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Triennial Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)

Three- and 1/2-year Lectionary Readings	Second Year of the Triennial Reading Cycle
Kislev 25, 5784 – Tevet 03, 5784 Evening Thursday December 7, 2023 – Evening Friday December 15, 2023	Second Year of the Shmita Cycle

Chag Chanukah Sameach!

We take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a very happy Chag Chanukah – a festival of freedom and of consecration/education to/for the work of G-d. And even if we do not finish the task before us, still we should do our very best in this life to radiate it with the constructive light of the Torah. For as the Psalmist wrote: “in Your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:10).

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:

see: https://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm

Roll of Honor:

This Commentary comes out weekly and on the festivals thanks to the great generosity of:

His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David and beloved wife HH Giberet Batsheva bat Sarah

His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

His Honor Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Karmela bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Luqas Nelson

His Honor Paqid Adon Tsuriel ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Gibora bat Sarah

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

His Excellency Adon Yehoshua ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Rut bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Michael ben Yosef and beloved wife HE Giberet Sheba bat Sarah

Her Excellency Giberet Prof. Dr. Emunah bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Robert Dick & beloved wife HE Giberet Cobena Dick

His Excellency Adon Ovadya ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Mirit bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill

His Excellency Adon Shlomoh ben Abraham

His Excellency Adon Ya’aqob ben David

This Seder is dedicated to our beloved Hakham, His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai. We pray for our beloved Hakham His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai. Mi Sheberach…He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal the sick person HE Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for him to restore his health, to heal him, to strengthen him, and to revivify him. And may He send him speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit, swiftly and soon, and we will say amen ve amen!

For further information please read and study:

http://www.betemunah.org/lapin.html, http://www.betemunah.org/connection.html,

http://www.betemunah.org/chanukah.html, & http://www.betemunah.org/lights.html

Chanukah Fourth Day

Kislev 28, 5784

Evening Sunday December 10, 2023 – Evening Monday December 11, 2023

Morning Service

Torah: Numbers 7:30-41

Reader 1 – Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:30-32

Reader 2 – Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:33-35

Reader 3 – Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:36-41

Yehudit (Judith) 7:17 – 8:27

1 Maccabees. 6:28 – 8:32

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Nazareans add in their private study and discussions:  Isaiah 42:16; & 1 John 3:1-24

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 7:30-41

Rashi	Targum Pseudo Jonathan
30. On the fourth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Reuben, Elitzur the son of Shedeur.	30. On the fourth, Elizur bar Shedeur, prince of the Benei Reuben;
31. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.	31.
32. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.	32.
33. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.	33.
34. One young he goat for a sin offering.	34.
35. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Elitzur the son of Shedeur.	35.
36. On the fifth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.	36. on the fifth, Shelumiel bar Zurishaddai, prince of Shemeon;
37. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.	37.
38. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.	38.
39. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.	39.
40. One young he goat for a sin offering.	40.
41. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.	41.

Yehudit (Judith) 7:17 – 8:27

New Jerusalem Bible Version

7:17 Accordingly, a troop of Moabites moved forward with a further five thousand Assyrians. They penetrated the valley and seized the Israelites' waterpoints and springs.

18 Meanwhile the Edomites and Ammonites went and took up positions in the highlands opposite Dothan, sending some of their men to the south-east opposite Egrebel near Chous on the Wadi Mochmur. The rest of the Assyrian army took up positions in the plain, covering every inch of the ground; their tents and equipment made an immense encampment, so vast were their numbers.

19 The Israelites called on the Lord their God, dispirited because the enemy had surrounded them and cut all line of retreat.

20 For thirty-four days the Assyrian army, infantry, chariots, cavalrymen, had them surrounded. Every water-jar the inhabitants of Bethulia had was empty,

21 their storage-wells were drying up; on no day could a man drink his fill, since their water was rationed.

22 Their little children pined away, the women and young men grew weak with thirst; they collapsed in the streets and gateways of the town; they had no strength left.

23 Young men, women, children, the whole people thronged clamouring round Uzziah and the chief men of the town, shouting in the presence of the assembled elders,

24 'May God be judge between you and us! For you have done us great harm, by not suing for peace with the Assyrians.

25 And now there is no one to help us. God has delivered us into their hands to be prostrated before them in thirst and utter helplessness.

26 Call them in at once; hand the whole town over to be sacked by Holofernes' men and all his army.

27 After all, we should be much better off as their booty than we are now; no doubt we shall be enslaved, but at least we shall be alive and not see our little ones dying before our eyes or our wives and children perishing.

28 By heaven and earth and by our God, the Lord of our fathers, who is punishing us for our sins and the sins of our ancestors, we implore you to take this course now, today.'

29 Bitter lamentations rose from the whole assembly, and they all cried loudly to the Lord God.

30 Then Uzziah spoke to them, 'Take heart, brothers! Let us hold out five days more. By then the Lord our God will take pity on us, for he will not desert us altogether.

31 At the end of this time, if no help is forthcoming, I shall do as you have said.'

32 With that he dismissed the people to their various quarters. The men went to man the walls and towers of the town, sending the women and children home. The town was full of despondency.

NJB Judith 8:1 Judith was informed at the time of what had happened. She was the daughter of Merari son of Ox, son of Joseph, son of Oziel, son of Elkiah, son of Ananias, son of Gideon, son of Raphaim, son of Ahitub, son of Elijah, son of Hilkiah, son of Eliab, son of Nathanael, son of Salamiel, son of Sarasadai, son of Israel.

2 Her husband Manasseh, of her own tribe and family, had died at the time of the barley harvest.

3 He was supervising the men as they bound up the sheaves in the field when he caught sunstroke and had to take to his bed. He died in Bethulia, his hometown, and was buried with his ancestors in the field that lies between Dothan and Balamon.

4 As a widow, Judith stayed inside her home for three years and four months.

5 She had had an upper room built for herself on the roof. She wore sackcloth next to the skin and dressed in widow's weeds.

6 She fasted every day of her widowhood except for the Sabbath eve, the Sabbath itself, the eve of New Moon, the feast of New Moon and the joyful festivals of the House of Israel.

7 Now she was very beautiful, charming to see. Her husband Manasseh had left her gold and silver, menservants and maidservants, herds and land; and she lived among all her possessions

8 without anyone finding a word to say against her, so devoutly did she fear God.

9 Hearing how the water shortage had demoralised the people and how they had complained bitterly to the headman of the town, and being also told what Uzziah had said to them and how he had given them his oath to surrender the town to the Assyrians in five days' time,

10 Judith immediately sent the serving-woman who ran her household to summon Chabris and Charmis, two elders of the town.

11 When these came in she said: 'Listen to me, leaders of the people of Bethulia. You were wrong to speak to the people as you did today and to bind yourself by oath, in defiance of God, to surrender the town to our enemies if the Lord did not come to your help within a set number of days.

12 Who are you, to put God to the test today, you, of all people, to set yourselves above him?

13 You put the Lord Almighty to the test! You do not understand anything, and never will.

14 If you cannot sound the depths of the human heart or unravel the arguments of the human mind, how can you fathom the God who made all things, or sound his mind or unravel his purposes? No, brothers, do not provoke the anger of the Lord our God.

15 Although it may not be his will to help us within the next five days, he has the power to protect us for as many days as he pleases, just as he has the power to destroy us before our enemies.

16 But you have no right to demand guarantees where the designs of the Lord our God are concerned. For God is not to be threatened as a human being is, nor is he, like a mere human, to be cajoled.

17 Rather, as we wait patiently for him to save, let us plead with him to help us. He will hear our voice if such is his good pleasure.

18 'And indeed of recent times and still today there is not one tribe of ours, or family, or village, or town that has worshipped gods made by human hand, as once was done,

19 which was the reason why our ancestors were delivered over to sword and sack, and perished in misery at the hands of our enemies.

20 We, for our part acknowledge no other God but him; and so we may hope he will not look on us disdainfully or desert our nation.

21 'If indeed they capture us, as you expect, then all Judaea will be captured too, and our holy places plundered, and we shall answer with our blood for their profanation.

22 The slaughter of our brothers, the captivity of our country, the unpeopling of our heritage, will recoil on our own heads among the nations whose slaves we shall become, and our new masters will look down on us as an outrage and a disgrace;

23 for our surrender will not reinstate us in their favour; no, the Lord our God will make it a thing to be ashamed of.

24 So now, brothers, let us set an example to our brothers, since their lives depend on us, and the sanctuary -- Temple and altar -- rests on us.

25 'All this being so, let us rather give thanks to the Lord our God who, as he tested our ancestors, is now testing us.

26 Remember how he treated Abraham, all the ordeals of Isaac, all that happened to Jacob in Syrian Mesopotamia while he kept the sheep of Laban, his mother's brother.

27 For as these ordeals were intended by him to search their hearts, so now this is not vengeance that God is exacting on us, but a warning inflicted by the Lord on those who are near his heart.'

1 Maccabees 6:28-8:32

New Jerusalem Bible Version

6:28 The king was furious when he heard this and summoned all his Friends, the generals of his forces and the marshals of horse.

29 He recruited mercenaries from other kingdoms and the Mediterranean islands.

30 His forces numbered a hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand cavalry and thirty-two elephants with experience of battle conditions.

31 They advanced through Idumaea and besieged Beth-Zur, pressing the attack for days on end; they also constructed siege-engines, but the defenders made a sortie and set these on fire, putting up a brave resistance.

32 At this, Judas left the Citadel and pitched camp at Beth-Zechariah opposite the royal encampment.

33 The king rose at daybreak and marched his army at top speed down the road to Beth-Zechariah, where his forces took up their battle formations and sounded the trumpets.

34 The elephants were given a syrup of grapes and mulberries to prepare them for the battle.

35 These animals were distributed among the phalanxes, to each elephant being allocated a thousand men dressed in coats of mail with bronze helmets on their heads; five hundred picked horsemen were also assigned to each beast.

36 The horsemen anticipated every move their elephant made; wherever it went they went with it, never quitting it.

37 On each elephant, to protect it, was a stout wooden tower, kept in position by girths, each with its three combatants, as well as its mahout.

38 The remainder of the cavalry was stationed on one or other of the two flanks of the army, to harass the enemy and cover the phalanxes.

39 When the sun glinted on the bronze and golden shields, the mountains caught the glint and gleamed like fiery torches.

40 One part of the royal army was deployed on the upper slopes of the mountain and the other in the valley below; they advanced in solid, well-disciplined formation.

41 Everyone trembled at the noise made by this vast multitude, the thunder of the troops on the march and the clanking of their armour, for it was an immense and mighty army.

42 Judas and his army advanced to give battle, and six hundred of the king's army were killed.

43 Eleazar, called Avaran, noticing that one of the elephants was royally caparisoned and was also taller than all the others, and supposing that the king was mounted on it,

44 sacrificed himself to save his people and win an imperishable name.

45 Boldly charging towards the creature through the thick of the phalanx, dealing death to right and left, so that the enemy scattered on either side at his onslaught,

46 he darted in under the elephant, thrust at it from underneath, and killed it. The beast collapsed on top of him, and he died on the spot.

47 The Jews however realising how strong the king was and how ferocious his army, retreated ahead of them.

48 The royal army moved up to encounter them outside Jerusalem, and the king began to blockade Judaea and Mount Zion.

49 He granted peace terms to the people of Beth-Zur, who evacuated the town; it lacked store of provisions to withstand a siege, since the land was enjoying a sabbatical year.

50 Having occupied Beth-Zur, the king stationed a garrison there to hold it.

51 He besieged the sanctuary for a long time, erecting batteries and siege-engines, flame-throwers and ballistas, scorpions to discharge arrows, and catapults.

52 The defenders countered these by constructing their own engines and were thus able to prolong their resistance.

53 But they had no food in their stores since it was the seventh year, and because those who had taken refuge in Judaea from the gentiles had eaten up the last of their reserves.

54 Only a few men were left in the Holy Place, owing to the severity of the famine; the rest had dispersed and gone home.

55 Meanwhile Philip, whom King Antiochus before his death had appointed to train his son Antiochus for the throne,

56 had returned from Persia and Media with the forces that had accompanied the king, and was planning to seize control of affairs.

57 On hearing this, Lysias at once decided to leave, and said to the king, the generals of the army and the men, 'We are growing weaker every day, we are short of food, and the place we are besieging is well fortified; moreover the affairs of the kingdom demand our attention.

58 Let us offer the hand of friendship to these men and make peace with them and with their whole nation.

59 Let us grant them permission to follow their own customs as before, since it is our abolition of these customs that has provoked them into acting like this.'

60 The king and his commanders approved this argument, and he offered the Jews peace terms, which they accepted.

61 The king and the generals ratified the treaty by oath, and the besieged accordingly left the fortress.

62 The king then entered Mount Zion, but on seeing how impregnable the place was, he broke the oath he had sworn and gave orders for the encircling wall to be demolished.

63 He then hurriedly withdrew, making off for Antioch, where he found Philip already master of the city. Antiochus gave battle and captured the city by force of arms.

NJB  1 Maccabees 7:1 In the year 151, Demetrius son of Seleucus left Rome and arrived with a few men at a town on the coast, where he inaugurated his reign.

2 It so happened that, as he was entering the royal residence of his ancestors, the army captured Antiochus and Lysias, and intended to bring them to him.

3 On hearing this, he said, 'Keep them out of my sight.'

4 The army put them to death, and Demetrius ascended his throne.

5 Next, all those Israelites without law or piety, led by Alcimus, whose ambition was to become high priest,

6 approached the king and denounced our people to him. 'Judas and his brothers', they said, 'have killed all your friends, and he has driven us out of our country.

7 Send someone now whom you can trust; let him go and see the wholesale ruin Judas has brought on us and on the king's dominions, and let him punish the wretches and all who assist them.'

8 The king chose Bacchides, one of the Friends of the King, governor of Transeuphrates, an important personage in the kingdom and loyal to the king.

9 He sent him with the godless Alcimus, whom he confirmed in the high priesthood, with orders to exact retribution from the Israelites.

10 So they set out with a large force and, on reaching Judaea, sent emissaries to Judas and his brothers with proposals peaceable yet treacherous.

11 The latter, however, did not put any faith in their words, aware that they had come with a large force.

12 Nevertheless, a commission of scribes presented themselves before Alcimus and Bacchides, to sue for just terms.

13 The first among the Israelites to ask them for peace terms were the Hasidaeans,

14 who reasoned thus, 'This is a priest of Aaron's line who has come with the armed forces; he will not wrong us.'

15 He did in fact discuss peace terms with them and gave them his oath, 'We shall not attempt to injure you or your friends.'

16 They believed him, but he arrested sixty of them and put them to death on one day, fulfilling the words of scripture:

17 They have scattered the bodies of your faithful, and shed their blood all round Jerusalem, leaving no one to bury them!

18 At this, fear and dread gripped the whole people. 'There is no truth or virtue in them,' they said, 'they have broken their agreement and their sworn oath.'

19 Bacchides then left Jerusalem and encamped at Beth-Zeth, and from there sent and arrested many of the men who had deserted him and a few of our people too; he had them killed and thrown down the great well.

20 He then put Alcimus in charge of the province, leaving an army with him to support him; Bacchides himself returned to the king.

21 Alcimus continued his struggle to become high priest,

22 and all who were disturbing the peace of their own people rallied to him, and, having won control of Judaea, did much harm in Israel.

23 Seeing that all the wrongs done to the Israelites by Alcimus and his supporters exceeded what the gentiles had done,

24 Judas went right round the whole territory of Judaea to take vengeance on those who had deserted him and to prevent their free movement about the country.

25 When Alcimus saw how strong Judas and his supporters had grown and realised that he was powerless to resist them, he went back to the king, to whom he made malicious accusations against them.

26 The king sent Nicanor, one of his generals ranking as Illustrious and a bitter enemy of Israel, with orders to exterminate the people.

27 Reaching Jerusalem with a large force, Nicanor sent a friendly, yet treacherous, message to Judas and his brothers, as follows:

28 'Let us have no fighting between you and me; I shall come with a small escort for a peaceful meeting with you.'

29 He met Judas and they exchanged friendly greetings; the enemy, however, had made preparations to abduct Judas.

30 When Judas became aware of Nicanor's treacherous purpose in coming to see him, he took fright and refused any further meeting.

31 Nicanor then realised that his plan had been discovered, and took the field against Judas, to give battle near Caphar-Salama.

32 About five hundred of Nicanor's men fell; the rest took refuge in the City of David.

33 After these events Nicanor went up to Mount Zion. Some of the priests came out of the Holy Place with some elders, to give him a friendly welcome and show him the burnt offering being presented for the king.

34 But he ridiculed them, laughed at them, defiled them and used insolent language, swearing in his rage,

35 'Unless Judas is handed over to me this time with his army, as soon as I am safely back, I promise you, I shall burn this building down!'

36 Then he went off in a fury. At this, the priests went in again, and stood weeping in front of the altar and the Temple, saying,

37 'You have chosen this house to be called by your name, to be a house of prayer and petition for your people.

38 Take vengeance on this man and on his army, and let them fall by the sword; remember their blasphemies and give them no respite.'

39 Nicanor left Jerusalem and encamped at Beth-Horon, where he was joined by an army from Syria.

40 Judas, meanwhile, camped at Adasa with three thousand men, and offered this prayer,

41 'When the king's envoys blasphemed, your angel went out and struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of his men.

42 In the same way let us see you crush this army today, so that everyone else may know that this man has spoken blasphemously against your sanctuary: pass judgement on him as his wickedness deserves!'

43 The armies met in battle on the thirteenth of the month Adar, and Nicanor's army was crushed, he himself being the first to fall in the battle.

44 When Nicanor's soldiers saw him fall, they threw down their arms and fled.

45 The Jews pursued them a day's journey, from Adasa to the approaches of Gezer; they sounded their trumpets in warning as they followed them,

46 and people came out of all the surrounding Judaean villages to encircle the fugitives, who then turned back on their own men. All fell by the sword, not one being left alive.

47 Having collected the spoils and booty, they cut off Nicanor's head and the right hand he had stretched out in a display of insolence; these were taken and displayed within sight of Jerusalem.

48 The people were overjoyed and kept that day as a great holiday:

49 indeed they decided to celebrate it annually on the thirteenth of Adar.

50 For a short while Judaea enjoyed peace.

NJB  1 Maccabees 8:1 Now Judas had heard of the reputation of the Romans: how strong they were, and how well disposed towards any who made common cause with them, making a treaty of friendship with anyone who approached them.

2 (And, indeed, they were extremely powerful.) He had been told of their wars and of their prowess among the Gauls, whom they had conquered and put under tribute;

3 and of all they had done in the province of Spain to gain possession of the silver and gold mines there,

4 making themselves masters of the whole country by their determination and perseverance, despite its great distance from their own; of the kings who came from the ends of the earth to attack them, only to be crushed by them and overwhelmed with disaster, and of others who paid them annual tribute;

5 Philip, Perseus king of the Kittim, and others who had dared to make war on them, had been defeated and reduced to subjection,

6 while Antiochus the Great, king of Asia, who had advanced to attack them with a hundred and twenty elephants, cavalry, chariots and a very large army, had also suffered defeat at their hands;

7 they had taken him alive and imposed on him and his successors, on agreed terms, the payment of an enormous tribute, the surrender of hostages, and the cession

8 of the Indian territory, with Media, Lydia, and some of their best provinces, which they took from him and gave to King Eumenes.

9 Judas had also heard how, when the Greeks planned an expedition to destroy the Romans,

10 the latter had got wind of it and, sending a single general against them, had fought a campaign in which they inflicted heavy casualties, carried their women and children away into captivity, pillaged their goods, subdued their country, tore down their fortresses and reduced them to a slavery lasting to the present day;

11 and how they had destroyed and subjugated all the other kingdoms and islands that resisted them.

12 But where their friends and those who relied on them were concerned, they had always stood by their friendship. They had subdued kings far and near, and all who heard their name went in terror of them.

13 One man, if they determined to help him and advance him to a throne, would certainly occupy it, while another, if they so determined, would find himself deposed; their influence was paramount.

14 In spite of all this, no single one of them had assumed a crown or put on the purple for his own aggrandisement.

15 They had set up a senate, where three hundred and twenty councillors deliberated daily, constantly debating how best to regulate public affairs.

16 They entrusted their government to one man for a year at a time, with absolute power over their whole empire, and this man was obeyed by all without envy or jealousy.

17 Having chosen Eupolemus son of John, of the family of Accos, and Jason son of Eleazar, Judas sent them to Rome to make a treaty of friendship and alliance with these people,

18 in the hope of being rid of the yoke, for they could see that Greek rule was reducing Israel to slavery.

19 The envoys made the lengthy journey to Rome and presented themselves before the Senate with their formal proposal:

20 'Judas Maccabaeus and his brothers, with the Jewish people, have sent us to you to conclude a treaty of alliance and peace with you, and to enrol ourselves as your allies and friends.'

21 The proposal met with the approval of the senators.

22 Here is a copy of the rescript which they engraved on bronze tablets and sent to Jerusalem to be kept there by the Jews as a record of peace and alliance:

23 'Good fortune attend the Romans and the Jewish nation by sea and land for ever; may sword or enemy be far from them!

24 'If war comes first to Rome or any of her allies throughout her dominions,

25 the Jewish nation will take action as her ally, as occasion may require, and do it wholeheartedly.

26 They will not give or supply to the enemy any grain, arms, money or ships: thus has Rome decided, and they are to honour their obligations without guarantees.

27 In the same way, if war comes first to the Jewish nation, the Romans will support them energetically as occasion may offer,

28 and the aggressor will not be furnished with grain, arms, money or ships: such is the Roman decision, and they will honour these obligations without treachery.

29 Such are the articles under which the Romans have concluded their treaty with the Jewish people.

30 If, later, either party should decide to make any addition or deletion, they will be free to do so, and any such addition or deletion will be binding.

31 'As regards the wrongs done to them by King Demetrius, we have written to him in these terms: Why have you made your yoke lie heavy on our friends and allies the Jews?

32 If they appeal against you again, we shall uphold their rights and make war on you by sea and land.'

Isaiah 42:16 - JPS

16. And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not, in paths that they knew not will I lead them; I will make darkness light before them, and rugged places plain. These things will I do, and I will not leave them undone.

1 John 3:1-24

By: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham & Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

1. Behold what [manner] of love has the Father given to us [Jews] that we are given the vocation (calling) to [prepare ourselves to] become B’ne Elohim (i.e., Rabbis/Hakhamim). Because of this the [pagan] world knows us not, because it has not known Him (i.e., God).

2 Beloved, now we are [potentially] B’ne Elohim (i.e., Rabbis/Hakhamim), and what we will be has not yet been revealed. But we know that whenever he (i.e., Messiah) be revealed, in his (i.e., Messiah’s) likeness (i.e., a Hakham) we will be, because we will see him (i.e., Messiah) just as he is.

3 And everyone who holds this expectation in him purifies (ceremonially and morally) himself, even as he (i.e., Messiah) is (ceremonially and morally) pure.

4 Everyone who practices sin also practices Lawlessness, for sin is Lawlessness (i.e., transgression of the Law).

5 And you know that he was revealed that our sins he might take away, and in him [there] is no sin.

6 Everyone that tabernacles in him (i.e., Messiah) does not [continually and habitually] sin. Everyone that sins [continually and habitually] has neither [prophetically] seen him (i.e., Messiah) nor [intimately] known him (i.e., Messiah).

7 [My] sons, let no one lead you astray: the one who [continually and habitually] practices righteousness/generosity is righteous/generous, just as he (i.e., Messiah) is righteous/generous.

8 He who [continually and habitually] practices sin is of the Accuser (i.e., Heb. “HaSatan”), because the Accuser (i.e., “HaSatan”) has been [continually and habitually] sinning from the beginning (i.e., Beresheet – cf. Gen. 1:1ff). For this [reason] the son of God (Heb. Ben Elohim – lit. “the son of the Judge” – i.e., the King Messiah of Israel) was revealed: that he may destroy (loosen) the works of the Accuser (i.e., Heb. “HaSatan”). .

9 Everyone who is fathered (begotten) of God does not [continually and habitually] practices sin (i.e., Lawlessness –cf v.4 above), because His (God’s) seed (Greek: “Sperm” – i.e., the Torah) tabernacles in him, and he is not capable to [continually and habitually] sin, because he has been fathered (begotten) by God.

10 In this the sons of God (Heb. B’ne Elohim - i.e., Rabbis/Hakhamim) and the sons of the Accuser (Heb. “HaSatan”) are manifest: everyone who does not practice righteousness/generosity is not of God, nor the one who does not love [and treasure greatly] his [Jewish] brother/sister.

11 For this is the message that you have heard from [the] beginning (i.e., Beresheet – Gen. 1:1ff): that we should love [and treasure greatly] one another,

12 not as Cain, [who] was of the Lawless one and [violently] murdered his brother. And for what reason did he [violently] murder him? Because his deeds were Lawless and those of his brother [were] righteous/generous.

13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the [pagan] world hates you.

14 We [intimately] know that we have departed from the sentence of [eternal] death to [eternal] life because we love [and treasure greatly] the [Jewish] brotherhood. The one who does not love [and treasure greatly] his [Jewish] brother/sister remains under the sentence of [eternal] death.

15 Everyone who hates his [Jewish] brother/sister is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life tabernacling in him.

16 In this we have [intimately] know love, because he (i.e., Messiah) shared his life for us, and we must [consequently following his example] lay down our lives for the [Jewish] brotherhood.

17 But whoever may have the world's means of life (i.e., material possessions) and sees his [Jewish] brother/sister having need and shuts up his sympathy/affection from him/her, how does the love of God tabernacle in him/her?

18 My sons, we must not love with words nor with tongue, but in deeds and truth (i.e., Torah - cf. Psalm 119:142).

19 And in this we intimately know that we are of the truth (i.e., Torah - cf. Psalm 119:142) and before Him (i.e., God’s Presence) we will persuade our hearts,

20 that if our hearts should condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and He knows all things.

21 Beloved, if our hearts should not condemn us, we have confidence before God,

22 and whatever we may ask we receive from Him (i.e., God), because we keep/observe His commandments and practice what is pleasing before His [presence].

23 And this is His (God’s) commandment: that we should adhere to the authority of His son (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel) Yeshua the Messiah and should love [and treasure greatly] one another, just as he (i.e., the Master) commanded us.

24 And the one who keeps/observe His (God’s) commandments tabernacles in him (i.e., Messiah), and he (i.e. Messiah) in him. And in this we [intimately] know that he (i.e. Messiah) tabernacles in us: by the spirit [of God – i.e. the Oral Torah] which he (i.e. Messiah) has given us.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Rashi	Targum
1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.	1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David.
2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.	2. I will praise you, O LORD, for you made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me.	3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence, and You healed me.
4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit.	4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit.
5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name.	5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you, His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one.
6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning, there is joyful singing.	6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning, one rises in praise.
7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter."	7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken.
8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance, and I became frightened.	8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid.
9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate.	9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray.
10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth?	10. And I said, What profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness?
11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper."	11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper.
12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.	12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.
13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever.	13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise.

Hakham Hillel’s commentary on Tehillim (Psalms) 30

Yosef in Psalms Chapter 30

There are several words and phrases in Psalms chapter 30 which evoke the memory of the life of Yosef HaTzadik.^[1] Since Psalms are generally to be understood at the midrash level, we will endeavor to look at the text through the lens of the Midrash.

It will have occurred to the discerning reader by now that Shabbat Chanukah invariably coincides with the parshiyot of Yosef (Vayashev^[2] and Mikeitz^[3]) and that the recitation of Tehillim chapter 30 at this time of year must surely be in-part a recognition of that. For those unfamiliar with the triennial cycle of Torah readings that was used during Temple times.

In this study I would like to examine some of the intertextual connections which suggest that Psalms 30 is really all about Yosef. Before we get into these intertextual connections, let’s examine the introduction from the ArtScroll on Tehillim:

This Psalm is reserved for the occasions of innovation; be it the new first-fruit, or newly dedicated Temple. It is both a prayer for success, ‘To You, HaShem, I called and to my Lord I appealed’^[4] and a confident declaration of eternal thanksgiving, ‘HaShem, my God, I will offer You thanks forever’.^[5]

This psalm, once used to inaugurate the Temple, is used today to inaugurate our daily prayers at the outset of Pesukei DiZimra, Verses of Praise; for the synagogue is a ‘a miniature Temple’ and our prayers take the place of the sacrifices. While the Temple stood, this psalm was recited during the ceremonies which took place when the Temple courtyard was expanded. The song of thanksgiving was accompanied by musical instruments at every corner and on every great rock in Jerusalem, and they sang, ‘I will exalt You on High, HaShem’.^[6]

Also, the Mishna^[7] relates that when the multitudes of Israel carried their baskets of ‘first-fruits’ to Jerusalem for the festival of Shavuot, they were greeted at the Temple courtyard by the choir of Levites who sang this psalm. Masechet Sofrim 18:2 designates this as the שיר של יום ‘The Song of the Day’ for Chanukah.^[8]

Tehillim (Psalms) chapter 30 is a conscious and near-explicit commentary on, and response to, a very well-known story of the Tanakh – that of Yosef.

The connection is made clear via a number of unusual and rare words and phrases that appear in both Mizmor 30 and the story of Yosef.^[9]

Firstly and most obviously, the pit or בור. In Tehillim chapter 30 the author describes his salvation as ‘'חִיִּיתַנִי מִיָּרְדִי בוֹר’ – You have given me life from those who go down to the pit. The pit is the prime symbol of Yosef’s early struggles, whose life is one of extreme ups and downs. Not only is he cast into the pit by his brothers prior to his sale^[10] – no water, just snakes and scorpions, he is raised up by the Midianites, sold down to Egypt, rises in the House of Potiphar, before being cast down again into the dungeon-prison, also described as the בור or pit, from which he is eventually called for by Pharaoh.^[11]

Now, lets begin examining the intertextual connections to the life of Yosef.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:4 HaShem, Thou broughtest up my soul from the nether-world; Thou didst keep me alive, that I should not go down to the pit [מיורדי- (מִיָּרְדִי-) בוֹר].

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:4

kri - קרי	ktiv^[12] - כתיב
מירדי	מיורדי
Lest I descend to the pit	From those who will descend into the pit

Yosef praying that he not be thrown into either of the two pits he was thrown into during his life. This follows the kri.^[13]

Bereshit (Genesis) 37:24 and they took him (Yosef), and cast him into the pit (אֹתוֹ, הַבֹּרָה) --and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

We find the next intertextual connection with the life of Yosef in:

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:10 'What profit (מַה-בֶּצַע) is there in my blood (בְּדָמִי), when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? shall it declare Thy truth?

This phrase ‘What profit’ and ‘blood’ are an echo from Bereshit:

Bereshit (Genesis) 37:26 And Judah said unto his brethren: 'What profit (מַה-בֶּצַע) is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood (אֶת-דָּמוֹ)?

What makes this comparison so compelling is that this phrase, ‘what profit’ - מַה-בֶּצַע, occurs ONLY in these two places in all of the Tanach!

Comparing the story of Yosef with Psalms chapter 30 contains more than just intertextual links. There are also thematic links. The following table compares the themes in Yehuda’s admonition to his brothers concerning the death of Yosef with the themes intrinsic in Psalms chapter 30.

Yosef Saga in Bereshit 37	Psalms Chapter 30
Yehuda makes plea. 37:27	Psalmist pleas. Supplication - אֶתְחַנָּן 30:9-10
Don’t kill Yosef. 37:27	Don’t kill me. Be gracious unto me - וְחָנֵּנִי 30:11
Brothers listen. ‘Brethren hearkened unto him – וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ’  37:27	God please listen. Hear, O LORD - שְׁמַע-יְהוָה’ 30:11
Yosef spared. 37:28	Spare me.

• What's more, Judah spoke of plotting to kill his brother, right after he said "mah betza".
• So too, in Mizmor shir, right after we speak of "mah betza", we also hear about death...

There is another connection to the Yosef saga that will play out at the end of Yaaqob’s life, when he blesses his sons. The Yosef saga points to this blessing with the words, “And his brethren hearkened unto him”.

Bereshit (Genesis) 37:27 Come, and let us sell (וְנִמְכְּרֶנּוּ) him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, our flesh.' And his brethren hearkened unto him (וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ,אֶחָיו).

When we say “his brethren”, who are we speaking of? Since Yehuda is speaking and he is the fourth born, there are only three older brothers that needed to be convinced: Reuben, Shimon, and Levi. Now, we know that Reuben was already convinced because he also was trying to save Yosef. This leaves just Shimon and Levi to be convinced. Cleary it is these two who ‘hearkened’ unto Yehuda’s pitch to save Yosef. The Midrash confirms this perspective.

Midrash Tanchuma Vayigash 9 And he (Yaaqob) began to call out: Simeon and Levi are brothers. They had acted as brothers toward Dinah but not toward Joseph, whom they had sold.

Let’s compare this to Yaaqob’s blessing of his sons:

Bereshit (Genesis) 49:5 Simeon and Levi are brethren; weapons of violence their kinship (trade, or sale) (מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם).

Here we see that the same two brother’s who were hinted at in Yosef story, in Genesis 37:27, are singled out as “brethren” just as they were in the Yosef story. This begs the question: Dis Yaaqob know what went on with the sale of Yosef and Yehuda’s attempt to save Yosef from being killed? (compare 37:27 וְנִמְכְּרֶנּוּ with 49:5 מְכֵרֹתֵיהֶם.)

An oblique reference to the sale of Yosef is found in:

Bereshit (Genesis) 49:6 Let my soul not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united; for in their anger they slew men, and in their self-will they houghed oxen (שׁוֹר).^[14]

Now, compare that with the one who called an ‘ox’.

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 33:16-17 And for the precious things of the earth and the fulness thereof, and the good will of Him that dwelt in the bush; let the blessing come upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the head of him that is prince among his brethren. 17 His firstling ox (שׁוֹרוֹ), majesty is his; and his horns are the horns of the wild-ox; with them he shall gore the peoples all of them, even the ends of the earth; and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh.

The implication is that Shimon and Levi were interested in hamstringing Yosef who was called the ‘ox’.

When Yaaqob blesses Yehuda he also alludes to the sale of Yosef in the word: טָרֹף טֹרַף.

Bereshit (Genesis) 49:9 A cub [and] a grown lion is Judah;^[15] from the [torn up] prey (מִטֶּרֶף), my son, you withdrew. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?

Compare that with:

Bereshit (Genesis) 37:33 And he knew it, and said: 'It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces (טָרֹף טֹרַף).'^[16]

Here we see Yaaqob speaking of ‘torn up prey’ when referring to what Yehuda does, just as he was referring to Yosef as ‘torn up prey’. (טָרֹף is the shoresh, the root of מִטֶּרֶף.) However, in Genesis 49:9 we see Yaaqob praising Yehuda for NOT tearing up his prey (prey as alluding to Yosef in the pit).

Rashi, in his commentary to Genesis 49:9, puts these pieces together for us.

from the prey: From what I suspected of you, (namely) that“ Yosef has surely been torn up; a wild beast has devoured him”.^[17] This referred to Judah, who was likened to a lion.^[18]

my son, you withdrew: Heb. עָלִיתָ, you withdrew yourself and said, “What is the gain [if we slay our brother and cover up his blood]?”.^[19] Similarly, [Judah withdrew] from killing Tamar, when he confessed, “She is right, [it is] from me…”.^[20] Therefore, “he crouched, lay down, etc.” [This was fulfilled] in the time of Solomon, “every man under his vine, etc.”.^[21]

The Midrash elaborates on this connection.

Tanchuma Vayigash 9 Judah is a lion’s whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up.^[22] That is, you escaped being struck down by the sons of Joseph because you did say: What profit is it if we slay our brother?.^[23]

Yaaqob continues Yehuda’s blessing:

Bereshit (Genesis) 49:10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, as long as men come to Shiloh; and unto him shall the obedience of the peoples be.

It is well known that the scepter of Yehuda found its initial fulfillment in the ascension of King David to the throne. This is the same King David who wrote Psalms chapter 30. King David began his rise to the throne when he defeated Goliath with his sling I Samuel chapter 17. In that chapter we have several allusions to the story of Yosef.

The allusion begins with telling us that, like Yosef, David was a shepherd. As the youngest of the brothers, he stayed with the sheep while his brothers went off to war.

Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:15 Now David went to and fro from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Beth-lehem.--

The allusion continues by telling us that David, like Yosef, was sent by his father to check on the welfare of his brothers.

Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:17 And Jesse said unto David his son: 'Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren. And you shall bring these ten cheeses to the captain of the thousand, and you shall see how your brothers are faring לְשָׁל֔וֹם, and you shall take the tidings of their welfare."

Bereshit (Genesis) 37:14 And he said to him: 'Go now, see whether it is well שְׁלוֹם with thy brethren, and well שְׁלוֹם with the flock; and bring me back word.' So he sent him out of the vale of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

Next we find that David, like Yosef, was not liked by his brothers.

Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said: 'Why art thou come down? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy presumptuousness, and the naughtiness of thy heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.'

Bereshit (Genesis) 37:17-18 And the man said: 'They are departed hence; for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothan.' And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.^[24] And they saw him afar off, and before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.

There is a remez to the Yosef story in David’s justification of his ability to fight Goliath.

Shmuel Alef (I Samuel) 17:34-37 And David said unto Saul: 'Thy servant kept his father's sheep; and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath taunted the armies of the living God.' 37 And David said: ‘HaShem delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul said unto David: 'Go, and HaShem shall be with thee.'

Yehuda and David both shepherded their father’s sheep.

Yosef was the sheep that the lion snatched. The brothers were sheep^[25] just as the sheep belonged to the father, so the sons belonged to the father.

Potiphar’s wife is the bear according to Rashi and Midrash Tanchuma, which brings Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:34 back to the Yosef story:

Rashi’s Commentary for:  Bereshit (Gen.) 39:6 and Joseph had handsome features As soon as Joseph found himself [in the position of] ruler, he began eating and drinking and curling his hair. Said the Holy One, blessed be He: “Your father is mourning and you curl your hair! I will incite the bear against you.” Immediately afterwards “his master’s wife lifted up her eyes.”^[26]

Genesis Rabbah adds to this understanding:

Midrash Rabbah - Genesis LXXXVII:3 … The Holy One, blessed be He, rebuked him [Joseph]: ‘Thou didst say, "They are to be suspected of eating limbs torn from the living animal": by thy life, even in the very act of wickedness they will slaughter ritually,’ as it says, And they killed a he-goat.^[27] ‘Thou didst say, "They insult the sons of the bondmaids and call them slaves," ' Joseph was sold for a slave.^[28] ‘Thou didst say, "They cast their eyes upon the daughters of the land": I will incite a bear against thee -HIS MASTER'S WIFE CAST HER EYES UPON JOSEPH, etc. What precedes this passage? And Joseph was of beautiful form, and fair to look upon.^[29] [And this is immediately followed by], HIS MASTER'S WIFE CAST HER EYES UPON JOSEPH. It may be illustrated by a man who sat in the street, penciling his eyes, curling his hair and lifting his heel, while he exclaimed, ' I am indeed a man.’ ' If you are a man,’ the bystanders retorted, ‘here is a bear; up and attack it!"^[30]

In the midrashic narrative of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, she is described as a bear, which aligns with Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:34. The Midrash also goes the other way to connect the bear to Potiphar’s wife:

Midrash Rabbah - Genesis LXXXIV:19 IT IS MY SON'S COAT; AN EVIL BEAST HATH DEVOURED HIM.’^[31] R. Hunia said: A prophetic spirit was enkindled in him: AN EVIL BEAST HATH DEVOURED HIM alluding to Potiphar's wife.

Yaaqob’s blessing of Yehuda, which we saw previously, called Yehuda a lion’s cub and a mature lion. This was Yehuda when he saved Yosef from certain death, just as David delivered his sheep from certain death in the mouth of the lion, so Yosef was delivered from Yehuda.

Later Yehuda will slay himself metaphorically by standing as surety for Benyamin and allowing himself to be delivered up. Finally, Yehuda is not threatening one of his brothers, rather he is categorically defending his brother and providing himself as a substitute. Further he is ready to destroy all of Egypt to defend Benyamin.

Pledge, collateral, surety - עֲרֻבָּתָם

When Yosef demanded that Benyamin be taken into captivity for theft of his goblet, Yehuda offered himself in Benyamin’s stead as he had told his father, Yaaqob, that he would be surety - עָרַב for Benyamin, just as David was to be the surety for his brothers.

Bereshit (Genesis) 43:9 I will be surety אֶעֶרְבֶנּוּ for him; of my hand shalt thou require him; if I bring him not unto thee, and set him before thee, then let me bear the blame for ever.

Bereshit (Genesis) 44:32 For thy servant became surety עָרַב for the lad unto my father, saying: If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father for ever.

Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:18 And bring these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and to thy brethren shalt thou bring greetings, and take their pledge עֲרֻבָּתָם;

The Midrash brings these two events together:

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Vayigash 8 (Gen. 44:18:) AND < JUDAH > SAID: PRAY, MY LORD…. FOR YOUR SERVANT HAS BECOME SURETY FOR THE LAD. When did Judah discharge his surety? In the days of Goliath. At that time, when Israel was in trouble, what is written?^[32] THEN THE PHILISTINE DREW NEAR AT DAWN AND IN THE EVENING. < He was > cursing and reviling. Saul began sending out a herald < to proclaim >:^[33] AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS FOR THE MAN WHO KILLS HIM THAT THE KING SHALL ENRICH HIM < WITH GREAT RICHES >…. Now you find that anyone who curses is liable for death, as stated:^[34] AND THE ONE WHO BLASPHEMES THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL SURELY BE PUT TO DEATH … but that wicked man had been cursing:^[35] FOR FORTY DAYS. Moses said:^[36] AND < GOD > INSTANTLY REPAYS THOSE WHO HATE HIM WITH DESTRUCTION. In the case of someone wicked who performs a righteous act, the Holy One renders it unfit < by giving him his reward > during his life in this world in order to destroy him in the world to come; but for the righteous, he sets aside their righteous acts for the world to come.^[37] What < righteous act > did this wicked man (i.e., Goliath) do for him to curse for forty days? R. Isaac and R. Levi differ.^[38] R. Levi said: Because his mother, Orpah ('RPH), walked four miles. with her mother-in-law,^[39] [the Holy One repaid her for it]. So from her the Holy One raised four heroes. Thus it is stated:^[40] THESE FOUR WERE BORN TO THE GIANT (HRPH) OF GATH.^[41] R. Isaac said: She walked forty paces with her; therefore, the Holy One granted her reward and gave her Goliath.^[42] So he was cursing before the Holy One forty days, as stated:^[43] AND HE (the Philistine) TOOK HIS STAND FOR FORTY DAYS. Jesse said to his son David: Now is the time to make good on the surety of your ancestor who became surety for Benjamin under the hand of his father, as stated:^[44] I MYSELF WILL BE SURETY FOR HIM. Now go and discharge him from his surety. Thus it is stated:^[45] SEE ALSO TO THE WELFARE OF YOUR BROTHERS, AND TAKE THEIR TOKEN. Now THEIR TOKEN ('RBH) is nothing but a surety ('RBWT). What did David do? He went and made good on the surety by killing Goliath. The Holy One said to him: By your life, just as you have risked your life for Saul, since he is from the tribe of Benjamin, even as your ancestor Judah did for Benjamin < himself >, as stated:^[46] AND NOW PLEASE LET YOUR SERVANT REMAIN AS A SLAVE TO MY LORD INSTEAD OF THE LAD. … so I am placing the Sanctuary < both > within your territory and within the territory of Benjamin. And where is it shown that the Sanctuary is < both > within the inheritance of Benjamin and within the inheritance of Judah? Where one text^[47] says: BENJAMIN IS A RAVENOUS WOLF; IN THE MORNING HE CONSUMES PREY, i.e., the dawn tamid (sacrifice), AND IN THE EVENING HE DIVIDES THE SPOIL, i.e., the twilight tamid; while another text^[48] says: BEAUTEOUS LANDSCAPE, JOY OF THE WHOLE EARTH, < EVEN MOUNT ZION >.

So, Yehuda pledges himself as surety for his brother Benyamin and this surety is exercised by Yehuda’s descendent David when he put his life on the line to slay Goliath to save Saul, the Benjamite from death. HaShem has a long memory. It has been more than six hundred years since Yehuda made that pledge.

This brings us back to Psalms chapter 30.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1 A Psalm; a Song at the Dedication of the House; of David.

Yehuda’s pledge to be surety for Benyamin, fulfilled by King David for Saul the Benjamite, results in the Temple being located on the border (part in Benjamin’s territory and part in Yehuda’s territory) between Benyamin and Yehuda. King David, who fulfilled the surety, dedicates this chapter of Psalms to the dedication of the Temple. Wow!

Because Yehuda stood up and protected Benyamin, in Egypt, David stood up and protected Saul. Because David did this, HaShem caused the Temple to be built in their territories and He inspired David to compose Psalms chapter 30!

Lets look at some of the connections between Yaaqob’s blessing of Yehuda and Psalms chapter 30.

In this first example, our chapter of Psalms begins with praise and ends with praise much as Yaaqob’s blessing of Yehuda begins with praise. The blessing says that Yehuda’s brothers will praise him while the psalm speaks of praise for HaShem. Yehuda, and by extension David, is all about praise.

Bereshit (Genesis) 49:8 Judah, thee shall thy brethren praise יוֹדוּךָ; thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father's sons shall bow down before thee.

Tehillim(Psalms) 30:2 I will extol thee - אֲרוֹמִמְךָ, HaShem, for Thou hast raised me up, and hast not suffered mine enemies to rejoice over me.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:13 So that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent; HaShem my God, I will give thanks אוֹדֶךָּ unto Thee for ever.

We also find David having praise elsewhere in the psalm.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:5 Sing praise חֲסִידָיו unto HaShem, O ye His godly ones, and give thanks to His holy name.

Next, we see David being raised up and this is also evocative of Yosef.

Tehillim(Psalms) 30:2 I will extol thee, HaShem, for Thou hast raised me up, and hast not suffered mine enemies to rejoice over me.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:4 HaShem, Thou broughtest up my soul from the nether-world; Thou didst keep me alive, that I should not go down to the pit מיורדי- (מִיָּרְדִי-) בוֹר.

When the David speaks of being raised up, we are drawn back to when Yosef was in the pit and was raised out of the pit. If Yosef had not been raised up, then it is likely that there would not have been a King David ruling over his brothers because with Yosef’s death, the tribes would have perished in the famine as there would have been no Yosef to prepare the world for the famine. This would have brought Yehuda, and by extension David, down to the pit (v.4); which David praise HaShem for preventing.

When David says that HaShem prevents his enemies to rejoice over David, this goes back to the blessing where Yehuda’s hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies. David’s enemies cannot rejoice over David because his ancestor, Yehuda (and by extension, David), was blessed with the ability to destroy his enemies.

We see three examples of David being raised up in the first four pesukim of Psalms chapter 30.

Tehillim(Psalms) 30:2 I will extol thee אֲרוֹמִמְךָ, HaShem, for Thou hast raised me up כִּי דִלִּיתָנִי, and hast not suffered mine enemies to rejoice over me.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:4 HaShem, Thou broughtest up הֶעֱלִיתָ my soul from the nether-world; Thou didst keep me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.

These examples connect with the blessing where Yehuda goes up from the prey.

Bereshit (Genesis) 49:9 Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up עָלִיתָ. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who shall rouse him up?

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:4 contains an interesting word, שְׁאוֹל that relates back to the story of Yosef. This word, as used in Genesis, is found four times, all in in connection with Yosef. שאול  Sheol, the depths, grave, or the nether-world. In our chapter of Psalms, HaShem is described as הֶעֱלִיתָ מִן שְׁאוֹל נַפְשִׁי – You raised me up from the depths of my soul. The word appears to refer to the grave or the underworld, and although it does not appear frequently in Tanach, we find it being used repeatedly by Yosef’s father, Yaaqob. 

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:4 HaShem, Thou broughtest up my soul from the nether-world שְׁאוֹל; Thou didst keep me alive חִיִּיתַנִי, that I should not go down to the pit.

The nether-world, Sheol שְׁאוֹל, is also called a ‘grave’. In Genesis this word is always connected to Yosef:

Bereshit (Genesis) 37:35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said: 'Nay, but I will go down to the grave שְׁאֹלָה to my son mourning.' And his father wept for him.

Bereshit (Genesis) 42:38 And he said: 'My son shall not go down with you; for his brother is dead, and he only is left; if harm befall him by the way in which ye go, then will ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave שְׁאוֹלָה.

Bereshit (Genesis) 44:29 and if ye take this one also from me, and harm befall him, ye will bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave שְׁאֹלָה.

Bereshit (Genesis) 44:31 it will come to pass, when he seeth that the lad is not with us, that he will die; and thy servants will bring down the gray hairs of thy servant our father with sorrow to the grave שְׁאֹלָה.

In 30:4, we see that David was kept ‘alive’. This also hints back to the Yosef story where Yaaqob gets his life back when he learns that Yosef is alive. David is alive and reigning because his ancestor, Yehuda, saved Yosef alive from the pit.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:4 HaShem, Thou broughtest up my soul from the nether-world; Thou didst keep me alive חִיִּיתַנִי, that I should not go down to the pit.

Bereshit (Genesis) 45:27 And they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said unto them; and when he saw the wagons which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived וַתְּחִי.

Bereshit (Genesis) 45:28 And Israel said: 'It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive חָי; I will go and see him before I die.'

In v.30:6 we see a hint to Shimon and Levi’s blessing in Bereshit 49.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:6 For His anger בְּאַפּוֹ is but for a moment, His favour בִּרְצוֹנוֹ is for a life-time; weeping may tarry for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Bereshit (Genesis) 49:6 Let my soul not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united; for in their anger בְאַפָּם they slew men, and in their self-will וּבִרְצֹנָם they houghed oxen.

Note that psalm 30 contains both Hebrew words (בִּרְצוֹנוֹ בְּאַפּוֹ) of Genesis 49:6, and in the same order. This seems to be a hint back to the Yosef story, as we mentioned earlier, where Yehuda convinces Shimon and Levi not to kill Yosef but to sell him instead.

In Tehillim 30:6 we find two words in the same order as found in Bereshit 49:6, which strongly hints to a connection.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:6 For His anger (בְּאַפּוֹ) is but for a moment, His favour (בִּרְצוֹנוֹ) is for a life-time; weeping may tarry for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Bereshit (Genesis) 49:6 Let my soul not come into their council; unto their assembly let my glory not be united; for in their anger (בְאַפָּם) they slew men, and in their self-will (וּבִרְצֹנָם) they houghed oxen.

These are the only two times in the Tanach where these two words are found together in this order.

In this next set of pesukim we find the first occurrence of crying in the Psalms and the first occurrence of crying in the Torah.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:6 For His anger is but for a moment, His favour is for a life-time; weeping (בֶּכִי) may tarry for the night (בָּעֶרֶב), but joy cometh in the morning.

Bereshit (Genesis) 45:1-2 Then Joseph could not refrain himself before all them that stood by him; and he cried: 'Cause every man to go out from me.' And there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. 2 And he wept (בִּבְכִי) aloud; and the Egyptians heard, and the house of Pharaoh heard.

It seems that the crying of the Psalmist is echoing the crying of Yosef. The psalmist cries at night just as the Yosef’s brother are in angst over the possible loss of Benyamin. Then in a sudden turnaround, Yosef reveals himself and the ‘morning’ has come with its joy.

It is also noteworthy that we have a second word that connects back to the Yosef saga:

Bereshit (Genesis) 44:32 For thy servant became surety עָרַב for the lad unto my father, saying: If I bring him not unto thee, then shall I bear the blame to my father for ever.

בָּעֶרֶב – evening is the same Hebrew word, vowelized differently, as עָרַב – surety.

The next two pesukim of our chapter of Psalms also hint to the stand that the brothers took when they stood up for Benyamin.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:7-8 Now I had said in my security: 'I shall never be moved.' Thou hadst established, HaShem, in Thy favour my mountain as a stronghold--Thou didst hide Thy face (פָנֶיךָ); I was affrighted (נִבְהָל).

As HaShem was hiding his face, so too did Yosef hide his face, behind a beard, from his brothers. This hiding of the face caused the brothers to fear for the safety of Benyamin.

Bereshit (Genesis) 45:3 And Joseph said unto his brethren: 'I am Joseph; doth my father yet live?' And his brethren could not answer him; for they were affrighted (נִבְהֲלוּ) at his presence (מִפָּנָיו).

As David was frightened – נִבְהָל when HaShem hid His face, so also were the brothers frightened – נִבְהֲלוּ, at the face of Yosef.

What is interesting is the fact that Yehuda had been making an impassioned plea for Benyamin before Yosef while the brothers were silent and frightened. But Yehuda was emboldened and impassioned. It is as though HaShem had not hidden His face from Yehuda. Yehuda could sing praises to HaShem for this. Yehuda was not feeling the anger of HaShem. Yehuda was not frightened. He was immovable. He was not crying. In other words, if we read Psalms 30:5-8 with the idea that Yehuda, rather than David, is speaking, then the whole psalms falls into place. This section of Mizmor 30 appears to be David reflecting Yehuda’s thoughts and position as he came to Binyamin’s rescue and stood up to one of the most powerful men in the world.

Lets continue to read the rest of this psalm with the idea that it is Yehuda speaking, rather than David. By doing so we will find Yehuda remembering his poor behavior with Yosef and seeking to redeem himself with Binyamin.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:9-13 Unto Thee, HaShem, did I call, and unto HaShem I made supplication: 10 'What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise Thee? shall it declare Thy truth? 11 Hear, HaShem, (שְׁמַע) and be gracious unto me (וְחָנֵּנִי);^[49] HaShem, be Thou my helper.' 12 Thou didst turn for me my mourning into dancing; Thou didst loose my sackcloth, and gird me with gladness; 13 So that my glory may sing praise to Thee, and not be silent; HaShem my God, I will give thanks unto Thee for ever.

Picture Yehuda saying the words above which were penned by David. Picture Yehuda saying them with respect to his behavior with Yosef.

Notice how he invokes his prayer with the very words^[50] that he used when they were planning on killing Yosef:  “'What profit is there in my blood?” He is beseeching HaShem to spare him (Yehuda) from death even as he spared Yosef from death. Yehuda, which means ‘praise’, is arguing that if he dies and becomes dust, “shall the dust praise Thee?”

Now, compare the Hebrew in30:11 with the Hebrew in the pasuk below. We find the same two words when the brothers are discussing their fate while standing in front of Yosef.

Bereshit (Genesis) 42:21 And they said one to another: 'We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the distress (בְּהִתְחַנְנוֹ) of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear (שָׁמָעְנוּ); therefore is this distress come upon us.'

Consider Tehillim 30:12 where Yehuda is praising HaShem for, ‘Thou didst turn for me my mourning into dancing; Thou didst loose my sackcloth, and gird me with gladness;’. Surely this evokes the memory of that fateful day when the goblet was found in Binyamin’s sack and the brothers, in Bereshit 44:13, ‘And they rent their clothes, and laded every man his ass, and returned to the city”.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:12 Thou didst turn for me my mourning into dancing; Thou didst loose my sackcloth (פִּתַּחְתָּ שַׂקִּי), and gird me with gladness;

These words (loose my sackcloth) פִּתַּחְתָּ שַׂקִּי can also have another meaning. פִּתַּחְתָּ can mean ‘you opened’. שַׂקִּי can also mean just ‘sack’. So, these two words can also mean ‘you opened my sack’. We see this happening in the framing of Binyamin.

Bereshit (Genesis) 44:11 Then they hastened, and took down every man his sack to the ground, and opened every man his sack.

Since Yehuda pledged himself as surety for Binyamin, therefore when they found the goblet in Binyamin’s sack, it was as if they opened Yehuda’s sack and found the goblet.

END OF THE READINGS FOR THE FOURTH DAY OF CHANKAH

Chanukah Fifth Day

Kislev 29, 5784

Evening Monday December 11, 2023 – Evening Tuesday December 12, 2023

Torah: Numbers 7:36-47

Reader 1 – Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:36-38

Reader 2 - Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:39-41

Reader 3 - Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:42-47

Yehudit (Judith) 8:28 – 10:23

1 Maccabees 9:1 - 10:32

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Nazareans add in their private study and discussions: Psalm 43:3; Proverbs 20:27 & 1 John 4:1-12

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 7:36-47

Rashi	Targum Pseudo Jonathan
36. On the fifth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.	36. on the fifth, Shelumiel bar Zurishaddai, prince of Shemeon;
37. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.	37.
38. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.	38.
39. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.	39.
40. One young he goat for a sin offering.	40.
41. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai.	41.
42. On the sixth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of De'uel.	42. on the sixth, Eljasaph bar Dehuel, prince of the Benei Gad;
43. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.	43.
44. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.	44.
45. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.	45.
46. One young he goat for a sin offering.	46.
47. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Eliasaph the son of De'uel.	47.

Yehudit (Judith) 8:28 – 10:23

New Jerusalem Bible Version

28 Uzziah replied, 'Everything you have just said comes from an honest heart and no one will contradict a word of it.

29 Not that today is the first time your wisdom has been displayed; from your earliest years all the people have known how shrewd you are and of how sound a heart.

30 But, parched with thirst, the people forced us to act as we had promised them and to bind ourselves by an inviolable oath.

31 You are a devout woman; pray to the Lord, then, to send us a downpour to fill our storage-wells, so that our faintness may pass.'

32 Judith replied, 'Listen to me, I intend to do something, the memory of which will be handed down to the children of our race from age to age.

33 Tonight you must be at the gate of the town. I shall make my way out with my attendant. Before the time fixed by you for surrendering the town to our enemies, the Lord will make use of me to rescue Israel.

34 You must not ask what I intend to do; I shall not tell you until I have done it.'

35 Uzziah and the chief men said, 'Go in peace. May the Lord show you a way to take revenge on our enemies.'

36 And leaving the upper room they went back to their posts.

NJB Judith 9:1 Judith threw herself face to the ground, scattered ashes on her head, undressed as far as the sackcloth she was wearing and cried loudly to the Lord. At the same time in Jerusalem the evening incense was being offered in the Temple of God. Judith said:

2 Lord, God of my ancestor Simeon, you armed him with a sword to take vengeance on the foreigners who had undone a virgin's belt to her shame, laid bare her thigh to her confusion, violated her womb to her dishonour, since, though you said, 'This must not be,' they did it.

3 For this you handed their leaders over to slaughter, and their bed, defiled by their treachery, was itself betrayed in blood. You struck the slaves with the chieftains and the chieftains with their retainers.

4 You left their wives to be carried off, their daughters to be taken captive, and their spoils to be shared out among the sons you loved, who had been so zealous for you, had loathed the stain put on their blood and called on you for help. O God, my God, now hear this widow too;

5 for you have made the past, and what is happening now, and what will follow. What is, what will be, you have planned; what has been, you designed.

6 Your purposes stood forward; 'See, here we are!' they said. For all your ways are prepared and your judgements delivered with foreknowledge.

7 See the Assyrians, with their army abounding glorying in their horses and their riders, exulting in the strength of their infantry. Trust as they may in shield and spear, in bow and sling, in you they have not recognised the Lord, the breaker of battle-lines;

8 yours alone is the title of Lord. Break their violence with your might, in your anger bring down their strength. For they plan to profane your holy places, to defile the tabernacle, the resting place of your glorious name, and to hack down the horn of your altar.

9 Observe their arrogance, send your fury on their heads, give the strength I have in mind to this widow's hand.

10 By guile of my lips strike down slave with master, and master with retainer. Break their pride by a woman's hand.

11 Your strength does not lie in numbers, nor Your might in strong men; since you are the God of the humble, the help of the oppressed, the support of the weak, the refuge of the forsaken, the Saviour of the despairing.

12 Please, please, God of my father, God of the heritage of Israel, Master of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of your whole creation, hear my prayer.

13 Give me a beguiling tongue to wound and kill those who have formed such cruel designs against your covenant, against your holy dwelling-place, against Mount Zion, against the house belonging to your sons.

14 And demonstrate to every nation, every tribe, that you are the Lord, God of all power, all might, and that the race of Israel has no protector but you.

NJB Judith 10:1 Thus Judith called on the God of Israel. When she had finished praying,

2 she got up from the floor, summoned her maid and went down into the rooms which she used on Sabbath days and festivals.

3 There she removed the sackcloth she was wearing and taking off her widow's dress, she washed all over, anointed herself plentifully with perfumes, dressed her hair, wrapped a turban round it and put on the robe of joy she used to wear when her husband Manasseh was alive.

4 She put sandals on her feet, put on her necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings and all her jewellery, and made herself beautiful enough to beguile the eye of any man who saw her.

5 Then she handed her maid a skin of wine and a flask of oil, filled a bag with barley girdle-cakes, cakes of dried fruit and pure loaves, and wrapping all these provisions up gave them to her as well.

6 They then went out, making for the town gate of Bethulia. There they found Uzziah waiting with the two elders of the town, Chabris and Charmis.

7 When they saw Judith, her face so changed and her clothes so different, they were lost in admiration of her beauty. They said to her:

8 May the God of our ancestors keep you in his favour! May he crown your designs with success to the glory of the children of Israel, to the greater glory of Jerusalem!

9 Judith worshipped God, and then she said, 'Have the town gate opened for me so that I can go out and fulfil all the wishes you expressed to me.' They did as she asked and gave orders to the young men to open the gate for her.

10 This done, Judith went out accompanied by her maid, while the men of the town watched her all the way down the mountain and across the valley, until they lost sight of her.

11 As the women were making straight through the valley, an advance unit of Assyrians intercepted them,

12 and, seizing Judith, began to question her. 'Which side are you on? Where do you come from? Where are you going?' 'I am a daughter of the Hebrews,' she replied, 'and I am fleeing from them since they will soon be your prey.

13 I am on my way to see Holofernes, the general of your army, to give him trustworthy information. I shall show him the road to take if he wants to capture all the hill-country without losing one man or one life.'

14 As the men listened to what she was saying, they stared in astonishment at the sight of such a beautiful woman.

15 'It will prove the saving of you,' they said to her, 'coming down to see our master of your own accord. You had better go to his tent; some of our men will escort you and hand you over to him.

16 Once you are in his presence do not be afraid. Tell him what you have just told us, and you will be well treated.'

17 They then detailed a hundred of their men as escort for herself and her attendant, and these led them to the tent of Holofernes.

18 News of her coming had already spread through the tents, and there was a general stir in the camp. She was still outside the tent of Holofernes waiting to be announced, when a crowd began forming round her.

19 They were immediately impressed by her beauty and impressed with the Israelites because of her. 'Who could despise a people who have women like this?' they kept saying. 'Better not leave one of them alive; let any go and they could twist the whole world round their fingers!'

20 The bodyguard and adjutants of Holofernes then came out and led Judith into the tent.

21 Holofernes was resting on his bed under a canopy of purple and gold studded with emeralds and precious stones.

22 The men announced her and he came out to the entrance to the tent, with silver torches carried before him.

23 When Judith confronted the general and his adjutant, the beauty of her face astonished them all. She fell on her face and did homage to him, but his servants raised her from the ground.

1 Maccabees 9:1 - 10:32

New Jerusalem Bible Version

NJB 1 Maccabees 9:1 Demetrius, hearing that Nicanor and his army had fallen in battle, sent Bacchides and Alcimus a second time into Judaea, and with them the right wing of his army.

2 They took the road to Galilee and besieged Mesaloth in Arbela, and captured it, putting many people to death.

3 In the first month of the year 152, they encamped outside Jerusalem;

4 they then moved on, making their way to Beer-Zaith with twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse.

5 Judas lay in camp at Elasa, with three thousand picked men.

6 When they saw the huge size of the enemy forces, they were terrified, and many slipped out of the camp, until no more than eight hundred of the force were left.

7 With battle now inevitable, Judas realised that his army had melted away; he was aghast, for he had no time to rally them.

8 Yet, dismayed as he was, he said to those who were left, 'Up! Let us face the enemy; we may yet have the strength to fight them.'

9 His men tried to dissuade him, declaring, 'We have no strength for anything but to escape with our lives this time; then we can come back with our brothers to fight them; by ourselves we are too few.'

10 Judas retorted, 'That I should do such a thing as run away from them! If our time has come, at least let us die like men for our countrymen, and leave nothing to tarnish our reputation.'

11 The army marched out of camp and drew up, facing the enemy. The cavalry was drawn up in two squadrons; the slingers and archers marched in the van of the army, and all the best fighters were put in the front rank;

12 Bacchides was on the right wing. The phalanx advanced from between the two squadrons, sounding the trumpets; the men on Judas' side also blew their trumpets,

13 and the earth shook with the noise of the armies. The engagement lasted from morning until evening.

14 Judas saw that Bacchides and the main strength of his army lay on the right; all the stout-hearted rallied to him,

15 and they crushed the right wing, pursuing them as far as the Azara Hills.

16 But when the Syrians on the left wing saw that the right had been broken, they turned and followed hot on the heels of Judas and his men to take them in the rear.

17 The fight became desperate, and there were many casualties on both sides.

18 Judas himself fell, and the remnant fled.

19 Jonathan and Simon took up their brother Judas and buried him in his ancestral tomb at Modein.

20 All Israel wept and mourned him deeply and for many days they repeated this dirge.

21 'What a downfall for the strong man, the man who kept Israel safe!'

22 The other deeds of Judas, the battles he fought, the exploits he performed, and all his titles to greatness have not been recorded; but they were very many.

23 After the death of Judas, the renegades came out of hiding throughout Israel and all the evildoers reappeared.

24 At that time there was a severe famine, and the country went over to their side.

25 Bacchides deliberately chose the enemies of religion to administer the country.

26 These traced and searched out the friends of Judas and brought them before Bacchides, who ill-treated and mocked them.

27 A terrible oppression began in Israel; there had been nothing like it since the disappearance of prophecy among them.

28 The friends of Judas then all united in saying to Jonathan,

29 'Since your brother Judas died, there has been no one like him to head the resistance against our enemies, people like Bacchides and others who hate our nation.

30 Accordingly, we have today chosen you to take his place as our ruler and leader and to fight our campaigns.'

31 Whereupon, Jonathan took command, in succession to his brother Judas.

32 Bacchides, when he heard the news, made plans to kill Jonathan.

33 But this became known to Jonathan, his brother Simon and all his supporters, and they took refuge in the desert of Tekoa, camping by the water-supply at Asphar storage-well.

34 (Bacchides came to know of this on the Sabbath day, and he too crossed the Jordan with his entire army.)

35 Jonathan sent his brother, who was one of his commanders, to ask his friends the Nabataeans to store their considerable baggage for them.

36 The sons of Amrai, however, those of Medeba, intercepted them, captured John and everything he had and made off with their prize.

37 Later, Jonathan and his brother Simon were told that the sons of Amrai were celebrating an important wedding, and were escorting the bride, a daughter of one of the great notables of Canaan, from Nabata with a large retinue.

38 Remembering the bloody end of their brother John, they went up and hid under cover of the mountain.

39 As they were keeping watch, a noisy procession came into sight with a great deal of baggage, and the bridegroom, with his groomsmen and his family, came out to meet it with tambourines and a band, and rich, warlike display.

40 The Jews rushed down on them from their ambush and killed them, inflicting heavy casualties; the survivors escaped to the mountain, leaving their entire baggage train to be captured.

41 Thus, the wedding was turned into mourning and the music of their band into lamentation.

42 Having in this way avenged in full the blood of their brother, they returned to the marshes of the Jordan.

43 As soon as Bacchides heard this, he came on the Sabbath day with a considerable force to the steep banks of the Jordan.

44 Jonathan said to his men, 'Up! Let us fight for our lives, for today it is not as in the old days.

45 You can see, we shall have to fight on our front and to our rear; we have the waters of the Jordan on one side, the marsh and scrub on the other, and we have no line of withdrawal.

46 This is the moment to call on Heaven, to deliver you from the clutches of your enemies.'

47 The engagement was begun by Jonathan, who aimed a blow at Bacchides, but the Syrian disengaged himself and withdrew,

48 whereupon Jonathan and his men leapt into the Jordan and swam to the other bank; the enemy did not, however, cross the Jordan in pursuit.

49 That day, Bacchides lost about a thousand men.

50 Bacchides went back to Jerusalem and began fortifying some of the Judaean towns: the fortresses of Jericho, Emmaus, Beth-Horon, Bethel, Timnath, Pharathon and Tephon, with high walls and barred gates,

51 and stationed a garrison in each of them to harass Israel.

52 He also fortified the town of Beth-Zur, Gezer and the Citadel, and placed troops in them with supplies of provisions.

53 He took the sons of the leading men of the country as hostages and had them placed under guard in the Citadel of Jerusalem.

54 In the year 153, in the second month, Alcimus ordered the demolition of the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary, destroying the work of the prophets. Alcimus had just begun the demolition

55 when he suffered a stroke, and his work was interrupted. His mouth became obstructed, and his paralysis made him incapable of speaking at all or giving directions to his household;

56 it was not long before he died in great agony.

57 On the death of Alcimus, Bacchides went back to the king, and Judaea was left in peace for two years.

58 The renegades then all agreed on a plan. 'Now is the time,' they said, 'while Jonathan and his supporters are living in peace and are full of confidence, for us to bring back Bacchides, and he will arrest the lot of them in one night.'

59 So they went to him and reached an understanding.

60 Bacchides at once set out with a large force and sent secret instructions to all his allies in Judaea to seize Jonathan and his supporters. But they were unable to do this because their plan became known,

61 and Jonathan and his men arrested some fifty of the men of the country who were ringleaders in the plot and put them to death.

62 Jonathan and Simon then retired with their partisans to Beth-Bassi in the desert; they rebuilt the ruinous parts of the place and fortified it.

63 When Bacchides heard this, he mustered his whole force and notified his adherents in Judaea.

64 He then proceeded to lay siege to Beth-Bassi, the fighting was protracted, and he constructed siege-engines.

65 Jonathan, however, leaving his brother Simon in the town, broke out into the countryside with a handful of men.

66 He launched a blow at Odomera and his brothers, and at the sons of Phasiron in their encampment; whereupon these too came into the struggle, joining forces with him.

67 Simon and his people, meanwhile, made a sortie from the town and set fire to the siege-engines.

68 Taking the offensive against Bacchides, they defeated him. He was greatly disconcerted to find that his plan and his assault had come to nothing,

69 and vented his anger on those renegades who had induced him to enter the country, putting many of them to death; he then decided to take his own troops home.

70 Discovering this, Jonathan sent envoys to negotiate peace terms and the release of prisoners with him.

71 Bacchides agreed to this, accepting his proposals, and swearing never to seek occasion to harm him for the rest of his life.

72 Having surrendered to Jonathan those prisoners he had earlier taken in Judaea, he turned about and withdrew to his own country, and never again came near their frontiers.

73 The sword no longer hung over Israel, and Jonathan settled in Michmash, where he began to judge the people and to rid Israel of the godless.

NJB 1 Maccabees 10:1 In the year 160, Alexander, son of Antiochus Epiphanes, raised an army and occupied Ptolemais. He was well received, and there inaugurated his reign.

2 On hearing this, King Demetrius assembled a very large army and marched off to do battle with him.

3 Demetrius furthermore sent Jonathan a most conciliatory letter, promising to promote him in rank,

4 for, as he said, 'We had better move first to come to terms with these people before he makes common cause with Alexander against us;

5 he will not have forgotten all the wrongs we inflicted on him and his brothers, and on his nation.'

6 He even authorised him to raise an army, to manufacture arms, and to describe himself as his ally, and ordered the hostages in the Citadel to be surrendered to him.

7 Jonathan went straight to Jerusalem and read the letter in the hearing of the whole people and of the men in the Citadel.

8 They were terrified when they heard that the king had given him authority to raise an army.

9 The men in the Citadel surrendered the hostages to Jonathan, who handed them back to their parents.

10 Jonathan then took up residence in Jerusalem and began the rebuilding and restoration of the city.

11 He ordered those responsible for the work to build the walls and the defences round Mount Zion of squared stone blocks to make them stronger, and this was done.

12 The foreigners in the fortresses built by Bacchides abandoned them,

13 one after another leaving his post to go back to his own country.

14 Only at Beth-Zur were a few left of those who had forsaken the Law and the precepts since this was their refuge.

15 King Alexander heard of all the promises Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and he was also given an account of the battles and exploits of this man and his brothers and of the hardships they had endured.

16 'Shall we ever find another man like him?' he exclaimed. 'We must make him our friend and ally!'

17 He therefore wrote him a letter, addressing him in these terms:

18 'King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greetings.

19 'You have been brought to our notice as a strong man of action and as someone who deserves to be our friend.

20 Accordingly, we have today appointed you high priest of your nation, with the title of "Friend of the King" ' -- he also sent him a purple robe and a golden crown-'and you are to study our interests and maintain friendly relations with us.'

21 Jonathan put on the sacred vestments in the seventh month of the year 160, on the feast of Shelters; he then set about raising troops and manufacturing arms in quantity.

22 Demetrius was displeased when he heard what had happened.

23 'What have we been doing,' he said, 'for Alexander to forestall us in winning the friendship of the Jews and so improving his own position?

24 I too shall address an appeal to them, offering them advancement and riches as an inducement to support me.'

25 And he wrote to them as follows: 'King Demetrius to the Jewish nation, greetings.

26 'We have heard how you have kept your agreement with us and have maintained friendly relations with us and have not gone over to our enemies, and it has given us great satisfaction.

27 If you now continue to keep faith with us, we shall make you a handsome return for what you do on our behalf.

28 We shall accord you many exemptions and grant you privileges.

29 'Henceforth I release you and exempt all the Jews from the tribute, the salt dues and the crown levies,

30 and whereas I am entitled to one-third of the grain and one-half of the fruit of the trees, I release from this levy, from today and for the future, Judaea and the three districts annexed to it from Samaria-Galilee, from this day henceforth in perpetuity.

31 Jerusalem will be sacred and exempt, with its territory, from tithes and dues.

32 I relinquish control of the Citadel in Jerusalem and make it over to the high priest, so that he may man it with a garrison of his own choosing.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Rashi	Targum
1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.	1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David.
2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.	2. I will praise you, O LORD, for you made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me.	3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence, and You healed me.
4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit.	4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit.
5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name.	5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you, His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one.
6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning, there is joyful singing.	6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning, one rises in praise.
7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter."	7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken.
8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance, and I became frightened.	8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid.
9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate.	9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray.
10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth?	10. And I said, What profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness?
11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper."	11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper.
12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.	12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.
13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever.	13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise.

Tehillim (Psalms) 43:3 - JPS

3 Send forth Your light and Your truth (i.e., the Torah); they will lead me; they will bring me to Your holy mountain, to Your dwelling-place,

Mishle (Proverbs) 10:27 - JPS

27 The fear of the LORD prolongs life, while the years of the wicked will be shortened.

1 Yochanan (John) 4:1-12

By: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham & Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

1 Beloved do not faithfully obey every spirit but test the spirits [to determine] if they are from God, because many pseudo prophets have come forth into the world.

2 By this you [will intimately] know the spirit of God: every spirit that professes [that] Yeshua the Messiah came in (or, according to) [the] flesh is from God,

3 and every spirit that does not profess [that] Yeshua the Messiah came in (or, according to) [the] flesh is not from God, and this is of the anti-messiah, that you have heard that is coming, and now he is already in the [pagan] world.

4 You are from God, sons, and have conquered them (the pseudo-prophets), because greater is He who [is] in you than he who [is] in the [pagan] world.

5 They (the pseudo-prophets) are from the [pagan] world; because of this they speak from the [pagan] world and the [pagan] world listens to them.

6 We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us [Jewish Hakhamim]; whoever is not from God does not listen to us [Jewish Hakhamim]. By this we know/distinguish the spirit of truth (i.e., of the Torah – cf. Psalm 119:142) and/from the spirit of deceit.

7 Beloved, we must love [and treasure greatly] one another, because love is from God (the numerical value of Ahavah and Echad = 13), and everyone who loves [and treasures greatly the Jewish brethren] has been fathered (begotten) by God and knows God.

8 The one who does not love [and does not treasure greatly the Jewish brethren] does not know God, because God is love (the numerical value of Ahavah and Echad = 13).

9 In this the love of God is revealed in us: that God has sent His only begotten son (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel) into the [pagan] world that we may live through him.

10 In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He (God) loved us and sent his son (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel) [as] a propitiation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God loved us so, we must also love [and treasure greatly] one another.

12 No one has seen God at any time. If we should love [and treasure greatly] one another, God tabernacles in us and His love has been achieved in us.

END OF THE READINGS FOR THE FIFTH DAY OF CHANKAH

Chanukah Day 6 & Rosh Chodesh Tebet

Tebet 1, 5784

Evening Tuesday December 12, 2023 – Evening Wednesday December 13, 2023

Rosh Chodesh Tebet (Second Day) – New Moon of the Month of Tebet (Second Day)

Torah: Numbers 28:1-15

Reader 1 – Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:1-5

Reader 2 - Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:6-10

Reader 3 - Bamidbar (Numbers) 28:11-`5

Reader 4 – Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:42-47

Yehudit (Judith) 11:1 – 12:20

1 Maccabees 10:33 – 11:59

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Mishle (Proverbs) 7:1-27

Nazareans add in their private study and discussions: Psalm 27:1; Psalms 119:105; & 1 John 4:13-21

For further information please read and study:

http://www.betemunah.org/lapin.html, http://www.betemunah.org/connection.html,

http://www.betemunah.org/chanukah.html, & http://www.betemunah.org/lights.html

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 28:1-15

Rashi	Targum Pseudo Jonathan
1. The Lord spoke to: Moses, saying:	1. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh, saying:
2. Command the children of Israel and say to them: My offering, My food for My fire offerings, a spirit of satisfaction for Me, you shall take care to offer to Me at its appointed time.	2. Instruct the children of Israel and say to them: The priests may eat of My oblation the bread of the order of My table; but that which you offer upon My altar may no man eat. Is there not a fire that will consume it? And it will be accepted before Me as a pleasant smell. Sons of Israel, My people, be admonished to offer it from the firstlings on the Sabbath, an oblation before Me in its time.
3. And you shall say to them: This is the fire offering which you shall offer to the Lord: two unblemished lambs in their first year each day as a continual burnt offering.	3. And say to them: This is the order of the oblations you will offer before the LORD; two lambs of the year, unblemished, daily, a perpetual burnt offering.
4. The one lamb you shall offer up in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer up in the afternoon.	4. The one lamb you will perform in the morning to make atonement for the sins of the night; and the second lamb you will perform between the suns to atone for the sins of the day;
5. And one tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, mixed with a quarter of a hin of crushed [olive] oil.	5. and the tenth of three seahs of wheat flour as a mincha mingled with beaten olive oil, the fourth of a hin.
6. A continual burnt offering, as the one offered up at Mount Sinai, for a spirit of satisfaction, a fire offering to the Lord.	6. It is a perpetual burnt offering, such as was (ordained to be) offered at Mount Sinai, to be received with favor as an oblation before the LORD.
7. Its libation shall be one quarter of a hin for each lamb, to be poured on the holy [altar] as a libation of strong wine to the Lord.	7. And its libation will be the fourth of a hin for one lamb; from the vessels of the house of the Sanctuary will it be outpoured, a libation of old wine. But if old wine may not be found, bring wine of forty days to pour out before the LORD.
8. And the second lamb you shall offer up in the afternoon. You shall offer up it with the same meal offering and libation as the morning [sacrifice], a fire offering with a spirit of satisfaction to the Lord.	8. And the second lamb you will perform between the suns, according to the presentation of the morning, and according to its oblation will you make the offering, that it may be accepted with favor before the LORD.
9. And on the Sabbath day, two unblemished lambs in the first year, and two tenths fine flour as a meal offering, mixed with oil, and its libation.	9. but on the day of Shabbat two lambs of the year without blemish, and two-tenths of flour mixed with olive oil for the mincha and its libation.
10. [This is] the burnt offering of each Sabbath on its Sabbath, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation.	10. On the Sabbath you will make a Sabbath burnt sacrifice in addition to the perpetual burnt sacrifice and its libation.
11. And on the beginning of your months, you shall offer up a burnt offering to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in the first year, [all] unblemished.	11. And at the beginning of your months you will offer a burnt sacrifice before the LORD; two young bullocks, without mixture, one ram, lambs of the year seven, unblemished;
12. Three tenths fine flour as a meal offering, mixed with oil for each bull, and two tenths fine flour as a meal offering, mixed with oil for each ram.	12. and three tenths of flour mingled with oil for the mincha for one bullock; two tenths of flour with olive oil for the mincha of the one ram;
13. And one tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a meal offering for each lamb. A burnt offering with a spirit of satisfaction, a fire offering to the Lord.	13. and one tenth of flour with olive oil for the mincha for each lamb of the burnt offering, an oblation to be received with favor before the LORD.
14. And their libations: a half of a hin for each bull, a third of a hin for each ram, and a quarter of a hin for each lamb; this is the burnt offering of each new month in its month, throughout the months of the year.	14. And for their libation to be offered with them, the half of a bin for a bullock, the third of a bin for the ram, and the fourth of a hin for a lamb, of the wine of grapes. This burnt sacrifice will be offered at the beginning of every month in the time of the removal of the beginning of every month in the year;
15. And one young male goat for a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered up in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation.	15. and one kid of the goats, for a sin offering before the LORD at the disappearing (failure) of the moon, with the perpetual burnt sacrifice will you perform with its libation.

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 7:42-47

Rashi	Targum Pseudo Jonathan
42. On the sixth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of De'uel.	42. on the sixth, Eljasaph bar Dehuel, prince of the Benei Gad;
43. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.	43.
44. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.	44.
45. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.	45.
46. One young he goat for a sin offering.	46.
47. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Eliasaph the son of De'uel.	47.

Yehudit (Judith) 11:1 – 12:20

New Jerusalem Bible Version

NJB Judith 11:1 'Courage, woman,' Holofernes said, 'do not be afraid. I have never hurt anyone who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world.

2 Even now, if your nation of mountain dwellers had not insulted me, I would not have raised a spear against them. This was their fault, not mine.

3 But tell me, why have you fled from them and come to us? . . . Anyhow, this will prove the saving of you. Courage! You will live through this night, and many after.

4 No one will hurt you. On the contrary, you will be treated as well as any who serve my lord King Nebuchadnezzar.'

5 Judith said, 'Please listen favourably to what your slave has to say. Permit your servant to speak in your presence, I shall speak no word of a lie to my lord tonight.

6 You have only to follow your servant's advice and God will bring your work to a successful conclusion; in what my lord undertakes he will not fail.

7 Long life to Nebuchadnezzar, king of the whole world, who has sent you to set every living soul to rights; may his power endure! Since, thanks to you, he is served not only by human beings, but because of your might the wild animals themselves, the cattle, and the birds of the air are to live in the service of Nebuchadnezzar and his whole House.

8 'We have indeed heard of your genius and adroitness of mind. It is known everywhere in the world that throughout the empire you have no rival for ability, wealth of experience and brilliance in waging war.

9 We have also heard what Achior said in his speech to your council. The men of Bethulia having spared him, he has told them everything that he said to you.

10 Now, master and lord, do not disregard what he said; keep it in your mind, since it is true; our nation will not be punished, the sword will indeed have no power over them, unless they sin against their God.

11 But as it is, my lord need expect no repulse or setback, since death is about to fall on their heads, for sin has gained a hold over them, provoking the anger of their God each time that they commit it.

12 As they are short of food and their water is giving out, they have resolved to fall back on their cattle and decided to make use of all the things that God has, by his laws, forbidden them to eat.

13 Not only have they made up their minds to eat the first fruits of corn and the tithes of wine and oil, though these have been consecrated by them and set apart for the priests who serve in Jerusalem in the presence of our God, and may not lawfully even be handled by ordinary people,

14 but they have sent men to Jerusalem -- where the inhabitants are doing much the same -- to bring them back authorisation from the Council of Elders.

15 Now this will be the outcome: when the permission arrives and they act on it, that very day they will be delivered over to you for destruction.

16 'When I, your servant, came to know all this, I fled from them. God has sent me to do things with you at which the world will be astonished when it hears.

17 Your servant is a devout woman; she honours the God of heaven day and night. I therefore propose, my lord, to stay with you. I, your servant, shall go out every night into the valley and pray to God to let me know when they have committed their sin.

18 I shall then come and tell you, so that you can march out with your whole army; and none of them will be able to resist you.

19 I shall be your guide right across Judaea until you reach Jerusalem; there I shall enthrone you in the very middle of the city. And then you can round them up like shepherd-less sheep, with never a dog daring to bark at you. Foreknowledge tells me this; this has been foretold to me and I have been sent to reveal it to you.'

20 Her words pleased Holofernes, and all his adjutants. Full of admiration at her wisdom they exclaimed,

21 'There is no woman like her from one end of the earth to the other, so lovely of face and so wise of speech!'

22 Holofernes said, 'God has done well to send you ahead of the others. Strength will be ours and ruin theirs who have insulted my lord.

23 As for you, you are as beautiful as you are eloquent; if you do as you have promised, your God shall be my God, and you yourself shall make your home in the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar and be famous throughout the world.'

NJB Judith 12:1 With that he had her brought in to where his silver dinner service was already laid, and had his own food served to her and his own wine poured out for her.

2 But Judith said, 'I would rather not eat this, in case I incur some fault. What I have brought will be enough for me.'

3 'Suppose your provisions run out,' Holofernes asked, 'how could we get more of the same sort? We have no one belonging to your race here.'

4 'May your soul live, my lord,' Judith answered, 'the Lord will have used me to accomplish his plan, before your servant has finished these provisions.'

5 Holofernes' adjutants then took her to a tent where she slept until midnight. A little before the morning watch, she got up.

6 She had already sent this request to Holofernes, 'Let my lord kindly give orders for your servant to be allowed to go out and pray,'

7 and Holofernes had ordered his guards not to prevent her. She stayed in the camp for three days; she went out each night to the valley of Bethulia and washed at the spring where the picket had been posted.

8 As she went, she prayed to the Lord God of Israel to guide her in her plan to relieve the children of her people.

9 Having purified herself, she would return and stay in her tent until her meal was brought her in the evening.

10 On the fourth day Holofernes gave a banquet, inviting only his own staff and none of the other officers.

11 He said to Bagoas, the officer in charge of his personal affairs, 'Go and persuade that Hebrew woman you are looking after to come and join us and eat and drink in our company.

12 We shall be disgraced if we let a woman like this go without seducing her. If we do not seduce her, everyone will laugh at us!'

13 Bagoas then left Holofernes and went to see Judith. 'Would this young and lovely woman condescend to come to my lord?' he asked. 'She will occupy the seat of honour opposite him, drink the joyful wine with us and be treated today like one of the Assyrian ladies who stand in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar.'

14 'Who am I', Judith replied, 'to resist my lord? I shall not hesitate to do whatever he wishes and doing this will be my joy to my dying day.'

15 So she got up and put on her dress and all her feminine adornments. Her maid preceded her, and on the floor in front of Holofernes spread the fleece which Bagoas had given Judith for her daily use to lie on as she ate.

16 Judith came in and took her place. The heart of Holofernes was ravished at the sight; his very soul was stirred. He was seized with a violent desire to sleep with her; and indeed, since the first day he saw her, he had been waiting for an opportunity to seduce her.

17 'Drink then!' Holofernes said. 'Enjoy yourself with us!'

18 'I am delighted to do so, my lord, for since my birth I have never felt my life more worthwhile than today.'

19 She took what her maid had prepared and ate and drank facing him.

20 Holofernes was so enchanted with her that he drank far more wine than he had drunk on any other

day in his life.

1 Maccabees 10:33 - 11:59

New Jerusalem Bible Version

10:33 Every Jewish person taken from Judaea into captivity in any part of my kingdom I set free without ransom, and decree that all will be exempt from taxes, even on their livestock.

34 All festivals, Sabbaths, New Moons and days of special observance, and the three days before and three days after a festival, will be days of exemption and quittance for all the Jews in my kingdom,

35 and no one will have the right to exact payment from, or to molest, any of them for any matter whatsoever.

36 'Jews will be enrolled in the king's forces to the number of thirty thousand men and receive maintenance on the same scale as the rest of the king's forces.

37 Some of them will be stationed in the king's major fortresses, and from among others appointments will be made to positions of trust in the kingdom. Their officers and commanders will be appointed from their own number and will live under their own laws, as the king has prescribed for Judaea.

38 'As regards the three districts annexed to Judaea from the province of Samaria, these will be integrated into Judaea and considered as coming under one governor, obeying the high priest's authority and no other.

39 Ptolemais and the land thereto pertaining I present to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, to meet the necessary expenses of public worship.

40 And I make a personal grant of fifteen thousand silver shekels annually chargeable to the royal revenue from appropriate places.

41 And the entire surplus, which has not been paid in by the officials as in previous years, will henceforth be paid over by them for work on the Temple.

42 In addition, the sum of five thousand silver shekels, levied annually on the profits of the sanctuary, as shown in the annual accounts, is also relinquished as the perquisite of the priests who perform the liturgy.

43 Anyone who takes refuge in the Temple in Jerusalem or any of its precincts, when in debt to the royal exchequer or otherwise, will be discharged in full possession of all the goods he owns in my kingdom.

44 As regards the building and restoration of the sanctuary, the expense of the work will be met from the royal exchequer.

45 The reconstruction of the walls of Jerusalem and the fortification of the perimeter will also be a charge on the royal exchequer, as also the reconstruction of other city walls in Judaea.'

46 When Jonathan and the people heard these proposals, they put no faith in them and refused to accept them, remembering what great wrongs Demetrius had done to Israel and how cruelly he had oppressed them.

47 They decided in favour of Alexander, since he seemed to offer the better inducements of the two, and they became his constant allies.

48 King Alexander now mustered large forces and advanced against Demetrius.

49 The two kings met in battle. Alexander's army was routed, and Demetrius pursued him and defeated his troops.

50 He continued the battle with vigour until sunset. Demetrius himself, however, was killed the same day.

51 Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy king of Egypt, with this message:

52 'Since I have returned to my kingdom, have ascended the throne of my ancestors, have gained control by crushing Demetrius, and so recovered our country-

53 for I fought him, and we crushed both him and his army, and I now occupy his royal throne-

54 let us now make a treaty of friendship. Give me your daughter in marriage: as your son-in-law, I shall give you, and her, presents which are worthy of you.'

55 King Ptolemy replied as follows: 'Happy the day when you returned to the land of your ancestors and ascended their royal throne!

56 I shall at once do for you what your letter proposes; but meet me at Ptolemais, so that we can see one another, and I shall become your father-in-law, as you have asked.'

57 Ptolemy left Egypt with his daughter Cleopatra and reached Ptolemais in the year 162.

58 King Alexander went to meet him, and Ptolemy gave him the hand of his daughter Cleopatra and celebrated her wedding in Ptolemais with great magnificence, as kings do.

59 King Alexander then wrote to Jonathan to come and meet him.

60 Jonathan made his way in state to Ptolemais and met the two kings; he gave them and their friends silver and gold, and many gifts, and made a favourable impression on them.

61 A number of scoundrels, the pest of Israel, combined to denounce him, but the king paid no attention to them.

62 In fact, the king commanded that Jonathan should be divested of his own garments and clothed in the purple, which was done.

63 The king then seated him by his side and said to his officers, 'Escort him into the centre of the city and proclaim that no one is to bring charges against him on any count; no one is to molest him for any reason.'

64 And so, when his accusers saw the honour done him by this proclamation, and Jonathan himself invested in the purple, they all fled.

65 The king did him the honour of enrolling him among the First Friends and appointed him commander-in-chief and governor-general.

66 Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem in peace and gladness.

67 In the year 165, Demetrius son of Demetrius came from Crete to the land of his ancestors.

68 When King Alexander heard of it he was plunged into gloom and retired to Antioch.

69 Demetrius confirmed Apollonius as governor of Coele-Syria; the latter assembled a large force, encamped at Jamnia, and sent the following message to Jonathan the high priest:

70 'You are entirely alone in rising against us, and now I find myself ridiculed and reproached on your account. Why do you use your authority to our disadvantage in the mountains?

71 If you are so confident in your forces, come down now to meet us on the plain and let us take each other's measure there; on my side I have the strength of the towns.

72 Ask and learn who I am and who the others supporting us are. You will hear that you cannot stand up to us, since your ancestors were twice routed on their own ground,

73 nor will you now be able to withstand the cavalry or so great an army on the plain, where there is neither rock, nor stone, nor refuge of any kind.'

74 On hearing Apollonius' words, Jonathan's spirit was roused; he picked ten thousand men and left Jerusalem, and his brother Simon joined him with reinforcements.

75 He drew up his forces outside Joppa, the citizens having shut him out, since Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa. When they began the attack,

76 the citizens took fright and opened the gates, and Jonathan occupied Joppa.

77 Hearing this, Apollonius marshalled three thousand cavalry and a large army and made his way to Azotus as though intending to march through, while in fact pressing on into the plain, since he had a great number of cavalry on which he was relying.

78 Jonathan pursued him as far as Azotus, where the armies joined battle.

79 Now, Apollonius had left a thousand horsemen in concealment behind them.

80 Jonathan knew of this enemy position behind him; the horsemen surrounded his army, firing their arrows into his men from morning till evening.

81 But the troops stood firm, as Jonathan had ordered. Once the cavalry was exhausted,

82 Simon sent his own troops into attack against the phalanx, which he cut to pieces and routed.

83 The cavalry scattered over the plain and fled to Azotus, where they took sanctuary in Beth-Dagon, the temple of their idol.

84 Jonathan, however, set fire to Azotus and the surrounding towns, plundered them, and burned down the temple of Dagon, with all the fugitives who had crowded into it.

85 The enemy losses, counting those who fell by the sword and those burnt to death, totalled about eight thousand men.

86 Jonathan then left and pitched camp outside Ascalon, where the citizens came out to meet him with great ceremony.

87 Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem with his followers, laden with booty.

88 In the event, when King Alexander heard what had happened, he awarded Jonathan further honours:

89 he sent him the golden brooch, of the kind customarily presented to the King's Cousins, and gave him proprietary rights over Ekron and the land adjoining it.

NJB  1 Maccabees 11:1 The king of Egypt then assembled an army as numerous as the sands of the seashore, with many ships, and set out to take possession of Alexander's kingdom by a ruse and add it to his own kingdom.

2 He set off for Syria with protestations of peace, and the people of the towns opened their gates to him and came out to meet him, since King Alexander's orders were to welcome him, Ptolemy being his father-in-law.

3 On entering the towns, however, Ptolemy quartered troops as a garrison in each one.

4 When he reached Azotus he was shown the burnt-out temple of Dagon, with Azotus and its suburbs in ruins, corpses scattered here and there, and the charred remains of those whom Jonathan had burnt to death in the battle, piled into heaps along his route.

5 They explained to the king what Jonathan had done, hoping for his disapproval; but the king said nothing.

6 Jonathan went in state to meet the king at Joppa, where they greeted each other and spent the night.

7 Jonathan accompanied the king as far as the river called Eleutherus, and then returned to Jerusalem.

8 King Ptolemy for his part occupied the coastal towns as far as Seleucia on the coast, all the while maturing his wicked designs against Alexander.

9 He sent envoys to King Demetrius to say, 'Come and let us make a treaty; I shall give you my daughter, whom Alexander now has, and you shall rule your father's kingdom.

10 I regret having given my daughter to that man, since he has tried to kill me.'

11 He made this accusation because he coveted his kingdom.

12 Having carried off his daughter and bestowed her on Demetrius, he broke with Alexander, and their enmity became open.

13 Ptolemy next entered Antioch and assumed the crown of Asia; he now wore on his head the two crowns of Egypt and Asia.

14 King Alexander was in Cilicia at the time, since the people of those parts had risen in revolt,

15 but when he heard the news, he advanced on his rival to give battle, while Ptolemy for his part also took the field, met him with a strong force and routed him.

16 Alexander fled to Arabia for refuge, and King Ptolemy reigned supreme.

17 Zabdiel the Arab cut off Alexander's head and sent it to Ptolemy.

18 Three days later King Ptolemy died, and the Egyptian garrisons in the strongholds were killed by the local inhabitants.

19 So Demetrius became king in the year 167.

20 At the same time, Jonathan mustered the men of Judaea for an assault on the Citadel of Jerusalem, and they set up numerous siege-engines against it.

21 But some renegades who hated their nation made their way to the king and told him that Jonathan was besieging the Citadel.

22 The king was angered by the news. No sooner had he been informed than he set out and came to Ptolemais. He wrote to Jonathan, telling him to raise the siege and to meet him for a conference in Ptolemais as soon as possible.

23 When Jonathan heard this, he gave orders for the siege to continue; he then selected a deputation from the elders of Israel and the priests, and took the deliberate risk

24 of himself taking silver and gold, clothing and numerous other presents, and going to Ptolemais to face the king, whose favour he succeeded in winning;

25 and although one or two renegades of his nation brought charges against him,

26 the king treated him as his predecessors had treated him and promoted him in the presence of all his friends.

27 He confirmed him in the high-priesthood and whatever other distinctions he already held and had him ranked among the First Friends.

28 Jonathan asked the king to exempt Judaea and the three Samaritan districts from taxation, promising him three hundred talents in return.

29 The king consented, and wrote Jonathan a rescript covering the whole matter, in these terms:

30 'King Demetrius to Jonathan his brother, and to the Jewish nation, greetings.

31 'We have written to Lasthenes our cousin concerning you, and now send you this copy of our rescript for your own information:

32 "King Demetrius to his father Lasthenes, greetings.

33 "The nation of the Jews is our ally; they fulfil their obligations to us, and in view of their goodwill towards us we have decided to show them our bounty.

34 We confirm them in their possession of the territory of Judaea and the three districts of Aphairema, Lydda and Ramathaim; these were annexed to Judaea from Samaritan territory, with all their dependencies, in favour of all who offer sacrifice in Jerusalem, instead of the royal dues which the king formerly received from them every year, from the yield of the soil and the fruit crops.

35 As regards our other rights over the tithes and taxes due to us, over the salt marshes, and the crown taxes due to us, as from today we release them from them all.

36 None of these grants will be revoked henceforth or anywhere.

37 You will make yourself responsible for having a copy of this made, to be given to Jonathan and displayed on the holy mountain in a conspicuous place." '

38 When King Demetrius saw that the country was at peace under his rule and that no resistance was offered him, he dismissed his forces, and sent all the men home, except for the foreign troops that he had recruited in the foreign island, thus incurring the enmity of the veterans who had served his ancestors.

39 Now Trypho, one of Alexander's former supporters, noting that all the troops were muttering against Demetrius, went to see Iamleku, the Arab who was bringing up Antiochus, Alexander's young son,

40 and repeatedly urged him to let him have the boy, so that he might succeed his father as king; he told him of Demetrius' decision and of the resentment it had aroused among his troops. He spent a long time there.

41 Jonathan, meanwhile, sent to ask King Demetrius to withdraw the garrisons from the Citadel in Jerusalem and from the other fortresses, since they were constantly fighting Israel.

42 Demetrius sent word back to Jonathan, 'Not only will I do this for you and for your nation, but I shall heap honours on you and your nation if I find a favourable opportunity.

43 For the present, you would do well to send me reinforcements, since all my troops have deserted.'

44 Jonathan sent three thousand experienced soldiers to him in Antioch; when they reached the king, he was delighted at their arrival.

45 The citizens crowded together in the centre of the city, to the number of some hundred and twenty thousand, intending to kill the king.

46 The king took refuge in the palace, while the citizens occupied the thoroughfares of the city and began to attack.

47 The king then called on the Jews for help; and these all rallied round him, then fanned out through the city, and that day killed about a hundred thousand of its inhabitants.

48 They fired the city, seizing a great deal of plunder at the same time, and secured the king's safety.

49 When the citizens saw that the Jews had the city at their mercy, their courage failed them, and they made an abject appeal to the king,

50 'Give us the right hand of peace, and let the Jews stop their fight against us and the city.'

51 They threw down their arms and made peace. The Jews were covered in glory, in the eyes of the king and of everyone else in his kingdom. Having won renown in his kingdom, they returned to Jerusalem laden with booty.

52 Thus, King Demetrius sat all the more securely on his royal throne, and the country was quiet under his government.

53 But he gave the lie to all the promises he had made, and changed his attitude to Jonathan, giving nothing in return for the services Jonathan had rendered him, but thwarting him at every turn.

54 After this, Trypho came back with the little boy Antiochus, who became king and was crowned.

55 All the troops that Demetrius had summarily dismissed rallied to Antiochus, and made war on Demetrius, who turned tail and fled.

56 Trypho captured the elephants and seized Antioch.

57 Young Antiochus then wrote as follows to Jonathan: 'I confirm you in the high-priesthood and set you over the four districts and appoint you one of the Friends of the King.'

58 He sent him a service of gold plate and granted him the right to drink from gold vessels, and to wear the purple and the golden brooch.

59 He appointed his brother Simon commander-in-chief of the region from the Ladder of Tyre to the frontiers of Egypt.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Rashi	Targum
1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.	1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David.
2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.	2. I will praise you, O LORD, for you made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me.	3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence, and You healed me.
4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit.	4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit.
5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name.	5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one.
6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning, there is joyful singing.	6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning, one rises in praise.
7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter."	7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken.
8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance, and I became frightened.	8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid.
9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate.	9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray.
10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth?	10. And I said, What profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness?
11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper."	11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper.
12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.	12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.
13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever.	13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise.

Special Ketubim Rosh Chodesh – Mishle (Proverbs) 7:1-27

1 ¶ My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with you.

2 Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of your eye.

3 Bind them upon your fingers, write them upon the table of thy heart.

4 Say unto wisdom: ‘You are my sister’, and call understanding your kinswoman;

5 That they may keep you from the strange woman, from the alien woman that makes smooth her words.

6 ¶ For at the window of my house I looked forth through my lattice;

7 And I beheld among the thoughtless ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

8 Passing through the street near her corner, and he went the way to her house;

9 In the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the blackness of night and the darkness.

10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and wily of heart.

11 She is riotous and rebellious, her feet abide not in her house;

12 Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, and lies in wait at every corner.

13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face she said unto him:

14 ‘Sacrifices of peace-offerings were due from me; this day have I paid my vows.

15 Therefore came I forth to meet you, to seek your face, and I have found you.

16 I have decked my couch with coverlets, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.

17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; let us solace ourselves with loves.

19 For my husband is not at home, he is gone a long journey;

20 He has taken the bag of money with him; he will come home at the appointed day (new moon).’

21 With her much fair speech she causes him to yield, with the blandishment of her lips she entices him away.

22 He goes after her straightway, as an ox that goes to the slaughter, or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool;

23 Till an arrow strike through his liver; as a bird hastens to the snare—and knows not that it is at the cost of his life.

24 ¶ Now therefore, O you children, hearken unto me, and attend to the words of my mouth.

25 Let not your heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

26 For she has cast down many wounded; yes, a mighty host are all her slain.

27 Her house is the way to the nether world, going down to the chambers of death.

Tehillim (Psalms) 27:1 - JPS

1 Of David. The LORD is my light and my help; whom should I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life, whom should I dread?

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:105 - JPS

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet, a light for my path. (Psa 119:105)

1 Yochanan (John) 4:13-21

By: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham & Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

13 In this we know that we tabernacle in him (the Master) and he (the Master) in us: that he (the Master) has given to us of his spirit (i.e., Oral Torah).

14 And we have seen and bear witness that the Father has sent His son (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel) as redeemer of the [pagan] world.

15 Whosoever acknowledges that Yeshua is the son of God (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel), God tabernacles in him and he in God.

16 And we have come to know and have believed the love that God has for us [i.e., the Jewish people]. God is love (the numerical value of Ahavah and Echad = 13), and the one who tabernacles in love [for the Jewish people] tabernacles in God, and God tabernacles in him.

17 In this love is achieved in us, [so] that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as he (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel) is [an agent of G-d], so also are we [agents of G-d] in this [pagan] world.

18 There is no fear in [the] love [of God and His Jewish people], but perfect love [of God and His Jewish people] drives out fear [from anyone or anything], because fear includes punishment, and the one who is afraid has not been perfected in [the] love [of God and the Jewish people].

19 We love, because he first loved us.

20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his [Jewish] brother/sister, he is a liar, for the one who does not love his [Jewish] brother/sister whom he has seen is not able to love God whom he has not seen.

21 And this is the commandment we have from him (i.e. the Master): that the one who loves God should love his [Jewish] brother/sister also.

END OF THE READINGS FOR THE SIXTH DAY OF CHANKAH

Chanuka Seventh Day

Tebet 02, 5784

Evening Wednesday December 13, 2023 - Evening Thursday Dec. 14, 2023

Torah: Numbers 7:48-59

Reader 1 – Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:48-50

Reader 2 - Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:51-53

Reader 3 - Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:54-59

Yehudit (Judith) 13:1 – 14:19

1 Maccabees 11:60 – 13:47

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Nazareans add in their private study and discussions: Is. 9:1-2; & 1 John 5:1-12

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 7:48-59

Rashi	Targum PseudoJonathan
48. On the seventh day, the chieftain was of the sons of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud.	48. on the seventh, Elishama bar Ammihud, prince of the Benei Ephraim;
49. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.	49.
50. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.	50.
51. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.	51.
52. One young he goat for a sin offering.	52.
53. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Elishama the son of Ammihud;	53.
54. On the eighth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Manasseh, Gamliel the son of Pedazhur.	54.
55. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.	55.
56. One spoon [weighing] ten [silver shekels] of gold filled with incense.	56.
57. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.	57.
58. One young he goat for a sin offering.	58.
59. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Gamliel the son of Pedazhur.	59.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Rashi	Targum
1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.	1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David.
2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.	2. I will praise you, O LORD, for you made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me.	3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence, and You healed me.
4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit.	4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit.
5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name.	5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you, His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one.
6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning, there is joyful singing.	6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning, one rises in praise.
7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter."	7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken.
8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance, and I became frightened.	8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid.
9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate.	9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray.
10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth?	10. And I said, What profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness?
11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper."	11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper.
12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.	12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.
13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever.	13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise.

Hakham Hillel’s additionalcommentary on Tehillim (Psalms) 30

This Psalm is reserved for the occasions of innovation; be it the new first-fruit, or newly dedicated Temple. It is both a prayer for success, ‘To You, HaShem, I called and to my Lord I appealed’^[51] and a confident declaration of eternal thanksgiving, ‘HaShem, my God, I will offer You thanks forever’.^[52]

This psalm, once used to inaugurate the Temple, is used today to inaugurate our daily prayers at the outset of Pesukei DiZimra, Verses of Praise; for the synagogue is a ‘a miniature Temple’ and our prayers take the place of the sacrifices. While the Temple stood, this psalm was recited during the ceremonies which took place when the Temple courtyard was expanded. The song of thanksgiving was accompanied by musical instruments at every corner and on every great rock in Jerusalem, and they sang, ‘I will exalt You on High, HaShem’.^[53]

Also, the Mishna^[54] relates that when the multitudes of Israel carried their baskets of ‘first-fruits’ to Jerusalem for the festival of Shavuot, they were greeted at the Temple courtyard by the choir of Levites who sang this psalm. Masechet Sofrim 18:2 designates this as the shir shel yom, שיר של יום ‘The Song of the Day’ for Chanukah.^[55]

The superscription for Psalm 30 attributes it’s authorship to David. This superscription seems to be saying, as Rashi and Radak explain, that it was written by King David for the ceremony of the dedication of the Temple.

One might ask how King David could have written this chapter if he was not alive for the dedication of the Temple. An answer might be that King David made every possible preparation for the building of the Temple in order to ensure that his son King Shlomo would build it. Sefer Shmuel concludes with David’s purchase of the land upon which the Temple would be built. He even built an altar upon which he offered Korbanot.^[56] Divre HaYamim I,^[57] chapters 22-29, describes how David organized the Priests and the Levites into the groups^[58] which would alternate in their duties in the Temple. He amassed all of the materials (gold, silver, copper, wood, etc.) necessary to build the Temple, and even drew up all the architectural plans of the various sections of the Temple. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that David also composed a Psalm to be sung at the dedication of the Temple.

Malbim sees the psalm as addressed to the Temple of the body, since the body itself is a place of worship of HaShem. The essence of man is his soul, his spirit. The physical body is but a structure in which the spirit dwells. David’s recuperation from his near-fatal illness^[59] was therefore an apt occasion for dedicating his “house” to the service of HaShem.

Noting that the synagogue is a miniature Temple, we therefore recite this psalm during the Shacharit (morning) prayers. Indeed, this seems to be the basis for the practice^[60] to recite this Psalm immediately after completing our recitation of Korbanot and before the beginning of Pesukei Dezimra. It serves as a bridge between the Korbanot and the “Songs of David” that we use to praise HaShem in Pesukei Dezimra.

Since the Malbim^[61] sees the “Temple of the body” in this psalm, I thought that I would use this commentary to elaborate a bit on that idea.

Go and stand before a mirror. What do you see? A head, two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Look down and you will see a neck which leads to the internal areas of the heart, stomach, etc.

You are looking at a human being. But if you look closer you will see one of the most profound creations in HaShem’s world, a miniature Beit HaMikdash.^[62]

This study was precipitated by the following pasuk:

Shemot (Exodus) 25:8 And you shall make a sanctuary for me; that I may dwell among them.

The Or Hachayim^[63] asks why the Torah states “and you shall make a Mikdash^[64] for me”, and then in the next verse it says “the form of the Tabernacle…so shall you do”. Are we talking about the Mikdash^[65] or the Mishkan^[66]? The Or Hachayim writes that the commandment to make a Mikdash for HaShem is not only referring to the time when Bne Israel were in the desert, but includes all of Jewish history from the time that we were in the desert to the time that we entered Eretz Israel. He writes that when the Jewish people are in Eretz Israel, and even in a time of Galut,^[67] the mitzva to build the Mikdash still applies.

The Malbim answers this question, in his work entitled Remazey HaMishkan^[68] explains that we each have to build inside of ourselves a Mikdash, that each one of us must provide a residence for HaShem’s presence.

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin,^[69] the renowned student of the Gaon of Vilna,^[70] said that the commandment to construct a Tabernacle is primarily a personal commandment; every Jew is “a living tabernacle in miniature.” HaShem rests the Shechinah, His Divine Presence, primarily in the human heart.

Excerpt from Sefer Charedim – The Book of the Awestruck^[71] 66:27 – You are a Temple for the presence of the Holy King! As such, it is extremely important that you sanctify your heart and your soul, as well as all 248 limbs (bones^[72]) of your body.^[73] It is written, “The Holy One is in your midst”,^[74] and “They [the people] are HaShem’s Temple”,^[75] and “Be holy, for I, HaShem, am holy”,^[76] and “I will place My Mishkan in your midst”.^[77] HaShem means what He says: “I dwell in you!”

Rabbi Chaim explains: The Zohar compares every Jew to the Temple.^[78] Just like the center of the Temple is the Holy of Holies, the center of the human being is his heart. His head is above him, his feet are beneath him, so the heart which is at the midpoint of his trunk, is the actual center of his being. Just as the holiness that is the source of all that is good in the world emanates from the Holy of Holies, the life force of the human emanates from the heart.

In his commentary on Chumash, the Malbim explains that the Beit HaMikdash^[79] is a macrocosm of the human body: If you look at a plan of the Heichel^[80] in the Beit HaMikdash, you will notice that the placement of the various vessels, the altar, the table, and the Menorah all corresponds to the location of the vital organs in the human body. In other words, each of the Temple’s vessels represents a human organ.

The Midrash compares the Mishkan,^[81] as a whole, to the human body, and each of its implements and components to various human organs and body parts. The beams supporting the Mishkan symbolize the ribs, the curtains of goats’ hide correspond to a person’s skin, and the Shulchan^[82] represents the stomach. The Kiyor^[83] suggests the liquid element of the human body. The Menorah, provider of light in the Mishkan, represents the human mind, which provides us with the light of comprehension and understanding. The Keruvim,^[84] which spread their wings over the Aron,^[85] correspond to the lungs, which are positioned over the heart, and the Aron corresponds to the human heart.

This picture of the Beit HaMikdash representing a man, as a place where HaShem resides, is also explicitly stated in the Nazarean Codicil:^[86]

I Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

Finally, we can understand that the Temple was not only the picture of a man, but it was the picture of the perfect man, the Mashiach:

Yochanan (John) 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Yeshua answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

Ephesians 2:19-22 So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow–citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, 20 being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Mashiach Yeshua himself being the chief corner stone; 21 in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

A Critical Connection

When the men of the Great Assembly removed the yetzer hara^[87] of avodah Zara^[88] from the inner sanctum of the Beit HaMikdash, the effect was its removal from all our “work stations” connected to the “mainframe” in the Kodesh HaKadashim (Holy of Holies) in Jerusalem:

Yoma 69b He answered: One does not pronounce the Ineffable Name outside [the limits of the Temple]. But may one not? Is it not written: And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. [. . . and Ezra praised the great God]. And R. Giddal [commenting thereupon] said: He magnified Him by [pronouncing] the Ineffable Name?-That was a decision in an emergency. And [they] cried with a great [loud] voice unto the Lord, their God. What did they cry? — Woe, woe, it is he who has destroyed the Sanctuary, burnt the Temple, killed all the righteous, driven all Israel into exile, and is still dancing around among us! Thou hast surely given him to us so that we may receive reward through him. We want neither him, nor reward through him! Thereupon a tablet fell down from heaven for them, whereupon the word ‘truth’ was inscribed. (R. Hanina said: One may learn therefrom that the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He, is truth). They ordered a fast of three days and three nights, whereupon he was surrendered to them. He came forth from the Holy of Holies like a young fiery lion.

From this Gemara we see that everyone in the entire world is connected to the Beit HaMikdash. In some way we ARE the Beit HaMikdash!

When Idolatry was excised from the world, it was visibly manifesting as flame from the Kodesh Kodashim. But, the effects were felt in every human being from that time forward. From that time forward, human beings no longer had a craving for idolatry that was as strong as the craving for food or sex. We now possess only a shadow of that craving.^[89]

Thus we see that while idolatry lived in the hearts of men until that fateful days, once it was removed from the hearts of men, it was also removed from the Beit HaMikdash. This shows that the Beit HaMikdash pictures men and is meant to be seen as a picture of a man.^[90]

The Temple as a Body^[91]

“Gold” is the soul;

“silver,” the body;

“copper,” the voice;

“blue,” the veins;

“purple,” the flesh;

“red,” the blood;

“flax,” the intestines;

“goat hair,” the hair;

“ram skins dyed red,” the skin of the face;

“tachash skins,” the scalp;

“shittim wood,” the bones;

“oil for lighting,” the eyes;

“spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,” the nose, mouth and palate;

“shoham stones and gemstones for setting,” the kidneys and the heart.^[92]

In this next section I would like to briefly elaborate on some of the parts of the body as they are represented in the Temple.

Head = Heichel

The Ohel Moed^[93] was divided into two rooms. The back room was called the Kodesh HaKadashim, the Holy of Holies. Placed in this room was the Aron, Holy Ark, the most sacred of the articles in the Sanctuary. The Holy Ark consisted of three boxes, one inside the other. The innermost box contained the two tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were engraved. These Commandments were the outline of all the mitzvot in the Torah. It represented the brain of the perfect man. Just as a brain has two hemispheres, the right and the left, so too there were two tablets. Just as man contemplates only Torah ideas and ideals, so too the Ark contained the essence of Torah. Just as the brain is triply encased in a skull with two membranes, the tablets were also encased in three boxes.

We can also view the brain in a second way: The brain is enclosed in a double membrane, and the entrance to the Kodesh HaKadashim was through a double curtain.

Brain = Ark of the Covenant.

The brain has two major portions, the left and right hemispheres of the brain. These two correspond with the two Luchot, the tablets on which were inscribed the ten commandments.

The Holy of Holies houses the Ark of the Covenant topped by the two winged Keruvim,^[94] one of which represents HaShem (the male), while the other represents Israel (the female). The Divine voice heard by man emerges from between these two Keruvim.

When Moses arrived at the Ohel Moed to speak with HaShem, he heard the voice speaking to him from atop the cover that was upon the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim, and He spoke to him.^[95]

Additionally, as Torah is wisdom and is stored in the ark, so, too, does wisdom come from the brain of man.

Cranial Membrane = Curtain.

Chazal teach that the curtain moved rhythmically in and out as though moved by the breath of a man.

Eyes = Menorah + Shulchan.

The eyes are used for two purposes. One is used for intellectual pursuits, enlightenment, symbolized by the light of the Menorah. Just as the Menorah’s fuel was the purest of oil, so too should man strive for the purity of enlightenment. According to the Kabbalists, there are seven areas of spiritual wisdom and the seven branches of the Menorah represent them. The second function of the eyes is for survival: to see and avoid pitfalls, to search out food in order to live; this is symbolized by the showbread (Shulchan).

Ears = Chamber of Hewn Stone

As the ears are partly internal and partly external to the body, so, too, the Sanhedrin met in the chamber of hewn stone which was partly inside the Temple and partly outside.

The Sanhedrin “heard” cases.

Nose = Golden Altar of Incense

Just as the nose is the organ of smell and is located in the center of the face, the Golden Altar was located in the center of the room and upon it the fragrant smelling incense was offered. The incense had great mystical meaning and represented the spreading of pleasantness among men. This offering brought atonement for gossip and tale bearing.

Mouth = Door to the Heichel^[96].

The opening of the Kodesh (the Holy place), which led to the Azara (Courtyard), was at the bottom of the room. It represented the mouth of man. Here the kohanim (Priests) stood when they uttered the priestly benediction every morning.

Why did HaShem communicate to Moshe through the child-like Keruvim? Are the Keruvim the mouth?

Salivary glands = Laver.

As the salivary glands provide water at the entrance to the mouth, so too does the laver provide water at the “mouth” of the Heichel (the sanctuary building).

Heart = The base of the altar

The sacrificial blood was dashed against the altar and then poured out at the base of the altar. As the altar has four corners, so too does the heart have four chambers. As the heart has a higher and lower part, so too does the altar have a red line that marks the upper and lower parts (some offerings had their blood dashed above and some had the blood dashed below).

Breasts = The ark poles projecting into the curtain

Bear in mind that all of the implements in the Temple had feminine names. Thus we understand that the Temple represented the body of Mashiach, which was always depicted as female.

Stomach = Altar

Outside the Ohel Moed / Heichel, in the center of the courtyard, was the main Altar upon which the sacrifices were offered and consumed. This represents the stomach and internal organs of man.

The sacrifices were also called food:

Vayikra (Leviticus) 3:11 And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto HaShem.

As the stomach is slightly off-center, so, too, is the altar slightly off-center.

Notice that we speak of the stomach as having “heart-burn”, just as the altar burns, so our stomach burns.

Umbilical cord = The smoke from the altar

As the smoke originated on the altar and exited the Beit HaMikdash from the altar, so too does the umbilical cord connect to the stomach and exit from the stomach.

Esophagus = Altar Ramp.

The sacrifices were carried up the ramp and laid on the altar. Even so, the food is carried by the esophagus to the stomach.

Sex organs = Fifteen steps between the men’s and women’s courtyards.

The Levitical choir would sing the fifteen Psalms / Songs of Ascent while standing on these fifteen steps, during Succoth. Succoth is, of course, the quintessential picture of the marital chamber. The words of the Levites represent the sperm and the music represents the semen. The movements of the Levitical choir represent the thrusts of the organ.

Next to these semi-circular steps were two rooms used to store the musical instruments. These seem to represent the testes. They are the instruments from which the music originates. The music gives force to the lyrics.

Skin = Wall

Ashes = Waste Product.

The ashes were stored in the center of the brazen altar until carried outside the camp. Even so, the waste product of a man is connected to the stomach and exits at the center of the body. Man’s waste is also to be deposited outside the camp.

The Beit HaMikdash is Feminine

The parts of the Beit HaMikdash (the words for the implements and furnishings) all are in the feminine gender, in Hebrew. This suggests that the structure and its utensils are part of a female body. This aspect is further emphasized when we note that the Torah calls a man’s wife his “house”. A wife is a house.^[97] Thus, the Beit HaMikdash, “The House of the Holy One”, would also be female.

If one looks at the form of the Beit HaMikdash as emphasized by the courtyards, we can see that the Woman’s courtyard is the largest courtyard, and it is at the “bottom” of the structure. This mirrors the female body which has the largest part at the bottom of the structure. Please remember that the arms and legs are not part of the structure, only the head and torso.

A SONG OF INAUGURATION

Chanukah is the celebration of the re-dedication of the altar of the Temple in the days of the Maccabees. Sephardim recite Tehillim (Psalms) 30 after we kindle the Chanukah lamps. Tehillim 30 is titled: Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit L’David, A Psalm, a Song for the Inauguration of the Temple by David. Chazal^[98] calls this Psalm the Shir Shel Yom for Chanukah, The song for the Day of Chanukah.

In reviewing this Chapter, it is fascinating to note that it begins as A Song for the inauguration of the Temple, yet it thereafter makes no mention of the Beit HaMikdash whatsoever! Additionally, it is curious that we recite this Chapter of Temple inauguration at the outset of each day of Chanukah, notwithstanding that we are not present in a new or rededicated Beit HaMikdash at that moment.

We may gain some insight into this Chapter of Mizmor Shir from the fact that King David is its author. We all know that David HaMelech did not build the Beit HaMikdash, but that instead his son, Shlomo HaMelech did, four years after David’s passing. How then, could David sing the song of its inauguration?

HaRav Avraham Chaim Feuer, Shlita, in his masterful work on Tehillim^[99], brings the Malbim to explain these questions. The Malbim suggests that the HaBayit (The House) referred to at the beginning of the Chapter, is not, in fact, the Beit HaMikdash. Rather, it refers to the human body which houses its soul. HaRav Mordechai Gifter, z”tl, adds that the Torah considers the human body, if it has been sanctified, to be a miniature Temple as the Pasuk states:

Shemot (Exodus) 25:8 And they shall make for me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell within them” i.e., not within it [the Sanctuary] but within them [the people themselves].

With this principle we can now understand how David HaMelech could recite this Psalm never having seen the Beit HaMikdash; why no further reference to the Beit HaMikdash at all is made in this Psalm; and why this Psalm inaugurates our prayers every single day. It is not the Beit HaMikdash that we are inaugurating, but by recitation of this Chapter, it is ourselves that we are dedicating and rededicating.

This suggests that the reason that the Beit HaMikdash was designed to mimic the human body, is to remind us that HaShem wants to dwell in us. Further we can understand in a larger sense that HaShem want to dwell in Mashiach who embodies all Israel. This takes us back to Gan Eden when HaShem walked with Adam in the garden. In this final scenario, HaShem will walk with the second Adam in Gan Eden. Amen v’Amen!

Yehudit (Judith) 13:1 – 14:19

New Jerusalem Bible Version

NJB Judith 13:1 It grew late, and his staff hurried away. Bagoas closed the tent from the outside, having shown out those who still lingered in his lord's presence. They went to their beds wearied with too much drinking,

 2 and Judith was left alone in the tent with Holofernes who had collapsed wine-sodden on his bed.

 3 Judith then told her maid to stay just outside the bedroom and wait for her to come out, as she did every morning. She had let it be understood she would be going out to her prayers and had also spoken of her intention to Bagoas.

 4 By now everyone had left Holofernes, and no one, either important or unimportant, was left in the bedroom. Standing beside the bed, Judith murmured to herself: Lord God, to whom all strength belongs, prosper what my hands are now to do for the greater glory of Jerusalem;

 5 now is the time to recover your heritage and to further my plans to crush the enemies arrayed against us.

 6 With that she went up to the bedpost by Holofernes' head and took down his scimitar;

 7 coming closer to the bed she caught him by the hair and said, 'Make me strong today, Lord God of Israel!'

 8 Twice she struck at his neck with all her might and cut off his head.

 9 She then rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the bedposts. After which, she went out and gave the head of Holofernes to her maid

 10 who put it in her food bag. The two then left the camp together, as they always did when they went to pray. Once they were out of the camp, they skirted the ravine, climbed the slope to Bethulia and made for the gates.

 11 From a distance, Judith shouted to the guards on the gates, 'Open the gate! Open! For the Lord our God is with us still, displaying his strength in Israel and his might against our enemies, as he has done today!'

 12 Hearing her voice, the townsmen hurried down to the town gate and summoned the elders.

 13 Everyone, great and small, came running down, since her arrival was unexpected. They threw the gate open, welcomed the women, lit a fire to see by and crowded round them.

 14 Then Judith raised her voice and said, 'Praise God! Praise him! Praise the God who has not withdrawn his mercy from the House of Israel but has shattered our enemies by my hand tonight!'

 15 She pulled the head out of the bag and held it for them to see. 'This is the head of Holofernes, general-in-chief of the Assyrian army; here is the canopy under which he lay drunk! The Lord has struck him down by the hand of a woman!

 16 Glory to the Lord who has protected me in the course I took! My face seduced him, only to his own undoing; he committed no sin with me to shame me or disgrace me.'

 17 Overcome with emotion, the people all prostrated themselves and worshipped God, exclaiming with one voice, 'Blessings on you, our God, for confounding your people's enemies today!'

 18 Uzziah then said to Judith: May you be blessed, my daughter, by God Most High, beyond all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, Creator of heaven and earth, who guided you to cut off the head of the leader of our enemies!

 19 The trust which you have shown will not pass from human hearts, as they commemorate the power of God for evermore.

 20 God grant you may be always held in honour and rewarded with blessings, since you did not consider your own life when our nation was brought to its knees, but warded off our ruin, walking in the right path before our God. And the people all said, 'Amen! Amen!'

NJB Judith 14:1 Judith said, 'Listen to me, brothers. Take this head and hang it on your battlements.

 2 When morning comes and the sun is up, let every man take his arms and every able-bodied man leave the town. Appoint a leader for them, as if you meant to march down to the plain against the Assyrian advanced post. But you must not do this.

 3 The Assyrians will gather up their equipment, make for their camp and wake up their commanders; they in turn will rush to the tent of Holofernes and not be able to find him. They will then be seized with panic and flee at your advance.

 4 All you and the others who live in the territory of Israel will have to do is to give chase and slaughter them as they retreat.

 5 'But before you do this, call me Achior the Ammonite, for him to see and identify the man who held the House of Israel in contempt, the man who sent him to us as someone already doomed to die.'

 6 So they had Achior brought from Uzziah's house. No sooner had he arrived and seen the head of Holofernes held by a member of the people's assembly than he fell on his face in a faint.

 7 They lifted him up. He then threw himself at Judith's feet and, prostrate before her, exclaimed: May you be blessed in all the tents of Judah and in every nation; those who hear your name will be seized with dread!

 8 'Now tell me everything that you have done in these past few days.' And surrounded by the people, Judith told him everything she had done from the day she left Bethulia to the moment when she was speaking.

 9 When she came to the end, the people cheered at the top of their voices until the town echoed.

 10 Achior, recognising all that the God of Israel had done, believed ardently in him and, accepting circumcision, was permanently incorporated into the House of Israel.

 11 At daybreak they hung the head of Holofernes on the ramparts. Every man took his arms, and they all went out in groups to the slopes of the mountain.

 12 Seeing this, the Assyrians sent word to their leaders, who in turn reported to the generals, the captains of thousands and all the other officers;

 13 and these in their turn reported to the tent of Holofernes. 'Rouse our master,' they said to his major-domo, 'these slaves have dared to march down on us to attack -- and to be wiped out to a man!'

 14 Bagoas went inside and struck the curtain dividing the tent, thinking that Holofernes was sleeping with Judith.

 15 But as no one seemed to hear, he drew the curtain and went into the bedroom, to find him thrown down dead on the threshold, with his head cut off.

 16 He gave a great shout, wept, sobbed, shrieked and rent his clothes.

 17 He then went into the tent which Judith had occupied and could not find her either. Then, rushing out to the men, he shouted,

 18 'The slaves have rebelled! A single Hebrew woman has brought shame on the House of Nebuchadnezzar. Holofernes is lying dead on the ground, without his head!'

 19 When they heard this, the leaders of the Assyrian army tore their tunics in consternation, and the camp rang with their wild cries and their shouting.

1 Maccabees 11:60 - 13:47

New Jerusalem Bible Version

60 Jonathan then set out and made a progress through Trans Euphrates and its towns, and the entire Syrian army rallied to his support. He came to Ascalon and was received in state by the inhabitants.

 61 From there he proceeded to Gaza, but the people of Gaza shut him out, so he laid siege to it, burning down its suburbs and plundering them.

 62 The people of Gaza then pleaded with Jonathan, and he made peace with them; but he took the sons of their chief men as hostages and sent them away to Jerusalem. He then travelled through the country as far as Damascus.

 63 Jonathan now learned that Demetrius' generals had arrived at Kadesh in Galilee with a large army, intending to remove him from office,

 64 and went to engage them, leaving his brother Simon inside the country.

 65 Simon laid siege to Beth-Zur, attacking it day after day, and blockading the inhabitants

 66 till they sued for peace, which he granted them, though he expelled them from the town and occupied it, stationing a garrison there.

 67 Jonathan and his army, meanwhile, having pitched camp by the Lake of Gennesar, rose early, and by morning were already in the plain of Hazor.

 68 The foreigners' army advanced to fight them on the plain, having first positioned an ambush for him in the mountains. While the main body was advancing directly towards the Jews,

 69 the troops in ambush broke cover and attacked first.

 70 All the men with Jonathan fled; no one was left, except Mattathias son of Absalom and Judas son of Chalphi, the generals of his army.

 71 At this, Jonathan tore his garments, put dust on his head, and prayed.

 72 Then he returned to the fight and routed the enemy, who fled.

 73 When the fugitives from his own forces saw this, they came back to him and joined in the pursuit as far as Kadesh where the enemy encampment was, and there they themselves pitched camp.

 74 About three thousand of the foreign troops fell that day. Jonathan then returned to Jerusalem.

NJB  1 Maccabees 12:1 When Jonathan saw that circumstances were working in his favour, he sent a select mission to Rome to confirm and renew his treaty of friendship with the Romans.

 2 He also sent letters to the same effect to the Spartans and to other places.

 3 The envoys made their way to Rome, entered the Senate, and said, 'Jonathan the high priest and the Jewish nation have sent us to renew your treaty of friendship and alliance with them as before.'

 4 The Senate gave them letters to the authorities of each place, to procure their safe conduct to Judaea.

 5 The following is the copy of the letter Jonathan wrote to the Spartans:

 6 'Jonathan the high priest, the senate of the nation, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people to the Spartans their brothers, greetings.

 7 'In the past, a letter was sent to Onias, the high priest, from Areios, one of your kings, stating that you are indeed our brothers, as the copy subjoined attests.

 8 Onias received the envoy with honour, and accepted the letter, in which a clear declaration was made of friendship and alliance.

 9 For our part, though we have no need of these, having the consolation of the holy books in our possession,

 10 we venture to send to renew our fraternal friendship with you, so that we may not become strangers to you, a long time having elapsed since you last wrote to us.

 11 We, for our part, on every occasion, at our festivals and on other appointed days, unfailingly remember you in the sacrifices we offer and, in our prayers, as it is right and fitting to remember brothers.

 12 We rejoice in your renown.

 13 'We ourselves, however, have had many trials and many wars, the neighbouring kings making war on us.

 14 We were unwilling to trouble you or our other allies and friends during these wars,

 15 since we have the support of Heaven to help us, thanks to which we have been delivered from our enemies, and they are the ones who have been brought low.

 16 We have therefore chosen Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, and sent them to the Romans to renew our former treaty of friendship and alliance,

 17 and we have ordered them also to visit you, to greet you and deliver you this letter of ours concerning the renewal of our brotherhood;

 18 we shall be grateful for an answer to it.'

 19 The following is the copy of the letter sent to Onias:

 20 'Areios king of the Spartans, to Onias the high priest, greetings.

 21 'It has been discovered in records regarding the Spartans and Jews that they are brothers, and of the race of Abraham.

 22 Now that this has come to our knowledge, we shall be obliged if you will send us news of your welfare.

 23 Our own message to you is this: your flocks and your possessions are ours, and ours are yours, and we are instructing our envoys to give you a message to this effect.'

 24 Jonathan learned that Demetrius' generals had returned with a larger army than before to make war on him.

 25 He therefore left Jerusalem and went to engage them in the area of Hamath, not giving them the time to invade his own territory.

 26 He sent spies into their camp, who told him on their return that the enemy were taking up positions for a night attack on the Jews.

 27 At sunset, Jonathan ordered his men to keep watch with their weapons at hand, in readiness to fight at any time during the night and posted advance guards all-round the camp.

 28 On learning that Jonathan and his men were ready to fight, the enemy took fright and, with quaking hearts, lit fires in their bivouac and decamped.

 29 Jonathan and his men, watching the glow of the fires, were unaware of their withdrawal until morning,

 30 and although Jonathan pursued them, he failed to overtake them, for they had already crossed the river Eleutherus.

 31 So Jonathan wheeled round on the Arabs called Zabadaeans, beat them and plundered them;

 32 then, breaking camp, he went to Damascus, thus crossing the whole province.

 33 Simon, meanwhile, had also set out and had penetrated as far as Ascalon and the neighbouring towns. He then turned-on Joppa and moved quickly to occupy it,

 34 for he had heard of their intention to hand over this strong point to the supporters of Demetrius; he stationed a garrison there to hold it.

 35 Jonathan, on his return, called a meeting of the elders of the people and decided with them to build fortresses in Judaea

 36 and to heighten the walls of Jerusalem and erect a high barrier between the Citadel and the city, to cut the former off from the city and isolate it, to prevent the occupants from buying or selling.

 37 Rebuilding the city was a co-operative effort: part of the wall over the eastern ravine had fallen down; he restored the quarter called Chaphenatha.

 38 Simon, meanwhile, rebuilt Adida in the lowlands, fortifying it, and erecting gates with bolts.

 39 Trypho's ambition was to become king of Asia, assume the crown, and overpower King Antiochus.

 40 He was apprehensive that Jonathan might not allow him to do this, and might even make war on him, so he set out and came to Beth-Shean, in the hopes of finding some pretext for having him arrested and put to death.

 41 Jonathan went out to intercept him, with forty thousand picked men in battle order, and arrived at Beth-Shean.

 42 When Trypho saw him there with a large force, he hesitated to make any move against him.

 43 He even received him with honour, commended him to all his friends, gave him presents and ordered his friends and his troops to obey him as they would himself.

 44 He said to Jonathan, 'Why have you given all these people so much trouble, when there is no threat of war between us?

 45 Send them back home; pick yourself a few men as your bodyguard, and come with me to Ptolemais, which I am going to hand over to you, with the other fortresses and the remaining troops and all the officials; after which, I shall take the road for home. This was my purpose in coming here.'

 46 Jonathan trusted him and did as he said, he dismissed his forces, who went back to Judaea.

 47 With him he retained three thousand men, of whom he left two thousand in Galilee, while a thousand accompanied him.

 48 But as soon as Jonathan had entered Ptolemais, the people of Ptolemais closed the gates, seized him, and put all those who had entered with him to the sword.

 49 Trypho sent troops and cavalry into Galilee and the Great Plain to destroy all Jonathan's supporters.

 50 These, concluding that he had been taken and had perished with his companions, encouraged one another, marching with closed ranks and ready to give battle,

 51 and when their pursuers saw that they would fight for their lives, they turned back.

 52 All reached Judaea safe and sound, and there they lamented Jonathan and his companions, being very frightened; indeed, all Israel was plunged into mourning.

 53 The surrounding nations were all now looking for ways of destroying them: 'They have no leader,' they said, 'no ally; we have only to attack them now, and we shall blot out their very memory from all peoples.'

NJB  1 Maccabees 13:1 Simon heard that Trypho had collected a large army to invade and devastate Judaea,

 2 and when he saw how the people were quaking with fear, he went up to Jerusalem, called the people together,

 3 and exhorted them thus, 'You know yourselves how much I and my brothers and my father's family have done for the laws and the sanctuary; you know what wars and hardships we have experienced.

 4 That is why my brothers are all dead, for Israel's sake, and I am the only one left.

 5 Far be it from me, then, to be sparing of my own life in any time of oppression, for I am not worth more than my brothers.

 6 Rather will I avenge my nation and the sanctuary and your wives and children now that the foreigners are all united in malice to destroy us.'

 7 The people's spirit rekindled as they listened to his words,

 8 and they shouted back at him, 'You are our leader in place of Judas and your brother Jonathan.

 9 Fight our battles for us, and we will do whatever you tell us.'

 10 So he assembled all the fighting men and hurried on with completing the walls of Jerusalem, fortifying the whole perimeter.

 11 He sent a considerable force to Joppa under Jonathan son of Absalom who drove out the inhabitants and remained there in occupation.

 12 Trypho now left Ptolemais with a large army to invade Judaea, taking Jonathan with him under guard.

 13 Simon pitched camp in Adida, facing the plain.

 14 When Trypho learned that Simon had taken the place of his brother Jonathan and that he intended to join battle with him, he sent envoys to him with this message,

 15 'Your brother Jonathan was in debt to the royal exchequer for the offices he held; that is why we are detaining him.

 16 If you send a hundred talents of silver and two of his sons as hostages, to make sure that on his release he does not revolt against us, we shall release him.'

 17 Although Simon was aware that the message was a ruse, he sent for the money and the boys for fear of incurring great hostility from the people,

 18 who would have said that Jonathan had died because Simon would not send Trypho the money and the children.

 19 He therefore sent both the boys and the hundred talents, but Trypho broke his word and did not release Jonathan.

 20 Next, Trypho set about the invasion and devastation of the country; he made a detour along the Adora road, but Simon and his army confronted him wherever he attempted to go.

 21 The men in the Citadel kept sending messengers to Trypho, urging him to get through to them by way of the desert and send them supplies.

 22 Trypho organised his entire cavalry to go, but that night it snowed so heavily that he could not get through for the snow, so he left there and moved off into Gilead.

 23 As he approached Baskama he killed Jonathan, who was buried there.

 24 Trypho turned back and regained his own country.

 25 Simon sent and recovered the bones of his brother Jonathan, and buried him in Modein, the town of his ancestors.

 26 All Israel kept solemn mourning for him and long bewailed him.

 27 Over the tomb of his father and brothers, Simon raised a monument high enough to catch the eye, using dressed stone back and front.

 28 He erected seven pyramids facing each other, for his father and mother and his four brothers,

 29 surrounding them with a structure consisting of tall columns surmounted by trophies of arms to their everlasting memory and, besides the trophies of arms, ships sculpted on a scale to be seen by all who sail the sea.

 30 Such was the monument he constructed at Modein, and it is still there today.

 31 Now Trypho, betraying the trust of young King Antiochus, put him to death.

 32 He usurped his throne, assuming the crown of Asia, and brought great havoc on the country.

 33 Simon built up the fortresses of Judaea, surrounding them with high towers, great walls and gates with bolts, and stocked these fortresses with food.

 34 He also sent a delegation to King Demetrius, to get him to grant the province a remission, since all Trypho did was to despoil.

 35 King Demetrius replied to his request in a letter framed as follows:

 36 'King Demetrius to Simon, high priest and Friend of Kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greetings.

 37 'It has pleased us to accept the golden crown and the palm you have sent us, and we are disposed to make a general peace with you, and to write to the officials to grant you remissions.

 38 Everything that we have decreed concerning you remains in force, and the fortresses you have built may remain in your hands.

 39 We pardon all offences, unwitting or intentional, hitherto committed, and remit the crown tax you now owe us; and whatever other taxes were levied in Jerusalem are no longer to be levied.

 40 If any of you are suitable for enrolment in our bodyguard, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us.'

 41 The gentile yoke was thus lifted from Israel in the year 170,

 42 when our people began engrossing their documents and contracts: 'In the first year of Simon, eminent high priest, commander-in-chief and ethnarch of the Jews'.

 43 About that time Simon laid siege to Gezer, surrounding it with his troops. He constructed a mobile tower, brought it up to the city, opened a breach in one of the bastions and took it.

 44 The men in the mobile tower sprang out into the city, where great confusion ensued.

 45 The citizens, accompanied by their wives and children, mounted the ramparts with their garments torn and loudly implored Simon to make peace with them:

 46 'Treat us', they said, 'not as our wickedness deserves, but as your mercy prompts you.'

 47 Simon came to terms with them and stopped the fighting; but he expelled them from the city, purified the houses which contained idols, and then made his entry with songs of praise.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 9:1-2 - JPS

1 The people that walked in darkness have seen a brilliant light; On those who dwelt in a land of gloom light has dawned.

 2 You have magnified that nation, have given it great joy; They have rejoiced before You As they rejoice at reaping time, as they exult when dividing spoil.

1 John 5:1-12

By: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham & Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

1 Everyone who is confident that Yeshua is the King Messiah of Israel (i.e., has accepted the yokes of the kingdom and of the Torah) has been fathered (begotten) by God, and everyone who loves Him (God) that fathered (begat) [him/her] also loves the [the Jewish sons and daughters] fathered by Him (God).

2 In this we know that we love the sons/daughters of God: when we [continually and earnestly] love God and keep/observe [faithfully] His commandments.

3 For this is the love of God: that we must [faithfully] keep/observe His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (difficult to observe/keep),

4 because everyone who is fathered (begotten) by God conquers the [pagan] world; and this is [the conquering tool] which conquers the [pagan] world, our faithful obedience [to God].

5 Now, who is the one who, conquers the [pagan] world except the one who is confident that Yeshua is the son of God (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel – i.e., has accepted the yokes of the kingdom and of the Torah)?

6 This is the one who came by [the] blood [of circumcision] and [the] waters [of the Mikveh] Yeshua the Messiah, not with the waters [of the Mikveh] only, but with the blood [of circumcision] and the waters [of the Mikveh]. And the Spirit [of G-d in the Bet Din] is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth [i.e., Torah – cf. Psalm 119:142).

7 For there are three that testify,

8 the Spirit [of G-d in the Bet Din], the blood [of circumcision] and the waters [of the Mikveh], and the three are in unity.

9 If we receive the witness of [Torah observant] persons, the witness of God is greater, because this is the witness of God that He has witnessed concerning his son (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel).

10 (The one who adheres to (or puts his/her trust in) the son of God (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel- i.e., has accepted the yokes of the kingdom and of the Torah) has the testimony [of the Bet Din, of circumcision and of the Mikveh] in himself. The one who does not adhere [to the King Messiah of Israel- i.e., has not accepted the yokes of the kingdom and of the Torah] God has made him a liar, because he has not adhered in the testimony that God has testified concerning his son (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel).)

11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel).

12 The one who has the son (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel – i.e. has accepted the yokes of the kingdom and of the Torah) has that [eternal] life; the one who does not have the son of God (i.e. the King Messiah of Israel – i.e. the yokes of the kingdom and of the Torah) does not have that [eternal] life.

END OF THE READINGS FOR THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHANKAH

Chanuka Eighth Day

Tebet 03, 5784

Evening Thursday Dec. 14, 2023 - Evening Friday Dec. 15, 2023

Torah: Numbers 7:54-89

Reader 1 – Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:54-56

Reader 2 - Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:57-59

Reader 3 - Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:60-89

Yehudit (Judith) 15:1 – 16:25

1 Maccabees 13:48 - 16:24

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Nazareans add in their private study and discussions: Zechariah 14:6-7; & 1 John 5:13-21

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 7:54-89

Rashi	Targum Pseudo Jonathan
54. On the eighth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Manasseh, Gamliel the son of Pedazhur.	54. on the eighth, Gamaliel bar Pedazur, prince of Menasheh;
55. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.	55.
56. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.	56.
57. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.	57.
58. One young he goat for a sin offering.	58.
59. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Gamliel the son of Pedazhur.	59.
60. On the ninth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gideoni.	60. on the ninth, Abidan bar Gideoni, prince of Benjamin;
61. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.
62. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.
63. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.
64. One young he goat for a sin offering.
65. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Abidan the son of Gideoni.
66. On the tenth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.	66. on the tenth, Achiezer bar Amishaddai, prince of the Beni Dan;
67. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.
68. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.
69. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.
70. One young he goat for a sin offering.
71. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai.
72. On the eleventh day, the chieftain was of the sons of Asher, Pag'iel the son of Ochran.	72. on the eleventh, Pagiel bar Achran, prince of Asher;
73. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.
74. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.
75. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.
76, One young he goat for a sin offering.
77. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Pag'iel the son of Ochran.
78. On the twelfth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan.	78. and on the twelfth day, Achira bar Enan, prince of the Beni Naphtali, offered.
79. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering.
80. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense.
81. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering.
82. One young he goat for a sin offering.
83. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Ahira the son of Enan.
84. This was the dedication offering of the altar presented by the chieftains on the day it was anointed; there were twelve silver bowls, twelve silver basins and twelve gold spoons.	84. This is the oblation at the anointing of the altar, on the day that they anointed it, from the riches of the princes of Israel: twelve silver bowls, answering to the twelve tribes; twelve silver vases, answering to the twelve princes of the B’ne Yisrael; twelve golden pans, answering to the twelve signs (mazalot).
85. The weight of each silver bowl was one hundred and thirty [shekels], and that of each basin was seventy [shekels]; all the silver of the vessels weighed in total two thousand four hundred [shekels] according to the holy shekel.	85. One hundred and thirty shekels was the weight of each silver bowl, answering to the years of Jokebed when she bare Mosheh; and seventy shekels was the weight of each vase, answering to the seventy elders of the great Sanhedrin: all the silver vessels, two thousand four hundred shekels, in shekels of the sanctuary.
86. Twelve gold spoons filled with incense; each spoon weighing ten [shekels] according to the holy shekel; all the gold spoons totaled one hundred and twenty shekels.	86. The golden pans were twelve, answering to the princes of Israel, full of good, sweet incense; the weight of ten shekels was the weight of each pan, answering to the Ten Words; all the gold of the pans, one hundred and twenty (shekels), answering to the years lived by Mosheh the prophet.
87. The total of the cattle for the burnt offerings was twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve lambs in their first year with their meal offerings. And [there were] twelve young he goats for sin offerings.	87. All the bullocks for the burnt offering, twelve, a bullock for a prince of the house of the fathers; twelve rams, because the twelve princes of Ishmael would perish; twelve lambs of the year, because the twelve princes of Persia would perish; and their minchas, that famine might be removed from the world; and twelve kids of the goats for the sin offering, to atone for the sins of the twelve tribes.
88. The total of cattle for the peace offerings was twenty-four oxen, sixty rams, sixty he goats, and sixty lambs in their first year. This was the dedication offering for the altar, after it was anointed.	88. And all the oxen for consecrated victims, twenty‑four, answering to the twenty‑four orders (of the priests); the rams, sixty, answering, to the sixty years which Izhak had lived when he begat Jakob; the goats, sixty, answering to the sixty letters in the benediction of the priests; lambs of the year, sixty, to atone for the sixty myriads of Israel. This was the dedication of the altar by anointment on the day that they anointed it.
89. When Moses would come into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the voice speaking to him from the two cherubim above the covering which was over the Ark of Testimony, and He spoke to him.	89. And when Mosheh entered into the tabernacle of ordinance to speak with Him, he heard the voice of the Spirit who spoke with him descending from the heaven of heavens upon the Mercy Seat which was upon the Ark of the Testimony between the two Cherubim, and from thence was the Oracle speaking with him.

Yehudit (Judith) 15:1 – 16:25

New Jerusalem Bible Version

NJB Judith 15:1 When the men who were still in their tents heard the news they were appalled.

2 Panic-stricken and trembling, no two of them could keep together, the rout was complete, with one accord they fled along every track across the plain or through the mountains.

3 The men who had been bivouacking in the mountains round Bethulia were fleeing too. Then all the Israelite warriors charged down on them.

4 Uzziah sent messengers to Betomasthaim, Bebai, Choba, Kola, throughout the whole territory of Israel, to inform them of what had happened and to urge them all to hurl themselves on the enemy and annihilate them.

5 As soon as the Israelites heard the news, they fell on them as one man and massacred them all the way to Choba. The men of Jerusalem and the entire mountain country also rallied to them, once they had been informed of the events in the enemy camp. Then the men of Gilead and Galilee attacked them on the flank and struck at them fiercely till they neared Damascus and its territory.

6 All the other inhabitants of Bethulia fell on the Assyrian camp and looted it to their great profit.

7 The Israelites returning from the slaughter seized what was left. The hamlets and villages of the mountain country and the plain also captured a great deal of booty since there were vast stores of it.

8 Joakim the high priest and the entire Council of Elders of Israel, who were in Jerusalem, came to gaze on the benefits that the Lord had lavished on Israel and to see Judith and congratulate her.

9 On coming to her house, they blessed her with one accord, saying: You are the glory of Jerusalem! You are the great pride of Israel! You are the highest honour of our race!

10 By doing all this with your own hand you have deserved well of Israel, and God has approved what you have done. May you be blessed by the Lord Almighty in all the days to come! And the people all said, 'Amen!'

11 The people looted the camp for thirty days. They gave Judith the tent of Holofernes, all his silver plate, his divans, his drinking bowls and all his furniture. She took this, loaded her mule, harnessed her carts, and heaped the things into them.

12 All the women of Israel, hurrying to see her, formed choirs of dancers in her honour. Judith took wands of vine-leaves in her hand and distributed them to the women who accompanied her;

13 she and her companions put on wreaths of olive. Then she took her place at the head of the procession and led the women as they danced. All the men of Israel, armed and garlanded, followed them, singing hymns.

14 With all Israel round her, Judith broke into this song of thanksgiving and the whole people sang this hymn:

NJB Judith 16:1 Break into song for my God, to the tambourine, sing in honour of the Lord, to the cymbal, let psalm and canticle mingle for him, extol his name, invoke it!

2 For the Lord is a God who breaks battle-lines; he has pitched his camp in the middle of his people to deliver me from the hands of my oppressors.

3 Assyria came down from the mountains of the north, came with tens of thousands of his army. Their multitude blocked the ravines, their horses covered the hills.

4 He threatened to burn up my country, destroy my young men with the sword, dash my sucklings to the ground, make prey of my little ones, carry off my maidens;

5 but the Lord Almighty has thwarted them by a woman's hand.

6 For their hero did not fall at the young men's hands, it was not the sons of Titans struck him down, no proud giants made that attack, but Judith, the daughter of Merari, who disarmed him with the beauty of her face.

7 She laid aside her widow's dress to raise up those who were oppressed in Israel; she anointed her face with perfume,

8 bound her hair under a turban, put on a linen gown to seduce him.

9 Her sandal ravished his eye, her beauty took his soul prisoner and the scimitar cut through his neck!

10 The Persians trembled at her boldness, the Medes were daunted by her daring.

11 These were struck with fear when my lowly ones raised the war cry, these were seized with terror when my weak ones shouted, and when they raised their voices these gave ground.

12 The children of mere girls ran them through, pierced them like the offspring of deserters. They perished in the battle of my Lord!

13 I shall sing a new song to my God. Lord, you are great, you are glorious, wonderfully strong, unconquerable.

14 May your whole creation serve you! For you spoke and things came into being, you sent your breath, and they were put together, and no one can resist your voice.

15 Should mountains be tossed from their foundations to mingle with the waves, should rocks melt like wax before your face, to those who fear you, you would still be merciful.

16 A little thing indeed is a sweetly smelling sacrifice, still less the fat burned for you in burnt offering; but whoever fears the Lord is great for ever.

17 Woe to the nations who rise against my race! The Lord Almighty will punish them on judgement day. He will send fire and worms in their flesh, and they will weep with pain for evermore.

18 When they reached Jerusalem they fell on their faces before God and, once the people had been purified, they presented their burnt offerings, voluntary offerings and gifts.

19 All Holofernes' property given her by the people, and the canopy she herself had stripped from his bed, Judith vowed to God as a dedicated offering.

20 For three months the people gave themselves up to rejoicings in front of the Temple in Jerusalem, where Judith stayed with them.

21 When this was over, everyone returned home. Judith went back to Bethulia and lived on her property; as long as she lived, she enjoyed a great reputation throughout the country.

22 She had many suitors, but all her days, from the time her husband Manasseh died and was gathered to his people, she never gave herself to another man.

23 Her fame spread more and more, the older she grew in her husband's house; she lived to the age of one hundred and five. She emancipated her maid, then died in Bethulia and was buried in the cave where Manasseh her husband lay.

24 The House of Israel mourned her for seven days. Before her death she had distributed her property among her own relations and those of her husband Manasseh.

25 Never again during the lifetime of Judith, nor indeed for a long time after her death, did anyone trouble the Israelites.

1 Maccabees 13:48 - 16:24

New Jerusalem Bible Version

48 He banished all impurity from it, settled in it people who observed the Law, and having fortified it, built a residence there for himself.

49 The occupants of the Citadel in Jerusalem, prevented as they were from coming out and going into the countryside to buy and sell, were in desperate need of food, and numbers of them were being carried off by starvation.

50 They begged Simon to make peace with them, and he granted this, though he expelled them and purified the Citadel from its pollutions.

51 The Jews made their entry on the twenty-third day of the second month in the year 171, with acclamations and carrying palms, to the sound of lyres, cymbals, and harps, chanting hymns and canticles, since a great enemy had been crushed and thrown out of Israel. Simon made it a day of annual rejoicing.

52 He fortified the Temple hill on the Citadel side and took up residence there with his men.

53 Since his son John had come to manhood, Simon appointed him general-in-chief, with his residence in Gezer.

NJB  1 Maccabees 14:1 In the year 172, King Demetrius assembled his forces and marched into Media to raise help for the fight against Trypho.

2 When Arsaces king of Persia and Media heard that Demetrius had entered his territory, he sent one of his generals to capture him alive.

3 The general defeated the army of Demetrius, seized him, and brought him to Arsaces, who imprisoned him.

4 The country was at peace throughout the days of Simon. He sought the good of his nation and they were well pleased with his authority, as with his magnificence, throughout his life.

5 To crown his titles to glory, he took Joppa and made it a harbour, gaining access to the Mediterranean Isles.

6 He enlarged the frontiers of his nation, keeping his mastery over the homeland,

7 resettling a host of captives. He conquered Gezer, Beth-Zur and the Citadel, ridding them of every impurity, and no one could resist him.

8 The people farmed their land in peace; the land gave its produce, the trees of the plain their fruit.

9 The elders sat at ease in the squares, all their talk was of their prosperity; the young men wore splendid armour.

10 He kept the towns supplied with provisions and furnished with fortifications, until his fame resounded to the ends of the earth.

11 He established peace in the land, and Israel knew great joy.

12 Each man sat under his own vine and his own fig tree, and there was no one to make them afraid.

13 No enemy was left in the land to fight them; the very kings of those times had been crushed.

14 He encouraged the afflicted members of his people, suppressing every wicked man and renegade. He strove to observe the Law,

15 and gave new splendour to the Temple, enriching it with many sacred vessels.

16 When it became known in Rome and as far as Sparta that Jonathan was dead, people were deeply grieved.

17 But as soon as they heard that his brother Simon had succeeded him as high priest and was master of the country and the cities in it,

18 they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew the treaty of friendship and alliance which they had made with his brothers, Judas and Jonathan,

19 and the document was read out before the assembly in Jerusalem.

20 This is the copy of the letter sent by the Spartans: 'The rulers and the city of Sparta, to Simon the high priest and to the elders and priests and the rest of the people of the Jews, greetings.

21 'The ambassadors whom you sent to our people have informed us of your glory and prosperity, and we are delighted with their visit.

22 We have recorded their declarations in the minutes of our public assemblies, as follows, "Numenius son of Antiochus, and Antipater son of Jason, ambassadors of the Jews, came to us to renew their friendship with us.

23 And it was the people's pleasure to receive these personages with honour and to deposit a copy of their statements in the public archives, so that the people of Sparta might preserve a record of them. A copy was also made for Simon the high priest." '

24 After this, Simon sent Numenius to Rome as the bearer of a large golden shield weighing a thousand mina, to confirm the alliance with them.

25 When these events were reported to our people, they said, 'What mark of appreciation shall we give to Simon and his sons?

26 He stood firm, he and his brothers and his father's house: he fought off the enemies of Israel and secured its freedom.' So, they recorded an inscription on bronze tablets and set it up on pillars on Mount Zion.

27 This is a copy of the text: 'The eighteenth of Elul, in the year 172, being the third year of Simon, eminent high priest:

28 'In Asaramel, in the Grand Assembly of priests and people, of princes of the nation and of elders of the country: 'We are acquainted with the matters following:

29 'When there was almost incessant fighting in the country Simon, son of Mattathias, a priest of the line of Joarib, and his brothers courted danger and withstood their nation's enemies to safeguard the integrity of their sanctuary and of the Law, and so brought their nation great glory;

30 'For when, Jonathan having rallied his nation and become its high priest and having then been gathered to his ancestors,

31 the enemy planned to invade the country, intending to devastate their territory and to lay hands on their sanctuary,

32 Simon next came forward to fight for his nation: spending much of his personal wealth on arming his nation's fighting men and on providing their pay;

33 fortifying the towns of Judaea, as well as Beth-Zur on the Judaean frontier where the enemy arsenal had formerly been, and stationing in it a garrison of Jewish soldiers;

34 fortifying Joppa on the coast, and Gezer on the borders of Azotus, a place formerly inhabited by the enemy, founding a Jewish colony there, and providing the settlers with everything they needed to set them on their feet;

35 'In consequence of which, the people, aware of Simon's loyalty and of the glory which he was determined to win for his nation, have made him their ethnarch and high priest, for all his services and for the integrity and loyalty which he has shown towards his nation, and for having by every means sought to enhance his people's power;

36 'It has fallen to him in his time to expel the foreigners from his country, including those in the City of David in Jerusalem, who had converted it into a citadel for their own use, from which they would sally out to defile the surroundings of the sanctuary and to violate its sacred character;

37 to station Jewish soldiers there instead for the security of the country and the city; and to heighten the walls of Jerusalem;

38 'And since King Demetrius has heard that the Romans call the Jews their friends, allies and brothers,

39 and that they have given an honourable reception to Simon's ambassadors, and, furthermore,

40 that the Jews and priests are happy that Simon should, pending the advent of a genuine prophet, be their ethnarch and high priest for life

41 therefore he has confirmed him in the high-priestly office, has raised him to the rank of Friend and has showered great honours on him, also confirming him as their commander-in-chief,

42 with the right to appoint officials to oversee the fabric of the sanctuary and to administer the country, munitions and fortresses;

43 he is to have personal charge of the sanctuary, and to be obeyed by all; all official documents in the country must be drawn up in his name; and he may assume the purple and may wear golden ornaments;

44 'Furthermore, it is against the law for any member of the public or of the priesthood to contravene any of these enactments or to contest his decisions, or to convene a meeting anywhere in the country without his permission, or to assume the purple or wear the golden brooch;

45 and anyone acting contrary to, or rejecting any article of, these enactments is liable to punishment;

46 'And since the people have unanimously agreed to grant Simon the right to act as aforesaid, and

47 since Simon, for his part, has given his assent, and has consented to assume the high-priestly office and to be commander-in-chief and ethnarch of the Jews and their priests, and to preside over all:

48 'So, be it now enacted: that this record be inscribed on bronze tablets and be erected at some conspicuous place within the precincts of the Temple,

49 and that copies be deposited in the Treasury for Simon and his descendants.'

NJB  1 Maccabees 15:1 Antiochus son of King Demetrius addressed a letter from the Mediterranean Isles to Simon, priest and ethnarch of the Jews, and to the whole nation;

2 this was how it read: 'King Antiochus to Simon, high priest and ethnarch, and to the Jewish nation, greetings.

3 'Whereas certain scoundrels have seized control of the kingdom of our fathers, and I propose to claim back the kingdom so that I may re-establish it as it was before, and whereas I have accordingly recruited very large forces and fitted out warships,

4 intending to make a landing in the country and to hunt down the men who have ruined it and laid waste many towns in my kingdom.

5 'I now, therefore, confirm in your favour all remissions of taxes granted to you by the kings my predecessors, as well as the waiving of whatever presents they may have conceded.

6 I hereby authorise you to mint your own coinage as legal tender for your own country.

7 I declare Jerusalem and the sanctuary to be free; all the arms you have manufactured and the fortresses you have built and now occupy may remain yours.

8 All debts to the royal treasury, present or future, are cancelled henceforth in perpetuity.

9 Furthermore, when we have won back our kingdom, we shall bestow such great honour on yourself, your nation and the sanctuary as will make your glory known throughout the world.'

10 Antiochus invaded the land of his ancestors in the year 174 and, since the troops all rallied to him, Trypho was left with few supporters.

11 Antiochus pursued the usurper, who took refuge in Dora on the coast,

12 knowing that misfortunes were piling up on him and that his troops had deserted him.

13 Antiochus pitched camp outside Dora with a hundred and twenty thousand fighting men and eight thousand cavalry.

14 He laid siege to the city while the ships closed in from the sea, so that he had the city under attack from land and sea and allowed no one to go in or come out.

15 Numenius and his companions, meanwhile, arrived from Rome, bringing letters addressed to various kings and states, in the following terms:

16 'Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greetings.

17 'The Jewish ambassadors have come to us as our friends and allies to renew our original friendship and alliance in the name of the high priest Simon and the Jewish people.

18 They have brought a golden shield worth a thousand mina.

19 Accordingly, we have seen fit to write to various kings and states, warning them neither to molest the Jewish people nor to attack either them or their towns or their country, nor to ally themselves with any such aggressors.

20 We have seen fit to accept the shield from them.

21 If, therefore, any scoundrels have fled their country to take refuge with you, hand them over to Simon the high priest, to be punished by him according to their law.'

22 The consul sent the same letter to King Demetrius, to Attalus, Ariarathes and Arsaces,

23 and to all states, including Sampsames, the Spartans, Delos, Myndos, Sicyon, Caria, Samos, Pamphylia, Lycia, Halicarnassus, Rhodes, Phaselis, Cos, Side, Arados, Gortyn, Cyprus, and Cyrene.

24 They also drew up a copy for Simon the high priest.

25 Antiochus, meanwhile, from his positions on the outskirts of Dora, was continually throwing detachments against the town. He constructed siege-engines, and blockaded Trypho, preventing movement in or out.

26 Simon sent him two thousand picked men to support him in the fight, with silver and gold and plenty of equipment.

27 But Antiochus would not accept them; instead, he repudiated all his previous agreements with Simon and completely changed his attitude to him.

28 He sent him Athenobius, one of his Friends, to confer with him and say, 'You are now occupying Joppa and Gezer and the Citadel in Jerusalem, which are towns in my kingdom.

29 You have laid waste their territory and done immense harm to the country; and you have seized control of many places properly in my kingdom.

30 Either now surrender the towns you have taken and the taxes from the places you have seized outside the frontiers of Judaea,

31 or else pay me five hundred talents of silver in compensation for them and for the destruction you have done, and another five hundred talents for the taxes from the towns; otherwise, we shall come and make war on you.'

32 When the King's Friend, Athenobius, reached Jerusalem and saw Simon's magnificence, his cabinet of gold and silver plate and the state he kept, he was dumbfounded. He delivered the king's message,

33 but Simon gave him this answer, 'We have not taken foreign territory or any alien property but have occupied our ancestral heritage, for some time unjustly wrested from us by our enemies;

34 now that we have a favourable opportunity, we are merely recovering our ancestral heritage.

35 As regards Joppa and Gezer, which you claim, these were towns that did great harm to our people and laid waste our country; we are prepared to give a hundred talents for them.' Without so much as a word in answer,

36 the envoy went back to the king in a rage and reported on Simon's answer and his magnificence, and on everything he had seen, at which the king fell into a fury.

37 Trypho now boarded a ship and escaped to Orthosia.

38 The king appointed Cendebaeus military governor of the coastal region and allotted him a force of infantry and cavalry.

39 He ordered him to deploy his men facing Judaea and instructed him to rebuild Kedron and fortify its gates, and to make war on our people, while the king himself went in pursuit of Trypho.

40 Cendebaeus arrived at Jamnia and began to provoke our people forthwith, invading Judaea, taking prisoners, and massacring.

41 Having rebuilt Kedron, he stationed cavalry and troops there to make sorties and patrol the roads of Judaea, as the king had ordered.

NJB  1 Maccabees 16:1 John then went up from Gezer and reported to his father Simon what Cendebaeus was busy doing.

2 At this, Simon summoned his two elder sons, Judas, and John, and said to them, 'My brothers and I, and my father's House, have fought the enemies of Israel from our youth until today, and many a time we have been successful in rescuing Israel.

3 But now I am an old man, while you, by the mercy of Heaven, are the right age; take the place of my brother and myself, go out and fight for our nation, and may Heaven's aid be with you.'

4 He then selected twenty thousand of the country's fighting men and cavalry, and these marched against Cendebaeus, spending the night at Modein.

5 Making an early start, they marched into the plain, to find a large army opposing them, both infantry and cavalry; there was, however, a streambed in between.

6 John drew up facing them, he and his army and, seeing that the men were afraid to cross the streambed, crossed over first himself. When his men saw this, they too crossed after him.

7 He divided his army into two, with the cavalry in the centre and the infantry on either flank, as the opposing cavalry was very numerous.

8 The trumpets rang out; Cendebaeus and his army were put to flight, many of them falling mortally wounded and the rest of them fleeing to the fortress.

9 Then it was that Judas, John's brother, was wounded, but John pursued them until Cendebaeus reached Kedron, which he had rebuilt.

10 Their flight took them as far as the towers in the countryside of Azotus, and John burnt these down. The enemy losses amounted to ten thousand men; John returned safely to Judaea.

11 Ptolemy son of Abubos had been appointed general in command of the Plain of Jericho; he owned a great deal of silver and gold,

12 and was the high priest's son-in-law.

13 His ambition was fired; he hoped to make himself master of the whole country and therefore treacherously began to plot the destruction of Simon and his sons.

14 Simon, who was inspecting the towns up and down the country and attending to their administration, had come down to Jericho with his sons Mattathias and Judas, in the year 172, in the eleventh month, the month of Shebat.

15 The son of Abubos lured them into a small fortress called Dok, which he had built, where he offered them a great banquet, having previously hidden men in the place.

16 When Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his men reached for their weapons, rushed on Simon in the banqueting hall and killed him with his two sons and some of his servants.

17 He thus committed a great act of treachery and rendered evil for good.

18 Ptolemy wrote a report of the affair and sent it to the king, in the expectation of being sent reinforcements and of having the cities and the province made over to him.

19 He also sent people to Gezer to murder John, and sent written orders to the military commanders to come to him so that he could give them silver, gold and presents;

20 and he also sent others to seize control of Jerusalem and the Temple mount.

21 But someone had been too quick for him and had already informed John in Gezer that his father and brothers had perished, adding, 'He is sending someone to kill you too!'

22 Overcome as John was by the news, he arrested the men who had come to kill him and put them to death, being forewarned of their murderous design.

23 The rest of John's acts, the battles he fought and the exploits he performed, the city walls he built, and all his other achievements,

24 from the day he succeeded his father as high priest, are recorded in the annals of his pontificate.

Tehillim (Psalms) 30:1-13

Rashi	Targum
1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.	1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David.
2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.	2. I will praise you, O LORD, for you made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.
3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me.	3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence, and You healed me.
4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit.	4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit.
5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name.	5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you, His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one.
6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning, there is joyful singing.	6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning, one rises in praise.
7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter."	7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken.
8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance, and I became frightened.	8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid.
9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate.	9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray.
10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth?	10. And I said, What profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness?
11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper."	11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper.
12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.	12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.
13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever.	13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise.

Zechariah 14:6-7 - JPS

6 In that day, there shall be neither sunlight nor cold moonlight,

7 but there shall be a continuous day -- only the LORD knows when -- of neither day nor night, and there shall be light at eventide.

1 John 5:13-21

By: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham & Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

13 These things I have written to you who have confidence in (or adhere to) the authority of the son of God (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel – i.e., take upon yourselves the yokes of the kingdom and of the Torah), that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may adhere to the authority of the son of God (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel – i.e., taking upon yourselves the yokes of the kingdom and of the Torah).

14 And this is the confidence that we have before Him (i.e., G-d): that if we ask anything [in] accordance to His (i.e., G-d’s) will, He (G-d) hears us.

15 And if we know that He hears us [in] whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked from Him.

16 If anyone should see his brother sinning a sin not unto the death penalty, he will ask [for G-d’s forgiveness], and He will grant life to him, for those who sin not unto the death penalty. (There is a sin unto the death penalty; I do not say that he should ask about that.

17 All unrighteousness/injustices is sin, and [there] are sins not unto the death penalty.)

18 We know that everyone who is fathered (begotten) by God does not [habitually and continually] sin, but the one fathered (begotten) by God, [He] protects him, and the evil one (i.e., HaSatan) does not touch him [without G-d’s permission].

19 We know that we are from God, and the whole [pagan] world lies in the power of the evil one [i.e., HaSatan].

20 And we know that the son of God (i.e., the King Messiah of Israel) has come and has given us understanding, that we may intimately know the one who is true [i.e., the Torah tabernacling in the flesh], and we are in him who is true [i.e., the Torah tabernacling in the flesh], in His son Yeshua the Messiah King of Israel. This one is the true Elohim (Judge) and [bringer of] eternal life.

21 My sons, guard/keep yourselves from idols, Amen!

END OF THE READINGS FOR THE EIGHTH DAY OF CHANKAH

We have been worthy to begin and complete all the readings for the eight days of the Festival of Chanuka 5784. So may we be worthy of enjoying this festival again. May Eliyahu the Tishbite come, who is called the one who will “restore the heart of the fathers to the children” (Malachi 3:24). And from him we will seek G-d to explain all these readings in “seventy ways.” Amen ve Amen, may this be His will! Praise to G-d, most blessed be He, Creator of the ages!

Some Memorable Quotes About Chanukah

“We cannot hold a torch or a candle to light another’s path without brightening our own.”

Ben Sweetland

“Your Torah is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”

Psalm 119:105

“Light is sown for the righteous/generous, And gladness for the upright in heart.”

Psalm 97:11

“For You will light my candle: Ha-Shem my God does lighten my darkness.”

Psalm 18:29

“Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return, it asks not whether you are friend or foe, it gives of itself and it is not thereby diminished.”

Author Unknown

“Love is not consolation. It is light!”

Friedrich Nietzsche

“What is to give light must endure burning.”

Dr. Victor Frankl

“There are two ways of spreading light, to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

Edith Wharton

“We cannot hold a torch or a candle to light another’s path without brightening our own.”

Ben Sweetland

Chag Chanukah Sameach!

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

Edited by His Honor Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham

A special thank you to HH Giberet Giborah bat Sarah for her diligence in proof-reading every week.

---

[1] Most of this study is based on a series of lectures given by Rabbi David Fohrman.

[2] Genesis 37:1-40:23

[3] Genesis 41:1-44:17

[4] v. 9

[5] v. 13

[6] Shavuot 15b

[7] Bikkurim 3:4

[8] This introduction was excerpted and edited from:  The ArtScroll Tanach Series, Tehillim, A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources. Commentary by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer, Translation by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer in collaboration with Rabbi Nosson Scherman.

[9] Bereshit (Genesis) chapters 37-51

[10] Bereshit (Genesis) 37:24

[11] Bereshit (Genesis) 41:19

[12] The ktiv - כתיב is the way it is written in the Torah scroll. The ktiv transcends conception and comprehension. That is, a particular word in its written form has no comprehensible “garment”, though as read aloud it does have such a “garment”, i.e., it is readily comprehensible.

[13] The kri - קרי is the way the verse is chanted, or read.

[14] Midrash Rabbah - Genesis LXXV:12 OX alludes to Joseph, as it says, His firstling bullock, majesty is his. (Deuteronomy 33:17)

[15] Genesis Rabbah 98:7 7. JUDAH IS A LION'S WHELP (XLIX, 9). This teaches that he gave him the strength of a lion and the boldness of his whelps. FROM THE TEARING, MY SON, THOU ART GONE UP. Thou didst go up from the tearing of my son, and wast thereby exalted; thou didst go up from the tearing [destruction] of Tamar and wast thereby exalted.

[16] Midrash Rabbah - Genesis 38:6 What does TARAF mean? Killed [slain], as you read, Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces--tarof toraf.

[17] Bereshit (Genesis) 37:33

[18] Midrash Tanchuma Vayigash 9

[19] Bereshit (Genesis) 37:26, Genesis Rabbah 99:8 … JUDAH IS A LION'S WHELP; FROM THE PREY, MY SON, THOU ART GONE UP (49:9). From the prey [destruction] of Joseph, for he said, What profit is it (37:26)?

[20] Bereshit (Genesis) 38: 26, Aggadath Bereshit 83

[21] Melachim alef (I Kings) 5:5, Genesis Rabbah 98:7

[22] Bereshit (Genesis) 49:9

[23] Bereshit (Genesis) 37:26

[24] Under Jewish Kabbalistic tradition God created the world under two modes `law' and 'mercy'. `Dath'  the basis of the word Dothan is the mode of law as against mercy. A midrash states that the brothers legally judged him and found him a ‘rodef’; for which the punishment is death. The name `Dothan' repeats itself again in the life of Moses. He is a rebel against Moses and God's law. When he suggests to Moses that we are all holy people, he is rebelling against God's law and suggesting that all holy people can create their own law; a form of anarchy. Joseph will shortly face a law not of God's, when his brothers consider killing him.

[25] Midrash Rabbah - Genesis LXXV:12 FLOCKS refers to Israel, as it says, ' And ye are My sheep, and the sheep of My pasture ' (Ezek. 34:31)

[26] Tanchuma Vayeshev 8

[27] Bereshit (Genesis) 37:31

[28] Tehillim (Psalms) 105:17

[29] Bereshit (Genesis) 39:6

[30] Joseph was vain of his beauty-hence this trial.

[31] By ' evil beast ' he alluded to Yehuda.

[32] in Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:16

[33] as implied in Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:25

[34] in Vayikra (Leviticus) 24:16

[35] according to Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:16

[36] in Debarim (Deuteronomy) 7:10

[37] Tehillim (Psalms) 94:4

[38] Ruth Rabbah 2:20

[39] cf. Ruth 1:7, 14

[40] in Shmuel bet (II Samuel) 21:22

[41] According to vss. 15-20, the four heroes were Ishbi-benob, Saph, Goliath, and a fourth man with twelve fingers and twelve toes.

[42] Ruth Rabbah 2:20 states more specifically that in return for her forty paces the Holy One granted her son a forty-day reprieve.

[43] in Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:16

[44] in Bereshit (Genesis) 43:9

[45] in Shmuel alef (I Samuel) 17:18

[46] in Bereshit (Genesis) 44:33

[47] Bereshit (Genesis) 49:27

[48] Tehillim (Psalms) 48:3

[49] Lit. ‘give me a free gift’.

[50] Bereshit (Genesis) 37:26

[51] v. 9

[52] v. 13

[53] Shavuot 15b

[54] Bikkurim 3:4

[55] This introduction was excerpted and edited from:  The ArtScroll Tanach Series, Tehillim, A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources. Commentary by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer, Translation by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer in collaboration with Rabbi Nosson Scherman.

[56] David seems to set a precedent for offering Korbanot (sacrifices) on the Mitzbeach (altar) at the site of the Mikdash (sanctuary) even though the Mikdash is not built - see Ezra chapter three, Eiduyot 8:6, and Rambam Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 6:15

[57] Chronicles

[58] Mishmarot

[59] The Book of Kings opens with an account of the aging of King David, and states that, despite his layered clothing,  he could not become warm (I Kings 1:1)

[60] In both Ashkenazi and Sephardi practice.

[61] Meïr Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Wisser (March 7, 1809 – September 18, 1879), better known as The Malbim (Hebrew: מלבי"ם), was a rabbi, master of Hebrew grammar, and Bible commentator. The name "Malbim" was derived from the Hebrew initials of his name. He used this acronym as his surname in all his published works, and became known by it in common usage.

[62] Lit. “The house of the Holy One”. (Temple)

[63] Ḥayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar also known as the Or ha-Ḥayyim after his popular commentary on the Pentateuch, was a Talmudist and kabbalist; born at Meknes, Morocco, in 1696; died in Jerusalem, Israel on July 7, 1743. He was one of the most prominent rabbis in Morocco.

[64] Sanctuary

[65] Sanctuary

[66] MISHKAN (Tabernacle) = MAKOM (Place) + SHEKHINAH (Presence). Makom = Place and Shechinah = The Presence of HaShem.

[67] exile

[68] Illusions of the Sanctuary

[69] Chaim of Volozhin (January 21, 1749 – June 14, 1821) was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and ethicist.

[70] Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, (Hebrew: ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman) known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym HaGra ("HaGaon Rabbenu Eliyahu") or Elijah Ben Solomon, (Vilnius April 23, 1720 – Vilnius October 9, 1797), was a Talmudist, halakhist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of mitnagdic (non-Hasidic) Jewry of the past few centuries. He is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ha-Gaon He-Chasid mi-Vilna, "the saintly genius from Vilnius".

[71] R. Eliezer Azkari, c. 1550

[72] According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. LXVII, issue 14, 1037-1038, September 30, 1916 – there are 248 bones in the body.

[73] Makkoth 23b

[74] Hoshea 11:9

[75] Yirmiyahu 7:4

[76] Vayikra 19:2

[77] Vayikra 26:11

[78] i.e. the permanent Tabernacle

[79] The Temple

[80] The building containing the “Holy” and the “Holy of Holies”.

[81] The Tabernacle in the wilderness.

[82] The table of showbread.

[83] laver

[84] Cherubim

[85] The Ark of then Covenant.

[86] New Testament

[87] evil inclination

[88] idolatry

[89] The “shadow” we have of idolatry, since this was removed from us, is a desire to go nowhere and to do nothing. We have a “nothing” in the place that contained idolatry. We can talk with our friends or play games for hours… and it feels soooooo good!

[90] i.e. Mashiach

[91] Based on the Malbim’s R’mazai HaMishkan and The Holy Temple Revisited, Rabbi L. Reznick

[92] Midrash HaGadol

[93] the Tent of Meeting

[94] cherubim

[95] Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:88

[96] The building containing the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

[97] A husbands favorite place to be is ‘inside’ his wife. She is his house. Further, the resulting child spends the first 40 weeks of its life inside his/her mother. Mom is his/her house.

[98] Sofrim 18:2

[99] ArtScroll, Volume 1, p. 357-359