This issue of the magazine includes:

• Point of View: Talmud by Naum Pereferkovich. Author, Readers, Text

The scientific and public activity of linguist and literary scholar Naum Abramovich Pereferkovich (1871–1940) was extremely broad. At the end of 19th and the beginning of 20th century, he published articles on different public problems in St. Petersburg Russian and Russian-Jewish magazines, prepared scientific articles for major Russian encyclopedias, wrote textbooks on Judaism for Jewish school children as well as popular dictionaries of synonyms and rhymes in Russian. He was among the initiators of the famous Russian-language Jewish Encyclopedia in 16 volumes (1908–1913). At the end of his life, he was active in Yiddish language research. But the major work of his life is his Russian translation of the Mishna and Tosefta published between 1897 and 1911 (two editions in 8 and 5 volumes, respectively). Even today, it is the most complete Russian translation of talmudic literature. The article analyzes different aspects of his translation and emphasizes its importance for contemporary readers, most importantly—for religious Jewish readers interested in self-education.

• Synopses: Two New Books

The brief reviews present two recently published books of memoirs. The recollections of Vladimir Shliapentokh, the well-known Soviet and later, American sociologist, analyze the author's experiences as an intellectual and Jew in Soviet totalitarian society. The book was published in St. Petersburg in 2003. The classical memoirs by Paulina Vengerova (1833–1916) originally written in German provide a detailed picture of traditional Jewish life in Russia in 19th century. Their Russian translation was published for the first time in 2003 by Gesharim Russian-Israeli publishers.

• Looking Through Russian Literary Magazines: Novels and Articles of Jewish Interest

• Jewish Calendar of Significant Dates: March–April 2004

• Bibliography: 105 New Books