Paul Socken has assembled a formidable group of Talmudic scholars in this important volume. The vastly different backgrounds of the contributors are moved into the foreground by the question he poses to them, asking them to account for their commitment to the Talmud. Thus he manages to produce an interesting and insightful choir of voices that are by turns deeply moving, contemplative, and humorous. The Talmud once again acquires a new face, and hence is carried forth into the twenty-first century with new excitement.

Charlotte E. Fonrobert, Stanford University

Rather than writing programmatic essays about why everyone should study Talmud, this group of sixteen leading Talmudists from a broad range of backgrounds has taken up the more modest goal of explaining why they personally study Talmud. Although each writer speaks individually, when taken together as a group, certain common themes emerge that can add up to something of a programmatic treatment…. The scholarly, Jewish, and general reading communities owe Socken a great debt of gratitude for collecting these essays. The authors have provided us many profound reasons to continue, or perhaps begin, experiencing the joy of studying Talmud.

Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal Of Jewish Studies