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A Visual Recapitulation of Bavli Hullin As Translated by Tzvee Zahavy

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A Visual Recapitulation of Bavli Hullin As Translated by Tzvee Zahavy EXPLAINING AN ACADEMIC COMMENTARY: A VISUAL RECAPITULATION OF BAVLI HULLIN AS TRANSLATED BY TZVEE ZAHAVY Jacob Neusner Bard College My academic commentary to Tzvee Zahavy’s translation of Bavli Hullin re-presents the Talmud of Babylonia in a highly graphic manner, so as to reveal its rationality and its sense for the orderly and the expli- cable. In this way, I have rendered the document accessible to ordinary academic inquiry.1 The orderly traits of the Talmud—in this example, Bavli Hullin—emerge first of all in its formal structures. These attest to a cogent system that comes to expression in an orderly manner. The goal of my commentary therefore is to set forth in a systematic and 1 It is reprinted by Hendrickson as The Babylonian Talmud. Translation and Commentary. Peabody, 2005: Hendrickson Publishing Co. Second printing of The Talmud of Babylonia. An Academic Commentary. Also published as a CD. As I note again below, in this printing Hendrickson did not reproduce the credit for Dr. Zahavy’s translation set forth on the original title page. I regret the omission and here acknowledge his contribution. i. Berakhot ii. Shabbat iii. Erubin iv. Pesahim v. Yoma-Sukkah vi. Taanit-Megillah-Moed Qatan-Hagigah vii. Besah-Rosh Hashanah viii. Yebamot ix. Ketubot x. Nedarim-Nazir xi. Sotah-Gittin xii. Qiddushin xiii. Baba Qamma xiv. Baba Mesia xv. Baba Batra xvi. Sanhedrin xvii. Makkot-Abodah Zarah-Horayot xviii. Shebuot-Zebahim xix. Menahot xx. Hullin xxi. Bekhorot-Arakhin-Temurah xxii. Keritot-Meilah-Tamid-Niddah © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2009 Review of Rabbinic Judaism 12.2 Also available online – brill.nl/rrj DOI: 10.1163/156848509X12523861257796 288 jacob neusner detailed manner the complete structure and governing system of the document’s thirty-seven tractates. Not a mere introduction or topical presentation of information, this commentary, the first one ever addressed to the academy in particular, asks questions urgent to the academy but not when the document is studied under other, native auspices. Specifically, an academic commen- tary makes possible the utilization of the Talmud not only in bits and pieces but in its entirety.2 Here the foundation-document of Judaism enters public, academic discourse concerning the study of questions of general intelligibility. In light of a clear account of the composition of the Talmud in its thirty-seven tractates, with a complete statement of its main points of recurrent emphasis, as well as of the system of the document, its modes of making connections and drawing conclu- sions, further learning may take place. Specifically, questions of broad social interest may come to bear, also, upon this remarkable piece of writing. Here is the written record of how men of learning proposed to found—and did found—an enduring and humane civilization. Such an academic commentary so portrays the text that it yields examples, cases 2 I have already conducted a systematic comparison of the two Talmuds in The Bavli’s Unique Voice. A Systematic Comparison of the Talmud of Babylonia and the Talmud of the Land of Israel. Volume One. Bavli and Yerushalmi Qiddushin Chapter One Compared and Contrasted. Atlanta, 1993: Scholars Press for South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism; The Bavli’s Unique Voice. A Systematic Comparison of the Talmud of Babylonia and the Talmud of the Land of Israel. Volume Two. Yerushalmi’s, Bavli’s, and Other Canonical Documents’ Treatment of the Program of Mishnah-Tractate Sukkah Chapters One, Two, and Four Compared and Contrasted. A Reprise and Revision of The Bavli and its Sources. Atlanta, 1993: Scholars Press for South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism; The Bavli’s Unique Voice. A Systematic Comparison of the Talmud of Babylonia and the Talmud of the Land of Israel. Volume Three. Bavli and Yerushalmi to Selected Mishnah-Chapters in the Division of Moed. Erubin Chapter One, and Moed Qatan Chapter Three. Atlanta, 1993: Scholars Press for South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism; The Bavli’s Unique Voice. A Systematic Comparison of the Talmud of Babylonia and the Talmud of the Land of Israel. Volume Four. Bavli and Yerushalmi to Selected Mishnah-Chapters in the Division of Nashim. Gittin Chapter Five and Nedarim Chapter One. And Niddah Chapter One. Atlanta, 1993: Scholars Press for South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism; The Bavli’s Unique Voice. A Systematic Comparison of the Talmud of Babylonia and the Talmud of the Land of Israel. Volume Five. Bavli and Yerushalmi to Selected Mishnah-Chapters in the Division of Neziqin. Baba Mesia Chapter One and Makkot Chapters One and Two. Atlanta, 1993: Scholars Press for South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism; The Bavli’s Unique Voice. A Systematic Comparison of the Talmud of Babylonia and the Talmud of the Land of Israel. Volume Six. Bavli and Yerushalmi to a Miscellany of Mishnah-Chapters. Gittin Chapter One, Qiddushin Chapter Two, and Hagigah Chapter Three. Atlanta, 1993: Scholars Press for South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism; The Bavli’s Unique Voice. Volume Seven. What Is Unique about the Bavli in Context? An Answer Based on Inductive Description, Analysis, and Comparison. Atlanta, 1993: Scholars Press for South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism..
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