In Hebrew, the word ‘megillah’ means ‘scroll.’ In the plural, it is ‘megillot.’ Every year, each megillah is read according to the Jewish calendar on a particular Jewish festival.
The Song of Songs is read on the Shabbat preceding the week of Passover. The Book of Ruth on Shavuot, Lamentations on Tisha b’Av, Ecclesiastes on the Shabbat of Sukkot, and the Book of Esther on Purim.
The Steinsaltz Five Megillot features several innovative elements, including Hebrew verses in clear Koren font, with vowels and punctuation. This is an accessible English translation that reflects Rabbi Steinsaltz’s understanding of the text.
In addition to the easily read text, the book includes color photos that identify biblical objects and illustrate complicated concepts. Notes and pictures of modern archaeological and scientific findings. Maps, illustrations, and charts to clarify locations and concepts. Supplemental background materials, cross-references to the Torah.
The Steinsaltz Five Megillot
Rabbi Steinsaltz has written more than 60 books and hundreds of articles, established the Makor Chaim network of schools in Israel and the former Soviet Union, and holds several honorary degrees, including the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies and Israel’s first President’s Prize. He was born in Jerusalem IN 1934 and passed from this world in 2020.
The impact that Rabbi Steinsaltz, of blessed memory, had in spreading the learning of Torah, enhancing the understanding of our texts and religion, bringing Jews closer to their God and their faith cannot be overstated.
Rabbi Steinsaltz’s translations and commentaries of Tanakh and many more Jewish texts have placed him as perhaps the most prolific commentator of Jewish texts in history, drawing a comparison to Rashi. His countless other works on Jewish thought, Hassidut, philosophy, and more have touched the souls of thousands and have already taken their place among the core texts of modern Jewish thought.