The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition: A Reference Guide [Paperback]

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 9, 1996

Since it was first published in 1989, the Talmud Reference Guide has introduced thousands of people to the study of the books of Jewish law. The guide is an historical treatise on the Talmud and its role in Jewish life, as well as an essential road map to the twenty projected volumes of the Steinsaltz translation. Brilliantly written and lavishly designed and illustrated, this full-length guide will raise interest in the Talmud.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Steinsaltz's long-awaited new translation of the Talmud is a landmark addition to the field of Jewish rabbinic writings. This massive undertaking will make the oral law, legends, and philosophy of the Talmud more accessible to the English-speaking world. Steinsaltz, author of The Essential Talmud and many other works on rabbinics, ethics, and Jewish mysticism, has here produced a clear and lucid translation and commentary, plus an invaluable reference guide. The guide describes the essential nature of the Talmud, its historical background, and the methodology, terminology, and legal and philosophic concepts used. It analyzes Aramaic, the language of the Talmud, showing its relationship to Hebrew, and also gives a chronology of the personages quoted. Part 1 of Bava Metzia , the first of many volumes to be translated, is concerned with civil and religious law in general, and specifically with the laws dealing with rival claims to an object. Steinsaltz presents the original Aramaic text, with both literal translation and a more detailed translation and commentary. Also included on each page are an explanation of the terminology used, notes in English summarizing the views of various commentators, and the commentary of Rashi, a medieval scholar, in his original Hebrew text. Recommended without reservation to all libraries with an interest in religion and Judaic studies. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 8/89.
- Maurice Tuchman, Hebrew Coll. Lib., Brookline, Mass.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, Hebrew (translation)
Original Language: Hebrew --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 323 pages
• Publisher: Random House (December 9, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679773673
• ISBN-13: 978-0679773672
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,659 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #61 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Jewish Texts > Talmud

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very comprehensive. Maybe a little too academic for some., June 4, 2000

By 

Tim Lieder "Founder of Dybbuk Press" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition: A Reference Guide (Paperback)

Note: this review is not just for this one volume but for the entire series. This volume is a reference guide and is a good basis, but the meat of Talmud study takes place in the rest of the series.

The main problem with studying Talmud is that at any point in the Talmud, you are expected to know the rest of the Talmud. The way to circumvent this problem is to study Talmud with a group and make sure there is at least one rabbi presence (two or more is optimal since much of the learning comes from the divergent viewpoints and the tension in between.)

What Steinsaltz seems to be trying to do is to place almost every commentary into the his series. This is great for the commentaries, however if you are not familiar with the particular tractate (Ketubos and Bava Metziah are the tractates currently published but there are other ones.) or the argument you will lose the thread of the argument and something that relies on you remembering a statement made a page back is going to be difficult since most Talmud "pages" (long story but there is a popular class in which you study a Talmud page a day) are taking about 4-7 pages to play out.

This is an invaluable book in conjunction with a class. It is also a great series if you have already studied these tractates and would like to come back and see what you've missed (and in Talmud study you do tend to miss a few things, especially if you are starting out and you don't know all the context.)

However, I would recommend the Artscroll Talmud if you are a beginner.

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Introduction to "Wisdom Literature" for All Faiths., December 10, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition: A Reference Guide (Paperback)

It is said that there is a Talmud for every generation, and the one for now and the next fifty years or so is the Steinsaltz edition, first in Hebrew, and now appearing in English at the rate of a couple of volumes a year from Random House. The "Reference Guide" is a "how to use this tool" sort of book, but in Steinsaltz's unusual case such a specialised book turns out to have general application. For the Christian who wonders about the relevance of Scripture to life -- and what exegesis can mean for lay people of faith -- this Reference Guide can serve as an introduction to their own faith reading. For the youngster attracted to the classics of the East, as Rabbi Steinsaltz was for many years, the book can serve to teach just what books _are_, how to use them, how to be captivated and even captured without being enslaved. For the Jew whose Hebrew -- and Aramaic, and Greek, and history, and.. -- are not up to full-time Talmudic study, this guide can be just that, a guide, and one which will very likely lead to buying the rest of the English language volumes as they appear. A natural bar and bat mitzvah present for all, except those so frum the boys will already have read it in Hebrew. :-) -dlj

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great aid in understanding what the Talmud is, December 4, 2004

By 

Shalom Freedman "Shalom Freedman" (Jerusalem,Israel) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Talmud, The Steinsaltz Edition: A Reference Guide (Paperback)

This reference work is a wonderful introduction to the Talmud. It explains what the Talmud is, outlines and describes the various tractates, provides a definition of key terms, has a dictionary which translates key Aramaic concepts. I used it the way I sometimes in the past have used encyclopedias or dictionaries to help me fill gaps in my own knowledge, and to understand more clearly vague terms that I had a rough but not certain idea of.

This reference work is an introduction to the Talmud as a whole. But the reader should understand that the Talmud is not a book to be read by oneself and understood by oneself. I believe that that is impossible. The Talmud must be studied with others, and this is the way traditional Jews ' learn' it. Thus however valuable this reference work is it cannot be a substitute for ' learning ' the Talmud. For this one must connect with some kind of Jewish communal framework, and connect too with those who have wider knowledge and experience. The study of Talmud is intense, difficult but it is the basic form of study religious Jews have engaged in for generations. And anyone who wishes to understand the Jewish religious world should try.