Esnoga Bet Emunah

4544 Highline Dr. SE

Olympia, WA 98501

United States of America

© 2016

http://www.betemunah.org/

E-Mail: gkilli@aol.com

Menorah 5

Esnoga Bet El

102 Broken Arrow Dr.

Paris TN 38242

United States of America

© 2016

http://torahfocus.com/

E-Mail: waltoakley@charter.net

 

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

 

Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings

Second Year of the Triennial Reading Cycle

Heshvan 25, 5780 – November 22-23, 2019

Fifth Year of the Shmita Cycle

 

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times

see: http://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

            

A great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and allied topics. If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never lose any of our commentaries, or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to benhaggai@GMail.com  send with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!

 

 

 

We pray for our beloved Hakham His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai. Mi Sheberach…He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal the sick person HE Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for him to restore his health, to heal him, to strengthen him, and to revivify him. And may He send him speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit, swiftly and soon, and we will say amen ve amen!

 

 

 

 

 

Shabbat: “VaYera ELOHIM El-Ya’aqob” - ‎" And GOD appeared unto Jacob”

& Shabbat Mevar’chim Rosh Chodesh Kislev

Sabbath of the Proclamation of the moon for the Month of Kislev

(Evening November 28 – Evening November 29, 2015)

 

Shabbat

Torah Reading:

Weekday Torah Reading:

וַיֵּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶל-יַעֲקֹב

 

 

“VaYera ELOHIM El-Ya’aqob”

Reader 1 – B’resheet 35:9-15

Reader 1 – B’resheet 37:1-3

“And GOD appeared unto Jacob”

Reader 2 – B’resheet 35:16-26

Reader 2 – B’resheet 37:4-6

“Y DIO se apareció a Jacob”

Reader 3 – B’resheet 35:27-29

Reader 3 – B’resheet 37:7-10

B’resheet (Gen) 35:9 – 36:43‎

B’Midbar (Num.) 28:9-15v

Reader 4 – B’resheet 36:1-8

 

Ashlamatah: Is 61:2-9 + 62:1-2

Reader 5 – B’resheet 36:9-19

 

Special:  I Samuel 20:18,42

Reader 6 – B’resheet 36:20-30

Reader 1 – B’resheet 37:1-3

Psalm 30:1-13

Reader 7 – B’resheet 36:31-43

Reader 2 – B’resheet 37:4-6

 

    Maftir – ‎B'resheet 36:40-43

Reader 3 – B’resheet 37:7-10

Luke 7:11-17; Yehudah 11-13;

2 Luqas (Acts) 20:1-16

                 Is 61:2-9 + 62:1-2

 

 

 

 

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan

for: B’resheet (Genesis) 35:9 – 36:43

 

Rashi’s Translation

Targum Pseudo Jonathan

9. And God appeared again to Jacob when he came from Padan aram, and He blessed him.

9. And the LORD revealed Himself to Ya’aqob again on his return from Padan of Aram, and the LORD blessed him by the name of His Word, after the death of his mother.

JERUSALEM:  The God of eternity, whose name be Blessed forever and ever, has taught us precepts which are beautiful and statutes that are comely: He has taught us the blessing of matrimony from Adam and his bride, as the scripture expounds And the Word of the Lord blessed them, and the Word of the Lord said to them, Be strong and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it. He has taught us to visit the afflicted, from our father Abraham the Righteous/Generous, when He revealed Himself to him in the plain of Vision, and gave him the precept of circumcision, and made him to sit in the door of his tent in the heat of the day; as the scripture expounds and says, And the Word of the LORD revealed Himself to him in the plain of Vision. And again He has taught us to bless those who mourn, from our father Ya’aqob the Righteous/Generous: for He revealed Himself to him on his coming from Padan of Aram, when the way of the world had happened to Deborah, the nurse of Rivqah his mother, and Rachel died by him in the way, and Ya’aqob our father sat weeping and bewailing her, and mourning and crying. Then were You, O LORD of all worlds, in the perfection of Your free mercies revealed to him, and did comfort him, and blessing the mourners did bless him concerning his mother, even as the scripture expounds and says, The Word of the LORD revealed Himself unto Ya’aqob the second time on his coming from Padan Aram, and blessed him.

10. God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." And He named him Israel.

10. And the LORD said to him, Heretofore was your name Ya’aqob: your name will be no more called Ya’aqob, but Israel will be your name.

11. And God said to him, "I am the Almighty God; be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a multitude of nations shall come into existence from you, and kings shall come forth from your loins.

11. And the LORD said to him, I am El Shadai: spread forth and multiply; a holy people, and a congregation of prophets and priests, will be from your sons whom you have begotten, and two kings will yet from you go forth.

12. And the land that I gave to Abraham and to Isaac, I will give to you and to your seed after you will I give the land."

12. And the land which I gave to Abraham and to Yitzchaq will I give unto you, and to your son, after you will I give the land.

13. And God went up from him in the place where He had spoken with him.

13. And the Shekinah of the LORD ascended from him in the place where He had spoken with him

14. Now Jacob had erected a monument in the place where He had spoken with him, a stone monument, and he poured a libation upon it, and [then] he poured oil upon it.

14. And Ya’aqob erected there a pillar of stone in the place where He had spoken with him, a pillar of stone; and he outpoured upon it a libation of wine, and a libation of water, because thus it was to be done at the feast of Tabernacles; and he poured oil of olives thereupon.

15. Jacob named the place where God had spoken with him Beth el.

15. And Ya’aqob called the name of the place where the LORD had spoken with him Beth El.

16. And they journeyed from Beth el, and there was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel gave birth, and her labor was difficult.

16. And they proceeded from Beth El; and there was yet much space of provision land in the coming to Ephrath and Rachel travailed, and had hard labour in her birth.

JERUSALEM: And there was a space, as much ground, to come unto Ephrath; and Rachel travailed, and had hard labour in her birth.

17. It came to pass when she had such difficulty giving birth, that the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid, for this one, too, is a son for you."

17. And it was in the hardness of her travail that the midwife said to her, Fear not, for this also is to you a male child.

18. And it came to pass, when her soul departed for she died that she named him Ben oni, but his father called him Benjamin.

18. And it was in the going forth of her soul, for death came upon her, that she called his name The son of my woe: but his father called him Benjamin.

JERUSALEM: But his father called him in the language of the sanctuary, Benjamin.

19. So Rachel died, and she was buried on the road to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.

19. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bet Lehem.

20. And Jacob erected a monument on her grave; that is the tombstone of Rachel until this day.

20. And Ya’aqob erected a pillar over the house of burying: which is the pillar of the tomb of Rachel unto this day.

21. Israel journeyed, and he pitched his tent at some distance past the Tower of Eder.

21. And Ya’aqob proceeded and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder, the place from whence, it is to be, the King Messiah will be revealed at the end of the days.

22. And it came to pass when Israel sojourned in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard [of it], and so, the sons of Jacob were twelve.

22. And it was while Israel dwelt in this land that Reuben went and confounded the bed of Bilhah the concubine of his father, which had been ordained along with the bed of Leah his mother; and this is reputed with regard to him, as if he had lain with her. And Israel heard it, and it afflicted him, and he said, Alas, that one should have come forth from me so profane, even as Ishmael came forth from Abraham, and Esau from my father! The Spirit of Holiness answered and thus spoke to him: fear not, for all are righteous/generous and none of them is profane! So, after Benjamin was born, the sons of Ya’aqob were twelve.

23. The sons of Leah [were] Reuben, Jacob's firstborn, and Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

23. The sons of Leah, the first--born of Ya’aqob, Reuben, and Shimeon, and Levi, and Jehudah, and Issakar, and Zabulon.

24. The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

24. The sons of Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin.

25. The sons of Bilhah, Rachel's maidservant: Dan and Naphtali.

25. The sons of Bilhah, the handmaid of Rahel, Dan and Naphtali;

26. The sons of Zilpah, Leah's maidservant: Gad and Asher. These are Jacob's sons who were born to him in Padan aram.

26. and the sons of Zilpha, the handmaid of Leah, Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Ya’aqob who were born to him in Padan Aram.

27. And Jacob came to his father Isaac, to Mamre, Kiriath arba, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac dwelt.

27. And Ya’aqob came to Yitzchaq his father, at Mamre the city of Arba, which is Hebron, for there Abraham and Yitzchaq had dwelt.

28. The days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.

28. And the days of Yitzchaq were an hundred and eighty years.

29. And Isaac expired and died and was gathered in to his peoples, old and sated with days, and his sons, Esau and Jacob, buried him.

29. And Yitzchaq expired and died and was gathered to his people, old and full of days, and Esau and Ya’aqob his sons buried him.

 

 

1. And these are the generations of Esau, that is, Edom.

1. These are the genealogies of Esau, who is called Edom.

2. Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah, daughter of Elon the Hittite; and Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon the Hivvite;

2. Esau took wives of the daughters of Kenaan, Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittah, and Ahalibama the daughter of Ana, the daughter of Sibeon the Hiva,

3. also Basemath, daughter of Ishmael, sister of Nebaioth.

3. and Basemath the daughter of Ishmael whom Nebaioth her brother gave to him.

4. Adah bore Eliphaz to Esau and Basemath bore Reuel.

4. And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz, and Basemath bare Reuel.

5. Oholibamah bore Jeush and Jalam and Korah; these are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

5. And Ahalibama, bare to Esau Jehus, and Jaalam, and Korach. These are the sons of Esau who were born to him in the land of Kenaan.

6. And Esau took his wives, his sons, and his daughters and all the people of his household, and his cattle and all his animals and all his property that he had acquired in the land of Canaan, and he went to a[nother] land, because of his brother Jacob.

6. And Esau had taken his wives and his sons and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his flocks and his cattle, and all the substance which he had gotten in the land of Kenaan, and had gone into another land; for there fell upon him a fear of Ya’aqob his brother:

7. For their possessions were too numerous for them to dwell together, and the land of their sojournings could not support them because of their livestock.

7. for their possessions would be too great for them to dwell together, neither would the land of their sojourning maintain them, on account of their flocks.

8. So Esau dwelt on Mount Seir Esau, that is Edom.

8. And Esau dwelt in the mountain of Gabal. He is Esau the prince of the Edomites.

9. And these are the generations of Esau the progenitor of Edom, on Mount Seir.

9. And these are the kindreds of Esau the prince of the Edomites, the place of whose dwelling was in the mountain. of Gabal.

10. These are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, son of Adah, the wife of Esau, Reuel, son of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

10. These are the names of the sons of Esau, Eliphaz bar Adah, wife of Esau; Reuel bar Basemath, wife of Esau.

11. The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gaatam, and Kenaz.

11. And the sons of Eliphaz were Teman Omar, Zephu, and Gaatam, and Kenaz, and Timna.

12. And Timna was a concubine to Eliphaz, son of Esau, and she bore to Eliphaz, Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, the wife of Esau.

12. And Timna was the concubine of Eliphaz bar Esau, and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek. He is Eliphaz the companion of Job. These are the sons of Adah wife of Esau.

13. And these are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

13. And these are the sons of Reuel, Nachath and Zerach, Shammah and Mizzah. These are the sons of Basemath wife of Esau.

14. And these are the sons of Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon, the wife of Esau; she bore to Esau: Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah.

14. And these are the sons of Ahalibama the daughter of Anah the daughter of Sebeon wife of Esau; and she bare to Esau, Jehus, and Jaalam, and Korach.

15. These became the chieftains of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz, Esau's firstborn: Chief Teman, Chief Omar, Chief Zepho, Chief Kenaz,

15. These are the chieftains of the sons of Esau; the sons of Eliphaz, the first--born of Esau, Rabba Teman, Rabba Omar, Rabba Zephu, Rabba Kenaz,

16. Chief Korah, Chief Gaatam, Chief Amalek. These are the chieftains of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah

16. Rabba Korach, Rabba Gaatam, Rabba Amalek: these are the chieftains of Eliphaz, whose habitation was in the land of Edom; they are the sons of Adah.

17. And these are the sons of Reuel the son of Esau: Chief Nahath, Chief Zerah, Chief Shammah, and Chief Mizzah. These are the chieftains of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

17. And these are the sons of Reuel bar Esau; Rabba Nachath, Rabba Zerach,, Rabba Shammah, Rabba Mizzah; these are the chieftains of Reuel, whose habitation was in the land of Edom. These are the sons of Basemath wife of Esau.

18. And these are the sons of Oholibamah, the wife of Esau: Chief Jeush, Chief Jaalam, Chief Korah. These are the chieftains of Oholibamah, daughter of Anah, the wife of Esau.

18. And these are the sons of Ahalibama wife of Esau; Rabba Jeush, Rabba Jaalam, Rabba Korach; these are the chieftains of Ahalibama, daughter of Adah wife of Esau.

19. These are the sons of Esau and these are their chieftains, he is Edom.

19. These are the sons of Esau, and these their chieftains. He is the father of the Edomites.

20. These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, and Anah;

20. These are the sons of Gebal, the generations who before that had dwelt in that land: Lotan, and Shobal, and Sebeon, and Anah,

21. Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chieftains of the Horites, the sons of Seir in the land of Edom.

21. and Dishon, and Etser, and Dishon. These are the chieftains of the generations of the sons of Gebal, whose habitation was of old in the land of the Edomites.

22. The sons of Lotan were Hori and Hemam, and the sister of Lotan was Timna.

22. And the sons of Lotan were the Chori and Heman; and the sister of Lotan was Timna.

23. And these are the sons of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, and Ebal, Shepho and Onam.

23. And these are the sons of Shobal, Alvan, and Manachoth, and Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

24. And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah he is Anah who found the mules in the wilderness when he pastured the donkeys for his father Zibeon.

24. And these are the sons of Sebeon, Aja and Anah: he is Anah who coupled the onagers with the she--asses, and after a time found mules which had come forth from them, when he was tending the asses of Sebeon his father.

25. And these are the sons of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

25. And these are the children of Anah: Dishon; and Ahalibama was the daughter of Anah.

26. And these are the sons of Dishan: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

26. And these are the sons of Dishon, Hemdan, and Jisban, and Jithran, and Keran.

27. These are the sons of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

27. These are the sons of Etser, Bilhan, and Zaavan, and Akan.

28. These are the sons of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

28. These are the sons of Dishan, Hutz and Aram

29. These are the chieftains of the Horites: Chief Lotan, Chief Shobal, Chief Zibeon, Chief Anah,

29. These are the chieftains of the families: Rabba Lotan, Rabba Shobal, Rabba Sebeon, Rabba Anah,

30. Chief Dishon, Chief Ezer, and Chief Dishan; these are the chieftains of the Horites according to their chieftains in the land of Edom.

30. Rabba Dishon, Rabba Etser, Rabba Dishan: these are the chieftains of the families, according to their principalities, whose habitation was of old in the land of Gabla.

31. And these are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel:

31. These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the sons of Israel.

32. Bela, son of Beor reigned in Edom, and the name of his city was Dinhabah.

32. In Edom reigned Bileam. the son of Behor, and the name of the city of the house of his kingdom was Dinhaba.

33. Bela died, and Jobab, son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his stead.

33. And Bela died, and in his stead reigned Jobab the son of Zerach of Botsra.

34. And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead.

34. And Jobab died, and in his stead reigned Husham of the South country;

35. Husham died, and Hadad, son of Bedad, who defeated Moab in the field of Midian, reigned in his stead. The name of his city was Avith.

35. and Husham died, and in his stead reigned Hadad the son of Bedad, who slew the Midianites when he arrayed war with them in the fields of Moab, and the name of the city of the house of his kingdom was Avith.

36. Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead.

36. And Hadad died, and in his stead reigned Simlah of Masrekah.

37. Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth by the river reigned in his stead.

37. And Simlah died, and instead of him reigned Shaul, who was of Rohoboth on the Pherat.

38. Saul died, and Baal Hanan, son of Achbor, reigned in his stead.

38. And Shaul died, and in his stead reigned Baal Hanan bar Akbor.

39. Baal Hanan, son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead. The name of his city was Pau; his wife's name was Mehetabel, daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me zahab.

39. And Baal Hanan bar Akbor died, and instead of him reigned Hadar; and the name of the city of the house of his kingdom was Pahu; and the name of his wife was Mehetabel the daughter of Matred. He was the man who laboured with perseverance and vigilance, and who, after he had become wealthy and had gotten riches, turned to become more lofty in his heart, saying What is silver and what is gold?

JERUSALEM: And after him reigned Hadar; and the name of his city was Pahu, and the daughter of Matred, the daughter of the changer of gold: the man who had perseverance all the days of his life; but who, after he had eaten and was satisfied, converted and said, What is gold, and what is silver?

40. And these are the names of the chieftains of Esau, according to their clans, according to their places, by their names: Chief Timna, Chief Alvah, Chief Jetheth;

40. And these are the names of the chieftains of Esau after their kindreds, after the place of their habitation,with their names Rabba Timna, Rabba Alva, Rabba Jetheth,

41. Chief Oholibamah, Chief Elah, Chief Pinon,

41. Rabba Aholibama, Rabba Elah, Rabba Phinon,

42. Chief Kenaz, Chief Teman, Chief Mibzar,

42. Rabba Kenaz, Rabba Teman, Rabba Mibzar,

43. Chief Magdiel, Chief Iram. These are the chieftains of Edom according to their dwelling places in the land of their possession. That is Esau, progenitor of the Edomites.

43. Rabba Magdiel, he was called Magdiel from the name of his city whose (migdol) tower was strong, Rabba Hiram. These are the chieftains of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possessions. He is Esau the father of the Edomites.

 

 

 

Rashi and Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: B’Midbar (Num.) 28:9-15‎

 

Rashi’s Translation

Targum Pseudo Jonathan

9. And on the Sabbath day, two unblemished lambs in the first year, and two tenths fine flour as a meal offering, mixed with oil, and its libation.

9. but on the day of Shabbath two lambs of the year without blemish, and two-tenths of flour mixed with olive oil for the mincha and its libation.

10. [This is] the burnt offering of each Sabbath on its Sabbath, in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation.

10. On the Sabbath you will make a Sabbath burnt sacrifice in addition to the perpetual burnt sacrifice and its libation.

11. And on the beginning of your months, you shall offer up a burnt offering to the Lord: two young bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in the first year, [all] unblemished.

11. And at the beginning of your months you will offer a burnt sacrifice before the LORD; two young bullocks, without mixture, one ram, lambs of the year seven, unblemished;

12. Three tenths fine flour as a meal offering, mixed with oil for each bull, and two tenths fine flour as a meal offering, mixed with oil for each ram.

12. and three tenths of flour mingled with oil for the mincha for one bullock; two tenths of flour with olive oil for the mincha of the one ram;

13. And one tenth of fine flour mixed with oil as a meal offering for each lamb. A burnt offering with a spirit of satisfaction, a fire offering to the Lord.

13. and one tenth of flour with olive oil for the mincha for each lamb of the burnt offering, an oblation to be received with favor before the LORD.

14. And their libations: a half of a hin for each bull, a third of a hin for each ram, and a quarter of a hin for each lamb; this is the burnt offering of each new month in its month, throughout the months of the year.

14. And for their libation to be offered with them, the half of a bin for a bullock, the third of a bin for the ram, and the fourth of a hin for a lamb, of the wine of grapes. This burnt sacrifice will be offered at the beginning of every month in the time of the removal of the beginning of every month in the year;

15. And one young male goat for a sin offering to the Lord; it shall be offered up in addition to the continual burnt offering and its libation. 

15. and one kid of the goats, for a sin offering before the LORD at the disappearing (failure) of the moon, with the perpetual burnt sacrifice will you perform with its libation.

 

Summary of the Torah Seder – B’resheet (Genesis) ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎35:9 – 36:43‎‎‎‎‎

 

·        Death and Mourning of Rivqah and Yitschaq – Gen. 35:9-29

·        The Generations of Esau – Gen. 36:1-43

 

 

Welcome to the World of P’shat Exegesis

 

In order to understand the finished work of the P’shat mode of interpretation of the Torah, one needs to take into account that the P’shat is intended to produce a catechetical output, whereby a question/s is/are raised and an answer/a is/are given using the seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel and as well as the laws of Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew expression.

 

The Seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel are as follows

[cf. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=472&letter=R]:

 

1. Ḳal va-ḥomer: "Argumentum a minori ad majus" or "a majori ad minus"; corresponding to the scholastic proof a fortiori.

2. Gezerah shavah: Argument from analogy. Biblical passages containing synonyms or homonyms are subject, however much they differ in other respects, to identical definitions and applications.

3. Binyan ab mi-katub eḥad: Application of a provision found in one passage only to passages which are related to the first in content but do not contain the provision in question.

4. Binyan ab mi-shene ketubim: The same as the preceding, except that the provision is generalized from two Biblical passages.

5. Kelal u-Peraṭ and Peraṭ u-kelal: Definition of the general by the particular, and of the particular by the general.

6. Ka-yoẓe bo mi-maḳom aḥer: Similarity in content to another Scriptural passage.

7. Dabar ha-lamed me-'inyano: Interpretation deduced from the context.

 

 

Reading Assignment:

 

The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez - Vol IIIa: The Twelve Tribes

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

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

Vol. 3a – “The Twelve Tribes,” pp. 185-228

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: ‎ B’resheet (Gen.) ‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎35:9 – 36:43

 

9 again The second time in this place: once when he went away and once when he returned.

 

and He blessed him [with] the blessing of [the consolation bestowed upon] mourners.-[from Gen. Rabbah 82:3]

 

10 Your name shall no longer be called Jacob Heb. יַעֲקֽב , an expression of a man who comes with stealth and guile (עָקְבָה) , but [ יִשְׂרָאֵל ], a term denoting a prince (שַׂר) and a chief.-[from Zohar vol. 1, 1712, vol. 3, 45a, and Chullin 92a]

 

11 I am the Almighty God Heb. שַׁדַּי . For I have the power (כְּדַי) to bless, because the blessings are Mine.

 

be fruitful and multiply-[God bestowed this blessing upon Jacob] because Benjamin was not yet born, although (Rachel) was already pregnant with him.

 

a nation- Benjamin.-[from Gen. Rabbah 82:4]

 

nations Manasseh and Ephraim, who were destined to emanate from Joseph, and [were counted] in the number of the tribes.-[from Gen. Rabbah loc. cit.]

 

and kings Saul and Ishbosheth, who were of the tribe of Benjamin, who had not yet been born. (Abner interpreted this verse [in this sense] when he crowned Ishbosheth, and the tribes too interpreted it [in this sense] and became friendly again with Benjamin, as it is written: “No man from us shall give his daughter to Benjamin for a wife” (Jud. 21: 1)—they retracted this and said, “Were he (Benjamin) not to be counted among the tribes, the Holy One, blessed be He, would not have said to Jacob, ‘and kings shall come forth from your loins.’”) [Old Rashi manuscript from Tanchuma Buber Vayishlach 29]

 

a nation and a multitude of nations This means that his children are destined to be like [the foreign] nations, according to the number of the nations, who are the seventy nations. Likewise, the entire Sanhedrin is [composed of] seventy [members. When Jacob and his household migrated to Egypt, they numbered seventy, as it is stated in Gen. 46:27]. Another explanation: This means that his sons are destined to offer up sacrifices at the time of the prohibition of the high places, just as the gentile nations [did] in the days of Elijah.-[Old Rashi manuscript from Gen. Rabbah 82:5]

 

14 in the place where He had spoken with him I do not know what this teaches us.

 

16 some distance Heb. כִּבְרַת הָאָרֶץ . Menachem (Machbereth Menachem p. 102) explained [ כִּבְרַת ] as an expression of כַּבִָּיר , meaning “much”—in this case, a long distance. The Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 82:7) explains it as: during the time [when] the ground is riddled like a sieve, when plowed fields are common, when the winter has passed, and the heat has not yet come. This, however, is not the simple meaning of the verse, for we find concerning Na’aman, “and he went some distance (כִּבְרַת אָרֶץ) from him” (II Kings 5:19). I therefore believe that it is the name of a land measure, like the distance of a parasang or more. Just as you say [in measuring an area], “yokes of a vineyard (צִמְדֵי כֶּרֶם) ” (Isa. 5:10),”a plot of land (חֶלְקַת הַשָׂדֶה) ” (above 33:19), so with a man’s journey (land approximately the journey of a mil), one calls the measureכִּבְרַת אָרֶץ .

 

17 for this one, too, is Added to Joseph for you. Our Sages interpreted [ גַם as intimating that] with each tribe a twin sister was born, and with Benjamin, an extra twin sister was born.-[from Gen. Rabbah 82:8]

 

18 Ben-oni-The son of my pain. [from Gen. Rabbah 82:9] Benjamin—It seems to me that since he was the only one who was born in the land of Canaan, which is in the South for a person [who is] coming from [the direction of] Aram-naharaim, as it is said: “in the South, in the land of Canaan” (Num. 33: 40); “continually traveling southward” (Gen. 12:9).

 

Benjamin The son of the South, an expression of “North and South (וְיָמִין) You created them” (Ps. 89:13). For this reason, it is [written here] plene, [with a “yud” after the “mem”]. (Another explanation: Benjamin means “the son of days” (בֶּן יָמִים) , because he was born in his (Jacob’s) old age, and it is spelled with a “nun” like “at the end of the days (הַיָמִין) ” (Dan. 12:13).

 

22 when Israel sojourned in that land Before he came to Hebron, to Isaac, all these [incidents] befell him.

 

and lay Since he (Reuben) disarranged his (Jacob’s) bed, Scripture considers it as if he had lain with her. Now why did he disarrange and profane his bed? [It was] because when Rachel died, Jacob took his bed, which had been regularly placed in Rachel’s tent and not in the other tents, and moved it in to Bilhah’s tent. Reuben came and protested his mother’s humiliation. He said, “If my mother’s sister was a rival to my mother, should my mother’s sister’s handmaid [now also] be a rival to my mother?” For this reason, he disarranged it.-[from Shab. 55b]

 

and so, the sons of Jacob were twelve [Scripture] commences with the previous topic (i.e. the birth of Benjamin). When Benjamin was born, the marriage bed (i.e. the destined number of sons) was completed, and from then on, it was proper that they be counted, and [so] it (Scripture) counted them. Our Sages, however, interpreted that these words are intended to teach us that all of them (Jacob’s sons) were equal, and all of them were righteous, for Reuben had not sinned.-[from Shab. 55b]

 

23 Jacob’s firstborn Even at the time of [Reuben’s] error, [Scripture] calls him the firstborn [with all its honors].-[from Gen. Rabbah 82: 11]

 

Jacob’s firstborn Firstborn in regard to inheritance, firstborn to perform the service, firstborn regarding the counting (when the names of the tribes were enumerated, he was always counted first.) The birthright was given to Joseph only in respect to the tribes, in that he founded two tribes (Ephraim and Manasseh).

 

27 Mamre The name of the plain.

 

Kiriath-arba The name of the city. [Therefore,] מַמְרֵא קִרְיַת הָאַרְבַָּע means “the plain of Kiriath-arba.” If you say that it should have been written: מַמְרֵא הַקִרְיַת אַרְבַָּע , [the answer is that] this is biblical style. In every case of a compound name such as this (קִרְיַת הָאַרְבַָּע) , and such as בֵּית-לֶחֶם , אֲבִי עֶזֶר , בֵּית-אֵל , when a “hey” needs to be added, it is prefixed to the second word: “the Bethlehemite (בֵּיתהַלַחְמִי) ” (I Sam. 16:1); “in Ophrah of the Abiezrites (אַבִי הָעֶזְרִי) ” (Jud. 6:24); “Hiel the Bethelite (בֵּית-הָאֱלִי) built” (I Kings 16:34).

 

29 And Isaac expired There is no order of earlier and later events (chronological order) in the [narrative of] Torah. The selling of Joseph [actually] preceded Isaac’s demise by 12 years, for when Jacob was born, Isaac was 60 years old, and Isaac died in Jacob’s 120th year, for it is stated: “and Isaac was sixty years old” (Gen. 25:26)—if you subtract 60 from 180 [Isaac’s age at his death], you have 120 left. Joseph was 17 years old when he was sold, and that year was Jacob’s 108th year. How so? He was blessed at the age of 63 [as Rashi explains Gen. 28:9], for 14 years he hid in the academy of Eber, totaling 77. He worked 14 years for a wife, and at the end of the 14 years, Joseph was born, as it is said: “Now it came to pass when Rachel had borne Joseph, etc.” (Gen. 30:25). The total is 91. [Add to this] the 17 [years] until Joseph was sold, and it totals 108. (Moreover, it is explicit that from when Joseph was sold until Jacob came to Egypt, 22 years had passed, as it is said: “And Joseph was thirty years old, etc.” (Gen. 41:46), and the seven years of plenty and two years of [the] famine [had elapsed before Jacob’s arrival.] This totals 22. And it is written: “The days of the years of my sojournings are one hundred thirty years” (Gen. 47:9). [Since Jacob arrived in Egypt at age 130, 22 years after Joseph had been sold,] it follows that Jacob was 108 when he (Joseph) was sold.) [from Seder Olam, ch. 2]

 

 

Chapter 36

 

2 Adah daughter of Elon This is [actually] Basemath the daughter of Elon (mentioned above 26:34). She was called Basemath because she burnt incense (בְּשָָׂמִים) to idols.

 

Oholibamah She is [identical to] Judith (mentioned above 26: 34). He (Esau) nicknamed her Judith (יְהוּדִית) to imply that she denied the validity of idolatry, so that he might deceive his father.

 

daughter of Anah, daughter of Zibeon If she was the daughter of Anah, she could not have been the daughter of Zibeon: Anah was the son of Zibeon, as it is said: “And these are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah” (below verse 24). [This] teaches [us] that Zibeon was intimate with his daughter-in-law, the wife of Anah, and Oholibamah emerged from between them both [i.e., from Zibeon and Anah]. Scripture teaches us that they were all mamzerim (illegitimate), products of adultery and incest.-[from Tanchuma Vayeshev 1]

 

3 Basemath, daughter of Ishmael Elsewhere [Scripture] calls her Mahalath (above 28:9). I found in the Aggadah of the midrash on the Book of Samuel (ch. 17): There are three people whose iniquities are forgiven (מוֹחֲלִים) : One who converts to Judaism, one who is promoted to a high position, and one who marries. The proof [of the last one] is derived from here (28:9). For this reason she was called Mahalath (מָחֲלַת) , because his (Esau’s) sins were forgiven (נְמְחֲלוּ) .

 

sister of Nebaioth Since he (Nebaioth) gave her hand in marriage after Ishmael died, she was referred to by his name.-[from Meg. 17a]

 

5 Oholibamah bore…and Korah This Korah was illegitimate. He was the son of Eliphaz, who had been intimate with his father’s wife, Oholibamah, the wife of Esau. This is evidenced by the fact that he [Korah] is [also] listed among the chieftains of Eliphaz at the end of this chapter.-[from Gen. Rabbah 82:12]

 

and he went to a[nother] land to dwell wherever he would find.

 

7 and the land of their sojournings could not provide [sufficient] pasture for their animals. The Midrash Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 82:13), however, explains “because of his brother Jacob,” [as follows:] Because of the note of obligation of the decree: “that your seed will be strangers” (Gen. 15:13), which was put upon the descendants of Isaac. He (Esau) said, “I will get out of here. I have neither a share in the gift-for the land has been given to him-nor in the payment of the debt.” [He left] also on account of the shame that [he felt because] he had sold his birthright.-[from Gen. Rabbah 82:13]

 

9 And these are the generations that his sons begot after he went to Seir.

 

12 And Timna was a concubine [This passage is here] to proclaim the greatness of Abraham-how much [people] longed to attach themselves to his descendants. This Timna was a daughter of chieftains, as it is said: “and the sister of Lotan was Timna” (below verse 22). Lotan was one of the chieftains of the inhabitants of Seir, from the Horites, who had dwelt there before. She said, “I may not be worthy of marrying you, but if only I could be [your] concubine” (Gen. Rabbah 82:14). In (I) Chronicles (1:36) [the Chronicler] enumerates her among the children of Eliphaz [here she is counted as the daughter of Seir the Horite, and the concubine of Eliphaz]. This teaches [us] that he (Eliphaz) was intimate with the wife of Seir, and Timna emerged from between them (Seir’s wife and Eliphaz), and when she grew up, she became his (Eliphaz’s) concubine. That is the meaning of “and the sister of Lotan was Timna.” [Scripture] did not count her with the sons of Seir, because she was his (Lotan’s) sister through his mother but not through his father.-[from Tanchuma Vayeshev 1]

 

15 These became the chieftains of the sons of Esau The heads of the clans.

 

20 the inhabitants of the land They were its inhabitants before Esau came there. Our Rabbis explain [that they were called, “inhabitants of the land”] (Shab. 85a) because they were skilled in making the land habitable. [They would say,] “The length of this [measuring] stick is [good] for [planting] olives; the length of this [measuring] stick is [good] for [planting] grapevines,” for they would taste [the soil] and know what was suitable to plant in it.

 

24 Aiah and Anah Heb. וֲעֲנָה וְאַיָה . The “vav” is superfluous. It is equivalent to וְאַיָה וֲעֲנָה . There are many [such instances] in the Scriptures, [e.g.] “permitting the Sanctuary (תֵּת וְקֽדֶשׁ) and the host to be trampled” (Dan. 8: 13); “chariot and horse were stunned (נִרְדָָּם וְרֶכֶב וָסוּס) ” (Ps. 76:7).

 

he is Anah Who is mentioned above (verse 20) to be the brother of Zibeon, but here [Scripture] calls him his son. This teaches us that Zibeon was intimate with his mother, and fathered Anah.-[from Pes. 54a]

 

who found the mules in the wilderness-Heb. הַיֵמִם , mules. He mated a donkey with a mare (female horse), and it gave birth to a mule. He (Anah) was illegitimate, and he brought illegitimate offspring into the world (Gen. Rabbah 82:15). Why were they called יֵמִם (signifying “dreaded beings”) ? Because their dread (אֵימָתָן) was cast upon people; Rabbi Hanina said, “In all my days no one has ever recovered from a wound from a white female mule.” (But we see that [those bitten by white female mules] do live. Do not read: “who has lived (וְהָיָה) ,” but “that was healed (וְחָיתָה) ,” because [such a] wound will never heal.-[from an old Rashi manuscript]) It was unnecessary to list the genealogy of the Horites except to mention Timna, and thereby inform us of the greatness of Abraham, as I explained above (verse 12). [from Chullin 7b]

 

31 And these are the kings, etc. They were eight, and, corresponding to them, Jacob set up [eight kings] and nullified the kingdom of Esau during their time. They are the following (kings): Saul, Ish-bosheth, David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, and Jehoshaphat. During the days of his (Jehoshaphat’s) son Joram, however, it is written: “In his days, Edom revolted from under the power of Judah, and they appointed a king over themselves” (II Kings 8:20), [whereas] during Saul’s days it is written: “There was no king in Edom; a governor was king” (I Kings 22:48). [from Gen. Rabbah 83:2]

 

33 Jobab, son of Zerah of Bozrah Bozrah was [one] of the Moabite cities, as it is said: “And to Kerioth and to Bozrah, etc.” (Jer. 48:24). Since it (Bozrah) appointed a king for Edom, it is destined to be punished with them (the Edomites), as it is said: “for the Lord has a slaughter in Bozrah” (Isa. 34:6). [from Gen. Rabbah 83:3]

 

35 who defeated Moab in the field of Midian For Midian came against Moab to wage war, and the king of Edom went to aid Moab. From here we learn that Midian and Moab were quarreling with one another, and in the days of Balaam they made peace, [in order] to band together against Israel.-[from Tanchuma Balak 3]

 

39 the daughter of Me- zahab [ מִי זָהָב denotes:] What is gold? He was rich, and gold was of no importance to him.-[from Gen. Rabbah 83: 4]

 

40 And these are the names of the chieftains of Esau who were called by the names of their provinces after Hadar died and their kingdom had ceased. The first ones mentioned above (verses 15-19) are the names of their generations, and so it is delineated in (I Chronicles 1:51): And Hadar [sic] died, and the chiefs of Edom were Chief Timna, etc.”

 

43 Magdiel This is Rome.-[From Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 38]

 

 

 

 Ketubim: Psalms ‎‎‎30:1-13

 

Rashi’s Translation

Targum

1. A psalm; a song of dedication of the House, of David.

1. A praise song for the dedication of the sanctuary. Of David.

2. I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up, and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me.

2. I will praise You, O LORD, for You made me stand erect, and did not let my enemies rejoice over me.

3. O Lord, I have cried out to You, and You have healed me.

3. O LORD my God, I prayed in Your presence and You healed me.

4. O Lord, You have brought my soul from the grave; You have revived me from my descent into the Pit.

4. O LORD, You raised my soul out of Sheol; You preserved me from going down to the pit.

5. Sing to the Lord, His pious ones, and give thanks to His holy name.

5. Sing praise in the LORD's presence, you His devotees; and give thanks at the invocation of His holy one.

6. For His wrath lasts but a moment; life results from His favor; in the evening, weeping may tarry, but in the morning there is joyful singing.

6. For His anger is but a moment; eternal life is His good pleasure. In the evening one goes to bed in tears, but in the morning one rises in praise.

7. And I said in my tranquility, "I will never falter."

7. And I said when I dwelt in trust, I will never be shaken.

8. O Lord, with Your will, You set up my mountain to be might, You hid Your countenance and I became frightened.

8. O LORD, by Your will You prepared the mighty mountains; You removed Your presence, I became afraid.

9. To You, O Lord, I would call, and to the Lord I would supplicate.

9. In Your presence, O LORD, I will cry out; and to You, O my God, I will pray.

10. "What gain is there in my blood, in my descent to the grave? Will dust thank You; will it recite Your truth?

10. And I said; What profit is there in my blood, when I descend to the grave? Can those who descend to the dust praise You? Will they tell of Your faithfulness?

11. Hear, O Lord, and be gracious to me; O Lord, be my helper."

11. Accept, O LORD, my prayer, and have mercy on me; O LORD, be my helper.

12. You have turned my lament into dancing for me; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.

12. You turned my lament into my celebration; You loosened my sackcloth and girded me with joy.

13. So that my soul will sing praises to You and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will thank You forever.

13. Because the nobles of the world will give You praise and not be silent, O LORD my God, I too will give You praise.

 

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Psalms ‎‎‎‎30:1-13

 

1 A song of dedication of the House which the Levites will say at the dedication of the House in the days of Solomon.

 

2 I will exalt You, O Lord, for You have raised me up Heb. דליתני , You have lifted me on high.

 

and You have not allowed my enemies to rejoice over me Heb. לי , like עלי , over me, for they would say, “David has no share in the world to come,” but when they saw that the doors opened for the Ark because of me, then they knew that the Holy One, blessed be He, had forgiven me for that sin, and the faces of David’s enemies became as black as the bottom of a pot.

 

3 and You have healed me That is the forgiving of iniquity, as (in Isa. 6:10), “and he repent and be healed.”

 

4 from my descent into the Pit, etc. Heb. מירדי , like מִיְרִדָתִי , from my descent into the Pit, that I should not descend into Gehinnom.

 

5 Sing to the Lord, His pious ones about what He did for me, because you can take refuge in Him, and He will benefit you; and even if you are experiencing pain, have no fear.

 

6 For...but a moment [For] His wrath lasts but a short [moment]; life results from His favor, there is long life in appeasing and placating Him.

 

7 And I said in my tranquility In my tranquility, I thought that I would never falter. However, the matter is not in my power, but in the power of the Holy One, blessed be He. With His will, He set up my mountain, my greatness to be [my] mightbut when He hid His countenance from me, I was immediately frightened.

 

9 To You, O Lord, I would call I would call to You and supplicate constantly, saying before You: “What gain is there in my blood, etc.,” and You heard my voice and turned my lament into dancing for me.

 

12 You loosened Heb. פתחת , alachas in Old French, to release, like (Gen. 24:32): “and he untied (ויפתח) the camels.” Our Sages, however, explained the entire psalm as referring to Mordecai, Esther, and Haman, in Pesikta Zuta.

 

and I said in my tranquility Haman said this.

 

To You, O Lord, I would call Esther said this etc. until “be my helper.”

 

You turned my lament into dancing for me Mordecai and all Israel said this.

 

 

Meditation from the Psalms

Psalms ‎‎30:1-13

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

 

This Psalm is reserved for the occasions of innovation; be it the new first-fruit, or newly dedicated Temple. It is both a prayer for success, ‘To You, HaShem, I called and to my Lord I appealed’[1] and a confident declaration of eternal thanksgiving, ‘HaShem, my God, I will offer You thanks forever’.[2]

 

This psalm, once used to inaugurate the Temple, is used today to inaugurate our daily prayers at the outset of Pesukei DiZimra, Verses of Praise; for the synagogue is a ‘a miniature Temple’ and our prayers take the place of the sacrifices. While the Temple stood, this psalm was recited during the ceremonies which took place when the Temple courtyard was expanded. The song of thanksgiving was accompanied by musical instruments at every corner and on every great rock in Jerusalem, and they sang, ‘I will exalt You on High, HaShem’.[3]

 

Also, the Mishna[4] relates that when the multitudes of Israel carried their baskets of ‘first-fruits’ to Jerusalem for the festival of Shavuot, they were greeted at the Temple courtyard by the choir of Levites who sang this psalm. Masechet Sofrim 18:2 designates this as the שיר של יום ‘The Song of the Day’ for Chanukah.[5]

 

The superscription for Psalm 30 attributes it’s authorship to David. This superscription seems to be saying, as Rashi and Radak explain, that it was written by King David for the ceremony of the dedication of the Temple.

 

One might ask how King David could have written this chapter if he was not alive for the dedication of the Temple. An answer might be that King David made every possible preparation for the building of the Temple in order to ensure that his son King Shlomo would build it. Sefer Shmuel concludes with David’s purchase of the land upon which the Temple would be built. He even built an altar upon which he offered Korbanot.[6] Divre HaYamim I,[7] chapters 22-29, describes how David organized the Priests and the Levites into the groups[8] which would alternate in their duties in the Temple. He amassed all of the materials (gold, silver, copper, wood, etc.) necessary to build the Temple, and even drew up all the architectural plans of the various sections of the Temple. Thus, it is reasonable to conclude that David also composed a Psalm to be sung at the dedication of the Temple.

 

Malbim sees the psalm as addressed to the Temple of the body, since the body itself is a place of worship of HaShem. The essence of man is his soul, his spirit. The physical body is but a structure in which the spirit dwells. David’s recuperation from his near-fatal illness[9] was therefore an apt occasion for dedicating his “house” to the service of HaShem.

 

Noting that the synagogue is a miniature Temple, we therefore recite this psalm during the Shacharit (morning) prayers. Indeed, this seems to be the basis for the practice[10] to recite this Psalm immediately after completing our recitation of Korbanot and before the beginning of Pesukei Dezimra. It serves as a bridge between the Korbanot and the “Songs of David” that we use to praise HaShem in Pesukei Dezimra.

 

Since the Malbim[11] sees the “Temple of the body” in this psalm, I thought that I would use this commentary to elaborate a bit on that idea.

 

Go and stand before a mirror. What do you see? A head, two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Look down and you will see a neck which leads to the internal areas of the heart, stomach, etc.


You are looking at a human being. But if you look closer you will see one of the most profound creations in HaShem’s world, a miniature Beit HaMikdash.[12]

 

This study was precipitated by the following pasuk:

 

Shemot (Exodus) 25:8 And you shall make a sanctuary for me; that I may dwell among them.

 

The Or Hachayim[13] asks why the Torah states “and you shall make a Mikdash[14] for me”, and then in the next verse it says “the form of the Tabernacle…so shall you do”. Are we talking about the Mikdash[15] or the Mishkan[16]? The Or Hachayim writes that the commandment to make a Mikdash for HaShem is not only referring to the time when Bne Israel were in the desert, but includes all of Jewish history from the time that we were in the desert to the time that we entered Eretz Israel. He writes that when the Jewish people are in Eretz Israel, and even in a time of Galut,[17] the mitzva to build the Mikdash still applies.

 

The Malbim answers this question, in his work entitled Remazey HaMishkan[18] explains that we each have to build inside of ourselves a Mikdash, that each one of us must provide a residence for HaShem’s presence.

 

Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin,[19] the renowned student of the Gaon of Vilna,[20] said that the commandment to construct a Tabernacle is primarily a personal commandment; every Jew is “a living tabernacle in miniature.” HaShem rests the Shechinah, His Divine Presence, primarily in the human heart.

 

Excerpt from Sefer Charedim – The Book of the Awestruck[21] 66:27 – You are a Temple for the presence of the Holy King! As such, it is extremely important that you sanctify your heart and your soul, as well as all 248 limbs (bones[22]) of your body.[23] It is written, “The Holy One is in your midst”,[24] and “They [the people] are HaShem’s Temple”,[25] and “Be holy, for I, HaShem, am holy”,[26] and “I will place My Mishkan in your midst”.[27] HaShem means what He says: “I dwell in you!”

 

Rabbi Chaim explains: The Zohar compares every Jew to the Temple.[28] Just like the center of the Temple is the Holy of Holies, the center of the human being is his heart. His head is above him, his feet are beneath him, so the heart which is at the midpoint of his trunk, is the actual center of his being. Just as the holiness that is the source of all that is good in the world emanates from the Holy of Holies, the life force of the human emanates from the heart.

 

In his commentary on Chumash, the Malbim explains that the Beit HaMikdash[29] is a macrocosm of the human body: If you look at a plan of the Heichel[30] in the Beit HaMikdash, you will notice that the placement of the various vessels, the altar, the table, and the Menorah all corresponds to the location of the vital organs in the human body. In other words, each of the Temple’s vessels represents a human organ.

 

The Midrash compares the Mishkan,[31] as a whole, to the human body, and each of its implements and components to various human organs and body parts. The beams supporting the Mishkan symbolize the ribs, the curtains of goats’ hide correspond to a person’s skin, and the Shulchan[32] represents the stomach. The Kiyor[33] suggests the liquid element of the human body. The Menorah, provider of light in the Mishkan, represents the human mind, which provides us with the light of comprehension and understanding. The Keruvim,[34] which spread their wings over the Aron,[35] correspond to the lungs, which are positioned over the heart, and the Aron corresponds to the human heart.

 

This picture of the Beit HaMikdash representing a man, as a place where HaShem resides, is also explicitly stated in the Nazarean Codicil:[36]

 

I Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

 

Finally, we can understand that the Temple was not only the picture of a man, but it was the picture of the perfect man, the Mashiach:

 

Yochanan (John) 2:18 Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? 19 Yeshua answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. 20 Then said the Jews, forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? 21 But he spake of the temple of his body.

 

Ephesians 2:19-22 So then ye are no more strangers and sojourners, but ye are fellow–citizens with the saints, and of the household of God, 20 being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Mashiach Yeshua himself being the chief corner stone; 21 in whom each several building, fitly framed together, groweth into a holy temple in the Lord; 22 in whom ye also are builded together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

 

Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.

 

A Critical Connection

 

When the men of the Great Assembly removed the yetzer hara[37] of avodah Zara[38] from the inner sanctum of the Beit HaMikdash, the effect was its removal from all our “work stations” connected to the “mainframe” in the Kodesh HaKadashim (Holy of Holies) in Jerusalem:

 

Yoma 69b He answered: One does not pronounce the Ineffable Name outside [the limits of the Temple]. But may one not? Is it not written: And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose. [. . . and Ezra praised the great God]. And R. Giddal [commenting thereupon] said: He magnified Him by [pronouncing] the Ineffable Name?-That was a decision in an emergency. And [they] cried with a great [loud] voice unto the Lord, their God. What did they cry? — Woe, woe, it is he who has destroyed the Sanctuary, burnt the Temple, killed all the righteous, driven all Israel into exile, and is still dancing around among us! Thou hast surely given him to us so that we may receive reward through him. We want neither him, nor reward through him! Thereupon a tablet fell down from heaven for them, whereupon the word ‘truth’ was inscribed. (R. Hanina said: One may learn therefrom that the seal of the Holy One, blessed be He, is truth). They ordered a fast of three days and three nights, whereupon he was surrendered to them. He came forth from the Holy of Holies like a young fiery lion.

 

From this Gemara we see that everyone in the entire world is connected to the Beit HaMikdash. In some way we ARE the Beit HaMikdash!

 

When Idolatry was excised from the world, it was visibly manifesting as flame from the Kodesh Kodashim. But, the effects were felt in every human being from that time forward. From that time forward, human beings no longer had a craving for idolatry that was as strong as the craving for food or sex. We now possess only a shadow of that craving.[39]

 

Thus we see that while idolatry lived in the hearts of men until that fateful days, once it was removed from the hearts of men, it was also removed from the Beit HaMikdash. This shows that the Beit HaMikdash pictures men and is meant to be seen as a picture of a man.[40]

 

The Temple as a Body[41]

 

“Gold” is the soul;

“silver,” the body;

“copper,” the voice;

“blue,” the veins;

“purple,” the flesh;

“red,” the blood;

“flax,” the intestines;

“goat hair,” the hair;

“ram skins dyed red,” the skin of the face;

“tachash skins,” the scalp;

“shittim wood,” the bones;

“oil for lighting,” the eyes;

“spices for the anointing oil and for the sweet incense,” the nose, mouth and palate;

“shoham stones and gemstones for setting,” the kidneys and the heart.[42]

 

In this next section I would like to briefly elaborate on some of the parts of the body as they are represented in the Temple.

 

Head = Heichel

The Ohel Moed[43] was divided into two rooms. The back room was called the Kodesh HaKadashim, the Holy of Holies. Placed in this room was the Aron, Holy Ark, the most sacred of the articles in the Sanctuary. The Holy Ark consisted of three boxes, one inside the other. The innermost box contained the two tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were engraved. These Commandments were the outline of all the mitzvot in the Torah. It represented the brain of the perfect man. Just as a brain has two hemispheres, the right and the left, so too there were two tablets. Just as man contemplates only Torah ideas and ideals, so too the Ark contained the essence of Torah. Just as the brain is triply encased in a skull with two membranes, the tablets were also encased in three boxes.

 

We can also view the brain in a second way: The brain is enclosed in a double membrane, and the entrance to the Kodesh HaKadashim was through a double curtain.

 

Brain = Ark of the Covenant.

The brain has two major portions, the left and right hemispheres of the brain. These two correspond with the two Luchot, the tablets on which were inscribed the ten commandments.

 

The Holy of Holies houses the Ark of the Covenant topped by the two winged Keruvim,[44] one of which represents HaShem (the male), while the other represents Israel (the female). The Divine voice heard by man emerges from between these two Keruvim.

 

When Moses arrived at the Ohel Moed to speak with HaShem, he heard the voice speaking to him from atop the cover that was upon the Ark of the Testimony, from between the two cherubim, and He spoke to him.[45]

 

Additionally, as Torah is wisdom and is stored in the ark, so, too, does wisdom come from the brain of man.

 

Cranial Membrane = Curtain.

Chazal teach that the curtain moved rhythmically in and out as though moved by the breath of a man.

 

Eyes = Menorah + Shulchan.

The eyes are used for two purposes. One is used for intellectual pursuits, enlightenment, symbolized by the light of the Menorah. Just as the Menorah’s fuel was the purest of oil, so too should man strive for the purity of enlightenment. According to the Kabbalists, there are seven areas of spiritual wisdom and the seven branches of the Menorah represent them. The second function of the eyes is for survival: to see and avoid pitfalls, to search out food in order to live; this is symbolized by the showbread (Shulchan).

 

Ears = Chamber of Hewn Stone

As the ears are partly internal and partly external to the body, so, too, the Sanhedrin met in the chamber of hewn stone which was partly inside the Temple and partly outside.

 

The Sanhedrin “heard” cases.

 

Nose = Golden Altar of Incense

Just as the nose is the organ of smell and is located in the center of the face, the Golden Altar was located in the center of the room and upon it the fragrant smelling incense was offered. The incense had great mystical meaning and represented the spreading of pleasantness among men. This offering brought atonement for gossip and tale bearing.

 

Mouth = Door to the Heichel[46].

The opening of the Kodesh (the Holy place), which led to the Azara (Courtyard), was at the bottom of the room. It represented the mouth of man. Here the kohanim (Priests) stood when they uttered the priestly benediction every morning.

 

Why did HaShem communicate to Moshe through the child-like Keruvim? Are the Keruvim the mouth?

 

Salivary glands = Laver.

As the salivary glands provide water at the entrance to the mouth, so too does the laver provide water at the “mouth” of the Heichel (the sanctuary building).

 

Heart = The base of the altar

The sacrificial blood was dashed against the altar and then poured out at the base of the altar. As the altar has four corners, so too does the heart have four chambers. As the heart has a higher and lower part, so too does the altar have a red line that marks the upper and lower parts (some offerings had their blood dashed above and some had the blood dashed below).

 

Breasts = The ark poles projecting into the curtain

Bear in mind that all of the implements in the Temple had feminine names. Thus we understand that the Temple represented the body of Mashiach, which was always depicted as female.

 

Stomach = Altar

Outside the Ohel Moed / Heichel, in the center of the courtyard, was the main Altar upon which the sacrifices were offered and consumed. This represents the stomach and internal organs of man.

 

The sacrifices were also called food:

 

Vayikra (Leviticus) 3:11 And the priest shall burn it upon the altar: it is the food of the offering made by fire unto HaShem.

 

As the stomach is slightly off-center, so, too, is the altar slightly off-center.

 

Notice that we speak of the stomach as having “heart-burn”, just as the altar burns, so our stomach burns.

 

Umbilical cord = The smoke from the altar

As the smoke originated on the altar and exited the Beit HaMikdash from the altar, so too does the umbilical cord connect to the stomach and exit from the stomach.

 

Esophagus = Altar Ramp.

The sacrifices were carried up the ramp and laid on the altar. Even so, the food is carried by the esophagus to the stomach.

 

Sex organs = Fifteen steps between the men’s and women’s courtyards.

The Levitical choir would sing the fifteen Psalms / Songs of Ascent while standing on these fifteen steps, during Succoth. Succoth is, of course, the quintessential picture of the marital chamber. The words of the Levites represent the sperm and the music represents the semen. The movements of the Levitical choir represent the thrusts of the organ.

 

Next to these semi-circular steps were two rooms used to store the musical instruments. These seem to represent the testes. They are the instruments from which the music originates. The music gives force to the lyrics.

 

Skin = Wall

 

Ashes = Waste Product.

The ashes were stored in the center of the brazen altar until carried outside the camp. Even so, the waste product of a man is connected to the stomach and exits at the center of the body. Man’s waste is also to be deposited outside the camp.

 

The Beit HaMikdash is Female

 

The parts of the Beit HaMikdash (the words for the implements and furnishings) all are in the feminine gender, in Hebrew. This suggests that the structure and its utensils are part of a female body. This aspect is further emphasized when we note that the Torah calls a man’s wife his “house”. A wife is a house. Thus, the Beit HaMikdash, “The House of the Holy One”, would also be female.

 

If one looks at the form of the Beit HaMikdash as emphasized by the courtyards, we can see that the Woman’s courtyard is the largest courtyard, and it is at the “bottom” of the structure. This mirrors the female body which has the largest part at the bottom of the structure. Please remember that the arms and legs are not part of the structure, only the head and torso.

 

A SONG OF INAUGURATION

 

Chanukah is the celebration of the re-dedication of the altar of the Temple in the days of the Maccabees. Sephardim recite Tehillim (Psalms) 30 after we kindle the Chanukah lamps. Tehillim 30 is titled: Mizmor Shir Chanukat HaBayit L’David, A Psalm, a Song for the Inauguration of the Temple by David. Chazal[47] calls this Psalm the Shir Shel Yom for Chanukah, The song for the Day of Chanukah.

 

In reviewing this Chapter, it is fascinating to note that it begins as A Song for the inauguration of the Temple, yet it thereafter makes no mention of the Beit HaMikdash whatsoever! Additionally, it is curious that we recite this Chapter of Temple inauguration at the outset of each day of Chanukah, notwithstanding that we are not present in a new or rededicated Beit HaMikdash at that moment.

 

We may gain some insight into this Chapter of Mizmor Shir from the fact that King David is its author. We all know that David HaMelech did not build the Beit HaMikdash, but that instead his son, Shlomo HaMelech did, four years after David’s passing. How then, could David sing the song of its inauguration?

 

HaRav Avraham Chaim Feuer, Shlita, in his masterful work on Tehillim[48], brings the Malbim to explain these questions. The Malbim suggests that the HaBayit (The House) referred to at the beginning of the Chapter, is not, in fact, the Beit HaMikdash. Rather, it refers to the human body which houses its soul. HaRav Mordechai Gifter, z”tl, adds that the Torah considers the human body, if it has been sanctified, to be a miniature Temple as the Pasuk states:

 

Shemot (Exodus) 25:8 And they shall make for me a sanctuary, and I shall dwell within them” i.e., not within it [the Sanctuary] but within them [the people themselves].

 

With this principle we can now understand how David HaMelech could recite this Psalm never having seen the Beit HaMikdash; why no further reference to the Beit HaMikdash at all is made in this Psalm; and why this Psalm inaugurates our prayers every single day. It is not the Beit HaMikdash that we are inaugurating, but by recitation of this Chapter, it is ourselves that we are dedicating and rededicating.

 

This suggests that the reason that the Beit HaMikdash was designed to mimic the human body, is to remind us that HaShem wants to dwell in us. Further we can understand in a larger sense that HaShem want to dwell in Mashiach who embodies all Israel. This takes us back to Gan Eden when HaShem walked with Adam in the garden. In this final scenario, HaShem will walk with the second Adam in Gan Eden. Amen v’Amen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) ‎‎‎61:2-9 + 62:1-2

 

Rashi

Targum

1. The spirit of the Lord God was upon me, since the Lord anointed me to bring tidings to the humble, He sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to declare freedom for the captives, and for the prisoners to free from captivity.

1. A spirit of prophecy before the LORD God is upon me, because the LORD has exalted me to announce good tidings to the poor; he has sent me to strengthen the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to those who are bound, Be revealed to light;

2. To declare a year of acceptance for the Lord and a day of vengeance for our God, to console all mourners.

2. to proclaim the year of pleasure before the LORD, and the day of vengeance before our God; to comfort all those who mourn;

3. To place for the mourners of Zion, to give them glory instead of ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning, a mantle of praise instead of a feeble spirit, and they shall be called the elms of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, with which to glory.

3. to confuse those who mourn in Zion-to give them a diadem instead of ashes, oil of joy instead of mourning, a praising spirit instead of their spirit which was dejected; that they may call them true princes, the people of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

4. And they shall build the ruins of old, the desolations of the first ones they shall erect; and they shall renew ruined cities, desolations of all generations.

4. They will build up ancient ruins, they will raise up former devastations; cities that were ruined will be repaired, devastations of many generations.

5. And strangers shall stand and pasture your sheep, and foreigners shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers.

5. Aliens will stand and feed your flocks, the sons of Gentiles will be your ploughrnen and vinedressers,

6. And you shall be called the priests of the Lord; 'servants of our God' shall be said of you; the possessions of the nations you shall eat, and with their glory you shall succeed [them].

6. but you will be called the priests of the LORD, men will speak of you as those who minister before our God; you will eat the possessions of the Gentiles, and in their glory you will be indulged.

7. Instead of your shame, which was twofold, and your disgrace, which they would bemoan as their lot; therefore, in their land they shall inherit twofold; they shall have everlasting joy.

7. Instead of your being ashamed and confounded, two

for one the benefits I promised you I will bring to you, and the Gentiles will be ashamed who were boasting in their lot; therefore in their land they will possess two for one: theirs will be everlasting joy.

8. For I am the Lord, Who loves justice, hates robbery in a burnt offering; and I gave their wage in truth, and an everlasting covenant I will make for them.

8. For I the LORD love judgment, despised before Me are deceit and oppression: I will in truth give them a reward of their deeds, and I will make an eternal covenant with them.

9.  And their seed shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall recognize them that they are seed that the Lord blessed.   {P}

9. Their sons will be exalted among the Gentiles, and their sons' sons in the midst of the kingdoms; all who see them will acknowledge them, that they are the seed Whom the LORD has blessed.  {P}

10. I will rejoice with the Lord; my soul shall exult with my God, for He has attired me with garments of salvation, with a robe of righteousness He has enwrapped me; like a bridegroom, who, priestlike, dons garments of glory, and like a bride, who adorns herself with her jewelry.

10. Jerusalem said. I will greatly rejoice in the Memra of the LORD, my soul will exult in the salvation of my God; for he has clothed me with garments of salvation, he has wrapped me with a robe of virtue, as the bridegroom who prospers in his canopy. and as the high priest who is prepared in his garments, and as the bride who is adorned with her ornaments.

11. For, like the earth, which gives forth its plants, and like a garden that causes its seeds to grow, so shall the Lord God cause righteousness and praise to grow opposite all the nations.

11. For as the earth which brings forth its growth, and as a channeled garden which increases what is sown in it, so the LORD God will disclose the virtue and the praise of Jerusalem before all the Gentiles.

 

 

1. For the sake of Zion, I will not be silent, and for the sake of Jerusalem I will not rest, until her righteousness comes out like brilliance, and her salvation burns like a torch.

1. Until I accomplish salvation for Zion, I will not give rest to the Gentiles, and until I bring consolation for Jerusalem, I will not give quiet to the kingdoms; until her light is revealed as the dawn, and her salvation burns as a torch.

2. And nations shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory, and you shall be called a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall pronounce. 

2. The Gentiles will see your innocence, and all the kings your glory; and they will call you by the new name which by his Memra the LORD will make clear.

 

 

 Special Ashlamatah: I Samuel 20:18,42

 

Rashi

Targum

18. And Jonathan said to him, "Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be remembered, for your seat will be vacant.

18. And Jonathan said to him: “Tomorrow is the (new) moon, and you will be sought out, for your dining place will be empty.”

42. And Jonathan said to David, "Go in peace! (And bear in mind) that we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, 'May the Lord be between me and you, and between my descendants and your descendants forever.'" And he arose and went away; and Jonathan came to the city.

42. And Jonathan said to David: “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn by the name of the LORD saying, ‘May the Memra of the LORD be a witness between me and you, and between my sons and your sons forever.’” And he arose and went, and Jonathan entered the city.

 

 

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Yeshayahu (Isaiah) ‎‎‎61:2-9 + 62:1-2

 

1 since the Lord anointed me This anointing is nothing but an expression of nobility and greatness.

 

to declare freedom for the captives That is to say, to bring them the tidings of the redemption.

 

to free from captivity Heb. פְּקַח קוֹחַ. Open their imprisonment and their captivity and release them.

 

2 a year of acceptance A year of appeasement and good will. 

 

3 the elms of righteousness Heb. אֵילֵי, an expression of trees (אִילָנוֹת). Comp. (supra 1:29) “of the elms (מֵאֵילִים) that you desired.” This is evidenced by the end of the verse, “the planting of the Lord etc.” 

 

5 your plowmen Heb. אִכָּרֵיכֶם, those who lead the plow. 

 

6 priests of the Lord Princes of the Holy One, blessed be He.

 

the possessions of the nations Heb. חֵיל גּוֹיִם, the possessions of the nations [after Jonathan].

 

you shall succeed [them] Heb. תִּתְיַמָּרוּ [derived from תְּמוּרָה, exchange]. You shall enter in their stead into the glory they have taken until now. 

 

7 Instead of your shame which was twofold, even they would constantly bemoan their disgrace as their lot. That is to say that instead of until now My people were constantly bemoaning disgrace, their lot... There are instances of  רִנָּה that is an expression of mourning. Comp. (Lam. 2:19) “Rise, cry (רֹנִּי) at night,” and comp. (I Kings 22:36) “A cry (הָרִנָּה) passed through the camp,” concerning Ahab’s death. 

 

8 For I am the Lord, Who loves justice, hates robbery in a burnt offering Therefore, I do not accept burnt offerings from the heathens (the nations [Parshandatha, K’li Paz]), for they are all results of robbery.

 

and I will give their wage The wage of Israel, which shall be in truth. Alternatively, I will give the reward for the deeds they performed, for they suffered the derisions of the heathens (the nations [Mss. and K’li Paz]) for My honor in truth. 

 

10 like a bridegroom who dons garments of glory like a high priest.

 

and like a bride, who adorns herself with her jewelry Heb. כֵלֶיהָ, [lit. her utensils, in this case,] her jewelry.

 

1 For the sake of Zion I will do, and I will not be silent concerning what they did to her.

 

I will not rest There will be no peace before Me until her righteousness/generosity comes out like brilliance. 

 

2 shall pronounce Heb. יִקֳּבֶנּוּ, shall pronounce. 

 

 

Hakham’s Comments:

 

Two important verbal tallies dominate the readings for this week. As far as the Torah and the Prophets are concerned the Title for our Torah Seder is: וַיֵּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶל-יַעֲקֹב - “VaYera ELOHIM El-Ya’aqob” - “And GOD appeared unto Jacob”. Now the Hebrew word “VaYera” is a compound word: “Va” = And” and “Yera” = “appeared”. Now this word comes from the root Hebrew word ראה – “to see” - Strong’s number 07200. This “seeing” is not so much with the natural eye, but rather prophetically seeing in the mind. This same verb appears in our Ashlamata in 61:9 and 62:2.

 

And if one asks, “What did the Psalmist saw in our Torah Seder that made him compose this psalm of innovation or inauguration of the Temple before it was built?” One needs to read the second verse of our Torah Seder (35:10) to identify the object of this “seeing” or “appearing”. The key word in this verse is קרא – “Qara” – “Call” or “Proclaim” - Strong’s number 07121 - לֹא-יִקָּרֵא שִׁמְךָ עוֹד יַעֲקֹב, “Lo YiQare Shimekha O’od Ya’aqob.” GOD “appeared” to “proclaim” Ya’aqob’s new name and destiny. Similarly our Ashlamatah begins with the word “Proclaim” or “Declare” - לִקְרֹא שְׁנַת-רָצוֹן לַיהוָה – LiQero Shenat Ratson LaAdonai.

 

Now this Ashlamata appears to make more sense if it was read during the fall Holidays when the proclamation of the Yobel (Jubilee) year was made. So, what is the significance of it being read on the Sabbath before “Shabuoth” (Pentecost) this year? The answer though perplexing to some is “That the “day” of Israel’s greatest freedom, the “year of HaShem’s good pleasure” was in an embryonic form the day of Matan Torah (giving of the Torah) at Mt. Sinai accompanied by myriads of miracles, and the creation of a new nation under GOD’s complete dominion.”

 

In Yehuda 11-13 in our Nazarean Codicil there is an intimation of “pseudo prophets” or as our verbal tallies are concerned: “pseudo-seers” or “pseudo-proclamators”. Yehudah, the brother of our Master had read our Torah Seder right, and therefore “proclaimed” an admonition against these “pseudo-seers” or “pseudo-proclamators”.

 

Shabuot amongst many other things celebrates “prophecy”, “Torah”, and the great gift of GOD to man in the form of “speech.” Thus, in 1 Luqas 7:11-17 a reference is made to a man who was dead and was revived and “began to talk.” Similarly in 2 Luqas (Acts) 10:9-16, a prophecy is given to Hakham Tsefet that the Gentiles will be converting to Judaism in great numbers, and therefore the Laws of Qashrut needed to be taught and enforced amongst all these would-be-converts.

 

Therefore as we mentioned at the beginning there are two operative key words that saturate all the readings for this Shabbat: ראה – “Ra’ah” - “to see (prophetically)” and קרא – “Qara” – “Call” or “Proclaim”. Shalom Shabbat ve Chag Shabuot Sameach!

 

 

Verbal Tallies

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

& HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

 

Beresheet (Genesis) 35:9 – 36:43

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 61:2-9 + 62:1-2

Tehillim (Psalm) 30

Jude 11-13, Lk 7:11-17, Acts 10:9-16

 

 

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:

God - אלהים, Strong’s number 0430.

Said - אמר, Strong’s number 0559.

Called / Cried - קרא, Strong’s number 07121.

 

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

God - אלהים, Strong’s number 0430.

Appeared / See - ראה, Strong’s number 07200.

Blessed - ברך, Strong’s number 01288.

 

Bereshet (Genesis) 35:9 And God <0430> appeared <07200> (8735) unto Jacob again, when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed <01288> (8762) him.

10  And God <0430> said <0559> (8799) unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called <07121> (8735) any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called <07121> (8799) his name Israel.

 

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 61:2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God <0430>; to comfort all that mourn;

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 61:9 And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see <07200> (8802) them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed <01288> (8765).

 

Tehillim (Psalm) 30:2 O LORD my God <0430>, I cried unto thee, and thou hast healed me.

Tehillim (Psalm) 30:6 And in my prosperity I said <0559> (8804), I shall never be moved.

Tehillim (Psalm) 30:8 I cried <07121> (8799) to thee, O LORD; and unto the LORD I made supplication.

 

 

Hebrew:

 

 

Hebrew

 

English

Torah Reading

Gen. 35:9 – 36:43

Psalms

30:1-12

Ashlamatah

Is 61:2-9 + 62:1-2

~yhil{a/

God

Gen. 35:9
Gen. 35:10
Gen. 35:11
Gen. 35:13
Gen. 35:15

Ps. 30:2
Ps. 30:12

Isa. 61:2
Isa. 61:6

 rm;a'

said

Gen. 35:10
Gen. 35:11
Gen. 35:17

Ps. 30:6

tm,a/

faithfulness

Ps. 30:9

Isa. 61:8

 #r,a,

land, earth, ground

Gen. 35:12
Gen. 35:16
Gen. 35:22
Gen. 36:5
Gen. 36:6
Gen. 36:7
Gen. 36:16
Gen. 36:17
Gen. 36:20
Gen. 36:21
Gen. 36:30
Gen. 36:31
Gen. 36:34
Gen. 36:43

Isa. 61:7

rv,a]

where, which, who

Gen. 35:12
Gen. 35:13
Gen. 35:14
Gen. 35:15
Gen. 35:26
Gen. 35:27
Gen. 36:5
Gen. 36:6
Gen. 36:24
Gen. 36:31

Isa. 62:2

 !Be

son

Gen. 35:17
Gen. 35:22
Gen. 35:23
Gen. 35:24
Gen. 35:25
Gen. 35:26
Gen. 35:29
Gen. 36:5
Gen. 36:6
Gen. 36:10
Gen. 36:11
Gen. 36:12
Gen. 36:13
Gen. 36:14
Gen. 36:15
Gen. 36:16
Gen. 36:17
Gen. 36:18
Gen. 36:19
Gen. 36:20
Gen. 36:21
Gen. 36:22
Gen. 36:23  
Gen. 36:24
Gen. 36:25
Gen. 36:26
Gen. 36:27
Gen. 36:28

Isa. 61:5

%r'B'

blessed

Gen. 35:9

Isa. 61:9

yAG

nation

Gen. 35:11

Isa. 61:6
Isa. 61:9
Isa. 62:2

rh;

hill country, mountain

Gen. 36:8
Gen. 36:9

Ps. 30:7

[r'z<

descendants

Gen. 35:12

Isa. 61:9

hwhy

LORD

Ps. 30:1
Ps. 30:2
Ps. 30:3
Ps. 30:4
Ps. 30:7
Ps. 30:8
Ps. 30:10
Ps. 30:12

Isa. 61:2
Isa. 61:3
Isa. 61:6
Isa. 61:8
Isa. 61:9
Isa. 62:2

~Ay

day

Gen. 35:20
Gen. 35:28
Gen. 35:29

Isa. 61:2

ac'y"

come forth

Gen. 35:11
Gen. 35:18

Isa. 62:1

lKo

all, whole, every, entire

Gen. 36:6

Isa. 61:2
Isa. 61:9
Isa. 62:2

%l,m,

king

Gen. 35:11
Gen. 36:31

Isa. 62:2

vp,n<

soul

Gen. 35:18

Ps. 30:3

!t;n"

give, given gave

Gen. 35:12

Isa. 61:3
Isa. 61:8

~l'A[

never, ever

Ps. 30:6
Ps. 30:12

Isa. 61:4
Isa. 61:7
Isa. 61:8

hl'['

went up

Gen. 35:13

Ps. 30:3

dm;['

to stand

Ps. 30:7

Isa. 61:5

~ynIP'

before, face

Gen. 36:7
Gen. 36:31

Ps. 30:7

ar'q'

called

Gen. 35:10
Gen. 35:15
Gen. 35:18

Ps. 30:8

Isa. 61:2
Isa. 61:3
Isa. 61:6
Isa. 62:2

ha'r'

appeared, see

Gen. 35:9

Isa. 61:9
Isa. 62:2

!Acr'

favor, favorable

Ps. 30:5
Ps. 30:7

Isa. 61:2

~ve

name

Gen. 35:10
Gen. 35:15
Gen. 35:18
Gen. 36:10
Gen. 36:32
Gen. 36:35
Gen. 36:39
Gen. 36:40

Isa. 62:2

hx'm.fi

gladness, joy

Ps. 30:11

Isa. 61:7

!m,v,

oil

Gen. 35:14

Isa. 61:3

[m;v'

heard

Gen. 35:22

Ps. 30:10

hn"v'

years

Gen. 35:28

Isa. 61:2

tx;T;

in his place, instead

Gen. 36:33
Gen. 36:34
Gen. 36:35
Gen. 36:36
Gen. 36:37
Gen. 36:38
Gen. 36:39

Isa. 61:3
Isa. 61:7

dAbK'

soul, riches, glory

Ps. 30:12

Isa. 61:6
Isa. 62:2

ry[i

city

Gen. 36:32
Gen. 36:35
Gen. 36:39

Isa. 61:4

 h['r'

pasturing, pasture

Gen. 36:24

Isa. 61:5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

 

NAZAREAN TALMUD

Sidra Of B’resheet (Gen.) 35:9 – 36:43

“VaYera ELOHIM El-Ya’aqob” “And GOD appeared unto Jacob”

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

 

 

 

Hakham Shaul’ School of Tosefta

(Luke Lk 7:11-17)

 

Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

(Yehudah 11-13)

 

And now it happened later that he went to a town called Nain with his talmidim and a large congregation of (people) went with him. Approaching the town, he saw a man who had died being carried out of the city. The dead man was a mother’s only son and she was a widow, with her was a large congregation from the city. When the master saw her, he had compassion for her and said “Do not cry.” And he (Yeshua) held up his hand to stop the pallbearers.[49] And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” And the dead man sat up and began to talk, and Yeshua gave him to his mother. Now awe seized all of the (congregation) and they glorified the Lord, saying, “a great prophet has risen among us!”[50] These sayings about him spread throughout all Yehudah (Judea) and all the surrounding country.

Woe to these pseudo-prophets because they go the way of Kayin (Cain) and wandering they follow Bil’am’s (Balaam’s) error for reward and perish as in Korach’s rebellion. These are a hidden danger[51] in your Festivals[52] while they feast with you they disrespectfully[53] feed themselves first.[54] They are waterless clouds carried by the fall winds; fruitless trees, twice dead, and uprooted; storm driven (wild) waves of the sea, foaming without water to their own shame; wandering spheres (stars) for who the deepest darkness is reserved for (their) eternity.

 

 

Hakham Shaul’ School of Remes

2 Luqas (Acts) 20:1 - 16

 

Now after the turmoil had been resolved, Hakham Shaul summoned the (his) talmidim, and after encouraging[55] them, he said farewell and departed to travel to Macedonia. And after he had gone through those regions and encouraged them (his talmidim in those regions) all,[56] he came to Greece and stayed three months. Because a plot was made against him by the (Shammaite) Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he came to a decision to return through Macedonia. And the seven Paqidim, Sopater[57] son of Pyrrhus from Berea, and Aristarchus[58] and Secundus[59] from Thessalonica, and Gaius[60] from Derbe, and Timothy,[61] and Tychicus[62] and Trophimus[63] from Asia, had accompanied him. And these Paqidim had gone on ahead and were waiting for us in Troas.

 

And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread and came to them at Troas within five days, where we stayed for seven days. And at the first of the week, just after Habdalah when we had assembled (Synagogued) to break bread, Hakham Shaul began lecturing them, because he was going to leave after the next day, and he extended his message until midnight. Now there were quite a few lamps (torches) in the upstairs room where we were gathered.[64] And a certain young man named Eutychus[65] who was sitting in the window was sinking into a deep sleep while Hakham Shaul was lecturing them at length. Being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was picked up dead. But Hakham Shaul went down and bent himself over him, and putting his arms around him, said, “Do not be distressed, for his Neshamah (life) is in him.” So, he went up and broke bread, and when he had eaten and talked for a long time, until dawn, then he departed. And they led the youth away alive and were greatly comforted.

 

 

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

 

 

Gen 35:9 – 36:43

Psa 29

Is 43:1-7, 19-21

Jude 11-13

Lk 7:11-17

Acts 20:1-16

 

Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

 

While Hakham Yehudah has pronounced sentence on the pseudo-prophets/teachers the present pericope is not an indictment. The present pericope is stylistic lamentation for the demise of these deceitful personas. His citation of Biblical infamous characters tells the tale of their woe. This dirge is presented to the congregations of the Master for illustrative perseverance. Hakham Yehudah does not need to illustrate the demise of these disreputable pseudo-prophets/teachers. They speak for themselves and their Biblical genre is well known.

 

Reward of the Infamous

 

Kayin

Kayin’s sin is mentioned first by Hakham Yehudah as a means of reaching back to the beginning of opposition against the established religious order of G-d. Kayin’s failure to bring the appropriate oblation to G-d demonstrated his disdain for religious obligations. This connects itself to the idea of the hidden danger of the pseudo-prophets/teachers attendance at the Moedim (appointed feasts). Kayin is believed to be the older of his twin Havel. Therefore, we should have expected Kayin to have modelled the appropriate conduct. However, because Hakham Yehudah knows that our pericope is read with the present Torah Seder he mentions Kayin because he was the wicked elder of the twins. This is a subtle reference to Esau/Edom. Again, Kayin’s disdain is for the religious principles taught to him by his father Adam. Consequently, Kayin was a “danger” to his righteous/generous brother. On a grander scale, we can say that Kayin was opposed to the Oral Torah per se. Our analogy therefore, makes Havel the embodiment of the Oral Torah along with the worship format taught to him by Adam. We have learned that Stephen from 2 Luqas personified the Oral Torah in imitation of the Master, Messiah. We opine that Havel was also an embodiment of the Oral Torah. 

 

Bil’am

We will not belabour what is already known of Bil’am. We will abbreviate our statements to illuminate Hakham Yehudah’s thoughts. Bil’am was a Gentile prophet for profit. The Encyclopaedia Judaica notes that a possible translation of Bil’am is “bl” – meaning to swallow up and “am” meaning people. Therefore, the false prophecies of pseudo-prophets like Bil’am were designed to “swallow up (destroy) people.”[66] B’midbar 24:1 suggests that Bil’am was not a great prophet. The text there calls him a “diviner who seeks omens” (לִקְרַאת נְחָשִׁים). Pesiqta deRab Kahana shows that the Hakhamim are the defence of a city in the following words. Therefore, we suggest that Balak sought out Bil’am to “prophecy against the B’ne Yisrael because his execrations – “prophecies” were destructive.

 

Pesiqta deRab Kahana XV:V 7 Said R. Abba bar Kahana, “No philosophers in the world ever arose of the quality of Balaam b. Beor and Abdymos of Gadara. The nations of the world came to Abnymos of Gadara. They said to him, ‘Do you maintain that we can make war against this nation?’ “He said to them, ‘Go and make the rounds of their synagogues and their study houses. So long as there are there children chirping out loud in their voices [and studying the Torah], then you cannot overcome them. If not, then you can conquer them, for so did their father promise them: “The voice is Jacob’s voice” (Gen. 27:22), meaning that when Jacob’s voice chirps in synagogues and study houses, The hands are not the hands of Esau [so Esau has no power].

 

While there is a great deal of controversy over the character of Bil’am the Bible shows pieces of his character that when we study reveal his prophetic practices.

 

B’midbar (Num) 23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

 

Note the position “from the top of the rocks.” While there is much to say from an allegorical point of view, we note from Peshat that he needed an elevated position to prophecy or “divine.” His prophetic posture mirrors the true prophetic ability to look down from the heavens.

 

Rashi connects Kayin with Bil’am in G-d’s asking Bil’am the question “Who are these men?”[67] And a similar question is asked of Kayin, “where is your brother?”[68] Regardless of the desired result, Bil’am could only prophecy what was destined for the B’ne Yisrael. In other words, Bil’am in his attempt to curse the B’ne Yisrael through prophecy was forcibly obliged to submit to G-d’s authority. What is true of Bil’am is true of Gentile kings and presidents. 

 

Korah

Again, we will not remark at length concerning what is already known of Korah other than to say that his sin is twofold. Firstly, he made himself a “prince” over the B’ne Yisrael in opposition to Moshe Rabbenu. And secondly, he tried to usurp the priestly role and authority of Aaron.

 

At the core of the uprising were Korah’s complaint against the religious authority of Moshe and Aaron. The complaint of Dathan and Abiram who had joined with Korah was against the leadership of Moshe in general. The charges the levelled against Moshe were that he had brought the B’ne Yisrael out of Mitzrayim to be master over them and to have them die in the wilderness.

 

Korah was vehemently opposed to the Rabbinic authority, he sought to negate the Torah and wanted to demonstrate the injustice of the laws instituted by Moshe. The Aggadah elaborates in further detail his claims. However, we can see that the infamy of all three characters.

 

Danger and the Festivals

The typical translation of Yehudah 1:12 is rendered as follows…

 

Jud 1:12 These are sunken rocks (blemishes, hidden reefs, hidden rocks) in your love feasts, feasting together with you; feeding themselves without fear; waterless clouds being carried about by winds; fruitless autumn trees, having died twice, having been plucked up by the roots;

 

The Amplified Bible translates the verse …

 

Jud 1:12 These are hidden reefs (elements of danger) in your love feasts, where they boldly feast sumptuously [carousing together in your midst], without scruples providing for themselves [alone]. They are clouds without water, swept along by the winds; trees, without fruit at the late autumn gathering time--twice (doubly) dead, [lifeless and] plucked up by the roots;

 

The Amplified Bible comes closest to being able to understand the Greek word σπιλάς (spilas). While we can clearly see that σπιλάς (spilas) carries the idea of a “spot” or “blemish” it also carries the idea of hidden danger. We can readily understand the words from verse 4 of Yehudah’s treatise, which says … “For certain men have subtly entered in among you secretly” which contains the idea of “hidden danger” as well.

 

These pseudo-prophets/teachers require the seats of honour at the festivals. This is dangerous because the less suspecting members may put ill-fated confidence in them and lose their way. Furthermore, we note that true Hakhamim see to it that their talmidim are served first before partaking in Festival pleasures.

 

If, as we have translated σπιλάς (spilas) is a “hidden danger” we further develop the question of “how does this relate to the festivals?”  In simple logic, we understand that they would try to change the structure of the feasts, which in Christianity has happened. Secondly, they would try to change the day, date and times of the festivals, which has also happened in Christianity. It would behoove the reader to research the following footnote. [69]

 

The great question of dispute between the church of Asia Minor and the rest of Christendom was whether the paschal communion should be held on the 14th of Nisan , or on the Sunday of the of the Resurrection festival, without regard to Jewish chronology. [70]

 

History has answered the question of how these pseudo-prophets/teachers have altered the Festivals and their appointed times.

 

Peroration

We will address other issues of Hakham Yehudah’s pericope in the Remes commentary. Suffice it to say, that the things Hakham Yehudah teaches us to guard against are now a war of restoration. The present occupation is to restore what was lost through the generations from the true teachings of the Master and his Talmidim.

 

It behoves the Nazarean Jews to research, practice and publish the true Mesorah of the Messiah. This can only happen if we divorce ourselves from the Christian Church and the lies taught by Esau.

 

Jer 16:19 Then Yermiyahu said, O Lord, my Strength and my Stronghold, and my Refuge in the day of affliction, to You will the nations come from the ends of the earth and will say, “Surely our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, emptiness, and futility, worthless things in which there is no profit!”

 

It is time to leave the lie of replacement theology and embrace the truth of Messiah!

 

Halakhic Implications

It is the duty of the Nazarean Jew to study the Oral Torah and Mesorah of the Master to find their parallels. Upon discovery of these truths, all Nazarean Jews should implement and publish these truths thereby negating the lies taught by Lawless teachers.

 

 

 


Remes Commentary Of Hakham Shaul

The First of the Week

We must pause here to dispel a great myth. The phrase μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων – mia ton sabbaton does NOT mean the first DAY of the week! Any Greek scholar knows that this is true. What μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων – mia ton sabbaton does means is the “first (or start) of the week.” Even the simplest Jewish child understands that this is a reference to Habdalah. Therefore, we need to understand that the Sheliachim – (apostles - emissaries) as “plenipotentiary agents” of the Master did not meet on Sunday morning for Sunday school. This means that the Sheliachim of the Master met at Habdalah to break bread together. It is most likely that they lived in a communal setting with an Erub so they could “come together” for Habdalah and have a meal. Why does Hakham Shaul drag this phrase into our pericope? It would seem to be totally out of place.

 

Having risen at beginning of the week (as Habdalah was being conducted), Yeshua appeared first to Miriam Migdalah, from whom he had expelled seven demons. She went and declared to those (who had) been with him (his talmidim) the events that had happened. They were mourning and weeping. When they heard he was alive and she (had) seen him, they did not believe her.[71]

 

Hakham Shaul knows exactly what he is talking about. He has incorporated this statement so that we understand his inference to Habdalah is a reference to the resurrection of the Master. Just as G-d initiated the creative process of the present world at the “first of the week,” He begins the final stages of history with the act of “first fruits” (pointing to Shabuoth in the Bimodal aspects of the Septennial Torah reading cycle) for the coming age. As we have learned, the “first fruits” of Nisan deal with the first fruits of the Barley harvest. This festival of “first fruits” is the first fruit of “first fruits” demonstrating Yeshua as the “first fruits” from the dead. We also point out that barley is usually fed to animals rather than humans. Herein we find an application concerning the Torah and the Gentile. Because barley is the coarsest of grains, it must be ground exceedingly until it is eatable. In similar manner, the Torah must be initially simplified for Gentile comprehension. Yeshua’s resurrection forms the dawning of a new era whereby the Gentile has access to G-d through the Torah and Yeshua. Infused in any beginning is the archetypical idea of a thing. In So’od materials, this archetypical idea is Hokhmah, which is a synonym for the Torah and Yeshua.

 


Ruach/Pneuma as Sophia/Hokhmah (רוּחַ /πνεῦμα – σοφία/ חָכְמָה )[72]

We have given some information in the past concerning the concepts of “spirit” with regard to our translation of the Nazarean Codicil. The Greek word πνεῦμα – pneuma parallels the Hebrew word רוּחַ – ruach. Both words are given to a number of parallels. Because, πνεῦμα – pneuma and רוּחַ – ruach are used in a plethora of meanings and contexts we are often forced to determine the true meaning of the term as it is used contextually.

 

Last week we saw that ἅγιος – hagios (usually translated as “holy”) is a synonym for σοφία – sophia (wisdom). This week we see that πνεῦμα – pneuma and רוּחַ – ruach are synonyms to the Greek word σοφία – sophia (wisdom – חָכְמָה). From the use of these synonyms, we can see that that ἅγιος – hagios (usually translated as “holy”) is a synonym for חָכְמָה/Hokhmah. And, that רוּחַ and πνεῦμα are also synonyms for חָכְמָה/Hokhmah. Therefore, Hokhmah refers to “holiness” and “spirit.” We might word this slightly different for the sake of clarity. Hokhmah is a reference to the “holy spirit” or better stated the “spirit of holiness.” Therefore, the phrase “Ruach HaKodesh” and “Agio Pneumati” are redundant and refer to the “spirit” of Hokhmah. Hokhmah can be taken to mean a “spirit of holiness” or the “spirit of wisdom.” As such, wisdom, holiness and spirit are all synonyms referring to the same thing.

 

Ἱερός ἄνθρωπος – ieros anthrapos, man as a sanctuary[73] refers to a Hakham, Sage or man of wisdom. As a sanctuary, the Hakham is the house of holiness and the spirit i.e. the “Ruach HaKodesh.” In other terms, the Hakham is the house of G-d’s breath, i.e. the Mesorah/Oral Torah, which should also be understood as the “Ruach HaKodesh.” The priesthood of the first-born is to be a man filled with Hokhmah to offer up sacrifices[74] of the breathed[75] Torah received from G-d through Yeshua HaMashiach.”

 

Our Tosefta of Luqas gives us a hint (Remes) concerning those things that are “spiritual.” “At that same hour he rejoiced in the spirit of joy and said.” The “spirit” may mean various things, but it is often synonymous with the idea of a verbal expression. In other words, the “spirit of joy” was expressed in a blessing. Therefore, we see that the word “ruach” and “pneuma” have an underlying meaning of speech or speaking. In referring to the Ruach we can see that the phrase is often associated with, the “power of God” with no emphasis on a “spirit” as a special separate entity and the Divine (dwelling) Presence – Shekhinah. These two cases would seem to negate our thoughts that the idea of the “spirit” is found in a “verbal expression.” In Gan Eden, the “Divine Presence” expressed itself in verbal communication.[76] The Divine power of the Ruach in the Tanakh seems to be associated with verbal expression such as “and G-d said.” While Ruach and Pneuma cannot be restricted to verbal expression, we can see that they lend themselves to breathing and speaking more often than not.

 

It also seems evident that when we look at the uses of Ruach and Pneuma, they are associated with either knowing or speaking. Here the idea of knowing relates to the present connection with Hokhmah. One connection that bonds these two ideas together is that of Prophecy. In prophecy, there is inspiration, knowing and breathing (speaking out) that which is known intuitively. Intuitive knowledge that is spoken, breathed out is prophecy. However, in a different context that intuitive knowledge that is breathed out is the Mesorah/Oral Torah. Thus, breathing the Mesorah is acquainted with holiness, prophecy and true spirituality πνευματικός – pneumatikos. Interestingly, πνευματικός – pneumatikos is associated with breathing and or that which is breathed out, i.e. the Mesorah. Therefore, breathing out the words of the Oral Torah is true spirituality. One who breaths out these words is said to be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh (Breath of the Divine).

 

In Hakham Shaul’s first letter to the Corinthians chapter twelve the word πνευματικός – pneumatikos is associated with the ten men of the congregation. Why are there only nine[77] things mentioned in this list? This is because this list is a pars pro toto. The opening passage is usually translated, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant:” Note here the word “gifts” is italicized. This means that the translators have added this word to clarify the text. Therefore, πνευματικός – pneumatikos is associated with the functions of the ten men of the congregation. In verse four of this same chapter the word χάρισμα – charisma is translated as “gift.” Again, this is erroneous. Χάρισμα – charisma is best translated as the management of “chesed” is linked with χάρις – charis  (chesed). On one hand πνεῦμα – pneuma (spirit) is associated with the spiritual demonstrations that are called χαρίσματα – charismata[78] “the management of chesed.” Nearly all of these offices have some form of verbal expression.

 

Eph 4:7-10 But to every one of us is given loving-kindness (chesed) according to the measure of the gift of Messiah.[79] Therefore, He (God) says, "When he ascended[80] up on high, [81] he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men Thou hast received gifts among men, yes, among the rebellious also, that the Lord God might tabernacle – Shakan there." (Ps. 68:18).

 

The word “gifts” used in Ephesians is δόμα – doma is also referring to the offices of the ten men who are the congregation. Interestingly, the gifts δόματα – domata (δόμα – doma plural) are πνευματικός – pneumatikos and χάρισμα – charisma combined, which operate as the “spiritual” expressions of chesed to the congregation. However, it is not simply their presence that makes the congregation “spiritual” but rather their verbal expression of the Orally Breathed Torah (πνευματικός – pneumatikos). These men breathe out holy ἅγιος – hagios words, of wisdom σοφία/ חָכְמָה (wisdom) found in the Mesorah/Ruach HaKodesh. These men are a δόματα – domata (gifts) to the congregation in that if the congregation does not merit their presence they will be removed as we have seen with the former pericopes. Or, we might say that if their spiritually breathed (πνευματικός – pneumatikos) words of σοφία/ חָכְמָה are not heeded, these men will be removed. A congregation that does not have these δόματα – domata is devoid of (πνευματικός – pneumatikos) spirituality, σοφία/ חָכְמָה (wisdom) and ἅγιος – hagios (holiness) i.e. the Ruach HaKodesh.

 

Heart of flesh or heart of sapphire?

At the heart of the Bet HaMikdash was a room called the Kodesh HaKodeshim (Holy of Holies). Within the Kodesh HaKodeshim was an Aron (Ark). Within that Aron (ark) were two lukhot (tablets) of sapphire. Upon those two tablets were inscribed the Torah. These stones represent the construction of the whole Bet HaMikdash as well as the Miskhan. The lukhot are at the heart of the Bet HaMikdash representing the place where G-d would commune (communicate) with His people. Regardless of the construction, the ability to connect with G-d’s Divine Presence (Neighbouring Presence) was at the core of each edifice. Here Hakham Tsefet, in our Peshat text above, alludes to the idea that the core of every Nazarean Jew is the Torah, which is something that he must hold dear and precious. These “stones” are precious to G-d. If G-d holds these stones to be precious how much the more should His creatures hold them as dear. It is from this logical process that we discern that the heart of the Nazarean is made of sapphire. However, the word “sapphire” is related to the idea of the sefirot (which can be written or transliterated saphirot). Uses of the “sefirot” by other languages have pronounced the word “sefirot” as “spirot” (spirit). The word spirit means to “breathe” as we have commonly taught. The word spirit is related to spirare “to breathe.” Therefore, we see that the heart of the Nazarean is made of sapphire, as is his breath (spirit). Consequently, we determine through etymology and grammar, that the Nazarean breathes the Torah, which has been breathed into him.

 

It would superficially appear that this contradicts the words of Nabi Yechezqel (the prophet Ezekiel).

 

Yechezqel (Ezek. 36:26-27) “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a (new) heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

 

Note that there is an old heart of “flesh” replaced by a new heart and spirit. A heart of flesh replaces the heart of stone. The heart of stone, which is removed in this passage, refers to the Yetser HaRa[82] that resists the Torah. How is it that we receive a “new heart” of flesh and “spirit” (spirare – sapphire)? These things are “breathed into us by a Hakham when we become a true talmid of the Torah. Being “born anew” as a talmid, happens when he commits to his Hakham. This makes him the recipient of a new circumcised heart of sapphire. The Hakham’s “breathing in” (in-spirare,) of the Oral Torah results in a new “spiritual heart” (πνευματικός – pneumatikos of sapphire).

 

We can translate the later part of our quote from Yechezqel (Ezek) to read as follows. “I will “breath” into you and cause you to walk (halakh) in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

 

Yochanan (Jn.) 20:22 And when he (Yeshua) had said this, he breathed into them, saying to them, “Receive the Oral Torah (Ruach HaKodesh).”

 

Now let us look at the Yechezqel passage with these thoughts in mind.

 

Yechezqel (Ezek. 36:26-27) “I will give you a new heart and a new spirit (sapphire) within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh (Yetser HaRa) and give you a (new) heart of flesh (sapphire). “I will breathe (spirare – the Mesorah) into you and cause you to walk in My statutes chiseling away those parts which hold you back from becoming a nobleman, and you will keep (guard carefully) the ordinances of  My judges and do them.”

 

אמן ואמן סלה

 

 

 

Questions for Understanding and Reflection

 

  1. From all the readings for this Shabbat which verse or verses impressed your heart and fired your imagination?
  2. Taking into consideration all the readings for this Shabbat what is the prophetic statement for this ‎week?

 

Blessing After Torah Study

 

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

Ashér Natán Lánu Torát Emét, V'Chayéi Olám Natá B'Tochénu.

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

 

Blessed is Ha-Shem our God, King of the universe,

Who has given us a teaching of truth, implanting within us eternal life.

Blessed is Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!

 

“Now unto Him who is able to preserve you faultless, and spotless, and to establish you without a blemish,

before His majesty, with joy, [namely,] the only one God, our Deliverer, by means of Yeshua the Messiah our Master, be praise, and dominion, and honor, and majesty, both now and in all ages. Amen!”

 

 

 

Next Shabbat:

 

Shabbat: “VaYeshev” - “And dwelt”

 

Shabbat

Torah Reading:

Weekday Torah Reading:

וַיֵּשֶׁב

 

 

“VaYeshev”

Reader 1 – B’resheet 37:1-3

Reader 1 – B’resheet 38:1-3

“And dwelt”

Reader 2 – B’resheet 37:4-8

Reader 2 – B’resheet 38:4-6

“Y habitó”

Reader 3 – B’resheet 37:9-11

Reader 3 – B’resheet 38:7-10

B’resheet (Gen) 37:1-36‎

Reader 4 – B’resheet 37:12-17

 

Ashlamatah: Is 32:18 – 33:6, 15

Reader 5 – B’resheet 37:18-22

 

Reader 6 – B’resheet 37:23-27

Reader 1 – B’resheet 38:1-3

Psalm 31:1-25

Reader 7 – B’resheet 37:28-36

Reader 2 – B’resheet 38:4-6

 

    Maftir – B’resheet 37:34-36

Reader 3 – B’resheet 38:7-10

               Is 32:18 – 33:6, 15

 

 

 

http://www.betemunah.org/sederim/nisan176_files/image002.jpg   

 

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

 

 


[1] v. 9

[2] v. 13

[3] Shavuot 15b

[4] Bikkurim 3:4

[5] This introduction was excerpted and edited from:  The ArtScroll Tanach Series, Tehillim, A new translation with a commentary anthologized from Talmudic, Midrashic, and rabbinic sources. Commentary by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer, Translation by Rabbi Avrohom Chaim Feuer in collaboration with Rabbi Nosson Scherman.

[6] David seems to set a precedent for offering Korbanot (sacrifices) on the Mitzbeach (altar) at the site of the Mikdash (sanctuary) even though the Mikdash is not built - see Ezra chapter three, Eiduyot 8:6, and Rambam Hilchot Beit HaBechirah 6:15

[7] Chronicles

[8] Mishmarot

[9] The Book of Kings opens with an account of the aging of King David, and states that, despite his layered clothing,  he could not become warm (I Kings 1:1)

[10] In both Ashkenazi and Sephardi practice.

[11] Meïr Leibush ben Yehiel Michel Wisser (March 7, 1809 – September 18, 1879), better known as The Malbim (Hebrew: מלבי"ם‎), was a rabbi, master of Hebrew grammar, and Bible commentator. The name "Malbim" was derived from the Hebrew initials of his name. He used this acronym as his surname in all his published works, and became known by it in common usage.

[12] Lit. “The house of the Holy One”. (Temple)

[13] Ḥayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar also known as the Or ha-Ḥayyim after his popular commentary on the Pentateuch, was a Talmudist and kabbalist; born at Meknes, Morocco, in 1696; died in Jerusalem, Israel on July 7, 1743. He was one of the most prominent rabbis in Morocco.

[14] Sanctuary

[15] Sanctuary

[16] MISHKAN (Tabernacle) = MAKOM (Place) + SHEKHINAH (Presence). Makom = Place and Shechinah = The Presence of HaShem.

[17] exile

[18] Illusions of the Sanctuary

[19] Chaim of Volozhin (January 21, 1749 – June 14, 1821) was an Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and ethicist.

[20] Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, (Hebrew: ר' אליהו בן שלמה זלמן‎ Rabbi Eliyahu ben Shlomo Zalman) known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym HaGra ("HaGaon Rabbenu Eliyahu") or Elijah Ben Solomon, (Vilnius April 23, 1720 – Vilnius October 9, 1797), was a Talmudist, halakhist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of mitnagdic (non-Hasidic) Jewry of the past few centuries. He is commonly referred to in Hebrew as ha-Gaon He-Chasid mi-Vilna, "the saintly genius from Vilnius".

[21] R. Eliezer Azkari, c. 1550

[22] According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. LXVII, issue 14, 1037-1038, September 30, 1916 – there are 248 bones in the body.

[23] Makkoth 23b

[24] Hoshea 11:9

[25] Yirmiyahu 7:4

[26] Vayikra 19:2

[27] Vayikra 26:11

[28] i.e. the permanent Tabernacle

[29] The Temple

[30] The building containing the “Holy” and the “Holy of Holies”.

[31] The Tabernacle in the wilderness.

[32] The table of showbread.

[33] laver

[34] Cherubim

[35] The Ark of then Covenant.

[36] New Testament

[37] evil inclination

[38] idolatry

[39] The “shadow” we have of idolatry, since this was removed from us, is a desire to go nowhere and to do nothing. We have a “nothing” in the place that contained idolatry. We can talk with our friends or play games for hours… and it feels soooooo good!

[40] i.e. Mashiach

[41] Based on the Malbim’s R’mazai HaMishkan and The Holy Temple Revisited, Rabbi L. Reznick

[42] Midrash HaGadol

[43] the Tent of Meeting

[44] cherubim

[45] Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:88

[46] The building containing the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

[47] Sofrim 18:2

[48] ArtScroll, Volume 1, p. 357-359

[49]  ἥψατο from ἀποτομία never means “touch” see TDNT 8:106. The only possible translation for this thought is to “hold up the hand” in order to stop the pallbearers. In this case, Yeshua would have held up his hand to stop the procession. Contextually, we see that Yeshua speaks to the dead man as he did for the Centurion in the previous pericope. Cf. Mk 1:40-45 our translation where Yeshua halts a leper entering a community against Torah prohibition.

[50] This is a direct reference to D’varim (De) 18:15

[51] First, we mention that this generates a catechistic question.  If, as we have translated σπιλάς (spilas) is a “hidden danger” how does this relate to the festivals?  While we can clearly see that σπιλάς (spilas) carries the idea of a “spot” or “blemish” it also carries the idea of hidden danger. We can readily understand the words from verse 4, which say … “For certain men have subtly entered in among you secretly” which contains the idea of “hidden danger” as well. 5069 σπιλάς (spilas), άδος (ados), ἡ (hē): n.fem.; ≡ Str 4694—1. LN 21.5 hidden danger (Jude 12+), for another interpretation, see next; 2. LN 79.57 spot, blemish (Jude 12+) Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament) (GGK5069). Oak Harbor.

[52] Festivals are not the so called “Love-feasts.” These Festivals are simply the Moedim – Divinely appointed times for the Festivals of the Lord. (Lev 23:2) where the B’ne Yisrael jointly gathered at the appointed time. Keeping in mind that Hakham Yehudah thought as a Hebrew, the Greek word ἀγάπη – agape would have been the equivalent to אַהֲבָה which is equal to unity. Therefore, we suggest that the “love – feasts” are the festivals where the B’ne Yisrael gathered together as a nation to observe the festivals. 

[53] ἀφόβως – aphobos means with fear or respect. This can refer to G-d as well as the congregation, maintaining continuity with our previous pericopes.

[54] We find that the Greek word ποιμήν – poimen contains two ideas worth mentioning. Firstly, is our preference, as we have translated: “they disrespectfully feed themselves first” and secondly, they feed themselves and do not look after the needs of the congregation because of their self-centeredness. Because ποιμήν – poimen is used with ἑαυτοῦ - heautou we note that the text is not referring to “irresponsible leaders but, disrespectful leaders. Therefore, our translation maintains the unity and continuity of thought presented by Hakham Yehudah concerning the notion that these pseudo–prophets/teachers want to usurp the authority of the Hakhamim.

[55] Strengthening the seven Paqidim. παρακαλέω – parakaleo comfort ( נִחַם ), call ( קָרָא )

[56] Heb. (הָ)רַבִּים Cf. TDNT 6:536

[57] 1. Meaning – “savior of his father”

[58] 2. Meaning – “the best ruler”

[59] 3. Meaning –  “fortunate,” “lucky one”

[60] 4. Meaning – “lord/master”

[61] 5. Meaning – “honouring God”

[62] 6. Meaning – “fateful”

[63] 7. Meaning – “nutritious”

[64] Note the similarity of language suggesting that we are at the Festival of Shabuoth.

[65] Meaning – “lucky one,” possibly the same as Secundus. See number “3” above

[66] Thomson Gale. (n.d.). Encyclopedia Judaica, (2 ed., Vol. 3). (F. Skolnik, Ed.) 2007: Keter Publishing House Ltd. 76

[67] Cf. B’midbar (Num) 22:9

[68] Cf. B’resheet (Gen) 4:9

[69] Philip Schaff, D. L., & Wace, W. H. (Eds.). (n.d.). Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers (Second Series ed., Vol. 1). Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC. pp. 241-4

[70] Philip Schaff, D. L., & Wace, W. H. (Eds.). (n.d.). Nicene And Post-Nicene Fathers (Second Series ed., Vol. 1). Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC. p. 241

 

[71] Cf. Mark 16:9-11

[72] See TDNT 6:370 8. πνεῦμα in Wisdom

[73] Trench, R. C. Trench’s Synonyms of the New Testament. Baker Books, 2000. p. 327

[74] Sacrifices here take on the idea of Korbanot – those things, which bring us near to G-d.

[75] Πνευματικός – rooted in πνέω to breathe hard i.e. teaching. This also applies to Prayer as the sacrifice of our lips.

[76] B’resheet 3:8 “They (Adam and Chavah) heard the voice of halakhah (i.e. walking) from the Breath of the LORD God in the garden.”

[77] This is because the female characteristic of the 3rd Parnas/pastor is “hidden.”

[78]Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964-c1976. Vols. 5-9 edited by Gerhard Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin. (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (9:403). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.

[79] cf. Rom 8:32

[80] This verse relates to Moshe when he ascended the mountain and was given by G-d, not only the Torah, but also the ability to share his given gifts to men in the form of the 70 Elders of Israel and Joshua (a figure of Yeshua). Conversely, Yeshua as the second Moshe (Deut. 18:15) relives this experience again and reinvigorates these gifts which were temporarily weakened because of the multitude of sins amongst our people. The first gift, which we must acknowledge is Matan HaTorah – the gift of the Torah. Moshe Rabbenu (Moses our Teacher) brought down from Har Sinai the most precious gift for all humanity, i.e. the Torah. Then Moshe, establishing the Messianic pattern gave of himself to the seventy. In the same way that Moshe established a hierarchal system of Theocratic Government Yeshua reinforced this same principle.

[81] Ascension “on high” here is in reference to Yeshua must be allegorical at minimum. The “ascension” of Yeshua is after his resurrection. While some theologians will suggest that these “gifts” were “poured out” at Shavuot/Pentecost with the so-called “outpouring of the Holy Spirit” we cannot agree with this line of thought. We will not argue at length the truth that the “Holy Spirit” is in fact the Breathing of the Mesorah. The anniversary date of Matan HaTorah is Shavuot/Pentecost. Therefore, if Yeshua gave “gifts to men” like Moshe Rabbenu, the first gift MUST be the Torah! Secondly, he can establish the unified community through the 10 Officers of the congregation.

[82] Interestingly the Talmud gives seven titles to the Yetser HaRa. One of the seven Paqidim of the congregation addresses each of these titles. Eisemann, Moshe, and Nosson Scherman. Ezekiel, Yechezkel, The Artscroll Tanach Series, A New Translation With A Commentary Anthologized From Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources (English and Hebrew Edition). Artscroll, Mesorah Publications Ltd, 1988. p. 557