Following the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., Judaism faced a serious crossroads. The rabbis of late antiquity spent the next few centuries in extensive debates in an effort to create an ethical and practical basis for a Torah-based faith. Their extensive discussions constitute the bulk of what we now know as the Talmud. This collection is not only massive; it is forbiddingly difficult and has accumulated numerous commentaries over the centuries since it first appeared. Recent translations have made it somewhat more accessible to English-language readers, but textual difficulties remain. This volume looks at tractate Zevachim (Sacrifices), which is mostly concerned with meat offerings slaughtered and presented at the Temple (when it stood). Joshua A. Fogel approaches the text, page by page, commenting with doses of humor and comparisons in a manner meant to explain and humanize the text for contemporary readers.

About the Author
Joshua A. Fogel is Canada Research Chair in the Department of History at York University. His previous work has focused primarily on the cultural interactions between China and Japan over the past two centuries. His most recent writings include: Decisions, Decisions, Decisions: Reading Tractate Horayot of the Babylonian Talmud (Hamilton Books, 2013); Japanese Historiography and the Gold Seal of 57 C.E.: Relic, Text, Object, Fake (Brill, 2013); Daily Reflections on Idolatry: Reading Tractate Avodah Zarah of the Babylonian Talmud (Hamilton Books, 2012); and Shimada Kenji: Scholar, Thinker, Reader (MerwinAsia, 2014).


Book Information
ISBN 9780761862123
Author Joshua A. Fogel
Format Paperback
Page Count 350
Imprint Hamilton Books
Publisher University Press of America
Weight(grams) 476g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 150mm * 23mm