Rashi in His Own Words
דברים א', ה': רֹמאֵל תאֹזַּה הָרוֹתַּה תֶא רֵאֵבּ הֶשׁמ ליִאוֹה בָאוֹמ ץֶרֶאְבּ ןֵדְּרַיַּה רֶבֵﬠְבּ:
רש"י ד"ה באר את התורה: בשבעים לשון פירשה להם:
Devorim 1:5: On the other side of the Jordan River in the land of Moav, Moshe began explaining the Torah, saying
Rashi Heading: explaining this Law: He explained it to them in seventy languages.
Synopsis
This week, we read the Torah portion of Devorim. It marks the beginning of the fifth book of the Torah. Moshe tells the Jews that on the other side of the "Yarden – Jordan River," Hashem began explaining the Torah to them. Rashi explains that Hashem taught the Torah in all of the seventy root languages from which all other languages were derived. The Sages tell us that this is a reference to engraving all of the words of the Torah on stone, "explained well" before our crossing the Jordan and entering Israel. What is the meaning of "explained well?" The Sages explain that the meaning of these words is that they were written in all of the seventy primary languages. Hence, we see that these were all positive actions.
However, based on several statements from the Sages, it would seem that translating the Torah was less than ideal. In Maseches Sofrim, a translation of the Torah is discussed. Five Sages translated the Torah into Greek at the command of King Ptolemy. The Sages exclaim there that the day on which the Torah was translated into Greek was as bad for the Jews as the day on which the Golden Calf was made. This is because Hebrew cannot be adequately translated into Greek. Why should Greek be any better or worse than any other language?
Additionally, why should the Torah's translation into Greek (as opposed to any of the other sixty-nine languages) be as bad as the day on which the Golden Calf was made? Furthermore, why should the Sages say that the day on which the Torah was written in Greek was "as bad as the day on which the Golden Calf was made?" One would think that it should say, "As bad as it was on the day that the sin of the Golden Calf took place?"
The operative words which explain this are "as bad as it was on the day that the sin of the Golden Calf took place." Just what happened on that day? The time that Moshe was scheduled to descend from Mount Sinai seemed to have passed. They were afraid they would not have a "Moshe," someone who could transmit Hashem's words to them and lead them. They had no interest in worshiping idols. They wanted the Golden Calf to stand in Moshe's place. To push the people off, Aharon began collecting their gold. However, things progressed incredibly quickly. Ultimately, "When Aharon saw this, he built an altar in front of it, and Aharon proclaimed that 'Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.'" The day that the sin of the Golden Calf took place was not evil; it was the prelude to the evil which would occur the next day. The same is true regarding the translation of the Torah into Greek. The translation itself was not wrong. The problem was that later on, it would give the Greek philosophers access to the Torah. They would be able to distort all of its words.
Rashi's Explanation
This week's Torah portion, Devorim, begins the fifth book of the Torah. The Torah tells us, "On that side of the Jordan, in the land of Moav, Moshe commenced explaining this Law, saying." Rashi cites the words "explaining the Law (the Torah)." He explains that "He (Moshe) explained it (the Torah) to the Jewish people in seventy languages." Before the Jews entered Israel, we needed to be able to teach Torah to everyone everywhere. We were isolated for forty years. We had all been in the "Yeshivah" of the wilderness. We had all studied Torah day and night from the world's most outstanding teacher, Moshe Rabbeinu. Now it was time for us to begin teaching all those around us.
Difficulties in Understanding Rashi
Moshe told the Jews on the other side of the "Yarden – Jordan River" that Hashem began explaining the Torah. Rashi explains that the meaning of this is that Hashem taught the Torah in all of the seventy root languages from which all languages were derived. The Sages tell us that this refers to Moshe's engraving the Torah in each language on stones before crossing the Jordan. This was very great.
However, we also find that translating the Torah may be less than ideal. Maseches Sofrim writes that five Sages wrote a translation of the Torah. They translated the Torah into Greek at the command of King Ptolemy. The text continues that the day on which the Torah was translated into Greek was as bad for the Jews as the day on which the Golden Calf was made.
Maseches Sofrim continues that there was yet another incident involving King Ptolemy. He gathered seventy Sages (some say that it was seventy-two) in separate rooms and asked each of them to translate the Torah into Greek. Miraculously, all of the translations were identical. Therefore, this translation was called the Septuagint (meaning seventy in Greek), also known as the "Targum Shivi'im – תרגום שבעים– Translation of the Seventy." Another reason for this name is that the Sanhedrin consisted of seventy Sages.
The text explains why this translation was unacceptable. It is because Hebrew cannot be adequately translated into Greek. We need to understand this. Why should Greek be any better or worse than any of the other seventy languages? Additionally, why should the Torah's translation into Greek (as opposed to any of the other sixty-nine languages) be considered so damaging as to be as bad as the day on which the Golden Calf was made?
Furthermore, the expression that it was "as bad as the day on which the Golden Calf was made" requires explanation. One would think that it should be compared to the sin of the Golden Calf. Why compare it to the day on which it was made?
We find a positive side to translating the Torah into Ancient Greek. We see that the Greek language was preferred in translating the Torah. Noach had three sons: Shem, Cham, and Yefes. All Jews are descendants of Shem. Cham was the father of the Canaanites and the Africans. Yefes was the patriarch of the Greeks. After the flood, the Torah writes, "May G-d expand Yefes, and may He dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be a slave to them." The meaning of this is that Yefes, Greece, received a special blessing. The only language in which a Torah may be written (besides Hebrew) is ancient Greek. The incident with Ptolemy may be seen as a precedent for this. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel rules that a Torah may be written in Greek. The Halachic ruling follows his opinion.
The Explanation
We can answer all of the above questions by first understanding the meaning of "it was as bad for the Jews as the day on which the Golden Calf was made." What exactly happened on that day? The first thing that happened was that the Jews made a mistake calculating the time that Moshe would descend from the mountain. The Jews had no interest in worshipping an idol! The time they had calculated for Moshe's return came and went. Hence, they thought that Moshe would never return. After all, how can a human of flesh and blood, even one as great as Moshe, exist in Heaven? Therefore, they wanted the Calf to replace Moshe. Because of their certainty that Moshe could not survive in Heaven together with Hashem, it is written that "When the people saw that Moshe was late coming down from the mountain, they gathered against Aharon and said to him, 'Come on! Make us gods that will go before us because this man Moshe, who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we don't know what has become of him."
Aharon realized that the people believed in Hashem and Moshe. They wanted a replacement for Moshe. However, he also saw the danger that could arise from this. Therefore, he tried to stall for time to keep the people from doing something they may regret. He said to them, "... Remove the golden earrings on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters and bring them to me. And all the people stripped themselves of the golden earrings on their ears and brought them to Aharon. He took them from their hands, fashioned them with an engraving tool, and made them into a molten calf, upon which they said: 'These are your gods, O Israel, who have brought you up from the land of Egypt!'" He hoped that the people would not give in and follow this Calf. However, ultimately it says, "When Aharon saw this, he built an altar in front of it, and Aharon proclaimed and said, 'Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.'"
In other words, the day that the Golden Calf was built was a preparation for the evil that would take place the following day. The meaning of the comparison to the day that the Calf was built was that it was also a preparation for the evil that would follow. Translating the Torah into Greek was not inherently evil. However, it was a preparation for evil. It gave Greek philosophers access to the holy Torah. This bore the potential for the greatest evil, i.e., misrepresenting and misunderstanding the Torah.
A Deeper Explanation of Rashi
As bad as the Translation of the Seventy was then, now the situation is very different. The fact that we are so close to the arrival of Moshiach has changed everything. At one point, making the Torah available to all was a great danger and was undoubtedly unacceptable. Now, however, it is welcome.
We are all aware of the famous letter the Baal Shem Tov wrote. In this letter, he describes a spiritual "trip" he took. His soul ascended to the most incredible heights of Heaven. Reaching the chamber of Moshiach, he asked him, "When is the Master coming?" Moshiach responded, "When your fountains reach the furthest places, then I shall arrive."
Now it is necessary for the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov, together with all parts of the Torah, to be translated into every language. That will enable us to reach the final redemption!
(Adapted from a talk given on Shabbos Parshas Vo'eiro (Rosh Chodesh Shevat) 5740)
I hope you gained as much by reading this as I did by translating and adapting it.
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