Abstract:

This lecture will examine languages as incubators of diverse theological ideas, investigating to what extent
“different languages reflect different realities”, which in turn reflect different theologies. It will show how
translations, in this case from the Hebrew of the Torah into English, can project different meanings from those
of the original language. Rabbi Michal will then take this a step further and propose that sometimes the words
and theologies that got refracted and deflected in translation can also impose themselves back onto the
original language, closing the circle and creating a double distortion with a new definition in what was the
source language. Along the way, he will engage with the usage, choice and importance of words in defining
and contextualising theological concepts.