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

Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings	Second Year of the Reading Cycle
Iyar 17, 5771 – May 20/21, 2011	Second Year of the Shmita Cycle

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:

Conroe & Austin, TX, U.S. Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 8:03 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 9:01 PM	Brisbane, Australia Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 4:47 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 5:42 PM	Bucharest, Romania Fri May 13, 2011 – Candles at 8:23 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 9:34 PM
Chattanooga, & Cleveland, TN, U.S. Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 8:23 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 9:25 PM	Jakarta, Indonesia Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 5:26 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 6:17 PM	Manila & Cebu, Philippines Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 6:00 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 6:52 PM
Miami, FL, U.S. Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 7:44 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 8:40 PM	Olympia, WA, U.S. Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 8:28 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 9:43 PM	Murray, KY, & Paris, TN. U.S. Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 7:41 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 8:44 PM
Sheboygan & Manitowoc, WI, US Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 7:56 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 9:07 PM	Singapore, Singapore Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 6:48 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 7:39 PM	St. Louis, MO, U.S. Fri. May 13, 2011 – Candles at 7:52 PM Sat. May 14, 2011 – Havdalah 8:56 PM

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

Roll of Honor:

This Torah commentary comes to you courtesy of:

His Honor Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David and beloved wife HH Giberet Batsheva bat Sarah

His Honor Paqid Adon Mikha ben Hillel

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

His Excellency Adon Ezra ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Karmela bat Sarah,

His Excellency Dr. Adon Yeshayahu ben Yosef and beloved wife HE Giberet Tricia Foster

His Excellency Adon Yisrael ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Elisheba bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Vardit bat Sarah

Her Excellency Giberet Laurie Taylor

His Honor Paqid Dr. Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

Her Excellency Prof. Dr. Conny Williams & beloved family

Her Excellency Giberet Gloria Sutton & beloved family

For their regular and sacrificial giving, providing the best oil for the lamps, we pray that G-d’s richest blessings be upon their lives and those of their loved ones, together with all Yisrael and her Torah Scholars, amen ve amen!

Also a great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and allied topics.

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

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
כִּי תָבֹאוּ, אֶל-אֶרֶץ
“Ki Tavo’u El Eretz”	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 15:1-7	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 16:1-3
“When you come into the land”	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 15:8-16	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 16:4-7
“Cuando entréis en la tierra”	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 15:17-21	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 16:8-11
B’Midbar (Num.) 15:1-41	Reader 4 – B’Midbar 15:22-26
Ashlamatah: Is. 56:3-8+57:15-16,18-19	Reader 5 – B’Midbar 15:27-31
	Reader 6 – B’Midbar 15:32-36	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 16:1-3
Psalm 102:1-12	Reader 7 – B’Midbar 15:37-41	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 16:4-7
Pirqe Abot IV:17	Maftir: B’Midbar 15:37-41	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 16:8-11
N.C.: Mordechai 11:15-19	- Is. 56:3-8 + 57:15-16, 18-19

Blessing Before Torah Study

Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah. Amen!

Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Amen!

Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!

Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment. "Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment: This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of Israel:

May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!

May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be kind to you; - Amen!

May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. – Amen!

This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites, and I will bless them."

These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.

These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They are: Honoring one's father and mother; doing acts of kindness; early attendance at the place of Torah study -- morning and night; showing hospitality to guests; visiting the sick; providing for the financial needs of a bride; escorting the dead; being very engrossed in prayer; bringing peace between two people, and between husband and wife; but the study of Torah is as great as all of them together. Amen!

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan

for: B’Midbar (Num.) 15:1-41

Rashi	Targum
1. The Lord spoke to Moses saying:	1. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh, saying:
2. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you arrive in the Land of your dwelling place, which I am giving you,	2. Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: When you have entered into the land of your habitation which I will give you,
3. and you make a fire offering to the Lord, a burnt offering or a sacrifice [namely a peace offering], for an expressed vow or for a voluntary offering or on your festivals, to provide a pleasing fragrance for the Lord, from the cattle or from the sheep.	3. and you may make an oblation upon the altar before the LORD, burnt offering or consecrated sacrifice for release of a vow, or by free-will offering; or at the time of your feasts you offer what is acceptable to the LORD of the world, to be received with approval before the LORD from the herd or from the flock:
4. The one who brings his offering to the Lord shall present a meal offering containing one tenth fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin of oil.	4. let the man who offers his oblation before the LORD bring a mincha of a tenth of flour mingled with the fourth of a hin of olive oil;
5. And a quarter of a hin of wine for a libation, you shall prepare with the burnt offering or for the sacrifice, for each lamb.	5. and wine of grapes for a libation, the fourth of a hin, to be made upon the burnt offering or hallowed sacrifice-for one lamb.
6. Or for a ram, you shall present a meal offering containing two tenths fine flour mixed with a third of a hin of oil.	6. Or for a ram, let him perform a mincha of two tenths of flour mingled with the third of a hin of olive oil,
7. And a third of a hin of wine for a libation; you shall offer up, a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.	7. and wine of grapes let him offer in a vase for the libation, the third of a hin, to be received with acceptance before the LORD.
8. If you prepare a young bull as a burnt offering or sacrifice by expressing a vow, or for a peace offering for the Lord,	8. But when he makes a bullock a burnt offering, or a sacrifice for release from a vow, or a hallowed sacrifice before the LORD,
9. with the young bull he shall offer up a meal offering consisting of three tenths fine flour mixed with half a hin of oil.	9. let him bring for the bullock a mincha of three tenths of flour mixed with half of a hin of olive oil,
10. And you shall offer half a hin of wine for a libation, a fire offering of pleasing fragrance to the Lord.	10. and wine of grapes half a hin, for a libation to be received with acceptance before the LORD.
11. So shall it be done for each ox or ram, or for a young sheep or young goat.	11. So let him do with each bullock, with each ram, and each lamb, whether it be from the lambs or the kids:
12. In accordance with the number you offer up, so shall you present for each one, according to their numbers.	12. according to the number of the bullocks or lambs or goats with which the oblation is made so will you do, each according to their number.
13. Every native born shall do it in this manner, to offer up a fire offering of pleasing fragrance to the Lord.	13. All who are native born in Israel, and not of the sons of the Gentiles, will so make these libations in offering an oblation to be received with acceptance before the LORD.
14. If a proselyte resides with you, or those among you in future generations, and he offers up a fire offering of pleasing fragrance to the Lord, as you make it, so shall he make it.	14. And when a sojourner who sojourns with you, or whoever is among you now, or in your generations, will bring an oblation to be received with favor before the LORD, as you do so will he.
15. One rule applies to the assembly, for yourselves and for the proselyte who resides [with you]; one rule applies throughout your generations just as [it is] for you, so [it is] for the proselyte, before the Lord.	15. For the whole congregation there is one statute, for you and the sojourner who sojourns; it is an everlasting statute for your generations; as with you, so will it be with the sojourner before the LORD.
16. There shall be one law and one ordinance for you and the proselyte who resides [with you].	16. One Law and one judgment will be for you and for the sojourner who sojourns with you.
17. The Lord spoke to Moses saying:	17. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh, saying:
18. Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them, When you arrive in the Land to which I am bringing you,	18. Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: When you have entered the land into which I will bring you,
19. and you eat from the bread of the Land, you shall set aside a gift for the Lord.	19. and you eat the bread of the produce of it, (not rice, nor millet, nor pulse,)
20. The first portion of your dough, you shall separate a loaf for a gift; as in the case of the gift of the threshing floor, so shall you separate it.	20. you will set apart a separation before the LORD. Of the first of your dough one cake of twenty-four you will set apart as a separation for the priest; as with the separation from the threshing floor, so will you set it apart.
21. From the first portion of your dough you shall give a gift to the Lord in [all] your generations.	21. Of the first of your dough you will give a separation before the LORD in your generations.
22. And if you should err and not fulfill all these commandments, which the Lord spoke to Moses.	22. And should you have erred, and not performed some one of all these commandments which the LORD has spoken with Mosheh;
23. All that the Lord commanded you through Moses, from the day on which the Lord commanded and from then on, for all generations.	23. whatsoever the LORD has commanded you by Mosheh from the day He commanded it, and thenceforth unto your generations -
24. If because of the eyes of the congregation it was committed inadvertently, the entire congregation shall prepare a young bull as a burnt offering for a pleasing fragrance for the Lord, with its prescribed meal offering and libation, and one young he goat for a sin offering.	24. if without the knowledge of the congregation sin has been committed through ignorance, let all the congregation make one young bullock a burnt offering to be received with acceptance before the LORD, with his mincha and libation. as are proper; and one kid of the goats without mixture for a sin offering;
25. The kohen shall atone on behalf of the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them, for it was an error, and they have brought their offering as a fire offering to the Lord and their sin offering before the Lord because of their error.	25. and let the priest make atonement for all the congregation of the sons of Israel, and it will be forgiven them; for it was an error, and they have brought their oblation, an offering before the LORD, even an offering for their sin have they presented before the LORD for their error;
26. The entire congregation of the children of Israel and the proselyte who resides with them shall be forgiven, for all the people were in error.	26. and all the congregation of Israel will be forgiven before the LORD, and the sojourners who sojourn among them; for an error has occurred to the people.
27. But if an individual sins inadvertently, he shall offer up a she goat in its first year as a sin offering.	27. And if any one man sin through ignorance, let him bring one goat of the year without mixture for a sin offering,
28. And the kohen shall atone for the erring soul which sinned inadvertently before the Lord, so as to atone on his behalf, and it shall be forgiven him.	28. and let the priest make atonement for the man who has erred in sinning through ignorance before the LORD to atone for him, that it may be forgiven him;
29. One law shall apply to anyone who sins inadvertently from the native born of the children of Israel and the proselyte who resides among them.	29. as well for the native-born of the children of Israel, and for the strangers who sojourn among you, there will be one Law for him who transgresses through ignorance:
30. But if a person should act highhandedly, whether he is a native born or a proselyte, he is blaspheming the Lord, and that soul shall be cut off from among its people.	30. but a man who transgresses with presumption, whether of the native-born or strangers, and who turns. not away from his sin before the LORD, - he causes anger, and that man will perish from among his people;
31. For he has scorned the word of the Lord and violated His commandment; that soul shall be utterly cut off for its iniquity is upon it.	31. for, the primal Word which the LORD commanded on Sinai he has despised, and has made the commandment of circumcision vain; with destruction in this world will that man be destroyed; in the world that comes will he give account of his sin at the great day of judgment.
32. When the children of Israel were in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day.	32. And while the sons of Israel were dwelling in the wilderness, the decree of the Sabbath was known to them, but the punishment (for the profanation) of the Sabbath was not known. And there arose a man of the house of Joseph, and said with himself: I will go and pull up wood on the Sabbath day; and witnesses saw it, and told Mosheh; and Mosheh sought instruction from the presence of the LORD, that He might teach me judgment, and make known the discipline of all the house of Israel. And the witnesses of the man who pulled up and collected wood came,
33. Those who found him gathering wood presented him before Moses and Aaron and before the entire congregation.	33. and, after they had admonished him, and he had wounded the witnesses who had found him pulling up wood, brought him to Mosheh and Aharon, and all the congregation.
34. They put him under guard, since it was not specified what was to be done to him.	34. This is one of four judgments which were brought before Mosheh the prophet, which he adjudged according to the Word of the Holy. Of these judgments some related to money, and some to life. In the judgments regarding money Mosheh was prompt, but in those affecting life he was deliberate, and in each he said, I have not heard, - to teach the princes of the future Sanhedrin to be prompt in decisions on mammon, and deliberate in those that involved life, nor to be ashamed to inquire for counsel in what may be difficult, forasmuch as Mosheh the Rabbi of Israel himself had need to say, I have not heard. Therefore put they him in confinement, because they had not yet heard the explanation of the judgment they should execute upon him.
35. The Lord said to Moses, The man shall be put to death; the entire congregation shall pelt him with stones outside the camp.	35. And the Lord said to Mosheh: The man will be surely put to death; the whole congregation will stone him with stones without the camp;
36. So the entire congregation took him outside the camp, and they pelted him to death with stones, as the Lord had commanded Moses.	36. and the congregation led him forth without the camp, and stoned him with stones that he died, as the LORD had commanded Mosheh.
37. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:	37. And the LORD said unto Mosheh:
38. Speak to the children of Israel and you shall say to them that they shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and they shall affix a thread of sky blue [wool] on the fringe of each corner.	38. Speak with the sons of Israel, and bid them make for themselves fringes, not of threads, nor of yarns, nor of fibres, but after a manner of their own (lesumhon) will they make them, and will cut off the heads of their filaments, and suspend by five ligatures, four in the midst of three, upon the four corners of their garment in which they enwrap themselves, unto their generations; and they will put upon the edge of their robes an embroidery of hyacinth (shezir de-thikela).
39. This shall be fringes for you, and when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of the Lord to perform them, and you shall not wander after your hearts and after your eyes after which you are going astray.	39. And this will be to you a precept for fringes, that you may look upon them at the time when you dress yourselves daily, and remember all My commandments to do them, and not go aside to wander after the imaginations of your heart and the sight of your eyes, after which you have gone astray.
40. So that you shall remember and perform all My commandments and you shall be holy to your God.	40. To the end that you may remember and perform all My precepts, and be holy, like the angels who minister before the LORD your God.
41. I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt to be your God; I am the Lord, your God.	41. I am the LORD your God who have delivered and brought you free out of the land of Mizraim, to be to you Elohim. I am the LORD your God.

Reading Assignment:

The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez - Vol 13: Numbers – I – First Journeys

By: Rabbi Yitzchaq Magriso

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

Vol. 13 – “Numbers – I – First Journeys,” pp. 375-417.

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.

Rashi Commentary for: B’Midbar (Num.) 15:1-41

2 When you arrive He informed them that they would enter the Land.

3 and you make a fire-offering This is not a command, but [it means that], when you arrive there and you decide to make a fire-offering for the Lord...

for an expressed vow or for a voluntary offering... Or, you make a fire-offering for the obligatory festival sacrifice, which I required you to make on festivals.

a pleasing fragrance That it should afford Me contentment.

4 The one who brings his offering...shall present You shall offer up libations and a meal-offering for each animal. The meal-offering is completely consumed, and the oil is blended into it. The wine is put into basins [from which it runs onto the altar and down to the foundations], as we learned in Tractate Sukkah (48a, b).

5 for each lamb This relates to everything mentioned above—the meal-offering, the oil and the wine.

6 Or for a ram [I.e.,] if [the animal you bring is] a ram. Our Sages expounded [the word] אוֹ , “or” to include the palgas [a sheep in its thirteenth month, which is neither a lamb nor a ram] for the libations of a ram. -[Chullin 23a, see Parah 1:3]

10 a fire-offering of pleasing fragrance This refers only to the meal-offering and oil, but the wine is not a fire-offering, since it is not placed on the fire.

11 Or for a young sheep... Whether it is a sheep [lamb] or a goat. כֶּבֶשׂ and שֶׂה are the names given to sheep or goats within their first year. -[Parah 1:3]

ram Heb. אַיִל . אַיִל [is the name given] from the age of thirteen months and one day. -[Parah 1:3]

12 In accordance with the number you offer up In accordance with the number of animals you offer up as a sacrifice, so shall you present libations for each of them, according to the number of animals shall be the number of libations.

15 just as [it is] for you, so [it is] for the proselyte Heb. כָּכֶם כַּגֵּר , lit., like you like the proselyte, just as it for you, so it is for the proselyte. This is the style of the Hebrew language; “like the garden of the Lord, like the Land of Egypt” (Gen. 13:10) [meaning] so was the Land of Egypt [like the garden of the Lord] (Compare Rashi on Gen. 13:10); “like me, like you, like my people, like your people” (I Kings. 22:4) [meaning, I am like you, and your people like my people].

18 When you arrive in the Land Heb. בְּבֽאֲכֶם [lit., when you come to the Land] This ‘coming’ differs from all the other ‘comings’ in the Torah. For with the others, Scripture say, “when you will come” [in the singular] (כִּי־תָבֽא) or [plural] (כִּי־תָבֽאוּ) ; therefore, all of them learn [a particular law] from each other. Since in one of their cases, Scripture specifies that it applies only after inheritance and settling [in the Land], it therefore applies in all cases. But here it uses the term בְּבֽאֲכֶם as soon as they arrived there and ate from its bread, they were obligated to separate a portion of the dough. -[Sifrei Shelach 21]

20 the first portion of your dough When you knead an amount of dough you are accustomed to kneading in the desert. And how much is that? “They measured with an omer ” (Exod. 16:18), “an omer per head” (verse 16). You shall separate from its first portion, that is to say, before you eat the first portion from it, you shall separate one loaf as a gift for the sake of the Lord.

a loaf In old French, tortel, a sort of cake, a round loaf of bread, [in modern French, torteau.]

as in the case of the gift of the threshing floor in which no amount is specified, but unlike the gift taken from the tithe [given by Levites to kohanim] for which an amount is specified. However, the Sages did specify an amount—for a householder, one twenty-fourth [of the dough] and for a baker one forty-eighth. - [Challah 2:7]

21 From the first portion of your dough Why is this [verse] stated? [Is not verse 20 sufficient?] Because it says, “the first portion of your dough” (verse 20). From this I understand the first one of the doughs. Hence, Scripture teaches us, "From the first"—a part of the dough but not the entire dough. -[Sifrei Shelach 27]

you shall give a gift to the Lord Since no amount is specified for the dough portion, [challah], it says, "you shall give"—the gift should be an amount which can be considered a ‘gift.’ -[Sifrei Shelach 30]

22 And if you should err and not fulfill Idolatry was included in “all the commandments” (Lev. 4:13) for which the community brings a bull [as a sin-offering], but here Scripture removes it from that category to apply to it the law of a bull for a burnt offering and a he-goat for a sin-offering. - [Sifrei Shelach 22]

If you err Scripture speaks of idolatry, or perhaps only to one of the other commandments? Scripture therefore states, “all of these commandments.” One commandment which is equivalent to all the commandments. Just as someone who transgresses all the commandments, casts off the yoke [of the Torah], violates the covenant, and acts brazenly [toward the Torah], so one who transgresses this commandment, casts off the yoke, violates the covenant, and acts brazenly. Which [one] is this? This is idolatry. - [Sifrei Shelach 33]

which the Lord spoke to Moses [The first two commandments,] “I am [the Lord, your God]” and “You must not have [any other gods]” (Exod. 20:2-3) were heard by the word of the Divine, as it says, “Once did God speak, but we heard them twice” (Ps. 62:12). -[Sifrei Shelach 33]

23 All that the Lord commanded This teaches us that anyone who acknowledges [the truth of] idolatry is considered as if he had denied the entire Torah and all the prophecies of the prophets, as it says, “from the day on which the Lord commanded and from then on.” - [Sifrei Shelach 33]

24 If because of the eyes of the congregation it was committed inadvertently If, because of the leaders [literally, eyes] of the congregation this transgression was committed inadvertently—for they [the leaders] erred and ruled concerning one form of service, that it was permitted to worship an idol in this manner.- [See Horioth 2b]

for a sin-offering Heb. לְְחַטָּת [This word] is missing an ‘aleph,’ because this [sin-offering] is different from all other sin-offerings. In the case of all the other sin-offerings [mentioned] in the Torah which are brought together with a burnt offering, the sin-offering precedes the burnt offering, as it says, “he shall make the second one a burnt offering” (Lev. 5:10), but this one—the burnt offering—precedes the sin-offering. -[Hor. 13a]

25 and they have brought their offering as a fire- offering to the Lord This refers to [the offering] stated in the passage [in verse 24], namely the bull [which is brought as a] burnt offering, as it says [here], “a fire-offering to the Lord.” - [Sifrei Shelach 37]

and their sin-offering This [refers to] the he-goat [in verse 24]. - [Sifrei Shelach 37]

27 sins inadvertently By worshipping idols. - [Sifrei Shelach 41]

she-goat in its first year For any other transgression an individual could bring [either] a ewe-lamb or a young she-goat, but in this case Scripture designates a she-goat for it. - [Sifrei Shelach 40]

30 highhandedly Intentionally.- [Jonathan ben Uzziel, Onkelos (See Mechokekei Yehudah)]

is blaspheming Heb. מְגַדֵּף , reviles (מְחָרֵף) , as in “it shall be a reproach (חֶרְפָּה) and a taunt (וּגְדוּפָה) ” (Ezek. 5:15); “which the servants of the King of Assyria have blasphemed (גִּדְפוּ) ” (Is. 37:6). Furthermore, our Sages (Ker. 7b) derived from here that someone who blasphemes [lit., blesses] the Name [of God] is subject to spiritual excision.

31 the word of the Lord The warning against idolatry was [heard directly] by the word of the Divine; the rest was by the word of Moses. - [Hor. 8a]

its iniquity is upon it During the time the iniquity is with him, namely, if he has not repented.- [Sanh. 90b, Sifrei Shelach 51]

32 [When the children of Israel] were in the desert, they found Scripture speaks disparagingly of Israel, for they had kept only one Sabbath, yet on the second one, this man came and desecrated it.- [Sifrei Shelach 52]

33 Those who found him gathering [This redundant clause means to say that] they warned him, but he did not stop gathering even after they found him and warned him.- [Sanh. 90a, Sifrei Shelach 55]

34 since it was not specified what was to be done to him With which method he should be executed. But they did know that one who desecrates the Sabbath is put to death.- [Sifrei Shelach 57]

35 pelt Heb. רָגוֹם , ‘doing,’ [which] in French [is], faisant. Similarly, ‘going,’ in old French, allant. Likewise, זָכוֹר , remember, (Exod. 20:8), and שָׁמוֹר , keep (Deut. 5:12)

36 took him outside From here we derive that the place of stoning was outside, and distant from the courthouse.- [Sifrei Shelach 59]

38 that they shall make for themselves fringes Heb. צִיצִת , [so named] because of the threads suspended from it, as in, “he took me by a lock of (בְּצִיצִת) my hair (lit., by the fringes of my head)” (Ezek. 8:3) (Men. 42a). Another interpretation: [It is called] צִיצִת because of the [command], “you shall see it” (verse 39), as in, “peering (מֵצִיץ) from the lattices” (Song 2:9).

blue The green-blue dye obtained from the chillazon [See Aruch Hashalem under חִלָּזוֹן , Yehudah Feliks, Nature & Man in the Bible (New York: Soncino Press, 1981, pp. 18-20].

39 you will remember all the commandments of the Lord because the numerical value of the צִיצִית is six hundred. צ = 90 י = 10 צ = 90 י = 10 ת = 400 - =600 [Add to this the] eight threads and five knots, and we have [a total of] six hundred and thirteen [the number of commandments in the Torah]. -[Num. Rabbah 18:21]

and you shall not wander after your hearts Heb. וְלֹא־תָתוּרוּ , like “from scouting (מִּתּוּר) the Land” (13:25). The heart and eyes are the spies for the body. They are its agents for sinning: the eye sees, the heart covets and the body commits the transgression. - [Mid. Tanchuma 15]

41 I am the Lord Faithful to pay reward.-[Sifrei Shelach 75]

your God Faithful to exact punishment.-[Sifrei Shelach 75]

Who took you out I redeemed you on condition you accept My decrees upon yourselves. - [Sifrei Shelach 73]

I am the Lord, your God Why is this repeated? So that the Israelites should not say, "Why did the Omnipresent say this? Was it not so that we should perform [the commandments] and receive reward? We will not perform [them] and not receive reward!" [Therefore, God says,] “I am your King, even against your will.” Similarly, it says, “[As I live, says the Lord God,] surely with a strong hand...will I reign over you” (Ezek. 20:33). Another interpretation: Why is the exodus from Egypt mentioned? It was I who distinguished between the drop [of sperm] of a firstborn and of that which was not of a firstborn. So in future will I distinguish and punish those who attach indigo-dyed [fringes, which is extracted from a vegetable] to their garments, claiming that it is sky-blue [dye extracted from the chillazon ]. -[B.M. 61b] From the commentary of R. Moshe Hadarshan [the preacher] I transcribed [the following:] Why is the passage of the wood gatherer juxtaposed with the passage addressing idolatry? To inform [you] that one who desecrates the Sabbath is regarded as one who worships idols, for it [namely the Sabbath] too [just like the prohibition against idolatry] is as important as [the sum of] all the commandments. So Scripture says in Ezra (Neh. 9:13-14, which is strictly part of Ezra. See Rashi on Neh. 1:1), “You descended upon Mount Sinai... and you gave Your people the Law and the commandments (sic). And Your holy Sabbath You made known to them.” Likewise, the passage of fringes; why is it juxtaposed with these two [passages]? Since it too is equally important as [the sum of] all the commandments, as it states, “and perform all My commandments.”

on the corners of their garments Corresponding to [the verse said in connection with the exodus from Egypt] “I carried you on the wings (כַּנְפֵי) of eagles” (Exod. 19:4). On the four corners, but not on a garment of three or five [corners]. [This] corresponds to the four expressions of redemption that were said in Egypt: “I will take you out...I will save you...I will redeem you...I will take you” (Exod. 6:6-7). - [Mid. Aggadah]

a thread of sky- blue [wool] Heb. פְּתִיל תְּכֵלֶת , so called because of the bereavement [suffered by the Egyptians] over the loss of their firstborn. The Aramaic translation of שִׁכּוּל , bereavement, is תִּכְלָא [a word similar to תְּכֵלֶת ]. Moreover, the plague struck them at night, and the color of תְּכֵלֶת is similar to the color of the sky, which blackens at dusk; its eight threads symbolize the eight days that Israel waited from when they left Egypt until they sang the song at the [Red] Sea. - [Mid. Aggadah]

Ketubim: Psalm 102:1-12

Rashi	Targum
1. A prayer for a poor man when he enwraps himself and pours out his speech before the Lord.	1. The prayer for the poor man, for he is weary, and will speak his prayer in the presence of the LORD.
2. O Lord, hearken to my prayer, and may my cry come to You.	2. O LORD, accept my prayer, and let my entreaty come before You.
3. Do not hide Your countenance from me; on the day of my distress extend Your ear to me; on the day I call, answer me quickly.	3. Do not remove Your presence from me in the day of my distress; incline Your ear unto me; in the day that I call, hasten, answer me.
4. For my days have ended in smoke, and as a hearth my bones are dried up.	4. For my days are consumed like smoke; and my limbs burn like an oven.
5. Beaten like grass and withered is my heart, for I have forgotten to eat my bread.	5. My heart is smitten like grass and will dry up; for I have forgotten the Torah of my instruction.
6. From the sound of my sigh my bones clung to my flesh.	6. Because of the sound of my groaning, my bones have clung to my flesh.
7. I was like a bird of the wilderness; I was like an owl of the wasteland.	7. I have become like a marsh-bird in the wilderness; I have become like an owl in the parched land.
8. I pondered, and I am like a lonely bird on a roof.	8. I stay awake all night, and I have become like a bird that flutters and wanders by itself on the roof.
9. All day long my enemies revile me; those who scorn me swear by me.	9. All the day my enemies will jeer at me; those who mock me have sworn by my word in vain.
10. For ashes I ate like bread, and my drinks I mixed with weeping.	10. For I have supped on ashes like food, and prepared my drink in weeping.
11. Because of Your fury and Your anger, for You picked me up and cast me down.	11. Because of your anger and rage, for you have lifted me up and cast me down.
12. My days are like a lengthening shadow, and I dry out like grass.	12. My days are like a shadow that lengthens; and I will wither like grass.

Rashi’s Commentary to Psalm 102:1-12

1 A prayer for a poor man Israel, who is a poor people.

when he enwraps himself when their soul is enwrapped in distress.

4 are dried up Heb. נחרו . The “nun” serves as a prefix, as: נַעֲשׂוּ , they were made, נִקְנוּ , they were acquired; and it is an expression of dryness, as (Job 30:30): “and my bones dried out (חרה) from the heat”; (Jer. 6:29), “the bellows is heated (נחר) .”

7 Like a bird of Heb. לקאת . It is the name of a bird.

Like an owl of the wasteland Heb. ככוס , the name of a bird, as (Lev. 11:17): “The owl (הכוס) , the cormorant, and the night owl.”

wasteland deserts. I was like a bird of the desert. So do we wander from our place to go into exile.

8 I pondered I pondered about myself, and behold I am like a lonely bird on a roof, sitting alone without a mate. lonely Heb. בודד , sitting alone.

9 those who scorn me Heb. מהוללי , those who scorn me, an expression of mockery.

swear by me They saw my misfortune and they swear by me and say, “If it is not so, what happened to Israel should happen to me.” “So may the Lord do to me as to Israel.”

10 I mixed with weeping. I mixed with tears.

11 for You picked me up First You picked me up and now You cast me down from heaven to the earth, and if You had not picked me up first, my disgrace would not be so great.

12 Like a lengthening shadow At eventide, when the shadows lengthen, and when it becomes dark, they are not recognizable, but progressively disappear.

Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:3-8+57:15-16,18-19

Rashi	Targum
1. So says the Lord, "Keep justice and practice righteousness, for My salvation is near to come, and My benevolence to be revealed."	1. Thus says the LORD: "Keep judgment and do righteousness, for My salvation is near to come, and My virtue to be revealed.
2. Fortunate is the man who will do this and the person who will hold fast to it, he who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it and guards his hand from doing any evil.	2. Blessed is the man who will do this, and a son of man who will hold it fast, who will keep the Sabbath from profaning it, and will keep his hands from doing any evil."
3. Now let not the foreigner who joined the Lord, say, "The Lord will surely separate me from His people," and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree."	3. Let not a son of Gentiles who has been added to the people of the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people"; and let not the eunuch say. "Behold, I am like a dry tree."
4. For so says the Lord to the eunuchs who will keep My Sabbaths and will choose what I desire and hold fast to My covenant,	4. For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep the days of the Sabbaths that are Mine, who are pleased with the things I wish and hold fast My covenants,
5. "I will give them in My house and in My walls a place and a name, better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name I will give him, which will not be discontinued.	5. I will give them in My sanctuary and within the land of My Shekhinah a house a place and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not cease.
6. And the foreigners who join with the Lord to serve Him and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who observes the Sabbath from profaning it and who holds fast to My covenant.	6. And the sons of the Gentiles who have been added to the people of the LORD, to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants, everyone who will keep the Sabbath from profaning it, and hold fast My covenants -
7. I will bring them to My holy mount, and I will cause them to rejoice in My house of prayer, their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.	7. these I will bring to the holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their holy sacrifices will even go up for [My] pleasure on My altar; for My sanctuary will be a house of prayer for all the peoples.
8. So says the Lord God, Who gathers in the dispersed of Israel, I will yet gather others to him, together with his gathered ones.	8. Thus says the LORD God who is about to gather the outcasts of Israel, I will yet bring near their exiles, to gather them."
9. All the beasts of the field, come to devour all the beasts in the forest.	9. All the kings of the peoples who were gathered to distress you, Jerusalem, will be cast in your midst; they will be food for the beasts of the field-every beast of the forest will eat to satiety from them.
15. For so said the High and Exalted One, Who dwells to eternity, and His name is Holy, "With the lofty and the holy ones I dwell, and with the crushed and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the crushed.	15. For thus says the high and lofty One who dwells in the heavens, Whose name is Holy; in the height He dwells, and His Shekhinah is holy. He promises to deliver the broken in heart and the humble of spirit, to establish the spirit of the humble, and to help the heart of the broken.
16. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be wroth to eternity, when a spirit from before Me humbles itself, and souls [which] I have made.	16. "For I will not so avenge forever, nor will My anger always be (so); for I am about to restore the spirits of the dead, and the breathing beings I have made.
17. For the iniquity of his thievery I became wroth, and I smote him, I hid Myself and became wroth, for he went rebelliously in the way of his heart.	17. Because of the sins of their mammon, which they robbed, My anger was upon them, I smote them, removed My Shekhinah from them and cast them out; I scattered their exiles because they went astray after the fantasy of their heart.
18. I saw his ways and I will heal him, and I will lead him and requite with consolations him and his mourners.	18. The way of their repentance is disclosed before Me, and I will forgive them; I will have compassion on them and requite them with consolations, and those who mourn them.
19. [I] create the speech of the lips; peace, peace to the far and to the near," says the Lord, "and I will heal him."	19. The one who creates speech of lips in the mouth of every man says. Peace will be done for the righteous. who have kept My Law from the beginning, and peace will be done for the penitent. who have repented to My Law recently, says the LORD; and I will forgive them.
20. But the wicked are like the turbulent sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mud and dirt.	20. But the wicked are like the tossing sea which seeks to rest and it cannot, and its waters disturb mire and dirt.
21. "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."	21. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked."

Verbal Tallies

By: HH Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David

& HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

B’Midbar (Numbers) 15:1-41

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:3-8 + 57:15-16,18-19

Tehillim (Psalm) 102:1-12

Mordechai (Mark) 11:15-19

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

LORD (HaShem) - יהוה, Strong’s number is 03068.

Say / Speak / Saying - אמר, Strong’s number is 0559.

Children / Son - בן, Strong’s number 01121.

Israel - ישראל, Strong’s number is 03478.

Bring / come - בוא, Strong’s number is 0935.

Give - נתן, Strong’s number 05414.

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:

LORD (HaShem) - יהוה, Strong’s number is 03068.

Bring / come - בוא, Strong’s number is 0935.

B’Midbar (Numbers) 15:1 And the LORD <03068> spake unto Moses, saying <0559> (8800),

2  Speak unto the children <01121> of Israel <03478>, and say <0559> (8804) unto them, When ye be come <0935> (8799) into the land of your habitations, which I give <05414> (8802) unto you,

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:3 Neither let the son <01121> of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD <03068>, speak <0559> (8799), saying <0559> (8800), The LORD <03068> hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say <0559> (8799), Behold, I am a dry tree.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:5 Even unto them will I give <05414> (8804) in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give <05414> (8799) them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:7 Even them will I bring <0935> (8689) to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel <03478> saith, Yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

Tehillim (Psalm) 102:1 « A Prayer of the afflicted, when he is overwhelmed, and poureth out his complaint before the LORD <03068>. » Hear my prayer, O LORD <03068>, and let my cry come <0935> (8799) unto thee.

Hebrew:

Hebrew	English	Torah Seder Num15:1-41	Psalms Psa 102-1:12	Ashlamatah Isa 56:3-8 + 57:15-16, 18-19
אָכַל	eat	Num. 15:19	Ps. 102:4
אָמַר	say, saying	Num. 15:1		Isa. 56:3
אֲשֶׁר	which, whom	Num. 15:2		Isa. 56:4
בּוֹא	enter, come, bring	Num. 15:2	Ps. 102:1	Isa. 56:7
בֵּן	son, foreigner	Num. 15:2		Isa. 56:3
בַּת	old, daughter	Num. 15:27		Isa. 56:5
דּוֹר	generation	Num. 15:14	Ps. 102:12
הָיָה	have, become	Num. 15:29	Ps. 102:6
זֶבַח	sacrifices	Num. 15:3		Isa. 56:7
יָד	through, memorial	Num. 15:23		Isa. 56:5
יהוה	LORD	Num. 15:1	Ps. 102:1	Isa. 56:3
יוֹם	day	Num. 15:23	Ps. 102:2
יִשְׂרָאֵל	Israel	Num. 15:2		Isa. 56:8
כִּי	when, indeed	Num. 15:2	Ps. 102:4
כֹּל	all, every	Num. 15:13	Ps. 102:8	Isa. 56:6
כָּרַת	cut off,	Num. 15:30		Isa. 56:5
לֵב	heart		Ps. 102:4	Isa. 57:15
לֶחֶם	bread, food	Num. 15:19	Ps. 102:4
מִנִּי	because, than, without	Num. 15:24	Ps. 102:5	Isa. 56:5
נָשָׂא	lifted, exalted		Ps. 102:10	Isa. 57:15
נָתַן	giving, give	Num. 15:2		Isa. 56:5
עוֹלָם	perpetual, forever, everlasting	Num. 15:15	Ps. 102:12	Isa. 56:5
עֵץ	wood, tree	Num. 15:32		Isa. 56:3
פָּנֶה	before, face	Num. 15:15	Ps. 102:2	Isa. 57:16
קָדוֹשׁ	holy	Num. 15:40		Isa. 57:15
קָרָא	call, called		Ps. 102:2	Isa. 56:7
רָאָה	look, seen	Num. 15:39		Isa. 57:18
רָמַם	lift, high	Num. 15:19		Isa. 57:15
שַׁבָּת	sabbath	Num. 15:32		Isa. 56:4
תְּפִלָּה	prayer		Ps. 102:1	Isa. 56:7
rB'd>mi	wilderness	Num. 15:32	Ps. 102:6
hl'[o	burnt offering
~[;	people	Num. 15:26		Isa. 56:3
hf'['	make, made	Num. 15:3		Isa. 57:16

Greek:

Greek	English	Torah Seder Num15:1-41	Psalms Psa 102-1:12	Ashlamatah Isa 56:3-8 + 57:15-16, 18-19	NC Mk 11:15-19
ἀφίημι	did not allow, forgiven	Num 15:25			Mar 11:16
ἔθνος	nations			Isa 56:7	Mar 11:17
εἰσέρχομαι	enter, entered	Num 15:2			Mar 11:15
ἔξω	outside	Num 15:35			Mar 11:19
ἔρχομαι	come		Psa 102:1		Mar 11:15
καλέω	called			Isa 56:7	Mar 11:17
λέγω	says, saying	Num 11:18		Isa 56:3	Mar 11:17
οἶκος	house			Isa 56:5	Mar 11:17
ποιέω	make, offer	Num 15:3		Isa 57:16	Mar 11:17
προσευχή	prayer		Psa 102:0	Isa 56:7	Mar 11:17

Mishnah Pirke Abot IV:17

Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar said: Jealousy, lust, and [the desire for] honour drive a man from the world.

He used to say: They that have been born will die, and they that are dead will be resurrected, and they that live will be judged, to know and make known and be convinced that He is God, He is the Maker, He is the Creator, He is the Discerner, He is the Witness, He is the Judge, He is the Complainant, and it is He that shall judge, in whose presence is neither guile nor forgetfulness nor respect of persons nor taking of bribes; for all is His. And know that everything is according to the reckoning. And let not your nature promise you that the grave will be your refuge, because against your will you were created, and against your will you were born, and against your will you live, and against your will you die, and against your will you have to give account and reckoning before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed is He.

Abarbanel on Pirke Abot

By: Abraham Chill

Sepher Hermon Press, Inc. 1991

ISBN 0-87203-135-7

(pp. 289-308)

Abarbanel begins his commentary on this Mishnah with the remark that these dicta indicate the perfect wisdom of Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar and the great depth of the traditions he had received in the secrets of the Torah. Abarbanel notes that he had studied all the commentators to learn the true interpretation of Rabbi Elazar's statement, but had been disappointed. Later in his commentary, he remarks that if he were to go into all the details of this Mishnah, his commentary on it would be longer than that on the whole tractate! In order to make this very complicated subject more easily understood, he poses ten questions on the Mishnah.

1. Why did Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar select jealousy, lust and the desire for glory as the evils which drive a man from the world? Are there no other bad traits that will do the same? Furthermore, according to accepted interpretations of the Mishnah, lust and the pursuit of honour are the result of one's jealousies. If so, why did he separate them into three different categories?

2. What does “drive a man from the world” mean? Which world is he referring to - this world or the World to Come? If he means this world does he argue that these three traits will cause a man's death? In any event he must die, with or without these attributes. If, on the other hand, Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar was referring to the World to Come, the question begs itself: How does such a person even enter the olam ha-ba that he should be driven from it?

3. Rabbi Elazar's statement that, “they that have been born will die” is obvious to all. What great secret was he revealing? Everyone knows that all men must die.

4. The translation given above, “They that are dead will be resurrected,” is not exact. Abarbanel points out that the verb le-hachayot is in the causal form and means ”will cause [others] to live.” If Rabbi Elazar was referring to resurrection, he should have used the word li-heyot (which indeed some texts have) which would have implied resurrection according to both Rambam and those who disagree with him as to the exact nature of the resurrection (see below).

5. The statement, “They that live will be judged,” is problematic. If he was referring to the Day of Judgment at the resurrection, why did he not mention the annual day of judgment in this world, Rosh ha-Shanah, or the judgment which, according to the sages, is passed on man when he dies?

6. On “... to know, to make known and be convinced ... ,” Abarbanel disagrees with Rambam who believes that this maxim refers to God – He (God) knows the past, present and future and man should acknowledge this. Abarbanel objects that the syntax of the Mishnah will not allow such an interpretation and that the phrase must have the living and the dead referred to above as its subject, and as such is difficult to understand. To whom will the dead make known that God is God at thr resurrection? Everyone will know it!

7. “He is God, He is the Maker, He is the Creator.” Here again, at the resurrection everyone will acknowledge God's existence and supremacy. And furthermore, Maker and Creator are synonyms.

8. Why did Rabbi Elazar employ the words, “He is the judge” and “He will judge.” If the judgment implied is at the resurrection, as it seems from the general context, it would have sufficed to say that God is the judge, since after that event there will be no further judgment.

9. “... nor respect of persons nor taking of bribes ...” According to Rambam, this means that God in judgment will not overlook any sins because of the mitzvoth a person has performed. Doing that would constitute taking a bribe. After all, the most saintly of humans, Moshe, was punished for one sin, i.e., his display of anger when he struck the rock, although he had a plethora of mitzvoth to his credit. Abarbanel rejects this interpretation as contradicting the accepted doctrine that “a sin extinguishes a mitzvah, but does not extinguish Torah,” from which it would follow that a mitzvah must certainly extinguish a sin. He also musters a Talmudic statement (Rosh ha-Shanah 16b) to support his objection. There we are told that three books are open on the New Year, one for the perfectly righteous, one for the incorrigible sinners and one for those who are in neither category. What is a perfectly righteous person? He whose spiritual credits are more numerous than his transgressions. If so, God does accept the bribe of mitzvoth to negate the averot.

10. Finally, Abarbanel finds it difficult to understand the necessity for the sage of our Mishnah to articulate, “And let not your nature promise you that the grave will be your refuge.” If the sinner already denied the existence of God, the resurrection of the dead and the day of judgment and believes that the grave ends everything, he will also deny the premise, “For against your will you were created, against your will you were born ...” Moreover, is it not redundant to say, "For against your will you were created, against your will you were born"?

In his interpretation of Rabbi Elazar's dicta, Abarbanel resolves these difficulties, after a long and detailed discussion, at times esoteric, of the resurrection and the World to Come. His first purpose is to connect this, the last Mishnah of the chapter with the first Mishnah of the chapter, that of Ben Zoma. Abarbanel claims that in every chapter of Pirqe Abot the last Mishnah is connected to the first and serves as a sort of summation of the chapter.

Ben Zoma defined four types of people: the wise man, he who learns from all people; the mighty man, he who overcomes his evil inclination; the rich man, he who is satisfied with his lot; and the honoured man, he who honours others. Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar had nothing to add to the attributes of wisdom, i.e., Torah. His dicta relate to the other three. Relative to the rich man of Ben Zoma, Rabbi Elazar maintains that jealousy is the culprit in the unhappiness of the wealthy person. Wealth is a mythical state of being. It is not absolute, but comparative. Whom society will consider to be wealthy, may be the one who is driven with an obsession to become wealthier.

The mighty man whom Ben Zoma defined is coupled in our Mishnah with lust. This, too, is an ethereal state of being. If the so-called mighty man is unable to subdue his passions, how can he ever expect to subject others to his will?

Lastly, Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar elaborates Ben Zoma's definition of honour and emphasizes that whosoever looks down upon his fellow man and does not show him due respect, but rather insists that others honour him, will be entrapped in a net of wickedness from which he will never extricate himself.

The underlying theme of Rabbi Elazar Ha-Kapar stresses that almost all of man's obsessions are imaginative and illusory. The tragedy is that the miscreant is encapsulated in these flights of fancy and there he remains.

According to Abarbanel, it must be clearly understood that there is jealousy that is benevolent, such as kinat soferim, the admirable competitive spirit among scholars. Rabbi Elazar, however, was referring to the malicious envy that is found in material matters that will eliminate the man who falls prey to it from this world.

He also was dealing with lust that is manifested in many ways, such as a passion for non-kosher food, or for forbidden sexual relations. The true sweetness in life is in that lifestyle which sublimates these passions and quenches these thirsts that eventuate into a life destroyed.

Abarbanel is also convinced that Rabbi Elazar was treating the concept of honour which includes embarrassing another in public and gloating over another's degradation. These are incorporated in the general theme of murder for which the guilty one must be held accountable and be withdrawn from society. No one has a right to be so arrogant that he believes he can play with the emotions of another person. Joseph, whom the sages describe as a zaddik, died ten years before his originally ordained time because he adopted an attitude of superiority over his brothers.

How is a person guilty of such sins ever admitted to olam ha-ba? Abarbanel answers this question in a simple manner. Taking his cue from the Talmud (Sanhedrin 90a), he says that every Jew has a place in the World to Come. Jealousy, lust and pursuit of honour will deprive him of his due share in olam ha-ba, which can be considered as driving him from it. Abarbanel points out that this interpretation answers the first two questions he raised against the Mishnah.

Following his ruling on who will be denied olam ha-ba, Abarbanel launches into an extensive and profound dissertation on what constitutes olam ha-ba and what are we to understand by the term, tehiyat ha-metim, the resurrection of the dead.

From the very outset, he acknowledges that on the subject of tehiyat ha-metim there are very few Biblical or Talmudic sources to substantiate any position which is adopted. Those that are available are found mostly in the Books of the Prophets and a few dispersed comments in the Talmud. Abarbanel is convinced that the ancient sages of the Talmud received their information regarding the World to Come and resurrection from the Prophets, but since these subjects constitute the innermost secrets of Torah, they spoke of them in hints and general terms only. Even the illustrious Rambam in his “Thirteen Principles of Faith” simply states that a Jew must believe in the resurrection of the dead, but does not explain what that is. In other works, Rambam elaborates on the Messianic Period, but hardly treats resurrection. The only real discussion of the subject by Rambam is in his Epistle on the Resurrection of the Dead, where he explained his views because other rabbis disagreed with his principles. After Rambam, the main treatment of the subject was given by Ramban (Nahmanides) in his book Torat ha-Adam (Sha'ar ha-Gemul, the section dealing with reward and punishment). There he quotes many Talmudic sources, but his presentation is not orderly, and some of the principles he lays down are dubious.

Abarbanel continues: “Since I saw that there is a great deal of uncertainty and contradictory views on this subject - Rabbi Hisdai and Yosef Albo, the author of Sefer ha-Ikarim also wrote on the matter - I decided to treat it and wrote a treatise, Zedek Olamim ('Eternal Righteousness'), the fate of which I described above (in the commentary to Mishnah 14). I researched this most important subject thoroughly and separated the true opinions from the false. However, the work was lost. Now I am faced with this deep Mishnah,"

Abarbanel is persuaded that Rabbi Elazar's pronouncements on the subject of the World to Come refers to olam ha-tehiyah - the world into which the dead will be resurrected - as opposed to the opinion of Rambam who argues that Rabbi Elazar was speaking about the olam ha-neshamot, the ethereal world of the souls.

Abarbanel then writes that he will present his own thinking in the form of basic principles, but will not bring all the proofs and arguments for each principle or all the other opinions on the subject, because if he were to do so, his interpretation of this Mishnah would, as we pointed out above, be longer than the commentary on the whole of Pirqe Abot. In each principle, Abarbanel interprets a part of Rabbi Elazar's dictum and answers some of the questions he raised at the beginning of his commentary to this Mishnah.

The First Principle: When a person dies his body disintegrates, but his soul is eternal. The fact that the soul exists during life is no reason to believe that it ceases to exist at death, because it does not contain the causes to lead to its disintegration. This view is not accepted by the heretics who believe that at death both the body and the soul cease to exist. Solomon made this point succinctly, “And the dust returns to the ground as it was, and the spirit returns to God who bestowed it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7) - the body, which is material returns to dust, but the soul, which is spiritual, returns to God, i.e., each returns to its original state. The Talmud (Shabbat 152b) elaborates on this verse: "Just as He gave you the soul in a pure state, give it back to Him in a pure state!" This is the thrust of Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar’s dictum, "They that have been born [i.e.. the body] will die," but not the soul which was not born, This interpretation answers the third of the questions.

The Second Principle: The question arises: When will the resurrection take place? Will it happen when all mankind has perished, as some of the early theologians assumed, or at a specific time in history when there will still remain a living element? Rabbi Elazar addresses himself to this question and proposes that at the time when "they that have been born will die," i.e., when the last of the living will be ready to pass on, at that time, "they that have died [already) will live," i.e., will be resurrected.

Abarbanel also points to the theory of the Kabbalists and Ramban, who taught that God originally created all the souls that were to enter the bodies of all human beings. When the process of placement is exhausted, tehiyat ha-metim will occur.

The Third Principle: Abarbanel offers another view on resurrection when he analyses the physical form in which the dead will be resurrected. He first accepts the challenge of Moslem and Christian - and some Jewish - theologians who argue that the person who dies cannot be the person resurrected because his limbs and organs will have decayed and disintegrated in the grave. Also, as these non-Jewish thinkers demonstrate, how can a man be resurrected as himself if, say. a lion devoured him? They, therefore, arrive at the conclusion that the term tehiyat ha-metim refers to a utopian Messianic period when the dispersed of Israel will be gathered in the Land of Israel. Abarbanel rejects this premise out of hand as heretical, because the word resurrection implies a physical rebirth and any other interpretation is unacceptable. As Rambam argued, why should anyone deny God's ability to perform the miracle of resurrection of the original body more than any other His miracles?

Abarbanel continues: There are Christian theologians who propose that at the resurrection the bodies will suddenly assume the form of ethereal. floating entities. Jewish theology, however, subscribes to the theory that God will reactivate the same body with the same soul in it and return it to earth. Here, again, latter-day Christian thinkers believe that there will be a physical resurrection, but believe that the soul will be encapsulated in a new body.

But, argues Abarbanel, we cannot accept this approach because logic would lead us to the conclusion that this is not a resurrection but a re-incarnation. As a result, Abarbanel is compelled to resort to the reasoning of Saadia Gaon who explains that in some way even the dismembered and decayed organs of the body will not be broken down into elements and re-enter the cycle of nature, but will remain separate so that God will refashion the body as it was.

Abarbanel then asks: Can we not solve this problem by saying that God, at the resurrection of the dead, will create a copy of each person's original body? Since the new physical body will be identical with the old and since the soul, which is the distinguishing factor, will be the original soul, the process can legitimately be described as "the dead will live." Furthermore, the rabbis of the Talmud claimed that there is a bone at the junction of the spine and the skull which is indestructible, and the body is resurrected from that bone.

This is the thrust of Rabbi Elazar's statement, "the dead will live" - not that the dispersed will be gathered in, not that new bodies will be created - but rather the same dead will be resurrected with their original personalities. This will not come about of itself by a natural process; God Himself will cause it to happen. This explains the use of the causal form and answers the fourth question.

The Fourth Principle: In another approach to the dictum under consideration, Abarbanel asks: To what point in his life will the dead be resurrected? Will one be revived as he was in his youth, adolescence or old age? No one's body remains static and a youth is transformed into an entire different personality at a later age.

Abarbanel is convinced that the resurrected will assume the image and personality as of the time they died. In fact, rabbinic tradition indicates that if a person had a physical defect or blemish at the time of his death, they will reappear at tehiyat ha-metim. Not only will this original deficiency reappear, each person will be resurrected in the clothes he was wearing when he died.

There is a story told about Cleopatra who inquired of Rabbi Meir, "I know that there will be a resurrection of the dead, but tell me: will they appear naked or clothed?" Rabbi Meir replied, "You know that the humble seed of a wheat is planted in the ground simple and unadorned. Yet, when it emerges from the ground it is adorned with many kernels. The righteous that are buried in their shrouds will surely rise clothed."

In this context, the maxim in our Mishnah should be understood as follows: The dead person's physiognomy, character and defects will be made to live again. This interpretation also justifies the reading, “le-hachayot”.

The Fifth Principle: Yet another viewpoint: Basing his reasoning on the Scriptural verse, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence" (Daniel 12:2), Abarbanel concludes that at the resurrection not all the dead will be revived. But who will rise and who will remain in his grave; why some and not all? Rabbi Elazar addresses himself to this question: "They that have died will live," which infers that God decides at the time of a person's death whether he will be resurrected or not. Only those who are deserving will live again. To further augment this theory, Abarbanel refers us to the last sentence in the Book of Daniel which relates that the Angel spoke to him and said, “But you go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and you shall stand up to your lot, at the end of the days.” In other words the angel is assuring Daniel in advance that he will be resurrected. Rabbi Elazar of our Mishnah was also making the point. "The dead will live" - at the time of death the decision is made whether they will be resurrected.

The Sixth Principle: Abarbanel also takes up the question of the purpose of resurrection. Since everything that is done has a purpose, such a wondrous act as resurrection must most certainly have a purpose. Rambam, in his Epistle on the Resurrection of the Dead, could find no purpose in the resurrection and wrote that we must just accept the fact that it is God's will. Saadia Gaon, followed by Ramban, Rabbi Hisdai and other scholars, claims that the purpose of the resurrection is to judge each individual and reward him for his good deeds. The true reward and purpose of life cannot be in the world of souls immediately after death, because divine justice could not countenance rewarding only the souls, when the good deeds were performed by the soul and body in unison.

Abarbanel remarks that he has researched the subject of the great judgment extensively. He points out that the judgment will of necessity encompass all mankind and not just the righteous, and that there is an element of injustice in delaying the reward of the righteous for such a long time until the resurrection. Saadia Gaon's theory raises these and other problems. However, Abarbanel accepts the theory that the purpose of resurrection is judgment and says that this is the thrust of "They that live will be judged," i.e., they will be judged in the state in which they lived - body and soul together. This answers the fifth question.

The Seventh Principle: Abarbanel muses: What will happen to the people who are still alive on the day of the resurrection? There are different views by different mystics who delved into this matter. Some reflected that by definition resurrection implies that all of humankind will have to be dead before resurrection takes place. They gather this from the famous dictum, "All of Israel has a share in the World to Come." As noted previously, neither the Torah nor the tradition refers to olam ha-ba in definitive terms. What the sages of the Talmud had to say was the product of their own intelligence and logic. Some of them said that all human beings will have to die before the resurrection. Others contended that those who are dead by the day of resurrection will be revived and those who are still alive will be conveyed to olam ha-ba as they are. Still others believe that the living will live long lives, die and after the day of judgment enter eternal life. Saadia Gaon tends to accept this third view.

Abarbanel argues that the scholars who held these opinions did so because they assumed that the resurrected will not die but will enter olam ha-ba where they will receive their reward and enjoy the radiance of the Shekhinah. Therefore, these scholars discussed the fate of the people who will be alive at the time of the resurrection - how can it be that they will not be granted eternal life like those resurrected. Those scholars were, therefore, forced into all sorts of questions and strained answers.

It is the considered opinion of Abarbanel, however, that the period of ha-tehiyah is not to be confused with olam ha-neshamot. In the latter stage, the soul will receive its recompense for good or for bad and will enjoy the Shekhinah; in the former stage the soul will be cleansed and sanctified and will be prepared for the last phase - olam ha-ba. There will be no need for the living to die in order to be resurrected. The divine purpose of the tehiyah is to transform the dead into the living and not the living into the dead. Since those living at the time of the resurrection will stand trial and will see the salvation of God and acknowledge His glory and greatness, why should they die? "The fact that they oppose me," argues Abarbanel, "on the ground that the Talmud teaches us that all of Israel has a share in the World to Come does not justify their position. The Talmudic citation refers to olam ha-neshamot. "

Abarbanel refers the reader to the last chapter of his Rosh Amanah, where he discusses the Biblical verses involved.

In short, in the days of tehiyah, both the dead and the living will stand before the Heavenly Bar of Justice, which is what Rabbi Elazar meant when he said, "The dead will be resurrected and they that live will be judged."

The Eighth Principle: Abarbanel points out that his interpretation of the resurrection of the dead contains an element no other commentator included - the end of the exile of the Jewish people. To prove that this is so, he cites Joel (4:1-2) who assures the destitute Children of Israel, "For lo! in those days and in that time when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem. I will gather all nations and bring them to the valley of Yehoshafat [which means 'the Lord judges']. There I will contend with them over My very own people, Israel, which they scattered among the nations ... " Abarbanel believes that Joel's prophecy must refer to the time of the resurrection of the dead, otherwise it would be most unjust that only the living Jews see the punishment of Israel's enemies and not the Jews who have died over the centuries who suffered at their hands. Furthermore, it would be a travesty of justice if only the living Gentiles were punished. Abarbanel also claims that as far as the end of the exile is concerned, all Jews, good and bad, will witness God's salvation. This is an essential aspect of the Messianic period which cannot be ignored. It was Saadia Gaon who, although convinced that only the righteous in Israel will witness the days of the Messiah, is persuaded that tehiyah will occur together with the redemption of the Jewish people from the bonds of exile.

To further support this theme, Abarbanel mobilizes texts from all sections of the Scriptures. From the Pentateuch, "See, then, that I, I am He; there is no god besides Me. I deal death and give life ... and My hand lays hold on judgment; vengeance will I wreak on My foes ... " (Deuteronomy 32:39-41). From the Prophets (Isaiah 26:8-21), where we find the prophet involved in a dialogue with God in which he expresses surprise at His attitude to the fact that the Jews are suffering and the wicked enemy will not learn to fear God. Isaiah is frustrated that all the prophets speak about the Messianic period and the redemption, but do not mention those who were martyred in previous centuries. Their behaviour and heroism acted as an inspiration for those that followed them, yet they were not allowed to witness the resurrection. With that in mind, God assures Isaiah that the dead will rise and He will wreak His vengeance upon His enemies. From the Hagiographa: In the Book of Daniel (12:2) we hear the proclamation of the angel that although the Children of Israel will go through a period of persecution and destruction, " ... many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, others to reproaches, to everlasting abhorrence,"

On the basis of these texts, Abarbanel concludes that there is a definite relationship between the resurrection and the national redemption. This, according to Abarbanel, is the thrust of Rabbi Elazar’s statement, "In order that they know, make known and be convinced that He is God" - the resurrected will be convinced of God's salvation.

The Ninth Principle: Abarbanel also formulates another basic principle regarding the resurrection. When the dead are revived, they will immediately be recognized by their relatives who are alive at that time. This recognition will be a product of the mind and the senses. When the dead are revived, not only will the living acknowledge them, they will also recognize the living. He derives this from the Scriptures, "Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord. And he shall reconcile fathers with sons and sons with their fathers" (Malachi 3:23-24). How can they be reconciled if they do not recognize each other. Rabbi Elazar's mention of knowledge also refers to this aspect of the resurrection.

The Tenth Principle: Abarbanel considers another aspect of the resurrection of the dead which he claims is entirely novel in that no previous thinker had ever contended with it. Will Gentiles and pagans also be resurrected? Furthermore, will those non-Jews who are alive at the time attribute the resurrection to their idols or to Almighty God?

He articulates that despite the fact that the various religions of the Gentiles are false - some worship the constellations thus denying God's hand in the creation and, of course, the concept of a Messiah and resurrection - God, in His infinite benevolence saw fit to bring about an occurrence that will serve as a guide to all mankind so that they will abandon their perversions and distortions. On the day of the resurrection all the nations of the world will acknowledge the omnipotence of the one God and abandon their misguided ways.

God designed a strategy that will arouse all the peoples of the world to acknowledge the unity of God and the singular value of His Torah - the resurrection of the dead. When it occurs, all the deceased from time immemorial - the wise, the sage, and the learned - all humanity will rise and give testimony to those still alive and proclaim the omnipotence and omniscience of God and the sanctity of His Torah. They will acknowledge that all their ways and religions of the past were false because they had just witnessed, in their state of spirituality, the true religion. This, according to Abarbanel is the true and only purpose of tehiyat ha-metim.

Thus, when the nations of the world abandon their former religions and return to the original source of spirituality, the prophetic vision of fathers being reconciled with their sons and vice versa will be realized.

This, according to the calculations of Abarbanel will take place in the six thousandth year after the creation of the world. He compares the resurrection to creation. At the end of six days God created man. There was one person with one faith, undivided. So will it be after six thousand years when all of mankind will stand unified as one nation with one religion. It was concerning that occasion that the prophet proclaimed, "For out of Zion will the Torah go forth and the word of God from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:3).

But then, Abarbanel becomes logical and realistic. He quotes a series of verses from the Books of the Prophets describing the idyllic period which will follow the resurrection and the ingathering of the exiles. The verses are universalistic in their message and suggest that the idyllic state of affairs will come about suddenly. Abarbanel finds it hard to imagine how this can be. How can all these nations without any prior knowledge of true spiritual values suddenly reach the apex of wisdom and recognize the true God? The black nations of Africa have never seen a Jew. How could they ever be inspired by the Torah? When the shofar will be sounded heralding the resurrection, how will these peoples know what it is all about? How will they be able to proclaim the Ineffable Name when they have never known of its existence? Moreover, all the nations of the world have been questioning each other's credibility, denying each other's faith and scoffing at each other's culture. How will they ever unite to recognize one God and one culture? Even at the time of the Exodus, when the Egyptians witnessed the miracles that God performed through Moshe, they did not abandon their own mistaken beliefs. Furthermore, there are even Jews who become doubters. Are we to assume that God will perform the miracle of planting in all the nations the true faith and recognition of His uniqueness? This is impossible, since it would imply the cancellation of free will and a total change of the laws of nature which have applied since the very creation of the world!

To unravel these complications, Abarbanel remains firm in his position, described above, that God in His infinite mercy wants to bring all of mankind to the recognition of God. The only way to do this is to resurrect all the dead and let them bring the message of Godliness to those who are alive. Those who rise from the dead, wherever they are, in any part of the world, will bring the tidings of their experience in the nether world and give personal testimony to the one and only God and His Torah. The resurrected will stand to judgment before the eyes of the living and it is they who will proclaim, "Let us go up to the Mountain of the Lord." The shofar that will be sounded is meant to be interpreted as the proclamation of the risen dead. It is from those who experienced death and the stay of the soul in olam ha-neshamot that all those who are extant will learn to herald, "God is One and His Name is One."

It is in this context that Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar admonishes us, "In order that they know, make known and be convinced that He is God" - "He is the Maker," i.e., the One who performed the miracles of the resurrection; "He is the Creator," i.e., the One who created the world; "He is the Discerner," i.e., the One who understands everything about man, so much so that "He is the Judge," i.e., the supervisor of the world, who rewards and punishes. These are the matters on which people have false beliefs - they deny the possibility of resurrection; they deny God's creation of the world and they deny Providence and the doctrine of reward and punishment. This is the thrust of this part of Rabbi Elazar's dictum and thus the seventh and eighth questions are answered.

The Eleventh Principle: Jewish theology cannot accept the premise of non-Jewish astrologers who propose that there is a form of resurrection that is dependent on the course and directions of the heavenly bodies. They believe that after the heavenly bodies have concluded their circulating and revolving around each other they will reach the point of origin, when natural experience will cease and the world will return to its original state. Indian savants have suggested very strange theories. Some of them have fixed the duration of the world at 4,320,000 years, during which time all the processes which were latent at the creation of the world can be effected. Thus all the stars and planets will stand in the configuration from which they started. Others have fixed the duration of the world at 36,000 years. Still others say 360,000 years, each degree of the circle being 1,000 years, while there are those who say 12,000 years - 1,000 for each section of the zodiac. Another view is 49,000 years - each of the seven planets will reign for 7,000 years, but some say each planet will reign for 1,000 years only. Although all these theories are foolish, there can be no doubt that they were put forward because their proposers had an ancient tradition that there would be a resurrection, and tried to rationalize it as best they could. However, they understood the resurrection as a replay of world history as it has been until now.

Resurrection to the Jew means that God reunifies the body and the soul just as He created man in the first place, and that only He can accomplish this.

Abarbanel makes sure that we do not misread the Scriptures (I Kings 17:8-20), where we are told of Elijah reviving the dead child of the widow in Zarephath. It would seem, at first glance, that it was Elijah who brought the child back from the dead. This is not true. Actually, Elijah prostrated himself on the child and fervently prayed, "O Lord my God, let this child's life return to his body." Not Elijah performed this miracle, but his supplications to God. The same is true of Elisha who revived the dead child of the Shunamite woman (II Kings 4:33). Indeed, we do not find that Elisha prayed for any of the miracles he performed except for this one!

This was the intention of Rabbi Elazar when he articulated "He is the Maker, He is the Creator ... " He is the One who directs the process of resurrection.

The Twelfth Principle: Abarbanel continues: Ramban points to three different occasions when a person must give an account for himself. The first is on Rosh ha-Shanah of each year when man is judged for life or death: "Who will live and who will die; who will die by thirst and who by the sword ...” Why is the first day of the year the day of reckoning? A midrash tells us that Adam was created on Rosh haShanah and was judged on Rosh ha-Shanah. God told him, "Just as you were judged on this day, so will it be with your descendants." Abarbanel insists that the terms "life" and "death" in the context of the judgment on Rosh ha-Shanah are not to be taken literally. Rather, they mean a good life, and a life of anguish which is likened to death. It is on this day that three books are opened and the judgment on Rosh ha-Shanah applies to the physical, mundane human being.

The second day of judgment takes place when the soul leaves the body at the time of death, when it is immediately decided whether it is destined for Gan Eden or for purgatory, dependent on the way the deceased behaved on earth. Those that are neither entirely wicked nor entirely virtuous will remain in limbo until they have cleared themselves or until God, in His infinite charity, forgives and sends them to their peaceful resting place. That judgment is, therefore, for the soul. It is then that the Heavenly Court will interrogate him, "Did you designate time for Torah study? Did you conduct yourself according to God's wish?" In these two phases of judgment Rambam fully agrees with Ramban.

The third occasion for judgment will happen after the resurrection and this is called the great and awesome Day of Judgment, when the entire world will be forced to render an account. Rambam and Ramban differ on what happens after that. It is to this Day of Judgment that the passage in the Talmud (Rosh ha-Shanah 16a) refers: The School of Shammai said: There are three categories for the Day of Judgment. The totally righteous are immediately written and sealed for life in olam ha-ba; the totally wicked are immediately written and sealed for gehinom; and the average go down to gehinom where they cry out in agony and after a while come up out of it. The School of Hillel said: God judges them [the average] with mercy [i.e., they are not sent to gehinom). Rashi comments that this passage refers to the Day of Judgment after resurrection and many other commentators, including Ramban, agree with him. This Day of Judgment is thus for the body and soul together.

With this in mind we can appreciate the complaint that the Prophet Samuel directed at the sorceress when she conjured him up from the dead, "Why did you hasten to resurrect me?" Samuel was terrified that his revival heralded the dreaded Day of Judgment.

In the view of Abarbanel, the sage of our Mishnah directed his maxims to these three periods of judgment. "He is the judge" refers to the judgment on Rosh ha-Shanah. "He is the complainant” does not imply that God is a litigant or a plaintiff, but that He is the master of the judgment and refers to the second judgment - immediately after death. Finally, when Rabbi Elazar said, "He will judge" he meant that this will occur at the time of the resurrection of the dead. Then there will be no forgetfulness, no favouritism and no acceptance of bribery.

The Thirteenth Principle: Basing their theory on Scriptures, "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, and others to reproaches, everlasting abhorrence" (Daniel 12:2), Rambam, Ramban and Hisdai are persuaded that only the righteous of the Children of Israel will be resurrected. Abarbanel also rejects this theory. His argument is that if only the righteous will be resurrected, why did Scripture emphasize "And many of them"? At no period in Jewish history were the righteous the majority of the Jewish people, as every mature person knows. Moreover, Scriptures speak about awakening to everlasting abhorrence, which means that the wicked will also be resurrected. Furthermore, our faith teaches us that everyone will be given a chance to answer the indictments on the great Day of Judgment. If only the righteous will rise, where is equal justice for all? Lastly, if only the good people will be resurrected where are the three categories referred to above by both the School of Shammai and the School of Hillel?

These questions lead Abarbanel to conclude that at the time of the resurrection there will be representatives of all the nations on earth, both the virtuous and the sinners, who will rise to give testimony, teach and preach the true faith in God.

However, one may justifiably ask, how God can equate the Jew with the non-Jew, righteous and non-righteous alike, when a tenet of our faith is that God chose the Children of Israel as His people? Furthermore, how can God impart the glorious tradition of Torah to the wicked nations in view of the persecutions that they have inflicted upon His children throughout the centuries? Will God favour the ancient rulers of Greece, Persia and Rome who murdered and looted the Jews, just because they testify to the people of the world that "The Lord is one"? Will all their treachery suddenly be forgiven and forgotten?

It is in this context that Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar reflected, "There is no inequity [in God], no forgetfulness, no favouritism, and no acceptance of bribery, for everything is His." This implies that while He favours the Jewish people, He is the father of all mankind and desires all His creatures to acknowledge Him as the true God. But God does not forget nor does He favour one person over another: all will be judged. All this reaffirms Abarbanel's original thesis that tehiyat ha-metim will involve all nations and all peoples. This is also the thrust of the use of the phrase "They that have been born will die ...” - not just Jews. Furthermore, Rabbi Elazar did not say "All those that have been born" which indicates that not all the people who have lived since the creation of the world will be resurrected.

Abarbanel suggests an alternative interpretation of “... in whose presence is neither iniquity ...” After the resurrection and the final judgment there will be no further iniquity in man, so there will be no wars and strife, no further forgetfulness in man, so all men will subscribe to the true faith. Rambam, as Abarbanel pointed out earlier, believes that the bribery referred to in this part of the dictum refers to God and means that he cannot be bribed by a mitzvah to overlook a sin, but that each man will be rewarded for every mitzvah he performed and punished for every sin. Abarbanel reiterates that this is a sound theory and that those who objected to it on the grounds of the rabbinic dictum, "a sin extinguishes a mitzvah:” were mistaken. That statement is to be interpreted as meaning that the performance of a sin affects the reward which was to be received in this world for the performance of a mitzvah. This interpretation is based on the theory that no man is entirely righteous or wicked, but that each person has both mitzvoth and sins - the difference. between a pious man and wicked man is the relative amounts. The righteous man is punished for his sins in this world so that in the World to Come he will be able to enjoy the rewards for his mitzvoth, while the wicked man is rewarded for his mitzvoth in this world, so that in the World to Come he will be punished for his sins and receive no reward. Abarbanel claims that this is an accepted doctrine and his interpretation of Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar answers the ninth question he raised.

The Fourteenth Principle: Those who are resurrected will eat and drink and ultimately die, and their souls will return to the world of souls where they will receive their reward or punishment. However, on this matter, too, there is a difference of opinion among the scholars.

Saadia Gaon is joined by Rambam and other leading thinkers who maintain that the dead will rise from their graves, eat, drink, marry and perform all normal functions such as was the case with the children whom Elijah and Elisha resurrected. They will perform mitzvoth and acquire merits. They will then be ushered into olam ha-ba, where, although they will be composed of both body and soul, there will be no physical functions. According to Rambam, they will die after living a long life. Thus, the resurrection will not be the final reward, but the spirituality of enjoying the Divine Presence, with body and soul, together, according to Saadia Gaon, and separated, according to Rambam.

Ramban, on the other hand, will not accept this theory. He argues that after the resurrection, body and soul will remain united, but they will not engage in physical functions and will not die. This is what happened to Moshe on Mt. Sinai when, although his body and soul were one, he desisted for forty days and forty nights from indulging in anything mundane or physical. It was an unadulterated spiritual experience. Ramban is followed in this by the rabbis of France and many of the Spanish rabbis; it is also the view of Christian theologians.

Between these two giants of Jewish thought, Rambam and Ramban, Abarbanel chooses to follow the reasoning of the former on the following grounds: If we are to believe, like Ramban, that the resurrected will not exercise their physical powers or senses and will live forever, then God will have resurrected an entirely different person who will have no identification with the deceased person. Of course, God can create any one He wishes but this cannot be called resurrection.

Furthermore, if the only benefit that the resurrected will derive, as Ramban contends, will be the joy of being in the presence of the Shekhinah, the soul may appreciate that. However, we are talking about a period when body and soul will be reunited. What benefit will the body enjoy from the presence of the Shekhinah? Each one of the five senses functions in its own singular fashion. When body and soul act in tandem they obtain their ends in unison. When they are together, but only one functions normally while the other is passive, we cannot say that they are functioning as a perfect unit. Thus, if only the soul, and not the body, delights in the Shekhinah, we cannot, in good conscience, consider this as a true resurrection. The body cannot appreciate the spiritual pleasures of the Shekhinah.

Abarbanel rejects Ramban's theory which sees the resurrected living in the original state of Adam before he ate of the forbidden fruit, i.e., a physical existence, but without death. Abarbanel claims that Adam was destined to die anyway. His sin in eating the forbidden fruit only caused him to die earlier than had been decided.

Abarbanel continues with his analysis: The story of Elijah may prove the contrary. According to Rabbi David Kimche, Elijah ascended to heaven in a whirlwind of fire, but when he passed the earth stratosphere his body and clothes were consumed by flames. This proves that, unlike the Rambam's thinking, body and soul do not exist in the tehiyah period. Also, Moshe remained on Mt. Sinai for forty days and forty nights as if he was divested of all symptoms of a body and survived solely in a state of spirituality. Abarbanel now reasons that in those two cases there can be no doubt that there was special divine intervention; however, the level of religiosity of the average person that will be resurrected cannot be compared to extraordinary spirituality and righteousness of Elijah or Moshe.

Abarbanel is persistent: The Talmud (Sanhedrin 92a) clearly states that those who will be resurrected will not die again. Abarbanel is quick to defend himself by arguing that this statement was made hy one sage; no other sage agreed. Secondly, the Prophet (Ezekiel 37: 1-14) speaks about the dry bones that will be brought back to life and will then die once again. In fact, Rabbi Elazar ben Yosi ha-Gelili announced that the dead who were resurrected came to Eretz Israel, married and sired children. Whereupon, Rabbi Yehudah ben Beteira announced that he was a descendant of those whom Ezekiel resurrected. He even produced a set of tefillin which his grandfather left him after he died a second time. Abarbanel concludes that the Talmudic passage discussing the "Dry bones" section of the Book of Ezekiel, on which the theories concerning the resurrection are based, is replete with differences of opinions - one sage even claimed that the whole passage in Ezekiel is a parable and never really happened - and that the opinion of the majority is that the resurrected of Ezekiel did die after their resurrection, which means that those who will be resurrected at the end of days will also die again.

However, in an effort to avoid a blatant defiance of the Talmudic statement that the resurrected will not return to their graves, Abarbanel interprets it to mean that once they are resurrected they will not return to the lifestyle of a man who originates from the earth, with earthly passions and lusts.

Another defense of Rambam by Abarbanel against the Rarnban, centers around the Talmudic dictum, "Rav stated that in olam ha-ba there will be no food or drink for the resurrected." Rambam already explained himself by noting that this abstinence from food and drink applies in the period when the deceased rests in olam ha-neshamot.

Finally, to maintain his position, Abarbanel cites another Rabbinic statement: Rabbi Yohanan said, "Whence do we know that there will be tehiyat ha-metim? Because the Torah says (Numbers 18:28) that the Jew must give the gift which is set apart for the LORD, to Aaron the priest" (Sanhedrin 92a). The question is evident: "Will Aaron live forever? What is meant is that there will come a time when God will resurrect the dead, including Aaron, and he will then receive the priestly portions from the Israelites. This illustrates that at the stage of the tehiyah the resurrected will eat, drink and, a kohen, will receive his due.

Abarbanel expresses his astonishment at the fact that great scholars could believe that men will be resurrected in body and in soul, with all their limbs and organisms and yet not perform any physical functions. In his eyes that would be a greater miracle than the resurrection itself! Furthermore, in the Talmudic discussions there is no mention whatsoever of this aspect. If it were true, surely the rabbis would have pointed it out!

Abarbanel is unusually strong in his rejection of the dogmatic Catholic concept of resurrection. He pleads with the Jew never to accept their theory that after the ancients died, they entered a state of limbo and were only released with the advent of their savior, who, upon completion of his task, himself ascended to heaven with body and soul, but without any physical function at all. This Catholic doctrine also applies to his mother Mary. In their Catholic phraseology they call it glorification. Since this is an essential dogma of the Catholic religion, their theologians projected it onto the resurrection. The Jew cannot and must not acknowledge this. We do not anticipate a Messiah who will grant us salvation into a sterile olam ha-ba.

The true doctrine is that men will be resurrected in body and soul and will function physically, in the state into which Adam was created before the sin. This is the real meaning of Lamentations (5:21), "Renew our days as of old" - renew our days as those of Adam (Lamentations Rabbah 5:21). The resurrected will die and their souls will return to the world of souls where they will receive their true reward and everlasting existence.

This principle is the thrust of Rabbi Elazar ha-Kapar's last dictum: "Let not your nature promise you that the grave will be your refuge" - do not let your evil inclination beguile you into thinking that you can behave as you please because after death there is no judgment. This is not so, because "Against your will you are created," i.e., you will be resurrected, "and against your will you are born" i.e., born again after the resurrection with body and soul joined together and all physical functions, "and against your will you die," i.e., from that state you will die, "and against your will you will have to give account ... ." i.e., in the world of souls which follows death after the resurrection you will receive your reward or punishment.

Rabbi Elazar of the Mishnah deliberately used the formulation, "against your will," since he meant to say, "You must agree that this is what will happen. This dissertation answers the tenth and last of the questions posed at the beginning of Abarbanel's commentary on this mishnah.

Abarbanel then points out that both Saadia Gaon and Rambam state unequivocally that belief in the resurrection is a basic tenet of Judaism, without which there can be no religion and no devotion to Torah.

Abarbanel concludes his commentary on this chapter by reviewing its basic theme: The opinions of the sages as to the main element in human perfection - Torah study or the performance of mitzvoth - and the various qualifications that one must take into consideration with regards to both. "With this is concluded what I have seen fit to explain of the chapter in general and of the last mishnah in particular. It is only a little of the much that can be said. Take it and pay attention to it - for it is no vain thing!"

To Be Continued Next Shabbat

N.C.: Mark 11:15-19

CLV[1]	Magiera Peshitta NT[2]	Greek[3]	Delitzsch[4]
15. And they are coming into Jerusalem. And Jesus, entering into the sanctuary, begins to cast out those selling and those buying in the sanctuary, and the tables of the brokers and the seats of those selling doves He overturns."	15. And Jesus entered the temple of God and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple. And he turned over the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves.	15. Καὶ ἔρχονται εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα καὶ εἰσελθὼν ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὸ ἱερὸν ἤρξατο ἐκβάλλειν τοὺς πωλοῦντας καὶ ἀγοράζοντας ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ τὰς τραπέζας τῶν κολλυβιστῶν καὶ τὰς καθέδρας τῶν πωλούντων τὰς περιστερὰς κατέστρεψεν	^15וַיָּבֹאוּ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם וַיָּבֹא יֵשׁוּעַ אֶל־בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ וַיָּחֶל לְגָרֵשׁ מִשָּׁם אֶת־הַמּוֹכְרִים וְאֶת־הַקּוֹנִים בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ וְאֶת־שֻׁלְחֲנוֹת הַשֻּׁלְחָנִים וְאֶת־מוֹשְׁבוֹת מֹכְרֵי הַיּוֹנִים הָפָךְ׃
16. And He did not give leave that anyone may be carrying a vessel through the sanctuary.	16. And he did not allow anyone to carry goods inside the temple.	16. καὶ οὐκ ἤφιεν ἵνα τις διενέγκῃ σκεῦος διὰ τοῦ ἱεροῦ	^16וְלֹא הִנִּיחַ לְאִישׁ לָשֵׂאת כְּלִי דֶּרֶךְ הַמִּקְדָּשׁ׃
17. And He taught and said to them, "Is it not written that 'My house a house of prayer shall be called, for all nations'? Yet you make it a burglars' cave."	17. And he was teaching and said to them, "Is it not written: MY HOUSE WILL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS? But you have made it a den of robbers."	17. καὶ ἐδίδασκεν λέγων αὐτοῖς Οὐ γέγραπται ὅτι Ὁ οἶκός μου οἶκος προσευχῆς κληθήσεται πᾶσιν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν ὑμεῖς δὲ εποιήσατε αὐτὸν σπήλαιον λῃστῶν	^17וַיְלַמֵּד וַיֹּאמֶר לָהֶם הֲלֹא כָתוּב כִּי בֵיתִי בֵּית תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכָל־הָעַמִּים וְאַתֶּם עֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתוֹ מְעָרַת פָּרִיצִים׃
18. And the chief priests and the scribes hear, and they sought how they should be destroying Him, for they feared Him, for the entire throng was astonished at His teaching."	18. And the chief priests and scribes heard [it] and were seeking how they might destroy him, for they were afraid of him because all the people were astonished at his teaching.	18. καὶ ἤκουσαν οἱ γραμματεῖς καὶ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ ἐζήτουν πῶς αὐτὸν ἀπολέσουσιν· ἐφοβοῦντο γὰρ αὐτόν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ὄχλος ἐξεπλήσσετο ἐπὶ τῇ διδαχῇ αὐτοῦ	^18וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ הַסּוֹפְרִים וְרָאשֵׁי הַכֹּהֲנִים וַיִּתְנַכְּלוּ אֹתוֹ לְהַשְׁמִידוֹ כִּי יָרְאוּ מִפָּנָיו יַעַן אֲשֶׁר כָּל־הָעָם מִשְׁתּוֹמְמִים עַל־תּוֹרָתוֹ׃
19. And whenever it came to be evening, they went out, outside the city."	19. And when it was evening, they went out of the city.	19. Καὶ ὅτε ὀψὲ ἐγένετο ἐξεπορεύετο ἔξω τῆς πόλεως	^19וַיְהִי בָּעָרֶב וַיֵּצֵא אֶל־מִחוּץ לָעִיר׃

HH Paqid Dr. Adon Eliyahu’s Rendition

15. And they came to Yerushalayim. And entering into the temple, Yeshua began to throw out those selling and buying in the temple; also he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling the doves.

16. And he would not allow any to carry a vessel through the temple [on the Sabbath].

17. And he taught, saying to them, Has it not been written...

Isa 56:7 Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Jer 7:11 Is this house, whereupon My name is called, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says the LORD.

18. And the scribes [of the Saducees - Heb. Tz'dukim] and the chief priests (of the Saducees Heb. Tz'dukim) heard. And they looked for a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the congregation was astonished by his teachings (mesorot).

19. And he went out of the [Holy] city when evening came.

Hakham’s Commentary

15. And they came to Yerushalayim. And entering into the temple, Yeshua began to throw out those selling and buying in the temple; also he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling the doves.

16. And he would not allow any to carry a vessel through the temple [on the Sabbath].

These verses seem to indicate a situation similar to that described by Nehemiah:

Neh 13:15 In those days saw I in Judah some treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and bringing in heaps of corn, and lading asses therewith; as also wine, grapes, and figs, and all manner of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day; and I forewarned them in the day wherein they sold victuals.

Neh 13:16 There dwelt men of Tyre also therein, who brought in fish, and all manner of ware, and sold on the Sabbath unto the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem.

Neh 13:17 Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them: 'What evil thing is this that you do, and profane the Sabbath day?

Neh 13:18 Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet you bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath?'

Neh 13:19 And it came to pass that, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened till after the Sabbath; and some of my servants set I over the gates, that there should no burden be brought in on the Sabbath day.

Neh 13:20 So the merchants and sellers of all kind of ware lodged without Jerusalem once or twice.

Neh 13:21 Then I forewarned them, and said unto them: 'Why lodge you about the wall? If you do so again, I will lay hands on you.' From that time forth came they no more on the Sabbath.

This episode would therefore concord with the narrative in our Torah Seder about the man gathering sticks on the Sabbath (cf. Num. 15:32-36), as well as with our Ashlamatah (reading from the Prophets) for this Sabbath.

Marcus[5] paraphrasing Sanders[6] propose a different interpretation altogether:

“Sanders (Jesus, 61-76) argues that such trading was not an abuse but a necessary part of the functioning of the sacrificial system, The profits of the animal sellers and money changers were not inordinate, and these merchants performed necessary services, since pilgrims had to be able to convert their money into Tyrian coinage and to buy unblemished animals in the vicinity of the Temple, it being impractical to bring their own animals from homes far away, only perhaps to have them judged unfit for sacrifice. For Sanders, then, Jesus was bent not on ridding the Temple of abuses but on prophesying its destruction, which he accomplished through the sort of parabolic action typical of prophets, stopping sacrificial activity temporarily to point toward its permanent cessation, and overturning the tables of the money changers to symbolize the imminent demise of the sanctuary.”

Whilst this interpretation looks scholarly, it nevertheless violates the Peshat principle of Dabar ha-lamed me-'inyano: Interpretation deduced from the context. And the context here being our Torah Seder reading of Numbers 15:1-41. The imminent demise of the Sanctuary is neither indicated in our Torah Seder nor does it have anything to do with our Psalm or Ashalamatah. Therefore we must reject this interpretation.

Still others propose that the Master perhaps was pointing to the text of Zechariah14:21 –

“Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy unto the LORD of hosts; and all they that sacrifice will come and take of them, and seethe therein; and in that day there will be no more a trafficker in the house of the LORD of hosts.”

Again, at prima fasciae it appears that there is appellation to this text of the Prophet Zechariah, nevertheless, again such proposition would violate the Peshat principle of Dabar ha-lamed me-'inyano: Interpretation deduced from the context, which demands for something to be said about the key subject in both the Torah Seder Seder and Ashlamatah about the Sabbath.

This is not to say that we are not willing to give credit to any interpretation just because it is at variance with ours. What we are saying is that whatever interpretation is proposed, and there is always room for varying interpretations, it must allude or refer back to the context of our Lectionary – that is our Torah Seder, Ashlamatah, and Psalm. For, we do not believe for a moment that Hakham Tsefet through the hand of his scribe Mordechai wrote in a vacuum disregarding the reading of the Torah, Psal and Ashlamatah for that particular Sabbath at the Temple and through the various Synagogues in the Land of Israel and throughout the Diaspora.

This error of avoiding to-tie-back the writings of the Nazarean Codicil to the appropriate Torah, Psalm and Ashlamatah reading for any particular Shabbat is one that is too often made. However, if we wnat to discover the richness and depth of the Nazarean Codicil we need to relate it to the context of the Torah Seder, Psalm and Ashlamatah for which each pericope of the Nazarean Codicil was composed to complement and comment. Thus we need to observe rigorously the Laws of Hermeneutics corresponding to each level or genre of Rabbinic commentary.

And entering into the temple - Evans[7], asks the important question, “Where exactly in the Temple precincts Yeshua encounters the money changers and traffickes of sacrificial animals?” He answers:

“It is not easy to say. It is commonly thought that Yeshua was in the so called Court of the Gentiles, especially because of his reference to the Temple as a “house of prayer for all the Gentiles” (v.17). But this is no more than a guess. According to Josephus (Ag. Ap. 2.8 §104):

The outer court was open to all, foreigners included; women during their impurity were alone refused admission. To the second court all Jews were admitted and, when uncontaminated by any defilement, their wives; to the third male Jews, if clean and purified; to the fourth the priests robed in their priestly vestments. The Sanctuary was entered only by the ruling priests, clad in the raiment peculiar to themselves.

If we follow Josephus here, it seems most probable that a gathering of animals, tables and vendors would have been in the outer court, where foreigners were permitted, rather than in any of the other inner courts, to which the Gentiles would not have access.

The Temple precincts were (and the site still is) immense, sunning some 450 meters in length and approximately 300 meters in width. In the Northwest corner stood the Antonia fortress, a tower that overlooked the precincts. The fortress housed up to five hundred Roman soldiers with easy access to the precincts (Josephus, Ant. 20.5.3. §§106-7; J.W. 2.12.1 §§224-27). The Sanctuary was probably located somewhere near the center of the precincts, surrounded by wals and gates. Along the perimeter of the precincts were several buildings and porticoes. The precincts could be entered from all four sides. Remains of the Southern steps have been excavated and can be viewed today. Remains of two arches in the Western Wall are also visible (i.e., the so called Robinson and Wilson arches). Excavations are currently underway to expose more of the Southern wall and steps, and the entirte length of the Western Wall. The Northern half of the Western Wall may be explored by passing through (the “Rabbis’ Tunnel”) beneath the Arab quarter of the Old City. One is able to view the magnificent Herodian stones and in places the original pavement itself largely preserved as they would have been seen in the days of Yeshua.”

And he would not allow any to carry a vessel through the temple [on the Sabbath]. – The Greek, and Aramaic versions do not have “on the Sabbath.” We added this, because in our opinion this was to be understood in context with our Torah Seder and Ashlamatah. However, those that say that this is our addition would appeal to the test of Mishnah Berachot 9:5 –

“A man … may not enter into the Temple Mount with his staff or his sandal or his wallet, or with the dust upon his feet, nor may he make of it a short by-path; still less may he spit there.”

It is my personal belief, that those who propose this Mishnah as the context for Mordechai’s statement do so in order to diminish the reality of the situation, and to dislodge this verse from its context in the Torah which deals with a violation of the Sabbath. Therefore we must conclude that by the Peshat principle of Dabar ha-lamed me-'inyano: Interpretation deduced from the context the words [on the Sabbath], are to be tacitly understood.

17. And he taught, saying to them, Has it not been written...

Isa 56:7 Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon Mine altar; for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.

Jer 7:11 Is this house, whereupon My name is called, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, says the LORD.

We follow here the rule that unless absolutely necessary we will quote the passages alluded to in full from the text of the Tanakh.

18. And the scribes [of the Saducees - Heb. Tz'dukim] and the chief priests (of the Saducees Heb. Tz'dukim) heard. And they looked for a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the congregation was astonished by his teachings (mesorot).

19. And he went out of the [Holy] city when evening came.

The corruption in the Temple is too obvious, not only is a desecration of the Sabbath permitted but there is a lawless plan hatched to destroy the Master, in order to preserve their fictitious status, authority, power and jobs. However, they need to do this without provoking the congregations loyal to the Master, as it would have been seen by the Roman authorities as an incitation to rioting. That these corrupt Temple authorities feared him, shows that many Jews were disciples of the Master, and the idea proposed by Christianity that the Jewish people had rejected the Master is total fabrication by anti-Semite minds bent on the destruction of the Jewish people and their most noble and lofty religion.

Some Questions to Ponder:

1. From all the readings for this Shabbat, which reading touched your heart and fired your imagination?
2. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:2? And how does his answer correlate to what happened in last week’s Torah Seder?

3. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:15?

4. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:20?

5. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:21?

6. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:22?

7. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:27?

8. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:30?

9. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:33?

10. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:38?

11. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:39?

12. What question/s were asked of Rashi in B’Midbar 15:41?

13. How is B’Midbar 15:1-2 related to B’Midbar 15:41?

14. In your opinion what is the intent of Hakham Tsefet’s pericope by the hand of his scribe Mordechai (Mark) for this Shabbat?

15. What part of the Torah Seder fired the heart and imagination of the Psalmist for this week?

16. What part of the Torah Seder fired the heart and the imagination of the prophet Yeshayahu this week?

17. What part/s of the Torah Seder, Psalm, and the prophets fired the heart and the imagination of Hakham Tsefet for this week?

18. Why does the Torah places the discussion of idolatrous practices, and their consequences after the episode of the spies?

19. What is the punishment today for those who violate the Sabbath laws?

20. After taking into consideration all the above texts and our Torah Seder, what would you say is the general prophetic message from the Scriptures for this coming 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!”

Counting of the Omer

http://www.betemunah.org/omer.html

Sundown Friday May the 20^th – 2011 – “Today is thirty two days of the counting of the Omer”

Sundown Saturday May the 21^st – 2011 – “Today is thirty three days of the counting of the Omer”

LAG BA’OMER - http://www.betemunah.org/lgbomer.html & http://www.betemunah.org/ephesians.html

Sundown Sunday May the 22^nd – 2011 – “Today is thirty four days of the counting of the Omer”

Sundown Monday May the 23^rd – 2011 – “Today is thirty five days of the counting of the Omer”

Sundown Tuesday May the 24^th – 2011 – “Today is thirty six days of the counting of the Omer”

Sundown Wednesday May the 25^th – 2011 – “Today is thirty seven days of the counting of the Omer”

Sundown Thursday May the 26^th – 2011 – “Today is thirty eight days of the counting of the Omer”

Sundown Friday May the 27^th – 2011 – “Today is thirty nine days of the counting of the Omer”

Sundown Saturday May the 28^th – 2011 – “Today is forty days of the counting of the Omer”

Sundown Sunday May the 29^th – 2011 – “Today is forty one days of the counting of the Omer”

Next Shabbat: Shabbat “Ki Tavo’u El Eretz”

& Shabbat Mevar’chim HaChodesh Sivan

Proclamation of the New Moon of Sivan

Thursday Evening June 2 – Friday Evening June 3, 2011

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
“Ki Tavo’u El Eretz”	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 16:1-7	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 1716-18:
“When you come into the land”	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 16;8-14	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 17:19-21
“Cuando entréis en la tierra”	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 16;15-19	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 17:22-24
B’Midbar (Num.) 16:1 – 17:15 B’Midbar (Num.) 28:9-15	Reader 4 – B’Midbar 16:20-27
Ashlamatah: Hosea 10:2-12	Reader 5 – B’Midbar 16:28-35
Special: 1 Samuel 20:18,42	Reader 6 – B’Midbar 17:1-5	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 1716-18:
Psalm 102:13-29	Reader 7 – B’Midbar 17:6-15	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 17:19-21
Pirqe Abot IV:17 cont.	Maftir: B’Midbar 28:9-15	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 17:22-24
N.C.: Mordechai 11:20-26	- Hosea 10:2-12 - 1 Samuel 20:18,42

Shalom Shabbat !

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

HH Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David

HH Paqid Dr. Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham

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[1] CLV (Concordant Literal Version) as found in Rick Meyers (2009) E-Sword v. 9.5.1 - http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html

[2] Magiera, J.M. (2009), Aramaic Peshitta New Testament: Vertical Interlinear, Light of the Word Ministry, Vol. III.

[3] Greek New Testament (Stephanus Text) as found in Rick Meyers (2009) E-Sword v. 9.5.1 - http://www.e-sword.net/downloads.html

[4] Delitzsch, http://www.kirjasilta.net/ha-berit/

[5] Marcus, J. (2009), The Anchor Bible: Mark 8-16 A New Translation With Introduction and Commentary, New Haven, CT.: Yale University Press, p. 782.

[6] Sanders, E.P., (1985), Jesus and Judaism, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, pp. 61-76.

[7] Evans, C.A. (2001), Word Biblical Commentary – Vol. 34b: Mark 8:27 – 16:20, Nasville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishers, pp. 171-172.