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

 

 

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

 

Roll of Honor:

 

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

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

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

His Honor Paqid Adon David ben Abraham

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

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

Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah & beloved family

His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann & beloved family

His Excellency Adon John Batchelor & beloved wife

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

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

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

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

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

His Excellency Adon Shlomoh ben Abraham

His Excellency Adon Ya’aqob ben David

His Excellency Adon Bill Haynes and beloved wife HE Giberet Diane Haynes

Her Excellency Giberet Krysta Wallrauch & beloved family

 

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

 

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

 

Blessings Before Torah Study

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

A Prayer for Israel

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

We pray for his Excellency Adon Todd Wallrauch. Who Hit his head and needed surgery. Mi Sheberach…He who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses and Aaron, David and Solomon, may He bless and heal His Excellency Adon Todd Wallrauch, May the Holy One, Blessed is He, be filled with compassion for him to restore his health, to heal him, to strengthen him, and to revivify him. And may He send him speedily a complete recovery from heaven, among the other sick people of Yisrael, a recovery of the body and a recovery of the spirit, swiftly and soon, and we will say amen ve amen!

 

We pray for Her Honor Giberet Zahavah bat Sarah, who had surgery and needs a recovery. Mi Sheberach , He Who blessed our holy and pure Matriarchs, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel and Leah, bless Her Honor Giberet Zahavah bat Sarah and send her a complete recovery and strengthening of body and soul. Please G-d heal her, please. Please G-d heal her, please. Please G-d heal her, please. Cure her, strengthen her, make her healthy and return her to her original strength, together with all the sick of Yisrael. And may it be so willed, and we will say, Amen ve Amen!

 

Shabbat: “Heni yaldah Milcah” - “Milcah has Borne”

2nd Sabbath of Consolation

 

 

 

Contents of the Torah Seder

 

·        The family of Nahor … Genesis 22:20 - 24

·        Sarah’s Death and Burial … Genesis 23: 1 - 20

 

Reading Assignment:

 

The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez – Vol 2 By: Rabbi Ya’aqob Culi Translated by Aryeh Kaplan Published by: Moznaim Publishing Corp. (New York, 1989) Vol. 2 – “Genesis”, pp. 345 - 378

Ramban: Commentary on the Torah Translated and Annotated by Rabbi Dr. Charles Chavel Published by Shilo Publishing House, Inc. (New York, 1971) “Genesis” pp. 279 - 290

 

JPS & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Bereshit (Genesis) ‎‎22:20-23:20

 

Rashi’s Translation	Targum Pseudo Jonathan
20. And it came to pass after these matters, that it was told to Abraham saying: "Behold Milcah, she also bore sons to Nahor your brother.	20. And it was after these things, after Abraham had bound Izhak, that HaSatan came and told unto Sarah that Abraham had killed Izhak. And Sarah arose, and cried out, and was strangled, and died from agony. But Abraham had come and was resting in the way. And it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcha also has borne; she has enlargement, through the righteousness/ generosity of her sister, for bring forth sons unto Nachor your brother:
21. Uz, his first born, and Buz his brother, and Kemuel, the father of Aram.	21. Uts, his firstborn, and Booz, his brother, and Kemuel, master of the Aramean magicians, and
22. And Kesed and Hazo and Pildash and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.	22. Keshed, and Chazo, and Pildash, and Jidlaph, and Bethuel.
23. And Bethuel begot Rebecca." These eight did Milcah bear to Nahor, Abraham's brother.	23. And Bethuel begat Rivkah. These eight bare Milcha to Nachor the brother of Abraham.
24. And his concubine, whose name was Reumah, had also given birth to Tebah and Gaham and Tahash and Maacah.	24. And his concubine, whose name was Rëuma, she also bare Tebach, and Gacham, and Tachash, and Maacha.
Chapter 23
1. And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years; [these were] the years of the life of Sarah.	1. And the days of the life of Sarah were an hundred and twenty and seven years, the years of the life of Sarah.
2. And Sarah died in Kiriath arba, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to eulogize Sarah and to bewail her.	2. And Sarah died in Kiryath Arba, which is Hebron. And Abraham came from the mountain of worship and found that she was dead; and he sat to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. JERUSALEM: And Sarah died in the city of the giants.
3. And Abraham arose from before his dead, and he spoke to the sons of Heth, saying,	3. And Abraham rose up from the sight of the face of his dead, and spoke with the sons of Hittah, saying,
4. "I am a stranger and an inhabitant with you. Give me burial property with you, so that I may bury my dead from before me."	4. I am a sojourner and dweller with you; I pray sell me the inheritance of a sepulchre among you, and I will bury my dead there.
5. And the sons of Heth answered Abraham, saying to him,	5. And the sons of Hittah responded unto Abraham, saying to him,
6. "Listen to us, my lord; you are a prince of God in our midst; in the choicest of our graves bury your dead. None of us will withhold his grave from you to bury your dead."	6. Attend to us, our lord. Great before the LORD are you among us, in the best of our sepulchres bury your dead: there is not a man of us who will refuse you his sepulchre, that you may bury your dead.
7. And Abraham arose and prostrated himself to the people of the land, to the sons of Heth.	7. And Abraham rose and bowed to the people of the land, the sons of Hittah.
8. And he spoke with them, saying, "If it is your will that I bury my dead from before me, listen to me and entreat for me to Ephron the son of Zohar.	8. And he spoke with them, saying, If it be with the consent of your mind that I bury my dead from before my face, receive of me, and intercede for me before Ephron bar Zochar
9. That he may give me the Machpelah (double) Cave, which belongs to him, which is at the end of his field; for a full price let him give it to me in your midst for burial property."	9. that he sell me his double cave which is built in the side of his field, for the full price in silver let him give it to me among you, for an inheritance of sepulture.
10. Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the sons of Heth, and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the sons of Heth, of all those who had come into the gate of his city, saying,	10. But Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the presence of the sons of Hittah, of all who entered the gate of his city, saying,
11. "No, my lord, listen to me. I have given you the field, and the cave that is in it, I have given it to you. Before the eyes of the sons of my people, I have given it to you; bury your dead."	11. My lord, listen to me: the field I give you, and the cave, which is in it, to you I give it, as a gift before the sons of my people I give it to you; go, bury your dead.
12. And Abraham prostrated himself before the people of the land.	12. And Abraham bowed before the sons of Hittah.
13. And he spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, saying, "But, if only you would listen to me. I am giving the money for the field; take [it] from me, and I will bury my dead there."	13. And he spoke with Ephron before the people of the land, saying, Nevertheless, if you are willing to do me a favour, hear me: I will give you in silver the price of the field; take (it) of me, and I will bury my dead there. And
14. And Ephron replied to Abraham, saying to him,	14. Ephron answered Abraham, saying to him,
15. "My lord, listen to me; a [piece of] land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is it between me and you? Bury your dead."	15. My lord, hear me: the land, as to its price, would be four hundred sileen of silver; between me and you what is that? Bury your dead. JERUSALEM: Four hundred sileen of silver, passing at every table, and receivable in all transactions.
16. And Abraham listened to Ephron, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the sons of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, accepted by the merchant.	16. And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron, and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver which he had named before the sons of Hittah, four hundred sileen of silver, good, passing at every table, and receivable in all transactions.
17. And so the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, facing Mamre, was established (as Abraham's possession). [This included] the field and the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were in the field, which were within its entire border around.	17. And he confirmed the purchase of the field of Ephron, in which (was) the double (cave) which is before Mamre, The field, and the cave that is therein, and all the trees that were in the field, in all the boundaries thereof round about,
18. [It was] to Abraham as a possession before the eyes of the sons of Heth, in the presence of all who had come within the gate of his city.	18. --Unto Abraham, for a purchased possession, in the presence of the sons of Hittah, (even) of all who entered in at the gate of the city.
19. And afterwards, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah, facing Mamre, which is Hebron, in the land of Canaan.	19. And afterwards Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field Machpelah which is before Mamre, that is, Hebron in the land of Kenaan.
20. And the field and the cave within it were established to Abraham as burial property, [purchased] from the sons of Heth.	20. And the field and the cave therein were confirmed unto Abraham for an inheritance of sepulture from the sons of Hittah.

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: ‎ Bereshit (Genesis) 22:20-23:20

 

22:20 after these matters, that it was told, etc. When he returned from Mount Moriah, Abraham was thinking and saying, “Had my son been slaughtered, he would have died without children. I should have married him to a woman of the daughters of Aner, Eshkol, or Mamre. The Holy One, blessed be He, announced to him that Rebeccah, his mate, had been born, and that is the meaning of after these matters,” i.e., after the thoughts of the matter that came about as a result of the “akedah.”- [from Gen. Rabbah 57:3]

 

she also She had [a number of] families equal to the [number of] the families of Abraham. Just as Abraham [engendered] the twelve tribes who emerged from Jacob-eight were the sons of the wives and four were the sons of maidservants-so were these also, eight sons of the wives and four sons of a concubine. - [from Gen. Rabbah 57:3]

 

23 And Bethuel begot Rebecca All these genealogies were written only for the sake of this verse. - [based on Gen. Rabbah 57:1,3]

 

Chapter 23

 

1 And the life of Sarah was one hundred years and twenty years and seven years The reason that the word “years” was written after every digit is to tell you that every digit is to be expounded upon individually: when she was one hundred years old, she was like a twenty-year-old regarding sin. Just as a twenty-year-old has not sinned, because she is not liable to punishment, so too when she was one hundred years old, she was without sin. And when she was twenty, she was like a seven-year-old as regards to beauty. - from Gen. Rabbah 58:1]

 

2 in Kiriath-arba lit. the city of the four. So named because of the four giants who were there: Ahiman, Sheshai, Talmai, and their father (Gen. Rabbah from Num. 13:23). Another explanation: Because of the four couples that were buried there, man and wife: Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, and Leah (Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer, ch. 20).

 

and Abraham came from Beer-sheba.

 

to eulogize Sarah and to bewail her The account of Sarah’s demise was juxtaposed to the binding of Isaac because as a result of the news of the “binding,” that her son was prepared for slaughter and was almost slaughtered, her soul flew out of her, and she died. - from Gen. Rabbah 58:5]

 

4 I am a stranger and an inhabitant with you [I am] a stranger from another land, and I have settled among you. [Consequently, I have no ancestral burial plot here (Rashbam, Sforno).] And the Midrash Aggadah (Gen. Rabbah 58: 6) [states]: If you are willing [to sell me burial property], I am a stranger, but if not, I will be as an inhabitant and will take it legally, for the Holy One, blessed be He, said to me, “To your seed I will give this land” (above 12:7).

 

burial property the possession of land for a burial place.

 

6 none...will withhold Heb. לא יִכְלֶה, will not withhold, as (Ps. 40:12): “You will not withhold (לא תִכְלָא) Your mercies,” and similarly (above 8:2): “and the rain was withheld (וַיִּכָּלֵא) .”

 

8 your will Heb. נַפְשְׁכֶם, equivalent to רְצוֹנְכֶם, your will.

 

and entreat for me Heb. וּפִגְעוּ, an expression of entreaty, as in (Ruth 1:16): “Do not entreat me”.

 

9 double A structure with an upper story over it. Another interpretation: [It was called so] because it was doubled with couples (Er. 53a).

 

for a full price [meaning] its full value. So did David say to Araunah, “for the full price” (I Chron. 21:24).

 

10 Now Ephron was sitting It [ישֵׁב] is spelled defectively, [without a “vav.” It can therefore be read יָשַׁב , in the past tense, meaning that he had just sat (Mizrachi, Be’er Yitzchak).] On that very day they had appointed him as an officer over them. Because of the importance of Abraham, who needed him, he rose to an exalted position. -  from Gen. Rabbah 58:7]

 

of all those who had come into the gate of his city For they all left their work and came to pay their respects to Sarah. - from Gen. Rabbah 58:7]

 

11 No, my lord You shall not buy it for money.

 

I have given you It is as though I have given it to you.

 

13 But, if only you would listen to me You tell me to listen to you and to take it gratis. I do not wish to do that, but “If you would only (לוּ) listen to me,” [meaning] “If only (הַלְוַאי) you would listen to me.” Rashi explains that the word לוּ is equivalent to הַלְוַאי, if only.

 

I am giving lit. I have given, Donai in Old French. It is ready with me, and I wish that I had already given it to you.

 

15 between me and you Between two friends such as we are, of what importance is it? None! Rather leave the sale and bury your dead.

 

16 and Abraham weighed out to Ephron - עֶפְרֽן is spelled without a “vav,” because he promised much but did not do even a little [i.e., he promised the cave as a gift but took a great deal of money for it], for he took from him large shekels, viz. centenaria [worth one hundred smaller shekels], as it is stated: “accepted by the merchant,” i.e., they are accepted as a [full] shekel everywhere, for some places have large shekels, viz. centenaria, centeniers or zenteniyers in Old French,(hundred-unit weights.) - from Gen. Rabbah 58:7, Bech. 50a, B.M. 87a]

 

17 the field of Ephron...was established Heb. וַיָקָם, lit. it arose. It experienced an elevation, for it left the possession of a simple person [and went] into the possession of a king (Gen. Rabbah 48: 8). The simple meaning of the verse is: And the field and the cave that was within it, and all the trees...were established to Abraham as a possession, etc.- from Targum Jonathan ben Uzziel]

 

18 in the presence of all who had come within the gate of his city In the midst of them all and in the presence of all he sold it to him.

 

Ketubim: JPS & Targum for Tehillim (Psalms) 18:44-51

 

Rashi’s Translation	Targum
44. You allowed me to escape from the contenders of the people; You shall make me the head over nations; may a people that I do not know serve me.	44. You will deliver me from the discords of the Gentiles; you will keep me by my destiny a benefactor at the head of the Gentiles; a people that I did not know shall worship me.
45. As soon as they hear they shall obey me; foreigners shall lie to me.	45. At the hearing of the ear, they will obey me; the sons of the peoples will desert in my presence.
46. Foreigners shall wither, and they shall fear their imprisonments.	46. The sons of the peoples above will perish and will go into exile from their palaces.
47. The Lord lives, and blessed be my Rock, and exalted be the God of my salvation.	47. The LORD lives and blessed is the mighty one; for from His presence strength and redemption are given to me; and exalted is God, the strength of my redemption.
48. The God Who grants me vengeance and destroys peoples instead of me.	48. It is God who works retribution for me, and defeats beneath me the Gentiles who arise to do me harm.
49. Who delivers me from my enemies; even above those that rise against me You have lifted me; from the violent man You deliver me.	49. He delivers me from my foes; indeed, against those who arise to do me harm You will make me prevail; You will deliver me from Gog and the armies of rapacious Gentiles with him.
50. Therefore, I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the nations, and to Your name I will sing praises.	50. Because of this, I will give praise in Your presence among the Gentiles, O LORD; and I will sing praises to Your name.
51. He gives great salvations to His king, and He performs kindness to His anointed; to David and to his seed forever.	51. He works abundant redemption with His king, and shows favor to his Anointed (Messiah), to David and his seed forever.

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Tehillim (Psalms) 18:44-51

 

44 You allowed me to escape from the contenders of the people so that I should not be punished according to Jewish law, for perverting justice or for subjugating an Israelite more than is permitted.

 

You shall make me the head over nations for whom there is no punishment.

 

45 As soon as they hear Even in my absence, as long as they hear my message.

 

they shall obey me They shall give heed to my bidding and obey my orders.

 

shall lie to me out of fright.

 

46 shall wither Heb. יבלו. They shall become weary, as (in Exod. 18:18): “you shall surely wither (נבל תבל),” which the Targum renders: you shall surely weary. Menachem (Machbereth p. 45) explains it as (in Gen. 18:12): “after I have become old (בלתי),” and he explained נבל תבל in the same manner.

 

and they shall fear Heb. ויחרגו, an expression of fear; (in Deut. 32:25) “and terror from within,” the Targum renders: חרגת, fear of death.

 

their imprisonments Because of the tortures of the imprisonments in the dungeon where I imprison them and where they torture them. Menachem (p. 94) interprets it as an expression of loosening the girdle, and so he explains it: and they will be loosened of their girdles [meaning they will be frightened or weakened]. Dunash interprets ויחגרו ממסגרותיהם, and they will be lamed from their shackles, which are placed on their feet. The meaning of ויחגרו is: they will become lame, as the Aramaic for a lame person is חגר .

 

47 The Lord lives He Who does all this for me.

 

48 Who grants me vengeance Who gives me strength to avenge myself upon my enemies.

 

and destroys Heb. וידבר, and He slew, an expression of דבר, pestilence. Another explanation: as (in Exod. 3:1): “and he led (וינהג),” which is translated into Aramaic as וּדְבַר. Menachem (p. 61) too associated it in this manner. Likewise, he associated (below 47:4), “He leads (יַדְבֵּר) peoples under us.”

 

instead of me Heb. תחתי, in my place and in my stead, as the matter is stated (in Isa. 43:4): “and I give men in your stead (תחתיך), (verse 3), “I have given Egypt as your ransom. [Cush and Seba in your stead (תחתיך)].”

 

Meditation on the Psalms

Tehillim (Psalms 18:44-51

Hakham Dr. Hillel ben David

 

 

I’ll repeat my intro from the beginning of this chapter of Psalms.

 

This extraordinary Psalm popularly known as שירת דוד, 'the Song of David' was composed in his old age after a life full of trial and tribulation.^[1] Specifically, it was recited on the day that David's army swore that their old and venerable king would no longer be allowed to expose himself to the dangers of the battlefield with them.^[2]

 

This Psalm has the distinction of being the only chapter in Scriptures which is recorded twice: here and in II Shmuel Chapter 22. Abarbanel, in his commentary to Samuel, is of the opinion that David originally composed this song in his youth when he was still deeply enmeshed in his many problems and misfortunes. He created this song to be an all-inclusive one which would relate to every woe which could possibly occur in his life. Throughout his long life David kept this psalm at hand, reciting it on every occasion of personal salvation.

 

The original version appears in Samuel. This version, composed at the end of David's life, differs from the original in a number of minor variations enumerated in Soferim 18.

 

This second version is not a triumphant song of personal victory. David made a gift to Israel of his personal feelings as a prayer and a consolation in times of distress. He who seeks to meditate in solitude, he who seeks private communion with his Maker, he who seeks to pour out his anguished soul in fervent prayer, all of these will find in it the precise words with which to express the depths of his feelings.

 

The Vilna Gaon^[3] designates this psalm as the שיר של יום, 'Song of the Day', for the Seventh Day of Passover. The seventh day of Passover is a Yom Tob; it is like the messianic age.

 

On the seventh night of Passover, known as Shvi'ee shel Pesach, the Israelites passed through the parted Reed Sea. Towards morning, the Sea rolled over on the Egyptian army, and shortly afterwards the Jews sang the Az Yashir, the song of praise which is today part of our daily morning prayers.

 

This holiday marks the final conclusion of the Egyptian bondage. As long as their Egyptian taskmasters were alive, the Jews could not rid themselves of the fear that perhaps one day the Egyptian army would overpower them and force them back into slavery. While this irrational trepidation may be difficult for us to comprehend, we cannot relate to the psyche of a nation which had been dominated, brutally enslaved and humiliated for many generations. Only after the Egyptians were totally annihilated were the Jews truly a free nation, in spirit as well as in body.

 

HaRav Gifter^[4] explains that the universal and eternal nature of this psalm is particularly suited to the Seventh Day of Passover when HaShem split the Sea representing the climax of redemption and the forerunner of all future redemptions.^[5]

 

I’d like to examine a fascinating concept which is contained in the final pasuk of our chapter of Psalms.

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 18:51 He magnifies the victories of His king, and does kindness with His anointed, to David and his seed, forever.

 

The ArtScroll on Tehillim^[6] tells us something very interesting about this pasuk.

 

He magnifies the victories of His king - In Samuel the word is written מגדיל and is pronounced מגדול. Midrash Shocher Tov explains: Rabbi Yudan says, 'The redemption of this nation will not come about all at once. Rather it will appear little by little. Therefore, it is described in Psalms as מגדל He makes great (constant present tense) meaning that it gradually becomes greater and greater. This is like the dawn which breaks slowly, for if the sun were to rise all at once its fiery light would blind all. So, too, will be the redemption: If it would come all at once the people of Israel who for so long have been accustomed only to oppression could not endure the experience and it would overwhelm them. In Samuel the word מגדול is used because it also means ^‘a tower’. Messiah will be a tower of strength for Israel as it says, A tower [מגדל] of might is the Name of HaShem; with it the righteous will run and be elevated.^[7]

 

It is well known that there are two major epochs: This world (Olam HaZeh) which is the place where we work, repair,^[8] and build, and the next world (Olam HaBa) where we enjoy the reward of what we have built. What is not so well understood is that there is a time period between these two epochs called the Yemot HaMashiach, the messianic age.

 

The messianic age will be like Olam HaZeh except that there will be no more wars and we will have only a certain kind of work.

 

Olam HaZeh – This World

 

The (non-holiday) weekdays are symbolic of Olam HaZeh, the world in its present state, a place where through doing the mitzvot and consistently choosing good over evil, we are to make all our spiritual preparations for Shabbat. Olam HaZeh is the place of work, of serving HaShem. The Maharal explains that only in Olam HaZeh (This World), in its present state, where one has free will to choose between good and evil, can one earn merit for good choices or be punished for making bad choices.

 

In various places, the Torah compares a person to a tree:

 

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 20:19 A person is like the tree of a field...

 

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 65:22 For as the days of a tree shall be the days of my people.

 

Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah) 17:8 He will be like a tree planted near water...

 

All men enter the world with their tree planted on the middle line between good and evil. Their branches hang on both sides and they will bear fruit on both sides. HaShem will bring mitzvot and sins in order that they should test them. Most (99.99%) all people will remain firmly planted and will never move their tree off that middle line.

 

In Bereshit (Genesis) 3:9, Adam and Chava had just eaten some fruit from the forbidden tree and, sensing HaShem’s presence in the Garden of Eden, they hid among the trees. While they were hiding, HaShem asked Adam a one-word question. In Hebrew that word is ayeka? In English it means, “Where are you”? This question continues to reverberate through time to confront every man: Where are you?

 

Maimonides writes in his laws of repentance^[9] that every person should consider himself or herself as perfectly balanced between good and bad and the world as perfectly balanced between good and evil. The next action you do, however trivial, can tilt you and the whole world toward the side of good and life or to the side of evil and death.

 

Each man has the power of choice, and is able to choose either side, knowingly and willingly, as well as to possess whichever one he wishes. Man was therefore created with both a good inclination (yetzer tov) and an evil inclination (yetzer hara). He has the power to incline himself in which ever direction he desires.^[10]

 

Therefore, the Olam HaZeh was made neutral, left for man to determine how it would be used. One world, two possibilities, and man is the one to determine whether or not he walks that path, or stumbles it in. But, try it he must, for that is what he was created to do.

 

Those who are righteous, the tzaddikim, in this world have made a conscious, decision to plant their tree on the side of righteousness.

 

Those who are wicked, the reshaim, in this world have made a decision to plant their tree on the side of wickedness.

Yet, most people never make a decision to move their tree one way or the other, and thus they remain in the middle, balanced between good and evil, they are still firmly straddling the line, a very bad position to be in. They fail to do what they were created to do. They fail to make use of Olam HaZeh, this world.

 

Revelation 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

 

Rosh HaShanah is a day tailor made by HaShem, for planting one’s tree on the side of righteousness. This is the essential work of this day. We were born to choose life. We were born to become a tzaddikim!

 

Devarim (Deuteronomy) 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: 20 That thou mayest love the HaShem thy G-d, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the HaShem sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

 

The type of choices that are able to accomplish an attachment to HaShem, are those choices taken for the express purpose of attaching to life, and to good, instead of what is temporary, and therefore to the evil.

 

These kinds of choices are made in the context of confronting moral dilemmas when we are torn in two directions, and we do not have a powerful inner program instilled by heredity or environment pointing us in the right direction. We desire one thing, but we know that the right decision is in the other direction, not because of our inner program but because HaShem told us in the Torah that that is the way to go. It is in these sorts of situations that present us with the opportunity of attaching ourselves to righteousness, to life.

 

Some people look at the mitzvot, prayers, and rituals and deduce that Jews try to "earn our way into Heaven" by performing the mitzvot. This is a gross mischaracterization of our religion. It is important to remember that unlike some religions, Judaism is not focused on the question of how to get into heaven. Judaism is focused on life and how to live it. Non-Jews frequently ask me, "do you really think you're going to go to Hell if you don't do such-and-such?" It always catches me a bit off balance, because the question of where I am going after death simply doesn't enter into the equation when I think about the mitzvot. We perform the mitzvot because it is our privilege and our sacred obligation to do so. We perform them out of a sense of love and duty, not out of a desire to get something in return. In fact, one of the first bits of ethical advice in Pirkei Avot is: "Be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward; instead, be like servants who serve their master not for the sake of receiving a reward, and let the awe of Heaven [meaning G-d, not the afterlife] be upon you".

 

Chazal, our Sages, teach that just before the coming of the Mashiach, and the beginning of Techiyat HaMetim, there will be proof that the Torah path of the Jew is completely false and that the Goyim, Gentiles, were right. If the Jew has not learned emunah, faithfulness and faithful obedience, if he has not learned how to be loyal to that knowledge (daat), then he will be shown to be nothing. If, on the other hand, the Jew has emunah and is loyal to the pathway built on knowledge (daat), then the “proof” that he was completely wrong will become Techiyat HaMetim, the world of emunah where he will find that this last ordeal has been overcome and he will be completely vindicated. That is what Olam HaZeh is for, to move our tree to the side of righteousness and to choose life.

 

The transition between Olam HaZeh and the Messianic Era is called Chevlai Mashiach^[11] and is characterized by chaos. We are currently in this transition period, which explains the apparent chaos in the world right now. Rabbi Pinchas Winston taught that, according to the mystical understanding, the underlying purpose of the chaos is “to polarize the world, to force people to make a decision whether they are more spiritual or more physical, whether they have moved their tree and have chosen life. What is their priority?”

 

HaShem wants us to focus on bringing HaShem into this world and to bring Olam Haba into Olam Hazeh. He wants us to build the בית המקדש - the edifice that connected this world with the next.

 

Yemot HaMashiach^[12] – The Messianic Age

 

If Olam HaZeh is the time for building and doing work, and Olam HaBa is the time for reward, then why do we need the Yemot HaMashiach? Why do we need an intermediate time? There are several answers to this question. One answer is that the voltage of Olam HaBa is too high for us to move from Olam HaZeh to Olam HaBa. We would be fried. Another answer is that it would be grossly unfair, to the righteous, to give them trials and responsibilities which prevent them from doing the mitzvot and Torah study that they really desire. If the pressures of earning a living, raising a family, and dealing with the trial of Olam HaZeh, prevent us from achieving what we desired and what we were truly capable, that would be unfair. HaShem, so to speak, prevented us from achieving our heart’s desire.

 

Yemot HaMashiach is a time free of financial pressures, family matters, and general trials. It is a time when we can achieve our Heart’s desire. It is a time when we can become a super nova of righteous living free from war, sickness, and financial worries.

 

The Era of Mashiach (Yemot HaMashiach). The seventh millennium. This is the era when Techiyat HaMetim^[13] will occur. Acharit HaYamim^[14] and Yemot HaMashiach are synonymous, referring to the Messianic Age.

 

During the Messianic Age people would live in peace and harmony with each other, all fear and anxiety will vanish, and virtue will reign supreme. The Messianic Age will be a direct extension of the present world of time and place. It would ensure the complete fulfillment of the hopes and aspira­tions of people everywhere.

 

There is an idea that all spiritual realities have at least one tangible counterpart in the physical world so that we can experience them. The Messianic age is יום שכולו שבת - the day that is in its totality shabbat, a Yom Tob, a festival shabbat. A Yom Tob is the synthesis of Olam Hazeh and Olam Haba. A Yom Tob is the culmination, the end-point, of all of our labors. It is a taste of the next world.^[15] Shabbat is likened to one-sixtieth of the Olam HaBa, a time when we shall be able to fully appreciate HaShem’s gift of life to us. On Shabbat, by abstaining from certain “creative activities”, we are compelled to sit back and look at all that HaShem does to keep us going, and if we don’t do that, then we deny both the opportunity of Shabbat and HaShem’s good. Hence, the Sages are telling us that, as much as Shabbat is like the Olam HaBa (and it is), still, the experience is so minimal that it is as if it is not there at all? In other words, even if Shabbat is the most wonderful experience, still, the Olam HaBa will become infinitely better.

 

It would be too difficult to relate to these abstract, spiritual things, if we could never have any direct experience of it. So, sleep is a sixtieth of the death experience; a dream is a sixtieth of prophecy. Shabbat is a sixtieth of the experience of the next world. We have these experiences in order that we should understand those things that HaShem has promised.

 

A fundamental difference between Yom Tob^[16] observance, and the weekly Shabbat observance, is the allowance of food preparation on Yom Tob. Unlike on Shabbat, when all cooking is forbidden, the Torah permits us to cook, bake, and prepare food on Yom Tob proper, in order to eat the prepared food on that day of Yom Tob. Therefore, just as you can cook on Yom Tob – IF YOU LIT THE FIRE TO COOK BEFORE YOM TOB, so also will you be given the time and resources to finish any Torah study and mitzvot which you started before Yemot HaMashiach. But, you must start (you must light the fire) in Olam HaZeh. There will be no new studies, no new mitzvot in those days, only a time of finishing what you have already begun.

 

The Talmud, in Shabbat 151b, teaches that the verse ‘and those years will arrive of which you will say 'I have no desire in them?’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1), refers to Yemot HaMashiach (the Messianic Age), when it will no longer be possible to earn credit towards Olam Haba (the World to Come) for performing mitzvot not previously started, or deserve punishment for performing sins.

 

When the Messiah comes and the world will be perfected and filled with truth to the point that all will see evil for what it truly is and no one will have ‘desire’ to do bad, there will no longer be free will as we know it, thus eliminating the possibility of reward and punishment in Olam HaBa for any choices we make at that time.

 

The Maharal adds that this is only true for those who make consistent bad choices and transgress the Torah in this world before the Messiah arrives. For them it will be too late to do teshuva and change once the ‘good times’ of the Messiah come, since they would only be changing because the truth has been revealed and the times are good, and not as the result of their own free-willed desire to change for the better.

 

However, those tzaddikim^[17] who consistently choose good over evil in this world where there is no clarity, and the benefits of choosing to do mitzvot over sins are not readily apparent, they will continue to grow and gain reward for the good choices they make even after the Messiah comes, because they have shown that their choices are coming from a genuine desire to do good and not just for the sake of enjoying the ‘good times’ of the Messianic Age.

 

With this, explains the Maharal, we can understand the deeper meaning behind the procedure of eruv tavshilin.^[18] The Halachah^[19] is that one must prepare for shabbat on the weekday before shabbat starts. The (non-holiday) weekdays are symbolic of Olam HaZeh, the world in its present state, a place where through doing the mitzvot and consistently choosing good over evil we are to make all our spiritual ‘preparations’ for the weekly shabbat, which represents Olam HaBa, the World to Come in which we will be rewarded. As the Talmud teaches us in Avodah Zarah 3a, ‘Whoever prepares food before Shabbat, will have what to eat on Shabbat’. If we prepare ourselves properly during the ‘weekdays’ of this world, we will have ‘food’ to eat and enjoy on Shabbat and the Hereafter.

 

Belief in the eventual resurrection of the dead is a fundamental belief of Judaism. It was a belief that distinguished the Pharisees^[20] from the Sadducees. The Sadducees rejected the concept, because it is not explicitly mentioned in the Torah. The Pharisees found the concept implied in certain verses.

 

Belief in resurrection of the dead is one of Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith. The second blessing of the Shemone Esrei prayer, which is recited three times daily, contains several references to resurrection.

 

The resurrection of the dead will occur in the messianic age. When the messiah comes to initiate the perfect world of peace and prosperity, the righteous dead will be brought back to life and given the opportunity to experience the perfected world that their righteousness helped to create. The wicked dead will not be resurrected.

 

There are some mystical schools of thought that believe resurrection is not a one-time event, but is an ongoing process. The souls of the righteous are reborn in to continue the ongoing process of tikkun olam, mending of the world.

 

Olam HaBa – The World to Come

 

The term Olam HaBa^[21] in contrast to Olam HaZeh refers to the hereafter, which begins with the termination of man's earthly life.  Olam HaBa refers to the last stage of existence after what would be 7000 AM.^[22] Shabbat represent Olam HaBa, the time after the seventh millennium. The Olam HaBa is actually the end of time, the beginning of eternity when the righteous will bask in the radiance of divine light, and the wicked will be consigned to the darkness of eternal oblivion. Olam HaBa is the final order of things beginning with the general resurrection and the last judgment. According to the Palestinian amora R. Johanan, the golden age of the future pictured by the prophets concerned only the days of the Messiah. As for the world to come, it is said of it, "Eye hath not seen".^[23]

 

Olam HaBa is the world of reward. That which we built in Olam HaZeh is enjoyed in Olam HaBa. The Torah never tells us about the rewards of Olam HaBa. Why? After all, it would be a powerful motivator for us to maximize our righteous behavior in Olam HaZeh.

 

The reason that we are never told about the reward, in the Torah, is because we would then be required to serve for the reward. This is not HaShem’s desire. HaShem wants us to serve Him because we love him, and for no other reason. Never the less, the oral law is replete with references to the reward in order to provide us encouragement to Love HaShem because of His goodness to us.

 

A cardinal eschatological doctrine of rabbinic Judaism connected with the world to come was that of the restoration to life of the dead. It is listed as a dogma at the beginning of the tenth chapter of Sanhedrin. "Whoever says that the revivification of the dead is not proved from the Torah", so it is remarked there, "has no portion in the world to come".

 

What Olam HaBa is like is shrouded in mystery. Chazal teach that we will sit in HaShem’s light and enjoy the pleasure of his radiance. As to what this is like, we are only given a taste, as it says: “Shabbat is one sixtieth of the Olam HaBa”. Shabbat is described as “meeyn olam haba” - a small degree of the experience of the next world. If we celebrate shabbat correctly we can achieve the barest taste of what it will be like in Olam HaBa.

 

 

Ashlamatah: Hoshea (Hosea) 5:7-13 + 6:1-3

 

7 They have dealt treacherously against the LORD, for they have begotten strange children; now shall the new moon devour them with their portions. {S}

8 Blow ye the horn in Gibeah, and the trumpet in Ramah; sound an alarm at Beth-aven: 'Behind thee, O Benjamin!'

9 Ephraim shall be desolate in the day of rebuke; among the tribes of Israel do I make known that which shall surely be.

10 The princes of Judah are like them that remove the landmark; I will pour out My wrath upon them like water.

11 Oppressed is Ephraim, crushed in his right; because he willingly walked after filth.

12 Therefore am I unto Ephraim as a moth, and to the house of Judah as rottenness.

13 And when Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his wound, Ephraim went to Assyria, and sent to King Contentious; but he is not able to heal you, neither shall he cure you of your wound.

 

1 'Come, and let us return unto the LORD; for He hath torn, and He will heal us, He hath smitten, and He will bind us up.

2 After two days will He revive us, on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

3 And let us know, eagerly strive to know the LORD, His going forth is sure as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter rain that watereth the earth.'

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Hoshea (Hosea) 5:7-13 + 6:1-3

 

7 for they begot strange children: for they intermarried among the nations.

 

a month shall consume them: The month of Av.

 

 8 Sound a shofar: so that they take care to beware of the sword of the troops that will come upon them.

 

shout [in] Beth- aven: “After you the troop is coming, you Benjamin!” You shall shout this in Beth-aven. Jonathan, however, renders: Sound a shofar: [O prophets, raise your voices like a shofar.] The news of the sword which is coming as retribution for the iniquity of crowning Saul, who was in Gibeah, and for disobeying Samuel, who was from Ramah. And their kings caused them to turn away from following Me, such as Jeroboam and his ilk. Shout over them, “Violence and great destruction!”

 

“After you, Benjamin!”: Since you delayed and hesitated to go on the pilgrimages to the Temple, which is in Benjamin’s territory. Because of your delay of Benjamin. [explaining according to Targum Jonathan]

 

9 shall be bewildered on the day of contention: When I come to debate with them, they will be bewildered and will wonder, and they will have no answer in their mouth. Why? Because, among the tribes of Israel I made known a true Torah, and they transgressed it. [Another explanation:]

 

Ephraim shall be bewildered etc. among the tribes of Israel I made known a true [judgment]: Said Rabbi Abahu in the name of Rabbi Yose bar Chanina. On the day that the Holy One, blessed be He, debates with them in judgment, they will not be able to open their mouths, for among their tribes I made known that the judgment is a true judgment. You find that, when the ten tribes were exiled, Benjamin and Judah were not exiled, and the ten tribes were saying, Because they are the dwellers of His palace, He did not exile them. There is favoritism in this matter. God forbid, there is no favoritism, but their measure of sin was not yet full. As soon as they sinned, they were exiled. Then the ten tribes were bewildered, without an answer in their mouths, and they said, “Behold God! Behold the Mighty One! Behold the Just One! For even to those who dwell in His house He shows no favoritism.” This is to fulfill what is stated: Among the tribes of Israel I made known a true judgment. [from Lam. Rabbah, Proem 6]

 

10 like those who remove the landmark: As a person who attaches the landmark of his neighbor, so did they hasten to grasp the ways of Israel, their colleagues, the kings. Therefore, “upon them will I pour My wrath like water.” And, according to its apparent meaning, they were stealing fields. But it is difficult to me, since he should have written. מַסִיגֵי גְבוּל, those who remove the landmark, not כְּמַסִיגֵי like those who remove.

 

11 Ephraim is plundered: in the hands of the nations.

 

broken by judgment: Chastised with torments. Now why does he suffer with all this? Because he wished and desired and followed the new commands of the prophets of Baal.

 

12 and like decay: A worm which eats the wood and pulverizes it.

 

13 his pain: Heb. מְזֹרוֹ, an expression of illness.

 

and Ephraim went to Assyria: This is Hosea son of Elah, who was his vassal and then rebelled against him (II Kings 17:4).

 

and he sent: i.e., Judah sent.

 

to the king of Yarev: This refers to Ahaz, who gave a bribe to Tiglath-pileser to assist him against Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah (II Kings 16:8).

 

but he will not be able to heal you: from the many bands of Philistines and Arabs that attacked Ahaz, as is related in Chronicles (II 28:21): “For Ahaz divided the house of the Lord etc. and he gave it to the king of Assyria, but he did not help him.”

 

and he will not remove the pain from you: Heb. וְלֹא יִגְהֶה מִכֶּם מָזוֹר. And I say that it is one of the words whose radicals are transposed. This is an expression similar to (II Sam. 20:13) “When he was removed (הוֹגָה) from the highway”; (Isaiah 59:13) “sprouting and giving forth (והוֹגוֹ) from the heart”; (Prov. 25:4), “take away הָגוֹ) the dross from the silver.”

 

Commentary on the Ashlamatah of Hoshea (Hosea) 5:7-13 + 6:1-3

By: H.Ex. Adon Shlomoh Ben Abraham

 

A careful study of Hosea, the man and his mission, will yield him a place among the greatest teachers of humanity. He was a fearless and selfless man, and his message, like that of Jeremiah, burned within him like a flame, and he had to release it. Hosea lived during the time of the First Temple, and his name was borne by Joshua before it was changed (Num. 13:8; 16). Hoshea means “deliverance, salvation”; Joshua, “the Lord saves.”^[24]  He found that sin was rampant in both high and low quarters.  He found that from priest to ruler to people of lower rank, they were all involved and that the very foundations of society were undermined by the lawlessness, violence, and the forgetfulness of God and his torah.[25]  Hosea witnessed the decline and fall of the kingdom of Israel. It is believed he lived in the thirty-to forty-year period which preceded the fall of Samaria around 760 -720. BCE.  The Talmud and Midrash record Hosea as the greatest of his contemporaries.[26] From the time Hosea began till the destruction, the people had over twenty-seven years to repent.[27]

 

Hosea understood the ties that bind husband and wife and therefore was able to impress upon the people that God, having betrothed Israel to Himself at Sinai, could not abandon His unfaithful people, and therefore HaShem offered many attempts at reconciliation.  Although Hosea's prophecies seem to be brief and unconnected, they are emphatic in denunciation of rulers and people who are sunk in vice and corruption. The faithlessness of the people of God would be punished through captivity and suffering and the loss of the blessings they failed to appreciate.  Hosea ends on a most passionate note: if the people of God will return to him, He will return to them and then all will end well.

 

Hosea stresses that God's demand was not sacrifice and ritual but piety which expressed itself in love and loyalty.[28] Like the Prophet Amos, he stressed the religion of Israel to the altitude of ethical monotheism which emphasized the moral and holy aspect of the Divine being. While Amos stressed justice and righteousness as most acceptable to HaShem. Hosea stressed the sin against love in the people's disloyalty to HaShem. Amos thought of God as King and Judge, whereas Hosea delineates Him under the imagery of a husband, compassionate and long-suffering.[29]

 

One thing we noticed is that Hosea addresses Israel as Ephraim. Some have suggested it was due to Jeroboam being from Ephraim, since he was the first to rebel against the house of David and then strengthen his kingdom by placing idols and images of calves in Bethel and Dan, with the sole purpose of diverting the people from the worship and temple at Jerusalem. It is also of interest to note that Jerusalem is not once mentioned in the book of Hosea. Maybe this was due to Hosea being from the North and that it was in the North that the chief trouble arose. 

 

To Hosea and the Hebrew prophets, God is always the loving and merciful father who suffers with those whom he punishes. Hosea would have agreed with this doctrine. In all their afflictions He was afflicted. (Isa 63:9) Although Hosea's contemporaries called him mad! (9:7) Hosea never ceased pleading with them to repent and return to God and be saved. Here we can say that just as his rebuke and calling out the people's lawlessness and faithlessness toward HaShem he also called for their repentance, and both of these messages are as timely and real today as they were over 2,700 years ago.[30]

 

Our reading opens with Hosea telling the people that “they know not HaShem.” “Their pride has overtaken them”, and “they will be humble before the face of HaShem”. (v.4-7) Rashi and the Targum understand this similarly. When the people in their distress turned to their gods, they realized their gods cannot help them. Then and only then do they seek HaShem, but he has withdrawn Himself due to their sin.  The Prophet tells them they have borne strange children, children that do not know HaShem and who follow in the sinful, lawless ways of their parents. Now shall a month devour them (v. 7).  The prophet goes further and tells the people that in a month you will be devoured. Radak understands this to be speaking of the months of Tammuz and Av, which coincide with our month of July and August, and it is in this time period that the Jewish people have suffered the most at the hands of the Gentile world.[31]

 

Currently, in our world, we are living in a time when the parents and a generation of their children are all alienated from serving HaShem in any form or fashion. Truly, they are children of strangers. R’ Eliezer of Beaugency understands this as a metaphor that they have strayed so far from the ways of HaShem that it is as if they have been born to a strange woman.  In the prophets' understanding of God as a merciful and compassionate father, surely HaShem must be working in the earth to turn his children's attention back toward him. 

 

At the breakfast table this last week, while enjoying a fresh cup of coffee and a sweet roll, the conversation turned to the heat and fires that dominate the news in the western part of the United States. In verse ten, we are told that HaShem “will pour out his wrath upon them like water.”  We also see ‘water’ in the news. There are flash floods that drop many inches of rain in a very short time period, which creates floods that then cause bridges and roads to be overwhelmed and washed out. The National Weather Service recorded over 32 flash floods in June and July of 2026.  These ranged from Kentucky, Indiana, and Missouri to Illinois. From the hill country of Texas to the northeast New England states and even down into West Virginia and on into the Carolinas and Tennessee. Along with the water has come the heat, with temperatures from Las Vegas and Nevada experiencing highs of 112 or more. Parts of Texas reached 118 F, and the Midwest and Plains reached 110°F or higher. The Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast also reached temperatures of 104 to 106 F. So while discussing the weather, a comment was made for God to have mercy, and that the local temps for the day would be over 104 F, with the comparison that it would be as ‘hot as hell.” I looked at the lady commenting and posed the question, Do you think God is sending a message for the sinner to repent? After a dead silence of 3 to 5 seconds, she responded with, “all it does for me is make me pass out!” it would seem to this writer that the majority of people are ‘alien children’, they have broken faith with HaShem. (v.7)

 

The day of Hosea was very similar to our current day. Although HaShem was pleading with Israel and Ephraim to return to him before the “water and fire” of his wrath came, they were too busy to recognize where their blessing came from. Ephraim is to be crushed because he willingly walked after filth. (v.11) HaShem said he would be as a moth to Ephraim and as rottenness to Judah. Ephraim will experience sickness and Judah a wound. I will be to Ephraim as a lion and a young club lion to Judah. (v.11-14). Notice the distinction in the punishment and the loving hand of HaShem in the Judgement. HaShem will deal with each of us as is fit. In his mercy and in his fatherly love, the Judgement will fit our sin.

 

Abarbanel and Malbim make a novel interpretation of these verses. As recalling the event of hundreds of years earlier, in the days of the Judges, when the members of the tribe of Benjamin sexually assaulted the concubine in the town of Gibeah and murdered her. (See Judges 19:21) At that time, the other tribes waged war against the Tribe of Benjamin in retaliation for this terrible deed. For the refusal of the members of the tribe of Benjamin to turn over the criminals. However, in the initial 2 days of the battle, the other tribes suffered greater casualties than did Benjamin. And only afterward did they succeed in defeating the Forces of Benjamin.

 

The prophet sees in that sequence of events a symbol of what would transpire centuries later. He thus recounts the call which went forth among the tribes when they sounded the Shofar. All the towns within the province of Benjamin were called together the United Forces of the Nation. After you, Benjamin, they're joining together. To pursue you in response to the great offense, which you have condoned by your refusal to punish it. Nevertheless, on the day of the castigation in which the combined tribes came to punish the tribe of Benjamin. I've made known the truth of that which will occur in subsequent times. But because the people of the other tribes were more sinful than those of Benjamin, they had to undergo a measure of affliction in those battles, which, from the outset, exceeded the casualties inflicted upon the Benjaminites. This heralds what is in store for the two nations in future times when the ten tribes would undergo greater retribution and a longer exile than the tribes of Judah and Benjamin.[32] 

 

The sages teach here in Hosea that if one recognizes the nature of his misfortune as well as the cause which has brought it about and nonetheless refrains from taking corrective measures, he is fully responsible for the results of his actions. If one repents and truly trusts HaShem, then his sin can be mitigated, and his punishment lessened.  When we abandon HaShem's ways and embrace our idolatry and sins of our flesh, and we fail to repent and rectify our deeds, then our behavior warrants more severe and punitive measures. (Alshich and Malbim).  The same God that dealt with his people in Hosea's day is the same God that will deal with us today, and we can expect to experience his judgement and to look for similar modes of operation.

 

The Rabbis discussed the word for lion, asking whether it referred to an adult lion or a cub, a large lion or a small one, and concluded that the punishment fit the crime. HaShem said he would go and return to his place and that they would acknowledge their guilt and seek him. In their hardship they will seek me. Malbim said the people will recognize their guilt on their own, and then they will seek HaShem in repentance, or else they will encounter misfortune upon misfortune until their plight forces them to return to me.[33]  Ibn Ezra agrees and says until they seek me like the dawn.

 

The sixth chapter of Hosea is a continuation of the fifth. It is only through the return and repentance that we can have salvation; this return is to HaShem and to the ways of his Torah. Some have understood this to be speaking of past events, and I concur, but only to the extent that there is repentance and return. Many are still on the outside, not following HaShem's ways in faithfulness and in righteous deeds. The prophet said “Let us return to HaShem, and he will heal us” (6:1).  Rather than seeking relief from our present troubles (as they did from the King of Assyria), we must turn to HaShem. The rulers of this present world are unable to remove the “water and the fire”; only HaShem can bring the salvation we so desperately seek.  As Abarbanel, Ibn Ezra, and Radak all agree, it is impossible for the human mind to fully understand and fathom the nature and the greatness of the Almighty. Yet we can nevertheless pursue that knowledge and understanding to the best of our ability, and we can achieve whatever levels HaShem bestows upon us and those levels that are within our reach.  “Let us know, let us strive to know HaShem like the dawn whose emergence is true, and He will come to us like the rain, like the late rain that satiates the earth.” (Hosea 6:3)

 

Special Ashlamatah for the Second Sabbath of Consolation

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 49:14-51:3

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary for Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 49:14 - 51:3

 

14 And Zion said She thought that I had forgotten her.

 

15 Shall a woman forget her sucking child Heb. עוּלָהּ, similar to עוֹלֵל.

 

from having mercy on the child of her womb Heb. מֵרֶחֶם בֶּן־בִּטְנָהּ.

 

These too shall forget Even if these forget, I will not forget you.

 

16 Behold on [My] hands Heb. עַל־כַּפַּיִם [lit. on hands]. I see you as though you are engraved on My hands, to see you and always to remember you. Another explanation is: עַל־כַּפַּיִם “from upon the clouds of glory.” Comp. (Job 36:32) “On the clouds (כַּפַּיִם) He covered the rain.”

 

17 Your sons have hastened to return.

 

19 you shall be crowded by the inhabitants You shall be crowded by the multitude of inhabitants that shall come into your midst. The place shall be too narrow for them to build houses for themselves.

 

20 Your children of whom you were bereaved [lit. the children of your bereavements.] The children of whom you were bereaved.

 

move over for me [lit. approach for me.] Draw closer to another side for me, and I will dwell.

 

21 and solitary solede in O.F.

 

rejected Rejected by everyone. All say about me, “Turn away from her.”

 

22 My hand...My standard A signal to bring the exiles.

 

a standard Perka in O.F., [perche in modern French,] a pole. Comp. (supra 30:17) “And like a flagpole (וְכַנֵּס) on a hill.” It is a signal for gathering, and they place a cloth [a flag] on the end of it.

 

in their armpits Ajjsela [aisela] in O.F., [aisselle in modern French]. Comp. Ezra (Neh. 5:13): “Also I shook out my armpit (חָצְנִי).”

 

24 Shall prey be taken from a mighty warrior You think that it is impossible to take from Esau those captured from Jacob the righteous one.

 

25 and with your contender Heb. יְרִיבֵךְ. And with your contender I will contend.

 

26 And those who taunt you I will feed their flesh to the beasts of the field. The word מוֹנַיִךְ is an expression akin to (Lev. 25:14) “You shall not taunt (אַל תּוֹנוּ).” This denotes taunting with words, those who anger you with their revilings.

 

and as with sweet wine Heb. וְכֶעָסִיס. The sweetness of wine.

 

they shall become drunk [from] their blood So shall those accustomed to drink blood become drunk from their blood. Now who are they? These are the fowl of the heavens. So did Jonathan render this.

 

Chapter 50

 

2 Why have I come to draw near to you, and none of you turns to Me?

 

3 I clothe the heavens The host of the heavens, the princes of the heathens (nations [Mss. and K’li Paz]), when I come to mete out retribution upon the nations.

 

4 gave me a tongue for teaching Isaiah was saying, The Lord sent me and gave me a tongue fit to teach, in order to know to establish a time for the faint and thirsty to hear the words of the Holy One, blessed be He.

 

to establish times Heb. לָעוּת. Menahem classified it in the group of (Ps. 119:126) “It is time (עֵת) to do for the Lord.” To establish times for them.

 

He awakens my ear He awakens my ear with His Holy Spirit.

 

to hear according to the teachings According to the custom of the teachings, the truth and that which is proper.

 

5 opened my ear and let me hear (supra 6:8), “Whom shall I send?” I sent Amos, and they called him ‘pesilus.’ I sent Micah, etc., as is stated in Pesikta of ‘Nachamu nachamu.’

 

and I did not rebel going on His mission, neither did I turn away backwards, but I said, “Here I am; send me” (ibid.).

 

6 I gave my back to smiters He said to me, Isaiah, My children are obstinate; My children are bothersome. [You may go] on the condition that you do not become angry with them. I said to Him, On that condition.

 

7 But the Lord God helps me if they rise up against me.

 

8 He Who vindicates me is near The Holy One, blessed be He, is near to me to vindicate me in judgment.

 

9 a moth Heb. עָשׁ, the worm of the clothing.

 

10 to the voice of His servant To the voice of the prophets.

 

who went in darkness Even if trouble comes upon him, let him trust in the name of the Lord, for He shall save him.

 

11 Behold all of you who do not hearken to the voice of His prophets.

 

who kindle fire of His wrath upon yourselves.

 

and give power to flames Who strengthen the flames; they are sparks and burning coals that are cast up with a slingshot. It has a cognate in the Aramaic tongue, זִיקוּקִין דְּנוּר, flames of fire (Ber. 58b), so many slingers (זִיקָתָא) are assigned to us (Baba Mezia 94a) [frondeles in O.F., sling].

 

go in the flame of your fire According to your way, you will be punished.

 

from My hand shall this retribution come to you.

 

Chapter 51

 

1 look at the rock whence you were hewn from it.

 

and at the hole of the pit Heb. מַקֶּבֶת. With which they penetrate (נוֹקְבִין) and hew the pits.

 

you were dug with which you were dug.

 

you were dug Heb. נֻקַּרְתֶּם, an expression similar to (Ex. 33.22) “The cleft (נִקְרַת) of the rock”; (Prov. 30: 17) “The ravens of the brook shall pick it (יִקְּרוּהָ).” And who is the rock? He is Abraham your forefather. And who is the hole? She is Sarah who bore you. [תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶם means] ‘who bore you,’ an expression similar to (infra 66:8) “For Zion experienced pangs (חָלָה) and also bore.”

 

2 who bore you Heb. תְּחוֹלֶלְכֶם [lit. shall bear you.]

 

for when he was but one I called him For he was one single person in the land of Canaan where I exiled him from his land and from his birthplace. I called him, meaning that I raised him and exalted him. An expression [similar to] (Num. 1:16) “Those called of (קְרִיאֵי) the congregation.” And just as he was a single person and I exalted him, so will I exalt you, who are singled out to Me.

 

3 and its wasteland Heb. וְעַרְבָתָהּ. This too is an expression of a desert. Comp. (Jer. 2:6) “In a wasteland (עֲרָבָה) and a land of pits,” but the wasteland once had a settlement, and it was destroyed.

 

thanksgiving A voice of thanks.

 

Special Ashlamatah: Commentary on Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 49:14 - 51:3

By: H.Ex. Adon Shlomoh Ben Abraham

 

This is the second Sabbath of consolation reading. If you look at the first verse in each of the seven readings, you'll see a little theme or idea, a prophetic message. Last week, the First Sabbath of consolation, the prophetic message was Comfort you. Comfort you, my people.  This week. Isaiah 49:14 says, But Zion said. HaShem has forsaken me, and HaShem has forgotten me. Hashem replied with a resounding NO! No more than a mother can forget her baby or disown the child of her womb. Though the mother might forget, I will never forget, for I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. 

Isaiah records a conversation between HaShem and Israel (Zion) (v.14). Although the people feel as if God has forgotten them, God replies that he certainly has not and cannot forget his people. In the metaphor of a mother and child, HaShem said the children have been engraved on the palms of his hands, and just as a nursing mother, he would never forget but have compassion on his Son. (v.14-16) Here begins a section of scripture which consists of God's assurances that Zion is HaShem's beloved and her future restoration is sure, and her scattered people will be restored to her.  Although Zion is in exile in Babylonia, she is assured that she is not forgotten and is the favored son.

Zion serves as a metaphor for the nation of Israel as a whole, and just as Isaiah says he was named in his mother’s womb, so Israel was known in the womb.  Israel, whom I have chosen! Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you: Fear not, O Jacob my servant, Jeshurun whom I have chosen. (44:1-2, 43:10, 45:4) Even way back in Moses' day, the children of Israel are told, because he loved your fathers and chose their offspring after them and brought you out of Egypt with his own presence, by his great power, driving out before you nations greater and mightier than you, to bring you in, to give you their land for an inheritance.^[34] Isaiah now begins to describe the Miraculous return of the people of Israel to Zion.

It has been said that chapter 49 of Isaiah is the crossing of a great divide in the prophet's teaching, and Isaiah is now focused on two great themes: the suffering servant and the future glory / glorious future of Israel. The servant of the Lord is a personification first of the ideal Israel whose duty it is to unite the rest of Israel and carry all forward in prosperity and peace; and not stopping there, but to be the agent of HaShem and bring the knowledge of God to all peoples, and to all nations of the world.^[35]  If one were to reread the first servant passage in Isaiah 42:1-4, one would see the beginning of this most noble and inspiring message of the servant and thus be better prepared to understand the one that now begins with this message of the servant. Isaiah describes some of the characteristics of this ideal servant and how his quiet and unobtrusive spiritual influence would spread throughout the world, saying, “My servant is Israel”. (Isa.44:1,21)

The prophet tells the people to tell their builders to make haste.  Lift your eyes and see them all gather.  The children will say, there is no room for us; make room for us to settle.  And at the same time, in (v.17), we are told the destroyers of Israel will begin to move out, and ever so slowly, your children will return. In (Isa. 5:26), HaShem raised a signal or whistle for the nations, and they came to punish Israel for its sin. Now HaShem reassured his people that he will raise his hand to the nations, and they will bring your sons, carrying them in their bosom and your daughters on their backs; they will bow to the children of Israel, and you will know that I am the LORD and those who have trusted in me will not be ashamed. (V.22-23). Earlier, the signal or sign was for judgment, but now, it’s for restoration. 

Isaiah tells of the return of the children of Israel from every direction and every land. Malbim says not to worry about space for the returning exiles; the land will be adorned with its returning children.^[36]  Those who have put their hope in me said, HaShem shall not be ashamed. Isaiah brings this chapter to a close with the assurance that the captives and the taken loot will be restored to Israel. Rashi applies this prophecy to the Babylonians after seventy years of exile. But Abarbanel says this metaphor is for the great battle which will take place at the time of Redemption. Abarbanel's point is that only a small number of Jews returned to Israel at that time; therefore, this prophecy must refer to the future redemption and the revivification of the dead. ^[37]

The reversal of Israel's exile for Zion and Jerusalem will bring the New Exodus, which will bring change to this world unlike anything man has ever experienced before. What a wonderful and amazing future lies just ahead of us.  Today, everyone is a theologian; they all think they know God.  When HaShem delivers his children from exile, the world will take notice, and the false ideals of religion will fade away when HaShem is revealed in all his Glory, just like the first time with Moses at Mt. Sinai.  Our text tells us when Israel is redeemed from its current exile from their oppressors, The oppressors will eat their own children and drink their own blood, and all of mankind shall know that I, the LORD, am your savior, the Mighty one of Jacob, your Redeemer. (49:25) 

The victorious will be the righteous, and regardless of whether this is understood in a literal or metaphorical fashion, the gentile nations will be in disarray as they try to understand what is happening.  The Prophet is repeating the prophetic word from an earlier text.  On that day, the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people. He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The jealousy of Ephraim shall depart, and those who harass Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim.^[38]  The nations that have oppressed Israel will restore the land promised to the children of Israel. In Israel's redemption, this salvation and knowledge of HaShem will bring salvation to all of humanity.  The more I learn, the bigger and clearer the picture becomes. It’s all about Israel, and as Israel is lifted and restored, so shall the Temple come into clearer focus for those who wait on HaShem. The children of Israel thought that HaShem had divorced his people. In the days of Cyrus the Persian, only a small number of exiles took an opportunity to return to Zion, but now all the exiled children of Israel shall be called home.

The Israelites viewed themselves metaphorically as God’s wife and also as God’s children. If the former, they worry that God has divorced them and therefore cannot take them back (Jer. 3:1; Deut. 24:1–4). If the latter, then God has sold them away (Exod. 21:7–11; 2 Kings 4:1). But God insists that no divorce has taken place, and that the children remain God’s property. Behind God’s frustrated words here may lie the failure of the exiles to accept the message of consolation. Only a small number of exiles took the opportunity to return to Zion after Cyrus (the Persian king who conquered Babylonia) allowed them to do so.^[39]  God responded to the people’s complaint by asking where their bill of divorcement was, which they were unable to produce. God then asked, where are my creditors, to whom I sold you off? Again, they were unable to produce any creditors.   Isaiah 50:10 says, “Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant?  Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD (HaShem) and rely on his (Elohim) God.^[40]  These are good words of exhortation: fear me, obey my voice, as you walk in darkness, trust in my Name!  Following this sound advice from Isaiah the prophet, we will find it will carry each of us to the very end of our days.

In (50:1), HaShem’s last words of encouragement: listen to me, you who pursue justice… (Deut.16:20), you who seek the LORD… (Zeph 2:3) Look to the rock from which you came…  Look to Abraham, your father, and Sarah, your mother.   Trust in me and in my Name, and truly, the LORD has comforted Zion. When God called Abraham, he was one, and a promise was given that all nations would be blessed in him. Hashem will make the wilderness and desert of Israel like the garden of Eden. (v.3) With the final redemption, the world will have achieved its purpose, and mankind will return to the pure status of its creation in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were expelled from Eden because of their sin, but redemption will usher in an era in which mankind, led by Israel, will come full circle and return to the original state. The future redemption, just as the redemption from Egypt, although Israel was lacking in merit, God redeemed them and will redeem us in the future. ^[41]

The people, and as some manuscripts have the ‘People’s’, are called on to give ear to the teachings that shall go forth from HaShem, and his way will be a light to and for the peoples. (v.4) We are told to listen to Me (HaShem), those of you who care for the right or righteousness, people who lay My instruction to heart. (v.7) Radak says that the Messianic King will instruct all nations to go in the way of HaShem. Rashi tells us this light and peace of the Messiah will come to all nations that choose to walk by the light of God’s Judgements. Mahari Kara^[42] brings the point that regardless of the use of the plural term peoples, the intention and the message are addressed to Israel first,^[43]  and then to whosoever will, let them come.

Truly, the Lord has comforted Zion, comforted all her ruins; He has made her wilderness like Eden, her desert is like the Garden of the Lord. Gladness and joy shall abide there, Thanksgiving and the sound of music. ^[44]  Commentators tell us these verses are in the prophetic perfects, meaning they are of a certainty, signifying ‘shall surely comfort’ or ‘shall surely make’ the desert and wilderness as a watered garden, and that music and melody shall flow through the streets of Zion.

 

Ethics Of The Fathers

Mishnah Pirkei Avot

Chapter 3

 

 

NAZAREAN TALMUD

Sidra Of B’resheet (Gen.) 22:20 – 23:20
“Heni yaldah Milcah,” “Milcah has Borne”

By: H. Em. Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

 

 

School of Hakham Tsefet

Peshat

(Mark 2:16-17)

 

And when the Soferim (Scribes) of the P’rushim (Pharisees) saw him eat with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz), they said to his talmidim, “How is it that he (Yeshua) eats and drinks with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz)?^[45] When Yeshua heard^[46] them, he said to them, “They who are strong have no need of a physician, but the ones who are ill. I did not come to call the righteous/generous, but ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz) to do Teshubah (repentance).”

 

School of Hakham Shaul

Tosefta

(Luke 5:29-32)

 

And Levi ben Chalfai] made a great feast in his own house for him (Yeshua). And there was a large number of tax-collectors and of others who were reclining with them. But the Soferim (scribes) and P’rushim (Pharisees) asked his talmidim concerning the halakhic implications of eating with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz), saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz)?”^[47] But Yeshua answered them saying, “Those who are in good health do not need a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come^[48] to call the righteous/generous to do teshubah (repentance), but ignorant sinners (Am HaAretz).”

 

 

 

A Halakhic Discussion of the Torah Seder

 

Part 1: The Foundations of the Covenantal Home and the Sanctified Table

The Beit Midrash was unusually quiet that afternoon as the summer heat hung heavily over the courtyard, the voices that ordinarily rose and fell in lively debate having settled into the measured cadence of scholars who sensed that the matter before them demanded extraordinary care. Scrolls of the Torah lay open to the closing verses of B’resheet chapter twenty-two and the opening of chapter twenty-three, their clean parchment reflecting the ambient light of the room. Beside them rested the prophetic scrolls of Hoshea, Yeshayahu, and the collection of Tehillim, each manuscript positioned carefully to invite a synthesis of law, prophecy, and domestic practice. Also present within the chamber were carefully preserved accounts from the circles of the Nazarean talmidim, recounting an encounter between Yeshua and the Soferim and P’rushim concerning the precise boundaries of table fellowship with tax collectors and the Am HaAretz. None present within the assembly regarded these reports as ammunition for standard sectarian controversy or polemical dispute. Rather, they approached them as Jewish scholars examining whether these accounts preserved an authentic expression of Torah that deserved careful consideration within the framework of halakhic practice and the maintenance of a kosher home. Ever since Yeshua’s remarkable appearance among the teachers in Yerushalayim during his youth, when he demonstrated an uncommon perception of the Torah’s inner intention and the mechanics of ritual purity, many within the scholarly community had quietly acknowledged that although he was young, his insight often illuminated questions that had long remained unresolved. Therefore, as was fitting for the pursuit of truth and the preservation of domestic sanctity, his words were invited into the discussion alongside the authoritative voices of the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.

The elder among the Soferim slowly traced his finger across the final verses of chapter twenty-two, his calloused hand pausing at the genealogical listings that conclude the section. Our Seder does not conclude with the dramatic binding of the Akedah, he began, his voice echoing softly against the stone walls of the chamber. Instead, immediately after Avraham’s supreme act of obedience on the mountain, the Torah records the generations of Nachor, establishing the lineage and the domestic framework that would sustain the covenantal family. Many readers pass over these names as though they were merely genealogical notices or historical footnotes, yet the Torah never preserves names without purpose, especially when they point to the establishment of families from which the matriarchs of Israel would emerge. Immediately afterward, the narrative proceeds directly into the account of the death of Sarah, Avraham’s intense period of mourning, and his meticulous legal negotiation for the purchase of the Cave of Machpelah. Therefore, the Torah intentionally binds together covenant, family, inheritance, death, and the concrete physical locations where the family resides and is buried. Another scholar nodded in agreement, shifting his weight as he adjusted the scroll before him. Indeed, he replied, the covenant is never merely a mystical reality or an abstract theological concept detached from the physical world. Every revelation of Heaven eventually descends into the ordinary, daily affairs of human life, finding its primary expression in the way a household is governed, how food is prepared, and how boundaries are maintained. The greatest spiritual triumph in the binding of Yitzhak is immediately followed by genealogy, mourning, legal negotiation, and the acquisition of land, proving that holiness must finally express itself through covenantal faithfulness within the physical home.

One of the younger P’rushim observed that this downward movement from the heights of revelation to the realities of the domestic sphere should not be overlooked when considering the reports concerning Yeshua’s controversial meals. Many critics ask only whether he ate with sinners, focusing entirely on the social identity of the participants, but perhaps the Torah requires us first to ask how a kosher home functions when covenantal boundaries encounter human weakness. Sarah dies, leaving the domestic sanctuary vulnerable, and Avraham must mourn while simultaneously negotiating with foreigners for a permanent inheritance among the children of Ḥet. Covenant appears not in isolation from the brokenness of the world but precisely within the context of establishing a secure, sanctified space amidst that brokenness. The older scholars exchanged thoughtful glances, recognizing that the core of the issue was not the compromise of dietary law, for the Master himself was completely above reproach and would never consume anything forbidden by the Torah, regardless of whose table he sat at. Rather, the question centered on how a kosher table can remain a fortress of purity while simultaneously acting as a beacon of restoration for those who have neglected their own domestic obligations. Such an observation did not excuse ritual impurity or minimize the complex laws of kashrut, yet it suggested that the Torah itself frequently revealed Divine faithfulness through the preservation of a holy home amidst human frailty rather than apart from it.

 

Part 2: The Prophetic Urgency and the Boundaries of Hospitality

The discussion then turned toward the opening words of Hoshea, where the tension between communal failure and domestic restoration is most acutely felt by the prophet. One of the sages carefully read aloud the prophet’s severe rebuke concerning Israel’s unfaithfulness, noting how the language of marital betrayal directly impacts the sanctity of the home, before continuing into the well-known appeal to return unto the Lord. He paused, allowing the weight of the prophetic indictment to settle over the room before continuing his exposition. Notice that the prophet does not merely condemn Israel or abandon them to their ritual alienation; judgment is announced, yet immediately afterward the prophet himself invites the nation to return to the covenantal embrace. The One who wounds is also the One who heals, and the One who strikes is the One who binds up, demonstrating that Divine justice and Divine mercy are not opposing attributes but expressions of the same covenantal desire to see the home restored. Another scholar leaned forward, his finger resting on the text of Hoshea. Then perhaps repentance cannot simply be defined as excluding negligent Israelites from the community until they become perfectly worthy on their own. Hoshea pictures the Holy One Himself initiating the restoration while the wound is still fresh, showing that the path back to a kosher life begins with an encounter with holiness itself.

The room became completely still as another teacher connected Hosea’s words with the narrative concerning Avraham’s domestic crisis in the wake of Sarah’s passing. When Sarah dies, Avraham does not withdraw from the covenant or abandon the structural integrity of his household simply because sorrow and death have entered his domain. Rather, he acts with absolute faithfulness within that sorrow, securing a permanent, legal possession for his family that ensures their separation from the surrounding Canaanite practices. Likewise, Hoshea does not deny Israel’s profound guilt, yet neither does he abandon Israel to its guilt, showing that the covenant always presses toward the restoration of the sanctified home. He then turned toward the reports concerning Yeshua, his voice dropping to a contemplative tone. If these accounts accurately preserve his teaching, perhaps his table fellowship must be interpreted through this covenantal movement of restoration rather than through isolated concerns of social contamination. Since the Master’s own adherence to the dietary laws of the Torah is absolute and beyond question, his presence at these tables must be understood as an extension of the Beit Midrash, bringing the standard of a kosher home into spaces that had lost their way.

A respected Sofer who had remained silent until now unfolded the account attributed to Mark, his eyes scanning the Hebrew letters with practiced precision. He read slowly, emphasizing every phrase to ensure the halakhic weight of the passage was felt by all. And when the Soferim of the P’rushim saw him eat with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners, they said to his talmidim, ‘How is it that he eats and drinks with tax-collectors and ignorant sinners?’ When Yeshua heard them, he said to them, ‘They who are strong have no need of a physician, but the ones who are ill. I did not come to call the righteous, but ignorant sinners to do Teshubah.’ He laid the manuscript aside without comment, letting the Master’s defense of his ministry echo through the chamber. Silence lingered until another sage finally spoke, unpacking the layers of the text. Observe carefully what is completely absent from this entire exchange; he does not declare sin acceptable, he does not abolish the necessity of repentance, and he certainly does not remove the covenant boundaries of a kosher table. Rather, his entire answer assumes the absolute necessity of Teshubah, shifting the disagreement from whether repentance is required to how the process of domestic restoration actually begins.

Part 3: The Halakhic Inquiry and the Physician of the Soul

The discussion deepened significantly when the account preserved by the school of Hakham Shaul within the Tosefta of Luke was examined alongside the Markan text. There, the question was framed with a distinct legal precision that immediately attracted the attention of the assembled scholars, as it noted that Levi ben Chalfai made a great feast in his own house, creating a specific domestic context for the encounter. The Soferim and P’rushim did not merely criticize the social gathering out of spite, but explicitly asked concerning the halakhic implications of sharing a meal with tax collectors and the Am HaAretz who might not maintain the same rigorous standards of kashrut. One elder smiled faintly, recognizing the familiar rhetoric of his peers. That is precisely how scholars speak within the walls of the Beit Midrash; they inquire concerning halakhic implications, proving this is not the language of enemies seeking blind condemnation, but of dedicated teachers attempting to establish proper conduct for the preservation of a holy community. The room warmed with renewed interest as the scholars began to see the text not as a narrative of rupture, but as an internal halakhic debate regarding the reach of the kosher table.

If that is so, another replied, then Yeshua’s answer itself must be treated as a rigorous halakhic response rather than merely an ethical proverb or a vague sermon on tolerance. The observation changed the direction of the entire discussion, shifting the focus from social ethics to the mechanics of covenantal purity. A physician enters the home of the sick not because he approves of the illness or wishes to contract the disease himself, but because the work of healing requires his deliberate presence. Likewise, if the Torah seeks the ultimate restoration of Israel’s households, then proximity ordered toward Teshubah cannot automatically be equated with participation in sin or the compromise of dietary integrity. The decisive question therefore becomes whether such fellowship preserves the strict integrity of the Torah’s dietary laws while simultaneously opening a path toward repentance for the host and the guests. The Master’s own plate remains uncompromised, for he eats only what is permitted, but his presence transforms the character of the meal itself.

The eldest among them returned once more to the text of B’resheet, drawing a parallel between the Master’s conduct and the behavior of the first patriarch. Consider Avraham purchasing the Cave of Machpelah from the children of Ḥet, who stood entirely outside his covenantal household and did not observe the laws of the Holy One. He conducts business among them, speaks with supreme dignity, integrity, and respect, yet his interaction with them does not dissolve his covenant identity or compromise the purity of his walk. Instead, his covenant identity governs every word he speaks and every transaction he makes, demonstrating that faithful engagement with those outside one’s immediate level of observance does not necessarily produce defilement. Everything depends upon the purpose, the conduct, and the unyielding commitment to the boundaries of the Torah. Several younger scholars immediately recognized the connection; if Avraham could interact lawfully among foreigners without abandoning holiness, perhaps the issue surrounding Yeshua could not simply be reduced to physical proximity, but rather required an examination of intention, purpose, and covenantal direction.

Part 4: The Sanctioned Boundary and the Radiance of the Sanctuary

One respected teacher finally turned toward Yeshua himself, who until now had listened without interruption, his calm demeanor reflecting the discipline of a lifetime steeped in the study of the law. There was no hostility in the room, only sincere expectation from men who loved the Torah and desired to understand its application to the broken walls of Israel’s homes. Rabbi, he asked gently, you spoke of a physician, and we know that every physician enters a house because healing is his explicit purpose. Yet the Torah commands Israel to guard holiness carefully and to make a clear distinction between the clean and the unclean, especially within the walls of the home. How then does one distinguish between compassionate presence that restores the covenant and a dangerous companionship that slowly dissolves the boundaries of a kosher household? Where, according to the inner intention of the Torah, is that boundary definitively found? The room grew silent once more as every scholar recognized that this question lay at the very heart of the entire Seder, for it united Avraham’s covenant, Hosea’s call to return, and the practical halakhah governing the daily life of every Jew.

Yeshua allowed the question to rest in the air for several moments before answering, his silence itself reflecting the discipline of the Beit Midrash, where haste rarely uncovered the deepest intentions of the law. When he finally spoke, his voice was measured, clear, and entirely without defensiveness. Our father Avraham, he began, was never commanded merely to separate himself from the nations in a manner that rendered him invisible or useless to the world. He was commanded to become a blessing among them while remaining wholly, absolutely devoted to the covenant, ensuring that his household was a model of righteousness. The covenant did not exist to produce absolute isolation, but rather sanctification, which separates Israel unto the service of the Holy One so that His righteousness may become visible within creation. Therefore, the question cannot be answered simply by asking who sits at the physical table, but rather by asking a deeper, more searching question: What governs the table? If the table is governed by the unchanging laws of the Torah, and the food consumed is entirely kosher, then the holiness of the home is not threatened, but magnified.

One of the senior P’rushim immediately drew the discussion toward the words of Yeshayahu, unrolling the scroll to highlight the comforting promises of the prophet. But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.’ Can a woman forget her nursing child? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. He allowed the words to settle before continuing through the prophet’s magnificent promises of domestic and national restoration. Throughout this section, Israel repeatedly believes herself permanently abandoned because of her transgressions, yet the Holy One repeatedly answers that His covenantal compassion has not ceased, and that He will rebuild their waste places. Restoration does not ignore sin, but neither does sin nullify the ultimate Divine purpose for the Jewish home, as the prophet continually moves from the reality of judgment toward the beauty of restoration.

Part 5: The Voice of David and the Halakhic Maskanah

A younger Sofer carefully joined Isaiah’s prophecy with Hosea’s appeal, showing how the Writings also support this vision of a sanctified, expansive holiness. Both prophets speak with the same voice, he observed, for Hoshea proclaims the human responsibility to return, while Yeshayahu reveals the Holy One declaring that He has engraved Zion upon the very palms of His hands. Repentance therefore is never merely a human decision arising from fear of punishment, but is first and foremost the response to the covenantal faithfulness of Heaven calling us back to a pure way of living. The Holy One seeks His people before they fully understand that they have been sought, providing the structural framework of the Torah to ensure that when they do return, they have a holy home to return to. An elder who had studied under many distinguished teachers leaned forward, his eyes bright with understanding. If this is so, he said, then perhaps we have misunderstood the metaphor of the physician. A physician does not simply appear when health has already been fully restored; his very presence announces the possibility of healing before the healing has completely occurred, acting as the catalyst for transformation.

Another scholar, however, wished to preserve the crucial balance required by halakhah, ensuring that this compassion did not degenerate into antinomian license. Yet we must proceed with the utmost caution, he warned, for compassion without halakhic discernment easily becomes accommodation to the spirit of compromise. The Torah has erected strict boundaries around the Israelite home for good reason, forbidding us from imitating the practices of the nations or embracing habits that corrupt the purity of our children. If we conclude merely that indiscriminate fellowship is always permitted without safeguards, we shall overthrow the very foundations of kashrut and domestic holiness given through the Torah. Yeshua acknowledged the validity of the concern with a respectful nod before offering his definitive clarification. Your caution is entirely righteous, he replied, for no physician becomes healthy by receiving the sickness of his patients, nor does he prescribe disease as though it were medicine. He enters the house because he himself remains entirely governed by the principles of health, completely immune to the corruption of the illness.

Likewise, one who enters among the Am HaAretz without remaining firmly established in the Torah will soon resemble those whom he hopes to restore, compromising his own home in the process. But if the Torah truly governs his heart, and his own commitment to dietary purity is absolute, then his presence becomes an instrument of restoration rather than corruption. The holiness of the Torah is never weakened by compassionate obedience; it is strengthened and validated in the eyes of all Israel. The eldest among them smiled, for the discussion had finally reached the underlying principle binding together the entire Seder. The issue had never truly been about the food itself, as long as the host keeps kosher and the table is maintained in absolute accordance with the law, for the Master would never taste of anything unpermitted. Rather, it concerned the very purpose of the covenant itself: was Israel called merely to preserve righteousness within a closed circle, or was she entrusted with extending the healing call of the Torah to those who had wandered far from its life? Every passage opened before them suggested the latter, confirming that the covenant of the Holy One always sought restoration before destruction, healing before abandonment, and Teshubah before judgment, while never relaxing a single letter of the holiness that makes such restoration possible.

 

Blessing After Torah Study

 

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

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

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

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

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

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

“Now unto Him who is able to preserve you faultless, and spotless, and

to establish you without a blemish,

 

Next Sabbath: “V’Abraham Zaqen” - “And Abraham was old”

3rd Sabbath of Consolation &

Shabbat Mevarchim

 

 

 

Contents of the Torah Seder

 

·         Rebekah – Genesis 24:1-41

·         Finding a wife for Isaac - Gen24:1-12

·         Eliezer’s criteria - Gen 24:13-17

·         Rebecca is equal to the test - Gen 24:18-27

·         Laban - Gen 24:29 – 33

·         The recapitulation – Gen 24:34 - 41

 

Reading Assignment:

 

The Torah Anthology: Yalkut Me’Am Lo’Ez – Vol 2 By: Rabbi Ya’aqob Culi Translated by Aryeh Kaplan Published by: Moznaim Publishing Corp. (New York, 1989) Vol. 2 – “Genesis”, pp. 378 - 414

Ramban: Commentary on the Torah Translated and Annotated by Rabbi Dr. Charles Chavel Published by Shilo Publishing House, Inc. (New York, 1971) “Genesis” pp. 290 - 302

 

 

Hakham Dr. Hillel ben David

Hakham Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

Edited by His Honor Paqid Adon Ezra ben Abraham

A special thank you to HH Giberet Giborah bat Sarah and Giberet Sarai bat Sarah for their diligence in proof-reading