Through the many years of the preparatory work the Institute for the Publication of the Revised Israeli Talmud has amassed in addition to a large library of printed commentaries on the Talmud also a big collection of microfilms of manuscripts.
About two years ago the Institute began with the publication of Talmud commentaries from manuscripts as well as with the reprinting of revised editions of already published commentaries.
The first in this series was the Beth Habehira by Menahem ben Solomon (Meiri) on the tractate Berachoth. This commentary had been published before but had not been copied accurately from the manuscript, and therefore the Institute saw fit to re-edit it.
The new edition, which has been prepared by Shemuel Dickman of the Harry Fishel Institute for Research in the Talmud in Jerusalem, contains also the Meiri’s general introduction to his commentary and his treatise Beth Yad, on the laws of washing the hands. Both have been printed before.
Dickman has added to his edition source references and explanatory notes.
I will permit myself one observation on the general introduction of the Meiri. The Meiri states that from the time on when the study of the Talmudic Orders Zeraim, Kodashim and Taharot had been neglected because most of their laws became either unapplicable or were not practiced by Jews, the tractates, Berachot, Hullin and Nidda, contained these orders, were relegated to the other Orders. Several years ago Rabbi M. Vogelmann pointed out (Lichvod Yom Tov, Jerusalem 1956 p. 219) that this interesting statement by the Meiri explained the fact that a manuscript Mishna edition of the abovementioned three Orders which had reached Rabbi Yom Tov Lipman Heller, from the Holy Land, did not contain the tractates, Berachot, Hullin and Nidda.
The manuscripts of Meiri’s Beth Habehira on the different tractates contain also Maimonides’ Mishna commentary on these. Some publishers of the Meiri have added them to their editions. In the book before us Maimonides’ Mishna commentary as it appears in the manuscript has been included. Dickman asserts that the translation of this commentary is different from the one printed in our Talmud edition and must have been prepared by another translator. The writer of these lines begs to differ. Though it is true that the translations of some of Maimonides’ commentaries contained in the Meiri manuscripts are different from those printed in our Talmud editions, this is not true of the commentary on tractate Berachot. A comparison of the two translations shows that the differences between them are very small, and that these had undoubtedly developed during the process of copying and re-copying of the translations.
Since the appearance of this commentary the Institute, which is administered by Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner has issued additional volumes, about which we will write at another occasion.
By Tovia Preschel