Examines translation practice of Jewish texts from ancient times (the Septuagint) to I.B. Singer, revealing how the different religious agendas of Judaism and Christianity affected translations and often intentional mistranslations. Polemical agendas operated from both sides and affected the roles of converts to Christianity in their anti-Judaic and anti-Talmudic activities. Jewish fear of anti-Jewish prejudice also led to self-censorship in regard to translating works from Jewish to non-Jewish languages. Discusses, also, differences between the Yiddish original of Elie Wiesel's memoir and its subsequent French version "La nuit", particularly ch. 5, of which another version appeared in "Jewish Social Studies" (Fall 1996), as well as English translations of two Singer stories.