This website is managed by Charles Stein, who has prepared all of the translations shown. My wife, Batya, and I married later in life, in 2014, and we were trying for a few years to have a baby. We read about Zera Shimshon in Mishpacha magazine, and how the author, Rabbi Shimshon Chaim Nachmani z”l, had promised that those who learned his sefer would receive blessings, including children. My wife bought a copy of the Artscroll English-language book by Rabbi Nachman Seltzer, “Zera Shimshon: The Sefer. The Stories. The Segulah.” The book includes a paragraph or two from Zera Shimshon for each parsha, with a story of how someone received an answer to their prayers after learning Zera Shimshon.
I especially enjoyed the brief excerpts that Rabbi Seltzer had selected and presented in translation from Zera Shimshon. I wanted to learn more of the sefer, and purchased a mevuar edition of Zera Shimshon’s essay on Eshet Chayil (which is the Zera Shimshon’s first essay for the parsha of Chayei Sarah). This is published by The International Organization to Disseminate the Works of the Zera Shimshon, the organization started by Rabbi Yisroel Zilberberg in Jerusalem and Rabbi Benjamin Paskesz in Brooklyn. These men have worked tirelessly for 20 years in learning Zera Shimshon and popularizing this great sefer, and I support their efforts. The mevuar edition presented the original Hebrew/Aramaic text of Zera Shimshon, together with nekudot for proper pronunciation, translations of the Aramaic into Hebrew, and explanations of difficult language and concepts. In some places, Zera Shimshon quotes part of a verse of Scripture or Talmud, etc., without giving enough of a back story as to the relevance of the quotation, and the mevuar edition explained the relevance. My wife and I learned the mevuar edition together, twice, and while learning it the second time, I decided to write down my translation.
Afterwards, I bought a copy of the full sefer, and discovered that–while I frequently have to look up words, or find the source of quotations to understand the significance–I am eventually able to understand the material. I am told that the sefer is considered “lomdish” and not easy to learn, so I am very grateful that I am able to understand it. For me, the sefer is challenging enough to keep me interested, while not so challenging that it overwhelms me.
My wife and I completed Zera Shimshon’s chapter on Chayei Sarah, and then learned the first essay for Bereisheet. After that, we discovered that my wife was expecting a baby, and due to morning sickness she wasn’t able to continue learning with me.
I took a “break” from learning the essays in Bereisheet, and tackled the Introduction to Zera Shimshon. This Introduction, called “Akdamut Milin,” is especially challenging, as it contains about 400 snippets of quotations from the Torah, Talmud, Midrash, Zohar, halachic sources, etc., many in poetic language, all woven together. Identifying the sources is not just an intellectual exercise, but knowing the source can provide a nuance that might not be present otherwise. For example, the Zera Shimshon says that one who strives to learn the Torah will be rewarded with “delightful things on his right side, delicious things on his left side.” The ultimate source must be Song of Songs 5:16: “His mouth is delicious, and all of him is delightful.” However, I found a prayer at the end of the burial service in Nusach Roma, imploring the guardians of the Garden of Eden to open the gates, so that the departed will find “delightful things on his right side, delicious things on his left side.” This provided a nuance that Rabbi Nachmani was saying this particular reward will come after a person’s death. Because the Introduction was especially poetic, I prepared my translation in the form of a table with tho columns, with a literal translation in one column and an interpretation in the second column.
My wife and I welcomed a beautiful baby girl, Shaina Sarah, in June 2019, and she has brought tremendous joy to our lives. I don’t know whether learning Zera Shimshon had any relation to this miracle, but whether one believes in segulot or not, I appreciate the beautiful Torah offered by the Zera Shimshon. I have continued learning Zera Shimshon, and am happy to share my translations.
I welcome any corrections or comments.
–Charles Stein
9 Tevet 5781
December 24, 2020
P.S. In 2022, I also began learning and translating Toldot Shimshon, Rabbi Nachmani’s sefer on Pirkei Avot.