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ArtScroll

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ArtScroll
Parent companyMesorah Publications
StatusActive
Founded1976
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationRahway, New Jersey
Key people
Official websitewww.artscroll

ArtScrollis animprintof translations, books and commentaries from anOrthodox Jewishperspective published byMesorah Publications, Ltd.,apublishing companybased inRahway,New Jersey.RabbiNosson Schermanis the general editor.[1]

ArtScroll's first president, RabbiMeir Zlotowitz(July 13, 1943 – June 24, 2017)[1]was succeeded by his oldest son, RabbiGedaliah Zlotowitz,whose name is listed secondarily in new publications as general editor, after that of Rabbi Scherman.[2]

History[edit]

In 1975,[3]RabbiMeir Zlotowitz,a graduate ofMesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem,was director of a high-end graphics studio in New York.[4]The firm, ArtScroll Studios, producedketubot,[5]brochures,[6]invitations, and awards.[3]RabbiNosson Scherman,then principal of Yeshiva Karlin StolinBoro Park,[3]was approached by Zlotowitz who had helped him write copy for brochures and journals in the past,[7]and they collaborated on a few projects.[8]

In late 1975, Zlotowitz wrote an English translation and commentary on theBook of Esther[1]in memory of a friend, and asked Scherman to write the introduction. The book sold out its first edition of 20,000 copies within two months.[9]With the encouragement of RabbisYaakov Yitzchok Ruderman,Mordechai Gifter,Moses Feinstein,Yaakov Kamenetsky,[10]and others,[11]the two continued producing commentaries, beginning with a translation and commentary on the rest of theFive Megillot(Song of Songs,Ecclesiastes,LamentationsandRuth), and went on to publish translations and commentaries on theTorah,Prophets,Talmud,Passover Haggadah,siddursandmachzors.By 1990, ArtScroll had produced more than 700 books, including novels, history books, children's books and secular textbooks,[4]and became the largest publisher of Jewish books in the United States.[11]

After decades of being headquartered in New York, ArtScroll moved to New Jersey in 2020.[12]Among other things, ArtScroll's headquarters in Rahway is notable for their in-housegreen screenstudio used for the production ofInside ArtScrollvideos made availableonline,as well as non-ArtScroll videos such asMishpachainterviews and other "films that are broadcasted to the Torah community."[13]

Associated entities[edit]

TheMesorah Heritage Foundationbox printed on the inner page of ArtScroll publications lists RabbiDavid Feinstein's name first.

Mesorah Publicationsis the "parent" company of ArtScroll; the name Mesorah was not part of ArtScroll's publications for the first book published, Megilas Esther (1976).[14]

Publications[edit]

Primary publications and popular demand[edit]

The Sapirstein EditionRashi.

ArtScroll publishes books on a variety ofJewishsubjects. The best known is probably an annotatedHebrew-Englishsiddur( "prayerbook" ) (The ArtScroll Siddur).[1]

Its Torah translation and commentary, a series of translations and commentaries on books of theTanach(Hebrew Bible), and an English translation and elucidation of the Babylonian Talmud have enjoyed great success. Other publications include works onJewish Law,novels and factual works based onJewishlife or history, and cookbooks.[6]

The popular demand for ArtScroll's translations of classic Jewish works (e.g., Mishnah; Talmud) largely coincided with preexisting market demands, unappreciated to an extent, for English editions characterized by both high-fidelity translations as well as accompanying commentary in the English vernacular. Such editions are used even by Americanyeshivahgraduates–who have had the benefit of exposure to Hebrew and Aramaic from a young age–inasmuch as it is often easier to effortlessly parse through the material in their native language in place of what may at times be a tedious endeavor of self-translation. In certain cases, reading the Judaic texts in one's native English can even "trigger a new depth of thought that comes from the subtleties of a finer understanding."[15]

ArtScroll publications are best identified through the "hallmark features" of its design elements such as typeface and layout, through which "ArtScroll books constitute a field of visual interaction that enables and encourages the reader to navigate the text in particular ways."[16]The emphasis on design and layout can be understood "as a strategy on the part of the publisher to achieve a range of cognitive as well as esthetic effects."[16]The name ArtScroll was chosen for the publishing company to emphasize the visual appeal of the books.[17]

Prayerbooks[edit]

Mesorah Publications received widespread acclaim in response to its ArtScroll line of prayerbooks,[1]starting withThe Complete ArtScroll Siddur,Ed. Nosson Scherman, 1984. This work gained wide acceptance in theOrthodoxJewishcommunity, and within a few years became a popular Hebrew-Englishsiddur(prayerbook) in the United States. It offered the reader detailed notes and instructions on most of the prayers and versions of this prayerbook were produced for theHigh Holidays,and the three pilgrimage festivalsPassover,SukkotandShavuot.

While many Conservative synagogues rely on theSiddur Sim ShalomorOr Hadashprayer books andEtz Hayim Humash,"a small but growing number of North American Conservative Jewish congregations... have recently adopted ArtScroll prayer books and Bibles as their 'official' liturgical texts, not to mention a much larger number of Conservative synagogues that over recent years have grown accustomed to individual congregants participating in prayer services with editions of ArtScroll prayer books in their hands."[18]The shift has mainly occurred among more traditionally minded Conservative congregants and rabbis (sometimes labeled "Conservadox" ) "as an adequate representation of the more traditional liturgy they seek to embrace."[1][18]

Since the advent of ArtScroll, a number of Jewish publishers have printed books and siddurim with similar typefaces and commentary, but with a different commentary and translation philosophy.

Stone Chumash[edit]

ArtScroll Stone Chumash, cover

In 1993, Mesorah Publications publishedThe Chumash: The Stone Edition,[19]a translation and commentary on theChumasharranged for liturgical use and sponsored byIrving I. StoneofAmerican Greetings,Cleveland, Ohio.It has since become a widely available English-Hebrew Torah translation and commentary in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.

A 2018 review of Hebrew-EnglishChumashim[20][21]said that ArtScroll'sStone Edition Chumash,often calledThe Stone Chumash,is "the most successful Orthodox replacement for the"Hertz Chumash.

Schottenstein Edition Talmud[edit]

Main article:Schottenstein Edition of the Babylonian Talmud

Mesorah has a line ofMishnahtranslations and commentaries, and a line ofBabylonian Talmudtranslations and commentaries, The Schottenstein Edition of TheTalmud Bavli( "Babylonian Talmud" ). The set of Talmud was completed in late 2004, giving a 73 volume English edition of the entire Talmud. This was the second complete translation of the Talmud into English (the other being theSoncinoTalmud published in the United Kingdom during the mid-twentieth century). The first volume, Tractate Makkos, was published in 1990,[6]and dedicated by Mr. and Mrs. Marcos Katz.Jerome Schottensteinwas introduced by Rabbi Dr.Norman Lammto the publication committee shortly thereafter. He began by donating funds for the project in memory of his parents Ephraim and Anna Schottenstein one volume at a time, and later decided to back the entire project. When Jerome died, his children and widow, Geraldine, rededicated the project to his memory in addition to those of his parents. The goal of the project was to, "open the doors of the Talmud and welcome its people inside."

The text generally consists of two side-by-side pages: one of theAramaic/HebrewVilna Editiontext, and the corresponding page consists of an English translation. The English translation has a bolded literal translation of the Talmud's text, but also includes un-bolded text clarifying the literal translation. (The original Talmud's text is often very unclear, referring to places, times, people, and laws that it does not explain. The un-bolded text attempts to explain these situations. The text of the Talmud also contains few prepositions, articles, etc. The un-bolded text takes the liberty of inserting these parts of speech.) The result is an English text that reads in full sentences with full explanations, while allowing the reader to distinguish between direct translation and a more liberal approach to the translation. (This also results in one page of the Vilna Talmud requiring several pages of English translation.) Below the English translation appear extensive notes including diagrams.[6]

ArtScroll's English explanations and footnoted commentary in the Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud are based on the perspective of classical Jewish sources. The clarifying explanation is generally based on the viewpoint ofRashi,the medieval commentator who wrote the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud. The Schottenstein Edition does not include contemporary academic or critical scholarship. The overall guidelines follow a pattern defined by the late Rabbi Hersh Goldwurm, "a Monsey, N.Y., scholar who died in 1993."[6]The total cost of the project is estimated at US$21 million,[6]most of which was contributed by private donors and foundations. Some volumes have up to 2 million copies in distribution, while more recent volumes have only 90,000 copies currently printed. A completed set was dedicated on February 9, 2005, to theLibrary of Congress,and thesiyum(celebration at the "completion" ) was held on March 15, 2005, the 13thyahrzeitof Jerome Schottenstein, at theNew York Hilton.The blue-covered Hebrew Talmud set, which like the English counterpart is 73 volumes, has aHasKaMa(approbation) from aBoboverRebbe, Grand RabbiNaftali Halberstam.[22]A French language set was begun.[23]

Mesorah and the Schottenstein family have also printed a Hebrew version of the commentary and have begun both an English and Hebrew translation of theTalmud Yerushalmi(Jerusalem Talmud- the Hebrew/Aramaic side of the page, as well as the pagination, is based on theOz Vehadaredition),Midrash Rabbahand other classical sources.

ArtScroll has also produced the "Elucidated Mishnah", a work similarly clarifying theMishnah-text, and expanding thereon in an appended commentary and footnotes; seeMishnah § Commentaries.

Kosher by Design[edit]

In 2003, ArtScroll published a cookbook bySusie FishbeinentitledKosher by Design: Picture-perfect food for the holidays & every day.The cookbook contains both traditional recipes and updated versions of traditional recipes.[24]All the recipes are kosher and the book puts an emphasis on its food photography.[6][25]Since publication, the book has sold over 400,000 copies from 2003 through 2010,[26][27]and Fishbein has become a media personality, earning the sobriquets of "the JewishMartha Stewart"and the" kosherdiva".[24]ArtScroll has realized the books' salability by extending beyond its traditional Orthodox Jewish market into the mainstream market, including sales onAmazon,atBarnes & Noble[28]and Christianevangelicalbooksellers,[24]inWilliams Sonomastores, and in supermarkets.[28]

Editorial policy[edit]

Works published by Mesorah under this imprint adhere to a perspective appealing to many Orthodox Jews, but especially to Orthodox Jews who have come from less religious backgrounds, but are returning to the faith (Baalei Teshuva). Due to the makeup of the Jewish community in the US, most of the prayer books are geared to theAshkenaziccustom. In more recent years, ArtScroll has collaborated with Sephardic community leaders in an attempt to bridge this gap. Examples of this include a SephardicHaggadahpublished by ArtScroll, written by Sephardic Rabbi Eli Mansour, the bookAleppo,about a prominentSephardiccommunity inSyria,[29]and a Sephardic prayerbook.

In translations and commentaries, ArtScroll acceptsmidrashicaccounts in a historical fashion, and at times literally; it disagrees withtextual criticism.Page "X" of the preface to ArtScroll's first publication set the tone: A long paragraph includes "No non-Jewish sources have even been consulted, much less quoted.I consider it offensive that the Torah should need authentication from the secular or so-called 'scientific' sources. "[30][31]

Frequently coalescing to give voice to ArtScroll's worldview is, in the words of Scherman, "a heavy combination ofmussarandchassidusthat we incorporate into our commentary "such as commentary byHasidicRabbisTzadok HaKohenandYehudah Leib Alter.[32]

Despite the recent trend of mostHaredi pressomitting images of women from their magazines or newspapers, ArtScroll continues to publish pictures of women in their books. When someone authoring a biography to be published by ArtScroll requested that pictures of women be left out, ArtScroll "basically told him to go fly a kite, [and] we sent him to anadam gadol[a prominentTorah scholar] who basically washed the floors with him. "[33]

Transliteration system[edit]

ArtScroll publications,[34][35]such as theStone Editionsof Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) andChumash(Pentateuch) use many more transliterated Hebrew words than English words, compared to editions such as theTanakhof theJewish Publication Society.This reflects a higher use of untranslated Hebrew terminology in Haredi English usage.

ArtScroll's transliteration system forHebrew transliterationfor readers of the English language generally usesAshkenaziconsonants andSefardivowels. The two major differences between the way Sefardi and Ashkenazi Hebrew dialects are transcribed are as follows:

  • the letterTavwithout adagesh(emphasis point) is transcribed as [t] and [s] respectively
    • ArtScroll uses the latter
  • the vowelkamatz gadol,is transcribed [a] and [o] respectively
    • ArtScroll uses the former

As such, the following transliterations are used:

Ashkenazi Sefardi ArtScroll
Boruch Barukh Baruch
Shabbos Shabbat Shabbos (ArtScroll makes an exception due to widespread usage)
Succos Succot Succos
Avrohom Avraham Avraham
Akeidas Yitzchok Akedat Itzhak Akeidas Yitzchak

Critical reviews[edit]

  • A large number of grammatical errors exist in their Bible and commentary translations, changing the meaning of these passages. B. Barry Levy alleged in 1981:

    Dikduk(grammar) is anathema in many Jewish circles, but the translation and presentation of texts is, to a large extent, aphilologicalactivity and must be philologically accurate. The ArtScroll effort has not achieved a respectable level. There are dozens of cases where prepositions are misunderstood, where verb tenses are not perceived properly and where grammatical or linguistic terms are used incorrectly. Words are often vocalized incorrectly. These observations, it should be stressed, are not limited to the Bible text but refer to the talmudic, midrashic, targumic, medieval and modern works as well. Rabbinical passages are removed from their contexts, presented in fragmentary form thus distorting their contents, emended to update their messages even though these new ideas were not expressed in the texts themselves, misvocalized, and mistranslated: i.e. misrepresented.[36]

  • ArtScroll biographies have been criticized as providing incomplete and partial portrayals of Rabbinic figures. Notably, this is not disputed by ArtScroll. Rabbi Nosson Scherman stated that as it pertains to biographies the mission of ArtScroll "is to impart a positive message" without mentioning "disputes that can often become vitriolic."[37]
  • The commentary ofRashbamto the first chapter of Genesis[38]in ArtScroll'sCzuker Edition Hebrew Chumash Mikra'os Gedolos Sefer Bereishis(2014) has been censored. The missing passages are related toRashbam's interpretation of the phrase in Genesis 1:5, "and there was an evening, and there was a morning, one day." The Talmud[39]cites these words to support thehalakhicview that the day begins at sundown. However, Rashbam takes apeshat(plain sense) approach, as he does throughout his commentary, reading the verse as follows: "There was an evening (at the conclusion of daytime) and a morning (at the end of night), one day"; that is, the day begins in the morning and lasts until the next daybreak.[40]This comment of Rashbam was notably subject to sharp criticism byIbn Ezrawho placed a curse on any publishers who included this comment in their Chumash out of concern that the reading could cause a misinterpretation of Halacha and lead to Shabbat desecration. In their defense, ArtScroll points out that in standard Mikra'os Gedolos the entire commentary of Rashbam on the beginning of Bereishis is missing. When adding in from older manuscripts, they left out the exegeses to Genesis 1:5 because of questions to its authenticity.[41]

Bibliography[edit]

  • Rabbi B. Barry Levy. "Our Torah, Your Torah and Their Torah: An Evaluation of the ArtScroll phenomenon.". In: "Truth and Compassion: Essays on Religion in Judaism", Ed. H. Josephet al..Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1983.
  • B. Barry Levy. "Judge Not a Book By Its Cover".Tradition19(1)(Spring 1981): 89-95 and "Communications"withinTradition1982;20(4)(Winter 1982): 370-375.
  • B. Barry Levy. "ArtScroll: An Overview".In" Approaches to Modern Judaism "[Vol. I], Ed. Marc L. Raphael. Scholars Press, 1983.
  • Jacob J. Schacter,"Facing the Truths of History".Torah u-Madda Journal8 (1998–1999): 200-276.
  • Jacob J. Schacter, "Haskalah, Secular Studies, and the close of the Yeshiva in Volozhin in 1892"Torah u-Madda Journal
  • Jeremy Stolow,Orthodox by Design: Judaism, Print Politics, and the ArtScroll Revolution

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefJoseph Berger (June 27, 2017)."Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, Who Made Jewish Prayer Books Clear to All, Dies at 73".The New York Times.
  2. ^Paysach J. Krohn(2018).Moved by a Maggid.p. 14.ISBN978-1-4226-2222-3.... son, R'Gedaliah,... at the helm...
  3. ^abcResnick, Eliot (6 June 2007)."Our Goal is to Increase Torah Learning".The Jewish Press.Archivedfrom the original on 31 January 2011.Retrieved23 December2010.
  4. ^abEphross, Peter (13 July 2001)."In 25 Years of Publishing, Artscroll captures Zeitgeist".Jewish Telegraphic Agency.Archived fromthe originalon 9 June 2011.Retrieved23 December2010.
  5. ^The Jewish Observer, December 1972, p. 34 full-page advertisement
  6. ^abcdefgBerger, Joseph (10 February 2005)."An English Talmud for Daily Readers and Debaters".The New York Times.Retrieved23 December2010.
  7. ^"What's Bothering Artscroll?: Interview with Nosson Scherman".Retrieved2023-02-13.
  8. ^Hoffman, Rabbi Yair (3 December 2009)."The ArtScroll Revolution: 5TJT interviews Rabbi Nosson Scherman".Five Towns Jewish Times.Retrieved23 December2010.
  9. ^Nussbaum Cohen, Debra (11 October 2007)."Feminists Object, But ArtScroll Rolls On".The Jewish Week.Archived fromthe originalon 3 March 2016.Retrieved23 December2010.
  10. ^Cf. his position that quality English-language sefarim will be used by Jews in the Messianic era as, like Yiddish in its time, "today English has become a language of Torah." (Rabbi Nosson Scherman inThe Mandate to Communicate Torah in the Vernacular: Excerpts From a Presentation to an Eleventh Gradepublished inThe Jewish Observer, April 1998, p. 27).
  11. ^abGantz, Nesanel (15 September 2013). "Lunch Break with Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz".Ami.No. 136. p. 90.
  12. ^Jewish Link (March 12, 2020),Artscroll Moves to New Offices in Rahway.
  13. ^Reisman, Leah. "The Art of Publishing".Mishpacha Junior(October 27, 2021): p. 10.
  14. ^inside cover: ArtScroll Studios, Ltd
  15. ^Rabbi Dovid Kaplan inBook-Review: The Malbim on Iyov(a non-ArtScroll Hebrew to English translation)
  16. ^abStolow, Jeremy (2010).Orthodox by Design: Judaism, Print Politics, and the ArtScroll Revolution.p. 157.
  17. ^Sandy Eller; Yosef Shidler (17 March 2010)."Brooklyn, NY - VIN Exclusive: Behind The Scenes At Artscroll [video]".VIN.vosizneias.Retrieved23 December2010.
  18. ^abStolow, Jeremy (2010).Orthodox by Design: Judaism, Print Politics, and the ArtScroll Revolution.p. 75.ISBN9780520264250.
  19. ^"The Chumash: The Stone Edition".Published... 1993
  20. ^Plural Chumash, the five books of Moses, from the Hebrew word for the number five
  21. ^Yosef Lindell; Shira Hecht-Koller (September 28, 2018)."Move Over Artscroll: Here's The New, Modern Orthodox Chumash".The Forward.
  22. ^printed inside
  23. ^copies have been sold in the USA. The first volume was in memory of Mr.Safraof the eponymous bank.
  24. ^abcStolow, Jeremy (28 April 2010).Orthodox By Design: Judaism, print politics, and the ArtScroll revolution.University of California Press. pp. 120–130.ISBN978-0-520-26426-7.
  25. ^Church & Synagogue Libraries, Volumes 38-39.Church and Synagogue Library Association. 2005.
  26. ^Moskin, Julia (16 April 2008)."One Cook, Thousands of Seders".The New York Times.Retrieved22 March2011.
  27. ^Chefitz, Michael (15 November 2010)."Kosher by Design's Susie Fishbein is Back!".TribLocal Skokie.Archived fromthe originalon 26 July 2011.Retrieved22 March2011.
  28. ^abSanders, Gavriel Aryeh (14 March 2005)."Kosher Diva Outdoes Herself With Latest Offering".Jewish World Review.Retrieved22 March2011.
  29. ^Shalom, A. (2002).Through the flames of Aleppo: A novel (ArtScroll youth series).ISBN1578195381.
  30. ^The first of these sentences was the end of a series ofitalicizedsentences.
  31. ^Yaakov Kornreich (July 18, 2018)."Meir Zlotowitz's Legacy: The Spiritual Engine Of American Orthodoxy's Renaissance".The Jewish Press.RetrievedJanuary 10,2019.
  32. ^The Case for a Traditional Approach in the Study of Tanachin the Jewish Action Winter 2018 issue
  33. ^Rabbi Avrohom Biderman in minute 53-54 ofMay 7, 2020 Twitter Live podcastwithSeforimChatter.Archived fromoriginalon July 24, 2020.
  34. ^"Jewish prayers for Orthodox services - Translation and transliteration".... correspond to the Rabbinical Council of America Edition of the Artscroll Siddur
  35. ^"If You Can Read This - You Can Pray In Hebrew".
  36. ^Levy, B. Barry (Spring 1981). "Judge Not a Book By Its Cover".Tradition.19(1): 89–95.
  37. ^Scherman in an interview with Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter published inA Conversation with Rabbi Nosson Scherman On Chinuch(p. 66-73 in Ami Magazine, June 21, 2017), in which Frankfurter stated "[t]o be honest, I sometimes question ArtScroll's approach when it comes to certain things. One of these is the tendency to portray the commonality betweengedolei Yisraelrather than their particularhashkafos[worldviews]. I grew up in a generation when people liked to debate what thisgadolsaid versus what another one said. Today there's much more uniformity; everyone believes the same things in the same way. "Upon responding" [o]ur role is not to discuss issues in current events. Our intention is to present the text, "Frankfurter questioned Scherman:" Even when it comes to biographies and the like? "Scherman replied:" We include the opinions of whichevergadolis the subject of the biography, but we don't necessarily discuss dissenting views. We feel that our mission is to educate people and to bemarbeh kevod shamayim[to increase honor of God]. We try to stay away from disputes that can often become vitriolic. Getting involved in such things is not our mission. Our mission is to impart a positive message. "
  38. ^ArtScroll omitted entire sections of Rashbam's commentary on Gen. 1:4, 1:5, 1:8, and 1:31. SeeDavid Rosin,Perush Rashbam al Ha-Torah(Breslau, 1882), pp. 5-6, 9ArchivedFebruary 19, 2015, at theWayback Machine
  39. ^Hulin 83a
  40. ^First identified byMarc B. ShapiroonSeforim Blog.See also David S. Zinberg,"An inconvenient text,"The Jewish Standard(February 12, 2015)
  41. ^Shapiro, Marc B."ArtScroll's Response and My Comments".the Seforim Blog.the Seforim Blog.Retrieved30 June2019.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=ArtScroll&oldid=1219276558"