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Haftarah for this Week: ‘Like a booth in a field of Gourds’.

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A Shomera in Wadi Jinan near road 443 (Watch this space, I am going to upload a better picture of a Shomera that I saw)

“The Daughter of Zion is left like a (sucah) booth in a vineyard, like a (melunah) shed  in a field of gourds” (Isaiah Chapter 1:8)

This week is part for the 9 days of mourning leading up to the 9th of Av which commemorates the destruction of both Temples and the various tradgedies of the Diaspora. There is a tradition to read on the Sabbath before the 9th of Av from the first prophecy of Isaiah. In his prophecy he predicts the downfall of Judah and anthropomorphises her and explains how she is abandoned like a special type of building described as a ‘booth’ (a sucah) or some kind of lodging place (a melunah). Both are types of ‘Shomera’ which is a concept which has existed since ancient times and is used in arab agriculture.

The Shomera

A Shomera is used as a watchman’s booth in harvest time. During the harvest the harvester lives in a little hut next to his field until he has finished his harvesting and no longer has any more produce to protect.

So What’s So Bad about being abandoned like a Shomera?

A few weeks ago I was hiking in the beautiful hills of Sataf, which is an old abandoned village just West of Jerusalem. There is a wonderful trail that I can recommend called the ‘trail of the Shomerot’. Where you follow a trail of such booths up the hillside. It was just after midday and incredibly hot, my companions and I were forced to seek refuge inside an ancient Shomera. It certainly is not luxury accommodation, its a dank crampt little stone hut that you hide in from the scolding midday sun.

A mixture of Protection and Abandonment

The image here is stark, the ‘daughter of Zion’ is fleeing from the Sun; the harsh judgement that has been meted out to her and her only protection is a dank hut on a mountainside. Yet she does have some protection even though it is rickety and unsafe. The Shomera is a symbol of both the oppressive situation of the Jewish people and their ability to ‘cling on’ and survive in the oppressive heat of history. It is not the ideal situation but it is survival.

(These words of Torah are dedicated to the speedy recovery of Zlata bat Sima, please include her in your prayers)

Haftorah for Torah Portion: Matot – Jeremiah’s Northern Prophecy

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Stearn Family Tour - Pointing North

Stearn Family Tour – Pointing North by YossiTourGuide

‘And the word came to me a second time and he said;

“what do you see?”

I said; ” A bubbling pot and its face its pointing North.”

The eternal said;

“From the North shall spout forth evil on to all of the inhabitants of the land.”‘ (Jeremiah 1: 13 – 14)

This week’s reading of the Prophets (Hafarah) is from the Book of Jeremiah. It is part of a series of Haftarot leading up to the ninth of Av, the day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples and subsequent Diaspora of the Jews.  In it God speaks to him telling him that “From the North Shall spout forth Evil”.

Trouble Up North

 

Historically Jerusalem was invaded from the North. In the period of history before, when Isaiah was prophesying, Sennacharib, the King of Assyria invaded (unsuccessfully) from the North. During Jeremiah’s time Nebuchadnezzar conquered from the North, as did the Romans and when the Crusaders invaded Israel they came from Lebanon and Syria. In recent history, in 1948, the Jordanians shelled the City from the North and East. Though, counter to our rule, the Israeli paratroopers, in 1967, entered the Lions Gate in the North to conquer the Old City. Seemingly most conquests Jerusalem come from the North.

The Meaning of North

 

In tactical terms we can say that conquests typically come from the North because that is where the highest ground is; from the Mount of Olives and Mount Scopus. However there is a more spiritual reason to do with the meaning of the word North. In Hebrew North is:

צפון – Zafon

 

As we learnt in the Torah Portion of Balak, words in Hebrew have ‘root’ letters which tell us about their meaning. We can make a number of words from the root letters of Zafon:

A Zofe in Hebrew is a scout.

Lizpot is to forsee

Mazpen is a compass

Mazpun is a conscience

The word North is to do with looking forward, forseeing and looking with an agenda in mind.

 

Negative Prophecies

 

Not all looking with an intent is negative, without an ability to foresee certain actions and their  moral consequences we would not have a conscience. There is a type of prophecy that is always negative, this is the type that is common amongst people with depression. It consists of statements such as:

‘I always make mistake X’

‘I will never succeed

‘This type of thing is always happening to me.’

These over generalisations plague our speech and harm our lives, and become true, not by virtue of an innate truth of these statements, but by the belief of the person stating them.

It was God that told Jeremiah to look North, normally it would have been a really bad idea to make such a negative prophecy. In fact if we look at the text it took two prophecies, one with a almond tree stick and the other more disturbing image of a bubbling cauldron. Surely one warning was enough?

The lesson that we learn by the doubling of the prophecy and the harshness of the imagery is that it was not a normal matter, rather it excels in abnormality. The prophecy is the exception that proves the rule:

that a person should not become the prophet of his own downfall.


Spotlight on Nature: Coypu the Fuzzy Invader

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httpv://youtu.be/o2Ajqoqs-es

This is the South American Coypu, what is it doing in the Hula valley in Northern Israel?

So the story goes…

A number of years ago an enterprising Israeli farmer wanted to start a fur farming business. The problem is that mink and ermine do n’t do too well in the hot winters in the middle east. So he found this charming South American rodent that produces wonderfully thick fur every winter.

There was but one snag…

Israeli winters are not cold enough for these little fellas. So what did he do … he released them into the wild.

Big Mistake!

These fellas eat up the roots of plants and do a great job at messing up the local attempts to re – invigorate the wetlands by eating through irrigation pipes and messing up canals.

I think they are very cute and look forward to the day when we will be able to live side by side with these fuzzy invaders.

Torah Portion: Pinchas (Phineas)

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Elijah went a days walk in the desert and sat under a Rotem Bush (1 Kings 19:4)

This weeks Haftarah (reading of the Prophets that accompanies the Torah Reading) is
from the part of the Book of Kings. It describes how the Prophet Elijah was being persecuted by the Evil King
Ahab and his wife Jezebel. So he ran to the wilderness and sat in despair under a Rotem Bush (pictured above).

So the Question might be:
Why sit under specifically a Rotem bush?

So here’s where the hiking comes in. When I go on a hike the picture above is normally the last thing that I expect to see. What I normally see is a spindly little bush with no leaves.In fact the Rotem bush is well known for having no leaves andcarrying out photosynthesis through its branches.

The meaning of this is that Elijah felt depressed and abandoned and so he sat under a Bush with No Leaves.

Leaves are a symbol of Chesed, lovingkindess.

In the next scene God catches on and sends him an angel who brings him food.

The Rotem Bush is a metaphor for a lack of lovingkindess and God responds with kindness.

Movement of the Month :The Aliyah of Yehuda Hachasid

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Finally …. as promised – The Movement of the Month this Month is the Aliya of Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid.

Yehuda HaChasid’s followers built this beautiful synagogue pictured above. This synagogue was destroyed in 1948 by the Jordanian forces and was rebuilt this year. But this was not the first time that it was destroyed….

Judah the Righteous or Yehuda HaChasid (the Righteous) was a mystical leader in Southern Ukraine in the late 1600s. He wrote many mystical works and started 2 movements: a movement for mysticism in Easter European (Ashkenaz) Jewry called ‘Chasidei Ashkenaz’ and a group to settle Israel. He believed that the Messiah ‘s coming was imminent and so he went with some of followers  to the Holy Land. This group that went to Israel were called the Holy Community or ‘HaChevra HaKedosha’.

The group was shunned by many who assumed them to be associated with the groups of the False Messiah Shabbtai Tzvi.

Before their ‘Aliya’ or immigration (also means to go up) they collected many pledges of money to help them build their new community.

Calamity befell- soon after their arrival in the Holy Land Rabbi Yehuda fell ill and died. As all the pledges were in his name, the community became impoverished and unable to pay their debts to the local Ottomans. The synagogue was destroyed and the people beaten and a law was made forbidding Ashkenazic Jews entry to Jerusalem until a repayment was made nearly 500 years later.

The synagogue was known as a ruin or ‘Hurva’ for a very long time., so long that when it was rebuilt in the 19th and twentieth centuries (yes it took that long to rebuild it! – nearly 80 years due to money problems, again!), even though it had the name ‘Beit Yaakov’ (House of Jacob) it was still known as the Hurva. Unfortunately the name became a prophecy, it joined 56 other synagogues destroyed by the Jordanians.

Today one can still visit the remnants of the old European Jewish colony (Deir Ashkenaz) and the Hurva Synagogue; the ruin of Rabbi Yehuda HaChasid.

Torah Portion: Korach

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‘And behold, the staff of Aaron or the House of Levi had sprouted and blossomed and there were almonds.’ (Numbers / Bamidbar 17:24)

In this week’s portion we have the story of the rebellion of Korach where Korach’s leadership was called into question. The Eternal set a ‘competition’ between all the tribes to proves Aaron’s right to the Priesthood. They were all to take staffs and write their names on them and place them in front of the ‘Tent of Meeting’, all the staffs remained the same except for Aaron’s which sprouted almond blossoms.

The significance of almond blossoms is understood by Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (an 11th century Torah scholar) as being a sign of promptness, he says that ‘ with one who objects to the priesthood, his calamities shall be prompt to come’.

The image of the  almond is synonymous with judgement. I carry out the following experiment;

I found a wild almond tree that had produced fruit, it was easy to find as the almond tree is indigenous to Israel and a common site to see when walking in the forests and hills of Israel. I tried to open the fruit, but the nut was so tough it took a good whack with a rock. The effort was not that worth it, you got a tiny fruit, yet the taste was really bizarre. I’m used to the kind of almond that you get in the supermarket, the taste was really strong, really bitter and kind of sweet at the same time.

The message that I take from this is that the almond is a symbol of divine judgement, what is called in Hebrew, Din. Din is strong and powerful, like the taste of the almond and strength of its shell. Yet it is meant for the betterment of humanity, symbolized by the flowers of the almond and its sweetness.

Torah Portion: B’ha’alotcha

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‘And this was the deed of the Menorah beaten out of Gold, from its base to its flowering it was beaten out, just as the Eternal revealed to Moses in a vision’. (Bamidbar / Numbers 8:4)

Why did Moses need to be illustrated the method of building the Menorah or Candelabra in a vision, why could n’t he just have it shown to him?

The making of the Menorah is described earlier in the Bible, it was supposed to be made of pure Gold and beaten out of one piece of metal. This involves two impossibilities:

Firstly if the Menorah was made of pure gold, it would not keep its shape. Most gold is mixed with an impurity so that it will keep its shape, gold is normally fairly soft. This is why we have the karat system, which is a system of grading the impurities in the gold.

Secondly, how could it be beaten out of one piece of gold, this is metallurgically impossible. It can be molded out of one piece, or many pieces could be beaten and then stuck together, but to get one massive lump of gold and beat out an intricate item  would be impossible.

This is why Moses required a vision, because the making of the Candelabra or Menorah was a miracle and only the Eternal could show him how to do it. The Menorah in the picture above is the Menorah that belongs to the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, it stands next to the steps to the Western Wall Plaza. To illustrate this point, it was made of a high quality of gold (but not pure gold)   and was formed by a chemical / electrical process called electrolysis.

Doves of Peace

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Portion of the Week: Vayikra (Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26)


‘ואם מין העוף עולה קרבנו לה”

“והקריב מן התורים ומין בני יונה את קרבנו

“If he is to bring an offering that is to be eaten to the Eternal then he shall bring it from the ‘Torim’ Doves and from the Doves”

This week’s portion fits in very well with the official start of my blog, for it is the official start of a new reading of a book of the Pentateuch; ‘Vayikra’ (Leviticus: the Laws of Priesthood or in Hebrew ‘He Called’). It also contains a very important concept to Jews; Peace.

The quote above is dealing with the laws concerning a person who wishes to offer a bird as an offering to the Eternal one. According to this verse, one can only offer either a Dove or a Rock pigeon. But this is very confusing as any decent bird watcher will instantly tell you; Rock pigeons (the Grand Daddy of our City Pigeons) are a type of Dove.

Why can’t you just say; ‘bring me your Doves !’ or some thing like that?

Also, why Doves? Why can’t you bring chicken? Most good Jews eat chicken (apart from vegetarians, I’m a veggie too, I was upset by the lack of a tofu sacrifice, but that’s a discussion for another time). There is a special significance to this choice of bird.

Most commandments are connected to the reality of the situation of the Children of Israel or the reality that they would face in the Holyland. There are 4 main kinds of Dove that visit Israel, the first was captured on camera by a friend:

The Rock Dove / Pigeon

(picture courtesy of Remi Rauh)

The Collared Dove

The Turtle Dove

Laughing Dove

All of the four fit into the general category ‘Dove’ or ‘Yonah’, the first three, according to scripture, can be categorised as ‘Tor’ in Hebrew, what I have called “‘Torim’ Doves”, the last is part of the Global Category of Doves and Pigeons (see ‘Daat Mikra’ published by Mosad HaRav Kook on this verse who names the first three categories). The first of the three the Rock Dove or Columbia Livia in Latin were commonly used in the ancient Middle East as farmed edible foul. It was very common to have a Columbarium (an underground cave with niches for the housing of doves, now means a mausoleum but originally came from the word ‘Columba’ in Latin meaning Dove) attached to a house as part of the family’s food supply. The picture below was taken in the ruins of a large settlement outside Jerusalem called Maresha, which contains a vast number of underground Columbaria including this massive one which also became a Church and later on a Mosque.

(Columbarium of Beit Guvrin courtesy of Remi Rauh)

It is even suggested that before their domestication it was fairly easy to catch a dove and these are the kind that frequented Israel. So the text is telling us, ‘bring an offering from the ‘Torim’ these are the easiest to find, if not buy a ‘Dove’, it gives us the easiest option first as the more preferable one. This sacrifice is to do with Hesed ; loving-kindness to the person bringing the sacrifice, that it should be a service to the Eternal which is easy to accomplish.

There is a much deeper reason why the Dove is used at all. The Dove is first mentioned in connection with Noah, it is the Dove that heralded the end of the flood and became for eternity the international symbol of Peace. The Great Rabbis said;

‘It is better to be one of the pursuers than one of the pursued and there is none pursued more than the ‘Torim’ Dove and the Dove’ (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Baba Kama 93 side A, quoting Rabbi Abahu).

This has a dual meaning, firstly it is a message to be essentially a peaceful person (I do n’t think it means get yourself killed, anybody who has tried to trap birds knows that they certainly struggle and if you want proof I’ll happily take you to a Dove ringing at one of the many Bird Survey centres in Israel and prove this to you). Secondly it means to be a person who is at peace with the service of the eternal, it is evident from the many columbarium in the environs of Jerusalem that they were the most common thing to be sacrificed at the temple, the easiest thing for a person to get hold of to serve the Holy One. The message we are given is that we should ourselves be resigned in peace to divine service both with ourselves and with others.

What is my blog about?

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בס”ד

Welcome to my blog!

A Scholarly Insight into the Spirituality and Physicality of Israel

Using my expertise gained on my course in tour guiding, in Yeshiva (Talmudic Academy) and as a ‘Land of Israel Studies’ teacher, I shall produce an informative entertaining weekly and monthly blog articles. I do not just aim to inform about the Land of Israel, Torah, Wildlife or the many wonderful people that inhabit or have inhabited his Holy Land, but I also wish to inspire and entertain. I believe that Israel is the most vibrant and exciting country in the world. The concept of ‘Israel: the Holy Land’ works on many levels both on a physical and spiritual level, in learning about Israel you can both become a better educated person and a more spiritually aware individual. As the Jewish Sages taught:

אווירא דארץ ישראל מחכים

The Atmosphere of the Land of Israel Makes one wise. (Babylonian Talmud: Tractate Baba Batra 138 B)

Israel: Land of the Bible – a weekly insight into the home of Monotheism

It is traditional for Jews to read a prescribed portion of the Pentateuch every week on Saturday and to review the portion through the week. This is known in Hebrew as the ‘Parshat Hashavua’ (the Weekly Portion). It is my contention that every part of the Torah connects with the land of Israel, this is not just a crazy idea that I thought up but a well known idea most recently popularised by one of my Rabbis, Rav Moshe Lichtman who wrote ‘Eretz Yisrael in the Parsha’. Each week I shall
produce an article connecting an aspect of this week’s parsha to a site that you can visit in Israel. I intend to include both modern and ancient sites, touch on aspects of archaeology, botany, zoology and history and reveal the spiritual aspect within the site of focus.

Spotlight on Nature

As the crossroads of 3 continents, Israel has been not just the meeting point for human civilisations but also for animal and bird migration. It possesses a variety of micro – climates which in turn produce varied ecosystems. Each month shall include a special spotlight on Nature. I shall introduce new ecological developments in Israeli culture. I shall discuss aspects of the multitudinous species that live in Israel.

Movement of the Month

Israel is a vibrant mixture of many cultures, philosophies and religions. I encourage you to read the ‘Movement of the Month’ section which will focus on a different movement in Israel will be it a counter culture, a present ideology or a civilisation long gone. I shall discuss the historical background of the movement, its philosophy and how it affected Israel and world history.

You the Reader

I know shocking is n’t it ? I expect something of you too!

Firstly: come and visit! Contact me and I’ll help you get here, I firmly believe that everybody regardless of wealth or race or belief should visit Israel at least once. If there’s a money problem contact me and I’ll find a way for you to get here.

Secondly: I’ll try and be as objective as I can without being some kind of grey robot, so long as you do the same. Please leave comments, please share ideas, do n’t be offensive or I’ll have to remove it. (That goes for both the ‘right’ and ‘left’ wing, do n’t assume that because you think I’ll agree with you that you will not get erased)

Thirdly: sign up, or just sit back read, watch, listen and enjoy…