For those who enjoy learning Talmud, the most popular Talmud commentaries/translations over the past 30 years have been those published by Artscroll Publications and Rabbi Adin Even Yisrael (Steinsaltz) editions. Which is better and why?

In my opinion (and I have spoken to many people on this topic) the Artscroll by far is the better of the 2 versions to help a person with a weak background in Talmudic logistics. The reason being that the Artscroll version not only offers a translation of the Talmud text, but it actually anticipates a students questions and answers them. The Steinsaltz edition on the other hand just offers a Hebrew translation and not much else.

There used to be a time that educators were afraid that the Artscroll/Steinsaltz editions will be a crutch in learning the Talmud. Time has shown that this is not true, and that generally speaking even scholars use these texts to prepare their classes when they are short of time. In my opinion these editions can only help students in understanding the Talmud, and letting the student go according to the pace he's comfortable at.

In terms of price, artscroll is usually about 1/3 more in printed pages and would take up more space and out of pocket expenses, BUT, if you take learning seriously, the scholarly input in the artscroll edition is well worth the extra buck.

The artscroll is currently available in English for the entire Talmud in 73 volumes. The Hebrew version is I believe about 75% done. The Steinsaltz in Hebrew is finished, the English only contains a few volumes and I don't believe additional volumes are being done, since it seems artscroll has proven itself to be the winner.

Prices for individual volumes of Artscroll are $27 for a small version and about $35 for the larger version. On their annual sale one can get them for 4 for $100 and 3 for $100 respectively. Steinsaltz are usually priced about $25 a volume. By purchasing complete sets a discount is given. Both make a wonderful Bar Mitzvah present...for life! Let me know if you want a set and I'll see what I can do for you!

Current list price for the entire 73 volume Artscroll set is $3000. Get a 10% discount by going to their website. If you are a careful Ebay watcher, you can get the set for half that price if you tell the Ebay search engine to send you emails every time TALMUD ARTSCROLL is put up for auction. You shouldn't have to pay more than $15 a volume (+postage media mail).

I haven't mentioned the new editions of other Talmud explanation edition of which there are at least 2 more versions out on the market, which are TWICE AS BIG AND EXPLANATORY as the Artscroll, but that I'll leave for another guide!