Esnoga Bet Emunah 6970 Axis St. SE Lacey, WA 98513 United States of America © 2017 http://www.betemunah.org/ E-Mail: gkilli@aol.com

Esnoga Bet El 102 Broken Arrow Dr. Paris TN 38242 United States of America © 2017 http://torahfocus.com/ E-Mail: waltoakley@charter.net

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

Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings	Third Year of the Triennial Reading Cycle
Kislev 07, 5778 – Nov 24/25, 2017	Third Year of the Shmita Cycle

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:

Please go to the below webpage and type your city, state/province, and country to find candle lighting and Habdalah times for the place of your dwelling.

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

Roll of Honor:

His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David and beloved wife HH Giberet Batsheva bat Sarah

His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

His Honor Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Karmela bat Sarah,

His Honor Paqid Adon Tsuriel ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Gibora bat Sarah

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

Her Excellency Giberet Leah bat Sarah & beloved mother

Her Excellency Giberet Zahavah bat Sarah & beloved family

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

His Excellency Adon Yehoshua ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Rut bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Michael ben Yosef and beloved wife HE Giberet Sheba bat Sarah

Her Excellency Giberet Prof. Dr. Emunah bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Robert Dick & beloved wife HE Giberet Cobena Dick

His Excellency Adon Eliezer ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Chava bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Aviner ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Chagit bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Ovadya ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet Mirit bat Sarah

His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill

His Excellency Adon Marvin Hyde

His Excellency Adon Ya’aqob ben Abraham

Her Excellency Giberet Eliana bat Sarah and beloved husband HE Adon James Miller

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

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

We hank G-d most sincerely for healing His Eminence our beloved Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David. It will take some time for his full recovery. We pray that God, most blessed be He, make his recovery time most pleasant, without any complications, and with good rest, and we all say amen ve amen!

We also pray for a problem with a property of H.E. Giberet Leah whose neighbor is spreading Lashon Hara to anyone who approaches to buy it, and resulting in buyers going back on their intention to purchase the property. This is very important to H.E. Giberet Leah. Let us pray for HaShem’s mighty and just intervention in this matter, and that this property be sold speedily soon, and let us say, amen ve amen!

We pray for His Excellency Adon Jonah Lindemann (age 18), and His Excellency Adon Bart Lindemann. Jr. (age 20). [the sons of His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann] who have recently been diagnosed with Asperger’s disease (a “spectrum disorder”). Their father asks that we pray that he can find for his two young sons the appropriate and good professional assistance that they urgently need. Mi Sheberach – He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal Their Excellencies Adon Adon Bart Lindemann Jr. & Adon Jonah Lindemann, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for them to restore their health, to heal them, to strengthen them, and to revivify them. And may He send them speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit and mind, swiftly and soon, and we say amen ve amen!

We pray also for H.E. Giberet Rachel bat Batsheva who is afflicted with un-systemic mastocytosis. Mi Sheberach – He Who blessed our holy and pure Matriarchs, Sarah, Ribkah, Rachel and Leah, bless Her Excellency Giberet Rachel bat Batsheva and send her a complete recovery and strengthening of body and soul. Please G-d heal her, please. Please G-d heal her, please. Please G-d heal her, please. Cure her, strengthen her, make her healthy and return her to her original strength, together with all the sick of Yisrael. And may it be so willed, and we will say, Amen ve Amen!

Blessings Before Torah Study

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple three times a year; how much one must do when 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!

=============================================================================================

Shabbat: “V’Eleh Tol’dot Aharon” –

“And these [are the] generations [of] Aharon”

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
וְאֵלֶּה תּוֹלְדֹת אַהֲרֹן		Saturday Afternoon
“V’Eleh Tol’dot Aharon”	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 3:1-10	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 4:17-20
“And these [are the] generations [of] Aharon”	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 3:11-20	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 4:21-24
“Y éstas [son las] generaciones [de] Aarón”	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 3:21-32	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 4:24-28
B’midbar (Numbers) 3:1 – 4:16	Reader 4 – B’Midbar 3:33-43
Ashlamatah: Is 45:19 – 46:2 + 13	Reader 5 – B’Midbar 3:44-51	Monday & Thursday Mornings
	Reader 6 – B’Midbar 4:1-8	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 4:17-20
Psalms 92:1-16	Reader 7 – B’Midbar 4:9:16	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 4:21-24
	Maftir – B’Midbar 4:13-16	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 4:24-28
N.C.: 2 Pet 3b-9; Lk 16:14-18; Rm 6:1-11	Is. 45:19 – 46:2 + 13

Contents of the Torah Seder

1. Descendants of Moses and Aaron – Numbers 3:1-4

2. The Levites – Numbers 3:5-13

3. The Families of the Three Sons of Levi – Numbers 3:14-24

4. The Work Assigned to the Various Sons of Levi – Numbers 3:25-39

5. Substitution of the Levites for the First Born – Numbers 3:40-51

6. The Kohathites and their Duties – Number 4:1-15

=============================================================================================

Reading Assignment:

The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez - Vol XIII: First Journeys

By: Rabbi Yitschaq Magrisso, Translated by: Dr. Tzvi Faier

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

Vol. 13 – “First Journeys,” pp. 46-64

=============================================================================================

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan

for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 3:1 – 4:15

Rashi	Targum
1. These are the descendants of Moses and Aaron on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai.	1. These are the generations of Aharon and Mosheh, who were genealogized in the day that the LORD spoke with Mosheh in the mountain of Sinai.
2. These are the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the firstborn Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.	2. ___
3. These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the anointed kohanim, whom he consecrated to serve as kohanim.	3. And these are the names of the Bene Aharon the priests, the disciples of Moses, the Rabbi of Israel; and they were called by his name in the day that they were anointed to minister in offering their oblations.
4. Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when they brought alien fire before the Lord in the Sinai desert, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar, however, served as kohanim in the presence of Aaron, their father.	4. But Nadab and Abihu died by the flaming fire at the time of their offering the strange fire from their own tents; and they had no children. And Elazar and Ithamar ministered before Aharon their father.
5. The Lord spoke to Moses saying:	5. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh, saying:
6. Bring forth the tribe of Levi and present them before Aaron the kohen, that they may serve him.	6. Bring the tribe of Levi near, and appoint them before Aharon the priest to minister with him, (or, to do him service;)
7. They shall keep his charge and the charge of the entire community before the Tent of Meeting, to perform the service of the Mishkan.	7. and let them be divided into twenty and four parties, and they will keep his charge, and the charge of all the congregation before the tabernacle of ordinance, to perform the work of the tabernacle;
8. They shall take charge of all the vessels of the Tent of Meeting and the charge of the children of Israel, to perform the service of the Mishkan.	8. and they will have charge of all the vessels of the tabernacle of ordinance, and the charge of the sons of Israel to do the service of the tabernacle.
9. You shall give over the Levites to Aaron and his sons; they shall be wholly given over to him from the children of Israel.	9. And I have given the Levites unto Aharon and his sons; a gift are they given and delivered to him from among the sons of Israel;
10. You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall keep their kehunah; any outsider [non kohen] who approaches shall be put to death.	10. and number you Aharon and his sons, that they may keep their priesthood; and the stranger who comes near will be slain by the flame from. before the LORD.
11. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying.	11. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh, saying:
12. As for Me I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel in place of all firstborns among the children of Israel who have opened the womb, and the Levites shall be Mine.	12. And I, behold, I have brought near the Levites from among the sons of Israel, instead of all the first-born who open the womb among the sons of Israel; and the Levites will minister before Me.
13. For all the firstborns are Mine; since the day I smote all the firstborns in the land of Egypt, I sanctified for Myself all the firstborns of Israel, both man and beast they shall become Mine, I am the Lord.	13. For every first-born among the sons of Israel is Mine, from the day when. I slew every first-born in the land of Mizraim; I have sanctified before Me every first-born in Israel; from man to animal, they are Mine: I am the LORD.
14. The Lord spoke to Moses in the Sinai desert, saying:	14. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh in the wilderness of Sinai, saying:
15. Count the children of Levi according to their fathers' house according to their families. Count all males from the age of one month and upward.	15. Number the sons of Levi according to the house of their fathers and their families; every male from a month old and upward shalt thou number them.
16. So Moses counted them according to God's word, just as he was commanded.	16. Moses therefore numbered them according to the mouth of the Word of the LORD, as he had been commanded.
17. These were the names of Levi's sons: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari.	17. And these were the sons of Levi by their names: Gershon, Kehath, and Merari.
18. The names of the sons of Gershon according to their families were Libni and Shim'ei.	18. And these are the names of the Bene Gershon, according to their families, Libni and Shimei.
19. And the sons of Kohath according to their families were Amram, Itzhar, Hebron, and Uziel.	19. And the Bene Kehath by their families, Amram, Jizhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.
20. And the sons of Merari according to their families were Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of Levi according to their fathers' houses.	20. And the Bene Merari by their families, Machli, and Mushi: these are the families of the Levites after the house of their fathers.
21. For Gershon, the Libnite family and the Shim'eite family; these are the Gershonite families.	21. Of Gershon, the family of Libni, and the family of Shemei; these are the families of Gershon.
22. Their sum was made according to the number of males from the age of one month and upward; the tally amounted to seven thousand, five hundred.	22. The sum of them, by the numbers of all the males from a month old and upward, seven thousand five hundred.
23. The Gershonite families shall camp behind the Mishkan, to the west.	23. The two families who spring from Gershon will encamp after the tabernacle westward;
24. The prince of the father's house of the Gershonites is Eliasaph the son of Lael.	24. and the Rab of the house of the fathers set over the two families will be Eliasaph bar Lael.
25. The charge of the sons of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting [included] the Mishkan, the Tent, its cover, and the screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.	25. And the charge of the Bene Gershon in the tabernacle of ordinance will be the tent, and the covering that overspreads, and the hanging of the door of the tabernacle of ordinance,
26. The hangings of the courtyard, the screen at the entrance to the courtyard, which is around the Mishkan and the altar, its ropes, as well as all the work involved.	26. and the curtains of the court, and the hanging which is at the gate of the court by the tabernacle, and the altar round about, and the cords of it, for all the service thereof.
27. For Kohath, the Amramite family, the Izharite family, the Hebronite family, and the Uzielite family; these are the families of Kohath.	27. Of Kehath was the family of Amram, and the family of Izbar, and of Hebron, and Uzziel: these are the families of Kehath,
28. The number of all males from the age of one month and upward amounted to eight thousand six hundred, the keepers of the charge of the holy.	28. the numbers eight thousand six hundred, keeping the charge of the sanctuary.
29. The families of the sons of Kohath shall camp to the south side of the Mishkan.	29. The four families that spring from Kehath will encamp by the south side of the tabernacle;
30. The prince of the father's house of the Kohathite families is Elizaphan the son of Uziel.	30. the Rab will be Elizaphan bar Uzziel,
31. Their charge [included] the ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, and the holy utensils with which they would minister, and the screen and all the work involved.	31. and their charge, the ark, the table, the candelabrum, the altars, the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the veil, and that which pertains to its service.
32. The prince over all the princes of the Levites shall be Eleazar the son of Aaron the kohen, the appointment of all the keepers of the charge of the Holy.	32. And the Amarkol set over the chiefs of the Levites will be Elazar bar Aharon the priest, who inquires by Urim and Thumim; and under his hand will they be appointed who keep the charge of the sanctuary.
33. For Merari, the Machlite family and the Mushite family; these are the families of Merari.	33. Of Merari, the families of Machli and Mushi, ___
34. Their tally according to the number of males from the age of one month and upward was six thousand two hundred.	34. ___ their number six thousand two hundred,
35. The prince of the father's house of the Merarite families is Zuriel the son of Abihail; they shall camp on the north side of the Mishkan.	35. and the Rab Zeruel bar Abichael: they will encamp by the tabernacle northward;
36. The appointment of the charge of the sons of Merari [included] the planks of the Mishkan, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets, all its utensils, and all the work involved.	36. and that delivered to their charge will be the boards of the tabernacle, its bars, pillars, and sockets, and all (that pertains to) the service thereof.
37. Also the pillars of the surrounding courtyard, their sockets, their stakes, and their ropes.	37. The pillars of the court also round about, their sockets, pins, and cords.
38. Camping in front of the Mishkan, in front of the Tent of Meeting to the east were Moses, Aaron and his sons, the keepers of the charge of the Sanctuary as a trust for the children of Israel; any outsider who approaches shall be put to death.	38. But they who encamp before the tabernacle of ordinance eastward (will be) Mosheh and Aharon, and his sons; keeping charge of the sanctuary and of Israel; and the stranger who draws near will be slain by flaming fire from before the LORD.
39. The sum of the male Levites according to their families, from the age of one month and upward, counted by Moses and Aaron according to the word of the Lord, was twenty two thousand.	39. The sum of the Levites whom Mosheh and Aharon numbered by the mouth of the Word of the LORD was twenty-two thousand.
40. The Lord said to Moses: Count every firstborn maleaged one month and upward of the children of Israel, and take the number of their names.	40. And the LORD said unto Mosheh, Number all the first-bon males among the sons of Israel, from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names.
41. And you will take the Levites for Me I am the LORD instead of all firstborns among the children of Israel. And [take] the Levites' animals instead of all the firstborn animals of the children of Israel.	41. And bring near the Levites before me -- I am the LORD -- instead of all the firstborn among the sons of Israel, and all the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstling cattle of the children of Israel.
42. So Moses counted every firstborn of Israel, as the LORD had commanded him.	42. And Mosheh numbered, as the LORD commanded him,
43. The firstborn males aged one month and upward, according to the number of names, was twenty two thousand, two hundred and seventy three.	43. all the firstborn of the sons of Israel: the sum of their number was twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.
44. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:	44. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh, saying:
45. Take the Levites instead of all the firstborns among the children of Israel and the Levites' animals instead of their animals, and the Levites will be Mine I am the LORD.	45. Bring near the Levites instead of every first-born among Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their cattle, that the Levites may minister before Me: I am the LORD.
46. As for the two hundred and seventy three of the children of Israel who required redemption, who are in excess of the Levites,	46. And for the redemption of the two hundred and seventy and three of the first-born of the Bene Israel, who are more (than the number of) the Levites,
47. you will take five shekels per head, according to the holy shekel, by which the shekel is twenty gerahs.	47. you will take of each five shekels by poll, in the shekel of the sanctuary will you take, twenty mahin to the shekel.
48. You will give the money to Aaron and his sons, in redemption for the firstborns who are in excess of them.	48. And thou shalt give the Shekel unto Aharon, and to his sons, as the redemption of them who are more than they.
49. So Moses took the redemption money for those in excess of those redeemed by the Levites.	49. And Mosheh took the redemption (money) of them who were above those who were released by the Levites,
50. He took the money from the firstborn of the children of Israel; one thousand, three hundred and sixty five of the holy shekels.	50. ___ one thousand three hundred and sixty-five shekels;
51. Then Moses gave the money of those redeemed to Aaron and his sons, in accordance with the word of the LORD, as the LORD had commanded Moses.	51. and Mosheh gave the redemption silver to Aharon, and to his sons, according to the mouth of the Word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Mosheh.
1. The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron saying:	1. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh, saying:
2. Make a count of the sons of Kohath from among the children of Levi by their families, according to their fathers' houses.	2. Take the account of the sons of Kehath from among the Bene Levi,
3. From the age of thirty until the age of fifty, all who enter the service, to do work in the Tent of Meeting.	3. from thirty years and upwards to fifty years, everyone who comes by the band to do the work in the tabernacle of ordinance.
4. The following is the service of the sons of Kohath in the Tent of Meeting-the Holy of Holies.	4. This is the service of the Bene Kehath, in the tabernacle of ordinance (with) the most holy things.
5. When the camp is about to travel, Aaron and his sons will come and take down the dividing screen; with it, they will cover the Ark of the Testimony.	5. But whenever the camp is to be removed, Aharon and his sons will enter, and unloose the veil that is spread, and cover up the Ark of the Testimony,
6. They will place upon it a covering of tachash skin and on top of that they will spread a cloth of pure blue wool. Then they will put its poles in place.	6. and put over it the covering of hyacinthine skin, and overspread it with a wrapper of twined work, and inset its staves.
7. They will spread a cloth of blue wool on the Show Table and they will place on it the forms, spoons, supports, and covering frames; the continual bread can then be placed upon it.	7. And over the table of the presence bread they will spread a wrapper of purple, and set upon it the vials, and the spoons, and the vases, and the libation cups; but the bread will be upon it evermore.
8. They will spread upon them a cloth of crimson wool and cover that with a covering of tachash skin. Then they will put its poles into place.	8. And they will spread upon it a wrapper of scarlet, and cover it with a covering of hyacinthine skin, and inset its staves.
9. They will take a blue cloth and cover the menorah for lighting and its lamps, its tongs, and its scoops, and all its oil vessels used in performing its service.	9. And they will take a purple wrapper, and cover the candelabrum that lights, and its lamps, its tongs, its snuff-dishes, and all the vessels of service by which they attend it.
10. They will put it and its vessels into a covering of tachash skin and place it on a pole.	10. And they will put it and all its vessels in a covering of hyacinth skin, and place it upon a rest.
11. They will spread a cloth of blue wool over the golden altar and cover it with a covering of tachash skin, and then set its poles in place.	11. And upon the golden altar they will spread a purple vest, and cover it with a covering of hyacinth skin, and inset its staves. And they will take all the vessels, of the service with which they minister in the sanctuary, and wrap them in a covering of hyacinth skins,
12. They will then take all the vessels used in the Holy, put them into a cloth of blue wool, cover them with a covering of tachash skin, and put them onto a pole.	12. and place it upon a beam.
13. They will remove the ashes from the altar and spread a cloth of purple wool over it.	13. And they will remove the cinders from the altar, and overspread it with a covering of crimson.
14. They will place on it all the utensils with which they minister upon it: the scoops, the forks, the shovels, and the basins-all the implements of the altar. Then they will spread over it a covering of tachash skin and set its poles into place.	14. and put upon it all its vessels with which it is served, the cinder-holders, flesh-hooks, prongs, and basins, even all the vessels of the altar, and spread upon it a covering of hyacinth skin, and inset its staves.
15. Aaron and his sons will finish covering the Holy and all the vessels of the Holy when the camp is set to travel, and following that, the sons of Kohath will come to carry [them], but they will not touch the sacred objects for [then] they will die. These are the burden of the sons of Kohath for the Tent of Meeting.	15. And after Aharon and his sons have completed to cover the sanctuary, and all the vessels thereof, when the camp is to go forward, then the sons of Kehath may enter in to carry: but they will not touch any holy thing, lest they die by the flaming fire. This is the burden of the sons of Kehath in the tabernacle of ordinance.
16. The charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the kohen: oil for lighting, the incense of spices, the continual [daily] meal offering, and the anointing oil; the charge for the entire Mishkan and all that is in it, of the Holy and its furnishings.	16. And that delivered to Elazar bar Aharon the priest will be the oil for the light, the aromatic incense, the perpetual mincha, the oil of anointing, and the custody of all the tabernacle, and whatever is in it in the sanctuary and its vessels.

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’s Commentary for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 3:1 - 4:16

1 These are the descendants of Moses and Aaron Yet only the sons of Aaron are mentioned. However, they are considered descendants of Moses because he taught them Torah. This teaches us that whoever teaches Torah to the son of his fellow man, Scripture regards it as if he had begotten him -[Sanh. 19b]

on the day that the Lord spoke to Moses they became his descendants, because he taught them what he had learned from the Almighty.

4 in the presence of Aaron During his lifetime. [Num. Rabbah 2:26, Lev. Rabbah 20:11, Pesikta d’Rav Kahana p. 173b] 

6 that they may serve him What form does this service take? “They shall keep his charge” (verse 7). Since guarding the Sanctuary so that no stranger (non- kohen) should come near is his obligation, as it says, “You, your sons, and your father’s house with you, shall bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary” (Num. 18:1), and these Levites assisted him this was the service. 

7 They shall keep his charge Any office to which a person is appointed and [the duty] he is bound to carry out, is Mishmeret  in Scripture and in Mishnaic idiom, as in reference to Bigthan and Teresh [where it says], “But my duty is not similar to your duty” (Meg. 13b), [meaning that the hours of my service do not coincide with those of yours]. Similarly [we find the word used in the clause], “The watches (Mishmerot) of the kehuna and of the Levites.” 

8 the charge of the children of Israel All of them were bound [to take care of] the needs of the Sanctuary, but the Levites were in their stead, as their agents. Thus, in reward, they [the Levites] take tithes from them [the Israelites], as it says, “for it is your reward, in exchange for your service” (Num. 18:31). 

9 Given over to him for assistance.

from the children of Israel Heb. מֵאֵת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, like from among the children of Israel, that is to say, they have been singled out for this purpose from the rest of the congregation by the decree of the Omnipresent, and He gave them to him, as it says, “And I have given the Levites, they are... given” (Num. 8:19). 

10 You shall appoint Aaron... [The word s«ep¦T is] an expression of appointment, not of counting.

They shall observe their kehunah [This refers to] receiving the blood [in a basin], dashing the blood, burning [the fats], and other rites entrusted to the priests. 

12 As for Me I have taken—As for Me; what right do I have to them ?

from among the children of Israel That the Israelites should have to hire them for My service? I gained My right to them through the [Israelite] firstborns, taking them [the Levites] in their place. For [originally] the service was performed by the firstborns, but when they sinned by [worshipping] the [golden] calf, they became disqualified. The Levites, who had not committed idolatry, were chosen in their stead. [Midrash Aggadah] 

15 From the age of one month and upward When he is no longer in the category of [possible] premature birth, he is counted among those called, “keepers of the holy charge.” R. Judah the son of R. Shalom said: That tribe is accustomed to being counted from the womb, as it says, “whom she bore to Levi in Egypt”; as she entered the gate of Egypt, she bore her [Jochebed], yet she [Jochebed] was counted as one of the seventy souls. For if you count their total, you find only sixty-nine, but she completed the number. [Mid. Tanchuma, Bamidbar 16] 

16 according to God’s word Moses said to the Holy One, blessed is He, “How can I enter their tents to know the number of their sucklings?” The Holy One, blessed is He, replied to him, “You do yours, and I will do Mine.” Moses went and stood at the entrance to the tent, and the Divine Presence preceded him. A heavenly voice then emanated from the tent, saying, “There are this many babies in this tent.” That is why it says, “according to God’s word.” [Num. Rabbah 3:9] 

21 For Gershon, the Libnite family That is to say, from Gershon, those counted were the Libnite family and Shim’eite family; their numbers were so many and so many. 

25 the Mishkan The bottom curtains.

the Tent The curtains made of goats’ hair, which served as the roof.

its cover Ram skins and tachash.

the screen for the entrance This is the curtain. 

26 and its ropes of the Mishkan and the tent, but not of the courtyard. 

29 The families of the sons of Kohath shall camp to the south Near them was the division of Reuben, who camped to the south. Woe to the wicked, woe to his neighbor! This explains why Dathan, Abiram, and two hundred and fifty men were smitten with Korah and his congregation, for they were drawn into the dispute along with them. [Tanchuma, Bamidbar 12] 

31 the screen This refers to the dividing curtain [at the entrance to the Holy of Holies], for it is also known as [a screen, as in the phrase] “the screening dividing curtain” (Ex. 40:21). 

32 The prince over all the princes of the Levites He was appointed over all of them. In what regard was he prince over them?...

the appointment of all the keepers of the charge of the Holy They were all appointed by him. 

38 Moses, Aaron and his sons Near them was the division of the camp of Judah, next to whom camped Issachar and Zebulun. It is good for the righteous, and it is good for his neighbor; because they were neighbors of Moses, who was engaged in Torah study, they became great Torah scholars, as it says, “Judah is my lawgiver” (Ps. 60:9). The descendants of Issachar were those “who had understanding of the times” (I Chron. 12:32)... the two hundred heads of the Sanhedrin, “and from Zebulun came those who wield the scribe’s quill” (Jud. 5:114). [Tanchuma 12] 

39 counted by Moses and Aaron There are dots over the word וְאַהֲרֹן to show that he was not included in the sum of the Levites. [Bech. 4a]

twenty-two thousand But when you count them individually, you will find another three hundred: the descendants of Gershon were seven thousand, five hundred; the descendants of Kohath were eight thousand, six hundred, and the descendants of Merari, six thousand, two hundred. Why were they not included with the rest to redeem the firstborn, thus exempting the two hundred and seventy-three firstborns who were in excess [of the number of Levites] from redemption (see verses 46-48)? Our Sages in Tractate Bechorot (5a) answer that those three hundred Levites were firstborns, and it was enough that they exempt themselves from redemption. 

40 Count every firstborn male aged one month and upward From the time he is no longer categorized as possibly a premature birth.

45 and the Levites animals... The Levites’ animals did not redeem the clean firstborn animals of the Israelites, but their firstborn donkeys. One lamb belonging to a Levite could exempt many firstborn donkeys of an Israelite. The proof is that [Scripture] counts the excess number of [firstborn] men, but not the extra animals. [Bech. 4b] 

46 As for the two hundred and seventy-three of the children of Israel who required redemption The firstborn among them who require redemption—these are the two hundred and seventy-three in excess of the Levites; from them you shall take five shekels per head. Such was the sale [price] of Joseph, the firstborn of Rachel, [for the price was] twenty silver pieces [i.e., twenty dinarim, four of which equal a sela]. [Gen. Rabbah 84:18] 

49 in excess of those redeemed by the Levites Those remaining after the Levites had redeemed them with their very selves. 

50 one thousand, three hundred and sixty-five This is the sum total, at five shekels per head: for two hundred firstborn, a thousand shekels. For seventy firstborn, three hundred and fifty shekels; for three firstborn, fifteen shekels. He [Moses] said, “How shall I do it? If I tell a firstborn to give five shekels, he will tell me, 'I am one of those redeemed by the Levites.’” What did he do? He brought twenty-two thousand slips [of paper] and wrote on them, “Levite.” [Then] two hundred and seventy-three slips and wrote on them, “five shekels.” He jumbled them and put them into an urn and told them, “Come and take your slips according to lot.” [Sanh. 17a]

Chapter 4

2 Make a count Count those among them who are fit for the service of carrying, and are from the age of thirty until the age of fifty. One under thirty has not reached the peak of his strength; from this our Sages said, “At thirty for [full] strength” (Avoth 5:21). Over the age of fifty, one’s strength begins to wane. 

4 The Holy of Holies The holiest of all—the ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, the dividing curtain, and the service utensils. 

5 Aaron and his sons shall come They shall put each vessel into its holder specified for it in this section. The Levite sons of Kohath need only carry them.

When the camp is about to travel When the cloud withdraws, they know that they are to travel. 

7 forms, spoons, supports, and covering frames I have already described [these] in [the chapter dealing with] the work of the Mishkan.

covering Heb. הַנָסֶךְ, from the term מָסָךְ [a screen] as it is written, with which they are covered (יֻסַּךְ) " (Ex. 25:29). 

9 its tongs A type of tweezers with which the wick was drawn to the desired direction.

its scoops Heb. מַחְתֹּתֶיהָ, a sort of small spoon, with a level bottom, not rounded. It had no wall in the front, only at its sides, and he uses it to rake the ashes from the [menorah] lamps when he cleans them.

its lamps Heb. נֵרֹתֶיהָ, loces in Old French, in which the oil and wicks are placed. 

10 into a covering of tachash skin A type of [large] sack. 

12 all the vessels used in the Holy That is, within the Mishkan [as opposed to the courtyard], which is holy. These are the incense vessels with which they ministered on the inner altar. 

13 They shall remove the ashes from the altar The copper altar.

They shall remove remove the ashes from upon [the altar].

and spread a purple cloth over it The fire that descended from heaven crouched under the cloth like a lion during their travels, but it did not burn it because they covered it with a large copper pot. 

14 scoops Heb. מַחְתֹּת, with which they raked (חוֹתִין) the coals during the separation of the ashes. It was shaped like a three-sided pan, and the coals were gathered up with its front end.

forks Heb. מִזְלָגֹת, copper hooks used to prod the limbs on the altar and turn them over, so they would be consumed properly and quickly.

shovels Heb. יָעִים. These were shovels, in Old French, videl, which were made of copper and used to sweep the ashes off the altar. 

15 the covering of the Holy The ark and the altar.

vessels of the Holy The menorah and the service utensils.

they will die If they touch [the sacred objects] they are punishable by death at the hands of heaven.

16. The charge of Eleazar who was assigned to carry them: the oil, the incense, and the anointing oil.

the continual [daily] meal offering His duty was to issue orders, to urge [the other workers] so that it be sacrificed at the time of their encampment.

the charge for the entire Mishkan He was also appointed over the load [assigned to] the children of Kohath, to direct each man as to his task and burden, and this is [what the verse means when it says]....

the... Mishkan and all that is in it All the items mentioned above, in this section. But the burden of the sons of Gershon and Merari, which did not consist of the Holy of Holies, was by order of Ithamar, as written in the portion of Naso.

==================================================================================

Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 92:1-16

Rashi	Targum
1. A song with musical accompaniment for the Sabbath day.	1. A psalm and song that the first Adam uttered concerning the Sabbath day.
2. It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing to Your name, O Most High.	2. It is good to give thanks in the presence of the LORD, and to praise your name, O Most High.
3. To declare in the morning Your kindness and Your faith at night.	3. To recount Your goodness in the morning, and Your truth in the nights,
4. Upon a ten- stringed harp and upon a psaltery, with speech upon a harp.	4. According to the harp of ten strings, and according to the lyre, upon the murmuring of harps.
5. For You have made me happy O Lord, with Your work; with the work of Your hands I shall exult.	5. For you have made me glad, O LORD, by your works; I will rejoice in the works of your hands.
6. How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep.	6. How great are Your works, O LORD; Your thoughts are very deep.
7. A boorish man does not know; neither does a fool understand this.	7. A foolish son of man will not know it, and a fool will not comprehend this.
8. When the wicked flourish like grass, and all workers of violence blossom, only to be destroyed to eternity.	8. While the wicked flourish like grass and all workers of deceit blossom, God is going to destroy them forever.
9. But You remain on high forever, O Lord.	9. But You are high and supreme in this age, O LORD, and You are high and supreme in the age to come. ANOTHER TARGUM: And You, Your hand is supreme to punish the wicked in the age to come, in the great day of judgment, O LORD; and You, Your hand is supreme to give a good reward to the righteous/ generous in the age to come, O LORD.
10. For behold Your enemies, O Lord, for behold Your enemies will perish; all workers of violence will scatter.	10. For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD, for behold, Your enemies will perish in the age to come; and all the workers of deceit will be separated from the band of the righteous/generous.
11. But You have raised my horn like that of a wild ox; to soak me with fresh oil.	11. You have raised up my might like a wild-ox; you have anointed me with moist anointing oil of the leafy olive.
12. My eye has gazed upon those who stare at me [with envy]; when evildoers rise up against me, my ears hear [them].	12. And my eye has looked on the perdition of my oppressors; my ear has heard the sound of the destruction of those who stand against me to do harm.
13. The righteous one flourishes like the palm; as a cedar in Lebanon he grows.	13. The righteous/generous man will grow fruit like the palm-tree, like the cedar in Lebanon he will grow and produce roots.
14. Planted in the house of the Lord, in the courts of our God they will flourish.	14. His sons will be planted in the sanctuary of the LORD; in the court of the house of our God they will flourish.
15. They will yet grow in old age; fat and fresh will they be.	15. Again like their fathers they will produce sons in old age; they will be plump and juicy.
16. To declare that the Lord is upright, my rock in Whom there is no injustice.	16. So that the inhabitants of the earth might tell it, for the LORD is upright; my strength, and there is no wrong in Him.

Rashi’s Commentary for: Psalms 92:1-16

1 A song with musical accompaniment of the Levites.

for the Sabbath day that they would recite on Sabbaths, and it deals with the world to come, which is entirely Sabbath.

3 To declare in the morning Your kindness At the time of the Redemption.

and Your faith at night And during the distress of the exile, to believe in You that You will keep Your promise, all this is splendid and good.

4 Upon a ten-stringed harp and upon a psaltery Heb. עָשׂוֹר, a harp of ten strings. 

7 A boorish man does not know What is stated below. 

8 When the wicked flourish like grass they do not know that their flourishing is only to destroy them to eternity, for He recompenses His enemies to their face to destroy them. 

9 But You remain on high In all Your judgments, You have the upper hand, for all justify Your judgments. 

11 to soak me with fresh oil Heb. בלתי. To soak me with the oil of dominion. בַלֹתִי is like (Num. 15:9): “mingled (בלולה) with oil.” 

12 upon those who stare at me Heb. בשורי, at those who stare at me, as (5:9): “those who lie in wait for me (בשוררי).”

when evildoers rise up against me About the wicked who rise up against me, my ears heard from behind the “veil” that they will not succeed in destroying us [perhaps, David and his men]. So I heard. 

13 The righteous one flourishes like the palm, etc. Like the palm that produces fruit, and like the cedar insofar as its trunk renews itself.

14 Planted The righteous will be [planted] in the house of the Lord.

15 will...grow Heb. ישגה, will grow.

fat Heb. דשנים, They will be fat and fresh, and then they will declare that the Lord is upright. 

================================================================================= 

Meditation from the Psalms

Psalms 92:1-16

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

The Pesikta notes^[1] that the initial letters of the first four Hebrew words of our chapter of Psalms form the Hebrew word: למשה, by Moses, for this is the third of the eleven chapters of Psalms which he composed.

Moses dedicated this psalm, the third in the series of eleven, to the tribe of Judah. Judah^[2] had been named by his mother, Leah, for she said,^[3] “This time let me gratefully thank HaShem”.^[4]

It is both unreasonable and unwise to pass judgment on a work of art before it has been completed; even a masterpiece may look like a grotesque mass of strokes and colors, prior to its completion. Human history is G-d’s masterpiece. Physical creation was completed at the end of the sixth day, but the spiritual development of mankind will continue until this world ends, at the close of the sixth millennium. Thus, it is both unfair and impossible to judge G-d’s equity before the denouement of human history, despite the fact that history appears to be a long series of tragic injustices.

On the seventh day of the first week of creation, on the Shabbat,^[5] Adam surveyed G-d’s completed work and he was stirred to sing of the marvelous perfection which his eyes beheld.

Similarly, when the panorama of human history is completed, the seventh millennium will be ushered in as the day of everlasting Shabbat. At that time all Adam’s descendants will look back and admire G-d’s completed masterpiece.

This psalm speaks of man’s bewilderment as he observes the inequity which is apparent in this world. It also tells of the joy he will experience when the inequities are resolved.

Therefore, the Talmud^[6] prescribes this as the Song of the Day^[7] for the Shabbat, both in the song of the Levites in the Holy Temple and in the universal Shabbat liturgy.^[8]

This psalm speaks of the significance of Shabbat, because of this, I would like to expound a bit on some interesting perspectives surrounding Shabbat. This psalm is also dedicated to the future world, which is described as שבת שכולו יום - yom sheculo Shabbat, the day which is completely Shabbat, for ordinary weekdays will not exist in that totally sacred world.

When is the Shabbat?^[9]

The Shabbat is the anniversary of the seventh day of creation.

OK, but when is the Shabbat? The Shabbat can be found on most calendars by noting the seventh day of any week. Usually is the far-right column on the calendar. Additionally, you can ask any religious Jew and he will know because his ancestors spent forty years in the desert, in the days of Moshe, collecting manna on every day except the Shabbat when there was no manna to collect.

The Shabbat begins Friday at sundown and ends at sundown on Saturday. The Shabbat is therefore NOT the same as Saturday, which begins and ends at midnight. The Succah is one Mitzvah into which you can enter, even with your boots. However, you can walk out of the Succah, but you spend every instant, all 25 hours, immersed in the Shabbat.

Shabbat is the seventh day of the week.^[10] This is no accident. Shabbat connects the six days of the week. All of the other days revolve around it. It serves as the center for the three days before it and the three days after it.  Even though the seventh appears to be the final element in a linear progression, it is actually the core around which everything else revolves. Shabbat is a taste of shamayim, the next world, because on Shabbat you connect with your labors of the other six days. We do not go anywhere or do anything on Shabbat.^[11] This is a taste of what it means to be there,^[12] to be in shamayim.^[13]

When the Torah wishes to give a name to the first day of the week, it gives it a name that describes its relationship to Shabbat, “the first day of Shabbat”, “the second day of Shabbat”, etc. And so, it goes for the other six days. The sixth day is called “Erev Shabbat”, the eve of the Shabbat. Thus, Shabbat connects the six days of the week. The following chart illustrates how the days revolve around Shabbat.

Tuesday 3^rd day	Monday 2^nd day	Sunday 1^st day	Shabbat 7^th day	Friday 6^th day	Thursday 5^th day	Wednesday 4^th day

When we are called “the nation that sanctifies the Seventh”, we can understand this to refer to the Jewish people sanctifying that which is at the core, the Shabbat. Shabbat (as well as other “time-sevens” such as the Sabbatical year of Shmita) are about resting and relying on HaShem. This hints to us that the core is about reliance on HaShem, but that the other six, be they days of the week, the six years prior to Shmita, etc. are about a struggle that stays centered on the core.  [Working the six days of the week with an eye toward Shabbat in a way that is holy and spiritual even though it is “ordinary”; working the fields in compliance with Torah, leaving the gleanings, the corners, etc. for six years with the central realization that HaShem is the ultimate Provider not only during the Shmita year, but all of the other years as well]. Zayin - ז, the Hebrew letter with a gematria of seven (7), seems to speak to us about the tension and paradox between struggle and letting go, finding balance between our effort, active trust in HaShem, and our passive trust in HaShem to provide our needs.

The Sages teach us that there are five things that we should strive to accomplish on Shabbat:

Shabbat Activity	Each of these seven is used for connection
Eat the best food of the week.^[14]	Food connects the soul to the body.
Engage in marital relations.^[15]	Marital intimacy connects two physical bodies.
Rest.^[16]	Rest allows us to connect with the six days of work.
Pray.^[17]	Prayer allows us to connect with HaShem.
Study Torah.	Torah study allows us to connect with a transcendent world.

Shabbat is the day of connection,^[18] as seven is always associated with connection. Consider that every physical object has seven parts. Six sides: front, back, to, bottom, left and right, and a seventh which is the center that connects the six disparate sides.

Six things of equal size, for example circles or apples, exactly fit around a seventh circle (in the center) of the same size. So, if you draw a circle of any particular size, you can draw exactly six circles of the same size around that central circle, no more and no less (if you want them all to touch). This idea relates to the concept that the seventh is actually at the center and is the focus of the other six.

The connecting of the six attributes at the center of the shape fundamentally reveals the nature of seven. It is used for connection.

The Torah commands us to keep the Shabbat holy.^[19] How do we keep the Shabbat Holy?

If you look throughout the entire Bible you will never find the place where HaShem defines how we are to keep the Shabbat holy.^[20] So, how do we keep the Shabbat holy?

Our Sages have told us that the way to keep Shabbat holy is to light two candles^[21] just before Shabbat begins, make Kiddush^[22] on a cup of wine^[23] after Shabbat starts, have a cup of havdalah wine^[24] just before the end of Shabbat, and finally we are to kindle the Havdalah candle right after Shabbat ends. This is how we are to sanctify^[25] the Shabbat and set it apart from the six work days.

The following graphic illustrates these actions:

Since kindling a fire is forbidden on the Shabbat, we kindle the Shabbat candles before Shabbat begins. For the same reason, we kindle the havdalah candle after the end of the Shabbat. Between these two kindlings, we take Kiddush wine^[26] at the beginning of the Shabbat and again we take havdalah wine^[27] just before the end of the Shabbat.

The candles lit on Erev Shabbat^[28] are lit during the day, eighteen minutes prior to sundown. The havdalah candle is lit during the night, forty-two minutes after sundown. On the fourth day G-d created the sun, moon, and stars. The sun governs the day (Erev Shabbat candle); the moon governs the night (the havdalah candle). The fourth command (corresponding to the fourth day), of the ten commands, is to sanctify the seventh day which we do by lighting the Erev Shabbat candles and the havdalah candle.

The seventh millennium, when all will be Shabbat, is ushered in with the Erev Shabbat candles which are lit eighteen minutes prior to sundown, even as HaShem will have a period of time, known as the time of Jacob’s trouble, when HaShem will bring fire on His enemies, just before the beginning of the Shabbat millennium. In a corresponding manner, HaShem will destroy His enemies and renew the earth after the Shabbat millennium, even as we light the havdalah candle, forty-two minutes after sundown, after the Shabbat.

An interesting thought:  On the Kiddush of the festivals, we say the following:

Vayikra (Leviticus) 23:2-3 Speak to the Children of Israel, and tell them these are the Festivals that they shall keep holy. For six days, work may be performed, but on the seventh day, it is a complete rest day, a holy occasion; you shall not perform any work. It is a Shabbat to the Lord in all your dwelling places.

Why is Shabbat inserted into the middle of the Festivals?

The Vilna Gaon^[29] explains that on all the festivals certain types of food related activity are permitted, whereas on Shabbat all melachot^[30] are forbidden. However, on one Yom Tov no melacha is permitted – Yom Kippurim^[31] – which is also known as שַׁבָּתוֹן שַׁבַּת – Shabbat Shabbaton, the same terminology that the Torah uses for a regular Shabbat. Thus, the pasuk can be rendered:

On six days melacha is permitted – the first and last days of Pesach (2), one day of Shavuot (3), one day of Rosh HaShana (4), one day of Succoth (5), one day of Shemini Atzeret (6). However, the seventh is the holy of holiest, no melacha is permitted, not even cooking, this is Yom Kippurim!^[32]

What ‘work’ is forbidden on the Shabbat?

Most Americans see the word “work” and think of it in the English sense of the word: physical labor and effort, or employment. Under this definition, turning on a light would be permitted, because it does not require effort, but a Hakham, a Rabbi, would not be permitted to lead Shabbat services, because leading services is his employment. Jewish law prohibits the former and permits the latter. Many Americans therefore conclude that Jewish law doesn’t make any sense.

The problem lies not in Jewish law, but in the definition that Americans are using. The Torah does not prohibit “work” in the 20th century English sense of the word. The Torah prohibits “melacha” (מְלָאכָה), which is usually translated as “work,” but does not mean precisely the same thing as the English word. Before you can begin to understand the Shabbat restrictions, you must understand the word “melacha”.

Melacha generally refers to the kind of work that is creative, or that exercises control or dominion over your environment. The word may be related to “Melech” (king; מלך). Avodah (permitted labor) comes from the root eved - slave. The quintessential example of melacha is the work of creating the universe, which G-d ceased from nothing on the seventh day. Note that G-d’s work did not require a great physical effort: he spoke, and it was done.

The word melacha is rarely used in scripture outside of the context of Shabbat and holiday restrictions. The only other repeated use of the word is in the discussion of the building of the sanctuary and its vessels in the wilderness, in Shemot (Exodus) Chapters 31, 35-38. Notably, the Shabbat restrictions are reiterated during this discussion,^[33] thus we can infer that the work of creating the sanctuary had to be stopped for Shabbat. From this, our Hakhamim concluded that the work prohibited on Shabbat is the same as the work of creating the sanctuary. They found 39 categories of forbidden acts, all of which are types of work that were needed to build the sanctuary. These are the labors defined as melacha:^[34]

Sowing, Plowing, Reaping, Binding sheaves, Threshing, Winnowing, Selecting, Grinding, Sifting, Kneading, Baking, Shearing wool, Washing wool, Beating wool, Dyeing wool, Spinning, Weaving, Making two loops, Weaving two threads, Separating two threads, Tying, Untying, Sewing two stitches, Tearing, Trapping, Slaughtering, Flaying, Salting meat, Curing hide, Scraping hide, Cutting hide up, Writing two letters, Erasing two letters, Building, Tearing a building down, Extinguishing a fire, Kindling a fire, Hitting with a hammer, Taking an object from the private domain to the public, or transporting an object in the public domain.^[35]

Abstaining from melacha on Shabbat is a loyalty test from The King. It is the yardstick of a covenant. That is why the penalty for intentionally breaking the Shabbat is death!

Carrying the weight of water is burdensome. But, if you scuba dive and immerse yourself in the water, then bearing the weight of the water becomes a pleasure. Even so, one immersed in Torah and Shabbat will never find it’s commands to be burdensome. HaShem says that the Shabbat is a precious gift stored away in His treasury for the Jewish people.

A Taste of the Olam HaBa:  Shabbat is the culmination, the end-point, of all of our labors. It is a taste of the next world.^[36] There is an idea that all spiritual realities have at least one tangible counterpart in the physical world so that we can experience them. Shabbat is one sixtieth of the pleasure of the Olam HaBa.^[37]

“It is good to thank G-d” -- you better believe it! As Adam and mankind have learned the hard way:

Because Adam blamed Chava for breaking the command not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; and in the process, denied the good that HaShem had done for him, the decree of expulsion resulted. Expulsion from Gan Eden, the Garden of Eden, was the first ever exile of mankind, and the “root” of all exiles and oppressions to follow, especially for the Jewish people. Therefore, showing HaShem gratitude is a crucial key to ending this exile.

This is why Shabbat is likened to one-sixtieth of the Olam HaBa,^[38] a time when we shall be able to fully appreciate HaShem’s gift of life to us. On Shabbat, by abstaining from certain “creative activities”, we are compelled to sit back and look at all that HaShem does to keep us going, and if we don’t do that, then we deny both the opportunity of Shabbat and HaShem’s good, just as Adam did.

Hence, the Sages are telling us that, as much as Shabbat is like the Olam HaBa (and it is), still, the experience is so minimal that it is as if it is not there at all? In other words, even if Shabbat is the most wonderful experience, still the Olam HaBa will become infinitely better. Shabbat is, therefore, a taste of the Olam HaBa.

It would be too difficult to relate to these abstract, spiritual things, if we could never have any direct experience of it. So, sleep is a sixtieth of the death experience; a dream is a sixtieth of prophecy. Shabbat is a sixtieth of the experience of the next world. We have these experiences in order that we should understand those things that HaShem has promised.

Why specifically a sixtieth? What is unique about the proportion of one in sixty? One who has sensitive ear will hear something very beautiful here. One in sixty is that proportion which is on the borderline of perception: in the laws of kashrut (permitted and forbidden foods) there is a general rule that forbidden mixtures of foods are in fact forbidden only if the admixture of the prohibited component comprises more than one part in sixty. If a drop of milk accidentally spills into a meat dish that dish would not be forbidden if less than one part in sixty were milk, the milk cannot be tasted in such dilution. The halachic borderline is set at that point where taste can be discerned. The beautiful hint here is that Shabbat is one sixtieth of the intensity of Olam HaBa, it is on the borderline of taste: if one lives Shabbat correctly, one tastes the next world. If not, one will not taste it at all.

Shabbat is a sign: Shabbat was given as a “sign[39] of the covenant” to the Jews,^[40] the ones who accepted the covenant. Shabbat is a sign,^[41] which is, according to Exodus 31, symbolic of the eternal bond between HaShem and the Jewish people.

The Shabbat was made for all men to enjoy, when they entered the Mosaic covenant. Gentiles, and Jews, had to enter the covenant before they could enjoy the Shabbat. The Shabbat was part of the marriage contract between HaShem and Israel and a token and sign of that covenant:

Shemot (Exodus) 31:12-17 And HaShem spake unto Moses, saying, Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my Shabbats ye shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that [ye] may know that I [am] HaShem that doth sanctify you. Ye shall keep the Shabbat therefore; for it [is] holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth [any] work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. Six days may work be done; but in the seventh [is] the Shabbat of rest, holy to HaShem: whosoever doeth [any] work in the Shabbat day, he shall surely be put to death. Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Shabbat, to observe the Shabbat throughout their generations, [for] a perpetual covenant. It [is] a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for [in] six days HaShem made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

This covenant, which lasts forever, is called, in Hebrew, בְּרִית עוֹלָם – an eternal covenant. Here we see Shabbat identified as a brit olam, a covenant for all time, a term used with respect to circumcision in Genesis 17:7;[42] here Israel is told Shabbat is a sign for all times, parallel to the covenant of Genesis 17:11. These are the only two commandments whose importance is emphasized by this sort of language.

The contract was not made with men before Moses. It was made with Israel in the days of Moses:

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 5:1-3 And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them. HaShem our G-d made a covenant with us in Horeb. HaShem made not this covenant with our fathers, but with us, [even] us, who [are] all of us here alive this day.

The Shabbat only applied to the Jew, the ger tzaddik,^[43] and the ger toshav who was ready to convert.^[44] It did not apply to all people. Some may quote Hakham Shaul:

Colossians 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the Shabbat [days]: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Mashiach.

Hakham Shaul is not abrogating the Torah! He is not changing what HaShem did with the Israelites. He does not have the authority, or the desire, to change this. Therefore, we must conclude that the ones keeping the Shabbat are either Jews or proselytes (ger toshav).^[45] Hakham Shaul may also have been referring to the festival Shabbats which the Gentiles may keep, except for Shemini Atzeret. Remember that the natural progression would have the Gentiles become ger toshav; the ger toshav would then convert and become a ger tzaddik.

Some may also claim that His Majesty King Yeshua changed this by saying:

Marqos (Mark) 2:27 And he said unto them, The Shabbat was made for man, and not man for the Shabbat:

We must conclude that Mashiach’s audiences were Jews and that this was not meant to apply to those who were not a part of the covenant. Again, Yeshua had neither the authority, nor the desire, to change HaShem’s covenant.

There is an important concept here, which we learn from this world. I don’t enjoy the wages and perks of another man’s wife, because I did not sign the marriage contract and because I did not do the work. The Shabbat was a “sign” for those who “signed” the covenant, and kept its provision. It was the reward, like marital intimacy, for those folks alone, much as a husband will not tolerate an interloper. All covenants, or contracts, are like this: Those who sign, and keep the provisions, enjoy the rewards. Those who don’t sign, or don’t keep the provisions, do not share in the reward.

While Jews and ger toshav will be part of the Olam HaBa, they both have different roles and functions. This does not have anything to do with enjoying the Shabbat.

So, far from being a discouragement, the Shabbat is meant to entice the Gentile to “sign” the covenant (immerse in the mikveh, brit Milah,^[46] and agree, before a Bet Din, to keep the covenant). It is a reward for the man who loves HaShem and is willing to do what it takes. It is NOT for any Tom, Dick, or Harry who decides he wants it. That is outright adultery,^[47] and theft, and it negates the covenant.

Since circumcision and Shabbat represent special signs between HaShem and Israel, they do not apply to other nations. “A gentile who observed Shabbat deserves death”,[48] and a non-Jew whose foreskin is removed, is still considered halachically uncircumcised: “All gentiles are uncircumcised”.[49]

Sanhedrin 58b Resh Lakish also said: A heathen who keeps a day of rest, deserves death, for it is written, And a day and a night they shall not rest,[50] and a master has said: Their prohibition is their death sentence.[51] Rabina said: Even if he rested on a Monday. Now why is this not included in the seven Noachian laws? — Only negative injunctions are enumerated, not positive ones.[52]

The Maharsha explains[53] that the Shabbat is, metaphorically, a bride.^[54] Indeed, the Talmud refers[55] to the Shabbat as a bride and the Shabbat is greeted in the same way that a bride is greeted This imagery was immortalized by Rabbi Shlomo Alkabetz[56] in his classical liturgical song, Lecha Dodi, which is sung just before the reception of the Shabbat. Rabbi Avraham Sperling writes,[57] based on this allegorical comparison, that Shabbat is the female companion to the Israelite nation. The Jewish Nation is married to Shabbat. Therefore, when a non-Jew follows the rules of Shabbat, it is as if he is committing adultery with the married bride Shabbat, and so he is liable for the death penalty. However, before the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, Shabbat did not yet have any marital connection to the Jewish Nation, and therefore, the patriarchs of the Jewish Nation, even if they had the halachic status of Noachides, were allowed to observe the laws of Shabbat in its entirety.

Maimonides writes^[58] that the prohibition of a gentile observing Shabbat is a part of the general prohibition for gentiles not to innovate novel laws.^[59] Rabbi David Ibn Zimra^[60] explains^[61] that according to Maimonides gentiles are not allowed to keep the Shabbat as if they were commanded to do so, rather they are only allowed to observe it as means of acquiring merits, but not as a means of fulfilling a commandment because they have no such commandment. In light of this, Rabbi Moshe Sofer^[62] explains the words of an enigmatic Talmudic passage,^[63] which states that if a non-Jew rests on Shabbat, he has fulfilled the commandment of resting. A non-Jew is only allowed to rest when doing so as part of a “religious service”, however, a non-Jew can rest and get the reward for fulfilling the commandment of Shabbat in doing so. This is true if the gentile personally accepts upon himself not to worship idols. Keeping Shabbat and abstaining from idols are really the same because Shabbat is testimony^[64] to the fact that HaShem created the world, while idolatry denies this truism. Therefore, a gentile who specially avowed not to worship idols (ger toshav) is also obligated to keep Shabbat and thereby has no prohibition of resting.^[65] Perhaps the patriarchs of the Jewish nation before the Sinaitic Revelation had the status of such Noachides, and were thus able to observe properly the Shabbat.

Finally, it is worth noting that the beginning of our psalm, the first eight pesukim, speaks of the primary duties of Aaron and his sons, the Priests, along with the Levites, in the Temple, on the Shabbat. These concords well with the Torah’s mention of HaShem’s selection of the priests and the Levites to minister before Him. Their secondary duty was to teach the Bne Israel the Torah. Through this teaching, the Priests and the Levites were to enable the Bne Israel to distance themselves from idolatry, which is the theme of our Ashlamata.

Now since Moses was in charge of conveying HaShem’s word to the Priests and the Levites, it is fitting that he should author our psalm for the Shabbat day.

==================================================================================

Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 45:19 – 46:2 + 13

Rashi

Targum

18. ¶ For so said the Lord, the Creator of heaven, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, He established it; He did not create it for a waste, He formed it to be inhabited, "I am the Lord and there is no other.	18. ¶ For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (he is God!), who founded the earth and made it—He established it; He did not create it for nothing, but He established it to increase the sons of men upon it! “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
19. Not in secret did I speak, in a place of a land of darkness; I did not say to the seed of Jacob, Seek Me, in vain; I am the Lord, Who speaks righteousness, declares things that are right.	19. I did not speak in secret in a place of a land of darkness; I did not say to the seed of the house of Jacob, ‘Seek My fear for nothing.' I the LORD speak truth, declaring what is right.
20. Assemble and come, approach together, you survivors of the nations; those who carry their graven wooden image and pray to a god who does not save, do not know.	20. Assemble yourselves and come, draw near together, you who are delivered of the peoples! They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden image, and beseech from a god who cannot save.
21. Declare and present, let them even take counsel together; who announced this from before, [who] declared it from then? Is it not I, the Lord, and there are no other gods besides Me, a just and saving God there is not besides Me.	21. Declare and draw near, take counsel together! Who announced this long ago and declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a God who is virtuous and a Savior; there is none except Me.
22. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.	22. Turn to My Memra and be saved, all those at the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
23. By Myself I swore, righteousness emanated from My mouth, a word, and it shall not be retracted, that to Me shall every knee kneel, every tongue shall swear."	23. By My Memra I have sworn, before Me has gone forth in virtue a word that will not be void. Before Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear.
24. But to me did He say by the Lord righteousness and strength, to Him shall come and be ashamed all who are incensed against Him.	24. Only in the Memra of the LORD has He promised me to bring virtues, and He is strong in His Memra; all the Gentiles who were stirred up against His people will give thanks and be ashamed of their idols.
25. Through the Lord shall all the seed of Israel find righteousness and boast.	25. In the Memra of the LORD all the seed of Israel will be justified and glorified.
1. Bel squats; Nebo soils himself; their idols were to the beasts and to the cattle; what you carry is made a load, a burden for the weary.	1. Bel kneels, Nebo is hewn down, their images are a likeness of beasts and cattle; the burdens of their idols are heavy upon those who carry them, and they are weary.
2. They soiled themselves, yea they squatted together, they could not deliver the burden, and they themselves have gone into captivity. {P}	2. They are cut off and hewn down together, they cannot save those who carry them, but those who serve them go into captivity. {P}
3. Hearken to Me, the house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who are borne from birth, carried from the womb.	3. “Attend to My Memra, those of the house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been beloved more than all the peoples, cherished more than all the kingdoms.
4. And until old age I am the same, and until you turn gray I will carry; I have made and I will bear and I will carry and deliver.  {S}	4. Even to eternity I am He, and to the age of the ages My Memra endures. I have created every man, I scattered them among the peoples׳, I will also forgive their sins and will pardon. {S}
5. To whom shall you liken Me and make Me equal and compare Me that we may be alike?	5. Whom will you liken before Me and make equal and compare before Me in?
6. Those who let gold run from the purse and weigh silver with the balance; they hire a goldsmith and he makes it a god, they kneel, yea they prostrate themselves.	6. Behold, the Gentiles collect gold from a purse, and weigh out silver in a balance, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they worship it and are subjugated.
7. They bear it, on the shoulder they carry it, and they put it in its place and it stands, from its place it does not move; yea he cries to it and it does not answer; from his distress it does not save him. {S}	7. They lift it upon their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; is not possible for it to budge from its place. He even beseeches from it, and it does not answer or save him from his trouble. {S}
8. Remember this and strengthen yourselves, take to heart, you transgressors.	8. Remember this and strengthen yourselves, recall to mind, O rebels.
9. Remember the first things of old, that I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me.	9. Remember the former things which were of old; for I am God, and there is no other God besides me,
10. [I] tell the end from the beginning, and from before, what was not done; [I] say, 'My counsel shall stand, and all My desire I will do.'	10. declaring from the beginning the end and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel will stand, and I will accomplish all My pleasure,
11.  [I] call from the east a swift bird, from a distant land the man of My counsel; yea I spoke, I will also bring it; I formed it, I will also do it. {S}	11. Who promised to gather the exiles from the east, to bring  openly, like a swift bird from a far land, the sons of Abraham, My chosen. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it. {S}
12. Hearken to Me, you stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness/generosity.	12. Attend to My Memra, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from innocence:
13. I have brought near My righteousness, it shall not go far, and My salvation (Heb. Yeshua) shall not delay, and I will give salvation (Heb. Yeshua) in Zion, to Israel, My glory. {S}	13. My innocence/generosity is near, it is not far off, and My salvation will not be checked, I will put a saviour in Zion, for Israel My celebrity   {S}

Rashi’s Commentary on Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 45:19 – 46:2. 13

18 He did not create it for a waste but He formed it to be inhabited. 

19 Not in secret did I speak When I gave the Torah, and I did not say for naught and in vain to the seed of Jacob, Seek Me, but to receive great reward.

I am the Lord Who speaks righteousness Since I commenced to speak to them concerning My righteousness, to inform them of the giving of their reward, afterwards I told them things that are right, My statutes and My laws, for before the giving of the Torah it was said to them, “And now, if you heed, etc., you shall be for Me a treasure...a kingdom of priests, etc.” (Ex. 19:5f.). 

20 approach Heb. הִתְנַגְּשׁוּ, an expression of approaching (הַגָּשָׁה) and the ‘nun’ is attached to it, as one says “they were struck (הִתְנַגְּפוּ) ”; “they will be struck (יִתְנַגְּפוּ).”

you survivors of the nations who survived the sword of Nebuchadnezzar.

who carry their graven wooden image...do not know to understand knowledge. 

21 who announced this from before Who of your idols is it that announced from before that your God brought salvation, each one to its worshipers?

Is it not I, the Lord, and there are no other For I announce what I am destined to do for My people, and I fulfill My words. 

22 Turn to Me and abandon your graven images, all the ends of the earth, and, thereby, you shall be saved. 

23 By Myself I swore and righteousness emanated from My mouth to accept all those who return to Me. I spoke a word, and it will not be retracted. What is the righteousness that emanated from My mouth? That to Me shall every knee kneel, and I will accept them, as the matter is stated (Zeph. 3:9): “For then will I change for the people a pure language, to call all of them in the name of the Lord...” 

24 But to me did He say by the Lord Heb. אַךְ בַה' לִי אָמַר [lit. but by the Lord to me He said]. This verse is inverted, and thus is its interpretation: But to me did He say by the Lord righteousness and strength. Although all the nations shall prostrate themselves before Him [correct reading according to Warsaw edition, K’li Paz, and mss.], but to me alone, the congregation of Israel, has been promised by the Lord righteousness and strength, and other nations shall not be included in my glory.

to Him shall come and be ashamed etc. All who were incensed against the Holy One, blessed be He, shall come to Him to regret what they did in their lifetimes and be ashamed.

all who are incensed Heb. כֹּל הַנֶּחֱרִים בּוֹ, all who are incensed. 

25 Through the Lord...find righteousness and boast Through the promise of the support of His love they shall find righteousness and boast of His strength.

boast Heb. וְיִתְהַלְלוּ, porvantir in O.F. 

Chapter 46

1 Bel squats; Nebo soils himself The deities of Babylon squatted and soiled themselves. This is an expression of ridicule of the idols, like one who suffers from diarrhea and does not manage to sit down on the seat in the privy before he discharges with a splash.

Bel squats; Nebo soils himself Heb. כָּרַע בֵּל קֹרֵס נְבוֹ. Akropid sei Bel; konkiad sei Nebo. Bel squats; Nebo soils himself. So I heard in the name of Rabbenu Gershom, the Light of the Diaspora.

their idols were The images of the forms of Bel and Nebo were to the beasts and the cattle, compared to the beasts and the cattle, which soil and dirty themselves with their droppings.

what you carry is made a load, a burden The feces in their bowels are heavy to bear like a burden for a weary man. Therefore, they soiled themselves and squatted together, the soiling with the squatting. 

2 they could not deliver the burden to discharge the feces in their bowels as others discharge, in the normal manner.

deliver Heb. מַלֵּט, an expression of discharging from an embedded place. Comp. (supra 34:15) “There, the owl has made its nest, and she has laid eggs (וַתְּמַלֵט),” he has discharged her egg. Comp. also (infra 66:7) “And she has been delivered (וְהִמְלִיטָה) of a male child.” Jonathan, however, did not render these verses in this manner.  

3 who are borne from birth Since you were born in the house of Laban the Aramean, I bore you on My arms, for since then, adversaries stand up against you in every generation and not like the idolaters (other nations [K’li Paz and mss.]) who are laden and carry their Gods, as is mentioned above, but you are laden and borne in My arms.

4 And until old age that you have aged and your strength is depleted, that you have no merit, I am the same with My mercy and with My trait of goodness to save you and to bear you and to carry you and deliver you. Since he says regarding their deity, that it is carried and also that it cannot deliver its burden, he says, “But I bear others, and I will deliver My burden.” 

5 and compare Me Heb. וְתַמְשִׁלֻנִי. Comp. (Job 30:19) “And I have become like (וָאֶתְמַשֵּׁל) dust and ashes.” An expression of comparison.

that we may be alike That I and he be alike, one to the other. 

6 Those who let gold run from the purse Heb. הַזָּלִים, an expression of (Ps. 146:18) “Water runs (יִזְּלוּ).”

with the balance Heb. קָנֶה, the bar of a scale, called flael in O.F. 

8 Remember this what I wish to say.

and strengthen yourselves Heb. וְהִתְאשָׁשׁוּ. Comp. (supra 16:7) “For the walls (לַאֲשִׁישֵׁי) of Kir-hareseth.”

take to heart, you transgressors And what do I say to you to remember and to take to heart? 

9 Remember the first things of old that you have seen that I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me. 

10 [I] tell the end from the beginning The Egyptian exile and its redemption I announced in the Covenant between the Parts, before they came about. 

11 [I] call from the east a swift bird Heb. עַיִט. From the land of Aram, which is in the east, I called Abraham to Me to take counsel with Me. עַיִט Comp. (Dan. 2:14) “Answered with counsel (עֵיטָא) and discretion”; (ibid. 6:8) “All the presidents of the kingdom have taken counsel  (אִתְיָעֲטוּ).” Alternatively, it can be interpreted as an expression of a bird. I called him to hasten after Me like a bird that flies and wanders from its place. f

rom a distant land I called My man of counsel, and with him I took counsel between the parts concerning the four exiles, as it is explained in Gen. Rabbah (44:17) “And behold, a fear, great darkness was falling upon him.” [“Fear” refers to Babylon... “Darkness” refers to Media, who darkened the eyes of Israel with fasting. “Great” refers to Greece... “Was falling upon him” refers to Edom..., etc.]

yea I spoke with him concerning the exiles and their redemption; I will also bring it. 

12 stout-hearted You who have strengthened your heart among the heathens (the nations [Parshandatha, K’li Paz]) and have clung to Me.

that are far from righteousness For it has been a long time for you, and I have not demonstrated to you My righteousness to redeem you. 

13 I have brought near My righteousness from now on, and it will not be far off.

============================================================================================= 

Correlations

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

& H.H. Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

Bamidbar (Numbers) 3:1 – 4:16

Tehillim (Psalms) 92

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 45:19 – 46:2 + 13

2 Pet 2:3b-9, Lk 16:14-18, Rm 6:1-11

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:

Day - יום, Strong’s number 03117.

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Name - שם, Strong’s number 08034.

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Spake / Spoken - דבר, Strong’s number 01696.

Offered - קרב, Strong’s number 07126.

Bamidbar (Numbers) 3:1 These also are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day <03117> that the LORD <03068> spake <01696> (8763) with Moses in mount Sinai. 2  And these are the names <08034> of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 3  These are the names <08034> of the sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s office. 4  And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered <07126> (8687) strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father.

Tehillim (Psalms) 92:1 « A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day <03117>. » It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD <03068>, and to sing praises unto thy name <08034>, O most High:

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 45:19 I have not spoken <01696> (8765) in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD <03068> speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.

Hebrew:

Hebrew	English	Torah Reading Num. 3:1 – 4:16	Psalms 92:1-16	Ashlamatah Is 45:19 – 46:2 + 13
~yhil{a/	God		Ps. 92:13	Isa. 45:21
rm;a'	saying	Num. 3:5 Num. 3:11 Num. 3:14 Num. 3:40 Num. 3:44 Num. 4:1		Isa. 45:19 Isa. 45:24
#r,a,	land, earth, ground	Num. 3:13		Isa. 45:19 Isa. 45:22
hm'heB.	beast	Num. 3:13 Num. 3:41 Num. 3:45		Isa. 46:1
aAB	enter, go, come	Num. 4:3 Num. 4:5 Num. 4:15		Isa. 45:20 Isa. 45:24
tyIB;	houses	Num. 3:15 Num. 3:20 Num. 3:24 Num. 3:30 Num. 3:35 Num. 4:2	Ps. 92:13
rBeDI	spoke, speak	Num. 3:1 Num. 3:5 Num. 3:11 Num. 3:14 Num. 3:44 Num. 4:1		Isa. 45:19
rcex'	court	Num. 3:26 Num. 3:37	Ps. 92:13
dy"	whom he consecrated, hand	Num. 3:3	Ps. 92:4
[dy	know		Ps. 92:6	Isa. 45:20
hw"hoy>	LORD	Num. 3:1 Num. 3:4 Num. 3:5 Num. 3:11 Num. 3:13 Num. 3:14 Num. 3:16 Num. 3:39 Num. 3:40 Num. 3:41 Num. 3:42 Num. 3:44 Num. 3:45 Num. 3:51 Num. 4:1	Ps. 92:1 Ps. 92:4 Ps. 92:5 Ps. 92:8 Ps. 92:9 Ps. 92:13 Ps. 92:15	Isa. 45:19 Isa. 45:21 Isa. 45:24 Isa. 45:25
~Ay	when, day	Num. 3:1 Num. 3:13	Ps. 92:1
laer'f.yI	Israel	Num. 3:8 Num. 3:9 Num. 3:12 Num. 3:13 Num. 3:38 Num. 3:40 Num. 3:41 Num. 3:42 Num. 3:45 Num. 3:46 Num. 3:50		Isa. 45:25 Isa. 46:13
aF'm;	carry, burden	Num. 4:15		Isa. 46:1 Isa. 46:2
dg;n"	declare		Ps. 92:2 Ps. 92:15	Isa. 45:19 Isa. 45:21
af'n"	take, carry	Num. 3:40 Num. 4:2 Num. 4:15		Isa. 45:20
!t;n"	give, given, gave	Num. 3:9 Num. 3:48 Num. 3:51 Num. 4:6 Num. 4:7 Num. 4:10 Num. 4:12 Num. 4:14		Isa. 46:13
hP,	word, mouth	Num. 3:16 Num. 3:39 Num. 3:51		Isa. 45:23
qyDIc;	righteous		Ps. 92:12	Isa. 45:21
~d,q,	east, ancient time	Num. 3:38		Isa. 45:21
br;q'	offered, near, bring	Num. 3:4 Num. 3:6		Isa. 46:13
~ve	names	Num. 3:2 Num. 3:3 Num. 3:17 Num. 3:18 Num. 3:40 Num. 3:43	Ps. 92:1
!m,v,	oil	Num. 4:9 Num. 4:16	Ps. 92:10
[m;v'	hear, heard		Ps. 92:11	Isa. 45:21

Greek:

GREEK	ENGLISH	Torah Reading Num. 3:1 – 4:16	Psalms 92:1-16	Ashlamatah Is 45:19 – 46:2 + 13	Peshat Mishnah of Mark, 1-2 Peter, & Jude 2 Pet 2:3b-9	Tosefta of Luke Lk 16:14-18	Remes/Gemara of Acts/Romans and James Rm 6:1-11
αἴρω	take, carry	Num. 3:40 Num. 4:2 Num. 4:15		Isa. 45:20
ἀκούω	hear		Psa 92:11			Lk. 16:14
ἀνήρ	man, men		Psa 92:6 Psa 92:12			Lk. 16:18
ἄνθρωπος	man, men	Num 3:13				Lk. 16:15	Rom. 6:6
ἀποθνήσκω	die	Num 3:10 Num 3:38 Num 4:15					Rom. 6:2 Rom. 6:7 Rom. 6:8 Rom. 6:9 Rom. 6:10
γῆ	land, earth, ground	Num. 3:13		Isa. 45:19 Isa. 45:22		Lk. 16:17
γινώσκω	know, know, knew		Ps. 92:6	Isa. 45:20		Lk. 16:15	Rom. 6:6
δίδωμι	give, given, gave	Num. 3:9 Num. 3:48 Num. 3:51 Num. 4:6 Num. 4:7 Num. 4:10 Num. 4:12 Num. 4:14		Isa. 46:13
δίκαιος	righteous, just		Ps. 92:12	Isa. 45:21	2 Pet. 2:7 2 Pet. 2:8
δικαιοσύνη	righteousness			Isa 45:24	2 Pet. 2:5
δικαιόω	justified			Isa 45:25		Lk. 16:15	Rom. 6:7
δόξα	glory			Isa 45:24  Isa 46:13			Rom. 6:4
εἴδω	knowing				2 Pet. 2:9		Rom. 6:9
εἷς	one	Num 3:27				Luk 16:17
ἔπω	saying, said	Num. 3:5 Num. 3:11 Num. 3:14 Num. 3:40 Num. 3:44 Num. 4:1		Isa. 45:19 Isa. 45:24		Lk. 16:15
ἔργον	works	Num 3:7 Num 3:8 Num 3:26 Num 3:31 Num 3:36 Num 4:3  Num 4:4 Num 4:16	Psa 92:4		2 Pet. 2:8
ἡμέρα	when, day	Num. 3:1 Num. 3:13	Ps. 92:1		2 Pet. 2:8 2 Pet. 2:9
θεός	God		Ps. 92:13	Isa. 45:21	2 Pet. 2:4	Lk. 16:15 Lk. 16:16	Rom. 6:10 Rom. 6:11
κύριος	LORD	Num. 3:1 Num. 3:4 Num. 3:5 Num. 3:11 Num. 3:13 Num. 3:14 Num. 3:16 Num. 3:39 Num. 3:40 Num. 3:41 Num. 3:42 Num. 3:44 Num. 3:45 Num. 3:51 Num. 4:1	Ps. 92:1 Ps. 92:4 Ps. 92:5 Ps. 92:8 Ps. 92:9 Ps. 92:13 Ps. 92:15	Isa. 45:19 Isa. 45:21 Isa. 45:24 Isa. 45:25	2 Pet. 2:9		Rom. 6:11
λέγω	saying	Num. 3:5 Num. 3:11 Num. 3:14 Num. 3:40 Num. 3:44 Num. 4:1		Isa. 45:19 Isa. 45:24
πατήρ	father	Num 3:4					Rom. 6:4
πίπτω  /  πέτω	fall, fell			Isa 46:1		Lk. 16:17
πλεονάζω	abounding, more than	Num 3:46 Num 3:48 Num 3:49 Num 3:51					Rom. 6:1
φυλάσσω	guard	Num 3:7 Num 3:8 Num 3:10 Num 3:28 Num 3:32  Num 3:38			2 Pet. 2:5

Nazarean Talmud

Sidra of B’Midbar (Num.) 3:1 - 4:16

“V’Eleh Tol’dot Aharon” “And these [are the] generations [of] Aharon”

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

H. Em. Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

School of Hakham Shaul Tosefta Luqas (Lk) Mishnah א:א

School of Hakham Tsefet Peshat 2 Tsefet (2 Pet) Mishnah א:א

“Now a certain man was rich, and dressed himself in purple cloth and fine linen (as a symbol of his wealth and power),^[66] feasting in merriment^[67] every day^[68] in radiance.^[69] And a certain poor^[70] man named Eliezer (Lazarus), covered with wounds, thrust out^[71] of his, the rich man’s doorway,^[72] and was longing to be filled with what fell from the table of the rich man. But even the dogs came and licked his wounds.^[73] And now it happened that the poor man died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. And the rich man also died and was buried. And from the darkness of the pit of Sheol^[74] he lifted up his eyes as he was in torment and saw Abraham from a distance, and Lazarus at his side. And he called out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he could dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am suffering pain in this flame!’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you received your good things during your life, and Eliezer (Lazarus) likewise bad things. But now he is comforted here, but you are suffering pain. And in addition to all these things, a great chasm has been established between us and you, so that those who want to pass over from here to you are not able to do so, nor can they pass over from there to us.’ So he said, ‘Then I ask you, father, that you send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he could warn them, so that they also should not come to this place of torment!’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moshe and the Nebi’im; they must hear them.’^[75] And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will do teshubah (repent)!’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moshe and the Nebi’im, neither will they be convinced if someone rises from the dead.’ ”

Whose (the pseudo prophets and teachers of v.1) judgment legal decision .i.e. sentence of long ago did not stop and their destruction does not slumber.^[76] For if G-d was not lenient with the sinning messengers^[77] (magidim) and chained them in pits^[78] of darkness (Gehinom) giving them up to judgment where they are kept (watched and guarded).^[79] And the ancient primal world [He, i.e. God] did not spare, but Noach the eighth, of righteousness/generosity a herald He, i.e. God guarded (watched over and protected) when the ungodly world was flooded; And the cities of Sodom (Heb. Sedom) and Gomorrah (Heb. Amorah) having reduced to ashes catastrophically, He, i.e. God condemned them, as an example^[80] (sign) to those profane (ungodly) ones. And righteous/generous Lot,^[81] from oppression by the Lawless (atheistic) in licentious conduct He, i.e. God rescued (set free from destruction). But the act of seeing what he saw and hearing what he heard while residing among them day by day tormented his pious (righteous/generous) soul with their activities of Lawlessness.  The LORD knows when (and how) to rescue the righteous/generous from trials and tests. He also knows how to and punish the wicked by keeping (guarding) them for the Day of Judgment.

Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes

Igeret to the Romans, 6:1-11

Mishnah א:א

What therefore can we say? Will we^[82] continue in sin,^[83] in order that loving-kindness may increase? May it never be so! How can we who died to [habitual] sin still live in it? Or do you not know that as many as were immersed into Yeshua the Messiah were immersed into his death, burial and resurrection? Therefore, allegorically speaking we have been buried with him through immersion into death, in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we may live in a new way of life. For if we have become identified with him in the likeness of his death, certainly also we will be identified with him in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with him, in order that the body of sin may be done away with, that we may no longer be enslaved to sin. For the one who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with the Messiah, we believe that we will also live with him, knowing that the Messiah, because he has been raised from the dead, is going to die no more, death no longer being master over him. For that he died, he died to sin once and never again, but that life he lives, he lives for God. So also you, consider yourselves to be dead to habitual sin, but alive to God in Yeshua the Messiah.

Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

Divine Providence:

For if GOD was not lenient with the sinning messengers (magidim) and chained them in pits of darkness (Gehinom) giving them up to judgment where they are kept (watched and guarded).^[84]

Divine Providence includes G-d’s interaction with His creation. The Peshat view of the Nazarean mind as expressed in the writings of Hakham Tsefet makes it abundantly clear that not only is G-d involved in creation, He guides it through His constant preservation.^[85] The Rambam posits five different views of “Divine Providence.” The first four “theories” take into account the views of secular wisdom and philosophy. After refuting these “theories,” the Rambam postulates a fifth, which agrees with the Sages and their view of the Torah.

Fifth Theory: This is our theory, or that of our Law. The theory of man's perfectly free will is one of the fundamental principles of the Law of our Teacher Moses, and of those who follow the Law.

According to this principle, man does what is in his power to do, by his nature, his choice, and his will; and his action is not due to any faculty created for the purpose. All species of irrational animals likewise move by their own free will. This is the Will of God; that is to say, it is due to the eternal divine will that all living beings should move freely, and that man should have power to act according to his will or choice within the limits of his capacity. Against this principle we hear, thank God, no opposition on the part of our nation.

Another fundamental principle taught by the Law of Moses is this: Wrong cannot be ascribed to God in any way whatever; all evils and afflictions as well as all kinds of happiness of man, whether they concern one individual person or a community, are distributed according to justice; they are the result of strict judgment that admits no wrong whatever.

Even when a person suffers pain in consequence of a thorn having entered into his hand, although it is at once drawn out, it is a punishment that has been inflicted on him [for sin], and the least pleasure he enjoys is a reward [for some good action]; all this is meted out by strict justice; as is said in Scripture, "all his ways are judgment" (Deut. xxxii. 4); we are only ignorant of the working of that judgment.^[86]

The final view is based on the principal of “mida kneged mida” (measure for measure). Each pain is the result of some error on man’s part just as each pleasure is a blessing for the good deeds of the Tsadiq. This principle is attested to by Hakham Tsefet’s words…

And the ancient primal world [He, i.e. God] did not spare, but Noach the eighth, of righteousness/generosity a herald He, i.e. God guarded (watched over and protected) when the ungodly world was flooded;

Noach as the herald of righteous generosity merited the reward of Divine preservation. The world that rejected the behavior and teachings of Noach merited destruction, this world was flooded. The same is true of Sodom and Amorah (Gomorrah) and their lack of chesed.

Nature - Creation of the non-human world: The animal world

An interesting conclusion to the providence of G-d arises when we take the time to look at the way G-d governs creation. In a paraphrase, Josephus declared that the P’rushim (Pharisees) believed in “Divine Providence.”^[87] Urbach further notes…

The term Hashgacha 'Providence' was, as we know, invented by the Tibbonides;^[88] the Sages did not coin a similar word, but found the theme of Providence mentioned in the Torah and iterated in the Prophets and mentioned yet again in the Hagiographa, and they devoted much time to studying its ways, to discerning its quiddity and to probing its significance.

There are two aspects to Providence: one involves the government of the world, the control of nature, and the provision of the needs of all mankind.

The “government of the world” is an amazing aspect of G-d’s sovereignty.

B’resheet Rabbah 10:6 R. Simon said: There is not a single herb but has a constellation (Mazal) in heaven which strikes it and says, “Grow,”

Please take note that the “vegetable” – “animal” kingdom have a governing mazal (constellation-angel).^[89] Therefore, G-d does not extend the same protection to the beasts as He does to man. Entire species of animals have a purpose decreed by God, who guides their development, sustains their population, or decrees their extermination. In general, God has established nature, governed by the mazal, in such a manner that it sustains every species. G-d “Himself supervises the angelic Agents who are appointed to maintain the existence and function of all that exists, giving them power to do their tasks.”^[90] Again, this statement is reiterated by Hakham Tsefet in the present pericope in telling us the sinning “angels” were judged in antiquity.

Humankind and Providence:

As noted above humankind’s interaction with the Cosmos is met with “mida kneged mida” (measure for measure). Each action influences creation resulting in a cause and effect. With regard to humankind, in general the spheres (angelic intermediaries) also maintain the existence and function of their activities. This does not eliminate their free will. However, as the Mishnah posits, “All is foreseen, and freedom of choice is granted. The world is judged with goodness, but in accordance with the amount of man's positive deeds.”^[91]

For humankind and the Tsaddiq, a question often arises as to why the ungodly often lead very prosperous lives. The issue is posited in this week’s Tosefta of Luqas. As the Sages have concluded, the reward of the Tsaddiq is not in abundant earthly treasures. The Tsaddiq understands that this present life is the precursor to the “ever coming world.”

Both Hakham Tsefet and Hakham Shaul play off the idea of Pesach and Chag HaMatzoth. Likewise, they both show how G-d interacts with the Tsaddiq living among the ungodly.

Providence and the Jewish people:

Our father Abraham has taught his children how they must relate to the present world. The interjection of the narrative of Eliezer (Lazarus) is more in line with oppression, rather than some poor beggarly soul laying at a “rich man’s gate.” The narrative implies that Eliezer (Lazarus) is “thrust out” of the gate or doorway of the “rich man.” The common link between Lot and Eliezer (Lazarus) is their interaction with the ungodly. Yet in the case of both Lot and Eliezer (Lazarus) it would appear that, the reward for their righteous/generous lives is in the Olam HaBa (ever coming world). Lot wanted to emulate the lifestyle of Abraham. Nonetheless, his eyes constantly caused him problems. He looked at the plains of the Yarden (Jordan) and its rich green fields and made his choice based on greed.^[92]

However, his nephew Lot did not employ Abraham’s lesson. Abraham’s vision in B’resheet 15^[93] proved to Abraham that the Jewish people are not subject to the intermediaries. However, the text of Hakham Tsefet clarifies the issue for us. So long as the B’ne Yisrael makes their will after the will of the Divine,^[94] they are not subject to the powers of the intermediaries. Yet, we learn a powerful story from the events of these pericopes. The “hands of G-d” did not deliver Lot. He was delivered by the hands of His Agents the intermediaries. Why? Could it be because Lot chose a path other than G-d’s? In the Pesach Seder, we learn that G-d Himself redeemed the B’ne Yisrael. So, what is the difference?

Faithful obedience!!!

Commentary to Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes

Connecting to the Torah: A Hermeneutic Lesson on the Nazarean Talmud

Careful study of the Mishnah will show that it uses Torah passages very sparingly. Not only does the Mishnah use Scripture is a sparse fashion, it has its own way of interpreting it. This does not mean that the Mishnah stands independent of the Torah. What one will notice when studying the Peshat of the Mishnah is that the sparse use of the Torah. This is because the Mishnah takes for granted that the audience is perfectly versed in the (written) Torah. However, the Mishnah seems to build itself on the premise that the Oral Torah is the precursor to the “written Torah.” Repeating the words of Hakham Shaul from the previous pericope notes, “The (Written) Torah came alongside the Oral Torah so that the knowledge of what transgression is would increase.”

Hakham Shaul, a typical first century Sage sees the Oral Torah as being a vital part of the Jewish way of life. However, Hakham Shaul knows that there must be a written Torah. Hakham Shaul has actively and intentionally brought his passages from the Written Torah as a means of undergirding the Mishnaic import of Hakham Tsefet with Torah evidence to support his pericopes. This is true and typical of the two Talmuds, (Yerushalaymi and Bavli) in relation to the Mishnah. We have repeatedly taught that the Oral Torah is the Torah/Nomos of the Cosmos. This is the lesson that we should be learning from the previous pericopes of Hakham Shaul’s Igeret to the Romans.

How does the Mishnaic import of Hakham Tsefet indicate that there is an Oral Torah and that it must be learned as a means of one’s daily walk (conduct)? We will cite a case law and then look at our present pericopes to see the Mishnaic structure of the Nazarean Talmud.

Mark 2:23-28 And now it happened that he Yeshua was journeying along on a Second – First -Sabbath along the grain-fields and his talmidim (disciples) began to make their way, plucking the heads [of barley]. And the Boethusians said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is unlawful on the Sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he had need and was hungry, he and those with him? How he went into the house of God, when `Abiathar was the chief priest,” and the loaves of the presentation which they ate, which is unlawful to eat, except to the priests, and he (David) gave also to those who were with him?’ And he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath, so that the son of man (Aramaic: “Bar Enosh” – cf. Daniel 7:13) is master also of the Sabbath.'

Hakham Tsefet is taking for granted that the reader will understand the Oral Torah and the frequent differences between the varying schools of thought that existed during the First Century. Actually, we can see that a specific halakhic problem is being addressed the same way that the Mishnah orders its arguments.

We will use an alphabetical outline system to make our point. Hakham Tsefet opens with a general statement

Mark 2:23-28

A.           2:23 And now it happened that he Yeshua was journeying along on a Second – First -Sabbath along the grain-fields, and his talmidim (disciples) began to make their way, plucking the heads [of barley].

Now Hakham Tsefet shows a differing opinion in the same way that the Mishnaic text shows differing opinions of Rabbis etc.

B.           2:24 And the Boethusians said to him, “Behold, why do they do that which is unlawful on the Sabbath?”

He now offers a case law as proof for the specific view of the Master and his Talmidim.

C.           2:25 And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did, when he had need and was hungry, he and those with him?

D.           2:26 How he went into the house of God, when `Abiathar was the chief priest,” and the loaves of the presentation which they ate, which is unlawful to eat, except to the priests, and he (David) gave also to those who were with him?’

He now offers the Master’s resolution or halakhah

F.            2:27 “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,

G.           2:28 so that the son of man (Aramaic: “Bar Enosh” – cf. Daniel 7:13) is master also of the Sabbath.'

We further note that the conflict is between the House of the P’rushim (Pharisees, i.e. Hillel and Shammai) and the Boethusians. Contextually the Boethusians were closer to the Priestly caste than the P’rushim (Pharisees). Therefore, the question is mute. The Boethusians^[95] have no such halakhic practices nor do they believe in the Oral Torah. However, they were acquainted with the halakhic practices of both of the Schools of the P’rushim. We will now look our present pericope to see if it follows the same pattern.

Mark 12:37b-40

A.           12:37b ¶ And the large congregation (of the many) heard him with delight.

Hakham Tsefet begins with a general statement. This should grab the attention of the reader and lecturer as a specific hermeneutic signal.

B.           12:38 And while he (Yeshua) was teaching them he said, Behold (with discernment) the Soferim (of the Tz’dukim), who like to walk around in (ceremonial) robes, and desire (honorary) salutations in the public places,

Hakham Tsefet now makes a halakhic statement in the form of a narrative.

C.           12:39 and chief seats in the Synagogues, and chief places (places of honor) at the festivals

D.           12:40a and they seize the houses of widows, and make long pretentious prayers of piety.

Here below is his halakhic determination on this type of conduct.

E.            12:40b These will receive a more severe judgment.

The halakhic argument follows a specific order and process. We can also apply this same reasoning to the Remes of Hakham Shaul. Note the statement of the halakhic argument. We will deal with specific hermeneutics below.

Romans 6:1-11

A.           6:1 What therefore can we say? Will we^[96] continue in habitual sin,^[97] in order that loving-kindness may increase?

Hakham Shaul opens in the exact same way that Hakham Tsefet’s Peshat, that being with a “general statement.” 

B.           6:2 May it never be! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

And, the argument is laid out offers an immediate retort.

C.           6:3 Or do you not know that as many as were immersed into Yeshua the Messiah were immersed into his death, burial and resurrection?

D.           6:4 Therefore, allegorically speaking we have been buried with him through immersion into death, in order that just as Messiah was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we may live a new way of life.

E.            6:5 For if we have become identified with him in the likeness of his death, certainly also we will be identified with him in the likeness of his resurrection,

F.            6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with him, in order that the body of sin may be done away with, that we may no longer be enslaved to sin.

G.           6:7 For the one who has died has been freed from sin.

H.           6:8 Now if we died with the Messiah, we believe that we will also live with him,

I.             6:9 knowing that the Messiah, because he has been raised from the dead, is going to die no more, death no longer being master over him.

J.            6:10 For that death he died, he died to sin once and never again, but that life he lives, he lives to God.

K.           6:11 So also you, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Yeshua the Messiah.

We have offered only a brief overview of Hakham Tsefet’s Peshat and Hakham Shaul’s Remes. These two sections are specifically tied together and deal with the issues at hand helping us illustrate our point.

We now proceed with Hakham Shaul’s argument on the cosmic Nomos/Torah. If there is a cosmic Nomos/Torah and it was evident and present in Gan Eden where the first couple’s first experience was Shabbat, we should be able to find adequate evidence for this. First we must set aside the statement that G-d has constantly repeated “and G-d said…”

B’resheet (Gen.) 3:8 ¶ They (Adam & Chavah) heard the voice of the LORD God walking (repeating halakhah) in (of) the garden in the ruach (time when the halakhah was breathed – spoken i.e. time for the daily lesson of the Oral Torah) of the day. And, the man and his wife hid themselves from the Shekinah (presence) of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

It is evident from the text that there is a lesson taught to Adam and Chavah. Now the question remains as to what they were being taught. We can surmise that the previous Oral lesson on the trees of the Garden has been received (kibal). Peering into that lesson we understand that G-d did not want Adam and Chavah to eat the fruit of the tree where the fruit of “good is married to evil” making it impossible to differ one from the other. Furthermore, we must deduce that that Adam and Chavah were aware of the consequences for consuming the fruit of that tree. Adam knew that he would be exiled from the garden and from the immediate presence (Shekinah) of G-d.

Again, we ask, what lesson were they learning in the present pericope? The Jewish mind has no difficulty advancing the answer. It is evident that the lesson was on Shabbat or the Erub. We have shown how the fall and redemption of humanity is evident from the first few verses in our audio classes. Therefore, G-d is aware of the fact that Adam would fall. Such being the case we can understand how that both ideas (Shabbat and Erubin) would be of import to Adam’s exile. Was his sin intentional?

Hakham Shaul takes for granted that his audience is aware of these things. It is for this reason that he has brought an Abrahamic example, as we will see below.

For example, we will use the Mishnah Torah of the Rambam to make our point.

Shabbat Halacha 1

Resting from labor on the seventh day fulfills a positive commandment, as [Exodus 23:12] states, "And you will rest on the seventh day." Anyone who performs a labor on this day negates the observance of a positive commandment and also transgresses a negative commandment, for [ibid. 20:10] states, "Do not perform any labor [on it]."

What are the liabilities incurred by a person who performs labor [on this day]? If he does so willingly, as a conscious act of defiance, he is liable for karet; if witnesses who administer a warning are present, he should be stoned [to death]. If he performs [labor] without being conscious of the transgression, he is liable to bring a sin offering of a fixed nature.^[98]

In other words, Adam was perfectly aware of what his sin on Shabbat would bring about for all humanity.

Waters of Eden

We will now concentrate on the allegorical meaning of Hakham Shaul’s pericope. Forgive us for barrowing the title of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan’s title (The Waters of Eden). While it may not be perfectly evident how this connects the Remes to the Peshat in some minds, we note that Hakham Tsefet uses once again the word “delight” in the opening of his pericope. Gan Eden is, as we have noted “ad nauseam” a reference to “delight.”

Hakham Shaul’s argument so far is that Abraham Abinu logically attached himself to the Cosmic Torah, i.e. the Oral Torah, and as such, Hakham Shaul shows that every Gentile coming to G-d must take the same steps.

If we fail to connect the allegorical dots of Hakham Shaul’s Remes, we will wander in hermeneutic darkness to our eventual demise. Hakham Shaul brought Abraham into the picture to show that the Gentiles turning to G-d MUST be circumcised. If we are not astute enough to garner this information from his Igeret to the Romans, we will have missed his whole agenda. Having shown that Abraham circumcised his whole household as a sign of their entering the Covenant with G-d, he shows the next step in conversion is “immersion” in the “waters of Eden” per se. Why do we refer to them as the “waters of Eden?” It should be evident that Hakham Shaul speaks of being immersed into Messiah, the “son of Delight.” Interestingly because Hakham Tsefet uses the word “delight” once again in the opening of his pericope. Hakham Shaul notices this idea and brings us to the place of “immersion.” Notice the connection between the idea of immersion and delight fostered by Hakham Tsefet.^[99]

The Tents (Academy) of Shem

Is it possible for a Gentile to attend the academy of Shem?

We have already seen that Hakham Shaul is showing a progressive working out of Gentile conversion. However, we must realize that Hakham Shaul and Hakham Tsefet are not just making “general” converts. They are making “specific” converts. Therefore, we are focusing on the “particular” rather than the general.

Here we connect with five Remes Hermeneutic rules.

3. Binyan ab: “A standard from a passage or passages of Scripture.” A certain passage serves as a basis for the interpretation of many others so that the decision given in the case of one is valid for all the rest or a decision in two laws having a characteristic in common is applied to many other laws, which have this same characteristic.

4. Kelal u-perat: “General and s, particular and general” is a limitation of the general by the

particular and vice versa.

5. U-perat. u-kelal: The particular and the general.

6. Kelal u-perat. u-kelal: The general, the particular, and the general.

7. The general, which requires elucidation by the particular, and the particular, which requires elucidation by the general.

Therefore, we are not dealing with Gentiles as a whole. Secondly, we are not dealing with conversion as a whole. We are dealing with particular Gentiles, i.e. those who are turning towards G-d and their particular conversion.^[100]

b. Meg 9b R. SIMEON B. GAMALIEL SAYS THAT BOOKS [OF THE SCRIPTURE] ALSO ARE PERMITTED TO BE WRITTEN ONLY IN GREEK. R. Abbahu said in the name of R. Johanan: The halachah follows R. Simeon b. Gamaliel. R. Johanan further said: What is the reason of R. Simeon b. Gamaliel? Scripture says, God enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem;^[101] [this means] that the words of Japheth^[102] shall be in the tents of Shem. But why not say [the words of] Gomer and Magog?^[103]  R. Hiyya b. Abba replied: The real reason is because it is written, Let God enlarge [yaft] Japheth: implying, let the chief beauty [yafyuth] of Japheth^[104] be in the tents of Shem.

The cited Talmudic passage follows our same hermeneutics and connects with the idea that we are positing. There is a specific aspect of Yaphet that the Talmudic passage is dealing with rather than all of Yaphet’s descendants. Note that “Gomer and Magog” are excluded. Therefore, we are dealing with a specific rather than a generality. The Gentiles that Hakham Shaul is addressing are those who are turning to Judaism with the belief that Yeshua is the Messiah. Hakham Shaul then points to the allegorical aspects of the Master’s death burial and resurrection as a means for the Gentile converts in order to understand the structure and meaning of their conversion.

Talmidim of the Master:

Rom 8:1 ¶ Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are identified with Yeshua HaMashiach.

While there are as many translations and commentaries on the 8^th Chapter of Romans as there are "scholars," this chapter is one of the most misunderstood chapters in all of Hakham Shaul's writings. The opening phrase has been used to propagate more confusion and antinomianism than would seem humanly possible.

So if we suggest that the idea of there being no "condemnation in Messiah," what are we saying?

The reasoning behind the lack of “condemnation” has nothing to do with the “forgiveness of sin.” What Hakham Shaul is saying is that there is not a possibility of condemnation among those who are “in” union, or “identified” with Messiah because they are Shomer Shabbat, .i.e. “La Crème de la Crème." They lead exemplary lives and while not being above reproach they, like Zachariah and Elisheba live as Tsadiqim.^[105]

Hakham Shaul is not making these arguments for the sake of “saving the whole world.” Herein we find the context for the statement of Yochanan in 3:16. Yeshua, Hakham Tsefet and Hakham Shaul along with all the other Nazarean Rabbanim are “raising the bar” per se. It is one thing to know of the Master and his works and another to be a full convert. Those who are “without condemnation” are not above reproach because they came to Judaism through the Master. They are above reproach and condemnation because they keep the mitzvoth in the same way that the Master and his Talmidim have taught. They follow the Master’s interpretation of the Mesorah.

Submission to the Oral Torah: Death of the Old Man

“Raising the Bar” “(to) raise the bar,” or “raising the bar,”" is an expression used to convey the idea of gradually setting the accepted minimum standards higher in order to reach an objective of excellence.

Hakham Tsefet posits these ideas by using terms to describe the Priesthood of the Firstborn. The Priesthood of the Firstborn is a collegiate institution of Hakhamim who are ἱερός ἀνθρώπους – ieros anthrapous, “men as a sanctuary” (מקדש),” i.e. the Mishkan. These men are the receptacle of the Oral Torah and personification of an “unwritten Law/Torah.” Being a talmid in the school of a Master/Hakham, was not just the “study” of the “unwritten Torah,” the talmid had to imitate the “living” (incarnate) Torah Scroll that his master represented. This living Torah was imitated in every gesture, which was believed to have been a part of the ancient tradition.^[106] These Hakhamim were more than just a living expression of the Torah, they became the new father^[107] to their talmidim.^[108] As fathers, they were responsible for the welfare of their sons (talmidim). In the school of his Hakham the talmid’s, character was fashioned and readied for the Y’mot HaMashiach (days of Messiah) and the Olam HaBa (the ever coming world). In this way, the Hakhamim were the forge of the talmid’s soul. The acceptance of a talmid into the school of a Hakham meant the end of an “old life” (old man) and the beginning of a new being (creature).^[109] “He was a convert from one way of living to another”^[110] and said to have been “born again.” This is perfectly illustrated in the present Remes portion of our Nazarean Talmud. “For if we have become identified with him in the likeness of his death, certainly also we will be identified with him in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified together with him, in order that the body of sin may be done away with, that we may no longer be enslaved to sin.” The present Remes pericope demonstrates this when the “talmidim” after hearing the Mesorah of the Master were “immersed into Messiah.” Becoming talmidim of the Master gave them the new life they were looking for. The new life in the Master sets the goal above the norm and creates a new atmosphere of life for his talmidim.

=============================================================================================

Questions for Reflection

1. From the “Six Basic Elements of Peshat and Remes Discourse of the Nazarean Codicil” identify their relationship as translated above.

· Identify the context in which this Gemará was crafted;

· Identify the parties or stake-holders of this Gemará debate;

· Controversy of a Mitzvah or Mitzvoth in question of this Gemará;

· Contestation against the Hillelite interpretation of the mitzvah or mitzvoth in question;

· Riposte of the Master or Hakham;

· Verdict concluded by the Master or Hakham (Halakha).

2. From all the readings for this week, which verse or verses touched your heart and fired your imagination?

3. In your opinion what is the prophetic statement for this week?

=============================================================================================

Blessing After Torah Study

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

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

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

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

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

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

“Now unto Him who is able to preserve you faultless, and spotless, and to establish you without a blemish, before His majesty, with joy, [namely,] the only one God, our Deliverer, by means of Yeshua the Messiah our Master, be praise, and dominion, and honor, and majesty, both now and in all ages. Amen!”

Next Shabbat:

Shabbat: “Al-Tak’ritu” – “Do not let be cut off”

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
אַל-תַּכְרִיתוּ		Saturday Afternoon
“Al-Tak’ritu”	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 4:17-23	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 6:1-3
“Do not let be cut off”	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 4:24-37	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 6:4-6
“No permitáis que sea cortada”	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 4:38-69	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 4:6-8
B’midbar (Numbers) 4:17 – 5:31	Reader 4 – B’Midbar 5:1-10
Ashlamatah: Zeph 3:7-15, 20	Reader 5 – B’Midbar 5:11-16	Monday & Thursday Mornings
	Reader 6 – B’Midbar 5:17-22	Reader 1 – B’Midbar 6:1-3
Psalms 93:1-5 & 94:1-15	Reader 7 – B’Midbar 5:23-28	Reader 2 – B’Midbar 6:4-6
	Maftir – B’Midbar 5:29-31	Reader 3 – B’Midbar 4:6-8
N.C.: 2 Pet 2:10-22 Lk 16:19-31 & 17:3b-4 Rm 6:12-23	Zeph 3:7-15, 20

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

---

[1] In Pesikta Rabbati number 46.

[2] The commentaries explain that the name Yehudah shares the same root as the Hebrew word hoda'ah, which means acknowledgement or submission. One who acknowledges G‑d's existence and submits to His authority--to the extent that he is willing to sacrifice his life for the sanctification of His name--he is called a Yehudi.

[3] Bereshit (Genesis) 29:35

[4] See Midrash Shocher Tov and Radak to 91:1

[5] Shabbat is the English transliteration of the Hebrew word normally translated as ‘Sabbath’.

[6] Rosh Hashanah 31a

[7] Day is our verbal tally with the Torah portion: Day - יום, Strong’s number 03117.

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

[9] In Bereshit (Genesis) 2:2, the Torah calls Shabbat The Seventh day.

[10] The Sages teach us that what Shabbat, Sabbath, is to time, so Eretz Israel, the land of Israel, is to space.  The Shmita, or Sabbatical, year connects these two. Space and time come together in a Shmita year.

[11] In this world we still have a taste of the Olam HaBa through their honoring and guarding of Shabbat. We use our labor of the six days to connect to the Shabbat. They picture the six thousand years of labor followed by the Messianic age when all will be Shabbat. This seventh millennium is itself a prelude to the Olam HaBa. In this seventh millennium, we will still have going and doing. Never the less, in the messianic age we will be connecting with Shabbat through all of our actions.

[12] The climax of the act of marital intimacy brings with it a sharp sense of arrival, of being there. This is the sensation we get when we arrive in the next world, of which Shabbat is just a bare taste, as we shall soon see.

[13] "What does shamayim mean? Sham mayim (water is there)" (Chagigah 12a).

[14] After Kiddush, Shabbat is celebrated with a sumptuous feast. Make sure to have three large meals on Shabbat: one on Friday night, one the next day, and one smaller one in the late afternoon.

[15] There is a popular teaching that it’s a “double mitzvah” to have sex on Shabbat, as both observing the day of rest and having sex with your spouse are mitzvot. In the Torah, the word used for sex between husband and wife comes from the root Yod-Dalet-Ayin, meaning "to know," which vividly illustrates that proper Jewish sexuality involves both the heart and mind, not merely the body. - Ket. 62b and BQ 82a

[16] To learn what is considered "creative work", we study the principles found in the original creation of the Mishkan. Our tradition identifies 39 categories.

[17] On Friday night, before the evening services, we welcome in the Shabbat Queen with a special collection of Psalms and the beautiful melody of Lecha Dodi. The following morning’s service is expanded to include the reading of the weekly Torah portion and the additional Musaf service.

[18] Shabbat is a day of connections and unity - Shabbat is a day of Daat. The expression “Vayekhulu hashamayim vehaaretz,” usually translated “The Heavens and earth were finished,” can be read as “The Heavens and earth were connected,” [with “Vayekhulu” deriving from the root “Kaf lamed lamed,” meaning joined together as a group, a “kelal”]. Just as the Heavens and the earth are connected in the world at large, mind and character are connected within man’s parallel inner world.

[19] Shemot (Exodus) 20:8 Remember the Shabbat day, to keep it holy.

[20] The answer to this question is found in the oral Torah.

[21] The most common custom is to light at least two candles, corresponding to the two forms of the fourth commandment: to remember (zachor: Shemot (Exodus) 20:8) and to observe (shamor: Devarim (Deuteronomy) 5:12) the Shabbat day to keep it holy. There are other customs, for example one candle for each of our children.

[22] The Friday night Kiddush is where we declare that the purpose of Shabbat is “to remember creation and to remember the Exodus.” Because while HaShem created the entire world, it was through the Exodus from Egypt that mankind came to appreciate HaShem as the guiding hand of history.

[23] Wine is related to daat, knowledge. Both maintain excellence only in humble containers. Both get better with age. Wine, and associated products, is the only substance on earth that gets better with age. Wine, and the sod, the secret level of Torah, both have the same gematria, which is why the Sages teach that when “wine goes in the secret comes out”. We, therefore take wine, as Jews, when ever we want to elevate ourselves to a higher level.

[24] Jews take wine at every time they are ascending from one level, in this world, to a higher level. We drink wine on occasions that mark distinction (circumcision), growth (marriage), elevation (Shabbat) and enlightenment (Purim, Passover). “Wine is a primary expression of sanctity, kedushah, since they ordain a blessing over wine, Kiddush, as the proper way to inaugurate each Shabbat and festival day.

[25] Keep it holy.

[26] The Maharal developed a numerical approach in his study of the entire Written and Oral Law. He noted that numbers contain special significance. A numerical connection between two Hebrew words is not simply a random connection; it illustrates a deep conceptual bond. In the Maharal’s system, multiples of ten do not change the character of the number; therefore, we can relate to seventy as a large seven. But, before we understand the number seven, let’s talk about the number six. In the three-dimensional physical world, everything has six sides, as in the sides of a cube; the number six relates to the six sides of the physical existence in which we live. Seven, however, is the point at the center of the cube; it is the hidden place where everything in the physical world has its spiritual source. It is the point that represents unity and the inner essence of all existence. Now we can understand the Maharal’s statement that wine comes from the place of concealment. The numerical value of the word for wine (yayin - יין) points us to the hidden, inner essence of Creation. It also illustrates our appointed task in the world: bringing the seven, the elusive ideal, into the six, the physical nature of existence. This is a reason why wine is present for almost every significant Jewish lifecycle event, as well at every Shabbat and festival. At these central moments, wine sits at the center of our table and reminds us all about our hidden, infinite potential.

[27] Drinking wine has other deep meanings as well. Why is it that we always start a spiritual holiday with Kiddush over wine? Well a Holiday such as Shabbat is a mix of physical and spiritual entities. The point of holidays is to lift our physical activities to the level of the spiritual. A person’s spiritual level gets better with time (if he/she works on his/herself), however all physical things get worse with time. The only exception is wine. Wine is a physical entity which gets better with time thus symbolizing the mixture of the physical and spiritual.

[28] Friday afternoon just before Shabbat starts (Erev Shabbat means the eve of the Sabbath).

[29] Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon or Elijah of Vilna, or by his Hebrew acronym HaGra ("HaGaon Rabbenu Eliyahu") or Elijah Ben Solomon, (Sialiec, April 23, 1720 – Vilnius October 9, 1797), was a Talmudist, halakhist, kabbalist, and the foremost leader of mitnagdic (non-hasidic) Jewry of the past few centuries.

[30] Creative labors, the labors of a king.

[31] The Day of Atonement.

[32] The weekly Shabbat and each of the festivals, in Vayikra chapter 23, are described as containing festival Shabbats. These festival Shabbats have the same actions and prohibitions as the weekly Shabbat. The only difference between the weekly Shabbat and the festival Shabbats is that we are allowed to cook on the festivals, if the fire is lit before the festival.

[33] Shemot (Exodus) 31:13.

[34] First of all, the Mishkan itself is a micro-world. Each and every detail, along with the 39 types of labor necessary for its construction, model the seven days of creation. As an aside, it now makes sense why the Torah forbids us to do those very same thirty-nine (forty less one) types of labor on Shabbat. Just as HaShem completed His activities of creation on the 7th day, so too we must stop our acts of labor on the 7th day. We are emulating the Creator!

[35] Shabbat 73a

[36] Shabbat is described as “meeyn olam haba” - a small degree of the experience of the next world.

[37] Shabbat 57b

[38] The Coming World.

[39] The Hebrew word for sign, ot - אות, gives us significant insight into HaShem’s plans. Ot - אות, Has a vav between an alef and a tav. The vav (ו) is the Hebrew letter that is often used for the prefix ‘and’. It is the letter of connection. The alef (א) is the first letter of the Hebrew alefbet. The tav (ת) is the last letter of the Hebrew alefbet. Thus, the Hebrew word ‘ot – אות’, sign, carries the connotation of something that connect the beginning and the end.

[40] At Mt. Sinai, the Torah says that not only Jews were there, but a large mixed multitude of other people. Both groups accepted the covenant. In the process, all those Gentiles became Jews. At Sinai, Jews and Gentiles became Jews, they all became converts. That is why the rules for converts today correspond exactly to the requirements to stand at the foot of Mt. Sinai, in the Days of Moses.

[41] A man always needs a sign of his bond with HaShem. Shabbat itself is such a sign, but on the weekdays, this sign is tefillin.

[42] Thus, we see that circumcision and Shabbat are connected.

[43] ger tzaddik is a fully converted follower of the Torah of Moshe. According to Hilchot Melachim 10:3-4, a "Ger tzaddik" is defined as someone who has confirmed their conversion (out of a sincere and deep conviction in the truth of the Jewish religion, without any other motivation whatever). Later on (in verse 12), we see that a "Ger tzaddik" must non-selectively accept all of the mitzvot of the Torah of Moshe. 

[44] A Ger toshav (lit. resident) is a Gentile who keeps the seven laws of Noah. A ger tzaddik is the name for a Gentile after he has entered the covenant and becomes a Jew.

[45] II Luqas (Acts) chapter 15 strongly implies this.

[46] Circumcision

[47] This is why the Tanach often equates idolatry with adultery.

[48] Sanhedrin 58b

[49] Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 9:25

[50] Bereshit (Genesis) 8:22. ‘They’ is here made to apply to men, and ‘shall not’ is taken to mean ‘may not’.

[51] Eisenstein, J. E., V. p. 623, suggests that this may have been directed against the Christian Jews, who disregarded the Mosaic law yet observed the Sabbath, and quotes Maimonides who advances the following reason: ‘The principle is, one is not permitted to make innovations in religion or to create new commandments. He has the privilege to become a true proselyte by accepting the whole law.’ (Yad. Melachim, X, 9.) He also points out that ‘Deserves death’ expresses strong indignation, and is not to be taken literally; [cf. the recurring phrase. ‘He who transgresses the words of the Sages deserves death.’ Ber. 6b.]

[52] The seven Noachian laws deal with things which a heathen must abstain from doing. But when we say that a heathen must not observe a day of rest, we bid him to do a positive action, viz., work.

[53] To Sanhedrin 58b

[54] The Gemara states that there are twenty-four instances in Scripture where the Priests are referred to as Levites. Reb Tzadok HaKohen from Lublin writes that the concept of Shabbat is mentioned twelve times in the Torah, and we know that everything on Shabbat is double, so essentially Shabbat is represented by the number twenty-four. This idea is also reflected in the fact that a bride adorns herself with twenty-four ornaments, and the Shabbat is referred to as the bride. In a similar vein we can suggest that the Zohar states that a Torah scholar is akin to Shabbat, and the Priests and Levites were the quintessential Torah scholars amongst the Jewish People, so it is appropriate that the Priests are referred to as Levites twenty-four times in Scripture.

[55] Bava Kama 32a

[56] A 16th century poet and Kabbalist from Tzfat.

[57] Ta’amei HaMinhagim, pg. 502 (Eshkol Ed.)

[58] Maimonides, Laws of Kings 10:9

[59] Maimonides writes that although this prohibition is not punishable with death, only floggings, gentiles should be warned that they could be liable for the death penalty as a means of deterring them from sinning through rest.

[60] 1479-1573

[61] Radbaz ibid. 10:10

[62] Chatam Sofer to Chullin 33a

[63] Nedarim 31a

[64] This is why in Halacha the recitation of Genesis 2:1-3 on Friday night is to be done with at least two men because in Halacha witnesses in a legal setting can only come in pairs.

[65] See Rashi to Yevamot 48b who says that a Ger Toshav is supposed to observe Shabbat; however, see Tosafot there.

[66] Note that the “Rich man” flaunts his wealth and power here in such proximity to Pesach. His inflated pride wearing “linen” shows his affinity towards the Egyptians. Here in the proximity to Pesach he represents the “wicked son” from the line of Qyain (Cain).

[67] The implication of the text here is that the “Rich Man” lived in luxuries and elegancies in food, clothing and lifestyle habitually.

[68] The “Rich Man” “feasting” on delicacies on a daily basis calls us to attention. Again, in the proximity to Pesach Hakham Shaul is telling us that he did not keep the feast of Chag HaMatzot.  

[69] λαμπρός -  bright, radiant, of the sun and stars, further attesting to the connection to Pesach and the Exodus. The Radiant “sun-god” of the Egyptians was “Ra.”

[70] Alluding to “lechem oni” the bread of poverty and slavery.

[71] 1 to throw or let go of a thing without caring where it falls. 1a to scatter, to throw, cast into. The language of the text implies that Eliezer (Lazarus) is thrust, cast out. The language bespeaks the Exodus from Mitzrayim. Eliezer is “thrust out” of the “Rich Man’s” gate. He is clothed in fine “Linen,” the preferential clothing of the Egyptian Priests. The narrative of Lot in the Peshat text is a setting of Pesach. It is with great hast that Lot is “thrust out” of the “Gates” of Sodom and Amorah.

[72] 1 a large gate: of a palace. 2 the front part of a house, into which one enters through the gate, porch. i.e. the doorway.

[73] The imagery painted by Hakham Shaul is an allegory for the Egyptians and the B’ne Yisrael. The B’ne Yisrael were inflicted with wounds brought about by “dogs” i.e. Gentiles and their abusive treatment of the B’ne Yisrael.

[74] Thematic connection to 2Tsefet (Pe) 2:4

[75] Five brothers without the sixth, refers to the Five books of Torah that must be balanced by “HEARING” the Oral Torah

[76] νυστάζω 2 Sm 4,6; Is 5,27; 56,10; Jer 23,31; Na 3,18 to be half asleep, to doze, to slumber Is 5,27 *Jer 23,31 νυστάζοντας νυσταγμὸν ἑαυτῶν slumbering their sleep, dozing on - נום for MT נאם they utter oracles?

This is a play on words related to the prophetic state of those "magidim" that were "messengers" now chained in darkness.

[77] Yehudah (Jude) 1:6

[78] Rev 20:1

[79] The vocabulary of this verse denotes the thought of casting down in judgment.

[80] The example, set pattern for the judgment of the ungodly is set, established in what was seen in the ancient world.

[81] We should bear in mind that the narrative of Lot occurs on Pesach. Lot is “thrust out” of the city with great hast. This is to insure his protection.

[82] The use of “we” in this verse notes that the Gentiles have been through conversion, receiving the Nefesh Yehudi and now belonging to the Jewish people. The use of “we” throughout the rest of this pericope is rhetorical.

[83] Here Hakham Shaul is speaking of the transformation to Jewish life. In other words, should you remain as Gentiles “in sin” or should their lives be transformed by the reception of the Nefesh Yehudi.

[84] The vocabulary of this verse denotes the thought of casting down in judgment.

[85] Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 2:9 - All existence, aside from the Creator - from the first form down to a small mosquito in the depths of the earth - came into being from the influence of His truth. Since He knows Himself and recognizes His greatness, beauty, and truth, He knows everything, and nothing is hidden from Him. (Rambam), Maimonides, and Rabbi Eliyahu Touger. Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah: The Laws [Which Are] the Foundations of the Torah. Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1989. p. 170

[86] Mose ben Maimon. The Guide for the Perplexed. New York: Dover, 1956. pp. 282-285

[87] Urbach, Ephraim Elimelekh. The Sages: Their Concepts and Beliefs. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1979. p. 255. See also Josephus Antiquities xviii, 1, 3

[88] The work of the Tibbonides, the noted family of translators. See “Communal” THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY RESPONDS TO ISSUES OF THE DAY: A COMPENDIUM p. 211

[89] On mazzal cf. Sanh. (Sonc. ed.), p. 629, n. 10; it is here applied even to plant life.

[90] Luzzatto, Moshe Hayyim. Derekh Hashem “the Way of God;” Translated and Annotated by Aryeh Kaplan; Emended by Gershon Robinson. Jerusalem; New York: Feldheim Publishers, 1998. p. 91-93

[91] Aboth 3:15

[92] Cf.B’resheet 13:11, and the present pericope of Hakham Tsefet who shows that “the act of seeing what he saw and hearing what he heard while residing among them day by day tormented his pious (righteous/generous) soul with their activities of Lawlessness.” 

[93] B’resheet 15:5ff

[94] Cf. Aboth 2:4 - He would say, “Make His will into your own will, so that He will make your wishes into His wishes.

[95] Boethusians

[96] The use of “we” in this verse notes that the Gentiles have been through conversion, receiving the Nefesh Yehudi and now belonging to the Jewish people. The use of “we” throughout the rest of this pericope is rhetorical.

[97] Here Hakham Shaul is speaking of the transformation to Jewish life. In other words, should you remain as Gentiles “in sin” or should their lives be transformed by the reception of the Nefesh Yehudi.

[98] (Rambam), Maimonides, and Rabbi Eliyahu Touger. Mishneh Torah: Hilchot Yesodei Shabbat: The Laws of the Sabbath. Moznaim Publishing Corporation, 1989. p. 12ff.

[99] We draw our inferences from the fact that Yeshua when immersed is then referred to as the son of “delight.” Therefore, we also note that Aryeh Kaplan aptly writes on the “Waters of Eden” which we can translate to mean the “waters of delight.” If we connect this with Hakham Shaul’s Igeret to the Romans, we note that the Gentile turning to G-d experienced ritual circumcision and then ritual immersion in the “waters of delight” per se.

[100] While Shammai had basically forbid Gentile conversion, it is still possible that some Rabbis may have been sympathetic and converted talmidim. However, we must believe that while this number was possible it was also very limited.

[101] Gen. IX, 27.

[102] Javan (Greece) is reckoned among the sons of Japheth in Gen. X, 2.

[103] Who are also reckoned among the sons of Japheth, loc. cit.

[104] I.e., the Greek language.

[105] Luqas (Luke) 1:5-6 And now it happened in the days of Herod, king of Y’hudah, that there was a Kohen (priest) named Z’kharyah, of the (priestly) division of Aviyah.^[105] And he had a wife from the daughters of Aharon, and her name was Elisheba.^[105] And they were both righteous/generous before God, walking blamelessly (sinless) in all the mitzvoth (commandments) and statutes^[105] of the LORD.

[106] Neusner, Jacob. First-Century Judaism in Crisis: Yohanan Ben Zakkai and the Renaissance of Torah. Augmented ed. New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1982. p.95

[107] Cf. B’resheet 10:21 where Shem is called the “father” of the children of Eber.

[108] Ibid

[109] Cf. 2 Cor. 5:17

[110] Ibid