The Opening Words of the Book of Deuteronomy

In the Hebrew calendar the Torah portion of Devarim, Deut. 1:1-3:22, always falls in a particular week. It is always read on the Shabbath before or of the 9th of Menachem Av. [1] Deuteronomy is the discourse that Moses spoke to the Jewish nation during the last 37 days of his life.

Verse 1:5 provides the setting for his discourse. “Moses began to explain the [Torah] Law on the east bank of the Jordan in the land of Moav.”

Rashi quotes Midrash sources which state, “In the seventy languages (of the ancient Gentile world) he explained it to them”. [2]

The Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, expounded on this in his talk on 23 Teves, 5746/ 19’86. [We quote this here from the translation published by Sichos in English, with their permission.]

Rashi adds an important point. From here we see … to teach and disseminate Torah … in every place and under every circumstance. This means reaching out to Jews who are far away from Torah to the point that the Torah must be translated for them into their native tongues, the “70 languages.”

This would also include outreach to our Non-Jewish neighbors in the manner described by Rambam: “… to compel all human beings to accept the [Seven] Commandments enjoined upon the descendants of Noah.” (Laws of Kings 8:10). [In our times, what is the meaning of “to compel all human beings”?] They too must be encouraged and motivated by logic and reason, in their native tongues, to accept the aspects of Torah that are pertinent to them [i.e., pertinent to the Noahide Code].

The modern-day campaign to make Torah accessible in many languages

In another talk a few years later, [3] the Rebbe connected this with the groundbreaking outreach to both Jews and Gentiles that was undertaken by the Previous Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn:

This concept is stressed in the work of the [Previous] Rebbe, in that his unique innovation was the dissemination of Torah, Judaism, and the wellsprings of Chassidic teachings outward to the entire world, from the “lower hemisphere,” [4] and influencing the entire world through his students and messengers, including influencing the Gentile nations.

This is particularly expressed in the translation of Torah topics, including the inner dimension of Torah that is revealed in Chassidic teachings, into the “seventy languages” of the Gentile nations for study by Jews who don’t yet understand the Holy Language [of Hebrew] – and, perhaps it can be said, also for Gentiles so that they too can learn about faith in G-d, individual Divine Providence, and the like.

Footnotes:

[1] On that date, the First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans. It is observed by Jews as the fast day of Tisha B’Av.

[2] Torah teaches that Gentiles all descend from 70 original nations. G-d separated them with 70 different languages because of their sin of building the Tower of Babel to defy Him. See Genesis chs. 10-11.

[3] Sefer HaSichos 5750, Vol. 1, p. 158. Included in To Perfect the World: The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Campaign to Teach the Noahide Code to All Mankind, p. 20, pub. Sichos In English.

[4] I.e., from America, which is opposite the Holy Land of Israel. See also Sefer HaSichos 5748, Vol. 2, p. 629, fn. 54: Even when still in Russia, the [Previous] Rebbe once instructed that concepts in Chassidic teachings be explained to a Non-Jewish professor who had inquired and displayed interest in profound concepts.