Esnoga Bet Emunah

227 Millset Chase - San Antonio, Texas 78253

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

Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings	Fourth Year of the Reading Cycle
II Adar 29, 5768 – April 04/05, 2008	Seventh Year of the Shmita Cycle

Shabbat HaChodesh

Sabbath of the New Moon (New Temple Year) for the month of Nisan

Saturday Evening of April the 5^th – Sunday Evening April the 6^th

Candle Lighting and Havdalah Times

Olympia, Washington, U.S. Brisbane, Australia

Friday Apr. 04, 2008 – Candles at 7:28 PM Friday Apr. 04, 2008 – Candles at 5:25 PM

Saturday Apr. 05, 2008 – Havdalah 8:34 PM Saturday Apr. 05, 2008 – Havdalah 6:16 PM

San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Friday Apr. 04, 2008 – Candles at 7:36 PM Friday Apr. 04, 2008 – Candles at 7:03PM

Saturday Apr. 05, 2008 – Havdalah 8:31 PM Saturday Apr. 05, 2008 – Havdalah 7:52 PM

Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Singapore, Singapore

Friday Apr. 04, 2008 – Candles at 7:43 PM Friday Apr. 04, 2008 – Candles at 6:53 PM

Saturday Apr. 05, 2008 – Havdalah 8:39 PM Saturday Apr. 05, 2008 – Havdalah 7:42 PM

Cebu, Philippines Jakarta, Indonesia

Friday Apr. 04, 2008 – Candles at 5:51 PM Friday Apr. 04, 2008 – Candles at 5:39 PM

Saturday Apr. 05, 2008 – Havdalah 6:41 PM Saturday Apr. 05, 2008 – Havdalah 6:27 PM

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

Coming Festivals: Pesach - Passover

Evening Saturday April 19 – Evening Sunday April 27

For further study see: http://www.betemunah.org/passover.html;

http://www.betemunah.org/chronology.html; http://www.betemunah.org/redemption.html;

http://www.betemunah.org/haggada.html; http://www.betemunah.org/pcustoms.html

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
הַחֹדֶשׁ
“HaChodesh”	Reader 1 – Shemot 11:1-3	Reader 1 – D’barim 2:2-5
“The New Moon”	Reader 2 – Shemot 11:4-10	Reader 2 – D’barim 2:6-8
“El novilunio”	Reader 3 – Shemot 12:1-5	Reader 3 – D’barim 2:9-12
Shemot (Exodus) 11:1 – 12:28	Reader 4 – Shemot 12:6-10
Ashlamatah: Ezekiel 45:18 - 46:15	Reader 5 – Shemot 12:11-13
	Reader 6 – Shemot 12:14-17	Reader 1 – D’barim 2:2-5
Proverbs 7:1-27	Reader 7 – Shemot 12:18-20	Reader 2 – D’barim 2:6-8
	Maftir – Shemot 12:18-20	Reader 3 – D’barim 2:9-12
N.C.: Col. 2:16-23; 1 Cor. 5:6-8	Ezekiel 45:18 - 46:15

Roll of Honor:

This Torah commentary comes to you courtesy of His Honor Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David and most beloved family, and that of His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham, and that of Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah and beloved family, as well as that of His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann and beloved family and that of His Excellency Adon John Batchelor and beloved wife, and that of His Excellency Adon Ezra ben Abraham and his beloved wife Giberet Karmela bat Sarah, as well as Her Excellency Giberet Hannah bat Sarah and 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, 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.

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: Numbers 11:1 – 12:20

RASHI	TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN
1 ¶ Adonai said to Moshe, "There is one more plague that I will bring upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt. After that he will send you away from here. When he sends you away, he will actually drive you out from here completely.	1 And the Lord spoke unto Mosheh, Yet one stroke will I bring upon Pharoh and upon the Mizraee, which will be greater than all, and afterward will he send you hence: when he releases, there will be to himself an end: driving, he will drive you forth from hence.
2 Speak, please, in the ears of the people, and let each man request [borrow] from his friend, and each woman from her friend, articles of silver and articles of gold."	2 Speak now in the hearing of the people, That every man will demand from his Mizraite friend, and every woman of her Mizraite friend, vessels of silver and vessels of gold.
3 Adonai gave the people favor in the eyes of the Egyptians. Moshe too was very great in the land of Egypt, [both] in the eyes of Pharaoh's servants and in the eyes of the people.	3 And the Lord gave the people favour before the Mizraee; also the man Mosheh was very great in the land of Mizraim before the servants of Pharoh and before his people.
4 Moshe said, "This is what Adonai has said, About the time of midnight, I will go out in the midst of Egypt.	4 And Mosheh spoke (or, had spoken) to Pharoh, Thus says the Lord, At this hour of the following night will I be revealed in the midst of the Mizraee,
5 Every first-born in the land of Egypt will die, from the first-born of Pharaoh sitting on his throne, to the first-born of the [Egyptian] slave girl, behind the mill-stones, and every first-born animal.	5 and every firstborn in the land of Mizraim will die: from the firstborn of Pharoh who should sit upon the throne of his kingdom, unto the firstborn son of the humblest mother in Mizraim who grinds behind the mills, and all the firstborn of cattle.
6 There will be a great cry [of anguish] throughout the entire land of Egypt, the likes of which there never was and like there never will be.	6 And there will be a great cry in all the land of Mizraim, because like the plague of this night there hath not been, and like the plague of this night there never will be one.
7 But among all the B’ne Yisrael, a dog will not sharpen its tongue [growl] at man or animal. You will then know that Adonai distinguishes between Egypt and Yisrael.	7 But any of the children of Israel a dog will not harm by lifting up his tongue against either man or beast ; that they may know that the Lord maketh distinction between the Mizraites and the sons of Israel.
8 Then all these, your servants, will come down to me, and prostrate themselves saying, 'Go! You and all the people that follow you. Then I will go out." He [Moshe] then left Pharaoh in great anger.	8 And you will send down all thy servants to me, coming and beseeching me, saying, Go forth, you and all the people who are with you; and afterwards I will go. And he went out from Pharoh in great anger.
9 Adonai said to Moshe, "Pharaoh will not listen to you. Thus I will multiply My wonders in the land of Egypt."	9 But the Lord said to Mosheh, Pharoh will not hearken to you ; that I may multiply My wonders in the land of Mizraim.
10 Moshe and Aharon had done all these wonders before Pharaoh. [However] Adonai hardened Pharaoh's heart and he did not send the B’ne Yisrael out of his land.	10 And Mosheh and Aharon did all these wonders before Pharoh; and the Lord strengthened the design of Pharoh's heart, and he would not release the sons of Israel from his land.

1 Adonai said to Moshe and Aharon in the land of Egypt saying:	1 And the Lord spoke to Mosheh and to Aharon in the land of Mizraim, saying,
2 "This month will be [reckoned] to you [as] the head [beginning] of months. It will be to you the first of the months of the year.	2 This month is ordained to be to you the beginning of the months; and from it you will begin to number for festivals, and times, and cycles; it will be to you the first of the number of the months of the year.
3 Speak to the entire community of Israel saying, 'On the tenth [day] of this month they will take--- each man [will take] a lamb for [his] family, a lamb for each household.	3 Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, saying, In the tenth of this month, whose time is appointed for this time (occasion), and not for (coming) generations, they will take to them a lamb for the house of a family, and, if many in number, they will take a lamb for a house:
4 If the [members of the] household are too few for the [eating of a] lamb then he will take [a lamb] [together] with his neighbor, close by his house, according to the number of individuals. According to what the person eats will you make your count regarding the lamb.	4 but if the men of the house are fewer than ten in number, in proportion to a sufficient number to eat the lamb, he and his neighbor who is nearest to his house will take according to the number of souls: each man according to the sufficiency of his eating will be counted for the lamb.
5 A flawless lamb, a yearling male must be in your possession. You may take it from sheep or goats.	5 The lamb will be perfect, a male, the son of a year he will be to you; from the sheep or from the young goats ye may take.
6 You will hold it in safekeeping until the fourteenth day of this month, they will slaughter it--- the entire community of Yisrael--- between evenings [in the afternoon].	6 And it will be bound and reserved for you until the fourteenth day of this month, that you may not know the fear of the Mizraee when they see it; and you will kill it according to the rite of all the congregation of the assembly of Israel, between the suns.
7 They will take of its blood and place it on the side of the doorposts and on the lintel of the houses in which they will eat [the lamb].	7 And you will take of the blood and set it upon the two posts and upon the upper board outside of the houses in which you eat and sleep.
8 They will eat the meat during this night. It will be roasted over fire. They will eat it with matzah and bitter herbs.	8 And you will eat the flesh on that night, the fifteenth of Nisan, until the dividing of the night roasted with fire, [JERUSALEM. Roasted,] without leaven, with horehound and lettuce will you eat it.
9 You must not eat it half-cooked or boiled in water, but only roasted over fire, its head with its knees and its inner organs.	9 Eat not of it while living, neither boiled in wine, or oil, or other fluids, neither boiled in water, but roasted with fire, with its head, and its feet, and its inwards.

10 You must not leave any of it over until morning. Any of it left over until morning must be burned in fire.	10 Nor will any be left of it till the morning; but what may remain of it in the morning you will cover over, and in the daylight of the sixteenth day burn with fire; for you may not burn the residue of a holy oblation on the feast day.
11 This is how you must eat it: with your waist belted, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand. You must eat it in haste, it is a Pesach-offering to Adonai.	11 And according to this manner you will eat it, this time, but not in (other) generations: your loins will be girded, [JERUSALEM. Bound by the precepts of the law,] your shoes on your feet, and your staves in your hands; and you will eat in the fear of the majesty of the Lord of the world; because mercy hath been shown to you from before the Lord.
12 I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and I will strike [kill] every first-born in the land of Egypt, from man to beast; and against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments, I am Adonai.	12 And I will be revealed in the land of Mizraim in the majesty of My glory this night, and with Me ninety thousand myriads of destroying angels; and I will slay all the firstborn in the land of Mizraim, of man and of beast, and against all the idols of the Mizraee I will execute four judgments: the molten idols will be melted, the idols of stone be broken, the idols of clay will he shattered, and the idols of wood be made dust, that the Mizraee may know that I am the Lord.
13 The blood will be for you as a sign on the houses where you are [staying]. I will see the blood and I will pass over you. There will be no plague against you when I strike the land of Egypt.	13 And the blood of the paschal oblation, (like) the matter of circumcision, will be a bail for you, to become a sign upon the houses where you dwell; and I will look upon the worth of the blood, and will spare you; and the angel of death, to whom is given the power to destroy, will have no dominion over you in the slaughter of the Mizraee.
14 This day will be for you a [day of] remembrance. You will celebrate it as a festival to Adonai, throughout your generations. It is an eternal statute that you must celebrate it.	14 And this day will be to you for a memorial, and you will celebrate it a festival before the Lord in your generations; by a perpetual statute will you solemnize it.
15 You must eat matzah for seven days, but before the first day you must remove [all] leaven from your homes; for anyone who eats chametz, that soul will be cut off from Yisrael. [Chametz is forbidden] from the first day [of Pesach] until [after] the seventh day.	15 Seven days you will eat unleavened bread: in the dividing of the day which precedes the feast you will put away leaven from your houses; for whosoever eats what is leavened, from the first day of the feast until the seventh day, that man will be destroyed from Israel.
16 The first day will be a holy assembly and the seventh day will be a holy assembly to you. No work will be done on them, only for [the preparation of food] which will be eaten by every person, that alone may be done for you.	16 And on the first day there will be a holy congregation, and on the seventh day there will be to you a holy congregation. No work will be done among you, only that which must be done for every one's eating may be done by you.
17 You must be vigilant regarding the matzah, for on this very day I brought out your hosts from the land of Egypt. You must preserve this day for your generations, it is an eternal statute.	17 And you will observe the feast of the unleavened bread, because in this same day the Lord will bring out your hosts free from the land of Mizraim; and you will observe this day in your generations, a statute for ever.
18 In the first [month] on the fourteenth day of the month, in the evening you will eat matzah, [continuing] until the twenty-first day of the month in the evening.	18 In Nisan, on the fourteenth day of the month, you will kill the Passover, and at evening on the fifteenth you will eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first of the month. On the evening of the twenty-second you may eat leavened bread.
19 For seven days no leaven may be found in your homes, for whoever eats chametz that soul will be cut off from the community of Israel, whether a proselyte or a native born in the land.	19 For seven days leaven will not be found in your houses; for whosoever eats of leaven, that man will perish from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or home-bred in the land.
20 You must not eat anything that is chametz. In all your dwellings you will eat matzah.	20 Any mixture of leaven you will not eat; in every place of your habitation you will eat unleavened bread.

Pesiqta deRab Kahana

Midrashic sermons for Shabbat HaChodesh

Pisqa Five

[The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt,] “This month [will be for you the beginning of months; it will be the first month of the year for you]” (Ex. 12:1-2).

V:I

He appointed the moon for [lunar] seasons, yet the sun knows its coming (Ps. 104:19): Said R. Yohanan, “Only the orb of the sun was created for the purpose of giving light. “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:14): What is written is light [in the singular]. If so, why was the moon created? It was for the signification of the seasons, specifically so that, through [regular sightings of the moon, Israelites would] sanctify new months and years. R. Shila of Kefar Tamarata in the name of R. Yohanan: “Nonetheless: The sun knows its coming (Ps. 104:19). On the basis of that statement, we have the following rule: people count the advent of the new moon only once the sun has set. [Proving the foregoing proposition,] Yusta, an associate, in the name of R. Berekhiah: And they traveled from Raamses in the first month on the fifteenth day of the month (Num. 33:3). Now if one counts only by the month, up to this point there had been only fourteen [Genesis Rabbah 6:1: thirteen] sunsets. [Freedman, Genesis Rabbah, p. 41, n. 4: This is based on the tradition that the Nisan — the first month — in which the Exodus took place fell on a Thursday, while the actual new moon occurred after midday on the preceding Wednesday. It is further assumed that, when this happens, the moon is not visible until the second evening following, i.e., the evening of Friday. Hence if we counted time solely from when the new moon is visible, then by the Thursday on which they left, a fortnight after, there would only have been thirteen sunsets. Since, however, it is called the fifteenth of the month, we see that the month was calculated from the first sunset after the new moon.] One must therefore conclude that one counts the beginning of the month only from sunset.

R. Azariah in the name of R. Hamna: Only the orb of the sun was created for the purpose of giving light. Let there be light (Gen. 1:14): What is written is light [in the singular]. If so, why was the moon created at all? The Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that the nations of the world were going to make [the heavenly bodies] into gods. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Now if they are two and contradict one another, and nonetheless, the nations of the world treat them as gods, if they are only one, how much the more so [will the nations of the world find reason to worship the heavenly body]!’ R. Berekhiah in the name of R. Simon: Both of them were created in order to give light, as it is said, And they shall serve for light (Gen.

1:14).

And they shall serve as lights (Gen. 1:15). And God put them in the firmament of the heavens (Gen. 1:17). And they will serve as signs and for seasons (Gen. 1:14). And they will serve as signs (Gen. 1:14) refers to Sabbaths, for it is written, For it is a sign for you (Ex. 31:13). And for seasons refers to the three pilgrim festivals. And for days refers to new months. And years refers to the sanctification of years. Indicating in all that the nations of the world will follow a solar calendar, and Israel, a lunar one: The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month will be for you the beginning of months; it will be the first month of the year for you” (Ex. 12:1-2).

V:II

Great things have you done, 0 Lord my God; your wonderful purposes are all for our good; none can compare with you; I would proclaim them and speak of them, but they are more than I can tell (Prov. 40:5): R. Hinenah bar Papa says two [teachings in respect to the cited verse]: All those wonders and plans which you made so that our father, Abraham, would accept the subjugation of Israel to the nations were for our good, for our sake, so that we might endure in the world. Simeon bar Abba in the name of R. Yohanan: Four things did the Holy One, blessed be He, show to our father, Abraham: the Torah, the sacrifices, Gehenna, and the rule of the kingdoms. The Torah: ... and a flaming torch passed between these pieces (Gen. 15:17). Sacrifices: And he said to him, Take for me a heifer divided into three parts (Gen. 15:9). Gehenna: behold a smoking fire pot. The rule of the kingdoms: Lo, dread, a great darkness (Gen. 15:12). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to our father, Abraham, ‘So long as your descendants are occupied with the former two, they will be saved from the latter two. If they abandon the former two of them, they will be judged by the other two. So long as they are occupied with study of the Torah and performance of the sacrifices, they will be saved from Gehenna and from the rule of the kingdoms.’ But [God says to Abraham] in the future the house of the sanctuary is destined to be destroyed and the sacrifices nullified. What is your preference? Do you want your children to go down into Gehenna or to be subjugated to the four kingdoms? R. Hinena bar Pappa said, “Abraham himself chose the subjugation to the four kingdoms. What is the scriptural basis for that view? How should one chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight, except their rock had given them over (Deut. 32:30). That statement concerning the rock refers only to Abraham, as it is said, Look at the rock from which you were hewn (Is. 51:1). But the Lord delivered them up (Deut. 32:30) teaches that God then approved what he had chosen.

R. Berekhiah in the name of R. Levi: “Now Abraham sat and puzzled all that day, saying, ‘Which should I choose, Gehenna or subjugation to the kingdoms? The one is worse than the other?’ Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him, ‘Abraham, how long are you going to sit in puzzlement? Choose without delay.’ That is in line with this verse: On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying (Gen. 15:18). What is the meaning of, saying? R. Hinena bar Pappa said, Abraham chose for himself the subjugation to the four kingdoms. We have reached the dispute of R. Yudan and R. Idi and R. Hama bar Haninah said in the name of a single sage in the name of Rabbi: The Holy One, blessed be He, [not Abraham] chose the subjugation to the four kingdoms for him, in line with the following verse of Scripture: You have caused men to ride over our heads (Ps. 66:12). That is to say, You have made ride over our heads various nations, and it is as though we went through fire and through water (Ps. 66:21).

R. Hinenah bar Papa said a further teaching. R. Hinenah bar Papa says: All those wonders and plans which You made were so that a man might desire his wife. What is the Scripture basis for that view? And Adam knew his wife again (Gen. 4:25). What is the meaning of again? The lust for sexual relations that he had was augmented [so explaining the meaning of the word again]. In the past, if he did not see her, he did not lust after her. Now, whether or not he saw her, he desired her. R. Abba bar Yudan in the name of R. Aha: This is an indication for commercial travelers and for sailors to remember their wives and come home as quickly as they can.

R. Simon said, All those wonders and plans which you made were so that the Gentiles of the world would not accept your Torah. Now was it not perfectly obvious to You that the Gentiles of the world were not going to accept Your Torah? Why did it appear as though He were making the circuit of the Gentiles? It was so as to double the reward that was/is coming to us.

For R. Simeon said, ...Your wonderful purposes are all for our good: for all those two thousand four hundred forty eight years before the Israelites had gone forth from Egypt, the Holy One, blessed be He, was sitting and making calculations, intercalating the years, sanctifying the years, celebrating the new months. When the Israelites went forth from Egypt, he handed the task over to them. That is in line with this verse of Scripture: The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, [‘This month will be for you the beginning of months; it will be the first month of the year for you”] (Ex. 12:1-2). What is the meaning of saying? He said to them, From now on, lo, these are given over to you: this month will be for you the beginning of months; it will be the first month of the year for you.

V:III

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, [but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. He who despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who respects the commandments will be rewarded. The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death] (Prov. 13:12-14): R. Hiyya bar Ba opened discourse by citing the verse: Hope deferred makes the heart sick — this refers to one who betroths a woman and takes her as his wife only after delay. ...but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life — this refers to one who betroths a woman and takes her as his wife right away.

Another interpretation: Hope deferred makes the heart sick — this refers to David, who was anointed and then ruled only after two years had passed. ...but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life — this refers to Saul, who was anointed and then ruled right away. On account of what merit [did Saul have that good fortune]? On account of the merit accruing for the good deeds which were to his credit, for he was humble and modest. For he ate his ordinary food [not deriving from his share of an animal sacrificed in the Temple, for example] in a state of cultic cleanness [as if he were eating holy food deriving from his share of an offering made in the Temple]. And, further, he would spend his own funds so as to protect the funds of Israel. And he treated as equal the honor owing to his servant with the honor owing to himself. Judah bar Nahman in the name of R. Simeon b. Laqish: For he was one who was subject to study of the Torah: By me [the Torah speaks] princes rule (Prov. 18:16). By me kings rule [and Saul ruled through his study of the Torah] (Prov. 8:15).

R. Ishmael taught on Tannaite authority, Before a man has sinned, people pay him reverence and awe. Once he has sinned, they impose on him reverence and awe. Thus, before the first man had sinned, he would hear [God’s] voice in an workaday way. After he had sinned, he heard the same voice as something strange. Before he had sinned, the first man heard God’s voice and would stand on his feet: And they heard the sound of God walking in the garden in the heat of the day (Gen. 3:8). After he had sinned, he heard the voice of God and hid: And man and his wife hid (Gen. 3:8). Said R. Aibu, At that moment the height of the first Man was cut down and he became a hundred cubits high. [Ishmael continues:] Before the Israelites sinned, what is written in their regard? And the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain before the eyes of the children of Israel (Ex. 24:17). Said R. Abba bar Kahana, “There were seven veils of fire, one covering the next, and the Israelites gazed and did not fear or take fright. But when they had sinned, even on the face of the intercessor [Moses] they could not look: And Aaron and all the children of Israel feared...to come near (Ex. 34:40).

R. Phineas bar Abun in the name of R. Hanin: Also the intercessor felt the sin: Kings of hosts do flee, do flee (Ps. 68:13).” [This is now explained.] R. Yudan in the name of R. Aibu says, ‘Angels of hosts’ is not what is written here, but what is written is Kings of hosts, the kings of the angels, even Michael, even Gabriel, were not able to look upon the face of Moses. But after the Israelites had sinned, even on the faces of lesser angels Moses could not gaze: For I was in dread of anger and hot wrath (Deut. 9:19).

Before the deed of David [with Bath Sheba] took place, what is written? For David: The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom shall I be afraid? (Ps. 27:1). But after that deed took place, what is written? I will come upon him while he is weary and weak-handed (2 Sam. 17:2).

Before Solomon sinned, he could rule over demons and demonesses: I got for myself...Adam’s progeny, demons and demonesses (Eccl. 2:8). What is the sense of demons and demonesses? For he ruled over demons and demonesses. But after he had sinned, he brought sixty mighty men to guard his bed: Lo, the bed of Solomon, with sixty mighty men around it, all of them holding a sword and veterans of war (Song 3:7-8).

Before Saul had sinned, what is written concerning him? And when Saul had taken dominion over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines; wherever he turned he put them to the worse (1 Sam. 14:47). After he had sinned what is written concerning him? And Saul saw the camp of the Philistines and was afraid (1 Sam. 28:5).

Another interpretation of the verse Hope deferred makes the heart sick: Said R. Hiyya bar Abba, This refers to the Israelites before they were redeemed. You find that when Moses came to the Israelites and said to them, ‘The Holy One, blessed be He, has said to me, Go, say to Israel, I have surely remembered you,’ (Ex. 3:16), they said to him, ‘Moses, our lord, it is still a mere remembering! What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? [In truth I have no help in me. and any resources is driven from me] (Job 6:11-13). Is our strength the strength of stones? is our flesh made of bronze? But when he said to him, ‘This month you will be redeemed,’ they said, ‘That is a good sign.’ ...but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life: This month will be for you the beginning of months; it will be the first month of the year for you (Ex. 12:1-2).

V:IV

Judah bar Nahman in the name of R. Simeon b. Laqish opened discourse by citing the following verse of Scripture: Oh send out your light and your truth; let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. [Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the lyre, 0 God, my God] (Ps. 43:3-4). ...send out your light refers to Moses: And Moses did not know that his face was glistening with beams of light (Ex. 34:29). ... and your truth refers to Aaron, The Torah of truth was in his mouth (Malachi 2:7). Your truth and light be with your holy one (Deut. 33:8). And there are those who reverse matters: ...send out your light refers to Aaron: Your truth and light be with your holy one (Deut. 33:8). ...and your truth refers to Moses, Not so is my servant Moses, in all my household the most trustworthy (Num. 12:7).

Said R. Isaac, Even at the sea Moses foresaw that he was not going to enter the Land of Israel: She keeps her eye on the doings of her household (Prov. 31:27). What is written in the pertinent passage is not, ‘you will bring it and plant it,’ but rather, You brought them in and planted them (Ex. 15:17). Yet it is written: ...let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. This refers to the scribes of the Land of Israel, who are as holy as the Land of Israel itself.

Another comment on the verse: Oh send out your light and your truth; [let them lead me, let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling. Then I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy; and I will praise you with the lyre, 0 God, my God] (Ps. 43:3-4). ...send out your light refers to Moses and Aaron, through whom the Holy One, blessed be He, sent light to Israel to redeem them from Israel. When did this take place? In this month: This month for you is the first of the months (Ex. 12:2).

V:V

R. Levi opened discourse by citing the following verse: And you will be holy to me [because I the Lord am holy. I have made a clear separation between you and the heathen, that you may belong to me] (Lev. 20:26). R. Yudan in the name of R. Hama bar Hanina, R. Berekhiah in the name of R. Abbahu: Had it been stated, ‘And I will separate the nations of the world from you,’ the nations of the world would have had no standing. But what it says is, I have made a clear separation between you and the heathen. It is like someone who sorts out the good grain from the bad, choosing and coming back and choosing again. If he chooses the bad from the good, he makes a choice and does not go back and make a further selection.

Said R. Levi, In all their deeds the Israelites are different from the nations of the world, in their manner of ploughing, sowing, reaping, making sheaves, threshing, working at the threshing floor and at the wine press, counting and reckoning the calendar: As to ploughing: You will not plough with an ox and and ass together (Deut. 22:10). ...sowing: You will now sow your vineyard with mixed seeds (Lev. 22:9). ...reaping: You will not gather the gleaning of your harvest (Lev. 19:9). ...making sheaves: And the forgotten sheaf in the field you will not recover (Deut. 24:12). ...threshing: You will not muzzle an ox in its threshing (Deut. 25:4). ...working at the threshing floor and at the wine press: You will provide liberally (for the Hebrew servant) out of your threshing floor and wine press (Deut. 15:14). ...counting and reckoning the calendar: The nations of the world reckon by the sun, and Israel by the moon: This month will be for you the first of the months (Ex. 12:2).

V:VI

I sleep but my heart is awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: “Open to me, my sister, my dearest, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is drenched with dew, my locks with the moisture of the night” (Song 5:2): Said the community of Israel before the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘While I am asleep at the house of the sanctuary [because it is destroyed], my heart is awake in the houses of assembly and study. I am asleep as to the offerings, but my heart is awake as to the religious duties and acts of righteousness/generosity. I am asleep as to religious duties, but my heart is nonetheless awake to carry them out. I am asleep as to the end, but my heart is awake as to redemption. I am asleep as to redemption, but the heart of the Holy One, blessed be He, is awake to redeem us.’

Said R. Hiyya bar Abba, How do we know that the Holy One is called ‘the heart of Israel’? On the basis of this verse: Rock of my heart and my portion is God forever (Ps. 73:26).

...My beloved is knocking refers to Moses: And Moses said, Thus said the Lord, At about midnight I will go out in the midst of Egypt (Ex. 11:4). Open to me: said R. Yose, Said the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Open to me [a hole] as small as the eye of a needle, and I will open to you a gate so large that troops and siege-engines can go through it.’ ...my sister: [God speaks:] My sister — in Egypt, for they became my kin through two religious duties, the blood of the Passover-offering and the blood of circumcision. my dearest — at the sea, for they showed their love for Me at the sea, And they said, the Lord will reign forever and ever (Ex. 15:19). my dove — my dove at Marah, where through receiving commandments they become distinguished for Me like a dove. ...my perfect one — My perfect one at Sinai, for they became pure at Sinai: And they said, all that the Lord has spoken we will do and we shall hear (Ex. 24:7).

R. Yannai said, My twin, for I am not greater than they, nor they than I. R.. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of R. Levi, Just as in the case of twins, if one of them gets a headache, the other one feels it, so said the Holy One, blessed be He, I am with him in trouble (Ps. 91:15). ...for my head is drenched with dew. The heavens dropped dew (Judges 5:4). ...my locks with the moisture of the night: Yes, the clouds dropped water (Judges 5:4). When is this the case? In this month: This month is for you the first of the months (Ex. 12:2).

V:VII

Hark! My beloved! Here he comes, bounding over the mountains, leaping over the hills. [My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young wild goat: there he stands outside our wall, peeking in at the windows, glancing through the lanice. My beloved answered, he said to me, Rise up, my darling; my fairest, come away. For now the winter is past, the rains are over and gone; the flowers appear in the countryside; the time is coming when the birds will sing, and the turtle-dove’s cooing will be heard in our land; when the green figs will ripen on the fig-trees and the vines give forth their fragrance. Rise up my darling, my fairest, come away] (Song 2:8-10): R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and rabbis: R. Judah says, Hark! My beloved! Here he comes refers to Moses. When Moses came and said to Israel, ‘In this month you will be redeemed,’ they said to him, ‘Moses, our lord, how are we going to be redeemed? Did not the Holy One, blessed be He, say to our father, Abraham, your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and they will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years (Gen. 15:13)? And is it not the case that we have to our account only two hundred and ten years [of slavery in Egypt]?’ He said to them, ‘Since He wants to redeem you, He does not pay attention to your accounts. But bounding over the mountains, leaping over the hills means that he is skipping over foreordained calculations of the end and over all reckonings and times. In this month you will be redeemed: This month is for you the beginning of months (Ex. 12:2).

R. Nehemiah says, Hark! My beloved! Here he comes refers to Moses. When Moses came and said to Israel, ‘In this month you will be redeemed,’ they said to him, ‘Moses, our lord, how are we going to be redeemed? And the land of Egypt is filled with the filth of idolatry that belongs to us.’ He said to them, ‘Since He wants to redeem you, He does not pay attention to your idolatry. But He goes bounding over the mountains, leaping over the hills, and hills refers to idolatry, in line with this verse: On the tops of mountains they make sacrifices and in hills they offer incense (Hos. 4:12).

Rabbis say, Hark! My beloved! Here he comes refers to Moses. When Moses came and said to Israel, ‘In this month you will be redeemed,’ they said to him, ‘Moses, our lord, how are we going to be redeemed? And we have no good deeds to our credit.’ He said to them, ‘Since He wants to redeem you, He does not pay attention to your wicked/lawless deeds. But to whom does He pay attention? To the righteous/generous who are among you, for example, Amram and his court. For hills and mountains refers only to courts, in line with this verse: That I may go and seek out upon the mountains (Judges 11:37).

Said R. Yudan, As to slavery and sojourning in a land that is not theirs, ...that your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and they will be slaves there, and they will be oppressed for four hundred years, including even the years that they were at ease [cf. Braude and Kapstein, p. 101].

R. Yudan in the name of R. Eliezer son of R. Yose the Galilean, R. Hunah in the name of R. Eliezer b. Jacob: Hark! My beloved! Here he comes refers to the messiah-king. When he came and said to Israel, ‘In this month you will be redeemed,’ they said to him, ‘Messiah-king, our lord, how are we going to be redeemed? Did not the Holy One, blessed be He, say that He would make us slaves among the seventy nations?’ And he answered them with two replies, saying to them, ‘If one of you has gone into exile to Barbaria and one to Sarmatia, it is as if all of you had gone into exile. Furthermore, this wicked/lawless government drafts soldiers from each nation. If one Samaritan comes and is drafted, it is as if the whole of his nation has been subjugated. If one Ethiopian comes and is drafted, it is as if the whole of his nation has been subjugated. In this month you will be redeemed,’ This month is for you the beginning of months (Ex. 12:2).”

V:VIII

My beloved is like a gazelle, or a young wild goat: [there he stands outside our wall, peeking in at the windows, glancing through the lattice. My beloved answered, he said to me, Rise up, my darling; my fairest, come away] (Song 2:8-10): My beloved is like a gazelle: said R. Isaac, You say to us, ‘Come hither. Come hither to us, for you come to us first.’ [Braude and Kapstein, p. 10]: The word for beloved, when separated into two parts, makes two Greek words, standing for come hither and God, so in the first part, ‘You O God say to us, Come hither,’ and in the second part, Israel replies, ‘God, You come to us before we stir.’]”

[My beloved is like a gazelle:] Said R. Isaac,”Just as a gazelle skips and jumps from tree to tree, hut to hut, fence to fence, so the Holy One, blessed be He, skipped from Egypt to the Sea, from the sea to Sinai. In Egypt they saw Him: And I shall pass through the land of Egypt on that night (Ex. 12:12). At the sea they saw him: And Israel saw the great hand (Ex. 14:32). At Sinai they saw him: And the Lord spoke from Sinai, He came and shown from Seir to him (Deut. 32:2).

...or a young wild goat: R. Yose b. R. Haninah said, ‘Like the young of a gazelle.’

...there he stands outside our wall: For on the third day the Lord came down before the eyes of the entire people (Ex. 19:11). peeking in at the windows: And the Lord came down (Ex. 19:20). ...glancing through the lattice: When he said, I am the Lord your God (Ex. 20:23), My beloved answered, he said to me: What did he say to me? I am the Lord your God (Ex. 20:23).

[My beloved is like a gazelle:] Said R. Isaac, Just as a gazelle skips and jumps from tree to tree, hut to hut, fence to fence, so the Holy One, blessed be He, skips from one synagogue to another, one study-house to another. On what account? So as to bless Israel. On account of whose merit? On account of the merit of Abraham, who remained seated at the oak of Mamre [where he was praying and studying]. That is in line with this verse of Scripture: And the Lord appeared to him at the oak of Mamre, when he was sitting down at the door of the tent (Gen. 18:1).

[As he sat at the door of his teat in the heat of the day (Gen. 18:1)]: R. Berekhiah in the name of R. Levi: “What is written is he sat [and not in the progressive tense, while he was sitting]. When the Holy One, blessed be He, appeared to him, our father Abraham tried to stand. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him, ‘Remain seated.’ Our father Abraham sat down. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him, ‘[You thereby serve as a model for your children.] Abraham, whenever your children enter synagogues and school houses, they may sit while my Glory remains standing. What text of Scripture so indicates? God stands in the congregation of God (Ps. 82:1).

R. Haggai in the name of R. Isaac: What is written is not standing but ‘stationed at his post’ [Freedman, Genesis Rabbah ad loc.:], which is to say, ‘ready,’ [Genesis Rabbah adds:] in line with this verse: You shall be stationed on the rock (Ex. 33:21).

R. Samuel b. R. Hiyya b. R. Yudan in the name of R. Haninah: In response to each and every statement of praise with which Israel praises the Holy One, blessed be He, He brings his Presence to rest on them. What is the text that makes that point? You are holy, 0 You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel (Ps. 22:4).

or a young wild goat: R. Yose b. R. Haninah said, ‘Like the young of a gazelle.’

there he stands outside our wall: outside the walls of synagogues and school houses. ...peeking in at the windows: from among the shoulders of the priests. … glancing through the lattice: from among the entwined fingers of the priests. ...My beloved answered, he said: What did he say to me? May the Lord bless you and keep you (Num. 24:6).

Another interpretation of the verse: My beloved is like a gazelle: Said R. Isaac, Just as a gazelle appears and goes and disappears, so the first messiah [Moses] appeared to them and then went and disappeared from their sight. How long did he disappear from sight? Judah b. Rabbi says, Three months, in line with this verse of Scripture: They met Moses and Aaron standing to meet them (Ex. 5:20).

...or a young wild goat: R. Yose b. R. Haninah said, ‘Like the young of a gazelle.’

there he stands outside our wall: outside the walls of the Western wall of the house of the sanctuary, which will never be destroyed. peeking in at the windows: through the merit of the patriarchs. glancing through the lattice: through the merit of the matriarchs. This serves to teach you that just as there is a difference between a window and a lattice, so there is a difference between the merit of the patriarchs and the merit of the matriarchs.

R. Berekhiah in the name of R. Levi, Like the first redeemer, so will the final redeemer be: Just as the first redeemer appeared to them and then went and disappeared from them, so the final redeemer will appear to them and then go and disappear from them. And how long will he disappear from them? R. Tanhumah in the name of R. llama bar Hoshaia, R. Menahema in the name of R. Hama bar Hanina: Forty-five days, in line with this verse of Scripture: From the time when the regular offering is abolished and ‘the abomination of desolation’ is set up, there shall be an interval of one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Happy the man who waits and lives to see the completion of one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days [a difference of forty-five days] (Dan. 12:11-12). As to the forty-five days that remain over the figure given in the earlier verse, what are they? They are the forty-five days on which the Messiah, having appeared to them, will go and disappear from them. Where will he lead them? Some say, ‘To the wilderness of Judea,’ and some, ‘To the wilderness of Sihon and Og.’ That is in line with this verse of Scripture: Therefore I will seduce Israel and bring her into the wilderness (Hos. 2:16). He who believes in him will eat saltwort and the roots of the broom and live, for in the wilderness they pick saltwort with wormwood and the roots of the broom are their food (Job 30:4). And he who does not believe in him will go to the Gentiles of the world, who will kill him. Said R. Isaac bar Marian, At the end of forty-five days the Holy One, blessed be He, will appear to them and bring down manna. Why? For there is nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9). What is the pertinent scriptural verse? I am the Lord your God from the land of Egypt; I will make you dwell in tents again as in the days of the festival (Hos. 12:10).

V:IX

Another interpretation: For now the winter is past: this refers to the two hundred ten years. ...the rains are over and gone: this refers to the subjugation.

Are not the rain and the winter the same thing? Said R. Tanhuma. The principal trouble of the winter is the rain [which lasts eighty-six days], the principal [and truly difficult] part of the subjugation of Israel was only the eighty-six years from the time that Miriam was born. And why was she called Miriam? Said R. Isaac, It is a name that contains the meaning of bitterness, in line with this verse: And they embittered their lives with hard work and with mortar (Ex. 1:14).

the flowers appear in the countryside: this refers to Moses and Aaron. ...the time is coming when the birds will sing: the time for the foreskin [to be properly cut off] has come. The time for the Egyptians to be cut off has come. The time for the idolatry to be removed from the world has come: And against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment, I am the Lord (Ex. 12:2). The time for the sea to be split has come: And the waters split open (Ex. 14:21). The time for the recitation of the Song at the Sea has come: Then Moses sang (Ex. 15:1). The time for the Torah to be given has come: The Lord is my strength and my song (Ex. 15:2). Said R. Bibi: [The appropriate text is this one:] Your statutes have become my songs (Ps. 119:54). Said R. Tanhuma, The time for the Israelites to make a song for the Holy One, blessed be He, has come: The Lord is my strength and my song (Ex. 15:2).

...and the turtle-dove’s cooing will be heard in our land: Said R. Yohanan, [Since the word for turtle dove uses letters that may yield guide, we read:] ‘the voice of the good guide is heard in our land.’ This refers to Moses: And Moses said, Thus said the Lord, At about midnight (Ex. 11:4).

...when the green figs wilt ripen on the fig-trees: This refers to the three days of darkness, on which the wicked/lawless of Israel perished.

and the vines give forth their fragrance: This refers to those who remained, who repented and were accepted. Moses said to them, All this wonderful fragrance is coming from you, and you are sitting here! Rise up my darling, my fairest, come away.

My beloved answered, he said to me, [Rise up, my darling; my fairest, come away. For now the winter is past, the rains are over and gone; the flowers appear in the countryside; the time is coming when the birds will sing, and the turtle-dove’s cooing will be heart in our land; when the green figs will ripen on the fig-trees and the vines give forth their fragrance. Rise up my darling, my fairest, come away] (Song 2:8-10): Said R. Azariah, Is not ‘answering’ the same thing as ‘saying’? He answered me through Joshua, and said to me, through Eleazar. What did he say to me? Rise up, my darling; my fairest, come away. For now the winter is past: this refers to the forty years that the Israelites spent in the wilderness. ...the rains are over and gone: this refers to the thirty-eight years [after the rejection of the Land], in which anger was poured out on Israel [and the generation of the wilderness was left to die out]. ...the flowers appear in the countryside: this refers to the spies: One representative, one representative for each tribe (Num. 34:18). the time is coming when the birds will sing: the time for the foreskin [to be properly cut off] has come. The time for the Canaanites to be cut off has come. The time for the Land of Israel to be cut up has come: Among these you will cut up the land (Num. 26:53). ...and the turtle-dove’s cooing will be heard in our land: Said R. Yohanan, [Since the word for turtle-dove uses letters that may yield guide, we read:] ‘the voice of the good guide is heard in our land.’ This refers to Joshua: And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying (Josh. 1:10). ...when the green figs will ripen on the fig-trees: This refers to the baskets of first fruits. ...and the vines give forth their fragrance: This refers to the drink-offerings.

Another interpretation: For now the winter is past: this refers to the seventy years that the Israelites spent in exile. But were they not merely fifty-two years? Said R. Levi, Eighteen years were taken off the total, for every eighteen years an echo would go forth and resound in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, saying to him, ‘Wicked/lawless servant, go forth with the sword against the house of your master, for the children of your master do not obey him.’

...the rains are over and gone: this refers to the subjugation. the flowers appear in the countryside: for instance, Daniel and his colleagues, Mordecai and his colleagues, Ezra and his colleagues. the time is coming when the birds will sing: the time for the foreskin [to be properly cut off] has come.: Th The time for the wicked/lawless to be broken has come. The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked/lawless (Is. 14:5). The time for Babylonians to be removed has come. The time for the house of the sanctuary to be rebuilt has come: Greater will be the glory of the second house (Haggai 2:9). and the turtle-dove’s cooing will be heard in our land: Said R. Yohanan, [Since the word for turtle-dove uses letters that may yield guide, we read:] ‘the voice of the good guide is heard in our land.’ This refers to Cyrus: Thus said Cyrus, king of Persia, All the nations of the world...(Ezra 1:2). when the green figs will ripen on the fig-trees: This speaks of the baskets of first fruits. ...and the vines give forth their fragrance: This refers to the drink-offerings. Moses said to them, All this wonderful fragrance is coming from you, and you are sitting here! Rise up my darling, my fairest, come away.

My beloved answered, he said to me, (Rise up, my darling; my fairest, come away. For now the winter is past, the rains are over and gone; the flowers appear in the countryside; the time is coming when the birds will sing, and the turtle-dove’s cooing will be heart in our land; when the green figs will ripen on the fig-trees and the vines give forth their fragrance. Rise up my darling, my fairest, comeaway] (Song 2:8-10): Said R. Azariah, Is not ‘answering’ the same thing as ‘saying’? He answered me through Elijah, and said to me, through the messiah- king. What did he say to me? Rise up, my darling; my fairest, come away. For now the winter is past: Said R. Azariah, This refers to the wicked/lawless (Rome) kingdom, which misled people. That is in line with the following: When your brother, son of your mother, misleads you (Deut. 13:7). ...the rains are over and gone: this refers to the subjugation [to Rome]. ...the flowers appear in the countryside: Said R. Isaac, It is written, The Lord showed me four craftsmen (Zech. 2:3). These are they: Elijah, the Messiah-king, Melchizedek, and the anointed (Messiah) for war. the time is coming when the birds will sing: the time for the foreskin [to be properly cut off] has come. The time for the Egyptians to be cut off has come. The time for the wicked/lawless to be broken has come: The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked/lawless (Is. 14:5). The time for the wicked/lawless kingdom to be uprooted from the world has come. The time for the revelation of the kingdom of heaven has come: The Lord will be king over all the earth (Zech. 14:9). ...and the turtle-dove’s cooing will be heard in our land: Said R. Yohanan, [Since the word for turtle dove uses letters that may yield guide, we read:] ‘the voice of the good guide is heard in our land.’ This refers to the messiah king: How beautiful on the hills are the feet of the bringer of glad tidings (Is. 52:7). when the green figs will ripen on the fig-trees: Said R. Hiyya bar Abba, Close to the days of the messiah a great thing will happen, and the wicked/lawless will perish in it. ...and the vines give forth their fragrance: This refers to those who remained: And those who remained in Zion, and the remnant in Jerusalem, will be holy (Is. 4:3).

And rabbis say, In the septennate in which the son of David comes, in the first of the seven year spell, I shall cause it to rain on one town and not on another (Amos 4:7). In the second, the arrows of famine will be sent forth. In the third there will be a great famine, and men, women, and children will die in it, and the Torah will be forgotten in Israel. In the fourth, there will be a famine which is not really a famine, and plenty which is not plentiful. In the fifth year, there will be great plenty, and people will eat and drink and rejoice, and the Torah will again be renewed. In the sixth there will be great thunders. In the seventh there will be wars. And at the end of the seventh year of that septennate, the son of David will come. Said R. Abbaye, How many septennates have there been like this one, and yet he has not come! But matters accord with what R. Yohanan said, In the generation in which the son of David comes, disciples of sages will perish, and those that remain will have faint vision, with suffering and sighing, and terrible troubles will come on the people, and harsh decrees will be renewed. Before the first such decree is carried out, another will be brought along and joined to it. Said R. Abun, In the generation in which the son of David comes, the meeting place will be turned over to prostitution, the Galilee will be destroyed, Gablan will be desolate, and the Galileans will make the rounds from town to town and find no comfort. Truthful men will be gathered up, and the truth will be fenced in and go its way. Where will it go? A member of the household of R. Yannai said, It will go and dwell in small flocks in the wilderness, in line with this verse of Scripture: Truth will be among bands (Is. 59:15). Said R. Nehorai, In the generation in which the son of David comes, youths will humiliate old men, sages will rise before youths, a slave girl will abuse her mistress, a daughter-in-law her mother-in-law, a man’s enemies will be his own householders, a son will not be ashamed for his father, the wisdom of scribes will turn rotten, the vine will give its fruit but wine will be expensive. Said R. Abba bar Kahana, The son of David will come only to a generation which is liable for total extermination. Said R. Yannai, The son of David will come only to a generation the principal leaders of which are like dogs. Said R. Levi, If you see one generation after another blaspheming, look for the footsteps of the messiah-king. What verse of Scripture indicates it? Remember Lord the taunts hurled at your servant, how I have borne in my heart the calumnies of the Gentiles; so have your enemies taunted us, 0 Lord, taunted the successors of your anointed king (Ps. 89:5 1). What follows? Blessed is the Lord for ever, amen, amen (Ps. 89:52).

V:X

R. Jonah opened discourse by citing this verse of Scripture: So I got her back for fifteen pieces of silver, a homer of barley, [and a measure of wine; and I said to her, Many a long day you shall live in my house and not play the wanton and have no intercourse with a man, nor I with you. For the Israelites shall live many a long day without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, without image or household gods, but after that they will again seek the Lord their God and David their king and turn anxiously to the Lord for his bounty in days to come) (Hos. 3:2-5). Said R. Yohanan, So I got her back for me, for fifteen pieces of silver, lo, fifteen; and for a homer of barley, lo, thirty, and a half-homer of barley, lo, sixty. This refers to the sixty religious duties that Moses inscribed for us in the Torah. For R. Yohanan said in the name of R. Simeon b. Yohai, There were three passages that Moses wrote for us in the Torah, in each one of which there are sixty religious duties, and these are they: the passage concerning the Passover offering, that concerning torts, and that concerning Holy Things. R. Levi in the name of R. Shilah of Kefar Tamratah, There are seventy in each. Said R. Tanhumah, They really do not differ. One who treats the passage concerning the Passover-offering as containing seventy religious duties treats it as encompassing the passage on the phylacteries. One who treats the passage on torts as containing seventy religious duties maintains that it encompasses the passage covering the year of release. One who treats the passage of Holy Things as including seventy religious duties encompasses with it the passage on orlah-fruit.

Another interpretation of the verse, so I got her back for fifteen pieces of silver: Lo, the reference to fifteen pieces of silver brings us to the fifteenth day of Nisan. When is this? It is in this month: This month is for you the beginning of months (Ex. 12:2).

V:XI

This month is for you [the first of months, you will make it the first month of the year] (Ex. 12:2): [Reading the letters for month to sound like the word, innovation:] R. Berekhiah in the name of R. Yudan b. R. Simeon: Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel, ‘There will be an innovation as to redemption for you in the age to come. In the past I never redeemed one nation from the midst of another nation, but now I am going to redeem one nation from the midst of another nation.’ That is in line with this verse of Scripture: Has God tried to go and take for himself a nation from the midst of another nation (Deut. 4:34).

R. Joshua bar Nehemiah in the name of R. Yohanan bar Pazzi: ‘A nation from the midst of a people’ is not written here, nor do we find, ‘a people from the midst of a nation,’ but a nation from the midst of a nation [like itself, that is, in precisely the same classification]. For the Egyptians were uncircumcised and the Israelites also were uncircumcised. The Egyptians grew ceremonial locks, and so did the Israelites. Therefore by the rule of strict justice, the Israelites ought not to have been redeemed from Egypt. Said R. Samuel bar Nahmani, If the Hoiy One, blessed be He, had not bound Himself by an oath, the Israelites in fact would never have been redeemed from Egypt. Therefore say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will take you out of the burdens of Egypt (Ex. 6:6). The language, [I am the Lord] therefore, refers only to an oath, as it is said, Therefore I take an oath concerning the house of Eli (1 Sam. 3:4).

Said R. Berekhiah, You have redeemed Your people with your arm (Ps. 77:16) — with naked power. Said R. Yudan, From the phrase, To go and take a nation from the midst of another nation, to the phrase great terrors (Deut. 4:34) are seventy-two letters. Should you claim there are more, you should deduct from the count the last reference to nation [Egypt], which does not count. R. Abin said, It was for the sake of His name that He redeemed them, and the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, consists of seventy-two letters.

[“This month is for you [the first of months, you will make it the first month of the year] (Ex. 12:2)]: Said R. Joshua b. Levi, The matter may be compared to the case of a king whose son was taken captive, and he put on [the garb of] vengeance and went and redeemed his son, and he said, ‘Count the years of my reign as beginning from the time of the redemption of my son.’ So said the Holy One, blessed be He, ‘Count the years of My reign as beginning from the time of the Exodus from Egypt.

[This month is for you [the first of months, you will make it the first month of the year] (Ex. 12:2)]: R. Levi in the name of R. Hama bar Hanina said, The matter may be compared to the case of a king who married many wives, but he did not write for them either a marriage license or the dates of the marriage. But when he married a woman of good family and the daughter of noble parents, he wrote for her a marriage license and wrote the date of the marriage. So too of all the women whom Ahasuerus married, he did not write for any one of them either a marriage license or the date of the marriage. But when he married Esther, the daughter of a good family and of noble lineage, he wrote for her both a marriage license and the date of the marriage. He wrote for her a marriage license: On the tenth month, the month of Tebeth (Est. 2:16). And he wrote for her the date of the marriage: In the seventh year of his reign (Est. 2:16).

V:XII

Said R. Berekhiah, This month is for you [the first of months, you will make it the first month of the year] (Ex. 12:2): [The waxing and waning of the moon serve] as an omen for you. The seed of David...shall be established for ever as the moon (Ps. 89:38): Like the moon, which is full and then obscured. If you have merit, lo, you will count days like the moon’s waxing, but if you do not have merit, then you will count days like the moon’s waning. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Perez, Hezron, Ram, Aminadab, Nachshon, Salman, Boaz, Obed, Jesse, David, Solomon: Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king (1 Chr. 29:23) — [all provide cases of counting days as] the moon when it is waxing. Lo, in these cases the count was like the waning moon: Rehoboam, Abijah, Assa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziali, Joash, Amaziah, Uzziali, Jothan, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Ammon, Josiah, and Zedekiah: He blinded the eyes of Zedekiah (2 Kgs. 25:7) — lo, [all these give us cases of] counting the days like the moon in its waning.

V:XIII

This month is for you [the first of months, you will make it the first month of the year] (Ex. 12:2): ...for you means that it is handed over to you. Said R. Joshua b. Levi, The matter may be compared to the case of a king who had a clock. When his son grew up, he handed over to him his clock. Said R. Yose bar Haninali, The matter may be compared to the case of a king who had a watchtower. When his son grew up, he handed over to him his watchtower. Said R. Aha, The matter may be compared to the case of a king who had a ring. When his son grew up, he handed over to him his ring. Said R. Isaac, It may be compared to the case of a king who had many treasuries, and there was a key for each one of them. When his son grew up, he handed over to him all the keys. Said R. Hiyya bar Abba, The matter may be compared to a carpenter who had tools. When his son grew up, he handed over to him the tools of his trade. And rabbis say, The matter may be compared to the case of a physician who had a case of medicines. When his son grew up, he handed over to him his medicine case.

R. Hoshaiah taught on Tannaite authority, The court below made a decree saying, ‘Today is the new year.’ Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the ministering angels: ‘Set up a platform, let the attorneys go up, let the clerks go up, for the court below has made a decree, saying, ‘Today is the New Year.’ If the witnesses [to the appearance of the new moon of Tishre] delayed in coming, or the court decided to intercalate the year on the next day [so that that day would not be the new year], the Holy One, blessed be He, says to the ministering angels, ‘Take away the platform, take away the advocates and take away the clerks, for the court below has made a decree saying, ‘Tomorrow [not today] is the New Year.’ What verse of Scripture proves this point? For it is a statute for Israel, a judgment of the God of Jacob (Ps. 8 1:5). If it is not a statute for Israel, it is — as it were — also not a judgment of the God of Jacob.

R. Phineas, R. Hezekiah in the name of R. Simon: All the ministering angels assemble with the Holy One, blessed be He, saying to him, ‘Lord of the ages, when will it be the New Year?’ And He says to them, ‘Me do you ask? You and I will ask the court down below.’ What verse of Scripture proves this point? For the Lord our God is near whenever we call to Him (Deut. 4:7). And we call to him only on the set feasts, in line with this verse of Scripture: These are the set feasts of the Lord, the holy convocations [which you will proclaim] (Lev. 23:4). R. Qerispa in the name of R. Yohanan, In the past: These are the set feasts of the Lord. But from now on: which you will proclaim: He said to them, ‘If you proclaim them, they are My set feasts, and if not, they are not My set feasts.

V:XIV

This month is for you (the first of months, you will make it the first month of the year] (Ex. 12:2): You count by it, but the nations of the world will not count by it. [They use the solar calendar, you the lunar one.]

R. Levi in the name of R. Yose b. R. Ilai: It is merely natural that someone who presently is great should count by what is great, and someone who presently is small should count by what is small. Accordingly, Esau [Rome] counts by the sun, because it is great, while Jacob [Israel] counts by the moon, for it is small. Said R. Nahman, That really is a good omen. Esau counts by the sun, because it is great. But just as the sun rules by day but does not rule by night, so the wicked/lawless Esau rules in this world but not in the world to come. Jacob counts by the moon, which is small, and just as the moon rules by night and also by day [making its appearance both by night and by day], so too will Jacob rule in this world and in the world to come. R. Nahman said, So long as the light of the great luminary glows splendidly in the world, the light of the lesser luminary is not going to be noted. Once the light of the great light sets, then the light of the lesser one shines forth. So too, as long as the light of the wicked/lawless Esau lasts, the light of Jacob will not be seen. Once the light of the wicked/lawless Esau sets, then the light of Jacob will shine forth. That is in line with this verse: Arise, shine [for behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples, but upon you the Lord will arise, and his glory shall be seen upon you] (Is. 60:1).

3. A. R. Simeon b. Yohai taught on Tannaite authority, In three matters Moses had difficulty. The Holy One, blessed be He, showed him — as it were — with his finger: the candelabrum, the creeping things, and the moon. As to the candelabrum: This is the work of the candlestick (Num. 8:4). The creeping things: This is what is unclean for you among the creeping things that creep on the earth (Lev. 11:29). The moon: This month is for you [the first of months] (Ex. 12:2).”

V:XV

R. Simlai, and it has been taught in the name of R. Samuel, Every month on the beginning of which the [Braude and Kapstein, p. 116:] the conjunction of the new moon does not take place before noon, one cannot see [the moon] before evening. R. Samuel bar Yeba, R. Aha in the name of R. Samuel bar Nahman: In the year in which the Israelites went forth, the beginning of the lunar month and the vernal equinox coincided [sic!].

[Explaining the procedure for receiving testimony of the appearance of the new moon, with reference to the demonstrative statement, This month (=moon) is for you] R. Hiyya bar Ba in the name of R. Yohanan: The Holy One, blessed be He, cloaked Himself in a cloak bearing fringes and put Moses on one side and Aaron on the other, calling Michael and Gabriel [to demonstrate the procedure for receiving testimony on the appearance of the new moon]. He appointed them messengers to proclaim the new moon and said to them. ‘On what side did you see the moon? Was it before the sun or after the sun? Was it to the north or to the south? How high was it? Where was it inclining? How thick was the cresent?’ He said to them, ‘This is the procedure, as you see it here, is the way in which people should intercalate the year down below; through an elder, with witnesses, through the use of a cloak bearing show-fringes.

V:XVI

[This month is for you [the first of months, you will make it the first month of the year] (Ex. 12:2):] R. Nahman and R. Eleazar b. R. Yose and R. Aha: One of them said, [Reading the letters for month to sound like the word, innovation;] Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel, There will be an innovation as to redemption for you in the age to come. The other said, It will be an innovation as to the age to come that you will have here. Just as, in the age to come, Then the eyes of the blind will be opened (Is. 35:5), so now, And all the people saw the sounds (Ex. 20:18). Just as in the age to come, The ears of the deaf will be unstopped (Is. 35:5), so here, And they said, Everything which the Lord has spoken we will do and we will hear (Ex. 24:7). Just as in the age to come, Then the lamb will skip like a ram (Is. 35:6), so now, Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God and they stood below the mountain (Ex. 19:17). Just as in the age to come, The tongue of the dumb shall sing (Is. 35:6), so here: All the people sang together (Ex. 19:8).

V:XVII

Speak to the whole community of Israel and say to them, On the tenth day of this month [let each man take a lamb or a kid for his family, one for each household, but if a household is too small for one lamb or one kid then the man and his nearest neighbor may take one between them. They shall share the cost, taking into account both the number of persons and the amount each of them eats. Your lamb or kid must be without blemish, a yearling male. You may take equally a sheep or a goat. You must have it in safe keeping until the fourteenth day of this month, and then all the assembled community of Israel shall slaughter the victim between dusk and dark. They must take some of the blood and smear it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of every house in which they eat the lamb. On that night they shall eat the flesh roast on the fire; they shall eat it with unleavened cakes and bitter herbs. You are not to eat any of it raw or even boiled in water, but roasted, head, shins, and entrails. You shall not leave any of it till morning; if anything is left over until morning, it must be destroyed by fire] (Ex. 12:1-10): Said R. Yohanan, “Is the lamb not suitable only when taken from the fold? Why say to designate it on the tenth day, [even though it will not be used until the fourteenth, four days later]? This teaches that the lambs were tied up to the Israelites’ beds from the tenth day, and the Egyptians would come in and see them and [realizing what was about to happen,] their souls would expire.

R. Hiyya son of R. Ada of Jaffa: [Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them,] Draw out and get sheep for your families and slaughter the Passover (Ex. 12:21): The requirement is that each one of you draw out the god of an Egyptian and slaughter it in his presence, [Braude and Kapstein, p. 118: even as the Egyptian...speaks up in protest].

R. Helbo in the name of R. Yohanan: Here you say, On the tenth day of this month (Ex. 12:3), and later on: The people went up from the Jordan on the tenth day (Joshua 4:19). R. Hiyya in the name of R. Yohanan: The act of taking the lamb is what sustained the Israelites at the Jordan, and the act of eating it is what protected them in the days of Haman. And they will eat the meat on that night (Ex. 12:8). On that night the sleep of the king was troubled (Est. 6:1).

R. Berekhiah in the name of R. Abbahu: Nahum the son of R. Simai in Tarsus gave this exposition: ...let each man take [a lamb or a kid for his family, one for each household] — the man here is the Holy One, blessed be He, as it is said, The Lord is a man of war (Ex. 15:3). [Since the meaning is that they must “take” the Holy One, blessed be He, we ask:] with what does one acquire him? With the two daily continual offerings [one in the morning, the other at dusk,] a lamb for the house of the fathers, a lamb for the house of the fathers (Ex. 12:3).

Said R. Yudan in the name of R. Simon, No one ever spent the night in Jerusalem while still bearing sin. How so? The daily whole-offering of the morning would effect atonement for the sins that had been committed overnight, and the daily whole-offering of dusk would effect atonement for the transgressions that had been committed by day. In consequence, no one ever spent the night in Jerusalem while still bearing sin. What is the verse of Scripture that makes that point? Righteousness/generosity will spend the night in it (Is. 1:21).

V:XVIII

[Interpreting the combination of the word for month, as new, hence, renewal, and the word for first, in the verse, This month is for you the first of months, you will make it the first month of the year), R. Berekhiah in the name of R. Isaac: New (Ex. 12:3): Renew your deeds, for [otherwise] the head and first of all will come. The first is Nebuchadnezzar, the wicked/lawless, of whom it is written: You are the head of gold (Dan. 2:3 8). The first is the wicked/lawless Esau, of whom it is written, The first came forth red (Gen. 25:25). Who will exact vengeance for you from the first? It is the first: I the Lord am the first and the last, I am he (Is. 41:4). Who will exact vengeance for you from Media [Haman]? [It is the kingdom mentioned when the cited verse speaks ofl the tenth, [at Ex. 12:3].

Said R. Abin, The ten alludes to [the ten thousand talents of silver to be paid to Ahasuerus] by Haman and his ten sons. Who will exact vengeance for you from them? The two guardians, Mordecai and Esther, Mordecai on the outside, Esther on the inside. Who will exact vengeance for you from Greece? The sons of the Hasmoneans, who offered the two daily whole-offerings every day. Who will exact vengeance for you from Edom? Natronah. And he shall serve as a guard for you to the fourteenth day of the month (Ex. 12:6).

[Reverting back to the verse cited above, “The first came forth red” (Gen. 25:25):] said the Holy One, blessed be He, His father called him the greater: And he called Esau, his son, the greater (Gen. 27:1). And his mother called him the greater: Rebecca took the clothing of Esau, her son, the greater (Gen. 27:15). But I will call him the lesser: And lo, I have made you least among the nations (Ob. 1:2). Since they call him the greater, in accord with the size of the ox is the measure of the slaughterer: The Lord has a sacrifice in Bosrah, a great slaughter in the land of Edom (Is. 34:6). Said R. Berekhiah, “[We read the verse:] There will be a great slaughterer in the land of Edom’ [namely, God himself].

V:XIX

[Continuing the account of the punishment of Edom:] You are not to eat any of it raw — that is, not merely half-cooked, or merely or even boiled in water, but roasted, head, shins, and entrails. [Edom, together with] its dukes, its hyparchs, and its generals. Your wealth, your staple wares, your imports, your sailors and your helmsmen, your caulkers, your merchants, and your warriors, all your ship’s company, all who were with you were flung into the sea on the day of your disaster; at the cries of your helmsmen the troubled waters tossed (Ez. 27:27-28): Said R. Samuel bar R. Isaac, All your ship’s company encompasses even those who had been of my company and had gone and joined your company — even they were flung into the sea on the day of your disaster.

This is the way in which you must eat it: you shall have your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand, and you must eat in urgent haste. It is the Lord’s Passover (Ex. 12:11): Said R. Samuel bar Nahman, Since in this world, you must eat in urgent haste, in the world to come what is written? But you shall not come out in urgent haste nor leave like fugitives; for the Lord will march at your head, your rearguard will be Israel’s God (Is. 52:12).

Special Ketubim Rosh Chodesh – Proverbs 7:1-27

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ashlamatah: Yechezqel (Ezekiel) 45:18-46:15

18 Thus says the Lord GOD: In the first month, in the first day of the month, you will take a young bullock without blemish; and you will purify the sanctuary.

19 And the priest will take of the blood of the sin-offering, and put it upon the door-posts of the house, and upon the four corners of the settle of the altar, and upon the posts of the gate of the inner court.

20 And so you will you do on the seventh day of the month for every one that errs, and for him that is simple; so will you make atonement for the house.

21 In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, you will have the Passover; a feast of seven days; unleavened bread will be eaten.

22 And upon that day will the prince prepare for himself and for all the people of the land a bullock for a sin-offering.

23 And the seven days of the feast he will prepare a burnt-offering to the LORD, seven bullocks and seven rams without blemish daily the seven days; and a he-goat daily for a sin-offering.

24 And he will prepare a meal-offering, an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

25 In the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, in the feast, will he do the like the seven days; to the sin-offering as well as the burnt-offering, and the meal-offering as well as the oil. {S}

1 Thus says the Lord GOD: The gate of the inner court that looks toward the east will be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath day it will be opened, and in the day of the new moon it will be opened.

2 And the prince will enter by the way of the porch of the gate without, and will stand by the post of the gate, and the priests will prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, and he will worship at the threshold of the gate; then he will go forth; but the gate will not be shut until the evening.

3 Likewise the people of the land will worship at the door of that gate before the LORD on the Sabbaths and on the new moons.

4 And the burnt-offering that the prince will offer unto the LORD will be on the Sabbath day six lambs without blemish and a ram without blemish;

5 and the meal-offering will be an ephah for the ram, and the meal-offering for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah. {S}

6 And in the day of the new moon it will be a young bullock without blemish; and six lambs, and a ram; they will be without blemish;

7 and he will prepare a meal-offering, an ephah for the bullock, and an ephah for the ram, and for the lambs according as his means suffice, and a hin of oil to an ephah.

8 And when the prince will enter, he will go in by the way of the porch of the gate, and he will go forth by the way thereof.

9 But when the people of the land will come before the LORD in the appointed seasons, he that enters by the way of the north gate to worship will go forth by the way of the south gate; and he that enters by the way of the south gate will go forth by the way of the north gate; he will not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but will go forth straight before him.

10 And the prince, when they go in, will go in the midst of them; and when they go forth, they will go forth together.

11 And in the feasts and in the appointed seasons the meal-offering will be an ephah for a bullock, and an ephah for a ram, and for the lambs as he is able to give, and a hin of oil to an ephah. {P}

12 And when the prince will prepare a freewill-offering, a burnt-offering or peace-offerings as a freewill-offering unto the LORD, one will open for him the gate that looks toward the east, and he will prepare his burnt-offering and his peace-offerings, as he does on the Sabbath day; then he will go forth; and after his going forth one will shut the gate.

13 And you will prepare a lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt-offering unto the LORD daily; morning by morning will you prepare it.

14 And you will prepare a meal-offering with it morning by morning, the sixth part of an ephah, and the third part of a hin of oil, to moisten the fine flour: a meal-offering unto the LORD continually by a perpetual ordinance.

15 Thus will they prepare the lamb, and the meal-offering, and the oil, morning by morning, for a continual burnt-offering. {S}

The Rabbi’s Private Prophetic Study

On this Shabbat HaChodesh (Shabbat for the proclamation of the New Moon of the month of Nisan, and also the Temple New Year) we are concentrating on two main topics: (1) G-d and His Torah (Written and Oral) are Sovereign over time and dictate which calendar we must follow; and (2) Important principles of worship.

When G-d, most blessed be He introduces His calendar, He does it with the following words: “This month will be [reckoned] to you [as] the head [beginning] of months. It will be to you the first of the months of the year.” Or, as the ancient Targum Pseudo Jonathan puts it:

“This month is ordained to be to you the beginning of the months; and from it you will begin to number for festivals, and times, and cycles; it will be to you the first of the number of the months of the year.”

Based upon this and many other commands, Messiah King Shlomoh (Solomon) writes to any human being in pursuit of G-d’s wisdom (Proverbs 7:1-5):

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

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

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

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

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

Now the first phrase of Prov. 7:5 – “That they may keep you from the strange (foreign) woman,” the “they” strictly speaking refers to Messiah King Shlomoh’s “words” (i.e. Oral Torah), and to the “commandments” (in the Written Torah) as per verses 1-3. And the wisest man warns that these should be kept “as the apple of one’s eye” – one of the most important and precious part of our being. Any other interpretation that disagrees with this, is nothing more than the works of the devil and the product of gross disobedience. Further, at the beginning of v.2, Messiah King Shlomoh states without equivocation: “Keep my commandments and live!”

To what may we compare this phrase? A wise king once gave a command that street lights may be placed on all intersections of his roads in order to prevent accidents and infuse upon his people a sense of “duty of care” and a small modicum of disciplined life. He further ordered that a visible tablet be put on top of the traffic lights that said: “Obey the traffic lights and live!” Therefore, Messiah King Shlomoh says: “Keep my commandments and live!”

Now if I may be a bit courageous, under what kind of measuring time do you want to be, or put it in other terms, under what kind of calendar do you want to live? Under G-d’s calendar even if it is followed by those horrible Jews like me, or under a Pagan Roman calendar which Christianity which Christianity has adopted and most unjustly enforced as “G-d’s New Calendar”? We may as well paraphrase Messiah King Shlomoh’s words and say: “Keep G-d’s Calendar as the majority of Jews do and live” or “Keep the Christian Calendar and there is a good chance that you may die in the same sense that there is a good chance that you will die if you run a red traffic light.” Both the Christian/Secular calendar are gross acts of disobedience against G-d’s commandments, whether people want to acknowledge it or not, since what counts is G-d’s most Holy Word and not the imaginations of pagan, unscrupulous men!

Now in the Nazarean Codicil (so called New Testament) and in particular in the Epistle to the Colossians 2:16-17 there appears to be two versions of this passage in the Christian Bibles. One adopted by the majority of Bibles, and the other adopted by the minority of Bibles.

The first (the minority of Bibles) is headed by the King James Version[1] translates:

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days:

17 which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.

The second (the Majority of Bibles) as for example The Everyday Bible: New Century Version[2] renders this passage as follows:

¹⁶So do not let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about a religious feast, a New Moon Festival, or a Sabbath day.

¹⁷These things were like a shadow of what was to come. But what is true and real has come and is found in Christ.

The Greek Textus Receptus[3] reads:

Μη

ουν

τις

υμας

κρινετω

εν

βρωσει

εν

ποσει

εν

Not

therefore

anyone

you

let judge

meat

drink,

μή

οὖν

τὶς

σύ

κρίνω

ἐν

βρῶσις

ἤ

ἐν

πόσις

ἤ

ἐν

3361

3767

5100

5209

2919

1722

1035

2228

1722

4213

2228

1722

μερει	εορτης	η	νουμηνιας	η	σαββατων
respect	of feast,	or	new moon,	or	sabbaths,
μέρος	ἑορτή	ἤ	νουμηνία	ἤ	σάββατον
3313	1859	2228	3561	2228	4521

εστιν

σκια

των

μελλοντων

το

δε

σωμα

του

which

are

a shadow

⋄

of things to come;

but the

∙

body

of the

ὅς

εἰμί

σκιά

ὁ

μέλλω

ὁ

δέ

σῶμα

ὁ

3739

2076

4639

3588

3195

3588

1161

4983

3588

Χριστου

Messiah.

Χριστός

5547

And the Clementine Vulgate[4] (in Latin) has:

16 Nemo ergo vos judicet in cibo, aut in potu, aut in parte diei festi, aut neomeniæ, aut sabbatorum :

17 quæ sunt umbra futurorum : corpus autem Christi.

Let us examine for one moment the literal translation of these two verses in the Greek without prejudice, and allowing the axe to fall where it should, rather than being guided by theological apriori assumptions. The text literally translated to English should read:

Not therefore anyone you let judge in meat or in drink, or in respect of feast, or new moon, or Sabbaths,
which are a shadow of things to come; but the body of the Messiah.

Grammatical logic dictates that if in a sentence we discard with circumstantial clauses, we definitely loose data or information but the sentence should still make logical sense. Let us see if this applies to the large sentence contained in these two verses:

“Not therefore anyone you let judge ... but the body of the Messiah.”

We have lost some information but the sentence overall is still meaningful and logical. Even more, we have gained clarity since now we understand that the “anyone” judging excepts the “body of Messiah.” In other words the only group entitled “to judge” is “the body of Messiah.” Therefore we can change the order of the circumstantial clauses and still get the same meaning:

“Not therefore anyone you let judge but the body of Messiah in meat or in drink, or in respect of feast, or new moon, or Sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come.”

Why therefore do Christian Theologians enjoy so much stretching the imagination to deform the straight forward meaning of these two verses? Ah, the answer is simple they have a preconceived agenda when they approach this text, it is called “Replacement/Displacement Theology” – The Church has replaced/displaced the Synagogue, the New Testament has replaced/displaced the Old Testament, Christianity has replaced/displaced Judaism, and the Pagan/Demonic Roman calendar has replaced/displaced the Biblical/Jewish calendar! And whilst individual Christian Theologians here and there, may find this sorrowful state of affairs utterly repugnant, nevertheless if they want to receive a salary and maintain their social status and academic reputations they need to dance to the tune of the powerful institutions from which they derive an income.

These two verses in fact are teaching quite clearly that “the body of Messiah” – i.e. the Jewish nation/people are the only ones entitled to judge anyone with respect as to when to observe the New Moon, Sabbaths, and Festivals, as well as how to observe these, and how to observe the laws regarding food and drink (i.e. Kashrut). Why do we say that “the body of Messiah” was/is/will be the Jewish nation/people? Because Yeshuah claimed that he was the King of the Jews, for Messiah can be king of no other nation but Israel. Even on top of the cross the Roman authorities wrote as the crime for which Messiah was hanged as being that of claiming to be Yeshuah the Nazarean King of the Jews! And a King’s body is the nation/people from which he sprang.

These two verses alone tell us as to who decrees when the New Moon of the Month of the Nisan exactly starts and from who to seek a judgment as to what one has to do to observe this special occasion. The themes of the New Moon of the month of Nisan which marks the New Year for Temple/cultic matters and for Jewish Kings is closely associated with the New Moon of the month of Tishri, which is the New Year for accounting and for foreign kings. As to when they should exactly be celebrated and the laws pertaining to their celebration and observance, our Sages have written extensively on it, and to which we agree to adhere, for it is the body of Messiah – i.e. the Jewish people/nation who can judge on these things, as it has been prophesied from ancient times: “Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, you are gone up. He stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lioness; who will rouse him up? The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, as long as men come to Shiloh; and unto him will the obedience of the peoples be” (Genesis 49:9-10).

How fortunate are we, how fortunate are our people, and how fortunate are the Gentiles that we are given another opportunity this year on the Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) for the month of Nisan, the month of Passover, for all of us to come under the grace of G-d’s Laws to Shiloh (Messiah) and be obedient to G-d as he was/is/will be. While it is yet the time of grace let us take an opportunity to amend our ways and not to partake from the pagan ways of the “strange woman” as Messiah King Shlomoh warns us in the book of Proverbs.

Shalom Shabbat!

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

P.S.

A great and most sincere Todda Rabba to all of Your Excellencies who have sent me messages of consolation and encouragement and for your sincere and just prayers as I traverse these days of uncertainty and cope with pain, as well as thinking how best to order my affairs. I surely and grateful and thankful for having the opportunity to serve you the best I can with the means at my disposal. May your prayers to G-d, most blessed be He, on my behalf be heard, and may Your Excellencies be recompensed accordingly for your care and great kindness to me, amen ve amen!

[1] The Cambridge Paragraph Bible: Of the Authorized English Version. Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2006, cxix

[2] The Everyday Bible: New Century Version. Nashville, TN. : Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2005, S. Col 2:16-17

[4] Biblia Sacra Juxta Vulgatam Clementinam. Ed. electronica. Bellingham, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2005, S. Col 2:16-17