lame paraphrases

[SamWeiss <SamWeiss...>]

At 01:22 PM 12/20/01, yakov wrote:
>  ...what really makes me p.'d
>off is when people do that to sacred texts and then decide that's what 
>they really mean.... Not only are the new words totally LAME but they have 
>nothing to do with the original meaning! At all!

Your observation dovetails nicely with the previous discussion of 
politically correct liturgical paraphrases like "Rock of Ages".  A related 
phenomenon are the evasive, missing and/or misleading prayer translations 
in Siddurim like the classic Silverman edition.  These are indeed lame 
gestures since the original Hebrew is left intact, creating the illusion 
that these sentiments are indeed what is being prayed when reciting the 
Hebrew.  A more honest approach (taken very measuredly by Silverman, but 
more typical of the last generation or two) is the rewriting of the prayer 
equally in the Hebrew and in the translation.  (I'd rather not take this 
off-topic even further off by getting involved in specific examples.)

>Or like when they tell you "mitzvah" means "good deed." What's the deal 
>with that?

All of the above form part of the complex process of cultural assimilation, 
some aspects of which may fulfill the needs of one group while confusing 
another group or rubbing them the wrong way. [To bring this topic closer to 
home, consider the musical example of Orthodox groups performing 
traditional Jewish melodies in high decibel schlock-disco arrangements.]

"Mitzvah" originally meant simply a commandment, specifically one of the 
collection of 613 or so obligations ("mitzvot") or restrictions ("averot") 
stipulated in the Torah. This original notion of obligation and 
responsibility is also reflected in the basic use of the term "Bar-Mitzvah" 
to indicate a thirteen-year-old boy who has religious duties similar to 
those of an adult.  With the institution of a Bar-Mitzvah ceremony and 
celebration, the term naturally took on broader associations of ethical and 
religious awareness, besides religious obligations. But in addition to its 
technical meaning, a "mitzvah" always had the connotation of "appropriate 
behavior in accordance with God's wishes."  In particular, behaving kindly 
towards another person became in popular parlance the "mitzvah" par 
excellence (perhaps under the influence of the pleas by beggars: "Mister, 
do a Mitzvah!", or their traditional thanking formula: "May you merit 
additional Mitzvahs").

It easy to see how this idea became further broadened to encompass any 
"good deed". This process of generalization can indeed reach the point of 
absurdity, where the word can become diluted to mean anything "good."  My 
favorite example comes from the old advertisements for the Broadway 
production "Those Were The Days," in which a New York Times critic 
proclaims the show to be "A Musical Mitzvah!"

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