The Talmud: Selections & Tractate Sanhedrin, Mishnah and Tosefta
About this book
The Talmud: Selectionsby H. PolanoIf you have browsed the Rodkinson 10 volume abridged translation of the Talmud, you probably know that the work is a vast expanse of wisdom literature, with huge stretches of incredibly dry legal debates and minutiae interposed with rich oases of fascinating lore. It is difficult to find these islands without a map. Polano's Talmud: Selections, is just such a guide. This was one of the first English anthologies of Talmudic literature. The early Biblical lore is organized as a continuous narrative, which makes an interesting supplement to a reading of the Bible. Polano includes a selection of the best stories of the Rabbis, some reminiscent of tales of the Zen monks. The humor of the Talmud is also well represented (particularly the tale of the Emperor and the Aged Man, with its archetypal Jewish punchline).Tractate Sanhedrin, Mishnah and ToseftaTranslated by Herbert DanbyThis is a translation of the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin, which deals with judicial procedure, particularly relating to capital punishment. The author is a Christian academic, and the translation includes the primary text (Mishna) and the second-level commentary (Tosefta). This book is a good supplement to the Rodkinson translation of the same tractate, particularly because this version has extensive scholarly apparatus lacking in the Rodkinson translation.