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

Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings	Second Year of the Triennial Reading Cycle
Ab 13, 5777 – Aug 04/05, 2017	Second Year of the Shmita Cycle

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:

Please go to the below webpage and type your city, state/province, and country to find candle lighting and Habdalah times for the place of your dwelling.

See: http://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm

Roll of Honor:

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

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

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

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

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

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

Her Excellency Giberet Leah bat Sarah & beloved mother

Her Excellency Giberet Zahavah bat Sarah & beloved family

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

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

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

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

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

His Excellency Adon Eliezer ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Chava bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Aviner ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Chagit bat Sarah

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

His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill

His Excellency Adon Marvin Hyde

His Excellency Adon Scott Allen

Her Excellency Giberet Eliana bat Sarah and beloved husband HE Adon James Miller

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

Also, a great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and allied topics. If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never loose any of our commentaries, or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to benhaggai@GMail.com with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!

We wish both Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David and Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham a most wonderful Yom Huledet Sameach (a very Happy Birthday)! May Ha-Shem, most blessed be He grant Your Eminences together with your beloved Rabbanits, very long and productive lives, with very good health, ample Parnasa, much happiness, and to prosper most copiously in all things, amen ve Amen!

We pray for His Excellency Adon Jonah Lindemann (age 18), and His Excellency Adon Bart Lindemann. Jr. (age 20). [the sons of His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann] who have recently been diagnosed with Asperger’s disease (a “spectrum disorder”). Their father asks that we pray that he can find for his two young sons the appropriate and good professional assistance that they urgently need. Mi Sheberach – He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal Their Excellencies Adon Adon Bart Lindemann Jr. & Adon Jonah Lindemann, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for them to restore their health, to heal them, to strengthen them, and to revivify them. And may He send them speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit and mind, swiftly and soon, and we say amen ve amen!

We pray also for H.E. Giberet Rachel bat Batsheva who is afflicted with un-systemic mastocytosis. Mi Sheberach – He Who blessed our holy and pure Matriarchs, Sarah, Ribkah, Rachel and Leah, bless Her Excellency Giberet Rachel bat Batsheva and send her a complete recovery and strengthening of body and soul. Please G-d heal her, please. Please G-d heal her, please. Please G-d heal her, please. Cure her, strengthen her, make her healthy and return her to her original strength, together with all the sick of Yisrael. And may it be so willed, and we will say, Amen ve Amen!

We pray also for H.E. Giberet Leah bat Sarah who is in a dangerous financial situation. May the Bore HaOlam, the Master of the universe who sees all things, and who is in control of all things have mercy on Her Excellency’s finances and grant her salvation from a complex situation, and may she be granted from heaven to prosper most copiously on all things, together with all Yisrael, amen ve amen!

Blessings Before Torah Study

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shabbat: “V’Natati Nega’a” – “And I put an infection (of miraculous leprosy)”

&

First Sabbath of Seven Sabbaths of Consolation

Shabbat Nachamu

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע		Saturday Afternoon
“V’Natati Nega’a”	Reader 1 – Vayiqra 14:33-35	Reader 1 – Vayiqra 15:1-3
“And I put an infection (of miraculous leprosy)”	Reader 2 – Vayiqra 14:36-38	Reader 2 – Vayiqra 15:4-6
“y ponga Yo una infección (de lepra milagrosa)”	Reader 3 – Vayiqra 14:39-42	Reader 3 – Vayiqra 15:7-10
Vayiqra (Lev.) 14:33-57	Reader 4 – Vayiqra 14:43-45
Ashlamatah: Is 5:8-16 + 6:3	Reader 5 – Vayiqra 14:46-48	Monday & Thursday Mornings
Special Ashlamatah: Is. 40:1-26	Reader 6 – Vayiqra 14:49-51	Reader 1 – Vayiqra 15:1-3
Psalms 79:5-13	Reader 7 – Vayiqra 14:52-57	Reader 2 – Vayiqra 15:4-6
	Maftir – Vayiqra 14:54-57	Reader 3 – Vayiqra 15:7-10
N.C.: 1 Pet 2:18-20; Lk 11:5-13; Rm 1:18-23	Isaiah 40:1-26

Contents of the Torah Seder

· Miraculous Leprosy in a House – Leviticus 14:33-53

· Summary of Leviticus Chapters 13-14

Reading Assignment:

The Torah Anthology, Volume 11, The Divine Service, pp. 301-328

By: Hakham Yitschak Magrisso

Translated by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan

Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1991

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan

for: Vayiqra (Leviticus) 14:33-57

Rashi	Targum Pseudo-Jonathan
33. And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,	33. And the Lord spoke with Mosheh and with Aharon, saying,
34. When you come to the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as a possession, and I place a lesion of tzara'ath upon a house in the land of your possession,	34. When you have entered upon the land of Kenaan which I will give you for a possession, and a man who has built a house by rapine finds that I have put the plague of leprosy in the house of the land of your inheritance;
35. and the one to whom the house belongs comes and tells the kohen, saying, "Something like a lesion has appeared to me in the house,"	35. and he who owns the house will come to the priest, saying, There is a plague, as it appears to me, in the house:
36. the kohen shall order that they clear out the house, before the kohen comes to look at the lesion, so that everything in the house should not become unclean. After this, the kohen shall come to look at the house.	36. then the priest will direct that they make the house empty before the priest comes to inspect the house, that all that is in the house may not be (condemned as) unclean; and after that the priest will go in to inspect the house.
37. And he shall look at the lesion. Now, [if] the lesion in the walls of the house consists of dark green or dark red sunken looking stains, appearing as if deeper than the wall,	37. And the priest will look, and, behold, if the plague be like (the color of) two beans crushed with stones, and goes lower than the four walls, green or red, and its appearance be deeper than the walls;
38. then the kohen shall go out of the house to the entrance of the house, and he shall quarantine the house for seven days.	38. the priest will go out from the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days.
39. Then the kohen shall return on the seventh day and look [at the house]. Now, [if] the lesion has spread in the walls of the house,	39. And the priest, returning on the seventh day, will look, and, behold, if the breadth of the plague has increased in the wall of the house,
40. the kohen shall order that they remove the stones upon which the lesion is [found], and they shall cast them away outside the city, to an unclean place.	40. then the priest will direct that they break out the stones which have the plague in them, and throw them without the city into an unclean place.
41. And he shall scrape out the house from the inside, all around, and they shall pour out the [mortar] dust from what they scraped, outside the city, into an unclean place.	41. And they will scrape the inside of the house round about, and throw the dust which they have scraped off without the city into an unclean place.
42. And they shall take other stones and bring them instead of those stones. And he shall take other [mortar] dust, and plaster the house.	42. And they will take other stones, and insert them in the place of the (former) stones, and let other mortar be taken, and the house be replastered.
43. And if the lesion returns and erupts in the house, after he had removed the stones, and after the house had been scraped around and after it had been plastered,	43. But if the plague return and increase in the house, after the stones have been broken out, and after the house has been scraped, and after that it has been replastered,
44. then the kohen shall come and look [at it]. Now, [if] the lesion in the house has spread, it is malignant tzara'ath in the house; it is unclean.	44. then the priest will come and look, and, behold, (if) the breadth of the plague has increased in the house, it is a plain leprosy in the house, it is unclean.
45. He shall demolish the house, its stones, its wood, and all the [mortar] dust of the house, and he shall take [them] outside the city, to an unclean place.	45. Then will they destroy that house, and its stones, and its timber, and all the plaster of the house, and lie will remove it without the city to an unclean place.
46. And anyone entering the house during all the days of its quarantine shall become unclean until the evening.	46. And whoever goes into the house in the days that it is shut up, will be unclean until evening.
47. And whoever lies down in the house, shall immerse his garments, and whoever eats in the house, shall immerse his garments.	47. And whoever sleeps in the house will wash his clothes, and whoever eats in the house will wash his clothes.
48. But if the kohen comes and comes again and looks [at the lesion], and behold, the lesion did not spread in the house, after the house has been plastered, the kohen shall pronounce the house clean, because the lesion has healed.	48. But if, having gone in, the priest looks, and, behold the breadth of the plague has not increased in the house, after the house hath been plastered, then the priest will make the house to be clean, for the plague has healed.
49. To [ritually] cleanse the house, he shall take two birds, a cedar stick, a strip of crimson [wool], and hyssop.	49. And he will take, for the purification plague of the house, two turtle doves and cedar-wood and scarlet and hyssop;
50. He shall slaughter one bird into an earthenware vessel, over spring water.	50. and the slayer will kill one turtle dove in a vessel of earthenware with spring water;
51. And he shall take the cedar stick, the hyssop, the strip of crimson [wool], and the live bird, and he shall dip them into the blood of slaughtered bird and into the spring water and sprinkle towards the house seven times.	51. and he will take the cedar-wood and the hyssop and the scarlet and the living bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that had been killed and in the spring water, and sprinkle the house seven times.
52. And he shall [thus] cleanse the house with the blood of the bird, the spring water, the live bird, the cedar wood, the hyssop and the strip of crimson [wool].	52. And he will purify the house with the blood, with the living bird, and with the cedar-wood, and with the hyssop, and with the scarlet.
53. He shall then send away the live bird outside the city, onto the [open] field. He shall thus effect atonement for the house, and it will be clean.	53. And the living bird he will send forth out of the town upon the face of the field, and will atone for the house, and it will be clean. But if it is to be that the house will be again struck with leprosy, the bird on that day will return, and may be fit for food. But the bird that was killed will the priest bury in the presence of the owner of the house.
54. [All] this is the law for every lesion of tzara'ath, and for a nethek,	54. This is the decree of instruction in the law for every plague of leprosy and scorbutus,
55. And for tzara'ath of garments and houses,	55. and for leprosy in apparel, or in a house;
56. And for a se'eith and for a sapachath and for a bahereth;	56. and for tumors, scars, and inflamed blotches.
57. To render decisions regarding the day of uncleanness and the day of cleanness. This is the law of tzara'ath.	57. That the priest may teach the people to discern between the day of darkness in which they may not be able to see the plague, and the day of light; and between a man who is unclean and a man who is clean. This will be the decree of instruction for the leprosy.

Welcome to the World of P’shat Exegesis

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

The Seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel are as follows

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rashi’s Commentary for Vayiqra (Lev.) 14:33-57

34 and I place a lesion of tzara’ath Heb. וְנָתַתִּי , lit. and I will give. This is [good] news for them that lesions of tzara’ath will come upon them, (Torath Kohanim 14:75), because the Amorites had hidden away treasures of gold inside the walls of their houses during the entire forty years that the Israelites were in the desert, and through the lesion, he will demolish the house (see verses 43-45) and find them.-[Vayikra Rabbah 17:6]

35 Something like a lesion has appeared to me in the house Even a Torah scholar, who knows that it is definitely a lesion [of tzara’ath], shall not make his statement using a decisive expression, saying, “A lesion has appeared to me,” but, “Something like an lesion has appeared to me” [out of respect for the kohen, who is to make the decision].-[Nega’im 12:5]

36 before the kohen comes... since as long as the kohen has not yet become involved with the house [in question], the law of uncleanness does not yet apply to it.

so that everything in the house should not become unclean For if they do not clear it out, and the kohen comes and sees the lesion, the house will have to be quarantined and everything inside it will become unclean. Now, for what objects did the Torah have consideration? If it was upon vessels that require immersion [in a mikvah to cleanse them], then [instead of having them removed,] let him immerse them, and they will become clean. And if it was upon food and drink, then [instead of removing them, let them become unclean] and he can eat and drink them during his period of uncleanness. Hence, the Torah has consideration only for earthenware vessels, which cannot be cleansed by [immersion in] a mikvah [and would thus undergo permanent damage if they became unclean].-[Nega’im 12:5]

37 sunken-looking stains Heb., שְׁקַעֲרוּרֽת , sunken (שׁוֹקְעוֹת) in their appearance (בְּמַרְאֵיהֶן) . -[Torath Kohanim 14:89]

40 they remove the stones Heb. וְחִלְּצוּ , as the Targum [Onkelos] renders: וְיִשְׁלְפוּן , “they shall remove them from there,” similar to, “[Then his brother’s wife shall...] remove (וְחָלְצָה) his shoe” (Deut. 25:9), an expression of removal.

to an unclean place [I.e.,] a place where clean things are not used. This verse teaches us that these [unclean] stones contaminate their place as long as they are there. -[Torath Kohanim 4:96]

41 scraped out Heb. יַקְצִעַ , rogner in French, or rodoniyer in Old French, to clip, to trim. This term occurs many times in the language of the Mishnah, [for example, Kelim 27:4, 5, B.K. 66b, Chul. 123b]. [Note that the spelling in Mikraoth Gedoloth is different. I have not found such a spelling in any dictionary. Greenberg, however, writes that Tobler and Lommatszch, Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch gives fifteen spellings for this word.]

inside Heb., מִבַּיִת , inside.

all around Heb. סָבִיב , around the lesion. In Midrash Torath Kohanim, it is thus expounded, namely, that he shall scrape out the plaster surrounding the afflicted stones.

they scraped Heb. הִקְצוּ , an expression denoting an edge (קָצֶה) . [I.e.,] that they scrape off (קִצְּעוּ) around the edges (קְצוֹת) of the lesion.

43 had been scraped הִקְצוֹת , an expression of having been done, [i. e., the passive], and so is "it had been plastered (הִטּוֹחַ) ". However, [in] “he had removed (חִלֵּץ) the stones,” the expression refers to the person who had removed them, and this is [an example of] the intensive verb form [called pi’el, which has a dagesh in the middle letter of the root form], like [the verbs] כִּפֵּר [with a dagesh in the פּ ] and דִּבֵּר [with a dagesh in the בּ ].

And if...the lesion returns One might think that if it returned on that same day, it would be deemed unclean. Scripture, therefore, states (verse 39), “Then the kohen shall return (וְשָׁב הַכּֽהֵן) ,” [the same term as in our verse, namely,], “and if... [the lesion] returns (וְאִם יָשׁוּב) .” Just as the return (שִׁיבָה) of the kohen mentioned there, is at the end of a week, so is the return [of the lesion] mentioned here, at the end of a week.-[Torath Kohanim 14:105]

44 Then the kohen shall come and look [at it]. Now, [if] the lesion...has spread [From here,] one might think that a recurrent lesion [in a house] can be deemed unclean only if it spreads. However, the term צָרַעַת מַמְאֶרֶת , “malignant tzara’ath,” is mentioned in reference to houses, and צָרַעַת מַמְאֶרֶת is mentioned in reference to garments (see verse 13: 52). [Through the exposition of a גְזֵרָה שָׁוָה we derive that] just as over there [in the case of garments,] a recurrent lesion is deemed unclean even if it had not spread, here too, [in the case of houses,] a recurrent lesion is deemed unclean even if it has not spread. If so, what does Scripture teach us here when it says, "Now, [if] the lesion... has spread..."? [in answer to this question, Rashi explains that the verses here should not be understood in the order in which they are written. Rather, they should be read in a different order, because] this is not the place for this verse. [I.e., the first section of this verse, namely, “Then the kohen shall come and look [at it]. Now [if] the lesion in the house has spread,” is to be understood by inserting it elsewhere within these verses, as follows]: “He shall demolish the house...” (verse 45), should be [understood as if] written after “And if... the lesion returns...” (verse 43), [skipping over the first section of verse 44], and then [reinserting this first section of our verse] “Then the kohen shall come and look... the lesion in the house has spread.” Thus, [when our verse says that the kohen looks at the lesion, the phrase, “[if] the lesion...has spread”] comes to teach [us] only about a lesion which remains the same during the first week [of quarantine], but when he came at the end of the second week [of quarantine], he found that it had spread. For in the earlier verses, Scripture does not explicitly tell us about a case where the lesion had remained with the same appearance after the first week [of quarantine]. Here, though, Scripture teaches you with this mention of spreading, that it is referring only to a lesion that has remained the same for the first week but spread during the second [week]. So what shall he do to it? I may think that he should demolish it, as is written immediately following it, “He shall demolish the house....” (verse 45). Scripture, therefore, says (verse 39), “the kohen shall return,” and [here], “the kohen shall come.” Just as in the case of “returning” [i.e., when the kohen returned after one week and the lesion had spread], he must remove [the unclean stones], scrape, and plaster, and give it another week [of quarantine], likewise, in the case of “coming” [i.e., where the lesion has remained the same for the first week, but spread during the second week], he must remove [the unclean stones], scrape, and plaster and then give it a week [of quarantine]. And, if it recurs again, he must demolish [the house]. If it does not recur, [however,] it is clean. Now, how do we know that if it remained the same during this and this, [i.e., during the first and second weeks], he must [also] remove [the unclean stones], scrape, plaster, and give it a [third] week [of quarantine]? Therefore, Scripture [here] says, “the kohen shall come (וּבָא) ,” and [in verse 48, it says], “if the kohen comes and comes [again] (בּֽא יָבֽא) ” What is Scripture referring to? If [you suggest that it means a lesion] that spread during the first week [of quarantine], this has already been mentioned [in verse 43]; if [you suggest that verse 48 is referring to a lesion] that spread during the second [week], this has already been mentioned [in our verse]; so [one must conclude that verse 48], “if the kohen comes and comes [again],” [is referring to the case that] he comes (בּֽא) at the end of the first week [of quarantine] and comes [again] (יָבֽא) at the end of the second week [of quarantine], and looks, and [as is continued in verse 48], “behold, the lesion did not spread” [i.e., it has remained the same throughout]. What shall he do to it? One might think that he should dismiss [the case] and depart, as it is written here (48) “the kohen shall pronounce the house clean.” Scripture, however, continues there, “because the lesion has healed.” [God says:] I deemed clean only what was healed. What shall be done with it [if the lesion has remained the same during the first and second weeks, and has not yet healed]? “Coming” is stated above [in verse 44, “the kohen shall come”], and “coming” is stated here [in verse 48, “if the kohen comes...and comes [again]”]; just as in the case above (verse 44), he must remove [the unclean stones], scrape, plaster, and give it a week [of quarantine], a law which we learned through the link made between the terms “returning” and “coming,” likewise, in the case below, [in the question of a lesion that has remained the same through the two weeks, the owner shall remove the unclean stones, scrape, plaster, and observe a week of quarantine]. The above is taught in Torath Kohanim (14: 105). The conclusion of this matter is: Demolition [of an afflicted house] is required only when the lesion recurs after the removal [of the unclean stones], scraping, and plastering. The recurring lesion does not require spreading [to necessitate demolition]. Hence, the sequence of the verses is as follows: (Verse 43), “And if [after he had removed the stones, and after the house had been scraped around and after it had been plastered, the lesion] returns”; then (verse 44, second section),"it is malignant tzara’ath...it is unclean"]; then (verse 45), “He shall demolish the house...,” and (verse 46), “Anyone entering the house [...shall become unclean],” and (verse 47), “[And one who lies down...] and one who eats in the house [shall immerse...]”; [at this juncture, just before verse 48, the second section of our verse (44) is now inserted in the sequence, namely,] "Then the kohen shall come and look...the lesion in the house has spread"—[and, as above, now we know that] Scripture here is referring to a case where the lesion remained the same during the first week [of quarantine], so a second week of quarantine is applied, and at the end of this second week of its quarantine, he comes and sees that it has spread. What should he do with it? The owner must remove [the unclean stones], scrape, plaster, and give it another [i.e., a third] week [of quarantine]. Now, if the lesion recurs, he must demolish, but if it does not recur, [the house is deemed clean, and] birds are required [along with the whole cleansing procedure, because lesions are never quarantined for more than three weeks. [See Rashi on verse 48 below, which is understood in light of this Rashi.]

46 during all the days of its quarantine However, not [someone entering the house] during the days that he scrapes off the lesion [during which time the house does not defile those who enter it, until the quarantine period begins]. But [if this is so,] one might think, if a lesion is pronounced definitely unclean [and the house is slated for demolition], that if the owner [disregards the order to demolish the house, but instead, removes the unclean stones and] scrapes off its lesion, that this case is also excluded [i.e., this house shall also not defile those entering it]. Scripture, therefore, says: “during all the days” [in which the seemingly superfluous word “all” comes to include this case, that since this house is unclean and must be demolished, it will always defile those who enter it].-[Torath Kohanim 14:110].

[And anyone entering the house...] shall become unclean until the evening [Since no mention of immersing garments is made here, Scripture] teaches us that [the one who enters] the house does not defile [his] garments. One might think that even if he remained in the house for the time of אֲכִילַת פְּרָס כְּדֵּי -the length of time it takes someone to eat an average meal [i.e., half a loaf—that his garments would also remain undefiled]. Scripture, therefore, says: "(verse 47) “one who eats in the house shall immerse his garments.” We know only if one eats [that his garments become unclean]. How do we know that if someone lies down [in the house, his garments become unclean]? Therefore, Scripture says (verse 47),"And whoever lies down in the house, [shall immerse his garments]." I know only [that this law applies to] someone who either eats or lies down. How do we know that [this law applies also to] someone who did not eat or lie down [in the house]? Therefore, Scripture (verse 47),"shall immerse... shall immerse." [The repetition of this expression] includes [the case where the person merely stayed in the house, that his garments become unclean]. If so, why are eating and lying down mentioned? To give a measurement [of time] that it takes to eat half a loaf for one who lies down [i.e., only if someone lies down in the house for that period do his garments become unclean].-[Torath Kohanim 14:111]

48 [The following Rashi is more clearly understood after learning Rashi on verse 44.]

But if the kohen comes [...] and comes [again] At the end of the second week [of quarantine],

and looks [at the lesion], and behold, the lesion did not spread This verse comes to teach [us] about a lesion that has remained the same throughout [both] the first and second weeks [of quarantine]. And what should be done to it]? One might think that it should be pronounced clean, as is apparent from the plain meaning of this verse, which continues: “the kohen shall pronounce the house clean.” Scripture, however, concludes the verse with, “because the lesion has healed.” [God says:] I deem clean only [the lesion] that has healed. And “healed” means only a house which has been scraped and plastered, and the lesion did not recur. But this [house, in which the lesion has neither disappeared nor spread], requires removal [of the unclean stones], scraping, plastering, and a third week [of quarantine]. Thus, the following is how our verse is to be understood: "But if the kohen comes [...] and comes [again] at the end of the second [week of quarantine] and beholds, the lesion did not spread, he must plaster it, and there is no plastering without removing [the unclean stones] and scraping. [Then] after the house has been plastered, the kohen shall [pronounce] the house clean if the lesion did not recur at the end of the week [of quarantine], because the lesion has healed." But if it recurs, Scripture has already explained regarding a [house with a] recurring lesion, that it requires demolition.

57 To render decisions regarding the day of uncleanness [I.e., to determine] which day renders it clean and which day renders it unclean.

Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 79:5-13

Rashi	Targum
1. A song of Asaph. O God! Nations have come into Your heritage, they have defiled Your Holy Temple, they have made Jerusalem into heaps.	1. A psalm composed by Asaph about the destruction of the Temple. He said in the spirit of prophecy: O God, the Gentiles are entering Your inheritance; they have defiled Your holy temple, they have made Jerusalem a desolation.
2. They have given the corpses of Your servants as food to the birds of the heaven, the flesh of Your pious ones to the beasts of the earth.	2. They have given the bodies of Your servants to the birds of heaven for food, the flesh of Your pious ones to the wild beasts.
3. They have spilt their blood like water around Jerusalem, and no one buries [them].	3. They have poured out their blood like water around Jerusalem, and there is none to bury.
4. We were a disgrace to our neighbors, ridicule and derision to those around us.	4. We have become a disgrace to our neighbors, a subject of scorn and mockery to our surroundings.
5. How long, O Lord? Will You be wroth forever? Will Your jealousy burn like fire?	5. How long, O LORD, will You be fierce forever? How long will Your zeal burn like fire?
6. Pour out Your wrath upon the nations that do not know You and upon the kingdoms that did not call out in Your name.	6. Pour out Your wrath on the Gentiles who have not known You, and on the kingdoms who have not prayed in Your name.
7. For they devoured Jacob and made his dwelling desolate.	7. For they have destroyed the house of Jacob, and made desolate his sanctuary.
8. Do not remember for us the early iniquities; may Your mercies quickly come before us for we have become very poor.	8. Do not remember against us trespasses which were from the beginning; in haste, may Your favors go before us, for we have become very destitute.
9. Help us, O God of our salvation, on account of the glory of Your name, and save us and atone for our sins for Your name's sake.	9. Help us, O God our redemption, because of Your glorious name; and redeem us, and atone for our sins, for the sake of Your name.
10. Why should the nations say, "Where is their God?" Let it be known among the nations before our eyes the revenge of the spilt blood of Your servants.	10. Why should the Gentiles say, "Where is their God?" Let the punishment for the blood of Your servants that has been spilled be revealed in our sight among the Gentiles.
11. May the cry of the prisoner come before You; according to the greatness of Your arm, set free the children of the mother who died.	11. Let the groan of the prisoners come before You like the great strength of Your arm; release the children who have been handed over to death.
12. And return to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom, their reproach with which they reproached You, O Lord.	12. And give back to our neighbors a seven-fold requital for the punishment of their oaths, and the aspersions they cast on You, O LORD.
13. But we, Your people and the flock of Your pasture, shall thank You forever; to all generations we shall recite Your praise.	13. But we are Your people, and the sheep of Your pasture; we will give thanks in Your presence forever; for all generations we will recite Your praise.

Rashi’s Commentary for: Psalms 79:1-13

5 How long Heb. עד מה [lit. until what.] Until when?

Your jealousy Your wrath, that You are jealous to wreak vengeance, an expression of (Exod. 20: 5): “a jealous (קנא) God,” emportement or enprenemant in Old French, zealous anger.

11 set free Heb. הותר, release the prisoners from their prison, as (below 105: 20): “A king sent and released him (ויתירהו) ”; (146:7), “sets loose (מתיר) the bound.”

the children of the mother who died The children of her who was killed because of You; enmorinede in Old French, doomed to die. There is an example in the Sages’ language: “It is better that Jews eat the flesh of slaughtered dying beasts rather than eat the flesh of the carcasses of dying animals.” That means the flesh of a dying animal that was slaughtered, in tractate Kiddushin (21b).

Meditation from the Psalms

Psalms 79:5-13

By: H.Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

I am going to repeat the introduction from the first part of our chapter of Psalms.

The superscription of this psalm ascribes authorship to Assaf, son of Qorach. Assaf composed many psalms, whose relationship to his personal life is not readily apparent. In this case however, Midrash Shocher Tov^[1] explains that Assaf's approach to this subject can be understood by means of a parable:

A beggar's daughter once went to fill her earthenware jug at a well. Much to her dismay, the rope snapped and her jug fell deep into the well. The poor girl was crushed by the loss of her only vessel, for she knew that no one would make an effort to retrieve such an inexpensive utensil Suddenly, however, the king's daughter arrived to draw some well water in her golden pitcher. Accidently, this precious pitcher also tumbled into the well. Upon observing this, the beggar's daughter burst into a joyous dance, saying 'The person who descends into the pit to retrieve the princess' precious pitcher will be able to retrieve my jug as well!'

Midrash Shocher Tov explains that Assaf had been distressed when his father, Qorach, was swallowed into the bowels of the earth.^[2] He lost all hope for his father's return, until he received a prophetic vision that the gates of the Temple would also be swallowed by the earth, while the rest of the Sanctuary was destroyed. The vision concluded with these very same gates being raised it to their former glory. Then Assaf became ecstatic. He composed this psalm, saying, 'He who shall descend to the bowels of the earth to retrieve the Temple's gates will also raise my father, Qorach'.^[3]

This famous chapter of Psalms discusses the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) and the hope for Divine retribution. Sephardim recite this chapter on Tammuz17.

Was the act of the Churban Beit HaMikdash (the Destruction of the Temple) a totally negative event or really a hidden positive one? Tehillim Chapter 79 holds the answer. This chapter deals with the gruesome details of the Temple's Destruction, and yet it begins with the words, "A song to Assaf". The Talmud in Kiddushin 31b asks if it would have been more appropriate to start with the words, "A lament to Asaf". Why should the Psalm dealing with the terrible and catastrophic events of the Churban start with the word, "Mizmor", which means a song?

The answer is that at the time of the Temple's Destruction the Jewish Nation had sunk to such a low spiritual level that it was in danger of total extinction! How did we survive? Instead of pouring His wrath upon us, G-d expended it by destroying the wood and stone of His very own Temple! G-d make Himself homeless in order to guarantee our eternal survival. So, what appears as destruction is in fact a hidden act of compassion, designed to insure the survival and the eventual full recovery of G-d's Holy Nation.

Our section of the Psalms turns from the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, to our prayer for retribution and acknowledgement that we are the one who praise HaShem. The Mishkan was the collateral for the Bne Israel. Despite the somber tone of the mizmor, the underlying point, of this chapter of Psalms, is that the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash actually saved the Jewish people from annihilation.

The Gemara in Kiddushin (31b) records that Avimi once served a cup of water to his father, R. Avahu. Finding his father sleeping, Avimi stood there waiting from him to awaken. In the meantime, he was inspired to interpret the Psalm (79), "A song to Assaf: the nations have entered Your inheritance, they have turned Jerusalem into ruins!" Rashi explains that Avimi found the usage of the word, "mizmor", a song, difficult. When speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem, the word, "kina", a dirge, would have been more appropriate! He answered similarly to the aforementioned teaching that the song refers to the fact that HaShem took out his wrath on wood and stones and preserved the Jewish people.

Why did Avimi expound on this particular verse at this precise time? Rav Pincus^[4] explained that standing over his father, refusing to just place the cup on the table, Avimi realized how much love existed between father and son. He used this as a tool to understand the relationship between our Father in Heaven and Bne Israel. Because of this great love, Avimi realized that clearly the destruction of the Mikdash was not an act of Divine punishment intending to banish the Jewish people forever. A father always loves his child. The destruction must be interpreted as a necessary separation to preserve, rather than destroy, the Jewish people.

The destruction of the Temple demonstrates HaShem’s love for His people. Sometimes HaShem finds it necessary, in His merciful ways, to punish the Bne Israel. Even this, however, is also for their ultimate good. Hardships melt away a person’s sins.^[5] Unbelievable! The Temple lay in ruins and Jerusalem destroyed but we must thank G-d. It could have been worse; the Jewish people could have been wiped out forever.

The Cherubim, in The Temple, were child like creatures with wings. They were male and female and they embraced each other when the Bne Israel were close to HaShem in our walk. The faced each other perfectly. When we, as a nation, were far from HaShem, the Cherubim were not embracing and had their backs to each other. They mirrored our relationship to HaShem.

Yoma 54a Kattina said: Whenever Israel came up to the Festival, the curtain would be removed for them and the Cherubim were shown to them, whose bodies were intertwisted with one another, and they would be thus addressed: Look! You are beloved before God as the love between man and woman.

When the Babylonians destroyed the Temple, they dragged the embracing cherubim through the streets to show what the Jews worshipped. This embarrassed the Jews who were violating this love. Why were they embracing at the time of our greatest apostasy? The answer is that this was the love of HaShem when He had to punish us in order that we should return to Him. Surely this was the time when He was showing us His greatest love!

From this understanding, Rashi quotes:

Eicha (Lamentations) 4:11 HaShem hath accomplished His fury, He hath poured out His fierce anger; and He hath kindled a fire in Zion, which hath devoured the foundations thereof.

Notice that the Prophet uses the name of HaShem to speak of ‘fury’. Since this is the name that HaShem uses when He is exercising the attribute of loving-kindness, we can understand that He is showing us His love in the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash – His house!

Never forget that the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash represents a time when HaShem was showing His love to His people. We are the lively stones! It is the Bne Israel that HaShem wants to dwell with!

1 Tsefet (Peter) 2:1-10 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord [is] gracious. To whom coming, [as unto] a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, [and] precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Yeshua HaMashiach. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe [he is] precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, [even to them] which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: Which in time past [were] not a people, but [are] now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Mystically, we should understand the destruction of the Temple as the destruction of the body of Mashiach, composed of all Israel.^[6] When we (Israel) bring disunity to the body of Mashiach it is manifested in the destruction of the Temple which represents Mashiach’s body, as Yochanan proclaims:

Yochanan (John 2:18-22) Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Yeshua answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture, and the word which Yeshua had said.

The Talmud Yerushalmi^[7] writes that every generation in which the Temple, which was destroyed on Tisha B’Ab, is not rebuilt, should consider itself as if the Temple was destroyed in its days. We mourn the loss of the Temple, those lively stones which are fit as a dwelling place for HaShem, on the 9th of Ab. However, do we yearn for the Temple to the extent that we have a drive to improve so that we should merit it being rebuilt? Do we feel the spiritual void that exists and therefore strive to perfect our character, to deal with our fellow man properly in business and social relationships, to adhere to HaShem’s mitzvot and study His Torah with faith and devotion? If we do not attempt to better ourselves, we show, as the generations of the destruction did, a lack of love for HaShem’s Temple, His Beit HaMikdash, His lively stones. We would be just as responsible for the destruction of the Temple as the generation in which it was destroyed.^[8]

“Out of the mouth of the Most High”, proclaims the prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of his lament over the destruction of the Holy Temple and the exile of Israel, “do not emerge both evil and good”.^[9] This is a basic tenet of the Jewish faith: G-d is the essence of good, and since everything in existence derives solely from Him, evil has no true existence.^[10] There is only “revealed good” and “hidden good”. What we experience as “evil” is, in truth, hidden good—good that we, because of the limits of our perception, are incapable of perceiving as such.

The Talmud cites two stories that illustrate this point. The first involves Rabbi Akiva:^[11]

Rabbi Akiva taught: A person should always say: “Everything that G-d does, He does for the good.” Rabbi Akiva was once traveling, when he arrived in a certain town. He asked for lodgings and was refused. Said he: “Everything that G-d does, He does for the good”,^[12] and went to spend the night in a field.

He had with him a rooster, a donkey and a lamp. A wind came and extinguished the lamp, a cat came and ate the rooster, a lion came and ate the donkey. Said he: “Everything that G-d does, He does for good.” That night, an army came and took the entire town captive. Said Rabbi Akiva to his disciples: “Did I not tell you that everything that G-d does, He does for good?”^[13] (If the lamp had been lit, the army would have seen me; if the donkey would have brayed or the rooster would have called, the army would have come and captured me.^[14])

The other story is about Nachum Ish Gam Zu:

Why was he called Nachum Ish Gam Zu (“Nachum This Too”)?^[15] Because whatever happened to him, he would say: “This, too, is for the good.” Once the Jews wanted to send a gift to the [Roman] Emperor. “Who will go?” they asked. “Let Nachum go, for he is well acquainted with miracles.” They sent along with him a chest full of precious stones and pearls. On the way, he stayed at an inn. During the night, the innkeepers took the contents of the chest and filled it with earth. In the morning, when Nachum saw [what happened], he said: “This, too, is for good.”

When he arrived there, he gave the chest to the king. When the king saw that it was filled with earth, he wanted to kill all [the Jews] and said: “The Jews are mocking me!” Said Nachum: “This, too, is for good.”

Elijah the Prophet appeared disguised as one of the king’s ministers and said: “Perhaps this is the dust of their father Abraham, who would throw dust that turned into spears and straw that turned into arrows?”^[16] There was a country which [the Roman armies] could not conquer; they tried [the earth brought by Nachum] and succeeded in conquering it. So, they took Nachum into the Emperor’s treasury, filled his chest with precious stones and pearls, and sent him off with great honor.^[17]

OK, so the destruction of the Temple that Assaf deals with in our chapter of Psalms is a merciful act. Why then, did so many tragedies befall us on the same date? (The bad report of the spies, the destruction of both the first and the second Temples, the slaughter at Betar, Esau’s confrontation with Yaaqob, the expulsion form England, the expulsion from Spain, and World War 1.)

The Talmud reveals to us the answer to this question:

Ta’anit 29a “Reward is saved for a day of merit, and destruction is saved for a day of guilt”

According to the Mishna. Because our forefathers committed such a terrible sin on the ninth of Ab in the days of Moshe, the day became one reserved for destruction. Every year, when that day comes around, the original sin of our forefathers is brought back to light. Since we have not yet fully corrected their misdeeds, HaShem may not extend to us His usual lovingkindness on that day, leaving us vulnerable to impending adversity. The ninth of Ab has thus become a “weak link” in the chain of Jewish history.

The Sages of the Talmud, in Sanhedrin 90a, tell us that whenever HaShem punishes someone it is always done in such a way that the punishment corresponds to the sin that was committed (Middah kneged Middah, “Measure for measure”). One classic example of this is the punishment of the Egyptians who enslaved the Bnai Israel. The Egyptians persecuted the Israelites through water, by drowning Jewish babies in the Nile river^[18], and their ultimate punishment was that they themselves were drowned in the Red Sea.^[19]

As we have pointed out, the catastrophic events of the ninth of Ab were all precipitated by the original sin of Moshe’s generation. Here, too, it can be shown that the specific events that transpired on these days were all clearly wrought with the theme of “Middah Keneged Middah”, measure for measure.

Let us first consider what the Tisha B’Ab sin of our ancestors was. The Jews sent spies to scout out the Land of Israel prior to entering in. The spies brought a bad report, and the people believed the bad report. Instead of trusting in HaShem and His appointed leaders, the people rallied rebelliously behind the sinful spies.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 14:1 “The people wept all through that night”.

This sin, the Mishna tells us, took place on Tisha B’Ab. “That night that the people wept was Tisha B’Ab eve. HaShem said to them, `You wept on this day for no good reason; I will establish this day as a day of weeping for all generations’”^[20]. The tragedies that befell the Jews throughout the generations were apparently further punishments for the original sinful act committed by the generation of the Exodus.

The Torah tells us that the punishment meted out immediately to those who allied themselves with the spies was that they would have to wander about in the desert for forty years:

Bamidbar (Numbers) 14:34 “one year for each day” of the spies’ excursion.

The Torah makes it clear that the punishment of forty years in the desert was “measure for measure”, forty for forty. Can we say the same of the latter-day punishments, the four tragedies listed in the Mishna in Ta’anit? A closer examination reveals that in fact we may.

The sin of the Bnai Yisrael was that they rejected the Land of Israel. They were willing to pass up possession of the Promised Land, not even trying to conquer it, although HaShem had already told them of its unique virtues.

The fall of the Temples that took place centuries later was more than just a loss of the opportunity to perform the sacrificial rite ordained by the Torah. It was the event that, symbolically and actually, spelled the end of organized Jewish settlement in Israel. The destruction of the Temple and the concept of exile are always considered to be two sides of the same coin by our Sages^[21]. The Torah itself seems to make this connection in:

Vayikra (Leviticus) 26:31-2 “I will destroy your Temple... and will scatter you among the nations.”

It is clear that the punishment of the destruction of the Temple, which is tantamount to exile of the population, has a very close correlation with the original sin of Tisha B’Ab. Because the Bne Israel expressed on Tisha B’Ab an unwillingness to accept the gift of the Land of Israel, they eventually lost the Land of Israel on that same date.

Betar was the central stronghold of the Bar Kochba rebellion against Rome^[22]. Some sixty years after the destruction of the second Temple the Jews, led by the charismatic and courageous Bar Kochba, tried to throw off the Roman yoke from their necks. They even succeeded to some degree in establishing an autonomous Jewish state in Israel for several years (132-135 CE). When the Bar Kochba uprising was finally put down by the Romans with the fall of Betar, it effectively represented the end of any Jewish hope to sovereignty in the land of Israel for the foreseeable future. This too, then, is clearly an appropriate punishment for the original sin of the spies and their rejection of the Land of Israel.

The events of Tisha B’Ab can be interpreted along the same lines. The final razing of Jerusalem was designed to quash any hopes among the Jews for a restoration of their sovereignty, or even of their ability to dwell, in the city. The resulting exile has gone on for more than two thousand years. This exile is meant to cause us to return to HaShem, to see His chastisements as a measure of His love for us.

Apart from the mitzva to pray every day, there is a special commandment to pray in times of national calamity. According to the Rambam in the beginning of Hilchot Taaniyot, the verse:^[23]

Bamidbar (Numbers) 10:9 “And if war should come upon your land, the enemy who troubles you, you shall blow on the trumpets“

Is not a commandment simply to blow the trumpets, but rather includes prayer and petition. Even the Ramban, who rules (in opposition to the Rambam) that daily prayer is only a Rabbinic commandment, admits at least partially that there is a Torah commandment to pray in times of calamity. He declares, “And if perhaps they interpret prayer as a biblically-derived principle... then this is a mitzva for times of calamity...”^[24].

The foundation for the obligation to cry out to HaShem in times of calamity is the obligation of teshuva. And so, the Rambam continues, “And this is part of teshuva...” There is a special obligation of teshuva in times of calamity, as it is written:

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 4:30 “When you are in distress and all these things befall you... you shall return to HaShem your God”

The Rambam explains, “At a time when calamity strikes and they cry out and they blow on the trumpets, all will know that calamity has come upon them because of their evil deeds... and this is what will cause the calamity to be lifted from upon them. But if they do not cry out and do not blow [trumpets] but rather say, ‘This has happened to us since this is the way of the world, and this calamity is coincidental,’ this is the way of gross insensitivity, and will cause them to hold fast to their evil deeds, and other calamities will be added. This is what the Torah means when it says, ‘And if you walk crookedly (in Hebrew: “keri,” from the root of the word meaning “coincidence”) with Me then I will likewise walk crookedly with you’ - in other words, I shall bring calamity upon you in order that you return. If you maintain that your calamities are coincidental then I will increase those ‘coincidental’ calamities.”

The biblical obligation of prayer and teshuva, repentance, at a time of calamity is extended by Chazal to obligate fasting: “And the Hakhamim instructed that there should be fasting for every calamity, which comes upon the community, until Divine mercy is achieved”^[25]. And what stands at the center of these obligations is the Divine Providence, which watches over Knesset Yisrael and entreats them, calling: “Shuvu banim shovavim, Return, O backsliding children!” Obviously, the very obligation to pray and fast at a time of calamity is based on the assumption that by means of sincere and genuine teshuva the calamity will be removed.

As opposed to “calamity” (tzara) an “evil decree” (gezera) cannot be removed. It expresses not Divine Providence but rather the distancing of the Divine Presence and HaShem “hiding His face,” as it were. “Hakham Elazar said: Since the day on which the Temple was destroyed, there is a wall of iron that stands between Israel and their Father in Heaven”.^[26] The reaction to an evil decree is not prayer but rather mourning and surrender to HaShem’s inscrutable will. “And Hakham Elazar said: Since the day on which the Temple was destroyed, the gates of prayer are locked”^[27].

The seventeenth of Tammuz, despite the five tragic events, which took place on this day, is defined as a day of calamity. It is true that on this date the first set of tablets were shattered, but following prayer on the part of Moshe Rabbeinu and teshuva on the part of the nation, we merited to receive a second set of tablets. Likewise, on this date the walls of Jerusalem were indeed breached, the enemies stood ready to enter, and, therefore, it was a time of calamity for the Jewish nation. But it was only on Tisha B’Ab that a tragic decree was issued: “On Tisha B’Ab it was decreed upon our forefathers that they would not enter the land,” and despite Moshe’s entreaties, the attempts to mitigate the sharpness of the decree reached its tragic conclusion at Chorma.^[28]

On the other fasts there is a special obligation of prayer and entreaties. The Selichot and Torah portions read on these fasts, focus on Moshe Rabbenu’s prayer following the sin of the golden calf, the declaration of the Thirteen Attributes of Mercy. On the other hand, on Tisha B’Ab, the day established for weeping for all generations, we sit on the floor, read Eicha, Lamentations, and recite lamentations, and the Torah reading and haftara on this day speak of the destruction. This distinction between Tisha B’Ab and the other fasts was already formulated by Rabbenu David^[29]: “On Tisha B’Ab there is no ‘Neilah’ prayer, nor are twenty-four blessings recited, because [this day] is set aside not for prayer but rather for mourning.”^[30] Likewise, on Tisha B’Ab the “titkabel” clause is not included in the recitation of Kaddish^[31], and the Sheliach tzibbur, the prayer leader, does not recite “Aneinu” in his repetition of the Amida of Shacharit^[32]. Rav Soloveitchik, zt”l, explained that only on the other fasts does one fulfill the special obligation of prayer at a time of calamity, as explained above. But on Tisha B’Ab, “Even though I cry out and call for help, He has blocked my prayer”^[33]. Thus, even though Tisha B’Ab has the status of a fast day, it is still entirely different in its nature and purpose from any other public fast.

In terms of the other prohibitions of the day, Tisha B’Ab is again different from the other fasts. On one hand, there are prohibitions, which are similar to those of Yom HaKippurim^[34]. On the other hand, these prohibitions reflect the mourning of Tisha B’Ab, rather than the positive obligations of prayer and teshuva. The Gemara^[35] states, “The Hakhamim taught, all the laws pertaining to mourning apply on Tisha B’Ab as well; a person is forbidden to eat and drink^[36], to anoint his body, to wear leather shoes and to engage in sexual intercourse...”^[37]

In light of the above, let us return to the sugya in Rosh Hashana: “Tisha B’Ab is different since on this day many sorrows befell us.” According to the fundamental distinction which we have drawn between a calamity and a decree, we can explain that what we are referring to here is not a quantitative addition of calamities on Tisha B’Ab over and above those of any other fast. We are dealing not with a calamity but rather with a decree. Therefore, we do not fast within the framework of the obligations of prayer and teshuva in order that the calamity will pass, but rather as part of our expression of sorrow and mourning over the bitter decree.

If we are able to express our sorrow and mourning in teshuva, then, and only then, can we pray that HaShem would turn away His wrath and:

Tehillim (Psalms) 79:6 Pour out Thy wrath upon the nations that know Thee not, and upon the kingdoms that call not upon Thy name.

Ashlamatah: Isaiah 5:8-16 + 6:3

Rashi	Targum
8. ¶ Woe to those who join a house to a house; a field to a field they draw near; until there is no place, and you will be settled alone in the midst of the land.	8. Woe to those who join house to house, adding the field of oppression to their fields, saying: Until we posses every place – and thinking they will dwell alone in the midst of the land.
9. In my ears [spoke] the Lord of Hosts, "Truly, great houses shall become desolate, yea, large ones and good ones, without inhabitants.	9. The prophet said, This was decreed before the LORD of Hosts when I was hearing with my ears: “Surely many houses will be desolate, large and beautiful houses, without inhabitant.
10. For ten acres of vineyard will produce one bath, and the seed of a homer shall produce an ephah. {S}	10. For because of the sin that they did not give the tithes, a place of ten lots of vineyard will yield one bath, and a place of a cor of seed will yield three Seahs.”
11. Woe to those who rise early in the morning; they pursue strong wine. They sit until late in the evening; wine inflames them.	11. Woe to those who arise early in the morning to drink, running after old wine, tarrying to depart, spending the evening on their couches, the wine of oppression inflaming them!
12. And there are harp and lute, tambourine and flute, and wine at their drinking feasts; and the work of the Lord they do not regard, and the deed of His hands they have not seen.	12. And their feasts are by means of lyre and harp, lute and flute and wine; but they do not regard the Law of the LORD, or see the work of His might.
13. Therefore, My people shall go into exile because of lack of knowledge, and its esteemed ones shall die of hunger, and its multitude shall be parched from thirst.	13. Therefore My people go into exile because they did not know the Law and their honoured men die of hunger and their multitudes of scarcity, of drought.
14. Therefore, the nether-world has expanded itself and opened its mouth without measure, and her splendor and her populace and multitudes, shall descend and those who rejoice therein.	14. Therefore Sheol has enlarged its apetite and opened its mouth beyond measure, and their honoured men and their multitudes go down, their throng and he who is strong among them.
15. And man shall be humbled, and man shall be brought low, and the eyes of the haughty shall be brought low.	15. And a man is humbled and men’s strength is faint and the eyes of the haughty are humbled.
16. And the Lord of Hosts will be exalted in judgment, and the Holy God shall be hallowed with equity.	16. But the LORD is strong in judgment and God, the Holy One, is holy in virtue.
17. And lambs shall graze at their wont, and sojourners shall eat the ruins of the fat ones. {S}	17. Then will the righteous/generous be nurtured and increase as was said concerning them, and the righteous/generous will possess the possessions of the wicked/Lawless.
18. Woe to those who draw the iniquity with ropes of nothingness, and like cart ropes is the sin.	18. Woe to those who begin to sin a little, drawing sins with the cords of vanity, continuing and increasing until sins are strong as cart ropes.
19. Those who say, "Let Him hurry; let Him hasten His deed, so that we may see; and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel approach and come." {P}	19. who say, “When will He make haste, will He reveal His wonders that we may see? And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near, and let it come, that we may know it.”
1. ¶ In the year of the death of King Uzziah, I saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne, and His lower extremity filled the Temple.	1. In the year that King Uzziah was struck with it, the prophet said, I saw the glory of the LORD resting upon a throne, high and lifted up in the heavens of the height; and the Temple was filled by the brilliance of His glory.
2. Seraphim stood above for Him, six wings, six wings to each one; with two he would cover his face, and with two he would cover his feet, and with two he would fly.	2. Holy attendants were in the height before Him; each had six wings: with two He covered His face, that He might not see, and with two He covered His body, that He might not be seen, and with two He ministered.
3. And one called to the other and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory."	3. And one was crying to another saying, “Holy in the heavens of the height, His sanctuary, Holy upon the earth, the work of His might, Holy in eternity is the LORD of Hosts; the whole earth is filled with the brilliance of His glory.
4. And the doorposts quaked from the voice of him who called, and the House became filled with smoke.	4. And the posts of the Temple thresholds quacked from the sound of the speech and the Sanctuary was filled with the dense cloud.
5. And I said, "Woe is me for I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and amidst a people of unclean lips I dwell, for the King, the Lord of Hosts have my eyes seen.	5. And I said, “Woe is me! For I have sinned; for I am a man liable to chastisement, and I dwell in the midst of people that are defiled with sins; for my eyes have seen the glory of the Shekhinah of the eternal king, the LORD of Hosts!
6. And one of the seraphim flew to me, and in his hand was a glowing coal; with tongs he had taken it from upon the altar.	6. Then there was given to me one of the attendants and in his mouth there was a speech which he took before Him whose Shekhinah is upon the throne of glory in the heavens of the height, above the altar.
7. And he caused it to touch my mouth, and he said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity shall be removed, and your sin shall be atoned for."	7. And he arranged [it in] my mouth and said: “Behold, I have placed the words of My Prophecy in your mouth, and your sins will be taken away and your guilt atoned for.”
8. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I am; send me."	8. And I heard the voice of the Memra of the LORD which said: “Whom will I send to prophesy, and who will go to teach?” Then I said, “Here I am, send me.”
9. And He said, "Go and say to this people, 'Indeed you hear, but you do not understand; indeed you see, but you do not know.'	9. And He said, “Go and speak to thise people who hear indeed, but do not understand, and see indeed, but do not perceive.
10. This people's heart is becoming fat, and his ears are becoming heavy, and his eyes are becoming sealed, lest he see with his eyes, and hear with his ears, and his heart understand, and he repent and be healed."	10. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and repent and it is forgiven them.”
11. And I said, "Until when, O Lord?" And He said, "Until cities be desolate without inhabitant and houses without people, and the ground lies waste and desolate.	11. Then I said, “How long, O LORD?” And He said, “Until the cities are devastated, without inhabitant, and the houses without men, and the land lies desolate and devastated,
12. And the Lord removes the people far away, and the deserted places be many in the midst of the land.	12. and the LORD removes the sons of men and devastation increases in the midst of the land.
13. And when there is yet a tenth of it, it will again be purged, like the terebinth and like the oak, which in the fall have but a trunk, the holy seed is its trunk." {P}	13. And one in ten they will be left in it and they will again be for scorching like the terebinth of the oak, which when their leaves drop off appear dried up, and even then they are green enough to retain from them the seed. So the exiles of Israel will be gathered and they will return to their land.” For the holy seed is their stump.

Special Ashlamatah: Isaiah 40:1-26

Rashi	Targum
1. "Console, console My people," says your God.	1. Prophets, prophesy consolations to My people, says your God.
2. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and call to her, for she has become full [from] her host, for her iniquity has been appeased, for she has taken from the hand of the Lord double for all her sins.	2. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and prophesy to her that she is about to be filled with people of her exiles, that her sins have been forgiven her, that she has taken a cup of consolations before the LORD as if she suffered two for one for all her sins.
3. A voice calls, "In the desert, clear the way of the Lord, straighten out in the wilderness, a highway for our God."	3. A voice of one who cries: “In the wilderness clear the way before the people of the LORD, level in the desert highways before the congregation of our God.
4. Every valley shall be raised, and every mountain and hill shall be lowered, and the crooked terrain shall become a plain and the close mountains a champaigne.	4. All the valleys will be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground will become a plain and a baked place a vale.
5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see that the mouth of the Lord spoke.	5. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all the sons of flesh will see it together, for by the Memra of the LORD it is so decreed.”
6. A voice says, "Call!" and it says, "What shall I call?" "All flesh is grass, and all its kindness is like the blossom of the field.	6. A voice of one who says, “Prophesy!” And he answered and said, “What will I prophesy?” All the wicked/Lawless are as the grass, and all their strength like the chaff of the field.
7. The grass shall dry out, the blossom shall wilt, for a wind from the Lord has blown upon it; behold the people is grass.	7. The grass withers, its flower fades, for the spirit from the LORD blows upon it; surely the wicked/Lawless among the people are reckoned as the grass.
8. The grass shall dry out, the blossom shall wilt, but the word of our God shall last forever.	8. The wicked/Lawless dies, his conceptions perish; but the Word of our God stands forever.
9. Upon a lofty mountain ascend, O herald of Zion, raise your voice with strength, O herald of Jerusalem; raise [your voice], fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"	9. Get you up to a high mountain, prophets who herald good tidings to Zion; lift up your voice with force, you who herald good tidings to Jerusalem, lift up, fear not; say to the cities of the house of Judah, “The kingdom of your God is revealed!”
10. Behold the Lord God shall come with a strong [hand], and His arm rules for Him; behold His reward is with Him, and His recompense is before Him.	10. Behold, the LORD God is revealed with strength, and the strength of His mighty arm rules before Him; behold, the reward of those who perform His Memra is with him, all those whose deeds are disclosed before Him.
11. Like a shepherd [who] tends his flock, with his arm he gathers lambs, and in his bosom he carries [them], the nursing ones he leads.	11. Like the shepherd who feeds his flock, he gathers lambs in his arm, he carries tender ones in his bosom, and leads nursing ewes gently.
12. Who measured water with his gait, and measured the heavens with his span, and measured by thirds the dust of the earth, and weighed mountains with a scale and hills with a balance?	12. Who says these things? One who lives, speaks and acts, before whom all the waters of the world are reckoned as the drop in the hollow of hand and the length of the heavens as if with the span established, the dust of the earth as if measured in a measure and the mountains as if indeed weighed and the hills, behold just as in the balance.
13. Who meted the spirit of the Lord, and His adviser who informs Him?	13. Who established the holy spirit in the mouth of all the prophets, is it not the LORD? And to the righteous/ generous who perform His Memra He makes known the words of His pleasure.
14. With whom did He take counsel give him to understand, and teach him in the way of justice, and teach him knowledge, and the way of understandings did He let him know?	14. Those who besought before Him, He caused to apprehend wisdom and taught them the path of judgment and gave their sons the Law and showed the way of understanding to their son’s sons.
15. Behold the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and like dust on a balance are they counted; behold the islands are like fine [dust] that blows away.	15. Behold, the peoples are like the drop from a bucket, and are accounted like dust on the scales; behold, the islands are like the fine dust which flies.
16. And the Lebanon-there is not enough to burn, and its beasts-there is not enough for burnt offerings.	16. The trees of Lebanon will not supply sufficient (wood) for burning, nor are the beasts that are in it enough for a burn offering.
17. All the nations are as nought before Him; as things of nought and vanity are they regarded by Him.	17. All the peoples, their deeds are as nothing; they are accounted extirpation and destruction before Him.
18. And to whom do you compare God, and what likeness do you arrange for Him?	18. Why are you planning to contend before God, or what likeness do you prepare before Him?
19. The graven image, the craftsman has melted, and the smith plates it with gold, and chains of silver he attaches.	19. Behold the image! The workman makes it, and the smith overlays it with gold, and the smith attaches silver chains to it.
20. He who is accustomed to select, chooses a tree that does not rot; he seeks for himself a skilled craftsman, to prepare a graven image, which will not move.	20. He cuts down a laurel, he chooses the wood that rot does not attack; he seeks out a skillful craftsman to set up an image that will not move.
21. Do you not know, have you not heard has it not been told to you from the beginning? Do you not understand the foundations of the earth?	21. Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has not the fact of creation’s orders been told you from the beginning? Will you not understand, so as to fear before Him who created the foundations of the earth?
22. It is He Who sits above the circle of the earth, and whose inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heaven like a curtain, and He spread them out like a tent to dwell.	22. It is He who makes the Shekhinah of His glory dwell in the strong height, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reckoned before Him as grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a trifle and spreads them like a tent of glory for His Shekhinah’s house;
23. Who brings princes to nought, judges of the land He made like a thing of nought.	23. Who hands over rulers to weakness, and makes the judges of the earth as nothing.
24. Even [as though] they were not planted, even [as though] they were not sown, even [as though] their trunk was not rooted in the earth; and also He blew on them, and they dried up, and a tempest shall carry them away like straw.	24. Although they grow, although they increase, although their sons are exalted in the earth, He sends His anger among them, and they are ashamed and His Memra, as the whirlwind the chaff, will scatter them.
25. "Now, to whom will you compare Me that I should be equal?" says the Holy One.	25. Whom then will you liken before Me, and compare (Me): says the Holy One.
26. Lift up your eyes on high and see, who created these, who takes out their host by number; all of them He calls by name; because of His great might and because He is strong in power, no one is missing.	26. Lift up your eyes to the height and see, so as to fear before Him who created these, who brings out the forces of heaven by number, calling to all of them by their names; by an abundance of prodigies and because He is strong in force not one from its order is missing.

Rashi’s Commentary on Isaiah 40:1-26

1 Console, console My people He returns to his future prophecies; since from here to the end of the Book are words of consolations, this section separated them from the prophecies of retribution. Console, you, My prophets, console My people. 

2 for she has become full [from] her host Jonathan renders: She is destined to become full from the people of the exiles, as though it would say, “She has become full from her host.” Others interpret צְבָאָה like (Job 7:1), “Is there not a time (צָבָא) for man on the earth?”

has been appeased Heb. נִרְצָה, has been appeased.

for she has taken etc. [Jonathan paraphrases:] For she has received a cup of consolation from before the Lord as though she has been punished doubly for all her sins. According to its simple meaning, it is possible to explain, ‘for she received double punishment.’ Now if you ask, how is it the standard of the Holy One, blessed be He, to pay back a person double his sin, I will tell you that we find an explicit verse (Jer. 16:18): “And I will pay first the doubling of their iniquity and their sin.”

3 A voice The Holy Spirit calls, “In the desert, the way to Jerusalem.”

clear the way of the Lord for her exiles to return to her midst. [The Warsaw edition yields:]

Clear the way of the Lord The way of Jerusalem for her exiles to return to her midst.

4 Every valley shall be raised and the mountain shall be lowered, thus resulting in a smooth, even, and easily traversed road.

and the close mountains Heb. רְכָסִים, mountains close to each other, and because of their proximity, the descent between them is steep and it is not slanted, that it should be easy to descend and ascend. ([The word] רְכָסִים is translated by Jonathan as ‘banks,’ an expression of height like the banks of a river.)

close mountains Heb. רְכָסִים. Comp. (Ex. 28: 28) “And they shall fasten (וְיִרְכְּסוּ) the breastplate.”

a champaigne Canpayne in O.F., a smooth and even terrain. 

6 A voice from the Holy One, blessed be He, says to me, “Call!”

and it says My spirit says to Him, “What shall I call?” And the voice answers him, “Call this, all flesh is grass. All those who are haughty their greatness shall be turned over and become like grass. ([Manuscripts yield:] All the princes of the kingdom their greatness shall be turned over and shall wither away [lit. shall end] like grass.)

and all its kindness is like the blossom of the field For “the kindness of the nations is sin” (Prov. 14:34). [Ed. note: We have inverted the order of Rashi and followed the order of K’li Paz and Parshandatha, to connect the second part of the verse with the first. Rashi’s explanation of the second part follows his first explanation of the first part. In the Lublin edition, the second explanation of the first part of the verse interrupts the sequence.] (Another explanation is: All flesh is grass.) A person’s end is to die; therefore, if he says to do kindness, he is like the blossom of the field, that is cut off and dries, and one must not rely on him, for he has no power to fulfill his promise, perhaps he will die, for, just as the grass dries out and the blossom wilts, so is it that when a man dies, his promise is null, but the word of our God shall last for He is living and existing, and He has the power to fulfill. Therefore, “Upon a lofty mountain ascend and herald, O herald of Zion, for the promise of the tidings emanates from the mouth of Him Who lives forever.”

7 shall wilt Heb. נָבֵל, wilt. 

9 O herald of Zion Heb. מְבַשֶּׂרֶת. The prophets who herald Zion. [This is the feminine form.] Elsewhere (infra 52:7), he says, “the feet of the herald (מְבַשֵּׂר).” [This is the masculine form.] This denotes that if they are worthy, he will be as swift as a male. If they are not worthy, he will be as weak as a female and will delay his steps until the end.

10 shall come with a strong [hand] to mete out retribution upon the heathens. ([Mss. read:] Upon the nations.)

behold His reward is with Him It is prepared with Him for the righteous.

and His recompense [lit. His deed,] the recompense for the deed, which He is obliged to give them. 

11 Like a shepherd [who] tends his flock Like a shepherd who tends his flock; with his arm he gathers lambs, and he carries them in his bosom.

the nursing ones he leads [Jonathan renders:] The nursing ones he leads gently, the nursing sheep.

he leads Heb. יְנַהֵל, lit. he shall lead, like מְנַהֵל, he leads. 

12 Who measured etc. He had the power to do all this, and surely He has the power to keep these promises.

with his gait Heb. בְּשָׁעֳלוֹ, with his walking, as it is said (Habakkuk 3:15): “You trod with Your horses in the sea.” Comp. (Num. 22:24) “In the path (בְּמִשְׁעוֹל) of the vineyards, a path (for walking).” Another explanation is that שַׁעַל is the name of a receptacle. Comp. (Ezekiel 13: 19) “For measures (בְּשַׁעֲלוֹ) of barley.”

measured Amolad in O.F., an expression of measure and number. Comp. (Ex. 5:18) “And the number (וְתֹכֶן) of bricks you shall give.”

and measured by thirds Heb. בַּשָּׁלִשׁ, and measured by thirds, one third wilderness, one third civilization, and one third seas and rivers. Another interpretation: בַּשָּׁלִשׁ, from the thumb to the middle finger, the third of the fingers. Menahem explains it as the name of a vessel. Comp. (Ps. 80:6) “And You gave them to drink tears with a vessel (שָׁלִישׁ).”

and weighed mountains with a scale Everything according to the earth, a heavy mountain He inserted into hard earth, and the light ones into soft earth. 

13 Who meted the Holy Spirit in the mouth of the prophets? The Lord prepared it, and He is worthy of belief.

and His adviser who informs Him [and the one with whom He takes counsel He informs] of His spirit. So did Jonathan render it. [Who meted out the spirit? The Lord, and the one with whom He takes counsel He informs him, i.e., the righteous in whom God confides, He informs of His plans for the future.] But, according to its context, וְאִישׁ עֲצָתוֹ refers back to the beginning of the verse. Who meted out His spirit and who is His adviser who informs the Holy One, blessed be He, of counsel? 

14 With whom did He take counsel and give him to understand With which of the heathens ([mss., K’li Paz:] nations) did He take counsel, as He took counsel with the prophets, as it is said concerning Abraham (Gen. 18:17): “Do I conceal from Abraham...?”

and give him to understand, and teach him in the way of justice With which one of the heathens ([mss., K’li Paz:] nations) did He do so, that He taught him wisdom as He did to Abraham, to whom He gave a heart to recognize Him by himself and to understand the Torah, as it is said (ibid. 26:5): “And he kept My charge,” and Scripture states further (ibid. 18:19), “For he commands etc.” And his kidneys would pour forth wisdom to him, as it is said (Ps. 16:7): “Even at night my kidneys chastised me.”

With whom did He take counsel and who gave Him to understand [With which man did He take counsel and which] man gave the Holy One, blessed be He, [to understand?] Behold all the nations are like a drop in a bucket, and how could they teach Him?) 

15 Behold the nations are like a drop from a bucket And are not worthy to Him to appoint some of them as prophets to reveal His secret.

like a drop from a bucket Heb. כְּמַר, like a bitter drop that drips from the bottom of the bucket, bitter from the putrid water that is embedded in the bucket and the decay of the wood, limonede in O.F.

and like the dust of a balance for the copper corrodes and wears off.

like fine fine dust.

that blows away [lit. that will be taken.] Like dust that is picked up and goes up through the wind, like fine dust that is carried away. 

16 there is not enough to burn on His altar.

and its beasts (the beasts] of the Lebanon there is not enough for burnt offerings. Another explanation is:

And the Lebanon etc. to expiate the iniquity of the heathens. 

17 All the nations are as naught before Him In His eyes they are as naught, and are not regarded by Him. 

19 melted Heb. נָסַךְ, an expression of melting (מַסֵּכָה).

the craftsman has melted The ironsmith has cast it from iron or from copper, and then the goldsmith plates it with plates of gold and covers it from above.

and chains Heb. וּרְתֻקוֹת, and chains

20 He who is accustomed to select הַמְסֻכָּן תְּרוּמָה. Or, if he comes to make it of wood, one who is accustomed to discern between a durable tree and other trees, chooses a tree that does not decay quickly.

He who is accustomed Heb. הַמְסֻכָּן. Comp. (Num. 22:30) “Have I been accustomed  (הַהַסְכֵּן הִסְכַּנְתִּי)?”

to select Heb. תְּרוּמָה, separation, selection of the trees. 

21 Do you not know...the foundations of the earth Who founded it, and you should have worshipped Him. 

22 the circle Heb. חוּג, an expression similar to (infra 44:13) “And with a compass (וּבַמְּחוּגָה),” a circle (compas in O.F.).

and whose inhabitants are to Him [lit. before Him] like grasshoppers.

like a curtain Heb. כַדֹּק, a curtain, toile in French. 

24 Even [as though] they were not planted They are even as though they were not planted.

even [as though] they were not sown And still more than this, that they shall be uprooted and plucked out, as if they were not sown. Sowing is less than planting.

their trunk is not rooted in the earth When they will be plucked out, the trunk will not take root in the ground that it will grow up anew. Every שֹׁרֶשׁ, root, in Scripture is accented on the first letter, and the ‘reish’ is vowelized with a ‘pattah’ [segol]. This one, however, is accented on the latter syllable and it is vowelized with a ‘kamatz katan’ [tzeireh] because it is a verb, present tense, [enracinant in French] being rooted. 

26 who created these All the host that you will see on high.

because of His great might that He has, and that He is strong in power, no one of His host is missing, that He does not call by name. 

Verbal Tallies

By: H.Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

& H.H. Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

Vayikra (Leviticus) 14:33-57

Tehillim (Psalms) 79:5-13

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 5:8-16 + 6:3

1 Pet 2:18-20, Lk 11:5-13, Rm 1:18-23

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Saying / Said - אמר, Strong’s number 0559.

Come - באו, Strong’s number 0935.

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Saying / Said - אמר, Strong’s number 0559.

Land / Earth - ארץ, Strobg’s number 0776.

House - בית, Strong’s number 01004.

Vayikra (Leviticus) 14:33 And the LORD <03068> spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying <0559> (8800), 34  When ye be come <0935> (8799) into the land <0776> of Canaan, which I give to you for a possession, and I put the plague of leprosy in a house <01004> of the land <0776> of your possession;

Tehillim (Psalms) 79:5 How long, LORD <03068>? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire?

Tehillim (Psalms) 79:10 Wherefore should the heathen say <0559> (8799), Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed.

Tehillim (Psalms) 79:11 Let the sighing of the prisoner come <0935> (8799) before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 5:8 Woe unto them that join house <01004> to house <01004>, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth <0776>!

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said <0559> (8804), Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD <03068> of hosts: the whole earth <0776> is full of his glory.

Hebrew:

Hebrew	English	Torah Reading Lev. 14:33-57	Psalms 79:5-13	Ashlamatah Is 5:8-16 + 6:3
dx'a,	one	Lev. 14:50		Isa. 5:10
lk;a'	eats	Lev. 14:47	Ps. 79:7
rm;a'	saying	Lev. 14:33 Lev. 14:35	Ps. 79:10	Isa. 6:3
#r,a,	land, earth	Lev. 14:34		Isa. 5:8 Isa. 6:3
aAB	come, came, go, went	Lev. 14:34 Lev. 14:35 Lev. 14:36 Lev. 14:42 Lev. 14:44 Lev. 14:46 Lev. 14:48	Ps. 79:11
tyIB;	house	Lev. 14:34 Lev. 14:35 Lev. 14:36 Lev. 14:37 Lev. 14:38 Lev. 14:39 Lev. 14:41 Lev. 14:42 Lev. 14:43 Lev. 14:44 Lev. 14:45 Lev. 14:46 Lev. 14:47 Lev. 14:48 Lev. 14:49 Lev. 14:51 Lev. 14:52 Lev. 14:53 Lev. 14:55		Isa. 5:8 Isa. 5:9
~D'	blood	Lev. 14:51 Lev. 14:52	Ps. 79:10
hw"hoy>	LORD	Lev. 14:33	Ps. 79:5	Isa. 5:9 Isa. 5:12 Isa. 5:16 Isa. 6:3
dAbK'	glory		Ps. 79:9	Isa. 5:13 Isa. 6:3
rp;K'	atonement	Lev. 14:53	Ps. 79:9
~Aqm'	place	Lev. 14:40 Lev. 14:41 Lev. 14:45		Isa. 5:8
!yI[;	sight, eyes		Ps. 79:10	Isa. 5:15
~[;	people		Ps. 79:13	Isa. 5:13
~ynIP'	in the open, before	Lev. 14:53	Ps. 79:11
ar'q'	call		Ps. 79:6	Isa. 6:3
ha'r'	seems, see, examine, look	Lev. 14:35 Lev. 14:36 Lev. 14:37 Lev. 14:39 Lev. 14:44 Lev. 14:48		Isa. 5:12
hd,f'	field	Lev. 14:53		Isa. 5:8
bWv	come again, return	Lev. 14:39 Lev. 14:43	Ps. 79:12
%p;v'	pour	Lev. 14:41	Ps. 79:6 Ps. 79:10

Greek:

GREEK	ENGLISH	Torah Reading Lev. 14:33-57	Psalms 79:5-13	Ashlamatah Is 5:8-16 + 6:3	Peshat Mishnah of Mark, 1-2 Peter, & Jude 1 Pet 2:18-20	Tosefta of Luke Lk 11:5-13	Remes/Gemara of Acts/Romans and James Rm 1:18-23
ἀγαθός	good				1 Pet. 2:18	Lk. 11:13
ἅγιον	holy			Isa 5:16  Isa 6:3		Luk 11:13
ἄνθρωπος	man			Isa 5:7  Isa 5:15			Rom. 1:18 Rom. 1:23
γίνομαι	become	Lev 14:36		Isa 5:9  Isa 5:13
γινώσκω	know, perceive		Psa 79:6 Psa 79:10				Rom. 1:21
δίδωμι	gives	Lev 14:34				Lk. 11:7 Lk. 11:8 Lk. 11:9 Lk. 11:13
δόξα	glory		Ps. 79:9	Isa. 5:13 Isa. 6:3			Rom. 1:23
δοξάζω	glorified			Isa 5:16			Rom. 1:21
ἐγείρω	arise			Isa 5:11		Lk. 11:8
εἴδω	sees, perceives	Lev. 14:35 Lev. 14:36 Lev. 14:37 Lev. 14:39 Lev. 14:44 Lev. 14:48		Isa. 5:12		Lk. 11:13
ἔπω	said, say		Psa 79:10			Lk. 11:5 Lk. 11:7
θεός	God		Psa 79:9 Psa 79:10  Psa 79:13	Isa 5:16	1 Pet. 2:19 1 Pet. 2:20		Rom. 1:18 Rom. 1:19 Rom. 1:21 Rom. 1:23
θύρα	door	Lev 14:38				Lk. 11:7
λαμβάνω	take, took	Lev 14:42 Lev 14:49 Lev 14:51				Lk. 11:10
λέγω	saying	Lev. 14:33 Lev. 14:35		Isa. 6:3		Lk. 11:8 Lk. 11:9
λίθος	stones	Lev 14:40 Lev 14:42 Lev 14:43 Lev 14:45				Lk. 11:11
ὀργή	amger		Psa 79:6				Rom. 1:18
οὐρανός	heavens					Lk. 11:13	Rom. 1:18
παραγίνομαι	coming	Lev 14:48				Lk. 11:6
τρεῖς  /  τρία	three			Isa 5:10		Lk. 11:5
υἱός	sons		Psa 79:11			Lk. 11:11

Nazarean Talmud

Sidra of Vayikra (Lev.) Lev 14:33-57

“V’Natati Nega’a” – “And I put an infection (of miraculous leprosy)”

By: H. Em Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham &

H. Em. Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

School of Hakham Shaul Tosefta Mishnah א:א

School of Hakham Tsefet Peshat Mishnah א:א

And he said to them, “Who of you will have a friend, and will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine has come to me on a journey, and I do not have anything to set before him.’ And that one will answer from inside and say, ‘Do not disturb me! The door has already been shut and my children are with me in bed! I am not able to get up to give you anything.’ I tell you, even if he does not give him anything after he gets up because he is his friend, at any rate because of his impudence he will get up and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. But what father from among you, if his son will ask for a fish, instead of a fish will give him a snake? Or also, if he will ask for an egg, will give him a scorpion? Therefore if, although you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father from heaven give the Ruach HaQodesh to those who ask him?”

Servants should submit to their masters in fear not only to the fair and reasonable but also when they oppose you.^[38] This is for the sake of chesed, if on the account of G-d one patiently endures sorrow, suffering and injustice. For what honor is there if you sin and endure punishment; but if you suffer for doing well and endure, this is loving-kindness in the presence (sight) of God.

Shaul’s School Hakham of Remes Romans:

1.18-23

For the revelation of God’s wrath^[39] coming from the heavens is against all the wicked^[40] and unjust men who intentionally suppress^[41] the truth. This is because even intimate knowledge of God^[42] is evident to them, because God revealed Himself^[43] among them. For from the creation of the world, His invisible attributes,^[44] both His everlasting virtuous power and Divine majesty,^[45] are discerned^[46] clearly,^[47] being understood in the things made, so that they are without excuse.

Because^[48] although they knew^[49] God, they did not^[50] honor^[51] him as God^[52] or give Him thanks, but they became vain^[53] (futile) in their reasoning,^[54] and their unteachable^[55] minds (hearts)^[56] were darkened. Professing wisdom,^[57] they acted foolishly,^[58] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God with the images (idols) of corrupted human^[59] beings,^[60] birds, quadrupeds and reptiles.

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

Lev 14:33-57

Ps 79:5-13

Isa. 5:8-16 =6:3

1 Pet 2:18-20

Lk 11:5-13

Romans 1:18-23

Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

Honour Due to the Torah

But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the Torah of God and follow (Shomer – Guard) it!” “Though he had done no violence and deceit (vainglory) was not in his mouth” (Isa. 53:9).

The Master’s words in both the writings of Hakham Tsefet and Hakham Shaul’s Tosefta penned through his amanuensis Hillel/Luke, relate to us a powerful lesson from a Peshat perspective. The Master is not willing to accept the honour of the Torah. The Torah is to be lived out so that all who see your righteous/generous life will seek to give praise to those who observe (shomer – guarding) it with great care and devotion. The Master defers the honour that others want be bestow on him to those who keep the Torah with due diligence.

Hakham Tsefet then continues here with the reason for the statement he made earlier. But, the heart of this pericope is contained in this very pericope, which calls us to imitate the Master. We are to endeavour to replicate the Master’s righteous/generous life, Torah study, obedience and teachings in our own very lives. He/she who is not endeavouring to do this during his/her course of life has failed in his/her calling as a human being (אנושׁ – Enosh). This is perfectly summed up in the words: “leaving behind an example for us.”

Hakham Tsefet, the master of Peshat shows us in the writings of 1-2 Tsefet and Y’hudah just how complex a pericope of Peshat can actually be. Here Hakham Tsefet shows that the Master is not willing to concede for the sake of personal edification when the honour of the Torah is at stake. When the pericope of Hakham Tsefet is joined with the Tosefta of Hakham Shaul we see that it is better to be silent than to take honour away from the Torah. The crime described here concerns the honour due to the one G-d, and the duty of service given to His people, the B’ne Yisrael. The issue of honour, for that reason, concerns the role of the B’ne Yisrael in the world, and their Torah observance. Consequently, the honor of the B’ne Yisrael is bound up to their relation to G-d, the honour of the people is also at stake here. Yeshua and Hakham Tsefet understand that the role of the B’ne Yisrael is inseparable from the Torah. If the Torah is dishonored, G-d is dishonored. And, by extension the B’ne Yisrael are castigated by the whole world.

The role of the B’ne Yisrael is not only Torah observance. Their role is obedience to the Torah for the sake of redeeming the cosmos, nations. Consequently, violation of the Torah brings reproach on G-d, the Torah and the B’ne Yisrael. This reproach is a destructive force in the cosmos. Therefore, rather than heal and uplift the cosmos the negative approach to the Torah is destructive. Hakham Tsefet’s previous discussion was that of “guarding” against the negativity of Gentile Yetser HaRa. His point in the present pericope, in conjunction with the Luqan Tosefta shows that the Jewish soul who rebels against the Torah is tantamount to being a Gentile. The P’rushim (Pharisees) had distain for the Am HaAretz – "the people of Land" i.e. the uneducated Jews, because they had chosen a path other than Torah observance. They, the P’rushim realized the vital need for Torah observance in their day. Likewise, they could see the coming destruction of the Bet HaMikdash with relative ease. While the P’rushim are usually castigated by unwitting scholars who fail to appreciate the foresight they possessed, they were pre-occupied with talmud Torah. Schiffman^[61] notes that the P’rushim were instrumental in collecting the writings of the Hakhamim (Sages) before them. They lacked the formalization of a Yeshiva, however Hillel brought a reformation that formalized what had been handed down to him. The ideological thesis of the P’rushim was to live in the present and prepare for the future, unlike the Tz’dukim who lived only for the “moment.” The initiation of the Tannaim envisioned the “Kingdom” (governance) of G-d [through Hakhamim and Bate Din] as one world under “One G-d” This was the result of the preparatory work of the P’rushim. The P’rushim may not have envisioned the tikun of the cosmos as did Hakham Tsefet and Hakham Shaul but they were very instrumental in its initiation. The honour of G-d throughout the cosmos was a means of initiating the Y’mot HaMashiach. However, as we have noted in the past this world is actively present in the “here and now.”

While we have briefly stated the honour due the Torah, we note that honour due to Torah is subordinate to the honour due to G-d. However, honour due to G-d is closely related to the observance of the Torah. Failure to keep/guard the Torah is tantamount to apostasy. The principal mitzvah of “believing in G-d” affirms the grandeur of honour that we must have in relation to G-d. Yet, the record of that mitzvah is found in the Torah. The manifold complexity of the Torah and how it records the taryag mitzvoth, can never fully be appreciated. The Torah is inextricably bound to G-d and G-d is equally bound to the Torah as a revelation of His will for humanity. The Torah finds no approval for idols, effigies or any other images that might be “worshiped” in G-d’s place. What we must see here is the Torah as a living entity that protects the honour of G-d. The Torah’s portrayal of those who refuse to honour G-d appropriately equates with polytheism, atheism and blasphemy. The Torah honor’s G-d with such reverence that it makes this the core of all its teachings and mitzvoth. Yeshua as a living personification of the Torah like the Sages before him upholds the honour of G-d in doing so. If the Master shows us that, we cannot assume the honour of the Torah how much the more will we be prohibited to take honour due to G-d?

PaRDeS

While the Torah honors G-d openly, it conceals deeper aspects of G-d in its hermeneutic robes. The Torah conceals G-d in its words yielding revelation only to those who hold the correct hermeneutic keys. Those willing to exercise their mental faculties will reap rewards the indolent soul will never experience. Looking at the Temple cult, Priestly robes and bloody sacrifices conceal G-d in a column of smoke that ascends from the altar. Yet, it was a column of fire reassuring the B’ne Yisrael of G-d’s presence as they marched through the desert. If we can say that we see the sun by the light of the sun, and we see the stars by their light we must realize that we can only see G-d by being in connection and communion with Him. G-d gave us the ability to use hermeneutic tools that would unlock the deeper dimensions of His persona and character.

Today the world has adopted fast food industry slogans demanding what they want without having to wait. Those who want to learn about G-d have adopted this same mindset. However, the lecturer must provide visions of G-d for us in neatly packaged sermons making us feel good about ourselves in a pre-specified time limit. After all, there is football, soap operas that we cannot miss. PaRDeS is hard work. Nevertheless, the reward is always worth the effort. Imagine the mental exercise of Abraham Abinu. His mental inquiries brought him to the conclusion that there can only be one G-d. His mental genius determined the power of the Shema before it was ever penned. The value of the mind is inestimable. Yet we would waste it on everything but G-d.

The Luqan Tosefta makes it very clear that we cannot take the honor due to G-d. However, one would ask, how many other things take the place of G-d in our lives.

The grandeur of G-d permeates the natural world. We see this with our eyes, believing that we have seen, and know all that there is to know. However, when we learn to apply mental exercise to hermeneutics, aspects of the Divine are revealed that would defy what we know of as a natural world. Hermeneutics is a key that unlocks the world of the Divine giving us small manageable pictures of G-d. However, our point is that none of this is available for those who…

• Will not spend the time laboring in the Torah
• Take G-d’s honour
• Take the Torah’s honour
• Will not cleave to G-d, through His Hakhamim

Commentary to Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes

G-d’s Wrath

How are we to understand G-d’s wrath as described by Hakham Shaul? Description of G-d’s wrath can only be understood in allegorical (Remes), parabolic (Midrash) or So’odic (symbolic) terms. The obvious answer to this problem is that G-d is not subject to human emotion and therefore does not have any association with anger retribution or vengeance. Therefore, we understand the pericope to be in terms of allegory.

The Sages of the first century, including Yeshua and his subsequent talmidim viewed the cosmos as an organismic whole. However, they often spoke in terms of interdependent absolutes. The subdivisions Middat HaDin (G-d’s justice) Middat HaRachamim (G-d’s Mercy) Torah and Yisrael are an organismic whole. Though the concept Middat HaRachamim (G-d’s Mercy) does not contain G-d's “name,” it is clearly understood to mean "G-d's love.” The two categories Middat HaDin and Middat HaRachamim are two aspects of G-d justice.^[62] G-d’s justice can also be understood in terms of Gemilut Hasidim (G-d’s works of loving-kindness). The creation of the cosmos is a balanced measure (middah) of both Din (justice) and Rachamim (mercy). This is because G-d chastises those that He loves.^[63] However, Hakham Shaul is not speaking in terms of chastisement or Gemilut Hasidim (G-d’s deeds of loving-kindness). He is speaking of Middat HaDin (G-d’s justice) and Middat HaRachamim (G-d’s Mercy). Judgment He pours out on those who subvert the truth and Middat HaRachamim (G-d’s Mercy) is for those He loves.

We can also look to the Shema for the answer. We are apprised of the benefits for being faithful to G-d in the verses D’barim (Deut.) 11:13-15. In D’barim (Deut.) 11:16 – 17 we are shown the results of turning to false gods.^[64] “Suppression of the truth” must some way be associated with idolatry and foreign deities. Wrath ὀργή - orge^[65] is also associated with a “hardened heart,” “willful disobedience,” “stubbornness” and “lack of repentance.” As Middat HaDin (G-d’s justice), ὀργή - orge is for the sake of turning the “sinner” to teshubah (repentance). Nonetheless, Hakham Shaul shows that G-d’s “Middat HaDin” (justice), is revealed in through G-d’s Mesorah.^[66] “G-d’s Mesorah” must be interpreted as the “Mesorah of Elohim” demanding strict justice.

The claim that the “G-d of the Torah” is only of justice, stands in contrast to the Nazarean Codicil “G-d of love” represents a gross distortion of the truth. Every objective biblical scholar, Christian and Jewish alike, understands that the Torah conceived of G-d in terms of both love and justice, just as this same G-d of the Nazarean Codicil manifests Himself in justice as well as love.^[67] Herein does the great heresy deserve G-d’s wrath. Those who hold that the G-d of the Torah must be appeased through Messiah blatantly subvert the truth of G-d’s Mesorah. 

For from the creation of the world

G-d has impressed His Divine nature into the earth. This impression, though not observable as a visible power perceived with the eye, manifests itself when the earth “produces fruit.” As we have seen, invested in the earth is the ability to bear fruit “after its own kind.”^[68] This power is an invisible stamp of G-d’s image on the earth. G-d made man after His own “image.” Therefore, we deduce from the expressions G-d said “let the earth bring forth,” “after its own kind” and the earth “brought forth” after its own kind” that the earth also bears the Divine Image.^[69] The invisible impression of G-d on the earth is discernable to the invisible soul, which understands this impression as the image of G-d produced in the earth or specific power attributed to the telluric world. With the capacity to perceive the “knowable” (Da’at) ideas of G-d, Adam (man – humanity) has the power to see the invisible creation with his innermost being. Having the capacity to know the attributes of the Divine Majesty we are called to express them in the cosmos as an expression of His Sons (B’ne Elohim). The Dabar/Memra/Logos is the highest expression of G-d’s “ideas.” As the highest expression of G-d’s “ideas,” the Dabar/Memra/Logos is the “idea of ideas.” Even though the Dabar/Memra/Logos is the prototypical pattern for the B’ne Elohim, each Neshamah bears a unique expression of G-d. And each Neshamah bears some resemblance and characteristics of the Dabar/Memra/Logos. “Still, all created beings in the visible world, according to him (Philo), were preceded by the creation of ideas corresponding to them. Consequently, the created individual minds and souls in the world must have been preceded by the creation of the idea of mind and the idea of soul.”^[70] In summary to what Philo and Hakham Shaul are both saying G-d made a spiritual expression of Himself in the form of “souls” before He placed them in physical vessels. These vessels (bodies) equip and enable the B’ne Elohim to carry out the mitzvoth of G-d and they bear the mark of the Divine Majesty on the souls.

Commentary to Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes

Jewish Perspective of the Gentile world Romans 1:18-32

In dealing directly with the text, we will note the following. The section of Romans 1:18-32 deals with the Jewish perspective of the Gentile world. While some scholars contest this notion, Professor Paula Fredrikson’s article on Judaism and Circumcision notes the Jewish view of the “average Gentile” in the first century. Even though we have cited this reference in the past, we find these comments apropos.

What, on the average, did the average Jew think of the average Gentile? I think that we can rely here on Paul who, even when addressing Gentiles and in some sense acting as their advocate, refers to them, quite unselfconsciously, as ‘sinners’ (Gal.2:15). Their characteristic social and sexual sins—slander, insolence, deceit, malicious gossip, envy, heartlessness, disrespect of parents, homosexual and heterosexual fornication—are the varied expression of a more fundamental spiritual error: they worship idols. Could there be such a thing, then, as a morally good Gentile?^[71]

Fredrikson also notes that there are also arguments for the moral superiority of Gentiles who respect Jews and Judaism within the works of Josephus.^[72] Furthermore, Hellenistic Jews such as Philo found the “Stranger” who converted to be not only superior to his “pagan” counterparts but being embraced by the loving-kindness of G-d. Jewish acceptance of the “convert” is therefore considered meritorious.^[73] Consequently, the Gentiles who were “sympathetic” towards the Jewish people were considered to be of a greater moral affluence and worthy of merit. Hakham Shaul may have seen Gentiles that he was addressing in this way. However, what is very evident here is that the view of the Gentiles during the first century tended to be one of disdain and contempt rather than acceptance. The Gentile populace of “Rome” most likely would have found Judaism appealing based on it legal system. This view shows that the Romans considered themselves the vogue society. Acceptance of laws that governed civil and religious life therefore would have been appealing. The civility of Jewish lifestyle would have been a welcomed change from the drunken revelries of Roman debauchery.

Roman acceptance of certain aspects of Hellenistic influence had been a societal elevation. “Rules” and “Laws” for the Hellenist meant morality and civility. Monuments and shrines found listing numerous moral maxims in the middle of Grecian cities attest to this very truth.^[74] Interestingly, these “moral maxims,” were religious and philosophical in nature. Their sources varied but of greatest interest is the fact that portions came from Persian magi and Jewish Priests.^[75] The Hellenistic propensity towards high ethic may account for the Legalistic approach of Stephen in 2Luqas (Acts) 6-7 and following.

Roman monarchies often pictured and proclaimed themselves gods. This eventually lead to a denigration of the so-called hierarchy among Roman rulers. Even the Roman hierarchy of military was not exempt from having wives, family and children used as depraved sport by their leaders. The grip of paganism was destroyed by true moral civility as modeled by their Jewish subordinates. Code of conduct within family and society were far more appealing than the alternatives. This is not to say that Rome had no strengths worthy of emulation. However, the destruction of Rome was the result of antinomianism.^[76] The lack of certain legal restraint allowed immoral conduct to bring a deterioration and annihilation from within itself.

The darkened mind and mental futility, from a Jewish Perspective

Ephesians 4:17-19 Now I say this, and testify in the Master, that from now on you cannot walk^[77] as (some) other Gentiles do (walk), devoid of truth (Torah) in their mind,^[78] having a mental disposition full of darkness,^[79] alienated^[80] (cut off) from the life of God,^[81] their ignorance is due to an unyielding obstinacy of mind.^[82] For they, being desensitized, have given themselves up to apostasy,^[83] to every kind of impurity.^[84]

The consequence of idolatry and rejection of Torah principles results in darkened thinking and thoughts. People prefer a “religion” of their own making rather than the Divine revelation. Thus religion is born, springing from a rejected knowledge of G-d.^[85] Διαλογισμός – dialogismos in the Nazarean Codicil is only used in the negative sense for evil thoughts or anxious reflection.^[86] In a sense, the mind of vanity and futility is the judgment G-d has placed on the insolent. This punishment is “middah kneged middah.” The lack of gratitude is punishable through a darkening, retarding of the mind. In rejecting the “Da’at” of G-d the mental faculties are effected. Because there is a lack of honoring G-d in idolatrous and human religion, life is not experienced as a gift from G-d. Therefore, it loses touch with Divine reality and condemns itself to vanity and futility. Cf. Ecc. 1:2 The result or vanity of idolatry is always a “darkening” of the mental facilities. “The relation between sin and mental blindness is that of action and re-action. Each sinful/idolatrous action is cause and effect of mental darkening. Here, the darkening of the intellect is represented as the effect or foolish and wicked speculation; the liar comes to believe his own lie.”^[87] Knowing G-d demands the appropriate response due to His δοξάζω (glory). In the Jewish mind, “Knowing G-d” demands a specific response. Knowing G-d is tantamount to experiencing G-d. They have in fact experienced Him—His wisdom, power, generosity—in every moment of their existence, though they have not recognized Him. It has been by Him that their lives have been sustained, enriched, bounded. In this limited sense, they have known Him all their lives.^[88] Because they did not thank G-d as an appropriate response. Men experience the pleasures of “life” and do not give due benevolence to G-d for any of their likings or gifts. The appropriate response is trust and obedience. Men should have recognized their indebtedness to G-d for His loving-generosity.

The Allegory of Har Sinai

b. Shabb. 89a Why was Mount Sinai was also called Mount Horeb? Because desolation [hurbah] to idolaters descended thereon.

The current pericope of Hakham Shaul’ pericope is perfect parlance of the present Torah Seder. The current pericope of Romans summed in “v23” notes a circumstance that is a play on Psalms 106:20 (Lxx 105), which is a reference to the sin of the Golden calf. It may be hard to determine how this fits into the “Jewish perspective” of the Gentile as a “pagan idolater until we know the details. Furthermore, we can see that Hakham Shaul knows the true nature of the sin of the Golden Calf and its relationship “P’qod Kol Bekhor Zakhar,” numbering of all the first-born males.

God now commands Moses to appoint the Levites to serve and minister to Aaron (Num. 3:5–10), as a substitute for the consecrated firstborn in Israel (Num. 3:11–13, 44). This appointment recognizes the Levites’ response to Moses’ rallying call and their consequent execution of Israelites for the sin of the golden calf (Exod. 32:26–29; Deut. 10:8–9). They accordingly are given charge of carrying the Ark of the Covenant that leads the Israelites in the desert and in battle (Num. 10:33–36; Josh. 6) and are assigned as assistants to Aaron and his sons (Num. 3:9), to attend on and minister to God (1 Chr. 23:28, 32).^[89]

Professing wisdom,^[90] they acted foolishly,^[91] and exchanged the glory of the immortal God with the images (idols) of corrupted human beings,^[92] birds, quadrupeds and reptiles.

2Ti 3:8 Just as ^aJannes (Jannis)^[93] and Jambres opposed Moses,^[94] so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected concerning faithful obedience to G-d and His Torah

Some scholars point out that Hakham Shaul’s reference to Jannes and Jambres shows his connection with and use of Jewish Liturgy^[95], i.e. Triennial Torah Reading Cycle. The Timothy passage is especially germane to our present pericope. This is because “Jannes and Jamberes” had full “knowledge” of who G-d was. Hakham Shaul was aware that Jannes (Janis-Jannis) and Jambres opposed Moshe on more than one occasion.

The first occasion:

Targum Pseudo Yonatan Shemot (Ex) 1:15 And Pharoh told that he, being asleep, had seen in his dream, and, behold, all the land of Mizraim was placed in one scale of a balance, and a lamb, the young of a sheep, was ill the other scale; and the scale with the lamb in it overweighed. Forthwith he sent and called all the magicians of Mizraim, and imparted to them his dream. Immediately Jannis and Jambres, the chief of the magicians, opened their mouth and answered Pharoh? A certain child^[96] is about to be born in the congregation of Israel, by whose hand will be destruction to all the land of Mizraim. Therefore did Pharoh, king of Mizraim, give counsel to the Jehudith midwives, the name of one of whom was Shifra, who is Jokeved, and the name of the other Puvah, who is Miriam her daughter.

Second occasion:

Targum Pseudo Yonatan Shemot (Ex) 7:11 But Pharoh called the hachems and magicians; and they also, Janis and Jamberes, magicians of Mizraim, did the same by their burnings of divination.

Also, relevant to our discussion is the fact that many Gentiles parted from Egypt (Mitzrayim) with the B’ne Yisrael.

Targum Pseudo Yonatan Shemot (Ex) 12:38 and a multitude of strangers, two hundred and forty myriads (thousands), went up with them, and sheep, and oxen, and cattle, very many.

Among those “strangers” were two infamous magicians, named Jannes and Jambres.

JANNES AND JAMBRES, two legendary Egyptian sorcerers whose names appear in various sources as the adversaries of Moses. Jewish tradition seems to identify them with the sorcerers mentioned in Exodus 7:11ff. (cf. Targ. Jon., ibid.). They are also mentioned as the sons of Balaam (Targ. Jon., Num. 22:22; Yal., Ex. 168, 176) and as having played a part in the incident of the golden calf after joining the mixed multitude that accompanied Israel in the exodus from Egypt (Tanḥ., Ki Tissa, 19).^[97]

The initiative in demanding the idol (of the Golden Calf) is attributed by some rabbis to the mixed multitude who joined the Israelites at the time of the Exodus (Ex. 12:38). Forty thousand of them, accompanied by two Egyptian magicians, Jannes and Mambres, came to Aaron and claimed that it already was the sixth hour of the 40th day since Moses had left, the hour which he previously had designated for his return. They claimed that since he had not yet appeared he would never come. Satan added to the state of helplessness of the people by showing them a vision of Moses’ bier, which convinced them that he had died. Only then did they demand that Aaron produce a god for them (Shab. 89a; Tanh. B., Ex.112–3).^[98]

The truth of Romans 1:18 is now revealed. For the revelation of God’s wrath^[99] coming from the heavens is against all the wicked^[100] and unjust men (like Jannes and Jambres) who intentionally suppress^[101] the truth. This is because even intimate knowledge of God^[102] is evident to them, because God revealed Himself^[103] among them.

b. Shabb. 89a One of the Rabbis asked R. Kahana: have you heard what the mountain of Sinai [connotes]... While what was its [real] name? its name was Horeb. Now they disagree with R. Abbahu, For R. Abbahu said: its name was Mount Sinai, and why was it called Mount Horeb? Because desolation [hurbah] to idolaters descended thereon.

Hakham Shaul knows the Aggadah, and the Targum having followed the Jewish liturgical readings of the Torah. Consequently, the Torah, Targum and related materials fashioned the opinion of Hakham Shaul concerning the pagan Gentiles. The “Jewish perspective” of the Gentile as a “pagan idolater was therefore; more than likely the Rabbinic view. Har Sinai is also Horeb because of the desolation of idolaters. Allegorically we take this to mean that the Torah is a means for destroying idolatry and pagan idolaters. We can look at their destruction as if they were destroyed in some horrific punishable way or we can see their destruction in their acceptance of Torah. It seems evident that Hakham Shaul was looking for the latter.

Questions for Understanding and Reflection

1. From all the readings for this Shabbat which verse or verses impressed your heart and fired your imagination?

2. From all the Tanakh: Torah Seder (Lev 14:33-57), Psalms (Ps 79:5-13), Prophets (Is. 5:8-16 - 6:3) readings for this week, which particular verse or passage taught you about the role of Messiah as described in the Nazarean Codicil readings for this week?

3. From the “Six Basic Elements of Peshat and Remes Discourse of the Nazarean Codicil” identify their relationship as translated above.

A. Identify the context in which this Gemará was crafted;

B. Identify the parties or stake-holders of this Gemará debate;

C. Controversy of a Mitzvah or Mitzvoth in question;

D. Contestation against the Hillelite interpretation of the mitzvah or mitzvoth in question;

E. Riposte of the Master or Hakham;

F. Verdict concluded by the Master or Hakham (Halakha).

4. Taking into consideration all the readings for this Shabbat what is the prophetic statement for this week?

Blessing After Torah Study

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

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

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

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

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

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

“Now unto Him who is able to preserve you faultless, and spotless,

and to establish you without a blemish,

before His majesty, with joy, [namely,] the only one God, our Deliverer,

by means of Yeshua the Messiah our Master, be praise, and dominion,

and honor, and majesty, both now and in all ages. Amen!”

Next Shabbat:

Shabbat: “V’Natati Nega’a” – “And I put an infection (of miraculous leprosy)”

&

Second Sabbath of Seven Sabbaths of Consolation

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
וְנָתַתִּי נֶגַע		Saturday Afternoon
“V’Natati Nega’a”	Reader 1 – Vayiqra 15:1-3	Reader 1 – Vayiqra 15:25-27
“And I put an infection (of miraculous leprosy)”	Reader 2 – Vayiqra 15:4-6	Reader 2 – Vayiqra 15:28-30
“y ponga yo una infección (de lepra milagrosa)”	Reader 3 – Vayiqra 15:7-9	Reader 3 – Vayiqra 15:31-33
Vayiqra (Lev.) 15:1-24	Reader 4 – Vayiqra 15:10-12
Ashlamatah: Hos 6:1-11	Reader 5 – Vayiqra 15:13-15	Monday & Thursday Mornings
Special Ashlamatah: Is. 49:14 – 51:3	Reader 6 – Vayiqra 15:16-18	Reader 1 – Vayiqra 15:25-27
Psalms 80:1-7	Reader 7 – Vayiqra 15:19-24	Reader 2 – Vayiqra 15:28-30
	Maftir – Vayiqra 15:21-24	Reader 3 – Vayiqra 15:31-33
N.C.: 1 Pet 1 Pet 2:21-25; Lk 11:27-28; Rm 1:24-25	Isaiah 49:14 – 51:3

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

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[1] Midrash Tehillim (Midrash to Psalms) - From the 12th century it was called also Shocher Tov (see Midrash Tehillim, ed. S. Buber, Introduction, pp. 35 et seq.)

[2] See Bamidbar (Numbers) 16:31-33

[3] These opening remarks are excerpted, and edited, from: The ArtScroll Tanach Series, Tehillim, A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources. Commentary by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer, Translation by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer in collaboration with Rabbi Nosson Scherman.

[4] Rabbi Shimshon David Pincus (1944 – April 2001) was an Israeli Haredi Rabbi of American origin, who served in Ofaqim.

[5] Berachot 5a

[6] Ephesians 4:11-16

[7] In the tractate of Yoma.

[8] Rabbi Yehudah Prero

[9] Eicha (Lamentations) 3:38

[10] G‑d is good. He is not the source of evil.

[11] Rabbi Akiba lived in the next generation after Rabbi Nahum. 

[12] We say good, but we understand this good to be ‘beneficial’. Many things seem, on the surface, not to be good, but we can often see them as beneficial. Of course, unpleasant things sometimes do happen, but that does not mean that they are bad. For example, medicine may be quite unpleasant to swallow; but who would say that medicine is bad because it is unpleasant?

[13] Berachot 60b

[14] Rashi, ibid.

[15] Gam zu (‘this too”) is a play on the word Gimzu, the name of Nachum’s hometown in the foothills of Judah.

[16] When he fought against the Four Kings—see Midrash Rabbah, Bereshit 43:4.

[17] Taanit 21a

[18] Exodus 1:22

[19] ibid. Chap. 14, see Rashi Exodus 18:11

[20] Ta’anit 29a

[21] See for example Berachot 3a, Chagigah 5b

[22] Eicha Rabbati 2

[23] This ending section was composed by Rav Yair Kahn.

[24] Ramban’s glosses to Sefer HaMitzvot, positive mitzvah no. 5

[25] Rambam, ibid

[26] Berachot 32b

[27] ibid.

[28] Bamidbar (Numbers) 14:45

[29] Pesachim 54b

[30] The source for this is to be found in the Yerushalmi, Rosh HaShana 3:4.

[31] OC 559:4; see the commentary of the Vilna Gaon

[32] Taz, OC 557:2; see commentary of Dagul Me-revava

[33] Eicha 3:8; see Berachot 32b

[34] See Pesachim 54b, “There is no difference between Tisha B’Ab and Yom Kippur except...”

[35] Ta’anit 30a

[36] these are not forbidden to a regular mourner; see Rashi and the Rif, as well as Rav Soloveitchik’s essay in “Shiurim Le-zekher Abba Mari” regarding public fasts

[37] Rav Soloveitchik deals at length with the similarity to mourning customs.

[38] Koehler, L., Baumgartner, W., Richardson, M., & Stamm, J. J. (1999, c1994-1996). The Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament. Volumes 1-4 combined in one electronic edition. Leiden; New York: E.J. Brill. p. 253 the general translation suggests that the servant should be subject to masters who are “crooked.” This is not an accurate way to translate the word σκολιοις as in the present context. While there were certainly, “crooked masters” the context shows that there is often tension between the slave (bondservant) and the master. The master has accepted the bondservant for the sake of re-education who is indebted because of robbery.

[39] G-d’s wrath is often pictured and spoken of in terms of “G-d’s rage” or “anger.” There is an amazing difference in the nature of G-d as described in this passage. G-d’s chief desire is to show His goodness to His creatures and for His creatures to feel His love. This is the true reason for the existence of the universe, cosmos. The “revelation” (apocalypse) of G-d’s wrath against one of His creatures shows the magnitude of their crimes. Herein the creature has failed to understand the gift of the Yetser HaRa. The Yetser HaRa is given as a means of achieving the highest goals of our humanity, and not just to rebel against its creator. The topic of “G-d’s Wrath against the wicked” starts here in Romans 1:18 and continues until 3:31.

[40] ἀσέβεια – asebeia is generally translated as “ungodly.” However, the root is stronger in intending that those being mentioned are the “wicked” Heb. Rashim (pl.). The rasha (sing.) is one who intentionally does evil against his knowledge of that which is good. The “rasha” knows the mitzvot of G-d but refuses to be complicit. This makes the rasha accountable for his actions and therefore liable for punishment.

[41] The English word “suppress” is from the Latin “sub” (down) premere (to press) supprimere – suppress. This word cannot convey the depth of meaning expressed by Hakham Shaul. The intentional withholding of truth is a most heinous crime. These men withhold the truth knowing the consequences of their actions and those who are affected by these subversive actions.

[42] Intimate knowledge (Da’at) here means that “these men” who suppress the truth (i.e. the Torah – Written and Oral) know G-d as far as He is “knowable.” However, even what they know they have subverted and suppressed.

[43] G-d revealed His true nature and plan to them. Yet, they withhold the truth (i.e. the Torah – Written and Oral) from those who are subordinate to them.

[44] The Invisible Attributes of G-d. This Remes statement teaches us that these invisible attributes are the upper three Sefirot, Hokhmah, Bina and Da’at. The Seven lower sefirot are seen is the congregation. The Bet Din remains invisible in the Remes mind. Hakham Shaul and Philo agree and may even be citing a common source.

The role of the Bet Din and the Sages is to serve as intermediaries between G-d and man, specifically the Congregation. It is through the Sifrah of Hokhmah that G-d makes his first expression. This is related to the chief officer of the Bet Din. But this does not limit any individual who puts in endless hours of Torah Study to better communicate with G-d. Through the Sefirot we find the linguistic expression of G-d.

Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare (mesapprim) the glory of God; and the firmament show His handiwork.

The heavens, or those who represent the heavenlies (cf. Eph. 1:3) tell mesapprim from “spr” (Sefer) meaning to “tell.” Thus the Soferim tell the Kibod (glory) of G-d. Thus, the invisible attributes related to the upper Sefirot. Through these vehicles the speech of G-d comes from the realm of speechlessness into the mundane world through the agents of those Sefirot.

 Ecc. 3:11 He (God) hath made everything beautiful in His time: also, He hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end.

Philo, in his discussion on the garments of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest. One of G-d’s principal agents) speaks of G-d’s use of “Logos.” God uses Logos to create the visible world from His invisible thoughts. The Logos (God’s Word’s) are an indestructible “Form of Wisdom” (Hokhmah the highest of the Sefirot relating to the Hakhamim). Interpreting the garment of the high priest (Exod. 28:34; 36) Philo states: "But the seal (on the Kohen’s Head) is an Idea of Ideas, according to which God fashioned the world, being an incorporeal (invisible) Idea, comprehensible only by the intellect" (Mig. 103). The invisible intelligible world which was used by the Logos as a model for creation or rather formation of the visible world from the (preexisting) unformed matter was created in the mind of God: "The incorporeal world then was already completed, having its seat in the Divine Logos (Reason) and the world, perceptible by the external senses, was made on the model of it" (Op. 36) There is then on the head "a golden leaf," [Exodus xxviii. 36], pure, having on it the impression of a seal, "Holiness to the Lord." And on the feet, there are, "on the fringe of the inner garment, bells and small flowerets." [Exodus xxviii. 34].

Describing Moses' account of the creation of man, Philo states also that Moses calls the invisible Divine Logos the Image of God (Op. 24; 31; LA 1.9) Forms, though inapprehensible, leave an impress and a copy and procure qualities and shapes to shapeless things and unorganized matter. Mind can grasp the Forms by longing for wisdom. "The desire for wisdom alone is continual and incessant, and it fills all its pupils and disciples with famous and most beautiful doctrines" (Spec. leg. 1-45-50).

[45] For it follows of necessity that the Creator must always care for that which He has created, just as parents do also care for their children. And he who has learnt this not more by hearing it than by his own understanding, and has impressed on his own soul these marvelous facts which are the subject of so much contention—namely, that God has a being and existence, and that He who so exists is really one, and that He has created the world, and that He has created it one as has been stated, having made it like to Himself in singleness; and that He exercises a continual care for that which He has created will live a happy and blessed life, stamped with the doctrines of piety and holiness. Philo, A., & Yonge, C. D. (1996, c1993). The works of Philo: Complete and unabridged. Peabody: Hendrickson. p. 24

[46] Because Hakham Shaul is speaking on the deeper aspects of Remes, we can see that he is speaking of meditation on G-d and the aspects, which verge on So’od. Meditation and deep mental thought brings about a normal mysticism that reveals aspects of G-d’s character that can only be revealed through allegorical comparisons.

[47] καθοράω – “to look down,” perceive etc. The best understanding, we can derive from this sentence, is that there are those who have transcended great heights and are able to see from “above” per se. To these souls, G-d is “clearly” seen, or intimately known. Hakham Shaul is not suggesting that the subversive men who suppress the truth (i.e. the Torah – Written and Oral) are capable of this mental level. He here shows that there are those who do have this capacity and will appropriately worship and honour G-d.

[48] Διότι – dioti = “because” on account of; a marker of cause or reason.

[49] Generally associated with “Da’at,” here is in the negative showing an absence of “Da’at.” In other words, the pagan view of G-d is distorted and devoid of true “Da’at.” The “wisdom” of pagan humanity can never “know” G-d. Their “wisdom” is not Biblical, Jewish Hokhmah. Failure to find true wisdom is due to the absence of the Mesorah among the Gentiles. Eph 1:17 the Father of dignity grant you the power to comprehend through the Oral Torah, and His agents Chochmah, Binah and Da’at. The wisdom of the world, philosophical or otherwise cannot “know” G-d. In other words, the world (kosmos – pagan earthly system) cannot even achieve the level of “Da’at.” herein is the blinding “veil” which covers the minds of the unfaithful. cf. 2 Cor. 4: 3ff once the Mesorah is shined on the soul of the “Gentile” the true nature of that soul shines forth. If the resident soul is that of the Nefesh Yehudi that Neshamah will embrace the Torah, Oral and Written.

[50] Because they knew, they did not conduct themselves accordingly.

Γνόντες, the aorist participle is used since their experience of God has necessarily always gone before their failure to recognize its true significance and act accordingly. Cranfield, C. E. B. A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. The International Critical Commentary on the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments. London; New York: T&T Clark International, 2004. p. 116

[51] Praise, glorify, honor and magnify. Δoxázō also means to “believe in.” Therefore, we have the connotation of pagans and Gentiles not believing in G-d. They had enough knowledge of G-d to know to give Him due benevolence, however, they failed/refused to do so. The phrase implies giving thanks for G-d’s actions towards man, i.e. His loving-kindness, “good.” Cf. Luzzatto, Moshe Hayyim. Derekh Hashem / the Way of God / by Moshe Chaim Luzzatto ; Translated and Annotated by Aryeh Kaplan; Emended by Gershon Robinson. Jerusalem; New York: Feldheim Publishers, 1998. pp. 37-41

[52] The article τὸν θεὸν implies the “true G-d.” Shedd, William G. T. Commentary on Romans. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1999. p. 22 fn. #4

[53] Cf. D’barim (Deut) 32:21; Yermi’yahu (Jer.) 2:5

[54] Διαλογίζομαι implies that they have no ability to conceive of G-d. This means that the “Da’at” intimate knowledge they would possess is not available to them. In the Nazarean Codicil διαλογισμός – dialogismos is only used in the negative sense for evil thoughts or anxious reflection. G. Schrenk TDNT 2:96

[55] What we translated here as “unteachable” bears stronger language in Hebrew. The words “stupid,” “wicked” and “fallen.” ἀσύνετος takes on the connotation of being without or in opposition to the wisdom of the teacher (Hakham). As such, we note that Hakham Shaul refers here to those who have an unteachable spirit.

[56] The “heart” is the center of “inner life.” Morris, Leon. The Epistle to the Romans. Reprint edition. Grand Rapids, Mich.; Leicester, England: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2012. p. 85

[57] Professing to have Hokhmah, and or to be a Hakham

[58] To be recalcitrant, obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.

[59] Aramaic talya; "lamb, kid" (possibly young bull or calf) or "young boy." This will bear a greater importance below.

[60] φθαρτός – phthartos is used of that which is corruptible and perishing.

[61] Schiffman, Lawrence H. From Text to Tradition: a History of Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism. Hoboken, N.J: Ktav Pub. House, 1991. p. 177ff

[62] Kadushin, Max. Organic Thinking: A Study in Rabbinic Thought. New York: Bloch, 1976. p. 184

Mishle (Pro.) 3:12 For whom the LORD loves He reproves, Even as a father corrects the son in whom he delights.

[64] Toledano, Rabbi Eliezer. Orot Sephardic Shabbat Siddur: A New Linear, Sephardic Siddur with English Translation. Orot, n.d. pp. 380-81

[65] Out of the 28 times ὀργή - orge^[65] is used it is used 10 times in Romans.

[66] Cf. Rm. 1:1

[67] Glustrom, Simon. The Language of Judaism. Jason Aronson, Incorporated, 2000. pp. 199-200

[68] Cf. B’resheet 1:11

[69] Cf. B’resheet 1:11-12, 26

[70] Wolfson, Harry Austryn. Philo: Foundations of Religious Philosophy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Volume 1: Structure and Growth of Philosophical Systems from Plato to Spinoza. 4 Revised edition. Harvard University Press, 1962. p. 214

[71] Professor Paula Fredrikson, Journal of Theological Studies, N.S. 42 (1991) p534

[72] Ibid

[73] Philo. The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged. New updated ed. Peabody, Mass: Hendrickson Pub, 1993. p. 650

[74] Walbank, F. W. The Hellenistic World. Rev. ed. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1993. p. 60ff

[75] Ibid.

[76] Our reference here is used to denote that opposition to the Torah’s laws of civil morality brought about its own destruction. However, we must note that the “antinomianism” of Rome is not the same as it is in the contemporary world. The Romans of the first century were “lawless” on a level that may not have been specific opposition to the Torah. Only after introduction to the Torah and then its refusal could the Romans be considered “antinomian.” The true idea of antinomianism in its contemporary meaning did not exist until Martin Luther.

[77] περιπατέω – peripateo is used here twice to call the Gentile to Torah observance, meaning Hakham Shaul demands the acceptance of the Halakhah (613 mitzvot) as taught and expounded upon by the Hakhamim.  

[78] ματαιότης – mataiotes  mental futility or vanity. This means that the Gentile who rejects the Torah, 613 Mitzvot and the teachings of the Hakhamim are aimless conducting lifestyles of futility. This futility has captured their minds holding them ransom.

[79] Hakham Shaul now apprises us of the opposing mental disposition. Not only is it a mental disposition, it is the direct opposition to the Torah, the 613 Mitzvot and the Hakhamim.

[80] ἀπαλλοτριόω – apallotriou has the sense of being “hostile.”

[81] Morally bereft of all sensible mores. The depth of this statement is only understood from a Hebraic mindset. To be כָּרַת – karat, “cut off” means completely estranged from G-d’s presence and protection. Those who were “cut off” while traveling through the wilderness were subjected to every evil influence, without G-d’s protection or chesed/grace. Therefore, this is a crime of excommunication by Divine Decree. Here we can see the gravity of moral purposelessness. There are those people who believe that the idle mind of secular entertainment is harmless. However, this idle purposelessness is “opposition” to the Torah, which presents the “goal of Messiah” before us a s standard of life. Life in Messiah has the purpose of recapturing the mission of Adam HaRishon. Adam HaRishon shows the ability to capture the essence of each creature on the earth. Nevertheless, the goal was to apprehend the essence of G-d Himself. Herein, Hakham Shaul in this letter to the Ephesian Congregation sets this goal before them in the pattern of the ten men (3 Dinim – Judges and 7 Paqidim) of the congregation. Why did Adam HaRishon and his spouse Chava cover themselves with a fig leaf? Was this an attempt to “hide” from the Omni Presence of G-d? Their new “awareness” was the sentience of the state of being כָּרַת – karat, “cut off.” Therefore, they saw that they were without G-d’s protection in the Garden. Covering themselves with a fig leaf has many So’od connotations. The most simplistic explanation is that they wanted to camouflage themselves primarily from G-d but the other animals of the earth that would now pursue them as a food source. The human mind/soul is preprogramed with the capacity to perceive G-d. When we deviate from the Torah and the teachings of the Hakhamim, this is impossible.

[82] This is an unyielding mind devoted to opposing G-d and G-dly truth/practice. Its dealings are strict, harsh cruel and merciless. Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature.

[83] This is the result of being “cut off” from G-d. The language uses terms of sexual impropriety as an allegorical way of telling us that the person or persons are bereft of G-d or any ethical mores. Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964-c1976. Vols. 5-9 edited by Gerhard Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin. (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.  1:490

[84] In much of the Nazarean Codicil, demonic possession is associated with ritual impurity. While, Hakham Tsefet (Peter the wise) learned at Caesarea not to call Gentiles unclean, those who vehemently oppose the Torah are in some way subjected to unclean Shedim. This is not to say that all Gentiles are “unclean,” G-d forbid. Rather it is noteworthy to mention that direct opposition against the Torah, as a way of life is the mission of two-thirds of the shedim / fallen angels. Therefore, the darkened mind refers to those Gentiles who are either simply ignorant of the Torah as a way of life, and, those who are vehemently opposed to it because of their “unyielding obstinacy of mind.” Hakham Shaul’s view of the Gentile in Ephesians is the same as his view in his Letter to the Romans 1:18-32. Here Hakham Shaul takes the position that the lack of ability to comprehend G-d is a willful opposition against the Torah/G-d.

[85] Leenhardt, Franz J. The Epistle to the Romans: A Brilliant Commentary on St. Paul’s Letter to the Church at Rome. The World Publishing Company, 1961. pp. 22-24

[86] Kittel, Gerhard, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Gerhard Friedrich. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans, 1964. G. Schrenk TDNT 2:96

[87] Shedd, William G. T. Commentary on Romans. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1999. p.23

^[88] Cranfield, C. E. B. (2004). A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans. London; New York: T&T Clark

International. p. 117

^[89]Neusner, J., Neusner, J., Avery-Peck, A. J., Green, W. S., & Museum of Jewish Heritage (New York, N. Y. (2000). The encyclopedia of Judaism. "Published in collaboration with the Museum of Jewish Heritage, New York." (2:596). Brill

[90] Professing to have Hokhmah

[91] To be recalcitrant

[92] φθαρτός – phthartos is used of that which is corruptible and perishing.

[93] Cf. Targum Pseudo Yonatan Shemot (Ex) 1:15: 32:4

[94] Cf. Ex 7:11; 32.4

[95] McNamara, M. 1966. The New Testament and the Palestinian Targums to the Pentateuch. AnBib 27a. Rome. 83-85

[96] Explicit mention has already been made of these two in Pseudo-Jonathan at Exodus 1:15, in an inserted haggadah on Pharaohs dream on the birth of a lamb (Aramaic talya; "lamb, kid" or "young boy"), interpreted by Jannes and Jambres chief magicians of Egypt as referring to the birth of a son among the Israelites, one destined to destroy Egypt. McNamara, Martin. Targum and Testament Revisited: Aramaic Paraphrases of the Hebrew Bible: A Light on the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Mich: William B. Eerdmans Pub, 2010. p. 236

[97] Roth, Cecil. Encyclopedia Judaica [or Encyclopedia Judaica] (16 Volumes). Keter Publishing House, n.d. Vol 11. p. 78

[98] Ibid Vol 7. pp. 700-1

[99] G-d’s wrath is often pictured and spoken of in terms of “G-d’s rage” or “anger.” There is an amazing difference in the nature of G-d as described in this passage. G-d’s chief desire is to show His goodness to His creatures and for His creatures to feel His love. This is the true reason for the existence of the universe, cosmos. The “revelation” (apocalypse) of G-d’s wrath against one of His creatures shows the magnitude of their crimes. Herein the creature has failed to understand the gift of the Yetser HaRa. The Yetser HaRa is given as a means of achieving the highest goals of our humanity, and not just to rebel against its creator. The topic of “G-d’s Wrath against the wicked” startshere in Romans 1:18 and continues until 3:31.

[100] ἀσέβεια – asebeia is generally translated as “ungodly.” However, the root is stronger in intending that those being mentioned are the “wicked” Heb. Rashim (pl.). The rasha (sing.) is one who intentionally does evil against his knowledge of that which is good. This makes the rasha accountable for his actions and therefore liable for punishment.

[101] The English word “suppress” is from the Latin “sub” (down) premere (to press) supprimere – suppress. This word cannot convey the depth of meaning expressed by Hakham Shaul. The intentional withholding of truth is a most heinous crime. These men withhold the truth knowing the consequences of their actions and those who are affected by these subversive actions.

[102] Intimate knowledge here means that “these men” who suppress the truth (i.e. the Torah – Written and Oral) know G-d as far as He is “knowable.” However, even what they know they have subverted and suppressed.

[103] G-d revealed His true nature and plan to them. Yet, they withhold the truth (i.e. the Torah – Written and Oral) from those who are subordinate to them.