Meiri on Avot: a new translation

Last week Beit Knesset Hanassi, Jerusalem, hosted a book launch both live and on Zoom. The book in question was Meiri on Pirkei Avos, an English translation of the relevant parts of Rabbi Menachem ben Shlomo Meiri's Beit HaBechirah commentary on the Talmud. Hebrew editions preface this commentary with a long and detailed historical introduction which, for technical reasons, was not included in this new work. However, from comments made at the launch, it seems that there is a reasonable prospect of publishing an English version of this introduction in a follow-up volume.   

This work, dedicated to the memory of Max and Jenny Weil, has a long history of its own, taking nearly ten years from start to finish. A Feldheim title, it started out with ArtScroll who later dropped the project on the ground that it would require too large a team of scholars to complete the work to the required standard. As it turns out, it seems that a prodigious amount of effort was expended by Rabbi Yehudah Bulman in seeing the work to its successful conclusion.

Rabbi Berel Wein, Rav of Beit Knesset Hanassi, a great admirer of the Meiri and himself the author of a large and accessible tome on Pirkei Avot, welcomed this new work and gave it his blessing. 

The book itself is some 650 pages in length. The text of the Meiri's comment is printed in large, clear Hebrew text which is fully and accurately pointed and punctuated, making it far easier to read than the minuscule print that is found in many editions. 

Further information about this work can be accessed on the Feldheim website here and Jerusalemites in search of a purchase can pick up their own copy from Pomeranz Books here. If you want to know a bit more about the Meiri, look here.