Jason Aronson, Inc.
Pages: 320
•
Trim: 6¼ x 9⅜
978-0-7657-0941-7 • Hardback • October 2012 • $79.00 • (£61.00)
978-0-7657-0942-4 • eBook • October 2012 • $75.00 • (£58.00)
Ronald L. Eisenberg is a Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School and on the faculty at Beth Israel Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Eisenberg has been awarded Masters and Doctoral degrees in Jewish Studies from Spertus Institute in Chicago and has published six critically acclaimed books on Jewish topics, including The Jewish World in Stamps (Schreiber, 2003), The JPS Guide to Jewish Traditions (Jewish Publication Society, 2004), The 613 Mitzvot (Schreiber, 2005), Dictionary of Jewish Terms (Schreiber, 2008), and What the Rabbis Said (Praeger, 2010). He has authored more than 20 books in his medical specialty and is also a non-practicing attorney.
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
List of Abbreviations
List of Rabbis without Patronymics
Essential Figures in the Talmud
Appendix A: Chronological List of Rabbis
Appendix B: Maps of Talmudic Academies
Glossary
Bibliography
About the Author
Although Essential Figures in the Bible and Essential Figures in the Talmud were not published as a set, they complement one another nicely....The Talmud is the masterwork of rabbinic Judaism, comprised of the Mishnah—a written compilation of rabbinic oral commentaries and discussions on the first five books of the Hebrew Bible—and the Gemarra, a rabbinic commentary on the Mishnah. Eisenberg’s handy volume brings together information on more than 250 of the more than 2,000 rabbis and scholars mentioned in the Talmud. Entries usually include passages from the Talmud that nicely introduce the wisdom of these Jewish sages in their own words. These A-Z volumes are concise and informative and are recommended for theological and research libraries as well as academic and large public libraries with extensive Judaica collections.
— Booklist
The Talmud has been compared to an ocean that is most difficult to navigate. This handy reference book provides short biographies of all the key scholars of the Talmud, including those of the Mishnah and the Gemara and of both the Babylonian and the Jerusalem Talmuds. As such, it is an invaluable tool for anyone who studies a “page of Gemara,” which inevitably will make mention of one or more such scholars and will necessitate a biographical reference to such luminaries as Hillel or Akiva, or the hundreds of other less known rabbinical scholars. Written in clear, easily understood language, Essential Figures in the Talmud is a book that will greatly facilitate the understanding of Judaism’s law and lore.
— Mordecai Schreiber, author of Hearing the Voice of God: In Search of Prophecy