Essential Figures in Jewish Scholarship

Book excerpt: Essential Figures in Jewish Scholarship compiles thorough but manageable entries on the figures most vital to an understanding the scholarship of the post-Talmudic era. Despite the fact that these scholars have been of great importance to the continued interpretation of religious texts for more than a millennium, they are typically not given as much attention as their Talmudic-era predecessors. In this valuable reference, Dr. Ronald L. Eisenberg catalogs and explains the importance of more than two hundred figures who are most vital to an understanding of the teachings of the post-Talmudic rabbis. For these figures, who fall into the categories of Geonim (rabbis writing from 600–1100), Rishonim (1100—1500), and Acharonim (1500–present day), Eisenberg provides summaries of major teachings and scholarly contributions, as well as biographical information and illustrative quotations from relevant writings.