Share:

Category Books

The Essential Talmud »

Authors: Adin Steinsaltz
ISBN-13: 9781592642984, ISBN-10: 1592642985
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Toby Press LLC, The
Date Published: September 2010
Edition: (Non-applicable)

Author Biography: Adin Steinsaltz

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz is internationally regarded as one of the leading scholars and rabbis of this century. His education includes a degree in mathematics from Hebrew University, in addition to his rabbinic studies. Rabbi Steinsaltz founded the Israel Institute for Talmudic Publications; under its aegis, he has published fifty-eight books on the Talmud, Jewish mysticism, religious thought, sociology, historical biography, and philosophy. His biography of the famed Rabbi Menachem Schneerson will be published in 2007. These books have been translated into Russian, English, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, and Dutch. He lives in Jerusalem.

Book Synopsis

"A general introduction to the beliefs, attitudes, and methods of the sacred text by which the Jewish people have lived and survived through the ages by a renowned Israeli rabbi, scholar, and teacher."

Pt. 1	History
1	What Is the Talmud?	3
2	The Oral Law - The First Generations	10
3	The Oral Law - The Era of the Zugot (Pairs)	18
4	The Tannaim	24
5	The Compilation of the Mishnah	33
6	The Amoraim in Babylonia	40
7	The Amoraim in Palestine	48
8	The Redaction of the Babylonian Talmud	56
9	Talmudic Exegesis	64
10	The Printing of the Talmud	74
11	The Persecution and Banning of the Talmud	81
Pt. 2	Structure and Content
12	The Structure of the Talmud	89
13	The Subject Matter of the Talmud	95
14	Prayers and Benedictions	101
15	The Sabbath	108
16	The Festivals	116
17	Marriage and Divorce	129
18	The Status of Women	137
19	Civil Law	145
20	Criminal Law	163
21	Sacrifices	175
22	Dietary Laws	184
23	Ritual Purity and Impurity	193
24	Ethics and Halakhah	199
25	Dereh Eretz (Deportment)	206
26	The World of Mysticism	211
Pt. 3	Method
27	Midrash (Halakhic Exegesis)	221
28	The Talmudic Way of Thinking	227
29	Strange and Bizarre Problems	234
30	Methods of Study	239
31	The Talmud and the Halakhah	246
32	Aggadah in the Talmud	251
33	What Is a Scholar?	259
34	The Talmud's Importance for the People	266
35	The Talmud Has Never Been Completed	272
	Appendix: Orders and Tractates of the Mishnah and Talmud	279
	Index	285