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Summaries 39*

Rav Sherira’s Glossary of Tractate
Shabbat from the Babylonian Talmud

Dan Greenberg

The Ben-Zvi Institute and University of Haifa
The Babylonian Talmud treats non-legalistic everyday subject matter in addition
to its well-known discussions of Jewish law. This type of discussion can be
called "realistic," and deals with names of diseases, types of medication, pieces
of jewelry, customs etc. Due to the historical vagaries of geography, time
period, and political authority word meanings undergo change. Many words
that form the realistic discussions of the Talmud grew unclear. To meet this need,
glossaries to the Talmud were composed. This unknown glossary, only lately
revealed, is one of the first commentaries on the Talmud. Besides the translation
of difficut words, it contains the beginning of classical commentary, linguistic
comments, descriptions of various customs, and comparison of alternateversions
of the Talmud. This glossary contains old commentarial traditions taught in the
Babylonians academies and used by later commentators.

Between Sicily and the Near East:
the Sicilian Expulsion in the
Cairo Genizah

Abraham David

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

This article focuses on the relationship between Sicily and the Near East as
reflected in the Cairo Genizah and other sources. The role of commerce at the end