Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rabbinics:
What a librarian needs to
know about Jewish
bibliography
bibliographyal regel ehat
(while standing on one foot)
Daniel D. Stuhlman ddstuhlman@earthlink.net
President, Stuhlman Management Consultants, adjunct instructor
for Drexel University, North Carolina Central University and
Chicago State University.
Http://stuhlman.biz
Chicago, IL
June 2006
Literature Chart
Torah Scrolls
Torah Scrolls 2
A Sefer Torah can only be written by a trained Sofer (Scribe). There are 304,805
letters in a Sefer Torah. If one letter is extra or missing it renders the Torah
invalid.
To a Jewish community a Torah is more than a scroll; it is the story of a
people. In the Mishnah it is written, The World stands on three things on the
Torah, on the service of G
- d, and upon acts of loving
- kindness. The Torah, our
story, is part of our community and essential to a Jewish life. Up until now, our
Jewish community had our peoples story only in memory.
Parchment in preparation
Scroll of Esther
Illustrated Megilla
Book of Esther.
Isaiah Scroll
Isaiah Scroll
Ashkenazi Megillah
(fourteenth- fifteenth
centuries?). This
scroll is one of the
oldest extant. The
shape of the letters
as well as the
condition of the
parchment help to
establish where it
was created and the
date of its completion.
From Library of
Congress.
Mishnah
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Talmud 1
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The Talmud
[The Talmud is the] body of Jewish civil and religious law, including
commentaries on the Torah, or Pentateuch. The Talmud consists of a codification
of laws, called the Mishnah, and a commentary on the Mishnah, called the
Gemara. The material in the Talmud that concerns decisions by scholars on
disputed legal questions is known as the Halakah; the legends, anecdotes, and
sayings in the Talmud that are used to illustrate the traditional law are known as
Haggada [sic., i.e. Aggada].
Two compilations of the Talmud exist: the Palestinian Talmud, sometimes called
the Jerusalem Talmud, and the Babylonian Talmud. Both compilations contain
the same Mishnah, but each has its own Gemara. The contents of the Palestinian
Talmud were written by Palestinian scholars between the 3rd century AD and the
beginning of the 5th century; those of the Babylonian Talmud, by scholars who
wrote between the 3rd century and the beginning of the 6th century. The
Babylonian Talmud became authoritative because the rabbinic academies of
Babylonia survived those in Palestine by many centuries.
The Talmud itself, the works of talmudic scholarship, and the commentaries
concerning it constitute the greatest contributions to rabbinical literature in the
history of Judaism. One of the most important of the works of scholarship is the
Mishneh Torah (Repetition of the Torah, c. 1180) by the Spanish rabbi,
philosopher, and physician Maimonides; it is an abstract of all the rabbinical legal
literature in existence at his time. The most widely known commentaries are
those on the Babylonian Talmud by the French rabbi Rashi and by certain
scholars known as tosaphists, who lived in France and Germany between the
12th and 14th centuries and included some of Rashi's grandsons.
The Babylonian Talmud and the Palestinian Talmud were first printed in 1520
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Mishnah Torah
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12
Shulhan Arukh
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13
Responsa of Maimonides
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Responsa of Maimonides 2
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Sefer haha-Tashbets
Duran, Simeon ben Zemah, 13611444.
Sefer ha-Tashbets [Teshuvot Shimon
ben Zemah]
Amsterdam: Naphtali Hertz Levi, 17381741.
A book of responsa written by a
prominent Spanish doctor, philosopher
and rabbinic scholar, who was forced
by persecutions to flee from Aragon to
Algiers in 1391. Three hundred years
after his death, his descendant, Rabbi
Solomon ben Zemah Duran, printed his
great-great grandfathers manuscript
and appended his own responsa as a
fourth part.
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Bible Stacks
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Manuscript Shelves
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Student Studying
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Bible Scholar
Harold Louis
Ginsberg, 1903-1990.
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Primary texts
Tanakhim (Bibles)
Commentaries
Mishnah and Talmud
Commentaries
Prayer books (siddurim and mahzorim)
Halakha, Jewish law codes
Responsa
Historical documents
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Tanakhim (Bibles)
with Commentaries
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Humashim 1
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Stone Chumash
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Hertz Pentateuch
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The Holy Scriptures according to the Masoretic text. A new translation with the
aid of previous versions and with constant consultation of Jewish authorities.
Philadelphia, Jewish Publication Society of America, 5677
- 1917. xv, 1136 p. 18
cm. Call Number:BS895 .J4 1917.
Printed in a large variety of bindings and sizes including leather flexible, white
and black leatherette, blue buckram, black buckrum, red buckram.
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Bible Introduction 1
The Hebrew Bible is the central book of
Judaism. The Bible "is the written law
and all the rabbinic literature of the Talmud
and Midrash are the oral law.
The Bible serves as a basis for rabbinic law
and wisdom.
The books of the Hebrew Bible are in a
traditional order.
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Bible Introduction 2
The abbreviation,
Tanakh ", is made of three words:
Torah
Five books of Moses or Pentateuch
Neviim Prophets
Ketuvim Writings
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Joshua
Judges
Samuel I, II
Kings I, II
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micha
Nahum
Habbakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
,
,
The 12 prophets are considered one book in the Hebrew Bible. Kings, Samuel
and Chronicles are not divided in the Hebrew Bible and Ezra and Nehmiah are
one book that is why there are 24 books in the count and it looks like more.
Order in the Catholic Bible.
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth,
1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra,
Nehemiah, Tobit*, Judith*, Esther, 1 Maccabees*, 2 Maccabees*, Job,
Psalms, Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon*, Ben Sirach*, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Lamentations, Book of Baruch*, Ezekiel,
Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
* These are books from the Apocrypha which are in the Catholic cannon, but not
the Jewish or Protestant cannon.
Order of the Protestant Bible
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1
Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles,
2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes,
Song of Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel,
Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, Malachi.
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Psalms
Proverbs
Song of Songs
Ruth
Lamentations
Ecclesiastics
Esther
Daniel
Ezra
Nehemiah
Chronicles 1, 2
Bible.pO.T.pRuth
Bible.pO.T.pLamentations
Bible.pO.T.pEcclesiastes
Bible.pO.T.pEsther
Bible.pO.T.pDaniel
Bible.pO.T.pEzra
Bible.pO.T.pNehemiah
Bible.pO.T.pChronicles
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Bible Concordance
by S. Mandelkern
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Terms
Verse
Chapter
Book
Targum
Rashi
Medieval French commentator on the Bible
Parasha
weekly Torah portion. The
Torah is divided into 54 weekly portions. In addition
there are readings for each holiday.
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Epstein
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Talmud
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640 = 5640 current year is 5766 126 years old corresponding to 1880.
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Talmud
http://e-daf.com/
Online source for
Talmud Daf Yomi.
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Shottenstein Talmud
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Jastrow Dictionary
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Mishnah Torah
Shulkhan Arukh
Kitzur Shulhan
Arukh
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Mishnah
The Mishnah is the body of oral law that is postBiblical until about the 2nd century C.E. The word
refers to both the entire work and a single
statement. To learn a mishnah means to learn
one statement. The Mishnah is divided into 6
orders [sidarot]. Each order is divided into
tracktates [ mesekhtot] then chapters
[ perakim] References to the Mishnah need
tracktate , chapter, and mishnah number.
Ex. Avot 4:5 refers to the 5th mishnah in chapter 4
of tracktate Avot.
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Mishnah 2
Mishnah may also refer to statements made
by the rabbis of the post-Biblical era and
works such as Mishnayot Gedolot.
Yehudah ha-Nasi (known as Rabbi),2nd
century C.E., was the editor and redactor of
the Mishnah.
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Mishnah Text
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Talmud
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Vocabulary
Mishnah The word means to repeat,
study, or teach.
Tanna -- A teacher or rabbi from the
Mishnah or Mishnaic times.
Amora A teacher from the postMishnaic or Talmudic period.
Gemara This is the portion of the
Talmud that was written after the mishnah.
Talmud = Mishnah plus Gemara.
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Vocabulary 2
Midrash -- The word means to
search out. Midrash are the stories and
literary expositions on the Bible.
Halakhah The word means to go or
to follow. These are the teachings dealing
with rules or statutes. It could also mean a
codification of the laws.
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Mishnah Torah
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Mishnah Torah
Shulkhan Arukh
Kitzur Shulhan
Arukh
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Prayer books
Siddurim and Mahzorim
Siddur:
Sabbath
Haggadah
Treasury
Machzor: Rosh
Hashanah
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Vatican 448
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Citations
"Ethics, copyright laws, and courtesy to readers require
authors to identify the sources of direct quotations and of
any facts or opinions not generally known or easily
checked."-- Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition
(Chicago: Chicago Univ. Press), p. 594
Writers include citations to give evidence, precedence, basis,
background and credit to the sources used to create the work and
document the arguments. Citations provide evidence and credibility to
the work by demonstrating that the author sought and considered other
resources. Citing sources is standard practice in written, oral, and
electronic works. Citations provide a trail for the reader to follow the
research and judge the writer contribution to the field. Librarians are
the experts in the interpretation of bibliographic citations and how to
help readers find the original sources.
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Found on : http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Style.html
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Citing a Source
When citing a source in a book one can
depend on a standard edition. Even if a
book is reprinted or revised, a citation will
point the reader to the source.
This principle does not always work with
primary Jewish sources because edition
control is difficult. For some rabbinic
books, there is no standard edition or easy
way of referring to a page or chapter.
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Talmud 1
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Talmud 2
Vilna Shas
layout. From the
very first Talmud
page.
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Rashi, 1040
- 1105. LC authorized heading.
Previous and alternative headings: Solomon ben Isaac, called RaSHI, 1040
1105; Solomon ben Isaac, |d 1040
- 1105; Shelomoh ben Yitshrakr, |d 1040
- 1105;
Isaac, Solomon ben, 1040
- 1105; Yitzhraqi, Shlomo, 1040
- 1105; Shlomo Yitzhraqi,
1040
- 1105.
French commentator on Bible and Talmud; born at Troyes in 1040; died there
July 13, 1105.
The authors of the Tosafot are known as Tosafists ("ba'ale ha
- tosafot"). They
wrote critical and explanatory glosses on the Talmud. Their commentaries are
printed on the opposite side of the page as Rashi.
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Kiddushin
Avodah
Kilayim
Kinnim
zarah
Maaser sheni
Maaserot
Avot (Aboth) Makhshirin.
Mashkim
Makkot
Ahilot
Mashkim
Mashkin
Megillah
Arakhin
Menaot
Middot
Mikvaot
Bava
Moed katan
Nazir
kamma
Nedarim
Negaim
Bava meia Niddah
Oholot (Ahilot)
Orlah
Parah
Bava batra
Peah
Pesaim
Beirta
Rosh ha-Shanah
Sanhedrin
Shabbat
Sheviit (Shebiit)
Shevuot (Shebuot)
Sheitat kodashim
Shekalim
Shevuot
Sotah
Sukkah
Taanit
Tamid
Tevul yom
Temurah
Terumot
Tohorot
Ukin
Yadayim
Yevamot
Yoma
Zavim
Zevaim
Sheitat kodashim
Zevaim
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Middos
Moed Katan
Nazir
Nedarim
Niddah
Pesachim
Rosh Hashanah
Sanhedrin
Shabbos
Shekalim
Shevuos
Sotah
Succah
Taanis
Tamid
Temurah
Yevamos
Yoma
Zevachim
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Sample Citations
Rabbenu Asher, Commentary to Sanhedrin 4:6
Interpretation Rabbenu Asher (in library catalogs:
Asher ben Jehiel, ca. 1250-1327) also known as the
Rosh), wrote a collection of laws according to the order
of the tractates of Talmud. These are found in the back
of standard Talmud volumes arranged by chapters with
numbered statements or laws. This citation is for the 6th
law in chapter 4.
T.B., Taanit 16a
Babylonian Talmud, tractate Taanit page 16 first side.
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Mishneh Torah Maimonides code of Jewish Law and Ethics / abridged and
translated from the Hebrew by Philip Birnbaum. New York : Hebrew Publishing
Company, 1974.
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Resources
Web sites for librarians
Judaic Studies Resources at Princeton University Library
http://www.princeton.edu/~pressman/jewprin.htm
Hebraica Team Yale University Library
http://www.library.yale.edu/cataloging/hebraicateam/
Both sites have internal cataloging documents, links for Hebraica tools,
and links for Judaica data bases
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Librarians Lobby
My monthly columns for anyone, interested in
libraries, Jewish books, or Jewish learning including
librarians and non-librarians.
http://home.earthlink.net/~ddstuhlman/liblob.htm
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