The Talmud Of Jerusalem

The translation of Aggadic (non-legal) selections from the Jerusalem Talmud with analytical commentary.

The Jerusalem Talmud probably originated in Tiberias in the School of Johanan ben Nappaha. It is a compilation of teachings of the schools of Tiberias, Sepphoris and Caesarea. It is written largely in a western Aramaic dialect that differs from its Babylonian counterpart.

After World War II, Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich (1921–2007) published works in English and German by eminent Israeli scholars, in this way introducing them to a wider audience in Europe and North America. The series he founded for that purpose, Studia Judaica, continues to offer a platform for scholarly studies and editions that cover all eras in the history of the Jewish religion.

An in-depth introduction to the ancient work of Jewish law and theology. One of the world’s supreme works of religious literature, the Talmud has been unjustly neglected by a civilization that is rightly proud of its Judeo-Christian heritage. In The Talmud of Jerusalem, Dagobert D. Runes offers a fascinating and scholarly overview of its evolution and the rabbis who taught and contributed to it. The Talmud came into being in the centuries after Jerusalem fell to the Roman Empire, when the people of Palestine were scattered to the four corners of the earth. To preserve their faith amid the strange customs of Pagan lands, the wandering Israelites turned to their teachers for a fresh interpretation of the Torah, the ancient book of Moses. The Oral Laws formulated by the sages were eventually codified in the Talmud.

This book is a compilation and composition of the Jerusalem Talmud, the cultural, economic and political conditions in the Land of Israel during its development, the scholars who studied it throughout the generations, and a synopsis of their research and commentaries.Examined in detail is the transformation of the Roman empire from paganism to Christianity and the effect this has had on the Jerusalem Talmud. Also explored is the sordid and almost successful attempt at the end of the 1800's to present a forged work as the newly "discovered" missing Order of the Jerusalem Talmud.Jewish Law is based on the Talmud which was codified approximately 1500 years ago. There are actually two Talmuds, one which was codified in Babylonia (The Babylonian Talmud) and the other which was codified in the Land of Israel (The Jerusalem Talmud.) The differences between these two Talmuds and why one was eclipsed by the other are amongthe issues addressed in this work.Although the Jerusalem Talmud was superceded by the younger Babylonian Talmud it is, nevertheless, a massive work that contains not only a collection of Jewish Law and lore, but also important historical, political and cultural information regarding the Land of Israel and the Roman empire ca. 220 - 375 C.E.Although, there are literally thousands of works that have been published on the Babylonian Talmud, there are very few on the Jerusalem Talmud. This textbook is a unique "how-to" guide that also summarizes the research and scholarly work performed on the Jerusalem Talmud throughout the generations. It is useful to both scholar and layman to understand how the Jerusalem Talmud was formulated and how it subsequently helped shape the lives and beliefs of the Jewish people.