Amazon.com The Talmud and the Internet by Jonathan Rosen is a small， wise， ingenious meditation on faith， technology， literature， and love. In the book's opening pages， Rosen (formerly the culture editor of Forward) seeks solace after his grandmother's death in the poetry of John Donne. Nagged by a half-remembered phrase from one poem， Rosen tracked down the text online， and "For one moment， there in dimensionless， chilly cyberspace， I felt close to my grandmother， close to John Donne， and close to some stranger who， as it happens， designs software for a living." In the Internet's "world of unbounded curiosity， of argument and information， where anyone with a modem can wander out of the wilderness for a while， ask a question and receive an answer，" Rosen finds a real parallel to the Talmud， "a place where everything exists， if only one knows how and where to look." The literary resemblance has a cultural resonance， too. Rosen observes that "the Talmud offered a virtual home for an uprooted culture， and grew out of the Jewish need to pack civilization into words and wander out into the world." And the Internet suggests to Rosen "a similar sense of Diaspora， a feeling of being everywhere and nowhere. Where else but in the middle of Diaspora do you need a homepage?" In Rosen's analysis， the Internet and the Talmud signal and salve social and spiritual isolation. His book does this same thing， too. --Michael Joseph Gross From Publishers Weekly In 1990， when the Forward was established as a national Jewish weekly newspaper， Rosen was appointed arts and culture editor. For 10 years， until his recent resignation， he presided over a sprightly and highly regarded section of features and book reviews. This book is an autobiographical memoir in which he muses about his experiences and his family， while comparing the ocean of the Talmud with the vastness of the Internet. Both are described in clear language as unfinished metaphors for tradition and technology. Rosen artfully mingles facts about his wife， parents and grandmothers with erudite thoughts about his broad range of reading in Judaica and the classics. He explores John Donne， the Odyssey， Josephus and Henry Adams， mingling them with his admiration for Rabbi Akiva and Yochanan ben Zakkhai (the founder of Yavneh， where "Talmudic culture was saved"). The book ends with a moving account of visiting the present-day Lord Balfour on his Scottish estate， where Rosen's father spent WWII， having escaped from Vienna on a Kindertransport. Finally， Rosen expresses the hope that his baby daughter will maintain her connection to family history and the past， represented by the Talmud， while embracing the future， represented by the Internet. The book reveals far more about the author than it does about the Talmud or the Net， but it successfully introduces readers to all three with considerable sensitivity. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews