JRoots together with Young Israel of Woodmere hosted dedication ceremony of the Noé Edition Koren Talmud Bavli in the historic Beit Midrash of the yeshiva
Edited by: JV Staff
Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin, the largest center of Jewish learning before the Holocaust, last Thursday welcomed the newest edition of Shas: with commentary by educational luminary Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz . The yeshiva was founded in 1930 by Rabbi Meir Shapiro, creator of the Daf Yomi initiative, and was largely destroyed during the Holocaust. The 42-volume set was delivered by members of the Young Israel of Woodmere who were participating in a heritage tour run by JRoots.
Yeshivat Chachmei Lublin once held more than 22,000 seforim. During the Holocaust, the yeshiva was confiscated by military police and was converted into a military hospital. The Nazis burned much of the library. It was later turned into a medical school, but was returned to the Jewish community in 2003. The shul and Beit Midrash were reopened 2007.
Now, in an effort to replenish some of the seforim that were destroyed and to mark the completion of the Noé Edition Koren Talmud Bavli, Koren Publishers and the Steinsaltz Center donated an entire set to the yeshiva, making it one of the first institutions in the world to receive a complete set of this new Shas. The edition has a contemporary layout, digitized Daf Vilna with punctuation and vowels, and translation, commentary and notes by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz. The editor-in-chief is the esteemed Rabbi Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, shlita.
‘It is so meaningful to introduce this new set of Talmud to this very chamber of learning in Lublin where the voices of the thousands of illustrious students of the past still echo. This Talmud will be a gateway for the future, enabling many new voices of learning to be heard as they understand the Talmud in their own way,” said Rabbi Meni Even-Israel, Executive Director of the Steinsaltz Center.
A dedication ceremony was held in the historic Beit Midrash on Erev Rosh Chodesh Av, August 1, 2019. It was conducted by the directors of JRoots with a gemara shiur given by Rabbi Hershel Billet, rabbi of the Young Israel of Woodmere.
“The Nazis sought to bring an end to Jewish life and to silence the voice of Torah study and prayer. Now we will once again fill this Beit Midrash with the sound of Jewish learning. We thank Koren Publishers Jerusalem for allowing all of us, whatever level we are at, to be part of this amazing journey of Jewish education,” said Tzvi Sperber and Rabbi Naftali Schiff, directors of JRoots.
Koren Publishers Jerusalem is one of the world’s leading Jewish publishing houses, based in the heart of Jerusalem. It is renowned for its textual precision, elegant design, and its partnerships with numerous esteemed Torah institutions. The Steinsaltz Center is the umbrella organization for all of the activities of Rabbi Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz). Its goal is to promote the Rabbi’s mission of “Let My People Know” – making a world of Jewish knowledge accessible to all. JRoots was established to facilitate today’s generation of Jews with compelling educational journeys to places of enormous historic significance to the Jewish people. The Young Israel of Woodmere is the largest Jewish orthodox congregation in the Five Towns, on Long Island’s south shore. It is led by Rabbi Hershel Billet.
