TheBabylonianTalmudBook5 - Vols.IXX1918-tr.byMichaelL.Rodkinson.pdf

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Tracts Baba Kama (First Gate)
Title Page
NEW EDITION
OF THE
BABYLONIAN TALMUD
Original Text, Edited, Corrected, Formulated and Translated into
English
BY
MICHAEL L. RODKINSON
SECTION JURISPRUDENCE (DAMAGES)
TRACTS ABOTH (FATHERS OF THE SYNAGOGUE), WITH ABOTH OF R.
NATHAN, DERECH ERETZ RABBA, AND ZUTA
Revised by the Rev. Mr. GODFREY (Shajah) TAUBENHAUS Rabbi Cong. Beth Elohim, Brooklyn
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Volume I. (IX.)
BOSTON
THE TALMUD SOCIETY
[1918]
scanned at sacred-texts.com, August 2002. J.B. Hare, Redactor
p. ii
EXPLANATORY REMARKS.
In our translation we adopted these principles:
1. Tenan of the original--We have learned in a Mishna; Tania --We have learned in a
Boraitha; Itemar --It was taught.
2. Questions are indicated by the interrogation point, and are immediately followed by the
answers, without being so marked.
3. When in the original there occur two statements separated by the phrase, Lishna achrena
or Waïbayith Aema or Ikha d'amri (literally, "otherwise interpreted"), we translate only the
second.
4. As the pages of the original are indicated in our new Hebrew edition, it is not deemed
necessary to mark them in the English edition, this being only a translation from the latter.
5. Words or passages enclosed in round parentheses () denote the explanation rendered by
Rashi to the foregoing sentence or word. Square parentheses [] contain commentaries by
authorities of the last period of construction of the Gemara.
COPYRIGHT, 1903,
BY MICHAEL L. RODKINSON.
COPYRIGHT 1916, BY
NEW TALMUD PUBLISHING SOCIETY
p. iii
TO HIS EXCELLENCY
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THE WELL-KNOWN PHILANTHROPIST, WHO WARMLY ESPOUSES THE CAUSE
OF JUDAISM AND ITS LITERATURE
BARON EDMUND DE ROTHSCHILD
THIS VOLUME IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED BY THE EDITOR AND
TRANSLATOR
MICHAEL L. RODKINSON
New York, Purim, 5660
March 15th, 1900
p. v
INTRODUCTION TO SECTION
JURISPRUDENCE.
WITH the present volume we begin the Section "Damages," also called "Jurisprudence,"
from the occurrence of discussions on criminal law. This section forms the fourth in the old
edition, and comprises the following treatises: "First Gate," "Middle Gate," "Last Gate,"
"Sanhedrin," "Stripes," "Oaths," "Testimonies," "Idolatry," "Fathers" (or "Ethics of the
Fathers of the Synagogue"), and "Decisions."
Notwithstanding the fact that in the old edition of the Talmud "Fathers" stands next to the
last tract, we have placed it at the head of the section, relying upon the decision of Sherira
Gaon in his letter (Goldberg edition, Mayence, 1872, p. 14) declaring that it is perfectly
permissible to change the order of sequence of tracts in the several sections. Therefore,
because the treatise entitled "Fathers" deals entirely with the ethics of life, we have deemed
it best to give it precedence over the other treatises. Just as in the Pentateuch we find the
ten commandments--the basis of all ethical religion--heading the subsequent detailed laws
and ordinances, so it seems but fit that the Section ''Damages" should be headed by the tract
setting forth the main ethical principles, and be continued by the detailed discussions. We
are further borne out by the Talmud itself, which reads (First Gate, Chap. III., Mishna 3):
"One who wishes to be pious should observe the laws of damages. Rabhina said: 'He
should observe the teachings of the Fathers.'" Rabhina's statement should, in our opinion,
not be taken literally, but as indicative of the opinion that the decisions contained both in
"Fathers" and in "Damages" generally are equivalent.
"Fathers" is one of the few treatises which consists of Mishna only; i.e. , has no
supplementary Gemara either in the Babylonian or the Palestinian Talmud, although
interspersed throughout the contents of the entire Talmud may be found amplifications or
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comments on some of the sentences of the "Fathers." There is, however, a Tosephtha
entitled "Fathers of Rabbi
p. vi
[paragraph continues] Nathan" which discusses most sentences of the original "Fathers" separately;
in fact, begins the discussion of each sentence with the interrogation "How so?" Forming,
therefore, a valuable addition to the much-valued literature of the "Fathers," we have
considered it our duty to incorporate it in our edition, and we have therefore inserted the
said Tosephtha in the place where, in other tracts, we have placed the Gemara.
Owing to the fact that the Tosephtha named above bears the name of Rabbi Nathan of
Babylon, one of the most distinguished masters of his generation, but at the same time
contains ethics similar to those of the Mishna, as well as lectures and discussions which
could not have been compiled by that author and are evidently contributions from scholars
of a later period, the historians of modern times, from Zunz in his "Gottesdienstliche
Vortraege" to Brill in his "Jahrbuecher" and Weiss in his "Dor Dor Vedorshov," engage in
elaborate speculation as to who was the compiler of the "Fathers of R. Nathan" and at what
time it was compiled. The complicated nature of the Tosephtha in question brought to the
front a number of commentators and text-revisers, and finally Solomon Tausik and
Solomon Shechter made a search of manuscripts, and published new editions of the
Tosephtha, with additions from the material found in the manuscripts. The latter, in fact,
searched so thoroughly that he found an entirely different version of the Tosephtha, and
then published in his edition two separate texts, calling them First Text and Second Text,
respectively, with his own corrections, notes, and a long introduction (Vienna, 1887).
True to our methods of translating the Talmud, we have, however, ignored the new
versions of "Fathers of Rabbi Nathan," and have merely adapted the old version which
forms part of the Talmud, simply adhering to the corrections made by Elias Wilner and the
commentaries of Joshua Falk and others contained in the great Wilna (1890) edition of the
Talmud. Further, in accordance with our wont we have omitted such of the passages as
have already appeared in the preceding tracts of our edition, merely indicating the places
where they can be found. Wherever necessary, of course, we have added footnotes,
remarks, etc.
Our reasons for not making use of the new versions of the Tosephtha in question are as
follows:
In a previous article touching upon the subject, which appeared in our publication "Hakol,"
we have pointed out that
p. vii
we cannot give preference to recently discovered manuscripts over those used by the
compilers of the Talmud, and for a reason that is perfectly obvious, viz.: If those
manuscripts were in existence during the construction period of the Talmud, the compilers,
who sifted every manuscript with the utmost care, undoubtedly rejected them as valueless.

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