13 Jun IS SEFARIA KOSHER?

I. Sefaria
Controversy
A minor controversy
brewed recently when
some people noticed that
Sefaria provides readers
a non-Orthodox Bible
translation. This offers
us an opportunity to have a long overdue
discussion about what Sefaria is and is not,
and how to use it properly (or not at all). But
first, let us briefly explain what Sefaria is.
Sefaria is an online digital library of Jewish
texts, aimed at making them accessible to a
broad audience. The website and app design
is cutting edge. Initially, the organization
intended to solicit English translations from
public volunteers. That did not go well and
the organization instead focused on buying
the rights to existing English translations.
Most notably, it provides the entire Koren
Steinsaltz translation of the Talmud. And all
of it is free.
Students and teachers can access thousands
of text and commentaries in Hebrew
and, when available, English translation.
Sometimes other languages are available,
as well. The texts are intended to be used
and copied. Sefaria has a feature that allows
users to build source sheets for classes. You
can keep them private or you can share your
source sheets with the public. Sefaria runs
essay contests and promotes scholarship
among its users. The organization actively
reaches out to multiple Jewish audiences and
celebrates things like “Pride Month.”
However, Sefaria is not, and has never
claimed to be, Orthodox. Its founders are
passionate and talented Jews who do not
affiliate as Orthodox. Sefaria holds a Jewish
Women Scholars’ Writing Fellowship which
includes Orthodox, Open Orthodox and
Conservative women, many of whom are
rabbis (possibly Reform also but I am not
sure). All of what preceded is a description,
not a criticism. This is what Sefaria is and it
has never claimed anything to the contrary.
II. Non-Orthodox Texts
Orthodox is not a halachic term. It is an
ambiguous term with different meanings. It
can mean people and ideas that exist in the
Orthodox Jewish community. It can also
mean people and ideas that correspond to
a shared group of traditional beliefs. There
are people and ideas within the Orthodox
community that do not fit into the shared
group of traditional beliefs. In what follows,
I use Orthodox to mean conforming to those
beliefs.
My recollection is that Sefaria always
contained non-Orthodox texts but kept them
in a separate section. This allowed Orthodox

users who are uncomfortable with non-
Orthodox texts to easily avoid them. Over

the years, this has changed and non-Orthodox
texts are included in various categories. For
example, under the Mishnah category, you
find all the tractates plus many commentaries,
including one by the Rosh Yeshiva of the
Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Under
the list of Talmud commentaries, you find
“Rereading the Rabbis; A Woman’s Voice”
listed just before “Reshimos Shiurim” of Rav
Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

In 2022, Sefaria added the 2006 JPS “gender-
sensitive” translation as its default English

translation of Chumash and more recently as
its Navi translation, as well. This highlighted

a change. While Sefaria used to have non-
Orthodox texts available to users who want

to find them, it then moved those texts to be
immediately at hand. Now the non-Orthodox

texts are the default. Put differently, non-
Orthodox texts used to have to be pulled by

the users; now they are pushed to all users,
unless you sign in and change your settings.
Sefaria used to be like going to the library.
Now it is like going to the library and being
greeted at the door by a librarian handing you
a non-Orthodox Bible translation.
III. Gender Sensitive Torah
This requires a few caveats. I believe the old
1962 JPS translation was Sefaria’s default
for many years. That, too, was non-Orthodox
but it was not dramatically different from
an Orthodox translation. Even still, it was
an issue that should have been noted but
was overlooked. The new JPS translation is
so different that it jumps out at you. On the
other hand, a “gender sensitive” translation
is not as radical as some might think. It does
not have anything to do with the current
gender confusion associated with LGBTQ
issues. Rather, it is born to some degree
from a feminist concern about portraying
G-d as male and default biblical commands
as applying only to males. Instead, divine
descriptors are translated in a gender neutral
way when possible. We can engage in an
interesting discussion about whether this is
theologically preferable but from a literal,
textual perspective, it is very clunky and does
not accurately reflect the Hebrew gender.
Additionally, many other terms are
translated in a gender neutral way. This leads
to incredibly awkward renditions and some
really bad translations. For example, JPS
2006 begins the Sotah passage with, “Speak
to the Israelite people and say to them: Any
party whose wife has gone astray and broken
faith with him” (Num. 5:12). Note how the
phrase “ish ish,” which means “any man,” is
translated as “any party.” Regarding a father
selling his daughter into slavery, an obviously
uncomfortable passage to people today but

that is a separate discussion,
the JPS 2006 translates
it: “When a parent sells a
daughter as a slave” (Ex. 21:7).

This is an inaccurate, cringe-
worthy translation that should

never have been published. Yet
it is the default translation on
Sefaria unless you log in and
change your default settings.
Meaning, this translation is
what most users see when they
use Sefaria.
In 1953, JPS began work on a new
translation of the Bible and invited respected
Jewish academic scholars as well as rabbis
from the three major Jewish movements to
join. The RCA presented before Rav Joseph
B. Soloveitchik the question of whether or
not they should allow a representative of
their organization to participate. He replied
in opposition to the Orthodox joining the
effort because he expected the product would
be contrary to Jewish tradition (Community,
Covenant and Commitment: Selected Letters
and Communications, pp. 110-11). Rav
Soloveitchik was correct about the resulting
1962 JPS translation and even more-so about
its 2006 translation.
IV. Using Non-Orthodox Texts
The question of Sefaria boils down to how
comfortable you are using non-Orthodox
texts. This is not a new question. Rav Moshe
(Maharam) Schick (19th cen., Hungary;
Responsa, Orach Chaim, no. 66) responds
to a question about how Jews should treat
Christian missionary Bibles. In a postscript
to that responsum, he discusses Bibles with
non-Orthodox commentary. Maharam Schick
offers two approaches:
1) He believes that the Hebrew text is fine
but the commentary should not be used.
2) He quotes Rav Chaim Halberstam (Divrei
Chaim, Yoreh De’ah, no. 60) who believes
you should burn the entire text.
A third approach is taken by Rav Yosef
Zechariah Stern (19th cen., Lithuania). He

argues that a mature scholar can read non-
Orthodox texts and take the good while

setting aside the religiously problematic
material (Responsa Zeicher Yehosef, Yoreh
De’ah, no. 173; see also Sedei Chemed,
Pe’as Ha-Sadeh, vol. 1, Letter alef, no. 64). (I
expand on the different views on this subject
at greater length in a forthcoming article in
the Journal of Halacha and Contemporary
Society.)
According to Rav Stern, a mature Orthodox

scholar can use Sefaria and evaluate the non-
Orthodox texts on their merit. According to

Maharam Schick, you can use Sefaria but you

should actively turn off the non-Orthodox
texts. That is not always easy. It took me
time to learn how to change the default
translations. According to Rav Halberstam,
you may not use Sefaria because it contains
non-Orthodox texts.
It seems that those who want to use Sefaria
need to determine their own comfort level.
Some people come from the non-Orthodox

community or are comfortable with non-
Orthodox texts. Those who do not and are not

need to discuss with their rabbi whether they
should take the approach of Rav Stern and
utilize non-Orthodox texts for their value; or
the approach of Maharam Schick and disable
the non-Orthodox texts where possible; or the
approach of Rav Halberstam and delete the
Sefaria app.
Another option, which I have chosen,
is to use an alternate source of texts and
translations. I often use the vast library of
PDF sefarim on HebrewBooks.org. And I
spend much time every day with the Mikra’os
Gedolos and Talmud with commentaries
available on AlHaTorah.org. Both are sites
run by Orthodox Jews for Orthodox Jews.
They take some time to learn but provide very
powerful tools for learning Torah. AlHaTorah.
org uses some texts from Sefaria (including
the English Talmud) but curates a setting that
is more comfortable to the Orthodox scholar.
In this way, Sefaria partners with Orthodox
organizations that provide users with a more
comfortable experience.