Monday, August 22, 2016

Proprietors of Artscroll give money for a "real" sefer

I went to the Glueck Beth Midrash at YU today, and was looking for a copy of Tractate Rosh Ha-shana in the Talmud Yerushalmi. The only one that was on the shelf was the one with the commentary of R' Chaim Kanievsky. I have seen this edition on shelves, but don't think I have ever looked inside. I opened up to the front pages, and found the following dedication page:




לישרים נאוה תהילה
שלום רב לאוהבי תורתך
התודה והברכה התהילה והתפארת
לכבוד ידידינו היקרים והישרים,
הרבנים הגאונים, מגדולי מפיצי התורה בדורינו,
הרב נתן שערמאן שליט"א
והרב יעקב מאיר זלוטוביץ שליט"א
שנדבו בשמחה הוצאות הספר

That is, R' Nosson Scherman and R' Meir Zlotowitz, the proprietors of ArtScroll, gave the money to fund this book. The dedication goes on to list the various people in whose memory Scherman and Zlotowitz are dedicating the book. So, although they have devoted the last several decades to publishing ArtScroll books, they have financed the publication of this book. And who published this book? It is self-published! The title page says only the city and the year: בני ברק, תשס"א.

  Do Rabbis Scherman and Zlotowitz think that only a book like this is a "real sefer", as opposed to an ArtScroll book, and thus that funding it is a way to do something truly relevant with their lives? Now, who distributes the sefer? Apparently Rav Chaim Kanievsky, bikhvodo u-ve'atmzo, at his own home address (and one other distributor):  


את הספר אפשר להשיג ע"פ הכתובת:

הרב קניבסקי
רשב"ם 32

ברוורמן
רב סעדי' גאון 11 בני ברק

So a man who is considered one of the greatest rabbis in the Israeli Lita'i world is self-publishing and self-distributing his works, and the proprietors of ArtScroll are funding the project.