Spanish-speaking Jews around the world can finally access the complete Tanakh and its commentaries in Spanish on the internet. Launched in November 2020, the website (www.hatanakh.com/es) includes translations and maps for each of the 929 chapters of the Tanakh.
The HaTanakh Spanish language website began as the brainchild of Rabbi Shmuel Kornblit, who wanted to provide digital Jewish education resources in Spanish. He took his project to Herzog College, whose Director of Bible Initiatives, Rabbi Dr. Shuki Reiss, encouraged him to expand his vision by including commentaries, podcasts, explanations, and maps in Spanish. Herzog College’s Hebrew and English website HaTanakh.com became the basis for their third “Google of Tanakh” website in Spanish. It has been greeted with great enthusiasm by Jewish teachers in 80 Jewish schools across Latin America and by the 23,000 followers on the Facebook page “Google del Tanaj”.
Welcoming the launch of the new Spanish Tanakh website, Herzog College President Rabbi Dr. Yehuda Brandes said: “The Tanakh connects all the Jews in the world, and it is crucial that every Jew has access to and a connection with our foundational text. I believe that our Spanish Tanakh website will be more influential than our Hebrew language website, because there are many more Spanish speakers in the world than Hebrew speakers, and there is no other online version of the Bible in Spanish that is true to Jewish values.”
The Spanish Tanakh website project is supported by Argentina’s Asociación Mutual Israelita (AMIA). It is already being used extensively by Jewish schools in Latin America, together with Herzog’s “Hainu Kejolmim” app (“Like Dreamers” in Spanish). This is one of the first Spanish-language Jewish education apps, designed to engage teens with Jewish learning by emphasizing contemporary ethical and Zionist messages in Jewish texts that are relevant to them today.
Through its partnership with Rabbi Kornblit, Herzog College has become more involved in facilitating and supporting Jewish education in Latin America. As Israel’s largest religious Zionist teacher training college, Herzog began offering courses in Spanish for Jewish educators in 2017, and now partners with Israel’s Education Ministry to offer the Rimonim online teacher training program in Spanish and English. Rimonim’s online professional development and teacher training courses in Spanish include Jewish school teachers from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Panama, Spain, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Click here to read “Found in translation: A new biblical website in Spanish”, published in the Jerusalem Report magazine, February 7, 2021.
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