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If we look at the major publishers- Artscroll, Feldheim, Koren, Mosaica- we see that there is some good work coming out, but lots and lots of fluff.
So my question is: why does it seem that fluff sells, but not substantive seforim in English?
The Artscroll Shas, and their many other translations changed the world and helped make uncountable Yidden religious. These translations have helped so many Yidden learn daf yomi, become kovea itim, etc., which has led to deepened religious commitment.
My contention is that a beautiful sefer like Lomdus on the Parsha, or various seforim on Issur v’Heter, Kashrus b’iyun, etc. won’t be published by these publishers, and end up on Lulu or Amazon, yet Artscroll and the like will publish kiddie books, self-help, psychobabble, and the like without a second thought.
I would think that there would be more of a demand for serious seforim in English. People nowadays want to learn; unlike years past, working people want more than to be part of the chevra tehillim. An in-depth series of seforim, let’s say, giving over gemara b’iyun, lomdus, halacha, etc. should be popular, but seems to be passed over for 12 steps books, books on emotions, stories, recipes, etc.
Why do we think that is?
Publishing is for the masses. A publisher has to sell a lot of copies to make the profit worthwhile. Even seforim that eventually sell, are pushed away in favor of best sellers.
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Artscroll has the Ohr Hachaim and Daroshes Haran first volume, translated into English.
How many buyers are there for the Ketzos in English and how many for children’s books?
Do the math.Jews will soon be again called “the people of the Book” – when all humanity moving online, Jews will still need books for Shabbos. We have an encyclopedia that is used on Shabbos only. Without Shabbos, the kids would probably not know the order of ABC as it is an only application.
As noted by others – publishers need buyers to make money. So, by definition there will be more buyers for more accessible works.
Also: Buyers of serious reform typically buy them in Hebrew.
Last note recent Artscroll translations of serious works like the new Artscroll tosfos, Sefer haChinuch, Drashos haRan, Ramban on Torah, etc.Get the book 501 Hebrew Verbs which teaches the roots with examples and use the existing translated hebrew seforim to learn hebrew so you can learn the original and to learn aramaic. do shenayum mikra vechad targum, repeat the parasha two times and once the targum.
Artscroll is for the hamon am, for people who aren’t necessarily talmidei chachamim and for light reading. Many years ago I used this example to differentiate Artscroll from Feldheim. The number one best selling Feldheim book was a five volume comprehensive guide to the 39 melachos of Shabbos in this day and age full of footnotes, references, and detailed examples. The best selling Artscroll book was a fancy cookbook.
Many more resources are necessary to produce the substantive seforim you are looking for. Perhaps you should volunteer to raise the money to put out these worthwhile seforim? It is a huge undertaking. Think about how many sponsors there are for each volume of the Artscroll shas and they still need to charge a whopping $50 retail per volume (granted most people don’t pay that but you get the point). Much less effort is needed for fluff. Even fluff has a value so I don’t hold it against the companies for putting them out. The publishing companies are meant as a money-making business and it would be ludicrous to make an effort to increase the demand for scholarly works.
I applaud companies like Artscroll for putting in tons of money for volumes they KNOW will lose money (ex: Yesrushalmi). They do that totally lishma“fluff” (popular books) almost always have a bigger audience than “scholarly” books. Very few women and children, and frankly most men though many won’t admit it, have the language skills to read a serious sefer. We should say “Baruch ha-Shem” in looking at the large market for “fluff”, since it means that Jewish customers are preferring Jewish “fluff” (children’s book, popular literature, translations, books that dumb down sefarim so more people can understand) rather than buying the “fluff” produced by the goyim.
Artscroll is totally not set up to translate the Ketzos. I’ll give just one example. How would they handle the hundred thousand or so cross references?
It seems like you misunderstand how big Artscroll’s market is. Maybe a fifth of their audience knows the name of Reb Baruch Ber’s sefer. Even a Hebrew age for that sefer would be a doomed project.
dovrosebbaum, I think you mean Shev Shematisa from the Ketzos.
I have an email from one of Artscroll’s publishers which, effectively, says that only stories/biographies/cookbooks are selling nowadays. If you look, even books like Nishmas by Sruli Besser which one might think is a learned commentary, is largely stories.
I will say that I find Koren is publishing quality material and while Ktav was sort of out of it for a few years, it seems they’re once again publishing quality books as well.
And more translations aren’t necessarily a good contribution. IMHO something like the Shev Shemaytza or R’ Chaim really has no business being translated. The type of person who would learn it should really be able to do so in the original.
What would be good contributions are books/seforim that take knowledge from disparate places and form a cohesive, unified presentation of something we wouldn’t otherwise have. Examples could be R’ Leib Kelemen’s Permission to Receive/Believe books, or Rabbi/Dr. Pelcovitz’s book Life in the Balance.
Rav Moshe writes in the Igros that it shouldn’t be translated.
What if we would not translate Rambam and require reading him in the original?
Dear Always,
Speaking just for today, we probably would be better off.
Dear Dov Rosenbaum,
The Artscroll shas quelled that debate through brute force. He we want to extend the debate, the Artscroll Shas makes a Stroh argument against more advanced translations.
My issue is not with translations cart blanche, but specifically the translations being advocated on this thread.
Parts of Torah that are likely to be learned by balabatim have a stronger value in being translated (though it’s important to acknowledge Nomesorah’s point–many have made strong arguments for how translations have taken away from limmud HaTorah).
Parts of Torah which require much more iyun should generally be part of a much longer learning seder, and someone aspiring to be in yeshiva full-time should acquire the requisite Hebrew skills.
(PSA: I’m a balabus so not saying this from an elitish yeshiva perspective)Dear Dov Rosenbaum,
Translations are beneficial when the problem is the language barrier. When the main impediment is finding the proper context – like the Ketzos – following the authors style takes precedence over literal meanings. And when a sefer is cryptic by design – Birchas Shmuel -the translator runs into constant distortions. But for a magnum opus that was honed over decades to carefully avoid old debates with subtle innuendo – while simultaneously introducing a new far reaching style with thousands of cryptic sources, who in the world would have the the audacity to try translating that [Reb Chaim] for the masses?
n0 >> would have the the audacity to try translating that [Reb Chaim] for the masses
You don’t need to start big, translating great works in full. How about giving us a sample? translate one idea.
Dear Dov,
Then you or who ever those advocates are, have little in common with Artscroll. And what mesorah is there from the Ketzos and Birchas Shmuel? And who in the world is the competent talmid chacham who can put out an authoritative translation of Reb Chaim?
Dear Always,
Please elaborate on your last phrase. Maybe I misunderstand you. Maybe you are not following the dialogue.
n0, take a book that you think is important, and translate a sugya for us here, so that all can appreciate. People often post appreciations of something without quoting anything of substance.
Okay. Give me a week or two.
Dov, thanks for the reference.
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