NEW YORK (AP) — A monumental new English translation of Judaism's Talmud was presented to the Library of Congress this week, anticipating a March 15 gala in New York that marks public release of the work.
The 73-volume set comes from ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications of Brooklyn — it costs $1,900 and is some 35,000 pages long. The "Schottenstein Edition of the Babylonian Talmud" is named for the Columbus, Ohio, department store family that sponsored the project.
ArtScroll says its English Talmud is distinguished by the comprehensive commentary provided by more than 80 scholars from various nations who worked on the series.
Rabbi Nosson Scherman, ArtScroll's general editor who led the project, now turns to an English translation of the Jerusalem Talmud, projected as a 47-volume work that will take 10 years.
"There is a mushrooming interest in Talmud study," Scherman said. In one popular program, Jews throughout the world consider the same portion each day in a system that covers the entire Talmud in 7 1/2 years.
The Babylonian and Jerusalem versions of the ancient Talmud contain oral interpretations of the Hebrew Bible.