The 1469 Scholars of the Talmud

The 1469 Scholars of the Talmud: The Families, Their Teachers, Their Students, Their Friends, and Where to Find Them in the Text by Brielle Paige RasslerWhen I first started Rabbinical School, in 2016, I often found myself amazed at... Everything! I was especially drawn to the Talmud and was just as fascinated by the characters having the discussions as the discussions themselves. I wanted to understand these characters better and after stumbling across Rabbi Alfred J. Kolatch’s book, “Masters of the Talmud: Their Views and Lives,” I still wasn’t completely satisfied. After discovering that the resource I was craving, which would contain simple biographical and textual information on each Talmudic scholar, organized alphabetically by geographic location and century, didn’t exist, I decided to create it myself!

My book contains each of the 1469 characters of Rabbi Kolatch’s book, organized alphabetically by century and geographic location. A selection of each scholar’s Talmudic references is provided, as well as lists of their families, teachers, students, and friends. I included a few special lists in the back, as well as a complete alphabetical index. After sharing this resource with a few friends and teachers over the last several years, I saw a larger need emerging as we neared the start of Daf Yomi Cycle 14. Thus, I have edited and produced a Second Edition of the book, which now includes a chart of the Masekhtot of the Mishnah, Talmud Bavli, and Talmud Yerushalmi, and a full Daf Yomi Cycle 14 calendar, which tracks the date and daf, as well as the cumulative day count of the total cycle. I am grateful to be able to share this resource with you and I pray it will enhance your learning, as it has mine.