Jews in the D

English Translation 
of Davidson Talmud 
Available on Sefaria
T

he William Davidson 
Talmud on Sefaria now 
includes the complete 
English and modern Hebrew 
translations from Rabbi Adin 
Steinsaltz. To date, more than 
800,000 people around the 
globe have spent 26 million 
minutes (or more than 49 
years) learning Talmud on 
Sefaria — the world’
s largest 
free and open source digital 
library of Jewish texts.
With the start of the 14th 
Daf Yomi cycle that began 
Jan. 5 (with people learning a 
page of Talmud a day for 7.5 
years), individuals can access 
the William Davidson Talmud, 
including interlinked com-
mentaries and connections 
to Torah, Midrash, Halakhah 
and an ever-growing library of 
Jewish texts on Sefaria.
Users can easily learn a 
page of Talmud a day on-the-
go with Sefaria’
s mobile apps 
for iOS and Android or from 
their desktop. Calendar links 
make it easy to stay on track. 
Participants can access a 
built-in Jastrow dictionary, 
take notes without leaving the 
page while on the desktop and 
more. 
The Steinsaltz transla-
tions were made available 
with a Creative Commons 
non-commercial license, 
making them free for use and 
re-use — even beyond Sefaria 
— through the generous sup-
port of the William Davidson 
Foundation.
“My father dedicated his life 
to Jewish peoplehood,” Ethan 
Davidson said. “A big part of 

his vision was ensuring that 
our treasures were open and 
accessible to all Jews. This 
is why he got involved with 
the Davidson Archaeological 
Park at the Western Wall. And 
this is why we at the William 
Davidson Foundation felt 
that attaching his name to 
the world’
s first free and open 
access translation of the com-
plete Talmud was in keeping 
with his commitment. 
“We are honored to be asso-
ciated with Rabbi Steinsaltz, 
a giant of this generation. We 
further felt that the entrepre-
neurial approach of Sefaria 
was something my father 
would have strongly resonated 
with.”
Written in Aramaic, the 
Talmud — consisting of 37 
tractates covering 2,700 pages 
— includes Jewish law, ethics, 
philosophy, history and leg-
end. Studied by religious and 
nonreligious Jews alike, the 
Talmud is the essential text 
of Jewish culture, peoplehood 
and religion.
Yet, for centuries, the 
Talmud has remained large-
ly inaccessible to all but 
trained scholars. The William 
Davidson Talmud — a free 
digital edition, with parallel 
English and modern Hebrew 
translations, interlinked with 
every major commentary — 
opens this seminal work of the 
Jewish people to the world.
In 1965, Steinsaltz began his 
effort to democratize access to 
the Talmud. Read more about 
learning Daf Yomi on Sefaria 
at sefaria.org/daf-yomi. 

 JANUARY 9 • 2020 | 21

Call Carol Kruemmer 248.351.5129
or email ckruemmer@renmedia.us

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