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

Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings	Fourth Year of the Reading Cycle
Kislev 14, 5772 – Dec. 09 – Dec. 10, 2011	Fourth Year of the Shmita Cycle

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:

Conroe & Austin, TX, U.S. Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 5:13 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 6:10 PM	Brisbane, Australia Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 6:16 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 7:15 PM	Bucharest, Romania Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 4:18 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 5:25 PM
Chattanooga, & Cleveland, TN, U.S. Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 5:11 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 6:11 PM	Jakarta, Indonesia Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 5:41 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 6:33 PM	Manila & Cebu, Philippines Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 5:09 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 6:01 PM
Miami, FL, U.S. Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 5:12 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 6:07 PM	Olympia, WA, U.S. Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 4:04 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 5:14 PM	Murray, KY, & Paris, TN. U.S. Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 4:19 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 5:20 PM
Sheboygan & Manitowoc, WI, US Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 3:56 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 5:02 PM	Singapore, Singapore Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 6:40 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 7:32 PM	St. Louis, MO, U.S. Fri. Dec 09 2011 – Candles at 4:21 PM Sat. Dec 10 2011 – Havdalah 5:23 PM

For other places see: http://chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp

Roll of Honor:

This Torah commentary comes to you courtesy of:

His Honor Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David and beloved wife HH Giberet Batsheva bat Sarah

His Honor Paqid Adon Mikha ben Hillel

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

His Excellency Adon Ezra ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Karmela bat Sarah,

His Excellency Dr. Adon Yeshayahu ben Yosef and beloved wife HE Giberet Tricia Foster

His Excellency Adon Yisrael ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Elisheba bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Vardit bat Sarah

Her Excellency Giberet Laurie Taylor

His Honor Paqid Dr. Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

Her Excellency Prof. Dr. Conny Williams & beloved family

Her Excellency Giberet Gloria Sutton & beloved family

For their regular and sacrificial giving, providing the best oil for the lamps, we pray that G-d’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.

If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never lose any of our commentaries, or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to benhaggai@GMail.com with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!

“Shabbat Banim Atem”

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
בָּנִים אַתֶּם
“Banim Atem”	Reader 1 – D’barim 14:1-8	Reader 1 – D’barim 15:7-9
“You are children of”	Reader 2 – D’barim 14:9-18	Reader 2 – D’barim 15:9-11
“Hijos sois del”	Reader 3 – D’barim 14:19-21	Reader 3 – D’barim 15:7-11
	Reader 4 – D’barim 14:22-24
D’barim (Deut.) 14:1 - 15:6	Reader 5 – D’barim 14:25-29
Ashlamatah: Is. 63:8-16 + 65:9	Reader 6 – D’barim 15:1-3	Reader 1 – D’barim 15:7-9
Psalm 119: 105-136	Reader 7 – D’barim 15:4-6	Reader 2 – D’barim 15:9-11
	Maftir: D’barim 15:4-6	Reader 3 – D’barim 15:7-11
	- Is. 63:8-16 + 65:9
N.C.: Mark 15:6-15

Blessings Before Torah Study

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

Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, 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 desire. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Amen!

Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, 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 doing 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: Honouring 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!

Reading Assignment:

The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez - Vol 17: Deuteronomy – III – Gratitude & Discipline

By: Rabbi Yitzchaq Behar Argueti & Rabbi Shmuel Yerushalmi

Published by: Moznaim Publishing Corp. (New York, 1992)

Vol. 17 – “Deuteronomy – III – Gratitude & Discipline,” pp. 128-148.

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan

for: D’barim (Deut.) 14:1 - 15:6

RASHI	TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN
1. You are children of the Lord, your God. You shall neither cut yourselves nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.	1. As beloved children before the LORD your God, you will not make lacerations in your flesh, nor make bare the crown of the hair over your foreheads on account of the soul of the dead. JERUSALEM You are beloved children before the LORD your God; you will not make divers wounds for strange worship, nor cause baldness above your forehead to mourn for a person who is dead.
2. For you are a holy people to the Lord, your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a treasured people for Him, out of all the nations that are upon the earth.	2. For you are to be a holy people before the LORD your God: the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people more beloved than all the peoples who are upon the face of the earth.
3. You shall not eat any abomination.	3. You may not eat of anything that for you is abominable.
4. These are the animals that you may eat: ox, lamb, and kid,	4. These are the animals which you may eat: oxen, and lambs of the ewes, such as are not blemished (unclean), and kids of the goats unmixed with what are unclean.
5. gazelle, deer, and antelope, ibex, chamois, bison, and giraffe.	5. Harts and antelopes and fallow deer, rock goats and reems, wild oxen and pygargs;
6. And every animal that has a split hoof and has a hoof cloven into two hoof sections, [and] chews the cud among the animals that you may eat.	6. and every animal that has the divided hoof, and horns, and that cleaves the cleft, bringing up the cud among animals, that you may eat. JERUSALEM Which brings up the cud among animals, that may you eat.
7. But you shall not eat of those that chew the cud, or of those that have the split hooves: the cloven one, the camel, the hyrax, and the hare, for they chew the cud, but do not have split hooves; they are unclean for you.	7. But of these you may not eat that bring up the cud, or of those who (only) have the hoof divided, the cast thing (embryo) which has two heads or a double back, things which are not to be perpetuated in the same species (i.e. as a species); nor the camel, the hare, or the coney, because they chew the cud, but do not divide the hoof; they are unclean to you. JERUSALEM Because they bring up the cud, but have not the hoof divided.
8. And the pig, because it has a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You shall neither eat of their flesh nor touch their carcass.	8. The swine, because, though he has the hoof divided, and there is none produced that like him divides (the hoof), and yet chews not the cud, is unclean to you; of their flesh you will not eat, nor touch their dead bodies.
9. These you may eat of all that are in the waters; all that have fins and scales, you may eat.	9. But this you may eat, of all that are in the waters, whatever has fins to move, as by flying, and scales upon its skin; and though (some of which) may fall away, yet if there remain on under its jaw, another under its fin, and another under its tail, that you may eat.
10. But whatever does not have fins and scales, you shall not eat; it is unclean for you.	10. But whatever has neither fins nor scales you may not eat; it is unclean to you.
11. You may eat every clean bird.	11. Every bird which has a vesicle or crop which may be picked away, and which (bird) is longer than a finger, and not of the rapacious kind, you may eat.
12. But these are those from which you shall not eat: The eagle [or the griffin vulture], the ossifrage, the osprey;	12. But these are they which you may not eat: the eagle, the ossifrage, the osprey, JERUSALEM And these are they of which you may not eat: the eagle, and the sea eagle (ossifrage), and the osprey.
13. and the white vulture, and the black vulture, and the kite after its species;	13. the daitha (lammer geyer) white or black, which is a bird of prey, a kind of vulture. JERUSALEM And the rook, the heron also, and the vulture after his kind.
14. And every raven after its species;	14. And every raven after his kind;
15. And the ostrich, and the owl, and the gull, and the hawk after its species;	15. and the owl, and nighthawk, and the cuckoo, and the falcon after his kind;
16. The falcon, and the ibis, and the bat;	16. the great owl, and the sea gull (catcher of fish from the sea), and the night owl,
17. And the pelican, and the magpie, and the cormorant;	17. and the cormorant white or black, and the pica,
18. And the stork, and the heron and its species, and the hoopoe, and the atalef.	18. and the stork white or black after its kind, and the heathcock, and the bat, JERUSALEM And the white daitha, and the ibis according to his kind, and the heathcock, and the bat,
19. And every flying insect is unclean for you; they may not be eaten.	19. and all flies (bees) and wasps, and all worms of vegetables and pulse, which come away from (materials of) food and fly as birds, are unclean to you, they may not be eaten;
20. You may eat any clean fowl.	20. but any clean beast {locust} you may eat.
21. You shall not eat any carcass. You may give it to the stranger who is in your cities, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the Lord, your God. You shall not cook a kid in its mother's milk.	21. You shall not eat of anything that is unclean through the manner of its death; you may give it to the uncircumcised stranger who is in your cities to eat it, or sell it to a son of the Gentiles; for you are a holy people before the LORD your God. It will not be lawful for you to boil, much less to eat, flesh with milk when both are mixed together.
22. You shall tithe all the seed crop that the field gives forth, year by year.	22. Be mindful to tithe your fruitage of whatsoever comes forth, and which you gather in from the field year by year; not giving the fruit of one year for the fruit of another. JERUSALEM My people of the house of Israel, tithing you will tithe all the produce of your seed, of that which you sow upon the face of the field and gather in the produce of each year. Israel, My people, it is not lawful for you to tithe and eat the fruit of one year along with the fruit of (another) year.
23. And you shall eat before the Lord, your God, in the place He chooses to establish His Name therein, the tithes of your grain, your wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and of your sheep, so that you may learn to fear the Lord, your God, all the days.	23. And the second tithe you will eat before the LORD your God in the place which He will choose to make His Shekinah to dwell there; the tenths of your corn, your vines, and your oil, and likewise the firstlings of your oxen and sheep, that you may learn to fear the LORD your God all the days.
24. And if the way be too long for you, that you are unable to carry it, for the place which the Lord, your God, will choose to establish His Name therein, is too far from you, for the Lord, your God, will bless you	24. And if the way be too great for you to be able to carry the tenth, because the place which the LORD your God will choose for His Shekinah to dwell there is too distant from you, when the LORD your God will have blessed you,
25. Then you shall turn it into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and you shall go to the place the Lord, your God, will choose.	25. then you may make exchange for it into silver, and bind the sum in your hand, and proceed to the place which the LORD your God will choose,
26. And you shall turn that money into whatever your soul desires; cattle, sheep, new wine or old wine, or whatever your soul desires, and you shall eat there before the Lord, your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.	26. and give the silver for anything that your soul pleases, of oxen, sheep, wine new or old, or whatever your soul desires; and you will eat there before the LORD your God and rejoice, you and the men of your house.
27. And [as for] the Levite who is in your cities you shall not forsake him, for he has neither portion nor inheritance with you.	27. And the Levite who is in your cities forsake not, for he has not a portion or a heritage with you.
28. At the end of three years, you shall take out all the tithe of your crop in that year and place it in your cities.	28. At the end of three years you will bring forth all the tenths of your produce for that year, and lay them up in your cities.
29. And the Levite because he has no portion or inheritance with you and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are in your cities, will come and eat and be satisfied; so that the Lord, your God, will bless you in all the work of your hand that you will do.	29. And the Levite, because he has no part or heritage with you, and the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are in your cities, will come and eat and be satisfied; that the LORD your God may bless you in all the works of your hands that you do.
1. At the end of seven years you will make a release.	1. At the end of seven years you will make a Release.
2. And this is the manner of the release; to release the hand of every creditor from what he lent his friend; he shall not exact from his friend or his brother, because time of the release for the Lord has arrived.	2. And this is the indication of the custom of the Release: Every man who is master of a loan, who lends to his neighbor, will give remission. He will not have power to coerce his neighbor in demanding his loan, nor of his brother, a son of Israel; because the Beth Din has published the Release before the LORD.
3. From the foreigner you may exact; but what is yours with your brother, your hand shall release.	3. From a son of the Gentiles you may exact, but the lawful right (dina) which is yours with your brother you will release with your hand.
4. However, there will be no needy among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land the Lord, your God, is giving you for an inheritance to possess.	4. If you will only be diligent in the precepts of the Law, there will be no poor among you; for, blessing, the LORD will bless you in the land which the LORD your God will give you for a possession to inherit;
5. However, if you hearken to the voice of the Lord, your God, to be careful to do all this commandment, which I am commanding you today.	5. if, obeying, you will only obey the Word of the LORD your God, to observe and do all these commandments which I command you this day.
6. For the Lord, your God, has blessed you, as He spoke to you, and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow; and you will rule over many nations, but they will not rule over you.	6. For the LORD your God blesses you, as He says to you (that) you will take from many nations, but they will not take from you; and you will have power over many nations, but they will not have power over you.

Summary of the Torah Seder – D’barim (Deut.) 14:1 - 15:6

· Against Heathen Rites – Deut. 14:1-2

· Clean and Unclean Beats, Fishes, and Birds – Deut. 14:3-21

· Tithes – Deut. 14:22-29

· The Year of Release (Sabbatical Year) And Debts – Deut. 15:1-6

Welcome to the World of P’shat Exegesis

In order to understand the finished work of the P’shat mode of interpretation of the Torah, one needs to take into account that the P’shat is intended to produce a catechetical output, whereby a question/s is/are raised and an answer/a is/are given using the seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel and as well as the laws of Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew expression.

The Seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel are as follows

[cf. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=472&letter=R]:

1. Ḳal va-ḥomer: "Argumentum a minori ad majus" or "a majori ad minus"; corresponding to the scholastic proof a fortiori.

2. Gezerah shavah: Argument from analogy. Biblical passages containing synonyms or homonyms are subject, however much they differ in other respects, to identical definitions and applications.

3. Binyan ab mi-katub eḥad: Application of a provision found in one passage only to passages which are related to the first in content but do not contain the provision in question.

4. Binyan ab mi-shene ketubim: The same as the preceding, except that the provision is generalized from two Biblical passages.

5. Kelal u-Peraṭ and Peraṭ u-kelal: Definition of the general by the particular, and of the particular by the general.

6. Ka-yoẓe bo mi-maḳom aḥer: Similarity in content to another Scriptural passage.

7. Dabar ha-lamed me-'inyano: Interpretation deduced from the context.

Rashi’s Comments on D’barim 14:1 - 15:6

1 You shall neither cut yourselves Do not make cuts and incisions in your flesh [to mourn] for the dead, in the manner that the Amorites do, because you are the children of the Omnipresent and it is appropriate for you to be handsome and not to be cut or have your hair torn out.

[nor make any baldness] between your eyes [i.e.,] near the forehead. Elsewhere, however, it says: “They shall not make their head bald” (Lev. 21:5), to make the entire head like between the eyes (בֵּין עֵינַיִם) [i.e., one must not make bald spots on any part of the head].-[Sifrei]

2 For you are a holy people Your holiness stems from your forefathers, and, moreover, “the Lord has chosen you.”-[Sifrei]

3 [You shall not eat] any abomination Anything that I have declared to be an abomination for you—for instance, if he made a slit in the ear of a firstborn [animal], in order to [be permitted to] slaughter it in the country [i.e., outside the Temple walls, where unblemished firstborns must be slaughtered]. This is a thing that I have declared to be an abomination for you, for “no blemish shall be in it” (Lev. 22:21) [meaning that one may not make a blemish on a firstborn or on any sacrificial animal. Our verse] comes to teach here that one may not slaughter [the firstborn] and eat it based on that [deliberately made] blemish. [Another example is] if one cooked meat in milk, which is a thing that I declared an abomination for you; and here Scripture admonishes against eating it.-[Chul. 114b]

4-5 This is the animal [which you may eat...] the gazelle, and the deer, and the antelope [Since the verse begins with"This is the animal (בְּהֵמָה) ..." and then goes on to enumerate types of wild beasts (חַיָּה) ,] we learn that the category of wild beasts (חַיָּה) is included in the category of (בְּהֵמָה) , [which usually refers only to domestic animals]. - [Sifrei ; Chul. 71a] We learn also that unclean domestic and wild animals are more numerous than clean [ones] since the less numerous are always enumerated. [Therefore, the clean animals are enumerated here.] - [Sifrei ; Chul. 63a]

and the ibex Heb. וְאַקּוֹ . This is rendered by Targum [Onkelos] as יַעֲלָא , [like the Hebrew יָעֵל in the expression] יַעֲלֵי סָלַע (Job 39:1). This is known as estainboc [in Old French, mountain goat.]

and the bison Heb. וּתְאוֹ .[Onkelos renders this:] וְתוּרְבָּלָא , [which is the equivalent of] תּוֹר הַיַעַר , “the ox of the forest,” for בָָּאלָא means “forest” in the Aramaic language.

6 split Heb. מַפְרֶסֶת , split, as the Targum [Onkelos renders it]. hoof Heb. פַּרְסָה , plante [in French].

[and has a hoof] cloven [into two hoof sections] [Hooves] cloven into two “nails,” for there are [animals with hooves] split but not entirely cloven into [two] nails; such animals are unclean.

among the animals - [that you may eat] Heb. בַּבְּהֵמָה This [means literally “within the animal”], meaning that anything found inside the beast, you may eat. From here [our Rabbis] said that a fetus becomes permitted to be eaten through the [proper] slaughtering of its mother [without requiring its own slaughtering].-[Chul. 69a]

7 the cloven one This is a certain creature that has two backs and two spinal columns (Chul. 60b). Our Rabbis said: Why are [these animals and birds] repeated [here, since they are already mentioned in Lev. 11]? Because of the [animal called] שְׁסוּעָה , and in [the category of] fowl because of the רָאָה , both of which are not mentioned in Torath Kohanim [i.e., Lev.].-[Chul. 63b]

8 nor touch their carcass Our Rabbis explained [that this refers only to] the Festival[s], for a person is obliged to purify himself for the Festival. One might think that [all Israelites] are prohibited [from touching a carcass] during the entire year. Therefore, Scripture states [in reference to the uncleanness of a corpse], “Say to the kohanim... [none shall be defiled for the dead...]” (Lev. 21:1). Now if in the case of the uncleanness caused by a [human] corpse, which is a stringent [kind of uncleanness, only] kohanim are prohibited regarding it but [ordinary] Israelites are not prohibited, then in the case of uncleanness caused by a carcass [of an animal], which is light [i.e., a less stringent uncleanness], how much more so [is the case that ordinary Israelites are permitted to touch these carcasses]!

11 You may eat every clean bird ["Every"] comes to include [as permissible to eat] the bird that is set free [in the purification rite] of a metzora (see Lev. 14:7). -[Sifrei ; Kid. 57a]

12 But these are those from which you shall not eat [The word “which” comes] to forbid [as food] the [bird that is] slaughtered [in the purification rite of a metzora].-[Sifrei ; Kid. 57a]

13 the white vulture (רָאָה) ,

the black vulture (אַיָּה)

and the kite (דַּיָּה) These are [names for] the same [or similar] bird. Why is its name called רָאָה ? Because it sees (רוֹאֶה) very well. And why does [Scripture] admonish you with all its names? In order not to give an opponent any opportunity to disagree, so that the one who wishes to prohibit should not call it רָאָה , and the one who wishes to permit it will say, “This one is named דַּיָּה ,” or “This one is named אַיָּה ,” and Scripture did not prohibit this one!" And in the case of birds, [Scripture] enumerates the unclean species, to teach that the clean birds are more numerous than the unclean [in contrast with Rashi on verses 4-5, regarding animals]. Therefore, it enumerates the fewer ones. -[Chul. 63b]

16 the bat Heb. וְהַתִּנְשֶׁמֶת , calve-soriz [in Old French], bat, [chauve souris in modern French. Note that Rashi on Isa. 2:20 brings this laaz for עֲטַלֵּף , whereas here and in Lev. 11:18, he brings it for תִּנְשֶׁמֶת and does not identify עֲטַלֵּף .

17 the cormorant [or the gull] Heb. שָׁלָךְ , [a bird] that draws out (שׁוֹלֶה) fish from the sea.-[Chul. 63b]

18 and the hoopoe - וְהַדּוּכִיפַת . The wild rooster, [which is called] in Old French haruppe, and which has a double crest.-[Gittin 68]

19 flying insects - שֶׁרֶץ . These are the lowly [creatures] that swarm on the ground: flies, hornets, and the unclean species of locusts. [All these] are called שֶׁרֶץ .

20 You may eat every clean fowl But not the unclean ones. Here [Scripture] comes to attach a positive commandment to the negative commandment. Similarly, in the case of [clean] animals, it says: “that you may eat” (verse 6), [but] not the unclean ones. A prohibition inferred from a positive commandment [is regarded as] a positive commandment, so that one [who eats such food] transgresses a positive and a negative commandment.

21 You shall not eat any carcass. [You may give it] to the stranger who is within your cities [i.e.,] a resident alien (גֵּר תּוֹשָׁב) , who has accepted upon himself not to worship idols, but he eats carcasses [animals not ritually slaughtered].-[Sifrei]

for you are a holy people to the Lord Sanctify yourself with that which is permitted to you; i. e., there are things which are technically permissible, but which some people treat as forbidden. In the presence of these people, do not treat those things as permissible.-[Sifrei]

You shall not cook a kid [in its mother’s milk] [This is stated] three times [here, in Exod. 23:19, and in Exod. 34:26], to exclude wild animals, fowl, and unclean animals [from the prohibition of cooking meat in milk].-[Chul. 113a]

You shall not cook a kid [in its mother’s milk]

22 You shall tithe [all the seed crop] What has one matter to do with the other [i.e., the prohibition of cooking a kid, and tithing]? The Holy One, blessed is He, said to Israel: Do not cause Me to destroy the [developing] kernels (גְּדָיִים) of grain, while they are yet in their “mother’s womb” [i.e., in the husks], for if you do not tithe your produce properly, when it is near ripening I will bring forth an easterly wind, which will blast them, as it is said, “and blast before becoming standing grain” (II Kings 19:26) (Tanchuma). [And just as cooking the kid in its mother’s milk and the tithes are juxtaposed,] so is the topic of the first fruits (בִּכּוּרִים) [juxtaposed to cooking the kid in its mother’s milk (see Exod. 23:19, 34:26), to teach us that, if you do not bring your first fruits to the Temple as commanded, your fruit produce will whither].

[You shall tithe...] year by year From here, we derive [the ruling] that one may not give tithes from the new [crop] for the old [i.e., from this year’s crop for last year’s].-[Sifrei]

23 And you shall eat [before the Lord your God, in the place He chooses... the tithes of your grain...- This refers to ma’aser sheini , “the second tithe,” for we have already learned to give ma’aser rishon, “the first tithe,” to the Levites, as it is said, “[Speak to the Levites...] when you take from the children of Israel [the tithe]... ” (Num. 18:26), and it gives them permission to eat it anywhere [not only in Jerusalem], as it is said, “and you may eat it in any place” (Num. 18: 31). Thus you must conclude that this one [which may be eaten by its owners and must be eaten in Jerusalem,] is another tithe [namely, the second tithe].

24 For [the Lord your God] will bless you so that your produce will be too much to carry.

26 [And you will turn that money] into whatever your soul desires This is a כְּלָל , a general statement [not limited to anything in particular. Whereas the next expression,]

cattle, or sheep, new wine or old wine [represents a] פְּרָט , a “specification” [that is, it details particular things, limiting the matter to those things. After this, the verse continues,]

or whatever your soul desires [The verse] again reverts to a כְּלָל , a “general statement.” [Now we have learned that when a verse expresses a כְּלָל , a פְּרָט , and then a כְּלָל again, as in this case, we apply the characteristics of the פְּרָט to the whole matter. That is,] just as the items listed in the פְּרָט 1) are products of things themselves produced by the earth [e.g., wine comes from grapes], and 2) are fitting to be food for man, [so must the money replacing them be used to purchase such products].-[Eruvin 27a]

27 And [as for] the Levite... - you shall not forsake him By not giving him the first tithe.

for he has neither portion nor inheritance with you This excludes gleanings (Lev. 19:9), forgotten sheaves (Deut. 24:19), the end of the field (Lev. 19:9), [all of which are left for the poor,] and ownerless things, for the Levite does have a portion in these things, just as you do, and [consequently,] they are not subject to tithing.

28 At the end of three years [you shall take out all the tithe of your crop in that year] This comes to teach us that if one kept his tithes from the first and the second year of the shemitah [cycle], he has to remove them from his house in the third [year].

29 And the Levite... will come And take the first tithe.

and the stranger, and the orphan... [will come] And take the second tithe, which this year [the third in the seven year cycle], belongs to the poor, and you [yourself] may not eat it in Jerusalem, in the manner you were required to eat the second tithe in the [first] two years [of this cycle].

will come and eat and be satisfied Give them enough to satisfy them. From here [our Rabbis] said: One must not give the poor from the threshing floor less [than half a kav of wheat, or a kav of barley] (Sifrei). And you go up to Jerusalem with the [second] tithe of the first and the second years which you have delayed [to bring], and you shall confess: “I have removed the sanctified things from the house” (see Deut. 26:13), as is stated in [the section beginning with] “When you have finished tithing...” (Deut. 26:12).

Chapter 15

1 At the end of seven years [you shall make a release] One might think that this means seven years [starting from the transaction] of each loan. Scripture, therefore, states, “The seventh year [i.e., the year of release] has approached...” (verse 9). But if you say [that] “seven years” [means] for each loan, after each individual loan, how has it approached? [No loan was yet transacted.] Consequently, you learn [that Scripture means] seven years according to the counting of the Shemitha [cycle].-[Sifrei]

2 to release the hand of every creditor Heb. שָׁמוֹט כָּל־בַּעַל מַשֵּׁה יָדוֹ , [lit. to release every master the loan of his hand, which makes no sense. Therefore, Rashi interprets the verse to mean] to release the hand of every creditor [from reclaiming the loan].

3 From the foreigner you may exact This is a positive command (See Ramban.). -[Sifrei]

4 However, there will be no needy among you But further on it says, “For there will never cease to be needy [within the land]” (verse 11). [These two verses seem to contradict each other. However, the explanation is:] When you perform the will of the Omnipresent, there will be needy among others but not among you. If, however, you do not perform the will of the Omnipresent, there will be needy among you. -[Sifrei]

needy Heb. אֶבְיוֹן , [denoting someone who is] poorer than an עָ נִי . The term אֶבְיוֹן means “to yearn for” (תָּאֵב) , i.e., one who yearns for everything [because he has nothing].-[Vayikra Rabbah 34:6, see B.M. 111b]

5 However, if you hearken [to the voice of the Lord, your God] then “there will be no needy among you” (verse 4).

you hearken Heb. שָׁמֽעַ תִּשְׁמַע . [The repetition of the verb form suggests:] If one listens a little, he will be granted the opportunity to listen much [i.e., he will be taught much Torah as a reward].-[Sifrei]

6 [For the Lord, your God, has blessed you,] as He has spoken to you And where did He speak about this? “Blessed are you in the city...” (Deut. 28:3). -[Sifrei]

and you will lend Heb. וְהַעֲבַטְתָּ . Whenever an expression denoting lending refers to a lender [of money], it adopts the hiph’il [causative] form. For example, וְהִלְוִיתָ , or וְהַעֲבַטְתָּ , you will lend. However, if it would have said וְעָבַטְתָּ ,[in the kal, simple conjugation,] it would be referring to the borrower, like וְלָוִיתָ , you will borrow.

and you will lend to [many] nations One might think that you will borrow from this one and lend that one. Therefore, Scripture states, “but you will not borrow.”

and you will rule over many nations One might think that [at the same time] other nations will rule over you. Therefore, Scripture states, “but they will not rule over you.”- [Sifrei]

Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 119:105-136

RASHI	TARGUM
105. Your words are a lamp for my foot, and light for my path.	105. Your words are like a lamp that illuminates my feet, and a light for my path.
106. I swore and I fulfilled, to keep the judgments of Your righteousness.	106. I have sworn and covenanted to keep the commandments of Your righteousness/ generosity.
107. I have been exceedingly humbled; O Lord, sustain me according to Your word.	107. I was greatly afflicted, O LORD; heal me according to Your words.
108. The freewill offerings of my mouth accept now, O Lord, and teach me Your judgments.	108. Be pleased now, O LORD, with the offerings of my mouth; and teach me Your judgments.
109. My soul is constantly in my hand, and I have not forgotten Your Torah.	109. My soul is always in danger by my own hands; but I have not forgotten Your Torah.
110. The wicked laid a snare for me, but I did not stray from Your precepts.	110. The wicked have arranged a trap for me; but I have not strayed from Your commandments.
111. I inherited Your testimonies forever, for they are the joy of my heart.	111. I have inherited Your testimonies forever; for they are the joy of my heart.
112. I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever on their paths.	112. I have inclined my heart to do Your decrees forever, to the very end.
113. I hate those who harbor iniquitous thoughts, but Your Torah I love.	113. I hate those who think vain thoughts, but I have loved Your Torah.
114. You are my protection and my shield; I hoped for Your word.	114. You are my hiding place and my shield; I have waited long for Your word.
115. Go away from me, you evildoers, and I shall keep the commandments of my God.	115. Turn from me, evildoers; and I will keep the commandments of my God.
116. Support me as Your word, and I shall live, and do not put me to shame because of my hope.	116. Support me by Your word, and I will live; and do not disappoint me because of my trust.
117. Sustain me and I shall be saved, and I shall constantly engage in Your statutes.	117. Help me and I will be redeemed; and I will be happy in Your Torah always.
118. You trampled all who stray from Your statutes, for their deceit is false.	118. You have subdued all who went astray from Your decrees; for their deceit is a lie.
119. As dross, You cut off all the wicked of the earth; therefore I love Your testimonies.	119. You have terminated all the unfit, You have frustrated all the wicked of the earth; because of this, I have loved Your testimonies.
120. My flesh bristles from fear of You, and I dread Your judgments.	120. My flesh is blushing for fear of You; and I am afraid of Your judgments.
121. I performed justice and righteousness; do not leave me to my oppressors.	121. I have practiced justice and righteousness/ generosity; do not abandon me to my oppressors.
122. Be surety for Your servant for good; let the willful sinners not oppress me.	122. Delight your servant with goodness; do not let the malicious oppress me.
123. My eyes pined for Your salvation and for the word of Your righteousness.	123. My eyes have hoped for Your redemption, and for the word of Your righteousness/ generosity.
124. Deal with Your servant according to Your kindness, and teach me Your statutes.	124. Act with Your servant according to Your kindness, and teach me Your decrees.
125. I am Your servant; enable me to understand, and I shall know Your testimonies.	125. I am your servant, give me insight, and I will know Your testimonies.
126. A time to do for the Lord; they have made void Your Torah.	126. It is time to do the will of the LORD; the scholars have desecrated Your Torah.
127. Because I loved Your commandments more than gold, even more than fine gold.	127. Because of this, I have loved Your commandments more than gold and more than pure gold.
128. Because I considered all precepts of all things upright; [and] every false way I hated.	128. Because of this, I have harmonized all the commandments whatsoever; I hate every way of deceit.
129. Your testimonies are hidden; therefore, my soul kept them.	129. Your testimonies are wonderful; because of this, my soul has kept them.
130. The commencement of Your words enlightens; You make the simple understand.	130. Your engraved words will enlighten the needy, the simple will gain insight.
131. I opened my mouth and panted because I yearned for Your commandments.	131. I opened my mouth and learned, for I desired Your commandments.
132. Turn to me and favor me as is Your custom with those who love Your name.	132. Turn to me and have compassion on me, as is the custom towards those who love Your name.
133. Prepare my steps with Your word, and do not allow any iniquity to rule over me.	133. Establish my steps by Your word, and let no deceit rule over me.
134. Redeem me from the oppression of man, and I shall keep Your precepts.	134. Redeem me from the oppression of the son of man, and I will keep Your commandments.
135. Cause Your countenance to shine upon Your servant and teach me Your statutes.	135. Shine the splendor of Your face on Your servant, and teach me Your decrees.
136. Rivulets of water ran down from my eyes because they did not keep Your Torah.	136. Streams of water will go down my eyes, because they have not kept the Torah.

Rashi’s Commentary on Tehillim (Psalms) 119:105-136

105 Your words are a lamp for my foot When I come to promulgate a decision of law, I look in the Torah and it separates me from [transgressing] the prohibition, like a lamp which saves a man from [falling into] the pits.

107 I have been... humbled Heb. נעניתי , I have been made poor and humble, like (Exod. 10): “to humble Yourself from before Me”; (Hos. 5:5), “And the pride of Israel shall be humbled before them,” which Jonathan renders: וימאךְ . And a poor man is accounted as dead. Therefore, revive me according to Your words.

I have been... humbled Heb. נעניתי . This is a sickness that deranges the mind, and it is called עֲוִית convulsion, in the language of the Mishnah (Chul. 60b).

108 The freewill offering of my mouth Words of appeasement that my mouth offers You. Every נדבה , is an expression of appeasement.

109 My soul is constantly in my hand I have very often been in serious danger, close to death, but nonetheless, I have not forgotten Your Torah (following the pattern of “Whoever has a headache should engage in the Torah”).

112 forever on their paths On their paths and their roads.

113 I hate those who harbor iniquitous thoughts Those who think thoughts of iniquity, like (Job 20:2): “Therefore, my thoughts (סעפי) answer me”; (I Kings 18:21), “between two ideas (הסעפים) .” When you read סְעִפִים , it concerns the thought, but when you read סֵעֲפִים , the language refers to those who think it.

117 and I shall constantly engage in Your statutes Heb. ואשעה , and I shall engage, like (Exod. 5:9): “and let them not engage (ישעו) in useless things.” Another explanation: [It is] an expression of telling and reciting, as we translate (Deut. 28:37): “and a recitation (ולשועין) .”

118 You trampled Heb. סלית , You trampled; You made them a thing trampled on, like (Lam. 1:15): “The Lord trampled (סלה) all my mighty men.”

120 bristles Heb. סמר , like (Job 4:15): “it made the hair of my flesh stand on end (מסמר) ,” as a person whose hair stands on end, harizer in Old French, se herisser in modern French, to bristle.

and I dread Your judgments The retribution for Your decrees.

122 Be surety Heb. ערב , garantis in French, to vouch for. Be a guarantor for me against the evil (i.e., be a guarantor that I keep Your precepts).

123 and for the word of Your righteousness The promise that You promised me.

125 revive me according to Your word Just as You promised me good, through Nathan the prophet.

126 A time to do for the Lord, etc. This goes back to the verse preceding it: Enable me to understand, and I shall know Your testimonies, to know a time to do for Your name. What should they do, those who made Your Torah void, to find good will and forgiveness, and that You should be found by them, and I will do so for every transgression that I have committed. Our Rabbis, however, derived from it [from this verse] that we may transgress the words of the Torah in order to make a fence and a wall [a safeguard] for Israel, e.g. Gideon and Elijah on Mount Carmel, who sacrificed on high places (Ber. 63a). I saw [it] further expounded upon in the Aggadah (Yerushalmi Ber. 9:4, Mid. Sam 1:1) as meaning: A person who is idle and leisurely, who devotes [only occasional] times to his Torah, makes void the covenant, for an idle person must toil in the Torah all hours of the day.

127 Because I loved Heb. על־כן . Because I loved Your commandments, it is fitting that You teach me a time of good will, and what I should do for You that You should accept me. There are many [instances of] על־כן that are to be interpreted as “because”; e.g., (Gen. 33:10): “because (כי על־כן) I have seen your face”; (Num. 10:33). “because (כי על־כן) you know our encampment”; (Isa. 15:7), “Because of (כי על־כן) the many things they did.”

128 Because I considered all precepts of all things upright All precepts, everything that You commanded in your Torah.

I considered upright Heb. ישרתי . They were upright in my eyes, and I said about them that they are upright. Because of this, I deserve that You forgive me and favor me.

129 Your testimonies are hidden They are covered, and your testimonies are hidden from the sons of men. There are easy commandments for which He gave a large reward, such as sending away the nest.

therefore, my soul kept them All of them, because it is not known which is better.

130 The commencement of Your words enlightens The beginning of your words enlightened the heart of Israel, that You understated the simple, by Your statement (Exod. 20:2): “I am...Who took you out.” You let them know the favor that You did for themthat You acquired them from the house of bondageto know that You are their Master, and they should accept Your kingdom upon themselves. (Exod. 20:3): “You shall not have another god, etc.” and afterwards You made Your decrees (Cf. Mechilta ad loc.). Another explanation:

The commencement of Your words enlightens The beginning of Your words in the Creation was (Gen. 1:3): “Let there be light.”

You make the simple understand From there, everyone will understand and will commence with words of Torah. Tanchuma (Vayakhel 6).

131 and panted Heb. ואשאפה , an expression of swallowing, as (Jer. 2:24): “snuffs up (שאפה) the wind.”

134 Redeem me from the oppression of man From the evil inclination, which oppresses the people (from the good pathParshandatha). In other commentaries I found:

Redeem me from the oppression of man Redeem me so that no man oppress me.

Meditation from the Psalms

Psalm 119: 105-136

By: HH Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David

King David approaches our section of Psalm 119 by noticing that there is a verbal tally between the Torah and the Psalm which focuses on ‘eyes’ ‘face’ or ‘presence’. He speaks in v.118 about deceit – that which we hide from the presence of HaShem and from the eyes of others:

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:118 You trampled all who stray from Your statutes, for their deceit is false.

Sforno says that those whose deceit is falsehood are hypocrites whom the Rabbis called the ‘painted ones’, for they hid their sinful hearts beneath a mask of piety.[1] As he looks at this, he surely has in mind the deceit of the pig:

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 14:8 And the pig, because it has a split hoof, but does not chew the cud; it is unclean for you. You shall neither eat of their flesh nor touch their carcass.

The pig lays of its side and proudly displays it’s split hooves, while at the same time he does not chew the cud. Chewing the cud is not always easy to discern, while a split hoof can be discerned by a young child. The pig is one of the few animals that displays it’s hooves when it lays down. Most other animals conceal their hooves underneath their body when they are laying down. Note the following pictures:

Now look at the pig as it lays down:

Thus the pig displays it’s hooves for all the world to see in order that they might be deceived. As the pig illustrates this feature in the animal world, so also do we find men, painted ones, who deceive the world. These men do not ‘fear’ HaShem and do not ‘do’ the things which please HaShem.

The word ‘do’ is also a significant verbal tally between the Torah and the Psalm.

As we examine the calendar, we find that this Shabbat found Noach and his family in the ark for their third week. They have been feeding the animals around the clock. Clearly this is the time of the year to contemplate animals and eating. So, the Torah speaks about the animals that we are permitted to eat. The Torah then goes on to describe the various structures that make an animal clean or unclean. King David, in our Psalm, begins by speaking of the Torah’s words which are a lamp for his feet. What makes this interesting is that the central feature of Noach’s ark was a special window in the top of the ark. The Talmud speaks of this special window:

Sanhedrin 108b A window[2] shalt thou make to the ark.[3] R. Johanan said: The Holy One, blessed be He, instructed Noah, ‘Set therein precious stones and jewels, so that they may give thee light, bright as the noon.’[4] And in a cubit shalt thou finish it above:[5] for thus would it stand firm.[6] With lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. A Tanna taught: The bottom storey was for the dung; the middle for the animals; and the top for man.

The light for Noach’s feet came from this special window. I suspect that King David was reflecting on this timely event as he penned this section of Psalm 119. In fact, the end of our Psalm also contains a couple of allusions to the flood and to the window in the ark:

Tehillim 119:135-136 Shine the splendor of Your face on Your servant, and teach me Your decrees. Streams of water will go down my eyes, because they have not kept the Torah.

The Psalmist also gives a very apt description of the wicked who perished in the flood:

Tehillim 119:118 You trampled all who stray from Your statutes, for their deceit is false.

King David penned this in the past tense. He was looking backward and not forward.[7]

In the week following this Shabbat, we find that Ezra and the Israelites are going to arrive in Jerusalem after travelling from Babylon. They arrive at the time of the year when all of the fruit from this year’s crop is being gathered into their barns. They are reflecting on HaShem’s commands, concerning tithing, as they pertain to the trees and their fruits. They are reflecting on these commands because the Torah is speaking this Shabbat about the tithing of the fruit that they have just harvested. The Torah goes on to enumerate the laws regarding the Shmita (Sabbatical) year. All of these laws are brought to mind when we consider our responsibilities as it pertains to the harvest that we have just brought into our barns. Ezra’s arrival, at this time, coincides with the Torah’s appeal to the Israelites regarding it’s commands for those who are just entering the land.

Aslamatah: Isaiah 63:8-16 + 65:9

RASHI	TARGUM
1. Who is this coming from Edom, with soiled garments, from Bozrah, this one [Who was] stately in His apparel, girded with the greatness of His strength? "I speak with righteousness, great to save."	1. He is about to bring a stroke upon Edom, a strong avenger upon Bozrah, to take the just retribution of His people, just as He swore to them by His Memra. He said, Behold, I am revealed - just as I spoke - in virtue, there is great force before Me to save.
2. Why is Your clothing red, and your attire like [that of] one who trod in a wine press?	2. Why will mountains be red from the blood of those killed, and plains gush forth like wine in the press?
3. "A wine press I trod alone, and from the peoples, none was with Me; and I trod them with My wrath, and I trampled them with My fury, and their life blood sprinkled on My garments, and all My clothing I soiled.	3. "Behold, as grapes trodden in the press, so will slaughter increase among the armies of the peoples, and there will be no strength for them before Me; I will kill them in My anger and trample them in My wrath; 1 will break the strength of their strong ones before Me, and I will annihilate all their wise ones.
4. For a day of vengeance was in My heart, and the year of My redemption has arrived.	4. For the day of vengeance is before Me, and the year of My peoples salvation has come.
5. And I looked and there was no one helping, and I was astounded and there was no one supporting, and My arm saved for Me, and My fury-that supported Me.	5. It was disclosed before Me, but there was no man whose deeds were good; it was known before Me, but there was no person who would arise and beseech concerning them; so I saved them by My strong arm, and by the M.emra of My pleasure I helped them.
6. And I trod peoples with My wrath, and I intoxicated them with My fury, and I brought their power down to the earth." {S}	6. I will kill the peoples in My anger, I will trample them in My wrath, and I will cast to the lower earth those of their mighty men who are killed."
7. The kind acts of the Lord I will mention, the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord bestowed upon us, and much good to the house of Israel, which He bestowed upon them according to His mercies and according to His many kind acts.	7. The prophet said, I am recounting the benefits of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and His great goodness to the house of Israel which He has granted them according to His mercy, according to the abundance of His benefits.
8. And He said, "They are but My people, children who will not deal falsely." And He became their Savior.	8. For he said, Surely they are My people, sons who will not deal falsely; and His Memra became their Saviour.
9. In all their trouble, He did not trouble [them], and the angel of His presence saved them; with His love and with His pity He redeemed them, and He bore them, and He carried them all the days of old.	9. In every time that they sinned before Him so as to bring affliction upon themselves, He did not afflict them, an angel sent from Him saved them; in His love and in His pity upon them He delivered them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
10. But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit, and He was turned to be their enemy; He fought with them.	10. But they rebelled and incited to anger against the Memra of His holy prophets; therefore His Memra was turned to be an enemy, and He Himself battled against them.
11. And His people remembered the days of old, [the days of] Moses; where is he who drew them up from the sea, [like] a shepherd His flock; where is he who placed within them His Holy Spirit?	11. Then he had pity for the glory of His name, for the sake of the remembrance of His benefits which were from of old, the prodigies which He did by the hands of Moses for His people that they might not say, Where is He who brought them up out of the sea, where is He who led them in the wilderness as the shepherd his flock? Where is He who made the Memra of His holy prophets dwell among them
12. He led at Moses' right the arm of His glory, splitting the water before them to make for Himself an everlasting name.	12. who led with his glorious arm at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters of the reed sea from before them to make for Himself an everlasting name,
13. He led them in the depths like a horse in the desert; they did not stumble.	13. who led them through the depths? Like the horse which in the desert does not stumble, so even they did not stumble.
14. As animals spread out in a valley, the spirit of the Lord guided them, so You guided Your people to make You a glorious name.	14. Like cattle which are led in the plain, the Memra of the LORD led them. So You led Your people, to make for Yourself a glorious name.
15. Look from heaven and see, the dwelling of Your holiness and Your glory; where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds? The yearning of Your heart and Your mercy are restrained to me.	15. Look down from the heavens and be revealed from Your holy and glorious dwelling. Where are Your retribution and Your might? The multitude of Your benefits and the abundance of Your compassion upon us are hardened.
16. For You are our father, for Abraham did not know us, neither did Israel recognize us; You, O Lord, are our father; our redeemer of old is your name.	16. For You are He whose mercies upon us are more than a father's upon sons, for Abraham did not take us up from Egypt and Israel did not do wonders for us in the wilderness; You, 0 LORD, are He whose mercies upon us are more than a fathers upon sons, our Redeemer from of old is Your name.
17. Why do You lead us astray O Lord, from Your ways, You harden our heart from Your fear? Return for the sake of Your servants, the tribes of Your heritage.	17. O LORD, why will You despise us, to err from ways which are correct before You as the Gentiles who have no portion in the teaching of Your law? Let not our heart be turned from Your fear; return Your Shekhinah to Your people for the sake of Your servants, the righteous/ generous, to whom You swore by Your Memra to make among them the tribes of Your heritage.
18. For [but] a short time Your holy people inherited; Your adversaries trampled Your sanctuary.	18. For a little while Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary; our enemies have trodden it down.
19. We were [like those] over whom You never ruled, over whom Your name was not called; had You rent the heavens, had You descended, mountains would have dripped from before You.	19. Behold, we are Your people who are from of old. You did not give Your law to the Gentiles, Your name is not called upon them. Not for them did You incline the heavens and reveal Yourself; before You the mountains shook.
1. As fire burns materials that melt, fire causes water to bubble, to make Your name known to Your adversaries; nations would quake from before You.	1. When You sent Your wrath in fire the sea melted and fire licked the waters, to make Your name known to the adversaries of Your people; before You the Gentiles trembled!
2. When You performed awesome deeds for which we did not hope; [when] You descended, mountains dripped from before You. {S}	2. When You did wonders which we looked not for, You were revealed; the mountains shook before You.
3. And whereof no one had ever heard, had ever perceived by ear, no eye had ever seen a god besides You perform for him who hoped for him.	3. From of old ear has not heard [such] a mighty sound or listened to [such] shaking speech, no eye has seen what Your people have seen: the Shekhinah of Your glory, O LORD. For there is none besides You, who are about to work for Your people, the righteous/generous, who hope for Your deliverance.
4. You smote him who rejoiced and worked righteousness, those who mentioned You in Your ways; behold, when You became wroth for we had sinned; through them, of old, we would be saved.	4. The deeds of our righteous/generous fathers are summoned before You, who rejoiced to perform Your pleasure in truth and in innocence, they were remembering Your fear in the way of Your goodness and mercy. Behold in every time there was anger from You upon us because we sinned, by them, by the deeds of our righteous/ generous fathers who were from of old, we were saved.
5. And we all have become like one unclean, and like a discarded garment are all our righteous deeds, and we all have withered like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind.	5. We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our virtues are like a despised garment. We all fade like a leaf fades, and before our sins, like the wind, we are taken away.
6. And no one calls in Your name, arouses himself to cling to You, when You hid Your countenance from us, and You caused us to wander through our iniquities.	6. There is no one who prays in Your name, that is pleased to take hold of Your fear; for You have taken up the face of Your Shekhinah from us, and handed us over into the hand of our sins.
7. And now, O Lord, You are our father; we are the clay, and You are our potter, and all of us are Your handiwork.	7. Yet, 0 LORD, whose mercies upon us are more than a father s upon sons, we are the clay and you are our creator; we are all the work of your might.
8. Be not wroth, O Lord, so very greatly, and remember not iniquity forever; please look, all of us are Your people.	8. Let there not be anger before You, O LORD, against us exceedingly, and remember not sins forever. Behold, it is disclosed before You, we are all Your people.
9. Your holy cities have become a desert; Zion has become a desert, Jerusalem a desolation.	9. Your holy cities have become a wilderness, Zion has become a wilderness, Jerusalem is desolate.
10. Our sanctuary and our glory, wherein our forefathers praised You is burnt with fire, and all our coveted places have become a waste.	10. Our holy and beautiful house, the place where our fathers served before You, has been burned by fire, and our every valuable has become a ruin.
11. Concerning these will You restrain Yourself; will You remain silent and afflict us so very greatly? {P}	11. Will You be hard against these things, 0 LORD? You have given respite to the wicked, even those who subjugate us sorely.
1. I allowed Myself to be sought by those who did not ask; I allowed Myself to be found by those who did not seek Me, I said, "Here I am; here I am!" to a nation not called by My name.	1. 1 was asked of by My Memra by those who did not [truly] ask before Me; 1 sought teaching of my Law from those who did not seek My fear. 1 said, "Here am I," asked of continually all the day, to a people who did not pray in My name.
2. I spread out My hands all day to a contrary people, who go in a way that is not good, after their thoughts.	2. 1 sent My prophets all the day to the rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not correct, following their own conceptions;
3. The people who vex Me to My face continually; those who sacrifice in gardens and burn incense on the bricks.	3. a people who incite to anger against My Memra before Me continually, sacrificing in your gardens of the idols and offering up spices upon bricks;
4. They sit among the graves, and with corpses they lodge; those who eat swine flesh, and broth of abominations is in their vessels.	4. who sit in the houses they build from the dust of tombs, and reside with the corpses of the sons of men; who eat swine's flesh, and abominable broth is in their vessels;
5. Those who say, "Keep to yourself, do not come near me for I am holier than you"; these are smoke in My nostrils, a burning fire all day long.	5. who say, "Get behind, do not come near me, for 1 am more clean than you." These, their anger is as smoke before Me, their retribution is in Gehenna where the fire burns all the day.
6. Behold it is inscribed before Me; I will not remain silent until I have recompensed, and I will recompense onto their bosom.	6. Behold, it is written before Me: "I will not give them respite while they live, but theirs is the retribution of their sins; I will hand over their bodies to the second death.
7. "Your iniquities and the iniquities of your fathers together," said the Lord, "that they burnt incense on the mountains, and on the hills they blasphemed Me, and I will mete out the recompense for their deed first into their bosom." {S}	7. Your sins and the sins of your fathers are disclosed before Me together, says the LORD; because they offered up spices upon the mountains and reviled before Me upon the hills, I will give the reward of their deeds at the first into their bosom."
8. So said the Lord, "As when wine is found in the cluster, and one shall say, "Destroy it not, for a blessing is in it"; so will I do for the sake of My servants, not to destroy everything.	8. Thus says the LORD: "As Noah who was found innocent in the generation of the flood, and I promised not to destroy him in order to establish the world from him, so I will do for My servants', the righteous/generous sake, in order not to destroy all.
9. And I will extract seed from Jacob and from Judah, the heir of My mountains, and My elect shall inherit it, and My servants shall dwell there.	9. I brought forth from Jacob a seed, and from Judah an inheritor of My mountains; My chosen shall possess it, and my servants, the righteous/ generous, will dwell there.
10. And the Sharon shall become a sheepfold and the Valley of Achor a place for cattle to lie, for My people who sought Me.	10. Sharon will become a dwelling place for flocks of sheep and the plain of Achor for herds of cattle to lie down, for My people who have sought My fear.
11. You, who forsake the Lord, who forget My holy mount, who set a table for Gad and who fill mingled wine for a number.	11. But you, house of Israel, have forsaken the service of the LORD, you have forgotten the service of My holy mountain, who set tables for idols and mix bowls for their gods.
12. And I will count you out to the sword, and all of you shall kneel to the slaughter, since I called and you did not reply, I spoke and you did not hearken, and you did what was evil in My eyes, and what I did not desire, you chose. {P}	12. I will hand you over to the sword, and all of you will be handed over to the slaughter; because, when I sent My prophets, you did not repent, when they prophesied, you did not attend, but you did what was evil before Me, and took pleasure in what I did not wish."

Rashi’s Commentary on Isaiah 63:8-16 + 65:9

Chapter 63

1 Who is this coming from Edom The prophet prophesies concerning what the Holy One, blessed be He, said that He is destined to wreak vengeance upon Edom, and He, personally, will slay their heavenly prince, like the matter that is said (supra 34:5), “For My sword has become sated in the heaven.” And afterward, (ibid.) “it shall descend upon Edom,” and it is recognizable by the wrath of His face that He has slain [them with] a great massacre, and the prophet is speaking in the expression of the wars of human beings, dressed in clothes, and when they slay a slaying, the blood spatters on their garments, for so is the custom of Scripture; it speaks of the Shekhinah anthropomorphically, to convey to the ear what it can hear. Comp. (Ezek. 43:2) “His voice is like the voice of many waters.” The prophet compares His mighty voice to the voice of many waters to convey to the ear according to what it is possible to hear, for one cannot understand and hearken to the magnitude of the mighty of our God to let us hear it as it is.

Who is this coming from Edom Israel says, “Who is this, etc.?” And He is coming with soiled garments, colored with blood, and anything repugnant because of its smell and its appearance fits to the expression of חִמּוּץ , soiling.

from Bozrah Our Rabbis said (see Makkoth 12a): “The heavenly prince of Edom is destined to commit two errors. He thinks that Bozrah is identical with Bezer in the desert, which was a refuge city. He will also err insofar as it affords refuge only for inadvertent murder, but he killed Israel intentionally.” There is also an Aggadic midrash (see above 34:6) that because Bozrah supplied a king for Edom when its first king died, as in Gen. (36:33), “And Jobab the son of Zerah from Bozrah reigned in his stead,” and Bozrah is of Moab, according to the matter that is stated (Jer. 48:24): “Upon Kerioth and upon Bozrah.”

this one who was stately in His attire, צֽעֶה , and girded with the greatness of His strength. And the Holy One, blessed be He, replies to him, ‘It is I, upon Whom the time has come to speak of the righteousness of the Patriarchs, and of the righteousness of the generation of religious persecution, and My righteousness, too, is with them, and I have revealed Myself as being great to save.’ And they say, ‘Why is your clothing red? Why are your garments red?’

3 and from the peoples, none was with Me standing before Me to wage war.

and their lifeblood sprinkled Heb. נִצְחָם , Their blood, which is the strength and victory (נִצָּחוֹן) of a man.

I soiled Heb. אֶגְאָלְתִּי . Comp. (Lam. 4:14) “They were defiled (נִגּֽאֲלוּ) with blood.”

5 And I looked, and there was no one helping Israel. and I was astounded An expression of keeping silent, and I have already explained it above (57:16): “And He was astounded for there was no intercessor.”

and My fury that supported Me My fury that I have against the heathens (the nations [mss. and K’li Paz]), for I was a little wrath with My people, and they helped to harm them. That strengthened My hand and aroused My heart to mete recompense upon them although Israel is not fit and worthy of redemption.

6 And I trod Heb. וְאָבוּס . An expression of wallowing in blood and treading with the feet. Comp. (Ezekiel 16:6) “wallowing (מִתְבּוֹסֶסֶת) in your blood.” Comp. also (Jer. 12:10): “They trod (בּֽסְסוּ) My field.” their power Heb. נִצְחָם , the might of their victory.

7 The kind acts of the Lord I will mention The prophet says, I will remind Israel of the kind acts of the Lord.

and much good I will remind Israel of what He bestowed upon the house of Israel with His mercies.

8 They are but My people Although it is revealed before Me that they would betray Me, they are, nevertheless, My people, and they are to Me like children who will not deal falsely.

9 In all their trouble that He would bring upon them.

He did not trouble [them] He did not trouble them according to their deeds, that they deserved to suffer, for the angel of His presence i.e., Michael the prince of the Presence, of those who minister before Him saved them always as an agent of the Omnipresent.

10 But they rebelled Heb. מָרוּ . They angered. Comp. (Deut. 9:7) “You were rebellious (מַמְרִים) .”

11 And His people remembered the days of old, [the days of] Moses The prophet laments and says in an expression of supplication, Today in exile, His people remembers the days of old, the days of Moses, and in its trouble, it says, Where is Moses our shepherd, who drew us up from the Reed Sea?

[like] a shepherd his flock Compared to a shepherd who brings up his flock. Where is he who placed within Israel the Holy Spirit of the Holy One, blessed be He, and taught us statutes and ordinances?

12 He led at Moses’ right the arm of His glory The Holy One, blessed be He, led at Moses’ right the arm of His might. Every time he required the aid of the Holy One, blessed be He, His arm was ready at his right.

13 like a horse in the desert which does not stumble since it is smooth land, so they did not stumble in the deep.

14 As animals that spread in the valley, and a valley is a smooth land, where there is no obstacle, campagne in French, open country.

spread out Heb. תֵרֵד , spread out. Comp. (supra 45:1) “to flatten (לְרַד) nations before him.” So did the spirit of the Lord guide them to the deep and make therein a paved road.

so You guided Your people So was everything as we said; You guided Your people.

15 where are Your zeal Your early zeal.

the yearning of Your heart [Lit. the stirring of Your innards,] that were wont to stir concerning us, like the matter that was stated (Jer. 31:19), “Therefore, My heart yearns for him.” And the stirring of your first mercies toward us have been restrained now. They have been restrained from stirring over us as from then.

are restrained Heb. הִתְאַפָּקוּ . Comp. (Gen. 43:31) “And he restrained himself and said, Put down food.” He restrained himself, and they did not recognize that his mercies were stirred toward his brother.

16 For You are our father and it is incumbent upon You to look and see our troubles.

for Abraham did not know us in the trouble of Egypt.

neither did Israel recognize us in the desert, for they had already passed away from the world.

but You, O Lord, are our father In all of them, You became our father. And our Rabbis expounded this as they expounded in Tractate Shabbath (89b).

17 Why do You lead us astray Since You have the power to remove the evil inclination, as it is said (Jer. 18:6): “Like clay in the potter’s hand.” Scripture states elsewhere (Ezekiel 36:26): “And I will remove the heart of stone, etc.”

You harden Heb. תַּקְשִׁיחַ , an expression of hardening the heart.

18 For [but] a short time, Your holy people inherited They had their greatness and their inheritance for a short time.

trampled [The term בוססו denotes] trampled underfoot.

19 We were now like a people whom You did not choose ever to rule over them, and it is as though Your name was not called upon them.

had You rent the heavens and descended to save us now as You descended to save us from the hand of the Egyptians, then, mountains would drip from before You with fear and quaking.

Chapter 64

1 As fire burns something that melts because of it, and as fire causes water to bubble; when you put a coal or glowing metal into water, the water bubbles. All this You did in Egypt, as it is written (Ex. 9:24): “And there was hail, and fire burning in the midst of the hail.” Jonathan, however, renders: “As fire burned materials that melt,” in reference to Elijah on Mount Carmel, concerning whom it is stated (I Kings 18:38): “and the water which was in the trench, it licked up.”

to make Your name known to Your adversaries like the matter that is stated concerning that plague (Ex. 9:16): “But, because of this I preserved You, [in order to show you My strength, and in order to tell of My name throughout the entire land.]” Had You done this now, then nations would quake from before You.

2 When You performed against the Egyptians and against all the adversaries awesome deeds, that we did not hope You would perform all those awesome deeds, for we were unworthy of them.

You descended to Mount Sinai, then mountains dripped from before You. In this manner, Dunash son of Labrat explained it.

3 And whereof no one had ever heard like those awesome deeds performed for one of all the nations before that, and no eye had ever seen another god besides You, that the god would do for him who hoped for him what You did for him who hoped for You. I heard this from Rabbi Jose, and it pleased me. ([Manuscripts yield:]

And whereof no one had ever heard like those awesome deeds performed for one of all the nations before that, neither had an eye seen God, besides your eyes, what He would do for one who hoped for Him. Another explanation is:

No eye had seen that a god besides You should perform miracles for him who hoped for him, as You do for those who hope for You. From Rabbi Joseph I heard this. Our Rabbis, however, who stated (Ber. 34a): “None of the prophets prophesied except regarding the Messianic era, but the World to Come, ‘no eye saw etc.,’” expounded its meaning in the following manner: No prophet’s eye saw what the Holy One, blessed be He, will do for him who hopes for Him except Your eyes, You, O God.

4 You smote him who rejoiced and worked righteousness Heb. פָּגַעְתָּ . Comp. (I Kings 2:34) “and he fell (וַיִּפְגַּע) upon him and slew him.” You removed from us and slew the righteous, who would rejoice to work righteousness, and with the ways of Your mercies, they would mention You in their prayer.

behold,...You When You became wroth with us for all that we would sin.

through them of old we were saved; with their prayer. [Rashi according to Parshandatha; Printed editions are erroneous.]

we would be saved A present tense [i.e., a continual procedure.]

5 And we all have become like one unclean since the righteous have departed from us.

and like a discarded garment Heb. עַדִּים . [Jonathan renders:] and like a discarded garment, like a rejected garment, which all say, ‘Remove.’ עִדִּים is the Aramaic translation of removal.

and we...have withered like a leaf Heb. וַנָּבֶל , and we have withered like a leaf; fletrire in French.

and our iniquities carry us away like the wind [Jonathan renders:] And with our sins we were carried away like the wind.

6 arouses himself Like ‘overpowers his temptation.’

and You caused us to wander Heb. וַתְּמוּגֵנוּ , You caused us to wander.

11 will You remain silent and afflict us Will You remain silent concerning what is done to us? Until here is the prophet’s prayer. Its beginning is (supra 63:7) “The kind acts of the Lord I will mention.”

Chapter 65

1 I allowed Myself to be sought by those who did not ask The Holy One, blessed be He, replies to him, It is impossible not to avenge Myself on them, for I allowed Myself to be sought by them by reproving them through My prophets, but they did not ask.

I said, “Here I am; here I am!” Return to Me, and I am ready to accept you.

to a nation not called by My name That did not wish to be called by My name.

2 I spread out My hands in order to accept them with repentance.

contrary Heb. סוֹרֵר , turning away from the road.

3 those who sacrifice in gardens They erect idols in their gardens, and there they burn incense on the bricks.

4 They sit among the graves so that a spirit of defilement of demons should rest upon them.

and with corpses Heb. וּבַנְּצוּרִים . They are the bodies of the dead, who are as placed in a siege (מָצוֹר) , unable to get out.

and broth of abominations Heb. מְרַק , despicable broth. Comp. (Jud. 6:20) “And the broth (הַמָּרָק) pour out.”

5 Those who say to the righteous, קְרַב אֵלֶיךָ , “Keep to yourself and do not come near me.”

for I am holier than you Heb. כִּי קְדַשְׁתִּיךָ . For I am holier and purer than you. In this manner Jonathan renders.

these abominations that they committed are as smoke, wrath in My nostrils.

6 Behold it is inscribed Their sin is inscribed before Me, and their sentence has already been decreed and sealed.

7 Your iniquities Yours and your forefathers’ together I will recompense you.

8 As when wine is found in the cluster Jonathan renders: As Noah was found innocent in the generation of the Flood.

the wine This is Noah, who was sweet.

in the cluster Heb. בָּאֶשְׁכּוֹל . In the bereft (הַמְשֻׁכָּל) generation. This may also be interpreted according to its apparent meaning.

for the sake of My servants For the sake of every righteous man found among them.

10 the Sharon The name of a region in the land of Israel.

and the Valley of Achor As its apparent meaning.

11 who forsake the Lord The wicked of Israel who adopted paganism and died in their wickedness.

who set a table for Gad The name of a pagan deity on the name of the zodiac, and in the language of the mishnah, (Shabbath 67b) “May my fate be lucky גַּדִּי) (גָד and not fatigued.”

for a number Heb. לַמְנִי . According to the number of the computation of the priests, they would fill basins of mingled wine.

mingled wine Heb. מִמְסָךְ , wine mingled with water as was customary. Comp. (Prov. 23:30) “To search for mingled wine (מִמְסָךְ) .” Also (ibid. 9:2), “She mingled (מָסְכָה) her wine.” Some interpret לַמְנִי , to the pagan deities that you appointed (מִנִּיתֶם) over yourselves, but וּמָנִיתִי אֶתְכֶם , which is not punctuated וּמִנִּיתִי with a ‘dagesh,’ indicates that it is an expression of counting.

In The School of the Prophets

Isaiah 63:8-16 + 65:9

By: Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

As usual, our Prophetic Lesson for this Sabbath in the Hebrew text extends along two Petuchot (Closed Paragraphs) – the first starting in Isaiah 61:10 and concluding at Isaiah 64:11 (with section breaks at 62:9 and 12; 63:6; and 64:2), and the next Petucha (Closed Paragraph) starts in Isaiah 65:1 until verse 12 (with a section brake at 65:7). However, our Sages full of compassion for the congregation stipulated that for public reading from the Teba (pulpit) we only read from the Prophets ten verses (Isaiah 63:8-16 + 65:12). This of course, does not limit the preacher to refer or use in the course of his homily (sermon) from Isaiah 61:10 through to 65:12.

This also brings the point that Archbishop Stephen Langton and Cardinal Hugo de Sancto Caro developed different schemas for the systematic division of the Bible into chapters and verses in the early 13^th century (for the so called Old Testament) and Robert Estienne in 16^th century (for the so called New Testament). Both the Hebrew Scriptures and the earliest manuscripts of the Nazarean Codicil did not have verse divisions, and the only divisions they have is that of Closed Paragraphs (Heb. Petuchot) and Sections (Heb. Setumot) within those paragraphs. [8]

Again, since the first Petucha (Paragraph) is rather long I have limited myself only to comment from Isaiah 63:1- 65:12, otherwise this commentary would be too long and tiresome. I think that in this respect I learned from my mentors well.

The verbal tally between our Torah Seder and Ashlamatah (Prophetic Lesson) is as follows:

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 14:1

בָּנִים אַתֶּם, לַיהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:  לֹא תִתְגֹּדְדוּ, וְלֹא-תָשִׂימוּ קָרְחָה בֵּין עֵינֵיכֶם--לָמֵת.

You are children of the LORD your God: you will not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead.

Isaiah 63:8

וַיֹּאמֶר אַךְ-עַמִּי הֵמָּה, בָּנִים לֹא יְשַׁקֵּרוּ; וַיְהִי לָהֶם, לְמוֹשִׁיעַ

“For He said: 'Surely, they are My people, children that will not deal falsely'; so He was their Savior.”

The term “children” (Heb. Banim), does not only refer to young human beings but also it refers to “progeny” irrespective of age, as in this instance. Ha-Shem speaks to the Jewish people and their proselytes and says – “You are My progeny.” This raises a very important question: Are not all human beings “progeny” of the LORD our God? To answer this question, we need to realize that the above texts were written in Biblical Hebrew, and as such, when translated to English it looses much of their meaning.

We can with some difficulty still see the shadow of the meaning of these verse in Hebrew. Notice that the first clauses in both verses are in the present continuous tense – an eternal present. Since G-d is Eternal then his progeny will enjoy eternal life. However if his progeny rebels and/or apostatize then that progeny is only temporal. Accordingly Isaiah 63:8 says that the progeny of HaShem – i.e. those human beings that love and serve Him with all their heart, soul, and possessions, as well as doing their very best to observe and keep His commandments and cleave unto Him (i.e. His Hakhamim (Rabbis) on earth), to these, and only to these is “G-d their Savior.”

Note that our verbal tally equates “the children of the Eternal One” with “My People (Israel)”; and with “children who will not deal falsely”; and with “God is their Savior.” That is, those who do not know G-d – i.e. those who do not have a permanent and regular connection to/with Him, and those who are not part of the Jewish people observing and guarding His commandments, whether by birth or adoption cannot have G-d, most blessed be He, as their Savior.

And since “G-d is their Savior,” it follows that they are continuously released from “the law of sin and death” (propensity to habitually commit sin which leads to spiritual death).[9] And as it is written in Debarim (Deuteronomy) 15:1 – “At the end of seven years you will make a release”; and as Hakham Shaul states (in Romans 8:35-39):

“³⁵Who will separate us from the love of G-d in Messiah King Yeshua [and in God’s Torah/Law]? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword do it? ³⁶As it is written (Psalm 44:23): ‘No, but for Your sake are we killed all the day; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’ ³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him (i.e. G-d) that loves us. ³⁸For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, ³⁹nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Messiah King Yeshua our Master [and in G-d’s Torah/Law].”

And as the Psalmist, Messiah King David most elegantly puts it this week:

Psalm 119:113. I hate those who think vain thoughts, but I have loved [or, I continuously love] Your Torah/Law.

Psalm 119:114. You are my hiding place and my shield; I have waited long for Your Word.

Psalm 119:115. Turn from me, evildoers; and I will keep the commandments of my God.

And this is the remarkable noted difference between those that genuinely love G-d, His Law, and their fellow Jewish people versus those that despise G-d, His Law, and His people the Jews, Whilst the former do whatever possible to release their fellowmen from bondage (slavery) to sin and death, negativity, vain thoughts, mediocrity, rudeness, stinginess, dealing falsely, and injustice; the later bind (enslave) their fellowmen to all of these evils. Consequently, despite our many faults, how pleasant, how beautiful, invigorating and refreshing it is to dwell with the brethren – “for there (i.e. where the brethren dwell together and in unity) the LORD commands the blessing, even eternal life!”[10]

Now, Isaiah 63:8 is not a verse that stands alone, but its contents continue in the next verse, so that we read:

Rashi	Targum
8. And He said, "They are but My people, children who will not deal falsely." And He became their Savior.	8. For he said, Surely they are My people, sons who will not deal falsely; and His Memra became their Savior.
9. In all their trouble, He did not trouble [them], and the angel of His presence saved them; with His love and with His pity He redeemed them, and He bore them, and He carried them all the days of old.	9. In every time that they sinned before Him so as to bring affliction upon themselves, He did not afflict them, an angel sent from Him saved them; in His love and in His pity upon them He delivered them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.

Note that in verse 8, “G-d becomes our Saviour,” and then in v.9 it is stated that “the angel of His presence saves us.” How can this be reconciled? Rashi, therefore comments on v.9 –

“He did not trouble [them] He did not trouble them according to their deeds, that they deserved to suffer, for the angel of His presence i.e., Michael the prince of the Presence, of those who minister before Him saved them always as an agent of the Omnipresent.”

From this, we learn the principle of agency – i.e. that the agent is as the one who sent him. If for example, you do something good to anyone or to the world at large as an agent of G-d, most blessed be He, it is accounted as G-d doing it, and not you. Thus, most certainly Messiah King Yeshua does bring salvation and release, but he is only a faithful agent of G-d, therefore we like David profess: “G-d has become our Saviour!” This, in no way means that Messiah King Yeshua is a god, no! G-d forbid! He is simply an agent of G-d like all of our Sages and heavenly ministers.

This, again we find in our Pericope of Mark for this week, where we find Pilate as an agent of Rome releasing a murderer and condemning to death a Tsadiq (righteous/generous man) and the King of Israel. This is Gentile Justice, and therefore the command that we do not recourse among the brethren to Gentile courts of justice in order to solve legal problems amongst us. And so Hakham Shaul teaches:

1Co 6:5 I say this to your shame. So is there not any wise man (Hebrew: Hakham/Rabbi) among you who is able to render a judgment between his brothers?

1Co 6:6 But brother goes to court with brother, and this before unbelievers!

And this is in accordance with Rashi’s commentary on Exodus 21:1 where he states:

before them But not before gentiles. Even if you know that they [gentiles] judge a certain law similarly to the laws of Israel, do not bring it to their courts, for one who brings Jewish lawsuits before gentiles profanes the [Divine] Name and honors the name of idols to praise them (other editions: to give them importance), as it is said: “For not like our Rock [God] is their rock, but [yet] our enemies judge [us]” (Deut. 32:31). When [we let] our enemies judge [us], this is testimony to [our] esteem of their deity.-[From Tanchuma 3]

Thus, the Hakham/Rabbi that renders judgments based on the Commandments of G-d, among the congregation of the people of G-d act as “saviours”[11] since they render this service on behalf of G-d as agents of G-d, most blessed be He, to the end that “G-d becomes our Saviour!”

Verbal Connections

By HH Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David & HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 14:1 -15:6

Tehillim (Psalm) 119:105-136

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 63:8-16 + 65:9

Mark 15:6-15

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

Children - בן, Strong’s number 01121.

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Make / put - שום, Strong’s number 07760.

People / nations - עם, Strong’s number 05971.

Upon / presence / face - פנים, Strong’s number 06440.

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

God - אלהים, Strong’s number 0430.

Eyes - עין, Strong’s number 05869.

Upon / presence / face - פנים, Strong’s number 06440.

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 14:1-2 Ye are the children <01121> of the LORD <03068> your God <0430>: ye shall not cut <01413> (8704) yourselves, nor make <07760> (8799) any baldness <07144> between your eyes <05869> for the dead <04191> (8801).

2 For thou art an holy <06918> people <05971> unto the LORD <03068> thy God <0430>, and the LORD <03068> hath chosen <0977> (8804) thee to be a peculiar <05459> people <05971> unto himself, above all the nations <05971> that are upon <06440> the earth <0127>.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 63:8 For he said, Surely they are my people <05971>, children <01121> that will not lie: so he was their Saviour.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence <06440> saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 63:11 Then he remembered the days of old, Moses, and his people, saying, Where is he that brought them up out of the sea with the shepherd of his flock? where is he that put <07760> (8802) his holy Spirit within him?

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 63:14 As a beast goeth down into the valley, the Spirit of the LORD <03068> caused him to rest: so didst thou lead thy people, to make thyself a glorious name.

Tehillim (Psalm) 119:107 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD <03068>, according unto thy word.

Tehillim (Psalm) 119:115 Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God <0430>.

Tehillim (Psalm) 119:123 Mine eyes <05869> fail for thy salvation, and for the word of thy righteousness.

Tehillim (Psalm) 119:135 Make thy face <06440> to shine <0215> (8685) upon thy servant <05650>; and teach <03925> (8761) me thy statutes <02706>.

Other verbal tallies between the Torah, Ashlamata and Psalm:Face, Name, Make, All, and Among.

Hebrew:

Hebrew	English	Torah Seder Deu 14:1-15:6	Psalms Psa 119:105-136	Ashlamatah Isa 63:8-16 + 65:9
%a;	nevertheless, utterly	Deut 14:7		Isa 63:8
~yhil{a/	GOD	Deut 14:1 Deut 14:2 Deut 14:21 Deut 14:23 Deut 14:24 Deut 14:25 Deut 14:26 Deut 14:29 Deut 15:4 Deut 15:5 Deut 15:6	Ps 119:115
#r,a,	land, earth	Deut 15:4	Ps 119:119
hm'heB.	animal	Deut 14:4 Deut 14:6		Isa 63:14
!Be	son	Deut 14:1		Isa 63:8
rf'B'	flesh	Deut 14:8	Ps 119:120
rb'D'	manner, word	Deut 15:2	Ps 119:105 Ps 119:107 Ps 119:114 Ps 119:130
%l;h'	go, led	Deut 14:25		Isa 63:12 Isa 63:13
[r'z<	sow, offspring	Deut 14:22		Isa 65:9
[d'y"	know		Ps 119:125	Isa 63:16
hwhy	LORD
~Ay	day, today	Deut 14:23 Deut 15:5		Isa 63:9 Isa 63:11
ac'y"	comes, bring forth	Deut 14:22 Deut 14:28		Isa 65:9
dr'y"	shed, go down		Ps 119:136	Isa 63:14
vr'y"	possess, inherit, heir	Deut 15:4		Isa 65:9
[v;y"	safe, savior, saved		Ps 119:117	Isa 63:8 Isa 63:9
yKi	because
lKo	all, any	Deut 14:2 Deut 14:3 Deut 14:6 Deut 14:9 Deut 14:10 Deut 14:11 Deut 14:14 Deut 14:19 Deut 14:20 Deut 14:21 Deut 14:22 Deut 14:23 Deut 14:26 Deut 14:28 Deut 14:29 Deut 15:2 Deut 15:5	Ps 119:118 Ps 119:119 Ps 119:128 Ps 119:133	Isa 63:9
!Ke	so, therefore
dm;l'	learn, teach	Deut 14:23	Ps 119:108 Ps 119:124 Ps 119:135
~yIm;	water	Deut 14:9	Ps 119:136	Isa 63:12
!mi	among, any, above	Deut 14:7 Deut 14:8	Ps 119:127	Isa 63:12
hw"c.mi	commandment	Deut 15:5	Ps 119:115 Ps 119:127 Ps 119:131
x;Wn	deposit	Deut 14:28	Ps 119:121	Isa 63:14
vp,n<	heart	Deut 14:26	Ps 119:109 Ps 119:129
af'n"	bring, carried	Deut 14:24		Isa 63:9
!t;n"	give, exchange, spend	Deut 14:21 Deut 14:25 Deut 14:26 Deut 15:4	Ps 119:110
db,[,	slave, servant		Ps 119:122 Ps 119:124 Ps 119:125 Ps 119:135	Isa 65:9
~l'A[	forever		Ps 119:111 Ps 119:112	Isa 63:9 Isa 63:11 Isa 63:12 Isa 63:16
!yI[;	forehead, eyes	Deut 14:1	Ps 119:123 Ps 119:136
hl'['	chews, brought	Deut 14:6 Deut 14:7		Isa 63:11
~ynIP'	face, before	Deut 14:2 Deut 14:23 Deut 14:26	Ps 119:135	Isa 63:9 Isa 63:12
!aoc	flocks, sheep	Deut 14:23 Deut 14:26		Isa 63:11
~Wf	shave, set put	Deut 14:1 Deut 14:24		Isa 63:11
!k;v'	establish	Deut 14:23		Isa 65:9
~v'	where, there
~ve	name	Deut 14:23 Deut 14:24	Ps 119:132	Isa 63:12 Isa 63:14 Isa 63:16
arey"	fear	Deut 14:23	Ps 119:120
~[;	people	Deut 14:2 Deut 14:21		Isa 63:8 Isa 63:11 Isa 63:14
hf'['	do, make, grant	Deut 14:29 Deut 15:1 Deut 15:5	Ps 119:112 Ps 119:121 Ps 119:124 Ps 119:126	Isa 63:12 Isa 63:14

Greek:

Greek	English	Torah Seder Deu 14:1-15:6	Psalms Psa 119:105-136	Ashlamatah Isa 63:8-16 + 65:9	NC Mk 15:6-15
ἄρχομαι	control, began	Deu 15:6			Mar 15:8
γινώσκω	know, knew		Psa 119:125	Isa 63:16	Mar 15:10
παραδίδωμι	delivered up		Psa 119:121		Mar 15:10 Mar 15:15
ποιέω	execute,do, act, appointed	Deu 14:29 Deu 15:1 Deu 15:3 Deu 15:5	Psa 119:112 Psa 119:121 Psa 119:124 Psa 119:126	Isa 63:12 Isa 63:14	Mar 15:7 Mar 15:8 Mar 15:12 Mar 15:14 Mar 15:15

Mordechai 119e

Mordechai 15:6-15

By: HH Paqid Dr. Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham

BESB	GREEK TEXT
Mar 15:6 Now at each [Passover] feast he (Pilate) customarily released to them, (the Jewish people) one (any) prisoner whom they requested.[12]	^6 Κατὰ δὲ ἑορτὴν ἀπέλυεν αὐτοῖς ἕνα δέσμιον ὅνπερ ἠτοῦντο.
Mar 15:7 Now (there was) one called Bar Abba imprisoned with the rebels who had performed murder during the insurrection.	^7ἦν δὲ ὁ λεγόμενος Βαραββᾶς μετὰ τῶν συστασιαστῶν δεδεμένος οἵτινες ἐν τῇ στάσει φόνον πεποιήκεισαν
Mar 15:8 And the people (Tz’dukim/Sadducees)[13] came up (and) began to ask him (Pilate) to do as he customarily did (for them).	^8καὶ ἀναβοήσας ὁ ὄχλος ἤρξατο αἰτεῖσθαι καθὼς ἀεί ἐποίει αὐτοῖς
Mar 15:9 Then Pilate answered them, saying, "Do you want me to release for you the king of the Jews?"[14]	^9ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς λέγων Θέλετε ἀπολύσω ὑμῖν τὸν βασιλέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων
Mar 15:10 For he realized that the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) had handed him (the Master) over out of jealousy.	^10ἐγίνωσκεν γὰρ ὅτι διὰ φθόνον παραδεδώκεισαν αὐτὸν οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς
Mar 15:11 However, the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) pressed the people (Tz’dukim/Sadducees) so that he would release for them Bar Abba instead.	^11οἱ δὲ ἀρχιερεῖς ἀνέσεισαν τὸν ὄχλον ἵνα μᾶλλον τὸν Βαραββᾶν ἀπολύσῃ αὐτοῖς
Mar 15:12 So Pilate answered (and) said to them again, "Then what do you want me to do with [the one] whom you call the king of the Jews?"	^12ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ἀποκριθεὶς πάλιν εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Τί οὖν θέλετε ποιήσω ὃν λέγετε βασιλέα τῶν Ἰουδαίων
Mar 15:13 And they shouted back, "Crucify him!"	^13οἱ δὲ πάλιν ἔκραξαν Σταύρωσον αὐτόν
Mar 15:14 And Pilate said to them, "Why? What evil has he committed?" But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"	^14ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς Τί γὰρ κακόν ἐποίησεν οἱ δὲ περισσοτέρως ἔκραξαν Σταύρωσον αὐτόν
Mar 15:15 So Pilate, [because he] wanted) to satisfy the crowd, released for them BarAbba. And [after] he had Yeshua whipped, he handed [him] over so that he could be crucified.	^15ὁ δὲ Πιλᾶτος βουλόμενος τῷ ὄχλῳ τὸ ἱκανὸν ποιῆσαι ἀπέλυσεν αὐτοῖς τὸν Βαραββᾶν καὶ παρέδωκεν τὸν Ἰησοῦν φραγελλώσας ἵνα σταυρωθῇ

Delitzsch Hebrew Translation

⁶ וּמִדֵּי חַג בְּחַגּוֹ הָיָה פּוֹטֵר לָהֶם אָסִיר אֶחָד אֵת אֲשֶׁר יְבַקֵּשׁוּ׃

⁷ וַיְהִי אִישׁ הַנִּקְרָא בְשֵׁם בַּר־אַבָּא אָסוּר עִם־הַמּוֹרְדִים אֲשֶׁר רָצְחוּ רֶצַח בְּעֵת הַמָּרֶד׃

⁸ וַיַּעַל הֶהָמוֹן וַיָּחֵלּוּ לְבַקֵּשׁ שֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה לָהֶם כְּפַעַם בְּפָעַם׃

⁹ וַיַּעַן אֹתָם פִּילָטוֹס וַיֹּאמַר רְצוֹנְכֶם שֶׁאַתִּיר לָכֶם אֶת־מֶלֶךְ הַיְּהוּדִים׃

¹⁰ כִּי יָדַע אֲשֶׁר רַק־מִקִּנְאָה מְסָרוּהוּ רָאשֵׁי הַכֹּהֲנִים׃

¹¹ וְרָאשֵׁי הַכֹּהֲנִים הֵסִיתוּ אֶת־הֶהָמוֹן לְבִלְתִּי הַתִּיר לָהֶם כִּי אִם־בַּר־אַבָּא׃

¹² וַיֹּסֶף פִּילָטוֹס וַיַּעַן וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם וּמָה־אֵפוֹא רְצוֹנְכֶם שֶׁאֶעֱשֶׂה לַאֲשֶׁר אַתֶּם קֹרְאִים מֶלֶךְ הַיְּהוּדִים׃

¹³ וַיִּקְרְאוּ עוֹד הַצְלֵב אֹתוֹ׃

¹⁴ וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵיהֶם פִּילָטוֹס מָה־אֵפוֹא רָעָה עָשָׂה וְהֵם הִרְבּוּ־עוֹד לִקְרֹא הַצְלֵב אֹתוֹ׃

¹⁵ וַיּוֹאֶל פִּילָטוֹס לַעֲשׂוֹת כִּרְצוֹן הָעָם וַיַּתֵּר לָהֶם אֵת בַּר־אַבָּא וְאֵת יֵשׁוּעַ הִכָּה בַשׁוֹטִים וַיִּמְסֹר אוֹתוֹ לְהִצָּלֵב׃

Introduction

Gen 1:31—2:3 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. And then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

The Mishnah establishes rules found in the Torah with regard to the explicit correlation of Shabbat and the Sabbatical condition of the land. Masechet[15] Shebi‘it sets forth the laws of relationship to the Land of Israel, which embodies the fundamental truth that G-d is the solitary proprietor of Eretz Yisrael (land of Israel). Consequently, the Mishnah, Masechet Shebi’it sets forth a number of halakhic rules with regard to the land and its use during the Sh’mittah (Sabbatical) year. For example…

1. The prohibition of farming the land during the seventh year;

2. The use of the produce in the seventh year solely for eating, that is to say, its purpose and function by its very nature; and

3. The remission of debts

During the Sh’mittah (Sabbatical) year, the B’ne Yisrael (children of Israel) demonstrate that Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) belongs exclusively to G-d and they (the Israelites) are His tenants. The laws of the Mishnah mandate how the tenants are to treat the land, property that they inhabit as tenants. Furthermore, Seder Zeraim initially establishes that G-d requires particular practices of those tenants who occupy His land, property. By the observance of the rules and laws of the land, we are able to insure that the crops and produce is Holy. Adam and Ḥava (Eve) lived in a Garden established by G-d, and as tenants of the Garden they were subject to the rules of the Garden. Only with the abuse of G-d’s property and violation of applicable laws are the tenants evicted.

Tractates Ma’aserot and Ma’aser Sheni further establish levies required to live in that land. These levies (Divine taxes) paid to G-d’s agents, insure that the tenant has the usufructuary use of that land so long as they follow the rules of that land and pay its dues. Of course, this subject needs further elaboration. Nonetheless, logic will suffice to delve deeper into this thought.

Logic dictates that the message of Shabbat (the weekly Sabbath) and Shebi‘it (Sabbatical Year) are the same.

The boundaries of Shabbat (weekly Sabbath), established by an Erub[16], demarcate a periphery of communal property. Or, the Erub marks off a particular piece of land which is the boundary of Shabbat (the weekly Sabbath) in which we can walk. We relate to this property and its instructions (the instructions of Erub) just as we would to Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel). Furthermore, Shabbat and Shebi‘it are sanctifications of time. The periphery of time is sanctified in the same manner as the Erub that marks the limit of movement on Shabbat. We relate to time through the rules of Moedim, G-d’s divinely appointed practices for the sanctification of time. Therefore, Shabbat and Shebi‘it further another point in relation to the Sh’mittah (the Sabbatical Year). Shabbat and Shebi‘it teach us that G-d is not only the Master of the Land, but He is also the Master of Time. In other words, we release our control, or personal use of time during Shabbat and on Shebi‘it (the Sabbatical Year). During this “time” we effectively relinquish personal use for that period and engage in special, “G-d oriented” practices. The effect of Shabbat (the weekly Sabbath) even revises our speech.

However, Shabbat and Shebi‘it only work when we relinquish our control of property and time to G-d. If we were to fail to relinquish control of the land and time, we fail to reap the benefits of either. The term hefker is something under no one’s ownership. The declaration of hefker[17] is, in part a fallacy. Hefker is the release of ownership and the acknowledgment of G-d’s omnipotence. Our relinquishment of property and time connect us with the whole community of Yisrael. Therefore, by our relinquishment of control over time and property we connect with the community of Yisrael (in the past, present, and future). Likewise, when we relinquish our use of those periods we are able to connect with G-d.

During Shabbat, the Erub forms communal property. The property that “we possessed” is “released” to become the property of the local Jewish community. Because we are a part of this communitarian society, we are collectively responsible for adhering to the rules of tenement-ship. What this insures is responsibility within and for other community members.

Prosbul

Rabbi Hillel enacted a rule with regard to the Sh’mittah (Sabbatical Year). The Torah establishes a precept in D’barim (Deuteronomy) 15:9, which we will read in the coming Torah Seder.

Deu 15:9 Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry out to the LORD against you, and it become sin among you.

This very verse and circumstance anticipated by G-d caused Hillel to enact the Prosbul law. The Prosbul circumvented fraudulent practices with regard to the Sh’mittah (Sabbatical Year). There were those who had planned not to pay for the loan given them immediately prior to the Year of Release, Sh’mittah. By the enactment of the Prosbul law, Rabbi Hillel guaranteed the repayment of monies borrowed at the threshold of the Sh’mittah (Sabbatical Year). Herein Rabbi Hillel made every man liable for his actions. Through Peshat hermeneutic, we can determine that if it was a sin, not to loan money to those in need, it was also a sin to fail to pay back those monies borrowed. An old adage says, “there aint no such thing as a free lunch”! EVERYONE must do his share.

Insurrection and Eviction

From a Peshat hermeneutic, we can derive from the account of Adam and Ḥava (Eve) that failure to observe the rules of the land brings expulsion. Furthermore, if we were to rehearse the story of Cain, we would see that his spilling of blood on the land polluted that land and brought about his exile. The broad rule of Peshat derived from masechet Shebi‘it determines particular rules of Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel).

Targum Pseudo Yonatan Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 63:9—11 In every time that they sinned before Him so as to bring affliction upon themselves, He did not afflict them, an angel sent from Him saved them; in His love and in His pity upon them He delivered them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. 10. But they rebelled and incited to anger against the Memra (Word) of His holy prophets; therefore His Memra (Word) was turned to be an enemy, and He Himself battled against them. 11. Then he had pity for the glory of His name, for the sake of the remembrance of His benefits which were from of old, the prodigies which He did by the hands of Moses for His people that they might not say, Where is He who brought them up out of the sea, where is He who led them in the wilderness as the shepherd his flock? Where is He who made the Memra (Word) of His holy prophets dwell among them

While the Prophet looked at a historical event, we can look at this event and see an allusion to the Diaspora in the phrase, “He who led them in the wilderness as the shepherd his flock.” “The Holy One, blessed be He, taught us statutes and ordinances” through His Divinely appointed agents (the Hakhamim/Rabbis). We rebelled against these rules and were evicted from the land. The Holy One, Blessed be He taught us through Rabbi Hillel the Elder that we must treat our brothers with communitarian propinquity. Hillel’s Prosbul law demonstrated our lack of collective responsibility. Our sin was not only a sin against the land and our brothers; we sinned against G-d. Had we learned the lesson of “cleaving to G-d,” through cleaving to our Hakhamim/Rabbis we would not have been evicted from the land. Nevertheless, we rebelled as Rashi clearly points out.

Rashi’s commentary to verse Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 63:10 reads, “But they rebelled” Heb. מָרוּ. “They angered.” Comp. (Deut. 9:7) “You were rebellious (מַמְרִים).”

Consequently, insurrection caused Yisrael’s eviction from Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel). Here we identify the point of intersection, as a conflict, between G-d’s and man’s will. The halakhah (law) of masechet Shebi‘it takes as its task the realization of Yisrael’s acceptance of G-d’s will for G-d’s Land, shared by Yisrael on princely terms.

Mar 15:7 Now (there was) one called Bar Abba imprisoned with the rebels who had performed murder during the insurrection.

Note the sin of Bar Abba. His sin was that of murder, which we have discussed in the story of Cain previously. Bar Abba, undoubtedly a Zealot,[18] in his “zeal,” was inappropriate in his behavior to the extreme of murder. In trying to bring about autonomy for the Jewish people, Bar Abba shed blood on the soil of Eretz Yisrael (land of Israel), polluting the land. Was Bar Abba correct in his insurrection against Rome?

Targum Pseudo Yonatan Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 63:1. He is about to bring a stroke upon Edom, a strong avenger upon Bozrah, to take the just retribution of His people, just as He swore to them by His Memra. He said, Behold, I am revealed - just as I spoke - in virtue, there is great force before Me to save. 2. Why will mountains be red from the blood of those killed, and plains gush forth like wine in the press? 3. "Behold, as grapes trodden in the press, so will slaughter increase among the armies of the peoples, and there will be no strength for them before Me; I will kill them in My anger and trample them in My wrath; 1 will break the strength of their strong ones before Me, and I will annihilate all their wise ones. 4. For the day of vengeance is before Me, and the year of My peoples salvation has come.

Our Prophet foresaw the ruin of Edom as G-d’s assigned justice for Edom/Rome. The B’ne Yisrael (children of Israel) in the first century looked for a redeemer who would bring Edom/Rome to its demise. Bar Abba was like many other zealots who lived in the land seeking autonomy. Just before the destruction of the Temple, Rabbi Akiba misplaced his confidence in Bar Kokhba. Rabbi Akiba, Bar Kokhba and Bar Abba were all misguided and tried to circumvent the plan of G-d. Bar Abba was like Cain. My mentor, His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yoseph ben Haggai has taught me that Cain refused to acknowledge his father’s sin and as a result, he brought a vegetable offering rather than an animal sacrifice required as a sin offering after the fall and expulsion from the Garden. Bar Abba, in his zeal to reestablish the glory of Yisrael, equivocated the rules of the land. Consequently, he incurred a debt that he could not repay.

The Snare of the Wicked

Tehillim 119:110. The wicked laid a snare for me, but I did not stray from Your precepts.

Mar 15:12 So Pilate answered (and) said to them again, "Then what do you want me to do with [the one] whom you call the king of the Jews?"

The trap of the enemy was to act like Bar Abba, Rabbi Akiba and Bar Kokhba. However, Yeshua refused, to the point of death to conduct himself in any behavior that was contrary to the will of G-d.

Yeshua has gone out of his way to demonstrate that he is NOT an insurrectionist.[19] Furthermore, Yeshua determines that he is not an insurrectionist with his comments found in Mark 12:13—17; 14:48—49

Mar 12:13—17 And they (the chief priests of the Sadducees (Heb. Tz'dukim) and the scribes (Heb. soferim) of the Sadducees) apostolized to him (Yeshua) some of the Soferim and of the household of Herod, to politically ensnare him in discourse. ¹⁴ And these came, and asked him: Rabbi (Hakham); we know (perceive) that you are true, and that you are not bribed by any man, and you are not afraid (concerned) to face any man, but teach the way (i.e. Torah) of Elohim (Heb. God in His attribute of justice) in truth. Does your teaching allow paying taxes to the Caesar? Is it permissible (allowed) or not? ¹⁵ But knowing their deceitfulness, he said to them, "Why do you test (attempt to ensnare) me? Bring me a denarius so that I may see it." ¹⁶ And they brought it. And he said to them, Whose image (icon) and inscription is this? And they said to him, the Caesar's. ¹⁷ And answering, Yeshua said to them, Give back the things of Caesar to Caesar, and the things of Elohim to Elohim. And they were astonished by him.

Mar 14:48—49 And Yeshua said responding to (pronounce a guilty sentence against) them, "Have you come out with daggers and clubs, as if against a robber (also translated insurrectionist),[20] to take me?" ⁴⁹ I was with you daily in the Bet HaMikdash (Temple) teaching and you did not seize me (then). Nevertheless, the Scriptures must be fulfilled.

Through his obedience, he would rectify the sin of the Golden calf, release the Levitical Priesthood from their intermediary duty and re-establish the Priesthood of the firstborn. All of this was a preparation for the coming Diaspora. Yeshua’s thoughts may have sounded like our Psalm for the week.

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:113. I hate those who harbor iniquitous thoughts, but Your Torah I love.

Targum Pseudo Yonatan Tehillim (Psalms) 119:126. It is time to do the will of the LORD; the scholars have desecrated Your Torah.

Tehillim (Psalms) 119:127. Because I loved Your commandments more than gold, even more than fine gold.

“I loved your commandments more than “gold.” Yeshua was now facing the ability to make tikun (reparation/healing) for the sin of the golden calf or serve his personal agenda. The tempter in the Matthew’s account of the “testing of the master” offers a plan “if only” he would bow and worship the adversary he could solve all the world’s problems. While I will not delve into the Midrashic interpretations of these passages, we understand this to mean in Jewish terms, as yielding to personal desire vs. following the will of G-d. Yeshua loved the mitzvoth (commandments of G-d’s Law) more than gold. In other words, his personal desire became so intertwined with the will of G-d that it was impossible for him to do anything else. His captivity brought about a release and resolve for the sin of the golden calf. The hermeneutic principle of Sevarah (“it is logical”) will illuminate all the imports that we do not have room to discuss at present.

Conclusion

In the inauguration of his ministry, Yeshua was granted the privilege of announcing the Yobel (Jubilee). With the termination of his ministry, he was able to bring about a tikun (reparation/healing), and release for the sin of the golden calf. He inaugurated a Yobel and declared a spiritual release.

Hakham Tsefet (Peter) has used the word “release” four times firmly anchoring the present pericope with the Sh’mittah (Sabbatical Year) of our present Torah Seder.[21] Hakham Tsefet’s (Peter’s) opening…

Mar 15:6 Now at each (Passover) feast he (Pilate) customarily released to them, (the Jewish people) one (any) prisoner whom they requested.

This verse lays the foundation for his discussion. And, finding the end in the beginning and the beginning in the end he concludes with…

Mar 15:15 So Pilate, [because he] wanted to satisfy the crowd, released for them Bar Abba. And [after] he had Yeshua whipped,[22] he handed [him] over so that he could be crucified.

What is Hakham Tsefet (Peter) trying to say?

We have seen that Sh’mittah (the Sabbatical Year) and Shabbat (the weekly Sabbath) deal with time related mitzvoth. In the course of our discussion, we have briefly discussed four tractates of the Mishnah.

1. Shebi‘it — dealing with the Year of release

2. Erub — dealing with Sabbath boundaries

3. Ma’aserot — tithe. and

4. Ma’aser Sheni - the second tithe

One lesson connects all four tractates. That lesson is …

Ecc. 3:1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:

Simply stated the sanctification of time requires specific actions at specific times. To act outside of those appointed times (Divine Appointments) is to miss the point of each of the lessons taught by the Hakhamim/Rabbis.

The land of Yeshua’s time was filled with genuine Hakhamim/Rabbis and those who were pseudo-scholars. In this, our Psalmist says, as we have cited above…

Targum Pseudo Yonatan Tehillim (Psalms) 119:126. It is time to do the will of the LORD; the scholars have desecrated Your Torah.

Messiah King Sh’lomo (Messiah King Solomon) reiterates his point concerning time…

Ecc 3:10-11 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

Acting in accordance with the rhythm of G-d’s timing insures success. However, when we try to accomplish the will of G-d at the wrong time we bring ruin and tragedy on ourselves

.

From this principle the Sages of blessed memory have initiated the context of the entire Mishnah with its opening phrase…

“From what time …?”[23]

Connections to Torah Readings

Torah Seder

Mark connects with the Torah Seder through the four-fold use of the word “release.” This points to the Sh’mittah (Sabbatical Year of Release) which is located in Deuteronomy 14:1-2, of our Torah Seder for this Shabbat (Sabbath).

Tehillim (Psalms)

Psalm 119:110 – “The wicked laid a snare for me, but I did not stray from Your precepts,” can be seen as Yeshua’s condition before Pilate and the Kohen Gadol (High Priest). He may have been tempted to solve his situation by using the same means as Bar Abba.

Ashlamatah (Lesson from the Prophets)

Yeshayahu’s (Isaiah’s) opening in verse 1. of chapter 63 says… “Who is this coming from Edom, with soiled garments, from Bozrah, this one [Who was] stately in His apparel, girded with the greatness of His strength? "I speak with righteousness/generosity, great to save." This must have been an expected Messianic response to the situation of Rome/Edom’s occupation of Eretz Yisrael.

Mitzvoth (Commandments) From the Torah Seder

Torah Address	M#	Mitzvah	Oral Torah
Deuteronomy 14:1	468	Not to cause baldness, tearing the hair in grief for the dead	t. Mak 3:7
Deuteronomy 14:3	469	Not to eat Holy animal offerings that have been disqualified	m. Bek 5:2
Deuteronomy 14:11	470	The religious duty to examine the marks of a fowl, if it may be eaten	m. Hul 2:3 m. Nid. 2:1
Deuteronomy 14:21	471	To eat no unclean, non-kosher locusts nor any winged insects	m. Hul
Deuteronomy 14:22	472	Not to eat the flesh of any kosher animal that died of itself	m. Hul 2:3
Deuteronomy 14:28	473	The precept of the second tithe	m.Ma’aser Sheni
Deuteronomy 14:28	474	The precept of tithe for the poor	m. Ma’aser m. Peah 8:5
Deuteronomy 15:2	475	Not to demand payment of a loan over which the seventh year, Sh’mittah	m. Shebi’it
Deuteronomy 15:3	476	The precept of exacting a loan rigorously from a heathen	m. Shebi’it
Deuteronomy 15:3	477	The precept of relinquishing money owed in the seventh year	m. Shebi’it

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. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 14:1?

3. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 14:2?

4. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 14:3?

5. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 14:21?

6. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 14:22?

7. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 14:27?

8. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 14:29?

9. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 15:1?

10. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 15:4?

11. What questions were asked of Rashi regarding Deut. 15:6?

12. What in the Torah Seder this week fired the imagination of the Psalmist as he penned Psalm 119: 105-136?

13. What in the Torah Seder this week fired the imagination of the prophet in the Ashlamatah of Isaiah 63:8ff?

14. How does Tehillim 119:110. Relate to our present pericope of Mark?

15. What in the Torah Seder, Psalm and Prophetic Lesson for this week fired the imagination of Hakham Tsefet as his scribe penned Mark 15:6-15?

16. In your opinion what key message/s did Hakham Tsefet try to convey in Mark 15:6-15?

17. What relationship does Shabbat (the weekly Sabbath) have to Shebi‘it (the Sabbatical Year)?

18. What circumstance initiated the Prosbul law?

19. How is the Sabbath Erub related to Shebi‘it (the Sabbatical Year)?

20. 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:

“Shabbat Ki Yihyéh B’khá”

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
כִּי-יִהְיֶה בְךָ
“Ki Yihyéh B’khá”	Reader 1 – D’barim 15:7-11	Reader 1 – D’barim 16:18-20
“If there is among you”	Reader 2 – D’barim 15:12-18	Reader 2 – D’barim 16:20-22
“Si hubiere contigo”	Reader 3 – D’barim 15:19-23	Reader 3 – D’barim 16:18-22
	Reader 4 – D’barim 16:1-4
D’barim (Deut.) 15:7 -16:17	Reader 5 – D’barim 16:5-8
Ashlamatah: Amos 8:4-10 + 9:13-15	Reader 6 – D’barim 16:9-12	Reader 1 – D’barim 16:18-20
Psalm 119:137-176	Reader 7 – D’barim 16:13-17	Reader 2 – D’barim 16:20-22
	Maftir: D’barim 16:13-17	Reader 3 – D’barim 16:18-22
	Amos 8:4-10 + 9:13-15
N.C.: Mark 15:16-21

Coming Festival: Chanukah

Evening December 20 – Evening December 28

For further study see:

http://www.betemunah.org/lapin.html ;

http://www.betemunah.org/connection.html ;

http://www.betemunah.org/chanukah.html ; &

http://www.betemunah.org/lights.html

Shalom Shabbat !

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

HH Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David

HH Paqid Dr. Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham

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[1] The ArtScroll Tanach Series, Tehillim, A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources. Commentary by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer, Translation by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer in collaboration with Rabbi Nosson Scherman.

[2] Heb. zohar, צהר.

[3] Ibid. 16.

[4] Heb. zoharayim, צהרים.

[5] Ibid

[6] The sides being sloping, the rain would fall off it.

[7] Mikraoth Gedoloth Psalms, volume three, translation of text, Rashi and other commentaries by Rabbi A.J. Rosenberg, Judaica Press.*

[8] Cf. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapters_and_verses_of_the_Bible

[9] Cf Romans 8:2 – “For the law of the Spirit of life (i.e. the Jewish Oral Torah) in Yeshua King Messiah has made me free from the law of sin and death (i.e. propensity to habitually commit sin which leads to spiritual death).”

[10] Cf. Psalm 133:1ff.

[11] Cf. Obadiah 1:21 – “And saviors will come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom (i.e. government) will be the LORD'S.

[12] I would surmise from materials and commentaries on this verse that Pilate released a prisoner because he revered Dionysus and esteemed the City of Dionysia of this Roman deity.

The Athenian Anthesteria were pan of a wider cycle of Dionysiac festivals which extended from the Rural Dionysia in Posideon (December-January) via Lcnaia (in Gamelion, January-February) and Anthesteria to the City Dionysia in Elaphebolion (March-April). Every festival projected its own image of Dionysiac epiphany.

Brill. (1999). Dictionary of Deities and Demon in the Bible (2 ed.). (K. v. Toom, B. Becking, & P. W. van der Horst, Eds.) Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. p 254

Unlike many pagan festivals, which occurred in the spring, which celebrated fertility the Dionysian festival in March/April, was associated with violence. Merrit, “Jesus Barabbas” determined at the Dionysian festival a single prisoner was released. Although the “prisoner” released in the Dionysian festival was not acquitted. He was only released in order to participate in the festival. Consequently, Pilate’s “custom” may have originated in a pagan festival. Craig Evans tries to make a case that the Mishnah (Pes. 8:6) details this custom. However, while his thesis is plausible, the argument is unconvincing. Given the Roman bent towards mythology I opt for the solution above.

[13] It should be a matter of common logic that the crowd was of the Tz’dukim for three reasons. The P’rushim were presently occupied in Pesach preparations and that they “came up” or “went up” indicates that they went to the Hasmonean fortress, Antonia at the Northwestern corner of the Temple mount isolating the incident from the Temple area proper. Thirdly, because the P’rushim was ready to offer their Korban Pesach they would have been in a state of ritual purity excluding them from entering Gentile homes or edifices.

[14] The repetitive use of “King of the Jews” whereby Pilate guarantees Yeshua’s conviction and death.

[15] מסכת; lit. "web” — Tractate

[16] Wikipedia defines an Erub as “An Eruv (Hebrew: עירוב mixture, also transliterated as Eiruv or Erub, plural: Eruvin) is a ritual enclosure around most Orthodox Jewish and Conservative Jewish homes or communities. In such communities, an Eruv is seen to enable the carrying of objects out of doors on the Jewish Sabbath that would otherwise be forbidden by the Written Torah Law (Halakha). Without an Eruv, Torah-observant Jews would be forbidden from carrying keys or tissues in their pockets or pushing baby carriages on the Jewish Sabbath, thus making it difficult for many to leave their homes.”

[17] Yad Avraham Institute. (2008). The Mishnah, Artscroll Mishnah Series, A New Translation with Commentary Yad Avraham Anthologized from Talmudic Sources and Classic Commentators, (Vol. IIa). (R. Y. Danziger, Ed., & R. M. Roberts, Trans.) Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, ltd. p. 241

[18] Use of “Zealot” may be anachronistic. Nevertheless, it serves well to demonstrate the character of the insurrectionist.

[19] Cf. Mark 11:17; 12:13-17

[20] λῃστής, οῦ, ὁ (1) robber, bandit, highwayman, one who seizes by violence, in contrast to a thief (κλέπτης), who uses stealth (LU 10.30); (2) politically insurrectionist, revolutionary, rebel who favors the use of force (JN 18.40); (3) figuratively, of unscrupulous, greedy, or overambitious leaders (JN 10.8) Friberg, T., Friberg, B., & Miller, N. F. (2000). Vol. 4: Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament. Baker's Greek New Testament library (246). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books.

[21] Cf. Mark 15:6,9,11,15

[22] Martin Hengel purports the idea that only slaves were flogged before their execution by crucifixion. If this is true and Hakham Tsefet (Peter) knew of this particular practice, he would have been further solidifying his relation to the Year of Release, the Shimitah. See e.g Moloney, F. J. (2002). The Gospel of Mark, A Commentary. Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers. 316 noote 201, Hengel, M. (1977). Crucifixion in the Ancient world and the folly of the Cross. (J. Bowden, Trans.) London: SCM Press. pp. 51—63

[23] m. Ber 1:1