# על אמנותו



## rubidou

שלום לכולם!

 I need help with the words in brackets … could anybody help me with the right translation of each word in the given context? (the quote is taken from an Israeli review of a so-called scientific work)

 הוא חושב כי (...) יהודי, ומתוך כך בא לידי משפט מסלף (מסולף)  לגמרי על אמנותו

 _He thinks that (…) is Jewish, which leads him to a completely (wrong/untrue/falsified?/deceptive) (sentence/theorem) (based on his belief)_

What I find most difficult is the latter part על אמנותו. How is it connected to the aforementioned 'wrong (or misleading) sentence'? Besides, the spelling ought to be אמונתו instead, or am I mistaken? If indeed the word is „expertise“ אָמָּנוּת instead of אמונה it would change the whole meaning of the sentence …
 I'm clueless.

Any help would be much appreciated!  
Jo


----------



## anipo

The complete sentence and some more context would help.
 What is (...)?


----------



## rubidou

Hi anipo, thanks for replying.
The name that I omitted (...) is D'Annunzio or so, it's not really important.
As to the context: The sentence is from a review, as I mentioned, of an anti-Semitic treatise on alleged Jewish physical features and character traits. The author of that treatise must have mistaken D'Annunzio for a Jew (I don't really have much more context), so he developed a wrong theory or he was misled in some other way ... this is where my question comes in!


----------



## ystab

אָמנותו - his art
אמונתו - his belief (it can be a typo)
אֻמנותו - his craft, his expertise

על - about (in this case)

מסולף - I would translate as _distorted_


----------



## rubidou

Thanks a lot, ystab!
But I have to admit that I still have difficulty making sense of the latter part ... Would you translate it as: "... leads him to a distorted sentence about his belief / his expertise?"
(I would suggest "... according to his belief", because I had also considered the possibility it might be a typo; but I'm not sure)


----------



## ystab

Yes, with two exceptions:
1. You forgot _completely_.
2. I think _his art_ and _his craft _is also an option since D'Annunzio was a writer (according to wiki).

The translation _according to his belief_ is much less likely. It would have been reasonable if the original expression was _לפי אמונתו _or something like that.

And still, putting the sentence in the context of the paragraph might assist us in deciphering what the author meant by אמנותו.


----------



## anipo

I agree with ystab. Please give us some more sentences, especially after the one you mentioned.


----------



## rubidou

Ok, I'm going to give you a little more context, don't know whether it is going to help or not: (Please note that the following is not my own translation)

_The racial idea blinds Günther like many others, he discusses nothing outside of the boundaries of his __racial theory. He (falsely!) thinks for example, that D´Annunzio is Jewish,which leads him to write a completely falsified sentence based on this believe.(sic!) His sentences on the type of Jews, whose photographs he presents are extremely subjective but interesting.

_I underlined the part in question. (Typing the Hebrew text would take up too much time, so I give you the English version.)

But you might be right, ystab, maybe the author actually refers to D'Annunzio's craft/expertise ... I never gave it a thought!
_

_


----------



## ystab

rubidou, the reason I'm asking for the paragraph in Hebrew is that your interpretation might influence ours when we try to decipher that mystery. Perhaps you can take a photo, instead of typing.


----------



## rubidou

I attached the original text in Hebrew (excerpt). Yes, it's a mystery indeed ...


----------



## ystab

I don't think it's a typo at all, hence not _his belief _but rather _his art _or _his craft_. It's good that you've brought this excerpt because now I understand that the author here uses the obsolete ktiv haser, except for some assisting niqqud, thus it is less likely that there is indeed a typo.


----------



## anipo

I agree with ystab (once again) about the meaning of the sentence. The text seems to have been printed not later than the 1970's, maybe long before that.
Do you know when?


----------



## rubidou

Just to make sure that I got it right: The correct version would have to be "... about his (D'Annunzio's) craft/expertise". That would make perfect sense ... But please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (again). 
Thanks a lot, ystab, for your valuable advice!

@anipo: As far as I know, the reviewed book had been published in the 1920s or 1930s, so I assume the review wasn't published much later than this (not after 1940).


----------

