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Help Wanted: German Translator for Lichtenstein Project

By Daniel Lancaster  | Comments (15) | Posted on May 12, 2008

FFOZ is looking for a volunteer with German to English translation skills who can assist us by translating an 1886 publication by Rabbi Isaac Lichtenstein titled Der Talmud uaf der Anklagebank durch begeisterten Verehrer des Judenthum. The translated work may be included in a forthcoming FFOZ anthology of Rabbi Lichtenstein's writings.

Isaac Lichtenstein was born in an Orthodox Jewish home in northern Hungary in 1824. He had a yeshiva education and was ordained as a rabbi by the age of 20. He eventually became the district rabbi for the Hungarian city of Tapioszele. One day he was teaching in his home, when one of his students, a teacher in the community, had shown him a 'New Testament'. In a fit of anger, he ripped it from his hands and threw it across the room. It fell behind some books and there it remained hidden and waiting for thirty years.

Thirty-five years later Rabbi Lichtenstein was rummaging among his books when he discovered the long hidden and forgotten New Testament. He decided to read the book for himself and see who the real Jesus was. Years later, he wrote to his son about that fateful encounter with the Gospels. He wrote:

From every line in the New Testament, from every word, the Jewish spirit streamed forth light, life, power, endurance, faith, hope, love, charity, limitless and indestructible faith in God.

His Sabbath sermons in the synagogue began to be heavily influenced by the teacher he was now studying under--the Rabbi from Galilee. He began to use Yeshua's material on Torah. He began to speak of Messiah in veiled suggestions. After two years, while teaching one of the parables of the Master, he could no longer keep silent. He forthrightly declared the Redeemer of Israel. Nevertheless, he did not step down from his post.

Like the apostles and first century believers, Lichtenstein never turned his back on Torah Judaism or on the traditions of his people. He remained a Jew in the Jewish community until his death.

You can read more of the Rabbi Lichtenstein story in messiah magazine issue 84, or if you can translate German to English, you can be a part of the Rabbi Lichtenstein story by helping us bring his writings to the English speaking world. Contact us by responding to this blog if you are interested in volunteering to translate.

D. Thomas Lancaster
Iyar 7, 5768
Sefirah 23

About the Author: Daniel Lancaster is FFOZ’s Director of Education and regular contributor to messiah magazine. He is the author of Torah Club Volumes Two, Four and Five, and the FFOZ books Mystery of the Gospel, Restoration and more.

 

Visitor Comments

His testimony is so powerful! So Inspiring!! Thank you for sharing brother Lancaster.

Posted by: D.A. Fluker II | May 13, 2008 9:08 AM

Shalom shalom!

I have a question...... I am actually a college student, majoring in German. As of right now, I don't know much German. However, this is exacly why I chose German as my major (to translate German Jewish texts). Is there any way I could "sit in" on the process; to see how it works?
I totally understand if it isn't possible, I just thought I'd check.

B'rakhot!

DTL Replies: Would you like a short text to translate? As long as you have a basic working knowledge of the langauge, plenty of lexicons and an instructor you can consult, you could make an attempt.

Posted by: Michael M. | May 16, 2008 12:07 PM

I am very interested in helping to translate some of the Lichtenstein material. I am a German professor with no Jewish background, but a desire to serve Jesus with my skills.

Posted by: Dr. Mitchell Place | May 17, 2008 8:49 AM

you can contact me, as as siwss with some english knowlegde I can eventually help you with the translation.

Posted by: markuzsvonkaenel | May 17, 2008 11:01 AM

I found a translation page that is free on the web.

If you are going to try this, there is one German character that might give us Americans a bit of trouble. I don't remember the name of the letter, but it looks like a capital 'B' in the middle of a word, but it is rounded in shape onthe left top corner. It is often represented in English by a double 's.'

GieBen is actually Giessen.

Umlauts are a set of two dots over a letter and generally lengthen the vowel they are over. Most times they come into English as the vowel then we put an 'e' after it.

Schroder (with dots over the o) would be transliterated as Schroeder.

Posted by: Steve Petersen | May 17, 2008 12:57 PM

I forgot to include the link in the previous post.

http://www2.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

DTL: Utilities like this are useful for obtaining the gist of the content, but they don't produce coherent translation. Thanks and thanks to the translators who have stepped forward. If there is anyone else who wants to participate, we still have plenty of text waiting for translation.

Posted by: Steve Petersen | May 17, 2008 12:58 PM

I'm a german speaker an could eventually help you with the translation.

Posted by: markus | May 18, 2008 5:48 AM

I am currently translating things from English to German in Jerusalem, German is my mothertongue and I would be happy, if I could help in any way.

Posted by: Nazario Melchionda | May 18, 2008 3:03 PM

Shalom ~~ sounds like Rabbi Lichtenstein has quite a story to tell us. I would love to help with this project!!!!!!!!! I am a native German with very good language skills. How big of a project are we talking about? Do you want several articles translated or a whole book? Yes, there are translation functions on the internet, however the resulting text still needs to be 'corrected' into proper form. This might be a good place to start and then someone could put the finishing touches on the text.

Looking forward to hearing more about the projet,

B.Rose

Posted by: B.Rose | May 19, 2008 6:59 AM

I would like to know how much of a time commitment I would have to make to help with the project. I am Austrian by birth (with maternal Jewish ancestry) and am a believer in Messiah Yeshua.
Please advise.

Posted by: Renate McWright | May 19, 2008 8:38 AM

It appears that you have several individuals who are more qualified to this task than myself, but I would love the opportunity to translate this document. I used to do German to English translation for the government, and have some commercial work under my belt as well. If you are open to letting others access to this document, I would love the opportunity to do a translation.

Shalom aleichim! Jeff

Posted by: Jeff Ashman | May 19, 2008 5:51 PM

I was brought up bilingually (German/English) and until my retirement I worked as a teacher of German at a secondary school. I have also periodically worked as a translator from German to English. I have a sincere love for the Jewish people and am very interested in learning to understand the Bible in its original Jewish perspective. I would be interested in being a contributor in translating Rabbi Lichtenstein's work

Posted by: Ann Robertson | May 22, 2008 9:30 AM

Shalom,

There are already two mistakes in the German title of the above, one spelling and one grammar! :) I am a German national who has lived here in the UK for 22 years, had a Messianic novel published (My Servant Caleb), and hold a Diploma in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. How can I help?

Posted by: Kerstin Sheldrake | May 25, 2008 12:21 PM

Shalom!
I am fluent in both German and English and would love to participate in translating Rabbi Lichtenstein's work. Please let me know how I would go about helping with this project.
I was born in Poland but lived in Germany for 8 years. My first language was German. We immigrated to Canada 55 years ago and I continued my education here.
My husband is of Jewish descent and we both serve our Lord Yeshuah.
Please let me know how to proceed with this task.
Blessings,
Christa Stegemann

Posted by: Christa Stegemann | May 25, 2008 11:02 PM

Thank you everyone,

I have already contacted some of you, I have sent some of you texts. I will be contacting the rest of you shortly. This is turning out to be a fabulous project, and I am very excited to see the results.

In addition to Rabbi Lichtenstein's writings, we have other untranslated works by pre-war German Jewish believers which await rendering into English. I will be in touch!

Posted by: D. Thomas Lancaster | May 26, 2008 9:58 AM

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In Breaking Bread we present a clear exposition on the traditional blessings before and after meals. Includes halachah, detailed explanations and an introduction to the table blessings of the early believers.

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