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Triennial Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)
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Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings |
First Year of the Triennial Reading Cycle |
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Elul 9, 5783 - August 25/26, 2023 |
First Year of the Shmita Cycle |
Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times: https://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm
Roll of Honor:
This Commentary comes out weekly and on the festivals thanks to the great generosity of:
His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David and beloved wife HH Giberet Batsheva bat Sarah
His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah
His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham
His Honor Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Karmela bat Sarah
His Excellency Adon Luqas Nelson
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
His Excellency Adon Yehoshua ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Rut bat Sarah
His Excellency Adon Michael ben Yosef and beloved wife HE Giberet Sheba bat Sarah
Her Excellency Giberet Prof. Dr. Emunah bat Sarah & beloved family
His Excellency Adon Robert Dick & beloved wife HE Giberet Cobena Dick
His Excellency Adon Ovadya ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Mirit bat Sarah
His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill
His Excellency Adon Shlomoh ben Abraham
His Excellency Adon Ya’aqob ben David
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.
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Blessings Before Torah Study
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our GOD, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah. Amen!
Please Ha-Shem, our GOD, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your delight. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Amen!
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our GOD, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!
Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment. “Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment: This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of Israel:
May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be kind to you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you and grant you peace. – Amen!
This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites, and I will bless them.”
These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple three times a year; how much one must do when performing acts of kindness; and there is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.
These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They are: Honoring one's father and mother; doing acts of kindness; early attendance at the place of Torah study -- morning and night; showing hospitality to guests; visiting the sick; providing for the financial needs of a bride; escorting the dead; being very engrossed in prayer; bringing peace between two people, and between husband and wife; but the study of Torah is as great as all of them together. Amen!
A Prayer for Israel
Our Father in Heaven, Rock, and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land, grant them deliverance, and adorn them in a mantle of victory. Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness.
Lead them, swiftly and upright, to Your city Zion and to Jerusalem, the abode of Your Name, as is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses: “Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it, and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.” Draw our hearts together to revere and venerate Your name and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah, and send us quickly the Messiah son of David, agent of Your vindication, to redeem those who await Your deliverance.
A Prayer for our Beloved Hakhamim
We would like to ask for prayers on behalf of our three Hakhamim, Hakham Dr. Yoseph ben Haggai, Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David, and Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham for their health, as well as for this work, that it may prosper, be of great benefit to all, and that it may be well supported, and we all say, Amen ve Amen!
We pray especially, 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!
Shabbat: “Chiné Avikhá Choléh” - “Behold, your father is sick” &
5th of Seven Sabbaths of Consolation/Strengthening
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Shabbat |
Torah Reading: |
Weekday Torah Reading: |
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הִנֵּה אָבִיךָ חֹלֶה |
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Saturday Afternoon |
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“Chiné Avikhá Choléh” |
Reader 1 – B’resheet 48:1-3 |
Reader 1 – B’resheet 49:1-4 |
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“Behold, your father is sick” |
Reader 2 – B’resheet 48:4:-6 |
Reader 2 – B’resheet 49:5-7 |
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“He aquí tu padre está enfermo” |
Reader 3 – B’resheet 48:7-9 |
Reader 3 – B’resheet 49:1-7 |
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B’resheet (Gen) 48:1-22 |
Reader 4 – B’resheet 48:10-12 |
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Ashlamatah: Melachimbet (II Kings) 13:14-20, 23 |
Reader 5 – B’resheet 48:13-16 |
Monday / Thursday Mornings |
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Special: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 54:1-10 |
Reader 6 – B’resheet 48:17-19 |
Reader 1 – B’resheet 49:1-4 |
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Tehillim (Psalms) 40:1-18 |
Reader 7 – B’resheet 48:20-22 |
Reader 2 – B’resheet 49:5-7 |
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Maftir – B’resheet 48:20-22 |
Reader 3 – B’resheet 49:1-7 |
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N.C.: Mk 4:26-29; |
Isaiah 40:1-26 |
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Contents of the Torah Seder- B’resheet (Genesis) 48: 1-22
· Ephraim and Manasseh – Gen. 48:1-22
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Resheet (Genesis) 48: 1-22
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Rashi |
Targum Pseudo Jonathan |
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1. Now it came to pass after these incidents that [someone] said to Joseph, "Behold, your father is ill." So he took his two sons with him, Manasseh and Ephraim. |
1. And after these things it was told Joseph, Behold, your father is lying ill. And he took his two sons with him., Menasheh and Ephraim. |
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2. And [someone] told Jacob and said, "Behold, your son Joseph is coming to you." And Israel summoned his strength and sat up on the bed. |
2. And it was announced to Ya’aqob, saying, Behold, your son Joseph has come to you: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed. |
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3. And Jacob said to Joseph, "Almighty God appeared to me in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and He blessed me. |
3. And Ya’aqob said to Joseph: El Shadai revealed Himself to me at Luz, in the land of Kenaan, and blessed me. |
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4. And He said to me, 'Behold, I will make you fruitful and cause you to multiply, and I will make you into a congregation of peoples, and I will give this land to your seed after you for an everlasting inheritance.' |
4. And He said to me, Behold, I will increase you and multiply you, and make you an assemblage of tribes, and will give this land to your sons after you for an everlasting inheritance. |
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5. And now, [as for] your two sons, who were born to you in the land of Egypt, until I came to you, to the land of Egypt they are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh shall be mine like Reuben and Simeon. |
5. And now, your two sons who have been born to you in the land of Mizraim before I came to you into Mizraim are mine; Ephraim and Menasheh as Reuben and Shimeon will be reckoned unto me. |
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6. But your children, if you beget [any] after them, shall be yours; by their brothers' names they shall be called in their inheritance. |
6. And your children whom you may beget after them will be yours; by the name of their brethren will they be called in their inheritance. |
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7. As for me, when I came from Padan, Rachel died to me in the land of Canaan on the way, when there was still a stretch of land to come to Ephrath, and I buried her there on the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem." |
7. And I beseech you to bury me with my fathers. Rachel died by me suddenly in the land of Kenaan, while there was yet much ground to come to Ephrath; nor could I carry her to bury her in the Double Cave, but I buried her there, in the way of Ephrath which is Bet-Lechem. |
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8. Then Israel saw Joseph's sons, and he said, "Who are these?" |
8. And Israel looked at the sons of Joseph and said, From whom are these born to you? |
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9. Joseph said to his father, "They are my sons, whom God gave me here." So he said, "Now bring them near to me, so that I may bless them." |
9. And Joseph answered his father, They are my sons which the Word of the LORD gave me according to this writing, according to which I took Asenath the daughter of Dinah your daughter to be my wife. And he said, Bring them now near to me, and I will bless them. |
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10. Now Israel's eyes had become heavy with age, [to the extent that] he could not see. So he drew them near to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. |
10. But Israel's eyes were heavy from age, and he could not see. And he brought them to him, and he kissed them and embraced them. |
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11. And Israel said to Joseph, "I had not expected to see [even] your face, and behold, God has shown me your children too." |
11. And Israel said to Joseph, To see thy face I had not reckoned, but, behold, the LORD has also showed me your sons. |
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12. And Joseph took them out from upon his [Jacob's] knees, and he prostrated himself to the ground. |
12. And Joseph brought them out from (between) his knees, and worshipped on his face upon the ground. |
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13. And Joseph took them both, Ephraim at his right, from Israel's left, and Manasseh at his left, from Israel's right, and he brought [them] near to him. |
13. And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right side, which was Israel's left, and Menasheh on his left side, which was Israel's right, and brought them to him. |
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14. But Israel stretched out his right hand and placed [it] on Ephraim's head, although he was the younger, and his left hand [he placed] on Manasseh's head. He guided his hands deliberately, for Manasseh was the firstborn. |
14. And Israel stretched out his right hand and laid it upon the head of Ephraim, though he was the younger; and his left hand upon the head of Menasheh, altering his hands, for Menasheh was the firstborn. |
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15. And he blessed Joseph and said, "God, before Whom my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, walked, God Who sustained me as long as I am alive, until this day, |
15. And he blessed Joseph, and said: The Lord, before whom my fathers Abraham and Yitschaq, did serve; the LORD who has fed me since I have been unto this day, |
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16. may the angel who redeemed me from all harm bless the youths, and may they be called by my name and the name of my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and may they multiply abundantly like fish, in the midst of the land." |
16. be pleased that the angel whom You did ordain for me, to redeem me from all evil, may bless the children; and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers Abrabam and Yitschaq. And as the fishes of the sea in multiplying are multiplied in the sea, so may the children of Joseph be multiplied abundantly in the midst of the earth. |
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17. And Joseph saw that his father was placing his right hand on Ephraim's head, and it displeased him. So he held up his father's hand to remove it from upon Ephraim's head [to place it] on Manasseh's head. |
17. And Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand upon Ephraim's head; and it was evil before him, and he uplifted his father's hand to remove it from off the head of Ephraim, that it might rest on the head of Menasheh. |
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18. And Joseph said to his father, "Not so, Father, for this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head." |
18. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn; lay thy right hand on his head. |
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19. But his father refused, and he said, "I know, my son, I know; he too will become a people, and he too will be great. But his younger brother will be greater than he, and his children['s fame] will fill the nations." |
19. But his father was not willing, and said, I know, my son, I know that he is the firstborn, and also that he will be a great people, and will also be multiplied; yet will his younger brother be greater than he, and his sons be greater among the Gentiles. |
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20. So he blessed them on that day, saying, "With you, Israel will bless, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh,' " and he placed Ephraim before Manasseh. |
20. And he blessed them in that day, saying, In you, Joseph my son, will the house of Israel bless their infants in the day of their circumcision, saying, The LORD set you as Ephraim and as Menasheh. And in the numbering of the tribes the prince of Ephraim will be numbered before the prince of Menasheh. And he appointed that Ephraim should be before Menasheh. |
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21. And Israel said to Joseph, "Behold, I am going to die, and God will be with you, and He will return you to the land of your forefathers. |
21. And Israel said to Joseph, Behold, my end comes to die. But the Word of the LORD will be your Helper, and restore you to the land of your fathers; |
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22. And I have given you one portion over your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow." |
22. and I, behold, I have given to you the city of Shekhem, one portion for a gift above your brethren, which I took from the hand of the Amorites at the time that you went into the midst of it, and I arose and helped you with my sword and with my bow. |
Welcome to the World of P’shat Exegesis
In order to understand the finished work of the P’shat mode of interpretation of the Torah, one needs to take into account that the P’shat is intended to produce a catechetical output, whereby a question/s is/are raised and an answer/a is/are given using the seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel and as well as the laws of Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew expression.
The Seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel are as follows
[cf. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=472&letter=R]:
1. Ḳal va-ḥomer: “Argumentum a minori ad majus” or “a majori ad minus”; corresponding to the scholastic proof a fortiori.
2. Gezerah shavah: Argument from analogy. Biblical passages containing synonyms or homonyms are subject, however much they differ in other respects, to identical definitions and applications.
3. Binyan ab mi-katub eḥad: Application of a provision found in one passage only to passages which are related to the first in content but do not contain the provision in question.
4. Binyan ab mi-shene ketubim: The same as the preceding, except that the provision is generalized from two Biblical passages.
5. Kelal u-Peraṭ and Peraṭ u-kelal: Definition of the general by the particular, and of the particular by the general.
6. Ka-yoẓe bo mi-maḳom aḥer: Similarity in content to another Scriptural passage.
7. Dabar ha-lamed me-’inyano: Interpretation deduced from the context.
Welcome to the World of Remes Exegesis
Thirteen rules compiled by Rabbi Ishmael b. Elisha for the elucidation of the Torah and for making halakic deductions from it. They are, strictly speaking, mere amplifications of the seven Rules of Hillel, and are collected in the Baraita
of R. Ishmael, forming the introduction to the Sifra and reading as follows:
1. Ḳal wa-ḥomer: Identical with the first rule of Hillel.
2. Gezerah shawah: Identical with the second rule of Hillel.
3. Binyan ab: Rules deduced from a single passage of Scripture and rules deduced from two passages. This rule is a combination of the third and fourth rules of Hillel.
4. Kelal u-Peraṭ: The general and the particular.
5. u-Peraṭ u-kelal: The particular and the general.
6. Kelal u-Peraṭ u-kelal: The general, the particular, and the general.
7. The general which requires elucidation by the particular, and the particular which requires elucidation by the general.
8. The particular implied in the general and excepted from it for pedagogic purposes elucidates the general as well as the particular.
9. The particular implied in the general and excepted from it on account of the special regulation which corresponds in concept to the general, is thus isolated to decrease rather than to increase the rigidity of its application.
10. The particular implied in the general and excepted from it on account of some other special regulation which does not correspond in concept to the general, is thus isolated either to decrease or to increase the rigidity of its application.
11. The particular implied in the general and excepted from it on account of a new and reversed decision can be referred to the general only in case the passage under consideration makes an explicit reference to it.
12. Deduction from the context.
13. When two Biblical passages contradict each other the contradiction in question must be solved by reference to a third passage.
Rules seven to eleven are formed by a subdivision of the fifth rule of Hillel; rule twelve corresponds to the seventh rule of Hillel, but is amplified in certain particulars; rule thirteen does not occur in Hillel, while, on the other hand, the sixth rule of Hillel is omitted by Ishmael. With regard to the rules and their application in general. These rules are found also on the morning prayers of any Jewish Orthodox Siddur.
Reading Assignment:
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The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez By: Rabbi Yaaqov Culi, Translated by: Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan Published by: Moznaim Publishing Corp. (New York, 1990) Vol. 3b – “The Twelve Tribes” pp. 500 -513 |
Ramban: Genesis Commentary on the Torah
Translated and Annotated by Rabbi Dr. Charles Chavel Published by Shilo Publishing House, Inc. (New York, 1971) pp. 570 - 580 |
Rashi’s Commentary for: B’resheet (Genesis) 48:1-22
1 that [someone] said to Joseph One of the tellers, and this is an elliptical verse. Some say, however, that Ephraim was accustomed to study with Jacob, and when Jacob became ill in the land of Goshen, Ephraim went to his father to Egypt to tell him.
so he took his two sons with him so that Jacob should bless them before his death.
2 And [someone] told The teller [told] Jacob, but [the text] does not specify who [it was], and many [Scriptural] verses are elliptical.
And Israel summoned his strength He said, “Although he is my son, he is a king; [therefore,] I will bestow honor upon him” [Midrash Tanchuma Vayechi 6]. From here [we learn] that we must bestow honor upon royalty, as Moses bestowed honor upon royalty, [as it is written, that Moses said to Pharaoh,] “Then all these servants of yours will come down to me” (Exod. 11:8), [rather than “You will come down to me”]. And so Elijah [also bestowed honor upon royalty, as it is written]: “And he girded his loins [and ran before Ahab until coming to Jezreel]” (I Kings 18:46). -[from Mechilta Beshallach Section 13]
4 and I will make you into a congregation of peoples He announced to me that another congregation of peoples was to be descended from me. Although he said to me, “A nation and a congregation of nations [shall come into existence from you]” (Gen 35:11) [meaning three nations], by “a nation,” He promised me [the birth of] Benjamin. “A congregation of nations” means two in addition to Benjamin, but no other son was born to me. Thus I learned that one of my tribes was destined to be divided [in two]. So now, I am giving you that gift.-[from Pesikta Rabbathi ch. 3]
5 who were born to you…until I came to you Before I came to you, i.e., those who were born since you left me [and] I came to you.
they are mine They are counted with the rest of my sons, to take a share in the land, each one exactly as each [of my other sons].-[from Baba Bathra 122b-123a]
6 But your children If you have any more [children], they will not be counted among my sons, but will be included among the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, and they will not have a [separate] name like [each of] the [other] tribes as regards the inheritance. Now, although the land [of Israel] was divided according to their heads (the population of each tribe), as it is written: “To the large [tribe] you shall increase its inheritance” (Num. 26: 54); and each man received an equal share, except for the firstborn. Nevertheless, only these (Ephraim and Manasseh) were called tribes [regarding the ability] [to cast a lot in the land according to the number of names of the tribes and [regarding having] a prince for each tribe, and groups [of tribes in the desert] for this one and for that one]. [Note that the bracketed material does not appear in early editions of Rashi.]
7 As for me, when I came from Padan, etc. Although I burden you to take me to be buried in the land of Canaan, and I did not do so to your mother, for she died close to Bethlehem.-[from Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel]
a stretch of land Heb. כִּבְרַת-אֶרֶץ, a measure of land, which is two thousand cubits, equivalent to the measure of the Sabbath boundary (the distance a person may walk on the Sabbath), according to the statement of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan. [The preceding material should be considered parenthetic. The following is Jacob’s explanation of why he did not bury Rachel in the cave of Machpelah.] You should not say that the rains prevented me from transporting her and burying her in Hebron, [for] it was the dry season, when the earth is riddled and full of holes like a sieve (כְּבָרָה).
and I buried her there And I did not take her even to Bethlehem to bring her into the Land (i.e., into the inhabited region of the Holy Land-[Sifthei Chachamim]), and I know that you hold it against me; but you should know that I buried her there by divine command, so that she would be of assistance to her children. When Nebuzaradan exiles them (the Israelites), and they pass by there, Rachel will emerge from her grave and weep and beg mercy for them, as it is said: “A voice is heard on high, [lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel is weeping for her children]” (Jer. 31:14). And the Holy One, blessed be He, answers her, “‘There is reward for your work,’ says the Lord,… ‘and the children shall return to their own border’ ” (ibid. verses 15, 16) (Pesikta Rabbathi ch. 3). Onkelos, however, renders [כִּבְרַת-אֶרֶץ as] כְּרוּב אַרְעָא, [meaning:] the measure of plowing in a day [Other editions: [a measure of plowing] of land], and I say that they (people in Biblical times) had a measurement called one full furrow, caruede in Old French, [which is] a land measure, plowed land, as we say: “He plows (כָּרִיב) and plows again” (B.M. 107a); “As much as a fox picks up [on its feet] from a plowed field (מִבֵּי כַּרְבָּא)” (Yoma 43b).
8 Then Israel saw Joseph’s sons-He attempted to bless them, but the Shechinah withdrew from him because of Jeroboam and Ahab, who were destined to be born from Ephraim, and Jehu and his sons, [who were destined to be born] from Manasseh.-[from Tanchuma Vayechi 6] [Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the first king of the Northern Kingdom, and Ahab the son of Omri were notorious idolaters.]
and he said, “Who are these?” Where did these come from [meaning: From whom were they born], that they are unworthy of a blessing?-[from Tanchuma Vayechi 6]
9 here Heb. בּזֶה, lit., in this, or with this. He (Joseph) showed him (Jacob) the document of betrothal and the kethubah, and Joseph prayed for mercy concerning the matter, and the Holy Spirit [returned and] rested upon him (Jacob). -[from Kallah Rabbathi 3:19]
So he said, “Now bring them near to me, so that I may bless them.” This is what Scripture [is referring to when it] states: “And I (the Holy One) trained it into Ephraim; he took them on his arms” (Hosea 11:3). I trained My spirit into Jacob for Ephraim’s sake, and he took them upon his arms.-[from Tanchuma Vayechi 7]
11 I had not expected Heb. א פִלָלְתִּי. I dared not entertain the thought that I would see your face again. פִלָלְתִּי is a word meaning thought, similar to “Bring counsel, deliberate thought (פְלִילָה)” (Isa. 16:3).
12 And Joseph took them out from upon his [Jacob’s] knees After he (Jacob) had kissed them, Joseph took them off his (Jacob’s) knees to sit them down, this one to the right and this one to the left, [to make it easier for his father] to lay his hands upon them and bless them.
and he prostrated himself to the ground when he moved backward from before his father.
13 Ephraim at his right, from Israel’s left If one comes toward his friend, his right is opposite his friend’s left. Since he (Manasseh) is the firstborn, he should be placed on the right for the blessing.-[fromPeskita Rabbathi ch. 3]
14 He guided his hands deliberately Heb. שִׂכֵּל. As the Targum renders: אַחְכִּמִינוּן, he put wisdom into them. Deliberately and with wisdom, he guided his hands for that purpose, and with knowledge, for he knew [full well] that Manasseh was the firstborn, but he nevertheless did not place his right hand upon him.
16 the angel who redeemed me The angel who was usually sent to me in my distress, as the matter is stated: “And an angel of God said to me in a dream, ‘Jacob!…I am the God of Bethel’ ” (Gen. 31:11-13). -[after Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel]
bless the youths Manasseh and Ephraim.
and may they multiply…like fish [Just] like fish, which proliferate and multiply, and are unaffected by the evil eye.-[from Onkelos and Gen. Rabbah 97:3]
17 So he held up his father’s hand He lifted it off his son’s head and held it up with his [own] hand.
19 I know, my son, I know-that he is the firstborn.
he too will become a people, etc.-for Gideon is destined to be descended from him. [Gideon] through whom the Holy One, blessed be He, will perform a miracle.-[from Midrash Tanchuma Vayechi 7]
But his younger brother will be greater than he for Joshua is destined to be descended from him, [and Joshua is] the one who will distribute the inheritances of the land and teach Torah to Israel.-[from Midrash Tanchuma Vayechi 7]
and his children[’s fame] will fill the nations The whole world will be filled when his fame and his name are spread when he stops the sun in Gibeon and the moon in the Valley of Ajalon.-[from Abodah Zarah25a]
20 With you, Israel will bless Whoever wishes to bless his sons, will bless them with their blessing (with a blessing related to them), and a man will say to his son, “May God make you like Ephraim and like Manasseh.”-[from Sifrei Nasso 18]
and he placed Ephraim Before Manasseh in his blessing, to give him precedence in the groupings [of the tribes in the desert] and [also] at the dedication of [the Tabernacle by] the [tribal] princes.-[from Gen. Rabbah 97:5]
22 And I have given you Since you are taking the trouble to occupy yourself with my burial, I have given you an inheritance where you will be buried. And which is this? This is Shechem, as it is said: “And Joseph’s bones, which the children of Israel had brought up out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem” (Josh. 24:32).
one portion over your brothers Heb. שְׁכֶם אַחַד עַל אַחֶיךָ, the actual [city of] Shechem, which will be for you one share over your brothers. [Accordingly, we render: Shechem, [which is] one [share] over your brothers.]-[from Gen. Rabbah 97:6] Another explanation: “One portion” refers to the birthright, and indicates that his (Joseph’s) sons should take two shares. שְׁכֶם is a word meaning “a portion,” as the Targumrenders. There are many similar instances in Scripture: “For You shall place them as a portion (שְׁכֶם)” (Ps. 21:13), You shall place my enemies before me as portions; “I will divide a portion (שְׁכֶם)” (ibid. 60: 8); “…murder on the way, שֶׁכְמָה " (Hos. 6:9), [meaning:] each one his share; “to worship Him of one accord אֶחָד) (שְׁכֶם” (Zeph. 3:9), [meaning: in one group].
which I took from the hand of the Amorite From the hand of Esau, who behaved like an Amorite (Gen. Rabbah 97:6). Another explanation [of why Esau is called אֱמֽרִי]: who deceived his father with the sayings(אִמְרֵי) of his mouth.
with my sword and with my bow-When Simeon and Levi slew the men of Shechem, all those [nations] around them (Jacob’s sons) assembled to attack them, and Jacob girded weapons of war against them.-[from Gen. Rabbah 97:6, Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel]
with my sword and with my bow I. e., his cleverness and his prayer.
Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 40:1-18
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Rashi |
Targum on the Psalms |
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1. For the conductor, of David a song. |
1. For praise. Of David, a psalm. |
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2. I have greatly hoped for the Lord, and He extended [His ear] to me and heard my cry. |
2. I truly hoped in the LORD, and He turned to me and received my supplication. |
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3. And He drew me up out of the roaring pit, from the thick mire, and He set my feet upon a rock, He established my steps. |
3. And He brought me up from the pit of turmoil, from the mire of filth; and He set my feet on the rock, He made my steps firm. |
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4. He put a new song into my mouth, a praise to our God, so that many may see and fear, and trust in the Lord. |
4. And He put in my mouth a new psalm: Let there be praise before the LORD our God, let many see and fear and hope in the word of the LORD. |
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5. Praiseworthy is the man who made the Lord his trust, and did not turn to the haughty and those who turn to falsehood. |
5. Happy the man who made the LORD his confidence, and did not look toward the disobedient and those who speak falsehood. |
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6. You have done great things, You, O Lord my God. Your wonders and Your thoughts are for us. There is none to equal You; were I to tell and speak, they would be too many to tell. |
6. Many are the miracles that You have done, O LORD my God; Your wonders and favor towards us are impossible to set out; I will recount and speak to You Your praise; they are too great to tell. |
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7. You desired neither sacrifice nor meal offering; You dug ears for me; a burnt offering or a sin offering You did not request. |
7. You do not want sacrifice and offering; You have scooped out ears for me to hear Your redemption; You have not asked for holocaust and sin offering. |
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8. Then I said, "Behold I have come," with a scroll of a book written for me. |
8. Then I said, "Behold, I have entered into eternal life," whenever I occupy myself with the scroll of the book of Torah that was written for my sake. |
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9. O God, I desired to do Your will and [to have] Your law within my innards. |
9. I desire to do Your will, O God; and Your Torah is contained in my deepest self. |
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10. I brought tidings of righteousness in a great assembly. Behold, I will not withhold my lips, O Lord, You know. |
10. I have proclaimed righteousness/generosity in the great assembly; behold, I will not withhold my lips; O LORD my God, You know this. |
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11. I did not conceal Your charity within my heart; I stated Your faith and Your salvation-I did not withhold Your kindness and truth-to a great assembly. |
11. I have not concealed Your righteousness.in my heart, I have uttered Your truth and Your redemption; I have not kept back Your goodness and faithfulness in the great assembly. |
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12. You, O Lord, do not withhold Your mercies from me; may Your kindness and Your truth always watch me. |
12. Therefore You, O LORD, do not withhold Your mercy from me; may Your goodness and truth always keep me. |
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13. For countless evils have encompassed me; my iniquities have overtaken me and I could not see [them because] they are more numerous than the hairs of my head, and my heart has forsaken me. |
13. For evils are strong against me, until they are without number; my sins have overtaken me and I cannot see; they are more numerous than the hairs of my head; and my thoughts have left me. |
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14. O Lord, be willing to save me; O Lord, hasten to my help. |
14. Be pleased, O LORD, to save me; O LORD, hasten to my aid. |
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15. May those who seek my soul to destroy it be shamed and embarrassed together; may those who seek to harm me retreat and be humiliated. |
15. Those who seek to destroy my soul will be ashamed and confused together; those who desire my ruin will turn back and be disgraced. |
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16. May they be bewildered afterwards because of their shame, those who say about me, "Aha! Aha!" |
16. They will become senseless because of their shame those who say to me, "We have rejoiced at his ruin, we rejoiced at his misery." |
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17. All who seek You shall exult and rejoice; those who love Your salvation shall constantly say, "May the Lord be magnified." |
17. All who seek You will rejoice and be glad in Your word; and those who love Your redemption will say continually, "Let the might of the LORD be magnified." |
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18. But I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my rescuer, my God; do not delay. |
18. But I am humble and poor, O LORD; let good be devised for me, You are my help and salvation; O my God, do not delay. |
Rashi’s Commentary on Tehillim (Psalms) 40:1-18
2 I have greatly hoped for the Lord in Egypt, and this psalm is meant for all Israel.
and He extended to me His ear.
3 out of the roaring pit From the imprisonment of Egypt and from the roaring of their tumult.
from the thick mire From the sea. היון is an expression of mud, fanyas in Old French (fange in modern French), slime.
He established Heb. כונן, He prepared my steps.
4 a new song The song of the sea.
5 the haughty Heb. רהבים, an expression of haughtiness, as (in Isa. 3:5): “they shall behave haughtily (ירהבו), the youth”; (Song 6:5) “for they have made me haughty (הרהבותי).”
and those who turn to falsehood Those who turn from the straight way to follow the falsehood of pagan deities; e tornons in Old French, and those who turn away; in modern French, et se tournant.
6 Your wonders and Your thoughts are for us You created Your world for us; You split the sea for us, and You thought for us to benefit us in our end [by keeping us] in the desert for forty years because of the Amorites, who cut down the trees and made their land desolate when they heard that Israel was coming out to go to inherit their land.
There is none to equal You We cannot compare any king or savior to You. The expression ערך is like (Lev. 27: 12): “valuation (כערכך),” a prizjjr in Old French, to estimate, [a priser, in modern French].
were I to tell and speak Were I to come and tell and speak, they would be too many to tell.
7 You desired neither sacrifice nor meal offering on the day of the giving of the Torah, as the matter that is stated (in Exod. 19:5): “And now, if you will earnestly hearken to My voice, etc.,” and likewise (in Jer. 7:22) Scripture states: “For neither did I speak with your forefathers nor did I command them, etc., concerning a burnt offering or a sacrifice.” I said, (Lev. 1:2) “If...from among you,” but I did not require it as an obligation to burden you. The daily sacrifices and the additional sacrifices are only to bring Me pleasure, that I ordained and My will was performed, but it is a small matter.
You dug ears for me saying, “Hearken to My voice.”
You dug You made them hollow [enabling me] to hear.
8 Then at the time of the giving of the Torah, behold I came to You to be bound in Your covenant. (Exod. 24:7): “We will do and hear,” and this matter is written as testimony concerning me in the scroll of the book, i.e., in the Law of Moses.
9 and [to have] Your law within my innards Even my food is according to Your law; I ate neither unclean beasts nor untithed produce.
10 I brought tidings of righteousness The song by the sea, the song by the well (Num. 21:17-20), and the song of Deborah (Jud. 5).
I will not withhold Heb. אכלא, I will not withhold, an expression of (Gen. 8:2): “And the rain was restrained (ויכלא).”
12 do not withhold Your mercies Heb. לא תכלא, do not withhold.
watch me Heb. יצרוני, watch me.
13 have encompassed Heb. אפפו, have surrounded.
15 to destroy it Heb. לספותה, to destroy it, as we translate (in Deut. 2:14): “until the entire generation...had vanished, עד דסף כל־דרא.
16 may they be bewildered [as translated,] may they be bewildered.
afterwards because of their shame Heb. על־עקב. When they receive their shame in the wake of everything [they have done], in the measure that they measured out and in the way they walked against Me. עקב is like (below 77:20): “and your steps (ועקבותיך) were not known”; (Song 1:8), “go your way in the footsteps of (בעקבי) the flocks.” They are all an expression of footsteps, in French traces, footprints on the heel.
those who say about me, “Aha! Aha!” Those who say about me and for me, “Aha!” When trouble comes, they pray for our misfortune.
18 poor Every expression of poor and needy in Psalms refers only to Israel.
may...think of me Heb יחשב. May He pay heed to me to think of my poverty and neediness, to save me. Pensa in French, to think.
Meditation from the Psalms
Tehillim (Psalms) 40:1-18
By: H. Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David
The preceding Psalms described David in the throes of his debilitating malady. This chapter of Psalms is the joyous song he composed when he returned to full health.[1] It is not an ordinary composition; but rather a very special שיר חדש, a new song,[2] for it describes David's unflagging faith which he renewed and refreshed.[3]
The first twelve verses of this chapter of Psalms would indicate that David was at the height of bliss when he uttered these words. [The ecstasy and the eloquence justify the description 'a new song' used in v. 4.] But, if we read beyond v. 12, we see that the song was written when the Psalmist was beset by many dangers and sorely in need of deliverance.[4] In the midst of these woes David finds strength and inspiration in the many previous occasions when God rescued him. Thereby HaShem demonstrated to David that He is the One who grants victory, by endowing man with spiritual fortitude with which to withstand all earthly tribulations. This illustrates the unique power of David to extract rapturous joy from the depths of adversity.[5]
Rashi and the Midrash emphasize another important dimension of this chapter of psalms, which addresses itself to all of Israel. In the Egyptian bondage, the nation was crippled by harsh slavery. Only by virtue of their intense, enduring faithfulness (אֱמוּנָתְךָ ) were the Israelites liberated and given the opportunity to sing a new song at the sea.[6]
In addition, this chapter of Psalms alludes to the future Messianic redemption which will be the result of Israel's extraordinary faithfulness and which will stimulate unprecedented waves of fresh song and jubilation.[7]
I would like to use the following pasuk to delve more deeply into the idea of oral law:
Tehillim (Psalms) 40:9 I delight to do Thy will, O my God; yea, Thy law is in my inmost parts.'
Chazal teach that the written law is like the physical world and the oral law is like the spiritual world. One is written on parchment and the other is in the hearts and minds of the pious. This paper was written to show that the scripture assumes that there is an oral law, and that without the oral law, the scriptures are incomplete.
I believe that one of the most telling arguments for the requirement of an oral law, other than the command of Torah, is the tradition that gives us the pronunciation of the words of the Torah.
The words written in a Torah scroll are written without any vowel markings. This means that any word in the Torah has potentially many meanings, depending on what vowels are applied to the consonants to form the sounds of the word. We have a tradition which teaches us how the words are pronounced. This tradition, found in the oral law, defines the meaning of each word in the Torah!
Thus, all the Christian and Jewish translations of the Torah rely on this tradition for their translations. Without this tradition it would be impossible to make a translation of the Torah. Without this tradition there would be anarchy in the translations and in the pronunciation of the words. Without this tradition it would be impossible to know what HaShem is telling us through His Torah.
Each word, in the Torah, can be read and made to mean almost anything, depending on the vowels one introduces. The first verse in chapter two of Genesis reads: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished.” It can also be read as: “Thus the heavens and the earth were destroyed.” Thus we see that without an oral tradition to teach us the vowels and the sounds of the words, it would be impossible for us to understand their meaning.
The first oral law was given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The oral command was:
Bereshit (Genesis) 2:15-17 HaShem took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And HaShem commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Not only was this an oral command, but it also was a chok, a command without a reason, and for which we can not even deduce a reason.[8] This first oral command declared all fruit to be kosher except the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Consider that ALL of the commands given by HaShem prior to Sinai, were all oral. This includes the command for the first Passover, the command to build Noah's ark, and all of the commands kept by Abraham:
Bereshit (Genesis) 26:5 Because Abraham obeyed me and kept my requirements, my commands, my decrees and my laws."
Here we have Abraham keeping all of HaShem's laws, more than four hundred years before the written Torah was given!
To emphasize the requirement that we must have an oral law, I would like to give a few examples to illustrate that the Torah can not stand alone. There can be no sola scriptura!
The Temple buildings are not described in enough detail to build one without the oral law!
In the making of the tabernacle the size and shape of many items is not sufficiently described in Exodus to reproduce them; however, HaShem told Moshe in:
Shemot (Exodus 25:8-9 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
And again in:
Shemot (Exodus) 25: 31-40 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 33 Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. 34 And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 35 And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 36 Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 37 And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. 40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
There would have to be an oral description given to the workmen if they were to produce the items according to the pattern. The written description in the Torah is not sufficient for reproduction of size and shape. This oral description is said to have been handed down to the next generation by the seventy elders.
HaShem has forbidden us to work on Shabbat:
Shemot (Exodus) 20:9-11 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of HaShem thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:11 For in six days HaShem made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore HaShem blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
The problem, of course, is that the Torah does NOT define what work is. So, without an oral law, we do not know whether we can mow the lawn or tend our garden. Yet, with an oral law, we know that both are forbidden. The oral law defines work as:
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The Thirty-nine Melachot (works) Forbidden on Shabbat
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Shabbath 73a MISHNAH. THE PRIMARY LABOURS ARE FORTY LESS ONE, [VIZ.:] SOWING, PLOUGHING, REAPING, BINDING SHEAVES, THRESHING, WINNOWING, SELECTING, GRINDING, SIFTING, KNEADING, BAKING, SHEARING WOOL, BLEACHING, HACKLING, DYEING, SPINNING, STRETCHING THE THREADS, THE MAKING OF TWO MESHES, WEAVING TWO THREADS, DIVIDING TWO THREADS, TYING [KNOTTING] AND UNTYING, SEWING TWO STITCHES, TEARING IN ORDER TO SEW TWO STITCHES, CAPTURING A DEER, SLAUGHTERING, OR FLAYING, OR SALTING IT, CURING ITS HIDE, SCRAPING IT [OF ITS HAIR], CUTTING IT UP, WRITING TWO LETTERS, ERASING IN ORDER TO WRITE TWO LETTERS [OVER THE ERASURE], BUILDING, PULLING DOWN, EXTINGUISHING, KINDLING, STRIKING WITH A HAMMER, [AND] CARRYING OUT FROM ONE DOMAIN TO ANOTHER: THESE ARE THE FORTY PRIMARY LABOURS LESS ONE.
Thus we see that it is impossible to fulfill the requirements of the Torah without the oral law.
In the Prophets we see that HaShem acknowledges the oral law and explicitly restates it as a command:
Yirmeyahu (Jeremiah) 17:21-22 Thus saith HaShem; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; 22 Neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers.
To understand this pasuk (verse), please recall that Yirmeyahu was written about 800 years AFTER the Torah was given on Mt. Sinai. This means that HaShem could have included this command in the written Torah. The question is, why did He give it orally? The answer is found in the understanding that EVERY one of the Torah’s 613 commands require the oral law to teach us HOW to obey the written command. Thus the Torah tells us not to work on Shabbat and the oral law comes to tell us HOW not to work.
The Torah never commands us not to buy or sell on the Sabbath, however, it was obviously a prohibition in:
Ezra-Nechemiah (Nehemiah) 13:15-22 In those days I saw men in Judah treading winepresses on the Sabbath and bringing in grain and loading it on donkeys, together with wine, grapes, figs and all other kinds of loads. And they were bringing all this into Jerusalem on the Sabbath. Therefore I warned them against selling food on that day. Men from Tyre who lived in Jerusalem were bringing in fish and all kinds of merchandise and selling them in Jerusalem on the Sabbath to the people of Judah. I rebuked the nobles of Judah and said to them, "What is this wicked thing you are doing--desecrating the Sabbath day? Didn't your forefathers do the same things, so that our HaShem brought all this calamity upon us and upon this city? Now you are stirring up more wrath against Israel by desecrating the Sabbath." When evening shadows fell on the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I ordered the doors to be shut and not opened until the Sabbath was over. I stationed some of my own men at the gates so that no load could be brought in on the Sabbath day. Once or twice the merchants and sellers of all kinds of goods spent the night outside Jerusalem. But I warned them and said, "Why do you spend the night by the wall? If you do this again, I will lay hands on you." From that time on they no longer came on the Sabbath. Then I commanded the Levites to purify themselves and go and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this also, O my G-d, and show mercy to me according to your great love.
In this next passage we see some women preparing spices and resting on the Sabbath. The Torah does not forbid us to prepare a body for burial on the Sabbath; so, why do these women rest?
Luqas (Luke) 23:56 - 24:1 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.
Baba Bathra 100b An objection was raised: [It has been stated that] they said unto him, ‘If so, such [procedure] should be permitted on the Sabbath also’. Now, if it is said [that the ceremonial is to take place] in the graveyard and on the first day [only], [for] what [purpose] is the graveyard required on the Sabbath? — In [the case of] a town which is near a graveyard [and the dead] was brought [to burial] at twilight.
Shabbath 73a MISHNAH. THE PRIMARY LABOURS ARE FORTY LESS ONE, [VIZ.:] SOWING, PLOUGHING, REAPING, BINDING SHEAVES, THRESHING, WINNOWING, SELECTING, GRINDING, SIFTING, KNEADING, BAKING, SHEARING WOOL, BLEACHING, HACKLING, DYEING, SPINNING, STRETCHING THE THREADS, THE MAKING OF TWO MESHES, WEAVING TWO THREADS, DIVIDING TWO THREADS,TYING [KNOTTING] AND UNTYING, SEWING TWO STITCHES, TEARING IN ORDER TO SEW TWO STITCHES, CAPTURING A DEER, SLAUGHTERING, OR FLAYING, OR SALTING IT, CURING ITS HIDE, SCRAPING IT [OF ITS HAIR], CUTTING IT UP, WRITING TWO LETTERS, ERASING IN ORDER TO WRITE TWO LETTERS [OVER THE ERASURE], BUILDING, PULLING DOWN, EXTINGUISHING, KINDLING, STRIKING WITH A HAMMER, [AND] CARRYING OUT FROM ONE DOMAIN TO ANOTHER: THESE ARE THE FORTY PRIMARY LABOURS LESS ONE.
So, the women observed the oral law and rested on the Sabbath rather than preparing Yeshua's body. Notice that they rested "in obedience to the commandment".
A Sabbath day's journey is not found in the Tanach, yet it is clearly part of the oral law:
II Luqas (Acts) 1:4-12 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For Yochanan (John) baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Yeshua, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day's walk from the city.
Eiruvin 42a R. Nahman stated in the name of Shmuel: If a man was walking and did not know where the Sabbath limit ended he may walk a distance of two thousand moderate paces; and this constitutes for him the Sabbath limit.
The Oral law says:
There are four fast days: Tammuz 17, Av 9, Tishri 3, and Tevet 10. The entire Talmud tractate of Taanit contains the details of these fasts. The Tanach records these fasts as though they were contained in the written Torah:
Zechariah 7:2-5 The people of Bethel had sent Sharezer and Regem-Melech, together with their men, to entreat HaShem By asking the priests of the house of G-d Almighty and the prophets, "Should I mourn and fast in the fifth month, as I have done for so many years?" Then the word of HaShem Almighty came to me: "Ask all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh months for the past seventy years, was it really for me that you fasted?
None of these four fasts is mentioned anywhere in the Tanach, except here. Yet no one disputes that they are required to fast on these four days, because they understand the validity of the oral law.
The only fast in the Torah concerned Yom HaKippurim in the seventh month. Note how HaShem will change the meaning of this oral law:
Zechariah 8:19 This is what HaShem Almighty says: "The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace."
Thus we see that the oral law is accepted by the Jewish people and that these fasts are assumed to be true by the prophet Zechariah.
Now let’s look at our most solemn fast of the year. We see this fast in the Nazarean Codicil:
II Luqas (Acts) 27:5-10 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also."
The Torah never commands a fast. How then do we know that there is a day of fasting which is so great as to be known as “the fast”? The Torah says:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:29 "This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work--whether native-born or an alien living among you--
Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:27 "The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to HaShem by fire.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 29:7 "'On the tenth day of this seventh month hold a sacred assembly. You must deny yourselves and do no work.
The Mishna says:
Yoma Chapter 8, Mishna 1: On the Day of Atonement eating, drinking, washing, anointing, putting on sandals, and sexual intercourse are forbidden...
It is the Torah Shebaal Peh, the Oral Torah that supplies the details. These are but a few examples of why, without the Oral Law, the Written Torah has no meaning.
Moshe spent those forty days and nights receiving the Oral Law, in its entirety, with all the details and nuances, so that in future generations, should there be an outstanding scholar who might extrapolate and infer from what he has received by the Mesorah, (the transmission of the Torah) .... that, too, was what Moshe learned on Sinai from HaShem.
The Torah commands the Jewish people to perform a number of different commandments, the violation of which could lead to severe punishment, including a death penalty. Yet, even with the severity of laws such as the refraining from work on the Sabbath, no details are given as to the practical applications of correct compliance. This can be problematic. If the law does not stipulate what is permitted and what is forbidden, how can it possibly be observed? Already in the days of Moshe it is recorded [Bamidbar (Numbers).15:32-36] that a man, who went out to pick up sticks on the Sabbath, was punished by stoning. This is quite a sentence. Where do we read in the Torah that the ‘work’ that this man did was forbidden? We don’t find it. The Torah doesn’t say it. Nonetheless, when he performed his forbidden deed it was recognized by everyone as a violation of the Sabbath. He was imprisoned awaiting response to an inquiry to HaShem as to what should be this man’s punishment. The penalty came back and it was most severe. This man DIED for disobeying the oral law, and the death penalty was explicitly handed down by HaShem!
The story of Ruth is read at the time of the giving of the Torah so that we might know that the written Torah and the oral Torah, are together one Torah, and one is not possible without the other. For David, the anointed of HaShem unto all generations, was descended from a Moabite woman, and his legitimacy depended on the oral Torah, which declared that only a Moabite man was prohibited from entering the fold of Israel, but not a Moabite woman. On the foundations of the House of David, the whole people of Israel is supported. All this could only come about through the authority of the oral Torah.
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 23:3 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of HaShem, even down to the tenth generation.
The existence of the oral tradition is alluded to in the Written Law in numerous places. For example: The Torah says: (Deut. 12:20) "When HaShem expands your borders as He promised you, and your natural desire to eat meat asserts itself, so that you say; 'I wish to eat meat', you may eat as much meat as you wish, you need only slaughter your cattle and small animals, in the manner I have commanded you." Nowhere in the Written Torah is such a manner described. So what is the manner in which we are supposed to slaughter cattle?
Rashi puts it this way:
you may slaughter... as I have commanded you We learn [from here] that there is a commandment regarding slaughtering, how one must slaughter. [Since this commandment is not written in the Torah we deduce that] these are the laws of ritual slaughtering given orally to Moses on [Mount] Sinai.[9]
Though the laws of slaughtering cattle are not explained in the Written Torah, they are described in detail in the Oral Law. The written law can be understood ONLY in conjunction with the oral law.
The Torah says:
Devarim (Deuteronomy) 12:21 If the place where HaShem your HaShem chooses to put his Name is too far away from you, you may slaughter animals, as I commanded you, from the herds and flocks HaShem has given you, as I have commanded you, and in your own towns you may eat as much of them as you want.
'You shall slaughter <the animal> as I commanded you'.
Nowhere in the Torah do we find HaShem commanding Moshe about the laws of Shechita (slaughter).
The Torah says:
'Seven days shall you dwell in a succah'
Where is the source of how to build the succah, it's height, its size, the acceptable materials that may be used and the definition of the essential parts of the succah? The Written Torah is silent on all this, and yet every Jew knows what a succah should look like.
The Torah says:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:40 and ye have taken to yourselves on the first day the fruit of a beautiful tree, branches of palms, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of a brook, and have rejoiced before HaShem your God seven days.
'And you shall take for yourselves the fruit of a beautiful tree’
What fruit does the Torah mean? Where is there any reference in the Torah to the citron, the etrog? There is none, and yet Jews the world over know what an etrog is!
Succah 35a. Our Rabbis have taught, ‘The fruit of a goodly tree’ implies a tree the taste of whose ‘fruit’ and ‘wood’ is the same. Say then that it is the etrog. Might it not be said to be pepper, as it has been taught. ‘R. Meir used to say, From the implication of the text, And ye have planted all manner of trees, do I not know that the reference is to a tree for food? What then does Scripture teach by the [next phrase] "for food"? [That the reference is to] a tree the taste of whose fruit and wood is the same. Say then that it is pepper. This is to teach you that the pepper tree is subject to the law of ‘orlah and that the Land of Israel lacks nothing, as it is said, Thou shalt not lack anything in it’? — There [pepper is excluded] since it is impossible [to use it], For how shall he proceed? If he take one [pepper seed], it is unrecognizable; if he takes two or three, the Divine Law surely said, one ‘fruit’ and not two or three fruits. [Its use] therefore is impossible.
Rabbi said, Read not hadar but ha-dir; just as the stable contains large and small [animals], perfect and blemished ones, so also [the fruit spoken of must have] large and small, perfect and blemished. Have not then other fruits large and small, perfect and blemished? — It is this rather that was meant: Before the small ones come, the large are still existent [on the tree].
R. Abbahu said, Read not hadar, but ha-dar, a fruit which remains upon its tree from year to year. Ben ‘Azzai said, Read not hadar, but hudor for in Greek water is called hudor. Now what fruit is it that grows by every water? Say, of course, it is the etrog.
Chanukah is a Rabbinic feast with an historical account in the apocryphal books of first and second Maccabees. There is no mention of this feast in the Tanach, yet Yeshua observed Chanukah. Clearly, Yeshua observed the oral law:
Yochanan (John) 10:22-23 Then came the Feast of Dedication (Chanukah) at Jerusalem. It was winter, And Yeshua was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.
The observing and celebrating of Chanukah is based solely on the oral law as delivered by our judges. Yet, Jews worldwide, for two millenniums have faithfully carried out the decree of the judges. It should be noted that we have an accurate written record of this oral law in:
1 Maccabees 4:58-59 Then Judah, his brothers, and the whole congregation of Israel decreed that the rededication of the altar should be observed with joy and gladness at the same season each year, for eight days, beginning on the twenty-fifth of Kislev.
The verbal tally between the Torah and this chapter of Psalms is: Come - בוא, Strong’s number 0935. In our Torah portion, David saw that Joseph was coming to his father, and in our psalm David wrote about the Messiah coming, being revealed, in the Torah. Joseph represent the Messiah ben Joseph and thus David can be seen as taking his inspiration for our chapter of Psalms from our Torah portion. It is only in the oral Torah that we find the Messiah ben Joseph spelled out and His role revealed, though He is in the Tanach, just not by name.
Ashlamatah: Melachim bet (II Kings) 13:14-20, 23
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Rashi |
Targum |
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14. ¶ Now Elisha became ill with the illness he was to die of; and Joash the king of Israel went down to him and wept on his face, and said, "My master, my master, Israel's chariots and riders!" |
14. ¶ And Elisha was sick with his sickness by which he was to die, and Joash the King of Israel went down unto him and he wept before his face and said: “My father, my father, to whom there was more good for Israel in his prayer than chariots and horsemen.” |
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15. And Elisha said to him, "Fetch a bow and arrows." And he fetched him a bow and arrows. |
15. And Elisha said to him “Take the bow and the arrows." And he took for him the bow and the arrows. |
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16. And he said to the king of Israel, "Place your hand on the bow," and he placed his hand; and Elisha placed his hands on the king's hands. |
16. And he said to the king of Israel: "Bring down your hand upon the bow." And he brought down's his hand, and Elisha placed his hands upon the hands of the king. |
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17. And he said, "Open the window to the east," and he opened it; and Elisha said, "Shoot!" And he shot. And he said, "[This is] an arrow of salvation from the Lord, and an arrow of victory over Aram, and you shall strike the Arameans in Aphek until they are completely annihilated." |
17. And he said: "Open the window to the east." And he opened (it). And Elisha said: "Shoot." And he shot. And he said: "This arrow will be madefor us salvation from before the Lord, and this arrow will be made for us victory over the men of Aram." And you will strike down the men of Aram in Aphek until you will destroy them utterly." |
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18. And he said, "Take the arrows." And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, "Strike at the ground," and he struck three times and stopped. |
18. And he said: "Take the arrows." And he took and said to the king of Israel: "Strike the ground." And he struck three times, and he stopped. |
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19. And the man of God was incensed against him, and he said, "You should have struck five or six times, then you would strike the Arameans until you would annihilate them completely, but now, you shall strike the Arameans but three times." {P} |
19. And the prophet of the Lord was angry at him, and he said: "It is proper for you to strike five or six times. Then you would have struck down the men of Aram until you destroyed them utterly. And now three times you will strike down the men of Aram." {P} |
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20. ¶ And Elisha died and they buried him, and Moabite bands would invade the land at the beginning of the year. |
20. ¶ And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the army of Moab was coming into the land at the coming in of the year. |
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21. And it came to pass that they were burying a man, and behold, they saw the band, and they threw the man into Elisha's grave, and he went and touched Elisha's bones, and he came to life and stood up on his feet. {P} |
21. And while they were burying a man, behold they saw the army and threw the man in the tomb of Elisha. And the man went and drew near the bones of Elisha, and he revived and stood up on his feet. {P} |
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22. ¶ Now Hazael the king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of Jehoahaz. |
22. And Hazael the king of Aram oppressed Israel all the days of lehoahaz. ¶ |
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23. And the Lord was gracious and merciful to them, and he turned to them for the sake of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He did not want to destroy them, and He did not cast them off from His presence until now. |
23. And the Lord had pity upon them and had mercy upon them. And He turned by His Memra to do good to them on account of His covenant that was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And He was not willing to destroy them, and He did not exile them from the land of the house of his Shekinah until now. |
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24. And Hazael died, and his son Ben-Hadad reigned in his stead. |
24. And Hazael the king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son ruled in his place. {P} |
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25. And Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz returned and took the cities from the hand of Ben- Hadad the son of Hazael, which he had taken from the hand of His father Jehoahaz in battle; Joash beat him three times and recovered the cities of Israel. {P} |
25. And Iehoash the son of Iehoahaz returned and took the cities from the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael that he took from the hand of Jehoahaz his father in battle. Three times Ioash struck him down, and he recovered the cities of Israel. {P} |
Rashi’s Commentary on Melachim bet (II Kings) 13:14-20, 23
17 “Open the window to the east Opposite the land of Aram, as it is said, (Is. 9:11) “Aram from the east.”
“Shoot!” and he shot This follows Jonathan.
And he said, “This is an arrow of salvation...” Elisha said, This arrow is a symbol of salvation for Israel.
in Aphek the name of the city.
19 And he said, You should have struck five or six times [lit. to strike five or six times.]
then Had you done so, you would have struck Aram five or six times, for as a symbol of victory, I placed your hands on the bow.
20 would invade the land were wont to come and plunder the land.
at the beginning of the year Jonathan [renders]: at the entrance of the year. At the return of the year, when the earth is still full of vegetation, and there is food for their animals, it is customary for bands to set out.
Special Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 54:1-10
Shabbat Nachamu V
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Targum |
Rashi |
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1. Sing, O Jerusalem who was as a barren woman who did not bear; shout in singing and exult, [you who were] as a woman who did not become pregnant! For the children of desolate Jerusalem will be more than the children of inhabited Rome, says the LORD. |
1. "Sing you barren woman who has not borne; burst out into song and jubilate, you who have not experienced birth pangs, for the children of the desolate one are more than the children of the married woman," says the Lord. |
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2. Enlarge the place of your camping, and cause the cities of your land to be inhabited; hold not back, increase the people of your armies and strengthen vour rulers. |
2. Widen the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations, do not spare; lengthen vour cords and strengthen vour stakes. |
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3. For vou will be strengthened to the south and to the north, and your sons will possess peoples and will cause desolate cities to be inhabited. |
3. For right and left shall you prevail, and your seed shall inherit nations and repeople desolate cities. |
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4. Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproaches of your widowhood you will remember no more. |
4. Fear not, for you shall not be ashamed, and be not embarrassed for you shall not be put to shame, for the shame of your youth you shall forget, and the disgrace of your widowhood you shall no longer remember. |
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5. For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. |
5. For your Master is your Maker, the Lord of Hosts is His name, and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, shall be called the God of all the earth. |
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6. For the Shekhinah of the LORD has summoned [you] like a wife forsaken and distressed in spirit, like a wife of youth who is cast off, says your God. |
6. For, like a wife who is deserted and distressed in spirit has the Lord called you, and a wife of one's youth who was rejected, said your God. |
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7. In a little anger I forsook you, but with great compassion I will bring your exiles near. |
7. "For a small moment have I forsaken you, and with great mercy will I gather you. |
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8. In a brief hour, for a time. I took up the face of My Shekhinah from you, but with everlasting benefits which do not cease I will have compassion on you, says the LORD, your Redeemer. {S} |
8. With a little wrath did I hide My countenance for a moment from you, and with everlasting kindness will I have compassion on you," said your Redeemer, the Lord. {S} |
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9. This is like the days of Noah before Me: as I swore by My Memra that the waters of the flood which were in the days of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that My anger will not turn upon you and I will not rebuke you. |
9. "For this is to Me [as] the waters of Noah, as I swore that the waters of Noah shall never again pass over the earth, so have I sworn neither to be wroth with you nor to rebuke you. |
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10. For the mountains may pass and the hills be split, but My goodness will not pass from you. Jerusalem, and My covenant of peace will not be cast away, says He who is about to have compassion on you, says the LORD. |S| |
10. For the mountains shall depart and the hills totter, but My kindness shall not depart from you, neither shall the covenant of My peace totter," says the Lord, Who has compassion on you. {S} |
Rashi’s Commentary for: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 54:1-10
1 Sing, you barren woman Jerusalem, who was as though she had not borne.
you who have not experienced birth pangs Heb. חלה, an expression of childbirth, for the woman in confinement gives birth with pains and writhing.
for the children of the desolate one The daughter of Edom.
2 and let them stretch forth far off.
lengthen your cords These are thin ropes that hang at the bottom of tents, and that are tied to stakes called ‘chevills’ in French, which are thrust into the ground.
3 shall you prevail Heb.ת?ךצי, shall you prevail.
4 your youth Heb. עלומוך, your youth.
6 who was rejected When she is rejected at times that her husband is a little wroth with her.
8 With a little wrath Heb. שצף. Menahem (Machbereth p. 179) interprets this as, “with kindling of wrath,” and Dunash (Teshuvoth p. 20) states, “with a little wrath,” paralleling “For a small moment have I forsaken you,” and so did Jonathan render.
and with everlasting kindness that will exist forever.
9 For this is to Me [as] the waters of Noah [i.e.,] it is an oath in My hand, and He proceeds to explain His words, “as I swore that the waters of Noah shall never again pass over the earth, etc.”
For the mountains shall depart Even if the merit of the Patriarchs and the Matriarchs is depleted, My kindness shall not depart from you.
Verbal Tallies
By: H. Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David
& H.H. Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah
Beresheet (Genesis) 48:1-22
Tehillim (Psalms) 40
Melachim bet (II Kings) 13:14-20, 23
Mk 4:26-29
The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:
Told / Said - אמר, Strong’s number 0559.
Told / Declare - נגד, Strong’s number 05046.
Come - בוא, Strong’s number 0935.
The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:
Told / Said - אמר, Strong’s number 0559.
Father - אב, Strong’s number 01.
Took - לקח, Strong’s number 03947.
Beresheet (Genesis) 48:1 And it came to pass after these things, that one told <0559> (8799) Joseph, Behold, thy father <01> is sick <02470> (8802): and he took <03947> (8799) with him his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim.
2 And one told <05046> (8686) Jacob, and said <0559> (8799), Behold, thy son Joseph cometh <0935> (8802) unto thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
Tehillim (Psalms) 40:5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare <05046> (8686) and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Tehillim (Psalms) 40:7 Then said <0559> (8804) I, Lo, I come <0935> (8804): in the volume of the book it is written of me,
Melachim bet (II Kings) 13:14 Now Elisha was fallen sick <02470> (8804) of his sickness whereof he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said <0559> (8799), O my father <01>, my father <01>, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.
Melachim bet (II Kings) 13:15 And Elisha said <0559> (8799) unto him, Take <03947> (8798) bow and arrows. And he took <03947> (8799) unto him bow and arrows.
Hebrew:
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Hebrew |
English |
Torah Reading Gen. 48:1-22 |
Psalms 40:1-18 |
Ashlamatah II Kings 13:14-20, 23 |
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ba' |
father |
Gen. 48:1 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
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~h'r'b.a; |
Abraham |
Gen. 48:15 |
2Ki 13:23 |
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~yhil{a/ |
God |
Gen. 48:9 |
Ps. 40:3 |
2 Ki. 13:19 |
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rm;a' |
told, said |
Gen. 48:1 |
Ps. 40:7 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
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#r,a, |
land, earth, ground |
Gen. 48:3 |
2 Ki. 13:18 |
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rv,a] |
who, which |
Gen. 48:9 |
Ps. 40:4 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
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aAB |
come, go |
Gen. 48:2 |
Ps. 40:7 |
2 Ki. 13:20 |
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dy" |
hand |
Gen. 48:14 |
2 Ki. 13:16 |
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hwhy |
LORD |
Ps. 40:1 |
2 Ki. 13:17 |
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bqo[]y" |
Jacob |
Gen. 48:2 |
2Ki 13:23 |
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qx'c.yI |
Isaac |
Gen. 48:15 |
2Ki 13:23 |
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laer'f.yI |
Israel |
Gen. 48:2 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
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xq;l' |
take, took |
Gen. 48:1 |
2 Ki. 13:15 |
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tWm |
die |
Gen. 48:7 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
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!t;n" |
give, make, gave |
Gen. 48:4 |
Ps. 40:3 |
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d[; |
before, until |
Gen. 48:5 |
Ps. 40:12 |
2 Ki. 13:17 |
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l[; |
sorrow, more than, over |
Gen. 48:7 |
Ps. 40:15 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
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hT'[; |
now |
Gen. 48:5 |
2 Ki. 13:19 |
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rb;q' |
buried |
Gen. 48:7 |
2 Ki. 13:20 |
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tv,q, |
bow |
Gen. 48:22 |
2 Ki. 13:15 |
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ha'r' |
appeared, see |
Gen. 48:3 |
Ps. 40:3 |
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~Wf |
place |
Gen. 48:18 |
Ps. 40:4 |
2 Ki. 13:16 |
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hl'x' |
sick |
Gen. 48:1 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
Greek:
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GREEK |
ENGLISH |
Torah Reading Gen. 48:1-22 |
Psalms 40:1-18 |
Ashlamatah II Kings 13:14-20, 23 |
Peshat Mishnah of Mark, Mk 4:26-29 |
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αἰώνιος |
eternal |
Gen 48:4 |
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ἄνθρωπος |
man |
2Ki 13:19 |
Mk. 4:26 |
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βασιλεία |
kingdom |
Mk. 4:26 |
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γῆ |
land, earth, ground |
Gen. 48:3 |
2 Ki. 13:18 |
Mk. 4:26 |
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ἔθνος |
nations |
Gen 48:4 |
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εἴδω |
see, seeing, beholding |
Gen 48:8 |
Mar 4:27 |
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ἔπω |
speak, say |
Gen. 48:1 |
Ps. 40:7 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
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ἔρχομαι |
come, came |
Gen 48:1 |
2Ki 13:20 |
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ἡμέρα |
day |
Gen 48:15 |
Mk. 4:27 |
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θεός |
God |
Gen. 48:9 |
Ps. 40:3 |
2 Ki. 13:19 |
Mk. 4:26 |
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ἰδού |
behold, see |
Gen. 48:3 |
Ps. 40:3 |
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κύριος |
LORD |
Ps. 40:1 |
2 Ki. 13:17 |
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λαλέω |
spoke, speak |
Psa 40:5 |
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λέγω |
speak, say |
Gen 48:2 |
Psa 40:15 |
Mk. 4:26 |
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ὄνομα |
name |
Gen 48:6 |
Psa 40:4 |
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πᾶς |
all, whole, |
Gen 48:16 |
Psa 40:16 |
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πατήρ |
father |
Gen. 48:1 |
2 Ki. 13:14 |
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ποιέω |
did, done, make |
Gen 48:4 |
Psa 40:5 |
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πολύς / πολλός |
great, many |
Gen 48:16 |
Psa 40:3 |
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πούς |
feet |
Psa 40:2 |
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πρῶτον |
first |
Mar 4:28 |
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ῥῆμα |
words, things |
Gen 48:1 |
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ῥύομαι |
rescue |
Gen 48:16 |
Psa 40:13 |
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συναγωγή |
gathering, synagogue |
Gen 48:4 |
Psa 40:10 |
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σωτηρία |
deliverance |
2Ki 13:17 |
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PIRQE ABOT
(Chapters of the Fathers)
Mishnah 1:4
From:
Chapters of the Sages: A Psychological Commentary on Pirqe Abot
By: Rabbi Reuven P. Bulka
Jason Aronson, Inc., © 1993, p. 59.
He [Raban Gamaliel] used to say: Do His will as if it were your own will, so that He may do your will as if it were His will. Nullify your will before His will, so that He may nullify the will of others before your will.
If the public servant is not to rely on the friendship of the ruling authority, shaky as such reliance is, reliance on God is another matter. Reliance on God is the foundation of the community, but God relates to the community and to the individual as a mirror reflection. One who incorporates the will of God into the self, such that all actions are consistent with and express the perceived will of God, is likely to find that God relates in the same way, actualizing the will of the devoted servant as if it were God's will.
The amalgamation of God's will unto the self comes in two stages. The first stage is Do His will as if it were your own will. This stage is one of consistent expression, where the person's desires and God's wishes are in harmony. What the person does is what God wants for the person, and also what the person wants, so that God's will is easily absorbed into the self.
The second stage is Nullify your will before His will. This is the more difficult stage, as it involves a clash of desires; God's desire on one side, and the individual's desire on the other. Here what the individual wants is not what God wants, and the individual is called upon to acknowl¬edge that what God wants is better for the person. Nullification of the person's will is not a sacrifice, but a positive decision based on faith in God's omniscience. The result of this act of the will is that God may do your will as if it were His will and also may nullify the will of others before your will.
Herein is expressed the idea that to the extent to which the individual resides in the Divine dimension, to that extent God resides in the human dimension.
Nazarean Talmud
Sidra Of B’resheet (Gen.) Gen 48:1-22
“Chiné Avikhá Choléh” “Behold, your father is sick”
By: H. Em. Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham &
H. Em. Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
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Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat (Mk 4:26-29) Mishnah א:א |
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And he (Yeshua) said, “The kingdom/Governance of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, and should sleep through[10] the night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”[11]
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Nazarean Codicil to be read in conjunction with the following Torah Seder:
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Gen 48:1-22 |
Psa. 40:1-18 |
II Kings 13:14-20, 23 |
Mk 4:26-29 |
Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat
The Adversary and the Kingdom/Governance of G-d
Mk 4:28. For of itself does the earth bear fruit, first a blade, then an ear, then full grain in the ear.
We open the Peshat commentary with a question. Why does satan (the adversary) oppose the Kingdom/Governance of G-d?
We must first determine the identity of the adversary or “satan.” The Biblical phrase “satan” is usually a direct translation of the word שָׂטָן satan, pronounced “saw-tawn.”[12] The Greek Σατανᾶς – Satanas, pronounced “sat-an-as”[13] is derived from the Hebrew שָׂטָן satan. In Christian literature “satan” is the archenemy of G-d. Jewish thoughts of “satan” do not make “satan” into the arch villain of G-d but the part of the human being referred to as the Yetser HaRa.
Gen. 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion…
We must understand that the “image” and “likeness” of the present passage in no way implies that G-d is a corporeal being as we are. The Sages (Hakhamim) teach us that we cannot read the opening chapters of B’resheet is the absolute literal (Peshat) sense. This does not mean that we cannot derive Peshat information from them, as we will see. From the cited passage of B’resheet, we learn that the plurality “us” does not relate to a “trinitarian” divinity proposed by christian scholars and teachers. Nor, does the Hebrew word צֶלֶם – tselem or דְּמוּת – demuwth in any way imply that there is or ever will be a divinity of corporeal substance.[14]
The phrase “For the earth yields crops by itself,” captures the “mystery” (So’od) in Peshat vocabulary. The earth possesses the energy and ability to cause things to grow because G-d has vested it with these powers.
B’resheet (Ge) 1:11 And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
These passages reveal even deeper truths than our Peshat will allow us to comment on here. However, we can see even from Peshat, that the earth is able, of itself to grow produce as Hakham Tsefet, in our pericope has suggested. Therefore, whatever comes from the earth possess a special bestowal of energy to reproduce “after its own species.” Consequently, man has come from the earth with the capacity to reproduce “after his own species.” The Ramban[15] shows in his commentary to B’resheet 1:26 that when G-d says “let us,” He is entering into a partnership with the earth in the creation of man. As such, man has the earthly capacity to reproduce himself through his seed in the same way that the fruit tree produces “after its kind.” Therefore, the “image” and “likeness” can be taken to mean that man has some physiognomies that he received from the earth and some more sublime characteristics he received from G-d. Because man is dualistic in his composite nature, he alone can capture the essence of the spiritual (abstract) world and bring it into the mundane sphere of life. While there is a great deal of work to be done in the area of “tikun,” meaning repair, we must also remember that man is given an initial mission to “have dominion, be fruitful, and multiply.” These commands are not mere “cultural mandates” as some have purported. Judaism accepts these “mandates” as mitzvoth (commandments) making them obligatory. And the mitzvah to be fruitful and multiply can have deeper meanings, but we see that the idea is to build a community under the authority of G-d’s mitzvot.
Of its own Species
In our attempt to understand and determine the identity of the adversary, we must look into man’s purpose. The Biblical refrain וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי “and God said let there be” occurs repeatedly in the opening chapter of B’resheet. As we noted above, we see with each remark, that G-d is investing a specific energy and Law (Torah/Nomos) into the infrastructure of the Universe. This truth compounds the question because it alters or amplifies the question. If the earth is a part of the Structured Universe, which demands that we keep the Torah, why is it adversely obsessed with returning man to the “dust of the earth?” In a measure the “earth” the adversary (satan) wants us dead if we fail to observe the mitzvoth.
Because man’s composition he is caught between the earth and the heavens, man’s activities unlike G-ds, fall into four classes.[16]
- Purposeless
- Unimportant
- Vanity
- Good Works
In a measure, the “earth” the adversary (satan) wants us dead, or wants its dirt from those who are not productively building the earth and the universe. In other words, when we do not produce (a principle law of the earth/structured universe) we fall into decay, which is the earths way of recycling. This is equally true regardless of whether we are speaking of vegetable or animal life. The man who operates “without purpose,” involved in the “unimportant” the adversarial earth pursues that man involved in “vain activity” because he is not building the Kingdom of God or “ruling” in the Governance of G-d.
Those activities, which are deemed “good works,” are necessary and useful to obtain a specified goal. Therefore, before we can define with clarity “good works” we need to understand “works” as they appear in the Biblical Texts.
We have included the English Standard version and our own translation for comparison.
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English Standard Version |
Translation by H. Em. Rabbi Dr Eliyahu b Abraham |
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Eph. 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. |
Eph 2:8-10 It is by God’s loving-kindness that brought you (Gentiles) to wholeness[17] by becoming faithfully obedient Jews, this is not by your own merit but a gift of God.[18] You are not made whole by human attempts to please God,[19] so that anyone can boast. For we (Jews) are His (God’s) workmanship, created in union with Yeshua HaMashiach for a life of good works, according to the halakhot (Laws) of the Torah, which God has prepared beforehand that we[20] (Jews and Gentiles) should walk (halakh)[21] in them. |
The “gift of G-d” is the Torah, as can be seen in our footnotes. G-d’s loving-kindness gave us the Gift of the Torah as an eternal spiritual gift. This “gift” was given to the Jewish people first.[22] Because our translation of Ephesians 2:8-10 purports the truth that the Gentiles must become fully obedient Jews, we take up the age-old battle between “works” and “grace.” Firstly, we must realize that the Gift of the Torah is never to be rescinded.[23] Furthermore, we must accept the fact that the structure of the entire universe is built upon the Nomos/Oral Torah. These spoken words (Oral Torah) are captured from time to time in the written text. The refrain וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים יְהִי “and God said let there be…” cited above is a perfect example. However, the written text has not captured all the words that G-d used to create the universe. Consequently, we must accept the Oral Torah as a means for understanding the will of G-d as well as the power of creation. The English Standard Version of the Bible says that “salvation” (being made whole)[24] is a “gift of G-d” and not of “works,” therefore, we need some clarity as to what “works” are being discussed. The proper way to understand the phrase “works” in the present context is, as we have translated the phrase “human attempts to please God.” If we accept that, no human works devoid of the Torah can please G-d we have a perfect understanding of Hakham Shaul’s intention. In other words, when we hermeneutically understand these words aright, we understand that we must join G-d’s gift of the Torah with the idea of “being made whole” (salvation).[25] Works that men contrive or imagine apart from the Torah can NEVER produce “salvation,” bring a man to “spiritual wholeness” or bring us into connection with G-d.
Rom. 1:16 ¶ For I am not ashamed of the Mesorah (of the Master), for it is the virtuous power of God bringing redemption to everyone who is faithfully obedient, (to the Mesorah) Chiefly by the Jewish Hakhamim[26] and also by the Jewish Hakhamim of the Hellenists (in Diaspora).[27]
Hakham Shaul’s words are straightforward here. It is the Mesorah of G-d that brings the ability to “be made whole,” (be “saved”).
The Midrashic text of Matityahu, the commentary to the Malchut Shamayim[28] (Kingdom/Governance of G-d) addresses this question with the same vocabulary as our cited texts.
Matt. 19:25-26 When his (Yeshua’s) talmidim (disciples) heard (Yeshua’s midrash on the rich man), they were overwhelmingly amazed, saying, “Who has the power (δύναται – dunatai) to be made spiritually whole (saved)? But Yeshua understood their amazement, and said to them, With men this is impossible (ἀδύνατόν – adunaton);[29] but with God all things are possible (δυνατά – dunata).
Now we see that “salvation,” “being made spiritually whole” is impossible with man. Or, man does not have the capacity (ἀδύνατόν – adunaton); of his own accord apart from the Gift of the Torah (G-d’s δύναται – dunatai) to be “saved,” made spiritually whole. Therefore, a man’s works apart from the Gift of the Torah is powerless and are considered the “works of the flesh.” The “works of the flesh” are man’s attempt to “save” himself without the instruction of the Torah, Oral or Written.
Case Law
Judaism is a “faith” if we can call it that, built upon precedent. Therefore, we have cited a textual, hermeneutic argument above, which needs “case law” to finalize our controversy.
B’resheet (Gen.) 3:7-10 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they (of their own accord trying to atone for their sin) sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. And they heard the voice (Dabar/Logos/Memra) of the Lord God (Oral Torah) walking in the garden in the ruach (breath)[30] of the day, and the man and his wife were hidden[31] from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you" (being unable to see Adam)? And he said, "I heard the your voice (Dabar/Logos/Memra) in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I was hidden (because of my sin).”
Adam’s sin hid him from the “Presence (face) of G-d.” G-d could no longer see Adam and Chava because they had violated the mitzvot of G-d. However, our point (case Law) rests upon the fact that Adam took it upon himself to atone for his wrong by covering himself with a fig leaf. The fig leaf depicts Adam’s “works of the flesh,” and “human attempts to please God” or an attempt to atone for his sin apart from the Torah. Therefore, we see the precedential law, which demonstrated that the activities contrived apart from Torah render a man dead to G-d. We understand by later passages that G-d taught Adam the appropriate way to atone for sin when he made “skins” for Adam and Chava.[32]
Rule or Fall
Adam was created to rule. The Hebrew word “rule” is radah. The Hebrew word for “fall” or descend is yarad. The Hebrew text of B’resheet 1:26 says “And let them have dominion” ve-yiradoo.[33] Here “ve-yiradoo” is a polyvalent containing a trilateral consonantal root. Therefore, “ve-yiradoo” can mean that he could either yarad – descend or radad - rule.[34]
Adam’s right to “rule” was dependent upon his right standing with G-d! Those who do not have a “right standing” with G-d are not qualified or able to rule in the Kingdom/Governance of G-d! In other words, those who flagrantly violate the mandates of the Torah cannot be “rulers” in the Governance of G-d.[35] Those Hakhamim who are “shomer HaTorah,” are the Torah’s “guardians” can “rule” (radah). But, those who refuse to observe the mitzvot are destined to fall (yarad). It is these unproductive souls that the adversary, the earth, wishes to consume.
The Communion, presence, and power of G-d that Adam possessed were lost with his violation of the Torah mandate. The whole of Adam's (humanities) existence is dependent on his relationship with G-d through the Torah. Without a true and proper relationship with G-d, man does not warrant existence at all. ALL men who do not seek to establish a correct relationship with G-d through the Torah warrant DEATH. Therefore, the earth seeks to consume the “workers of iniquity” those who have no works of Torah.
Peroration
Are we “saved” by “grace”? Yes the “grace” loving-kindness of G-d gave us the gift of eternal “salvation” through the “Gift of the Torah” as opposed to the “works of the flesh,” man’s attempt to please G-d apart from the Torah.
Some Questions to Ponder:
1. From all the readings for this week, which particular verse or passage caught your attention and fired your heart and imagination?
2. In your opinion, and taking into consideration all of the above readings for this Sabbath, what is the prophetic message (the idea that encapsulates all the Scripture passages read) for this week.
Blessing After Torah Study
Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,
Ashér Natán Lánu Torát Emét, V'Chayéi Olám Natá B'Tochénu.
Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!
Blessed is Ha-Shem our GOD, King of the universe,
Who has given us a teaching of truth, implanting within us eternal life.
Blessed is Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!
“Now unto Him who is able to preserve you faultless, and spotless, and to establish you without a blemish,
before His majesty, with joy, [namely,] the only one GOD, our Deliverer, by means of Yeshua the Messiah our Master, be praise, and dominion, and honor, and majesty, both now and in all ages. Amen!”
Next Shabbat: Elul 16, 5783 – September 1/2, 2023
Shabbat: “Vayiqrá Ya’aqób” - “And called Jacob”
6th Sabbath of Consolation/Strengthening
(Shabbat Nachamu VI)
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Shabbat |
Torah Reading: |
Weekday Torah Reading: |
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וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב |
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Saturday Afternoon |
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“Vayiqra Ya’aqob” |
Reader 1 – B’resheet 49:1-4 |
Reader 1 – B’resheet 49:27-29 |
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“And called Jacob” |
Reader 2 – B’resheet 49:5-7 |
Reader 2 – B’resheet 49:29-31 |
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“Y llamó Jacob” |
Reader 3 – B’resheet 49:8-10 |
Reader 3 – B’resheet 49:31-33 |
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B’resheet (Gen) 49:1-26 |
Reader 4 – B’resheet 49:11-13 |
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Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 55:3-12 + 56:8 |
Reader 5 – B’resheet 49:15-18 |
Monday / Thursday Mornings |
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Special: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 60:1-22 |
Reader 6 – B’resheet 49:19-21 |
Reader 1 – B’resheet 49:27-29 |
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Tehillim (Psalms) 41:1-4 |
Reader 7 – B’resheet 49:22-26 |
Reader 2 – B’resheet 49:29-31 |
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Maftir – B’resheet 49:22-26 |
Reader 3 – B’resheet 49:31-33 |
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N.C.: Mk 4:30-34; Lk 13:18-19 |
Isaiah 55:3-12+56:8 |
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Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David
Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham
Edited by Paqid Ezra ben Abraham.
A special thank you to HH Giberet Giborah bat Sarah for her diligence in proof-reading every week.