10 Years Ago: Tzvee and Talmud Hullin on the FYI Page 3 of the Jewish Standard

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Ten Years Ago: Larry Yudelson of the Jewish Standard of Teaneck wrote me up for their page three FYI column.

The Jewish Standard, Teaneck NJ
July 8, 2011

FYI
Local author puts Talmud translation on the web

As the seven-year cycle of daily Talmud study known as Daf Yomi began a new tractate last month, Tzvee Zahavy found himself running low on blog ideas.

Zahavy, a Teaneck resident, professor and rabbi, is also a blogger.

As the Daf Yomi project approached the beginning of the Babylonian Talmud tractate Hullin, Zahavy realized that he already had content.

"I figured it would be a service both to me in my own studies, and to my readers, if each day for 142 in all, I shared on my blog the text of my English translation of one page of the Talmud text," he said.

Zahavy translated Hullin as part of a series that was completed in 1995 by Professor Zahavy and others, called, "The Talmud of Babylonia. An American Translation." Sales of the set have been modest, in the thousands, he said.

The translation is now available in a new edition from a Christian publisher, Hendrickson, in both print and digital formats.

Artscroll’s English version of the Talmud is better selling, Zahavy said because it is Orthodox-approved and non-academic.

Zahavy said that the general public does not go out in great numbers to buy and read books of and about the Talmud. “Back in the late sixties, author Norman Mailer told us students in a lecture at Yeshiva College that he read the Soncino English Talmud every night at bedtime,” Zahavy said. “We saw that he was trying to impress us and he didn’t. We all knew that the Talmud is always studied seriously - it is never read at bedtime.”

Zahavy’s newest book is called “God’s Favorite Prayers.” The volume will be published in print and digital formats this summer by Talmudic Books, a new imprint that Zahavy started. He is confident that it will sell better than his Talmud translations.“More people pray than study,” he said.

--Larry Yudelson

Moby Dick and My Babylonian Talmud Tractate Hullin Translation

Who would not want their published work compared to that of Herman Melville's, Moby Dick?

Yes, that is a documented fact. My translation of Talmud Bavli Hullin was cast in such a light in a review some time back.

The work has been enhanced and republished now in two volumes for sale at Amazon: Hullin part 1 and Hullin part 2.

And it is available as an ebook for kindle.

Here is that wonderful review. Me and Melville!

---

Ioudaios Review, VOLUME 2.024, NOVEMBER 1992, Reviewed by: Sigrid Peterson, Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania

The Talmud of Babylonia.  An American Translation: Volume XXX.A: Tractate Hullin; Chapters 1-2.. Tzvee Zahavy, Translator. Brown Judaic Studies 253. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1992. Pp. xix + 238.

“All may slaughter,” has to be one of the more memorable three-word opening lines ever invented – right up there with “Call me Ishmael.”  While the latter is the opening to Melville’s Moby Dick, the former is less readily identifiable. In fact, the words “All may slaughter” open and form the reiterated recall to the ground theme of Tzvee Zahavy’s modern English translation of Hullin, one of the Tractates of the Babylonian Talmud. On beginning Moby Dick, I am sure I would feel conscientious and obligated and virtuous and bored. Similarly, that was my expectation in opening Hullin on preparing to review it. That expectation has been dispelled by this accessible and fascinating portrayal of the world of the rabbis.

Is the Hullin Scroll the Oldest Talmud Manuscript Ever Found?

What is the oldest known Talmud scroll?

Scroll of tractate Hullin, Babylonian Talmud (CUL T–S MISC. 26.53.17), acknowledgment to Dr. S.C. Reif, Director of the Taylor-Schechter Genizah Research Unit at the Cambridge University Library, and the Syndics of the Library.

I was delighted in December, 2009 to hear Professor Shamma Friedman speak at a Talmud department seminar at JTS. He spoke about a controversial scholarly issue: whether Maimonides intended his Mishneh Torah to replace the Talmud.

This event reminded me of a Talmudic fact that Professor Friedman brought to light several years ago, i.e., that the Talmud was at an early time circulated in scroll form. He discussed this in his paper,  “An Ancient Scroll Fragment (Bavli Hullin 101a-105a) and the Rediscovery of the Babylonian Branch of Tannaitic Hebrew,” JQR 86:1 (1995), pp. 9–50.

Rav Soloveitchik, Rav Lichtenstein, Prof. Weidhorn, Prof. Flatto, Prof. Levy: My Five Greatest Teachers at Yeshiva University

I realized over the years since I graduated from Yeshiva College that so many of my teachers there imprinted upon me indelible lessons for life and learning. I have chosen here to recall five special teachers. I apologize to the many other wonderful teachers that I have omitted. I especially beg the forgiveness of those that I have chosen to so briefly and inadequately remember. Nothing that I say can do them justice.
[Periodic re-post -- to celebrate these great teachers.]

My Collaboration co-authored books with Jack Neusner: How the Halakhah Unfolds: Hullin in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Bavli, Parts One and Two: Mishnah, Tosefta, and Bavli

My collaboration co-authored books with Jack Neusner...How the Halakhah Unfolds: Hullin in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Bavli, Parts One and Two: Mishnah, Tosefta, and Bavli

        

Does intermarriage finish Hitler's work? Is there any benefit to eating Kosher? My July 2016 Dear Rabbi Zahavy column in the Jewish Standard

Dear Rabbi Zahavy
Your Talmudic Advice Column

Dear Rabbi Zahavy,

I was at a public Jewish event where a rabbi was speaking about the future of the Jewish people. At one point in his talk he lashed out at Jews who marry non-Jews. He said that they are “finishing Hitler’s work,” which I took to mean they are destroying the Jewish people.

This criticism disturbed my friends and me, especially because I have a child who is intermarried. So do others who were present and heard this rabbi.

I was hurt and offended by this statement. I did not say anything to the rabbi. Should I have spoken up?

Offended in Oradell

Dear Offended,

Yes, as a rule, you may speak up and let people know if you feel offended by what they say. That’s how we maintain a polite and orderly society. Even if the person speaking has a claim to respect and authority because he is a rabbi, that does not give him any right to say inane things that offend others.

Thoughts on the publication of Alan F. Segal, "Sinning in the Hebrew Bible"

In an act of intentional irony we read in synagogue this morning during the reading of the Torah part of Alan Segal's book "Sinning in the Hebrew Bible: How The Worst Stories Speak for Its Truth".

We find Alan's book to be filled with erudition and common sense. That is why we admired Segal's past works and why we valued him as a friend. Segal believed in things that were mainly scholarly and he articulated them with clarity and enthusiasm.

The publisher's blurb for this book summarizes the many essences of the study:

Stories of rape, murder, adultery, and conquest raise crucial issues in the Hebrew Bible, and their interpretation helps societies form their religious and moral beliefs. From the sacrifice of Isaac to the adultery of David, narratives of sin engender vivid analysis and debate, powering the myths that form the basis of the religious covenant, or the relationship between a people and their God.

Rereading these stories in their different forms and varying contexts, Alan F. Segal demonstrates the significance of sinning throughout history and today. Drawing on literary and historical theory, as well as research in the social sciences, he explores the motivation for creating sin stories, their prevalence in the Hebrew Bible, and their possible meaning to Israelite readers and listeners. After introducing the basics of his approach and outlining several hermeneutical concepts, Segal conducts seven linked studies of specific narratives, using character and text to clarify problematic terms such as "myth," "typology," and "orality." Following the reappearance and reinterpretation of these narratives in later compositions, he proves their lasting power in the mythology of Israel and the encapsulation of universal, perennially relevant themes. Segal ultimately positions the Hebrew Bible as a foundational moral text and a history book, offering uncommon insights into the dating of biblical events and the intentions of biblical authors.

We has no idea that we would find it emotional to read a book by a dear friend who passed away in 2011. But we did feel the void of his loss even more while listening to the voice of his search for meaning and history in the texts of the Bible.

Alan was a religious man and a serious academic. Both of those traits of character and personality come through with ringing clarity in the pages of the superlative book.

We wrote this  appreciation of our friend Alan for the Jewish Standard in February 2011:

When my dear friend Alan F. Segal died at age 65 on Sunday, February 13, this earthly world lost a diligent, productive scholar of religions and a sparkling lecturer and teacher. And more than that, a great force of positive energy departed from our midst.

I knew Alan for over thirty years. During that time he served as a professor of religion at Barnard College in New York City and lived in nearby Ho-Ho-Kus. We met at first in professional circumstances as young professors of religion at conferences at Brown University and at the annual meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature and American Academy of Religion. Both of us were enthusiastically discovering new facts and making original insights in areas of ancient religions. I concentrated more on explicating problems within the Talmud and Jewish liturgy.

Alan’s interests and energies ranged more broadly. He wrote at first about various topics such as mysticism and sectarianism in ancient Judaism that were published in his books "Two Powers in Heaven" and "The Other Judaisms of Late Antiquity." He branched out in a major work, "Rebecca's Children: Judaism and Christianity in the Roman World," to explain how Judaism and Christianity took shape as sibling religions in late antiquity. And next he tackled the images of the apostle Paul, the founder of Christianity in "Paul the Convert: The Apostasy and Apostolate of Saul of Tarsus." Some scholars have called that publication the most important recent book on the subject of Paul.

Subsequently, Alan spent a decade investigating death and the afterlife in the world’s religions and published the results in "Life After Death: The Afterlife in Western Religions." His final book, which turns to subjects of ancient Israel, is complete and at the press awaiting publication. It surely will be influential in its own right. All of his books are widely cited in the scholarly literature.

Years ago, we discovered that we also shared a passion for new technologies. We continually probed how the newest software and hardware inventions could help us investigate some of the oldest and most puzzling problems of how humankind had searched in the past for God. At our professional conferences we talked together in equal measures about the theories and texts of scholars and about the releases and versions of advanced word processors and computers.

AP: Blackwell Burke Law Firm has Sued ConAgra Foods Over Hebrew National Kosher Claims

The AP reports that the Blackwell Burke Law Firm in Minneapolis has sued ConAgra Foods, owners of Hebrew National Kosher brands.

...ConAgra Foods Inc. says a lawsuit that claims its products aren't really kosher is without merit. The suit claims that ConAgra, based in Omaha, Neb., charges premium prices for Hebrew National meats, which it says aren't really 100 percent kosher...

We do not believe that this suit will last long before being dismissed.

It's quite simple why this matter will go nowhere in the courts.

ConAgra has ordained rabbis or their delegates on the premises. They monitor the production and certify the food as kosher.

According to Jewish religious law, as long as a rabbi declares meat kosher, it is kosher. It is the rabbinic decision that renders the food kosher. There are no percentage analog kosher standards. The status is binary. A food is either kosher or treif as determined by the religious beliefs and practices of Jews according to the laws of the Torah and the rabbinic laws of the Talmud, Codes and Responsa. See our translation of Hullin for many of those Talmud laws, Kosher Talmud: Babylonian Talmud Hullin.

To the best of our knowledge and judgement, that is pure religious practice, based 100% on religious beliefs, a matter that cannot and will not be adjudicated in our government court systems.

We'd guess that the simple and obvious decision to dismiss this case will be one page or less.

44 New Talmudic Books for Kindle | The Amazing 36 Volume Kindle Talmud in English | Whence and Wherefore | God's Favorite Prayers

From Talmudic Books: "Kosher Talmud: Babylonian Talmud Hullin" - live now and available for ordering

Another new Kindle Edition from Talmudic Books: "Babylonian Talmud Hullin" - live for sale now and available for ordering at Amazon.

Description: To know what food is kosher, that is, fit to eat according to rabbinic Judaism, you must study the principles set forth in this volume, the Babylonian Talmud Tractate Hullin. This translation, adheres closely to the text so that the reader has a sense of the structure and balance of the original. Yet at the same time it conveys the flow of the legal arguments and debates, the dramatic unfolding of events in stories, and the sensitivities to words and language in the exegetical texts. Its aim is to facilitate a smooth conversation between readers and the text so that, without consulting the original Hebrew and Aramaic version, they can appreciate the substantive meaning and recognize some major aspects of the style of the Talmudic text.

The free Kindle book sample (Click on: Send sample now) is quite large because the book itself is over 570 pages in print format.

Here is what one scholarly reviewer said at length in praise of the book:

From Ioudaios Review. Reviewed by: Sigrid Peterson, Department of Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania.

“All may slaughter,” has to be one of the more memorable three-word opening lines ever invented – right up there with “Call me Ishmael.”  While the latter is the opening to Melville’s Moby Dick, the former is less readily identifiable. In fact, the words “All may slaughter” open and form the reiterated recall to the ground theme of Tzvee Zahavy’s modern English translation of Hullin, one of the Tractates of the Babylonian Talmud. On beginning Moby Dick, I am sure I would feel conscientious and obligated and virtuous and bored. Similarly, that was my expectation in opening Hullin on preparing to review it. That expectation has been dispelled by this accessible and fascinating portrayal of the world of the rabbis.

On completing the study once again of Talmud Tractate Hullin

Today marks the completion of daf yomi study of Tractate Hullin.  We are reposting our previous post of our recollections and of Rav Soloveitchik's remarks in 1974 at a siyyum for Hullin, previously published in a well-known compilation .

My translation of Talmud tractate Hullin, as described below, was re-issued recently by Hendrickson in print and on CD.

On April 1, 1973 in Rabbi Soloveitchik's Talmud shiur at Yeshiva University we completed learning the first chapter of Talmud Bavli Tractate Hullin. The Rav gave a dvar Torah at the Siyyum. He explained the meaning of the recitation of the hadran alakh, the prayer that promised upon the completion of learning a Talmud chapter or Tractate that we would return to study you - speaking to the text - again.

I kept the promise. Between 1992 and 1994 as a professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota I directed my research to the study of this chapter and the remaining eleven chapters of the tractate.

Siyyum -- Talmud Bavli Hullin 142a-b - translation by Tzvee

B.            Why do this? If it is in order to acquire them, let him acquire them [by the customary symbolic transfer] with a fabric. If it is a festival day [142a] [when foods that one wishes to use must be prepared in advance, let us presume that] it suffices if he stands and says [before the festival], “This one and that one I am taking [to designate them for use].”

C.            [We may say that] these were newly laid eggs and Levi Bar Simon himself had not yet had a chance to acquire them.

D.            And here is what he said to him, “Go and disturb the nest so they will fly up and Levi bar Simon will acquire them and after that you will acquire them from him [by the customary symbolic transfer] with a fabric.

Talmud Bavli Hullin 141a-b - translation by Tzvee

K.            It is necessary to state the instance where she is hovering [above the nest]. For [we learn from this that] even where its wings were touching the nest, one is exempt from letting the dam go.

L.            But lo we know it was taught on Tannaite authority: When its wings touched the nest, one is liable to send forth the dam [M. 12:3 B-C]. Said R. Judah, “Concerning what case did the Mishnah teach us the rule? Where she touched [the nest] on the side.”

Talmud Bavli Hullin 140a-b - translation by Tzvee

F.             Come and take note: [140a] “The birds of the air nested in its branches, and from it all living beings were fed” (Dan. 4:12) — [the verse indicates that the term spr refers to all birds, even unclean ones]. [No. This indicates that unclean birds] are called, “The birds of the air.” They are not called just plain “birds” [spr].

G.            Come and take note: “You may eat all clean birds” (Deut. 14:11) — may we derive from this the conclusion that there are unclean birds [called spr]? No. We may derive from this the conclusion that there are prohibited birds [called spr]. What case is that? If that is the case of terefah, that is stated explicitly [elsewhere that it is prohibited]. If it is the case of the slaughtered bird of the leper, we may derive that rule from the continuation of the verse, “But these are the ones of which you shall not eat: [the eagle, the vulture, the osprey]” (Deut. 14:9) — [the words “of which”] include the slaughtered bird of the leper. [This is not an acceptable line of reasoning.] Invariably [the first verse includes the case of] the slaughtered bird of the leper. [And the verse informs us that one who eats this bird] violates thereby [both] a [positive] commandment [“you may eat”] and a [negative] prohibition [“of which you shall not eat”].

Talmud Bavli Hullin 139a-b - translation by Tzvee

C.            What is the situation [regarding the bird]? If they passed judgment on it — [139a] it is put to death [and would not have escaped]. Rather it must be the case that they had not yet passed judgment on it. And they needed to bring it to the court and to fulfill by [killing it the requirement of the verse], “So you shall purge the evil from your midst” (Deut. 13:5).

D.            What is the circumstance regarding these consecrated ones? If we say the case was that he had a nest in his house and he consecrated it, would he be liable [to let the dam go]? [The verse stipulates], “If you chance to come upon a bird's nest, [in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting upon the young or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young]” (Deut. 22:6) — this excludes from the obligation that which is captive [in a house].

Talmud Bavli Hullin 138a-b - translation by Tzvee

I.             [138A] And is there a Tannaite authority who taught that a maneh is forty sela? Yes. For lo it was taught on Tannaite authority: A new waterskin [not yet fully sealed], even though it can hold pomegranates, it is clean. [It is only susceptible to uncleanness when it holds water.] If he sewed it completely and it tore, the measure [of the opening needed to render it no longer susceptible to uncleanness] is the size a pomegranate will fit through.

J.             R. Eliezer b. Jacob says, “[An opening to disqualify it must be the size of] a warp clue, one fourth of a maneh of forty sela [T. Kel. B.M. 6:5 C-D, cf. M. Kel. 17:2].” [This shows that a Tanna knew of such a measure.]

Talmud Bavli Hullin 137a-b - translation by Tzvee

V.            For [the rules of first shearings are similar to the laws for the firstling in eight ways, but not to the rules of tithes. With regard to tithes:] (1) An orphan [animal, whose mother died when it was born is not liable to the rules of tithes]; (2) [An animal that was] purchased [is not liable to tithes]; (3) [An animal that was] owned by partners [is not liable to tithes]; (4) [An animal that was] given [to someone as a gift is not liable to tithes]; (5) [The laws of tithes apply only] in the presence [of the Temple, i.e. while it stands in Jerusalem]; (6) The priest [receives the first born and the first shearings but not the animal tithes]; [137A] (7) [Animals designated as tithes must be] consecrated [by designation at the time they are separated. First born animals attain sanctity without special designation and first shearings have no inherent sanctity]; (8) [Firstlings and first shearings may be] sold [by the priest. Animal tithes may not be sold].

Talmud Bavli Hullin 136a-b - translation by Tzvee

I.11

A.            [And in the case of the obligation to separate from one's crops] tithes though scripture states, “Tithes of your grain” (Deut. 14:23), [implying what is] yours alone is [liable to these rules] and not [grain] held by partners,

B.            the Torah stated [additionally], “Of your [plural] tithes” (Deut. 12:6), [including in the rule grain owned by partners.]

C.            Why then do we have [the language], “Tithes of your grain?”

D.            It comes to exclude [from liability to tithes produce] held in partnership with a gentile.

Talmud Bavli Hullin 135a-b - translation by Tzvee

Bavli Hullin Chapter Eleven

                                                                        11:1

A.            [The laws concerning the obligation to donate to the priest] the first shearings [of wool from the sheep of one's flock (Deut. 18:4)] apply both inside the Land of Israel and outside the Land of Israel,

B.            in the time the Temple [in Jerusalem stands] and in the time the Temple does not [stand].

C.            [And the laws apply] to [the fleece of] unconsecrated [animals] but not to [the fleece of animals that were] consecrated [to the Temple].

D.            A stricter rule applies to [the obligation to give to the priest] the shoulder, the two cheeks and the maw [of one's animals] than to [the obligation to give to the priest] the first shearings [of wool from the sheep of one's flock].

Talmud Bavli Hullin 134a-b - translation by Tzvee

V.1

A.            And if [the priest or gentile who sold the beast to an Israelite] said, “[The beast is sold] except for the priestly gifts,” he [the one who slaughters (D)] is free of the priestly gifts [M. 10:3 G]. [134a] And they raised by way of contradiction [to M.]: [If a priest who sells the beast to an Israelite said that he sells it] on the condition that the gifts are mine, [the Israelite] may give them to any priest that he chooses.

B.            Do you raise a contradiction from [a case where he stated] “on the condition” to [a case where he stated] “except for”? [They are different conditional modalities.] [The stipulation,] “Except for” leaves out a portion [from the transaction]. [The stipulation,] “On the condition” does not leave out [any portion from the transaction].

Talmud Bavli Hullin 133a-b - translation by Tzvee

 D.           It comes to teach, “Among the sons of Aaron.” [This implies that he is excluded from] any rite that is performed by the sons of Aaron [T. Demai 2:6-7].

E.            And [it states] any priest who does not accept [the rites], does not have a share with the priests. The implication is that [this applies only to a priest] who does not accept [a rite]. Lo, if he accepted it, even if he was not knowledgeable in it, [he has a share with the priests, contrary to Hisda at B].