RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:TEVET 10:SHEMEI GERA

  RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL:JEWISH SPIRITUAL RENEWAL:JEWISH RENEWAL:10TH OF TEVET:SHEMEI BEN GERA

 

 

Comments on Class Shabbat 1/10/09:Hebrew College:Torah,TaNaK,Talmud 

 

 

Shalom Chaverim v Talmudim:

 

The class of this past Sunday brought in  many responses, and they are as varied as the grains of sand on our beaches and the stars in our skies. This of course is not surprising, as we Jews do not have a single dogma, nor one 'Pope' of the Jews, or Head Rabbi, whose opinion to which we must adhere.

 

''Israel at War,'' brings out some very visceral reactions but I am happy to say, in keeping with our only class rule of not having makloket, strife, everyone has responded with cool heads and has behaved in the best of Jewish tradition. Thank you!

 

As a great Jew once said: ''Life is too small for us to act small.''

 

The original class is at the bottom.

 

Here goes. Some have asked for their names to be redacted:

---

 

Diane writes:

 

Rabbi Art:

 As I have said before, you are a modern Prophet. You are not afraid to teach all of Judaism to us, the good, the wonderful, the sometimes ugly. Asking folks to think out of the box, and to not have a knee jerk reaction to respond to violence with violence is Judaic, and in line with the greatest of our sages. Anyone cursing you for it is only cursing the best that Judaism has to offer.

 

Those that know you well, know you have true Ahavath Israel, and firmly believe in the Talmudic edict of 'All Israel is responsible for one another.'' While you wouldn't tell of it, I know what you have contributed to Israel since the Gaza war started, and I know where you went during the Autumn of 1973.

 

Anyone calling you non-supportive of our people, or not appreciating what you have to offer to any Temple, is either being led by their ego, or their foolish fears.

 

Shalom and thanks for being unafraid to speak Emet and Shalom to us.

__

 

Marty writes:

 

Yesterday (Tuesday, January 06, 09) was the 10th day of Tevet,  a fast day, called, "Taanit Asara B'Tevet" - "The fast of the Tenth of Tevet." I will tie this in with Gaza.

 

 

 Three fasts of the six Jewish fasts, Asara B'Tevet, Shiva Asar B'Tammuz and Tisha B'Av commemorate  tragic events which played   major roles in the destruction of the First Temple.

 

Yesterday's fast of Asara B'Tevet reminds us that on the 10th of Tevet in the year 589 BCE Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, began the siege of Jerusalem.  It lasted for two and a half years.

 

''The small army of Jewish defenders inflicted heavy losses on their Babylonian attackers, fighting bravely despite the starvation in the city.  Finally, on the 17th of Tammuz (Shiva Asar B'Tammuz), Nebuchadnezzar's army breached the walls of Jerusalem.  Three weeks later, on the 9th of Av (Tisha B'Av), they set fire to the  Temple.'' 

 

Our sages state, "The purpose of the fast is to stir our hearts to repentance." (Talmud Bavli Tractate  Ta'anit  22).   Remembering these events of long ago encourages us to improve our ways in our time.Today's fast of Asara B'Tevet  has special meaning for us today, as we watch with great concern the fighting going on in Gaza between the Israeli Defense Forces and Hamas .

 

The Babylonians did not give the Hebrews warning of their siege, or allow them to escape, or bring them medical or food supplies. In fact they did just the opposite. No nation stood up for the Hebrew people.

 

Yet, whether it was right or wrong, proportionate response or over kill, Israel while at war, is doing its best to limit civilian casualties, and allow those who want to leave to leave, even calling Gazans on the telephones telling them that Israel will attack and to please leave. ''Please leave.'' Did the USA call any Viet Nam people and ask them to 'please ' leave before dropping Napalm?

 

Thank you Rabbi Segal for asking us to grapple. It's not easy.

  

May God spread His canopy of peace over the people of Israel.  Amen.

__

Leon writes:

 

Pity worst form of patronizing, will ensure Gazans continue to whine instead of acting
 by Adi Dvir

Observers worldwide have been expressing great pity for the people of Gaza, many of whom have been killed, injured, or forced to flee their homes during the ongoing IDF operation. This pity may be a natural emotional reaction, yet it is unethical and immoral.
 
To pity the people of Gaza is to patronize them, in essence implying that they do not control their fate, the state of their government, or their own actions. It is to assume one of two things: Either that Gazans are too stupid to oust the cancerous Hamas presence in their midst, or that they are unable to do so.
 
Just as a crying baby who only elicits pity will continue to cry, the citizens of Gaza will continue to cry out to the world instead of taking matters into their own hands. As long as they are told that they are helpless victims or mere pawns at the hands of terrorists, Gazans will only see their suffering prolonged.
 
The residents of Gaza, and the Palestinians as a whole, say they would like their own state. Yet such state must be earned. And earning a state - a piece of land to call your own - takes much more than incessant whining to the international community coupled with a desire to drive out the Jews. It requires inner strength and the ability to create rather than destroy. This is what Israelis proved time and again for over 60 years, and this is what Palestinians have yet to prove.

Yet before the people of Gaza are able to build, Hamas must be obliterated. Moreover, Hamas' ultimate defeat must not be at the hands of the IDF, but rather, it is an endeavor that must be undertaken by Gaza residents themselves. After all, Hamas is the true reason for their misery.
 
Those who believe that Gazans are capable of this should do away with their pity. As to those who do not believe Gazans can do it - why waste time pitying them in the first place?

 

___

 

Sharon wrote:

Dear Rabbi Segal:

 

Thank you so much!! You teach us well and ask us to make up our own minds, but only after we have fully informed minds. So many of our people today, so many of the USA today, no longer read nor study, and at best just quote something they read of someone else. If they had an original thought it would die of loneliness.

 

''Indeed, you intended evil against me, but God designed it for good.'' said Joseph to his brothers, in our Parasha in Genesis 50:20 . You have taught  me that it is God's universe. My job is to be the best Sharon I can be and do the best I can to do God's will. The outcomes are in God's realm and I am not to become attached to it.

 

We do not know what will come of this Gaza war. The pundits on TV portend  either good or bad for Israel or Hamas. It doesn't matter. We are Jews and must see things in  a greater historical view. And that view shows us, that no matter how dark it is, brightness comes, and no matter how bright it is darkness comes. God smoothes  out our hills and raises our valleys. And always, always no matter what, Am Israel Chai, the people of Israel live.

 

Shalom!!

___

Werner writes:

 

I would like to use this Shabbat's Haftarah as a guide to the situation in Gaza. It is from One Kings 2:1-12.

 

Just as the past 60 years for Israel has not been a smooth ride, King David's rise to the Kingship wasn't so easy as well.

 

Harsh resentments still existed by those who were loyal to King Saul. Shimei ben Gera continually berated David saying he had to right to the throne, he was not there legally, he usurped it and that he should give it up. The State of Israel hears these very words about its existence.

 

Shimei was a member of Saul's family. When David was threatened  by his own son, Absalom, and had to leave Jerusalem, Shimei cursed David. He threw rocks at him. He accused David for the ruination of King Saul (if you remember your TaNaK, Saul's ego did it to himself). (Two Sam. 16:5-14).

 

David chose to see this behavior as an act of teshuvah on Shemei's part and Divinely ordained. "He is abusing me only because the Lord told him to abuse me (David); and who is to say: 'why did you do that?'" (Two Sam 16:10)

 

When David returned to Jerusalem and again wore the crown, Shimei did come and do teshuvah.  "He said to the king: 'Let not my lord hold me guilty, and do not remember the wrong your servant committed on the day my lord the king left Jerusalem; let your Majesty give it no thought. For your servant knows he has sinned; so here I have come down today, the first of all the house of Joseph, to meet my lord the king.'" (Two Sam. 19:20) David forgave Shimei against the advice of his military counsel : "The king said to Shimei, 'You shall not die'; and the king gave him his oath." (Sam. 19: 24)

 

However as David near death, like a scene out of the Godfather, David tells his son Solomom:  "You must also deal with Shimei ben Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim. He insulted me outrageously when I was on my way to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord: 'I will not put you to the sword.' So do not let him unpunished…'" (1 Kings 2:8-9)

The Midrash tried to explain what caused David to change his mind: "Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani asked Rabbi Yonathan: "What did Shmei mean when described himself as 'the first of the house of Joseph'? Rabbi Yonathan replied: 'How have you, in Babylonia, explained it?' He answered: 'This is how we explained it: When Shimei fell down before David, he said: As the righteous Joseph rewarded his brothers with kindness even though they had dealt ill with him, so should you, like Joseph, reward me with kindness, even though I have dealt badly with you." Rabbi Yonathan answered him: 'You have answered well. Still listen to another fine interpretation. What is meant by "the first of the house of Joseph?" Since all of Israel is also known as Joseph and all of Israel has done you wrong. Now all of Israel is waiting to see how you deal with me. If you accept my apology, then all of Israel will come forth and make peace with you. (Midrash Tehillim 3:3 )

The Midrash is saying that Shimei was insincere. He was not looking to do teshuvah or coming in peace, or making an example for others. The Midrash implies that if he was, David would have made peace with him. Instead, David, had to advise Solomon to rid himself of Shimei as he was a danger to the kingdom.

 

As so it is with Gaza. If they elect a government that truly wants peace, Israel must make peace and have a two nation peace treaty. If the Gazans  wish to spend their days shooting rockets, then Israel has no choice but to do what David advised Solomon.

 

Thank you Rabbi Segal for advising us to wrestle and to study and to learn.

 

____

Charles Krauthammer wrote:

Late Saturday, thousands of Gazans received Arabic-language cell-phone messages from the Israeli military, urging them to leave homes where militants might have stashed weapons. -- Associated Press, Dec. 27

Some geopolitical conflicts are morally complicated. The Israel-Gaza war is not. It possesses a moral clarity not only rare but excruciating.

Israel is so scrupulous about civilian life that, risking the element of surprise, it contacts enemy noncombatants in advance to warn them of approaching danger. Hamas, which started this conflict with unrelenting rocket and mortar attacks on unarmed Israelis -- 6,464 launched from Gaza in the past three years -- deliberately places its weapons in and near the homes of its own people.

This has two purposes. First, counting on the moral scrupulousness of Israel, Hamas figures civilian proximity might help protect at least part of its arsenal. Second, knowing that Israelis have new precision weapons that may allow them to attack nonetheless, Hamas hopes that inevitable collateral damage -- or, if it is really fortunate, an errant Israeli bomb -- will kill large numbers of its own people for which, of course, the world will blame Israel.

For Hamas, the only thing more prized than dead Jews are dead Palestinians. The religion of Jew-murder and self-martyrdom is ubiquitous. And deeply perverse, such as the Hamas TV children's program in which an adorable live-action Palestinian Mickey Mouse is beaten to death by an Israeli (then replaced by his more militant cousin, Nahoul the Bee, who vows to continue on Mickey's path to martyrdom).

At war today in Gaza, one combatant is committed to causing the most civilian pain and suffering on both sides. The other combatant is committed to saving as many lives as possible -- also on both sides. It's a recurring theme. Israel gave similar warnings to Southern Lebanese villagers before attacking Hezbollah in the Lebanon war of 2006. The Israelis did this knowing it would lose for them the element of surprise and cost the lives of their own soldiers.

That is the asymmetry of means between Hamas and Israel. But there is equal clarity regarding the asymmetry of ends. Israel has but a single objective in Gaza -- peace: the calm, open, normal relations it offered Gaza when it withdrew in 2005. Doing something never done by the Turkish, British, Egyptian and Jordanian rulers of Palestine, the Israelis gave the Palestinians their first sovereign territory ever in Gaza.

What ensued? This is not ancient history. Did the Palestinians begin building the state that is supposedly their great national aim? No. No roads, no industry, no courts, no civil society at all. The flourishing greenhouses that Israel left behind for the Palestinians were destroyed and abandoned. Instead, Gaza's Iranian-sponsored rulers have devoted all their resources to turning it into a terror base -- importing weapons, training terrorists, building tunnels with which to kidnap Israelis on the other side. And of course firing rockets unceasingly.

The grievance? It cannot be occupation, military control or settlers. They were all removed in September 2005. There's only one grievance and Hamas is open about it. Israel's very existence.

Nor does Hamas conceal its strategy. Provoke conflict. Wait for the inevitable civilian casualties. Bring down the world's opprobrium on Israel. Force it into an untenable cease-fire -- exactly as happened in Lebanon. Then, as in Lebanon, rearm, rebuild and mobilize for the next round. Perpetual war. Since its raison d'etre is the eradication of Israel, there are only two possible outcomes: the defeat of Hamas or the extinction of Israel.

Israel's only response is to try to do what it failed to do after the Gaza withdrawal. The unpardonable strategic error of its architect, Ariel Sharon, was not the withdrawal itself but the failure to immediately establish a deterrence regime under which no violence would be tolerated after the removal of any and all Israeli presence -- the ostensible justification for previous Palestinian attacks. Instead, Israel allowed unceasing rocket fire, implicitly acquiescing to a state of active war and indiscriminate terror.

Hamas's rejection of an extension of its often-violated six-month cease-fire (during which the rockets never stopped, just were less frequent) gave Israel a rare opportunity to establish the norm it should have insisted upon three years ago: no rockets, no mortar fire, no kidnapping, no acts of war. As the U.S. government has officially stated: a sustainable and enduring cease-fire. If this fighting ends with anything less than that, Israel will have lost yet another war. The question is whether Israel still retains the nerve -- and the moral self-assurance -- to win.

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Robert writes:

Our parasha reads: He [Jacob] called his son Joseph, and said to him: If I have found favor in your eyes, place your hand under my thigh, and act with me in kindness and truth - Do not bury me in Egypt.  When I lie with my fathers, take me from Egypt and bury me in their burial place....  (47:29-30).

The sages ask in Midrash Beresheit Rabba 96:4, "Why do all the forefathers desire to be buried in the Land of Israel?" 

If we read about the burial of Jacob by Joseph we will see that he was buried with both Egyptian and Hebrew burial and mourning rituals. There is embalming, an Egyptian period of mourning, and 'heavy mourning' in Egypt. Egypt has made Jacob, the father of their hero Joseph, into a national hero. We read of course how Joseph has become so Egyptian his brothers do not recognize him, has married an Egyptian wife, and his two children (Menashe and Ephraim)  were born in Egypt.

Egypt is a giant melting pot. One loses their ethnic identity there. Israel is ONLY Israel and a place for Hebrews and now Jews, if it is a place of Judaism, God, Torah, Talmud, and our people. If it is another place of assimilation, with levan basar, and being open on Shabbat, and Jewish girls with tattoos on the beaches on Yom Kippur, it is no different than any other nation. Ironically Jacob, buried with Abraham, and Isaac  , is  buried in Hebron, which is now the West Bank State of Palestine.

____

Fin wrote:

''The Guardian:  Israel shaken by troops' tales of brutality against Palestinians

According to Rabbi Israel Shahak, who was Professor of Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Founder of the League for Human and Civil Rights in Israel, the cause of the Israeli Defense Forces brutal treatment of the Palestinians is due to the ugly misinterpretation and misapplication of the teachings of the Talmud. The treatment is deliberate and is exactly what Israeli soldiers have been trained to do. It is not because the soldier may be emotional or suffering from a "bad hair day"!

He writes in his book "Jewish History, Jewish Religion":

"A book published by the Central Region Command of the Israeli army, whose area includes the West Bank, contains the following declaration by the command's chief chaplain: "When our forces come across civilians during a war or in hot pursuit or in a raid, so long as there is no certainty that those civilians are incapable of harming our forces, then according to Halakah [Jewish law] they may and even should be killed." "Under no circumstances should an Arab be trusted, even if he makes an impression of being civilized. In war, when our forces storm the enemy, they are allowed and even enjoined by the Halakah to kill even good civilians."

http://www.wrmea.com/archives/october01/0110071.html

Teachings like the above are what is being used to train the Israeli Defense Forces today. We should not be surprised by their actions. The psychologist in the article tries to attribute the Israeli soldier's behavior to poor or inadequate training. In a way he is right but the poor immoral and inadequate consideration for the life of non-Jews training is deliberate... We are dealing with a very evil and treacherous people who have been educated to be ruthless and treacherous. This is against every decent moral that we may have but the sooner we realize this about these Jews the better off we will be… ''

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Richard writes:

 

The life of Abraham and Isaac are taught in four Parashot; Lech Lecha, Vayeira, Chayei Sarah and Toldot.  The story of Jacob is related in over seven Parashot; Toldot, Vayeitzei, Vayishlach, Vayeishev, Mikeitz, Vayigash, and Vayechi.  Jacob's life was the shortest.  Abraham lived 175 years; Isaac 180 years and Jacob lived 147 years.

 

Our sages state that Abraham and Jacob should also have lived to 180 years.  However they say, God made Abraham's life short by five years to spare him the pain of seeing his grandson, Esau's, evilness.

 

 Why did Jacob lose 33 years of his life?  Our sages explain the reason as follows: 

 

The sages say that when Jacob was asked by Pharaoh how old he was, Jacob replied:    "The days of the years of my life are a hundred and thirty years; few and bad have been the days of my life and they have not attained the days of the years of the life of my fathers" (Gen. 47:9). 

 

The verse in which Jacob complains about his bad lot and misfortune in life contain 33 Hebrew words.  As a result of not accepting his lot, God shortened his life by 33 years.

 

The Torah doesn't use the word "death" to describe Jacob's passing.  Our sages say, "Jacob (Israel) did not die!"

 

The parasha also hints to this in the name: Vayechi.  

The parasha is called "Vayechi Yaakov" which means "and Jacob lived!"

 

The Talmud explains: Abraham's son Ishmael departed Hebraism.  Isaac's son Esau left Hebraism.  Jacob had all of his sons continuing as Hebrews.   Our sages say, "Jacob didn't die, for as long as his children are alive and continuing his traditions, he too is alive."

 

Jewish life is not measured by days, years, material wealth, or land or boundaries. Jewish life is measured by how successful we are in transmitting  our values and ethics to our children and grandchildren. When one tells me they are Jews who are loyal to Israel, and in the next breath tells me of their non-Jewish grandchildren, they have failed as Jews.  The sages ask the question of who is Jewish, with ''one who has Jewish grandchildren.''

 

___

 

''Canadian Eric'' writes:

 

In the Israeli and North American press version, Hamas – "Islamic terrorists" backed by Iran – have in an unprovoked attack fired deadly rockets on innocent Israel with the intent of destroying the Jewish state.

North American politicians and the media say Israel "has the right to defend itself."

True enough. No Israeli government can tolerate rockets hitting its towns, even though the casualty totals have been less than the car crash fatalities registered during a single holiday weekend on Israel's roads.

The firing of the feeble, homemade al-Qassam rockets by Palestinians is both useless and counterproductive.

It damages their image as an oppressed people and gives right-wing Israeli extremists a perfect reason to launch more attacks on the Arabs and refuse to discuss peace.

Israel's supporters insist it has the absolute right to drop hundreds of tons of bombs on "Hamas targets" inside the 360 sq km Gaza Strip to "take out the terrorists."

Civilians suffer, says Israel, because the cowardly Hamas hide among them.

Actually, it is more like shooting fish in a barrel.

As usual, this cartoon-like version of events omits a great deal of nuance and background.

While firing rockets at civilians is a crime so, too, is the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which is an egregious violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.

According to the UN, most of Gaza's 1.5 million Palestinian refugees subsist near the edge of hunger. Seventy per cent of Palestinian children in Gaza suffer from severe malnutrition and psychological trauma.

Medical facilities are critically short of doctors, personnel, equipment, and drugs. Gaza has quite literally become a human garbage dump for all the Arabs that Israel does not want.

Gaza is one of the world's most-densely populated places, a vast outdoor prison camp filled with desperate people. In the past, they threw stones at their Israeli occupiers; now they launch homemade rockets.

Call it a prison riot, writ large.

When the so-called truce between Tel Aviv and Hamas expired on December 19, Israeli politicians were in the throes of preparing for the February 10 national elections.

Israeli politics are playing a key role in this crisis.

Ehud Barak, the defense minister and leader of the Labour party, and Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister and leader of the Kadima party, are trying to prove themselves tougher than Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line Likud party – and one another.

Israel's elections are only six weeks away, and Likud was leading until the air raids on Gaza began. Kadima and Labour are now up in the polls.

The heavy attacks on Gaza are also designed to intimidate Israel's Arab neighbors, and make up for Israel's humiliating 2006 defeat in Lebanon, which still haunts the country's politicians and generals.

When the air raids on Gaza began, Barak said: "We have totally changed the rules of the game."

He was right. By blitzing Hamas-run Gaza, Barak presented the incoming US administration with a fait accompli, and neatly checkmated the newest player in the Middle East Great Game – Barack Obama, the US president-elect – before he could even take a seat at the table.

The Israeli offensive into Gaza now looks likely to short-circuit any plans Obama might have had to press Israel into withdrawing to its pre-1967 borders and sharing Jerusalem.

This has pleased Israel's supporters in North America who have been cheering the war in Gaza and have been backing away from their earlier tentative support for a land-for-peace deal.

Israel's successes in having Western media portray the Gaza offensive as an "anti-terrorist operation" will also diminish hopes of peace talks any time soon.

Obama inherits this mess in a few weeks. During the elections, Obama bowed to the Israel lobby, offering a new US carte blanche to Israel and even accepting Israel's permanent monopoly of all of Jerusalem.

As he concludes forming his cabinet, his Middle East team looks like it may be top-heavy with friends of Israel's Labour party.

Obama keeps saying he must remain silent on policy issues until George Bush, the outgoing US president, leaves office, but his staff appear happy to avoid having to make statements about Gaza that would antagonize Israel's American supporters.

Obama will take office facing a Middle East up in arms over Gaza and the entire Muslim world blaming the US for the carnage in Gaza.

Unless he moves swiftly to distance himself from the policies of the Bush administration, he will soon find himself facing the same problems and anger as the Bush White House.

Israel's Gaza offensive is also likely to torpedo the current Saudi-sponsored peace plan, which had been backed by all members of the Arab League.

The plan, now likely defunct, had called for Israel to withdraw to its 1967 borders and share Jerusalem in exchange for full recognition and normalized relations with the Muslim world.

Arab governments will now be unable to sell the deal as they face a storm of criticism from their own people over their powerlessness to help the Palestinians of Gaza.

Egypt, in particular, is being widely accused of collaborating with Israel in further sealing off and isolating Gaza. It seems highly unlikely they will be able to advance a peace plan with Israel for now.

This is a bonus for right-wing Israelis, who have always been dead set against any withdrawal and strongly supported the attack on Gaza.

Other Israeli factions who were always lukewarm about the Saudi peace plan are now unlikely to reconsider it.

Israel's security establishment is committed to preventing the creation of a viable Palestinian state, and refuses to negotiate with Hamas. Unable to kill all of Hamas' men, Israel is slowly destroying Gaza's infrastructure around them, as it did to Yasser Arafat's PLO.

Israel's hardliners point to Gaza and claim that any Palestinian state on the West Bank would threaten their nation's security by firing rockets into Israel's heartland.

Israel is confident that its mighty information machine will allow it to weather the storm of worldwide outrage over its Biblical punishment of Gaza. Who remembers Israel's flattening of parts of the Palestinian city of Jenin, or the US destruction in Falluja, Iraq, or the Sabra and Shatilla massacres in Beirut?

The US media has focused on the rockets being fired on Israel from Gaza.

Though the torment of Gaza is seen across the horrified Muslim world as a modern version of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising by Jews against the Nazis during World War Two, Western governments still appear bent on taking no action.

Though Israel's use of American weapons against Gaza violates the US Arms Export Control and Foreign Assistance Acts, the docile US Congress will remain mute.

Israel's assault on Gaza was clearly timed for America's interregnum between administrations and the year-end holidays, a well-used Israeli tactic.

Hamas refuses to recognize Israel as long as Israel refuses to recognize Hamas and the rights of millions of homeless Palestinian refugees.

It calls for a non-religious state to be created in Palestine, meaning an end to Zionism. Ironically, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the founder and late leader of Hamas, had spoken of a compromise with Tel Aviv shortly before he was assassinated by Israel in 2004.

Israel's hopes that it can bomb Gazans into rejecting Hamas are as ill-conceived as its failed attempt in 2006 to blast Lebanon into rejecting Hezbollah.

The Fatah regime on the West Bank installed by the US and Israel after Yasser Arafat's suspicious death will be further discredited, leaving the militants of Hamas as the sole authentic voice of Palestinian nationalism.

Hamas, the militant but still democratically elected government of Gaza, is even less likely to compromise.

The Muslim world is in a rage. But so what? Stalin liked to say "the dogs bark, and the caravan moves on," and as long as the US gives Israel carte blanche, it can do just about anything it wants.

The tragedy of Palestine will thus continue to poison US relations with the Muslim world.

Those Americans who still do not understand why their nation was attacked on 9/11 need only look to Gaza, for which the US is now being blamed as much as Israel.

Unless Israel can make 5 to 7 million Palestinians disappear, it must find some way to coexist with them. Israeli leaders on the center and right continue to avoid facing this fact.

The brutal collective punishment inflicted on Gaza will likely strengthen Hamas and reverse any hopes of a Middle East peace in the coming years.

----

Marco writes:

Kinky Friedman, who ran for your Governor of Texas, and was the lead of the band the Texas Jew Boys wrote this song. I do not know American idiom well enough down here in Brasil to know if he is pro-violence or against it. I guess like the Talmud and Torah, we have to decide for ourselves, as Rabbi Segal suggests.

 Well, a redneck nerd in a bowling shirt was a-guzzlin lone star beer
Talking religion and-uh politics for all the world to hear.
they oughta send you back to russia, boy, or new york city one
You just want to doodle a christian girl and you killed gods only son.

I said, has it occurred to you, you nerd, that that's not very nice,
We jews believe it was santa claus that killed jesus christ.
you know, you dont look jewish, he said, near as I could figger
I had you lamped for a slightly anemic, well-dressed country nigger.

No, they aint makin jews like jesus anymore,
They dont turn the other cheek the way they done before.
He started in to shoutin and a-spittin on the floor,
lord, they aint makin jews like jesus anymore.

He says, i aint a racist but aristitle onassis is one greek we dont need
And them niggers, jews and sigma nus, all they ever do is breed.
And wops n micks n slopes n spics n spooks are on my list
And theres one little hebe from the heart of texas is there anyone I missed ?

Well, I hits him with everything I had right square between the eyes.
I says, Im gonna gitcha, you son of a bitch ya, for spoutin that pack of lies.
If theres one thing I cant abide, its an ethnocentric racist;
Now you take back that thing you said bout aristitle onassis.

No, they aint makin jews like jesus anymore,
We dont turn the other cheek the way we done before.
You could hear that honky holler as he hit that hardwood floor
lord, they sho aint makin jews like jesus anymore!
All right!

No, they aint makin jews like jesus anymore,
We dont turn the other cheek the way they done before.
You hear that honky holler as he hit that hardwood floor
Lord, they aint makin jews like jesus anymore.

Everybody!
They aint makin jews like jesus anymore,
They aint makin carpenters who know what nails are for.
Well, the whole damn place was singin as I strolled right out the door
lord, they aint makin jews like jesus anymore!

No, we aint makin jews like jesus anymore,
We dont turn the other cheek the way they done before.
Well, the whole damn place was singin as I strolled right out the door
lord, they aint makin jews like jesus anymore!

___

Well that's all folks. From my personal point of view, this is a darn good reason for peace. Lots of comments, and long ones and well thought out ones. Thank you. Next Shabbat we will start Exodus. May God exodus us from war.[Below is the class from this past Sunday for this coming Shabbat].

 

Shalom:

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
 

 

Jewish Spiritual Renewal:Shabbat 1/10/09:Torah/Talmud/TaNaK:Hebrew College,MA

 

Shalom Talmudim v' Chaverim and Rabbinic Students from both Hebrew College Rabbinic Yeshiva in Suburban Boston, MA, and Aleph Rabbinic Yeshiva in Suburban Philadelphia, PA:

 

There is a Chinese curse: ''May you live in interesting times.'' For Jews this is not a curse. For as Children of Israel, we who wrestle daily with God, we would have a boring life if we lived in uninteresting times. Who would we argue with over current events? As we all know, if there are 10 Jews, there will be at least 11 opinions, because one of us statistically will have a multiple personality disorder from a resentment held toward one's mother. :-)

 

I would like to ask, that regardless of one's opinion of the events in Gaza, since we are now engaged in a land war, with hand- to- hand combat, to please pray with me for our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, who are now in harm's way. {Also below is a list of charities provided by one of our members}.

 

 

"May He Who blessed our forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob - may He bless the fighters of the Israel Defense Force. May the Holy One, Blessed is He, preserve and rescue our fighting men and women from every trouble and distress and from every plague and illness, and may He send blessing and success in their every endeavor. Amen."

This week's parasha is very important to Judaism as it is one of the proof texts the Rabbi's used in the Talmud to develop the idea of the Jewish Messiah. Hebraism, as led by the priests, denied this theological aspect, and was one of the main reasons of disagreement, some times armed, among priests and rabbis.

 

This was not the only difference between Hebraism and Judaism. Hebraism's Deity is their's. He defends them as they went out to war. He smote their enemies. He also smote Hebrews who offended Him, e.g. who brought the wrong formula of incense to worship Him. And we know He smote the whole of humanity, except for Noah and his kin, and a few giants, (long story), for offending Him.

 

The Judaic God evolved to be a universal God available to all humankind. He is one with the attributes  of love, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, peace, et. al, and wants us to do our best to emulate Him. He does not chose sides. In fact in the Midrash He chastises Miriam for rejoicing at the Sea when the Egyptians are drowning saying that Pharaoh's army are His creations as well and how dare Miriam and her fellow Hebrews rejoice at their suffering.

 

Now all of this may seem like an academic arm chair exercise but remember that the Rabbinic Talmudic sages lived being beaten by the likes of Nebedchadnezar, Greek kings, and Roman Caesars.  They were also at the mercy of Hebrew Hasmonean Kings who were slaughtering rabbis wholesale on behalf of the priests.

 

Yet they still counseled us to return hate with love.

 

But they were pragmatists.

 

''Siz shver tzu zine a Yid'', "It's hard to be a Jew." As part of our responsibility, we must edify our own belief in who we are and how we see our ultimate redemption, and we need to express this with sincere joy and the strength that can be garnered only through true conviction and true education.

 

About 1,000 years ago, the great Spanish-Jewish poet and philosopher Yehudah Ha Levi wrote what became a central text of medieval Jewish thought—The Kuzari.

The book, apparently based on a historical incident, describes how the king of a tribe called the Khazars invited scholars from the three Abrahamic faiths to come before him. He posed questions to each of them, and the book recounts the discussions which ensued. Ultimately, he was most satisfied with the answers
offered by the Jewish scholar and subsequently converted himself and his entire tribe to Judaism.

But twice in the book, the king poses questions which the Jewish scholar can not answer satisfactorily. In one case, he asks about the deep connection between the Jewish people and the Land of Israel. If the land is so crucial to Jewish faith and practice, then how can we explain the fact that most of the Jews live outside of Israel? To which the Jew replies: "You have found my Achilles heel."

In the second case, the king asks about Jewish morality, which  developed in a situation of powerlessness. If you were to have military power, asks the king, wouldn't you then become just as violent as any other people? To this also the Jewish scholar has no adequate answer, responding, "I am embarrassed, as you have found my weak point."

Unfortunately, in our time, there seems to be a connection between these two  issues. Jews have returned to the land, and it is in connection with the land that Jews must confront the challenge of military power.  

 

It was this question that I was asking my fellow local Jews to grapple within the 250 -word- allowed letter to the editor, not telling the Israelis to sit idly by waiting for God to throw thunderbolts on Hamas, or 'turn the other cheek.'' Yet, some folks, few and unschooled, saw it through eyes of fear, worry, and resentment, and called me a traitor, a Nazi, or what I guess was meant to be an insult, a "Jesus-freak-peacenik.'' And of course they did so anonymously, as cowards do. One wrote me a kind, intellectual email which I cherished. Newspapers as you know, will take a letter, and edit it, so many times, the author can hardly recognize it.

 

This is most unJewish because as Jews, as long as we disagree  when debating something that is for the sake of Heaven, we are to do so with kindness towards one another. It is only when we argue with makloket, strife, and not for Heaven, that we are breaking  a Torah commandment to ''not be like Korach.''

 

A little Torah: Exodus: 22:2; ''If a thief is found in the act of forcing his way into a house, and his death is caused by a blow by the homeowner, the owner of the house is not responsible for his death.''

 

A little Talmud: Talmud Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin 72a: "If someone comes to kill you, act first and kill him." The Gemara (Sanhedrin 73a), in turn, presents the sources in the Torah  that teach that one must kill someone who is attempting to kill another person. This rule applies not only to self-defense but also to defending the lives of others. Moreover, it also applies to someone who engages in sexual assault (Sanhedrin 73a).

 

Thus one has a Rabbinic Mitzvah to kill (if no other alternative is available) someone who is attempting to murder or rape. This is called the law of the Rodef, the pursuer, or stalker.

 

A little more of Talmud: Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 56b teaches us that the above law applies to individuals and not to governments. They use as example King Shlomo's marriage to the daughter of Pharaoh. This initiated the process of the destruction of the Temple and then exile. Similarly, the Gemara states that King Yeravam's introduction of two golden calves to Beit El and Dan accelerated the process of the destruction of the Temple and then exile. The sages however, do not define either Shlomo or Yeravam as   Rodefs despite the actual eventual destruction to the Jewish community caused by these kings.

 

Hence the use of this Rabbinic Talmudic rule to kill Prime Minister Rabin, OBM, was ruled to be a false teaching by some zealot rabbi.

 

A little more Talmud : Talmud Bavli Tractate Sanhedrin 74a; ''So how do we know that you shouldn't murder somebody if your life is threatened? And how do we know this is murder itself?  It is common sense. Someone asked Rabbah, 'The Governor of my town has ordered me, "Go and kill Ploni  and if you don't, I'll kill you"'.He answered him, 'Be murdered, rather than murder; who knows that your blood is redder? Perhaps his blood is redder.' ''

The point of the metaphor should be obvious. The question Rabbah is asking is "Who are you to decide that you will live and the other guy will die?"; How do you know that your blood is any better than his?

We Jews grapple. We wrestle. We do not live in black and white. We live in gray. And we are to ask God for Guidance.

Some TaNaK: Judges 12: 5-6: 5: And the Gileadites captured the fords of the Jordan against the Ephraimites . And when any of the fugitives of Ephraim said, "Let me go over," the men of Gilead said to him, "Are you an Ephraimite ?" When he said, "No," 6 they said to him, "Then say Shibboleth," and he said, "Sibboleth," for he could not pronounce it right. Then they seized him and slaughtered him at the fords of the Jordan. At that time 42,000 of the Ephraimites  fell.

Do you know of any modern Shibboleths? Remember during Viet Nam: "Love It of Leave It," "It" being the USA? Well, look above and see what happens when we Jews have Shibboleths. Not a pretty picture. Do we have the Shibboleth of:  "Israel has the right to defend its self from attacks," as Rabbi Arthur Waskow suggests? Add any qualifier like, "but I am not sure just how,", or "I truly hope for Shalom,'' and you have now pronounced  the word ''sibboleth'' and you are tossed off the Island.

Of course, we Jews are great ''Island tossers.'' If we are spiritual and experience God in an area that is mostly agnostic, we are tossed, and if we don't follow ritual to the letter in an area that does, we are also tossed.

Some more TaNaK: Psalm 18:37 : "I will chase my enemies and catch up to them and I shall not return until I annihilate them."  Well, that is King David, our great Hebrew king, going out to war. But read Psalm 18 carefully, with a Judaic, not  a Hebraic mind set.  I have printed it below. Is David talking of an actual battle with human enemies or is he talking of a spiritual battle with his yetser ha ra in which his dependence on God makes him victorious? And we know Dovid Melech had a huge yezter ha ra (evil inclination).

It is ironic that our parasha this week focuses on the future kingship and even the future messiah of Israel. The first assumes that Israel will have its own land and government while the second assumes that humans will continue to treat each other horridly, with chamas (terror). Chamas  is why God flooded the world during Noah's time. [Gen 6:11]. ['' Now the earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and the earth was filled with terror...  v ta-mawlay ha eretz chamas.'']

The messiah will be needed to rescue us from all of this.  Let us not kid ourselves. God could not rid the earth of chamas even with a deluge. Can we humans do any better?

Our sages would, and most certainly I, understand  that Hamas is a terrorist organization and a harsh enemy.  Judaism is neither dovish nor pacifist, nor are we blindly opposed to the use of force.  Judaism supports Israel in defending and protecting its citizens from attack, including through military action if necessary and appropriate to the threat. Judaism believes that force cannot be Israel's only or preponderant response.

Our last bit of Torah from this week's parasha:Beresheit 49:5: ''Shimon and Levi are brothers -- instruments of violence are their weapons. My soul should not come into their secret meetings; my glory should not be united into their assembly, for in their anger they killed a man ...  ''

There's nothing like a little anger to ruin a perfectly good act of zealousness, Jacob indicated to Shimon and Levi on his deathbed. Jacob does not curse Shimon and Levi; he curses their anger, for it is that which caused them to lose perspective, and do what Jacob had clearly decided not to do: take physical revenge for the violation of Dinah.

I do not know about you, but without God, as I taught in my last class and which is taught in my The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew, I will have anger and I will hold grudges and I will have resentments. With God, I forgive instantly, pray for those who try to offend me, and am like Teflon, with stings and arrows, slipping off of me.

This is why I pray  3 times a day in the Amidah: "It should be Your will, God, God of our Forefathers, that no person should be jealous of me, and that I should not be jealous of others; that I should not be angry today, nor anger You ..."  If I think an angry thought, I immediately ask God to remove it. Anger and resentments are only acids eating away at those that hold those thoughts. I don't want them. It is easier for me to pray for my detractors, and to be happy, joyous and free, that to be upset with them.

A little more Talmud: Talmud Bavli Tractate Shabbat 105b : "Someone who tears his clothing in anger, or breaks something in anger, or throws his money in anger, will be in Your eyes like one who worshipped idols, because that is the trade of the yetzer ha ra " The rabbis ask: How many relationships have been destroyed because of anger? How many wars have been waged and fought in anger -- small and large? Anger, everyone must agree, is, perhaps, the most destructive human trait known to man.

Anger, and hence holding on to it, with grudges and resentments,  is a rejection of one's personal Divine Providence. An angry person and/or one who holds a grudge, or a resentment, is one who does not understand the basic principles of Judaism. He doesn't love God and he doesn't love his fellows.   That is a form of pagan thinking. The rabbis say that this person is not fit to be a rabbi nor even serve on a jury.

Elsewhere, the Talmud warns that anger leads to sin (Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 29b), and most people will vouch for the fact that loshan ha ra, [gossip] one of the most serious sins a person can commit, is often spoken only out of anger. According to the Talmud, anger can even lead to a loss of wisdom (Talmud Bavli Tractate Pesachim 66b) -- which is scientifically documented now (at least forgetfulness is). And finally, in the Talmud's opinion, one who constantly gets angry and doesn't control his temper is like one who is not alive (Talmud Bavli Tractate Pesachim 113b)

No wonder, then, that Jacob chose to recall the anger of Shimon and Levi so many years later after the incident of Shechem. It turns out that Jacob's words weren't just a warning to Shimon and Levi for the future, but for all future descendants of Jews. As the King of the Khazars asked the rabbi (above): ''If you were to have military power wouldn't you then become just as violent as any other people? ''

This is what I, humbly, as a Jewish Spiritual Renewal Rabbi ask you, as God- wrestlers, with which to grapple.

For those who really want to help Israel, whether we think the incursion in Gaza is right or wrong (I am no military person so I am still grappling and that is all I ask any of you to do), here is a list of humanitarian charities, provided to us by our Chavarah Sharon in NJ at Adath Israel Synagogue:

Magen David Adom - American Friends: http://www.afmda.org/

Lev LaLev: http://www.levlalev.com/

B'nai Brith Emergency fund: www.bnaibrith.org/ief/

American Jewish Committee/ Israel Emergency fund: http://www.ajc.org

Masort Movements Israel Emergency fund: http://www.masorti.org/contribute.html

Hatzolah Israel: Saving Lives (medical emergency fund): http://www.hatzolah.org.il/e-donate.shtml.htm

United Jewish Committee Emergency  Fund: www.ujc.org

Friends of the IDF: supports needs of the IDF not met by standard budgeting procedures in all branches and areas of the IDF, IAF, and INF.  The FIDF also provides support for the families of fallen soldiers. http://www.israelsoldiers.org/

www.lemaanachai.org  Lemaan Achai, emergency relief activities in Bet Shemesh 

www.tabletotable.org.il Table to Table, packages for soldiers and relief for residents of the north 

www.israelsoldiers.org Friends of the IDF, support IDF soldiers up serving in the north and in the Gaza Strip

www.onefamilyfund.org One Family Fund, support for victims of northern missile attacks and their families  

www.livnot.com Livnot, Tzfat organization raising funds to fix bomb shelters, assist the elderly, provide meals

www.hazonyeshaya.org Hazon Yeshaya, provide/deliver meals to people in bomb shelters and displaced residents of the north

www.yadsarah.org Yad Sarah, medical equipment, specifically for residents of the north

www.mishnasyakov.org Mishnas Yaakov, provide massive amounts of emergency supplies to residents of the north

www.jfsisrael.org Jewish Family Services Israel, provide emotional and crisis management support

www.crisisinisrael.com a web page with specific information on people/groups who need help and people/groups offering help 

 

Psalm 18, as promised appears below, and our weekly d'var Torah appears after it.

 

Please send me your thoughts and comments. This is an ago old question in Judaism.

Psalm 18

 1I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.

 2The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

 3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

 4The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.

 5The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.

 6In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.

 7Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.

 8There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.

 9He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.

 10And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.

 11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.

 12At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.

 13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.

 14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.

 15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.

 16He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.

 17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.

 18They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.

 19He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

 20The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.

 21For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.

 22For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.

 23I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.

 24Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

 25With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;

 26With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.

 27For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.

 28For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.

 29For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.

 30As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

 31For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?

 32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.

 33He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.

 34He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.

 35Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.

 36Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.

 37I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.

 38I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.

 39For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.

 40Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.

 41They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.

 42Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.

 43Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.

 44As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.

 45The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.

 46The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

 47It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

 48He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

 49Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

 50Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore. 

Many Blessings, Pray for Shalom!

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 

Parasha Vayechi: Genesis 48:01-50:26

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA

 When I woke up this morning I could've sworn it was the Judgment Day

This parasha ends the book of Genesis. We find our people in the Land of the Pharaohs. We find that Jacob dies at the conclusion of this Torah portion. Before his death, Jacob blesses the two sons of Joseph as well as his own twelve sons.

To Judah, Jacob said "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a scholar from among his descendents until Shiloh arrives, and his will be an assemblage of nations." (Gen 49:10 Art Scroll Edition). Other translations (Plaut) read: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, so that tribute shall come to him, and the homage of peoples be his." Still others (Hertz) read: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, as long as men come to Shiloh, and onto him shall the obedience of the peoples be." The King James version states: "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes: and to Him shall be the obedience of the people."

Why are there so many translations? What has been read into this passage by so many over the centuries? What can we derive from this verse for ourselves?

In Talmud Sanhedrin, Chapter 11, the sages argue about the validity of the Messiah in Judaism, who he will be, how he will arrive, if he already arrived, and when he would arrive. One of their proof texts is this very verse. On daf (folio) 98B, Rav Shela's student interprets Shiloh as referring to the Messiah on the basis of the verse from Isaiah 18:7: "a gift (tribute) shall be offered to God," which the Midrash renders into "all nations are destined to bring a gift to Israel and the Messianic king." The word Shiloh is formed by the two Hebrew words for gift and "to him." The Ramban (Nachmonides) says that Jacob promises Judah in this verse that the kings of the Jewish people will emerge exclusively from his tribe, until the advent of the Messiah, who will rule not only over all of the Jews but of all the nations.

By the scepter not departing from Judah, Jacob is predetermining that our kings will be from the Tribe of Judah. (Of course our first king was Saul, from Benjamin's tribe). However, it set up the "divine right" of the Davidic line from the tribe of Judah to be not only our kings, but also our Exilarchs in the Diaspora in Babylon. Many of the Rosh yeshivas during the time of the writing of the Mishna traced their lineage to King David. According to Talmud Sanhedrin (daf 5A), Hillel and Judah ha Nasi were from the Davidic-Judah line.

Onkelos' Aramaic Translation of the Torah (Targum) renders "until Shiloh arrives" as "until the messiah arrives, to whom the kingdom belongs." This Torah version was written in 90 C.E. This verse is the primary Torah source for the Talmudic belief (and it was not a unanimously held rabbinic belief at the time) in a Jewish messiah. The rabbis consistently referred to it in their debates with the church leaders in the Middle Ages.

The lines that follow (Gen. 49:11-12) make allusions to the messiah as a man of peace (the Talmud says one of his names will be the prince of peace) by the symbols of the donkey and the vineyards.

We can see that this verse pushes some hot topical buttons. The Talmudic sages, living under the harsh Roman thumb in the centuries following the destruction of the second Temple and the total loss of independence of Judea, looked for hope in a redeemer. There were no new prophets. They had to work with the texts that where available to them. Their background was Pharasitic, as the Sadducees denied the oral law (Mishna-Gemorah-Talmud) as divine and did not believe in any bodily resurrection.

The rabbis in Sanhedrin grappled with these issues. They tried to justify the suffering of our people and of the martyrdom of our great sages by speaking of the world to come and of the bodily resurrection. They also debated the idea of a messianic leader to come and save us. They even agreed upon the idea, that in every generation, a great sage will be martyred and will die for the sins of those in his generation.

These rabbis were not just dealing in the time of a few Jews who were following a cult of Jesus. They were writing the Talmud up to 500 C.E. from 586 B.C.E. The sages had to contend with forces of Christianity combined with the power of Constantine's new Rome in what is now Istanbul. While the written Mishna was still being discussed from 200 to 500 C.E. in what we call the Gemorah, the Nician creed (which delineated the Trinity) went into effect less than a hundred years after Judah ha Nasi redacted the oral tradition.

We therefore can see how different people at different times translated this verse to meet their philosophical needs. The Traditionalists via the Art Scroll edition are very Moshiac oriented. Rabbi Plaut, representing the post World War Two Reform movement, set his translation up to completely mirror the Davidic line of flesh and blood kings, but to delete references to a divinely sent messiah- savior.

How does this battle for wording, translate into our lives in this third millennium?  Simply put, we as individuals need to pick up the scepter promised to us. We need to lead using honest and ethical values whether we are at home, at work, at play, or in the synagogue boardroom. We cannot stand idly by while we are needed to do justice. We need to be excellent parents and spouses. We also need to be kind and giving adult children to our own elderly. We are all the Children of Jacob, the People of Israel, and we have all taken the name of the tribe of Judah by calling ourselves Jews.

The royal staff is in our hands no matter what position we find ourselves. Let's all do our best to be the most honest and ethical we can be in what ever we do. This is what God wants from us. We all have sparks of our own savior inside each of us. Let us each vow to hold on to this scepter, and let its golden glow be a light unto others.

Shabbat Shalom:

 

Rabbi Arthur Segal
Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA, USA
Via Shamash Org on-line class service
Jewish Renewal
Jewish Spiritual Renewal
Hilton Head Island, SC;Bluffton, SC, Savannah, GA
 

 

 

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