Koren Sacks Siddur: Lost in the transliterations
Here are samples of, for lack of a better description, "prayer-section markers" found at the tops of pages, as they appear in the following siddurim (prayer books). All siddurim are Nusach Ashkenaz unless otherwise specified.
Hertz Siddur, 1948
Hebrew page--Tefillat Shacharit l'Shabbat
English page--Sabbath Morning Service
DeSola Poole Siddur According to the Custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Minhag haS'faradim), 1941
Hebrew page--Shacharit shel Shabbat
English page--Sabbath Morning Prayers
Birnbaum Siddur, 1949
Hebrew page--Shacharit l'Shabbat v'Yom Tov
English page--Morning Service for Sabbath and Festivals
ArtScroll Siddur, 1984
Hebrew page--Shacharit l'Shabbat v'Yom Tov
English page--Shacharis for Sabbath and Festivals
Koren Sacks Siddur, 2009
Hebrew page--Shacharit l'Shabbat v'Yom Tov
English page--Shaharit for Shabbat and Yom Tov
Do you notice a trend here? I certainly do. The "prayer-section markers" in the siddurim that have a first-edition date in the 1940's are all fully translated, whereas those in the newer siddurim are half translated and half transliterated. Is the Orthodox community as a whole really that much better educated now than it was in the forties that they simply take it for granted that every Jew understands all Jewish references and terminology? Heaven help the person who doesn't (yet) know any Hebrew find his/her place in a siddur that's loaded, on the English page, with such so-called translations as Shabbat, Shacharit, and, noch besser (even better), tongue-twisters such as Yom HaAtzmaut.*
*Israeli Independence Day
Related: Koren Sacks Siddur: Lost in the translations
Hertz Siddur, 1948
Hebrew page--Tefillat Shacharit l'Shabbat
English page--Sabbath Morning Service
DeSola Poole Siddur According to the Custom of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (Minhag haS'faradim), 1941
Hebrew page--Shacharit shel Shabbat
English page--Sabbath Morning Prayers
Birnbaum Siddur, 1949
Hebrew page--Shacharit l'Shabbat v'Yom Tov
English page--Morning Service for Sabbath and Festivals
ArtScroll Siddur, 1984
Hebrew page--Shacharit l'Shabbat v'Yom Tov
English page--Shacharis for Sabbath and Festivals
Koren Sacks Siddur, 2009
Hebrew page--Shacharit l'Shabbat v'Yom Tov
English page--Shaharit for Shabbat and Yom Tov
Do you notice a trend here? I certainly do. The "prayer-section markers" in the siddurim that have a first-edition date in the 1940's are all fully translated, whereas those in the newer siddurim are half translated and half transliterated. Is the Orthodox community as a whole really that much better educated now than it was in the forties that they simply take it for granted that every Jew understands all Jewish references and terminology? Heaven help the person who doesn't (yet) know any Hebrew find his/her place in a siddur that's loaded, on the English page, with such so-called translations as Shabbat, Shacharit, and, noch besser (even better), tongue-twisters such as Yom HaAtzmaut.*
*Israeli Independence Day
Related: Koren Sacks Siddur: Lost in the translations
Labels: Talkin' about language(s)
posted by Shira Salamone at 10:06 PM
11 Comments:
Yes. I would assume that. Nobody, but nobody, calls it the "Sabbath" any more. It's Shabbat or Shabbos, but never "Sabbath." When my kids watched the movie fiddler on the roof the first time, they didn't understand when everyone was saying "Good Sabbath Reb Tevye." They said "what's the Sabbath?" And since "Sabbath" is merely the transliteration of Shabbat, who cares?
And my kids understand Yom Tov and Chagim, not "festivals". I don't see why a siddur needs to aim at the least educated, rather than the average user. And the average user knows "shaharit" "shabbat" and "yom tov."
"I don't see why a siddur needs to aim at the least educated, rather than the average user."
That's a good point, JDub.
Hmm, not too sure. I am the kind of person who, if I don't know something, will ask or head for the internet to find out (and then check it is correct!). But not everyone is like that. But then they really should be, rather than be happy to walk around not knowing....
Agh. *bangs head on desk*
rachel
ME has a hard time mastering hebrew, and finds the use of hebrew words (not even transliterated!) in the midst of English documents (including both the Artscroll Siddur and the 39 Melachos) to be a great obstacle to actually using them.
JDub and Larry, here's the issue--are translations:
1) a matter of convenience for people who, fundamentally, already understand the Hebrew, or
(2) a necessity for people who haven't (yet) had the opportunity to study Hebrew, don't have an aptitude for learning foreign languages, and/or have learning challenges?
"I am the kind of person who, if I don't know something, will ask or head for the internet to find out (and then check it is correct!)."
But nu, ShavuaTov, what's the point in having a translation if I have to go elsewhere to find the translation?
Shira:
I'm going to reiterate my point in a slightly different way. Different siddurim serve different functions, and they should. Artscroll, due to their instructions, has always been an excellent ba'al t'shuvah resource, although I saw their transliterated siddur and couldn't make heads or tails of it. Metsuda with their linear translation serves a similar function. NOt every siddur needs to reach everyone in the audience. I don't call it "morning prayers" "sabbath" "festivals" "additional service" (for musaf) and I find siddurim that use such terms to be off-putting. Let's say that 85% or more of a typical orthodox shul understands what "shaharit" means and wants a translation to help with some of the difficult poetry of tefillah. That is the target audience of Rabbi Sacks's siddur. Not someone who doesn't know the basics.
Incidentally, looking at my Artscroll that I keep in my office it says "Shacharis/Morning service" so presumably by the time you hit shacharit for shabbat, you've seen it earlier that shacharit means morning service.
I don't much care one way or the other, I think it is just that most Orthodox publishers expect their Orthodox readership to understand the terms, unless they are pitching a learner's siddur.
"Different siddurim serve different functions, and they should. Artscroll, due to their instructions, has always been an excellent ba'al t'shuvah resource, . . Metsuda with their linear translation serves a similar function. NOt every siddur needs to reach everyone in the audience."
So the goal of the person seeking a siddur is to find one that's a reasonable match for one's own Jewish knowledge and Hebrew skill level.
"Let's say that 85% or more of a typical orthodox shul understands what "shaharit" means and wants a translation to help with some of the difficult poetry of tefillah. That is the target audience of Rabbi Sacks's siddur. Not someone who doesn't know the basics."
That's probably a reasonably assessment, JDub.
I should add that in the decision making of the Koren Siddur, we thought quite carefully about what words to transliterate in the English and what words to translate. We also wanted to introduce words such as shaliach tzibbur and kehal, but since these words are not so common in English prayer usage, we actually translated them to Leader and Congregation (not all shuls have a chazzan). However, we felt that Shabbat, minyan, Chol HaMo'ed etc would be familiar.
Of course this isn't a hard and fast rule. I'm sure everyone knows what an Aron Kodesh is, but the word "Ark" is so familiar that we used that too so here the English translation is not as an educating tool but rather it's easier to read in the English.
Please excuse me for having been too busy at the office to post a proper response. I'll reply after Shabbat.
Thank you for explaining some of the thought process that went into the Koren Sacks Siddur editing decisions. In all honesty, it had not occurred to me that a "split decision," as it were, with some words being translated and others transliterated, might be a good one for those siddurim that are not intended primarily for pray-ers with very limited Hebrew skills.
Post a Comment
<< Home