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Various Topics Discussed
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Someone wrote “I stumbled very challenging arguments. About contradictions in the Tanach, how may I answer this guy 😭. Babylonian captivity, how many were the children of Pahrath-Moab? There are differences between the number given in Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 7…
Also Did Joshua and the Israelites capture Jerusalem? (a) Yes (Joshua 10:23, 40) (b) No (Joshua 15:63) ************************************************* Let’s first address Ezra and Nehemiah. First realize Ezra and Nehemiah are one book. Why repeat the same thing in one book? Because there are differences. Remember that both the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are found in Ketuvim -- Writings. This is the third part of the T'nach and the "least" holy in that they were all written by humans inspired by G-d (not prophecy). If there are differences no harm no foul – people make mistakes. But are they mistakes? Maybe yes, maybe no. There are 29 small differences in all from Ezra. 8 differences in names. 7 omissions. 19 discrepancies in the numbers. Rashi (the Torah commentator from 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105) said they weren’t focusing on the numbers, until you get to the total number (which is the same in Ezra and Nehemiah). "Scripture was not so exact with the figures, but the total is the same in both places, as it is stated (Ezra 2:64, Neh. 7:66): “The entire congregation together was forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty.” The writer relied on this total and was not so exact in the figures of the individual numbers. Everything is explained above (Ezra 2)." Rashi. There are a few other opinions. The difference in clan figures may reflect people who came and went at different times. Jerusalem was a dangerous place because of those who had moved in during the Babylonian Exile of 70 years… Ibn Ezra (1089 / 1092 – 27 January 1164 / 23 January 1167) says the list also reflects the births and deaths in the time from Ezra’s list and Nehemiah’s later being literally a generation (maybe 2 generations) later. There was a 36 year gap between Ezra’s list and Nehemiah’s list. Nehemiah says he found a document found at the time of the original settlement – but he updated the numbers to take account of the population when he was writing – 36 years later. Because of the 36 year gap there would have been different census takers, too – so rather than try to reconcile the lists both were included – from the times they were taken and the differences may be explained by births, deaths, people arriving, people leaving – with the total number remaining the same in the end. Ezra says there were 42,360 returnees to Judah. Yet the details in Ezra are less by nearly 13,000. Ezra says there were 42,360 returnees to Judah. Yet the details in Ezra are less by nearly 13,000. The 30,000 given are only from Judah and Benjamin. The other 13,000 are everyone else. Our sages said that the 13,000 “missing” are Jews from the other ten Tribes, who were not listed separately and Jews without tribes (converts or children of Erev Rav). There was a huge donation recorded in Nehemiah that isn’t in Ezra – again it may have been given in that 36 year gap or it could have been modesty on the part of the donor. As for Joshua It doesn't say that the Israelites did not capture Jerusalem. It says "As for the Jebusites the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the children of Judah could not drive them out; but the Jebusites dwelt with the children of Judah in Jerusalem to this day." In other words the Jebusites were not driven out of Jerusalem -- it doesn't say the city wasn't captured. Read for context. Again here is Rashi's commentary "We learned in Sifrei : Rabbi Joshua the son of Korha says: They really could, but they were not permitted, because of the oath which Abraham had sworn to Abimelech. Now these Jebusites were not of the Jebusite nation, but the Tower of David which was in Jerusalem, was called Jebus, and the inhabitants of that section were of the Philistines. And when the children of Judah conquered Jerusalem, they did not drive out the inhabitants of that section." There is a good video on this topic at the Orthodox Union website. https://outorah.org/p/120620
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This past Shabbat is known as Shabbat Nachamu / שַׁבָּת נַחֲמוּ. “Sabbath of comfort."
This is the Shabbat which comes after Tisha B'Av. Tisha b'Av (the 9th of Av) is a day of mourning and repentance on which we recall the destruction of the First and Second Temples, and other tragic events in Jewish history. All eating and drinking is forbidden. Shabbat Nachamu this year, 5783, began at sundown on Friday, 28 July 2023 and ends at nightfall on Saturday, 29 July 2023. A Jewish day begins at Sundown, not at midnight. We read Parashat Vaetchanan. The name of the Shabbat is taken from the Haftarah which is Y'shayahu / Isaiah 40:1-26. "Console, console My people," says your G-d. Speak to the heart of Jerusalem and proclaim to her [exile] has been finished, for she received for her sins double from the hand of the L-rd. "A voice calls, "In the wilderness, clear the way of the HaShem, make a straight path in the wilderness, a highway for our G-d." 1-3. The Haftarah speaks of “comforting” the Jewish people for their suffering. It is the first of seven Haftarot of consolation we read as we approach the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, the Head of the Year. Someone wrote: “I have a question. If every time the concept of salvation is mentioned in the T'nach (bible) it always refers to physical lives being rescued from danger. Then what is 2 Chronicles 6:41’s salvation representing? “Now therefore arise, O Lord G-d , into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord G-d , be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.” So how then does a priest being clothed with salvation rescue them from physical danger ?” ****************************** This isn’t a claim. It isn't a prophecy either. It is a prayer. The speaker is King Solomon. The occasion is the dedication of the first Temple. Always read the Bible IN CONTEXT to understand it. This is a prayer. Solomon is dedicating the holy Temple. Solomon is not saying the priests are “clothed in salvation.” Solomon is not saying the priests are “clothed in salvation” in the sense of their souls being saved (not a Biblical concept, a later Christian one taken from paganism). Let's explore this. Up until “now” the Jews had a traveling Temple, the mishkan (Tabernacle) which they built in the desert following the exodus from Egypt. “And they shall make Me a holy [place], and I may dwell among them.” (Sh’mot / Exodus 25:8). The mishkan (portable Temple) had moved more than a few times – and had existed often in times of war (David was a warrior king as was Saul before him). From the Chabad: “The Mishkan traveled with the Israelites for 40 years in the desert. When the people entered the Land of Israel, the Mishkan came with them. For fourteen years, the Mishkan stood in Gilgal while the Israelites conquered and divided the land. Then they created a house of stone in Shiloh and spread the curtains of the Mishkan over it. The sanctuary of Shiloh stood for 369 years. At the end of that period, the sanctuary was moved to Nov, and then to Givon.” Divrei Hamayim Beit / Chronicles II 6 is Solomon speaking as he dedicates the Temple. Before we skip to verse 41 (the one you have asked about) let’s review a few other verses which precede it. Solomon is praying: "Then he knelt on his knees...and spread his hands towards Heaven... May You turn to the prayer of Your servant [Solomon]...to hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant prays before you this day... "May you hear the supplications of Your servant [Solomon] and of Your people Israel...may you hear and forgive... "And if Your people Israel are defeated by the enemy because they sinned against You, and they repent and return to you and praise Your name and they pray before You in this Temple You will hear from heaven and forgive the sin of Your people Israel and return them to the land that You gave to them and to their forefathers.... "You will hear from heaven, Your place, and forgive, and give to each man according to his ways, whose heart You know, for You alone know the hearts of the children of men... "And also to the stranger, who is not of Your people Israel, but will come from a distant land because of Your great name, Your strong hand, and Your outstretched arm, and they will come and pray toward this House. "You shall hear from heaven, from Your dwelling place, and You shall do whatever the stranger calls upon You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name, to fear You, as [do] Your people Israel, and that they may know that Your name is called upon this House, which I have built." These last two paragraphs are particularly important because it is clear that non-jews may pray to G-d and be heard. There is no such thing as the Christian covenant because all people had a path to G-d and a covenant with G-d. This path does not include idolatry. It also does not require them to become Jewish. We Jews have our own covenant with G-d, but He is not our G-d alone. He's the G-d of everyone. If G-d listens to prayer – prayer and repentance of ALL people then the thought that only Jesus can “save” your soul is destroyed. You don’t need him – indeed he is a barrier to G-d, not a conduit to Him. But you didn’t ask about those verses, so let’s address verse 41 which (in translation) says “And now, arise, O L-rd G-d to Your resting place, You and the Ark of Your might; Your priests, O L-rd G-d, shall be attired with salvation, and Your pious ones shall rejoice with the goodness. The Temple is G-d’s place. Solomon prays that G-d, the ark of the covenant AND the priests will be clothed in peace, righteousness and security. It is a desire, a prayer – not an “absolute.” The speaker is not G-d, it is Solomon. Solomon asks G-d to listen to all sincere prayers made in the Temple and even towards it at a future time when they may not be near it or it may not even exist physically… He is asking G-d’s blessing on the Temple as a place for G-d Himself and for His ark and His priests… It is a prayer, not prophecy. These are the words of Solomon and although they are divinely inspired they do not raise to the level of prophecy. The priests are now in their (hopefully as Solomon opines) permanent home of the Temple. No longer nomads traveling in the Mishkahn / Tabernacle. Rashi wrote of this specific phrase that G-d, the ark and the priests "shall be attired with salvation: because they will not wander from place to place, like (Isa. 11:5): “And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins.” The Hebrew word here is תְּשׁוּעָה / t'shuah. This is a feminine noun. Remember all nouns in Hebrew are either feminine or masculine. It means rescue or help, deliverance. No more wandering, they have found their home – and peace. Solomon did reign in peace, unlike his father, David, a warrior king. Solomon is praying that the Temple be a place of peace and permanency for G-d, the ark and the people (including the priests who served there). Read the entire chapter because it's clear that the most important function of the Temple is the ability to communicate with G-d. "And the king turned his face about and blessed all the congregation of Israel, and all the congregation of Israel stood... "And You shall turn to Your servant's prayer and to his supplication, O L-rd my G-d; to hearken to the cry and to the prayer that Your servant is praying before You." M’lachim Alef / 1 Kings 8 addresses the dedication as well. The verses in Divrei Hayamim Beit / 2 Chronicles 6:41-42, at the end of King Solomon's prayer of dedication, are an almost verbatim repetition of T'hillim / Psalm 132:8-10. "Arise, O L-rd, to Your resting place, You and the Ark of Your might. Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let Your devout ones sing praises. For the sake of David Your servant, turn not away the face of Your anointed." This psalm is one of 15 Songs of Ascents (T'hillim / Psalms 120-134) which was chanted by the Levites standing on the 15 steps of the Temple that led to the Court of the Israelites. In T'hillim / Psalm 132:9 the reading is "righteousness" instead of "salvation" as in Divrei Hayamim Beit / 2 Chronicles 6:41. Both the dedication of the Temple as described in M’lachim Alef / 1 Kings 8 and the verses of T'hillim / Psalm 132 reenforce that the attempt to use Divrei Hayamim Beit / 2 Chronicles 6:41 to bolster the Christian concept of salvation falls apart upon examination. Just as the word Israel can refer to a person (Jacob or people sharing that name), the entire nation of Israel (the Jewish people) and the physical land of Israel, so to does Zion / ציון / tsion have a few meanings.
It appears 157 times in the Hebrew Bible. By definition it can mean “indication” or “marking.” The primary meaning is as another name for the land of Israel. "Zion" is also another name for Jerusalem. "David took the stronghold of Zion, the same is the city of David." (Shmuel Beit / 2 Samuel 5:7). See T'hillim / Psalm 126: A song of ascents. When the L-rd returns the returnees to Zion, we shall be like dreamers. Someone wrote: "It's better for the understanding of Biblical Hebrew to separate it from the late religions of Judaism and Christianity. Biblical Hebrew is the Phoenician language not some divine God language that fell out the sky." That is a very odd claim. Hebrew is the language of the Jewish people -- and always has been. There has never been a generation without it, ergo the idea that somehow it "changed" thanks to "the late religion of Judaism" makes zero sense. Ivri (“Hebrew script”) is called Phoenician or Paleo-Hebrew. The ancient Hebrew alphabet, known as the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, was replaced by the square Aramaic alphabet, It seems that whoever wrote your quote is unfamiliar with the fact that this word is used to speak of the ancient script (and not the Phoenician people) let alone that it is not a different aleph-bet that "the late religion of Judaism" changed. This year in 2022 a small lead tablet was discovered that was engraved with early proto-alphabetic Hebrew found at Mt. Ebal, dated to the 15th century BCE (picture in top left corner). The earliest Phoenician inscription that has survived is the Ahiram epitaph at Byblos in Phoenicia, dating from the 11th century BCE…400-years later than the Mt. Ebal Hebrew inscription. So the oldest Hebrew engraving is hundreds of years older than the oldest Phoenician inscription.
"Inscribed on a tablet of Aegean lead, the curse in proto-Canaanite script was a legal document…" Haaretz. Written in Proto-Canaanite not Phoenician script. Ancient Hebrew. 15th century BCE. Prior to this discovery the earliest known ancient witness in Hebrew was the Khirbet Qeiyafa Inscription (11th–10th century BCE). This image is shown at the bottom of the post. It does not use the Phoenician script either thereby proving that the person you are referencing is incorrect. Hebrew did not spring from the Phoenician language – and probably not from its alphabet either… "University of Haifa Professor Gershon Galil announces that he has deciphered an inscription from the time of King David’s reign in the 10th century BCE. The inscription, written in an ancient proto-Canaanite script, is the earliest known Hebrew writing discovered to date. "The text as deciphered by Galil, tells its readers to protect slaves, widows and orphans; rehabilitate the poor and support strangers. The discovery according to Galil, “indicates that the Kingdom of Israel already existed in the 10th century BCE and that at least some of the biblical texts were written hundreds of years before the dates presented in current research.” "The discovery was especially noteworthy because it provides evidence that parts of the Hebrew Bible were composed hundreds of years before the dates proposed by many researchers up to that point." Israel ED. Written in Proto-Canaanite not Phoenician script. Ancient Hebrew. "This new inscription marks a transitional stage between the writing system used for 800 years and the official, standardized Phoenician script used by kingdoms and states in Canaan by at least the 10th century BCE,” the authors of the study wrote." Times of Israel. So both early Hebrew inscriptions did not use the Phoenician alphabet. Instead the alphabet used was proto-Canaanite but the language was Hebrew. And the first is about 400 years older than any known Phoenician alphabet. Read on… "Prof. Galil's deciphering of the ancient writing testifies to its being Hebrew, based on the use of verbs particular to the Hebrew language, and content specific to Hebrew culture and not adopted by any other cultures in the region." Science Daily. Now let's move away from ancient Hebrew and discuss ancient Phoenician… The earliest Phoenician inscription that has survived is the Ahiram epitaph at Byblos in Phoenicia, dating from the 11th century BCE. Hebrew was not based on the Phoenician language. The Phoenician alphabet was adopted has the script or font for written Hebrew at one point. Later it was abandoned for a script based on Aramaic. Script. Letter formation. But the language was still Hebrew, not Phoenician or any other language.… As I have already explained there are some who think that the letter formation in the Phoenician alphabet was used as a type of script or font for Hebrew (Ktav Ivri). Ktav Ashuri (a Hebrew font) uses Aramaic letter formations – and there was even a time in history when Greek letters were used to write Hebrew! Yes, not a Greek translation but Hebrew using the Greek alphabet! There are those who think the Phoenicians may actually have adopted the Hebrew aleph-bet, not the reverse. It seems more likely the Phoenician alphabet came from the proto Canaanite alphabet. The recent archeological discovery in Israel that I referenced in this post indicates that an early form of Hebrew is far older than many thought and it did not use the Phoenician alphabet. "Prof. Galil also notes that the inscription was discovered in a provincial town in Judea. "He explains that if there were scribes in the periphery, it can be assumed that those inhabiting the central region and Jerusalem were even more proficient writers. "It can now be maintained that it was highly reasonable that during the 10th century BCE, during the reign of King David, there were scribes in Israel who were able to write literary texts and complex historiographies such as the books of Judges and Samuel." "He adds that the complexity of the text discovered in Khirbet Qeiyafa, along with the impressive fortifications revealed at the site, refute the claims denying the existence of the Kingdom of Israel at that time." Press Release. To summarize, this ancient witness was found in a backwater provincial town. Obviously major cities including Jerusalem would have had written Hebrew as well. In other words: if a backward town was using Hebrew writing it wasn’t as rare as one might think. Both the 15th century and 11th or 10th century BCE ancient Hebrew was using proto-Canaanite script for the Hebrew language (not Canaanite or Phoenician). The 15th century BCE inscription is at least 400 years older than the oldest Phoenician inscription currently known. Shavuot begins the evening of Saturday June 4th and ends on the evening of June 6, 2022. In Israel it is a one-day holiday, ending at nightfall of the 6th of Sivan. After the 49-day counting from Passover we reach the 50th day of Shavuot. Someone wrote "I have a question regarding Synagogue of satan in the Christian bible and Yevamot 16a in the Talmud. My question and concern: Is there any justification or connection for Christians to use this verse from the Talmud Yevamot 16a to justify Jesus using the "synagogue of satan" as not being derogatory? "The messianic apologist said: "It's sad that Jesus words get ripped from their context by these goofs, making Jesus out to be anti semitic is ludicrous, he was a Jew, When Jesus said to a certain group of Jewish leaders (who were corrupt) you are the “sons of Satan” or your Father is the devil...he was actually speaking the same way the sages spoke to each other in the Talmud. Yevamot 16a The insult “firstborn of Satan” in b Yevamot 16a refers to a rabbi bringing a strong argument for a wrong interpretation. Can you please help me show him why he is incorrect?" The Hebrew meaning of the word satan is not the same as the Christian misuse of it as a devil. The Christian bible is calling some Jews anti-G-d as if we were followers of their mythical devil. This is anti-semitic and indeed these passages in the Christian bible have been used as an excuse to murder us for 2000 years. The word שָׂטָן, as used in the Hebrew Scriptures means an adversary - there is no "devil" in the Hebrew Scriptures nor in Judaism. The Talmud is written in Aramaic -- a sister language to Hebrew. Again the meaning is "adversary" and not the Christian devil / lucifer / satan. Thus there is no comparison between the use of the word in the Talmud (or Hebrew Bible) to its misuse in the Christian bible -- which was written in Greek, not in Hebrew or Aramaic. (Greek: συναγωγή τοῦ Σατανᾶ, synagoge tou satana). In context the passage in Y'vamot 16 is about a disagreement between two brothers one of whom aligned with the school of Hillel and the other with the school of Shammai over an issue regarding yibbum, levirate marriage. The speaker is a follower of the school of Hillel and he is giving his opinion on the ruling regarding yibbum -- following the teachings of Hillel. But the listeners claim that they have heard he sided with the School of Shammai. In a nutshell he says "no -- that was my younger brother who follows the School of Shammai." He goes on to say of his brother that his younger brother is very smart, saying “he is a first-class adversary / satan." Adversary why? Because he follows the teachings of the School of Shammai not Hillel -- and the ruling is for the School of Hillel. Thus the younger brother is mistaken by siding with Shammai... and this has caused all kinds of problems for people with yibbum marriages -- and irritation for the speaker (the older brother) who has been tarred with the teachings of his sibling. The Schottenstein Talmud translates the phrase as “he is a first-class adversary.” Rashi says the man is actually complimenting his brother: בכור שטן הוא: חריף ועומד על שמועה ועושה מעשה ואינו שב משמועתו לעשות כרבים "The first born of the adversary: He is very sharp. He stands by what he teaches, and doesn't give in to the majority…" This has nothing to do with the Christian devil let alone the synagogue of Satan nonsense. The problem with missionaries is they not only don't read things in context but they don't understand what is actually going on. It's a combination of context and a lack of understanding Hebrew. You may find some English translations of Y'vamot 16a that say "son of satan" -- and while this is somewhat correct it leads people to error since the word satan is NOT the Christian devil when it comes to either the Talmud or the Hebrew Bible. The elder brother is saying his younger brother is a "son of Shammai - who is an adversary to the school of Hillel." BTW while the schools of Hillel and Shammai (who together ran the Sanhedrin) often disagreed on how things should be done they never disagreed on WHAT should be done. They were adversaries but not enemies. Indeed we are told that while we follow the teachings of Hillel over Shammai when the messiah comes the reverse will be true - we will then follow Shammai over Hillel. Shammai is the stricter of the two... So it isn't "son of satan" as much as it is "son (or follower) of Shammai." As R' Tovia Singer is fond of saying "translations are traitors." This week's Torah reading is Parasha Shemini.
Aaron (Moses' brother) was the first כהן גדול / kohein gadol / high priest) and his four sons − נָדָב / Nadav, אֲבִיהוּא / Avihu, אֶלְעָזָר / El'azar and אִיתָמָר / Itamar − were all "anointed" by Moses in the desert (Vayikra / Leviticus 8:12-13), with a special mixture of spice and olive oil that was used for “anointing” of kings and priests - meaning they were messiahs (anointed ones / mashiach). Here we have the story of נָדָב / Nadav and אֲבִיהוּא / Avihu (Vayikra / Leviticus 10) bringing a sacrifice to G-d that was not one G-d had commanded. As a result -- even though they had "good intentions" both died. It is important to know that they had been warned. This wasn't a "mistake." Read Sh'mot / Exodus 30:9 "Do not burn any unauthorized incense on it. Furthermore, do not offer any animal sacrifice, meal offering, or libation on it." But נָדָב / Nadav and אֲבִיהוּא / Avihu did exactly this: "Aaron's sons, Nadav and Avihu, each took his fire pan, placed fire on it, and then incense on it. They offered it before God, [but it was] unauthorized fire, which had not instructed them [to offer]." Vayikira / Leviticus 10:1. Notice also that this type of sacrifice, called an עֹלָ֖ה / olah was not for sins. An elevation / fire offer / עֹלָ֖ה / olah, translated as "burnt sacrifice," was a voluntary sacrifice generally brought to G-d as a donation to G-d or to seal a vow. . . but sometimes brought for impure thoughts, not deeds). So a burnt offer was not a sin offer -- yet Aaron's sons Nadav / נָדָב and Avihu / אֲבִיהוּא brought this unauthorized sacrifice Vayikra / Leviticus chapter 10 verses 1 and 2, as a sin offer. Yet another wrong. The Torah mentions the deaths of these two sons of Aaron four times. Our sages opined that there were four reasons for their deaths (although the opinions of what these four things are vary). In a nutshell they did what they had not been told to do -- whether through arrogance or excitement (at being ordained as priests) or thinking that the rules did not apply to them (e.g. entering the holiest part of the Mishkahn / Tabernacle that only the high priest may enter at appointed times). Muslim Apologist Marko مرقس and other apologists claim that following that: The
Jews have taken their priests and rabbis as lords besides Allah... Judaism: Rabbis overrule God. He then referenced the Oven of Akhnai story found in Bava Metzia 59a and 59b. Missionaries, who are usually ignorant as to what the Talmud is and is not, often cite things out of context and claim the Jews have changed Judaism based on their ignorance. Here your Islamic source is trying to say that Jews hold the rabbis and priests "above" G-d Himself. Total nonsense -- and antisemitic to boot! By misusing Jewish sources they do not understand missionaries will "paint the picture" that:
First one must know what the Talmud "is" and what part of the Talmud one can find this story (and it IS a story, not fact or law). The Talmud (there are actually two Talmuds -- Jerusalem and Babylonian) consists of two main concepts: the מִשְׁנָה / Mishna -- which was created to be a "cheat sheet" for a learned person -- the writing was kept to a minimum and meant only to serve as a aid to faltering memories who were taught to memorize the oral mitzvot. The second part of the Talmud are discussions around the Mishna's teachings. These discussions may discuss the finer points of Jewish law (מִדְךְשׁי הֲלָכָה / Midrash Halacha), but there are also stories and humor as well. This מִדְרַשׁ־אַגָּדָה / Midrash Aggadah -- which means telling a story. מִדְרַשׁ־אַגָּדָה / Midrash Aggadah is not prophecy or meant to be taken literally. . . a word or sentence is lifted from the bible to make a moral point. However, prophecy is NEVER based on these flights of fancy. You guessed it, Bava Metzia 59a and 59b, also known as תנור של עכנאי / "the oven of Akhnai", was a story - מִדְרַשׁ־אַגָּדָה / Midrash Aggadah (allegory to make a moral point, not literal meaning). -- not something to be taken literally -- which is how the missionaries present it to their unlearned (in Torah and Talmud) audience. This is wrong, and it is deceitful. Whether or not the missionaries misusing this passage realize they are distorting it is open to question. Most of them probably do not know anything about the Talmud or Judaism let alone מִדְרַשׁ־אַגָּדָה / Midrash Aggadah. The point of the story is to make the moral point that judges have been given the authority to make judicial rulings. The Talmudic story re-enforces what we’ve already been told in the Torah – that we are to appoint judges from all the tribes and then to listen to their rulings! D'varim / Deuteronomy 17:8-12. G-d has told us in the Torah to establish courts and to listen to the decisions made by the judges. G-d put the authority of deciding legal issues in the hands of mortal man -- judges because the Torah was made for us in this world and we are co-creators -- that is the entire reason G-d created us. In Bava Metzia 59b G-d is speaking (in מִדְרַשׁ־אַגָּדָה / Midrash Aggadah, so not meant to be taken literally) and saying proudly ‘My sons have defeated Me, My sons have defeated Me." -- the judges He put in place are not afraid of making decisions. So:
"Appoint yourselves judges and police for your tribes in all your settlements that G-d your L-rd is giving you, and make sure that they administer honest judgment for the people. Do not bend justice and do not give special consideration [to anyone]. Do not take bribes, since bribery makes the wise blind and perverts the words of the righteous. Pursue perfect honesty, so that you will live and occupy the land that G-d your L-rd is giving you." D'varim / Deuteronomy 16:18-20. The written Torah tells us:
In the story (and it IS a story) in the Talmud G-d agrees with R' Eliezer on the halacha (Jewish law) -- but the majority of the Rabbis have a different ruling. The Rabbis argue that in a court of law "majority rules" -- and this is G-d's own ruling. Far from showing the Jews are more powerful than G-d, the Rabbis prove to G-d that they are obeying His mitzvot by coming to a majority judicial ruling as He decreed. The missionaries distort the idea that to follow G-d we must use the brains He gave us -- not to disobey Him, but to follow His instructions. Sh'mot / Exodus 23:2 in the bible tells us that we are to rule according to the majority, and be careful to be just. The missionary is keying on "majority" when the key here is "for evil." The footnote, which the missionary ignored in Artscroll, explains: "Several laws are derived from this verse by means of Talmudic exegesis... A judge must voice his opinion according to his understanding of the law and the evidence. Even if he is heavily outnumbered by others, he must not change his opinion to agree with them, if he considers them to be mistaken or intentionally perverting the law." Paints quite a different picture from the one presented by the missionary, doesn't it? Even in the story in Bava Metzia 59a and 59b we have a judge disagreeing with the majority - which is right in line with Sh'mot / Exodus 23:2. Jewish law is very, very careful to adhere to Torah mitzvot, the opposite of the missionary claim. If there is total agreement (for example) of a death penalty the person is NOT put to death. Let's discuss the Jewish legal system. Jewish courts do not use juries -- each court has multiple judges. Today Jewish courts (בית דין / Beit Din / House of Judgement) are comprised of three judges. Rabbis are judges -- this is one of their primary responsibilities and roles. Why three judges? “You should not judge alone, for there is none qualified to judge alone, only the One.” Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 4:8. It must be more than two (at least 3) because the Torah tells us "Do not follow the majority to do evil. Do not speak up in a trial to pervert justice. A case must be decided on the basis of the majority." Sh'mot / Exodus 23:2. A super majority of three from a court of 23 was required to pass a death penalty. At least three had to be "for" on the majority side – in a court of 23 that meant that it had to be 13 - 10 in favor of the death penalty for it to be passed. Two judges are not enough to have a majority (one might have a "tie"). This is why all Jewish courts (including the minor Sanhedrins and Great Sanhedrin) were uneven numbers of 23 and 71. . . The smallest courts have three judges, and our sages tell us that, a Jewish court can not rule against a defendant by a majority created by one judge. In death penalty cases a court had to have at least 23 Judges. The appellate court was the Great Sanhedrin of 71 sitting in the לִשְׁכַּת הַגָּזִית lishkat hagazit (“Chamber of Carved Stone”) in the Temple. If all the judges voted "guilty" or even all but one voted "guilty" the accused was set free. There had to be a super majority of three judges voting for innocent for a man to actually be condemned to death. (again, referencing back to Sh'mot / Exodus 23:2). Missionaries make claims that are simply unsupportable based both on Jewish law and Jewish history. That in itself is explicit proof that in the case of the oven the law was in accordance with the consensus of Sages. In the story the rabbis argue with G-d as to who is right on a judicial ruling (arguing with G-d is an old, respected Jewish tradition dating back to B'reshit / Genesis 18 where Abraham argues with G-d to save the people of Sodom). . . in the STORY G-d eventually agrees with the majority debating the ruling. Got that? G-d AGREES with them. Yet this Islamic missionary -- lifting a lie from Christian missionaries -- wants to point to the story as how Jews ignore G-d's commandments???? How is this story proof of the Jews changing something G-d dictated when G-d agrees with the sages, going so far as to JOKE about it ("my children have bested me!")? G-d can take a joke, but apparently missionaries can not! Purim began in the evening of Wednesday, March 16, 2022 and ended in the evening of Thursday, March 17.... the 14th of Adar on the Jewish calendar (every year), and ending tomorrow at sundown (in Jerusalem on Friday).
This year is leap year. We are in Adar II, the second month of the Adar. It began on Wednesday, 2 March 2022 and will end on the first of April. In a year where we have two months of Adar Purim is celebrated in the second month. Shushan Purim is celebrated on Thursday, March 17 and Shushan, due to a special request by Queen Esthér. The Jews received special dispensation from the king to continue fighting on the fourteenth—hence Shushan Purim, which is celebrated on the fifteenth of Adar. The custom was that walled cities celebrated Shushan Purim. Shushan was a walled city. So in order to commemorate the celebration of the Jews of Shushan, other walled cities celebrate Purim on the fifteenth as well. When Shushan Purim falls on Shabbat those who do observe it celebrate for 3 days -- this is called Purim Meshulash (triple Purim). 2300 years ago the Jews were in exile in Persia (Iran). An enemy arose against us and wanted to kill all the Jews. The Jews were saved by the actions of a woman named Hadassah-Esthér. The name is of biblical origin, first cited in the Scroll of Esther (2:7), “And [Mordechai] had raised Hadassah, she is Esthér..." The Talmud explains the name Hadassah: "Why was (Esthér) called Hadassah? Because the righteous are called myrtles (after myrtle trees). As it states (Zechariah 1:8), “And he was standing among the myrtles [the righteous prophets Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah].” Megillah 13a. Midrashim are stories meant to make a moral point (they aren't literal) -- and one about Hadassah-Esthér tells us "Just as a myrtle has a sweet smell and a bitter taste, so too Hadassah-Esthér was good and listened (“sweet”) to the righteous Mordechai, and was adverse (“bitter”) to the wicked Haman." So the name Hadassah reflects her righteousness. What about the more known name of Esthér? Esthér (אסתר) comes from the Hebrew word hester (הסתר), which means “hiddenness." This makes sense as Purim is called the "hidden miracle." When you think of Purim and the woman at its center, try to think of her by both names "Hadassah Esthér" because both apply to her. She was willing to sacrifice her life to save her people. Through her righteous actions she brought G‑dliness down into the physical world, where G‑dliness is concealed. Why is Purim called the "hidden miracle"? G-d is not mentioned in the book of Esthér. Yet, G-d's hand is found throughout the story. Purim epitomizes the subliminal message of G-d’s omnipresence in human affairs even when we do not see Him. . . hidden miracles are all around us every day. Haman, a high officer of the Persian Empire, an advisor to King Achashveirosh, was angered when a Jew, Mordechai, refused to bow down to him. Haman asked the king to do as he pleased against the Jews, and when he received it put into place plans to kill all the Jews. Haman cast lots to find the day upon which he and his minions would destroy the Jews. The word "purim" means lots. It is a woman who saved the Jews, through the grace of G-d. This woman, Hadassah-Esthér, had married the king -- but he did not know she was Jewish. She concealed this part of herself, and by doing so saved the Jewish nation. When Haman's edict became known Mordechai appealed to his adopted daughter -- begging her to appeal to the King in behalf of her people. "It is clear," Mordechai said, "that you were chosen as Queen so that you might be of service to your people just in such a fateful day. The time has come for you to reveal your nationality to the King, and to plead with him to save his loyal Jewish subjects, about whom the arrogant Haman has been deceiving him." Esthér agreed, asking Mordechai to have the Jewish people fast and pray on her behalf for three days, asking G-d to have mercy on the Jewish people. This is known as the fast of Esthér. During the three days of her fast, Esthér ceaselessly prayed to G-d. On the third day she approached the King. . . I will not repeat the entire tale here. Read for yourself Sefer Esthér -- found in Ketuvim in the T'nach. Be sure to visit your Synagogue on Purim and hear for yourself the Megillah being read (it is a mitzvah!). Eat a few hamentashen, dress in costume, drink a little too much alcohol (but don't drive!). Enjoy this most Jewish and happy of holidays -- the hidden miracle of Purim. And blessed be to G-d for the ongoing miracle that is the Jewish nation. “In the beginning” refers to the beginning of time—the first, indivisible moment, before which time did not exist...
בראשית, at the beginning of time; this is the first moment which is indivisible into shorter periods.. There had not been a concept “time” previous to this, i.e. there had only been unbroken continuity. (The author perceives “time” as one of the creations. Ed.] (2) ברא, He had converted “nothing” into “something.” There had been no need to invoke “time” in order to accomplish this. (3) אלוקים, The expression “elo-ha” refers to something enduring, eternal..." (Sforno, 1475 - 1550 CE). The creation of time begins with the very first verse -- not with the third. Not with the creation of light... " Scripture did not come to teach the sequence of the Creation, to say that these came first, for if it came to teach this, it should have written: “At first (בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה) He created the heavens and the earth,” for there is no רֵאשִׁית in Scripture that is not connected to the following word, [i.e., in the construct state]..." When the Torah tells us: "G-d said, 'There shall be light,' and light came into existence. 1:4 G-d saw that the light was good, and G-d divided between the light and the darkness." B'reshit / Genesis 1:3 - 4. What light? At this point there is no sun for illumination! Many of our sages looked at this verse midrashically. The Rebbe opined: “Let there be light” was the first statement in Creation, because “light” is the true purpose of existence: through the study of Torah and the fulfillment of mitzvot, divine radiance is revealed. “Light” is the purpose of existence as a whole. Further, each individual is a microcosm of the world. “Light” is therefore the purpose of each Jew: that he or she transforms his or her situation and environment from darkness and negativity to light and goodness. In the first word of the Hebrew Bible the ב / bet is a prefix to the word reshit / רֵאשִׁית. When used as a prefix the Hebrew letter ב / bet can mean in, with, or by. With "b'reshit" the letter bet means "in" as "in the beginning of..." The beginning of "what" you might ask? The next word which is בָּרָא / bara. The first two words of the Hebrew bible are בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא "at the beginning of G-d's creating of..." The word בְּרֵאשִׁית / b'réshιt has to be followed by another noun like "creating." The word רֵאשִׁית réshιt - "the beginning of [something]" - occurs 47 times in the T'nach, and it is followed by another noun in every case. How can Jews berate Christians when some say the Rebbe was the messiah -- pot calling kettle black?7/8/2021 Some missionaries try to compare their worship of Jesus as "the" messiah to the fact that some Lubavitchers (Chabadniks) thought that the late Rebbe (Menachem Mendel Schneerson) was the messiah. This is a very false comparison. Jews believe that the mashiach (messiah) will be a normal human being -- albeit very learned in Torah and a shining example for others to follow. No Jew prays to the messiah or through the messiah. He is a means to an end -- as was Moses (for example). G-d is the only One we worship. We know that a potential messiah exists in every generation -- if at any time we are worthy of the redemption he will be known. If we are not yet ready for him then that person will live a normal life and die a normal death -- quite possibly at old age. Was it possible that the Rebbe could have been the messiah? Yes. Absolutely. He was a descendant of King David and King Solomon (Jesus was not). He was very learned in Torah. He brought many people to return to observance and through his focus on kiruv (outreach) many Jews have returned to Judaism. Also, during his lifetime Israel was founded after 2000 years without a homeland a Jewish state was created in our ancestral home. This is one of the messianic prophecies which says that in the messianic age all Jews will return to the holy land. This never happened with Jesus -- not only did most Jews live outside of Judah in his lifetime it was a vasal state to Rome and was destroyed within 100 years of his death... Neither man was the messiah -- but the Rebbe certainly came closer to the role than did Jesus! There is always a danger that people will start to worship other people -- and some Chabadniks seem to come awfully close to crossing that line. However, I remember a discussion with a Chabad Rabbi once who did believe the dead Rebbe was mashiach (and that he would "come back" when the righteous are resurrected). If this were the case then the Rebbe would not have been a messiah the first time around -- he failed to fulfill the prophecies (all of them). Not to mention he was not properly anointed -- which is what the word mashiach / messiah MEANS. In the messianic age the righteous will be resurrected -- so it is possible but highly unlikely that the messiah will be one of them... but unless he was an anointed Jewish king in his first life he would not have been a messiah the first time around. The word means anointed one and it requires a very special type of oil mentioned in the Torah... Here is what the Chabad rabbi said to me... "The Rebbe did see some messianic prophecies fulfilled in his lifetime -- the recreation of Israel, the in gathering of Jews to Israel. . . the Rebbe himself, through his outreach programs, has helped return many Jews to Judaism (another messianic prophecy)." True enough -- but the Rambam tells us that if a messianic wannabe fails to fulfill even ONE prophecy he isn't the messiah. This includes the Rebbe. When the Rebbe died that should have put an end to it -- but here is what the Rabbi said to me. . . "The Rebbe had so many of the qualifications of mashiach and he did see many prophecies fulfilled in his lifetime. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong -- and there is no harm. So if Rebbe wasn't the messiah my life will go on as before. If the Rebbe was / is mashiach then B"H we will see world peace, universal knowledge of G-d, etc. soon." In other words this Chabad rabbi didn't worship the Rebbe. He greatly admired the man and I can understand why. The Rebbe did many great things and he inspired many people. The problem occurs when people take it beyond this "maybe he is and maybe he isn't" and begin to worship the man instead of HaShem. That way is idolatry. If you stop to think of how many Jews the Rebbe and his "army" have brought back to Judaism it is a wonderful and amazing thing. He deserves respect. Respect -- but not anything more. Many miracles are attributed to the Rebbe -- wonderful stories told by people they happened to (not third hand) -- but miracles do not a messiah or even a prophet make. But, as we've said many times, miracles can be found in every religion and are proof of nothing -- they can even be faked (think of the pharaoh's magicians turning their staffs into snakes)... Miracles do not make us worship false gods -- they should turn our hearts to G-d Himself... Torah tells us people can fake both signs and wonders -- and even when they are not faked they are often tests from G-d to see if we can be faithful to His Torah. Reread D'varim / Deuteronomy 13 where G-d tells us that He lets false religions have miracles and such to test your faith in Him. Every religion on the planet can claim miracles and "firsthand saving power" including pagans. Some missionaries will "cast stones" declaring that Jews pray "through" a dead relative, or perhaps the Lubavitcher Rebbe... This is incorrect -- and any Jew who erroneously prays "to" or "through" another is sinning. Asking someone to pray for you is NOT a sin. The Talmud, Bava Batra 116a, says "Anyone who has a sick person in his home should go to a sage, and the sage will ask for mercy on the sick person’s behalf, as it is stated: “The wrath of a king is as messengers of death; but a wise man will pacify it. (Mishlei / Proverbs 16:14)." Asking for something is NOT the same as praying to or through someone! And the person asking others for prayers MUST pray for help himself. Directly to G-d. Praying to the dead is forbidden (D'varim / Deuteronomy 18:11) -- so the idea that people are praying to the Rebbe (or anyone else) for help is wrong. It is professedly forbidden. But while priests cannot enter a cemetery, it is commendable for most of us to do so -- and to pray at a graveside. Can the dead pray for us? Highly unlikely: "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for their remembrance is forgotten." Kohelet / Ecclesiastes 9:5. . . Praying at the grave of a righteous person may make us more repentant -- make our prayers to the Holy One more sincere. . . . But just as men pray in a minyan of 10 to insure their prayers will be heard -- so voices raised on behalf of one person to the one true G-d is not only acceptable, but laudable. . .. it is not the same as praying to an intermediary, or to or through another -- it is direct prayer from one human to G-d Himself. Missionaries think to insult Jews by throwing up "some Jews thought the Rebbe was the messiah" as if this is a slam dunk that "you Jews are no different from us Christians." As I said at the start this is a very false conclusion. If there are any Jews alive who worship the Rebbe or pray through him (I highly doubt it!) they would be guilty of terrible idolatry. There have been many men who have been thought to be the messiah, only to have been proved false. No candidate has ever brought this with him-- be he Judah of Galilee, Jesus, Bar Kochba (who in the post Temple age was closer to being the ideal than anyone), Shabbatai Tzvi or the great Rebbe. Once they died, with them went their possibility of being the Messiah. In every generation a man lives who could be the messiah if we are ready for him, if we are worthy of him -- and eventually even if we are not worthy... It is not a sin to mistake someone for the messiah. It is a mistake to worship any of them, pray to them or even in their name.... As for the ones thought to have possibly been the messiah -- whatever their names might have been -- Not one of them fulfilled the true messianic prophecies. There is no world peace or global knowledge of G-d... all the Jews have yet to live in the holy land and the state of Israel is not a halachic Jewish country... The Rambam wrote: “The Mashiach [messiah] King will arise and restore the sovereignty of the House of David to its previous status as it was during [David’s] original rule, build the Holy Temple and gather in the Jews in exile." We wait. And we pray daily for the messiah to arrive -- not for who he will be, but for what will happen in his lifetime. As for praying at a gravesite -- if you are not a kohein it can be a very moving way to emotionally connect to G-d. Someone asked "I was just reading Vayikra - Leviticus - Chapter 10 v18: "Behold, its blood was not brought into the Sanctuary within, so you should have surely eaten it within holy [precincts], as I commanded!" - What does it mean? Is it saying that blood can be eaten ? Thank you. No. Moses wasn't asking why they didn't drink blood. Moses is asking his brother, Aaron, why he did not eat a chatat / חַטָּאת / sin sacrifice as commanded by G-d. The law says it must be eaten by the kohanim (priests). Aaron (Moses' brother) was the first כהן גדול / kohein gadol / high priest) and his four sons − נָדָב / Nadav, אֲבִיהוּא / Avihu, אֶלְעָזָר / El'azar and אִיתָמָר / Itamar − were all "anointed" by Moses in the desert (Vayikra / Leviticus 8:12-13), with a special mixture of spice and olive oil that was used for “anointing” of kings and priests - meaning they were messiahs (anointed ones / mashiach). But in this instance they did not properly offer the sacrifice. In this instance the people's goat sin sacrifice was burnt -- not eaten. THAT is what Moses commanded be done with a sin sacrifice -- after it was properly brought it had to be cooked and eaten by the priests and the blood properly disposed of (that was slightly different depending on the actual type of sin sacrifice -- all explained in the written Torah)... It is forbidden to eat blood. Vayikra / Leviticus 3:17 This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood. Vayikra / Leviticus 7:26 And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. Vayikra / Leviticus 7:27 If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.' " Vayikra / Leviticus 17:10-11 If any person, whether of the family of Israel or a proselyte who joins them, eats any blood, I will direct My anger against the person who eats blood and cut him off [spiritually] from among his people. This is because the life-force of the flesh is in the blood; and I therefore gave it to you to be [placed] on the altar to atone for your lives. It is the blood that atones for a life, Vayikra / Leviticus 17:12 Therefore I say to the Israelites, "None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood." Vayikra / Leviticus 17:13 Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, Vayikra / Leviticus 17:14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off." Translations are easily misunderstood. Moses is telling Aaron to do what he had commanded: properly bring a sin sacrifice, eat it in the proper area (this was dependent on the type of sacrifice) and then dispose of the blood properly (as it was forbidden to drink blood)... Read on in chapter 10 of Vayikra / Leviticus to understand the context: "And Moses diligently sought the goat of the chatat / חַטָּאת / sin offering, and behold, it was burnt [and not eaten]! So he was angry with El'azar / אֶלְעָזָר and Itamar / אִיתָמָר who were Aaron's surviving sons." Vayikra / Leviticus 10:16. Moses was mad that they had made an elevation / burnt offer and not an accidental mistake / sin sacrifice which is to be eaten. Some cḥatat are individual and some are communal. In this instance the qorban (offer / sacrifice) is communal -- the people's goat for רֹאשׁ חֹדֶשׁ / Rosh Chodesh / the New Month. The day in question was Rosh Chodesh Nisan - the first day of Nisan. Thus three sin-offering goats were sacrificed: a) “[Take] a he-goat [as a sin-offering]” (see Vayikra / Leviticus 9:3 and 15). Moses is mad because they did not eat this third sin sacrifice -- they burnt it. "'Why did you not eat the sin offering in a holy area? It is holy of holies, and has been given to you to remove the community's guilt and atone for them before G-d" Vayikra / Leviticus 10:17. Aaron's sons Nadav / נָדָב and Avihu / אֲבִיהוּא had brought an unauthorized sacrifice Vayikra / Leviticus chapter 10 verses 1 and 2, and were killed by G-d. There were three sin sacrifices to be brought and they brought two of them but burnt the third rather than properly sacrificing it as a sin offer.... Moses is not asking why Aaron and his remaining sons didn't drink the blood -- he is asking why they did not properly sacrifice and eat the third sin sacrifice as is commanded by law. "This is the law of the sin offering: The sin offering must be slaughtered before G-d in the same place that the burnt offering is slaughtered. It is holy of holies.... "any sin offering whose blood is brought into the Communion Tent to make atonement in the sanctuary MAY NOT BE EATEN. It must be burned in fire." Vayikra / Leviticus 6:18. 23. So again, Moses was mad and he said: "Why did you not eat the sin offering in a holy area? It is holy of holies, and has been given to you to remove the community's guilt and atone for them before G-d." Vayikra / Leviticus 10:17. He goes on to remind Aaron that this was a sin sacrifice and thus the meat should have been eaten by the priests within the proper location -- and the blood of the sacrifice brought into the sanctuary where the priest performs the required ritual to dispose of it. For example, the Rambam wrote: "The blood of all of the sin-offerings that are burnt is taken in the Temple building, and it is sprinkled there as described in the Torah. The remainder of the blood should be poured on the western base of the outer altar, [the one] that he encounters first when he leaves the Temple building." Aaron did not do this. Moses is asking why he (a) did not eat the meat as required and (b) did not dispose of the blood as required. "Aaron responded to Moses, 'Today, when they sacrificed their sin offering and burnt offering before G-d, such a [terrible tragedy] occurred to me. If I had eaten the sin offering today, would it have been right in G-d's eyes? When Moses heard this, he approved." '" Verse 19 - 20. See the Talmud: דאי בקדשי דורות ק"ו ממעשר הקל ומה מעשר הקל אמרה תורה (דברים כו, יד) לא אכלתי באוני ממנו בקדשי דורות לא כל שכן" "As, if you claim that it also applies to the offerings of all generations, then one can prove this is not so via an a fortiori inference from the second tithe, for which the halakha is more lenient than for sacrificial meat: Just as with regard to the second tithe, for which the halakha is more lenient, the Torah stated: “I have not eaten thereof in my mourning [ve’oni]” (Deuteronomy 26:14), teaching that an acute mourner [onen] is prohibited from partaking of it, all the more so is it not clear that with regard to the offerings of all generations, an acute mourner is prohibited from partaking of them?” מיד (ויקרא י, כ) וישמע משה וייטב בעיניו הודה ולא בוש משה לומר לא שמעתי אלא אמר שמעתי ושכחתי" "Moses immediately conceded to Aaron, as the verse states: “And Moses heard, and it was good in his eyes” (Leviticus 10:20). And Moses was not embarrassed and did not attempt to justify himself by saying: I did not hear of this halakha until now. Rather, he said: I heard it, and I forgot it, as the verse indicates by stating: “Moses heard.” Talmud, Z'vachim 101a. The Chabad has an article discussing the types of sacrifices... link. Paul claims that the Jews been broken off. -- the gentiles have not been grafted in "with" the Jews, but rather in place of the Jews. Romans 11:5-7, 17, 23 and 19 tries to say that Christians are the "remnant", that they are “grafted in” to the covenant G-d made with the Jewish people. False claim. The remnant is defined in the Hebrew Bible as the righteous Jews. Paul claims that the Jews been broken off. -- the gentiles have not been grafted in "with" the Jews, but rather in place of the Jews. False claim. Yet many missionaries seem to think that a Christian can “graft themselves” into the Jewish covenant -- some think they even replace it. One verse they will say supports Christians replacing Jews is Jeremiah 31:4, but this is also false. Read Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 31: "Yet again shall you plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria, indeed planters shall plant [them] and redeem [them]." Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 31:4. Jeremiah's use of "yet again" destroys Paul's claim that non-Jews (Christians) are grafted in (or in place of) the Jews. Again the Jews will plant vineyards. . . not some Roman who converted to Christianity. The so-called "spiritual Israel" and "grafted in'' of Romans 11 never did plant vineyards in the mountains of Samaria -- and, therefore, the "yet again" excludes them from Jeremiah's and Isaiah's prophecies. False claim. It is hard to imagine a less appropriate metaphor than "grafting" (or "grafted in"), because G-d specifically forbids Jews to graft any plants or trees. Moreover, the prohibition is not "just an invention of the Rabbis" but is written explicitly in the Torah in plain language: "Keep My decrees: Do not crossbreed your livestock with other species. Do not plant your field with different species of seeds." שָׂדְךָ לֹא תִזְרַע כִּלְאָֽיִם (Vayikra / Leviticus 19:19) and "Do not plant different species in your vineyard. [If you do so] the yield of both the crops you planted and the fruit of the vineyard will be forfeit." לֹא תִזְרַע כַּרְמְךָ כִּלְאָֽיִם (D'varim / Deuteronomy 22:9). It is noteworthy that the word scion, which properly means a shoot or twig that has been cut for use in grafting, can also be used in English to designate the illegitimate child of a member of the nobility. In other words -- a graft is not legitimate. When a missionary tells you that they love the Jews, and have been grafted in "with us", they are misrepresenting Paul's message. Paul's message is that Jews observant and faithful to G-d and to His Torah have been replaced for "unbelief" in Jesus, in total violation to the words of the bible itself. Why on earth would a Christian think they could “join themselves” to the Jewish covenant without becoming Jewish? Because the Christian bible tells them that they have done so -- time and time again, even though this claim is baseless. Missionaries will point to their mistranslations of Isaiah 56:6 and insist they have “joined themselves” to the covenant. Read a few Christian translations of this verse: “And the foreigners who join themselves to the L-rd...And holds fast My covenant.” NASB translation. “And foreigners who bind themselves…” NIV translation. “that join themselves to the L-RD…” KJV translation. A minor “nit” but even the use of “foreigner” is a mistranslation. The text says בֶּן־הַנֵּכָר (ben hanéchar) literally means “son of a foreigner.” If you cannot trust in a minor thing -- how much more in an important one? If you check Studylight, a Christian website, you will find the following ‘explanation’ of Isaiah 56:6: “Who shall enter into the Christian covenant by baptism and faith in Christ, as the Jews and proselytes did by circumcision.” Do you think Isaiah ever heard of Christianity? Of course not! Yet this is a very common Christian explanation -- based on mistranslation and encouraged by lies about “grafting” in the Christian bible. Can you join a club by simply saying you “belong” or “join yourself” or “bind yourself” to a club, or must you ask to become a member of said club? Of course not -- and becoming part of a people, a nation -- particularly one who has a contract with G-d Himself -- is not done by simply claiming to be a member! These mistranslations may have stemmed from an innocent ignorance of Hebrew -- or they could be on purpose. I have no way of knowing, but they are WRONG. They misinterpret the verb הַנִּלְוִים /ha-nilvah in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 56:6. The verb נִלְוִים / nilvah (the הַ / heh is a prefix meaning “the”) is the נִפְעַל nif'al (passive) present participle. This changes the verse from the mistranslation of: "those gentiles who join themselves" as found in all those Christian versions listed above. It should be translated as "those gentiles who HAS BEEN JOINED to us” [by the proper Jewish religious authorities as a conversion to Judaism]". It isn’t an “active” phrase of “join themselves” but rather a past (passive) inflexion that means “[who] has been joined [to Hashem]”. Since “who joined” is an active inflexion, it cannot be the correct translation. Isaiah is speaking of the messianic age where there is world peace and global knowledge of G-d. If you read Y’shayahu / Isaiah 56 in context you will see that G-d is speaking of converts to Judaism (and eunuchs btw!) that are Torah observant -- that keep the mitzvot including Shabbat and the Torah will be brought to the Temple in the days of the real messiah. There those who have converted to Judaism from the other nations will surpass the mightiest of those nations. Not Christians. Legal Jewish converts who have joined our nation. “Has been joined” means legally, by a Jewish court of law. "Join themselves" makes no sense whatsoever. The word הַנִּלְוִים is also found in Ester / Esther 9:27 and is so typical -- where it isn’t being used to “prove” Jesus Christian translations are much more accurate! In Esther 9:27: “all who became Jews” New Living Translation; “all who joined them” English Standard Translation; “as joined themselves unto them” King James Version. Folks: this is the exact same word as is found in Y’shayahu / Isaiah 56 but in Esther 9:27 they are far more accurate in their translations! The Christian bible was trying to prove to followers (it is estimated that 1 in 4 in Rome was Jewish 2000 years ago) that they could be Christians, get rid of the “pesky” rules and still be part of the Jewish covenant. It lied. You can’t claim to be “joined” or “grafted” anywhere -- not a club, not a country, not a race -- nothing! Just imagine the chaos that would ensue if every person was able to determine his own status! Perhaps you would like to be a king? Just declare yourself to be a king! Perhaps you would like to be Japanese? Go to Japan and simply take up residence, declaring yourself to be Japanese. Anyone can see the insanity of such a claim -- yet when it comes to being Jewish (or "inheriting the covenant") many a missionary will declare that he is "of Israel" because he is "grafted in" or he "joined himself to Israel." No amount of logic or explanation will budge them from this insanity. There are rules to be a Jew -- both to people born to the covenant and to others who want to be part of our nation -- and YES we are a nation. I’m not speaking of the state of Israel (although it is a Jewish state) but the people of Israel, the Jewish people. A non-Jew may elect to become Jewish by following Jewish law. A potential convert must prove to a Jewish court of law that they are sincere and will follow our mitzvot. Only after a person knows how to learn to live as a Jew and what that means -- only then will a Jewish court permit them to become one of us. They then must immerse in a mikvah -- a ritual bath, symbolically leaving their past life behind them. A Jewish court determines who is a convert to Judaism, and once converted that person is as Jewish as one born to the nation. That is the critical distinction that they are joined to our nation by a Jewish court of law not that they themselves make a decision and say that they have joined when they haven't been accepted… When a person converts to Judaism they ARE joined to our people. They are as Jewish as any other Jew. That is why you cannot “graft yourself” or “join yourself” to the Jewish people, to our covenant with G-d. That is why I made the point of explaining that the word נִלְוִים is the נִפְעַל nif'al (passive) present participle -- changing the entire sense of the verse from the intended "those gentiles who HAS BEEN JOINED [to Israel by the proper Jewish religious authorities]. You cannot “join yourself” and you cannot “be grafted” as that is specifically forbidden in the Hebrew Bible, too. One reason I love doing what I do is that whenever I run out of ideas of what to write someone asks a question! Today's question is "In a short conversation I had with a "messinanic." I told him that our version of hell is different than xianity in that we don't believe in fire and brimstone version of your hell. He pointed out, "as the Talmud' doesn't invent ideas without referencing the Torah, neither do we. We didn't invent the idea. See Chapter Heleq in Sanhedrin spells out Jewish beliefs." They don't make things up? Well -- there is nothing new under the sun! Things like virgin birth and their mythical hell come from the pagans --- and were interpolated into Christianity. They are NOT Jewish. As the Rambam said in his Introduction to Perek Helek: "I must speak now of the great fundamental principles of our faith. Know that the masters of Torah hold differing opinions concerning the good which will come to a person as a result of fulfilling the commandments which G-d commanded us through Moses our Teacher. As a consequence of their different understanding of the problem, they also hold widely different opinions concerning the evil which the transgressor suffers. "So much confusion has invaded their opinions that it is almost impossible to find anyone whose opinion is uncontaminated by error. "One group thinks that the expected good is the Garden of Eden, a place in which one eats and drinks without any physical work or effort. They also believe that there houses are made of precious stones, beds of silk, rivers flow with wine and fragrant oils, and many other things of that sort. "This group believes that the evil is Gehenna, a place of raging fire, in which bodies are burned and agonies of all sorts are inflicted upon men. Their descriptions of these afflictions are told at a great length. This group adduces proof for their opinions from the words of our sages and from passages in the Scripture whose literal meaning seems either wholly or largely compatible with what they say." Differing opinions. Not theology. Not fact. And this, says the Rambam, is just one group's opinion. He goes on to give a second view and a third, a fourth and a fifth! But, sure -- this comes straight from Judaism says the messianic! He continues: "However, concerning this strange world to come, you will rarely find anyone to whom it occurs to think about it seriously or to adopt it as a fundamental doctrine of our faith, or to inquire what it really means... "Gehenna is a name for the pain and the punishment which will come upon the wicked. No specific description of this punishment is contained in the Talmud. "One teacher says that the sun will come so close to the wicked that it will burn them. He finds proofs for this belief in the verse: “For lo, the sun comes, glowing like a furnace, and all the audacious sinners and all the perpetrators of wickedness will be stubble. And the sun that comes shall burn them up so that it will leave them neither root nor branch, says the L-rd of Hosts.” (Malachi 3:19). "Others say that a strange heat will be produced within their own bodies to incinerate them. They find support for this position in the Scriptural words: “You shall conceive chaff; you shall bear stubble. Your breath is fire; it shall consume you.” (Y'shayahu / Isaiah. 33:11). Isn't it interesting how messianics (like so many missionaries) are selective in what they "accept" from our sages? If they think they can find support for their mythical hell in the Talmud they will reference it -- but they ignore differing opinions on olam haba (the world to come) - not to mention ignoring the bit about not worshiping men, falling into idolatry, or doing your best to be a good person so you needn't worry about the punishment! In this introduction this quote struck me: "If consider these things carefully and fully, you will understand that it is as though He were saying to you, “If you do some of these commandments out of love and with genuine effort, I will help you to do all of them, and I will remove the oppressive obstacles that prevent you from doing them. But if you refuse to attempt to perform any of them out of disdain for the commandment, then I will bring upon you the very obstacles that prevent you from doing all of them, so that you cannot achieve perfect existence in the world to come. This is the meaning of the statement of the sages: “Run to pursue a minor mitzvah, and flee from a transgression. For a mitzvah brings another mitzvah, and a transgression brings another transgression. For the reward of a mitzvah is a mitzvah, and the reward of transgression is transgression.” (Pirkei Avot / Ethics of the Fathers 4:2)." Here is a link to the Mishna, Sanhedrin chapter 10 (the Talmudic passage mentioned by the missionary). You may recall that I posted about a Christian masquerading as a religious Jew in Israel. Michael Elk pretended to not only be Jewish (to gain Israeli citizenship) he acted as a sofer -- a scribe -- making mezuzot and other religious items and selling them to Jews as "kosher." He was not Jewish and was not only a Christian, along with his wife and children, he sold these under false pretenses to Jews who paid for them -- and that is theft. They were not only "not kosher" they were worse -- from an idolater. He should have been deported after his wife (also not Jewish) died (she is buried in a Jewish cemetery!) -- but instead he has moved to another Jewish neighborhood -shedding his Chassidic masquerade for a more "modern Orthodox" look. Why is he still in Israel??? He was not alone! "Four members of a “sleeper cell” of alleged undercover Christian missionaries who infiltrated Orthodox communities in Jerusalem have been unmasked in dossiers passed to the Israeli government... "They are from a group of 10 fake Jews who followed evangelical ringleader Michael Elk — calling himself Rabbi Michael Elkohen — whose Christian upbringing was exposed earlier this month in a special report by thejc (dot) com. "Elk had set up a seminary in Jerusalem called Yeshivat Yarim Ha’am, teaching a belief in Jesus. He gave students a ‘Messianic’ smicha, making them rabbis." The JC, "‘Sleeper cell’ of Christian missionaries who infiltrated Orthodox communities in Jerusalem unmasked." More shocking - he is not alone! This is a new plague in Israel -- an attempt to murder Jewish souls just as the Nazis murdered our bodies... The article about these four fake rabbis Elk created is the 4th link given below and in a link I put in a comment. He created a Christian "messianic" church in Washington state and these men are all pictured attending that church in America... One of them is Timothy Buckles (pictured above). "Reports surfaced, on May 27, 2021, concerning a dossier focusing on Timothy and Anna Michelle Buckles, sent by the NGO Beyneynu to Israel’s Ministry of the Interior. The American couple who made aliyah in 2017, it was revealed, are suspected missionaries... (there were) "Videos of Tim Buckles on YouTube talking about Yeshu... "Their little girl, age 5 at the time, was heard to say her little brother's name is Idan Yeshua. “What a nice name, Idan Yehoshua?” To which she responded, “No, Idan Yeshua. Because Yeshua was very special.” Baltimore Jewish Life. "Christian Missionaries in Yerushalayim Posing as Jews" Beyneynu is an organization dedicated to exposing these horrible people. "Beyneynu is a non-profit organization that monitors missionary activity in Israel and works with government and community leaders to create awareness of the challenges facing the public and to facilitate the establishment of proper boundaries in their partnerships with faith-based organizations." Here is a link to their Facebook page. They are sponsoring a free seminar in one of the communities targeted by the missionaries. Rabbi Tovia Singer will be hosting it on June 8th, 2021. It is being called "The Battle for the Jewish Soul - Are the Missionaries Winning?" Revisiting a missionary favorite: line by line, today Y'shayahu / Isaiah verses 52:13 - 155/16/2021 As we discussed chapters are a Christian invention and to understand what is happening you must understand the context. Isaiah has been talking about the fact that the Jewish people are G-d's servant (there are actually four servant songs in the Book of Isaiah). The Jewish people would be exiled because of idolatry and wrongdoing -- but there would come a time when the people would be redeemed and returned to the land of Israel. When this redemption happens the world, who thought G-d had deserted the Jews and because of this feeling of superiority demeaned us, scorned us... G-d is speaking: "Behold, My servant will succeed; he will be exalted and become high and exceedingly lofty. 14 Just as multitudes were astonished over you (saying) "His appearance is too marred to be a man's, and his visage to be human..." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:13 - 14. Again -- context. Read chapter 52 verses 1 - 12. It all speaks about how the Jews should rejoice because their redemption is at hand... The subject is the Jewish people -- and this continues in verses 13 - 14. Isaiah calls quite a few people G-d's servant including: Himself (Isaiah). Y'shayahu / Isaiah 20:3; Eliakim Y'shayahu / Isaiah 22:20; King David Y'shayahu / Isaiah 37:37; Not specified Israel / the Jewish nation / Jacob / Jeshurun (Jeshurun is a poetic name for the Jews): "But you, Israel My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham, who loved Me, Whom I grasped from the ends of the earth, and from its nobles I called you, and I said to you, "You are My servant"; I chose you and I did not despise you." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 41:8-9. "And now, so said the L-rd, your Creator, O Jacob, and the One Who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you, and I called by your name, you are Mine. . . "You are My witnesses," says the L-rd, "and My servant whom I chose," in order that you know and believe Me, and understand that I am He; before Me no god was formed and after Me none shall be." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 43:1 - 10. "And now, hearken, Jacob My servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. So said the Lord your Maker, and He Who formed you from the womb shall aid you. Fear not, My servant Jacob, and Jeshurun whom I have chosen." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:1-2. "Remember these, O Jacob; and Israel, for you are My servant; I formed you that you be a servant to Me, Israel, do not forget Me." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 44:1-21. "For the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen one, and I called to you by your name; I surnamed you, yet you have not known Me." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:4. "And He said to me, "You are My servant, Israel, about whom I will boast." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:3. Israel is called, by Isaiah, "My servant" time and time and time again. And we can know with a certainty that the servant in verses 13 - 14 are the Jewish people because we have been the subject of the entire chapter prior to these 2 verses... G-d is saying in the last 3 verses of chapter 52 that the nations will be shocked to realize that Israel, we Jews, have always been G-d's servant. Read all three: "Behold, My servant will succeed; he will be exalted and become high and exceedingly lofty. "14 Just as multitudes were astonished over you (saying) 'His appearance is too marred to be a man's, and his visage to be human', "15 so will the many nations exclaim about him, and kings will shut their mouths (in amazement) for they will see that which had never been told to them, and will perceive things they had never heard." The quotes are from Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:13 - 15. The context is that the nations formerly saw the servant as less than human and are now shocked to see that things are very different indeed -- the servant is beloved of G-d and will become exalted. Notice too that it says that kings and nations will see all of this for themselves -- and ask yourselves... What kings saw Jesus? None. What nations saw Jesus (other than the Jews and the Romans in Judah or the Galilee)? None. No kings or nations were amazed by seeing Jesus (none saw him!). What kings "shut their mouths in amazement" at seeing Jesus do something -- something they had NOT been told, but something they saw for themselves? Not a one. Which nations saw Jesus do something and were amazed that the servant whom they thought was subhuman -- who saw that Jesus' "appearance is too marred to be a man's, and his visage to be human" who were then amazed at his exaltation that they themselves saw. . . not that someone told them about? Again, no one. Again -- how could this be Jesus? For 2000 years we constantly "heard" from missionaries that Jesus is the servant in Isaiah 53 -- so how can this be the Jews who "never heard" if this is about Jesus???? Remember -- Isaiah is saying the nations / kings SAW THIS FOR THEMSELVES. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:15: "so will the many nations exclaim about him, and kings will shut their mouths (in amazement) FOR THEY WILL SEE THAT WHICH HAD NEVER BEEN TOLD TO THEM." Re-read the last part so it sinks in: - FOR THEY WILL SEE. - THAT WHICH HAD NEVER BEEN TOLD TO THEM. This isn't interpretation or opinion -- these are the words of the prophet Isaiah... This did NOT happen with Jesus. The issue here -- the bit that Jesus failed to fulfill -- is that those who are amazed at the rise of the servant, first perceived that servant as someone they thought to be subhuman. Jesus did not "go" from seeming to be less than human IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD -- THE NATIONS THE KINGS -- to being exalted in their eyes. In his lifetime very few leaders ever heard of Jesus -- and outside of the Christian bible there is no mention of Jesus at all (meaning the leaders would never have heard of him if he even existed). The kings and nations who are amazed at the rise of the servant from a lowly, subhuman, position is something they witness for themselves. Not something they are told about. Christianity spread from the exact opposite -- Christians "spread the good word" converting country after country with the "gospel" (good news). People did not become Christian based on what they themselves witnessed. . . the opposite of Isaiah's prophecy in this passage. Many a missionary will insist that Israel (the Jewish people) could not be Isaiah's servant (even though Isaiah himself calls the Jews G-d's servant) because not all Jews meet the criteria. Not all Jews have been (fill in the blank). Some missionaries say the servant is depicted as completely righteous and Jews are not completely righteous, ergo the servant cannot be Israel (the Jews) even though Isaiah himself identifies the Jews as G-d's servant time and time again. Fake argument. Isaiah does not say that the servant was never violent or never guilty of lying. Read it in context. Isaiah is saying that the suffering servant of Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53 is not guilty of the crimes of which his persecutors accuse him. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 42:1-4, Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:1-6, and Y'shayahu / Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 explicitly use the Hebrew עַבְדִּ֖י / avdi (my servant). Also, Isaiah tells us that this servant is despised until his exaltation. Jesus was not despised in his lifetime, he was (the Christian bible says) idolized and followed by thousands. It is only at the "end" of his life that Jesus is taunted and mistreated -- a few hours at most. This does not fit the prophet's description! Isaiah does tell us repeatedly that the Jews are despised. Y'shayahu / Isaiah 49:7 "to him (my servant Israel) who was despised and abhorred by the nations" Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:3 "Despised and rejected by men." and from Jeremiah: Y'rmiyahu / Jeremiah 30:10 " 'So do not fear, O Jacob my servant; do not be dismayed, O Israel,' declares HaShem." Yes, they will most definitely be shocked when we are shown to be His servant! I realize this is long! There are many directions we can go and probably discuss just these three verses for quite a few days! Shavuot begins at sunset Sunday, May 16,2021 and ends on the evening of Tuesday, May 18, 2021. In Israel it is a one-day holiday, ending at nightfall of the 6th of Sivan. After the 49-day counting from Passover we reach the 50th day of Shavuot. The word Shavuot / שָׁבוּעוֹת means "weeks." There is no melachot on Shavuot (meaning no new posts during that time). Just as on Shabbat and other major holidays we do not do activities related to the 39 used to build the Mishkahn (the portable Temple / Tabernacle)... except making a food for that day alone (Ochel Nefesh). Betzah 12: "Since carrying out was permitted on a Festival for the purpose of food preparation, it was also permitted not for that purpose. For if you say the baraita is accordance with the opinion of Beit Hillel, they say: Since carrying out was permitted for the requirements of food preparation, it was also permitted not for these requirements. Here, too, with regard to the prohibited labor of slaughtering, since slaughter was permitted for the requirements of food preparation, it was also permitted not for these requirements. It was permitted for any purpose that benefits people, whether directly or indirectly. "On Shabbat, yes, carrying from one domain to another is indeed prohibited; on a Festival, no, it is not prohibited." This year Shavuot begins Sunday at Sundown and ends Tuesday night. This means an eruv tavshilin is set aside on the day before Shavuot. Normally, it is forbidden to prepare food on holidays that you plan to use the next day. However, when the holiday falls out on Friday you can prepare for Shabbat on on the holiday if you symbolically began the preparations before the holiday. This symbolic preparation is known as an eruv tavshilin. You can read about this practice here. Shavuot is biblically mandated and marks the time the Jewish people as a nation, some 3 million men, women and children, heard G-d speak to them. Not through a prophet, but directly to them. "And Keep the Festival of Shavuot / וְחַג שָׁבֻעֹת / through the first fruits of your wheat harvest. Also keep the Harvest Festival soon after the year changes." Sh'mot / Exodus 34:22. G-d gave us the ten utterances (not commandments)... On the first day of Shavuot we should all hear them read out loud... On the second day Yizkor / "remember" / יזכור is recited for those mourning the loss of a loved one. It is customary for one whose parents are living to leave the synagogue during the Yizkor service. There is also a custom to not say Yizkor within the first year of mourning until the anniversary of the death (yarzeit) has passed. This holiday renews the covenantal relationship G-d first established with Abraham, renewed with Isaac, and renewed again with Jacob. At Sinai He renewed the covenantal relationship with the entire Jewish people. Shavuot is also an agricultural holiday and in the time of the Temple people would bring their "first fruits" to the Temple. Sh'mot / Exodus 23:16, Vayikra / Leviticus 23:15-22 and D'varim / Deuteronomy 16:9-12. There is a custom to stay up all night studying the Torah. Women light candles, and we eat a lot of dairy foods. The Torah is Unique and there will never be another like it. No prophet can change the Torah. If any prophet changes a mitzvah he is a false prophet. The Torah is the direct word of G-d, it is eternal and it cannot be changed through prophecy. Remember that the Jews did not believe Moses simply because Moses told them G-d had spoken to him. They didn’t believe Moses because Moses performed miracles (miracles can be faked). The Jews believed Moses because G-d spoke to THEM. G-d told 3 million Jewish men, women and children the ten utterances (commandments) and was with the Jews daily for over 40 years in the desert. IF Moses had made up even one mitzvah not given by G-d then Moses would have been removed as prophet. We know this clearly because when Moses failed to follow G-d’s instructions completely (striking a rock for water rather than speaking to it as G-d commanded) he was punished. . . Moses spoke to the Jews (Israelites): “Moses summoned all Israel, and said to them: Listen, Israel, to the rules and laws that I am publicly declaring to you today. Learn them and safeguard them, so that you will be able to keep them. G-d your L-rd made a covenant with you at Horeb (Sinai) It was not with your ancestors that G-d made this covenant, but with us - those of us who are still alive here today. On the mountain, G-d spoke to you face to face out of the fire. I stood between you and G-d at that time, to tell you G-d's words, since you were afraid of the fire, and did not go up on the mountain. G-d then] declared [the Ten Utterances]. . . G-d spoke these words in a loud voice to your entire assembly from the mountain, out of the fire, cloud and mist, but He added no more. He wrote [these words] on two stone tablets, and [later] gave them to me.” D’varim / Deuteronomy 5:1-19. Along with national revelation we Jews have maintained the Torah and its mitzvot in every generation. There has never been a break from one generation to the next in its transmission. Yes, some Jews have forgotten, but the nation never has. This all stems from the time of Moses – and the court system has continued from Moses to today. The judges today are called “rabbis” – and there is an unbroken chain of these judges, and of Torah transmission, from Moses until this very day. Here is a link to an article "What Happened at Matan Torah?" Is a prophecy about Jesus found in the very first word, בְּרֵאשִׁית / b'réshιt , in the Torah?5/12/2021 Someone asked me this and linked to a YouTube video by a missionary making this claim. Watching it and, even worse, reading the comments where he was praised for "proving" that Jesus is "found" in the word בְּרֵאשִׁית / b'réshιt made this blog post necessary.
While to someone informant of Hebrew the video's host may appear to know what he is saying, to someone with even a rudimentary knowledge of Hebrew it is obvious that he does not. In the video he said (among other errors) that the Hebrew word for "son" is "bar." Wrong. The Hebrew word for "son of" in Hebrew is בן (ben) not בַּר / bar. So this very basic word -- "son" is incorrectly translated by this supposed Hebrew expert. The Hebrew word for son is בן (ben), it is a masculine noun (nouns in Hebrew or either masculine or feminine). The smichut noun (possessive - "son of" not just "son") case is also בן. But what of the word בַּר / bar -- as in "Bar Mitzvah" which means "son of mitzvah" -- isn't that Hebrew? No. That is Aramaic, a totally different language. Bar / בַּר in Aramaic means "son of" but the word בְּרֵאשִׁית / b'réshιt -- the very first word of the Hebrew Bible is not written in Aramaic -- it is written in Hebrew! Aramaic and Hebrew are two totally different languages. The T'nach (Jewish bible) is primarily written in Hebrew, but there are a few parts where it is written in Aramaic. The first few words of Daniel 2 are in Hebrew, but with the middle of line four it shifts to Aramaic and continues in Aramaic until the end of chapter seven when it reverts to Hebrew for the rest of the book of Daniel. There are also two Aramaic passages in the book known as Ezra-N'ḥemyah (Ezra 4:8-6:18 and 7:12-26), as well as one isolated verse in Yirm'yahu / Jeremiah (10:11) and the two words יְגַר שָׂהֲדוּתָא / y'gar sahaduta (“evidentiary cairn” - Laban named it Yegar-sahadutha [Aramaic]) in B'réshіt / Genesis 31:47, which is a direct translation into Aramaic of the Hebrew word גַּלְעֵד / (Jacob's name for it). Some claim יְגַר שָׂהֲדוּתָא / y'gar sahaduta was in a language preceding Aramaic, but it does have that meaning in Aramaic... There is no Aramaic in the Hebrew bible in chapter 1. These missionaries generally say these "definitions" are Hebrew -- when they are no such thing. They are Aramaic and don't match the Hebrew meanings of words spelled similarly. The video's host then says that the first two letters bet / ב and resh / ר not only mean "son" in Hebrew when it doesn't -- he also goes on to say it means "the son" -- not just "son" or "son of." Also wrong. In Aramaic the word for "the son" is בְּרָא (b'ra) not bar / בַּר. In Hebrew the son of would be הבן / HaBen -- the heh for "ha" being Hebrew in a prefix for the word "the." If בַּר / bar is Aramaic for "son of" is there a similar word in Hebrew? Yes there is a similar word. What does the word בַּר / bar mean in Hebrew? The meaning of the Hebrew word bar / בַּר is “pure” or “clear" (not son). So right from the start: lies. And the presenter's claim that the first two letters in the first word in the Torah, בְּרֵאשִׁית / b'réshιt , somehow make up the Aramaic word בַּר / bar is nonsensical. Not only is it a different language -- look at the markings under those two letters in בַּר / bar and בְּרֵאשִׁית / b'réshιt They are different, right? They are NOT the same word they are not even pronounced the same! So what if the first two letters of b'réshιt begin with a bet / ב and resh / ר? How many words in English begin with the same two letters and have absolutely nothing in common? Consider the two letters "ch" as the beginning of words in English: chads. chafe. chaff. chain. chair. chais. chalk. champ And those are just a few! It is the same in Hebrew -- many words begin with a bet / ב and resh / ר? Let's just list a few found in Jastrow (a dictionary): בַּר בָּרָא בָּרָיָה בְּרָאִי ברבוי בַּרְבּוּרִים בַּרְבַּיִי בַּרְבַּרוֹן There are many, many words which begin with a bet / ב and resh / ר! Plus the first word in the Hebrew Bible actually begins with the letter resh / ר. Hebrew uses prefixes and suffixes to give additional meaning. The very first letter in the Hebrew Bible - bet / ב - is a prefix -- a letter before the actual word which gives it an additional meaning... When used as a prefix the Hebrew letter ב / bet can mean in, at, with, or by. In the first word of the Hebrew Bible the ב / bet is a prefix to the word réshιt / רֵאשִׁית. With "b'réshιt " the letter ב / bet means "in" The word réshιt / רֵאשִׁית means "beginning of..." The beginning of "what" you might ask? The next word which is בָּרָא / bara. The first two words of the Hebrew bible are בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא "at the beginning of G-d's creating of..." The word בְּרֵאשִׁית / b'réshιt has to be followed by another noun like "creating." The word רֵאשִׁית réshιt - "the beginning of [something]" - occurs 47 times in the T'nach, and it is followed by another noun in every case. Hebrew is also based on root words. The word réshιt / רֵאשִׁית means "beginning of." It is a feminine noun. Masculine is רֹאשׁ / rosh (masculine noun) which means "head" as in Rosh HaShana -- the head of the year. So this person doesn't know the meaning of "son" in Hebrew or "head" for that matter! Neither of his claims hold up to basic Hebraic understanding! In Aramaic "bar" means son of and "resh" means head -- but once again B'réshιt is HEBREW, not ARAMAIC. Then the video's presenter states that the letter alef / א means G-d. Again -- total nonsense. Alef / א is a letter in the Hebrew aleph-bet, but it is not a name for G-d. אָלֶף [Alef] is the (feminine) name of the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. אָלֶף [Alef] is generally not an actual word in biblical Hebrew, though it appears in the T'nach (bible) as a variant of the Hebrew word אֶלֶף [Elef], meaning "one thousand" (see, Shmuel Alef / 1 Samuel 17:18, T'hillim / Psalms 84:11, Divrei Hayamim Alef / 1 Chronicles 12:14). Moreover, there is the verb אָלַף [aLAF] used in the Hebrew Bible, meaning "to teach", "to learn". {The word אָלֶף [Alef] is also used in many later, i.e., more modern, Hebrew expressions.}. They probably get the idea that alef means G-d from their own Greek testament. The "alpha and omega" even among Christians is fairly new -- 19th century. The Textus Receptus (received text) was created in the 15th century used the Greek symbols "Α and Ω" (not "alpha" and "omega"). The Textus Receptus does not say "alpha and omega" (in words), but rather "Α and Ω". In the 19th century Delitzsch and Zalkinson (independently) translated the Christian bible into Hebrew. Both of them elected to translate "Α and Ω" into "alef" and "tav." BTW this whole lie is based on the idea that Hebrew is based on pictographs -- like Egyptian hieroglyphics. It isn't. The letter shin / ש symbolizes a flame. It can up to 5 meanings: 1. tooth 2. steadfast 3. change 4. return 5. year. But again -- Hebrew uses root WORDS not root letters. The next letter is a yud / י. The word hand sounds like the letter but it isn't the single letter -- the Hebrew word for "hand" is spelled יד -- a yud and a dalet -- not just the single letter yud / י. The letter ת / tav never ever meant cross. And again Hebrew was never pictographic either. The missionaries use a Canaanite alphabet where their letter resembles a cross and ignore the ancient Hebrew aleph bet version of ת / tav which looks more like an "x." There is a Hebrew word for "a cross" and it is צְלָב (tslav). There is no Hebrew word in the T'nach which depicts or resembles a cross. In the ancient k'tav ivri script the letter tav resembled the English letter "X". Missionaries love to use smoke and mirrors (which they call types and shadows) to try to find Jesus where he doesn't exist. This is a good example of this. In the Hebrew Bible prophecy is NEVER based on hints or "shadows" -- it is always based on plain meaning (p'shat). It's been some time since we discussed that missionary favorite: Isaiah 53. Let me explain the disgusting picture -- it is Nazi propaganda against the Jews. Notice how he dehumanizes us? Makes us the object of scorn and derision? Just as Isaiah describes the servant of Isaiah 53 before the messianic age when the world is shocked to realize that we are actually the servants of G-d, and we are exalted and returned to our land in peace. Have you ever seen a similar picture of Jesus? Has he ever been demeaned, dehumanized by the world? If there is any I've never seen one -- it is certainly not a global phenomena as is anti-Semitism. Remember that picture as we begin to explore this missionary favorite which, it is claimed, is about Jesus and not the Jewish nation. It is by far the most used and pointed to by missionaries -- and they will even go so far as to claim that Jews "hide it" (nonsense). Sadly for sincere Christians who seek the truth Isaiah 53 is badly mangled and mistranslated in Christian translations -- not to mention that they ignore all the "bits" that don't fit Jesus! Christian translations of this famous chapter are also infamous for lifting a word or partial sentence completely out of context -- the "types and shadows" nonsense. Let's start by addressing the fact that Jesus could not have been the servant mentioned in this oh so famous chapter... Missionary references in the T'nach (Jewish bible) regarding Jesus tend to fall into one of four categories: Out of context - ignoring the plain meaning of a passage such as Y'shayahu / Isaiah 7 which is a sign for the king who lived 700 years before Jesus and is not a messianic prophecy); Mistranslated - made to seems something other than what the Hebrew really says, there are many of these in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53 and some are mentioned including the fact that "grief" is a mistranslation in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:3); Misunderstood / misapplied - for example thinking the messiah must be born in Bethlehem rather than descended from David who was from there, Micah 5:1). Not applicable - the verse claimed may even be the reverse of what is claimed -- sometimes by changing the past tense to future tense as in Y'shayahu / Isaiah 9, or the verse may not be found in the T'nach at all such. It is complete fiction Completely made up -- not found in the text at all such as such as "an offering for sin" in the NIV and KJV translations of Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:10. Why do I say it is complete fiction? Well, the word for sin (חֵטְא / cheit) does not appear in the text at all. All of these misuses of scripture are found in Christian translations and interpretations of Isaiah 53. Consider: the servant is described as "He formerly grew like a sapling or a root from dry ground; he had neither form nor beauty. We saw him, but without a desirable appearance." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:2. Has Jesus ever been described as struggling to grow in "dry earth" (struggling to grow, like a tree without enough water or fertilizer)? Nope. Was Jesus described as having "neither form nor beauty"? Again -- nope. We are told in this chapter that the servant "was despised and rejected of men, a man of pains and accustomed to sickness. As one from whom we would hide our faces, he was despised, and we had no regard for him" (Y'shayahu / Isaiah 53:3). Is Jesus ever described as having suffered long term illness / וידוע חלי / and accustomed to sickness? Again -- "nope." Hopefully this exercise won't be boring as I look at each line starting with the end of chapter 52 (which is connected -- chapters are a Christian invention and it seems the unnatural break for chapter 53 was so that readers wouldn't see how it doesn't fit Jesus)... The line by line approach applies to chapter 53, but we must begin with the end of chapter 52 as it is part of the text and the "break" for a new chapter shouldn't be at that point, but that is where the Christians chose to start a new chapter... Some have asked me "how could a loving G-d have permitted the tragedy at Mount Meron? So many good people died there!" Why did G-d permit the Holocaust?" Why do children die? Why do terrorists kill innocent people? Why does life seem so unfair? Doesn't G-d care? Why would G-d allow these things to happen? Wrong questions. G-d created everything including suffering, including evil - yet we know G-d is good. So that means that suffering and even evil have a good purpose. Consider why G-d created this world in the first place -- with its imperfections, its imperfect people, its hurricanes, its earthquakes, its children with cancer, its murderers, its despots. . . why would a loving G-d create a world where these things exist? There was already a perfect creation -- the angels exist in a place of no evil, no temptations -- and no free will. And no growth. Stasis. Mere existence. G‑d created our world incomplete and imperfect so that humans can complete it. Consider the very first covenant between G-d and the Jewish people, the brit milah (covenant of circumcision). The act of circumcision is the human "completing" the male body is a human act. This covenant is a symbol of the human / G-d partnership. This first covenant is a very physical / visual way of showing that completion in this world -- requires human effort. Mankind was put in this world to complete creation -- we are partners with G-d to perfect this world. It is the role of us humans transform this world and elevate it to a spiritual state. We have the power to experience people, places and things in a G‑dly way, thus changing their composition from merely physical to a new spiritual dimension. The only reason weird things happen to us, is because we are challenged to elevate that situation from the annoying (to humans) to the pleasurable (to G‑d). This doesn't lesson our pain when tragedy happens. It is very hard for us to accept. The Torah tells us: "See! Today I have set before you [a free choice] between life and good [on one side], and death and evil [on the other]." D'varim / Deuteronomy 30:15; "I (G-d) form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I HaShem do all these things." Y'shayahu / Isaiah 45:7. G-d gave us the blessing and the curse -- and He gave us the choice of which one to choose. . . The goal of this world -- including suffering and evil -- is for us to grow in understanding and wisdom. . . we can't have good without evil. When you witness evil, replace it with good. In this way we can transform suffering into something good. Instead of asking "why G-d?" ask "what can I do?" It is why you were created in the first place. Mourn, we should. But we also have to keep living. We have to continue to do our best to make our lives have a purpose. When G-d created man He did so in His image. G-d is the only entity in the universe, aside from man, who can CHOOSE. When everything is "good" where is the choice? If you knew that to touch fire would burn you, would you put your hand in the fire? But what if you didn't know (like a baby?). You are drawn to the fire's beauty. You are drawn to its warmth. Fire cooks your food. Yet fire can be misused -- it can burn people even to death. It can destroy our homes. Fire can be good AND bad. The fire can't choose - - it simply exists, but WE can choose. We can make a difference. Suffering will not end. Children will still die, hurricanes will still come. . . it is part of the cycle of life to help us learn and grow and to change the world for the better. We are partners with G-d. It is up to us to help complete this world and we do that by helping those who are suffering, including ourselves. As R' Hillel said: הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, אִם אֵין אֲנִי לִי, מִי לִי. וּכְשֶׁאֲנִי לְעַצְמִי, מָה אֲנִי. וְאִם לֹא עַכְשָׁיו, אֵימָתַי -- translation "If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?" Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 1:14. And may the G-d of Abraham, the G-d of Jacob and the G-d of Isaac give you peace. You might want to reach "The Challenges of Suffering" found on the Aish website. issionaries present Jewish teachings as one thing -- as literal. "Rabbi ___ said the messiah _____ speaking of Isaiah (or Jeremiah or any other book in the Bible)." Quite possibly said source did say it (although it is often mistranslated and sometimes 100% false) -- but he wasn't speaking literally. These "Jewish sources" given by missionaries usually boil down to one of four areas: - Outright lies (totally made up); - Misquoted (badly mistranslated beyond all recognition); - Out of context -- ignoring the overall meaning of the sage; - Taking homily (not meant to be read literally, but rather for the moral purpose) as if it were plain meaning (drash as p'shat). Here is a big red flag: prophecy is never based on hints, types, shadows and so on. This is called p'shat -- plain meaning. Torah interpretation has many levels -- at its core is the plain meaning which is always the "literal" meaning. One can learn a great deal by looking at passages from different perspectives -- but this NEVER changes its plain meaning. Torah interpretation is called PaRDeS. This is an acronym formed from the first letters of the four levels of study and it means 'orchard' in Hebrew. Prophecy is always based on plain meaning -- p'shat -- the first level. For those reading this who do not know the terms p'shat, drash and sod, these terms relate to the various levels the Jewish bible is read, PaRDeS: * P'shat (פְּשָׁט) - the "plain" ("simple") meaning of a passage (prophecy is always based on 'pshat); * Remez (רֶמֶז) - "hints" implied in the text but not explicit; * Drash (דְּרַשׁ) - which is a deeper or even midrashic meaning -- often inferred from other scripture; * Sod (סוֹד) - "secret" ("mystery") meanings. So missionaries ignore the p'shat and instead search through the teachings of Jewish sources to find anything they think can be used to convince a Jew that the idolatry of worshiping a man as G-d is somehow supported by our sages. As if. Prophecy is never based on hints, or shadows or vague possibilities. Judaism is replete with stories and "tall tales" -- but those are not literal and are not meant to be taken literally. A principle of the Talmud that Rashi quotes several times states that אֵין מִקְרָא יוֹצֵא מִידֵי פְשׁוּטוֹ -- in English this would be "A verse cannot depart from its plain meaning." (Treatise Shabbat 63a, Treatise Y'vamot 11b, 24a; quoted by Rashi at B'réshıt / Genesis 15:10, 37:19, and Sh'mot / Exodus 12:2). It seems this missionary's purpose in abusing Jewish sources is to "prove" that a human can be a "sin sacrifice." Totally forbidden -- human sacrifices are disgusting to G-d and this is repeated time and time and time again in the Hebrew Bible. The Torah vehemently FORBIDS human sacrifices: Vayikra / Leviticus 18:21; "you shall not give any of your offspring to pass through for Molech. And you shall not profane the Name of your G-d. I am the L-rd." (Molech was a false god, but the point is that human sacrifices profane the name of G-d and are forbidden). Vayikra / Leviticus 24; "if a man strikes down any human being he shall be put to death.. . . one who strikes a person shall be put to death. . . One law shall be exacted for you, convert and resident alike, for I am the L-rd, your G-d. Yesterday I had a conversation with someone who brought up a meme by a missionary quoting a highly respected man: R' Chaim ibn Attar, known as Ohr HaChaim (after one of his most famous works) and also R' Moshe Chaim Luzzatto known as the RaMCHaL. The missionary quoted both men out of context and, of course, ignoring that the men he was referencing were both kabbalists, not speaking at a literal level at all. Perhaps he found these "quotes" from some other missionary and is clueless as to the identity of both men. Let's be gracious and give the missionary the "benefit of the doubt." So let me introduce you to both of them. R' Chaim ibn Attar, known as Ohr HaChaim lived fairly recently (per Jewish timing). He was born in 1696 and died in 1743. As a young man living in Morocco he became famous as a Talmudic scholar and Kabbalist. Kabbalist. Mysticism. Not literal. Kabbalah is based on drash and sod -- looking for hidden meanings. Prophecy is never based on hidden meaning. Missionary misuse and distortion yet again by quoting this saintly man and not explaining to anyone who he was or that he was a Kabbalist -- of great renown! Sadly he passed away at the age of 47. So this is a holy man whom the missionaries try to use to lure Jews by distorting his teachings. He is one of many. The missionaries do not quote the beginning of his section they abuse. He begins: "The Torah says: או הקמה, "or the standing corn;" this is a hint..." HINT. Not literal. Another meme does the same thing to R' Moshe Chaim Luzzatto 1707 – 16 May 1746 (26 Iyar 5506), known as the RaMCHaL. Another Kabbalist, aka "mystic." The distortion here is from Derech HaShem which he wrote in the 1730s. it discusses Jewish concepts about G-d from His existence, to the purpose of His creating our world and more. Again: NOT LITERAL. This particular missionary was trying to point to Jewish sources saying that the death of a tzadok (righteous person) is like a sin sacrifice -- but again, they are NOT speaking literally and they are not pointing to anything in the Hebrew Bible that supports the murder of a human as being an ACCEPTABLE sacrifice. They were simply saying that bad things happen to good people and when it does their deaths are not meaningless -- their lives and good deeds stand for something and help to heal the world. Kabbalah is complex and difficult to understand without years of Torah education. Far too many today are trying to "dabble" in the deep waters of Kabbalah without first learning how to swim (and understand the basics, and foundations of Judaism). At its heart Kabbalah explores G-d's interaction with the world, and the purpose of Creation. It may be ignorance on the part of these missionaries, or they may know they are lying. It's hard to say -- but they are being completely deceitful and innocent, uneducated Jews are their target. The Orthodox Union puts it well: "Some authorities maintain that there should be a general limit on the study of kabbalah and other esoteric subjects. Rabbi Shlomo Luria, the Maharshal (d. 1573) complains (Shu”t 98 ) about ignoramuses learning kabbalah." Ignoramuses' learning kabbalah... Missionaries will dabble quoting sages speaking of drash or remez -- as if they are literal. They are doing so out of ignorance -- and as the Rambam wrote: "I maintain that it is not proper for a person to stroll in the Pardes unless he has filled his belly with bread and meat. "Bread and meat" refer to the knowledge of what is permitted and what is forbidden, and similar matters concerning other mitzvot." If only missionaries would understand this! But they have a purpose and probably don't care! Of course not. One has to wonder if these supposed religious people ever bother to read the Hebrew bible! The Hebrew verb for "to pray", לְהִתְפַּלֵּל (l'hitpalel), appears in the T'nach (Jewish bible) 80 times, and the Hebrew noun for "a prayer", תְּפִלָּה (t'filah), appears in the T'nach 77 times. If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. [Divrei Hayamim Beit / 2 Chronicles 7:14] But if from there you seek the Eternal your G-d, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. [D'varim / Deuteronomy 4:29] "He prays to G-d and finds favor with him, he sees G-d's face and shouts for joy; he is restored by G-d to his righteous state." [Iyov / Job 33:26] The primary role of a Rabbi is that of a teacher and a judge, by right of education and a simcha. A Rabbi (unlike a priest or minister) does not have any special authority in leading religious services beyond any Jewish male with enough knowledge to lead one. Jewish men pray in a "Minyan." A Minyan, this is a formal group for prayer where at least ten men must be present (with rare exceptions). The requirement for group prayer is found in the Jewish bible, (Vayikra / Leviticus 22:32 for example). The Men of the Great Assembly codified the formal Jewish prayer book with its familiar format circa 450 BCE. What was the Great Assembly? It was a great Sanhedrin. Most Sanhedrins (a combination of court and congress – justice and government) consisted of 70 elders (going back to the time of Moses), but this Sanhedrin was nearly twice the size with 120 members. The Great Assembly included Mordechai (from the Book of Esther) and the last of the prophets Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and others including Dani’yel / Daniel, Y'hoshua (a high priest), Hananiah, Mishael, Azariah, Nehemiah b. Hachaliah (chief architect of rebuilding Jerusalem), Shimon HaTzaddik (also a High Priest), and Zerubabel ben Shaaltiel. Yes -- the entire Hebrew Bible excluding the Torah (Five Books of Moses) was selected and closed by the same men who formalized Jewish prayer service -- and many members were prophets with books of their prophecy found in the T'nach (bible). The men who selected, were the subject of (often) and wrote or edited the books of Nevi’im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings) of the Hebrew Bible also codified the formal prayer service. What about sacrifices? The Rabbis did not "do away" with sacrifices (qorban). The Torah tells us we can only bring sacrifices in the place designated by G-d. The last place G-d signified was the Temple in Jerusalem. Without the Temple we are forbidden from bringing sacrifices. The Rabbis, far from CHANGING the rules are abiding by them. Missionaries will quote Vayikra / Leviticus 17:11 (mistranslated) as "proof" that you need blood -- read the King James translation for instance: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." First of all, the word in Vayikra / Leviticus 17:11 is not "soul." This is a mistranslation. Some more modern Christian translations are correcting this mistranslation. The NIV has "it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life" -- which is more accurate. Not immortal soul, but rather the "life force." What is the life force? It is the blood coursing through your veins, carrying oxygen to your body -- it is the "stuff" that keeps your body alive -- in Hebrew this is the נפש / nefesh. נפש / Nefesh translates to life force, not immortal soul. Yet most missionaries think that Leviticus (Vayikra) is speaking of the immortal “soul” since many of their translations do translate נפש / nefesh as "soul." This misleads innocent Christians into thinking that the atonement spoken of in Vayikra / Leviticus 17:11 is for the immortal soul, when in reality it is for your life-force. The Christian bible and missionary point supported by the mistranslation (and taking out of context) of the verse in Vayikra / Leviticus 17:11 being that your immortal soul cannot be forgiven without blood (see Romans 9:22) -- even though the T'nach tells us time and again that the sin sacrifice ( חַטָאת קָרבָּן chatat qorban), teshuva (repenting of your sins and returning to G-d) and tzedakah (doing good for other people, aka "charity") atone for sins. Vayikra / Leviticus 17:11 does say that the life of the flesh is in blood. This simply means that it is blood (oxygenated, flowing through our veins) that keeps us alive. Vayikra / Leviticus 17:11 should not be read by itself – it is part of a passage which says that Jews are not to eat (drink) the blood of kosher animals (the only animals Jews may eat). Vayikra / Leviticus 17:10-11 "If any person, whether of the family of Israel or a proselyte who joins them, eats any blood, I will direct My anger against the person who eats blood and cut him off [spiritually] from among his people. This is because the life-force of the flesh is in the blood; and I therefore gave it to you to be [placed] on the altar to atone for your lives. 17:11 It is the blood that atones for a life. . . We are forbidden from eating blood – and this message from Vayikra / Leviticus 17 is repeated in many other passages. Eating blood is disgusting to G-d. Eating blood, spiritually (as in Christian communion) or literally (e.g. eating a rare steak) is a sin. Vayikra / Leviticus 3:17 " 'This is a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live: You must not eat any fat or any blood.' " Vayikra / Leviticus 7:26 And wherever you live, you must not eat the blood of any bird or animal. Vayikra / Leviticus 7:27 If anyone eats blood, that person must be cut off from his people.' " The Torah also tells us that the חַטָאת קָרבָּן (sin sacrifice) only atoned for mistakes (a "missing of the mark" -- you tried to do the right thing and "missed." Intentional sins could be forgiven with acts of charity and repenting -- but not with blood (sin) sacrifices). The only other type of blood sacrifice which atoned for wrongdoing was the אָשָׁם / asham (guilt / trespass) sacrifice. A third sacrifice people think had to do with sin (but it did not) was the עֹלָ֖ה / olah. This is usually translated as "burnt offering" -- but it really means an elevation offer -- it was the smell that was the offer, floating up into the sky. An עֹלָ֖ה / olah was not a טָּאת / sin sacrifice or a אָשָׁם / guilt sacrifice. An עֹלָ֖ה / olah, translated as "burnt sacrifice," was a voluntary sacrifice generally brought to G-d as a donation to G-d or to seal a vow. . . but sometimes brought for impure thoughts, not deeds). The חַטָּאת / cḥattat (accidental sins) and אָשָׁם / asham sacrifices were PRIVATE offerings brought by INDIVIDUALS, not “atonement” offerings on behalf of the entire nation. Also, no individual sacrifice could be brought for someone else or in advance. Prayer ALWAYS has been a way of atonement -- of repenting of your wrong doings. In B'reshit / Genesis 20:7 G-d tells Abimelekh "He [Abraham] will pray for you, and you will live." G-d is instructing him to have Abraham pray! Not bring a sacrifice. B'reshit / Genesis 20:17 "Abraham prayed to G-d, and G-d healed Abimelekh" (G-d had punished him for taking Sarah, Abraham's wife -- but he listened to Abraham's prayer... B'reshit / Genesis 24:12 and 42 and many more verses again speak of prayer... Abraham prayed. Isaac prayed. Jacob prayed. No, prayer is NOT an invention of the rabbis! And no you do not "need" blood to atone -- blood atoned for fairly minor individual wrong doings -- more serious ones always required prayer, charity, kindness and more... The Christian bible, and by extension its missionaries, lie about this as it lies about so many things. No new blog entries from this evening (Shabbat) to nighttime of April 4th at the earliest as we conclude the holiday of Passover (Chag HaMatzot / חג המצות / the Festival of Matzo).
As a reminder, when I spoke of Passover in an earlier post I explained that the word Passover is an English word used to describe two separate holidays. Pesach / פֶּסַח is Nisan 14 (1 day) in the afternoon, and ending on the 15th in evening – when the pesach / פֶּסַח / young goat or lamb offering was eaten (see Sh'mot / Exodus 12:3-14). The Torah then commands that we eat matzo (unleavened bread) and don’t eat chametz / any leavened food) for the next seven days: "Since matzahs must be eaten for [these] seven days, no leaven may be seen in your possession. No leaven may be seen in all your territories." Sh'mot / Exodus 13:7. See Sh'mot / Exodus 12:15-20, Vayikra / Leviticus 23:5-7 and Bamidbar / Numbers 28:16-18. Technically we've been celebrating the Festival of Matzo -- but it is known as the English word "Passover" for both Pesach and the eight day (seven in Israel) festival mandated by G-d. All Shabbats are special -- a weekly observance from sundown on Friday to evening of Saturday. This week's Shabbat is unique in that it is also the Shabbat of Passover, and this year it falls on the day before the last two days of the Festival of Matzo (Passover). Today is April 2nd, the 20th day of Nisan. At sundown it will be the 21st day of Nisan, beginning the 7th night of Passover... The last two days of Passover which this year will be April 3 - 4. Passover is celebrated for eight days (or 7 days in Israel). The 7th day marks the day we stood at the edge of the sea as the Egyptians rapidly approached... and the sea parted. Yom Shevi'i shel Pesach / וֹם שְׁבִיעִי שֶׁל פֶּסַח (the 7th day of the Festival of Matzo, Passover) concludes the holiday in Israel and it is a custom among many to stay up all night studying Torah in honor of this miracle. G-d commands that we mark this special day: "Eat matzo for seven days, and make the seventh day a festival to G-d." Sh'mot / Exodus 13:6. A festival -- a celebration. At sundown we will light the candles for Shabbat and Passover. We will recite prayers and mark the 6th day of the Counting of the Omer. Many will stay up all night studying Torah, in commemoration of the great miracle of the splitting of the sea. On Sunday, the final day of the holiday outside of Israel, we will also conduct the Yizkor memorial service following the Torah reading. Again: that means that this page will be unmanaged from this evening until (at the earliest) the night of April 4th. If you send me a message I will not see it until after that time. Thank you. Link to Chabad article on the last two days of Passover. Tonight is Shabbat and tomorrow night Passover begins. Starting from the morning of Erev Pesach, Saturday, March 27th, through the entire eight days of the festival, we abstain from eating any chametz (leaven).
Starting no later than this evening for the first two days of Passover this page will not be attended since melachot / מְלָאכוֹת ("work" -- the 39 activities which built the Mishkahn / Tabernacle) is forbidden on the first two days of Passover. No blog entries will be made until after these days have concluded. Remember: days begin at Sundown and end in the evening... Passover will be celebrated Saturday evening, March 27, 2021 (15 Nisan) and continues through Sunday, April 4, 2021. We actually begin our celebrations on Nisan 14. In case you are thinking "Wait! Doesn't Passover begin on Nisan 15?" Well -- yes and no.
Today, without our holy Temple, we obviously can't observe the slaughtering of the pesach (goat or lamb) -- And it is true that "Passover" (the Festival of Matzot) begins on the 15th. Even so, the 14th is still considered a minor holiday so we remember it, commemorate it, and most of us have the custom not to work (beyond Passover preparations) on the 14th. There is also a minhag -- custom -- to study the laws of the pesach / Passover qorban (Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim 46:8:1-3, Mishna Berurah 1). No melacha is permitted after Sundown on Shabbat until after the evening of the following day. Since that next day is the first day of Passover that will continue to prohibition through the evening of Monday, March 29th. Melacha is usually translated as work, but the Hebrew word meaning work is עֲבוֹדָה / avodah. Melacha refers to refers to the activities that were used to construct the Mishkan (Tabernacle, portable Temple). There are 39 different categories of melacha which we refrain from on Shabbat and on certain holy days, including those of Passover. To be more specific: No melacha is permitted on March 28 and 29 in the diaspora and again on the last two days of Passover which this year will be April 3 - 4. Yizkor / יזכור is recited on Passover, Sunday, April 4. Yizkor ("May G-d Remember") is a traditional mourning service recited by those who have lost a parent or a close loved one. Remember that a "day" begins after sundown. The first two days of Passover (from sundown of the first date listed, until nightfall two days later) are full-fledged, no-melacha-allowed holiday days. The subsequent four days are Chol Hamoed, when melacha is allowed, but restricted. There are two more days to the holiday which again restrict melacha. Why do we stop these activities prior to Passover? Usually we cease melacha at sundown -- but on Passover we cease work at mid-day because during the time of the Temple this is when the celebratory Pesach (sacrifice) was brought to be slaughtered -- then cooked and eaten. Passover marks in a very real way the birth of the Jewish people. Passover is commanded in the Torah Sh'mot / Exodus 12:14-15: "This day must be one that you will remember. You must keep it as a festival to G-d for all generations. It is a law for all time that you must celebrate it. Eat matzo (unleavened bread) for seven days. By the first day, you must have your homes cleared of all leaven. Whoever eats leaven from the first day until the seventh day will have הַנֶּ֤פֶשׁ / hanefesh / his life cut off from Israel." For all generations. It is a law for all time that you must celebrate it. Forever. We come together with our families and loved ones to retell the story of our slavery in Egypt and our freedom -- indeed the very birth of the Jewish nation truly begins with the Exodus from Egypt. Before the Exodus from Egypt there was Abraham, who had a covenant with G-d, and his son Isaac who also had a contract with G-d, and Jacob as well -- the patriarchs of the Jewish nation. As part of the Passover the entire Jewish nation heard G-d speak (some 3 million people at Sinai) and we committed to the covenant -- not our fathers, not individual people -- but the entire Jewish nation in a very real sense "converted" and became Jewish at that time. "ויענו כל העם יחדו ויאמרו כל אשר דבר ה' נעשה" “And all the people answered together and said, ‘All that G‑d has spoken we will do.’ ” (Sh'mot / Exodus 19:8). We went to Egypt as a free nation, through the aid of Joseph. But through time, as we grew numerous, the Egyptians began to worry that, due to our numbers, they had to fear us. Thus there was a Pharaoh who "knew not Joseph" and enslaved us. The Hebrew name for Egypt is מִצְרַיִם / Mitzrayim. It is related to the term מיצר / meitzar which refers to boundaries, restrictions and limitations. Consider that. Consider what it means to be limited -- to have obstacles put in your way. מִצְרַיִם is a place (Egypt) but it is also a state of mind -- where we limit ourselves from being what we can be, enslaved by our own minds and souls -- trapped. We are tied down, each of us, whether we are physically free or not -- and far too often we enslave ourselves. Jerusalem / יְרוּשָׁלַיִם means “the city of peace." So מִצְרַיִם / Mitzrayim means slavery, boundaries, restrictions -- and Jerusalem / יְרוּשָׁלַיִם means “the city of peace". Ponder that. Jerusalem is a holy place because of what it symbolizes -- freedom, peace. . . Thus the Exodus from Egypt was more than just a physical leaving from the land of that generation. In every generation we are enslaved -- and far too often we enslave ourselves by the choices that we make, or the self imposed limitations we create. Passover reminds us that the Exodus is for US -- not for those ancient ancestors, but for US. Passover is both a retelling of that ancient freedom, and also that every year each of us has the ability to free ourselves from slavery -- from all limitations. The Torah commands us to tell our children of what G-d did for us on this day. In the הַגָּדָה / Haggadah (the telling) we read: "We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and the L-rd, our G‑d, took us out from there with a strong hand and with an outstretched arm. If the Holy One, blessed be He, had not taken our fathers out of Egypt, then we, our children and our children's children would have remained enslaved to Pharaoh in Egypt. Even if all of us were wise, all of us understanding, all of us knowing the Torah, we would still be obligated to discuss the exodus from Egypt; and everyone who discusses the exodus from Egypt at length is praiseworthy." Passover reminds us that before He freed us from Egypt with a mighty hand G-d sent many tests and plagues --- to strengthen us to be worth of freedom. Did G-d really have to "harden Pharaoh's heart" (strengthen Pharaoh's own inclinations) or "convince" Pharaoh to free the Jews? Of course not. So why would G-d have gone through so many steps? Because it takes time for people to change. The Jews were used to being slaves -- The Jews had to want the freedom. They had to take steps of their own to help themselves become free. The very last plague -- where the Jews had to take a young goat or lamb, keep it in their homes for four days, slaughter it, put the blood on the door posts and eat the god of the Egyptians as an act of defiance of them (and of trust in G-d) is not something we can even imagine them doing when Moses first arrives back in Egypt. The Jews needed to learn bravery and to learn to be free. This is the true story, the true miracle of the Passover. The הַגָּדָה / Haggadah (the telling) perceives of four children asking what Passover means to them. The Torah speaks of four children: One is wise, one is wicked, one is simple and one does not know how to ask. The הַגָּדָה / Haggadah asks the four questions -- and the wicked son asks "What is this service to you?!" He says `to you,' but not to him! By thus excluding himself from the community he has denied that which is fundamental. You, therefore, blunt his teeth and say to him: "It is because of this that the L-rd did for me when I left Egypt"; `for me' - but not for him! If he had been there, he would not have been redeemed!" It is for what G-d did for ME, when I went forth from Egypt. Let each of us, Jew and Gentile, think and realize that every day we are enslaved. Each day is a new beginning and each of us has the chance to be free. In this time of plague (the coronavirus) and isolation we should all still appreciate that we are alive, we are still free and this, too, shall pass. At the end of the Passover Service, as we conclude the הַגָּדָה / Haggadah (the telling), we say "Next year in Jerusalem!" We mean the city -- but even those living in Jerusalem say "next year in Jerusalem." We mean -- next year may the messiah come, may the whole world be at peace, may all people (not just Jews) know G-d and may all be free. May you have a blessed Passover, full of joy and family. May you truly be free and bless G-d for your freedom. חַג כָּשֵׁר וְשָׂמֵחַ -- may you have a happy and kosher Passover. |
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