The Talmud: A Selection (Penguin Classics)
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Product Description
The Talmud is one of the most significant religious texts in the world, second only to the Bible in its importance to Judaism. As the Bible is the word of God, The Talmud applies that word to the lives of its followers. In a range of styles including commentary, parables, proverbs and anecdotes, it provides guidance on all aspects of everyday life from ownership to commerce to relationships. This selection of its most illuminating passages makes accessible the centuries of Jewish thought within The Talmud.
Norman Solomon's clear translation from the Bavli (Babylonian) Talmud is accompanied by an introduction on its arrangement, social and historical background, reception and authors. This edition also includes appendixes of background information, a glossary, time line, maps and indexes.
About the Author
Norman Solomon is a Fellow in Modern Jewish Thought at Oxford Center for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, and Lecturer at Oxford University
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
There are many books about Judaism, starting with the Torah, the five books which form the canon of the Jewish religion: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deutoronomy. There are many more books of exegesis of Judaism, written by rabbis across the world. This edition of The Talmud presents a selection of the full text of that work, translated into English, and it provides an insight into the intricately argued details of the full work.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
The preface is worth the price of the book
7 Jan 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book's preface includes a 49 page introduction that is a masterful, scholarly exposition of the development of the Talmud, followed by 8 pages of numbered (115) notes. Some of the notes are just citations, but others are paragraphs of explanation, pointing you to pages within the book. At the end of the book is a very valuable 4 page timeline from 333 BCE to 642 CE highlighting events dealt with in the introduction, a glossary, 6 appendixes , 3 bibliographies, maps, a sacred writing index and a general index. These items alone are worth the price of the book. The body of the book consists of samples from each tractate in each of the six orders of the Talmud. The actual Talmud consists of 63 tractates, usually in 63 volumes, so it is impossible to really condense that into one 700 plus page 5 X 8 paperback, but for a taste of what the Talmud is like, plus a superb series of pages explaining how it came to be and how it is arranged, this book more than fills the bill.
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Introduction to the Talmud
12 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Rabbi Solomon's book is an introduction to the Talmud, the second most important written text in Judaism. The Talmud is second in importance to the Bible, and it seeks to apply the words of the Bible(Jewish Bible only contains what is generally referred to as Old Testament)to the lives of the Jewish People. He gives a lengthy Introduction in the book, in which he discusses how to read the Talmud, its structure, the history of its compilation, the styles of writing in it, the people who contributed to it, its theology, its relationship to Christianity, and how it was transmitted. To me, this was the most important part of the book, and I agree with the previous reviewer, that this portion of the book is worth the price of the book, alone. What follows are examples of text from each of the sections of the Babylonian Talmud, which is divided into Orders and Tractates. There are brief explanations given to aid you in understanding the examples of the text given. Following the examples of text, there is supplementary material, including a glossary, a discussion of the weights and measures mentioned in the Talmud, a lengthy bibliography. and maps. The entire book contains well over 800 pages and is well worth the purchase price. One warning; if you expect to learn the Talmud from this book, you will be disappointed. The title of the book is "The Talmud A Selection", and after you read a few of the examples of the text from the Talmud, you will quickly come to the conclusion, that, it is impossible to really learn the Talmud, without a long, in depth study of it, with the aid of an instructor. This book is a great starting line if you wish to run the distance.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Reference Book
20 July 2011
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A great tool for anyone not of Jewish faith, someone who is interested in the Jewish faith. A great reference for examining the history of Mesopotamia during the tumultuous early years of Judaism.
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