An Institute for the Wisdom of Judaism

1 The Problem: A Vast Treasure in a Foreign Tongue

AZR opens by acknowledging the enormous achievement of European Jewish scholarship, and immediately points to its flaw: it was written in languages that are not the language of the people.

"From the days of Zunz to this day the Jewish scholars of Europe have done great things for 'the wisdom of Judaism.' Thousands of books and thousands upon thousands of articles by the greatest researchers are scattered across all the European languages, and many of them are of very great value for the knowledge of Judaism and the history of the people of Israel." AZR, "An Institute for the Wisdom of Judaism," Collected Writings (5695/1935).

The argument is not merely practical but one of principle: lasting value, in his view and in the view of the Western scholars he cites, belongs only to what was written in Hebrew.

"And many of the scholars of the West have already observed that Jewish scholarship written in a foreign language is destined to be forgotten; enduring value belongs only to those things that were written in Hebrew." Ibid.

2 The Solution: A Fellowship of Translators and a Work Plan

AZR does not settle for a general appeal. He proposes a mechanism: a fellowship of writers close to Jewish scholarship, together with benefactors to fund it, who would set priorities and translate book after book.

"It seems to me the time has come to rescue at least the fundamental books and articles, the most important in every respect, that were written in foreign languages, and to translate them into Hebrew." Ibid.

"Let those writers who are close to Jewish scholarship, and the benefactors who cherish our great cultural possession, form a fellowship and set together a plan of work, what to do first and what later, and bring out book after book." Ibid.