The San Francisco call., 1897-10-10
4 THAT is the Talmud ?

NV Inc query asked and answered
just thirty years ago by Emanuel
Deutsch was one that aroused discussion
without end, and that 10 this day has not
. lost its interest for the readers and the
students of the world. To the man with
out the pale of ultra-orthodox Judaism
q the word expresses little, and even among
some modern Jews there exists the most
astonishing ignorance of the character OF
the work.
Following Deutsch's notable article in
, the London Quarterly Review she Talmud
lwes the subject of many more or less
Though tful newspaper and magazine arti-
ft!es, and Immediately there was rush by
the inquiTing for the theological diction-
sry ana the never-failIng Britannica, but
he who placed his trust IN these sources
OF information was doomed TO disappoint-
ment, for little satisfaction was to be OBJ
tanned then or Is to be got to-day from
such books. The Talmud, to all but those
< who have laid hold on it in earliest
pyouth and have perused it until age, is
sealed book.
We have received from the Jewish Pub
LEGATION Society of America copy of an
essay on the TaImud by Arsene Darmes-
Henrietta Sold. Its original was pub
lished shortly after Emanuel Deutsch' s
article. which appeared in October, 1867,
though really written long before its pub
= lication. The unfortunate fact that Dar-
mesteter had not the means to publish
his work for some time after writing it LED
10 the charge that the second essay was
inspired by the first. Though Deutsch' s
IL Al
exposition OF the subject the one by Oar
mesteter was, TO quote the opinion OF his
distinguished brother and biographer,
James Darmesteter, "a marvel by reason
OF its precision and grasp of the subject"
When the position of Deutsch as curat or
of The British Museum and one of the
. most eminent scholars of his day is
taken into account, with the sources Of
information that his position made open
10 aim, and the same is com pared with
Che status of Darmesteter, who at the
time of his writing was but 10 years OF age,
the fact that the TWO essays were placed in
comparison speaks sufficiently well for the
acumea of the young French student.
In the words of his brother his work
:: might have sufficed to establish the repu.
: tation OF an Orientalist and a historian.
=: AS Is TIE case With many French essayists
Darmesteter bestowed a vivifying spirit up
on everything he touched. As Renan i'm
parted sparkle and finish TO the history
= of the people of Israel, in which writing
he was preceded by Ewald, so Darmesteter
breathed into the almost ifeless BODY OF
his subject the breath of life. The Jewish
Publication Society has done we'll to
reprint so important a contribution 10
Talmudic literature at this time, and the
thanks of students are due Miss Sold for
her able rendition OF the work.
The Talmud must always remain un-
known territory to the vast majority of
students, no matter how earnest they NAV
be in their Investigations. OF grammar
or lexicon there is none. Its language is
q Hebrew that has suffered a strong Chal-
daic infusion and has freely adopted Latin
and especially Greek words. Says The an
cient rabbinical writer, "At ten years one
should study the TaImud," and from that
early age until the end OF life are its
closely printed tones diligently perused
by the faithful.
The effects ofthis constant study are well
stated by the French essayist. ''Disci-
plne q weli-endoYed mind with lmudic
study and you Will prod uct dialectician,
forceful by reason of his logic and his
penetration; you will have the unequaIed
scholars of the French, German or Polish
sfhools, who spend all their ability on
d suistic commentaries; you will have a
Stinoza, who carries Talmudic acuteness 8
and profundity into philosophy. But do
not expect to find largeness of view,
breadth OF outlook, expansiveness OF
IDEAS" In other words, the intelligence
the earnest student of the Talmud
grows in depth, not in breadth.
10 attempt TO convey TO the reader
more than the merest skeleton of an idea
OF the Talmud were to take bucket of
water from the ocean and present it as a
sample OF the mighty waters Of the world.