Sidney Brichto.(Interview)

With an estimated 3,000 translated versions of the Bible, does the world really need another? London-based American Reform Rabbi Sidney Brichto thinks so. Over the past two years, Brichto has published eight volumes of "The People's Bible," which he hopes will transform the Bible back into the literary masterpiece it was once considered.

So far his work has been received favorably by respected critics, and despite his emphasis on readable, fluid narrative, none has accused him of "dumbing down" the Bible. With 10 more volumes to come, NEWSWEEK's Malcolm Beith thought this would be the right time to ask Brichto exactly what he intends to achieve. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: There have been some 3,000 translations of the Bible to date. Why another?

BRICHTO: The Bible has been tainted by holiness. No literary person really wants to read it. I want people to read it as literature. They're good stories. [But] people have to feel that they can keep reading without feeling they have to stop reading. For example, in Genesis, when you have all these irrelevant genealogies, I put them in the appendix so that the person, if he wanted to read them he can, but if he doesn't want to read them he doesn't feel the guilt of skipping. I do the skipping for him. Equally, I feel that sometimes you need to interact with the text to make it comprehensible. There, on occasion, I will intervene. I have sex scenes, for example, in the story of Esther, because I think it requires [detail], not "He saw her, he asked her to come up to his place and he knew her and she was pregnant." Something else happened.

Your translation is called "The People's Bible"--

That was the title we gave it in 2000. Actually, I'm not that happy with the title.

What would you have preferred?