After Years Behind the Scenes, The Translation Project Opens Its Doors

With an English edition of Torah Or and Likkutei Torah now over 40 percent complete, weekly drafts are available for subscription.

With an English edition of Torah Or and Likkutei Torah now over 40 percent complete, weekly drafts are available for subscription at www.thetranslationproject.life.

This past Adar, on the yahrzeit of R’
Gedaliah Shaffer, of blessed memory, COLlive readers learned of an initiative that had been quietly underway for several years: a complete, translated, and elucidated English edition of Torah Or and Likkutei Torah, the Alter Rebbe’s foundational discourses on the weekly Torah portion and the festivals.

Selections have appeared in Chayenu, and the completed volumes are intended for publication by Kehot Publication Society.

With G-d’s help, the first published volumes are expected to begin appearing this year, the bicentennial of the Geulah of Yud Kislev, the centennial of the Geulah of Yud-Beis Tammuz, and 40 years since the victory of Hei Teves.

From a Select Group to an Open Door
For the past few years, weekly drafts have gone to a select review group of roughly one hundred readers: seasoned scholars and newcomers to Chassidut, yeshiva and seminary students, educators, and working professionals. Their questions and comments have shaped the work at every stage, from the choice of a single English word to the structure of an introduction. When a passage confused a reader, it was rewritten. When an explanation assumed too much, it was expanded.

That circle is now open to anyone who wishes to join. Subscribers receive weekly drafts of newly translated maamarim, delivered directly to WhatsApp, as each one is prepared. Subscriptions are $30 per month, with special rates for educators and students. Every subscription also helps fund the printed volumes. [Important note: We don’t want anyone to not have access for financial reasons! If the subscription fee makes it less likely you will subscribe, please let us know!]

What Each Maamar Includes
Every discourse is translated, elucidated, footnoted, and sourced. Hebrew and English are interwoven so readers can move freely between the original and the translation. Explanatory commentary unpacks each concept where it arises, and footnotes trace the Biblical, Talmudic, Midrashic, and Kabbalistic sources behind it.

Each maamar opens with an introduction to its background and closes with a summary of its arc and main themes. Audio companions serve those who prefer to listen or who learn on the go. A selection is also being prepared in essay form, offering a gentler way into the ideas before, or alongside, close study.

Torah Shebe’Kesav
Together with Tanya, Torah Or and Likkutei Torah form the Written Torah of Chabad Chassidut. Nearly every concept in later Chabad thought traces back to these pages. Yet, to many, the Hebrew is demanding, and the Kabbalistic framework assumes years of background. This has kept these discourses beyond the reach of many.

In 1954, 1962, 1965, 1986, and 1991, the Rebbe asked that Chassidim complete the study of Torah Or and Likkutei Torah each year. The Schottenstein Edition opened Shas to English readers everywhere. The Translation Project hopes to do the same for these two works, so that every English speaker can answer that call.

Join the Study
To subscribe, visit www.thetranslationproject.life. Educators and students interested in special rates, and anyone wishing to dedicate a maamar or volume, sponsor part of the project, or get involved in any other way, are warmly invited to write to josephshafferre@gmail.com.

May this work carry the light of these teachings into every English-speaking home, and, in this year celebrating past redemptions, may we very soon merit the coming of Moshiach, when the earth will be full of the knowledge of G-d, as the waters cover the sea.

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