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Volume 9, No.2 Winter 1991 101 demonstrated the correctness of his claims about the relationship of the rabbinic comment to the biblical text which he makes in his last chapter. While for some this book will be interesting, for others it will be too jargonistic and sparse on new insights into the phenomenon of midrash. Gary G. Porton Director, Program for the Study of Religion University of Illinois Talmud Bavli, Tractate Makkos (The Artscroll Series), edited by Rabbi Hersh Goldwurm and Rabbi Nosson Scherman. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1990. Not paginated. N.p.I. Witnessing a successful high-wire balancing act can be inspiring. The acrobat's skill fills us with awe. If she leans too far in one direction or another, she will tumble to tragedy. If she keeps her balance, she demonstrates what discipline and skill can accomplish. In any case, she takes a calculated risk. Reading this new translation of Tractate Makkot of the Babylonian Talmud is like watching a successful balancing act. It manages to balance the demands of traditional reverence for the Talmud with the innovation of translation for a largely uneducated audience in a way that is religiously and easthetically satisfying. The design of the book is ingenious: on each set of facing pages, one is presented with the page of the Vilnius edition of the Talmud under discussion, and on the other page, the Hebrew text with vowels, followed by a phrase-by-phrase translation and elucidation. Additional notes and insights on the material are also included at the bottom of each page. In many ways, the translation reads like a transcript of a Talmud lesson in a yeshivah. The transliterations of Hebrew in this volume reflect Ashkenazic, rather than Sephardic, pronunciation. Several study aids are included: a general introduction to the Talmud and an introduction to this tractate, which deals with legal matters of proper testimony and various punishments. The somewhat technical nature of the material in this tractate might be difficult for the beginning student. Relevant passages from Scriptures, introductions to each chapter which outline the main concepts and terms used, a glossary of terms, and a Scriptural index are also included. How does this volume compare with similar Talmud study aids? It must be judged on the basis of its goal: to present the traditional, religious understanding of Talmud to beginning students. At this task it excels. It does 102 SHOFAR not offer as much historical information as do the volumes of the EI Am Talmud or Steinsaltz's English translation. However, tractate Makkot is not included in either of these series. Therefore, we must compare this volume to the Soncino translation. The Artscroll translation is so much more accessible to the beginning student than the Sondno translation that it should be greeted with praise and gratitude. For example, compare the opening lines of the Sondno translation with this new one. (Note that the pointed Hebrew phrases are included in the Artscroll edition but not presented here.) Soncino: How do witnesses become liable [to punishment] as zomemim? [If they say:] "We testify that N.N. [a priest] is a son of a woman who had [formerly] been divorced or a haluzah," it is not said [in this case] that each [mendacious] witness be himself stigmatized as born of a divorcee or haluzah; he only receives forty [lashes]. Artscrol\: In what manner do witnesses become zomemim? If they said, "We testify about this man who is a Kohen that he is the son of a divorced woman or the son of a chalutzah, women whom a Kohen is forbidden to marry and whose child by them is a disqualified Kohen:" if they are found to be zomemim, we do not say that this false witness is relegated to the status of the son of a divorced woman or the son of a chalutzah in his place, i.e., in case the false witness is himself a Kohen, we do not penalize him by disqualifying him from the Kehunah as he intended to do to his victim, rather, he suffers the penalty of forty lashes known as malkus. In summary, we may state that this volume provides significant new material in English...

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