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

 

 

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:

 

Amarillo, TX, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 8:21 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 9:18 PM	Austin & Conroe, TX, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 7:57 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 8:52 PM	Brisbane, Australia Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 5:07 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 6:01 PM
Chattanooga, & Cleveland, TN, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 8:15 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 9:12 PM	Manila & Cebu, Philippines Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 6:02 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 6:53 PM	Miami, FL, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 7:40 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 8:33 PM
Murray, KY, & Paris, TN. U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 7:29 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 8:27 PM	Olympia, WA, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 8:08 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 9:15 PM	Port Orange, FL, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 7:48 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 8:43 PM
San Antonio, TX, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 7:59 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 8:53 PM	Sheboygan  & Manitowoc, WI, US Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 7:41 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 8:44 PM	Singapore, Singapore Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 6:56 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 7:46 PM
St. Louis, MO, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 7:41 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 8:40 PM	Tacoma, WA, U.S. Fri. Aug 12 2016 – Candles at 8:07 PM Sat. Aug 13 2016 – Habdalah 9:14 PM

For other places 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

Her Excellency Giberet Jacquelyn Bennett

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 Jarod Barak Barnum and beloved wife HE Giberet Crystal Barnum

His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill

His Excellency Adon Marvin Hyde

His Excellency Adon Scott Allen

 

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 pray for a merciful healing of Her Excellency Giberet Rachel bat Sarah (daughter of His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David and HaRabbanit Giberet Batsheba bat Sarah) who is afflicted with several health problems. We also pray for her family. Mi Sheberach – He Who blessed our holy and pure Matriarchs, Sarah, Ribkah, Rachel and Leah, will bless Her Excellency Giberet Rachel bat Sarah and send her a complete recovery. Please God heal her, please. Please God heal her, please. Please God 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 for a merciful healing of Her Excellency Giberet Shanique bat Sarah who is afflicted with Lymphoma cancer. We also pray for her daughter and family. Mi Sheberach – He Who blessed our holy and pure Matriarchs, Sarah, Ribkah, Rachel and Leah, will bless Her Excellency Giberet Shanique bat Sarah and send her a complete recovery with her new experimental treatment. Please God heal her, please. Please God heal her, please. Please God 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!

 

Shabbat: “V’Et Y’hudah Shalach” - “And Judah (Jacob) sent” &

3^rd  of Three Sabbaths of Penitence

 

 

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!

 

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Resheet (Genesis) 46:28 – 47:31

 

Rashi	Targum Pseudo Jonathan
28. He sent Judah ahead of him to Joseph, to direct him to Goshen, and they came to the land of Goshen.	28.  And he sent (apostolized) Jehuda before him to Joseph to indicate the way before him, to subdue the pillars of the earth, and to provide him a house of dwelling in Goshen. And they came to the land of Goshen. JERUSALEM: To prepare him a place of habitation in Goshen.
29. And Joseph harnessed his chariot, and he went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen, and he appeared to him, and he fell on his neck, and he wept on his neck for a long time.	29. And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father in Goshen; and his father, before he recognised him, worshipped him, and thus became liable to be shortened (or cut off) in his years. And he wondered, and beheld him, and fell upon his neck, and wept still upon his neck, because he had worshipped him.
30. And Israel said to Joseph, "I will die this time, since I have seen your face, that you are still alive."	30. And Israel said to Joseph, If at this time I die, I am Comforted: for with the death that the righteous/ generous die will I die, after seeing your face, because you are yet alive.
31. Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's household, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and I will say to him, 'My brothers and my father's household who were in the land of Canaan have come to me.	31. And Joseph said to his brethren and his father's house, I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, My brethren and my father's house from the land of Kenaan have come to me.
32. The men are shepherds, for they were [always] owners of livestock, and their flocks and their cattle and all they have they have brought.'	32. The men are pastors of sheep; for they are [royal] men, the masters of flocks; and their sheep and oxen and all which they have, they have brought.
33. And if it comes to pass that Pharaoh calls you and asks, 'What is your occupation?'	33. And it must be, when Pharaoh calls you, and says, Tell me, what is your work?
34. You shall say, 'Your servants have been owners of livestock from our youth until now, both we and our ancestors,' so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians."	34. you must say, Your servants have been masters of flocks from our youth until now: that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; because the Mizraee reject all shepherds.
1. Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and he said, "My father and my brothers and their flocks and their cattle and all that is theirs, have come from the land of Canaan, and behold, they are in the land of Goshen."	1.  And Joseph came and informed Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, with their sheep all oxen and all that they have, are come from the land of Kenaan, and, behold, they are in the land of Goshen.
2. And from among his brothers he took five men, and he presented them before Pharaoh.	2. And from the extreme of his brethren he took five men, Zebulon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher, and presented them before Pharaoh.
3. And Pharaoh said to his brothers, "What is your occupation?" And they said to Pharaoh, "Your servants are shepherds, both we and our forefathers."	3. And Pharaoh said to Joseph's brethren, What is your work?
4. And they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to sojourn in the land, for your servants' flocks have no pasture, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now, please let your servants dwell in the land of Goshen."	4. And they said to Pharaoh, Your servants are pastors of sheep, both we and our fathers. And they said to Pharaoh, To dwell in the land are we come, because there is no place of pasture for your servants' sheep, for the famine has prevailed in the land of Kenaan; let your servants therefore now dwell in the land of Goshen.
5. And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, "Your father and your brothers have come to you.	5. And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Your father and your brethren have come to you.
6. The land of Egypt is [open] before you; in the best of the land settle your father and your brothers. Let them dwell in the land of Goshen, and if you know that there are capable men among them, make them livestock officers over what is mine."	6. The land of Mizraim is before you. In the fairest part of the land make your father and your brethren to dwell: let them dwell in the land of Goshen. And if you know any among them men of ability, appoint them masters over my flocks.
7. So Joseph brought his father Jacob and stood him before Pharaoh, and Jacob greeted Pharaoh.	7. And Joseph brought Ya’aqob his father, and presented him before Pharaoh. And Ya’aqob blessed Pharaoh, and said, May it please the Almighty that the waters of the Nile may be replenished, and may the famine pass away from the world in your days!
8. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How many are the days of the years of your life?"	8.  And Pharaoh said to Ya’aqob, How many are the days of the years of your life?
9. And Jacob said to Pharaoh, "The days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred thirty years. The days of the years of my life have been few and miserable, and they have not reached the days of the years of the lives of my forefathers in the days of their sojournings."	9. And Ya’aqob answered Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years. Few and evil have been the days of the years of my life; for in my youth I fled before Esau my brother, and sojourned in a land not my own; and now in the time of my old age have I come down to sojourn here. And my days have not reached the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
10. So Jacob blessed Pharaoh and left Pharaoh's presence.	10. And Ya’aqob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11. Joseph settled his father and his brothers, and he gave them property in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had mandated.	11. And Joseph brought his father and brethren to dwell, and gave them a possession in the land of Mizraim, in a goodly part of the country, in the country of Pilusin, as Pharaoh had commanded. JERUSALEM: Pelusim
12. And Joseph sustained his father and his brothers and his father's entire household [with] bread according to the young children.	12. And Joseph sustained his father and his brethren and all his father's house with bread, according to the need of their families.
13. Now there was no food in the entire land, for the famine had grown exceedingly severe, and the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan were exhausted because of the famine.	13. But there was no bread (grown) in all the land, because the famine prevailed greatly, and the inhabitants of the land of Mizraim failed, and the dwellers in the land of Kenaan, in presence of the famine.
14. And Joseph collected all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan with the grain that they were buying, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh's house.	14. And Joseph collected all the money which was found in the land of Mizraim, and in the land of Kenaan, for the grains which he sold to them; and Joseph brought the money into the treasure--house of Pharaoh.
15. Now the money was depleted from the land of Egypt and from the land of Canaan, and all the Egyptians came to Joseph, saying, "Give us food; why should we die in your presence, since the money has been used up?"	15. And the money was finished from the land of Mizraim, and from the land of Kenaan; and the Mizraee came to Joseph, saying, Give us bread; why should we die before you? For all our money is finished. JERUSALEM: And has failed.
16. And Joseph said, "Give [me] your livestock, and I will give you [food in return] for your livestock, if the money has been used up."	16. And Joseph said, Give your flocks, and for your flocks I will give you provisions, if the money be consumed.
17. So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food [in return] for the horses and for the livestock in flocks and in cattle and in donkeys, and he provided them with food [in return] for all their livestock in that year.	17. And they brought their cattle to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread for their horses, and for the flocks of sheep, the oxen, and the asses; and he sustained them with bread for all their flocks for that year
18. That year ended, and they came to him in the second year, and they said to him, "We will not hide from my lord, for insofar as the money and the property in animals have been forfeited to my lord, nothing remains before my lord, except our bodies and our farmland.	18. And that year being ended, all the Mizraee came to him, in the second year, and said to him, We will not hide it from my lord, that the money is finished and my lord has the flocks of cattle: there is nothing left us before my lord except our bodies, and our land.
19. Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our farmland? Buy us and our farmland for food, so that we and our farmland will be slaves to Pharaoh, and give [us] seed, so that we live and not die, and the soil will not lie fallow."	19. Why should we die and your eye seeing (it), both we and our land also? Buy us, and our land, for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh, and give the seed of corn, that we may live and not die, and the land be not desolated.
20. So Joseph bought all the farmland of the Egyptians for Pharaoh, for the Egyptians sold, each one his field, for the famine had become too strong for them, and the land became Pharaoh's.	20. And Joseph bought all the land of Mizraim for Pharaoh; for the Mizraee sold every man his portion, because the famine prevailed over them, and the land became the property of Pharaoh.
21. And he transferred the populace to the cities, from [one] end of the boundary of Egypt to its [other] end.	21. And the people of a province he removed to a city, and the people of the city he removed to a province, for the sake of the brethren of Joseph, that they might not be called wanderers: therefore he made them migrate from one end of Mizraim to the other. JERUSALEM: And the people who were dwelling in the province he removed into the city; and the people who dwelt in the city he removed into the province, that they might not deride the sons of Ya’aqob, and call them Galilean (wandering) guests.
22. Only the farmland of the priests he did not buy, for the priests had an allotment from Pharaoh, and they ate their allotment that Pharaoh had given them; therefore, they did not sell their farmland.	22. Only the land of the priests he bought not because they had considered him innocent at the time when his master was seeking to put him to death, and they had delivered him from the judgment of death: and besides he had said that a portion should be given them from Pharaoh. So they ate the portion which Pharaoh gave them, and sold not their land.
23. Joseph said to the people, "Behold, I have bought you and your farmland today for Pharaoh. Behold, you have seed, so sow the soil.	23. And Joseph said to the people, Behold, I have this day bought you and your land for Pharaoh: behold, (I give) you seed corn to sow the land;
24. And it shall be concerning the crops, that you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and the [remaining] four parts shall be yours: for seed for [your] field[s], for your food, for those in your houses, and for your young children to eat."	24. and at the time of the ingathering of your produce you will give the fifth part to Pharaoh, and four parts will be yours, for the seeding of your land, and for food and for provision for your houses and little ones.
25. They replied, "You have saved our lives! Let us find favor in my lord's eyes, and we will be slaves to Pharaoh."	25. And they said, You have preserved us: let us find favour in the eyes of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh's servants.
26. So Joseph made it a statute to this day concerning the farmland of Egypt for the one fifth. Only the farmland of the priests alone did not become Pharaoh's.	26. And Joseph established it a law unto this day over the land of Mizraim to take to Pharaoh a fifth part of the produce, except only the land of the priests which was not Pharoh's.
27. And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen, and they acquired property in it, and they were prolific and multiplied greatly.	27. And Israel dwelt in the land of Mizraim, and they built there schools and houses in the land of Goshen, and inherited therein fields and vineyards; and they increased and multiplied greatly.
28. And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years, and Jacob's days, the years of his life, were a hundred and forty seven years.	28. And Ya’aqob lived in the land of Mizraim seventeen years. And the sum of the days of Ya’aqob, of the days of his life, was a hundred and forty and seven years.
29. When the time drew near for Israel to die, he called his son Joseph and said to him, "If I have now found favor in your eyes, now place your hand beneath my thigh, and you shall deal with me with loving-kindness and truth; do not bury me now in Egypt.	29. And the days of Israel drew near to die. And he called to his son, to Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found favour before you, put your hand on the place of my circumcision, and deal with me in goodness and truth, That you will not bury me in Mizraim,
30. I will lie with my forefathers, and you shall carry me out of Egypt, and you shall bury me in their grave." And he said, "I will do as you say."	30. that I may sleep with my fathers, and that you may carry me from Mizraim, and bury me in their sepulchre. But because he was his son he did not (so) put his hand; but said, I will do according to your word.
31. And he said, "Swear to me." So he swore to him, and Israel prostrated himself on the head of the bed.	31. And he said, Swear tome: and he swore to him. And immediately the Glory of the Shekina of the LORD was revealed to him, and Israel worshipped upon the pillow of the bed.

 

Summary of the Torah Seder – B’resheet (Genesis) ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎46:28 – 47:31

 

·        Ya’aqob’s family in Egypt – Gen. 46:28-34

·        Joseph reports to Pharaoh – Gen. 47:1-6

·        Joseph Introduces His Father to Pharaoh – Gen. 47:7-10

·        Joseph Supports His Family – Gen. 47:11-12

·        Taxation Principle – Gen. 47:13-28.

 

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 IIIb: Joseph in Egypt

By: Rabbi Yaaqov Culi, Translated by: Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan

Published by: Moznaim Publishing Corp. (New York, 1990)

Vol. 3b – “Joseph in Egypt,” pp. 474-490

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: ‎ B’resheet (Gen.) ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎46:28 – 47:31

 

28 to direct him Heb. לְהוֹרֽת לְפָנָיו, as the Targum renders (לְפַנָאָה קֳדָמוֹהִי), to clear a place for him and to show him how to settle in it.

 

him [Lit., ahead of him.] Before he would arrive there. The Aggadic interpretation of [לְהוֹרֽת] is [that there should be teaching]: to establish for him a house of study, from which teaching would emanate. [FromTanchuma Vayigash 11]

 

Note From The Hakham: The Hebrew Text here has: וְאֶת-יְהוּדָה שָׁלַח (Lit. “And he sent Yehudah with Et”) – This “V’Et” implies a feminine “something” in connection with Yehudah, and thus alluding to the “Bet Midrash” (a feminine word in Hebrew)  that Yehudah was commanded to establish by his father Ya’aqob, and further corroborating the explanation of Rashi and Midrash Tanchuma. (See also Acts 10:36 for a similar construction.)

 

Further the verse reads: “And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to show the way before him unto Goshen; and they came into the land of Goshen.” The etymology of the proper noun “Goshen” means “cultivated,” or “pouring forth.”^[1] Both “cultivation” and “pouring forth” are also figuratively speaking activities connected with a Bet Midrash. This is intimated to us in Hos. 4:6 – “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [of the Torah]; because you have rejected knowledge [of the Torah], I will also reject you, that you will be no priest to Me; seeing you have forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

 

HaRav Zekharyah Tobi and translated by HaRav Meir Orlian further elucidates this name, stating:^[2]

 

Parshat Vayigash tells of the descent of Yaakov and the tribes to Egypt and the designation of their dwelling place, "the land of Goshen," as it says: "Yosef said to his brothers ... when Pharaoh summons you ... Then you are to say, 'Your servants have been cattlemen' ... so that you may be able to settle on the land of Goshen." So it was, "Israel settled in the land of Egypt in the land of Goshen; they acquired property in it and they were fruitful and multiplied greatly." (ch. 46-47)

 

What was special about that place called "the land of Goshen," and why was it called by this name? The simple understanding is that this place was far from the Egyptian population, to be separate from the Egyptians and not to be influenced by Egyptian culture. Therefore, Yosef sought to settle his brothers there. The Kli Yakar writes:

 

"The purpose of all of this was to distance them from Pharaoh, so that they would settle in the land of Goshen."

 

This has a practical lesson for our days also, that we should seek to live in a place that is not subject to non-Jewish influence.

 

However, the Midrash (Pirkei D'Rabbi Eliezer ch. 26) has an additional, deeper understanding.

 

R. Tarfon says: That night [that Pharaoh took Sara] was Pesach eve, and G-d brought upon Pharaoh and his house great plagues, to foreshadow that he is destined to smite the Egyptians with great plagues. R. Yehoshua b. Korcha says: Due to Pharaoh's great love, he wrote to her [Sara] all of his assets, whether silver or gold, whether slaves or real estate, and he wrote to her the land of Goshen as an estate, therefore Yisrael settled in the land of Goshen, because it belonged to Sara, our matriarch.

 

What emerges from the Midrash is that Israel settled in the Land of Goshen because this place belonged to Sara. What does this mean? The word "Goshen" means, 'went forward,' as in Vayigash, like the word "gesh hala," meaning establishing a relationship. Pharaoh gave Sara the land of Goshen as an estate, because he wanted to form a relationship with her though giving this to her, as the Midrash says: "On account of his love to her he wrote to her all of his assets." However, Sara did not succumb to Pharaoh's persuasion and remained faithful to Avraham Avinu. "The land of Goshen" became a symbol of distance from non-Jews. Sara planted in Am Yisrael the strength to guard themselves from mixing with the non-Jews, and this strength was in the place called the Land of Goshen. Therefore, Israel settled in the land of Goshen, because this place was a symbol of distancing from the nations and refusal to come close to them.

 

If we pay attention, our parsha (in the annual cycle) is called Vayigash, based on the verse, "Vayigash elav Yehuda." The word Vayigash and the word 'Goshen" are from the same root, 'gash,' which means relationship, as it says, 'vayigash vayishak lo." Despite this, there this an opposite meaning. The Midrash interprets "Vayigash elav Yehuda" to mean 'coming forth to battle. (Yalkut Shimoni 247) This is the meaning of gesher (bridge), that it is between two sides, and each one observes his uniqueness. This is a relationship that does not join.

 

This is exactly the land of Goshen - a land that Am Yisrael connected with because it is the estate of Sara. However, this place has the quality of separation from the nations, as Sara kept her uniqueness and kept separate from Pharaoh. Therefore, this land, on the one hand, is the place of exile, and it has a connection to the subjugating land. On the other hand, it indicates a connection that does not negate the uniqueness of the sides, a connection that each party is separate to himself. Thus, the Divine Hashgacha ensured that Bnei Yisrael would sit in the land of Egypt in the place that is their estate so that they would not be subject to the Egyptian rules, as a ruler does not have control over place that is not in his jurisdiction.

This a lesson for all generations, as the Rambam writes: (Hil. Deot 6:1):

 

The nature of man is to be drawn in his thoughts and actions after his companions and friends, to act like the people of his nation. Therefore, a person has to join the righteous and to sit always in their presence so that he will learn from their actions. This is what Shlomo Hamelech said: "One who walks with the wise, will grow wise, but the companion of fools will be broken." (Mishlei 13:20) It further says, "Praiseworthy is the man who walked not in the counsel of the wicked ... But his desire is in the Torah of Hashem, andd in his Torah he meditates day and night."

 

29 And Joseph harnessed his chariot He personally harnessed the horses to the chariot to hasten to honor his father. [From Mechilta, Beshallach section 1]

 

and he appeared to him Joseph presented himself to his father.

 

and he wept on his neck for a long time Heb. עוֹד וַיֵבְךְ, an expression of profuse weeping, and likewise, “For He will not place additional [guilt] on a man” (Job 34:23), an expression of profusion. He (God) does not place upon him additional accusations over [and above] his sins. Here too he wept greatly and continuously, more than was usual. Jacob, however, neither fell on Joseph’s neck nor kissed him. Our Sages said that he was reciting the Shema. [From Derech Eretz Zuta 1:10, ed. Hager, p. 62; quoted in Bereishith Zuta ; Yichusei Tannaim va’Amoraim, p. 180, Teshuvoth Hageonim, ch. 45]

 

30 I will die this time Its simple meaning is as the Targum renders. [If I should die this time, I would be consoled.] Its midrashic interpretation is, however: I thought that I would die two deaths, in this world and in the next world, because the Shechinah had left me, and I thought that the Holy One, blessed be He, would hold me responsible for your death. Now that you are still alive, I will die but once. [From Tanchuma Vayigash 9]

 

31 and I will say to him, ‘My brothers, etc.’—and I will further say to him, ‘The men are shepherds, etc.’

 

34 so that you may dwell in the land of Goshen which you need, for it is a land of pasture, and when you tell him that you are not skilled at any other work, he will send you away from him and settle you there.

 

are abhorrent to the Egyptians Because they (the sheep) are their gods.

 

Chapter 47

 

2 And from among his brothers From the most inferior of them in regards to physical strength, [i.e., those] who did not appear strong, for if he [Pharaoh] recognized them as being strong, he would make them his warriors. They are the following: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Issachar, and Benjamin, those whose names Moses did not double when he blessed them (Deut. 33), but the names of the strong ones he doubled, [as follows:] “And this is for Judah…Hear, O Lord, the voice of Judah” (Deut. 33:7). “And regarding Gad he said, ‘Blessed be He Who granted space to Gad’ ” (ibid. 20). “And regarding Naphtali he said, ‘Naphtali’s wishes shall be well satisfied’ ” (ibid. 23). “And regarding Dan, he said, ‘Dan is a young lion’ ” (ibid. 22). And so on for Zebulun (ibid. 18), and for Asher (ibid. 24). This is a quotation from Genesis Rabbah (95:4), which is the Aggadah of Eretz Israel. In our Babylonian Talmud, however, we find that those whose names Moses doubled were the weak ones, and it was they whom he brought before Pharaoh. As for Judah (the sixth one), whose name was doubled, however, it was not doubled because of weakness, but there is a[nother] reason for it, as is stated in Baba Kamma (92a). In the Baraitha of Sifrei, in “Vezoth Haberachah” (354) we learn as in our Talmud. [I.e., the Sifrei identifies the five brothers as does the Talmud, namely that the five brothers were Gad, Naphtali, Dan, Zebulun, and Asher.]

 

6 capable men Skillful in their occupation of pasturing sheep.

 

over what is mine Over my flocks.

 

7 and Jacob greeted Heb. וַיְבָרֶךְ. This is a greeting, as is customary for all who occasionally present themselves before monarchs, saluder in Old French. [From Tanchuma Nasso 26]

 

9 the years of my sojournings The days of my being a stranger. All my days, I have been a stranger in the land.

 

and they have not reached in goodness.

 

10 So Jacob blessed According to the custom of all those who leave the presence of princes, that they bless them and take their leave. Now what blessing did he bless him? That the Nile should rise at his approach, because Egypt does not drink rain water, but the Nile rises and waters it, and since Jacob’s blessing, Pharaoh would come to the Nile, and it would rise to greet him and water the land. [From Tanchuma, Nasso 26]

 

11 Rameses That is [part] of the land of Goshen.

 

12 [with] bread according to the young children According to what was required for all the members of their household.

 

13 Now there was no food in the entire land It (Scripture) returns to the earlier topic, to the beginning of the famine years. [From Gen. Rabbah 89:9]

 

were exhausted An expression of exhaustion, as the Targum renders ואשתלהי, and similar to this is “Like one who wearies himself shooting firebrands” (Prov. 26:18).

 

14 with the grain that they were buying they gave him the money.

 

15 has been used up Heb. אָפֵס, as the Targum renders: שְׁלִים, [meaning] is ended.-[Rashi]

 

17 and he provided them Heb. וַיְנַהֲלֵם, similar to וַיְנַהֲגֵם, and he guided them, and similar to this is “She has no guide  (מְנַהֵל)” (Isa. 51:18),”He leads me (יְנַהֲלֵנִי) beside still waters” (Ps. 23:2).

 

18 in the second year The second of the famine years.

 

for insofar as the money and the property in animals have been forfeited, etc.-Heb. כִּי אִם. For insofar as the money and the property have been forfeited and everything has come into my lord’s possession.

 

except our bodies Heb. בִּלְתִּי, like אִם א גְוִיָתֵנוּ, if not our bodies.

 

19 and give [us] seed- [with which] to sow the soil. Although Joseph said, “and [for] another five years there will be neither plowing nor harvest” (Gen. 45:6), as soon as Jacob came to Egypt, blessing came with his arrival, and they started to sow, and the famine ended. So we learned in the Tosefta of Sotah (10:1-3).

 

will not lie fallow Heb. א תֵּשָׁם, will not be desolate, [and Onkelos renders:]  לָא תְבוּר, an expression denoting a fallow field (שָׂדֶה בוּר), which is not plowed.

 

20 and the land became Pharaoh’s-I.e., it was acquired by him.

 

21 And he transferred the populace Joseph [transferred them] from city to city so that they would remember that they have no more share in the land, and he settled those of one city in another (Targum Onkelos). Scripture did not have to write this except to let you know Joseph’s praise, that he intended to remove the stigma from his brothers, so that they (the Egyptians) would not call them exiles. [From Gen. Rabbah 89:9, Chul. 60b]

 

from [one] end of the boundary of Egypt, etc. So he did with all the cities in the kingdom of Egypt, from one end of its boundary to the other end of its boundary.

 

22 the priests Heb. הַכּֽהֲנִים, the priests. Every instance of  כּֽהֵןmeans a minister to deities, except those that are an expression of high rank, like “the governor (כּֽהֵן) of Midian” (Exod. 2:16), “the governor (כּֽהֵן) of On” (Gen. 41:45). [From targumim]

 

the priests had an allotment An allotment of so much bread per day.

 

23 Behold Heb. הֵא, equivalent to הִנֵה, as in: “behold (הֵא) I have laid your way on [your] head” (Ezek. 16:43). [From targumim]

 

24 for seed for [your] field[s] Every year.

 

for those in your houses For food for the man-servants and maidservants who are in your houses.

 

your young children Heb. טַפְּכֶם, young children.

 

25 Let us find favor-that you should do this for us, as you have said.

 

and we will be slaves to Pharaoh to pay him this tribute every year as a statute that will not be repealed.

 

27 And Israel dwelt in the land of Egypt Where? In the land of Goshen, which is [part] of the land of Egypt.

 

and they acquired property in it Heb. וַיֵאָחֲזוּ בָהּ, [which is] an expression of אֲחֻזָה, holding.

 

28 And Jacob lived Why is this section [completely] closed? Because, as soon as our father Jacob passed away, the eyes and the heart of Israel were “closed,” (i.e., it became “dark” for them) because of the misery of the slavery, for they (the Egyptians) commenced to subjugate them. Another explanation: That he (Jacob) attempted to reveal the End [of the exile] to his sons, but it was “closed off” (concealed) from him. [This appears] in Gen. Rabbah (91:1).  

 

 29 When the time drew near for Israel to die Everyone of whom it is stated [that his days] drew near to die, did not attain the life span of his forefathers. [Isaac lived 180 years, and Jacob lived only 147 years. In connection with David, the expression of drawing near is mentioned (I Kings 2:1). His father lived 400 years, and he lived 70.]-[from Gen. Rabbah 96:4]

 

he called his son Joseph The one who had the ability to do it. -[from Gen. Rabbah] 96:5.

 

now place your hand beneath my thigh And swear.-[from Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer ch. 39] As explained in the narrative of Abraham and Eliezer (Gen. 24:2), he meant that Joseph should swear by covenant of the circumcision.

 

lovingkindness and truth Loving-kindness that is done with the dead is true loving-kindness, for one does not expect any payment or reward.-[from Gen. Rabbah 96:5]

 

do not bury me now in Egypt [Because] its soil is destined to become lice (which will crawl under my body), and because those who die outside the [Holy] Land will not be resurrected except with the pain of rolling through underground passages. [Also] so that the Egyptians will not deify me.-[from Gen. Rabbah 96:5, Keth. 111a]

 

30 I will lie with my forefathers Heb. וְשָׁכַבְתִּי, lit., and I will lie. This “vav” (of וְשָׁכַבְתִּי) is connected to the beginning of the previous verse: “Place now your hand beneath my thigh and swear to me, for I am destined to lie with my forefathers, and you shall carry me out of Egypt.” We cannot say, however, that “I will lie with my forefathers” means: Lay me to rest with my forefathers in the cave, because afterwards it is written: “and you shall carry me out of Egypt, and you shall bury me in their grave.” Moreover, we find everywhere that the expression “lying with one’s forefathers” denotes expiration, not burial, as in “And David lay with his forefathers,” and afterwards, “and he was buried in the city of David” (I Kings 2:10).

 

and Israel prostrated himself [Although the lion is king] when it is the time of the fox, bow down to him.-[from Meg. 16b]

 

on the head of the bed He turned around to the side of the Shechinah (Gen. Rabbah, Vatican ms. no. 60). From here [the Sages] deduced that the Shechinah is at the head of a sick person (Shab. 12b). Another explanation: עַל רֽאשׁ הַמִטָה - [He prostrated himself to God] because his offspring were perfect, insofar as not one of them was wicked, as is evidenced by the fact that Joseph was a king, and furthermore, that [even though] he was captured among the heathens, he remained steadfast in his righteousness.- [from Sifrei Va’ethannan 31, Sifrei Ha’azinu 334]

 

Ketubim: Targum Tehillim (Psalms) 39:1-14

 

Rashi	Targum on the Psalms
1. For the conductor, to Jeduthun, a song of David.	1. For praise; concerning the guard of the sanctuary, according to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
2. I said, "I will guard my ways from sinning with my tongue; I will guard my mouth [as with] a muzzle while the wicked man is still before me.	2. I said, I will keep my way from sinning by my tongue, I will keep a bridle for my mouth, while there is a wicked man before me.
3. I made myself dumb in silence; I was silent from good although my pain was intense.	3. I was dumb, I was quiet, I kept away from the words of Torah; because of this my pain contorts me.
4. My heart is hot within me; in my thoughts fire burns; I spoke with my tongue,	4. My heart grew heated in my body; when I murmur, fire will burn; I spoke with my tongue.
5. O Lord, let me know my end, and the measure of my days, what it is; I would know when I will cease.	5. Make known to me the way of my end; and the measure of my days, what they are; I would know when I will cease from the world.
6. Behold You made my days as handbreadths, and my old age is as nought before You; surely all vanity is in every man; this is his condition forever.	6. Behold, You have ordained my days to be swift, and my body is as nothing before You. Truly all are considered to be nothing, but all the righteous/generous endure for eternal life.
7. Man walks but in darkness; all that they stir is but vanity; he gathers yet he knows not who will bring them in.	7. Truly in the image of the LORD man goes about; truly for nothing they are perplexed; he gathers and does not know why anyone gathers them.
8. And now, what have I hoped, O Lord? My hope to You is;	8. And now, why have I hoped, O LORD? My waiting is for You.
9. Save me from all my transgressions; do not make me the reproach of an ignoble man.	9. From all my rebellions deliver me; do not put on me the shame of the fool.
10. I have become mute; I will not open my mouth because You have done it.	10. I have become mute, and I will not open my mouth, for You have done it.
11. Remove Your affliction from me; from the fear of Your hand I perish.	11. Remove Your plague from me; I am destroyed by the blow of Your mighty hand.
12. With rebukes for iniquity You have chastised man; You have caused his flesh to decay as by a moth. Surely all man is vanity forever.	12. You punish a son of man with rebuke for sin; and You have dissolved his body like wool that has been nibbled away; truly every son of man is as nothing forever.
13. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and hearken to my cry. Be not silent to my tears, for I am a stranger with You, a dweller as all my forefathers.	13. Receive my prayer, O LORD, and hear my supplication, and to my tears do not be silent; for I am like a foreigner with you, an alien like all my fathers.
14. Turn away from me that I may recover, before I go and am here no longer."	14. Leave me alone, and I will depart, ere I go and exist no more.

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Tehillim (Psalms) 39:1-14

 

1 to Jeduthun The name of one of the singers, and there was also a musical instrument called Jeduthun. According to the Midrash Aggadah (Song Rabbah 4:1 [4]): concerning the edicts (דתות) and concerning the distressing laws and decrees that are decreed upon Israel.

 

2 I said, “I will guard my ways, etc.” As for us we had in mind to watch ourselves with all the troubles that come upon us, neither to criticize nor speak harshly of the Divine Attribute of Justice although the wicked who oppress us are before us.

 

a muzzle Heb. מחסם, as (in Deut. 25:4): “You shall not muzzle (תחסם) an ox, amuzelment in Old French. And I made myself mute in silence many days. We also were silent from “good,” even from words of Torah, because of their fear of them, our pain was so intense and frightening. When we were silent, our heart was hot within us and in the thought of our heart it burns in us like fire. That causes us to speak with our tongue (in silence not in all editions) before You, and this is what we say, “O Lord, let us know our end.” How long will we be in distress, and let us know when we will be over it.

 

6 Behold...handbreadths The days of man are measured like a thing that is measured with handbreadths; so are man’s days limited.

 

and my old age Heb. וחלדי, and our old age is as nothing before you. חלד is an expression of rust (חלודה), rodijjl in Old French; rust, old age.

 

every man his life and his condition are a life of vanity.

 

7 but in darkness Heb. בצלם, in darkness. Dunash explained it as an expression of darkness (צלמות) (Teshuvoth Dunash p. 89), but Menachem (p. 150) explained it as an actual image, as (in Gen. 9:6) “for in the image of God He made man.” His view is impossible, however.

 

all that they stir is but vanity All their stirring and lust. he gathers grain in the field all the days of the harvest.

 

yet he knows not who will bring them in He does not know who will gather them into the house; perhaps he will die before the ingathering.

 

8 And now, what have I hoped What is the request that I ask and hope from You? It is only that You save me from my transgressions.

 

9 do not make me the reproach of the ignoble Esau. Bring afflictions and pains upon him too, so he will not be able to say to me, “You are suffering, and we are not suffering.” This prayer was instrumental in bringing about the pains of illnesses upon the nations.

 

10 because You have done it For You brought upon us trouble more than all nations.

 

11 from the fear of Your hand Heb. מתגרת, from the fear of Your blows. תגרת is an expression of (Num. 22:3): “And Moab became terrified (וַיָגָר).” The “tav” is a defective radical in the word, like תנובה, produce;תלונה, complaint; תקומה, restoration; תכונה, characteristic. This is how Menachem explained it, but I maintain that תגרת is not an expression of מָגוֹר, fear, because he should have said תגוּרה as he says from: וישב (and he returned) תשוּבה, [from] ויקם, וירם and וילן: תקוּמה, תרוּמה and תלוּנה, so he should say from ויגר, תגוּלה, or מגוּרה as (above 31:14, Jer. 20:3): “terror (מגור) from all sides”; (Isa. 66:4) “and their fears  (ומגורתם)I will bring.” Thus you learn that מתגרת is nothing but as (II Chron. 25:19), “Why should you provoke  (תתגרה)disaster?”; (Deut. 2:5), “Do not provoke (תתגרו) them,” in which case the verb is גרה like קוה, to hope; אוה, to desire; צוה, to command, of which the noun is תקוה, תאוה, מצוה. So one says from גרה, תגרה, and this is its explanation: from the blows of Your hand, with which You fight me, I perish.

 

12 With rebukes that are written in the Torah for our iniquities that we have sinned before You and for which You chastised us.

 

You have caused his flesh to decay You have caused our flesh to decay like a moth-eaten garment. Heb. חמודו means his flesh, which is his desire (חמדתו).

 

14 Turn away from me Loosen Your hand from smiting me.

 

that I may recover Heb. ואבלגה, that I regain my strength.

 

Meditation from the Psalms

Psalms ‎‎39:1-14

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

 

This psalm composed by David^[1] and dedicated to Yedutun, conveys the dismal mood of the crushed man (or nation) shrouded in the gloom of failure and defeat. Rashi cites the Midrash^[2] which derives ‘Yedutun’ from the word ‘decree’. Every psalm introduced with the word ‘Yedutun’ refers to the [evil] decrees and [oppressive] laws which the enemy imposes upon the individual or the community of Israel The persecuted man who witnesses his life's work going up in smoke, embarks upon an agonizing expedition of self-examination, searching for meaning in a life which appears to have been robbed of all purpose.

 

In our Torah portion we see Yaaqov’s desire to return to the Promised Land.^[3] In this desire we see his anguish at being a stranger in a strange land. He commanded Yosef to carry him up, after death, to the Promised Land in order to be one of the first to be resurrected. David clearly saw himself in this same situation when he cried:

 

Tehillim (Psalm) 39:13 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; keep not silence at my tears; for I am a stranger with Thee, a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

 

Clearly David and Yaaqov longed for the time when they would no longer be sojourners. They longed for the day when they could walk with HaShem in the garden! Theirs was not a longing for geography as much as a longing to be where HaShem is. In order to achieve some limited connection with HaShem in this world, David composed this psalm and gave it to Yedutun.

 

This psalm was given to, or dedicated to, Yedutun. Who is Yedutun? David divided the Levite families into twenty-four watches^[4] to serve as singers in the Temple on a rotating weekly basis. Of these, six families were headed by the six sons of Yedutun, and they in turn, were under the charge of their father, Yedutun, who prophesied with a kinor^[5] to give thanks and to praise HaShem.^[6]

 

In order to cleave to HaShem, David constantly tried to control his speech, knowing that the one who controls the tongue, controls the entire body.^[7] In v.2 we read:

 

Tehillim (Psalm) 39:2 I said: 'I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue; I will keep a curb upon my mouth, while the wicked is before me.'

 

David starts this psalm with a promise we should all make, to curb our tongues and mouths. Malbim differentiates between the tongue and the mouth. The tongue is the internal organ of speech, and symbolizes the expression of deeply felt intellectual concepts. On the other hand, the mouth is the external aspect of vocalization (from the lips outward), and symbolizes words spoken without prior thought.^[8] Given the importance of speech and its proper control, let’s explore speech and its effects, a bit.

 

Speaking

 

Speaking is a bridge between the higher and the lower worlds. When we speak, we take an idea, which is entirely spiritual, and we manifest that idea in the physical world with sound. Sound, and therefore speech, has a physical component which can be felt in this world.

 

Speech, which emanates from the mouth, is that which connects two opposite worlds; the spiritual world and the physical world. This, as we can see, is the nature of the mouth.

 

Speech was fractured at the tower of Babel. Most folks think that what happened when HaShem confused the language, that He created Spanish, French, Japanese, etc. While this is true, the reality is far greater than this. In addition to creating multiple languages, HaShem also confused even the language of those who spoke the same language. This means that even if two men spoke English, even then they did not understand each other. In other words, the thoughts in the speaker’s mind were not the same thoughts that the hearer had when the conversation was over. Language was truly confused.

 

After Babel, language was fractured in all areas save one. The last vestige where language retained its original power was in prophecy. When a Prophet spoke, his thoughts and the thoughts of those who heard him were exactly the same. They experienced his prophecy such that there was no doubt that they were hearing prophecy. There was no chance of not believing that this was a message from HaShem. The experience was so powerful that there was no doubt, no possibility of disbelief.

 

Prophecy also ended in Babel. The Sanhedrin excised idolatry while in Babylon (Babel). Since the excision of the negative aspect of prophecy also excised the positive aspect of prophesy, thus prophecy was also lost at Babel. The Talmud speaks of the end of prophecy:

 

Yoma 69b And [they] cried with a great [loud] voice unto the Lord, their God. What did they cry? — Woe, woe, it is he who has destroyed the Sanctuary, burnt the Temple, killed all the righteous, driven all Israel into exile, and is still dancing around among us! Thou hast surely given him to us so that we may receive reward through him. We want neither him, nor reward through him! Thereupon a tablet fell down from heaven for them, whereupon the word ‘truth’ was inscribed. (R. Hanina said: One may learn there from that the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He, is truth). They ordered a fast of three days and three nights, whereupon he was surrendered to them. He came forth from the Holy of Holies like a young fiery lion. Thereupon the Prophet said to Israel: This is the evil desire of idolatry, as it is said: And he said: This is wickedness.

 

Babel is the place of babbling. Today there is only a vestige of prophecy in the world. The last vestige of prophecy is a dream (except for that found in young children, insane people, and dogs. These categories include only those who cannot speak).

 

Voice^[9]

 

The neck is the organ of connection between the higher and the lower world. In the front, and within this structure is the “voice box”, the organ that produces the voice. The front is the side of elevation and spirituality. The front is called “panim – face” in Hebrew. Panim means the outer face and also the inner internality. That which goes on inside a person is most obviously visible in the face. Thus we can see why we have the same Hebrew word for the thing and it’s opposite.

 

Voice is produced in the front, the side of spirituality. Voice, in the kabbalistic writings, is referred to as “Moshe Rabbenu”, the one who brought Torah to the world through his voice. The voice is the origin of speech. Prophecy originates with the voice, as we can see from the Prophet’s words:

 

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 58:1 Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

 

Again, prophecy originates with the voice, as we can see when Sarai spoke to Abram:

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 16:1 Now Sarai Abram’s wife bare him no children: and she had a handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. 2  And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, HaShem hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

 

Note that Abram was not to hearken to her words, but rather to her “voice”. When we talk about prophecy, we are talking about voice. That is why Abram was commanded to listen to her voice – listen to her prophecy!

 

Our Torah portion, in v.29, emphasizes that Yosef fell on his father’s neck and wept on his neck.

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 46:29 And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father, to Goshen; and he presented himself unto him, and fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

 

The voice box is in the front of the neck, as I mentioned before. HaOref - הערף, in Hebrew, means the back of the neck.^[10] If you rearrange the letters you get Paro, Moshe’s arch enemy. Paro tried to suppress Moshe’s prophecy.

 

Now that we have some understanding of speech, let’s examine the misuse of speech.

 

Lashon HaRa

 

Our Sages teach that the ketoret^[11] was used as an atonement for evil speech (Lashon HaRa). The offering of the ketoret was carried out in complete seclusion, as the Torah teaches us:

 

Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:17 any person shall not be in the Tent of Meeting when he comes to provide atonement in the Sanctuary until his departure.

 

Although this pasuk is found in the section of the Torah dealing with the Yom HaKippurim^[12] service, this halacha is not limited to Yom HaKippurim. It was forbidden for any other Kohen to be present in the Bet HaMikdash while the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, was offering his ketoret, whether it be Yom HaKippurim when it was offered in the Holy of Holies, or any other day that it was brought on the inner altar. This offering, that was always done in private, serves to atone for Lashon HaRa^[13] that is spoken privately.

 

The Gemara^[14] teaches us that “Because of Lashon HaRa, tzaraat (leprosy) befalls a person. Yet [the Gemara asks] doesn’t Rav Anani bar Sason teach that when the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) wears the garment known as the me’il - מְעִיל,^[15] this atones for the nation’s Lashon HaRa”?

 

The Gemara, as explained by Rashi, answers: If the Lashon HaRa caused a fight, tzaraat results. Otherwise, the wearing of the me’il atones.

 

 Yet does not Rav Simon teach that the ketoret atones for lashon hara, for we read in the Torah that Aharon atoned for the people with ketoret? Yes, the ketoret, which is usually burnt privately in the inner sanctum of the Mishkan,^[16] atones for Lashon HaRa spoken in private, while the me’il atones for Lashon HaRa spoken in public. [Until here from the Gemara.]

 

The Chafetz Chaim writes: It follows from this that Lashon HaRa which causes a fight is punished by tzaraat even when spoken privately. ketoret atones for Lashon HaRa spoken privately which causes no harm.

 

Why then did the ketoret provide atonement, in Bamidbar 16:46, where the Lashon HaRa was very public? Because Aharon took the ketoret out of the privacy of the Mishkan and burnt it in the midst of the camp.

 

The Gemara records that offering of the ketoret is done privately;^[17] that is, when the ketoret is offered, no one is allowed to be in the Heichel, the inner sanctum, other than the kohen offering the ketoret. While the Torah mentions this exclusion specifically regarding the special service of the Kohen Gadol on Yom HaKippurim,^[18] the Gemara understands that it applies to the ketoret generally.^[19]

 

Given its very private nature, the ketoret symbolizes the mysterious, the unknown. However, the Torah explicitly connects both offerings of the ketoret to the lighting of the menorah. The menorah is symbolic of the light of the Torah, the revealed Torah, while the ketoret is symbolic of the hidden aspects of Torah, of those parts that lie beyond human comprehension. The Torah links these two commands, highlighting the significance of striving to understand the Torah while recognizing that some aspects of Torah will remain difficult.

 

Lashon HaRa is not only speaking evil.  It is relating any information that might damage another person’s character. HaShem deals with us mida-kneged-mida (measure for measure).

 

Idle Chatter and Games

 

The Vilna Gaon said: “Although there is no worldly pleasure in idle chatter and games, still, it is particularly sweet:

 

Mishlei (Proverbs) 1:22-23 ... their spirit will not quiet or rest until they speak words of frivolity, and from this they have pleasure..."

 

What is the nature of this Yetzer Hara, this evil inclination, the desire to fritter away our lives by being idle with one's time? When people gather for idle conversation, the first topic of discussion is the solution of life's problems. Whether it is President Clinton's nuclear disarmament policy, or the latest flood tolls in rural India; talk shows are filled with folks from Des Moines who share their thoughts with the world. The urge to gossip is quite similar. When one finds a particular person truly disturbing, he finds no rest until he can sit in a quiet circle of friends, unload his pain and anger, and slice his foe to pieces with a few well-placed words. Why is Lashon HaRa so satisfying? In person, I may feel powerless and humiliated, but, at least here, in this room, I have killed him. Speech is a form of control, a tool of power. The words may be idle, but they define one's world.

 

Idle chatter is related to playing a game. Both are pointless, yet both give us great pleasure. This is one of the pleasures of the Olam HaBa. In that world we will not have to account for our time as we do in this world. We will no longer be required to accomplish something. In the Olam HaBa we will be like HaShem who plays with the Torah. We will play with the Torah as we play games in this world. We will find this game as immensely satisfying as we find the playing of games in this world.

 

Consider how many people spend all of their free time playing golf or other games. Games and idle chatter both teach us about the pleasure of the Olam HaBa. However, we must be wise enough to discern that these are the pursuits of the Olam HaBa; they are NOT the pursuits of this world! We should do everything we can to accomplish our mission in this world. In this world we have legs in order that we may travel in the pursuit of our mission. We have hands and arms in order that we might accomplish the tasks that make up our mission in this world. In the Olam HaBa there will be no more “going” and no more “doing”. When we arrive there, we will experience the pleasures of that world as a reward for the “going” and “doing” that we faithfully executed in this world, in the pursuit of our mission.

 

Let’s complete this study by taking note of a pasuk at the end of our psalm. In v.13 we read:

 

Tehillim (Psalm) 39:13 Hear my prayer, HaShem, and give ear unto my cry; keep not silence at my tears; for I am a stranger with Thee, a sojourner, as all my fathers were.

 

I would like to dwell a bit on the idea of ‘prayer’. To get us started, I would like to ask a question. What is ‘prayer’? To investigate this, let’s look at the meaning of the Hebrew word ‘tefillah’, as given to us by Strong’s Concordance:

 

6419 palal, paw-lal'; a prim. root; to judge (officially or mentally); by extens. to intercede, pray:-intreat, judge (-ment), (make) pray (-er, - ing), make supplication.

 

If the prime meaning for the Hebrew root word for ‘prayer’ is to judge, then whom are we judging? We can get a clue to the answer by understanding that the Hebrew word ‘palal’ is reflexive, that is, the speaker acts upon himself. From this we understand that ‘prayer’ is judging oneself!

 

The path of Torah study that leads to Gan Eden begins at the time of Brit Mila,^[20] as we learn from the Targum on 48:20 for our parasha:

 

Beresheet 48:20 In thee, Joseph my son, shall the house of Israel bless their infants in the day of their circumcision, saying, The Lord set thee as Ephraim and as Menashe.

 

We cannot afford to wait for our children to grow up if they are to have any hope of becoming great Torah scholars. We must begin at their brit! It is this Torah study which will provide our sons with the ability to control their tongues and thereby gain mastery over their entire body. It is this Torah study which will end our exile and allow us to return to the garden.

 

When we combine the beginning of our psalm, which speaks of the control of the mouth and tongue, with the end of our psalm, which speaks of judging ourselves in prayer, then we begin to understand that the first judgment we should make is the judgment of our speech. When we have brought this organ under control, then we are on the path to walk with HaShem in the garden.

 

King David was inspired to write this chapter of Psalms from the verbal tally:  Father - אב, Strong’s number 01. Our Torah portion opens with Israel, Yosef’s father as the focal point. Our chapter of Psalms closes by refering to the Patriarch’s, my fathers, as sojourners. Our Torah portion also emphasizes that Yaaqob says that he wants to sojourn in Egypt^[21] and that his fathers were also sojourners.^[22] Thus we can see a clear connection in David’s mind to our Torah portion.

 

Ashlamatah: Zechariah 10:6-12 + 11:4-11‎

 

Rashi	JPS
3. ¶ My wrath is kindled against the shepherds, and I will visit upon the goats, for the Lord of Hosts has remembered His flock, the house of Judah, and He has made it as His majestic horse in battle.	3. ¶ My anger is roused against the shepherds, And I will punish the he-goats. For the LORD of Hosts has taken thought In behalf of His flock, the House of Judah; He will make them like majestic chargers in battle.
4. Out of them shall come the cornerstone; out of them, the stake; out of them, the bow of war. Out of them shall come every oppressor together.	4. From them shall come cornerstones, From them tent pegs, From them bows of combat, And every captain shall also arise from them.
5. And they shall be like mighty men, treading the mire of the streets in battle. And they shall wage war, for the Lord is with them. And they shall shame the riders of horses.	5. And together they shall be like warriors in battle, Tramping in the dirt of the streets; They shall fight, for the LORD shall be with them, And they shall put horsemen to shame.
6. And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and the house of Joseph I will save. And I will cause them to settle, for I have bestowed mercy upon them. And they shall be as though I had not forsaken them, for I am the Lord their God, and I will answer them.	6. I will give victory to the House of Judah, And triumph to the House of Joseph. I will restore them, for I have pardoned them, And they shall be as though I had never disowned them; For I the LORD am their God, And I will answer their prayers.
7. And Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as if [with] wine. And their children shall see and rejoice; their heart shall be joyful with the Lord.	7. Ephraim shall be like a warrior, And they shall exult as with wine; Their children shall see it and rejoice, They shall exult in the LORD.
8. I will whistle to them, and I will gather them, for I have redeemed them. And they shall multiply as they multiplied.	8. I will whistle to them and gather them, For I will redeem them; They shall increase and continue increasing.
9. And I will sow them among the peoples, and in the distant places they shall remember Me. And they shall live with their children and return.	9. For though I sowed them among the nations, In the distant places they shall remember Me, They shall escape with their children and shall return.
10. And I will return them from the land of Egypt, and from Assyria I will gather them. And to the land of Gilead and Lebanon I will bring them, and it shall not suffice for them.	10. I will bring them back from the land of Egypt And gather them from Assyria; And I will bring them to the lands of Gilead and Lebanon, And even they shall not suffice for them.
11. And trouble shall pass through the sea, and He shall strike the waves of the sea and dry all the depths of the river. And the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the rod of Egypt shall turn away.	11. A hemmed-in force shall pass over the sea And shall stir up waves in the sea; And all the deeps of the Nile shall dry up. Down shall come the pride of Assyria, And the sceptre of Egypt shall pass away.
12.  And I will strengthen them by the Lord, and by His Name they shall walk, says the Lord. {P}	12. But I will make them mighty through the LORD, And they shall march proudly in His name -- declares the LORD. {P}
1. ¶ Open your doors, O Lebanon, and let the fire consume your cedars.	1. ¶ Throw open your gates, O Lebanon, And let fire consume your cedars!
2. Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen, for the mighty ones have been spoiled. Wail, O oaks of the Bashan, for the fortified forest has gone down.	2. Howl, cypresses, for cedars have fallen! How the mighty are ravaged! Howl, you oaks of Bashan, For the stately forest is laid low!
3. Hearken [to] the wailing of the shepherds, for their glory has been spoiled. Hearken [to] the roar of the young lions, for the pride of the Jordan has been spoiled. {P}	3. Hark, the wailing of the shepherds, For their rich pastures are ravaged; Hark, the roaring of the great beasts, For the jungle of the Jordan is ravaged.   {P}
4.  ¶ So said the Lord, my God: Tend the flock of slaughter,	4.  ¶ Thus said my God the LORD: Tend the sheep meant for slaughter,
5. whose buyers shall slay them and not be guilty; and whose sellers shall say, "Blessed be the Lord, for I have become wealthy"; and whose shepherds shall not have pity on them.	5. whose buyers will slaughter them with impunity, whose seller will say, "Praised be the LORD! I'll get rich," and whose shepherd will not pity them.
6. For I will no longer have pity on the inhabitants of the land, says the Lord. And behold! I will deliver the men, each one into his neighbor's hand and into his king's hand. And they shall crush the land, and I will not save [them] from their hand[s].	6. For I will pity the inhabitants of the land no more -- declares the LORD -- but I will place every man at the mercy of every other man and at the mercy of his king; they shall break the country to bits, and I will not rescue it from their hands.
7. And I tended the flock of slaughter; indeed, the poor of the flock. And I took for Myself two staffs; one I called Pleasantness, and one I called Destroyers; and I tended the flock.	7. So I tended the sheep meant for slaughter, for those poor men of the sheep. I got two staffs, one of which I named Favour and the other Unity, and I proceeded to tend the sheep.
8. I cut off the three shepherds in one month, I could not tolerate them; moreover, they were too much for Me.	8. But I lost the three shepherds in one month; then my patience with them was at an end, and they in turn were disgusted with me.
9. And I said, "I will not tend you. That which dies-let it die; and that which is cut off-let it be cut off. And the survivors shall eat, each one her neighbor's flesh.	9. So I declared, "I am not going to tend you; let the one that is to die, die and the one that is to get lost get lost; and let the rest devour each other's flesh!"
10. And I took My [first] staff, [called] Pleasantness and I cut it off to nullify My covenant that I [had] formed with all the peoples.	10. Taking my staff Favour, I cleft it in two, so as to annul the covenant I had made with all the peoples;
11. And it was nullified on that day. And the poor of the flock that kept My word knew this, that it was the word of the Lord. {S}	11. and when it was annulled that day, the same poor men of the sheep who watched me realized that it was a message from the LORD. {S}
12. And I said to them: "If it pleases you, give [Me] My hire, and if not, forbear." And they weighed out My hire: thirty pieces of silver.	12. Then I said to them, "If you are satisfied, pay me my wages; if not, don't." So they weighed out my wages, thirty shekels of silver --
13. And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the keeper of the treasury, to the stronghold of glory-of which I stripped them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and I cast it into the house of the Lord, to the keeper of the treasury.	13. the noble sum that I was worth in their estimation. The LORD said to me, "Deposit it in the treasury." And I took the thirty shekels and deposited it in the treasury in the House of the LORD.
14. And I cut off my second staff, the Destroyers, to nullify the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.  {P}	14. Then I cleft in two my second staff, Unity, in order to annul the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.     {P}

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Zech 10:6-12 + 11:4-11‎‎

 

3 My wrath is kindled against the shepherds Against the kings of Greece.

 

upon the goats Against their princes, and so did Jonathan render it: My wrath was against the kings and upon the rulers I visit. The Greeks were likened to goats in (Dan. 8:21), “And the rough he-goat is the king of Greece.” Whoever wishes to explain the matter [otherwise] (not as referring to the kings of Greece) will say that הָעַתּוּדִים is an expression of princes, as in (Isa. 14:9), “It aroused the giants for you, all the chiefs of the earth.”

 

as His majestic horse in battle As the horse whose majesty is recognized in battle.

 

4 Out of them shall come the cornerstone Out of them shall come their kings; out of them shall come their princes, and out of them shall come those who wage their wars.

 

5 And they shall be like mighty men, treading the mire of the streets in battle This verse is inverted. It should be understood: And they shall be in battle, walking and treading people as mighty men tread the mire of the streets.

 

treading as in (Ps. 60:14), “And He shall tread down our enemies,” and (Jer. 12: 10) “They have trampled My field.”

 

and they shall shame the riders of horses The house of Judah shall shame the riders of horses who come to wage war with them.

 

6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah in the war against the Greeks.

 

and the house of Joseph I will save in the place where they were exiled - in Halah and in Habor in the days of Sennacherib.

 

And I will cause them to settle Like וְהוֹשַּׁבְתִּים, an expression of settling.

 

And they shall be as though I had not forsaken them As though I had never forsaken them.

 

8 I will whistle to them in the manner of those who whistle as a sign and a signal for those straying on their way to him.

 

and I will gather them at the time of the end in the future.

 

for I have redeemed them When I will redeem them.

 

And they shall multiply in exile as they multiplied in Egypt.

 

9 And I will sow them first among the peoples, as a person sows a seah to bring in many korim.

 

And they shall live with their children אֶת-בְנֵיהֶם

 

10 and the Lebanon This is the Temple.

 

and it shall not suffice for them Heb. וְא יִמָּצֵא לָהֶם

 

11 And trouble shall pass through the sea And the trouble shall pass through Tyre, which is situated in the midst of the sea, it is the head of Edom.

 

and He shall strike The Holy One, blessed be He, Who is the One Who strikes.

 

the waves of the sea to sink Tyre.

 

all the depths of the river That is, Egypt.

 

Chapter 11

 

1 Open your doors, O Lebanon Jonathan renders: O peoples, open your gates.

 

2 Wail, O cypress, for the cedar has fallen [The cedar,] which is bigger than the cypress, [has fallen]. Howl, O rulers, for the kings of the nations have fallen.

 

Wail, O oaks of the Bashan Kesnes or chesnes in Old French, chenes in Modern French.

 

for... has gone down For it has been broken. Similar to [this expression] is (Isa. 32:19), “And He shall hail down the breaking of the forest."

 

the fortified forest The fortified forest, the strong walled cities.

 

3 the shepherds The kings.

 

for their glory אַדַּרְתָּם

 

the roar of the young lions The princes shall weep.

 

for the pride of the Jordan has been spoiled The pride of the Jordan, which is the place of the young lions and the old lions. Our Sages (Yoma 39b) explained “Open your doors, O Lebanon,” as the prophet prophesying about the destruction of the Second Temple; that forty years prior to the destruction, the doors of the Temple proper would open by themselves. Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai rebuked them. He said, "Temple, how long will you terrify yourself? I know that you will eventually be destroyed. Zechariah the son of Iddo has already prophesied concerning you: 'Open your doors, O Lebanon, etc.’"

 

4 Tend the flock of slaughter Prepare shepherds for them; i.e., prophesy concerning their leaders who are destined to lead them from now on.

 

the flock of slaughter Israel, whose shepherds slew them and devoured them.

 

5 and not be guilty The kings of the nations among whom I will exile them; this one sells them, and the buyer slays them, without feeling (lit., “and he does not put to his heart”) that there should be guilt in the matter. The seller boasts.

 

Blessed be the Lord Who delivered them into my hand, and behold! I am wealthy.

 

for I have become wealthy And behold! I am wealthy.

 

7 And I tended the flock of slaughter All these are the words of the Holy One, blessed be He, to the prophet: And I tended them in the early days.

 

indeed, the poor of the flock Indeed, they were the poor of the flock when I began to tend them.

 

and I took for Myself two staffs At the end of a period of time, I divided them into two kingdoms because of their iniquity.

 

one I called Pleasantness Jeroboam promised to lead them gently.

 

and one I called Destoyers Rehoboam told [his kingdom] that he would flog them with scorpions (I Kings 12:11). [Zechariah] calls their rulers staffs because it is customary to lead flocks with staffs.

 

8 I cut off the three shepherds in one month They corrupted their ways until I rejected them, and I slew all three shepherds in one month. Jehu slew the entire house of Ahab, and the house of Ahaziah the king of Judah, and his brothers, and all the seed of the kingdom of David; and Athaliah slew the rest, save Joash, who hid (II Kings 10, 11).

 

I could not tolerate them “My soul was short with them” I rejected them. And every expression of shortness of soul denotes a distressful or disgusting matter, that a person’s thoughts cannot tolerate. His heart and his reigns are too short to contain it, as Elihu said (Job 32: 18), “The spirit of my innards constrains me.”

 

moreover, they were too much for Me Their memory was too big for My innards, and it filled My spirit and constrained My reins. The word בָּחֲלָה was explained by our Sages in tractate Niddah (47a) as an expression of largeness. The Sages depicted the development of a woman with a metaphor: פַּגָּה, unripe figs; בּֽחַל, larger figs, and צֶמֶל, completely ripe figs. She is compared to unripe figs when she is still a child; she is compared to larger figs in the days of her youth, when she is already bigger. They brought this verse as proof of their words.

 

9 And I said, “I will not tend you...” I said in those days, “I will cast them from before Me,” and they shall be free and subject to spoil.

 

10 And I took My [first] staff, [called] Pleasantness I broke the power of the kings of Israel in the days of Jehoahaz the son of Jehu - to the extent that the king of Aram destroyed them and made them like dust to trample (II Kings 13:7) - and in the days of Hoshea the son of Elah, when I delivered them into the hands of Sennacherib and he exiled them (ibid. 17:6).

 

to nullify My covenant that I [had] formed with all the peoples To show them that because they betrayed Me, I nullified My covenant that I formed with all the peoples concerning them, that the [peoples] not harm them. For, on that condition I gave them the Torah, that if they keep it, they will be free from the kingdoms; that no nation or tongue shall rule over them. And do not be surprised if Scripture speaks of their salvation from the hands of the enemy as forming a covenant with the enemy, for we find a similar verse (Hosea 2:20): “And I will make a covenant for them on that day with the beasts of the field, etc."

 

11 knew this The righteous among them who kept My statute understood.

 

that it was the word of the Lord This decree the Holy One, blessed be He, already spoke to us through Moses (Deut. 28:36): “The Lord shall drive you and your king.”

 

12 And I said to the remaining kings of Judah.

 

“If it pleases you, give [Me] My hire...” Fulfill My commandments, and that will be My payment for all the good that I have given you; as they give hire to a shepherd, I will return and tend you.

 

and if not, forbear And I, too, will not do good for you. We find that the Holy One, blessed be He, said similarly to Ezekiel (3:27): “He that hears, let him hear, and he that forbears, let him forbear.”

 

And they weighed out My hire, thirty pieces of silver Jonathan paraphrases: And they performed My will with a few men. There were a few good men among them, such as the craftsmen and the sentries, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, and Ezekiel. But I do not know how to explain the expression here of thirty pieces of silver exactly, except that כֶּסֶף is an expression of desire. Our Sages, too, explained it this way in Chullin (92a). They brought proof from (Prov. 7: 20), “The bundle of the desirable ones He took in His hand.” The thirty they explained in the following manner: There are forty-five righteous men in every generation. They brought proof from (Hosea 3:2), “a חֽמֶר of barley and a  לֶתֶךְof barley” - fifteen righteous in Babylon and thirty in Eretz Israel. It is said: “And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and I cast them into the house of the Lord in Eretz Israel.” The number thirty is explained by the Midrash Aggadah (Cf. Gen. Rabbah 49:3, Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 88a), that our father Abraham was promised that no generation would have fewer than thirty righteous in men, the number of (Gen. 15:8): "So shall your seed be.” The word יִהְיֶה has the numerical value of thirty.

 

13 And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the keeper of the treasury like הָאוֹצֵר, the keeper of the treasury. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the prophet: Write, and leave over these and their righteousness to be preserved for the end of the seventy years of the Babylonian exile. The Temple shall be built by them. Now what is the treasury? [Cf. below]

 

the stronghold of glory My Temple, the stronghold of My glory.

 

of which I stripped them of which I stripped them so that they should no longer have glory. The expression יָקַרְתִּי means the removal of glory; the “mem” in מֵעֲלֵיהֶם proves it. It is like (Ps. 52:7), “and He shall uproot you from the land of the living”; and like (Isa. 10:33), “lops off the branches." My explanation is similar to Jonathan’s translation. I have seen many variant versions of the explanation of this prophecy, but I cannot reconcile those with the text.

 

14 And I cut off My second staff I exiled Zedekiah. the destroyers The wicked of his generation, for he was righteous, but his generation was wicked.

 

to nullify the brotherhood that the Judahites and the Benjamites were joined in brotherhood, and that they adhered to the abominations of the kings of Israel.  

 

 Special Ashlamatah: Isaiah 1:1-27

 

Rashi	Targum
1. ¶ The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah.	1. ¶ The prophecy of Isaiah the son of Arnoz, which he prophesied concerning the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem in the days ‎of Uzziah, Jothan, Ahaz, Hezekiah, kings of the house of Judah.
2. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken; Children I have raised and exalted, yet they have rebelled against Me.	2. Hear, O heavens which shook when I gave My Law to My people, and ‎give ear, O earth which reeled before My word; for the LORD speaks: "The house of Israel is My people, I called them sons. I cherished ‎and ‎ glorified them, but they have rebelled against My Memra.
3. An ox knows his owner and a donkey his master's crib; Israel does not know, my people does not consider.	3. The ox knows its owner, and the ass its master's crib; but Israel does not teach ‎to know the fear of Me, My people does not understand, to return to My Law."
4. Woe to a sinful nation, a people heavy with iniquity, evildoing seed, corrupt children. They forsook the Lord; they provoked the Holy One of Israel; they drew backwards.	4. Woe, because they were called a holy people, and sinned; ‎a chosen congregation have multiplied sins; they were named as a beloved seed and they acted wickedly, and it was said of them, "Cherished ‎sons”: and they corrupted their ways! They have forsaken the service of the LORD, they have despised the fear of the Holy One of Israel, ‎because of their wicked deeds they are turned about and backwards.
5. Why are you beaten when you still continue to rebel? Every head is [afflicted] with illness and every heart with malaise.	5. They do not understand so as to say, "Why are we still smitten?" They ‎continue to sin. They do not say, "For what reason is every head sick and every heart mournful?"
6. From the sole of the foot until the head there is no soundness-wounds and contusions and lacerated sores; they have not sprinkled, neither have they been bandaged, nor was it softened with oil.	6. From the remnant of the people even ‎to the heads there is not among them one that is perfect in my fear. All of them are disobedient and rebellious; they defile themselves with sins ‎as a dripping wound. They do not forsake their arrogance and they do not desire repentance, and they have no merits to protect them. ‎
7. Your land is desolate; your cities burnt with fire. Your land-in your presence, strangers devour it; and it is desolate as that turned over to strangers.	7. Your country lies desolate, your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence the Gentiles take possession of your land; and because ‎of your sins it is removed from you, and given to aliens.
8. And the daughter of Zion shall be left like a hut in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.	8. And the congregation of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard after they have ‎picked it clean, like a tent for staying overnight in a cucumber field after they have stripped it, like a city which is besieged.
9. "Had not the Lord of Hosts left us a remnant, we would soon be like Sodom; we would resemble Gomorrah."   {P}	9. Had the ‎abounding goodness of the LORD of hosts not left us a remnant in his mercies, then our sins would have been with us, so that as the men ‎of Sodom we should have perished, and as the inhabitants of Gomorrah we should have been destroyed. ‎ {P}
10. ¶ Hear the word of the Lord, O rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, O people of Gomorrah!	10. ¶ Listen to the word of the LORD, you rulers whose deeds are [as] evil as [those of] the rulers of Sodom! Give ear to the Law of our God, ‎you people whose deeds resemble [those of] the people of Gomorrah!
11. Of what use are your many sacrifices to Me? says the Lord. I am sated with the burnt-offerings of rams and the fat of fattened cattle; and the blood of bulls and sheep and hegoats I do not want.	11. There is no pleasure before Me in the multitude of your holy ‎sacrifices, says the LORD. Enough of burnt offerings of rams and fat of fed beasts and blood of bulls or lambs or kids; in such things there ‎is no pleasure before Me.
12. When you come to appear before Me, who requested this of you, to trample My courts?	12. When you come to be seen before Me, who requires this from your hand, that you should come? Do not trample ‎My courts!
13. You shall no longer bring vain meal-offerings, it is smoke of abomination to Me; New Moons and Sabbaths, calling convocations, I cannot [bear] iniquity with assembly.	13. Do not continue to bring an offering which is stolen; it is a despised oblation before me. At new moons and Sabbaths you ‎gather in assembly without forsaking your sins, so that your prayers might be accepted in the time of your assemblies.
14. Your New Moons and your appointed seasons My soul hates, they are a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing [them].	14. Your new moons ‎and your appointed feasts My Memra despises; they are before Me as something despicable; I have forgiven much.
15. And when you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you, even when you pray at length, I do not hear; your hands are full of blood.	15. And when the priests ‎spread forth their hands to pray for you, I take up the face of My Shekhinah from you; even though you pray much concerning yourselves, ‎there is no pleasure before Me to accept your prayers; because your hands are full of innocent blood.
16. Wash, cleanse yourselves, remove the evil of your deeds from before My eyes, cease to do evil.	16. ‎ Return to the Law; make yourselves clean from your sins; remove the evil of your deeds from before My Memra; cease to do evil.‎
17. Learn to do good, seek justice, strengthen the robbed, perform justice for the orphan, plead the case of the widow.    {S}	17. Learn to do good; seek judgment, acquit him that is robbed, judge the case .of the fatherless, act on the complaint of the widow. {S}
18. Come now, let us debate, says the Lord. If your sins prove to be like crimson, they will become white as snow; if they prove to be as red as crimson dye, they shall become as wool.	18. Then, when you, return to the Law, you will beseech before Me, and I will carry out your request, says the LORD: though your sins are ‎scarlet like dyed cloth, they shall be white like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like pure wool.
19. If you be willing and obey, you shall eat the best of the land.	19. If you are willing ‎and attend to My Memra, you will eat of the good of the land;
20. But if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the LORD spoke.    {P}	20.  but if you refuse and do not attend to My Memra, by the adversary's ‎sword you will be killed; for by the Memra of the LORD it has been so decreed. {P}
21. ¶ How has she become a harlot, a faithful city; full of justice, in which righteousness would lodge, but now murderers.	21. ¶ How the faithful city’s deeds have turned to become as [those of] a harlot, she that was full of those who perform judgment! Truth ‎was done in her, and now they are killers of souls.
22. Your silver has become dross; your wine is diluted with water.	22. Your silver has become dross, your wine mixed with water.
23. Your princes are rebellious and companions of thieves; everyone loves bribes and runs after payments; the orphan they do not judge, and the quarrel of the widow does not come to them.   {S}	23. Your princes are ‎rebellious and companions of thieves. All of them love to accept a bribe, saying - a man to his neighbour - assist me in my case, so that I will ‎repay you in your case. They do not defend the fatherless and the complaint of the widow does not come before them. {S}
24. "Therefore," says the Master, the Lord of Hosts, the Mighty One of Israel, "Oh, I will console Myself from My adversaries, and I will avenge Myself of My foes.	24. Therefore the ‎LORD of the world says, the LORD of hosts, the Strong One of Israel: "The city of Jerusalem I am about to comfort, but woe to the wicked when I am revealed to take just retribution from the enemies of the people, and I will return vengeance to the adversary.
25. And I will return My hand upon you and purge away your dross as with lye, and remove all your tin.	25. And I will ‎turn the stroke of My might upon you and I will separate, as those who purify with lye, all your wicked and I will remove all your sinners.
26. And I will restore your judges as at first and your counsellors as in the beginning; afterwards you shall be called City of Righteousness, Faithful City.	26. And I will appoint- in you true judges. steadfast as at the first. and your counsellors as at the beginning. Afterward you will be called the city ‎of truth, the faithful city.
27. Zion shall be redeemed through justice and her penitent through righteousness.	27. Zion will be redeemed when judgment is performed in her, and the ones who have performed the Law will‎return to her in righteousness/generosity.
28.	28. But rebels and sinners will be shattered together, andthose who have forsaken the Law of the LORD will ‎be consumed.
29.	29. For you will be ashamed of the oaks of the idols in which you delighted; and you will be humiliated for your gardens ‎of the idols in which you assemble.
30.	30. For you will be like a terebinth when its leaves fall, and like a channelled garden without water.
31.	31. And the strength of the wicked will become as a tow of flax, and the deed of their hands as a spark of fire; as when they are brought near ‎to each other and both of them burn together, so will the wicked come to an end, they and their wicked deeds, and there will be no pity for ‎them.‎‎ {P}

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 1:1-27‎

 

1 the vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz Said Rabbi Levi: We have a tradition from our ancestors that Amoz and Amaziah, king of Judah, were brothers.

 

which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem Now, did he not prophesy concerning many nations, viz. the prophecy of Babylonia (ch. 13), the prophecy of Moab (ch. 15)? Thus you learn that this is not the beginning of the Book, and that the Book is not given its name for this prophecy. So we learned in the Baraitha of the Mechilta (Exod. 15:9, 10): “In the year of King Uzziah’s death” (6:1) is the beginning of the Book, but there is no early and late in the order [i.e., the order of the chapters is no indication of the chronological order. (Others read: There is no early and late in the Book Parshandatha.] The context proves this point, for, on the day of the earthquake (see Zech. 14:5), the day Uzziah became a metzora (see 2 Chron. 26:19), it was said: “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here I am; send me” (6:8). We learn that this was the beginning of his mission, and this prophecy was said afterwards. And concerning this alone, it is stated: which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, just as Scripture says concerning each nation, “the prophecy of such and such a nation.” Here too, Scripture writes: “which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” Since they are harsh reproofs, he calls them “chazon,” which is the harshest of the ten expressions by which prophecy is called, as is stated in Gen. Rabbah (44:7), and proof of this is the verse (infra 21:2), “A harsh prophecy (חָזוּת) was told to me.”

 

in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah. These four kings he buried, [i.e. he outlived,] in his lifetime. On the day Uzziah became a metzora, the Shechinah rested upon him, and he prophesied all the days of these kings, until Manasseh arose and killed him. (And this prophecy was said in the days of Hezekiah after the ten tribes were exiled.)

 

2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth And Moses said, “Give ear, O heavens,...and may the earth hear” (Deut. 32:1). Why did Isaiah change the wording? Our masters taught concerning this matter, [and] many midrashim [are] in the section entitled “Ha’azinu” in Sifrei, but the Sages disagreed with them and said: A matter is not so unless witnesses come and testify. If their words coincide, their testimony is fulfilled; if not, their testimony is not fulfilled. Had Isaiah not addressed the heavens with giving ear and the earth with hearing, the heavens would testify and say, ‘When we were called to this testimony in Moses’ time, when he said, (Deut. 30:19) “I call heaven and earth to witness against you,” we heard with an expression of giving ear,’ and the earth would testify, ‘I was called with an expression of hearing,’ hence their testimony would not coincide. [Therefore,] Isaiah came and reversed the matter. Consequently, both are found to testify with an expression of giving ear and with an expression of hearing.

 

for the Lord has spoken That you should be witnesses in this matter, when I warned them in Moses’ time. Therefore, come and hear what I reason with them, for they transgressed the warning, I did not sin against them, but I raised them and exalted them, yet they rebelled against me. [Another version reads:] That you should be witnesses in this matter. Now, where did He speak? “Give ear, O heavens and I will speak” (ibid. 32:1). [So this was taught] in Mechilta (Bo 12).

 

3 his owner Heb. קֽנֵהוּ [is] like מְתַקְּנוֹ , the one who affixes him to the plowshare for plowing by day, and since he has accustomed him to this, he knows him. The dull donkey, however, does not recognize his master until he feeds him. Israel was not intelligent like the ox, to know, when I called him and said, “Israel will be your name” (Gen. 35:10), and I informed them of several of My statutes, yet they deserted Me, as is related in Ezekiel (20:39): “Let each one go and worship his idols.” Even after I took them out of Egypt and fed them the manna and called them, “My people, the children of Israel,” they did not consider even as a donkey. Another explanation is:

 

An ox knows its owner An ox recognizes his owner so that his fear is upon him. He did not deviate from what I decreed upon him, by saying, I will not plow today. Neither did a donkey say to his owner, I will not bear burdens today. Now, these [creatures,] who were created to serve you, and are not destined to receive reward if they merit, or to be punished if they sin, did not change their manner, which I decreed upon them. Israel, however, who, if they merit receive reward, and if they sin are punished.

 

does not know i.e., did not want to know; they knew but trod with their heels, and My people did not take heart to consider.

 

4 Woe Every instance of הוֹי in Scripture is an expression of complaining and lamenting, like a person who sighs from his heart and cries, “Alas!” There are, however, several, which are an expression of a cry, the vocative voice, e.g., “Ho, ho, flee from the land of the north” (Zech. 2:10), which the Targum renders, אַכְלוּ , an expression of announcing.

 

Woe There is a reason to cry about a holy nation that turned into a sinful nation, and a people referred to by the expression, “for you are a holy people” (Deut. 7:6), turned into a people with iniquity.

 

a people heavy with iniquity The heaviness of iniquity. The word denotes a person who is heavy, pesant in French, ponderous. The word כֶבֶד is a substantive of heaviness, pesantoma in French, and is in the construct state, and is connected with the word עָוֹן , iniquity.

 

evildoing seed And they were seed whom the Lord blessed (Isa. 61:9). Similarly, they were children of the Holy One, blessed be He, and they became corrupt.

 

they provoked Heb. נִאֲצוּ , they angered.

 

they drew backwards [The root נְזִירָה ,] wherever it appears, is only an expression of separation. Similarly, Scripture states: “And they shall separate (וְיִנָּזְרוּ) from the holy things of the children of Israel” (Lev. 22: 2), “the one separated (נְזִיר) from his brothers” (Gen. 49:26). Here too, they drew away from being near the Omnipresent.

 

5 Why are you beaten... A person who was punished (lit. beaten) and repeats his sin his friend admonishes him and says to him, For this you have been punished, yet you do not take heart to say, ‘For this I have been punished. I will not repeat it again.’ Here too, why are you beaten since you continue disobedience, to turn away from following the Omnipresent? Is not every head afflicted with illness and every heart with malaise? Why then do you not understand?

 

6 soundness An expression of perfection, sound without pain.

 

wounds Heb. פֶּצַע , i.e., a wound of a sword.

 

contusions Heb. חַבּוּרָה , an expression of a bruise. [Some editions read:] Other bruises.

 

and lacerated sores Jonathan renders: מְרַסְסָא , lacerated and crushed.

 

and lacerated sores demarcejjre, in O.F., and in the language of the Talmud, we find, “he bumped (טַרְיֵה) his head” (Chullin 45b). Menahem explained it as an expression of moisture, i.e., moist and wet, always oozing [muyte in O.F.].

 

they have not been sprinkled These lesions were not sprinkled with medicinal powders by physicians. This is an expression of: (Job 18:15) “Sulphur shall be sprinkled (יְזֽרֶה) on his dwelling.” Menahem explained it as an expression of healing, as in (Jeremiah 30:13): “No one pronounced your judgment for healing (לְמָזוֹר) .”

 

neither was it softened with oil Their wound was not softened with oil, as is customary with other wounds. It would be inappropriate to say here, “They were not softened with oil,” for they soften only the place of the sore, not the wound and the contusion but the sprinkling and the bandaging applies to all three, [i.e., the wound, the contusion, and the lacerated sore.] Therefore, the plural number applies to them; the lesions were not sprinkled and not bandaged. Jonathan interprets the entire verse figuratively, referring to the fact that they were soiled and afflicted with iniquity. Accordingly, he rendered, “From the sole of the foot until the head,” from the smallest to the greatest, there is no soundness. There is none good among them, wounds and contusions, rebellious deeds, iniquities, and inadvertent sins.

 

they have not been sprinkled... i.e., they have not been healed by repenting wholeheartedly, nor has it been softened with oil, not even a trace of repentant thought has entered their heart.

 

7 in your presence, strangers devour it Before your eyes, your enemies will devour it. and desolate of you as a heritage turned over to strangers, which is desolate of its owners. Jonathan renders in this manner.

 

8 And the daughter of Zion shall be left devoid of its inhabitants, for they will be exiled from its midst, as a hut in a vineyard, made by a watchman, and when the produce of the vineyard is gathered, he leaves his hut and goes away, after they gather it.

 

like a lodge in a cucumber field As the lodge, which the watchman made at the end of a cucumber field, to watch its cucumber, is left, for after it is gathered, he leaves it and goes away; the one in the vineyard is called a hut since he lives in it day and night; by day, he guards it from the birds and by night from the thieves, but cucumbers are hard, and there is no fear of the birds, and one need not watch them by day. It is, therefore, called a lodge since it is a place of lodging at night. Jonathan renders: Like a bed in a lodge (again repeated in Hebrew), [in] a cucumber field, in a cucumber field after it has been picked (בָּתַר דְאַבְעָיוּהִי) , after it has been picked. [This is the expression of the Mishnah] (Peah 4:5): “There are three gatherings (אַבְעָיוֹת) a day.”

 

like a besieged city Like a city which was besieged, and they make huts around it to hide the troops, and when they give up the siege [lit., when they go away from it], they leave them and go away. All this is Jonathan’s translation.

 

9 Had not the Lord of Hosts left us a remnant by His own volition and with His mercy, not because of our merits.

 

we would soon be like Sodom All of us would be destroyed.

 

10 rulers of Sodom Princes whose deeds are like those of Sodom. From here, [the Rabbis] deduced that a person should not open his mouth to Satan.

 

11 I am sated with the burnt-offerings of rams This is similar to: “Lest he have too much of you and hate you,” (Proverbs 25:18).

 

fattened cattle Fattened cattle and sheep.

 

I do not want Since you transgress My Torah, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination [from Prov. 21:27].

 

12 who requested this of you, to trample My courts to trample [the preposition is absent in the Hebrew] My courts, since your heart is not whole with Me.

 

13 You shall bring no more vain meal-offerings I warn you, you shall not bring Me your vain meal-offering, for the smoke that rises from it is smoke of abomination to Me, and not for My satisfaction.

 

New moons and Sabbaths, calling, convocations, I cannot... and [sic, does not appear in Parshandatha] to call convocations, i.e., New Moons and Sabbaths when you gather to call a convocation and an assembly on them, I cannot bear the iniquity in your hearts that is inclined to paganism, and the convocation with it, for these two things are incompatible: to call a convocation to gather before Me, and the iniquity that is in your hearts for paganism, and you do not take it out of your hearts.

 

15 And when you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you because your hands are full of blood. blood Murder.

 

16 Wash, cleanse yourselves Voweled with a ‘patach,’ the imperative form, since it is derived from רְחַץ , but רָחֲצוּ , [in the past tense, is voweled with a ‘kamatz’ because it is derived from רָחַץ ].

 

Wash, cleanse yourselves, remove, learn, seek, strengthen, perform justice, plead, go Ten exhortations of the expression of repentance are [listed] here, corresponding to the Ten Days of Penitence and to the ten verses of Kingship, Remembrances, and Shofaroth [in the musaf service of Rosh Hashanah].

 

cease to do evil Desist from your evil deeds.

 

to do evil Heb. הרע , like לְהָרֵעַ , to do evil. [Rashi explains this because the preposition is absent in Hebrew.] Scripture does not have to write מֵהָרֵעַ , desist from doing evil, for so does the Biblical language treat the expression of חֲדָלָה , stopping, [e.g.,] “and he failed to make (לַעֲשׂוֹת) the Pesach” (Num. 9:13); “until he stopped counting (לִסְפּֽר) ” (Gen. 41:49). That is to say, the counting stopped, the making failed, here too, stop the evildoing.

 

17 Learn It is punctuated ‘raphe,’ weak, without a dagesh. This is from the form לָמֽד , learn to do good. One who teaches himself is of the ‘kal’ form. Therefore, its imperative plural is voweled with a ‘chirik’ likeאִמְרוּ , שִׁמְעוּ , but one who teaches others is of the form of the ‘heavy conjugation’ (pi’el) with a ‘dagesh,’ and if one comes to command a number of people, the word is voweled לַמְּדוּ . And so, דִּרְשׁוּ , from the formדְרשׁ , but אַשְּׁרוּ in which the ‘shin’ has a ‘dagesh,’ is from the ‘heavy conjugation,’ and from the form אַשֵּׁר ; therefore, the imperative plural is voweled with a ‘patach’ like בַּשְּׂרוּ , סַפְּרוּ , דַּבְּרוּ .

 

strengthen the robbed Heb. חָמוֹץ אַשְּׁרוּ . This is a Mishnaic term, אֲשַׁרְנוּהִי , “we have verified it” (Ketuboth 21a); “if I had strength (אֲיַשֵּׁר) ” (Gittin 30b); “May your strength be strengthened (יִישַׁר) ” (Shabbath 87a). Another explanation is: Lead him in the path of truth to acquire what rightfully belongs to him. An expression of: (Job 23:11) “My foot held its path (בֲּאֲשׁוּרוֹ) ”; (Prov. 23:19) “And go (וְאַשֵׁר) in the way of your heart.”

 

perform justice So-and-so is innocent and so-and-so is guilty.

 

plead the case of the widow Endeavor in their quarrel to plead for her, for she cannot go out to pursue her opponents.

 

the robbed Heb. חָמוֹץ , similar to (Ps. 71:4) “from the hand of the unrighteous and the robber (וּמְחַמֵּץ) .”

 

18 Come now, let us debate together, I and you, and we will know who offended whom, and if you offended Me, I still give you hope to repent.

 

If your sins prove to be like crimson Stained before Me like crimson red, I will make them as white as snow.

 

says the Lord [The verb is in the future form to denote that] He always says this to you, like: (Num. 9:20) “By the word of the Lord they would camp (יַחֲנוּ) ,” also a future form. Another explanation is: Come now, let us debate. What is written above this? “Cease to do evil; learn to do good.” And after you return to Me, come now, and let us debate together, to notify Me, “We have done what is incumbent upon us; You do what is incumbent upon You;” and I say, “If your sins prove to be like crimson, they will become white as snow...”

 

as crimson dye Heb. תּוֹלָע , lit. a worm. Dye with which they dye fabrics red. They are kernels, each one of which has a worm inside it. Hence the name תּוֹלָע .

 

20 for the mouth of the Lord spoke Where did He speak? (Lev. 26:25) “And I will bring upon you a sword.”

 

21 a harlot Astray from her God.

 

city which was faithful and full of justice, and righteousness would lodge therein, but now murderers.

 

full of justice Heb. מְלֵאֲתִי מִשְׁפָּט [equivalent to מְלֵאַתמִשְׁפָּט , the ‘yud’ being superfluous,] as in (Lamentations 1:1) רַבָּתִי עָם , “great in population” [equivalent to רַבַּתעָם ].

 

in which righteousness would lodge The daily dawn sacrifice would atone for the sins [committed] at night, and the daily afternoon [sacrifice] would atone for those of the day. Another explanation is that they would allow capital cases to rest overnight when they could find no merit for him, [i.e., for the defendant;] they would not conclude his verdict until the morrow, perhaps they would find a merit for him, and now they have become murderers. [We find in] Pesikta [d’Rav Kahana p. 121a]: Rabbi Menahem bar Oshia [according to Parshandatha,] Rabbi Phinehas in the name of Rabbi Oshia said: Four hundred eighty-one synagogues were in Jerusalem, corresponding to the numerical value of מְלֵאֲתִי .

 

and now murderers They killed Uriah; they killed Zechariah.

 

22 Your silver has become dross They would make copper coins and plate them with silver, in order to cheat with them.

 

your wine is diluted with water Your drinks are mixed with water, as is stated in Pesikta (122b). [The word] means ‘mixed,’ although there is no similar word in Scripture to prove it, but the Midrash Aggadah explains (Ecc. 2:2): “Of laughter I said, it makes one mad (מְהוֹלָל) ” to mean that it is confused, or mixed up.

 

23 rebellious Deviating from the straight path.

 

and runs after payments This word is similar to the Talmudic תַּשְׁלוּמִין . Jonathan paraphrases: One man says to another, Do me a favor in my case, and I will repay you in your case. This refers to a judge who was a robber, and the robbery victim complains about him before another judge. This one says to him, Declare me innocent today, and I will repay you when they complain about you before me. This is the meaning of running after payments.

 

and the quarrel of the widow does not come to them The widow comes to complain, and the orphan is coming out, when this one meets him and asks him, What did you accomplish in your case? He replies, All day long I toiled at work, but I did not accomplish anything. And this one turns around and says, If this one, who is a man, did not accomplish anything, surely I will not. This is the meaning of, “the orphan they do not judge, and the quarrel of the widow does not come to them” at all.

 

24 says the Master Who possesses everything, and in Whose power it is to uproot you from your land and to settle others in it.

 

the Mighty One of Israel the strength of Israel.

 

Oh Heb. הוי . An expression of preparation and announcement, and similar to this is (Zech. 2:10): “Ho, ho, (הוי הוי) flee from the land of the north.” And let all know that I will console Myself of My adversaries, who angered Me with their deeds.

 

25 And I will return My hand upon you One blow after another, until the transgressors have been completely destroyed.

 

as with lye This is an expression meaning soap [sbon in O.F., savon (in modern French)]. Its deviation is an expression of cleanliness, similar to (Ps. 24:4): “and pure (בַּר) of heart,” since it cleanses the garment of its stains.

 

your dross mentioned above, as: “Your silver has become dross”; a mixture of silver with copper is called dross. Here too, a mixture of the wicked with the righteous. I will destroy the transgressors, who are all dross.

 

all your tin The tin mixed with silver, that is to say, the wicked among you. בְדִיל is called estejjn [etain] in O.F. [tin].

 

26 as at first I will appoint for you pious judges.

 

City of Righteousness As in the beginning, righteousness will lodge therein.

 

27 shall be redeemed through justice Since there will be in it people who practice justice.

 

shall be redeemed from her iniquities.

 

and her penitent those penitent among them.

 

through righteousness through those who make themselves righteous through justice and through righteousness that are in her midst [or,] among them.)

 

28 And destruction shall come upon rebels... For with all these expressions he reproved them above: and they rebelled against Me (verse 2), sinful nation; they forsook the Lord (verse 4).

 

rebels Rebels and sectarians and those who worship idols.

 

and sinners Apostates guilty of other sins.

 

29 of the elms Heb. מֵאֵלִים , an expression derived from אֵלָה , a species of tree called olme in O.F. [orme in modern French, an elm].

 

that you desired to worship idols under them, similar to what is stated (Hosea 4:13): “Under the oak and the aspen, and the elm, for its shade is good.”

 

because of the gardens There they would worship idols, as it is stated (infra 66:17): “Those who prepare themselves and purify themselves for the gardens.”

 

30 whose leaves wilt Its leaf ([Other editions read:] whose leaf) wilts, becomes wilted [flatisant in O.F.]. When heat or cold comes upon it, it wilts and its moisture is lost and destroyed. [The word] נבל is not an expression of decay like בלה , for no ‘nun’ is found in that expression, but נבל [is an expression of something that becomes fatigued and its strength is curtailed, from the root of] נָבֽל תִּבּֽל (Exod. 18: 18), which Onkelos renders: You will surely be exhausted.

 

that has no water to water its seeds; to the thing with which they sin, he compares their punishment.

 

31 the[ir] strength with which they take from the poor by force and rob them and strengthen themselves with the money. That money will become as tow, which is shaken out of the flax, which is light and easily ignited.

 

and its perpetrator The one who amasses this power will become as a spark of fire, and they will burn, one with the other.

 

as a spark Heb. וּפֽעֲלוֹ לְנִיצוֹץ , estencele in O.F. [etincelle in modern French], a spark. Jonathan renders וְעוֹבַד יְדֵיהוֹן , and the work of their hands. This does not follow the Hebrew, however, for, were it so, it would have to be voweled וּפָעֳלוּ with a ‘kamatz-chatuf,’ a hurried ‘kamatz,’ and it would be explained as an expression of work. Now, that it is voweled with a ‘cholam,’ it is an expression of a worker, or perpetrator.

 

with no one to extinguish Jonathan renders: And no one will pity them.

 

 PIRQE ABOT

(Chapters of the Fathers)

Pereq Hei

Mishnah 5:16

By: Hakham Yitschaq ben Moshe Magriso

 

Whenever love depends on something, if the thing ceases to exist, love ceases to exist. But when it does not depend on something, then it never ceases to exist. What love depended on something? The love between Amnon and Tamar. What love did not depend on something? The love between David and Jonathan.

 

PIRQE ABOT

(Chapters of the Fathers)

Pereq Hei

Mishnah 5:17

By: Hakham Yitschaq ben Moshe Magriso

 

Whenever a dispute is for the sake of heaven. it will ultimately endure. But if it is not for the sake of heaven, it will not ultimately endure. What dispute was for the sake of heaven? The dispute of Hillel and Shammai. What dispu te was not for the sake of heaven? The dispute of Korach and all his following.

 

The master now tells us that all things must be done for the sake of heaven (le-shem shamaym) and not for personal self-interest. If a person engages in an enterprise for the sake of heaven, things will go well and the enterprise will be successful. But if it is not for the sake of heaven, then things will not go well.

 

The master therefore teaches us that although in general (stam), dispute is bad, if it is for the sake of heaven, the enterprise in which it is involved will prosper and sustain itself.

 

Amity and friendship on the other hand, are normally good. It is always beneficial when there is harmony and friendship among people. Still, if the friendship is not for the sake of heaven, it cannot sustain itself, and will eventually cease to exist. But if love or friendship exists for the sake of heaven, it will endure forever.

 

The master also tells us that our love for God must be without any personal interest. We must love God with heart and soul, purely for the sake of heaven. We should not love God merely because we have success and our business dealings go well. For if love is dependent on personal interests, that love ceases to exist as soon as the interest or gain no longer exists.

 

It is written, "You will love God your Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might" (Deuteronomy 6:5). [The term "might" is interpreted to mean] "with all your money/possessions." This indicates that one must love God even if it means giving up all your possessions, or even your very life and soul. This is pure, perfect love.

 

When love is based on personal self-interest, it is not sincere, and as soon as the interest ceases to exist, the love also vanishes. An example of this is the love between Amnon and Tamar (2 Samuel 13). This love was based entirely on personal interest. As soon as this interest ceased to exist, the love also vanished and turned into hatred.

The opposite of this was the love and friendship that existed between David and Jonathan. This friendship was perfect, not based on any personal interest or ulterior motives whatever, and therefore this friendship could even transcend death.

 

Jonathan's self-interest actually opposed his friendship with David. His father was King Saul. As long as David lived, it was virtually certain that Jonathan would not inherit the throne. Still, Jonathan was willing to die for the sake of David, to save the life of his true friend.

 

When Jonathan fell in battle, David therefore eulogized him, "Your friendship has been wonderful to me, greater than the love of women" (2 Samuel 1:26). David was saying that the bond between him and Jonathan was even greater than the bond between a husband and wife.

 

Regarding the love between husband and wife, the Torah states, "A man will . . . leave his father and mother and form a bond with his wife" (Genesis 2:24). This means that when a man marries, his love for his parents becomes secondary, and his love for his wife should become his greatest love.

 

King David was eulogizing Jonathan and saying, "Your friendship to me was beyond all reason. It was even greater than the love of a husband for his wife. My love for you was greater than my love for my father and mother. Your love for me also exceeded all bounds. You love me more than life itself. The throne was your whole life, and yet you were willing to relinquish it to me. "

 

Even a dispute that is for the sake of heaven will endure. The paradigm of such a dispute was the dispute between Hillel and Shammai. They did not dispute each other to gain status or to vanquish one another. Rather, the dispute was for the sake of heaven, to determine the law and know how we must keep the commandments as given by God and carry them out properly.

 

Thus, we find that even though the law {Halakhah) follows the opinion of Hillel, and Shammai's opinion is not the law, both have merit in the World to Come for their debate. This is because their dispute was for the sake of heaven.

 

There are other disputes where the motive is not for the sake of heaven, but to vanquish another and gain a position of superiority. The paradigm of such a dispute was that initiated by Korach and his followers (Numbers 16). Such a dispute does not bear lasting fruit. We thus see that the end of Korach and his followers was to be cast into purgatory.

 

Verbal Tallies

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

& H.H. Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

 

Beresheet (Genesis) 46:28 – 47:31

Zechariah 10:6-12 + 11:4-11

Tehillim (Psalm) 39

Mk 4:21-25, Lk 11:33-36, Lk 8:16-18, Acts 13:26-41

 

 

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:

Father - אב, Strong’s number 01.

 

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

Judah - יהודה, Strong’s number 03063.

Joseph - יוסף, Strong’s number  03130.

Came / Bring - בוא, Strong’s number 0935.

Land - ארץ, Strong’s number 0776.

 

Beresheet (Genesis) 46:28 And he sent Judah <03063> before him unto Joseph <03130>, to direct his face unto Goshen; and they came <0935> (8799) into the land <0776> of Goshen.

29  And Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet Israel his father <01>, to Goshen, and presented himself unto him; and he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.

 

Tehillim (Psalm) 39:13 Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner, as all my fathers <01> were.

 

Zechariah 10:6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah <03063>, and I will save the house of Joseph <03130>, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them.

Zechariah 10:10 I will bring them again also out of the land <0776> of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring <0935> (8686) them into the land <0776> of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them.

 

Hebrew:

 

 

 

Greek:

 

GREEK	ENGLISH	Torah Reading Gen. 46:28 – 47:31	Psalms 39:1-13	Ashlamatah Zech. 10:6-12 + 11:4-11	Peshat Mishnah of Mark, 1-2 Peter, & Jude Mk 4:21-25	Tosefta of Luke Lk 11:33-36 Lk 8:16-18	Remes/Gemara of Acts/Romans and James Acts 13:26-41
ἀδελφός	brother	Gen 46:31 Gen 47:1 Gen 47:2 Gen 47:3 Gen 47:5 Gen 47:6 Gen 47:11 Gen 47:12					Acts 13:26 Acts 13:38
αἴρω	lift	Gen 47:30			Mk. 4:25	Lk. 8:18
ἀκούω	heard, hear				Mk. 4:23 Mk. 4:24	Lk. 8:18
ἄν	whoever, should				Mk. 4:25	Lk. 8:18
ἀνήρ	men, husband	Gen 46:32 Gen 46:34 Gen 47:2 Gen 47:6					Acts 13:26 Acts 13:38
ἄνθρωπος	man, men		Ps. 39:5 Ps. 39:11	Zech. 11:6
ἀποδίδωμι	gave, give	Gen 47:20 Gen 47:22
ἀπόκρυφος	secret				Mk. 4:22	Lk. 8:17
ἀποστέλλω	sent	Gen 46:28					Act 13:26
ἄρχων	ruler, in charge	Gen_47:6					Acts 13:27
βλέπω	see				Mk. 4:24	Lk. 8:16 Lk. 8:18 Lk. 11:33	Acts 13:40
γινώσκω	know, knew,		Ps. 39:4 Ps. 39:6	Zech. 11:11		Lk. 8:17
δεύτερος	second	Gen 47:18					Acts 13:33
δίδωμι	give, given	Gen. 47:11 Gen. 47:16 Gen. 47:17 Gen. 47:19 Gen. 47:22 Gen. 47:24	Ps. 39:5		Mk. 4:25	Lk. 8:18	Acts 13:34 Acts 13:35
ἐκεῖνος	that one, that year, that day	Gen 47:17 Gen 47:18		Zec 11:11
ἐπιτίθημι	placed				Mar 4:21	Luk 8:16
ἔπω	speak, say	Gen. 46:30 Gen. 46:31 Gen. 46:33 Gen. 46:34 Gen. 47:1 Gen. 47:3 Gen. 47:4 Gen. 47:5 Gen. 47:8 Gen. 47:9 Gen. 47:15 Gen. 47:16 Gen. 47:18 Gen. 47:23 Gen. 47:25 Gen. 47:29 Gen. 47:30 Gen. 47:31	Ps. 39:1	Zech. 11:4 Zech. 11:5 Zech. 11:9
ἔργον	works	Gen 46:33 Gen 47:3					Acts 13:41
ἐρέω	said, spoken	Gen 46:31 Gen 46:34					Act 13:34
ἔρχομαι	come, came	Gen 47:1 Gen 47:15 Gen 47:18			Mk. 4:21 Mk. 4:22	Lk. 8:17
εὑρίσκω	find, found	Gen 47:14 Gen 47:25* Gen 47:29					Acts 13:28
ἔχω	have, had				Mk. 4:23 Mk. 4:25	Lk. 8:18
ἡμέρα	day	Gen. 47:9 Gen. 47:23 Gen. 47:26 Gen. 47:28 Gen. 47:29	Ps. 39:4 Ps. 39:5	Zech. 11:11			Acts 13:31 Acts 13:41
θεός	God			Zec 10:6 Zec 10:12			Acts 13:26 Acts 13:30 Acts 13:33 Acts 13:36 Acts 13:37
ἴδιος	own	Gen 47:18					Acts 13:36
κατά	near, at, according to, on	Gen 46:28 Gen 46:29 Gen 47:12 Gen 47:30					Act 13:27
κατοικέω	dwelling, dwell, inhabiting, live	Gen 46:34 Gen 47:4* Gen 47:6 Gen 47:27		Zec 11:6			Acts 13:27
κλίνη	bed				Mar 21:25	Luk 8:16
κοιμάω	sleep	Gen 47:30					Acts 13:36
κρυπτός	hidden				Mar 4:22	Lk. 8:17
λαός	people	Gen. 47:21 Gen. 47:23		Zech. 10:9 Zech. 11:10			Acts 13:31
λέγω	saying	Gen 47:1 Gen 47:5 Gen 47:15		Zec 10:12 Zec 11:4 Zec 11:5 Zec 11:6	Mk. 4:21 Mk. 4:24		Acts 13:34 Acts 13:35 Acts 13:40
λόγος	words			Zec 11:11			Acts 13:26
λυχνία	lampstand				Mk. 4:21	Lk. 8:16 Lk. 11:33
λύχνος	lamps				Mk. 4:21	Lk. 8:16 Lk. 11:33 Lk. 11:34 Lk. 11:36
μέρος	parts	Gen 47:24				Lk. 11:36
μόδιος	bushel				Mk. 4:21	Lk. 11:33
ὁράω	appeared, seemed	Gen. 46:29 Gen. 46:30		Zech. 10:7			Acts 13:31 Acts 13:35 Acts 13:36 Acts 13:37 Acts 13:41
ὅς  /  ἥ  /  ὅ	which, who	Gen. 46:31 Gen. 47:14 Gen. 47:22		Zech. 11:5 Zech. 11:10	Mk. 4:25	Lk. 8:18	Acts 13:37 Acts 13:39 Acts 13:41
οὐκοῦν	in any way, no way		Psa 39:13	Zec 10:10 Zec 11:6			Act 13:41
πᾶς	whole, entire, all, every	Gen. 46:32 Gen. 46:34 Gen. 47:1 Gen. 47:12 Gen. 47:13 Gen. 47:14 Gen. 47:15 Gen. 47:17 Gen. 47:20	Ps. 39:5 Ps. 39:8 Ps. 39:11 Ps. 39:12	Zech. 10:11 Zech. 11:10			Acts 13:27 Acts 13:29 Acts 13:39
πατήρ	father	Gen. 46:29 Gen. 46:31 Gen. 46:34 Gen. 47:1 Gen. 47:3 Gen. 47:5 Gen. 47:6 Gen. 47:7 Gen. 47:9 Gen. 47:11 Gen. 47:12 Gen. 47:30	Ps. 39:12				Acts 13:32 Acts 13:36
ποιέω	do, done, made	Gen. 47:29 Gen. 47:30	Ps. 39:9
πονηρός	evil, wicked, bad	Gen 47:9				Lk. 11:34
προστίθημι	add, more				Mk. 4:24		Acts 13:36
σήμερον	today	Gen 47:23					Acts 13:33
σῶμα	body	Gen 47:12 Gen 47:18				Lk. 11:34 Lk. 11:36
τέκνον	children			Zec 10:7 Zec 10:9			Acts 13:33
τίθημι	put, place	Gen. 47:6 Gen. 47:26 Gen. 47:29	Ps. 39:8		Mk. 4:21	Lk. 8:16 Lk. 11:33	Acts 13:29
υἱός	son	Gen. 47:29		Zech. 10:7 Zech. 10:9			Acts 13:26 Acts 13:33
ὑπό	by, under				Mk. 4:21	Lk. 11:33
φανερός	apparent, to light, open				Mk. 4:22	Lk. 8:17

 

 

NAZAREAN TALMUD

Sidra Of B’resheet (Gen.) 46:28 – 47:31

 “V’Et Yehudah Shalakh” “And Yehudah he sent”

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

H.Em. Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

 

School of Hakham Shaul Tosefta (Luqas Lk 11:33-36, 8:16-18) Mishnah א:א

School of Hakham Tsefet Peshat (Mark 4:21-25)

“No one after lighting a lamp, puts it in a secret place, nor does he place it under a bushel (measuring basket), but places it on a Menorah (lampstand), that those who come in[23] may see the light. The light of the body is the eye: therefore, when your eye is whole, your entire body also is full of light; but when it is vain,[24] your body is also full of darkness. Therefore, pay careful attention to remain full of light (Torah) so that there is no darkness in you! If therefore your whole body is full of light, not having any darkness (vanity), it will be completely full of light (Torah), as it is when the lamp with its light gives light to you.”   “And no one, after lighting a lamp, covers it with a clay jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a Menorah (lampstand), so that those who come in can see the light. For nothing is secret that will not become evident and nothing hidden that will not be known (to the insiders and ones “Given” the Oral Torah) and come to light. Therefore consider how  and listen, for whoever has, to him more will be given even more, and whoever does not have, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away from him.”

And he (Yeshua) said to them, “Is a lamp[25] coming[26] in to be put under a bushel (measuring basket),[27] or under a bed? Is it not to serve[28] on a Menorah (lampstand)? For there is nothing hidden, which will not be exposed; nothing is kept secret, that does not come to light.[29] If any man have ears to hear,[30] let him hear.[31] And he said unto them, Take care what you hear: with what measure you use, it will be measured to you:[32] and to you that hear more will be given.[33] For to the one that has, to him will be given: and he that does not have, even what he has will be taken away.

 

Hakham Shaul’s  School of Remes (2 Luqas - Acts 13:26-41) Pereq א:א

“Brethren, sons of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this redemption has been sent.[34] For those who live in Yerushalayim, and their rulers (the Tzdukim – Sadducees), recognizing neither him nor the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these prophecies by condemning him (Yeshua). And though they found no ground for putting him to death, they asked Pilate that he be executed.[35] When they had carried out all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the stake and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead; and for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from the Galil to Yerushalayim, the very ones who are now his witnesses to the people. And we proclaim to you the Mesorah of the promise made to the fathers, that God has fulfilled this promise to our children in that He raised up Yeshua, as it is also written in the first[36] Psalm,”   (Ps. 2:7) “I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.” “As for the fact that He raised him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, He has spoken in this way:” “(Isa. 55:3)  “Incline your ear and come to Me. Listen, that you may live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you, According to the faithful mercies shown to David.” “Therefore He also says in another Psalm,” “Ps. 16:10 For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay; but he whom God raised did not undergo decay.   Therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through him forgiveness of sins (on Yom Kippur) is proclaimed to you, and through him is proclaimed that everyone who is faithfully obedient is freed from all things, for freedom for the Gentile did not seem apparent in the written Torah, “Therefore take heed, so that the thing spoken of in the Prophets may not come upon you:”   (Hab. 1:5) “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days You would not believe if you were told.”

 

 

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

 

 

Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

 

In the previous pericope, we had a lesson in hermeneutics. The present pericope continues with the result of hermeneutic application. The analogy of light here is associated with a “measure.” The underlying thought is “midda kneged midda” – measure for measure. However, as Gould^[37] points out the measure is associated with the one’s personal awareness of “truth” per se. Taylor shows the explanation of these words to be “to the man who has, more will be given, while he who lacks will lose the light he has.”^[38]

 

If a man accustoms himself to small measures of truth (Torah/Oral Torah), he only receives small measures.^[39]

 

In other words, the man who devotes only a little time to Torah studies only receives little information from it. However, we must also bear in mind that the pericope is one of five similes with the intent of revealing the “Governance of G-d.” Therefore, the awareness of the deep mystical thoughts (So’od), which even though they are hidden, are nothing more than exposés of the Governance of G-d. Furthermore, the awareness (revelation) of the Governance of G-d is only “brought to light” through acceptance and application as we will see from our Remes. The present simile is a part of five descriptions, which are suited for revealing the intimate workings of the Governance of G-d.

 

Why are there five similes, why not four, or six, or even seven?

 

 1 Tsefet (Pe.) 5:6 Be humbled under the mighty hand^[40] of G-d so that he will elevate you in the appropriate season.

 

Hakham Tsefet through his amanuensis Mordechai builds on the “Kingdom/Governance of G-d in five similes. The passage cited from 1 Tsefet is directly associated with the revealing of the Kingdom/Governance of G-d. Those who are willing to be humbled under the authority of G-d’s governance of the Bate Din and Hakhamim are destined for elevation and greater awareness of the mysteries of that authority. The depth of context is unfathomable. The Governance of G-d and the deep awareness of its mysteries are for the sake of building an authentic Theocratic Society. Only with this infrastructure for society can we return to Eden, the Garden of Delight/Pleasure.

 

The seminal work of the “Rambam” called the Mishneh Torah is also referred to as “Séfer Yad Ha-Chazaqáh” – “The Mighty hand.” This work is referred to as The Mishneh Torah. The Mishneh Torah itself is comprised of fourteen sections, arranged thematically, which encompass the range of Jewish law, from torts to ritual worship. In later years, the work was called “Yad Ha-Chazaqáh “The Mighty Fourteen” (in Hebrew, a word play on the expression “the mighty hand; (“The Mighty Hand”) which alludes to the fourteen books that make up the code of Jewish Law. The Hebrew letters yod and dalet, the letters of the Hebrew word “yad,” represent the number fourteen (14 = 1 +4 = 5. I.e. the hand (14) has 5 fingers). The title is also a play on Deuteronomy 34:12, which contains the author's first name: “And for all the great might (lit. “mighty hand”) and awesome power that Moshe displayed before all Yisrael.” This verse is particularly an apt reference, as the book of Deuteronomy itself is sometimes called “Mishneh Torah.”

 

An interesting point regarding this simile is raised by Marcus^[41] when he states:

 

“The beginning of the present passage, however, asserts forcefully that this mysterious hiddenness of G-d’s dominion will not go on forever; if covert action is G-d’s modus operandi in the present, He will soon manifest His power openly.”

 

What Marcus misses here though is that “secret of the Governance of G-d (G-d’s Kingdom/ Dominion)” comes first via the medium of the Oral Torah, and except for the Jewish people (insiders), most of the Oral Torah, particularly those in the So’od (mystic level of hermeneutics) have remained in total obscurity and/or rejection by the majority of Gentiles (outsiders). Therefore, this “soon manifestation” that Marcus speaks about will perhaps become more of a progressive reality from today until the coming of Messiah. And surely, the Jewish Nazarean Orthodoxy having been heavily nuanced with Jewish mysticism by its very nature,^[42] is as stated in a previous pericope of Mordechai. “To you it is given to know the So’od^[43] of the kingdom (Governance) of G-d (through the Hakhamim and Bate Din as opposed to human kings). But, to those outside, all these things are given in comparative analogies. And he said “as it is written,” “And He (God) said, Go, and tell this people, You hear indeed, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and do teshuba (repentance), and be healed.”^[44] (Yeshayahu 6:9-10).

 

As we have stated the phrase “to you it is given” is a clear reference of the Mesorah “Moshe qibal Torah” and it being “handed down,” The awareness of the light is only “given,” i.e., handed down and received “qibal” by the insiders. Therefore, the principle of measure is at the core of our pericope, meaning that the measure to which one applies himself it will be revealed.

 

m. Abot 2:4 Hillel says,

 

(1)   “Do not walk out on (abandon) the community.

(2)   “And do not have confidence in yourself until the day you die.

(3)   “And do not judge your fellow until you are in his place.

(4)   “And do not say anything which cannot be heard, for in the end it will be heard.

(5)   “And do not say, ‘When I have time, I will study,” for you may never have time.”^[45]

 

m. Abot 2:5 He [Hillel] would say,

 

(1)   “A crude person will never be sin-fearing (G-d fearing i.e. G-d fearer),

(2)   nor will an Am HaAretz^[46]  (common) ever be pious,

(3)   nor will a bashful person learn,

(4)   nor will a short-tempered person teach,^[47]

(5)   nor will anyone too busy in business get wise.^[48]

 

“In a place in which there are no] men of royalty, try to act like a [Royal] man.”^[49]

 

The mystery Kingdom/Governance of G-d remains obscured because of the antinomian prejudices. When the Oral Torah is abandoned for “grace,” we have “lawlessness.” This abandonment of Torah is self-destructive. Unfortunately, the Gentile failure to accept the Torah has caused blindness in their understanding of the Kingdom. What fails logic is the notion that there can be a lawless society. If everything is “grace” as is purported, how can we survive? “Grace” has been the licence for anarchy. However, as western society feeds on Christian “Grace” it has fallen into the trap or the vortex that it has created. In this vein of thought, we can understand Hakham Tsefet’s words, he who has little, that will also be taken from him. The Kingdom/Governance of G-d remains a mystery to the antinomian mind, G-d’s rule is based upon the Torah as Governance for all of society. When a society is stripped of Torah, collapse is inevitable. If such a society really worked, we would not need traffic laws or societal legal infrastructure. However, because society cannot exist without Torah/Nomos we MUST learn to accept and apply the Torah to the exigencies of everyday life.

 

If the elemental and chief mitzvah is “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;” how can we say that we do not want to follow the rules of a society, which places God first? Man must come to terms with his creation by God and His purpose in doing so.

 

G-d’s purpose in creation was the bestowal of His goodness upon His creatures. G-d alone is the personification of true perfection. He is free of all deficiency. Nothing can compare to G-d. Not anything labelled “perfect” is “perfect” on the same level as G-d. Since G-d desired to bestow good upon His creatures partial good would not be acceptable. However, G-d has made it possible for humanity to experience a level of this perfection. Those who have learned to put their trust in G-d will experience, upon implementation, as much perfection as possible by a creature of G-d. G-d’s creation of each creature was so that each creature might experience as much of G-ds good as humanly possible. Through cleaving to G-d, each creature has the ability to progress to the highest degree of perfection possible. Because both flawlessness and deficiency exist in our world, God has established a means for His creatures to avoid the deficiency and acquire perfection. By clinging to the elements of perfection, we are able to attain a level of perfection that emulates G-d’s perfection. Through the acquisition of excellence, we are able to resemble our Creator.^[50]

 

Therefore, the social order of the Oral Torah has one basic pursuit. We know that it ultimately revolves around one basic principle, namely the assembling of a Perfected Community fit to exist in an eternal state of intimacy with God.

 

When the Highest Wisdom (G-d) considered everything needed to rectify the human race and make it into the Perfected Community discussed earlier, it saw that this goal would be furthered if some people could benefit others and help them attain a place in the Community. ^[51]

 

Consequently, we deduce that the Oral Torah that G-d daily breathed to Adam and Chava was for the sake of creating the Perfected Community. Herein the temporal world gives way to the Eternal “Ever Coming World” through the personification of the Mesorah.

 

Unfortunately, our restraints of time and space minimize the amount of commentary we can produce. The hiddenness, light and measures are all important pieces of the puzzle, which elucidate thoughts presented in the Torah Seder. The astute will understand how to make these connections and draw from the wellspring of information we have not been able to present.

 

By way of analogy, the light of the present pericope is the Oral Torah as Yeshua and his Talmidim teach it. The Kingdom’s secret will always remain a secret because those who throw off rule and Torah will never understand why we have societal laws and standards. Therefore, their “measure” is not a positive contribution. Its negative contribution causes the denial of those pleasures. These people draw on society rather than contribute to it. Nazarean Judaism is anchored in righteousness/generosity, and making a positive investment in community and society.

 

 

 

Commentary to Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes

 

The profundity of our Remes commentary continues the theme of Gentile redemption and tikun. While Ya’aqob enters Mitzrayim in our Torah Seder, Hakham Shaul makes his Shabbat address. In the coming pericope we will see that Hakham Shaul is invited to continue his lectures on the next Shabbat. Hakham Shaul’s lecture this Shabbat has the undertow of atonement for the Gentiles, as well as the undertone of Yeshua as a Pascal Lamb. The lecture perfectly explains Hakham Shaul’s letter to the Romans.

 

Rom. 11:17-18 But if some of the branches (i.e. the Tzdukim) were broken off, and you (Gentiles), being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the wholesome branches; but if you are arrogant, remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.

 

Hakham Shaul states in the beginning of his letter the purpose of the letter to the Romans.

 

Rom 1:5 Through him (Yeshua) we have received chesed and a commission to bring into obedience^[52] all gentiles, living in faithful obedience to the Torah under his (Messiah’s) authority.^[53]

 

The message of Habakkuk is clearly about the Great Exile and the redemption of the Gentiles.

 

(Hab. 1:5) “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days You would not believe if you were told.” 

 

Hakham Shaul takes his cue from the Torah Seder and shows that those Gentiles, who remain obstinate and hardhearted, will not see the redemption of G-d. Each of the plagues that will eventually plague Egypt have a profound allegorical story to tell. A plague of locusts consumes Egypt. The allegory is clear enough. The locusts devour greenery a picture of life.

 

(Rev. 9:3-4) Then out of the smoke came locusts upon the earth, and power was given them, as the scorpions of the earth have power. They were told not to hurt the grass of the earth, nor any green thing, nor any tree, but only the men who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads.

 

In case the picture is not clear, the “men” being harmed by the locusts are Gentiles. How can we make this distinction? The “seal of G-d ON the forehead” are T’fillin worn by Jewish men.

 

The Jewish people have no intermediary. This is not true for the Gentile. Each Gentile is subservient to the mazel of Country and birth. These intermediaries are “strict legalists” per se. They operate only on the principle of midda kneged midda (measure for measure). Furthermore, we must interject that the intermediaries are determined that the Torah will be upheld in the earth. However, Hakham Shaul is showing us that the path of tikun for the Gentile is through Messiah. When Messiah is accepted as the intermediary of the Gentile, they are no longer under the principle of strict justice. However, they are still under the direction of intermediaries. Here the allegory becomes most profound.

 

Romans 13:1-10 Let every gentile soul be subject to the governing authorities (of the Jewish Synagogue). For there is no legitimate authority except (that of the Jewish Bet Din) from God, and the authorities (of the Bet Din) that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority (of the Bet Din) resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment (of the heavens) upon themselves. For the Rulers of the Synagogue^[54] are not a terror to good works (acts of righteousness/generosity), but to those who do evil. Do you want to (be) irreverent to the authority (of the Bet Din)? Do what is beneficial, and you will have praise from the same. For he, the Chazan^[55] is God's servant to you for what is beneficial. But if you do that which is unprofitable, be afraid; for he (the Chazan)^[56] does not bear the circumcision knife^[57] in vain; for he is God's minister (Deputy of the Bet Din), avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject (obey), not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. For this reason, the servants of God (Parnasim) are devoted to collections of dues. Pay all their dues: revenues to whom revenues are due, reverence to whom reverence (to the bench of three), fear^[58] to whom fear, honor to (the Parnasim) whom honor (are due the honor of their office). Owe no one anything except to love^[59] one another (following the guidance of the Masoret), for he who loves another has accomplished (the intent of) the Torah. For the commandments, "You will not commit adultery," "You will not murder," "You will not steal," "You will not bear false witness," "You will not covet," and if there is any other (negative) commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You will love your neighbour as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbour; therefore, love is the summation (intent) of the Torah.

 

The Gentile intermediaries on the more mundane/allegorical level are…

 

• Masoret –         Catechist
• Sheliach –         Chazan/Bishop
• Darshan –         Magid Prophet
• Parnas –            Pastor I (Bitahon Confidence)
• Parnas –           Pastor II (Temimut Sincerity)
• Parnas –            Pastor III (Emet Truth/Honesty)
• Meturgeman –   Moreh/Zaqen [Teacher/Elder]

 

Hakham Shaul, while in the local Esnoga, is addressing the Jews and Gentiles. To the Jew Hakham Shaul is saying that he must occupy his office without hesitation or wavering. And, his message to the Gentile is redemption through subjection to the officers of the Esnoga, and Yeshua’s presentation of the Mesorah!

 

Looking at the overall scheme of the Torah Seder and Nazarean Codicil we suggest that Romans 13:1-10 be read as a list of mitzvoth incumbent on Nazarean Jews and the Gentiles who join their assemblies.

 

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. 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 Sabbath:

 

Shabbat: “Chiné Avikhá Choléh” - “Behold, your father is sick” &

1^st of Seven Sabbaths of Consolation

 

 

 

   

 

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

Evening Service for the 9^th of Ab

Saturday Evening 13^th of August, 2016

Order of Service

 

1.    Arvit (Evening Prayers weekday)

2.    Reading: Lamentations 1:1 – 5:22

 

Morning Service for the 9^th of Ab

Sunday Morning 14^th of August, 2016

Order of Service

 

1.    Shacharit Service (weekday)

2.    Torah Reading: Deut. 4:25-41

·       Deut. 4:25-30

·       Deut 4:31-35

·       Deut 4:36-40

3.    Ashlamatah – Jeremiah 8:13 – 9:23

4.    The Book of Job 1:1 – 3:26; 42:1-17

 

 

Afternoon Service for the 9^th of Ab

Sunday Afternoon 14^th of August, 2016

Order of Service

 

1.    Minchah Service (Weekday)

2.    Torah Reading: Exodus 32:11-14; 34:1-11

·       Exodus 32:11-15

·       Exodus 34:1-4

·       Exodus 34:5-10

3.    Ashlamatah: Hosea 14:2-10 & Micah 7:18-20

 

On the whole day of the 9^th of Ab it is forbidden to wear leather belts and leather shoes, as well as leather kippot!

 

May it go well over the feast, and may this day of fasting may quickly turn to become a day of great rejoicing before Ha-Shem, most blessed be He, for all Yisrael, soon, amen ve amen!