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Steinsaltz's prodigious work stirs debate.

Sue Fishkoff

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

San Francisco

0

n Nov. 7, Talmud scholar
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz will
formally conclude his Hebrew
translation of the Babylonian Talmud,
a monumental task that has occupied
him for the past 45 years.
But as scholars and Jewish leaders
herald his remarkable accomplish-
ment, Steinsaltz himself has become
a figure of controversy, criticized in
some Orthodox circles for what many
consider his unorthodox behavior.
Five years ago, he found himself
outside the Orthodox consensus for

accepting the post of nasi, or presi-
dent, of a modern-day Sanhedrin, a
re-creation of the ancient Jewish legal
body that set ritual observance for the
Jewish people. Steinsaltz resigned the
post in 2008 out of concern for the
direction the organization was taking
and potential breaches of Halachah, or
Jewish law.
For some, it was his life's work —
the translation of the Talmud — that
was problematic.
Rabbi Yosef Blau, spiritual adviser
to students at Yeshiva University, said
there was no way Steinsaltz could
complete such a task without some
controversy.
"We're talking about a complex legal
work put together over hundreds of

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years by generations of scholars, and
one person wants to translate it? It's
not surprising that people will ques-
tion," Blau said.
The author of nearly 60 books,
Steinsaltz, 73, also has established a
network of schools in Israel and the
former Soviet Union, and has taught
widely around the world. In 1988,
Steinsaltz won the Israel Prize, the
country's highest honor, for his work
in Jewish education.
Steinsaltz began his translation proj-
ect in 1965, motivated by the desire to
make the Talmud more accessible to
Hebrew speakers, primarily the secular
Israeli public.
Whereas reading the Torah is not

Other Views on page 20

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18

November 4 • 2010

person can come for what he or she
needs. If Jewish education is the
castle, then the Global Day offers an
opportunity for all to enter, however
they choose.
"There is a different key for each
person" that leads to learning, or
knowledge, or understanding — a
spark that draws him/her closer to
Judaism, he said.
For Jeffrey
Lasday, director
of Federation's
Alliance for Jewish
Education, the
Global Day of
Jewish Learning
gives participants
the chance to "be
Jeffrey
part
of an interna-
Lasday
tional experience,
joining Jewish
communities around the world for a
day of learning."
It also opens a door to a kind of
home where everyone in the Detroit
Jewish community is welcome and
everyone can stand together, with
all prejudices and suppositions and
fears aside. Everyone is wanted;
everyone has a place.

Thoughtful Pathway
"I find it very inspiring that thanks
to Rabbi Steinsaltz, we all have the
opportunity to learn together as
one people," said Carol Weintraub
Fogel, chair of the JCC's 59th
Annual Jewish Book Fair.
Mickey Eizelman knew from the
start that he wanted to be part of
the Global Day. "This," he said, "is a
unique opportunity;' a forum with
a variety of topics, where all Jewish
movements will be represented,
so there is "literally something for
everyone."
Jewish education, Eizelman says,
is like "a path:' and when that
learning is shared with others, an
extraordinary bond is created.
"Learning is the ideal way for
people to connect," he adds. "Jewish
learning, no matter where it takes
you, allows you to create a closer
bond to your heritage." 17

For information, contact Dale Alpert

Rubin at (248) 203-1520 or rubin@jfmd.

org.