Talmud
The Talmud ( Heb. : "study") is one of the basic texts of Rabbinic Judaism , not yielding in importance to the Hebrew Bible which is the oral side.
Composed of the Mishna and the Gemara (of which there are two versions), it compiles rabbinic discussions on all topics of Jewish law , classified into six levels (shisha sedarim, abstract Sha 's). Addressing the problems according to his own way he treats as passing of ethics , of myths , medicine and other issues.
Closed soon, the Talmud has been the subject of numerous reviews and exegesis, some trying to extract the legal matter, the other to continue discussions by developing its size casuistry , leading to lengthy discussions and sagacious or innovative interpretations. Because of its central position in Jewish life, it was also the subject of numerous attacks, censorship and controversies initiated by various opponents of Judaism over time.
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Stages in the formation of the Talmud
The Talmud as scriptural compiles the entire Oral Torah , oral instruction developed around the Hebrew Bible.
According to rabbinical tradition, the Oral Torah originates with Moses himself, having received the Torah and have made several copies for dignitaries, the "forward" in which Joshua then transmitted to his successors and so spiritual on to the Great Assembly , the forerunner of the Sanhedrin . However, while the midrash takes the biblical text as a starting point to derive laws which, to be inspired, are not written, the Talmud is to find the verses in these oral laws.
When the political agitation of Judea in the second century threaten the sustainability of this education, it was decided to make a written crystallization thereof. The fruit of these efforts gave birth in 200 CE at the Mishna. The term Talmud, which is now used interchangeably with Gemara (Aramaic equivalent) and halakha, then acquires a broader meaning, describing any elucidation of a passage of halakha by any method which is (comparing clause of the Mishna with extracanoniques or oral traditions, collectively Baraita , development hermeneutics, ...).
The Oral Law
Originally , studying the Torah was transmitted orally. Of Sages and scholars, the most prominent were called Talmidei hakhamim before being appointed Rabbanim (see Semicha ), elaborated and debated questions of law, discussing the Torah and other books of the Hebrew Bible (which they agreed on the barrel to -450) without the benefit of other written sources that the biblical books themselves, the recording of the oral law subject to a ban . The oldest method of study and rabbinical teaching seems to have been based midrashim , in which discussions halakhic were structured as exegetical commentary of the Pentateuch.
However, this situation changed drastically due to the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem , center of Jewish life in 70, and the upheaval of Jewish social and legal standards. The rabbis faced with a new reality - a Judaism that has lost its Temple Judea and having lost its autonomy, continuing education, by its nature oral grow, and ever decreasing number of followers - they had to adapt their teaching. It was during this period that alternative form, organized by theme rather than by verse, became dominant around the year 200, when Rabbi Yehuda HaNassi (Judah the Prince) compiled the Mishna ().
The Mishna
The Mishna () is a compilation of legal opinions and debates. Its name means "repetition" or "teaching" and is derived from the Hebrew root shanah () which has two meanings. This name could refer to the method of memorization of oral rabbinic discourse.
The Mishna is written in a straightforward, often terse, reporting briefly the views of the Wise, the most often Rabbanim, debating a subject, it sometimes presents a simple decree anonymous, apparently representing a consensus. Sometimes it reports an incident or an anecdote whose findings have also become law, or are starting a new thread. The doctors of the Mishnah are called Tannaim (plural of Tanna , the by replacing the Judeo-Aramaic ).
As it has its laws by topic rather than following that of the Bible, the Mishna covers individual topics more fully than does the Midrash , and includes a larger selection of halakhic subjects than himself. Its topical organization has become the framework of the Talmud.
The Mishna consists of six orders ( Heb. sedarim, plural of seder). Each of these six orders contains between seven and twelve treaties, called massekhtot (plural massekhet ; bed. "Canvas"). Each massekhet is divided into chapters (peraqim) composed of a variable number of items, called mishnayot (plural Mishna, with a tiny French to distinguish the great work). All treaties Mishnaic do not have necessarily a Gemara correspondent. In addition, the order of treaties in the Talmud may differ from that which had been established in the Mishna, where a treaty was considered more important than another.
The six sedarim are in order:
- Zeraim ("Seeds"). Eleven treaties. Deals with prayers and blessings of tithing, and laws on agriculture.
- Moed ("Festivals"). Twelve treaties. Outlines the laws of the Sabbath and holidays.
- Nashim ("Women"). Seven treaties. About marriage, including marriage levirate , divorce, certain forms of vows and the laws of nazirite.
- Nezikin ("Damage"). Ten treaties. Handles civil and criminal laws, the functioning of courts and oaths.
- Kodashim ("Holy Things"). Eleven treaties. Refers to the sacrificial rites at the Temple , and dietary laws.
- Tohorot ("Purity"). Twelve treaties. Focuses on the laws of ritual purity.
Baraita
Besides the Mishna, the Tannaim had produced other work concurrently, or shortly thereafter. The Gemara refers frequently to these works or quotations from them in order to compare them with those that retained the Mishna, and to support or refute the positions of any doctor in the Gemara. Such sources are called Mishnaic Tannaitic not baraitot (lit. "outside material," "works outside the Mishna" plural baraita ).
Baraita includes the Tosefta , a compendium of tannaitic Halachot parallel to the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrashim , especially Mekhilta , the Sifra and Sifre ; works as Megillat Taanit , and others that are known only as quotations in the Talmud.
Gemara
During the three centuries following the writing of the Mishna, the sages of Talmudic schools in the land of Israel and Babylonia analyzed them, debated and discussed in this work. These discussions form the Gemara ( Judeo-Aramaic : , "completion" of the Hebrew Gamar, "complete" - or "study" and in this case, equivalent Aramaic Talmud). The Gemara focuses primarily on the elucidation and elaboration of opinions Tannaim. The doctors of the Gemara are called Amoraim (sing. Amora ).
Much of the Gemara is a legal analysis. The starting point of the analysis is usually a Mishna, in which each phrase is husked, analyzed and compared to other statements in a dialectical exchange between two "disputes" (often anonymous and sometimes metaphorical), the makshan (questioner ) and tartzan (who responds).
Another important function of the Gemara is the identification of the biblical verse that served as basis for legislation introduced in the Mishna, and the logical process connecting the two: this activity was known as Talmud long before the existence of the corpus of "Talmud.
These exchanges form the "building blocks" of the Gemara, they are called souguiyot (; souguiya plural). A souguiya typically includes a development based on evidence of a Mishna.
In a given souguiya, verses and lessons reported on behalf of Tannaim Amoraim or face to support the various views. In so doing, the Gemara relates of semantic disagreements between Tannaim and Amoraim (which often relate to a prior authority for an opinion on how it has solved the issue), and compares passages in the Mishna with those of Baraita. The debates are rarely formally ended, in many cases, the final word determines the practice of law, but there are many exceptions to this principle.
Halacha and Haggadah
The Talmud is a short, containing a vast material and addressing a large amount of subjects.
Talmudic material is traditionally classified into two broad categories, and aggadah halakha.
The Halakha (Hebrew: "path" in the ways of God) has the normative portions of the Talmud, which relate directly to issues of Jewish law and practice, while the non normative, narrative, edifying, or explanatory, the parables , the sayings and ethical considerations or historical, are the aggadah (Judeo-Aramaic: , "narration", "narrative", cf. Hebrew Haggadah , ). The Haggadah includes the biblical exegesis of the Elders, often "free", as compared to the spirit of that verse form , arguing that the meaning of the Bible is precisely at the intersection of text and it is perceived by its readers.
The border between Halacha and Haggadah is not sealed, aggadah can be used to set the context, provide an example, specify the scope etc.., The Halakha. It may also have an educational role, the teacher starts with a good story or a funny story to stimulate the attention of his audience.
Talmud Yerushalmi and Bavli
The Gemara is made in two major centers of Jewish scholarship at the time, the land of Israel (more accurately, the Galilee ) and Babylonia. Although these two centers have corresponded, two distinct body of analysis were developed and resulted in two Talmuds.
The first compilation made was that of the Galilean academies in the fourth century, and bears the name of the Talmud Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Talmud). The Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) was completed a century later, although he continued to be published later.
When we speak of the "Talmud" without further specification, it usually refers to the Bavli, a fact due, according to Heinrich Graetz , made the comment that Rashi.
The Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud was compiled in the academy Tiberian of Yohanan ben Nappaha. The name "Jerusalem" is misleading and assigned by the directors of education Babylonian later. It has been called more correctly Talmud Eretz Israel (Talmud of the Land of Israel) or Palestinian Talmud, before the birth of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It brings together the teachings of the schools of Tiberias, Sepphoris and Caesarea. Western Aramaic dialect he uses differs substantially from that of the Babylonian Talmud.
This Talmud is a synopsis of the analysis of the Mishnah developed over two centuries in the Galilean academies. Living in the Land of Israel, the Sages of these academies are actively looking into the laws of the country's agriculture.
Tradition assigns the writing of this Talmud Rav Muna and Rav Yossi in 350. It was probably completed in the late fourth century , but the editors who took him in its present form can not be known with certainty. At the time of its closure, Christianity became the state religion of the Roman Empire and Jerusalem the holy city of Christendom. In 325, Constantine, the first Christian emperor declared he would have "no business with this odious people" . He then stepped up actions to ostracize and impoverishing the Jews. The incomplete state of the Jerusalem Talmud is thus dependent on these historical circumstances, its craftsmen lacked time to give coherence or a stamp of quality. In addition, any future effort should be reduced to nil when Theodosius II suppressed the institution of the Patriarchate , dismissed the Sanhedrin and prohibits the ordination of formal Rabbanim.
The abrupt nature of the text and its poor condition made him difficult to read and it was quickly ignored. Quantity of its leaflets were irretrievably lost. However, the Jerusalem Talmud remains an indispensable source for understanding the development of Jewish law in the land of Israel. In addition, it was widely used to study the Babylonian Talmud in the school of Kairouan led by bin Hananel Houshiel and Nissim Gaon , so that the views expressed in them eventually end up as the commentary of Rashi and Tosafot in the Mishneh Torah of Moses Maimonides.
According to some traditions, the Talmud of Jerusalem will take precedence over that of Babylon to messianic times. Some interpret this passage by saying that following the restoration of the Sanhedrin and the ordination of Elders , the work resumes, and "Zion will come the Torah and the word of God from Jerusalem."
The Babylonian Talmud
Since the Babylonian exile of -586, Jewish communities lived and thrived in Babylon, many exiles who have not responded to the call of Ezra and Nehemiah. This time the Talmudic era, the Jewish population grew by both natural growth and by migration. The centers of Jewish scholarship were most important to Nehardea , Nisibis , Mahoza , Pumbedita and Sura. There was therefore no longer necessary to travel to the earth of Israel to gather authentic traditions.
The Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli) comprises the Mishnah and Gemara Babylonian, the latter representing the culmination of more than 300 years of analysis of the Mishnah in Talmudic academies in Babylonia. The foundations of this process of analysis were established by Rabbi Abba Arika, Rav said , a disciple of Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi.
Tradition ascribes the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud in its present form to two Babylonian sages, Rav Ashi and Ravina. Ashi, the president of the academy of Sura from 375 to 427, would have begun the work Ravina, traditionally credited with being the last Amora , continued. Therefore, according to traditionalists, Ravina's death in 499 is the latest date for completion of writing of the Talmud. However, he continued to be edited by a group of rabbis to Amoraim successor, known as the Saboraim (Rabbanan Savora'e - the "reasoners").
The question of when the Babylonian Talmud reached its present form is not resolved yet. Some, like Louis Jacobs , believe the body of the Gemara is not simply a compilation of conversations as she wants to believe, but a highly elaborate structure, produced by Saboram that should be considered as the real perpetrators. The Talmud would have been truly finalized until around the year 700 CE. According to David Weiss Halivni , a group of rabbis to post Amoraim the Stammam (stam in Hebrew can mean "closed", "simple" or, in Talmudic terminology, "unassigned"), are the authors of unattributed statements in the Gemara.
Comparison of style and subject
In many ways, both Talmuds not alike: Besides the difference in dialect previously mentioned, the Talmud Yerushalmi is often fragmentary and dry reading even for veteran Talmud, while writing the Talmud Bavli is more precise and worked. The law set out in the two compilations is basically the same but differs in minor details and emphasis on certain points (the few traditional commentaries on the Talmud of Jerusalem aimed to prove that his teachings are identical or nearly so at Bavli). The Jerusalem Talmud is generally more complete (more treaties studied) but shallower than the Bavli. It is not concerned with agricultural laws limited to the land of Israel, any property of the Temple or the laws of ritual purity, it is of little practical relevance in Babylonia.
The Galilean Rabbanim prevailing over their counterparts Babylonians, their advice is often exhibited in the Babylonian Talmud, but the converse is not true. In addition, having developed over a period of time longer, the Babylonian Talmud includes the opinions of more generations than its Galilean. It is therefore more frequently accessed, especially as the prestige of the Babylonian community was at its zenith until the age of Geonim while the radiation centers Galilean kept weakening.
Language
The Mishna and the baratot cited and mixed with the Gemara are Mishnaic Hebrew. Some citations of older works, such as Megillat Taanit , are written in Aramaic dialects older. However, all discussions between Amoraim and structure of the book are written in a dialect characteristic of Jewish Babylonian Aramaic for the Bavli in Western Aramaic dialect, close to the Aramaic used in the Targum Onkelos , for Yerushalmi.
The role of the Talmud in Jewish life
The Talmud quickly became an integral part of the study and Jewish life through the generations and in the vast majority of Jewish communities. "Pillar of Judaism , it was from the thirteenth century the target of attacks by Christians when they perceived that the faith of the Jews was based on the Talmud as much as the Bible. The twenty-four carts full of Talmudic books were burned in Paris in 1242. Censored Christian put to the Index of Forbidden Books in 1565 by the Roman Catholic Church , the Talmud nevertheless continued to be studied, so that even the poorest Jews in Eastern Europe had a shelf of "books" Talmudic. He became the only subject taught in yeshivot after the Haskalah (the Jewish equivalent of the Enlightenment Movement ).
Editions
The first complete edition of the Babylonian Talmud was printed in Venice by Daniel Bomberg in the 16th century. It was crucial for subsequent editions, including its pagination. Besides the Mishna and Gemara, Bomberg's edition contained the comments of Rashi and Tosafists.
In 1795 , the brothers published in szap Slavuta an edition of the Talmud popular with rebbes Hasidic.
In 1835 , following an acrimonious dispute with the family szap, a new edition (censored) of the Talmud was printed by Menachem Romm of Vilna (Vilnius). Known as the Vilna Shas , this edition (and later, printed by his widow and son) was used for the production of more recent editions of the Bavli, including editing of Schottenstein Artscroll. In most cases, the last impression of 1886 is the basis for recent Talmud .
The number of a page of Talmud, called daf, refers to both sides, each side is called Amud and titled or, or Research and Commentary
Upon its completion, the Talmud became part of Jewish learning. This section reviews some major areas of study of the Talmud.
The Geonim
Early commentators of the Talmud were the Geonim ( Hebrew : , plural Gaon - Directors of Talmudic academies of Babylonia) whose period is approximately 600 to 1000 CE. Although direct feedback of some treaties have survived, most knowledge of the study of the Talmud in an era comes gaonique assertions found in their responsibility illuminating particular Talmudic passage.
On the death of Hai Gaon , the center of knowledge and research Talmudic moved to North Africa and southern Europe.
Extraction of the Halacha and Haggadah
One area of study of the Talmud was developed in order to clarify the halakha that was there.
Rabbi Isaac Alfasi ( Fez , North Africa, 1013 - Spain , 1103), transitional figure between Geonim and Rishonim , the medieval rabbinic authorities, tried to extract the essence of Talmudic halakhic corpus, to determine what opinions were binding legislation. His Sefer Hahalakhot had a decisive influence, and Moses Maimonides was inspired to his Mishneh Torah. Another famous medieval authority on the subject was Rabbi Asher ben Yehiel ( 1250 , Germany - 1327 , Toledo , Spain).
Furthermore, the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud aggadot was conducted in XV century by Jacob ibn Habib , resulting in Ein Yaakov. He realized in order to familiarize the public with ethical aspects of the Talmud and play a lot of accusations against the work and its content.
The pilpul
During the fifteenth century and sixteenth century , a new method of intensive study of the Talmud developed. Complicated logical arguments were used to explain minor points of contradiction in the Talmud. The term pilpul ( of Pilpel, "pepper" or "pepper") pointed to this type of study, and refers to the mental acuity that this method requires.
According to practitioners of pilpul, the Talmud can not repeat or contradict himself. New categories and distinctions (hilouqim) were therefore created to resolve the apparent contradictions in the Talmud with new logic means. This style was recorded pilpoulistique the first time in Darkhei haTalmud ("Paths of the Talmud") of Campanton Isaac (who died in Spain in 1463).
The study by pilpul peaked in the sixteenth century and the sixteenth century , when the expertise in this area was considered an art form and a goal in itself in the yeshivot of Poland and Lithuania. Not that this method was not criticized: the XVth century now, the ethical treatise Orot Tzaddikim ("Light of the Righteous") was critical for pilpul suremphase he put on mental acuity. Leading rabbis of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries did not appreciate him more, including Lw ben Bezalel Judah, known as the Maharal of Prague, Isaiah Horowitz , and Yair Bacharach.
In the eighteenth century , the pilpul ceded ground to other methods of learning, including that of Elijayou ben Solomon, the Gaon of Vilna. The term came to mean pilpul studies whose conclusions seemed too casuistic or cutting hairs. The authors themselves describing their comments in terms of type al-peshat derekh ha (by the simple method) to distinguish them from pilpul .
The method of Brisk
In the late nineteenth century , another trend came to light in the study of the Talmud: Rabbi Chaim Soloveitchik (1853-1918) of Brisk ( Brest-Litovsk ), said Chaim Brisker, developed and refined this process we called the method of Brisk. It involves analysis of the arguments in the Talmud and rabbinic among the Rishonim , explaining the different options by placing them in a category structure. Highly analytical, this method is often criticized as a modern form of pilpul. Nevertheless, his influence is great and it is the curriculum of most yeshivas.
It is also through this method that the Mishneh Torah of Moses Maimonides began to be viewed not only as a book Halakhic but also as a work of Talmudic interpretation.
The yeshivot of Mir and Teltz have developed their own competing methods.
Critical methods
The text of the Talmud was, contrary to the Bible, subjected to a critical approach, starting writing the first comment.
However, if this criticism questioned the form of text, and Emenda necessary, the foundation of the Talmud (that is to say its claim to represent a tradition handed down by word of mouth for generations, without which the Judaism could not exist) was not challenged before the emancipation of the ghetto in 1789. Modern methods of textual analysis not only historical but also were now applied to the Talmud.
emendation of texts
The Talmud was, from the time of Rabbeinu Gershom, subject to vigilant monitoring and an emendation of texts .
The emendations of Solomon Luria and Yoel Sirkis are included in the standard editions of the Talmud. The Gaon of Vilna emendations made based on his own intuition, which were confirmed in the study of manuscripts from the Cairo Geniza .
In the early twentieth century , Nathan Rabinowitz published a study in several volumes, Dikdoukei Soferim, showing the various textual variants between the manuscript in Munich and other ancient copies of the Talmud. Other variants are reported in the Gemara Shelemah and publishing Oz ve-Hadar.
Critical analysis-historical
Innovative design of the Oral Torah was developed in the early nineteenth century by Nachman Krochmal and Zacharias Frankel. This was according to them the product of an exegetical method that is constructed over time by applying techniques hermeneutic authorized by the sages. This position, known as critical-historical school, was further elaborated by Isaac Hirsch Weiss, Dor Dor ve in-Dorshav .
This method was also used by Heinrich Graetz in his History of the Jews, when trying to infer the personality of the Pharisees on the basis of laws or aggadah they teach.
However, this interpretation is valid only if we conceive the Pharisees as qu'exgtes independent rather than links in the chain of transmission of the Oral Torah , and such a view is at odds with the traditional view the Oral Torah. According to this, when God gave Moses the written Torah (the Pentateuch ), He communicated further amplifications and explanations of the text, which were transmitted orally before being written down in the Talmud. There is therefore, in this view, any "historical development of Halakha (with the exception of rehabilitation to the evolution of the History), since it was given entirely on the Sinai .
The historical-critical method was welcomed by the leaders of Reform Judaism as Abraham Geiger and Samuel Holdheim , who drove away the reasoning of the Talmud and subjected to intense criticism in order to break away from traditional rabbinical Judaism. They emphasized the historic nature of the Talmud and scalable, to conclude that the work had, although historically significant, is his time.
In response, some rabbis Orthodox influential as Moishe Sofer or Samson Raphael Hirsch became extremely sensitive to any change, rejecting the methods of modern criticism of the Talmud.
Samson Raphael Hirsch, while calling itself the acceptance of modernity (provided they do not contradict the Halakha), wrote a series of articles in his newspaper Jeschurun where he reiterated the views and stressed the traditional error work Graetz, Frankel and Geiger.
The historical-critical method, although controversial in the Orthodox world as rooted in a religious reform movement, but found no fewer adherents, even among the fiercest opponents of the Reformation as Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Chajes. The Orthodox rabbinical seminary of Azriel Hildesheimer was founded on the principle of creating a "harmony between Judaism and science" which adheres particularly David Zvi Hoffman.
Methods of study and analysis of contemporary
The current study of the Talmud in the various streams of Judaism today largely depends on their attitude to the Talmud and Halakha:
- the Orthodox Judaism maintains the traditional view of the Talmud as accurate expression of the oral law transmitted to Moses at the same time as the Torah. It remains a central element in the curriculum of yeshivas. Knowledge of the Talmud continues to be high value in traditional rabbinic education, although the Halacha is generally studied from the medieval codes and not the Talmud itself . The Halacha is applied in strict accordance with the Talmud, including when new situation arises, so as to continue to be applied according to the sayings of the Sages;
- non-Orthodox movements ( Conservative , Reconstructionist , Liberal and Reformed ) have a dynamic vision of the Talmud and acknowledge the critical reading.
Conservative Judaism continues to accord importance to the Talmud and its study but is considered in its development of the Halakha, as a work depends on the circumstances, historical and otherwise, to its formation. Accordingly, legislation is often more flexible than the Orthodox.
Reform Judaism British approximates quite significantly from these practices, while Reform Judaism American Judaism and book their teaching training schools of the rabbis, but not primary schools. The Talmud has no role in the Halacha, the latter being at the discretion of each, while maintaining a moral value and character inspired.
Reconstructionist Judaism differs from this pattern as the role of the congregation of the faithful: indeed it is not the individual who decides to practice. In the words of Mordecai Kaplan , "Tradition has a right to vote but no veto."
Accordingly, the Talmud is studied by most orthodox as a totally reliable source. Researchers apply orthodox, in their majority, not the Talmud or historical method n'imputent grounds to its authors. The Talmud continues to be studied with comments and supercommentaires. Nevertheless, a minority of " Modern Orthodox "advocate a critical reading of the Talmud.
The regular study of the Talmud, including in the simple believer, was popularized by the Daf Yomi (daily page "), a practice started in 1923 in Vienna by Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the first international congress of the association Orthodox Agudat Israel. A daf is considered day-sided by all participants in the world, according to a cycle of just over seven years. The completion of the cycle gives rise to a general celebration. The 12th cycle started on 1 March 2005.
Some Talmudic unorthodox, as Louis Jacobs and Shaye JD Cohen , consider the text of the Talmud has been the subject of extensive remodeling, as the stories of awards. They argue that without proper text (the Talmud being long been spoken), we can not confirm either the origin or the date of the most awards and laws, and can not be many certainties their authors. The questions remain unanswered.
Other Talmud, as Lee I. Levine and David C. Kraemer , share some of that opinion, but believe that the Talmud contains sources that can identify and describe with some confidence. These sources can be identified by tracing the history and analyzing geographic regions of origin.
Finally, figures generally closer to orthodox interpretations, as Saul Lieberman , David Weiss Halivni and Avraham Goldberg , consider that most awards and events described in the Talmud occurred more or less as described and can be used as sources of serious historical study. Proponents of this view are therefore trying to skim off later editorial additions (which is itself a difficult task) and view with skepticism the miracle stories in order to obtain a reliable account of ancient Jewish life.
Polemics against the Oral Law and the Talmud
In Judaism
The Sadducees
The Sadducees were a Jewish sect of the Second Temple near the priestly aristocracy and politics. They are presented by Flavius Josephus as the opponents of the Pharisees and the Talmud as those of self-righteousness, that is to say Pharisaic doctrines, including the creation of the world and the immortality of the soul . If Abraham Geiger presents them as faithful to earlier oral tradition, which we find traces in the Sage School of Shammai , Bernard Revel demonstrates that it is not, as it appears in the texts of the Talmud and those of Josephus .
The Sadducees are strongly linked to the Temple of Jerusalem, which was based on the authority of the High Priests, disappeared after its destruction, but the Talmud made some allusions to their doctrine.
The Karaites
The Karaism developed, or asserted in the eighth century , in reaction to the inertia of Talmudic Judaism .
The central doctrine of Karaism reverie is the only written Torah ( Mikra ) and rejection of Oral Torah as divine revelation. It is neither forbidden nor discouraged to be inspired, but the text of free inquiry should take precedence over the interpretation of teachers, including teachers Karaites (in practice, the Karaites follow the opinion that convinces the majority). Karaism also opposes the methods of interpretation of the Talmud, preferring the analysis of simple meaning of the verses from their context.
The Karaism enjoyed a golden age of the ninth century to the eleventh century, according to some sources being adopted by 40% of the world Jewish population, both in Europe and the Arab world . His influence waned gradually, and there are currently more than 30,000 Karaites in the world, including 20 to 25 000 in Israel .
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism was born in the nineteenth century following the Haskalah , which saw the Jews open to other cultures than their own and the humanities.
This resulted in some a somewhat Hegelian history, who made a revelation of Judaism in power, not a revelation already accomplished. Jewish supporters of Reform Judaism is no longer regarded the Torah and the Talmud as manifestations of a divine word untouchable, but as historical works necessary in their time, must give way as required at the time. Many observances halakhic were considered unnecessarily restrictive, outdated and baseless.
The Reform movement was particularly flourishing in countries where Jews were emancipated in fact if not law, that is to say, the countries of Western Europe, especially of Germany and France. It was however less impact in Eastern Europe and was practically ignored the Jews of North Africa and the Orient. The Holocaust destroyed the German community, but many Reform Jews who emigrated to the United States before the war are implanted.
Reform Judaism is now the current Jewish majority in the U.S. , , and has, under the name of Judaism, a strong presence in England.
External attacks
The Talmud and the Christian
The Talmud was developed by Josy Eisenberg, to protect the Jews from outside influences, including that of early Christians. It keeps track of the gradual separation of Judaism and Christianity , separation is done in several centuries, and whose confrontation of Jesus with the Pharisees are only one episode.
At about the time the Savoram Babylonians were the final touches to the redaction of the Talmud, the emperor Justinian I , motivated by Christian zeal, proclaiming his edict against the abolition of the use of the Greek translation of the Bible in the synagogue service. He had indeed been noticed in the early Judeo-Christian disputations of Alexandria, the Jews felt more helpless in the face to the Greek text than their coreligionists in Palestine who read the text in Hebrew.
Attacks against the Talmud began in the thirteenth century in France , where Talmudic studies flourished.
The trial of the Talmud , the first Jewish-Christian disputation public, opposed in 1240 Yehiel of Paris and three other rabbis Nicolas Donin , expelled from the yeshiva of Yehiel few years earlier. Instigating it now that the Talmud was anti-Christian, called on Jews to kill non-Jews, pedophilia, etc.. Although the Yehiel had technically prevailed over his opponent, denying its allegations, 24 carts full of Talmudic manuscripts were burned up strike in 1242.
The Talmud was again the center of a disputation at Barcelona in 1263 between Ramban (Moshe ben Nachman Rabbenou, says the Ramban) and Pablo Christiani , a converted Jew and another Dominican friar. The latter strategy was original since claimed that the Talmud taught Jesus the Messiah. The Ramban also prevailed, but the Dominicans claiming to have won the disputation, he was forced to publish a report, for which he was accused of blasphemy, imprisoned and exiled. The same Pablo Christiani made a trial of the Talmud which resulted in the issuance of a papal bull and the first censorship of the Talmud text, by a commission Dominican Barcelona, which seeks the annulment of the objectionable passages for Christians ( 1264 ).
Another disputation was held in Tortosa in 1413 , at the instigation of Geronimo de Santa F , a former champion of the Jews in the disputations became a Christian and a doctor of Pope Martin V , who attended the discussions. The disputation is designed to be completed to his advantage, and unlike Nahmanides, free speech is not given to Jewish supporters. Santa Fe launched the fateful charge that the convictions against pagans and apostates concern actually Christians. Two years later, the pope issued a bull (which never became operational) forbidding Jews read the Talmud and ordered to seize and destroy all copies. The same year, the Roman Church ordered the destruction of all copies of two books of Jewish dating second century , who claimed to contain "the true name of Jesus Christ." This is the Mar Yesu, and the book of Elchasa.
In the sixteenth century, Johannes Pfefferkorn , a converted Jew and also a Dominican, with violent attacks to the Talmud, making, with wear, head of the reluctance of Jews to conversion. His opponent is a Hebrew Christian, Johann Reuchlin , who cons him the obscurantist and humanists; by Erika Rummel, the controversy announced the Protestant reformation . An unintended consequence of this affair was the complete printing by Christian publisher Daniel Bomberg of the Babylonian Talmud in 1520 in Venice , followed by the Jerusalem Talmud under the protection of papal privilege. However, the Vatican began 30 years later a campaign to destroy what it had previously allowed. On September 9, 1553, when the Jewish New Year , the seized copies were burned in Rome and other Italian cities, like Cremona in 1559. Censorship of the Talmud and other Hebrew texts was introduced by the papal bull Cum sicut nuper of Julius III in 1554 , and 1559 , the Talmud was put first Expurgatorius Index , in 1565 , Pope Pius IV ordered that even the Talmud be deprived of its own name, which brought the expansion of the name Sha "s to describe it. In Italy, the Jews studied the Ein Yaakov, a collection of aggadot the Babylonian Talmud.
The first edition of the Talmud redacted, which are based on most subsequent editions, appeared at Basel ( 1578 - 1581 ). The entire treaty Avodah Zarah (Idolatry) as well as passages deemed anti-Christians were absent, some phrases or words were changed. For example, the words and Min Minim (identified, probably rightly, to the Judeo-Christian ), Akum (worshiper of the stars but literally interpreted as an acronym of worshipers of Christ and Mary), etc.. are replaced by one, more "neutral" from "Sadduccee.
A new attack against the Talmud was decreed by Pope Gregory XIII ( 9 of the motu proprio Antiqua Judaeorum dishonesty of 1581), and Pope Clement VIII renewed in 1593 in the bull Cum hebraeorum Malitia old ban read, sell , print or possess copies and ordered to deliver the best present for fire. However, due to the growing study of the Talmud in Poland, a printed edition with complete restoration of the original text was made to Krakow (1602-1605), an edition containing two treaties had been made previously to Lublin (1559 -76). In 1707 , copies of the Talmud were confiscated in the province of Brandenburg , but returned at the behest of Frederick, the first king of Prussia.
The latest attack against the Talmud took place in Poland in 1757 , when Bishop Dembowski organized a debate on the instigation of Jacob Frank , who claimed that the Zohar recognized, unlike the Talmudic doctrine of the Trinity. The disputation was held in Kamenetz-Podolsk, and all copies of the Talmud in his diocese were found burned.
However, the Talmud, not to be attacked "physically" remained the target of Christian theologians after the Reformation, though the theologians of the seventeenth century and the eighteenth century would do the subject of study.
In France in 1830, during a debate in the House of Lords concerning the recognition by the state of the Jewish faith, the Admiral Verhuell declared himself unable to forgive the Jews for not recognizing Jesus as Messiah, and read the Talmud. The same year, Father Chiarini published at Paris a voluminous Theory of Judaism, in which he included a translation of the Talmud, "simple and accessible," that is to say can be used for attacks against Judaism. It is in the same spirit as anti-Semitic agitators nineteenth century demanded a translation to be performed, in Vienna, this request was even brought before legislative bodies. The Talmud and the Talmudic Jew thus became the subject of anti-Semitic attacks, including Der Talmudjude of August Rohling. However, they were defended by many Christian students of the Talmud.
Despite the many mentions of Edom may be interpreted as referring to Christianity, the Talmud Jesus is rarely mentioned directly. It is indeed a question of one or more Yeshua , Yeshua ben Pandera one whose mother was allegedly raped by a Greek general, and ben Stada which are reported on behalf of Halachot heretics, but Yeshua could be a generic term for the "seducers" that attract the Jews out of Judaism, and stories found on Yeshua unrelated to those of the New Testament. It is likely that the rabbis considered these medieval characters like Jesus, why they were censored. However, modern editions have been restored thanks to the few lists of errata, known as Hashmatot Hash "s (" Omissions from Sha "s").
Justin Bonaventure Pranaitis or Pronaitis (July 27, 1861 to January 28, 1917), Lithuanian Catholic Religious, professor of Hebrew at the University Church of imperial St. Petersburg and promoter of anti-Semitism in the late nineteenth century is known for his book on the Talmud " The Talmud Unmasked "published in Latin (1892) with the imprimatur of the Metropolitan Archbishop of Mogilev. This book is presented as a survey of Jewish teachings on Christianity. The text, entitled Christianus Iudaeorum in Talmud ( The Talmud Unmasked ), is actually a fake, containing false quotes from the Talmud with a paging imagination. This is a book of antisemitic propaganda, similar to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and a few years earlier. This text is regularly translated and reprinted in antisemitic circles . He intervened in the trial of Beilis , reiterating the blood libel against Jews in 1912 . He testified as an expert Beilis cons. It was there that he lost all credibility, when the defense showed his total ignorance of the concepts and definitions of the simplest of the Talmud , so that the audience began to laugh whenever he found himself unable to give a response to defense counsel . An officer of the Czar's secret police noticed that the cons-examination of Pranaitis demonstrated his lack of knowledge of texts and Jewish literature. According to this agent, such as amateurism and ignorance disqualified his "expert opinion" . Beilis was eventually acquitted.
Attacks contemporary
Quelques groupes et individus accusent certains des passages du Talmud d'un racisme envers les inhrent au judasme , ainsi que de son anti christianisme , sa phallocratie , sa misogynie , son acceptation de la pdophilie , ses prtentions la suprmatie / A> theology and its emphasis on the need for non-disclosure of part of the Judaic knowledge goyim on pain of death on the subject explains:
"In quoting selectively various passages of the Talmud and Midrash, makers of controversy sought to demonstrate that Judaism preaches hatred of non-Jews (and Christians in particular), and promotes obscenity, sexual perversion, and other immoral conduct. To make these passages according to their goals, these people often incorrectly translated or quoted out of context (making whole passages is not unknown) :
"The accusations against the Talmud have a long history, dating from the thirteenth century , when the members of the Inquisition attempted to defame Jews and their religion . The first books, compiled by hateful preachers like Raymond Martini and Nicholas Donin remain the basis of all subsequent accusations against the Talmud. Some are true, most are false and based on quotations taken out of context, and some are total fabrications . On the Internet today, you can find many of these old accusations trotted out ... "
We can trace the problem "contemporary" at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, when some books, notoriously anti-Semitic , were published to expose alleged Talmudic passages which contain doctrines "anti-Christian" for example, recommending murdering goyim children to use blood in ritual practices. These books have struck a chord, so that he is still people who cite lack of knowledge of what exactly the Talmud. However, one way to recognize these false quotes is that they have a page number preceded by the letter "c". This falsification is easily removable because the Talmud dials the obverse of a page with the letter 'a' and the reverse with the letter "b" (see "Publishing" above), it can not therefore be any face "c". Another feature easily recognizable false extracts from the Talmud is a number followed by "a" or "b", itself followed by a page number (for example, "23b, p. 45), which does are not in a correct citation of the Talmud as the first number (23 in the example) is already a page number ...
Translations modern Talmud
Translations of Talmud Bavli
- The Babylonian Talmud was translated first into English by Michael Levi Rodkinson , published after the author's death in 1918. It was incomplete, only treaties orders Moed and Nezikin was translated. It is currently available on the internet.
- The full official translation of the Talmud and annotated in English first appeared in language profane in 1935 in Soncino Press. "The Soncino Edition of the Talmud" is issued without the original text. She is also on CD-ROM.
- Adin Steinsaltz realized a translation of the Talmud into modern Hebrew that approval of his own notes. She appeared in English editions Random House (but has not been completed to date), in Hebrew-French bilingual edition by Editions Ramsay (12 volumes, 1999) with the support of the Unified Jewish Social Fund (FSJU) and in many other languages. It includes a "literal translation" and an "assisted translation" and the commentary of Rashi. The Steinsaltz Edition has been lauded for its simplicity. It allowed the spread of the Talmud in public usually distant from the study of Talmud. It has however been criticized, among others Jacob Neusner , for being too simple.
- Safra edition, French translation of the Schottenstein Edition of the house Artscroll , began in 2003. Translation, extensively annotated and explained, the exhibition focuses on the different opinions rather than the obvious meaning as the Steinsaltz edition. This is one of the editions of the Talmud's most popular with beginners.
- Some treaties have been translated by Rabbi Israel Salzer and edited in Verdier and then taken by Gallimard (collection "test portfolio").
Translations from the Talmud Yerushalmi
- It was at Moses Schwab that we owe the first translation into French of the Jerusalem Talmud (GP Maisonneuve, 1932-1933), with an introduction by Maurice Liber. This translation has been recently reissued by the same house and is available on CD.
The two English translations are:
- that of Jacob Neusner who, using a presentation analyzing the shape, makes identification of thought units of text easier, and therefore facilitates the reading. However, while generally viewed positively, Jacob Neusner's methodology has been described by some as "idiosyncratic" and Saul Lieberman has issued a very critical reserved.
- that of the Schottenstein edition, to match the quality of the edition of the Babylonian Talmud, which is currently underway.
See also
Bibliography
- (In) Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz , The Talmud: The Steinsaltz Edition Related articles
Also on Wikibooks the quotes "Talmud".
- Torah
- The transmission of the Torah
- Vocabulary of the Talmud
- Babylonian Talmud
- Jerusalem Talmud
- Talmudic law
- Mishna
- Minor treaties
- Tosefta
- Baraita
- Gemara
- Tannaim
- Amoraim
- Midrash
- Rabbinic Literature
- Yeshiva
External Links
General
http://www.guemara.com/ Gemara Talmud classes in French video: excellent learning Talmud with Rashi's comments and tossefot
- Talmud of the Jewish Encyclopedia (en)
- Talmud Commentaries , jewishencyclopedia.com (fr)
Online texts of the Talmud
- (He) Mishnah , Tosefta , Jerusalem Talmud and Babylonian online.
- Rodkinson English translation of 1903 (only treated Nezikin and Moed).
- Images of each page of the Babylonian Talmud. Also includes audio course.
Manuscripts
Refutation of allegations concerning the Talmud
- The Talmud in Anti-Semitic Polemics , Anti-Defamation League.
- The Real Truth about the Talmud
- Falsify of the Talmud
During Audio Video
References
- Pirke Avot 1:1
- Babylonian Talmud (TB) Brachot 22a, Sukkah 28a, etc..
- Cf TB 33a Metzia Baba, Baba Batra 8a
- According to the proponents of this oral tradition, dating back to the gift of Torah to Moses on Sinai - Pirke Avot 1:1
- TB Gittin 60b
- Emmanuel Levinas , Difficult Freedom.
- Council of Nicaea
- Adin Steinsaltz, Introduction to the Talmud, xxx.
- Quentin Ludwig, Understanding Judaism: Keywords, Eyrolles , Collection Practice, page 172
- For a more complete list, see Ephraim Urbach, sv "Tosafot," in Encyclopedia of Religion.
- See also articles by Mordechai Breuer in the Encyclopedia Judaica and Haim Hillel Ben-Sasson , A History of the Jewish People, p. 627 and 717.
- According to Jonah Fraenkel in his Darko Shel Rashi Ferusho be-la-Talmud ha-Bavli, one of the greatest contributions of Rashi, the Talmud was precisely where the textual emendation. His grand-son Rabbeinu Tam was opposed to the textual criticism in his Sefer ha-Yashar. However, Tosafists themselves emendations the text of the Talmud (see for example Baba Kamma 83b sv af haka'ah ha'amourah Gittin 32a sv or mevoutelet) and many Rishonim (see eg Rav Shlomo ben Aderet, Hiddoushei haRashb "has al ha-Sha "s on Baba Kamma 83b, or commenting on Rabbeinu Nissim Ri "f on Gittin 32a).
- Solomon Schechter, Studies in Judaism.
- Jay Harris, Guiding the Perplexed in the Modern Age, ch. 5.
- See, for example, the commentary of Rashi on Behar , Vayikra 25:1 (according to the Sifra ):
"This tells us, however, as the sabbatical year, its general principles and specific details were given on Sinai, and all laws were given in their general principles and their niche applications. "
- Reprinted in SR Hirsch, Collected Writings, Vol. 5
- The relationship between the two was compared to basic research (the Talmud) and applied science (for the Halakha) - see website cheela.org , responsum xxx.
- Louis Jacobs, "How Much Of The Babylonian Talmud IS Pseudepigraphic?" Journal of Jewish Studies 28, No. 1 (1977), pp. 46-59
- Saul Lieberman, Hellenism in Jewish Palestine, New York: Jewish Theological Seminary, 1950
- David Weiss Halivni Mekorot u-Mesorot: Eruvin-Pesahim, Jerusalem, Jewish Theological Seminary, 1982
- The Wars of the Jews 1 chap. 8.2 and below.
- See especially Avot of Rabbi Nathan , ch. 5
- Bernard Revel , The Karaite halakah and Its relationship to sadducean, samaritan and philonian Halakah , 1911.
- Kaufmann Kohler, Abraham Harkavy, and Karaism Karaites , Jewish Encyclopedia
- Salo Baron wittmayer ...
- JOSHUA FREEMAN, Laying down the (Oral) law , The Jerusalem Post.
- Bob Abernathy, Reform Judaism , Public Broadcasting Service , May 1999.
- Matthew Wagner and Greer Fay-Cashman, Reform rabbis offended by Katsav , Jerusalem Post , June 2006.
- Rummel, Erika, The Case Against Johann Reuchlin: Social and Religious Controversy in Sixteenth-Century Germany, University of Toronto Press (November 23, 2002), ISBN 0-8020-3651-1
- Scapegoat on Trial: The Story of Mendel Beilis - The Autobiography of Mendel Beilis The Defendants In The Blood Libel Notorious 1912 in Kiev, Beilis, Mendel, Introd. By Shari & Ed Schwartz, CIS, New York, 1992
- http://www.talmudunmasked.com
- Blood Charge: The Strange History of the Beiliss Case, Samuel, Maurice, Alfred A. Knopf, 1966.
- Blood Charge: The Strange History of the Beiliss Case, Samuel, Maurice, Alfred A. Knopf, 1966.
- Scapegoat on Trial: The Story of Mendel Beilis - The Autobiography of Mendel Beilis The Defendants In The Blood Libel Notorious 1912 in Kiev, Beilis, Mendel, Introd. By Shari & Ed Schwartz, CIS, New York, 1992
- u , Tager, A., Moscow, 1934
- See for example this site including all references from a book antisemitic of the 1950s , due to Lyrl Van Hyning , Key to the Mystery. It was inspired by a book of antisemitic 1892 , due to the Reverend Justin Pranaitis Bonaventure (died in 1917, it seems), Christianus in Talmud Iudaeorum: sive, Rabbinicae doctrinae Christiani secreta (Petropoli: Officina Typographica Academiae Scientiarum Caesareae , 1892 ). This book was translated into English by Wesley Swift in 1939 as The Talmud Unmasked pulls. The book of the Reverend is on sale on the English version of Amazon. The French version was published in 1990 under the title The biggest secret, the book that will transform the world, David Icke, 1990. All of these references is analyzed in Falsify of the Talmud , which shows how many such collections have only quotes that do not exist in the Talmud, pagination that do not exist and treaties that are not treated the Talmud but controversial books published in times of great persecution.
- The Talmud in Anti-Semitic Polemics
- The Real Truth about the Talmud
- see Yitzchak Baer, A History of Jews in Christian Spain, vol. I pp. 150-185
- Baer, ch. 4 f. 54, 82 indicates that it has been proven that Raymond Martini had fabricated quotes, although Leopold Zunz has defended against the accusation (Vortrge der Juden Gottesdienstliche p. 300).
- Falsify of the Talmud , some examples of falsification decrypted.
- Talmud of the Land of Israel: A Preliminary Translation and Explanation by Jacob Neusner , Tzvee Zahavy, Other. University of Chicago Press.
Rabbinic LiteratureLiterature of the Sages Mishnah Tosefta Baraita Gemara Talmud Babylonian and Jerusalem Minor Treatment Midrash Targum Later medieval literature and Responsa codes and compilations of Jewish law exegesis Philosophy Ethics Kabbalah
