Slowly he descended from the El Al super jet. He was all smiles. In his hand he held the new eleventh volume of the Talmudic Encylopedia: his “passport” to American Jewry.
Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner, director of the Talmudic Encyclopedia and of the Israeli Talmud, never comes empty handed on his periodic visits to this country. He brings with him a new volume of the Talmudic Encyclopedia or some other important books edited and published by his institute.
The energetic rabbi, whose oval face is graced by a short beard, was born in Warsaw. He studied at the Yeshiva of the saintly Chofetz Chaim in Radin and later attended the Yeshiva of Rabbi Shimon Shkop in Grodno.
In 1935 he arrived in Palestine. For some time he served as director and editor of a society founded by Rabbi Meir Berlin for the purpose of publishing the writings of the late Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook.
At the end of 1941 the projects of the Talmud Encyclopedia and the Israeli Talmud came into being. It was the fast day of the tenth of Teveth. Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin and the late Rabbi Meir Berlin talked about the tragic fate of European Jewry. “Europe’s great houses of study have been destroyed and the duty devolves upon us to preserve for future generations the great Torah treasures of our past,” Rabbi Berlin said. He suggested the publication of a large work in which, would be methodically arranged all conceptions, laws and customs of the Talmud, as defined and explained throughout the generations. Rabbi Zevin accepted the suggestion enthusiastically. Thus was born the idea of the Talmudic Encyclopedia.
A short time later, Rabbi Berlin formulated plans for the publication of a new Talmud edition which would be based on manuscripts and old printings and incorporate a digest of all important commentaries. Rabbi Hutner was appointed executive director of both literary ventures.
In the beginning there was only the idea and enthusiasm. Rabbi Hutner gathered a group of young and brilliant scholars. He asked the committee of Jerusalem’s Yeshurun Synagogue to permit his group to use the library facilities during the time it was closed to the public. There he quartered his scholars and gave them the go ahead signal on the great project which Rabbi Berlin had initiated. As for salary, said Rabbi Hutner, they had better not inquire too much about that, for he had not yet found all the answers.
After some time, the scholars transferred their “headquarters” to an old dilapidated building in the Mea Shearim quarter. Rabbi Hutner conducted the administrative activities from two small rooms in an office building in another part of the city.
The work was continued under most adverse material conditions. However, enthusiasm, idealism and devotion kept the wheels turning.
With the conclusion of the World War, Rabbi Hutner visited Jewish communities abroad. The purpose of his mission was two-fold: to photograph manuscripts needed in the preparation of the publications and to mobilize fund to support the projects.
In 1947 the first volume of the encyclopedia, edited by Rabbi Meir Berlin and SY. Zevin appeared. The enthusiastic welcome it was accorded, compensated the devoted workers for all the hardship they had endured and inspired them with hope and courage for the future.
In 1950, following the death of Rabbi Berlin, Chief Rabbi I. Herzog initiated the establishment of the Encylopedia Talmudit World Academy, to embrace the Talmudic Encyclopedia, the Israel edition of the Talmud, the Harry Fischel Institute for Torah and Talmudic legislation, as well as other research and study institutes. Rabbi Hutner chose an excellently located plot on the outskirts of Jerusalem and the building was begun. In recent years Yad HaRav Herzog, which was renamed after the death of the Chief Rabbi, has found in Sir Isaac Wolfson a warm and enthusiastic supporter and with his magnanimous and generosity, the first edifice was completed.
Yad Harav Herzog is a landmark in Jerusalem. Don’t miss seeing it when you visit the Holy City.
Ask the ever ready friendly Rabbi Hutner to show you around the magnificent building, to introduce you to its brilliant staff of researchers, presided over by the sublime and venerable editor. Rabbi S. Y. Zevin and to describe to you the various stages of the of the preparations of the encyclopedia and the Israeli Talmud. It is a thrilling and rewarding experience.
“The new eleventh volume of the encyclopedia is the tenth book to be published by our institutions in the current year,” Rabbi Hutner told us shortly after his arrival in New York.
“What is the purpose of your present visit?” we asked.
“We have come a long way in the last twenty years,” Hutner replied. “It is a far cry from the Yeshurun library, from the old dilapidated building in the Mea Shearim quarter, to the magnificent “Yad Harav Herzog.” It is a long way from the time our project was still a dream to our long list of publications.”
“We have still greater plans. We want to accelerate the completion of the entire set of the Hebrew encyclopedia and also publish an English edition. The first English volume is already in preparation.”
The Jewish Press, Friday, January 15, 1965