Esnoga Bet Emunah
7104 Inlay St. SE, Lacey, WA 98513
Telephone: 360-584-9352 - United States of America
© 2008
E-Mail: gkilli@aol.com
Triennial
Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)
|
Three and 1/2 year
Lectionary Readings |
Fourth
Year of the Reading Cycle |
|
Tammuz 23, 5768 – July 25/26,
2008 |
Seventh
Year of the Shmita Cycle |
Shabbat
Dibre Yirmeyahu
1st
of 3 Shabatot (Sabbaths) of Penitence/Mourning
Shabbat:
“Mevar’chim HaChodesh Ab”
Sabbath
of the Proclamation of the New Moon of of the month ofAb
Shabbat
1st of Ab, 5768 – Shabbat August 1-2, 2008
Candle Lighting and Havdalah Times:
Olympia, Washington, U.S. Brisbane,
Australia
Friday July 25, 2008 – Candles at 8:35 PM Friday July 25, 2008 – Candles at
4:58 PM
Saturday July 26, 2008 – Havdalah 9:47 PM Saturday
July 26, 2008 – Havdalah 5:53 PM
San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Friday July 25, 2008 – Candles at 8:13 PM Friday July 25, 2008 – Candles at
7:10 PM
Saturday July 26, 2008 – Havdalah 9:09 PM Saturday
July 26, 2008 – Havdalah 8:00 PM
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Singapore,
Singapore
Friday July 25, 2008 – Candles at 8:25 PM Friday July 25, 2008 – Candles at
6:58 PM
Saturday July 26, 2008 – Havdalah 9:24 PM Saturday July 26, 2008 – Havdalah
7:49 PM
Manila
& Cebu, Philippines Jakarta,
Indonesia
Friday July 25, 2008 – Candles at 6:09 PM Friday July 25, 2008 – Candles at
5:36 PM
Saturday July 26, 2008 – Havdalah 7:01 PM Saturday July 26, 2008 – Havdalah
6:27 PM
For
other places see: http://chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp
Coming
Special Days:
Fast
of the 9th of Ab – Saturday/Sunday August the 9th - 10th,
2008
For
further study see:
http://www.betemunah.org/mourning.html
& http://www.betemunah.org/tishabav.html
|
Shabbat |
Torah
Reading: |
Weekday
Torah Reading: |
|
כִּי-תֵצֵא
לַמִּלְחָמָה |
|
|
|
“Ki-Tetsé LaMilchamáh” |
Reader 1 – D’barim 21:10-14 |
Reader 1 – D’barim 23:10-12 |
|
“When you go out to battle” |
Reader 2 – D’barim 21:25-23 |
Reader 2 – D’barim 23:13-15 |
|
“Cuando salgas a la guerra” |
Reader 3 – D’barim 22:1-5 |
Reader 3 – D’barim 23:16-19 |
|
D’barim (Deut.) 21:10 – 23:9 B’Midbar (Num.) 28:9-15 |
Reader 4 – D’barim 22:6-12 |
|
|
Ashlamatah: Isaiah 2:4-7 +
5:1-6 |
Reader 5 – D’barim 22:13-21 |
|
|
Special: Jer. 1:1 – 2:3 |
Reader 6 – D’barim 22:22 –
23:3 |
Reader 1 – D’barim 23:10-12 |
|
Psalm: 129 – 132 |
Reader 7 – D’barim 23:4-9 |
Reader 2 – D’barim 23:13-15 |
|
N.C.: Matityahu 27:15-23 |
Maftir : B’Midbar 28:9-15 |
Reader 3 – D’barim 23:16-19 |
|
Pirke Abot: I:11 |
Jer. 1:1 –
2:3 I Samuel
20:18,42 |
|
Roll of Honor:
This Torah commentary comes to you courtesy of:
His
Honor Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David and
beloved wife HH Giberet Batsehva bat Sarah,
His
Honor Paqid Adon Mikha ben Hillel
His
Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham,
Her
Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah and
beloved family,
His
Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann and
beloved family,
His
Excellency Adon John Batchelor and
beloved wife,
His
Excellency Adon Ezra ben Abraham and
beloved wife HE Giberet Karmela bat Sarah,
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, amen ve amen!
Also a great thank you to all who send comments to
the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly 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 ravybh@optusnet.com.au with
your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!
Rashi &
Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Deuteronomy 21:10 –
23:9
|
RASHI |
TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN |
|
10.
¶ If you should go to war against your enemies, and Adonai, your G-d, puts
them in your hand, and you capture prisoners from them; |
10.
WHEN you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God will
deliver them into your hands, and you take some of them captive: |
|
11.
And you see among the prisoners a beautifully formed woman; if you desire
her, you may take her as your wife. |
11.
if you see in the captivity a woman of fair countenance, and you approve of
her, and would take her to you to wife; |
|
12.
You will bring her into your house and she will shave her head and allow her
nails to grow. |
12.
then you will take her into your house, and let her cut off the hair of her
head, pare her nails, |
|
13.
She must discard her prisoner's garb from upon her, and she will remain in your
home and weep for her father and her mother a month of days; and afterwards
you may come to her and consummate with her, and she will become your wife. |
13.
and put off the dress of her captivity, and, dipping herself, become a
proselyte in your house, and weep on account of the idols of the house of her
father and mother. And you will wait three months to know whether she be with
child; and afterwards you may go to her, endow her, and make her your wife. |
|
14.
But it will come to pass, that if you do not desire her you will send her
free, but to sell--- you may not sell her for money; you may not exploit her
since you have oppressed her. |
14.
But if you have no pleasure in her, then you may send her away, only with a
writing of divorce: but you will in no wise sell her for money, nor make
merchandise of her, after you have had intercourse with her. [JERUSALEM. If
you have no pleasure in her, you may send her away with power over herself;
but you will in no wise sell her for money, nor make merchandise of her;
because your power over her is given up.] |
|
15.
If a man has two wives, one loved and the other hated, and they bear him
sons, the loved [one] and the hated [one], and the firstborn son will be the
hated one's. |
15.
If a man has two wives, and one is beloved and the other hated, and they bear
him sons, both the beloved and the hated (wife), and the first-born son be of
the hated, |
|
16.
When the day comes for him to will to his sons what he owns, he may not
prefer the son of the loved one over the son of the hated one--- the
firstborn. |
16.
it will be in the day that he devises to his sons the inheritance of the
wealth that may be his, he will not be allowed to give the birthright portion
to the son of the beloved, over the head of the son of the hated wife, to
whom the birthright belongs; |
|
17.
Rather, the firstborn son of the hated one is he to recognize to give him
double-fold of all that he possesses; for he is the first of his power, he
has the rights of primogeniture. |
17.
but (let him acknowledge) the birthright of the son of her who is disliked,
and all that belongs to it, to give him the double portion of all that may be
found with him, because he is the beginning of his strength, and to him
pertains the birthright. |
|
18.
If a man has a wayward and rebellious son who does not obey his father and
his mother; though they chasten him; he does not listen to them. |
18.
If a man has a son depraved and rebellious, who will not obey the word of his
father or of his mother, and who, when they reprove him, will not receive
admonition from them; |
|
19.
His father and mother are to grasp him and take him out to the judges of his
city and to the court in his location. |
19.
his father and mother will take him, and bring him before the sages of the
city at the door of the court of justice in that place, |
|
20.
They will say to the judges of his city, "This son of ours is wayward
and rebellious--- he does not obey--- gluttonous and drunken." |
20.
and say to the sages of the city, We had transgressed the decree of the Word
of the Lord; therefore was born to us this son, who is presumptuous and
disorderly; he will not hear our word, but is a glutton and a drunkard. |
|
21.
And all the men of his city will stone him with stones so that he dies, and
you will eliminate the evil within you; and let all Yisrael hear and be
fearful. |
21.
And it will be that if he be brought to fear and receive instruction, and beg
that his life may be spared, you will let him live; but if he refuse and
continue rebellious, then all the men of his city will stone him with stones
that he die; and so will you put away the evil doer from among you, and all
Israel will hear, and be afraid. |
|
22.
If a man is guilty of a capital offense and is executed; you will hang him
from a tree. |
22.
When a man has become guilty of the judgment of death, and is condemned to be
stoned, and they afterwards hang him on a beam, [JERUSALEM. And you hang him
on a beam,] |
|
23.
Do not leave his corpse overnight on the tree, but you are surely to bury him
on that day, for a hanging corpse is an affront to G-d; so do not defile your
land that Adonai, your G-d, is giving you as territory. |
23.
his dead body will not remain upon the beam, but he will be certainly buried
on the same day; for it is execrable before God to hang a man, but that his
guilt gave occasion for it; and because he was made in the image of God, you
will bury him at the going down of the sun, lest wild beasts abuse him, and
lest you overspread your land, which the Lord your God gives you to possess,
with the dead bodies of criminals. |
|
|
|
|
1.
You may not observe your brother's ox or his sheep lost and conceal yourself
from them; you must surely return them to your brother. |
1.
You will not see your brother's ox or his lamb going astray, and estrange
your knowledge from them; you will certainly restore them to him. |
|
2.
But if your brother is not near you or you do not know him, gather it into
your house and let it stay with you until your brother seeks it, when you
must return it to him. |
2.
But if knowledge of your brother is not yours, if you know him not, you will
bring it into your house, and it will be supported by you till the time that
you have sought out your brother, and you will restore it to him. |
|
3.
And so are you to do for his donkey, and so are you to do for his garment,
and so are you to do for any lost object of your brother's that is lost from
him which you find. You may not conceal yourself. |
3.
So will you do with his ass, with his garment, and with any lost thing of
your brother's. If you find, it is not lawful for you to hide it from him;
you will cry it, and restore it. [JERUSALEM. And so will you do with his ass,
and with his robe.] |
|
4.
Do not observe your brother's donkey or his ox collapsing on the road and
ignore them. You must surely lift it up with him. |
4.
You will not see your brother's ass nor his ox thrown on the way, and turn
your eyes from them; you will verily lift it up for him. [JERUSALEM. You will
forgive what may be in your heart against him, you will deliver and lead it.] |
|
5.
A man's attire may not to be on a woman nor may a man wear a woman's
garment; for the abomination of Adonai, your G-d, are all who do these
[things]. |
5.
Neither fringed robes (Tsitsit) nor Tephillim which are the ornaments
of a man will be upon a woman; neither will a man shave himself so as to
appear like a woman; for everyone who does so is an abomination before the
Lord Your God. |
|
6.
If you should chance upon a bird's nest before you on the road in any tree,
or on the ground, [with] fledglings or eggs, and the mother is sitting on the
fledglings or on the eggs; do not take the mother with her offspring. |
6.
If you find the nest of a clean bird before you in the way, in a tree, or
upon the ground, in which there are young ones or eggs, and the mother
sitting upon the young ones or eggs, |
|
7.
You must surely send away the mother and the offspring take for yourself, so
that you will benefit and you will live long. |
7.
You will be sure to send the mother away, but you may take the young for
yourself that it may be well with you in this world, and that you may prolong
your days in the world to come. |
|
8.
When you build a new home, you are to make a fence for your roof; and do not
place blood [liability] in your house, for someone who should fall may fall
from it. |
8.
When you build a new house, you will make a surrounding fence to your roof,
that it may not be the occasion of blood guilt by the loss of life at your
house, by any one through heedlessness falling there from. [JERUSALEM. Then
you will make a parapet to your roof, that the guilt of innocent blood
shedding may not be set upon your house.] |
|
9.
Do not plant in your vineyard mixed species, lest the expansion becomes
obnoxious--- the seed that you plant--- and the produce of the vineyard. |
9.
You will not sow your vineyard with seeds of different kinds, lest you be
chargeable with burning the mixed seed that you have sown and the produce of
the vine. |
|
10.
You may not plough with an ox and with a donkey together. |
10.
You will not plough with an ox and an ass nor with any animals of two species
bound together. |
|
11.
Do not don a mixture of threads, wool and flax together. |
11.
You will not clothe nor warm yourselves with a garment combed (carded) or
netted, or interwoven with woollen and linen mixed together. |
|
12.
Make yourself pendant threads upon four corners of your garment that you
cover with. |
12.
Nevertheless on a robe of linen thread you may be permitted to make fringes
of woollen upon the four extremities of your vestments with which you dress
in the day. [JERUSALEM. Fringes of threads will you make upon the four edges
of your vestments with which you dress.] |
|
13.
If a man marries a woman, and he has relations with her and hates her. |
13.
If a man take a wife or virgin and go unto her, but afterwards dislike her, |
|
14.
Then berates her with calumnies and alleges defamation about her, and he
claims, "I married this woman and was intimate with her, and did not
find signs of her virginity." |
14.
and brings upon her words of calumny in an evil report against her, and say,
I took this woman, and lay with her, but found not the witnesses for her; |
|
15.
The girl's father and mother will take and will prove the girl's virginity to
the city judges in the court. |
15.
then the father and mother of the damsel may have licence from the court of
judgment to produce the linen with the witnesses of her virginity, before the
sages of the city, at the door of the Bet Din. |
|
16.
The girl's father should assert to the judges, "My daughter did I marry
to this man as a wife and he hates her. |
16.
And the father of the damsel will say to the sages, I wedded my daughter to
this man to be his wife; but after lying with her he has hated her; |
|
17.
Look! He has promulgated libellous words, claiming 'I did not find signs of
your daughter's virginity.' But this is [the proof of] my daughter's
virginity." And let them spread the cloth before the city judges. |
17.
and, behold, he has thrown upon her occasion of words, saying: I have not
found the witnesses of thy daughter's (virginity) but these are my daughter's
witnesses; and they will spread the linen before the sages of the city; |
|
18.
The judges of that city will take the man and will chastise him. |
18.
and the sages will take that man, scourge him, |
|
19.
And they will fine him one hundred silver [shekels] and give [them] to the
girl's father, because he defamed a virgin of Yisrael; and she will remain
his wife, he may not divorce her all his life. |
19.
and fine him a hundred shekels of silver, and give to the father of the
damsel, because he had brought out an evil report against an upright virgin
of Israel; and she will be his wife, nor will he have power to put her away
all his days. |
|
20.
However, if the allegation is true; signs of the girl's virginity were not
found. |
20.
But if that word be true, and the witnesses of virginity were not found with
the damsel [JERUSALEM. But if this word be true, and the damsel's witnesses
are not found,] |
|
21.
They are to take the girl out to the entrance of her father's home and the
people of her city will stone her with stones to death, because she committed
a disgraceful act against Yisrael by behaving promiscuously [in] her father's
house; and you will eliminate the evil within you. |
21.
then will they bring her forth to the door of her father's house, and the men
of that city will stone her with stones that she die; for she bad wrought
dishonour in Israel in bringing the ill fame of whoredom against her father's
house; and so will they put away the evil doer from Israel. [JERUSALEM. they
will bring that damsel from the door of her father's house, and the people
will stone her.] |
|
22.
If a man is found having intercourse with a woman who is the wife of a man,
even both of them will die--- the man who had intercourse with the woman and
the woman--- and you will eliminate the evil from Yisroel. |
22.
If a man be found lying with another's wife, both of them will be put to
death; the male who has lain with the woman, and the woman. Even if she be
with child, they will not wait till she is delivered, but in the same hour
they will put them to death by strangulation with the napkin, and cast away
the evil doer from Israel. |
|
23.
If there will be a virgin girl married to a man, and a man encounters her in
the city and has intercourse with her, |
23.
If a damsel a virgin is betrothed to a man, and another man find her in the
city, and lie with her, |
|
24.
You are to take them both out to the court of that city and stone them with
stones to death, the girl for the fact that she did not scream in the city
and the man for the fact that he oppressed the wife of his peer; and you will
eliminate the evil within you. |
24.
they will bring forth both of them to the door of the Bet Din of that city,
and stone them with stones that they die; the damsel because she did not cry
out in the city, and the man because he lay with his neighbour's wife; and
you will put away the evil doer from among you. |
|
25.
But if in the field the man encounters the married girl, and the man holds
her and had intercourse with her; then he will die--- only the man who had
intercourse with her. |
25.
But if a man finds a damsel in the wilderness, and do violence to her and lie
with her, the man only will die who lay with her, |
|
26.
But to the girl you will not do a thing, the girl has no death liability;
for, just as if a man rises up against his peer and murders him, so is this
matter. |
26.
for the damsel is not guilty of death; but her husband may put her away from
him by a bill of divorcement; for as when a man lies in wait for his
neighbour and takes his life, so is this matter: |
|
27.
For he encountered her in the field; the married girl screamed, but there was
no one to rescue her. |
27.
he found her upon the face of the field; the betrothed damsel cried out for
help, but there was no one to deliver her. |
|
28.
If a man encounters a virgin girl who was not married and grabs her and has
intercourse with her; and they are discovered. |
28.
If a man finds a damsel who is not betrothed, and seize and lie with her, and
they be found, |
|
29.
The man who had intercourse with her must give to the girl's father fifty
silver [shekels]; and she will be his wife, since he oppressed her; he may
not divorce her all his life. |
29.
then the man who lay with her will give to her father, as a fine for her
dishonour, fifty shekels of silver, and she will be his wife, because he
humbled her, nor will he have power to put her away by divorcement all his
days. |
|
|
|
|
1.
A man may not marry his father's wife, and may not expose the edge of his
father's garment. |
1.
A man should not take a wife who is bowed down (or violated), or who has had
intercourse with his father, much less his father's wife, nor disclose the
skirt that covers his father. |
|
2.
One may not enter--- with injured or crushed genitals or with a gash causing
spilling--- into Adonai's community. |
2.
He who is castrated is not fit to take a wife from the congregation of the
Lord's people. |
|
3.
A base-born may not enter into Adonai's community, even his tenth generation
may not enter into Adonai's community. |
3.
He who is born of fornication, or who has upon him the evil mark which is set
upon the unclean Gentiles, is not fit to take an upright wife from the
congregation of the people of the Lord; nor unto the tenth generation will it
be fit for him to enter into the congregation of the Lord. |
|
4.
Neither an Ammonite nor a Moabite may enter into Adonai's community; even
their tenth generation may not enter into Adonai's community forever. |
4.
Neither an Ammonite nor a Moabite man is fit to take a wife from the
congregation of the Lord's people, nor unto the tenth generation will they
take a wife from the congregation of the people of the Lord, |
|
5.
Because of the matter that they did not greet you with bread and water on the
way when you came out of Egypt; and because he hired against you Bilam son of
Beor from Petor in Aram Naharayim to curse you. |
5.
because they met you not with bread and water in the way when you came from
Mizraim, but hired against you Bileam bar Beor from Petho Chelmaya, which is
built in the land of Aram upon the Phrat, to curse you; |
|
6.
Adonai, your G-d, was unwilling to heed Bilam, and Adonai, your G-d, turned
for you the curse into a blessing, because Adonai, your G-d, loved you. |
6.
but the Lord your God would not hearken unto Bileam, but turned in his mouth
curses into blessings, because the Lord your God loves you. |
|
7.
Do not pursue their peace and their benefit all your life forever. |
7.
You will not seek their peace or, their prosperity all your days, because, if
even they become proselytes, they will entertain enmity in their hearts forever.
|
|
8.
Do not despise the Edomite, for he is your brother; do not despise the
Egyptian, for you were a stranger in his land. |
8.
You will not abhor an Edomite when he comes to be a proselyte, for he is your
brother; nor will you abhor a Mizraite, because you were dwellers in their
land. |
|
9.
Children who will be born to them, in the third generation, will enter into Adonai's
community. |
9.
The children who are born to them in the third generation will be fit to take
wives from the people of the congregation of the Lord. |
|
|
|
Rashi &
Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Numbers 28:9-15
|
RASHI |
TARGUM
PSEUDO JONATHAN |
|
9. On the Shabbat day [the
offering will be] two yearling lambs without blemish, and two tenths [of an
ephah] of fine flour as a meal-offering, mixed with [olive] oil, and its
libation. |
9. but on the day of Shabbat
two lambs of the year without blemish, and two‑tenths
of flour mixed with olive oil for the mincha and its libation. |
|
10. This is the
burnt-offering on its Shabbat, in addition to the constant (daily)
burnt-offering and its libation. |
10. On the Sabbath you will
make a Sabbath burnt sacrifice in addition to the perpetual burnt sacrifice
and its libation. |
|
11. At the beginning
of your months you will bring a burnt-offering to Adonai, two young bulls,
one ram, seven yearling lambs, [all] without blemish. |
11. And at the
beginning of your months you will offer a burnt sacrifice before the Lord;
two young bullocks, without mixture, one ram, lambs of the year seven,
unblemished; |
|
12. And three tenths [of an
ephah] of fine flour as a meal-offering mixed with the [olive] oil for each
bull, two tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour as a meal-offering, mixed with
the [olive] oil for the one ram, |
12. and three tenths of
flour mingled with oil for the mincha for one bullock; two tenths of flour
with olive oil for the mincha of the one ram; |
|
13. And one tenth [of an
ephah] of fine flour as a meal-offering mixed with the [olive] oil for each
lamb. A burnt-offering of pleasing aroma, a fire-offering to Adonai. |
13. and one tenth of flour
with olive oil for the mincha for each lamb of the burnt offering, an
oblation to be received with favour before the Lord. |
|
14. Their libations [will
be], one half of a hin for (a) bull, one third of a hin for the ram, and one
fourth of a hin for (the) lamb, of wine. This is the burnt-offering of
each [Rosh] Chodesh, at its renewal throughout the months of the year. |
14. And for their libation
to be offered with them, the half of a bin for a bullock, the third of a hin
for the ram, and the fourth of a hin for a lamb, of the wine of grapes. This
burnt sacrifice will be offered at the beginning of every month in the time
of the removal of the beginning of every month in the year; |
|
15. And [You will also
bring] one he-goat for a sin offering to Adonai, in addition to the constant
(daily) burnt-offering it will be done, and its libation. |
15. and one kid of the
goats, for a sin offering before the Lord at the disappearing (failure) of
the moon, with the perpetual burnt sacrifice shalt thou perform with its
libation. |
|
|
|
Midrash Rabba for: Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy 21:10 – 23:9
I. WHEN YOU GO FORTH
(XXI,10). IF A BIRD'S NEST CHANCE BEFORE YOU (XXII, 6). Halakhah:
Is it obligatory (in duty bound) to circumcise an infant who has been born without
a prepuce? The Sages have taught thus: In the case of an infant born without a
prepuce it is necessary to cause a few drops of the blood of the Covenant to
flow from him, on account of the Covenant of Abraham. And whence do you learn
this? From the Torah, as it is written, He that is born in your house, and he
that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised [this is deduced from
the duplicate expression, himmol yimmol
(lit., ‘circumcising shall be circumcised’), which is interpreted thus:
Even if the infant is born circumcised (himmol) it still has to undergo the
circumcision ceremony (yimmol)] (Gen. XVII,
13). Another explanation: ‘Must needs be circumcised.’ By the duplicate
expression [himmol yimmol] two operations of circumcision are implied, namely,
circumcision and uncovering [Milah, cutting the foreskin; peri'ah, splitting
the membrane and pulling it down]. R.
Levi said: Scripture says, ‘himmol yimmol’; from this repetition of the word is
to be inferred that he who performs the circumcision must himself be a
circumcised person, for it is written, ’himmol ytmmol’ [interpreting: He who is
circumcised is to circumcise (others)]. R. Judan b. Pazzi said: Of Zipporah,
the wife of Moses, Scripture records, Then she said: A bridegroom of blood
in regard of the circumcision--la-muloth (Ex. IV, 26). Scripture does not
say, la-milah, but ’la-muloth’ [plural], that is to say, two operations
of circumcision, viz. circumcision and uncovering. And why is an infant
circumcised on the eighth day? Because God had compassion upon him in delaying
the circumcision until he should have gained strength. And just as God shows
mercy to man, so too has He shown mercy to cattle. Whence this? For it is said,
But from the eighth day and thenceforth it [sc. the animal] may be accepted
for an offering, etc. (Lev. XXII, 27). And what is more, God commands, You
will not kill it and its young both in one day (ib. 28). And in the same
way that God had compassion upon the cattle, so too was God filled with mercy
for the birds, as it is said, IF A BIRD'S NEST CHANCE BEFORE YOU ... YOU WILL
NOT TAKE THE DAM WITH THE YOUNG.
II. This bears out what
Scripture says, Lest you should
ponder (tefalles) the path of life, her
ways wander, that you cannot know them (Prov. V, 6).1 What is the meaning
of, ‘Lest you should ponder the path of life’? R. Abba b. Kahana said:
The Holy One, blessed be He, said: ‘Do not spend time weighing up the precepts
of the Torah, as Scripture has it, And weighed the mountains in scales-
ba-peles (Isa. XL, 12); and do not say, ‘Seeing that this precept is a great
one, I will perform it because its reward is great, and seeing that the other
precept is a minor one, I will not perform it.’ What did God do? He did not
reveal to His creatures the reward for each separate precept, so that they may
perform all the precepts without questioning. Whence this? For it is said, ‘Her
ways wander, that you cannot know them.’ It is as if a king hired for
himself labourers and brought them straight into his garden without disclosing
what he intended to pay for the various kinds of work in the garden, lest they
should neglect the work for which the pay was little for work for which the pay
was high. In the evening he called each one in turn and asked him: 'At which
tree have you worked?' He replied: ‘At this one.’ Thereupon the king said to
him: ‘This is a pepper tree and the pay for working at it is one golden piece.’
He then called another and asked him: ‘At which tree have you worked?' And he
replied: 'Under this tree.’ The king thereupon said: ‘This is a white-blossom
tree and the pay for working at it is a half a golden piece.’ He then called
yet another, and asked him: ‘At which tree have you worked?’ And he replied:
‘At this one.’ Whereupon the king exclaimed: 'This is an olive tree and the pay
for working at it is two hundred zuz.’ Said the labourers to the king: ‘You
should have informed us from the outset which tree had the greater pay attached
to it, so that we might have worked at it.’ Thereupon the king replied: 'Had I
done this, how would the whole of my garden have been worked?’ So God did
not reveal the reward of the precepts, except of two, the weightiest and the
least weighty. The honouring of parents is the very weightiest and its reward
is long life, as it is said, Honour your father and your mother, that your
days may be long (Ex. XX, 12); and
the sending away of the mother bird is the least weighty [In the sense that it
is the easiest to perform], and what is its reward? Length of days, as it is
said, YOU WILL IN ANY WISE LET THE DAM GO ... THAT YOU MAY PROLONG YOUR DAYS.
Hence the force of, IF A BIRD'S NEST CHANCE TO BE.
III. This bears out what
Scripture says, For they will be a chaplet of grace unto your head
(Prov. I, 9). The Rabbis say: The words of the Torah are grace for your old
age. How? When a learned man grows old all flock around him and consult him on
the words of the Torah. Another explanation: What is the meaning of, 'For
they will be a chaplet of grace’? R. Phinehas b. Hama said: Wherever you go,
pious deeds will accompany you. WHEN YOU BUILD A NEW HOUSE THEN YOU WILL MAKE A
PARAPET FOR YOUR ROOF (XXII, 8): If you have made for yourself a door, the
precepts accompany you, as it is said, And you will write them upon the
door-posts of your house (Deut. VI, 9); if you have put on a new garment
the precepts accompany you, as it is said, You will not wear a mingled stuff
(ib. XXII, 11); if you have gone to cut the hair of your head, the precepts
accompany you, as it is said, You will not round the corners of your heads
(Lev. XIX, 27); if you have a field and you have gone to plough therein, the
precepts accompany you, as it is said, You will not plough with an ox and
ass together (Deut. XXII, 10); if
you are about to sow it, the precepts accompany you, as it is said, You will
not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed (ib. 9); and if you reap it,
the precepts accompany you, as it is said, When you reap your harvest in your
field, and have forgot a sheaf in the field (ib. XXIV, 19). God said: 'Even
if you are not engaged on any particular work but are merely journeying on the
road, the precepts accompany you.’ Whence this? For it is said, IF A BIRD'S
NEST CHANCE TO BE BEFORE YOU IN THE WAY, etc.
IV. Another comment: Ben
‘Azzai said: Precept draws precept in its train, and transgression, transgression.
How [is this to be explained]? Above it is written, When you go forth to
battle... and sees among the captives, etc. (Deut. XXI, 10 f); God said:
‘Although I have permitted her [the captive woman] unto you, yet I commanded
you, And she will shave her head and pare her nails (ib. 12) that she
may not find favour in your eyes and that you may send her away.’ But if you
will not do so, Scripture continues, If a man have a stubborn and rebellious
son (ib. 18), and the result will be, And if a man have committed a sin
worthy of death (ib. 22). Thus, transgression draws transgression in its
train. And whence do we know that precept draws precept in its train? First it
is written, IF A BIRD'S NEST CHANCE TO BE BEFORE YOU, this leads to, When
you build a new house,’ and this further leads to, 'You will not sow your
vineyard with two kinds of seed,’ and this further leads to, ‘You will
not plough with an ox and ass together,’ and this further leads to, You
will make yourself twisted cords (Deut. XXII, 12). Thus, precept draws
precept in its train.
V.
Another comment: YOU WILL IN ANY WISE LET THE DAM GO. R. Eleazar said:
Scripture surely ought not to be so concerned [about the dam]. But God said:
‘As she busied herself with the honour and good order of the world (i.e. with
procreation) she is worthy of being spared [suffering].' Another comment: R.
Hiyya said: If a bird that has neither ancestral merit nor covenants [Such as
God made with Abraham; cf. Gen. XV, 18] nor oaths [The oaths taken by God
towards the tribes as envisaged by the prophet Habakkuk (III, 9), The oaths to
the tribes were a sure word] to rely upon, can be atoned for by her children [In
accordance with the Biblical injunction she is spared because of her young],
how much more will the children of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob who have ancestral
merit to rely upon, if any of them sin, be atoned for by their children in the
time to come.
VI. Another comment: YOU
WILL IN ANY WISE LET THE DAM GO. R. Berekiah said: There is a certain demon who
shoots forth like an arrow and sweeps along like a bird. Whence this? For it is
said, You will not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that
flies by day (Ps. XCI, 5) [Which is interpreted to refer to a demon].
God said: ‘If you fulfil the precept of sending away the dam I will save you
from them.’ Another comment: The reward for some precepts is riches, and for
others honour. And what is the reward of this precept? If you have no children,
I will give you children. For it is said, YOU WILL IN ANY WISE LET THE DAM GO.
And your reward will be, BUT THE YOUNG YOU MAY TAKE UNTO YOURSELF (ib.). [The
Midrash homiletically interprets ‘the young’ not to refer to the young of the
mother bird, but to the children which will be the reward of the man who
carries out the precept concerning the mother bird.]
VII. Another comment: YOU
WILL IN ANY WISE LET THE DAM GO (SHALEAH TE-SHALLAH). The Rabbis say: Why is
the word shalah repeated? To tell you that if this precept comes your way a
second time, do not say, ‘I have already done my duty,’ but every time it comes
your way you must fulfil it. Another comment: YOU WILL IN ANY WISE LET THE DAM
GO. The Rabbis said: If you have fulfilled the precept of letting the dam go
you will merit also to fulfil the precept of letting go free the Hebrew slave
9you will merit to have many slaves). Whence this? For it is said, And when
you let him go free from you (Deut. XV, 13). Another explanation: What is
the meaning of, YOU WILL IN ANY WISE LET THE DAM GO? If you will fulfil this
precept you will hasten thereby the coming of King Messiah, of whom Scripture
uses the expression shiluah (‘sending
free’), as it is said, That send forth freely the feet of the ox and the ass
(Isa. XXXII, 20) [Tanhuma, par. jkahu , on Gen. XXXII, 6, refers this verse to
the Messiah]. Another comment: R. Tanhuma said: If you fulfil this precept you
will hasten the coming of Elijah the prophet, of blessed memory, of whom
Scripture uses the expression, ‘shiluah,’ as it is said, Behold, I will
send (sholeah) you Elijah the prophet
(Mal. III, 23); and he will come and comfort you. Whence this? For it is said,
And he will turn the heart of the fathers to the children (ib. 24).
Ketubim: Targum Tehillim (Psalms) 129 - 132
|
JPS TRANSLATION |
TARGUM |
|
129:1 A Song of Ascents.
'Much have they afflicted me from my youth up', let Israel now say; |
129:1
A song that was uttered on the ascents of the abyss. Many are they who have
oppressed me from my youth – let Israel now say – |
|
2.
'Much have they afflicted me from my youth up; but they have not prevailed
against me. |
2.
Many are they who have oppressed me from my youth, yet they have not been
able to do me harm. |
|
3.
The ploughers ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows. |
3.
Upon my body the ploughers have ploughed, they have made their furrow long. |
|
4.
The LORD is righteous/generous; He has cut asunder the cords of the
wicked/lawless.' |
4.
The Lord is righteous/generous; He has severed the bonds of the
wicked/lawless. |
|
5.
Let them be ashamed and turned backward, all they that hate Zion. |
5.
They will be ashamed and withdraw: all those who hate Zion. |
|
6.
Let them be as the grass upon the housetops, which withers before it springs
up; |
6.
They will be like the grass of the rooftops, which, before it blossoms, the
east wind comes blowing on it and it has withered. |
|
7.
Wherewith the reaper fills not his hand, nor he that binds sheaves his bosom. |
7.
Which the reaper does not fill his hand with, nor the sheaver his shoulder. |
|
8.
Neither do they that go by say: 'The blessing of the LORD be upon you; we
bless you in the name of the LORD.' |
8.
And those who pass by do not say there, “The blessing of the Lord be upon
you,” nor will they answer, “We bless you in the name of the Lord.” |
|
|
|
|
130:1 A Song of Ascents.
Out of the depths have I called You, O LORD.
|
130:1
A song that was uttered on the ascents of the abyss. From the depths I have
called You, O Lord. |
|
2.
Lord, hearken unto my voice; let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my
supplications. |
2.
O Lord, receive my prayer; may Your ears be attentive to the sound of my
prayer. |
|
3.
If You, LORD, should mark iniquities/ lawlessness, O Lord, who could stand? |
3.
If You will take note of iniquities/lawlessness, O Yah, Lord, who will remain? |
|
4.
For with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared. |
4.
For there is forgiveness with You, so that You might be seen. |
|
5.
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. |
5.
I have waited, O Lord; my soul has waited, and for His glory I have waited
long. |
|
6.
My soul waits for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning; yea, more
than watchmen for the morning. |
6.
My soul has waited long for the Lord, more than the watchmen on the morning
watch who watch to offer the morning sacrifice. |
|
7.
O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is
plenteous redemption. |
7.
Israel waits long for the Lord, for with the Lord is kindness, and with Him
is much redemption. |
|
8.
And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities/lawlessness. |
8.
And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities/lawlessness. |
|
|
|
|
131:1 A Song of Ascents;
of David. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I
exercise myself in things too great, or in things too wonderful for me. |
131:1 A
song uttered on the ascents of the abyss. O Lord, my heart is not proud, and
my eyes are not lifted up, and I have not walked in things too great and
wonderful for me. |
|
2.
Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his
mother; my soul is with me like a weaned child. |
2.
Verily I have placed a hand on my mouth and silenced my soul while listening
to words of Torah, like a weaned child at its mother’s breasts; I have become
mighty in the Torah; like a weaned child is my soul upon Him. |
|
3.
O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and forever. |
3.
Let Israel wait long for the Lord from now and forevermore. |
|
|
|
|
132:1 A
Song of Ascents. LORD, remember unto David all his affliction; |
132:1 A
song that was uttered on the ascents of the abyss. Remember, O Lord, for
David, all his affliction. |
|
2.
How he swore unto the LORD, and vowed unto the Mighty One of Jacob: |
2.
Who affirmed before the Lord a vow to the mighty one of Jacob. |
|
3.
'Surely I will not come into the tent of my house, nor go up into the bed
that is spread for me; |
3.
I will not approach my wife, I will not ascend to the couch of my repose, |
|
4.
I will not give sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to mine eyelids; |
4.
I will not give sleep to my eyes, slumber to my eyelids, |
|
5.
Until I find out a place for the LORD, a dwelling-place for the Mighty One of
Jacob.' |
5.
Until I find a place to build the sanctuary of the Lord, tents for the mighty
one of Jacob. |
|
6.
Lo, we heard of it as being in Ephrath; we found it in the field of the wood. |
6.
Behold, we have heard it in Ephrat, we have found it in the field of the
forests of Lebanon, the place where the fathers of old prayed. |
|
7.
Let us go into His dwelling-place; let us worship at His footstool. |
7.
Let us enter His tents, let us bow down to His footstool. |
|
8.
Arise, O LORD, unto Your resting-place; You, and the ark of Your strength. |
8.
Arise, O Lord, abide in the dwelling-place of Your rest, You and the ark in
which is Your Torah. |
|
9.
Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness/ generosity; and let Your
saints shout for joy. |
9.
Your priests will wear clothing of righteousness/generosity, and your pious
Levites will sing praise over Your sacrifices. |
|
10.
For Your servant David's sake turn not away the face of Your anointed
(Messiah). |
10.
Because of the merit of David Your servant; when the ark comes through the
middle of the gates, do not turn back the face of Solomon Your anointed
(Messiah). |
|
11.
The LORD swore unto David in truth; He will not turn back from it: 'Of the
fruit of your body will I set upon your throne. |
11.
The Lord has affirmed to David in truth, He will not turn from it: “One of
the children of your belly I will set as a king on your throne.” |
|
12.
If your children keep My covenant and My testimony that I will teach them,
their children also forever will sit upon your throne.' |
12.
If your sons keep my covenant and this testimony of Mine that I will teach
them, then your sons will forever sit on your throne. |
|
13.
For the LORD has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation: |
13.
For the Lord is pleased with Zion; He has desired it for his habitation. |
|
14.
'This is My resting-place forever; here will I dwell; for I have desired it. |
14.
This is the resting place of My presence forever; here I will dwell, for I
have desired it. |
|
15.
I will abundantly bless her provision; I will give her needy bread in plenty. |
15.
Her provisions I will surely bless; and her needy will have their fill of
bread. |
|
16.
Her priests also will I clothe with salvation; and her saints will shout
aloud for joy. |
16.
And her priests I will clothe in garments of redemption, and her pious will
surely sing praise. |
|
17.
There will I make a horn to shoot up unto David, there have I ordered a lamp
for Mine anointed (Messiah). |
17.
There I will cause to come forth a glorious king of the house of David; I
have prepared a lamp for My anointed (Messiah). |
|
18.
His enemies will I clothe with shame; but upon himself (David/Messiah) will
his crown shine.' |
18.
His enemies I will clothe with garments of shame; and his crown will glitter
upon him. |
|
|
|
Midrash Tehillim Psalms 129 - 132
PSALM
ΟΝΕ HUNDRED AND ΤWΕΝΤΥ-ΝΙNΕ
I. “Much have they
afflicted me from my youth up," let Israel now say ... "The ploughers
ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows. The Lord is
righteous/generous; He has cut asunder the cords of the wicked/lawless” (Ps.
129:1,3,4). What parable explains these verses? The parable of a householder
who had a ploughing heifer which he lent to another man to plough with. The man
had ten sons: One came, ploughed, and rested; and another and another came,
ploughed, and rested; finally, the heifer was so exhausted that it lay down,
and when all the other heifers came in from the fields the exhausted one did
not come in. The owner of the heifer did not take the time to listen to the
excuses of the other man, but went out at once, broke loose the yoke, and cut
the ox-bows. Like the heifer is Israel in this world: One ruler comes, lays on
the yoke, and goes away, and the cuts left by the lash are long, as is said The
ploughers ploughed upon my back; they made long their furrows. At length,
when the time of redemption comes, the Holy One, blessed be He, will not take
time to say to the nations of the earth: “Such and such have you done to My
children.” But He will come at once and break loose the yoke and cut its bows
asunder, as is said And 1 have broken the bars of your yoke (Lev.
26:13). Hence the Psalmist says He has cut asunder the cords of the wicked/lawless.
II. During a
Sabbatical year, R. Hanina bar Papa and R. Samuel bar Nahmani passed by
a man who was ploughing. When R. Samuel bar Nahmani said to the man: “Good
luck!” R. Hanina bar Papa asked R. Samuel: “Did you not teach me, my master,
that the verse Neither do they that go by say: `The blessing of the Lord be
upon you (Ps. 129:8), means that one must not say ‘Good luck’ to men who
plough during a Sabbatical year?” R. Samuel replied: “You may know how to read
Scripture, but you do not know how to interpret it. The words Neither do
they that go by refer to the nations of the earth that will pass out of the
world because they will not say to the children of Israel: The blessing of
the Lord be upon you, even though the children of Israel say to them: We
bless you in the name of the Lord (Ps. 129:8).”
The
children of Israel also say to the nations of the earth: All the boons and
comforts that come to you because of us are not enough for you, for you do not
say to us: “Come and take a portion of these blessings.” On the contrary, you
exact from us tributes, fines, poll-taxes, and taxes in kind. But finally you
will have to make compensation, for it has been promised to Israel, For
brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver (Isa. 60:17).
PSALM
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY
I. A song of ascents.
Out of the depths have Ι called You, O Lord (Ps. 130:1). R. Jose
bar Hanína said in the name of R. Eliezer ben Jacob: A man should never stand
upon a high place to pray, but should pray from a low place because it is said Out
of the depths have I called You. It is also taught: A man should never
stand upon a bed, upon a chair, upon a bench, upon a stool, or upon any high
place to pray, but should pray from a low place, for there must be no
haughtiness in the presence of the Lord. Hence it is said Out of the depths
have I called You, and it is also written A prayer of the afflicted,
when he is overwhelmed (Ps. 102:1).
II. For with You there
is forgiveness (Ps. 130:4). R. Abba taught: In the period from New Year's
Day [to the Day of Atonement] forgiveness is held in abeyance by You. Why? That
You may be feared (ibid.): This is to say, in order that during the Day of
Atonement the fear of You might lie upon all Your creatures.
PSALM
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-ONE
I. A song of ascents;
of David. Lord, my heart was not haughty (Ps. 131:1) when Samuel anointed
me. Nor were mine eyes lofty (ibid.) when I slew Goliath. Neither did
I swagger about (ibid.) when I had the Ark of God brought up out of
Philistine captivity [Nor did I accept as my due] things too high for me
(ibid.) when I was restored to my kingship. Instead I refrained my soul, and
kept it low, like as a child that is weaned from his mother: yea, my soul is
even as a weaned child (Ps. 131 :2): like a child just taken from the womb
of its mother was this soul of mine.
II. You cannot name a man
in Israel who humbled himself more than David did in order to perform God's
commandments. He used to say: Lord, my heart was not haughty (Ps. 13;:1)
when Samuel anointed me king. Nor were mine eyes lofty (ibid.) when I
slew Goliath. Neither did I swagger about (ibid.) when I was restored to
my kingship. [Nor did I accept as my due] things too high for me (ibid.)
when I had the Ark of God brought up out of Philistine captivity. But 1 have
calmed and quieted my soul like as a child that is weaned from his mother (ibid.
131 :2) : Like a child that is not ashamed when uncovered in the presence of
his mother, I calmed my soul before You and was not ashamed to humble myself
for Your sake and for Your honour.
My
soul is with me like a weaned child (ibid.). As a child just out of
its mother's womb is not proud of spirit, but is eager to suck at the breasts
of its mother, so is this soul of mine, for I am not ashamed to learn Torah
even from the least in Israel.
R.
Adda ben R. Hanina taught: The Holy one, blessed be He, said to David: “Because
you made yourself like unto a weaned child, I swear by your life that you will
be without sin like a weaned child who is without sin,” as is said The Lord
also has put away your sin; you will not die (I Sam. 12:13). From this
verse you can learn that no man is privileged to act pridefully before the
Presence, and that a man should humble his self-esteem.
PSALM
ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO
I. The Lord has made a
faithful oath unto David; He will not turn back from it: “Of the fruit of your
body will 1 set upon thy throne. If your children will keep My covenant and My
testimony that I will teach them, their children also will sit upon your throne
for evermore" (Ps. 132:11-12). Three things were given conditionally
[by the Lord]: the Land of Israel; the Temple; and the throne of the house of
David. The Book of Torah and the covenant with Aaron, however, were given
unconditionally.
The
proof that the Land of Israel was given conditionally? The verses, Take heed
to yourselves lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside, and serve other
gods, and worship them; and the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and
He shut up the heaven so that there will be no rain, and the ground will not
yield her fruit; and you perish quickly from of the good land which the Lord
gives you (Deut. 11:16-17).
The
proof that the Temple was given conditionally? The verses As for this house
which you are building, if you wilt walk in My statutes, etc., then will I
perform My word with you ... in that I will dwell therein among the children of
Israel, and will not forsake My people Israel (I Kings 6:12). But if you
do not walk in My statutes, this house which is so high [will become desolate],
and every one that passes by it will be astonished (ibid. 9:8).
And
the proof that the throne of the house of David was given conditionally? The
verses, The Lord has made a faithful oath unto David: “Of the fruit of your
body will I set upon your throne. If your children will keep My covenant and My
testimony . . . their children also will sit upon thy throne for evermore"
(Ps. 132:12). But if they do not keep My testimony, then will I visit
their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity/lawlessness with strokes
(Ps. 89:31-33).
And
the proof that the Book of Torah was given unconditionally? The verse The
Law which Moses commanded us is an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob (Deut.
33:4). And the proof that the covenant with Aaron was made unconditionally? The
verses And the Lord said unto Aaron ... It is a covenant of salt forever,
before the Lord unto you, and to your seed with you (Num. 18:1, 19); and
also the verses Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace.
And he will have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an
everlasting priesthood (Num. 25:12-13).
II. This is My rest
forever (Ps. 132:14). In connection with these words, the Rabbis differed
in their interpretation of the verse, For you are not as yet come to the
rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God gives you (Deut. 12:9).
R. Judah said: The word rest refers to Shiloh, and why is Shiloh termed rest?
Because after the conquest of the Land, the children of Israel rested at
Shiloh. And the word inheritance refers to Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is so
termed in the verse, "My heritage is become unto Me as a lion in the
forest" (Jer. 12:8), and also in the verse, "Is My heritage
unto Me as a speckled bird of prey?" (ibid. 12:9). But R. Simeon said:
The word rest refers to Jerusalem, because Jerusalem is so termed in the verse,
"This is My rest forever" (Ps. 132:14), and also in the verse,
"For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation"
(ibid. 132:13). And why is Jerusalem termed "rest?" Because the
resting place of the Ark of the Covenant was in Jerusalem. And the word
inheritance refers to Shiloh, because it is written "And Joshua cast
lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord; and there Joshua divided the land unto
the children of Israel according to their divisions" (Josh.
18:ιo). In the school of R. Ishmael it was taught that both the one and
the other word refer to Shiloh; but according to R. Simeon ben Yohai, both the
one and the other refer to Jerusalem.
III. For the Lord has chosen
Zion; He has desired it for His habitation (Ps. 132:13). Until Jerusalem
was chosen, any place in the Land of Israel was thought suitable for the
sacrifice of burnt-offerings. But after Jerusalem was chosen, the sacrifice
elsewhere in the Land of Israel ceased to be suitable, as it is said Take
heed to yourself that you offer not your burnt-offerings in every place that
you see; but in the place which the Lord will choose in one of your tribes,
there will you offer your burnt-offerings (Deut. 12:13-14). Until the
eternal habitation was chosen, the whole of Jerusalem was suitable for the
Divine Presence. But after the eternal habitation was chosen, the rest of
Jerusalem ceased to be suitable, as it is said For the Lord has ... desired
it for His habitation: "This is My rest for ever; here will I dwell; for I
have desired it" (Ps. 132:13-14). Until Aaron was chosen, all the
children of Israel were thought fit for the priesthood. But after Aaron was
chosen, the rest of the children of Israel were no longer thought fit, as it is
said And the Lord said unto Aaron: "... It is a covenant of salt
forever, before the Lord unto you, and to your seed with you" (Num.
18:19), and as it is also said Wherefore say: "Behold, I give unto him
My covenant of peace. And he will have it, and his seed after him, even the
covenant of an everlasting priesthood (Num. 25:12-13). Until David was
chosen, all the children of Israel were thought fit for kingship. After David
was chosen, the rest of the children of Israel were no longer thought fit, as
it is said Ought you not to know that the Lord, the God of Israel, gave the
kingdom over Israel to David forever, even to him and to his sons by a covenant
of salt? (2 Chron. 13:5). Until the Land of Israel was chosen, all lands
were suitable for divine revelations. But after the Land of Israel was chosen,
all other lands ceased to be suitable.
Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 2:4-7 + 5:1-6
1. The word that Isaiah the son
of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
2. And it will come to pass in
the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house will be established as the
top of the mountains, and will be exalted above the hills; and all Gentiles will
flow unto it.
3 And many peoples will go and
say: ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the
God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.’
For out of Zion will go forth the Law, and the Word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
4.
And He will judge between the nations, and will decide for many peoples; and
they will beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks;
nation will not lift up sword against nation, neither will they learn war any
more. {P}
5.
O house of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.
6.
For You have forsaken Your people the house of Jacob; for they are replenished
from the east, and with soothsayers like the Philistines, and they please
themselves in the brood of aliens.
7.
Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their
treasures; their land also is full of horses, neither is there any end of their
chariots.
8. Their land also is full of
idols; every one worships the work of his own hands, that which his own fingers
have made.
9. And man bows down, and man
lowers himself; and You cannot bear with them.
10. Enter into the rock, and hide
yourself in the dust, from before the terror of the LORD, and from the glory of
His majesty.
11. The lofty looks of man will
be brought low, and the haughtiness of men will be bowed down, and the LORD
alone will be exalted in that day.{P}
1.
Let me sing of my well-beloved, a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My
well-beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill;
2.
And he dug it, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with the choicest vine,
and built a tower in the midst of it, and also hewed out a vat therein; and he
looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3.
And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you,
between Me and My vineyard.
4.
What could have been done more to My vineyard, that I have not done in it?
Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth
wild grapes?
5.
And now come, I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away
the hedge thereof, and it will be eaten up; I will break down the fence
thereof, and it will be trodden down;
6.
And I will lay it waste: it will not be pruned nor hoed, but there will come up
briers and thorns; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon
it.
7. For the vineyard of the LORD
of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah the plant of His delight;
and He looked for justice, but behold violence; for righteousness/generosity,
but behold a cry. {P}
Special Ashlamatah I: Yermiyahu (Jeremiah) 1:1 – 2:3
1.
The words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in Anathoth
in the land of Benjamin,
2.
to whom the Word of the LORD came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king
of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
3.
It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto
the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, unto
the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. {P}
4.
And the Word of the LORD came unto me, saying:
5.
Before I formed you in the belly I knew you, and before you came forth out of
the womb I sanctified you; I have appointed you a prophet unto the Gentiles.
6.
Then said I: ‘Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I cannot speak; for I am a child.’ {S}
7.
But the LORD said unto me: say not: I am a child; for to whomsoever I will send
you, you will go, and whatsoever I will command you that you will speak.
8.
Be not afraid of them; for I am with you to deliver you, says the LORD.
9.
Then the LORD put forth His hand, and touched my mouth; and the LORD said unto
me: Behold, I have put My words in your mouth;
10.
See, I have this day set you over the Gentiles and over their kingdoms, to root
out and to pull down, and to destroy and to overthrow; to build, and to plant. {P}
11.
Moreover the Word of the LORD came unto me, saying: ‘Jeremiah, what do you
see?’ And I said: ‘I see a rod of an almond-tree.’
12.
Then said the LORD unto me: ‘You have well seen; for I watch over My Word to
perform it.’ {S}
13.
And the Word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying: ‘What do you
sees?’ And I said: ‘I see a seething pot; and the face thereof is from the
north.’
14.
Then the LORD said unto me: ‘Out of the north the evil/lawlessness will break
forth upon all the inhabitants of the land.
15.
For, behold, I will call all the families of the kingdoms of the north, says
the LORD; and they will come, and they will set everyone his throne at the
entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the walls thereof round
about, and against all the cities of Judah.
16.
And I will utter My judgments against them touching all their wickedness/lawlessness;
in that they have forsaken Me, and have offered unto other gods, and worshipped
the work of their own hands.
17.
You therefore gird up your loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I
command you; be not dismayed at them, lest I dismay you before them.
18.
For, behold, I have made you this day a fortified city, and an iron pillar, and
brazen walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, against the
princes thereof, against the priests thereof, and against the people of the
land.
19.
And they will fight against you; but they will not prevail against you; for I
am with you, says the LORD, to deliver you.’ {P}
1.
And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2.
Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus says the LORD: I remember
for you the affection of your youth, the love of your espousals; how you went
after Me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown.
3.
Israel is the LORD'S hallowed portion, His first-fruits of the increase; all
that devour him will be held guilty, evil will come upon them, says the LORD. {P}
Special Ashlamatah II: I Samuel 20: 18,
42
18.
And Jonathan said unto him: 'Tomorrow is the new moon; and you will be missed, your
seat will be empty.
42.
And Jonathan said to David: ‘Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us
in the name of the LORD, saying: The LORD will be between me and you, and
between my seed and your seed, forever.’ (21:1) And he arose and departed; and
Jonathan went into the city.
Midrash of Matityahu (Matthew) 27:15 - 23
15.
Now at the Feast [of the Passover] the Roman ruler was by [Roman] tradition, to
realease one prisoner, whomever the congregation wished, to them.
16.
And at that time they had a notorious prisoner whose name was Bar Aba.
17.
When they had assembled, Pilatus said to them, “Whom do you wish [that] I
release to you, Bar Abba, or Yeshua who is called the Mesiah?”
18.
[For he saw that they delivered him over because of hatred.]
19.
As he was sitting on the judgment bench, his wife sent [a message] to him,
saying, “[Let there be nothing] between you and this Tsadiq (just and upright man),
for I have suffered many [things] through him today according to a dream.”
20.
But the [Greco-Roman oriented Sadducee] chief priests of the Bet HaMiqdash
(Temple) and the elders persuaded on the congregation to ask for Bar Abba, and
bring about the death of Yeshua.
21.
Again the Roman ruler said to them, “Which of the two do you wish [that] I
release to you?” They said, “Bar Abba!”
22.
Pilatus said to them, “Then what will I do with Yeshua who is called the
Messiah?”
23.
They all said, “He should be hung!” [Pilatus] said, “What evil has he done?”
Then they shouted all the louder, “Hang him!”
Pirke Abot: I:11
“Hillel
and Shammai received [the tradition] from them. Hillel said: Be of the
disciples of Aaron [who] loved peace and pursued peace, [who] loved all human
beings and drew them near to the Torah. He used to say: If a name becomes
great, a name is lost; if a man does not increase his knowledge, he decreases
it; if a man does not study, he deserves to die; and he who exploits the crown
[of the Torah] will pass [away]. He [also] used to say: If I am not for myself,
who will be for me, but if I am [only] for myself, what am I? And if not now,
when?”
Abarbanel
on Pirke Abot
By:
Abraham Chill
Sepher
Hermon Press, Inc. 1991
ISBN
0-87203-135-7
(pp.
62-68)
In
his meticulous manner, Abarbanel begins his commentary on this Mishnah by
setting the historical record straight. Hillel did not start out with Shammai
as his co-leader. A certain Menahem was the first associate of Hillel. When
Menahem died at an early age in their association, Shammai, who was next in
line, stepped up to join Hillel and remained his partner for the rest of his
life.
When
Hillel admonishes us to do everything possible to draw the masses to the Torah
he is really offering a third alternative to the ideas proposed in earlier Mishnayot.
Previously, one sage had taught that one must be dedicated to justice, whereas
another had cautioned us to avoid serving in an office of authority and to
engage in manual labour. Hillel rejected both these ways and taught that the
only true path to follow is the study of Torah.
Abarbanel
then proceeds to define the meaning, significance and purpose of peace. It is
commonly thought, he says, that peace comes about when opponents reach
agreement. The cessation of battle signals the presence of peace. In Abarbanel's
opinion, however, this is not sufficient. Such peace is superficial and can
quickly he negated. Peace, according to Abarbanel, has a positive dimension. It
means unity and solidarity and an unqualified meeting of the minds. That is why
one of God's names is Shalom — Peace, because God binds all peoples together
and establishes for them an organized pattern of life.
He
undercuts the significance of the Rambam's exposition of this Mishnah. The
Rambam assumes that Hillel is endeavouring to teach us three things: Firstly,
that Aaron strove to persuade people not to litigate and showed exceptional
talent in his drive toward this goal. Aaron was not seeking any particular end
result; his motivation was that peace is the only decent and honourable state
of affairs in society. When the state of peace had been achieved, Aaron would
then proceed to draw the former antagonists close to Torah. Secondly, Hillel
was out to teach that when one is engaged in the sacred task of Torah study he
should not feel smug and arrogant about it, but should drive himself to more
and more study. Finally, Hillel meant to teach us in this Mishnah that if you
are not stirred and motivated within yourself — "If I am not for myself,
who will be for me?" — who will be sufficiently interested in you to
motivate you.
It
is interesting to note that Rambam goes out of his way to clarify Aaron's
strategy and peace tactics. When he was informed of the grave transgressions of
a certain person, Aaron would make it his business to befriend and cultivate
that individual. He would entreat him to return to the good life. Aaron's
battle plan was as follows: The sinner would say to himself, "Aaron
recognized in me a sinner and yet he graciously and sympathetically approached
me with positive and friendly compassion. If Aaron really knew to what degree I
have actually sinned, he would have nothing to do with me. Yet, Aaron did show
understanding." In this frame of mind the transgressor would be inclined
to repent and go the way of the righteous/generous.
Abarbanel,
however, is not prepared to accept Rambam's elementary and simplistic
interpretation of the Mishnah. He finds in it no legitimate connection between
Hillel's three dicta — and Abarbanel always rejects loose interpretations.
Abarbanel
begins his own interpretation with an analysis of Aaron's mission in life.
Aaron's top priority in dealing with two adversaries was to bring them to a
state of complete agreement and solidarity. To attain this he started with
peace overtures. Eventually, this first step would lead to an integrated peace.
Why
was Aaron so obsessed with the search for peace among men? Because he knew that
peace leads to a happy and well contented society; its absence leads to
disaster. Abarbanel cites no less than 11 bon mots from the Bible and
rabbinic sources which stress the significance and importance of peace. Among
them is the Priestly Blessing (Numbers 6:24-26) in which the last and most
expressive and promising benediction is, “And give you peace.” Another one is
the rabbinic aphorism: “The name of God is Peace.”
Abarbanel
comes to grips with this Mishnah in the following manner: Firstly, he finds
flaws, contradictions, and incongruities. To begin with, Hillel emphasizes that
the effort to be close to Torah is of extreme importance; Aaron contrived the
most subtle ways to draw people to Torah. Then, Hillel contradicts himself and
says that he who seeks a greater reputation as a Torah scholar loses his
reputation. This implies that a man must not allow himself to be ruled by a
passionate drive to gain a high profile through Torah. Immediately after that,
Hillel admonishes the Torah student to increase his knowledge and says that he
who does not study and does not make some original contribution is compared to
a eunuch who does not make any contribution to the demography of his community
and is to be equated with an inanimate object — i.e., deserves death.
Furthermore, Hillel cautions the one who has learned a great deal of Torah not
to use the Torah knowledge he has acquired as a crown to lord it over others.
To
cap it all, Hillel then declares, “If I am only for myself, what am I? And if
not now, when?” In other words, Abarbanel finds fault because Hillel, in some
of his dicta encourages the Jew to immerse himself in Torah, while in others he
discourages and minimizes the value of learning Torah.
Abarbanel
goes straight for the jugular. There are people who, it is true, devote the
major part of their lives to the study of Torah, but their study is tainted by
ulterior motives. Either the fascination of stature or the influence of
prominence entices them to dedicate themselves to the lofty calling of Torah
study. Therefore, says Abarbanel, Hillel concludes his instructions with the
words “If I am not for myself...” i.e., if I do not seek to improve myself
spiritually, which should be the sole purpose of my Torah study, "who will
be for me?" who will interest himself sufficiently to do it for me? If the
only reason for my pursuit of Torah is to gain social or economic benefit, then
my efforts will be in vain. Furthermore, if my motive is to attain a greater
reputation, I will, indeed, forfeit this reputation.
On
the other hand when one philosophizes, “But if I am for myself [only]” — I must
think only of elevating myself spiritually and morally — then “how great I am!”
i.e., to what exalted heights I can reach. According to this interpretation,
the word MAH in in this context means “how much” or “how great.” “And if not
now” — if I do not take advantage of every available moment in my life in this
world to advance, develop and progress, “when” — when will I be able to save my
soul?
=
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Miscellaneous
Interpretations
Hillel
and Shammai
Rabbenu
Yonah (Yonah ben Abraham Gerondi – Barcelona, Spain; 1200 – 1236): It was with studied
purpose that Hillel exhorted us to be of the disciples of Aaron, loving peace
and pursuing peace. If one loves peace, however, will he not, by definition,
also pursue peace? The answer that he gives is ι resounding No! There are
those who would really like to see a peaceful society, but will not lend a hand
in creating and maintaining it. There are others who are active in peace
efforts for some ulterior motive, but do not harbor too much affection for
peace in the deep recesses of their hearts. Hence, the admonition of Hillel,
"Love peace and pursue peace."
What
did Hillel mean by the statement, “Love your fellow-man and draw them close to
the Torah"? Practically all the commentators, including Rabbenu Υonah,
illustrate this dictum by relating several incidents in the life of Aaron, the
high priest, whom we are advised to emulate. Aaron met an ignominious sinner on
the street and stopped to chat with him as if he were his bosom friend. The
transgressor was stunned. The next day when he was about to commit another sin
he said to himself, “How can I do this. If my friend, the high priest, knew
what I am about to do he would be ashamed of me.” He thereupon led a life of
repentance.
Another
incident: A man told his wife that he would have no truck with her unless she
spat in the eye of the high priest. When Aaron heard about this he approached
the wife and said, “I have a soreness in my eye and only human saliva can cure
it. Will you please spit into my eye and help me.” Those are the efforts that
Aaron, the high priest, made for the benefit of the peace in society.
Midrash
Shemuel (Shemuel ben Yitzhak de Uceda – Safed, Israel ; 1540- ?): No one will admit
that he is a quarrelsome and uncooperative person. Even if one has the
reputation of being belligerent, he will deny it most vehemently when
challenged. Ask anyone whether he is a peace-loving person and he will assure
you that he is. (This is in the sense of the Talmudic maxim “One can see the
faults of another but not one's own.”) On this Hillel asks of us to be, at
least, like the disciples of Aaron in his pursuit of peace. Not like Aaron,
that is impossible. To be a disciple of Aaron is desirable.
In
concluding his commentary on this Mishnah, Midrash Shemuel makes a
psychologically significant point. How does one reach the pinnacle of spiritual
excellence needed to emulate Aaron, the high priest? The answer is that a man
cannot just say, “I will go out and make peace between two hostile people.”
Firstly he must be armed with an abundance of love within himself, and only
then can he sally forth on his mission to establish peace among others.
Rashbatz (Shimon ben Tzemah
Duran - Majorca, Spain; Algiers, Tunisia; 1361 – 1444) begins his comments
by pointing out that originally Hillel served on the Sanhedrin with Menahem.
They both received the tradition from Shemayah and Avtalyon. However, when
Menahem left the Academy to enter the service of the king. Shammai was elected
to succeed him as Hillel's colleague.
Rashbatz
also makes an interesting observation: Speaking about High Priest Aaron and his
efforts to bring peace into domestic relations, Rashbatz stresses its
importance by quoting the Torah (Numbers 20:29) where we are told, “And when
all the congregation saw that Aaron was departed, they wept for Aaron 30 days,
even all the house of Israel.” However, when Moshe died, all the Torah says is,
“And the Children of Israel wept for Moshe in the plains of Moab 30 days"
(Deuteronomy 34:8).
He
used to say...
Rashí
(R. Shelomo ben Yitzhak, Troyes, France, 1040 -1105): It is a known fact
that a person's life is shortened when he has ambitions to spread his name. We
have already noted that Joseph died before his brothers, although he was one of
the youngest, because he had grandiose ideas of greatness. Moreover, Scriptures
also hint (Proverbs 16:18), “Before the downfall, goes pride.”
Rabbenu
Yonah (Yonah ben Abraham Gerondi – Barcelona, Spain; 1200 – 1236): The higher a man
climbs to fame without justification and the more one puts up a facade of
unqualified superiority, his downfall will be commensurate with the false image
that he tried to present.
Turning
to Hillel's maxim in the Mishnah, “He who does not increase his knowledge,
decreases it,” Rabbenu Yonah sees in this a warning against anyone proudly
believing that he has already learned everything there is to know about the
Torah, and that further study is a waste of time. Playing on the word yaseif
which is commonly translated as, “will decrease,” Rabbenu Yonah interprets it
as “gathered.” In other words, an intellectual who refuses to develop his
intellect further, should be gathered unto his forefathers. In the psychology
of the Jew, remaining stagnant and unproductive is intolerable. A Jew must
always be on the move, never static.
Commenting
on another of Hillel's dicta, “If a man does not study, he deserves to die,”
Rabbenu Yonah claims that it implies that one who never studied Torah at all
does not deserve to continue living. In the animal kingdom man stands on the
highest rung only because of his intellect. Remove that asset and he descends
to the lower rung. But since this is not what God ordained for man, he does not
deserve life.
Finally,
Rabbenu Yonah joins with practically every other commentator in postulating
that Hillel's statement, “He who exploits the crown for his own use, shall
pass,” implies that no one has the right to employ Torah learning for his own
needs.
Midrash
Shemuel
(Shemuel ben Yitzhak de Uceda – Safed, Israel ; 1540- ?) sees a direct
link between this statement of Hillel and the previous one, in which Hillel
urges the Jew to emulate Aaron, the high priest, and his passionate love for
peace. In the first place, one who loves peace and seeks peace will find that
his reputation will continue long after his demise. This is what Hillel meant
by, “He who spreads his name.” This is substantiated by what we have already
noted previously concerning the death of Aaron. All the Children of Israel,
even the women and children, wept. These tender-hearted people would not forget
the kindness, amiability and sympathy that characterized Aaron's life.
Midrash
Shemuel continues: AVAD SH’MEI (a name is lost) conveys the message that the
generation in which Aaron lived, by his death, lost its singular image. This is
what is meant by: “The loss of a zaddik, is the loss of his generation.”
Also
D’LO YALEIF (He who does not study) is
interpreted to mean that (one who does not learn from the lifestyle of Aaron
should be punished with death. All this is based on the premise that there is a
direct link between the virtues of Aaron in the previous dictum with the ardent
counsel of this.
Another
interpretation by Midrash Shemuel: Hillel wishes to impress upon us that the
Jew must have two major interests in life. He must be enthusiastic about'
performing the mitzvoth, and he must be committed to the study of Torah. With
reference to the performance of mitzvoth, Hillel is quite decisive that he who
does not increasingly fulfil the mitzvoth (D’LO MOSIF) should be punished by
karet (divine punishment). Relative to the study of Torah, he states that a man
deserves the death penalty if he fails to study Torah. Facing reality, however,
there are those who meet the two requirements adequately, but with an ulterior
motive: to seek personal gain and to lord it over others. That type of a person
should also be excised from the world.
Other
commentaries, says Midrash Shemuel, take the following line of reasoning,
"He who seeks to embellish his name and spread his fame" in notorious ways, will soon discover that not
only will he fail in his ambition, but even the little reputation that he
enjoys will also be lost.
Finally,
there is a version that is based on the last word of this Mishnah, HALAF. This
is usually translated “will pass [away].” We can also allow ourselves the license
to interpret it as “bartering” (HALIFIN). In other words, if one should wear
the toga of the scholar only partially for a specific purpose, he is bartering,
in the sense that what he gains in this world he loses in the World to Come.
He
(also] used to say...
Rashi
(R. Shelomo ben Yitzhak, Troyes, France, 1040 -1105): If I do not interest
myself in the performance of mitzvoth, who will worry for me. Even if I am actively
engaged in the performance of mitzvoth, what am 1? In other words, as many
mitzvoth as I do, it is insignificant in comparison to what is truly expected
of me. If not now, before I pass on, when will I have the opportunity to
prepare myself when I face my Maker. He who toils before the Sabbath will have
what to eat on the Sabbath.
Rashbatz
(Shimon ben Tzemah Duran - Majorca, Spain; Algiers, Tunisia; 1361 – 1444): offers two
interpretations: Firstly, if I do not take myself to task and chastise myself,
no one else will do it for me. Secondly, not everyone enjoys the opportunity of
Torah study and achieving the joy of the World to Come. In Jewish thinking
there is a ploy which everyone can use to secure a place in the World to Come.
There are scholars and there are laymen. When the scholars, who are not engaged
in employment, are supported by the laymen who are engaged in industry, they
both have an equal footing when appearing before the Heavenly Court. Thus, if I
do not concern myself with my hope for the World to Corne by supporting
scholars, who will help me attain my goal.
Rabbeιnu
Yonah
(Yonah ben Abraham Gerondi – Barcelona, Spain; 1200 – 1236): interprets
our Mishnah in exactly the same vein as Rashbatz except that besides the
rhetoric he offers a delightful allegory. A king once gave two labourers a
field on condition that they give him a return 30 measures of wheat. The poor
workers toiled, but could only produce 5 measures. The king confronted them,
“We agreed on 30 measures.” Their reply was, “We tried our utmost but we soon
discovered that the soil was of poor quality and there was no hope for a better
harvest.” So it is with God and the Children of Israel. The Jew addresses
himself to God and says, “You Yourself said that the imagination of man's heart
is evil from his youth. This is a poor field to develop a love for mitzvoth.
Caught in the vise of the evil inclination, it is exceedingly difficult to
think of good deeds" (based on Genesis 8:21). Hence, even if “I am for me,
what am I?” This infers that the Jew recognizes his shortcomings and is
determined to improve himself, nonetheless.
Midrash
Shemuel (Shemuel ben Yitzhak de Uceda – Safed, Israel ; 1540- ?): There is a pronounced
difference between one who overcomes his evil inclination when he is young,
vigorous, strong and inflamed with passions and the person who has reached his
dotage and is unaffected and unassailed by evil inclinations. Playing on the
word le-atzmi, which usually means “for myself,” Midrash Shemuel
sees it as being derived from otzem, which means
"strength." The message is that if a man cannot subdue his evil
inclination when he is strong and virile, but only when he is old and feeble,
his accomplishment is without merit. When he is young, people will applaud him;
when he is old, they will say that it was because of his age — he was no longer
physically capable of sinning.
A
further interpretation: A person should never boast about his family success
and material wealth. No one holds his destiny in his hands; no one knows what
the morrow brings. The wheel turns — one day you are up and the next day, down.
It is in that light that Hillel is quite firm in his declaration: “If I have no
say over my own body — today I am alive and tomorrow I am dead — who am I to
have a say over my possessions.” Moreover, if I presume to be young and only
remotely concerned about dying, this is a delusion. Even young men can, and do,
die. And so, if life is so unpredictable and indecisive, I had better start
worshipping God the moment I come to my senses rather than wait till old age.
There may not be an old age.
=
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
What say the Nazarean Hakhamim?
2Ti
2:14 These things remind them of, testifying fully before the LORD--not to
strive about words to nothing profitable, but to the subversion of those
hearing;
2Ti
2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God--a workman irreproachable,
rightly dividing the Word of the Truth (i.e. the Torah);
2Ti
2:16 and the profane vain talkings stand aloof from, for to more impiety/lawlessness
they will advance,
2Ti
2:17 and their word as a gangrene will have pasture, of whom is Hymenaeus and
Philetus,
2Ti
2:18 who concerning the Truth (i.e. Torah) did swerve, saying the rising again
to have already been, and do overthrow the faithful obedience of some;
2Co
13:11 Henceforth, brethren, rejoice; be made perfect, be comforted, be of the
same mind, be at peace, and the God of the love and peace shall be with you;
Gal
5:22 And the fruit of the Spirit is: Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
kindness, goodness, faithful obedience,
Gal
5:23 meekness, temperance: against such there is no law;
1Th
5:12 And we ask you, brethren, to know those labouring among you, and leading
you in the LORD, and admonishing you,
1Th
5:13 and to esteem them very abundantly in love, because of their work; be at
peace among yourselves;
Heb
12:14 peace pursue with all, and the separation, apart from which no one will
see the Master,
Jas
3:16 for where [bitter] zeal and rivalry are, there is insurrection and every
evil/lawless matter;
Jas
3:17 and the wisdom from above, first,
indeed, is pure, then peaceable, gentle, easily entreated, full of kindness and
good fruits, uncontentious, and unhypocritical: --
Jas
3:18 and the fruit of the righteousness/generosity
in peace is sown to those making peace.
1Pe
3:10 for he who is willing to love life, and to see good days, let him guard
his tongue from evil/lawlessness, and his lips--not to speak guile;
1Pe
3:11 let him turn aside from evil/lawlessness, and do good, let him seek peace
and pursue it;
1Pe
3:12 because the eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous/generous, and His
ears--to their supplication, and the face of the LORD is upon those doing evil/lawlessness;
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Some Questions to Ponder:
1.
Is
the Nazarean Codicil in agreement with our Mishnah for this week? Please
explain why or why not.
2.
In
Pirqe Abot I:1 we read “They said three things: Be deliberate in judgment make
stand many disciple, and make a fence around the Torah.” Why did the men of the
Great Assembly not started by saying “Make peace with all men”? And how is the
statement of R. Hillel in Pirqe Abot I:11 about pursuing peace related to the
first Mishnah of Pirqe Abot?
3.
Does
seeking peace and pursuing it mean that we are to put up with individuals that
habitually speak Lashon Hara and propound heresies and bring schisms? Explain
your answer.
4.
What
are the limits to “seeking peace and pursuing it”? Explain your answer.
5.
Why
is it so important to constantly study Torah and upgrade one’s Torah learning?
6.
What
does it mean exactly R. Hillel’s words: “he who exploits the crown [of the
Torah] will pass [away]”? Explain your answer.
7.
R.
Hillel states: “If a name becomes great, a name is lost.” Is not a person
entitled to have a good reputation and for his name to become great provided
that it is not at the expense of others? Please explain your answer.
The Hakham Recommends A Good Book For
Your Personal Library:
For the Love of Israel and the
Jewish People
By:
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Publisher:
Urim Publications (July 1, 2008)
ISBN-13:
978-9655240108
Is
the Jewish homeland a more metaphorical concept than it seems? "For the
Love of Israel and the Jewish People: Essays and Studies on Israel, Jews, and
Judaism" argues that the Jews never lost Jerusalem, but took it with them
as they were spread throughout the western and eastern world. Looking at the
state of Israel, it examines both sides of the debate of the state's history
and its roots in the Jewish faith. "For the Love of Israel and the Jewish
People: essays and Studies on Israel, Jews, and Judaism" is an essential
addition to any Judaic studies collection.
Hakham
Prof. Nathan Lopes Cardozo is perhaps one of the most brilliant
Spanish/Portuguese Rabbi and educator of tour generation. I always treasure
Hakham Cardozo’s books. For some strange reason (and I may be biased here) I
seem always to be in full agreement with him.
Shalom
Shabbat!
Hakham
Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
P.S.
It
is important that during these three weeks of mourning to diminish joy, leisure
and to pray for unity amongst all Jewish people, starting with us Nazarean
Jews, so that the Tabernacles of David which is fallen, be fallen no more!
These
twenty-two days from the Seventeenth of Tammuz to Tish'ah be Ab are thus, among
the saddest in our calendar and the Halakhoth (laws) and the Minhaghim
(customs) that we have adopted, reflect this.
On
these "Days of Distress" we lessen our laughter and pleasures for it
is written that every generation which does not witness the rebuilding of the
Beth Hammiqdash (Temple), it is as if it were destroyed in its day.
Dancing
is not permitted for all the twenty-two days and a Jewish musician who performs
for non-Jews should not perform on these days either. However, if he would have
nothing to eat, he is permitted to perform from the eighteenth till the
twenty-ninth of Tammuz, but not after.
One
should avoid reciting the blessing of Sheheheyanu on these days except in cases
such as a Pidyon Habben (redemption of a first-born male) or on a new fruit
that would not be available afterwards. During this period there is a custom
among Sepharadim to recite Tiqqun Rahel in the afternoon.