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From: amigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: A BOOK ABOUT TALMUD
Message-ID: <776@ihuxq.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 14-Mar-84 10:29:37 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxq.776
Posted: Wed Mar 14 10:29:37 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 15-Mar-84 00:54:49 EST
References: <1192@mhuxi.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
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David Green kindly lent me his copy of THE ESSENTIAL TALMUD
(thanks, David, I am returning it today).  I can also heartily
recommend it to anyone who wants a good introduction to the subject.
It goes into history, Talmudic reasoning, summarizes each order (and
often individual tractates), mentions the major commentators (I
hadn't known that Rashbam and Rabbenu Tam were Rashi's grandsons),
and is well written and well reasoned.

One thing annoyed me.  In the chapter on "Strange and Bizarre
Problems," there is the sentence:  "A somewhat later text takes up
the mythical *golem* and asks whether such a being is entitled to
participate in a *minyan*."  And then, the question having been raised,
we are given no answer.  Someone, please tell me.  After all, as
Steinsaltz points out, this touches on the wider "problem of defining
man and his limitations".  If a golem is to be admitted to a minyan,
then I think that any being having artificial intelligence could be.
But what if the golem has a non-Jewish creator.  Could such a
goyishe golem convert?  I can think of all sorts of things that this
raises.  
				John Hobson
				AT&T Bell Labs--Naperville, IL
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