People’s Talmud puts ancient Jewish wisdom online
2,711 easily accessible folio pages cover religious rituals, mystical concepts, Talmudic personalities, and more
Ever been totally snookered by Aramaic? Can’t tell your Babylonian Talmud from your Jerusalem Talmud? Is your Talmudic concentration span shorter than Rabban Gamliel’s fuse?
If your answer to these questions is “Yes,” or even “Huh?,” then the “People’s Talmud” project might well be for you.
The People’s Talmud is an innovative and inventive repository of the Talmud and its wisdom. It renders the ancient text into concepts, catalogues it all into searchable subjects, and connects it to leading content providers to transform what is, for many, an obscure and indecipherable tome of arcane law and legends into an accessible source of knowledge for anyone who cares to look.
Gedaliah Gurfein, the project’s creator, has spent some 30 years working on this labor of love, and has now launched the beta version of the People’s Talmud website to start bringing it to the masses everywhere.
The project includes a huge list of entries, from the speed of angels to the digestive calamities of undercooked turnip, and from the interpretation of dreams about camels to discussions of Armageddon and the end of days.
If there is a religious commandment you always wanted to understand, a ceremony or ritual you wanted explained, a philosophical poser you want deciphered, a mystical concept you want to delve into, a Talmudic personality you want to know more about, or a moral conundrum of Biblical proportions you need answers for – then the People’s Talmud likely has an explanation.
There are more than 7,000 content entries, 2,500 teasers, and 1,000 subject and category listings that bring to life the thousands of concepts discussed in the 2,711 folio pages of the Babylonian Talmud, all of which is searchable by topic or through a simple search window.
In addition, every page and topic is linked to an English translation of the pertinent section of the Talmud page provided by the Sefaria online library of Jewish texts.
Relevant content from various educational institutions and Talmudic experts is also linked to every entry, so that a wealth of information on the chosen topic or Talmudic page – beyond the boundaries of the People’s Talmud itself – can be accessed.
There is no restriction on which institutions can provide content, as long as they do not incite hatred and do not denigrate others, says Gurfein.
This means that institutions representing the haredi (ultra-Orthodox), Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, non-Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu or any other religious, national or other self-defining group can provide their own perspective on the topic at hand.
There are 10 organizations already on board, including Yeshiva University, Hillel International and Web Yeshiva, but Gurfein says he wants to get dozens others involved to provide a smörgåsbord of relevant content.
This experience is personally customizable so that users can define which extra content they want to see when they click on a Talmudic page or concept, electing whichever institutions catch their interest.
Rabbis, academics and other experts will be able to provide their own insight by registering as content providers to the core database.
The website also provides an online community experience whereby entries and content can be posted to a timeline to start discussion with users who have “bonded” (like “friending” on Facebook).
Currently, only content pertaining to the first of the six orders of the Talmud has been posted online, but Gurfein says the majority of the entries have been written and will go online as they are prepared for publication.
The website is accessible without charge, but more advanced features require an annual subscription charge.
“The Talmud is a national treasure of the Jewish people, but many people are alienated from it or think it is only for yeshiva boys,” says Gurfein.
He says he realized that what was required to bring the Talmud to the people was not a translation, but “a primer” that takes the concepts and ideas in the text and makes them comprehensible to a modern audience unfamiliar with the Aramaic language of the Talmud and its legalistic style and written conventions.
“It’s an ADHD-sensitive Talmud,” he quips. “I wanted to extract these golden nuggets of wisdom and transmit them to the Jewish people who didn’t think Talmud was relevant to them. And I think this could be a real blessing for the Jewish world and the whole world.
“Wisdom is only a good thing; it dispels a lot of darkness. When there is darkness in the mind you see the other as hostile, whether on a personal, communal, national or religious level, and so understanding the one God, rooted in wisdom, is the doorway to fixing the world... tikkun olam.”
For more information, visit www.thepeoplestalmud.com/ and www.sefaria.org.il/texts.