In the meantime, even as we mourn JPS’s disappearance as an independent Jewish publisher, lovers of Jewish books should wish the new couple well.

Sarna is also the author of JPS: The Americanization of Jewish Culture, 1888-1988, a full-length study about JPS.

I thought that the following paragraph from Sarna’s book was interesting (p. 191):

The Society also projected an imposing list of other plans. The ever-ambitious Maurice Jacobs called for “the publication of a Philadelphia Schass…edited by a scholar like Louis Ginzberg.” He believed that such a new edition of the Talmud was essential after the destruction of Vilna’s great Romm Press, and he promised that such an undertaking “would bring the Society more fame than it has ever had in its history.” Somewhat more modestly, Solomon Grayzel urged publication of a new edition of the Shulchan Aruch, the basic code of Jewish law, with an English translation. In this case, the idea became mired in controversy, for, as Jacob Marcus explained: “The Reform Jews wanted the entire Shulchan Aruch published in a scholarly edition in toto, because the average American Jew would find it ridiculous and burdensome, and the Orthodox Jews, on the other hand, insisted on its publication in part; they wanted to choose only those items which would leave a good impression upon the American public.” Needless to say, that idea was dropped.

The only tractate of the Talmud that was ever published by JPS was Henry Malter’s translation of Tractate Taanit which should not be confused with his critical edition of the tractate without any translation.

The vocalization of rabbinic texts can also be found in the well-known MS Kaufmann of the Mishnah and the MS of Sifra, Codex Assemani 66. Who vocalized these texts, while important, is less important for this post than the very act of vocalization itself.

Scholars have discussed the linguistic importance and characteristics of these different traditions of vocalization, but I am interested in their cultural context. Who needed this vocalization? What was the level of Hebrew knowledge of these MSS’s readership that they required a vocalized text? In some cases it is clear that the vocalization was added later. What were the factors that brought about this later addition?

I have been thinking about these questions after realizing that almost every single rabbinic text is available today in a vocalized version. Not only are they vocalized, but the more recent the edition, the greater chance that it is vocalized.

As I mentioned above, the text of the Mishnah has been vocalized for centuries. Individual tractates of the Talmud were vocalized before the complete vocalization of the Talmud found in Steinsaltz, Artscroll, or Tuvia’s (not yet complete). Probably every single midrash is available in a vocalized edition. For Midrash Rabbah, Merkin vocalized the text years ago, and this has continued with the Midrash ha-Mevoar series. Here are two other examples of midrashim that I recently bought. The first is a newly typeset edition of Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer with David Luria’s commentary. In this edition, the text of the midrash is vocalized. The other example is a recent edition of the Tanḥuma that includes both the traditional text and Shlomo Buber’s edition. In both versions, the text of the midrash is vocalized. A vocalized edition of Mikra’ot Gedolot is also available.

This vocalization is also found in halakhic texts. I just bought a vocalized edition of the Shulḥan Arukh that is only the text itself and doesn’t include any commentaries (excluding Isserles). The most popular editions of the Mishneh Berurah are vocalized, and another point is that they often don’t have any Rashi script. I could go on and on with examples.

I personally think that vocalized texts are extremely important and aid in learning correct Hebrew and Aramaic. Has modern technology brought us into a new era in the publication of rabbinic works?

1. A nice article about the plans for the National Library of Israel. Also see this article from the Jpost.
2. An article by Dr. Harel Gordon on Rabbi Moshe Feinstein. Dr. Gordon wrote his dissertation on Rav Moshe’s halakhic methodology.

Often Overlooked: Examples of Front-matter in Early Hebrew Books
Marvin J. Heller

Sibling Rivalry: Simultaneous Editions of Hebrew Books
Marvin J. Heller

In Search of the Editio Princeps of the First Hasidic Book
Yosef Fagin

ספרי שאלות ותשובות כמקור לחקר תופעת הנשים העגונות בחברה
היהודית
Haim Sperber

הערה על טכניקה נדירה של מעתיקים

Simcha Emmanuel