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Esnoga Bet Emunah 6970 Axis St. SE Lacey, WA 98513 United States of America © 2020 E-Mail: gkilli@aol.com |
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Esnoga Bet El 102 Broken Arrow Dr. Paris TN 38242 United States of America © 2020 E-Mail: waltoakley@charter.net |
Triennial Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)
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Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings |
Second Year of the Triennial Reading Cycle |
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Kislev 25, 5781 – Tevet 02, 5781 Evening Thursday December 10, 2020 – Evening Monday December 30, 2020 |
Fifth Year of the Shmita Cycle |
Chag Chanuka Sameach!
We take this opportunity to wish you and your loved ones a very happy Chag Chanuka – a festival of freedom and of consecration/education to/for the work of G-d. And even if we do not finish the task before us, still we should do our very best in this life to radiate it with the constructive light of the Torah. For as the Psalmist wrote: “in Your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:10).
Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:
see: https://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm
Roll of Honor:
His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David and beloved wife HH Giberet Batsheva bat Sarah
His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah
His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham
His Honor Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Karmela bat Sarah,
His Honor Paqid Adon Yoel ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Rivka bat Dorit
His Honor Paqid Adon Tsuriel ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Gibora bat Sarah
Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family
His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family
His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife
Her Excellency Giberet Leah bat Sarah & beloved mother
Her Excellency Giberet Zahavah bat Sarah & beloved family
His Excellency Adon Yehoshua ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Rut bat Sarah
His Excellency Adon Michael ben Yosef and beloved wife HE Giberet Sheba bat Sarah
Her Excellency Giberet Prof. Dr. Emunah bat Sarah & beloved family
His Excellency Adon Robert Dick & beloved wife HE Giberet Cobena Dick
Her Excellency Giberet Jacquelyn Bennett
His Excellency Adon Aviner ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Chagit bat Sarah
His Excellency Adon Ovadya ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Mirit bat Sarah
His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill
For their regular and sacrificial giving, providing the best oil for the lamps, we pray that GOD’s richest blessings be upon their lives and those of their loved ones, together with all Yisrael and her Torah Scholars, amen ve amen!
Also a great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and allied topics. If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never lose any of our commentaries, or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to benhaggai@GMail.com with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!
This Seder is dedicated to our beloved Hakham His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai. We pray for our beloved Hakham His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai. Mi Sheberach…He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal the sick person HE Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for him to restore his health, to heal him, to strengthen him, and to revivify him. And may He send him speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit, swiftly and soon, and we will say amen ve amen!
Halakhot and Minhagim for Sefardim
Chanuka means dedication. It is also an acronym for Heth Neroth VeHalakha KeBeth Hillel (eight candles and the law according to the House of Hillel). This refers to the famous difference of opinion Between the Houses of Shammai and Hillel. The House of Shammai said that we should light eight candles on the first night and reduce one every subsequent night. The House of Hillel said that we should light one candle on the first night and increase the amount by one every day. We light in accordance with Beth Hillel.
The word Mashiach (Messiah) is an acronym for Madliqin Shemonah Yeme Chanuka (we light throughout the eight days of Chanuka). What is the significance of this? By lighting the Hanukkah we perform three Mitsvoth (precepts) together, as follows: When one enters one's home the Mezuzah is on the right, the Canukiah is lit on the left, and the man who enters has Tsitsiyoth (fringes) on his Tallith Qatan. The Acronym for Tsitsith, Mezuzah and Chanuka is Tsemach (the branch), who is the Mashiach.
During the eight days of Chanuka we kindle lights in commemoration of the "miracles, deliverance, mighty deeds salvations, wonders and solace" that our Heavenly Father performed for us in those days, at this time. It was then that the suppressive and tyrannical rule by the Greeks was overturned in battle and the Beth Hamiqdash (Temple) was rededicated by the Hasmoneans.
There are different opinions as to why, when they entered the Temple and found only one cruse of pure oil for the Menorah (sufficient for only one day), they required eight days to make new oil. One opinion is that they were defiled from war and had to wait to be purified before making it. In any case, as is well known, this solitary cruse lasted for eight days and in memory of this miracle the festival of Hanukkah was established for eight days.
On each night of Chanuka, from when the time for lighting arrives, we are not permitted to eat or even study Torah till the lights are actually kindled. The choicest way of performing the precept of the lighting of the Hanukkah lights is through the use of olive oil. However two types of lights may not be mixed (such as olive oil and wax candles) as it should not appear that two people lit them. In accordance with the teachings of Sephardi Hakhamim, z"l, only the head of the household may light Hanukkah lights in each household, as he is considered the first-born of the house Halakhically. The other members of the family stand beside him and watch. It is good, however, to allow one of the children to light the additional candle - referred to as the Shamash - in order to train them in the performance of the Mitsvoth. The Shamash, which is generally considered to have some Mitsvah attached, should be lit last and should not be used to light the other lights. This is in accordance with the Sephardim. Ashkenazim have the Minhag of having each child light his own Hanukkah. In any case, each one must do in accordance with the teachings of his forefathers or the Hakham of his/her congregation and may not change.
One may not make use of the lights during the time that they are required to burn and even though some hold that the light of the Shamash may be used, according to the Qabbalah (Jewish Mysticism) it may not. After the recitation of the benedictions of Lehadliq Ner Chanuka, She'asa Nissim, (followed by Shechecheyanu on the first day), Haneroth Halalu the kindling of the lights and Mizmor Shir Chanukath HaBayith, it is considered to be a good omen to recite Vihi No'am and Yosheb Besether. The Ashkenazi Minhagh is to follow the lighting with the singing of the hymn Ma'oz Tsur, a traditional European song. Sepharadim have different songs for Hanukkah, but do not have the custom of singing them after the lighting.
The story of Yehudith, daughter of the Kohen Gadol (high Priest) Yochanan, bears some similarities to the events that are commemorated in Hanukkah, and is also remembered during these days. As is written in "Hemdath Yamim", the cruel Greek ruler desired Yehudith and had her brought before him. She fed him with dairy foods and wine till he fell asleep and then severed off his head. At the sight of their leader's decapitated head, the enemy soldiers fled. For this and other reasons, Chanuka is of specific importance to women. It is important, therefore, that they do no Melakha (work) while the lights are burning each night, - i.e. for the half hour that they are required to be alight. It is appropriate also, for a woman whose livelihood does not depend on it, to abstain from doing any Melakha on the first and last days of Chanuka. In the memory of the afore-mentioned story of Yehudith, Sephardim (and some Ashkenazim) partake of dairy foods during the Holiday. The Ashkenazi custom is to eat foods fried in oil, in memory of the miracle of the cruse of oil. In general, Sepharadim have not adopted this custom.
On Shabbath Chanuka and on Rosh Chodesh - and especially if they fall on the same day - one should eat more and sing Shbahoth (songs of praise) such as Vethismah Bakh Attah Malka. On 'Ereb Shabbath Chanuka one must be particularly careful to pray Mincha before lighting the Chanuka lights. And these, in turn, must be kindled before those of Shabbath. At the close of the Shabbath, Sepharadim light the Chanuka in the synagogue prior to Habdalah, but at home the order is reversed. Ashkenazim have differing customs concerning this.
May we merit to
see the Chanuka (dedication) of the third Temple, speedily in our days, Amen ve
Amen!
MY HANUKKAH CHECKLIST
Every night, when lighting the Chanuka lights, I recite:
1. Lehadliq Ner Chanuka. (Not Ner Shel Chanuka - according to the Sod. This is the custom of most Sephardim). Ashkenazim (most) say Ner Shel Hanukkah.
2. Haneroth Halalu.
3. Mizmor Chanuka HaBayith.
4. Vihi No'am (7 times).
5. Yosheb Besether 'Elyon.
Ashkenazim conclude the lighting with the hymn Mao'z Sur. Sephardim do not have the custom of concluding the lighting with songs of praise. However there are specific songs for Chanuka, such as Y-a Hassel Yona [Vethismah Bakh Atta Malka], Yasa Limlokh, Yabbi'un Sephathai Shirah and Yithro'a'u.
If I am Sephardi, I do not use the Shammash to light the other candles, but instead, I use matches or a separate candle to light them. I then light the Shammash last. If I am Ashkenazi, I light all candles with the Shammash. If I am Sephardi, we only light one Chanuka (Chanukia Menorah) in my home, which is lit by the head of the household. All other members stand by and watch. (There is a difference in ruling between Sepharadi and Ashkenazi Hakhamim). If I am Ashkenazi, the children light too.
We eat special foods on Chanuka. Sephardim eat dairy foods all through Chanuka in memory of the miracle that occurred through dairy foods at the hand of Yehudith. We also eat Buňuelos[1] and “Arroz con Leche y Canela.”[2] Ashkenazim eat foods fried in oil, such as donuts and potato pancakes, in memory of the miracle of the cruse of oil. This is not the Sephardi custom. We eat more during Chanuka, and especially on Shabbath and Rosh Chodesh of Chanuka and sing Shbahoth (songs of praise).
Sephardic children are trained in the Mitsvah of giving money to charity and helping those in need. Ashkenazim have the minhagh of giving Hanukkah money [and presents] to the children. Although there is a source for it, this is not the prevalent custom among Sephardim. Women abstain from Melakha (servile work) at least during the time that the lights of the Chanukiya are required to be alight.
Chanuka First Day
Kislev 25, 5781
Evening Thursday Dec. 10, 2020 – Evening Friday Dec. 11, 2020
Morning Service
Torah: Numbers 7:1-17
Reader 1 - Num. 7:1-3
Reader 2 - Num. 7:4-11
Reader 3 - Num. 712-17
Yehudit (Judith) 1:1 – 2:28
1 Maccabees 1:1 – 2:48
Psalm 30:1-3
Nazareans add in their private study and discussions: Genesis 1:1-5; & 1 John 1:1-10
For further information please read and study:
http://www.betemunah.org/lapin.html, http://www.betemunah.org/connection.html,
http://www.betemunah.org/chanukah.html, & http://www.betemunah.org/lights.html
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 7:1-17
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Rashi |
Targum Pseudo Jonathan |
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1. And it was that on the day that Moses finished erecting the Mishkan, he anointed it, sanctified it, and all its vessels, and the altar and all its vessels. |
1. And it was on the day which begins the month of Nisan, when Mosheh had finished to rear up the tabernacle, he took it not in pieces again, but anointed and consecrated it and all its vessels, the altar and all the vessels thereof, and he anointed them and hallowed them; |
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2. The chieftains of Israel, the heads of their fathers' houses, presented [their offerings]. They were the leaders of the tribes. They were the ones who were present during the counting, |
2. then the leaders of Israel, who were the chiefs of the house of their fathers, brought their offerings. These were they who had been appointed in Mizraim chiefs over the numbered, |
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3. They brought their offering before the Lord: six covered wagons and twelve oxen, a wagon for each two chieftains, and an ox for each one; they presented them in front of the Mishkan. |
3. and they brought their offering before the LORD; six wagons covered and fitted up, and twelve oxen; one wagon for two princes and one ox for each. But Mosheh was not willing to receive them, and they brought them before the tabernacle. |
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4. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: |
4. And the Lord spoke with Mosheh, saying: |
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5. Take [it] from them, and let them be used in the service of the Tent of Meeting. You shall give them to the Levites, in accordance with each man's work. |
5. Take them, and let them be used for the need of the appointed (work), and let the oxen and the wagons be for the work of the service of the tabernacle of ordinance, and give them to the Levites, to each according to the measure of his work. |
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6. So Moses took the wagons and the cattle and gave them to the Levites. |
6. And Mosheh took the wagons and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. |
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7. He gave two wagons and four oxen to the sons of Gershon, according to their work. |
7. Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gershon, according to the amount of their service, |
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8. And he gave four wagons and eight oxen to the sons of Merari, according to their work under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. |
8. and four wagons and eight oxen gave he to the sons of Merari, according to the measure of their service, by the hand of Ithamar bar Aharon the priest. |
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9. But to the sons of Kohath he did not give, for incumbent upon them was the work involving the holy [objects], which they were to carry on their shoulders. |
9. But to the sons of Kehath he gave neither wagons nor oxen, because on them was laid the service of the sanctuary, to be carried on their shoulders. |
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10. The chieftains brought [offerings for] the dedication of the altar on the day it was anointed; the chieftains presented their offerings in front of the altar. |
10. And the princes offered at the dedication of the altar by anointing, on the day that he anointed it did the princes present their oblations before the altar. |
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11. The Lord said to Moses: One chieftain each day, one chieftain each day, shall present his offering for the dedication of the altar. |
11. And the LORD said unto Mosheh, Let the princes offer each, one prince on one day, their oblations at the dedication of the altar by anointing. |
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12. The one who brought his offering on the first day was Nahshon the son of Amminadab of the tribe of Judah. |
12. He who on the first day presented his oblation was Nachshon bar Amminadab, prince of the house of the fathers of the tribe Jehudah: |
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13. And his offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering. |
13. and his oblation which he offered was one silver bowl, thickly embossed, (or, crusted,) in weight one hundred and thirty shekels, in shekels of the sanctuary; one silver vase, slightly embossed, of seventy shekels, in shekels of the sanctuary; both of these vessels he brought filled with flour of the separation, sprinkled with olive oil for a mincha; |
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14. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels], filled with incense. |
14. one pan (censer) weighing ten silver shekels, but it was itself of good gold; and he brought it full of good sweet incense of the separation; |
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15. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering. |
15. one young bullock of three years, one ram of two years, and one lamb of the year. These three did the chief of the tribe Jehudah bring for a burnt offering; |
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16. One young he goat for a sin offering. |
16. one kid of the goats he brought for a sin offering; |
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17. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Nahshon the son of Amminadab. |
17. and for consecrated victims, two oxen, five rams, five goats, lambs of the year five: this is the order of the oblation which Nachshon bar Amminadab offered of his wealth. |
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Yehudit (Judith) 1:1 – 2:28
New Jerusalem Bible Version
Judith 1:1 It was the twelfth year of Nebuchadnezzar who reigned over the Assyrians in the great city of Nineveh. Arphaxad was then reigning over the Medes in Ecbatana.
2 He surrounded this city with walls of dressed stones three cubits thick and six cubits long, making the rampart seventy cubits high and fifty cubits wide.
3 At the gates he placed towers one hundred cubits high and, at the foundations, sixty cubits wide,
4 the gates themselves being seventy cubits high and forty wide to allow his forces to march out in a body and his infantry to parade freely.
5 About this time King Nebuchadnezzar gave battle to King Arphaxad in the great plain lying in the territory of Ragae.
6 Supporting him were all the peoples from the highlands, all from the Euphrates and Tigris and Hydaspes, and those from the plains who were subject to Arioch, king of the Elymaeans. Thus many nations had mustered to take part in the battle of the Cheleoudites.
7 Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians sent a message to all the inhabitants of Persia, to all the inhabitants of the western countries, Cilicia, Damascus, Lebanon, Anti-Lebanon, to all those along the coast,
8 to the peoples of Carmel, Gilead, Upper Galilee, the great plain of Esdraelon,
9 to the people of Samaria and its outlying towns, to those beyond Jordan, as far away as Jerusalem, Bethany, Chelous, Kadesh, the river of Egypt, Tahpanhes, Rameses and the whole territory of Goshen,
10 beyond Tanis too and Memphis, and to all the inhabitants of Egypt as far as the frontiers of Ethiopia.
11 But the inhabitants of these countries ignored the summons of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians and did not rally to him to make war. They were not afraid of him, since in their view he appeared isolated. Hence they sent his ambassadors back with nothing achieved and in disgrace.
12 Nebuchadnezzar was furious with all these countries. He swore by his throne and kingdom to take revenge on all the territories of Cilicia, Damascus and Syria, of the Moabites and of the Ammonites, of Judaea and Egypt as far as the limits of the two seas, and to ravage them with the sword.
13 In the seventeenth year, he gave battle with his whole army to King Arphaxad and in this battle defeated him. He routed Arphaxad's entire army and all his cavalry and chariots;
14 he occupied his towns and advanced on Ecbatana; he seized its towers and plundered its market places, reducing its former magnificence to a mockery.
15 He later captured Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragae and, thrusting him through with his spears, destroyed him once and for all.
16 He then retired with his troops and all who had joined forces with him: a vast horde of armed men. Then he and his army gave themselves up to carefree feasting for a hundred and twenty days.
NJB Judith 2:1 In the eighteenth year, on the twenty-second day of the first month, a rumour ran through the palace that Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians was to have his revenge on all the countries, as he had threatened.
2 Summoning his general staff and senior officers, he held a secret conference with them, and with his own lips pronounced utter destruction on the entire area.
3 It was then decreed that everyone should be put to death who had not answered the king's appeal.
4 When the council was over, Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians sent for Holofernes, general-in-chief of his armies and subordinate only to himself. He said to him,
5 'Thus speaks the Great King, lord of the whole world, "Go; take men of proven valour, about a hundred and twenty thousand foot soldiers and a strong company of horse with twelve thousand cavalrymen;
6 then advance against all the western lands, since these people have disregarded my call.
7 Bid them have earth and water ready, because in my rage I am about to march on them; the feet of my soldiers will cover the whole face of the earth, and I shall plunder it.
8 Their wounded will fill the valleys and the torrents, and rivers, blocked with their dead, will overflow.
9 I shall lead them captive to the ends of the earth.
10 Now go! Begin by conquering this whole region for me. If they surrender to you, hold them for me until the time comes to punish them.
11 But if they resist, look on no one with clemency, hand them over to slaughter and plunder throughout the territory entrusted to you.
12 For by my life and by the living power of my kingdom I have spoken. All this I shall do by my power.
13 And you, neglect none of your master's commands, act strictly according to my orders without further delay." '
14 Leaving the presence of his sovereign, Holofernes immediately summoned all the marshals, generals and officers of the Assyrian army
15 and detailed the picked troops as his master had ordered, about a hundred and twenty thousand men and a further twelve thousand mounted archers.
16 He organised these in the normal battle formation.
17 He then secured vast numbers of camels, donkeys and mules to carry the baggage, and innumerable sheep, oxen and goats for food supplies.
18 Every man received full rations and a generous sum of gold and silver from the king's purse.
19 He then set out for the campaign with his whole army, in advance of King Nebuchadnezzar, to overwhelm the whole western region with his chariots, his horsemen and his picked body of foot.
20 A motley gathering followed in his rear, as numerous as locusts or the grains of sand on the ground; there was no counting their multitude.
21 Thus they set out from Nineveh and marched for three days towards the Plain of Bectileth. From Bectileth they went on to pitch camp near the mountains that lie to the north of Upper Cilicia.
22 From there Holofernes advanced into the highlands with his whole army, infantry, horsemen, chariots.
23 He cut his way through Put and Lud, carried away captive all the sons of Rassis and sons of Ishmael living on the verge of the desert south of Cheleon,
24 marched along the Euphrates, crossed Mesopotamia, rased all the fortified towns controlling the Wadi Abron and reached the sea.
25 Next he attacked the territories of Cilicia, butchering all who offered him resistance, advanced on the southern frontiers of Japheth, facing Arabia,
26 completely encircled the Midianites, burned their tents and plundered their sheep-folds,
27 made his way down to the Damascus plain at the time of the wheat harvest, set fire to the fields, destroyed the flocks and herds, sacked the towns, laid the countryside waste and put all the young men to the sword.
28 Fear and trembling seized all the coastal peoples; those of Sidon and Tyre, those of Sur, Ocina and Jamnia. The populations of Azotos and Ascalon were panic-stricken.
1 Maccabees 1:1 – 2:48
New Jerusalem Bible Version
NJB 1 Maccabees 1:1 Alexander of Macedon son of Philip had come from the land of Kittim and defeated Darius king of the Persians and Medes, whom he succeeded as ruler, at first of Hellas.
2 He undertook many campaigns, gained possession of many fortresses, and put the local kings to death.
3 So he advanced to the ends of the earth, plundering nation after nation; the earth grew silent before him, and his ambitious heart swelled with pride.
4 He assembled very powerful forces and subdued provinces, nations and princes, and they became his tributaries.
5 But the time came when Alexander took to his bed, in the knowledge that he was dying.
6 He summoned his officers, noblemen who had been brought up with him from his youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive.
7 Alexander had reigned twelve years when he died.
8 Each of his officers established himself in his own region.
9 All assumed crowns after his death, they and their heirs after them for many years, bringing increasing evils on the world.
10 From these there grew a wicked offshoot, Antiochus Epiphanes son of King Antiochus; once a hostage in Rome, he became king in the 107th year of the kingdom of the Greeks.
11 It was then that there emerged from Israel a set of renegades who led many people astray. 'Come,' they said, 'let us ally ourselves with the gentiles surrounding us, for since we separated ourselves from them many misfortunes have overtaken us.'
12 This proposal proved acceptable,
13 and a number of the people eagerly approached the king, who authorised them to practise the gentiles' observances.
14 So they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem, such as the gentiles have,
15 disguised their circumcision, and abandoned the holy covenant, submitting to gentile rule as willing slaves of impiety.
16 Once Antiochus had seen his authority established, he determined to make himself king of Egypt and the ruler of both kingdoms.
17 He invaded Egypt in massive strength, with chariots and elephants (and cavalry) and a large fleet.
18 He engaged Ptolemy king of Egypt in battle, and Ptolemy turned back and fled before his advance, leaving many casualties.
19 The fortified cities of Egypt were captured, and Antiochus plundered the country.
20 After his conquest of Egypt, in the year 143, Antiochus turned about and advanced on Israel and Jerusalem in massive strength.
21 Insolently breaking into the sanctuary, he removed the golden altar and the lamp-stand for the light with all its fittings,
22 together with the table for the loaves of permanent offering, the libation vessels, the cups, the golden censers, the veil, the crowns, and the golden decoration on the front of the Temple, which he stripped of everything.
23 He made off with the silver and gold and precious vessels; he discovered the secret treasures and seized them
24 and, removing all these, he went back to his own country, having shed much blood and uttered words of extreme arrogance.
25 There was deep mourning for Israel throughout the country:
26 Rulers and elders groaned; girls and young men wasted away; the women's beauty suffered a change;
27 every bridegroom took up a dirge, the bride sat grief-stricken on her marriage-bed.
28 The earth quaked because of its inhabitants and the whole House of Jacob was clothed with shame.
29 Two years later the king sent the Mysarch through the cities of Judah. He came to Jerusalem with an impressive force,
30 and addressing them with what appeared to be peaceful words, he gained their confidence; then suddenly he fell on the city, dealing it a terrible blow, and destroying many of the people of Israel.
31 He pillaged the city and set it on fire, tore down its houses and encircling wall,
32 took the women and children captive and commandeered the cattle.
33 They then rebuilt the City of David with a great strong wall and strong towers and made this their Citadel.
34 There they installed a brood of sinners, of renegades, who fortified themselves inside it,
35 storing arms and provisions, and depositing there the loot they had collected from Jerusalem; they were to prove a great trouble.
36 It became an ambush for the sanctuary, an evil adversary for Israel at all times.
37 They shed innocent blood all round the sanctuary and defiled the sanctuary itself.
38 The citizens of Jerusalem fled because of them, she became a dwelling-place of strangers; estranged from her own offspring, her children forsook her.
39 Her sanctuary became as forsaken as a desert, her feasts were turned into mourning, her Sabbaths into a mockery, her honour into reproach.
40 Her dishonour now fully matched her former glory, her greatness was turned into grief.
41 The king then issued a proclamation to his whole kingdom that all were to become a single people, each nation renouncing its particular customs.
42 All the gentiles conformed to the king's decree,
43 and many Israelites chose to accept his religion, sacrificing to idols and profaning the Sabbath.
44 The king also sent edicts by messenger to Jerusalem and the towns of Judah, directing them to adopt customs foreign to the country,
45 banning burnt offerings, sacrifices and libations from the sanctuary, profaning Sabbaths and feasts,
46 defiling the sanctuary and everything holy,
47 building altars, shrines and temples for idols, sacrificing pigs and unclean beasts,
48 leaving their sons uncircumcised, and prostituting themselves to all kinds of impurity and abomination,
49 so that they should forget the Law and revoke all observance of it.
50 Anyone not obeying the king's command was to be put to death.
51 Writing in such terms to every part of his kingdom, the king appointed inspectors for the whole people and directed all the towns of Judah to offer sacrifice city by city.
52 Many of the people -- that is, every apostate from the Law -- rallied to them and so committed evil in the country,
53 forcing Israel into hiding in any possible place of refuge.
54 On the fifteenth day of Chislev in the year 145 the king built the appalling abomination on top of the altar of burnt offering; and altars were built in the surrounding towns of Judah
55 and incense offered at the doors of houses and in the streets.
56 Any books of the Law that came to light were torn up and burned.
57 Whenever anyone was discovered possessing a copy of the covenant or practising the Law, the king's decree sentenced him to death.
58 Month after month they took harsh action against any offenders they discovered in the towns of Israel.
59 On the twenty-fifth day of each month, sacrifice was offered on the altar erected on top of the altar of burnt offering.
60 Women who had had their children circumcised were put to death according to the edict
61 with their babies hung round their necks, and the members of their household and those who had performed the circumcision were executed with them.
62 Yet there were many in Israel who stood firm and found the courage to refuse unclean food.
63 They chose death rather than contamination by such fare or profanation of the holy covenant, and they were executed.
64 It was a truly dreadful retribution that visited Israel.
NJB 1 Maccabees 2:1 About then, Mattathias son of John, son of Simeon, a priest of the line of Joarib, left Jerusalem and settled in Modein.
2 He had five sons, John known as Gaddi,
3 Simon called Thassi,
4 Judas called Maccabaeus,
5 Eleazar, called Avaran, and Jonathan called Apphus.
6 When he saw the blasphemies being committed in Judah and Jerusalem,
7 he said, 'Alas that I should have been born to witness the ruin of my people and the ruin of the Holy City, and to sit by while she is delivered over to her enemies, and the sanctuary into the hand of foreigners.
8 'Her Temple has become like someone of no repute,
9 the vessels that were her glory have been carried off as booty, her babies have been slaughtered in her streets, her young men by the enemy's sword.
10 Is there a nation that has not claimed a share of her royal prerogatives, that has not taken some of her spoils?
11 All her ornaments have been snatched from her, her former freedom has become slavery.
12 See how the Holy Place, our beauty, our glory, is now laid waste, see how the gentiles have profaned it!
13 What have we left to live for?'
14 Mattathias and his sons tore their garments, put on sackcloth, and observed deep mourning.
15 The king's commissioners who were enforcing the apostasy came to the town of Modein for the sacrifices.
16 Many Israelites gathered round them, but Mattathias and his sons drew apart.
17 The king's commissioners then addressed Mattathias as follows, 'You are a respected leader, a great man in this town; you have sons and brothers to support you.
18 Be the first to step forward and conform to the king's decree, as all the nations have done, and the leaders of Judah and the survivors in Jerusalem; you and your sons shall be reckoned among the Friends of the King, you and your sons will be honoured with gold and silver and many presents.'
19 Raising his voice, Mattathias retorted, 'Even if every nation living in the king's dominions obeys him, each forsaking its ancestral religion to conform to his decrees,
20 I, my sons and my brothers will still follow the covenant of our ancestors.
21 May Heaven preserve us from forsaking the Law and its observances.
22 As for the king's orders, we will not follow them: we shall not swerve from our own religion either to right or to left.'
23 As he finished speaking, a Jew came forward in the sight of all to offer sacrifice on the altar in Modein as the royal edict required.
24 When Mattathias saw this, he was fired with zeal; stirred to the depth of his being, he gave vent to his legitimate anger, threw himself on the man and slaughtered him on the altar.
25 At the same time he killed the king's commissioner who was there to enforce the sacrifice, and tore down the altar.
26 In his zeal for the Law he acted as Phinehas had against Zimri son of Salu.
27 Then Mattathias went through the town, shouting at the top of his voice, 'Let everyone who has any zeal for the Law and takes his stand on the covenant come out and follow me.'
28 Then he fled with his sons into the hills, leaving all their possessions behind in the town.
29 Many people who were concerned for virtue and justice went down to the desert and stayed there,
30 taking with them their sons, their wives and their cattle, so oppressive had their sufferings become.
31 Word was brought to the royal officials and forces stationed in Jerusalem, in the City of David, that those who had repudiated the king's edict had gone down to the hiding places in the desert.
32 A strong detachment went after them, and when it came up with them ranged itself against them in battle formation, preparing to attack them on the Sabbath day,
33 and said, 'Enough of this! Come out and do as the king orders and you will be spared.'
34 The others, however, replied, 'We refuse to come out, and we will not obey the king's orders and profane the Sabbath day.'
35 The royal forces at once went into action,
36 but the others offered no opposition; not a stone was thrown, there was no barricading of the hiding places.
37 They only said, 'Let us all die innocent; let heaven and earth bear witness that you are massacring us with no pretence of justice.'
38 The attack was pressed home on the Sabbath itself, and they were slaughtered, with their wives and children and cattle, to the number of one thousand persons.
39 When the news reached Mattathias and his friends, they mourned them bitterly
40 and said to one another, 'If we all do as our brothers have done, and refuse to fight the gentiles for our lives and institutions, they will only destroy us the sooner from the earth.'
41 So then and there they came to this decision, 'If anyone attacks us on the Sabbath day, whoever he may be, we shall resist him; we must not all be killed, as our brothers were in the hiding places.'
42 Soon they were joined by the Hasidaean party, stout fighting men of Israel, each one a volunteer on the side of the Law.
43 All the refugees from the persecution rallied to them, giving them added support.
44 They organised themselves into an armed force, striking down the sinners in their anger, and the renegades in their fury, and those who escaped them fled to the gentiles for safety.
45 Mattathias and his friends made a tour, overthrowing the altars
46 and forcibly circumcising all the boys they found uncircumcised in the territories of Israel.
47 They hunted down the upstarts and managed their campaign to good effect.
48 They wrested the Law out of the control of the gentiles and the kings and reduced the sinners to impotence.
Tehillim - Psalm 30:1-13
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Rashi |
Targum |
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1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David. |
1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David. |
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2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me. |
2. I will praise you, O LORD, for you made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. |
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3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me. |
3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence and You healed me. |
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4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit. |
4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit. |
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5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name. |
5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one. |
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6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning there is joyful singing. |
6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning one rises in praise. |
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7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter." |
7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken. |
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8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance and I became frightened. |
8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid. |
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9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate. |
9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray. |
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10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth? |
10. And I said, what profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness? |
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11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper." |
11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper. |
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12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy. |
12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy. |
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13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever. |
13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise. |
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Genesis 1:1-5 - JPS
1. When God began to create heaven and earth --
2. the earth being unformed and void, with darkness over the surface of the deep and a wind from God sweeping over the water --
3. God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.
4. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
5. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, a first day.
Yochanan Alef (1 John) 1:1-10
By: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham &
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
1 What was from [the] beginning (i.e. B’resheet – Gen.1:1ff.), what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched, concerning the Torah giving life,
2 and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us;
3 what we have seen and heard, we announce to you also, in order that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with His son (the anointed King of Israel) Yeshua the Messiah.
4 And these things we write, in order that our joy may be complete.
5 And this is the message which we have heard from him (i.e. the Master) and announce to you, that God is light and there is no darkness in Him (God) at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him (i.e. God) and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth (i.e. the Torah – cf. Ps. 119:142).
7 But if we walk in the light as he (the Master) is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the life of Yeshua His son (anointed King of Israel) purify us from every sin.
8 If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth (i.e. the Torah – cf. Ps. 119:142) is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins [to God and repent], He (God) is faithful and just, so that He will forgive us our
sins and will purify us from all injustices [that we have committed].
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him (i.e. God) a liar, and His word (i.e. Torah) is not in us.
END OF THE READINGS FOR THE FIRST DAY OF CHANUKA
Shabbat of Chanuka
Chanuka Second Day
Kislev 26, 5781
Evening Friday Dec. 11, 2020 – Evening Saturday Dec. 12, 2020
Morning Service:
Torah: Numbers 7:18-29
Reader 1 - Num. 7:18-20
Reader 2 - Num. 7:21-23
Reader 3 - Num. 7:24-29
Yehudit (Judith) 3:1 – 5:17
1 Maccab. 2:49 – 4:40
Psalm 30:1-13
Nazareans add in their private study and discussions: Isaiah 5:20-24; & 1 John 2:1-11
For further information please read and study:
http://www.betemunah.org/lapin.html, http://www.betemunah.org/connection.html,
http://www.betemunah.org/chanukah.html, & http://www.betemunah.org/lights.html
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 7:18-29
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Rashi |
Targum Pseudo Jonathan |
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18. On the second day, Nethanel the son of Zu'ar, the chieftain of Issachar brought [his offering]. |
18. On the second day, Nethanel bar Zuar, chief of the house of the fathers of the tribe Issakar, brought his oblation. |
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19. He brought his offering of one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering. |
19. He brought his oblation after Jehudah by commandment of the Holy: one silver dish thickly embossed, one hundred and thirty shekels, &c., as the first. |
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20. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense. |
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21. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering. |
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22. One young he goat for a sin offering. |
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23. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Nethanel the son of Zu'ar. |
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24. On the third day, the chieftain was of the sons of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon. |
24. On the third day, Eliab bar Helon, prince of the Beni Zebulon, offered. |
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25. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering. |
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26. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense. |
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27. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering. |
27. |
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28. One young he goat for a sin offering. |
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29. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon. |
29. |
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Yehudit (Judith) 3:1 – 5:17
New Jerusalem Bible Version
NJB Judith 3:1 They therefore sent envoys to him to sue for peace, to say,
2 'We are servants of the great King Nebuchadnezzar; we lie prostrate before you. Treat us as you think fit.
3 Our cattle-farms, all our land, all our wheat fields, our flocks and herds, all the sheep-folds in our encampments are at your disposal. Do with them as you please.
4 Our towns and their inhabitants too are at your service; go and treat them as you think fit.'
5 These men came to Holofernes and delivered the message as above.
6 He then made his way down to the coast with his army and stationed garrisons in all the fortified towns, levying outstanding men there as auxiliaries.
7 The people of these cities and of all the other towns in the neighbourhood welcomed him, wearing garlands and dancing to the sound of tambourines.
8 But he demolished their shrines and cut down their sacred trees, carrying out his commission to destroy all local gods so that the nations should worship Nebuchadnezzar alone and people of every language and nationality should hail him as a god.
9 Thus he reached the edge of Esdraelon, in the neighbourhood of Dothan, a village facing the great ridge of Judaea.
10 He pitched camp between Geba and Scythopolis and stayed there a full month to re-provision his forces.
NJB Judith 4:1 When the Israelites living in Judaea heard how Holofernes, general-in-chief of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians, had treated the various nations, plundering their temples and destroying them,
2 they were thoroughly alarmed at his approach and trembled for Jerusalem and the Temple of the Lord their God.
3 They had returned from captivity only a short time before, and the resettlement of the people in Judaea and the reconsecration of the sacred furnishings, of the altar, and of the Temple, which had been profaned, were of recent date.
4 They therefore alerted the whole of Samaria, Kona, Beth-Horon, Belmain, Jericho, Choba, Aesora and the Salem valley.
5 They occupied the summits of the highest mountains and fortified the villages on them; they laid in supplies for the coming war, as the fields had just been harvested.
6 Joakim the high priest, resident in Jerusalem at the time, wrote to the inhabitants of Bethulia and of Betomesthaim, two towns facing Esdraelon, towards the plain of Dothan.
7 He ordered them to occupy the mountain passes, the only means of access to Judaea, for there it would be easy for them to halt an attacking force, the narrowness of the approach not allowing men to advance more than two abreast.
8 The Israelites carried out the orders of Joakim the high priest and of the people's Council of Elders in session at Jerusalem.
9 All the men of Israel cried most fervently to God and humbled themselves before him.
10 They, their wives, their children, their cattle, all their resident aliens, hired or slave, wrapped sackcloth round their loins.
11 All the Israelites in Jerusalem, including women and children, lay prostrate in front of the Temple, and with ashes on their heads stretched out their hands before the Lord.
12 They draped the altar itself in sackcloth and fervently joined together in begging the God of Israel not to let their children be carried off, their wives distributed as booty, the towns of their heritage destroyed, the Temple profaned and desecrated for the heathen to gloat over.
13 The Lord heard them and looked kindly on their distress. The people fasted for many days throughout Judaea as well as in Jerusalem before the sanctuary of the Lord Almighty.
14 Joakim the high priest and all who stood before the Lord, the Lord's priests and ministers, wore sackcloth round their loins as they offered the perpetual burnt offering and the votive and voluntary offerings of the people.
15 With ashes on their turbans they earnestly called on the Lord to look kindly on the House of Israel.
NJB Judith 5:1 Holofernes, general-in-chief of the Assyrian army, received the intelligence that the Israelites were preparing for war, that they had closed the mountain passes, fortified all the high peaks and laid obstructions in the plains.
2 Holofernes was furious. He summoned all the princes of Moab, all the generals of Ammon and all the satraps of the coastal regions.
3 'Men of Canaan,' he said, 'tell me: what people is this that occupies the hill-country? What towns does it inhabit? How large is its army? What are the sources of its power and strength? Who is the king who rules it and commands its army?
4 Why have they disdained to wait on me, as all the western peoples have?'
5 Achior, leader of all the Ammonites, replied, 'May my lord be pleased to listen to what your servant is going to say. I shall give you the facts about these mountain folk whose home lies close to you. You will hear no lie from the mouth of your servant.
6 These people are descended from the Chaldaeans.
7 They once came to live in Mesopotamia, because they did not want to follow the gods of their ancestors who lived in Chaldaea.
8 They abandoned the way of their ancestors to worship the God of heaven, the God they learnt to acknowledge. Banished from the presence of their own gods, they fled to Mesopotamia where they lived for a long time.
9 When God told them to leave their home and set out for Canaan, they settled there and accumulated gold and silver and great herds of cattle.
10 Next, famine having overwhelmed the land of Canaan, they went down to Egypt where they stayed till they were well nourished. There they became a great multitude, a race beyond counting.
11 But the king of Egypt turned against them and exploited them by forcing them to make bricks; he degraded them, reducing them to slavery.
12 They cried to their God, who struck the entire land of Egypt with incurable plagues, and the Egyptians expelled them.
13 God dried up the Red Sea before them
14 and led them forward by way of Sinai and Kadesh-Barnea. Having driven off all the inhabitants of the desert,
15 they settled in the land of the Amorites and in their strength exterminated the entire population of Heshbon. Then, having crossed the Jordan, they took possession of all the hill-country,
16 driving out the Canaanites before them and the Perizzites, Jebusites, Shechemites and all the Girgashites, and lived there for many years.
17 All the while they did not sin before their God, prosperity was theirs, for they have a God who hates wickedness.
1 Maccabees 2:49 – 4:40
New Jerusalem Bible Version
49 As the days of Mattathias were drawing to a close, he said to his sons, 'Arrogance and outrage are now in the ascendant; it is a period of turmoil and bitter hatred.
50 This is the time, my children, for you to have a burning zeal for the Law and to give your lives for the covenant of our ancestors.
51 Remember the deeds performed by our ancestors, each in his generation, and you will win great honour and everlasting renown.
52 Was not Abraham tested and found faithful, was that not considered as justifying him?
53 Joseph in the time of his distress maintained the Law, and so became lord of Egypt.
54 Phinehas, our father, in return for his burning zeal, received the covenant of everlasting priesthood.
55 Joshua, for carrying out his task, became judge of Israel.
56 Caleb, for his testimony before the assembled people, received an inheritance in the land.
57 David for his generous heart inherited the throne of an everlasting kingdom.
58 Elijah for his consuming fervour for the Law was caught up to heaven itself.
59 Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, for their fidelity, were saved from the flame.
60 Daniel for his singleness of heart was rescued from the lion's jaws.
61 Know then that, generation after generation, no one who hopes in him will be overcome.
62 Do not fear the threats of the sinner, all his brave show must come to the dunghill and the worms.
63 Exalted today, tomorrow he is nowhere to be found, for he has returned to the dust he came from and his scheming is brought to nothing.
64 My children, be resolute and courageous for the Law, for it will bring you glory.
65 'Here is your brother Simeon, I know he is a man of sound judgement. Listen to him all your lives; let him take your father's place.
66 Judas Maccabaeus, strong and brave from his youth, let him be your general and conduct the war against the gentiles.
67 The rest of you are to enrol in your ranks all those who keep the Law, and to assure the vengeance of your people.
68 Pay back the gentiles to the full, and hold fast to the ordinance of the Law.'
69 Then he blessed them and was joined to his ancestors.
70 He died in the year 146 and was buried in his ancestral tomb at Modein, and all Israel mourned him deeply.
NJB 1 Maccabees 3:1 His son, Judas, known as Maccabaeus, then took his place.
2 All his brothers, and all who had attached themselves to his father, supported him, and they fought for Israel with a will.
3 He extended the fame of his people. Like a giant, he put on the breastplate and buckled on his war harness; he engaged in battle after battle, protecting the ranks with his sword.
4 He was like a lion in his exploits, like a young lion roaring over its prey.
5 He pursued and tracked down the renegades, he consigned those who troubled his people to the flames.
6 The renegades quailed with the terror he inspired, all evil-doers were utterly confounded, and deliverance went forward under his leadership.
7 He brought bitterness to many a king and rejoicing to Jacob by his deeds, his memory is blessed for ever and ever.
8 He went through the towns of Judah eliminating the irreligious from them, and diverted the Retribution from Israel.
9 His name resounded to the ends of the earth, he rallied those who were on the point of perishing.
10 Next, Apollonius mustered the gentiles and a large force from Samaria to make war on Israel.
11 When Judas learned of it, he went out to meet him and routed and killed him. Many fell wounded, and the survivors took to flight.
12 Their spoils were seized and the sword of Apollonius was taken by Judas, who used it to fight with throughout his life.
13 On hearing that Judas had raised a mixed force of believers and seasoned fighters,
14 Seron, commander of the Syrian troops, said, 'I shall make a name for myself and gain honour in the kingdom if I fight Judas and those supporters of his who are so contemptuous of the king's orders.'
15 He therefore launched another expedition, with a strong army of unbelievers to support him in taking revenge on the Israelites.
16 He had nearly reached the descent of Beth-Horon when Judas went out to confront him with a handful of men.
17 But as soon as these saw the force advancing to meet them, they said to Judas, 'How can we, few as we are, engage such overwhelming numbers? We are exhausted as it is, not having had anything to eat today.'
18 'It is easy', Judas answered, 'for a great number to be defeated by a few; indeed, in the sight of Heaven, deliverance, whether by many or by few, is all one;
19 for victory in war does not depend on the size of the fighting force: Heaven accords the strength.
20 They are coming against us in full-blown insolence and lawlessness to destroy us, our wives and our children, and to plunder us;
21 but we are fighting for our lives and our laws,
22 and he will crush them before our eyes; do not be afraid of them.'
23 When he had finished speaking, he made a sudden sally against Seron and his force and overwhelmed them.
24 Judas pursued them down from Beth-Horon as far as the plain. About eight hundred of their men fell, and the rest took refuge in the country of the Philistines.
25 Judas and his brothers began to be feared, and alarm seized the surrounding peoples.
26 His name even reached the king's ears, and among the nations there was talk of Judas and his battles.
27 The news of these events infuriated Antiochus, and he ordered mobilisation of all the forces in his kingdom, a very powerful army.
28 Opening his treasury, he distributed a year's pay to his troops, telling them to be prepared for any eventuality.
29 He then found that the money in his coffers had run short and that the tribute of the province had decreased, as a result of the dissension and disaster brought on the country by his own abrogation of laws that had been in force from antiquity.
30 He began to fear that, as had happened more than once, he would not have enough to cover the expenses and the lavish bounties he had previously been accustomed to make on a larger scale than his predecessors on the throne.
31 In this grave quandary he resolved to invade Persia, there to levy tribute on the provinces and so accumulate substantial funds.
32 He therefore left Lysias, a nobleman and member of the royal family, to manage the royal affairs between the River Euphrates and the Egyptian frontier,
33 making him responsible for the education of his son Antiochus, until he should come back.
34 To him Antiochus made over half his forces, with the elephants, giving him instructions about what he wanted done, particularly with regard to the inhabitants of Judaea and Jerusalem,
35 against whom he was to send a force, to crush and destroy the power of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem, to wipe out their very memory from the place,
36 to settle foreigners in all parts of their territory and to distribute their land into lots.
37 The king took the remaining half of his troops with him and set out from Antioch, the capital of his kingdom, in the year 147; he crossed the River Euphrates and made his way through the Upper Provinces.
38 Lysias chose Ptolemy son of Dorymenes, with Nicanor and Gorgias, influential men from among the Friends of the King,
39 and, under their command, despatched forty thousand foot and seven thousand horse to invade the land of Judah and devastate it, as the king had ordered.
40 The entire force set out and reached the neighbourhood of Emmaus in the lowlands, where they pitched camp.
41 The local merchants, hearing the news of this, arrived at the camp, bringing with them a large amount of gold and silver, and fetters as well, proposing to buy the Israelites as slaves; they were accompanied by a company from Idumaea and the Philistine country.
42 Judas and his brothers saw that the situation was going from bad to worse and that armies were camping in their territory; they were also well aware that the king had ordered the people's total destruction.
43 So they said to each other, 'Let us restore the ruins of our people and fight for our people and our sanctuary.'
44 The Assembly was summoned, to prepare for war, to offer prayer and to implore compassion and mercy.
45 Jerusalem was as empty as a desert, none of her children to go in and out. The sanctuary was trodden underfoot, men of an alien race held the Citadel, which had become a lodging for gentiles. There was no more rejoicing for Jacob, the flute and lyre were mute.
46 After mustering, they made their way to Mizpah, opposite Jerusalem, since Mizpah was traditionally a place of prayer for Israel.
47 That day they fasted and put on sackcloth, covering their heads with ashes and tearing their garments.
48 For the guidance that the gentiles would have sought from the images of their false gods, they opened the Book of the Law.
49 They also brought out the priestly vestments, with first-fruits and tithes, and marshalled the Nazirites who had completed the period of their vow.
50 Then, raising their voices to Heaven, they cried, 'What shall we do with these people, and where are we to take them?
51 Your holy place has been trampled underfoot and defiled, your priests mourn in their humiliation,
52 and now the gentiles are in alliance to destroy us: you know what they have in mind for us.
53 How can we stand up and face them if you do not come to our aid?'
54 Then they sounded the trumpets and raised a great shout.
55 Next, Judas appointed leaders for the people, to command a thousand, a hundred, fifty or ten men.
56 Those who were in the middle of building a house, or were about to be married, or were planting a vineyard, or were afraid, he told to go home again, as the Law allowed.
57 The column then marched off and took up a position south of Emmaus.
58 'Stand to your arms,' Judas told them, 'acquit yourselves bravely, in the morning be ready to fight these gentiles massed against us to destroy us and our sanctuary.
59 Better for us to die in battle than to watch the ruin of our nation and our Holy Place.
60 Whatever be the will of Heaven, he will perform it.'
NJB 1 Maccabees 4:1 Gorgias took with him five thousand foot and a thousand picked cavalry, and the force moved off by night
2 with the object of attacking the Jewish position and dealing them an unexpected blow; the men from the Citadel were there to guide him.
3 Judas got wind of it and himself moved off with his fighters to strike at the royal army at Emmaus,
4 while its fighting troops were still dispersed outside the camp.
5 Hence, when Gorgias reached Judas' camp, he found no one and began looking for the Jews in the mountains. 'For', he said, 'we have got them on the run.'
6 First light found Judas in the plain with three thousand men, although these lacked the armour and swords they would have wished.
7 They could now see the gentile encampment with its strong fortifications and cavalry surrounding it, clearly people who understood warfare.
8 Judas said to his men, 'Do not be afraid of their numbers, and do not flinch at their attack.
9 Remember how our ancestors were delivered at the Red Sea when Pharaoh was pursuing them in force.
10 And now let us call on Heaven: if he cares for us, he will remember his covenant with our ancestors and will destroy this army confronting us today;
11 then all the nations will know for certain that there is One who ransoms and saves Israel.'
12 The foreigners looked up and, seeing the Jews advancing against them,
13 came out of the camp to join battle. Judas' men sounded the trumpet
14 and engaged them. The gentiles were defeated and fled towards the plain
15 and all the stragglers fell by the sword. The pursuit continued as far as Gezer and the plains of Idumaea, Azotus and Jamnia, and the enemy lost about three thousand men.
16 Breaking off the pursuit, Judas returned with his men
17 and said to the people, 'Never mind the booty, for we have another battle ahead of us.
18 Gorgias and his troops are still near us in the mountains. First stand up to our enemies and fight them, and then you can safely collect the booty.'
19 The words were hardly out of Judas' mouth, when a detachment came into view, peering down from the mountain.
20 Observing that their own troops had been routed and that the camp had been fired -- since the smoke, which they could see, attested the fact-
21 they were panic-stricken at the sight; and when, furthermore, they saw Judas' troops drawn up for battle on the plain,
22 they all fled into Philistine territory.
23 Judas then turned back to plunder the camp, and a large sum in gold and silver, with violet and sea-purple stuffs, and many other valuables were carried off.
24 On their return, the Jews chanted praises to Heaven, singing, 'He is kind and his love is everlasting!'
25 That day had seen a remarkable deliverance in Israel.
26 Those of the foreigners who had escaped came and gave Lysias an account of all that had happened.
27 The news shocked and dismayed him, for affairs in Israel had not gone as he intended, and the result was quite the opposite to what the king had ordered.
28 The next year he mobilised sixty thousand picked troops and five thousand cavalry with the intention of finishing off the Jews.
29 They advanced into Idumaea and made their base at Beth-Zur, where Judas met them with ten thousand men.
30 When he saw their military strength he offered this prayer, 'Blessed are you, Saviour of Israel, who shattered the mighty warrior's attack at the hand of your servant David, and delivered the Philistine camp into the hands of Jonathan son of Saul, and his armour-bearer.
31 Crush this expedition in the same way at the hands of your people Israel; let their troops and cavalry bring them nothing but shame.
32 Sow panic in their ranks, confound the confidence they put in their numbers and send them reeling in defeat.
33 Overthrow them by the sword of those who love you, and all who acknowledge your name will sing your praises.'
34 The two forces engaged, and five thousand men of Lysias' troops fell in hand-to-hand fighting.
35 Seeing the rout of his army and the courage of Judas' troops and their readiness to live or die nobly, Lysias withdrew to Antioch, where he recruited mercenaries for a further invasion of Judaea in even greater strength.
36 Judas and his brothers then said, 'Now that our enemies have been defeated, let us go up to purify the sanctuary and dedicate it.'
37 So they marshalled the whole army, and went up to Mount Zion.
38 There they found the sanctuary deserted, the altar desecrated, the gates burnt down, and vegetation growing in the courts as it might in a wood or on some mountain, while the storerooms were in ruins.
39 They tore their garments and mourned bitterly, putting dust on their heads.
40 They prostrated themselves on the ground, and when the trumpets gave the signal they cried aloud to Heaven.
Tehillim - Psalm 30:1-13
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Rashi |
Targum |
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1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David. |
1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David. |
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2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me. |
2. I will praise you, O LORD, for you made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. |
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3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me. |
3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence and You healed me. |
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4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit. |
4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit. |
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5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name. |
5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one. |
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6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning there is joyful singing. |
6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning one rises in praise. |
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7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter." |
7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken. |
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8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance and I became frightened. |
8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid. |
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9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate. |
9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray. |
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10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth? |
10. And I said, What profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness? |
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11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper." |
11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper. |
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12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy. |
12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy. |
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13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever. |
13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise. |
Isaiah 5:20-24 JPS
20 Ah, Those who call evil good
And good evil;
Who present darkness as light
And light as darkness;
Who present bitter as sweet
And sweet as bitter!
21 Ah, Those who are so wise -- In their own opinion;
So clever -- In their own judgment!
22 Ah, Those who are so doughty -- As drinkers of wine,
And so valiant -- As mixers of drink!
23 Who vindicate him who is in the wrong
In return for a bribe,
And withhold vindication
From him who is in the right.
24 Assuredly,
As straw is consumed by a tongue of fire
And hay shrivels as it burns,
Their stock shall become like rot,
And their buds shall blow away like dust.
For they have rejected the instruction in the Torah of the LORD of Hosts,
Spurned the Word of the Holy One of Israel.
Yochanan Alef (1 John) 2:1-11
By: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham &
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
1 My sons, I am writing these things to you in order that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua the Messiah the righteous/generous one,
2 and he was made the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole [Gentile] world.
3 And by this we know that we have come to have intimate knowledge of him (the Master), if we keep His (God’s) commandments.
4 The one who says "I have come to intimately know him," and does not keep His (God’s) commandments is a liar, and the truth (i.e. the Torah – cf. Psalm 119:142) is not [dwelling] in this person.
5 But whoever puts in practice God’s Torah, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him (Messiah).
6 The one who says that he resides in him (Messiah) ought also to walk just as he walked [in submissive obedience to the Torah and to the Torah Sages].
7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning (i.e. B’resheet = Gen. 1:1ff). The old commandment is the message which you have heard [from the Torah].
8 Again, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in him (Messiah) and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already is shining.
9 The one who says he is in the light and hates/belittles his [Jewish] brother is in the darkness even now.
10 The one who loves his [Jewish] brother resides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
11 But the one who hates/belittles his [Jewish] brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
END OF THE READINGS FOR THE SECOND DAY OF CHANUKA
Chanuka Third Day
Kislev 27, 5781
Evening Saturday Dec. 13, 2020 – Evening Sunday Dec. 14, 2020
Torah: Numbers 7:24-35
Reader 1 - Num. 7:24-26
Reader 2 - Num. 7:27-29
Reader 3 - Num. 7:30-35
Yehudit (Judith) 5:18 – 7:16
1 Maccab. 4:41 – 6:27
Psalm 30:1-13
Nazareans add in their private study and discussions: Isaiah 42:18; & 1 John 2:12-29
For further information please read and study:
http://www.betemunah.org/lapin.html, http://www.betemunah.org/connection.html,
http://www.betemunah.org/chanukah.html, & http://www.betemunah.org/lights.html
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 7:24-35
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Rashi |
Targum Pseudo Jonathan |
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24. On the third day, the chieftain was of the sons of Zebulun, Eliab the son of Helon. |
24. On the third day, Eliab bar Helon, prince of the Benei Zebulon, offered. |
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25. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering. |
25. |
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26. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense. |
26. |
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27. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering. |
27. |
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28. One young he goat for a sin offering. |
28. |
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29. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Eliab the son of Helon. |
29. |
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30. On the fourth day, the chieftain was of the sons of Reuben, Elitzur the son of Shedeur. |
30. On the fourth, Elizur bar Shedeur, prince of the Benei Reuben; |
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31. His offering was one silver bowl weighing one hundred and thirty [shekels], one silver sprinkling basin [weighing] seventy shekels according to the holy shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil for a meal offering. |
31. |
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32. One spoon [weighing] ten gold [shekels] filled with incense. |
32. |
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33. One young bull, one ram and one lamb in its first year for a burnt offering. |
33. |
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34. One young he goat for a sin offering. |
34. |
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35. And for the peace offering: two oxen, five rams, five he goats, five lambs in their first year; this was the offering of Elitzur the son of Shedeur. |
35. |
Yehudit (Judith) 5:18 – 7:16
New Jerusalem Bible Version
18 But when they turned from the path he had marked out for them some were exterminated in a series of battles, others were taken captive to a foreign land. The Temple of their God was rased to the ground and their towns were seized by their enemies.
19 Then having turned once again to their God, they came back from the places to which they had been dispersed and scattered, regained possession of Jerusalem, where they have their Temple, and reoccupied the hill-country which had been left deserted.
20 So, now, master and lord, if this people has committed any fault, if they have sinned against their God, let us first be sure that they really have this reason to fail, then advance and attack them.
21 But if their nation is guiltless, my lord would do better to abstain, for fear that their Lord and God should protect them. We should then become the laughing-stock of the whole world.'
22 When Achior had ended this speech, all the people crowding round the tent began protesting. Holofernes' own senior officers, as well as all the coastal peoples and the Moabites, threatened to tear him limb from limb.
23 'Why should we be afraid of the Israelites? They are a weak and powerless people, quite unable to stand a stiff attack.
24 Forward! Advance! Your army, Holofernes our master, will swallow them in one mouthful!'
NJB Judith 6:1 When the uproar of those crowding round the council had subsided, Holofernes, general-in-chief of the Assyrian army, reprimanded Achior in front of the whole crowd of foreigners and Ammonites.
2 'Achior, who do you think you are, you and the Ephraimite mercenaries, playing the prophet like this with us today, and trying to dissuade us from making war on the people of Israel? You claim their God will protect them. And who is God if not Nebuchadnezzar? He himself will display his power and wipe them off the face of the earth, and their God will certainly not save them.
3 But we, his servants, shall destroy them as easily as a single individual. They can never resist the strength of our cavalry.
4 We shall burn them all. Their mountains will be drunk with their blood and their plains filled with their corpses. Far from being able to resist us, every one of them will die; thus says King Nebuchadnezzar, lord of the whole world. For he has spoken, and his words will not prove empty.
5 As for you, Achior, you Ammonite mercenary, who in a rash moment said these words, you will not see my face again until the day when I have taken my revenge on this brood from Egypt.
6 And then the swords of my soldiers and the spears of my officers will pierce your sides. You will fall among their wounded, the moment I turn on Israel.
7 My servants will now take you into the hill-country and leave you near one of the towns in the passes;
8 you will not die, until you share their ruin.
9 No need to look so sad if you cherish the secret hope that they will not be captured! I have spoken; none of my words will prove idle.'
10 Holofernes having commanded his tent-orderlies to seize Achior, to take him to Bethulia and to hand him over to the Israelites,
11 the orderlies took him, escorted him out of the camp and across the plain, and then, making for the hill-country, reached the springs below Bethulia.
12 As soon as the men of the town sighted them, they snatched up their weapons, left the town and made for the mountain tops, while all the slingers pelted them with stones to prevent them from coming up.
13 However, they managed to take cover at the foot of the slope, where they bound Achior and left him lying at the bottom of the mountain and returned to their master.
14 The Israelites then came down from their town, stopped by him, unbound him and took him to Bethulia, where they brought him before the chief men of the town,
15 who at that time were Uzziah son of Micah of the tribe of Simeon, Chabris son of Gothoniel and Charmis son of Melchiel.
16 These summoned all the elders of the town. The young men and the women also hurried to the assembly. Achior was made to stand with all the people surrounding him, and Uzziah questioned him about what had happened.
17 He answered by telling them what had been said at Holofernes' council, and what he himself had said in the presence of the Assyrian leaders, and how Holofernes had bragged of what he would do to the House of Israel.
18 At this the people fell to the ground and worshipped God.
19 'Lord God of heaven,' they cried, 'take notice of their arrogance and have pity on the humiliation of our race. Look kindly today on those who are consecrated to you.'
20 They then spoke reassuringly to Achior and praised him warmly.
21 After the assembly Uzziah took him home and gave a banquet for the elders; all that night they called on the God of Israel for help.
NJB Judith 7:1 The following day Holofernes issued orders to his whole army and to the whole host of auxiliaries who had joined him, to break camp and march on Bethulia, to occupy the mountain passes and so open the campaign against the Israelites.
2 The troops broke camp that same day. The actual fighting force numbered one hundred and twenty thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, not to mention the baggage train with the vast number of men on foot concerned with that.
3 They penetrated the valley in the neighbourhood of Bethulia, near the spring, and deployed on a wide front from Dothan to Balbaim and, in depth, from Bethulia to Cyamon, which faces Esdraelon.
4 When the Israelites saw this horde, they were all appalled and said to each other, 'Now they will lick the whole country clean. Not even the loftiest peaks, the gorges or the hills will be able to stand the weight of them.'
5 Each man snatched up his arms; they lit beacons on their towers and spent the whole night on watch.
6 On the second day Holofernes deployed his entire cavalry in sight of the Israelites in Bethulia.
7 He reconnoitred the slopes leading up to the town, located the water-points, seized them and posted pickets over them and returned to the main body.
8 The chieftains of the sons of Esau, all the leaders of the Moabites and the generals of the coastal district then came to him and said,
9 'If our master will be pleased to listen to us, his forces will not sustain a single wound.
10 These Israelites do not rely so much on their spears as on the height of the mountains where they live. And admittedly it is not at all easy to scale these heights of theirs.
11 'This being the case, master, avoid engaging them in a pitched battle and then you will not lose a single man.
12 Stay in camp, keep all your troops there too, while your servants seize the spring which rises at the foot of the mountain,
13 since that is what provides the population of Bethulia with their water supply. Thirst will then force them to surrender their town. Meanwhile, we and our men will climb the nearest mountain tops and form advance posts there to prevent anyone from leaving the town.
14 Hunger will waste them, with their wives and children, and before the sword can reach them they will already be lying in the streets outside their houses.
15 And you will make them pay dearly for their defiance and their refusal to meet you peaceably.'
16 Their words pleased Holofernes as well as all his officers, and he decided to do as they suggested.
1 Maccabees 4:41 – 6:27
New Jerusalem Bible Version
41 Judas then ordered his men to keep the Citadel garrison engaged until he had purified the sanctuary.
42 Next, he selected priests who were blameless and zealous for the Law
43 to purify the sanctuary and remove the stones of the 'Pollution' to some unclean place.
44 They discussed what should be done about the altar of burnt offering which had been profaned,
45 and very properly decided to pull it down, rather than later be embarrassed about it since it had been defiled by the gentiles. They therefore demolished it
46 and deposited the stones in a suitable place on the hill of the Dwelling to await the appearance of a prophet who should give a ruling about them.
47 They took unhewn stones, as the Law prescribed, and built a new altar on the lines of the old one.
48 They restored the Holy Place and the interior of the Dwelling, and purified the courts.
49 They made new sacred vessels, and brought the lamp-stand, the altar of incense, and the table into the Temple.
50 They burned incense on the altar and lit the lamps on the lamp-stand, and these shone inside the Temple.
51 They placed the loaves on the table and hung the curtains and completed all the tasks they had undertaken.
52 On the twenty-fifth of the ninth month, Chislev, in the year 148 they rose at dawn
53 and offered a lawful sacrifice on the new altar of burnt offering which they had made.
54 The altar was dedicated, to the sound of hymns, zithers, lyres and cymbals, at the same time of year and on the same day on which the gentiles had originally profaned it.
55 The whole people fell prostrate in adoration and then praised Heaven who had granted them success.
56 For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar, joyfully offering burnt offerings, communion and thanksgiving sacrifices.
57 They ornamented the front of the Temple with crowns and bosses of gold, renovated the gates and storerooms, providing the latter with doors.
58 There was no end to the rejoicing among the people, since the disgrace inflicted by the gentiles had been effaced.
59 Judas, with his brothers and the whole assembly of Israel, made it a law that the days of the dedication of the altar should be celebrated yearly at the proper season, for eight days beginning on the twenty-fifth of the month of Chislev, with rejoicing and gladness.
60 They then proceeded to build high walls with strong towers round Mount Zion, to prevent the gentiles from coming and riding roughshod over it as in the past.
61 Judas stationed a garrison there to guard it; he also fortified Beth-Zur, so that the people would have a fortress confronting Idumaea.
NJB 1 Maccabees 5:1 When the surrounding nations heard that the altar had been rebuilt and the sanctuary restored to what it had been before, they became very angry
2 and decided to destroy the descendants of Jacob living among them; they began to murder and evict our people.
3 Judas made war on the sons of Esau in Idumaea, in the region of Acrabattene where they were besieging the Israelites. He dealt them a serious blow, drove them off and despoiled them.
4 He also remembered the wickedness of the sons of Baean, who were a menace and a trap for the people with their ambushes on the roads.
5 Having blockaded them in their town and besieged them, he put them under the curse of destruction; he then set fire to their towers and burned them down with everyone inside.
6 Next, he crossed over to the Ammonites where he found a strong fighting force and a numerous people, commanded by Timotheus.
7 He fought many battles with them, defeated them and cut them to pieces.
8 Having captured Jazer and its dependent villages, he retired to Judaea.
9 Next, the gentiles of Gilead banded together to destroy the Israelites living in their territory. The latter, however, took refuge in the fortress of Dathema,
10 and sent the following letter to Judas and his brothers: 'The gentiles round us have banded themselves together against us to destroy us,
11 and they are preparing to storm the fortress in which we have taken refuge; Timotheus is in command of their forces.
12 Come at once and rescue us from their clutches, for we have already suffered great losses.
13 All our countrymen living in Tobias' country have been killed, their women and children have been taken into captivity, their property has been seized, and about a thousand men have been destroyed there.'
14 While the letter was being read, other messengers arrived from Galilee with their garments torn, bearing similar news,
15 'The people of Ptolemais, Tyre and Sidon have joined forces with the whole of gentile Galilee to destroy us!'
16 When Judas and the people heard this, they held a great assembly to decide what should be done for their oppressed countrymen who were under attack from their enemies.
17 Judas said to his brother Simon, 'Pick your men and go and relieve your countrymen in Galilee, while my brother Jonathan and I make our way into Gilead.'
18 He left Joseph son of Zechariah and the people's leader Azariah with the remainder of the army in Judaea to keep guard, and gave them these orders,
19 'You are to be responsible for our people. Do not engage the gentiles until we return.'
20 Simon was allotted three thousand men for the expedition into Galilee, Judas eight thousand for Gilead.
21 Simon advanced into Galilee, engaged the gentiles in several battles and swept all before him;
22 he pursued them to the gate of Ptolemais, and they lost about three thousand men, whose spoils he collected.
23 With him, he took away the Jews of Galilee and Arbatta, with their wives and children and all their possessions, and brought them into Judaea with great rejoicing.
24 Meanwhile Judas Maccabaeus and his brother Jonathan crossed the Jordan and made a three-days' march through the desert,
25 where they encountered the Nabataeans, who gave them a friendly reception and told them everything that had been happening to their brothers in Gilead,
26 many of whom, they said, were shut up in Bozrah and Bosor, Alema, Chaspho, Maked and Carnaim, all large fortified towns.
27 Others were blockaded in the other towns of Gilead, and the enemy planned to attack and capture these strongholds the very next day, and destroy all the people inside them on one day.
28 Judas and his army at once turned off by the desert road to Bozrah. He took the town and, having put all the males to the sword and collected the booty, burned it down.
29 When night came, he left the place, and they continued their march until they reached the fortress.
30 In the light of dawn they looked, and there was an innumerable horde, setting up ladders and engines to capture the fortress; the assault was just beginning.
31 When Judas saw that the attack had begun and that the war cry was rising to heaven from the city, mingled with trumpet calls and a great clamour,
32 he said to the men of his army, 'Into battle today for your brothers!'
33 Dividing them into three commands, he advanced on the enemy's rear, with trumpets sounding and prayers shouted aloud.
34 The troops of Timotheus, recognising that this was Maccabaeus, fled before his advance; Maccabaeus dealt them a crushing defeat; about eight thousand of their men fell that day.
35 Then, wheeling on Alema, he attacked and captured it and, having killed all the males and collected the booty, burned the place down.
36 From there he moved on and took Chaspho, Maked, Bosor and the remaining towns of Gilead.
37 After these events, Timotheus mustered another force and pitched camp opposite Raphon, on the far side of the stream-bed.
38 Judas sent men to reconnoitre the camp, and these reported back as follows, 'With him are massed all the gentiles surrounding us, making a very numerous army,
39 with Arab mercenaries as auxiliaries; they are encamped on the far side of the stream-bed, and ready to launch an attack on you.' Judas then advanced to engage them,
40 and was approaching the watercourse with his troops when Timotheus told the commanders of his army, 'If he crosses first we shall not be able to resist him, because he will have a great advantage over us;
41 but if he is afraid and camps on the other side of the stream, we shall cross over to him and the advantage will then be ours.'
42 As soon as Judas reached the watercourse, he posted people's scribes along it, giving them this order: 'Do not let anyone pitch his tent; all are to go into battle!'
43 He was himself the first across to the enemy side, with all the people following. He defeated all the opposing gentiles, who threw down their arms and ran for refuge in the sanctuary of Carnaim.
44 The Jews first captured the town and then burned down the temple with everyone inside. And so Carnaim was overthrown, and the enemy could offer no further resistance to Judas.
45 Next, Judas assembled all the Israelites living in Gilead, from the least to the greatest, with their wives, children and belongings, an enormous muster, to take them to Judaea.
46 They reached Ephron, a large town straddling the road and strongly fortified. As it was impossible to by-pass it either to right or to left, there was nothing for it but to march straight through.
47 But the people of the town denied them passage and barricaded the gates with stones.
48 Judas sent them a conciliatory message in these terms, 'We want to pass through your territory to reach our own; no one will do you any harm, we only want to go through on foot.' But they would not open up for him.
49 So Judas sent an order down the column for everyone to halt where he stood.
50 The fighting men took up their positions; Judas attacked the town all day and night, and the town fell to him.
51 He put all the males to the sword, rased the town to the ground, plundered it and marched through the town square over the bodies of the dead.
52 They then crossed the Jordan into the Great Plain, opposite Beth-Shean,
53 Judas all the time rallying the stragglers and encouraging the people the whole way until they reached Judaea.
54 They climbed Mount Zion in joy and gladness and presented burnt offerings because they had returned safe and sound without having lost a single man.
55 While Judas and Jonathan were in Gilead and Simon his brother in Galilee outside Ptolemais,
56 Joseph son of Zechariah, and Azariah, who were in command of the army, heard of their valiant deeds and of the battles they had been fighting,
57 and said, 'Let us make a name for ourselves too and go and fight the nations around us.'
58 So they issued orders to the men under their command and marched on Jamnia.
59 Gorgias and his men came out of the town and gave battle.
60 Joseph and Azariah were routed and pursued as far as the frontiers of Judaea. That day about two thousand Israelites lost their lives.
61 Our people thus met with a great reverse, because they had not listened to Judas and his brothers, thinking that they would do something equally valiant.
62 They were not, however, of the same breed of men as those to whom the deliverance of Israel was entrusted.
63 The noble Judas and his brothers, however, were held in high honour throughout Israel and among all the nations wherever their name was heard,
64 and people thronged round to acclaim them.
65 Judas marched out with his brothers to fight the Edomites in the country towards the south; he stormed Hebron and its dependent villages, threw down its fortifications and burned down its encircling towers.
66 Leaving there, he made for the country of the Philistines and passed through Marisa.
67 Among the fallen in that day's fighting were some priests who sought to prove their courage there by joining in the battle, a foolhardy venture.
68 Judas next turned on Azotus, which belonged to the Philistines; he overthrew their altars, burned the statues of their gods and, having pillaged their towns, withdrew to Judaea.
NJB 1 Maccabees 6:1 King Antiochus, meanwhile, was making his way through the Upper Provinces; he had heard that in Persia there was a city called Elymais, renowned for its riches, its silver and gold,
2 and its very wealthy temple containing golden armour, breastplates and weapons, left there by Alexander son of Philip, the king of Macedon, the first to reign over the Greeks.
3 He therefore went and attempted to take the city and pillage it, but without success, the citizens having been forewarned.
4 They resisted him by force of arms. He was routed, and began retreating, very gloomily, towards Babylon.
5 But, while he was still in Persia, news reached him that the armies which had invaded Judaea had been routed,
6 and that Lysias in particular had advanced in massive strength, only to be forced to turn and flee before the Jews; that the latter were now stronger than ever, thanks to the arms, supplies and abundant spoils acquired from the armies they had cut to pieces,
7 and that they had pulled down the abomination which he had erected on the altar in Jerusalem, had encircled the sanctuary with high walls as in the past, and had fortified Beth-Zur, one of his cities.
8 When the king heard this news he was amazed and profoundly shaken; he threw himself on his bed and fell sick with grief, since things had not turned out for him as he had planned.
9 And there he remained for many days, subject to deep and recurrent fits of melancholy, until he realised that he was dying.
10 Then, summoning all his Friends, he said to them, 'Sleep evades my eyes, and my heart is cowed by anxiety.
11 I have been wondering how I could have come to such a pitch of distress, so great a flood as that which now engulfs me -- I who was so generous and well-loved in my heyday.
12 But now I recall how wrongly I acted in Jerusalem when I seized all the vessels of silver and gold there and ordered the extermination of the inhabitants of Judah for no reason at all.
13 This, I am convinced, is why these misfortunes have overtaken me, and why I am dying of melancholy in a foreign land.'
14 He summoned Philip, one of his Friends, and made him regent of the whole kingdom.
15 He entrusted him with his diadem, his robe and his signet, on the understanding that he was to educate his son Antiochus and train him for the throne.
16 King Antiochus then died, in the year 149.
17 Lysias, learning that the king was dead, established on the throne in succession to him his son Antiochus, whom he had brought up from childhood -- and styled him Eupator.
18 The people in the Citadel at the time were blockading Israel round the sanctuary and were taking every opportunity to harm them and to support the gentiles.
19 Judas decided that they must be destroyed, and he mobilised the whole people to besiege them.
20 They assembled and laid siege to the Citadel in the year 150, building batteries and siege-engines.
21 But some of the besieged broke through the blockade, and to these a number of renegades from Israel attached themselves.
22 They made their way to the king and said, 'How much longer are you going to wait before you see justice done and avenge our fellows?
23 We were content to serve your father, to comply with his orders, and to obey his edicts.
24 As a result our own people will have nothing to do with us; what is more, they have killed all those of us they could catch, and looted our family property.
25 Nor is it on us alone that their blows have fallen, but on all your territories.
26 At this moment, they are laying siege to the Citadel of Jerusalem, to capture it, and they have fortified the sanctuary and Beth-Zur.
27 Unless you forestall them at once, they will go on to even bigger things, and then you will never be able to control them.'
Tehillim - Psalm 30:1-13
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Rashi |
Targum |
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1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David. |
1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David. |
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2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me. |
2. I will praise you, O LORD, for you made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me. |
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3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me. |
3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence and You healed me. |
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4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit. |
4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit. |
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5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name. |
5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one. |
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6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning there is joyful singing. |
6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning one rises in praise. |
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7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter." |
7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken. |
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8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance and I became frightened. |
8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid. |
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9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate. |
9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray. |
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10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth? |
10. And I said, What profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness? |
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11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper." |
11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper. |
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12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy. |
12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy. |
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13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever. |
13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise. |
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Isaiah 42:18 - JPS
18. Listen, you who are deaf; You blind ones, look up and see!
Yochanan Alef (1 John) 2:12-29
By: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham &
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
12 I am writing to you, sons, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of His (God’s) name (i.e. authority).
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known him who [is] from [the] beginning (i.e. Genesis 1:1ff). I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome wickedness/Lawlessness. I have written to you, young boys, because you have known the Father.
14 I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him who [is] from [the] beginning (i.e. Genesis 1:1ff). I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the Word of God resides in you, and you have overcome wickedness/Lawlessness.
15 Love not the [pagan] world nor the things in the [pagan] world. If anyone should love the [pagan] world, the love of the Father is not in him,
16 because all that is in the [pagan] world, the desire of the Yetser Hara (Heb. for “The Evil Inclination”) and the desire of the eyes, and the boasting of life (material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the [pagan] world.
17 And the [pagan] world and its desire are passing away, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
18 My sons, it is the last time, and according to what you have heard that the anti-messiah (false messiah) is coming, even now many anti-messiahs (false messiahs) have arisen, by which we know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out, in order that it might be known that all of them were not of us.
20 And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth (i.e. Torah – Psalm 119:142), but because you do know it, and because any lie is not of the truth (i.e. Torah – Psalm 119:142).
22 Who is the liar except the one who denies that Yeshua is the Messiah? This person is the anti-messiah (false messiah) the one who denies the Father and the son (anointed King of Israel).
23 Everyone who denies the son (i.e. the anointed King of Israel) does not have the Father either; the one who agrees with the son (i.e. the anointed King of Israel) has the Father also.
24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning (i.e. Gen. 1:1ff) let it be established in you. If what you have heard from the beginning (i.e. Gen. 1:1ff) is established in you, you also will be established in the [knowledge of the] son (i.e. the anointed King of Israel) and in the Father.
25 And this is the promise which He (i.e. God) Himself promised us: eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning the ones who are trying to lead you astray.
27 And as for you, the anointing (Smikha – ordination) which you received from Him (i.e. God) is established in you, and you do not have need that anyone teach you [anything different]. But as His anointing (Smikha – ordination) teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you are established in Him (i.e. God).
28 And now, my sons, be established in him (i.e. the Master), so that whenever he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him (i.e. the Master) at his coming.
29 If you know that He (i.e. God) is righteous/generous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness/ generosity has been fathered by Him (i.e. God).
END OF THE READINGS FOR THE THIRD DAY OF HANUKA
Some Memorable Quotes About Chanuka
“Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space. It does not seek anything in return, it asks not whether you are friend or foe, it gives of itself and it is not thereby diminished.”
Author Unknown
“Love is not consolation. It is light!”
Friedrich Nietzsche
“What is to give light must endure burning.”
Dr. Victor Frankl
“There are two ways of spreading light, to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”
Edith Wharton
“We cannot hold a torch or a candle to light another’s path without brightening our own.”
Ben Sweetland
Days Four thru Eight to come.
Hag Chanukah Sameach!
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David
Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben ABraham
Edited by Adon Ovadyah ben Abraham
and Adon Aviner ben Abraham