Rabbi Steinsaltz could not be included in the framework: a convert, with an ultra-Orthodox appearance and an intellectual figure involved in all worlds • What is the connection between his literary enterprise and the labor movement? Farewell to Rabbi Steinsaltz

• The late Rabbi Steinsaltz

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  Tzachi Miriam - Archive

In the contemporary rabbinical world, and in the spiritual world in general, Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz was a unique chicken. One that cannot be put into any frame. Repentant, whose appearance is ultra-Orthodox, but an intellectual figure who is well-versed in all the beings of the world, with a picturesque face from which the eternal pipe is not Moses. An ardent follower of the Rebbe of Lubavitch, but at the same time a sworn rationalist and well versed in the natural sciences, which he studied at the university at the beginning of his career.

Rosh Yeshiva, who alongside Torah preaching to the masses and providing many students, was one of the harshest critics of the contemporary religious world.

Rabbi Steinsaltz was laid to rest on the Mount of Olives // Photo: Video Aden

Had we had to define in one sentence the uniqueness of the man, we would probably have put our finger on his mighty literary enterprise. This means that the Talmud (and later also the Bible and the Mishnah and other essays) opened the gates of the Talmud to the whole world.

Through the clear translation, the commentary and the aids, the illustrations and even the outer cover, Rabbi Steinsaltz opened the Jewish Basic Book to all in the world. From then on, the excuses are over, and no one can say anymore that he is "unable" to open a Gemara page.

Few know, but the initial aid to the mighty enterprise was received by Rabbi Steinsaltz not from religious circles, but rather from the labor movement. It was Kaddish Luz, the Speaker of the Knesset and a member of Degania, who headed the publication of the annotated Talmud, and who, with the help of the Histadrut's religious department, raised the funding for the first volumes. And the rest is history. The enterprise and the loss of the monopoly on the study of the Gemara began to cast mud on it, and, as is the best tradition, the slander included hints of so-called heresy, which had penetrated the commentary, as well as a protest against the traditional Talmud The Talmud).

The wide distribution of Rabbi Steinsaltz's annotated Talmudic books and their translation into English (and even into other languages), as well as the Israel Prize and the many other honorary degrees that the rabbi won, were a triumphant answer to the words of the swallow. Alongside the enormous enterprise, Rabbi Steinsaltz wrote other fascinating works, such as his commentary on the practical stories of Rabbi Nachman of Breslav and his short essay on "The Sociology of Ignorance," which he co-authored with Prof. Amos Funkenstein, one of the great luminaries of science in Israel.

In all his work, Rabbi Steinsaltz stood out for his originality. In recent years, many have voiced his scathing critique of the phenomena of hollow and superficial religiosity, which has spread among many of Shlomi Amuni Yisrael.

Upon his death he lost to the world in general, and to the Jewish world in particular, one of the most important thinkers who lived within him, a loss for which he could make up for some glorious literary legacy he left behind for generations. Of blessed memory.