Notes
It is said that if halachah provides us with the "how" of Judaism, then aggadah provides us with the "why." Ein Yaakov, compiled by Rabbi Yaakov Ibn Chaviv over a period of twenty years, and first published in 1516, is the classic compendium of talmudic aggados (both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmuds) with a commentary that incorporates the ideas of the great Torah and Talmud commentators such as Rashi, Tosafos, Ramban, Rambam, the Ritva, the Gaon of Vilna, and also includes quotations from the commentaries of the Rishonim.
Despite the fact that great personalities such as the Gaon of Vilna and Schneur Zalman of Liadi long considered the aggados to be a key in unlocking the secrets of the Torah, serious scholars continue to overlook these passages in the Talmud because of the difficulties they encounter with the language, style, or mode of presentation of the material. It is for those who seek a basic but thorough understanding of these aggados that Chanoch Gebhard and Dovid Landesman dedicate this series of translations of Ein Yaakov.
