Yeshiva Student Makes Beatles Classic Again

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" entered the hallowed realm of classical civilization this month, through the efforts of Benji Joffe, a student at Yeshiva College. As reported on CBS, BBC and National Public Radio, Joffe translated the Beatles' album, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," into Latin, as part of his initiation into the National Classics Fraternity.

Joffe, 22, applied for entrance to the fraternity along with fellow Yeshiva student, Jacob Solomon. Their initiation rite required them to translate an item of popular culture into Latin. While Solomon chose Edgar Allen Poe's poem "The Raven," Joffe turned to the Beatles for inspiration. "I have been a huge Beatles fan from age twelve," remarked Joffe, explaining his choice. "I first encountered them while looking through my mother's record collection for Billy Joel albums, and have loved them since." Joffe says he focused on Sgt. Pepper's since "it was the first album ever released with printed lyrics, showing that the Beatles considered the words particularly important. Once the translation requirement existed, I figured it would be a good thing for the words to be in Latin." The album, released in 1967, includes such hits as "A Day in the Life," alongside the psychedelic "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," which translates into Latin as "Lucia in Caelo cum Admantibus."

The fraternity accepted Joffe, who now serves as the president of its Yeshiva chapter. Joffe admits that he is also working toward translating the Beatles' White Album, but notes that he has not published his work due to fear of copyright infringement.

Joffe remains nonchalant about his newfound celebrity, commenting only that "if I could get to meet Paul McCartney through this, my work will have been worth it."