Esnoga Bet Emunah

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Telephone: (210) 277 8649 - United States of America © 2007

E-Mail: gkilli@aol.com

 

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

 

Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings

Fourth Year of the Reading Cycle

Heshvan 15, 5768 – Oct. 26/27, 2007

Seventh Year of the Shmita Cycle

 

 

Candle Lighting and Havdalah Times

 

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

Friday October 26, 2007 – Candles at 6:35 PM               Friday October 26, 2007 – Candles at 5:44 PM

Saturday Oct. 27, 2007 – Havadalah 7:28 PM                 Saturday Oct. 27, 2007 – Havadalah 6:38 PM      

 

Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.                                                 Singapore, Singapore

Friday October 26, 2007 – Candles at 6:34 PM               Friday October 26, 2007 – Candles at 6:33 PM

Saturday October 27, 2007 – Havadalah 7:29 PM           Saturday Oct. 27, 2007 – Havadalah 7:22 PM

 

Cebu, Philippines                                                        Jakarta, Indonesia

Friday October 26, 2007 – Candles at 5:13 PM               Friday October 26, 2007 – Candles at 5:28 PM

Saturday Oct. 27, 2007 – Havadalah 6:03 PM                 Saturday Oct. 27, 2007 – Havadalah 6:18 PM

 

 

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

 

 

Coming Festival: Chanukah

25th of Kislev – 3rd of Tebet 5768 – December 5-12, 2007

For further study see: http://www.betemunah.org/chanrabn.doc

http://www.betemunah.org/connection.doc; and http://www.betemunah.org/chanukah.doc

 

 

Shabbat

Torah Reading:

Weekday Torah Reading:

עַד-אָנָה יְנַאֲצֻנִי

 

 

“Ad Anah Y’na’atsuni”

Reader 1 – B’midbar 14:11-14

Reader 1 – B’midbar 15:1-5

“How long will despise Me”

Reader 2 – B’midbar 14:15-20

Reader 2 – B’midbar 15:6-10

“¿Hasta cuándo me ha de irritar …?”

Reader 3 – B’midbar 14:21-25

Reader 3 – B’midbar 15:11-16

B’midbar (Numbers) 14:11-45

Reader 4 – B’midbar 14:26-30

 

Ashlamatah: Isaiah 52:5-12 + 54:7-8

Reader 5 – B’midbar 14:31-34

 

 

Reader 6 – B’midbar 14:35-38

Reader 1 – B’midbar 15:1-5

Psalm 101

Reader 7 – B’midbar 14:39-45

Reader 2 – B’midbar 15:6-10

 

      Maftir – B’midbar 14:43-45

Reader 3 – B’midbar 15:11-16

N.C.: Matityahu 21:23-45

                   Isaiah 52:5-12 + 54:7-8

 

 

 

Roll of Honor:

 

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

 

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

 

 

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan

for: B’midbar (Numbers) 14:11-45

 

 

RASHI

TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN

11. Adonai said to Moshe: “Until where will this people provoke Me, and how much longer will they have no faith in Me, despite all the signs which I have done in their midst.

11. And the glorious Shekinah of the Lord was revealed in bright clouds at the tabernacle. And the Lord said to Mosheh, How long will this people provoke Me to anger? How long will they disbelieve in My Word, for all the signs I have wrought among them?

12. I will smite them with the plague and annihilate them; and I will make you into a greater and stronger people than they.”

12. I will strike them with deadly plague and destroy them, and will appoint you for a people greater and stronger than they.

13. Moshe said to Adonai: “But Egypt will hear, that You, in Your might have brought up this people from among them.

13. But Mosheh said, The children of the Mizraee, whom You did drown in the sea, will hear that You did bring up this people from among them by Your power,

14. They will say concerning the inhabitants of this land, they have heard that You, Adonai, are among this people, Who appears to them eye to eye (face to face), You, Adonai; Your Cloud stands over them, in a Pillar of Cloud You go before them daily and in a Pillar of Fire, nightly.

14. and will say with exultation to the people of this land, who have heard that You are the Lord, whose Shekinah dwells among this people, in whose eyes, O Lord, the Glory of Your Shekinah appeared on the mountain of Sinai, and who there received Your Law; Your Cloud has shadowed, that neither heat nor rain might hurt them; and whom in the pillar of the Cloud You have led on by day, that the mountains and hills might be brought low, and the valleys lifted up, and has guided in the pillar of Fire by night:

15. If You kill this nation like a single man, the Gentiles will say--- they who have heard of Your reputation---as follows:

15. and after all of these miracles wilt You kill this people as one man? Then the Gentiles who have heard the fame and of Your power will speak saying:

16. “It is because of Adonai's inability to bring this people into the land that He swore to them, that he slaughtered them in the desert.”

16. Because there was no (more) strength with the Lord to bring this people into the land which swearing He promised to them, He has killed them in the wilderness!

17. Now, please, let my Master's power be enhanced as You spoke, saying;

17. And now, I beseech You, magnify Your power, O Lord, and let mercies be fulfilled upon us, and appoint me for (this) great people, as You have spoken, saying:

18. Adonai, slow to anger and abounding in kindness, forgiving iniquity/lawlessness and transgression; Who does not completely acquit, Who will visit the iniquities/lawlessness of the fathers upon their children, to the third [generation] and to the fourth [generation.]

18. The Lord is long­ suffering, and near in mercy, forgiving sins and covering transgressions, justifying such as return to His Law though them who turn not He will not absolve, but will visit the sins of wicked/lawless fathers upon rebellious children unto the third and fourth generation. [JERUSALEM. The Lord is long-suffering, far from anger, near in mercy, multiplying the exercise of goodness and truth; though the Lord will not justify sinners, but will remember, in the day of judgment, the guilt of wicked/lawless fathers upon rebellious children.]

19. Please forgive this people according to the magnitude of Your kindness, and as You have borne this people since Egypt until this time.”

19. Pardon now the sin of this people according to Your great goodness, even as You have forgiven them from the time that they came out from Mizraim until now.

20. Adonai said, “I have forgiven them, just as you spoke.

20. And the Lord said, I have forgiven, according to your word. [JERUSALEM. And the Word of the Lord said, Behold, I have absolved and pardoned, according to your word.]

21. However, just as I live and the Glory of Adonai fills the entire land;

21. Nevertheless, by oath have I sworn that the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.

22. For, all the people who see My glory and My signs which I have done in Egypt and in the desert, and they have tested Me these ten times and they have not listened to My voice.

22. Because all the men who have beheld My glory, and My signs, which I have wrought in Mizraim and in the Desert, have tempted Me now ten times, and have not obeyed My Word:

23. If they will see the land that I have sworn to their fathers; all those who angered Me will not see it.

23. by oath have I said this, That they will not see the land which I covenanted to their fathers; and the generation which have provoked Me will not behold it. [JERUSALEM. For I have uplifted My hand with an oath.]

24. My servant Calev, because he possessed in him a different spirit, and followed Me fully, I will bring him into the land to which he came, and his children will cast [its inhabitants] from it.

24. But My servant, Kaleb, because there is in him another spirit, and he has entirely followed (in) My fear, him will I bring into the land to which he went, and his children will possess it.

25. The Amaleki and the Cana'ani are now dwelling in the valley. Tomorrow turn back and you will travel the desert by way of the Reed Sea."

25. But the Amalekites and Kenaanites dwell in the valley: tomorrow turn you and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red Sea.

26. Adonai spoke to Moshe and to Aharon, saying:

26. And the Lord spoke with Mosheh and Aharon, saying:

27. “Until when will this wicked/lawless congregation [exist], those who provoke Me? The complaints of B’ne Yisrael, which they complain against Me, I have heard.

27. How long (will I bear with) this evil congregation who gather together against Me? The murmurs of the sons of Israel which they murmur against Me are heard before Me.

28. Say to them: “As I live, says Adonai, if I do not [do to you] as you have spoken in My ears; so I will do to you.

28. Say to them, By oath I decree that according to (what) you have spoken, so will I do to you.

29. In this desert your corpses will fall, all of you who were counted according to your numbers, from twenty years and above, because you have complained against Me,

29. In this wilderness your carcasses will fall, the whole number of all who were counted from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me.

30. Surely you will [not] come into the land to which I raised My Hand [to swear] that I would cause you to live in it; except for Calev the son of Yefuneh and Yehoshua the son of Nun.

30. By a fast oath (have I sworn) that you will not enter into the land which I covenanted in My Word to give you to inhabit, except Kaleb bar Jephunneh and Jehoshua bar Nun.

31. Your infants, about whom you said that they will be as spoils, I will bring them [there] and they will know the land which you despised.

31. But your children, who you said would be a prey, them will I bring in, and they will know the land which you rejected;

32. Your corpses---yours, will fall in this desert.

32. but your carcasses will fall in this wilderness.

33. Your children, they will be wanderers in the desert for forty years, and they will bear [the burden of] your dissoluteness, until the last of your corpses are in the desert.

33. Yet your children will have to wander in this wilderness forty years, and bear your sins until the time that your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness.

34. According to the number of days which you scouted the land; forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year you will bear the burden of your iniquity/lawlessness forty years, and you will know My displeasure.

34. According to the number of the days in which you were exploring the land, forty days, a day for a year, a day for a year, you will receive for your sins, forty years, and will know (the consequence) of your murmuring against Me.

35. I am Adonai; I have spoken--- if I do not do this to this entire evil congregation that are gathered against Me; in this desert they will be finished and there they will die.”

35. I the Lord have decreed in My Word, if I have not made a decree in My Word against all this evil congregation who have gathered to rebel against Me in this wilderness, that they will be consumed and die there.

36. Those men whom Moshe sent to scout the land, who returned and provoked the complaints of the entire congregation against him, by spreading slander about the land;

36. But the men whom Mosheh had sent to explore the land, and who returning had made the whole congregation murmur against him, by bringing forth an evil report of the land,

37. Those men died--- who spread evil slander against the land--- in a plague, before Adonai.

37. (even those) men who had brought forth the evil of the report of the land died, on the seventh day of the month of Elul, with worms coming from their navels, and with worms devouring their tongues; and were buried in death from before the Lord.

38. Yehoshua the son of Nun and Calev the son of Yefuneh, lived, from among those men who went to scout the land.

38. Only Jehoshua bar Nun and Kaleb bar Jephunneh survived of those men who had gone to explore the land.

39. Moshe spoke these words to all of B’ne Yisrael, and the people mourned greatly.

39. And Mosheh spoke these words with all the sons of Israel, and the people mourned greatly.

40. They awoke early in the morning and went up to the peak of the mountain, saying: “We are ready to go up to the place of which Adonai spoke (promised), for we have sinned.”

40. And they arose in the morning and went up to the top of the mountain., saying: Behold, we will go up to the place of which the Lord has spoken; for we have sinned.

41. Moshe said: “Why are you now transgressing the word of Adonai; it will not succeed.

41. But Mosheh said, Why will you act against the decree of the Word of the Lord? But it will not prosper with you.

42. Do not go up, for Adonai is not among you, and do not die before your enemies,

42. Go not up, for the Lord's Shekinah dwells not among you; and the ark, the tabernacle, and the Cloud of Glory proceed not; and be not crushed before your enemies.

43. For the Amaleki and the Cana'ani are there before you, and you will fall by the sword, for, you turned from following Adonai, and Adonai will not be with you.”

43. For the Amalekites and Kenaanites are there prepared for you, and you will fall slaughtered by the sword. For, because you have turned away from the service of the Lord, the Word of the Lord will not be your Helper.

44. They defiantly went up the mountain peak, but the Ark of the Covenant of Adonai, and Moshe, did not move from amidst the encampment.

44. But they armed themselves in the dark before the morning to go up to the height of the mountain: but the ark, in which was the covenant of the Lord, and Mosheh, stirred not from the midst of the camp.

45. The Amaleki and the Cana'ani swooped down, they who were dwelling in that mountain, and they smote and crushed them until Chormah.

45. And the Amalekites and Kenaanites who dwelt in that mountain came down and slaughtered and destroyed them, and drove them hard to destruction.

 

 

 

 

Midrash Rabba for: B’midbar (Numbers) 14:11-45

 

22. AND THE LORD SAID UNTO MOSES: HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE DESPISE ME AND HOW LONG WILL THEY NOT BELIEVE IN ME? (XIV, 11). The Holy One, blessed he He, said: ‘I have uttered two cries [of “how long”] on your account! You will ultimately utter four cries for your subjection to foreign governments: How long, O Lord, will You forget me for ever? (Cf. Sot. 35a); How long will You hide Your face from me?; How long will I take counsel in my soul?; How long will mine enemy be exalted over me? (Ps. XIII, 2f.). I have cried: How long will I bear with this evil congregation (Num. XIV, 26). You will ultimately cry: My soul also is sore affrighted; and You, O Lord, how long?’ (Ps. VI, 4). I WILL SMITE THEM WITH PESTILENCE (XIV, 12). Said Moses: ‘Sovereign of the Universe! Look to Your covenant with their ancestors, to whom You have sworn that You would rear up kings, prophets and priests from them!' ‘But,’ said the Holy One, blessed be He, to him, ‘are you not one of their children?’ I WILL MAKE OF YOU A NATION GREATER etc.  (ib.). When Moses saw that matters stood thus, he took a different course. AND MOSES SAID UNTO THE LORD: WHEN THE EGYPTIANS WILL HEAR ... THEY WILL SAY TO THE INHABITANTS OF THIS LAND  (ib. 13 f.); they will say: ‘He had no means of maintaining them!’ Said He to him: ‘But have they not seen the miracles and the mighty deeds that I wrought for them by the sea?’ Moses replied: 'They will say: "He could stand against us, but He could not stand against the thirty-one kings” (Cf. Josh. XII, 9 ff). Sovereign of all the worlds! Do it for Your own sake; AND NOW, I PRAY TO YOU, LET THE POWER OF THE LORD BE GREAT (XIV, 17), and let Your Attribute of Mercy conquer Your Attribute of Justice, ACCORDING AS YOU HAVE SPOKEN, SAYING  (ib.). I asked You: "With what Attribute do You judge Your world?" Show me now Your ways (Ex. XXXIII, 13)! And You have removed  (he'ebarta) from me the Attribute of Justice’; as it says, And the Lord passed (wayya'bor) by before him, and proclaimed: The Lord... merciful, etc. (Ex. XXXIV, 6). ‘That Attribute, then, of which You did speak to me, is still potent, viz. "Lord, Lord, God, merciful and gracious" (ib.), PARDON I PRAY TO YOU (XIV, 19). The Holy One, blessed be He, accepted his words and acknowledged their justice. AND THE LORD SAID: I HAVE PARDONED ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD (ib. 20), for the Egyptians indeed will speak in accordance with your words.

 

23. BUT IN VERY DEED, AS I LIVE (XIV, 21). The oath was: Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, will see the land (ib. XXXII, 11). A man who was twenty years old died whether he was of the same mind as the spies or not [in the latter case, because he did not openly dissociate himself from them]. One who was under twenty and had not produced two pubic hairs also died whether he was of the same mind as they or not. If he had produced two pubic hairs and was under twenty, then if he was of the same mind as they he did not enter the land. Nevertheless, no one died under sixty years of age [i.e. God subsequently had compassion on those who were less than twenty years of age, and permitted them to enter the land. Thus none died in the wilderness below the age of sixty]. Come and observe the difference Between the righteous/generous and the wicked/lawless, between him that serves God and him that serves Him not (Mal. III, 18) [The generation of the wilderness are considered to have been in fact righteous people who were misled by the spies. The exposition that follows is suggested by this reflection.]. This may be illustrated by the parable of a lady who had an Ethiopian maid, and whose husband went to a country beyond the sea. All night the maid said to the mistress: ‘I am fairer than you and the king loves me more than you.’ The mistress answered her: ‘When morning comes we will know who is fairer and whom the king loves.’ In the same way the nations of the world say to Israel: ‘Our deeds are commendable and the Holy One, blessed be He, delights in us!’ Accordingly Isaiah said: Let the morning come and we will know in whom He delights; as it says, The watchman said: The morning comes, and also night (Isa. XXI, 12). He meant: When the time of the World to Come arrives, which is called ‘morning’, then we will know in whom He delights; Then you will again discern between the righteous/generous and the wicked/lawless (Mal. loc. cit.). It is written, Men of low degree are vanity (hebel), and men of high degree are a lie (Ps. LXII, 10). R. Hiyya in the name of R. Levi expounded: All the foolish things  (habalim) that Israel do during all the days of the year will vanish in mozenayim  (ib.); that is to say, will be pardoned by the Holy One, blessed be He, in the constellation Libra  (mozenayim) during the month of Tishri; as it says, For on this day will atonement be made for you, to cleanse you (Lev. XVI, 30).

 

24. AND THE LORD SAID... HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE DESPISE ME? (XIV, 11). This bears on the text, But you have set at nought (vattifre'u) all my counsel and would not of my reproof... They despised all my reproof (Prov. I, 25, 30). What is the implication of ‘vattifre'u’? It signifies [says God] that all the good that I purposed to do on your behalf you foiled and marred; as it says, ‘But you have set at nothing (vattifre'u) all my counsel.’ At the beginning, I came down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians (Ex. III, 8), but you did not act in the right manner. You came to the sea and straightway foiled My plan; as it says, But were rebellious at the sea, even at the Red Sea (Ps. CVI, 7). I came down on your account with thousands upon thousands and myriads upon myriads of angels and presented to each of you two angels; one to gird every Israelite with his weapons and one to put a crown upon his head. R. Judah of Sepphoris said: He girded them with cuirasses; while R. Simai said: He clothed them with royal cloaks. The Ineffable Name was engraved on them and as long as they possessed it no evil thing could touch them, neither the Angel of Death nor anything else. As soon as they sinned Moses said to them: Therefore, now, put off your ornaments from you, that I may know what to do unto you (Ex. XXXIII, 5). Thereupon, When the people heard these evil tidings (ib. 4), what does it say? And no man did put on him his ornaments (ib.). What had the Holy One, blessed be He, done at the giving of the Torah? He had brought the Angel of Death and said to him: ‘You have jurisdiction over the whole world, except this people whom I have chosen for Myself.’ R. Eleazar b. R. Jose the Galilean remarked: The Angel of Death complained to the Holy One, blessed be He: 'I have then been created in the world to no purpose!’ The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: ‘I have created you in order that you will destroy idol-worshippers, but not this people, for you have no jurisdiction over them.’ See the plan the Holy One, blessed be He, had made for them! That they should live and endure for ever; as it says, But you that did cleave unto the Lord your God are alive every one of you (Deut. IV, 4). In the same strain it says, The writing was the writing of God, graven (haruth) upon the tables (Ex. XXXII, 16). What is the signification of ‘haruth’? R. Judah says: Freedom  (heruth) from foreign governments; R. Nehemiah says: From the Angel of Death; and Rabbi says: From suffering. See then the plan the Holy One, blessed be He, had made for them! Yet forthwith they frustrated the plan after forty days [Forty days after Moses had ascended the mountain, when they made the Golden Calf]. Accordingly it says, ‘But you have set at nothing all my counsel.’ The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them: 'I thought you would not sin and would live and endure for ever like Me; even as I live and endure for ever and to all eternity; I said: You are godlike beings, and all of you sons of the Most High (Ps. LXXXII, 6), like the ministering angels, who are immortal. Yet, after all this greatness, you wanted to die! Indeed, you will die like men-- Adam  (ib.), i.e. Iike Adam whom I charged with one commandment which he was to perform and live and endure for ever’; as it says,  Behold, the man was as one of us (Gen. III, 22). Similarly, And God created man in His own image (ib. I, 27), that is to say, that he should live and endure like Himself. Yet [says God] he corrupted his deeds and nullified My decree. For he ate of the tree, and I said to him: For dust you are (ib. III, 19). So also in your case, ‘I said: You are godlike beings,’ but you have ruined yourselves like Adam, and so, ‘Indeed, you will die like Adam.’

 

Who brought this upon them? The fact that ‘You have set at nothing all my counsel’. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to them - ‘You provoke Me by means of the very good that I have conferred upon you! When they came to the wilderness, I gave them manna to eat forty years, and none of them needed to answer nature's call during all those forty years. They ate the manna and it was transformed into flesh for them’; as it says, Man did eat the bread of the mighty (Ps. LXXVIII, 25). With this bread they provoked Him. One would say to the other: ‘Do you not know that we have passed many days without having had a call of nature, and that a man who does not receive such a call four or five days dies? Moreover Our soul loathes this light (kelokel) bread’ (Num. XXI, 5), for it was easily digested  (kal) in their bowels. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: ‘With the very benefits which I conferred on them they provoked Me’; as may be inferred from the text, What could have been done more to my vineyard? (Isa. V, 4). It was the same when the spies went and saw the land. You find that wherever an Israelite goes he is recognized as such; as it says, All that see them will recognize them (ib. LXI, 9). The Holy One, blessed be He, therefore thought: If the Amorites see them they will recognize them to be Israelites and will kill them. What then will I do? In every province that they entered, the head of the province was stricken with a plague, or the king was so stricken, in order that people might be occupied in carrying out their dead. They would thus pay no attention to the spies and so did not kill them. The spies, however, provoked Him by means of this very thing. When they came to Moses and to Israel they reported to them what kind of land it was. Wherever they had entered they had seen dead bodies! What use is a land that eats up its inhabitants (Num. XIII, 32)? Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes (Isa. loc. cit.). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: 'I thought that you would become like the Patriarchs, like grapes in the wilderness (Hos. IX, 10). I did not think that you would become like Sodom’; as it says, For their vine is of the vine of Sodom (Deut. XXXII, 32). ’Wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?’ For all these reasons He said: HOW LONG WILL THIS PEOPLE DESPISE ME?

 

25. Moses said to Him: THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND... HAVE HEARD THAT YOU LORD ARE IN THE MIDST OF THIS PEOPLE... NOW IF YOU WILL KILL THIS PEOPLE AS ONE MAN (XIV, 14 f.). He implied: Do not do this, that the nations of the world may not say: ‘The gods of Canaan are more difficult to overcome than the gods of Egypt. The gods of Egypt are false but those of Canaan are possessed of strength’ THEY WILL SAY TO THE INHABITANTS ... BECAUSE THE LORD WAS NOT ABLE--YEKOLETH  (ib. 14 ff.). Because, they will imply, He was unable to supply them with food, He brought them out to slay them in the wilderness. The expression YEKOLETH cannot but signify food; as is borne out by the text, Twenty thousand measures of wheat for food (makkoleth) to his household (I Kings V, 25). Another exposition: Do not do it, that the nations of the world may not regard you as a cruel Being and say: 'The Generation of the Flood came and He destroyed them, the Generation of the Separation (Cf. Gen. XI, 1 ff) came and He destroyed them, the Sodomites and the Egyptians came and He destroyed them, and these also, whom He called My son, My firstborn (Ex. IV, 22), He is now destroying! As that Lilith (kelilith) who, when she finds nothing else, turns upon her own children, so Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land ... He has slain them’ (Num. XIV, 16)! Moses said: ‘Sovereign of the worlds! INASMUCH AS YOU, LORD, ARE SEEN FACE TO FACE- ‘AYIN BE'AYIN’  (ib. 14). What is the implication of AYIN BE’ AYIN? Resh Lakish explained: ‘Behold,’ said Moses, ‘the scales are evenly balanced (me'uyan)! You say: I will smite him with pestilence (ib. 12), and I say: Pardon, I pray to You (ib. 19). Let us see whose words will take effect! ' Scripture in fact states: And the Lord said, ’I have pardoned according to your word’ (ib. 20). Nevertheless, the decree of the Holy One, blessed be He, which He communicated to Moses, saying: I will make of you a nation greater, etc.  (ib. 12), did not come to nothing, for He raised up from him sixty myriads; as may be inferred from the text, But the sons of Rehabiah were very many (I Chron. XXIII, 17), In the time to come the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring them together; as may be inferred from the text, Behold, these will come from far; and lo, these from the north and from the west, and these from the land of Sinim (Isa. XLIX, 12). The other exiles will come with them, and the tribes who are living beyond the River Sambatyon and beyond the Mountains of Darkness will gather together and come to Jerusalem. Isaiah stated: Saying to the prisoners; Go forth (ib. 9). He was referring to those exiles who were living beyond Sambatyon. To them that are in darkness: Show yourselves. By this he was referring to those who were living beyond the cloud of darkness. They will feed in the ways, and In all high hills will be their pasture (ib.). By this he was referring to those who were living in Daphne Antiochene. When the time comes they will be redeemed and will come to Zion in gladness; as it says, And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, etc.  (ib. LI, 11).

 

 

 

Ketubim Targum Tehillim (Psalms) 101

 

 

JPS Translation

TARGUM

1. A Psalm of David. I will sing of mercy and justice; unto You, O LORD, will I sing praises. 

1. Composed by David, a psalm. Whether You show mercy to me or treat me with justice, for both of them I will sing praise; in Your presence, O Lord, I will make music.

2. I will give heed unto the way of integrity; Oh when will You come unto me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart

2. God said, “I will make you wise in the perfect way; when will you come unto Me?” David said, “I will walk in the perfection of my heart within my house of instruction.”

3. I will set no base thing before mine eyes; I hate the doing of things crooked; it will not cleave unto me.

3. I will not set upon my heart the word of the wicked/lawless man, the ones who do evil; and those who wander from the commandments I hate, they will not follow me.

4. A perverse heart will depart from me; I will know no evil thing.

4. Let the twisted heart pass from me; I will not know the evil impulse.

5. Whosoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I destroy; whosoever is haughty of eye and proud of heart, him will I not suffer.

5. He who relates slander against his fellow – him will I overturn; and he who walks with haughty eyes will be stricken with leprosy; with him I will never dwell.

6. Mine eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me; he that walks in a way of integrity, he will minister unto me.

6. My eyes are on the honest of the land, to dwell in the precincts of the righteous/generous; he who walks perfect on the way – he will stand among my ministers.

7. He that works deceit will not dwell within my house; he that speaks falsehood will not be established before mine eyes.

7. He who acts guilefully will not dwell in the midst of my sanctuary; he who speaks lies has no right to stand before my eyes.

8. Morning by morning will I destroy all the wicked/lawless of the land; to cut off all the workers of iniquity/lawlessness from the city of the LORD.

8. In the age to come, which is likened to the light of morning, I will overturn all the wicked/lawless of the earth, to destroy from Jerusalem, the city of the Lord, all those who work deceit.

 

 

 

 

The Midrash on Psalms (Midrash Tehillim): Psalm 101 

 

I. A Psalm of David. I will sing of mercy and judgment; unto You, O Lord, will I sing praises (Ps. 101:1). Elsewhere this is what Scripture says: But the Lord of hosts is exalted through judgment, and God the Holy One is sanctified through righteousness/generosity (Isa. 5:16)—that is, when there is judgment, then The Lord of hosts is exalted through judgment, and when there is righteousness/generosity, then God the Holy One is sanctified through righteousness/generosity.

 

R. Huna said in the name of R. Aha that David spoke thus to the Holy One, blessed be He: Whether You deal with me in mercy, I will sing, or whether You deal with me in judgment, I will sing. Either way, Unto You, O Lord, will I sing praises.

 

R. Judah ben Palya taught: When Job said, The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord (Job I :21), he meant that when God gave, He alone gave; but that when God took away, He, together with His court of judgment, took away. Blessed was He, when He gave; and blessed was He, when He took away. Either way, Blessed be the name of the Lord. Hence I will sing of mercy and judgment; unto You, O Lord, will I sing praises.

 

R. Berechiah taught in the name of R. Levi: But You, O Lord. are Most High for evermore (Ps. 92:9) - that is, “Your hand, O God, is always uppermost.”

 

In the Mishnah we learned: For good [tidings] one says, [“Blessed are You ...] who are good and does good.” For bad [tidings] one says, “Blessed [are You] the true Judge.”

 

R. Tanhum bar Yudan taught: In the verse In God—I will praise His word—In the Lord—I will praise His word (Ps. 56:11), the first part of the verse implies that when God comes upon me with judgment, as when it is said “Whom God will condemn” (Ex. 22:8), I will nevertheless praise His word. The second part of the verse implies that when the Lord comes to me with mercy, as when it is said “The Lord, the Lord, God, merciful and gracious” (Ex. 34:6), 1 will praise His word. Either way, I will praise His word.

 

The Rabbis said: The verses I found trouble and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the Lord (Ps. 116:3-4) and I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord (ibid. 116:13) imply that either way, I call unto You, O Lord.

 

II. Upon the meaning of I will give heed unto the way of integrity ... He that walks in a way of integrity he will minister unto Me (Ps. 101:2,6), R. Judah and R. Nehemiah differed. According to R. Judah, when the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: “Appoint a High Priest for Me,” Moses asked God: “From what tribe will I appoint him? Will I appoint him out of the tribe of Reuben?” God replied: “No! I will set no base thing before Mine eyes” (Ps. 101:3). For Reuben had done a base thing, as is said “Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine” (Gen. 35:22). When Moses asked God: “Will I appoint a High Priest for You out of the tribe of Simeon?” God replied: “No! I hate the work of them that turn aside (Ps. 101:3). I hate the tribe of Simeon because of the act of turning aside which Zimri, the son of Salu, was guilty of at Shittim. Therefore It will not cleave unto Me” (Ps. 101:3). When Moses asked God: “Will I appoint a High Priest for You out of the tribe of Dan?” God answered: “No! A perverse heart will depart from Me” (ibid. 101:4). For it is said “And the children of Dan set up for themselves the graven image” (Judg. 58:30), and they served the graven image because their hearts were not wholly given to their Creator, but were perverse. And they offended the Holy One, blessed be He, in that they served the graven image which, accompanying the people of Israel, passed over the Red Sea: affliction in the words “And over the sea affliction did pass” (Zech. 10:11) refers to Micah’s graven image, which Moses had in mind when he said: Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the Lord our God (Deut. 29:17). When Moses asked God: “Will I appoint a High Priest for You out of the tribe of Joseph?” God answered “No! Whosoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I destroy” (Ps. 101:5). For Joseph slandered his brothers, as it is said “Joseph brought evil report of them unto their father” (Gen. 37.2). When Moses asked God: “Will I appoint a High Priest for You out of the tribe of Judah?” God answered: “No! Whosoever is haughty of eye and proud of heart, him will I not suffer” (Ps. 101:5). For of Judah, it is said: “When Judah saw her, he thought her to be a harlot” (Gen. 38:15). Moses then asked God: “Will I appoint a High Priest out of the tribe of Levi?” and God answered: Yes. Mine eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with Me (Ps. 101:6). For what you are, so is your tribe, and of you it is said: “My servant Moses ... is trusted in all My house” (Num. 52:7).

 

According to R. Nehemiah—some maintain that it was R. Hama speaking in the name of R. Simon ben Lakish – the words Mine eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with Me imply that the Holy One, blessed be He, said: Whoever ministers to Me in this world, will also minister to Me in the world-to-come.

 

III. He that works deceit will not dwell within My house (Ps. 101:7). R. Joshua ben Levi said: A man should be humble in his own house, and all the more so in the house of the Holy One, blessed be He.

 

He that talks lies will not tarry in My sight (ibid.). There are four companies of men who will not behold the presence of God: the company of scorners, for it is written He will not sit in the seat of the scornful (Ps. 1:1); the company of hypocrites, as it is written A hypocrite cannot come before Him (Job 13:16); the company of slanderers, as is said Whoso slanders his neighbor in secret ... him (‘oto) I cannot abide (Ps. 101:5)— read not ‘oto, “him,” but ‘itto, “with him”; and the company of liars, as it is written He that tells lies will not tarry in My sight.

 

IV. On mornings’ account, will I destroy all the wicked/lawless of the land (Ps. 101:8). According to R. Johanan, God said: Because of the two mornings upon which the children of Israel brought free-will offerings for the work of the Tabernacle, as is said They brought yet unto Him free-will offerings on one morning and thee next morning (Ex. 36:3), and because of the merit thus gained, I will destroy all the wicked/lawless of the land.

 

“And it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the Tabernacle ... that the princes of Israel brought their offering before the Lord, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen ... and they presented them before the Tabernacle. And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: “Take: it is of them, in order that the wagons may serve for carrying the Tent of Meeting; and you will give them unto the Levites” (Num. 7:1-5). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Go forth and speak grave words to the children of Israel; say: “I, the Lord, will reckon the offering to your credit as though I needed something to carry My world. And what is it that carries My world? It is the Tabernacle.” Now when the princes brought the covered wagons and the oxen, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Take: it is of them, for Moses had asked: “Can some prophet have decreed that the princes bring these things? Or can the princes have brought them of their own free will?” The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: Take: it is of them, in order that the wagons may serve for carrying the Tent of Meeting (Num. 7:5).

 

How long did the oxen remain alive? R. Hanina said in the name of Bar Kappara, and R. Yudan said in the name of R. Samuel bar Nahmani: Until the children of Israel came to Gilgal, for it is said in Gilgal they sacrificed the bullocks (Hos. 12:12). Until Nob became a city of priests, R. Abba bar Kahana said. Until the time of Gibeon, R. Abbahu said. Until the Temple was built and Solomon offered them as a sacrifice, R. Hama bar Hanina said.

 

R. Levi taught: What was R. Hama bar Hanina’s proof? The verse And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of the oxen (II Chron. 7:5): Note that it is not written “a sacrifice of oxen,” but a sacrifice of the oxen—that is, a sacrifice of the oxen that the princes brought for carrying the Tabernacle.

 

R. Aibu said in the name of R. Meir: The oxen are designated for the punishment of the wicked/lawless in the world-to-come, as is said With the oxen will I destroy all the wicked/lawless of the land.

 

 

 

Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 52:5-12 + 54:7-8

 

52:5. Now therefore, what do I here, says the LORD, seeing that My people is taken away for nothing? They that rule over them do howl, says the LORD, and My name continually all the day is blasphemed.

6. Therefore My people will know My name; therefore they will know in that day that I, even He that spoke, behold, here I am. {S}

 

7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger of good tidings, that announces peace, the harbinger of good tidings, that announces salvation; that says unto Zion: ‘Your God reigns!’

8. Hark, your watchmen! they lift up the voice, together do they sing; for they will see, eye to eye, the LORD returning to Zion.

9. Break forth into joy, sing together, you waste places of Jerusalem; for the LORD has comforted His people, He has redeemed Jerusalem.

10. The LORD has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the Gentiles; and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God. {S}

 

11. Depart, depart, go you out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go you out of the midst of her; be clean, you that bear the vessels of the LORD.

12. For you will not go out in haste, neither will you go by flight; for the LORD will go before you, and the God of Israel will be your rearward. {S}

 

13. Behold, My servant will prosper, he will be exalted and lifted up, and will be very high.

14. According as many were appalled at you - so marred was his visage unlike that of a man, and his form unlike that of the sons of men -

15. So will he startle many Gentiles, kings will shut their mouths because of him; for that which had not been told them will they see, and that which they had not heard will they perceive. {S}

 

53:1. ‘Who would have believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2. For he shot up right forth as a sapling, and as a root out of a dry ground; he had no form nor comeliness, that we should look upon him, nor beauty that we should delight in him.

3. He was despised, and forsaken of men, a man of pains, and acquainted with disease, and as one from whom men hide their face: he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4. Surely our diseases he did bear, and our pains he carried; whereas we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

5. But he was wounded because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities/lawlessness: the chastisement of our welfare was upon him, and with his stripes we were healed.

6. All we like sheep did go astray, we turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath made to light on him the iniquity/lawlessness of us all.

7. He was oppressed, though he humbled himself and opened not his mouth; as a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before her shearers is dumb; yes, he opened not his mouth.

8. By oppression and judgment he was taken away, and with his generation who did reason? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due.

9. And they made his grave with the wicked/lawless, and with the rich his tomb; although he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.'

10. Yet it pleased the LORD to crush him by disease; to see if his soul would offer itself in restitution, that he might see his seed, prolong his days, and that the purpose of the LORD might prosper by his hand:

11. Of the travail of his soul he will see to the full, even My servant, who by his knowledge did justify the Righteous One to the many, and their iniquities/lawlessness he did bear.

12. Therefore will I divide him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoil with the mighty; because he bared his soul unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. {P}

 

54:1. Sing, O barren, you that did not bear, break forth into singing, and cry aloud, you that did not travail; for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, says the LORD.

2. Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of your habitations, spare not; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes.

3. For you will spread abroad on the right hand and on the left; and your seed will possess the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited.

4. Fear not, for you will not be ashamed. Neither be you confounded, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood will you remember no more.

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 will He be called.

6. For the LORD haw called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit; and a wife of youth, can she be rejected? says your God.

7. For a small moment have I forsaken you; but with great compassion will I gather you.

8. In a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have compassion on you, says the LORD your Redeemer. {S}

 

 

 

Midrash of Matityahu (Matthew) 21: 23-45

 

  1. Then, at his coming into the Bet HaMiqdash (Temple) the [Greco-Roman oriented Sadducee] Chief Kohanim (Priests) and the elders of the kinsmen came near to him at the teaching saying, “By what governmental-authority do you do these things? Who gave you this governmental-authority?” 
  2. Replying, Yeshuah said to them, “I too will ask you a question, which if you answer me, I will tell you by what governing-authority I do these things:
  3. From where was the T’vilah (immersion) of Yochanan the Immerser Ben Z’kharyah HaKohem (son of Zechariah the Priest) – from the heavens or from men?” They deliberated amongst themselves saying, “If we say ‘from the heavens’, he will say to us, ‘Then why did you not trust him?’
  4. If we say ‘From men’ we fear the congregation, for all hold Yochanan the Immerser Ben Z’kharyah HaKohen (son of Zechariah the Priest) to be a Prophet.”
  5. Replying to Yeshuah they said, “We do not see.” He said to them, “Then neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

 

  1. “What do you suppose about this? A man has two sons. Having come near the first, he said, ‘Son, go innocuously to work in the vineyard today!’
  2. Replying, he said, ‘I do not wish to.’ Later, having regretted it, he went.
  3. Having come near the other, he said the same. Replying the son said, ‘I go sir’ – but he did not go forth.
  4. Which of the two did the wish of the father?” They said, “The first.” Yeshuah said to them, “Amen, I tell you that the turn-coat-tax-gougers and the licentious precede you into the Government of Elohim (G-d).
  5. For Yochanan the Immerser ben Zekharyah HaKohen (son of Zechariah the Priest) came to you in the Way of Ts’daqah (righteousness/generosity) and you did not trust. But turn-coat-tax-gougers and the licentious trusted. Even later, having seen it, you did not do Teshuvah (returned and do what he asked of you).”

 

  1. “Listen to another parable: A certain man transplanted vines into a vineyard, walled it all around, dug a wine-press in it, constructed a watchtower within it, leased it to the tenant-farmers and went abroad.
  2. When the time of the fruit converged, he sent forth his servants to the tenant-farmers to receive his produce.
  3. Having taken his servants, the tenant-farmers whipped one, killed another, and stoned a third.
  4. Again he sent many more servants than the first time and the tenant-farmers did the same to them.
  5. Finally, he sent forth his son to them saying, ‘They will revere my son.’
  6. The tennat-farmers saw the son and said amongst themselves, ‘This is the heir. Over here! Let’s kill him and we will inherit his estate.’
  7. Then, having taken him, they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
  8. Now, when the lord of the vineyard will come, what will he do to those tenant-farmers?”
  9. They said to him, “Evil ones! He will bring evil upon them and will destroy them and will lease the vineyard to other tenant-farmers who will render the fruit to him in its time.”

 

  1. Yeshuah said to them, “Did you never read the Scriptures (Psalms 118:22-23): ‘The stone that the builders rejected was for the cornerstone. This was by Ha-Shem. It is marvelous in our eyes’?
  2. Therefore I tell you that the Government of Elohim will be torn from you and given to a people who are producing fruit.”
  3. Hearing these Parables, the [Greco-Roman oriented Sadducee] Chief Kohanim (Priests) and those [Painted/False] Pharisees knew that he was speaking about them.
  4. They sought to kill him but they were afraid of the congregation since they held him to be a Prophet. 

 

 

 

The Rabbi’s Private Prophetic Study

 

 

In last week’s Torah Seder as well as in this week’s Torah Seder we observed how the Israelites disobeyed and dishonored Moses, Yehoshua, and Caleb, and not content with this they wanted to stone them and chose for themselves a king. In the above Midrash of Matityahu we have a similar repeat of the same deeds but in another time frame. The lesson nevertheless is the same.

 

It was because of the corrupt Greco-Roman oriented Sadducees and some Painted/Pseudo Pharisees, that we lost the Temple, many of our people were slaughtered, raped and/or enslaved, and we were expelled from the land into a Diaspora amongst the Gentiles, from which we have yet to recover. Thus we can see how grievous was the sin of the spies and of the people of Israel in Mosheh’s time, as well as those leaders in Yeshuah’s time.

 

But what lies at the root of this sin? Simple. Lack of trust in Ha-Shem, most blessed be He, lack of gratitude to Him, and lack or righteousness/generosity towards Him and fellowman. As the Targum for the Seder of this week most eloquently puts it: “For, because you have turned away from the service of the Lord, the Word of the Lord will not be your Helper.” And thus the Midrash on the Psalms concludes: “Whoever ministers to Me in this world, will also minister to Me in the world-to-come.” And the Master of Nazareth sums it up by quoting Psalms 118:22-23: ‘The stone that the builders rejected was for the cornerstone. This was by Ha-Shem. It is marvelous in our eyes.’

 

Thus the antidote is to devote more and more time each day to the study of Torah under a skilled Torah teacher, develop more and more gratitude each day towards G-d and fellowman, as well as more and more righteous/generous towards G-d and fellowman. If we do so, the Government of Heaven will soon cover the whole earth, for in G-d’s sight it is not quantity that counts, but quality is what matters.

 

May the readings of this Torah Seder for this week, cause us to reflect and ponder our path, and se where we need to improve, so that we may be privileged to minister unto G-d in this world, and in the world-to-come, together with all of our most beloved and noble people of Yisrael, amen ve amen!

 

Shalom Shabbat!

 

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai