Found In Translation
Translation is a tricky business. It is incredibly difficult to translate the nuances, cultural references, connotations, and subtleties from one language to another. Indeed, since there is no one perfect way to translate, no two translations are the same.
Translating the Torah, in which every word is infused with nuance and layers of meaning, is even more difficult. Any translation, therefore, is a compromise; some of the meaning will, inevitably, be lost in translation.
In this week's Torah portion, however, a translation reveals deeper insight than is apparent in the original. The inner meaning of the original Biblical Hebrew is found, specifically, in the translation.
The opening statement of this week's portion highlights the fundamental principle of the Torah, the concept of free choice. Moses, conveying the word of G-d, says:
Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.
The blessing, that you will heed the commandments of the Lord your G-d, which I command you today; and the curse, if you will not heed the commandments of the Lord your G-d, but turn away from the way I command you this day, to follow other gods, which you did not know.
Onkelos (the convert, nephew of the Roman Emperor Titus; whose Aramaic translation of the Torah was universally accepted and is printed in most editions of the Chumash) translates "curse" ("I set before you today a blessing and a curse") as "milattaya", which is the Aramaic word for curse. Yet the translation of Yonatan (compiled by the great Talmudic sage Rabbi Yonatan ben Uziel) offers an unusual translation: "curse" is translated as "chilufa", Aramaic for "its exchange".
"Exchange" is a surprising choice for translation of the word "curse", because not only does it seem unrelated to the word "curse", it seems to have the opposite meaning. There must be some relation between two things in order for one to exchange the other, whereas blessing and curse are polar opposites. How can the curse be considered the "exchange" of the blessing?
The verse states "I set before you today a blessing and a curse" The term used in the verse is "notain" which means "I gift". This leads to two questions: (1) how can we say that the curse is a gift? (2) A more profound question: how is it possible that something as negative and painful as a curse can emerge from G-d, who is perfect and good?
The translation of Onkelos, the primary translation used in Babylonia, does not address these questions, because Babylonia represents the spiritual exile, where the light of G-d is concealed. In a state of spiritual exile all we see is the negativity of the "curse".
The translation of Yonatan, by contrast, was a translation written in the land of Israel, where even in the time of exile, when Aramaic was the prevailing language, spiritual awareness and enlightenment were accessible. Targum Yonatan, therefore, seeks to shed light and explain that what appears to be a curse is, in reality, the "exchange" of blessing. Both the blessing and the curse are an expression of G-d's love and connection to us. The only difference is that we can perceive the goodness in the blessing, whereas in the curse, the blessing is "exchanged", it expresses itself in a different form, we, therefore, cannot sense the Divine source, as the positivity is hidden.
The curse is the "exchange" (which implies similarity) of the blessing, because G-d is present in both good times and challenging times, in moments of pain just as in moments of blessing.
When the Jewish people read the Torah in the original Hebrew, they were living in Israel basking in the light of Divine blessing, yet, their understanding of G-d was limited. They only knew how to sense the presence of G-d in times of blessing. Yet, specifically when the Jewish people were exiled, they discovered a deeper truth. When they experienced spiritual descent, represented by the inability to understand the original Hebrew, they discovered, within the translation, that G-d is present even when the blessings are no longer apparent. Since G-d is truly infinite, he is not confined to "light"; He is present in the "darkness" as well as in the light, because the darkness is merely an "exchange", another form of the blessing.
The recognition that within pain and difficulty lies hidden goodness will allow the concealed good to be revealed, transforming the "curse" into open and revealed blessing.
Adapted from the teachings of the Rebbe, Lekutei Sichos vol. 19 Re'eh Sicha 1.