Customer Reviews

Everyman's Talmud: The Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages (Spanish Edition)

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Abraham Cohen's _Everyman's Talmud_ was the first complete English introduction to the Talmud when it was published in 1928. So far as I know, it has never been surpassed.

It is admirably thorough. In about 400 pages Rabbi Cohen hits all the major Talmudic themes: God and man, revelation, Jewish practice including ethics and jurisprudence. Filled with well-chosen quotations and explicated by Rabbi Cohen's crisp, scholarly expository prose, the volume is not at all a quick and easy read; you will want to take your time with this one. But your efforts will be well repaid.

Not that I'm an expert myself -- but if I had to pick just one introductory volume on the Talmud for those who simply want to know what it says, this would be it. Highly recommended as an overview of rabbinic theology. (My own copy is the 1967 edition, so I can't comment on Jacob Neusner's introduction.)

This book is a landmark - "a comprehensive survey of the doctrine of this important branch of Jewish literature... a summary of the teachings of the Talmud..." in the words of its author. Jacob Neusner's "foreword" describes it as the "first classic introduction of the Talmud to the English language." As Neusner states: "The greatness of Cohen for the beginner is that he tells us the single most important thing we can know about the Talmud, which is what it says." Abraham Cohen was born in 1887 and died in 1957. His work is a groundbreaking opus that was originally published in 1931; he revised it in 1948. (In 1931 the Talmud had not yet been translated into English!) Neusner's foreword, as well as Cohen's original 23-page introduction, are marvelous and deserve intensive re-reading. (Just one example of Cohen's support for the novice is his practice of defining words: e.g. Talmud = "study"; Halachah = "walking", the way of life to tread in conformity with the precepts of the Torah., and so on.) The only weak area in the foreword and introduction is that of history. (Here I found the perfect remedy: part 1 of Adin Steinsaltz's book `The Essential Talmud' - also available through amazon.com). Readers should be aware that Cohen's book is not organized as is the Talmud: you will NOT find the six orders (seder) divided into tractates (masekhet) and chapters (periqim). Instead he divides this great work into 11 chapters: (1) The Doctrine of God, (2) God and the Universe, (3) The Doctrine of Man, (4) Revelation, (5) Domestic Life, (6) Social Life, (7) The Moral Life, (8) The Physical Life, (9) Folk-Lore, (10) Jurisprudence, and (11) The Hereafter. ----- Those new to the Talmud should be advised that Talmud, which signifies "study," is devoted to the ORAL Torah (not The Bible, also referred to as TNK or Tanakh). The core of the ORAL Torah is the Mishnah, or codification of the Halachah, compiled by the Tannaim (scholars/teachers) beginning with R. Akiva and ending with R. Judah Ha-Nasi (who died in 217 C.E.). It was written in Hebrew. Somewhat later the Amoraim (interpreters/speakers/expounders) compiled The Talmudic commentaries. (In fact there are actually two Talmuds, the more prestigious Babylonian Talmud, and the less esteemed Palestinian Talmud, both written in dialects of Aramaic, the language of the people. R. Ravina completed the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud in 499 C.E.) A word of caution: the term Talmud refers to these two documents, which include both the Mishnah (corpus of oral law), and the Gemara (completion -- or commentary on the Mishnah) - but the term "Talmud" also can be used as a synonym for Gemara! (Like referring both to the white of an egg, and the whole ovoid package as "egg".) ------ As one might gather I found Cohen's book very informative. But like any summary, it mainly should serve as jumping off point to explore the original document(s). The Babylonian Talmud (available in at least two English translations) awaits me. Looks like a long journey!

This book is a wonderful introduction to the traditions of post exilic Judaic thought. It is divided into chapters that make sense (topically) to those of us not familiar with the Talmudic and Rabbinical writings themselves. Cohen covers all the most important traditional ideas from the Talmud, including mystical elements like folklore and magic. Contains an excellent index.

Christians will find this book very eye-opening in terms of understanding the New Testament, particularly with regard to discussions in the NT about the traditions of men. It also includes a thorough history of the names and dates and key players in the development of modern Judaism. It helped me separate the facts from the theories. Be sure to read all the front matter: the foreword, the preface by Cohen, and the introduction. If you don't, you will not fully appreciate the contents in the remaining chapters.

By organizing the words of the Talmud into 'topics' or 'themes' and collecting together teachings from various tractates Abraham Cohen provides an excellent means for most readers to learn what the Talmud says in many areas of life. Traditional ' learning' is a different story entirely and involves going through each tractate as it is written. And while the Tractates are organized around subjects they often contain much diverse matter. Also ' learning 'them involves an intense kind of study most often with a ' chavruta' or learning partner, or in another framework with others. That kind of study is much different from simply reading as it involves a much more slower, more difficult and deep process of intellectual understanding. This work is a good one for the ' reader' but ' learning' as such requires a different kind of investment and effort.

As most of the reviews say: For it's time, this is a great achivement and it is an easy-to-read introduction to the Talmud. It's chapters are easy to follow and it is well indexed.

Still, I find it lacking in some very important ways. The Talmud is a collecion of rabbinic discussions on mishna (oral tradition), halachah (law) and Torah. This version of the talmud gives us a "unified vision" of what history has to say on any given subject and is in effect a very condensed work. The author took pains to find "the essence" of decision on theses subjects. He achives this and should be commended. Still.....

This, in my opinion, goes against the very nature of the Talmud, which is opinion and discussion over the ages. The text only in some instances gives the rabbinic author, and does not provide refrences to the era in which the writting was done. For the beginner or someone who is not of Jewish origin, this may be helpful by providing something more streamlined. Still, if a Jew has a question about what a particular Rabbi's opinion was, they will be hard pressed to find it.

Finally, I find in both the introduction and the forward an bend to the language. Passages such as, "So he [the author] had to make up his own program. He did this by following the standard theological program of mainstream Protestant Christian theology and locating statements on the topics of that program made in the Talmudic writings." (Neusner, pg. xv) worry me that the work may have an unintended Christian leaning. This is not a fault neccessarily, and in fact may help those Christians who are looking for more during their studies--my hat's off to you!

For a Jewish student though, this could be a bit of a turn-off. Sentences such as, "He claimed to provide not an overarching composite portrait of "Judaism" (whatever that might be) but a particular document..." (Neusner, pg. xvi) might have the same effect.

Hope this helps. Forgive my attrocious spelling :)

If You can't afford the hundreds of dollars to purchase or the hundreds of hours to peruse the entire Talmud, this book is for you. It is well constructed with key passages referenced and in most case the most prominent teachings have been explained thoroughly. It is, however, a readers digest version of the complete ancient work and some areas of thought are left lacking. I am just beginning my exegetical study of this book and have found it quite enlightening thus far...I look forward to my time of study in it regularly as I use it to supplement my study of the ancient Holy Scriptures, the Bible.

This is an excellent book that collects and organizes the outlook of the sages of the Talmud. While the author may be more inclined to attribute ideas to historical reasons than most Orthodox rabbis, he mostly confines this book to quotations and brief explanations from the vast talmudic literature.

The comment by another reviewer of the author's failure to accept Jesus as the messiah is a sad reflection on the attempted Christianization of Judaism. One would hardly expect a talmudic scholar to accept the Christian messiah. The Talmud was written centuries after the life of Jesus and the sages of the Talmud unequivocably rejected his claims to messiahhood.

This is the best book for beginners I have found on the Talmud, a complicated subject. It gives even-handed coverage and explanations organized by topic. The quotes are sometimes organized poorly and I wish it were cross-referenced better, but it is nonetheless a good read for any curious about this centuries-old body of literature.

This book is a great overview of all those volumes of the Talmud. It contains many of the most common little stories and teachings. After reading this you will have a working familiarity with many ideas of Judaism

I'm a Gentile and I must say that the Everymans Talmud is a great book. It gave me a great insight in Jewish live, tradtion and thinking. I read it next to the Tanakh and I almost can't stop reading! Baruch HaSjem!