Reviewing: “The Complete Targum Onkelos: English Translation with Original Hebrew and Aramaic Text: Volume I” by Jack Abramowitz. Kodesh Press. 2022. Hebrew. Paperback. 486 pages. ISBN-13:
978-1947857933.
People are drawn to new seforim for many reasons. Sometimes a popular author releases another intriguing work, sometimes a topic is one of great interest and other times people flock to an expert in a certain area providing new insights for the world to enjoy. Very rarely would I say that a new sefer is released that is just simply cool. “The Complete Targum Onkelos: English Translation with Original Hebrew and Aramaic Text” by Rabbi Jack Abramowitz epitomizes this specific category. The author writes that his driving motivation for his many publications is that he wished such works previously existed for him to utilize. It is always exciting when a long-standing commentary is released in the English language. The older the commentary, the cooler it gets.
Rabbi Abaramowitz has letters of approbation which highlight this great opportunity now afforded to many who have not looked at Onkelos prior to this publication. The translation of Onkelos might be the single most included commentary/translation in so many works that is least explored. So many copies of Chumash, Rashi and varied groups of commentators, all contain Onkelos. It may be glanced at when turning a page, but it is disproportionally ignored compared to the amount of pages on which it is found. These approbations show just how vital Onkelos is.
This review will focus on what is unique about this specific book, which includes the translation of Onkeles, and not a review of the translation of Onkeles. As such, Rabbi Abramowitz outlines the various halachot surrounding shnayim mikra v’echad targum, the weekly requirement to read the current parsha twice and learn a translation: how to do it, when to do it, with what to do it. The author points out that many fulfill this obligation by choosing Rashi as the commentary/translation. However, he shows that the halachic codifiers mention that one should really read the translation of Onkelos. He then details the import of Onkeles and why it is so essential to utilize Onkeles for that targum. He points out that the Targum of Onkeles is more than “just” an Aramaic translation of the Torah. Targum Onkelos is actually so much more. This is testified to by the very fact that the Sages of the Talmud called for its inclusion when reviewing the weekly Torah portion! Much more than a mere translation, Onkelos actually sheds new light on the meaning of the verses. (Abramowitz xvii)
Rabbi Abramowitz highlights common themes found in the Onkeles translation, shedding misnomers and providing proper context. He points out that while the Targum is renowned for its pshat approach, the simple or literal meaning of the text, Onkelos actually deviates from pshat more than 10,000 times in an effort to clarify the meaning of the verses. The most famous of these perhaps are the great lengths that Onkelos goes to avoid anthropomorphisms that might suggest physicality on the part of God. (Abramowitz xvii)
Rabbi Abramowitz scaffolds his lessons and halachic teachings that he shares with the reader through definitions of key terms and providing details that the reader may be unacquainted with. He interrupts an article about shnayim mikra to provide the reader with an understanding of aspects related to the halachic time calculations of the measuring of the day and takes a step back when discussing learning shnayim mikra during Torah reading to discuss the institution of Torah reading.
The structure of the book marks each Aliyah and presents the Hebrew pesukim, followed by the translation of Onkelos and finally followed up with the English translation of Onkeles. What is so unbelievably helpful, user friendly and provides great assistance to the reader, is that Rabbi Abramowitz bolds the words Onkeles adds in his translation so you can immediately compare that to the translation of the rest of the pasuk. That allows the reader to see, and appreciate, what Onkelos is adding. This helpful guide does present difficulties, however as the author points out, in translating the Onkelos translation, “Well, there are, baruch Hashem, a number of books available that translate Onkelos into English or Hebrew. These works will not necessarily all agree on the meaning of a pasuk, or the meaning of Onkelos’ Aramaic translation of it. The result is that one work might consider a certain verse to be emended by Onkelos, and another won’t. So if I differ from some other work, neither is necessarily “wrong,” we just understand things differently” (Abramowitz x). As such, while this bolding of the additions is quite valuable, the reader should note the disputes that arise.
Many helpful footnotes are included to clear up ambiguities, provide proper context and oftentimes assist the reader in recognizing what truly remarkable point Onkelos is making. This work will be beneficial for anybody looking to complete shtayim mikrah v’echad targum for the first time with THE Targum.
Rabbi Eliezer Barany is an editor and serves as a high school rebbi at Posnack Jewish Day School in South Florida.
