New Edition of the Babylonian Talmud, Vol. 1

Dear Mr. Rodkinson,

You have been kind enough to dedicate the sixth (fourteenth) volume of your English translation of the Talmud to me, in partnership with the Grand Rabbi of France, Zadoc Kahn. In doing so, you have shown me a great honor. I ask you to accept the expression of my heartfelt thanks for this.

It would be a deceptive form of flattery if I were to describe your work as perfect; because I am merely a layman regarding the English language, and therefore cannot presume to offer a judgment in that regard. But I do know one thing: it is only through tireless industry and through a mastery of the entire "sea" of the Talmud—an endless, one might almost say, titanic labor—that such a work could be brought to completion.

The American Jews, who take upon themselves the care and advancement of Jewish scholarship with such praiseworthy zeal, will be proud that this long-desired, and indeed never-before-achieved, intention of translating the entire Talmud into a modern language has been brought to fruition on American soil.

That you have linked my name with this work obliges me to express my deepest gratitude, with which I remain, alongside hearty wishes for your further progress and best success,

Yours,
Lazarus