I checked this book out from a library and was impressed enough to want a copy. With the understanding that no book could condense the entirety of the Talmud into a small volume and maintain the full discourses on the expounding of jewish law, this is as close as I've found on the subject. I am told the Talmud can be a book that you can study for a lifetime. This book as the "Everyman's Talmud" is not the Talmud of the rabbinical godal but a short summation of an exhaustive study and can give you quite a feel for the fullness of the work. As a christian I hope this has given me a more complete view of rabbinical law. I feel it has, and would recommend it.

The content is great, but be aware that the typography is abysmal and is difficult to read.

The content is great, but be aware that the typography is abysmal and is difficult to read.

I found this book to be a wonderful resource for insight into Biblical thinking.I have found the insights of the talmud to bring clarity and understanding to my Christian vocation and my relationship with Christ. Very worthwhile read!

really worth reading, this is one fine introduction into the literture of the thoughts of the rabbi,or the teacher in the time of JESUS.

This book will provide you with a great deal of insight into the scriptures. Since Christianity has its roots in Judaism, this book is valuable in increasing your knowledge to God's written word. The text size could be a little bigger than it was for easier reading.

I am a Chritian looking for best literatures which could give me better understanding about God. I haven't read this book yet, but I read short stories from Talmud which gave me good lessons from sages. I wish getting closer to God's will towards my life.

As the subtitle of the book (Major Teachings of the Rabbinic Sages) suggests, Abraham Cohen sets out to introduce his readership to the worldview of classic rabbinic literature. The topics covered by the book are nearly as varied as the topics covered by the Talmud itself - covering everything from ruminations about God, including God's attributes and God's place in the universe. The bulk of the book, however, is not directly about God nor theology as such, though the remainder draws heavily upon the conclusions from the secitons focused on these subjects. The doctrine of man, revelation, domestic life, social life, morality, the physical life, folk-lore, jurisprudence, and the hereafter all receive significant attention by Cohen as he devotes entire sections to each. Although the book is primarily about the ideas contained in rabbinic literature, an introduction to the literary structure of the works of the rabbis, specifically the Mishnah, the Gemara, and the Midrash is also included.

Cohen organizes rabbinic thought in a way that the rabbis themselves never did. Not until later Jewish philosophies and theologies does one receive the sort of systematic presentation that is delivered here. That said, though his book is structurally dissimilar from rabbinic literature, it does strive to accurately present the content of rabbinic literature. Cohen himself acknowledges this, however it should not be viewed as a weakness. Cohen's attempt to systematize rabbinic thought, while foreign to the rabbis themselves, is of great aid to the modern reader, so long as they understand that only the content is being conveyed and not the style of rabbinic literature.

Cohen's ultimate strength is his own knowledge of the enormous breadth of rabbinic literature as well as of the ancient world. He is easily able to draw on sources from a wide array of places. The Mishnah, both Talmuds, and many other texts are all portrayed and covered in his work, helping to provide as broad an overview as possible for the reader. Citations are given in the body of the text so that the motivated reader can easily reference the original material if so inclined. Another strength, not to be underestimated, is the readability of the book. The language and ideas are easily accessible. This is not to say that the writing is not scholarly. It is. However, one will be left to ponder ideas rather than complex jargon or sentence structure.


One final point: Abraham Cohen authored this work is in 1949. His scholarship and erudition were widely acknowledged. He edited the Soncino Bible and participated in the Soncino translation of the Talmud and Midrash, still in wide use today. Cohen was certainly familiar with the material and that is evident in his writings and his other scholarly achievements. However, his scholarship can sometimes be dated. While not always relevant, he does make several claims regarding the historical compisition of rabbinic material which is now in dispute. For example, Professor Jacob Neusner, a contemporary scholar, makes note of some of these issues in his foreword to the book. The reader is advised to take note of Jacob Neusner's observations and to understand that Abraham Cohen may not always accurately reflect the historical framework of the rabbis. This should not be overstated, however. The book is primarily an introduction to the rabbinic worldview, and as such it serves its function admirably.

The talmudic writers are very clever in introducing their babylonian pagan beliefs and claiming they are Jewish. Hashem gave Torah to Moshe and told him to write everything down. Torah was to be read yearly to the congregation so they could understand G-d's law. Now the rabbis are claiming that the people are too stupid to understand what G-d said they could understand. This is the very same thing that goes on in the pagan catholic "church". Read the Tanakh for yourself and ask HaShem to reveal HIS truth to you - unadulterated by the rabbis and their poisonous lies.

I like this version I Give this Talmud 5 star Good translation Like this book fantastic Good

As most of the reviews say: For it's time, this is a great achivement and it is an easy-to-read introduction to the Talmud. It's chapters are easy to follow and it is well indexed.

Still, I find it lacking in some very important ways. The Talmud is a collecion of rabbinic discussions on mishna (oral tradition), halachah (law) and Torah. This version of the talmud gives us a "unified vision" of what history has to say on any given subject and is in effect a very condensed work. The author took pains to find "the essence" of decision on theses subjects. He achives this and should be commended. Still.....

This, in my opinion, goes against the very nature of the Talmud, which is opinion and discussion over the ages. The text only in some instances gives the rabbinic author, and does not provide refrences to the era in which the writting was done. For the beginner or someone who is not of Jewish origin, this may be helpful by providing something more streamlined. Still, if a Jew has a question about what a particular Rabbi's opinion was, they will be hard pressed to find it.

Finally, I find in both the introduction and the forward an bend to the language. Passages such as, "So he [the author] had to make up his own program. He did this by following the standard theological program of mainstream Protestant Christian theology and locating statements on the topics of that program made in the Talmudic writings." (Neusner, pg. xv) worry me that the work may have an unintended Christian leaning. This is not a fault neccessarily, and in fact may help those Christians who are looking for more during their studies--my hat's off to you!

For a Jewish student though, this could be a bit of a turn-off. Sentences such as, "He claimed to provide not an overarching composite portrait of "Judaism" (whatever that might be) but a particular document..." (Neusner, pg. xvi) might have the same effect.

Hope this helps. Forgive my attrocious spelling :)

I bought this book in hopes that it would provide greater insight into Jewish thought and culture in order to deepen my Bible Study. It has definitely accomplished this task. Simply written and thoroughly studied, Cohen does an excellent job of presenting the origins of Talmudic literature and summarizing in a meaningful way the many doctrines it contains.

The Talmud (the Talmud of two dozen volumes) is something that one spends a lifetime studying. Cohen's Everyman's is fantastic for someone who wants to become familiar with the Talmud, but is not inclined to read the entire work. It is necessarily terse, and his summation of major thoughts that run through the talmud are succinct. The book has a thorough and useful index, and makes a good reference source for those studying Talmud, and for those who want to acquaint themselves with Talmud before tackling the actual work.

Too sanitized. This book is solely for gentile consumption. It does not represent the essence of the Talmud. The Talmud is extremely derogatory to Christians and Jesus Christ. This book completely overlooked all the sections that advocate racism and genocide against gentile.

Here are some delectable morsels: (just the tip of the iceberg) please, don't take my word for it do your own search.
Penalty for Disobeying Rabbis
Erubin 21b. Whosoever disobeys the rabbis deserves death and will be punished by being boiled in hot excrement in hell.
Hitting a Jew is the same as hitting God
Sanhedrin 58b. If a heathen (gentile) hits a Jew, the gentile must be killed.
O.K. to Cheat Non-Jews
Sanhedrin 57a . A Jew need not pay a gentile ("Cuthean") the wages owed him for work.
Jews Have Superior Legal Status
Baba Kamma 37b. "If an ox of an Israelite gores an ox of a Canaanite there is no liability; but if an ox of a Canaanite gores an ox of an Israelite...the payment is to be in full."
Jews May Steal from Non-Jews
Baba Mezia 24a . If a Jew finds an object lost by a gentile ("heathen") it does not have to be returned. (Affirmed also in Baba Kamma 113b). Sanhedrin 76a. God will not spare a Jew who "marries his daughter to an old man or takes a wife for his infant son or returns a lost article to a Cuthean..."
Jews May Rob and Kill Non-Jews
Sanhedrin 57a . When a Jew murders a gentile ("Cuthean"), there will be no death penalty. What a Jew steals from a gentile he may keep.
Baba Kamma 37b. The gentiles are outside the protection of the law and God has "exposed their money to Israel."
Jews May Lie to Non-Jews
Baba Kamma 113a. Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.
Non-Jewish Children are Sub-Human
Yebamoth 98a. All gentile children are animals.
Abodah Zarah 36b. Gentile girls are in a state of niddah (filth) from birth.
Abodah Zarah 22a-22b . Gentiles prefer sex with cows.

Against Jesus Christ:
1) He and his disciples practiced sorcery and black magic, led Jews astray into idolatry, and were sponsored by foreign, gentile powers for the purpose of subverting Jewish worship (Sanhedrin 43a).
2) He was sexually immoral, worshipped statues of stone (a brick is mentioned), was cut off from the Jewish people for his wickedness, and refused to repent (Sanhedrin 107b; Sotah 47a).

I'm a Gentile and I must say that the Everymans Talmud is a great book. It gave me a great insight in Jewish live, tradtion and thinking. I read it next to the Tanakh and I almost can't stop reading! Baruch HaSjem!

By organizing the words of the Talmud into 'topics' or 'themes' and collecting together teachings from various tractates Abraham Cohen provides an excellent means for most readers to learn what the Talmud says in many areas of life. Traditional ' learning' is a different story entirely and involves going through each tractate as it is written. And while the Tractates are organized around subjects they often contain much diverse matter. Also ' learning 'them involves an intense kind of study most often with a ' chavruta' or learning partner, or in another framework with others. That kind of study is much different from simply reading as it involves a much more slower, more difficult and deep process of intellectual understanding. This work is a good one for the ' reader' but ' learning' as such requires a different kind of investment and effort.

This book is a great overview of all those volumes of the Talmud. It contains many of the most common little stories and teachings. After reading this you will have a working familiarity with many ideas of Judaism

Abraham Cohen's _Everyman's Talmud_ was the first complete English introduction to the Talmud when it was published in 1928. So far as I know, it has never been surpassed.

It is admirably thorough. In about 400 pages Rabbi Cohen hits all the major Talmudic themes: God and man, revelation, Jewish practice including ethics and jurisprudence. Filled with well-chosen quotations and explicated by Rabbi Cohen's crisp, scholarly expository prose, the volume is not at all a quick and easy read; you will want to take your time with this one. But your efforts will be well repaid.

Not that I'm an expert myself -- but if I had to pick just one introductory volume on the Talmud for those who simply want to know what it says, this would be it. Highly recommended as an overview of rabbinic theology. (My own copy is the 1967 edition, so I can't comment on Jacob Neusner's introduction.)

This book is a landmark - "a comprehensive survey of the doctrine of this important branch of Jewish literature... a summary of the teachings of the Talmud..." in the words of its author. Jacob Neusner's "foreword" describes it as the "first classic introduction of the Talmud to the English language." As Neusner states: "The greatness of Cohen for the beginner is that he tells us the single most important thing we can know about the Talmud, which is what it says." Abraham Cohen was born in 1887 and died in 1957. His work is a groundbreaking opus that was originally published in 1931; he revised it in 1948. (In 1931 the Talmud had not yet been translated into English!) Neusner's foreword, as well as Cohen's original 23-page introduction, are marvelous and deserve intensive re-reading. (Just one example of Cohen's support for the novice is his practice of defining words: e.g. Talmud = "study"; Halachah = "walking", the way of life to tread in conformity with the precepts of the Torah., and so on.) The only weak area in the foreword and introduction is that of history. (Here I found the perfect remedy: part 1 of Adin Steinsaltz's book `The Essential Talmud' - also available through amazon.com). Readers should be aware that Cohen's book is not organized as is the Talmud: you will NOT find the six orders (seder) divided into tractates (masekhet) and chapters (periqim). Instead he divides this great work into 11 chapters: (1) The Doctrine of God, (2) God and the Universe, (3) The Doctrine of Man, (4) Revelation, (5) Domestic Life, (6) Social Life, (7) The Moral Life, (8) The Physical Life, (9) Folk-Lore, (10) Jurisprudence, and (11) The Hereafter. ----- Those new to the Talmud should be advised that Talmud, which signifies "study," is devoted to the ORAL Torah (not The Bible, also referred to as TNK or Tanakh). The core of the ORAL Torah is the Mishnah, or codification of the Halachah, compiled by the Tannaim (scholars/teachers) beginning with R. Akiva and ending with R. Judah Ha-Nasi (who died in 217 C.E.). It was written in Hebrew. Somewhat later the Amoraim (interpreters/speakers/expounders) compiled The Talmudic commentaries. (In fact there are actually two Talmuds, the more prestigious Babylonian Talmud, and the less esteemed Palestinian Talmud, both written in dialects of Aramaic, the language of the people. R. Ravina completed the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud in 499 C.E.) A word of caution: the term Talmud refers to these two documents, which include both the Mishnah (corpus of oral law), and the Gemara (completion -- or commentary on the Mishnah) - but the term "Talmud" also can be used as a synonym for Gemara! (Like referring both to the white of an egg, and the whole ovoid package as "egg".) ------ As one might gather I found Cohen's book very informative. But like any summary, it mainly should serve as jumping off point to explore the original document(s). The Babylonian Talmud (available in at least two English translations) awaits me. Looks like a long journey!