(1898-1984). Talmudic scholar. Born in Russia, his early training was at the Mir and Slobodka yeshivot. After studying in France, Lieberman moved to Palestine in 1929, where he studied philology and classical literature at the Hebrew University. For a few years he was an instructor at the University and then became dean of the Harry Fischel Institute in Jerusalem. In 1940 he went to the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York, where he was professor of Talmud and later rector of the Rabbinical School.
His early interest was in the Jerusalem Talmud. In the 1930s he published a commentary on it and a brief commentary on the Tosefta. Subsequently, he undertook the publication of a critical edition of the Tosefta to the entire Talmud, which he entitled Tosefta Ki-Feshuta. Over half this work appeared before his death, and further volumes were produced posthumously by his students.
Lieberman's expertise in classical learning made it possible for him to identify many of the influences of Greek and Latin culture and language on rabbinic literature. His two volumes Greek in Jewish Palestine and Hellenism in Jewish Palestine are important contributions in their field.
Lieberman's many essays, books, and critical editions of rabbinic texts provided new directions for understanding the life, institutions, beliefs, and literary products of Jewish Palestine in the talmudic period. The Lieberman Institute, established in Jerusalem by the Jewish Theological Seminary in his memory, undertook the computerization of all manuscripts of the Babylonian Talmud in order to produce a definitive text.
The New Encyclopedia of Judaism. Copyright © 1989, 2002 by G.G. The Jerusalem Publishing House, Ltd. All rights reserved.
