Innovative New Chumash to Be Used by US Military

A new full color Chumash laced with commentary geared to offering Torah insights that are relevant to day to day life has been purchased by the military and will be distributed to thousands of Jewish soldiers stationed in over twenty different countries.

The Lifestyle Torah, created by Crown Heights resident Rabbi Chaim Miller over a three year period, offers commentary from hundreds of sources ranging from the ancient to the contemporary, including Chasidic wisdom, mussar, traditional commentary, kabalistic insights and more. Rabbi Miller, who established the Gutnik Library of Jewish Classics, is a motivational speaker and author of ten books.

“Most Chumashim just familiarize people with the text of the Chumash, but we wanted to take this further, to help people incorporate the lessons of the Torah into their daily lives,” Rabbi Miller told VIN News. “We showed this Chumash to the Aleph Institute, which provides books and both moral and spiritual support to those serving in the armed forces and they realized it was what every soldier needs: a Chumash that can provide a quick dose of inspiration.”

A special soft covered, pocket sized edition of the Lifestyle Chumash was printed with a camouflage cover to meet army regulations. According to Rabbi Miller, the initial order of 5,000 chumashim placed by the Aleph Institute has been almost completely distributed and Rabbi Miller expects a second order to be placed in the near future.

While the Aleph Institute has worked with various publishers to create Hebrew/English seforim for soldiers, including siddurim, chumashim and tehillim, the Lifestyle Chumash is unique, according to Rabbi Aaron Lipskar, executive director of The Aleph Institute.

“Working with individuals in limited environments, such as the military where they are often far from home and isolated from community or Jewish resources, we wanted a unique product that no matter who the individuals were or where they might be and regardless of their level of knowledge in learning, they could easily open the Chumash and study, especially given the unique commentaries, general introductory story line and information,” said Rabbi Lipskar.