The first-ever Hungrian translation of the Talmud has been completed almost 20 years after it was started, it has been revealed.
The Unified Israelite Congregation of Hungary (EMIH) has been working on the project since 1998. Miklós Soltész said a community that devotes two decades to translating its most important book "wants to live, and if it wants to live, it also gains strength".
The Hungarian government has assisted the Jewish community on numerous occasions over recent years, has funded cultural programs and synagogue renovations both in Hungary and across the border.
The establishment and regular meetings of the Jewish Community Roundtable is enabling common thinking and joint path-seeking
Soltész said that this is a reply to those who want to prevent Jewish-Christian dialogue around the world.
Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel David Lau said: the Hungarian translation opens up to all Hungarians the opportunity to study the Talmud.
“Jews are the people of the book, and although lots of information is available on the Internet today, the book is still a part of life for the Jewish community, which spends one seventh of their lives reading," he said.
The Talmud is the most important book of Jewish culture, a collection of thousands of years of Jewish knowledge and tradition, which contains legal texts and biblical explanations.