This article is about the distinguished rabbinical scholar. For the noted astronomer of a similar name see: Isadore Epstein

Isadore Epstein

This article is about the distinguished astronomer. For the noted rabbinical scholar of a similar name see: Isidore EpsteinIsadore Epstein was an astronomer. Epstein taught astronomy at Columbia University for 37 years. He completed his Ph.D...

 (1919-1995)

Rabbi Dr. Isidore Epstein (Kovno, 1894–1962), was an Orthodox

Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...

 rabbi

Rabbi

In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...

 and rabbinical scholar in England, who served as the longtime principal of Jews' College

Jews' College

-Origins and Remit Today:Jews' College, now known as the London School of Jewish Studies , was opened in Finsbury Square, London as a rabbinical seminary in 1855 with the support of Chief Rabbi Nathan Adler and of Sir Moses Montefiore, who had conceived the idea for such a venture as early as...

, London.

Ezekiel Isidore Epstein was born in Kovno, Lithuania

Lithuania

Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...

. He studied at the Pressburg Yeshiva

Pressburg Yeshiva (Austria-Hungary)

Pressburg Yeshiva, established in 1807 in the city of Pressburg, Austrian Empire by Rabbi Moses Sofer , was the largest and most influential yeshiva in Central Europe...

 in his youth, as well as in Paris under Rabbi Zadoc Kahn, chief rabbi of France. He received semikhah (ordination) from Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook

Abraham Isaac Kook

Abraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...

 and Rabbi Yisrael Chaim Daiches of Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

, England.

Rabbi Epstein is best known for serving as the overall editor of the first complete English translation of the Babylonian Talmud, by the Soncino Press

Soncino Press

Soncino Press is a Jewish publishing company based in the United Kingdom that has published a variety of books of Jewish interest, most notably English translations and commentaries to the Talmud and Hebrew Bible...

 (London, 34 volumes 1935-1952). He recruited many Rabbis and scholars for the massive project, personally reviewing all of the work as it was produced, and co-ordinating the many details of notation, and transliteration of Hebrew words.

Rabbi Epstein was also an editor of Joseph H. Hertz

Joseph H. Hertz

----Rabbi Joseph Herman Hertz, CH was a Jewish Hungarian-born Rabbi and Bible scholar. He is most notable for holding the position of Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom from 1913 until his death in 1946, in a period encompassing both world wars and The Holocaust.- Early life :Hertz was born in the...

' Pentateuch and Haftorahs (1929-1936), and editor a collection of papers (published 1935) in connection with the eighth centenary of the birth of Maimonides

Maimonides

Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...

 (b.1135), as well as being the author of numerous scholarly books relating to Judaism

Judaism

Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

.

Publications

• ed. Moses Maimonides: Anglo-Jewish Papers in Connection with the Eighth Centenary of His Birth, ed. I. Epstein (London, 1935),

'The Faith of Judaism: an interpretation for our times' Rabbi Dr Isidore Epstein (London, Soncino Press, 1954)