Well you could get one in any Jewish bookstore but just so you know, no one prints or sells the Talmud in just one book it's numerous volumes and I mean NUMEROUS
But you could also go to http://www.artscroll.com/ to browse
It's a HUGE collection of books, because the main principle of the Talmud is similar to a forum - it's a lot of Jewish wise men discussing how the traditions should be observed, over the course of many centuries. Many of the participants were dead, but that didn't make their points any less valid. Anyway, here's an on line version of the Talmud, you can see for yourself, it's really big:
The Talmud is quite extensive, it would not be possible to own a single-volume Talmud.
My recommendation is to pick one tract ate and buy an Artscroll--the Artscroll has English translation alongside the original Aramaic. There may be other translations, although I wouldn't know, I have only used the Artscroll. What kind of thing do you want to study? What created your interest in the Talmud? Because that could affect which part you would like to study. I'm warning you, the Talmud can be tough...good luck, enjoy, and happy learning!
Firstly - assuming from your question that you know very little about the Talmud -
This is the compilation of Jewish law, history, and folklore as it stood in roughly 500 CE (plus, usually it is packed with select commentaries through the 14Th century)
So (1) - its quite big.
Plus (2) - think about trying to read a compilation of the decisions of the US Supreme Court, interspersed with the biggest collection of American tall tales ever put in print, with absolutely no foundation in American law and society. Do you think you will make heads or tails of it?
This is what its like trying to learn the Talmud.
Please take that into consideration as you strike out on this endeavor.
That said - there are three major English translations
- one by a company called Artscroll,
- another by Soncino Press,
- the third by a fellow named Steinsaltz (I may have screwed up the spelling - so you may need to fish around)
You should be able to locate all three on the web.
It's a series of volumes and if you want translation, you need even more books. Assuming you don't speak Aramaic (a fair assumption if you don't know where to buy the Talmud!), your only good choice is the Artscroll edition. I believe that they have not finished translating the whole thing, but many volumes are already available.
Keep in mind that if you have little background in Judaism, you may still have trouble following it. [EDIT: In fact, I have decades of background in Judaism and I often still have trouble following it!]
This is a link to buy the first volume in the best translated edition available. It costs $33 and has extensive footnotes (will they pay me for this advertising?)
http://www.artscroll.com/Books/dtbr1.html
NB. Or, if I was wrong about your Aramaic, you can join me and we'll study together.
There isn't any such thing as the Talmud in a single book. There are many, many, MANY books of the Talmud. Here is an example. 73 Volumes here, $3,000.00:
http://www.artscroll.com/Books/fshas.html
I'd suggest that you get "The Midrash Says" too, which is a set of just five books. You can get them from your library but if they don't have it, then ask them to do an inter library loan for you. These are some of the Midrashim, if you want to know the rest of the story of what is in the Torah besides just the outline written there.
That's all the Written Torah is, is an outline.The biggest part of the Torah, the meanings and explanations of the Written Torah, is actually found in the Oral Torah like the Midrashim and Talmud. These were eventually written down too, but are still referred to as the Oral Torah.
Never seen a single volume edition- the shortest I have seen is a 6 volume edition - one volume for each Seder (a major division) of the Talmud. Unfortunately- a six volume edition is in Hebrew and Aramaic.
The only complete translation is the Schottenstein edition by Artscroll/Metsoraj Publication house. It is available in two sizes- the deaf Yomi size and a full size. Unless you have poor eye site- the deaf yo mi size is great (they are the ones I am buying- one volume a month...)
However- it is 73 volumes in the translation to cover the 36 tract ates in the Talmud- this is because the translation is often three or four pages of english for each page of the untranslated text- making some masechtas (books) three or four volumes in the transaltion as opposed to the single volume in the hebrew.
http://www.artscroll.com/Categories/tlm.html
The Artscroll page linking to the various editions.
Note- they also have an order line in the USA 1-800-MESORAH
Anyone know where I can buy the Talmud from ?
