New York – After 1,500 Years, an Index for the Talmud

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    New York – The Talmud is a considerable body of work: 63 volumes of rabbinical discourse and disputation that form Judaism’s central scripture after the Torah. It has been around for 1,500 years and is studied every day by tens of thousands of Jews. But trying to navigate through its coiling labyrinth can be enormously difficult because the one thing this monumental work lacks is a widely accepted and accessible index.

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    But now that breach has been filled, or so claims the publisher of HaMafteach, or the Key, a guide to the Talmud, available in English and Hebrew. It was compiled not by a white-bearded sage, but by a courtly, clean-shaven, tennis-playing immigration lawyer from the Bronx.

    The index’s publisher, Feldheim Publishers, predicts it will be snatched up by yeshivas and libraries, but more important, it will be a tool for inveterate Talmud students – and there are plenty of those. Feldheim’s president, Yitzchak Feldheim, said the first printing of 2,000 books – a market test – sold out in a few days here and in Israel. More printings have been ordered.

    The index has 6,600 topical entries and 27,000 subtopical entries that point students to the treatises and pages of text they are seeking. In these passages, sages analyze matters like whether one can remarry a former wife after she has been betrothed to another, or how one should handle a lost object found in a garbage heap. The index guides the student to significant laws about Sabbath and daily observance, as well as maxims, parables, commentaries and Talmudic personalities.

    Full story by The NY Times


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    20 Comments
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    nombody
    nombody
    12 years ago

    There was already Encyclopedia Talmudit. Except they started that over 50 years ago and are only up to the letter Lamed.

    Reb Yid
    Reb Yid
    12 years ago

    also good for non-shabbos use is WebShas online.

    12 years ago

    such indexes already exist, some use subject, some citations, but they’ve been around for a long time.

    RebKlemson
    RebKlemson
    12 years ago

    ah when he comes to shamayim theyre gonna be light baruch hashem u wrote the sefer index instead of just playing tennis!

    my4amos
    my4amos
    12 years ago

    Love it! If it is only half as good as I think it is, I will be happy.

    SherryTheNoahide
    SherryTheNoahide
    12 years ago

    Wow! Beautiful books! What a work of art! (:-D

    Ok, but I’ve got a question: (you know me… I’ve always got a million of ’em!)

    I own an Aggadah, several extra biblical works (Book of Enoch & others, etc), and of course… the Holy Torah.

    But well… I’ve heard mixed results about whether or not I can study the Talmud directly!

    I’ve heard everything from “Sure! Why not?! You may not be able to understand it, but go ahead!” to “Clutch the Pearls! A Goya wants to study the Talmud?! Aaaah!!!’

    I have yet to speak about this to the local Rabbi of the Shul we visit, because well… quite frankly, we visit a Conservative Shul, because we are gentiles & it’s the only place of Torah that will accept us.

    But… let’s face it: they’re Conservatives! Meaning, I can’t always know if what they tell me is actually OK for me to do or not!

    I trust them, I love them & I respect them so much. Make no mistake about it! But my husband & I are trying to learn what real Judaism is about, as we walk on our journey, so it is important for us to try to get the best results out of the questions we ask. After all, these are life & death situations, when we’re talking about our souls.

    Thanks!

    jewishmom
    jewishmom
    12 years ago

    who needs an index when you have people like Rabbi Belsky around!

    12 years ago

    Only 1 volume came out so far

    Toast
    Toast
    12 years ago

    An Israeli company called Hotzaat Ketuvim published an index on the Talmud about 15 years ago. It has an index by topic, passuk in Tanach and five other indexes.
    Oh ya, and they have it done for the Shulchan Aruch, Rambam Mishna Torah and the whole Yerushalmi.