Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz wrote more than 60 books on subjects from philosophy to zoology, including a classic on the Kabbalah. But his major achievement is what he called his “hobby”: a 45-volume translation (which took him 45 years) of the Babylonian Talmud from the original Aramaic into modern Hebrew (from which it’s been trnalsated into English and other languages), with enough commentary and background info that even a beginner can approach it. – The New York Times