Do you know who the rabbi in the picture is? Many won’t recognise him by face! He lived from 1829-1903 and was a progressive and reform rabbi in America. With all this, most would be surprised to find out just how many outstanding Talmudic scholars of today have gained something from this man…
His name is Rabbi Marcus Jastrow and he is famous for compiling perhaps the most comprehensive Aramaic-English dictionary we have today for understanding Talmud Bavli, Yerushalmi and Midrashim!
Things move on… Life moves on… How things change and how they improve. I remember when I was studying in Yeshivah in my youth with the most famous of all Talmudic “dictionaries” written by Rabbi Aryeh Carmel – the “Siyata LeGemara” or “Aiding Talmud Study” I must be honest – this book had/has a special place in my heart and gave me my most basic guide to all of Talmud study. I think it was a masterpiece – no matter how brief it is! I still recommend it for all beginners. It is just superb! Rabbi Aryeh Carmel was a student of Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler, a teacher at Yeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim and a very humble man. It is very special to learn from this book and know that it is coming from a master of Torah.
I also remember that at a nearby desk somewhere – there was another essential work to have when studying Talmud – the Jastrow dictionary! I never owned one. It was too expensive for me. I did wish to though. So comprehensive is it, that if one understands how a basic dictionary works and the basic roots of words, one can find any word one is looking for when studying a page of Talmud. Ironically – though an Aramaic-English dictionary, it was written/published from left to right, much like reading an English book, though the words are essentially with Hebrew characters! It was always a little frustrating to use – but like all things, one can get used to it!
As life moves on, it is becoming easier and easier to study Talmud. There are some superb sets of Talmud available in translation today and in fact, Sefaria has on its site the entire Koren Talmud written by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz!
Still, a lot of people want to learn in the original. They want to know the meanings of the words they are reading and to learn how to learn themselves – without the “crutch” of the English translation side-by-side (or even within the same paragraph.)
The Jastrow is still essential, and what is so nice now is that both Jastrow and the Klein dictionary are available on Sefaria’s site, which practically means that you can work through the page of Talmud and then make use of the Jastrow for a word or two as you progress and thereby increase your vocabulary. Highly recommended of course!
Here is a video showing their latest addition. I hope you’ll get some good use of it. Don’t forget, if you’re looking for someone to learn with in order to gain the skills in language and understanding, do contact us for more information!
