Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 1, scan section 3

books, have been written? The best reply will be an answer in negative form. The Talmud is not a commentary on the Bible ; nor should the vein of satire or humor that runs through it be taken for sober earnestness.* Nor is the Talmud a legal code, for it clearly states that one must not derive a law for practical application from any halakhic statement, nor even from a prece- dent, unless in either case it be expressly said that the law or statement is intended as a practical rule [Baba Bathra, 130^^]. Further: R. Issi asked of R. Jo'hanan : "What shall we do if you pronounce a law to be a Halakha?" to which R. Jo'hanan replied: " Do no act in accordance with it until you have heard from me, *Go and practice.'" Neither is the Talmud a compilation of fixed regulations, although the Shul'han Arukh would make it appear so. Yet, even when the Shul'han Arukh will be forgotten, the Talmud will receive the respect and honor of all who love liberty, both mental and religious. It lives and will live, because of its adaptability to the necessities of every age, and if any proof were needed to show that it is not dead, the attacks that are with remarkable frequency made on it in Germany might be given as the strongest evidence. In its day the Talmud received, not the decisions, but the debates of the leaders of the people. It was an independent critic, as it were, adapting itself to the spirit of the times; adding where necessary to the teachings of former See our arlicie, " What is the Talmud ?" in the prospectus. EDITOR'S PREFACE. xiii days, and abrogating also what had become valueless in its day. In other words, the Talmud was the embodiment of the spirit of the people, recording its words and thoughts, its hopes and aims, and its opinions on every branch of thought and action. Reli- gion and Ethics, Education, Law, History, Geography, Medicine, Mathematics, etc., were all discussed. It dealt with living issues in the liveliest manner, and, therefore, it is living, and in reading it we live over again the lives of its characters. Nothing could be more unfair, nothing more unfortunate than to adopt the prevailing false notions about this ancient encyclo- paedia. Do not imagine it is the bigoted, immoral, narrow work that its enemies have portrayed it to be. On the very contrary ; in its statements it is as free as the wind. It permits no shackles, no fetters to be placed upon it. It knows no authority but con- science and reason. It is the bitterest enemy of all superstition and all fanaticism. But why speak for it ? Let it open its mouth and speak in its own defence ! How can it be done ? The Talmud must be translated into the modern tongues and urge its own plea. All that we have said for it would become apparent, if it were only read. Translation ! that is the sole secret of defence ! In trans- lating it, however, we find our path bristhng with difficulties. To reproduce it as it is in the original is in our judgment an impos- sible task. Men like Pinner and Rawicz have tried to do so with single tracts, and have only succeeded in, at the best, giving translations to the world which are not only not correct but also not readable. If it were translated from the original text one would not see the forest through the trees. For, as we have said above, throughout the ages there have been added to the text marginal notes, explanatory words, and whole phrases and sen- tences inserted in malice or ignorance, by its enemies and its friends.* As it stands in the original it is, therefore, a tangled mass defying reproduction in a modern tongue. It has conse- quently occurred to us that, in order to enable the Talmud to open its mouth, the text must be carefully edited. A modern book, constructed on a supposed scientific plan, we cannot make of it, for that would not be the Talmud ; but a readable, intel- ligible work, it can be made. We have, therefore, carefully punc- tuated the Hebrew text with modern punctuation marks, and have reedited it by omitting all such irrelevant matter as inter- * In others of our works we have named some of these interpolators. xiv EDITOR'S PREFACE. rupted the clear and orderly arrangement of the various argu- ments. We have also omitted repetitions; for frequently the same thing is found repeated in many tracts ; while in this trans- lation each statement is to be found only once, and in the proper place for it. In this way there disappear those unnecessary de- bates within debates, which only serve to confuse and never to enlighten on the question debated. Thus consecutiveness has been gained, but never at the expense of the Talmud, for in no case have we omitted one single statement that was necessary or of any importance. In other words, we have merely removed from the text those accretions that were added from outside sources, which have proven so fruitful a source of misunderstand- ing and misrepresentation. We continue our labors in the full and certain hope that " he who comes to purify receives divine help," and that in our task of removing the additions made by the enemies of the Talmud we shall be purifying it from the most fruitful source of the at- tacks made on it, and thereunto we hope for the help of Heaven. As we have already said, we feel that this work will not be received everywhere with equal favor. We could not expect that it would. Jewish works of importance have most usually been given amid "lightning and thunder," and this is not likely to prove an excep- tion. We are always ready to accept criticism, so long as it is objec- tive, and we shall gladly avail ourselves of suggestions given to us, but we shall continue to disregard sdl J>ersona/ criticism directed not against our work but against its author. This may serve as a reply to a so-called review that appeared in one of our Western weeklies. At the same time we deem it our duty to render to Dr. Isaac M. Wise, the venerable President of the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati, our heartfelt thanks for the several evenings spent in revising this volume, and for many courtesies extended to us in general. The Editor. Cincinnati, May, 1896. BRIEF GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. On this, the appearance of our latest literary undertaking, we deem a few explanatory remarks necessary. The brief outline of the origin of the Talmud that follows may suggest the thought that we have departed from the usual manner of dealing with the questions here discussed, the more so since we have, for the sake of brevity, refrained from citing the authorities on which our statements are based. We wish, therefore, to declare here that we do not venture to make a single statement without the sup- port of authorities well known in Hebrew literature. Our method is to select such views as seem to us the best authenticated