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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.

 

 

 

Shabbat: “VaY’hi Ki Zaqen Yitschaq” – “And it was when Isaac was old”

& Shabbat Shuva

 

 

Contents of the Torah Seder

 

·        The Blessing of Isaac to his first born (Part I) – Genesis 27:1-27

·        Isaac’s decision to bless Esau – Genesis 27:1-4

·        Rebecca’s scheme – Genesis 27:5-17

·        Jacob comes to Isaac – Genesis 27:18-27

 

 

Reading Assignment:

 

 

 

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!

 

JPS & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Bereshit (Genesis) 27:1-27

 

JPS	Targum Pseudo Jonathan
1. And when Yitzchaq grew old his eyesight faded and he could not see. He called Esav, his elder son, and said to him, "My son." [Esav] said to him, "Here I am."	1. And it was when Izhak was old and his eyes were darkened from seeing, --because when his father was binding him he had seen the Throne of Glory, and from that time his eyes had begun to darken, --that he called Esau his elder son, on the fourteenth of Nisan, and said to him, My son, behold, this night they on high praise the LORD of the world, and the treasures of the dew are opened in it. And he said, Behold, I am.
2. [Yitzchaq] said, "Behold, if you please, I am old. I do not know the day of my death.	2. And he said, Behold, now I am old; I know not the day of my death:
3. Now [therefore] please take your equipment, your sword and your bow, and go out to the field and trap [deer] for me.	3. but now take your weapons, your quiver and your bow; and go forth into the field, and take me venison,
4. Make it into a tasty dish for me, the way I like it, and bring it to me that I may eat, so that my soul will bless you before I die.	4. and make me food such as I love, and bring to me, and I will eat, that my soul may bless you before I die.
5. Rivkah had [over]heard what Yitzchaq said to his son, Esav. Esav went out to the field to trap [deer] to bring it [home.]	5. And Rivkah heard by the Holy Spirit as Izhak spoke with Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to take venison to bring it.
6. Rivkah said to her son Ya’aqob, saying, "Behold, I heard your father speaking to your brother Esav, saying,	6. And Rivkah spoke to Jakob her son, saying, Behold, this night those on high praise the LORD of the world, and the treasures of the dew are opened in it; and I have heard your father speaking with Esau your brother, saying,
7. 'Bring back [deer] for me and make it into a tasty dish and I will eat. I will then bless you in the presence of Adonai before I die.'	7. Bring me venison, and make me food, and I will bless you in the presence of the LORD before I die.
8. Now my son, listen to me, concerning that which I command you.	8. And now my son receive from me what I command you:
9. Go, please, to the sheep and take for me from there two choice young goats, and I will make [from] them a tasty dish for your father as he likes.	9. Go now to the house of the flock, and take me from thence two fat kids of the goats; one for the pascha, and one for the oblation of the feast; and I will make of them food for your father such as he loves.
10. You will [then] bring it to your father to eat, in order that he will bless you before he dies.	10. And you will carry to your father, and he will eat, that he may bless you before his death.
11. Ya’aqob said to Rivkah, his mother, "Behold, Esav, my brother is a hairy person and I am a smooth-skinned person.	11. And because Jakob was afraid to sin, fearing lest his father might curse him, he said, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.
12. Suppose my father touches me. I will be in his eyes as an impostor. I will bring upon myself a curse---not a blessing."	12. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I will be in his eyes like one who derides him, and bring upon me a curse and not a blessing.
13. His mother said to him, "Your curse will be upon me, my son; but listen to me. Go bring them to me."	13. And she said, If with blessings he bless you, they will be upon you and upon your sons; and if with curses he should curse you, they will be upon me and upon my soul: therefore receive from me, and go and take for me.
14. He went, took [them], and brought [them] to his mother. His mother made a tasty dish as his father liked.	14. And he went and took, and brought to his mother; and his mother made food such as his father loved.
15. Rivkah took the garments of Esav, her elder son, [the garments] that were precious [to him] that were in her keeping in the house, and put them on Ya’aqob, her younger son.	15. And Rivkah took the pleasant vestments of Esau her elder son which had formerly been Adam's; but which that day Esau had not worn, but they remained with her in the house, and (with them) she dressed Jakob her younger son.
16. The skins of the young goats she placed on his hands and the smooth part of his neck.	16. And the skins of the kids she laid upon his hands and the smooth parts of his neck.
17. She placed the tasty dish and the bread which she had made, in the hand of Ya’aqob, her son.	17. And the food and the bread she had made she set in the hand of Jakob her son.
18. He came to his father and said, "My father." [Yitzchaq] said, "Here I am. Who are you my son?"	18. And he entered unto his father, and said, My father. And he said, Behold me: who art you, my son?
19. Ya’aqob said to his father, "It is I, Esav your firstborn. I have done as you told me. Rise, if you please, sit up and eat of my trapping so that your soul will bless me."	19. And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau your firstborn: I have done as you spoke with me. Arise now, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me.
20. Yitzchaq said to his son, "How is it that you found it so quickly my son?" He [Ya’aqob] said, "Because Adonai, your GOD, brought it about for me."	20. And Izhak said to his son, What is this that you have found so soon, my son? And he said, Because the LORD your GOD had prepared it before me.
21. Yitzchaq said to Ya’aqob, "Come close, if you please, and let me touch you, my son. Are you my son Esav or not?"	21. And Izhak said to Jakob, Come near now, and I will feel you, my son, whether you be my son Esau or not.
22. Ya’aqob came close to Yitzchaq, his father, and he [Yitzchaq] touched him. He said, "The voice is the voice of Ya’aqob, but the hands are the hands of Esav."	22. And Jakob drew near to Izhak his father, who touched him, and said, This voice is the voice of Jakob, nevertheless the feeling of the hands is as the feeling of the hands of Esau.
23. He [Yitzchaq] did not recognize him because his hands were like those of Esav, his brother--- they were hairy--- and [thus] he blessed him.	23. But he recognised him not, because his hands were hairy as the hands of Esau his brother, and he blessed him.
24. He said, "Are you indeed my son, Esav?" [Ya’aqob] said, "I am."	24. And he said, But are you my son Esau? And he said, I am.
25. He said, "Bring it close to me and I will eat from my son's trappings, so that my soul will bless you." He brought it close to him and he ate. He [then] brought him wine and he drank.	25. And he said, Draw near, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he approached him, and he ate; and he had no wine; but an angel prepared it for him, from the wine which had been kept in its grapes from the days of the beginning of the world; and he gave it into Jakob's hand, and Jakob brought it to his father, and he drank.
26. His father Yitzchaq said to him, "Come close to me and kiss me, my son."	26. And Izhak his father said, Draw near now, and kiss me, my son;
27. He came close and kissed him. He [Yitzchaq] smelled the fragrance of his garments, and he blessed him. He said, "See, my son's fragrance is like the fragrance of a field blessed by Adonai.	27. and Jakob drew near and kissed him. And he smelled the smell of his vestments, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of the fragrant incense which is to be offered on the mountain of the house of the sanctuary, which will be called a field which the LORD has blessed, and that He has chosen, that therein His Shekinah might dwell.

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Bereshit (Genesis) 27:1-27

 

1 were too dim Because of the smoke of these [wives of Esau] (who would burn [incense] to the idols) (Tanchuma, Toledoth 8; Pesiktha Rabbathi 12). Another explanation: When Isaac was bound on the altar, and his father was about to slaughter him, the heavens opened, and the ministering angels saw and wept, and their tears fell upon Isaac’s eyes. As a result, his eyes became dim (Gen. Rabbah 65:6). A third explanation: to enable Jacob to take the blessings (Gen. Rabbah 65:8).

 

2 I do not know the day of my death Rabbi Joshua ben Korchah said: If a person reaches the age of [the death of] his parents, he should worry five years beforehand and five years afterwards, and Isaac was one hundred and twenty-three years old. He said, “Perhaps I will reach the age of [the death of] my mother, and she died at one hundred and twenty-seven, and I am thus within five years of her age; therefore, “I do not know the day of my death,”—perhaps [I will die] at my mother’s age and perhaps at my father’s age. [From Gen. Rabbah 65: 121]

 

3 your sword Heb. תֶּלְיְךָ, your sword.

 

So, now, sharpen - שָׂא-נָא an expression of sharpening, as we learned in the Mishnah (Beizah 28a): “We may not sharpen a knife [on a whet-stone] but we may sharpen it (מַשִּׂיאָה) against another one [on Yom-Tov].” [Isaac said]: “Sharpen your knife and slaughter properly, lest you feed me neveila” [an animal not slaughtered according to ritual law] (Gen. Rabbah 65: 13).

 

and hunt for me from ownerless [game], and not from stolen [animals]. [Gen. Rabbah 65:13]

 

5 to hunt game, to bring What is the meaning of “to bring”? If he would not find game, he intended to bring [meat] from stolen [animals]. -[from Gen. Rabbah 65:13]

 

7 before the LORD with His consent, that He will approve of what I do.

 

9 and take for me [לִי indicates that] they are mine, and they are not stolen, because so had Isaac written for her in her marriage contract, that she might take two kids every day (Gen. Rabbah 65:14).

 

two choice kids Now did Isaac’s menu consist of two kids? But [the explanation is that] he sacrificed one as a Paschal offering, and one he made into tasty foods. [This is found] in Pirkei d’Rabbi Eliezer (ch. 32).

 

as he likes for the taste of a kid is like the taste of a deer.

 

11 a hairy man Heb. אִישׁ שָׂעִר, one possessing hair.

 

12 will touch me Heb. יְמֻשֵּׁנִי similar to (Deut. 28:29): “feeling (מְמַשֵּׁשׁ) at noon.”

 

15 the costly הַחֲמֻדֹת [means] the clean ones, as the Targum renders it. Another explanation: The ones [garments] that he had coveted from Nimrod. [From Gen. Rabbah 65:16]

 

which were with her in the house But He [Esau] had many wives, [with whom to entrust his garments] and yet he entrusted them [his garments] with his mother?! He was well aware of their deeds, and he was suspicious of them. [From Gen. Rabbah 65:16]

 

19 I am... Esau...your firstborn [He meant]: I am the one who is bringing you [food] and Esau is your firstborn. [From Tanchuma Buber]

 

I have done many things, as you have spoken to me.

 

sit down Heb. שְׁבָה, an expression of sitting around the table [at a meal].

 

21 Please come closer, so that I may feel you Isaac said to himself, “Esau does not usually mention the name of Heaven with frequency, but this one said: ‘Because the LORD your GOD prepared it....’” [from Gen. Rabbah 65:19]

 

22 the voice of Jacob who speaks entreatingly: “Please rise,” but Esau spoke harshly, “Let my father arise!” [From Tanchuma Buber, Toledoth 15]

 

24 And he said, “I am.” He did not say, “I am Esau,” but “I am.” [From Num. Rabbah 10:6]

 

27 and he smelled, etc. Is it not so that there is no odor more offensive than that of washed goat skins? But this teaches us that the fragrance of the Garden of Eden entered with him. [From Tanchuma Buber 16]

 

is like the fragrance of a field, which the LORD has blessed for He gave it a pleasant fragrance, and this is a field of apples. So did our Sages explain it. [From Ta’anith 29b]

 

Ketubim:  Tehillim (Psalms) 22:23-32

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Tehillim (Psalms) 22:23-32

 

23 I will tell Your name to my brothers when any of my assemblies gathers, and so I will say to them, “You who fear the Lord, praise Him.” This refers to the proselytes, and “all the seed of Jacob.”

 

24 and fear Heb. וגורו , an expression of fear.

 

25 the cry of the poor Every [expression of] עניה in Scripture is an expression of a cry. ענות can also be interpreted as an expression of humility, as (in Exod. 10:3): “to humble yourself (לענת) ,” because he (the poor man) humbles himself and prays before You.

 

27 The humble shall eat at the time of our redemption in the days of our Messiah.

 

your hearts shall live forever I will say all this before them.

 

28 shall remember and return to the Lord The nations shall remember the evil that befell us when they see the good and return to the Lord.

 

29 For the kingship is the Lord’s For they will see that the kingship and the rule has returned to You.

 

30 They shall eat all the best of the earth and prostrate themselves Lit. they shall eat and prostrate themselves all the best of the earth. This is a transposed verse. The humble shall eat all the best of the earth and prostrate themselves to the Lord with praise and thanksgiving for the good. דשני means the good, the fat of the earth. [People at] all the ends of the earth will see all this and return to the Lord.

 

before Him shall...kneel Then all the dead of nations [will kneel] from Gehinnom but He will not have mercy upon them to revive their souls from Gehinnom.

 

his soul [The soul] of each one.

 

He will not quicken Lit. He did not quicken. Our Sages (Mid. Ps. 22:32) derived from this verse that the dead, before their death, at the time their soul is taken, see the countenance of the Shechinah.

 

31 The seed that worships Him The seed of Israel, who constantly worship Him.

 

it shall be told to the generation concerning the Lord Transpose the verse and explain it thus: It shall be told to the last generation in the name of the Lord and in His praise what He did for that seed.

 

32 They shall come The first ones shall come and tell His righteousness to the newborn people, for He performed righteous deeds for them.

 

Meditation from the Psalms

Tehillim (Psalms) ‎22:23-32

By: Hakham Dr. Hillel ben David

 

For the sake of continuity, I am going to repeat my introduction from the first part of this psalm.

 

Psalms chapter 22 although entitled, ‘A song of David’ primarily deals with events which were destined to occur hundreds of years after David’s time. David, with his ‘holy spirit’ foresaw the bleak Babylonian and Persian exiles in general, and in particular, the terrible threat of Haman and Achashverosh against the entire Jewish nation, personified by Queen Esther. Although there are countless events in Jewish history which David does not discuss in the Book of Psalms, Alshich explains that David dedicated a Psalm to Esther because he personally had a hand in the salvation of Israel in her days. When David fled from Absalom, Shimi ben Gera of the tribe of Benjamin went out to viciously curse David. Yet, David would not allow his men to kill Shimi although he deserved death for blaspheming the king.^[1] The Talmud^[2] says that David foresaw that Mordecai [and Esther] was destined to descend from Shimi [‘Mordecai, son of Yair, son of Shimi’^[3]] and being that the salvation of Israel was at stake, David forfeited his own dignity for the sake of saving his people.

 

Therefore, David was inspired to compose a psalm in honor of the Purim miracle, for without him it could not have come to pass. It was the custom of the Vilna Gaon to recite this psalm as the שיר של יום, ‘the song for the day’ on the day of Purim.^[4]

 

The prologue to Purim is Shabbat Zachor where we are admonished to ‘remember’ Amalek and ‘don’t forget’ what Amalek did to us. This memory is to be retained in our consciousness for all generations. How are we to accomplish this? This chapter of Psalms contains the clue to help us answer this question.

 

Our section of Psalms chapter 22 contains one word, זֶרַע - seed, that is repeated multiple times. Now, we know that when HaShem, through King David, causes a word to be repeated, that word takes on additional importance. Because of this, I would like to examine this word. The word is first found, and repeated, in:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 22:24 Ye that fear HaShem, praise Him; all ye the seed (זֶרַע) of Jacob, glorify Him;
and stand in awe of Him, all ye the seed (זֶרַע) of Israel.

 

What is a seed?

 

The dictionary gives us the following definition:  A flowering plant’s unit of reproduction, capable of developing into another such plant. While this definition is certainly accurate, it does not help us to understand our pasuk because Jacob is not a flower, at least in the literal sense.

 

Narrowly defined, “seed of Israel” is a halakhic term that applies to anyone either born to a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father, or having at least one Jewish grandparent.^[5] A Jew, according to halakha, is anyone born to a Jewish mother.^[6]

 

Chazal teach us that seed is merely a small package which contain the memories of the creation that created the seed. This means that if a man can properly control his thoughts when he launches his seed, then he can greatly improve the child he is conceiving! This is not an easy thing, but it is much easier than trying to fix up the child after he is born! Seed is compressed memories.

 

Let me say that again:

 

Seed is compressed memories: Seed encapsulate the notion of the spiritual becoming just barely physical. The sperm (seed) are just an infinitesimal speck of physicality. They have just enough form and shape to exist in the physical world, and no more.

 

Why does the Tanach use the word ‘seed’? Why not say ‘descendants’? These are some of the questions that we need to answer if we are to learn what HaShem has in mind in this pasuk.

 

To examine this word ‘seed – זֶרַע’, let’s turn our thoughts back to the beginning…

 

The story of Adam begins in the “field” where Adam HaRishon was formed. HaShem then brought Adam HaRishon into Garden of Eden where:

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 2:8-9 And HaShem G-d planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground made HaShem G-d to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

 

This garden contained every tree which was good for food. Adam HaRishon also came from the ground, as it is said:

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 2:7 And HaShem G-d formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

 

“Out of the ground” HaShem made the trees to grow and “out of the ground” He formed Adam HaRishon. We are all the offspring of Adam HaRishon, so we all share in his work:

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 2:15 And HaShem G-d took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

 

The “Man from the ground” (Adam) was to tend and dress the “Trees from the ground”. Like the trees, Adam is a seed in the hand of The Sower. Indeed, The offspring of both the tree and Adam are called “seed” in the Torah.

 

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 55:10   For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 22:24 ’Ye that fear HaShem, praise Him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify Him; and stand in awe of Him, all ye the seed of Israel.

 

II Corinthians 9:10 Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for  [your] food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness;)

 

Now Adam was to bring forth food from the earth, but he was to be nourished by The Word of G-d:

 

Debarim (Deuteronomy) 8:3 And He afflicted thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every thing that proceedeth out of the mouth of HaShem doth man live.

 

Matityahu (Matthew) 4:4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of G-d.

 

Adam was a man from the ground, and HaShem desires that the ones from the ground should bear fruit. This becomes plain when we examine the first use of the word זֶרַע - seed.

 

Bereshit (Genesis) 1:11 And God said: ‘Let the earth put forth grass, herb yielding seed, and fruit-tree bearing fruit after its kind, wherein is the seed thereof, upon the earth.’ And it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, herb yielding seed after its kind, and tree bearing fruit, wherein is the seed thereof, after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

 

Seed in ALWAYS found in fruit. In some cases, like wheat, the seed is the fruit. The seed in fruit ALWAYS replicates the fruit that bore it.

 

Adam was “placed” in the garden of Eden by HaShem, the most fertile and productive place on earth, that he might bring forth much fruit.^[7] There, HaShem was going to sow in Man the seed of His mitzvot (His instruction) and wait for that seed to be accepted, kept, and made to flourish and bear fruit in the end, to His glory. For when G-d created the grass, plants and fruit bearing trees we are told that He placed their “seed... upon the ground”. Therefore, it is written: The Lord G-d commanded upon the Man as one would place a “seed upon the ground”.^[8] Thus, was Adam commanded not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

 

Through the keeping of the mitzvot, Adam was to bring forth fruit, bearing seed, like the trees were to bring forth fruit, bearing seed. We are, therefore, meant to be trees of righteousness which bring forth fruit bearing seed:

 

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 6:13 But yet in it [shall be] a tenth, and [it] shall return, and shall be eaten: as a terebinth tree, and as an oak, whose substance [is] in them, when they cast [their leaves: so] the holy seed [shall be] the substance thereof.

 

The following table compares the formation of a seed to the formation of a human:

 

 

The male seed brings the multi-potential spiritual into the physical. The multi-potential spiritual is manifest in the physical with millions of possibilities. Thus, the male aspect, of anything, consists of millions of possibilities, all of which have only potential form in the physical world. In the physical world this is manifested by millions of sperm (seed). The power to bring down any type of spiritual potential into physical reality, is described by the Torah as male. Seed encapsulates the notion of the spiritual becoming just barely physical.

 

The female selects one of the millions of potential possibilities and builds it into the reality of one form in the physical world. Thus, the female aspect, of anything, consists of the selecting and building one final, real, form in the physical world. The form is complete with all of its details. This is manifested in the physical world by the one female egg. The power to build any type of potential, in its minimalist physical form, into reality, is described by the Torah as female.

 

The male and female aspects are manifest in many things. We see it in human beings at it’s most tangible and understandable form, a baby. We also see these two aspects in the building of a building – blueprint and physical building. Finally, we see it in the Hebrew alefbet which was used to build this world.^[9] Thus we understand that male and female are the two roles that HaShem uses to build this world.

 

In human beings:

 

In the interaction between an Ish - אּישׁ, a noble man, and an Ishah - אשה, a noble woman, we see two completely different, and complementary, views:

 

 

The interaction of the male and the female in Marriage is a pretty bizarre concept. It must have been HaShem’s idea. Who else could think of such an odd plan to bring together two opposites and unite them under one roof to share and create a life, a baby, wherein HaShem dwells? This body is the pattern for the Temple!

 

An Ish (a noble man), in an ecstatic moment, takes a multi-potential soul and brings it into the physical in the form of millions of multi-potential sperm (seed). The sperm (seed) are just an infinitesimal speck of physicality. They have just enough form and shape to exist in the physical world, and no more.

 

The ecstatic moment takes all of the memories of the Ish (the noble man), plus the soul given by HaShem, and in a moment of time, brings them from the intangible spiritual world, and gives them the most imperceptible form in the physical world. An Ish, a noble man, gives.

 

An Ishah (a noble woman) takes the multi-potential, infinitesimal speck of physicality, which was given to her, and selects just one sperm (seed) and rejects all others. She takes that one sperm and nurtures and cherishes it for a long time, a total of forty weeks. She carefully fans the spark of her husband. She builds it step by step into a complete human being, the perfect fusion of the spiritual and the physical. The birth of her child is the ecstatic moment for the Ishah.

 

The Ishah can not reach into the spiritual world, but, she excels at taking the barely perceptible and patiently building it into reality in the physical world. An Ishah, a noble woman, receives and builds.

 

In the physical realm, the man earns the income (money is inherently spiritual) and provides the woman with the raw materials from which she feeds and clothes her family. This explains why women enjoy shopping and transforming the spiritual (money) into the physical (goods and services). So, too, in the spiritual realm, the man learns Torah, deriving the truths. He transmits these abstract truths to his wife who applies them to build into the home and into the children.

 

Beginnings, in Torah, are very potent. For example, the moment of conception of a human being is a time when both the male and the female chromosomes divide in half. The remaining halves then unite to form a new being. The genes that were laid down at this moment are the descriptors that will define this person for the rest of his life. Not only do they describe his physical components like the color of his eyes and hair, but they also define his temperament and his likes and dislikes. In fact, Chazal teach that that moment also gives the memories of the father to his progeny. In some way, the child knows about the father. While the beginning has occurred in secret, never the less, its potency is great as it contains everything in a compressed form.

 

These male and female ideas affect even our mind. It is the bonding of inner (daat^[11]) and outer wisdom (logic and reason) and their harmony which is the beauty of the mind; that inner marriage which is the core of our being. When the two bond correctly, the outer wisdom remaining under control, subjecting its input to the grasp of the daat, and the daat understanding all of the outer wisdom appropriately, then thought is fruitful. Only when the male and female elements of thought blend can fertile, creative thought-energy be generated. This is the secret of the bar-mitzva: the child acquires daat when his body reaches puberty and becomes fertile.

 

Daat, knowledge, leads to emunah, to faithfulness.

 

Emunah has a dual meaning. Etymologically, it is related to the word meaning to train or accustom oneself, and also to the word for power and strength. This definition is very misleading! The basis of Emunah is knowledge! We start with knowledge and then when we are faithfully obedient to that knowledge, we have emunah, we have faithful obedience. Emunah is our faithful obedience to a knowledge. Something you connect to so thoroughly that you would give your life for it. Emunah must be the same as the knowledge that you exist. After this is acquired, then one must be faithfully obedient to that knowledge despite the influence of the lower self. The pinnacle of Emunah is to connect with knowledge so thoroughly that you can experience its future pleasures, now. Emunah is a zeraim, a seed. Just as you know, without any doubt, that a seed will produce a plant with fruit, if it is properly cared for, so emunah is something you know. It is something that is certain.

 

 The blindness of emunah is that you don’t have the end result now, even though you know what the end result will be.

 

Our Sages teach that a person is a seed. A seed has two possible uses:

 

1. Seed can be eaten as food immediately. Wheat is such a seed. A person without emunah will eat the seed now.  A person without emunah is literally eating himself. In the world to come there will be nothing left.

 

2.  Seed can be planted so that it will yield fruit forever, while still enabling a man to enjoy its fruit. A pomegranate is such a fruit. In order to yield fruit, it must be planted. A person with emunah will plant the seed. A person with emunah will plant himself and undergo decay in order that he will yield fruit, which yields seeds, which yields fruit … for all eternity.

 

The seed contains everything, but, it is hidden in the darkness. Emunah is the seed of the next world. If you water and fertilize it correctly, it will disintegrate and only after the disintegration will it begin to sprout and produce more seeds into infinity of fruit production. A seed yields its fruit in the darkness and only with the tremendous faithful obedience to a multitude of tasks by the one who planted it.

 

Seed sprouts in darkness and the genesis of the next generation begins in secrecy. According to Jewish law, sexual intercourse takes place at night, in total secrecy, just as a seed of wheat sprouts underground, in total darkness and in total secrecy. No one knows when the seed began to sprout.

 

The phase of rational knowledge. It is called “daytime”. During this phase we focus on the outward things because they are the focus.

 

The phase of blindness is called “night time”. This is related to the concept of night, the time when we can not see. To experience night as it really is, without artificial light, is to experience what emunah really is. During this phase we focus on the inward things because they are the only things we can see with clarity. The blindness of emunah is the blindness of planting a seed. You “know” that a seed can produce much fruit and many more seeds, with an enormous amount of work, when it is planted. We start with knowledge! It is NOT the idea that I can plant something, anything, and blindly hope that it will produce. Emunah is knowing that a seed will produce!

 

Before we can have emunah, we need to have knowledge. Before we can have knowledge, we must have a place for the knowledge. This place is the possibility that something may be true, it is a doubt. This possibility is enough to start basing our life on this possibility.

 

Emunah in HaShem is something that must find expression in action. This idea is also repeated in the Nazarean Codicil:

 

Yaakov (James) 2:17 Even so emunah, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

 

The Torah tells us^[12] that when Israel was attacked by Amalek, Moshe raised his hands toward heaven, and, when he did so, Israel was able to overcome its enemy. The Mishna, in Rosh Hashanah, explains that Moshe’s uplifted hands directed the people’s attention to HaShem, and their emunah helped bring them victory in battle.

 

Rosh HaShana 29a Mishna. [It is written] and it came to pass, when moses held up his hand that israel prevailed, etc.^[13] now did the hands of moses wage war or crush the enemy?^[14] not so; only the text signifies that so long as Israel turned their thoughts above and subjected their hearts to their father in heaven they prevailed, but otherwise they fell. The same lesson may be taught thus. [it is written], make thee a fiery serpent and set it up on a pole, and it shall come to pass that everyone that is bitten, when he seeth it, shall live.^[15] now did the serpent kill or did the serpent keep a live? No; [what it indicates is that] when Israel turned their thoughts above and subjected their hearts to their father in heaven, they were healed, but otherwise they pined away.^[16]

 

In describing Moshe’s action, the Torah says, “Vayehi yadav emunah - וַיְהִי יָדָיו אֱמוּנָה”, and his hands were ‘emunah’, faithful. This means that emunah is something that must be concretized through one’s hands, through action. One must express his emunah through the outward actions of his hands. The Talmud, in Shabbat, refers to the mishnaic order of Zeraim as ‘Emunah’ and the commentary of Tosafot explains that this is because the act of planting seeds, with the hope that they will ultimately yield a crop, entails a certain degree of emunah.

 

Shemot (Exodus) 17:12  But Moses’ hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady (emunah) until the going down of the sun.

 

Wow! Moshe hands had emunah! We surely can not say that the hands had faith, rather we must say that they were faithfully obedient.

 

The Talmudic volume about agriculture, usually known as Seder Zeraim (“The Order of Seeds”), has another name: Seder Emunah, (“The Order of Faith”). Think about it, farmers plant seeds in a dark, damp place, where they begin to decay; believing all along that there will be fruit after they water, fertilize, weed, train, and protect from insects and other pests. Thus, we learn that the one who plants has emunah (faithful obedience to the tasks at hand) that the order of the world will continue, and his seeds will grow and yield fruit.

 

The Gemara, in Tractate Shabbat,  based on a verse in the Prophets, tells us that the section of Zeraim is referred to as emunah (faithful obedience).  This is because regardless of the quality of the soil, the seeds, and the farmer’s labor, if the rains of blessing and other elements, which are necessary for the growth of the crop, do not happen, there is no harvest.  The farmer, understanding his inadequacy and dependency on the natural order, is therefore compelled to have belief in HaShem. This is the “blind” aspect of faithfulness.

 

Shabbath 31a Resh Lakish said, What is meant by the verse, and there shall be faith in thy times, strength, salvation, wisdom and knowledge?^[17] ‘Faith’ refers to the Order of Seeds; thy times, the Order of Festivals; strength, the Order of Women; salvation, the Order of Nezikin; wisdom, the Order of Sacrifices; and knowledge, to the Order of Purity.^[18] Yet even so the fear of the Lord is his treasure.^[19]

 

This study is designed to give us knowledge, daat, so that we can begin to be faithfully obedient, emunah.

 

“One of the aspects of the Mashiach’s advent is that His impossible coming from an impossible place will be transformed into the best possible scenario when it is finally understood. Thus, the impossible will not only become the possible, but it will become the most obvious pathway. The advent of Mashiach will be so unexpected that it could not possibly be predicted.”[20]

 

This pathway is revealed in many regards:  Mashiach is always referred to as a Tzemach, a plant.

 

Zechariah 6:12 and speak unto him, saying: Thus speaketh HaShem of hosts, saying: Behold, a man whose name is the Shoot (tzemach), and who shall shoot (tzemach) up out of his place, and build the temple of HaShem;

 

The aspect of “Tzemach” that is emphasized is that it often remains underground, out of sight, for long periods of time, before rising to the surface, as has Mashiach remained hidden until he will come to the fore. RADAK and Ibn Ezra note that the “gematria”, the Hebrew letter sum of numerical equivalents of the word “Tzemach” is the same as that of “Menachem”, a name of the Mashiach. The Targum says outright that the meaning of the term is the “Mashiach”.

 

Targum Pseudo Yonatan Zecharyah (Zechariah) 6:12 And you will speak to him, saying, ‘Thus speaks HaShem of hosts, saying, Behold, the man whose name is Anointed will be revealed, and he will be raised up, and will build the temple of HaShem.

 

We speak in our prayers, of the messianic era, in a way that is the way of plants: To break forth (from the ground). A seed is the picture of something unexpected. Until a seed is detached from the living plant, detached from its source of life, it can do nothing. Until it is utterly cut off and alone, it can be nothing more than a speck. Until the seed then goes into a hidden place and rots, it can never sprout. This rotting, this disintegration, is the last thing that you would expect from something that is about to yield new life. And just when it seems that all is lost, a new plant bursts through the ground! Consider the following messianic pasukim as an illustration of Mashiach, the plant:

 

Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 11:10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.

 

Romans 15:12 And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust.

 

Zechariah 3:8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.

 

Zechariah 6:12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh HaShem of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the HaShem:

 

Yochanan (John) 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.

 

Yochanan (John) 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

 

We see this same kind of unexpected result when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. The lowly, earth dwelling, ugly worm-like caterpillar spins a cocoon and completely disintegrates before reforming as a butterfly. This butterfly is light, ethereal, beautiful, and dwells in the heavens, just the opposite of the caterpillar. This same process happens when a person dies and is resurrected. We must learn to know, and understand, the unexpected process of disintegration which will produce the Mashiach. We must learn to see the hidden flower of Mashiach.

 

Folks often wonder how the Mashiach can come to our lowly and undeserving generation. Yet, from the illustration of a seed, we can see that this is exactly the time when the Mashiach must come!

 

The seed of Mashiach will always be found in a hidden place, in the same way that a seed is planted in the ground which is a hidden place. It sprouts in a place which is so dark and seemingly impure, that it could not possibly be so, and yet it is.

 

If we were to attempt to identify the father and mother of the Mashiach in our generation, where would we look? Would we not look to our Jewish Sages and leaders? Would we not expect the Mashiach to come from a great and worthy family? The reason we look to greatness to find the Mashiach is because we know that “an apple never falls very far from the tree”. A son always resembles his parents. Since we know that the Mashiach is a towering personality of such incredible purity, then we would expect His parents to be great and pure.

 

What we find, however, is that the messianic seed is always found in circumstances which seem impure, and from parents that seem to be acting in a very lowly manner. As we study, we will find out that appearances can be very deceiving. What looks like sin and impurity turns out to be the most immense mitzva that only the greatest of folks can achieve. We will see that the messianic line has such great people that they have the ability to do a sin “for the sake of heaven”, and thereby change that sin into a mitzva.^[21]

 

Tehillim (Psalms) 22:31 By the seed who will worship him; it shall be told of the Lord unto the next generation.

 

Why did King David use the word ‘seed’? Because only those who are willing to be put in any environment and are willing to die in order to bring life, only those can truly worship and serve. These are the ones who will be resurrected and become ethereal. Only these will delight in HaShem and have pleasure for evermore.

 

Ashlamatah: Shmuel alef (1 Samuel) 4:15 – 5:1 + 6:14

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary on Shmuel alef (1 Samuel) 4:15 – 5:1 + 6:14

 

18 and his neck (Heb. ‘mafrakto’) ‘targum mafrakuthei’ the bone of the neck.

 

19 was with child, ready to give birth (Heb. ‘lolath.’) We are compelled (to agree) that the meaning of this word, is ‘to give birth,’ like ‘laledeth,’ although (the daleth is missing), and there is no similar form (in the Scriptures). Menahem, (however,) joined this (with other verb forms) in the section dealing with the word, ‘yelalah,’ wailing, because her birth pangs came upon her with wailing. The root of the word ‘yelalah,’ is the ‘lamed’ alone.

 

had suddenly come upon her They were unnatural, and that is why she died.

 

her pains (translation follows Metzudat Zion. Rashi, however, explains it as ‘hinges’;) i.e., the hinges of the doors of her womb, in French, charniere. 

 

21 Ichabod There is no glory, like ‘ein kabod.’ Similarly (Job 22:30), He will save ‘i naki’ one who is not innocent, like ‘ein naki.’

 

because the Ark of GOD has been taken (Lit., to the being taken of the Ark of GOD.) Like “because of the being taken of the Ark of GOD,” but it is unnecessary to remove it from the expression of ‘to’ for the one who understands its meaning.

 

because the Ark of GOD was taken In French, “envers l’etre pris,” (concerning the being taken).

 

and because of her father-in-law and because of this misfortune that her father-in- law and husband had perished.

 

Chapter 5

2 the house of Dagon An idol made in the likeness of a fish. 

 

Commentary on the Ashlamatah of Shmuel alef (1 Samuel) 4:15 – 5:1 + 6:14

By: H.Ex. Adon Shlomoh Ben Abraham

 

Our chapter begins with the Philistines and the soldiers of Israel going to war. The first skirmish: Israel lost four thousand men on the battlefield. When the elders of Israel heard of it, they caused the ark of the covenant of God to be taken out of Shiloh and sent into battle. Samuel told them to go (v.1), and by (v.3) the elders questioned why God caused this routing defeat.[22]  They soon reasoned that if they took the Ark of the Covenant into battle, they would receive divine protection, so the army was sent to Shiloh to get the ark. (v.4) The Israelites were soon defeated again, and in this second defeat, they lost 30,000 men in battle. Soon someone, a Benjaminite, returned to the city with the news. This was not the first time the ark had been taken to battle[23] As it seems, it was a recurring event in the spring of the year when they went to battle. Although another opinion said the ark was not taken every spring, only occasionally. We have examples of when they came into the land, in the siege of Jericho under Joshua, where the Ark and the priest went before or were at the battlefield.[24] So, what was different this time?

 

What the text actually describes is this: Israel suffers an initial defeat, and then the elders make an ad hoc, reactive decision to bring the Ark from Shiloh — specifically because they had just lost. After the first defeat, the elders ask: "Why did the LORD put us to rout today before the Philistines? Let us fetch the Ark of the Covenant of the LORD from Shiloh; thus, He will be present among us and will deliver us from the hands of our enemies." Even the Philistines treat this as unprecedented: "Woe to us! Nothing like this has ever happened before." (I Sam. 4: 3-7)

 

The rabbis focus on the theological failure: Israel treated the Ark as a magical object rather than responding to God in genuine repentance. There is even the question of maybe a second ark that went into battle and the one that stayed in the Tent, the tabernacle at Shiloh. Something was different here, and the rabbis discussed the idea of one ark versus two.[25] Ramban analyzes the question and the issue in his commentary on Deuteronomy 10:1. It seems there was only one Ark, and if so, it would lead us to understand the Israelites treated the Ark as a magical object rather than responding to God in genuine repentance. Much as they did later with the Temple and not living clean, dedicated lives serving HaShem in repentance. “The words of the elders in our story show that the people were influenced by the current beliefs among other peoples of that age, which identified a people's god with his shrine and sacred objects.”[26]

 

Our reading picks up at (v.12) with a Benjaminite who had fled from the battlefield and returned to Shiloh. His clothes were torn, and he had earth on his head as a sign of mourning. He encountered Eli, the priest, and relayed the events of the day's battle to him. According to a midrash, the man from Benjamin was none other than King Saul.[27] We are told in (v.13) that Eli had stationed himself at this place because he was concerned about the ark having been taken into battle. Yet the Benjaminite seems to have passed by Eli and went into the city and delivered the news; the uproar of the people got the blind Eli’s attention, and at this point he enquired of the reason for the uproar. (v.13-14)

 

The elderly, nearly blind priest Eli receives a devastating report from a battlefield messenger. In this battle with the Philistines, the Israelites suffered a heavy defeat; the Ark of the Covenant was captured, and over 30,000 men—including the sons of Eli—were killed. When Eli was told about the news, he fell from his seat, broke his neck, and died. He was ninety-eight years old. Some have understood that Eli had a heart attack at the news of the Ark being taken.[28] Notice that there is an ascending scale in the order in which the four items are reported, reaching a climax in the report of the capture of the Ark.[29]   Phinehas’s pregnant wife heard that the Ark of the Covenant had been captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were both dead. She was seized with labor pains and gave birth prematurely. As she lay dying, the woman attending her said, “Do not be afraid, for you have borne a son.” Phinehas’s wife did not respond. The woman named the boy Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel” (1 Samuel 4:20–21).^[30] This departure brought ‘failing hearts,’ premature births, and death. What can we learn from this departure that speaks of the return of the Ark of the covenant and the return of the Glory (Kavod) of HaShem?

 

The Philistines have routed Israel, Eli’s two sons Hophni and Phineas are dead, and most catastrophically, the Ark of God had been captured. At the mention of the Ark, Eli falls backwards off his seat, breaks his neck, and dies. Why at the mention of the Ark and not at the death of his two sons? His daughter-in-law, Phineas’ wife, goes into labor upon hearing the news. She names her newborn son Ichabod — "Glory has departed from Israel" because the Ark of the covenant has been captured and taken by the Philistines. Chapter five opens with the Philistines bringing the captured Ark to Ashdod.

 

Of the biblical characters named Phinehas, the most important was the zealous priest who was Aaron’s grandson (Exo. 6:25). Phinehas proved himself to be a loyal supporter. When Israelite men brought God’s judgment upon themselves through their sexual immorality with foreign women and their sacrifices to the pagan god Baal-peor.^[31] Phinehas dealt with the rebels. Phinehas did not hesitate; he took a javelin in his hand, went into the tent, and killed the couple. God, appeased by this act, lifted the plague and told Moses that he would make a covenant with Phinehas for all time. He and his descendants would be permanently established as priests.^[32] His swift action saved Israel from destruction (Num 25:1–8, 31:1–7). God rewarded Phinehas’ zeal by promising that his descendants would become the chief priestly family in Israel (Num 25:10–13, Jud. 20:27–28). Though zealous for God’s standards, Phinehas proved to be fair and reasonable when he had to listen to complaints and settle disputes (Josh 22:13–16, 30–34).^[33]  Eli’s son Phinehas had learned nothing from his namesake, and it cost him his life and the life of his wife.

 

A later priest named Phinehas, the one in our reading, had no concern for God’s standards. He and his brother, who were sons of the priest Eli, corrupted the priesthood so badly that God removed them in a dramatic judgment. The two were killed the same day (1 Sam 1:3; 2:12–17, 34; 4:4, 11).^[34]   Phinehas and his brother Hophni were the sons of Eli, the priest of Shiloh. Unfortunately, they were wicked and corrupt. A man of God came to Eli and charged him with honoring his sons more than he honored God, and that his punishment would be that his two sons would both die on the same day, that his descendants would no longer be the leading priestly family, and that his survivors would be reduced to begging the new High Priest for money and food. The one thing we can take from this juxtaposition is to be zealous for God's standard, to be fair and reasonable in our judgment, and not live life in disobedience to God’s standard.

 

Our text is precise and dramatic: Eli does not react to news of the military defeat, or even to his sons' deaths — it is specifically "when he mentioned the Ark of God" that he falls backward and dies (I Samuel 4:18). This detail is theologically loaded, and interpreters have understood it in strikingly diverse ways. The narrative tells us Eli was ninety-eight, blind, and heavy — and that he had been sitting anxiously by the gate, "his heart trembling for the Ark of God"(v.13). He survives hearing of the great slaughter and his sons' deaths. Only the capture or exile of the ark breaks him. Since Eli had ruled and governed for forty years, some understood it was the throne he was sitting on, and Radak suggested his heart was struck, causing him to fall from his throne and break his neck.[35]

 

How can we understand this text? Agadat Bereshit 41 tells us that Eli, “in his hand were three crowns: High Priest, King, and Head of the Sanhedrin. He was a High Priest, as it says, "and Eli the priest" (1 Samuel 1:9), and he sat on the throne (1 Samuel 4:13). He was also a King, as it says, "on the doorposts of the house of the Lord" (2 Chronicles 23:4). He was the Head of the Sanhedrin. However, because of the sins of his sons, he was demoted from all three positions, as it says, "and Eli lay down" (1 Samuel 3:3), which indicates that he was not a High Priest at that time. Instead, he was replaced by someone else (1 Samuel 1:9). He was also not a King. His eyes began to grow dim (1 Samuel 3:2), indicating that he was not the Head of the Sanhedrin either, as it says, "your eyes are pools in Heshbon" (Song of Solomon 7:4). Eli suffered because of the actions of his sons, and he was incredibly old.

 

Several things come to a head in our story. Eli is awaiting word of the battle and “is trembling for the ark.” When the word came and the news of the death of Phinehas and the taking of the ark, Eli’s daughter-in-law goes into labor prematurely and names the child Ichabod, meaning the glory of God has departed.[36]  Eli had lost control of his sons many years before. He knew the Glory of HaShem resided with the Ark. Eli was guilty of not rebuking or punishing his sons for their sin and thus had to live a long life watching them live lives filled with sin, with no fear or honor toward HaShem. This choosing of sin and death by a son still reverberates back to the father even in our day. When a father fails to rebuke and punish a son, the father suffers, and when the son continues in their sinful ways, the father suffers right alongside the son. This symbiotic relationship between a father and a son has always intrigued us who are aware of it. And make no mistake: if Eli wore three crowns, it was well within his power to exact just punishment from his sons for their sin.

 

What kind of man was Eli? He raised the prophet, Samuel. The rabbis paint a complex, even sympathetic portrait of Eli — a genuinely righteous man undone by his failure as a father and leader. The Talmud argues that Eli's sons may not have sinned as gravely as the text implies — the charge that they "lay with women" is reread as causing delays that kept women from their husbands. Eli himself is cast as a leader whose personal piety was genuine, but who could not — or would not — adequately restrain his sons.[37]

 

The Midrash puts it starkly: "A righteous person may be called wicked because of his children." Eli's failure was relational and moral — he heard what his sons did, but his rebuke was too gentle. The prophet's oracle in 1 Samuel 2:29 faults him directly for honoring his sons above God.[38]

 

The Talmud connects the destruction of the Tabernacle at Shiloh directly to the sins of Eli's house — degradation of offerings and sexual misconduct. Even if the sons' sins are minimized, the institutional failure under Eli's watch brought catastrophic consequences.[39]  But there is the possibility of atonement. Rosh Hashanah offers a remarkable teaching: the curse on Eli's house could not be expiated by sacrifice — but Torah study and acts of kindness could mitigate it. Later sages descended from Eli's line (like Rabbah and Abaye) are said to have lived longer because of these merits.[40] Our study of Torah must not be an academic exercise; we must act upon our learning and implement as much as possible in our lives as we are led by our learning and the spirit of HaShem.

 

In 1 Samuel 2:22ff we hear of the evil reports of Eli’s two sons, and in (v.25) If one-man sins against another, God (Elohim) shall judge him: but if a man sins against the Lord, who shall entreat for him. Elohim refers either to God or to the human judges who are representatives of God in executing justice on earth (Exo.21:6). The sense of this verse is clearly that for an offence of man against man there may be a mediator: but for an offence against God there can be no intercessor. This mediator is not a get-out-of-jail-free card, - “Elohim shall judge him.” The ideal is to pray, to intercede. This is the most common Hebrew word used to describe the general act of prayer (Jer. 29:7, Jonah 2:1). There is a play on the Hebrew words pillel, ‘to meditate,’ and hithpallel, ‘to interpose as mediator.’[41]  In the Mishnah and later writings, it (hithpallel form) refers to ritual prayer, especially the Eighteen Benedictions. ^[42] The verse goes on to say that they (the two sons) would not harken to their father, and the Lord was pleased to slay them. The sons were so confirmed in their sins that they were incapable of repentance and so beyond redemption: their punishment was therefore necessary as a warning to others. (Kimchi).[43]

 

Eli, his sons did not listen to their father's voice, meaning that they did not want to hear his words and did not enter their ears, because they failed to recognized him in their hearts, and it’s said that God wanted to put them to death (Exodus 9:12), God strengthened Pharaoh's heart, for whose sins God saw to punish them, and the gates of repentance were closed before them, and they would fail to hear the teaching of Torah. In Ezekiel, it would seem the sons of Eli are in view in chapter 18; God is expressing the thought that it is repentance he wants and not the death of a person. “Therefore, I will judge you, O house of Israel, everyone according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so, turn, and live.”^[44]

 

When Israel and mankind become morally corrupt, the Divine Presence departs from their midst. This is what caused Israel as a nation to go into exile and, in this instance, the death of Eli’s two sons. When the Divine Presence pulls back from its creation, darkness and chaos ensue. If moral corruption brings death and exile, could we expect a return to moral and ethical values to reverse the death, destruction, and exile? We are taught in Avot DeRabbi Natan 38:4 —   the following: THE SWORD COMES UPON THE WORLD FOR THE DELAY OF JUSTICE, AND FOR THE PERVERSION OF JUSTICE, AND BECAUSE OF THOSE WHO TEACH THE TORAH NOT ACCORDING TO THE TRADITIONAL MEANING. EXILE COMES UPON THE WORLD BECAUSE OF IDOLATRY, IMMORALITY, AND THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD, AND BECAUSE OF NEGLECT OF THE YEAR OF RELEASE OF THE LAND.

 

In our story, what or whom does Eli represent, and what do the two disobedient sons represent? The greatest tragedy is not in the death of Hophni and Phinehas but in the exile or capture of the Ark of the Covenant, “the Glory of God departing.’ (v.21) This news was so great or overwhelming that Eli's heart failed him, and he fell out of his seat and broke his neck; and this news of the Ark's capture made a woman immediately go into labor and give birth to a son.

 

Rabbinic tradition often reads the Shekhinah's departure not as divine abandonment but as divine response — God does not leave arbitrarily but withdraws when the conditions for his presence are violated. Eli's sin was passive: he knew and did not act. The tradition asks whether complicit silence in the face of moral failure is itself a form of leadership failure that drives away the sacred. The day we live in is growing darker and darker, but as nature teaches us, it's always the darkest just before dawn, and while living through this dark night, we must, like the children of Israel in Egypt, cry out to God in prayer and tears for his redemption. And as Phinehas in Moses' day, we must be zealous for God and his standard. The children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God saw the children of Israel, and God took knowledge of them.^[45]

 

In (4:5-9) the Philistines were terrified when they knew the ark was in the camp of Israel, for they had heard about its association with Israel’s mighty God who had brought the Israelite people out of Egypt, which happened more than 300 years before (1 Sam. 4:6–8).^[46] And which struck the Egyptians at the Red Sea in the wilderness. In (v.8-9), the Philistines said, Woe to us! Who can deliver us from the power of these mighty gods? These are the gods who struck the Egyptians with every sort of plague in the wilderness. Take courage, and be men, O Philistines, lest you become slaves to the Hebrews as they have been to you; be men and fight.^[47] From the Philistine point of view, they knew they could not withstand Israel’s God, and they also realized that this would be a fight to the death, and if they lost, they would become slaves to Israel as the Israelites had been their slaves.

 

The last part of our reading tells us that the Ark, which had brought plagues upon the Philistines, is finally returned to Israel. The cart carrying it arrives at the field of Joshua of Beit Shemesh and stops at a large stone. The Israelites break up the cart for wood and offer the cows that pulled it as a burnt offering to God, a spontaneous act of thanksgiving upon the Ark's return. If we read this passage and look toward the future, could we propose that when the Ark of the Covenant returns to Israel, it will have an immediate effect upon all Israel and the entire population of the world? Yeshua spoke of the coming of the Kingdom and the chaos and troubles that precede its coming as the heavens and the earth are shaken.[48] Can we see the Ark's return and men's hearts failing due to fear, and women going into labor prematurely because of the fear of what is coming upon the earth? The evil of this world knows, as the Philistines knew, that if they lose the battle, they would be slaves or servants to the people of Israel. If, in our reading, we take an inverse look at the high points of this passage, we see a theme of ‘blindness’ in both our Torah reading and in this Ashlamatah. Yet that blindness does not stop the ears from hearing of the acts HaShem is performing. In (v.17) the news brought to Eli was in this order: A) Israel fled the battlefield and suffered a great slaughter. B) Your two sons Hophni and Phinehas are dead. C) The Ark of God has been captured. In verse nineteen, when Eli’s daughter-in-law heard the same news, the order was reversed. C) The Ark of God had been captured. B) Her father-in-law and her husband were dead. A) was assumed and not mentioned in our text. The focus that brought both death and life was the capture of the Ark of God and the removal of the Kavod of HaShem.

 

In a discussion with a friend about the events of our present day and how they affected him and his spirit, he stated he was feeling the pressure of the time and had come to the conclusion that the unity needed to bring humanity to the place we need to arrive at would not happen until Messiah arrived. I questioned whether he was speaking of Israel or all humanity. His response was yes, both. Israel unified in the sense of all twelve tribes being reunited and returned to the land, and the families of Jacob and Esau being reunited or reconciled, Jews and Christians. He was convinced this could only happen after the Messiah made his appearing. Our reading hints at this: a son is born at the departure of the Kavod, and the inverse or reversal of this is that a son will appear and the Kavod returns to the earth and the land of Israel. As we learned last week in Isaiah 60:12, for the nation and the kingdom that shall not serve you shall perish, and the nations shall be destroyed; and in Isaiah 60:2, for behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. (ESV) The previous week we learned from Isaiah 66:6ff of the sound of an uproar (ESV). There is a stirring from the city, a sound from the temple, and the sound of the LORD(HaShem). And then in verse seven, before she was in labor and travailed, she gave birth; before her pain came upon her, she delivered a son. (ESV)

 

The Torah reading speaks of the episode of Jacob and Esau, and here, the blindness of the Priest Eli. The leaving or departing of the Glory of God and the birth of a son: the events that transpired. What if, in the return of the Kavod, we see the inverse of these events? Could it be possible that the last great battle between God's people and the Philistines brings life and death at the same time, and the evil and unrighteous of the world intuitively come to understand that they will become servants of the children of Israel and the God of Israel? There are many voices in our world today; they are all looking for an explanation and understanding of what is happening around the world. I am reminded of the scripture in Habakkuk 1:5: Look among the nations and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing work in your days that you would not believe if told. “The change in speakers is apparent from the verb’s “look” and “watch,” which in Hebrew include the plural “you.” God addressed both the prophet and the people. Habakkuk had complained about being made to look at injustice. The prophet and people suffered from myopia. They were too nearsighted. God instructed them to get their eyes off the immediate havoc and look out on the international horizons. They needed to develop a worldview that included “the nations.” As they did so, they would be utterly amazed. The political developments about to be revealed to Habakkuk and the people would stun them (the verb tāmâh means “to be astounded, bewildered, or dumbfounded”).^[49]   In our Torah reading in Genesis 27, we hear a reference to the lost Kavod. Esau's bitter cry — "Bless me too, father!" — is a cry over lost glory. The name Ichabod — "the glory has departed from Israel" — echoes the same grief at a national scale. Both texts dramatize what it means when the divine favor or covenantal identity slips away. With the Kavod's departure, mankind experiences a lack of unity and chaos, and with its return, there will be an undoing of the death, destruction, and chaos associated with the vacuum created by its previous departure.

 

The following Ashlamatah (Hoshea & Micah) must be recited by the greatest Torah scholar available to the congregation.

Special Ashlamatah: Hoshea (‎‎Hosea) 14:2-10

 

 

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Hoshea (Hosea) 14:2-10

 

2 Return, O Israel You, who are in the land of Judah, lest what happens to Samaria happens to you. Therefore, the topics are juxtaposed. This can be compared to a king against whom a province rebelled. The king sent a general and commanded him to destroy it. That general was expert and deliberate. He said to them, “Take for yourselves days (sic); otherwise, I will do to you as I have done to such-and-such a province and to its allies, and to such-and-such a prefecture and to its allies.” Therefore, it says, “Samaria shall be accounted guilty,” and then Scripture says: “Return, O Israel.” As is found in Sifrei in the section commencing. (Num. 25:1), “And Israel abode in Shittim.”

 

to the Lord your God One taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: Return, O Israel, while He is still יהוה, with the Divine Attribute of Mercy; otherwise, He is אֶלֹהֶיךָ with the Divine Attribute of Justice, before the defense becomes the prosecution. [from Pesikta d’Rav Kahana, p. 164a]

 

for you have stumbled in your iniquity Obstacles have come to you because of your iniquity.

 

3 You shall forgive all iniquity Heb. עָוֹן כָּל-תִּשָׂא. Forgive all our iniquities.

 

and teach [us the] good [way] Heb. וְקַח-טוֹב. And teach us the good way. Another explanation: The few good deeds in our hands take in Your hand and judge us accordingly. And so does David say (Psalms 17:2): “Let my sentence come forth from before You, may Your eyes behold the right.” Another explanation: And accept good And accept confession from us, as it is said (Psalms 92:2): “It is good to confess to the Lord.”

 

and let us render [for] bulls that we should have sacrificed before you, let us render them with the placation of the words of our lips.

 

4 Assyria shall not save us Say this also before Him, “We no longer seek the aid of man, neither from Assyria nor from Egypt.”

 

we will not ride on horses This is the aid from Egypt, who would send them horses, as they said to Isaiah (30:16), “No, but on horses will we flee... And on swift steeds will we ride.”

 

nor will we say any longer to the work of our hands that they are our gods.

 

for in You alone shall our hope be, You Who grant mercy to the orphans.

 

5 I will remedy their backsliding Said the prophet: So has the Holy Spirit said to me. After they say this before Me, I will remedy their backsliding, and I will love them with My charitable spirit. Although they do not deserve the love, I will love them charitably since My wrath has turned away from them.

 

6 and it shall strike I. e. the dew shall strike its roots and cause them to prosper.

 

like the Lebanon like the roots of the trees of the Lebanon, which are large.

 

7 Its branches shall go forth Sons and daughters shall increase.

 

and it shall be Their beauty shall be like the beauty of the menorah of the Temple, and their fragrance like the fragrance of the incense.

 

like the Lebanon Like the Temple.

 

8 Those who dwelt in its shade shall return Those who already dwelt in the shade of the Lebanon, to which He compared Israel and the Temple, and now were exiled there from, shall return to it.

 

its fragrance shall be like the wine of Lebanon Jonathan renders: Like the remembrance of the blasts of the trumpets over the old wine poured for libations in the Temple. For they would blow the trumpets over the libations when the Levites would recite the song.

 

9 Ephraim will say, “What more do I need to follow the images?” And they will turn away from idolatry.

 

I will answer him I will answer him from his trouble.

 

and I will look upon him I will look upon his affliction.

 

I am like a leafy cypress tree I will bend down for him to hold his hand on Me as the leafy cypress which is bent down to the ground, which a man holds by its branches; i.e., I will be accessible to him.

 

from Me your fruit is found Am I not He? For all your good emanates from Me.

 

10 Who is wise and will understand these Who among you is wise and will ponder to put his heart to all these and return to Me?

 

and the rebellious shall stumble on them i.e., because of them, because they did not walk in them. Jonathan renders in this manner.

 

Commentary on the Ashlamatah of Hosea 14:2-10

By: H.Ex. Adon Shlomoh Ben Abraham

 

We begin this reading on Sabbath Shuva. The first Sabbath of the Jewish year between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.^[50] In the first two verses, Hosea has called for Israel to return. Your guilt has made you stumble.  It (return) occurs four times in this concluding chapter (vv. 2, 3, 5, 8 per JSB), which is a picture of what will happen at Israel’s return—both as to requirements and results.^[51]   Each term of the call (v. 1) is chosen to recall and distill major aspects of Hosea’s message. Return (Heb. šwb) has been the characteristic way of stating God’s unfulfilled desire for Israel throughout the book (2:7, 9; 3:5; 5:4; 7:10, 16; 11:5; 12:6).^[52]   Hosea speaks roughly to the people, and this is equivalent to a statement from Rabbi Mir. It says Return, O Israel, while God is still a merciful God. Or in a merciful mood. For if you delay, He will act upon His attribute of strict justice as Elohim.  Where are we going to return to? Hosea 6:1-3: “Come, let us return to the Lord (Hashem); for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up. After two days, he will revive us; on the third day, he will raise us up, so that we may live before him. Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord; his going out is sure as the dawn.^[53]  Hosea issues his clarion call for the Jewish nation to repent of their evil deeds and return to the Almighty with all their hearts.

 

Hosea has harsh words of prophecy for Israel.  But in this call for them to return to God, he's teaching that the simple cleansing pathway of repentance and confessing your sin in prayer is all it takes. If we return from our sin, then God will respond to us. Great is Teshuvah(repentance), for thereby even willful sins are transformed into unwitting transgressions, because iniquity is willful. Yet the verse calls it stumbling. Malbim, in these opening verses, juxtaposes Samaria, who has openly rebelled alongside Israel, who has merely stumbled and been misled into iniquity by its leaders, and if only you will return to HaShem, your destruction can be avoided.^[54] The power of teshuva is that which can reach the very throne of glory. As it says, return unto the Lord your God,^[55] and he will return to you. Ezekiel 33:19: When the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is just and right, he shall live by this. Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, I will judge each of you according to his ways.” None of the prophetic books is solely concerned with condemnation and punishment; they all convey a hope for the future. A future hope of restoration to the ideal relationship between HaShem and his people, Israel, and then the restored relationship of HaShem and all of his creation.

 

Since today we have no Temple, and clearly, the offerings were not enough to please God, what are we to do?  This same question has been asked in the past.  “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalms 51:16-17)

 

HaShem's reply to the people in Hosea’s day is the same as HaShem's reply for us today:

“For I desire steadfast love, and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6) HaShem spoke through the Prophet Hosea, telling us to take  ^[56] with your words, and return unto the Lord; say unto Him: ‘Forgive all iniquity, and accept that which is good; so, will we render for bullocks the offering of our lips.^[57]

 

In its most perfect sense, repentance consists of four elements. 1.) Changing one's ways. 2.) Sincere regret, 3.) confession to God, 4.) and resolve not to repeat the sin. All of these are included in the Prophet's warning. Return Israel to the Lord (HaShem), your God (Elohim), as one who has truly regretted your sin. Take along words with thee, return to God, say to him we will no longer make gods out of the work of our hands. Hosea 14:1-2.^[58] Of these four elements, the last three are necessary to rectify the spiritual damage done to man's main faculties, which are thought, speech, and action. True remorse and regret rectify one's thoughts. Confession is for the speech and resolve that comes through action itself.^[59]  Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan said the first prerequisite for repentance, however, is changing one's ways and abandoning the practice of sin. Repenting while still immersed in sin is like trying to cleanse oneself while still holding on to filth.^[60].  So, as the prophet Isaiah said in 55:7: Let the wicked man forsake his ways.  Ezekiel 33:11 and Isaiah 1:16 express the idea of a man casting away his transgressions, and here are listed the ten expressions of repentance. Again, Ezek. 18:31: Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? What is motivating us and our intentions for repentance? That would be the fear of God and the shame for having sinned before Him. When a person changes his ways, he's forgiven. As God has told his prophets Ezekiel and Jonah, let every man turn from his evil way. I will forgive their sin, and they will not die.^[61] Radak tells us that no amount of sacrifices is of any value if they are not accompanied by our words of confession. ^[62]

 

The greatest fallacy of the religious world we live in is that people think they can live however they choose, and then ask for forgiveness, and it is their get out of jail free card; however, their lives and actions never change. But as we have learned, the first step of repentance is just that: abandoning sin. Being truly remorseful and then confessing that sin. Although the first steps of repentance consist of abandoning sin, remorse, and confession, a higher form of repentance, the rabbis teach, is when we do good deeds.^[63]. It's one thing to say something. It's another thing when you take that idea and thought, and you move it into the world of reality, the world of action, through good deeds and correct actions. The psalmist counsels us to depart from evil, do good, seek peace, and pursue it. (Psa. 34:15) Malbim instructs us in the process of total repentance: First, true and honest regret for your sin and commitment to improving.  Second, replace the sin with mitzvot and good deeds. Third, repent once more out of love for Hashem.^[64] The central part of this higher repentance is prayer, deeds of kindness to others, and the study of Torah.  I heard a gentleman say one time, “There was never a time in my life that I did not know God”. And I thought that's interesting.  Even when you were a baby. Even when you were going through your terrible twos? But you know the follow-up statement. He said that through his Prayer and study of Torah. He began to see how it changed him and began to revolutionize his thinking and every area of his life.

 

Sin places stumbling blocks in the path of right living. When you come with true repentance and regret and confession, God says, I will heal their disloyalty, and I will love them freely. As soon as the children of Israel repent, God will show them unrestrained love, and his anger will depart, for my anger has been turned from them. (v.5) His branches will spread out, his beauty will be like an olive tree, and his fragrance will be like Lebanon. They will live in the shade and blossom like a vine.  When we return to God, he can surely bless us.^[65] A person cannot eradicate the evil inclination from his heart by merely willing it to disappear. However, every time he resists its enticement and overcomes his instincts and desires, he weakens the power that it has over him until eventually it ceases to affect him.^[66]

 

In verse eight, most translations read as if the speaker is the one asking a question: what have I to do with idols? But in reality, it is Ephraim that is making the statement and acknowledging that they are turning away from idols. The Targum reads: ‘Some from the house of Israel said.’ So here we have Israel’s affirmation of their fidelity to God and the abandonment of their idols. Today, we see this very thing happening as many are returning to the God of Israel and the Torah. Those who dwell in his shade shall return.^[67] Some interpret this shade as that of Israel, and others, I believe, more correctly, that it is the shade of HaShem. But regardless, Israel, the Proselyte, and the stranger from the nations, those who return and dwell in the shade of Israel and the temple, with HaShem ruling over the entire earth, will altogether enjoy peace. The Targum renders this as follows: They will gather from their exile and dwell in the shade of their Messiah, and their dead will be resurrected, and they will enjoy an abundance of good.^[68]

 

What do I have to do with idols? I'm done! Ephraim has begun to wake up and to understand that all his trust and faith in idols doesn't bring him any blessings, just disaster.  As a person begins to wake up from their idols, they begin to move from a lying or sitting position to a standing position.  Our Rabbis teach to “make disciples stand,” and that is done just as Hosea is teaching by returning and having knowledge of God and growing in his wisdom.  Now, everyone’s ready to stand in his faith and serve God.  Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them; for the ways of the Lord are right, and the upright walk in them, but transgressors stumble in them. (v.10) The righteous choose the good and thereby prosper; those who deviate from the proper path stumble and fall in their deviance and disobedience. Abarbanel adds to this thought and says that the ways of HaShem are straight and upright, and those who lean toward truth and righteousness rejoice over HaShem's ways and follow them faithfully. While those who are corrupt and deviant see only difficulties and obstacles in HaShem's dictates, and they therefore end up distorting his teaching and stumbling over them.^[69]

 

The Torah functions as a double-edged sword. We have been presented with two choices: one can choose life or choose death. But for those who follow the path in faithfulness and choose life, in sincerity and truth, they will march forward toward eternity and be blessed, and they shall prosper.  But those who are disobedient and live only for their own selfish desire, fulfilling the lust of their flesh, are advancing toward their own destruction, and they will die in their sin. These wayward souls have set themselves up as God’s judge, thinking they know better than HaShem.  The wayward, by their actions and lifestyles, have declared that there is no Judge and no justice in the world, and there is no Supreme Being who oversees events in the world to whom they must one day answer.

 

One of the overarching themes in the prophetic books, as here in Hosea, is to persuade the readers to live their lives in a way consistent with the will of HaShem, and to give the people hope for their future. Ephraim now begins to understand that faith in God is the only unfailing source of blessing, and belief in idols only leads to death and disaster.

 

Special Ashlamata: ‎‎ Micah 7:18-20

 

18. Who is a God like You, Who forgives iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not maintain His anger forever, for He desires loving-kindness.	18. There is none besides You; you are the God forgiving iniquities and passing over the transgressions of the remnant of His inheritance, who ‎does not extend His anger forever, because He delights in doing good.
19. He shall return and grant us compassion; He shall hide our iniquities, and You shall cast into the depths of the sea all their sins.	19. His Memra will again have mercy on us, He will tread upon ‎our transgressions in His love and He will cast all the sins of Israel into the depths of the sea.
20. You shall give the truth of Jacob, the loving-kindness of Abraham, which You swore to our forefathers from days of yore.   {P}	20. You will show (Your) faithfulness to Jacob ‎to his sons, as you swore to him in Bethel, Your kindness to Abraham to his seed after him, as You swore to him between the pieces; You ‎will remember for us the binding of Isaac who was bound upon the altar before You. You will perform kind deeds with us as You swore ‎to our fathers in days of old. {P}

 

Rashi’s Commentary for: Micah 7:18-20‎

 

20 You shall give the truth of Jacob - Jonathan paraphrases: You shall give the truth of Jacob to his sons, as You swore to him in Bethel; the loving-kindness of Abraham to his seed after him, as you swore to him ‘between the parts.’ You shall remember for us the binding of Isaac, etc. Give us the truth that You promised Jacob. Cause to come true Your word that You promised Jacob (Gen. 28:15): “For I will not forsake you.”

 

 

Commentary on the Ashlamatah of Micah 7:18-20

By: H.Ex. Adon Shlomoh Ben Abraham

 

The Prophet Micah concludes his book by reminding himself and his readers about the goodness and uniqueness of their God (cf. Ex. 34:6–7a). Micah’s final words of praise show that he had great faith in God’s eventual outworking of His plans for His covenant people.^[70]  The rhetorical question in (v.18), Who is a God like You? (cf. Ex. 15:11; Pss. 35:10) is most likely a wordplay on Micah’s name, which means, “Who is like the LORD?” The obvious answer is that no one is like the LORD. The Hebrew for “compassion” in (v.19) suggests a tender, maternal love such as a mother would have for her child. The word for “tread underfoot” can also be rendered “subdue.” Sin is pictured as an enemy that God will conquer and liberate us from. “God overcomes sin and sets his people free.” And just as the Lord hurled Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea and they sank to the depths like a stone (Exod 15:4–5), so he will hurl all “our” sins into the depths of the sea. This, of course, speaks of the complete forgiveness of sin and the removal of its guilt forever. (Jer 50:20)

 

The Hebrew words for “true” (ʾĕmet) and “mercy” (ḥesed) are sometimes rendered “truth” or “faithfulness” and “grace” respectively, The terms in parallel in (v.20) (‘loyalty’ [ʾĕmet] and ‘love’ [ḥesed]), with the following reference to God’s oath, must be understood specifically as the loyalty and fidelity to be displayed to God’s covenant partner.^[71] The opening part of the verse uses typical Hebrew parallelism (“faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham”).  Moses said in Exodus 33:19. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will be merciful. To whom I will be merciful. Accordingly, God may eliminate or bring punishment completely upon a person or even grant a person a completely undeserved reward. God thus proclaimed the 13 attributes of His mercy to Israel. God (1) Merciful (2). Gracious (3). Slow to anger. (5) With Tremendous love. (6) Trusted Servant. (7) Safeguarded deeds of love. (8) For thousands of generations. (9) Forgiving sin. (10), Rebellion. (11) Errors. (12) and cleansing. (13) [72] 

 

As a result of Israel accepting God's Torah at Sinai, Israel merited a special relationship with God. Israel was destined to receive God's reward in the ultimate future.[73]  In order to be worthy of this privilege, Israel was judged more harshly in this world for their sins. God thus tells us through his prophet. Only you have I known of all the families of the earth. Therefore, I will keep account of all your sins. (Amos 3:2) The Gentile nations, on the other hand, play a secondary role in God's ultimate plan. And therefore, they're punished in this world only for gross immorality.[74]  

 

As mentioned earlier, God's 13 attributes of mercy are derived from the passage in Exodus.  Here is another list of the 13 from our passage here. (7:18-20).   The attributes of mercy pertain primarily to Israel, as the prophets declared: Who is a God like you, 1) who pardons sin. (2) An overlooked rebellion. (3) Of the remnant of his heritage. (4) he does not retain his anger forever. (5) For he desires mercy. (6) He will again have mercy on us. (7) He will subdue our sins. (8) Cast all our errors in the depths of the sea. (9)  And you will show the truth to Jacob. (10) Love to Abraham. (11) As sworn to our fathers. (12) From the days of old. (13) And these come directly from our passage.

 

 God often decrees large-scale suffering on the nations to warn Israel to repent. He does tell the prophets I have cut off nations; their corners are desolate. I have said, surely you will fear me, Israel. You will accept corrections. Zep 3:6-7[75]  Even today, the world is judged collectively according to the deeds of the majority of humanity. And each nation’s community is judged as a whole.  Large-scale disasters are often signs that God has deemed certain areas worthy of destruction. When God sends a large-scale judgment to the world, then even innocent children are not spared. In such cases, one's own personal merit may be great enough to save oneself, but it cannot save his children. As we're told when God says, I might send the pestilence to the land, and pour out my fury upon it, in blood to cut off from man and beast. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, they shall save neither son nor daughter. They shall only save their own Souls by their righteousness. (Ezek. 14:19-2) Micah appeals to the God of mercy and forgiveness. These verses are part of the prophetic reading on Sabbath Shuva, the service of repentance, and they are also read after the book of Jonah on the Day of Atonement. As we're told in (v.20), You (God) will show faithfulness to Jacob and unswerving loyalty to Abraham as you have sworn through our ancestors from the days of old.[76]

 

It has been said that the passage closest to the one in Micah, located in the Nazarene codicil, would most likely be Rom.11:33-36 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!  “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”  For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.^[77]

 

It is said Micah outlived the other members of the quartet of prophets of his time – Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah. He found himself left without companions in a degenerate age when everyone was scheming against everyone else. It seems that we are living now in the days of Micah, a degenerate age; no one can be trusted; men are more lovers of themselves than lovers of the things of HaShem. In Micah's day, no one was to be trusted, and all the merchants robbed people at the scales with unjust weights. Thus, the Book of Micah, despite its threats of punishment in the earlier chapters, ends on a note of joy and confidence that the nation will eventually enjoy a restored relationship with Hashem.^[78]  As we wait for his HaShem's appearing, one should treat his neighbor with truth and righteousness and refuse to pervert justice so that even an average person will be perfected in accordance with the quality of truth.[79]

 

 

Verbal Tallies

H.H. Ezra ben Abraham/AI

Bereshit (Genesis) 27:1-27

Tehillim (Psalms) 22:23-32

Ashlamatah: I Sam 4:15 – 5:1 + 6:14

 

This passage group forms a Seder in the ancient Eretz Yisrael Triennial Cycle—a system studied by Rabbi Dr. Hillel ben David (Bet Emunah), Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham (Bet El) and congregations to link the Torah, Tehillim (Psalms), and Ashlamatah (Prophets) through structural and textual connections.

1. Verbal Tallies (Gezera Shavah / Key Matching Words)

Verbal tallies are recurring Hebrew terms across the Torah, Tehillim, and Ashlamatah that bind the triennial reading together.

• Eyes / Dimness of Sight (עַיִן - Ayin & כָּהָה - Kahah)
• Torah: “When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim (vatikhjena einav) so that he could not see...” (Gen 27:1)
• Ashlamatah: “Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his eyes were set (ve'einav kamah) so that he could not see.” (1 Sam 4:15)
• Tally Connection: Both narratives open with an aging, blind leader whose failing vision creates a crisis regarding leadership and the priestly/patriarchal line.
• Blessing (בְּרָכָה - Berakah / בָּרַךְ - Barach)
• Torah: “...that my soul may bless you (tevarekhecha) before I die.” (Gen 27:4, 12, 19, 23, 27)
• Tehillim: “All the ends of the earth... all the families of the nations shall worship before You... May those who seek Him praise/bless the Lord.” (Ps 22:23, 26, 27)
• Ashlamatah: “The ark of the Lord was in the country of the Philistines... And the men of Beth-shemesh... offered burnt offerings...” (1 Sam 6:14 — context of restoring the Ark, prompting worship and blessing).
• Tally Connection: The root B-R-K connects Jacob receiving the covenantal blessing to the worldwide worship/blessing of God described in Psalm 22.
• Voice (קוֹל - Kol)
• Torah: “The voice is the voice of Jacob (ha-kol kol Ya'akov), but the hands are the hands of Esau.” (Gen 27:22)
• Tehillim: “...when he cried unto Him, He heard (be-shav'o elav shame'a — hearing the voice).” (Ps 22:24)
• Tally Connection: The motif of recognizing, hearing, and discerning a true voice amidst deception or suffering.
• Eldership / Age (זָקֵן - Zaken)
• Torah: “When Isaac was old (zaken)...” (Gen 27:1)
• Ashlamatah: “Now Eli was very old...” (1 Sam 4:15)

2. Thematic Tallies (Conceptual & Rabbinic Themes)

Thematic tallies explore the deeper spiritual, midrashic, and thematic links shared across these three passages.

• Diminution of Physical Sight vs. Spiritual Discernment
• Torah: Isaac’s physical blindness causes him to rely on touch and smell, mistaking Jacob for Esau (Gen 27).
• Ashlamatah: Eli’s physical blindness mirrors his spiritual failure to discipline his sons (Hophni and Phinehas), leading directly to the capture of the Ark of the Covenant and the departure of the Glory (I-kabod) (1 Sam 4:15–22).
• Thematic Link: Physical loss of sight in leadership signals a pivotal transition period where divine providence overrides human weakness to preserve the covenant.
• The Transfer of the Birthright / Holiness under Misdirection
• Torah: Jacob takes the blessing intended for Esau through garments and deception, yet the blessing ultimately lands where divine decree intended (Gen 27:27).
• Ashlamatah: The Ark is captured by the Philistines and placed in the temple of Dagon (1 Sam 5:1), but God's presence cannot be controlled by idols. The Ark returns miraculously on a cart driven by cows to Beth-Shemesh (1 Sam 6:14).
• Thematic Link: Human schemes or foreign control cannot thwart God's elected vessel—whether it is Jacob carrying the patriarchal blessing or the Ark preserving Israel’s holiness.
• Transition from Suffering to Vindication and Praise
• Tehillim: Psalm 22 shifts dramatically at verse 23 from agonizing prayer to universal thanksgiving: “I will declare Your name to my brethren... all the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the Lord” (Ps 22:23, 27).
• Torah & Ashlamatah: Both narratives depict deep distress and family crisis (Jacob fleeing Esau’s wrath / the Ark captured and Eli’s death) that ultimately lead to the preservation of God's covenant and future redemption.

Summary of Key Parallels

Dimension	Torah (Gen 27:1–27)	Tehillim (Ps 22:23–32)	Ashlamatah (1 Sam 4:15–5:1 + 6:14)
Aging Leader	Isaac is old (zaken) and blind (einav kahah).	—	Eli is old (zaken) and blind (einav kamah).
Central Object	The Garments / The Blessing (Berakah).	The Seed / The Generation serving God.	The Ark of the Covenant (Aron YH-VH).
Core Theme	Hidden identity & divine election of the true heir.	Eternal covenant extended to all generations and nations.

 

Nazarean Talmud

Sidra Of Bereshit (Genesis) 27:1 – 27

“VaY’hi Ki-Zaqen” “And it was when old”

By: Hakham Dr. Eliyahu ben Abraham

 

Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

(Mark 3:7-10)

 

 And Yeshua with his talmidim^[80] withdrew from sight^[81] (disciples) to the sea (of Galilee), and many congregations from the Galil^[82] and from Yehudah, and from Yerushalayim, and from Edom^[83] (Idumea) and beyond the Yarden; and they about Tyre and Sidon, followed him (his halakhic decisions – Mesorah), and many congregations^[84] (in great numbers) having heard^[85] of the great things he was doing, came to (see) him and to seek his counsel and wisdom. And he told his talmidim (disciples) to have a little boat ready for him, because of the assembly, so that they would not press upon him, For he healed many, so that they threw themselves on him, in order to touch him as many as had plagues;

 

Hakham Shaul’s School of Tosefta

(Luke 6:17-18)

 

¶ And coming down with them, he stood on a level place. And an assembly of his talmidim, and a great number of people from all Yehudah and Yerushalayim, and the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon (who came to hear him and to be healed of their diseases) were there; also those tormented by unclean spirits; and they were healed.

 

Commentary to Hakham Tsefet’s School of Peshat

Verbal opening of Mark 3:7

 

Our Greek text begins “Mk. 3:7 Καὶ ὁ Ἰησοῦς μετὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ ἀνεχώρησεν,” generally translated “But Jesus withdrew with His disciples to…” The Greek word “ἀναχωρέω - anachoreo” matches the opening verses of Bereshit 27:1-3. Amazingly, the single Greek word encompasses the whole of the first three verses, not just the opening phrase.

 

Gen. 27:1 And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, …

 

Gen 27:2 And he said, "Behold now, I have grown old; I do not know the day of my death (departure).

 

Gen 27:3 So, now, sharpen your implements, your sword [and take] your bow, and go forth to the field, and hunt game for me.

 

Firstly, ἀναχωρέω – anachoreo speaks of “going,” as we see in verse 3, “go forth.” Secondly, it speaks of the “eye” being “dim” or something “disappearing from sight.” The Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon^[86] gives us the basic definition of, ἀναχωρέω – anachoreo “1) to go back, return 2) to withdraw 2a) so as to leave a room 2b) of those who through fear seek some other place, or shun sight.” Thus Yeshua and his talmidim are trying to “withdraw from sight.” Ἀναχωρέω – anachoreo also has the meaning of going and departing. This matches what Yitzchaq tells Esau (Edom) to do: go to the field. When we follow the lexical trail of ἀναχωρέω – anachoreo, we come to its root, χώρα – chora, with the following meanings: “the idea of empty expanse; GK 6001; 27 occurrences; AV translates as “country” 15 times, “region” five times, “land” three times, “field” twice, “ground” once, and “coast” once, which is synonymous with Hebrew “שָׂדֶה”, field as used in Bereshit 27:3 “go forth to the field,.”

 

Yeshua and HaGalil

 

Many congregations from the Galil^[87] and from Yehudah, and from Yerushalayim, and from Edom (Idumea) and beyond the Yarden; and they about Tyre and Sidon, followed him (his halakhic decisions – Mesorah), and many congregations (in great numbers) having heard of the great things he was doing, came to (see) him and to seek his counsel and wisdom.

 

The present Mishnaic text of Hakham Tsefet depicts Yeshua as a Hakham with great influence. Many scholars attribute all sorts of fanatical reasons for this “popularity.” Without trying to delve into all the discussions on Yeshua as the demigod that they purport, we note that the image portrayed is that of a great Sage (Hakham) and reformer.  

With regard to the effects of Yeshua’s ministry in the Galil Prof. Michael Avi-Yonah notes:

 

The activities of Jesus and the early Christian apostles had no effect on the Jewishness of Galilee.^[88]

 

Prof. Michael Avi-Yonah seems to have swallowed a spoonful of Christian myth without pondering all the evidence available. His statement is based on the idea that Yeshua and his talmidim tried to “Christianise” the Galil. Had Avi-Yonah taken the perspective that Yeshua and his talmidim were trying to “Judaize” the Galil, he might have worded things differently and perhaps would have made a great discovery. However, he correctly states:

 

Tiglath-Pileser III, king of Assyria, conquered Galilee and turned it into the Assyrian province of Magiddu (Megiddo). Some of the Israelite inhabitants were deported, but the remaining remnant renewed its relations with Jerusalem in the time of Josiah, who may have reunited Galilee with his kingdom.^[89]

 

The deportation of Galilean inhabitants was that of the key artisans and Hakhamim. This left the Galil like the rest of Eretz Yisrael when the Babylonians had finished pillaging the land. Eretz Yisrael was left devoid of Hakhamim. Ezra brought the nation’s capital back to prominence as a place of genuine Torah learning and observance. The Hakhamim began to flourish once again on the streets of this metropolis. The Galil would slowly gain prominence in Eretz Yisrael. This was the result of the rich agricultural produce it was able to generate. The initial priority of the Galil was agricultural. The plain of Megiddo was rich and fertile. It was for this reason that Ahab desired the field of Naboth.^[90]

 

That the Galil was given to the nations during the time of Yesha’yahu’s prophecy^[91] is of particular notice. The phrase “Galil of the “nations” is ambiguous and hard to discern. We must also note that the phrase “beyond the Jordan, in the district of the nations,” as translated by the Jewish Publication Society, shows that this does not directly relate to the area where Yeshua predominantly ministered. Regardless of the true meaning of this phrase, we must determine that the Galil may have been given to the nations during the time of Yesha’yahu. But this was NOT the case during the time of Yeshua and his talmidim. With the conquests of Alexander Yannai, the regions of Eretz Yisrael “were subject to the Jews.”^[92] The Galil suffered from assimilation and immersion into the Hellenistic culture. This was because the Galileans were noble in the sense of their wealth. As a result, many were considered Am HaAretz. However, the restorative work of Yeshua and his talmidim brought repentance and tikun (restoration) to the Galil. Therefore, the territories of the North were finally given to the Jewish Hakhamim as we shall see. While Yerushalayim was the cultic center of the nation, it was certainly not the center for the deepest wisdom of the Torah. Therefore, we must understand that Yeshua and his talmidim brought the greatest tikun to that area. While there are those who would minimize Yeshua’s role, it is clear from this pericope just how great a Hakham Yeshua really was.

The Galil and the Kingdom

 

According to Neusner, the Galil was preoccupied with the “Kingdom of heaven” and “salvation.”  This information he derives from the New Testament (Nazarean Codicil). His rendition of the Galilean “Kingdom of Heaven” is to live under the rule of G-d and thereby be granted the right to enter the Olam HaBa (world-to-come). Yohanan ben Zakkai arrives in the Galil close to the year 40 C.E.^[93] It is here that Yohanan ben Zakkai will begin the work of redacting the Mishnah. Later, it is here that the Jerusalem Talmud is redacted, and where the Jewish Sanhedrin last sat. What made the Galil the perfect environment for these activities? While there are other factors to be explained, the truth remains that Yeshua and his talmidim had transformed the Galil from “triviality” into a community of highly educated Hakhamim.

 

All Yisrael

 

The present pericope shows just how far-reaching the ministry of Yeshua went. We might therefore suggest that “All Yisrael” heard the Mesorah of the Master. The letter to the Romans authored by Hakham Shaul preceded an amazing Mishnah.

 

Rom. 11:26-27: and so all Israel will be saved (have their share in the world to come); just as it is written, "Your people also will be all righteous/generous; they will inherit the land for ever; the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, wherein I glory. (Isa 60:21).

 

The Mishnah of Sanhedrin 10:1, usually the opening Mishnah for Pirkei Abot.

 

m. San 10:1 All Israelites have a share in the world to come, as it is said, Your people also shall be all righteous, they shall inherit the land forever; the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified (Is. 60:21).

 

Yeshua is the primary reason for the transformation in the “way of life” (halakhah) as it was lived in the Galil. The measure of tikun brought to the Galil by the Master is cosmic and profound. The residue of that tikun remains alive in Tzfat (the City of the Branch) to this very day. This is because the spiritual energies that the Master invested in that region perfectly align themselves with the intermediaries of the heavens. As such, the region of the Galil aligned itself with the structured nomos of the Torah; and perfectly submitted to G-d’s governance. They maintained the structured nomos of the Torah through dynamic Torah observance. Yeshua repaired the fabric of a cosmic tear with a patch of aesthetic beauty and purposeful resilience.

 

Peroration

 

Therefore, the Galil experienced an amazing transformation in that the hierarchy of angelic beings established to guarantee the observance of the Torah met with the Master in perfect unity. Rather than contending with the forces of the heavens, the Galileans aligned themselves with the “Kingdom of the Heavens” (governance) of God [through Hakhamim and Bate Din] as opposed to human kings and created a new Eden.

 

Some Questions to Ponder:

1.      From all the readings for this week, which particular verse or passage caught your attention and fired your heart and imagination?

 

Blessing After Torah Study

 

Barúch Atáh Adonai, Elohénu Meléch HaOlám,

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

Barúch Atáh Adonái, Notén HaToráh. Amen!

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

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

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

“Now unto Him who is able to preserve you faultless, and spotless, and to establish you without a blemish,

before His majesty, with joy, [namely,] the only one GOD, our Deliverer, by means of Yeshua the Messiah our Master, be praise, and dominion, and honor, and majesty, both now and in all ages. Amen!”

 

Coming Festival - Day of Atonement 

Yom Kippur - Tishri 10, 5787

 

Evening of Sunday September 20th – Evening of Monday the 21st, 2026

 

Coming Festival: Hag HaSuccoth - Feast of Tabernacles

 

Friday Evening September 25, 2026 to Wednesday Evening October 4, 2026

For further information see:

http://www.betemunah.org/succoth.html ; http://www.betemunah.org/emunah.html ; http://www.betemunah.org/hoshana.html ; http://www.betemunah.org/shemini.html

http://www.betemunah.org/birth.html ; http://www.betemunah.org/simchat.html

 

 

 

 

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