Tuesday, July 21, 2009

An Idea for the Internet

Maybe, someday, someone with the ability and interest will read this post and the world will be a better place for it.

I am curious if all the textual scholars that I see in the internet would be able to create a new "talmud" based on the works of the rabbis from the end of the talmud until the time of the enlightenment. (Pre Baal Shem Tov)

I'd love to see the efforts of a recreation of the back and forth on topics that the talmud bavli does not have a mesechet for. For example, core jewish beliefs, laws of kashrut, pirkei avot, the "minor tractates", theology, Prayer etc. (Ramban said in the name of Rashi ,"blah" to which the Rambam responded, "bleh". Rav Karo said, "The Halacha is like the Ramban" etc. etc.)

I feel like the start of the "Achronim" goes back too far, and it's been too long since we had a new reference material of all the major and minor opinions of Halacha and jewish thought.