The Essential Talmud

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Summary: More than meets the eye...
Review: Adin Steinsaltz is second to none in the field of Talmudic studies. A translator and editor of the magnificent Steinsaltz edition of the Talmud, he heads the Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications, one of the primary institutes for the discipline. Author of more than 60 books, Rabbi Steinsaltz's writings are what first introduced me to the interesting and complex world of the Talmud in an accessible and engaging manner.

The Talmud is not part of the shared Judeo-Christian tradition; this is a development of rabbinic Judaism after the divergence of the paths. Steinsalz states that if the Bible constitutes the cornerstone of Judaism, the Talmud is its central pillar. The Talmud arose from the writings of teachers and the wise in Palestine and in Babylonia from the aftermath of the destruction of the second Temple up until the early Middle Ages. Steinsaltz traces this history in the first part of the text, from the periods of oral tradition, to the tannaim (the period of Hillel and Shammai), the compilation of the Misnah, the amoraim (interpretations), and the final redaction and printing. Steinsaltz also looks at the various times of the banning and burning of the Talmud. He points out that without the Talmud, the Jewish communities might well have ceased to exist, which is one of the reasons why persecutors sought to limit or destroy the books.

In his second section, Steinsaltz looks at the structure and content of the Talmud. While the Talmud consists of the Mishnah (a book of halakhah, the laws, written in Hebrew), and the Gemarah (the commentary on the law), in fact there is much more to Talmud than this. Into the commentaries rabbis and sages included many details and facets about the culture and general life of Jewish people beyond the legal and theological beliefs. It represents a thousand years of wisdom, legend, philosophy, common sense and community interpretation that goes well beyond a strict legal codification. While talking about such well-known topics such as dietary restrictions and Sabbath/holy day observances, one gets a sense for the greater community, what is important and what is identity-forming.

The third section is on method. The Jewish tradition never developed a theological practice like the Christian theological process, largely because the Talmudic process already encompassed much of what would have been otherwise covered. There are particular ways of thinking, approaching problems of interpretation and applicability, as well as an open-endedness to Talmud that makes it a strong and continuing vital presence in Jewish life. The Talmudic scholar is not required to memorise and accept all that is written in the books -- unlike the Bible, it was never seen as having a final redaction and closing of the canon. Indeed, according to Steinsaltz, it is the responsibility of a Talmudic student or scholar to question things that seem to conflict with each other, or with daily life. Just as culture and society continue to change, so too does the Talmud and the way it is applied and interpreted -- this process is built into the document itself.

In this book, Steinsaltz writes for the general audience. He defines his terms and, while he uses a fair amount of Hebrew terminology, he keeps these well explained and relevant. He does not go off on tangents or into too much detail for an introductory survey; however, he does give good examples as highlights (for instance, the discussion about the mouse who brought in breadcrumbs to Passover, etc.). These add colourful details; the Talmud can be wonderfully practical and astonishingly removed from real life, all within pages of each other.

This is a wonderful introduction to the Talmud by a wonderful teacher.

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Summary: A Fantastic Book!
Review: As a Biblical scholar, I found this book of immense importance in that for people just now delving into Judaism and the oral tradition of Judaic Law, it contains substantial (though not exhaustive) information of the historical as well as cultural evolution and development of the Talmud. The significance of the numbers of people involved in it's development and their roles in all renditions I found encapsulating. It is a first step to further study for those who have any investment in Judaism and/or searching for a further truth.

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Summary: The "central pillar" examined...
Review: I expected a lot from this book and (mostly) got it. Adin Steinsaltz is perhaps the most renowned living expert on the Talmud, and has been responsible for the interpretation and translation of the Talmud into several languages. "The Essential Talmud" is, however, an introduction. (I found it was useful to switch back and forth from this book and Abraham Cohen's classic: "Everyman's Talmud". Incidentally, in that work Jacob Neusner, in the foreword, has some interesting comments about Steinsaltz's approach to Talmud.) Elsewhere, Steinsaltz has said: "The Talmud is the repository of thousands of years of Jewish wisdom. And the oral law, which is [as] ancient and significant as the written law (Torah), finds expression therein. It is a conglomerate of law, legend, and philosophy, a blend of unique logic and shrewd pragmatism, of history and science, anecdote and humor." Each of these aspects is discussed in "The Essential Talmud". This work is divided into three parts: (1) "History", (2) "Structure and Content," and (3) "Method". ------ I especially liked Part 1. I found this to be the clearest simple historical outline of oral law I have been able to find (though my Britannica comes close). Steinsaltz starts from the First Temple period and the time of the Great Assembly (in Chapter 2), through the Era of the Zugot (Pairs) i.e. 332 BCE - 37 CE (in Chapter 3), on to the Tannaim (the Scholars) and the compilation of the Mishnah (in Chapters 4 & 5), and then on to the Amoraim (the Interpreters) of both Babylonia and Palestine (in Chapters 6 & 7). Most of the famous historical figures of these periods are mentioned. (A hint: I underlined interesting passages in black, and went back and underlined the names in red; this has proved even more useful than I thought it might!) Steinsaltz carries right on: redaction of the Talmud, exegeses including tosafot, responsa, etc, the development of Talmudic study during the Middle Ages, the first printings of the Talmud in 1482 and 1520, and persecution and banning of the Talmud shortly after. Quite a good overview in only 75 pages! ------ Part 2, "Structure and Content" loosely follows the organization of the Mishnah, order by order. This is a "condensed books" overview of the Talmud. In places Steinsaltz goes into some detail; other areas are skipped over. Especially while studying part 2 I found cross-reading Abraham Cohen's work (despite its admittedly idiosyncratic arrangement) quite useful. Steinsaltz gives the overview; Cohen gives the twig-by-twig detail. Also in this section, Steinsaltz VERY briefly mentions Jewish mysticism in a seven-page chapter. ------ Part 3, "Method" is the part of this book that left me most confused, particularly chapters 28 (The Talmudic Way of Thinking), 29 (Strange & Bizarre Problems), and 30 (Methods of Study). There simply isn't enough space to do the detailed example-principle-application that these topics deserve. The very summary (and consequently abstract) presentation left me with a hunger to understand what the Talmudic way of thinking is - but no more understanding of it than before I read these pages. Perhaps others, with a more abstract mind than mine, may find part 3 to be less perplexing than I did. ------ All in all a very good book. I'm glad I read it, and I will use it as a reference guide in the future.

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Summary: My l i t t l e review
Review: I liked this book and found it very helpful. It is more about how the Talmud was actually put together, than a review or commentary on what the Talmud actually contains.

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Summary: good, readable intro survey to the Talmud
Review: I really enjoyed the first 2 sections of this book. Interesting history of the Talmud and the reasons why the tome evolved the way it did. Then led to good surveys of how the Talmud addresses issues, both religious and (for me, at least) non-religious. My interest started to wane in the 3rd and final section, but perhaps that's a reflection on this reader and not on all readers. Overall, a good intro to an enchanting subject. I'm on to Everyman's Talmud by A. Cohen as a next step.

Rating:
Summary: an informative read
Review: I was the most impressed by the first section of the book which laid out the history of the Talmud -- how it was composed, how it was transmitted and copied and what is contained within. Most of Steinsaltz's helpful observations about the Talmud fall within this section -- for example, he talks about how the Talmud is probably the only holy book that encourages doubts to be voiced and Talmud and torah are studied not to memorize a bunch of rules but for the sake of knowledge itself. For me, that's what makes the Talmud so interesting (although since I can't read Hebrew or Aramaic, I have not read it). The second section provides quick capsule summaries of the Talmud's view on various topics but they seem too facile and canned considering the richness of the debate. The final section of method is interesting although more examples could have been used for each debate style and logical method since the author spent so much time in the first section talking about the various schools of Talmud and how the logic is almost the most important facet. Again, he must just scratch the surface. The book is very readable, but the last two sections could have gone into much more detail without losing that clarity. Still, an essential read to appreciate this incredible collection of scholarship.

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Summary: Useful Introduction, but not the "Essential" Talmud
Review: Rabbi Steinsaltz, one of the most respected Talmudists of his generation, has devoted significant effort to introducing the Talmud to a wider audience and encouraging people to actually read it rather than merely read about it. Starting to read the Talmud without some idea of what it is and what it is about would be a very frustrating project, however, and this book is intended to help bridge that gap.

"The Essential Talmud" is divided into three sections, covering history, content and method. The historical section gives a very traditional account of the origins of the Talmud in the oral Torah, and its compilation and editing in Palestine and Babylon. By "traditional" I mean that this is essentially the account that the Talmud gives of itself or that can be filled in from other rabbinic literature. Whether or not this history is completely accurate, it is a significant part of the Talmud's self-presentation and of its authority, and throws important light on both the Talmud's content (largely the teachings of prior masters) and its methods (the obsessive quest to identify the authors of and reconcile the various teachings). In short, it is very difficult to understand the Talmud if you do not understand where the Talmud believes it came from, and Rabbi Steinsaltz's chapters on history are very helpful in that regard. He then goes beyond the Talmud itself to offer a brief history of Talmudic exegesis, and some very interesting information on the printing and persecution of the Talmud.

The second section of the book covers the structure and content of the Talmud. Here Rabbi Steinsaltz offers a very concise summary of the topics touched on by the various tractates of the Talmud. These very brief chapters can do no more than give one a sense of the general subject matter covered, but they successfully provide a general overview. What I found lacking in this section was the complete absence of any citations to the Talmud itself, or any bibliography for further reading on the various subjects. It is easy enough to guess that most of the material on marriage will be found somewhere in Tractates Ketubot and Kiddushin, but it is less easy to determine the source for his comments on the status of women or on ethics and halakhah. Some citations here would have been nice, in case the reader is sufficiently intrigued to want to read more. For example, in the chapter on ethics, Rabbi Steinsaltz summarizes rabbinic thinking on the sometimes conflicting claims of justice ("truth") and compromise ("peace"). I would love to read more on this subject, but I don't know where in the Talmud (or in other commentaries) to look. (For a more detailed look at the subject matter of the Talmud, see Abraham Cohen's "Everyman's Talmud," which has chapters that cover most of the tractate subjects, and additionally pulls together material on other subjects (such as the nature of God, sin and repentance, and so on) that is scattered throughout the Talmud.)

The third section of the book is entitled "Method," and while it is in some ways the most intriguing part of the book, it is also in some ways the least successful. Here Rabbi Steinsaltz attempts to give the reader a sense of how the Talmud operates, what problems it studies, how it approaches those problems, and how it uses logic, midrash and aggadah to achieve its goals. There are many interesting insights here *if* you already have some experience with reading Talmud. The real difficulty is the almost complete lack of concrete examples or actual text from the Talmud to illustrate Rabbi Steinsaltz's points.

Overall, I found this to be a good summary of basic points that someone new to Talmud study needs to know. The book is well written and easy to read. The failure to include any extended passages of text is a major flaw, however, and makes it impossible for this book to really capture the "essence" of the Talmud.

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Summary: An excellent introduction to the Talmud
Review: This book does its job very well. It does not aim to explain every last detail of the Talmud, or to impart the same feeling that one has while studying Talmud, it is meant as an introduction to the Talmud, its history and structure. It fills those roles very well. Don't buy this book if you want to know exact details, it is not meant for that. It could potentially be interesting for the seasoned Talmudist, but it would probably say nothing that he didn't already know

Rating:
Summary: A very good short introduction
Review: This is the best short introduction to the Talmud I know. The first section that relates the history of the Talmud's creation is the most extensive and interesting part of the work. The short summaries of various tractates also provide a basic knowledge. But there is no substitute for ' learning the Talmud with others' Hopefully this work will encourage many to do so.

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Summary: Clear, Interesting Summary of Some of the Talmud's Teaching
Review: Trying to summarize the Talmud in a paperback is quite an undertaking, but Steinsalz has provided readers with a taste of the Talmud's wisdom.

Steinsalz clarifies some interesting distinctions. For example, women were exempted from certain legal responsibilities out of concern for their limitations in rearing children, etc., but not forbidden from many of them (e.g., going to the Temple for the Feasts).

I write as a Christian pastor whose interest lies in the Jewish roots of my particular faith. So whether investigating Judaism as a Jew or whether probing into the Talmud as a non-Jew, this book is a valuable distillation.