"Barack"

[Mark Mandel]

Veering off the original topic...

That's a pretty accurate translation. The variant English forms I've
seen (and use[d]) are based not on different understanding of the
literal sense, but on what the pray-ers are comfortable with in terms
of an English-language liturgy. The general idea, in my Reform
congregation back in Massachusetts (whose prayer book, Vetaher Libenu,
has been widely adopted by other congregations) as well as in the
Reconstructionist congregation I belong to in Philadelphia, is one of
metaphors. "Torah speaks in human language" is an ancient concept with
us in dealing with such lines as "God brought us out of Egypt with a
strong arm and a mighty hand".

Here, specifically, our view today is that while our ancestors thought
of and related to the Eternal in terms of their own political and
social world, their humanly finite understanding, and the ways in
which they thought and wrote about God, should not be confused with
the Infinite itself. And so we use English forms such as "Holy One of
being, your presence fills creation" -- not as differing translations
of the Hebrew of our ancestors, but as attempts to express our
perceptions of divinity, with our minds in our day.

Mark A. Mandel

On Fri, Aug 29, 2008 at 12:20 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>
> Remember the common opening for Hebrew prayers, "Baruch Atah Adonai
> Eloheinu Melech ha'olam" -- which can, some say, be translated as
> "Blessed art thou, Adonai our God, ruler of the universe".  Others
> say otherwise.

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