New Kehot Chumash Bound for Success

In the works for over 14 years, Chabad House Publications announced the release of the much-anticipated Synagogue Edition of the Kehot Publication Society Chumash.

The Synagogue Edition Chumash contains the acclaimed interpolated translation made popular by the expanded, five-volume edition of the Kehot Chumash, which has revolutionized the study and understanding of the Torah.

The interpolated translation renders the text of the Chumash intelligible to the reader while simultaneously enabling him or her to understand the Chumash as Rashi explained it and as the Rebbe elucidates Rashi’s commentary.

Hundreds of Chasidic insights culled from the Rebbe’s works and those of his predecessors supplement the lucid translation. Each parsha is preceded by a concise introduction, which highlights the theme of the parsha and describes its place in the development of the Torah’s message.

Helpful introductions precede each haftarah, designed to provide the reader with the historical and literary background necessary to understand and appreciate the prophetic lessons of the haftarot and their connection to the weekly parsha.

“The publication of this Chumash heralds a new era in the availability of Torah and the Rebbe’s teachings to the public,” said Rabbi Chaim Nochum Cunin, director and general editor of Chabad House Publications.

The first copy arrived at Kehot Publication Society in New York for Shabbat Parshat Lech Lecha, and was brought into the Rebbe’s room and formally placed on the Rebbe’s desk at “770” for Shabbat. The second copy was received and celebrated at Chabad House Publications, together with Moishe Lipszyc, one of the distinguished dedicators who underwrote this project. Moishe and Shterna Soroh Lipszyc are the founders of Camp Leah Rivka in Burks Falls and the Bais Chaya Mushka Girls School in Toronto.

The Synagogue Edition was dedicated by the Michaan family of S. Paulo, Brazil. Individual sections were sponsored by the Lipszyc family of Toronto (Bereishit), the Bussel family of Los Angeles (Shemot), the Schochet family of Miami and the Rappaport family of Toronto (Vayikra), Dan ben Esther and family (Bemidbar), the Nissel family of Beverly Hills (Devarim), and the Glowinsky family of Toronto (the Haftarot).

The editorial team responsible for this project is under the direction of editor-in-chief Rabbi Moshe Yaakov Wisnefsky and general editor Rabbi Chaim Nochum Cunin. The team includes Rabbis Baruch Kaplan, Betzalel Lifshitz, Yosef Marcus, and Dov Wagner. The experts and scholars who assisted in preparing this work include Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman, Rabbi Dovid Olidort, and Rabbi Avraham D. Vaisfiche, Rabbi Aaron Leib Raskin, Rabbi Shmuel Rabin, and Rabbi Yisroel Noach Shneur Wichnin.

Dozens of illustrations and detailed diagrams were especially created for this work by accomplished artists Marc Lumer, Ian Webster, and Spotlight Design, together with comprehensive, high-quality maps produced by acclaimed cartographer Reuven Soffer. These graphic elements combine to make the meaning of the Chumash’s words more readily comprehendible. The contemporary, modern layout was designed by award-winning typesetter Raphäel Freeman and Renana Typesetting.

The 1536-page sefer is designed to remain rigid and intact for heavy use: the text is printed on custom paper manufactured in Europe; the exquisite cover is made of nylon-reinforced tear-free leatherette material; and the binding is hand-stitched and specially reinforced.

“We are confident that this monumental work will be the Chumash of choice not only for Chabad Houses and synagogues, but for families, students, and the public at large,” says Rabbi Yosef B. Friedman of Kehot Publication Society.

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The “Rebbe’s Chumash” project began 14 years ago under the leadership of West Coast Chabad and Rabbi Boruch Shlomo Cunin, with the vision and support of Yuri and Deana Pikover, pillars of the Chabad of Malibu community headed by Rabbi Levi Cunin.

Publication of the Synagogue Edition of the Kehot Chumash by Chabad House Publications follows the success of Daily Wisdom, a collection of the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s insights on the Torah-readings of every day of the year culled from material that is highlighted in this book. Daily Wisdom won the coveted Benjamin Franklin award of the Independent Book Publishers Association, and is now being translated and released in Hebrew, French, Spanish, and Russian, and has been published in compact form as the Asher David Milstein compact edition.

The Synagogue Edition Chumash is being launched in time for the upcoming International Conference of Shulchim, where it will be able for purchase at a special, reduced price. The Chumash will be available at Judaica stores worldwide, and online at kehot.com.

“It is our ardent hope that the illumination of these wellsprings of the Rebbe’s teachings on Chasidus will hasten the advent of our Redemption, when ‘the earth will be filled the knowledge of G-d as water covers the sea bed,’” says Rabbi Chaim Cunin.