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Toldot Yaakov Yosef

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
In Samuel H. Dresner's book, The Zaddik: The Doctrine of the Zaddik According to the Writings of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef of Polnoy (Schocken Books: N.Y., 1960) [Page 63]:

"But a few years later, in1780, there occurred an event which was destined to strengthen Hasidism immeasurably and at the same time strike a deadly blow at its opponent. This event was the appearance of the Toldot Yaakov Yosef, the first hasidic book, which to this day has remained the single most important work in the entire hasidic literature."

In the early 2000s, after having searched for an English-language copy of the Toldot, I gave up searching my available on-line and paper resources; and went to a bookstore in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles where I bought a two-volume set in Hebrew. (Admittedly, in hindsight, that was a silly thing to do, since I don't know Hebrew and was unlikely to add much more to my Hebrew vocabulary beyond 'Shalom' and 'mazel tov'.)

So here I sit with a two-volume set of the Polnoyer's Toldot that I can't read and a strong desire to know what is in them.

Recognizing that the market for an English-language translation of the book may be small, I note that, according to Dresner, the Toldot Yaakov Yosef, which--as of 1960--was the single-most important work in hasidic literature, had not been translated into English. So I ask here now:
  • Is the Toldot Yaakov Yosef still unavailable, in its entirety, in English anywhere the world?
  • If it is available in English somewhere, where can I buy a copy?
  • If it is not, what prevents a complete, English-language version of it from making its way into print?
 

Flankerl

Well-Known Member
My totally uninformed guess would be that there's simply no need for it.
Most people who want to read it are Hasidim and they obviously can read it without a translation.
 

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
My totally uninformed guess would be that there's simply no need for it.
Most people who want to read it are Hasidim and they obviously can read it without a translation.

Hmmm, ... you could very well be right. I guess what prevented me from considering that possibility is the availability of English-language "Hasidic-theme" texts/books on Amazon.com.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Baal+Shem+Tov&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_2 I suppose I'll have to settle for what Dresner's book and occasional on-line articles or academic studies quote from the Toldot.

Thanks.
 

Tumah

Veteran Member
It seems like it would be a pretty difficult book to just translate. He definitely wasn't writing for the neophyte, a lot of it relies on familiarity with quoted sources (of which he tends to only quote a few words).
 

Terry Sampson

Well-Known Member
It seems like it would be a pretty difficult book to just translate. He definitely wasn't writing for the neophyte, a lot of it relies on familiarity with quoted sources (of which he tends to only quote a few words).

I suppose, then, that a translation without footnotes/commentary would lack the richness of a translation with many footnotes and much commentary, no?

Would you say the same about Rabbi Yaakov Yosef's other books, which--as I am told--include:
  • Ben Porat Yosef,
  • Tzofnat Paaneach, and
  • Ketonet Passim ?
 

Tumah

Veteran Member
I suppose, then, that a translation without footnotes/commentary would lack the richness of a translation with many footnotes and much commentary, no?

Would you say the same about Rabbi Yaakov Yosef's other books, which--as I am told--include:
  • Ben Porat Yosef,
  • Tzofnat Paaneach, and
  • Ketonet Passim ?
I don't own these three, but seeing them online, I would say the first one is slightly easier although again you still have to be familiar with the Talmud, Maimonides and various early commentaries to start with. The second one is more difficult. In the first paragraph I count 8 times where he starts the first two or three words of a quote or citation of an idea and then just writes "etc."or "see in other places". The last one I could not find online.

But I think, like most Hassidic works, these were not written for the beginner.
 
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