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Moses Taught the Torah in Seventy Languages (but not
English)
Deuteronomy 1:5 states that Moses began to expound the
knowledge of the Torah. Rashi's commentary regarding Deuteronomy 1:5
points out that after Moses taught the Torah in the sacred Hebrew
language, he then taught the Torah in the sixty-nine other languages
of the day.
Of course, during the time of Moses, English as a
language did not exist.
The task of teaching the Torah in English (and Hebrew in a
format known as "linear translation") began, in earnest, some 3,300
years later (1899 c.e.), by Joseph Magil, "the father and unsung
hero of linear translation."
Magil, who translated the entire Torah, was succeeded by
other linearists: Rabbi
Abraham Ben Isaiah & Rabbi Benjamin Sharfman (1949-1950 c.e.),
Rabbi Pesach Goldberg (1992-1997 c.e.) and Rabbi Avrohom Davis
(1996-1997 c.e.). I
humbly stand upon the shoulders of my linear predecessors, without
whom I would not have been able to produce the translation appearing
on this website.
Rashi Prevents the Torah from Falling into
Obscurity
by Infusing the Essence of the Oral Torah
into his
Verse-by-Verse Commentary of the Written Torah
A thousand years had passed since the Roman destruction of
Jerusalem. Although the Oral Torah had been canonized in the
form of the Mishnah and Talmud, compared to their ancestors, most of
the Jews living in this time period historically known as the "Dark
Ages" had difficulty understanding the 2,400-year-old-Torah.
Then Rabbi Solomon Yitzhaki ("Rashi")(born 1040 c.e. - died 1105
c.e.) came along and his scholarly endeavor to explicate the meaning
of the Torah kept the Torah from falling into obscurity by providing
the world with a verse-by-verse commentary understandable by layman
and scholar alike. I utilize the essence of Rashi commentary when
translating the Torah into English.
If I didn't have knowledge of the following contemporary
linear Hebrew-to-English translations of Rashi's commentary, then
the translation posted on this website would not have been
possible. Would you
like to contrast Rashi's actual Torah commentary with the
translations posted on this website? You can do so by obtaining
the following books containing the linear Hebrew-to-English
translation of Rashi's commentary:
(1) "The
Pentateuch and Rashi's Commentary: A Linear Translation" translated
by Abraham Ben Isiah and Rabbi Benjamin Sharfman (in collaboration
with Dr. Harry M. Orlinsky and Rabbi Dr. Morris Charner).
(Re-Published in 1976 by S. S. & R. Publishing Company,
Inc.)
(2) "The Metsudah Chumash/Rashi" (A New Linear
Translation by Rabbi Avrohom Davis in collaboration with Nachum Y.
Kornfeld and Abraham B. Waltzer). (Fourth edition, 1996,
distributed by KTAV Publishing House,
Inc.)
(3) "The Torah:
With Rashi's Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated" (also
known as "Artscroll Series / The Saperstein Edition Rashi /
Commentary on the Torah") by Rabbi Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg (in
collaboration with Rabbi Yaakov Petroff, Rabbi Yoseph Kamenetsky and
Rabbi Yaakov Blinder) ((Seventh Impression, February 2002, Published
and Distributed by Mesorah Publications,
Ltd.)
Modern History
Over 100 years ago, Joseph Magil, "the father and unsung hero
of linear translation" formulated a new type of Hebrew-English
translation of the Torah which he called a "linear"
translation. His linear
translation divided the page into two sets of two columns with one
or more Hebrew words of the Torah appearing on the right side and
the English translation appearing to the left of the Hebrew; on the
same line. Magil's
"linear" translation differed from its "interlinear" predecessor in
that the English translation appeared from left to right and was as
comprehensible as other contemporary English
translations.
Near the end of the 19th century, Magil conducted a six-month
learning experiment with a group of children eight to twelve years
of age using his "Magil's Linear School Bible" as the course
textbook. None of these
children had any previous knowledge of Hebrew. Because Magil's text
provided both the Hebrew and English translation on the same line,
these students, after being taught the rudiments of Hebrew, were
able to study Torah on their own and memorize 3 to 4 times more
Torah than students being taught Hebrew Torah by a teacher
repeatedly talking the Hebrew Torah and its English equivalent into
their ear.
I have nothing against the "talking into the ear" method of
learning. In fact, the translinear translation posted on this
website is the equivalent of having a teacher figuratively "talking
Torah into your ear" 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In the future, the
translation posted on this website will become part of a computer
program whereby each Hebrew and English word will be digitally
enunciated. Then, the
computer program will literally "talk Torah into your
ear." I believe the
Torah knowledge posted on this website to be a viable learning
solution for those eager to learn, but are unable to make an
educational connection.
As the "translinear" translation posted to this website
contains within it the linear essence of Magil's translation
methodology, I believe that students, after learning the rudiments
of Hebrew, will be able to learn and retain more Hebrew Torah
on their own than students having to find and depend upon
someone to "teach-talk" it into their ear. I urge educational
institutions to conduct comparative learning experiments to
determine the effectiveness of my methodology of studying Torah
compared to other methodologies.
How Does This Translation Differ from Other
Translations?
Other English translations of the Torah either omit or change
the literal translation of some Hebrew words for the sake of
conveying the gist of the original story in a comprehensible
manner. The translation
posted on this website differs from other translations in that every
Hebrew word is first translated into English and then surrounded and
enhanced, in part, with the essence of Rashi commentary. If you want to know the
English equivalent of any Hebrew word in the Torah, then all you
have to do is find the Torah chapter and verse posted on this
website and open up the file.
With a little training in Hebrew, you could embark on a
self-educational Torah journey by utilizing the translation posted
on this website. Even
if you have no knowledge of the Hebrew language, you can still read
the English Torah translation posted on this website and discover a
new translation containing information and insight not found in
other English translations.
Why Translating Each Word
of the Written Torah Will Not
Reveal
Much of What There is
to Know About the
Torah
There are two Torahs; the Oral and the Written
Torah.
Three millennia and four hundred years ago, G-d provided His
Oral Torah to Moses and the Children of Israel, in the form of His
Ten Commandments.
Then G-d provided His Written Torah to Moses and the Children
of Israel in the form of two tablets containing His Ten
Commandments.
For 40 years, the Oral Torah flowed from G-d to Moses쩰s,
to the ears of the 70 men of the Sanhedrin and then to the ears of
the Children of Israel.
Shortly before Moses died, G-d dictated the entire Torah to
Moses and Moses wrote down every word and then placed the Written
Torah in the Ark of the Covenant, along with the two stone tablets
containing G-dԥn Commandments. Moses also wrote an
additional twelve copies of the Torah and gave a copy to the leader
of each of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
After Moses died, the Sanhedrin, having absorbed 40 years of
Moses' oral Torah discourses, combined the knowledge of the written
Torah with the oral Torah and continued a 1,500 year unbroken
tradition of transferring the knowledge of the written and oral
Torah from master to disciple and the general population. The
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in year 70 of the common era
also included the destruction of the Second Temple and the
destruction of the Sanhedrin's longstanding base of operation.
Although the written Torah survived the destruction of Jerusalem,
the machinery of oral Torah dissemination that was the Sanhedrin had
come to a grinding halt and so began the decline and seemingly
certain extinction of the oral Torah. Fortunately, over the
course of time, there came about the writing down of the oral Torah
in documents that survive in our present time. These documents
are known as the "Mishnah" and "Talmud".
While an accomplished Torah scholar would know how to delve
into the Mishnah and Talmud in order to "fill in the gaps"
inherent in the Written Torah, a novice Torah scholar would be hard
pressed to be able to do the same.
An Example of How I Have Managed
to Unite the Oral Torah and the Written
Torah
Click on the "Genesis 19" button to the left. Search
for or curser down to Genesis 19:25. If you read the blue,
italicized English words of this Torah verse, then it would read as
follows:
"And He inverted with the cities the this and with all the
plain and with all the ones living the cities vegetation the
ground."
This serves a purpose when one desires knowing the English
equivalent of a particular Hebrew word. Let us envision the
following hypothetical scenario: It is 4,000 years ago and you
are a reporter sent to investigate the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah. You come upon a Hebrew-speaking witness who tells
you what happened there. You go about translating, word for word,
each Hebrew he utters into English and come up
with:
"And He inverted with the cities the this and with all the
plain and with all the ones living the cities vegetation the
ground."
Your job as a reporter is to provide your English-speaking
readers with a readable, accurate account based upon the
Hebrew-speaking eyewitness's word-for-word description of the
destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. You, tasked with writing an
article in modern English that compensates for the lack of words
found in the ancient Hebrew vocabulary, might come up with
a news article that reads as follows:
Eyewitness Description of the Destruction of Sedom
and Gomorrah
G‑d, despite rescinding His order for Zoar͊ destruction due to Lotలesence there, did not rescind His order
for the destruction of its inhabitants, and brought about their
demise by raining down fire and brimstone upon it. Lot, his wife, and his two
daughters, upon seeing the fire and brimstone raining down upon the
city of Zoar, realized their lives were in
danger and fled. While
Lot and his family were fleeing Zoar, the angel, empowered by G‑d,
unleashed a force from deep below the surface of the Jordan
Plain that
exploded upwards and ripped away the entire parcel of earth upon
which four of the five cities stood. The angel used his power to
suspend the four cities in midair, and inverted and willed the entire
mass to fall back to earth. Outsiders surveying the
destructive aftermath failed to find any discernable evidence of the
existence of four of the five cities situated on the Jordan Plain, and when they surveyed the city of
Zoar, they saw an intact city with
collateral damage in the form of everyone having perished by way of
the raining down of fire and brimstone from heaven. Lot pleaded with and convinced the angel to
enable him and his family to seek temporary refuge in the city of
Zoar. The angel, accommodating
Lotಥquest, circumvented G‑d෩ll that Zoar be decimated in the
selfsame manner as the
other four
cities situated on the Jordan
Plain. Even though the city of Zoar remained
intact, those residing in this city were not spared from
being burned and lapidated to death by falling fire and brimstone.
G‑d, having brought
about the destruction of humanoid and animal life, was of a mind to
destroy all vegetation and
with destruction on His mind, empowered one of His angels
to lay waste to all the
vegetation naturally occurring within the confines of all five
cities situated on the
Jordan plain. G‑d, having judged and found
guilty all the inhabitants residing in the five cities situated on
the Jordan Plain, empowered one of His angels to unleash destructive
forces capable of killing everyone and laying waste to the cities,
and with regard to the
fate of those living in the five cities situated on the Jordan
Plain, G‑d judged and exacted punishment upon all the ones living in the five cities situated on the Jordan
Plain. G‑d, having
destroyed four if the five cities situated on the Jordan Plain and
killing all the inhabitants dwelling in the five cities, was of a
mind to bring about the destruction of all vegetation growing on the ground, and toward that end,
enabled the ensuing conflagration to consume every vestige of
vegetation originating from the five cities situated on the Jordan
Plain.
You may, while reading this particular translation of Genesis
19:25, imagine that you are receiving an oral version of the Torah
that Moses or the Sanhedrin may have imparted to the Children of
Israel during their 40 years in the desert following their initial
receipt and acceptance of the oral and written Torah.
Definition
of Translinear NT>
As there are two sides to every story, so there are two sides
to this translation.
Literally, two sides.
There is a Hebrew side, physically situated, as it should, on
the right side of the page and there is an English side situated on
the left side of the page.
Because both the Hebrew and its English equivalent appear on
the same horizontal line, "linear" is the name given for this type
of translation format.
Because my method differs from my "linear" predecessors, I
have chosen to refer to my work by using the term "Translinear"
("TRANSlation running in a horizontal, LINEAR direction"). A good way to grasp the
concept of "Translinear" is to visualize yourself on a "train line"
heading east to west (reading right to left). The "tracks" the "train
"travels on are the blue lines appearing above and below the
text.
Chapter and
Verse
The Torah does not utilize chapter and verse numbering. Starting late in the
eleventh century of the common era, and continuing over the
centuries, Christian scholars devised and implemented the concept of
the now universally recognized system of dividing the "The Old
Testament" and "The New Testament" into numbered chapters and
numbered verses. About
350 years ago, Jewish book publishers began adding chapter and verse
numbering to the Torah.
When it comes to ease of navigating the Five Books of Moses,
the "chapter and verse" numbering system is the essential
methodology for intellectual travel; just as "latitude and
longitude" is the essential methodology for physical
travel.
This chapter and verse 'global satellite word positioning
device' serves as the ideal and most expedient means of pinpointing
any particular part of the Five Books of Moses for shared- or
self-study.
Chapter and Verse (and
Word?)
The aforementioned example of a word-for-word translation
(Genesis 19:25) exemplifies the unique manner in which I translate
Torah. Given my emphasis on providing an English equivalent
for every Hebrew word in the Torah, I propose expanding the 'Chapter
and Verse' system of identification of the Torah to 'Chapter, Verse
and Word.' For example, if one wanted to discuss the word
'vegetation' as it appears in Genesis 19:25, then one would preface
their inquiry by saying: "I want to know what you think about the
translator's interpretation of the word 'vegetation' that occurs as
the twelfth word of Genesis 19:25." The recipient of the
inquiry would access Genesis 19:25 on the TorahTorium.com website
and count down to the twelfth word and be exactly where he's
supposed to be. A more concise manner of inquiry would be:
"Let me know what you think of the translator's interpretation of
Genesis 19:25:12."
Quoting "Book, Chapter and Verse"
(Hebrew
Style)
If you want to quote "book, chapter and verse" in Hebrew, for
"Genesis 1:1" you would say "Buh ray shees, Buh ray shees, Aw lef :
Aw lef." Take notice of
how chapter "Bereishis" ends and chapter "Noach" begins. The chapter following
"Bereishis" is entitled "Noach." Chapter "Bereishis" ends at
verse 8 (Genesis 6:8) and then becomes "Genesis/Noah 6:9." ("Bereishis, Noach, Vawv :
Tays.") In order to
better comprehend this chapter, subchapter protocol, please take a
look at Torah Tablets of
Contents.pdf.
The Deeper Meaning of the
Vertical Word Structure of This
Translation
Adhering to the translinear (horizontal) format described
above results in each Hebrew word of the Torah appearing vertically,
rather than horizontally.
I believe Hebrew to be the language created by and spoken by
HaShem ("The Name"), the Author of the Torah. It is fitting that HaShem's
Torah appear vertically on the page, as it pays homage to its
holiness in that one might envision the first word of the Torah
originating from heaven and all its subsequent words following in a
vertical, downward path toward earth, to us, the most fortunate of
recipients.
Additionally, when one possesses a spiritual inclination
towards the Torah, and reads the Torah from top to bottom, then one
can invoke a physical affirmation towards the Torah with a
"davening" or universal, head-nodding "yes"
gesture. | 
