One of the Uncommon Tractates of Shas- Masechet Avodah Zarah. Talmud Bavli Bomberg. First Print. Venice, 1520.

One of the Uncommon Tractates of Shas- Masechet Avodah Zarah. Talmud Bavli Bomberg. First Print. Venice, 1520.

Tractate Avodah Zarah, with the commentaries of Rashi and Tosafot. A complete volume of the famed first set of Talmud printed by the prominent printer Daniel Bomberg, in his press in Venice.

This Venice Shas became the template of the page format of the Talmud as we know it today and set the precedent for the number of pages in each tractate.

This was replicated in all subsequent Talmud publications and all tractate page number references follow this setup until today.

Rabbi Rephael Nathan Nota Rabinowitz, a prominent commentator on Talmud printings wrote about this edition: “The format and appearance of this Talmud embodies its beauty and splendor, the paper is beautiful and the letters black and bold…all subsequent printings do not match its beauty” (Essay on the Talmud printing p.41)

For the first time, the Piskei HaRosh are printed the end of the tractate. Additionally, this is the first printing to include the Rambam’s commentary on Mishanyot. Magnificent printing on thick paper, in dark ink.

This is one of the rare tractates of the Venice Shas due to its incendiary content dealing with topics of Jews and non-Jews. Nonetheless, it survived burnings of the Talmud, and censorship by the non-Jewish authorities who opposed the Talmud.

Venice, 1520. Daniel Bomberg Press.

97 leaves. 33.5 cm.

Stefansky Sifrei Yesod No. 41.

Daniel Bomberg – ‘Leader of Printers’ (1475-1549) was a most prominent printer of Hebrew books, active during the first century of printing. Bomberg was born in Antwerp, Belgium to a Christiann merchant. He moved to Venice where he established the first Venetian Hebrew Printing House. Despite not being Jewish, Bomberg greatly influenced Hebrew printing both in his lifetime as well as for future generations. He is famed as the leading printer of Hebrew books in the 16th Century.

During the years 1516-1549, Bomberg printed approximately 250 titles, including seminal Jewish works that had never been previously published. Bomberg was the first to print the Talmud Bavli in its entirety, the Talmud Yerushalmi and the Mikraot Gedolot Tanach. Up until 1543, Bomberg’s press was the only one operating in Venice. Christian entrepreneurs, jealous of his success, then followed suit, and set up competing Printing Houses.

Talmud Bavli, Venice, 1520-1523. First Edition Printed in its Entirety. Bomberg Press:

This is likely the most impressive accomplishments of the Bomberg Press. Up until this point, only individual tractates of the Talmud were printed in Spain, prior to the Expulsion. This was followed by the Soncino Family Press publications.

However, Bomberg was the first to print the complete Talmud Bavli. This famed edition, ‘The Venice Print’ became the template for all subsequent publications of the Talmud.

Bomberg obtained a special papal license from the Pope Leo X, and hired expert scholars to work on the edition. They referenced as many manuscripts of the commentaries Rashi, Tosafot and the Rosh they could obtain. This ensured they would produce a product that would be optimally accurate, hence this edition is of extreme import. Additionally, this edition is almost entirely unaffected by censorship changes, unlike the tractates published by Soncino.

Despite being a mammoth undertaking, this project was executed rapidly. The publication took place between 1520-1523, amazingly completed in under three years.