Founder of the Open Siddur Project and fellow at Yeshivat Hadar 2009-2010.
“Regarding Moses Mendelssohn’s late 18th century translation of the Pentateuch and Book of Psalms into High German, the Jewish historian Amos Elon wrote that “beginning in antiquity, specific translations of the Bible [have] often been seminal in the history of Judaism—the early translations into Aramaic, the Septuagint (to serve the prominent Hellenistic Jewish population of Alexandria, and Saadiah Gaon’s translation into Arabic during the golden age of Jewish integration in Moorish Spain” (The Pity of it All, 2002, p.52).
The Tagged TaNaKh will represent a similar achievement. The reality is that in our new age, social networks are empowering individuals to determine their own hierarchies of influence, and those who recognize their potential will satisfy the next generation of thinkers and their projects. For the many Jews for whom the Torah remains a seminal text and for the educators who hope to convey its enduring significance, the Tagged TaNaKh represents the leadership of an important Jewish publishing house at a time when we can and must leverage the knowledge and perspective of many thoughtful individuals comprising the Am HaSefer, the People of the Book.”
