On Chaf Kislev of two years ago, 206 years since the printing of the Tanya, for the first time in history, the first chapters of Tanya were printed in the Arab alphabet and in classic Arabic. * In 5732, a Tanya was printed in Morocco with an Arab-Moroccan translation in Hebrew letters.* R’ Dovid Bouskila, the one who translated Tanya into Arabic, told Beis Moshiach about his work and about the Rebbe’s reaction in yechidus. * Beis Moshiach brings the story of the translation and the instructions the Rebbe gave R’ Yehuda Leib Raskin, along with amazing allusions in the sichos from which we understand that the destruction and birur of the Yishmaelite nation will be completed when the Tanya is translated into Arabic in Arab letters.
I made a visit to the Sheva Mitzvos B’nei Noach center in Haifa and found out about a huge project run by R’ Boaz Kali, director of the center. It is a translation of the Tanya into Arabic, in classic Arabic with Arab letters.
When he told me about it, I was reminded of a conversation that I had with R’ Dovid Bouskila three years earlier in Yerushalayim, when I wanted to write his story about translating the Tanya into Moroccan-Arabic. R’ Bouskila did so under the direction of the shliach of the Rebbe in Morocco, R’ Leibel Raskin a”h.
The years passed and the interview sat in a drawer.
“IS IT PERMISSIBLE AND WORTHWHILE TO TRANSLATE THE TANYA INTO ARABIC?”
Kislev 5732, Casablanca, Morocco
R’ Leibel Raskin, shliach in Morocco since 5719, sat in his office and thought about the study of Tanya. He greatly desired to fulfill the Rebbe’s mission, bringing Moshiach through “spreading the wellsprings outward.” The open Tanya in front of him gave him the idea of translating into Arabic. If this was done, local Jews, those who had no knowledge of Chassidus, would be able to learn and understand Chassidus.
At that time, the Tanya was already translated into French and Italian, but Arabic?! It sounded overly ambitious, almost impossible. It was definitely a huge project. R’ Raskin would not decide on his own and in a letter that he sent to R’ Chadakov, he asked, “Is it worthwhile and permissible to translate [the Tanya] into Arabic, and do we have permission to do so, because it entails great responsibility and later this will also involve expense.”
A short while later, on 27 Kislev, he received a response from R’ Chadakov on the stationery used by the Rebbe’s secretaries. “Regarding my opinion about translating the Tanya into Arabic, it depends on whether the translation will be a good one.”
It was obvious to him that R’ Chadakov’s answer was actually the Rebbe’s answer. R’ Raskin was thrilled. “Boruch Hashem, the Rebbe gave permission for a translation.” However, the translation had to meet the Rebbe’s condition and that wasn’t easy.
Time passed and there was progress. In Casablanca back then, aside from the Lubavitcher schools, there were also Otzar Ha’Torah schools. Although Otzar Ha’Torah was Litvish, there was always great friendship and respect among the deans and teachers of both institutions. Many teachers learned in the Kollel Horaa V’Dayanus of R’ Sholom Eidelman, the Rebbe’s shliach in Casablanca.
At that time, R’ Dovid Bouskila was the general superintendent of the Otzar Ha’Torah network for the Jewish studies department. He was fluent in Hebrew and, of course, French and Arabic. He was greatly beloved by the Jews of Casablanca. Educational booklets that he wrote were very popular among Moroccan Jews. R’ Raskin began learning Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’Emuna with him. In front of them, aside from the Tanya, was also a Tanya translated into French. The way they did it was, at the end of every chapter they learned, R’ Bouskila would explain it orally and then translate it into Arabic.
NO HEBREW LETTERS
R’ Bouskila describes his feelings at the time:
“Throughout the years, I was a true friend of Chabad. I loved the shluchim, admired their work, and was even jealous of their mesirus nefesh for Jewish education. Whenever the shluchim asked me for anything, I immediately helped them out.
“When R’ Leibel Raskin came to me with the suggestion of translating the Tanya, I was very apprehensive. I knew it was a tremendous responsibility. In order to translate, you need to be an expert in both languages as well as the subject matter which you are translating. I knew that every word in Tanya is precise, so of course I was nervous. ‘How can I translate concepts like the Ten S’firos, Olam HaAtzilus, etc.’ I wondered, but R’ Raskin encouraged me. ‘First, let us learn it well together and only then will we tackle the translation.’”
In the summer of 5734/1974, when R’ Raskin saw that R’ Bouskila was doing a good job, thus fulfilling the Rebbe’s condition, he wrote to R’ Chadakov about their progress and asked for approval to certify R’ Bouskila as the translator of the Tanya into Arabic. He quickly received the green light. In a letter dated 18 Av, R’ Chadakov wrote him: I am in receipt of your letter and thank you for the good news. Regarding what you write about having found someone suitable to translate Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’Emuna into Arabic and that you learn this with him, this is proper and good.
R’ Raskin and R’ Bouskila sat for two years, learning and translating, reviewing and editing, until R’ Bouskila was able to write it all out and someone who worked with him, Eliyahu Assayag, typed it up.
In those days, before computers and printers accessible to all, printing was a complicated process, especially in an undeveloped country like Morocco. The main problem was the lack of Hebrew letter type molds. Trying to import them from France was no simple matter. In the end, they found a local Jewish printer who was willing to undertake the job, of course at a fee commensurate with his efforts.
The frontispiece of the book translated into Arabic
As with all matters of holiness, there were obstacles all along the way, but the goal – presenting Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’Emuna to thousands of Moroccan Jews – gave them the strength to carry on.
Even the limitations and time consuming process of sending parcels to New York, as well as the fact that it wasn’t often that someone went there and back, limited and slowed down the work. They needed the Rebbe’s approval for the pagination, the manner of translation, and numerous other matters. For example, R’ Raskin sent, along with a translated page from Chapter 7, the wording of the introduction about which he had many questions such as: should he write “by instruction of the Admur shlita” or just “we present?” Should they write “Kehos, Casablanca branch” or “Otzar HaChassidim?” Should they leave the original date that was planned for 20 Av even though they knew that it would be difficult to complete the work by 20 Av 5736?
When they already had nine chapters ready, R’ Raskin sent another letter in which he asked whether they have permission to write – the way it was written in the English and French translations – “the Arab language.” In response, the Rebbe underlined the words “we have permission” and then answered the questions in detail. Based on the answers, the introduction said, “We are publishing the book Likkutei Amarim Tanya, Section Two, Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’Emuna of the Alter Rebbe, in the Arabic language, to make it easier to learn this book for our Jewish brethren who speak this language. The book was translated by R’ Dovid Bouskila; the introduction and footnotes were done by R’ Nissan Mangel (who translated the Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’Emuna into English) and were translated by the above. We hope to G-d that by disseminating the Tanya in Arabic, this will strengthen from Mivtza Torah to Mivtza Shnas HaChinuch which are according to the Rebbe’s pronouncement – until it brings close the time of the coming of Moshiach.”
THE BIRUR OF THE ARABIC LANGUAGE
On 3 Kislev 5737, they were done. R’ Leibel Raskin sent his brother R’ Dovid a few of the first copies so he could submit them to the Rebbe. “Please do not give them to anyone until I have a letter or hear from you what the Rebbe said and how he received it,” he wrote his brother.
The Rebbe sent a handwritten response which said: “It was received and many thanks and it is a timely thing – Yud Kislev, the Geula of the Mitteler Rebbe, the successor of the Alter Rebbe. An additional increase in spreading forth (in the language of Moreh Nevuchim) will increase the hastening the coming of Moshiach. I will mention it at the gravesite.”
A copy of the answer was printed in all the s’farim that were not yet bound. “It is interesting to note,” said R’ Raskin, “that the Rebbe also edited the ‘signature:’ Editorial board of Kehos Casablanca, Morocco, Chag Ha’Geula, 19-20 Kislev 5737, 180 years since the first printing of the Tanya in the life of the Alter Rebbe in this world, 20 Kislev 5557.”
The additional words ‘in this world’ were added by the Rebbe in his handwriting. R’ Raskin explained it thus, “The life of the Alter Rebbe extends eternally but this was also in ‘this world.’”
When the s’farim arrived in Morocco the Jews there were very excited. In those days, modernity was spreading. Young men who wanted to feel like “men of the world” began speaking in French, not Arabic which was their mother tongue. It looked as though Arabic was being forgotten by the youth. And then, the Lubavitcher Rebbe treated their language with respect and did so through the most important work in Chabad Chassidus.
R’ Sholom Mashash, in those days the chief rabbi of Casablanca, wrote an emotional letter to the Rebbe: “The Tanya which has been newly translated into Arabic made a tremendous impression in our community and the entire nation is learning it with wondrous zest, may his merit protect us and all those involved in this, especially R’ Yehuda Raskin who worked on this with zest and enthusiastic desire, may Hashem send His help from the holy, amen.”
The ultimate reflection of the Rebbe’s regard for the translated Tanya was seen in a special sicha that he said at the farbrengen on Parshas Shmos 5737. The Rebbe spoke about the advantage of a translation of Tanya into Arabic: “It is known that the nations of the world are divided into two general categories: Eisav and Yishmoel. Since Arabic is the language of Yishmoel, by translating the Tanya into this language, it accomplishes the birur of Yishmoel, a language of a general category of nations of the world and not just the birur of a language of a specific nation.”
In a sicha full of unusual expressions about the advantage of a translation of Tanya, I noticed wording that even R’ Kali and R’ Bouskila did not notice. It seems the Rebbe also anticipated the translation of the Tanya into Arabic writing, something that would be done many years later (see sidebar).
CAN YOU BRING ME THE TANYA IN ARABIC?
The continuation of the translation of the rest of the Tanya was also fascinating and full of details which cannot be gone into now. It was R’ Raskin who initiated the translation of the first part, while the Rebbe asked for the translation of the rest of Tanya.
This was when R’ Binyamin Gorodetzky, the Rebbe’s representative in Europe, arrived in Morocco in Shvat 5739. He told R’ Raskin that the Rebbe wanted a continuation of the translation.
With bitter experience from the difficult printing job which included many corrections and editing, R’ Raskin decided to prepare the translation in Morocco and have the printing done in New York.
While in the middle of the work on Likkutei Amarim, he sent copies of the new material and the introduction along with a letter to his brother Dovid, which his brother submitted to the Rebbe. In the letter it said, “Enclosed is a copy of several chapters and the introduction which will afterward be translated into Arabic. Please find out from the Rebbe whether all this is as it should be and pleasing. I request the Rebbe’s bracha that there be success in the copying, the printing, the binding and in the distribution, and that I merit to see revealed and explicit [responses] with this printing like there was with translation and printing etc. of Shaar Ha’Yichud V’HaEmuna.”
In response, the Rebbe underlined the words, “as it should be and pleasing” and “be a success.”
On 10 Shvat 5740, thirty years since the Rebbe took over the nesius, Igeres HaT’shuva was published, translated into Moroccan-Arabic. In 5744, the first and central part of Likkutei Amarim was finally translated. At the end they added the Rebbe’s sicha about the special quality of translating the Tanya into Arabic.
R’ Raskin told of a special “kiruv” from the Rebbe regarding the Tanya translated into Arabic in a t’shura that was published for his grandson’s wedding:
“In the middle of the grand 11 Nissan farbrengen in 5737, the Rebbe’s 75th birthday, many Chassidim gave the Rebbe gifts. I brought a T’hillim I had printed on which it said, ‘11 Nissan, the 75th since the Rebbe’s birth.’
“I went over to the Rebbe to give him the T’hillim. The Rebbe poured mashke for me so I could say l’chaim, and I gave him the T’hillim. The Rebbe suddenly said to me, ‘Can you bring me the Tanya in Arabic?’ I was taken aback because at the beginning of the year, as soon as the Tanya was printed, I sent it to the Rebbe. Apparently the Rebbe wanted to receive it on 11 Nissan. I ran to my brother Dovid’s room where there was one Tanya. I brought it to the Rebbe and he said to me, ‘A big yashar ko’ach.’”
THIS TRANSLATION WILL BREAK THE KLIPA OF YISHMOEL
The Tanya in the above story must have been the first part that was printed, Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’Emuna. Later, in 5740, when Igeres HaT’shuva was printed, R’ Raskin invited R’ Bouskila to go with him to the Rebbe so they could both give it to him.
R’ Bouskila spoke about this emotionally:
“R’ Yehuda said to me, you should know that we need to take this Tanya to the Rebbe. I arranged for a trip to New York and had a private meeting with the Rebbe.
“What can I tell you … the entire time that I spoke to him, my eyes shed tears. His awesomeness … when you see his face, you are seeing an angel of G-d. We were not used to seeing pure faces like these. Throughout the yechidus my eyes were cast downward. The Rebbe spoke to me quietly and gently. I felt that to him there was no one else in the world except for the person speaking with him at that moment. The Rebbe was completely and solely with me during the yechidus.
R’ Shlomo Matusof and R’ Leibel Raskin presenting a picture of the Rebbe and a copy of the Tanya to the prime minister of Morocco
“The Rebbe thanked me a lot for my work in translating the Tanya and asked me, ‘Do you know the benefit that you achieved in translating the Tanya into the language of Yishmoel?’ I replied that it gives an opportunity to those who speak Arabic to learn Tanya.”
At this point, R’ Bouskila paused in his story about the yechidus and enthusiastically described his thoughts about learning the Tanya:
“Before I learned Tanya, I did not really know G-d. If you don’t learn Tanya, you simply do not really know G-d. It is like a baby who knows there is a G-d, you learn about Him, but you don’t really understand; surely not what the meaning of love of G-d and fear of G-d is. That is so with all those things which are above and beyond you: without learning Tanya, they are above you, you do not grasp them.
“Back to the yechidus – the Rebbe said to me, ‘The advantage of the translation that you made is that it will break the klipa of Yishmoel.’”
PRINTING THE TANYA IN DRUZE VILLAGES
Thirty years passed since that yechidus and forty years since the beginning of the work of translating the Tanya into Arabic.
R’ Boaz Kali is the director of Merkaz Sheva Mitzvos B’nei Noach and is very involved in disseminating the seven Noachide laws including among Arabs. He decided he wants to translate the Tanya into literary and classic Arabic and in the Arab alphabet.
In a previous article about his work among B’nei Noach, I described him as an ambitious person who seeks, no less, than to rectify the world with the Kingdom of G-d. I hadn’t realized to what extent this is so.
As a matter of course, R’ Kali, in his Chassidic garb, visits sheiks and leaders among the Arabs in Arabic towns and villages for the purpose of getting them to sign on a declaration calling upon their people to keep the Seven Noachide Laws. Wherever he goes he is received like royalty.
He decided to expand the campaign of printing the Tanya everywhere and to include Arab locales. For example, R’ Kali had the Tanya printed in the ancient shul in Shafram populated mainly by Druze, and also in the Druze village of Beit Jan.
The Rebbe’s response about Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’EmunaWhen I asked R’ Kali why it is worthwhile to print the Tanya in Arab places, he said:
“When the Rebbe announced the campaign to print the Tanya, he said that it was worthwhile to print it wherever there are Jews, even one Jew. Although according to statistics from the government agency, there are no Jews in these villages, from information we got from Yad L’Achim, we know that, sadly, there is no Arab village or town without Jews.
“Furthermore, there was an incredible expression from the Rebbe (I think it was said to R’ Zalman Chanin) that it would even be worthwhile to build a city in order to print the Tanya there. So, at that time, Chassidim drove through towns in the US with a vehicle that contained a printing press, without making inquiries about whether there were Jews there or not, and they printed the Tanya. The idea of printing the Tanya everywhere, aside from being a ‘shield and protection,’ is also ‘a secret weapon’ for the spiritual conquering of the place.”
The idea of printing the Tanya even in Arab villages led to the idea of translating the Tanya into classical Arabic. The idea came up when R’ Kali saw the amazing expressions the Rebbe used about the matter and upon meeting with R’ Dovid Bouskila.
When R’ Kali read the sichos (and also heard from R’ Bouskila quoting the Rebbe) that the Arabic language is the language of Yishmoel, and its birur is what refines and breaks the klipa of Yishmoel, he was galvanized.
“I realized what a power there is to the Tanya being translated and refining the Arab language. Who knows, maybe this is what is needed to bring about the hisgalus.”
The idea of birur of a nation and breaking it through translating Tanya was mentioned by the Rebbe on another occasion, when the Tanya was translated into Italian. At that time, the Rebbe sent a copy to President Shazar and quoted the Rashi on the verse, “and nation will struggle against nation,” that when one rises, the other falls. And Rashi also says, “… Tzor was not filled up except by the destruction of Yerushalayim.” The opposite is also true, that the Geula of Yerushalayim is contingent upon the breaking of the klipa of Rome (=Italy) by translating the Tanya into their language.
This is also alluded to in the Rebbe’s sichos (5751), where he says that the spiritual significance of Yehoshua’s conquering the land was the conquering of the seven lands which alludes to the seven middos, while conquering the three lands – Keini, K’nizi, Kadmoni (which are Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and parts of Turkey) – will take place through the “mochin.” It is now, when these countries are breaking apart, that this can be accomplished through the mochin – the Tanya – in Arabic, chochma, bina, and daas.
CHASSIDUS IS GOOD (NOT JUST) FOR THE JEWS
As someone very involved in this matter, and who has even met with Arabs, Moslems, Druze, and Christians, R’ Kali was always looking for Torah-Chabad material in Arabic. However, even digging around in the Rebbe’s library did not turn up much.
“I found the three parts of Tanya that were translated into Moroccan-Arabic and a few sichos from Likkutei Sichos that were translated into Arabic, but these were also in Moroccan-Arabic although in Hebrew letters.”
I asked R’ Kali: Aside from the breaking of the klipa of Yishmoel, what is the point of translating the secrets of Chassidus for Arabs? Isn’t teaching Torah to non-Jews not allowed?
He answered, “Like the famous parable of the sick prince and the medicine made from grinding the king’s crown jewel, today there are so many ‘Achmad ben Sarahs’ (and tragically, some of them hate Jews). All the effort is worthwhile if only the writings of Tanya reach their mouths and inspire them.
“Furthermore, the prohibition of teaching Torah to goyim concerns learning about practical mitzvos like Shabbos, t’fillin etc. When it comes to mitzvos between a man and his fellow man such as monetary law, as well as laws that concern belief in G-d, they are commanded to observe them and there is no prohibition in teaching it. On the contrary, the right way is for them to learn about the greatness of the Creator and belief in Him from proper, pure sources and not from heretical sources.
“When the Shaar Ha’Yichud V’Ha’Emuna was translated into English, the Rebbe said it also pertains to the Seven Noachide Laws, for it speaks about the greatness of the Creator, love and fear of Him, and gentiles are also commanded in His unity and against rejecting that belief.
“Since the Rebbe conferred strength and gave his seal of approval when he publicly explained how the Tanya has the power to change the world and break the most difficult klipos of the Moslems, we must do all that we can to make this happen through the Torah and the ways we were instructed by the Rebbeim.”
When R’ Kali speaks about Arabs also needing to learn about the greatness of the Creator and love and fear of Him, he gives this example:
“In the Galil, there is an Arab high school that had big problems with drugs and violence. Obviously, the marks and achievements of the students were below all required standards. When a Moment of Silence was instituted there, as the Rebbe said should be done, the school changed drastically. The violence and crime ceased and the students got serious and their marks skyrocketed until the school became one of the highest achieving schools in the area.
“When there is a Jewish-Torah source, something true and holy, that is given to those good people among our cousins who want to know what G-d wants of them, this is also worthwhile.”
R’ Kali recalled a conversation he had with a worker for Yad L’Achim who told him, half seriously and half-jokingly, “If you print the Tanya in Arab villages, the place will be refined and will prevent Jewish girls from going there, and it will be easier for us to extricate them from those villages.”
When I spoke with R’ Dovid Bouskila, I learned that the work of translating the Tanya is very hard, exhausting and demands great responsibility. I asked him how the current translation into Arabic is going. He said, “The one who is doing the translating is a senior lecturer for Arabic translation at Bar Ilan University, Avraham Rubinson. He is working today primarily on translating from English and Hebrew to Arabic. As R’ Raskin did with R’ Bouskila, Rubinson learns Tanya every week with R’ Shaul Akselrod from Givat Olga.”
R’ Akselrod’s involvement in presenting Tanya to new audiences did not start now. He heads the project to teach the Tanya to children (which was initiated and produced by R’ Shmarya Harel and R’ Y.Y. Nisselevitz) and developed great expertise in presenting and explaining deep material to people (including children) with no background in these subjects.
“After the translation is written by Rubinson, the galleys are sent to a shliach who previously worked in Sayeret Matkal (IDF Special Forces unit) and still serves as a teacher of Arabic to units that work undercover in Arab areas. Together with that shliach there is also an advisory board that consists of people in academia and rabbanim who speak Arabic.”
***
We await the fulfillment of the promise, “For then will I will transform for the nations a clear language, that they may all call upon the name of God … “ (Tz’fania 3:9) with the revelation of Moshiach, and then those who are lost and forsaken, also those who speak Arabic, will come to learn Tanya as something that is already familiar to them.
THE REBBE SPOKE ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF TRANSLATING TANYA INTO ARABIC WRITING 38 YEARS AGO!
In the article, the Rebbe is quoted about the benefit in translating the Tanya into a foreign language, especially the language of Yishmoel. I looked up this sicha which the Rebbe said on Shabbos, Parshas Shmos 5737, about the translation of the Tanya into Moroccan-Arabic but in Hebrew letters and was surprised to discover that already in that sicha, the Rebbe alluded to the translation of the Tanya into Arabic in the Arab alphabet, something that occurred only 36 years later.