Reconstructing the Talmud: An Introduction to the Academic Study of Rabbinic Literature

by Joshua Kulp

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The Babylonian Talmud (Bavli) is a symphony of hundreds of voices, including legal rulings, folklore, biblical interpretations, and rabbinic legends. Each of these voices was originally issued in a distinct generation but was only captured and frozen in time by the Talmud s editors, who lived during the fifth through seventh centuries C.E. Reconstructing the Talmud introduces the modern Talmud student to the techniques developed over the last century for uncovering how this literature developed. Opening with an extended introduction outlining the methods employed by scholars to engage in such analysis, Reconstructing the Talmud proceeds with nine examples concretely demonstrating how such methods are applied to actual passages from the Bavli. Sorting out the layers of the Bavli, understanding each layer within its cultural and historical context, and comparing it with earlier sources, reveals a dynamic world of change, debate, halakhic diversity and development far richer and more nuanced than that which is evident in the static and fixed text of the printed edition. Reconstructing the Talmud introduces the reader to the world of academic Talmudic research and opens new venues of exploration and understanding of one of the world's great literary treasures.

Genres: Judaism, Jewish

342 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Marsha Altman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book traces the development of halacha from the Mishnah/Tosefta through the Gemara, and pulls apart the different layers of revision. It also compares the Bavli to the Yerushalmi where they overlap, which is very interesting. Some of the chapter subjects th at he chooses to focus on are better than others. For example, the chapter Rabbi Pinchas b. Yair and his righteous donkey is inherently more interesting than explaining how we got from 2 cups at sheva brachas to only using 1 cup. Also, if you didn't understand anything I just said, this book is not for you.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with most academics books, you will either appreciate the plethora of examples or not. THe individual chapters, each of which feels like an exemplary shiur in its own right, start to blend together the way that mathematics worksheets do if you do too many at once, but the principles behind the scholarly deduction do become clearer with repetition.
I particularly liked the mini/appendix chapters, especially the ones on magic.
This book expanded my to-read list and there really is no better compliment than that.

[Joe Q. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to "academic Talmud" for English-speaking readers. The examples might be hard to follow for those who don't already have some familiarity with the structure of Talmudic sugyot (discussion) but they are worth a persistent read for those who do.

[Lsilberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone like me, with no background in Talmud, this was a somewhat daunting book. That said, the authors and contributions certainly did their research in discerning how changes in, for example, the time and location of the writing of different rabbinic texts resulted in different emphases, interpretations, etc. For example, unlike the writers of the Talmud Yerushalmi (the Jerusalem, aka Palestinian, Talmud), the writers of the Talmud Bavli (Babylonian Talmud) had no idea what the Greek work "afikoman" meant, and ended up, instead of forbidding it, misinterpreting the meaning of the word and making the afikoman a mandatory part of the Passover seder!

[Steve Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

An introduction to the academic study of the Talmud, which seeks to reveal how the Talmud was put together. The introduction was very good,the example chapters a little less so; but a very worthwhile read.