Yaacov Sussman

Yaakov Sussmann (; born August 31, 1931) is an Israeli philologist and scholar of the Talmud. He is a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Talmud at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and a recipient of the Israel Prize for Talmudic Studies.

Biography

Sussmann was born in Budapest, Hungary. His parents were descendants of prominent rabbinical families, and his paternal grandfather served as the Chief Rabbi of Budapest. On his mother's side, he is a fifth-generation descendant of the Chatam Sofer. Following the Nazi occupation of Hungary, he and his family escaped on the Kastner train, traveling via Bergen-Belsen to Switzerland, where he continued his studies in yeshivas. In 1949, he immigrated to Israel and studied at Hebron Yeshiva.

A few years after arriving in Israel, Sussmann pursued a career in academia. After obtaining his high school diploma in 1954, he enrolled at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he studied Talmud and Bible. Later, he began lecturing on Talmud and Jewish history. After completing his undergraduate and master's degrees with distinction, he earned his PhD in 1970 (under the supervision of Ephraim Urbach) with a dissertation titled "Babylonian Sugiyot to the Orders Zeraim and Tohorot". In 1975, he was appointed as an Associate Professor, and in 1980, he became a Full Professor. Over the years, he served as the head of the Department of Talmud and the director of the Institute of Jewish Studies.

In 1997, he was awarded the Israel Prize for his significant contribution to Talmudic studies.

He resides in the Ramat Denya neighborhood of Jerusalem.

Awards and recognition 1997 - Israel Prize for Talmudic Studies

Published works

Books Otzar Ktav Yad HaTalmudim (The Treasury of Talmudic Manuscripts), 3 volumes, co-authored with Yoav Rosenthal and Aharon Sheweka, Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi, 2012.

Genizei HaYerushalmi (The Hidden Manuscripts of the Jerusalem Talmud), co-authored with Binyamin Elitzur, Jerusalem: Yad Yitzhak Ben Zvi, 2020.

Articles

Yaakov Sussmann. “The History of Halakha and the Dead Sea Scrolls — Preliminary Observations on Miqṣat Ma’ase Ha-Torah (4QMMT)" (In Hebrew) Tarbiz no. 59 (1989): 11–76. Yaakov Sussmann. “The Ashkenazi Yerushalmi MS — ‘Sefer Yerushalmi’" (In Hebrew) Tarbiz no. 65(1995): 37–63. Ya’akov Sussmann. “The Yerushalmi in the Literature of the Rishonim: 100 Years after ‘Ahavat Zion ViYerushalaim’" Jewish Studies 41 (2002): 17–28.