Editing ArtScroll

{{Short description|Translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective}}
{{Infobox publisher
|image = ArtScroll logo.jpg
|parent = Mesorah Publications
|status = Active
|founded = 1976
|founder =
|country = United States
|headquarters = [[Rahway, New Jersey]]
|distribution =
|keypeople = {{Unbulleted list|[[Nosson Scherman]] (General editor)|<br/>[[Gedaliah Zlotowitz]] (General editor)}}
|publications =
|topics =
|genre =
|imprints =
|url = {{URL|http://www.artscroll.com}}
}}
'''ArtScroll''' is an [[imprint (trade name)|imprint]] of translations, books and commentaries from an [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox Jewish]] perspective published by '''Mesorah Publications, Ltd.''', a [[publishing company]] based in [[Rahway, New Jersey|Rahway]], New Jersey. [[Rabbi]] [[Nosson Scherman]] is the general editor.<ref name=Z.obit>{{cite news |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/27/nyregion/rabbi-meir-zlotowitz-dead-publisher-of-religious-books.html |title=Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, Who Made Jewish Prayer Books Clear to All, Dies at 73 |author=Joseph Berger |date=June 27, 2017}}</ref>

ArtScroll's first president, Rabbi [[Meir Zlotowitz]] (July 13, 1943 – June 24, 2017)<ref name=Z.obit /> was succeeded by his oldest son, Rabbi [[Gedaliah Zlotowitz]], whose name is listed secondarily in new publications as general editor, after that of Rabbi Scherman.<ref name=GZ.exa>{{cite book |title=Moved by a Maggid |author=Paysach J. Krohn |author-link=Paysach Krohn |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-4226-2222-3 |quote=... son, R'Gedaliah, ... at the helm ... |page=14}}</ref>

==History==
In 1975,<ref name="press">{{cite web |url=http://elucidation-not-translation.blogspot.com/2007/06/interview-with-nosson-scherman.html |last=Resnick |first=Eliot |title=Our Goal is to Increase Torah Learning |work=[[The Jewish Press]] |date=6 June 2007 |access-date=23 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131201437/http://elucidation-not-translation.blogspot.com/2007/06/interview-with-nosson-scherman.html |archive-date= 31 January 2011 <!--DASHBot-->|url-status=live}}</ref> Rabbi [[Meir Zlotowitz]], a graduate of [[Mesivtha Tifereth Jerusalem]], was director of a high-end graphics studio in New York.<ref name="Zeit">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/010713/artscroll.shtml |title=In 25 Years of Publishing, Artscroll captures Zeitgeist |last=Ephross |first=Peter |work=[[Jewish Telegraphic Agency]] |date=13 July 2001 |access-date=23 December 2010 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609111257/http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/010713/artscroll.shtml |archive-date=9 June 2011 }}</ref> The firm, ArtScroll Studios, produced [[ketubah|ketubot]],<ref>[https://agudathisrael.org/wp-content/uploads/1972/12/JO1972-V8-N09.compressed.pdf#page=34 The Jewish Observer, December 1972, p. 34 full-page advertisement]</ref> brochures,<ref name="ny">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/books/10talm.html?pagewanted=print&position= |title=An English Talmud for Daily Readers and Debaters |last=Berger |first=Joseph |date=10 February 2005 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=23 December 2010}}</ref> invitations, and awards.<ref name="press" /> Rabbi [[Nosson Scherman]], then principal of Yeshiva Karlin Stolin [[Borough Park, Brooklyn|Boro Park]],<ref name="press" /> was approached by Zlotowitz who had helped him write copy for brochures and journals in the past,<ref>{{Cite web |title=What's Bothering Artscroll?: Interview with Nosson Scherman |url=http://elucidation-not-translation.blogspot.com/2007/06/interview-with-nosson-scherman.html |access-date=2023-02-13 |language=en}}</ref>  and they collaborated on a few projects.<ref name="scherman">{{cite web |url=http://matzav.com/the-artscroll-revolution-5tjt-interviews-rabbi-nosson-scherman |title=The ArtScroll Revolution: 5TJT interviews Rabbi Nosson Scherman |last=Hoffman |first=Rabbi Yair |date=3 December 2009 |access-date=23 December 2010 |publisher=Five Towns Jewish Times}}</ref>

In late 1975, Zlotowitz wrote an English translation and commentary on the [[Book of Esther]]<ref name=Z.obit /> in memory of a friend, and asked Scherman to write the introduction. The book sold out its first edition of 20,000 copies within two months.<ref name="women">{{cite web |url=http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/feminists_object_artscroll_rolls |title=Feminists Object, But ArtScroll Rolls On |last=Nussbaum Cohen |first=Debra |date=11 October 2007 |work=[[The Jewish Week]] |access-date=23 December 2010 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303165315/http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/feminists_object_artscroll_rolls |url-status=dead }}</ref> With the encouragement of Rabbis [[Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman]], [[Mordechai Gifter]], [[Moses Feinstein]], [[Yaakov Kamenetsky]],<ref>Cf. his position that quality English-language sefarim will be used by Jews in the Messianic era as, like Yiddish in its time, "today English has become a language of Torah." (Rabbi Nosson Scherman in ''The Mandate to Communicate Torah in the Vernacular: Excerpts From a Presentation to an Eleventh Grade'' published in [https://agudathisrael.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/JO1998-V31-N04.pdf#page=27 The Jewish Observer, April 1998, p. 27]).</ref> and others,<ref name=ami>{{cite magazine|last=Gantz|first=Nesanel|date=15 September 2013|title=Lunch Break with Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz|magazine=[[Ami (magazine)|Ami]]|issue=136|page=90}}</ref> the two continued producing commentaries, beginning with a translation and commentary on the rest of the [[Five Megillot]] ([[Song of Songs]], [[Ecclesiastes]], [[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]] and [[Book of Ruth|Ruth]]), and went on to publish translations and commentaries on the [[Torah]], [[Nevi'im|Prophets]], [[Talmud]], [[Passover Haggadah]], [[siddur]]s and [[machzor]]s. By 1990, ArtScroll had produced more than 700 books, including novels, history books, children's books and secular textbooks,<ref name="Zeit" /> and became the largest publisher of Jewish books in the United States.<ref name=ami/>

After decades of being headquartered in New York, ArtScroll moved to New Jersey in 2020.<ref>Jewish Link (March 12, 2020), [https://jewishlink.news/community-news/bergen/36900-artscroll-moves-to-new-offices-in-rahway Artscroll Moves to New Offices in Rahway].</ref> Among other things, ArtScroll's headquarters in Rahway is notable for their in-house [[Chroma key|green screen]] studio used for the production of [https://inside.artscroll.com/ Inside ArtScroll] videos made available [[Internet|online]], as well as non-ArtScroll videos such as [[Mishpacha]] interviews and other "films that are broadcasted to the Torah community."<ref>Reisman, Leah. "The Art of Publishing". ''Mishpacha Junior'' (October 27, 2021): p. 10.</ref>

=== Associated entities ===
The '''Mesorah Heritage Foundation''' box printed on the inner page of ArtScroll publications lists Rabbi [[Dovid Feinstein|David Feinstein]]'s name first.

'''Mesorah Publications''' is the "parent" company of ArtScroll; the name Mesorah was not part of ArtScroll's publications for the first book published, Megilas Esther (1976).<ref>inside cover: ArtScroll Studios, Ltd</ref>

== Publications ==
=== Primary publications and popular demand ===
[[Image:Sapirstein Rashi.jpg|thumb|The Sapirstein Edition [[Rashi]].]]
ArtScroll publishes books on a variety of [[Jewish]] subjects. The best known is probably an annotated [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]-English ''siddur'' ("prayerbook") (''The ArtScroll Siddur'').<ref name=Z.obit/>

Its Torah translation and commentary, a series of translations and commentaries on books of the [[Tanakh|Tanach]] ([[Hebrew Bible]]), and an English translation and elucidation of the Babylonian Talmud have enjoyed great success. Other publications include works on [[Halakha|Jewish Law]], novels and factual works based on [[Jew]]ish life or history, and cookbooks.<ref name="ny"/>

The popular demand for ArtScroll's translations of classic Jewish works (e.g., Mishnah; Talmud) largely coincided with preexisting market demands, unappreciated to an extent, for English editions characterized by both high-fidelity translations as well as accompanying commentary in the English vernacular. Such editions are used even by American [[yeshivah]] graduates–who have had the benefit of exposure to Hebrew and Aramaic from a young age–inasmuch as it is often easier to effortlessly parse through the material in their native language in place of what may at times be a tedious endeavor of self-translation. In certain cases, reading the Judaic texts in one's native English can even "trigger a new depth of thought that comes from the subtleties of a finer understanding."<ref>Rabbi Dovid Kaplan in [https://thenextpage-israelbookshop.com/2012/07/25/book-review-the-malbim-on-iyov-the-search-for-faith-and-meaning/ Book-Review: The Malbim on Iyov] (a non-ArtScroll Hebrew to English translation)</ref>

ArtScroll publications are best identified through the "hallmark features" of its design elements such as typeface and layout, through which "ArtScroll books constitute a field of visual interaction that enables and encourages the reader to navigate the text in particular ways."<ref name=":2">{{cite book|first=Jeremy |last=Stolow|title= Orthodox by Design: Judaism, Print Politics, and the ArtScroll Revolution |year=2010|page= 157}}</ref> The emphasis on design and layout can be understood "as a strategy on the part of the publisher to achieve a range of cognitive as well as esthetic effects."<ref name=":2" /> The name ArtScroll was chosen for the publishing company to emphasize the visual appeal of the books.<ref>{{cite web
   |url=http://www.vosizneias.com/51456/2010/03/17/brooklyn-ny-vin-exclusive-behind-the-scenes-at-artscroll-video
   |title=Brooklyn, NY - VIN Exclusive: Behind The Scenes At Artscroll [video]
   |work=VIN |author1=Sandy Eller |author2=Yosef Shidler 
   |date=17 March 2010 |access-date=23 December 2010 |publisher=vosizneias.com}}</ref>

=== Prayerbooks ===
Mesorah Publications received widespread acclaim in response to its ArtScroll line of prayerbooks,<ref name=Z.obit/> starting with ''The Complete ArtScroll Siddur'', Ed. Nosson Scherman, 1984. This work gained wide acceptance in the [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] [[Jew]]ish community, and within a few years became a popular Hebrew-English ''siddur'' (prayerbook) in the United States. It offered the reader detailed notes and instructions on most of the prayers and versions of this prayerbook were produced for the [[High Holidays]], and the three pilgrimage festivals [[Passover]], [[Sukkot]] and [[Shavuot]].

They are also well-known for their range of [[Interlinear gloss|interlinear]] translated prayerbooks and [[Machzor|machzorim]], of which the design has been [[patent]] protected.

While many Conservative synagogues rely on the ''Siddur Sim Shalom'' or ''Or Hadash'' prayer books and ''Etz Hayim Humash'', "a small but growing number of North American Conservative Jewish congregations ... have recently adopted ArtScroll prayer books and Bibles as their 'official' liturgical texts, not to mention a much larger number of Conservative synagogues that over recent years have grown accustomed to individual congregants participating in prayer services with editions of ArtScroll prayer books in their hands."<ref name=":0">{{cite book|first=Jeremy |last=Stolow|title= Orthodox by Design: Judaism, Print Politics, and the ArtScroll Revolution |year=2010|page= 75|isbn=9780520264250|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MO159He5WgYC&q=conservative+judaism+artscroll&pg=PA75}}</ref> The shift has mainly occurred among more traditionally minded Conservative congregants and rabbis (sometimes labeled "Conservadox") "as an adequate representation of the more traditional liturgy they seek to embrace."<ref name=Z.obit/><ref name=":0" />

Since the advent of ArtScroll, a number of Jewish publishers have printed books and siddurim with similar typefaces and commentary, but with a different commentary and translation philosophy.

=== Stone Chumash ===
[[File:The_Chumash.jpg|thumb|right|ArtScroll Stone Chumash, cover]]
In 1993, Mesorah Publications published ''The Chumash: The Stone Edition'',<ref>{{cite web 
   |url=https://www.abebooks.com/Chumash-Stone-Edition-Full-Size-ArtScroll/22583001128/bd 
   |quote=Published ... 1993 
   |title=The Chumash: The Stone Edition}}</ref> a translation and commentary on the [[Chumash (Judaism)|Chumash]] arranged for liturgical use and sponsored by [[Irving I. Stone]] of [[American Greetings]], [[Cleveland, Ohio]]. It has since become a widely available English-Hebrew Torah translation and commentary in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries.

A 2018 review of Hebrew-English [[Chumash (Judaism)|Chumashim]]<ref>Plural Chumash, the five books of Moses, from the Hebrew word for the number five</ref><ref name=Fwd>{{cite news  |newspaper=[[The Forward]]
   |url=https://forward.com/life/faith/411063/move-over-artscroll-heres-the-new-modern-orthodox-chumash
   |title=Move Over Artscroll: Here's The New, Modern Orthodox Chumash
   |date=September 28, 2018 |author1=Yosef Lindell |author2=Shira Hecht-Koller}}</ref> said that ArtScroll's ''Stone Edition Chumash'', often called '''The Stone Chumash''', is "the most successful Orthodox replacement for the" [[Hertz Chumash]].

== Schottenstein Edition Talmud ==
{{Main|Schottenstein Edition of the Babylonian Talmud}}
[[File:TalmudMidrashSets.jpg|thumb|Artscroll Talmud in a synagogue library]]
Mesorah has a line of [[Mishnah]] translations and commentaries, and a line of [[Babylonian Talmud]] translations and commentaries, The Schottenstein Edition of The ''Talmud Bavli'' ("Babylonian Talmud"). The set of Talmud was completed in late 2004, giving a 73 volume English edition of the entire Talmud. This was the second complete translation of the Talmud into English (the other being the [[Soncino Press|Soncino]] Talmud published in the United Kingdom during the mid-twentieth century). The first volume, Tractate Makkos, was published in 1990,<ref name="ny"/> and dedicated by Mr. and Mrs. Marcos Katz. [[Jerome Schottenstein]] was introduced by Rabbi Dr. [[Norman Lamm]] to the publication committee shortly thereafter. He began by donating funds for the project in memory of his parents Ephraim and Anna Schottenstein one volume at a time, and later decided to back the entire project. When Jerome died, his children and widow, Geraldine, rededicated the project to his memory in addition to those of his parents. The goal of the project was to, "open the doors of the Talmud and welcome its people inside."

The text generally consists of two side-by-side pages: one of the [[Jewish Babylonian Aramaic|Aramaic]]/[[Mishnaic Hebrew|Hebrew]] [[Vilna Edition]] text, and the corresponding page consists of an English translation. The English translation has a bolded literal translation of the Talmud's text, but also includes un-bolded text clarifying the literal translation. (The original Talmud's text is often very unclear, referring to places, times, people, and laws that it does not explain. The un-bolded text attempts to explain these situations. The text of the Talmud also contains few prepositions, articles, etc. The un-bolded text takes the liberty of inserting these parts of speech.) The result is an English text that reads in full sentences with full explanations, while allowing the reader to distinguish between direct translation and a more liberal approach to the translation. (This also results in one page of the Vilna Talmud requiring several pages of English translation.) Below the English translation appear extensive notes including diagrams.<ref name="ny"/>

ArtScroll's English explanations and footnoted commentary in the Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud are based on the perspective of classical Jewish sources. The clarifying explanation is generally based on the viewpoint of [[Rashi]], the medieval commentator who wrote the first comprehensive commentary on the Talmud. The Schottenstein Edition does not include contemporary academic or critical scholarship.  The overall guidelines follow a pattern defined by the late Rabbi Hersh Goldwurm, "a Monsey, N.Y., scholar who died in 1993."<ref name="ny"/> The total cost of the project is estimated at US$21 million,<ref name="ny"/> most of which was contributed by private donors and foundations. Some volumes have up to 2 million copies in distribution, while more recent volumes have only 90,000 copies currently printed. A completed set was dedicated on February 9, 2005, to the [[Library of Congress]], and the [[siyum]] (celebration at the "completion") was held on March 15, 2005, the 13th [[yahrzeit]] of Jerome Schottenstein, at the [[New York Hilton]]. The blue-covered Hebrew Talmud set, which like the English counterpart is 73 volumes, has a [[Haskama|HasKaMa]] (approbation) from a [[Bobover]] Rebbe, Grand Rabbi [[Naftali Tzvi Halberstam|Naftali Halberstam]].<ref>printed inside</ref> A French language set was begun.<ref>copies have been sold in the USA. The first volume was in memory of Mr. [[Safra Group|Safra]] of the eponymous bank.</ref>

Mesorah and the Schottenstein family have also printed a Hebrew version of the commentary and have begun both an English and Hebrew translation of the ''Talmud Yerushalmi'' ([[Jerusalem Talmud]] - the Hebrew/Aramaic side of the page, as well as the pagination, is based on the [[Oz Vehadar]] edition), [[Midrash Rabbah]] and other classical sources.

ArtScroll has also produced the "Elucidated Mishnah", a work similarly clarifying the [[Mishnah]]-text, and expanding thereon in an appended commentary and footnotes; see {{slink|Mishnah#Commentaries}}.

== ''Kosher by Design'' ==
In 2003, ArtScroll published a cookbook by [[Susie Fishbein]] entitled ''Kosher by Design: Picture-perfect food for the holidays & every day''. The cookbook contains both traditional recipes and updated versions of traditional recipes.<ref name="orthodox">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MO159He5WgYC&q=susie+fishbein&pg=PA120 |title=Orthodox By Design: Judaism, print politics, and the ArtScroll revolution |last=Stolow |first=Jeremy |date=28 April 2010 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-26426-7 |pages=120&ndash;130}}</ref> All the recipes are kosher and the book puts an emphasis on its food photography.<ref name="ny"/><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Tb7gAAAAMAAJ&q=susie+fishbein|title= Church & Synagogue Libraries, Volumes 38-39 |year=2005 |publisher=Church and Synagogue Library Association}}</ref> Since publication, the book has sold over 400,000 copies from 2003 through 2010,<ref name="ny-2">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/dining/16susie.html |title=One Cook, Thousands of Seders |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=16 April 2008 |access-date=22 March 2011 |last=Moskin |first=Julia}}</ref><ref name="back">{{cite web |url=http://triblocal.com/skokie/community/stories/2010/11/kosher-by-designs-susie-fishbein-is-back/ |title=Kosher by Design's Susie Fishbein is Back! |last=Chefitz |first=Michael |date=15 November 2010 |access-date=22 March 2011 |work=TribLocal Skokie |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726124724/http://triblocal.com/skokie/community/stories/2010/11/kosher-by-designs-susie-fishbein-is-back/ |archive-date=26 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and Fishbein has become a media personality, earning the sobriquets of "the Jewish [[Martha Stewart]]" and the "kosher [[diva]]".<ref name="orthodox"/> ArtScroll has realized the books' salability by extending beyond its traditional Orthodox Jewish market into the mainstream market, including sales on [[Amazon.com|Amazon]], at [[Barnes & Noble]]<ref name="gavriel">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishworldreview.com/kosher/fishbein.php3 |title=Kosher Diva Outdoes Herself With Latest Offering |last=Sanders |first=Gavriel Aryeh |date=14 March 2005 |access-date=22 March 2011 |work=[[Jewish World Review]]}}</ref> and Christian [[Evangelicalism in the United States|evangelical]] [[Bookselling|booksellers]],<ref name="orthodox"/> in [[Williams Sonoma (brand)|Williams Sonoma]] stores, and in supermarkets.<ref name="gavriel"/>

==Editorial policy==
Works published by Mesorah under this imprint adhere to a perspective appealing to many Orthodox Jews, but especially to Orthodox Jews who have come from less religious backgrounds, but are returning to the faith ([[Baalei Teshuva]]). Due to the makeup of the Jewish community in the US, most of the prayer books are geared to the [[Ashkenazi Jews|Ashkenazic]] custom. In more recent years, ArtScroll has collaborated with Sephardic community leaders in an attempt to bridge this gap. Examples of this include a Sephardic [[Haggadah]] published by ArtScroll, written by Sephardic Rabbi Eli Mansour, the book ''[[Aleppo]]'', about a prominent [[Sephardic Jews|Sephardic]] community in [[Syria]],<ref>{{cite book
   |title=Through the flames of Aleppo: A novel (ArtScroll youth series)
   |isbn=1578195381|last1=Shalom
 |first1=A.
 |year=2002
 }}</ref> and a Sephardic prayerbook.

In translations and commentaries, ArtScroll accepts [[midrash]]ic accounts in a historical fashion, and at times literally; it disagrees with [[textual criticism]]. Page "X" of the preface to ArtScroll's first publication set the tone: A long paragraph includes "''No non-Jewish sources have even been consulted, much less quoted.'' I consider it offensive that the Torah should need authentication from the secular or so-called 'scientific' sources."<ref>The first of these sentences was the end of a series of ''italicized'' sentences.</ref><ref>{{cite news  |newspaper=[[The Jewish Press]]
   |url=https://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/interviews-and-profiles/meir-zlotowitzs-legacy-the-spiritual-engine-of-american-orthodoxys-renaissance/2018/07/18
   |date=July 18, 2018  |access-date=January 10, 2019
   |title=Meir Zlotowitz's Legacy: The Spiritual Engine Of American Orthodoxy's Renaissance
   |author=Yaakov Kornreich}}</ref>

Frequently coalescing to give voice to ArtScroll's worldview is, in the words of   Scherman, "a heavy combination of ''[[Musar literature|mussar]]'' and ''[[Hasidic philosophy|chassidus]]'' that we incorporate into our commentary" such as commentary by [[Hasidic]] Rabbis [[Zadok HaKohen|Tzadok HaKohen]] and [[Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter|Yehudah Leib Alter]].<ref>[https://jewishaction.com/cover-story/the-case-for-a-traditional-approach-in-the-study-of-tanach/ The Case for a Traditional Approach in the Study of Tanach] in the Jewish Action Winter 2018 issue</ref>

Despite the recent trend of most [[Haredi Judaism#Newspapers and publications|Haredi press]] omitting images of women from their magazines or newspapers, ArtScroll continues to publish pictures of women in their books. When someone authoring a biography to be published by ArtScroll requested that pictures of women be left out, ArtScroll "basically told him to go fly a kite, [and] we sent him to an ''adam gadol'' [a prominent [[Torah scholar]]] who basically washed the floors with him."<ref>Rabbi Avrohom Biderman in minute 53-54 of [https://web.archive.org/web/20200724040055/https://episodes.buzzsprout.com/rvcyx8fu7oq5zpzaxq4ayn71zdqb?response-content-disposition=attachment%3B%20filename%3D%27with-r-avrohom-biderman-of-artscroll-discussing-all-things-artscroll.mp3%27%3B%20filename%2A%3DUTF-8%27%27with-r-avrohom-biderman-of-artscroll-discussing-all-things-artscroll.mp3&response-content-type=audio%2Fmpeg& May 7, 2020 Twitter Live podcast] with [https://twitter.com/SeforimChatter/status/1264749263776632835 SeforimChatter]. Archived from [http://seforimchatter.buzzsprout.com/1218638/4567262-with-r-avrohom-biderman-of-artscroll-discussing-all-things-artscroll|the original] on July 24, 2020.</ref>

=== Transliteration system ===
ArtScroll publications,<ref>{{cite web
|title=Jewish prayers for Orthodox services - Translation and transliteration
|url=http://www.kakatuv.com/orthodox.html
|quote=... correspond to the Rabbinical Council of America Edition of the Artscroll Siddur}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=If You Can Read This - You Can Pray In Hebrew
|url=http://ou.org.s3.amazonaws.com/publications/siddur.htm}}</ref> such as the [[Irving I. Stone|Stone Editions]] of Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and [[Chumash (Judaism)|Chumash]] (Pentateuch) use many more transliterated Hebrew words than English words, compared to editions such as the [[Tanakh]] of the [[Jewish Publication Society]]. This reflects a higher use of untranslated Hebrew terminology in Haredi English usage.

ArtScroll's transliteration system for [[Hebrew transliteration]] for readers of the English language generally uses [[Ashkenazi Hebrew|Ashkenazi]] consonants and [[Sephardi Hebrew|Sefardi]] vowels. The two major differences between the way Sefardi and Ashkenazi Hebrew dialects are transcribed are as follows:
*the letter [[Taw (letter)|Tav]] without a [[dagesh]] (emphasis point) is transcribed as [t] and [s] respectively
**ArtScroll uses the latter
*the vowel [[niqqud|kamatz gadol]], is transcribed [a] and [o] respectively
**ArtScroll uses the former

As such, the following transliterations are used:
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Ashkenazi
!Sefardi
!ArtScroll
|-
|Boruch
|Barukh
|Baruch
|-
|Shabbos
|Shabbat
|Shabbos (<small>ArtScroll makes an exception due to widespread usage</small>)
|-
|Succos
|Succot
|Succos
|-
|Avrohom
|Avraham
|Avraham
|-
|Akeidas Yitzchok
|Akedat Itzhak
|Akeidas Yitzchak
|}

== Critical reviews ==
* A large number of grammatical errors exist in their Bible and commentary translations, changing the meaning of these passages. B. Barry Levy alleged in 1981:<blockquote>''Dikduk'' (grammar) is anathema in many Jewish circles, but the translation and presentation of texts is, to a large extent, a [[Philology|philological]] activity and must be philologically accurate. The ArtScroll effort has not achieved a respectable level. There are dozens of cases where prepositions are misunderstood, where verb tenses are not perceived properly and where grammatical or linguistic terms are used incorrectly. Words are often vocalized incorrectly. These observations, it should be stressed, are not limited to the Bible text but refer to the talmudic, midrashic, targumic, medieval and modern works as well. Rabbinical passages are removed from their contexts, presented in fragmentary form thus distorting their contents, emended to update their messages even though these new ideas were not expressed in the texts themselves, misvocalized, and mistranslated: i.e. misrepresented.<ref>{{cite journal|first=B. Barry |last=Levy |title=Judge Not a Book By Its Cover |journal=Tradition |volume=19 |issue=1 |date=Spring 1981|pages=89&ndash;95}}</ref></blockquote>
* ArtScroll biographies have been criticized as providing incomplete and partial portrayals of Rabbinic figures. Notably, this is not disputed by ArtScroll. Rabbi Nosson Scherman stated that as it pertains to biographies the mission of ArtScroll "is to impart a positive message" without mentioning "disputes that can often become vitriolic."<ref>Scherman in an interview with Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter published in ''A Conversation with Rabbi Nosson Scherman On Chinuch'' (p. 66-73 in Ami Magazine, June 21, 2017), in which Frankfurter stated "[t]o be honest, I sometimes question ArtScroll's approach when it comes to certain things. One of these is the tendency to portray the commonality between ''gedolei Yisrael'' rather than their particular ''hashkafos'' [worldviews]. I grew up in a generation when people liked to debate what this ''gadol'' said versus what another one said. Today there's much more uniformity; everyone believes the same things in the same way." Upon responding "[o]ur role is not to discuss issues in current events. Our intention is to present the text," Frankfurter questioned Scherman: "Even when it comes to biographies and the like?" Scherman replied: "We include the opinions of whichever ''gadol'' is the subject of the biography, but we don't necessarily discuss dissenting views. We feel that our mission is to educate people and to be ''marbeh kevod shamayim'' [to increase honor of God]. We try to stay away from disputes that can often become vitriolic. Getting involved in such things is not our mission. Our mission is to impart a positive message."</ref>
* The commentary of [[Rashbam]] to the first chapter of Genesis<ref>ArtScroll omitted entire sections of Rashbam's commentary on Gen. 1:4, 1:5, 1:8, and 1:31. See [https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=40236&st=&pgnum=43 David Rosin, ''Perush Rashbam al Ha-Torah'' (Breslau, 1882), pp. 5-6, 9] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150219052818/https://www.hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=40236&st=&pgnum=43 |date=February 19, 2015 }}</ref> in ArtScroll's ''Czuker Edition Hebrew Chumash Mikra'os Gedolos Sefer Bereishis'' (2014) has been censored. The missing passages are related to [[Rashbam]]'s interpretation of the phrase in Genesis 1:5, "and there was an evening, and there was a morning, one day." The Talmud<ref>Hulin 83a</ref> cites these words to support the [[halakhic]] view that the day begins at sundown. However, Rashbam takes a [[peshat]] (plain sense) approach, as he does throughout his commentary, reading the verse as follows: "There was an evening (at the conclusion of daytime) and a morning (at the end of night), one day"; that is, the day begins in the morning and lasts until the next daybreak.<ref>First identified by [[Marc B. Shapiro]] on [https://seforimblog.com/2015/01/artscrolls-response-and-my-comments/ Seforim Blog]. See also David S. Zinberg, [http://jstandard.com/content/item/an_inconvenient_text/ "An inconvenient text,"] ''The Jewish Standard'' (February 12, 2015)</ref> This comment of Rashbam was notably subject to sharp criticism by [[Abraham ibn Ezra|Ibn Ezra]] who placed a curse on any publishers who included this comment in their Chumash out of concern that the reading could cause a misinterpretation of Halacha and lead to Shabbat desecration. In their defense, ArtScroll points out that in standard Mikra'os Gedolos the entire commentary of Rashbam on the beginning of Bereishis is missing. When adding in from older manuscripts, they left out the exegeses to Genesis 1:5 because of questions to its authenticity.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Shapiro|first1=Marc B.|title=ArtScroll's Response and My Comments|url=https://seforimblog.com/2015/01/artscrolls-response-and-my-comments/|website=the Seforim Blog|publisher=the Seforim Blog|access-date=30 June 2019}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
*Rabbi B. Barry Levy. "Our Torah, Your Torah and Their Torah: An Evaluation of the ArtScroll phenomenon.". In: "Truth and Compassion: Essays on Religion in Judaism", Ed. H. Joseph ''et al.''. Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1983.
*B. Barry Levy. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20211108000815/https://traditiononline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Judge-Not-A-Book.pdf Judge Not a Book By Its Cover]". ''Tradition'' 19(1)(Spring 1981): 89-95 and "[https://web.archive.org/web/20211108001347/https://traditiononline.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Communications-40.pdf Communications]" within ''Tradition'' 1982;20(4)(Winter 1982): 370-375.
*B. Barry Levy. "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvzgb99q.9 ArtScroll: An Overview]". In "Approaches to Modern Judaism" [Vol. I], Ed. Marc L. Raphael. Scholars Press, 1983.
*[[Jacob J. Schacter]], "[https://web.archive.org/web/20210121214747/https://www.yutorah.org/_cdn/_shiurim/TU8_Schachter.pdf Facing the Truths of History]". ''Torah u-Madda Journal'' 8 (1998–1999): 200-276.
*Jacob J. Schacter, "Haskalah, Secular Studies, and the close of the Yeshiva in Volozhin in 1892" ''Torah u-Madda Journal'' <!--complete the reference please-->
*Jeremy Stolow, ''Orthodox by Design: Judaism, Print Politics, and the ArtScroll Revolution''

== See also ==
* [[Soncino Press]]
* [[Hebrew Publishing Company]]
* [[Kehot Publication Society]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{official|http://www.artscroll.com }}
* Jeremy Stolow, [https://www.encyclopedia.com/religion/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/artscroll ArtScroll], ''[[Encyclopaedia Judaica]]''; via [[Encyclopedia.com]]
* [https://elucidation-not-translation.blogspot.com/ Critical evaluations of ArtScroll]

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