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