Rabbi Carl M. Perkins
Cantor Jamie Gloth
Melissa Rudman, Executive Director 
Arlene Bryer, President

Baruch Dayan HaEmet

August 7, 2020 | 17 Av 5780
Dear Friends,

I am sorry to share the news that the great Talmud scholar, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, passed away today in Jerusalem. He was 83 years old. Click here to read the story in the JTA.
It’s hard to overestimate the impact Rabbi Steinsaltz had on Talmud study since he began publishing his own editions of the Talmud in the 1960s. Prior to then, the only Talmud texts that were commonly studied were offprints of the edition first published in Vilna at the beginning of the twentieth century. In that edition, the Hebrew/Aramaic text is presented as a steady stream of words, with no punctuation or paragraph divisions and no vowels. Hence, it is a challenge to read, even for native-Hebrew speakers. 
Steinsaltz decided to publish the text in an expanded format. He added punctuation and paragraph divisions, and many explanatory notes and diagrams. He also added his own running commentary. That commentary amounted to a translation of the Talmud into modern Hebrew, which increased the accessibility of the Talmud enormously, especially among non-religious Jews, in Israel and abroad.  
After completing the publication of the Babylonian Talmud with his Hebrew translation, Rabbi Steinsaltz began publishing Talmudic tractates in English translation with Random House. That effort faltered, but he persisted, and eventually partnered with the Koren publishing house in Israel to produce a fresh new translation and commentary in English. It included illustrations and even, as you can see below, photographs.
Steinsaltz’s translation and commentary, which were completed only a few years ago, are now available for free on-line by means of the Sefaria application.

Some may have thought that translating the Talmud into English with a commentary would mean that it would no longer be necessary to study Talmud with a teacher, and that Talmud classes would decline. I certainly haven’t found that to be true. On the contrary, Steinsaltz’s monumental work has only increased interest in and commitment to Talmud study. Talmud classes now flourish all over the world, and in many of these, students study the text using one or another of the Steinsaltz editions.

I first discovered the work of Rabbi Steinsaltz when I was a student in Israel in the 1970s. I considered taking a course with him -- until I discovered that it met at his home on Tuesday nights at 2:00 in the morning.  

There are times that I regret not taking that course.  

Just this morning, I was preparing a study sheet for my Daf Yomi (daily Talmud study) class that meets on Monday mornings. It included excerpts from Shabbat 105. On that page, the following passage appears:

.חָכָם שֶׁמֵּת — הַכֹּל קְרוֹבָיו

“When a sage passes away, everyone is like one of his relatives.” 

In other words, as the commentary puts it, “The death of a Torah scholar is a personal loss for every Jew.”  

May the memory of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, HaRav Adin Even-Yisrael, long remain a blessing in our lives and in the lives of all those who study Talmud. May the numbers of such students only increase! 

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Carl Perkins