Shamma Friedman (born March 8, 1937) is a scholar of rabbinic literature and is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS).
Shamma Friedman (born March 8, 1937) is a scholar of rabbinic literature and is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS).
Shamma Friedman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began to study Hebrew at the age of ten. In the summers he went to Camp Ramah. [1] He was first exposed to Talmud study by Professor Nahum Sarna, who taught a group of students tractate Beitza one summer. [2] After high school, Friedman attended the University of Pennsylvania (BA and Phi Beta Kappa, 1958) and Gratz College (BHL, 1958). He continued his studies at JTS where he was ordained as a rabbi (1964) and received the first PhD in Talmud (1966) granted by the institution with his thesis, “The Commentary of R. Jonatan haKohen of Lunel on Bava Kamma,” under the supervision of Prof. Haim Zalman Dimitrovsky. Among his teachers at The Jewish Theological Seminary, it was Prof. Saul Lieberman, doyen of academic talmudists of the twentieth century, who influenced Friedman most. [3]
Friedman taught at JTS from 1964 and became an official faculty member in 1967. [4] He retired in 2020. [5] In 1973, Friedman and his wife Rachel (née Swergold) moved to Israel with their four children, where Friedman served as the dean of JTS’s campus in Jerusalem (currently the Schechter Institute ). [6] Friedman also served as the Director of JTS’s Schocken Institute [7] In 1985, he founded the Saul Lieberman Institute of Talmudic Research of JTS in memory of his teacher. [8] The Institute is dedicated to the computerization of Talmud manuscripts and the collection of scholarly bibliography on talmudic passages. In 1993 Friedman founded the Society for the Interpretation of the Talmud which publishes scholarly commentaries to individual chapters of the Babylonian Talmud, written in a style for academic and non-academic audiences. [8] At Bar Ilan University, where he taught in the Talmud Department, Friedman founded the site, Primary Textual Witnesses to Tannaitic Literature. [7] He also founded the online journal in rabbinics, Oqimta. [9]
Friedman has published over one hundred and fifty articles in the field of Talmudic philology and source criticism, and Hebrew and Aramaic Linguistics, as well as seven books. [10] [11] In his research, Friedman has been a pioneer in the writing of critical commentaries, from the analysis of an individual sugya (passage) to complete chapters of Talmud. Friedman’s scholarship is primarily a study of the talmudic material through an internal comparative approach contrasting literary forms, language and concepts found throughout talmudic literature. In 1977, in his now classic study, “Al Derekh Heker Hasugya,” and following studies he emphasized the almost universal relative lateness of the Aramaic ‘give and take’ stated anonymously in the talmudic sugya. [12] [13]
In his scholarship, Friedman has highlighted the creative literary intervention of the transmitters of talmudic texts which is represented in all the historical layers of the Talmud and reaches its greatest expression in the Babylonian Talmud. For example, in his detailed analyses of Mishnah and Tosefta parallels, in a series of articles and in his book, Tosefta Atiqta, Friedman has argued that for specific examples the Tosefta version of a tradition is earlier than its later reworked Mishnah parallel. According to this thesis, select Tosefta traditions may preserve the ‘raw’ material from which later Mishnah traditions were fashioned. [14] Regarding baraitot found both in tannaitic collections and in the Talmuds, Friedman has argued that the parallel baraitot show the degree to which Tosefta baraitot were transformed in the Babylonian Talmud and to a lesser extent the Palestinian during the process of transmission from their original tannaitic literary contexts to their later amoraic and post-amoraic contexts. Friedman has also authored numerous studies on the literature of the Rishonim, especially on the contributions of Rashi and Rambam. [15] Furthermore, Friedman consistently provides a framework for highlighting how critical understandings of the Talmud provide important insights into the interpretive contributions of the Rishonim. [16]
In 2010, Friedman received the Mifal Hapayis Prize in the field of Rabbinic Literature [17] and in 2014 the Israel Prize in Talmud. [18] The Friedmans have four children, ten grandchildren and a great-grandson. [19] His brother is the Cairo Geniza scholar, Mordechai Akiva Friedman.
Commentary of R. Jonathan of Lunel on Bava Kamma with introduction and notes (Hebrew), Jewish Theological Seminary and Feldheim, New York and Jerusalem, 1969, lxxii & 400 pp
Tosefta Atiqta: Synoptic Parallels of Mishna and Tosefta Analyzed with a Methdological Introduction (Pesah Rishon), Bar-Ilan University Press: Ramat Gan, 2002
Talmud Arukh, BT Bava Metzi’a VI: Critical Edition with Comprehensive Commentary, Text Volume and Introduction, Jerusalem, 1996.
Talmud Arukh, BT Bava Metzi’a VI: Critical Edition with Comprehensive Commentary, Commentary Volume (Hebrew), Jerusalem, 1990
Talmud Ha-Igud, BT Gittin Chapter IX, The Society for the Interpretation of the Talmud, Jerusalem 2020.
Talmudic Studies, Investigating the Sugya, Variant Readings, and Aggada, New York and Jerusalem: The Jewish Theological Seminary of America 2010
Studies in Tannaitic Literature, Methodology, Terminology, and Content (Asuppot VII), Jerusalem: The Bialik Institute 2013
Studies in the Language and Terminology of Talmudic Literature, Jerusalem: The Academy of the Hebrew Language, 2014
“Rashi’s Talmudic Commentaries: Revisions and Recensions” (Hebrew, English Summary), Rashi Studies, ed. Z. A. Steinfeld, Ramat Gan, 1993, pp. 147-175
“The Holy Scriptures Defile the Hands – The Transformation of a Biblical Concept in Rabbinic Theology”, Minhah le-Nahum – Biblical and Other Studies Presented to Nahum M. Sarna in Honour of his 70th Birthday, ed. M. Brettler, M. Fishbane, London, (1993), pp. 117-132.
“Were Rashi’s Talmud Commentaries Indeed Unknown to Maimonides?”, Rashi, the Man and his Works (Heb.), ed. A. Grossman et. al., The Zalman Shazar Center for Jewish History, Jerusalem 2008, pp. 403-464.
Louis Ginzberg was a Russian-born American rabbi and Talmudic scholar of Lithuanian-Jewish descent, contributing editor to numerous articles of The Jewish Encyclopedia (1906), and leading figure in the Conservative movement of Judaism during the early 20th century.
Shlomo Yitzchaki, commonly known by the acronym Rashi, was a French rabbi who authored comprehensive commentaries on the Talmud and Hebrew Bible.
The Talmud is, after the Hebrew Bible, the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (halakha) and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the centerpiece of Jewish cultural life and was foundational to "all Jewish thought and aspirations", serving also as "the guide for the daily life" of Jews.
The Tosefta is a compilation of Jewish Oral Law from the late second century, the period of the Mishnah and the Jewish sages known as the Tannaim.
Rabbinic literature, in its broadest sense, is the entire spectrum of works authored by rabbis throughout Jewish history. The term typically refers to literature from the Talmudic era, as opposed to medieval and modern rabbinic writings. It aligns with the Hebrew term Sifrut Chazal, which translates to “literature [of our] sages” and generally pertains only to the sages (Chazal) from the Talmudic period. This more specific sense of "Rabbinic literature"—referring to the Talmud, Midrashim, and related writings, but hardly ever to later texts—is how the term is generally intended when used in contemporary academic writing. The terms mefareshim and parshanim almost always refer to later, post-Talmudic writers of rabbinic glosses on Biblical and Talmudic texts.
The Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) is a Conservative Jewish education organization in New York City, New York. It is one of the academic and spiritual centers of Conservative Judaism and a center for academic scholarship in Jewish studies. The Jewish Theological Seminary Library is one of the most significant collections of Judaica in the world.
A yeshiva is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha, while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The studying is usually done through daily shiurim as well as in study pairs called chavrusas. Chavrusa-style learning is one of the unique features of the yeshiva.
Saul Lieberman, also known as Rabbi Shaul Lieberman or, among some of his students, the Gra"sh, was a rabbi and a Talmudic scholar. He served as Professor of Talmud at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (JTSA) for over 40 years, and for many years was dean of the Harry Fischel Institute in Israel and also president of the American Academy for Jewish Research.
David Weiss Halivni was a European-born American-Israeli rabbi, scholar in the domain of Jewish sciences, and Professor of Talmud. He served as Reish Metivta of the Union for Traditional Judaism's rabbinical school.
Masei, Mas'ei, or Masse is the 43rd weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the 10th and last in the Book of Numbers. The parashah comprises Numbers 33:1–36:13. The parashah discusses the stations of the Israelites' journeys, instructions for taking the land of Israel, cities for the Levites and refuge, and the daughters of Zelophehad.
Menachem ben Solomon HaMeiri, commonly referred to as HaMeiri, the Meiri, or just Meiri, was a famous medieval Provençal rabbi, and Talmudist. Though most of his expansive commentary, spanning 35 tractates of the Talmud, was not publicly available until the turn of the 19th century, it has since gained widespread renown and acceptance among Talmudic scholars.
Samuel ben Meir, after his death known as the "Rashbam", a Hebrew acronym for RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, was a leading French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi".
David Golinkin is an American-born conservative rabbi and Jewish scholar who has lived in Jerusalem since 1972. He is President of the Schechter Institutes, Inc., President Emeritus of the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies and Professor of Jewish Law at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem, Israel.
Israel Lewy was a German-Jewish scholar.
Judith Rebecca Hauptman is an American feminist Talmudic scholar.
Behar, BeHar, Be-har, or B'har is the 32nd weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the ninth in the Book of Leviticus. The parashah tells the laws of the Sabbatical year and limits on debt servitude. The parashah constitutes Leviticus 25:1–26:2. It is the shortest of the weekly Torah portions in the Book of Leviticus. It is made up of 2,817 Hebrew letters, 737 Hebrew words, 57 verses, and 99 lines in a Torah Scroll.
Bechukotai, Bechukosai, or Bəḥuqothai (Biblical) is the 33rd weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the 10th and last in the Book of Leviticus. It constitutes Leviticus 26:3–27:34. The parashah addresses blessings for obeying the law, curses for disobeying it, and vows. The parashah is made up of 3,992 Hebrew letters, 1,013 Hebrew words, 78 verses, and 131 lines in a Torah Scroll.
Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, located in the Neve Granot neighborhood of Jerusalem, is an Israeli academic institution.
A sugya is a self-contained passage of the Talmud that typically discusses a mishnah or other rabbinic statement, or offers an aggadic narrative. While the sugya is a literary unit in the Palestinian Talmud, the term is most often used for passages in the Babylonian Talmud, which is the primary focus of religious and academic readings of sugyot.
Joseph Hirsch Dünner was a Dutch Jewish leader and scholar, who served as Chief Rabbi of North Holland.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)