Don’t know Hebrew? You are not a lesser Jew

Six weeks before Moshe passed away, he invented Google.

Oh, you didn’t learn about that in Hebrew school or day school? You must have gone to the wrong school. Go back and ask them for a full refund!

Before I get hundreds of angry phone calls and emails from teachers demanding to know how I came up with such an outlandish claim, let me explain.

Moshe didn’t invent Google, but he did invent the concept that allowed Google to become so successful thousands of years later. Think about it: Google didn’t invent anything new; it simply took the wealth of knowledge on the web and made it accessible to all.

And Moshe did the same thing.

On Rosh Chodesh Shevat, he took the greatest body of knowledge on earth, the Torah, and translated it into all the languages that existed at that time (70 in total).

Why? The Jews who traveled with him in the desert didn’t need translations; the Torah was written in their language! So what was the purpose of this?

The rebbe explains that Moshe foresaw that many years later, there would be Jews who wouldn’t know any Hebrew. They might feel like lesser Jews, or they might think that a translated Torah is somehow less holy than the Torah in its original language. They might feel distant from the Torah.

This is why Moshe translated the Torah into all languages, making it accessible to everyone. Now, regardless of which language you speak, the Torah is available to you in its full holiness.

Thursday, January 30, was Rosh Chodesh Shevat. While rosh chodesh is always a special day on the calendar, for many generations, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly notable about this specific day. Yes, the Torah mentions how Moshe translated the Torah on this day, but it’s a brief mention that received little attention.

The rebbe, however, made a big deal out of this day. Almost every year, either before or on Rosh Chodesh Shevat, he would discuss this historical event. More importantly, he would ask everyone to see this story as a call to action.

It should come as no surprise that the rebbe, the most influential rabbi of the modern era, focused so heavily on this story. The modern era has brought unprecedented challenges to the Jewish people: Jews spread all over the world, speaking countless languages, with many living in remote areas, disconnected from any Jewish community.

And the rebbe, like Moshe, wanted to ensure that the Torah would remain wholly accessible to them as well. He accomplished this not only through his vast network of Chabad Houses around the world, but also through his personal involvement in translating, printing, and distributing millions of Torah books, booklets, and brochures in so many languages and locations.

I am proud to share that while living in Hamburg, Germany, my grandparents, Mordechai and Dina Kaminker OBM, published numerous Torah brochures and books in German, with the rebbe’s directive and encouragement.

Thanks to Moshe’s actions on this day, we can tell every Jew we meet: it doesn’t matter if you attended a Jewish day school, a Hebrew school, or had no formal Jewish education. The Torah, in whichever language you speak, is available to you, as holy and as precious as ever.

Mendy Kaminker is the rabbi of Chabad of Hackensack and an editorial member of Chabad.org. He welcomes your comments at rabbi@ChabadHackensack.com

Opinion