Written during the Weimar Republic, the text reflects the broader crisis of identity and cultural self-definition that characterized German-Jewish thought after the First World War.

Letter written by Franz Rosenzweig to Gershom Scholem on 10 March 1921 in response to Scholem's comments on Rosenzweig's German translation of the Birkat ha-Mazon (Grace after Meals). The letter discusses the aims of the translation, the relationship between Hebrew and German, the influence of Luther on the German language, and the role of translation in modern Jewish life.

The letter contains one of Rosenzweig's most concise formulations of the philosophy of translation: "Only one who is profoundly convinced of the impossibility of translation can really undertake it." Translation appears here as a paradoxical practice that is both necessary and impossible. The impossibility of translation is not merely linguistic but historical, since German has become a "Christian language" through the legacy of Luther. Every translation of Jewish texts into German must therefore confront a pre-existing Christian linguistic horizon. Yet this impossibility does not invalidate translation. On the contrary, translation becomes meaningful precisely because it preserves the distance between languages and traditions rather than eliminating it. Rosenzweig further insists that Jewish prayer is inseparable from Hebrew, making translation a provisional aid for those unable to access the original rather than a substitute for it.