Anyone use Soncino Gemara?

Mission accomplished!

@ Geordie613, you got a laugh out of me !

Sorry, you missed the live feed!

I suspect that 5ish’s name was inspired by Oorah, but who knows?!

@ Joseph, sorry, I just can’t resist: Smooth, no complications, B”H. Mom and baby are doing well!

In tribute:

After leaving yeshiva, my father z”l learned daf yomi, possibly 7 cycles. He had a daily chavrusa, I’m not sure before or after Shacharis. And he had a daily shiur in the morning, which he NEVER missed. He also was a faithful attendee to a large nightly shiur on the daf that has developed in Boro Park. I know he reviewed the gemara a number of times throughout the day. He definitely reviewed it on the train during his commute to and from work.

Like many in his field, my father carried an attache case… which was basically empty, aside from his lunch! But there was ALWAYS a Gemara in there. I didn’t look at the publishing date, but I would say it’s fair to assume he purchased the Soncino translation as soon as he could afford it! He likely was always looking for resources to enhance the clarity of whatever he was learning.

My father had degrees in Mathematics, Physics and Operations Research. Let’s just say he was blessed with high intelligence. Therefore, I’m sure the latin abbreviations were not a problem. He did move on to the Artscroll as it became available, for a number of reasons.

(The fact that it is a concise, literal translation leaves the Soncino edition vulnerable to being learned incorrectly, despite the expertise of the translators and Editor. Our Mesora is that the oral Torah was meant to be learned orally, passed down from father to son, Rebbi to talmid. It was only written down because it was in danger of being forgotten once we were in Golus. There are cryptic passages, and there is much room for confusion, in order to ensure that it will always need to be learned from a Rebbi, with mesorah).

My family was resigned to the fact that with the proliferation of the Artscroll edition, my father’s Soncino Shas had finished its mission on this Earth. I figured there’s a big world out there, so I kept it in the back of my mind, trying to think of a way to offer it to an appropriate place. One day, the YWN coffee room popped into my head: There are often discussions here that demonstrate that some very learned people, with diverse backgrounds come here to chill.

It is my fervent hope that this Shas will continue to be learned according to the guidelines of our mesora.

Have a refuah shelaima 5ish.

May you have much Hatzlocha, and Siyatta D’shmaya in your learning.

Just when I thought this thread was closed, I found another volume from Soncino, in a different set of bookshelves!

It is called “Mesechtos Ketanos”, and looks like it is part of the set. On the spine is listed:

Avos D’Rabbi Nassan

Soferim

Semachos

Kallah

Kallah Rabbo

Derech Eretz Rabbah

Perek Hashalom

Gerim

Kutim

Avadim

Sefer Torah

Tefillin

Tzitzis

Mezuzah

5ish-

Should I drop off this volume in the same place I dropped off the 4 boxes?

bump

Is 5ish still reading this??

LOL Geordie.

The final chapter in this thread will be when I have an opportunity to drop off the Mesechtos Ketanos volume, and 5ish confirms receiving it.

Since it’s only one volume, I will not be bothering anyone to drive to Touro, so I’m not sure when that will be. But I’ll try to post the Finale for you Geordie!

I really don’t have a clue what to do with these. As I stated previously, there is a market for translations of the Talmud. However, the market includes many “scholars”, both Jewish, and non-Jewish, who misuse it by learning it without proper mesorah. They misinterpret it, sometimes deliberately, and use it to discredit Torah MiSinai Judaism. It would be devastating if Sefarim that belonged to my father, Z”L ended up in the hands of people who do not have Yiras Shamayim. Therefore, offering it up for sale to the highest bidder is not an option.

There seems to be one specific factor that makes this set uniquely valuable. According to a comment on a review I found online, the original Soncino translation included a comprehensive index. This edition includes that index, as well as some sort of Hebrew index for the entire Gemara, and indexes for each individual mesechta.

The familiar, popular Soncino edition (which I gave to 5ish) was formatted to present the translation directly opposite the original text of a Vilna Shas, page by page. The original Soncino index was compromised in the process (since the pagination was completely redone, among other factors). There is now an additional index volume that was done for the page by page translation, but apparently it does not have all the features that exist in the indexes that are included in the small set I am discussing.

Maybe somebody who has lots of shelf space, would want this set just to be able to use these indexes, which are more comprehensive, or more clearly organized than the page by page translation. According to that reviewer, Artscroll and other well known translations do not have indexes at all.

It does seem this would be valuable as a supplemental reference tool in a Beis Medrash library. It would have to be in one where this translation is well-received.

Again, ideas are welcome!!

To 5ish
I would like to drop off the last volume today.
Same location? Same instructions?

Best
Thinking out Loud