The fast of the Tenth
of Teves marks three tragedies that stuck Israel. The first is that it is the
day when the Babylonians started the siege of Jerusalem culminating in the
destruction of the First Temple and the resultant exile. The second observance
is because Ezra, who led the Jews back from exile passed away on the ninth of
Teves. The third observance is because the Chumash was translated into Greek on
the eighth of Teves. One can easily understand the sorrow caused by the first
two. However the sorrow from the third requires an explanation.
The story of the
translation of the Torah into Greek is brought in the Gemara (Megilla 8b-9a) as
part of of a larger discussion about translating the Tanakh into other
languages. The Mishna states that the Tanakh can be translated into any
language, but brings an important dissent which claims that the only acceptable
language for translation is Greek.
It then recounts the
story of how King Ptolemy of Egypt gathered 72 elders of Israel, placed them in
separate rooms and ordered them to translate the Chumash. On the eighth Teves
the work was completed and miraculously all of the scholars had translated it
in the same way. For many this translation was considered the realization of
the verse that G-d will enlarge Yafes and he will dwell in the tent of Shem
(Genesis 9:27).
The Greeks then had
the rest of the Tanakh translated. The Romans called this edition of the
Chumash the Septuagint, which means seventy. They then translated it into Latin
and from there the Christians translated it into English and most every other
language.
In fact the Targum
Onkelos and the Targum Yonason are widely used in the beis midrash today. Both
are translations into Aramaic which was the language of the Jews at the time. Similarly
when Moshe, our teacher, began to explain the Torah, Rashi comments that he
explained it in seventy languages (see Deuteronomy 1:5). The Mishna (Sota 7:5)
comments that after Joshua brought the nation of Israel into the Promised Land
erected stones and inscribed the Torah on them in the seventy languages of the
day.
We see then many examples of the Torah being translated
for many reasons. It would seem that the Jews are supposed to teach the Torah
to the entire world especially the Greeks. What is it concerning this
translation that would make the Shulchan Aruch (Orech Chaim 580:2) say that,
“the world was dark for three days”? It is also written in Mesechta Sofrim (1:7) that the day
that Ptolemy first had the Torah translated into Greek was as harsh to Israel
as the day the Golden Calf was made. However this is attributed to the fact
that changes in the text had to be made in order to preserve its fundamental
message.
People do often say that translations are
commentaries at least to a certain extent. Also, things are always lost in
translation. But it does not really answer the question.
The real problem is that
for many, perhaps most of the world, the Greek translation was considered the
real Torah and the Torah in the sacred language in the hands of the Jews was
not. Therefore they could claim, because of our many sins, the mission of being
a kingdom of priests had been taken from the Jews and given to the Europeans.
The proof was that if one wished to read the Chumash, one could only do it with
the one that was in the hands of Christians. However, the idea of careful adherence
to a totalitarian dogma bothers them. The Jews on the other hand say they want
the Torah even in their hidden places and even in the way they put on their
shoes.
This is the breaking
of the tablets of the Ten Commandments and for this we must fast. The truth is
that in recent years this situation has begun to be rectified. However there
still remains much to do before the Jews can really be considered the people of
the book.
לע"נ, הסבא ,אהרן בן יוסף ז"ל
נלב"ע כז טבת תשכ"ו
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