Yerushalayim Pathway Named After Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz

In a ceremony held last week, Yerushalayim Mayor Moshe Leon inaugurated a newly named pathway honoring Rabbi Adin Even-Yisrael (Steinsaltz) a”h. The event was attended by deputy mayors, members of the city council, the Even-Yisrael family, friends, and local residents.

By Anash.org reporter

In a ceremony held last week, Yerushalayim Mayor Moshe Leon inaugurated a newly named pathway honoring Rabbi Adin Even-Yisrael (Steinsaltz) a”h, located at 6 Jabotinsky Street.

The event was attended by deputy mayors, members of the city council, members of the Even-Yisrael family, friends, and local residents.

Rabbi Adin Even-Yisrael was born in Yerushalayim in 5697 (1937). In his youth, he took upon himself a life of Torah and mitzvos, and by the age of twenty-three, he had already become the youngest school principal in the country.

In the 1960s, he established the Institute for Talmudic Publications, dedicating years of labor to produce comprehensive volumes of Jewish scholarship. His work received the personal encouragement and guidance of the Rebbe, particularly regarding his renowned commentary on Gemara.

Rabbi Even-Yisrael shared how the concept and guidance for the format of his famous Steinsaltz Talmud came from the Rebbe. Over the years, he merited receiving letters of bracha from the Rebbe upon the publication of his commentary.

In addition to his scholarly work, Rabbi Even-Yisrael founded educational institutions in Yerushalayim and later in Moscow, and subsequently established an educational center in Gush Etzion.

Over the course of his lifetime, Rabbi Even-Yisrael was awarded the Israel Prize for Jewish Studies, the Presidential Medal of Honor, and numerous other awards recognizing the far-reaching impact of his work. In recent years, he was also honored as ‘Yakir Yerushalayim’ (Worthy Citizen of Yerushalayim).

Rabbi Even-Yisrael’s legacy continues through the activities of the Steinsaltz Center in Yerushalayim, which preserves and expands upon his extensive educational and scholarly contributions.

Speaking at the dedication, Mayor Leon said: “It is with great honor and emotion that we inaugurate today in Yerushalayim a special path bearing the name of Rabbi Adin Even-Yisrael z”l. A son of this holy city, Rabbi Even-Yisrael was a man of vision, who, with great talent and endless devotion, opened a window to the world of Torah and the Talmud for so many. Through his innovative and accessible commentaries, he brought countless hearts closer to Torah and the heritage of Am Yisroel. Dedicating a path in Yerushalayim in his name is a tribute to a beloved figure whose contributions to the world of Jewish spirit and knowledge continue to inspire and flourish.”

Rabbi Steinzaltz’s son, Rabbi Meni Even-Yisrael, director of the Steinzaltz Center, wrote in a message he shared with Anash.org:

“Naming a street after Rabbi Steinsaltz is not merely honoring the past; it is charting a course.
It proclaims: here walked someone who refused complacency, who envisioned possibilities beyond the present. Someone who lived not amidst contradictions but through them.

“To walk this street now is to recognize that holiness is not confined to sanctuaries, nor wisdom to bookshelves. There is Torah in the footsteps of a people still seeking, still learning, still constructing the city whose foundations reach heavenward.”

Photos: Elad Weitman