Saul Lieberman
Saul Lieberman | |
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Saul Lieberman (
Early life
Born in
In the 1920s he attended the Kyiv Gymnasium and
Career
After completing his
In 1940, he was invited both by Rabbi
Lieberman died on March 23, 1983, while flying to Jerusalem for Passover.[3][4]
Work
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In 1929, Lieberman published Al ha-Yerushalmi, in which he suggested ways of emending corruptions in the text of the
He published the four-volume Tosefeth Rishonim, a commentary on the entire Tosefta with textual corrections based on manuscripts, early printings, and quotations found in early authorities.
Years later, Lieberman returned to the systematic elucidation of the Tosefta. He undertook the publication of the Tosefta text, based on manuscripts and accompanied by brief explanatory notes, and of an extensive commentary called Tosefta ki-Fshuṭah. The latter combined philological research and historical observations with a discussion of the entire talmudic and rabbinic literature in which the relevant Tosefta text is either commented upon or quoted. Between 1955 and 1973, ten volumes of the new edition were published, representing the text and the commentaries on the entire orders of
In
Other books of his were Sheki'in (1939), on Jewish legends,
His two English volumes, Greek in Jewish Palestine (1942) and Hellenism in Jewish Palestine (1950), which also appeared in a Hebrew translation, illustrate the influence of
A number of his works have appeared in new and revised editions. Lieberman served as editor in chief of a new critical edition of Maimonides' Mishneh Torah (vol. 1, 1964), and as an editor of the Judaica series of Yale University, where he worked closely with Herbert Danby, the Anglican scholar of the Mishnah. He also edited several scholarly miscellanies. He contributed numerous studies to scholarly publications as well as notes to books of fellow scholars. In these he dwelt on various aspects of the world of ideas of the rabbis, shed light on events in the talmudic period, and elucidated scores of obscure words and expressions of talmudic and midrashic literature.
He also published a heretofore unknown Midrashic work that he painstakingly pieced together by deriving its text from an anti-Jewish polemic written by Raymond Martini, and various published lectures of Medieval Rabbis. Lieberman's work was published while he headed Machon Harry Fishel.
Jacob Neusner, a leading scholar of the history of rabbinic Judaism, criticized the bulk of Lieberman's work as idiosyncratic in that it lacked a valid methodology and was prone to other serious shortcomings (see Sources below). However, ten years earlier, in an article published shortly after his death, Lieberman strongly criticized Neusner's lack of scholarship in the latter's translation of three tractates of the Yerushalmi.[3] Meir Bar-Ilan, Lieberman's nephew, accused Neusner of being biased against Lieberman due to "a personal issue".[8]
Paradox in affiliation
Perhaps because he was so deeply involved in the Seminary, Lieberman was often accused (esp. post-mortem) of being on the very right wing of Conservative Judaism. Personally fully observant of
The Lieberman clause
The Lieberman clause is a clause included in a
Personal life
The Chazon Ish, Rabbi Avrohom Yeshaya Korelitz, was a first cousin. Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Joseph Soloveitschik were both his first cousins once removed.[1]
Lieberman married Rachel Rabinowitz in 1922. She was the daughter of Rabbi Laizer Rabinowitz, the rabbi of Minsk,[10] and granddaughter of Yerucham Yehuda Leib Perelmann. They moved to Mandatory Palestine in 1927, but she died three years later, in 1930.[1]
Lieberman studied at Hebrew University and received a Masters degree in Talmudic studies and ancient Palestiniology.
He remarried in 1932, to
The Liebermans had no children.[11]
Awards and honors
- In 1957, Lieberman was awarded the Bialik Prize for Jewish thought.[12]
- In 1971, he was awarded the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies.[13]
- In 1976, he received the Technion.
He was an honorary member of the Academy of the Hebrew Language, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a fellow of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities.
See also
References
- ^ JSTOR 23263520.
- ^ Marc B. Shapiro, Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox.
- ^ JSTOR 602175.
- ^ "Saul Lieberman: The Greatest Sage in Israel". faculty.biu.ac.il. Archived from the original on 2007-11-05.
- ^ Currently this work is available in two volumes: Tosefeth Rishonim, 2 volume set.
- ^ For criticism of this edition that appeared in HaTzofe see https://www.hebrewbooks.org/26799.
- ^ The English edition of both books was reprinted in one volume.
- ^ Saul Lieberman: The Greatest Sage in Israel, note 8
- ^ David Golinkin, Was Professor Saul Lieberman “Orthodox” or “Conservative”? [1], by footnote 16.
- ^ Making of a Godol, improved edition p. 1190 (Private Printing Publishers, 2005).
- ^ See Making of a Godol, improved edition p. 820.
- ^ "List of Bialik Prize recipients 1933-2004 (in Hebrew), Tel Aviv Municipality website" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 17, 2007.
- ^ "Israel Prize Official Site - Recipients in 1971 (in Hebrew)".
Sources
- Saul Lieberman and the Orthodox. Marc B. Shapiro. ISBN 1-58966-123-0
- Saul Lieberman: the man and his work / Elijah J. Schochet and Solomon Spiro. New York: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 2005.
- Saul Lieberman, Rabbinic Interpretation of Scripture and The Hermeneutic Rules of the Aggadah in Hellenism in Jewish Palestine JTS, NY, 1994
- Seventy Faces Norman Lamm, Moment Vol. II, No. 6 June 1986/Sivan 5746
- Tradition Renewed: A History of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Vol. II, p. 450, 474, JTS, NY, 1997
- Article by The Jewish WeekMay 8, 1997, page 28.
- Jacob Neusner, Why There Never Was a “Talmud of Caesarea.” Saul Lieberman’s Mistakes. Atlanta, 1994: Scholars Press for South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism.
External links
- Saul Lieberman (1898 - 1983), Jewish Virtual Library.
- Rabbi Lieberman's books:
- מדרשי תימן
- On the Yerushalmi (Jerusalem, 5689 – 1929)
- הירושלמי כפשוטו, volume 1 (Shabbath, Eruvin, P'sahim), Jerusalem, 5695
- Tosefeth Rishonim:
- Tosefta:
- Seder Zeraim (New York, 5715)
- Seder Moed (New York, 5722)
- Seder Nashim Volume One (New York, 5727) and Volume Two (New York, 5733)
- The Order of Nezikin: Bava Kamma, Bava Meẓi'a, Bava Batra (Jerusalem, 1988; reprinted 5761–2001)
- Tosefta Ki-fshuṭah:
- Part I, Order Zera'im (New York, 5715 – 1955)
- Part II, Order Zera'im (New York, 5715 – 1955)
- Part III, Order Mo'ed (New York, 5722 – 1962)
- Part IV, Order Mo'ed (New York, 5722 – 1962)
- Part V, Order Mo'ed (New York, 5722 – 1962)
- Part VI, Order Nashim (New York, 5727 – 1967)
- Part VII, Order Nashim (New York, 5727 – 1967)
- Part VIII, Order Nashim (New York, 5733 – 1973)
- Parts IX-X, Order Nezikin (Jerusalem, 1988; reprinted 5761–2001)
- Bar-Ilan, Meir. "Saul Lieberman: The Greatest Sage in Israel". Archived from the original on November 5, 2007.
- Saul Lieberman Institute for Talmudic Research at the Wayback Machine (archived October 14, 2003)
- The Lieberman Institute for Talmudic Research
- Links to Rabbi Lieberman's books (Hebrew)
- The Lieberman Institute for Talmudic Research Text Databank
- The Lieberman Institute for Talmudic Research Index Project