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

 

 

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times: https://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm[GK1] 

 

Roll of Honor:

 

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

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His Excellency Adon Bill Haynes and beloved wife HE Giberet Diane Haynes

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For their regular and sacrificial giving, providing the best oil for the lamps, we pray that GOD’s richest blessings be upon their lives and those of their loved ones, together with all Yisrael and her Torah Scholars, amen ve amen!

 

Also, a great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and allied topics.

 

 

Blessings Before Torah Study

 

Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our GOD, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah. Amen!

 

Please Ha-Shem, our GOD, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your delight. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Amen!

 

Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our GOD, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!

 

Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment. "Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment: This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of Israel:

 

May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!

May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be kind to you; - Amen!

May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you and grant you peace. – Amen!

 

This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites, and I will bless them."

 

These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple three times a year; how much one must do when performing acts of kindness; and there is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.

 

These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They are: Honoring one's father and mother; doing acts of kindness; early attendance at the place of Torah study -- morning and night; showing hospitality to guests; visiting the sick; providing for the financial needs of a bride; escorting the dead; being very engrossed in prayer; bringing peace between two people, and between husband and wife; but the study of Torah is as great as all of them together. Amen!

 

A Prayer for Israel

 

Our Father in Heaven, Rock, and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land, grant them deliverance, and adorn them in a mantle of victory. Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness.

 

Lead them, swiftly and upright, to Your city Zion and to Jerusalem, the abode of Your Name, as is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses: “Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it, and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.” Draw our hearts together to revere and venerate Your name and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah, and send us quickly the Messiah son of David, agent of Your vindication, to redeem those who await Your deliverance.

 

We pray for his Honor Adon Tzuriel ben Avraham. Mi Sheberach…He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal His Honor Paqid Tzuriel ben Avraham, 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!

 

Shabbat: “VaEtChanan” “And I besought”

 

 

Contents of the Torah Seder

 

·        Moses’ Prayer and Its Rejection – Deuteronomy 3:23-29

·        Appeal to their experience of the consequences of disobedience – Deut. 4:1-4

·        Israel’s Greatness and Wisdom Found in Obedience to the Commandments – Deut. 4:5-8

·       Lest You Forget: Consequences of Idolatry – Deut. 4:9-24

·        Threat of Exile Because of Idolatry and Promise of Grace After Repentance – Deut. 4:25-31

·        The Uniqueness of the G-d of Israel – Deut. 4:32-40

·        Moses Assigns 3 Cities of Refuge East of Jordan – Deut. 4:41-43

·        Title, Time and Place of Moses’ Second Discourse – Deut. 4:44-49

 

Reading Assignment:

 

 

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23 – 4:49

 

 

Rashi Commentary for‎ Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23 – 4:49

 

23 I entreated Heb. וָאֶתְחַנַּן [The word] חִנּוּן [and its derivatives] in all cases is an expression signifying [requesting] a free gift. Even though the righteous may base a request on the merit of their good deeds, they request only a free gift of the Omnipresent. Because God had said to him [Moses], “and I will favor (וְחַנּֽתִי) when I wish to favor (אָחֽן) ” (Exod. 33:19), he [Moses], he spoke to Him [God], using the expression וָאֶתְחַנַּן . Another explanation: This (חִנּוּן) is one of ten terms which denote prayer (Sifrei).

 

at that time After I had conquered the land of Sihon and Og, I thought that perhaps the vow [which God had made, that I should not enter the land] was nullified, [since the land I entered was part of the land of Canaan].

 

saying This is one of three occasions in which Moses said before the Omnipresent, “I will not let You go until You let me know whether or not You will grant my request” (Sifrei).

 

24 O Lord God O You Who are merciful (ה') in judgment (אלהים) .

 

You have begun to show Your servant An opening for standing and offering prayer even though the decree has been fixed. He [Moses] said to Him: “I learned [this] from You. You said to me, 'And now leave Me alone’” (Exod. 32:10). Was I holding You? However, You said this to open the door [as it were and to teach me] that it depended upon me [i.e., my choice whether] to pray for them [or to leave You alone]. So do I think to act now (Sifrei).

 

Your greatness This is the attribute of Your goodness. Similarly, it states: “And now, pray, let the strength of my Lord be great” (Num. 14:17-18).

 

Your... hand This is Your right hand which is extended to [accept the repentance/returning of] all who come into the world.

 

strong [hand] יָדְךָ הַחֲזָקָה   [The hand is called strong] because by Your mercy, You forcibly subdue the attribute of strict judgment. (Sifrei on Number 27:12)

 

For who is [like] God [... who can do as Your deeds] You cannot be compared to a king of flesh and blood who has advisors and associates who restrain him when he wishes to act with kindness and to forego his regulations. You, however, have no one to prevent you from forgiving me and annulling Your decree. The simple meaning of the verse is: You have begun to show Your servant the battle of Sihon and Og, as it is written: “Behold, I have begun to deliver [Sihon and his land] before you” (2:31). Show me [also] the war of the thirty-one kings [of Canaan]. [See Josh. 12:7-24.]

 

25 Pray let me cross over Heb. אֶעְבְּרָה נָא . [The word] נָא is nothing but an expression of request.

 

this good mountain This is Jerusalem.

 

and the Lebanon This is the Temple (Sifrei).

 

26 But the Lord was angry Heb. וַיִּתְעַבֵּר ה' [The hithpa’el conjugation denotes that] He became filled with wrath (Sifrei).

 

because of you You caused it for me. Similarly, it states: “They provoked [God] by the waters of Meribah, and Moses suffered because of them” (Ps. 106:32).

 

It is enough for you Heb. רַב ־לָךְ  [interpreted as: “you have a master רַב .” I.e., pray no more], so that people should not say, “How hard is the Master, and how obstinate and pressing is the disciple!” (Sotah 13b) Another explanation of רַב ־לָךְ   [explained as “you have much”]: More than this is reserved for you: Much is the goodness that is kept for you. (Sifrei)

 

27 and see with your eyes You requested of Me “Let me... see the good land” (verse 25). I am showing you all of it, as it says: “And the Lord showed him all the Land” (Deut. 34:1).

 

28 But command Joshua regarding the bother, the burdens and the quarrels [inherent in leadership].

and strengthen him and encourage him with your words, so that he will not be discouraged, saying, “Just as my teacher was punished, so will I be punished because of them.” I assure him [says God] that he will cross over [before this people] and he will make [them] inherit [the land]. (cf. Sifrei)

 

for he will cross If he crosses before them, they will inherit the land, and if not, they will not inherit [it]. So, indeed, we find that when Joshua sent some of the people against Ai and he remained behind, “the men of Ai smote of them” (Josh. 7:5). And when he fell on his face, God said to him, קוּם־לָךְ : written קֻם  [without a “vav”, so that it may be read קָם ], i.e., it is you standing in your place and sending My children out to war [that brought about this defeat]. Why do you fall on your face? Did I not tell this to your master, Moses, "If he [Joshua] crosses, they will cross, but if not, they will not cross"? (Sifrei) 29

 

And we abided in the valley [opposite Beth Peor]—and you attached yourselves to idol worship. Nevertheless, “And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes” (4:1), and you will be forgiven for everything. But I was not privileged to be forgiven (Sifrei).

 

Chapter 4

 

2 Do not add for instance, by inserting five sections into the tefillin [instead of four], by using five species for the [commandment of] lulav [on Succoth] instead of four], or by attaching five fringes [instead of four]. And so too, וְלֽא תִגְרְעוּ n or diminish [from it i.e., three instead of four].

 

6 And you shall keep [them] This refers to study.

 

and do [them] [To be interpreted] according to its apparent meaning.

 

for that is your wisdom and your understanding [in the eyes of the peoples] Through this you will be considered wise and understanding in the eyes of the peoples.

 

8 just statutes and ordinances - צַדִּיקִם   means worthy and acceptable ones.

 

9 But beware...lest you forget the things Only then, when you do not forget them, and will [therefore] do them in their proper manner, will you be considered wise and understanding, but if you distort them because of forgetfulness, you will be considered fools.

 

10 the day you stood This refers back to the preceding verse: “which your eyes saw” [on] the day that you stood at Horeb, where you saw the thunder and the torches.

 

that they may learn Heb. יִלְמְדוּן The Targum [Onkelos] renders: יֵלְפוּן , they may learn for themselves.

 

that they may teach Heb. יְלַמֵּדוּן the Targum [Onkelos] renders: יְאַלְפוּן , that they may teach others.

 

14 And the Lord commanded me at that time to teach you the Oral Law.

 

16 form Heb. סָמֶל . סָמֶל means "form".

 

19 And lest you lift up your eyes to gaze at this thing and to set your heart to stray after them.

 

which the Lord... assigned to illuminate for them [all peoples]. (Meg. 9b) Another explanation: Which God assigned to them as deities; He did not prevent them from erring after them; rather, He caused them to slip, [i.e., to err], with their futile speculations, in order to drive them out of the world. Similarly, it says: “He [God] smoothed the way for him in his eyes to find his iniquity to hate [him]” (Ps. 36:3) (Avodah Zarah 55a).

 

20 out of the iron crucible Heb. מִכּוּר . כּוּר is a vessel in which gold is refined.

 

21 was angry Heb. הִתְאַנַּף , [The hithpa’el conjugation denotes that] He became filled with wrath.

 

because of you Heb. עַל־דִּבְרֵיכֶם , because of you, on your account.

 

22 For I will die... I will not cross Since he was to die, how could he cross? But rather he meant: even my bones will not cross (Sifrei on Numbers 27:12).

 

23 the likeness of anything Heb. תְּמוּנַת כּֽל , the likeness of anything.

 

which the Lord... commanded you Which He commanded you not to make.

 

24 a zealous God Zealous to wreak vengeance, in Old French, anprenemant, zealous anger. He burns in His anger to exact retribution from idol worshippers.

 

25 and you will be long established Heb. וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם . He hinted to them that they would be exiled from it at the end of 852 years, the gematria, numerical value, of the word  וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם , but He exiled them earlier, at the end of 850 years. He did this two years earlier than the numerical value of וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּם in order that the prophecy about them should not be fulfilled "that you shall utterly perish."(verse 26) This is the meaning of what is said: “And the Lord ‘hastened’ with the evil and brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is charitable (צַדִּיק) ” (Dan. 9:14). He was charitable with us for He hastened to bring it [the exile] two years before its time (San. 38a; Gittin 88a).

 

26 I call as witness against you [... heaven and earth] I hereby summon them to be witnesses that I have warned you.

 

28 And there you will worship gods As the Targum [Onkelos] explains: Since you serve those who worship them [idols], it is as though you [yourselves] serve them [i.e., the idols].

 

31 He will not let you loose: He will not let go of you with His hands. The expression לֹא יַרְפְּךָ means that He will not cause something, i.e., He will not cause you looseness. He will not separate you from [being] near Him. Similarly, “I held him fast, and I would not let him loose (אַרְפֶּנּוּ)” (Song of Songs 3:4), which is not vocalized אֲרַפֶּנּוּ [which would mean to heal]. The term רִפְיוֹן “letting slack” always adopts the hif’il [causative conjugation, that is, causing someone else רִפְיוֹן] or the hithpa’el [reflexive conjugation, that is, causing oneself רִפְיוֹן]. For example: (II Kings 4:2), הַרְפֵּה לָהּ, let her be, means literally “give her looseness [i.e., an example of causing to others]”; (Deut. 9:14) הֶרֶף מִמֶּנִּי, let Me be, means literally “Make yourself loose from me [i.e., an example of causing looseness to oneself].”

 

32 regarding the early days Heb. לְיָמִים רִאשׁוֹנִים [the “lammed” ofלְיָמִים here means] regarding the early days.

 

and from the one end of the heavens And also ask of all the creatures from one end [of the heavens] to the other end. This is its simple meaning, but its midrashic explanation is: [This] teaches [us] about Adam’s height, that it was from the earth to the heavens, and that this is the very same measurement as from one end of the heavens to the other end (San. 38b).

 

whether there was anything like this great thing And what is this great thing?

 

34 Or has any god performed miracles Heb.הֲנִסָּה אֱלֹהִים . Has any god performed miracles (נִסִּים) ?

 

to come and take him a nation…: All the letters “hey” are in the interrogative form. Therefore, they are vocalized with a chataf patach הִנִהְיָה has there been? הִנִשְׁמַע has it been heard? הִשָמַע did there hear? הֲנִסָּה did… perform miracles?

 

with trials Through tests, He let them know His might, for example: “[and Moses said to Pharaoh] 'Boast of your superiority over me [to fix a time]” (Exodus 8:5), whether I am able to do so. This is a test.

 

with signs: Heb. בְּאֹתֹת. With signs, so that they should believe that he [Moses] was the messenger of the Omnipresent, as, e.g., “What is that in your hand?” (Exod. 4:2)

 

and with wonders: Heb. וּבְמוֹפְתִים. These are wonders, [meaning] that God brought upon them [the Egyptians] wondrous plagues.

 

and with war At the Red Sea, as it is said: “because the Lord is fighting for them” (Exod. 14:25).

 

35 You have been shown Heb.הָרְאֵתָ As the Targum [Onkelos] renders it:אִתְחֲזֵיתָא , you have been shown. When the Holy One, blessed is He, gave the Torah, He opened for Israel the seven heavens, and just as He tore open the upper regions, so did He tear open the lower regions, and they saw that He is One. Accordingly, it is stated, “You have been shown, in order to know [that the Lord He is God—there is none else besides Him].”

 

37 And because He loved And all this was because He loved [your forefathers].

 

and He brought you out... before Him like a man who leads his son before him, as it is stated (Exod. 14: 19), “Then the angel of the Lord who had been going, who had been going [in front of the Israelite camp,] moved and went behind them.” Another explanation: And He brought you out before him—before his forefathers, as it is said: “Before their forefathers, He wrought wonders” (Ps. 78:12). And do not be astonished by the fact that [Scripture] refers to them in the singular [using  בְּפָנָיו instead of  בִּפְנֵיהֶם ], for it has already written about them in the singular, “And he chose and chose their seed (בְּזַרְעוֹ) after them (אַחֲרָיו) ,” [lit. his. seed after him].

 

38 from before you [nations greater and stronger] than you Heb.מִמְּךָ מִפָּנֶיךָ , lit. than you from before you. The verse can be explained by transposing it: to drive out from before you מִפָּנֶיךָ , nations greater and stronger than you מִמְּךָ .

 

as this day As you see today.

 

41 Then [Moses] decided to separate: Heb. אָז יַבְדִּיל [The future form יַבְדִּיל instead of the past form הִבְדִּיל is to be explained]: Moses set his heart to hasten to [implement] the matter to separate them. And even though they were not to serve as cities of refuge until those of the land of Canaan would be separated, Moses said, “Any commandment that is possible to fulfill, I will fulfill” (Makkoth 10a).

 

on the side of the Jordan towards the sunrise On that side which is on the east of the Jordan.

 

towards the sunrise Heb.מִזְרְחָה שָׁמֶשׁ Because the word  מִזְרְחָה is in the construct state, the “reish” is punctuated with a “chataf” (vocal “sh’va”), the meaning being, “the rising of the sun,” i.e., the place of the sunrise.

 

44 And this is the teaching This one which he is about to set down after this chapter.

 

45 These are the testimonies... which [Moses] spoke They are the very same ones that he spoke when they went out of Egypt, and he taught it to them again in the plains of Moab.

 

47 who were on the side of the Jordan which is in the east, because the other side was in the west. [That means on the side opposite the western side.]

Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 109:1-31

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Tehillim (Psalms) 109:1-31

 

1 O God of my praise, be not silent This was said regarding all Israel.

 

2 For the mouth of a wicked man Ishmael.

 

4 Instead of my love for You, they hinder me.

 

but I am at prayer But I pray to You constantly. I found:

 

5 evil instead of good I sacrifice seventy bulls every year for the seventy nations, and we request rain, yet they harm us. Shocher Tov (109:4).

 

7 When he is judged before You, may he emerge from Your judgment guilty and wicked.

 

8 his office of dignity Heb. פקדתו , his greatness, provostie or pruvote in Old French, like (Esther 2:3): “And let the king appoint officers (פקידים) .”

 

10 and [people] should ask and search from their ruins Everyone will ask about them, what happened to So-and-so and So- and-so, because of the rumor of ruin that emerged about them. And “search” (וְדָרְשוּ) means from others, because it is vowelized with a short “kamatz,” and וְשִׁאֵלוּ also means from others, that others should ask about them. This can also be interpreted as וְשִׁאֵלוּ , of the intensive conjugation, meaning that they will go around by the doors [to beg for alms].

 

11 May a creditor search out all he has Heb. ינקש . A person who toils and searches, and longs passionately to do something is described by the expression מִתְנַקֵשׁ , i.e., shaken and going from place to place, like (Dan. 5:6): “and his knees knocked (נקשן) against each other.”

 

13 in another generation that will come after his being cut off, his name and his fame will be blotted out so that not even a remembrance will remain of him in the mouth of the generation that is born in the world after his name will be destroyed, sa retremure in Old French, its extirpation.

 

14 the iniquity against his forefathers The iniquity that he sinned against his forebears, to Abraham, whose life he shortened by five years, and to his father he caused blindness.

 

and the sin against his mother that he destroyed her womb, and that he caused the day of her burial to be concealed from the people, lest they curse her for Esau emerged from her womb, as it is said (Gen. 35:8): “Deborah, Rebecca’s nurse, died...the Plain of Weeping.” In Greek, another is called “allon,” for Jacob had another mourning along with that of Deborah, for his mother died and they concealed her death.

 

15 May they be [May] these iniquities [be] before the Lord constantly.

 

16 Because he did not remember to do kindness to engage in the mourning of his father, as Jacob had made a pottage of lentils to console Isaac, for on that day Abraham had died.

 

a poor...man Israel.

 

17 And he loved a curse [Esau loved] the curse of the Holy One, blessed be He, Whose existence he denied.

 

18 And he donned a curse He brought himself into a curse and was satisfied with breaking off the yoke of the sacrifice and the priestly blessing and the curse of the heathens.

 

19 May it be to him [May] the curse [be to him] as an envelopment like a garment. [This] I found.

 

and as a girdle...constantly Heb. ולמזח , a girdle, and so, (Job 12:21): “and loosens the belt (מזיח) of the strong.” He loosens the belt of the strong.

 

23 Like a shadow when it lengthens at eventide.

 

I was stirred up an expression of stirring and mixing and astonishment, like a locust, which wanders to and fro and is stirred up. [This] I found:

 

29 and enwrap themselves...like a cloak which enwraps and envelops the entire body.

 

Meditation from the Psalms

Psalms ‎‎109:1-31

By: Hakham Dr. Hillel ben David

 

David composed this psalm as he fled from the wrath of King Saul. Some people had slandered David to Saul and besmirched his name. David was saying: “O G-d of my praise, be not silent” (verse 1), i.e., recognize, dear G-d, how I differ from my foes. They praise themselves for their deftness at slander, but I praise myself only for my closeness to You, my Lord!

 

Midrash Shocher Tov says that these words describe Israel’s unique relationship to G-d. G-d is Israel’s only praise as Deuteronomy states:

 

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 10:21 He is your praise, He is your G-d…

 

And Israel is G-d’s only source of praise, as Isaiah states:

 

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 43:21 This nation I fashioned for Myself, so that they might recite My praise.

 

Therefore, David said to HaShem, “You are my only praise [and the praise of all Israel]. Do not be silent when we suffer and are oppressed”. O G-d, do not hold Yourself silent; be not deaf and be not still, O G-d.[1]

 

David concludes this work with complete confidence that G-d will respond, For He stands at the right of the destitute, to save him from condemners of his soul.^[2]

 

David places his own life experience and the passions they entailed into his view of our Torah portion. He associated Sichon and Og with his own adversaries. Og, for example, experienced good from both Noach and Abraham, yet he coveted Sarah and sought to have Abraham and Lot killed. David saw Israel’s protagonists as his own protagonists. By putting the Torah into the context of his own life, he was able to empathize with the congregation of Israel and become one with them.

 

David[3] is the author of Tehillim. He is the vehicle through which all of congregation of Israel expresses themselves in prayer to HaShem. David represents prayer to congregation of Israel, as he states in:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 109:4 … I am tefillah (I am prayer).

 

Let us understand this connection between Torah and tefillah further and let us see how David is the perfect embodiment for this relationship.

 

Learning Torah is an act of learning HaShem’s word. As we learn Torah, we discover what HaShem’s will for this world is. The more we learn, the more we uncover and discover HaShem’s existence in the world. While learning, many people wonder about the presence of seemingly mundane cases in the Torah and other sacred texts. One might ask, “Why should we care about two oxen fighting and goring one another”? What could possibly be divine about it? The answer is that the power of the Torah is to teach us that G-dliness does exist in the farthest reaches of the physical world. Even the most mundane subject can receive the aura of HaShem and His will. Therefore, when we learn, we are spreading HaShem’s light throughout the world.

 

The task of the sages of each generation is not merely to “figure out” what HaShem meant in the Torah. And if they err, it is not just simply a matter that their mistakes can be forgiven. Rather, the task of the sages is infinitely more profound: to bring down the Torah from the heavens to the world of man and to fathom how their particular generation relates to the Torah. What does the Torah, in its many possible interpretations, mean to ‘us’, not what did it mean to HaShem in heaven?

 

The Talmud speaks often about things in the world, about cures, about science, about history, and other such facts. When we read such things, we are occasionally moved to say that there appears to be an error. We see something that disagrees with what we understand about science and the world. How can this be? How can the oral law contain seeming errors? We have also seen the Sages debating some items which seem to contain factual errors. How can this be? Do not mistake the Talmud for a history or science book! It may speak of these subjects, but it is not seeking the truth of science, medicine, history, or any such thing. The Talmud is only discussing what the Torah says about a subject, it is NOT speaking of the subject itself. The goal of Talmudic discourse is to ascertain what the Torah teaches. Though the allegory may be how to cure a disease, do not be deceived into thinking that the goal has anything to do with a disease. The goal is always to discern what the Torah says, and to cloak it in the language that we use to relate to such subjects. Thus, a ‘scientific fact’ may be completely wrong, yet the Torah is saying something that is understood by that fact.

 

HaShem created the world by looking into His Torah as the genes of reality. The Torah defines reality. While our world changes, the Torah continues to define our world. There is no change for the world which was not already coded in the Torah. Since the Torah has seventy facets[4] and each facet has seventy facets, it is easy to get confused about the subject versus what the Torah says about a subject. The goal of the oral law is to understand the Torah’s seventy facets, not to understand history, medicine, or any such thing. Given this goal, it is not unusual to find multiple understandings of the same Torah portion. These understandings may contradict one another. Never the less, they are all the words of HaShem as viewed through the lens of the Torah. All opinions are the truth. It is up to the Sage to know when to apply different perspectives.

 

This process of learning that one can perform each time he opens a sefer, is found at the time the Torah is first given to the Jewish people. The Gemara[5] relates the following: “With every word that left HaShem’s mouth, of the Ten Commandments, the entire world filled with the smell of spices”. Previously we identified HaShem’s aura and presence in the world as light. This same idea is conveyed in the Gemara as the scent of sweet spices.^[6] Just as HaShem infused His “spirit” into the world at Matan Torah,[7] so too, we infuse His “spirit” further into the world, each time we learn His Torah. David proclaims:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:97 How much I love Your Torah, all day long it is my conversation.

 

David inculcated his entire day with Torah. There was no part of his day without Torah, and there was no part of his world without Torah. The Gemara[8] relates a conversation between David and HaShem. David asked HaShem, “Am I not a saint? Do the other kings not band together and engage in each other’s honor? And myself? My hands are dirtied with blood in order to permit a woman to her husband.”^[9] David went to the lowest levels of the physical world, in his Torah learning. If he had to bloody his hands for a halacha, it meant that the light of the Torah was spread to another mundane aspect of the world. David was a prime example of enlightening the most physical parts of the world with the light of the Torah.

 

Prayer is also an opportunity to shed the aura of HaShem on the physical world. When we say a blessing, we are not “blessing” HaShem. We are stating that we truly recognize that HaShem is the source of everything in this world. We take an apple and state that HaShem is the source of this abundance. When we say the blessing in the Amida for sustenance we are stating that we recognize that HaShem is the source of sustenance. Prayer puts the recognition of HaShem into the physical world. Like Torah, we spread the “light” or “scent” of spirituality into this world.

 

If David could state, “… and I am prayer”, then he must epitomize all the qualities of prayer. He must live his life as a walking mitpallel (one who is engaged in prayer). Prayer permeated David’s entire existence. Through every limb, every time of the day, every situation, every aspect of life, prayer lit up David in his service of HaShem.

 

Every limb in David’s body sang praise to HaShem, “All my limbs will say, ‘HaShem, who is like you.’” David spent his entire day in prayer. The Gemara says that he barely slept, as he would only sleep sixty breaths at a time. Even with that small amount of sleep, he would rise at midnight to praise HaShem. David prayed from before the time he was born until the day of death.[10] The Midrash relates that David requested to be able to praise HaShem even after death. In Tehillim David asks:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 61:5 May I live in Your tent forever?

 

The Midrash[11] explains that HaShem granted his request, that “even after your death your name shall never leave My house, that on all the offerings they will sing your songs of praise”. David accomplished praising HaShem throughout all stages of the lifecycle of the soul.

 

In addition to transcending body and time, David, rose above the boundaries of place through prayer as well. There was no place untouched by David’s prayers. They reached from the sea to the desert.[12] They spanned even the most dangerous places of the world. The Midrash Pesikta says, “There was no place in the world that David went to and held himself back, from prayer (even a dangerous place, a situation that would have absolved from the obligation to pray)”. There was no place in any dimension of the world left untouched by David’s prayer.

 

Certain mitzvot can even be “owned”. For example, Torah, as the Gemara says:

 

Avodah Zarah 19a Raba likewise said: One should always study that part of the Torah which is his heart’s desire, as it is said, But whose desire is in the law of the Lord. Raba also said: At the beginning [of this verse] the Torah is assigned to the Holy One, blessed be He, but at the end it is assigned to him [who studies it],[13] for it is said, Whose desire is in the Law of the Lord and in his [own] Law doth he meditate day and night.[14]

 

Prayer also, if one puts his heart and soul into coming close to HaShem, he himself can “become” prayer, as David wrote:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 109:4 … and I am prayer;

 

When King David describes himself as “prayer”,[15] he is saying that he is just like this poor person; his entire being reflects how low he is and how much he needs. When a person masters humility, he too can claim to be “prayer”.[16]

 

The true way of prayer is as David’s entire being, his entire life, from beginning to end, and his whole source of vitality was prayer! That is to say, beyond the three prayers that Chazal have established to say each day, the proper approach is, “If only a person would pray all day long”.

 

Berachoth 21a But what of prayer[17] which is a thing with which the congregation is engaged, and yet we have learnt: If he was standing reciting the prayer and he suddenly remembered that he was a ba’al keri[18] he should not break off, but he should shorten [each blessing]. Now the reason is that he had commenced; but if he had not yet commenced, he should not do so? — Prayer is different because it does not mention the kingdom of heaven.[19] But what of the grace after meals in which there is no mention of the sovereignty of heaven, and yet we have learnt: AT MEALS HE SAYS GRACE AFTER, BUT NOT THE GRACE BEFORE? — [Rather the answer is that] the recital of the Shema’ and grace after food are Scriptural ordinances, whereas prayer is only a Rabbinical ordinance.[20]

 

We have learnt: A BA’AL KERI SAYS MENTALLY, AND SAYS NO BLESSING EITHER BEFORE OR AFTER. AT MEALS HE SAYS THE GRACE AFTER BUT NOT THE GRACE BEFORE. Now if you assume that ‘True and firm’ is a Scriptural regulation, let him say the blessing after the Shema’? — Why should he say [the blessing after]? If it is in order to mention the going forth from Egypt, that is already mentioned in the Shema’! But then let him say the former, and he need not say the latter?[21] — The recital of Shema’ is preferable, because it has two points.[22] R. Eleazar says: If one is in doubt whether he has recited the Shema’ or not, he says the Shema’ again. If he is in doubt whether he has said the Prayer or not, he does not say it again. R. Johanan, however, said: Would that a man would go on praying the whole day!

 

A person must recognize HaShem’s precise Providence; for example, a person moves his hand. He then asks himself, “Who moved it? With my physical eyes, it seems as if I moved it, but I know, Master of the World, that the One Who is truly moving my hand is You, and no one else! “No one bangs his finger down here unless there is a proclamation from Above”.

 

Here, there is the additional aspect of prayer. A person stands and says to HaShem, “Intellectually, I know that You guide ‘the palace’ that You move my hand, but my feelings tell me that a person controls himself. I ask of You, HaShem, that my intellectual knowledge should influence my heart so that it, too, will really feel this idea!”

 

In other words, besides the infusion of the awareness of HaShem’s Providence, one must join the aspect of prayer. One feels the contradiction between mind and heart, and he wants to instill a real feeling about the matter, so he must add a prayer and entreat HaShem, “Master of the World, if You don’t help me to feel Your Providence, all the effort in the world will not help! I can only make some ‘lower awakening’, but the main success comes from striving and finding (the gift), meaning that You will help me attain this level in my heart”.

And so, one must speak to HaShem in the second person. Such words bring one to the state of “And I am prayer”.

 

So that one’s prayer should be proper, during the daily contemplation, he should consider the basic and simple concept of prayer: “And the vegetation of the field was not yet on the land, and the grass of the field had not yet sprouted, for HaShem had not yet sent rain, and man was not there to work the land”.[23] Rashi explains, “Why was there no rain? Because man was not there to work the land. There was no one to recognize the value of the rain, but when Adam came and knew that rain was needed for the world, he prayed, and rain fell, and the trees and vegetation sprouted.” Here we see the well-known principle, that anything one seeks, be it material or spiritual, must be attained with prayer. Without prayer, one cannot achieve anything!

 

One must pray to have the emunah that nothing can be achieved without prayer. This itself requires prayer.

 

As long as one believes that prayer is only needed to grant aid from Above. In other words, he just wants some help, but he feels that essentially, it’s up to him and he can take care of himself and get what he needs, he doesn’t realize the nature of prayer, and he naturally will not feel that prayer is that valuable and important. If one really wants to attain the level of prayer, he must attain the sense in his heart that without prayer, he can achieve nothing!

 

One must really contemplate this point and review it again and again. He must speak to HaShem and say to Him, “I know that if I don’t pray, I won’t achieve anything. I don’t feel it so much, but it is clear to me in my mind. I ask You: help me to feel the importance and need for prayer, and to live accordingly.” He should say this to himself time after time, until he feels in his soul that in fact, without prayer, nothing can be attained.

 

In summary, to reach the goal of prayer, which is emunah and “attachment to HaShem”, one must fulfill these two conditions:

 

1) the prayer must exist at all times, each person as much as he can.

2) the prayer must be stated in the second person, so that one is with HaShem at the time.

 

Certainly, when one is learning Torah, he cannot pray each moment, because then he would not be able to learn. However, the sacred works write that even when learning, when one cannot understand something, he should pray to HaShem for help in understanding. Once he has the privilege to understand it, he should say to HaShem, “Thank You for giving me the privilege to understand, and now I ask You for help me to continue to understand”. In this way, he will give thanks for the past and make a request for the future.

 

Thus, the learning itself will be saturated with the process of prayer. If Torah is not joined with prayer, there is a spiritual separation. The Chazon Ish[24] writes that Torah and prayer are to be in perfect unity. If there is one without the other, one is completely separate from HaShem! Of course, on some level, there is a connection, but it is not present in one’s inner essence, and there is no real attachment!

 

While on the surface we “pray” for our needs, we are ultimately seeking a connection with HaShem.[25] Thus, when Mashiach arrives and our troubles disappear, we will retain the essence of prayer, i.e. connecting with HaShem. Similarly, although Sodom was destroyed, Abraham achieved a connection with HaShem as a result of his prayers. We can now better understand the midrash that states that David was found in Sodom.[26] King David, a descendant of Lot’s son Moab, was a positive consequence of Abraham’s prayers on behalf of Sodom. It can thus be said that David, himself the epitome of prayer, was found in Sodom.

 

The Talmud[27] teaches us that after David, i.e. after the arrival of Mashiach, prayer will come; we will live in a world of prayer. ‘Prayer’ in this sense refers to a unique bond with HaShem.

 

Megillah 18a Afterwards shall the children of Israel return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king.[28] And when David comes, prayer[29] will come, as it says. Even then will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer.[30] And when prayer has come, the Temple service[31] will come, as it says, Their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon mine altar.[32]

 

Visualization is a technique of prayer that helps us to concentrate on praying, rather than letting our mind wander off to Hong Kong and a thousand other places. For example, if we visualize that we are standing in the various parts of the Temple it will help us concentrate on what we are praying. If one pictures that he is in the courtyard listening to the Levites singing the psalms while ascending the steps, this can be a tremendous aid to his concentration while reciting the psalms.

 

Let’s finish by explaining that when one prays the name of HaShem, one must not have any picture in his mind. To do so is a severe violation of the Torah and is silly. G-d is the Creator of the physical world. Therefore, He is not subject to the very laws He created…laws of matter. Thus, He is not physical or visible. One must follow this reality, and abandon the desire to have visuals of G-d. The Rambam made his view very clear that belief in any form of corporeality would be totally against and antithetical to the Torah ethos and would be absolutely heretical.[33]

 

Our world teaches children, through pictures, that G-d is an old man with a white beard.[34] When a child, or adult, prays they often have this visual in their mind. This is absolutely forbidden! Any image reduces HaShem to such an image, which is forbidden. If you go to the Vatican, you can see the most famous picture of G-d, there on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel: an old man, with a white beard, flying on a cloud reaching out to touch the finger of Adam. Having been brought up our entire lives with that image, we’ve come to visualize G-d as a benevolent grandfather. This image is neither true, nor allowed when we pray. The Rambam said if you really think that’s HaShem’s image, then you’re a min.[35]

 

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 4:15 15 Take ye therefore good heed unto yourselves--for ye saw no manner of form on the day that HaShem spoke unto you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire-- 16 lest ye deal corruptly, and make you a graven image, even the form of any figure, the likeness of male or female,

 

When one prays the name of HaShem, he is allowed to have no image, of any kind. That is acceptable, yet it is extremely difficult to accomplish. It seems that the harder one tries to have no image in mind, the more the images flash across our mind. The Rambam writes; “You know very well how difficult it is for men to form a notion of anything non-material and devoid of any form of corporeality, except after much training”.[36] Our visual nature means that it is nearly impossible to pray with no image in mind. So, what are we to do?

 

It turns out that HaShem has actually given us one image which is halachically acceptable: One may visualize the Hebrew letters of the name of HaShem, e.g. יהוה. We can visualize this because HaShem gave us this image. This means that it is important to pray from a siddur which writes out these names. Most Sefardi siddurim do spell out the names of HaShem which makes it easy to focus on the letters which tends to exclude all other images from our minds.

 

We live in a very lowly age; the age Chazal call Ikvot Meshicha: The time immediately before Mashiach. The time of the messianic redemption is a secret. We are afforded many clues to this time. We need to be aware of the signs of times. Most of these signs are quite disturbing, clearly displaying a situation of the very “bottom of the heel”.[37] One major source describes the world-condition in those days as follows: increase in insolence and impudence; oppressing inflation; unbridled irresponsibility on the part of authorities; schools will turn into houses of sexual depravity; wars; many poor people begging, with none to pity them; wisdom shall be putrid; the pious shall be despised; truth will be abandoned; the young will insult the old; family-breakup with mutual recriminations; impudent leadership. Other sources add: lack of scholars; succession of troubles and evil decrees; famines; mutual denunciations; epidemics of terrible diseases; poverty and scarcity; cursing and blaspheming; international confrontations nations provoking and fighting each other.[38] In short, it will be a time of suffering that will make it look as if G‑d were asleep. These are the birth pangs of Mashiach, bearable only in anticipation of the bliss that follows them.

 

This age is represented by the dead skin on the bottom of the heel. We are incredibly insensitive to anything important. We are only sensitive to things which are exceptionally trivial, like tickling. Our chapter of Psalms is the out pouring of a soul that has had its share of troubles. Never the less, David could still declare:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 109:4 … I am tefillah (I am prayer).

 

It is our job, in this difficult time, to understand the midda that we excel in. We are here to fix up this world. We need to exercise our middot and be a sign to the nations. The power for this change comes from tefilla, from understanding that HaShem is in charge and everything that we consider negative will be turned around and shown to be Tob, beneficial.

 

Especially during this age, we need to pray at all times, this is the power to effect change.

 

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 

Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 110:1 – 111:10

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary to Tehillim (Psalms) 110:1-111:10

 

Chapter 110

 

1 The word of the Lord to my master Our Rabbis interpreted it as referring to Abraham our father, and I shall explain it according to their words (Mid. Ps. 110:1): The word of the Lord to Abraham, whom the world called “my master,” as it is written (Gen. 23:6): “Hearken to us, my master.”

 

“Wait for My right hand” Wait for My salvation and hope for the Lord. [The root] ישיבה means only waiting, as Scripture states (Deut. 1:46): “And you stayed (ותשבו) in Kadesh for many days.”

 

for My right hand For the salvation of My right hand.

 

until I make your enemies Amraphel and his allies.

 

2 The staff of [This is] an expression of support, as (above 105:16): “every staff of bread.”

 

The staff of your might the Lord will send from Zion When you return from the war and your men are weary and in pursuit, the Lord will send you Melchizedek, king of Salem, to bring out bread and wine (Gen. 14:14).

 

rule in the war.

 

in the midst of your enemies safely.

 

3 Your people will volunteer on the day of your host When you gather an army to pursue them, your people and your friends will volunteer to go out with you, as we find (Gen. 14:14): “and he armed his trained men, those born in his house,” and no more; and Aner, Eshkol, and Mamre volunteered by themselves to go out to his aid.

 

because of the beauty of holiness when you fell from the womb And this will be to you in the merit of the beauty of holiness that was in you from your mother’s womb, for he recognized his Creator at the age of three.

 

when you fell from the womb Heb.משחר , when you fell from the womb, like (Beizah 35b): “We may let fruit down (משילין) through a skylight on a festival,” and some learn משחירין .

 

for you, your youth is like dew For you will be considered your youth, the ways of uprightness with which you conducted yourself in your youth will be for you as pleasantness, like this dew, which is pleasant and comforting.

 

4 The Lord swore and will not repent Since Abraham was afraid lest he be punished for the troops that he had killed, it was said to him (Gen. 15:1): “Fear not, Abraham, etc.”

 

and will not repent over the good that He spoke about you.

 

you are a priest forever because of the speech of Melchizedek From you will emerge the priesthood and the kingship that your children will inherit from Shem your progenitor, the priesthood and the kingship, which were given to him. דִבְרָתִי מלכי-צדק. The “yud” is superfluous, like (Lam. 1: 1): “the city that was once so populous (רבתי).” Because of the speech of Melchizedek, because of the command of Melchizedek. You are a priest, Heb. כהן. The word כהן bears the connotation of priesthood and rulership, as (II Sam. 8:18): “and David’s sons were chief officers.”

 

5 The Lord Who was on your right hand in battle.

 

has crushed kings on the day of His wrath The four kings. He...

 

6 will execute justice upon the nations [into] a heap of corpses This is the tidings of the ‘covenant between the segments,’ [in] which was stated to him concerning Egypt (Gen. 15:14): “But also that nation whom they will serve do I judge.”

 

a heap of corpses Heb. מלא , a heap of corpses.מלא  is an expression of gathering, as (Jer. 12:6): “have called a gang (מלא) after you”; (Isa. 31:4), “although a band (מלא) of shepherds gather against him.” Now where did He execute justice, making them a heap of corpses? (Exod. 14:30), “the Egyptians dead on the seashore.”

 

He crushed the head on a great land This resembles the prophecy of Habakkuk (3:12): “You have crushed the head of the house of the wicked.” [This refers to] the head of Pharaoh, who was the head and the prince of a land greater and more esteemed than all the lands, as is said (above 102:20): “a ruler of peoples [sent] and loosed his bonds,” for all the nations were under the rule of Egypt.

 

7 From the stream on the way he would drink, etc. From the Nile River, on the way of its course, his land would drink, and it was not in need of rainwater. Therefore, he would raise his head and boast (Ezek. 29:3): “My river is my own, and I made myself.” In another manner, this psalm can be explained regarding David:

 

[1] The word of the Lord about my master Concerning my master, Saul, when I was pursued by him.

 

about my master Heb.לאדני , about my master, as (Exod. 14:3): “Then Pharaoh will say concerning the children of (לבני) Israel”; (Gen. 26:7), “The people of the place asked him about his wife (לאשתו) .”

 

“Wait for My right hand” Stay and wait for My salvation.

 

[2] The staff of your might the Lord will send from Zion The exceptional good deeds in your hand. Another explanation: You will yet reign in Zion, and there a staff of might will be sent to you, and then you will rule in the midst of your enemies.

 

[3] Your people will volunteer on the day of your host The people of Israel will volunteer to your aid on the day that you form an army, as it is delineated in (I) Chronicles (12: 21); that they were joining him from every tribe: “When he went to Ziklag, there deserted to him of Manasseh, etc.”; (ibid. verse 8): “And from the Gadites there separated themselves to David, etc.”

 

because of the beauty of holiness when you fell from the womb Because of the beauty of holiness that was in you from your youth.

 

your youth is like dew A good youth and a good period of maturity that you had will be to you like dew, which is pleasant and sweet, and will produce fruit for you to make you prosper.

 

[4] The Lord has sworn, etc. that the kingdom will be yours forever.

 

You are a priest forever And which of the priesthoods? A priesthood that is above the priesthood of Melchizedek, and that is the kingdom, which is above the high priesthood in thirty steps.

 

above the charge of Melchizedek above the priesthood (Some mss. read: above the charge) of Melchizedek, who was a priest to the Most High God. Now if you challenge that he too was a king, [we answer that] the kingdom over the nations was not an esteemed kingdom when compared to Israel.

 

[5] The Lord will always be on your right hand to save you, Who...

 

crushed kings on the day of His wrath Those who fought with Abraham and with Joshua and with Barak.

 

[6] He will execute justice upon the nations [into] a heap of corpses And further, in the days of Hezekiah your son, He will execute justice upon the armies of Sennacherib [making them] a heap of dead corpses, and He will crush Sennacherib, who is the head of Nineveh and Assyria, which is a great land, who...

 

[7] From the stream on the way he was drinking, for he boasted that his armies drank from the waters of the Jordan, as it is said (Isa. 37:25): “I dug and drank water, and I dry up, etc.”

 

therefore, he raised his head He praised himself and boasted of his greatness.

 

Chapter 111

1 Hallelujah, I shall thank, etc. This psalm was based on the alphabet, one letter at the beginning of the verse and one in the middle of it, and so all of them [this psalm’s verses are] from “aleph” to “tav,” and so too is the second psalm. The first one speaks in praises of the Holy One, blessed be He, and the second one speaks in praise of a righteous, God-fearing person.

 

4 He made a memorial He set down for Israel Sabbaths and festivals and commandments, of which was stated (Deut. 5: 15): “And remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,” because He is gracious and merciful to His children, and He wishes to make them righteous.

 

5 He gave food Heb.טֶרֶף , food.

 

6 The strength of His works He related to His people When He gave them the inheritance of the nations, He let them know His strength and His might. And Midrash Tanchuma (Buber, Bereshit 11): He wrote for Israel [about] the Creation to let them know that the earth is His and that it is in His power to settle in it anyone He wishes, and to move these out and settle others, so that the nations will not be able to say to Israel, “You are thieves, for you conquered the land of the seven nations.”

 

8 Steadfast are His commandments, supported by might, strengthened with punishments and warnings, and the chapters are set one next to the other in sequence and to expound on them. This is what Solomon said (Song 5:15): “His thighs are pillars of marble, etc.”

 

Meditation from the Psalms

Tehillim (Psalms) ‎‎110:1 - 111:10

By: Hakham Dr. Hillel ben David

 

Midrash Shocher Tov interprets Psalms chapter 110 as a hymn of gratitude which G-d recited to Avraham. G-d speaks to Avraham and calls him, “My master!” The Midrash explains: Rabbi Reuven said: The nations were in a slumber that prevented them from coming under the wing of G-d’s Presence. Who aroused them to come? Avraham! ... The concept of kindness was also asleep, and Avraham aroused it, for he opened an inn and invited passersby to share his table.

 

G-d Himself was indebted to Avraham because until Avraham proclaimed G-d as Master, the purpose of Creation had been frustrated. G-d created the universe so that man could perceive Him and appreciate His works. Until Avraham’s time, however, the world failed to achieve its purpose, because men were oblivious of G-d. By teaching the world to recognize G-d, Avraham gave meaning to existence. In a sense, therefore, Avraham became the master of the world, for it owed its continued existence to him.

 

G-d also called Avraham My master because Avraham had presented G-d with a gift that He, despite His infinite power, could not have fashioned for Himself. Because man is a creature of free will, even G-d cannot guarantee that man will choose good over evil and truth over falsehood. By dint of his indomitable faith, Avraham presented G-d with the heart and minds of mankind, to whom he had revealed the essence of the Divine. Avraham’s mission was continued by David, and it will be completed by the Messiah. This psalm is dedicated to these three pillars of Jewish tradition.^[39]

 

Sforno explains that Psalms chapter 111 is a sermon exhorting the common Jew to devote time to Torah study. Usually, simple, and uneducated people offer two excuses for their neglect of Torah: they claim that the subject matter is too difficult for them and that their preoccupation with the pursuit of a livelihood leaves them no time for study.

 

In answer to these claims, the Psalmist responds that Israel is deeply indebted to G-d for all His kindness. The man who is sincerely grateful to the Almighty yearns to thank HaShem wholeheartedly (v. 1). The only way to demonstrate this gratefulness is to study His word in order to fathom His will. If a person dedicates all his heart to comprehend G-d’s will, then no obstacle can deter him! Every person can find some time for Torah and learn to appreciate its lessons.

 

This truth is the סוד, counsel, of the ישרים, upright, who have dedicated themselves to Torah, which the Psalmist now communicates to the עדה, congregation (verse 1).

 

In conclusion, the Psalmist offers the masses the following advice on how to embark on the pursuit of wisdom: The beginning of wisdom is the fear of HaShem, good understanding to all their [the mitzvot] practitioners (verse 10). If man is determined to fear HaShem and to practice His mitzvot, then the highest heavens are within his reach! ^[40]

 

Psalm 110 attributes authorship to David. We find no such attribution for psalm 111. Since these psalms are treated as a unit, it makes sense that they share a common author. Our psalms open with a reference to Melchizedek and continue with the importance of Torah study. Melchizedek was replaced as the Kohen Gadol by Avraham when he gave praise to Avraham before HaShem. Let’s spend some time examining the priesthood of the firstborn and its substitution by the Levitical priesthood.

 

The first use of the word Kohen, priest, is found in:

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 14:14-20 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of G-d Most High, And he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by G-d Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be G-d Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.” Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

 

This first use of the word gives us a clue as to what HaShem intended a priest to be, and to do. Please do note that this G-dly priest was not a Levite (Levi, Avraham’s great grandson, was not yet born). The Talmud has this to say about Melchizedek:

 

Nedarim 32bR. Zechariah said on R. Ishmael’s authority: The Holy One, blessed be He, intended to bring forth the priesthood from Shem, as it is written, And he [sc. Melchizedek] was the priest of the most high G-d.^[41] But because he gave precedence in his blessing to Avraham over G-d, He brought it forth from Avraham; as it is written, And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high G-d, possessor of heaven and earth, and blessed be the most high G-d.^[42] Said Avraham to him, ‘Is the blessing of a servant to be given precedence over that of his master?’ Straightway it [the priesthood] was given to Avraham, as it is written, The Lord said unto my Lord,^[43] Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool;^[44] which is followed by, The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek,’^[45] meaning, ‘because of the words of Melchizedek.’^[46] Hence it is written, And he was a priest of the most High G-d, [implying that] he was a priest, but not his seed.^[47]

 

From the Talmud we learn that the title, “Melchizedek”, was held by Shem the first-born son of Noah. Shem received the birthright which was normally given to the firstborn.

 

We know that Shem was Noah’s first born from:

 

Sanhedrin 69b ...And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begat Shem, Ham and Japheth; hence [if the order is according to age], Shem was at least a year older than Ham, and Ham a year older than Japheth, so that Shem was two years older than Japheth. Now, it is written, And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of water was upon the earth;^[48] and it is written, These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood.^[49] But was he a hundred years old? He must have been a hundred and two years old?^[50] Hence thou must say that they are enumerated in order of wisdom [not age];^[51] then here too [in the case of Terah’s sons], they are stated in order of wisdom.

 

R. Kahana said: I repeated this discussion before R. Zebid of Nahardea. Thereupon he said to me: You deduce [that the order is according to wisdom] from these verses, but we deduce it from the following: Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even unto him were children born;^[52] this means that he was the eldest of the brothers.

 

According to Ibn Ezra,^[53] Radak,^[54] and Ramban,^[55] Shem was the eldest and the designation ‘the elder’, from Genesis 10:21, reverts to Shem as in Isaiah son of Amos, the prophet^[56] Isaiah, not Amos being the prophet referred to.

 

Targum Yonatan is also of the opinion that Shem is the firstborn. At any rate, the fact that the priesthood was given to Shem is demonstrated by the Torah when it calls Melchizedek a priest.

 

The priesthood of Melchizedek is also important because it is also the priesthood of Yeshua:

 

Bereans (Hebrews) 5:5-10 So Mashiach also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But G-d said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.” And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek”.^[57] During the days of Yeshua’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered And, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him And was designated by G-d to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

 

From this passage we learn that Melchizedek was also a high priest. So, what distinguishes Melchizedek’s priesthood from the Levitical priesthood? To answer this question, we must examine the origins of the Levitical priesthood.

 

The first time that the Levites have an action type role is in:

 

Shemot (Exodus) 32:22-29 “Do not be angry, my lord,“ Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us G-ds who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So, I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for HaShem, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him. Then he said to them, “This is what HaShem, the G-d of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to HaShem today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”

 

The Levites were set apart to HaShem because they did not participate in the sin of the golden calf and they rallied to Moses to destroy the sinners, at that time. The sin of the Golden Calf was the seminal event which caused a transfer of the priesthood. Later HaShem traded the firstborn sons for the Levites:

 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 3:40-45 HaShem said to Moses, “Count all the firstborn Israelite males who are a month old or more and make a list of their names. Take the Levites for me in place of all the firstborn of the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites in place of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites. I am HaShem.” So, Moses counted all the firstborn of the Israelites, as HaShem commanded him. The total number of firstborn males a month old or more, listed by name, was 22,273. HaShem also said to Moses, “Take the Levites in place of all the firstborn of Israel, and the livestock of the Levites in place of their livestock. The Levites are to be mine. I am HaShem.

 

Notice that immediately after the sin of the Golden Calf, and the breaking of the first tablets, that the Levites are given the duties of the priesthood:

 

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 10:1-9 At that time HaShem said to me, “Chisel out two stone tablets like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain. Also make a wooden chest. I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Then you are to put them in the chest.” So, I made the ark out of acacia wood and chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones, and I went up on the mountain with the two tablets in my hands. HaShem wrote on these tablets what he had written before, the Ten Commandments he had proclaimed to you on the mountain, out of the fire, on the day of the assembly. And HaShem gave them to me. Then I came back down the mountain and put the tablets in the ark I had made, as HaShem commanded me, and they are there now. (The Israelites traveled from the wells of the Jaakanites to Moserah. There Aaron died and was buried, and Eleazar his son succeeded him as priest. From there they traveled to GudGodah and on to Jotbathah, a land with streams of water. At that time HaShem set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of HaShem, to stand before HaShem to minister and to pronounce blessings in his name, as they still do today. That is why the Levites have no share or inheritance among their brothers; HaShem is their inheritance, as HaShem your G-d told them.)

 

A footnote in the Soncino Talmud helps to make this clear:

 

Sanhedrin 17a Footnote number 13: Num. III, 47. After the completion of the Tabernacle, the Levites were called to replace the firstborns of all Israelites in the service of the Sanctuary, (cf. Shemot 24:5; 19:24.) In order to effect this transfer of office, both the firstborn and the Levites were numbered. And when it was found that of the former there were twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three; and of the latter, twenty-two thousand, the two hundred and seventy-three firstborns who were in excess of the Levites were redeemed at the rate of five shekels per head. (Five shekels is the legal sum for the redemption of a firstborn. v. Num. XVIII, 16).

 

The Midrash reiterates this exchange of the first born for the Levites:

 

Midrash Rabbah Bamidbar 4:8 Originally the Temple service devolved upon the firstborn, but when they committed the sin of the Golden Calf, the Levites, inasmuch as they had not erred in the matter of the calf, were privileged to enter in their stead.

 

So, the Levitical priesthood was established because of the sin of the golden calf. The priesthood had been held by the firstborn males, until that time. The Levitical priesthood, therefore, was a replacement for the priesthood of the firstborn, which was HaShem’s ideal. This ideal was established with Adam, and was the norm until the sin of the golden calf.

 

Rashi confirms this change of priesthood:

 

Rashi on Bamidbar 3:12 from among the children of Israel: That the Israelites should have to hire them for My service? I gained My right to them through the [Israelite] firstborns, taking them [the Levites] in their place. For [originally] the service was performed by the firstborns, but when they sinned by [worshipping] the [golden] calf, they became disqualified. The Levites, who had not committed idolatry, were chosen in their stead. [Midrash Aggadah]

 

So, why did Avraham pay a tithe to Melchizedek, alias Shem? The Talmud talks about the “court” or “yeshiva” of Shem in the Gemara, in Avodah Zarah 36b and Makkot 23b. Tradition indicates that Avraham studied in the yeshiva (Torah school) of Shem and Eber.

 

Biblical personalities Shem and Eber formed a Yeshiva called Yeshiva Shem V’Eber. Our forefather Yaaqob learned there for fourteen years. This was all prior to the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. The Talmud mentions the yeshiva of Shem in two places: Avodah Zara 36b and Makkot 23b.

 

At this point we can put together some of the pieces: Avraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek because Melchizedek was a priest, and the task of a priest was to teach Torah. Since Avraham learned Torah from the priest Melchizedek, therefore he gave Melchizedek a tithe. We will see that the giving of a tithe to the priests, the Torah teachers, will later be codified in Torah:

 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 18:26 Thus speak unto the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall offer up an heave offering of it for HaShem, even a tenth part of the tithe.

 

So, the reason that Avraham paid a tithe to Melchizedek, the priest of G-d Most High, is because he was Avraham’s Torah teacher.

 

How did Shem know how to act as a priest?

 

Melchizedek, whose name was Shem, was very close to Adam. Shem lived during the days of Methuselah, and Methuselah lived during the days of Adam. The Gemara records this closeness:

 

Baba Bathra 121b Our Rabbis taught: Seven [men] spanned^[58] [the life of] the whole world.^[59] [For] Methuselah saw Adam; Shem saw Methuselah, Yaaqob saw Shem; Amram saw Yaaqob; Ahijah the Shilonite saw Amram; Elijah saw Ahijah the Shilonite, and he^[60] is still alive.

 

In order to begin to understand the true role of Jewish leadership, we must remember that Avraham was not the first person after Noah to devote himself to HaShem. Noah’s son, Shem who, according to the Midrash, was not only born nine generations before Avraham but lived forty years after the first patriarch died, really qualified for this preeminent position. He, together with his son Eber, established the first yeshiva in history. And when Rivka, Avraham’s daughter-in-law, felt unwell in her pregnancy (the fetuses in her womb struggled), she “inquired of the Lord”,^[61] and Rashi explains that she sought the spiritual advice not of Avraham but rather of Shem. Several verses later, after she gives birth to twins, Yaaqob, the younger son, is described as “dwelling in tents”.^[62] And again Rashi tells us that these are the tents of Torah, the tent of Shem and the tent of Eber for which Yaaqob, midrashic sources reveal, left his father’s and grandfather’s home and studied Torah for fourteen years.

 

Indeed, the centrality of Shem and Eber in the unfolding spiritual development of the Jewish people is given full fanfare when Rashi, in the very context of Avraham’s own life back in Parashat Vaera, explains that the guests of honor “at the great feast Avraham made on the day that Isaac was weaned”,^[63] were “...the greatest of the generation: Shem, Eber, and Elimelech”.

 

At this point we understand that Shem was a priest because he was a firstborn. Further, we also understand that as the patriarch of the family he represented the entire family before HaShem. This helps us to understand that Mashiach was a priest according to the order of Melchizedek because He, too, was not only the first born of His mother, but He was the firstborn of creation, as we read in the Nazarean Codicil:

 

Colossians 1:14-17 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: 15 Who is the image of the invisible G-d, the firstborn of every creature: 16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

 

The Midrash also states that Mashiach will be a firstborn:

 

Midrash Rabbah - Exodus 19:7 Rabbi Natan said: “The Holy One, blessed be He, told Moses: ‘Just as I have made Yaaqob a firstborn, for it says: Israel is My son, My firstborn, so will I make the King Messiah a firstborn, as it says: I also will appoint him firstborn.^[64]

 

Thus, we see that Yeshua is the ultimate patriarch priest of the human race. He was thus the High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. Ultimately, the Levites will divest themselves of the priesthood in favor of the priesthood of the firstborn. This will happen at the restoration of all things:

 

Matityahu (Matthew) 17:11 And Yeshua answered and said unto them, Elijah truly shall first come, and restore all things.

 

The Nazarean Codicil also foresees a day when the Nazareans will also be priests:

 

Revelation 1:4-6 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 5 And from Yeshua Mashiach, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto G-d and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

 

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of G-d and of Mashiach, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

 

The word Toldot,^[65] in Bamidbar 3:1, points to the counting of the Levites, the servants of HaShem, who stand instead of the first-born of Yisrael, and it starts by saying that “These are the Toldot of Aharon and Moshe”, which in a way is the Toldot (Generations) of two priesthoods one after the order of Melech Tzadik (Melchizedek) exemplified by Moshe Rabbeinu, and the other of the order of Aharon, which are still to this day with us by those who are surnamed Kohen. How interesting it is that these two priesthoods have their tents side by side at the entrance of the Tabernacle. But not only are their generations important but also their counting which is unique amongst the Bne Yisrael. Whilst the counting of the various tribes to establish the men of war was done by individuals over the age of twenty, of the Levites we read that their accounting, from one month and older, is by family units which have specific tasks to discharge as family units.

 

What I find quite fascinating is that the early Nazareans did not establish their headquarters in any of the many available Synagogues around Yerushalayim, but they established their headquarters in the Temple.^[66] It appears that they saw themselves very much as Levites but of a different Priesthood, that of Moshe Rabbeinu and His Majesty King Yeshua the Messiah!^[67]

 

We also see that all Israel is to be a kingdom of priests at the restoration of all things:

 

Shemot (Exodus) 19:6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

 

Israel can all be priests because they are all firstborn sons. This is what the Torah teaches:

 

Shemot (Exodus) 4:21 And HaShem said unto Moses, When thou goest to return into Egypt, see that thou do all those wonders before Pharaoh, which I have put in thine hand: but I will harden his heart, that he shall not let the people go. 22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith HaShem, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: 23 And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn.

 

Thus, we see that the priesthood of the firstborn is an enduring priesthood. What makes this especially interesting is that we have previously learned that: Mashiach = Israel.

 

Thus we understand that since Yeshua, the Mashiach, is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, and Israel is a “Kingdom of Priests”, then we can understand that Yeshua is the head of the body called Israel, and the body of Mashiach is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

 

In the beginning Adam walked with HaShem in Gan Eden. In the end, Mashiach, the second Adam, will walk with HaShem in Gan Eden.^[68]

 

In Matityahu (Matthew) we have a very interesting midrashic allusion to Nazarean priests:^[69]

 

Matityahu (Matthew) 19:16-22 16 And behold, one approached and said, “Good Rabbi, what good will I do in order that I may have life eternal? 17. And he (Yeshua) said to him, Why do you ask me about good? Only One is good. But if you wish to come into life, you must continually keep the commandments. 18. He said to Him, What sort of commandments? [Or which ones?] And Yeshua answered, You will not murder, You will not commit adultery, You will not steal, You will not bear false witness, 19. Honor your father and your mother, and, You will love your companion as [you do] yourself 20. The youth said, I have observed all these; what still do I lack? 21. Yeshua answered him, If you wish to be whole, go innocuously and sell your property and give [the proceeds] to the humble, and you will have treasure in the heavens; and come, then come over here and follow me! 22. And having heard that saying, the youth went away distressed, for he had much property.

 

This pasuk from the Nazarean Codicil is the triennial cycle connection to the Torah reading of the Sotah.^[70] In this Torah portion we have the detailed procedure for the woman suspected of adultery and this is followed by the procedure for the Nazir. Chazal, in the Gemara, teach that the Nazir takes his vow and grows his hair in order to be a priest, of sorts, for a short time (typically 30 days).

 

Ta’anith 17a Our Rabbis have taught: A king cuts his hair every day, a high priest on the eve of every Sabbath, all ordinary priests once in thirty days. Why has a king to cut his hair every day? — R. Abba b. Zabda said: Scripture says, Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty. Why has a high priest [to cut his hair] on the eve of every Sabbath? — R. Samuel b. Isaac said: Because the Mishmar changes every week. Whence can it be adduced that an ordinary priest [must cut his hair] once in thirty days? — It is to be adduced from the analogous use of the word pera’ in connection with the Nazirite [and the priests]. Of the priests [it is written], Neither shall they shave their heads, ‘nor suffer their locks [pera’] to grow long; and of the Nazirite it is written, He shall be holy. he shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow long [pera’]; as in the case of the Nazirite the period of growing his hair is thirty days so too must it be in the case of the ordinary priest. But whence do we know this to be the requirement of the Nazirite himself? R. Mattena said: A Nazirite’s unspecified [term of] vow is thirty days. Whence is this to be adduced? — Scripture uses the word yihyeh the numerical value of which is thirty. R. Papa said to Abaye: Perhaps Scripture means [that the priests] should not let their hair grow at all? — The latter replied: Had Scripture written, ‘nor suffer to grow long their locks’, it might be as you suggest, but since Scripture has written, ‘Nor suffer their locks to grow long,’ this implies, they may grow their hair, but they may not suffer their locks to grow long. If that is so, this restriction should be valid even at the present time! — [This restriction is] on the same lines as that of the drinking of wine; just as the restriction of drinking wine applied only to the time when they might enter [the Temple] to do service, so too with regard to the restriction of letting the locks grow long. But has it not been taught: Rabbi says, I declare that [a priest] should not at any time drink wine, but what can I do, seeing that his misfortune turned out to be an advantage to him?

 

Ta’anith 26b It is, however, generally agreed that an intoxicated [priest] may not lift up his hands [in benediction]. Whence is this view adduced? — R. Joshua b. Levi said in the name of Bar Kappara: Why does the section dealing with [the blessing by] the priest follow immediately after the portion of the Nazirite? In order to teach you that, just as the Nazirite is forbidden to drink wine, so too is the priest about to recite the priestly benediction.

 

Nazir 47a MISHNAH. A HIGH PRIEST AND A NAZIRITE MAY NOT DEFILE THEMSELVES [BY CONTACT] WITH THEIR [DEAD] RELATIVES, BUT THEY MAY Defile THEMSELVES WITH A METH MIZWAH.

 

Nazir 47a It is clear that as between a High Priest and a Nazirite, the one [authority] is of the opinion that the High Priest is of superior sanctity, and the other that the Nazirite is of superior sanctity.

 

Midrash Rabbah - Numbers X:11 DEAD BODY (VI, 6). Observe now that whenever a man hallows himself here below, he is hallowed from on high. Of this man, inasmuch as he separates himself from wine and imposes suffering on himself by refraining from shaving his head, with the object of keeping himself free from sin, the Holy One, blessed be He, said: ‘Behold, he ranks in My estimation as a High Priest.’ As a priest is forbidden to defile himself by any dead bodies, so is the Nazirite forbidden to defile himself by any dead bodies. As in reference to the High Priest it is written, For the consecration of the anointing oil of his G-d is upon him, (Lev. XXI, 12), so in reference to the Nazirite it says, Because his consecration unto G-d is upon his head (Num. VI, 7). As in regard to the priest it is written, And Aaron was separated, that he should be sanctified as most holy (I Chron. XXIII, 13), so also is the Nazirite described as holy; for it says, All the days of his Naziriteship he is holy unto the Lord (Num. VI, 8). Come and observe how the commandments circle Israel like crowns! The growing of long hair, surely, makes man uncouth, for he cannot cleanse his head, yet because he grows it with a lofty motive Scripture calls it a ‘crown’ to his head; hence it is written, Because the crown of his G-d is upon his head.

 

Thus, we see the connection between a Nazir and a priest. The Nazarean codicil then tells us about a man who desires to have eternal life. Yeshua tells him to sell his property and give it to the poor and follow Him. Now just as the priest does not own any property, here the Nazarean is enjoined not to have any property. Thus, we have a connection between the priests => the Nazir = > and the Nazarean. From this we can deduce that a Nazarean is also a priest.

Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 33:2-6, 17, 19-22

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 33:2-6, 17, 19-22

 

2 Be their arm of the spoiled ones in the hand of the spoiler.

 

3 From the sound of roaring that emanated from before You, peoples wandered until here when You performed wondrous miracles for us.

 

4 And your booty shall be gathered This refers back to “when you finish dealing treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with you,” and your booty, you, who spoil My people, when your reckoning comes, the remnant of My people shall plunder you and gather your booty like the gathering of locusts, each one of whom gathers grain for himself in summer; here too, each one will plunder for himself.

 

like the roaring of the cisterns Like the sound of the roar of water gathering and falling into the cisterns in the river, so will those coming to plunder and pillage, roar. מַשַּׁק is an expression of roaring. Comp. (Prov. 28:15) “A roaring lion and a growling (שׁוֹקֵק) bear.” Also (Zeph. 2:9), “The noise (מִמְשַׁק) of the thorns.” When the wind blows on the thorns, and they knock against one another, they produce a sound. Comp. also, (Joel 2:9) “In the city they roar (יָשֹׁקּוּ).”

 

cisterns (גֵּבִים) like (supra 30: 14) “or to scoop water from a cistern (מִגֶּבֶא).” Our Sages expounded it in the Aggadah of Chapter Chelek (San. 94b) as referring to the booty of Sennacherib’s soldiers.

 

for He dwells on high He demonstrated His might, that He is exalted above all, and He has the upper hand.

 

6 And the faith of your times, etc. And it shall be for you for strength of salvations and for wisdom and knowledge, that you will be faithful to your Creator concerning the times that He set for you for terumoth and tithes at the time of their separation, for gleanings, forgotten sheaves, and the corner of the field in their time, to leave them over for the poor, to keep release years and jubilee years in their time. Another explanation is: faith of your times What you believed in the Holy One, blessed be He, in times that passed over you, and you hoped for salvation, shall become your strength.

 

17 The King in His beauty shall your eyes behold (The Holy One, blessed be He, Who is a King, Him you shall see from a distant land where you are standing. You shall see the miracles and the greatness that I will perform for you, and a people of a strange tongue, of obscure speech, shall not see the Shechinah of the King in His beauty. [This does not appear in many editions.])

 

19 A people of a strange tongue (נוֹעָז) like לוֹעֵז. These are all the heathens, whose language is not the holy tongue. ([Other editions read:] These are Assyria and Babylon, whose language is not the holy tongue.) ([Manuscripts read:] These are all the nations whose language is not the holy tongue.)

 

you shall not see You shall not esteem in your heart, for they shall all be dark and humble.

 

speech... obscure (שָׂפָה, lit. lip.) Comp. (Gen. 11:1) “And all the land was one speech (שָׂפָה).

 

of stammering tongue (נִלְעָג לָשׁוֹן). Comp. (32:4) “The tongue of the stammerers (לְשׁוֹן עִלְּגִים),” (and of obscure speech. All this is a foreign language, for they do not understand the holy tongue.)

 

See Zion But whom will you see in your heart to be regarded as a kingdom and a ruling power? Zion, which is the city of our meeting place.

 

that shall not fall (יִצְעָן) shall not be lowered. Comp. (Jud. 4:11) “Elon-bezaanannim (אֵלוֹן בְּצַעֲנַנִּים),” which is rendered as: the plain of pits (מִישׁוֹר אַגְנַיָּא), which are pits in the fields, called kombes in O.F. Comp. (Baba Kamma 61b) “The pits of the earth (אַגְנֵי דְאַרְעָא) they are considered,” where water gathers from the mountains and the hills. I believe that the ‘beth’ of the word בְּצַעֲנַנִּים is not radical, but is a prefix.

 

whose pegs shall never be moved (יִסַּע) The pegs with which they tie the ropes of the tent he shall not move them from the earth, from the place into which they are thrust. Comp. (I Kings 5:31) “And they quarried (וַיַּסִּעוּ) great stones.” Also (Jud. 16:3), “And he plucked them (וַיִּסּעֵם) together with the bolt,” an expression of uprooting.

 

But there ‘But’ refers back to ‘whose pegs shall never be moved,’ and ‘shall not be torn.’ The evil shall not be, only the good. There the Lord shall be mighty for us, and the city shall be a place of rivers and streams, in the manner it is said in Ezekiel (47:4f.): “And He measured a thousand (cubits), and He led me...a stream that I could not cross.” And so did Joel prophesy (4:18) “And a spring shall emanate from the house of the Lord,” that it shall become progressively stronger.

 

a galley with oars a ship that floats on the water.

 

and a great ship (וְצִי אַדִּיר) and a great ship [from Jonathan].

 

22 For the Lord is our judge Our prince and judge.

 

Commentary on the Ashlamatah of Isaiah 33:2-6, 17, 19-22

By: H.Ex. Adon Shlomoh Ben Abraham

 

Isaiah prophesied that the ascendancy of our enemy will not last when God is ready, and in Hashem's time, the offender will become the victim and suffer the same fate that he has imposed on others.  This process here in chapter thirty-three is a reassuring message to all people and in all situations for those in despair of their own tribulations and the seemingly success of their adversaries, but remember God keeps his accounts, and a reckoning will come.[71]  

 

Our reading is introduced by informing us that the destroyer, whose days are numbered, and, in the end, he will cease to destroy and cease to betray, and when his work is done, he will be destroyed and will reap the destruction he has sown. Radak suggests this will happen in the Messianic Era and associates this with the fourth beast of Daniel 7:19-22.    Rashi says, “When your mission is complete, then it will be your turn.”  In the last few weeks in our Torah travels, we have seen deliverance, oppression, themes of taking captive, and being taken as a captive. We have witnessed our unfaithfulness at the scene of the golden calf. We have learned from Torah to be patient in following Hashem’s will and to recognize that we must look for and see the Hand of Hashem in everything that happens. We have learned from our Torah travels of the forty-two stages in the desert that in leaving Egypt, there is a” to go out” and looking forward to our redemption, there is a “to come forth”.[72]

 

We have learned of a divine mandate to take possession of our inheritance, our land.  Our human failure has hindered that mission, but God's justice, vengeance, and wrath on our enemies will bring a restoration of a perfect and just society. We have learned that when things go wrong, and they will, we have a place of refuge to run to. There we will receive divine justice, the consequences of our disobedience, and God’s enduring mercy. We have learned to recount and speak of our leaving the place of bondage and our failure to trust Hashem. We have learned the consequence of disobedience, and if we keep Hashem and His Torah as central in our lives, it will bring us to our final redemption and the establishment of a peaceful kingdom of God here on our land.  We have learned of the battles of Gog Magog that are to come upon us at the time of Sukkot, and we have learned to place our faith and hope in Hashem, and we learn that all nations are being drawn toward Mount Zion and the study and practice of Torah. We have learned that the focus of the prophets was not in harm befalling the children of Hashem, but the focus is on destroying Gog and Magog and all evil which it represents, and our charge is to remain faithful and to be strong and of good courage, all who wait for Hashem.(Tehillim(Psa.) 31:25.

 

O Lord, be gracious[73] unto us; we have waited[74] for Thee; Our word translated ‘waited for thee’ comes from a root meaning that of twisting or winding a strand of cord or rope. It is uncertain how that root meaning relates to the idea of hope. In making a rope, one end is attached and anchored, and then the strands are woven together without knowing when we get to the end. We know conceptually there is an end, and so we just keep weaving and working in hope and anticipation for that end. Our prayer should be as Isaiah’s, for Hashem to be gracious toward us, that he finds favor with his faithful servant and has mercy toward our shortcomings.

 

At the noise of the tumult, the people have fled; at the lifting up of Thyself, the nations are scattered. When Hashem comes to assist his people the nations and their enemies are decimated and scattered. As we are told in Joshua 10, when Joshua fought to defend the Gibeonites, we see where Hashem was also involved in the battle, fighting with them and (v.11) tells us that when Hashem sent the hailstones, he killed more in the battle then the Israelites did with the sword.  The enemy addressed here is the Assyrians and at this time the Assyrians were composed of many different nationalities not just a certain tribe or family but many ‘peoples’ and ‘nations’. [75]  Assyria, in geographical terms, encompasses the northern part of Mesopotamia, “the land between two rivers” (Tigris and Euphrates), principally modern-day Iraq.^[76]  Much has been discovered in the last century or so about the Assyrian Empire.  Unlike Egypt, Mesopotamia, including Assyria, is not an easily defined area in terms of historical culture. While Egypt presents a rather unilateral development throughout ancient history, with foreign invasions and influences being more the exception than the rule, Assyria’s development is a kaleidoscope of peoples, languages, and cultures.^[77]

 

The cruelty for which the Assyrians were to become notorious, especially in the Bible, was also more pronounced toward the Jewish people, with the calculated result that numerous small states were intimidated into voluntary submission. The Assyrian army combined efficiency with bloodthirsty methods to gain for itself the doubtful honor of being the best military machine the world had yet seen.^[78]  The Assyrians are the long-standing enemy of Israel, and they are associated with the destruction of the temple and both the exiles of the southern and northern kingdoms. For the Assyrians, war was a way of life, and their whole state, from the monarch down to the lowest peasant, was molded along military lines.[79] For the Babylonians, war was a necessity for survival but not a subject to dwell on. While the Assyrians boast constantly in their inscriptions of military accomplishments, the Babylonians rarely mention them and instead describe in detail their religious and building activities.^[80] These ancient peoples that waged war on Israel are still around; the names have been changed, but their actions remain the same. I think we can see in history those who focused on a culture of bloodthirsty war and they became blended with those who focused on a culture of building and religion and together they became what we know today as a religion of war and submission.

 

And your spoil is gathered as the caterpillar gathered; as locusts leap, do they leap upon it? Isaiah is addressing Israel and telling them they will gather the spoils of their enemies like the caterpillar and locust gather grain and food for their own purpose. This is understood as the Assyrian camp, as in the messianic times after the battle of Gog u’Magog, as referred to in (Ezek. 39:10)[81]  Both Radak and Rashi cite the Talmud and tell us that this refers to the Assyrian camp.[82]

 

The Lord is exalted, for He dwelleth on high; He hath filled Zion with justice and righteousness. And the stability of thy times shall be a hoard of salvation—wisdom and knowledge, and the fear of the Lord, which is His treasure^[83]  By saving us from our enemies, Hashem becomes exalted, and all will see that he dwells on high(Rashi) and Zion will be filled with justice and Righteousness (Radak, Abarbanel).[84]  Rashi goes on to tell us that our faith in our time of exile will be our strength and redemption and as stated in our verse “our power will be in our wisdom, knowledge, and in the fear of Hashem”. Radak adds, the fear of Hashem and involving yourselves in the pursuit of wisdom and knowledge of God will save you from difficulties and thus assure you of peace.[85]

 

Shabbat 31a teaches us that the “fear of Hashem” is man’s treasure. Nothing in the world, silver, gold, buried treasure nor houses nor land, everything is insignificant compared to the “fear of Hashem”. The verse states wisdom and knowledge, and the fear of the Lord, which is His treasure. The word for treasure in the context of our verse, the prophet is saying that all the virtues listed can only be safeguarded if one has ‘fear of God’. It is the preservative of faith, wisdom, and all other spiritual attainments, because it prevents a person from giving in to his temptations. (Maharal).[86]

 

Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty; they shall behold a land stretching afar.^[87] When we look back at (v.13f) for context as to who is being spoken to, we see the ones who are to see the King are those who are ‘near’ and those who “are faraway.”  First and foremost, this speaks of the children of Israel, both far and near in their geographical location in relation to Jerusalem.  The commentators agree that those not of Israel, and in context here it is the Assyrians, who come to know and to fear Hashem because of the things he has done in the distant past and by these you will recognize his mighty acts in the near future. I’m reminded of the story of Rahab and the two spies.(Josh 2:8-11) We are not told how Rahab heard the news of the reed sea crossing nor the defeat of Sihon and Og the two Amorite kings, but as some ridiculed Israel and spoke against them, Rahab from something in her soul reach out by faith toward the people of Israel and “the Lord God, the only God in heaven above and on the earth below” and decided her fate was bound up with this people. When the question is ask of whom these ‘from afar’ are and how they are come to see the King, Ibn Ezra and Abarbanel point to (v.15) He that walketh righteously, and Speakes uprightly; he that despised the gain of oppressions, that shakes his hands from holding of bribes, that stopped his ears from hearing of blood, and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil;^[88] Those who walk in righteousness, those who walk upright and fear the God of Heaven and earth. Homiletically, this ‘King in his beauty’  is speaking of the Messianic King who will dwell in the heights of Jerusalem, and some see in these verses an allusion to the Messiah or an eschatological reference to the divine Presence which will be dwelling in the New Jerusalem.[89]

 

Isaiah goes on to tell us that a day is coming when those people who have resisted the way of God and the war-like foreign invaders shall not enter the city of Jerusalem. Those from the nations with a speech that is constantly mocking and bringing scorn to the Jewish people will be silenced. The attacking lips and the stammering tongue, those deriding and heaping scorn on God’s people, will go silent. (v.19) Rashi relates this to a foreign language and people, and a time when Israel will no longer be subservient to foreigners.

 

Isaiah lived in a time of chaos, war, and destruction, but his vision looked to our day and beyond. In Isaiah 2, he describes a time in the latter days when peoples shall flow up to the mountain of the Lord and instruction shall come forth from Zion and Jerusalem.  Jerusalem will become an “untroubled habitation.” Zion will be the city of our appointed feast, and to anchor this in our reality the prophet tells us that we will see this new Jerusalem with our eyes. Rashi says instead of seeing the brazen people come against Jerusalem, it will all change and we shall ‘behold Zion, the city of our triannual pilgrimage festivals.[90]

 

The prophet Isaiah describes the fruitful land in which redeemed individuals (v. 15–16) will dwell. This is the kingdom of Israel, where righteousness dwells and peace will flourish. The King (32:1; 33:22; 43:15; Micah 2:13; Zeph. 3:15; Zech. 14:9), the Messiah, will be there (Isa. 33:17), and the people will see Him. The people of that time will think back on former times (v. 18–19) and will realize that those who did not live righteously will no longer be with them. No foreign invaders will trouble Israel, including the Assyrians.[91] Those arrogant people, who spoke an incomprehensible language (v.19), a language and reasoning that defies all rational thought.  Jerusalem that is coming will be safe and secure and able to live in peace. The children of Israel, those ‘near’ and ‘from afar’ will come into a more proper relationship with Hashem and the people will acknowledge Him as their Judge ….  Lawgiver ….  King – your eyes shall behold the king in his beauty (v. 17), and he will save us and be our Savior (v. 22) As James the brother of Yeshua acknowledged.  There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy^[92]

 

 

Verbal Tallies and Connections

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23-4:49, + Is 33:2-6, 17, 19-22, Tehillim (Psalms) 109:1-31, 110:1-111:10

By: Hakham Dr. Hillel ben David

 

Looking at the Hebrew of Deuteronomy 3:24 and Isaiah 33:2, what is the verbal tally (all root words) that connects these two passages?

 

The verbal connection between the two passages is not a word found in both JPS translations, but rather the underlying Hebrew word {זְרֹעַ} (H2220), which means "arm" or "strength/might."

 

• Deuteronomy 3:24 uses a near-synonym and closely related concept: "Your mighty hand {יָדְךָ֣} H3027 {הַחֲזָקָ֗ה} H2389." The arm is often a symbol of power, especially a stretched-out arm (zeroa' n'tuya), and is frequently paired with the "hand" (yad) in biblical literature to describe God's saving power (e.g., in the Exodus account).

 

• Isaiah 33:2 explicitly uses the noun {זְרֹעָם} (H2220), translated as "strength" by JPS and "arm" by KJV ("Be thou their arm every morning").

 

Both verses employ a synonymous physical imagery (hand/arm, might/strength) to praise and pray for God's effective, saving power to be manifested to His people.

 

* * *

 

What is/are the thematic connection(s) between Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23-4:49, and Tehillim (Psalms) 109:1-31?

 

The two passages, Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23-4:49 and Tehillim (Psalms) 109:1-31, share a thematic connection rooted in the consequences of obedience and disobedience to HaShem's covenant, and the appeal to divine justice/mercy.

 

Shared Thematic Connections

 

Divine Justice and Consequence: Both passages intensely focus on HaShem's just dealings with individuals based on their actions, particularly in relation to the divine will and covenant.

 

Deuteronomy 3:23-29 deals with Moses' punishment—his being forbidden to enter the Promised Land—as a direct consequence of his disobedience at the waters of Meribah (Numbers 20:1-13). This highlights the principle that even a righteous leader is subject to the strictness of HaShem's judgment and law.

 

Deuteronomy 4:1-49 repeatedly warns the Israelites that their continued possession and prosperity in the land is conditional upon their strict obedience to the statutes and ordinances, with dire consequences (dispersion among the nations) threatened for disobedience and idolatry.

 

Psalms 109:6-20 is an imprecatory prayer where the Psalmist calls upon HaShem to execute harsh, covenant-based curses upon his wicked, deceitful, and merciless accuser. This is an appeal for HaShem to administer covenantal justice against the one who has shown a lack of kindness and pursued the poor and needy. The curses invoked often echo the covenant curses mentioned in the Torah (like Deuteronomy 27–28).

 

Plea and Appeal to HaShem: Both sections contain a heartfelt appeal or plea to HaShem in a time of crisis or transition.

 

Deuteronomy 3:23-25 records Moses' prayer to HaShem, begging for permission to cross the Jordan and see the Promised Land, even after HaShem had pronounced judgment. It's a plea for mercy that is ultimately denied to uphold divine justice.

 

Psalms 109:1-5, 26-29 is a fervent prayer for deliverance and vindication. The Psalmist, feeling "poor and needy" and suffering from slander and hatred, appeals directly to HaShem based on HaShem's "name's sake" and "steadfast love (chessed)" to deliver him and put his accusers to shame.

 

Vindication and HaShem's Glory: Both passages suggest that HaShem's actions—whether judgment or salvation—are ultimately for the sake of His own reputation and for others to witness His power.

 

In Deuteronomy 4:6, Moses states that the nations will look upon Israel's wise and just statutes and say, "Surely that great nation is a wise and understanding people." Israel's obedience and subsequent prosperity vindicates HaShem's wisdom and greatness.

 

In Psalms 109:27, the Psalmist asks for deliverance "That they may know that this is Your hand—That You, HaShem, have done it!" The defeat of the wicked and the salvation of the righteous is intended to glorify HaShem and demonstrate His justice to the world.

 

Key Themes in Each Passage

 

 

* * *

 

The connection between the Torah seder and the Ashlamata, though seemingly strictly verbal, is in addition eschatological.  The messianic kingdom, rather than the related contents of the Torah lesson, is the dominant theme of the Ashlamata.

 

What is the eschatological message of Isaiah 33:2-6, 17, 19-22?

 

The eschatological message of Isaiah 33:2-6, 17, 19-22, as interpreted by Jewish sources, describes the ultimate redemption of Israel and the establishment of HaShem's righteous, secure, and peaceful kingdom on Earth. This message transcends the immediate historical context of the Assyrian threat (which is the primary focus of the chapter) to look forward to the Messianic Age.

 

Key Eschatological Themes in Isaiah 33

 

The passages paint a picture of final salvation and restoration:

 

1. Divine Salvation and Strength (Verses 2-6)

The passage begins with a prayer of the faithful remnant for HaShem's immediate and future grace and strength ("Be their arm every morning, Our salvation also in the time of distress" - v. 2). Eschatologically, this plea anticipates the time when HaShem's power (His "arm") will be completely revealed:

 

• Exaltation of HaShem: HaShem will rise up and be exalted ("HaShem is exalted, for He dwells on high" - v. 5), scattering the nations that oppose Israel.

 

• Establishment of Righteousness: HaShem will fill Zion (Jerusalem) with justice and righteousness (Tzedek u'Mishpat) (v. 5).

 

• Stability of the Messianic Era: The enduring qualities of this future time will be wisdom and knowledge, which will serve as the stability of the times and the strength of salvation (v. 6). The fear of HaShem is identified as the supreme treasure, foundational to this stability.

 

2. Seeing the King and Complete Security (Verses 17, 19-22)

These verses vividly describe the conditions in the Messianic Age, specifically the renewed vision for the faithful:

 

• Beholding the King: The righteous will ultimately see the King in His beauty (v. 17). While this may have an immediate historical reference to King Hezekiah after the deliverance from Assyria, Jewish commentators (such as Kimchi and the Targum) often interpret "the King" eschatologically to mean the King Messiah or the Glory of the King of the Worlds (referring to God's manifested presence).

 

• Elimination of the Oppressor: The people will no longer see the foreign, insolent, and "stammering" enemy (v. 19), which represents all hostile nations ('Am 'az). This signifies the end of exile, oppression, and foreign domination.

 

• Eternal Security of Jerusalem: Jerusalem (Zion) will become a secure habitation, an unmovable tent whose pegs will never be pulled out and whose cords will never be cut (v. 20). This metaphor signifies the eternal and unshakable stability of the redeemed city.

 

• HaShem as Sole Authority: The ultimate source of this security is that God Himself will be the entire government for His people: "For HaShem is our judge, HaShem is our lawgiver, HaShem is our king; He will save us" (v. 22). This underscores the Messianic state of perfect, immediate Divine sovereignty.

 

3. Ultimate Perfection (Verse 24)

Though not explicitly in the requested range, the final verse of the chapter is often included in the eschatological interpretation and provides the concluding message: "And no inhabitant will say, 'I am ill'; the people who dwell in it will be forgiven their iniquity." This promise points to a perfected state in the redeemed kingdom:

 

• Physical Redemption: The removal of illness and physical suffering.

 

• Spiritual Redemption: The complete forgiveness of sin (the final atonement), which is the foundation for all other blessings.

 

 

Nazarean Talmud

“VaEtChanan”– “And I besought”

Sidra of Devarim (Deuteronomy) “3:23-4:49”

By: Hakham Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

School of Hakham Shaul’s Tosefta Luqas (LK)	School of Hakham Tsefet’s Peshat Mordechai (Mk)
¶ “And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of Gentiles in perplexity from the noise of the sea and its surging, people fainting from fear and expectation of what is coming on the inhabited earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they (the gentiles) will see the son of man (Heb. “ben Adam” = Messiah as a human being) coming with miraculous power in clouds and much honor [as it is said: "And to him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the gentiles, nations and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”] Dan 7:13-14 But when these things begin to happen, stand up straight and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near!”   ¶ And he told, gave them an analogy: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they put out foliage, now you see for yourselves and know that by this time the summer is near. So also you, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom/Governance of God through the Hakhamim and Bate Din is near. Truly I say to you that this generation will never pass away until all things take place! The Heavens and earth will pass away, but my words (Mesorah – The Oral Torah) will never pass away (become invalid).   ¶ “You must be prepared for action and your lamps burning. And you, be like people who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that when he comes back and knocks, they can open the door for him immediately. Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he returns! Truly I say to you that he will dress himself for service and have them recline at the table and will come by and serve them. Even if he should come back in the second or in the third watch of the night and find them like this, blessed are they! But understand this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into.	But after the days of affliction, as it is written, “For the stars of heaven and their constellations will not flash forth their light; The sun will be dark when it rises And the moon will not shed its light.” (Isa 34:4) “Thus I will punish the world for its evil And the wicked for their iniquity; I will also put an end to the arrogance of the proud And abase the haughtiness of the ruthless. I will make mortal man scarcer than pure gold and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore, I will make the heavens tremble, And the earth will be shaken from its place At the fury of the LORD of hosts in the day of His burning anger.” (Isa 13:10-13) “And all the host of the heavens will wear away, And the heavens will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree. (Isa 34:4)   And then they (the gentiles) will see the son of man (Heb. “ben Adam” = Messiah) coming with miraculous power in clouds and much honor [as it is said: "And to him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the gentiles, nations and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”] (Dan 7:13-14). And then he (the Messiah) will send (his) messengers to gather his (G-d’s) elect (the Jews) from the four winds, from one end of the heavens and earth to the other. But from the fig tree learn a lesson: when the branch is tender (full of sap) it puts forth leaves, you know that summer is coming: And therefore, when you see these (things) you will know (recognize that) I am approaching the door. Amen ve Amen, I tell you that generation (will) not pass until all these things happen. The (present) Heavens and the earth will pass (come to an end) but my words (Mesorah – The Oral Torah) will not pass (become invalid).   ¶ But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not the messengers of the heavens nor the Son of Man (the Prophet) only the Father. Watch with discernment STAY FOCUSED and pray for (you do not) know the appointed time. It is like a man away on a journey, leaving home; he places each of his bondservants in charge of their appointed work and orders the doorkeeper to REMAIN FOCUSED! Therefore, keep alert because you do not know when the master of the house will come, it may be late in the day or at midnight or at the (the cry of) the Temple crier or at dawn. So that he will not find you sleeping when he (the Messiah) comes unexpectedly. Rather, I say to you, I command to everyone “STAY FOCUSED” in your appointed task.
You also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think he will come.” And Tsefet said, “Master, are you telling this parable for us, or also for the Gentiles?” And the Master said, “Who then is the faithful, wise manager whom the master will put in charge over his servants to give them their food allowance at the right time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find so doing when he comes back. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that an enslaved person should say to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time to return,’ and he begins to beat the enslaved men and the enslaved women and to eat and drink and get drunk. In that case, the master of that enslaved person will come on a day that he does not expect and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two and assign his place with the unfaithful. And that enslaved person who knew the will of his master and did not prepare or do according to his will be given a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did things deserving blows will be given a light beating. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be demanded, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will ask him for even more.   ¶ Now while they were listening to these things, he went on and gave them an analogy, because he was near Yerushalayim, and they thought[93] that the Governance of God through bate Din and Hakhamim as opposed to Kings and despotic rulers was needed immediately.[94]   You also must be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not think he will come.” And Tsefet said, “Master, are you telling this parable for us, or also for the Gentiles?” And the Master said, “Who then is the faithful, wise manager whom the master will put in charge over his servants to give them their food allowance at the right time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find so doing when he comes back. Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that an enslaved person should say to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time to return,’ and he begins to beat the enslaved men and the enslaved women and to eat and drink and get drunk. In that case, the master of that enslaved person will come on a day that he does not expect and at an hour that he does not know, and will cut him in two and assign his place with the unfaithful. And that enslaved person who knew the will of his master and did not prepare or do according to his will be given a severe beating. But the one who did not know and did things deserving blows will be given a light beating. And from everyone to whom much has been given, much will be demanded, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will ask him for even more.   ¶ Now while they were listening to these things, he went on and gave them an analogy, because he was near Yerushalayim, and they thought[95] that the Governance of God through bate Din and Hakhamim as opposed to Kings and despotic rulers was needed immediately.[96]   Therefore, he said, “A certain Royal Ish (man of nobility i.e. Hakham)[97] traveled to a distant country to take upon himself[98] a seat on the Bench (office of authority)[99] (become a judge in a Bet Din) and to return. And summoning ten of his own Paqidim, he gave them ten minas [100] and said to them, ‘conduct business until I come back.’ But the Gentile citizens (of his region) hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be Judge[101] over us!’ And it happened that when he returned after receiving a seat on the Bench (office of authority)[102] (become a judge in a Bet Din), he ordered these Paqidim to whom he had given the money to be summoned to him, so that he could know what they had gained by trading. So the first arrived, saying, ‘Sir, your mina has made ten minas more!’ And he said to him, ‘Well done, you are a good Paqid! Because you have been faithfully obedient in a very small thing, have authority over ten cities.’ And the second came, saying, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’ So he said to this one also, ‘And you be over five cities.’ And another came, saying, ‘Sir, behold your mina, which I had put away for safekeeping in a piece of cloth. For I was afraid of you, because you are an austere man—you withdraw what you did not deposit, and you reap what you did not sow!’ He said to him, ‘By your own words I will judge you, wicked Paqid! You knew that I am an austere man, withdrawing what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. And why did you not give my money to the bank, and when I returned, would have collected it with interest?’ And to the bystanders he said, ‘Take away from him the mina and give it to the one who has the ten minas!’ And they said to him, ‘Sir, he already has ten minas.’ ‘I tell you that to everyone who has, more will be given. But from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. But these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them—bring them here and slaughter them in my presence!’ ” ¶ “But take care[103] for yourselves, lest your hearts are weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of daily life,[104] and that day come upon you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all the Gentiles who dwell on the face of the whole earth. But be always alert, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”   ¶ And in the daytime he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and stayed on Har Zeytim (Mount Of Olives)

 

Nazarean Codicil to be read in conjunction with the following Torah Seder

 

 

Commentary on Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

Mountain and Cloud

The meeting of mountain and cloud creates the atmosphere in which revelation breathes. The mountain rises as the earth’s steadfast spine, bearing upward the yearning of creation; the cloud descends as a veil of tenderness, bearing downward the nearness of G-d. Their union frames the space where hearing matures into seeing, where command ripens into vision, and where obedience becomes illumination. The Torah Seder of D’barim 3:24–4:49 offers the grammar of this union as Moshe stands upon Pisgah and speaks of statutes, memory, and life. The Nazarean Codicil, in Mordechai 13:24–37 and Luqas 21:25–38, shows the same union unfolding on the vast stage of history as lights withdraw, powers tremble, and the ben Adam appears upon the clouds with honor. The two horizons disclose one revelation: the word that kindled creation in B’resheet moves through time as living speech, teaching hearts to become sanctuaries where earth’s ascent and heaven’s descent embrace.

 

The prayer that begins the portion sets the spiritual cadence. “O Lord G-d, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your mighty hand” (D’barim 3:24). The language honors both givenness and limit. Revelation begins, and the servant begins to see; the beginning itself carries perfection for those who receive it as gift. Moshe’s longing to cross the Jordan reveals hunger for wholeness, yet the answer directs the hunger toward transmission: “Charge Yehoshua, and strengthen him” (3:28). Vision pours itself forward through commanded continuity. The mountain, therefore, teaches that seeing achieves its purpose when it becomes teaching; elevation fulfils itself by empowering those who will walk after.

 

The Nazarean Codicil’s horizon matches the mountain’s law with the cloud’s tenderness. The sun withholds brilliance, the moon gathers her silver, and constellations lose their poise as if the universe itself remembers the Voice. The words “Then they will see the ben Adam coming in clouds with miraculous power and much honour” align the sky with Sinai. Revelation steps outward from the inner chamber and fills the theatre of nations. The vision arrives as a gift for watchful hearts, and the gift calls for disciplined attention rather than grasping control. The mountain grants sight to the humbled prophet; the cloud grants sight to an obedient community that keeps lamps trimmed by prayer.

 

The refusal given to Moshe functions as an instruction that protects sanctity. Reverent silence after petition preserves trust in the cadence of divine time. The Nazarean Codicil preserves the same cadence by withholding the hour: “No one knows the day or the hour… only the Father.” Unshared knowledge shelters the interior life of faith from calculative restlessness. The covenant breathes through entrusted waiting. Those who keep vigil participate in the wisdom by which G-d orders the seasons of history without surrendering the secret of their exact measure.

 

The portion places hearing at the center of life. “Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and judgments which I teach you, that you may live” (4:1). Hearing, understood spiritually, means consenting attention. The ear receives the word not as sound alone but as law for perception. The Nazarean Codicil mirrors this center by binding watching to prayer: “Watch with discernment and pray.” Seeing becomes the outward face of the same interior attentiveness. Hearing and watching thus form a single discipline; the first establishes covenant consciousness, the second keeps it awake amid events. Together they teach that life before G-d rests upon a heart trained to attend.

 

The revelation at Ḥorev offers the decisive safeguard for this attentiveness. The people heard a voice, yet no form stood before them (4:12). Fire surrounded them, and speech reached them, yet the lack of an image guarded their devotion from distortion. The Nazarean Codicil extends this pedagogy from the mountain to the cosmos. Heaven and earth themselves become the dissolving image. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.” The instruction to shun humanly carved likenesses now widens into a revelation that even the most magnificent natural likeness—the starry order—offers no permanence apart from the sustaining word. A cosmos that yields before the word leads the heart to the essence that endures.

 

The portion then binds hearing to memory. “Only take heed and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen” (4:9). Memory becomes the vessel of revelation. The Nazarean Codicil converts memory into practice through vigil: hearts remain upright through the watches of the night, lamps remain bright, and prayer keeps the breath aligned with purpose. The soul that remembers the Voice at Sinai becomes the soul that watches for the coming in the clouds. The one discipline appears as two faces of fidelity. The wilderness night of the first redemption and the apocalyptic night of the final unveiling share the same posture—girded loins and attentive hearts.

 

The phrase “For the Lord your G-d is a consuming fire” (4:24) reveals the interior nature of revelation. Fire illumines, purifies, and distinguishes. The Nazarean Codicil shows the same fire radiating through the sky’s darkening. The trembling of the heavens signals the sifting that fire performs. The faithful know warmth and clarity because their inner law harmonizes with the flame; disordered structures disintegrate because they possess no inner axis. The drama above mirrors the discipline within. Those who cultivate focus taste the fire as light; those who cultivate distraction feel it as pressure. The same flame serves both as pedagogue: it teaches the heart to choose that which abides.

 

The cities of refuge appear as legal mercy embodied in space (4:41–43). The provision offers protection for the one who seeks time to heal a breach that requires process. The Nazarean Codicil’s gathering from the four winds shows the same mercy written across the face of history as the faithful find sanctuary not by flight but by formation. The heart, trained by Torah, becomes a city. Attention functions as a wall and gate, as court and street. Within such a city, the avenger loses his right to enter; retribution gives way to instruction, and instruction ripens into repair. The refuge established in geography earlier becomes refuge established in consciousness later, and both belong to one economy of judgment that breathes compassion.

 

The unity proclaimed at the end of the Torah Seder—“Know this day and take it to your heart, that the Lord, He is G-d in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is none else” (4:39)—becomes luminous when read with the Nazarean Codicil’s affirmation that the word outlasts the sky and the ground. Unity arrives not as a concept but as experience: when every support that seems stable yields before the word, the One stands revealed as the foundation that never wavers. The earlier proclamation and the later promise together disclose the centre of covenant life: the world exists by speech, and the servant lives by consenting to that speech.

 

The inner topography of the human being reflects the meeting of mountain and cloud. The Nefesh rises as the mountain’s base when discipline brings appetite into rhythm. The Ruach lifts as the mountain’s slope when intention and courage align. The Neshamah opens as the mountain’s summit when awareness beholds order without grasping. The cloud, descending in mercy, touches each level with presence. In study, the word descends through understanding; in prayer, understanding ascends toward the Source. When these movements meet, a person becomes a living Sinai. The Nazarean Codicil’s sky, darkened to reveal the appearing ben Adam, thus portrays an inward event: faculties that have learned quietness make room for a light that does not glare yet illumines everything it touches.

 

The figure upon the cloud embodies transmitted authority. Moshe strengthens Yehoshua and hands forward the weight of command; the ben Adam appears as human form bearing a divine mandate. Authority in the Torah never displays conquest; it demonstrates trust. The one who bears it receives rather than seizes. The latter vision carried in the Nazarean Codicil gathers authority around humble presence. Dominion becomes stewardship, and power becomes service. The one who stands in the cloud shows the path for those who stand under command in every generation—teach without possession, guard without grasping, rule by nourishing.

 

The fig tree in the Nazarean Codicil enriches the mountain’s pedagogy with seasonal wisdom. The tender branch and the new leaf tell the heart that summer draws near. The portion’s insistence that statutes bring life in the land meets the parable’s insistence that focus reads the signs rightly. The sap within the tree corresponds to the inward renewal that hearing generates. Leaves do not summon summer; they display its arrival. Obedience does not coerce redemption; it reveals readiness for its gifts. The parable, therefore, teaches perception free from anxiety. The heart that knows the law of seasons lives in peace even while the horizon shudders.

 

The watch-image in Luqas 21 aligns with the ancient night of guarding before deliverance. The first redemption unfolded while a nation stood prepared; the final unveiling meets a people shaped by prayer. The Nazarean Codicil repeats the Temple’s rhythm through time: the cry that once awakened priests now awakens souls. The crier’s duty becomes the inward bell of conscience, and the doorpost of the house becomes the edge of attention. Every watch becomes an opportunity for gentle strength. The lamp grows bright through repeated faithfulness, not through sudden ecstasy.

 

The portion’s warning regarding images finds its purest fulfilment when applied to the imagination itself. The mind readily carves idols out of fear or desire. The discipline that hears the word without insisting on image preserves interior freedom. The Nazarean Codicil enacts exactly this: as the sky’s images fade, the word’s music guides. The faithful attend to the melody rather than to the dissolving scenery. In this manner the apocalypse becomes revelation’s purification, not spectacle’s climax.

 

The phrase “that you may live” echoes through every paragraph of the portion and reverberates in the Nazarean Codicil’s commands. Life in Torah begins as the fruit of hearing. Life in the Nazarean Codicil continues as the fruit of watching. The two fruits share one root—consent to G-d’s presence. The heart that consents finds ways to obey in the concrete: honor parents, guard speech, love the neighbor, sanctify time, steward wealth, welcome the stranger. The Nazarean Codicil’s vast horizon affirms such particulars and confirms their eternal dignity. The servant who tends the small lamp participates in the great light that the cloud bears.

 

The fire, so prominent in the portion, invites consideration of how illumination and purification become one. Illumination grants understanding, and purification grants freedom from what clouds understanding. Together they yield clarity with warmth. The Nazarean Codicil’s trembling heaven dramatizes the same unity. The faithful welcome a light that also refines. The discipline of study teaches the mind to bear paradox without violence: humility alongside courage, patience alongside zeal, awe alongside intimacy. When the mind bears such pairs, the fire shines without burning the vessel.

 

The cities of refuge teach the ethics of time. The man who enters the sanctuary does not merely escape; he receives the gift of delay that allows truth to emerge without frenzy. The Nazarean Codicil’s gathering repeats this gift at scale by interposing focused attention between impulse and action. A heart that has become a refuge chooses to pause before speech, to pause before judgment, to pause before retaliation. The pause permits the word to lead, and the word restores the situation to order. The house of study becomes the pattern for the world: learn first, then decide; pray first, then act; listen first, then speak.

 

The unity declaration near the close of the portion saturates the Nazarean Codicil’s vision with calm. When heaven and earth pass, the one G-d remains. The faithful remain steady at the sky’s tremor because the word stands. The calm anchors sorrow and peril and renders possible a peace that labors. The house remains ordered, lamps remain bright, and watchers remain gentle because the center does not move.

 

The inner topography benefits from one more consideration. The Nefesh receives order through habit; the Ruach receives order through praise; the Neshamah receives order through contemplation. The portion speaks to all three. Statutes shape habit; the call to remember shapes praise; the insistence on voice without image shapes contemplation. The Nazarean Codicil’s summons to watch addresses the same three. Vigil guides habit by rhythm, guides emotion by hope, and guides awareness by simplicity. In this way, the meeting of mountain and cloud occurs daily within a human life. The day ascends through Torah; grace descends through prayer; their union turns hours into sanctuary.

 

The figure upon the cloud bears one additional lesson. Transmission requires renunciation of status so that gift may flow. The one who comes in honor also comes for service. The law of leadership in Torah remains intact: the teacher receives to give, the judge discerns to protect, the elder remembers to bless. The Nazarean Codicil’s appearance confirms that leadership remains for the sake of life. The nations tremble before power, and the faithful recognize the gentleness that stands behind true strength.

 

The fig tree’s lesson yields a pastoral ethic for communities. Leaves that foretell summer invite households to practice signs that foretell wholeness: meals shared with gratitude, disputes resolved through counsel, wealth distributed with fairness, time honored with joy. Such signs reveal the season. The Nazarean Codicil’s admonition against anxiety harmonizes with the portion’s insistence on life. Gratitude multiplies attention. Communities that practice attention through gratitude become lamps for their cities.

 

The watchfulness demanded by the Nazarean Codicil draws energy from the portion’s proclamation that the word formed heaven and earth. Those who hold to the word hold to the ground of being. Watching for the ben Adam becomes a way of living at the center rather than awaiting an interruption from the edge. The final appears to crown a path already walked. Lamps that have burned through the night glow with a steady welcome. Hearts that have remembered through decades widen with recognition.

 

Moshe’s posture on the mountain offers the archetype of such recognition. The gaze across the Jordan flows with praise. The charge to Yehoshua flows with confidence. The blessing that flows at the border reveals the secret of every border: beginnings hand themselves to continuations; elders rejoice in the strength of those who come after. The Nazarean Codicil’s horizon displays the same generosity at scale. The one who appears confirms the watchers. Transmission remains revelation’s chosen form.

 

The conversation between Portion and Nazarean Codicil clarifies the meaning of the sign. A sign exists for interpretation rooted in obedience. The Nazarean Codicil’s images are lexemes in a grammar already established by the Torah. The portion trains interpreters who can read the sky without forgetting the mountain. Those who bear the law within discern the weather of history without losing the climate of covenant. Passing signs invite deeper cleaving to the settled word.

 

The final paragraphs of the portion seal the covenant through remembrance of deliverance and the gift of statutes. The Nazarean Codicil’s final admonition seals the vigil through prayer and hope. The seal forms a people who live as a lamp on a stand. Houses find their way by their light; travelers find rest by their glow; children learn courage by its steadiness. The Nazarean Codicil crowns the portion by showing the lamp’s horizon; the portion grounds the Nazarean Codicil by giving the lamp’s oil. Oil and horizon together make a night navigable.

 

The meeting of mountain and cloud finally discloses a law of speech. The Voice speaks from fire and remains without image; the word stands when images fall. The faithful speech that answers the Voice takes shape as blessing, instruction, comfort, and justice. Blessing gives reality its proper name. Instruction gives actions their correct form. Comfort gives sorrow its companion. Justice provides the community with its fairness. The Nazarean Codicil’s images carry all four functions as they gather watchers from the ends of heaven to the gates of mercy. The portion’s statutes carry all four functions as they teach day by day how to live in the land with kindness and truth.

 

The whole becomes clear. The mountain gives structure to ascent; the cloud offers warmth to descent. The portion forms the bones of the life of Torah; the Nazarean Codicil fills those bones with breath and motion. Hearts learn to carry both in one body. The result appears as serenity that labors, courage that listens, power that nourishes, and hope that watches. The world’s tremor then resembles the trembling at Sinai—the shiver of creation hearing again the Voice that called it forth. The watchers lift their heads because their redemption draws near, and their lamps remain bright because their redemption has already drawn into their hands through obedience.

 

Therefore, this is the marriage of D’barim 3:24–4:49 with Mordechai 13:24–37 and Luqas 21:25–38. The marriage bears fruit as communities that preserve the word in memory, enact the word in statutes, interpret the word in signs, and transmit the word in blessing. The mountain and the cloud meet wherever such life unfolds. Earth rises, heaven descends, and between them a people learns to live as the dwelling of G-d, steady as stone, tender as mist, luminous as fire, attentive as one who has heard a Voice and now watches until seeing carries the same love as hearing.

 

Some Questions to Ponder:

 

1. From all the readings for this week, which particular verse or passage caught your attention and fired your heart and imagination?
2. In your opinion, and taking into consideration all of the above readings for this Sabbath, what is the prophetic message (the idea that encapsulates all the Scripture passages read) for this week.

 

 

Blessing After Torah Study

 

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

Ashér Natán Lánu Torát Emét, V'Chayéi Olám Natá B'Tochénu.

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

 

Blessed is Ha-Shem our GOD, King of the universe,

Who has given us a teaching of truth, implanting within us eternal life.

Blessed is Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!

 

“Now unto Him who is able to preserve you faultless, and spotless, and to establish you without a blemish,

before His majesty, with joy, [namely,] the only one GOD, our Deliverer, by means of Yeshua the Messiah our Master, be praise, and dominion, and honor, and majesty, both now and in all ages. Amen!”

 

Next Sabbath: “Az Yavdil” – Sabbath “Then set apart”

 

 

 

 

Contents of the Torah Seder

 

·        Moses Assigns 3 Cities of Refuge East of Jordan – Deut. 4:41-43

·        Title, Time, and Place of Moses’ Second Discourse – Deut. 4:44-49

·        On the Revelation of Horeb – Deut. 5:1-5

·        The First Word – Deut. 5:6

·        The Second Word – Deut. 5:7-10

·        The Third Word – Deut. 5:11

·        The Fourth Word – Deut. 5:12-15

·        The Fifth Word – Deut. 5:16

·        The Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Word – Deut. 5:17

·        The Tenth Word – Deut. 5:18

·        The Manner in which the Decalogue was Delivered – Deut. 5:19-30

·        Conclusion of the Second Discourse – Deut. 6:1-3

·        The Shema – Deuteronomy 6:4-9

·        Peril of Forgetting – Deuteronomy 6:10-19

·        The Exodus – An Object Lesson – Deuteronomy 6:20-25

·        The Ten Words and the Shema Demands Avoidance of Intermarriage, and the Destruction of all Idolatrous Worship in the Promised Land – Deuteronomy 7:1-5

·        Reason for Previous Commands – Deuteronomy 7:6-11

 

Reading Assignment:

 

Hakham Dr. Hillel ben David

Hakham Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

Edited by HH Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham

A special thank you to HH Giberet Giborah bat Sarah and Giberet Sarai bat Sarah for their diligence in proof-reading