Tag Archives: torah portion

Podcast 4: Isaac and Rebecca: The Other Hebrew

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Bibliography

Hittite Treaties and Letters, D. Luckenbill

The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures

Vol. 37, No. 3 (Apr., 1921), pp. 161-211

University of Chicago Press

Reflections on The Mitanni Emergence, G. Schwartz

Berlin Studies of the Ancient World, Vol. 17

The Beginning of Desire: Reflections on Genesis, A Zornberg

Image Books 1996

Studies in Bereishit, Nechama Leibowitz

Jerusalem, WZO, 1976

Pseudo Translation of Yonatan ben Uzziel:

http://targum.info/targumic-texts/pentateuchal-targumim/

Please see the main Bibliography for more.

Bibliography for 1st 3 Podcasts and Timeline of History

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

The Time of The Patriarchs

 

Bibliography

Tanach – The Jewish Bible, an anacronym of Torah (1st 5 books), Nevi’im (prophets), Ketuvim (Witings). Any Hebrew Tanach with clear print will do. preferably with all the major commentaries for this you will need:

Tanach with Mikraot Gedolot.

The Jewish Bible: Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures — The New JPS Translation According to the Traditional Hebrew Text: Torah * Nevi’im * Kethuvim JPS Paperback – November 1, 1985

An English Translation of Rashi on the Pentateuch M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann (5 vols., London, 1929–34)

Carta Bible Atlas, Y. Aharoni, Hendrickson Publishers, 2015

Archaeological Encyclopedia of the Holy Land, A. Negev , Mackmillan, 1990 (constantly updated)

A Chronology of Israel, A Wolff, 2008

The Jewish People: Their History and Their Religion , D. Goldberg and J Rayner Penguin 1992

Biblical Archaeology Review, Ed. Herschel Shanks, 1975 – present,

The Beginnings of Israel: A Methodological Working Hypothesis, Zecharia Kallai, Israel Exploration Journal, Vol. 59, No. 2 (2009), pp. 194-203

Jar-burial Customs and the Question of Infant Sacrifice in Palestine, WH. Wood, The Biblical World, 36.4  1910

Bereishit (Genesis) Rabbah – A Hebrew midrash, a translation can be found at: http://www.sefaria.org/Bereishit_Rabbah

Midrash Tanchuma – Another Hebrew Midrash, a translation can be found at http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/mhl/mhl04.htm

 

 

 

 

Podcast Episode One: Right From The Start: Abraham (Metchilah)

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

 

Welcome to my first podcast in the series: “The History of Judaism”. I shall be telling the History and story of the Jews from an educated Jewish Perspective. the first podcast focuses on Abraham and my decision to place this as the start of my narrative about Jewish History.

Here is a Map of Abraham’s Journeys:

Abaraham's Journey

 

Next time: A Journey to the Other Side: Abraham’s historical narrative

(The music in this podcast is “By Way of Haran” by Pharoah’s Daughter recreated under the following creative commons license “Live on WFMU’s Transpacific Sound Paradise 12/12/2009 byPharaoh’s Daughter is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.” Check out the band at www.pharaohsdaughter.com/music.html )

Torah Portion: Kedoshim, Fallen Grains

By | | ,
Leave a comment

“Do not gather the fallen grains … you shall leave them for the stranger and the poor.”

(Vayikra / Leviticus 19:9 -10)

Many years ago I had the dubious honour to work in an airplane food factory. I will never forget the day that I was ordered to dispose of over 1000 kilos of produce because the produce was a day past its ‘use by date’. A few minutes drive by car from this warehouse were some of the poorest areas of England, where children have as bad nutritional health as some third world countries.

Such waste is not tolerated in the Bible. According to this week’s portion, if it is even slightly possible that produce will be wasted it is to be given to the poor and needy. Any grain dropped by a harvester or fruit left on trees or grapes that fell out of the gatherers basket must be left for the poor to collect.

This is not an archaic law, but one still very much in operation today through organisations such as Leket redistribute left over food from fields, factories, restaurants and catered events.

You too can join in this commandment, make it part of your tour to Israel and work in a field gathering fallen crops to give to those in need.  Either contact http://www.leket.org.il/english

Or we can build it into your tour of Israel, contact me here.

Watch this space for a new social action centered tour!

This word of Torah is dedicated to the health of Zlata bat Sima.

 

 

 

Torah Portion: Vayetse – The Place of Jacob’s Ladder

By | | , , , ,
Leave a comment

William Blake's painting of Jacob's Ladder

“Jacob went out of Beer Sheba and went towards Haran. He touched the Place and went to sleep for the sun was going down…”

(Genesis (Bereishit) 28:10 -11)

In this week’s Torah portion, when Jacob leaves his parents to escape from his brother’s wrath and find a wife there is a very bizarre episode. He arrived at some un-named place which the hebrew text says he ‘touched’, he then went to sleep and had a fantastical dream where God appears to him promising him saftey and he sees Angels ascending and descending on a ladder to heaven. If this was n’t bizarre enough Rashi the 10th century scholar’s explanation of the text is even more wondrous.

Which Place?

Rashi locates the place as Mount Moriah, the place where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac and where the Temple of Solomon was built. This fits in  thematically  as the Binding of Isaac concerned God’s protection of Abraham and his progeny and the Temple of Solomon was a conduit to heaven as symbolised by the dream.

Hang on, does n’t Jacob Give the place a name?

When Jacob woke up from his dream he says:

‘this is the House of God (or Beit El) and this is the gate of heaven”

(Genesis 28 : 17)

He calls it Beit El, not Mount Moriah, and as we can see on this map, they are at two entirely different places.

The position of Beit El in comparison to Jerusalem

Rashi and ‘Warpspace’

There are many explanations, some say Beit El is just meant figuratively, the ‘House of God’ means the Temple, not a place called ‘Beit El’ (not likely as the scripture goes to some lengths to tell us its former name; Luz).  Possibly it refers to the position of the temporary Temple that existed before the Temple of Solomon or the Tabernacle. This was placed for a long period in Shiloh, just North of Beit El. My favourite explanation is Rashi’s, that the land (and some Rashi scholars say the fabric of the Universe itself) folded or ‘warped’ so that Jerusalem was the same place as Beit El.

The Place

In any case in hebrew the word place; ‘HaMakom’ is one of the names of God and reminds us that in every place, no matter how far we may feel we are from God, God is there.

Torah Portion: Toldot

By | | , ,
Leave a comment
Flash Flood in the Negev Region in Nahal Geled

“May God Give you the Dew of Heaven and the fat of the land….”(Genesis 27:28)

In this weeks Torah Portion Isaac blesses Jacob with ‘the dew of heaven’. But why did n’t he bless him with the rain of heaven. The 12th and 13th century scholar Nahmanides gives us a clue to our answer.

Dew as opposed to rain.

Nahmanides, in his commentary on the Bible, wrote that dew is more useful because it falls in every place. Dew is condensation caused by a change in temperature causing moisture in the air to precipitate. It happens in both summer and winter and in many different terrains and climates.

Would n’t rain be more useful.

Rain is not always as welcome as dew. Recently it rained very heavily in Jerusalem and  the Judean hills causing flash floods and much destruction. The picture above is a flash flood in the Negev desert, flash floods have been known to carry away bridges, trees and top soil. In the winter, before the farmer has sown his seeds, the flash flood is welcome, it waters the ground, fills up cisterns and water reserves and prepares the agricultural community for the season for sowing seeds. In the spring or summer it is a nightmare where the farmer loses his topsoil and the wandering hunter is caught unawares in a dangerous situation.

A Symbol of Universal protection.

The blessing of dew is a symbol of God’s protection in any situation and it forms a covering, just as in the morning the dew covers everything, God is everywhere watching out for us.

 

Torah Portion: Chayei Sarah: the Caves of the Patriarchs

By | | , ,
Leave a comment

The Cave of Machpelah, burial site of the Patriarchs at Night

“Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham in the Cave of Machpelah in the Field of Ephron the Hittite” (Genesis: 25:9)

This appearance of both Isaac and Ishmael at the funeral of Abraham is seen expressive of a situation where both Isaac and Ishmael were living in peace with one another. It is interesting to note that after burying Abraham in the place where Abraham buried his wife Sarah, Isaac then goes and lives in ‘Be’er Lehai Ro’i’ (The Well where Ishmael was saved by an angel). Seemingly Isaac actually dwelt with his brother and they operated with as a family unit (possibly including Hagar).

If one were to visit the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, commonly identified as Machpelah. One would also see Jews and Muslims (traditionally thought of as the descendants of Isaac and Ishmael respectively) sharing the same building for prayer.

Torah Portion: Vayera ‘The Terebinths of Mamre’

By | | , , ,
1 Comment

“God appeared to Abraham at the Terebinths of Mamre“

(Genesis 18:23)

What’s a Terebinth?

The word in Hebrew here is ‘Alon’ which refers to Oak rather than Terebinth, which is a different kind of tree. The Picture above is of a ‘Quercus Calliprinos’ or ‘Palestine Oak’, which can be seen all over Israel.

 

Torah Portion Ki Tavo – Where to stay ?

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

This week’s Torah Reading describes an obligation for all Jew’s to the bring first fruits of their produce in the Land of Israel to the Temple at three times in the year.  The picture above is an artist’s impression of what one of the Gates to the Temple (Robinson’s arch) would have looked like. One can well imagine thousands of Jews crowding these steps waiting to present their first fruits. A good question to ask would be; if all the Jews in ancient Israel came here, where would they stay?

Visit the Davidson Centre

A guided tour in the Davidson Archeological Centre would answer this question. At the bottom of the park their are a series of excavations where the remains of massive structures were unearthed. It is thought that these massive structures dating back to the Herodian period were hostels for pilgrims.

Free Room and Board

In the light of certain aspects of Jewish law (See Tosefta Maaser Sheni 1:12) where renting rooms in Jerusalem was forbidden,  it seems possible that there was not only a Hostel for a large number of people, but it  was a a free hostel. There is a source where one Rabbi Elazar ben Zaddok even restricts the rental of linen or beds (see Ahron Horovitz’s book Jerusalem: Footsteps Through Time).

Come and See it for Yourself !

The Jews would come and present the first fruits every Pesach (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost) and Succot (Tabernacles). It is still a tradition to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem at these times of year. If you want to see some tour ideas click here !

To book your trip click here !