The Living Torah and Nach: Encyclopedia II - The Living Torah and Nach - The Living Torah

The Living Torah and Nach - The Living Torah

The Living Torah is a 1981 translation of the Torah by Aryeh Kaplan, published by Moznaim.

It was and remains a highly popular translation, and was reissued in a Hebrew-English version with haftarot for synagogue use.

Kaplan had the following goals for his translation, which were arguably absent from previous English translations:

• Clear and readable
• Close the basic meaning (peshat) of the text in many places, but in other places translated to be in accord with post-biblical rabbinic commentary and Jewish codes of law.
• Faithful to Orthodox Jewish tradition
• Useful notes, illustrations, and index

Rabbi Kaplan's translation has been criticised for mis-translating the text. The dispute comes about because Kaplan consciously attempted not to present a straight translation of the text, but rather interspersing the translation with later rabbinic commentary and Jewish law.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "The Living Torah", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki