Reply To: Anyone use Soncino Gemara?

Perhaps I should start another thread!

I just found something else on a very high shelf on top of my father’s seforim:

It’s a small size set of Shas (yup, another one). Each volume measures about 5.5″ X 8.5″. It seems to be similar, or perhaps identical to the Soncino, as it says it is translated “under the editorship” of the same Rabbi Dr. Epstein. The only publisher I found inside the volume I looked at was “Rebecca Bennett Publications”.

Upon doing some research, I believe the translation and commentary may actually be an unauthorized copy of the Soncino. The tzuras hadaf is apparently a copy of the Lemberg Edition (not Vilna) Shas, in a reduced size to fit the smaller pages. If I understand correctly, that means that each daf is divided into 2 pages, and possibly some of the classic commentaries are not printed on the daf. This makes sense, because if they had used the Vilna Edition, and reduced it to fit the small pages, the print would be too tiny to learn from.

Each volume has some or all of a mesechta in the first half, starting from the front when opening a sefer written in Lashon Hakodesh (Hebrew). The other half is the English translation and commentary, starting from the front, when opening a book written in English.

In other words, the English translation and commentary is not printed page by page opposite the Aramaic/Hebrew text of the Gemara. It’s in a totally separate section in each volume. There are A LOT of volumes. An online site called Bibliopolis is selling this set, with 63 volumes. I have to count, but I estimated around 70 volumes. (I need to spend some time on a ladder in my parents’ living room for a proper inspection).

My father’s set is bound in a red color, and appears to be in excellent condition. You can see accurate photos, by going to ebay, and searching for this item:

Hebrew English Talmud CHULLIN II Bennet Jewish

A seller called bluebirds15 is selling individual volumes from what looks like an identical set. On the listing for this particular volume (Chullin II), the seller posted a picture of the outside of the Gemara, plus a few pictures of the inside also.

I imagine my father Z”L bought these because of their size, for use on the subway during his commute to work. They were probably easier to maneuver on a crowded train, than a regular sized Gemara. The volumes are a bit thick in relation to the width and length dimensions; about 1 1/2 inches give or take some millimeters.