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The Redaction of the Babylonian Talmud in Rabbi Y.I. Halevy’s Dorot HaRishonim recorded in this early form of the Talmud, and the basic structure and layout of the Talmud was thus prepared. The second stage was performed by R’ Ashi, of the sixth generation of Amoraim, at the academy in Sura. He established a special group of scholars to develop the work of Abaye and Rava, and create a corpus that would include all facets of the Tradition in a form that would be useful for coming generations. Under his guidance, these scholars gathered and edited all the new materials accumulated over the past 50 or so years, worked on resolving any open questions or inconsistencies, and formed practical rulings and applications out of the discussions in the Talmud. This activity did not cease with the death of R’ Ashi, and his successor, Rabba “Tosfa’a”, continued as its leader until the end of that generation. The third and final major stage is that of the Savoraim, which is divided into two parts. The first generation was still close enough to the Amoraim to be able to imitate their work, and as such we find Savoraic statements in the Gemara giving rulings on questionable cases. The second and third generations could no longer do this, but they were still able to add glosses to clarify particularly terse statements, as well as the very useful feature of the notations indicating which part of the Mishna is being addressed by the Gemara. Halevy is adamant that after this point, no changes or additions were intentionally made to the text of the Talmud. In support of this statement he quotes the words of R’ Shmuel Ha-Nagid 70 that “in the days of R’ Ashi and his associates the Talmud was sealed” 71 . The desired implication being that the Talmud as we see it was written by R’ Ashi alone, and not R’ Ashi with whomever else may have made 70 In his Introduction to the Talmud. 71 III, p. 22 32
Rabbi Moshe Becker an addition. 72 The strong stance that Halevy takes is intended to uphold the integrity of the Talmud’s origins, in the face of opinions such as those expressed by Weiss, that the Talmud was in fact never sealed, but rather left fluid and open to the scholars of every generation. As a result, many additions and editions were made, be they mistaken or willful, and there is no inherent purity or authority to the work of the Amoraim and Savoraim 73 . Refuting such positions actually seems to have been one of the primary goals of Dorot HaRishonim, and strong rhetoric is quite prominent in Halevy’s treatment of the redaction of the Talmud. Halevy felt that the approaches of Graetz and others challenged the integrity of the “Mesorah” – the continuous tradition of the Torah that has been handed down from generation to generation. To address this he wrote his own record of the Jewish history from a traditionalist point of view. Specifically regarding the redaction of the Talmud, the conclusions reached by Graetz and others conjure up the image of a lone, almost renegade scholar producing the Talmud with little popular support and virtually no authority, formal or otherwise. Obviously the result of such work cannot be seen as authoritative in any way, let alone the untouchable basis of all contemporary Jewish life and scholarship. Halevy also quotes the views of S.Y. Rappaport, who writes that the Talmud was created to address the emergency situation that the community found itself in due to persecution, as opposed to the picture presented by Halevy of a premeditated, planned and concerted project, which was the product of, and made possible by, peaceful times for the Jewish community in Babylonia. Halevy saw in the words of these historians an attempt to undermine the 72 Although it’s hard to ignore the additional possible reading: that R’ Ashi alone was responsible for compiling the Talmud, without the various stages and layers suggested by Halevy. 73 Quoted by Halevy in III, p. 140. 33
Page 1 and 2: Reshimu Studies in Jewish Thought a
Page 3 and 4: Table of Contents Reshimu Studies i
Page 5: Table of Contents Rambam’s Theory
Page 8 and 9: Introduction underlying cause of th
Page 10 and 11: Introduction A correction: In my ar
Page 12 and 13: The Redaction of the Babylonian Tal
Page 36 and 37: The Redaction of the Talmud stateme
Page 38 and 39: The Redaction of the Talmud Accordi
Page 40 and 41: The Redaction of the Talmud The Fre
Page 42 and 43: The Redaction of the Talmud this is
Page 44 and 45: The Redaction of the Talmud The sou
Page 46 and 47: The Redaction of the Talmud Come an
Page 48 and 49: The Redaction of the Talmud The opi
Page 50 and 51: The Redaction of the Talmud commenc
Page 52 and 53: The Redaction of the Talmud Rav Ach
Page 54 and 55: The Redaction of the Talmud take, t
Page 56 and 57: Aish Dat: A Brief History of the De
Page 73 and 74: Rabbi Meir Triebitz Rambam’s Theo
Page 75 and 76: Rabbi Meir Triebitz The bulk of thi
Page 77 and 78: Rabbi Meir Triebitz consequence of
Page 79 and 80: Rabbi Meir Triebitz Saadiah could o
Page 81 and 82: Rabbi Meir Triebitz (Guide 64b/124)
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Rabbi Meir Triebitz basic premises
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Rabbi Meir Triebitz describe God an
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Rabbi David Sedley Rav Moshe Taku:
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101 Rabbi David Sedley Torah metap
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