 |
|
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
|
| |
Jewish World Review
10 Adar
First printed Torah commentary
By
Rabbi Yonason Goldson
Judaism's most famous commentary begins revelation of the Oral Tradition
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
When Biography.com presented its list of the 100 most influential people of the last
millennium, their selection for the Number 1 position was as predictable as it was
appropriate. It's a sad footnote to history that Johan Gutenberg possessed far more
mechanical ability than business sense and died penniless, failing to capitalize
upon his own innovation. Nevertheless, his popularization of movable type that led
to the explosion of information and made possible the Renaissance can hardly be
disputed as the most significant cultural event in contemporary World History.
Its contribution to Jewish society is equally indisputable.
Movable type first appeared as early as 1041, when Chinese printers fashioned
interchangeable clay pieces to replace the clumsy plates that preceded them. It was
not Gutenberg's invention, therefore, but rather his inspiration to apply the
centuries-old technology in Europe, where the Chinese system had either gone
unnoticed or been ignored. Gutenberg completed his printing press, equipped with
wooden or cast metal type pieces, in 1440. His best known creation, the Gutenberg
Bible, began rolling off the presses on September 30, 1452.
It took little time for Jewish publishers to recognize the opportunity offered by
the printing revolution. Scarcely 20 years after Gutenberg's Bible appeared, two
Jewish presses on opposite ends of the Italian peninsula labored — unknown to one
another — to prepare the first Torah manuscripts for mass production. On the tenth
of Adar 5235 (17 February 1475) Abraham ben Garton published the first volume of
Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) on the Five Books of Moses in the southern town of
Reggio di Calabria. Nearly four centuries after Rashi's passing, the most important
commentary in the history of the Jewish nation became available to the masses. And,
as if he had been brought into the world for no other purpose, its ground-breaking
publisher vanished from history by the end of that very year.
That same year, in July, Meshullam Cuzi published the influential codification of
Jewish law, Arba'a Turim, in the northern village of Piove di Sacco. Italy rapidly
acquired a near-monopoly on Jewish printing and, by 1834, the famous Gershom Soncino
had produced over 100 different Hebrew works. Many interpreted this explosion of
Hebrew publishing as the fulfillment of the prophecy that Torah would become "an
inheritance for the community of Jacob" (Deut. 33:4) and that "the earth shall be
filled with the knowledge of G-d" (Isaiah 11:9).
Within a year of the first popular editions, the Jewish press had expanded to Spain,
soon after to Lisbon, to Fez and, by the beginning of the next century, as far as
Constantinople. The printing industry became known to many as the labor of Heaven.
In 1520, the first printed volumes of the Talmud appeared, published, ironically, by
a non-Jew, a Flemish merchant whose passion for Hebrew texts helped Venice become
the center of Jewish publishing, a distinction it retained into the 18th century.
Partnerships between Jews and gentiles accelerated competition and spurred on the
industry.
In 1550, Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen produced the first printed edition of
Maimonides's Mishne Torah, the first codification of Jewish law. The original
release of Mishne Torah in 1185 had ignited a ferocious controversy, in part from
Maimonides's decision to omit his sources, but more fundamentally from an
ideological debate concerning the authority of contemporary scholars to restructure
the talmudic presentation of the Oral Tradition. Would not such a codification
encourage the uneducated to take the awesome responsibility of interpreting Torah
law into their own hands? Would it not erode the authority of qualified Torah
authorities?
As controversial as the Mishne Torah may have been, Maimonides succeeded at the very
least in breaking the taboo against reformatting the Oral Law. Other Torah
luminaries followed with codifications of their own, and the Arba'a Turim (as
mentioned above) became the second Torah volume to receive wide circulation thanks
to Gutenberg's method. But the most dramatic transition came when Rabbi Yosef Karo,
after the success of his commentary on the Arba'a Turim, went on to publish his own
codification of Jewish Law on the second of Elul 1564. By then, it was an idea whose
time had finally come.
Although he was Sephardi, Rabbi Karo's legal major opus, Shulchan Aruch, gained
almost universal adulation even among Ashkenazim, and ran through nine reprintings
in its first 33 years, becoming the first compendium of Jewish law accepted as
authoritative throughout the entire Jewish world. From that point forward, Jewish
law would advance not merely through the written word, but through the printed word
as well.
As indisputable as Gutenberg's influence on the written word has been, history came
very close to taking an entirely different path.
In 1444, a decade before Gutenberg, a French goldsmith named Procopius Waldvogel,
from the southern city of Avignon, entered into partnership with a Jew named Davin
de Caderousse. Having heard of Gutenberg's experiments in printing as he traveled
through Germany, or perhaps conceiving the innovation of movable type on his own,
Procopius sought an alliance that would bring his inspiration to reality. Davin, a
dyer by profession, contributed his knowledge of dyes and mechanical devices, while
Procopius fashioned the 27 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, cast in iron. In a
contract that remains intact to this day, Davin certified that he had, on 26 August
1446, received the agreed upon materials to implement the craft of "artificial
writing."
It remains uncertain whether Davin envisioned an actual printing press or more of an
archaic typewriter. Either way, as the Jews of Avignon were quite active in the book
trade as binders, parchment procurers, and merchandisers already, Davin seems to
have been eager to capitalize upon a promising new technology.
The business venture, however, was not destined to succeed. Neither Davin nor
Procipius seems to have been satisfied with the contribution of the other, and their
quarrel culminated not merely in the liquidation of their partnership but in a
lawsuit, wherein the court ordered Davin to return Procopius's typeset and forbade
him to disseminate his craft within 30 miles of Avignon.
Whether any Jewish publications actually made it into print from Davin's press
remains unknown. But it's difficult not to imagine how, had events taken a slightly
different course, it might have been a Jew instead of Gutenberg whom we honor for
having given the printed word to the world.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes inspiring articles. Sign up for our daily update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis. Comment by clicking here.
Previously:
Yahrtzeit of Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch
The Septuagint
End of the Great Flood
First Day of Creation
Reprise at Sinai
Tu B'Av: Repentance and the foundations of love
Sin of the Golden Calf: Understanding the how and why and resulting Divine punishment
The day the sun stood still
Nemirov massacres and the Chmielnicki uprising
Independent Judea under Shimon HaMaccabee
The Great Revolt begins
Dedication of new walls of Jerusalem
© 2006, Rabbi Yonason Goldson
|
