DonÕt we have more than enough translations of the Holy Bible? Unfortunately, most translations have three flaws: 1.Translators who did not grow up with Biblical Hebrew, the Holy Language, as a living language find it difficult to appreciate its nuances and poetry. This often results in translation errors, lost subtleties in meaning, and apparently conflicting ideas among different translations. 2.By using footnotes and margin comments, modern translators seek to overcome these difficulties, but this makes the reading labored since reading is constantly interrupted. 3.The Torah was meant to be chanted, with the tunes adding meaning and emphasis to the listenerÕs understanding. Chants are hard to translate into words. Aramaic Targum ÒtranslationsÓ of 2000+ years ago were successful in overcoming these limitations. This Targum Americana combines traditional translation and commentary with some sense of the beauty in English of the original Holy Tongue.

The fact that there are so many translations and commentaries of the Bible tells us that each is somehow lacking something. Most translators did not grow up with Biblical Hebrew as a living language, the Torah was meant to be chanted, and reading continuity is interrupted by footnotes and margin notes. This work overcomes these problems for English speakers in the way the 2,000 year old Targum did for that day's Aramaic speakers.

The "one-stop" reference for authors preparing manuscripts in biblical studies and related fields.

Ibn Ezra addresses the importance of the knowledge of grammar, stating that one cannot fully understand the text of the Torah without it. He also discusses the study of the Bible and the Talmud, arguing that one cannot properly comprehend the Talmud if one does not know the sciences, for there are many passages in the Pentateuch and the Talmud that are either incomprehensible or given to misinterpretation by one who has no prior knowledge of the sciences.

More than any other person of his time, Isaac Leeser 0806-1868) envisioned the development of a major center of Jewish culture and religious activity in the United States. He single-handedly provided American Jews with many of the basic religious texts, institutions, and conceptual tools they needed to construct the cultural foundation of what would later emerge as the largest Jewish community in the history of the Jewish people. Born in Germany, Leeser arrived in the United States in 1824. At that time, the American Jewish community was still a relatively unimportant outpost of Jewish life. No sustained or coordinated effort was being made to protect and expand Jewish political rights in America. The community was small, weak, and seemingly not interested in evolving into a cohesive, dynamic center of Jewish life. Leeser settled in Philadelphia where he sought to unite American Jews and the growing immigrant community under the banner of modern Sephardic Orthodoxy. Thoroughly Americanized prior to the first period of mass Jewish immigration to the United States between 1830 and 1854, Leeser served as a bridge between the old native-born and new immigrant American Jews. Among the former, he inspired a handful to work for the revitalization of Judaism in America. To the latter, he was a spiritual leader, a champion of tradition, and a guide to life in a new land. Leeser had a decisive impact on American Judaism during a career that spanned nearly forty years. The outstanding Jewish religious leader in America prior to the Civil War, he shaped both the American Jewish community and American Judaism. He sought to professionalize the American rabbinate, introduced vernacular preaching into the North American synagogue, and produced the first English language translation of the entire Hebrew Bible. As editor and publisher of The Occident, Leeser also laid the groundwork for the now vigorous and thriving American Jewish press. Leeser's influence extended well beyond the American Jewish community An outspoken advocate of religious liberty, he defended Jewish civil rights, sought to improve Jewish-Christian relations, and was an early advocate of modern Zionism. At the international level, Leeser helped mobilize Jewish opinion during the Damascus Affair and corresponded with a number of important Jewish leaders in Great Britain and western Europe. In the first biography of Isaac Leeser, Lance Sussman makes extensive use of archival and primary sources to provide a thorough study of a man who has been largely ignored by traditional histories. Isaac Leeser and the Making of American Judaism also tells an important part of the story of Judaism's response to the challenge of political freedom and social acceptance in a new, modern society Judaism itself was transformed as it came to terms with America, and the key figure in this process was Isaac Leeser.