Translator's Introduction

These are the goals and opinions guiding this translation. I don't intend to convince anyone that my approach is correct — only to be transparent about it. If it's not to your liking, you can forgo my translation. For simplicity, I'll write in absolute terms, even though there is a wide range of valid opinions on these matters. Some of my points may apply specifically to Classical Rabbinic writings or to works of Chassidus in particular.

Simple Vocabulary

A translation should use simple, commonly used words. Flowery, sophisticated vocabulary is impressive, but it makes the ideas harder to understand. Even where a particular word may be more precise, if the simpler word is good enough, I'll choose it.

Target-Language Idioms

A translation should follow the idioms of the target language and avoid idioms of the original that don't carry over naturally. This may mean that entire phrases are omitted or replaced. For example, "ומעתה יש לבאר היטב" — literally, "And now there is reason to explain very well..." Technically, this is both accurate and grammatical English. Practically, no one writes English like that, and it makes the text harder to read. In the original Hebrew, it's wonderful. But English is not Hebrew. In my translation, I would look at the whole sentence and probably omit that phrase entirely.

English Sentence Structure

A translation should follow the sensibilities and style of the target language. Classical Hebrew writing commonly uses very long sentences. In English, shorter sentences are preferred. So when I encounter a long sentence, I will break it up and restructure it into idiomatic, pleasant English.

Untranslated Technical Terms

Every subject has its technical terms — words used by experts to refer to their conceptualization of a particular concept or group of related concepts. I will leave untranslated only those technical terms that are central to the text and whose standard English translations function more as codewords than as accurate representations of the concept. Where part of a phrase translates cleanly, I'll translate that part.

For example, "עומק החכמה" becomes "depth of Chochma" — depth carries over fine, but translating Chochma as "wisdom" would suggest something familiar while obscuring what the term actually means in this context.

Similarly, binah and middos are often translated as "understanding" and "attributes," respectively. It's nice to see familiar words in a translation — except that binah isn't "understanding." Understanding is part of it, but there is much more, as the first few chapters of this book discuss. Furthermore, if we use "understanding," it becomes difficult to tell when we're referring to binah and when we simply mean understanding something. The ease of a rough translation is undermined by its lack of specificity. And when you do begin approaching these texts in the original, the core vocabulary will be completely foreign to you. Similarly, middos is a vast topic that the familiar word "attributes" doesn't begin to capture.

So in my translation, I will use terms like binah and middos, with a glossary of common literal translations to provide additional context.

Transliteration Convention

My transliteration of such terms will follow the common pattern of using Ashkenazi consonants and Sephardi syllables — so binah instead of binuh, and middos instead of middot.

AI Usage

AI tools were used to help draft and edit supplementary materials like this introduction. AI was not used in any capacity for the translation itself — not for producing translations, reviewing them, suggesting alternatives, or critiquing drafts. The translation is entirely my own work.