Masters of the Talmud: Their Lives and Views

For Kolatch, understanding the Talmud involves understanding something about the many famous rabbis and scholars who have studied it through the centuries. Focusing on rabbis from the first five centuries of the common era, Kolatch provides brief entries on the life and times of thinkers such as Rabbis Eliezer, Akiva ben Yosef, Rava and Hillel (who actually lived just before the common era). Most entries are only a few sentences long, but the famous rabbis get their due with long tributes that are filled with the stories passed down through the ages. Kolatch describes the scholars' contributions and cites the precise talmudic passages where they are quoted--an aid to any student of the Talmud.