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

 

Roll of Honor:

 

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

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

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

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

His Honor Paqid  Adon Yoel ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet Rivka bat Dorit

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

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

Her Excellency Giberet Leah bat Sarah & beloved mother

Her Excellency Giberet Zahavah bat Sarah & beloved family

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

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

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

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

Her Excellency Giberet Jacquelyn Bennett

His Excellency Adon Ya’aqob ben David

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

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

His Excellency Adon Shlomoh ben Abraham

His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill

 

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!

 

 

 

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!

 

Blessings Before Torah Study

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

Shabbat: “Ad Ani, Mantem” –“How Long do you refuse?”

 

 

Contents of the Torah Seder

 

·        Sabbath – Exodus 16:28-30

·        Naming the Manna – Exodus 16:31-32

·        One Jug Preserved – Exodus 16:33-36

·        Water from the Rock in Horeb – Exodus 17:1-7

·        The Battle with the Amalekites – Exodus 17:8-16

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan 

for: Shemot (Exod.) 16:28 – 17:16

Rashi	Targum
28. The Lord said to Moses, How long will you refuse to observe My commandments and My teachings?	28. And the LORD said to Mosheh, How long will you refuse to keep My commandments and My Laws?
29. See that the Lord has given you the Sabbath. Therefore, on the sixth day, He gives you bread for two days. Let each man remain in his place; let no man leave his place on the seventh day	29. Behold, because I have given you the Sabbath, I gave you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man abide in his place, and not wander from one locality to another, beyond four yards; nor let any man go forth to walk beyond two thousand yards on the seventh day;
30. So the people rested on the seventh day.	30. for the people will repose on the seventh day.
31. The house of Israel named it manna, and it was like coriander seed, [it was] white, and it tasted like a wafer with honey.	31. ¶ And the house of Israel called the name of it Manna; and it was like the seed of coriander, white, and the taste of it like preparations of honey. JERUSALEM:  ¶ Like the seed of coriander, and the taste of it like confections of honey.
32. Moses said, This is the thing that the Lord commanded: Let one omerful of it be preserved for your generations, in order that they see the bread that I fed you in the desert when I took you out of the land of Egypt.	32. And Mosheh said, This is the thing which the LORD has commanded to lay up of it a homer full to keep in your generations; that perverse generations may see the bread which you have eaten in the wilderness, in your coming forth out of the land of Mizraim.
33. And Moses said to Aaron, Take one jug and put there an omerful of manna, and deposit it before the Lord to be preserved for your generations	33. And Mosheh said to Aharon, Take one earthen vase, and put therein a full homera of manna, and lay it up before the LORD to be kept unto your generations.
34. As the Lord had commanded Moses, Aaron deposited it before the testimony to be preserved.	34. As the LORD commanded Mosheh, so did Aharon, lay it up before the testimony to be kept.
35. And the children of Israel ate the manna for forty years until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.	35. And the children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land: manna did they eat forty days after his death, until they had passed the Yarden, and entered upon the borders of the land of Kenaan.
36. The omer is one tenth of an ephah.	36. And a homera is one tenth of three seahs.
1. The entire community of the children of Israel journeyed from the desert of Sin to their travels by the mandate of the Lord. They encamped in Rephidim, and there was no water for the people to drink.	1. ¶ And all the congregation of the sons of Israel journeyed from the desert of Sin by their journeyings according to the word of the LORD, and they encamped in Rephidim, a place where their hands were idle in the commandments of the Law, and the fountains were dry, and there was no water for the people to drink.
2. So the people quarreled with Moses, and they said, Give us water that we may drink Moses said to them, Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?	2. And the wicked of the people contended with Mosheh, and said, Give us water, that we may drink. And Mosheh said to them, Why contend you with me? and why tempt you before the Lord?
3. The people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and they said, Why have you brought us up from Egypt to make me and my children and my livestock die of thirst?	3. But the people were thirsty for water, and the people murmured against Mosheh, and said, Why have you made us come up out of Mizraim, to kill us, and our children, and our cattle with thirst?
4. Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, What shall I do for this people? Just a little longer and they will stone me!	4. And Mosheh prayed before the LORD, saying What will I do for this people? Yet a very little, and they will stone me.
5. And the Lord said to Moses, Pass before the people and take with you [some] of the elders of Israel, and take into your hand your staff, with which you struck the Nile, and go.	5. And the LORD said to Mosheh, Pass over before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel, and the rod with which you did smite the river take in your hand, and go from the face of their murmuring.
6. Behold, I shall stand there before you on the rock in Horeb, and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, and the people will drink Moses did so before the eyes of the elders of Israel.	6. Behold, I will stand before you there, on the spot where you saw the impress of the foot on Horeb; and you will smite the rock with your rod, and therefrom will come forth waters for drinking, and the people will drink. And Mosheh did so before the elders of Israel.
7. He named the place Massah [testing] and Meribah [quarreling] because of the quarrel of the children of Israel and because of their testing the Lord, saying, Is the Lord in our midst or not?	7. And he called the name of that place Testing and Strife; because there the sons of Israel contended with Mosheh, and because they tempted the LORD, saying, Does the glory of the majesty of the LORD truly dwell among us, or not?
8. Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.	8. ¶ And Amalek came from the land of the south and leaped on that night a thousand and six hundred miles; and on account of the disagreement which had been between Esau and Ya’aqob, he came and waged war with Israel in Rephidim, and took and killed (some of the) men of the house of Dan; for the cloud did not embrace them, because of the strange worship that was among them.
9. So Moses said to Joshua, Pick men for us, and go out and fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand	9. And Mosheh said to Jehoshua, Choose such men as are strong in the precepts, and victorious in fight; and go, under the Cloud of glory, and set battle in array against the hosts of Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand, prepared with fasting, with the righteous/generous fathers of the chiefs of the people, and the righteous/ generous mothers who are like the hills, with the rod with which the miracles have been wrought from before the Lord, in my hand.
10. Joshua did as Moses had told him, to fight against Amalek; and Moses, Aaron, and Hur ascended to the top of the hill.	10. And Jehoshua did as Mosheh had bidden him, to wage war with Amalek. And Mosheh, and Aharon, and Hur went up to the top of the height.
11. It came to pass that when Moses would raise his hand, Israel would prevail, and when he would lay down his hand, Amalek would prevail.	11. And it was, when Mosheh lifted up his hands in prayer, that the house of Israel prevailed; and when he rested his hand from praying, that the house of Amalek prevailed. JERUSALEM: And it was that when Mosheh lifted up his hands in prayer, the house of Israel prevailed; and when his hands declined from prayer, Amalek prevailed; and (Israel) fell in the line of battle. And the hands of Mosheh were lifted up in prayer.
12. Now Moses hands were heavy; so they took a stone and placed it under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one from this [side], and one from that [side]; so he was with his hands in faith until sunset.	12. And the hands of Mosheh were heavy, because the conflict was prolonged till the morrow, and the deliverance of Israel was not prepared on that day; and he could not hold them up in prayer; on which account he would have afflicted his soul. And they took a stone, and placed it under him, and he sat upon it; and Aharon and Hur supported his hand, this the one, and that the other; and his hands were outstretched with firmness, (or, fidelity,) in prayer and fasting, until the going down of the sun.
13. Joshua weakened Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.	13. And Jehoshua shattered Amalek, and cut off the heads, of the strong men of his people, by the mouth of the Word of the Lord, with the slaughter of the sword.
14. The Lord said to Moses, Inscribe this [as] a memorial in the book, and recite it into Joshua’s ears, that I will surely obliterate the remembrance of Amalek from beneath the heavens	14. ¶ And the Lord said unto Mosheh, Write this memorial in the book of the elders that were of old, and these words in the hearing, of Jehoshua, that blotting, I will blot out the memory of Amalek from under the heavens.
15. Then Moses built an altar, and he named it The Lord is my miracle	15. And Mosheh built an altar, and called the name of it, The Word of the LORD is my banner; for the sign which He has wrought (in this) place was on my behalf.
16. And he said, For there is a hand on the throne of the Eternal, [that there shall be] a war for the Lord against Amalek from generation to generation.	16. And he said, Because the Word of the LORD has sworn by the throne of His glory, that He by His Word will fight against those of the house of Amalek, and destroy them unto three generations; from the generation of this world, from the generation of the Messiah, and from the generation of the world to come. JERUSALEM: And he said, The oath has come forth from beneath the throne of the Great One, of all the world the LORD; the first king who will sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the sons of Israel, Shaul, the son of Kish, will set the battle in array against the house of Amalek, and will slay them; and those of them that remain will Mordechai and Esther destroy. The LORD has said by His Word that the memory of Amalek will perish to the age of ages.

 Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan

for: B’Midbar (Num.) 28:9-15

 

RASHI	TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN
9. On the Shabbat day [the offering will be] two yearling lambs without blemish, and two tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour as a meal-offering, mixed with [olive] oil, and its libation.	9. but on the day of Shabbat two lambs of the year without blemish, and two‑tenths of flour mixed with olive oil for the mincha and its libation.
10. This is the burnt-offering on its Shabbat, in addition to the constant (daily) burnt-offering and its libation.	10. On the Sabbath you will make a Sabbath burnt sacrifice in addition to the perpetual burnt sacrifice and its libation.
11. At the beginning of your months you will bring a burnt-offering to Adonai, two young bulls, one ram, seven yearling lambs, [all] without blemish.	11. And at the beginning of your months you will offer a burnt sacrifice before the LORD; two young bullocks, without mixture, one ram, lambs of the year seven, unblemished;
12. And three tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour as a meal-offering mixed with the [olive] oil for each bull, two tenths [of an ephah] of fine flour as a meal-offering, mixed with the [olive] oil for the one ram,	12. and three tenths of flour mingled with oil for the mincha for one bullock; two tenths of flour with olive oil for the mincha of the one ram;
13. And one tenth [of an ephah] of fine flour as a meal-offering mixed with the [olive] oil for each lamb. A burnt-offering of pleasing aroma, a fire-offering to Adonai.	13. and one tenth of flour with olive oil for the mincha for each lamb of the burnt offering, an oblation to be received with favour before the LORD.
14. Their libations [will be], one half of a hin for (a) bull, one third of a hin for the ram, and one fourth of a hin for (the) lamb, of wine. This is the burnt-offering of each [Rosh] Chodesh, at its renewal throughout the months of the year.	14. And for their libation to be offered with them, the half of a hin for a bullock, the third of a hin for the ram, and the fourth of a hin for a lamb, of the wine of grapes. This burnt sacrifice will be offered at the beginning of every month in the time of the removal of the beginning of every month in the year;
15. And [You will also bring] one he-goat for a sin offering to Adonai, in addition to the constant (daily) burnt-offering it will be done, and its libation.	15. and one kid of the goats, for a sin offering before the LORD at the disappearing (failure) of the moon, with the perpetual burnt sacrifice will you perform with its libation.

 

Reading Assignment:

 

The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez - Vol V: Redemption

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

Published by: Moznaim Publishing Corp. (New York, 1979)

 

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.

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Shemot (Exod.) 16:28 – 17:16

 

28 How long will you refuse It is a common proverb: Along with the thorn, the cabbage is torn. Because of the wicked, the good suffer disgrace.[from B.K. 92a]

 

29 See with your own eyes that the Lord in His glory warns you about the Sabbath, for this miracle was performed every Sabbath eve, to give you bread for two days.

 

Let each man remain in his place From here the Sages supported [the law of] four cubits for one who leaves the Sabbath limits [i.e., the 2,000 cubits from one’s city that one is permitted to walk and no more than four cubits from one’s place], three [cubits] for his body and one [cubit] to stretch his hands and feet.-[from Er. 51b] 

 

            Note: 1 Cubit = 17.8 inches; and 2000 cubits = 2966.66 feet = 988.88 yards = 904.24 meters.

 

let no man leave, etc. These are the 2,000 cubits of the Sabbath limits (Mechilta), but this is not explicit, for [the laws of Sabbath] limits are only Rabbinic enactments [lit., from the words of the scribes] (Sotah 30b), and the essence of the verse was stated regarding those who gathered the manna.

 

31 and it was like coriander seed, [it was] white Heb. גַּד, an herb named coliyandre [in Old French]. Its seed is round but it is not white. The manna, however, was white, and it is not compared to coriander seed except for its roundness. It was like coriander seed, and it was white (Yoma 75a).

 

like a wafer Dough that is fried in honey, and it is called “iskeritin” in the language of the Mishnah (Challah 1:4), and that is the translation of Onkelos.

 

32 preserved for safekeeping.

 

for your generations In the days of Jeremiah, when Jeremiah rebuked them, [saying] “ Why do you not engage in the Torah?” They would say, “Shall we leave our work and engage in the Torah? From what will we support ourselves?” He brought out to them the jug of manna. He said to them, “You see the word of the Lord” (Jer. 2:31). It does not say ‘hear’ but ‘see.’ With this, your ancestors supported themselves. The Omnipresent has many agents to prepare food for those who fear Him."-[from Mechilta]

 

33 jug Heb. צִּנְצֶנֶת, an earthenware jug, as the Targum [Onkelos] renders.-[from Mechilta]

 

and deposit it before the Lord Before the Ark. This verse was not said until the Tent of Meeting was built, but it was written here in the section dealing with the manna.-

 

35 forty years Now were not thirty days missing? The manna first fell on the fifteenth of Iyar, and on the fifteenth of Nissan it stopped, as it is said: “And the manna ceased on the morrow” (Josh. 5:12). Rather [this] tells [us] that in the cakes the Israelites took out of Egypt they tasted the flavor of manna.-[from Kid. 38a]

 

to an inhabited land After they crossed the Jordan (Other editions: For that [land] on the other side of the Jordan was inhabited and good, as it is said: “Let me now cross and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan” (Deut. 3:25). The Targum of נוֹשָׁבֶת is יָתְבָתא, inhabited, Old Rashi).-[from Kid. 38a]

 

to the border of the land of Canaan At the beginning of the border, before they crossed the Jordan, which is the plains of Moab. We find [the two clauses] contradicting each other. Rather, [it means that] in the plains of Moab, when Moses died on the seventh of Adar, the manna stopped coming down. They supplied themselves with the manna that they had gathered on that day until they sacrificed the omer on the sixteenth of Nissan, as it is said: “And they ate of the grain of the land on the morrow of the Passover” (Josh. 5:11).-[from Kid. 38a]

 

36 one tenth of an ephah The ephah equals three se’ahs, and the se’ah equals six kavs, and the kav equals four logs, and the log equals six eggs. [Hence, an ephah equals 3 x 6 x 4 x 6 = 432 eggs. I.e., the space displaced by 432 eggs.] We find that a tenth of an ephah equals forty-three and a fifth [43.2] eggs. This is the amount for challah [the minimum amount of flour that requires the separation of challah] and for meal offerings.-[from Eruvin 38b] 

 

Note: One Tenth of an Ephah = 1.92 quarts = 2.144 liters 

 

Chapter 17

 

2 Why do you test the Lord saying, “Can He give water in an arid land?”

 

4 Just a little longer If I wait just a little longer, they will stone me.

 

5 Pass before the people And see whether they stone you. Why have you slandered My children?-[from Tanchuma Beshallach 22]

 

and take with you [some] of the elders of Israel for testimony, so that they shall witness that through you the water comes out of the rock, and they [the Israelites] will not say that there were water fountains there from days of yore.-[from Mechilta]

 

your staff, with which you struck the Nile Why must Scripture state "with which you struck the Nile"? [To point out what] the Israelites were saying about the staff, [namely] that it was ready only for retribution. With it, Pharaoh and the Egyptians were smitten with many plagues, both in Egypt and by the sea. Therefore, it is stated: “with which you struck the Nile.” Now they will see that it [the staff] is ready for good as well.-[from Mechilta, Exod. Rabbah 26:2]

 

6 and you shall strike the rock Heb. וְהִכִּיתָ בַצּוּר. It does not say עַל-הַצּוּר, upon the rock, but בַצּוּר, [lit., into the rock]. From here [we deduce] that the staff was of a hard substance called sapphire, and the rock was split by it.-[from Mechilta]

 

8 Amalek came, etc. He [God] juxtaposed this section to this verse, ["Is the Lord in our midst or not?"] implying: “I am always among you, and [I am] always prepared for all your necessities, but you say, Is the Lord in our midst or not?’ By your life, the dog will come and bite you, and you will cry out to Me, and [then] you will know where I am.” This can be compared to a man who mounted his son on his shoulder and set out on the road. Whenever his son saw something, he would say, “Father, take that thing and give it to me,” and he [the father] would give it to him. They met a man, and the son said to him, “Have you seen my father?” So his father said to him, “You don’t know where I am?” He threw him [his son] down off him, and a dog came and bit him [the son].-[from Tanchuma, Yithro 3; Exod. Rabbah 26:2]

 

9 Pick...for us For me and for you. From here the Sages stated: “Your disciple’s honor shall be as dear to you as your own honor” (Avoth 4:12). How do we know that you should honor your peer as you revere your mentor? For it is said: “Aaron said to Moses, I beseech you, my lord’ ” (Num. 12:11). Now was Aaron not older than Moses? Yet he [Aaron] considers his peer as his mentor. And how do we know that one must revere his mentor as he reveres Heaven? For it is said: “My lord, Moses, destroy them” (Num. 11:28). Destroy them [Eldad and Medad] from the world. They deserve to be annihilated because they are rebelling against you, [which is] tantamount to having rebelled against the Holy One, blessed be He.-[from Mechilta; Tanchuma, Beshallach 26]

 

and go out and fight Go out of the cloud and fight with them.-[from Mechilta and Exod. Rabbah, end of Beshallach]

 

Pick men for us Heb. אֲנָשִׁים, mighty men, and God-fearing [men] so that their merit will help us (Mechilta d’Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer ch. 44, Yalkut Shimoni, Jonathan). Another explanation:

 

Pick for us men who know how to counteract witchcraft, because the Amalekites were sorcerers.

 

Tomorrow At the time of the battle, I will stand.

 

10 and Moses, Aaron, and Hur From here [we deduce] that on a fast day, three people are required to go before the ark [to lead the prayers], for they were fasting.-[from Mechilta]

 

Hur He was the son of Miriam, and Caleb, her husband.-[from Sotah 11b]

 

11 when Moses would raise his hand Did Moses’ hands then make them victorious in battle, etc.? [Rather this is to tell you that when the Israelites looked up and subjugated their hearts to their Father in heaven, they would prevail, and if not, they would fall,] as is found in Rosh Hashanah (29a).

 

12 Now Moses’ hands were heavy Since he had been lax in [the performance of] the commandment [of warring against Amalek] and had appointed someone else in his stead, his hands became heavy.-[from Mechilta]

 

so they took [I.e.,] Aaron and Hur.

 

a stone and placed it under him But he [Moses] did not sit on a mattress or on a pillow, [because] he said, "Israel is in a state of pain. I too will be with them in pain."-[from Ta’anith 11a]

 

so he was with his hands in faith And Moses was with his hands in faith, spread out toward heaven in a faithful and proper prayer.

 

until sunset For the Amalekites calculated the hours [i.e., the time] with their astrology [to determine] in what hour they would be victorious, but Moses caused the sun to stand still and confused the hours.-[from Tanchuma 28]

 

13 Joshua weakened He decapitated their [the Amalekites’] strongest warriors, and he left over only the weak among them, but he did not slay them all. From here we learn that he did this according to the mandate of the Shechinah.-[from Mechilta]

 

14 Inscribe this [as] a memorial namely that Amalek came to attack the Israelites before all [other] nations [dared to do so].

 

and recite it into Joshua’s ears [Joshua] was destined to bring Israel into the land [of Israel and] to pay him [Amalek] his recompense. Here it was hinted to Moses that Joshua would bring Israel into the land.-[from Tanchuma 28, Mechilta]

 

I will surely obliterate the remembrance of Amalek Therefore, I admonish you in this manner, because I want to obliterate him.

 

15 and he named it The altar.-

 

“The Lord is my miracle” Heb. ה' נִסִּי. The Holy One, blessed be He, wrought a great miracle for us here. Not that the altar is called “The Lord,” but whoever mentions the name of the altar remembers the miracle that the Omnipresent performed: The Lord is our miracle.-[from Mechilta]

 

16 And he said [I.e.,] Moses [said].

 

For there is a hand on the throne of the Eternal Heb. כִּי-יָד עַל כֵּס יָ-הּ. The hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, was raised to swear by His throne, to have a war and [bear] hatred against Amalek for eternity. Now what is the meaning of כֵּס [as opposed to כִּסֵא and also [why is] the Divine Name divided in half? [I.e., why is the Name יָ-הּ used instead of י-ה-ו-ה?] [The answer is that] the Holy One, blessed be He, swore that His Name will not be complete and His throne will not be complete until the name of Amalek is completely obliterated. And when his name is obliterated, the Divine Name will be complete, and the throne will be complete, as it is said: “The enemy has been destroyed; swords exist forever (לָנֶצַח)” (Ps. 9:7); this [who they are referring to] is Amalek, about whom it is written: “and kept their fury forever (נֶצַח)” (Amos 1:11)."And You have uprooted the cities-their remembrance is lost" (Ps. 9:7) [i.e., Amalek’s obliteration]. What does it say afterwards? “And the Lord (וַיהוה) shall sit forever” (Ps. 9:8); thus [after Amalek is obliterated] the Name is complete. "He has established His throne (כִּסְאוֹ) for judgment" (Ps. 9:8). Thus the throne is complete [i.e., thus the throne, here spelled with an “aleph,” is now complete].-[from Midrash Tanchuma, end of Ki Theitzei]

 

Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 55:1-24

Rashi	Targum
1. For the conductor, on neginoth, a maskil of David.	1. For praise, with the words of a hymn; good teaching composed by David.
2. Incline Your ear, O God, to my prayer and do not disregard my supplication.	2. Hear, O God, my prayer, and do not hide Yourself from my prayer.
3. Hearken to me and answer me; I lament in my speech and I moan,	3. Hear my utterance and accept it from me; I will roar out in my words and be agitated.
4. From the voice of the enemy, because of the distress of the wicked; for they accuse me of iniquity, and they hate me with a vengeance.	4. From the voice of the enemy, from the trouble of the wicked, for they extend lies against me, and in anger they will hold a grudge towards me.
5. My heart shudders within me, and terrors of death have fallen upon me.	5. My heart will tremble within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
6. Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overcomes me.	6. Fear and trembling come to me, and disaster has covered me.
7. And I said, "If only I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.	7. And I said, "Who will give to me wings like a dove, that I may fly and come to rest?"
8. Behold I would wander far away; I would lodge in the desert forever.	8. Behold, I would go to a far place to wander, I would lodge in the wilderness forever.
9. I would quickly find myself a refuge from a sweeping wind, from a tempest."	9. I would make hasten to me rescue from the tempest, shelter from the storm.
10. Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongue, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.	10. Destroy, O LORD, their counsel, divide their tongue, for I have seen violence and strife in the city.
11. Day and night they surround it on its walls, and iniquity and sin are in its midst.	11. Day and night they encircle it, around her walls, and misery and lies are in her midst.
12. Destruction is within it and blows and deceit do not move out of its square.	12. Tumult is in her midst and lies and deceit do not depart from her squares.
13. For no enemy reviled me that I should bear it; my enemy did not open his mouth wide against me, that I should hide from him.	13. For an enemy will not belittle me, else I would bear it; my foe has not vaunted himself against me, else I would hide from his presence.
14. And you are a man of my equal, my prince and my esteemed one.	14. But you, O Achitophel, a man who is like me; a leader who taught me, and who tells me wisdom.
15. That together we would devise counsel; in the house of God we would walk with a multitude.	15. For together we will explain mysteries in the sanctuary of God, we will walk in haste.
16. May He incite Death upon them; may they descend to the grave alive, for there are evils in their dwelling, in their midst.	16. He will condemn them to the judgement of death, and He will decree for them evil things, for Doeg and Achitophel; they will descend to Sheol while alive, for evil things are in their dwellings, in their bodies.
17. I shall call to God, and the Lord will save me.	17. I will pray in the presence of God, and the word of the LORD will redeem me.
18. Evening, morning, and noontime, I speak and moan, and He hearkened to my voice.	18. In the evening, and in the morning, and at noon I will pray, and I will tremble; and he heard my voice.
19. He redeemed my soul with peace from the battle that came upon me, because of the many [people who] were with me.	19. He redeemed my soul in peace, so that no evil came near to me, for His word was my help in many troubles.
20. May God hear and answer them, and the One who dwells from time immemorial forever, for there is no passing for them, and they did not fear God.	20. God will hear and receive from them their prayer, and the one who dwells in heaven from of old forever; but the wicked who are not from of old, who do not change their ways, are evil, and are not afraid in the presence of God.
21. He stretched forth his hands against him who was at peace with him; he profaned his covenant.	21. He stretched out his hands against the men of his peace; he desecrated his covenant.
22. Smooth were the buttery words of his mouth, but his heart was set on war; his words were softer than oil, but they are curses.	22. Smoother than oil of curds are the words of his mouth; and like weapons of war his heart. Softer are his words than tallow, but they are deadly lances.
23. Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will bear you; He shall never allow a righteous man to falter.	23. Cast your confidence on the LORD, and He will feed you; He will never allow privation to the righteous/generous.
24. But You, O God, shall lower them to the Pit of Destruction; men of blood and deceit shall not live half their days, but I will trust in You.	24. But You, O God, by Your word will bring them down to deep Gehenna; murderous and deceitful men will not see half of their days; but I will trust in Your word.

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Psalms 55:1-24  

 

3 I lament in my speech Heb. אריד, I will lament of my pain, as (Lam. 3:19): “Remember my affliction and my misery (ומרודי).” Also (Jud. 11: 37): “and wail (וירדתי) upon the mountains.” Menachem (p. 162) interpreted אריד as an expression of ruling, as (Gen. 1:28): “and rule (ורדו) over the fish of the sea.” שּׂיחי is an expression of speech (Prov. 23:29): “He who talks too much (שיח).”

 

4 the distress Heb. עקת, an expression of distress.

 

for they accuse me of iniquity Doeg and Ahithophel accuse me of iniquities that overweigh [the scale] to demonstrate that I am liable to death, and they sanction [the shedding of] my blood.

 

5 shudders Heb. יחיל, worries.

 

8 Behold I would wander far away... and...

 

9 I would quickly find myself a refuge If I had wings, I would wander far away and hasten to save my soul from their hands, for they are like a sweeping wind, a storm wind, which uproots trees, as (Job 19:10): “He has uprooted (ויסע) like a tree.” But Menachem (p. 127) associated it with (Exod.12:37): “And the children of Israel traveled (ויסעו).

 

10 divide their tongue Divide it so that no one should pay them heed. And Menachem (p. 142) interpreted פלג as an expression of division. 

 

Destroy (Defey or defay in Old French, destroy, defais in modern French,) like (Lam. 2:8): “He did not restrain his hand from destroying (מבלע).” So did Menachem interpret it [p. 46].

 

for I have seen violence and strife in the city through them.

 

11 they surround it i. e., the violence and the strife.

 

12 Destruction Heb. הוות.

 

blows Heb. תוֹךְ.

 

13 For no enemy reviled me all my life that I should bear my vilification, but I rose up against him and slew him.

 

my enemy did not open his mouth that I should flee and hide from him, but now I bear the abuse with which you reviled me because you are a man who is great in Torah.

 

14 a man of my equal A man as important as I.

 

and my esteemed one Heb. ומידעי, like אלוּפי, my prince, an expression of (Exod. 33:17): “and I recognized you (ואדעך),” which is translated וְרַבִּיתָךְ “and I made you great.” Menachem (p. 94), however, explained that “For no enemy would revile me that I should bear” is connected to (verse 7): “If only I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” If I could raise my wings, I would fly away and wander on account of the distress of the wicked [inflicted upon me], for when I would leave the midst of the assembly of the profligate to lodge in the desert forever, then no enemy would revile me; I would not [have to] bear my disgrace and my shame, and I would not hide from him as I hid from them when I was among them. However, this interpretation is impossible, because of the verses following it, namely: And you are a man of my equal, my prince, and my esteemed one (verse 14); that together we would devise counsel; in the house of God we would walk with a multitude (verse 15). Therefore, Dunash (p. 94) interprets it in another manner, and this is its interpretation: For it is not an enemy who reviles me that I should bear my abuse, and it is not my enemy who opens his mouth wide against me, but my prince and my esteemed one, that together we would take counsel; in the house of God we would walk with a multitude. This thing is known, that the abuse of a friend is harder for a person [to bear] than the abuse of an enemy. Moreover, one can hide from his enemy, but one cannot hide from his friend when he tells him all that is in his heart. The context corroborates this [interpretation].

 

15 That together we used to devise counsel in the Torah and in the house of God we would walk בְרָגֶשּׁ, with a multitude.

 

in the house of God In the study- halls.

 

16 May He incite Death upon them May the Holy One, blessed be He, incite the Angel of Death upon them. Heb. יַשִּׁיא, incite and entice, an expression of (Gen. 3:13): “The serpent enticed me, and I ate.” Menachem (p. 101) interpreted יַשִּׁיא, as an expression of יש, there is, as (Gen. 24: 49): “If you wish (ישכם) to do kindness”; (Deut. 29:14), “who is (ישנו) here.”

 

in their dwelling במגורם, in their lodging.

 

18 Evening, morning, and noontime The evening prayer, the morning prayer, and the afternoon prayer, three prayers.

 

19 from the battle that came upon me from the war that came upon me.

 

because of the many [people who] were with me For He did this because of the many people who came to my aid to pray on my behalf, as it is stated (I Sam. 18:16): “And all Israel and Judah loved David.”

 

20 May God hear the prayer of those many people.

 

and answer them the King, Who dwells from time immemorial.

 

for there is no passing for them For those wicked men who pursue me. They do not pay heed to the day of their passing, and they do not quake from the day of death.

 

21 He stretched forth his hands This refers to Ahithophel the wicked.

 

He stretched forth Heb. שלח, tandit or tondet in Old French, stretched forth, tendait in modern French.

 

against him who was at peace with him Heb. בשלמיו, against him who was tranquil and at peace with him.

 

22 Smooth were Heb. חלקו, an expression of (above 35:6): “and slippery  (וחלקלקות).”

 

the buttery words of his mouth Heb. מחמאת, an expression of חמאה butter. The first “mem” is a defective radical in the word, like the “mem” of מעשה and the “mem” of מאמר.

 

but his heart was set on war Heb. וקרב, to war.

 

but they are curses Heb. פתחות. Menachem (p. 147) interpreted it as an expression of swords, as (Micah 5:5): “and the land of Nimrod with its swords (בפתחיה),” with the edges of the sword. I say, however, that it is an expression of curse in Aramaic, as the Talmud (R.H. 31b) states: Amemar wrote a pethicha on her, which is a warrant decreeing excommunication.

 

23 your burden Heb. יהבך, your burden. The Holy Spirit answers him thus.

 

and He will bear you Heb. יכלכלך. He will bear your burden, as (I Kings 8:27): “the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You (יכלכלוך). The expression of כלכול is rendered מסובר, bearing, in Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel.

 

to falter Heb. מוט, the faltering of the foot.

 

Meditation from the Psalms

Psalms ‎‎55:1-24

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

 

June 19/20, 2020 – Sivan 28, 5780

 

Shemot (Exodus) 16:28-17:16

Tehillim (Psalms) 55

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 58:13 – 59:7 + 20

Mk 7:1-8, Lk 11:37-44, Rom 7:14-25

 

Psalms chapter 55 was composed by David as he fled from Absalom his son.^[1]

 

In Psalms chapter 54, David recounts his early suffering at the hands of Saul, Doeg, and the Ziphim, malicious adversaries who were bent on his destruction. Nevertheless, the grief they caused David cannot compare to the suffering inflicted by Achitophel, an intimate friend who later became his archenemy.

 

As Alshich,^[2] in v. 13, observes, the pinprick inflicted by a friend is far more painful than the sword wound dealt by an enemy.

 

Late in David’s life he was betrayed by Achitophel,^[3] the wisest sage of the realm, the brilliant strategist, the unerring statesman, who had skillfully guided the fortunes of David’s monarchy throughout the most crucial period of his reign.

 

Their strong bond of friendship had been forged not only by political considerations, but also by spiritual communion. For David and Achitophel studied the Word of G-d together, sharing the secrets of the holy Torah.

 

How utterly bereft David was when Achitophel abruptly ruined this remarkable relationship by inciting David’s son Absalom to launch an assassination plot against his father! Bitterly, David surveys the past and realizes too late, that Achitophel’s ‘friendship’ had never been inspired by love or admiration. A selfish opportunist, he was motivated solely by envy and by a passion to ascend to the throne. Actually, Achitophel planned to depose Absalom in order to seize the crown for himself.

 

Distraught and disillusioned, David flees Jerusalem before his foes. As he sinks into despair, he yearns to abandon the society of all men, for, whom can he now trust? If someone would but give me wings like the dove! I would fly off and find rest!^[4] Ultimately, however, David realizes his responsibility to remain at the head of his people, despite his personal anguish He asks only for peace and for the eradication of chief enemy, Achitophel, who treacherously robbed him of life’s most precious treasure: faithful friendship.^[5]

 

David was battling his enemies that included his treacherous son, Absalom. David was lodging in the wilderness to escape his foes. Thus, we can see David’s comments as also pertaining to our Torah portion.

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 55:8 Lo, then would I wander far off, I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah

 

This wilderness experience is not good for us.

 

Rambam^[6] recom­mends this as the proper course of ac­tion for anyone who feels that civiliza­tion is a threat to both his body and his soul: Man’s nature is that he is in­fluenced by his environment and the society of people ... Therefore, if a man finds himself in a country whose in­habitants are evil, he must remove himself to a different land where righteous men dwell. If all countries are corrupt, as is the case in our times, then he should live all alone. If he is not al­lowed to live in isolation, then he must flee to the caves, the badlands, and the wilderness to escape the detrimental in­fluence of the sinners.’

 

In The Wilderness

 

The wandering of the Jews in the desert was another example of the exile of the unintentional manslayer.^[7] The spies derogatory report caused the Bne Israel to shun the land and reject the Word of HaShem. This sin would result in the deaths of most of those who had left Mitzrayim.^[8] Because the people did not realize that their sin would have this consequence, HaShem sent them into galut, exile,  forcing them to wander for forty years.

 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 13:31 - 14:1 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. 1 And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried; and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in this wilderness! 3 And wherefore hath HaShem brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

 

There is, in fact, a striking similarity between the galut of the Jews in the wilderness and that of an accidental murderer. The Jews in the wilderness never knew when they would be asked to move. When the cloud rose, they needed to pack their belongings and move on to the next location. In the instance of the cities of refuge, the manslayer’s galut ended with the death of the Kohen Gadol, an event that could not be predicted. In both cases, there was no predetermined time for the relocation to end, adding to the sense of instability.

 

It is interesting to note that the galut of the generation of the wilderness did not end until the death of the Kohen Gadol, Aaron:

 

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 10:6 And the children of Israel took their journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera: there Aaron died, and there he was buried; and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest‘s office in his stead.

 

Shortly after Aaron’s death, Joshua led the Bne Israel into the promised land and the Galut ended. This suggests that the death of Aharon was an atonement for the Bne Israel.

 

The ending of the galut in the wilderness and the entering of the Promised land hints also to the end of the exile in Edom / Rome, and to the final redemption.

 

Seen in this light, we can now understand why the Torah juxtaposed the forty-two journeys of Bamidbar (Numbers) chapter 33 with the assigning of the forty-two Levitical cities of Bamidbar (Numbers) chapter 35. Clearly, the Levitical cities were also for the unintentional manslayer. Thus, the forty-two stages of exile in the wilderness are directly associated with the forty-two Levitical cities which provided a refuge for the unintentional manslayer.

 

There are seven wildernesses within which the children of Israel sojourned:

The wilderness of Eitam (מדבר איתם) corresponds to Chesed,

The wilderness of Shor (מדבר שור) to Gevurah,

The wilderness of Sin (מדבר סין) to Tiferet,

The wilderness of Paran (מדבר פארן) to Netzach,

The wilderness of Tzin (מדבר צין) to Hod,

The wilderness of Kadmut (מדבר קדמות) to Yesod,

The wilderness of Sinai (מדבר סיני) to Malchut.

 

The Journey of Israel as they prepared to leave Egypt and be born as a nation, till the time that they were ready to enter the promised land, is a forty-year journey that has profound ramifications for all of the Bne Israel. These journeys are very special to HaShem:

 

Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 2:2 I remember the kindness of your youth, the love of your bridal days, that you followed Me into the wilderness, to a land where nothing grows.

 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 9:18-19 On HaShem’s instructions the Children of Israel would travel; and on HaShem’s instructions they would camp; the whole time that the cloud stayed over the Mishkan they would remain encamped. And when the cloud stayed a long time over the Mishkan, the Children of Israel would keep HaShem’s restriction and not travel.

 

Let’s try to understand the journeys of the Bne Israel as enumerated in Parashat Masei - Bamidbar (Numbers) chapter 33.

 

As we study this fantastic section, we shall see that this was not only the journey of that generation, but the journey of the last generation as well. These are the stages of our redemption! Rabbenu Bachya explains that during the final redemption many Jews will go out in the desert and pass through these places, and HaShem will sustain them and direct them as He did for the Israelites in the desert. The double mentioning of “their starting points”, in verses one and three, is an allusion to the two Exoduses, first from the Egyptian exile, and then the final exile.

 

Why did the Torah record this boring list of forty-two places^[9] where the Bne Israel camped in the wilderness? The Midrash tells us one of the purposes for the recording of these journeys in the Torah:

 

Midrash Rabbah - Numbers XXIII:1 The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: ‘During all those forty years that you spent in the wilderness I did not make it necessary for you to escape, but I cast your enemies down before you by merely being with you. Nay, more! There were numerous snakes, fiery serpents, and scorpions there’; as it says, The... wilderness, wherein were serpents, fiery serpents, and scorpions (Deut. VIII, 15) ‘yet I did not allow them to harm you.’ For this reason the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: ‘ Write down the stages by which Israel journeyed in the wilderness, in order that they shall know what miracles I wrought for them.’

 

The Midrash goes on to tell us another reason for recording these journeys in the Torah:

 

Midrash Rabbah - Numbers XXIII:3 THESE ARE THE STAGES (XXXIII, 1). It is like the case of a king whose son was ill. He took him to a certain place to cure him. On their return journey his father began to recount all the stages, saying: ‘Here we slept; here we cooled ourselves; here you had a headache.’ So, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: ‘Recount to them all the places where they provoked Me.’ Consequently, it says, THESE ARE THE STAGES, etc.

 

Rashi also provides us with the reason for recording these journeys in the Torah:

 

Why were these journeys recorded? To make the Omnipresent’s benevolence known. For, although He decreed to move them about and cause them to wander in the wilderness, do not say that they wandered and were moved about from journey to journey all forty years, and had no rest--- for there are only forty-two journeys here. Subtract fourteen, all of which took place during the first year, before the decree, from their journey from Rameses until they reached Rithmah, from where the spies were dispatched, as it is said, “after, the people journeyed from Chatzeroth, etc. Send, for yourself, men, etc.,” and here it says, “they journeyed from Chatzeroth and camped at Rismah,” you learn that it was in the desert of Paran. Exclude, further, from there, eight journeys which took place after Aharon’s death, from Mount Hor to the plains of Moab, during the fortieth year, it is found that, throughout the thirty eight years, they took only twenty journeys.^[10]

 

The fact that the Midrash records more than one reason for recording the journeys and Rashi tells us a third reason, suggests that there is more to these journeys than meets the eye. Further, we need to ask another similar question: What is the reason for these forty-two stops in the desert? There is a mystical concept that the purpose of these encampments was for the Children of Israel to release and gather the sparks of holiness which are trapped in the desert’s emptiness. Each of these stopping places correspond to a letter of HaShem’s forty-two letter Name^[11] (The first forty-two letters of the Torah), and so by gathering the sparks from each place a little more of HaShem’s Name, His recognition in the world, is revealed.^[12]

 

Three thousand years later, the Jewish People are still journeying, a hundred years here, two hundred there. On their journeys through Spain, England, China, and America, etc., the Jewish people “extract” and redeem the sparks of holiness which are trapped throughout the world. When this process is complete, Mashiach will gather all the Jewish People to the land of Israel and HaShem will be revealed to be the One True G-d. “On that day, HaShem will be One, and His Name, One“.^[13]

 

The whole trip the Bne of Israel take from Mitzrayim (Egypt) to the Promised Land is understood spiritually as a metaphor for the journey that we all take from leaving the straits of the birth canal, to the many years of our life that we spend trying to do the right thing (traveling in the desert and messing up for forty years), to the moment of our own death (The Promised Land).

 

This birthing allegory can be seen again in much the same way in the larger cycle of the forty years Israel spent in the desert before entering the land of Israel. These forty years correspond to forty weeks of pregnancy and the desert serves as the womb like atmosphere conducive to growth. The manna, provided by God in the desert, as well as the clouds of glory which protected them day and night, and the mysterious well that traveled with them, all represent a totally protected environment, much like the womb. Just as crossing the Reed Sea represents the birth of the nation, we can similarly relate to the crossing of the Jordan River and entering the land of Israel after forty years of wandering in the desert in a similar manner. Each of the above birthing allegories works perfectly within its own context. The fact that one can see in so many different ways the same birthing theme shows its great importance.

 

The “pregnancy” of the forty-year exile in the desert is associated with the forty seah, or measures, needed according to Jewish law for a kosher mikvah, ritual bath. One of the deeper intentions when submerging in a mikvah is to experience the water as a womb like surrounding energy in which one can be spiritually transformed and “reborn.” This idea is best symbolized in the story of the destruction and “rebirth” of the world in the time of the flood when it rained for forty days and forty nights.

 

Each Jew’s life may be analyzed in terms of these forty-two journeys of Bne Israel from Egypt to Israel. In other words, it is possible to identify each person’s journey through life with the forty-two stages of the journey described in this chapter.

 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 33:1-2 “These are the journeys of Bne Israel who went forth from the land of Egypt according to their legions under the hand of Moshe and Aharon. Moshe wrote motza’aihem / their goings- forth le’masai’hem / according to their journeys . . . and these are masai’hem / their journeys le’motza’aihem / according to their goings-forth.”

 

R’ Shlomo Halberstam z”l^[14] asks: What is added by “motza’aihem / their goings-forth”? The main focus of the parasha appears to be on Bne Israel’s journeys! Also, what is added by mentioning that Bne Israel went forth from Egypt? Surely, we already know this! Finally, why is the order of the words reversed, first “motza’aihem / their goings-forth le’masai’hem / according to their journeys” and then “masai’hem / their journeys le’motza’aihem / according to their goings-forth”?

 

Our parasha alludes to all of the major exiles that Bne Israel were destined to undergo in their history: The initial letters of “Eleh masei Bne Israel” / “These are the journeys of Bne Israel” allude to the four exiles of the Jewish people: alef-Edom (Rome - our current exile); mem-Madai (Persia); bet-Bavel (Babylon); and yud-Yavan (Greece). But the verse also alludes to our redemption.

 

In light of all of the above, we can answer the questions we posed, says R’ Halberstam. The word “motza’aihem / their goings- forth” alludes to the future “goings-forth” of Bne Israel, i.e., our future redemptions. The placement of “masai’hem / their journeys” before “le’motza’aihem / according to their goings-forth” alludes to the fact that our constant travels in exile hasten the eventual “going-forth.” And, lest one lose faith in the redemption because of our suffering, Moshe mentioned that Bne Israel already went forth from Egypt. Surely, then, we will be redeemed again.^[15]

 

And these are their journeys according to their starting places (Num.33:2) The Hebrew word for starting places or departures (motza’eihem) comes from the same root as descendants, alluding to the future redemption and the ingathering of the exiles that will occur in the Messianic era. At that time, all forty-two journeys made by the Children of Israel in the desert will be duplicated by the Jewish people as they make their way back to the Land of Israel.^[16]

 

Sefat Emet, a great Chassidic master explains, that each of these forty-two places offered its unique challenges to the Jewish people. In each place, the Jewish people were afforded the opportunity to accomplish a specific tikkun, a spiritual “repair”. Furthermore, the Sefat Emet observes, the Torah juxtaposes the listing of these encampments to a reference to the Jewish people’s leaving Egypt. This was to indicate, he explains, that just as the Israelites’ leaving Egypt had eternal consequences for the Jewish people, so the challenges that the Jewish people met at their forty-two encampments also greatly impacted Jewish history. Ultimately, the Sefat Emet writes we all have various stations, good and bad, we travel through on our journeys through life. Each has its purposes and challenges that can help us ultimately achieve the tikkunim, the repairs we must accomplish on our souls.

 

Abarbanel teaches that since most of the place names here occur nowhere else in the Tanach,^[17] it appears that they were given by the Israelites to commemorate specific events.

 

Rabbenu Bachya explains, that the Israelites’ existence in the desert was, for the most part, sedentary. Some twenty-two of their forty-two encampments in the wilderness were established in the first and last of the forty years and of the remaining thirty-eight years, half of them, some nineteen years, were spent in one place, Kadesh, which means “a holy one“.

 

The forty-two journeys, therefore, relate to forty-two states of leaving Mitzrayim (personal or national restrictions and confinements), before we reach the true and ultimate freedom of Jericho, the Messianic redemption.

 

These stages are not only a record of the past, but also an allusion to the future exiles and the ultimate redemption through Mashiach.

 

In the Torah’s listing of all forty-two campsites, this is the first time that we ever heard of many of these places. Just like we tell a story by citing the highlights, the various narratives we have read from the time Bne Israel left Egypt up until now has been a recounting of highlights. If no grand transcending event took place, then there was no need to mention it in the first place. Why does the Torah list all the camp sites now? Assuming that there are no wasted words in Torah, and that every word has a meaning, how do we derive meaning from this list?

 

HaShem has many names. Among the shorter names that HaShem has is two lettered Hebrew name Eil (Aleph Lamed) or Adonai (yod hay vav hay). According to the Mystics, Adonai (spelled with the letters Yod Yod) is really the entire Hebrew alphabet twice. Each letter Yod embodies the entire alphabet, hence the number forty-two (two times 21). These forty-two camp sites are synonymous with Bne Israel’s forty-two stages of spiritual development, spiritual awareness and getting to know HaShem. Each location was another opportunity for Bne Israel to grow spiritually. For example, the 19^th century European commentator, The Chatam Sofer explained that when Bne Israel, traveled to and camped at Kovrot Hataiva (literally “burial of desire“), they learned to confront the animalistic desires that are part of being human. By recognizing and confronting these desires, we acknowledge our humanness and our continued striving towards holiness. When Bne Israel traveled to and camped at Chatzerot (literally “courtyards”). Bne Israel learned that this ephemeral world was merely a courtyard to Olam HaBa, the World to Come. This journey was not merely a physical journal of packing up camp and schlepping to the next truck stop. This was a spiritual journey where Bne Israel grew and learned to incorporate the spiritual into the physical world and into their collective consciousness.

 

It is no coincidence that the annual Parashat Masei coincides every year with the three weeks of mourning (for the Temple) between Tammuz 17 and Av 9, for these are the Torah portions of exile.

 

Journeys 1 through 11 were in the first year following the Exodus, journeys 32-42 in the fortieth year, meaning that there were nineteen journeys in the intervening thirty-eight years. According to the Midrash, 19 of these 38 years were spent in Kadesh, and the other 19 wandering through the desert.

 

Rabbenu Bachya tells us that “All the predictions of our prophets concerning the redemption of the future clearly indicates that this redemption will largely reflect earlier redemptions. The more we know about the redemption from Egypt, etc., the better we can picture how the redemption of the future will develop.”

 

The Baal Shem Tov teaches that the forty-two journeys in the wilderness – from Egypt to Israel – reflect the forty-two journeys or phases that each person experiences throughout life. “These are the journeys of the Israelites, who had left Egypt“ on the way to the Promised Land: All the forty-two journeys are about freeing ourselves and transcending the constraints and limitations (Mitzrayim) of our material existence which conceals the Divine, subduing and sublimating the harsh “wilderness” of selfish existence, and discovering the “Promised Land” – a life of harmony between body and soul.

 

These forty-two journeys allow us to align our lives to the compass a higher rhythm, as defined by the forty-two journeys in the Torah, and actually create a strategy that rides and taps into these rhythms.

 

nearly all of the stages are mentioned twice in Bamidbar 33. The first time they are prefixed with a ב and the second time they are prefixed with a מ. In ALBaM gematria a מ substitutes for a ב. As we mentioned before, the numerical value of מב is forty-two. This gives us a second connection to the forty-two-letter name of HaShem and our forty-two journeys. The following chart illustrates this:

 

 

 

The forty-two journeys^[18] are neatly divided into three sets of fourteen, corresponding to the trimesters of pregnancy.

 

The first fourteen journeys of this wilderness exile take the Bne Israel from Mitzrayim to the southern border of Eretz Israel (the land of Israel) where the spies are sent out.

 

 

The next fourteen journeys take us away from eretz Israel. This analogous to going into exile.

 

 

In this last set of fourteen journeys we are on our final approach to Eretz Israel – Gan Eden.

 

 

Remember, exile always equals a pregnancy. The Mechilta says that the sefirot HaOmer period was / is a nursing period, and that Matan Torah was when we were weaned.

 

Then, as the baby grows to its full pre-birth capacity, the woman’s life revolves around the extra weight she is caring around, and the date she is due to give birth. It is not much different when it comes to history: as Mashiach comes close to arrival, the lives of many come to revolve around that time, and some literally adjust their lives in anticipation of the “delivery” date.

 

However, it is rare for a baby to be born smoothly, without much difficulty that is called chevlei leidah, birth pains. It is for many, without a doubt, the most difficult part of the birth process, and perhaps the most dangerous as well. One of the great ironies of life is how in the process of giving life to a newborn baby the mother who bore it can lose her own.

 

Chevlei Mashiach is no different. As the time for Mashiach becomes more imminent, there is danger for the generation that gives birth to him. At the very least, there is pain, with times that look as if Mashiach is about to be born any second, only to see him swallowed up again as history “contracts,” seemingly pushing off his birth somewhat longer. Like the mother who has had enough and just wants to give birth already, the Jewish people sigh, and then are forced to prepare themselves for the next opportunity for his arrival.

 

This pregnancy ends with the ‘breaking of the water’ at the Jordan river.

 

	Camp	Meaning	Birth Process
T H I R D   T R I M E S T E R	Yotvathah - יטבתה	Pleasantness	Fetal movement felt
	Avronah - עברנה	A Good Calm place	Baby turns to head down position
	Etzion Geber - גבר עצין	Rooster’s crow / Giant’s backbone	Back pains
	Kadesh (Rekem) - קדש	Sanctuary	Baby’s head at the birth canal.
	Hor - הר	Mountain of mountains	Rapid growth and belly enlargement
	Tzalmonah - צלמנה	Shadiness	Baby’s eyes are open / pupils working
	Punon - פונן	Perplexity	Back pain / heartburn /
	Oboth - אבת	Necromancer	spotting
	Iye Abarim - העברים עיי	Ruins of the Passes	Braxton Hicks contractions
	Divon Gad - גד דיבן	Place of fortune	Weight gain
	Almon Diblathaim - דבלתימה עלמן	Cake of Pressed Figs	Birth pangs / crazy dreams / pain and compression Of torso and organs.
	M’Hari Abarim - מֵהָרֵי הָעֲבָרִים	Mountains of the Passes	Birth
	Moab - מואב	Mother Father	Parents introduce themselves
	Beth Jeshimoth - הישמת בית	House of The Desolations	Expelling the placenta

 

Silence

 

The astounding silence of Chazal, and the great Jewish commentators, on this section of Torah, suggests that great secrets are being concealed within this small passage. Just as it is the glory of HaShem to conceal a matter, so it is the glory of a king to search it out.  One of the ways to search out the secrets is to carefully note the clues provided by Chazal.

 

Nachmanides concludes his observations on this parasha with a most intriguing and esoteric comment: “Thus the writing down the journeyings was a commandment of G-d, either to show His mercy, or for a purpose the SECRET of which has not been revealed to us....”

 

Rabbenu Bachya, in his commentary on the Torah, says that besides shedding light on what happened in the desert on the journeys, the account of the journeys and their stations has for us an additional benefit in that it gives us a glimpse into the future.

 

Paraphrasing an idea which is brought by the Ramban in his argument with Pablo Christiani and based on a little known Midrashic work, he says that the words of all the prophets allude to the fact that the final redemption of the Jewish people will be identical to the first one. Just as the Jewish people went out of Egypt into the desert, so in the future will Israel take to the desert.

 

They will travel to the same stations that Israel travelled to, after the Exodus. HaShem will sustain them and lead them as before. The final remaining sparks will be gathered up, the final healings completed, and the redemption realized. The whole world will know that HaShem is echad.

 

This is alluded to in the verse which twice mentions the word “mozta’eihem”, their stations. First it is written, “Moshe recorded the stations of their journeys...”. Then the verse says afterwards, “ ...these are their journeys between the stations.” The first mention of “mozta’eihem”, their stations, refers to the going out of Egypt, the second mention to the going out of this, the last of the bitter Exiles.

 

Since the Parsha begins by saying “Eleh” these are the journeys of the Children of Israel, is concludes by saying “V’Eleh” and these are the journeys. Eleh comes to limit the scope of a subject -- these are the journeys that were. V’Eleh” comes to add on to what we already know, it refers to the journeys that will be, the journeys that await us at the end of our Exile, may it speedily come upon us.

 

Ashlamatah: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 58:13 – 59:7 + 20

 

Rashi	Targum
1. ¶ Call with a [full] throat, do not spare, like a shofar raise your voice, and relate to My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins.	1. "Prophet, call with your throat, spare not, lift up your voice like the sound of the trumpet; declare to my people their apostasies, to the house of Jacob their sins.
2. Yet they seek Me daily and they wish to know My ways, like a nation that performed righteousness and did not forsake the ordinance of its God: they ask Me ordinances of righteousness; they desire nearness to God.	2. Yet before Me they seek teaching daily, as if they wished to know ways which are correct before Me, as if they were a people that did virtue and were not forsaken from the judgment of their God; they ask before Me a true judgment, as if they wished to draw near to the fear of the LORD.
3. "Why have we fasted, and You did not see; we have afflicted our soul and You do not know?" Behold, on the day of your fast you pursue business, and [from] all your debtors you exact [payment].	3. They say, 'Why have we fasted, as is disclosed before You? Why have we afflicted ourselves, as is known before You?' Prophet, say to them: Behold, in the day of your fasts you seek your own pleasures, and bring near all your stumblings.
4. Behold, for quarrel and strife you fast, and to strike with a fist of wickedness. Do not fast like this day, to make your voice heard on high.	4. Behold, you fast only for quarrel and for contention and to hit with the wicked fist. You will not fast with fasts like these to make their voice to be heard on high.
5. Will such be the fast I will choose, a day of man's afflicting his soul? Is it to bend his head like a fishhook and spread out sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast and an acceptable day to the Lord?	5. Is this it, the fast that I take pleasure in, a day for a man to afflict himself? Is it to bow down his head like a rush that is bowed down, and to lodge upon sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, and a day that is a pleasure before the LORD?
6. Is this not the fast I will choose? To undo the fetters of wickedness, to untie the bands of perverseness, and to let out the oppressed free, and all perverseness you shall eliminate.	6. Is not this it, the fast that I take pleasure in: disperse a wicked congregation, undo bands, writings of perverted judgment, let those who were robbed depart free, and remove every perverted judgment?
7. Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and moaning poor you shall bring home; when you see a naked one, you shall clothe him, and from your flesh you shall not hide.	7. Will you not nurture from your bread the hungry, and bring needy outcasts into the midst of your house; when you will see the naked, cover him, and not suppress your eye from a relative of your flesh?
8. Then your light shall break forth as the dawn, and your healing shall quickly sprout, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall gather you in.	8. Then will your light be revealed as the dawn, and the healing of your stroke go up speedily; your virtues will go before you, in glory before the LORD you will be gathered.
9. Then you shall call and the Lord shall answer, you shall cry and He shall say, "Here I am," if you remove perverseness from your midst, putting forth the finger and speaking wickedness.	9. Then you will pray, and the LORD will accept your prayer; you will beseech before Him and He will carry out your request. If you take away from your midst perversion of judgment, pointing with the finger and speaking sayings of oppression,
10. And you draw out your soul to the hungry, and an afflicted soul you sate, then your light shall shine in the darkness, and your darkness shall be like noon.	10. if your soul is kindled before the hungry and satisfies the soul of the afflicted, then will your light arise in the darkness and your gloom will be as the noonday.
11. And the Lord shall always lead you, and He shall satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; and you shall be like a well-watered garden and like a spring of water whose water does not fail.	11. And the LORD will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in the years of drought, and your body will live in everlasting life; and your soul will be full of pleasures like a channeled garden which is watered, like a spring of water, whose waters cease not.
12. And [those coming] from you shall build ancient ruins, foundations of generations you shall erect, and you shall be called the repairer of the breaches, restorer of the paths, to dwell in.	12. And they will build from you ancient ruins; you will raise up the foundations of many generations; they 'will call you the one who establishes the correct way, the restorer of the wicked to the Law.
13. If you restrain your foot because of the Sabbath, from performing your affairs on My holy day, and you call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord honored, and you honor it by not doing your wonted ways, by not pursuing your affairs and speaking words.	13. If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath, from doing your pleasure on my holy day, and celebrate the Sabbath with delights, honor the holy day of the LORD; if you give honor before it, not going your own way, or supplying your own pleasure, or talking sayings of oppression;
14. Then, you shall delight with the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the high places of the land, and I will give you to eat the heritage of Jacob your father, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.   {P}	14. then you shall take delight before the LORD, and He will make you dwell upon the strongholds of the earth; He will feed you with the fruits of the heritage of Jacob your father, for by the Memra of the LORD it is so decreed."   {P}
1. ¶ Behold, the hand of the Lord is not too short to save, neither is His ear too heavy to hear.	1. ¶ Behold, it is not from shortening of hand before the LORD that you are not saved, nor because it is difficult before Him to hear that your prayer is not accepted;
2. But your iniquities were separating between you and between your God, and your sins have caused [Him] to hide [His] face from you that He not hear.	2. but your sins have made a separation between you and your God, and your iniquities have deserved the removal of the face of My Shekhinah from you, so that He does not accept your prayer.
3. For your hands were defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken falsehood, your tongue mutters injustice.	3. For your hands are involved with innocent blood and your fingers with sins; your lips speak deceit, your tongue meditates frauds.
4. No one calls sincerely, and no one is judged faithfully; trusting in vanity and speaking lies, conceiving injustice and begetting wickedness.	4. No one prays in truth, no one goes to law with faithfulness; they rely on nothing and speak deceit, they hasten and bring forth from their heart sayings of oppression.
5. They hatched vipers' eggs, and they weave spider webs; whoever eats of their eggs shall die, and what hatches, emerges a viper.	5. Behold. [they are] as poisonous adders' eggs, and as webs which the spider weaves; whoever eats their eggs dies, and they warm and bring forth poisonous. wounding serpents.
6. Their webs shall not become a garment, neither shall they cover themselves with their deeds; their deeds are works of wickedness, and there is a deed of violence in their hands.	6. Behold. as the webs of a spider which are not suitable for covering oneself. so, there is no profit in the deeds of the wicked. Their deeds are deeds of oppression, and deceitful labor is in their hands.
7. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness; robbery and ruin are in their paths.	7. Their feet run to do what is evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their conceptions are conceptions of oppression, spoil and breaking are in their highways.
8. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made themselves crooked paths; whoever goes on it knows no peace.	8. The way of peace they know not, and there is no judgment in their going; they have made their roads crooked, no one who goes in them knows peace.
9. Therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light and behold there is darkness, for brightness, but we walk in gloom.	9. Therefore judgment is far from us, and virtues do not meet us; we look for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, and behold as in the gloom we walk.
10. We tap a wall like blind men, and like those who have no eyes we tap; we have stumbled at midday like in the darkness of night; [we are] in dark places like the dead.	10. We grope for walls like the blind, we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon just as those who stumble in the gloom, the world is shut on our faces just as the graves are shut on the faces of the dead.
11. We all growl like bears, and like doves we moan; we hope for justice but there is none, for salvation [but] it has distanced itself from us.	11. We are dejected before our enemies who are gathered against us like bears, we all moan and moan like doves; we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us.
12. For our transgressions against You are many, and our sins have testified against us, for our transgressions are with us, and our iniquities-we know them.	12. For our sins are numerous before You, and our iniquities testify against us; for our sins are disclosed to us, and we know our iniquities;
13. Rebelling and denying the Lord, and drawing away from following our God, speaking oppression and perverseness, sprouting and giving forth from the heart words of falsehood.	13. we have rebelled and lied against the Memra of the LORD, and we have turned away from following the service of our God, and we were speaking deceit and error, hastening and bringing forth from their heart lying words.
14. And justice has turned away backward, and righteousness stands from afar, for truth has stumbled in the street, and straightforwardness cannot come.  {S}	14. Judgment is turned back, and virtue stands afar off; for those who do the truth have stumbled in the public square, and those who accomplish faithfulness are not able to be revealed.    {S}
15. And truth is lacking, and he who turns away from evil is considered mad, and the Lord saw and was displeased for there is no justice.	15. Those who do the truth are hidden, and those who depart from evil are plundered. It was disclosed before the LORD, and it was an evil before Him that there was no judgment.
16. And He saw that there was no man, and He was astounded for there was no intercessor, and His arm saved for Him, and His righteousness, that supported Him.	16. It was disclosed before Him, and there was no man whose deeds were good, and it was known before Him, and there was no person who would arise and beseech concerning them; then by His strong arm He saved them, and by the Memra of His pleasure He helped them.
17. And He donned righteousness like a coat of mail, and a helmet of salvation is upon His hand, and He donned garments of vengeance as His attire, and He was clad with zeal as a cloak.	17. He will be revealed to do virtues for His people, strength and salvation He will bring by His Memra to those who fear Him, to do [them], to take retribution in strength from the adversaries of His people, and He will return vengeance to His enemies.
18. According to their deeds, accordingly He shall repay, fury to His adversaries, recompense to His enemies; to the islands He shall pay recompense.	18. He is master of recompenses, recompense He will pay, retribution to His adversaries, requital to His enemies; to the islands He will render requital.
19. And from the west they shall fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, His glory, for distress shall come like a river; the spirit of the Lord is wondrous in it.	19. So they will fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; for those who distress will come like the overflowing of the Euphrates river, by the Memra of the LORD they will be plundered.
20. And a redeemer shall come to Zion, and to those who repent of transgression in Jacob, says the Lord.	20. "And He will come to Zion as Redeemer, to return the rebels of the house of Jacob to the Law, says the LORD.
21. "As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the Lord. "My spirit, which is upon you and My words that I have placed in your mouth, shall not move from your mouth or from the mouth of your seed and from the mouth of your seed's seed," said the Lord, "from now and to eternity."  {S}	21. And as for Me, this is My covenant with them, says the LORD, My holy spirit which is upon you, and the words of My prophecy which I have put in your mouth, will not pass out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your sons, or out of the mouth of your sons' sons, says the LORD, from this time forth and for evermore."   {S}

 Special Ashlamatah:  I Samuel 20:18, 42

 

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

 

42. And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, because we have sworn, the two of us, in the name of Ha-Shem, saying, Ha-Shem will be between you and me, and between my seed and your seed forever. And he rose up and went. And Jonathan went into the city.

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 58:13 – 59:7 + 20

 

Chapter 58

 

1 and relate to My people their transgression These are the Torah scholars, whose every inadvertent sin is counted as a transgression, for an error in study is accounted as an intentional sin.

 

and to the house of Jacob their sins These are the ignorant people, whose willful sins, are accounted inadvertent.

 

2 Yet they seek Me daily Like the matter that is stated (Ps. 78:36): “And they beguiled Him with their mouth.”

 

and they wish to know My ways They wish to ask instructions of the wise men as if they wished to fulfill them.

 

like a nation that performed righteousness, etc. In this manner they constantly ask Me ordinances of righteousness, but they do not intend to fulfill them, and when they fast and are not answered, they say, “Why have we fasted, and You did not see?” But I say, “Behold, on the day of your fast you pursue business,” all the affairs of your necessities you toil to pursue, even robbery and violence.

 

3 and [from] all your debtors Heb. עַצְּבֵיכֶם [lit. your griefs.] Your debtors, who are grieved because of you, you exact payment from them on the day of your fast.

 

4 Do not fast like this day like the manner of this day, to break your hearts in order that your voice be heard on high.

 

5 Is it to bend Heb. הֲלָכֽף. This ‘hey’ is the interrogative. That is to say, “Perhaps I require bending the head like a fishhook (כְּאַגְמֽן)?” אַגְמֽן is a sort of bent needle with which they catch fish, and they call it ajjm in O.F.

 

Will you call this a fast Heb. הֲלָזֶה. An interrogative form. Therefore, the ‘hey’ is punctuated with a ‘hataf-pattah.’

 

6 fetters Heb. חַרְצֻבּוֹת, an expression of tying and binding.

 

perverseness Heb. מוֹטָה, perversion of justice.

 

and all perverseness you shall eliminate Heb. וְכָל מוֹטָה תְּנַתֵּקוּ. Jonathan renders: And all perversion of justice you shall eliminate.

 

7 moaning poor Heb. מְרוּדִים. Sighing and moaning about their distress. Comp. (Lam. 3:19) “my affliction and my sighing (וּמְרוּדִי)”; (Ps. 55:3) “I mourn (אָרִיד) in my grief.”

 

and from your flesh and from your kinsman.

 

8 as the dawn Like the ray of dawn that breaks through the clouds.

 

and your healing Heb. וַאֲרֻכָתְךָ, and your healing shall quickly sprout. Comp. (Jer. 30:17) “I will bring up healing (אֲרֻכָה) for you.”

 

10 And you draw out your soul to the hungry with consolations of good words.

 

11 in drought Heb. בְּצַחְצָחוֹת, at the time of thirst and drought. So did Jonathan render.

 

strengthen Heb. יַחֲלִיף [lit. arm.] Comp. (Num. 31:5) “Armed (חֲלוּצֵי) for war.”

 

12 restorer of the paths, to dwell in Heb. מְשׁוֹבֵב. Jonathan renders: restorer of the wicked to the Torah. מְשׁוֹבֵב is like מֵשִׁיב, restores to dwell, to the Torah, which insures the settlement of the world.

 

14 the heritage of Jacob your father An inheritance without boundaries, as it is said (Gen. 28:14): “And you shall spread to the west and to the east, etc.” Not like Abraham, about whom it is stated (ibid. 13:15): “The land that you see...” And Jacob indeed kept the Sabbath, as it is said (ibid. 33:18): “And he encamped before the city,” i.e., he established the Sabbath limits at twilight. So did Rabbi Samson explain it.

 

Chapter 59

 

1 Behold, the hand of the Lord is not too short Your failure to be delivered is not due to the shortness of My hand.

 

2 have caused [Him] to hide [His] face They caused for you that He hid His face from you.

 

3 were defiled Heb. נְגֽאֲלוּ, an expression of defilement. Comp. (Mal. 1:7) “polluted bread (מְגֽאָל).”

 

5 vipers a species of harmful snake.

 

hatched Heb. בִּקְּעוּ, eskloterant in O.F. That is to say that they committed ugly deeds, from which they did not benefit.

 

and... spider webs Irajjne in O.F., spider, and קוּרֵי is ordiojjrs in O.F., warp. קוּרֵי are the implements of the weaver, those upon which the warp is mounted. Menahem (Machbereth Menahem p. 158) classifies it in the class of קוֹרוֹת, beams, since the spider mounts the warp of his weavings on beams.

 

and what hatches Heb. וְהַזּוּרֶה. Jonathan renders: וּמְשַׁחְנָן, an expression of warming, called in O.F. kover [couve], hatching when one warms them, it emerges from them when he cracks the shell. The original meaning of וְהַזּוּרֶה is an expression of pressing to extract what is absorbed within. Comp. (Jud. 6:38) “And pressed (וַיָּזַר) the fleece.” The pressing of this one is its hatching.

 

viper Heb. אֶפְעֶה, a species of snake that is harmful, so will nothing result from their deeds but evil.

 

8 and there is no justice in their paths That is to say that in their paths there is nothing judged truly according to its law.

 

they have made themselves crooked paths They made their road crooked for themselves.

 

9 justice is far from us for we were crying that we were robbed by our enemies, yet the Holy One, blessed be He, does not judge to avenge us.

 

and righteousness does not overtake us the good consolations that He promised us are not coming to overtake us.

 

for brightness we hope, but we walk in gloom.

 

10 in dark places Heb. בָּאַשְׁמַנִּים. Menahem (Machbereth, p. 35) interpreted it as an expression of dark places, and most exegetes concur with him. Dunash, however, (Tesuhvoth Dunash, p. 93) interprets it as an expression of fat (שׁוּמָן), with the ‘alef’ prefixed to it like the ‘alef’ that is in (Job 13:17) אַחְוָתִי, “my narrative,” [derived from חוה]; and that is in (Jer. 15:18) אַכְזָב, “a failure,” (derived from כזב ; and (Num. 21:1) “the way of the spies (הָאֲתָרִים),” [derived from תור]. Here, too, among the שְׁמֵנִים, among the lusty living, we are like dead. And Jonathan rendered it as an expression of locking: It is locked before us as the graves are locked before the dead.

 

11 we moan Heb. הָגֽה נֶהְגֶה, an expression of wailing.

 

13 speaking oppression Like: to speak oppression.

 

sprouting and giving forth Heb. הֽרוֹ וְהֽגוֹ to shoot and to give forth.  הֽרוֹis an expression of (Ex. 15:4) “He shot (יָרָה) into the sea.” (Another explanation: הֽרוֹ means: the teacher and the disciple, a gerund.) הֽגוֹ is an expression of (II Sam. 20:13) “When he was removed (הֽגָה) from the highway”; (Prov. 25:4) “Take away (הָגוֹ) the dross from the silver.”

 

14 And justice has turned away backwards Our revenge from our enemies, which depends upon the Holy One, blessed be He, and His righteousness stands from afar. Why? For truth has stumbled in our streets, [and since truth has stumbled from the earth, even from heaven righteousness and justice do not come.]

 

15 is considered mad Heb. מִשְׁתּוֹלֵל, considered mad by the people. Comp. (Micah 1:8) “I will go as a mad man (שׁוֹלָל).” This is equivalent to שׁוֹגֵג, inadvertent, which the Targum renders: שָׁלוּ. Likewise (II Sam. 6:7), “For his error (הַשַּׁל).”

 

and was displeased for there is no justice Therefore, He brought retribution upon them.

 

16 And He saw that there was no man And now, when He repents of the evil to His people, He sees that there is no righteous man to stand in the breach.

 

and He was astounded He was silent to see whether there was an intercessor, and there was no intercessor. וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵם is an expression of a man who stands and wonders and remains silent in his wonder, and the ‘tav’ of  וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵםis like the ‘tav’ of מִשְׁתּוֹלֵל, and both of them serve here as the reflexive, and this is the procedure of the word whose first radical is a ‘shin’ or a ‘samech,’ that when it is converted into the form of מִתְפָּעֵל, the present reflexive, נִתְפָּעֵל, the past reflexive, or יִתְפָּעֵל, the future reflexive, the ‘tav’ comes in the middle of the letters of the radical. The result is that וַיִּשְׁתּוֹמֵם is an expression from the same root as (Jer. 2:12) “Be admonished (שֽׁמּוּ), O ye heavens”; (Ezekiel 3:15) “appalled (מַשְׁמִים) among them”; (Job 18:20) “the later ones will be astonished (נָשַׁמּוּ),” an expression of wonder.

 

and His arm saved for Him and He will take revenge from His enemies.

 

and His righteousness, that supported Him to entice Him and to strengthen His hands in His revenge, although we are not worthy of being saved.

 

17 zeal enprenmant in O.F., to be zealous for His great name.

 

18 According to their deeds as is fitting to recompense for what the enemies dealt to them.

 

accordingly, He shall repay as is fitting to repay them He shall repay.

 

19 For...shall come like a river distress upon His enemies.

 

is wondrous in it Heb. נֽסְסָה, is wondrous in it, an expression of a miracle (נֵס). Another explanation: נֽסְסָה [means:] eats into him like a worm in wood. Comp. (supra 10:18) “And it shall be as a tree eaten to powder by the worms.”

 

20 And a redeemer shall come to Zion as long as Zion is in ruins, the redeemer has not yet come.

 

21 As for Me, this is My covenant with them in this matter, I made a covenant with them, and I will fulfill it, for even in their exile, My Torah shall not be forgotten from them.

 

Correlations

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

& H.H. Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

 

Shemot (Exodus) 16:4-27 & 16:28 – 17:16

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 58:2-11

Tehillim (Psalms) 54 & 55

Mk 6:53-56 & Mk 7:1-8, Lk 11:37-44, Acts 7:10-21

 

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Psalms are:

Said / Say - אמר, Strong’s number 0559.

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Rate / Words - דבר, Strong’s number 01697.

Daily / Every Day - יום, Strong’s number 03117.

 

The verbal tallies between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

Said / Say - אמר, Strong’s number 0559.

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Bread - לחם, Strong’s number 03899.

Daily / Every Day - יום, Strong’s number 03117.

 

Shemot (Exodus) 16:4 Then said <0559> (8799) the LORD <03068> unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread <03899> from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate <01697> every day <03117> <03117>, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 55:21 The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words <01697> were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords

Tehillim (Psalms) 55:23 But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days <03117>; but I will trust in thee.

 

 

Hebrew:

 

 

Greek

 

GREEK	ENGLISH	Torah Reading Ex. 16:4 – 17:16	Psalms 54:1-55:23	Ashlamatah Isa 58:2-11+ 58:13- 59:7+20	Peshat Mishnah of Mark, 1-2 Peter, & Jude Mk 6:53-56; 7:1-8	Tosefta of Luke Lk 11:37-44
ἀγορά	market place				Mk. 6:56 Mk. 7:4	Lk. 11:43
αἰών	eons, forever		Psa 55:19  Psa 55:22
ἀνήρ	man, men	Exo 17:9	Psa 55:23
ἄνθρωπος	man, men		Psa 55:13	Isa 58:5	Mk. 7:7 Mk. 7:8	Lk. 11:44
ἄρτος	loaves, bread	Exo 16:29 Exo 16:32		Isa 58:7 Isa 58:10
ἀφίημι	neglecting, dismiss				Mk. 7:8	Luk 11:42
βαπτίζω	immersed, washed				Mar 7:4	Lk. 11:38
βούλομαι	willing	Exo 16:28
γῆ	land, earth	Exo 16:6 Exo 16:14 Exo 16:32 Exo 16:35		Isa 58:14	Mk. 6:53
γινώσκω	know	Exo 16:6 Exo 16:12		Isa 58:2 Isa 58:3
γραμματεύς	scribe				Mk. 7:1 Mk. 7:5	Luk 11:44
δεῖ	necessary	Exo 16:22				Lk. 11:42
δίδωμι	give, given	Exo 16:8 Exo 16:15 Exo 16:29 Exo 17:2 Exo 17:14	Psa 55:6  Psa 55:22	Isa 58:10		Lk. 11:41
εἴδω	see, saw	Exo 16:15 Exo 16:29 Exo 16:32	Psa 55:9	Isa 58:3 Isa 58:7	Mar 7:2	Luk 11:38 Luk 11:44
εἰσέρχομαι	entered	Exo 16:22				Lk. 11:37
εἰσφέρω	carry in, bringing	Exo 16:5
ἐντολή	commendment	Exo 16:28			Mk. 7:8
ἔπω	speak, say, said	Exo 16:28 Exo 16:32 Exo 16:33 Exo 17:2 Exo 17:5 Exo 17:9 Exo 17:10 Exo 17:14	Psa 55:6		Mar 7:6	Luk 11:39
ἔρημος	wilderness	Exo 16:32 Exo 17:1	Psa 55:7
ἔρχομαι	come, came	Exo 16:35 Exo 17:6 Exo 17:8	Psa 55:5 Psa 55:15		Mk. 6:53 Mk. 7:1
ἐσθίω	eat, ate	Exo 16:32  Exo 16:35		Isa 59:5	Mk. 7:2 Mk. 7:3 Mk. 7:4 Mk. 7:5
εὑρίσκω	find, found	Exo 16:25 Exo 16:27		Isa 58:3 Isa 59:5
ἔχω	have, had				Mar 6:55
ἡμέρα	day	Exo 16:29	Psa 55:10 Psa 55:23	Isa 58:13
θεός	God	Exo 16:33 Exo 17:9	Psa 54:1 Psa 54:2 Psa 54:3 Psa 54:4 Psa 55:1  Psa 55:14 Psa 55:16 Psa 55:19 Psa 55:23	Isa 58:2 Isa 58:8 Isa 58:11 Isa 58:13	Mk. 7:8	Lk. 11:42
ἰδού	behold, see	Exo 16:4 Exo 16:14 Exo 17:6	Psa 54:0 Psa 54:4 Psa 55:7	Isa 58:9
ἱμάτιον	garment,cloak			Isa 59:6	Mk. 6:56
καρδία	heart		Psa 55:4  Psa 55:21		Mk. 7:6
κρίσις	equity, litigations, justice			Isa 59:4		Lk. 11:42
κύριος	LORD	Exo 16:28 Exo 16:29 Exo 16:32 Exo 16:34 Exo 17:1 Exo 17:2 Exo 17:4 Exo 17:5 Exo 17:7 Exo 17:14 Exo 17:15 Exo 17:16	Psa 54:4 Psa 54:6 Psa 55:9 Psa 55:16 Psa 55:22 Psa 55:23	Isa 58:6 Isa 58:9 Isa 58:14 Isa 59:1		Lk. 11:39
λαλέω	speak,spoke			Isa 58:9 Isa 58:13 Isa 58:14 Isa 59:3 Isa 59:4		Lk. 11:37
λαμβάνω	take	Exo 16:33 Exo 17:5 Exo 17:12
λαός	people	Exo 16:30 Exo 17:1 Exo 17:2 Exo 17:3 Exo 17:4 Exo 17:5 Exo 17:6 Exo 17:13		Isa 58:2	Mk. 7:6
λέγω	says, saying, speaking	Exo 17:2 Exo 17:3 Exo 17:4 Exo 17:7		Isa 58:3 Isa 58:6	Mk. 7:6	Lk. 11:39
νῦν	now			Isa 58:2		Lk. 11:39
ὁράω	look to, seeing				Mk. 7:2	Lk. 11:38
ὅς  /  ἥ  /  ὅ	which, who	Exo 16:32 Exo 16:34 Exo 17:5	Psa 55:14	Isa 58:11 Isa 59:8	Mk. 7:4
παραγίνομαι	arrived, came	Exo 16:35
πᾶς	all, whole, entire, every	Exo 16:22 Exo 17:1 Exo 17:13			Mk. 7:3	Lk. 11:41 Lk. 11:42
περιπατέω	walk				Mk. 7:5	Lk. 11:44
ποιέω	do, done, make, did	Exo 17:4 Exo 17:6 Exo 17:10		Isa 58:13	Mar 7:8	Lk. 11:40 Lk. 11:42
πονηρία	wickedness		Psa 55:15	Isa 59:7		Lk. 11:39
ποτήριον	cups				Mk. 7:4	Lk. 11:39
πρεσβύτερος	elder, older	Exo 17:5			Mk. 7:3 Mk. 7:5
πρό	before		Psa 55:19			Lk. 11:38
πυγμή	fist			Isa 58:4	Mar 7:3
σκότος	darkness		Psa 55:5	Isa 58:10
συναγωγή	congregation, synagogue	Exo 17:1				Lk. 11:43
χεῖλος	lips			Isa 59:3	Mk. 7:6
χείρ	hands	Exo 17:5 Exo 17:9 Exo 17:11 Exo 17:12 Exo 17:16	Psa 55:20	Isa 59:1 Isa 59:3	Mk. 7:2 Mk. 7:3 Mk. 7:5

Nazarean Talmud

Sidra of Shmot (Ex.) 16:28-17:16

“Aud Ani, Mantem” –“How Long do you refuse?”

By: H. Em Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

Hakham Tsefet’s School of Tosefta Luqas (Lk) 11:37 – 44 Mishnah א:א

Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat Mordechai (Mk) 7:1-8 Mishnah א:א

And as he was speaking, one of the P’rushim (Pharisees) asked him to have a meal with him, and he went in and reclined at the table. And the P’rush (Pharisee), when he saw it, was astonished that he did not first wash before the [wine’s] meal. But the Master said to him, “Now you Shammaite P’rushim (Pharisees) cleanse the outside of the cup and of the dish, but your inside is full of greediness and wickedness. Fools! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But first give as charitable giving the things that are within [your power], and [then wash hands] and behold, everything will be clean for you.

And the P’rushim (Pharisees) and some of the Soferim (scribes) who had come from Yerushalayim gathered to him. And they saw that some of his talmidim were eating their bread with unclean, that is, unwashed hands and they found fault. (For the P’rushim (Pharisees) and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands (ritually), thus holding fast to the traditions of the Zechanim. And when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash (their hands). And there are many other traditions which they have received and hold fast to for example, the washing of cups and pitchers and copper kettles and dining couches.) And the P’rushim (Pharisees) and the Soferim (scribes) asked him, “Why do your talmidim not live per the tradition of the Zechanim, but eat their bread with unclean hands?” So, he said to them, “Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) prophesied correctly about you painted ones (hypocrites), as it is written, “Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words and honour Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of traditions learned by rote, (Isa. 29:13)   And he said to them, “You splendidly ignore the commandment of God so that you can keep your (Shammaite) tradition. For Moshe Rabbenu said, “Honour your father and your mother,” and, “The one who speaks evil of father or mother must certainly die. But you say, If a man says to his father or to his mother, “Whatever benefit you would have received from me is korban” (that is, a gift to God), you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or his mother, thus making void the Torah of God by your (Shammaite) tradition that you have handed down, and you do many similar things such as this."

Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes

Igeret to The Romans

TS_NC-83 – Sivan 28, 5780 June 20, 2020

Commentary to Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes

 

 

For we know that the Torah is a spiritual entity, but I am made of flesh like my ancestors I was sold into slavery. I am (thoroughly) working for what I want to (habitually) practice (halakhic observance) but I do not know (intimately practice) sin that I hate. However, I say if I agree with the Torah (law) which it is good (beneficial), I will not want to do what sin desires me to do. Now I work diligently to not be the house of sin any longer. For I know that I house the good (the Torah) and it is alive in me, but my flesh is not (always) willing to do good (i.e. follow the Torah thoroughly) For it is the good that I want to do and I do not want to do evil, this is my committed practice. But if what I do lives in me, I no longer am the one who wants to live to sin that I do not want to do

 

So, I have discovered a principle^[19] that when I want to do good, evil^[20] is present and lies waiting for me.^[21] For I delight in the Torah of God in my Neshamah (inner being – soul). But I see a different principle working in my imagination^[22]  raising up against^[23] the Torah of my mind to take me captive^[24] to the principle of sin and death that is in (works on) my imagination. But by keeping the virtuous commands of God^[25] (i.e. the Mesorah) through Yeshua HaMashiach (teachings and instruction of) our master, I am rescued from being a miserable man bound by sin and death! So then, I myself am a courtier^[26] to the Torah of God with my Neshamah,^[27] even though my flesh wants to serve the principle of sin and death

 

Commentary to Hakham Shaul’s School of Remes

 

We do not intend to give an elaborate explanation to the re-ordering of the text at hand. Our Greek students will well understand that the word order in Greek is subject to examination and an orderly translation. Hakham Shaul’s words are easily re-ordered to make his thoughts the antithesis of what he is truly saying.

 

Hakham Shaul builds his allegory of B’Midbar 31:28 and the juxtaposition of the cattle, a clean animal and the donkey, an unclean animal. This will become more evident in the commentary below.

 

We have included several Greek words for the sake of clarity. This will allow us to better understand what Hakham Shaul is saying.

 

πνευματικός                 pneumatikós                  Spiritual

πνευματικόν                pneumatikón                 Spirituals

Σάρκινος                      Sarkinos                       Body or flesh

χάρις                            Charis                          chesed

χαρισμάτων                 charismaton                  Spiritual segments (chesed - pl)

ψυχῆς δυνάμεις           Pscuhes dunamis                       virtuous (reasoning) power of the soul

διαίρεσις                      diaíresis                       apportionments, segments, orders

 

 The text of our pericope shows the diametric function of seeming opposites. However, what we should see in this discussion is that there is a unity of opposites. The Torah is often represented in terms of Din, strict judgment. The "Spirit" represents the Shekinah or the Divine Presence of HaShem.^[28] Πνευματικός is an ideal blending of the Torah, din and the spiritual, Chesed, which brings a process of tikun. In the past, there has been a great deal of sexual repression in religious circles. These seeming opposites when united bring endless potential. The thought of "sexual activity" is minimally discussed in most of Christendom.

 

"The sexual act, in which man and woman unite, is also seen and interpreted in terms of mingling and combining of Din and Chesed—hence the crucial importance of sexuality in Biblical thought as one of the central symbols of tikun, of repairing the world through the unification of opposites.

 

On a Remes level, the unification of opposites makes up the allegory of Hakham Shaul's opposites. Hakham Shaul begins by using the first-person plural "we." This is because the letter of Romans is trying to bring the Gentiles into faithful obedience to the Torah.^[29] Πνευματικός here represents the Jewish soul which is comprised of the Torah. Σάρκινος - the "flesh" or "fleshly" represents the Gentiles. The implications here are staggering. Yosef had to enter into Egypt for the redemption of his people to be realized. Therefore, the war waged in Hakham Shaul's present pericope depicts the struggle of redemption played out between the Jewish people and the Gentile nations. All the Jewish soul, ("πνευματικός") cares about is Torah observance, study and devotion to G-d. Σάρκινος represents the Gentile soul which is preoccupied with the ways of the world, earth. Hakham Shaul is showing that the Torah is spiritual and defines true spirituality. However, the redemptive plan does not only address the “spiritual” world. There must be a redeeming of the earth as well. Out of necessity, the Edenic origins of humanity are to be restored.

 

The first sentence of our pericope represents the war that the Jewish people have faced throughout the centuries. The phrase "I am sold into slavery" is an obvious allegorical reference to the Egyptian bondage. The practice of referring to the Exodus is quite common throughout Jewish liturgy. However, Egypt,^[30] “the body” as Philo defines it, must not be the dominate character of the Jewish, Gentile relationship. Hakham Shaul's use of the slavery motif here shows that the Jewish people are the masters of Torah. Interestingly Philo^[31] uses Egypt as an allegory for the body.^[32] What we should derive from this allegory is that the “Spirit” (Torah) is the B’ne Yisrael and the “body” is the Gentile nations. If the spirit does not enter, the body neither can fulfill their predestined purpose.

  

The marital bliss of sexual union can teach us more about G-d and our place in the cosmos, than a plethora of sermons taught from the pulpits of the so-called pietists. There have been many attempts to "spiritualize" intimate relationships; one need not adopt the Moravian idea of sex in the "closet" with the least amount of intimacy or arousal. The Kabbalistic view is by far the most balanced approach. The marital couple sees sexual activity as a holy act, and a means of progressively becoming one body and soul. However, this is never to diminish the pleasure, love and passion that they share. Unfortunately, the imbalanced view of the "pietistic" worldview has wreaked havoc on many marriages and our understanding of deep spiritual truths that can be unlocked by this mystical union.

 

the rabbis did not believe that the body entrapped the soul, nor that it was a primary source of evil or sin. Legitimate worldly and physical pleasures, such as food and sex, were intended by God to be enjoyed rather than withheld.

 

As a result, [the rabbis] strongly condemned… ascetic[ism]…. While [they] recognized essential constraints to earthly pleasures, "any assumption of further limits on the part of human beings was an act of both pride and ingratitude"^[33]

 

In light of this information, Hakham Shaul's present pericope MUST be read within its proper context. There are proper restraints for physical appetites. However, an undue restriction on bodily appetites turns out to be the opposite of what G-d expects and desires.

 

Rabbinic law thus spelled out legal as well as practical obligations to one's body regarding diet, exercise, sexual relations, hygiene, and sleep. Throughout the ages, Rabbis also attempted to illuminate the link between ethical and psychological behavior in the cultivation of mental health. The tractate of the Mishnah comprising Pirkei Abot (Sayings of the Fathers) focused upon those behaviors and values that fostered a balanced life….

 

This includes sexual intercourse and marital delight, the return to Eden.

 

 Rm. 7:14 For we know that the Torah is a spiritual entity…

 

Hakham Shaul posits the view of uniting what might appear as "opposites" in the present pericope. He, like every soul wrestles with his Yetser HaRa. As such, we see that he teaches us that the true path to "spirituality" (πνευματικός) is through Torah study and practice. The Torah is "spiritual," (πνευματικός) therefore, if we wish to be "spiritual," or filled with the "Spirit" (Ruach HaKodesh) we must be filled with the Torah. Here we assert that if one is filled with the "spirit" he is filled with the Torah. Or, if one is full of the Torah he is full of the "spirit." The path to true spirituality is through Torah study and practice.

 

The "Ruach HaKodesh" relates to the "Spiritual Breath" or the "Torah" that G-d has "Breathed." Because the Torah is "spiritual" (breathed) i.e. from the spiritual realm, the only way to experience true spirituality is through the Spirit-Breathed Torah.

 

Rom 7:12 So then, the Torah is holy, and the commandments (Mitzvoth) are holy…

 

The soul of the Jewish people is spiritual, comprised of the Torah. Therefore, we must deduce that the soul of the Jewish people is "Torah!" If we are to be "spiritual”, we must be filled with the Torah. If we are to be "spirit filled" we must be filled with the Torah. Consequently, being filled with the "spirit" is to be filled with the Torah. Being filled with the Torah is what qualifies one as being "filled with the spirit," the breath of         G-d. Note how Yermiyahu (Jeremiah) speaks of being filled with the Torah (spirit).^[34]

  

This thought is paralleled is the prophetic writings of Yechezkel (Ezekiel). He declares the promise of G-d that the Jewish soul will be filled with the Ruach^[35] and that G-d will put His Ruach within the “inwards parts.” 

 

This "new spirit" is directly related to the Torah in that Yechezkel speaks of the "ordinances" (chuqot) and statutes (mishpatim) of the Torah.

 

Note that Hakham Shaul takes up the same theme in his Igeret to the Corinthians.

 

2Co 3:3 Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the Igeret HaMashiach (the Letter of Messiah) proclaimed by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.

 

The Torah fills the "inner parts" (heart) of the Jewish soul. Herein we then say that they are filled with the "Spirit of G-d" or the "Spirit of Holiness." The Torah is "holy" and to be filled with the Torah is therefore being "spirit filled" or filled with the "Holy Spirit."

 

To better understand the present pericope we need to know that G-d labels the souls of the Jewish people “chesed.”^[36] The Hebrew word chesed is a parallel to the Greek word "χάρις," which is usually translated in the Nazarean Codicil as "grace." Generally, we do not use the word "grace" preferring the Hebrew word chesed because of the negativity of the idea of "grace" throughout. Χάρις - refers to those who have received Divine favor, i.e. the chosen or elect. (Cf. Romans 9:4, Ephesians 1:1-3) Hakham Shaul opens the twelfth chapter of his Igeret to the Corinthians with the phrase, "I do not want you to be ignorant of the "spirituals" (πνευματικόν) or "spiritual matters." Lest we are found ignorant, πνευματικόν does not mean "spiritual gifts!"  Now Hakham Shaul has already defined πνευματικός for us in our pericope of Romans. Πνευματικός is the Torah, specifically the Oral Torah as we have seen above. In His Igeret to the Corinthians Hakham Shaul does not want the Gentiles to be "ignorant of the πνευματικόν," "spirituals" or the Toroth.

  

Chesed, "χάρις" is a substance of the Jewish soul. Πνευματικός is the matter poured into that soul to produce the end result of being "spiritual" or true spirituality. Yet the word, Hakham Shaul uses in his Igeret to the Corinthians is χαρισμάτων (χάρισμα), which describe πνευματικόν. Here Hakham Shaul describes the πνευματικόν as "χαρισμάτων." Therefore, we must take note that the two terms are interrelated, intermingled and intertwined. As such Hakham Shaul describes πνευματικόν and χαρισμάτων as being διαίρεσις, segmented.  The souls of the Jewish people are intertwined with πνευματικόν and χαρισμάτων, Torah and chesed. The διαίρεσις, segmented πνευματικόν and χαρισμάτων can be none other than the "Orders" of the Oral Torah. In his Igeret to the Corinthians, the segmented parts of the Torah are also related to the different workings of the Ecclesiological structure of the Esnoga.

 

What we find striking is that this allegory shows the systematic structure of the cosmos. By use of allegorical equivalencies, we can put together a more or less systematic elucidation of the Torah as a whole, and not just of individual segmented episodes. The Oral Torah shows us "order" immediately.

 

 An overview of the written Torah revels what seems to be a chaotic disorganized history of events. Furthermore, the 613 mitzvoth do not seem to be in any specific organized order. It is generally known throughout that the Torah is not in chronological order. While many struggle with the notion, this is actually a Midrashic hermeneutic rule. ^[37] 

 

 Nature reveals a very structured and orderly creation. The Cosmos functions within a controlled, structured chaos. This is not evident from what we read in the Written Torah. This is because G-d is revealing the "Resheet," things of chief importance. The Written Torah does not purport to give a perfectly ordered account of creation and or the cosmos. 

 

This is in agreement with the thought that Hakham Shaul sees in the order of the Cosmos throughout his writings. G-d created the cosmos as an ordered chaos. While the "Written Torah" seems to bear the greater amount of chaos, the Oral Torah is a structured well-ordered Torah - Cosmos. The lack of systematic structure of the Written Torah is resolved and corrected in the Ordered (segments of the) Oral Torah.

 

Interestingly Philo notices the same disorder in the Written Torah and tries through allegorical interpretation to establish the same structured account of the Torah that we find in the Oral Torah.^[38] 

 

Philo follows his own allegorical order in reciting Biblical history. Each of the Biblical characters has a specific allegorical genre that he fits into. Once the genre for that character is established, Philo sets about describing events in an orderly allegorical way. This is of great import for understanding how Hakham Shaul orders his writings. The reservoir of the details of Messiah’s life is not put in some "specifically historic" order. Therefore, scholars have a great deal of trouble in trying to find the "Historical Jesus." As long as they take the view that the Nazarean Codicil is written in chronological order and ignore Rabbinic hermeneutics they will only be able to look at a pseudo-messiah.

 

This said, Hakham Shaul has offered a systematic approach for Gentiles "turning to G-d" in this Igeret to the Romans. Having passed through the "waters of conversion" the gentile now needs to immerse himself in the Ruach HaKodesh, orally breathed Torah. The previous pericope where Hakham Shaul gives his "first person allegory" shows that the Bar Mitzvoth now yields itself to in-depth immersion in the Oral Torah.

The textual order of our pericope is generally good throughout with the exception of 24-25a. At this point, the word order is jumbled and needs some re-ordering, this can be noticed and readily understood by the translation we have provided. Likewise, the Authorized Version would seem to suggest that the Torah has no ability to bring mental and spiritual peace. This would be in direct opposition to what we learned in the last pericope. Regardless of one's connection to Messiah, the only peace that we will be able to rest in is by understanding the Torah and the Mesorah of the Master. Our translation is the only translation that makes true sense.

 

Because verses 24 and 25a of this pericope are juxtaposed, we must do some hermeneutic exegesis. The whole of verse 24 is not in question. The "a" part of the 25th verse needs to be read as the beginning of verse 24 as we have re-ordered it.

Now we are presented with some lexical problems. Which word was used by Hakham Shaul in the opening of what is taken to be the first part of the 25a? While we can certainly attest to the value of learning Greek, we also need to be well armed with an armada of Hebrew and Mishnaic Hebrew grammars. The whole exercise of revisiting the Greek texts is for the sake of restoring the Nazarean Codicil to its original Mishnaic Hebrew. Because "Biblical materials… underwent semantic or morphological changes and foreign words from Akkadian, Persian, Greek, Latin and especially Aramaic"^[39] are used, those materials associated with those texts adopted the same nuances of language.  Here our focus is upon the tools that help do forensics on the texts of the Nazarean Codicil.

 

Understanding that the first word of 25a in Mishnaic Hebrew would most likely have been חֶסֶד - Chesed. We have discussed χάρις last week however, in the present pericope we need to look at its synonyms. It would appear that the most appropriate Greek word to use is δίκαιος. As such, we can see that δίκαιος has at its core the idea of…

"Righteous, observing divine laws

In a wide sense, upright, righteous, a virtuous keeping the commands of God."^[40]

 

The idea of χάρις being used as is suggested by many scholars is not overbearingly difficult. The translation might have read as "By taking delight in (Mesorah - commandments) of G-d through Yeshua HaMashiach (teachings and instruction of) our master, I am rescued from being a miserable man bound by sin and death!" Both translations have great merit and are worth of attention and study. Therefore, one can see how we have arrived at our translation and comments.

 

 The general theme of when associated with B'Midbar 32 would seem to be the extraordinary amount of livestock that the B’ne Yisrael came to possess and the trans-Jordan tribes and the need to help in the war against the residents of Canaan. The war Hakham Shaul wages in his head is in direct connection with the wars being waged in B'Midbar 32ff. The Jewish mind, i.e. Neshamah is in constant battle with the imaginative scenarios endlessly played out with ingenuity. Hakham Shaul's use of several terms to denote the imagination is a worthwhile study.^[41] We will not embark on that study for the sake of time and space. The sub theme of war is resident in the Remes of Hakham Shaul, albeit he allegorizes the "war" aspect. Hakham Shaul's war is not a war with "flesh and blood" per se. His war is against the war that often rages in the imagination. It is here that scenarios are played out which can lead to sin (see how the imagination can play games where ten tribes in the Land of Israel misunderstood the erecting of an altar in the Trans-Jordan by the resident two tribes which almost started a war between the tribes). The use of the Greek word στρατία - stratia relates to the idea of strategy. Therefore, the war of the mind is a strategy being played out in the mind. The imagination plays out its scenarios and the "mind (Neshamah) uses the Torah as a weapon against these strategies. The tools of the Neshamah are the mitzvoth and halakhot. When the imagination leads to the idea of coveting, the Neshamah responds halakhically with the "you will not covet," "you will not steal" (kidnap) etc. This is what Joseph Soloveitchik calls the "Halakhic Man." Hakham Shaul's idea is much the same. However, Soloveitchik is about two millennia too late. Hakham Shaul uses halakhic strategies to defend himself from sin. As we have learned last week that which is "spiritual" defends us against "evil." Moreover, being filled with the Torah means to be "spiritual." Therefore, we can readily determine that we must be full of the Torah in order to be spiritual. Thus, being full of the Torah is the safeguard that keeps us from falling into the trap of over-indulgence.

 

The seven nations represent the passion to embark on activities that exceed the norm. In other words, having physical desire is not sinful, as we have discussed. The abnormal abuse of the "normal" can easily yield itself to "sin." Thus, the tribes to be destroyed are those allegorical aspects that represent abuse of normalcy. Interestingly, the Canaanite allegorically represents the animal nature of man as well as “trafficking” and abuse of man by men without scruples. And, again we see this as the animal nature without restraint. It is the Torah that restrains the animal nature. This is especially true of the 365 prohibitive mitzvoth. These mitzvoth restrain the Yetser HaRa from things that are forbidden. Actually, the Torah teaches us how to have a balance between the inordinate desires of the animal nature and a healthy balanced life. This theme is readily attested to in both Pesach and Rosh HaShanah. 

 

Perhaps our heading should read "the real story." What strikes Hakham Shaul's interest is the fact that the B'ne Yisrael have so abundantly blessed with livestock that they are having trouble controlling them. Yet the tribes of Reuben and Gad insist on taking trans-Jordan property. It would also seem, on one hand that the two tribes of Reuben and Gad did not want to cross the Jordan to fight. They wanted the quick fix per se. We realize that the trans-Jordan land was to become part of Eretz Yisrael. This being said it would appear that Hakham Shaul is relating his "warfare" to the struggle between the Yetser HaRa and the desire for instant gratification. Seforno^[42] sees the attempt to remain on the East of the Jordan as a refusal to help their brethren in the conquest of Canaan. There is also a thought that there might be "fear" in the two tribes to cross.^[43] Our point here is not to make any decisions in these affairs.

 

Hakham Shaul though his scribe Hillel (aka Luke) in passing makes reference to this struggle:

 

On that day, whoever is on the housetop and his goods are in the house must not come down to take them away. And likewise the one who is in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife! Whoever seeks to preserve his life (possessions) will lose them, but whoever loses them will keep it.

 

The point at hand is that there is a struggle to be resolved by the Torah, i.e. Moshe. The land may have been good for "livestock" but it has great allegorical connotations. Ya'aqob built his place of residence and then made "booths" for his livestock. It is generally accepted that this is allegorical language. "Ya'aqob made booths," suggests that he was able to restrain and control (balance) his Yetser HaRa.^[44] Here we suggest that this is precisely what Hakham Shaul is trying to say. The B’ne Yisrael gaining an over-abundance of livestock means that there is a great struggle to keep them under control and properly cared for, not to mention the struggle to remain spiritual when so much energies and time are needed to keep wealth under control. Furthermore, the allegory can also be made that we are equally responsible for the welfare of our brethren. And, that we cannot rest until all of our brethren are safely accounted for. This may mean remaining in Diaspora longer than we had hoped for. However, how can we rest when our brethren are still scattered among the nations or being captive among the nations? Ya'aqob's genius is vague if we fail to realize his allegorical actions. Ya'aqob made a "fence" around his physical desires. In so doing, Ya'aqob demonstrates the appropriate way to deal with the Yetser HaRa. This has been attested to in the Nazarean codicil in the recent pericopes.^[45]

 

Some Questions to Ponder:

 

1. From all the readings for this week, which particular verse or passage caught your attention and fired your heart and imagination?
2. In your opinion, and taking into consideration all of the above readings for this Sabbath, what is the prophetic message (the idea that encapsulates all the Scripture passages read) for this week

 

Blessing After Torah Study

 

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

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

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

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

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

Next Shabbat:

 

Shabbat: “VaYishma Yitro” – “Now heard Jethro”

 

 

Coming Festivals:

 

                                      New Moon of Tammuz beginning Evening of  Monday 22nd of June

 

 

 

 

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

Edited by Adon Ovadya ben Abraham and AdonAviner ben Abraham

Please e-mail any comments to chozenppl@gmail.com