Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american-jewish publisher”. Today it says “jewish scholar”.
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Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2010
Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845–1904) was an American-Jewish publisher, known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English .1Born with the surname "Frumkin", Michael Levi was the son of Alexander Sender Frumkin and half brother of Israel Dov Bär Frumkin , the editor of The Havatzeleth newspaper in Jerusalem , Arieh Tzvi Hirsch Frumkin and Guishe Frumkin-Navon. Michael Levi was named after his grandfather, Aaron ha-Levi ben Moses of Staroselye , a prominent rabbi of the Chabad movement, who created his own Hasidic group in Usha and then in Starosjle . Michael therefore grew up in a Hasidic Chabad atmosphere. He changed his name to Rodkinson for unknown reasons, maybe after his mother's name "Rada". He lived in Germany for a period of time where he published some of his books, then moved to the United States and settled in New York , where he worked as a publisher. Among his works is an uncompleted translation of the Babylonian Talmud to English. The translation was harshly reviewed, eliciting the derision of talmudists such as Kaufmann Kohler , who labeled Rodkinson a "sham scholar" for the many apparently misinformed or naive translations of common talmudical terms. Rodkinson collected many stories from his childhood amongst the Hassidim, and compiled these into books that he later published. These were among the first books to tell stories in Hebrew and Yiddish . (Until then, Hebrew and Yiddish books were mostly explanations of the Jewish law .) Rodkinson married three times; one of his children was Max Rodkinson , a famous actor of the Yiddish theater in New York. Max changed his name to "Rudolph Marks" because his father did not want him to use the "Rodkinson" name as a Yiddish actor. After a few years of acting he left the stage and became a lawyer, taking back his original name.2English Wikisource has original text related to this article: Author:Michael Levi Rodkinson Kohler, K.3
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 364219374.
The opening as it stood in 2015 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845–1904) was an American-Jewish publisher, known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English . Born with the surname "Frumkin", Michael Levi was the son of Alexander Sender Frumkin and half brother of Israel Dov Bär Frumkin , the editor of The Havatzeleth newspaper in Jerusalem , Arieh Tzvi Hirsch Frumkin and Guishe Frumkin-Navon. Michael Levi was named after his grandfather, Aaron ha-Levi ben Moses of Staroselye , a prominent rabbi of the Chabad movement, who created his own Hasidic group in Usha and then in Starosjle . Michael therefore grew up in a Hasidic Chabad atmosphere. He changed his name to Rodkinson for unknown reasons, maybe after his mother's name "Rada". He lived in Germany for a period of time where he published some of his books, then moved to the United States and settled in New York , where he worked as a publisher. Among his works is an uncompleted translation of the Babylonian Talmud to English. The translation was harshly reviewed, eliciting the derision of talmudists such as Kaufmann Kohler , who labeled Rodkinson a "sham scholar" for the many apparently misinformed or naive translations of common talmudical terms. Rodkinson collected many stories from his childhood amongst the Hassidim, and compiled these into books that he later published. These were among the first books to tell stories in Hebrew and Yiddish . (Until then, Hebrew and Yiddish books were mostly explanations of the Jewish law .) Rodkinson married three times; one of his children was Max Rodkinson , a famous actor of the Yiddish theater in New York. Max changed his name to "Rudolph Marks" because his father did not want him to use the "Rodkinson" name as a Yiddish actor. After a few years of acting he left the stage and became a lawyer, taking back his original name.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 663845590.
The opening as it stood in 2020 12 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
Michael Levi Rodkinson Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845–1904) was an American publisher, known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 892142473.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023
American publisher Michael Levi Rodkinson (1845 – January 4, 1904) was a Jewish scholar, an early Hasidic historiographer and an American publisher. Rodkinson is known for being the first to translate the Babylonian Talmud to English . Rodkinson’s literary works cover topics in Hasidic historiography as well as Judaic studies associated with the Haskalah movement.Parody in Jewish Literature .
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1156580948. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “american-jewish publisher”. Today it says “jewish scholar”. Read the current article and compare.
2010
2015
2020
Oct '23
2025
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What Wikipedia says this is
Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.
Then
american-jewish publisher
Now
jewish scholar
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
