Soferim (Talmud)
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Masekhet Soferim (
Chapters
Soferim consists of 21 chapters, containing 225 paragraphs ("halakhot") in all. The chapters may be summarized as follows:
- 1: On parchment and other writing-material; language, and translation of the Jewish Scriptures; the Septuagint; persons who are qualified to prepare books; leaves and pages; open and closed paragraphs.
- 2: Spaces between letters, words, lines, pages, and books; space-lines; number of columns to the leaf, and lines to the column; width and height of the scrolls; rollers; sewing; mending; final letters.
- 3: Writing several books on a single scroll; verse-marks in the scroll of the Law; superscriptions; palimpsests; procedure in regard to incorrectly written scrolls; rolling and unrolling; manner of rolling and reading; respectful handling of the scroll of the Law; careful use of food as a gift of God.
- 4: The names of God and the interdiction against erasing them; Masoreticenumeration of such names; the sinfulness of profanely using any of them.
- 5: Sacrosanct writing of the names of God; scribal errors in such and in the lines of the sacred scroll; the Divine Name on vessels and utensils; preservation of scrolls and other writings which have become useless; use of loaned writings.
- 6: Points written in the Torah; textual variations in the ancient scrolls used in the Temple at Jerusalem; Masoretic textual and orthographical variants.
- 7: Masoretic combination of the Qere and Ketiv.
- 8: Textual variants in II Kings18-20
- 9: Capital letters in the Torah; written words for which others must be substituted in reading; passages which are neither read nor translated.
- 10: General laws of Torah reading; number of readers; number of persons requisite for public religious functions; kaddish and barekhu.
- 11: Order of Torah reading and of the translations to be read; errors in Torah reading
- 12: Method of reading the curses, the songs, and the Deuteronomy32, as well as the order of reading Deuteronomy 32.
- 13: Method of writing the Mafṭirand the reading of the Torah.
- 14: Blessing on reading the Hagiographa in general and the scroll of Esther in particular; liturgical observances prefatory to the reading; persons authorized to read and to officiate as mezuzot.
- 15: Sanctity of other religious writings; diversity of the rabbinical sciences; occupations to be taught to children.
- 16: Value of the study of the Torah; the Kedushah prayer.
- 17: General laws on the sections prescribed for the festivals; assistants at the sacrifice and their prayers; lessons and psalms for Rosh Hodesh.
- 18: Daily and festival psalms; order of prayer for the anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem; observances for the Yom Kippur.
- 19: Further regulations regarding the psalms for festivals; formulas of prayer for the festivals; eulogy on announcing the new moon; benedictions for weddings and funerals.
- 20: Kiddush levana; lighting the Hanukkah candles; blessings and Torah reading for Hanukkah; the Kedushah prayer on holidays; "Hallel."
- 21: Jewish Patriarchs.[3]
Divisions
Soferim may be divided into three main divisions: chapters 1–5, 6–9, and 10–21, the last of which is subdivided into two sections, 10-15 and 16:2-21. The tractate derives its name from its first main division (chapters 1–5), which treats of writing
According to
First part
This first part is the earliest component of the work, and is extant also as an independent "minor tractate," entitled Massekhet Sefer Torah;[6] in this form it is a systematic work, but as incorporated in Soferim, although its division into chapters and paragraphs has been retained, its order has been disarranged by interpolations. A comparison of the two texts shows in an instructive way how ancient Jewish works developed in the course of time. The minor tractate Sefarim, edited by Schönblum, is not earlier (as he assumes) but rather later than Masseket Sefer Torah, from which it is an extract. The name "Sefarim" (= "books") is merely the plural of "sefer," designating the Torah as "the book" par excellence.
Second part
Chapters 6 to 9 constitute a separate part, containing
Third part
The third division is chiefly devoted to rules concerning the order of
The second section of the last portion (16:2-21) was added latest of all. It contains passages from the
Place of composition
Rabbinical eras |
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Many details of the text indicate detailed knowledge of the Jerusalem Talmud and the custom of the Land of Israel, and thus point to an origin there (rather than in Babylonia):
- The customs of Jerusalem are also mentioned (18:5, 21:6) in a way which indicates an acquaintance with them and points to an author who may have been from Tiberias, but was not from Jerusalem. The names of the school, teachers, and countries also confirm this view.
- Hai Gaon knew nothing of the liturgical observance mentioned in 19:11[8]
- The controversy regarding the mode of reading (21:7) is taken from the Babylonian Talmud.[10]The long passage which follows is a direct quotation from the Jerusalem Talmud.
- The Babylonian Rav Yosefis designated as "Rabbi," and not as "Rav" (13:7)
- The assumption that there are weekly sections which do not contain 21 verses (11:4) applies only to the triennial cycle of the Land of Israel
- Soferim 13:3-5 parallels the Jerusalem Talmud, Megillah3:7 (74b).
The hypothesis that Soferim is based on Palestinian sources agrees with the ancient tradition (
Date of composition
The evidence of all these facts makes it very probable that this tractate was finally redacted about the middle of the 8th century, an assumption which is supported by the statement of
The fact that no sources are given for a number of the regulations in the first part points to an early date of composition.
Notable laws
As the substance of the tractate has been incorporated in later works on orthography, the
The earliest passage referring to "dyed leather" (parchment) is 3:13, although it is possible, in view of 2:10, that originally בעורות צבאים (with deer leather) stood in place of בעורות צבועים (with dyed leather). Even if that be true, however, this is still the first reference to colored parchment for
Soferim is the first work to distinguish between the three grades of inspiration in the Bible: Torah,
Halakhic authority
Because Soferim belongs to the
External links
"Tractate Soferim" (in Hebrew and English).
References
- SUNYMysticism and Religion) (9780791436028): p239 "In Masekhet Soferim, the apocryphal talmudic work generally thought to have originated in eighth- century Palestine, the form of this passage is barukh bor' ekha, barukh yotserekha, barukh meqaddeshekha, "Blessed be the One who created.. "
- ^ Tessa Rajak Translation and Survival p. 304 "... masekhet sefer torah (1: 8-9), and masekhet soferim (1: 7-8), of late and uncertain date and generally printed now as Talmudic addenda [...] Both tractates doubtless contain early material among their regulations, but the attitudes they evince are likely to belong to seventh or eighth century CE."
- ^ Müller, Masseket Soferim, etc., pp. 37 et seq.
- ^ Compare Blau, Zur Einleitung in die Heilige Schrift, pp. 31 et seq., Strasburg, 1894
- ^ G. V. 2d ed., p. 100, notes a,b; he provides the following elaboration: "Rules for writing and for the Masorah are found in 1 (1-6,9-14); 2; 3 (1-9, 10a, 11, 12, 13 [in part], 14-16); 4-8; 9 (1-7); 12 (8b, 9-12); 13 (1-4, 6a, 7); 15 (1-5); 17 (1); synagogual ritual in 9 (8-11); 10; 11; 12 (1-7, 8a); 13 (5, 8-14); 14; 15 (12,end); 17 (2-11); 18-20; 21 (1-8); aggadah in 1 (7-8); 3 (10b, 13 [in part]); 13 (6b, 10); 16 (1-11, 12a); 21 9"
- ^ Edited by Raphael Kirchheim 1851
- ^ Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer 17,end
- ^ Müller, l.c. p. 277, note 67
- Megillah4:2
- Rav and Samuel of Nehardeadiscuss the same question.
- ^ Orient, 1851, p. 218
- Steinschneider, Jüdische Literatur, pp. 369 et seq., and Henry Malter's Hebrew translation, Sifrut Yisrael, p. 44, Warsaw, 1897; Kirchheim, preface to his edition of Masseket Soferim; Brüll's Jahrb. i. 4
- ^ Zunz, l.c. p. 322, note a
- ^ c. 1300, in Hilkhot Sefer Torah
- Megillah18a, and see Blau, l.c. pp. 70 et seq.
- Shabbat15c, 25
- Machzor Vitry, p. 689, note
- ^ Compare Machzor Vitry p. 691
- ^ 2:10
- ^ Compare Müller, ad loc., and Machzor Vitry, p. 704
- ^ Soferim 18:3,end
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
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