12/12/09

Hebrewbooks.org has digitized Rabbi Saul Lieberman - שאול ליברמן

We have mixed feelings about the legacy of Professor Saul Lieberman. On the one hand, many literate Talmudists venerate his work and consider him a genius of the past generation.

On the other hand, a review, attributed to Lieberman and published after his death, committed a grievous act of unmitigated disrespect to the work of one of my teachers. Alas, diatribes do not expire after a set time, unlike copyrights.

We assume the JTS copyrights to these works have lapsed and that leaves them in the public domain. We hope and trust that the Lubavitch Hasidim who run hebrewbooks.org have confirmed their rights to post all of their digital versions, since the physical books are still being sold by JTS. 

"Who owns the rights to digital editions?" is a hot topic of debate now if we judge from the article on the front page of today's Times, "Legal Battles Over E-Book Rights to Older Books" by MOTOKO RICH.

Hebrewbooks.org is a mighty useful Talmudic resource. Here are their links to some Lieberman books:
 על הירושלמי

ירושלים
תרפט
 תוספת ראשונים-חלק ראשון

ירושלים
תרצז
 תוספת ראשונים-חלק רביעי

ירושלים
תרצט
 תוספת ראשונים-חלק שלישי

ירושלים
תרצט
 תוספת ראשונים-חלק שני

ירושלים
תרצז
 תוספתא כפשוטה על סדר זרעים

נ.י.
תשטו
 תוספתא כפשוטה על סדר מועד

נ.י.
תשטו
 תוספתא כפשוטה על סדר נשים-חלק א

נ.י.
תשטו
 תוספתא כפשוטה על סדר נשים-חלק ב

נ.י.
תשטו
 תוספתא כפשוטה-חלק א-זרעים ח”א

נ.י.
תשטו
 תוספתא כפשוטה-חלק ב-זרעים ח”ב

נ.י.
תשטו
 תוספתא כפשוטה-חלק ג-מועד ח”א

נ.י.
תשכב
 תוספתא כפשוטה-חלק ד-מועד ח”ב

נ.י.
תשכב
 תוספתא כפשוטה-חלק ה-מועד ח”ג

נ.י.
תשכב
 תוספתא כפשוטה-חלק ו-נשים ח”א

נ.י.
תשכז
 תוספתא כפשוטה-חלק ז-נשים ח”ב

נ.י.
תשכז
 תוספתא כפשוטה-חלק ח-נשים ח”ג

נ.י.
תשלג

PS: The most comprehensive Tosefta site (yes there is one) is Tosefta Online, which links to these and many more Tosefta resources.

Note Well: Many of the questions about the nature of Tosefta and its relationship to Mishnah were thoroughly researched and resolved in published works that are not referenced on that site - specifically e.g., our own monograph, The Mishnaic Law of Blessings and Prayers: Tractate Berakhot, republished as, Part One: Mishnah-Tosefta Berakhot in The Law of Agriculture in the Mishnah and the Tosefta: Translation, Commentary, Theology. Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1, the Ancient near East. Brill Academic Pub, 2005.

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