A recent volume in the Kohlhammer Tosefta series.

• Author: Goldberg, Abraham
• Position: Die Tosefta: Seder, II: Moed; Schekalim--Jom ha-kippurim. Rabbinische Texte, Erste Reihe: Die Tosefta, 11.2 - Book Review

IT IS NOT OFTEN that one comes across a work of such quality that the sense of excellence that comes at first glance only grows with further reading. Such is the translation and commentary to the Tosefta tractates Shekalim and Jom ha-kippurim in the Kohlhammer series of Tosefta translations with commentary. The two tractates presented here in a single volume are closely related in the sense that they are "historical" tractates dealing primarily with Temple organization, ritual, and ceremony during the last generations before the destruction. As such, this volume has importance not only for its contribution to Tannaitic research, but for all those engaged in Second Temple period studies--whether history, archaeology, linguistics, Qumran, New Testament, Josephus, or Philo.

The Tosefta, long neglected within the framework of Jewish studies, has become the "in" topic of Judaica literary research since the monumental ten-volume commentary by the late Saul Lieberman. Both Frowald G. Huttenmeister responsible for the Shekalim tractate (100 pages), and Goran Larsson, dealing with Kippurim (200 pages), reflect this interest. What impresses one especially is their full competence in the manifold unfolding of the Hebrew language from the Bible through the Tannaitic and Talmudic periods, followed by sharp transformations in the medieval period, and finally modem Hebrew, in which much present-day research is written. Perforce, Aramaic is also within their competence, not to speak of Greek and Latin, as well as modem European languages.

If any European language commentary could possibly stand comparison to Lieberman's work, it is the present volume. Although its aims are slightly more modest, and in a very meaningful way popularizing, the critical commentary is of the highest standard. Lieberman's commentary is more or less for the initiated. Lieberman aims not only to present a modern critical commentary to the tractate, but also, as he writes in his introduction to the Second Order (to which Shekalim and Kippurim belong), "to note Tosefta commentary from the Talmudim and how explained in Geonic works through the best of the latest rabbinic writing." In that introduction Lieberman discusses as well the various manuscripts of the Order (Moed) and gives a description of both traditional and modern commentaries to the various tractates in the Order, although these are hardly numerous.

The Kohlhammer commentary does not have any of this, and it is indeed unnecessary since any interested reader could obviously consult Lieberman. Its aims are more modest but also wider. The Kohlhammer tractates have introductions, lacking in Lieberman's work, which detail the biblical and post-biblical background to each tractate. Thus the introduction to Shekalim discusses the meaning of the name itself and its parallels in Aramaic, Syriac, and Arabic. The introduction to Kippurim discusses the root [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] from which [CHINESE CHARACTERS NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII] is derived, and presents all relevant critical literature dealing with this etymology. Furthermore, we are informed of the various names by which Yom ha-Kippurim is known in the Septuagint ("Atonement"), in the Mishnaic name of the tractate (Yoma, literally "The Day"), and in the rabbinic tradition (as well as in Greek writings, including those of Josephus and Philo, "Fast Day" or "Great Fast."

The introductions to both of the tractates give a short outline of the contents and arrangement of the tractates. The introduction to Shekalim details the biblical background of the annual half-shekel tax, references to it in the Qumran literature, in the NT, in Philo and Josephus, Strabo and Cicero, and, finally, the forced Roman substitution in the fiscus ludaicus. The introduction to Kippurim gives some discussion to the relationship of the Tosefta to the parallel tractate in the Mishna, and, best of all, Larsson has cleverly worked out a two-page Mishna-Tosefta synopsis, using letter symbols to indicate where the Tosefta parallels the Mishna, where the Tosefta adds to citations it brings of the Mishna, where the Tosefta paraphrases the Mishna, where it deals with topics not in the Mishna, and where it differs from the Mishna entirely. This is a most helpful contribution, for it substitutes in a way for a full Mishna-Tosefta synopsis, truly important in Tosefta research, yet hardly expected in a translati on. Regrettably, this is missing for Shekalim. The translation of the Tosefta texts in both tractates is of high quality, showing full understanding. It is not easy to find European-languageequivalents for the conciseness of Tannaitic Hebrew, especially in the broad range of technical terms. Necessary sentence completions in brackets are frequent. It is unfortunate, however, that the text used as the basis for the translation in the Kohlhammer series is still that of the Erfurt manuscript, as transmitted in printed form by Zuckermandel. The Erfurt manuscript is universally recognized today as being influenced by Babylonian Talmud readings, which the scribe, consciously or subconsciously...