is sick and the consuming of grain injures it ?
May it be muzzled ? When Gentiles steal bulls and castrate them, and
return them to their owners, may the Israelites use them or not? (See
If one has "muzzled" a cow only with his voice, or if
footnote, p. 235.)
one leads two kinds of animals with his voice only, is he guilty or not ?
R. Papa and also R. Ashi told in their colleges what they were questioned
and decided not in accordance with the existing laws and the reasons. Why
:
;
l
;
;
;
;
.....
the labor of a
which he
consume
workingman
entitles
him
to
consume
the fruit of that with
If one is occupied with pressing dates, he must not
laboring.
and
vice
versa. A laborer must not consume more than
grapes,
is
wages, etc. Does the Scripture add to his wage the consuming of the
with which he is engaged ? Or is it a part of his wage ? A laborer
has the right to make a stipulation that he shall not eat what he is entitled
his
fruit
and take money for it instead. Watchmen of fruits are permitted to eat,
according to the custom of the country, etc. The following laborers have a
right to partake according to the law of Scripture, etc. There are four kinds
A gratuitous bailee, a borrower, a bailee for hire, and a hirer.
of bailees
to
:
For what
must a hirer pay
loss
bailee for hire
Abu
?
?
What
is
errant robber, took them away.
Although
case, R. Na hman held him responsible, etc.
the flock
A
is
is
an accident, but not
tous bailee has the right to
A
Abu proved
A
who was an
that this
single wolf s
was
the
coming among
robbery is considered an accident.
caused by cruelty. A gratui
make a stipulation that in case of loss he shall be
not considered an accident.
natural death
the extent of the duty of the
placed flocks at Rumnia, and Shabu,
if it is
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiii
A
freed from taking an oath.
stipulation made contrary to that which is
written in the Scripture is of no avail.
A bailee for hire may stipulate that
he shall be equal to a borrower. But how shall a stipulation of this kind be
made
verbally, only
230-248
?
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
TO IV.
VIII.
one borrows a cow, and at the same time hires or
borrows its owner, etc. There are four kinds of bailees, etc. Whence do
we deduce all this ? How do we know that he is responsible in case of con
fiscation also ?
There is no responsibility when the owner works together
with the borrowed article. (Expl., see 252.) If one tells his messenger that
7.
If
he shall substitute him
how
is
the law
another
s slave
neighbor, together with his cow,
or dies while laboring ? If one borrows
the law ? What should a husband who
in service to his
cow breaks
and cow, how is
the
if
a borrower or a hirer ? If the
body of the animal becomes lean because of the labor, how is the law ?
Maraimar b. Hanina hired mules from Huzai, and the former overworked
them, and they died, etc. If one borrowed a cow for half a day and for the
other half a day he hires it, etc. If one has borrowed a cow, and the owner
uses the estate of his wife be considered
him by
messenger, or even by the same persons
If one borrows a hatchet
?
if he has done some work with it, he acquires title to it for the time bor
rowed. Is the law concerning an ordinary man equal to that of the sanc
If
If one exchanges an ass for a cow, and it brought forth young.
tuary ?
one possesses two male slaves or two fields, one large and one small, and
I
the buyer claims
bought the large one, etc.
249-264
MISHNAS V. TO IX. If one sold out his olive trees for fuel, and there were
still bad olives on them.
Olive trees which were overflooded, taken out and
sends
it
to
his son, slave, or
of the borrower, and
it
dies while on the road
;
....
:
one has planted trees in a field belonging
owner. If one has rebuilt a ruin of
one s neighbor without his consent. If one rents a house (without appoint
ing the time) in the rain season, etc. All the terms are fixed only for giving
This notice is to be given by the owner of the house as well as by
notice.
the tenant. The owner of the house is obliged to give to the tenant a door
bolt, a lock, etc.
However, things which can be done by any one the tenant
has to furnish himself. Whose duty is it to furnish a mezuzah ? The ma
nure belongs to the owner, etc. If the year was made a leap year the tenant
reaps the benefit of the intercalation. However, if he rented him the house
monthly, the intercalation belongs to the owner. In an agreement, which is to
be considered, the first expression, or the last ? If the renter says I have paid;
and the owner claims: I have notreceived it, who of them must bring evidence?
If one has rented out a house for ten years, and has signed the lease without
a date, etc. If a man rents out a house and it falls, etc.
264-272
planted in another
s field, etc.
If
to another without the consent of the
:
.
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
/.
TO IV. One who
.
IX.
hires a field
must do as
it is
customary
in
that country, etc.
If the stipulation was made on wine, etc.
They must
also prepare together the sticks needed for the vineyard for the next year.
In Babylon there is a custom that the gardener is not given any straw.
If
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiv
was a dry
group of trees, and thereafter
him Rent to me this dry
If one has undertaken to work up a field and he has neglected to
field, etc.
do so.
Mair, Jehudah, Hillel, Jehoshua, and Jose, these considered the
language of the common people legal (although it was not in accordance
with the enactment of the sages). If one lends money to some one, he has
no right to pledge him through the court for more than he owes him.
Rabina used to double the amount in the marriage contract, etc. There
was one who undertook to work up a field, and he said Should I neglect, I
will give you one thousand zuz, etc.
There was a man who undertook a
field for poppy, sowing with wheat, and finally the wheat was worth more
than poppy. If one has given articles for business without any stipulation, and
took from him two notes, etc. If the gardener did not want to weed the field,
saying I will give you your due, he must not be listened to.
273-279
MISHNAS V. TO IX. If one took a field in partnership and it was not pro
If one hires a field and the locusts destroyed it, or it was burned.
ductive.
If that year was a year of destruction or a year without rain, etc.
If this
happened once, he has to sow it the second time, etc. If one hires a field
There was a
for ten kur wheat per annum, and the products are poor.
man who hired a vineyard for ten barrels of wine, and thereafter the wine
became sour. If one takes a field for sowing barley, he must not sow
wheat in it, etc. The explanation of Deut. xxviii. 3-6. Thirteen advan
tages can be gained by taking the early morning meal, viz., etc. Get up
early in the morning and eat, in the summer, because of the heat and in the
one hires a
field
and
it
the spring ceases to flow, etc.
If
place, or a
the hirer told
:
:
:
.
;
winter, because of the cold
?
The advices given by R. Jehudah
to the land-
surveyor about measuring land, trenches, and the space for anchoring.
Correct thyself first, and then others. All the inhabitants of the city must
If one
contribute to the repairing of the wall of the city if it is destroyed.
takes possession of a dock, he is a rascal. If one takes possession of a
field which was placed between two brothers or partners, it is considered a
To a presented estate the right of preemption does not
piece of assurance.
To a pledged estate, and if it is sold for taxes, or for the sup
apply, etc.
If one hires a field
port of a widow, or for burial, this law does not apply.
for a few years (less than seven), he must not sow flax in it.
R. Papa hired
fields for pasture,
and some
trees sprouted in them, etc.
Because you are
people, you speak frail words. Joseph had a planter
who planted all his trees for half product, and he died and left five sons-inand he
law, etc. The planter of Rabbina did damage and was discharged
came to complain to Rabha, etc. There was a planter who said
Give
descendants of
frail
;
"
:
me what
am
improvements, as I want to go to Palestine."
There was one who pledged his vineyard for ten years, and it became old
in eight years.
There was a note in which was written the year without a
worked for the half," and the
number, etc. If the gardener claims:
I
entitled to of the
"I
owner says
for a third,
who
should be trusted
?
If
orphans claim
"
:
We
have made the improvements on this estate," and the creditor claims
It
was improved by your deceased father," for whom is it to bring evi
dence ?
279-295
MISHNAS X. TO XIV. If one hires a field for the whole sabbatic season
for seven hundred zuz, the sabbatic year is included.
A day-laborer has to
"
:
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xv
money the whole night after that day, etc. The transgression
commandment comes and ceases with the first morning. One who
The
withholds wages transgresses the commandments of five verses, etc.
the same clay you shall give his wage," and also the
commandment:
collect his
of this
"In
There
shall not abide
until morning," applies to men,
a proselyte who promised not to worship idols and
not to commit adultery, but not to conform to other Jewish laws, the com
mandment applies. One who withholds wages is considered as if he would
"
negative,
cattle,
and
vessels.
.
.
.
To
If the storekeeper or the money-changer failed to pay
he return his claim to the owner or not ? Is piece-work subject
If a creditor has to pledge his debtor, he may do so
to that law or not?
If things belonging to a debtor are to be sold out,
only by court, etc.
take out the soul.
him,
may
has the court to consider which should be sold and which
all to
be sold out
?
If
one lends money to
his neighbor,
left to
him, or
he has no right
is
to
commandments
this mean ?
If
concerning [pledging]
One who pledges a
the pledge was returned and the borrower died, etc.
nether and upper millstone transgresses a negative commandment and is
There was a man who pledged a butcher knife from
guilty for two articles.
pledge him,
which are
is
not obliged to return, transgresses
his debtor, etc
7.
the
295-307
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
all
what does
in the Scripture
TO
VI.
If
X.
one owns a house, the upper chamber of which
belongs to another, and it falls. If the attic was ruined, and the owner of
the house declined to repair it. When the tenant goes to dwell in the
lower apartment, must the owner vacate it for the tenant, or should they
dwell together ? Must the party doing the damage remove the cause of it,
must the injured party remove the cause of the damage ? One is re
damage done to his fellow by things which come directly from
him (though it is the obligation of every one to keep aloof from damaging
A house with an attic, belonging to two persons, which becomes
things).
ruined the owner of the upper chamber requires the rebuilding, and the
owner of the house refuses, etc. The same is the case with an olive-press
which was placed under a garden, etc. A wall or a tree which falls sud
denly on a public thoroughfare and causes damage, etc. What time is
The same is the case with a laborer
fixed for such a case by the court ?
who was told by his employer to take the articles with which he was engaged
or
sponsible for
;
Whether looking gives title to an ownerless article or not, the
One must not place his manure upon a public ground, un
If a hewer
less it is immediately taken away by those who want to use it.
of stones has transferred them to the polisher, and they cause damage while
for
payment.
Tanaim
differ.
When two gardens were
control, the latter is responsible.
herbs
were
one
above
the
and
some
other,
grown between them, the
placed
upper one may use that which he can reach with his hand, provided he
does not exert himself to reach them. This was reported to the King
Sabura.
307-316
under
his
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
TRACT BABA BATHRA
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
/.
TO
///.
(LAST GATE).
I.
In case of dividing partnerships in a yard,
of what the wall shall be built.
where and
overlooking another s property considered
injurious ? Of what size the yard must be to be fit for division. May a prayerhouse be taken apart before the new building is ready ? The legend of
Is
Herod the great with Simeon b. Shatuh. How Herod built the Temple
without the consent of the Roman government. Concerning partitions, fences
in
partners gardens, and valleys. May or may not one be compelled to join
expenses offences if one s estate is surrounded by his neighbor s on
in the
If there is a wall, and one of the owners claims that his neigh
?
bor did not bear his share of the expense. A debtor who says I paid my
debt before due. If the plaintiff demanded his money long after due. He
who claims, I have never borrowed," is to be considered as if he should
have never paid." How and where is a parapet to be mad and of
say,
what size ? If there were two courtyards one upon the other there were
two tenants, and the roof of the lower one sank there was one who built a
three sides
:
"
"I
;
;
window of his neighbor, etc. Two brothers divided a
bequest, a palace and a fine garden, and the latter built a wall on the edge
of the garden.
There was a note belonging to orphans, against which the
other party showed a receipt,
1-16
wall against the
.
MISHNA
The sharing
building of a gate to a courtyard as well
are obliged to pay taxes and duties of a city ? Rabbi
opened his barns of grain in the years of famine, etc. How long must one
dwell in a city to be taxed ? Charity must be collected by two persons and
IV.
as to a city wall.
in the
Who
May one be pledged or not for charity ? Who of the
poor must be investigated before support, and who supported immediately
without inquiry ? What about one who begged from door to door ? The
distributed by three.
virtue of charity equals the sum of the virtues of all the other commandments
I was told
by the child who was corrected by his mother," etc.
together.
"
The one who
is doing charity secretly is greater than Moses our master.
the verse, Prov. xxi. 21, to be understood ? Whosoever makes it his
business to do charity will be blessed with sons having wisdom, wealth, etc.
The discussion of Aqiba with Tarnusruphus. As the yearly household ex
How
is
penses for one are appointed
(in
Heaven) on each Rosh Hashana, so are
his
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
viii
which nears the redeeming, etc. How may the
Rabban Johanan b. Zakkai questioned his disciples
as to the meaning of the verse, Prov. xiv. 34, etc. Iphra Hurmiz, the mother
of King Sabur, sent four hundred dinars for charity to R. Ammi, etc. If one
bought a tract of land, however small, he is considered a citizen immedi
Grace
losses.
is
charity
horn of Israel be raised
ately,
16-32
Partners cannot compel each other to divide. This is the
after division, each part retains its former name, then one can com
MISHNA
rule
If,
:
?
V.
A
pel his partner to divide.
yard must be divided
in
accordance with the
doors, etc. The four ells which are allowed for each door are for unloading.
If one of the inhabitants of an alley desires to open the door leading from
yard to another alley. Inhabitants of alleys who desire to make doors to
may be prevented by the public. Prophecy was taken away from
the prophets and was given to the wise, to lunatics, and children (how this
is to be understood).
There was a man who bought an estate near to the
estate of his father-in-law (who had no male children).
The law, Either
you concede or I concede," when is it applied ? The case of female slaves
his
the street
"
whom Huna
Bible be
to his sons.
bequeathed
bound together
What must
?
May
or
was placed in the ark, and how. The
them ? Who was Job an Israelite or a Gentile
exist, if
more
he existed at
all ?
may
not the books of the
the size of the holy scrolls be ? What
order of the Prophets, and who wrote
and
at
what time did he
Satan was
Job.
The legends about Satan and
Satan and Peninnah both intended (with
etc.
The explanation of the passages
addressed out of the storm wind, etc., etc. Why was not Job doubly rewarded
with daughters, as he was with sons and with all his property ? There are
than Job himself,
afflicted
their accusations) to please
three to
come
nated.
whom
the
etc.
Heaven,
Holy One, blessed be He, gave a taste of the world to
There are six whom the angel of death has not domi
in this world.
There are four who died without
sin,
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
and another
/.
s
?
TO
....
32-54
II.
How much space is to be left between one s property
whom is it to remove himself from supposed injury,
III.
For
him who would be injured ? One must remove a
from herbs, garlic from onions, and mustard from
Three spans space, and plastered with lime are both needed, or
bees.
does one of them suffice ? Is one allowed to void his urine near the wall of
his neighbor ? Under what circumstances one mayor may not place an oven
in a lower story of a house.
Can one of the partners in a yard prevent his
partner from establishing a store in it, or not ? At what age a child may be
the supposed injurer or
pond
for steeping flax
The enactment of Joshua b. Gamla concerning teaching of
what circumstances the claim," You are cutting off my livelihood,"
I doubt whether an inhabitant of one
alley can prevent one of
applies?
another alley from competing with him." The legend of R. Dimi s dry
How much space is to be left from one wall to an opposite one, and
figs.
taken to school.
children. In
"
.........
how much to a window,
55~^7
MISHNAS IV. TO XII. To what distance a ladder must be removed from
one s neighbor s pigeon-coop. The distance between a pigeon-coop and the
If a case which we should judge by a majority would be different if
city.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
according to proximity,
to the city
left
how
is it
when planting
to
be judged
?
a fruit tree outside
ix
How much
;
is
space
and how much
to
be
to a wild
and to a sycamore. How much to barns, to cemeteries, and
The Shekhinah occupies every place. The world is like a
balcony without the fourth wall, etc. On what side of the city a tannery may
be placed. He who desires to increase his wisdom shall recite his prayers
towards the south, etc. To a well a distance of twenty-five ells must be
left when planting a tree, etc.
One must not plant a tree near his neighbor s
one, to a carob,
to tanneries.
A tree which bears fruit to the measure of a kab is forbidden to
field, etc.
be cut down. A tree which is within sixteen ells of the boundary of another s
If the branches of a tree are inclined
estate is considered robbery, etc.
towards another s field, what is to be done ? The branches of a tree which
overhang public ground may be cut off, so that a camel with its rider may
67-82
pass freely,
CHAPTER
MlSHNA /. The law of occupancy
Whence is it deduced ? What time
III.
what it does and does not
needed for it, and how a
to
is
apply.
protest
Must the three years of hazakah be interrupted ?
occupancy of houses ? The many cases of occupied
houses which the owners claimed, brought before different rabbis of the
Amoraim who decided differently. If one claims, It was from my parents,"
I
and the other claims the same. There was one who said
possessed a
document but lost the true one, and this is a correct copy." There was
another case similar concerning a hundred zuz in cash. It was murmured
among people that Rabha b. Sharshum had appropriated land belonging to
orphans, and Abayi sent for him. One snatched a piece of silver from his
neighbor and the case was brought before R. Ami. There was a boat about
which two parties quarrelled, each claiming that it was his. If each of the
against
Who
it
should be made.
testifies as to the
"
"
:
"This estate
belonged to my parents." If witnesses testify
parties claim
that the plaintiff has loaded a basket of fruit from this field on the shoulders
:
of the defendant, the hazakah
is
effected immediately.
Is
ploughing a haza
If one has made a hazakah on the trees and another upon
kah, or not ?
the ground, has the owner of the trees a share in the ground ?
83-100
.
MlSHNAS
AND
.
There are three lands concerning the law of haza
If one runs away from a city because of crime, and one occupies his
kah.
How should one protest ? Is a protest
estate, the law of hazakah applies.
not in one s presence to be considered ? Under what circumstances the
How is it
court announces to the defendant that his property will be sold.
when he told them to write a deed of gift without an explanation ? A haza
kah to which there is no claim is not to be considered. How so ? What
happened to Anan and Kahana, who placed their fences on others estates.
If the father has consumed one year and his son two, or vice versa, or each
of them one year and the buyer from them one year, is it considered a
hazakah ? The law of hazakah does not apply to specialists, farmers, etc.
May
II.
///.
supposed to be interested in a case be a witness ? Has one
I cut
myself off from this estate entirely ? If A has robbed
lias sold it to C, then D comes with a claim, has B then any
be a witness for C ? If one sold a field to his neighbor without
one who
is
"
a right to say
B of a field and
:
right to
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
x
no right to qualify as a witness concerning it. The an
nouncement of Rabha or Papa about an article which a Gentile takes away
security, he has
from an
If one has given his garment to a specialist, the latter
two
zuz
and
the owner one.
If one has exchanged his utensils for
claiming
another s in the house of a specialist, etc.
Come and I will tell you what
the swindlers of Pumbeditha are doing."
May a gardener be taken as a
Israelite.
"
A robber neither he nor his son has
in case of a claim, or not?
hazakah, but his grandson has. A specialist or a gardener who has ceased
his profession, a son who was separated from his father, and a woman who
witness
oi them are considered, in a case of hazakah, with men
one sold his estate by duress, the sale is valid. Why so ?
Tabba hanged Pappi on a tree, to compel him to sell him his field. If wit
nesses testify they signed a note whose amount was not yet paid, but was
prepared by the borrower in case he should find some one who would make
was divorced
in
general.
all
If
him the loan.
did so only with the intention of pleasing my husband,
but not with the intention of selling
Is there no occupancy in the estate
of a married woman ? If one borrowed from his bondsman and encumbered
"I
it."
his estate for
him by a document, and afterwards he
him
freed
?
One must
If one who was the
not accept bailments from women, slaves, or children.
business man of the house, and the bills of sale and notes were in his name,
claims
"
:
All this
is
my own
"
what should be the evidence
?
Concerning
a gift or an inheritance of brothers.
Is it not the duty of every Israelite to
save the property of his neighbor from damage when seeing danger is near ?
There cannot be a better hazakah than lifting up, as this act gives title to
one
in everything.
latter
has not
made
The
estate of idolaters,
a hazakah on
it is
if
like
sold to an Israelite,
a desert.
an
If
and the
Israelite
buys
from a Gentile and another Israelite comes and takes possession of it
I was told
(before the bill of sale reaches the buyer).
by the Exilarch
Uqban the following three things: (a) That the law of the government
should be respected as a law of the Torah," etc.,
100-134
MISHNAS IV. TO X. What, and under what circumstances, collusive wit
nesses have to pay. If there were three brothers and one stranger. There
is a difference in usage of articles
in some cases hazakah applies, and in
some not. Does this rule always hold good ? The wonderful sayings and
acts of Bnaha.
Hazakah does not apply to movable pipes attached to drains,
etc.
What is to be considered an Egyptian window ? To an enclosure the
size of a span in width, hazakah applies.
One must not open windows to
the yard even when he is a partner in it.
One must not open, in a yard
belonging to partners, a door or window opposite that of one s partner, etc.
One must not make a hole in public ground.
There were enclosures from
R. Ammi s property facing an alley," etc.
When the second Temple was
destroyed, many of Israel separated themselves from eating meat and drink
ing wine. Such a thing must not be decreed, which the majority of the con
a
it,
field
"
.
.
.
"
gregation could not endure,
134-146
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
IV.
TO V. If one sells a house unconditionally. If one sells a
I reserve
he must write in the bill of sale
nothing of it for my
E owns a field adjoining A s field from east to west, and B s from
/.
"
property,
self."
If
:
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xi
north to south, and he comes to sell it, etc. If A and B were partners in a
If one sold a house with the stipulation
field, and A sold his share to C.
If one has sold the
that the upper diceta (chamber) was reserved for him.
house to one man and the diceta to another. Title is not given to a well,
although there is mentioned that one sold the depth and the height. The
between a sale and a gift. If one sold a house, he sold with it the
If one sold a yard, the houses,
door, the bolt and lock, but not the key.
If one
walls, cellars, and caves are included, but not movable property.
sells a press-house, the sale includes the trough, the press-beam or pressdifference
stone, etc.,
MISHNAS
VI.
TO IX.
the boards on the floor.
not movable property.
are needed for its use.
boundary
is
147-158
one sells a bath-house the sale does not include
If one sells a town, the sale includes houses, etc., but
If one sells a field, the sale includes the stones which
From the passage, Gen. xxxiii. 17, we infer that the
If
sold to the buyer with the field biblically.
A
depositary
who
field, if
con
claims that he had returned the bailment, etc. In selling a
tains a well, cistern, etc., they are not included in the sale
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
/.
issory note title
all
A
the debts
it
TO
V.
How
it
158-166
.
V.
should one acquire
title
to
a boat
given by transfer and bill of sale acquire
contains is traditional and also according to
is
:
?
title
To a prom
to
it
common
and
to
sense.
wagon does not include the mules when not hitched, and
the amount paid serve as evidence ? If one sells an ass,
The khumni is not included in the harness.
the harness is not included.
What does khumni mean ? If one sold a she-ass, its foal is sold but if a
bill
of sale to a
vice versa.
May
;
cow, the calf is not. If one buys the brood of a pigeon-coop of a bee-hive.
If one buys a tree for cutting it down, he must begin a span high from the
ground an inoculated sycamore, three spans a trunk of sycamores, two.
If exactly three spans, it is beneficial for the growth of the tree, etc., 167-175
MISHNAS VI. TO IX. If one buy two trees within his neighbor s field, the
ground beneath is not sold if three, it is. Concerning the firstfruit offer
If the branches were wide-spreading.
How much space is to be left
ings.
between the trees in question, that it should be considered the buyer s ? A
How should the ground be
practised act is more important for evidence.
longing to the buyer be measured ? If one has sold two trees situated in
his field and one on the boundary. There are four legal customs concerning
If one sold dark-red wheat and it was found to be white, or vice versa,
sales.
;
;
;
;
By what acts is title given to fruit and to flax ? The vessels of the
buyer give title to him in every place, except on public ground. There are
To real estate title is acquired
four legal customs concerning sellers, etc.
by money, deed, or hazakah and to personal property title is given by
etc.
;
drawing only. To a thing which is usually lifted up, title is given by lifting
and usually drawn, by drawing. If one hires a servant to work for him in
the barn for one dinar a day, with the stipulation that he shall work for him
If one sold wine or oil, and it be
for the same price in the harvest-time.
comes dearer or cheaper,
175-190
;
MISHNAS X. AND XI. If one sends his little son to the storekeeper with a
pundiun (dupondius), but the child loses the issar and breaks the glass. If
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xii
one take a vessel from a
specialist, to
The wholesaler has
cident.
Must overweight be
examine it, he is responsible for an ac
measures once within thirty days.
to clean his
given, and
how much
?
The punishment
for false
meas
harder than for adultery. It is harder for the cheating of a com
moner than for the cheating of the sanctuary. The scales must be hanging
three spans in the air, etc.
Weights must not be made of tin, lead, cassituring
is
One must not keep in his house an unjust
or other kinds of metal.
measure, even if he uses it for a chamber. If the elders of the city want to
enlarge the measures, it must not be more than a sixth of them. From the
Those who forestall
verse Ezek. xlv. 12 may be inferred three things, etc.
who are meant thereby ? There must not be exported from Pal
fruit," etc.
It may be prayed by blowing
estine things by which a livelihood is made.
One must not emi
of horns even on Sabbath, when business becomes dull.
the
of
has increased,
from
Palestine
unless
toother
price
grain
grate
provices,
erite,
"
"
etc.
When Abraham
our father departed from
this world, all the
great
remember when a
would leak
etc.,
men
of the nations stood up in a file and said," etc.
child used to break a piece of carob, threads of honey
"
I
out,"
190-203
HAGADAH.
Rabba b. b. Hana Waves, Hurnim ben
The fish which destroyed sixty cities.
The fish with two fins. About the leviathan, male and female. The ban
quet of the upright in the world to come. The bird with her head in the
The geese from which a whole river of fat was running. The Arabian
sky.
merchant who accompanied Rabba in the desert, and showed him the dead
The place where Korach with his com
of the desert at the time of Moses.
and the sky meet, etc. What R.
was
where
earth
swallowed
the
up,
pany
The well-known legends
Lilith,
roebuck of one day,
of
:
alligator.
Johanan has to tell. Jehudah of Mesopotamia. What happened with ElieWhat Huna b. Nathan told. The
zer and Jehoshua while on the ship.
canopies (chupas) for each upright in the world to come. The ten chupas
made
for
Adam
the
first in
claimed to be a God.
The
About Hiram the King of Tyre who
paradise.
increase of Jerusalem in the future,
203-213
.
APPENDIX.
Usucapio
in the
Roman Law
214
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
TRACT BABA BATHRA
(PART
CHAPTER
(LAST GATE).
II.)
VI.
MISHNAS /. TO VIII. If one sold fruit and it did not sprout, or an ox
and thereafter it was found a goring one. May the trouble of slaughtering
and selling the meat be taken into consideration ? If an ox was found killed
Between majority and hazakah,
at the side of another pasturing one.
which should be preferred (see footnote p. 217) ? All hold the theory of
If one delivered wheat for grinding to fine meal, but the miller
majority.
or if meal were delivered to a baker and he did
did not properly grind it
If one buys fruit, he has to accept a quarter of a kabh
not bake it properly.
If he sold a cellar of wine, he must accept ten harsh
of dust on a saah.
If wheat, a quarter of a kabh of peas
barrels on each hundred.
if barley,
;
;
buyer has found more than the
The difference between a cellar and this cellar,
above prescribed quantity.
and also if for keeping was added. May or may not wine which is sold in
If one sells wine, and it
retail stores be considered products of the vine ?
If one is proud, he is
turns sour. Which wine is considered an old one.
a quarter of chaff;
if lentils,
of dust.
If the
A commoner who disguises himself in the
not tolerated even by his family.
garment of a scholar cannot enter into the habitation of the Holy One, etc.
or a contractor undertakes to build, a wedding or a widow
resides in the house of his father-in-law is lighter
than bran, and still lighter is an invited guest who brings with him an
uninvited one, and still lighter is he who answers before hearing the
If
one
sells,
house.
A groom who
If one possesses a well, situated
If one wishes to build a stable.
question.
on the other side of his neighbor s house, or a garden inside of his neigh
If there was a public thoroughfare through one s field, etc.
If one
a place for digging a grave, or an undertaker makes a place for one,
the inside of the cave must be four by six, etc
215-230
bor
s.
sells
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
be sown,
return,
it
7.
TO
VI.
I
sell
you earth of the
or measured with a line.
shall
be
money.
size
whereon one kur can
In case the buyer has to make
If the seller said
the size of a kur," without
etc.,
in
VII.
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiv
sell you the estate," with a measure
is the law?
this estate
with its marks and
more or less or,
If two versions of the seller contradict each other, which is to
boundaries."
be considered ? The difference in opinion of the Amoraim in the explanation
R. Papa bought an estate said to be twenty saahs after it
of Mishna IV.
was measured it was found only fifteen. To two brothers who had divided
their inheritance came a third brother (of whose existence they were not
any addition, how
ment
a
.
;
previously aware).
If
court differ in the amount, upon appraisement brought before them.
The southern half of this field, "etc. the
you the half of the field
....
"
I
.
brothers divided their inheritance, and a creditor of
If the members
the share of one of them.
"
"
.
came and took away
their father
of the
"I
"
trifle
sell
;
seller has to give
space for a partition,
etc.,
CHAPTER
231-240
VIII.
others who
/. There are those who bequeath, and also inherit
and also those who neither bequeath nor
do not bequeath
The passage [Num. xxvii. 8] in the Scripture does not correspond
inherit.
with all that is taught above. Who were the grandfathers of Pinchos ben
Elazar on his mother s side. If one is about to marry, it is advisable for him
It is better for one to
to investigate the character of the bride s brothers.
hire himself to Abhada Zarah (idolatry) than to rely upon people that shall
MISHNA
;
inherit but
;
idolatry."
Literally, however, it is
support him. Abhada Zarah means
Is the tribe of the mother s side equal to the tribe of
service."
strange
What happened to Janai and Jehudah the second when
the father s side ?
came
together ? The husband from his wife. Whence is this deduced ?
they
Whence came Pinchos ben Elazar to have a mountain which his father did
"
"a
not possess
Whence
?
is it
deduced that the husband does not
inherit the
during her life is only heir apparent ? In the case of
a gift with the ceremony of a sudarium, whether healthy or sick, what time
241-255
may be given him to retract,
MlSHNAS //. TO IV. The order of inheritance is thus, etc. If one
estate to
which
his wife
decides that a daughter shall inherit, when there is a daughter of a son, even
What happened to
if he were a prince in Israel, he must not be listened to.
"The
Rabban Johanan with the Sadducean ?
daughters
have inherited," etc. The land of Israel was divided among
of
Z lophchod
the ascendants
Joshua and Caleb inherited the
deduced ? May or may not a disciple
from Egypt, and not among their children.
shares of the spies.
Whence
is
this
in the presence of his master ?
Why is the order in mentioning
If a woman
daughters of Z lophchod different in the Scripture ?
marries at less than twenty years of age, she bears children until sixty but
when she marries after forty, she does not then bear children. There were
seven men who encompassed the whole world since its creation until now,
How was the land of Israel divided into twelve parts, or among the
etc.
people severally ? The land of Israel will be divided among thirteen tribes.
be honored
the
;
A
son and a daughter are equal concerning inheritance, etc. How shall
double as to each brother or
the double share of the first-born be counted
as to the whole estate.
What
is the reason that Jacob took away the privi
Reuben and gave it to Joseph ? Jacob s children,
sum you find seventy however, if you will number
lege of the first-born from
who came
to
Egypt,
in
;
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xv
them in detail, you will find "only sixty-nine. In the case of inheritance of
a promissory note, the first-born took a double share, etc. A first-born does
not take a double share in a loan. The Palestinians, however, say he does.
What
is
to be
done with an estate bequeathed
heritor has sold
A
?
future, and the same is
when his brothers come to improve the
MlSHNAS V. TO VII. A will which
estate left
must not be
is
listened to
however, if
he takes a double share
first-born,"
Go
;
;
Sh kh
which the
for life only,
in
does not inherit property to come in the
the case with a husband.
If the first-born protests
first-born
who
it
"
255-271
by their father,
against the law of the Scripture
as a gift, it may.
My son is my
is
"
My
son
a
is
first-born,"
he does not.
a first-born, whose spittle cures eyes." If
two wives of one have born two sons in a secret place which was dark, and
it is not known who was born first,
they may write a power of attorney each
"
to
at
my
to the other, etc.
son,
If
is
one was known to the people as a first-born, and his
A creditor may collect from bondsmen belong
father said of another, etc.
ing to orphans for their father s debt.
be a witness (according to the law).
A
second-cousin, a third-cousin,
may
one says, This child shall inherit
or,
My wife shall take an equal share with one of my sons," he is to
be listened to. If the word
was mentioned in the beginning, etc.
How is this to be illustrated ? If one wrote, The field on the east side
shall be given to A, and B shall inherit that on the west side," is title given
or not ? All that is said in one speech is valid, except as to idolatry.
If
A shall inherit my estate," and he has a daughter, he said noth
one says
"
If
"
all,"
"gift"
"
"
:
ing
or,
;
"A
shall inherit
estate instead
my
of
my
daughter,"
or,
"My
how is the law ? A Halakha must not be
daughter instead of my son
taken for granted from a discussion or from an act, unless one is told to do
Rabbi said My youth made me presume to contradict Nathan the
so.
Babylonian. If one bequeath all his estates to his wife, he makes her a
guardian only. (All that is said above treats of a will by a sick man.)
How is it if this was done while in good health? If one has bequeathed
"
:
estates to his sons, but has left to his wife a small portion of ground.
a similar case when one is in good health ?
sick person
all his
How
who
A
is it in
has bequeathed
latter is in
some way
estate to a stranger, it is to be investigated if the
to be called a direct heir.
An inheritance has no
all his
fit
and goes direct to the heirs of the inheritor. The rabbis con
demned one who bequeathed his estate to strangers, leaving out his chil
dren.
What happened to Shamai the elder with Jonathan b. Uziel,
interruption,
271-297
be trusted
My
If one testify he has divorced his wife, he is to be
brother," he is not.
If a short period of time, can one s testimony be divided
trusted.
that
for the past he should not be trusted, and for the future he should ?
If a
sick person said to witnesses
and
Write, and give a mana to so and
MISHNAS
VIII.
TO XII.
This
"
is
my
son,"
he
is
to
"
;
"
:
so,"
before they did so he dies.
How is it if the same was said by one in good
health ? If one wishes to bequeath his estate to his children, etc.
How if
from to-day and after my death ? If a sudarium is men
he has written
"
"
no matter what version was used, nothing is needed to be added.
Who is
etc.
bequeathed to you, and after you to
called a crafty villain ?
To a gift presented by one who is dying, at what
time is title given ? There was a woman who had a tree on the estate of
tioned,
"
My
estates are
B,"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xvi
I
R. Bibbi b. Abayi, etc. If A said to B,
give you this ox as a present,
I
with the stipulation that you shall return it to me." If a sick man said,
the witnesses may write this, etc. The Halakha
have a mana with so and
The father has the
prevails that it must not be feared the court will err.
"
"
so,"
If he left grown-up
right to gather the products bequeathed to his son, etc.
sons, the grown ones have no right to derive any benefit on
and minor
account of the minors, etc. How is it if a woman has borrowed money,
consumed it, and thereafter she married without paying her debt, and
The following is not to be re
brought estates with her at marriage ?
turned in the jubilee year," etc. (p. 310). In some respects the husband
should be considered as an heir, and in some respects as a buyer,
297-311
"
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
AND
7.
//.
If
IX.
one leave sons and daughters,
if
the inheritance
is
if a moderate one,
of great worth, the daughters must be supported from it
If the
the daughters must be supported, and the sons may go a-begging.
estates were of great worth, but there was a promissory note in the hands of
;
a creditor. If the deceased left a widow and a daughter, and the estates left
could support only one of them. If one leave sons, daughters, and an her
If my pregnant wife shall bear a male," etc.
A child of one
maphrodite.
day inherits and bequeaths, etc. All that was said here was taught in the
"
"I
bequeath
One
etc.
Pumbeditha, however,
In
city of Sura.
said,
"
said,
Joseph decided
:
to her children.
any order
to
MISHNAS
was taught otherwise,
it
my estate to the children who shall be
My estate shall be for you and your
etc.
born of you by
children."
One
me,"
And
R.
One
half of the estate belongs to her, and the other half
There was one who had sent home pieces of silk, without
which member
TO
of his
household they belonged,
312-321
.
grown-up and minor sons, and the
former improved the estate, etc. If one has made the wedding of his son in
one of his houses, the son acquires title to the house, etc. Three things the
///.
VII.
If
one
left
Brothers partners in busi
rabbis enacted as laws without giving any reason.
If one of the
if one of them was taken by the government to work, etc.
ness
;
Torah or to learn
a trade, etc. Wedding presents may be replevined by the court. If one
has betrothed a woman and dies before marriage, a virgin collects two
hundred and a widow one hundred zuz. Five things were said about wed
they are returned
ding presents (a) They may be collected by the court
at the time when the donator marries, etc. Who is like unto a wealthy man
brothers took two hundred zuz to begin the study of the
:
who
is
known
;
to
be rich by his
many
cattle
and
(t>)
estates, etc.?
The
different
If one sends presents to the home of his
explanations of Prov. xv. 15.
betrothed s father, to the value of one hundred manas, and has partaken of the
How is it
betrothal meal, even for one dinar, they are not to be returned.
when the presents have improved, etc.? If a sick person had bequeathed all
Three things
his estates to strangers, etc.
If a sick person said
shall reside in
"
:
A
Achithophel charged his sons, etc.
such a house," or, "B shall con
A sick person who has
the products of such and such a tree," etc.
all of his estates to strangers, it must be investigated how was
If a sick person has bequeathed all his estates to strangers and
the case.
sume
bequeathed
thereafter
is
cured.
The
"
expressions,
He
shall
take,"
"shall
be
rewarded."
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
How shall
it
benefit from
and
be done
my
A is the one
he expresses himself
If a sick person has confessed,
"
if
:
estates"?
xvii
who shall
derive
owe
much
"I
so
be taken for granted, etc.? In five cases the act of a
my estates." What
gift is not considered unless the bequeather writes
How is the case with the Holy Scrolls as they
is considered estates ?
must not be sold, are they considered estate or not, etc.? The mother of
Kami b. Hama bequeathed to him her estates on one evening. The mother
to so
so,"
shall
it
"all
Amram
the Pious possessed a bundle of deeds, etc.
Concerning a
a sick person in one respect it is equal to a gift by one in
good health, etc. A sick person who has bequeathed all his estates to
strangers, although made with a sudarium, if he was cured he may retract.
of R.
gift in part of
one and thereafter to another, etc.,
321-345
deed it was not mentioned that he was sick, and
he claims that he was sick at the time of writing and had a right to retract.
What kind of evidence is required, etc. It happened in the city of Bene
Brack, that one sold the estate of his father and died; and his relatives com
plained that he was not of age when he died. What must be the age of one
I:
one bequeathed
MISHNA
first to
.
VIII. If in the
has the right to sell the estates left him by his father ? How is he to be
considered during the nineteenth year nineteen, which is still not of age, or
twenty ? There was one lad less than twenty, who had sold the estate of his
who
father.
If
a lad of thirteen years and one day presented a gift to some one,
If one divides his estates verbally, no matter if he was in
his act is valid.
good health or dangerously sick, according to R. Elazar to real estate title
It happened with an inhabitant of the
is given by money, etc.
city of Mruni,
who was in Jerusalem, that he possessed much valuable property which he
If it happens that a sick
desired to present to different persons, etc.
person
divides his estates verbally on the Sabbath, etc.
Suppose a house falls upon
and his father or on any persons, that one of them has to be bequeather
A
and the other
and
inheritor,
it is
known who dies first. If a son has sold
some one, and dies while the
not
his share of the inheritance of his father to
father
was
still alive,
and thereafter
his father died, the son of the seller has
And this is a complicated
a right to take away the goods from the buyer.
son inherits from his mother when
case in the law of money matters.
A
he
is
already
inherit
in the grave, so that his
brothers from his father s side should
from him,
345-357
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
TO
X.
A
simple get (document) the witnesses must sign at
A folded one, however, the witnesses must sign
In what place should the witnesses sign a folding document ?
outside, etc.
If the signatures of the witnesses were separated by a space of two lines from
is it meant with their usual
the writing, the document is invalid
space or
7.
V.
the end of the contents.
;
There was a folding document which came before Rabbi, and he
All must be done as is customary in the
etc.
There is no date to
said
If there was only one witness to a simple, etc.
If in the document
country.
which make twenty selas, etc. If on the top of
was written, "hundred
the document was written
mana," and on the bottom "two hundred
or vice versa, etc. There was a document in which was written,
hundred and a
There was a toil-master of a bridge who was a
etc.
without
?
"
:
it,"
zuz,"
"a
"six
zuz,"
zuz,"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xviii
Jew who
"
Abayi
:
Let the master show
me
his
signature," etc.
A
be written by the court for a husband in the absence of his
Documents of arbitrating and all
the husband must pay the fees.
divorce
wife
said to
may
other acts of mediating by the court must not be written unless both
at the expense of both.
There was a receipt approved
parties are present
by Jeremiah
b.
Abba.
However, the same
woman came
his court to
into
claim her marriage contract several years later, etc. If one has paid a part
If it happened to
of his debt, and deposited his document with some one.
one that a promissory note became erased, he must find witnesses. The
approval must be written: "We three, E, F, G, the undersigned, were
sitting together, and before us was brought by A, the son of B, an erased
If one comes before the court claiming that he has lost a promis
note," etc.
sory note from so and so, etc. If one has presented a gift to his neighbor
was returned by the beneficiary the gift is considered
The
following is the order of claims before the court.
lender comes to the court to complain that the borrower does not pay his
debt, etc.
Concerning deeds, they may write another one without mention
ing the responsibility of the seller for the estate, etc. There was a woman
the deed
by a deed,
if
returned.
The
who gave money
to
one that he might buy estates
to claim a field saying that he possesses a deed,
for her, etc.
If
and
it
also that
one came
was
in his
If there was any forgery in the docu
possession the years of hazakah, etc.
ment, or there were incompetent witnesses, the transferring is not con
sidered,
357-379
one has paid a part of his debt, according to
R. Jehudah the promissory note must be changed.
According to R. Jose,
MISHNAS
VI.
TO IX.
If
The Halakha prevails
the lender has to give a receipt for the amount paid.
If the document was
neither with R. Jehudah nor with R. Jose, etc.
written at the date used by the government, and such a date fell on a Sab
bath or on the Day of Atonement, etc. It happened with R. Itz hak b.
Abba said to his scribe
with R. Abba, etc.
happen that you have to write a document with a later date,
you must write as follows This document was postdated by us for a cer
If one holds a promissory note for a hundred zuz, and
tain reason," etc.
in two notes each of fifty zuz, etc.
If
that
it shall be rewritten
requests
there were two brothers, one rich and one poor, and they inherited from
their father a bath-house, or an olive-press house, if for business they must
share equally but if for private use, etc. If there are two persons who bear
one and the same name, they cannot give promissory notes to each other,
nor to any of the inhabitants. If a promissory note was paid, etc. If one
Joseph,
"
When
who had money
it
:
shall
:
;
A promissory note among
(while struggling with death) says to his son
If one
the notes I possess is paid, but I do not remember which," etc.
made a loan to his neighbor through a surety, he must not collect first from
"
:
Whether a surety has to pay or not, R. Jehudah and R. Jose
Lend to this man, and I am the surety," etc.
the surety said
If the expression was, "Give to him, and I will return you," then has the
the surety, etc.
differ, etc.
If
"
:
lender nothing to do with the borrower. There was a judge who trans
ferred the estate of the borrower to the lender, before the lender had de
manded his money from the borrower, etc. There was a surety for orphans
who had
paid the lender before he notified the orphans.
under the ban because he declined
to
pay his debts.
If
If
the
one was put
promissory
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xix
note of the deceased was in the hands of the surety, who claims to have paid
the lender, etc.
There was a surety for a deceased debtor to a heathen,
who
paid the heathen before he had demanded his debt from the orphans.
one made himself surety to a woman for a marriage contract, etc. A sick
person who has consecrated all his estates, and at the same time said "So
and so has a mana with me," he may be trusted. A sick person who said
A has a mana with me," and thereafter the orphans claimed that they have
If one borrows money on a
paid, they are to be trusted.
promissory
If it hap
note, the lender has a right to collect from encumbered estates.
If
:
:
"
pen that a creditor sees
and one passes by and
his debtor in the market, grapples him by the throat,
"Leave him alone, I will
he is neverthe
pay,"
says,
because the loan was made not upon his surety. Biblically there
no difference between a loan on a document and by word of mouth, and
it should be collected from encumbered estates.
A verbal loan is not col
neither from heirs nor from buyers.
If the surety signed before
lectible
the signatures, it may be collected from encumbered estates.
Only a surety
in the presence of the court is free from a sudarium, but all others are not,
less free,
is
379-395
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT SANHEDRIN (SUPREME
COUNCIL).
CHAPTER
I.
To which cases judges are needed to decide, and to which
which three, five, twenty-three, and seventy-one. The Great
Sanhedrin consisted of seventy-one, and the Small of twenty-three. How many
MISHNA
commoners
/.
;
If one
a city should contain, that it should be fit for a supreme council.
were known to the majority of the people as an expert, he alone might decide
A permission from the Exilarch holds good for the whole
cases.
country (of Babylon and also for Palestine) from the Prince in Palestine,
he may teach the law, decide
for the whole of Palestine and Syria only
civil cases, and may also decide upon the blemishes of first-born animals.
He (a priest) saw a divorced woman and married her, and with this he
civil
;
:
He
erred in his opinion e.g., there were two,
differed in a case, and he decided the case
There are three Tanaim who differ concerning arbitra
annulled his priesthood.
Tanaim and two Amoraim who
according to one.
When the decision is already given in accordance with the strict law,
an arbitration cannot take place. May or may not a judge say, I do not
want to decide this case ? and under what circumstances ? Is mediation a
meritorious act, or is it only permitted ? There were many who used to say
maxims of morality, and Samuel found that they were only repetitions of
tion.
"
"
verses in the Scriptures.
"Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister," means, if
the thing is certain to you as that it is prohibited for you to marry your
but not otherwise. If one appoints a judge who
sister, then you may say it
is not fit to be such, he is considered as if he were to plant a grove in Israel.
;
The
court shall not listen to the claims of one party in the absence of the
"You shall
(in civil cases).
judge righteously" means, you shall de
liberate the case carefully, and make it just in your mind, and only thereafter
other
"For the
give your decision
judgment belongeth to God." The
It is the least for the wicked to take
Holy One, blessed be He, said
away
money from one and give it to another illegally," etc. Is warning needed to a
may you
:
"
:
scholar
stripes
labor.
?
?
Where
is
the hint that collusive witnesses are to be punished with
Punishment of stripes is not applied to those who do no manual
The numbers three, five, and seven to what have they a similarity?
xi
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xii
A
year must not be intercalated with one month, except by them who are
it
by the Nashi. Since the death of the last prophets Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi the Holy Spirit has left Israel, etc. A leap year
invited for
made because of the kids, lambs, etc. For the following three
A
things a leap year is made Because of the late arrival of Spring, etc.
The year must not
leap year must not be made in the years of famine.
be intercalary before Rosh Hashana.
leap year must not be made in one
should not be
:
A
year for the next. No appointment of a leap year must be because of defile
ment. If not for Ben Baba, the law of fines would be forgotten from Israel.
The legend how Jehudah
b. Baba supplied the degree of Rabbi to five (six)
and by this act he caused the oral law not to be forgotten from Israel.
The custom of giving degrees must not be used out of Palestine. What
is to be considered second tithe, of which the value is not known ?
Rotten
fruit, etc.
Every great matter, means the matter of a great man. By the
whole tribe, is meant the head of it. The legend how a battle was decided
by King David. Whence do we know that it is a duty to appoint judges to
each tribe ? etc. The legend of Eldad and Medad, and what their prophecy
How Moses selected the seventy elders from each tribe, and also the
was.
payment of the first-born who were not redeemed by Levites. Sentence
If all persons of a Sanhedrin are
of guilt must be by a majority of two.
How so ? In a city in which the
accusing, the defendant becomes free.
following ten things do not exist it is not advisable for a scholar to reside,
and they are, etc. Of rulers of thousands were six hundred of hundreds,
of fifties, twelve thousand
of tens, sixty thousand
six thousand
hence the
total number of the officers in Israel was seventy-eight thousand and six
elders,
"
;
;
;
.....
hundred,
CHAPTER
1-42
II.
MISHNAS /. AND //. The high-priest may judge and be a witness be
fudged and witnessed against. A king must not judge, and is not judged
must not be a witness, nor witnessed against. There are cases from which
one may withdraw himself, and there are others from which he may not.
How so ? A king must not be a member of the Sanhedrin nor he and a
The legends of three
high-priest engage in discussion about a leap year.
pasturers who had a discussion about the month Adar, which the rabbis took
;
;
;
When he (high-priest) goes in the row
as a support to establish a leap year.
to condole with others, his vice and the ex-high-priest are placed at his right,
etc.
Formerly the custom was for the mourners to stand, and the people to
A
All agree that
How
row
is not less than ten persons, not
counting the mourners.
a king has relinquished his honor, it is not relinquished.
could David marry two sisters while they were both living ? The
pass by, etc.
if
strength of Joseph was moderation on the part of Boas, and the strength of
If a death occurs in
the latter was moderation on the part of Palti, etc., etc.
the house of the king, he
must not leave the gate of the palace,
.
43~52
MISHNAS ///. TO VI. Three positive commandments was Israel com
manded when they entered Palestine, viz., they should appoint a king, etc.
The treasures of kings which are plundered in time of war belong to the king
only.
He
(the king)
must not marry more than eighteen wives.
Even one
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xiii
away, he must not marry her.
Mishna whence is it deduced ? Four
David by the handsome women whom he took
wife, should she be liable to turn his heart
The number eighteen mentioned
hundred children were born
to
in the
captive (i.e., those mentioned in Deut. xxi. n). Only a son may stay alone
with his mother, but it is not allowed for any one besides to stay alone with
a married woman. He (the king) must not acquire many horses, neither
more gold and silver than to pay the military. He shall not acquire many
horses,
and
lest
one say,
He shall
"
Even those which are needed
for his
much
chariots,"
etc.
Not even suffi
not acquire
gold and silver lest one say,
cient for paying the military," etc.
Why does not the Scripture explain the
reason of
men
law
its
?
"
Because
in
was so done, and the greatest
Ezra was wrothy that
Moses had not preceded him. In
two verses
it
of a generation stumbled because of them, etc.
Torah should be given through him, if
Torah was given to Israel in Assyrian characters, etc.
One must not ride on his the king s horse, etc.
footnote,
(see
p. 59).
He who divorces
Come and see how hard is divorce in the eyes of the sages
his first wife, even the altar sheds tears on account of him.
The king must
cut his hair every day, a high-priest every eve of Sabbath, and a commoner
the
the very beginning the
!
priest every thirty
days
52-63
.
CHAPTER
III.
MlSHNAS /. TO ///. Civil cases by three one party may select one, and
Pure-minded people of Jerusalem used not
so the other, and both one more.
to sign a document unless they were aware who was the other who was to
:
sign
it,
was
to
and also would not
be their colleague,
down to judge unless they were aware who
One has no right to reject a judge who was
There is a rule that the testimony of one who is
sit
etc.
appointed by the majority.
interested in a case is not to be taken into consideration.
Proof is needed to
each claim, even if it is not so important that it could injure the case. He
who saw Resh Lakish in the college saw one uprooting hills and crushing
them, and he who saw R. Mair saw one uprooting mountains and crushing
them. Gamblers (habitual dice-players) and usurers, and those who play
with flying doves, are disqualified to be witnesses.
What crime is there in
dice-playing
the world.
are
?
Because they do not occupy themselves with the welfare of
also disqualified.
Gamblers
One who borrows to pay usurers is
counted those who play with dice and not
only with dice, but even with
those
who play with doves other
Among
was added to the disqualified witnesses
;
the shells of nuts or pomegranates.
animals are also meant. There
robbers and forcers (i.e., those who take things by force, although they pay
There was secondly added to that category, collectors
the value for them).
The father of R. Zera was a
of duty and contractors of the government.
One s thought for his maintenance injures
collector for thirteen years, etc.
him in his study of the law, etc. They who accept charity from idolaters
are disqualified to be witnesses, provided they do so publicly, etc.
One who
is wicked in money matters only is disqualified to witness, but not one wicked
Bar Hama had slain a man, and the Exilarch told
in heavenly matters.
Aba
b.
should
to investigate the case
the murderers blind, etc.,
Jacob
make
;
......
and
if
he really slew the
man
they
64-79
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
riv
MISHNAS IV. TO
The following are counted relatives who may not be
brothers of father or mother, brothers-in-law, etc.
father s brother shall not witness in my cases; he, his son, and his son-in-
witnesses
"
My
"
law."
:
VI.
Brothers,
The brother of my mother-in-law cannot be a
witness for
me."
The
husband of one s sister, also the husband of the sister of one s father and the
husband of the sister of one s mother, their sons and their sons-in-law, are
his son-in-law, etc.
also excluded from being witnesses.
A stepfather
There was a deed of gift which was signed by two brothers-in-law i.e., two
husbands of two sisters, etc. How were the witnesses examined ? They
were brought into separate chambers, etc. How were the witnesses
frightened ? There was one who had hidden witnesses under the curtains of
Have I a mana with you ? etc. There
his bed, and he said to his debtor
was one who was named by the people "the man who has against him a
There was another who was named
whole kab of promissory notes."
There was a document of confession
"the mouse who lies on
dinars," etc.
He (the debtor) has said to us, Write a
in which it was not written
I have seen
document, sign, and give it him (the creditor)," etc.
your de
.
.
.
"
"
:
"
:
"
a certain place, saying, This belongs to so-andmoney
is the judgment to be written ?
So was the custom of the
ceased father hide
"
so,
etc.
How
in
pure-minded in Jerusalem. They let parties enter, listened to their claims,
and thereafter let the witnesses enter, listened to their testimony, then told all
This is a rule for every case in which is mentioned
of them to go out, etc.
a witness," that it means two. Simeon b. Alyaqim was anxious that the
degree of Rabbi should be granted to Jose b. Hanina, etc., etc. A con
"
fession after a confession, or a confession after a loan, may be conjoined
but a loan after a loan, or a loan after a confession, do not join (p. 91).
Witnesses in civil cases who contradict one another in unimportant investi
;
gations are to be considered. So long as the defendant brings evidence to
his advantage, the decision may be nullified by the court.
However, if after
he had said,
with a young
"I
have no
man whom
witnesses,"
he
made
What happened to R. Na hman
one who is summoning a party
etc.
liable.
If
want my case brought before
who says,
may be compelled to try his case in that city.
"I
the assembly of sages," etc., he
In Babylon they are not allowed
to try cases of fine,
79-96
CHAPTER
IV.
MISHNAS /. TO ///. Cases coming before the court, the witnesses thereof
must be examined and investigated. What difference is there between civil
and criminal ? The following from (a) to (g). Biblically there is no differ
ence between civil and criminal cases concerning investigations. But why
enacted that civil cases do not need investigation ? "Justice, only jus
thou pursue," means that one shall follow to the city of a cele
brated judge, etc. What has the court first to say to the advantage of the
defense in criminal cases ? If one has tried a case, and made liable him
is it
tice, shalt
who
cow
was
is
Tudus the physician testified that not one
sent from Alexandria in Egypt of which the womb
not, or vice versa, etc.
or one swine
was
not removed.
If one was found guilty by the court, and thereafter one
come, saying I know a defense for him, etc. So long as the fire in the
:
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xv
stove burns, cut off all that you want to roast, and roast it.
(I.e.,
are studying a thing, consider it thoroughly to prevent questions.)
when you
All who
take part in the discussion may explain their reasons, until one of the accus
ers shall yield to one of the defenders.
In the neighborhood of R. Johanan
was one who was blind who used to judge cases, etc. From the time
Moses until the time of Rabbi, we do not find one man who was unique in
the possession of wisdom, riches, and glory, etc.
One may teach his disciple,
and at the same time may judge in association with him in criminal cases.
there
of
In ten things civil cases differ from criminal cases.
All are competent to
judge civil cases. But not all of them are competent to judge criminal cases.
The Sanhedrin sat in a half-circle in order that they could see each other,
etc.
The Torah has testified that we are such a kind of people that even a
fence of lilies is sufficient for us, and will never be broken.
How were the
witnesses awestruck in criminal cases ? A human being stamps many coins
with one stamp, and all of them are alike but the Holy One, blessed be He,
has stamped every man with the stamp of Adam the first, and, nevertheless,
;
not one of them
is like the other.
Although the court of the Sanhedrin ex
no longer, the punishment of the four kinds of death prescribed in the
Adam the first was created singly,
Scripture was not abolished by Heaven.
and why ? That disbelievers should not say there were many Creators in
heaven, etc. In three things one is different from his neighbor in voice,
isted
etc.,
97-1 14
CHAPTER
V.
MlSHNA
/. The court used to examine the witnesses with seven
inquiries,
Should one of the witnesses say,
have something to say in behalf
of the defendant," or one of the disciples,
I have
something to say to the dis
etc.
"I
"
advantage of the defendant," the court silences him. Why not say that
eight queries are necessary in the examination ? Viz., how many minutes
are there in the hour ? Do you recognize this man as the murderer of him
slain ?
Was he a heathen or an Israelite ? Have you warned
Did he accept the warning ? etc. Whence do we deduce that the
warning is prescribed biblically ? Witnesses who testified in case of a be
who was
him
?
woman,
trothed
is
if
they be found collusive, are not to be put to death. What
? etc.
Until what time may the bene
the difference between examination
diction of the
moon be pronounced
?
If Israel
should have only the merito
rious act of receiving the glory of their heavenly Father once a month, it
would be sufficient. They do not drink wine. And why not ? In civil
cases the court
may
say
:
The case becomes
CHAPTER
MlSHNAS
/.
TO IV.
If the
old, etc.,
.
.
115-125
VI.
conclusion was to condemn, the guilty one was
taken out immediately to be stoned.
A herald goes before him, heralding
So and so, etc. One stands with a flag. I doubt who had to bear the cost
:
and horse mentioned in the Mishna, etc. If one of the disciples
have something to say in behalf of the defendant," and thereafter he
became dumb ? He who is modest, the verse considers him as if he should
of the flag
"
said,
I
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xvi
mentioned in the Scripture. When he (the guilty)
from the place of execution a distance of ten ells he was told to
confess.
Why are the words unto us and to our children," and the Ayin
of the "ad
pointed ? The Lord said to Joshua Thou thyself hast caused
all the evils, because thou didst excommunicate the goods of Jericho.
One
should always proceed with prayer before trouble comes. It happened with
one who was going to be executed, that he said If I am guilty of this crime,
my death shall not atone for all my sins. See footnote, p. 135, concerning
the legend of Simeon b. S. of the eighty witches hung by him.
A male was
stoned while naked, but not a female.
The stoning place was two heights
If before the execution the hands of the witnesses were cut
of a man, etc.
"The
off, he becomes free from death.
avenger of the blood himself shall
Infer from this that it is a meritorious act for the avenger to do so
slay."
sacrifice all the sacrifices
was
far
"
"
:
:
...........
himself,
MlSHNAS
V.
AND
VI. All
Two must
a female.
are also hanged.
126-139
A male, but not
same day, provided there are two
The beam was put in the earth,
Whence do you deduce from the
not be judged on the
How
kinds of death.
who are stoned
was one hanged
?
King Sabur questioned R. Hama
Torah that one must be buried ? etc. Is
shall become disgraced if not buried, or is
etc.
:
the burying because the corpse
it because of atonement ?
Is the
lamentation an honor for the living or for the deceased ? And what is the
A wicked person must not be buried with an upright one.
difference? etc.
which David cursed Joab fell on the descendants of
Sam. iii. 29], etc. If not for Joab, David would not
All the curses with
They were
David.
[II
have been able to occupy himself with the law,
CHAPTER
etc.,
.
.
139-148
.
VII.
MlSHNAS J. TO V. Four kinds of capital punishment are prescribed to the
court by the Scriptures. According to R. Simeon, burning is more rigorous
with her father-in-law,
than stoning. With her father, burning applies
;
How
stoning applies.
Halakha which
will
is
this to
be understood
?
Do you come
to teach
be used only then when the Messiah will appear
?
a
The
prescribed punishment of burning was this The sinner was placed in waste
knee-deep. Then placing a twisted scarf of coarse material within a soft
:
But why should burning not be inferred from the offerings of the
which were burned bodily ? Nadob said to Abihu When will
The prescribed
the two old men die, and you and I be leaders of Israel ?
punishment of slaying was thus He was decapitated, etc. The prescribed
punishment of choking was thus The sinner was placed in waste knee-deep,
To the following sinners stoning applies viz., one who had connec
etc.
one, etc.
bullocks,
:
:
:
:
tion with his mother, etc.
"
That
she
is
lieth
his
"
with his father
mother or
A man
s
wife
"
"
means
to exclude a minor.
means, that there
is
[Lev.
xxii.]
:
no difference whether
150-164
not,
One who had connection with a human male, or
with an animal, and also a human female who uncovers herself before a male
"With an animal
makes no difference
animal, are punished with stoning.
whether it was a large or a small one. A blasphemer is not guilty, unless
he mentioned the proper name of God (Jehovah).
Any man whatsoever,"
MISHNAS
VI.
TO
VII.
"
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
meaning
etc.,
to include the heathen,
commandments were commanded
who
warned
are
to Israel in
Marah
xvii
Ten
of blasphemy.
seven of them are
;
those which were accepted by the descendants of Noah. For transgression
of these commandments a descendant of Noah is put to death, viz., adultery,
descendant of Noah may be put to death by
bloodshed, and blasphemy.
the decision of one judge, by the testimony of one witness, etc.
Every rela
A
tionship for which the punishment of the courts of Israel is death, a descend
Noah is warned of it; but all other relationships, the punishment of
which is not death, are permissible to them. He who raises his hand to
ant of
his neighbor, although he has not as yet struck him,
in which its life is, which is its blood, shall ye not
is
called wicked.
eat,"
[Gen.
ix.
4]
"
Flesh
means
any member of the animal, while it is still alive. We do not find any case
where what is forbidden to the descendants of Noah should be allowed to the
An unclean thing never came from heaven. There is no differ
Israelites.
ence if one hears it from the blasphemer himself or from the witness who
heard it from the blasphemer he must rend his garments
164-187
MISHNAS VIII. TO XII. One is considered an idolater who worships it
with its proper worship; and even if he only sacrifices, smokes incense, or
pours wine, etc. Why not say that from bowing all kinds of worshipping
In our Mishna itsis stated
"He who
is to be inferred ?
worships idols."
There is another Mishna, farther on, which states He who says:
will
is always considered an idolater, etc.
If one worship an idol
worship,"
because he loves it, or because he fears it, etc. Concerning Sabbath it is
more rigorous than all the other commandments in one respect, and all other
commandments are more rigorous in another respect, etc. There is a tradi
tion
He who conjoins the name of Heaven with something else is to be
destroyed. It happened to a female heathen who was very sick and vowed
that if she recovered she would worship all the idols which were to be found,
If one gives one of his children to Molech, he is not guilty unless he
etc.
.
.
"
"
:
"I
:
:
has transferred him to the servants, etc. One is not guilty unless he let him
pass in the usual manner. What was that ? A row of bricks were placed for
Baal ob (mentioned in the Scripture) is the python that makes
passing, etc.
the dead speak from his armpit, and Yidofli means one that makes the dead
ob the same who inquires
speak from his mouth. Is not he who queries an
"
"
Nay etc. An observer of times is, according to R. Aqiba,
who reckons times and hours, saying: This day is good to go on the road,
He who curses his father or mother is not punished with a capital
etc.
punishment, unless he curse them by the proper name of God,
187-194
MISHNAS XIII, TO XIV. He who sins with a betrothed damsel is not
of the dead
?
!
he
.
guilty to be stoned, unless she was a maiden betrothed and still in her
father s house.
seducer means one who is himself a commoner e.g., he
A
There
an
such and such a place which so and so eats, etc.
are liable to capital punishment biblically, it is not
allowed to hide witnesses except in this case, etc. A conjurer is liable to be
says
:
Concerning
is
all
idol in
who
stoned only when he did an act, but not if he dazzled the eyes. The Halakhas
ofwitchcraft are similar to the Halakhas of Sabbath. There are some to
which stoning applies, etc. I have seen a rider of a camel who took his
sword, cut
stood up.
off the
It
head of the camel, and thereafter rung a
was only a dazzling
of the eyes.
The legend
bell,
and the camel
of R. Eliezer with
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xviii
his disciple, "Thou shalt not learn to do," means: "Thou must not learn
to do, but thou mayest learn it to understand it for the purposes of deciding
cases,
194-200
CHAPTER
VIII.
MISHNAS /. TO VIII. A stubborn and rebellious son at what age may he
be considered as such? From the time he brings forth two hairs, etc.; but
the sages used to speak with delicacy. A minor of nine years and one day is
fit to have connection with a woman, and in a case of adultery it is considered.
Whence do we know
that the first generation produced children at the age of
daughter should be more open to the charges of stubbornness and
But so is the decree of the Scripture
a son, and not a
rebelliousness, etc.
He cannot be condemned as a stubborn and rebellious son
daughter."
unless he eats meat and drinks wine. You shall not look for wine which
makes red the faces of the wicked in this world, and makes them pale in the
world to come. Thirteen ways are enumerated in the Scripture concerning
wine, as in Genesis ix., from 20 to 25. If he has stolen from his father and
consumed on his premises, etc., he is not charged as a stubborn and rebel
lious son unless he stole from his mother and father.
If the father is willing
to transfer the case of the son in question to the court, and the mother is not
Such a thing neither occurred nor ever will be,
willing, or vice versa, etc.
and the same is with the case of a misled town, and also with a house of lep
If one hand of his father or mother is
rosy, and was written only for study.
missing, or they limp, or are dumb, etc. If he runs away before the decision
of condemnation is rendered, etc. The Scripture prefers that he should die
innocent, and not be put to death because of his sins. For the death of the
wicked is both a benefit to them and a benefit to the world, etc. In the case
of "breaking in" [Ex. xii., i], for which there is no liability if one is killed
by a detector, one is also punished because of his future crimes, etc. A
burglar who broke in and succeeded in taking some utensils and escaped is
free from paying.
Because he acquired title to them by his blood. It
happened that rams were stolen from Rabha by burglary and thereafter they
were returned to him; he would not accept them because the above decision
201-216
came from the mouth of Rabh, etc.,
MISHNA IX. The following may be killed for self-protection He who
pursues one to kill him, and he who pursueth a betrothed damsel, etc.
According to the rabbis the Scripture cares for the violation of her honor,
and as she also cares for it, though without life-sacrifice, she must be saved
even by killing her pursuers, etc. One who intends to worship idols may be
In
killed (if there is an impossibility of preventing his crime otherwise.)
the city of Luda it was voted and resolved that if one were compelled, under
threat of being killed, to commit any one of all the crimes which are men
tioned in the Torah, he might commit it and not be killed, except idolatry,
Is a descendant of Noah commanded to sanctify
adultery, and bloodshed.
the Holy Name, or not? It happened to one that he saw a woman and
eight?
A
"
:
"
became
sick through his infatuation,
CHAPTER
MISHNAS
/.
216-221
etc.,
IX.
TO VI. Punishment of burning applies to one man who has
woman and her daughter, and to a daughter of a priest,
intercourse with a
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xix
Punishment with the sword applies to a murderer and to the men of a
If one pressed down a person while he is in water, or in fire,
preventing him from coming out, he is guilty, etc. If one bound a person,
and he died thereafter of hunger, he is not guilty of a capital crime. If, how
ever, he put him in a sunny place, and he died because of the sun, he is guilty.
Ball-players if one threw a ball with the intention of killing some one, he is
All
to be put to death, and if it was unintentional, he is to be exiled, etc.
agree that if one kills a person whose windpipe and larynx (gullet) are cut
or whose skull is fractured, he is free (for it is considered as if he attacked a
dead man). If one strikes a person with a stone or with his fists, and he was
diagnosed (by the physicians of the court) to die, and thereafter he improved,
etc.
Capital punishment does not apply to one who intended to kill an
animal and killed a man, an idolater and killed an Israelite, etc.; but it does
apply to one who intended to strike a person on the loins with an article
which was sufficient for this purpose, and he strikes him to death on his
A murderer mixed up among others all of them are free, etc.
heart, etc.
If it happen that the persons sentenced to deaths of different kinds, and are
so mixed that it is not known who comes under this kind of death and who
under another, all of them must be executed with the more lenient death.
If one committed a crime which deserves two kinds of death, he must be
Ezek. xviii. must not be taken literally, but
tried for the more rigorous one.
the mountains he eateth not
means that he does not live upon the
reward of the meritorious acts done by his parents; "his eyes he lifteth not
222-238
up to the idols means that he never walked overbearingly, etc.,
MISHNAS VII. TO IX. He who receives stripes, and relaxes into the same
He who kills a person not in the
crime, the court takes him to the kyphos.
presence of witnesses is taken to the kyphos and is fed on scant bread and
water.
If one steals a kisvah, or one curses his neighbor, invoking God as a
carver," zealous people
(like Pinchas) have a right to strike him when
caught in the act. What is this punishment if there were no zealous men ?
Answer to this, it happened that it was read before R. Kalian in a dream,
In a case where there is a violation of the Holy Name the honor of the
etc.
If a priest performs the service while he
master must not be considered.
etc.
misled town.
"
"
"
.
"
"
"
is defiled," etc.
If
a
common
Israelite served in the
CHAPTER
Temple," etc.,
238-244
X.
MISHNAS /. TO VI. Choking applies to him who strikes his father or
mother, to him who steals a living soul, etc. A son is not guilty of a
capital crime unless he wounds his father by striking him.
Cursing is in one
respect more rigorous than striking, as he is guilty even if he did it after his
If one steals a person, he is not guilty of a capital crime
father s death.
unless he brings him upon his own premises. There is no difference
whether he stole a male or a female, a proselyte, or a bondsman, or a minor,
etc.
R. Jehudah says that there is no disgrace for slaves.
Thou shalt not
"
steal,"
"
Ye
in the third
shalt not
Sanhedrin.
commandment, means human
steal,"
in
[Lev. xix.,
n]
:
A
judge rebelling against the Great
Jerusalem three courts, etc. In case a judge in
meaning money.
There were
beings.
the country had a dispute with his colleagues, they came to the first court.
If this court were able to decide it traditionally they rendered their decision;
and if not, all of them came to the Great Sanhedrin, which was in the Temple
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xx
A disciple who is not a judge who decides for practice against
treasury, etc.
the Great Sanhedrin, is not culpable.
rebelling judge is not guilty unless
he gave his decision in a matter to which, if done intentionally, korath
A
The punishment of him who transgresses the decision of the
more rigorous than for that which is plainly written in the
Scriptures. The judge in question was not put to death by the court of his
own city, etc., but was brought to the Supreme Council, in Jerusalem, etc.
applies, etc.
scribes
A
is
prophet who is to be sentenced by the court is only he who prophe
what he (personally) has not heard and what he was not told at all, etc.
who prophesied in the name of an idol, saying, So and so was said by
false
sies
He
"
such an idol," although it corresponds exactly with the Hebrew law,
he is punished by choking. See all illustrations, pp. 258-260. In every case
mentioned in the Torah, if a true prophet commands you to transgress, you
may
listen,
except as to idolatry,
245-261
CHAPTER XL
MISHNA
/.
The following
All Israel has a share in the world to come.
world to come: He who says, etc. Three kings and
four commoners have no share in the world to come, etc. Is he who does
have no share
in the
not believe that the resurrection
is
hinted at in the Torah such a criminal
that he loses his share in the world to
hinted at in the Torah?
etc.
Where
come?
is
the resurrection
From
the Pentateuch, Prophets, and HagiQueen Cleopatra questioned R. Mair thus:
ographa. See 267, also footnote.
When they shall be restored, will they be naked or dressed? Csesar ques
tioned Rabbon Gamaliel: You say that the dead will be restored. Does not
the corpse become dust? etc. The living die should the dead come to life?
That which has not existed at all comes to life shall those who had life once
not come to life again? The legend of Gebiah b. Pessisa who advocated
Israel before Alexander of Macedonia, etc.
(Pp. 268, 270.) Antoninus said
to Rabbi: The body and soul of a human may free themselves on the Day
Judgment by Heaven. How so? Why does the sun rise in the east and
west? At what time does the soul come into the body? At what
time does the evil spirit reach man? Lest one say that the verse just cited
means, I make one die and another one shall I bring to life, therefore it
I wound and I cure."
As wounding and curing apply to one person
reads,
He who hesitates in declaring a Halakha to a disciple, even the
only, etc.
embryos in the entrails of their mothers denounce him. Great is wisdom,
Exiles atone for everything.
as it was placed between two divine names.
The upright who will be restored in the future will never return to dust.
What will they do at the time the Holy One, blessed be He, shall renew
of
set in the
"
"
His
world
"
?
etc.
Concerning the
dead
Tannaim and Amoriam,
whom
Ezekiel
restored,
the
was a reality or a parable
Six miracles occurred on the day Nebuchadnezzar threw
only.
(P. 278.)
Chananyah, Mishael, and Azaryah into the caldron. Even at the time of
danger one shall not change the dress belonging to his dignity. Where was
Daniel at the time that they were thrown into the caldron? The legend of
Achab and Zedkiyahu with the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. According to
the advice of three, Daniel went away before the affair of Chananyah, etc.
Concerning the six barleys which Boaz gave to Ruth. All that is written
in the book of Ezra was said by Nehemiah b. Chackhalyah.
Why then was
different opinions of
if
it
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
it
named
not
from
this
after
world
xxi
The angel who rules the souls after their departure
named Dumah. Hiskiah, who has eight names, shall
him?
is
take revenge on Sanherib, who also has eight names.
Hiskiah s (king of
Judah) whole meal consisted of a litter of herbs. Pharaoh, who personally
blasphemed, was also punished by Heaven. Sanherib, who blasphemed
through a messenger, was also punished through a messenger. Ten trips
had the wicked made on that day, etc., as it reads [II Kings, x. 28 to 32].
There was one day more appointed for the punishment of the iniquity of
Nob. And the astrologers told Sanherib, etc. If the judgment is postponed
over one night there is hope that it will be abolished entirely. The legend
how Abishai saved King David from Yishbi s hand at Nob. Sanherib, when
he came to attack, brought with him forty-five thousand princes with their
concubines in golden carriages, etc. See pages 293-296, the many legends
concerning Sanherib. Be careful with the children of the Gentiles, as it
happens very often wisdom emanates from them. That the day on which
Achaz died consisted of only two hours. And when Heskiah became sick
and thereafter recovered, the Holy One returned the ten hours to that day,
etc.
Three hundred mules loaded with iron saws which cut iron were given
to Nebusaradan by Nebuchadnezzar while going to attack Jerusalem.
Nebusaradan was a true proselyte, from the descendants of Sissera were
such who studied the law in Jerusalem, and from the descendants of Sanherib
were such who taught the Torah among a majority of Israelites, etc. Have
you heard when the fallen son will come? etc. In his Sabbatic period
when the son of David will appear in the first year there will be fulfilled, etc.
The generation in which the son of David will come, young men will make
pale the faces of the old, etc. The world will continue for six thousand years,
the first two thousand of which was a chaos, etc. There are no less than
thirty-six upright in every generation who receive the appearance of the
Shekinah. All the appointed times for the appearance of the Messiah have
already ceased. And it depends only on repentance and good deeds. Jeru
salem will not be redeemed but by charity. What the Messiah told to
Ben David will not arrive until Rome shall have
dominated, etc. Discussion concerning the name of the Messiah. The
cock said to the bat, I look out for the light because the light is mine (I see
The days of the Messiah will
it), but for what purpose do you wait for it?
be as from the day of creation until now.
He hath despised the word of
who learned the Torah but does not teach it. He who
God," means he
learned the Torah and does not repeat it is similar to him who sows but does
not harvest, etc. Has not Moses written something better than
And
Lotan s sister was Thimna, etc. ? Who is meant by the term epicurian ?
What good have the rabbis done for us? They have never permitted us to
eat a crow, and they have not prohibited us to eat a dove, etc.
The measure
with which man measures will be measured out to him i.e., as a man deals
he will be dealt with. A good woman is a good gift; she may be given to one
who fears God. A bad woman is leprosy to her husband, etc. One may
ask the fortune tellers who tell fortunes by certain oils or eggs. But it is not
advisable to do so, because they often lie. Support me, and I will bear the
statement of Aqiba, my disciple, who says
Pleased are chastisements,"
Jehoshua ben Levi
:
"
:
"
:
etc.
Three men
means,
"and
his presence.
he
(biblical
lifted
up
personages) came with
his
hands"?
(See footnote, page 323.)
He
indirectness, etc.
took
off
his
What
phylacteries
in
The legends concerning Jeroboam,
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
xxii
King Mcnashe appears to R. Ashi in a dream. R. Abuhu
pp. 322-325.
used to lecture about the three kings and became sick, etc. Why was Achab
rewarded by the prolongation of his kingdom for twenty-two years?
Because he was liberal with his money and assisted many scholars from his
Four sects will not receive the glory of the
estate; half his sins were atoned.
Achaz abolished
viz., scorners, liars, hypocrites, and slanderers.
the worship and sealed the Torah, etc. The angels wanted to put Michah
aside, but the Lord, however, said leave him alone because his house is open
Shekhina,
Great are entertainments, for its refusal estranged two tribes
Why does not the Mishna count Achaz and Amon among
have no share ? etc. Explanation to verses of Lamentation,
for travellers.
from
those
Israel, etc.
who
The Scripture
PP- 334 to 337.
his neighbor, he should add
is
of notes said that all
particular that
May
any one
tells his
troubles to
it
"
Said Rabh:
perpetual
backsliding."
of
given to the prophets,
Israel
if
not happen to you." The interpreters
of them have a share in the world to come, etc.
A
"
:
A
etc.
victorious answer has the assembly
Concerning Bil am, the elders of
Moab. and Midian,
One
265-340
always occupy himself with the Torah and divine command
ments, even not for the sake of Heaven, as finally He will come to do so
shall
His own sake,
etc.
The caution that Achiyah, the Shilonite, gave to
them than the blessings that Bil am has given to them.
And Israel dwelt in Shittim." Everywhere such an expression is to be
found it brings infliction, etc. I saw the record of Bil am, and it was writ
ten therein thirty-three years was Bil am when he was killed by Pinchas,
for
Israel
better for
is
"
One
the murderer.
shall
not bring himself into temptation, as David, king
power of a trial and stumbled. Six months
of Israel, placed himself in the
was David
afflicted with leprosy; the Shekhina left him, and the Sanhedrin
separated themselves from him. Exclusion shall always be with the left
hand, and inclusion with the right hand i. e., if one is compelled to repudiate
some one, he shall do it easy as with his left hand, etc. Concerning David s
Bath Sheba
sin with
MISHNA
//.
340-350
The generation
of the flood have
no share
world to
in the
come, and are also not judged, etc. Concerning the generation of disper
Noah was just, a per
sion, men of Sodom and Gomorrah, etc., pp. 350-355:
"
fect
to
man
in his generation;" in his generation, but not in others.
Resh Lakish: In
other generations.
great,
etc.
dispersion."
his generation
Eliezar, the servant of
not to strengthen a quarrel,
"
etc.
money which makes one
desert has
no
share,"
etc,
of
And
Korah.
all
stand on his
///.
"
feet.
Isaiah,
on their
Sodom
all
feet,"
The generation
Eliezar, however, said, they have, etc.,
.
he can
means
of the
350-362
.
Say the reverse, even he
to the Gehenna.
It hap
was in Alexandria of Egypt, and I found a certain old
me: Come, and I will show you what my great-grand
have done to yours, etc. Concerning Shebna and his society, ref.
viii-12.
Adam was created on the eve of Sabbath. And why?
pened once that
fathers
One must do
...
Your saying is not satisfactory to their creator.
who has studied but one law does not belong
Gentile
"
the crimes of the
TO IV The ten tribes who were exiled will not be returned,
From what age has a minor a share in the world to come?
362-363).
MISHNAS
etc. (pp.
Abraham, questioned Shem the
etc.
The generation of
Shem the great questioned Eliezar,
What had they done ? What were
Concerning the congregation
ites ?
the
According
which was wicked, so much the more in
who
I
said to
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
The Minnim
xxiii
At the time the Lord was about
shall not say, etc.
to create
He
created a cactus of angels, etc. Every place where the Minnim
gave their wrong interpretation the answer of annulling it is to be found
in the same place e.g., p. 370.
The discussion with R. Gamaliel and other
a man,
"
My
rabbis, pp. 372-376.
to sing?" It reads [Ob.
cerning
Edom."
i.
creatures are sinking into the sea, and ye want
"The vision of the Lord
con
.
i]
:
.
Obadiah was an Edomite-proselyte. And
.
what people
taken from the wood
this is
say that the handle of the hatchet to cut the forest is
of the same forest.
"After these things."
After what?
[Gen. xxii. i]
After the words of the Satan, etc. According to Levi,
after the exchange
:
"
of the
words between Ishmael and
Isaac, etc.,
MISHNA IV. The men of a misled town have no
come (the Halakhas in detail, 378-383). Concerning
362-378
share in the world to
the key of rain, which
one of the three keys which are not to be transferred to a messenger,
Elijah, too, in the days of Achab, etc.,
378-385
is
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT MACCOTH
CHAPTER
(STRIPES).
I.
MlSHNA /. TO X. How should witnesses be made collusive ? There are
another sort of witnesses who are not subject to the punishment of collusive
ness but who are to suffer stripes instead.
Where do we find a hint in the
Scripture that collusive witnesses shall be punished with stripes? There are
And they are not sold as
four points concerning collusive witnesses, etc.
He shall be sold for his theft, but not for
Hebrew slaves. As it reads
"
:
his
collusiveness."
mean
We
?
A
collusive witness pays his share.
testify that so
and so has divorced
his wife
amount mentioned in her marriage contract, etc. We
owes to his neighbor a thousand zuz, etc. If one says I
What does
this
and has not paid the
testify that so and so
will
make you
a loan
with the stipulation that the Sabbathic year shall not release me, it neverthe
If one loans money to his neighbor without a fixed term of
less releases.
We
return, he has no right to demand it before the elapse of thirty days.
and so owes 200 zuz to his neighbor, and they were found
To a negative commandment that does not contain manual
collusive, etc.
testify that so
The
labor, stripes does not apply.
fine of
money may be
two
divided into
or three shares; however, this is not to be done with stripes. Witnesses
cannot be made collusive unless the falsehood lies in their bodies. A woman
once brought witnesses, and they were found false. She then brought
another party, who were also found false she then brought another party,
Because she is suspicious should all Israel be suspected of testifying
etc.
;
falsely
?
Collusive witnesses are not to be killed unless the sentence of capital
punishment for the defendant is rendered. There is no punishment on the
ground of a fortiori conclusions. May I not live to see the consolation of
our nation, if I have not killed a collusive witness for the purpose of remov
ing from the mind of the saducier, etc. The verse punishes one, an accom
who conjoins himself to transgressors with the same punishment, etc.
And we may learn from this that so much the more will he who conjoins
himself to those who are engaged in meritorious acts, be rewarded, etc.
plice
;
no capital punishment, unless two witnesses have warned this cul
both of the witnesses have seen him who warned them, they are con
sidered conjoined. The court of Sanhedrin is to be established in Palestine
There
prit.
is
If
............
as well as in the countries outside of
small ones,
it.
In
the large cities bu
not
in
the
1-14
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
juv
CHAPTER
MlSHNA
TO
The
7.
The
V.
II.
following are exiled, he
act of one
who thought
who
kills
a person unin
such is allowed is not to be
considered an accident, but almost intentional. If one has climbed a ladder
and the step under him broke and killed, one Boraitha declares him guilty,
One threw a lump of
If the iron of a hatchet slipped off and killed.
etc.
What
brittle stone at a date tree, and the dates fell off and killed (a child).
If one throws a stone in
is considered second force according to Rabbi ?
a public ground and it kills, he is to be exiled. The punishment of exile
tentionally.
that
attaches but to a private set. Is hewing wood always considered a private
All kinds of human beings are exiled when they killed by accident
affair?
A heathen
father is exiled if he killed his son accidentally.
be exiled or punished with stripes through an Israelite and
A stranger or an idolater who has killed even unintentionally is
vice versa.
"For he is a
put to death. Only then when, thinking that such is allowed
How is this to be understood ? Because he is a prophet she has
prophet."
an
A
Israelite.
or a slave
to
is
;
be returned, but if a layman, she would not, etc. Exile does not apply to
a blind one. An enemy is not exiled (as such a punishment does not suffice).
then he is
If the rope to which the man s instrument was attached, broke
to
exiled
;
but
the instrument slips out of his hand, exile is not sufficient.
To the cities of refuge, etc. They were
to be exiled ?
if
Whither are they
also obliged to prepare roads from one city to the other.
Formerly all
murderers, accidental as well as intentional, used to flee to the cities of refuge,
etc.
become a city of workers of wickedness," etc. What does
mean ? The city of refuge must neither be too large nor too
but middle-sized ones. Be situated in places where there is water and
"Giliad
is
this expression
small,
markets.
If
expression,
moral
because the
exiled, his master is exiled with him
means you shall supply him with the sources of
He who loves the abundance of scholars possesses the fruit of
a disciple
"and
life.
is
learned
knowledge.
I
leagues, and
still
;
live,"
much from my
more from my
masters, more, however, from my col
The Holy One, blessed be He,
disciples.
appoints them into one inn, and he who had killed intentionally is placed
under a ladder, while the other, who killed unintentionally, descends the
....
and kills him. According to one he wrote only the eight verses,
And Moses died," etc.,
which begin with.
14-28
MlSHNA VI. TO X. There is no difference between the high priests who
were anointed with the holy oil, etc. Therefore the mothers of the priests
used to support the murderers with food and clothes, etc. It is counted as
a sin to the priest who should pray that no accident might happen in that
If a sage has put some one under the ban conditionally, etc.
generation.
The forty years during which Israel was in the desert, the remains of Judah
were dismembered in his coffin until Moses prayed for him, etc. If after
the decision has been rendered, the high priest dies, he is not exiled, etc.
If it happens that a murderer goes outside of the limit, etc.
What has the
high priest done that the murderer s fate should depend upon his death ?
steps, falls
"
.
Joab erred twice
in
so acting
:
(a)
he thought that the horns of the altar
The cities of refuge are not given for cemeteries. If one
protect, etc.
killed accidentally in the city of refuge, he is to be exiled, etc. If a murderer
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
was
a
exiled, the
townsmen
like .to
honor him, he has
xv
them
to say to
"
:
I
am
28-34.
murderer,"
CHAPTER
III.
MlSHNA 7. TO V. To the following stripes apply Crimes under the
category of Korath, as well as under that of capital punishment, are also
punished with stripes if they were so warned. To a negative command,
:
is preceded
by a positive one, stripes apply. The culprit does not
R.
get stripes unless he abolishes the succeeding positive command.
Simeon b. Lakish, however, differs, and says He is free from stripes only
when he has fulfilled the succeeding one. He who took the mother-bird
which
:
with her children gets, according to R. Jehuclah, stripes. It happened with
who struck too much the children, and R. A ha excom
a children teacher
Rabbma, however, returned him because he could not find
good a teacher. Stripes also apply to him who partook of the first fruit
before the ceremony of reading was performed.
If a positive succeeds a
A stranger who had consumed sin and trans
negative, no stripes apply.
gression offerings before their blood was sprinkled is free from any punish
ment. Concerning the first fruit, placing it in the temple is the main thing,
and not the ceremony of reading. The culpability for second tithe arises
only after it has seen the face of the wall of Jerusalem. He who makes a
baldness in the hair of his head, or rounds it, etc., is liable. The culpability
municated him
;
as
arises only, then, when he took it off with a razor.
of the bald spot which would make him culpable ?
What
If
should be the size
one made an incision
is culpable.
For dead he is culpable at all courts
whether by hand or instrument. The culpability for etching-in arises only
when he has done both, wrote and etched-in with dye, etc. A Nazarite who
was drinking wine the whole day is culpable only for one negative. There
is an instance that one may plough only one bed and shall be culpable for
with an instrument he
eight negatives.
MlSHNA
The number of stripes is
The examination as
VI.-IX.
forty less one,
to the number of stripes
.
.
34-47.
he can
must be such that can be equally divided by three.
one commits a sin to which two negatives apply, etc. How is the punish
ment with stripes to be performed ? The striker strikes him with one hand
so that the strokes shall become weaker.
If, after he has been tied, he suc
ceeds to run away from the Court, he is free. As he was already disgraced,
he is not taken to be disgraced again. The Lord wanted to make Israel
At three places
blissful and therefore he multiplied to them his commands.
receive and remain alive
If
the
Holy
Spirit appeared.
At the court of Shem,
etc.
Six hundred and
commands were said to Moses, etc. Isaiah reduced them to six.
Michah came and reduced them to three. Isaiah (the second) again reduced
thirteen
them
one.
to two.
"Seek
"Keep ye justice and do equity."
ye for me, and ye shall live,"
Amos
reduced them
to
47-56.
APPENDIX.
He who
ing, finally,
dogs,
speaks ill of his neighbor, he who listens to such evil-speak
he who bears false testimony deserves to be thrown to the
47-56.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT SHEBUOTH
CHAPTER
MISHNA
7.
(OATHS).
I.
There are two kinds of oaths which are subdivided into
four.
pending. How is this to be understood? If it does
not atone, what is the use of making it pending? It means, i.e, if the trans
gressor dies then it may be considered that if he dies before he becomes
aware of it, this sin is not reckoned to him any more. Said Rabha to him:
In case he dies, the death itself completes the atonement; it is the he-goat
The he-goat makes
it
"
him from chastisement before he becomes aware by making
that saves
pending.
it
All the above-mentioned persons are atoned for by the exported
Such is
he-goats for all other transgressions without any difference, etc.
the custom of the divine attribute of justice, that the righteous atone for
the wicked and not that the wicked atone for another wicked,
1-16
.
CHAPTER
II.
MISHNA
four.
only,
/.
The cognition of uncleanness is of two kinds subdivided into
The courtyard was sanctified with the remains of a meal-offering
in order to make it equal to the City of Jerusalem itself, etc.
The
orchestra of the thanks-offering consisted of violins, fifes, trumpets on every
corner as well as on every elevated stone in Jerusalem, and used to play, etc.
was taught, R. Huna
"All the details in the Mishna were essential
one enters a leprous house backwards, although
all his body was already in the house except his nose, he remains clean.
And ye shall separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness," whence
you derive the warning that the children of Israel should separate them
selves from their wives near the period of menstruation, etc.
If there
were two paths one of which was unclean (but it was not certain which
one), and one passed through one of them entering, etc.
17-26
It
in the construction, etc.
says:
If
.
CHAPTER
.
III.
MISHNA I. TO VII. There are two kinds of oaths subdivided into four.
sweat that I will eat, or I will not eat, etc. Where do we find that one
must bring an offering for mere talk, as this one does talk and brings an
What is Issor mentioned in the Torah? If one says: I take
offering.
upon myself not to eat meat," etc. Vain (Shakve) and false (Shekker) are
identical.
Stripes apply to all negatives of the Torah implying manual
labor, but not to those without manual labor, excepting, however, an oath.
There is a moth, which is but a minimum in size, and yet one is liable for
I
"
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vi
I swear that I will not eat, and thereafter eats and drinks, he
it.
guilty but once. I will drink neither wine, oil nor honey, and then drinks,
he is guilty for each severally. If he swore not to eat and thereafter ate
consuming
is
carcasses or illegal cattle, reptiles and vermin, he is guilty.
R. Simeon
declares him free.
The reason of him who holds that one is liable for an
is that he compares it to an additional prohibition.
It is im
material whether the things sworn off concern himself or others, whether
they are or are not of some essential nature. One is guilty only for an
oath made with reference to the future, etc. I swear that I know something
inclusion
to testify for you, and it is found hereafter that he knows nothing, etc.
There is a rule that, if to something that was included in the general a
To
applied, only by the new one must guide one s self, etc.
As it happened to R.
compulsion what could illustrate this?
Kahana and R. Assi after the lectures at Rabh s college, etc. Suppose
one swear not to eat this bread, and then he is in danger if he does not
If one swears to ignore some commandment and
eat it, how is it, etc.?
does not carry out his oath, etc. If one says I swear not to eat this bread,
in case I eat the other, etc.
Which is false swearing? If one swears that
something is different from what it is known by everybody to be. The
new law be
exclude
...........
provisions regarding uttered swearing apply to males, females, to kindred,
non-kindred, etc.
27-46
CHAPTER
IV.
MISIINA I. TO VI. The witness-oath applies to men but not to women,
to unrelated but not to kindred, etc. If a scholar was aware of a case, but
it was a humiliation to him to go to that particular court he may remain at
home, etc., concerning civil cases only. The many things inferred from
Exod.
xxiii.
Keep
7.
thyself far
from a
false speech.
How
does a witness-
oath come about? If some one said to two, etc. If there were two parties
of witnesses and both denied successively, etc. There is also a case concern
ing a witness who refuses to testify to the death of a husband, etc. If one
of them denies and the other confesses, etc. I adjure you that you come and
bear me witness, that I have in the possession of so and so, etc. I adjure
you to testify that so and so has spread abroad an evil name on my
We swear that we know nothing for you, while in reality
daughter, etc.
they do know, etc. I adjure you, I impose upon you, I bind you (by oath)
If one writes Aleph Lamed (the first letters from
etc.
must not be erased, etc. All the divine names found in the
Torah in connection with Abraham are holy, etc. Amen embraces oath,
acceptance and confidence, etc.
Nay means oath and yea means also an
R. Kama, while sitting before R. Jehudah, repeated the Mishna
oath, etc.
in its own language, and he said to him: "Change the language and use
so they are guilty,
Eloim),
it
etc.
in the third
It
person,
..........
CHAPTER
46-65
V.
MISHNA /. TO VI. The depository oath concerns men and women nonkindred and kindred, those fit to testify and those unfit, etc. What is the
law, when one has intentionally made a depository oath in spite of a warning,
If the depository claims that the
is he liable to a sin-offering or not?
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vii
deposit has been stolen from him, swears, but thereafter confesses, etc. If
one denies money when there are witnesses, he is subject to an oath, but
How is it if five persons claim the
is free from such if there is a document.
four articles and he says to one of them I swear that thou hast not with
.
me a deposit, etc., and not thou and not thou, etc.
66-74
.
CHAPTER
.
VI.
MISHNA
In the case of an oath before court, the claim must
I. TO III.
two silver, and the confession to one peruta, etc. If one requires
movables and real estate, and the other admits movables but denies real estate
or vice versa, he is free. etc.
One must stand when taking the oath; a
scholar, however, may do it while sitting. An oath taken by one before the
court must be uttered in a language he understands, and the court must
say to him the following introduction. Be aware that the whole world was
trembling when the Lord spake on the Mount Sinai: "Thou shalt not bear
the name of the Lord thy God falsely." I have with you a gold dinar in
Nay you have with me only a silver dinar, he is liable. If one was
gold.
about to claim wheat, and the defendant hastened to confess barley, etc.
What is the difference between a biblical and a rabbinical oath. I have a
amount
to
mana with you. Yea, you shall not return it to me without the presence
In another case one demanded a hundred zuz, etc.
of witnesses, etc.
You are trusted so long as you will say that
borrower said to the lender:
A
"
have not paid you"; thereafter he paid him in the presence of witnesses,
One does not swear to the following: To slaves written documents, etc.
One swears but to things capable of being measured, weighed and counted.
How so? If one lends to his neighbor on a pledge, and the pledge got lost,
If one lends to his neighbor 1,000 zuz, and pledges them the handle
etc.
I
etc.
of a scythe only,
etc.
75-93
CHAPTER
MISHNA
pay. etc.
/.
Give
already, etc.
VII.
All those who are subject to a biblical oath swear and do not
me change for a dinar. Give the dinar. I have given it to you
You have hired me for two zuz to repair something, while the
employer says that he hired him only for one zuz, etc. If witnesses saw one
concealing utensils under his garments when coming out from a house,
and he claims that he had bought them, etc. The oath returns to its place
the Mount Sinai. If there were two parties of witnesses contradicting each
Let the master con
other, each party may appear and testify for itself.
It once
join with us in nullifying the statement of Rabh and Samuel.
happened that B, who had borrowed money of A through a surety and
on a document died, etc
93-105
CHAPTER
MISHNA
and
oath
hirer,
I.
There are four kinds
etc.
liability to
free, etc
This
is
liability,
VIII.
of bailees, gratuitous,
on
hire,
borrower
tends to commutate, by his
unliability to unability, or unability to liability is
Appendix, 106-108
the rule:
"Whoever
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT ABUDA ZARA
CHAPTER.
MISIINA /. Three days before the
bidden to have any business with them.
the
Holy Scroll
and receive his
After
Rome
in hand, saying,
reward."
"He
(IDOLATRY).
I.
of the heathen, it is for
In the future the Lord will take
festival
who was occupied
The kingdom
has departed, Persia enters,
of
Rome
etc.
We
will
with it shall appear
then enter first, etc.
have constructed many
bridges, conquered many great cities, we were engaged in many wars, all for
"Have we then
the sake of Israel to enable them to study the law, etc.
Gentile
accepted the Torah, and not fulfilled its commandments?
"
who
A
occupied with the study of the law is likened to a High-priest, etc.
Lord of the Universe, has then Israel, who has accepted the Torah,
Men of ye nations may come and testify that Israel has
observed it?
observed the Torah. Nimrod may testify, etc. There are twelve hours in a
is
"
"
"
day, three hours of which the Lord is occupied with the Torah, etc. There
is no smiling by the Lord, since the temple was destroyed.
But in the
fourth three hours He teaches, etc. There is no Gehenna in the future.
But the Lord
If not for the fear
will take out the sun from its sheath, etc.
government the stronger would swallow the weaker, etc. Concerning
the explanation of (Amos, iii. 2) said R. Abuhuh, I will do it in the form of a
parable. There was once a creditor of two persons, one a friend and the
other an enemy of his. It is advisable for one not to pray singly the addi
for
first day of new year.
When
one performs a meritorious act in this world it precedes him in the world to
come. "Three days," etc. Is such a long time needed? is this forbidden
because a Jew must not interfere with the idols, or because
Thou shalt not
The prohibition to do business with them
?
put a stone for the blind
refers only to a thing which can be kept in good order until the festival day.
It is advisable for one to always arrange the praises of the Ominipotent first,
and thereafter to recite the daily eighteen benedictions. The following are
tional benediction in the first three hours at the
"
"
the festivals of the heathens: Kalends, Saturnalia, Kratsin, etc. Adam the
first, on the first day of his creation, when he saw the sun set, cried: "Woe
is
is to be returned to chaos, etc."
Thirty-two battles the
fought with the Greeks, etc. Twenty-six years the Romans kept their
to me, the world
Romans
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vi
promise
counted.
to Israel,
The twenty-six years are not
failed.
continue for six thousand years, the first two
and thereafter they
The world
will
thousand of which were a chaos (Tahu), etc. It happened with Antoninus
(See the whole legend, pp.
(the Caesar of Rome), who said to Rabbi, etc.
Unklus b. Klenimus embraced Judaism, and the Caesar sent militia
16-18).
to take him, etc.
(See the legend, pp. 18-19). There was still another festi
val in Rome which occurs once in seventy years, on which they would make
1-21
a well man ride on a lame man, etc
MISHNA IV. In a city where the idol is placed, interfering is forbidden
If,
inside, but not outside.
during an idol festival in the city, some
stores were there decorated, one must not buy, etc. The following are for
bidden to be sold to the heathens; Fir-cones, etc. We have a tradition that
the tract Aboda Zara of Abraham the patriarch contained four hundred chap
Where it is customary to sell small cattle to heathens it is lawful
ters, etc.
One must not sell to them bears, lions, and all such things, by
to do so, etc.
which the people can be injured, etc. I walked in the upper market of
Ciporas, and I met one of the minim, named Jacob, of the village of Sac-
So taught Josa B. Southyra, etc. (See foot-note, p. 27.) The legend
Durdaya (28). The leech hath two daughters (crying),
Give, give," i.e. minunism and the government, which are never satisfied,
Raba sold an ass to an Israelite who was suspected of selling it to a
etc.
hania.
of
Eliazer ben
"
He who occupies himself with the Torah, but does not observe
etc.
bestowing of favors, is similar to him who denies God. The Legend of
Eliezer b. Sarta and Chanina b. Tradion when captured by government,
How Chanina was burned together with the holy scrolls, and
p. 29, 30.
what became of his wife and daughter, p. 31, 32. The redeeming of latter
by R. Mair (Baal Hanes), p. 33. Happy is he who conquers his evil spirit,
as a heroic man, etc. It is advisable to divide one s years into three parts:
one-third for the study of Scripture, the second Mishna, and the third Tal
mud, etc. R. Aqiba when he saw the wife of Tornus Rupers, he laughed and
wept, etc. Houses must not be rented to the heathens in Palestine, etc.
One must not rent his bath-house to a heathen, but how is it to a Samaritan?
heathen,
etc.
......
...
CHAPTER
MISHNA
/.
Cattle
foot-note, p. 41.)
21-40
II.
must not be placed in the inns of the heathens. (See
the cows went straight forward," etc. What does
"And
this expression mean?
written in the book of
It
reads
(Jos.
x.
13):
And
the
sun stood
still,
Yasher? One must
not stay alone even with two women. If an Israelite while on the road,
happened to be accompanied by a heathen, etc. One must not confine a
heathen because she brought up a person to idolatry, etc. A city in which
there is no Jewish physician, but a Samaritan and a heathen, the heathen
shall circumcise and not the Samaritan.
One may employ their (the
heathens ) services for curing his personal property, etc. Ben Dama was
bitten by a snake, Jacob come to heal him with the name of Jesus, but R.
Ismael did not allow. With R. Johanan it is different, as he himself was an
established physician.
Medicines and other remedies for different sickness
by different men and women, on pp. 50-53. The following things of the
Yasher."
What
is
the
book
of
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
vii
heathens are prohibited, and the prohibition extends even to the deriving
No benefit is to be
of any benefit therefrom viz:
wine, vinegar, etc.
derived from the dead. Samuel and Ablat, the latter who was a heathen,
were sitting together, and cooked wine was brought for them, etc.
To
fermenting wine no uncovery applies. One, must not pour water which
has been uncovered, in the public streets, and also not water cattle with it.
The sages forbid date-beer of the heathens, as a safeguard against inter
marriage. The sick heathens who become swollen, and whom uncovered
water does not harm, surely ate reptiles, so that their bodies contain
A
poison which prevent the harming effects of the snake-poison.
heathen pilgrim is prohibited only when on his way to the idol, etc.
Enamelled vessels, no matter what color, are permissable. Fish oil made
by a heathen specialist is permissable.
Why did the sages forbid
the cheese of Anugiki?
Sweet are to me the words of thy friends
(the sages who are explaining the law), more than the essence of the Torah.
Compress your lips, one upon the other, and hasten not to propound ques
tion,
MISHNA V
.
The following
41-65
are prohibited, but not from deriving benefit
is the reason for the prohibition of milk? etc.
from them: Milk, etc. What
oil, Daniel has decreed the prohibition according to Rabh, etc.
To everything which is not served on the table of noblemen to relish the
cooked by a heathen does not apply. All that
bread, the prohibition of
may be eaten in a raw state, may also be eaten when cooked by a heathen.
The sea-donkey is allowed, but not the sea-ox; and you remember this by
the following mark: the unclean (on earth?) is clean, while the clean is
unclean.
We are to trust the wife of a scholar as we have trusted her
husband.
Meat, wine, blue wool that are to be forwarded through a
heathen, require each two seals. The following things are allowed to eat,
milk milked by a heathen in the presence of an Israelite, honey and honeycake, etc. Fish entrails as well as fish-rye you may buy only of a specialist,
If the vender says, I have pickled the fish and know them to be clean,
etc.
he is trusted. Praised be the Omnipotent, who puts this world in the hands
Concerning
"
"
of guardians!
.... ......
CHAPTER
MISHNA
at least
hand
/. TO VI.
once a year.
of the idol.
for the
65-81
III.
All images are prohibited, for they are worshipped
The bird in its
staff in the hand of the idol.
The
Finally, the sphere is to indicate that it sacrifices itself
If one finds fragments of images, he is allowed to
whole globe.
It is taught that a heathen can profane the idol of his
use them, etc.
fellow heathen as well as his own, while an Israelite cannot profane the idol
If one finds vessels with the image of the sun, moon, etc.,
of a heathen.
he must throw them into the salt lake. The human image and that of a
nurse are, however, prohibited only when having respectively a measure in
One may grind
the hand and a son in the arms whom she is nursing.
the images and scatter them to the wind, or sink them into the sea, etc.
Peroklas, the son of a philosopher, asked once R. Gamaliel at Ako, who was
then bathing in the bath of the goddess Aphrodite, etc. R. Gamaliel gave
Peroklas an evasive answer; but I (Kama) say it was not evasive, etc., etc.
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
viii
The mountains and hills worshipped by heathens are allowed to use,
but not the things, brought upon them, etc.
Wherever you find a high
mountain, an elevated hill, a leafy tree, there is surely an idol there. A
town or place bearing the name of an idol should be renamed. If stones
absolved fortuitously from a mountain rock, that was worshipped, is their
use allowed or not
MISHNA
?
.
.
.
TO XV.
crumbles down,
.
.
82-96
.
house situated, close by a worship-house of
an idol
its owner is prohibited from rebuilding it, etc.
There are three kinds of houses. There are three kinds of stones. There
are three kinds of groves, etc. What is a grove? A tree with an idol under
it.
R. Simion said: "Any tree that is worshipped. It is not allowed to sit
down in the shade of such a tree." Under such a tree is allowed to sow
VII.
If a
herbs in the winter, but not in summer, etc.
obtained from an idol-grove is prohibited.
tree profaned, etc.?
To
derive any benefit of wood
is the idol worship of a
........
CHAPTER
How
96-103
IV.
MISHNA 7. TO VI. Three stones near one another and beside the
Merkules are prohibited. The son of the saints treads on them, should we
abstain thereform? Who was this son, etc.? One is not liable for slaughter
ing a blemished animal to an idol, etc.
Money, garments, utensils found
on the head of an idol are allowed, etc. The use of a garden or bathingIt is common
place belonging to an idol is allowed when it is gratis, etc.
sense that that idol of an Israelite should be forbidden from the very
beginning, etc. Whether or no food offered to an idol, if profaned, loses
There was a pantry in the temple, where the
thereby its defilement?
Macabees heaped up the stones of the altar defiled by the Greeks. A
heathen can profane his idol as well as that of his neighbor, etc. How is
an idol to be profaned? If an Israelite erects a brick to worship it, but
does not worship, and a heathen comes, and worships it, it is prohibited,
etc.
An
idol
anbandoned by
its
worshippers in time of peace
is
allowed.
My
respect for Rabh and Samuel is so great that I should readily fill my
eyes with the ashes of their corpses; none the less, etc. An animal resting
in the proximity of an idol becomes unallowable,
etc.
The animal
obtained
bidden
...........
by
the
idol-worshippers
in
exchange
for
an
idol
is
for
103-119
MISHNA VII. TO IX. If God is displeased with idol-worship, why does he
not destroy the idols, etc.? If the heathens worshipped but things not need
ful to the world, He would surely annihilate them; but they worship the
sun,
moon,
stars
and the
cured by the idols
planets.
How
is
it
that so
many
cripples are
temples? If one comes to defile himself, the
door is opened to him, while when one comes to cleanse himself, he is
It is forbidden both to tread and to gather with an Israelite,
supported.
who prepares the wine while he is unclean, etc. They further warned
against contributing toward the conditions defiling the fruit in Palestine,
etc.
It once happened that an Israelite and a heathen jointly hired and
worked a wine-press in the City of Nahardea, etc. A heathen once hap
pened to enter the house of a Jewish wine-seller, etc. R. Johanan b. Arza
and R. Jose b. Nehorai were once sitting together indulging a little in
in their
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
wine,
when
man came
a
by pouring water into
Does
Whether it
in, etc.
it?
ix
a heathen render the wine prohibited
allowed to hire a heathen for con
is
veying grapes to the wine-press of an Israelite, etc.? A heathen stand
ing near the wine reservoir renders the wine forbidden, provided he has
a lien on it, etc.
If an Israelite, who has cleansed the wine of a heathen,
left it
on the
When
latter s premises, etc.
in the courtyard of a heathen, etc.
It
and Israelite buys or rents a house
once happened that Israelites bought
of Sarsik, the viceroy, the grapes of a vineyard, etc.
CHAPTER
.
.
119-134
.
V.
MISHNA 7. TO V. The wages of a laborer hired by a heathen to work
with him, wine for libation are prohibited.
How is it when the heathen
hires a Jewish laborer to prepare wine in general? Whether or no the use
of the
money obtained by
a heathen from the sale of an idol
is
all
for
heathen settled down
in the land of Israel, on having taking upon himself not to practice idolworship only, etc. "Jews in prospect such pleasures in your paradise? Do
you really mean," said the other, "that there are greater pleasures than
this?"
If offered wine he poured on grapes, etc.
In the case when beer
vinegar was intermixed with wine vinegar, or oaten yeast with wheat yeast,
etc.
The rule is:
prohibited thing renders another one forbidden," etc.
It once happened that a mouse was found in a barrel of beer, and Rabh pro
hibited the beer.
Wine known as being watched, is allowed when trans
When an Israelite leaves his
ported from place to place by a heathen, etc.
wine in the wagon," etc. Jewish wine was once stored up in a house,
where a heathen and an Israelite lived in the lower and upper floors,
respectively, etc, An Israelite and a heathen were once at an inn sitting and
drinking wine, etc. In the city of Sumbeditha thieves once intruded into a
He who
house, etc. When an army enters a town in time of peace etc.
Rabh told the
sells his wine to a heathen is allowed to use the money, etc.
Jewish wine-dealers to have their heathen customers pay in advance, etc.
Once an Israelite said to his neighbor: "When I make up my mind to sell
Later on he sold it to a third party, etc.
this field, I will sell it to you."
bidden to an
Israelite.
Can
a
citizen-proselyte,
a
"a
"
An
Israelite
once said to his neighbor:
this field, I will sell
it
to
you
for a
"When
hundred
I
make up mind
suz, etc.
If
to sell
the funnel
was
used to measure through it into the heathens flask, etc. Devoted wine
prohibited, and renders unallowable even by a minimal quantity. If for
first
is
bidden wine falls into a reservoir, and simultaneously a pitcher of water,
etc.
This is the rule: "When the two are of the same kind; a minimal
For how long must the utensils remain glowing in
quantity suffices, etc.
A knife is cleansed even by grinding
fire, etc.
"
it."
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS
OF
TRACT HORIOTH
CHAPTER
MISHNA
TO
(DECISIONS).
I.
had decreed the transgression of
prescribed in the Torah, an individual guided
by this decree acted erroneously, etc. If upon issuing the decree the court
becomes aware of its being conceived in error and retracts, and mean
one of
all
7.
the
V.
If,
after the court
commandments
while an individual commits a transgression upon their decree, etc. If while
the court was deciding, one of its members who perceived their error drew
their attention to it, etc. If causing the whole people to act erroneously, etc.
If upon the erroneous decree of the court the whole people, or its majority,
...........
acted, etc.,
CHAPTER
3-12
II.
MISHNA 7. TO VII. If an anointed priest has erroneously rendered an
unlawful decision against himself and acted accordingly by mistake, etc.
If he (the said priest) both decided and acted for himself, etc.
The court
is not liable unless the issued decree concerns Korath and sin-offering
It is also not liable for a decree concerning a command or
respectively.
a prohibition with regard to (polluting) the sanctuary. There is no liability
when the decree concerns an adjuring challenge to testify, a hastily made
vow, etc.
Concerning a ruler and the high priest s offerings for their
......
sin,
CHAPTER
MISHNA
An
13-18
III.
anointed priest who has sinned and was removed
they were appointed to their respective positions
after they had sinned, etc.
Who is the anointed priest? He who was con
secrated to priesthood by the holy ointment, etc. The high priest rends his
garment from below; the common priest, from the top, etc. What is more
common precedes the less common. The man has the preference over the
woman, etc. In captivity his master has the preference over his father. His
mother, however, has the preference over all. The following precede one
from
7.
TO VII.
his office, etc.
If
iii
iy
SYNOPSIS OF SUBJECTS.
another in order of arrangement, etc. Why does the dog know his master,
Five objects are
cat does not? Why do all reign over the mice?
conducive to one s forgetting his studies, etc. Five are apt to strengthen
one s memory, etc. The following ten objects are cumbrous to one s studies,
and the
When the prince enters, all the people present in college rise to their
without again taking their seats until he tells them to do so. When
the chief justice enters, the people occupying two rows of seats facing
The legend which happened to Raban Simon b.
the entrance rise, etc.
Gamaliel with R. Mair and R. Nathan. How the latter were removed from
the college. An erudite scholar and a dialectician, who has the preference?
.
How Abaye rose to be the chief of the College of Sura, .
18-29
etc.
feet,
.
^
u
jj
stg
>S
sS^^-S =5 a
ENDORSEMENTS
REV. DR. B. Szoi.u,
Rabbi
of the
"
Cong.
Oheb
for
Shalom,"
fore
Baltimore.
I
BALTIMORE, Jan.
M.
Rev.
Hebrew
happening
me
L.
scholar
16, 1895.
Rodkinson, a renowned
.of
repute and ability,
to be in Baltimore, called
on
in connection with his project of edit
ing his work to be
Short Talmud."
known
He
as the
laid
"
Ancient
before
it seems
as if the waters of the
from
of flow directly
me
a
it
their source,
Talmud
and there
with the sincerest pleasure that
the work will meet with the
is
hope
greatest success.
Every scholar will readily understand
the necessity of such an admirable work
when
at the present time,
Talmud
the study of the
voluminous shape will not,
without deep and difficult study, infuse
in its
the student with a
intricacies
and
of all
knowledge
fine
its
In the Tal
points.
sheets of the mud as formulated and abridged by Mr.
and the whole of Rodkinson, however, where all unneces
the treatise "Sabbath" in manuscript, sary repetitions and dispensable debates
and asked me to read with an eye of a are discarded, the student will be able to
critic his work, to the end that if it ap
gain a fair knowledge of all desirable and
number
of
"
treatise
peared to
Hebrew proof
Berachoth
me
merit and
its
/ very
the
"
valuable
its
I
should testify to
carefully read sixteen chapters of
MS. of treatise
attractive points at the cost of very
little
time and trouble.
purpose.
"
Sabbath"
fords me the greatest pleasure
and it af
to state
that
These considerations have constrained
me
to
tions,
overstep
and
to
my
beg
well-defined
all
limita
friends of our na
I not only conscientiously consider the work tionality and its estimable old literature
of extraordinary merit and value at this to encourage and aid this able author to
time, but that I was exceeding pleased to the end that success may crown his valua
find that the editor has careftilly arranged ble and much desirable efforts in this
the text
and
of the Talmud most consecutively
direction.
Let
logically.
He facilitates the reading of the Tal
mud considerably on account of this ex
tribute of
this
righteousness
be a
mine
to truth
testimonial
for
and
the-
coming generations of the high esteem
The com felt by our contemporaries of the igth
mentary of Rashi was also arranged to century toward the Talmud and our na
meet the requirements suiting this edi tional traditions, and how ready we were
tion, and the editor has not added any to encourage those who made the Talexplanations of his own, nor altered the mudical study the aim of their existence.
With the assurance of the satisfactory
wording of the text.
Although the contents of the Talmud results -which -will obtain to all Talmudiwere familiar to me from my youth, yet cal students by a perusal of this abridged
cellent orderly arrangement.
this
new arrangement
made
delightful
The
reading and brought new light.
reader can now read the text intelligently,
Talmud,
1
am, very respectfully,
B.
Szoi.n.
I also consider an
of the Talmud.
REV. DR. M. JASTROW,
edition of the Talmud, while
Rodelph Shalom Cong., of abridged
omitting the many interpolations which
Philadelphia.
tend to confuse the reader and facilitating
GERMANTOWN, Oct. 5, 1894.
the study by the addition of modern
DEAR SIR
punctuation marks, would render the
At your request I take pleasure in reading of the difficult passages a pleas
"
"
Rabbi of
:
stating my opinion that your planned
edition of an abridged Talmud will be a
great benefit to students, who will be
spared the wading through the intricate
discussions frequently interspersed with
out direct bearing on the subject treated.
ure rather than a task, a benefit for the
scholarly world, both Jews and Gentiles,
and
I
can only recommend the work to
the support of generous-hearted patrons
of our so little subsidized Jewish litera
ture.
DR. K. KOHLER.
An
English translation of the book so
abridged will then be, though not an easy,
yet a possible labor.
Wishing your enterprise the
cess it deserves, I am,
full
suc
To
Michael L. Rodkinson.
REV. DR. FELSENTHAL,
Rabbi of the Cong.
Zion," of Chicago.
"
Very respectfully yours,
M. JASTROW.
To Mr.
CHICAGO, Feb.
Michael L. Rodkinson.
New York
DEAR
The
PROF. DR. M. MIELZINER,
SIR
fact
cannot be denied that the
it
has been handed
us, is very voluminous,
Having perused some advance sheets
Talmud edition
which Mr. Michael L. Rodkinson is about
to publish, I find his work to be very
recommendable. Such a Talmud edition,
of a part of the abridged
all unnecessary digressions and
disturbing interpolations are judi
ciously omitted and in which the text is
which
City.
:
Talmud, as
of Cincinnati.
in
14, 1895.
MR. MICHAEL L. RODKINSON,
and
down
to
that, further
more, by the intricacies of the dialectics
prevailing therein and by the labyrinthical methods pursued in the same, it can
not be fully mastered except by scholars
who devote their lives, their days, and
their nights almost exclusively to the study
all
of this
provided
In our present times and in countries
where of necessity all students, rabbis in
with
marks, will
punctuation
greatly facilitate the study of the
Talmud,
especially for beginners.
I trust that the friends of our ancient
literature
scholar,
will
liberally
and enable him
support
this
to complete this
useful work.
Dr.
H. U. College.
CINCINNATI.
REV. DR. K. KOHLER,
Rabbi of the Cong.
Beth-El," of
"
NEW
I
SIR
YORK, Feb.
cluded, have to pursue other branches of
learning also, such an exclusive devotion
to
Talmudical studies
is
out of the ques
For the majority of the students,
and especially for those who, in colleges
tion.
abridgment by which the more important
parts of the Talmud would be contracted
compass and many of its
would be avoided will be very
desirable, especially if by the inserting of
punctuation marks into the text and by
explanatory notes at the bottom of its
pages or at the end of the various volumes
into a narrower
New
York.
DEAR
literature.
or in other ways, begin to study the Tal
mud, an abridgment of the same such an
M. MIELZINER,
Prof.
grand branch of ancient
12, 1895.
:
gladly and heartily endorse the opin
by Prof. Lazarus and the
ion expressed
Rev. Drs. Jastrow, Mielziner, and Szold,
as to the merits of your planned edition
difficulties
the reading and the understanding of the
Talmudical extracts will be facilitated.
/ would recommend
therefore
your in
tended publication of an epitomized Tal10
mud to
all friends
ofJewish
literature in
general and to
leges
students of Theological Col
And may the wealthier
especially.
ones
among our
coreligionists,
even
if
they themselves are personally unable to
read and enjoy such literature, neverthe
and
less patronize your great undertaking
follow the example given by the wealthy
merchants among the Zebulunites who
supported the
less
wealthy students of our
sacred literature belonging to the tribe of
Issachar.
May
you then succeed
with an abridged
in furnishing us
Talmud
in
which espe
pedagogical requirements of a
work of this kind will have been satisfied
cially the
!
Respectfully,
B. FELSENTHAL.
I also consider an
of the Talmud.
REV. DR. M. JASTROW,
edition of the Talmud, while
abridged
of
Shalom
Cong.,
Rodelph
omitting the many interpolations which
Philadelphia.
tend to confuse the reader and facilitating
GERMANTOWN, Oct. 5, 1894.
the study by the addition of modern
DEAR SIR
punctuation marks, would render the
At your request I take pleasure in reading of the difficult passages a pleas
"
"
Rabbi of
:
stating my opinion that your planned
edition of an abridged Talmud will be a
great benefit to students, who will be
spared the wading through the intricate
discussions frequently interspersed with
out direct bearing on the subject treated.
ure rather than a task, a benefit for the
scholarly world, both Jews and Gentiles,
and
I
can only recommend the work to
the support of generous-hearted patrons
of our so little subsidized Jewish litera
ture.
DR. K. KOHLER.
An
English translation of the book so
abridged will then be, though not an easy,
yet a possible labor.
Wishing your enterprise the
cess it deserves, I am,
full
suc
To
Michael L. Rodkinson.
REV. DR. FELSENTHAL,
Rabbi of the Cong.
Zion," of Chicago.
"
Very respectfully yours,
M. JASTROW.
To Mr.
Michael L. Rodkinson.
CHICAGO, Feb.
DEAR
The
PROF. DR. M. MIELZINER,
SIR
City.
:
fact
Talmud, as
of Cincinnati.
14, 1895.
MR. MICHAEL L. RODKINSON,
New York
cannot be denied that the
it
has been handed
us, is very voluminous,
and
down
to
that, further
Having perused some advance sheets more, by the intricacies of the dialectics
Talmud edition prevailing therein and by the labyrinthi-
of a part of the abridged
which Mr. Michael L. Rodkinson
is about
cal methods pursued in the same, it can
work to be very not be
fully mastered except by scholars
recommendable. Such a Talmud edition, who devote their lives, their days, and
in which all unnecessary digressions and their
almost exclusively to the study
publish, I find
to
his
nights
disturbing interpolations are judi
ciously omitted and in which the text is
all
with
provided
marks, will
punctuation
greatly facilitate the study of the
Talmud,
especially for beginners.
I trust that the friends of our ancient
literature
scholar,
will
liberally
and enable him
support
this
to complete this
useful work.
Dr.
M. MIELZINER,
Prof. H. U. College.
CINCINNATI.
REV. DR. K. KOHLER,
Rabbi of the Cong.
Beth-El," of
"
NEW
I
SIR
YORK, Feb.
where of necessity
all students, rabbis in
cluded, have to pursue other branches of
learning also, such an exclusive devotion
to
Talmudical studies
is
out of the ques
For the majority of the students,
and especially for those who, in colleges
tion.
or in other ways, begin to study the Tal
mud, an abridgment of the same such an
abridgment by which the more important
parts of the Talmud would be contracted
compass and many of its
would be avoided will be very
desirable, especially if by the inserting of
punctuation marks into the text and by
explanatory notes at the bottom of its
pages or at the end of the various volumes
the reading and the understanding of the
into a narrower
New
York.
DEAR
of this grand branch of ancient literature.
In our present times and in countries
12, 1895.
:
gladly and heartily endorse the opin
by Prof. Lazarus and the
ion expressed
Rev. Drs. Jastrow, Mielziner, and Szold,
as to the merits of your planned edition
difficulties
Talmudical extracts
will
I would recommend
tended publication of
10
be facilitated.
therefore
your in
an epitomized Tal-
mud to all friends ofJewish literature in
general and to students of Theological Col
leges especially.
And may
the wealthier
our coreligionists, even if
are personally unable to
themselves
they
read and enjoy such literature, neverthe
ones
among
less patronize your great undertaking and
follow the example given by the wealthy
merchants among the Zebulunites who
supported the
less
wealthy students of our
sacred literature belonging to the tribe of
Issachar.
May you
then succeed in furnishing us
with an abridged
Talmud
in
which espe
pedagogical requirements of a
work of this kind will have been satisfied
cially the
!
Respectfully,
B. FELSENTHAL.
SOME PRESS COMMENTS
SINCE we commenced the translation of the Talmud many favorable
it in
periodicals of both continents,
which have devoted to it column upon column, too numerous for us to
mention in detail. Some of these reviews were printed in 1895 by the
New Amsterdam Book Company in their prospectus namely, from
the Boston Transcript, Boston Herald, Menorah, Cincinnati Enquirer,
reviews have been passed upon
;
Baltimore American, Syracuse Standard, Cleveland Leader, Baltimore
Sun.
In 1896 and subsequently up to the present time there have
appeared favorable reviews and notices in numerous periodicals, of
which we give a partial list Hartford Post, Washington Times, Balti
:
more American, Boston
Boston Congregationalist, Boston Beacon,
Paul Globe, Minneapolis Journal, New York
York Sun, New York Outlook, New York Times,
Detroit Free Press,
Globe,
St.
Book Buyer, New
New York Independent, New York Evangelist, New York Herald
(January, 1897), New York Christian Intelligence, Columbus PressPhiladelphia Press, Philadelphia Episcopal Recorder, Reading
As it is impossible for us to give citations
Times, American Israelite.
from all of them, we content ourselves with a clipping from the Home
Post,
Library
in the
1897-98) and a few words from other publications
(New York,
same
spirit.
Babylonian Talmud,
New
Edition of
English Translation Original Text
Edited, Formulated, and Punctuated. By
Revised and
Michael L. Rodkinson.
the
:
:
by the Rev.
Wise, President Hebrew
Corrected
Cincinnati,
Ohio.
Dr.
Isaac
M.
Union College,
Pub
Five Volumes
To
and in fact knowledge
and opinion on every branch of thought
and action. Dr. Wise speaks of the work
as
Rodkinson s reconstruction of the
original text of the Talmud," which is
confessed to have been in a very bad
cine, mathematics,
"
state,
from irrelevant matter thrust
in
by
be Completed in
about Twenty Volumes. An edition in
English Translation of the whole Talmud
hands, and even by hostile hands,
and from corruptions such as works ex
thoroughly cleared of confusion and cor
ruption, and brought into a readable and
cessively
lished (1896-97).
intelligible form, in
derstood in
which
it
can be un
vast range of interest, and
its real merits as the great
its
judged upon
Jewish encyclopedia of religion, ethics,
education, law, history, geography, medi
later
manuscript, and suc
by scribes sometimes
of accuracy and often free with
isting for ages in
careless
copied
changes or additions, are liable to. Dr.
Rodkinson s perfect mastery of the He
brew, and his comprehensive knowledge
of the true Talmudical facts, with his
admirable grasp of high ideals, and con-
The entire
fidence that they are the ideals of his race Talmud or in Maimonides.
and of the Talmud, have enabled him work is sufficiently advanced to make its
The reader oi
to reconstruct the original text and to early completion secure.
give a clear and readable rendering of it Dr. Rodkinson s own writings easily rec
in
English, by which for the
Talmud
the
made
is
first
time
as accessible to the
English reader as the books of the Old
Testament. In Dr. Rodkinson s repre
sentation,
mentary on the
of
dogma
Talmud
"the
Bible."
is
It is
not a
com
not a body
to be enforced, but of opinions
to be considered
"
;
not the decisions, but
"
the debates of the leaders of the people
not a compilation of fixed regulations,"
;
ognizes in his mastery of English style,
and
his high
cations,
make
to
mental and ethical
qualifi
assurance of his ability
Reconstructed Talmud an
ample
his
adequate text-book of the learning and
the liberal spirit of modem Reformed Ju
To Christian scholars, teachers,
daism.
and students of liberal
must be most welcome.
spirit,
Home
his
work
Librarv.
"
Looking at Mr. Michael L. Rodkin
s work as literature, it is a production
religious,"
knowing
which has required a vast amount of
conscience and reason."
The
freedom of suggestion and statement used knowledge and infinite patience.
has
been
Hebrew
of
the
pro
in
knowledge
it, the special rea
by those who speak
sons for many of its laws, such as the found, and the intricacies of the text are
The testimony
all made clear and plain.
desire to break from the neck of the
but a book of
"
liberty,
both mental and
"no
authority but
The extreme
son
peo
ple the yoke of the priests, and the vein
of humor running through much that
of the much-respected President of the
Hebrew Union College, the Rev. Isaac
seems most objectionable, are insisted on M. Wise, is the strongest of indorse
An amazing mass of material in
ments.
by Dr. Rodkinson as showing that noth
these two volumes will delight the eth
ing could be more unfair, nothing more
unfortunate than to adopt the prevailing nologist, the archeologist, and the folk"
false notions
about this ancient encyclo
before the publication
Talmud has
lorist, for certainly,
of this work, access to the
pedia."
Dr. Rodkinson s work is thus not only
a definitive English-Hebrew Talmud, for
been well-nigh impossible to those who
were not of the Semitic origin. New
popular reading as well as for study of
Jewish lore of every kind, but it is an in
terpretation to the modern mind of a vast
York Times,
"Saturday
19, 1897.
______
monument
of
Hebrew
life
and thought,
the value of which cannot be exaggerated.
i. and ii. of the work
give Tract Sab
Review,"
June
now it has been impossible that
Talmud should have any extensive
It has
influence upon modern thought.
Until
the
Vols.
been practically almost inaccessible even
390 pages. Vol. iii. gives Tract to Hebrew students.
Many at
Erubin, 250 pages, in which are embodied
tempts have been made by editing to
the famous Rabbinical devices for getting make its contents more
available, but
round the prohibitions of Tract Sabbath. until a
thorough textual revision had been
Vol. iv. has
Tract Shekalim, which is
completed, these attempts were in fact
all about a sacred half-shekel tax,
paid hopeless.
Rabbi Rodkinson has at last
by every Israelite at twenty years of age, effected this textual revision. Evangelist,
and Tract Rosh Hashana (or New Year), November
bath
in
.
.
.
18, 1897.
There are twelve of these
232 pages.
Tracts forming the first section of the
Moed (Festivals).
work, called
The whole of Dr. Rodkinson s colossal
entire
task includes a
new Hebrew
Here is a work which is a credit to
American Judaism a book which should
;
be in every Jewish home a literary pro
duction without which no library will be
;
some
a work whose character will
parts of which, to fill gaps in the com
complete
mentary sections, he has himself composed rank it with the first dozen of most im
from materials given in the Palestinian portant books.
The American Israelite.
text,
;
There can be no question that its trans lation of a book which is at once the ex
has rendered a welcome service pression of the history of an important
The Tablet, London, Oc people, and the source of many of its
to literature.
lator
tober
2,
stupendous work, almost as
signifi
task of the trans
not a light one, and has, indeed,
only been rendered possible by the zeal
lator
A
The
modern customs.
1897.
is
cant to the Jewish layman as the Bible to
the Gentile, and of most engrossing inter
and
est to scholars of all denominations, is the
Boston.
enthusiasm
of
specially-equipped
The Congregationalist,
Jewish scholars.
Talmud. The Talmud
is the ritual statute book, and last author
The value as a translation and a contri
Seven millions of Jews bution to religious literature of this new
ity of the Jew.
translation of the
adhere to
the
its
Talmud
many and
The reading
teachings.
of
in the original is beset with
peculiar difficulties.
Its repe
strange idioms, epigrammatic style,
intricacies of thought and speech, and
titions,
edition
of
the
Talmud cannot be
too
Extract from a page
Church Standard, Phila
highly estimated.
notice in
The
delphia.
boundless range of subject, have made its
Beyond question the publishing of this
But Dr. Rod- work in this accessible form will prove of
perusal a puzzle.
.
.
.
kinson has dared brave the meshes, and
he has, with the success known by appre
ciative scholars, carefully unravelled
and
eliminated the problems of the work. He
now presents the text consecutive and
clear.
Washington Times.
great value to many students of the Bible
who do not read in the original tongue.
Hartford Post.
We
scarcely need to point out that the
undertaking
now
fairly launched, is
of unique importance.
The importance of this work, alike to
Jewish and non-Jewish scholars, will be
appreciated by those who
what incomparable value
the
Talmud
know
is
not only
placed upon
New York
one
Sun.
A
gigantic work long looked for and
desired by scholars.
Episcopal Recorder.
as a storehouse of rabbinical
Judaism, but what the difficulties are in
making for the first time an exhaustive,
It requires some courage for Mr. RodShekakinson, finding that the tract
lim
(the half-shekels paid into treasury)
has only the Mishna with no Gemara, or
"
systematic and philologically accurate text
of this great literary
monument
thought and mind.
Philadelphia Press.
of Jewish
commentary, to provide a Gemara of his
own, in Hebrew as well as English.
.
We
are glad to have an English trans
The Independent, April
7,
1898.
.
In our prospectus we have published some reviews of the most im
We beg to
portant papers until April, 1898, of which we use the plates.
give also a small portion of the succeeding press until July, 1903.
.
This (eighth) volume
.
.
the actual
is
proof that the great Talmudist, Rodkinson, will in a very short time redeem his
promise to be the first man to render the
whole Talmud into a modern language,
and the very first man to render any com
treatise
plete
of
into
it
We
English.
take a special pride in Rodkinson
work, in that
tic
it
s gigan
American, and the
is
English is as correct, clear, and idio
matic as any celebrated English scholar in
London or Oxford could make it. We
Since then he has produced volume after
volume, at intervals of about six months,
and the number of volumes published now
amounts to twelve. The entire section of
Moed (Festivals) is completed, and Juris
which
of
is
we urge again upon
Therefore,
of
very rare, and always was.
historic
Mr. Rodkinson
assist
to
literature,
friends
in this great enter
Mr. Rodkinson
prise.
all
encourage and
s clear
of this literature with the
conception
numerous
diffi
the pertinacity
and industry of its author.
ish Chronicle, London, Sept.
.
.
Band
Der
.
thus
discouraging criticisms the
steadily approaching its end.
of
spite
work is
One cannot help admiring
heartily admire also the energy, the work
ing force of this master mind, the like
And
almost finished.
is
prudence
in
ist
The Jew
6,
1901.
in der Ueberschrift
genante
bereits der dreizehnter des gan-
zen Werkes, das im Jahre 1896 zu erscheinen begonnen hat, also mit bemerkensRaschheit
werther
vorwartsschreitet.
Der Trager des ganzen Unternehmens und Urheber des Uebersetzung ist
.
.
.
offers to the student, is evident
Michael L. Rodkinson, ein Gelehrter rus-
from the English translation, which has
no obscurities, and nowhere stands in
need of any commentary. The late
sischer Herkunst, das sich in den achzi-
culties
it
Rev. Dr. Isaac M. \Vise, in American
Israelite,
August
17, 1899.
ger Jahren durch hebraishe Schriften verschiedenen, zum Theile sensationellen
Inhalt in
hat.
.
.
.
Europa einen Namen gemacht
Aber in Grossen und Gan
man die Arbeit als Ergebniss
hingebend Fleisses und wirklicher Vertrautheit mit der Sprache und dem Geiste
zen kann
.
.
.
The recent American edition by
Michael L. Rodkinson
exact translation of
To
it is
believed
the entire
Dr.
is
an
Talmud.
history the Talmud
opens a vast realm of research. Queries
and Answers, N. Y. Times Sat. Review,
the student of
des talmudischen Schriftthums loben.
...
1901.
.
.
.
Pester Lloyd, March 13, 1902.
Its
interest
by no means con
for Gen
is
fined to Israelites, but is great
...
It
was
left
for
Mr.
Rodkinson,
tiles
In the
as well.
first
a Talmudic scholar depending upon his
pen for his livelihood, to undertake this
ume, as the others of
unpromising and gigantic task. He en
tered upon it six years ago, without any
distinctions
encouragement or support
20, 1902.
to speak of.
its
place, the vol
series,
throws
upon the peculiarly subtle
and regulations of the He
brilliant light
brew laws.
.
.
.
Pittsburg Post,
April
The Babylonian Talmud. Edited
by Michael L. Rodkinson. Section Juris
prudence (damages), Tract Sanhedrin.
This alone deserves the thanks of students.
.
.
.
New Talmud
(11x7^, pp. 385.)
ing Company,
New
It
makes much
accessible that
Publish
York.
.
We
.
.
Even
the lay reader will find a
great
new edition
congratulate the editor and trans
lator of that colossal work, the Babylonian
deal that
Talmud, upon the steady progress of his
undertaking, and American science upon
chael L. Rodkinson.
the distinction conferred
turies the
upon
was before
practically buried.*
of
by Mi
One, and possibly
the main, reason why in more recent cen
by the
it
interesting in the
is
"The
Babylonian
Talmud,"
Talmud has
received so
little
a
attention from the scholars of the world,
not excepting those of the Jewish church,
well as Christians,
because its efficient perusal was always
a task that could be accomplished
only
with difficulty. The editor of the volume
first
Talmud
translation of the whole
into
modern tongue, which is at present ap
The importance of the Talmud
pearing.
for scholars of all schools, for Jews as
rated.
is
can hardly be over
the one great commentary
the customs of the times which are
It
in question has
succeeded in eliminating
the majority of the abstruse obstructions
is
upon
most interesting
to
a Christian and
and has rendered
it
As such
the Jews.
all
adherents of the
it
Hebrew
faith
and
But
Of course
it is
fairly intelli
not to be supposed that
edited, will attract
is
this age, or
the subject of constant study.
to
the Christian theologian the Talmud has
how
translated or
any great attention
any future age.
in
Its ancient
laws can be regarded now with little more
than curiosity, and with gratification at
the thought that the race has progressed
been to a large degree a sealed book,
partly because of the language in which
it is written and
partly because of the
so far toward a perfect civilization.
But
for those who may wish to dive into the
expense of the only available editions.
But the theologian is in need of it in ex
mystic depths of Talmudic lore, the Rod
kinson edition is by far the best for that
plaining not a little Christian theology
which has been much misunderstood.
We
work
the Talmud, no matter
indispensable to
is
his
gible to the average reader or student.
contains the foundation of the theology
and the law which is still in force among
purpose. It is simplified about as much as
could be expected, as will be immediately
recognized by those who have struggled
refer especially to the doctrine of the
Atonement and original sin, neither of
which can be understood apart from the
Jewish theological opinion current in the
time of St. Paul.
Hitherto the only book
Talmud
with other
An
translations.
in
teresting point taken up by the author
refers to the time of the establishment of
of value to the theologian who was not
able to explore the "sea of the Talmud
the Sanhedrin or
was the work by Weber,
System der
Alt Synagogalen Palastinischen Thewhich was not wholly reliable.
ologie,"
The older works, which were still more
IQ03-
Hebrew
"
Supreme Council
of the
Pittsburg Post, May
race.
17,
"
tendenzios,
lation
have long
We have
carded.
of
one
since
now an
of the
.
been dis
made
his
translation
are,
literary
on
New York
New
:
New Talmud
Publishing Co.
These two volumes cover, in part, the
section of the Talmud which deals with
the
Jewish law.
He has undertaken a
whole, excellent.
revision of the Hebrew text of the Talmud,
The minuteness
of the de
cisions as to sale or rental of land, houses
or
a matter that was needed and which was
animals,
or
to the
qualifications
of
judges and the conditions of capital pun-
a vast undertaking.
He has
made a translation from that revised text,
in
The Babylonian Talmud.
Jurisprudence Tract Baba Bathra, Vols.
VII., VIII. (in one) Tract Sanhedrin.
achievements of the past. The general
principles upon which the learned editor
has
.
Formulated and translated by
Michael L. Rodkinson. Vol. V. Section
available trans
greatest
.
edition.
itself
*
Further, the author of this article criticised
some of our explanatory remarks, to which an
answer is given in the Introduction to Volume
with a very copious syn
accompanying
opsis of contents prefixed to each volume.
it
XVII.,
16
p. viii.
Baltimore Sun, April
17, 1903.
ishment,
is
uninitiated,
who
for scholarly purposes or
browse
will
from the
first page of the first volume to
The task
page of the last
that the learned Doctor has undertaken is
a Herculean one
but this is the eighth
volume of it, and his work has been fa
vorably commented on by many eminent
something amazing to the
and of real interest to any one
To
in this forest.
the last
curiosity
the ordi
haggadas, or imaginative
We
monumental work
again
stories,
commend
of
Rabbinical
a
March
this
hope
ish the
two or three dozen volumes yet
...
to
a
spirit as
pretensions to be
read.
Sat.
Talmud, and as the
the only one in the English
it
found expression
it
Review, July
.
any
kinson
of value for the history of
Talmud
student of
into readable English
proceeds
with most commendable rapidity.
Inde
of
.
.
There can be
stories will find
the
doubt of the
N.
.
and the transmission of
in it rich material.
This
.
book may be commended not only to
.
.
also to the wider
Eve. Post and Nation, Nov. 3,
The importance
Am.
.
.
Sat. Rev.,
Mr. Rodkin-
Nov.
Israel., Vol. 47,
July 26, 1900.
His
last
volume, the ninth in the
volume and
The
its
first
of the
difference
there, while this
a
is
between
predecessors is, that
ordinary reader like
they are to the
with a pleasant
spot
here and
a garden of flowers
summery realm where rocks show green
Hebrew Standard, Aug. 10,
growth.
1900.
pointed libraries, indifferent as to creed.
Times
4,
this
work need not be questioned. The
Talmud as he has translated it will take
its place in all theological and
well-ap
Y.
nature and the ethics
is
praiseworthy.
s
N.
just
interest the
here
deserts
of
manners
short,
section of Jurisprudence, treating as it
does the ethics of the fathers, is especially
1899-
son
is
order of publication and the
those interested, but
public.
human
practical sagacity.
little
facial
given us copiously.
here presented in the words of
his sages and saints, but also its men of
great value of such a translation as this.
All students of primitive law and custom,
of folk-of-love
nations
Judaism
pendent, Sept. 28, 1899.
.
concerning
and conditions of life. In
that which is calculated to
enormous undertaking
nothing
than the translation of the entire
less
Times
1900.
will find extremely interesting
data in these form tracts.
They are rich
This eighth volume of Dr. Rods
law, in
Y.
.
.
in incidents
.
7,
in
N.
culture,
looked upon as well
Chicago Isr., Aug. 26, 1899.
.
all
The theologian and historian phi
losophy, as well as the man of general
way
civilization as
.
carry out single-
spiritual interpretation, etc.
the
certainly should find its
into the libraries of all who make
language
to
are interested in the Encyclopedia
of seven centuries of the life of Jewish
having access to such a famous piece of
translation is
work
gigantic
who
telligent people among the reading classes
cannot be otherwise than desirous of
as
the
handed, and deserves the support of
cellency of this important work that it
In
requires no further words of mine.
literature
.
.
sent to the English-speaking public the
successive volumes of the Talmud.
It is
have so often dwelt upon the ex
I
Montreal Star,
scholars.
1900.
3,
Mr. Rodkinson must be admired
courage, perseverance and un
tiring industry he has undertaken to pre
.
for
Independent, 1903.
appear.
.
to the biblical student,
Hammurabi s Code, and
Rodkinson may live to fin
or the student of
that Dr.
.
;
nary reader the most interesting portion
will be the last chapter, which gives the
religious sort.
.
25, 1899.
.
.
.
You must be able to translate not
Hebrew into English, but from
only from
The Babylonian Talmud made its
appearance in fourteen heavy folio vol
umes without a vowel point being seen
.
.
the
.
mud.
7
and second to the twentieth cen
you would understand the Tal
Your view must retain the essen-
first
tury,
if
tial and the permanent and release the
You must know
temporary and trivial.
the spirit of the tintings, and be able
convert
the
March
solid
you are prepared to read
this,
lation of the
Aug.
delphia,
Dr. Rodkinson
Talmud
.
.
s
work
of translat
into English is making
no more inter
. there is
Jerusalem was destroyed because they
used the exact law only and never mod
work
erated
will
it.
be a de
Independent,
N. Y.,Jan.
every
G.
... It
is
certainly the
most wonderful
Hirsch, Rabbi Sinai Cong., Prof. Univ.
work ever prepared, comprising
Chicago, Apr. 12, 1899.
scope
... It
is
.
curious that while Indian law
legal systems of other
Times.
... It
that a
commended not only
.
"
s
head,
within, should
to students
and not only the
jurist,
mixed
one of the miracles of history
for centuries has been
maligned,
misinterpreted,
burnt, censured, expurgated, as if the
spirit of evil and darkness were enshrined
ject
become
of international
at last the sub
study and receive
the honor of translation or paraphrase in
.
of a fine
is
work which
persecuted,
of things Jewish, but also to students of
book is like a
. The
comparative law.
sheep
its
still
.
.
fore be
in
science,
physics, jurisprudence,
and, in short, laws for every condition
and circumstance of human life. Denver
more
primitive peoples have been studied and
analyzed by professional students of the
history of law the Jewish codes and the
codes of Islam have met with little atten
Dr. Rodkinson s work may there
tion
and the
17,
1901.
Emil
literature.
Jewish
.
esting statement quoted than that attrib
uted to Rabbi Johanan, who said that
10, 1900.
sirable addition to the library of
of
.
good progress
this trans
appreciatively and
Jewish Exfi., Phila
... I think that the
lover
.
21, 1901.
ing the
Talmud
with good results.
advantage and entertainment in
Nation, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1900, and
it.
chunks of raw
golden metal, in the form of episode,
tale and tradition, into evident ethical
If you are able to do
coin of the realm.
to
and human nature generally,
folk-love
will find
French, German and English.
feeding,"
but the student of
Sun, July 25, 1901.
18
Baltimore
BOOKS, PAMPHLETS, PERIODICALS, AND BOOKS BY
OTHER WRITERS PUBLISHED BY THE
AUTHOR OF THIS WORK.
In his youth (18 to 20):
"
Righteous),
(anew
fate-booklet),
"
"
H
Hithragshuth
"
(Aspiration of the
Nephesh
in
Soul),
Zohar version
prayer-book omitting the name of the author), Lemberg, 1865.
Mozath-Mizva-V Eliluth-H Dam (Unleaven Bread and the Blood Accusation),
in a
(recently published
"
"
"
"
1855;
H chadosh
(Congregation of Righteous),
Sippurei Zadikim
(Legends of
Shebhochii H Rabh
(Praises of the Rabbi), all of them Lemberg,
Edath-Zadikim
"
Urim-VeTumim
"
"
"
"
"
Presburg,
1882,
Lebhaker-Mishpat
(Investigation
of
Berlin,
Justice),
1883,
(Corner Stone), Berlin, 1883, and Aben Sapir (Sapphire Stone),
Presburg, 1885; the first treats about Reform in Judaism and the second the criticism
Tephila-L Moshe," with the answers of the
by Krochmal and Lilienbloom on the
"
"
Aben-Horoshe"
"
author.
"
Barkaye,"
Vol.
Agereth-P thucho Le
H
I,
against S.
Rabbonim
Bloch, Vol. II., a monthly, Wien, 1887,
I.
"
(An Open Letter to the Rabbis), and Agereth
Ha-Talmud Ha-Shenith" (The Second Letter About the Talmud), Presburg, 1886,
Maamar-Ha Issuth (A Wedding-Present),
Ahabhath Adam" (Human Love),
"
"
"
"
"
Vienna, 1886, a pamphlet
New York.
:
"The
M
Tephila-L Moshe
Jewish
Character,"
first
period appeared also in
Kuzi
(Ursprung und Endwickelung des PhylacterienToldath-Baalei-Shem-Tob
(Biographic Sammtlicher Rabbiner), vom Jahre, 1695 to 1876, Vol. I., Israel Baal-Shem-tob nebst Geschichte der
Emudei Chabad," Rabbi Zalman of Loznie, Vol.
Frankisten, Konigsberg, 1876,
IV. of the above-mentioned book, with an addition of the different text in the prayer"
Ritus bei-den Juden),
"
"
"
"
books of
all
Jewish
Konigsberg, 1876.
sects,
a weekly, in Bible language
Kol Leom," a weekly,
Hakol," twice a
Jzargon, K6nigsberg, 1876-1877, and from 1878 to 1880 the
week. At the end of 1879 the circulation of both periodicals in Russia (where the
"
Periodicals
:
"
Hakol,"
;
"
in
;
most subscribers were) was prohibited by the Government, an,d began to appear again
once a week during 1880.
From 1881 it appeared under the name Hachoze in
Berlin seventeen weeks for the Russian subscribers, and was again prohibited
also,
"
"
;
two weeklies, named "The Prophet of Hamburg" and "Hamburger
were issued for the Russian reader, and by the numbers 9 were again pro
hibited.
The Hakol" appeared also in Vienna one year, and also in New York
The Defender," both in pure Hebrew, and by the
twenty-two weeks, and thereafter
in
1882,
Israelit,"
"
"
seventeenth
number stopped.
Monthlies
Asephath H chamin (The Assembly of Wise), Konigsberg, 1879,
which was prohibited by the Russian Government at the sixth number, and
Hameaseph" (The Compilator) in the same place 1879-1880.
In German language
Der Schulchan Aruch und seine Beziehungen zu den
Warheit gegen Luege," Wien, 1883-87.
Juden und nicht Juden,"
English:
History of Amulets, Charms and Talismans," New York, 1893. "The
From 1896 to 1903
Pentateuch, Its Languages and Its Characters," Chicago, 1894.
eighteen volumes of the Talmud in English were issued.
"
:
"
:
"
"
19
The following books of other writers were published by the same author, supplied
with his Prefaces and Remarks
Pardas," by Rashe, Warshau,
1870
Queries
Sheerith Israel," by the
and Answers," by Joseph Aben Miggash, Warshau, 1870
"
"
:
;
"
;
Rabbi of Welednik, third
"
Atereth Israel," by the
Konigsberg, 1876;
of Behapoly, Zitomir, 1865;
Egereth Bekoreth," by Jacob Emdin,
Maggid
Luchuth Ha. Eduth," by Azar Zosmir, Lemberg, 1866; and
Zitomir, 1865;
edition,
"
"
"
"
"
Marpe
Leom,"
"
Jzargon
:
Zitomer, 66.
The
"
Spiegel,"
Adesse, 1867;
Wigderel ben
Wigderel,"
Warshau,
1870.
MSS.
"
:
Rodkinson
amulets at large)
;
s
"The
Eight
Chapters"
Fiftieth
Jubilee"
(a
investigation about charms and
voluminous book of his autobiog
The Patriarch Abraham," a drama
the Jewish question;
based upon the legends in Talmud and Post-Talmudic Literature;
the Talmud," the first chapter of it published as an appendix to Penta
Madua (Why)
"
"
raphy);
(an
in eight visions,
"What is
teuch, mentioned above.
"Remarks
and
Enlightenment" to
Babylonian and Palestinian Talmuds, Mishnayot and Tosephthas.
each tract of both
TORONTO