Talmud Schottenstein or Talmud Steinsaltz - What to Choose?
The question really arises as to what to choose, what is the difference between Schottenstein's and Steinsaltz's Talmuds. But we must emphasize that actually there is no Schottenstein or Steinsaltz Talmud, but there is a Babylonian and Jerusalem Talmud! And when we said about Schottenstein, we are talking about a certain edition that makes it easier to understand and study the basic texts of Jewish religion and tradition. The most famous and accepted editions are what we said above: Schottenstein and Steinsaltz. So let's try to clarify the matter.
The Need for Modern Talmud Commentary
It should be said that for a long time there was a demand for understanding texts written by the Sages, both in Hebrew of those times and in the Aramaic language, which is actually a non-living language in our time.
Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz Edition
We will begin by describing the accepted editions of the Talmud Commentary. Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz was the first to offer a modern commentary and translation of the entire Talmud into Hebrew. His annotated edition of the Talmud includes vocalization of the Talmudic text and its quotations, translation and commentary into modern Hebrew, theoretical notes, halachic conclusions arising from the sugya (Talmudic passage), lexical and etymological explanation of various words, brief historical reviews of personalities, and descriptions of life during the time of the Talmud and Mishnah.
In his first editions - until he also adopted the use of the accepted Shas font - Rabbi Steinsaltz also introduced graphic changes and different pagination. The annotated Talmud of Rabbi Steinsaltz appears without formal approvals, but he apparently received a letter in the form of approval from Rabbi Moshe Feinstein zt"l, one of the senior halachic authorities in the USA. To the best of my knowledge, over a million copies of the Annotated Talmud series have been sold so far, and Rabbi Steinsaltz won the Israel Prize for this work.
Schottenstein Edition - The Leading Edition
In contrast to this, the Schottenstein edition stands out especially in the Orthodox community. This edition, which came out of the Lithuanian yeshiva world, is the most popular, the most invested, and the most ambitious, and I will review it in more detail. The origin and birth of this edition is precisely in the English-speaking public. In 1989, Rabbi Steinsaltz printed the first volume of his annotated edition in English, and coincidentally or not coincidentally, in the same year a letter of boycott against him was published. A year later, in 1990, the first English volume of the Schottenstein edition was published. Today, this edition dominates almost undisputedly among the English-speaking public. It is sold in hundreds of thousands of copies, and despite criticism from the right and the left, it is considered by its fans to be a masterpiece. In the museum at Yeshiva University there is an exhibition dedicated to the printing of the Talmud from "Bomberg to Schottenstein".
Unique Features of the Schottenstein Edition
Schottenstein's Hebrew edition differs slightly from the English edition, but retains the same important features. The most prominent graphic element in this edition is the preservation of the "page form" (tzurat hadaf), the same page form as it appears in the Vilna edition. The commentary and translation are written parallel to the Talmudic page and are particularly extensive, so that each page of the Shas has on average about three pages of commentary. The length of the edition is therefore unusual - a tractate that appears in the regular Shas editions in one volume will appear in the Schottenstein edition in two, three, or even four volumes. The commentary and the Hebrew translation appear at the top of the page, and at the bottom, below the commentary, the edition contains a series of numbered notes that include expansion of certain topics and additional references to sources.
Conclusion - Both Editions Are Respected and Special
It is now understood that each edition in itself is also respectable and special, and facilitates and enables study and understanding of the Oral Torah at a really high level.
To purchase these editions at the best prices with free shipping in Israel and fast shipping anywhere in the world, you are invited to our store at the following links: Talmud Bavli, Talmud Bavli and Yerushalmi Sets, Tanakh Talmud Mishnah Koren Sets