Organization profile

organization profile

The Naftal Center for Oral Torah Research, within the Faculty of Jewish Studies at Bar Ilan University, was established by Prof. Steinfeld, through a generous donation from the Naftal couple in memory of Bracha, who were Torah lovers and supporters. The center's current head is Prof. David Hanashka.

The center is designed to initiate and assist research projects in the field of oral Torah, and it does so in a variety of ways. The center regularly supports the Naftal Talmud Department of Bar Ilan University, scholarships for its students, its research conferences and all its activities - including the Sidra journal for the study of oral Torah literature. The center also regularly assists in the publication of oral Torah studies.

The center has established a library of photographs of Talmudic manuscripts within the Department of Talmud, which is open to researchers of the department and its students. The center also maintains the 'Otzar Adi HaSoah of the Literature of the Tanaim', which includes an online view of the complex of scriptural evidence for the Tosefta and the Midrashi Halacha