What do you think?
Rate this book
Come and Hear: What I Saw in My Seven-and-a-Half-Year Journey through the Talmud
A literary critic’s journey through the Talmud.
Spurred by a curiosity about Daf Yomi—a study program launched in the 1920s in which Jews around the world read one page of the Talmud every day for 2,711 days, or about seven and a half years—Adam Kirsch approached Tablet magazine to write a weekly column about his own Daf Yomi experience. An avowedly secular Jew, Kirsch did not have a religious source for his interest in the Talmud; rather, as a student of Jewish literature and history, he came to realize that he couldn’t fully explore these subjects without some knowledge of the Talmud. This book is perfect for readers who are in a similar position. Most people have little sense of what the Talmud actually is—how the text moves, its preoccupations and insights, and its moments of strangeness and profundity. As a critic and journalist Kirsch has experience in exploring difficult texts, discussing what he finds there, and why it matters. His exploration into the Talmud is best described as a kind of travel writing—a report on what he saw during his seven-and-a-half-year journey through the Talmud. For readers who want to travel that same path, there is no better guide.
Spurred by a curiosity about Daf Yomi—a study program launched in the 1920s in which Jews around the world read one page of the Talmud every day for 2,711 days, or about seven and a half years—Adam Kirsch approached Tablet magazine to write a weekly column about his own Daf Yomi experience. An avowedly secular Jew, Kirsch did not have a religious source for his interest in the Talmud; rather, as a student of Jewish literature and history, he came to realize that he couldn’t fully explore these subjects without some knowledge of the Talmud. This book is perfect for readers who are in a similar position. Most people have little sense of what the Talmud actually is—how the text moves, its preoccupations and insights, and its moments of strangeness and profundity. As a critic and journalist Kirsch has experience in exploring difficult texts, discussing what he finds there, and why it matters. His exploration into the Talmud is best described as a kind of travel writing—a report on what he saw during his seven-and-a-half-year journey through the Talmud. For readers who want to travel that same path, there is no better guide.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 8, 2021
14 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Adam Kirsch
35 books80 followersAdam Kirsch is the author of two collections of poems and several books of poetry criticism. A senior editor at the New Republic and a columnist for Tablet, he also writes for The New Yorker and the New York Review of Books. He lives in New York City with his wife and son.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 25, 2022
This book gives you a flavor of what you'll find in the Talmud. One or two chapters probably suffice to give you the idea. One salient point is that the Talmud often presents more than one rabbinical view for resolving an issue, so it's not a strictly legal vehicle as often suggested. The Talmud says many things. Reading this book quickly from start to finish is probably a recipe for confusion. The author read it one page per day for 7 1/2 years. Some kind of compromise is probably called for.
September 17, 2024
Useful overview from a non-Orthodox critic
Adam Kirsch, like nearly all of the 90% of American Jews outside traditional observance, never grew up with an exposure to the Talmud, the oral laws of the Mishneh and in turn their own commentary, the Gemara, dating from about 1500 years ago in Babylonia. In Come and Hear, he looks at each section of these codes, which he analyzed over what's become among the Orthodox a 7 1/2 year study cycle.
I thought when I picked this up that it'd be an account of investigating these ancient teachings in partnership with others, and that this dialogue would enliven the discussion of each tractate. But instead, it's him grappling with the various rabbinical voices which embed themselves into these commentaries, assembled from generations of sages, recording both majority rulings and minority dissent. These exchanges document how, after the destruction of the Second Temple, many of the rituals became textual rather than actual fodder for debate, since the daily contexts for sacrifice and offering became lost. This makes, admittedly, for an abundance of minutiae which might not captivate readers today who lack an innate fascination with these instructions. But even in these passages, careful exegesis may uncover useful perspectives about how Judaism adjusted to changing demands, and why even attention to arcana sharpened one's acumen when it came to honing one's command of how laws benefited from close scrutiny, and how this skill educated one in acuity.
Of course, many other sections deal with circumstances of purity, torts, diet, family, business, community, sexuality, and justice. Piracy strives to convey the relevance of these conversations to life then and now, for some Jews still follow these halakhic prescriptions as not only applicable but binding, despite the centuries separating Mosaic written law from Talmud and that from many years after Mishneh.
Although I still think a book about engaging with this material with others (as George Robinson incorporated into another useful intro reviewed by me, Essential Torah, did a decade ago) would've given us a livelier look than Kirsch's solo immersion, it remains a handy compendium of highlights from the vast shelf of these original volumes, now translated in full thanks to expert Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.
Adam Kirsch, like nearly all of the 90% of American Jews outside traditional observance, never grew up with an exposure to the Talmud, the oral laws of the Mishneh and in turn their own commentary, the Gemara, dating from about 1500 years ago in Babylonia. In Come and Hear, he looks at each section of these codes, which he analyzed over what's become among the Orthodox a 7 1/2 year study cycle.
I thought when I picked this up that it'd be an account of investigating these ancient teachings in partnership with others, and that this dialogue would enliven the discussion of each tractate. But instead, it's him grappling with the various rabbinical voices which embed themselves into these commentaries, assembled from generations of sages, recording both majority rulings and minority dissent. These exchanges document how, after the destruction of the Second Temple, many of the rituals became textual rather than actual fodder for debate, since the daily contexts for sacrifice and offering became lost. This makes, admittedly, for an abundance of minutiae which might not captivate readers today who lack an innate fascination with these instructions. But even in these passages, careful exegesis may uncover useful perspectives about how Judaism adjusted to changing demands, and why even attention to arcana sharpened one's acumen when it came to honing one's command of how laws benefited from close scrutiny, and how this skill educated one in acuity.
Of course, many other sections deal with circumstances of purity, torts, diet, family, business, community, sexuality, and justice. Piracy strives to convey the relevance of these conversations to life then and now, for some Jews still follow these halakhic prescriptions as not only applicable but binding, despite the centuries separating Mosaic written law from Talmud and that from many years after Mishneh.
Although I still think a book about engaging with this material with others (as George Robinson incorporated into another useful intro reviewed by me, Essential Torah, did a decade ago) would've given us a livelier look than Kirsch's solo immersion, it remains a handy compendium of highlights from the vast shelf of these original volumes, now translated in full thanks to expert Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.
November 24, 2022
Professor Haym Soloveitchik astutely noted that Rashi’s commentaries on the Talmud democratized Talmudic scholarship. Without Rashi, the Talmud was a closed book for most Jews. In the last decade, mainly spurred on by Daf Yomi, many more people are studying the Talmud.
In Come and Hear: What I Saw in My Seven-and-a-Half-Year Journey through the Talmud, author Adam Kirsch shares his experience of going through the Talmud.
The Siyum HaShas in August 2012 created a groundswell of interest amongst not only male orthodox Jews but amongst many secular Jews and religious women. From the popularity of the Daf Yomi shiurim from Rabbanit Michelle Farber and Rabbi Eli Stefansky and his 8 Minute Daf, the Talmud has come to the masses.
Kirsch notes that most people who do Daf Yomi are Orthodox Jews. As someone who is secular, his interest in the Talmud had a different source. As a student of Jewish literature and history, he came to realize that he could not fully explore these subjects without some knowledge of the Talmud.
While the Talmud is 2,711 pages, in a little over 200 pages, Kirsch does a good job of detailing the main topics and themes of the various tractates. He highlights key rabbis, fundamental topics, and the overall theme of each tractate.
In Pirkei Avot, Ben Zoma said “Who is wise? He who learns from every man, as it is said: “From all who taught me have I gained understanding” (Psalms 119:99).” And while he occasionally gets some things wrong, you can still learn some insights about the Talmud, even from an avowed secularist like Kirsch.
In Come and Hear: What I Saw in My Seven-and-a-Half-Year Journey through the Talmud, author Adam Kirsch shares his experience of going through the Talmud.
The Siyum HaShas in August 2012 created a groundswell of interest amongst not only male orthodox Jews but amongst many secular Jews and religious women. From the popularity of the Daf Yomi shiurim from Rabbanit Michelle Farber and Rabbi Eli Stefansky and his 8 Minute Daf, the Talmud has come to the masses.
Kirsch notes that most people who do Daf Yomi are Orthodox Jews. As someone who is secular, his interest in the Talmud had a different source. As a student of Jewish literature and history, he came to realize that he could not fully explore these subjects without some knowledge of the Talmud.
While the Talmud is 2,711 pages, in a little over 200 pages, Kirsch does a good job of detailing the main topics and themes of the various tractates. He highlights key rabbis, fundamental topics, and the overall theme of each tractate.
In Pirkei Avot, Ben Zoma said “Who is wise? He who learns from every man, as it is said: “From all who taught me have I gained understanding” (Psalms 119:99).” And while he occasionally gets some things wrong, you can still learn some insights about the Talmud, even from an avowed secularist like Kirsch.
January 5, 2022
A good look at the Talmud which I’m not that familiar with.
November 30, 2025
I expected this book to contain antidotes and wisdom from his 7.5 year journey of Daf Yomi. It does not. But it does contain a very good high level summary of the Talmud. A worthwhile read for anyone who wants to learn more and has not studied the Talmud in depth.
September 6, 2022
Different from the few other personal treks through the Talmud that have been written in the last several years, Adam Kirsch, in this book, simply reports what he found in the text as he worked, or should I say "learned" through it. This very readable book is for anyone, experienced with the Talmud or not, who wants to sample and taste each tractate on its own terms. Kirsch's only agenda is to report what he sees and "hears" on his 7-1/2 year journey, a journey he invites each of us to take ourselves. To paraphrase an old advertisement, you don't have to be an Orthodox scholar to love the Talmud.
January 23, 2022
A short, easy-to-read, tractate-by-tractate guide to the Talmud. If you are considering studying the Talmud through the Daf Yomi cycle, this book gives you an overview of what you will be learning (although it tends to be more focused than the actual Talmud on less technical, easy-to-understand bits).
January 9, 2022
While it doesn't give you the experience of reading the Talmud (nothing can but actually reading the Talmud), the author does an excellent job not only giving an overview of what he read, but putting what the ancient rabbis were trying to do into perspective.
November 20, 2021
Interesting look at one of Orthodox Judaism 's most sacred texts after the Torah.
April 10, 2022
I was hoping for more commentary or synthesis, it was more of a book report.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews