In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

EPILOGUE: CONCERNING THE TALMUD IN THIS BOOK THE READER HAS HEARD THE TALMUD MENTIONED AGAIN and again. But it was not referred to in the manner in which it is usually presented-as something quaint, which can be done away with by a smile-but as a living help in the despair of our days and of all days. Whereas the Kabbalah, the Zohar, and Hassidism have by and large found advocates, the Talmud has not yet been duly appreciated outside of Jewish orthodoxy, with the possible exception of the books by R. Travers Herford. And yet I think that great strides could be made if Jewish thought as expressed in the Talmud were to become known to non-Jews as well as to modern Jews, although it is almost impossible to read the Talmud-in the original or in a translation-without the help of an instructor. And even a teacher might not be interested in those matters with which this hook has dealt. The difficult problem can only be solved by those who know how to sail freely "on the sea of the Talmud." Although I myself might be able to read the Talmud in just that way which is needful to mankind, I am only learning, an apprentice in the study of the Talmud. In order to know it properly, a lifetime is required, and I approached the sources only a few years ago. A new anthology of the Talmud ought to have the aim of discussing the period of the Talmudic sages, and to show what form the lives of the individuals and of the community adopt if they are based on what I have here described as the Jewish attitude towards the world. Above all this would involve the criticism applied to misfortune in the world; part of it, the noble one, being humbly accepted, CONCERNING THE TALMUD 267 and the other one rejected energetically and fought in moral freedom ; the resulting "incompatibility of the correlated"; and finally the experience of individual divine grace, love, and the this-worldly miracle. Such an anthology might give a new and un-pagan direction to our entire spiritual life. In the curriculum of the high schools I would place it next to the beauty of Greek poetry. (The Talmud states that "Greek beauty ought to dwell in Jewish tents.") If such a T almudical anthology is to serve its purpose, it must not be made too easy to study, for it is of the essence of the Talmud that it must be conquered by the efforts of its disciples. Without that effort, the important benefit of slow spiritual training and of a complete readjustment in thinking and feeling would get lost. All Talmudical anthologies known to me suffer from the fact that they make it too easy for the student. They look like a collection of anecdotes, like a book of quotations. The book I have in mind should not be a presentation of some choice "pearls," tom out of context, but of longer passages, which allow the reader to acquaint himself with the style of the Talmud. It should not be written in a feuilleton style, which makes something out of nothing, whereas of the Talmud we may say that it makes out of something-nothing; for it is so sparing, and it expressed itself by omitting self-understood links. The reading of the Talmud therefore implies a search and a new creation, a solution of contradictions. How important such a study is can be seen from the Yiddish idiom, in which "to learn" means to study the Talmud. Europe does not appreciate the Talmud. But sometimes pamphlets against it appear on the literary market. Thus Europe harms itself without harming the Talmud. Here is a typical quotation, printed in Hungary: The Talmud is of interest to everybody. It is indeed more interesting than any charming novel, and no book is more interesting. No pornographic book contains more filth, and no collection of anecdotes is more exhilarating. We have here a prescription for usury, fraud, for the Jewish will to subdue the world, the most abominable laws concerning women, horrifying mercilessness, and so-called miracles. One cannot put the book down before having read the last line. One would only harm oneself by not purchasing this book. Those who have read it will agree. Since we live among Jews, it is in our own interest to know their moral code, by which rabbis are trained. Again we...

Share