Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1993-02-25

              The Ohio Jewish Chronicle
Serving Columbus and, tlie Central Ohio
Jewish Community since 1922,
VOLUME 71 FEBRUARY 25, 1993
NUMBER 8 4ADAR5753
DEVOTED TO AMERICAN AND JEWISH IDEALS
Ahavas Sholom plans
first Annual Dinner
.   page 2
Tifereth Israel women
to sponsor Art Auction
page 7
Temple Israel to
honor volunteers
page 8
Purim festivities planned
page 10
Kol Ami students
honored at assemblies
page 16
Storyteller Penninah Sehram
to entertain on March 7
'   ". page 18^
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New Generation ..„...,....,,....,...... 16
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Ohio Hist.Society Libr
.1982 Velma Ave.
Columbus, Ohio
4 A 211 C 0 M P
COMMUNITY FEATURE
New Talmud has local flavor
Schottenstein Edition gains worldwide respect
By Nelson Barber
The word "Talmud" conjures an air of mystery to most
Americans, Jew and non-Jew
alike. Nearly everyone knows
that it is a seminal book in the
Jewish religion and that it is
complex, to say the least. But
there is little" knowledge of
what it really is.
That may be changing. In
recent years there has been an
upsurge of interest in the Talmud, a startling increase in the
number of "non-professionals" studying it on a steady
and serious basis and unprecedented attention to it in the
media. Partly as a result and
partly as a cause, major projects are underway jn the United States and Israel to translate its nearly 6000 folios
(12,000 pages) into, English
with enough elucidation to
make its ancient language and
its sophisticated thought comprehensible to the 20th century English-speaking world.
One of these projects is the
Schottenstein Edition of the
Talmud, which began publication two years ago. When completed, it will comprise 68 volumes, of which 11 have been
published.
The "Schottenstein" of the
Schottenstein Edition is the
late Jerome H. Schottenstein,
one of Columbus' leading citizens until his untimely passing
a year1 ago. Among his many
philanthropic passions was
Jewish education, in Columbus and around the world. His
last great project was the ongoing elucidation of the Talmud,
a joint project of the Mesorah
Heritage Foundation and Mesorah Publications.
He was impressed by the
quality of the work and, as he
put it,."! got to know the people in charge, and ! felt confident that they would see it
through and gel the job done."
He made a name-grant to the
project in memory of his parents and worked hard, and
successfully, to recruit additional sponsors until he passed
away. His wife, Geraldine; his
brother and sister-in-law Saul
and Sonia Schottenstein; and
his family. Jay and Jeanie
Schotlenslein, Ann and Ari
Deshe, Susan and Jon Diamond and Lori Schottenstein,
and his grandchildren are continuing his commitment.
Indicative of the new interest in the Talmud and the success of the Schottenstein Edition are. a few of the many
anecdotes reported by Rabbi
Meir Zlotpwitz, chairman of
the Mesorah Heritage Foundation in Brooklyn, which
sponsors the scholars working
on the Schottenstein Edition.
"Hebrew day schools tell us
that parents ask them to teach
tractates that we have published so that, with the aid of
our English editions, parents
can study with their, chijdren
for the first time.
"There are major law firms
in Manhattan that have regular Talmud sessions during
their lunch breaks. An associate of such a firm, a yeshiva
graduate, told us that one enjoyable feature of these sessions with the Schottenstein
Edition is that when senior
partners sit in, they, read the
English text and footnotes and
enjoy the give-and-take, even
though they have never seen a
Talmud volume before."
Rabbi Nosson Scherman,
general editor of Mesorah, has
his own favorite story. Last
year he received a phone call
from a young man saying he
was in Tasmania. With a twinkle in his eye, Scherman says,
"Not wishing to reveal my ignorance, I grabbed a dictionary as we spoke and learned
that yes, Virginia, there is a
Tasmania. It's not the African
country of Tanzania," but a
large island south of Australia,
"The caller said that there
were only 300 or so Jewish
families there and that less
than ten kept kosher. He had
completed Tractate Megillah
on his own, using the Schottenstein Edition, and he was
calling to thank us. In addition, he had marked his feat
with a public siyum, or celebration of the completion of a
sec TALMUD pg. 3