Читать книгу Judaism I - Группа авторов - Страница 32

Dr. Jonathan Milgram, of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, covers rabbinic legal literature from Sheiltot to Shulchan `Arukh, (mid-8th—16^th century CE). Milgram traces commentaries on the Babylonian Talmud, responses of the Geonim (leaders of the rabbinic academies of Jewish Babylonia/Iraq from the 6^th to the 11^th century) to legal inquiries sent from across the Jewish world, and the concretization of these two genres into codes of Jewish law. The chapter also focusses on the writings of the group of rabbis called the Rishonim (earlier authorities), who flourished from the 11^th century until printing began in the 16^th century. These rabbis lived in Ashkenaz (Franco-German Europe), Christian and Muslim Spain, and North Africa.

Among the rabbinic authorities that Milgram discusses is Maimonides (1138–1204), who lived in Muslim Spain, Egypt, and the Land of Israel. He wrote commentary, authored responsa, and produced a code of Jewish law, the Mishneh Torah, that is used in legal consideration even today. Milgram considers the contributions of Rashi (1040–1105), and his sons-in-law and their children, the »Tosafists« in Northern Europe. They all wrote commentaries and responsa. Milgram also discusses Rabbenu Gershom (d. 1028), who was a prolific decisor of Jewish law in Mainz. Further in Germany, the works of Rabbi Asher ben Yechiel (d. 1327) are described, as is the monumental work of his son Jacob, who authored the legal code called the `Arba`ah Turim (Four Pillars).

That work served as the basis for two epic works of Jewish law, the influence of which persists to this day. Rabbi Joseph Caro (1488–1575), who spent his adult life in Turkey and Safed, Israel, wrote a Sefardic commentary on the `Arba`ah Turim called the Bet Yosef. He then excerpted it as a succinct code called the Shulchan `Aruch (Set Table). In turn, his Ashkenazic contemporary in Poland, Rabbi Moses Isserles (1530–72), wrote his commentary on the `Arba`ah Turim, which he revised to be a gloss on the Shulchan `Aruch, making the combined works the most important source of Jewish law unto this very day.