Commentaries on Yerushalmi

For the past  few years I have been spending some time on Yerushalmi Seder Zeraim. Finding a commentary that fits the need of a fairly quick pace, that is accurate, concise, authoritative and deals with the multiple girsa variation (that slow a casual learner of and interfere with timely review) has not been easy. There are the traditional commentaries but they employ different methods of organization than we are used to these days and focus on issues that don't necessarily bother a 21 century learner. To this end, I found R. Kanievsky's pirush most useful. It is concise, covers major points and handles girsa issues competently. On the other hand, it has the feel of a transcription of an oral discourse ( which it what it is), doesn't reference adequately (f.e. as it says in Terumos, without noting the perek or mishna) and as a transcription by a student, it is shallow in places.

R. Krashilchikov's commentary Tevuna is quite good but does not handle girsaos well. The author focuses on the basic issues and provides background material but often maintains clearly erroneous textual variants, at times providing untenable explanations in order to do so. In all fairness, the author wrote his commentary under very difficult circumstances and did not have access to textual variants.

I have not investigated the new ArtScroll Yerushalmi in depth. I posted a prelimiary impression but have now removed it following a comment that questioned its accuracy. I hope to make a more in-depth exmination of this commentary and add to this post.

For those tractates which have Kav V'Naki, I cannot recommend a better commentary for a casual learner who wants to obtain a passing familiarity with texts and issues. It is logically arranged, deals with all major topics and is very accurate. Unfortunately, it is only available on a few mesechtos and is not easy to find.

Some links:

Review of three commentaries on Yerushalmi

The story of R. Krashilchikov and his commentary

Yedid Nefesh Commentary

R. Gavriel Bechoffer's Shiurim and in MP3

Comments

[Ploni]

Speaking of the pirush Yedid Nefesh, have you looked at his biur on Zohar? Any comments?

[yeshivaguy]

I have not investigated the new ArtScroll Yerushalmi in depth but a cursory examination shows

Is it too much to ask that you do more than a cursory examination before offering a negative opinion? The AS Yerushalmi happens to be a wonderful piece of work, especially for those who are unsatisfied with cursory learning.

[yeshivaguy]

Let me add that the AS Yerushalmi and the AS Mishnah series could not be more different, as even the most cursory of examinations ought to show. The comparison makes me wonder what you actually know of either. What the Yerushalmi is most like is the excellent AS Bavli, but with far more attention paid to girsaos and alternative pshatim.

[avakesh]

Thank you. I might be wrong and I will, bl"n learn a full sugyo with the ArtScroll Yerushalmi and report on here.

[EnduringExile]

The Artscroll Yerushalmi varies greatly by which writer or editor was working on it. There are so few authoritative commentaries that the individual writer or editor has a great deal of difficult work, and therefore varied results.The Kav Venaki indeed is easy to read, but much of the material is their own twist and not faithful to a particular earlier pshat. Some may have a problem with using that as a starting point.Regarding R' Kanievsky, I agree, there is a lot missing in the peirush, but it is easy to read. In addition, should you want to look up his Derekh Emunah, you will be more familiar with the pshat he already adopted on the Yerushalmi.

[yeshivaguy]

Re. the advice to look up Derech Emunah. It's an excellent sefer, but it is definitely not always in line with his Biur. The Biur is a transcription of an off-the-cuff, low-level shiur. He's not really working things through; just getting through the sugya in the simplest way possible. It has its uses, but has its downside too.