Leiden Jerusalem Talmud

The Leiden Jerusalem Talmud also known as the Leiden Talmud is a medieval copy of the Jerusalem Talmud. The manuscript was written in 1289 CE, meaning it is the oldest complete manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud in the world. The manuscript is also the only surviving complete (non-printed) manuscript of the Jerusalem Talmud. The manuscript receives its name from the University of Leiden where it has been kept since the nineteenth century.

The Leiden Talmud was written in 1289 by Reb Jehiel b.Reb Jekuthiel b.Reb Benjamin ha-Rofe. Reb Jehiel lived in Rome during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries where he was a famous scholar, poet, copyist. He was most well known as the author of the book of Piety Maalot ha-Middot. Reb Yehiel states at the beginning of the Manuscript that he finished writing Zeraim and Moed on the 12th day of the month of Shevat. He continues to state that he finished Nashim and Nizikin one and a half months later.

There are several errors throughout the manuscript which is consistent with many other Hebrew manuscripts of that period. Errors in Hebrew manuscripts were common since access to texts such as the Talmud was limited. This was partially due to the absence of printing. However most notably, Talmudic texts were rare since they were outlawed on several occasions. The most prominent example of this would be the Vatican decree to burn all Talmudic manuscripts. This decree led to the Paris book burnings of 1244. Reb Yehiel writes that he copied the text from a different manuscript that was filled with scribal errors. However, Reb Yehiel states he tried to correct as many errors as possible. He humbly states 'I know that I have not corrected even half of the mistakes' and begs for the readers forgiveness.

During 1523-1524 the Jerusalem Talmud was printed for the first time in Venice by Daniel Bomberg. Jacob ben Ḥayyim ibn Adoniyahu, the editor of the Bomberg edition of the Jerusalem Talmud, used the Leiden Manuscript along with three other manuscripts as the basis of the printed edition of the Jerusalem Talmud. However, Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adoniyahu considered the Leiden Manuscript the least accurate copy of the Jerusalem Talmud. The other three manuscripts of the Jerusalem Talmud used for the printing of Bomberg's edition of the Talmud have been lost.

After the publication of the Bomberg edition of the Jerusalem Talmud the Leiden Talmud was lost for around three hundred years. It was only to be rediscovered in the mid nineteenth century in the Library of the city of Leiden. It had been entrusted to the Library by the notable Protestant scholar Joseph Scaliger who was a professor at Leiden. The Leiden Talmud was transferred to the University of Leiden Library along with the rest of Scaliger's collection of manuscripts.

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