Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin רבי שלמה יוסף זווין
founder and chief editor of the Encyclopedia Talmudit
The Encyclopedia Talmudit. The idea is simple and enormous: take every concept of halakhah and give each an article gathering what has been said from the Talmud to the latest poskim, with references. The first volume appeared in 5707; he began it together with Rabbi Meir Bar-Ilan and remained chief editor to the end—more than thirty years.
Before that he had been a rabbi in Russia, lived through the Soviet years, and went up to the Land of Israel.
Other books. HaMoadim BeHalakhah—the festivals set out by law, a book read also by those who never studied in a yeshiva. Ishim VeShitot—essays on the sages of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and on how each of them thought: a rare attempt to describe not a life but a way of thinking. Sippurei Chassidim—Chassidic tales arranged by the weekly portion and the festivals.
In 5719 he received the Israel Prize for rabbinic literature. He died on 21 Adar I 5738.
On the timeline
Places
Related
Sources
Acharonim and later rabbinic literature
- Encyclopedia Talmudit, vol. 1, 5707 — the work he conceived and edited until his death
- HaMoadim BeHalakhah — the festivals set out by law
Basis: documents and evidence.