The Kosher Judaism Thread

Hi! can anyone tell me what this word in English?

http://www.geocities.com/hebrews4vs12/chen8small.jpg

Thanks

Hi all!

ooOHannahOoo, that word is khen, which means "favor" not as in "Do me a favor" but as in the Biblical "So-and-so found favor in Whoever's eyes."

ThisYid said:

I'm Sure SSV will provide an ample array links on Jewish Understanding of Gensesis

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Thanks!

Anyhoo...

How do I, an orthodox Jew, view the Tanakh (what we call what Christians call the "Old Testament")?

First, about a "literal reading" of the Tanakh. I don't think that any two people could agree on a "literal reading" of, say, Genesis (certainly mine, as an orthodox Jew and based on the original Hebrew, will probably differ in many particulars from that of a fundamentalist Protestant, based on the KJV); such a thing is inherently subjective and based on our own idiosyncrasies, psychological/emotional/spiritual baggage and personal it-seems-to-me's. Thus, we should be very leery of basing beliefs and/or arguments on a "literal reading" of the scriptures. Those who do insist on a strict, narrow, "literal" interpretation of this or that section of scripture are, I believe, forcing it into a literary and spiritual strait-jacket entirely of their own devising that does no justice to the scriptures..

So, that being said, how do I, the orthodox Jew, view the Torah? Well, of course, I believe that it (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) is the literal word of God as He revealed it to Moses our Teacher. We believe that the Torah can be understood/appreciated/interpreted on any of four general levels ranging from that which is most in accord with a close reading of the (original Hebrew!!!) text, to the metaphorical, to the most rarefied and esoteric (the grasp of which is waaay beyond most of us). Who is to say which chapter and verse of Genesis is to be best understood or appreciated on which level? Moreover, our Sages say that the Torah is like a diamond with many facets, each with its own brilliance, each offering a different perspective from which to behold the wondrous jewel.

Lastly, I would humbly argue that we are grasping at trees & missing the forest. What is more important, (sterile?) debates over whether Genesis proves/supports or disproves/opposes this or that theory of creation or evolution, or whether the Flood "really happened" or discussing, studying and seeking to internalize its sublime moral, ethical and spiritual truths (such as befit the word of God)?

ThisYid said:

As to the story of Creation, we read it as a form of allegory. You won't find many Jews, ever super ultra hardcore Orthodox, who actually subscribe to actual Young Earth Creationism.

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That's about right; I don't subscribe to YEC.

The Torah is neither a history, geology, cosmology or biology text. What it is is God's loving instructions on how He wants us to lead our lives.

Many of our Sages, Saadya Gaon (882-942 CE; http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/SaadiaGaon.html), among them taught that the seven "days" of creation were not 24-hour days as we know them.

I heard a story that Karl Barth (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barth) once gave a lecture on Genesis 3 at the University of Chicago. When it came time for the question and answer portion, a student spoke up and said "Dr. Barth, you don't really believe snakes could talk do you?" Barth replied, "I couldn't care less whether or not snakes could talk. What I'm interested in is what the snake said."

Boo-ya!

Howzat?

Be well!

ssv

Thank you so much !

stillsmallvoice said:

Hi all!



Our Sages teach as much!

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Do I get an Aleph for figuring that out?

I really enjoy the parashah commentaries you provide, ssv. Thanks for the time you take doing it.

Henaynei said:

LOL - small wonder that - H-B also knocked Saul's kippah off when he was knocked from his horse on the way to Damascus and he never put it on again and was never called Saul again either

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Oh brother! I never saw that episode, but it sounds really dumb.

So Orthodox Jews are not creationists?

Jan87676 said:

So Orthodox Jews are not creationists?

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The few I've known were - but my experience is, of course, limited

Henaynei said:

The few I've known were - but my experience is, of course, limited

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Hi Henaynei. I actually felt more jews were Old Earth Creation. I see you also hold to a "pretribulation" view and here I thought you were a Jew and not a Messianic. Anyways, peace to you and yours. [I am "New Earth Creationist" LOL]

Origin of the Life View:
Young Earth Creation

End Times View:
Pretribulation

LittleLambofJesus said:

Hi Henaynei. I actually felt more Jews were Old Earth Creation. I see you also hold to a "pretribulation" view and here I thought you were a Jew and not a Messianic. Anyways, peace to you and yours. [I am "New Earth Creationist" LOL]

Origin of the Life View:
Young Earth Creation

End Times View:
Pretribulation

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LLoJ It is my husband who is Jewish Me, I'm just your average shiksa living the Jewish lifestyle (to honor my husband and my G-d) the best (yet woefully imperfectly) that I can

Shabbat Shalom ii

b'Shalom
Henaynei

Hi all!

ooOHannahOoo said:

Thank you so much!

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You're welcome!

Ivy said:

Do I get an Aleph for figuring that out?

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How about a chocolate chip cookie instead?

ivy said:

I really enjoy the parashah commentaries you provide, ssv. Thanks for the time you take doing it.

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You're welcome!

So...

At lunch yesterday, we were discussing the Haftara (Joshua 2:1-24). I said that

Me said:

Rahab, of course, was a noted local prostitute (and as such, would be full of information). But Rahab, as we know, declares her faith in the Lord. (Our Sages comment on Joshua 6:25 and teach that she & her family converted to Judaism. Our Sages also teach that she married Joshua & that her descendants became great scholars.)

(...).

But Rahab said:

...for the Lord your God, He is God in Heaven above and on earth beneath.

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One of our Shabbat lunch guests noted that Rahab's stirring declaration of faith is incorporated verbatim (the underlined portion) in one of our oldest & holiest prayers Aleinu (http://www.aleinu.org/), which is recited at the end of our prayers, 3 times a day (morning, afternoon & evening), every day of the year. Our Sages teach that Joshua himself wrote the first part of Aleinu (http://www.aleinu.org/intro_history.html) & thus he incorporated his wife's statement in the prayer. (Was Rahab standing behind him with a rolling pin as he wrote? ) What a wonderful statement about returning to/embracing God and personal repentance & redemption that the words of a reformed prostitute are incorporated into one of our oldest & holiest prayers!

In yesterday's reading, we also read (Numbers 15:17-21):

And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When you come into the land whither I bring you, then it shall be, that, when you eat of the bread of the land, you shall set apart a portion for a gift unto the Lord. Of the first of your dough you shall set apart a cake for a gift; as that which is set apart of the threshing-floor, so shall you set it apart. Of the first of your dough you shall give unto the Lord a portion for a gift throughout your generations.

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In Temple times, someone baking a certain quantity of bread (defined by oue Sages to be at least 1.25 kilograms, I think) had to set aside a certain quantity of the ready-to-be-baked dough (1/24 for a n individual & 1/48 for a baker, according to our Sages) for the priests. Our Sages have decreed that in our temporarily Templeless times cry: ), this precept must still be kept everywhere; however, the quantities of dough to be set aside are much, much smaller & are burnt. Every package of commercially baked kosher bread, from a Jewish-owned bakery, will carry a statement on the bag that this dough-tithe (challah in Hebrew) has been taken.

Bread, as the quintessential food, has a special status in Judaism. As a general rule, if one says the blessing over bread at the beginning of a meal, one need not say any other blessing over any other food (except wine) during the meal; the blessing over bread covers all other foods (except wine).

The blessing over bread is: Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who Brings Forth Bread From the Earth. What's weird about this, so says one of my rabbis, is that bread doesn't come from the earth. Wheat & water do, but bread is the product of human ingenuity & effort (think of all the steps involved from sowing wheat until sitting down to a freshly-baked loaf of no-chemical wholegrain bread). But it is precisely for this reason that we say such a blessing. Saying such a blessing over such a food counteracts pride & arrogance and prevents us from becoming infatuated with our intellects (see Deuteronomy 8:17-18, "...and you say in your heart: 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' But you shall remember the Lord your God..."). Saying this blessing stymies human pride & reinforces the lesson that while God may not be the Proximate Cause of a particular thing, He is the Ultimate Cause of all things.

Numbers 15:37-41 introduces one of Judaism's most enduring symbols, the fringed garment. I cite:

Tzizit and Tallit

The Torah also commands us to wear tzitzit (fringes) at the corners of our garments as a reminder of the mitzvot. Num. 15:37-41. There is a complex procedure for tying the knots of the tzitzit, filled with religious and numerological significance.


The mitzvah to wear tzitzit only applies to four-cornered garments, which were common in biblical times but are not common anymore. To fulfill this mitzvah, adult men wear a four-cornered shawl called a tallit (pictured above) during morning services, along with the tefillin. Strictly observant Jewish men commonly wear a special four-cornered garment, similar to a poncho, called a tallit katan ("little tallit"), so that they will have the opportunity to fulfill this important mitzvah all day long. The tallit katan is worn under the shirt, with the tzitzit hanging out so they can be seen.

There is no particular religious significance to the tallit (shawl) itself, other than the fact that it holds the tzitzit (fringes) on its corners. There are also very few religious requirements with regard to the design of the tallit. The tallit must be long enough to be worn over the shoulders (as a shawl), not just around the neck (as a scarf), to fulfill the requirement that the tzitzis be on a "garment." It may be made of any material, but must not be made of a combination of wool and linen, because that combination is forbidden on any clothing. (Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:11). Most tallitot are white with navy or black stripes along the shorter ends, as in the illustration above. They also commonly have an artistic motif of some kind along the top long end (the part that goes against your neck). This motif is referred to as an atarah (crown). There is no particular religious significance to the atarah; it simply tells you which end is up! It is quite common, however, to write the words of the blessing for putting on the tallit on the atarah, so you can read the blessing while you are putting the tallit on. If a blessing is written on your tallit, you should be careful not to bring the tallit into the bathroom with you! Sacred writings should not be brought into the bathroom. For this reason, many synagogues have a tallit rack outside of the bathroom.

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Link: http://www.jewfaq.org/signs.htm#Tzitzit

I wear a tallit katan under my shirt. I usually tuck the fringes in my pants along with my shirt, but if I'm wearing a shirt that I don't tuck in, then I let the fringes hang out.

I wear my much bigger regular tallit only during morning prayers. I got it a few days before DW & I got married (some men start wearing one right after their bar mitzvah, others wait until they're married; I meant to wear it during the wedding ceremony http://www.jewfaq.org/marriage.htm but I forgot it... ). There's one day (http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayd.htm) a year when it is worn for afternoon (not morning) prayers & & one day (http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday4.htm) when it's worn all day.

A Jewish man is usually buried with his big tallit (with one of the fringes cut) over the mandatory shroud. At funerals (http://www.jewfaq.org/death.htm) in which the deceased is a man, men who customarily wear their fringes out will tuck them in, out of respect for the deceased (who, of course, is exempt from fulfilling the Torah's 613 precepts, of which the precept to wear fringes is one; to wear fringes out would be to remind the deceased that we can fulfill precepts while he cannot & this is considered disrespectful).

When I travel abroad, I always pack my tallit, little paperback prayerbook & my tefillin (see the link in my first post) in my carry-on baggage. This is because I do not want to risk losing them & I often find that I have to say morning prayers either on the plane or in the airport (because if I wait till I get where I'm going, it'll be too late in the day). When I was last in the USA (Hanukkah 2001), our oldest boy & I flew from Pittsburgh (where I'm originally from) to Ft. Lauderdale (where I have relatives). There was no time for me to pray either at home or at the Pittsburgh airport, so I waited until the plane was at cruising altitude & then went & stood by the nearest bulkhead. I put onmy black leather tefillin (phylacteries) & then pulled my big tallit over my shoulders. It drapes all the way down to the floor. It took me about 25 minutes. When I was finished & turned to take everything off, I could see quite a few people watching me & a few kids simply staring. I don't/didn't mind! To one who has never seen an orthodox Jewish man at morning prayers, we must be quite a sight.

Sometimes, when I'm in the right mood & I really want to especially concentrate on my prayers or some verse from the day's scriptural reading, I'll pull my tallit over my head & then it's like everyone & everything is shut out & it's just me & God under there & I can commune with Him privately.

Jan87676 said:

So Orthodox Jews are not creationists?

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YECs? No, not necessarily.

This
http://www.ou.org/publications/ja/5760summer/genesis.pdf is an absolutely fascinating article entiteled Genesis, Cosmology and Evolution by Rabbi Hillel Goldberg, that I heartily recommend. It's not short & it has to be read both slowly & more than once. But it is, I think, excellent & makes the point that those who claim that religion & science do not jibe understand neither one properly.

This (http://www.thejewishweek.com/top/editletcontent.php3?artid=4927) is from a March 2006 edition of The (New York) Jewish Week. It is entitled Darwin Is Not The Enemy (by Larry Yudelson).

Be well!

ssv

The blessing over bread is: Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who Brings Forth Bread From the Earth. What's weird about this, so says one of my rabbis, is the bread doesn't come from the earth. Wheat & water do, but bread is the product of human ingenuity & effort (think of all the steps involved from sowing wheat until sitting down to a freshly-baked loaf of no-chemical wholegrain bread). But it is precisely for this reason that we say such a blessing. Saying such a blessing over such a food counteracts pride & arrogance and prevents us from becoming infatuated with our intellects (see Deuteronomy 8:17-18, "...and you say in your heart: 'My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.' But you shall remember the Lord your God..."). Saying this blessing stymies human pride & reinforces the lesson that while God may not be the Proximate Cause of a particular thing, He is the Ultimate Cause of all things.

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That is interesting he mentions God as King of the Universe. Hard to picture God with a Crown and Sitting on a Throne. Nice post.

(Young) Zephaniah 3:15 Jehovah hath turned aside thy judgments, He hath faced thine enemy, The King of Israel, Jehovah, [is] in thy midst, Thou seest evil no more.

The blessing over bread is: Praised are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who Brings Forth Bread From the Earth. What's weird about this, so says one of my rabbis, is the bread doesn't come from the earth.

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It also says we recognise that we are just earthlings, and part of God's plan.

I'll take the chocolate chip cookie, ssv. Definitely. Even better if three or four of them. (Confirmed chocoholic here.)

I enjoyed reading your account of praying on the airplane.

Someone told me that the reason tallits usually have blue stripes, though there are black or rainbow colors, too, is to remind people of the Israeli flag. Is that true?

I have a really nice Barnes & Nobles book called Symbols of Judaism--beautiful photography--and everything they described about making the fringes....I hadn't realized it was so involved, with the number of wraps and all. It seems like they have definite reasons for everything in Judaism, even how many times to wrap the thread.

I lived in Pittsburgh as a child, from 1973 to 1976. My dad and brother are still diehard Steelers fans to this day......men I've never understood about "downs," though, and probably never will. I'm always thinking, "WHY does that team *still have the ball? It's the other guys' turn by now, isn't it?" It should be like basketball, back & forth & back & forth.

Well, anyway, those were the years the Steelers kept winning the superbowl, remember? Wasn't it like three times in a row?

Hi all!

Ivy said:

I'll take the chocolate chip cookie, ssv. Definitely. Even better if three or four of them. (Confirmed chocoholic here.)

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Howabout 3-4 chocolate chip cookies, hot from the oven, along with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream?

Ivy said:

I enjoyed reading your account of praying on the airplane.

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Thank you!

Ivy said:

Someone told me that the reason tallits usually have blue stripes, though there are black or rainbow colors, too, is to remind people of the Israeli flag. Is that true?

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No, this is not true. Tallitot (plural) have been around alot longer than the modern State of Israel.

Ivy said:

It seems like they have definite reasons for everything in Judaism...

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We have lots of reasons for every thing!

Ivy said:

Well, anyway, those were the years the Steelers kept winning the superbowl, remember? Wasn't it like three times in a row?

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Pretty close. The Steelers won the Super Bowl in 1980, 1979, 1976 & 1975.

This Saturday's weekly Torah reading (here in Israel) is Numbers 16:1-18:32. The star of this reading is the dastardly Korah. Look at the several versions of Numbers 16:1.

The KJV says:

Now Korah...took [men]..."

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The NKJV is the same but without the square brackets.

The NASB says:

Now Korah...took action...

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What exactly did Korah take? The original Hebrew doesn't say. In the original Hebrew text, no object is provided for the verb vayikakh ("took"). A better translation of the whole verse would be:

Now Korah, the son of Yitzhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, with Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliav, and On, the son of Pelet, sons of Reuben, took and they rose up in face of Moses...

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So, what exactly did Korah take? The KJV & NKJV might very well be based on the comments of our Sages, some of whom say that Korah indeed took men (the 250 referred to in 16:2, among others) to perpetrate his rebellion against his cousins Moses & Aaron. Others of our Sages say that Korah took words and seduced/beguiled many into following him. Others of our Sages teach that Korah took himself out of the community consensus. The comments of our Sages are replete with accounts of how Korah sought to incite the people against his cousins Moses and Aaron, of whom he was incredibly jealous (see http://tinyurl.com/27chy). Our Sages depict Korah as a demagogue & that's why (so says ssv) the text doesn't specify an object to, "And Korah...took." That's what distinguishes demagogues like Korah from true leaders like Moses and Aaron. Genuine leaders give to their people, demagogues just take from them.

There was a very, very good commentary on Korah in Ha'aretz, one of Israel's English dailies, two years ago this week. I'll quote the last two paragraphs:

It is interesting to look at first words of the parasha: "Vayikakh Korah" ("Now Korah took") (16:1). The verse is left hanging in the air, with no mention of what he took. The commentators have completed it in various ways. Some said that Korah "took himself aside" to set himself apart from the rest of the community. Others said that Korah tried to take other leaders and convince them to join his revolt.

Perhaps most importantly, the verb "vayikakh," in the way it stands alone, alludes to Korah's psychological state as he heads out to stir up controversy and obstruct law and order. There are times when an aggressive mood settles on us but the emotions are not translated into action until a later stage. Only after we decide on the course of action is the verb joined by an object. First our souls burn with hatred, and only afterwards do we decide what to burn.

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On a lighter note...

One of Korah's co-conspirators is On, son of Pelet. However, this is the only time that On is mentioned. In 16:23, when God tells Moses to tell everyone to move away from the conspirators, He mentions Korah, Dathan & Abiram, but not On. Neither is On mentioned as having been swallowed up by the earth. Our Sages teach that On backed out of the conspiracy in time. Our Sages relate the tradition that after the initial confrontation in 16:2-10, that On went back to his tent to inform his wife that he had joined Korah's rebellion against Moses. His wife said, "You did what??!! She then talked him out of it and demanded that he repent and go apologize to Moses, which (being a good Jewish husband who listens to his wife ) he duly did. See?! Listening to your wife can save your soul & your life!!

There are many stories in the Talmud about our very colorful 3rd century CE sage, Rabbah Bar Bar Chana, who traveled frequently between Mesopotamia & the Holy Land, and in the deserts in the region. Many of his stories border on the fantastic & outlandish (see http://tinyurl.com/3yvoc). He relates that on one of his desert travels, his Arab guide led him to a certain crevasse in the ground & bid him dismount & put his ear to the crack. Rabbah Bar Bar Chana did so & was amazed to hear faint voices calling out: "Moses and his Torah are true and we are liars." The guide told him that they were at the very spot where Korah & his band were swallowed up.

See my February 15 post (http://www.christianforums.com/showpost.php?p=21954198&postcount=494) for more on Korah, Moses, Samuel and parenting (good and bad).

However, I must point out that our view of Korah is not one of unrelenting blackness. Unidimensional & simplistic he isn't. Rabbi Shlomo Riskin wriites:

But there is an alternate view of Korah that also exists, specifically in the Hassidic tradition. The famed Rebbe Menahem Mendl of Kotzk (http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/mmkotzk.htm & http://www.mcs.drexel.edu/~gbrandal/Illum_html/Kotzker.html) used to refer to him as "our holy grandfather." In his work called Pri Tzadik, Rabbenu Zadok Hakohen of Lublin (1823-1900) examines what Mendl might have had in mind when he called Korah "our holy grandfather."

The Pri Zaddik alerts us to a concept of creation found in the teachings of the Ari Hakodosh (http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/rabbis/ari.htm), which speaks of two ways of looking at human communities: linear or circular. In a circle, everyone is equally placed; the distance between the center and the edges is always the same, and everyone is equally important; there is neither head nor tail. But a linear format expresses something quite different. There are those who progress more rapidly and those who progress less rapidly, and those who hardly progress at all.

The Pri Zadik goes on to cite a Talmudic passage at the conclusion of the tractate Ta'anit: "In the days to come, God will hold a circle for the righteous. He will sit in their midst in the Garden of Eden, and everyone will point with his finger towards him."

The Talmud is teaching us that at some point in the future, human development will resemble a circle, in which everyone will be equidistant from or rather equi-near to God, with no need for a head table and a rear guard. The Divine Presence will rest upon every individual equally.

Although the Talmud speaks of this stage of "circularity" as being reserved for the world to come, the period of the culmination of history, Korah maintained that the thunder, lightning and divine revelation at Sinai were indeed the signposts of a new era - the exodus of a lineal society and the entrance of a new circular reality. With Sinai, Korah believed that humans had become transformed into angels, everyone had been equally infused with the Divine Spirit, from serving-maid to prophet, and equality was the order of the "new day."

Korah represents a pattern that would constantly repeat itself in Jewish history, of various figures claiming the time had come for the commandments of the Torah to be suspended. Early Christianity adopted this philosophy, insisting that divine grace equalized humanity and rendered commitment to the details of Jewish law an anachronistic and superfluous enterprise.

The Pri Zaddik - and the Kotzker rebbe - would argue that Korah felt this way because he himself was so inspired and infused, because he had indeed emerged from Sinai as the "holy grandfather." Unfortunately, however, the entire nation was not yet ready, had not yet left the linear reality for the circular millennium, was yet to serve the golden calf and refuse to conquer the land of Israel. The Jewish people were still in the desert, surrounded by a linear reality replete with successes and failures, progress and retrogress, leaders and followers, righteous and sinners.

The commandment is "You shall become holy," in the absence of a nation which has already achieved holiness. We are a people of becoming, not yet of being.

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Link: http://www.jewishaz.com/jewishnews/980626/torah.shtml

Be well!

ssv

It sounds like you all are true gourmets after my own heart, ssv. If I'm ever in Israel, I hope you and your wife will invite me over for a repast

In the hopes of maybe getting some fresh strawberries on that wonderful desert, I'm trying to guess at the reason for stripes on the tallitot: Is it because back when they first started making them, they wanted to decorate them, but embroidery took too long, so they would just weave the stripes in on the loom? OR Is it beautifying the mitvot of wearing the blue thread in the tzitzit, the stripes echo that, more blue?

Remember in Parshas Shlach, ,we read about the sin of the Spies and the decree that everyone would die in the dessert. In this case, Moshe did not pray on their behalf and was unable to nullify the decree.

Of course now the Jewish People were upset at Moshe Rabbeinu because G-d was punishing them and Moshe "didn't do anything about it." Wait a minute! Why blame Moshe? He only sent out the Spies because the people pressured him to send out spies. It wasn't Moshe Rabbeinu who started complaining when the Spies gave their report; it was the Jewish People who were weeping for no reason. Who is really at fault here? Moshe Rabbeinu could certainly argue "It is not my fault! It is your fault!"

But the Jewish people are doing what we all do -- transferring the blame to someone else. If this was true in Biblical times and it was true today, where everyone and their brother is a "victem"

Of course, with the disenchantment now brewing in the ranks, with Moshe Rabbeinu, this allows Korach to hatch his plan....

Hi all!

Alter Moshe, welcome to our merry (not so) little (anymore) cyberfamily!

Ivy said:

It sounds like you all are true gourmets after my own heart, ssv.

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Food is important!

I was sick of the same-old/same-old for Friday night Shabbat dinner. So this past Friday, I bought three frozen pieces of salmon & baked them in in a bechamel sauce (from a mix). They were !

Ivy said:

If I'm ever in Israel, I hope you and your wife will invite me over for a repast.

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Sure! Just please let me know when I can pick you up at the airport (http://www.iaa.gov.il/Rashat/en-US/Airports/BenGurion/)!

This coming Saturday's weekly Shabbat Torah reading (in Israel; Jews around the world except for Israel will read it as part of a double-portion next Saturday when the Israel & Diaspora weekly Sabbath Torah/prophets readings come back into synch) is Numbers 19:1-22:1.

Numbers 20:1 and 20:22-29 tell us about the deaths of Miriam and Aaron, respectively. Deuteronomy 34:5-8 tells us about the death of their younger brother Moses. Look at the accounts of the siblings' deaths. How do we know that Aaron was more beloved by the people than Moses? Deuteronomy 34:8 tells us that: "And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days." Numbers 20:29 tells us that: "...all the house of Israel wept for Aaron 30 days." (It is a principle of Jewish Biblical exegesis that there is no wasted or redundant ink in the scriptures & that we can learn much from seemingly trivial turns of phrase, subtle differences in the text, nuances in the wording, etc.) That Aaron was more beloved by the people is not surprising:

Aaron's most notable personal quality is that he was a peacemaker. His love of peace is proverbial; Rabbi Hillel said, 'Be disciples of Aaron, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and drawing them near the Torah.' According to tradition, when Aaron heard that two people were arguing, he would go to each of them and tell them how much the other regretted his actions, until the two people agreed to face each other as friends"

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Link: http://www.jewfaq.org/moshe.htm#Aaron

But whereas we wept 30 days for Moses & all of us wept 30 days for Aaron (in Judaism, mourning rites are observed for spouses, siblings & children for 30 days; for parents, it's a year, see http://www.jewfaq.org/death.htm#Mourning), the text doesn't say that we wept at all for Miriam. Numbers 20:1 merely reports that she died & does not mention any crying, mourning, etc. at all. Our Sages relate the tradition that God was very angry at this failure on our part and said: "What? This great and holy woman, this prophetess, dies and you don't mourn for her? You don't cry for her? What, you don't think that you need her? I'll show you how much you need her!" In Numbers 20:2, we immediately read, "And there was no water for the congregation...," and we began to bellyache for water. (It is also a principle of Jewish Biblical exegesis that the chain of events in the Torah is never random, incidental or coincidental. If event B follows event A, it is for a reason & to teach us something.) Our Sages teach that it was in Miriam's merit that a (miraculous!) well of water followed us through the desert for almost 40 years & that God took it away when we failed to pay proper respects to Miriam (see http://www.jewfaq.org/moshe.htm#Miriam) following her death. Thus, "And there was no water for the congregation..."

Numbers 21:5-9 tells us:

"And the people spoke against God, and against Moses: 'Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, and there is no water; and our soul loaths this light bread.' And the Lord let go fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many people of Israel died. And the people came to Moses, and said: 'We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord, and against you; pray unto the Lord, that He take away the serpents from us.' And Moses prayed for the people. And the Lord said unto Moses: 'Make you a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.' And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the pole; and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived."

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As the late Prof. Nehama Leibowitz (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/nleib.html) points out in her Studies in Bamidbar/Numbers, we must pay very close attention to the wording of the text (As I have noted before, it is a principle of Jewish Biblical exegesis that there is no wasted or redundant ink in the scriptures & that we can learn much from seemingly trivial turns of phrase, subtle differences in the text, nuances in the wording, etc.), particularly to the Hebrew word usually, but erroneously (as per the KJV, RSV & others) translated as and He sent. The original Hebrew is not vayishlakh (literally: "And He sent...") but vayeshalakh, which means "And He loosed/let go." (It's the same sh-l-kh root but in a different conjugation. The former conjugation is used in Genesis 32:4, 37:14 and Numbers 20:14, among many other places. The latter conjugation, in addition to being used here, is used in Exodus 5:1 and 13:17, and Deuteronomy 15:12 and 22:7.)

As Prof. Leibowitz writes:

The reason for the Torah saying: "And the Lord set free/loosed/let go" the serpents and not merely sent them, should become quite clear, when we recall that the wilderness they were traveling through was a place of "fiery serpents and scorpions and drought..." (Deuteronomy 8:15) If the serpents had not bitten them till now, it was only thanks to Divine Providence which had been watching over them, leading them through that great and terrible wilderness and not allowing the serpents to touch them, just as He did not allow the drought to overcome them with thirst, but drew them out water from the rock. The children of Israel, however, had spurned the Almighty's supernatural intervention, not wishing to live on the bread He provided, the manna ("our soul loathes this light bread"), but aspiring to lead a more normal "natural" existence. Accordingly, the Lord let things go their ordinary, normal way. He allowed the serpents to behave in their natural manner, in the great and terrible wilderness, which was to bite anyone crossing their path. Therefore: "The Lord let the serpents go against them and they bit the people and many of the people of Israel died."

It was not therefore the attack of the serpents, but rather their absence during the whole of their wanderings till then, that constituted the miracle.

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The people then acknowledged their sin & asked Moses to pray for them, which he obligingly did, only to be told to cast a brass serpent and put it up on a pole so that, "everyone who is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live."

This seemingly bizarre instruction from God has puzzled our Sages, who asked how it was that merely looking at the brass serpent could have such a therapeutic effect. Prof. Leibowitz quotes Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/Hirsch.html) as follows:

The serpents were sent to show the people that dangrer beset their every step and it was only thanks to the miraculous and perpetual intervention of Divine Providence that they were able to proceed unharmed. Their path was so smooth that they failed to perceive the constant miracle in their unmolested progress. Every victim of the serpents' venom had to concentrate his attention on the image of the brazen serpent, to enable him to realise that, even after God had delivered him from the serpents, there lay fresh dangers. He had to thank Divine Providence for every minute of security granted him. Nothing is more calculated to make man more satisfied with his lot than the knowledge of the chasm that ever yawns beneath him and that it is only Divine mercy that bears him safely over, as if on eagles' wings. Happy is he who takes note of the unseen "fiery serpents" that beset his path, put to flight by the Almighty...In this lies the healing power of the [brass] serpent. Every victim had always to bear in mind the bite of the serpent "and everyone that is bitten, when he looks upon it, he shall live."

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God decided to let loose the serpents in response to our griping (inter alia) about the manna. In Exodus 16:4 and Deuteronomy 8:16, the manna is described as a test of our faith. But what kind of a test could it be? It fell 6 days a week, week in-week out, whether we were good or bad. How is that a test? Deuteronomy 8:12-14 and 8:17 tell us the answer & warn us, when we're basking amidst plenty and do not want for sustenance, not to get spiritually complacent and forget Who it is Who is blessing us with the abundance that we are enjoying. The manna was a test in that given its clockwork regularity & abundance, would we take it and the One who provided it for granted? (This being a variant of the age-old debate: Is it more difficult to serve God amidst abundance or amidst want?)

The brass serpent fashioned by Moses appears one more time in the Tanakh, in II Kings 18:4, where we are told that the righteous King Hezekiah

broke in pieces the brazen serpent that Moses had made; for unto those days the children of Israel did offer to it...

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Our Sages praise King Hezekiah for smashing Moses' brass serpent. Our great medieval Sage, Rabbi David Kimche (http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/Kimchi.html) writes:

Because they [the people] saw that it was written "when he looks upon it, he shall live", they thought that it would be good to worship it as an intermediary. Since the days of Moses, it had served as a memorial of the miracle, like the jar of manna (see Exodus 16:33)...Hezekiah thought to destroy it when he destroyed the instruments of idol worship because in his father's time, they [the people] worshipped it. Even though it was good to use it to remember the miracle, he said 'It would be better to destroy it and forget the miracle than leave it and have the children of Israel go astray after it today or tomorrow.

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(Rabbi Kimche explains that righteous Kings Asa and Jehosaphat didn't destroy it when they purged the Land of idolatry because we weren't worshipping it then.)

Be well!

ssv

no post. This thread appears more for Kosher Judaism and I apologize for "butting in". Peace.

Hi all!

DW is glued to Wimbledon and Da Boyz and Da Hound are asleep.

More stuff on the Torah reading we read this morning.

Of course, this morning's is the reading in which God shows Moses & Aaron a red card (hey, it's World Cup soccer time!) and bars them from entering the Holy Land. Our Sages have worked this one over lots. The most interesting explanation I heard (from one of my rabbis here in Jerusalem) on why Moses & Aaron were barred from entering the Land of Israel focuses on Numbers 20:10.

And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said unto them: 'Hear now, you rebels; are we to bring you forth water out of this rock?'

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We? My rabbi (expanding on an explanation by our very great medieval Sage Nahmanides; see http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/Nachmanides.html) said that God got miffed at Moses & Aaron for tooting their own horns here & not saying, "Shall God bring you forth water out of this rock?" Moses & Aaron were on a spiritual level that such as we can't even begin to imagine; thus, they should have known better. It is a principle of Judaism that the higher one rises spiritually, the higher the standards that God holds one to. (Our Sages say, "The righteous are judged by a hair's breadth.")

This morning's Haftara reading was Judges 11:1-33, all about Jephthah.

Our take on this whole bizarre and sad episode is that it shows what a sorry state that generation had sunk to vis-a-vis Torah-learning & Jewish law.

1) Jephthah's half-brothers could NOT exclude Jephthah from his due share of their father's inheritance simply because his mother was a harlot/concubine (whose status is akin to that of a common law wife). The half-brothers' action is contrary to Jewish inheritance law.

2) Jephthah's (rash) vow (which he should have NEVER made) was null and void insofar as his daughter was concerned. It is a fundamental principle of Jewish law vis-a-vis vows that you cannot make a vow that binds another person. Such a vain/invalid vow/oath would, in itself, be a sinful act.

3) Jephthah's daughter was under NO obligation to listen to her father (Commandment #5 would not apply here) and should NOT have done so.

4) Under Jewish law, Jephthah could have gone to the High Priest & sought absolution/release from his vow. Our Sages say that Phineas was still High Priest in Jephthah's time (Phineas was remarkably long-lived). But Jephthah said, “I, the military hero, should go to that paper-pusher? Let him come to me.” Phineas, for his part said, “I, the High Priest, should to such as him? Let him come to me.” Because each stood on their supposed dignity while a young girl’s life/future were at stake, both were severely punished. Judges 12:7 says that Jephthah – whom our Sages also fault severely for Judges 12:4-6 – died, "and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead." This is incorrect. The original Hebrew clearly says, "and was buried in the cities of Gilead." Our Sages note the exact language of the text and teach that God punished Jephthah with a severe, wasting disease that caused his limbs to fall off, one-by-one, with each fallen-off limb being buried where it fell, in a different city of Gilead. (Regarding Phineas, the High Priesthood was stripped from him and given to Eli, in whose family it stayed until it reverted back to Zadok, a descendant of Phineas, when King Solomon expelled Abiathar from the Temple; see I Kings 2:26-27).

Our Sages disagree on what exactly happened to Jephthah’s daughter. Some say that Jephthah indeed offered her as a sacrifice (many Jews sinned terribly by adopting the Canaanites’ gruesome rites of child-sacrifice). Others point to 11:40 and suggest that she lived as a recluse, a kind of Jewish nun (which is bad in itself since Judaism explicitly rejects monasticism & celibacy).

Howzat?

Be well!

ssv

LOL - it leaves me as thoughtful and confused about Jephthah and his daughter as before - but with still more to ponder

todah rabbah

Shabbat Shalom

btw - I was a little shy to say so, but..... what cycle of parashot is used at your shul? Are things soooo different in the diaspora?? Today's reading was from B'Midbar/Numbers 16:1 - 18:30 Parashat Korach