A short time ago the 19th volume of the Talmudic Encyclopedia was published. The appearance of each new volume of this monumental work is a Yoma Tava LeRabbanan, a day of joy for rabbis and scholars – for the Talmudic Encyclopedia is the rabbinic literary work par excellence of our generation.
This is the fourth volume of the encyclopedia to appear since the death in 1978 of its architect and editor-in-chief, Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin, at the venerable age of over ninety.
During most of his more than 35 years of service as editor-in-chief of the encyclopedia, Rabbi S.Y. Zevin decided which subjects were to appear as separate entries and established the structure, scope and definition of each article. In addition to writing articles of his own, he checked all the submitted entries and rewrote them in his brilliant, original neo-rabbinic style.
In the final years of his life, members of the encyclopedia’s staff actually acquired Rabbi Zevin’s style; as a result the encyclopedia’s unique style has been preserved.
I remember, about 13 years ago, visiting Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner, the director general of the encyclopedia, at Yad HaRav Herzog, the encyclopedia’s headquarters. Pointing to a great Talmudic scholar, the author of several books, Rabbi Hutner exclaimed: ״This man has mastered Rabbi Zevin’s style!״
After the death of Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan (Berlin), the founder of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, Rabbi Zevin eulogized him in an emotion-laden article in the beginning of the second volume of the encyclopedia.
The 16th volume of the encyclopedia, the first to appear after the death of Rabbi Zevin, opens with a brilliant essay by Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner depicting Rabbi Zevin as the inaugurator of a new era in Halakhic literature. Wrote Rabbi Hutner: ״Rabbi Zevin was not only the creator of a new Halakhic style … but also opened a new era, the era of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, whose task and aim it is to bring about a renaissance of Torah study, thought and literature … for the sake of the truth and the greatness of the Torah.״
The new volume of the encyclopedia, like the other three which appeared after the death of Rabbi Zevin, is in no way different from those which had been personally prepared by the unforgettable, late editor-in-chief. The entries are well structured and succinctly defined. The material, culled from a wide variety of sources, is presented in precise and clear language. The writers and editors of the encyclopedia have conscientiously and faithfully followed the paths mapped out for them by Rabbi Zevin!
Many entries in the new volume deal with the difficult and little-studied laws of Tohora and Tum’ah, some of them spreading over tens of pages (included are also a list of the degrees of uncleanliness and a diagram showing the ways in which Tum’ah can be communicated). Among other entries are: Tovat Hana’ah, Tumtum, To’eh BiDvar Mitzva and To’en VeNit’an. Two entries Toveh (spinning) and Tohen (grinding) deal with work forbidden on Shabbat. The article Tehol, which discusses the spleen of animals in connection with the dietary laws, is accompanied by sketches of that organ. All entries are divided into subheadings, each of which is devoted to a different aspect of the topic. Tal (dew) is divided into two subheadings which speak of Tal as it occurs in the liturgy and about Tal as a moisture rendering produce susceptible to uncleanliness, respectively. Tovei HaIr (representatives of the town) contains material on their authority, function, election and appointment and more.
The handsome volume—of more than 350 pages of double columns—like the preceding volumes of the Talmudic Encyclopedia, will be a welcome addition to the library of every Yeshiva, Shul and Torah scholar. Two years ago, Rabbi Yehoshua Hutner, during a visit to this country, suggested to the leadership of the Rabbinical Council of America that they sponsor a volume of the encyclopedia in honor of Rabbi Joseph Ber Soloveichik. The suggestion was gratefully accepted and the new volume carries a dedication—in reverence and in esteem—to Rabbi J. B. Soloveichik by his students and disciples.
Blessed be those who worked on that great Torah volume as well as those who contributed towards its publication!
By Tovia Preschel The Jewish Press, Friday, May 12, 1989 p. 22D