Sorrow and Distress in the Talmud

“In a work that collects and categorizes narratives on the basis of the use of a particular term it is surprising to find such a high degree of continuity in the way Valler links nearly every story she analyzes to the one that follows in what becomes a set of flowing discussions that make up each of the chapters. Valler’s study of stories of sorrow in Talmudic literature exhibits an all too rare combination of scholarly erudition and didactic practicality. This book will fuel further scholarship and also be useful in teaching. It will make a valuable addition to wide variety of Jewish studies collections.” – Marc Bregman, University of North Carolina at Greensboro“An important contribution not only to Talmudic studies but also to the general understanding of the human and emotional world of the Talmudic sages … From the academic standpoint Shulamit Valler’s Sorrow and Distress in the Talmud is written with great profundity, and the reader can without doubt feel the knowledge and the erudition of the author.” – Shalom Ratzabi“In this book Shulamit Valler gives the reader a glimpse into the emotional world of the Talmudic sages. She presents them, through unique and meticulous work, as sensitive, fragile, and very emotional people—at the end of the day, as human as the rest of us. That lesson alone is a great achievement, adding texture to the thick mythic cover Jewish tradition has put on this group of rabbis, who were responsible more than anyone else for directing Judaism toward the path it is on today.” – Admiel Kosman

Shulamit Valler (Ph.D. Jewish Theological Seminary) is a professor of Talmud and Chair of the Jewish History department at the University of Haifa. Her numerous publications include Women and Womanhood in the Babylonian Talmud (1999) and Massekhet Sukkaha Feminist Commentary on the Babylonian Talmud (2009).