Two weeks ago. my wife and I had the honor and privilege to attend an extraordinary Torah celebration. A festive dinner was held in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Talmudic Encyclopedia and the 90th birthday of Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner, the devoted Executive Director of the Talmudic Encyclopedia and the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud.
Outstanding personalities who addressed the dinner, which was held at Jerusalem’s Renaissance Hotel, included Moshe Katsav, the president of Israel; Chief Rabbi Rav Israel Meir Lau; Ehud Olmert, the mayor of Jerusalem; and Rabbi Zalman Nehemia Goldberg, head of the Beth Din HaGadol in Jerusalem and head of the editorial board of the Talmudic Encyclopedia. Hazzan Moshe Stern offered cantorial selections.
The guests found at their seats a beautifully written and illustrated booklet setting forth the history of the encyclopedia, of which 24 volumes (the latest volume includes the entries “Yahaloku” to ‘’Ya’aleh VeYavo”) and two volumes of indices — an index of subjects and an index of citations from the Babylonian Talmud — have appeared thus far.
From the booklet, which was written by Rabbi Uri Dassberg, a member of the encyclopedia’s staff, we learn that when the late Rabbi Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan) conceived of the idea of publishing a Talmudic encyclopedia, he thought of it as an expanded Talmudic lexicon which would explain all the Talmudic concepts and refer the student to the relevant sources. It was to serve the general public as well as accomplished Talmudists, since not every student has
the time to thoroughly clarify for himself all of the concepts he comes across during his studies.
Rabbi Berlin himself prepared a sample entry on the prohibition of Ever Min HaHai (a limb or part cut off from a living animal). It consisted of 500 words.
Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, who had been invited by Rabbi Berlin to serve as editor of the encyclopedia, was in favor of a much larger scope of the encyclopedia. He prepared a draft for the same entry. Quoting both the Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud, Maimonides as well as earlier and later authorities, it was five times the size of Rabbi Berlin’s sketch. It wasn’t just an entry appropriate for an enlarged Talmudic dictionary, but an encyclopedia article in the full sense of the word. Rabbi Berlin accepted Rabbi Zevin’s views with regard to the contents of Talmudic encyclopedia and the manner of its presentation.
Rabbi Berlin died on the 19th of Nissan, 5709 (1949), several months before the publication of the second volume of the encyclopedia.
Rabbi Zevin served as editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia until his death in 1979. Not only did he have the final say in coining the names and in defining the individual entries as well as in determining their structures and contents, but he also rewrote them in the precise and concise neo-rabbinic style which he had created. (In his brilliant essay, “Rabbi Zevin as the Inaugurator of a New Period in Halakhic Literature,” Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner describes Rabbi Zevin’s role in the Torah world of his day.)
During the work on the encyclopedia. Rabbi Zevin encountered Halakhic problems, the solutions to which are not found in extant rabbinic literature. In the booklet mentioned above there is a reproduction of an exchange of letters between Rabbi Zevin and Rabbis Z.H.P. Frank and Isser Zalman Meltzer relating to the Scriptural or Rabbinic status of certain prohibitions for a mourner.
There is also a reproduction of Rabbi Zevin’s handwritten comments and notes on an entry written by a coworker, which provides us with an intimate glance at Rabbi Zevin’s method of research.
Over the years, the encyclopedia’s range was further expanded. The last 50 years saw the publication of various works which discuss, both at length and in depth, certain Halakhic topics. This new rabbinic literature prompted the editors of the encyclopedia to widen its scope still further and to include in its entries all that has been written about the subject matter. As a consequence, the entries in the later volumes are proportionately much larger than those of the earlier ones. Moreover, whereas the earlier volumes are mostly used by people in search for certain information, the later volumes also serve in an increasing measure, as textbooks for students seeking systematic instruction in different areas of Halakha.
As mentioned earlier, 24 volumes of the encyclopedia have appeared thus far. The 25th volume is scheduled to appear in the near future. It will feature the entries Yippui Koah to Yeshivat Eretz Yisrael. A large entry, consist of ten chapters, is devoted to Yerushalayim.
A separate reprint of two chapters of this entry was presented as a gift to all who attended the festive dinner.
(Continued next week)
The Jewish Press, Friday, July 6, 2001
(Continued from last week)
The highlight of the festive evening was the presentation to Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner, on the occasion of his 90th birthday, of a certificate of appreciation for his devoted service of 60 years as executive director of the Talmudic Encyclopedia and the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud. The presentation was made by Rabbi Nahum Eliezer Rabinovitch, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Birkat Moshe of Ma’ale Adumim, who serves as president of Yad HaRav Herzog.
In his address Rabbi Y. Hutner expressed gratitude to the L-rd for having been privileged to devote the greater part of his life to an important and unique project of the Torah world: The Talmudic Encyclopedia.
Though be didn’t want to speak at length, he said he had to mention, at least briefly, two crises he lived through during his work with the encyclopedia
The first crisis was caused by the death of Rabbi Meir Berlin (Bar-Ilan) during Passover 5709 (1949). “I was left without the father of our enterprise and its great provider. However, I was able to raise funds from new public sources to finance our activities and thus we were able to continue our work,” Rabbi Hutner said.
About 30 years later the second crisis occurred. It was caused by the death of Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, the editor-in-chief and architect of the encyclopedia. Fortunately, by that time 15 volumes of the encyclopedia had already appeared and Rabbi Zevin had been able to train some of his co-workers in his style of writing and editing. They continue the work in his style and spirit.
Rabbi Hutner concluded by wishing success to all who worked on the encyclopedia. He mentioned in particular the assistant director, Rabbi Ahron Batt, who, he said, had helped the encyclopedia during its recent financial difficulties.
“May be be privileged to publish additional volumes at a quicker rate than they appeared in the past,” Rabbi Hutner concluded.
Despite his advanced age, Rabbi Hutner is found every day at his desk at Yad HaRav Herzog
I have been close to Rabbi Hutner for 45 years. I have not only followed closely his activities in Israel, but I met with him numerous times during his visits to the U.S., when be told me about his work and plans. On the occasion of Rabbi Hutner’s 90th birthday, I therefore feel duty-.bound to tell the reader something about his personality and his widespread activities to promote the study and knowledge of the Talmud.
Rabbi Hutner, the scion of a family of prominent rabbis, was born in Warsaw, where his father. Rabbi Yehuda Leib Hutner, was a member of the city’s Beth Din.
He studied at Warsaw’s Torat Hayyim Yeshiva, which was headed by Rabbi Hirsh Glikson, son-in-law of Rabbi Hayyim Soloveichik of Brisk; at the Yeshiva of the Hafetz Hayyim in Radun; and with Rabbi Shimeon Shkop at the Shaarei Torah Yeshiva in Grodno.
In 1934 he settled in the Land of Israel and was a member of the Harry Fischel Institute, in Jerusalem for two years.
‘ In 1936 he founded, together with his brother-in-law Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook and Rabbi Meir Berlin (Bar-IIan), the “Society for the Publication of the Writings of Rabbi’ A.Y. HaKohen Kook,” which printed the first ten volumes of Rabbi Kook’s collected writings.
Rabbi Hutner was the right-hand man of Rabbi Meir Berlin when the latter founded the Talmudic Encyclopedia and the Institute for the Israeli Talmud. Subsequently he became the executive director of both institutions.
During the first two decades of their existence, these two institutes had no home of their own. They maintained an office on Ben Yehuda Street in Jerusalem. A group of scholars did research at the library of the Yeshurun Synagogue and later in a building opposite the Slonim Yeshiva.Rabbi Zevin did the editing of the encyclopedia at his home.
In1950 Chief Rabbi Y.I. Herzog, Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner and Rabbi Herbert Goldstein of New York established EMET (Ihud Mifalim Toratiyyim Sifrutiyyim — Union of Institutes for Torah Literature) whose aim was to promote, widen and coordinate the efforts of existing institutes for rabbinical research and literature. EMET originally embraced the Talmudic Encyclopedia, the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud, the Harry Fischel Institute for Torah Legislation, and the Institute for Rabbinic Judges and Rabbis (the latter two had been established by the New York philanthropist Harry Fischel).
EMET, which after the death of Rabbi Herzog in 1959 was renamed, in his honor, Yad Harav Herzog (“The Rabbi Herzog World Academy”), also set itself the task of building a campus for its institutions. The first building, on a 16-dunam plot opposite Mount Herzl in Jerusalem, was dedicated toward the end of 1963. The imposing edifice has been the home of the Talmudic Encyclopedia and the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud ever since. Yad HaRav Herzog’s library boasts 50,000 volumes — including many rare books — 10,000 microfilms of rabbinic manuscripts as well as microfilms of many thousands of Cairo Genizah fragments.
Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner has been the executive director of Yad HaRav Herzog since its establishment.
(Continued next week)
Friday, July 13, 2001
(Conclusion)
The Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud has published, over the years, numerous scholarly editions of commentaries, novellae and decisions by early authorities.
It has also published 15 volumes of variant readings of the Mishna and the Babylonian Talmud (2 volumes on the Mishna, Seder Zeraim, and 13 volumes on Tractates Yevamot, Ketubbot, Nedarim, Sotah and Gittin). The readings were collected from manuscripts, fragments of the Cairo Genizah and early printed editions, and were collated with quotations from the Talmud in early rabbinic literature. The volumes on the Mishna include R. Obadiah Bertinoro’s commentary with variant readings based on manuscripts and early printed editions. The volumes on the Talmud tractates offer variant readings of Rashi (on the basis of manuscripts).
Each volume was prepared by a staff of about 20 scholars headed by a chief editor. Editors-in-chief included the late Rabbi Nissan Sacks, Rabbi Abraham Liss, and Rabbi Moshe Hershler.
Recent decades have witnessed the discovery in the archives of various countries, especially in Italy, of thousands of pages and fragments of Hebrew manuscripts, which had been used in the binding of books or in the preparation of files and covers for the preservation of important documents.
‘The Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud has made use of the variant readings found in the newly discovered material, which scholars have named the “European Genizah.”
In his introduction to the fourth volume of the variant readings of Tractate Yevamot, Rabbi Hutner writes about the recent discovery of the “European Genizah.”
In this introduction Rabbi Hutner also states that in addition to the volumes of variant readings published thus far, the scholars of the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud have prepared variant readings on the entire Mishna and the entire Babylonian Talmud. For that purpose they examined all known manuscripts (including those discovered in recent years in Russian and other libraries), the fragments of the Cairo Genizah and the “European Genizah,” and the first editions printed in Spain and Italy.
This great treasure of variant readings — to which new material is constantly being added — is accessible to scholars. Scholars from various countries and different institutions do. indeed, visit Yad HaRav Herzog to consult the variant readings which fill 4,000 notebooks. In their
publications they express their indebtedness to the Institute for the Complete Israeli Talmud. •
***
Encouraged by friends and supporters of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, Rabbi Hutner had been pondering for years the publication of an English edition of this work. In 1960 he discussed his idea with Rabbi Dr. Isidore Epstein, principal of London’s Jews College and editor-in-chief of
the Soncino English translation of the Talmud, who received it enthusiastically.
Entrusted with the task of serving as editor. Dr. Epstein set to work immediately preparing the first volume. He died in the spring of 1962 at the age of 68. By that time he had succeeded in translating and editing about half of the first volume. After Dr. Epstein’s death, Rabb Dr. Harry Freedman, who had collaborated on the Soncino Talmud, was named editor of the English edition.
The first volume was published in 1969. Since then four additional volumes have appeared. Volume 6 is now in print. In his foreword to the first volume, Rabbi Hutner expressed his thanks to the New York philanthropist, Abraham M. Druckman and to the New York Board of Trustees of Yad HaRav Herzog and its leaders, Rabbi Dr. Herbert S. Goldstein, Rabbi Dr. Leo Jung, Rabbi Dr., Gilbert Klaperman, Rabbi Dr. Simon Langer and Mr. N Goller for
their great help in the production of this volume
Of all those mentioned, only Rabbi Dr. Gilbert Klaperman is still with us. He has been a strong supporter of Yad HaRav Herzog for decades and has served for years as chairman of EMET, the Rabbi Herzog World Academy.
The booklet which was distributed at the dinner on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Talmudic Encyclopedia featured the greetings Rabbi Klaperman had sent to Rabbi Hutner: “In honor of Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner, my dear friend, mentor and teacher for over 40 years. Your vision, spirit and dedication serve me as a light and inspiration.”
The Jewish Press, Friday, July 20, 2001