Esnoga Bet Emunah - 227 Millset Chase# - San Antonio, Texas 78253

Targum Pseudo Jonathan for:

B’ resheet (Genesis) 15:1 – 16:16

XV. After these words, when the kings had gathered together, and had fallen before Abram; and four kings had been slain, and nine hosts brought back, Abram reasoned in his heart, and said, Woe to me, because I have received the reward of my appointments in this world, and have no portion in the world to come. Or peradventure the brethren and friends of those who have been slain will combine in legions and come against me; or that at that time there was found with me the reward of a little righteousness, so that they fell before me; but the second time reward may not be found with me, and by me the name of the Heavens may be profaned. Thereupon was the word (pithgama) of the Lord with Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not; for if these men should gather together in legions and come against you, My Word (Memra) will be your shield: and also if these fall before you in this world, the reward of your good works shall be kept, and be prepared before Me in the world to come, great exceedingly.

And Abram said, Lord God, great blessings have You given me, and great (are they which are) before You to give me: nevertheless, what profit is it to me, when I pass from the world without children, and Eliezer the manager (bar pharnasath, the son of sustenance) of my house, by whose hands signs were wrought for (or to) me in Darmasek, expects to be my heir? And Abram said, Behold, to me You have not given a son; and, behold, the manager of my house will be my heir. And, behold, a word from before the Lord was to him, saying, He shall not be your heir; but a son whom you will beget shall be your heir. And He brought him forth without, and said, Look up now to the heavens, and number the stars, if you are able to number them: and He (G-d) said, So will be your sons. And he believed in the Lord, and had faithful obedience in the (Memra) Word of the Lord, and He (G-d) reckoned it to him for righteousness, because he spoke not before Him with words. And He said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of the fiery furnace of the Kasdai, to give you this land to inherit. And he said, Lord God, by what may I know that I shall be the heir of it? And He said, Bring Me oblations, and offer before Me an heifer of three years, and a goat of three years, a ram of three years, and a dove, and the young of a pigeon. And he brought all these before Him, and divided them in the midst, and set in order every division over against its fellow; but the fowl he divided not. And there came down idolatrous peoples which are like to unclean birds, to steal away the sacrifices of Israel; but the righteousness of Abram was a shield over them. And when the sun was nearing to set, a deep sleep was thrown upon Abram: and, behold, four kingdoms arose to enslave his children: Terror, which is Bavel; Darkness, which is Madai; Greatness, which is Javan; Decline, which is Pheras, which is to fall, and to have no uplifting, and from whence it is to be that the children of Israel will come up. And he said to Abram, Knowing, you must know, that your sons shall dwell in a land not their own, because you have not believed, and they will subjugate and afflict them four hundred years; and also that the people whom they shall serve I will judge with two hundred and fifty plagues, and afterwards they shall go forth into liberty with great riches. And you shall be gathered to your fathers, your soul shall rest in peace, and you shall be buried in a good old age. And in the fourth generation of your sons they will return hither to inherit; because the guilt of the Amoraah is not yet complete. And when the sun had set there was darkness. And, behold, Abram saw Gehinnom ascending, smoke with flaming coals and burning flakes of fire, wherewith the wicked are to be judged. And, behold, He passed between those divisions.

[JERUSALEM. 1. After these words, when all the kings of the lands, and the sultans of the provinces, had gathered together, and had made war against Abram the Just, and had fallen before him, and he had slain of them four kings, and had brought back nine hosts, did Abram the Just reason in his heart, and say, Woe, now, to me, because I have received the reward ordained in the present world, and have no portion in the world to come. Or peradventure the brethren and kindred of the slain who have fallen before me, who are in their cities and provinces, will combine in great legions, and come against me; or peradventure there were in my hand a few commandments in the former times, so that they fell before me when they had risen up against me; or it may be that righteousness was found in me at the former times, that they fell before me, but at the second time it may not be found, and the Heavenly Name will be profaned in me. Then was the word of prophecy from the Lord unto Abram the Righteous, saying, Fear not, Abram, though they should gather together and come against you with many legions, My Word shall be your reward and your shield in this world, and a protector over you all the days of the world to come. And though I deliver up your adversaries before you in this world, the reward of your good works is prepared for you also before Me in the world to come.

2. And Abram said, Before You I supplicate mercy, O Lord God. Manifold blessings You have given me, and many have You before You still to give: nevertheless, what profit have I who go from the world childless, and Eliezer, the son of my house, by whose hands signs were wrought for me in Damasek, expects in himself to be my heir? 7. And He said to him, I am the Lord who brought you out of the fiery furnace from Ur of the Kasdai. 9. And a turtle and young pigeon. 10-12. And He brought before him all these, and divided them into divisions, and set one part over against its fellow; but the fowl He divided not. And when the birds descended, they came not near the divisions: those birds are unclean fowl, and those unclean fowl are the kingdoms of the earth which are worshippers of idols, and which counsel evil counsels against the sons of Israel; but the integrity of the righteous Abram hindered them. And when the sun was going to set, a sleep profound and sweet fell upon Abram. And, behold, Abram saw four kingdoms which should arise to bring his sons into subjection (and) Terror; Darkness; and Greatness; and Fell; upon him: Terror, that is Bavel; Darkness, that is Media; Greatness, that is Greece; Fell, that is Edom, (Rome,) that fourth kingdom which is to Fall, and never to rise again for ever and ever. 17. And, behold, the sun went to set, and there was darkness, and Abram beheld till the seats were arrayed and the thrones set forth. And lo, Gehinom, which was prepared for the wicked in the world to come, enveloped in burning flakes and flames of fire, into which the wicked had fallen when in their lives they rebelled against the law, while the just who had kept it had been delivered from affliction. And all were seen by Abram while He passed between those divisions.]

In that day the Lord ordained a covenant with Abram, that He would not judge therein his sons, but would deliver them from the kingdom, saying, To your sons will I give this land, from Nilos of Mizraim unto the great river, the river Pherath, the Shalmia, and the Kenizah, and Kadmonaah, and the Hittaee, and the Pherizaee, and Gibaraee, and the Emoraee, and the Kinaanaee, and the Girgeshaee, and the Jebusaee. [JERUSALEM. And all the sons of the East.]

XVI. But Sara, the wife of Abram, had not borne to him. But he had a handmaid, a Mizreitha, and her name was Hagar, a daughter of Pharoh, whom he gave to him as a handmaid at the time that he received her, being struck by the word from before the Lord. And Sara said to Abram, Behold, now, the Lord has restrained me from bearing, go to my handmaid and set her free; perhaps I may be built by her. And Abram hearkened to the word of Sara. And Sara the wife of Abram took Hagar the Mizreitha handmaid, when Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Kenaan, and set her free, and gave her to Abram her husband to wife. And he went unto Hagar, and she conceived; and she saw that she had conceived, and the honor of her mistress was despised in her eyes.

And Sara said to Abram, All my affliction is from you. Being secure that you would do me justice, I left the land and house of my father, and came up with you to a foreign land; and forasmuch as I was not able to become a mother, I set free my handmaid, and gave her to lie in your bosom; and she saw that she had conceived, and mine honor is despised before her. But now is my affliction manifest before the Lord, who will spread peace between me and you, and the land shall be replenished from us, nor shall we need the help of the progeny of Hagar the daughter of Pharoh bar Nimrod, who threw you into the furnace of fire.

[JERUSALEM. And Sara said, My judgment and my affliction are delivered into your hand. I left the house of my birth, and the house of my father, and came with you in the faithful obedience of the Heavens. I have gone in with you before kings; before Pharoh King of Mizraim, and before Avimelek king of the Philistaee; and I have said of you, he is my brother, so that they might not kill you. And when I saw that I was not made fruitful, I took Hagar the Mizreitha, my handmaid, and gave her to you to wife, and said, She shall bring forth, and I will bring up whom she may bear, that I may be built, be it only from her. But now seeing that she has conceived, my honor is contemned and despised in her sight. Now may the Lord appear, and judge between me and you, and fulfill mercies upon me and you, and spread His peace between me and you, and replenish the world from me and from you, that we may not heed the son of Hagar the Mizreitha handmaid, who is of the children of the people who cast you into the burning furnace of the Kasdin.]

And Abram said to Sara, Behold, your handmaid is under your authority: do to her what is right in your eyes. And Sara afflicted her, and she escaped from before her. And the Angel of the Lord found her at the fountain of waters in the desert; at the fountain of waters which is in the way to Chagra. [JERUSALEM. Chalitza.] And He said, Hagar, handmaid of Sara, from where do you come, and to where are you going? And she said, From before Sara my mistress I have escaped. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Return to your mistress, and be subject under her hand. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, In multiplying I will multiply your sons, and they shall not be numbered for multitude. And the Angel of the Lord said to her, Behold, you are with child, and you wilt bear a son, and you shall call his name Ishmael, because your affliction is revealed before the Lord. And he shall be like the wild ass among men: his hands shall take vengeance of his adversaries, and the hands of his adversaries will be put forth to do him evil; and in the presence of all his brethren shall he be commingled, (yitharbeb, Arabized,) and shall dwell. And she gave thanks before the Lord whose Word spoke to her, and thus said, You are He who lives and are eternal; who sees, but are not seen! · for she said, For, behold, here is revealed the glory of the Shekhina of the Lord after a vision. (JERUSALEM. And Hagar gave thanks, and prayed in the Name of the Word of the Lord, who had been manifested to her, saying, Blessed be You, Eloha, the Living One of all Ages, who has looked upon my affliction. For she said, Behold, You are manifested also unto me, even as You were manifested to Sara my mistress.] Wherefore she called the well, The Well at which the Living and Eternal One was revealed; and, behold, it is situated between Rekam and Chalutsa. And Hagar bare Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bare, Ishmael. And Abram was the son of eighty-six years when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

Ashlamatah:

Isaiah 1:1-8; 2:2-3

1 ¶ THE VISION of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

2 ¶ Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the LORD hath spoken: Children I have reared, and brought up, and they have rebelled against Me.

3 The ox knows his owner, and the ass his master’s crib; but Israel does not know, My people do not consider.

4 Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil-doers, children that deal corruptly; they have forsaken the LORD, they have contemned the Holy One of Israel, they are turned away backward.

5 On what part will you yet be stricken, seeing you stray away more and more? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint;

6 From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and festering sores: they have not been pressed, neither bound up, neither mollified with oil.

7 Your country is desolate; your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by floods.

8 And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.

9 Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrah.

1 ¶ The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

2 And it shall come to pass in the end of days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established as the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

3 And many peoples shall go and say: ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

Targum

Psalm 11

1. A hymn of David. In the word of the Lord I have hoped; how do you say to my soul, wander to the mountain like a bird?

2. For behold, the wicked bend the bow, fixing their arrows on the string to shoot in darkness at the firm of heart.

3. For if the foundations are shattered, why did the virtuous do good?

4. The Lord is in his holy temple; God’s throne is in the highest heavens; his eyes see, his eyelids examine, the sons of men.

5. God examines the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and those who love rapacity.

6. He will bring down rains of retribution on the wicked, coals of fire and brimstone; a violent storm-wind is the portion of their cup.

7. For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteousness, the honest man will look upon His countenance.

Pirqe Abot

“All Israel have a share in the World to Come, as it is stated: And your people are all righteous; they shall inherit the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, in which to glorify Me” (Isaiah 60:21).

Pirqe Abot I:11

Hillel and Shammai received (the tradition) from them. Hillel said: "Be a disciple of Aaron, love peace, pursue peace, love all men too, and bring them nigh unto the Law."

Tosephtha--Aboth of R. Nathan.

"Love peace." How so? One should love to see peace in Israel and peace everywhere, as Aaron loved peace, about whom it is written [Malachi 2:6]: "The love of truth was in his mouth, and falsehood was not found on his lips; in peace and equity he walked with me, and many did he turn away from iniquity." When Aaron went on the highway and met a wicked man, he bade him peace in the customary form of salutation. The result was that that man reformed. For when he was about to commit a sin, he remembered that Aaron the high-priest saluted him, and would say: "Woe, if I sin, how will I dare to raise my eyes and look Aaron in the face, who was so friendly to me?" and thus he is prevented from sin.

Likewise, when two men quarreled with each other (and it came to the ears of Aaron), he went to one of them and said: "My son, see what your neighbor does. He beats his breast, tears his clothes and cries, saying: 'Woe is me! How will I dare to lift up my eyes to look my neighbor in the face? I am ashamed of myself, for it is I who wronged him.'" Thus Aaron allayed the bitterness of that man's feeling. Then Aaron went to the other man and addressed him in the same style, and likewise pacified his heart. When those two men met, they no longer eyed one another as enemies, but embraced and kissed each other, as friends do. Because of Aaron's peace-making, it is written about him [Numbers 20:29]: "They wept for Aaron thirty days."

The passages about the mourning of Moses and Aaron are differently written. About Aaron it is written "even all the house of Israel," which includes also women; about Moses, however, it is written only, "and the children of Israel," which excludes women. To explain this, there are different opinions. Some say because Moses, who was a true judge and judged justly without favoritism, used to rebuke the sinner and say to him: You have sinned in so and so. Aaron, however, when judging them, judged them truly, but at the same time he did not rebuke them, even when the sinners were males, much less when, they were females. And, secondly, many thousands were named Aaron, after the high-priest. For were it not for Aaron they, would not have been brought to the world at all, as Aaron's special efforts were directed toward making peace between man and Wife, so that if, after that, a child was born to them they named him after their peace-maker.

According to others, the reason why even all the house of Israel wept is because they had seen Moses our master sitting and weeping, and who then would not weep? And they also saw Elazar and Pinechas, who were high-priests, weeping, and who would not weep with them?

Then Moses desired to die the same death that Aaron died. Why so? Because it was said that Moses saw his bier decked out with great pomp and many divisions of angels lamenting over him. And although Moses never expressed that wish, but only thought so in his heart, the Holy One, blessed be He, granted him his desire, as it is written [Deuteronomy 32:50]: "And die in the mount where you go up, and be gathered unto your people; as Aaron your brother died on Mount Hor." From this is to be inferred that Moses had a desire to die the death of Aaron.

At the time (when Moses was about to die), God said to the angel of death: "Go and bring unto me the soul of Moses." Coming to Moses, he demanded his soul. But Moses censured the angel of death. He said to him: "You are not entitled to be where I am, and you are asking of me my soul?" and Moses drove him away with degradation. At length the Lord said unto Moses: "Moses, Moses, you have lived long enough in this world, as your share in the world to come has awaited you ever since creation," as it is written [Exodus 33:21]: "And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand upon the rock." Thereupon the Lord Himself took the soul of Moses and placed it under His throne, as it is written [I Samuel 25:29]: "Yet will the soul of my Lord be bound in the bond of life." And He took his soul with a kiss, as it is written [Deuteronomy 34:5]: "Through the mouth of God."

[Not merely the soul of Moses is placed under His throne, but all the souls of the righteous, as it is written: "Yet will the soul of my Lord be bound in the bond of life." Should one assume that the souls of the wicked are also hidden there, therefore it is written [I Samuel 25:29]: "And the soul of your enemies will He hurl away, as out of the middle of the sling."

For the better understanding of this, let us think of who puts a stone in his sling: although he hurls it from one place to another, he knows not where it will finally land. So are the souls of the wicked: they are wandering and hovering in the world without rest.

After the death of Moses the Lord again commanded the angel of death to bring Him the soul of Moses. He went to the place where he used to be found when alive, but did not find him. He then went to the ocean, and asked whether Moses was there. It answered: Since the day when the Israelites passed through me, I have not seen him. He went to the mountains and hills, and put to them the same question, and they said: Since the day when the Israelites received the Law from Mount Sinai, we have not seen him. So he went to the nether world and place of perdition, and asked them the same question, and they said: We have heard of his name, but have never seen him. Finally, he inquired of the angels, and they said: "God (alone) understands her way, and he knows her place" [Job 28:23]. The Lord preserved him for a life in the world to come, and no creature knows where he is, as it is written [Job 28:20-22]: "But wisdom . . . a report of her." At the same time Joshua was sitting and grieving because he did not know where his master was, till the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Joshua, do not grieve. My servant Moses is dead.]

"Pursue peace." How so? One shall be a pursuer of peace in Israel among all kinds of people. If a man remains in his place silent, he cannot be a pursuer of peace. But what shall he do? He should leave his place in search of peace, as it is written [ibid.]: "Seek peace, and pursue it." Which means, seek it in your place, and if you cannot find it, pursue it in another (that is the peace of Torah).

The Holy One, blessed be He, also made peace in heaven, in that he did not name ten angels Gabriel, Michael, Uriel, or Raphael, as, for instance, many people bear the same name; otherwise, when He would summon one of them, they would all respond, and be jealous of one another. Therefore He gave each one a separate name. When He summons one, only that one comes, and He sends him wherever He desires. They reverence and respect one another, and are meeker than human beings, for when they begin to sing the praises of the Lord, one says to another: "You begin, as you are greater than I am"; and the other says: "You are greater than I am, and therefore you begin." With human beings, however, it is the reverse. Every one says: "I am greater than you are." Some say that not individual angels, but divisions of angels, say to each other: "You begin, you are greater than we are," as it is written [Isaiah 6:3]: And one called unto the other and said."

"Love all men too." That is to say, that one should love all men, and not hate them; for so we find with the men of the "generation of the division," because they loved each other, the Lord was reluctant to destroy them, but only scattered them to all four corners of the world. The men of Sodom, however, because they hated each other, were annihilated by the Lord, both in this and the world to come, as it is written [Gen. 13:13]: "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. "And sinners" implies that they were guilty of illegal unions; "before the Lord" implies that they were guilty of desecration of the Holy name; "and exceedingly," that they sinned willfully.

"And bring them near unto the Law." How so? One should try to uplift people and bring them under the wings of the Shekhina, as our father Abraham did; and not only Abraham, but also Sarah, as it is written [Gen. 12:5]: "And Abraham took Sarah his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had acquired, and the persons that they made in Charan." Is it possible? Even all mankind combined could not create even a small insect. We must, therefore, say that the Lord considered the people that they brought under the wings of the Shekhina as if they had made them.

As one cannot divide his life with his neighbor in this world, so he cannot divide with him his deserved reward in the world to come, as it is written [Ecclesiastes 4:1]: "And, behold, there are the tears of the oppressed, and they have no comforter; and from the hand of their oppressors they suffer violence, and they have no comforter." Why is it written "and they have no comforter" twice? To infer that, although there are men who eat (plenty), drink, and are successful with their sons and daughters in this world, they may have nothing in the world to come, and they will have no comforter there. In this world, when something is stolen from one, or a death occurs in one's family, his son, brother, and other relatives come and console him, but this cannot be done in the world to come, as it is written [ibid., ibid. 8]: "Yea, he has neither son nor brother."

The same is the case with one who has begotten an illegitimate son; for the latter may say to him: "Scoundrel, you have lost yourself as well as me." For the bastard may have a thirst for knowledge, and therefore desire to study the Law in Jerusalem together with the other disciples, but cannot do so because, being a bastard, he is prohibited from entering Jerusalem. It happened once that a bastard was not allowed to pass Ashdad, as it is written [Zechariah 9:6]: "And bastards shall dwell in Ashdad, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines."

Midrash of Matityahu (Matthew) 2:13-18

13. ¶ As they were going (the three wise men from the East), behold, the angel of Adonai appeared unto Yosef in a dream saying: Arise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt and stay there until I tell you, because Herod the Great will seek the child to kill him.

14. Having arisen, Yosef took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt,

15. and was there until Herod the Great died, to complete what was spoken by Adonai through Hosheya the Prophet (Hosea 11:1): “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.”

16. ¶ Then Herod the Great saw that the Hakhamim had spurned him and was very displeased. Being grieved at heart, he commanded to eradicate all male children who were two years old and under who were in Bet Lekhem and its borders who had been born from the time when the Hakhamim spoke to him concerning the birth of the boy.

17. Then it was completed that which Jeremiah the Prophet spoke (Jeremiah 31:15):

18. “Thus says Adonai: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not.”

Commentary

The connection of our Psalm with our Torah Seder is by means of the phrase “I took refuge in Adonai” (Psalm 1:1) and “And he believed in Adonai; and He counted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6). Also, “and there was thick darkness, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces” (Genesis 15:17) with “coals; fire and brimstone and burning wind” (Psalm 1:6). The connection, then is pretty obvious, and we can see that King David the Messiah is clearly writing on his meditation upon our Torah Seder.

Our Targum states:

“And He brought him forth without, and said, Look up now to the heavens, and number the stars, if you are able to number them: and He (G-d) said, So will be your sons. And he believed in the Lord, and had faithful obedience to the (Memra) Word of the Lord, and He (G-d) reckoned it to him for righteousness, because he spoke not before Him with words.”

Why did G-d, most blessed be He, reckoned Abram’s behavior as righteousness? According to the above text, three things came into coincidence:

· He believed Ha-Shem’s word

· He was faithfully obedient to G-d’s word

· He did not argue nor asked any more questions.

Though he did not understand how this promise of having a child when he was well over in his later years, and his wife as well, he believed G-d’s word and no more questions were asked, as many would do if put in similar circumstances. The Henrew word here for “Righteousness” is “צְדָקָה” – “Ts’daqah” and normally it means “charity / generosity.” In other words, believing in G-d’s word without questioning how this or other will be done is considered by G-d as an act or deed of great “Charity” or “Generosity.” Thus, commenting on this verse (Gen. 15:6), King David the Messiah states (Psalms 11:6): “Adonai Tsadiq Yiv’chan” (“Ha-Shem tests the generous/righteous”). Rashi and Kinchi comment that “G-d tests all men, even the righteous/generous, by afflicting them.” And Hakham Hirsch of blessed memory adds: “G-d tests the generous/righteous by allowing the lawless to prosper.” And King David the Messiah concludes his meditation upon our Torah Seder for this week by warning: “Ki Tsadiq Adonai” (“For Ha-Shem is generous/righteous”), and therefore: “Ts’daqot Ahev” (“He loves generosity /righteousness”)!

One of the basic pillars of our Jewish religion is based upon a “generous heart,” and upon the injunction to imitate G-d, for as He is generous towards all His creatures so should we. Thus, there can be no righteousness that is not deeply rooted in generosity, in giving. And as we have seen, the greatest form of generosity is that of believing and faithfully establishing the commandments of G-d’s word and those of His faithful Hakhamim. For such a life of necessity entails giving, and perhaps the hardest form of giving, allowing G-d’s will as expressed by the words of our Sages to be our will, rather than going about to establish our will and understandings in the name of G-d, most blessed be He, as the lawless are so accustomed to do.

The Prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 2:3) intimates this when he says that “in the end of days” many Gentiles will go and say: “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” Notice that it does not state “our self-made ways” nor “our self-made paths” but rather, “His ways” and “His paths.” There needs to be a handing of control to G-d and His Hakhamim in order to enjoy the blessings of G-d, and unless there is this handing of control over one’s life, there is no genuine generosity – but a mere fake charity which pursues a hidden agenda.

This same point albeit with somewhat of a twist is also dealt with by the Midrash Tanchuma Yelammedenu, which introduces our Torah Seder with the following words:

“May it please our master to teach us what the burn offerings prescribed in the book of Leviticus atone for? R. Ishmael taught us: Burnt offerings were introduced as an act of atonement for the violation of both positive and negative commandments. R. Simeon the son of Yohai said: They were introduced also as an atonement for evil thoughts, as it is said: And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said: “It may be that my sons have sinned, and blasphemed G-d in their hearts.” Thus did Job continually (Job 1:5).

You find that Abraham once pondered over the matter of divine justice. What did he say to himself? R. Levi was of the opinion that he said to himself: It appears to me as though I have already received my full reward in this world, inasmuch as the Holy One, blessed be He, has assisted me against the kings and has saved me from the furnace. Surely, I have received my full reward; there can be no additional reward awaiting me in the world to come. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: Since you dare to reflect on My actions, you must bring a burnt offering to Me. Therefore, He said: Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, even Isaac, and get into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell you of (Genesis 22:2). R. Isaac declared: Abraham excoriated himself unmercifully, saying: Perhaps of those whom I have killed, there were some righteous men. The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: Those whom you have destroyed were like thorns that you eradicated from before Me. You have committed no sin because of it; rather you shall be greatly rewarded because of it, both now and in the future.”

In other words Abraham on this instance rather than looking to continue in faithful obedience and in generosity towards all, stops and starts to take an accounting of his rewards. A faithful obedience that is based on punishments and rewards is very shallow indeed, since there can’t be greater reward that the fact of being chosen to faithfully obey G-d, most blessed be He, and His laws, and to serve Him and fellowmen with abundance of generosity. To be chose to do that is the greatest privilege that a man, woman or child can ever experience. “O the satisfaction of that royal man” says of this person Messiah King David in Psalm 1:1.

When a person realizes that he or she is chosen amongst many peoples in this earth to faithfully obey G-d and His Torah, and to serve Him and fellowman with a cheerful countenance and a with a heart totally saturated with generosity, then nothing else matters. The joy of serving G-d and fellowman because he has chosen us and created us to do so, is so great that no other reward can surely surpass this joy! And the person in whom this joy dwells fully, is counted not only as a Tsadiq but greater even – the friend of G-d!

And friends normally share many traits and interests in common. So as G-d is super generous/ righteous, a friend of His no doubt must also be super generous / righteous. This is the marrow of the matter, al else is commentary!

blessed be HeMay Ha-Shem, most blessed be He, grant us the privilege to with great joy serve Him and imitate Him to the best of our ability starting with a heart burting with generosity towards G-d and fellowmen, amen ve amen!

Shalom Shabbat!

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Shabbat:	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
במחזה לאמר
“BaMaChazeh Lemor”	Reader 1 – B’resheet 15:1-6	Reader 1 – B’resheet 17:1-3
“In a vision saying”	Reader 2 – B’resheet 15:7-17	Reader 2 – B’resheet 17:4-6
“en una visión, diciendo”	Reader 3 – B’resheet 15:18-21	Reader 3 – B’resheet 17:7-10
B’ resheet (Genesis) 15:1 – 16:16	Reader 4 – B’resheet 16:1-3
Isaiah 1:1-8; 2:2-3	Reader 5 – B’resheet 16:4-6
	Reader 6 – B’resheet 16:7-12	Reader 1 – B’resheet 17:11-14
Psalm 11	Reader 7 – B’resheet 16:13-16	Reader 2 – B’resheet 17:15-17
Pirke Abot I:11	Maftir – B’midbar 28:9-15	Reader 3 – B’resheet 17:18-22
N.C.: Matityahu 2:13-18	Isaiah 1:1-8; 2: 2-3