Sinai (; ''Siynay'') was a bi-annual journal for research in the fields of Torah and Jewish studies (much of its content based on
Cairo Genizah research) and more. The magazine was published continuously, once every six months (despite the Hebrew name "Monthly") from 1937 to 2020, published by the
Rav Kook Institute.
Editors of the journal hoped to broaden the study of the Hebrew language, as well as promote thereby the investigation of Israelite history, as well as to dispense of Talmudic, Midrashic and halachic literature.
History
The journal is devoted to
Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...
, literature and Jewish learning. The first chief-editor of the journal was Rabbi
Yehuda Leib Maimon
Yehuda Leib Maimon (; 1 January 1875 – 10 July 1962, also known as Yehuda Leib HaCohen Maimon) was an Israeli rabbi, politician and leader of the Religious Zionist movement. He was Israel's first Minister of Religions.
Biography
Yehuda L ...
, who edited from 1937 until his death in 1962. Its initial goal was "to create a permanent literary platform, Torah and scientific, for national religious Judaism." Initially the journal was supported and funded by the
Bialik Institute and the
Jewish Agency
The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO).
As an ...
and also included a publicist section, for articles on current affairs and a section on fine literature, which were abolished over the years and contributed to its establishment as a unique journal for Torah research and Jewish studies.
In 1958, a Jubilee edition was published to mark the appearance of the fortieth volume of the Sinai bi-annual for the study of Torah, science and literature, and which included at its end an index of authors and topics covered over the past twenty years. In 1987, marking the fiftieth year of its publication, a two-part Jubilee volume was published.
In 1962, Dr.
Yitzhak Rafael replaced Rabbi Maimon as editor of the journal. Rafael published sections extracted from the journal, dealing with such topics as "Chiddushei Torah" (