The Babylonian Talmud translated by MICHAEL L. RODKINSON Book 10 (Vols. I and II) [1918] The History of the Talmud Volume I. Volume II. Volume I: History of the Talmud Title Page Preface Contents of Volume I. Introduction Chapter I: Origin of the Talmud Chapter II: Development of the Talmud in the First Century Chapter III: Persecution of the Talmud from the destruction of the Temple to the Third Century Chapter IV: Development of the Talmud in the Third Century Chapter V: The Two Talmuds Chapter IV: The Sixth Century: Persian and Byzantine Persecution of the Talmud Chapter VII: The Eight Century: the Persecution of the Talmud by the Karaites Chapter VIII: Islam and Its Influence on the Talmud Chapter IX: The Period of Greatest Diffusion of Talmudic Study Chapter X: The Spanish Writers on the Talmud Chapter XI: Talmudic Scholars of Germany and Northern France Chapter XII: The Doctors of France; Authors of the Tosphoth Chapter XIII: Religious Disputes of All Periods Chapter XIV: The Talmud in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Chapter XV. Polemics with Muslims and Frankists Chapter XVI: Persecution during the Seventeenth Century Chapter XVII: Attacks on the Talmud in the Nineteenth Century Chapter XVIII. The Affair of Rohling-Bloch Chapter XIX: Exilarchs, Talmud at the Stake and Its Development at the Present Time Appendix A. Appendix B Volume II: Historical and Literary Introduction to the New Edition of the Talmud Contents of Volume II Part I: Chapter I: The Combination of the Gemara, The Sophrim and the Eshcalath Chapter II: The Generations of the Tanaim Chapter III: The Amoraim or Expounders of the Mishna Chapter IV: The Classification of Halakha and Hagada in the Contents of the Gemara. Chapter V: Apocryphal Appendices to the Talmud and Commentaries. Plate facing page 48: Contents of the Talmud in Hebrew Chapter VI: Epitomes, Codifications, Manuscripts and Printed Editions of the Talmud. Chapter VII: Translations of the Talmud Chapter VIII: Bibliography of Modern Works and Monographs on Talmudic Subjects Chapter IX. Why Should Christians Feel Interested in the Talmud? Chapter X: Opinions on the Value of the Talmud by Gentiles and Modern Jewish Scholars Part II; Chapter I: Talmudical Ethics Chapter II: Ethical Teachings of the Talmud Part III: Method of Translation Plate facing page 100: Page of the Talmud in Hebrew Part IV: Criticism Appendix to Chapter II. Part V. The Arrangement of the Six Sections in Their Sixty Tracts THE HISTORY OF THE TALMUD from the Time of Its Formation, about 200 B. C., up to the Present Time DIVIDED INTO TWO VOLUMES VOLUME I.--ITS DEVELOPMENT AND THE PERSECUTIONS SINCE ITS BIRTH UP TO DATE, INCLUDING ALL RELIGIOUS DISPUTES AND BRIEF BIOGRAPHIES OF THE SEPARATED SECTS VOLUME II.--THE HISTORICAL AND LITERARY INTRODUCTION TO THE NEW EDITION: ETHICS, METHOD, WITH ILLUSTRATIONS CRITICISM, ETC. BY MICHAEL L. RODKINSON Volume I. (XIX.) BOSTON THE TALMUD SOCIETY 1918 scanned at sacred-texts.com, August 2002, J.B. Hare, redactor p. ii Copyright, 1903, BY MICHAEL L. RODKINSON COPYRIGHT 1916, BY NEW TALMUD PUBLISHING p. iii TO HIM WHO IS A LIBERAL DONOR TO ALL PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS A FRIEND OF ISRAEL'S PUREST IDEALS, LITERATURE AND RELIGION ADOLPH LEWISOHN, ESQ. THIS BOOK IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THE AUTHOR MICHAEL L. RODKINSON NEW YORK, IN MONTH ELUL, SEPTEMBER 1ST. 1903 p. v PREFACE. THE ancient authors used to begin the prefaces to their works with the proverb "Sepher be Lo Hakdamha kegnph be Lo nechamaha," which means "A book without a preface is similar to a body without a soul"; and, indeed, this proverb remains forever true. At the time we began our translation of the Talmud, we were aware that to the study of it a clear preface which should explain its nature and the character of the sages mentioned in it was necessary, as without it there would be great difficulty for students in catching the real meaning, and in some places the reader would be confused, not being aware of its history and of the names mentioned--who these were and when they existed. With this in mind, we had already prepared the present work in 1897, when only a few volumes of our translation had been issued. Although we gave a brief general introduction to the first volume of the translation, and also some prefaces and introductions in the succeeding volumes, they do not suffice for the student who desires to have a clear idea of all that he is studying. However, the translation has taken up so much of our time that it has hitherto been impossible for us to look up everything pertinent to our purpose that has been written and to submit it in presentable form. Now, after the completion, with the Divine help of the two large sections, containing twenty-seven tracts, and in response to many inquiries from the reading public for some explanations, we find that now is the time to put forth this work; and, instead of adding two more volumes to the translation of the Talmud in the current year, we have decided to furnish the two volumes which form our "History of the Talmud." It may be inferred that what was written several years ago has had to be thoroughly revised and corrected, according to the literature which has appeared since that time. There is an p. vi old witticism, "Koshe Atika Me Chadtha"; i.e., "It is more difficult to correct an old thing than to write a new one"; and, as a matter of fact, it has taken a great deal of time to make the necessary changes and corrections in what we had written. As a natural consequence, the work is enlarged, and many chapters have been added since the issue of our prospectus. All this concerns the first volume of this work, as it relates to the history of the Talmud only, as to which there has been little new information. True there have been some new dissertations on the Talmud in Germany, but they do not add much to our knowledge concerning it, and may therefore be ignored. The second volume, however, we have had to recast and rewrite. In this labor the wonderful work of that western light which was recently extinguished--we mean the Rev. Dr. Mielziner--"Introduction to the Talmud," which has reached a second edition and has been so favorably received by all students of both continents, was of great service to us. As Dr. Mielziner's work contains essentially all that concerns the Talmud itself, we resolved to take it as a text for our historical introduction, adding and abating as we deemed necessary. We have done so, also, with the second part, "The Ethics of the Talmud," which he arranged so admirably. Here, also, we have added whatever, according to our knowledge, there was left for us to bring to the attention of the reader. Now, the work being finished, we regard it as a suitable preface to our translation and one which will enlighten the understanding of the reader in many places. At the same time, it seems to us to be interesting to the general reader who has neither time nor inclination for the study of the Talmud. This is all we need say in the preface, referring the reader for more details to our introduction, which follows. THE AUTHOR. NEW YORK, September, 1903. p. vii CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. PAGE PREFACE v INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I. THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME "TALMUD." THE SAMARITANS. 5 ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES. THE SADDUCEES CHAPTER II. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE TALMUD DURING THE LAST 7 CENTURY OF THE SECOND TEMPLE'S EXISTENCE (i.e. THE FIRST A.C.) SHEMAIA. ABTALIAN. HILLEL. SHAMMAI. THE PRINCES (NASIS) OF ISRAEL. R. JOHANAN B. ZAKKAL. SANHEDRIN OF JAMNIA. THE JEWISH CHRISTIANS CHAPTER III. HE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE. THE FALL OF BETHEL. THE 10 MASSACRE OF THE SAGES OF THE TALMUD, TILL THE WRITING OF THE MISHNA IN THE BEGINNING OF THE THIRD CENTURY CHAPTER IV. THE THIRD CENTURY. THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE MISHNAS. THE 13 TALMUDIC COLLEGES OF PALESTINE AND BABYLONIA. CHAPTER V. THE TALMUD OF JERUSALEM, THE TALMUD OF BABYLONIA, THE 17 CHARACTER OF THEIR HALAKHA AND HAGADA, THE DATES OF THEIR COMPLETION AND THEIR SYSTEMATIZATION CHAPTER VI. THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE TALMUD IN THE PERSIAN AND 23 BYZANTINE EMPIRES IN THE SIXTH CENTURY AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE TALMUD p. viii CHAPTER VII. PAGE THE EIGHTH CENTURY. THE DOMINION OF THE GAONIM. THE 25 OPPOSITION OF THE KARAITES. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SECT OF THAT NAME CHAPTER VIII. ISLAM AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE TALMUD 33 CHAPTER IX. THE VICTORY OF KARAISM OVER THE SPIRITUAL DOMINION OF 36 THE TALMUD AND THE MIND OF THE JEWISH NATION. THE LAST GAONIM AT SURA AND PUMBEDITHA. THE CENTRE OF TALMUDIC STUDY TRANSFERRED FROM MESOPOTAMIA TO SPAIN, THE SCHOLARS OF KAIRUBAN. THE PERIOD OF THE GREATEST DIFFUSION OF TALMUDIC STUDY CHAPTER X. THE SPANISH WRITERS. A BRIEF SURVEY OF THEIR WRITINGS 43 RELATING TO THE TALMUD CHAPTER XI. THE SCHOLARS OF GERMANY AND OF NORTHERN FRANCE, AND 50 WHAT THEY CONTRIBUTED TO THE STUDIES OF THE TALMUD CHAPTER XII. THE DOCTORS OF FRANCE. AUTHORS OF THE TOSPHOTH 57 CHAPTER XIII. RELIGIOUS DISPUTES OF ALL PERIODS 61 CHAPTER XIV. REUCHLIN, PFEFFERKORN, AND THE TALMUD IN THE SIXTEENTH 76 AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES CHAPTER XV. POLEMICS WITH MUSSULMANS AND THE DISPUTES WITH THE 99 FRANKISTS p. ix CHAPTER XVI. PAGE THE PERSECUTIONS OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, THE HEAD 104 OF WHOM WAS JOHANN ANDREAS EISENMENGER CHAPTER XVII. THE POLEMICS AND THE ATTACKS UPON THE TALMUD IN THE 106 NINETEENTH CENTURY CHAPTER XVIII.