Colophon: Maimonides’ Mishneh Torah

And we, in our humble opinion, state that it was done well, although the labor was very great, and it ran very quickly, and according to our sharpness of wit at that time we examined it well, for we were warned by what R. Akiva commanded to R. Simeon bar Yoḥai on the subject of Passover Eve [see b. Pesaḥim 112a], that when you teach your son, teach him from a well-proofread book, and they ask what that is, and they teach: Raba said, in raising a new matter, that an error, once learned one way, stays that way, and Rashi of blessed memory interpreted “a new matter” to mean that a child learns afresh, that is to say, when he starts to learn.

And the Tosafot raises a problem here, let us say according to Raba himself: He says in the chapter not to dig because the error will come out by itself, and they explain that if someone learns something before reviewing material learned earlier—and is imprecise—he can understand the error by himself when he grows up; but if it is a case of a book that is not well proofread, he will trust the book and will not emerge from his error. And this seems similar to what we learn in the chapter “Ha-mekubal” [“He who receives,” b. Bava Meẓi‘a 109a], where Raba says: the cases of a teacher of children, a planter of trees, a ritual slaughterer, a barber, and a local scribe—all of them are required to be reliable and have a similar status in that respect [because their errors cannot be corrected]. Maimonides [Hilkhot skhirut (Laws of Salary) 10:5.7] interprets “local scribe” as a scribe who makes an error in writing a promissory note, like a teacher of children who sins toward the children and either does not teach or teaches in error, and also according to the interpretation of Rabbenu ḥananel and also apparently R″Y.¹ And Rashi interprets “local scribe” as one who writes a Torah scroll with an error, and he is challenged, because this is not a loss that cannot be corrected, because one can proofread [and correct the text], and it seems to them that the interpretation of Maimonides and of Rabbenu ḥananel—that is, a scribe who makes an error in a note, because it cannot be corrected—that alas this is a loss that cannot be rectified, for once it is done it is done. And the Tosafot challenged him from that folio, for it is written that he should not dig, because an error will come out by itself. [But this is not true] and the solution is that at the time when they were learning incorrect things, the learning of truth was annulled, and here, too, the learning of truth was annulled; and this is a great loss for the many—destruction and great injustice according to the Rosh [Asher ben Yeḥiel (1250–1327)] in b. Ketubbot [19a] and the commentary of the Tosafot on “let there not dwell in your tent a book that is not proofread.”

If we find an error in a book, be it the Written Torah or the Oral Law—since now that it has been placed in books it makes no difference—and especially the Oral Law, from which to permit what is prohibited or to prohibit what is permitted and both find the innocent guilty, you have no greater injustice and destruction than that. In sum, for that reason, we have paid great attention while proofreading. And also we were careful because of what R. Ishmael said: My son, be careful in your labor because your labor is the labor of heaven, lest you leave out or add a letter and find yourself guilty to the entire world [b. Eruvin 13a]. Although in several places I proofread and corrected, I did not trust my own weak opinion. Do I imagine myself, the weak and humble, bringing myself into the great ones like these—perish the thought for me and the seed of my father. However, may the Lord place me forward so that people will not fail in their work, and I did not finish until I had seen a Gemara with a well-edited text, and we studied it until it was clear to us and evident and transparent. And Maimonides and R. Solomon Ibn Adret in their new readings have already warned about this and remonstrated, lest one offer a suggestion [i.e., a ruling] on a hunch . . . and therefore according to this it was necessary to be very cautious in the version lest people make an error with their tongues, and avoid the error of Yoav.² And how hard the earlier and later authorities labored to straighten out versions, and our rabbis, the sages of the Talmud spoke of faulty texts.