What if in our teshuvah we focused on being ‘translators’ of
God’s tradition?
Eliyahu HaNavi revealed in the Gemara: When we say the words יהא שמיה רבא מבורך, ‘May God’s great name be blessed’ in Kaddish, God hangs His head and laments, ‘Woe to the Father Who exiled His sons, and woe to the children who are in exile from their Father’s table’. Why?
Tosafot explain: אין העולם מתקיים אלא אסדרא דקדושתא איהא שמיה רבה מבורך, “The world stands on the holiness of these words…” ושם היו עמי הארצות ולא היו מבינים כולם לשון הקודש לכך תקנוהו בלשון תרגום שהיו הכל מבינים שזה היה לשונם, “but back in the day, regular people were not able to understand this prayer in Hebrew, and so the rabbis translated it into Aramaic (the language they spoke) so everyone could understand.” And so, Kaddish is in Aramaic to include everyone in making God’s great name blessed (similarly today, following an English translation is encouraged).
But why does God lament? Because these words remind Him of when we made accessibility and the understanding of everyone our spiritual priority. The truth is, as humans we don’t always live up to this. Instead, we can often be hurtful, divisive, and dismissive.
This story of translation is a small moment in our tradition. One we could miss. And yet, it’s the key to a moral and empathetic community. God’s world stands on translated words.
What if this Elul, we found one way each day to be ‘translators’ of God’s holy word?
