Chaim Miller

The Gutnick Edition (Synagogue–) Chumash

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Title: Chumash • חמשה חומשי תורה • The Five Books of The Torah • The Gutnick Edition. / Compiled and Adapted by Rabbi Chaim Miller. / With Rashi´s Commentary / Targum Onkelos and Haftaros with / a Commentary anthologized from / Classic Rabbinic Texts and the works / of the Lubavitcher Rebbe • Synagogue Edition
Date: ⓒ 2003 – 2006 by Chaim Miller. First Edition 2006
Publisher: Brooklyn NY (U.S.A.): Kol Menachem • קול מנחם
Contents: 5 ּBooks of Moses, Haftaros (Hebrew – English). – Preface. Foreword. Introduction to the Public Torah Reading. Insights into the Name of Parsha. Blessings on Reading the Torah. Blessings on Reading the Haftarah. – Appendixes A to C. Bibliography.
Language: Hebrew & English
References:
Images: (title, cover)
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum (www.bibelpedia.com). Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany
Comments: Hardbound luxurious butter-soft brown embossed cover; large octavo, sewn binding, LVIII, 1562 & (10) pp. Masora, Targum Onkelos, Rashi and Commentary on right, translation and diverse more commentaries mostly on left side of double page. Tables & Diagrams. Translation set in paragraph form. Haftaroth (Prophet readings, Hebrew / English) from p. 1369. Appendixes (from p. 1535): Summary Charts, List of Mitzvos, The Location of Kadaish–Barne´a. Bibliography.
The rich commentary arrangements comprise, besides Rashi, of “Toras Menachem, Rashi Sichos“, Chasidic teachings “Sparks of Chasidus“, practical directives “The Last Word“, Explanations of the Name of each Parsha.

A short Preface, dated Rosh Chodesh Kislev 5767 [Nov 22, 2006], was written by the Publishers Kol Menachem (Voice of Menachem Mendel Schneerson) and informs that this Chumash is dedicated to David & Lara Slager and Rabbi Meyer Gutnick, who accepted upon himself the immense task of publishing and distributing this Torah edition. –
The 10 pp Foreword informs about the English translation of the Chumash:
» The translation itself has been written in a contemporary style, attempting to make the words of Torah relevant to the modern reader. Nevertheless, every attempt has been made to remain loyal to scripture. Unlike Kaplan [The Living Torah, 1981], we have not omitted awkward words or abandoned translation for idiom. However, we have also rejected the opposite extreme exemplified by Scherman [Chumash–Stone Edition 1993], where the precise sequence of words within each verse is preserved and loyalty to original Hebrew grammar has led to abnormal Englsih usage. In addition, the text has been punctuated and paragraphed at the discretion of the translator, following the precedent of Kaplan and Scherman. Headings have been inserted within the English translation.« Other translations, which Miller studied for this Chumash are, “The Bible Unauthorized“, by A. H. Moose, “The Linear Chumash“ by P. Goldberg, and “The Margolin Torah“ by B. S. Moore.
The "Introduction" (12 pp) unfolds and discusses 1) The Public Torah Reading. 2) Reenacting the Sinaitic Event. 3) The Aliyah–Being Called to the Torah. 4) Maftir. 5) Hagbah–Raising the Torah Scroll. 6) The Haftarah.

The Gutnick Edition Haftaros

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Title: Chumash • הפטרות • Haftaros • The Gutnick Edition. / Compiled and Adapted by Rabbi Chaim Miller. According to Chabad, / Ashkenazic and Sephardic custom / with a Commentary anthologized from / Classic Rabbinic Texts and the work / of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Date: ⓒ 2006 by Chaim Miller. First Edition September 2006
Publisher: Brooklyn NY (U.S.A.): Kol Menachem • קול מנחם
Contents: Haftoroth (Prophet readings). – Contents. Preface. Introduction to the Public Torah and Haftarah Reading. Cantillation marks. – Bibliography.
Language: Hebrew & English
References:
Images: (cover; title)
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum (www.bibelpedia.com). Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany
Comments: Hardcover, luxurious butter-soft brown embossed cover, boxed; sewn binding; quarto, XXVI, 184 & (5) pp. plus 2 extra enclosed pages with “Blessings on the Haftarah“. – Masorah and translation on each page, copious footnotes.
The Preface, 2 pp, written by Kol Menachem, dated 18th of Elul 5766 [Sept. 11, 2006], lets the reader know,
»As in the original edition of the Chumash, the text of the Haftaros has been translated according to the interpretation of Metzudos, a pair of commentaries (Metzudas Tziyon and Metzudas David) by Rabbi Yechiel Hillel Altschuler (18. century), which stresses the plain meaning of the text. In a similar vein to our translation of the Chumash, numerous small annotations have been included (in brackets) within the translation, to assist the reader in appreciating the text according to its classic, rabbinic interpretation.«
Compared to the Haftaroth in the Chumash, numerous enhancements have been made in this edition.

The Schottenstein Edition Tehillim

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Title: Tehillim • ספר תהלים • Book of Psalms • The Schottenstein Edition. / Compiled and Adapted by Rabbi Chaim Miller. With commentary and insights / anthologized from / classic Rabbinic texts and / the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Date: ⓒ 2013 by Chaim Miller. First Edition June 2013
Publisher: Brooklyn NY (U.S.A.): Kol Menachem • קול מנחם
Contents: 5 Books of Tehillim. – Dedications. Foreword. Prayer before reading Tehillim. – Prayers after saying Tehillim & other occasions.
Language: Hebrew & English
References:
Images: (title; cover)
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum (www.bibelpedia.com). Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany

Comments: Hardcover, luxurious butter-soft brown embossed cover; sewn binding; large octavo, XXXII, (5) & 444 pp. – Masorah and translation on each page, copious footnotes.
The detailed Foreword, written by Rabbi Chaim Miller, dated Lag B´Omer 5773 [May 28th, 2013], talkes about “The Book of Tehillim“ in general, on “Commentaries to the Book of Tehillim“, on “Tehillim in Jewish liturgy and custom“, on “The Kol Menachem Tehillim“, on “Chabad teachings relating to T.“, “Chabad customs“ in respect to T. In “Acknowledgements, Miller writes concerning his English translation: »I am grateful to the Chazan family for making available to me the excellent translation of the late Rabbi Stanley Chazan, z“l of which I have made extensive use in this edition. (…) To Rabbi Shmuel Rabin for meticulously correcting the Hebrew text of Tehillim and refining the English translation.«
Beyond what a mere book description is able to say, the image shown reveals the perfect design of this Psalms Book with decorative elements, the highly readable letter work of the Masoretic text, the artwork of the chapter numbering and the carefully selected text / commentary arrangements. This demonstrates how a Bible Book should look like, it´s pure pleasure to read, learn and pray with. Though written for and aimed at a specific group of Jewish readers, this “Sefer Tehillim“ is a Book to feast your eyes on.

View of Sefer Tehillim, opened

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The Slager Edition Megillas Esther

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Title: Megillah • מגילת אסתר • The Book of Esther • The Slager Edition. / Compiled and Adapted by Rabbi Chaim Miller. With commentary and insights / anthologized from / Classic Rabbinic Texts and / the works of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Date: ⓒ 2010 by Chaim Miller. First Edition December 2010
Publisher: Brooklyn NY (U.S.A.): Kol Menachem • קול מנחם
Contents: Megillath Esther. – Dedications. Contents. Foreword. Blessings before Reading the Megillah. – Blessing after the Megillah. The Rose of Jacob. Some Laws and Customs of Purim. Bibliography. Conclusions (Hebrew only)
Language: Hebrew & English
References:
Images: (cover; title)
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum (www.bibelpedia.com). Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany
Comments: Hardcover, luxurious butter-soft brown embossed cover; sewn binding; large octavo, XXVIII, 104 & [12] pp; Masorah on right, translation on left side of double page; commentary & insights beneath texts. Book decoration as in the Book of Psalms (above).
Rabbi Chaim Miller introduces this Scroll on 15 pages, dated 5th Teves 5771 [Dec 12, 2010], and paragraphes it into „Synopsis“, “Kol Menachem Megillas Esther“, and “Acknowlegements“. Other than in the Psalms–Book, he does not give information about the English translation.

Left: Megillath Esther, open. Right: Spines–view of Haftaros (boxed), Chumash, Tehillim and Megillas Esther (from right)

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The Slager Edition Torah & Haftarah

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Title: Torah • The Five Books of Moses • With Complete Haftarah Cycle • with reflections and inspirations compiled by Rabbi Chaim Miller / from hundreds of Jewish thinkers, ancient to contemporary • The Slager Edition / The Gutnick Library of Jewish Classics.
Date: ⓒ 2011 by Chaim Miller. First Edition, First impression November 2011
Publisher: Brooklyn NY (U.S.A.): Lifestyle Books
Contents: Torah – The Five Books of Moses, Haftaroth. – Table of Contents. Index of special Torah readings. Introduction. Transliterations Rules. Blessing on Reading Torah. – References. Bibliography. Dedications.
Language: Hebrew & English
References:
Images: (cover; title)
Location: Collection Bibelarchiv–Birnbaum (www.bibelpedia.com). Karlsruhe, Baden. Germany
Comments: Hardcover, octavo, sewn binding; XXIII, 1500 & [12] pp. Scripture texts per page: Masorah and translation; paragraphed into parashat. Commentary in boxes. Book and Parasha introductions.

Rabbi Chaim Miller introduces this Torah on 9 pp, dated Rosh Chodesh Nisan 5771 (April 5, 2011); as to the translation, we are told,
»Hebrew is a pregnant language, as opposed to English, which is a precise tongue. A single Hebrew word lends itself to multiple interpretations; it is pregnant with meaning. In fact, it may have many different possible interpretations, and since the Torah text in its original source contains no vowels or punctuation, it could literally have a host of renditions. (…) Any English translation of the Torah is only able to bring to light one facet of their multiple meanings and interpretations that are present in the Hebrew original. In other words, the translation really is a commentary. It must take a particular approach to decoding its source text. – Since this fact is disconcerting – an honest translator wishes to render the text as it is from one language to another – most translation of the Torah try to hide their inevitable exegetical bias. They present commentary and interpretation as if it were straight translation (although to minimize the problem they usually follow the most straightforward and simple commentaries). – I have taken a more open approach. I figure that if my “translation“ has to be a very particular interpretation/ commentary then this fact needs to be obvious. So I have placed anything that is “interpretive“ in nature in parenthesis, to distinguish it from the rest of the text which is a more or less “pure“ translation.«

Highlighted features which are presented inside the commentary are: ´Kabbalah Bites`, ´Spiritual Vitamins` and ´Food for Thought`. The Scripture texts are printed in blue, Headings and frames in red. Each Parasha is described as to (the meaning of its) name, meaning, Parashiyyot, no. of verses, words, letters, the date, location, key people, Masoretic features, mitzvot and note. The main character of each actor is profiled.

The translations follow the ones of the Gutnick Torah Ed. and the Haftaros volume (see above). Contrary to what Miller wrote in his introduction, the in–text–interpretations within the Haftoroth, which are bracketed in both the Chumash and Haftaros Editions are not bracketed here. This makes it quite difficult (if not impossible to the non–Hebrew reader) to distinguish the pure wording rendered from the Hebrew and the inherent interpretation given by the author.

Slager Edition Torah displayes its features

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