|
Esnoga Bet Emunah United States of America © 2019 E-Mail: gkilli@aol.com |
|
Esnoga Bet El 102 Broken Arrow Dr. Paris TN 38242 United States of America © 2019 E-Mail: waltoakley@charter.net |
Triennial Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)
|
Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings |
Fourth Year of the Reading Cycle |
|
Ab 16, 5779 August 16-17 2019 |
Fourth Year of the Shmita Cycle |
Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:
For other places see: http://chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp
Roll of Honor:
This Commentary comes out weekly and on the festivals thanks to the great generosity of:
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
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 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 Shlomoh ben Abraham
His Excellency Adon Ya’aqob ben David
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 G-d’s richest blessings be upon their lives and those of their loved ones, together with all Yisrael and her Torah Scholars, amen ve amen!
Also a great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and allied topics.
If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never lose any of our commentaries, or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to benhaggai@GMail.com with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!
|
Shabbat |
Torah Reading: |
Weekday Torah Reading: |
|
הִנֵּה יָלְדָה מִלְכָּה |
|
|
|
“Heni yaldah Milcah” |
Reader 1 – B’resheet 22.20 – 24 |
Reader B’resheet 24.1 – 4 |
|
“Milcah has Borne” |
Reader 2 – B’resheet 23:1 – 4 |
Reader B’resheet 24. 5 – 6 |
|
Reader 3 – B’resheet 23.5 – 6 |
Reader B’resheet 24.6 – 9 |
|
|
B’resheet (Gen.) 22:20 – 23:20 |
Reader 4 – B’resheet 23.7 – 9 |
|
|
Ashlamatah: Hos 5:7-13 + 6:1-3 |
Reader 5 – B’resheet 23. 10 – 11 |
|
|
|
Reader 6 – B’resheet 23.12–16 |
Reader B’resheet 24.1 – 4 |
|
Psalms 18:44-51 |
Reader 7 – B’resheet 23.17–20 |
Reader B’resheet 24. 5 – 6 |
|
|
Maftir – B’resheet 23.19–20 |
Reader B’resheet 24.6 – 9 |
|
N.C.: Mordechai 2:16-17 Luqas 5:29-32 & II Luqas 11:22 -12:11 |
Hos 5:7-13 + 6:1-3 |
|
Blessing Before Torah Study
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah. Amen!
Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Amen!
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!
Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment. "Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment: This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of Israel:
May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be kind to you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. – Amen!
This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites, and I will bless them."
These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.
These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They are: Honoring one's father and mother; doing acts of kindness; early attendance at the place of Torah study -- morning and night; showing hospitality to guests; visiting the sick; providing for the financial needs of a bride; escorting the dead; being very engrossed in prayer; bringing peace between two people, and between husband and wife; but the study of Torah is as great as all of them together. Amen!
Contents of the Torah Seder
· The family of Nahor
· Sarah’s Death and Burial
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: B’resheet 22.20 – 23.20
|
Rashi’s Translation |
Targum Pseudo Jonathan |
|
20. And it came to pass after these matters, that it was told to Abraham saying: "Behold Milcah, she also bore sons to Nahor your brother. |
20. And it was after these things, after Abraham had bound Izhak, that HaSatan came and told unto Sarah that Abraham had killed Izhak. And Sarah arose, and cried out, and was strangled, and died from agony. But Abraham had come, and was resting in the way. And it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcha also has borne; she has enlargement, through the righteousness/ generosity of her sister, for bring forth sons unto Nachor your brother: |
|
21. Uz, his first born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel, the father of Aram. |
21. Uts, his firstborn, and Booz, his brother, and Kemuel, master of the Aramean magicians, and |
|
22. And Kesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. |
22. Keshed, and Chazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel. |
|
23. And Bethuel begot Rebecca." These eight did Milcah bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother. |
23. And Bethuel begat Rivkah. These eight bare Milcha to Nachor the brother of Abraham. |
|
24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, had also given birth to Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah. |
24. And his concubine, whose name was Rëuma, she also bare Tebach, and Gacham, and Tachash, and Maacha. |
|
|
|
|
Chapter 23 |
|
|
1. And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; [these were] the years of the life of Sarah. |
1. And the days of the life of Sarah were an hundred and twenty and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah. |
|
2. And Sarah died in Kiriath arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to eulogize Sarah and to bewail her. |
2. And Sarah died in Kiryath Arba, which is Hebron. And Abraham came from the mountain of worship, and found that she was dead; and he sat to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. JERUSALEM: And Sarah died in the city of the giants. |
|
3. And Abraham arose from before his dead, and he spoke to the sons of Heth, saying, |
3. And Abraham rose up from the sight of the face of his dead, and spoke with the sons of Hittah, saying, |
|
4. "I am a stranger and an inhabitant with you. Give me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me." |
4. I am a sojourner and dweller with you; I pray sell me the inheritance of a sepulchre among you, and I will bury my dead there. |
|
5. And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him, |
5. And the sons of Hittah responded unto Abraham, saying to him, |
|
6. "Listen to us, my lord; you are a prince of God in our midst; in the choicest of our graves bury your dead. None of us will withhold his grave from you to bury your dead." |
6. Attend to us, our lord. Great before the LORD are you among us, in the best of our sepulchres bury your dead: there is not a man of us who will refuse you his sepulchre, that you may bury your dead. |
|
7. And Abraham arose and prostrated himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth. |
7. And Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Hittah. |
|
8. And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your will that I bury my dead from before me, listen to me and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar. |
8. And he spoke with them, saying, If it be with the consent of your mind that I bury my dead from before my face, receive of me, and intercede for me before Ephron bar Zochar |
|
9. That he may give me the Machpelah (double) Cave, which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field; for a full price let him give it to me in your midst for burial property." |
9. that he sell me his double cave which is built in the side of his field, for the full price in silver let him give it to me among you, for an inheritance of sepulture. |
|
10. Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, of all those who had come into the gate of his city, saying, |
10. But Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Hittah, of all who entered the gate of his city, saying, |
|
11. "No, my lord, listen to me. I have given you the field, and the cave that is in it, I have given it to you. Before the eyes of the sons of my people, I have given it to you; bury your dead." |
11. My lord, listen to me: the field I give you, and the cave which is in it, to you I give it, as a gift before the sons of my people I give it to you; go, bury your dead. |
|
12. And Abraham prostrated himself before the people of the land. |
12. And Abraham bowed before the sons of Hittah. |
|
13. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "But, if only you would listen to me. I am giving the money for the field; take [it] from me, and I will bury my dead there." |
13. And he spoke with Ephron before the people of the land, saying, Nevertheless, if you are willing to do me a favour, hear me: I will give you in silver the price of the field; take (it) of me, and I will bury my dead there. And |
|
14. And Ephron replied to Abraham, saying to him, |
14. Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him, |
|
15. "My lord, listen to me; a [piece of] land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is it between me and you? Bury your dead." |
15. My lord, hear me: the land, as to its price, would be four hundred sileen of silver; between me and you what is that? Bury your dead. JERUSALEM: Four hundred sileen of silver, passing at every table, and receivable in all transactions. |
|
16. And Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, accepted by the merchant. |
16. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named before the sons of Hittah, four hundred sileen of silver, good, passing at every table, and receivable in all transactions. |
|
17. And so the field of Ephron which was in Machpelah, facing Mamre, was established (as Abraham's possession). [This included] the field and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within its entire border around. |
17. And he confirmed the purchase of the field of Ephron, in which (was) the double (cave) which is before Mamre, The field, and the cave that is therein, and all the trees that were in the field, in all the boundaries thereof round about, |
|
18. [It was] to Abraham as a possession before the eyes of the sons of Heth, in the presence of all who had come within the gate of his city. |
18. --Unto Abraham, for a purchased possession, in the presence of the sons of Hittah, (even) of all who entered in at the gate of the city. |
|
19. And afterwards, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan. |
19. And afterwards Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field Machpelah which is before Mamre, that is, Hebron in the land of Kenaan. |
|
20. And the field and the cave within it were established to Abraham as burial property, [purchased] from the sons of Heth. |
20. And the field and the cave therein were confirmed unto Abraham for an inheritance of sepulture from the sons of Hittah. |
|
|
|
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.
Reading Assignment:
The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez - Vol II: The Patriarchs
By: Rabbi Yaaqov Culi, Translated by: Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan
Published by: Moznaim Publishing Corp. (New York, 1988)
Vol. 2 – “The Patriarchs,” pp. 274-309
Rashi’s Commentary for: B’resheet (Genesis) 22:1 – 23:20
22:20 after these matters, that it was told, etc. When he returned from Mount Moriah, Abraham was thinking and saying, “Had my son been slaughtered, he would have died without children. I should have married him to a woman of the daughters of Aner, Eshkol, or Mamre. The Holy One, blessed be He, announced to him that Rebeccah, his mate, had been born, and that is the meaning of aafter these matters,” i.e., after the thoughts of the mattethat came about as a result of the “akedah.”-[from Gen. Rabbah 57:3]
she also She had [a number of] families equal to the [number of] the families of Abraham. Just as Abraham [engendered] the twelve tribes who emerged from Jacob-eight were the sons of the wives and four were the sons of maidservants-so were these also, eight sons of the wives and four sons of a concubine.-[from Gen. Rabbah 57:3] 23
And Bethuel begot Rebecca All these genealogies were written only for the sake of this verse.- [based on Gen. Rabbah 57:1,3]
Chapter 23
1 And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years The reason that the word “years” was written after every digit is to tell you that every digit is to be expounded upon individually: when she was one hundred years old, she was like a twenty-year-old regarding sin. Just as a twenty-year-old has not sinned, because she is not liable to punishment, so too when she was one hundred years old, she was without sin. And when she was twenty, she was like a seven-year-old as regards to beauty.- from Gen. Rabbah 58:1]
2 in Kiriath-arba lit. the city of the four. So named because of the four giants who were there: Ahiman, Sheshai, Talmai, and their father (Gen. Rabbah from Num. 13:23). Another explanation: Because of the four couples that were buried there, man and wife: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah (Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 20).
and Abraham came from Beer-sheba.
to eulogize Sarah and to bewail her The account of Sarah’s demise was juxtaposed to the binding of Isaac because as a result of the news of the “binding,” that her son was prepared for slaughter and was almost slaughtered, her soul flew out of her, and she died.- from Gen. Rabbah 58:5]
4 I am a stranger and an inhabitant with you [I am] a stranger from another land, and I have settled among you. [Consequently, I have no ancestral burial plot here (Rashbam, Sforno).] And the Midrash Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 58: 6) [states]: If you are willing [to sell me burial property], I am a stranger, but if not, I will be as an inhabitant and will take it legally, for the Holy One, blessed be He, said to me, “To your seed I will give this land” (above 12:7).
burial property the possession of land for a burial place.
6 none...will withhold Heb. לא יִכְלֶה, will not withhold, as (Ps. 40:12): “You will not withhold (לא תִכְלָא) Your mercies,” and similarly (above 8:2): “and the rain was withheld (וַיִּכָּלֵא) .”
8 your will Heb. נַפְשְׁכֶם, equivalent to רְצוֹנְכֶם, your will.
and entreat for me Heb. וּפִגְעוּ, an expression of entreaty, as in (Ruth 1:16): “Do not entreat me”.
9 double A structure with an upper story over it. Another interpretation: [It was called so] because it was doubled with couples (Er. 53a).
for a full price [meaning] its full value. So did David say to Araunah, “for the full price” (I Chron. 21:24).
10 Now Ephron was sitting It [ישֵׁב] is spelled defectively, [without a “vav.” It can therefore be read יָשַׁב , in the past tense, meaning that he had just sat (Mizrachi, Be’er Yitzchak).] On that very day they had appointed him as an officer over them. Because of the importance of Abraham, who needed him, he rose to an exalted position.- from Gen. Rabbah 58:7]
of all those who had come into the gate of his city For they all left their work and came to pay their respects to Sarah.- from Gen. Rabbah 58:7]
11 No, my lord You shall not buy it for money.
I have given you It is as though I have given it to you.
13 But, if only you would listen to me You tell me to listen to you and to take it gratis. I do not wish to do that, but “If you would only (לוּ) listen to me,” [meaning] “If only (הַלְוַאי) you would listen to me.” Rashi explains that the word לוּ is equivalent to הַלְוַאי, if only.
I am giving lit. I have given, Donai in Old French. It is ready with me, and I wish that I had already given it to you.
15 between me and you Between two friends such as we are, of what importance is it? None! Rather leave the sale and bury your dead.
16 and Abraham weighed out to Ephron - עֶפְרֽן is spelled without a “vav,” because he promised much but did not do even a little [i.e., he promised the cave as a gift but took a great deal of money for it], for he took from him large shekels, viz. centenaria [worth one hundred smaller shekels], as it is stated: “accepted by the merchant,” i.e., they are accepted as a [full] shekel everywhere, for some places have large shekels, viz. centenaria, centeniers or zenteniyers in Old French,(hundred-unit weights.) - from Gen. Rabbah 58:7, Bech. 50a, B.M. 87a]
17 the field of Ephron...was established Heb. וַיָקָם, lit. it arose. It experienced an elevation, for it left the possession of a simple person [and went] into the possession of a king (Gen. Rabbah 48: 8). The simple meaning of the verse is: And the field and the cave that was within it, and all the trees...were established to Abraham as a possession, etc.- from Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel]
18 in the presence of all who had come within the gate of his city In the midst of them all and in the presence of all he sold it to him.
Ketubim: Psalms 18:44-51
|
Rashi’s Translation |
Targum |
|
44. You allowed me to escape from the contenders of the people; You shall make me the head over nations; may a people that I do not know serve me. |
44. You will deliver me from the discords of the Gentiles; you will keep me by my destiny a benefactor at the head of the Gentiles; a people that I did not know shall worship me. |
|
45. As soon as they hear they shall obey me; foreigners shall lie to me. |
45. At the hearing of the ear, they will obey me; the sons of the peoples will desert in my presence. |
|
46. Foreigners shall wither, and they shall fear their imprisonments. |
46. The sons of the peoples above will perish, and will go into exile from their palaces. |
|
47. The Lord lives, and blessed be my Rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation. |
47. The LORD lives, and blessed is the mighty one; for from His presence strength and redemption are given to me; and exalted is God, the strength of my redemption. |
|
48. The God Who grants me vengeance and destroys peoples instead of me. |
48. It is God who works retribution for me, and defeats beneath me the Gentiles who arise to do me harm. |
|
49. Who delivers me from my enemies; even above those that rise against me You have lifted me; from the violent man You deliver me. |
49. He delivers me from my foes; indeed against those who arise to do me harm You will make me prevail; You will deliver me from Gog and the armies of rapacious Gentiles with him. |
|
50. Therefore, I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations, and to Your name I will sing praises. |
50. Because of this, I will give praise in Your presence among the Gentiles, O LORD; and I will sing praises to Your name. |
|
51. He gives great salvations to His king, and He performs kindness to His anointed; to David and to his seed forever. |
51. He works abundant redemption with His king, and shows favor to his Anointed (Messiah), to David and his seed forever. |
|
|
|
Rashi’s Commentary on Psalm 18:44-51
44 You allowed me to escape from the contenders of the people so that I should not be punished according to Jewish law, for perverting justice or for subjugating an Israelite more than is permitted.
You shall make me the head over nations for whom there is no punishment.
45 As soon as they hear Even in my absence, as long as they hear my message.
they shall obey me They shall give heed to my bidding and obey my orders.
shall lie to me out of fright.
46 shall wither Heb. יבלו. They shall become weary, as (in Exod. 18:18): “you shall surely wither (נבל תבל),” which the Targum renders: you shall surely weary. Menachem (Machbereth p. 45) explains it as (in Gen. 18:12): “after I have become old (בלתי),” and he explained נבל תבל in the same manner.
and they shall fear Heb. ויחרגו, an expression of fear; (in Deut. 32:25) “and terror from within,” the Targum renders: חרגת, fear of death.
their imprisonments Because of the tortures of the imprisonments in the dungeon where I imprison them and where they torture them. Menachem (p. 94) interprets it as an expression of loosening the girdle, and so he explains it: and they will be loosened of their girdles [meaning they will be frightened or weakened]. Dunash interprets ויחגרו ממסגרותיהם, and they will be lamed from their shackles, which are placed on their feet. The meaning of ויחגרו is: they will become lame, as the Aramaic for a lame person is חגר .
47 The Lord lives He Who does all this for me.
48 Who grants me vengeance Who gives me strength to avenge myself upon my enemies.
and destroys Heb. וידבר, and He slew, an expression of דבר, pestilence. Another explanation: as (in Exod. 3:1): “and he led (וינהג),” which is translated into Aramaic as וּדְבַר. Menachem (p. 61) too associated it in this manner. Likewise, he associated (below 47:4), “He leads (יַדְבֵּר) peoples under us.”
instead of me Heb. תחתי, in my place and in my stead, as the matter is stated (in Isa. 43:4): “and I give men in your stead (תחתיך), (verse 3), “I have given Egypt as your ransom. [Cush and Seba in your stead (תחתיך)].”
Meditation from the Psalms
Psalms 18:44-50
By: H. Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David
August 17, 2019 - Ab 16, 5779
Bereshit (Genesis) 22:20 – 23:20
Tehillim (Psalms) 18:44-51
Hoshea (Hosea) 5:7-13 + 6:1-3
Mk. 2:16-17, Lk 5:29-32, Acts 5:33-41, Acts 5:42
I’ll repeat my intro from the beginning of this chapter of Psalms.
This extraordinary Psalm popularly known as שירת דוד, 'the Song of David' was composed in his old age after a life full of trial and tribulation.[1] Specifically, it was recited on the day that David's army swore that their old and venerable king would no longer be allowed to expose himself to the dangers of the battlefield with them.[2]
This Psalm has the distinction of being the only chapter in Scriptures which is recorded twice: here and in II Shmuel Chapter 22. Abarbanel, in his commentary to Samuel, is of the opinion that David originally composed this song in his youth when he was still deeply enmeshed in his many problems and misfortunes. He created this song to be an all-inclusive one which would relate to every woe which could possibly occur in his life. Throughout his long life David kept this psalm at hand, reciting it on every occasion of personal salvation.
The original version appears in Samuel. This version, composed at the end of David's life, differs from the original in a number of minor variations enumerated in Soferim 18.
This second version is not a triumphant song of personal victory. David made a gift to Israel of his personal feelings as a prayer and a consolation in times of distress. He who seeks to meditate in solitude, he who seeks private communion with his Maker, he who seeks to pour out his anguished soul in fervent prayer, all of these will find in it the precise words with which to express the depths of his feelings.
The Vilna Gaon[3] designates this psalm as the שיר של יום, 'Song of the Day', for the Seventh Day of Passover. The seventh day of Passover is a Yom Tob; it is like the messianic age.
On the seventh night of Passover, known as Shvi'ee shel Pesach, the Israelites passed through the parted Reed Sea. Towards morning, the Sea rolled over on the Egyptian army, and shortly afterwards the Jews sang the Az Yashir, the song of praise which is today part of our daily morning prayers.
This holiday marks the final conclusion of the Egyptian bondage. As long as their Egyptian taskmasters were alive, the Jews could not rid themselves of the fear that perhaps one day the Egyptian army would overpower them and force them back into slavery. While this irrational trepidation may be difficult for us to comprehend, we cannot relate to the psyche of a nation which had been dominated, brutally enslaved and humiliated for many generations. Only after the Egyptians were totally annihilated were the Jews truly a free nation, in spirit as well as in body.
HaRav Gifter[4] explains that the universal and eternal nature of this psalm is particularly suited to the Seventh Day of Passover when HaShem split the Sea representing the climax of redemption and the forerunner of all future redemptions.[5]
I’d like to examine a fascinating concept which is contained in the final pasuk of our chapter of Psalms.
Tehillim (Psalms) 18:51 He magnifies the victories of His king, and does kindness with His anointed, to David and his seed, forever.
The ArtScroll on Tehillim[6] tells us something very interesting about this pasuk.
He magnifies the victories of His king - In Samuel the word is written מגדיל and is pronounced מגדול. Midrash Shocher Tov explains: Rabbi Yudan says, 'The redemption of this nation will not come about all at once. Rather it will appear little by little. Therefore, it is described in Psalms as מגדל He makes great (constant present tense) meaning that it gradually becomes greater and greater. This is like the dawn which breaks slowly, for if the sun were to rise all at once its fiery light would blind all. So, too, will be the redemption: If it would come all at once the people of Israel who for so long have been accustomed only to oppression could not endure the experience and it would overwhelm them. In Samuel the word מגדול is used because it also means ‘a tower’. Messiah will be a tower of strength for Israel as it says, A tower [מגדל] of might is the Name of HaShem; with it the righteous will run and be elevated.[7]
It is well known that there are two major epochs: This world (Olam HaZeh) which is the place where we work, repair,[8] and build, and the next world (Olam HaBa) where we enjoy the reward of what we have built. What is not so well understood is that there is a time period between these two epochs called the Yemot HaMashiach, the messianic age.
The messianic age will be like Olam HaZeh except that there will be no more wars and we will have only a certain kind of work.
Olam HaZeh – This World
The (non-holiday) weekdays are symbolic of Olam HaZeh, the world in its present state, a place where through doing the mitzvot and consistently choosing good over evil, we are to make all our spiritual preparations for Shabbat. Olam HaZeh is the place of work, of serving HaShem. The Maharal explains that only in Olam HaZeh (This World), in its present state, where one has free will to choose between good and evil, can one earn merit for good choices or be punished for making bad choices.
In various places, the Torah compares a person to a tree:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 20:19 A person is like the tree of a field...
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 65:22 For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people.
Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 17:8 He will be like a tree planted near water...
All men enter the world with their tree planted on the middle line between good and evil. Their branches hang on both sides and they will bear fruit on both sides. HaShem will bring mitzvot and sins in order that they should test them. Most (99.99%) all people will remain firmly planted and will never move their tree off that middle line.
In Bereshit (Genesis) 3:9, Adam and Chava had just eaten some fruit from the forbidden tree and, sensing HaShem’s presence in the Garden of Eden, they hid among the trees. While they were hiding, HaShem asked Adam a one-word question. In Hebrew that word is ayeka? In English it means, “Where are you”? This question continues to reverberate through time to confront every man: Where are you?
Maimonides writes in his laws of repentance[9] that every person should consider himself or herself as perfectly balanced between good and bad and the world as perfectly balanced between good and evil. The next action you do, however trivial, can tilt you and the whole world toward the side of good and life or to the side of evil and death.
Each man has the power of choice, and is able to choose either side, knowingly and willingly, as well as to possess whichever one he wishes. Man was therefore created with both a good inclination (yetzer tov) and an evil inclination (yetzer hara). He has the power to incline himself in which ever direction he desires.[10]
Therefore, the Olam HaZeh was made neutral, left for man to determine how it would be used. One world, two possibilities, and man is the one to determine whether or not he walks that path, or stumbles it in. But, try it he must, for that is what he was created to do.
Those who are righteous, the tzaddikim, in this world have made a conscious, decision to plant their tree on the side of righteousness.
Those who are wicked, the reshaim, in this world have made a decision to plant their tree on the side of wickedness.
Yet, most people never make a decision to move their tree one way or the other, and thus they remain in the middle, balanced between good and evil, they are still firmly straddling the line, a very bad position to be in. They fail to do what they were created to do. They fail to make use of Olam HaZeh, this world.
Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rosh HaShanah is a day tailor made by HaShem, for planting one’s tree on the side of righteousness. This is the essential work of this day. We were born to choose life. We were born to become a tzaddikim!
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 20 That thou mayest love the HaShem thy G-d, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the HaShem sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.
The type of choices that are able to accomplish an attachment to HaShem, are those choices taken for the express purpose of attaching to life, and to good, instead of what is temporary, and therefore to the evil.
These kinds of choices are made in the context of confronting moral dilemmas when we are torn in two directions, and we do not have a powerful inner program instilled by heredity or environment pointing us in the right direction. We desire one thing, but we know that the right decision is in the other direction, not because of our inner program but because HaShem told us in the Torah that that is the way to go. It is in these sorts of situations that present us with the opportunity of attaching ourselves to righteousness, to life.
Some people look at the mitzvot, prayers, and rituals and deduce that Jews try to "earn our way into Heaven" by performing the mitzvot. This is a gross mischaracterization of our religion. It is important to remember that unlike some religions, Judaism is not focused on the question of how to get into heaven. Judaism is focused on life and how to live it. Non-Jews frequently ask me, "do you really think you're going to go to Hell if you don't do such-and-such?" It always catches me a bit off balance, because the question of where I am going after death simply doesn't enter into the equation when I think about the mitzvot. We perform the mitzvot because it is our privilege and our sacred obligation to do so. We perform them out of a sense of love and duty, not out of a desire to get something in return. In fact, one of the first bits of ethical advice in Pirkei Avot is: "Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward; instead, be like servants who serve their master not for the sake of receiving a reward, and let the awe of Heaven [meaning G-d, not the afterlife] be upon you".
Chazal, our Sages, teach that just before the coming of the Mashiach, and the beginning of Techiyat HaMetim, there will be proof that the Torah path of the Jew is completely false and that the Goyim, Gentiles, were right. If the Jew has not learned emunah, faithfulness and faithful obedience, if he has not learned how to be loyal to that knowledge (daat), then he will be shown to be nothing. If, on the other hand, the Jew has emunah and is loyal to the pathway built on knowledge (daat), then the “proof” that he was completely wrong will become Techiyat HaMetim, the world of emunah where he will find that this last ordeal has been overcome and he will be completely vindicated. That is what Olam HaZeh is for, to move our tree to the side of righteousness and to choose life.
The transition between Olam HaZeh and the Messianic Era is called Chevlai Mashiach[11] and is characterized by chaos. We are currently in this transition period, which explains the apparent chaos in the world right now. Rabbi Pinchas Winston taught that, according to the mystical understanding, the underlying purpose of the chaos is “to polarize the world, to force people to make a decision whether they are more spiritual or more physical, whether they have moved their tree and have chosen life. What is their priority?”
HaShem wants us to focus on bringing HaShem into this world and to bring Olam Haba into Olam Hazeh. He wants us to build the בית המקדש - the edifice that connected this world with the next.
Yemot HaMashiach[12] – The Messianic Age
If Olam HaZeh is the time for building and doing work, and Olam HaBa is the time for reward, then why do we need the Yemot HaMashiach? Why do we need an intermediate time? There are several answers to this question. One answer is that the voltage of Olam HaBa is too high for us to move from Olam HaZeh to Olam HaBa. We would be fried. Another answer is that it would be grossly unfair, to the righteous, to give them trials and responsibilities which prevent them from doing the mitzvot and Torah study that they really desire. If the pressures of earning a living, raising a family, and dealing with the trial of Olam HaZeh, prevent us from achieving what we desired and what we were truly capable, that would be unfair. HaShem, so to speak, prevented us from achieving our heart’s desire.
Yemot HaMashiach is a time free of financial pressures, family matters, and general trials. It is a time when we can achieve our Heart’s desire. It is a time when we can become a super nova of righteous living free from war, sickness, and financial worries.
The Era of Mashiach (Yemot HaMashiach). The seventh millennium. This is the era when Techiyat HaMetim[13] will occur. Acharit HaYamim[14] and Yemot HaMashiach are synonymous, referring to the Messianic Age.
During the Messianic Age people would live in peace and harmony with each other, all fear and anxiety will vanish, and virtue will reign supreme. The Messianic Age will be a direct extension of the present world of time and place. It would ensure the complete fulfillment of the hopes and aspirations of people everywhere.
There is an idea that all spiritual realities have at least one tangible counterpart in the physical world so that we can experience them. The Messianic age is יום שכולו שבת - the day that is in its totality shabbat, a Yom Tob, a festival shabbat. A Yom Tob is the synthesis of Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba. A Yom Tob is the culmination, the end-point, of all of our labors. It is a taste of the next world.[15] Shabbat is likened to one-sixtieth of the Olam HaBa, a time when we shall be able to fully appreciate HaShem’s gift of life to us. On Shabbat, by abstaining from certain “creative activities”, we are compelled to sit back and look at all that HaShem does to keep us going, and if we don’t do that, then we deny both the opportunity of Shabbat and HaShem’s good. Hence, the Sages are telling us that, as much as Shabbat is like the Olam HaBa (and it is), still, the experience is so minimal that it is as if it is not there at all? In other words, even if Shabbat is the most wonderful experience, still, the Olam HaBa will become infinitely better.
It would be too difficult to relate to these abstract, spiritual things, if we could never have any direct experience of it. So, sleep is a sixtieth of the death experience; a dream is a sixtieth of prophecy. Shabbat is a sixtieth of the experience of the next world. We have these experiences in order that we should understand those things that HaShem has promised.
A fundamental difference between Yom Tob[16] observance, and the weekly Shabbat observance, is the allowance of food preparation on Yom Tob. Unlike on Shabbat, when all cooking is forbidden, the Torah permits us to cook, bake, and prepare food on Yom Tob proper, in order to eat the prepared food on that day of Yom Tob. Therefore, just as you can cook on Yom Tob – IF YOU LIT THE FIRE TO COOK BEFORE YOM TOB, so also will you be given the time and resources to finish any Torah study and mitzvot which you started before Yemot HaMashiach. But, you must start (you must light the fire) in Olam HaZeh. There will be no new studies, no new mitzvot in those days, only a time of finishing what you have already begun.
The Talmud, in Shabbat 151b, teaches that the verse ‘and those years will arrive of which you will say 'I have no desire in them?’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1), refers to Yemot HaMashiach (the Messianic Age), when it will no longer be possible to earn credit towards Olam Haba (the World to Come) for performing mitzvot not previously started, or deserve punishment for performing sins.
When the Messiah comes and the world will be perfected and filled with truth to the point that all will see evil for what it truly is and no one will have ‘desire’ to do bad, there will no longer be free will as we know it, thus eliminating the possibility of reward and punishment in Olam HaBa for any choices we make at that time.
The Maharal adds that this is only true for those who make consistent bad choices and transgress the Torah in this world before the Messiah arrives. For them it will be too late to do teshuva and change once the ‘good times’ of the Messiah come, since they would only be changing because the truth has been revealed and the times are good, and not as the result of their own free-willed desire to change for the better.
However, those tzaddikim[17] who consistently choose good over evil in this world where there is no clarity, and the benefits of choosing to do mitzvot over sins are not readily apparent, they will continue to grow and gain reward for the good choices they make even after the Messiah comes, because they have shown that their choices are coming from a genuine desire to do good and not just for the sake of enjoying the ‘good times’ of the Messianic Age.
With this, explains the Maharal, we can understand the deeper meaning behind the procedure of eruv tavshilin.[18] The Halachah[19] is that one must prepare for shabbat on the weekday before shabbat starts. The (non-holiday) weekdays are symbolic of Olam HaZeh, the world in its present state, a place where through doing the mitzvot and consistently choosing good over evil we are to make all our spiritual ‘preparations’ for the weekly shabbat, which represents Olam HaBa, the World to Come in which we will be rewarded. As the Talmud teaches us in Avodah Zarah 3a, ‘Whoever prepares food before Shabbat, will have what to eat on Shabbat’. If we prepare ourselves properly during the ‘weekdays’ of this world, we will have ‘food’ to eat and enjoy on Shabbat and the Hereafter.
Belief in the eventual resurrection of the dead is a fundamental belief of Judaism. It was a belief that distinguished the Pharisees[20] from the Sadducees. The Sadducees rejected the concept, because it is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah. The Pharisees found the concept implied in certain verses.
Belief in resurrection of the dead is one of Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith. The second blessing of the Shemone Esrei prayer, which is recited three times daily, contains several references to resurrection.
The resurrection of the dead will occur in the messianic age. When the messiah comes to initiate the perfect world of peace and prosperity, the righteous dead will be brought back to life and given the opportunity to experience the perfected world that their righteousness helped to create. The wicked dead will not be resurrected.
There are some mystical schools of thought that believe resurrection is not a one-time event, but is an ongoing process. The souls of the righteous are reborn in to continue the ongoing process of tikkun olam, mending of the world.
Olam HaBa – The World to Come
The term Olam HaBa[21] in contrast to Olam HaZeh refers to the hereafter, which begins with the termination of man's earthly life. Olam HaBa refers to the last stage of existence after what would be 7000 AM.[22] Shabbat represent Olam HaBa, the time after the seventh millennium. The Olam HaBa is actually the end of time, the beginning of eternity when the righteous will bask in the radiance of divine light, and the wicked will be consigned to the darkness of eternal oblivion. Olam HaBa is the final order of things beginning with the general resurrection and the last judgment. According to the Palestinian amora R. Johanan, the golden age of the future pictured by the prophets concerned only the days of the Messiah. As for the world to come, it is said of it, "Eye hath not seen".[23]
Olam HaBa is the world of reward. That which we built in Olam HaZeh is enjoyed in Olam HaBa. The Torah never tells us about the rewards of Olam HaBa. Why? After all, it would be a powerful motivator for us to maximize our righteous behavior in Olam HaZeh.
The reason that we are never told about the reward, in the Torah, is because we would then be required to serve for the reward. This is not HaShem’s desire. HaShem wants us to serve Him because we love him, and for no other reason. Never the less, the oral law is replete with references to the reward in order to provide us encouragement to Love HaShem because of His goodness to us.
A cardinal eschatological doctrine of rabbinic Judaism connected with the world to come was that of the restoration to life of the dead. It is listed as a dogma at the beginning of the tenth chapter of Sanhedrin. "Whoever says that the revivification of the dead is not proved from the Torah", so it is remarked there, "has no portion in the world to come".
What Olam HaBa is like is shrouded in mystery. Chazal teach that we will sit in HaShem’s light and enjoy the pleasure of his radiance. As to what this is like, we are only given a taste, as it says: “Shabbat is one sixtieth of the Olam HaBa”. Shabbat is described as “meeyn olam haba” - a small degree of the experience of the next world. If we celebrate shabbat correctly we can achieve the barest taste of what it will be like in Olam HaBa.
Ashlamatah: Hos 5:7-13 + 6:1-3
7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD, for they have begotten strange children; now shall the new moon devour them with their portions. {S}
8 Blow ye the horn in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah; sound an alarm at Beth-aven: 'Behind thee, O Benjamin!'
9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel do I make known that which shall surely be.
10 The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark; I will pour out My wrath upon them like water.
11 Oppressed is Ephraim, crushed in his right; because he willingly walked after filth.
12 Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.
13 And when Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to King Contentious; but he is not able to heal you, neither shall he cure you of your wound.
1 'Come, and let us return unto the LORD; for He hath torn, and He will heal us, He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.
2 After two days will He revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.
3 And let us know, eagerly strive to know the LORD, His going forth is sure as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.'
Rashi’s Commentary for:
|
v7 for they begot strange children: for they intermarried among the nations. |
|
a month shall consume them: The month of Av. |
|
v8 Sound a shofar: so that they take care to beware of the sword of the troops that will come upon them. |
|
shout [in] Beth- aven: “After you the troop is coming, you Benjamin!” You shall shout this in Beth-aven. Jonathan, however, renders: Sound a shofar: [O prophets, raise your voices like a shofar.] The news of the sword which is coming as retribution for the iniquity of crowning Saul, who was in Gibeah, and for disobeying Samuel, who was from Ramah. And their kings caused them to turn away from following Me, such as Jeroboam and his ilk. Shout over them, “ Violence and great destruction!” |
|
“After you, Benjamin!”: Since you delayed and hesitated to go on the pilgrimages to the Temple, which is in Benjamin’s territory. Because of your delay of Benjamin. [explaining according to Targum Jonathan] |
|
v9 shall be bewildered on the day of contention: When I come to debate with them, they will be bewildered and will wonder, and they will have no answer in their mouth. Why? Because, among the tribes of Israel I made known a true Torah, and they transgressed it. [Another explanation:] |
|
Ephraim shall be bewildered etc. among the tribes of Israel I made known a true [judgment]: Said Rabbi Abahu in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Chanina. On the day that the Holy One, blessed be He, debates with them in judgment, they will not be able to open their mouths, for among their tribes I made known that the judgment is a true judgment. You find that, when the ten tribes were exiled, Benjamin and Judah were not exiled, and the ten tribes were saying, Because they are the dwellers of His palace, He did not exile them. There is favoritism in this matter. God forbid, there is no favoritism, but their measure of sin was not yet full. As soon as they sinned, they were exiled. Then the ten tribes were bewildered, without an answer in their mouths, and they said, “Behold God! Behold the Mighty One! Behold the Just One! For even to those who dwell in His house He shows no favoritism.” This is to fulfill what is stated: Among the tribes of Israel I made known a true judgment. [from Lam. Rabbah, Proem 6] |
|
v. 10 like those who remove the landmark: As a person who attaches the landmark of his neighbor, so did they hasten to grasp the ways of Israel, their colleagues, the kings. Therefore, “upon them will I pour My wrath like water.” And, according to its apparent meaning, they were stealing fields. But it is difficult to me, since he should have written. מַסִיגֵי גְבוּל, those who remove the landmark, not כְּמַסִיגֵי like those who remove. |
|
v. 11 Ephraim is plundered: in the hands of the nations. |
|
broken by judgment: Chastised with torments. Now why does he suffer with all this? Because he wished and desired and followed the new commands of the prophets of Baal. |
|
v12 and like decay: A worm which eats the wood and pulverizes it. |
|
v 13 his pain: Heb. מְזֹרוֹ, an expression of illness. |
|
and Ephraim went to Assyria: This is Hosea son of Elah, who was his vassal and then rebelled against him (II Kings 17:4). |
|
and he sent: i.e., Judah sent. |
|
to the king of Yarev: This refers to Ahaz, who gave a bribe to Tiglath-pileser to assist him against Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah (II Kings 16:8). |
|
but he will not be able to heal you: from the many bands of Philistines and Arabs that attacked Ahaz, as is related in Chronicles (II 28:21): “For Ahaz divided the house of the Lord etc. and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but he did not help him.” |
|
and he will not remove the pain from you: Heb. וְלֹא יִגְהֶה מִכֶּם מָזוֹר. And I say that it is one of the words whose radicals are transposed. This is an expression similar to (II Sam. 20:13) “When he was removed (הוֹגָה) from the highway” ; (Isaiah 59:13) “sprouting and giving forth (והוֹגוֹ) from the heart” ; (Prov. 25:4), “take away הָגוֹ) the dross from the silver.” |
 |
NAZAREAN TALMUD
Sidra Of B’resheet (Gen.) 22:20 – 23:20
By: H. Em. Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham
|
Hakham Shaul’s School of Tosefta (Luke 5:27-32)
|
Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat (Mark 2:13-17) |
|
But the Soferim (scribes) and P’rushim (Pharisees) asked his talmidim concerning the halakhic implications of eating with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz), saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz)?”[24] But Yeshua answered them saying, “Those who are in good health do not need a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come[25] to call the righteous/generous to do teshubah (repentance), but ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz).” |
And when the Soferim (Scribes) of the P’rushim (Pharisees) saw him eat with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz), they said to his talmidim, “How is it that he (Yeshua) eats and drinks with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz)?[26] When Yeshua heard[27] them, he said to them, “They who are strong have no need of a physician, but the ones who are ill. I did not come to call the righteous/generous, but ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz) to do Teshubah (repentance).” |
|
Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes (2 Luqas -Acts 11:22-12.11)
|
|
|
The report of this came to the ears of the congregation in Yerushalayim, and they sent Bar-Nechamah[28] to Antioch. When he came and saw the loving-kindness of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all to remain faithfully obedient to the Master with steadfast purpose, for he was a good man, full of the Spirit of Prophecy and of faithfully obedient. And a great many people were added to the Master. So, Bar-Nechamah went to Tarsus to look for Paqid Shaul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year,[29] they met with the congregation and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the talmidim were first called “Christians.”[30]
Acts 11:27-30 Now in these days prophets (Hakhamim) came down from Yerushalayim to Antioch. And one of them named Hagabah[31] stood up and gave a Sign (foretold)[32] by the Spirit (of Prophecy) that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).[33] So the talmidim determined, everyone according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Y’hudah. And they did so, sending it to the Zeqanim by the hand of Bar-Nechamah and Paqid Shaul.
Acts 12:1-11 Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the congregation in order to mistreat them. And he had Ya’aqob the brother of Yochanan put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Tzdukim (Sadducees),[34] he proceeded to arrest Hakham Tsefet also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Hakham Tsefet was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the congregation to God. On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Hakham Tsefet was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Hakham Tsefet's side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “cloth yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and walk with me.”[35] And he went out and continued to walk with the messenger, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real,[36] but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel departed from him. When Hakham Tsefet came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel (messenger) and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the Tzdukim (Sadducees) that were expecting.” |
|
|
Nazarean Codicil to be read in conjunction with the following Torah Sedarim:
|
Gen 21:1-34 |
Ps. 15 |
I Sam 2:21-28 + 3:19-20 |
Mk 2:13-17 |
Lk 5:27-32 |
Acts 4:32-37 |
Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat
We have discussed this on more than one occasion. The Galil was devastated when the Babylonians conquered the Northern Kingdoms of Yisrael. The practice of the Babylonian King was to displace all the natural inhabitants of the land and replace them with those who did not know the land where they had been placed. This is actually the birth of the Samaritans in Eretz Yisrael.
If we accept that Yeshua is Messiah and that he was from the Pharisaic school of Hillel we must attribute to him the gift of Prophecy. This is not a simple matter to discuss, nevertheless those issues are dealt with elsewhere. Our point here is twofold. Firstly, that Messiah and the House of Hillel saw the coming diaspora. Their vision for the future, like the vision of Ezra the Scribe and the Men of the Great Assembly sought to salvage Judaism from becoming defunct. Secondly, the if Judaism was to enter a diaspora it would need to be prepared and things must be set in order, literally and figuratively. Bothe Ezra and the School of Hillel introduced a system that would keep Yisrael from being consumed by the Nations.
In 135 C.E. the Sanhedrin was disbanded. Its final seat of authority was Tiberias of the Galil.[37] However, before the Sanhedrin could be seated in the Galil there must be a great transformation. Many Jews who had be exiled returned to Eretz Yisrael and the greater part of those who entered had little skill other than farming etc. many of the carried with them the gods (Shedim) of the Gentile lands where they had returned from. These people were either non-observant or followed the minimal amount of the Torah that they knew. Furthermore, many non-observant Gentiles inhabited the Northern lands of Yisrael, i.e. the Galil. Succinctly we can see that Yeshua knew and was raised among many of the Am HaEretz. The Am HaEretz were often ridiculed by their observant brethren. Thus, the Soferim of the P’rushim were most logically those from the House of Shammai. From a previous we could see that the Shammaite view of interaction between Jew and Gentile was a dominant dogma until Hakham Tsefet’s encounter with Cornelius. It was at this juncture that the Gentiles began to “turn towards G-d.” The logical approach to solving the problem of the Galil is to begin with the repentance of the Am HaEretz and then proceed to Gentile interaction. This is the exact method we see unfolding in the Nazarean Codicil. When these people are Torah Observant the Gentiles of the land will, of a necessity follow suit.
Thus, we should not be alarmed that Yeshua is attending some functions with unsavoury company. However, just because the surroundings are not Orthodox does not mean that he or his talmidim fell into sin as a result. The reverse it the case. The Doctor comes in to cure the diseased not vis versa.
 |
Remes Commentary to Hakham Shaul
The Remes of 2 Luqas has three subjects that it addresses.
- The Man Hunt
- The Grasshopper
- Get out of Jail free
Each of them is a topic in and of itself. By and large we see the allegorical message that is being weaved by the three sections. Firstly, there is a “man hunt” for Shaul who has received a Bat Kol. This allegory shows that there will be a man to be sent to the Gentiles for the sake bringing them to repentance and observance.
Romans 1.5 Through him, I have received chesed and an Igeret Reshut to bring Messiah’s authority[38] over all the Gentiles turning to God, and bringing them into faithful obedience[39] (Talmudizing them in the Torah), among whom you also are the called (given a vocation) of Yeshua HaMashiach.
Secondly, Hagabah the Grasshopper – Locust speaks of famine. Thus, we see that there is allegory in the name giving Prophecy of his name. A great famine over all the world is indicative of the Gentiles in Diaspora and the famine of Torah that would occur until we approach the Y’mot HaMashiach (Days of Messiah). This famine is a form of bondage that was and will be experienced by Gentile leaders who refuse to obey G-d.
Finally, Hakham Tsefet is incarcerated by the tyrannical hands of the paranoid Herod whose modus operandi was to kill anyone or thing that he was jealous of. Thus, Hakham Tsefet was a threat to him and the status quo. However, G-d’s plans are beyond the capabilities for poor leaders. Here in this final section we see that G-d, despite these defunct leaders will liberate the Jewish people from tyranny and opulence. This is in and of itself a prophecy for the future.
The Man Hunt
We have been discussing the fate of the Gentiles or the Gentile predicament. We have been left with the idea that the Gentiles will either turn of burn as they say. This was the view of Lloyd Gaston more or less. However, is this really the situation. Are all Gentiles evil and “bad?” Do all the Gentiles deserve to be destroyed or punished? The answer is difficult to approach and solve. However, when we look at the Jewish view in the First Century this does not seem to be the case. This is especially true in the teachings of Yeshua and his talmidim. One key writer that existed in the First Century gives a silent clue. When we search Philo’s writings, we often see the same message that is taught by Hakham Shaul. This is especially true when they discuss the Festival of Shavuot. It is as if they shared notes and ideas with one another.
Philo describes the giving of the Decalogue (on Shavuot) as a festival.
41 For if the uncreated, immortal, and everlasting God, who needs nothing and who is the maker of the universe, and the benefactor and King of kings, and God of gods, cannot endure to overlook even the humble of human beings. But has thought even such worthy of being banqueted in sacred oracles and laws, as if He were about to give him a love-feast, and to prepare for him alone a banquet (drinking party cf. 2 Luqas 2:13-15). This “feast” is for the refreshing and expanding of his soul instructed in the divine will and in the manner in which the great ceremonies ought to be performed.[40]
46 And a voice sounded forth from out of the midst of the fire which had flowed from heaven, a most marvellous and awful voice, the flame being endowed with articulate speech in a language familiar to the hearers, which expressed its words with such clearness and distinctness that the people seemed rather to be seeing than hearing it.[41]
49 And God also intimates to us something of this kind by a figure. Since the property of fire is partly to give light, and partly to burn, those who think fit to show themselves obedient to the sacred commands will live forever and ever as in a light which is never darkened, having his laws themselves as stars giving light in their soul. But all those who are stubborn and disobedient are forever inflamed, and burnt, and consumed by their internal (sinful) appetites, which, like flame, will destroy all the life of those who possess them.[42]
These words are very similar to the book of 2 Luqas (Acts) Chapter 2. However, Philo never uses the Greek word “Christos” for Messiah. But he does use other terms that are clearly an association with Messiah and his occupation. And he does, however, show the key elements that will lead into the Y’mot HaMashiach. One section he comments on is of key importance is his discussion on the war of Gog and Magog. In his section on “Rewards and Punishments” 94ff he shows that Messiah will destroy the wicked with great ease. However, he does not distinguish between the Jewish people and the Gentiles by and large. What is of significance is that he does distinguish between the wicked and the “non-wicked.” And he does not tell us that only the “righteous” will be saved. Thus, he shows that there are Gentiles who have not yet become full proselytes that are spared the destruction of their wicked fellows. Consequently, it would appear that G-d will not destroy all the Gentiles forbidding them the right to enter the Days of Messiah and the Olam HaBa. What’s seen us that all the wicked will die. However, there are those Gentiles who are not “wicked”, and G-d may spare these souls leading them to conversion and acceptance of the whole Torah and Mesorah.
אמן ואמן סלה
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!”
Coming Semi-Festival
ט״ו בְּאָב
Tu B’Ab
(Friday 16 August 2019)
For further study and information see:
http://www.betemunah.org/tubav.html
Shabbat Shalom!
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
H. Em. Rabbi Hillel ben David
H. Em. Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham