Esnoga Bet Emunah

12210 Luckey Summit

San Antonio, TX 78252

United States of America

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https://www.betemunah.org/

E-Mail: gkilli@aol.com

 Menorah 5

Esnoga Bet El

102 Broken Arrow Dr.

Paris TN 38242

United States of America

© 2021

https://torahfocus.com/

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

 Tammuz 2, 5781 - June 11/12, 2021

Sixth Year of the Shmita Cycle

 

Candle Lighting and Habdalah Times: https://www.chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.htm

 

 

Roll of Honor:

This Commentary comes out weekly and on the festivals thanks to the great generosity of:

 

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

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

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

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

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

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

Her Excellency Giberet Leah bat Sarah & beloved mother

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

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

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

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

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

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

His Excellency Adon Brad Gaskill and beloved wife Cynthia Gaskill

His Excellency Adon Shlomoh ben Abraham

His Excellency Adon Ya’aqob ben David

 

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

Also, a great thank you and great blessings be upon all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Torah Seder and allied topics.

If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never lose any of our commentaries or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to chozenppl@GMail.com with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!

 

 

Blessings Before Torah Study

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

A Prayer for Israel

 

Our Father in Heaven, Rock, and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land, grant them deliverance, and adorn them in a mantle of victory. Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness.

 

Lead them, swiftly and upright, to Your city Zion and to Jerusalem, the abode of Your Name, as is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses: “Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it, and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.” Draw our hearts together to revere and venerate Your name and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah, and send us quickly the Messiah son of David, agent of Your vindication, to redeem those who await Your deliverance.

Manifest yourself in the splendor of Your boldness before the eyes of all inhabitants of Your world and may everyone endowed with a soul affirm that the Lord, God of Israel, is King and his dominion is absolute. Amen forevermore.

 

 

We pray for our beloved Hakham His Eminence Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai. Mi Sheberach…He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David, and Solomon, may He bless and heal the sick person HE Rabbi Dr. Yosef ben Haggai, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for him to restore his health, to heal him, to strengthen him, and to revivify him. And may He send him speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit, swiftly and soon, and we will say amen ve amen![1]

 

Special Requests from His Eminence Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai:

 

He Who blessed our holy matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, Miriam the Prophetess. Abigail, and Esther, daughter of Abigail – may He bless the sick mother of three children HE Giberet Hannah bat Sarah (the much-loved niece of HH Giberet Giborah bat Sarah) and send her a complete recovery in all her organs and all her blood vessels.  Please HaShem, heal her now.  Please HaShem, heal her now.  Please HaShem, heal her now among the other sick people of Your people Israel.  And so, may it be His will, and we all will say with one voice:  AMEN ve AMEN.

 

 

Shabbat: “Ki ish ishah satah” – “If a man’s wife deviates”

 

Shabbat

Torah Reading:

Weekday Torah Reading:

אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי-תִשְׂטֶה

 

Saturday Afternoon

“Ish Ish Ki Tishte”

Reader 1 – B’Midbar 5:11-13

Reader 1 – B’Midbar 6:1-3

“[When] any man’s wife goes astray”

Reader 2 – B’Midbar 5:14-16

Reader 2 – B’Midbar 6:4-6

“[Si] la esposa de alguno se descarriare”

Reader 3 – B’Midbar 5:17-19

Reader 3 – B’Midbar 6:7-9

B’midbar (Numbers) 5:11-31

Reader 4 – B’Midbar 5:20-22

 

Hosea 4:14-5:2+6:1-2

Reader 5 – B’Midbar 5:23-25

Monday & Thursday

Mornings

 

Reader 6 – B’Midbar 5:26-28

Reader 1 – B’Midbar 6:1-3

Psalms 94:1-15

Reader 7 – B’Midbar 5:29-31

Reader 2 – B’Midbar 6:4-6

 

     Maftir – B’Midbar 5:29-31

Reader 3 – B’Midbar 6:7-9

N.C.: 2 Pet 2:17-22; Lk 16:19-31 

 

Hos 4:14-5:2+6:1-2

 

 

 

Contents of the Torah Seder

 

·        The Ordeal of Jealousy – Numbers 5:11-18

·        The Oath of Purgation – Numbers 5:19-22

·        Continuation of the Ordeal of Jealousy – Numbers 5:23-31

 

 

 

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan

for: B’midbar (Numbers) 5:11-31

 

RASHI

TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN

11. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

11. And the LORD spoke with Mosheh, saying:

12. Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: Should any man's wife go astray and deal treacherously with him,

12. Speak with the sons of Israel, and say to them: If the wife of any man goes astray and commit wrongness against him,

13. and a man lie with her carnally, but it was hidden from her husband's eyes, but she was secluded [with the suspected adulterer] and there was no witness against her, and she was not seized.

13. and another man lie with her, and it be hidden from her husband's eyes, and be concealed, and she be contaminated: or, if the testimony be not clear which is witnessed against her, and she be not convicted;

14. But a spirit of jealousy had come upon him, and he became jealous of his wife, and she was defiled, or a spirit of jealousy had come upon him, and he was jealous of his wife, and she was not defiled.

14. or, if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, that she has been defiled, or the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, though she has not been defiled;

15. Then the man shall bring his wife to the kohen and bring her offering for her, one tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He shall neither pour oil over it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousies, a meal offering of remembrance, recalling iniquity.

15. and though that man may have not brought separation or tithe, there is constraint upon him to bring his wife unto the priest. Now, because she may have brought delicacies to the adulterer, she ought to bring an appointed oblation of her own, a tenth of three sata of barley flour, that being the food of beasts: he will not pour oil, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is a mincha (on account) of jealousy, a mincha of a memorial which calls guilt to mind.

16. The kohen shall bring her forth and present her before the Lord.

16. And the priest will bring her near and cause her to stand before the LORD.

17. The kohen shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and some earth from the Mishkan floor, the kohen shall take and put it into the water.

17. And the priest will take holy water from the laver with an ewer and pour it into an earthen vessel; because she may have brought the adulterer sweet wine to drink in precious vases; and he will take of the dust that is upon the ground of the tabernacle, - because the end of all flesh is dust, - and put it into the water.

18. Then the kohen shall stand the woman up before the Lord and expose the [hair on the] head of the woman; he shall place into her hands the remembrance meal offering, which is a meal offering of jealousies, while the bitter curse bearing waters are in the kohen's hand.

18. And the priest will cause the woman to stand before the LORD and bind a cord over her loins and upon her breast, - because she should have bound her loins with a girdle; and he will uncover the woman's head, because she had tied a fillet upon her hair. And he will put the mincha of memorial, the mincha of jealousy, into her hand; while in the hand of the priest will be the bitter water of the trial.

19. The kohen shall then place her under oath, and say to the woman, "If no man has lain with you and you have not gone astray to become defiled [to another] in place of your husband, then [you will] be absolved through these bitter waters which cause the curse.

19. And the priest will adjure her by the adjuration of the Great and Glorious Name and will say to the woman: If you have not turned aside, to defile yourself by acting against the right of your husband, be you unhurt by these bitter waters of trial.

20. But as for you, if you have gone astray [to another] instead of your husband and have become defiled, and another man besides your husband has lain with you..."

20. But if you have turned aside against the right of your husband, and are defiled in having shared the bed with a man against your husband's right: -

21. The kohen shall now adjure the woman with the oath of the curse, and the kohen shall say to the woman, "May the Lord make you for a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord causes your thigh to rupture and your belly to swell.

21. Then will the priest adjure the woman by the oath of malediction, and say to the woman, - The LORD makes you a curse and an execration among the children of your people, in causing your thigh to corrupt, and your belly to swell;

22. For these curse bearing waters shall enter your innards, causing the belly to swell and the thigh to rupture," and the woman shall say, "Amen, amen."

22. and may these waters of trial enter into your bowels, to cause your belly to swell, and your thigh to corrupt. And the woman will answer and say: Amen, if I was polluted when betrothed; Amen, if I have been polluted since my marriage.

23. Then the kohen shall write these curses on a scroll and erase it in the bitter water.

23. And the priest will write these maledictions upon a parchment, and wash it out with the water of trial,

24. He shall then give the bitter, curse bearing waters to the woman to drink, and the curse bearing waters shall enter her to become bitter.

24. and cause the woman to drink the bitter trial water: the trial water of malediction will be received by her.

25. The kohen shall take the meal offering of jealousies from the woman's hand, wave the meal offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar.

25. But the priest will (first) take from the woman's hand the mincha of jealousy, and uplift the mincha before the LORD, and lay it on the side of the altar.

26. The kohen shall scoop out from the meal offering its reminder and burn it upon the altar, and then he shall give the woman the water to drink.

26. And the priest will take a handful of the portion for its memorial and burn it at the altar; and after that the woman will drink the water.

27. He shall make her drink the water, and it shall be that, if she had been defiled and was unfaithful to her husband, the curse bearing waters shall enter her to become bitter, and her belly will swell, and her thigh will rupture. The woman will be a curse among her people.

27. And when he has caused her to drink the water, it will be that if she has been defiled by adultery, and has acted with wrongness against her husband, those proving waters will enter into her with a curse, and her belly will swell, and her thigh become corrupt, and the woman will be an execration among the children of her people. The adulterer as well will be detected by these waters of probation, in whatever place he may be.

28. But if the woman had not become defiled and she is clean, she shall be exempted and bear seed.

28. But if the woman has not been defiled by adultery, but is innocent, they will enter without harm, and her brightness will shine forth, and she will find affection before her husband, and become the mother of a son.

29. This is the law of jealousies when a woman goes astray to someone other than her husband and is defiled,

29. This is the declaration of the Law of jealousy, when a woman has fallen away from the right of her husband, and become defiled by adultery;

30. or if a spirit of jealousy comes over a man, and he is jealous of his wife, and he presents the woman before the Lord, and the kohen shall do to her all of this law,

30. or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man, that he be so jealous of his wife as to make her stand before the LORD, then will the priest perform all this Law.

31. the man shall be absolved of iniquity, and the woman shall bear her iniquity.

31. But if the man be innocent of transgressions, then let that woman bear her iniquity.

 

Welcome to the World of P’shat Exegesis

 

In order to understand the finished work of the P’shat mode of interpretation of the Torah, one needs to take into account that the P’shat is intended to produce a catechetical output, whereby a question/s is/are raised and an answer/a is/are given using the seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel and as well as the laws of Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew expression.

 

The Seven Hermeneutic Laws of R. Hillel are as follows

[cf. http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=472&letter=R]:

 

1. Ḳal va-ḥomer: "Argumentum a minori ad majus" or "a majori ad minus"; corresponding to the scholastic proof a fortiori.

2. Gezerah shavah: Argument from analogy. Biblical passages containing synonyms or homonyms are subject, however much they differ in other respects, to identical definitions and applications.

3. Binyan ab mi-katub eḥad: Application of a provision found in one passage only to passages which are related to the first in content but do not contain the provision in question.

4. Binyan ab mi-shene ketubim: The same as the preceding, except that the provision is generalized from two Biblical passages.

5. Kelal u-Peraṭ and Peraṭ u-kelal: Definition of the general by the particular, and of the particular by the general.

6. Ka-yoẓe bo mi-maḳom aḥer: Similarity in content to another Scriptural passage.

7. Dabar ha-lamed me-'inyano: Interpretation deduced from the context.

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: B’Midbar (Numbers) 5:11-31

 

12 Should any man’s wife go astray What is written above [i.e., before] this subject? “Everyone’s holy things belong to him.” If you withhold the gifts of the kohanim, then—by your life!—you will have to come to him to bring him an unfaithful wife. -[Ber. 63a]

 

any man Heb. אִישׁ אִישׁ, lit. a man, a man. [The double expression] teaches that she has been doubly unfaithful—against [the Lord, who is known as] the Man (אִישׁ) of War on high (Exod. 15: 3), and against her husband (אִישָׁהּ), lit., “her man”] below [in this world].

 

Should any man’s wife go astray Heb. תִשְׂטֶה. Our Sages teach (Tanchuma Naso 5): Adulterers do not commit adultery unless a spirit of folly (שְׁטוּת) enters them, as it is written [here], “should go astray” [תִשְׂטֶה, can also mean to become a שׁוֹטֶה, i.e., to become “foolish”], and it is written, “One who commits adultery with a woman is devoid of sense” (Prov. 6:32) (Tanchuma Naso 5). The simple meaning of the verse is: “Should [any man’s wife] goes astray.” She deviates from modest ways, thus arousing his suspicion, as in [the verse], “turn away [שְׂטֵה] from it and pass” (Prov. 4:15), [and] “Let your heart not veer off [יֵשְׂטְ] into her ways” (Prov. 7:25).

 

and deal treacherously with him What is her treachery?

 

13 A man lie with her This excludes a minor and a non-human [such as an animal].-[Sotah 26b]

 

with her carnally Her intercourse disqualifies her, but her sister’s intercourse [with the husband] does not disqualify her [to her husband] (Yevamoth 95a), as in the account of two sisters who resembled each other. -[Tanchuma Naso 6] [See Levush, Nachalath Ya’akov]

 

but it was hidden from her husband’s eyes This excludes a blind man (Sotah 27a, Sifrei Naso 1:40, Tanchuma 7). It follows that, if he saw [the adulterous act] and ignored it, the water [prescribed further in the section] will not test her.-[Sifrei Naso 1:40]

 

but she was secluded the amount [of time] it takes for one who is secluded [with a man] to be defiled by intercourse. -[Sifrei Naso 1:41, Sotah 2b, 4a]

 

and there is no witness against her But if there is even one witness against her who claims that she has been defiled, she does not drink [the water].-[Sifrei Naso 1:41, Sotah 2b]

 

and there is no witness against her to the defilement, but there were witnesses to the seclusion.-[Sotah 2b]

 

seized Heb. נִתְפָּשָׂה, raped, as in “seized her (וּתְפָשָׂהּ) and lay with her” (Deut. 22:28). -[Sifrei Naso 1:42]

 

14 had come upon him before the seclusion. -[Sotah 3a]

 

a spirit of jealousy... and he became jealous Our Sages explain (Sotah 3a) as an expression of warning: he warned her, “Do not seclude yourself with such-and-such a man.” -[Sotah 5b]

 

and she was defiled, or, a spirit... had come on him That is to say, he warned her, but she disregarded his warning, and it is not known whether she was defiled or not.

 

15 flour [Ordinary flour,] that it should not be of fine flour. -[Sifrei Naso 1:48]

 

barley But not wheat; [since] she acted like an animal, her offering is [composed of] animal feed. -[Sotah 15b, Sifrei Naso 1:48]

 

He shall not pour oil over it so that her offering should not be beautiful (Sotah 15a), for oil is called "light"—but she acted in darkness. -[Tanchuma Naso 3]

 

nor put frankincense on it For the matriarchs are [symbolically] known as frankincense, as it says, “to the hill of frankincense” (Songs, 4:6), yet she [the accused woman] deviated from their ways. -[Tanchuma Naso 3]

 

for it is a meal offering of jealousies Heb. כִּי־מִנְחַת קְנָאֹת הוּא [The word הוּא, it is, means] this flour; [the word for flour,] קֶמַח, is masculine in gender.

 

a meal offering of jealousies It arouses against her two jealousies [i.e., expressions of wrath]: the wrath of the Omnipresent and the wrath of her husband. -[Sifrei Naso 1:50]

 

17 holy water which had been sanctified in the washstand. Because the washstand was made from the copper of the “mirrors of the women who had gathered” (Exod. 38:8) [at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting; see Rashi on that verse], whereas this one had abandoned their ways. They had intercourse with their husbands in Egypt “beneath the apple tree” (Song 8:5), whereas this one, who had corrupted herself with another [man]—let her be examined through it [the washstand]. - [Midrash Aggadah]

 

in an earthen vessel She gave the adulterer to drink choice wine in valuable goblets; therefore, let her drink bitter water in a worthless clay vessel.-[Sotah 9a]

 

18 Then the kohen shall set, etc. Has it not already been said, “and present her before the Lord” (verse 16) ? However, they would move her around from place to place to tire her out so that she should become agitated and confess.-[Sotah 8a]

 

and expose He unravels the plaits of her hair to humiliate her. From here [we derive] that a bared head is considered a disgrace for the daughters of Israel.-[Keth. 72a]

 

before the Lord At the Nicanor Gate, the eastern gate of the [Temple] courtyard (Sotah 7a) the route by which everyone enters.

 

he shall place into her hands In order to weary her, [in the hope] that she will become agitated and confess, and the Explicit Name will not be erased in the water. -[Sotah 14a]

 

the bitter [They were called bitter] because of their effects, for they will prove bitter for her.-[Sifrei Naso 1:47]

 

curse-bearing [I.e.,] which eliminates her from the world; it is an expression like [the phrase] “a pricking  (מַמְאִיר)briar” (Ezek. 28:24). But it is impossible to render it as “accursed water,” because it was holy, and Scripture does not write אֲרוּרִים, but מְאָרְרִים, [meaning] “which cause others to be cursed.” Onkelos too does not translate it as לִיטַיָא, “cursed,” but מְלַטְטַיָּא, “that cause a curse,” [i. e.,] which reveal a curse on the body of this [woman].

 

19 Place her under oath What is the oath? "If no man has lain with you... [you will] be absolved (הִנָּקִי), but if he has lain [with you], may you suffocate (חֲנָקִי) ! From the negative, you imply the affirmative, but we are duty-bound to commence capital cases by presuming innocence. [Therefore, we do not commence with the affirmative, but only imply it from the negative.] -[Kid. 62a]

 

20 But if you have gone astray - כִּי שָׂטִית. [The word] כִּי is used in the sense of “if.”

 

21 with the oath of the curse The oath which contains a curse.

 

May the Lord make you for a curse, etc. so that everyone shall use your name in cursing [such as], “May it befall you as it befell so-and-so.”

 

and an oath so that everyone will swear by you [such as], “If [I am] not [speaking the truth], may it happen to me as it happened to so-and-so.” Similarly, it says, “And you shall leave your name for an oath for My elect” (Isa. 65:15). [It is customary for] the righteous [to] swear by the calamities that befall the wicked. The same applies to blessings [as it says]: “shall be blessed with you” (Gen. 12:3); “With you, Israel will bless, saying” (Gen. 48: 20). -[Sifrei Naso 1:73]

 

your thigh In the curse, the thigh precedes the belly, because she began the sin with it [the thigh].-[Sotah 8b]

 

swell Heb. צָבָה. As Targum [Onkelos] renders: נְפִיחָא, swollen.

 

22 causing the belly to swell Heb. לַצְבּוֹת בֶּטֶן, like לְהַצְבּוֹת בֶּטֶן, “to cause the belly to swell.” This is the function of the pathach with which the “lamed” is vocalized; similarly, “to to lead them םָ) (לַנְחֹת on the way” (Exod. 13:21) and “to show you (לַרְאֹתְכֶם) the way in which to go” (Deut. 1:33). Similarly, [Scripture says in this verse] לַנְפִּל יָרֵךְ [which is equivalent to]: לְהַנְפִּל יָרֵךְ, “to cause the thigh to rupture,” for the water distends the belly and ruptures the thigh.

 

causing the belly to swell and the thigh to rupture [This refers to] the belly and thigh of the adulterer, or perhaps only those of the adulteress? [However,] when Scripture says “causes your thigh to rupture and your belly to swell” (verse 21), those of the adulteress are stated [thus here it must refer to the adulterer].-[Sotah 28a and Sifrei Naso 1:65]

 

Amen, amen An acceptance of the oath: “amen” for the curse, “ amen” for the oath, “amen” whether from this man [whom her husband suspects], “amen” whether from another man, “amen” that I did not go astray while betrothed or married, while awaiting levirate marriage from my brother-in-law or after having married him.- [Sifrei Naso 1:66, Sotah 18a, b].

 

24 He shall then give... the woman to drink This is not the sequence in which it was done, for first he [the kohen] would offer up her meal-offering. But Scripture informs you that when he makes her drink, it [the water] becomes bitter within her. Since it mentions [only] “belly” and “thigh,” how do I know that the rest of the body [is also affected]? [Because] Scripture states, "shall enter her"—[that is,] into all of her [body]. If so, why does Scripture [explicitly] mention “belly” and "thigh"? Since the transgression began through them, therefore the punishment begins with them. -[Sotah 19a, b, according to Rabbi Simeon]

 

to become bitter They will be harmful and bitter for her.

 

25 wave He moves it to and fro, up and down (Sifrei Naso 1:71). She, too, waves with him, for her hand is above the kohen’s hand.-[Sotah 19a]

 

and bring it This refers to placing it at the south-west corner of the altar, before קְמִיצָה, “scooping up a handful,” as is the case with other meal- offerings. -[Sotah 14b]

 

26 its reminder This is the handful, for through bringing it up in smoke, the meal-offering comes to the Most High as a memorial.-[Sifrei 1:72]

 

27 He shall make her drink the water [The repetition of this statement is meant] to include that if she says, “I refuse to drink” after the scroll [in which God’s name is written] has been erased [by the water], they pour it into her, making her drink it against her will, unless [she admits and] says, “I have been defiled.”-[Sotah 19b]

 

her belly will swell Although in reference to the curse, the thigh is mentioned first, the water tests [the body] only in the order it enters it [which is first the belly and then the thigh]. -[Sotah 9b]

 

The woman will be a curse As I explained (verse 21), everyone will curse by her [name].-[Sifrei Naso 1:73]

 

among her people There is a difference between a person who is disgraced in a place where he is known and a person who is disgraced in a place where he is unknown.-[Sifrei Naso 1:64]

 

28 But if the woman had not become defiled During this seclusion,

 

and she is clean regarding any other place,

 

she shall be exempted from [the dire effects of] the curse-bearing water, and moreover, she “shall bear seed.” If she used to have painful births, she will now have easy births; if she used to give birth to dark-skinned babies, she will now give birth to fair ones.-[Sotah 26a]

 

30 Or if a man [The meaning here is] as in [the phrase]: “Or if it be known” (Exod. 21:36), that is to say, if he was a jealous man, then on account of this “he will present the woman [before the Lord].”

 

31 The man shall be absolved of iniquity If the water tested her, he should not become distressed and say, “I am responsible for her death.” [Rather,] he is exempt of any punishment (Midrash Aggadah, Num. Rabbah 9:43). Another interpretation: Once he has made her drink, she becomes permitted to him, and he is free of any sin, for a woman under suspicion is forbidden to her husband. -[Num. Rabbah 9:43]

 

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Reading Assignment:

 

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

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

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

Vol. 13 – “First Journeys,” pp. 115-127

 

 

Ketubim: Tehillim (Psalms) 94:1-15

 

Rashi

Targum

1. O God of vengeance, O Lord; O God show vengeance.

1. The God who takes vengeance is the LORD; the God who takes vengeance has appeared.

2. Exalt Yourself, O Judge of the earth, render to the haughty their recompense.

2. Lift yourself up, O judge of the earth; requite evil to the proud.

3. How long will the wicked, O Lord, how long will the wicked rejoice?

3. How long will the wicked, O LORD, how long will the wicked dwell in tranquility?

4. They spout forth, they speak falsely; all workers of violence boast.

4. They will gush and speak blasphemy; all the workers of deceit utter disgraceful words.

5. Your people, O Lord, they crush, and Your inheritance they afflict.

5. They will crush Your people, O LORD, and impoverish Your inheritance.

6. They slay the widow and the stranger, and they murder the orphans.

6. They will kill the widow and proselyte, and they will murder orphans.

7. They say, "Yah will not see, nor will the God of Jacob understand."

7. And they said, "Yah will not see, and the God of Jacob will not comprehend it."

8. Understand, [you] most boorish of the people, and [you] fools, when will you gain intelligence?

8. Consider, you who are fools among the people; and you unwise, when will you gain insight?

9. Will He Who implants the ear not hear or will He Who forms the eye not see?

9. Could it be that the ear was planted, and hears no instruction? Or could it be that He created the eye, and it has not looked at the Torah?

10. Will He Who chastises nations not reprove? [He is] the One Who teaches man knowledge.

10. Could it be that He gave the Torah to His people, and when they sin, they are not rebuked? Did not the LORD teach knowledge to the first Adam?

11. The Lord knows man's thoughts that they are vanity.

11. The thoughts of the sons of men are known in the presence of the LORD, for they are nothingness.

12. Fortunate is the man whom You, Yah, chastise, and from Your Torah You teach him.

12. It is well for the man whom You rebuke, O Yah; and You will instruct him out of your Torah.

13. To grant him peace from days of evil, while a pit is a dug for the wicked.

13. To give him quietness from the days of evil until the pit is created for the wicked.

14. For the Lord will not forsake His people, nor will He desert His inheritance.

14. For the LORD will not abandon His people, nor will He forsake His inheritance.

15. For until righteousness will judgment return, and after it all those upright in heart.

15. For justice will return to righteousness/generosity, and after it all the upright of heart will be redeemed.

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Psalms 94:1-15

 

1 show Heb. הופיע, show and reveal to us Your vengeance.

 

4 boast Heb. יתאמרו. They praise themselves, as (Deut. 26:17f.): “you praised  (האמרת),” and “praised you (האמירך).”

 

8 Understand, [you] most boorish of the people the most foolish peoples in the world.

 

9 Will He Who implants the ear Is it possible that the Holy One, blessed be He, Who implanted the ear, should not hear the cry of His people and their affliction?

 

10 will He...not reprove and chastise you for that?

 

11 The Lord knows your thoughts, that you are thinking to be haughty with the crown of the kingdom, and you should know that they [your thoughts] are vanity.

 

12 Fortunate is the man Fortunate are the righteous who are afflicted under Your hands, provided that they engage in Torah and mitzvoth.

 

13 To grant him peace from days of evil For the chastisements cause him to have peace from the days of the judgment of Gehinnom.

 

while he sees that a pit is dug for the wicked man.

 

15 For until righteousness will judgment return [i.e., the judgment of] their chastisements [will persist] until they become righteous because of them. And after the judgment, all those upright in heart will gather, for they will receive their reward.

 

 

Meditation from the Psalms

Psalms ‎‎94:1-15

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

 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 5:11 – 6:21

Hoshea 4:14 – 5:2 + 6:1-2

Mk 10:17-22, Lk 18:18-23, Rm 1:26-27, Mt. 19:16-22

 

This is the fifth of the eleven psalms composed by Moses. He dedicated it to the tribe of Gad from which Elijah the prophet is descended.[2] The tribe of Gad was renowned for its military prowess and its ability to punish the attacking enemy as we read in Yaaqob's blessing: Gad will recruit a regiment and it will retreat in its tracks.[3] And, of Gad, [Moses] said: He dwells like a lion, and tears off the arm [of the enemy] with the crown of the head.[4] Similarly, Elijah will herald the advent of the Messianic era, when God will appear as the God of vengeance, who will punish the proud and cruel nations.[5]

 

The Talmud[6] designates this psalm as the Song of the Day for the fourth day of the week, on which G-d created the sun and the moon. In the future, the G-d vengeance will punish the idolators who worshiped these celestial bodies. Moses composed this psalm as a prayer to bring that day of Messianic redemption and retribution closer.[7]

 

Since Tammuz 17 is coming soon, and the events that cause Jews to fast on Tammuz are certainly worthy of HaShem’s vengeance. Let’s spend a bit of time examining this first fast of the year, the fast of the fourth month.

 

שבעה עשר בתמוז - Shiva Asar B'Tammuz (Fast of the 17th of Tammuz) is a Rabbinic fast day that occurs on Tammuz 17. The 17th of Tammuz is a day-fast commemorating the many tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people on this day. This day is celebrated by the fast, special prayers, and the beginning of the Three Weeks.[8]

 

Shiva Asar B'Tammuz begins a three-week national period of semi-mourning which culminates with the ninth of Av (Tisha B’Ab). It is a period where many tragedies have historically occurred.

 

This period of tragedies is an ongoing process designed to bring us to repentance for our sins. The destruction of the two Temples was a gradual process and could have been stopped at any point if we would simply return to the ways of HaShem. The way of HaShem is to bring punishment in stages in order for us to perceive our wicked ways and return to Him.

 

As we return, in the spiral of time, to the energies of this time, we must observe the unfolding drama and use it as a wakeup call in order that this year, at this time, we may see the fulfillment of this prophecy:

 

Zechariah 8:18-19 Again the word of the HaShem Almighty came to me. This is what the HaShem Almighty says: "The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah. Therefore love truth and peace."

 

Thus the Prophet teaches us that when we repent and turn from our wayward ways, then this time of mourning will be turned into a time of joy.

 

When we reach the critical month of "Tammuz", we must remember just what was it that precipitated our downfall. Teshuva, repentance, can be effected even at the last minute of adversity. We can turn the tide, now is a propitious time for teshuva.

 

Why do we fast on Tammuz 17?

 

The Talmud explains that we fast because of the five tragedies that befell the nation of Israel on this day:

 

Taanit 26b … ON THE SEVENTEENTH OF TAMMUZ THE TABLES [OF THE LAW] WERE SHATTERED, THE DAILY OFFERING WAS DISCONTINUED, A BREACH WAS MADE IN THE CITY AND APOSTOMOS1 BURNED THE SCROLL OF THE LAW AND PLACED AN IDOL IN THE TEMPLE.

 

The five tragedies mentioned in the Gemara are:

 

1. The "Luchot", the tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were engraved, were broken by Moshe;

 

2. The Korban Tamid, the continual daily sacrifice, was discontinued;

 

3. The wall around the city of Jerusalem was breached;

 

4. Apostomos burnt the Torah scroll;

 

5. An idolatrous image was placed in the Beit HaMikdash, the Holy Temple.

 

The Talmud tells us the source of our knowledge that these things happened on this day:

 

Taanit 28b FIVE MISFORTUNES BEFELL OUR FATHERS ON THE SEVENTEENTH OF TAMMUZ etc. Whence is it known that the Tables [of the Law] were shattered [on the seventeenth of Tammuz]? For it has been taught: On the sixth of the month [of Sivan] the Ten Commandments were given to Israel; R. Jose says: On the seventh of the month. He who says that they were given on the sixth takes the view that on the sixth they were given and on the seventh Moshe ascended the mount. And he who says that they were given on the seventh holds that they were given on the seventh and on the seventh Moshe ascended the mount. For it is written, And the seventh day he called unto Moshe, and it is further written, And Moshe entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up into the mount; and Moshe was in the mount forty days and forty nights. The [remaining] twenty-four days of Sivan and the sixteen days of Tammuz make altogether forty. On the seventeenth of Tammuz he came down [from the mountain] and shattered the Tables, as it is written, And it came to pass as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf . . . and he cast the tables out of his hands, and broke them beneath the mount.

 

 [THE DAILY OFFERING] WAS DISCONTINUED. This is a tradition.

 

A BREACH WAS MADE IN THE CITY. Did this then happen on the seventeenth? Is it not written, In the fourth month, in the ninth day of the month, the famine was sore in the city etc., and in the following verse it is written, Then a breach was made in the city etc.! — Raba said: This is no contradiction. The one refers to the First Temple and the other to the Second Temple. For it has been taught: In the First Temple the breach was made in the city on the ninth of Tammuz, but in the Second Temple on the seventeenth of Tammuz.

 

APOSTOMOS BURNED THE SCROLL OF THE LAW. This is a tradition.

 

AND PLACED AN IDOL IN THE TEMPLE. Whence do we know this? — For it is written, And from the time that the continual burnt-offering shall be taken away and the detestable thing that causeth appalment set up. Was there then only one detestable thing? Is it not written, And upon the wing of detestable things shall be that which causeth appalment? — Raba replied: There were two [idols] and one fell upon the other and broke its hand and upon it was found inscribed You desired to destroy the Temple, but I have handed over your hand to Him.

 

Now that we have introduced the five significant events of Tammuz 17, let’s examine them in greater detail and see if we can understand why these five are so significant.

 

The breaking of the "Luchot"

 

We know that the tablets of stone, the luchot, were broken on this day by simple mathematics. Moshe went up Mount Sinai, on the seventh of Sivan, the day after HaShem spoke the "ten commandments":

 

Exodus 24:16 And the glory of HaShem settled on Mount Sinai. For six days the cloud covered the mountain, and on the seventh day HaShem called to Moshe from within the cloud.

 

We also know that Moshe was up on the mountain for forty days and forty nights:

 

Exodus 24:18 Then Moshe entered the cloud as he went on up the mountain. And he stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

 

Sivan had thirty days that year, so we have 24 days of Sivan plus the first 16 days of Tammuz. Moshe, therefore, came down from the mountain on Tammuz 17. When Moshe came down, he broke the two stone tablets:

 

Exodus 32:19 When Moshe approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain.

 

The Talmud confirms this understanding:

 

Yoma 4b In what do R. Jose the Galilean and R. Akiba differ? — In the controversy of these Tannaim. For we have been taught: On the sixth day of the month was the Torah given to Israel. R. Jose says on the seventh. He who says that the Torah was given on the sixth day holds that on the sixth it was given and on the seventh Moshe ascended the mountain; he who holds that the Torah was given on the seventh assumes that on the seventh both the Torah was given and Moshe ascended, as it is written, And He called unto Moshe on the seventh day. Now R. Jose the Galilean is of the same opinion as the first Tanna, who held that the Torah was given on the sixth of the month, therefore this happened after the giving of the Ten Commandments: ‘The glory of the Lord abode on mount Sinai and the cloud covered him six days’ ‘him’ meaning Moshe- ‘And He called unto Moshe on the seventh day’ to receive the remainder of the Torah. For if the thought should come to you that ‘And the glory of the Lord abode’ from the New Moon [of Sivan], so that ‘And the cloud covered him’ referred to the mountain, and ‘The Lord called unto Moshe on the seventh day’ to receive the Ten Commandments, surely they had received the Torah on the sixth day already and also the cloud had departed on the sixth day! — R. Akiba, however, held with R. Jose that the Torah was given to Israel on the seventh. Quite in accord with R. Akiba's teaching is the statement that the Tablets were broken on the seventeenth of Tammuz, for the twenty-four days of Sivan and the sixteen of Tammuz make up the forty days he was on the mountain, and on the seventeenth of Tammuz he went down and came to break the Tablets. But according to R. Jose the Galilean who holds that there were six days of the separation in addition to forty days [spent] on the mountain, the Tablets could not have been broken before the twenty-third of Tammuz? — R. Jose the Galilean will answer you: The six days of the separation are included in the forty days on the mountain.

 

The discontinuance of the Korban Tamid

 

The next tragedy the Talmud discusses is the discontinuation of the Tamid offering. The Talmud tells us that we know this happened on this day because we have a tradition from our forefathers that this is so. Rashi explains that the reason why the sacrifice was no longer brought was because the government at the time forbade it.

 

The Talmud provides some insight into why the korban Tamid (the morning and evening offering) was stopped:

 

Baba Kama 82b IT IS NOT RIGHT TO BREED PIGS IN ANY PLACE WHATEVER. Our Rabbis taught: When the members of the Hasmonean house were contending with one another, Hyrcanus was within and Aristobulus without [the city wall]. [Those who were within] used to let down to the other party every day a basket of denarii, and [in return] cattle were sent up for the regular sacrifices. There was, however, an old man [among the besiegers] who had some knowledge in Grecian Wisdom and who said to them: ‘So long as the other party [are allowed to] continue to perform the service of the sacrifices they will not be delivered into your hands.’ On the next day when the basket of denarii was let down, a swine was sent up. When the swine reached the center of the wall it stuck its claws into the wall, and Eretz Yisrael quaked over a distance of four hundred parasangs by four hundred parasangs. It was proclaimed on that occasion: Cursed be the man who would breed swine and cursed be the man who would teach his son Grecian Wisdom.

 

From this day until the end of the siege, the daily offering was not brought.

 

Breaching of the wall around Jerusalem

 

The Talmud then discusses the tragedy of the wall of Jerusalem being breached, the event which led to the over-running of Jerusalem by our oppressors and the eventual destruction of the Temples. The Talmud notes that there is an inconsistency between Taanit 26b and the verse in Yirmiyahu 52:6, which implies that the wall was breached on the ninth of Tammuz, not the seventeenth as the Talmud says.

 

Jeremiah 52:6-7 By the ninth day of the fourth month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled. They left the city at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah,

 

The Talmud resolves this inconsistency by explaining that the verse in Yirmiyahu is referring to the time of the first Temple, while our Mishna is referring to the time of the second Temple. If that is the case, why do we fast only on the 17th of Tammuz, and not on the ninth as well?

 

The Talmud Yerushalmi, the Jerusalem Talmud, explains that in reality, the breach of the walls occurred on the 17th during both eras. However, in the time of the first Temple, because of the stress and upheaval of the time, the people became confused and miscalculated the days in the calendar. Therefore, they thought the breach occurred on the ninth. Yirmiyahu, when recording the event, wrote it down according to the erroneous calculation of the people, which was the prevalent belief as to the date of occurrence. The Tur[9] writes that the breaches did occur on different dates. However, because having two fasts in such close proximity would be a burden on the community, only one fast day was established. The fast day was established on the day the wall was breached at the time of the second Temple because the tragedy was greater regarding its impact on us: the exile that began at that time is the exile we currently live in.

 

Apostomos-the-Wicked burned a Sefer Torah

 

The burning of the Torah by Apostomos is recorded in the Talmud as an event that happened on the seventeenth of Tammuz. We learn that this was a tradition from our forefathers. The Talmud does not tell us who Apostomos was, or what the significance of the Torah scroll was.

 

Some sources claim that Apostomos was a Roman general and that this event occurred just prior to the Bar Kochba revolt. Other sources claim that Apostomos was a general of Antiochus and that this event occurred ca. 168 BCE.

 

This story is recorded in the Talmud Yerushalmi[10], that Apostomos burned the Torah at the crossroads of Lod, while our Hakhamim[11] say it was at the crossroads of Tarlusa.

 

Josephus[12] gives us some insight into this period:

 

Now before this their first mourning was over, another mischief befell them also; for some of those that raised the foregoing tumult, when they were traveling along the public road, about a hundred furlongs from the city, robbed Stephanus, a servant of Caesar, as he was journeying, and plundered him of all that he had with him; which things when Cureanus heard of, he sent soldiers immediately, and ordered them to plunder the neighboring villages, and to bring the most eminent persons among them in bonds to him. Now as this devastation was making, one of the soldiers seized the laws of Moses (Torah scroll) that lay in one of those villages, and brought them out before the eyes of all present, and tore them to pieces; and this was done with reproachful language, and much scurrility; which things when the Jews heard of, they ran together, and that in great numbers, and came down to Cesarea, where Cumanus then was, and besought him that he would avenge, not themselves, but God himself, whose laws had been affronted; for that they could not bear to live any longer, if the laws of their forefathers must be affronted after this manner. Accordingly Cumanus, out of fear lest the multitude should go into a sedition, and by the advice of his friends also, took care that the soldier who had offered the affront to the laws should be beheaded, and thereby put a stop to the sedition which was ready to be kindled a second time.

 

The Tiferet Israel offers two possible explanations as to the significance of the scroll. One is that this scroll was the one written by Ezra HaSofer, Ezra the Scribe. The text was the most authoritative, and all other Torah scrolls that were written were checked against this one for accuracy and errors. Another understanding is that he burnt every Torah scroll he could find. No matter the explanation, the intent behind Apostomos' actions remain the same: To eradicate Torah from the nation of Israel.

 

The Placing of an Idol in the Sanctuary

 

The Talmud tells that the event found in Daniel 12:11 occurred on the 17th of Tammuz:

 

Daniel 12:11 "From the time that the daily (Tamid) sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation (an idolatrous image) is set up, there will be 1,290 days.

 

Arachin 11b Come and hear: R. Jose said, Good things are brought about on a good [auspicious] day, and evil ones on a bad one. It is said, The day on which the first Temple was destroyed was the ninth of Ab, and it was at the going out of the Sabbath, and at the end of the seventh [Sabbatical] year. The [priestly] guard was that of Jehojarib, the priests and Levites were standing on their platform singing the song. What song was it? And He hath brought upon them their iniquity, and will cut them off in their evil. They had no time to complete [the psalm with] ‘The Lord our God will cut them off’, before the enemies came and overwhelmed them. The same happened the second time [the second Sanctuary's destruction]. Now what need was there for song? Would you say that it was on account of the [daily] burnt-offering? But that could not be, for on the seventeenth of Tammuz the continual sacrifice had been abolished. Hence it was on account of a freewill burnt-offering! But how could you think so? Why should an obligatory-offering have been impossible and a freewill-offering available? — That is no difficulty: A young ox may accidentally have come to them!

 

As the verse says that "on the day the Tamid offering ceased to be brought, an idolatrous image was placed in the Temple." Although the Talmud here does not mention who placed the idol in the Temple, the Talmud Yerushalmi mentions that there is debate as to who did it. Some say that Apostomos placed the idol in the Temple as well as burning the Torah scroll. Others say it was placed by Menashe, an evil Jewish king, in the time of the first Temple.

 

The fast

 

Shiva Asar B'Tammuz is a fast day. The fast begins approximately an hour before sunrise and continuing until about an hour after sunset (some say at dusk). The primary purpose of the fast is to awaken our hearts to teshuva, to repentance. We must spend the day recalling our transgressions and the transgressions of our forefathers. We must spend the day concentrating on these manners and not seeking our own pleasure. The Torah tells us what to do if we are to avoid the tragedies of our forefathers:

 

Leviticus 26:40-42 "'But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers--their treachery against me and their hostility toward me, Which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies--then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

 

The essential purpose of a fast day is to motivate us to repent. Fasting is the means to the end, not the end itself!

 

Measure for measure

 

Is it possible to show that the events of Tammuz 17 were a punishment that was "measure for measure"? Do these events also show a measure-for-measure relationship to the Second Temple?

 

1. The "Luchot," the tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were engraved, were broken by Moshe;

 

2. The Korban Tamid, the continual daily sacrifice, was discontinued;

 

3. The walls of Jerusalem were breached during the Roman siege of the city (in 70 CE);

 

4. The Greek ruler Apostomos publicly burned the Torah scroll;

 

5. Menashe, a king of Judea in the First Temple period, erected an idolatrous image on the Temple grounds.[13]

 

Let us examine the original sin of Tammuz the 17th. The Children of Israel were confused by what they considered Moshe's tardiness in coming down from Mount Sinai at the end of the prescribed forty-day period. They assumed that Moshe had died. They decided to create a golden calf to take his place:

 

Shemot (Exodus) 32:1 "Get up and make a god for us, for we do not know what happened to this man Moshe who took us out of Egypt".

 

Later, they declared this golden calf to be their new god. They worshipped the golden calf and sacrificed to it:

 

Shemot (Exodus) 32:4-6 And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw [it], he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, Tomorrow [is] a feast to HaShem. And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

 

While still encamped before Mount Sinai, they rejected HaShem Who had taken them out of the land of Egypt, led them through the desert, and given them the Torah! As it says:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 106:20 "They exchanged their Glory (=HaShem) for an image of a grass-eating ox."

 

When Moshe observed the worship of the golden calf, he threw the Tablets from his hands and shattered them:

 

Shemot (Exodus) 32:19 And the tables [were] the work of G-d, and the writing [was] the writing of G-d, graven upon the tables.

 

With this in mind, we can understand how the punishments of Tammuz 17, midda kneged midda, measure for measure, through the ages correspond to the original sin of that day. The most obvious one of the four punishments listed, is that of Menashe's placement of an idol in the Temple. Menashe's placement of the idol in the Temple symbolized making the worship of his image a replacement for that of HaShem in His Holy Temple. This was a just punishment for the Children of Israel, who had done the same with the worship of the Golden Calf before Mount Sinai, centuries earlier.

 

The daily Tamid sacrifice personified the service of HaShem in the Temple. When this was discontinued, the situation paralleled the discontinuation of the worship of HaShem by the Jews who worshipped the Golden Calf at Mount Sinai.

 

The burning of the Torah by Apostomos paralleled the sin of the Golden Calf in a different way. When Moshe saw that his people had committed such a terrible sin he shattered the Tablets, as has been mentioned. As a punishment for bringing about the destruction of HaShem's Tablets of the law, the Jews of a future era had HaShem's Torah burned before them by a blasphemous ruler.

 

The breach in the walls of Jerusalem may also be shown to parallel the original sin of Tammuz 17. The Gemara[14] tells us that the righteous people and Torah scholars of the generation provide protection to all members of the community, just as a city wall does. For this reason, the Talmud says that scholars do not have to contribute to the expense of building defensive ramparts around their home towns, their Torah study is their share in the city's defense. As the Gemara expounds on a verse from Shir HaShirim:

 

Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) 8:10 "I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers" .

 

Bava Batra 7b R. Judah the Prince levied the impost for the wall on the Rabbis. Said Resh Lakish: The Rabbis do not require the protection [of a wall], as it is written, If I should count them, they are more In number than the sand. Who are these that are counted? Shall I say the righteous, and that they are more in number than the sand? Seeing that of the whole of Israel it is written that they shall be like the sand on the sea shore, how can the righteous alone be more than the sand? — What the verse means, however, is I shall count the deeds of the righteous and they will be more in number than the sand. If then the sand which is the lesser quantity protects [the land] against the sea, how much more must the deeds of the righteous, which are a larger quantity, protect them? When Resh Lakish came before R. Johanan, the latter said to him: Why did you not derive the lesson from this verse, I am a wall and my breasts are like towers, where ‘I am a wall’ refers to the Torah ‘ and ‘my breasts are like towers’ to the students of the Torah? — Resh Lakish, however, adopts the exposition [of this verse] given [also] by Raba, viz. that ‘I am a wall’ refers to the community of Israel, and ‘my breasts are like towers’, to synagogues and houses of study.

 

"I am a wall" - this refers to the Torah, which affords protection to its people. "My breasts are like towers" - this refers to Torah scholars.

 

The Children of Israel, when they rejected the leadership of Moshe and chose a Golden Calf to lead them instead, were showing disdain for the ultimate scholar of the Torah. Also, their sin caused the shattering of the Tablets of the Torah themselves. Since Torah scholars are compared to city walls, a fitting punishment for their sin was that the Jews of Jerusalem in a future generation had their protective wall breached on the anniversary of the original sinful deed.

 

Our Torah portion speaks of adultery which, as we explained a few weeks ago, alludes to idolatry. One who has intimacy with another man’s wife (adultery) is the same as a man who has intimacy with an idol. Both deny their obligations incurred when they entered the marriage (Sinai) covenant. This concords with Tammuz 17th’s connection with Idolatry and the major theme of our psalm;

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 94:20 Shall the seat of wickedness have fellowship with Thee, which frameth mischief by statute?

 

Our Ashlamata, from Hoshea, speaks well of the sins that led to the tragedies of Tammuz 17. The final 2 pesukim, Hoshea 6:1-2, speak of the results of our ultimate teshuva from those horrible sins:

 

Hoshea (Hosea) 6:1 'Come, and let us return unto HaShem; for He hath torn, and He will heal us, He hath smitten, and He will bind us up. 2 After two days will He revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

 

 Ashlamatah: Hosea 4:14-5:2+6:1-2

 

Rashi

Targum

1. ¶ Hear the word of the Lord, O children of Israel; for the Lord has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land; for there is neither truth nor loving-kindness nor knowledge of God in the land.

1. ¶ Hear the word of the LORD, O people of Israel, for there is a case before the LORD against the inhabitants of the land. For there are none who act honestly and none who do good deeds and none who walk in the fear of the LORD in the land.

2. There is swearing and lying and killing and stealing and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and blood touches blood.

2. They swear, they lie, they slay people, and they steal; and committing adultery, they beget children by the wives of their companions; and they add transgression to transgression.

3. Therefore shall the land mourn, and all that dwell therein shall be cut off, along with the beasts of the field, and the fowl of the heavens; also, the fish of the sea shall be diminished.

3. Therefore the land will be laid waste, and everything that dwells in it will be made desolate, the wild beasts, and the birds of the sky; and even the fish of the sea will be diminished, because of their sins.

4. Surely let no man strive, and let no man reprove; for your people are like them who strive with the priest.

4. For they say, “The scribe will not teach, and the prophet will not admonish.” So, your people argue with their teachers.

5. Therefore you shall stumble in the daytime, and the prophet that is with you shall also stumble with you in the night, and I will silence your mother.

5. And you will stumble by day, and also the false prophets that are with you will stumble as at night, and I will put your congregations to shame.

6. My people were silenced for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you from being a priest to me; seeing that you have forgotten the Torah of your God, I, too, will forget your children.

6. My people have become stupid for lack of knowledge. Because you have set aside the knowledge of the fear of Me, I will reject you from ministering before Me. And because you have forgotten the Law of your God, I will also your children.

7. The more they have increased, the more they have sinned against Me; I will (therefore) exchange their honor for shame.

7. The more I increased their income, the more they sinned before Me. They have changed their glory to dishonor.

8. They feed on the sin offerings of My people, and set their heart on their iniquity.

8. The priests have committed desecration by eating the sin-offerings of My people, so as to add sins to their own guilt.

9. And it shall be like people, like priest; and I will punish them for their ways, and requite them for their deeds.

9. Now just as   they made the layman like the priest to desecrate my holy sacrifices, so I will profane their glory and make what is precious contemptible, so that I may punish them according to their wicked ways and repay them according to their perverted deeds.

10. For they shall eat, and not be satisfied; they shall commit harlotry and shall not increase; because they have forsaken God to take heed [of His ways].

10. They will eat and not be satisfied; they will take wives and not beget because they have forsaken the worship of the LORD and not kept it.

11. Harlotry and [old] wine and new wine take away the heart.

11. Lechery and wine and intoxicating drink draw and lead their heart astray.

12. My people takes counsel of his piece of wood, and his rod declares to him. For the spirit of harlotry has caused them to err, and they have gone astray lewdly from under their God.

12. My people enquires of its wooden images, thinking its rods interpret for it. For the spirit of error has misled them, and they have gone astray from the worship of their God.

13. They sacrifice upon the mountaintops and burn incense upon the hills, under oaks and styraxes and elms, because its shadow is good; therefore, your daughters commit harlotry, and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.

13. On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, and on the hills, they offer incense—under the oak, the poplar and the terebinth, for their shade is extensive. Therefore, your daughters whom you have from the daughters of the nations fornicate, and your daughters-in-law from the nations, whom you have taken commit adultery.

14. I will not punish your daughters when they commit harlotry, nor your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery; for they themselves join with harlots, and they sacrifice with the prostitutes; therefore, the people that does not understand shall be knocked about.

14. I will not punish your daughters for fornicating nor your daughters-in-law for committing adultery; for they keep company with harlots, and they eat and drink with prostitutes; and the people of the generation which has not reflected on the Law are they not abandoned?

15. Though you, O Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah also become guilty; and do not come to Gilgal, nor go up to Beth-aven, nor swear, 'As the LORD lives.'

15. If you, O house Israel, go astray, do not let the house of Judah become guilty; and do not enter Gilgal or go up to Bethel, and do not swear falsely, “As the LORD lives.”

16. For Israel has rebelled like a rebellious cow; now shall the LORD feed them as a lamb in a broad [pasture] area.

16. For like an ox which has become fat and kicks, so has Israel rebelled because of much wealth. Now the LORD will lead them like a lamb in the valley.

17. Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone.

17. The house of Israel is addicted to idolatry; they have abandoned my worship.

18. Their drinking bouts have become strange; they have led them to harlotry; her rulers love to invite disgrace [upon them].

18. Their rulers have multiplied their banquets by oppression, therefore they have gone astray and turned away after lechery. Their lords have loved to be given shame.

19. The wind has bound her up in its wings, and they shall be ashamed of their altars. {P}

19. The deeds of their lords are not good just as it is impossible to gather wind in the fold of a garment. Now I will bring upon them the enemy, and they will have shame from their idolatrous altars. {P}

 

 

1. Hear this, O priests; and hearken, O house of Israel; and give ear, O house of the king; for yours is the judgment, because you have been a snare on Mizpah, and a net spread upon Tabor.

1. Hear this, O priests, listen, O house of Israel, and give ear, O house of the king. Is it not your responsibility to know judgement? But you have been a snare to your teachers, like a net spread over a high mountain.

2. The extent of their straying they have deepened, and I [will bring] chastisement to all of them.

2. And they sacrifice to idols frequently, but I will inflict punishment on them all.

3. I knew Ephraim, and Israel was not hidden from Me, for now you have committed harlotry, O Ephraim; Israel was defiled.

3. Before me the deeds of the house of Ephraim are revealed, and those of the house of Israel are not hidden from Me; for now, the people of the house of Ephraim have gone astray, the people of the house of Israel have defiled themselves.

4. They do not abandon their deeds to return to their God, for a spirit of harlotries is within them, and they do not know the LORD.

4. Their deeds do not allow them to return to the worship of their God, for the spirit of error has led them astray, and they have not sought instruction from the LORD.

5. And the pride of Israel shall be humbled before them, and Israel and Ephraim shall stumble over their iniquity, [and] Judah too shall stumble with them.

5. And the glory of Israel will be humbled and they will see. And the people of the house of Israel and the people of the house of Ephraim will stumble in their guilt. The people of the house of Judah too will stumble with them.

6. With their flocks and with their cattle, they shall go to seek the LORD, but they shall not find [Him]; He has withdrawn from them.

6. They will go with their sheep and cattle to seek instruction from the LORD, but they will not find it. He will remove his Shekinah from them.

7. They betrayed the LORD for they begot strange children; now a month shall consume them with their fields.  {S}

7. They have dealt faithlessly with the Memra of the LORD, for they have brought up children of the daughters of the nations. Now I will bring against them nations, month by month, who will plunder the produce of their land. {S}

8. Sound a shofar in Gibeah, a trumpet in Ramah; shout [in] Beth-aven, "After you, Benjamin!"

8. O prophets! Raise your voices like a horn; prophesy that murderous nations will come against them because they made Saul of Gibeah king over them. Cry aloud as though you sound the trumpet; say that kings and their armies will come against them, because they did not listen to the words of Samuel, the prophet from Ramah. Announce to them the alarms of the warriors because they acted faithlessly with My Memra, and they turned backwards from My worship and did not worship before Me in the Sanctuary which is in the land of the tribe of Benjamin.

9. Ephraim shall be bewildered on the day of contention; among the tribes of Israel, I made known the true [doctrine].

9. The people of the house of Ephraim will be desolate on the day of retribution for sins. But among the tribes of Israel, I have made known the Law.

10. The princes of Judah were like those who remove the landmark; upon them will I pour My wrath like water.

10. The princes of Judah were like those who alter boundaries. On them I will pour out My wrath like water.

11. Ephraim is plundered, broken by judgment, because he desired and followed a command.

11. The people of the house of Ephraim are oppressed, crushed by their judgments, because their judges have turned to go astray after the money of falsehood.

12. And I am like a moth to Ephraim and like decay to the house of Judah.

12. My Memra is like a moth to the people of the house of Ephraim and like decay to the people of the house of Judah.

13. And Ephraim saw his ailment, and Judah his pain, and Ephraim went to Assyria, and he sent to the king of Yarev, but he will not be able to heal you, and he will not remove the pain from you.

13. When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his pain, the people of the house of Ephraim went to Assyria, they sent envoys to the king that he might take vengeance for them. O prophet, say to them, “He is not able to cure you, nor can He relieve you of pain.

14. For I am like a young lion to Ephraim and like a lion's whelp to the house of Judah; I, yea I, will tear and I will go away; I will carry off and no one will rescue.

14. For My Memrah is like a lion to the people of the house of Ephraim and like a young lion to the people o/'the house of Judah; I, by my Memra, will kill and take away.2* I will raise up my         might24 and       none shall rescue. 15.

 

15. I will go away and return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their straits they will seek Me.

15. 1 will remove My Shekinah, 1 will return to My holy abode in heaven, until they realize that they are guilty, and petition Me. When they are in distress they will seek My fear.

 

 

1. Come and let us return to the LORD, for He has torn and He shall heal us; He smites, and He will bind us up.

1. They will say, “Come let us return to the worship of the LORD: for He who struck us will heal us; He who brought destruction upon us will relieve us.

2. He will revive us from the two days, on the third day He will set us up, and we will live before Him.

2. He will give us life in the days of consolations that will come; on the day of the resurrection of the dead He will raise us up and we will live before Him.

3. And let us know, let us strive to know the LORD: like the dawn whose going forth is sure, and He will come to us like rain, like the latter rain which satisfies the earth.

3. And we will learn and strive to know the fear of the LORD. Like the light of the morning which shoots forth when it comes out, so He will bring blessings to us like strong rain, and like the latter rain that saturates the earth.

4. What shall I do for you, Ephraim? What shall I do for you, Judah? For your loving-kindness is like a morning cloud and like the dew that passes away early.

4. In the face of true judgement what can I do for you, O house of Ephraim, what can I do for you, O house of Judah, when your goodness is like morning cloud(s), and like dew which vanishes quickly.

5. Because I have hewed by the prophets, I have put them to death because of the words of My mouth; now will your verdicts come out to the light?

5. Because I warned them through the mission of My prophets and they did not repent, I have brought killers against them, for they transgressed the Memra of My will. And My judgement will go forth as the light.

6. For I desire loving-kindness, and not sacrifices, and knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

6. For those who do acts of kindness are more desirable before Me than he that sacrifices, and those who carry out the Law of the LORD more than those that offer up burnt offerings.

7. But they, like Adam, transgressed the covenant; there they betrayed Me.

7. But they, like the former generations have transgressed My covenant. In the good land which I gave them to carry out My will there they have been false to My Memra.

8. Gilead is a city of workers of them that work iniquity, who lurk to shed blood.

8. Gilead is a city of oppressors. They shed innocent blood with cunning.

9. And as a man gathers fish, so do bands; a gang of priests murder on the way in one group, for they devised a plot.

9. They and their priests unite in the same path, killing people with one accord. For they have carried out the counsel of sinners.

10. In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: there, harlotry [is found] in Ephraim; Israel has become defiled.

10. In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing: they have changed the covenant which was made with them that they should not worship idols. They have gone astray again after the calves in Bethel. There the house of Ephraim have gone astray, the house of Israel have been defiled.

11. Judah, too, there is a harvest appointed to you, when I will return the backsliding of My people. {P}

11. The people of the house of Judah also have begun to

increase their guilt, and also to them will come an end when 1 bring back the exiles of My people. {P}

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Hosea 4:14 – 5:2 + 6:1-2

 

14 I will not punish your daughters anymore, to test them with the ‘bitter waters’ should they commit adultery. Why? Because their husbands join with harlots; for once the man is not free of sin, the waters do not test his wife. [based on Sifrei Num. 5:82 and Sotah 47a]

 

join Heb. יִפָרֵדוּ. Jonathan translates מִסְתַייעָן from סִיעָה, ‘a company,’ that is, they join with them (the harlots) in drinking wine. Now Menahem [Machbereth Menahem p. 145] connects it with עָבְשוּ פְרוּדוֹת “the wine barrels decay” (of Joel 1:17) where they (פְרוּדוֹת) are wine barrels.

 

the people that does not understand shall be knocked about Because you do not set your heart to comprehend, therefore you shall be knocked about, struck with (divine) visitation: יִלָּבֵט is an expression of road weariness and toilsome burden, ‘délaser’ in old French. 

 

15 Though you, O Israel, play the harlot the sons of Judah ought not learn their (sic) way. An alternate explanation is: Though you, O Israel, play the harlot, let not Judah become guilty. Though Israel is as a harlot, the sons of Judah are not guilty thereof, and I shall [therefore] not hold them accountable, as it is written above (1:17): “But I will have compassion upon the house of Judah.”

 

and do not come you sons of Judah to Gilgal. (Judah shall be blameless) provided the sons of Judah do not come to Gilgal where the ten tribes worship [idols], as it is stated: “All their wickedness is in Gilgal” (Hosea 9:15); “[Come] to Gilgal and multiply transgression” (Amos 4: 4).

 

nor go up to Beth-aven This is Bethel (which is called by the pejorative, Beth-aven, house of iniquity), for Jeroboam set up the calves there.

 

nor swear with them (the Israelite kingdom) “as the Lord lives,” “for if they say, ‘As the Lord lives,’ they, nevertheless, swear falsely” (Jer. 5:2). When they swore falsely, they would mention the name of Heaven, but when they swore truthfully, they would swear in the name of the Baalim. 

 

16 like a rebellious cow Like a fattened ox which kicks, so has Israel strayed due to an abundance of food and drink.

 

now shall the Lord feed them a limited feeding, as a lamb who feeds in a wide [sparsely vegetated] area, rather than as a fattened ox which is stuffed with barley and vetch. 

 

17 Ephraim is joined to idols [he] is joined to idols and cannot divest himself of them. Hence you, the prophet, ‘let him alone,’ and do not prophesy for the purpose of rebuking him since it will not avail. 

 

18 Their drinking bouts have become strange Their drinking bouts have become estranged from Me. סָר is an expression of ‘foreign.’ Comp. (Jer. 2:21) “a degenerate wild vine נָכְרִיָּה) (סוּרֵי הַגֶּפֶן,” i.e., removed from its place and changed to another. סָבְאָם Their wine feast that was with the harlots.

 

love to invite disgrace Heb. הֵבוּ. They invited disgrace for themselves. הֵבוּ is an expression of preparation. Comp. (Gen. 11:4) “Get ready (הָבָה) and let us build,” “Get ready  (הָבָה)and let us descend,” (Ex. 10:1) “Get ready (הָבָה) and let us deal wisely.”

 

her rulers Heb. מָגִנֶּיהָ, her shields, her princes and her kings. 

 

19 The wind has bound her up in its wings The wind has attached itself to its wings, like a bird, which the wind does not permit to alight until it bears it off into the distance. So will the enemies come upon them and drive them into exile.

 

and they shall be ashamed of their altars Heb. מִזְבְּחוֹתָם, of the altars of their deities (lit. their abominations), to which they do not turn. Now, just as חֵטְא, sin, can be stated in the feminine as חֲטָאָה, so can one say, instead of זֶבח, זִבְחָה, which denotes the places where they would sacrifice. And so did Jonathan render: of the altars of their abominations. Addendum according to Abarbanel: I found a Midrash Tanhuma, where it is an expression of tying, like a man who threatens a person who provokes him, “[I swear] by your life that I will tie it to you at your end.” So does this verse threaten Israel: “My zeal and My fury are tied up to avenge Myself at the end, and they will be ashamed of their deeds.” 

 

Chapter 5

 

1 for yours is the judgment The judgment of torments is upon you, O house of the king, for you have been a snare at Mizpah and a net on Tabor. On these two mountains they stationed sentries so that Israel would not make the pilgrimage to the Temple. 

 

2 The extent of their straying they have deepened The extent of their straying they have deepened. I said that anyone who does not go up to Jerusalem on the Pilgrimage festivals transgresses a positive commandment, and they decreed that anyone who does go up to Jerusalem shall be put to death. Hence, they went deeper than I. I.e., they were more stringent than I (Sanhedrin 102a). The word שַחֲטָה, translated as ‘extent’ is an expression similar to  זָהָב שָׁחוּט, “malleable gold” (I Kings 10:16) stretched and spun. Jonathan, however, renders it as an expression of slaughtering sacrifices to idols.

 

and I [will bring] chastisement to all of them Lit. And I too will chastise them with torments, I will prepare chastisement for all of them. 

 

Chapter 6

 

1 Come and let us return They will say, “Come and let us return etc.”

 

He smites, and He will bind us up Heb. יַךְ. It is a present tense. He smites us, and He will bind us up. 

 

2 He will revive us from the two days He will strengthen us from the two retributions which have passed over us from the two sanctuaries that were destroyed.

 

on the third day With the construction of the third Temple, He will set us up.

 

from the two days From the two times that have passed over us.

 

on the third day In the third time.

 

 

Pirkei Avot: Chapter 4

 

1. “Ben (the son of) Zoma said, who is wise? He who learns from all people, as it is said: ‘From all my teachers I gained understanding’ (Psalms 119:99). Who is strong? He who conquers his evil inclination, as it is said: ‘Better is one slow to anger than a strong man, and one who rules over his spirit than a conqueror of a city’ (Proverbs 16:32). Who is rich? He who is satisfied with his lot, as it is said: ‘When you eat the toil of your hands you are fortunate, and it is good for you’ (Psalms 128:2). ‘You are fortunate’ – in this world; ‘and it is good for you’ – in the World to Come. Who is honored? He who honors others, as it is said: ‘For those who honor Me I will honor, and those who scorn Me will be degraded’ (I Samuel 2:30).”

 

2. “Ben (the son of) Azzai said, run to perform [even] a minor mitzvah (commandment) and flee from sin, for one mitzvah leads to another mitzvah, and one sin leads to another sin; for the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah and the ‘reward’ of a sin is a sin.”

 

3. “He (the son of Azzai) used to say, do not be disrespectful of any person and do not be dismissing of anything, for there is no person who does not have his hour, and there is no thing that does not have its place.”

 

4. “Rabbi Levitas of Yavneh said, be extremely lowly of spirit, for the end of man is worms.”

 

5. “Rabbi Yochanan ben (son of) Beroka said, whoever desecrates the Name of Heaven in secret will be paid back in public. Whether unintentional or intentional acts (i.e., both are comparable) regarding desecration of the Name.”

 

6. “Rabbi Yishmael bar (son of) Rabbi Yossi said, one who studies Torah in order to teach is granted the ability to study and to teach. One who studies in order to ‘do’ is granted the ability to study, to teach, to observe, and to do.”

 

7. “Rabbi Tzaddok said, do not separate yourself from the community. Do not act as a lawyer (in judgment). Do not make the Torah into a crown with which to aggrandize yourself or a spade with which to dig. So too did Hillel state: ‘He who uses the crown [of Torah] will pass on’ (above, 1:13). From this you may learn that anyone who derives benefit from words of Torah takes his life from the world.”

 

8. “Rabbi Yossi said, whoever honors the Torah will himself be honored before others. But whoever disgraces the Torah will himself be disgraced before others.”

 

9. “Rabbi Yishmael his (Rabbi Yossi’s) son said, one who withdraws himself from serving as judge spares himself of hatred, robbery and unnecessary oaths. One who is arrogant in rendering decisions is foolish, evil and conceited.”

10. “He (Rabbi Yishmael) used to say, do not judge alone because there is no solitary judge except One. Do not say ‘accept my view,’ for they are permitted and not you.”

 

11. “Rabbi Yonasan said, whoever fulfills the Torah out of poverty, will ultimately fulfill it in wealth. But whoever neglects the Torah out of wealth, will ultimately neglect it out of poverty.”

 

12. “Rabbi Meir (mai-eer) said, lessen your business activities and engage in Torah study. Be humble of spirit before every person. If you have wasted time from Torah study, you will be given many causes to neglect it. And if you have exerted yourself in Torah study, G-d has much reward to give you.”

 

13. “Rabbi Eliezer ben (son of) Yaakov said, one who fulfills one mitzvah (commandment) acquires himself a single defending angel. One who commits one transgression acquires one accusing angel. Repentance and good deeds serve as a shield before retribution.”

“Rabbi Yochanan the sandal maker said, every assembly which is for the sake of heaven which eventually endure. And one which is not for the sake of heaven will not endure.”

 

14. “Rabbi Elazar ben (son of) Shamua said, the honor of your student should be as dear to you as your own; the honor of your colleague should be as the fear of your [Torah] teacher; and the fear of your teacher should be as the fear of Heaven.”

 

15. “Rabbi Yehuda said, be cautious in Torah study, for inadvertent errors in study are considered as willful transgressions.”

 

16. “Rabbi Shimon said, there are three crowns – the crown of Torah, the crown of priesthood, and the crown of kingship. And the crown of a good name is superior to them all.”

 

17. “Rabbi Nehorai said, exile yourself to a place of Torah and do not say it will come after you or that your colleagues will preserve it for you. ‘And do not rely on your own understanding’ (Proverbs 3:5).”

 

18. “Rabbi Yannai said, it is not in our power to explain neither the tranquility of the wicked nor the suffering of the righteous.”

 

19. “Rabbi Masya ben (son of) Charash said, be first to greet every person, and be a tail to the lions rather than head of the foxes.”

 

20. “Rabbi Yaakov said, this world is like an entrance chamber before the World to Come. Prepare yourself in the entrance chamber so that you may enter the banquet hall.”

 

21. “He (Rabbi Yaakov) used to say, one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world is better than the entire life of the World to Come. And one hour of spiritual enjoyment of the World to Come is better than the entire life of this world.”

 

22. “Rabbi Shimon ben (son of) Elazar said, do not appease your fellow at the time of his anger, do not console him at the time his dead lies before him, do not ask him [to regret his oath] at the time of his oath, and do not attempt to see him at the time of his downfall.”

 

23. “Shmuel (Sh-moo-ail) the Small said, ‘At your enemy’s fall do not rejoice, and when he stumbles let your heart not be joyous, lest the L-rd see and be displeased and turn back His anger from him [to you]’ (Proverbs 24:17-18).”

 

24. “Elisha ben (son of) Avuya said, one who studies Torah as a child, to what is he compared? To ink written on fresh paper. And one who studies Torah as an old man, to what is he compared? To ink written on blotted paper.”

 

25. “Rabbi Yossi bar (son of) Yehuda of K’far HaBavli said, one who learns from the young, to what is he compared? To one who eats unripe grapes and drinks wine from the press. And one who learns from the old, to what is he compared? To one who eats ripened grapes and drinks aged wine.”

 

26. “Rabbi Meir (mai-eer) said, do not look at the flask but what is in it. There are new flasks filled with old wine and old flasks which do not even contain new wine.”

 

27. “Rabbi Elazar HaKappar said, jealousy, lust and the [pursuit of] honor remove a person from the world.”

 

28. “He (Rabbi Elazar HaKappar) used to say, The born will die, the dead will come to life, and the living will be judged – so that they know, make known, and become aware that He is G-d, He is the Fashioner, He is the Creator, He is the One who understands, He is the Judge, He is the Witness, He is the Litigant, and He will eventually judge. Blessed be He, for there is not before Him wrongdoing, forgetfulness, favoritism, or the acceptance of bribes – for all is His. And know that everything is according to a reckoning. And do not let your evil inclination assure you that the grave is a refuge for you – for against your will were you created, against your will were you born, against your will do you live, against your will do you die, and against your will you stand in judgment before the King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.”

 

 

Correlations

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

& H.H. Giberet Dr. Elisheba bat Sarah

 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 4:17 – 5:31

Tehillim (Psalme) 93

Zephaniah 3:7-15, 20

2 Pet 2:10-22, Lk 16:19-17:4, Rm 6:12-23

 

The verbal tally between the Torah and the Psalm are:

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

Unto the most / Holy / Holiness - קדש, Strong’s number 06944.

 

The verbal tally between the Torah and the Ashlamata are:

LORD - יהוה, Strong’s number 03068.

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

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

Cut off - כרת, Strong’s number 03772.

Unto the most / Holy / Holiness - קדש, Strong’s number 06944.

 

Bamidbar (Numbers) 4:17 And the LORD <03068> spake <01696> (8762) unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying <0559> (8800), 18  Cut ye not off <03772> (8686) the tribe of the families of the Kohathites from among the Levites: 19  But thus do unto them, that they may live, and not die, when they approach unto the most <06944> holy things <06944>: Aaron and his sons shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 93:1 The LORD <03068> reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD <03068> is clothed with strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is stablished, that it cannot be moved.

Tehillim (Psalms) 93:5 Thy testimonies are very sure: holiness <06944> becometh thine house, O LORD <03068>, for ever.

 

Zephania 3:7 I said <0559> (8804), Surely thou wilt fear me, thou wilt receive instruction; so their dwelling should not be cut off <03772> (8735), howsoever I punished them: but they rose early, and corrupted all their doings.

Zephania 3:8 Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD <03068>, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.

Zephania 3:11  In that day shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of my holy <06944> mountain.

Zephania 3:13 The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak <01696> (8762) lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth: for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.

 

Hebrew:

 

Hebrew

English

Torah Reading

Num. 4:17 – 5:31

Psalms

93:1-94:15

rm;a'

saying

Num. 5:11
Num. 5:12
Num. 5:19
Num. 5:21
Num. 5:22

Ps. 94:4
Ps. 94:7

 rBeDI

spoke, speak, said

Num. 5:11
Num. 5:12

Ps. 94:4

hw"hoy>

LORD

Num. 5:11
Num. 5:16
Num. 5:18
Num. 5:21
Num. 5:25
Num. 5:30

Ps. 94:1
Ps. 94:3
Ps. 94:5
Ps. 94:11
Ps. 94:14

af'n"

take,took, give

Num. 5:31

Ps. 94:2

!yI[;

eyes

Num. 5:13

Ps. 94:9

~[;

people

Num. 5:21
Num. 5:27

Ps. 94:8
Ps. 94:14

 

 

 

Greek:

 

GREEK

ENGLISH

Torah Reading

Num. 4:17 – 5:31

Psalms

93:1-94:15

Peshat

Mishnah of Mark,

1-2 Peter, & Jude

2 Pet 2:10-22

Tosefta of

Luke

Lk 16:19-31 &

17:3b-4

ἄγγελος

angles

2 Pet. 2:11

Lk. 16:22

ἀδικία

iniquities, injustice

Psa 94:4 

2 Pet. 2:13
2 Pet. 2:15

ἁμαρτάνω

sin

Lk. 17:3
Lk. 17:4

ἁμαρτία

sin

Num 5:6
Num 5:7
Num 5:15 
Num 5:31

2 Pet. 2:14

ἀνθρώπινος

mankind

Num 5:6 

ἀνομία

lawlessness, Iniquity

Psa 94:4
Psa 94:16
Psa 94:20
Psa 94:23

γῆ

earth, land, ground

Num 5:17 

Ps. 94:2

δικαιοσύνη

righteousness

Psa 94:15

2 Pet. 2:21

ἐπιστρέφω

return

Psa 94:15

2 Pet. 2:21
2 Pet. 2:22

Lk. 17:4

ἔπω

said

Num. 5:11
Num. 5:12

Ps. 94:4

εὐθύς

straight

Psa 94:15 

2 Pet. 2:15

ἡμέρα

day

Psa 94:13

2 Pet. 2:13

Lk. 17:4

καρδία

hearts

Psa 94:15
Psa 94:19

2 Pet. 2:14

κρίσις

judgment

Psa 94:15

2 Pet. 2:11

κύριος

LORD

Num. 5:11
Num. 5:16
Num. 5:18
Num. 5:21
Num. 5:25
Num. 5:30

Ps. 94:1
Ps. 94:3
Ps. 94:5
Ps. 94:11
Ps. 94:14

2 Pet. 2:11
2 Pet. 2:20

λέγω

saying

Num. 5:11
Num. 5:12
Num. 5:19
Num. 5:21
Num. 5:22

Lk. 17:4

νόμος

law

Num 5:29
Num 5:30

Psa 94:12 

ὀφθαλμός

eyes

Num. 5:13

Ps. 94:9

2 Pet. 2:14

φθέγγομαι

utter,speaking

Psa 94:4 

2 Pet. 2:16
2 Pet. 2:18

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nazarean Talmud

Sidra of Bamidbar (NUMBERS) 5:11-31

“KI-Tisteh Ishto- And his wife goes atray”

By: H. Em Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

School of Hakham Tsefet

Peshat

1 Tsefet (1 Pet)

 Mishnah א:א

 

School of Hakham Shaul

Tosefta

Luqas (Lk)

Mishnah א:א

 

If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven[1] times he returns to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

These false teachers and prophets are waterless springs and clouds driven by gusts of wind, for ‎whom, the deepest darkness ‎ is eternally reserved. For when they utter extravagant perversities, devoid of truth, they lure (beguile) through an ‎unbridled yester hara, those (they) have oppressed who indeed had barely escaped from those who live in defiance. Promising them liberty freedom from the Torah (when they) themselves are bound for ‎destruction; (eternal misery), for by what anyone is overcome it makes him a slave to it. For if (they), having escaped the shameful defilement of the world (pagan system) in the intimate knowledge of the kingship and our emancipation by Yeshua the Messiah, and by these false teachers and prophets again being entangled, and ‎subdued, their last condition has become to them worse than the first. For it were better for them not to have had intimate knowledge of the way of justice/generosity, than ‎having had intimate knowledge of it, to turn back from the holy commandments handed down to them by authorized ‎Hakhamim. But the word of the true proverb has happened to them; “As a dog that returns to his vomit, so is a fool ‎that repeats his folly” (Prov. 26:11), and a sow returns to wallow in her mire after being washed.‎[1]

 

 

 

 


Nazarean Codicil to be read in conjunction with the following Torah Seder

 

2 Tsefet 2:11-22

1 Luqas 17:3b-4

 

Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

 

The concert of Torah, Prophets and Writings complemented by the Nazarean Codicil looks to one of the greatest messengers of all history. We enter life looking for the light that is hidden and concealed from normal view. This search is given to the pursuit of “brilliance” or “splendor.” Here we refer to Normal Mysticism not So’odic Kabballah. Frankly, we are referring to the building the body of Messiah through an awareness of the Seven Officers of the Congregation. Hakham Tsefet has shown us the secret to overcoming the subversive tactics of the pseudo-prophets and teachers is through building a spiritual structure. Interestingly, it was Melekh Shlomo (King Solomon) began to build the Bet HaMikdash.[15] How long does it take to build a vessel that can contain the brilliance of Torah? Shlomo’s Temple was built in seven years. The month of Nisan is the month of beginnings, the month of Iyar – Ziv is the month of building foundations (preparation) and the month of Sivan is the month of reception i.e. of Torah.

 

The present pericope of the Nazarean Codicil sets the standard of expectation for the messengers (Hakhamim) of the Nazarean Codicil. Furthermore, Hakham Tsefet’s igeretim (two letters, 1-2 Peter) have been a comparative connection between the Priesthood of the Firstborn and that of the Kohanim. His igeretim have been for the sake of understanding how to build spiritual houses of living stones and the priestly conduct of Nazarean Jews. The mazalot teach the Nazareans how to become a house of brilliance.

 

Hakham Tsefet connects berates those who devalue the Torah and of the perversion of the Festivals and Torah by the pseudo-prophets. He also shows that these spurious teachers will not follow the “Order” of G-d and His Festivals. Hakham Tsefet sees the mazalot as signs to the talmidim to beware of the pseudo-prophets and teachers who would lure the wary student to abandon their spiritual fathers. The wise will understand.

 

 

 

Questions for Reflection

 

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

 

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

 

 

 

 

Blessing After Torah Study

 

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

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

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

Next Shabbat:

 

Shabbat: “Ki Yaf’li Lin’dor” – “When will utter [a] vow”

 

Shabbat

Torah Reading:

Weekday Torah Reading:

כִּי יַפְלִא לִנְדֹּר

 

Saturday Afternoon

“Ki Yaf’li Lin’dor”

Reader 1 – B’Midbar 6:1-3

Reader 1 – B’Midbar 6:22-24

“When will utter [a] vow”

Reader 2 – B’Midbar 6:4-6

Reader 2 – B’Midbar 6:25-27

“que haga [un] voto”

Reader 3 – B’Midbar 6:7-9

Reader 3 – B’Midbar 7:1-3

B’midbar (Numbers) 6:1-21

Reader 4 – B’Midbar 6:10-12

 

Ashlamatah: Judges 13:2-14

Reader 5 – B’Midbar 6:13-15

Monday & Thursday

Mornings

 

Reader 6 – B’Midbar 6:16-18

Reader 1 – B’Midbar 6:22-24

Psalms 94:16-23

Reader 7 – B’Midbar 6:19-21

Reader 2 – B’Midbar 6:25-27

 

     Maftir – B’Midbar 6:19-21

Reader 3 – B’Midbar 7:1-3

N.C.: 2 Pet 3:1-2; Lk 17:5-10

                     Judges 13:2-14

 

 

 

 

http://www.betemunah.org/sederim/nisan176_files/image002.jpg   

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David

Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

 


 

[2] According to some sources. See Bereshit Rabbah 71:12 and Midrash Shochar Tov Psalm 90.

[3] Bereshit (Genesis) 49:19.

[4] Debarim (Deuteronomy0 33:20

[5] See Radak 91:1

[6] Rosh Hashanah 31a

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

[8] The annual period of mourning over the destruction of the First and Second Temples

[9] Shulchan Aruch Orech Chayim 549

[10] Taanit 4:5

[11] Hakhamim is the title given to Sephardi Rabbis.

[12] Book XX chapter 5 of Antiquities

[13] II Kings 21:7. Mishna, Taanit 4:6

[14] Bava Batra 7b

[15] 1 Kings 6:1 ¶ Now it came about in the four hundred and eightieth year after the sons of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv which is the second month, that he 1began to build the house of the LORD.