Archive for January, 2009
Yesterday on Shabbat Jews and other Torah oriented folk who follow the weekly cycle of Torah readings (Parashot) began the second scroll of the Torah, namely Exodus or “Shemot” in Hebrew. In Hebrew the books of the Torah take their names from the first key word of the opening line, in this case “These are the names (Heb shemot) of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob, each coming with his own household (Exodus 1:1).
Likewise, each Torah reading, week by week, takes its name from the first words of the first line of a given section or division, so in this case, the name of the first Torah reading from the book of Exodus is the same as the book itself–Shemot/Names, and runs from Exodus 1:1 through 6:1.
It is a rather amazing prelude to the Exodus story, not only providing the account of the birth of Moses, the greatest Prophet of human history (see Deut 34:10), but it quickly covers, in summary fashion, his life up to age 80 when he is tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro, in the area of Horeb, which is most likely known today as Paran, in the NE Sinai peninsula. At age 80 one would think, given the history of Moses’s flight as a fugitive from Egypt, and his 40 years in the household of Jethro, that his life was basically set with the main events now past. Yet the rest of the Torah recounts the final 40 years of Moses’s life, that proved to be more critical than any of his previous 80 years. At the core of his subsequent story, and at the absolute center of his experiences, was his initial encounter with YHVH, whom he encountered as mysterious voice emerging from a flaming bush that was somehow not consumed but kept burning brightly as he got closer. Then he heard, “Moses Moses,” and one who identified himself in the first person: “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Moses took off his shoes and hid his face–for the ground itself was holy through this unprecedented manifestation of YHVH.
It was this fateful encounter that changed the history of the world. Moses is called in the Torah the “meekest man in all the earth” (Numbers 12:3), and he considers himself wholly inadequate for the awesome task God assigns to him–namely to go to the Pharaoh of Egypt and tell him face to face–YHVH, the God of Israel, commands you to Let My People Go.”
It is difficult to read these words today without putting this familiar story into the category of a “Bible story,” far removed from the real world of nations, peoples, and governments such as ours today. Step back and actually try to imagine Moses as a shepherd in the desert, following the extraordinary life experiences of his past, long ago having given up on any significant role to his life beyond his family–and suddenly having this encounter that turned everything around and ended up changing everything–setting the stage for the Mt Sinai encounter and revelation, the greatest even in human history. One has to think back to Abraham, who in Genesis 12, also heard a voice, the manner of which is not reported, but is told to leave his country and kindred to a land that he would be shown–to pull up everything and become the first “Hebrew,” or wandering one who had left the civilization beyond the River (Euphrates) following a vision and a voice in his head that promised him a destiny that would change the world.
When you think about it, Abraham and Moses, and their two encounters with YHVH, both decisive in their own way, become the foundation of all that subsequently follows…
Today’s Torah reading, Vaychi, lit. “and he lived”: Genesis 47:28-50:26, ends the book of Genesis. It contains many fascinating elements, including the death-bed scene of the last hours of Jacob with his special blessing of the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh, as well as prophetic says regarding his twelve sons and what would befall them in the “latter days.” If one reads carefully the language, although it is recorded in the mouth of Jacob, the first person references seem to fit better as YHVH speaking through him. Also, even though this section is often referred to as the “blessings of Jacob” upon his sons, the text does not say that. Rather it says that Jacob tells them what will “befall them in the afterward days…” In fact, these sayings actually contain curses, at least in the cases of Reuben, Simon, and Levi–the three eldest of the twelve sons.
A few random observations…
Joseph is told that he would “become a assembly of peoples,” which is echoed by the general prediction that Jacob subsequently offers–Joseph will be a “fruitful wine” whose branches run over the wall, as watered by a well. He is made strong by the “hand of the Might One (‘Avir) of Jacob” (49:22-24). Most surprising then is the statement that “from thence (Joseph’s line) comes the shepherd the Stone of Israel (v. 24). This blessings seems to anticipate some redemptive role for one of the descendants of Joseph, whereas one normally thinks of Judah as the tribe bringing forth the messianic line. This might be our earliest hint of the notion of two “messiahs,” one of Judah and the other of Joseph…
Ephraim the younger son of Joseph, receives the “birthright” over Manasseh his older brother, to whom the blessing would normally come as firstborn. Both are to become great, but the younger Ephraim is to be even greater, as he will become a “fullness of nations.”
This is explained in 1 Chronicles 5:1 as the “birthright” being given to “Joseph” over Reuben, the firstborn, because of the latter’s sexual sins. Even in Gen 49 Jacob says to Reuben “You shall not excel.”
A similarly negative evaluation is put upon Simon and Levi, despite the honor that is given to the tribe of Levi, and the priests as sons of Aaron, among the Jewish people to this day. What Jacob says of them is rather shocking–”Let my soul not come into their council.” He then curses them and declares “I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel,” indicating, that these prophetic words of Jacob are understood to really be the words of YHVH through him.
Judah is blessed but his blessing contains the interesting and mysterious line: “The staff shall not depart from Judah, nor the sceptre between his feet, until Shiloh come, and to him shall the obedience of the peoples.” I have translated this rather literally here, making Shiloh a proper name, as I think it likely is. Others render this phrase “until he comes to Shiloh,” or “until he comes to whom it belongs,” or even “until tribute come to him.” One is tempted here to bring in the similar phrasing of Ezekiel 21:27 “…until he comes whose right it is,” which is connected to the ending of the Solomonic line Judean kings in the person of Jeconiah (compare Jeremiah 22:24-30), with some future rightful heir to take the rulership.
It is worth noting, perhaps, that the gematria of Shiloh is 358–the same as the Hebrew word “Moshiah” or messiah. Indeed, it seems likely, given the close context in this passage of Jacob’s sayings, that the idea of the “sceptre” departing from Judah, and perhaps then being given to Joseph is a definite possibility, given the language of 49:24.
The death and burial of Jacob in his own land are moving and poignant, and the book of Genesis ends with the death of Joseph at 110 years old. Notice, he is put in a “box,” (Hebrew ‘aron), or coffin, the same word used for the “ark” or box that holds the stone tablets with the ten words in Exodus–so much for any holy or special meaning for the word “ark.”
Everyone familiar with either Jewish tradition or biblical history knows of the “Fast of the 5th,” namely the practice of fasting and mourning on the 9th of Av (the 5th month on the Jewish calendar), in memory of the destruction of both Jewish Temples (586 BCE and 70 CE) during that time. This practice goes back over 2500 years and is mentioned in the book of the Prophet Zechariah (8:18-19), around 515 BCE.
However, Zechariah mentions another fast day–”the Fast of the 10th month,” referring to today, January 6th, which is the 10th of Tevet (the 10th month on the Jewish calendar). This second fast day, also referenced by Zechariah, is connected to the initial siege of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, on the 10th day of the 10th month, in the winter of 587 BCE, seven months before its destruction in August, 586 BCE (9th of Av).
Here is a fascinating article, based on Rabbinic traditions regarding the chronology of these days, by Daniel Pinner, from israelnationalnews.com, that offers some provocative reflections on this date in history:
The Fast of the TenthTevet 10, 5769, 06 January 09 12:04by by Daniel Pinner
(IsraelNN.com) “And it happened in the ninth year of [Zedekiah's] reign, in the tenth month [i.e., Tevet], on the tenth of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came – he and all his army – against Jerusalem, besieged it and built a siege tower around it.” (II Kings 25:1, Jeremiah 52:4)Zedekiah was the very last king of Judah, who had ascended the throne in a turbulent period of Jewish history. One hundred and twenty-two years earlier, Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, had conquered the northern kingdom of Israel; he took King Hoshea captive and sent the ten tribes into exile, scattered throughout the Assyrian Empire, where they were lost to the Jewish national body. The southern kingdom of Judea would survive for another 133 years, under constant threat of invasion and occasional incursions from Egypt and Babylon, before finally being invaded and conquered by Nebuchadnezzar.
Zedekiah’s father, Josiah, had reigned for thirty-one years. He had ascended the throne when he was just eight years old, and tried desperately to repair the spiritual ravages that his predecessors had caused to the nation: he renovated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which had not been maintained properly since King Jehoash, eight kings and over 200 years previously; he restored the Torah to Judah; he destroyed the idols, including the Asherah tree from the Holy Temple, and burned them all; he dismissed the priests of idolatry and destroyed the rooms that they had maintained within the Holy Temple; he destroyed all the idolatrous altars throughout the Land; and he restored the Pesach sacrifice, which had been neglected for centuries.
His reign came to an abrupt end when Pharaoh Neco wanted to traverse through Judea on his way to fight Assyria. King Josiah would not tolerate a foreign army on Judean soil, so he confronted the pharaoh in Megiddo. In the ensuing battle, Pharaoh Neco killed King Josiah, whereupon the masses anointed Josiah’s son Jehoahaz as king.
Jehoahaz, however, was an evil king; and after reigning for just three months, the pharaoh captured him, exiled him, reduced Judea to a vassal state, and put Jehoaz’s brother Eliakim on the throne, changing his name to Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim, also an evil king, reigned for eleven years, first as a vassal of Egypt, then of Babylon. Eventually, a Babylonian-Moabite-Ammonite alliance attacked Judea, inflicting terrible damage. Jehoiakim died, and his eighteen-year-old son Jehoiachin became king. Jehoiachin was just as evil as his father and, after he reigned for just three months, Babylon besieged Jerusalem, pillaged the treasures of the Holy Temple, exiled tens of thousands of Jews, and took King Jehoiachin into captivity in Babylon.
The king of Babylon then crowned Jehoiachin’s uncle, Mattaniah, as vassal-king of Judea, changing his name to Zedekiah. And then, after nine years of autonomy in the Babylonian Empire, on the tenth of Tevet, the Babylonian army began its siege on Jerusalem, the last stage before the final obliteration of Jewish independence. Just seven months later, on the 7th of Av, Nebuzaradan, the chief executioner of Babylon, would arrive in Jerusalem to burn the Holy Temple two days later – on the 9th of Av.
The 9th of Av had been ordained as a day of destruction and mourning ever since the spies whom Moshe had sent to spy out the Land of Israel had returned, given their evil report, and the nation spurned the Land of Israel and cried in their lack of faith. The Talmud (Ta’anit 29a) calculates the Torah’s chronology: on the 20th of Iyar we left Mount Sinai (Numbers 10:11); this was followed by a three-day journey (v.33) concluding on the 23rd of Iyar; a 30-day sojourn in Kibroth-Hata’avah (ibid. 11:20, 34) concluding on the 22nd of Sivan; and finally seven days in Hazeroth (11:35, 12:15-16) before reaching the Paran Desert (ibid. 12:16) on the 29th of Sivan.
Hence, Moshe sent out the twelve spies on the 29th of Sivan (compare Targum Yonatan to Numbers 13:20). They returned forty days later on the 8th of Av and gave their evil report of the Land; and when night fell and the nation cried, it was the evening of the 9th of Av. Instead of the 9th of Av being the day that we entered the Land of Israel and brought the redemption, it became a day of tragedy.
But what event foreshadowed the siege of Jerusalem beginning on the 10th of Tevet?
It seems to me that the Torah gives us a hint of what the background was. 1,291 years before the First Temple was destroyed, three angels appeared to Abraham and Sarah, heralding the birth of their son Isaac the following year (Genesis 18:1-14). The Talmud and the midrashim are consistent about the chronology: the angel promised Sarah that she would bear her son Isaac exactly one year hence (18:10); the 400 years of Abraham’s seed living as “strangers in a land not their own” (15:13) began with the birth of Isaac and finished with the Exodus from Egypt. Since the Exodus occurred on the 15th of Nisan, Isaac was born 400 years to the day earlier; i.e., also on the 15th of Nisan. And since the angelic prophecy to Sarah was one year to the day before Isaac was born, this episode also happened on the 15th of Nisan.
This was also the day before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, sparing only Lot and his two daughters, who fled into the hills (Genesis 19:1-25). The night following the destruction, Lot’s daughters, fearing that they were the only three people remaining in the world, plied their father with drink and impregnated themselves by him. They gave birth to sons – the elder bore Moab and the younger bore the ancestor of Ammon (19:30-38).
Nine months after the 16th of Nisan brings us to the 10th of Tevet. Hence, Moab and Ammon, the two nations who, in alliance with Babylon, would attack Judea and thus initiate the process that would culminate in Judea being captured and the Holy Temple destroyed, were born on the 10th of Tevet – the day that Babylon began the siege on Jerusalem.
Thus, Jewish independence would be extinguished in the Land of Israel and, for the next 70 years, the Land was to lie desolate under Babylonian occupation. At the end of that time, the Persian King Cyrus (Koresh) defeated Babylon, inherited the Babylonian Empire – including Israel – and proclaimed the right of any Jew who wanted to return to Israel and to rebuild the Holy Temple.
In the days of the Second Temple, we did not fast on the fast days of mourning (the 17th of Tammuz, the 9th of Av, Tzom Gedaliyah on the 3rd of Tishrei, and the 10th of Tevet): one does not mourn over the destruction on the Temple while the Temple is standing. The Rambam, however, states that the Jews did fast on the 9th of Av in the Second Temple period (commentary to the Mishnah, Rosh HaShanah 1:3; “Laws of Fasts” 5:5).
It seems puzzling that we should fast in mourning for the Temple when the Temple is standing. The Maggid Mishneh (commentary on the Mishneh Torah by Rabbi Vidal of Tolosa, 14th-century Spain) explains: “According to our rabbi [the Rambam], the custom [whether or not to fast] depends upon the circumstances, as the Talmud [Rosh HaShanah 18b] makes clear. In a time of peace – which means when the Holy Temple is built – the fast days are days of rejoicing and gladness; in times of persecution, they are fast days; and in times when there is neither peace nor persecution, every Jew who desires to fast can fast. However, fasting is not obligatory, with the exception of the fast of the 9th of Av, because there were so many disasters on this day. But now, everyone fasts on all these days and all are obligatory upon every Jew until the Holy Temple will be rebuilt.” (Maggid Mishneh on “Laws of Fasts” 5:5)
Evidently, the Second Temple, being only temporary, could annul three of the four fasts of mourning. But the 9th of Av is such a disastrous day that a temporary Temple cannot override it.
But the third and final Holy Temple will convert even the 9th of Av into the day of joy and festivity that it was originally intended to be, a day of redemption: “Thus said HaShem, Lord of Legions: The fast of the fourth [month, i.e., Tammuz] and the fast of the fifth [month, i.e., Av] and the fast of the seventh [month, i.e., Tishrei], and the fast of the tenth [month, i.e., Tevet] will turn into rejoicing and gladness and festivities for the House of Judah. So love truth and peace.” (Zechariah 8:19)
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This weekend marked the 65th anniversary of the initial organizational meeting of United Israel World Union, held over the weekend of Dec 30, 1943-January 1, 1944, in Waterville, NY. Ironically, the Torah reading that weekend was VaYigash (Genesis 44:18-47:27), coupled with the Haftarah reading from Ezekiel 37:15-28. In this section of the Torah “Judah draws near to Joseph,” who was taken to be dead and forgotten, and the aging Jacob is told “Joseph yet lives!” The Rabbis, in coupling the reading from Ezekiel 37 with this Torah portion clearly wanted to signal a deeper symbolic historical cast to the Joseph story–namely that the “lost tribes’ of Joseph, that is, the “stick of Ephraim,” would emerge from their “valley of dry bones” and join with the “stick of Judah,” in inaugurating the Messianic era.
As it happens, January 3, 2009, this past Shabbath, was the occasion for the annual UIWU executive officers meeting in Charlotte, NC, held each January, and those present were quite aware of the correspondence both in dates (both Gregorian and Hebrew calendars), but also the same Torah/Prophets reading, precisely 65 years from that founding meeting.
United Israel World Union remains, to our knowledge, the oldest Jewish organization focused on the so-called “Lost Tribes,” and their past and future relationship with the Jewish people. In the very first issue of the United Israel Bulletin, Vol 1, Number 1, published in June, 1944, founder David Horowitz published an account of the founding of the organization that is worth reproducing here. UIWU, born 65 years ago this past weekend, was truly “birthed” in the critical days of WWII when the Allies were beginning to turn the tide with the Axis powers. Hitler’s armies had been defeated at Stalingrad and in Egypt in 1943 and D-Day and the invasion of Europe was on the horizon. Here is the 1944 account verbatim:
After many years of Biblical “journeyings” in connection with a United Israel, and after having gone “through the dark valley of human abuse,” YHVH inspirited David Howowitz, while in prayer and in supplication, to continue labors already commenced, namely, to stand with YHVH’s people Israel as their friend, teacher and intermediary, to the end that the scattered sheep of Israel may once again become reunited in true brotherhood and love via YHVH’s glorious and eternal Law.
Thus, following many strange and fantastic episodes occurring in these Biblical days in which we are now living, giving further testimony to the dynamic truth of the ever-functioning and eternal Word of YHVH, three brethren of the house of Joseph, namely, Clayton E. Burlingame, of Waterville. N.Y.; Huel L. Crockett, of New York City; and Robert Bruce, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y., were inspirited, individually, to unite with their brother David of the House of Judah in New York City.As a result thereof, Providence so guided that several meetings were arranged and held in up-state New York, at Bethaleph, home of the Burlingames, during December 30 and 31, 1943, and January 1, 1944, in connection with the actual formation of the Body United Israel.At these meetings it was decided to hold a Founders’ Assembly on Saturday evening, February 5th, it being the eleventh day of the eleventh month, Shevat, 5704.
The following is an abridged record of that gathering:
By YHVH’s grace, David opened the meeting with words of welcome and explanation of the significance of the occasion—further stressing that the Israel gathering here at Bethaleph unites many loving souls in various parts of the country who would be with us in spirit and prayer but could not attend by reason of distance.Most of these brethren and sisters had communicated and their letters would be read to the assembly.David then spoke of the glorious spirit of unity and love existing among all who have unified themselves in UNITED ISRAEL, indicating further “how glorious indeed are the doings of YHVH God, Greater of heaven and earth,” who had thus blessed the birth of UNITED ISRAEL after more than two thousand years of lost identity amidst Baal worship. . .
Continuing the introductory remarks, David explained how YHVH, the God of Israel, the Rock of all Ages, has always worked through man and nations in the fulfillment of His glorious Plan. . .
The spirit reigning over Bethaleph through out the Assembly was serene and solemn, and all present were imbued with love and thanksgiving to our Father, YHVH the King of Israel, who alone doth wondrous things.
Then David spoke of the many communications which had been sent in by our beloved brethren and sisters in Israel from the far reaches of the land. . .
At the conclusion of the reading of correspondence, David spoke briefly on the proposed UNITED ISRAEL BULLETIN which would become the organ and medium through which scattered brethren and sisters in UNITED ISRAEL could know of each other’s activities in the different parts of the country. It would also serve as a guide to all true servants of YHVH in that it would constantly touch upon original Biblical facts and explain them. Moreover, the bulletin would touch upon current events as well, in connection with their Biblical significance.David indicated that as soon as funds permitted, he would commence with publication of the bulletin. . .
David then stated that on the basis of decisions concluded at the December 30-31, 1943, and January 1, 1944, meetings, he had contacted an attorney-at-law in New York City, and engaged him to assist in the incorporation proceedings, and that, on the further basis of the data furnished the attorney by David, he had worked out a tentative draft of a Certificate of Incorporation and a Constitution and By-laws. . . (which was filed with the Secretary of State, State of New York, April 17, 1944) declare:
I.That the original Bible is the word of YHVH the Father, the Creator, and is the only basis for our daily conduct and life which must be modeled basically in accordance with the laws of Moses as instituted at Mount Sinai.
II.That the Ten Tribes of Israel are still in existence; . . . a great number of whom live in the United States of America.
III.That said United States of America was originally conceived on the principles of the Bible, as is evidenced by the acts and writings of the Founding Fathers and that it has therefore been destined by YHVH the Father, the Creator, to play a leading part in world affairs.
FIRST ANNUAL MEETING
The First Annual Meeting of United Israel was held at Bethaleph, home of Clayton and Erminie Burlingame at Waterville, New York, on Saturday evening, April 8th, 1944, the 15th day of Nisan.The assembly coincided with the Passover.David stated that “it was glorious to note that at this gathering of United Israel, members of the house of Joseph had joined brethren in Judah for the commemoration of this great redemption festival.There are others in the far reaches of the land who are with us in spirit at this moment,” David continued. . . To them we must add scores of sons and daughters of Israel scattered all over this Zion-land.”
The Constitution and By-laws of United Israel as well as the Certificate of Incorporation were read by Brother Crockett and then unanimously approved and accepted.All officers were re-elected for another year.