Esnoga Bet Emunah

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Happy Chanukah 5767

Chanukah Fifth Day

Kislev 29, 5767 – December 19-20, 2006

Torah Readings: Numbers 7:36-47

(1) Num. 7:36-38

(2) Num. 7:39-41

(3) Num. 7:42-47

N.C.: I Yochanan (1 John) 1:1-10

Yehudit (Judith) 8:28 – 10:23

8:28: Then Uzziah said to her, "All that you have said has been spoken out of a true heart, and there is no one who can deny your words.

29: Today is not the first time your wisdom has been shown, but from the beginning of your life all the people have recognized your understanding, for your heart's disposition is right.

30: But the people were very thirsty, and they compelled us to do for them what we have promised, and made us take an oath which we cannot break.

31: So pray for us, since you are a devout woman, and the Lord will send us rain to fill our cisterns and we will no longer be faint."

32: Judith said to them, "Listen to me. I am about to do a thing which will go down through all generations of our descendants.

33: Stand at the city gate tonight, and I will go out with my maid; and within the days after which you have promised to surrender the city to our enemies, the Lord will deliver Israel by my hand.

34: Only, do not try to find out what I plan; for I will not tell you until I have finished what I am about to do."

35: Uzziah and the rulers said to her, "Go in peace, and may the Lord God go before you, to take revenge upon our enemies."

36: So they returned from the tent and went to their posts.

9:1: Then Judith fell upon her face, and put ashes on her head, and uncovered the sackcloth she was wearing; and at the very time when that evening's incense was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem, Judith cried out to the Lord with a loud voice, and said,

2: "O Lord God of my father Simeon, to whom thou gavest a sword to take revenge on the strangers who had loosed the girdle of a virgin to defile her, and uncovered her thigh to put her to shame, and polluted her womb to disgrace her; for thou hast said, `It shall not be done' -- yet they did it.

3: So thou gavest up their rulers to be slain, and their bed, which was ashamed of the deceit they had practiced, to be stained with blood, and thou didst strike down slaves along with princes, and princes on their thrones;

4: and thou gavest their wives for a prey and their daughters to captivity, and all their booty to be divided among thy beloved sons, who were zealous for thee, and abhorred the pollution of their blood, and called on thee for help -- O God, my God, hear me also, a widow.

5: "For thou hast done these things and those that went before and those that followed; thou hast designed the things that are now, and those that are to come. Yea, the things thou didst intend came to pass,

6: and the things thou didst will presented themselves and said, `Lo, we are here'; for all they ways are prepared in advance, and thy judgment is with foreknowledge.

7: "Behold now, the Assyrians are increased in their might; they are exalted, with their horses and riders; they glory in the strength of their foot soldiers; they trust in shield and spear, in bow and sling, and know not that thou art the Lord who crushest wars; the Lord is thy name.

8: Break their strength by thy might, and bring down their power in thy anger; for they intend to defile thy sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle where thy glorious name rests, and to cast down the horn of thy altar with the sword.

9: Behold their pride, and send thy wrath upon their heads; give to me, a widow, the strength to do what I plan.

10: By the deceit of my lips strike down the slave with the prince and the prince with his servant; crush their arrogance by the hand of a woman.

11: "For thy power depends not upon numbers, nor thy might upon men of strength; for thou art God of the lowly, helper of the oppressed, upholder of the weak, protector of the forlorn, savior of those without hope.

12: Hear, O hear me, God of my father, God of the inheritance of Israel, Lord of heaven and earth, Creator of the waters, King of all thy creation, hear my prayer!

13: Make my deceitful words to be their wound and stripe, for they have planned cruel things against thy covenant, and against thy consecrated house, and against the top of Zion, and against the house possessed by thy children.

14: And cause thy whole nation and every tribe to know and understand that thou art God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no other who protects the people of Israel but thou alone!"

1: When Judith had ceased crying out to the God of Israel, and had ended all these words,

2: she rose from where she lay prostrate and called her maid and went down into the house where she lived on sabbaths and on her feast days;

3: and she removed the sackcloth which she had been wearing, and took off her widow's garments, and bathed her body with water, and anointed herself with precious ointment, and combed her hair and put on a tiara, and arrayed herself in her gayest apparel, which she used to wear while her husband Manasseh was living.

4: And she put sandals on her feet, and put on her anklets and bracelets and rings, and her earrings and all her ornaments, and made herself very beautiful, to entice the eyes of all men who might see her.

5: And she gave her maid a bottle of wine and a flask of oil, and filled a bag with parched grain and a cake of dried fruit and fine bread; and she wrapped up all her vessels and gave them to her to carry.

6: Then they went out to the city gate of Bethulia, and found Uzziah standing there with the elders of the city, Chabris and Charmis.

7: When they saw her, and noted how her face was altered and her clothing changed, they greatly admired her beauty, and said to her,

8: "May the God of our fathers grant you favor and fulfil your plans, that the people of Israel may glory and Jerusalem may be exalted." And she worshiped God.

9: Then she said to them, "Order the gate of the city to be opened for me, and I will go out and accomplish the things about which you spoke with me." So they ordered the young men to open the gate for her, as she had said.

10: When they had done this, Judith went out, she and her maid with her; and the men of the city watched her until she had gone down the mountain and passed through the valley and they could no longer see her.

11: The women went straight on through the valley; and an Assyrian patrol met her

12: and took her into custody, and asked her, "To what people do you belong, and where are you coming from, and where are you going?" She replied, "I am a daughter of the Hebrews, but I am fleeing from them, for they are about to be handed over to you to be devoured.

13: I am on my way to the presence of Holofernes the commander of your army, to give him a true report; and I will show him a way by which he can go and capture all the hill country without losing one of his men, captured or slain."

14: When the men heard her words, and observed her face -- she was in their eyes marvelously beautiful -- they said to her,

15: "You have saved your life by hurrying down to the presence of our lord. Go at once to his tent; some of us will escort you and hand you over to him.

16: And when you stand before him, do not be afraid in your heart, but tell him just what you have said, and he will treat you well."

17: They chose from their number a hundred men to accompany her and her maid, and they brought them to the tent of Holofernes.

18: There was great excitement in the whole camp, for her arrival was reported from tent to tent, and they came and stood around her as she waited outside the tent of Holofernes while they told him about her.

19: And they marveled at her beauty, and admired the Israelites, judging them by her, and every one said to his neighbor, "Who can despise these people, who have women like this among them? Surely not a man of them had better be left alive, for if we let them go they will be able to ensnare the whole world!"

20: Then Holofernes' companions and all his servants came out and led her into the tent.

21: Holofernes was resting on his bed, under a canopy which was woven with purple and gold and emeralds and precious stones.

22: When they told him of her he came forward to the front of the tent, with silver lamps carried before him.

23: And when Judith came into the presence of Holofernes and his servants, they all marveled at the beauty of her face; and she prostrated herself and made obeisance to him, and his slaves raised her up.

1 Maccab. 9:1 – 10:32

9:1: When Demetrius heard that Nicanor and his army had fallen in battle, he sent Bacchides and Alcimus into the land of Judah a second time, and with them the right wing of the army.

2: They went by the road which leads to Gilgal and encamped against Mesaloth in Arbela, and they took it and killed many people.

3: In the first month of the one hundred and fifty-second year they encamped against Jerusalem;

4: then they marched off and went to Berea with twenty thousand foot soldiers and two thousand cavalry.

5: Now Judas was encamped in Elasa, and with him were three thousand picked men.

6: When they saw the huge number of the enemy forces, they were greatly frightened, and many slipped away from the camp, until no more than eight hundred of them were left.

7: When Judas saw that his army had slipped away and the battle was imminent, he was crushed in spirit, for he had no time to assemble them.

8: He became faint, but he said to those who were left, "Let us rise and go up against our enemies. We may be able to fight them."

9: But they tried to dissuade him, saying, "We are not able. Let us rather save our own lives now, and let us come back with our brethren and fight them; we are too few."

10: But Judas said, "Far be it from us to do such a thing as to flee from them. If our time has come, let us die bravely for our brethren, and leave no cause to question our honor."

11: Then the army of Bacchides marched out from the camp and took its stand for the encounter. The cavalry was divided into two companies, and the slingers and the archers went ahead of the army, as did all the chief warriors.

12: Bacchides was on the right wing. Flanked by the two companies, the phalanx advanced to the sound of the trumpets; and the men with Judas also blew their trumpets.

13: The earth was shaken by the noise of the armies, and the battle raged from morning till evening.

14: Judas saw that Bacchides and the strength of his army were on the right; then all the stouthearted men went with him,

15: and they crushed the right wing, and he pursued them as far as Mount Azotus.

16: When those on the left wing saw that the right wing was crushed, they turned and followed close behind Judas and his men.

17: The battle became desperate, and many on both sides were wounded and fell.

18: Judas also fell, and the rest fled.

19: Then Jonathan and Simon took Judas their brother and buried him in the tomb of their fathers at Modein,

20: and wept for him. And all Israel made great lamentation for him; they mourned many days and said,

21: "How is the mighty fallen, the savior of Israel!"

22: Now the rest of the acts of Judas, and his wars and the brave deeds that he did, and his greatness, have not been recorded, for they were very many.

23: After the death of Judas, the lawless emerged in all parts of Israel; all the doers of injustice appeared.

24: In those days a very great famine occurred, and the country deserted with them to the enemy.

25: And Bacchides chose the ungodly and put them in charge of the country.

26: They sought and searched for the friends of Judas, and brought them to Bacchides, and he took vengeance on them and made sport of them.

27: Thus there was great distress in Israel, such as had not been since the time that prophets ceased to appear among them.

28: Then all the friends of Judas assembled and said to Jonathan,

29: "Since the death of your brother Judas there has been no one like him to go against our enemies and Bacchides, and to deal with those of our nation who hate us.

30: So now we have chosen you today to take his place as our ruler and leader, to fight our battle."

31: And Jonathan at that time accepted the leadership and took the place of Judas his brother.

32: When Bacchides learned of this, he tried to kill him.

33: But Jonathan and Simon his brother and all who were with him heard of it, and they fled into the wilderness of Tekoa and camped by the water of the pool of Asphar.

34: Bacchides found this out on the sabbath day, and he with all his army crossed the Jordan.

35: And Jonathan sent his brother as leader of the multitude and begged the Nabateans, who were his friends, for permission to store with them the great amount of baggage which they had.

36: But the sons of Jambri from Medeba came out and seized John and all that he had, and departed with it.

37: After these things it was reported to Jonathan and Simon his brother, "The sons of Jambri are celebrating a great wedding, and are conducting the bride, a daughter of one of the great nobles of Canaan, from Nadabath with a large escort."

38: And they remembered the blood of John their brother, and went up and hid under cover of the mountain.

39: They raised their eyes and looked, and saw a tumultuous procession with much baggage; and the bridegroom came out with his friends and his brothers to meet them with tambourines and musicians and many weapons.

40: Then they rushed upon them from the ambush and began killing them. Many were wounded and fell, and the rest fled to the mountain; and they took all their goods.

41: Thus the wedding was turned into mourning and the voice of their musicians into a funeral dirge.

42: And when they had fully avenged the blood of their brother, they returned to the marshes of the Jordan.

43: When Bacchides heard of this, he came with a large force on the sabbath day to the banks of the Jordan.

44: And Jonathan said to those with him, "Let us rise up now and fight for our lives, for today things are not as they were before.

45: For look! the battle is in front of us and behind us; the water of the Jordan is on this side and on that, with marsh and thicket; there is no place to turn.

46: Cry out now to Heaven that you may be delivered from the hands of our enemies."

47: So the battle began, and Jonathan stretched out his hand to strike Bacchides, but he eluded him and went to the rear.

48: Then Jonathan and the men with him leaped into the Jordan and swam across to the other side, and the enemy did not cross the Jordan to attack them.

49: And about one thousand of Bacchides' men fell that day.

50: Bacchides then returned to Jerusalem and built strong cities in Judea: the fortress in Jericho, and Emmaus, and Beth-horon, and Bethel, and Timnath, and Pharathon, and Tephon, with high walls and gates and bars.

51: And he placed garrisons in them to harass Israel.

52: He also fortified the city of Beth-zur, and Gazara, and the citadel, and in them he put troops and stores of food.

53: And he took the sons of the leading men of the land as hostages and put them under guard in the citadel at Jerusalem.

54: In the one hundred and fifty-third year, in the second month, Alcimus gave orders to tear down the wall of the inner court of the sanctuary. He tore down the work of the prophets!

55: But he only began to tear it down, for at that time Alcimus was stricken and his work was hindered; his mouth was stopped and he was paralyzed, so that he could no longer say a word or give commands concerning his house.

56: And Alcimus died at that time in great agony.

57: When Bacchides saw that Alcimus was dead, he returned to the king, and the land of Judah had rest for two years.

58: Then all the lawless plotted and said, "See! Jonathan and his men are living in quiet and confidence. So now let us bring Bacchides back, and he will capture them all in one night."

59: And they went and consulted with him.

60: He started to come with a large force, and secretly sent letters to all his allies in Judea, telling them to seize Jonathan and his men; but they were unable to do it, because their plan became known.

61: And Jonathan's men seized about fifty of the men of the country who were leaders in this treachery, and killed them.

62: Then Jonathan with his men, and Simon, withdrew to Bethbasi in the wilderness; he rebuilt the parts of it that had been demolished, and they fortified it.

63: When Bacchides learned of this, he assembled all his forces, and sent orders to the men of Judea.

64: Then he came and encamped against Bethbasi; he fought against it for many days and made machines of war.

65: But Jonathan left Simon his brother in the city, while he went out into the country; and he went with only a few men.

66: He struck down Odomera and his brothers and the sons of Phasiron in their tents.

67: Then he began to attack and went into battle with his forces; and Simon and his men sallied out from the city and set fire to the machines of war.

68: They fought with Bacchides, and he was crushed by them. They distressed him greatly, for his plan and his expedition had been in vain.

69: So he was greatly enraged at the lawless men who had counseled him to come into the country, and he killed many of them. Then he decided to depart to his own land.

70: When Jonathan learned of this, he sent ambassadors to him to make peace with him and obtain release of the captives.

71: He agreed, and did as he said; and he swore to Jonathan that he would not try to harm him as long as he lived.

72: He restored to him the captives whom he had formerly taken from the land of Judah; then he turned and departed to his own land, and came no more into their territory.

73: Thus the sword ceased from Israel. And Jonathan dwelt in Michmash. And Jonathan began to judge the people, and he destroyed the ungodly out of Israel.

10:1: In the one hundred and sixtieth year Alexander Epiphanes, the son of Antiochus, landed and occupied Ptolemais. They welcomed him, and there he began to reign.

2: When Demetrius the king heard of it, he assembled a very large army and marched out to meet him in battle.

3: And Demetrius sent Jonathan a letter in peaceable words to honor him;

4: for he said, "Let us act first to make peace with him before he makes peace with Alexander against us,

5: for he will remember all the wrongs which we did to him and to his brothers and his nation."

6: So Demetrius gave him authority to recruit troops, to equip them with arms, and to become his ally; and he commanded that the hostages in the citadel should be released to him.

7: Then Jonathan came to Jerusalem and read the letter in the hearing of all the people and of the men in the citadel.

8: They were greatly alarmed when they heard that the king had given him authority to recruit troops.

9: But the men in the citadel released the hostages to Jonathan, and he returned them to their parents.

10: And Jonathan dwelt in Jerusalem and began to rebuild and restore the city.

11: He directed those who were doing the work to build the walls and encircle Mount Zion with squared stones, for better fortification; and they did so.

12: Then the foreigners who were in the strongholds that Bacchides had built fled;

13: each left his place and departed to his own land.

14: Only in Beth-zur did some remain who had forsaken the law and the commandments, for it served as a place of refuge.

15: Now Alexander the king heard of all the promises which Demetrius had sent to Jonathan, and men told him of the battles that Jonathan and his brothers had fought, of the brave deeds that they had done, and of the troubles that they had endured.

16: So he said, "Shall we find another such man? Come now, we will make him our friend and ally."

17: And he wrote a letter and sent it to him, in the following words:

18: "King Alexander to his brother Jonathan, greeting.

19: We have heard about you, that you are a mighty warrior and worthy to be our friend.

20: And so we have appointed you today to be the high priest of your nation; you are to be called the king's friend" (and he sent him a purple robe and a golden crown) "and you are to take our side and keep friendship with us."

21: So Jonathan put on the holy garments in the seventh month of the one hundred and sixtieth year, at the feast of tabernacles, and he recruited troops and equipped them with arms in abundance.

22: When Demetrius heard of these things he was grieved and said,

23: "What is this that we have done? Alexander has gotten ahead of us in forming a friendship with the Jews to strengthen himself.

24: I also will write them words of encouragement and promise them honor and gifts, that I may have their help."

25: So he sent a message to them in the following words: "King Demetrius to the nation of the Jews, greeting.

26: Since you have kept your agreement with us and have continued your friendship with us, and have not sided with our enemies, we have heard of it and rejoiced.

27: And now continue still to keep faith with us, and we will repay you with good for what you do for us.

28: We will grant you many immunities and give you gifts.

29: "And now I free you and exempt all the Jews from payment of tribute and salt tax and crown levies,

30: and instead of collecting the third of the grain and the half of the fruit of the trees that I should receive, I release them from this day and henceforth. I will not collect them from the land of Judah or from the three districts added to it from Samaria and Galilee, from this day and for all time.

31: And let Jerusalem and her environs, her tithes and her revenues, be holy and free from tax.

32: I release also my control of the citadel in Jerusalem and give it to the high priest, that he may station in it men of his own choice to guard it.

Chanukah Sixth Day & Rosh Chodesh Tevet (I)

Kislev 30, 5767 – December 20-21, 2006

Torah Readings: Numbers 28:1-15

(1) Num. 28:1-5

(2) Num. 28:6-10

(3) Num. 28:11-15

(4) Num. 7:42-47

N.C.: I Yochanan (1 John) 2:1:1-11

Yehudit (Judith) 11:1 – 12:20

11:1: Then Holofernes said to her, "Take courage, woman, and do not be afraid in your heart, for I have never hurt any one who chose to serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of all the earth.

2: And even now, if your people who live in the hill country had not slighted me, I would never have lifted my spear against them; but they have brought all this on themselves.

3: And now tell me why you have fled from them and have come over to us -- since you have come to safety.

4: Have courage; you will live, tonight and from now on. No one will hurt you, but all will treat you well, as they do the servants of my lord King Nebuchadnezzar."

5: Judith replied to him, "Accept the words of your servant, and let your maidservant speak in your presence, and I will tell nothing false to my lord this night.

6: And if you follow out the words of your maidservant, God will accomplish something through you, and my lord will not fail to achieve his purposes.

7: Nebuchadnezzar the king of the whole earth lives, and as his power endures, who had sent you to direct every living soul, not only do men serve him because of you, but also the beasts of the field and the cattle and the birds of the air will live by your power under Nebuchadnezzar and all his house.

8: For we have heard of your wisdom and skill, and it is reported throughout the whole world that you are the one good man in the whole kingdom, thoroughly informed and marvelous in military strategy.

9: "Now as for the things Achior said in your council, we have heard his words, for the men of Bethulia spared him and he told them all he had said to you.

10: Therefore, my lord and master, do not disregard what he said, but keep it in your mind, for it is true: our nation cannot be punished, nor can the sword prevail against them, unless they sin against their God.

11: "And now, in order that my lord may not be defeated and his purpose frustrated, death will fall upon them, for a sin has overtaken them by which they are about to provoke their God to anger when they do what is wrong.

12: Since their food supply is exhausted and their water has almost given out, they have planned to kill their cattle and have determined to use all that God by his laws has forbidden them to eat.

13: They have decided to consume the first fruits of the grain and the tithes of the wine and oil, which they had consecrated and set aside for the priests who minister in the presence of our God at Jerusalem -- although it is not lawful for any of the people so much as to touch these things with their hands.

14: They have sent men to Jerusalem, because even the people living there have been doing this, to bring back to them permission from the senate.

15: When the word reaches them and they proceed to do this, on that very day they will be handed over to you to be destroyed.

16: "Therefore, when I, your servant, learned all this, I fled from them; and God has sent me to accomplish with you things that will astonish the whole world, as many as shall hear about them.

17: For your servant is religious, and serves the God of heaven day and night; therefore, my lord, I will remain with you, and every night your servant will go out into the valley, and I will pray to God and he will tell me when they have committed their sins.

18: And I will come and tell you, and then you shall go out with your whole army, and not one of them will withstand you.

19: Then I will lead you through the middle of Judea, till you come to Jerusalem; and I will set your throne in the midst of it; and you will lead them like sheep that have no shepherd, and not a dog will so much as open its mouth to growl at you. For this has been told me, by my foreknowledge; it was announced to me, and I was sent to tell you."

20: Her words pleased Holofernes and all his servants, and they marveled at her wisdom and said,

21: "There is not such a woman from one end of the earth to the other, either for beauty of face or wisdom of speech!"

22: And Holofernes said to her, "God has done well to send you before the people, to lend strength to our hands and to bring destruction upon those who have slighted my lord.

23: You are not only beautiful in appearance, but wise in speech; and if you do as you have said, your God shall be my God, and you shall live in the house of King Nebuchadnezzar and be renowned throughout the whole world."

12:1: Then he commanded them to bring her in where his silver dishes were kept, and ordered them to set a table for her with some of his own food and to serve her with his own wine.

2: But Judith said, "I cannot eat it, lest it be an offense; but I will be provided from the things I have brought with me."

3: Holofernes said to her, "If your supply runs out, where can we get more like it for you? For none of your people is here with us."

4: Judith replied, "As your soul lives, my lord, your servant will not use up the things I have with me before the Lord carries out by my hand what he has determined to do."

5: Then the servants of Holofernes brought her into the tent, and she slept until midnight. Along toward the morning watch she arose

6: and sent to Holofernes and said, "Let my lord now command that your servant be permitted to go out and pray."

7: So Holofernes commanded his guards not to hinder her. And she remained in the camp for three days, and went out each night to the valley of Bethulia, and bathed at the spring in the camp.

8: When she came up from the spring she prayed the Lord God of Israel to direct her way for the raising up of her people.

9: So she returned clean and stayed in the tent until she ate her food toward evening.

10: On the fourth day Holofernes held a banquet for his slave only, and did not invite any of his officers.

11: And he said to Bagoas, the eunuch who had charge of his personal affairs, "Go now and persuade the Hebrew woman who is in your care to join us and eat and drink with us.

12: For it will be a disgrace if we let such a woman go without enjoying her company, for if we do not embrace her she will laugh at us."

13: So Bagoas went out from the presence of Holofernes, and approached her and said, "This beautiful maidservant will please come to my lord and be honored in his presence, and drink wine and be merry with us, and become today like one of the daughters of the Assyrians who serve in the house of Nebuchadnezzar."

14: And Judith said, "Who am I, to refuse my lord? Surely whatever pleases him I will do at once, and it will be a joy to me until the day of my death!"

15: So she got up and arrayed herself in all her woman's finery, and her maid went and spread on the ground for her before Holofernes the soft fleeces which she had received from Bagoas for her daily use, so that she might recline on them when she ate.

16: Then Judith came in and lay down, and Holofernes' heart was ravished with her and he was moved with great desire to possess her; for he had been waiting for an opportunity to deceive her, ever since the day he first saw her.

17: So Holofernes said to her. "Drink now, and be merry with us!"

18: Judith said, "I will drink now, my lord, because my life means more to me today than in all the days since I was born."

19: Then she took and ate and drank before him what her maid had prepared.

20: And Holofernes was greatly pleased with her, and drank a great quantity of wine, much more than he had ever drunk in any one day since he was born.

1 Maccab. 10:33 – 11:59

10:33: And every one of the Jews taken as a captive from the land of Judah into any part of my kingdom, I set free without payment; and let all officials cancel also the taxes on their cattle.

34: "And all the feasts and sabbaths and new moons and appointed days, and the three days before a feast and the three after a feast -- let them all be days of immunity and release for all the Jews who are in my kingdom.

35: No one shall have authority to exact anything from them or annoy any of them about any matter.

36: "Let Jews be enrolled in the king's forces to the number of thirty thousand men, and let the maintenance be given them that is due to all the forces of the king.

37: Let some of them be stationed in the great strongholds of the king, and let some of them be put in positions of trust in the kingdom. Let their officers and leaders be of their own number, and let them live by their own laws, just as the king has commanded in the land of Judah.

38: "As for the three districts that have been added to Judea from the country of Samaria, let them be so annexed to Judea that they are considered to be under one ruler and obey no other authority but the high priest.

39: Ptolemais and the land adjoining it I have given as a gift to the sanctuary in Jerusalem, to meet the necessary expenses of the sanctuary.

40: I also grant fifteen thousand shekels of silver yearly out of the king's revenues from appropriate places.

41: And all the additional funds which the government officials have not paid as they did in the first years, they shall give from now on for the service of the temple.

42: Moreover, the five thousand shekels of silver which my officials have received every year from the income of the services of the temple, this too is canceled, because it belongs to the priests who minister there.

43: And whoever takes refuge at the temple in Jerusalem, or in any of its precincts, because he owes money to the king or has any debt, let him be released and receive back all his property in my kingdom.

44: "Let the cost of rebuilding and restoring the structures of the sanctuary be paid from the revenues of the king.

45: And let the cost of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem and fortifying it round about, and the cost of rebuilding the walls in Judea, also be paid from the revenues of the king."

46: When Jonathan and the people heard these words, they did not believe or accept them, because they remembered the great wrongs which Demetrius had done in Israel and how he had greatly oppressed them.

47: They favored Alexander, because he had been the first to speak peaceable words to them, and they remained his allies all his days.

48: Now Alexander the king assembled large forces and encamped opposite Demetrius.

49: The two kings met in battle, and the army of Demetrius fled, and Alexander pursued him and defeated them.

50: He pressed the battle strongly until the sun set, and Demetrius fell on that day.

51: Then Alexander sent ambassadors to Ptolemy king of Egypt with the following message:

52: "Since I have returned to my kingdom and have taken my seat on the throne of my fathers, and established my rule -- for I crushed Demetrius and gained control of our country;

53: I met him in battle, and he and his army were crushed by us, and we have taken our seat on the throne of his kingdom --

54: now therefore let us establish friendship with one another; give me now your daughter as my wife, and I will become your son-in-law, and will make gifts to you and to her in keeping with your position."

55: Ptolemy the king replied and said, "Happy was the day on which you returned to the land of your fathers and took your seat on the throne of their kingdom.

56: And now I will do for you as you wrote, but meet me at Ptolemais, so that we may see one another, and I will become your father-in-law, as you have said."

57: So Ptolemy set out from Egypt, he and Cleopatra his daughter, and came to Ptolemais in the one hundred and sixty-second year.

58: Alexander the king met him, and Ptolemy gave him Cleopatra his daughter in marriage, and celebrated her wedding at Ptolemais with great pomp, as kings do.

59: Then Alexander the king wrote to Jonathan to come to meet him.

60: So he went with pomp to Ptolemais and met the two kings; he gave them and their friends silver and gold and many gifts, and found favor with them.

61: A group of pestilent men from Israel, lawless men, gathered together against him to accuse him; but the king paid no attention to them.

62: The king gave orders to take off Jonathan's garments and to clothe him in purple, and they did so.

63: The king also seated him at his side; and he said to his officers, "Go forth with him into the middle of the city and proclaim that no one is to bring charges against him about any matter, and let no one annoy him for any reason."

64: And when his accusers saw the honor that was paid him, in accordance with the proclamation, and saw him clothed in purple, they all fled.

65: Thus the king honored him and enrolled him among his chief friends, and made him general and governor of the province.

66: And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem in peace and gladness.

67: In the one hundred and sixty-fifth year Demetrius the son of Demetrius came from Crete to the land of his fathers.

68: When Alexander the king heard of it, he was greatly grieved and returned to Antioch.

69: And Demetrius appointed Apollonius the governor of Coelesyria, and he assembled a large force and encamped against Jamnia. Then he sent the following message to Jonathan the high priest:

70: "You are the only one to rise up against us, and I have become a laughingstock and reproach because of you. Why do you assume authority against us in the hill country?

71: If you now have confidence in your forces, come down to the plain to meet us, and let us match strength with each other there, for I have with me the power of the cities.

72: Ask and learn who I am and who the others are that are helping us. Men will tell you that you cannot stand before us, for your fathers were twice put to flight in their own land.

73: And now you will not be able to withstand my cavalry and such an army in the plain, where there is no stone or pebble, or place to flee."

74: When Jonathan heard the words of Apollonius, his spirit was aroused. He chose ten thousand men and set out from Jerusalem, and Simon his brother met him to help him.

75: He encamped before Joppa, but the men of the city closed its gates, for Apollonius had a garrison in Joppa.

76: So they fought against it, and the men of the city became afraid and opened the gates, and Jonathan gained possession of Joppa.

77: When Apollonius heard of it, he mustered three thousand cavalry and a large army, and went to Azotus as though he were going farther. At the same time he advanced into the plain, for he had a large troop of cavalry and put confidence in it.

78: Jonathan pursued him to Azotus, and the armies engaged in battle.

79: Now Apollonius had secretly left a thousand cavalry behind them.

80: Jonathan learned that there was an ambush behind him, for they surrounded his army and shot arrows at his men from early morning till late afternoon.

81: But his men stood fast, as Jonathan commanded, and the enemy's horses grew tired.

82: Then Simon brought forward his force and engaged the phalanx in battle (for the cavalry was exhausted); they were overwhelmed by him and fled,

83: and the cavalry was dispersed in the plain. They fled to Azotus and entered Beth-dagon, the temple of their idol, for safety.

84: But Jonathan burned Azotus and the surrounding towns and plundered them; and the temple of Dagon, and those who had taken refuge in it he burned with fire.

85: The number of those who fell by the sword, with those burned alive, came to eight thousand men.

86: Then Jonathan departed from there and encamped against Askalon, and the men of the city came out to meet him with great pomp.

87: And Jonathan and those with him returned to Jerusalem with much booty.

88: When Alexander the king heard of these things, he honored Jonathan still more;

89: and he sent to him a golden buckle, such as it is the custom to give to the kinsmen of kings. He also gave him Ekron and all its environs as his possession.

11: 1: Then the king of Egypt gathered great forces, like the sand by the seashore, and many ships; and he tried to get possession of Alexander's kingdom by trickery and add it to his own kingdom.

2: He set out for Syria with peaceable words, and the people of the cities opened their gates to him and went to meet him, for Alexander the king had commanded them to meet him, since he was Alexander's father-in-law.

3: But when Ptolemy entered the cities he stationed forces as a garrison in each city.

4: When he approached Azotus, they showed him the temple of Dagon burned down, and Azotus and its suburbs destroyed, and the corpses lying about, and the charred bodies of those whom Jonathan had burned in the war, for they had piled them in heaps along his route.

5: They also told the king what Jonathan had done, to throw blame on him; but the king kept silent.

6: Jonathan met the king at Joppa with pomp, and they greeted one another and spent the night there.

7: And Jonathan went with the king as far as the river called Eleutherus; then he returned to Jerusalem.

8: So King Ptolemy gained control of the coastal cities as far as Seleucia by the sea, and he kept devising evil designs against Alexander.

9: He sent envoys to Demetrius the king, saying, "Come, let us make a covenant with each other, and I will give you in marriage my daughter who was Alexander's wife, and you shall reign over your father's kingdom.

10: For I now regret that I gave him my daughter, for he has tried to kill me."

11: He threw blame on Alexander because he coveted his kingdom.

12: So he took his daughter away from him and gave her to Demetrius. He was estranged from Alexander, and their enmity became manifest.

13: Then Ptolemy entered Antioch and put on the crown of Asia. Thus he put two crowns upon his head, the crown of Egypt and that of Asia.

14: Now Alexander the king was in Cilicia at that time, because the people of that region were in revolt.

15: And Alexander heard of it and came against him in battle. Ptolemy marched out and met him with a strong force, and put him to flight.

16: So Alexander fled into Arabia to find protection there, and King Ptolemy was exalted.

17: And Zabdiel the Arab cut off the head of Alexander and sent it to Ptolemy.

18: But King Ptolemy died three days later, and his troops in the strongholds were killed by the inhabitants of the strongholds.

19: So Demetrius became king in the one hundred and sixty-seventh year.

20: In those days Jonathan assembled the men of Judea to attack the citadel in Jerusalem, and he built many engines of war to use against it.

21: But certain lawless men who hated their nation went to the king and reported to him that Jonathan was besieging the citadel.

22: When he heard this he was angry, and as soon as he heard it he set out and came to Ptolemais; and he wrote Jonathan not to continue the siege, but to meet him for a conference at Ptolemais as quickly as possible.

23: When Jonathan heard this, he gave orders to continue the siege; and he chose some of the elders of Israel and some of the priests, and put himself in danger,

24: for he went to the king at Ptolemais, taking silver and gold and clothing and numerous other gifts. And he won his favor.

25: Although certain lawless men of his nation kept making complaints against him,

26: the king treated him as his predecessors had treated him; he exalted him in the presence of all his friends.

27: He confirmed him in the high priesthood and in as many other honors as he had formerly had, and made him to be regarded as one of his chief friends.

28: Then Jonathan asked the king to free Judea and the three districts of Samaria from tribute, and promised him three hundred talents.

29: The king consented, and wrote a letter to Jonathan about all these things; its contents were as follows:

30: "King Demetrius to Jonathan his brother and to the nation of the Jews, greeting.

31: This copy of the letter which we wrote concerning you to Lasthenes our kinsman we have written to you also, so that you may know what it says.

32: `King Demetrius to Lasthenes his father, greeting.

33: To the nation of the Jews, who are our friends and fulfil their obligations to us, we have determined to do good, because of the good will they show toward us.

34: We have confirmed as their possession both the territory of Judea and the three districts of Aphairema and Lydda and Rathamin; the latter, with all the region bordering them, were added to Judea from Samaria. To all those who offer sacrifice in Jerusalem, we have granted release from the royal taxes which the king formerly received from them each year, from the crops of the land and the fruit of the trees.

35: And the other payments henceforth due to us of the tithes, and the taxes due to us, and the salt pits and the crown taxes due to us -- from all these we shall grant them release.

36: And not one of these grants shall be canceled from this time forth for ever.

37: Now therefore take care to make a copy of this, and let it be given to Jonathan and put up in a conspicuous place on the holy mountain.'"

38: Now when Demetrius the king saw that the land was quiet before him and that there was no opposition to him, he dismissed all his troops, each man to his own place, except the foreign troops which he had recruited from the islands of the nations. So all the troops who had served his fathers hated him.

39: Now Trypho had formerly been one of Alexander's supporters. He saw that all the troops were murmuring against Demetrius. So he went to Imalkue the Arab, who was bringing up Antiochus, the young son of Alexander,

40: and insistently urged him to hand Antiochus over to him, to become king in place of his father. He also reported to Imalkue what Demetrius had done and told of the hatred which the troops of Demetrius had for him; and he stayed there many days.

41: Now Jonathan sent to Demetrius the king the request that he remove the troops of the citadel from Jerusalem, and the troops in the strongholds; for they kept fighting against Israel.

42: And Demetrius sent this message to Jonathan, "Not only will I do these things for you and your nation, but I will confer great honor on you and your nation, if I find an opportunity.

43: Now then you will do well to send me men who will help me, for all my troops have revolted."

44: So Jonathan sent three thousand stalwart men to him at Antioch, and when they came to the king, the king rejoiced at their arrival.

45: Then the men of the city assembled within the city, to the number of a hundred and twenty thousand, and they wanted to kill the king.

46: But the king fled into the palace. Then the men of the city seized the main streets of the city and began to fight.

47: So the king called the Jews to his aid, and they all rallied about him and then spread out through the city; and they killed on that day as many as a hundred thousand men.

48: They set fire to the city and seized much spoil on that day, and they saved the king.

49: When the men of the city saw that the Jews had gained control of the city as they pleased, their courage failed and they cried out to the king with this entreaty,

50: "Grant us peace, and make the Jews stop fighting against us and our city."

51: And they threw down their arms and made peace. So the Jews gained glory in the eyes of the king and of all the people in his kingdom, and they returned to Jerusalem with much spoil.

52: So Demetrius the king sat on the throne of his kingdom, and the land was quiet before him.

53: But he broke his word about all that he had promised; and he became estranged from Jonathan and did not repay the favors which Jonathan had done him, but oppressed him greatly.

54: After this Trypho returned, and with him the young boy Antiochus who began to reign and put on the crown.

55: All the troops that Demetrius had cast off gathered around him, and they fought against Demetrius, and he fled and was routed.

56: And Trypho captured the elephants and gained control of Antioch.

57: Then the young Antiochus wrote to Jonathan, saying, "I confirm you in the high priesthood and set you over the four districts and make you one of the friends of the king."

58: And he sent him gold plate and a table service, and granted him the right to drink from gold cups and dress in purple and wear a gold buckle.

59: Simon his brother he made governor from the Ladder of Tyre to the borders of Egypt.

Chanukah Seventh Day & Rosh Chodesh Tevet (II)

Tevet 1, 5767 – December 21-22, 2006

Torah Readings: Numbers 28:1-15

(1) Num. 28:1-5

(2) Num. 28:6-10

(3) Num. 28:11-15

(4) Num. 7:48-53

N.C.: Rev. 21:9-27

Yehudit (Judith) 13:1 – 14:19

13:1: When evening came, his slaves quickly withdrew, and Bagoas closed the tent from outside and shut out the attendants from his master's presence; and they went to bed, for they all were weary because the banquet had lasted long.

2: So Judith was left alone in the tent , with Holofernes stretched out on his bed, for he was overcome with wine.

3: Now Judith had told her maid to stand outside the bedchamber and to wait for her to come out, as she did every day; for she said she would be going out for her prayers. And she had said the same thing to Bagoas.

4: So every one went out, and no one, either small or great, was left in the bedchamber. Then Judith, standing beside his bed, said in her heart, "O Lord God of all might, look in this hour upon the work of my hands for the exaltation of Jerusalem.

5: For now is the time to help thy inheritance, and to carry out my undertaking for the destruction of the enemies who have risen up against us."

6: She went up to the post at the end of the bed, above Holofernes' head, and took down his sword that hung there.

7: She came close to his bed and took hold of the hair of his head, and said, "Give me strength this day, O Lord God of Israel!"

8: And she struck his neck twice with all her might, and severed it from his body.

9: Then she tumbled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts; after a moment she went out, and gave Holofernes' head to her maid,

10: who placed it in her food bag. Then the two of them went out together, as they were accustomed to go for prayer; and they passed through the camp and circled around the valley and went up the mountain to Bethulia and came to its gates.

11: Judith called out from afar to the watchmen at the gates, "Open, open the gate! God, our God, is still with us, to show his power in Israel, and his strength against our enemies, even as he has done this day!"

12: When the men of her city heard her voice, they hurried down to the city gate and called together the elders of the city.

13: They all ran together, both small and great, for it was unbelievable that she had returned; they opened the gate and admitted them, and they kindled a fire for light, and gathered around them.

14: Then she said to them with a loud voice, "Praise God, O praise him! Praise God, who has not withdrawn his mercy from the house of Israel, but has destroyed our enemies by my hand this very night!"

15: Then she took the head out of the bag and showed it to them, and said, "See, here is the head of Holofernes, the commander of the Assyrian army, and here is the canopy beneath which he lay in his drunken stupor. The Lord has struck him down by the hand of a woman.

16: As the Lord lives, who has protected me in the way I went, it was my face that tricked him to his destruction, and yet he committed no act of sin with me, to defile and shame me."

17: All the people were greatly astonished, and bowed down and worshiped God, and said with one accord, "Blessed art thou, our God, who hast brought into contempt this day the enemies of thy people."

18: And Uzziah said to her, "O daughter, you are blessed by the Most High God above all women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God, who created the heavens and the earth, who has guided you to strike the head of the leader of our enemies.

19: Your hope will never depart from the hearts of men, as they remember the power of God.

20: May God grant this to be a perpetual honor to you, and may he visit you with blessings, because you did not spare your own life when our nation was brought low, but have avenged our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God." And all the people said, "So be it, so be it!"

14:1: Then Judith said to them, "Listen to me, my brethren, and take this head and hang it upon the parapet of your wall.

2: And as soon as morning comes and the sun rises, let every valiant man take his weapons and go out of the city, and set a captain over them, as if you were going down to the plain against the Assyrian outpost; only do not go down.

3: Then they will seize their arms and go into the camp and rouse the officers of the Assyrian army; and they will rush into the tent of Holofernes, and will not find him. Then fear will come over them, and they will flee before you,

4: and you and all who live within the borders of Israel shall pursue them and cut them down as they flee.

5: But before you do all this, bring Achior the Ammonite to me, and let him see and recognize the man who despised the house of Israel and sent him to us as if to his death."

6: So they summoned Achior from the house of Uzziah. And when he came and saw the head of Holofernes in the hand of one of the men at the gathering of the people, he fell down on his face and his spirit failed him.

7: And when they raised him up he fell at Judith's feet, and knelt before her, and said, "Blessed are you in every tent of Judah! In every nation those who hear your name will be alarmed.

8: Now tell me what you have done during these days." Then Judith described to him in the presence of the people all that she had done, from the day she left until the moment of her speaking to them.

9: And when she had finished, the people raised a great shout and made a joyful noise in their city.

10: And when Achior saw all that the God of Israel had done, he believed firmly in God, and was circumcised, and joined the house of Israel, remaining so to this day.

11: As soon as it was dawn they hung the head of Holofernes on the wall, and every man took his weapons, and they went out in companies to the passes in the mountains.

12: And when the Assyrians saw them they sent word to their commanders, and they went to the generals and the captains and to all their officers.

13: So they came to Holofernes' tent and said to the steward in charge of all his personal affairs, "Wake up our lord, for the slaves have been so bold as to come down against us to give battle, in order to be destroyed completely."

14: So Bagoas went in and knocked at the door of the tent, for he supposed that he was sleeping with Judith.

15: But when no one answered, he opened it and went into the bedchamber and found him thrown down on the platform dead, with his head cut off and missing.

16: And he cried out with a loud voice and wept and groaned and shouted, and rent his garments.

17: Then he went to the tent where Judith had stayed, and when he did not find her he rushed out to the people and shouted,

18: "The slaves have tricked us! One Hebrew woman has brought disgrace upon the house of King Nebuchadnezzar! For look, here is Holofernes lying on the ground, and his head is not on him!"

19: When the leaders of the Assyrian army heard this, they rent their tunics and were greatly dismayed, and their loud cries and shouts arose in the midst of the camp.

1 Maccab. 11:60 – 13:47

11: 60: Then Jonathan set forth and traveled beyond the river and among the cities, and all the army of Syria gathered to him as allies. When he came to Askalon, the people of the city met him and paid him honor.

61: From there he departed to Gaza, but the men of Gaza shut him out. So he beseiged it and burned its suburbs with fire and plundered them.

62: Then the people of Gaza pleaded with Jonathan, and he made peace with them, and took the sons of their rulers as hostages and sent them to Jerusalem. And he passed through the country as far as Damascus.

63: Then Jonathan heard that the officers of Demetrius had come to Kadesh in Galilee with a large army, intending to remove him from office.

64: He went to meet them, but left his brother Simon in the country.

65: Simon encamped before Beth-zur and fought against it for many days and hemmed it in.

66: Then they asked him to grant them terms of peace, and he did so. He removed them from there, took possession of the city, and set a garrison over it.

67: Jonathan and his army encamped by the waters of Gennesaret. Early in the morning they marched to the plain of Hazor,

68: and behold, the army of the foreigners met him in the plain; they had set an ambush against him in the mountains, but they themselves met him face to face.

69: Then the men in ambush emerged from their places and joined battle.

70: All the men with Jonathan fled; not one of them was left except Mattathias the son of Absalom and Judas the son of Chalphi, commanders of the forces of the army.

71: Jonathan rent his garments and put dust on his head, and prayed.

72: Then he turned back to the battle against the enemy and routed them, and they fled.

73: When his men who were fleeing saw this, they returned to him and joined him in the pursuit as far as Kadesh, to their camp, and there they encamped.

74: As many as three thousand of the foreigners fell that day. And Jonathan returned to Jerusalem.

12: 1: Now when Jonathan saw that the time was favorable for him, he chose men and sent them to Rome to confirm and renew the friendship with them.

2: He also sent letters to the same effect to the Spartans and to other places.

3: So they went to Rome and entered the senate chamber and said, "Jonathan the high priest and the Jewish nation have sent us to renew the former friendship and alliance with them."

4: And the Romans gave them letters to the people in every place, asking them to provide for the envoys safe conduct to the land of Judah.

5: This is a copy of the letter which Jonathan wrote to the Spartans:

6: "Jonathan the high priest, the senate of the nation, the priests, and the rest of the Jewish people to their brethren the Spartans, greeting.

7: Already in time past a letter was sent to Onias the high priest from Arius, who was king among you, stating that you are our brethren, as the appended copy shows.

8: Onias welcomed the envoy with honor, and received the letter, which contained a clear declaration of alliance and friendship.

9: Therefore, though we have no need of these things, since we have as encouragement the holy books which are in our hands,

10: we have undertaken to send to renew our brotherhood and friendship with you, so that we may not become estranged from you, for considerable time has passed since you sent your letter to us.

11: We therefore remember you constantly on every occasion, both in our feasts and on other appropriate days, at the sacrifices which we offer and in our prayers, as it is right and proper to remember brethren.

12: And we rejoice in your glory.

13: But as for ourselves, many afflictions and many wars have encircled us; the kings round about us have waged war against us.

14: We were unwilling to annoy you and our other allies and friends with these wars,

15: for we have the help which comes from Heaven for our aid; and we were delivered from our enemies and our enemies were humbled.

16: We therefore have chosen Numenius the son of Antiochus and Antipater the son of Jason, and have sent them to Rome to renew our former friendship and alliance with them.

17: We have commanded them to go also to you and greet you and deliver to you this letter from us concerning the renewal of our brotherhood.

18: And now please send us a reply to this."

19: This is a copy of the letter which they sent to Onias:

20: "Arius, king of the Spartans, to Onias the high priest, greeting.

21: It has been found in writing concerning the Spartans and the Jews that they are brethren and are of the family of Abraham.

22: And now that we have learned this, please write us concerning your welfare;

23: we on our part write to you that your cattle and your property belong to us, and ours belong to you. We therefore command that our envoys report to you accordingly."

24: Now Jonathan heard that the commanders of Demetrius had returned, with a larger force than before, to wage war against him.

25: So he marched away from Jerusalem and met them in the region of Hamath, for he gave them no opportunity to invade his own country.

26: He sent spies to their camp, and they returned and reported to him that the enemy were being drawn up in formation to fall upon the Jews by night.

27: So when the sun set, Jonathan commanded his men to be alert and to keep their arms at hand so as to be ready all night for battle, and he stationed outposts around the camp.

28: When the enemy heard that Jonathan and his men were prepared for battle, they were afraid and were terrified at heart; so they kindled fires in their camp and withdrew.

29: But Jonathan and his men did not know it until morning, for they saw the fires burning.

30: Then Jonathan pursued them, but he did not overtake them, for they had crossed the Eleutherus river.

31: So Jonathan turned aside against the Arabs who are called Zabadeans, and he crushed them and plundered them.

32: Then he broke camp and went to Damascus, and marched through all that region.

33: Simon also went forth and marched through the country as far as Askalon and the neighboring strongholds. He turned aside to Joppa and took it by surprise,

34: for he had heard that they were ready to hand over the stronghold to the men whom Demetrius had sent. And he stationed a garrison there to guard it.

35: When Jonathan returned he convened the elders of the people and planned with them to build strongholds in Judea,

36: to build the walls of Jerusalem still higher, and to erect a high barrier between the citadel and the city to separate it from the city, in order to isolate it so that its garrison could neither buy nor sell.

37: So they gathered together to build up the city; part of the wall on the valley to the east had fallen, and he repaired the section called Chaphenatha.

38: And Simon built Adida in the Shephelah; he fortified it and installed gates with bolts.

39: Then Trypho attempted to become king in Asia and put on the crown, and to raise his hand against Antiochus the king.

40: He feared that Jonathan might not permit him to do so, but might make war on him, so he kept seeking to seize and kill him, and he marched forth and came to Beth-shan.

41: Jonathan went out to meet him with forty thousand picked fighting men, and he came to Beth-shan.

42: When Trypho saw that he had come with a large army, he was afraid to raise his hand against him.

43: So he received him with honor and commended him to all his friends, and he gave him gifts and commanded his friends and his troops to obey him as they would himself.

44: Then he said to Jonathan, "Why have you wearied all these people when we are not at war?

45: Dismiss them now to their homes and choose for yourself a few men to stay with you, and come with me to Ptolemais. I will hand it over to you as well as the other strongholds and the remaining troops and all the officials, and will turn round and go home. For that is why I am here."

46: Jonathan trusted him and did as he said; he sent away the troops, and they returned to the land of Judah.

47: He kept with himself three thousand men, two thousand of whom he left in Galilee, while a thousand accompanied him.

48: But when Jonathan entered Ptolemais, the men of Ptolemais closed the gates and seized him, and all who had entered with him they killed with the sword.

49: Then Trypho sent troops and cavalry into Galilee and the Great Plain to destroy all Jonathan's soldiers.

50: But they realized that Jonathan had been seized and had perished along with his men, and they encouraged one another and kept marching in close formation, ready for battle.

51: When their pursuers saw that they would fight for their lives, they turned back.

52: So they all reached the land of Judah safely, and they mourned for Jonathan and his companions and were in great fear; and all Israel mourned deeply.

53: And all the nations round about them tried to destroy them, for they said, "They have no leader or helper. Now therefore let us make war on them and blot out the memory of them from among men."

13: 1: Simon heard that Trypho had assembled a large army to invade the land of Judah and destroy it,

2: and he saw that the people were trembling and fearful. So he went up to Jerusalem, and gathering the people together

3: he encouraged them, saying to them, "You yourselves know what great things I and my brothers and the house of my father have done for the laws and the sanctuary; you know also the wars and the difficulties which we have seen.

4: By reason of this all my brothers have perished for the sake of Israel, and I alone am left.

5: And now, far be it from me to spare my life in any time of distress, for I am not better than my brothers.

6: But I will avenge my nation and the sanctuary and your wives and children, for all the nations have gathered together out of hatred to destroy us."

7: The spirit of the people was rekindled when they heard these words,

8: and they answered in a loud voice, "You are our leader in place of Judas and Jonathan your brother.

9: Fight our battles, and all that you say to us we will do."

10: So he assembled all the warriors and hastened to complete the walls of Jerusalem, and he fortified it on every side.

11: He sent Jonathan the son of Absalom to Joppa, and with him a considerable army; he drove out its occupants and remained there.

12: Then Trypho departed from Ptolemais with a large army to invade the land of Judah, and Jonathan was with him under guard.

13: And Simon encamped in Adida, facing the plain.

14: Trypho learned that Simon had risen up in place of Jonathan his brother, and that he was about to join battle with him, so he sent envoys to him and said,

15: "It is for the money that Jonathan your brother owed the royal treasury, in connection with the offices he held, that we are detaining him.

16: Send now a hundred talents of silver and two of his sons as hostages, so that when released he will not revolt against us, and we will release him."

17: Simon knew that they were speaking deceitfully to him, but he sent to get the money and the sons, lest he arouse great hostility among the people, who might say,

18: "Because Simon did not send him the money and the sons, he perished."

19: So he sent the sons and the hundred talents, but Trypho broke his word and did not release Jonathan.

20: After this Trypho came to invade the country and destroy it, and he circled around by the way to Adora. But Simon and his army kept marching along opposite him to every place he went.

21: Now the men in the citadel kept sending envoys to Trypho urging him to come to them by way of the wilderness and to send them food.

22: So Trypho got all his cavalry ready to go, but that night a very heavy snow fell, and he did not go because of the snow. He marched off and went into the land of Gilead.

23: When he approached Baskama, he killed Jonathan, and he was buried there.

24: Then Trypho turned back and departed to his own land.

25: And Simon sent and took the bones of Jonathan his brother, and buried him in Modein, the city of his fathers.

26: All Israel bewailed him with great lamentation, and mourned for him many days.

27: And Simon built a monument over the tomb of his father and his brothers; he made it high that it might be seen, with polished stone at the front and back.

28: He also erected seven pyramids, opposite one another, for his father and mother and four brothers.

29: And for the pyramids he devised an elaborate setting, erecting about them great columns, and upon the columns he put suits of armor for a permanent memorial, and beside the suits of armor carved ships, so that they could be seen by all who sail the sea.

30: This is the tomb which he built in Modein; it remains to this day.

31: Trypho dealt treacherously with the young king Antiochus; he killed him

32: and became king in his place, putting on the crown of Asia; and he brought great calamity upon the land.

33: But Simon built up the strongholds of Judea and walled them all around, with high towers and great walls and gates and bolts, and he stored food in the strongholds.

34: Simon also chose men and sent them to Demetrius the king with a request to grant relief to the country, for all that Trypho did was to plunder.

35: Demetrius the king sent him a favorable reply to this request, and wrote him a letter as follows,

36: "King Demetrius to Simon, the high priest and friend of kings, and to the elders and nation of the Jews, greeting.

37: We have received the gold crown and the palm branch which you sent, and we are ready to make a general peace with you and to write to our officials to grant you release from tribute.

38: All the grants that we have made to you remain valid, and let the strongholds that you have built be your possession.

39: We pardon any errors and offenses committed to this day, and cancel the crown tax which you owe; and whatever other tax has been collected in Jerusalem shall be collected no longer.

40: And if any of you are qualified to be enrolled in our bodyguard, let them be enrolled, and let there be peace between us."

41: In the one hundred and seventieth year the yoke of the Gentiles was removed from Israel,

42: and the people began to write in their documents and contracts, "In the first year of Simon the great high priest and commander and leader of the Jews."

43: In those days Simon encamped against Gazara and surrounded it with troops. He made a siege engine, brought it up to the city, and battered and captured one tower.

44: The men in the siege engine leaped out into the city, and a great tumult arose in the city.

45: The men in the city, with their wives and children, went up on the wall with their clothes rent, and they cried out with a loud voice, asking Simon to make peace with them;

46: they said, "Do not treat us according to our wicked acts but according to your mercy."

47: So Simon reached an agreement with them and stopped fighting against them. But he expelled them from the city and cleansed the houses in which the idols were, and then entered it with hymns and praise.

Happy Chanukah 5767

Shabbat & Eighth Day of Chanukah

Candle Lighting and Havdalah Times

San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Brisbane, Australia:

Friday, Dec. 22, 2006 – Candles at: 5:22 PM Friday, Dec. 22, 2006 – Candles at: 6:24 PM

Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 – Havdalah 6:19 PM Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 – Havdalah 7:23 PM

Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Singapore, Singapore

Friday Dec. 22, 2006 – Light Candles at 5:15 PM Friday, Dec. 22, 2006 – Candles at: 6:46 PM

Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 – Havdalah 6:14 PM Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006 – Havdalah 7:38 PM

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

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
בַּיּוֹם, הַשְּׁמִינִי
“BaYom HaSh’mini”	Reader 1 – B’midbar 7:54-59	Reader 1 – Vayikra 5:1-3
“On the eighth day”	Reader 2 – B’midbar 7:60-65	Reader 2 – Vayikra 5:4-6
“En el octavo día”	Reader 3 – B’midbar 7:66-71	Reader 3 – Vayikra 5:7-10
B’midbar (Numbers) 7:54 – 8:4	Reader 4 – B’midbar 7:72-77
Ashlamatah: I Kings 7:13-26	Reader 5 – B’midbar 7:78-83
	Reader 6 – B’midbar 7:84-89	Reader 1 – Vayikra 5:11-13
Psalm 74	Reader 7 – B’midbar 8:1-4	Reader 2 – Vayikra 5:14-16
	Maftir – B’midbar 8:1-4	Reader 3 – Vayikra 5:11-16
N.C.: Matityahu 25:1-13	I Kings 7:13-26

Roll of Honor:

This Torah commentary comes to you courtesy of His Honor Paqid Adon Hillel ben David and most beloved family, and that of Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah and beloved family, as well as that of His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann and beloved family and that of His Excellency Adon John Batchelor and beloved wife, and that of His Excellency Adon Ezra ben Abraham and his beloved wife Giberet Karmela bat Sarah. For their regular and sacrificial giving, providing the best oil for the lamps, we pray that G-d’s richest blessings be upon their lives and those of their loved ones, together with all Yisrael, amen ve amen! Also a great thank you to all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Seder.

If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never lose any of our commentaries, or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to ravybh@optusnet.com.au with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!

Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’midbar (Numbers) 7:54 – 8:4

On the eighth, Gamaliel bar Pedazur, prince of Menasheh; on the ninth, Abidan bar Gideoni, prince of Benjamin; on the tenth, Achiezer bar Amishaddai, prince of the Beni Dan; on the eleventh, Pagiel bar Achran, prince of Asher; and on the twelfth day, Achira bar Enan, prince of the Beni Naphtali, offered.

This is the oblation at the anointing of the altar, on the day that they anointed it, from the riches of the princes of Israel: twelve silver bowls, answering to the twelve tribes; twelve silver vases, answering to the twelve princes of the Bene Israel; twelve golden pans, answering to the twelve signs [of the zodiac]. One hundred and thirty shekels was the weight of each silver bowl, answering to the years of Jokebed when she bare Mosheh; and seventy shekels was the weight of each vase, answering to the seventy elders of the great Sanhedrin: all the silver vessels, two thousand four hundred shekels, in shekels of the sanctuary. The golden pans were twelve, answering to the princes of Israel, full of good sweet incense; the weight of ten shekels was the weight of each pan, answering to the Ten Words; all the gold of the pans, one hundred and and twenty (shekels), answering to the years lived by Mosheh the prophet. All the bullocks for the burnt offering, twelve, a bullock for a prince of the house of the fathers; twelve rams, because the twelve princes of Ishmael would perish; twelve lambs of the year, because the twelve princes of Persia would perish; and their minchas, that famine might be removed from the world; and twelve kids of the goats for the sin offering, to atone for the sins of the twelve tribes. And all the oxen for consecrated victims, twenty‑four, answering to the twenty‑four orders (of the priests); the rams, sixty, answering, to the sixty years which Izhak had lived when he begat Jakob; the goats, sixty, answering to the sixty letters in the benediction of the priests; lambs of the year, sixty, to atone for the sixty myriads of Israel. This was the dedication of the altar by anointment on the day that they anointed it.

And when Mosheh entered into the tabernacle of ordinance to speak with Him, he heard the voice of the Spirit who spoke with him descending from the heaven of heavens upon the Mercy Seat which was upon the Ark of the Testimony between the two Cherubim, and from thence was the Oracle speaking with him.

VIII. And the Lord spoke with Mosheh, saying: Speak with Aharon, and say to him: At the time when you do kindle the lamps upon the candelabrum, (all) the seven lamps will be alight; three on the western side, and three on the eastern side, and the seventh in the midst. And Aharon did so; at the face of the candelabrum he lit the lamps thereof, as the Lord commanded Mosheh. And this was the work of the candelabrum, which was of beaten gold, from its foundations unto its lilies, the work of the artificer, with the hammer was it wrought: according to the vision which the Lord had showed Mosheh, so did Bezalel make the candelabrum.

Ketubim Targum Psalm 74

1. A good lesson, composed by Asaph. Why, O God, have You moved far off forever? [Why] will your anger be fierce against the flock of your pasture?

2. Remember Your congregation that You acquired of old; You redeemed from Egypt the tribes of Your inheritance, this same Mount Zion on which You made Your presence to abide.

3. Lift up your footsteps to dissolve the nations forever, for the enemy with all his strength has done harm in the holy place.

4. Your oppressors cry out in the midst of Your assemblies; they have set up their standards as signs.

5. He will strike with a hammer like a man who lifts up his hand against a wood thicket to cut it with axes.

6. But now they pull down its carvings together; they pound with the hatchet and the two-edged chisel as if with mallets.

7. They have burned the sanctuary to the ground with fire; they have defiled the tabernacle in which Your name is uttered.

8. Their children spoke in their hearts together; their fathers burned all the assemblies of God in the land.

9. We have not seen our signs that the prophets gave us; there are no longer any prophets and we have none with us who knows how long.

10. How long, O God, will the oppressor show disdain? Will the enemy reject Your name forever?

11. Why will You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand, from redeeming? Take it out of Your bosom and do away with oppression.

12. But God is the king, whose holy presence is from of old, one who carries out redemption in the midst of the land.

13. You cut off the waters of the sea by Your power; You broke the heads of the sea serpents, and drowned the Egyptians at the sea.

14. You shattered the heads of Pharaoh’s warriors; You handed them over for destruction to the people of the house of Israel, and their corpses to jackals.

15. You split the spring from the rock and it became a stream; you dried up the ford of the streams of the Arnon and the ford of the Jabbok and the Jordan, which were so powerful.

16. Yours is the day-time, Yours, too, is the night; You have made firm the moon and sun.

17. You set up all the boundaries of the earth; summer and winter, You created them.

18. Remember this, the enemy, slanderer of the Lord, and the foolish people who have rejected Your name.

19. Do not deliver the souls of those who teach Your Torah to the Gentiles, who are likened to beasts of the field; do not forget the lives of Your poor forever.

20. Look at the covenant that You made with our fathers, for their children are finished off; darkness is spread over the land, and fraud, and violence.

21. The pauper will not return ashamed; the poor and lowly will praise Your name.

22. Arise, O God; argue Your case; call to mind the disgrace of Your people because of foolish counsel all the day.

23. Do not forget the voice of Your oppressors, the turmoil, always mounting, of those who stand against You.

Ketubim Midrash Psalm 74

I. Maschil of Asaph. O God, why have You cast us off for ever? Why does Your anger smoke against the flock of Your pasture? Remember Your congregation which You did make Your own of old (Ps. 74:1-2). Elsewhere, this is what Scripture says: Remember me, and think of me, and avenge me of my persecutors; take me not away in Your long-suffering (Jer. 15:15). You are long-suffering, as is said “You, O Lord, are

long-suffering” (Ps. 86:15), while we that are born of woman are short of patience, as is said “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of anger” (Job 14:1). But if You let us suffer too long, nothing will be left of us, and we will die.

So, too, Asaph said, O God, why have You cast us off for ever? And he continued, “Why does the smoke of Your anger rise up even now about Your presence?” Why does Your anger smoke against the flock of Your pasture? That is, “Why do You hide Your face from me like a man that hides his face from the smoke?” And again Asaph asked: How long will You smoke against the prayer of Your people (Ps. 80:5), Your people, that is, the sheep of Your pasture whom You have forgotten?

Remember Your congregation, which You did make Your own of old (Ps. 74:2). What does the phrase of old prove? That before the world was created, the Holy One, blessed be He, had made the children of Israel His own, as is said Lord, You have been our dwelling-place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, for ever You have formed the earth and the world (Ps. 90:1—2).

II. Restore Your times which have long been desolate, ever since the enemy wrought destruction in the sanctuary (Ps. 74:3). Restore Your times, the times of those pilgrimages which You did command of us, saying: “Three times in a year will all your males appear before the Lord your God in the place which He will choose” (Deut. 16:16). Behold now how Your three times have been made desolate!

Your adversaries made a roaring noise in the midst of Your Temple (Ps. 74:4). R. Joshua ben Levi quoted: A voice of noise from the city, a voice from the Temple (Isa. 66:6) – that is, the destroyed Temple lifted its voice in menace of Your adversaries. And what was its menace? Hear the voice of the Lord that renders recompense to His enemies (ibid.).

They read the signs of their divinations (Ps. 74:4) and declared, “On such and such a day, we shall conquer Jerusalem!” They read signs in the flight of arrows, for when they shot an arrow to the north, it flew to the south [toward Jerusalem], as is said For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, to use divination: he shot his arrows, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver (Ezek. 2I:26). And every divination they tried augured that they would prosper. Hence it is said They read the signs of their divinations.

Nevertheless, the enemies felt no gratitude toward God, for they said, Our high hand, and not the Lord, has done all this (Deut. 32:27). Indeed, could they have broken into the heavens and risen against God on high, they would have done so. As the Psalm says, It seemed as if they were wielding axes at the top of a thicket of trees (Ps. 74:5)—that is, as though they were breaking a way to the very top of heaven. Indeed, this was not the end of it. For they acted in just the way their ancestors had acted, who said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name (Gen. 11:4)—that is, make us an idol. Name has this same sense in “And make no mention of the name of other gods” (Ex. 23:13), and also in “Then began men to call themselves by the name of the Lord” (Gen. 4:26). Thus act the wicked who “imagine a mischievous device which they are not able to perform” (Ps. 21:12). And so the generation of confusion set a precedent for them. And mark what they did! As the Psalm says, Now they break down the carved work thereof with hatchet and hammers (Ps. 74:6). They sought to break a way to heaven and could not; therefore, they made war against You on earth.

III. They have cast fire into Your sanctuary, they have defiled the dwelling place of Your name on earth (Ps. 74:7). Your dwelling place is in heaven, and Your dwelling place is also on earth. But because the enemies could not use their power against Your dwelling place in heaven, they used it against Your dwelling place on earth.

In Their descendants all together, said—(Ps. 74:8), whose descendants are meant? The descendants of the generation of confusion, all of whom together were following the design of their ancestors. And what did they say? They said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance (Ps. 83:5). How is their God called? Is He not called the God of Israel? Therefore, if we root up Israel, the name of the God of Israel will be no more in remembrance.

They have burned up all the meeting-places of God on earth (Ps. 74:8), that is, burned up the places where God met the children of Israel for prayer that they might hallow His name and proclaim Him Sovereign over them.

In We see not our signs; there is no more any prophet (Ps. 74:9), the reference is to that sign which You have promised in the verse, “Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the uttermost parts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and her that travails with child together” (Jer. 31:7), and the reference is also to that sign of which it is written “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger of good tidings that says unto Zion: ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isa. 52:7). The sense of There is no more any prophet (Ps. 74:9) is like the sense of “The days are prolonged, and every vision fails” (Ezek. 12:22). Neither is there among us any that knows how long (Ps. 74:9); this has the same sense as “For these things I weep ... the comforter is far from me” (Lam. 1:16): we have no prophet who knows anything at all that can restore our spirits, for everything is shut up before us, as is said Shut up the words, and seal the book (Dan. 12:4). Hence, if You will not act for our sake, act for the sake of Your great name which is reproached and blasphemed in the world, as it is said O God, how long will the adversary reproach? Will the enemy blaspheme Your name for ever? (Ps. 74:10).

Ashlamatah: I Kings 7:13-26

1Ki 7:13 And King Solomon sent and brought Hiram out of Tyre.

1Ki 7:14 He was the son of a widow woman of the tribe of Naphtali, and his father a man of Tyre, an engraver in bronze. And he was filled with the wisdom and understanding and knowledge to do all work in bronze. And he came to King Solomon and did all his work.

1Ki 7:15 And he formed the two pillars of bronze; eighteen cubits was the height of the one pillar, and a line of twelve cubits went around the second pillar.

1Ki 7:16 And he made two capitals to put on the tops of the pillars, cast in bronze; five cubits was the height of the one capital, and five cubits the height of the second capital.

1Ki 7:17 He made gratings of network with twisted threads of chain-work, for the capitals on the top of the pillars; seven for the one capital, and seven for the other capital.

1Ki 7:18 And he made the pillars. And two rows were all around on the one grating, to cover the capitals on the top with the pomegranates. And so he did for the other capital.

1Ki 7:19 And the capitals on the top of the pillars in the porch were lily-work, four cubits.

1Ki 7:20 And the capitals were on the two pillars, also above, over against the belly which was by the grating; and the pomegranates were two hundred in rows all around on the other capital.

1Ki 7:21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple. And he set up the right pillar and called its name Jachin. And he set up the left pillar, and called its name of Boaz.

Midrash of Matityahu (Matthew) 25:1-13

1. ¶ Then the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgin [brides] who having taken their oil-fed-lamps, went out to meet the bridegroom.
2. Five of them were foolish (void of correct understanding) and five were wise (intelligent, and prudent).
3. For when the foolish having taken their oil-fed-lamps, did not take any olive-oil with them;
4. But the wise took pitchers of olive-oil along with them with their oil-fed-lamps.
5. While the bridegroom lingered and was slow in coming, they all began nodding their heads, and they fell asleep.
6. But at midnight there was a shout, “Look, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!”
7. Then all those virgin [brides] arose and trimmed their own oil-fed-lamps.
8. And the foolish said to the wise, “Give us some of your olive-oil, for our oil-fed-lamps have gone out.”
9. But the wise replied saying, “Rather, go to those who sell [olive-oil] and buy [it] for yourselves, because there is not enough for [both] us and you.”
10. While the foolish ones were off buying [olive-oil], the bridegroom came, and those [who were] prepared went in with him to the wedding; and the door was locked.
11. Later the remaining virgin [brides] also came saying, “Master, Master, open [the door] for us!
12. Then, replying, he said, “Amen, I declare to you, I do not know you [or: I can not see you].”
13. Therefore be alert [give strict attention and be cautious and active], for neither can you see the day nor the hour when the Son of Man will come.

Yehudit (Judith) 15:1 – 16:25

15:1: When the men in the tents heard it, they were amazed at what had happened.

2: Fear and trembling came over them, so that they did not wait for one another, but with one impulse all rushed out and fled by every path across the plain and through the hill country.

3: Those who had camped in the hills around Bethulia also took to flight. Then the men of Israel, every one that was a soldier, rushed out upon them.

4: And Uzziah sent men to Betomasthaim and Bebai and Choba and Kola, and to all the frontiers of Israel, to tell what had taken place and to urge all to rush out upon their enemies to destroy them.

5: And when the Israelites heard it, with one accord they fell upon the enemy, and cut them down as far as Choba. Those in Jerusalem and all the hill country also came, for they were told what had happened in the camp of the enemy; and those in Gilead and in Galilee outflanked them with great slaughter, even beyond Damascus and its borders.

6: The rest of the people of Bethulia fell upon the Assyrian camp and plundered it, and were greatly enriched.

7: And the Israelites, when they returned from the slaughter, took possession of what remained, and the villages and towns in the hill country and in the plain got a great amount of booty, for there was a vast quantity of it.

8: Then Joakim the high priest, and the senate of the people of Israel who lived at Jerusalem, came to witness the good things which the Lord had done for Israel, and to see Judith and to greet her.

9: And when they met her they all blessed her with one accord and said to her, "You are the exaltation of Jerusalem, you are the great glory of Israel, you are the great pride of our nation!

10: You have done all this singlehanded; you have done great good to Israel, and God is well pleased with it. May the Almighty Lord bless you for ever!" And all the people said, "So be it!"

11: So all the people plundered the camp for thirty days. They gave Judith the tent of Holofernes and all his silver dishes and his beds and his bowls and all his furniture; and she took them and loaded her mule and hitched up her carts and piled the things on them.

12: Then all the women of Israel gathered to see her, and blessed her, and some of them performed a dance for her; and she took branches in her hands and gave them to the women who were with her;

13: and they crowned themselves with olive wreaths, she and those who were with her; and she went before all the people in the dance, leading all the women, while all the men of Israel followed, bearing their arms and wearing garlands and with songs on their lips.

16: 1: Then Judith began this thanksgiving before all Israel, and all the people loudly sang this song of praise.

2: And Judith said, Begin a song to my God with tambourines, sing to my Lord with cymbals. Raise to him a new psalm; exalt him, and call upon his name.

3: For God is the Lord who crushes wars; for he has delivered me out of the hands of my pursuers, and brought me to his camp, in the midst of the people.

4: The Assyrian came down from the mountains of the north; he came with myriads of his warriors; their multitude blocked up the valleys, their cavalry covered the hills.

5: He boasted that he would burn up my territory, and kill my young men with the sword, and dash my infants to the ground and seize my children as prey, and take my virgins as booty.

6: But the Lord Almighty has foiled them by the hand of a woman.

7: For their mighty one did not fall by the hands of the young men, nor did the sons of the Titans smite him, nor did tall giants set upon him; but Judith the daughter of Merari undid him with the beauty of her countenance.

8: For she took off her widow's mourning to exalt the oppressed in Israel. She anointed her face with ointment and fastened her hair with a tiara and put on a linen gown to deceive him.

9: Her sandal ravished his eyes, her beauty captivated his mind, and the sword severed his neck.

10: The Persians trembled at her boldness, the Medes were daunted at her daring.

11: Then my oppressed people shouted for joy; my weak people shouted and the enemy trembled; they lifted up their voices, and the enemy were turned back.

12: The sons of maidservants have pierced them through; they were wounded like the children of fugitives, they perished before the army of my Lord.

13: I will sing to my God a new song: O Lord, thou are great and glorious, wonderful in strength, invincible.

14: Let all thy creatures serve thee, for thou didst speak, and they were made. Thou didst send forth thy Spirit, and it formed them; there is none that can resist thy voice.

15: For the mountains shall be shaken to their foundations with the waters; at thy presence the rocks shall melt like wax, but to those who fear thee thou wilt continue to show mercy.

16: For every sacrifice as a fragrant offering is a small thing, and all fat for burnt offerings to thee is a very little thing, but he who fears the Lord shall be great for ever.

17: Woe to the nations that rise up against my people! The Lord Almighty will take vengeance on them in the day of judgment; fire and worms he will give to their flesh; they shall weep in pain for ever.

18: When they arrived at Jerusalem they worshiped God. As soon as the people were purified, they offered their burnt offerings, their freewill offerings, and their gifts.

19: Judith also dedicated to God all the vessels of Holofernes, which the people had given her; and the canopy which she took for herself from his bedchamber she gave as a votive offering to the Lord.

20: So the people continued feasting in Jerusalem before the sanctuary for three months, and Judith remained with them.

21: After this every one returned home to his own inheritance, and Judith went to Bethulia, and remained on her estate, and was honored in her time throughout the whole country.

22: Many desired to marry her, but she remained a widow all the days of her life after Manasseh her husband died and was gathered to his people.

23: She became more and more famous, and grew old in her husband's house, until she was one hundred and five years old. She set her maid free. She died in Bethulia, and they buried her in the cave of her husband Manasseh,

24: and the house of Israel mourned for her seven days. Before she died she distributed her property to all those who were next of kin to her husband Manasseh, and to her own nearest kindred.

25: And no one ever again spread terror among the people of Israel in the days of Judith, or for a long time after her death.

1 Maccab. 13:48 – 16:24

13:48: He cast out of it all uncleanness, and settled in it men who observed the law. He also strengthened its fortifications and built in it a house for himself.

49: The men in the citadel at Jerusalem were prevented from going out to the country and back to buy and sell. So they were very hungry, and many of them perished from famine.

50: Then they cried to Simon to make peace with them, and he did so. But he expelled them from there and cleansed the citadel from its pollutions.

51: On the twenty-third day of the second month, in the one hundred and seventy-first year, the Jews entered it with praise and palm branches, and with harps and cymbals and stringed instruments, and with hymns and songs, because a great enemy had been crushed and removed from Israel.

52: And Simon decreed that every year they should celebrate this day with rejoicing. He strengthened the fortifications of the temple hill alongside the citadel, and he and his men dwelt there.

53: And Simon saw that John his son had reached manhood, so he made him commander of all the forces, and he dwelt in Gazara.

14:1: In the one hundred and seventy-second year Demetrius the king assembled his forces and marched into Media to secure help, so that he could make war against Trypho.

2: When Arsaces the king of Persia and Media heard that Demetrius had invaded his territory, he sent one of his commanders to take him alive.

3: And he went and defeated the army of Demetrius, and seized him and took him to Arsaces, who put him under guard.

4: The land had rest all the days of Simon. He sought the good of his nation; his rule was pleasing to them, as was the honor shown him, all his days.

5: To crown all his honors he took Joppa for a harbor, and opened a way to the isles of the sea.

6: He extended the borders of his nation, and gained full control of the country.

7: He gathered a host of captives; he ruled over Gazara and Beth-zur and the citadel, and he removed its uncleanness from it; and there was none to oppose him.

8: They tilled their land in peace; the ground gave its increase, and the trees of the plains their fruit.

9: Old men sat in the streets; they all talked together of good things; and the youths donned the glories and garments of war.

10: He supplied the cities with food, and furnished them with the means of defense, till his renown spread to the ends of the earth.

11: He established peace in the land, and Israel rejoiced with great joy.

12: Each man sat under his vine and his fig tree, and there was none to make them afraid.

13: No one was left in the land to fight them, and the kings were crushed in those days.

14: He strengthened all the humble of his people; he sought out the law, and did away with every lawless and wicked man.

15: He made the sanctuary glorious, and added to the vessels of the sanctuary.

16: It was heard in Rome, and as far away as Sparta, that Jonathan had died, and they were deeply grieved.

17: When they heard that Simon his brother had become high priest in his place, and that he was ruling over the country and the cities in it,

18: they wrote to him on bronze tablets to renew with him the friendship and alliance which they had established with Judas and Jonathan his brothers.

19: And these were read before the assembly in Jerusalem.

20: This is a copy of the letter which the Spartans sent: "The rulers and the city of the Spartans to Simon the high priest and to the elders and the priests and the rest of the Jewish people, our brethren, greeting.

21: The envoys who were sent to our people have told us about your glory and honor, and we rejoiced at their coming.

22: And what they said we have recorded in our public decrees, as follows, `Numenius the son of Antiochus and Antipater the son of Jason, envoys of the Jews, have come to us to renew their friendship with us.

23: It has pleased our people to receive these men with honor and to put a copy of their words in the public archives, so that the people of the Spartans may have a record of them. And they have sent a copy of this to Simon the high priest.'"

24: After this Simon sent Numenius to Rome with a large gold shield weighing a thousand minas, to confirm the alliance with the Romans.

25: When the people heard these things they said, "How shall we thank Simon and his sons?

26: For he and his brothers and the house of his father have stood firm; they have fought and repulsed Israel's enemies and established its freedom."

27: So they made a record on bronze tablets and put it upon pillars on Mount Zion. This is a copy of what they wrote: "On the eighteenth day of Elul, in the one hundred and seventy-second year, which is the third year of Simon the great high priest,

28: in Asaramel, in the great assembly of the priests and the people and the rulers of the nation and the elders of the country, the following was proclaimed to us:

29: "Since wars often occurred in the country, Simon the son of Mattathias, a priest of the sons of Joarib, and his brothers, exposed themselves to danger and resisted the enemies of their nation, in order that their sanctuary and the law might be perserved; and they brought great glory to their nation.

30: Jonathan rallied the nation, and became their high priest, and was gathered to his people.

31: And when their enemies decided to invade their country and lay hands on their sanctuary,

32: then Simon rose up and fought for his nation. He spent great sums of his own money; he armed the men of his nation's forces and paid them wages.

33: He fortified the cities of Judea, and Beth-zur on the borders of Judea, where formerly the arms of the enemy had been stored, and he placed there a garrison of Jews.

34: He also fortified Joppa, which is by the sea, and Gazara, which is on the borders of Azotus, where the enemy formerly dwelt. He settled Jews there, and provided in those cities whatever was necessary for their restoration.

35: "The people saw Simon's faithfulness and the glory which he had resolved to win for his nation, and they made him their leader and high priest, because he had done all these things and because of the justice and loyalty which he had maintained toward his nation. He sought in every way to exalt his people.

36: And in his days things prospered in his hands, so that the Gentiles were put out of the country, as were also the men in the city of David in Jerusalem, who had built themselves a citadel from which they used to sally forth and defile the environs of the sanctuary and do great damage to its purity.

37: He settled Jews in it, and fortified it for the safety of the country and of the city, and built the walls of Jerusalem higher.

38: "In view of these things King Demetrius confirmed him in the high priesthood,

39: and he made him one of the king's friends and paid him high honors.

40: For he had heard that the Jews were addressed by the Romans as friends and allies and brethren, and that the Romans had received the envoys of Simon with honor.

41: "And the Jews and their priests decided that Simon should be their leader and high priest for ever, until a trustworthy prophet should arise,

42: and that he should be governor over them and that he should take charge of the sanctuary and appoint men over its tasks and over the country and the weapons and the strongholds, and that he should take charge of the sanctuary,

43: and that he should be obeyed by all, and that all contracts in the country should be written in his name, and that he should be clothed in purple and wear gold.

44: "And none of the people or priests shall be permitted to nullify any of these decisions or to oppose what he says, or to convene an assembly in the country without his permission, or to be clothed in purple or put on a gold buckle.

45: Whoever acts contrary to these decisions or nullifies any of them shall be liable to punishment."

46: And all the people agreed to grant Simon the right to act in accord with these decisions.

47: So Simon accepted and agreed to be high priest, to be commander and ethnarch of the Jews and priests, and to be protector of them all.

48: And they gave orders to inscribe this decree upon bronze tablets, to put them up in a conspicuous place in the precincts of the sanctuary,

49: and to deposit copies of them in the treasury, so that Simon and his sons might have them.

15:1: Antiochus, the son of Demetrius the king, sent a letter from the islands of the sea to Simon, the priest and ethnarch of the Jews, and to all the nation;

2: its contents were as follows: "King Antiochus to Simon the high priest and ethnarch and to the nation of the Jews, greeting.

3: Whereas certain pestilent men have gained control of the kingdom of our fathers, and I intend to lay claim to the kingdom so that I may restore it as it formerly was, and have recruited a host of mercenary troops and have equipped warships,

4: and intend to make a landing in the country so that I may proceed against those who have destroyed our country and those who have devastated many cities in my kingdom,

5: now therefore I confirm to you all the tax remissions that the kings before me have granted you, and release from all the other payments from which they have released you.

6: I permit you to mint your own coinage as money for your country,

7: and I grant freedom to Jerusalem and the sanctuary. All the weapons which you have prepared and the strongholds which you have built and now hold shall remain yours.

8: Every debt you owe to the royal treasury and any such future debts shall be canceled for you from henceforth and for all time.

9: When we gain control of our kingdom, we will bestow great honor upon you and your nation and the temple, so that your glory will become manifest in all the earth."

10: In the one hundred and seventy-fourth year Antiochus set out and invaded the land of his fathers. All the troops rallied to him, so that there were few with Trypho.

11: Antiochus pursued him, and he came in his flight to Dor, which is by the sea;

12: for he knew that troubles had converged upon him, and his troops had deserted him.

13: So Antiochus encamped against Dor, and with him were a hundred and twenty thousand warriors and eight thousand cavalry.

14: He surrounded the city, and the ships joined battle from the sea; he pressed the city hard from land and sea, and permitted no one to leave or enter it.

15: Then Numenius and his companions arrived from Rome, with letters to the kings and countries, in which the following was written:

16: "Lucius, consul of the Romans, to King Ptolemy, greeting.

17: The envoys of the Jews have come to us as our friends and allies to renew our ancient friendship and alliance. They had been sent by Simon the high priest and by the people of the Jews,

18: and have brought a gold shield weighing a thousand minas.

19: We therefore have decided to write to the kings and countries that they should not seek their harm or make war against them and their cities and their country, or make alliance with those who war against them.

20: And it has seemed good to us to accept the shield from them.

21: Therefore if any pestilent men have fled to you from their country, hand them over to Simon the high priest, that he may punish them according to their law."

22: The consul wrote the same thing to Demetrius the king and to Attalus and Ariarathes and Arsaces,

23: and to all the countries, and to Sampsames, and to the Spartans, and to Delos, and to Myndos, and to Sicyon, and to Caria, and to Samos, and to Pamphylia, and to Lycia, and to Halicarnassus, and to Rhodes, and to Phaselis, and to Cos, and to Side, and to Aradus and Gortyna and Cnidus and Cyprus and Cyrene.

24: They also sent a copy of these things to Simon the high priest.

25: Antiochus the king besieged Dor anew, continually throwing his forces against it and making engines of war; and he shut Trypho up and kept him from going out or in.

26: And Simon sent to Antiochus two thousand picked men, to fight for him, and silver and gold and much military equipment.

27: But he refused to receive them, and he broke all the agreements he formerly had made with Simon, and became estranged from him.

28: He sent to him Athenobius, one of his friends, to confer with him, saying, "You hold control of Joppa and Gazara and the citadel in Jerusalem; they are cities of my kingdom.

29: You have devastated their territory, you have done great damage in the land, and you have taken possession of many places in my kingdom.

30: Now then, hand over the cities which you have seized and the tribute money of the places which you have conquered outside the borders of Judea;

31: or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver, and for the destruction that you have caused and the tribute money of the cities, five hundred talents more. Otherwise we will come and conquer you."

32: So Athenobius the friend of the king came to Jerusalem, and when he saw the splendor of Simon, and the sideboard with its gold and silver plate, and his great magnificence, he was amazed. He reported to him the words of the king,

33: but Simon gave him this reply: "We have neither taken foreign land nor seized foreign property, but only the inheritance of our fathers, which at one time had been unjustly taken by our enemies.

34: Now that we have the opportunity, we are firmly holding the inheritance of our fathers.

35: As for Joppa and Gazara, which you demand, they were causing great damage among the people and to our land; for them we will give you a hundred talents." Athenobius did not answer him a word,

36: but returned in wrath to the king and reported to him these words and the splendor of Simon and all that he had seen. And the king was greatly angered.

37: Now Trypho embarked on a ship and escaped to Orthosia.

38: Then the king made Cendebeus commander-in-chief of the coastal country, and gave him troops of infantry and cavalry.

39: He commanded him to encamp against Judea, and commanded him to build up Kedron and fortify its gates, and to make war on the people; but the king pursued Trypho.

40: So Cendebeus came to Jamnia and began to provoke the people and invade Judea and take the people captive and kill them.

41: He built up Kedron and stationed there horsemen and troops, so that they might go out and make raids along the highways of Judea, as the king had ordered him.

16:1: John went up from Gazara and reported to Simon his father what Cendebeus had done.

2: And Simon called in his two older sons Judas and John, and said to them: "I and my brothers and the house of my father have fought the wars of Israel from our youth until this day, and things have prospered in our hands so that we have delivered Israel many times.

3: But now I have grown old, and you by His mercy are mature in years. Take my place and my brother's, and go out and fight for our nation, and may the help which comes from Heaven be with you."

4: So John chose out of the country twenty thousand warriors and horsemen, and they marched against Cendebeus and camped for the night in Modein.

5: Early in the morning they arose and marched into the plain, and behold, a large force of infantry and horsemen was coming to meet them; and a stream lay between them.

6: Then he and his army lined up against them. And he saw that the soldiers were afraid to cross the stream, so he crossed over first; and when his men saw him, they crossed over after him.

7: Then he divided the army and placed the horsemen in the midst of the infantry, for the cavalry of the enemy were very numerous.

8: And they sounded the trumpets, and Cendebeus and his army were put to flight, and many of them were wounded and fell; the rest fled into the stronghold.

9: At that time Judas the brother of John was wounded, but John pursued them until Cendebeus reached Kedron, which he had built.

10: They also fled into the towers that were in the fields of Azotus, and John burned it with fire, and about two thousand of them fell. And he returned to Judea safely.

11: Now Ptolemy the son of Abubus had been appointed governor over the plain of Jericho, and he had much silver and gold,

12: for he was son-in-law of the high priest.

13: His heart was lifted up; he determined to get control of the country, and made treacherous plans against Simon and his sons, to do away with them.

14: Now Simon was visiting the cities of the country and attending to their needs, and he went down to Jericho with Mattathias and Judas his sons, in the one hundred and seventy-seventh year, in the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat.

15: The son of Abubus received them treacherously in the little stronghold called Dok, which he had built; he gave them a great banquet, and hid men there.

16: When Simon and his sons were drunk, Ptolemy and his men rose up, took their weapons, and rushed in against Simon in the banquet hall, and they killed him and his two sons and some of his servants.

17: So he committed an act of great treachery and returned evil for good.

18: Then Ptolemy wrote a report about these things and sent it to the king, asking him to send troops to aid him and to turn over to him the cities and the country.

19: He sent other men to Gazara to do away with John; he sent letters to the captains asking them to come to him so that he might give them silver and gold and gifts;

20: and he sent other men to take possession of Jerusalem and the temple hill.

21: But some one ran ahead and reported to John at Gazara that his father and brothers had perished, and that "he has sent men to kill you also."

22: When he heard this, he was greatly shocked; and he seized the men who came to destroy him and killed them, for he had found out that they were seeking to destroy him.

23: The rest of the acts of John and his wars and the brave deeds which he did, and the building of the walls which he built, and his achievements,

24: behold, they are written in the chronicles of his high priesthood, from the time that he became high priest after his father.

II Maccabees 10:1-9

1: Now Maccabeus and his followers, the Lord leading them on, recovered the temple and the city;

2: and they tore down the altars which had been built in the public square by the foreigners, and also destroyed the sacred precincts.

3: They purified the sanctuary, and made another altar of sacrifice; then, striking fire out of flint, they offered sacrifices, after a lapse of two years, and they burned incense and lighted lamps and set out the bread of the Presence.

4: And when they had done this, they fell prostrate and besought the Lord that they might never again fall into such misfortunes, but that, if they should ever sin, they might be disciplined by him with forbearance and not be handed over to blasphemous and barbarous nations.

5: It happened that on the same day on which the sanctuary had been profaned by the foreigners, the purification of the sanctuary took place, that is, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, which was Chislev.

6: And they celebrated it for eight days with rejoicing, in the manner of the feast of booths, remembering how not long before, during the feast of booths, they had been wandering in the mountains and caves like wild animals.

7: Therefore bearing ivy-wreathed wands and beautiful branches and also fronds of palm, they offered hymns of thanksgiving to him who had given success to the purifying of his own holy place.

8: They decreed by public ordinance and vote that the whole nation of the Jews should observe these days every year.

9: Such then was the end of Antiochus, who was called Epiphanes.

The Rabbi’s Private Prophetic Study

Last Shabbat, the first day of Chanukah, we started by examining the words of the wise Messiah King Solomon, who taught:

“5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forsake and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you. 7 Wisdom is the main thing; get wisdom, and with all your getting, get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she will lift you up; she shall bring you to honor when you embrace her. 9 She shall give a wreath of grace to your head; she shall shield you with a crown of glory.” (Proverbs 4:5-9)

And yet, in another place he taught:

“13 Wisdom is found in the lips of him who has understanding, but a rod is waiting for the back of him who lacks understanding. 14 The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.” (Proverbs 10:13-14)

This Shabbat we want to concentrate on the “olive-oil,” since this festival celebrates amongst other things the great miracle that occurred when the Temple was cleansed by Maccabeus and his followers, and the found only one cruise of “consecrated oil” enough to last one day, but by divine intervention it lasted eight days. What is the symbol of this oil?

In the reading of the Midrash of Matityahu for this Shabbat (25:1-13) we find one of those parables of the Master, replete of wisdom for these and future days, but particularly this Sabbath, the last day of Chanukah. As you know it is the 8^th day, and as such the number eight is associated with covenanting, for it is on the 8^th day that a Jewish male child enters the covenant according to the rites and laws of Moses and of Israel. So, too in a way, on this the 8^th day of Chanukah we are called to enter or renew the primeval covenant of light that was between G-d and Adam before he sinned.

Before Adam sinned he was in constant communion with the “Tree of Life” – The Torah. From it he gained ten characteristics headed by the first three ones:

I. Wisdom (Hokhmah),

II. Understanding (Binah), and

III. Knowledge (Da’at);

and corresponding with the first three words of the Decalogue (10 words):

I. “I am Ha-Shem your G-d, Who has brought you out from the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage,

II. You will not have any other gods before Me, you will not make a graven image for yourself, or any likeness in the heavens above, or in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth, you will not bow to them, and you will not serve them; for I am Ha-Shem your G-d, a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity of fathers on sons, on the third and on the fourth generation, to those that hate Me, and doing kindness to thousands, to those loving Me, and to those keeping My commandments., and

III. You will not take the name (authority) of Ha-Shem your G-d in vain; for Ha-Shem will not leave unpunished the one who takes His name (authority) in vain.

So, what is real and genuine knowledge, we may ask? The answer is simply, reverence of G-d, respect for His authority and name amongst His people Israel, and to know how to properly use it, and be sorely afraid of its misuse (i.e. 3^rd Word of the Decalogue) – This is true and genuine knowledge!

Similarly, true and genuine understanding is gained by the observance of G-d’s commandments and fleeing as much as possible from all taint of idolatry, false ideas and theoretical principles, and any pseudo-science/theology (i.e. 2^nd Word of the Decalogue) that are contrary to the teachings of the Master of Nazareth and the teachings of our Sages of Israel.

And finally, true and genuine wisdom is attained by bringing lawfully and in shalom all things and beings under the authority and in unity with Ha-Shem our G-d (i.e. First Word of the Decalogue), as is stated:

“10 He that came down is the same who also went up above all the heavens, that he might fill all things. 11 And indeed he gave some to be apostles (Hebrew: “Shaliach Bet Din/Tsibbur” – “angel of the court/congregation”); and some prophets (Hebrew: Magid/Darshan – (preacher/expounder); and some evangelists (Mosorettes – Catechists) ; and some pastors (Hebrew: Parnassim/Shamashim – social workers/deacons) and teachers (Elder/school teacher); 12 with a view to the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the building up of the body of Messiah (i.e. Israel), 13 until we all may come to the unity of the faithful obedience (Hebrew: Emunah) and of the full knowledge of the Son of God (the King of Israel the Messiah), to a full-grown man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Messiah, (Ephesians 4:10-13). For more information, see: http://www.betemunah.org/synagog.html

Now, we can better understand the words of Messiah King Solomon:

“5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forsake and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you. 7 Wisdom is the main thing; get wisdom, and with all your getting, get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she will lift you up; she shall bring you to honor when you embrace her. 9 She shall give a wreath of grace to your head; she shall shield you with a crown of glory.” (Proverbs 4:5-9)

Light, as we said, is a universal symbol of attainment of knowledge, or education (Hebrew Chinukh – the root from where the Hebrew word Chanukah comes), and an olive-oil-fed lamp or candelabrum is according to the Scriptures the emblem of the Torah as it is written: “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Therefore, “olive oil” is the emblem of attainment of understanding of G-d’s Word/Torah..

This is explained in the parable from Matityahu for this Shabbat where the ten brides are divided into two groups, one having wisdom [Hokhmah] and the other foolish [lacking Understanding- Binah]. The wise brides had bought “understanding” ahead of time, but the foolish ones went to purchase it when it was too late to do so. Thus Scripture teaches: “Buy the truth, and sell it not, also wisdom, and instruction and understanding” (Proverbs 23:23).

This Shabbat, we need to pause and as we look at the 8^th candle of the Chanukiah, as ourselves, how much truth, instruction, understanding and wisdom have each one of us bought? Have we acquired enough so that we might not find ourselves with the door locked and a voice saying “Amen, I declare to you, I do not know you [or: I can not see you]”? The answer to these question are very serious indeed, for on them or what we do with them depends much happiness and blessing or much curse and sadness, for us, our children and our children’s children, as it is said: “for I Ha-Shem your G-d am a jealous G-d, visiting the iniquity/lawlessness of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; and showing mercy unto the thousandth generation of them that love Me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6).

Faith in G-d is not just mere trust for the Hebrew word EMUNAH means faithful obedience to G-d’s will as expressed in the Written and Oral Torah. And so it is written “But without faithful obedience it is impossible to please God” (Bereans/Hebrews 11:6). We do really need to place this call of Mesiah King Solomon as the first priority in our life and those of our loved ones:

“5 Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forsake and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you; love her, and she will keep you. 7 Wisdom is the main thing; get wisdom, and with all your getting, get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she will lift you up; she shall bring you to honor when you embrace her. 9 She shall give a wreath of grace to your head; she shall shield you with a crown of glory.” (Proverbs 4:5-9)

Or as Hakham Shaul puts it:

“And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind [through serious Torah study], in order to prove by you what is the good and pleasing and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:2)

May Ha-Shem, be merciful to us and to all Israel and place in us a heart and mind that earnestly thirsts and desires a good understanding of G-d’s Word, so that we through our many good deeds can show the World, His will and His mercy, amen ve amen!

Shalom Shabbat ve Chanukah Sameach!

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai