[Someone wrote in proposing a Hebrew translation of Future of an Illusion, but this answer would apply (mutatis mutandis) to any and every possible language that either one of the books could be translated into.]
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More people live in Beijing than live in all of Israel.
Suppose I had received a similar offer from a young man of the same age living in Beijing, offering to translate Future of an Illusion into Chinese.
(And this would be a lot of work.)
There is only one reason good enough to justify the effort: this young man thinks, "If I translate this into Chinese, and my name is on the cover next to the author, SOONER OR LATER it will bring me in the company of precisely the kind of people I'd want to meet."
He thinks, "Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but AT SOME TIME over the next 20 years, this book is going to get me invited into the company of some vegan intellectual worth talking to, some would-be revolutionary worth talking to, etc." —and perhaps this would be true.
Perhaps.
China has 1.4 billion people: perhaps within the span of 20 years there would be two or twenty dissident intellectuals worth meeting —and this translator would eventually be able to say (when he is 50 years old, in retrospect) that he is glad he translated the text because it brought so many friends/colleagues into his life (people he otherwise would not have known at all, or people whom he would not have gotten to know well).
There are barriers. How would even 100 people end up reading the book (in Chinese translation) in China? Perhaps he needs to advertise the book or give lectures on the book at vegan conferences, etc. —I have no idea. There are barriers to even the humble estimate of 100 people in China reading the book in the span of 20 years. If he promotes it, or if SOMEONE promotes it, yes, it could reach thousands or millions of readers —but just 100 (out of one billion) might be unattainable.
Can you name a single other youtuber who has promoted my book, Future of an Illusion? Can you name a single vegan youtuber, speaking English, who has discussed the book? Perhaps not a book review or a promotion, but can you name a single video in which a youtuber (or several, sitting together at a table) TALK ABOUT the book? I believe the number of these videos —in English— is zero.
This reflects the overall death of the vegan movement —it actually DOES NOT reflect a decline in the quantity or quality of viewers on my channel.
So, is it a good idea for you to translate the book into Hebrew?
The correct answer does not depend on me, and it does not depend on you: it depends on OTHER PEOPLE who must remain unknowable and unknown.
Yes, it is possible that your translation of the book will have an impact with 100 Israelis, or 1,000 Israelis —and it is possible it will reach an audience of this size immediately (not over the span of 20 years). That's possible. But you must think about how disappointed and sorrowful you'll be if you struggle to translate the text into Hebrew and then it reaches only five people, and brings nothing positive into your life.
That is the only answer to your question that matters.
If I told you that I didn't want the book translated into Hebrew, but you were optimistic that the translation would bring just 10 new colleagues into your life over the span of 20 years, then it would be worthwhile for you to do it —and for you to do it for yourself, for your own benefit, not for mine.
