An Arabic-Zionist Talmud: Shimon Moyal's At-Talmud

This article offers a close reading of At-Talmud: Asluhu wa-tasalsuluhu wa-ad-abuhu (The Talmud: Its Origin, Transmission, and Ethics; 1909), an Arabic work published in Egypt by the Jaffa-born writer Shimon Moyal. The book was intended to be the first of a multivolume translation of the Talmud into Arabic. The article places this translation project into its historical context in the fin-de-siècle Middle East and explores the various ways in which Moyal, through his translation, attempted to present Judaism more favorably and familiarly to a mixed Christian and Muslim readership. It is further suggested that Moyal's description of ancient Jewish history, and especially his use of nationalist terminology in recounting this past, may be read for insights about Moyal's own approach to Zionism. The article thereby also contributes to the scholarly discourse on the character of Sephardi Zionism.