The Living Talmud: The Wisdom of the Fathers and Its Classical Commentaries

by Judah Goldin (Translator), Anonymous

This 244-page hardcover was published in 1957 by The University of Chicago Press.

Genres: Jewish, Religion, Judaism, Judaica

247 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published September 1, 1957

Reviews

[Denise Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a translation of Pinke Abot (The Wisdom of the Fathers) which is a collection of maxims, saying of the Synagogue Fathers from the Men of the Great Assembly (sometime between the latter half of the Fifth and Third centuries B.C.) down through the descendants of Rabbi Judah the Prince in the third Century A.D.) page 10: These sayings are “reflections on what constitutes God-fearing, civilized conduct and thought.” “Pirke Abot is one of the treatises of the Talmud…in this way they made the ancient wisdom of the Fathers a fresh testament for the Sons. And thus, the text of Pirke Abot and the classical commentaries on it became an active constituent of the legacy of the living Talmud.” P. 10
The introduction describes Mishnah as “analysis and interpretation of scripture”. Most of the book consists of commentaries of the six chapters on the Wisdom of the Fathers. Some of this in interesting but fairly challenging and slow reading. There are lots of nuggets of wisdom but also lots of nitpicky kinds of stuff primarily of interest to scholars. The book is well worth the trouble of ploughing through it. As it says on page 236: “How grand is Torah, for to those who engage in it, it gives life in this world and the world to come.”
Also included are Acknowledgments, List of Commentators and Index of Sages. 247 pages.

[Doug Page]

By three things is the world sustained: by justice, by truth, and by peace.

[Warren B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I have no personal experience within Jewish circles of thought and identity, I came away from this read feeling as if I might better understand an orthodox Jewish worldview. Something one cannot get from simply reading the Bible for instance.

[Genna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It was sort of like reading Plato, only everybody is smart. I mean, it's not really a dialog in the same way that Plato is, but the varying insights into the texts were fun and enlightening.