"Spreading Torah Across the Globe" - R' Daniel Glatstein & R' Yosef Mendoza in Conversation

[Music] good evening how are you good evening good evening reab gladstein how are you I'm I'm doing great I'm uh very excited uh to hear the news that you've already completed the translation of the hag uh into Spanish this is already uh our second work uh in Spanish exactly and uh very excited that the Spanish speaking Community will will have the opportunity to uh enjoy the safare absolutely it it will definitely open new Vistas into what leel La seder is all about uh per se it's already supercharged with this it's M's just gonna be like I don't know uh nuclear efficient or something like that great great so you know maybe you could give me an education maybe some of the listeners so the which countries would you say is the market for Jewish books in Spanish okay in Latin America I would say there is three main countries which would be uh in order of of readership I guess uh not necessarily of proximity you would have Argentina mexic Meo and Panama in that order because of the size of the communities I don't know as actual readership I I I wouldn't know but as far as numbers uh that would be uh the the the the order those are the three main countries Argentina Mexico and Panama Panama right uh there are other communities in in Latin America you have Venezuela you have Colombia but either because they're dwindling and because of the political economic situation like in the case of Venezuela or Colombia I guess uh I don't know what what kind of readership they would have of there there's also uh a something should not be underestimated which is the Spanish uh readership in the United States you have places like uh Florida and uh California I guess where you have a sizable Spanish-speaking Jewish Community uh which uh would greatly benefit from from from your books and I believe your books are sold in the Judea stores in Florida and in California very interesting now would you say that those people who are reading the book in Spanish do they are they able to read in English well depends Depends for example in Argentina uh people are not known to be uh very bilingual not to the extent that you would have for for example in Panama in Panama most most Yen are I believe bilingual uh but in any case uh you the thing is you would ask you know why would if there is the the book in English why would they have it as Spanish right that that that that would be like the next question but what I say is what I usually say is that um it's not the same I mean I would I grew up bilingual since I was six where did you grow up if I may ask uh all over the place uh my my parents were diplomats so I uh I traveled I did most of my travels until the age of 20 uh I lived in uh throughout Latin America I lived in Argentina in Chile I was born in Chile I lived in Argentina uguay Brazil Venezuela uh even in Biz British was British huras back then I was it called bise Biz yeah it's in the in the Yucatan Peninsula it's between Mexico and Honduras and Guatemala and I also lived in Europe I lived in actually by the color of my beard I did I lived in a country that no longer exists which is Yugoslavia yeah which my guess is that English and Spanish are not the only language that you're proficient in no no I speak uh four or five of the languages as well uh I speak yish I speak lash KES uh a sping of French Portuguese and Italian as well uh yeah and and German I also speak German uh from that comes from the from from the him I me my my grandparents they although they they were gers but they they moved as babies to vietna because of the first world war so they grew up there until 1938 when they had to uh leave in a hurry that's a story in itself but um I've I've lived in in many places you know it's interesting um speaking to you bring to light emphasiz how was familiar with SH and Y was familiar with all the and uh you know if I may say that the author of mayam Lo rakov Kuli right was a great lambden who he was not just someone who wrote simple madas he was really an eminent lambon he's the one who edited the Mish he also edited and these are some of the most lers available and in his hak to his um to the mayam Lo he he sort of BS you know he he says I know what you're thinking I know dear reader what you're thinking why would a great lambon like me write mid rushim for the simple Folk and he said for the very simple reason that he's emulating the ways of uh Moser raenu who mosenu translated the T into languages so you know that's uh this is this is something that is responsibility of harb to bring the T to as wide of an audience and to as many types of Jews and whatever language they speak it's our duty to bring it to the people in their native language you know exactly you know that ra has amazing observation he says thear says the first 2,000 years of creation were empty and then began the 2,000 years of t with when AB turned 52 so asks there was a lot of T before AB there was a so why did the only start with AB he said well you know just having a Yesa and telling people look whoever wants to come you you could come but we're not bringing it to you that's not t that's to Tyra is when you proactively go out of your way to bring the Tyra to the people so I I admire what you're doing is uh you made T right uh what you were saying I mean what's the benefit of having you know Spanish books when you people can read English the thing is is that uh what I was saying it's not the same when you uh are in a way bilingual but when you are reading you are at the same time translating into your language and process there's a two-step process here you have first of all you read the English then you translate into Spanish which in itself uh I guess mentally is already a little bit texing when you have somebody who's L from virtually from birth you can you you think in the other language Bas an example is for examp I I like you know to read stories at the table um for example uh PES CR he's a favorite of ours as far as the storytelling and I start reading a Misa of his and people sometimes ask well I didn't know that he had books in Spanish and no the book is not in Spanish the book is in English but I'm saying it as if it were in Spanish and that is a step ahead so bringing the books in Spanish to Spanish speakers even though they speak English saves them the the translation the in inner translation step which also leads them to have a Freer hand in in uh in initiating a discussion at the table for example what you're going to be able to have a Freer hand more leeway to to be to to read it and without going into the into the inner translation stage that that that that helps a lot that helps a lot so uh what are what are let's say some of the challenges of translating a ha an English ha into Spanish okay there are our for challenge is uh is we have one of the things that I see is uh when one translates that usually uh hagadas are um at least the ones that are available in English are uh ashkanazi Haas and when we have uh the the the public the public in in in Latin America is um either you have you have a very strong spartic presence ESP yeah in Mexico Panama in Argentina and the thing is you have to try try to bring certain M to them bring it home to them in in in a l they would understand for examp I mean uh talking about you know about the K talking about the K and we have you know the the the parent should be like um you have to give a little you know that the K is cust or you dealing with with with with the final part of the S sorry which U many don't say they don't have it inas and you have to like initiate them basically and in certain things but for example uh as as you say your there is uh I believe was the who said in very strong language that um people who are he was he wased he was fed but he went around he went to I believe was a Hungary and Poland and the you know better than I I mean you've been thorough researcher of of the and he brings whoever you know is he should be put in um so so it's these are things that are very very um very profound and people should know about them I for example I translated a ha Safar K the for scr a couple of years back and I had to research you know you have some Arabic pum and you had you know had to bring it to the other side bring it to to the they they would enjoy it but in this case we have also you have um uh many uh Yiddish Expressions that are in in in hagadas that you have to bring to the to to a wider audience and that requires a little bit of of uh creativity to see how they will better understand uh it should be anybody from any extraction should be able to open the and immediately relay to it and not feel you know like out of place uh so that that's that's one of my main tasks also the the the pronunciation most theas are with the asaz pronunciation have to put more like a a neutral Israeli pronunciation not the pronunciation but like a middle ground uh so everybody would be able to relate to it even ashim in in Latin America they are they relate more to the the the Israeli way of pronouncing uh than than in the states for example when I was a little kid I I was kind of you know the the ashkanazi pronunciation you had to train your ear uh so it's it's it's done in in that kind of a fonetic that was done also in the in the book on on the mystery mystery and the Majesty uh had to do the same thing interesting that's uh more or less the for there's another thing well talking about the I mean one of the parts that really uh I mean I I mean the whole that from beginning to end it's it's it's it's it's it's a it's a page Turner but the the part on the the fours and the fives that you have there uh which is you know you you have the and and the and how all those are going to turn in those fours are going to turn into fives and that that was one of the the parts of the that really uh it was it was music to my ears and you have I had what I some something I had to do is you in English it's easier English is a much uh it's a very adaptable in itself to uh to express things Spanish you have to be more creative in in a certain way uh when you said fours and fives to say that in Spanish would sound way too simplistic uh way too simplistic so I had to innovate and use musical terminology I use quartets and quintets oh yeah for for for for the groups of fours and groups of five I like that you're gonna you're gonna see that uh and uh that that's one that's one of the parts of the hag that really really strugg it was it was impressive well I remember you know even the subtitle of the book in English it's revolutionary insights on into the ha and the hagada The Exodus and the Final Redemption but I think you tweaked that a little bit in the Spanish yes I did I did uh in Spanish uh uh I don't like uh in Spanish and an over uh to have in Spanish like an overly descriptive title uh could be a betara not like in English uh English adapts uh has it has a linguistic structure that you can put like in English you have uh these uh constructs you have you put two words together and you have this new word this New Concept Spanish is less uh Less ad meable to that so we would have to like uh take a couple of good uh loaded words and put them and that would carry the message that's I like brevity Spanish can be very gushy very uh um I do also legal work I do I I sometimes do legal translation and when you see a a Spanish legal text and a Eng and American legal text the Spanish takes uh twice as much to say whatever you're saying in English it's it's verbose uh so I tried to cut it down to size but you know bring the MMOs it nice so you know my favorite parts of the ha and this is a part which is like uh continuously developing I even spoke about it last night and and I in a way I feel bad that it didn't make it into the hag is the idea that the ten makos authenticate and verify the 10 statements with which Hashem created the world right and uh just last night I added to that where Darkness confirms the statement and that one of the reasons why during the plague of Darkness Hashem punished the wicked uh the wicked Jews is because when he said are he realized that this light was not worthy for the wicked to benefit from so you have that parallel you also have the parallel that the original light according to ramban served the world for 3 days until the sun came so that's why the plague of Darkness was three days and three days and in fact the malum learns the plague of Darkness was God brought the blinding brilliant aragos to the world so that's a perfect parallel and the plague of Darkness was really the plague of the aragos so that that you know if only I had that in the original but but that's a beautiful idea that I uh really like and one other like technique because we have this likeis know what's so special about the Mitzvah of when there's a nightly Mitzvah of remembrance and then if you go back to like the earli sources of Rashi and theum and and you get to the core of what does mean Rashi learns it means to draw the heart of your son so that's a totally different Mitzvah than merely remembering where theum says to demonstrate to point it's also fundamentally different or says to thank so here you take a you're taking a lum and you're answering it with the most Elementary P it's like you know you don't have to get sometimes the most profound uh insights are found in the in the simplest understanding so I like to do that also I want to ask you um what is um like um since uh most of the uh I I see in your in your books you have um you you uh it's he's not one of the you know I would call you know run of the m i can't that shouldn't even say that but uh he it's not typical for ashkanazi asazi guy right exactly the same like Ben you know but how how did you uh uh you know stumble onto or or get into into into the that he's really like the shedra of of your you know of many of your of my that's a question look I have to say na I I feel a soul bond with the I really do if you look behind me where I'm pointing that shelf all of that shelf are all called and the next shelf mostly the writings of the if you look on with my left hand I A friend of mine procured for me a volume that the personally signed wow the drawers behind me one I believe one of the reasons is aside from the fact that there's something in my soul connected with the after the Holocaust my grandfather was the head of the religious Department Of The Joint distribution committee and in that capacity he helped uh the survivors rebuild their lives he built mik and and he brought and he published the first fum for the survivors and the first safer he published for the survivors in a uh United States Army green cover was the LA D of the wow and I feel you know that uh my grandfather brought the tar of the to the Survivor so the he has to pay us back a little bit I'll even show you what this this what this copy looks like here it is this is the the this is it the LA doid of the inside where was it printed in Felding it says American joint distribution committee which city in one of those one of those DP Camp um one of those DP camps the thing Salim yeah so most probably could have had the the CL you know go go through that yeah right by the way the also you know um is very as is the mean is like these is like a foundation stone of these far and uh it's impressive what's and if so I mean you're cion what's your your shakas to the to the to the Safar community and States or elsewhere um it's also it's it's like Supernatural my really my closest friends and students and and supporters are are are them I you know what the reason for that is who knows you know my the city that my grandfather came from in Poland Lynch in uh uh libna and lyit there is evidence that it was originally founded by Jews who ran from Spain in 1492 actually there is uh I think there's a tradition that the epes like if they're l that they come from Spain yes yes benisty I think their original name was or something Ben their Spanish actually I I uh my uh all the way through the last four years of high school I will I lived in Venezuela and so most of my uh my my school Budi there from Morocco H mostly born in Morocco actually and they came as babies to uh to to Venezuela 1996 7 1968 uh which is about the time of the Six Day War uh so many came either the span it because Morocco is divided into two there's Spanish Morocco there's french Morocco was from Spanish Morocco came mostly to to venezuel French Mar that went to Canada or or France uh so have have that and it's a very interesting thing I have a ha actually I have a ha which is a sort of a family arom I I got it through my grandparents from uh great great uncle they give him in uh it was from but it's it's a ha that was done in Vienna in pron Vienna 1933 but it has uh and in the N it says uh it's it's it's in Hebrew and in French and it says interesting you have some in Vienna but then I had the um the the the benching of it I will show it to you now just be it's a that I had never seen in my life here it is okay interesting it's it's this was given 19 57 I believe and it's if you see here oh illuminated somewhat right it says uh uh VN 1963 uh and and the of of the Benin is something really called my attention here I don't know which n it is I asked around and it says goes like this this is the first br really never I've never seen that uh the beginning of with with that never I asked Moroccans and they um they weren't a they weren't able to put a finger on it where where exactly it comes from amazing amazing and uh okay so if I I you know leave you with one more uh question you know if you if you were thinking of doing uh another book if you had your choice what what would your preference be for a next Spanish Edition for next Spanish Edition you know you have a couple of choices oh I mean yeah there's two sides to the story which is which one I would like and which one I would have the enough time to do before that um that uh yant or dat comes around right U one that I would love to do it would be of course I mean well the PM one I mean it wouldn't be for this pm right it's it's incredible what one can do for for one day in a year it's so much it's incredible uh but the one on the on the tenas uh Darkness to light uh I believe that that's the title it's a and you have um we have uh four or five Tas throughout the year when people can benefit from them that's one you have the book I mean it's it's a everything is it's a it's what can I say um I mean is strikes a chord with me but I guess the the one from Darkness to light seems to be uh something that that we need because uh it's and we're living in very special times we can feel it all around I think uh you know your work of bringing the Tyra to to more Jews is really bringing K from Darkness to and we should we should Merit to see Daybreak and the coming of the Gula you know the seems to lament he says you know at the end of the days going be like endless amount of and anyone if you look into my office now you definitely see the fruition of that I see butel interprets it um as a command that the reason why mhia is not here is there not enough make more because hopefully uh hopefully we're we're we're contributing a little bit to the right right it's a there's a funny story there's a funny story I guess I don't know who said who but you know when people know come out with names for and you look for and you look for this and for that and I don't know who what who it was that when the came he just grabbed his head and said now they're twist they're switching them the words around for newsart right yeah but yeah we're I'm a safer we're I'm a safer means we have we have to I mean whenever we've changed countries it's like changing basically 1500 2,000 books that's mostly who who cares about the club it's the books we have we have you have shrunken the hous is shrunken I don't care about statues about vases and stuff shrinking you have to put this yeah okay and continue and [Music]