Shabbat Parshiyot Matot-Masei - 5762

Great Translations

This Shabbat finds us in transition between the Book of BaMidbar and the Book of Devarim. The former has been called (by Rabbi Berel Wein) the “saddest Book in the Bible,” because of all the backslidings and rebellions recounted there, especially that of the Meraglim, whose disloyalty, which we cannot really understand because they were initially “great men,” and lack of belief in HaShem determined the forty year stay of the Jewish People in the Wilderness, and the revolt of Korach, for reasons of self-aggrandizement and honor. The Book of Devarim is the valedictory address of Moshe Rabbeinu to the People of Israel, in which he introduces some new Laws that he heard on Sinai or the Ohel Moed, but did not yet communicate to the People of Israel, and reviews many Laws. But, in the Ramban’s own words, taken from Chavel’s translation of the Ramban’s Introduction to his Commentary on the Book of Devarim, we find, at the end of the Introduction:

“Before Moses commenced the explanation of the Torah he began to reprove them, reminding them of their sins, How oft did they rebel against Him in the wilderness (Psalms 78:40), and how the Holy One, blessed be He, conducted Himself towards them with the attribute of mercy. This was to inform them of His mercies towards them; also, that they be chastised by his words so that they would not revert to their degradation lest they be swept away in all their sins (Numbers 16:26), and [finally] to strengthen their hearts by informing them that He will always conduct Himself towards them with the attribute of mercy, and hence a person should not feel that he will not be able to inherit the Land because – since there is no person that does not sin (see Ecclesiastes 7:20) – the attribute of judgment would at once be aimed against him and he would be destroyed. Therefore Moses our teacher informed them that the Holy One, blessed be He, is the Merciful One, full of mercy, since the forgiveness and pardon which come from Him, blessed be He, are an assistance and help to people in serving Him, similar to what scripture says, For with Thee is forgiveness, that Thou mayest be feared (Psalms 130:4).”

It is almost, to the day, the 26th Anniversary of the publication of the translation of Sefer Devarim, by Rabbi Dr. Charles B. Chavel, that occurred on the 26th day of Tammuz, 5736. That was a signal day of bringing the Torah of HaShem to the people who thirsted for it, but for whom, centuries of oppression had left them, excepting an elite of great Torah scholars, ignorant of its contents. From the translator’s own words, from his preface to the fifth volume:

“Therefore my heart greatly rejoices,
And with my song will I praise Him (Psalms 28:7).”

“On this day, when Ramban’s entire commentary on the Torah has been made available to the English-speaking Torah-world, I am overcome with profound gratitude to G-d for sustaining me to live to witness this occasion.”

“As steeped as Ramban was in the spirit and knowledge of the sacred text of the Torah, his original Hebrew work was nevertheless far removed from those people who, because of unfamiliarity with the language, could not consult the Commentary to obtain a conception of this savant’s understanding of the written word of G-d...The warm response of the public to the first and all consecutive volumes is indeed a true and firm indication of the sincere desire of the English-speaking Jew for the ‘Words of the living G-d.’ For all this I am deeply grateful.”

“In conclusion, I express the hope and prayer to G-d that even as we behold this translation of the Commentary on the Torah making its appearance in the world as a complete entity, which helps to unlock the rich treasure-house if the Five Books of Moses, so may we all be privileged to enjoy the Glory of the Eternal’s ways as we further seek the deep understanding of the truth in His Torah.”

This was certainly not the first, but it was one of the first that opened the way and inspired followers to present Jewish scholarship in a well-researched, scholarly, but accessible package to a Jewish public on its way to reviving a generation whose children can be inspected “from Dan to Be’ersheva,” and from Boston to Buffalo without finding one ignorant in the Written nor the Oral Torah.

Rabbi Pinchas Frankel

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