5

I am a non-Jew and am I interested in studying the Talmud, but don't know how to begin.

To start with, I have tried looking for an affordable Talmud or even part of it that I can buy just to start but it seems that all I can find are Talmud collections often costing hundreds.

How do I get started? Is there a version I can buy that is broken up into books I can buy seperately or even an App?

My first language is English so any translations would have to be in English.

My purpose in reading the Talmud is simply for personal study. I'd like to learn about Judaism in a general sense (beyond having knowledge of the Tanakh) and there seems no better way to extend my education of Abrahamic traditions.

Tamir Evan
  • 2,429
  • 1
  • 20
  • 21
Charlie
  • 152
  • 1
  • 7
  • 5
    Hi Charlie. You might like to know that many Jews (myself included) discourage non-Jews from studying the Talmud. – ezra Dec 31 '17 at 23:33
  • 1
    @ezra and why is that? – Charlie Dec 31 '17 at 23:40
  • 1
    Most of the Soncino Talmud (English translation with comentary) is available online. Sefaria is also putting together a translation for free online. Both are broken up into books. – mevaqesh Jan 01 '18 at 00:04
  • 3
    The Talmud is a commentary on many tractates of the Mishna. Depending on the purpose of your study, you might want to start with the mishna. – mevaqesh Jan 01 '18 at 00:14
  • 2
    The Talmud can't be studied before one understands its structure, methodology and underlying purpose. In a sense, one must study about the talmud before he can study the talmud. – rosends Jan 01 '18 at 00:15
  • @ezra that likely isn't true. – mevaqesh Jan 01 '18 at 00:16
  • @mevaqesh I have not heard of the Mishna. I'll take your advice and have a look into it – Charlie Jan 01 '18 at 00:17
  • @rosends in your view how should one do that? – Charlie Jan 01 '18 at 00:18
  • 1
    @Charlie you are very welcome. I will post links when I can. In the mean time, you may want to consider clarifying the purpose of your study so users have some idea what sort of resources would be most appropriate. For example, your English seems fine, but is it your preferred language? Resources of various types exist in various languages, including I assume, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Russian. || also are you more interested in law, theology, history, etc. These preferences will affect what resources would be best. – mevaqesh Jan 01 '18 at 00:20
  • @Charlie I guess you could try https://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/understanding-the-talmud-edward-boraz/1019498906/2670780453853?st=PLA&sid=BNB_DRS_New+Marketplace+Shopping+Books_00000000&2sid=Google_&sourceId=PLGoP164951&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsqLSBRCmARIsAL4Pa9S8F9UPgP6k4el5LBK7BGobZifvK_JT80zwjB7yRvREy_FWKkY6m2IaAi50EALw_wcB and https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1592642985/judaism101 but it takes a lot of understanding of Judaism and the context which goes beyond books. Talmud study is usually an advanced part of a larger set of studies. – rosends Jan 01 '18 at 00:39
  • @mevaqesh am I wrong in thinking the Mishnah is actually part of the Talmud? – Charlie Jan 01 '18 at 00:39
  • @Charlie The Mishna is the predecessor of the gemara and together they make up the talmud. The problem is that studying the Talmud assumes a level of knowledge that a beginner does not have. For example, getting the English version of the Talmud (Art Scroll English is 73 volumes for example) assumes that you understand many of the laws of the Torah already and that you are thoroughly familiar with the torah and the laws and deeper meanings in the stories of the Torah. It would be (as an example) trying to understand the constitution of the United States without complete familiarity of law – sabbahillel Jan 01 '18 at 02:14
  • 2
    @Charlie Well it's a complicated matter, and you'll probably get different answers depending on who you talk to (for instance, you've already received conflicting answers here in the comment section). According to Maimonides, a Ben Noah should not study any Torah other than what is related to the Seven Laws of Noah. That aside, I honestly do not think you are up to studying the Talmud, based on the fact that you don't know enough about Judaism. – ezra Jan 01 '18 at 03:12
  • 1
    The best way for you to understand what is Mishna and Talmud is to start - you will soon see this is incredibly difficult to understand without proper context, deep background and a knowledgeable person to learn with. Start with the Mishna in Brakhot here for instance, then see the gemara on it here. This is not meant to discourage, rather help you focus your time where you get the best of it. You can come back to ask for other Jewish learning resources if helpful – mbloch Jan 01 '18 at 04:18
  • @mbloch I think you should expand that and write it as an answer, since it disagrees to some extent with the existing one. – b a Jan 01 '18 at 08:16
  • @ezra even your presentation of maimonides is far from simple, given his more lenient stance in a response. – mevaqesh Jan 01 '18 at 14:44
  • @sabba For the most part the term gemara came to replace the term talmud after the Talmud was banned, and the very word became taboo. – mevaqesh Jan 01 '18 at 14:46

2 Answers2

6

The talmud is not like the Tanakh -- it's not a linear, coherent text that you can just start reading, relying on a few footnotes here and there. To illustrate, let me describe the first side of the first page of the first tractate, B'rachot. It begins with a mishna, which asks: from what time in the evening can we recite the Sh'ma? The mishna then answers by saying from the time the kohanim enter their houses to eat t'rumah; these are the words of R' Eliezer. The mishna then presents other opinions and an anecdote, and then there's a discussion of the general principle in interpreting "midnight". That's all in the first paragraph, just a few sentences in the Hebrew. The g'mara then begins to deconstruct this, asking where we learn these various points. The g'mara discussion of this mishna continues for eight (double-sided) pages of compact Aramaic.

Beginners working alone should expect to struggle with this, even in translation. The discussions assume a knowledge of halacha, Jewish law, and familiarity with the rules of exegesis (derivation). It is akin to reading a college-level mathematics text before you've learned algebra -- you might learn something from it here and there, purely as a matter of chance, but you'll miss most of what "learning talmud" entails and you won't learn the underlying concepts. And -- this is something that's different in Judaism than in other contexts -- studying talmud is almost universally done with a study partner, because studying it together and discussing it leads to deeper understanding and discipline.

If you want to learn talmud, I recommend that, instead of diving into a talmudic discourse, you learn about the talmud, its structure, its key players, and its methods of exegesis. Books such as R' Adin Steinsaltz's Essential Talmud provide an accessible introduction to the topic.

Monica Cellio
  • 56,645
  • 10
  • 113
  • 348
  • "compact Aramaic" - if that's how you describe the Bavli, what adjective would you use for the Yerushalmi? :) – Heshy Jan 01 '18 at 16:31
  • @Heshy I don't know; I've never studied Yerushalmi. :-) But I meant more "in comparison to what you'd expect in an English text or even from the Tanakh". – Monica Cellio Jan 01 '18 at 16:31
  • 1
    R. Yechezkel Feivel, in Toldos Adam Chapter 3, goes through the first mishnah in Berachos to show how someone with no background will not be able to understand it. http://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=46835&st=&pgnum=25 (last paragraph) – Alex Jan 01 '18 at 19:05
2

A good introduction to Talmud study, is study of the Mishna, since the Talmud is a commentary on many Tractates of the Mishna. Notably, the Mishna is the primary work of Jewish law, compiled after Tanakh was written, and obviously before the Talmud. It is perhaps the archetypal work of the Oral Law.

The Mishna is available with English translation here on Sefaria. As noted here, Herbert Danby's translation of the Mishna is available here. It is based primarily on the Tifferet Israel commentary on the Mishna of R. Israel Lipschitz. You can also find links to five of the six orders of the Mishna (Kodashim apparently excluded), with Philip Blackman's translation, including introductions, supplements, and notes, here.

Whether or not the Mishna is a part of the Talmud, is a semantic question. The Term Talmud frequently is used to include the Mishna (and the Tosefta, but you don't have to worry about that.)

Another classical work of Jewish law, is the comprehensive Mishneh Torah written by Maimonides about a millennium after the Mishna.

It is available in English here.

See also the resources listed in response to this related question.

mevaqesh
  • 35,599
  • 2
  • 98
  • 176