The Printers' Preface

It is a well-known fact regarding all copies of the Ein Yaakov that it is nearly impossible to find two editions whose texts and readings are entirely identical. This is even more pronounced in the majority of editions that accompany the Talmudic text before us. Sometimes the variation is merely a matter of a few words related to the stylistic phrasing, yet more frequent are the variations in the names of the sages, and sometimes the variation concerns the very essence of the passage’s content and subject matter. Furthermore, there are entire passages or fragments found in the Ein Yaakov that are entirely absent from our current Talmud.

For example, in the Ein Yaakov for Berakhot page 63 (item 139), this passage is found: "Rav Papa said in the name of Rav Kahana: This is what people say: Even when a thief is at the opening of the tunnel, he calls out to the Merciful One." In our version of the Shas Talmud, that passage is missing, as noted by the esteemed Rabbi B. in the margins. The book Pahad Yitzhak cites this under the entry for "thief," attributing it to the Portuguese edition of the Shas, and it is also noted in the glosses of the late Rabbi Tzvi Chajes. This same passage is also attributed to the Talmud in the book Kad HaKemach, section 2 (Trust).

Similarly, we find in the Talmud, Hullin 133a: "Whoever teaches a student who is not worthy is like one who throws a stone to Merkulis a Roman deity worshipped by throwing stones, as it is written: 'Like one who binds a stone in a sling...'" In the Ein Yaakov there, an entire passage is added which is missing from our Talmud: "And there is no honor except for Torah, as it is written: 'The wise shall inherit honor' and 'The pure shall inherit good.' Rabbi Hama bar Hanina said: Anyone who performs a kindness for one who does not know him, it is as if he throws a stone to Merkulis, as it is written: 'Like one who binds a stone...'" This version is also not missing from the text available to the author of the Hovot HaLevavot Duties of the Heart, as he writes at the end of the "Gate of Divine Service," a fact noted by the genius Rabbi Shlomo Luria, of blessed memory, in the margins of the Maharsha. It appears that our version of the Talmud is missing the text from the first passage until the second is cited, and many such cases exist. Conversely, there are many passages in the Ein Yaakov that are fragmented, whereas they appear in their entirety in our Talmud, such as the passage presented later in our section regarding the intermediate materials.

The origins and causes of these variations are diverse. Some stem from the variant readings of the scribes, many of which differ from the readings of the Ashkenazi and French traditions. Since the author, of blessed memory, was a Sephardic Jew—as mentioned previously—and drew his Talmudic knowledge from the masters of the Talmud in that region, he was raised on their traditions. He drank from their pure waters and adhered to the readings of his elders. Indeed, these are often more precise than the Ashkenazi and French readings, as the Ramban Nachmanides writes many times in his book Milchamot Hashem Wars of the Lord: "I have relied on the Sephardic version, as it is more correct." In his commentary on Berakhot, he writes: "The Sephardic books are more reliable than ours."

Other variations arose through the carelessness of printers, who sometimes skipped from one word to a similar word. We see this in all old editions of the Ein Yaakov regarding Ta'anit page 7 (item 8), which cites a passage: "Rava said: This Torah scholar whose Torah makes him angry, as it is written: 'Are not My words like fire, etc.?' Rabbi Abba said to Rav Ashi: You teach it from there, but we teach it from here: 'A land whose stones are iron'—do not read it 'its stones' (avaneha), but 'its builders' (bonaiha)." The holy commentator referring to a specific historical commentator, likely the Maharsha struggles greatly there and provides an extensive explanation. Had his eye been on the true version found in the Talmud in this current edition, he would not have struggled with the interpretation, as it was a printing error caused by skipping words (from the first "said" to the second). It should read: "Rav Ashi said: Any Torah scholar who is not as hard as iron is not a Torah scholar, as it is written: 'And like a hammer that breaks the rock.' Rav Abba said to Rav Ashi: You teach it from there, etc." This is also found in the Yalkut on Jeremiah, section 23, allusion 307, as noted by the genius Rabbi Yeshayahu Berlin in his book Mini Targima (Parashat Ekev). Many such errors have fallen into the Ein Yaakov, and upon these errors, many variations were born.

Sometimes, printers thought to correct the readings and texts, but unknowingly caused damage where they intended to repair. Upon seeing that the readings in the Ein Yaakov differed from those in our Talmud, they assumed they were incorrect and sought to "fix" them. They changed the old readings in the Ein Yaakov to match our version of the Shas, unaware that the old readings they removed were the very Sephardic and primary readings that the author had chosen. Sometimes, without realizing it, they conflated two different readings that contradicted each other and could never be reconciled. See what is written in the book Dikdukei Soferim regarding the Talmud at the beginning of Berakhot, page 78: "The book Ein Yaakov was printed in the year 5306 1546. It was printed a second time in Venice at the Justinian press, and they changed most of its readings to follow the Bomberg edition of the Talmud, thus corrupting and damaging it in many places, distorting the straight path. In most cases, the first version is the truth, such as in Berakhot 32a: 'Moses cast words toward Heaven, as it is written: And Moses prayed to the Lord.' In the first Ein Yaakov (printed in Salonica during the author's lifetime), the correct reading is 'And I prayed to the Lord,' as is found in the Aggadot HaTalmud and the Yalkut on Deuteronomy, allusion 957. In Megillah 14a, it states: 'Rabbi Elazar said in the name of Rabbi Hanina: Let the curse of an ordinary person never be light, etc.' The entire statement is not there. This is correct, as it is a statement of Rabbi Yitzhak in Tractate Megillah 93a, and there the Talmud does not cite it in the name of Rabbi Elazar, for Rabbi Yitzhak is the author of the statement. Similarly, in Megillah 29a, the Talmud brings it in the name of Rabbi Yitzhak, and does not attribute it to Rabbi Elazar. This is confirmed by two manuscripts and the Aggadot HaTalmud."

In the same book, Dikdukei Soferim, page 72, it discusses the passage "Those eighty thousand of the select of the youth of Kiriah." The true reading is "eighty thousand of the select of the youth of the cauldron" (kidra), as found in the Munich manuscript, the Hamburg manuscript, and the Aggadot HaTalmud. There are very many such cases where the first reading is the truth. Due to these and similar factors, the texts and readings in Ein Yaakov books have become mixed and confused—old with new, and new with old—intermingled to such an extent that their source, root, lineage, and history are unknown, and one cannot tell if they are from the original books of the author or from the Ashkenazi and French Shas traditions.

When we came to publish this Ein Yaakov, we desired to achieve its completion and to correct it as much as we could. We set our hearts to purify, refine, and sift through the readings and texts that were bundled and mixed together, to distinguish between the old and the new, and to restore the crown of the ancient readings to their rightful place and lineage. We have chosen only the old and ancient readings, and we have placed markers around them—two parentheses ( )—to set them apart. The new readings and texts that printers added of their own accord, which are not different, as well as the various readings we found in our Babylonian Shas that had not yet been collected into the Ein Yaakov—all these we have surrounded with two square brackets [ ] to allow the reader to distinguish between the new and the old, and between Sephardic and Ashkenazi/French readings, so that they do not remain confused. We have done this both in the body of the Ein Yaakov and in the Rashi and Tosafot classical commentaries on the Talmud, as described above.

We also turned our attention to the citations of biblical verses, which were corrupted in almost all editions of the Ein Yaakov. We corrected these distortions, removed the errors, and arranged them properly. We also fixed the many corruptions that had fallen into the Ein Yaakov regarding the cross-references to passages in the Talmud and other books, and we noted every page of the Talmud precisely without error. We also made sure to arrange the passages according to the order of the Talmud, as well as the commentaries, each in its proper place, whereas in the past, many passages from the Shas and many of the commentaries' words were printed in the Ein Yaakov out of order.

We saw fit to note here regarding the Index of Passages that was printed in the Ein Yaakov initially and subsequently used by printers; because it was compiled according to the page order of the Salonica edition, once the pagination changed in other editions, the references in that index were no longer useful. Furthermore, many other indices for the Ein Yaakov were later created in various books, arranged in different orders, which are more useful than the first.

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These are the rare books

that served as our guide for the printing of this book, and for all its corrections, additions, and improvements:

Two copies of the Ein Yaakov, Venice edition, 1566 (one of which was lent to us by the kindness of the great sage and perfect scholar, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Chaim Halberstam, may he live and be well, for the benefit of the book and its utility; subsequently, God brought a second one for us to purchase).

The Ein Yaakov Kehillat Shlomo, which was published by the late Rabbi Shlomo Yekutiel Zalman, judge of the Great Community of Glogau, Amsterdam edition, 1740, as mentioned above. Many other Ein Yaakov books from various editions served as our guides in our work. For the good, we also mention the Ein Yaakov printed in Lublin, 1872, whose publishers also worked extensively for the benefit of the book, as explained in their preface.

The book Hiddushei Aggadot by the Maharsha, which was printed during the author's lifetime. Part one, in Lublin in the year 1626, and its printing was finished on the 10th of Sivan, 1626. Part two, in Krakow in the year 1631, and its printing was finished on the 28th of Elul, 1631.

The book Maor Einayim (by the Riaz), part two; we printed it according to the first edition published by the late Rabbi Shlomo Yekutiel Zalman, based on the author's manuscript that he found in Italy, in the aforementioned Ein Yaakov Kehillat Shlomo.

The book Iyun Yaakov, first edition, Wilmersdorf, 1729.

All these rare books were before us at the time of printing, in addition to the precious books from which the innovations of the Geonim, of blessed memory, were collected, and in addition to the books of the Babylonian Shas from the earliest printings, which guided us in the printing and proofreading.

We have gathered all these and added many new and useful things in this book with the help of Heaven. We labored with great effort and spent much money for the benefit of the book and its perfection. We labored and found, thank God, the ability to bring forth a corrected work. May God remember this for us for good!

Written on the day of the Eve of the New Month of Adar, in the year "See, your words are good and upright" a Hebrew chronogram totaling 5643 (1883).

(Preface by H. A.) House