|
Esnoga
Bet Emunah 4544
Highline Dr. SE Olympia,
WA 98501 United
States of America © 2013 E-Mail: gkilli@aol.com |
|
Esnoga
Bet El 102
Broken Arrow Dr. Paris
TN 38242 United
States of America © 2013 E-Mail: waltoakley@charter.net |
Triennial Cycle (Triennial
Torah Cycle) / Septennial Cycle (Septennial Torah Cycle)
|
Three
and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings |
Second Year of the Triennial
Reading Cycle |
|
Sivan
06/07, 5773 – May 14/16, 2013 |
Fifth
Year of the Shmita Cycle |
Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times:
|
Conroe & Austin, TX, U.S. Eve of 1st day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 7:59 PM Eve of 2nd Day of
Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 8:57 PM Holiday Ends – 8:57 PM |
Brisbane, Australia Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 4:50 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 5:44 PM Holiday Ends – 5:44 PM |
Chattanooga, & Cleveland,
TN, U.S. Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 8:19 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 9:20 PM Holiday Ends – 9:20 PM |
|
Jakarta, Indonesia Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 5:27 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 6:17 PM Holiday Ends – 6:17 PM |
Manila & Cebu,
Philippines Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 5:58 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 6:50 PM Holiday Ends – 6:50 PM |
Miami, FL, U.S. Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 7:40 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 8:36 PM Holiday Ends – 8:37 PM |
|
Olympia, WA, U.S. Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 8:20 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 9:34 PM Holiday Ends – 9:36 PM |
Murray, KY, & Paris, TN. U.S. Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 7:36 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 8:39 PM Holiday Ends – 8:40 PM |
San Antonio, TX, U.S. Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 8:00 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 8:58 PM Holiday Ends – 8:58 PM |
|
Sheboygan
& Manitowoc, WI, US Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 7:50 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 8:59 PM Holiday Ends – 9:00 PM |
Singapore, Singapore Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 6:48 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 7:39 PM Holiday Ends – 7:39 PM |
St. Louis, MO, U.S. Eve of 1st Day of Shabuoth Tue. May 14 2013 – Candles 7:46 PM Eve of 2nd Day of Shabuoth Wed. May 15 2013 – Candles 8:50 PM Holiday Ends – 8:51 PM |
For other places see: http://chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp
Roll of Honor:
This Torah commentary comes to you courtesy of:
His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David and beloved wife HH Giberet
Batsheva bat Sarah
His Honor Paqid Adon Mikha ben Hillel
His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham
Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family
His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family
His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife
His Honor Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham and beloved wife HH Giberet
Karmela bat Sarah,
His Excellency Dr. Adon Yeshayahu ben Yosef and beloved wife HE Giberet
Tricia Foster
His Excellency Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HE Giberet
Vardit bat Sarah
Her Excellency Giberet Laurie Taylor
His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham and beloved wife HH
Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah
Her Excellency Prof. Dr. Conny Williams & beloved family
Her Excellency Giberet Gloria Sutton & beloved family
His Excellency Adon Albert Carlsson and beloved wife Giberet Lorraine
Carlsson
His Excellency Adon John Hope & beloved family
For their regular and
sacrificial giving, providing the best oil for the lamps, we pray that G-d’s
richest blessings be upon their lives and those of their loved ones, together
with all Yisrael and her Torah Scholars, amen ve amen!
Also a great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments
to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and
allied topics.
If you want to subscribe to our
list and ensure that you never lose any of our commentaries, or would like your
friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to benhaggai@GMail.com with
your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!
Festival of Pentecost 2013
We wish all of
our students and friends and their loved ones, together with all of our most
noble and beloved Jewish brothers and sisters and their Torah Scholars a most
joyful and happy Chag Sameach Shabuoth!
For more information
on this festival
Please read the
following studies:
http://www.betemunah.org/shavuot.html; & http://www.betemunah.org/freedom.html
Order of Service:
Evening Vigil - Tuesday Evening May the
14th, 2013
Tikun Leil Shabuot - a Night of
Vigil and Study for Shabuot (Pentecost) `- We have a custom on the night of Shabuot to stay
awake all night and study the Torah. It is called the 'tikun' of of the night
of Shabuot. A tikun implies a repair. We stay up to “repair” the damage. Our
Sages in the Midrash tell us that the Israelites went to sleep on that
all-important night, and when Ha-Shem came down onto Mt. Sinai, the people were
sleeping.
Frantically, Moses had to wake
them up telling them that the “groom” (Ha-Shem) is here already awaiting his
“bride” (Israel). How could this happen? How could they have slept? Our sages
explain that the Jews didn't just go to sleep like any other night. They
thought that the Torah would be given to them through prophecy, and like most
prophets, Ha-Shem appears to them in a dream-like appearance. They thought that
the happiness of the holiday and its meal, together with a pleasant sleep would
create a happy feeling in order to receive the prophecy. Moshe had to wake them
and tell them that Torah is not like prophecy. One must be fully awake with a
clear head and a sharp logic. He taught them that otherwise we wouldn't be able
to learn and study the Torah with clarity. Receiving the Torah is greater than
prophecy! The Talmud (Baba Batra 12) says that a Hakham is greater than a
prophet. We must utilize all of our senses to learn Torah. Therefore it had to
be initially received with clarity. This is why the Torah makes a point that
they “stood” (vayityatzvu) at Mt. Sinai.
The whole experience at Mt. Sinai
is referred to as Ma'amad Har Sinai, the standing at Har Sinai, to imply that
they stood on their own two feet and used their clear senses. This is why we
stay up all night to study Torah, to be awake with open eyes and an open mind.
Ha-Shem gave man an unbelievably powerful intellect. Man can develop almost anything.
We see this all the time with man's scientific and technological advances which
are mind boggling. Why did Ha-Shem do this? Because the Torah in itself is mind
boggling! He gave us a great mind to meet the challenge of Torah study. Let's
grab that opportunity!
Blessings Before Torah Study
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study
Torah. Amen!
Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in
our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our
offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people,
the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah
for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches
Torah to His people Israel. Amen!
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem,
Giver of the Torah. Amen!
Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment.
"Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment:
This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of
Israel:
May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be
kind to you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. –
Amen!
This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites,
and I will bless them."
These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate
specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the
field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy
Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple
three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there
is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.
These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy
even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They
are: 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!
Texts for study: Psalm 119; 2 Lukas (Acts) 2:1-47
Questions for reflection:
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!”
Morning Service – Wednesday May the 15th,
2013
Torah Reading: Exodus 19:1 – 20:23 & Numbers
28:26-31
Reader
1: Exodus 19:1-6
Reader
2: Exodus 19:7-13
Reader
3: Exodus 19:14-19
Reader
4: Exodus 19:20 – 20:14
Reader
5: Exodus 20:15-23
Maftir: Numbers 28:26-31
Ashlamatah: Ezekiel
1:1-28; 3:12
Blessings Before Torah Study
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study
Torah. Amen!
Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in
our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our
offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people,
the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah
for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches
Torah to His people Israel. Amen!
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem,
Giver of the Torah. Amen!
Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment.
"Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment:
This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of
Israel:
May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be
kind to you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. –
Amen!
This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites,
and I will bless them."
These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate
specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the
field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy
Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple
three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there
is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.
These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy
even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They
are: 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!
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: Shemot (Exod.) 19:1 – 20:23
|
Rashi |
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan |
|
1. In the
third month of the children of Israel's departure from Egypt, on this day
they arrived in the desert of Sinai. |
1. ¶ In the third
month of the Exodus of the sons of Israel from the land of Mizraim, on that
day, the first of the month, came they to the desert; |
|
2. They journeyed
from Rephidim, and they arrived in the desert of Sinai, and they encamped in
the desert, and Israel encamped there opposite the mountain. |
2. for they had
journeyed from Rephidim, and had come to the desert of Sinai and Israel
encamped there in the desert, of one heart, near to the mountain. |
|
3. Moses ascended to
God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "So shall you
say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel, |
3. And Mosheh on the
second day went up to the summit of the mount; and the LORD called to him from
the mount, saying, This will you speak to the men of the house of Ya’aqob,
and instruct the house of Israel. JERUSALEM: And
Mosheh went up to seek instruction from before the LORD; and the Word of the
LORD anticipated him from the mountain, saying, Thus will you speak to the
men of the house of Ya’aqob, and teach the congregation of the sons of
Israel. |
|
4. You have seen
what I did to the Egyptians, and [how] I bore you on eagles'
wings, and I brought you to Me. |
4. You have seen
what I did to the Mizraee; and how I bare you upon the clouds
as upon eagles' wings from Pelusin, to take you to the place of the
sanctuary, there to solemnize the Pascha; and in the same night brought you
back to Pelusin, and from thence have brought you near, to (receive) the
doctrine of My Law. JERUSALEM:
You
have seen what vengeance I have taken of the Mizraee, and (how) I
bare you upon the light clouds as upon eagles' wings, and brought you near to
the doctrine of My Law. |
|
5. And now, if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you shall be to Me
a treasure out of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth. |
5. And now, if you will truly hearken to My Word and keep My
covenant, you will be more beloved before Me than all the peoples on the face
of the earth. JERUSALEM:
And
now, if you will truly hearken to the voice of My Word, and
will keep My covenant, you will be unto My Name a distinct people, and
beloved as a precious treasure above all peoples; for all the earth is to the
Name of the Lord. |
|
6. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of princes and a holy
nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the children
of Israel." |
6. And before Me you will be crowned kings, and sanctified
priests, and a holy people. These are the words you will speak to
the sons of Israel. JERUSALEM: And to My Name will you be kings and priests and a holy
people. These are the words you will speak. |
|
7. Moses came and
summoned the elders of Israel and placed before them all these words that the
Lord had commanded him. |
7. ¶ And Mosheh came
that day, and called the elders of the people, and set in order before them
all these words which the LORD had commanded. JERUSALEM: And Mosheh
came and called the Sages of Israel and set in order before them all these words
which the Word of the LORD had commanded him. |
|
8. And all the
people replied in unison and said, "All that the Lord has
spoken we shall do!" and Moses took the words of the people
back to the Lord. |
8. And all the
people responded together, and said, All that the Lord has spoken
we will do. And Mosheh carried back the words of the people before
the LORD. JERUSALEM: And all the people answered together in the fullness of
their heart, and said, All that the Word of the Lord hath spoken, we will do.
And Mosheh returned the words of the people in prayer before the LORD. |
|
9. And the Lord said
to Moses, "Behold, I am coming to you in the thickness of the cloud, in
order that the people hear when I speak to you, and they will
also believe in you forever." And Moses relayed the words of
the people to the Lord. |
9. ¶ And the LORD
said to Mosheh, Behold, on the third day I will reveal Myself to you in the
depth of the cloud of glory, that the people may hear while I speak with you,
and may believe in you forever. And Mosheh
delivered the words of the people before the LORD. JERUSALEM: And the
Word of the LORD said to Mosheh, Behold, My Word will be revealed to you in
the thickness of the cloud, that the people may hear while
I speak with you, and may also believe forever in the words of the prophecy
of you, My servant Mosheh. And Mosheh delivered the words of the people
in prayer before the LORD. |
|
10. And the Lord
said to Moses, "Go to the people and prepare them today and tomorrow,
and they shall wash their garments. |
10. And the LORD
said to Mosheh on the fourth day, Go unto the people, and prepare them today
and tomorrow; let them wash their raiment, |
|
11. And they shall
be prepared for the third day, for on the third day, the Lord will descend
before the eyes of all the people upon Mount Sinai. 12 13 |
11. and be prepared
On the third day; for on the third day the LORD will reveal Himself to the
eyes of all the people, upon the Mount of Sinai. |
|
12. And you shall
set boundaries for the people around, saying, ÔBeware of ascending the
mountain or touching its edge; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be
put to death.' |
12. And you will set
limits for the people that they may stand round about the mountain, and will
say, Beware that you ascend not the mount, nor come near its confines;
whoever comes ner the mount will be surely put to death. |
|
13. No hand shall
touch it, for he shall be stoned or cast down; whether man or beast, he shall
not live. When the ram's horn sounds a long, drawn out blast, they may ascend
the mountain." |
13. Touch it not
with the hand; for he will be stoned with hailstone, or be pierced with
arrows of fire; whether beast or man, he will not live. But when the voice of
the trumpet is heard, they may go up (forwards) towards the mount. JERUSALEM: No man will
touch it with the hand; for stoned he will be stoned, or fiery arrows will
flee against him; whether beast or man, he will not live. When the trumpet
sounds, they may go up toward the mountain. |
|
14. So Moses
descended from the mountain to the people, and he prepared the people, and
they washed their garments. |
14. And Mosheh went
down that day to the people, and prepared the people, and they blanched their
clothes. |
|
15, He said to the
people, "Be ready for three days; do not go near a woman." |
15, And he said to
the people, Be ready for the third day; abstain from the marriage-bed. JERUSALEM: And he
said to the people, Be ready for the third day; abstain from the marriage-bed. |
|
16. It came to pass
on the third day when it was morning, that there were thunder claps and
lightning flashes, and a thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very
powerful blast of a shofar, and the entire nation that was in the camp
shuddered. |
16. ¶ And it was on
the third day, on the sixth of the month, in the time of the morning, that on
the mountain there were voices of thunders, and lightnings, and mighty clouds
of smoke, and a voice of a trumpet exceeding loud; and all the people in the
camp trembled. |
|
17. Moses brought
the people out toward God from the camp, and they stood at the bottom of the
mountain. |
17. And Mosheh
brought forth the people from the camp to meet the glorious Presence of the
LORD; and suddenly the LORD of the world uprooted the mountain, and lifted it
in the air, and it became luminous as a beacon, and they stood beneath the
mountain. |
|
18. And the entire
Mount Sinai smoked because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and its
smoke ascended like the smoke of the kiln, and the entire mountain quaked
violently. |
18. And all the
mount of Sinai was in flame; for the heavens had overspread it, and He was
revealed over it in flaming fire, and the smoke went up as the smoke of a
furnace, and all the mountain quaked greatly. JERUSALEM: And all
mount Sinai sent up smoke, because the glory of the Shekinah of the LORD was
revealed upon it in flame of fire. |
|
19. The sound of the
shofar grew increasingly stronger; Moses would speak and God would answer him
with a voice. |
19. And the voice of
the trumpet went forth, and grew stronger: (then) Mosheh spoke, and was
answered from before the LORD with a gracious and majestic voice, and with
pleasant and gracious words. |
|
20. The Lord
descended upon Mount Sinai, to the peak of the mountain, and the Lord
summoned Moses to the peak of the mountain, and Moses ascended. |
20. And the LORD
revealed Himself on mount Sinai upon the summit of the mountain, and the LORD
called unto Mosheh from the summit of the mount, and Mosheh went up. |
|
21. The Lord said to
Moses, "Go down, warn the people lest they break [their formation to go
nearer] to the Lord, and many of them will fall. |
21. And the LORD
said to Mosheh, Descend, and warn the people, lest they come directly before
the LORD to gaze, and many of them fall. |
|
22. And also, the
priests who go near to the Lord shall prepare themselves, lest the Lord wreak
destruction upon them." |
22. The priests,
also, who approach to minister before the LORD, must be sanctified, lest the
LORD destroy them. |
|
23. And Moses said to
the Lord, "The people cannot ascend to Mount Sinai, for You warned us
saying, ‘Set boundaries for the mountain and sanctify it.'
" |
23. And Mosheh said
before the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai, because You did
instruct us, saying, Make limits to the mount, and
sanctify it. |
|
24. But the Lord
said to him, "Go, descend, and [then] you shall ascend, and Aaron with
you, but the priests and the populace shall not break [their formation] to
ascend to the Lord, lest He wreak destruction upon them." |
24. And the LORD
said to him, Go down, and then ascend, you and Aharon with you; but let not
the, priests or the people directly come up to gaze before the LORD, lest He
slay them. |
|
25. So Moses went
down to the people and said [this] to them. |
25. And Mosheh went
down from the mountain to the people, and said to them, Draw near and hear
the Law with Ten Words.___ JERUSALEM: And
Mosheh went down from the mountain to the people, and said to them, Draw near
and receive the Ten Words. |
|
|
|
|
1. God spoke
all these words, to respond: |
1. ¶ And the
LORD spoke all these words, saying: JERUSALEM: And the
Word of the LORD spoke all the excellency of these words saying: |
|
2. "I am the Lord, your God, Who took
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. |
2. The first word,
as it came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, whose Name be blessed, was
like storms, and lightnings, and flames of fire, with a burning light on His
right hand and on His left. It winged its way through the air of the heavens,
and was made manifest unto the camp of Israel, and returned, and was engraven
on the tables of the covenant that were given by the hand of Mosheh, and were
turned in them from side to side: and then called He, and said: Sons of Israel My people, I am the LORD your God, who brought you
out free from the land of Mizraim, from the house of the bondage of slaves. |
|
3. You shall not have the gods of others in
My presence. |
3. ¶ The second word
which came forth from the mouth of the Holy One, whose name be blessed, was like
storms, and lightnings, and flames of fire. A burning light was on His right
hand and on His left and was borne through the air of the heavens, returned,
and was made manifest unto the camp of Israel; it returned, and was engraven
on the tables of the covenant, and was turned in them from side to side. Then
called He, and said, House of Israel,
My people, You will have no other God beside Me. |
|
4. You shall not make for yourself a
graven image or any likeness which is in the heavens above, which is on the
earth below, or which is in the water beneath the earth. |
4. ¶ You will not make to yourselves image or
figure, or any similitude of what is in the heavens above, or on the earth
beneath, or in the waters under the earth. |
|
5. You shall neither prostrate yourself
before them nor worship them, for I, the Lord, your God, am a zealous God,
Who visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, upon the third and the
fourth generation of those who hate Me, |
5. You will not bow down to them, or worship
before them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God and an avenger,
punishing with vengeance, recording the guilt of wicked fathers upon
rebellious children unto the third and unto the fourth generation of them who
hate Me; |
|
6. and [I] perform loving kindness to thousands
[of generations], to those who love Me and to those who keep My commandments. |
6. but keeping mercy and goodness for
thousands of generations of the righteous who love Me, and who keep My
commandments and My laws. |
|
7. You shall not take the name of the Lord,
your God, in vain, for the Lord will not hold blameless anyone who takes His
name in vain. |
7. ¶ My people of the house of Israel, Let no
one of you swear by the name of the Word of the LORD your God in vain; for in the day of the great
judgment the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who swears by His name in
vain. |
|
8. Remember the Sabbath day to sanctify it. |
8. ¶ My people of the house of Israel,
Remember the day of Shabbath, to sanctify it. |
|
9. Six days may you work and perform all
your labor, |
9. Six days you will labour, and do all your
service: |
|
10. but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the
Lord, your God; you shall perform no labor, neither you, your son, your
daughter, your manservant, your maidservant, your beast, nor your stranger
who is in your cities. |
10. but the seventh day is (for) rest and
quietude before the LORD your God: you will not perform any work, you, and
your sons, and your daughters, and your servants, and your handmaids, and
your sojourners who are in your cities. |
|
11. For [in] six days the Lord made the
heaven and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and He rested on the
seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and sanctified it. |
11. For in six days the Lord created the
heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and whatever is therein, and rested on
the seventh day: therefore the Lord has blessed the day of Shabbat and
sanctified it. |
|
12. Honor your father and your mother, in
order that your days be lengthened on the land that the Lord, your God, is
giving you. |
12. ¶ My people, the house of Israel, Let
every man be instructed in the honour of his father and in the honour of his
mother: that your days may be multiplied upon the land which the LORD your
God gives you. |
|
13. You shall not murder. You shall not commit
adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your
neighbor. |
13. ¶ My people, the sons of Israel, You. will
not be murderers; you will not be companions of or partakers with murderers:
in the congregations of Israel there will not be seen a murderous people;
neither will your sons rise up after you and teach one another to take part
with murderers: for on
account of the guilt of murder the sword comes forth upon the world. My
people of the house of Israel, Be you not adulterers, nor companions nor
partakers with adulterers: nor in the congregations of Israel will there be
seen an adulterous people, that your sons may not arise after you to teach
one another to have part with adulterers: for through the guilt of adultery death comes forth
upon the world. Sons of Israel My people, You will not be kidnapers,
nor companions to kidnapers: there will not be seen in the congregations of
Israel a kidnaping people; that your sons may not arise after you to teach
one another to have part with kidnapers: for on account of the guilt of kidnaping famine comes
forth upon the world. Sons of Israel My people, You will not testify
against your neighbours a testimony of falsehood, nor be companions or
partakers with those who bear false witness nor will there be seen in the
congregations of Israel a people who testify a testimony of falsehood;
neither will your sons arise after you to teach one another to have part with
those who testify falsehood: for because of the guilt of false testimony the clouds go up and the
rain comes not down, and dryness cometh upon the world. |
|
14. You shall not
covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, his
manservant, his maidservant, his ox, his donkey, or whatever belongs to your
neighbor." |
14. Sons of Israel My people, You will not be
covetous companions or partakers with the covetous: nor will there be seen in
the congregations of Israel a covetous people; that your sons may not arise
after you to teach one another to have part with the covetous: neither will
any among you covet the wife of his neighbour, nor his servant, nor his
handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass nor anything that belongs to his neighbour;
because through the guilt of covetousness the
government breaks in upon the possessions of men to take them, and the
wealthy are made poor, and slavery comes upon the world. |
|
15. And all the
people saw the voices and the torches, the sound of the shofar, and the
smoking mountain, and the people saw and trembled; so they stood from afar. |
15. ¶ And all the
people saw the thunders, and were turned back, every one as he heard them coming
forth from the midst of the lights, and the voice of the trumpet
as it will raise the dead, and the mountain smoking; and all the
people saw and drew back, and stood twelve miles off. JERUSALEM: And all
the people saw the thunders and the lights, and the sound of the trumpet, and
the mountain smoking; and the people saw and trembled, and stood afar off. |
|
16. They said to
Moses, "You speak with us, and we will hear, but let God not speak with
us lest we die." |
16. And they said to
Mosheh, Speak you with us, and we can hear; but let it not be spoken with us
any more from before the LORD, lest we die. |
|
17. But Moses said
to the people, "Fear not, for God has come in order to exalt you, and in
order that His awe shall be upon your faces, so that you shall not sin." |
17. And Mosheh said
to the people, Fear not; for the glory of the LORD is revealed to try you,
whether His fear is before your faces, that you may not sin. |
|
18. The people
remained far off, but Moses drew near to the opaque darkness, where God was. |
18. And the people
stood twelve miles off; but Mosheh drew near to the height of the darkness where
was the glory of the LORD. |
|
19. The Lord said to
Moses, "So shall you say to the children of Israel, You have seen that
from the heavens I have spoken with you. |
19. And the LORD
said to Mosheh, Speak thus to the sons of Israel: You have seen that from the
heavens I have spoken with you; |
|
20. You shall not
make [images of anything that is] with Me. Gods of silver or gods of gold you
shall not make for yourselves. |
20. sons of Israel,
My people, you will not make [images], that you may worship, the likeness of
the sun or the moon or the stars, or the planets, or the angels who minister
before Me; idols of silver, nor idols of gold, you will not make to yourselves. |
|
21. An altar of
earth you shall make for Me, and you shall slaughter beside it your burnt
offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your cattle. Wherever I
allow My name to be mentioned, I will come to you and bless you. |
21. An altar of earth
you will make to My Name, and sacrifice upon it your burnt offerings and your
sanctified oblations from your sheep and from your oxen. And in every place
where My Shekinah will dwell, and you worship before Me, there will I send My
blessing upon you, and will bless you. JERUSALEM: An altar
grounded in the earth will you make unto My name, and will offer upon it your
burnt offerings and sacred oblations, your sheep and your oxen. In every
place in which ye shall memorialize My holy Name, My Word will be revealed to
you, and bless you. |
|
22. And when you
make for Me an altar of stones, you shall not build them of hewn stones, lest
you wield your sword upon it and desecrate it. |
22. But if you will
make an altar of stones unto My Name, you will not build them sculptured; for
if you lift up iron, from which the sword is made, upon the stone, you will
profane it. JERUSALEM: But if
you make an altar of stones unto My Name, you will not build it with
sculptured ones, because the sword is made of iron. If you work with iron
upon it, you will profane it. |
|
23. And you shall
not ascend with steps upon My altar, so that your nakedness shall not be
exposed upon it.' " |
23. And you, the
priests, who stand to minister before Me, will not ascend to My altar by
steps, but by (sloping) ramps; that your shame may not be seen thereupon. JERUSALEM: You also,
the priests, the sons of Aharon, who stand and minister beside Mine altar, will
not ascend by steps unto Mine altar, lest your shame be disclosed upon it. |
|
|
|
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: B’Midbar (Num.) 28:26-31
|
Rashi |
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan |
|
26. On the day of the first fruits, when you offer
up a new meal offering to the Lord, on your festival of Weeks; it shall be a
holy convocation for you, and you shall not perform any mundane work. |
26. Likewise on the day of your firstlings, when you offer
the gift from the new produce before the LORD in your ingatherings, after the
seven weeks are completed, you will have a holy convocation, no servile work
will you do; |
|
27. You shall offer
up a burnt offering with a spirit of satisfaction to the Lord: two young
bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in the first year. |
27. but offer a
burnt sacrifice to be received with favour before the LORD, two young
bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of the year; |
|
28. Their meal
offerings [shall be] fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths for each bull
and two tenths for the ram. |
28. also their
mincha of wheaten flour mingled with olive oil, three tenths for each
bullock, two tenths for the ram, |
|
29. One tenth for
each lamb, for all seven lambs. |
29. a tenth to a
lamb; so for the seven lambs |
|
30. One young male
goat to atone for you. |
30. one kid of the
goats to make an atonement for you; |
|
31. You shall offer
this up besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering they shall
be unblemished for you, as well as their libations. |
31. beside the perpetual
burnt offering you will make these; they will be unblemished, with their
libation of wine. |
|
|
|
Pesiqta
deRab Kahana
Pisqa
Twelve
In the third month [after Israel had left Egypt,
they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and entered
the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tent opposite the
Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God, and the LORD called to him from
the mountain and said, "Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell this to
the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes what I did to Egypt and
how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here to Me. If only you
will now listen to Me and keep My covenant, then out of all peoples you will
become My special possession; for the whole earth is Mine. You will be My
kingdom of priests, My holy nation"] - (Exodus 19:1-6).
XII:I
R. Judah bar Simon commenced his discourse by
citing the following verse: Many
daughters show how capable they are, but you excel them all. [Charm is a
delusion and beauty fleeting; it is the God-fearing woman who is honored. Extol
her for the fruit of her toil and let her labors bring her honor in the city
gate] (Prov. 31:29-31): The first man was assigned six religious
duties, and they are: not worshipping idols, not blaspheming, setting up courts
of justice, not murdering, not practicing fornication, and not stealing. And
all of them derive from a single verse of Scripture: And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, You may freely eat of every
tree of the garden, [but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will
not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you will die] (Gen. 2:16). And the Lord God commanded the man, saying:
this refers to idolatry, as it is said, For
Ephraim was happy to walk after the command (Hos. 5:11). The LORD: this refers to blasphemy,
as it is said, Whoever curses the name
of the LORD will surely die (Lev. 24:16). God: this refers to setting up courts of justice, as it is
said, God [in context, the judges] you
will not curse (Ex. 22:27). the
man: this refers to murder, as it is said, He who sheds the blood of man by man his blood will be shed
(Gen. 9:6). saying: this
refers to fornication, as it is said. Saying,
will a man divorce his wife... (Jer. 3:1). You may freely eat of every tree of the garden: this refers to
the prohibition of stealing, as you say, but
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you will not eat.
Noah was commanded, in addition, not to cut a
limb from a living beast, as it is said, But
as to meat with its soul - its blood you will not eat (Gen. 9:4). Abraham
was commanded, in addition, concerning circumcision, as it is said, And as to you, my covenant you will keep
(Gen. 17:9). Isaac was circumcised on the eighth day, as it is said. And Abraham circumcised Isaac, his son, on
the eighth day (Gen. 21:4). Jacob was commanded not to eat the sciatic
nerve, as it is said. On that account
the children of Israel will not eat the sciatic nerve (Gen. 32:33). Judah
was commanded concerning marrying the childless brother's widow, as it is said.
And Judah said to Onen, Go to the wife
of your childless brother and exercise the duties of a levir with her
(Gen. 38:8). But as to you, at Sinai you received six hundred thirteen
religious duties, two hundred forty-eight religious duties of commission [acts
to be done], three hundred sixty-five religious duties of omission [acts not to
be done], the former matching the two hundred forty-eight limbs that a human
being has. Each limb says to a person, "By your leave, with me do this
religious duty.' Three hundred sixty-five religious duties of omission [acts
not to be done] matching the days of the solar calendar. Each day says to a
person, 'By your leave, on me do not carry out that transgression.'"
Charm is a
delusion and beauty fleeting; [it is the God-fearing woman who is honored.
Extol her for the fruit of her toil and let her labors bring her honor in the
city gate]: Charm is a delusion: the charm of
Noah was a delusion: Noah found favor (Gen.
6:8). ...and beauty fleeting: the beauty of the first man was
fleeting. The round part of the First Man's heal outshone the orb of the sun. And
do not find that fact surprising, for in ordinary practice a person makes for
himself two salvers, one for himself and one for a member of his household.
Which of the two is the finer? Is it not his own? So the first Man was created
for the service of the Holy One, blessed be He, while the orb of the sun was
created only for the service of the created world. Is it not an argument a
fortiori that the round part of the first Man's heal outshone the orb of the
sun? And the countenance of his face all the more so!
...it is the
God-fearing woman who is honored: this refers to Moses [who received the
commandments of the Torah and was totally God-fearing].
Extol her for
the fruit of her toil and let her labors bring her honor in the city gate: Said
R. Yose bar Jeremiah, On what account does Scripture compare prophets to women?
Just as a woman is not ashamed to demand from her husband what her household
needs, so the prophets are not ashamed to demand before the Holy One, blessed
be He, the needs of Israel. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Israel, “My
children, read this passage every year, and I will credit it to you as if you
were standing before Me at Mount Sinai and receiving the Torah." When is
that the case? In the third month after Israel had left Egypt, [they came to the
wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of
Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses
went up the mountain of God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and
said, 'Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell this to the sons of Israel:
You have seen with your own eyes what I did to Egypt and how I have carried you
on eagles' wings and brought you here to me. If only you will now listen to me
and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples you shall become my special
possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my
holy nation'] (Exodus 19:1-6).
XII:II
R. Yohanan commenced his discourse by citing the
following verse of Scripture: He
rescued me from my enemies, strong as they were, from my foes when they grew
too powerful for me. [They confronted me in the hour of my peril, but the LORD
was my buttress. He brought me out into an open place, He rescued me because He
delighted in me] (Ps. 18:17-18). He
rescued me from my enemies: this refers to Pharaoh, Said the enemy, I will pursue (Ex.
16:19). from my foes when they grew
too powerful for me: this refers to the Egyptians. They confronted me in the hour of my peril:
from what Pharaoh planned, from what Amalek planned. And of them all: the LORD was my buttress. He brought me out into an open place: for
he gave me the Torah [which is called an "open
place" (Job 11:19)—Mendelbaum].
"...He
rescued me because He delighted in me: Said R. Yohanan, His
trust [Mendelbaum, p. 204n.] is what drew Him to give me the Torah. When did
this take place? In the third month
[after Israel had left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They set
out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped,
pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God,
and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house
of Jacob and tell this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes
what I did to Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you
here to me. If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of
all peoples you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is
mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation] (Exodus
19:1-6).
XII:III
R. Isaac commenced his discourse by citing the
following verse: Refresh me with
raisins, [he revived me with apricots, for I was faint with love. His left arm
was under my head, his right arm was around me] (Song 2:5). [Reading
the letters for the word for raisins
to yield the sound for the word for fire,
we interpret as follows]: Refresh me with two fires, the fire of Abraham [whom
Nimrod threw into the fiery furnace] and the fire of Hananiah, Mishael, and
Azariah.
Another interpretation: Refresh me with raisins, [he
revived me with apricots, for I was faint with love. His left arm was under my
head, his right arm was around me] (Song 2:5). [Reading the letters for
the word for raisins to yield the sound for the word for fire, we interpret as
follows]: Refresh me with two fires, the fire of Moriah and the fire of Sinai.
Another interpretation of the verse: Refresh me with raisins, [he revived me with
apricots, for I was faint with love. His left arm was under my head, his right
arm was around me] (Song 2:5). [Reading the letters for the word for
raisins to yield the sound for the word for well construed, we interpret as follows]:
Refresh me with laws that are well construed. ...revived me with apricots: this refers to words of Torah,
which have a fragrance as pleasant as apricots.
...for I was
faint with love: Said R. Isaac, In olden times, when a penny was
commonplace, a person would hunger for a teaching of the Mishnah or of Talmud.
Now that a penny is uncommon, and all the more so as we are sick of the rule of
the kingdoms, a person hungers to hear a teaching of Scripture and of lore.
...for I was
faint with love: Said R. Levi, The matter may be compared to the
case of a prince, who had fallen ill but recovered. Said the teacher, 'Let the
boy go to school.' Said the king, 'His robust health has not yet returned after
his illness, and should he go to school? But let my son enjoy three months of
food and drink, and then he can go to school.' Thus when the Israelites went
forth from Egypt, they were fit to receive the Torah, but among them were
injured people on account of the hard labor with mortar and bricks. Said the
Holy One, blessed be He, The robust health of my children has not yet been
restored from the effects of the hard labor with mortar and bricks, and should
they receive the Torah? Let my children enjoy three months of the water of the
well and the manna and quail, and then they can receive the Torah. When? In the third month [after Israel had left
Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and
entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tent
opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God, and the Lord called
to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell this
to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes what I did to Egypt and
how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here to me. If only you
will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples you shall
become my special possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall be my
kingdom of priests, my holy nation'] (Exodus 19:1-6).
XII:IV
R. Yohanan opened his discourse by citing this
verse of Scripture: So I got her back
for fifteen pieces of silver, [a homer of barley, and a measure of barley; and
I said to her, 'Many a long day you will live in my house and not play the
wanton and have no intercourse with a man, nor I with you. For the Israelites
will live many a long day without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred
pillar, without image or household gods, but after that they will again seek
the LORD their God and David their king and turn anxiously to the LORD for His
bounty in days to come'] (Hos. 3:2-5). Said R. Yohanan, So I got her back for me, for fifteen pieces
of silver: this refers to the fifteenth day of Nisan [Passover]. ...and for a homer of barley, lo,
thirty. ...and a measure of barley,
lo, forty-five. And where are the other five [to reach the number of fifty days
after Passover, on which Pentecost, celebrating the giving of the Torah, is
reached]? and I said to her, 'Many a
long day you shall live in my house.
[As to the verse, and I said to her, 'Many a long day you shall live in my house'],
it was taught on Tannaite authority by R. Hiyya, Many refers to two days, long
to three - lo, the fifty days
of the counting of the sheaf of first grain. From that point we refer to the
Ten Commandments.
...and not play
the wanton: You
will not make for yourself graven images (Lev. 26:1). ...and have no intercourse with
a man: You will have no other gods
(Ex. 20:3). And if you have done so, nor
I with you. When? In the third
month [after Israel had left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They
set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped,
pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God,
and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house
of Jacob and tell this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes
what I did to Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you
here to me. If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of
all peoples you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is
mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation'] (Exodus
19:1-6).
XII:V
R. Abun commenced his discourse by citing the
verse: Here have I not written out for
you three-fold sayings, full of knowledge and wise advice, [to impart to you a
knowledge of the truth, that you may take back a true report to him who sent
you] (Prov. 22:20-21). Bar Hote said, The word that we read as three-fold in three-fold sayings of full of
knowledge and of wise advice yields 'the day before yesterday'
[Mendelbaum: the word for 'three-fold' is related to the word for 'day
before']." Said R. Eleazar, It is
so that the words of the Torah should not appear to you like a dated decree,
but they should appear to you like a new one which everyone is running to read.
That is in line with this verse of Scripture: On this very day the LORD your God is commanding you to do...
(Deut. 26:16)."
R. Samuel bar Nahman said, The word that we read
as three-fold in three-fold sayings,
full of knowledge and wise advice yields officers, as in the following
verse of Scripture: and officers over
all of them (Ex. 14:7). Said R. Samuel bar Nahman, Words of Torah are
compared to a weapon. Just as a weapon protects its owner, so words of Torah
protects those who work on them as much as is needed. What verse of Scripture
indicates it? Let the high praises of
God be on their lips, and a two-edged sword in their hand [to wreak vengeance
on the Gentiles and to chastise the heathen] (Ps. 149:6)."
[With reference to the verse, Let the high praises of God be on their
lips, and a two-edged sword in their hand [to wreak vengeance on the Gentiles
and to chastise the heathen] (Ps. 149:6), R. Judah, R. Nehemiah, and
rabbis [make statements, as follows:] R. Judah says, The word for double-edged sword yields the duplication of the word for
mouth, hence meaning two Torahs, one in writing, the other oral. R.
Nehemiah says, The word for double-edged
sword yields the duplication of the word for mouth, hence meaning a
sword which consumes on both edges, giving life in this world and in the world
to come. And rabbis say, For there
were sacred officers and officers of God (1 Chr. 24:5). They make a
decree concerning the beings of the upper world, and they carry it out,
concerning the beings of the lower world, and they carry it out.
Said R. Aha, [Since the word that we read
as thirty in three-fold sayings,
full of knowledge and wise advice
yields heroes, we may interpret as follows:] Words of Torah are heroic in
exacting a penalty from him who does not work hard in them as is required.
Said R. Abun, Words of Torah are compared to a
sweet mixed wine. Just as a sweet mixed wine contains wine and also honey and
spices, so words of Torah contain wine: For
your kisses are better than wine (Song 1:2). They also contain honey: They are sweeter than honey (Ps.
19:11). They also contain spices: Your
saying is most refined (Ps. 119:140).
XII:VI
I Myself have
made it known and I saved and declared it, I and no alien god amongst you, and
you are My witnesses, says the LORD. I am God; [from this very day I am He.
What My hand holds, none can snatch away; what I do none can undo] (Is.
43:12-14): I Myself have made it known:
in Egypt, And Moses told Aaron all the
words of the LORD (Ex. 4:28). And
I saved: at the Red Sea, And
on that day the Lord saved... (Ex. 14:30). ...and declared it: at Sinai, From the heaven I declared the judgment (Ps. 76:9). ...and
no alien...amongst you: this refers to Jethro. ...and you are My witnesses, says the Lord. I am God: It was taught on Tannaite
authority by R. Simeon b. Yohai, If
you are My witnesses, says the LORD, then I am God, and if you are not My witnesses, then, as it were, it is as if I am not the Lord.
XII:VII
For everything
its season, [and for every activity under heaven its time] (Qoh.
3:1): There was an appropriate time for the first Man to enter the Garden of
Eden, And the LORD God took the Man
and put him in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 2:15). And a time for him to
leave: And he drove out the Man
(Gen. 3:24). There was a time for Noah and his sons to enter the ark: Come, you and all your household, into the
ark (Gen. 7:11). And a time
for him to leave: Go forth form the
ark (Gen. 8:16). There was a time for our father, Abraham, to be
assigned the rite of circumcision: And
you will keep my covenant (Gen. 17:9). And there was a time for the
rite to fall away from his sons on two occasions, once in Egypt, the other time
in the Wilderness [in line with Joshua 5:5 (Mandelbaum)]. [The tribe of Levi
was the only tribe that was circumcised at the time of the Exodus, and the
passage of Joshua indicates that in the wilderness the rite was not practiced
at all.]
...and for
every activity under heaven its time (Qoh. 3:1): Said R.
Bibi, Something which was higher than heaven was assigned to Moses from heaven.
And what is it? It is the Torah. When? In
the third month [after Israel had left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of
Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, where
they encamped, pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the
mountain of God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak
thus to the house of Jacob and tell this to the sons of Israel: You have seen
with your own eyes what I did to Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles'
wings and brought you here to me. If only you will now listen to me and keep my
covenant, then out of all peoples you shall become my special possession; for
the whole earth is mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation'] (Exodus
19:1-6).
XII: VIII
I follow the
course of virtue, my path is the path of justice; [I endow with riches those
who love me and I will fill their treasuries] (Prov.
8:20-21): The Torah speaks [in the cited verse], In what path am I to be found?
It is in the path of those who do righteousness/generosity: in the path of
justice. Said R. Huna, The
matter may be compared to the chariot that belongs to a noble lady. When the
woman goes through the market place, [the guards] clear the path with sword and
weapon both before her and after her. So is the case of the Torah: there are
laws specified before [the account of the giving of the Torah] and afterward. There
are laws specified before the account of the giving of the Torah: There he made for them a statute and an
ordinance (Ex. 15:25). And afterward as well: These are the ordinances which you will set before them (Ex.
21:1)."
XII:IX
The heart knows
its own bitterness, and a stranger has no part in its joy. [The house of the
wicked will be torn down, but the home of the upright flourishes] (Prov.
14:10-11): Said R. Jonathan, Why
does a person smell the stench of brimstone and his soul recoils? Because the
soul knows that it is destined to be judged in that: Upon the wicked He will pour coals, fire and brimstone (Ps.
11:6). R. Samuel bar Nahman in the name of R. Jonathan, It is like the double
cup [of wine] that is drunk after the bath [in line with the verse: and afterwards a double cup of scalding wind
will be their drink (Ps. 11:6)].
Another interpretation of the verse: The heart knows its own bitterness, [and a
stranger has no part in its joy. The
house of the wicked will be torn down, but the home of the upright flourishes]
(Prov. 14:10-11): [The heart knows its
own bitterness] speaks of Israel. ...and a stranger has no part in its joy refers to Jethro: And Moses sent his father in law, Jethro,
and he went to his land (Ex. 18:27). What is written thereafter? In the third month [after Israel had left
Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and
entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tent
opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God, and the Lord called
to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell
this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes what I did to
Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here to me.
If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples
you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall
be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation'] (Exodus 19:1-6).
XII:X
Like an apricot
tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among boys. [To sit in its
shadow was my delight, and its fruit was sweet to my taste. He took me into the
wine garden and gave me loving glances] (Song 2:3-4): R. Huna,
R. Aha in the name of R. Yose b. Zimra, Just as in the case of an apricot tree,
everyone avoids it, because it yields no shade, so the nations of the world
fled before the Holy One, blessed be He, on the day of the giving of the Torah.
Is it possible that the Israelites were the same way? Scripture says, To sit in its shadow was my delight, and its
fruit was sweet to my taste. Said R. Ahvah bar Zeorah, Just
as an apricot produces its buds before its leaves, so the Israelites gave
precedence to doing over hearing at Sinai. Said
R. Azariah, Just as an apricot produces ripened fruit only in Sivan, so the
Israelites produces a good fragrance in the world only in Sivan. When?
In the third month [after Israel had
left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim
and entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tent
opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God, and the Lord called
to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell
this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes what I did to
Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here to me.
If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples
you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall
be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation'] (Exodus 19:1-6)."
XII:XI
In the third
month [after Israel had left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They
set out from RephiUim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped,
pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God,
and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house
of Jacob and tell this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes
what I did to Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you
here to me. If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of
all peoples you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is
mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation']
(Exodus 19:1-6). It is when the third month came. The matter may be compared to
the case of a king who betrothed a noble lady.
He specified a particular time for her [for the wedding to be
consummated]. When the time came, they
said, "Lo, the time has come for her to enter the marriage canopy.' So
when the time of the Torah to be given had come, they said, "Lo, the time
for the giving of the Torah to Israel has come."
R. Levi in the name of R. Samuel b. Halputah: The
matter may be compared to the case of a king, whose son was kidnapped. He
cloaked himself in vengeance and went and redeemed his son. He said, 'You
should count the years of my rule from the date of the redemption of my son.' So
said the Holy One, blessed be He, 'You should count my reign from the time of
the Exodus from Egypt.'
R. Hama bar Hanina: The matter may be compared to
the case of a king who was marrying off his daughter and said, 'You should
count the days of my reign from the time of my daughter's marriage.' So said
the Holy One, blessed be He, 'You should count my reign from the time of the
giving of the Torah.'
...they came to
the wilderness of Sinai. [They set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness
of Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses
went up the mountain of God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and
said, "Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell this to the sons of
Israel: You have seen with your own eyes what I did to Egypt and how I have
carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here to me. If only you will now
listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples you shall become my
special possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall be my kingdom of
priests, my holy nation"] (Exodus 19:1-6).
Said R. Joshua b. Levi, The matter may be compared to the case of the
son of a king who was walking in the market, and was met by an ally of the
king, who filled his pockets with precious stones and pearls. Said the king,
'Open up the gates of my treasuries, so that my son should not say, "Were
it not for father's ally, he would not have anything to give to me.” So said
the Holy One, blessed be He, to Moses, 'So that the Israelites should not say,
if it were not for the fact that Jethro came and taught you the laws, you would
not have had the power to give the Torah to us. Therefore I will give them the
Torah, wholly made up of laws: And
these are the judgments which you shall lay before them (Ex.
21:1)."
Said R. Levi, The matter may be compared to the
case of a king who wanted to marry a woman of good family, of honored
genealogy. He said, 'I do not lay claim on you for nothing. Once I have done a
number of good deeds for you, then I will lay claim on you.' He [God] saw her
[Israel] naked and clothed her: And I
clothed you in ornamented garments (Ez. 16:10). He saw her at the sea
and brought her across: And the
children of Israel walked on dry land through the sea (Ex. 14:29). He
saw kidnappers come against her and saved her, referring to the Amalekites.
Said R. Eleazar, The matter may be compared to
the case of a king who wanted to marry a woman of good family, of honored
genealogy. He said, 'I do not lay claim on you for nothing. Once I have done a
number of good deeds for you, then I will lay claim on you.' He [God] saw her
[Israel] at the baker and filled her arms with cakes of bread, at the
storekeeper and provided spiced wine for her, at the spice dealer and filled
her arms with spices, at the [Braude and Kapstein:] store of the one who force
feeds birds and filled her arms with force-fed birds. ...at the baker and
filled her arms with cakes of bread: Lo,
I rain down for you bread from heaven (Ex. 16:4). ...at the storekeeper
and provided spiced wine for her: Then
sang Israel this song. Rise O spring and reply (Num. 21:17).
...at the spice dealer and filled her arms with
spices: And He made him suck honey out
of the crag (Deut. 32:13).
...at the [Braude and Kapstein:] store of the one
who force feeds birds and filled her arms with force-fed birds: And quail flew in from the sea (Num.
11:31)."
Said R. Abba bar Yudan, The matter may be
compared to the case of a king who was marrying off his daughter, and he had
made a decree against marrying overseas, saying, 'The sons of Rome will not
acquire wives in Syria, and the sons of Syria will not come up to Rome for that
purpose.' But when he had married off his daughter, he released the decree
[that he had made prohibiting intermarriages of this sort]. So before the Torah
was given, the heavens are the heavens
of the Lord, and the earth belongs to the children of men (Ps. 115:16).
But once the Torah was given from heaven, Moses went up the mountain of God, and the LORD called to him from the
mountain [and said, 'Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell this to the sons
of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes what I did to Egypt and how I have
carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here to me. If only you will now
listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples you shall become my
special possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall be my kingdom of
priests, my holy nation'] (Exodus 19:1-6). And the Lord came down upon Mount
Sinai (Ex. 19:20)."
XII:XII
In the third
month after Israel [had left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They
set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped,
pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God,
and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house
of Jacob and tell this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes
what I did to Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you
here to me. If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of
all peoples you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is
mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation']
(Exodus 19:1-6). This is in line with the following verse of Scripture: Have I not written for you three-fold
sayings full of knowledge and wise counsel [to show you what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?] (Prov.
22:20-21). If you wish to take counsel from the Torah, take it. Said David, "When I wanted to
take counsel in the Torah, I would look into the Scripture and take
counsel." So it is said, I will
meditate on Your precepts and fix my eyes on Your ways, [I will delight in Your
statutes and I will not forget Your word] (Ps. 119:15-16).
And it is said, Through Your precepts I get understanding (Ps. 119:104). Said
Ben Hoti, If you want to build [a ship] and do not know how to proportion its
height, look into the Torah and you will learn. What is written? With lower, second, and third decks you will
make it (Gen. 6:16). Thus: Through
Your precepts I get understanding (Ps. 119:104).
Another interpretation of the verse. Here have I not written out for you
three-fold sayings, [full of knowledge and wise advice, to impart to you a
knowledge of the truth, that you may take back a true report to him who sent
you] (Prov. 22:20-21). Said R … It is so that the words of the Torah
should not appear to you like a dated decree, but they should appear to you
like a new one, two or three days old. That is in line with the verse, Here have I not written out for you
three-fold sayings, [full of knowledge and wise advice, to impart to you a
knowledge of the truth, that you may take back a true report to him who sent
you] (Prov. 22:20-21). The word for thirty may be read as the day before
yesterday.
Ben Azzai says, "Not like a proclamation
that is two or three days old, but like a proclamation issued that very day.
You may know that that is so, for what is written? In the third month after Israel had left Egypt, on this day they came
to the wilderness of Sinai (Exodus 19:1-6). What is written is not, on
that day, but, on this day they came
to Sinai. And so it is written, On
this very day the LORD your God is commanding you to do [these laws and
statutes] (Deut. 26:16)."
XII:XIII
Another interpretation
of the verse, In the third month after Israel had left Egypt, [they came to the
wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of
Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses
went up the mountain of God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and
said, 'Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell this to the sons of Israel:
You have seen with your own eyes what I did to Egypt and how I have carried you
on eagles' wings and brought you here to me. If only you will now listen to me
and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples you shall become my special
possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my
holy nation'] (Exodus 19:1-6). The Torah is tripartite, the fathers too,
the [name of the] tribe to which the Torah was given is the third, and the
month is the third. How do we know that the Torah is in three parts? Said R. Abun
the Levite, son of Rabbi, How do we know that the Torah is called tripartite?
It is because it may be compared to three things, wine, honey, and spices. As
to wine: Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mixed
(Prov. 9:5). As to honey: They are sweeter than honey (Ps.
19:11). As to spices, said R. Abun the Levite, son of Rabbi, [Proof derives
from this verse] Every word of God is refined (Prov. 30:5), with reference to
spices. On this basis, then the Torah is divided into three.
Each item associated
with the events of that day is divided into three. The Torah is divided into
three: Torah, Prophets, Writings. The letters of the Torah are divided into
three: A, B, C. And Israel is divided into three: Priests, Levites, Israelites. The patriarchs
are three: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Moses
was the third [and intermediary between God and Israel, a triad]: I
stand between the LORD and you (Deut. 5:5). The letters of the name of Moses are three: M, S, H. And he
comes from the third tribe in order: Reuben, Simeon, Levi [he was a Levite]. And
the letters of the name of that tribe are three: L, V, Y. And there were three
siblings: Moses, Aaron, Miriam. He was watched over, after birth, for three
months: And she watched him for three months (Ex. 2:2). It was the
third day: For on the third day the LORD came down before the eyes of all the
people (Ex. 19:11). It was the third month: In the third month [after Israel
had left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai] (Ex. 19:1-6).
XII:XIV
That is in line with
the following verse of Scripture: Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all
her paths are peace. [She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those
who hold her fast are called happy] (Prov. 3:17-18): Her
ways are ways of pleasantness: the Holy One, blessed be He, planned to
give his Torah to Israel when the Israelites went forth from Egypt. But they
contended with one another, saying, Let us appoint a head and return to Egypt
(Num. 14:4). What is written? They [severally] journeyed from Sukkot and
they [severally] encamped at Etham (Ex. 13:20), meaning, they journeyed
in strife and they encamped in strife. But as soon as they came to Rephidim,
they became of one mind and formed a single united group, as it is said, They
set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, [where they
encamped, pitching their tent opposite the Mountain]. Now how do we
know that they became of one mind and formed a single united group? What is
written is not. The Israelites [in the plural, hence, severally] encamped
there, but, Israel [in the singular, hence jointly] encamped...opposite
the Mountain. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, "The Torah is
wholly a message of peace. To whom will I give it? To the nation that holds
fast to peace." That is in
line with this verse: Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all
her paths are peace. [She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those
who hold her fast are called happy] (Prov. 3:17-18)
XII:XV
In the third month
after Israel had left Egypt, [they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They set
out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped,
pitching their tent opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God,
and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house
of Jacob and tell this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes
what I did to Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you
here to me. If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of
all peoples you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is
mine. You shall be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation'] (Exodus 19:1-6).
This is in line with
the following verse of Scripture: Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through
indolence the house leaks (Qoh. 10:18). What brought it about that this
woman menstruates a great deal [and her period is prolonged]? [Thus: If a woman has a discharge of blood for many
days, not at the time of her impurity (Lev. 15:25)]. It is because this
woman is indolent about examining herself during her menstrual period, to find
out whether she is unclean or not. Why so?
Our rabbis have taught: In the
case of a hand that is used a great
deal to make inspections of the genitals, in the case of women it is
praiseworthy, in the case of men, it Is to be cut off [Mishnah Nid. 2:1].
There is the case of
the slave girl of Rabban Gamaliel, who was moving from one room to another
utensils and jugs that were in a state of cultic cleanness. She examined
herself prior to touching each and every jug. At the end, she examined herself
and turned out to be unclean. Rabban Gamaliel was concerned, saying, "Is
it possible that all of the objects preserved in a state of cultic cleanness
have now been made unclean?" Rabban Gamaliel called to her and said to
her, "Were you not examining yourself [as you worked]?" She said to
him, "My lord, by your life! I was
examining myself prior to touching each and every jug, and it was only at the
end, when touching this last one, that I turned out to be unclean." Said
Rabban Gamaliel, "If this one had been indolent, all of the objects
preserved in a state of cleanness would have become unclean."
Through sloth the roof
sinks in
(Qoh. 10:18). It is because this woman is indolent about examining herself
during her menstrual period that this woman menstruates a great deal [and her
period is prolonged]. [Thus: If a woman has a discharge of blood for many
days, not at the time of her impurity (Lev. 15:25)]. For the
roof sinks in is to be interpreted thus: the word for roof means only blood,
as it is said, [And he will uncover her nakedness, he has made naked her fountain,] and
she has uncovered the fountain of her blood [- both of them shall be cut off
from among their people] (Lev. 20:18).
...and through indolence the
house leaks
(Qoh. 10:18): If a woman has a discharge of blood for many days, not at the time of her
impurity (Lev. 15:25).
Another interpretation
of the verse. Through sloth the roof sinks in, [and through indolence the house
leaks] (Qoh. 10:18): The passage speaks of Israel when they came to
Rephidim. For what is written in that regard?
They set out from Rephidim and entered the wilderness of Sinai, [where
they encamped, pitching their tent opposite the Mountain]. Why was the
name of that place called Rephidim? Because their hands were
"slothful" about committing transgression ["slothful" in
Hebrew is similar to Rephidim].
Through sloth the roof
sinks in:
The
LORD came down to Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain (Ex. 19:20).
...and through
indolence the house leaks: Because the Israelites were "slothful"
about committing transgressions, the house leaked. What is written thereafter? The
earth shook, also the heaven opened up, and also the clouds dripped water
(Judges 5:4). When did all these things take place? It was on the day of the
giving of the Torah. In the third month [after Israel had left
Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai. They set out from Rephidim and
entered the wilderness of Sinai, where they encamped, pitching their tent
opposite the Mountain. Moses went up the mountain of God, and the LORD called
to him from the mountain and said, 'Speak thus to the house of Jacob and tell
this to the sons of Israel: You have seen with your own eyes what I did to
Egypt and how I have carried you on eagles' wings and brought you here to me.
If only you will now listen to me and keep my covenant, then out of all peoples
you shall become my special possession; for the whole earth is mine. You shall
be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation'] (Exodus 19:1-6).
XII:XVI
What is written prior to the
matter at hand? It is the passage that deals with Jethro, specifically spelling
out what he taught Moses. You will seek out able men out of the people
(Ex. 18:21), then: In the third month [after Israel had left Egypt, they came to the
wilderness of Sinai] (Exodus 19:1-6). Said Solomon, The
heart knows its own bitterness.Therefore: ...and a stranger has no part in
its joy. [The house of the wicked will be torn down, but the home of the
upright flourishes] (Prov. 14:10-11). Said the Holy One, blessed be He,
'The Israelites were enslaved to mortar and bricks in Egypt, while Jethro was
dwelling in his house at peace and in security. Now he has come to witness the
rejoicing over the Torah with my children?" Therefore: And
Moses sent his father-in-law, Jethro, and he went to his land (Ex.
18:27). And thereafter: In the third month [after Israel had left
Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai] (Exodus 19:6).
Another
interpretation: why so? Moses composed an argument a fortiori: He said, "Now if when the Holy
One, blessed be He, came to give a single religious duty, namely, the religious
duty concerning the Passover, he said, No son of an alien will eat of it
(Ex. 12:43), now that he is giving the entirety of the Torah to Israel, should
Jethro be here and see us?" Therefore: And Moses sent his father-in-law,
[Jethro, and he went to his land] (Ex. 18:27). And thereafter: In
the third month [after Israel had left Egypt, they came to the wilderness of
Sinai (Exodus 19:6).
XII:XVII
[With reference to the
third month after Israel had left Egypt,] why in the third month and not
the second or the fourth? Said R. Hoshaia, "R. Hiyya the Elder
taught me as follows: A female convert, a woman taken captive and returned, and
a freed slave girl should not get married or betrothed until three months have
passed [to ascertain that they are not pregnant]. As to Israel, then, they are
called converts: for
you were converts in the land of Egypt (Lev. 19:43). ...captives: They will take as captives those
who had taken them captive (Is. 14:32). ...and freed slaves: I the LORD your God, who has taken you out
of the land of Egypt so that you should not be slaves (Lev. 26:13). Said
the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Let us wait for them for three months, and then I
will give them the Torah.' In the third month [after Israel had left
Egypt, they came to the wilderness of Sinai] (Exodus 19:1).
XII:XVIII
[With reference to the
third month after Israel had left Egypt,} said R. Aibu, "[The sense of in
the third month may be gained by reading the same letters to mean,
here,] the month has come. When the Holy One, blessed be He, revealed himself
to Moses, He stipulated with him, saying to him, When you bring the people out of
Egypt, you will serve God on this mountain (Ex. 3:12). And Moses was
watching for the day, saying, 'When will it come?' But it did not come about.
When the end had come, the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him. The month has
come for which you were waiting. Thus: ...the third month [after Israel had left
Egypt] (Exodus 19:1).
XII:XIX
[With reference to the
third month after Israel had left Egypt,] it does not say in the third
moon, as it calls other months, e.g., in the moon of Ziv (1 Kgs. 6:37), in
the moon of Bui (1 Kgs. 6:38), in the moon of Etanim (1 Kgs. 8:2),
but rather, in the third month? Said R. Judah bar Simon, Said
the Holy One, blessed be He, to them, '[Since the letters for the word for
month yield the word for innovation,] I am going to do a new thing and I am
going to make you new.' The matter may be compared to the case of a
king who had a son, and the son reached maturity. The king wanted to marry him
off, but he did not have a new silver setting. Said the king, It is not
appropriate to the honor owing to my son to have matters in this way. If we
wait until a new silver setting is made for him, I will postpone my son's
occasion for rejoicing.' What did the king do? He brought smiths and metal
workers who polished the copper utensils [he had in hand], and he brought wood
carvers, who made patterns on the wooden utensils [then in hand], so the king
turned out to marry off his son using a setting that was old but appeared new. So
the Holy One, blessed be He, when the Israelites went forth from Egypt wanted
to give them the Torah. But in their midst were blind and crippled and mute
people. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, "The Torah itself is wholly
complete and unblemished, as it is said, The Torah of the LORD is unblemished
(Ps. 19:8). Will I then give it to this generation, in which are people who
bear blemishes? But if we should wait until their children grow up, I will
postpone the rejoicing over the Torah.' What did the Holy One, blessed be He,
do? He healed them and then he gave them the Torah. And how do we know that he
healed them? One who was blind was made to see, as it is said. And the entire people saw the
voices (Ex. 20:18). One who was deaf He made to hear, as it is
said, Everything that the LORD has spoken we will do and we shall hear
(Ex. 24:7). One who was crippled he made whole, as it is said. And
they stood at the foot of the mountain (Ex. 19:17). That then shows the
meaning of the statement, ‘1 am going to do a new thing and I am going to make
you new, … for 1 will make you a paradigm of the world to come.' Just as in the
world to come, Then will the eyes of the blind be opened (Is. 356:5), so here:
And the entire people saw the
voices (Ex. 20:18). Just as in the world to come, the
ears of the deaf will be opened (Is. 35:6), so here. Everything
that the LORD has spoken we will do and we will hear (Ex. 24:7). Just
as in the world to come, Then the lame one will leap like a lamb
(Is. 35:6), so here, And Moses brought the people out to meet
God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain (Ex. 19:17). Just as in
the world to come, The tongue of the dumb will sing (Is. 35:6), so here: Then
the people all answered together, saying (Ex. 19:8)."
XII:XX
[With reference to] the
third month [after Israel had left Egypt,] why in the third month? It
was so as not to give the nations of the world an opening to say, "If he
had given the Torah also to us, we should have carried it out." Said to
them the Holy One, blessed be He, "See in what month I am giving the
Torah. It is the third month, under the star of the twins [standing for Jacob
and Esau], so that if the wicked Esau should want to become a proselyte and to
repent and to come and study the Torah, he may come and study it and I will
accept him." Therefore he gave it in the third month [to allow time for
Esau to come and accept the Torah, which he failed to do].
And why was it given in
the wilderness of Sinai? It is to teach you that if a person does not
treat himself as utterly lacking in all ownership [and freely available to
others] like this wilderness, he will not have the merit to master teachings of
the Torah. Just as the wilderness is without end, so the Torah is without end,
as it is said, The measure thereof is longer than the earth and wider than the sea
(Job 11:9). And just as it has no end, so there is no end to the reward that is
given on its account, as it is said, How great is your good, which you have laid
out for those who fear you (Ps. 31:20).
XII:XXI
[In the third month
after Israel had left Egypt], on that day they came to the wilderness of Sinai: Did they come on
that day in particular? [Hardly!] [Rather, it is as if God said this to them,]
"But when you study my words, let them not appear to you as though there
were old, but rather as though the Torah was given today." What is written
here is not that day but this day.
[God says,] "In this world I gave you the Torah, and individuals work hard
at it, but in the world to come, I will personally teach it to all Israel, and
they will study it and not forget. For it is said, For this is the covenant which I
will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD, I will put
my Torah in their heart and I will write it on their heart, and I will be for
them as God and they will be for Me as a people (Jer. 31:32). And not
only so, but I will bring encompassing peace among them," as Isaiah said, And
all your children will be taught by God and great will be the peace of your
children (Is. 54:13).
XII:XXII
I am the LORD your God
who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 20:2): This is in line with
the following verse of Scripture: With mighty chariots, twice ten thousand, thousands
upon thousands, the LORD came from Sinai into the holy place (Ps.
68:17). Said R. Abdima of Haifa, "I have learned in my repetition [of
tradition] that twenty-two thousand ministering angels came down with the Holy
One, blessed be He, to Sinai." Said
R. Berekhiah the Priest, son of Rabbi, "It was equivalent to the camp of
the Levites. For the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that in their time only
the tribe of Levi would endure in their faithful obedience. Therefore
twenty-two thousand ministering angels came down, equivalent to the camp of the
Levites: With mighty chariots, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands,
[the LORD came from Sinai into the holy place ] (Ps. 68:17)."
Another matter concerning
With
mighty chariots, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, [the LORD came
from Sinai into the holy place] (Ps. 68:17): With the Holy One, blessed
be He, came down twenty-two thousand chariots. And on every chariot, such as
Ezekiel saw, God was mounted. [The italicized words are a speculative guess:] In a
tradition that came up from Babylonia they said that with the Holy One,
blessed be He, came down twenty-two thousand chariots, so did Elijah, of
blessed memory, teach.
With mighty chariots,
twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, [the LORD came from Sinai into the
holy place]
(Ps. 68:17): B. Said R. Tanhum bar
Hanilai, [Following Braude and Kapstein, p. 244:] There were
thousands multiplied by thousands, myriads multiplied by myriads, to a number
which only a mathematician can calculate.
With mighty chariots, twice
ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, [the LORD came from Sinai into the holy
place]
(Ps. 68:17): Said R. Eleazar b. Pedat, And all of them came down armed to
destroy [delete: the enemies of] Israel. For if the Israelites had refused to
accept the Torah, they would have annihilated them. Said R. Levi, But they saw
the face of the Holy One, blessed be He, and whoever has seen the face of the
king will not die, as it is said. In the light of the face of the king they
live (Prov. 16:15).
Another interpretation
of the verse: With mighty chariots, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands,
[the LORD came from Sinai into the holy place] (Ps. 68:17): Said R.
Eleazar b. Pedat, What is the meaning of the clause twice ten thousand? It
refers to the ones that were the most attractive and praiseworthy among them.
Nonetheless, the LORD is among them, meaning, outshining them all. Said the
community of Israel, My beloved is all radiant and ruddy,
[distinguished among ten thousand] (Song 5:10). If a mortal king goes
forth to the piazza, how many are as elegant as he is, how many are as powerful
as he is, how many have well groomed here as he does, how many are as handsome
as he is. But the Holy One, blessed be He, is not that way. But when he came to
Sinai, he took with him the most elegant and praiseworthy ministering angels
that were among them. Said R. Judah bar Simon, What verse of Scripture makes
that point? [The LORD came from Sinai and dawned from Seir upon us, he shone forth
from Mount Paran, he] came from the ten thousands of holy ones, [with flaming
fire at his right hand] (Deut. 33:2). And He was Himself the noteworthy
sign among the myraids of holy ones. That must be at the moment that He came to
Sinai.
Another interpretation
of the verse: With mighty chariots, twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands, the
LORD came from Sinai into the holy place (Ps. 68:17): Said R. Eleazar b. Pedat, When there is a big
crowd, there is pressing, but at Sinai, when the Holy One, blessed be He, came
down, there descended with Him thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads:
twice ten thousand. And nonetheless, there was plenty of room for all
of them. That is in line with this verse: Moab has been comfortable from his youth
(Jer. 48:11)."
R. Eleazar b. Azariah
and R. Eliezer the Modite: One of them says, "Could the mountain hold them
all? But the Holy One, blessed be He, said to [the mountain], 'Get longer, get
wider, and receive the children of your LORD.'" The other of them says,
"When the Holy One, blessed be He, will return to Jerusalem, He will bring
back into its midst the exiles. For it
is said, Behold, these will come from far, and lo, these from the north
(Is. 49:12). Now can the city contain them all? But the Holy One, blessed be
He, will say to it, Enlarge the place of your tent (Is. 54:2)."
...the LORD is among them (Ps. 68:17): Said R.
Simeon b. Laqish, There is a plaque on the heart of every angel, and the name
of the Holy One, blessed be He, is joined thereon with the name of that angel,
e.g., Micha’el, Gabri’el, Rapha’el.
The LORD is among them (Ps. 68:17): The word
is written as my lord, meaning, my lordship [dominion] is among them.
It is so that one should not say that the dominion of the ministering angels
alone [was at hand], but even when He came to give His Torah, it was in this
language that it was given to Israel, and in that language that He commenced: I am
the LORD your God (Ex. 20:2).
XII:XXIII
That is in line with
what Scripture says: Hear O My people and I will speak, O Israel,
I will testify against you. I am God, your God (Ps. 50:7). Said R.
Phineas b. Hama, Hear O My people and I will speak: [hear in the sense
of obey the Ten Commandments,] so that I may have an opening to
indict the princes [that is, the angels who oversee] the nations of the
world."
Hear O my people and I
will speak:
Said R. Judah bar Simon in the name of R. Joshua b. Levi, "[God says,] In
the past, Israel was your name, that
is, before you had received the Torah, [so your name was] equivalent
to the names of the nations of the world, e.g., Sheba, Havilah, Sabeta, Raama
(Gen. 10:7). Along these same lines, your
name was Israel. But once you have accepted the Torah, it is My people: Hear O My people and I will speak.
For people give testimony only to one who is listening: Hear O My people and I will
speak, O Israel, I will testify against you.
...I am God, your God (Ps. 50:7): R.
Yohanan and R. Simeon b. Laqish: R.
Yohanan said, I am God means I am judge. Your God means your
patron am I, who defends you. R. Simeon b. Laqish said, I am
God your God means your patron am I. Just as a
patron can help in a case, so I am God your God.
R. Phineas b. Hamah
said, I am God your God - to whom does He speak? It is to Moses that
He speaks, saying to him, 'It is [necessary to make this statement] because I
have called you God,' as it is said, Lo, I have set you as God to Pharaoh
(Ex. 7:1). But, in fact, I am God your God.
Another interpretation
of the verse: I am God your God: Our rabbis say, "He speaks of the
judges. He said to them, 'It is [necessary to make this statement] [delete:
not] because I have called you divinities, as it is said. The God [in context: the judges]
you will not curse (Ex. 22:27). Rather: I am God your God."
Said R. Judah the
Levite, son of R. Shallum, It is concerning Israel that He speaks. He said to
them, 'It is necessary to make this statement] [delete: not] because I called
you God, as it is said, I said. You are God (Ps. 82:6).
Rather: I am God your God."
XII:XXIV
I [anokhi] am the Lord
your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 20:2): What is the
meaning of the word anokhi? Rab said, [God speaks:] 'You should not treat the Torah
which I have given to you. The word anokhi generates a set of words
through its letters, a, n, k, and y, yielding the sense, 'I (a) Myself (n) have written (k) [and] given (y) [it].'
Another interpretation: the same
letters are to be read in reverse order, that is, y, k, n, a, yielding the
sense, "[The Torah that is] given in writing - pleasant are its
words."
Said R. Berekhiah the
Priest, "[The letters a n k y] mean that] said the Holy One, blessed be
He, ‘I
am your light, your glory, your beauty.' When will this be so? When you accept the Ten Commandments. I [anokhi] am the LORD your God
who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Ex. 20:2).
R. Aha said, For
twenty-six generations the letter Alef made complaint before the Holy One, blessed
be He, saying to him, 'LORD of the world! I am the first among all the letters
of the alphabet, yet you did not create your world by starting with me, but you
used a Bet instead, as it is said, In the beginning (BR'SYT) God created ...
(Gen. 1:1)!' Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to the Alef, 'By your life! I will
make it up to you. The Torah was created before me
two thousand years before the creation of the world, and when I come
and give My Torah to Israel at Sinai, and I will begin only with you: I
[beginning with the A – e.g. ANOKHI] am the LORD your God (Ex. 20:1).’
Said R. Nehemiah,
"What is the meaning of the word for I, anokhi? It is the
Egyptian word for I. To what is the matter likened? To the case of a mortal
king whose son was taken captive and spent quite some time among the
kidnappers. His father put on his cloak of vengeance and went to him and
brought him back, and he came to converse with him in the language of the
kidnappers. So it was with the Holy One, blessed be He: the Israelites had
spent so much time in Egypt that they were used to carry on their conversations
in Egyptians. When, therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, redeemed them and
came to give the Torah to them, they did not know how to understand. Said the
Holy One, blessed be He, 'Lo, I will talk with them in the Egyptian language.' So
the Holy One, blessed be He, began, Anok, [that is, I in Egyptian], so
the Holy One, blessed be He, commenced his discourse in their language: I
[anokhi] am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt
(Ex. 20:2).
Because the Holy One,
blessed be He, had appeared to them at the sea like a heroic soldier, doing
battle, appeared to them at Sinai like a teacher, teaching the repetition [of
traditions], appeared to them in the time of Daniel like a sage, teaching
Torah, appeared to them in the time of Solomon like a younger man, [it was
necessary for] the Holy One, blessed be He, to say to them, "You see me in
many forms. But I am the same one who was at the sea, I am the same one who was
at Sinai, I [anokhi] am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of
Egypt (Ex. 20:2)."
Said R. Hiyya the
Elder, "It is because through every manner of deed and every condition he
had appeared to them [that he made that statement, namely:] He had appeared to
them at the sea as a heroic soldier, carrying out battles in behalf of Israel,
He had appeared to them at Sinai in the form of a teacher who was teaching
Torah and standing in awe, He had appeared to them in the time of Daniel as an
elder, teaching Torah, for it is appropriate for Torah to go forth from the
mouth of sages, He had appeared to them in the time of Solomon as a youth, in
accord with the practices of that generation: His aspect is like Lebanon, young
as the cedars (Song 5:15), so at Sinai He appeared to them as a teacher,
teaching Torah: I am the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt
(Ex. 20:2).
XII:XXV
Another interpretation
of I
am the LORD your God [who brought you out of the land of Egypt] (Ex.
20:2): Said R. Hinena bar Papa, The Holy One, blessed be He, had made His
appearance to them with a stern face, with a neutral face, with a friendly
face, with a happy face. With a stern face: in Scripture. When a man teaches
his son Torah, he has to teach him in a spirit of awe. With a neutral face: in
Mishnah. With a friendly face: in Talmud.With a happy face: in lore. Said to
them the Holy One, blessed be He, 'Even though you may see all of these diverse
faces of Mine, nonetheless: I am the LORD your God who brought you out
of the land of Egypt (Ex. 20:2)."
Said R. Levi,
"The Holy One, blessed be He, had appeared to them like an icon that has
faces in all directions, so that if a thousand people look at it, it appears to
look at them as well. So too when the Holy One, blessed be He, when He was
speaking, each and every Israelite would say. With me in particular the Word
speaks. What is written here is not, I am the LORD, your [plural] God, but
rather, I am the LORD your [singular] God who brought you out of the land of
Egypt (Ex. 20:2)."
Said R. Yose bar
Hanina, And it was in accord with the capacity of each one of them to listen
and understand what the Word spoke with him. And do not be surprised at this
matter, for when the manna came down to Israel, each and every one would find
its taste appropriate to his capacity, infants in accord with their capacity,
young people in accord with their capacity, old people in accord with their
capacity. Infants in accord with their capacity: just as an infant sucks from the
breast of his mother, so was its flavor, as it is said. Its taste was like the taste of
rich cream (Num. 11:8). Young people in accord with their capacity: as
it is said. My bread also which I gave you, bread and oil and honey (Ez.
16:19). Old people in accord with their capacity: as it is said the
taste of it was like wafers made with honey (Ex. 16:31). Now if in the
case of manna, each and every one would find its taste appropriate to his
capacity, so in the matter of the Word, each and every one understood in accord
with his capacity. Said David, The voice of the LORD is [in accord with
one's] in strength (Ps. 29:4). What is written is not, in accord with
his strength in particular, but rather, in accord with one's strength, meaning,
in accord with the capacity of each and
every one. Said to them the Holy One, blessed be He, 'It is not in accord
with the
fact that you hear a
great many voices, but you should know that it is I who [speaks to all of you
individually]: I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt
(Ex. 20:2)."
In this world thee
Israelites were redeemed from Egypt and then taken into captivity in Babylonia,
then from Babylonia to Media, from Media to Greece, from Greece to Edom. But
from Edom the Holy One, blessed be He, will redeem them, and they will not be
again taken into captivity. For it is said, But Israel has been delivered by
the LORD, delivered for all time to come, they will not be confounded or put to
shame for all eternity (Is. 45:17).
Ashlamatah: Ezekiel 1:1-28; 3:12
|
Rashi |
Targum |
|
1. Now it came to pass in
the thirtieth year in the fourth [month] on the fifth day of the month, as I
was in the midst of the exile by the river Chebar- the heavens opened up, and
I saw visions of God. |
1. It
was in the thirtieth year from the lime that Hilkiah the High Priest found
the Book of the Torah in the Temple, in the court under the entrance; during
the night, after the beginning of moonlight: in the days of Josiah son of Amon
king of the tribe of the House of Judah; on the fifth day of the month of
Tammuz. The prophet said: "I was among the exiles on the river Chebar, the
heavens opened and I beheld, in the prophetic vision that rested upon me, a
vision of the glory of the Shekinah of the LORD, |
|
2. "On the fifth of the
month"-that is the fifth year of King Jehoiachin's exile. |
2. On the fifth of the month,
it being the fifth year of the exile of King Joiakin, |
|
3. The word of the Lord was
[revealed] to Ezekiel the son of Buzi, the priest, in the land of the
Chaldeans, by the river Chebar, and the hand of the Lord came upon him there. |
3. The word of prophecy from
before the LORD was with Ezekiel son of Buzi the priest, in the land of Israel,
and again once more He spoke with him in the country of [he land of the
Chaldeans on the river Chebar; and there the spirit of prophecy from before
the LORD rested upon him, |
|
4. And I saw, and behold, a
tempest was coming from the north, a huge cloud and a flaming fire with a
brightness around it; and from its midst, it was like the color of the
chashmal from the midst of the fire. |
4. And I saw, and behold, a
whirlwind came from the north, a large cloud, and a flaming fire, surrounded
by splendor: and from the midst of the cloud, and from the midst of the
whirlwind. something similar to Hashmal from the midst of the fire, |
|
5. And from its midst was the
likeness of four living beings, and this is their appearance; they had the
likeness of a man. |
5. And from the midst of it,
the likeness of four creatures: their appearance they had the likeness of a
man, |
|
6. And [each] one had four
faces, and [each] one had four wings. |
6. Each had four faces and each
and everyone of the faces had four faces, sixteen faces to each creature, the
number of faces of the tour creatures being sixty-four. Each had four wings
and each and every one of the faces had four wings, sixteen wings to every
single face, sixty-four wings to every single creature: the number of wings
of the four creatures being two hundred and fifty six. |
|
7. And their legs were
straight legs, and the soles of their feet were like a round foot, and they
sparkled like the color of burnished copper. |
7. Their feet were
straight feet and the soles of their feet were like round soles. and when
they moved they would shake the earth. and they shone like burnished bronze. |
|
8. And human hands were beneath
their wings on their four sides, and their faces and their wings were [the
same] to all four of them. |
8. Hands like the hands of a
man were fashioned for them from beneath their wings on their four sides,
with which to lake out burning coals of fire from among the cherubim underneath
the expanse which was over their heads, placing them into the hands of the
seraphim to sprinkle on the place of the wicked, to destroy the sinners who
transgress His Word. And their faces and their wings were the same on the
four of them. |
|
9. Their wings joined one to
the other; they did not turn when they walked; each one would go toward the
direction of his face. |
9. Their wings were directed
towards one another. They did not turn as they went each creature went
straight ahead, |
|
10. And the likeness of their
faces was the face of a man, and the face of a lion was on their right, to
the four of them, and the face of an ox to their left, to the four of them,
and the face of an eagle [was] to the four of them. |
10. And the likeness of their
faces the face of a man and the face of a lion were fashioned on the right
side of the four of them: the face of an ox was fashioned on the left side of
the four of them: and the face of an eagle on the four of them. |
|
11. And so were their
faces. And their wings were extended upward; each one had two wings joined to
each other, and two covering their bodies. |
11. Their faces and their wings
were spread out above; each had two directed towards the other; and two
covering their bodies. |
|
12. Now each one would go
toward the direction of his face; wherever would be the will to go, they
would go; they did not turn as they walked. |
12. Each creature went straight
ahead; they went to whatever place they wished to go; they did not turn as
they went. |
|
13. And the likeness of the
living beings; their appearance was like fiery coals, burning like the
appearance of firebrands; it was going among the living beings; and there was
a brightness to the fire and from the fire came forth lightning. |
13. As to the likeness of the
creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire; like the
appearance of flaming fiery torches between the creatures; and there was
brightness to the fire, and from the fire there went forth lightning. |
|
14. And the living beings would
run and return, like the appearance of the sparks. |
14. And the creatures, when
they are sent to do the will of their Master who makes His Shekinah dwell on
high above them. are like the eye seeing a bird on the wing. They turn and
circle the world; and the creatures return together, quickly, like a flash of
lightning. |
|
15. And I saw the living
beings, and behold, one wheel [was] on the ground beside the living beings
for its four faces. |
15. And I beheld the creatures,
and behold, one wheel was placed just below the heavenly heights, beside the
creatures, on its four sides. |
|
16. The appearance of the
wheels and their work was like the appearance of crystal, and the four of
them had one likeness, and their appearance and their workings were as a
wheel would be within a wheel. |
16. The appearance of the
wheels and the way they were made were like a precious stone, the four of
them having one likeness; and their appearance and their operation was as
though it were a wheel within a wheel. |
|
17. When they went, they went
toward their four sides; they did not turn when they went. |
17. When they went, they would
go on their four sides, they did not turn as they went. |
|
18. And they had backs, and
they were very high, and they were dreadful, and their eyebrows were full of
eyes round about-[so it was] to the four of them. |
18. Their backs were set
opposite the expanse of the sky, and they were tall and awesome, their backs
being full of eyes round about all four of them. |
|
19. And when the living beings
would go, the wheels would go beside them; and when the living beings would
lift themselves off the ground, the wheels would lift themselves. |
19. When the creatures went,
the wheels went correspondingly, and when the creatures rose to just below
the heavenly heights the wheels also rose. |
|
20. Wherever there was the will
to go, they would go; there was the will to go, and the wheels would lift
themselves correspondingly to them, for the will of the living being was in
the wheels. |
20. Wherever they wished to go,
there they would go, according to their will; and the wheels rose
correspondingly, for a spirit like that of the creatures was in the wheels. |
|
21. When they [the living
beings] would go, they [the wheels] would go, and when they would stand, they
would stand, and when they would lift themselves up from the ground, the
wheels would lift themselves correspondingly to them, for the will of the
living being was in the wheels. |
21. When they would move, they
would move; and when they stood still, they would stand; and when they rose
to just below the heavenly heights, the wheels would rise correspondingly;
for a spirit like that of the creatures was in the wheels. |
|
22. And there was a likeness
over the heads of the living beings, of an expanse like the color of the
severe frost extended over their heads above. |
22. The likeness above the
heads of the creatures was a firmament, like a mighty ice field, inclined
towards their heads from above. |
|
23. And beneath the expanse,
their wings were straight, one [pointed] toward the other; this one had two
that covered, to here, and that one had two that covered, to here, their
bodies. |
23. And underneath the
firmament their wings were extended one towards the other; each had two
covering them: each had two covering their bodies. |
|
24. And I heard the sound of
their wings, like the sound of many waters like the voice of the
Almighty-when they went; the sound of stirring, like the sound of a camp;
when they would stand, they would let down their wings. |
24. And I heard the sound of
their wings, like the sound of many waters, like a sound from before Shaddai;
as they went, the sound of their words were as though they were thanking and
blessing their Master, the ever-living King of the worlds; like the sound of
the hosts of the angels on high; when they stood still, their wings became
silent. |
|
25. And there was a voice above
the expanse that was over their heads; when they stood still, they would let
down their wings. |
25. And at such time when it
was His will to make the Dibbur audible to His servants the prophets of
Israel, there was a voice which was heard from above the firmament which was
above their heads. When they stood still, their wings became silent before
the Dibbur. |
|
26. And above the expanse that
was over their heads, like the appearance of a sapphire stone, was the
likeness of a throne, and on the likeness of the throne, was a likeness like
the appearance of a man upon it above. |
26. And above the firmament
which was over their heads there was like the appearance of a precious stone,
the likeness of a throne; and above the likeness of the throne there was the
likeness of the appearance of Adam above it from on high. |
|
27. And I saw like the color of
chashmal like the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance
of his loins and above; and from the appearance of his loins and below, I saw
[a thing] like the appearance of fire, and there was a brightness round about
it. |
27. I saw something like the Hashmal,
like the appearance of fire from the midst of it round about, an appearance
of glory which the eye is unable to see, and such that it is impossible to
look at it and upward; an appearance of glory which the eye is unable to see,
and such that it is impossible to look at it and downwards I saw what appeared
to be fire; and it was surrounded by splendor. |
|
28. Like the appearance of the
rainbow that is in the cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the
brightness round about; that was the appearance of the likeness of the glory
of the Lord, and when I saw, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice speaking. |
28. Like the appearance of the
rainbow that is in the cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of
splendor round about. It was the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when
I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice which was speaking. |
|
|
|
|
12. And a
wind lifted me up, and I heard behind me the sound of a great uproar:
"Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place." |
12. Then the spirit lifted me
up, and I heard behind me a great quaking sound, for they were offering
praise and saying, “Blessed be the glory of the LORD from the place of the
abode of His Shekinah.” |
|
|
|
Rashi’s Commentary on Ezekiel 1:1-28; 3:12
1 Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year
The prophet presented his words obscurely and did not tell his name, who he
was; nor did he explain from what date he was counting. Therefore, the holy
spirit interrupted his words in the following two verses to teach [us] who the
prophet was and to teach [us] from what date he was counting. As it is said:
“On the fifth day of the monththat is the fifth year, etc.” These are not the
words of the prophet, for he already stated that he was standing on the fifth
of the month, and furthermore, from the beginning he had stated his prophecy in
the first person: “and I was in the midst of the exile”; “and I saw visions of
God.” And so at the end: “And I saw, and behold, a storm wind, etc.” Now these
[next] two verses interrupted his words, as though someone else was speaking
about him: “The word of the Lord was [revealed] to Ezekiel... and the hand of
the Lord came upon him there.”
as I was
in the midst of the exile i.e., outside the land of
Israel.
by the
river Chebar The name of the river.
visions
of God Heb. מַרְאוֹת. Because he did not see
with a “lucid speculum,” he calls it “visions of God,” a sort of dream,
insubstantial. All the prophets also saw through a “dim speculum,” except for
our teacher Moses. That is what is said (Hos. 12:11): “and to the prophets, I
assumed likenesses.”
2 that is the fifth year of King Jehoiachin’s
exile Thus, we may deduce that the thirty years he counted, he counted from
the beginning of the jubilee [cycle]: the last jubilee commenced at the
beginning of the eighteenth year of Josiah[‘s reign]; that is, the year that
Hilkiah found the scroll (II Kings 22). So we learn in Seder Olam (ch. 26),
that the beginning of the jubilee was that [year]. Josiah reigned thirty one
years. Subtracting from them the seventeen years that had already passed leaves
fourteen years. Jehoiakim reigned eleven years; [together, that] totals
twenty-five years. Jeconiah [Jehoiachin] his son, had reigned only three months
when he was exiled, and the year that Ezekiel prophesied was the fifth [year]
of his exile, hence the thirtieth year of the jubilee. And so we find that at
the end of his prophecy, he gives a sign using the count of the jubilee [as a
reference], for it says (40:1): “In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the
beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month.” Our Rabbis said (Arachin
12a): What “year” is it that begins on the tenth of the month? You must say
that this is the jubilee year [See Leviticus 25:9f.].
3 The word of the Lord was [revealed] Heb. הָיֽה
הָיָה [lit. being was.] Our Sages
said (Mechilta to Exod. 12:1): “[It] had already come,” because the Shechinah
does not rest upon a prophet outside the [Holy] Land, except by having first
rested upon him in the Land. We learned in a Baraitha of the Mechilta (Exod.
15:9): [The verse 2:1,] “Son of man, stand on your feet,” was the [actual]
beginning of the Book, only there is no chronological order [in Scripture].
Others say that (12:1f.) “Son of man, compose a riddle,” is the [true]
beginning of the Book. [Mechilta ends here.] I say that this prophecy was told
to him before they were exiled, because it is appropriate to be said to him in
the Land, for the community of the exile is not mentioned explicitly in it. It
can be recognized as the beginning of his mission to them. Jonathan, too,
paraphrased in that manner: The prophetic word from before the Lord was revealed
to Ezekiel the son of Buzi the priest in the land of Israel; it returned a
second time and spoke with him in the state of the land of the Chaldeans. Now
Ezekiel was exiled with the “craftsmen and the sentries of the gates,” who were
exiled with Jehoiachin.
the hand
of the Lord Every expression of יַד mentioned in this Book
or in any expression of prophecy is invariably an expression of compulsion,
[implying] that the prophecy seizes him against his will, like a person going
mad, destreze in Old French, compulsion.
4 and behold, a tempest was coming from the north
That is the Chariot of the throne of the glory of the Shechinah, as it is
described in this chapter (verse 28). Since it came with fury to destroy
Israel, it is therefore likened to a tempest and a [storm] cloud.
coming
from the north It was returning from the
land of the Chaldeans, which is in the north. As it is said (Jer. 1:14): “From
the north the misfortune will break forth.” And why did it go there [first]? In
order to subjugate the whole world to Nebuchadnezzar, to prevent the nations
from saying that He delivered His children into the hands of a lowly nation,
for the Chaldeans were [considered] a lowly nation. As it is said (Isa. 23:13):
“this people has never been.” So did our Sages expound on this verse in
tractate Chagigah (13b).
with a
brightness around it Surrounding the cloud on
the outside, implying that Israel was destined to be redeemed from there
[Babylonia].
it was
like the color of the chashmal “Chashmal” is an angel
bearing that name, and he [Ezekiel] saw [something] like the appearance of its
color in the midst of the fire. And so did our Sages say: There was an incident
involving a child who was expounding on the account of the Chariot. He
perceived the meaning of “chashmal,” [whereupon] fire emanated from the
chashmal and consumed him. They said further that the word itself is a
combination: When they asked, “What is chashmal?” replied Rav Judah, “Living
beings (חֶיוֹת) of fire (אֵש) that speak (מִמַלְלוֹת).” In a Baraitha we
learned: Sometimes silent (חָשּׁוֹת), sometimes speaking (מִמַלְלוֹת) when the speech emanates
from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, they remain silent. When the
speech does not emanate from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He, they speak;
that is, they laud and praise the Lord (Chag. 13). [Possibly, “chashmal” is the
name of the color resembling the color of fire, for he said, “Chashmal from the
midst of the fire,” and he said (verse 27): “the color of chashmal, the
appearance of fire within it found about, from the appearance of his loins and
above.” And, he says in the second vision (8:2): “and from his loins and above
was like the appearance of a splendor, like the color of chashmal.” An addendum
that I heard.] And from the midst of it, [i.e.,] that fire, I saw something
like the color of chashmal that appeared from the midst of the fire. But we do
not know what it is, and the midrash that our Sages expounded on it, [defining
“chashmal” as] living beings of fire that speak, does not seem to me to the
context.
5 they had the likeness of a man This is
surprising, because they had also the likeness of an ox, a lion, and an eagle!
Apparently, since this [being] is the patron of them all [all the living
beings], the prophet praises the Chariot with it. [Their human face] had the
countenance of our father Jacob.
6 and each one had four faces “Each one” means
that the human countenance had four faces, as did that of the lion, the eagle,
and the ox, totaling sixteen [faces] to one living being. It was thus for each
living being, and four wings for each of the faces, totaling sixty-four wings
for each living being. This is [why] Jonathan paraphrased: two hundred
fifty-six wings.
7 were straight legs [Jonathan renders]: רִגְלִין
כֵּיוָנָן parallel legs, this one
opposite this one. Another explanation: “straight,” meaning they had no knee
joints by which to bend their legs because they do no sitting or lying.
Therefore they do not require joints like those of animalsthe upper joint and
the lower joint by which it bends its legs to lie down.
a round
foot Heb. עֵגֶל, a round foot, and so
did Jonathan render it: round feet.
and they
sparkled Because of their
brilliance, sparks seemed to emanate from them, as we say in tractate Yoma
(37b): She too [Queen Helene] made a golden candelabrum, etc. When the sun
shone, sparks would [seemingly] emanate from it, etc. וְנוֹצְצִים is etincelants in
French, gleaming.
like the
color Heb. כְּעֵין, like מַרְאֶה, the appearance.
burnished
copper Heb. קָלָל, clarified and gleaming.
Menachem (Machbereth p. 155) associated it with (Lev. 2:14): “roasted (קָלוּי) in fire.”
8 And human hands were beneath their wings As
the Targum paraphrases: to pick up coals of fire with them, etc. Likewise, we
find in this Book (10:7): “And the cherub stretched forth his hand, etc. to the
fire that was between the cherubim, and he picked it up and gave it to the
hands of the one dressed in linen.” And so, [in the verse] after it, “And there
appeared to the cherubim the form of a human hand, etc.” The human hands pick
up the fire and give it to the cherub, and the cherub [gives it] to the
messenger, in order [to allow] the coals to cool off [as they pass] from hand
to hand, to mitigate Israel’s punishment.
on their
four sides To the four directions of
the world, for they have faces and wings in every direction.
and their
faces and their wings were the same to all four of them As the Targum renders: were the same to all four of
them.
9 Their wings joined one to the other Each
one’s wing was spread out to the side of the other one’s wing this way [lit. to
here] and that way [lit. to here] until they join and touch each other, thereby
covering their faces, for the wings are spread out over the face.
they did
not turn when they walked If they wished to walk in
any desired direction, they did not need to turn their faces because they have
faces on every side; therefore each one went in the direction of his facein the
direction of the face on that side where they desired to go, they would go.
11 And so were their faces, and their wings were
extended upward Had I not seen the cantillation sign of a “zakef gadol”
[indicating a pause] punctuating “And so were their faces,” I would not know
how to explain it, but the punctuation taught me to separate them [the words of
the verse] one from the other and to place the word וּפְנֵיהֶם by itself. And so,
[this] is its explanation: And they had faces and their wings were extended
above their faces and covered them. How so? “Each had two wings joined to each
other”to each face, their two wings were joined. On each one, the wing of this
living being was stretched out towards the side of that living being, and this
one’s towards the side of this one, and the face that was in between was
covered by them. [A verse whose wording] is similar to the language of this
verse appears again in this chapter (verse 18): “And they had backs, and they
were very high and they were dreadful.” The word וְגֲבֵּיהֶן, “and they had backs,”
stands by itself.
and two
covering their bodies And the two remaining wings
would cover their bodies.
12 wherever would be the will Heb. רוּחַ, usually spirit, here
means will: the will to go.
13 it was going among the living beings That
appearance (מַרְאָה) was going among all the
living beings.
there was
a brightness to the fire More than [there is to] our
fire.
lightning Heb. בָּרָק, flandours in Old French,
lightning flashes.
14 would run and return, like the appearance of the
sparks Our Sages explained (Chag. 13b): They would run and return like the
flame of a furnace, which constantly shoots out of the mouth of the furnace and
hastens back to enter. So, when they would thrust their heads out from under
the expanse that was extended above themas is delineated in the chapterthey
would recoil because of the Shechinah, which is above the expanse, and they
hasten to pull their heads [down].
like the
appearance of the sparks Heb. הֲבָּזָק, de l’etincelle in
French, and the color of their fire is like the color of the fire that emanates
from between the shards within which gold is refined in a furnace. The fire
that emanates from there is colored with these colors (ibid.). [AddendumOthers
explain הַבָּזָק as an expression of
scattering, as our Sages explained it (Gen. Rabbah 50:1): “like the appearance
of the bazak” R. Judah in the name of R. Simon in the name of R. Levi the son
of Perata: Like one who scatters (הַבּוֹזֵק) ‘gefeth’ in a stove,
i.e., he scatters ‘gefeth’ the residue of olives in a stove: it ignites quickly
and raises a flame, and the flame ascends and descends, and this is the meaning
of “would run and return.” Furthermore we find in their words (Sanh. 108b,
according to Aruch) בזק used as an expression of
scattering: “He scattered (בָּזַק) dust on them and it
turned into swords,” meaning he scattered, and so in the Mishnah (Eruvin
10:14): “We may scatter (בּוֹזְקִין) salt on the ramp so that
they should not slip.” בזק may also be defined as ברק (lightning), which is an
expression of searching. End of addendum, not found in (sic) all editions.]
15 one wheel [was] on the ground On the floor
of the expanse.
for its
four faces of each living being, or
the wheel had four faces. Our Rabbis said (Chag. 13b): “This is Sandalphon [the
angel], who stands on the ground yet whose head reaches up among the living
beings.” From the context we learn that the wheels were four.
16 like the appearance of crystal Heb. תַּרְשִּׂישּׂ, like a precious stone
named tarshish, cristal in French.
as...would
be A wheel set within a wheel, crosswise. Since
they go to every side, with their faces to the four directions, the wheel must
roll in its four directions.
17 toward their four sides, etc. Because of the
working of the wheels, he had to repeat them [i.e., the description of the
living beings’ movements], to say that the wheels did not stop them because
they [the living beings] too were made for that [i.e., moving in four
directions].
18 And they had backs Heb. וְגַבֵּיהֶן, lit. and their backs. And
they had backs.
and they
were very high, and they were dreadful They were frightful to look
upon. Others interpret: “they had fear,” meaning they stood in awe.
and their
eyebrows Heb. וְגֲבּֽתָם, et leurs sourcils in
French. were
full of
eyes round about to see in all directions,
for they did not turn when they went.
19 off the ground Off the floor of the expanse,
and so did Jonathan render: “off the high heavens”; meaning when they lifted
themselves up from the depths to the heights.
20 the will The will of the Holy One, blessed
be He.
there was
the will to go It was not necessary to
tell them [to go] to this side [or that] because the will of the Holy One,
blessed be He, was in the living beings, and the will of the living beings was
in the wheels.
21 When they would go Heb. בְּלֶכְתַּם, [i.e.,] the living
beings.
they
would go Heb. יֵלְכוּ [i.e.,] the wheels.
22 the severe frost Jonathan rendered: גְלִיד
חֲסִין, severe frost, gelee forte in
French.
23 straight Parallel.
24 like the sound of many waters I would think
that the voice was low. Therefore, Scripture adds: like the sound of the
Almighty, like the voice delineated in the Holy Writings (Ps. 29:4f.): “The
voice of the Lord is in strength, etc. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars.”
the sound
of stirring, like the sound of a camp Like the sound of their
speech when they thank and bless their Master; it was like the sound of the
camp of the angels on high.
when they
would stand, they would let down their wings [and
cease] from making a sound be heard, and Jonathan rendered: when they would
stand, they would silence their wings because of the speech, [i. e., because
of] the speech of the Omnipresent emanating from above their heads, to let the
prophets hear His mission, as he [Ezekiel] concludes (verse 25): “And there was
a voice, etc.” The Midrash Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 65:11) states: “When they would
stop praising [God] so that Israel would praise first.”
25 And there was a voice above the expanse
Jonathan rendered: And at the time that there was a will before Him to make His
speech heard to His servantsthe prophets of Israelthere was a voice, and it was
heard from above the expanse, from between the cherubim, from beneath the
expanse that was over their heads.
they
would let down their wings out of the fear of the
speech.
27 And I saw like the color of chashmal No
permission was granted to ponder over this verse.
within it Within it was like the appearance of fire.
28 and I fell on my face I prostrated myself.
and I
heard a voice speaking And what did it say?
3:12 And a wind lifted me up After He finished
His words, He commanded the wind to carry me to the place where the people of
the exile were.
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!”
Afternoon Service – May the 15th,
2013
Ruth 1:1 – 3:7
Azharoth: The Positive Commandments
Blessings Before Torah Study
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study
Torah. Amen!
Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in
our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our
offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people,
the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah
for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches
Torah to His people Israel. Amen!
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem,
Giver of the Torah. Amen!
Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment.
"Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment:
This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of
Israel:
May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be
kind to you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. –
Amen!
This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites,
and I will bless them."
These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate
specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the
field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy
Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple
three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there
is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.
These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy
even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They
are: 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!
Ruth 1:1 – 3:7 &
THE AZHAROTH FOR SHABUOTH
An Introduction
BY THE REVEREND DR. DAVID DE SOLA POOL
The Azharoth (Admonitions) enumerate the basic
commandments of the Torah. These are traditionally 613 in number, equivalent to
the numerical value of the letters of the Hebrew word Torah (611), with the
addition of the first two commandments in which at Mount Sinai God himself
spoke to Israel in the first person. Of these, 365 are reckoned as prohibitions
and 248 as affirmative precepts. The rabbis of old point out that this should
be suggestive of the constant validity of all of them on everyone of the 365
days in the year for the whole body of man with its 248 parts.
On Shabuoth, the festival celebrating the giving of
the whole Torah to the children of Israel, these 613 commandments are recalled.
The 248 positive commandments are customarily read before afternoon service on
the first day and the 365 prohibitions on the second day.
The version of the Azharoth traditionally read
among Sephardim is by Solomon ibn Gabirol (1020-69), with an introduction by
David ben Eleazar Bekuda, a poet of the twelfth century. Ibn Gabirol's version
maintains one rhyme throughout in the last word of every one of its 255
quatrains, while within each quatrain the first three lines are also rhymed.
The difficulties imposed by this extraordinary prosody and the fetters of meter
and rhyme, as well as the difficulty of expressing each commandment concisely
with allusive reminiscences of the Bible text, have compelled even so
incomparable a master of classic Hebrew poetry as ibn Gabirol to put the
commandments together without logical sequence, often with repetitions, and
sometimes with words or phrases added solely to fill out the rhyme and the
meter. In literal translation the subtle feeling of the poet's stylistic
embellishments is inevitably lost.
The following paragraphs make no attempt at literal
translation of Ibn Gabirol's version of the Azharoth. Instead they present in
some ordered sequence the 613 commandments of the Torah which the poet has included
in his masterly compilation.
= = = = = = = / = = = = = = =
The
Positive Commandments
RELATIONS WITH GOD
Love God and serve him; cleave to him, walk in his
paths and sanctify him. Fear his anger. Acknowledge his justice, pursue his
righteousness, keep his religious law, and carry out his commandments. Be
perfect with him, be meek before him, and be holy. Write his words on your
door-posts and on your gates.
PRAYER
Proclaim his unity morning and evening. Lay the
tefillin on arm and head. Utter a hundred blessings a day and give thanks to
God for your food.
PERSONAL ETHICS
Swear without falsehood and only in his name.
Fulfill vows and keep the word that you have given. Give back that which has
been wrongfully acquired. Free the mother bird when you take the eggs from the
nest. Wear fringes of religious reminder on the border of your garment.
FAMILY RELATIONS
Honour father and mother and revere them. Be
fruitful and multiply. Circumcise all male children. Redeem the first-born son,
and give to him a double portion in inheritance. Free the bridegroom from going
forth to war in the first year of his married life. Marry the childless widow
of your deceased brother or give her release through halitsah. Take in
honourable marriage the woman captive of war who pleases you. Test by ordeal
the wife suspected of unfaithfulness. Punish the man who slanders his wife. Cut
off the hand of the publicly immodest woman.
JUSTICE
Be diligent in seeing that justice is done in all
matters of human rights, property, and damages. Put to death false witnesses.
Pay damages for injury done. Restore to its rightful owner property that has
been found or dishonestly obtained. Have true balances, weights, and measures,
and release all debts in the seventh year. Let the community sacrifice a heifer
in atonement for an untraced murder.
LABOUR RELATIONS
Pay the labourer his hire on the day of his work.
Proclaim freedom for bondservants at the jubilee, and at the jubilee or on his
master's death free the Hebrew bond servant who has been sold for theft. Free
the Hebrew bondwoman at the seventh year or at the jubilee, and the handmaid
when she attains years of puberty. Respect the rights of the betrothed heathen
bondwoman, and when you send your bondman tree send him away well laden. A
slave you may make of the Canaanite
RELATIONS WITH THE POOR
Show pity to the poor; be happy to help him, give
to him generously and proportionately to your ability. Support the poor before
he falls Clothe the naked. For the poor leave in the field the forgotten sheaf,
the gleanings, the corner of the field, that which is dropped, and that which
grows of itself in the fields in the seventh year. Comfort the poor with words.
Lend to him, and return his pledge and keep it not overnight.
RELATIONS WITH YOUR
FELLOW MAN
Love your neighbour as yourself. Love the alien.
Cheer the sick, bury the dead, and comfort the mourner. Respect the aged and
rise up before him. Rebuke your neighbour for wrong done by him. Be happy in
supporting your fellow man, and help to raise his burdened animal Redeem those
sold into bondage. Build a parapet on your roof that none may fall from the
house-top.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Set a king over you, and he will write for his
guidance a copy of the Torah. Appoint judges and officers. Designate six cities
of refuge in your land for the accidental manslayer. Assemble the people by
trumpet call. Put to death the false prophet and the one who entices to
idolatry, and burn away idols and idolatrous groves. Proclaim on Mt. Ebal the
blessings: and on Mt. Gerizim the curses, and erect a national altar of
plastered stones. Set out the Holy Land in its prescribed borders. Observe the
law governing the sale of houses in walled cities and in open cities.
WAR
Impose the redemption tax of half a shekel in a
census for war, and levy tribute on those who go out to war. Appoint a priest
to guide you in war. Blot out Amalek. Spare the enemy city that surrenders.
Destroy a city that lapses into idolatry, and raze the captured city.
RITUAL PURITY
Segregate unclean persons, animals, liquids, and
utensils. Bury excrement outside the camp. Cleanse by sprinkling him who has a
running issue, and the leper, and cleanse the one who is contaminated by contact
with the dead. The unclean from contact, from intercourse, from emission, must
cleanse themselves by bathing at the statutory time. Avoid pollution and
cleanse yourself if you have become polluted. The menstruous
must cleanse herself by bathing, as must the mother of a new-born child. The
priest must determine the cleanness or uncleanness of infected
garments and houses.
DIETARY REGULATIONS
The fruit harvest of the first three years leave
uneaten; that of the fourth year eat in the Temple, while that of the fifth and
the following years may be freely eaten. Cover with
dust the blood of a bird or wild animal slaughtered for food. The flesh of an
animal that dies of itself may be eaten only by one
who is not a Jew.
THE RELIGIOUS CALENDAR
Fix the calendar and the months of the year. Keep
the Sabbath and make your Sabbath rest joyous. Sanctify your Sabbath over wine
of rejoicing and kindle the lights of the Sabbath.
Give Sabbath rest for your servants and your animals.
Celebrate the three festivals of pilgrimage to
Jerusalem and bring their required festival offerings and make your pilgrimage
festival joyous. Chant on the festivals the Hallel
psalms of praise. On your festivals rejoice the widow, the orphan, the Levite,
and the alien. Observe the month of Nisan and the
Passover in that month. Annul all leaven on the Passover, and sanctify its
first and seventh days. On the eve of the festival eat the paschal lamb roasted on the fire, together with unleavened bread
and bitter herbs, your loins girt and shoes on your feet. Offer the Orner sheaf
of barley and count the days of the Omer for seven
weeks from the Passover. Let those who are unclean on the Passover bring their
paschal offering on the second Passover one month
later.
Observe the Shabuoth festival of the weeks and
offer your first-fruits with words of thanksgiving.
Keep holy the first day of the Succoth festival of
booths, and the eighth day, observing the Eighth Day Closing Festival. Build
your festival booth and wave the lulab (palm
branch) cluster of four growths. Pour water on the altar on the festival of the
booths.
Observe the New Year with the blowing of the
Shofar, and the Day of Atonement as a solemn fast day. Bring on it the people's
atonement sacrifice.
Light the lights of Hanukah, and celebrate the
happy holiday of Purim.
THE TEMPLE RITUAL OF
SACRIFICE
Build God's House of worship according to the form
he commanded. Revere the Temple. Dedicate it and its altar.
The priest must offer up the sacrifices to be
burned, salt the sacrifice pinch off the neck of the dove, slay the bull or the
ram, receive the blood, sprinkle it, and wave the
offering and the breast. He must burn the red heifer for purification, and send
away the scapegoat on the Day of Atonement. He must
mix and crumble the grain-offering and take a handful of it. The priest is
entitled to twenty-four gifts, his portion of the thanksgiving offering, his portion of the dough which you bring as a
wave-offering, the first shearing, the shoulder and the breast sacrifices, that
which is devoted, the estimated value of your vows,
and a tithe of the Levite's tithe.
Twenty additional sacrificial offerings are to be
brought to the altar There is the bullock for the sin-offering of the people,
the offering that should be commensurate with the
means of the one who brings it, and the sacrifice which varies with doubtful or
certain guilt. There is the sacrifice by which he who
was unclean marks his cleansing, the required fifth, the tithe of cattle, the
first-born of cattle (though the first-born of the ass must be redeemed), and the tenth of an ephah of fine flour brought with each
lamb. Sacrifices must be eaten in the Temple. That which is left over of the
sacrifices must be burned, as must that which has
become unfit.
The tithe of corn and of cattle must be taken up to
Jerusalem. The tithe for the poor must also be brought, and the second tithe
after the Levitical tithe must be eaten in the
Temple. Confession must be made when giving the third-year tithe.
Let the priest provide the oil for anointing and
for the lamps, pour out the oil of the sacrifices, prepare and provide the
incense and offer it, set out the shew-bread in
twin rows of six, and the two loaves of the new corn on Shabuoth,
The High Priest must marry only a virgin. He must
lift his hands blessing over the people. The priest must wear special garments
for Temple service, as must the High Priest for
service within the Temple veil. He must conduct atonement for the people and
bless the people.
THE TORAH
Revere the learned and honour the disciple of the
learned. Learn and teach the Torah. The Torah must be read to all the people
every three years. Teach it joyously and diligently
to your children and disciples.
Write a Sefer Torah, and make God's words the
healing of your heart and lips.
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!”
Evening Meditation – May the 15th,
2013
2 Lukas (Acts) 2:1-47 &
Revelation 2:12-17
12
"And to the angel (chief
of the seven ministers) of the Esnoga in
Pergamum write: "This is what the one (Messiah) who has the sharp double-edged sword (Oral and Written Torah) says: 13 'I know where you
dwell, where the throne of Ha-Satan is. And you hold fast to my authority and
did not deny your faithful obedience to me, even in the days of Antipas my
faithful witness, who was killed among you, where HaSatan dwells. 14
But I have a few things against you: that you have there, those who hold fast
to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the
sons of Israel, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual
immorality. 15 So likewise you also have those who hold fast to the
teaching of the Nicolaitans (those who oppress the (Jewish) people). 16 Therefore return! But if
you do not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with
the sword (Written and Oral Torah)
from my mouth. 17 The one who has an ear, let him hear what the
orally breathed Torah says to the congregations. To the one who conquers, I
will give to him some of the hidden (So’od) manna, and I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new
name written, that no one knows except the one who receives it.'
Morning Service – May the 16th,
2013
Torah Reading: Deuteronomy 15:19-16:17
& Numbers 28:26-31
Reader 1: Deuteronomy 15:19-23
Reader 2: Deuteronomy 16:1-3
Reader 3: Deuteronomy 16:4-8
Reader 4: Deuteronomy 16:9-12
Reader 5: Deuteronomy 16:13-17
Maftir: Numbers 28:26-31
Ashlamatah:
Habakkuk 2:20-3:19
Blessings Before Torah Study
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study
Torah. Amen!
Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in
our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our
offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people,
the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah
for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches
Torah to His people Israel. Amen!
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem,
Giver of the Torah. Amen!
Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment.
"Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment:
This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of
Israel:
May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be
kind to you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. –
Amen!
This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites,
and I will bless them."
These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate
specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the
field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy
Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple
three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there
is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.
These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy
even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They
are: 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!
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: D’barim (Deuteronomy) 15:19-16:17
|
Rashi |
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan |
|
19. Every firstborn
male that is born of your cattle or of your flock you shall sanctify to the
Lord, your God. You shall neither work with the firstborn of your ox, nor shear
the firstborn of your flock. |
19. ¶ Every
firstling male that comes of your herd and flock you will consecrate before the
LORD your God. You will not work with the firstlings of your herd, nor shear
the firstlings of your flocks; |
|
20. You shall eat it
before the Lord, your God, year by year, in the place the Lord chooses-you
and your household. |
20. you will eat
thereof before the LORD your God from year to year, in the place which the
LORD will choose, you and the men of your houses. |
|
21. And if there be
any blemish in it, whether it be lame, or blind, or any ill blemish, you
shall not sacrifice it to the Lord, your God. |
21. But if there be
any spot in it, if it be lame or blind, or have any blemish, you will not
sacrifice it before the LORD your God: |
|
22. You shall eat it
within your cities, the unclean and the clean together, as the deer, and as
the gazelle. |
22. you may eat it
in your cities; he who is unclean, (so) that he may not approach to holy
things, and he who being clean may approach the holy, may alike (eat), as the
flesh of the antelope or hart. |
|
23. However, you
shall not eat its blood; you shall pour it on the ground, as water. |
23. Only you will
not eat the blood; you will pour it out upon the ground like water. |
|
|
|
|
1. Keep
the month of spring, and make the Passover offering to the Lord, your God,
for in the month of spring, the Lord, your God, brought you out of Egypt at
night. |
1. ¶ Be mindful to
keep the times of the festivals, with the intercalations of the year, and to
observe the rotation thereof: in the month of Abib to perform the pascha
before the LORD your God, because in the month of Abib the Lord your God brought
you out of Mizraim; you will eat it therefore by night. |
|
2. You shall
slaughter the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, your God, [of the] flock, and
[the Festival sacrifices of the] cattle, in the place which the Lord will
choose to establish His Name therein. |
2. But you will
sacrifice the pascha before the LORD your God between the suns; and the sheep
and the bullocks on the morrow, on that same day to rejoice in the feast at
the place which the LORD will choose to make His Shekinah to dwell there. |
|
3. You shall not eat
leaven with it; for seven days you shall eat with it matzoth, the bread of
affliction, for in haste you went out of the land of Egypt, so that you shall
remember the day when you went out of the land of Egypt all the days of your
life. |
3. You will not eat
leavened bread with the pascha; seven days you will eat unleavened bread unto
His Name, the unleavened bread of humiliation; for with haste you went forth
from the land of Mizraim; that you may remember the day of your outgoing from
the land of Mizraim all the days of your life. |
|
4. And no leaven
shall be seen with you within all your border for seven days; neither shall
any of the flesh you slaughter on the preceding day in the afternoon, remain
all night until the morning. |
4. Take heed that in
the beginning of the pascha there be no leaven seen among you within all your
borders for seven days; and that none of the flesh which you sacrifice in the
evening of the first day remain till the morning. |
|
5. You shall not
sacrifice the Passover offering within any of your cities, which the Lord,
your God, is giving you. |
5. It will not be
allowed you to eat the pascha in (any) one of your cities which the LORD your
God gives to you; |
|
6. Except at the
place which the Lord, your God, will choose to establish His Name-there you
shall slaughter the Passover offering in the afternoon, as the sun sets, at
the appointed time that you went out of Egypt. |
6. but in the place
which the LORD your God will choose to make His Shekinah to dwell, there will
you sacrifice the pascha; and in the evening at the going down of the sun you
may eat it until the middle of the night, the time when you began to go out
of Mizraim. |
|
7. And you shall
roast [it] and eat [it] in the place which the Lord, your God, will choose,
and you shall turn away in the morning and go to your dwellings. |
7. And you will
dress and eat it in the place which the LORD your God will choose, and in the
early morn (if need be) you may return from the feast, and go to your cities. |
|
8. For six days you
shall eat matzoth, and on the seventh day there shall be a halt to the Lord,
your God. You shall not do any work [on it]. |
8. On the first day
you will offer the omer, and eat unleavened cakes of the old grain; but in
the six remaining days you may begin to eat unleavened cakes of the new
grain, and on the seventh day you will assemble with thanksgiving before the
LORD your God; no work will you perform. |
|
9. You shall count
seven weeks for yourself; from[the time] the sickle is first put to the
standing crop, you shall begin to count seven weeks. |
9. ¶ Seven weeks
number to you; from the time when you begin to put the sickle to the harvest
of the field after the reaping of the omer you will begin to number the seven
weeks. |
|
10. And you shall perform the Festival of Weeks to the
Lord, your God, the donation you can afford to give, according to how the
Lord, your God, shall bless you. |
10. And you will keep with joy the Festival of Weeks before
the LORD your God, after the measure of the freewill offerings of your hands,
according as the LORD your God will have blessed you. |
|
11. And you shall
rejoice before the Lord, your God, -you, and your son, and your daughter, and
your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite who is within your
cities, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are among you,
in the place which the Lord, your God, will choose to establish His Name
therein. |
11. And you will
rejoice with the joy of the feast before the LORD your God, you and your
sons, your daughters, your servants and handmaids, the Levites who are in
your cities, and the stranger, the orphan, and the widow who are among you,
at the place which the LORD your God will choose where to make His Shekinah
to dwell. |
|
12. And you shall
remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and you shall keep and perform these
statutes. |
12. Remember that
you were servants in Mizraim; so will you observe and perform these statutes. |
|
13. You shall make
yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the
produce] from your threshing floor and your vat. |
13. ¶ The Feast of
Tabernacles you will make to you seven days, when you will have completed to
gather in the grain from your threshing floors, and the wine from your
presses. |
|
14. And you shall
rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your
manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the
orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities. |
14. And you will
rejoice in the joy of your feasts with the clarinet and flute, you and your
sons and daughters, your handmaids, the Levite, the stranger, the orphan, and
the widow, who are in your cities. |
|
15. Seven days you
shall celebrate the Festival to the Lord, your God, in the place which the
Lord shall choose, because the Lord, your God, will bless you in all your
produce, and in all the work of your hands, and you will only be happy. |
15. Seven days you
will keep the feast before the LORD your God in the place which the LORD will
choose, because the LORD your God will have blessed you in all your
provision, and in all the work of your hands, and so will you be joyful in
prosperity. |
|
16. Three times in
the year, every one of your males shall appear before the Lord, your God, in
the place He will choose: on the Festival of Matzoth and on the Festival of
Weeks, and on the Festival of Sukkoth, and he shall not appear before
the Lord empty-handed. |
16. ¶ Three times in
the year will all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place
that He will choose; at the Feast of the Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of
Weeks, and at the Feast of Tabernacles; nor must you appear before the
Lord your God empty of any of the requirements; |
|
17. [Every] man [shall bring] as much as he can afford,
according to the blessing of the Lord, your God, which He has given you. |
17. every one after the measure of the gifts of his hands,
according to the blessing which the LORD your God has bestowed upon you. |
|
|
|
Rashi’s Commentary on D’barim
(Deuteronomy) 15:19-16:17
19 Every
firstborn male... you shall sanctify [to the Lord] But elsewhere (Lev.
27:26) it says, “[But the firstborn which will be a firstborn for the Lord of
the livestock,] no man shall sanctify it.” How is this [reconciled]? [The verse
in Leviticus means that] one may not sanctify [the firstborn] to be another sacrifice
[but only as a firstborn sacrifice]. And our verse here teaches us that it is a
duty to proclaim [over the firstborn animal], “You are hereby sanctified as a
firstborn.” Another explanation: It is impossible to say “sanctify [this
firstborn animal],” because [Scripture] already says, “no man must shall
sanctify it” (Lev. 27:26). And yet it is impossible to say that we shall not
sanctify it, for [here] it already says, “you shall sanctify.” So how [can
these two verses be reconciled]? [The answer is that we are dealing with an
indirect sanctification, namely:] One may sanctify the value of the privilege
[i.e., the owner of the firstborn animal has the privilege of choosing to which
kohen he will give it. This privilege
has a market value, namely how much an Israelite will pay so that the owner of
the firstborn will give it to his grandson who is a kohen. The verse, therefore, means:] one may dedicate the value of
this privilege according to its benefit and give it to the Temple [treasury].-[Ar. 29a]
You shall neither work with the firstborn of your ox,
nor shear [the firstborn of your flock] The Rabbis derived that
also the converse [i.e., shearing your ox and working the flock] is prohibited.
Scripture is merely speaking [here] of the usual manner [in which these animals
are used].-[Bech. 25a]
20 You shall eat
it before the Lord, your God [Scripture] is addressing the kohen, for we have already found [a
statement to the effect] that it [the firstborn] is part of the dues given to kohanim, whether the animal is
unblemished or whether it is blemished. For it is stated, “and their flesh
[i.e., of the firstborn animals] shall be yours [i.e., the kohen 's]” (Num. 18: 18). -[Bech.
28a] [In both cases, the kohen is
entitled to eat the entire animal. The difference between the blemished and the
unblemished animals is that the blemished animal is slaughtered outside the
Temple, and its flesh may be eaten anywhere by anyone invited by the kohen. The unblemished animal, however,
must be slaughtered in the Temple courtyard, its blood dashed on the altar, and
its fat burned on the altar. The flesh must be eaten by the kohen and his household within the time
allotted for eating it.]
[You shall eat it before the Lord...] year by year From
here we derive the law that one should not delay it [i.e., from sacrificing it]
beyond its first year (Bech. 28a).
[If so, however,] one might think that it becomes unfit [as a sacrifice] when
the first year has elapsed. [Therefore, the Torah tells us that] it [the
firstborn animal] has already been compared to ma’aser [sheini ], as it
is said, “And you shall eat before the Lord, your God... the tithes of your
grain, your wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and of your
sheep” (Deut. 14:23). Just as ma’aser
sheini does not become unfit [when it is left over] from one year to the
next, neither does the firstborn animal become unfit. However, [this verse
means] that the proper way to fulfill this commandment [of the firstborn
animal] is during its first year.
year by year If one slaughtered it at the end of its first year
[on the last day], he may eat it on that day and one day of the next year. This
teaches [us] that it [a firstborn animal] may be eaten for two days and one
[intervening] night.-[Bech. 27b]
21 [And if there
be any] blemish [in it] [This is] a כְּלָל, a general statement [not limiting itself to
anything in particular].
lame, or blind [This is] a פְּרָט, particular things, [limiting the matter to these things].
any ill blemish [Once again the verse]
reverts to כְּלָל, a general statement. [Now we have learned that when a verse
expresses a כְּלָל, then a פְּרָט, and then a כְּלָל again, just as in this case, we apply the
characteristics of the פְּרָט to the whole matter.] Just as the blemishes detailed [lame or
blind] are externally visible blemishes that do not heal, so too, any
externally visible blemish that does not heal [renders a firstborn animal unfit
for sacrifice and may be eaten as ordinary flesh].-[Bech. 37a]
23 However, you
shall not eat its blood [Although eating the blood of any animal is
prohibited, this prohibition is mentioned here] so that you should not say:
"Since this [blemished firstborn animal] is entirely permitted [to be
eaten now after its blemish, even though] it started out from a forbidden
status, since it was sanctified, [and now it is permitted] for it is
slaughtered outside [the Temple] without having to be redeemed, and [it may be]
eaten. I might [therefore] think that its blood is permitted as well!" Therefore,
Scripture states, "However, you shall not eat its blood."
Chapter 16
1 Keep the month
of spring Heb. אָבִיב. Before it [Nissan] arrives, watch that it should
be fit for the אָבִיב, ripening [capable of producing ripe ears of
barley by the sixteenth of the month], to offer up in it the omer meal offering. And if not, proclaim
it a leap year [thereby enabling you to wait another month, until the barley
ripens].-[San. 11b]
[for in the month of spring the Lord, your God,
brought you] out of Egypt at night But did they not go out by day, as it is said, “on
the morrow of the Passover the children of Israel went out...” (Num. 33:3)?
However, since during the night Pharaoh gave them permission to leave, as it is
said, “So he called for Moses and Aaron at night [and said, ‘Rise up, go out
from among my people...]’ ” (Exod. 12:31), [therefore, here it says “at
night”].-[Ber. 9a]
2 You shall
slaughter the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, your God, [of the] flock As
it is said, “You may take [it] either from the sheep or from the goats” (Exod.
12:5).
and...cattle These are slaughtered as the chagigah [Festival offering]. If a large group was formed for the
Passover offering, they bring a Festival offering along with it, so that the
Passover sacrifice will be eaten [after a sufficient meal, and therefore] after
the required satiation. [Everyone had to designate himself to a particular
company of people, which was then relevant to one particular Passover offering
(Pes. 69a-70b).] Our Rabbis also
derived many other things from this verse.- [Sifrei ; Pes. 70a]
3 the bread of
affliction [I.e.,] bread that brings to mind the affliction they suffered
in Egypt.-[Sifrei]
for in haste you went out of the land of Egypt And the
dough [that you had prepared for eating] did not have time to become leavened,
so this [matzah] will be for you as a
reminder. And the haste [here] is not on your part, but on the part of the
Egyptians, for so it says, “So the Egyptians took hold of the people [to hasten
to send them out of the land]” (Exod. 12:33). -[Sifrei ; Ber. 9a]
so that you shall remember By
eating the Passover sacrifice and the matzah,
the day you went out [of the land of Egypt].
4 neither shall
any of the flesh you slaughter on the preceding day in the afternoon, remain
all night until the morning This is an admonition regarding leaving over
the flesh of the Passover sacrifice, offered up by future generations, because
[so far this prohibition] had been mentioned only with regard to the Passover
sacrifice offered in Egypt (see Exod. 12:10). And יוֹם
רִאשׁוֹן stated here is the fourteenth of Nissan [the preceding day, and
not the fifteenth, which is the first day of Passover], just as it says: “but
on the preceding day (בַּיוֹם
הָרִאשׁוֹן) you shall clear away leaven from your houses”
(Exod. 12:15). Now since Scripture digressed from the subject of the Passover
sacrifice and began to speak of the rules pertaining to the seven days [of the
Festival]-such as, “seven days you shall eat with it matzoth ” (verse 3); “And no leaven shall be seen with you within
all your border for seven days” (verse 4)—it was necessary to specify to which
slaughtering [Scripture] is admonishing. For had it written only “neither shall
any of the flesh you slaughter in the afternoon, remain all night until the
morning” [without saying “the preceding day”], I might have thought that the
peace offerings slaughtered during all the seven days are also subject to [the
prohibition of] “And you shall not leave any of it until the morning,” (Exod.
12:10), and may be eaten only for [one] day and a night. Therefore, it is
written: “on the preceding day in the evening,” [thereby clarifying that the
verse is referring to the Passover sacrifice]. Another explanation: Scripture
is referring to the Festival offering brought on the fourteenth of Nissan [and
not to the specific Passover sacrifice], and it teaches with reference to it
that it may be eaten for two days [and the intervening night]. Now the רִאשׁוֹן mentioned here [according to this explanation], is the first
day of the Festival [i.e., the fifteenth of Nissan, rather than the preceding
day]. And this is the meaning of the verse: The flesh of the Festival offering,
which you slaughtered in the afternoon, shall not remain overnight after the
first day of the Festival until the morning of the second day [the sixteenth of
Nissan], but rather, it is to be eaten on the fourteenth and the fifteenth [and
the intervening night]. And thus it is taught in tractate Pes. (71b).
6 there you
shall slaughter the Passover offering] in the afternoon, 2) as the sun sets, at
the appointed time that you went out of Egypt [In this verse,] three
separate times are specified: 1)"in the afternoon," [i.e.,] from the
sixth [seasonal] hour [not clock-hours, but rather the twelve equal divisions
of the time between dawn and dusk, each one known as a שָׁעָה
זְמַנִּית, a “seasonal hour”]. From this time onward [afternoon], you
shall slaughter it (זְבָחֵהוּ) “as the sun sets,” you shall eat it (תּֽאכְלֵהוּ) ; and 3)"at the appointed time that you went
out [of Egypt]," you must burn it (שוֹרְפֵהוּ). I.e., [at the beginning of the morning of the
first day of Passover, whatever is left over from the Passover sacrifice]
becomes נוֹתָר, left over, and must
be burned [on the next day].-[Sifrei
; see Ber. 9a]
7 And you shall
roast [it] Heb. וּבִשַּׁלְתָּ. [Here] this term means “roasted in fire” (צְלִי
אֵשׁ) (see
Exod. 12:9), for roasting is also included in the general term of בִּשּׁוּל, “cooking.”
and you shall turn away in the morning [and go to your
dwellings] [i.e.,] the morning of the second day [of Passover].
This teaches that [the pilgrim] is required to remain [in Jerusalem] the night
when the Festival terminates.-[Sifrei
; Pes. 95b; Chag. 17a-b]
8 For six days
you shall eat matzoth But elsewhere it says, “For seven days [you shall eat matzoth]!”
(Exod. 12:15). [The solution is:] For seven days you shall eat matzoth from the old [produce] and six
days [i.e., the last six days, after the omer
has been offered] you may eat matzoth
prepared from the new [crop]. Another explanation: It teaches that the eating
of matzoh on the seventh day of
Passover is not obligatory, and from here you learn [that the same law applies]
to the other six days [of the Festival], For the seventh day was included in a
general statement [in the verse “For seven days you shall eat matzoth,” but in the verse: “Six days
you shall eat matzoth ”] it has been
taken out of this general [statement], to teach us that eating matzoh [on the seventh day] is not
obligatory, but optional. [Now we have aready learned that if something is
singled out of a general statement, we apply the relevant principle not only to
itself but to every thing included in the general category. Thus the seventh
day] is excluded here not to teach regarding itself, rather to teach regarding
the entire generalization [i.e., the entire seven days of the Festival]. Just
as on the seventh day the eating of matzah
is optional, so too, on all the other days, the eating of matzah is optional. The only exception is the first night [of
Passover], which Scripture has explicitly established as obligatory, as it is
said, “in the evening, you shall eat matzoth
” (Exod. 12:18). -[Mechilta on Exod
12:18; Pes. 120a]
[and on the seventh day there shall be] a halt to the
Lord your God - עֲצֶרֶת. Keep yourself back from work. Another
explanation: [עֲצֶרֶת means] a gathering for eating and drinking, as the
expression, “Let us detain (נַַעַצְרָה) you” (Judg. 13:15).
9 from [the
time] the sickle is first put to the standing crop, [you shall begin to count
seven weeks] [I.e.,] from the time the omer
is harvested [on the sixteenth of Nissan], which is the beginning of the
harvest.-[see Lev. 23:10, Sifrei ; Men. 71a]
10 the donation
you can afford to give [I.e.,] sufficient generous
donation from you; according to the blessing [that God bestows upon you], bring
peace offerings of happiness [these are extra peace offerings in addition to
the Festival offerings] and invite guests to eat [with you].
11 the Levite...
the stranger, the orphan, and the widow [God says:] These are My four,
corresponding to your four, [namely,] “Your son, and your daughter, and your
manservant, and your maidservant.” If you shall gladden Mine, I will gladden
yours.-[Midrash Aggadah, Midrash Hagadol . Compare Tanchuma 18, Pesikta d’Rav Kahana p.100a. Note that in incunabula editions, this
comment of Rashi is connected to the preceding one: and invite guests to eat
[with you]: the Levite... the stranger, the orphan, and the widow. [God says:]
These are My four...]
12 And you shall
remember that you were a slave [in Egypt] On this condition did I redeem
you [from Egypt], that you keep and perform these statutes.
13 You shall make
yourself the Festival of Sukkoth...] when you gather in [the produce]-
[i.e.,] at the time of the ingathering, when you bring the summer fruits into
the house. Another explanation: “when you gather in [the produce] from your
threshing floor and your vat” וּמִיִּקְבֶךָ)
(בְּאָסְפּ;ְךָ
מִגָּרְנְךָ teaches that we should cover the sukkah [only] with the waste products
that come from the threshing floor and the vat [i.e., with things that have
grown from the ground, have become detached, and are not susceptible to ritual
uncleanness. Since they are not foods and are not vessels, they are not
susceptible to spiritual uncleanness. - R.H.
13a; Suk. 12a]
15 and you will
only be happy According to its simple meaning, this is not an expression
denoting a command, but rather an expression of an assurance [i.e., I promise
you that you will be happy]. But according to its oral interpretation, [our
Rabbis] learned from this to include the night before the last day of the
Festival for the obligation of rejoicing.-[see Suk. 48a; Sifrei]
16 and he shall
not appear before the Lord empty-handed But bring
burnt-offerings of appearance (עוֹלוֹת
רְאִיָּה)
[which are obligatory when appearing before the Lord in Jerusalem on the
Festivals] and Festival peace-offerings. -[Chag.
8b]
17 [Every] man
[shall bring] as much as he can afford One who has many eaters [i.e., a
large family] and many possessions should bring many burnt-offerings and many
peace-offerings.- [Sifrei ; Chag. 8b]
Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan
for: B’Midbar (Num.) 28:26-31
|
Rashi |
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan |
|
26. On the day of the first fruits, when you offer
up a new meal offering to the Lord, on your festival of Weeks; it shall be a
holy convocation for you, and you shall not perform any mundane work. |
26. Likewise on the day of your firstlings, when you offer
the gift from the new produce before the LORD in your ingatherings, after the
seven weeks are completed, you will have a holy convocation, no servile work
will you do; |
|
27. You shall offer
up a burnt offering with a spirit of satisfaction to the Lord: two young
bulls, one ram, and seven lambs in the first year. |
27. but offer a
burnt sacrifice to be received with favour before the LORD, two young
bullocks, one ram, seven lambs of the year; |
|
28. Their meal
offerings [shall be] fine flour mixed with oil; three tenths for each bull
and two tenths for the ram. |
28. also their
mincha of wheaten flour mingled with olive oil, three tenths for each
bullock, two tenths for the ram, |
|
29. One tenth for
each lamb, for all seven lambs. |
29. a tenth to a
lamb; so for the seven lambs |
|
30. One young male
goat to atone for you. |
30. one kid of the
goats to make an atonement for you; |
|
31. You shall offer
this up besides the continual burnt offering and its meal offering they shall
be unblemished for you, as well as their libations. |
31. beside the perpetual
burnt offering you will make these; they will be unblemished, with their
libation of wine. |
|
|
|
Ashlamatah: Habakkuk 2:20-3:19
|
Rashi |
Targum |
|
15. ¶ Woe
to him who gives his friend to drink, who adds Your venom and also makes him
drunk in order to gaze upon their nakedness. |
15. ¶ Woe
to him who gives his friend to drink and pours out in anger so that he may
drink and become intoxicated and his shame be revealed. |
|
16. You
have become sated more from disgrace than from honor. You, too, drink and
become clogged up. The cup of the right hand of the Lord shall be turned upon
you, and disgrace upon your glory. |
16. You
are sated with shame rather than honour. Drink you too and uncover yourself.
The cup of malediction from the LORD will turn back upon you, and shame will
come upon your glory. |
|
17. For
the violence of the Lebanon shall cover you, and the plunder of cattle shall
break them, because of the blood of man and the violence of the land, a city,
and all its inhabitants. |
17. For
the violence done to the Sanctuary will cover you and the spoiling of its
people will destroy you, on account of men's blood and the violation of the
land of Israel, the city of Jerusalem and all who dwell in it. |
|
18.
What did a graven image avail that its maker has graven it? A molten image
and a teacher of lies, that the maker of his work trusted in it to make dumb
idols? {S} |
18. What
does an image profit that its maker molds it, a molten image and an idol of
deceit that the heart of its maker trusts in it so as to make idols in which
there is no profit? {S} |
|
19. Woe
to him who says to the wood, "Awaken!"; to the dumb stone,
"Arise!" Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and
silver, and no spirit is within it. |
19. Woe
to him who says to an image of wood, "Arise" and to an idol of
stone, "Rouse yourself!" - but it is silent and dumb. He calls out.
behold, he covers it with gold and silver and there is no breath at all within
it! |
|
20. But
the Lord is in His Holy Temple. Silence the whole earth before Him. {S} |
20. But
the LORD has chosen to make His Shekinah dwell in His holy temple; all the
idols of the earth will perish before Him.
{S} |
|
|
|
|
1. A
prayer of Habakkuk the prophet concerning the errors. |
1. The prayer which
Habakkuk the prophet prayed when it was revealed to him concerning the
extension of time which He gives to the wicked, that if they return to the
Law with a perfect heart they will be forgiven and all their sins which they
have committed before Him will be as sins of ignorance. |
|
2. O Lord, I heard a
report of You; I feared, O Lord, Your deed. In the midst of the years, revive
it; in the midst of the years, let it be known. In anger You shall remember
to have mercy. |
2. LORD, I have
heard the report of Your strength and I was afraid O LORD, your works are
great for You grant an extension of time to the wicked to see if they will return
to your Law; but they have not returned and they provoke before You in the
midst of the years in which You have given them. Therefore You will display
Your might in the midst of the years, for You have promised to renew the
world, to take vengeance on the wicked who have disregarded your Memra: but
in the midst of Your anger You will remember in mercy the righteous/generous
who do Your will. |
|
3. God came from
Teman; yea, the Holy One from Mt. Paran, with everlasting might. His glory
covered the heavens and His splendor filled the earth. |
3. When He gave the
Law to His people God revealed Himself from the south, even the holy One from
Mount Paran with everlasting strength, the heavens were covered with the
brightness of His glory, and the earth was full of those speaking His praise. |
|
4. And there was a
brightness like the light; they had rays from His hand, and there was His
strength hidden. |
4. And the splendour
of His glory was revealed like the splendour of Creation, and sparks issued
from His glorious chariot. There He revealed His Shekinah which was hidden
from the sons of men in the high fastness. |
|
5. A
pestilence went before Him, and sparks went out at His feet. |
5. The
angel of death was sent from before Him and went forth in a flame of fire
from His Memra." |
|
6. He stood and
meted out to the earth; He saw and caused nations to wander. And the
everlasting mountains were shattered; the everlasting hills were humbled. The
procedures of the world are His. |
6. He revealed
Himself and shook the earth and brought the flood upon the people of the
generation which disregarded His Memra and again, moreover, when they sinned
before Him with their sins He then confounded the nations, and the mountains
which were from of old were torn apart, the ancient hills sank low.
Everlasting strength belongs to Him! |
|
7. Because of
iniquity I saw the tents of Cushan; the curtains of the land of Midian
quaked. |
7. When the house of
Israel served idols I gave them into the hand of Cushan the Wicked, and when they
returned to keep the Law I performed signs and mighty acts for them, I
delivered them from the power of the Midianites by the hand of Gideon son of
Joash. |
|
8. Was the Lord
angry with the rivers? Is His wrath against the rivers, or His fury against
the sea? Only that You rode on Your steeds with Your chariots of salvation. |
8. Was there anger
from before You. O LORD, against kings and their hosts which were numerous as
the waters of a river? Indeed Your anger was against the kings, and in the
sea You showed them Your mighty retribution when You revealed Yourself upon Your
glorious chariot. Your Shekinah was strength and salvation to Your people. |
|
9. Your
bow revealed itself; The oaths to the tribes were a perpetual statement; You
split the earth into rivers. |
9. You
did indeed reveal Yourself in Your strength on account of Your covenant which
was with the tribes. Your Memra endures forever. For them You cleft strong
rocks, rivers flooding the ground issued forth, |
|
10. Mountains saw
You and quaked. A stream of water passed. The deep gave forth its voice. The
heaven raised up its thanks. |
10. When You
revealed Yourself upon Mount Sinai they beheld Your glory, the mountains
quaked, the rain-clouds passed on, the deep lifted up its voice, the hosts on
high were amazed and stood still. |
|
11. The sun and the
moon stood in their dwellings; to the light of Your arrows they go, to the
brightness of the lightning of Your spear. |
11. Moreover, when You
performed signs for Joshua in the plain of Gibeon, the sun and moon stood
still in their spheres, Your people were strengthened by Your Memra, by the
strength of Your victorious might. |
|
12. With fury You
tread the earth; with wrath You trample nations. |
12. When You brought
a curse upon the enemies of your people, when You revealed yourself to
destroy the wicked of the earth; You slew nations in your anger. |
|
13. You went forth to rescue Your
people, to rescue Your anointed. You have crushed the head of the
house of the wicked, uncovering it from the foundation to the neck-forever. {P} |
13. You revealed Yourself' to deliver Your people, to
deliver Your anointed (Messiah); You destroyed kings from before
them and princes from their palaces; You drove out the wicked, You destroyed
their hosts, the feet of Your people were upon the necks of their enemies, Your
Memra endures forever. {P} |
|
14. You pierced the
heads of his villages with his war clubs. They storm to scatter me. Their joy
was when they could devour a poor one in secret. |
14. You cleft the
sea by Moses' rod, and the mighty men, the captains of Pharaoh's armies who fabricated
plots against Your people, You pursued with whirlwinds. You drowned them in
the Red Sea because they oppressed and enslaved
Your people and gave, counsel in secret to destroy them. |
|
15. You trampled in
the sea with Your steeds, a heap of many waters. |
15. You revealed
Yourself upon the sea in Your glorious chariot, in the heap of great waters. |
|
16. I heard, and my
inward parts trembled; my lips quivered at the sound. Decay entered my bones,
and I quaked in my place, that [the time] I would rest is destined for a day
of trouble-to bring up a people that will troop back. |
16. Babylon said,
"1 heard and my kings trembled at the judgement with which the Egyptians
were judged; at the sound of these words my lips trembled, fear took hold of
my wise men and 1 trembled in the place where I dwell' because He abandoned
me to the day of trouble; at the time of bringing up the exiles of His people
from me, He will destroy me. |
|
17. For a fig tree shall not blossom; neither is there
produce on the vines. The labor of the olive tree shall fail, and the grain
field shall not produce food. The flock shall be cut off from the fold, and
there shall be no cattle in the stalls. |
17. For the kingdom of Babylon will not endure nor exercise
suzerainty over Israel, the kings of Media will be killed, and the warriors
from Greece will not prosper; the Romans will be destroyed and will not
collect tribute from Jerusalem. |
|
18. Yet, I will rejoice in the Lord; I will jubilate in the
God of my salvation. |
18. Therefore they will give praise for the sign and
deliverance which You will perform for Your anointed One (Messiah) and for
the remnant of Your people who are left, saying, "The prophet said, 'And
I will rejoice in the Memra of the LORD, I will exult in God who brings about
my deliverance. |
|
19. God the Lord is my strength. He made my feet [as swift]
as the hind's, and he guides me on my high places. To the conductor [to play]
with my melodies! {P} |
19. God the LORD who supports me with strength and makes my
feet swift as hinds and makes me stand upon my stronghold, to whom belong
victories and mighty deeds - before Him I am playing in my songs of praise." {P} |
|
|
|
Rashi’s Commentary on Habakkuk
2:20-3:19
15 Woe to him who
gives his friend to drink wine; and into that drink he adds and gathers his
venom upon him, and also makes him [his friend] drunk with his venom. All this
he does...
in order to gaze upon their nakedness Upon
their exposure, to see their nakedness. This is the wicked Nebuchadnezzar, who
would give the kings wine to drink, intoxicate them, and practice pederasty
upon them, as we state in Tractate Shabbath
(149b). Another explanation.
Woe to him who gives his friend to drink In Seder
Olam, it [this verse] is expounded regarding Belshazzar, who gave the princes
to drink with the vessels of the Temple, because of which they were smitten
with zaraath and intoxicated by the wrath of the Holy One, blessed be He. On
that night he [Belshazzar] was slain.
upon their nakedness So that their disgrace be
revealed, and their enemies see their disgrace.
16 and become
clogged up The “he” serves in this word as an expression of the reflexive,
as in (Deut. 32:50) “And you shall be gathered to your people.” Here, too, הֵעָרֵל - you shall become clogged up with bewilderment and with
astonishment of heart. Every expression of עָרְלָה is an expression of clogging, like (Jer. 6:10)
“Their ear is clogged” and (Ezek 44:7) “Of clogged heart and of uncircumcised
flesh.” Jonathan rendered: And become
naked, an expression of (ibid. 16:7) “Naked and bare.”
17 the violence
of the Lebanon the Temple.
and the plunder of cattle The
plunder of your cattle, and your hordes that plundered My people Israel, shall
break you.
because of the blood of man Because
of the violence done to the blood of Israel.
and the violence of the land The land
of Israel.
a city Jerusalem.
18 What did a
graven image avail Babylon?
that the maker of his work trusted The man
who formed it, who is the maker of this god of his.
in it He trusts in this creation of his, that it assists
him, so he comes to make dumb idols.
19 Shall it
teach? This is a question.
20 But the Lord
is in His Holy Temple ready to exact retribution.
Silence the whole earth before Him הַס is an
expression of silencing and the silence of destruction.
Chapter 3
1 concerning the
errors This may be interpreted according to the Targum. However, according to the apparent meaning, Habakkuk is
begging for mercy for himself because he spoke rebelliously: (1:4) “Therefore
Torah is slackened,” and (verse 14) “You have made man like the fish of the
sea.” He criticized the Divine standard of justice.
2 I heard a
report of You that from days of yore You always inflicted retribution upon
those who provoked You, yet You tolerate this wicked man.
I feared I said, “How has the Divine standard of justice
changed because of Israel’s iniquity?”
Your deed. In the midst of the years Your
original deed, that You would wreak vengeance for us upon our enemies in the
midst of the years of trouble in which we are found.
revive it Awaken it and restore it.
in the midst of the years And in
the midst of these years let it be known.
In anger In the anger that You will vent upon the wicked, You
will remember to have mercy.
to have mercy like לְרַחֵם, to have mercy.
You shall remember You shall remember to have
mercy on Israel. 3 God The prophet now mentions before God
His original deed, which he begs Him to revive - the deed of the love of Israel
and the retribution of the first generations: When You came to give the Torah,
You went around to Esau and Ishmael, and they did not accept it.
Teman Esau.
Paran Ishmael, as Scripture states (Gen. 21:21): “And he
dwelt in the desert of Paran.”
His glory covered the heavens at Sinai
for Israel.
4 And there was
a brightness on that day.
like the light Like the special light of
the seven days of Creation. So did Jonathan
render it.
rays The expression of a light, which, when piercing and
shining through a hole, appears like protruding horns. Similarly, (Ex. 34:29)
“For the skin of his face shone.”
from His hand From the hand of the Holy One, blessed be He, they
came to them.
and there was His strength hidden As the Targum renders: There His strength,
which had previously been hidden, was revealed in the secret place of the Most
High.
5 A pestilence
went before Him I found in a Midrash Aggadah: At the time the Holy One,
blessed be He, gave the Torah to Israel, He drove away the Angel of Death to
divert him to other things, lest he stand to accuse and say, “You are giving
the Torah to a nation that is destined to deny you at the end of forty days?”
and sparks went out at His feet Fiery
angels came with Him to Sinai.
6 He stood and
meted out to the earth He waited to examine minutely the case of the
generation of the Flood, to mete out to them a measure for a measure, and He
meted it out. “He stood” is to be understood in the sense of (Isa. 3: 13) “The
Lord stands to plead, and He stands to judge the peoples.” He waits and
examines their case minutely.
and meted out to the earth They
sinned with heat, and they were judged with boiling water.
He saw the generation of separation, who, since they were of
one language, all came upon the plan, as it is written (Gen. 1 1:1): “And all
the earth was of one language.”
and caused nations to wander He
caused them to jump into seventy languages as it is said (Lev. 11:21): “To jump
with them on the earth,” and (Job 37:1) “My heart trembles and jumps from its
place.”
the everlasting mountains The
heavenly princes of the nations.
the procedures of the world are His He
demonstrated to them that all the procedures of the world are His.
7 Because of
iniquity that was found in Israel.
I saw the tents of Cushan standing
in the open and inflicting injury upon Israel, and when they humbled themselves
before you...
the curtains... quaked All is
to be understood according to the Targum.
8 Was... with
the rivers? Some questions are in the affirmative. Have we seen that He
performed all these? The explanation of the verse is according to the Targum.
Your chariots were salvation for us.
9 Your bow
revealed itself Your might was revealed.
the oaths to the tribes The
oaths that You swore to the tribes.
perpetual statement A statement that is to last
forever. אֽמֶר is vowelized with a “pattah,” [meaning a “seggol”] and the
accent is on the first syllable, making it a noun.
You split the earth into rivers According
to the Targum.
10 Mountains saw
You and quaked The mountains of the streams of Arnon that cleft to one
another.
A stream of water passed When
they crossed the Jordan, the water was “completely cut off,” and the flow of
the stream of water passed downstream; the water “which came down from above
stood and rose up.”
The deep gave forth its voice The
inhabitants of the land praised Him.
The heaven raised up its thanks The host
of the heaven thanked Him.
11 stood in their
dwellings in their dwellings. In every word that requires a “lammed” at the
beginning - Scripture placed a “he” at the end [meaning “to”]. They explained
the phrase as referring to the war of Gibeon, as the Targum paraphrases it.
to the light of Your arrows they go Israel.
12 With fury You
tread the earth to drive out the seven nation [the heathens of Canaan].
13 to rescue Your
anointed Saul and David.
uncovering it from the foundation The
walls of their enemies.
to the neck The height of the walls and the towers.
14 You pierced
the heads... with war clubs Sennacherib and his company.
the heads of his villages The
heads of his towns and his castles, as in (Deut. 3:5) “The open towns” and
(Zech. 2:8) “Jerusalem shall be inhabited without walls.”
they storm Who were storming with a tempest to scatter me.
[Sennacherib] was the staff with which you chastised the nations. When he came
and stormed to scatter me, You pierced the heads of his troops with his staffs,
with which he had come to chastise me.
their joy was when they could...
devour a poor one in secret Israel,
known as a poor people.
15 You trampled
in the sea You trampled upon [Sennacherib’s] hordes, which were as heavy as
the sand by the sea.
a heap of many waters Jonathan renders. upon a heap, an expression
of (Exod. 8:10) “many heaps.”
16 I heard, and
my inward parts trembled Jonathan rendered.
Said Babylon, “I heard, and the kings trembled before the judgement meted out
upon the Egyptians.”
my lips quivered at the sound At the
sound of the report, trembling took hold of me until my lips knocked one
against the other and their sound was heard.
quivered An expression of (Zech. 14:20) “The bells of the
horses.” Tentir in O.F., to tinkle.
and I quaked in my place In my
place, I quake.
that [the time] I would rest is destined for a day of
trouble That this tranquility of mine is destined for a day
of trouble.
to bring up a people that will troop back For the
day that He said to bring up from there the people that He will cause to troop
back, to return with its troops to its land.
17 For a fig tree
shall not blossom As the Targum renders. However, the phrase may be
interpreted according to its simple meaning: From now on, none of Babylon’s
deeds shall succeed.
the grain field a white field.
from the fold a stall for sheep.
18 Yet I the
nation of Israel, will rejoice in the Lord.
19.To the conductor [to play] with my melodies To the
Levite who conducts the music in the Temple. I will compose for him [the
Levites’ conductor] with my melodies, and the Levite[s] will accompany him with
musical instruments.
To the conductor As it is stated (Ezra 3:8)
“... appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to superintend the
work of the house of the Lord.”
with my melodies This is an expression of a
vocal melody to raise and lower, orgenedors
in O.F.
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!”
Afternoon
Service – May the 16th, 2013
· Ruth 3:8 – 4:22
· Azharoth: The Negative Commandments
Blessings Before Torah Study
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
has sanctified us through Your commandments, and commanded us to actively study
Torah. Amen!
Please Ha-Shem, our G-d, sweeten the words of Your Torah in
our mouths and in the mouths of all Your people Israel. May we and our
offspring, and our offspring's offspring, and all the offspring of Your people,
the House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah
for the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem, Who teaches
Torah to His people Israel. Amen!
Blessed are You, Ha-Shem our G-d, King of the universe, Who
chose us from all the nations, and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, Ha-Shem,
Giver of the Torah. Amen!
Ha-Shem spoke to Moses, explaining a Commandment.
"Speak to Aaron and his sons, and teach them the following Commandment:
This is how you should bless the Children of Israel. Say to the Children of Israel:
May Ha-Shem bless you and keep watch over you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem make His Presence enlighten you, and may He be
kind to you; - Amen!
May Ha-Shem bestow favor on you, and grant you peace. –
Amen!
This way, the priests will link My Name with the Israelites,
and I will bless them."
These are the Laws for which the Torah did not mandate
specific amounts: How much growing produce must be left in the corner of the
field for the poor; how much of the first fruits must be offered at the Holy
Temple; how much one must bring as an offering when one visits the Holy Temple
three times a year; how much one must do when doing acts of kindness; and there
is no maximum amount of Torah that a person must study.
These are the Laws whose benefits a person can often enjoy
even in this world, even though the primary reward is in the Next World: They
are: 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!
Ruth 3:8 – 4:22 &
Azharoth:The
Prohibitions
RELATIONS WITH GOD
You will have no other
gods before God. You will make no idolatrous images nor set them up. Build no
idolatrous pillar or stone image, and plant no Asherah. Bring no idol into your
dwelling; covet not the silver of other gods and take not their names on your
lips. Deal not with God as other people do with their idols.
Take not God's name in
vain, profane not his name, and blaspheme and curse Him not. Do not try God.
Resort not to spiritualism, witchcraft, enchantments or charmers, and let no witch be
allowed to live, nor harlot nor sodomite. Forget not God, and stray not after
your heart and your eyes.
PERSONAL ETHICS
Believe not in
falsehood. Be not stiff-necked. Take no false oaths, break no vows, and delay
not to pay your vows. Do not muzzle the threshing-ox nor harness an ox and an ass together to
the plough. Do not take from the nest the mother bird with the young. A woman
may not wear man's clothing nor may a man wear woman's clothing. Let there be no
bestiality nor sodomy among you. Nor may you hybridize your fields with seeds
of diverse kinds.
FAMILY RELATIONS
Neither curse nor
strike parents. The gluttonous drunken son will not be allowed to live.
The sexually injured
may not marry. You will not commit adultery.
Spread no evil reports
about your wife, and you can never divorce a wife whom you have falsely
accused. You may not take again your divorced wife who has remarried. A childless
widow may not be married to another man so long as her brother-in-law may marry
her. While his wife is living a man may not marry her sister. You will not commit
adultery or incest, and the one born of incest may not enter the community of
Israel.
Forbidden in sex
relations are one's wife during her uncleanness, one's mother, step-mother,
mother-in-law, and mother of one's mother-in-law or of one's father-in-law; aunt; sister,
step-sister, or sister-in-law; daughter, step-daughter, granddaughter, or
daughter-in-law; a woman and her daughter, or a woman and her granddaughter.
Nor may one have sex relations with a
betrothed maiden or with an idolatress. Nor may one allow one's daughter to be
a harlot.
JUSTICE
In matters of justice
fear no individual, respect no person, and show no favour to great or small.
Neither show favour to the poor nor pervert the cause of the poor, the orphan,
the widow, and the alien. Revile not the judges. Do not refuse to accept the judgment.
Parents will not be put to death for children,
nor children for parents. You may not stand idly by the blood of your fellow
man. The malicious false witness will not live. Put not the innocent to death. None
may be put to death on the word of but one witness. Have no fellowship with
evildoers as witnesses. Take no bribe, and accept no ransom for murder.
Let not corporal punishment be more than forty lashes.
BUSINESS
Do not defraud. Have
no undersized weights, or weights and measures of diverse standards. Do not
make dishonest measurements of land.
Do not exact usury,
nor give food at interest. And do not exact payment of debt from your fellow
Jew in the year of release.
LABOUR RELATIONS
Do not overburden your
bondman with work, nor deal harshly with a freeborn Jew. It is forbidden to
steal a Jew into slavery, nor may a Jew be sold into servitude. Let it not be
hard for you to give freedom to your Jewish bondman at the end of his term of
service; withhold not that which is due to him, and send him away well
laden. A hired labourer may not be oppressed, nor must his pay be held back
overnight. Hand not back to his master a runaway bondman.
The Jewish bondwoman
may not be sold, and for personal injury she is indemnified but not
automatically freed. If her master will not marry her, he must let her be redeemed at
her true value; he may not sell her into bondage. And if he marry another, he
may not lessen the allowance of food and clothing and the conjugal rights of his espoused
bondwoman.
RELATIONS WITH THE
POOR
Harden not your heart
against the poor and shut not your hand against him. Do not gather for yourself
the gleanings of your vineyard, or the droppings or single grapes of
your vintage, the last olives from your trees, the forgotten sheaf or gleanings
of your harvest, and that which grows in the corner of your field. All these
must be left for the poor. Take it not hard when you give to the poor; charge him no
interest, and be not as a money-lender to him. Oppress not the orphan. Do not
take in pledge the upper or the
nether millstone or the widow's garment, or charge interest on food, and judge
not unjustly when a pledge is involved.
The Levites may not
sell their allotted lands.
RELATIONS WITH YOUR
FELLOW MAN
Hate not and harbour
no hates. Bear no grudge and take no vengeance.
Do not loathe even the
Edomite or the Egyptian who comes as a proselyte. Do not oppress the alien or
any fellow man. Forsake not the Levite. Steal not and steal no fellow
man. Do not deal falsely. Be not dishonest with one another. Covet not, nor
covet that which is stolen, and do not remove the landmark set of old.
Take up no false report or slander, nor bear false witness against your
neighbour. Curse not the deaf. Place no stumbling-block before the blind,
and lay no snare for anyone. Hide not yourself from helping the fallen animal
of your neighbour or from restoring his animal
that is straying. Do not defile your land by bloodshed. You will not murder,
nor incur blood-guilt through leaving your roof unguarded by a parapet.
NATIONAL ORGANIZATION
Your king may not be
one who is not an Israelite. Let his heart not be uplifted; let him not
multiply wives, or horses and chariots, nor let him take his people back to
Egypt. Curse not a ruler of your people.
Do not hearken to a
false prophet or seducing leaders, nor allow those to live who teach apostasy
to idolatry, and let not the land sink into lewdness.
Do not walk in the
ways of the idolatrous heathen nor do as they do.
You will not allow
them to live in your land, nor will you marry with them. Do not allow the
Ammonite and the Moabite to enter the community of Israel, and return not to the
land of Egypt.
WAR
Make no peace with the
seven corrupt peoples of Canaan or with their gods. Spare them not but wipe
them out. Seek no peace with Ammon or Moab. Spare not the religiously apostate city, take
for yourself none of its spoil, and never let it be rebuilt. When laying siege
to a city cut not down its fruit trees. Do
not disregard the proclamation of the officer of war and the priest anointed
for war.
RITUAL PURITY
Those who are polluted
and unclean will not remain within the camp, nor may they come to the Temple.
The Nazirite will not
partake of wine or of any produce of the grape.
Nor will he cut his
hair or defile himself with the dead body of his kin.
DIETARY REGULATIONS
Animals and fish that
have not the specified characteristics may not be eaten, nor may the prohibited
birds. You will eat no blood nor designated fat, nor the flesh of an animal
that has died of itself or was torn, nor the flesh of a goring ox that was
stoned, nor of an animal sacrificed to an idol. You will not eat the hindquarter
sinew, nor a kid seethed in its mother's milk, nor will you defile yourself by
eating loathsome living things. Nor will you kill the dam and her young on the one day.
You will not eat the
fruit brought forth in the first three years, nor before you have brought the
sheaf-offering (Omer) of the first of the harvest shall you eat of the new corn,
whether as ears, parched corn, or bread. You will not eat of the second tithe
when in mourning, or when you or it may be unclean, nor will you eat of the sacrifices
when you are ritually unclean, nor will you eat of that which has not been
tithed.
CEREMONIAL
You will not shave the
corner of your beard, nor cut the corners of the hair of your head as do
idolatrous priests. In mourning make no baldness on your head nor gash your flesh.
Tattoo not your flesh. Wear no garment of mixed wool and linen.
THE RELIGIOUS CALENDAR
Do no work on the
Sabbath, nor on the holy days of Passover, the Festival of Weeks, the New Year,
the Day of Atonement, and the Festival of Booths. On the Sabbath kindle no
fire, and do not go beyond the limits of a Sabbath day's journey. Profane not
the Sabbath under the penalty of death.
On the festivals do
not appear empty before God. On the Passover eat nothing that is leavened, and
allow no leaven to remain or be seen in your habitations during the Passover
week. Let there be no leaven with the Passover sacrifice. Do not offer the
Passover sacrifice half-cooked or boiled, and break no bone of it. Let it
not be slain in any of your places except the Holy City. Let none of it be
taken outside or left over until the next day, and let no stranger or uncircumcised
or sojourning alien or hired worker partake of it.
On the Day of
Atonement neither eat nor work.
In the seventh and
jubilee years do no sowing or other field work, and in the jubilee year do not
harvest that which grows by itself.
THE TEMPLE RITUAL OF
SACRIFICE
The altar may not be
built of hewn stones. Offer no sacrifices to idols, nor pass your son through
the fire to Molech, and give not of the tithe as an offering to the dead. Offer no
sacrifice outside of the Temple in Jerusalem. Let there not be eaten within
your home gates the first-born of cattle, your heave-offering of
first-fruits, that which you have vowed, and the tithe of your wine, your corn,
and your oil.
Do not work with
first-born animals or shear the first-born lamb, since they have to be devoted
to God. Delay not to bring your offering of the tithe of your fruit and your wine.
Bring not the blind or the maimed as burnt-offerings, and let no defective
sacrifice be accepted from one who is not of Israel. Eat not before the
daily continual-offering has been brought, and do not leave beyond their due
time the fat of the sacrifices and the peace-offerings and
festival-offerings. Consume not as a sacrifice any flesh contaminated by
unclean contact. The hire of a prostitute or harlot may not be brought as a
sacrifice. No animal may be substituted for one that has been designated for
sacrifice. Rejected flesh must be burned on the altar; it may not be eaten.
You may not eat that which is left over of the sacrifice, nor of a
grain-offering baked in the oven, nor that which is dressed in the stewing-pan and on
the griddle. Neither the ritually unclean nor the stranger may eat of the
heave-offering. There may be no frankincense in the barley-offering of purgation of
jealousy, nor may date-honey or leaven be brought as an offering on the altar,
nor bread nor wine on the inner
altar before the Ark.
THE PRIESTHOOD
No priest with
physical defects may serve in the Temple. The priest may not officiate except
in all sobriety after he has washed himself with the water of the laver, is ritually
clean, and has covered his head. He may not marry a divorced woman, an immoral
woman, or one profaned, and in addition the high
priest may not marry a widow. The High Priest may not profane his seed and the
sanctuary by a prohibited marriage. He may not allow himself to become
ritually unclean, nor may he go out of the Temple to defile himself. He may not
defile himself by contact with the dead, even for a parent, except for a Jew who has
none else to bury him. In bereavement he may not let his hair loose nor rend
his garments.
When in a condition of
ritual impurity he may not minister nor remove the tithe.
The priest may not
offer as sacrifice an animal with a blemish. He may not make the incense for
other uses, nor make anything resembling the incense. Nor may he use for
others the priests' oil of anointing. The priest may not go up the altar on
steps, nor minister after taking intoxicating drink.
He may not eat of the
sin-offering, the blood of which has to be sprinkled within the Temple, nor may
he eat the grain-offering which has to be burned. Nor may he completely
pinch off the head of a dove offered for sacrifice. He may not remove the ephod
from the breast-plate, nor let the fire go out on the altar.
Non-priests may not
exercise priestly functions, nor eat of the portions consecrated to the
priests, nor may the hired man or guest of the priest. Nor may the priest's
daughter so long as she is married to one who is not a priest. And the priest
may not defile himself by contact with the dead. No non-priest or one who is unclean
may be present when the holy things are covered.
The Levite may no more
officiate after he has reached the age of retirement from service.
THE TORAH
Forget not the Torah
that has been revealed to you. Add not to it nor diminish from it, and let not
its words depart from your heart.
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!”
Evening Meditation – May the 16th,
2013
1 Corinthians 12:1 – 13:13 &
Revelation 2:12-17
12
"And to the angel (chief
of the seven ministers) of the Esnoga in
Pergamum write: "This is what the one (Messiah) who has the sharp double-edged sword (Oral and Written Torah) says: 13 'I know where you
dwell, where the throne of Ha-Satan is. And you hold fast to my authority and
did not deny your faithful obedience to me, even in the days of Antipas my
faithful witness, who was killed among you, where HaSatan dwells. 14
But I have a few things against you: that you have there, those who hold fast
to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the
sons of Israel, to eat food sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual
immorality. 15 So likewise you also have those who hold fast to the
teaching of the Nicolaitans (those who oppress the (Jewish) people). 16 Therefore return! But if
you do not, I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with
the sword (Written and Oral Torah)
from my mouth. 17 The one who has an ear, let him hear what the
orally breathed Torah says to the congregations. To the one who conquers, I
will give to him some of the hidden (So’od) manna, and I will give to him a white stone, and on the stone a new
name written, that no one knows except the one who receives it.'
Chag Shabuoth Sameach!
Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai
Rosh Paqid Adon Hillel ben David
Paqid Dr.
Adon Eliyahu ben Abraham