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Triennial Cycle (Triennial Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)
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Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings |
Third Year of the Triennial Reading Cycle |
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Sivan 12, 5782 / June 10,11 2022 |
Seventh Year of the Shmita Cycle |
Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times: https://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm
Roll of Honor:
This Commentary comes out weekly and on the festivals thanks to the great generosity of:
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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!
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Blessing Before Torah Study
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study Torah. Amen!
Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people, the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for the sake of fulfilling Your delight. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches Torah to His people Israel. Amen!
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Giver of the Torah. Amen!
Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment. "Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment: This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of Israel:
May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be kind to you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. – Amen!
This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites, and I will bless them."
These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.
These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They are: Honoring one's father and mother; doing acts of kindness; early attendance at the place of Torah study -- morning and night; showing hospitality to guests; visiting the sick; providing for the financial needs of a bride; escorting the dead; being very engrossed in prayer; bringing peace between two people, and between husband and wife; but the study of Torah is as great as all of them together. Amen!
We pray for our beloved Hakham His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai. Mi Sheberach…He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal the sick person HE Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for him to restore his health, to heal him, to strengthen him, and to revivify him. And may He send him speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit, swiftly and soon, and we will say amen ve amen!
A Prayer for Israel
Our Father in Heaven, Rock, and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land, grant them deliverance, and adorn them in a mantle of victory. Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness.
Lead them, swiftly and upright, to Your city Zion and to Jerusalem, the abode of Your Name, as is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses: “Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it, and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.” Draw our hearts together to revere and venerate Your name and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah, and send us quickly the Messiah son of David, agent of Your vindication, to redeem those who await Your deliverance.
Shabbat: “Shof’tim V’Shot’rim” - “Judges and Officers”
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Shabbat |
Torah Reading: |
Weekday Torah Reading: |
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שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים |
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Saturday Afternoon |
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Reader 1 – D’barim 16:18-20 |
Reader 1 – D’barim 17:14-16 |
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Reader 2 – D’barim 16:21-17:1 |
Reader 2 – D’barim 17:17-19 |
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“Jueces y oficiales” |
Reader 3 – D’barim 17:2-7 |
Reader 3 – D’barim 17:14-20 |
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D’barim (Deuteronomy) 16:18–17:17 |
Reader 4 – D’barim 17:8-10 |
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Reader 5 – D’barim 17:11-13 |
Monday & Thursday Mornings |
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Tehillim (Psalms) 119: 153-176 |
Reader 6 – D’barim 17:14-16 |
Reader 1 – D’barim 17:14-16 |
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Ashlamata: Isaiah 56:1-9 119+ 57:19 |
Reader 7 – D’barim 17:15-17 |
Reader 2 – D’barim 17:17-19 |
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N.C.: Mark 14:55-65; Luke 22:63-71 |
Maftir – D’barim 17:15-17, Is 56:1-9 119+ 57:19 |
Reader 3 – D’barim 17:14-20 |
Summary of the Torah Seder –D’barim (Deut.) 16:18 – 17:17
· Judges – Deuteronomy 16:18-19
· Justice, justice will you follow – Deuteronomy 16:20
· Against Idolatrous worship – Deuteronomy 16:21 – 17:7
· The Supreme Court – Deuteronomy 17:8-13
· The King – Deuteronomy 17:14-17
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: D’barim (Deut.) 16:18 - 17:17
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RASHI |
TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN |
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18. You shall set up judges and law enforcement officials for yourself in all your cities that the Lord, your God, is giving you, for your tribes, and they shall judge the people [with] righteous judgment. |
18. UPRIGHT judges and efficient administrators you will appoint in all your cities which the LORD your God will give you for your tribes, and they will judge the people with true judgment. |
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19. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show favoritism, and you shall not take a bribe, for bribery blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts just words. |
19. You will not set judgment aside, nor respect persons, nor take a gift, because a gift blinds the eyes of the wise who take it; for it perverts them to foolishness, and confuses equitable words in the mouth of the judges in the hour of their decision |
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20. Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving you. |
20. Upright and perfect judgment in truth will you follow, that you may come to inherit the land which the LORD your God will give you. |
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21. You shall not plant for yourself an asherah, [or] any tree, near the altar of the Lord, your God, which you shall make for yourself. |
21. As it is not allowed you to plant a grove by the side of the LORD's altar, so is it not allowed you to associate in judgment a fool with a wise judge to teach that which you are to do. |
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22. And you shall not set up for yourself a monument, which the Lord, your God hates. |
22. As it is not for you to erect a statue, so are you not to appoint to be a governor a proud man, whom the LORD your God does abhor. |
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1. You shall not sacrifice to the Lord, your God, an ox or a sheep that has in it a blemish or any bad thing, for that is an abomination to the Lord, your God. |
1. You will not sacrifice before the. LORD your God a bullock or lamb which has any blemish or evil in it, or which is torn or rent; for that is abominable before the LORD your God. |
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2. If there will be found among you, within one of your cities which the Lord, your God is giving you, a man or woman who does evil in the eyes of the Lord, your God, to transgress His covenant, |
2. If there be found among you in one of your cities that the LORD your God will give you a man or woman who does what is evil before the LORD your God in transgressing His covenant, |
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3. and who will go and worship other gods and prostrate himself before them, or to the sun, the moon, or any of the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded; |
3. and, following after evil desire, will serve the idols of the Gentiles, and worship them, or the sun, or the moon, or all the host of the heavens, which I have not commanded; |
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4. and it will be told to you, and you will hear it, and investigate thoroughly, and behold, the matter coincides; this abomination has been perpetrated in Israel. |
4. and it be told you, and you hear and make inquiry by witnesses fairly; and, behold, if this word be true and certain, that such abomination is wrought among you, |
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5. Then you shall bring out that man or that woman who has committed this evil thing, to your cities, the man or the woman, and you shall pelt them with stones, and they shall die. |
5. then you will bring forth that man or woman who has done this evil thing, unto the gate of your house of judgment, the man or the woman, and you will stone them that they die. |
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6. By the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall the one liable to death be put to death; he shall not be put to death by the mouth of one witness. |
6. Upon the word of two witnesses or of three he will die who is guilty of death; they will not be put to death on the word of one witness. |
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7. The hand of the witnesses shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people, and you shall abolish evil from among you. |
7. The hands of the witnesses will be first upon him to kill him, and afterward the hands of all (any of) the people; and so will you bring down the evil doer among you. |
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8. If a matter eludes you in judgment, between blood and blood, between judgment and judgment, or between lesion and lesion, words of dispute in your cities, then you shall rise and go up to the place the Lord, your God, chooses. |
8. If there be with you an extraordinary matter for judgment between unclean and clean blood, cases of life or of money, or between a plague of leprosy or of the scall, with words of controversy in your Beth Din, then you will arise and go up to the place which the LORD your God will choose; |
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9. And you shall come to the Levitic kohanim and to the judge who will be in those days, and you shall inquire, and they will tell you the words of judgment. |
9. and you will come to the priests of the tribe of Levi, and to the judge who will be in those days, and inquire of them, and they will show you the process of judgment. |
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10. And you shall do according to the word they tell you, from the place the Lord will choose, and you shall observe to do according to all they instruct you. |
10. Then will you do according to the word of the custom of the Law that they will show you at the place the LORD will choose, and observe to do whatsoever they teach you. |
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11. According to the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left. |
11. According to the word of the Law that they will teach you, and the manner of judgment they pronounce, you will do. You will not turn aside from the sentence they will show you, to the right or to the left. |
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12. And the man who acts intentionally, not obeying the kohen who stands there to serve the Lord, your God, or to the judge that man shall die, and you shall abolish evil from Israel. |
12. And the man who will act with presumption, and not obey the judge or the priest who stands there to minister before the LORD your God, that man will be put to death; so will you put down the doer of evil from Israel, |
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13. And all the people shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer act wantonly. |
13. and all the people will hear, and be afraid, and not do wickedly again. |
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14. When you come to the land the Lord, your God, is giving you, and you possess it and live therein, and you say, "I will set a king over myself, like all the nations around me," |
14. When you enter the land which the LORD your God gives you, and possess, and dwell in it, and you say, Let us appoint a king over us, like all the nations about me, |
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15. you shall set a king over you, one whom the Lord, your God, chooses; from among your brothers, you shall set a king over yourself; you shall not appoint a foreigner over yourself, one who is not your brother. |
15. you will inquire for instruction before the LORD and afterward appoint the king over you: but it will not be lawful to set over you a foreign man who is not of your brethren. |
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16. Only, he may not acquire many horses for himself, so that he will not bring the people back to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, for the Lord said to you, "You shall not return that way any more." |
16. Only let him not increase to him more than two horses, lest his princes ride upon them, and become proud, neglect the words of the Law, and commit the sin of the captivity of Mizraim; for the LORD has told you, By that way you will return no more. |
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17. And he shall not take many wives for himself, and his heart must not turn away, and he shall not acquire much silver and gold for himself. |
17. Neither will he multiply to him wives above eighteen, lest they pervert his heart; nor will he increase to him silver or gold, lest his heart be greatly lifted up, and he rebel against the God of heaven. |
Reading Assignment:
The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez - Vol 17: Deuteronomy – III – Gratitude & Discipline
By: Rabbi Yitzchaq Behar Argueti & Rabbi Shmuel Yerushalmi
Published by: Moznaim Publishing Corp. (New York, 1992)
Vol. 17 – “Deuteronomy – III – Gratitude & Discipline,” pp. 191-230.
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 on D’barim (Deut.) 16:18 -17:17
18 Judges and law-enforcement officials Heb. שֽׁפְטִים וְשֽׁטְרִים . שֽׁפְטִים are judges who decide the verdict, and שֽׁטְרִים are those who chastise the people in compliance with their order, (who strike and bind [not found in early editions]) with rods and straps, until he [the guilty party] accepts the judge’s verdict.
in all your cities Heb. בְּכָל־שְׁעָרֶיךָ , in every city. for your tribes [This phrase] refers back to “You shall set up... for yourself.” Thus, the understanding of the verse is “You shall set up judges and law-enforcement officials for yourself, for your tribes, in all your cities that the Lord, your God, is giving you.”
for your tribes This teaches us that judges must be appointed for every tribe, and for every city.-[Sifrei, San. 16b]
and they shall judge the people [with] righteous judgment Appoint judges who are expert and righteous so that they will judge justly.-[from Sifrei]
19 You shall not pervert justice [This is to be understood] according to its apparent meaning.
you shall not show favoritism Even during the statement of pleas [by the litigants]. This is an admonition addressed to the judge, that he should not be lenient with one litigant and harsh with the other, [e.g., ordering] one to stand [while allowing] the other to sit, because as soon as one notices that the judge is showing more respect toward his opponent, he cannot plead his case any longer [because he thinks that it will be of no use].
and you shall not take a bribe Even [if you intend] to judge justly -[from Sifrei].
for bribery blinds As soon as he [the judge] accepts a bribe from him [a litigant], it is impossible for him not to be favorably disposed towards him, to decide the judgment in his favor.
just words Heb. דִּבְרי צַדִּיקִים, just words, true judgments.
20 Justice, justice shall you pursue Seek out a good court. (Sifrei; San. 32b)
that you may live, and you possess [the land] The appointment of fitting judges is sufficient merit to keep Israel alive and settled in their land.-[from Sifrei]
21 You shall not plant for yourself an asherah [This admonition is] to make one liabl e [to punishment] from the time of planting it, and even though he did not worship it, he transgresses a prohibition for its planting.-[from Sifrei]
You shall not plant...any tree, near the altar of the Lord your God This is a prohibition addressed to one who plants a tree or builds a house on the Temple Mount.-[Sifrei]
22 And you shall not set up for yourself any monument A monument of one stone, to sacrifice on it even to Heaven.
which [the Lord your God] hates God has commanded you to make an altar of stones and an altar of earth. This, however, He hates, because this was a [religious] statute of the Canaanites, and although it was dear to Him in the days of the Patriarchs, now He hates it, since these [people] made it a statute for idolatry. (See Sifrei)
Chapter 17
1 You shall not sacrifice... or any bad thing Heb. דָּבָר רַע . This is an admonition to one who would make sacrifices disqualified (פִּגּוּל) through an evil [improper] utterance דִּבּוּר רַע . And from this [expression] our Rabbis derived other explanations as well, as they appear in [the tractate] Shechitath Kodashim [early name for Zevachim].-[Zev. 36]
2 to transgress His covenant which He made with you, namely, not to worship idols.
3 which I have not commanded to worship them.-[Meg. 9b]
4 [the matter] coincides Heb. נָכוֹן דָּבָר , the testimony coincides. [I.e. the testimony of one witness coincides with that of the other.
5 Then you shall bring out that man... to your cities Heb. אֶל־שְׁעָרֶיךָ . One who translates אֶל־שְׁעָרֶיךָ as לִתְרַע בֵּית דִינָךְ , “to the gate of your court,” is mistaken, for we have learned the following: when the verse [here] says "אֶל־שְׁעָרֶיךָ" , this refers to the city where [the accused] worshipped idols, or does it refer to the gates [of the court] where he was judged [since the courts were located at the gates]? [In answer to this,] the verse here says שְׁעָרֶיךָ , and above (verse 2), it says שְׁעָרֶיךָ Just as שְׁעָרֶיךָ mentioned [clearly] refers to the city where he worshipped [idols] [and not to the gates of a court], so too, the word שְׁעָרֶיךָ mentioned here refers to the city where he worshipped [idols]. Thus the correct version of the Targum is לְקִרְוָיךְ , to your cities.
6 two witnesses, or three But if testimony can be executed through two witnesses, why then does Scripture specify "or three"? [It does so] to draw a comparison between [testimony of] three to that of two; just as two witnesses are considered one unit, so too, are three witnesses considered one unit, and they are not subject to the laws of “plotting witnesses” עֵדִים זוֹמְמִין , unless all of them are proven to be “plotting witnesses.”-[Mak. 5b] (See Deut. 19:16-21.)
8 If a matter eludes you [in judgment] Heb. כִּי יִפָּלֵא . [The term] הַפְלְאָה always denotes detachment and separation; [here it means] that the matter is detached and hidden from you.
between blood and blood Between ritually unclean blood [of menstruation], and ritually clean blood.-[Niddah 19a] (See Rashi on Lev. 12:1-5.)
between judgment and judgment Between a judgment of innocent and a judgment of guilty.
between lesion and lesion Between a ritually unclean lesion, and a ritually clean lesion.
words of dispute whereby the Sages of the city [the judges] differ in their opinion on the matter, one declaring it impure, the other pure, one ruling guilty, the other innocent.
then you shall rise and go up [This] teaches [us] that the Temple [the seat of the Sanhedrin, the Supreme Court] was on a higher elevation than all other places.-[Sifrei ; San. 87a]
9 [And you shall come to] the Levitic kohanim i.e., the kohanim, who are descended from the tribe of Levi.
and to the judge who will be in those days Although this judge may not be [of the same stature] as other judges who preceded him, you must listen to him, for you have only the judge [who lives] in your time.-[R.H. 25b]
11 either right or left, Even if this judge tells you that right is left, and that left is right. How much more so, if he tells you that right is right, and left is left!-[Sifrei]
13 And all the people shall listen From here we derive [the ruling] that they postpone his execution [i.e., of the זְקַן מַמְרֵא , the rebellious sage] until the Festival [when all Israel appears in Jerusalem], and they execute him on the Festival.-[San. 89a]
16 he may not acquire many horses for himself But, only what he needs for his chariots, “so that he will not cause the people to return to Egypt” [to purchase the horses], because horses come from there, as it is said of Solomon (I Kings 10:29), “And a chariot that went up and left Egypt sold for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for one hundred fifty.”-[San. 21b]
17 And he shall not take many wives for himself Only eighteen, for we find that David had six wives, and it was told to him [by Nathan the prophet] (II Sam. 12:8): “and if this is too little, I would add for you like them and like them” [totaling eighteen].-[San. 21a and Sifrei]
and he shall not acquire much silver and gold for himself However, he may have what is required to provide for his troops.-[San. 21b]
Tehillim (Psalms) 119: 153-176
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Rashi |
Targum |
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153. ¶ See my affliction and release me, for I have not forgotten Your Torah. |
153. RESH. See my affliction and deliver me; for I have not forgotten Your Torah. |
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154. Plead my cause and redeem me; for Your word sustains me. |
154. Argue my case and redeem me; heal me for Your word. |
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155. Salvation is far from the wicked, for they did not seek Your statutes. |
155. Redemption is far from the wicked; for they have not sought Your decrees. |
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156. Your mercies, O Lord, are abundant; according to Your custom, sustain me. |
156. Your mercies are many, O LORD; heal me according to Your judgments. |
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157. Many are my pursuers and my adversaries; from Your testimonies I did not turn away. |
157. Those who pursue me and oppress me are many; I have not turned away from Your testimonies. |
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158. I saw traitors and I quarreled [with them] because they did not keep your word. |
158. I saw despoilers and I contended with them, who have not kept Your word. |
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159. See that I love Your precepts, O Lord; according to Your kindness, sustain me. |
159. See this, for I have loved Your commandments; O LORD, according to Your kindness heal me. |
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160. The beginning of Your word is true, and each of Your righteous/generous judgments is eternal. {P} |
160. The beginning of Your word is truth; and all the judgments of Your righteousness/generosity are forever. |
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161. ¶ Princes pursued me for nothing, but my heart feared Your word. |
161. SHIN. Rulers have pursued me without cause; and my heart is in fear of Your word. |
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162. I rejoice over Your word as one who finds great spoil. |
162. I am glad concerning Your word, like a man who finds much spoil. |
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163. I hate falsehood, and I abominate [it], I love Your Torah. |
163. I have hated deceit and loathed it; I have loved Your Torah. |
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164. Seven times a day I praise You for Your righteous judgments. |
164. Seven times a day I have praised You, because of the judgments of your righteousness/ generosity. |
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165. There is abundant peace to those who love Your Torah, and they have no obstacle. |
165. There is great peace for those who love Your Torah in this age, and they have no stumbling-block in the age to come. |
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166. I hoped for Your salvation, O Lord, and I performed Your commandments. |
166. I have hoped for Your redemption, O LORD, and I have done Your commandments. |
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167. My soul kept Your testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. |
167. My soul has kept Your testimonies, and I have loved them greatly. |
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168. I kept Your precepts and Your testimonies, for all my ways are before You. {P} |
168. I have kept Your commandments and Your testimonies, for all my ways are before You. |
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169. ¶ May my song of prayer draw near before You, O Lord; according to Your word, enable me to understand. |
169. TAV. My prayer will come near in Your presence, O LORD; give me insight according to Your word. |
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170. May my supplication come before You; according to Your word, save me. |
170. Let my prayer come before You; deliver me according to Your word. |
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171. My lips will utter praise when You teach me Your statutes. |
171. My lips will seek praise, for You will teach me Your decrees. |
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172. My tongue will proclaim Your word, for all Your commandments are righteous/generous. |
172. My tongue will reply to Your word, for all Your judgments are righteousness/generosity. |
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173. May Your hand be [ready] to help me, for I have chosen Your precepts. |
173. May Your hand be ready to help me, for I have taken pleasure in Your commandments. |
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174. I yearned for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your Torah is my occupation. |
174. I have yearned for Your redemption, O LORD, and Your Torah is my delight. |
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175. May my soul live and praise You, and may Your judgments help me. |
175. May my soul live and praise You, and may Your judgments give me aid. |
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176. I went astray like a lost lamb; seek Your servant, for I did not forget Your commandments. {P} |
176. I have gone astray like a lost flock; seek Your servant, for I have not forgotten Your commandments. |
Rashi’s Commentary on Tehillim (Psalms) 119:153-176
160 The beginning of Your word is true And the end of Your word is not true? Rather, the end of Your word proves that the beginning of Your word is true. For, when the nations heard, “I am the Lord your God,” and “You shall not have [another god],” and “You shall not take, etc.,” they said, “Everything is for His benefit and for His glory.” As soon as they heard, “Honor, etc.; You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery,” they admitted [that they had erred] about the beginning of Your word, that it is true.
162 I rejoice over Your word Over Your promise that You promised me. Another explanation: Over one of Your enigmatic statements, when I understand it. Our Rabbis, however, interpreted it as referring to circumcision, for [when] David was in the bathhouse and saw himself without zizith, without tefillin, and without Torah, he said, “Woe is to me, for I am naked of all commandments.” As soon as he thought of the circumcision, he rejoiced and said when he emerged (from the bathhouse), “I rejoice over Your word.” [This refers to] circumcision, which was first given with a saying (אמירה) , and not with speaking (דיבור) , as it is said (Gen. 17:9): “And God said (ויאמר) to Abraham, ‘And you shall keep My covenant.’”
164 Seven times a day In the morning, twice before the reading of “Shema” and once after it, and in the evening, twice before it and twice after it.
for Your righteous judgments For the reading of the Shema, which consists of words of Torah.
168 for all my ways are before You You know all my ways.
169 according to Your word, enable me to understand the words of Your Torah; according to their law and in the order in which they stand.
171 will utter will speak.
172 My tongue will proclaim Heb. תען . Every [expression of] עַנִיָה is an expression of a loud voice, and the “father” of them all is (Deut. 27:14): “And the Levites shall proclaim (וענו) and say [to all Israel with a loud voice].”
Meditation from the Psalms
Psalm 119: 153-176
By H. Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David
I am repeating my introduction from the first part of this psalm for continuity.
The life of King David was devoted to the attainment of self-perfection in the service of HaShem. Every action and every step in David’s life was calculated to bring him closer to this lofty goal. In this psalm of one hundred seventy-six verses, the lengthiest in the Book of Tehillim, David painstakingly charts the progressive stage of his determined ascent toward spiritual perfection. The psalm follows the sequence of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet; eight verses begin with א, aleph, the next eight with ב, beit, and so on, because this psalm embodies an orderly program for achieving personal perfection. The Talmud[1] refers to this psalm a תמניא אפין, the repetition of eight. Whereas the number seven symbolizes the power of This World, which was created in seven days, eight symbolizes release from the desires of the mundane work which distract a person from his spiritual aspirations.[2]
In these verses David describes the many obstacles and danger that confronted him in his lifetime. Yet his spirit refused to be overwhelmed by sorrow, for he embraced the fount of joy, the Torah. As David followed the guiding light of G-d’s Torah, his lips burst forth in these ecstatic verses of praise for G-d’s salvation. This psalm opens with the statement: Praiseworthy are those whose way is wholesome, who walk with the Torah of HaShem. It goes on to cite scores of examples of how David strived to walk with G-d. In conclusion David declares: ‘I have attempted to follow You all my life HaShem. If I have failed, I beseech You not to abandon me! I have strayed like a lost sheep; seek out Your servant, I have not forgotten Your commandments’.[3]
Tehillim (Psalms) 119:162 I rejoice at Your word, as one that findeth great spoil.
In Psalm 119:162, the Talmud[4] homiletically interprets אמרתך, Your word, in the singular, as if it meant to single out one mitzva par excellence. This mitzva is brit mila, because it is the very first one that was given to Abraham as a specifically Jewish mitzva. Rashi agrees and elaborates a bit further:
162 I rejoice over Your word Over Your promise that You promised me. Another explanation: Over one of Your enigmatic statements, when I understand it. Our Rabbis, however, interpreted it as referring to brit mila, for [when] David was in the bathhouse and saw himself without zizith, without tefillin, and without Torah, he said, “Woe is to me, for I am naked of all commandments.” As soon as he thought of the brit mila, he rejoiced and said when he emerged (from the bathhouse), “I rejoice over Your word.” [This refers to] brit mila, which was first given with a saying (אמירה), and not with speaking (דיבור), as it is said (Gen. 17:9): “And God said (ויאמר) to Abraham, ‘And you shall keep My covenant.’”
The seventh of Avraham’s ten tests was to be circumcised in his old age. When Abraham was 99 years old he was commanded to undergo brit mila. He was very apprehensive about this, since he hoped to have a son in his old age, and everything possible would have to be done to enhance his virility. Now he was told to reduce his virility by undergoing brit mila, or so he thought.
Bereshit Rabbah 46:2 Why should [Abraham] not have circumcised himself at the age of forty-eight, when he recognized his Creator? So as not to shut the door in the face of converts. Then why not be circumcised at the age of eighty-five, when He spoke with him between the parts?[5] In order that Isaac might issue from a holy source. Then let him be circumcised at the age of eighty-six, when Ishmael was born? Rabbi Shim’on son of Laqish said: ‘I will set up a cinnamon tree in the world: just as the cinnamon tree yields fruit as long as you manure and tend around it, so [shall Abraham be] even when his blood runs sluggishly and his passions and desires have ceased’ [i.e., the blessed Holy One promised to renew Abraham’s virility, precisely, by means of brit mila].
With this worry behind him, Avraham moved swiftly to enter a covenant with HaShem. To understand this covenant, we need to see the structure with which the covenant was enacted. When we do this, we see that the covenant of circumcision, brit mila, is intimately tied up with the Promised land.
When you examine Bereshit (Genesis) chapter 17, which details the covenant that involves brit mila, you can see a sort of ATBASH structure, aka chiasm, that forces our attention to the center and shows us that the chapter wants us ‘to keep the covenant’. Everything leads to the center.
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Bereshit (Genesis) 17 |
Structure |
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3 And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him, saying: |
And Abram fell on his face |
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4 ‘As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. |
Avraham will be a father |
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5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. |
Abram is changed to Avraham |
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6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful (וְהִפְרֵתִי ), and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. |
To multiply greatly - וְהִפְרֵתִי |
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7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. |
Everlasting covenant |
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8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.’ |
God / Land / God |
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9 And God said unto Abraham: ‘And as for thee, thou shalt keep My covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations. |
And you shall keep the covenant |
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10 This is My covenant, which ye shall keep, between Me and you and thy seed after thee: every male among you shall be circumcised. |
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11 And ye shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of a covenant betwixt Me and you. 12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every male throughout your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any foreigner, that is not of thy seed. |
Brit mila / Covenant / Brit mila |
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13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant. |
Physical everlasting covenant |
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14 And the uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that soul shall be cut off (הֵפַר) from his people; he hath broken My covenant.’ |
To utterly nullify - הֵפַר |
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15 And God said unto Abraham: ‘As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. |
Sarai is changed to Sarah |
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16 And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her; yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be of her.’ |
Sarah will be a mother |
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17 And Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart: ‘Shall a child be born unto him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?’ |
And Abraham fell upon his face |
The final message: I will give you land - You will keep the covenant and be circumcised. This is clearly, and forcefully conveyed by Yehoshua. Just before the Bne Israel entered the promised land, Yehoshua was commanded to circumcise the Bne Israel. Thus, he established, again, a connection between the promised land and brit mila.
Yehoshua (Joshua) 5:2-3 At that time HaShem said unto Joshua: ‘Make thee knives of flint, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.’ 3 And Joshua made him knives of flint, and circumcised the children of Israel at Gibeath-ha-araloth.
The brit mila initiated by Yehoshua is another time where Pesach and brit mila are closely linked. When the Bne Israel were in Egypt they circumcised themselves four days before Pesach. In the above pasuk, Yehoshua is again circumcising the males just before Pesach.[6]
Pesach is about getting rid of Avoda Zara (idolatry) and commitment to HaShem. When the good kings of Israel wanted to purge the idolatry from the nation and to reaffirm commitment to HaShem, they chose the festival of Pesach to enact their policy of teshuva and eradication of avoda Zara.[7]
There are two eternal laws which are intimately connected. The first case of an eternal law is in Genesis 17, where God forges the covenant of brit mila with Avraham. Here we see the term l’dorotam l’brit olam:
Bereshit (Genesis) 17:7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant (לְדֹרֹתָם--לִבְרִית עוֹלָם), to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee.
And then again l’brit olam:
Bereshit (Genesis) 17:13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised; and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.
The next case, of an eternal law, is in Exodus 12, where HaShem tells us to celebrate the Pesach holiday l’dorotechem chukat olam, repeated in 12:14 and 12:17.
Shemot (Exodus) 12:14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to HaShem; throughout your generations ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever (לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם, חֻקַּת עוֹלָם).
Shemot (Exodus) 12:17 And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore shall ye observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance for ever (לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם--חֻקַּת עוֹלָם).
These two positive commands, with the penalty of keret,[8] follow each other in the Torah. Their positive nature and penalty connect them. Brit mila is a positive commandment. For neglecting to perform a positive commandment, repentance suffices; no further atonement is required. The exceptions to this are the two positive commandments (the Korban Pesach[9] and brit mila) whose neglect incurs the punishment of excision.[10]
Bereshit (Genesis) 17:14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
Bamidbar (Numbers) 9:13 But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his people: because he brought not the offering of HaShem in his appointed season, that man shall bear his sin.
Brit milah and the Korban Pesach are vital to the Torah system. What makes brit mila and korban Pesach different? In order to begin a marriage a person must undertake a commitment to join in unity with his wife. Without such a commitment there is no genuine relationship. One can do all kinds of nice deeds but, in the Torah’s eyes, they are not married until they perform the wedding ceremony prescribed by the Torah. In a similar way, a person needs to make a commitment to HaShem to undertake his relationship with Him. Without such a commitment he cannot begin to have a true relationship. Brit mila and korban Pesach are both types of covenants with HaShem, whereby a Jew commits to keeping the Torah. These two commandments define our Peoplehood, and non-performance is a bill of divorce from the Jewish nation. This explains why these two positive commands were given to the Jews before the Exodus.
Midrash Rabbah - Ruth VI:1 Another interpretation: ‘Because of Thy righteous ordinances’, because of the judgments which Thou didst bring upon the Egyptians and the righteousness which Thou wroughtest with our forefathers in Egypt, for they possessed no virtues or good deeds to justify their redemption, but Thou didst give them two commandments with which they should occupy themselves and be redeemed, and these are the blood of the Paschal lamb and the blood of brit mila . R. Levi said: In that night the two bloods mingled, as it is said, And when I passed by thee, and saw thee wallowing in thy blood, I said unto thee: In thy blood, live; yea, I said unto thee: In thy blood, live.[11]
Toledot Yitzchak tells us something about one of the meanings behind the reason for brit mila: “Man has been created for the sole purpose of serving his Creator. Thus having created man, “the Lord G-d took the man, and put him in the Garden of Eden...And the Lord commanded the man …”.[12] Likewise in the command to circumcise our sons, after stating, “… and born a man child,” the Torah states: “on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised,” for he was born to fulfill G-d’s commandments – the brit milah is the first and foremost mitzva, without which he is not a Jew. Through brit mila he accepts the yoke of the kingdom of Heaven, having been marked to serve the Lord and fulfill all His commandments. Hence, the mitzva of Milah appears in conjunction with the birth of a male child. Brit mila is a sign of our covenant with HaShem, on an individual basis.
So, what’s the link with Pesach?
Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:42 For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:55 For unto Me the children of Israel are servants; they are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am HaShem your God.
Shemot (Exodus) 20:2 I am HaShem thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.
Clearly, the link between Pesach and brit mila is that they both identify us as servants of HaShem, as the ones who perform His mitzvot.
Let us analyze why these two bloods, mila and pesach, were given by HaShem as commandments with which to redeem Israel. At first the Jewish people were Paro’s slaves, but brit mila made them HaShem’s slaves instead.[13] The purpose of mila is to be a sign, like a branding on a person to show he is a servant of HaShem. The Gemara discusses the seal of a slave, which, not being an article of clothing, may not be borne in the public domain on Shabbat.[14] Mila is HaShem’s seal upon us, as we say in the Grace after Meals, “Your covenant that You have sealed in our flesh”.[15]
But mila alone would not suffice, for a servant must work or else there is no servitude, and the Pesach sacrifice is called avoda (work, service), as it is written, “what is this avodah to you”,[16] and “you will do this service in this month”.[17] This avoda completes his identification as an eved (slave), but would not suffice without the brand of mila. Both mila and pesach, brand and service, are required.
We say in the mila blessing, “And His offspring He sealed with the sign of the holy covenant”. But until he has done the first unit of service he is only a temporary slave, fit only for a partial redemption. And even if he would want to, an uncircumcised, non-Israelite may not partake of the pesach.[18] If he is branded and serves, this is complete slavery, about which HaShem says, “For the children of Israel are My slaves”,[19] and not slaves of other slaves.[20] As such, HaShem redeemed them from servitude to Paro.
Further, the Jewish people entered the covenant with three things: brit mila, immersion, and a sacrificial offering.[21] Brit mila was performed in Egypt as it states “Anyone who is uncircumcised may not eat” [the paschal lamb.] Immersion was performed in the desert before the giving of the Torah as it states “and you shall purify yourselves today and tomorrow and wash your clothing”. A sacrificial offering as it states “And he sent the youth of the people of Israel and they brought offerings”, these offerings were brought on behalf of the entire Jewish people. The same applies in all generations, when a non-Jew wants to enter the covenant and to settle under the wings of the Shechinah and accept upon himself the yoke of the Torah, he requires brit mila, immersion, and offering a sacrifice and if she is a female, immersion and sacrifice, as it states “like you, so too a convert”. Just look like you [converted] with brit mila, immersion and offering a sacrifice, so too, all generations of converts do so with brit mila, immersion and offering a sacrifice.[22]
Another connection between these two mitzvot is that there are two occasions when the Prophet Elijah visits the Jewish people; at a brit mila and on Seder night, the night when we remember the korban Pesach. This is because Elijah, exasperated at the Jewish people’s continued sinning, declared that there was no hope for them.[23] In response, HaShem ordered him to visit every brit mila which would show that, no matter how much the people may sin they still keep the covenant between them and HaShem. Similarly, Elijah comes at Seder night, to see the Jewish people celebrate their birth as a nation.[24]
Another connection between brit mila and Pesach, is based on the idea of “And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning”
Shemot (Exodus) 12:22 And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning.
Or:
Shemot (Exodus) 12:46 In one house shall it be eaten; thou shalt not carry forth aught of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall ye break a bone thereof.
Whoever removes the meat of the korban Pesach from the house, designated with the sign of the blood on the doorposts, renders it invalid. And anyone who leaves the house, in Egypt, designated with the sign of the blood during the time when the sacrifice may be eaten, takes his life in his hands. The Angel of Death is roaming the streets of Egypt.
Likewise, the brit is also a sign. It is a sign which stamps the seed of Israel with the HaShem’s holiness, as we bless at a Brit Mila: “And he stamped his descendants with the sign of the holy covenant (brit).” Like the blood of the Pesach which stamps the doorway of the Jewish home so that the Bne Israel will not go outside to the Angel of Death, the blood of the brit mila stamps the opening of the Jewish body so that holy Jewish seed will not emerge in vain. Jewish seed will emerge only in holiness, just as the Israelites emerged from their homes in Egypt at the time of the exodus: in holiness, and not to destruction. The blood of brit mila is a stamp on the body, and the blood of the Pesach is a stamp on the house.
The Torah refers to two different things as a person’s “house”.
1) His family: “And he shall atone for himself and for his house”.[25] Similarly, in the context of the Pesach sacrifice we read, “A sheep for each household, a sheep per house”.[26]
2) The place where he lives: “And a person who sanctifies his house as holy to God”.[27] Similarly, concerning the Pesach we read, “And if the household number too few, then he and his neighbor who is close to his house shall take ...”.[28]
In each “house” a free person is distinguishable from a slave:
Shemot (Exodus) 21:4 If [the slave’s] master shall give him a wife and she bears him sons and daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to his master, and he shall go free by himself.
A slave does not establish his own family. His master finds him a wife, who is not necessarily someone the slave would have chosen for himself; and his children are not his own, they belong to his master. In the words of Chazal, “A slave has no family lineage.” And since his marriage to his partner, the maidservant, does not result in the establishment of a real home, it is not surprising that Chazal state, “The more maidservants, the more immorality”.[29]
At the same time, a slave has no home of his own:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:10 And you shall declare freedom in the land for all its inhabitants
Rosh Hashana 9 Rabbi Yehuda said: [Freedom means] that he may live anywhere that he wishes, and he is under the auspices of someone else.
Freedom, on the other hand, means possession of both “houses”:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 25:10 And you shall return each man to his possession, and each man shall return to his family.
The Israelite eats his Pesach sacrifice with his household and his neighbors, in his home. The blood of the Pesach is a sign on the houses. It is a sign that Israel will be brought out to freedom; that they have merited “houses” in both senses of the word.
For later generations, the mitzva of mila guards the purity of his seed and his family lest his seed emerge to be destroyed.
On the day of Pesach three visitors informed Avraham of the impending birth of Yitzchak.[30] The essence of the nation’s forefather was clearly demonstrated in this instance: the doorway of his home, sealed against the Angel of Death, was open wide for visitors from the desert. The opening of his body, sealed with the sign of HaShem’s covenant against emergence of impure seed, will now be open to allow for the birth of pure seed, his son, Yitzchak. And since that time the doors of his children, sealed with the blood of the Pesach against the entry of the Angel of Death, are open to visitors, the needy, the hungry: “Anyone who is hungry, let him enter and eat; anyone who is needy, let him enter and partake of the Pesach”.[31]
The lower opening of the body, the place of the brit, is sealed with the blood of brit mila against the emergence of impure seed, but the upper opening, the mouth, opens to recount before the pure seed, the wise son who poses his questions, the story of the exodus.
In both aspects of our “houses”, in our homes and amongst our families, we embark on the Haggada of Pesach.
If the taking of the Pesach lamb is the symbol of the rejection of Egyptian religious culture, and a commitment to HaShem, brit mila adds another dimension, an additional vital message. Mila is an indelible mark upon the flesh of the Jewish man. It is not a random operation. It is “the covenant of Avraham Avinu”. It takes us back to the very roots of who we are and where we come from. Mila joins us not only to the God of Israel, but to the nation of Israel throughout its generations. It ties a Jew to the fate of the Jewish nation.[32]
The Pesach lamb proclaims a message; “I will not be an Egyptian. My destiny lies with the God of Israel”. Mila proclaims, “I belong to the Jewish people. I share their fate”.
Yet, we have a question: Why is it necessary for there to be two mitzvot, brit mila and Pesach, that involve the basic commitment to doing HaShem’s will, why wouldn’t it be sufficient for one mitzva to fulfill this role?
The answer is that the two mitzvot represent different aspects of a commitment. brit mila was first commanded to a single individual, Abraham, to form his covenant with HaShem. Thus, brit mila represents a person’s commitment to his individual relationship with HaShem and all that entails. The korban Pesach represents our commitment to HaShem as part of the Jewish people. The laws of the korban Pesach emphasize the importance of fulfilling the mitzva in groups, stressing the national aspect of the mitzva. Accordingly, it is necessary to have two forms of covenants; one between the individual and HaShem and one between a person as a member of the Jewish people, and HaShem.
This understanding can help us explain an unusual law pertaining to the korban Pesach. It is forbidden for an uncircumcised Jew to participate in the korban Pesach.[33] Why is this the case, the fact that a person does not keep one mitzva, in no way exempts him from keeping the other mitzvot! The answer is that a person cannot genuinely commit to HaShem as part of a nation when has had made no such commitment on an individual basis.
This teaches us an essential lesson. Many people identify strongly as Jews, and as part of the Jewish people. They commit to the state of Israel, and would willingly give up time and effort, and perhaps even risk their lives, for the Jewish people. They stand up to defend Israel when it comes under verbal attack from the numerous anti-Semitic forces in the world. However, on an individual basis, there is far less commitment.[34] One may identify as being part of the Jewish nation, but he must also strive to commit to his individual relationship with HaShem. The exact way in which to apply this lesson varies according to each person, however, in a general sense it seems that everyone should see in what way he can increase his personal commitment to his relationship with HaShem. It could involve speaking to HaShem, learning more of His Torah, striving to keep more aspects of Shabbat or kosher food, and so on. The main point is to try something. It is vital to remember that HaShem wants a relationship with each and every individual, in his own right.
We previously noted that the korban Pesach represents our commitment to HaShem as part of the Jewish people. With this understanding, we can begin to understand Pesach sheni, the second Passover.
Yosef was cast out of the House of Israel; years later, after their father’s death, he had an opportunity to cast his brothers into the pit of slavery, to cast them out of the family of Israel. Instead, he chose the moral high road. He chose love. He chose peace; he chose camaraderie. He chose family.
Yosef’s heroic gesture resulted in a second chance, another attempt to create unity, to build a nation. Liberating Yosef’s remains and including his presence in their historic journey back to Israel was more than a symbolic gesture meant to remind and inspire the nation. Yosef himself was rewarded; he would no longer be an outcast. Yosef’s remains would travel with them on their journey. He would finally return home, to the land of his fathers, to his place among his brethren.
Nonetheless, his remains, like those of any other Jew, generated impurity. Any and all who came in contact with his remains became ritually impure. And yet, on a philosophical level, it was nearly inconceivable that those who tended to Yosef should be made to feel separated from the community; this would be an almost absurd contradiction of Yosef’s very essence. And so, in a beautiful gesture of poetic justice, HaShem gave them a second chance; the normal rules of sacrifices would be suspended.
Yosef’s benevolence is mirrored by HaShem’s benevolence. A new holiday representing second chances would be established,[35] a holiday well-suited to Yosef.[36]
The enslavement in Egypt was the direct result of the sale of Yosef. The callous meal eaten as Yosef languished in the pit required a tikkun. The brothers broke bread as Yosef screamed. They were impervious to his screams, for they had deemed him no longer part of the Jewish People. It was a meal which brought the brothers together, with one exception: they were united in their dastardly deed. And so, when the Jews leave Egypt they are commanded to have a meal, a meal which heals and liberates by bringing the family together.
Shemot (Exodus) 12:3-4 Speak to all the Congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for a house; and if the household is too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next to his house take it according to the number of the souls; according to every man’s eating shall you make your count for the lamb.
Bring the family together; invite the neighbors if you can. The offering must be eaten with matza, which symbolized haughtiness, and that horrific meal eaten within earshot of the pit, was deemed unacceptable. In fact, all bread and bread products must be exorcized from the home on Pesach. However, Pesach Sheni has no such requirement: bread and matza can reside together in one home.[37] This is truly an extraordinary holiday: a celebration of unity,[38] and a living testimonial of HaShem’s love for His People, a holiday of second chances.[39]
Perhaps now, we can now understand our pasuk in our chapter of Psalms, which the Talmud[40] homiletically interprets, Your word, in the singular, as if it meant to single out one mitzva par excellence. This mitzva is brit mila, because it is the very first one that was given to Abraham as a specifically Jewish mitzva.
Tehillim (Psalms) 119:162 I rejoice at Your word, as one that findeth great spoil
Aslamata: Isaiah 56:1-9 + 57:19
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RASHI |
TARGUM |
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1. ¶ So says the Lord, "Keep justice and practice righteousness, for My salvation is near to come, and My benevolence to be revealed." |
1. Thus says the LORD: "Keep judgment and do righteousness/generosity, for My salvation is near to come, and My virtue to be revealed. |
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2. Fortunate is the man who will do this and the person who will hold fast to it, he who keeps the Sabbath from profaning it and guards his hand from doing any evil. |
2. Blessed is the man who will do this, and a son of man who will hold it fast, who will keep the Sabbath from profaning it, and will keep his hands from doing any evil. " |
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3. Now let not the foreigner who joined the Lord, say, "The Lord will surely separate me from His people," and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am a dry tree."{P} |
3. Let not a son of Gentiles who has been added to the people of the LORD say, "The LORD will surely separate me from His people"; and let not the eunuch say, "Behold, I am like a dry tree." |
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4. ¶ For so says the Lord to the eunuchs who will keep My Sabbaths and will choose what I desire and hold fast to My covenant, |
4. For thus says the LORD: "To the eunuchs who keep the days of the Sabbaths that are mine, who are pleased with the things I wish and hold fast to My covenants, |
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5. "I will give them in My house and in My walls a place and a name, better than sons and daughters; an everlasting name I will give him, which will not be discontinued.{S} |
5. I will give them in My sanctuary and within the land of My Shekhinah’s house a place and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not cease. |
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6. And the foreigners who join with the Lord to serve Him and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants, everyone who observes the Sabbath from profaning it and who holds fast to My covenant. |
6. And the sons of the Gentiles who have been added to the people of the LORD, to minister to Him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be His servants, everyone who will keep the Sabbath from profaning it, and hold fast to My covenants- |
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7. I will bring them to My holy mount, and I will cause them to rejoice in My house of prayer, their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be acceptable upon My altar, for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. |
7. these I will bring to the holy mountain, and make them joyful in My house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their holy sacrifices will even go up for [My] pleasure on My altar; for My sanctuary will be a house of prayer for all the peoples. |
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8. So says the Lord God, Who gathers in the dispersed of Israel, I will yet gather others to him, together with his gathered ones. |
8. Thus says the LORD God who is about to gather the outcasts of Israel, I will yet bring near their exiles, to gather them." |
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9. All the beasts of the field, come to devour all the beasts in the forest.{P} |
9. All the kings of the peoples who were gathered to distress you, Jerusalem, will be cast in your midst; they will be food for the beasts of the field-every beast of the forest will eat to satiety from them. |
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10. ¶ His lookouts are all blind, they do not know, dumb dogs who cannot bark; they lie slumbering, loving to slumber. |
10. All their watchmen are blind, they are all without any knowledge; dumb dogs, they cannot bark; slumbering, laying down, loving to sleep. |
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11. And the dogs are of greedy disposition, they know not satiety; and they are shepherds who know not to understand; they all turned to their way, each one to his gain, every last one. |
11. The dogs have a strong appetite; they do not know satiety. And they who do evil do not know [how] to understand; they have all gone into exile, each his own way, each to plunder the mammon of Israel. |
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12. "Come, I will take wine, and let us guzzle old wine, and tomorrow shall be like this, [but] greater [and] much more." |
12. They say, "Come, and let us guzzle wine, let us be drunk with old wine; and our feast of tomorrow will be better than this days, very great." |
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1. The righteous man has perished, but no one takes it to heart, and men of kindness are taken away, with no one understanding that because of the evil the righteous man has been taken away. |
1. The righteous/generous die, and no one lays My fear to heart; and men of recompenses of mercy are gathered, while they do not understand. For from before the evil which is about to come the righteous/generous are gathered, |
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2. He shall come in peace; they shall rest in their resting- place, whoever walks in his uprightness.{S} |
2. they will enter into peace; they will rest in the place of their bedroom who perform His Law. |
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3. And you, draw near hither, children of sorcery; children who commit adultery, and played the whore. |
3. But you, draw near hither, people of the generation whose deeds are evil, whose plant was from a holy plant, and they are adulterers and harlots. |
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4. On whom will you [rely to] enjoy yourselves; against whom do you open your mouth wide; against whom do you stick out your tongue? Are you not children of transgression, seed of falsehood? |
4. Of whom are you making sport? And before whom will you open your mouth and continue speaking great things? Are you not children of a rebel, the offspring of deceit, |
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5. You who inflame yourselves among the terebinths, under every green tree, who slaughter the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks. |
5. You who serve idols under every green tree and sacrifice children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? |
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6. Of the smooth [stones] of the valley is your portion; they, they are your lot; to them too you have poured out libations, offered up sacrifices; in the face of these shall I relent? |
6. Among the smooth rock of the valley is your portion; even there they are your lot; to them you have poured out drink offerings, you have brought offerings. Will My Memra repent for these things? |
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7. On a high and lofty mountain you placed your couch; there too you went to slaughter sacrifices. |
7. Upon a high and lofty mountain you have set the place of your camping, and there you went up to offer sacrifice. |
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8. And behind the door and the doorpost you have directed your thoughts, for while with Me, you uncovered [us] and went up, you widened your couch and made for yourself [a covenant] with them; you loved their couch, you chose a place. |
8. Behind the door and the doorpost you have set the symbol of your idols; you resembled a woman who was beloved by her husband and strayed after strangers, you have made wide the place of your camping; and you have made a covenant for yourself with them, you have loved the place of their bedroom, you have chosen a place. |
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9. And you brought a gift to the king with oil, and you increased your perfumes; and you sent your ambassadors far off, and you humbled them to the grave. |
9. When you performed the Law for yourself, you prospered in the kingdom, and when you multiplied for yourself deeds, your armies were many; you sent your messengers far off, and humbled the strong ones of the peoples to Sheol. |
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10. With the length of your way you became wearied; you did not say, "Despair." The power of your hand you found; therefore, you were not stricken ill. |
10. In the length of your ways you promised to repent; you increased many possessions, and so you did not hope to repent. |
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11. And whom did you dread and fear, that you failed, and you did not remember Me; you did not lay [Me] to your heart. Indeed, I am silent and from everlasting, but you do not fear Me. |
11. Whom did you dread and before whom [do you] fear, so that you continued to speak lies, and did not remember My service, did not lay My fear upon your heart? Have I not given you respite for a long time, that if you repented - and before Me you did not repent? |
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12. I tell your righteousness and your deeds, and they shall not avail you. |
12. I have told you that good deeds are virtues for you, but you increased for yourself evil deeds which will not profit you. |
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13. When you cry out, let your collections save you; wind shall carry all of them off, a breath shall take them, but he who trusts in Me shall inherit the land and shall inherit My holy mount. |
13. Cry out, if now the deeds of your deceit with which you were laboring from your childhood will deliver you! The wind will carry them all off, they will be for nothing. But he who trusts in My Memra will possess the land, and will inherit My holy mountain. |
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14. And he shall say, "Pave, pave, clear the way; remove the obstacles from the way of My people."{S} |
14. And he will say, "Teach, and exhort, turn the heart of the people to a correct way, remove the obstruction of the wicked from the way of the congregation of my people." |
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15. For so said the High and Exalted One, Who dwells to eternity, and His name is Holy, "With the lofty and the holy ones I dwell, and with the crushed and humble in spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the crushed. |
15. For thus says the high and lofty One who dwells in the heavens, whose name is Holy; in the height He dwells, and his Shekhinah is holy. He promises to deliver the broken in heart and the humble of spirit, to establish the spirit of the humble, and to help the heart of the broken. |
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16. For I will not contend forever, neither will I be wroth to eternity, when a spirit from before Me humbles itself, and souls [which] I have made. |
16. For I will not so avenge forever, nor will My anger always be (so); for I am about to restore the spirits of the dead, and the breathing beings I have made. |
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17. For the iniquity of his thievery I became wroth, and I smote him, I hid Myself and became wroth, for he went rebelliously in the way of his heart. |
17. Because of the sins of their mammon, which they robbed, My anger was upon them, I smote them, removed my Shekhinah from them and cast them out; I scattered their exiles because they went astray after the fantasy of their heart. |
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18. I saw his ways and I will heal him, and I will lead him and requite with consolations him and his mourners. |
18. The way of their repentance is disclosed before Me, and I will forgive them; I will have compassion on them and requite them with consolations, and those who mourn them. |
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19. [I] create the speech of the lips; peace, peace to the far and to the near," says the Lord, "and I will heal him." |
19. The one who creates speech of lips in the mouth of every man says, Peace will be done for the righteous/generous, who have kept My Law from the beginning, and peace will be done for the penitent, who have repented to My Law recently, says the LORD; and I will forgive them. |
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20. But the wicked are like the turbulent sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mud and dirt. |
20. But the wicked are like the tossing sea which seeks to rest and it cannot, and its waters disturb mire and dirt. |
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21. "There is no peace," says my God, "for the wicked."{P} |
21. There is no peace, says my God, for the wicked." |
Rashi’s Commentary on Isaiah 56:1-9 + 57:19
Chapter 56
2 who will do this who observes the Sabbath, etc.
3 “The Lord will surely separate me from His people,” Why should I become converted? Will not the Holy One, blessed be He, separate me from His people when He pays their reward.
Let not the eunuch say Why should I better my ways and my deeds? I am like a withered tree, for lack of remembrance.
4 and hold fast Heb. וּמַחֲזִיקִים , and hold fast.
7 for all peoples Not only for Israel, but also for the proselytes.
8 I will yet gather of the heathens ([Mss. and K’li Paz:] of the nations) who will convert and join them.
(together with his gathered ones In addition to the gathered ones of Israel.)
9 All the beasts of the field All the proselytes of the heathens ([Mss. and K’li Paz:] All the nations) come and draw near to Me, and you shall devour all the beasts in the forest, the mighty of the heathens ([Mss. and K’li Paz:] the mighty of the nations) who hardened their heart and refrained from converting.
the beasts of the field [The beast of the field is not as strong as the beast of the forest.] The beast of the field is weaker and of weaker strength than the beast of the forest. Since he stated, “I will yet gather others to him,” he stated this verse.
10 His lookouts are all blind Since he said, “Seek the Lord,” and the entire section, and they do not heed, he returns and says, Behold the prophets cry out to them ([Mss.:] to you) and announce concerning repentance, so that it will be good for them. Yet their leaders are all like blind men, and they do not see the results, like a lookout appointed to see the approaching army, to warn the people, but he is blind, unable to see whether the army is coming, and dumb, unable to warn the people, like a dog that was appointed to guard the house, but he is dumb, unable to bark. Similarly, the leaders of Israel do not warn them to repent to do good.
they lie slumbering Heb. הֽזִים . Dunash (Teshuvoth Dunash p. 24) explained: lying sound asleep, and Jonathan rendered: lying slumbering, and there is no comparable word in Scripture.
11 And the dogs are of greedy disposition wanting to fill their stomachs [engrote talent in O.F.], sick with hunger.
and they are shepherds Just as the dogs know no satiety, neither do the shepherds know to understand what will occur at the end of days. they all turned to the way of their benefit, each one to his gain, to rob the rest of the people over whom they are appointed.
every last one Heb. מִקָּצֵהוּ , [lit. from its end.] Comp. (Gen. 19:4) “all the people from the end (מִקָּצֶה) ,” from one end of their number until its other end, they all behave in this manner.
12 Come, I will take wine So would they say to one another.
and tomorrow shall be like this with feasting and drinking.
Chapter 57
1 The righteous/generous man such as Josiah.
but no one takes it to heart why he departed.
with no one understanding what the Holy One, blessed be He, saw to take him away.
that because of the evil destined to befall the generation, the righteous man perished.
2 He shall come in peace for so says the Holy One, blessed be He, Let this righteous man come to his forefathers in peace, and let him not see the evil.
they shall rest in their resting place when the evil occurs, he who was walking נְכֽחוֹ , in his uprightness. Comp. (Amos 3:10) “To act rightly (נְכֽחָה) .”
3 And you, draw near hither The survivors after the righteous have departed, and receive your sentences.
children of sorcery Heb. עֽנְנָה בְּנֵי , children of sorcery.
children who commit adultery That the male commits adultery.
and played the whore the female.
4 On whom will you [rely to] enjoy yourselves Since you have turned away from following Me, on whom will you rely to enjoy yourselves with good. Had you merited, you would then enjoy yourselves with the Lord, but now, on whom will you rely to enjoy yourselves?
against whom do you open your mouth wide when you scorned and mocked His prophets.
5 You who inflame yourselves among the terebinths Who stimulate themselves with semen under the אֵלִים , they are the terebinth and the oak.
who slaughter the children for a sacrifice to the idols.
clefts Heb. סְעִפֵי , the clefts of the rocks. Comp. (Jud. 15:11) “to the cleft (סְעִיף) of the rock.”
6 Of the smooth [stones] of the valley [Lit. of the smooth ones of the valley, i.e.,] among the smooth stones that are in the valley.
your portion With them they will stone you.
they, they are your lot to be saddened with them. Why? For to them too you have poured out libations.
in the face of these shall I relent from doing harm to you?
7 you placed your couch The couch of your adultery to idolatry on the high mountains.
8 And behind the door and the doorpost you have directed your thoughts Since he compares her to an adulterous woman, for whom her paramours look and wait before the door of her house, while she, lying beside her husband, directs her heart and her thoughts to the door and the doorpost, how she will open the door and come out to them.
for while with Me, you uncovered [us] and went up You were lying beside Me, and you removed the cover with which we were covered together, and you went up from beside Me.
you widened your couch to accommodate many adulterers.
and made for yourself a covenant with them.
you loved their couch when you chose for yourself יָד , a place, to demonstrate to them your love.
a place Heb. יָד , aise or ajjse in O.F., a side. Comp. (II Sam. 14:30) “See Joab’s field is near mine (עַל יָדִי) .”
9 And you brought a gift to the king with oil Heb. וַתָּשֻׁרִי . Originally, I aggrandized you, and you would greet your king with all sorts of delights. וַתָּשֻׁרִי is an expression of an audience. Comp. (Num. 24:17) “I see him (אֲשׁוּרֶנוּ) but he is not near.” [Also] (I Sam. 9:7), “And there is no present (תְּשׁוּרָה) to bring,” [i.e.,] a gift for an audience.
and you sent your ambassadors Your messenger afar to collect tribute from the heathen kings. ([Manuscripts and K’li Paz read:] the kings of the nations.)
and you humbled the laws of the heathens (of the nations [Mss. and K’li Paz]) to the grave. Jonathan rendered it in this manner.
10 With the length of your way you became wearied You engaged in your necessities, in the filling of your lust, to increase your wealth.
you did not say, “Despair.” I will despair of these and I will no longer care to engage in them, but I will pay my attention to Torah and precepts.
The power of your hand you found Heb. חַיַּת , the necessity of your hand you have found; you have succeeded in your deeds.
therefore, you were not stricken ill Your heart was not stricken ill to worry about My service, to engage in the Torah. חַיַּת is an Arabic word, meaning necessity.
11 And whom did you dread Of whom were you afraid?
that you failed Heb. תְּכַזֵּבִי , that you ceased to worship Me and you betrayed Me. Comp. (infra 58:11) “Whose water shall not fail (יְכַזְּבוּ) .” Comp. also (Psalms 116:11) “Every man is a traitor (כּֽזֵב) .” Falajjnc in O.F., to fail. Likewise, every expression of כָּזָב means one upon whom people rely, and he fails and betrays them. Indeed, I am silent I kept silent in the face of many transgressions that you transgressed against Me.
12 I tell your righteousness Constantly, I tell you things to do, so that you will be righteous/generous.
and your deeds that you do against My will shall not avail you at the time of your distress.
13 When you cry out, let your collections save you Let the collection of your idols and your graven images [and those who deny the Torah] that you collected, rise and save you when you cry out from your distress. Indeed, wind will carry all of them off, and they will not rise, neither will they be able to save.
14 And he shall say, “Pave, pave” So will the prophet say in My name to My people, “Pave, pave a paved highway, clear away the evil inclination from your ways.”
remove the obstacle Remove the stones upon which your feet stumble; they are wicked thoughts.
15 “With the lofty and the holy ones” I dwell, and thence I am with the crushed and the humble in spirit, upon whom I lower My Presence.
humble...crushed Suffering from poverty and illnesses.
16 For I will not contend forever If I bring afflictions upon a person, My contention with him is not for a long time, neither is My anger forever.
when a spirit from before Me humbles itself Heb. יַעֲטוֹף . When the spirit of man, which is from before Me, humbles itself, confesses and humbles itself because of its betrayal. Comp. (Lam. 2:19) “humbled (הָעֲטוּפִים) with hunger,” “when the small child and the suckling are humbled (בֵּעָטֵף) .” And the souls which I made.
when a spirit from before Me Heb. כִּי . This instance of the word כִּי is used as an expression of “when.” Comp. (infra 58:7) “When you see (כִּי תִרְאֶה) ”; (Deut. 26:1) “When you come (כִּי תָבוֹא) .” That is to say, when his spirit is humbled, and he is humbled, I terminate My quarrel and My anger from upon him.
17 For the iniquity of his thievery Heb. בִּצְעוֹ , his thievery.
I became wroth at the beginning and I smote him, always hiding My face from his distress and I was wroth for he went rebelliously in the way of his heart. Transpose the verse and explain it thus: For the iniquity of his thievery and the fact that he went rebelliously in the way of his heart, I became wroth and smote him.
18 I saw his ways when he humbled himself before Me, when troubles befell him.
and I will heal him, and I will lead him Heb. וְאַנְחֵהוּ . I will lead him in the way of healing. Alternatively, וְאַנְחֵהוּ is an expression of rest and tranquility.
him and his mourners to those who are troubled over him.
19 [I] create the speech of the lips I create for him a new manner of speech. In contrast to the trouble that befell him, and everyone was degrading him, they will call, “Peace, peace.”
to the far and to the near Both are equal; he who aged and was accustomed to My Torah and My worship from his youth, and he who drew near now, just recently to repent of his evil way. Said the Lord, “I will heal him of his malady and of his sins.”
20 But the wicked who do not give a thought to repent.
like the turbulent sea This sea its waves raise themselves high and strive to go out of the boundary of sand that I made as a boundary for the sea, and when it reaches there, against its will it breaks. The next wave sees all this, yet does not turn back. Similarly, the wicked man sees his friend being punished for his wickedness; yet he does not turn back. Also, just as the sea has its mud and its offensive matter on its mouth, [i.e., on its surface,] so do the wicked have their offensive matter in their mouth; e.g., Pharaoh said, (Exodus 5:2) “Who is the Lord?” Sennacherib said (supra 36:20), “Who are they among all the Gods of the lands...?” Nebuchadnezzar said, (supra 14:14) “I will liken myself to the Most High.”
like the turbulent sea Like the sea, which is turbulent, that casts up all day mud and dirt.
21 There is no peace In contrast to what he said to the righteous and the repentant, “Peace, peace to the far, etc.,” he returned and said, “There is no peace for the wicked.”
In The School of the Prophets
Isaiah 56:1-9 + 57:19
By: Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
As usual, our Prophetic Lesson for this Sabbath in the Hebrew text extends along three Petuchot (Closed Paragraphs) – the first starting in Isaiah 56:1 and concluding at Isaiah 56:3, the second Petucha (Closed Paragraph) starts in Isaiah 56:4 until verse 9 (with a section brake at 56:5); and the third Petucha (Closed Paragraph) starts in Isaiah 56:10 and concluding in 57:21 (with section breaks at 57:1, and 57:13). However, our Sages full of compassion for the congregation stipulated that for public reading from the Teba (pulpit) we should only read from the Prophets ten verses (Isaiah 56:1-9 and 57:19). This of course, does not limit the preacher to refer or use in the course of his homily (sermon) from Isaiah 56:1 through to 57:19. In fact some of the most interesting parts of this Ashlamatah (Lesson from the Prophets) are not read in public this week.
The verbal tally between our Torah Seder and Ashlamatah (Lesson from the Prophets) is as follows:
Deuteronomy 16:18 -
שֹׁפְטִים וְשֹׁטְרִים, תִּתֶּן-לְךָ בְּכָל-שְׁעָרֶיךָ, אֲשֶׁר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ נֹתֵן לְךָ, לִשְׁבָטֶיךָ; וְשָׁפְטוּ אֶת-הָעָם, מִשְׁפַּט-צֶדֶק.
Judges and officers will you make for yourself in all your gates, which the LORD your God gives you, tribe by tribe; and they will judge the people with righteous/generous judgment.
Isaiah 56:1 -
כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, שִׁמְרוּ מִשְׁפָּט וַעֲשׂוּ צְדָקָה: כִּי-קְרוֹבָה יְשׁוּעָתִי לָבוֹא, וְצִדְקָתִי לְהִגָּלוֹת.
Thus says the LORD: Keep justice, and do righteousness/generosity; for My salvation is near to come, and My favour to be revealed.
Also the terms שֹׁפְטִים – Shof’tim (judges), and וְשָׁפְטוּ – V’Shaf’tu (and they will judge) in the Torah Seder are related to the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט – Mishpat (justice) in our Ashlamatah.
Psalm 122:3-5 continues this line of thought when it speaks about in v.5 - כִסְאוֹת לְמִשְׁפָּט – Kis’ot L’Mishpat (Thrones of Justice).
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RASHI |
TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN |
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3. The built-up Jerusalem is like a city that was joined together within itself. |
3. Jerusalem that is built in the firmament is like a city that has been joined together on earth. |
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4. There ascended the tribes, the tribes of God, testimony to Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord. |
4. Unto which the tribes have gone up, the tribes of the LORD, He who testifies to Israel that His presence abides among them when they go to give thanks to the name of the LORD. |
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5. For there were set thrones for judgment, thrones for the house of David. |
5. For there thrones have been placed; in Jerusalem thrones are in the sanctuary for the kings of the house of David. |
This Sabbath in Isaiah 57:14 it is written:
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RASHI |
TARGUM |
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14. And he shall say, "Pave, pave, clear the way; remove the obstacles from the way of My people."{S} |
14. And he will say, "Teach, and exhort, turn the heart of the people to a correct way, remove the obstruction of the wicked from the way of the congregation of my people." |
The reading of the Targum to Isiah 57:14, not only describes the role of the Prophet as Rashi states but equally important it also describes the role of a Judge and Officer described in our Torah Seder! The English term best befitting these roles and attributes would be an “enabler” or “facilitator.” Thus, the role of a judge or a prophet is to “facilitate” and/or “enable” to follow a correct walk/way. But this also brings a tremendous responsibility to those judged or guided, as our Torah Seder in Deut. 17:10-13 states:
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RASHI |
TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN |
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10. And you shall do according to the word they tell you, from the place the Lord will choose, and you shall observe to do according to all they instruct you. |
10. Then will you do according to the word of the custom of the Law that they will show you at the place the LORD will choose, and observe to do whatsoever they teach you. |
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11. According to the law they instruct you and according to the judgment they say to you, you shall do; you shall not divert from the word they tell you, either right or left. |
11. According to the word of the Law that they will teach you, and the manner of judgment they pronounce, you will do. You will not turn aside from the sentence they will show you, to the right or to the left. |
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12. And the man who acts intentionally, not obeying the kohen who stands there to serve the Lord, your God, or to the judge that man shall die, and you shall abolish evil from Israel. |
12. And the man who will act with presumption, and not obey the judge or the priest who stands there to minister before the LORD your God, that man will be put to death; so will you put down the doer of evil from Israel, |
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13. And all the people shall listen and fear, and they shall no longer act wantonly. |
13. and all the people will hear, and be afraid, and not do wickedly again. |
Similarly, this week in our Nazarean Talmud Hakham Shaul admonishes:
Let love be without hypocrisy (genuine). You will hate what is evil by clinging[22] to what (those who are) is good.[23]
A Hakham/Torah Judge who errs in judgment is required of G-d to pay an extremely high price, but equally a person who disobeys the counsel of a Hakham/Torah Judge is said to be acting “presumptuously” and therefore, merits the death penalty and nowadays this death penalty is executed at the hands of G-d, most blessed be He! The High Priest who erred grossly in the judgment of His Majesty King Messiah Yeshua, and Pilate who again committed a great injustice in the judgment of the Master, both in the end died from horrific deaths, and further the Kohanim lost completely and forever their priesthood, and Israel their physical Temple as it is said in Isaiah 56:10-11:
10¶ His lookouts are all blind, they do not know, dumb dogs who cannot bark; they lie slumbering, loving to slumber. 11And the dogs are of greedy disposition, they know not satiety; and they are shepherds who know not to understand; they all turned to their way, each one to his gain, every last one.
And on this, Rashi comments:
And the dogs are of greedy disposition wanting to fill their stomachs [engrote talent in O.F.], sick with hunger.
and they are shepherds Just as the dogs know no satiety, neither do the shepherds know to understand what will occur at the end of days. they all turned to the way of their benefit, each one to his gain, to rob the rest of the people over whom they are appointed.
This Sabbath we also read in the P’shat of Mark:
And they put purple (a robe) on him, and after weaving a crown of thorns, they placed it on his head. And they began saluting him saying, "Hail, king of the Jews!"
A purple robe. Purple in Israel is the colour for royalty. Therefore kings dress in a robe that is purple. Even to this day for example, some chief Rabbis wear a black robe with purple. In the following picture we can see the chief Rabbi of Turkey meeting with then President Obama of the U.S. in his visit to Turkey. Notice the purple on the chief Rabbi’s gown and hat.
Now the king is one of the chief justices of the land as well. And his mission is to ensure that justice, righteousness and charity to the needy are dispensed throughout the land.
Finally the Prophet in Isaiah 57:19-20 presents us a choice this week:
|
19. [I] create the speech of the lips; peace, peace to the far and to the near," says the Lord, "and I will heal him." |
19. The one who creates speech of lips in the mouth of every man says, Peace will be done for the righteous/generous, who have kept My Law from the beginning, and peace will be done for the penitent, who have repented to My Law recently, says the LORD; and I will forgive them. |
|
20. But the wicked are like the turbulent sea, for it cannot rest, and its waters cast up mud and dirt. |
20. But the wicked are like the tossing sea which seeks to rest and it cannot, and its waters disturb mire and dirt. |
And this Shalom (communal peace/health/wealth) can only be obtained when one takes upon oneself the yoke of the Kingdom of the Messiah (i.e. by clinging to the Torah Sages), and the Yoke of the Commandments (by performing them according to the instructions of our Hakhamim). May HaShem, most blessed be He, grant us the courage, integrity, faithfulness, and loving-kindness to do so, amen ve amen!
Verbal Connections
By H.Em. Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David &
HH Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 16:18–17:17
Tehillim (Psalms) 119:153-176
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:1-9 + 57:19
Mk 14:55-65, Lk 22:63-71
The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalm are:
LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.
Just / Righteous - צדק, Strong’s number 06664.
Judgment - משפט, Strong’s number 04941.
The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:
Make / Giveth / Give - נתן, Strong’s number 05414.
LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.
People - עם, Strong’s number 05971.
Judgment - משפט, Strong’s number 04941.
Debarim (Deuteronomy) 16:18 Judges and officers shalt thou make <05414> (8799) thee in all thy gates, which the LORD <03068> thy God giveth <05414> (8802) thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people <05971> with just <06664> judgment <04941>.
Tehillim (Psalms) 119:156 Great are thy tender mercies, O LORD <03068>: quicken me according to thy judgments <04941>.
Tehillim (Psalms) 119:160 Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous <06664> judgments <04941> endureth for ever.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:1 Thus saith the LORD <03068>, Keep ye judgment <04941>, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:3 Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD <03068>, speak, saying, The LORD <03068> hath utterly separated me from his people <05971>: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 56:5 Even unto them will I give <05414> (8804) in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give <05414> (8799) them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
Hebrew:
|
Hebrew |
English |
Torah Reading Deut.16:18–17:17 |
Psalms 119:153-176 |
Ashlamatah Is 56:1-9 + 57:19 |
|
rm;a' |
tell, say, said |
Deut. 17:11 |
Isa. 56:1 |
|
|
tm,a/ |
true, truth |
Deut. 17:4 |
Ps. 119:160 |
|
|
aAB |
come, go |
Deut.
17:9 |
Ps. 119:170 |
Isa. 56:1 |
|
rx;B' |
chooses |
Deut. 17:8 |
Ps. 119:173 |
Isa. 56:4 |
|
tyrIB. |
covenant |
Deut. 17:2 |
Isa. 56:4 |
|
|
rb'D' |
words |
Deut. 16:19 |
Ps. 119:160 |
|
|
%r,D, |
way |
Deut. 17:16 |
Ps. 119:168 |
|
|
vrD |
inquire, seek |
Deut. 17:4 |
Ps. 119:155 |
|
|
hy:x' |
live, revive |
Deut. 16:20 |
Ps. 119:154 |
|
|
dy" |
hands |
Deut. 17:7 |
Ps. 119:173 |
Isa. 56:2 |
|
hw"hoy> |
LORD |
Deut. 16:18 |
Ps. 119:156 |
Isa. 56:1 |
|
~Ay |
day |
Deut. 17:9 |
Ps. 119:164 |
|
|
h['Wvy> |
salvation |
Ps. 119:155 |
Isa. 56:1 |
|
|
laer'f.yI |
Israel |
Deut. 17:4 |
Isa. 56:8 |
|
|
daom. |
greatly |
Deut. 17:17 |
Ps. 119:167 |
|
|
x;Bez>mi |
altar |
Deut. 16:21 |
Isa. 56:7 |
|
|
ac'm' |
found, find |
Deut. 17:2 |
Ps. 119:162 |
|
|
jP'v.mi |
judgmemt |
Deut. 16:18 |
Ps. 119:156 |
Isa. 56:1 |
|
hj"n" |
prevert, do not turn |
Deut. 16:19 |
Ps. 119:157 |
|
|
!t;n" |
give, gave, given |
Deut. 16:18 |
Isa. 56:5 |
|
|
db,[, |
servant |
Ps. 119:176 |
Isa. 56:6 |
|
|
~l'A[ |
forever |
Ps. 119:160 |
Isa. 56:5 |
|
|
~[; |
people |
Deut. 16:18 |
Isa. 56:3 |
|
|
#[e |
tree |
Deut. 16:21 |
Isa. 56:3 |
|
|
hf'[' |
build, committed, do, did,done |
Deut. 16:21 |
Ps. 119:166 |
Isa. 56:1 |
|
~ynIP' |
partiality, face, before |
Deut. 16:19 |
Ps. 119:169 |
|
|
qd,c, |
just, righteous |
Deut. 16:18 |
Ps. 119:160 |
|
|
@d;r' |
follow |
Deut. 16:20 |
Ps. 119:157 |
|
|
qAxr' |
far |
Ps. 119:155 |
Isa. 57:19 |
|
|
byrI |
controversy |
Deut. 17:8 |
Ps. 119:154 |
|
|
[r; |
defect, wicked, evil |
Deut. 17:1 |
Isa. 56:2 |
|
|
hf, |
sheep |
Deut. 17:1 |
Ps. 119:176 |
|
|
~Alv' |
peace |
Ps. 119:165 |
Isa. 57:19 |
|
|
rm;v' |
careful, keeps |
Deut. 17:10 |
Ps. 119:158 |
Isa. 56:1 |
|
anEf' |
hate |
Deut. 16:22 |
Ps. 119:163 |
|
|
hp'f' |
lips |
Ps. 119:171 |
Isa. 57:19 |
|
|
tr;v' |
minister |
Deut. 17:12 |
Isa. 56:6 |
|
|
hr'AT |
law |
Deut. 17:11 |
Ps. 119:153 |
Greek:
|
GREEK |
ENGLISH |
Torah Reading Deut.16:18–17:17 |
Psalms 119:153-176 |
Ashlamatah Is 56:1-9 + 57:19 |
Peshat Mishnah of Mark, 1-2 Peter, & Jude Mk 14:55-65 |
Tosefta of Luke Lk 22:63-71 |
|
ἀκούω |
hear, heard |
Deu
17:4 |
Mk.
14:58 |
Lk. 22:71 |
||
|
ἀνήρ |
men, man |
Deu 17:2 |
Isa 56:2 |
Lk. 22:63 |
||
|
ἄνθρωπος |
people, man |
Deu
17:5 |
Isa 56:2 |
Mk. 14:62 |
Lk. 22:69 |
|
|
ἀνίστημι |
rise up |
Deu 17:8 |
Mk.
14:57 |
|||
|
δεξιός |
right |
Deu 17:11 |
Mk. 14:62 |
Lk. 22:69 |
||
|
ἔπω |
said |
Deu
17:11 |
Isa 56:8 Isa 57:19 |
Mk. 14:62 |
Lk.
22:67 |
|
|
εὑρίσκω |
find, found |
Deu 17:2 |
Ps119:162 |
Mk. 14:55 |
||
|
ζητέω |
inquire, seek |
Deut.
17:4 |
Ps. 119:155 |
Mk. 14:55 |
||
|
ἡμέρα |
day |
Deut. 17:9 |
Ps. 119:164 |
Mk. 14:58 |
Lk. 22:66 |
|
|
θανατόω |
death |
Deu 17:7 |
Mk. 14:55 |
|||
|
θεός |
God |
Deu 16:18 |
Lk.
22:69 |
|||
|
λαός |
people |
Deut.
16:18 |
Isa.
56:3 |
Lk. 22:66 |
||
|
λέγω |
says |
Isa
56:1 |
Mk.
14:57 |
Lk.
22:64 |
||
|
μάρτυς |
witnesses |
Deu
17:6 |
Mk. 14:63 |
|||
|
ξύλον |
wood, tree |
Deut. 16:21 |
Isa. 56:3 |
|||
|
οὐρανός |
heaven |
Deu 17:3 |
Mk. 14:62 |
|||
|
πρόσωπον |
face, person |
Deu 16:19 |
Mk. 14:65 |
Lk. 22:64 |
||
|
τρεῖς / τρία |
three |
Deu 17:6 |
Mk. 14:58 |
|||
|
υἱός |
son |
Isa 56:5 |
Mk.
14:61 |
Lk.
22:69 |
Nazarean Talmud
Sidra of “D’barim (Deut.) “16:18–17:17”
“Shof’tim Ve Shot’tim” – “Judges and Officers”
By: H. Em Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham
|
School of Hakham Shaul’s Tosefta Luqas (LK) |
School of Hakham Tsefet’s Peshat Mordechai (Mk)
|
|
And the men who were holding[41] him began to ridicule[42] him while they beat[43] him, and after blindfolding him they repeatedly asked him, saying, “Prophesy![44] Who is the one who struck you?” And they were saying many other things against him, reviling him. And when day came, the council of Zekanim of the Tz’dukim (Sadducees) of the people gathered, both Kohen HaGadol and their soferim, and they led him away to their council,[45] saying, “If you are the Messiah, tell us!” But he said to them, “If I tell you, you will never faithfully obey, and if I ask you, you will never answer! But from now on the Son of Man (the Prophet)[46] will occupy the office[47] of a plenipotentiary agent (Shaliach - Apostle, right hand) of God’s authority.” So they all said, “Are you then the Ben HaElohim?” And he said to them, “You say that I am.” And they said, “Why do we have need of further testimony? For we ourselves have heard it from his mouth!” |
¶And they led Yeshua away from Gat Shamni to the house of the Kohen Gadol; And all the Kohanim, the Soferim and the Zekanim (of the Tz’dukim) were present. And Tsefet followed him (Yeshua), at a distance; into the courtyard of the house of the Kohen Gadol; and he sat with the (young Temple) guards, warming himself by the fire. And the Kohen Gadol and all the assembly (of the Tz’dukim) sought for testimony against Yeshua, to put him to death: but they could not find one. For many testified falsely against him, but their testimonies did not agree. And some false witnesses stood up against him, and said: We have heard him say, “I will destroy this temple, which is made with hands; and in three days I will build another not made with hands.” But even on this they did not agree. And the Kohen Gadol stood up before them, and interrogated Yeshua and said, “Do you not have an answer? Why do these testify against you?” And Yeshua kept silent and made no reply. Again, the Kohen Gadol interrogated him, and said, “Are you the Messiah, the son of the Most High Blessed be He?” And Yeshua said to him, I am, and you will see the son of man sitting at the right hand of the All Powerful and He (G-d) will come with the clouds of heaven. And the Kohen HaGadol tore his tunic, and said, “Why do we need witnesses anymore? Behold, from his own mouth you have heard blasphemy. How does it appear to you?” And they all the Kohanim, the Soferim and the Zekanim (of the Tz’dukim) decided, that he deserved to die. And some began to spit in his face, and to strike him, saying, “Prophesy!” And the servants struck him on the cheeks. |
Nazarean Codicil to be read in conjunction with the following Torah Seder
|
Psa. 119:153-176 |
Is 56:1-9 + 57:19 |
Mk 14:55-65 |
Lk 22:63-71 |
Hakham Tsefet’s Peshat Commentary
D’barim 16.18 You will appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the LORD your God is giving you, and they will govern the people with due justice. 19 You will not judge unfairly: you will show no partiality; you will not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just. 20 Justice, justice will you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
The Guilt of the Kohen Gadol and his entourage
The guilt of the Kohen Gadol and his entourage is based on the following legal and derivation process.
From a greater to a lesser …
If it is incumbent of the Jewish people being addressed in D’barim 16.18 to “appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes” it is a mandate for the Jewish people in the first century to have and appoint Judges under the same Torah Laws and Statutes.
- The Kohen Gadol as a Priest and as an appointed member of the great Sanhedrin must abide by all the laws for Judges and Tribal leaders.
- This understood from D’barim 17.9 and appear before the Levitical priests, or the magistrate in charge at the time, and present your problem. When they have announced to you the verdict in the case …
The case appeals to the “Levitical priests.” Interestingly Yosef bar Qyp nor any of his entourage (to the best of our knowledge) are not of “Levitical lineage” which is a further condemnation to them disqualifying them for judgment.
Sefer HaChinukh Law 491 Judges and officers that coerce [others] to do the commandments of the Torah, bring those that are veering from the path of the truth back to it against their will, order that which is fitting to do, prevent disgusting things and enforce the fences against the transgressor - so that the commandments and the preventions of the Torah not require the belief (acceptance) of each and every person.[48]
This Qal VaḤomer rests on …
- Scriptural mandate
- Laws concerning Judges and Officers
- The same Laws of the Torah (historical setting at the time of Moshe Rabbenu) apply to the first century.
- If the Torah mandates a Law that was kept when Israel was autonomous it is even more stringent and requisite for the B’ne Yisrael to adopt these laws under foreign rule.[49]
Conclusion – Kal VaḤomer
Yosef bar Qyp was in violation of all the Laws concerning Judges and magistrates. As a member of the Great Sanhedrin he must abide by the thirty laws that comprise thirty precepts and principles applied.[50]
Gezearah Shavah
The Gezerah Shavah is based on the first three verses of our Torah Portion.
- D’barim 16.18 You will appoint magistrates and officials for your tribes, in all the settlements that the LORD your God is giving you, and they will govern the people with due justice.
- 19 You will not judge unfairly: you will show no partiality; you will not take bribes, for bribes blind the eyes of the discerning and upset the plea of the just.
- 20 Justice, justice will you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Yosef bar Qyp was in violation of all the Laws concerning Judges and magistrates …
- By not governing with due justice
- Acting as a judge without partiality
- He did not pursue justice
Binyan Av Echad
D’barim 16.19 - You will not judge unfairly: you will show no partiality;
Binyan Av Mishene Ketuvim
An inference from two verses …
- D’barim 16.18 recites “due justice”
- D’barim 16.20 recites “pursue justice”
Kelal ufnat uferat ukhektl – General to particular
- In verses D’barim 16.18 & 20 we have a general statement to “pursue justice.”
- In D’barim 16.19 we have a “particular” statement defining injustice – You will not judge unfairly: you will show no partiality; you will not take bribes
The general statement of “pursue justice” is explained in verse 19 in terms of
- Unfair judgment
- Partiality
- Bribes
- Justice is upset
From these five rules of Hillel’s Peshat we have determined the guilt of Yosef bar Qyp and his entourage.
We have not appealed to the rest of the Torah or the rest of this Torah portion to validate our claim. But reading the further stated rules of capital punishment and the laws concerning the death penalty we can more fully strengthen our argument.
- The Nazarean Hakhamim and Sages must follow the same Judicial practices of the Torah that were mandated in the time of Moshe Rabbenu in their Esnogas and institutions.
- The Nazarean Hakhamim and Sages must follow the same Judicial practices for the Sanhedrin in all their Bate Din and legal institutions.
Review
We posted most of our thoughts on the Peshat portion of this week’s Torah Seder last week. Here we will comment briefly on the joint pericopes of Peshat and Tosefta (Mark and Luke).
“If they cease to continue in their disobedience”:
The Kohen Gadol and his “council” all know they are wrong! Nevertheless, they do not want any Messiah to ruin their plans and scheme of subversion. Yosef bar Qyp[51] (Caiaphas) was the strongest “High Priest” who lived in the period of Yeshua’s life. Yosef bar Qyp was not intimidated by Pilate or any of his petty officers. It was quite the contrary; he intimidated Pilate to the point of having Yeshua crucified.[52]
If we only look at the trial of Yeshua as an illegitimate and ad hoc “Sanhedrin,” we will miss some of the key points in our materials. Firstly, let us say that the council of Yosef bar Qyp was in no way associated with the proper Sanhedrin. The Greek term συνέδριον – sunedrion means an “assembly.” We must be very careful not to think that the authentic “Sanhedrin” had anything to do with the death of Yeshua. The entire plot was concocted by Yosef bar Qyp. We will give answer to this claim in a coming Torah Seder. Our point here is that the party of Yosef bar Qyp were perfectly aware of what they were doing. The questioning posited during this so-called “trial” shows their awareness of qualifications that Messiah must possess in his office.
They beat[53] him, and after blindfolding him they repeatedly asked him, saying, “Prophesy! This statement shows that they clearly knew that Messiah must be a “Prophet” like Moshe.[54] Now the depth of this statement needs a little elucidation if we are to understand it in the context of what we are trying to say. The Tz’dukim know that Moshe did not give the Torah alone without a verbal/Oral elucidation to explain the things “written: in the Torah. Of course, our readers will know without a doubt that the Tz’dukim did not accept the Oral Torah. Therefore, they cannot accept a Messiah that comes with and as an embodiment of the Mesorah.
Hakham Shaul has shown in the Tosefta of Luqas (Luke – Hillel) that the government of the Tz’dukim was passing away per se.
Luk 22:53 But this is your hour and the domain of darkness!”
Philo points out that those who do not accept the whole Torah are filled with darkness.
Leg 3:4 And let us in the next place consider how anyone is said to be concealed from God. (7) And we must understand this in the following manner. In the wicked man, the true opinion concerning God is overshadowed and kept out of sight, for he is full of darkness, having no divine irradiation, by means of which he may be able to contemplate things as they are. And such a man is a fugitive from the Divine company.[55]
Hakham Shaul citing the above passage from 1 Luqas (Luke) 22:53 responded in his Remes commentary that matched the Tosefta above and asks, “Has God rejected His people?” Why would he join these two passages? Simply stated we can see that he saw that G-d did in fact reject some of His people, specifically the Tz’dukim.
“Concealed from God” this is a direct refusal to keep the Mitzvoth of G-d. "For at three seasons of the year every male must appear before the Lord the God of Israel"[56]
In light of our comments last week we would opine that those who have rejected the Oral Torah, which we have commented on ad nauseam remain in darkness. Our point here being that those aspects of Judaism that failed to accept the Oral Torah have, at least in part been rejected. Will they be accepted again by G-d in the future? How can those who are full of darkness and concealed from G-d earn his favor?
Philo captures our hearts cry.
Be You therefore O my soul in all your entirety always visible to God…[57]
Questions for Understanding and Reflection
- From all the readings for this week, which verse or verses touched your heart and fired your imagination?
- 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 Sabbath:
“Asimah Alai Melekh” - ”I will set a king [over me]”
|
Shabbat |
Torah Reading: |
Weekday Torah Reading: |
|
אָשִׂימָה עָלַי מֶלֶךְ |
|
Saturday Afternoon |
|
Reader 1 – D’barim 17:14-17 |
Reader 1 – D’barim 18:20-22 |
|
|
Reader 2 – D’barim 17:18-20 |
Reader 2- D’barim 19:1-3 |
|
|
“Pondré un rey [sobre mí]” |
Reader 3 – D’barim 18:1-5 |
Reader 3- D’barim 19:4-6 |
|
D’barim (Deuteronomy) 17:14–18:19 |
Reader 4 – D’barim 18:6-8 |
|
|
Reader 5 – D’barim 18:9-11 |
Monday & Thursday Mornings |
|
|
Psalms 120:1 – 122:9 |
Reader 6 – D’barim 18:12-14 |
Reader 1 – D’barim 18:20-22 |
|
Ashlamata: Isaiah 33:22 – 34:8 |
Reader 7 – D’barim 18:15-18 |
Reader 2- D’barim 19:1-3 |
|
Maftir – D’barim 18:17-19 |
Reader 3- D’barim 19:4-6 |
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David
Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham
Edited by Adon Ovadyah ben Abraham and Adon Aviner ben Abraham
Please e-mail any comments, questions, or suggestions to chozenppl@gmail.com