Shalom,
A small article in the back of this week's newspaper got my attention. According to the article, the translation of the entire Talmud to Arabic was recently accomplished. I don't know why, but I find it fascinating so I did a little research.
It took 90 scholars and 6 years to translate the Talmud into Arabic and the force behind this impressive project is an institution named: "The Jordanian Center for studies of the Middle East". The center has decided to make the Talmud accessible to the Arab population and you too can get your 20 volume set of the Talmud in Arabic for $750.
The Haredi website "Kikar Hashabat" reports that the Talmud is sold in bookstores and book fares and one copy was recently purchased by the national library of Israel. The curator of Islamic books at the national library, Dr. Ya'el Yukeles, reported that only by chance did we learn of the Arabic Talmud when an article was published describing the interest and controversy the Talmud attracted among religious leaders in Saudi Arabia.
This is the first time the Talmud was translated to Arabic and the project was initiated because of the importance the Talmud has in Judaism. The project was launched using only a few scholars and limited sources probably because the Jordanian Center had no idea the text is so long and so difficult to understand. Once the "facts" were known the team was increased to include 90 scholars, all Muslims and Christians specializing in Aramaic.
It is interesting to note that is it a Jordanian project, done by a country where Jews do not live and/ or have a tradition of translating Jewish books. Jordan is unlike Egypt where the entire Mishnah in 2007-2009 together with the "Kuzari" book were translated.
The introduction to the Arabic version of the Talmud reveals that the reason for the ambitious project is the perception that Judaism has become an important and growing factor in the state of Israel and therefore there's a need to translate the Talmud. Later on, it is mentioned that it was very difficult for the Arab scholars to purchase a copy in order to start the translation since many sellers refused to sell.
That said, it doesn't seem that the reason behind the project is to "give ammunition" against Judaism to those to seek it. It seems that this is a genuine attempt; otherwise why translate everything when one could easily focus on selected quotes showing Judaism in a negative light?!
The Arabic version of the Talmud does not maintain the look of the "classic" page of the Talmud nor the commentators like Rashi or Tosfot and scholars in Israel hope this Talmud will enable new opportunities for research.
According to Dr. Yukeles in recent years there has been a growing tendency to explore Judaism among Arab Scholars not because their views have changed towards Judaism and the state of Israel but rather they are more interested in the development of Judaism and Israel and trying to learn of the inner changes occurring in Arab countries.
I doubt if in the future we'll see Jews arguing over a "sugia" of the Talmud together with Mohammad and Abdullah but we can hope that this project will build bridges of hope and understanding between us and our neighbors.
Tehilah, Yehudit and I are looking forward to seeing you all during the holiday of Shavu'ot and to spend a wonderful holiday.
Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem,
Cantor Arik Wollheim
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