The Schottenstein Edition of the Mishnah Elucidated was conceived as an innovative, almost a revolutionary, work: a multilevel Mishnah elucidation that would be appropriate for a variety of different learning styles and needs. It would enable the person learning mishnayos for a yahrzeit or sheloshim to study the mishnayos quickly but still grasp the meaning of each Mishnah as explained by the Bertinoro. Instead of rote recital, the study would become much more satisfying and understandable. Alternatively, someone could learn on a deeper level by delving into the notes, which draw upon the Gemara and classic Mishnah commentaries and also include detailed illustrations.

So did this groundbreaking approach to the study of Mishnah really work? Let’s read what some of the many thousands who have made mishnayos study an integral part of their lives have to say about The Schottenstein Edition of the Mishnah Elucidated:

“My twelve-year-old son just finished 4 sedarim on his own. That’s how clear and easy it is to learn from it.”

“I’m making a siyum on the entire mishnayos. I couldn’t have done it without the Mishnah Elucidated.”

“My father-in-law, a man in his seventies who has had a seder in mishnayos for years, keeps thanking me for introducing him to it. He finds it touches on every significant point needed to fully understand the mishnah, and it does so clearly and succinctly.”

“What the Schottenstein Edition of the Talmud does for daf yomi learners — enabling them to obtain a clear understanding in a short time — the Schottenstein Edition of the Mishnah Elucidated has done for the study of Mishnah.”

Each volume of the Mishnah Elucidated includes the vowelized Hebrew text of the Mishnah and the full text of “the Rav’s” (Rabbeinu Ovadiah of Bertinoro) classic Mishnah commentary. The phrase-by-phrase elucidated translation follows the Schottenstein Edition Talmud format. Notes and diagrams clarify and explain the Mishnah further.

For the bar mitzvah boy … and the seasoned talmid chacham … and the CEO commuting to the office … and the man learning for a yahrzeit … for just about everyone interested in learning Mishnah — The Schottenstein Edition of the Mishnah Elucidated is bringing the study of Mishnah to a whole new level.

Hadran alach!

Get learning with the Mishnayos Elucidated today at artscroll.com!

AS: The stories in the Food for Thought series are brief, perfect for our hurried lives. And yet each of them has a powerful message. How do you write a story that “packs a punch” in such a short format?

RYH: Your question really gets to the core of why certain stories resonate with readers. The key lies in the “take-away.” There must be a message that is practical and meaningful, as well as easily applied. The first ingredient is good material. With a good story in hand, the job of the writer is to make it feel real and not overdo it with a long narrative. Readers tell me all the time: Keep it positive, keep it concise, and, with great stories, we’ll keep on reading. That seems to be the recipe.

AS: Your stories are so relatable to readers’ lives and concerns. How do you make that happen?

RYH: It’s interesting you mention that, because though I love a good “gadol story,” and there are plenty of those, the stories I connect to most are the ones about so-called “regular people.” Take the one about the man who was inspired to learn Daf Yomi after hearing just one sentence from the Talmud. I love the story about the yungerman’s wife who proved that the privilege of her husband learning Torah was worth more to her than thirteen million shekels, and the one about a not-yet-religious teen who crafted his own version of Asher Yatzar. These are stirring anecdotes about ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

AS: Many of these stories touch our hearts. Can you share one or two that you found particularly poignant?

RYH: The one how bentching changed the course of a man’s life is one of my all-time favorites. Another, about the Pnei Menachem being yelled at by an Israeli soldier, “Atah kemo kulam! You’re like everyone else!” is marvelous as well.

What kind of feedback on your first collection have you received? 

RYH: The feedback was incredible, boruch Hashem. I just returned from Eretz Yisrael, where I saw the book on display in a store window. When I thanked the proprietor, I was told that the book has been very well-received in Yerushalayim. It’s wonderful to hear that it has had a global reach. The new volume features over 150 photos, adding a unique flavor that I hope readers will enjoy.

Get your copy today! artscroll.com/f/FFT2H

Less than two years ago, Nachi Gordon began sending out his “Meaningful Minute” – one minute inspirational video clips from many of today’s most popular speakers. More than 40,000 people now enrich their lives with a daily Meaningful Minute video.

Bestselling author and journalist Rabbi Yisroel Besser joined Nachi to compile those brief video messages into a powerful and engaging new book – Meaningful Minute — which includes inspirational messages from close to 100 of the Jewish world’s best speakers.

ArtScroll caught up with Nachi to discuss his wildly successful innovation and the new book:

AS: So what can a person accomplish in a minute?

NG: Meaningful Minute is about allowing everyone on his or her own level to experience a relationship with Hashem that is unique to them. The inspiration to strive for that can be unleashed in one minute, and that’s what we look to achieve daily. 

AS:  What were you trying to accomplish when you created Meaningful Minute?

NG:  I’ve always had an interest in Jewish education. And while our yeshivahs are doing a wonderful job teaching Torah and middos tovos and the like, it just seemed that there was little talk about the beauty of Yiddishkeit, the unconditional love between Hashem and every Jew — the things that are necessary to enable the Torah to engender a healthy relationship between us, Hashem, and the world we live in. 

AS: How do you choose the material for the daily videos?

NG: Based on feedback from previous videos, our staff goes through speeches online, extracting the one minute that sums up most succinctly the message that the speaker sought to deliver in the 30 to 60 minute speech that they gave. We have also been making an effort to generate material that has been recorded exclusively for Meaningful Minute and lately we have been featuring more of those. 

AS:  Can you share some of the feedback that you have received?

NG:  I know it sounds unbelievable but we have received only overwhelmingly positive feedback in the two years that we have been producing and disseminating these videos. There are schools in Brooklyn and the Five Towns that play the Meaningful Minute video to their student body at the start of each day. Lives have been transformed and relationships restored as a result of these videos, and that is the most gratifying part of this holy endeavor. 

Get your copy today: https://artscroll.com/f/MEANH

Tens of thousands have learned how to infuse their daily activities with happiness through Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s many bestselling titles, and they rejoice when he releases a new book. Another Rabbi Pliskin book means more insights and wise counsel, more practical advice and great stories.

For me, personally, there is one more cause for rejoicing: A new book means a new column for me to write, and that means I have the opportunity to speak with one of the most positive, effervescent, and joyous people I’ve ever been privileged to meet: Rabbi Pliskin, the “happiness specialist” of our time.

Here are some highlights of my conversation with Rabbi Pliskin about his newest book, Upgrade Your Mind, Upgrade Your Life: Daily upgrades for your thoughts, feelings, words, and actions.

AS: Can you tell us about “upgrades”?

RZP: People often use the word “change,” but “change” implies that I must stop doing something and start doing something else. “Upgrade” is a process that keeps happening. When we upgrade our technology, it doesn’t mean the technology was not good; it means we’re making it better. Wherever we are in our lives, the idea is to keep upgrading our thoughts, feelings, words, and actions. This book has 100 short chapters to show us how to upgrade the important areas of our lives, to help us live the best possible life we can.

AS: Wow, 100 chapters, 100 traits and behaviors to upgrade! How did you choose so many? 

RZP: It wasn’t a very long process, because I’ve been talking, thinking, and teaching this for close to 50 years! Though they are all important, I consider 6 traits to be the key ones: gratitude, joy, kindness, compassion, self-confidence, and courage. A person who lives with these traits will live in a totally different world from one who lives with negativity and resentment.

AS: The title of each chapter is also an “affirmation” that you suggest readers repeat often. Can you explain how that works?

RZP: When you focus on an idea that you want to integrate and internalize, and you repeat it many times, it becomes a part of you. Neuroscience has discovered that when you think a thought even once, you create a neural pathway. When you repeat that thought, the neural pathway grows thicker, creating microscopic changes in the brain. Or, as Rambam said so long ago: How do you get a middah to be part of you? Do it over and over.

Get your copy today at artscroll.com!

AS: This is your 10th collection of stories. Wow! How do you keep them coming, so fresh, varied and new?

RBP: Baruch Hashem I have had tremendous siyata di’Shmaya in finding great, inspirational stories. People are eager to share their stories with me as they know how a great story can make an everlasting impact on countless lives.

AS: There was a poignant backstory to how this book was written. Can you share it briefly with the readers?

RBP: Last summer I met someone in a bungalow colony who told me that my books really gave him chizuk. He went on to tell me how his son who was in his twenties and married was stricken with a serious disease. I then shared with him a vort about the power of strengthening another Jew and asked him to share this vort with his son. I also said that we had to do something as a zechus for his son. The next Shabbos I told him that I was going to write a book about strengthening other people in tough times. Although, tragically, this young man passed away, I began to collect stories about how people strengthened others and also about how we can strengthen ourselves.

AS: How do we “strengthen” people’s hearts – including our own?

RBP: Hashem gave every person tremendous kochos. We all know someone who is going through a hard time, whether they are in need of parnassah, a refuah, a shidduch or in some other area of life. By reaching out to such people, by thinking about them, by giving them a call and showing true concern you can uplift them and truly strengthen them.

As for strengthening ourselves, we have to keep working on our emunah and bitachon in Hashem. When our relationship with Hashem is strong it empowers us to soar above the bumps and hurdles that life may bring us.　

AS: What are some of your favorite stories in this collection?

RBP: It’s hard for me to pick a favorite. The rebbi who is stranded in a Chicago airport in a snowstorm and has an incredible encounter. How about the rabbi who won’t let a nasty prison official get in the way of his strengthening another Yid. Perhaps the boy who wanted a chocolate bar for davening well — and heaven answered him. They are all great and sure to strengthen your heart!

Get your copy today at artscroll.com/f/STSYH