For the first time in Russian unabridged published guidance on complying with the requirements of the Jewish religion, drawn up in the mid-19th century, the "chief rabbi" Uzhgorod (Transcarpathia) S. Gantsfridom. To be widely used and studied in many Jewish religious schools, the book provides a good view of value, "behaviors" and everyday lifestyles of Jewish "Ashkenazi" of civilization in Europe. Publication is equipped with a glossary.
Preface
... The judgment was set, and the books were opened.
Dan. 7:10
We publish for the first time in Russian full text of the famous Jewish Code "Kitstsur Shulchan Aruch" (hereinafter - CSA). CSA was drafted in the mid-19th century by Solomon Gantsfridom, "chief rabbi" of the city Ungvar (Uzhgorod) in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Transcarpathia. Ganz-Fried (1804-1886), an orthodox rabbi "Lithuanian-misnagidskogo" persuasion, sought in his work to provide a compact religious man (and also quite full) technical guidance on the implementation of the commandments that "What, how, where, when and with whom" to do a Jew who wishes to comply with the requirements of Jewish Law - without great religious and philosophical reasoning.
And the name, and on the structure and the content of the text is the digest of the CSA's famous code of laws and generally accepted orthodox Jewry "Shulchan Aruch" ("Laid Table"), established in the mid-16th century Sephardic Rabbi Joseph Caro. CSA aims to make the monumental work of Karo accessible to "normal" person. These goals have been achieved, as evidenced by a large number of publications CSA. The book is, in fact, has become one of the best sellers in the field of Jewish religious literature and studied in many (though not all) of the Jewish religious schools.
Until recently, the CSA translation (from Hebrew) into European languages (English, Russian, etc.) were subjected to a powerful "self-censorship" of translators and editors who cut out the individual paragraphs and whole chapters, as well as "edited" individual expressions, which, in their opinion could "compromise" the Jewish religion and the Jewish people in the eyes of non-Jews. Interestingly, the "Jewish self-censorship," even extends to the original text of the CSA, which was released in its entirety is not immediately (see note about this Gantsfrida to § 5 of Chapter 167).
The root cause of this "self-censorship" in the fact that the attitude of many Orthodox Jews to texts such as CSA traditionally like the ratio of workers to the so-called Soviet institutions chipboard materials ("for official use only"). This can be stated as follows: "no great secrets here, but better, just in case, if it will be read only by those who need it at work" (in this case - on the "service of the Lord"). Continuing the comparison, we can say that the CSA is in a sense a "technical documentation of Jewish civilization" (it is convenient to apply the "Spengler" coordinate system, which postulates the opposition concepts of "civilization" and "culture").
Translation and publication of the "outside", ie not only for "their", this kind of texts (including the translation of Talmud!) has always been opposition to many orthodox. In this case, from time to time one of these "friends" went out of the community, "changed his faith," and began to report non-Jews around some completely absurd stories about Jewish traditions and customs. Therefore, a cautious attitude to the "Out in the big world of" texts "such as CSA" is quite clear, and not only among the Jews is the case. For the "civi-zation DSP" necessarily involves the technique of "separation" of the civilization of others around her and threatening her assimilation. This "technique of self-preservation" of dissolution "in a strange" by the maximum principle and the separation of this "foreign" often looks very "politically incorrect", again, not only in the "Jewish" case. Russian-speaking readers would be interesting, for example, to recall, in this regard, "office equipment" Old Believers from other ("non-kosher" from their point of view) of the Orthodox, next to which set out in CSA Jewish rules may seem a model of political correctness ™.
CSA is on the one hand, a kind of "methodological guide" to paint the recommended actions of the person for the daily and annual cycle. On the other hand, as already mentioned, in the present CSA rules clearly do not correspond to any "modern universal norms" (though no one really knows what is the "norm"). This immediately raises the question: how tough a "guide to action" is a CSA as mandatory rules and regulations as set out in the CSA, to the execution of religious Jews.
Answer: not required, but may become so after a recommendation rabbi. The fact is that in Judaism, as, apparently, in any living religious system in the event of doubt about the need (or as) the fulfillment of any law, these concerns are not resolved the text, even the most respected, and the person to whom the one who has a doubt, trust in the sense of his learning and piety. In modern Judaism, this usually rabbis, "spiritual leaders" of the community in a narrow or broad sense.
Characteristically, he Gantsfrid in CSA often completes the presentation of the next expression of rules of conduct such as: "there is in this respect differences in regulations, and to ask the rabbi what to do", "if the implementation of this rule has major problems, it is necessary to turn to the rabbi," etc. The modern Orthodox rabbi usually recommends to the members of the community perform basic set of instructions and CSA does not recommend doing some mixed feelings at the "modern man" (and it could cause "serious problems") "politically incorrect" rules of conduct for non-Jews, women, atheists, etc.
In fact, it's hard to imagine a modern Orthodox rabbi (about the other and say nothing), recommending members of the community to celebrate the death of an atheist (Chapter 201, Section 4) or plug our ears to hear the organ music of Bach (Chapter 167, Section 7 ) or fear to be alone with a non-Jew (Chapter 167, Section 17) or not to teach a non-Jew profession (Chapter 167, Section 20), etc.
Acrimony and mutual hostility between the Jewish and Christian civilizations historically understandable and explainable. The relationship between them (as we well know in Russian) is often categorized by the term Huntington's "clash of civilizations" and the texts of CSA as a "large" Shulchan Aruch, accurately reflect this phenomenon. But times are changing, and it's time that the Jewish Passover ritual called "opening the door for Elijah the prophet," when anyone can enter from the street to the house and see all that happens in it, and the inmates are not afraid of it. Translation and wide publication of the Jewish "civilization DSP", ie Shulchan Aruch, the Talmud and other similar texts, is this kind of "opening the door".
Translation was made by us on the text of the most complete edition of CSA 1881 in a number of chapters has been used (partially revised by us) A. Kutukova translation, published in incomplete form in 1999
Editorial grateful to Dr. A. Chernov for advice on "ashkenazs-tion" tradition.
Leo Gorodetsky
professor of Biblical Hebrew
and Aramaic languages in the State Humanitarian University. January 2006.
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