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Exact Translation- Possible?
Exact translation? Or translation that really gets across your message?
The problem with exact translation is that it sounds- well, translated. Here's an example:
"המאור הגדול, הרב פלוני אלמוני":
'The great light, Rabbi Plony Almony'
It just sounds funny in English. Either the Rabbi is hanging from a chandelier on the ceiling, or we're speaking in "old English"- which is not the way people speak today or relate to.
So, you'd have to translate it such:
"The Great Leader, Rabbi Plony Almony" or "The Great Tzaddik, Rav Plony Almony"
Depending on who your target audience is.
A good translator reads the sentence you wrote in order to understand what message to get across. That's it. He doesn't "translate" it, he just writes it the way such a message would be best given over in that language.
Of course, he stays as close as he can to the original sentence. But only when it sounds good that way.
With Torah Translations, this is especially crucial. The subject material needs to be written using the accepted expressions and normal 'Torah terms' used.
Of course, the terms may differ depending on the target audience- Charedi, modern orthodox, sephardic or ashkenazic, and should be altered accordingly,
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