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translatorsandtranslatedtextsintheJewishcultureofthetime.
InthepostMishnaichistoryofJewishculture,whereHebrewwasretainedasa
privilegedlanguagebutotherlanguageswereusedformostcommunicative
purposes,thereweretwoperiods/territorieswheretranslationintotheHoly
Tongueenjoyedaspecialstatus,bothquantitativelyandqualitatively;these
weresouthwesternEuropeoftheMiddleAgesandcertainpartsofCentral
andEasternEuropeduringtheEnlightenmentandRevivalperiods.Inboth
cases,notonlydidtranslationsaccountforalargepercentageofalltexts
produced,butcertainculturalandtextual‘slots’werefilledmainly,sometimes
exclusively,bytranslations.Insomeinstances,asinthecaseofthemedieval
maqāmātandmodernfables,translatingservedasameansofexperimenting
with,andlaterintroducinginoriginalcomposition,texttypeswhichwere
hithertounknowninHebrew.
TheMiddleAges
Followingalonginterval,translationintoHebrewresumedinmedievalEurope
andwasinfullswingbytheendofthetwelfthcentury.Mostofthetexts
translatedwerenow‘worksofwisdom’,i.e.scientifictexts.
Manyofthescholarlyworksfirstselectedfortranslationweretreatisesin
ArabiconJewishlaw(Halakha)andethics(Musar)writtenbyJewsinMuslim
SpainorNorthAfrica.NoneedfortranslationhadarisenwhentheJewish
readerlivedinareaswhereArabicwasasharedliterarylanguage,but,bythe
twelfthcentury,JewishfamilieshadalreadymovedtoChristianterritories,most
notablyinsouthernFranceandnorthernItaly,andtheirdescendantswere
unabletoreadArabic.InterestintheachievementsofJewishscholarship
remainedstrong,andapressingneedtohavethetextstranslatedtherefore
emerged.Hebrew,whichwasinuseasaprivilegedliterarylanguage,became
thetargetlanguagepartlybecauseJewslivingindifferentplacesnolonger
sharedanyothermeansofcommunication.Arecurrentpattern,eventhoughnot
anexclusiveone,wasthustohaveatreatisetranslatedattherequestofan
interestedpatron,whomerelyrequiredtheprospectivetranslatortobe
reasonablyfluentinArabic.Thereisnoexplicitmentionofremuneration,butit
standstoreasonthatatleastsometranslatorsreceivedsomepayment,either
fromtheindividual‘commissioners’orfromthelocalcongregation,inwhichthe
commissionersoftenoccupiedkeypositions.Amongthemostinfluential
translationsofJewish‘worksofwisdom’completedduringthisperiodare
BahyaibnPaquda’sHovothaLevavot(DutiesoftheHeart),Maimonides’
MorehNevukhim(GuideofthePerplexed),andJudahHalevi’sSeferha
Kuzari.
InterestinscholarshipsoonspreadtononJewishbooksandthemes,leadingto
numeroustranslationsintoHebrewofworksofphilosophy,logic,grammar,
astronomy,medicine,physics,andvariousothermedievalsciences.Here,
Arabicwasoftenamediatinglanguageonly,especiallyinthecaseofGreekand
Latin,includingmanyofAristotle’sworks.Othersourcelanguageswerelater
addedtothelist.ThemostcomprehensivepresentationofHebrewtranslations
intheMiddleAgesandtheRenaissancePeriod,aswellastheroleofJewsas
culturalmediatorsbetweenEastandWest,isstillSteinschneider(1893);most
ofthetextsmentionedthroughoutthis1,077pagevolumearestillburiedin
manuscripts.
Althoughthetranslationofmedieval‘worksofbeauty’hashadmuchless
impactontheJewishtradition,itwasnodoubtalotmorecommonthanwe
havecometothink,duetoatraditionofdevotingscholarlyattentionto‘serious’
textsonly.True,‘literary’translationwasconsideredinherentlyinferior,atbest
onthethresholdoflegitimacy,andJewsindulgedinitwithsomereluctance–
whetherforpersonaldiversionorinanattempttofillemptyslotsintheliterary
sectoroftheirculture.However,itseemsreasonabletoassumethatmanyofthe
textsthatdidexistatthetimesimplyfailedtoreachus.Nothavingbeen
submittedtocopyingandrecopying,likemanyofthescientifictexts,veryfewof
themexistedinmorethanonecopytobeginwith,andeventhesecopieswere
soonlost.Thenumberofliterarytranslationswhichweresubsequently
consideredfittobeprintedwasevensmaller.Finally,whenHebrewmedieval
textsbecameanobjectofscholarlyinterestwithinmodernJudaicStudies,it
wasagainfirstandforemost‘scientific’writingswhichweretakeninto
considerationand(re)printed.