(TALMUD, BABYLONIAN).

Immanuel Benveniste

Amsterdam

1644-47

Talmud Bavli. With commentary of Solomon b. Isaac (Rashi) with Tosaphoth, Pisqe Tosaphoth, talmudical compendium by Asher b. Jehiel, commentary of Moses Maimonides, supercommentary Hokhmat Shelomoh by Solomon b. Jehiel Luria, index of decisions En Mishpat and halakhic novellae by Joseph Karo.

Vinograd, Amsterdam 87-101, 103-5, 108, 113, 117-135 and 137; Fuks, Amsterdam 216; Rabbinovicz, Talmud pp. 93-5.

THE FIRST PRINTING OF THE TALMUD IN AMSTERDAM. Immanuel Benveniste’s ESTEEMED, UNCENSORED EDITION. Benveniste’s Talmud follows the Basle edition in layout and text, and likewise has no general title-page for the entire work. Similarly, aspects of the Giustiniani edition from Venice 1546-51 as well as the editions from Cracow 1602-5 and Lublin 1617-39 also served as templates for this Amsterdam Talmud, a fact attested to in this edition by the corrector Abraham ben Joshua of Worms in his colophon. Benveniste did not print his Talmud in chronological order. He produced most tractates as individual books with separate title page and foliation, so that they could be sold separately, hence a uniform complete set is uncommon. Due to progress notions of freedom of speech, there was no censorship of printed books in the Dutch Republic, thus Benveniste’s Talmud contains Tractate Avodah Zara in its entirety with all the references to Christianity, to which the censors in other centers of Hebrew printing strongly objected.