Midrash on the story of יְהוּדָה and Tamar.
Tamar is the promised Land. Er is the first Beit HaMikdash, and there was problem with the House, and Er was killed by Hashem. Onan is the second Beit HaMikdash, and there was problem with the House, and Onan was killed by Hashem. Er and Onan did not fully know Tamar. After a long time of waiting, the Land fills up with people. And the world discusses. Who are they?
And the people of the world come to Hashem to complain. And Hashem must agree with the world, they are illegal children. It becomes very frightening in the Land. But then, at the height of tension, Tamar secretly shows the sign of the seal, and the hidden knowledge of Hashem, and the hidden light, of Chanukkah. At that point, Hashem turns around and exclaims: My children!
Hallelujah!
Chanukkah Sameach!
Saturday, December 31, 2016
Sunday, December 18, 2016
Israel Completes The Vision
This week we read, in the chapter Bereshit 38, about the adventures of Yehudah. The chapter comes from a version of J in which it served to announce the birth of Ya'akov and Edom. The end, the segment Bereshit 38:29-30, was modified and we can change it back:
Yehudah went down from his brothers. From Asher, from Gad, from Reuven, and from Yishmael. In modern jargon, he left from Lebanon, from the East bank of the Jordan river, and from the Sinai peninsula. Where does he arrive then? In the land of Cana'an, in the region of Beth Shemesh.
He turned to an Adullamite man. The ancient site of Adullam is south of Beth Shemesh.
And Yehudah saw a daughter of a Canaanite man, and he married her. The Cana'anim lived by the sea (Bamidbar 13:29).
He was at Chezib when she gave birth to him. Chezib is very close to Adullam, to the South-West of Beth Shemesh.
And he went up to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Chirah, the Adullamite, to Timnah. Timnah is close to Beth Shemesh also, to the North-West. And on the road to Timnah, the twin sons, Ya'akov and Edom, were conceived.
Altogether, Yehudah has five surviving sons, Shelah, Ya'akov and Edom, Shim'on and Levi. In the region of Beth Shemesh did Yehudah, the son of Avraham, live. Far away from his brothers, Asher, Gad, Reuven, and Yishmael. To the North of Timnah, is the region of Ya'akov, until Asher, until Gad, until Reuven. And to the South is the region of Edom, until Yishmael, which includes the Negev (previously Amaleq, Bamidbar 13:29). And the middle region, is for Shelah, Shim'on, and Levi. Shelah could be called Yehudah proper, but they would all be called Yehudah, or, if you prefer, Yitzchak.
The vision is for a "State", in the promised Land, up till the border of Asher, the border of Gad and Reuven, and the border of Yishmael, the Sinai peninsula. From this point of view, it seems clear what should happen. The "force of history" will compel us to "take responsibility," and to "own" the West-bank, to annex it. If you want, the "recreated" Yehudah will have the same number of tribes as Yisrael. It has the tribe of Asher, the southern half of the Asher of old, until the region of Chiram. It does not have the tribes of Reuven and Gad, but it does have Edom and the Negev, south of Yehudah-proper and west of Edom, in their stead. Modern-day Israel is on its way, without any intention whatsoever, in fact despite itself, to realize the pre-Torah vision of J, to complete the vision of Yehudah. A vision it did not know.
וַיְהִי כְּמֵשִׁיב יָדוֹ, וְהִנֵּה יָצָא אָחִיו, וַתֹּאמֶר,
מַה-פָּרַצְתָּ
מַה-עָקַבְתָּ
עָלֶיךָ
פָּרֶץ
עֵקֶב
; וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ,
פָּרֶץ
יַעֲקֹב
. וְאַחַר יָצָא אָחִיו, אֲשֶׁר עַל-יָדוֹ הַשָּׁנִי; וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ,
זָרַח
אֱדוֹם.
Yehudah went down from his brothers. From Asher, from Gad, from Reuven, and from Yishmael. In modern jargon, he left from Lebanon, from the East bank of the Jordan river, and from the Sinai peninsula. Where does he arrive then? In the land of Cana'an, in the region of Beth Shemesh.
He turned to an Adullamite man. The ancient site of Adullam is south of Beth Shemesh.
And Yehudah saw a daughter of a Canaanite man, and he married her. The Cana'anim lived by the sea (Bamidbar 13:29).
He was at Chezib when she gave birth to him. Chezib is very close to Adullam, to the South-West of Beth Shemesh.
And he went up to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Chirah, the Adullamite, to Timnah. Timnah is close to Beth Shemesh also, to the North-West. And on the road to Timnah, the twin sons, Ya'akov and Edom, were conceived.
Altogether, Yehudah has five surviving sons, Shelah, Ya'akov and Edom, Shim'on and Levi. In the region of Beth Shemesh did Yehudah, the son of Avraham, live. Far away from his brothers, Asher, Gad, Reuven, and Yishmael. To the North of Timnah, is the region of Ya'akov, until Asher, until Gad, until Reuven. And to the South is the region of Edom, until Yishmael, which includes the Negev (previously Amaleq, Bamidbar 13:29). And the middle region, is for Shelah, Shim'on, and Levi. Shelah could be called Yehudah proper, but they would all be called Yehudah, or, if you prefer, Yitzchak.
The vision is for a "State", in the promised Land, up till the border of Asher, the border of Gad and Reuven, and the border of Yishmael, the Sinai peninsula. From this point of view, it seems clear what should happen. The "force of history" will compel us to "take responsibility," and to "own" the West-bank, to annex it. If you want, the "recreated" Yehudah will have the same number of tribes as Yisrael. It has the tribe of Asher, the southern half of the Asher of old, until the region of Chiram. It does not have the tribes of Reuven and Gad, but it does have Edom and the Negev, south of Yehudah-proper and west of Edom, in their stead. Modern-day Israel is on its way, without any intention whatsoever, in fact despite itself, to realize the pre-Torah vision of J, to complete the vision of Yehudah. A vision it did not know.
שִׁמְעוּ-זֹאת בֵּית-יַעֲקֹב, הַנִּקְרָאִים בְּשֵׁם יִשְׂרָאֵל, וּמִמֵּי יְהוּדָה, יָצָאוּ
הִשְׁמַעְתִּיךָ חֲדָשׁוֹת מֵעַתָּה, וּנְצֻרוֹת וְלֹא יְדַעְתָּם. עַתָּה נִבְרְאוּ וְלֹא מֵאָז, וְלִפְנֵי-יוֹם וְלֹא שְׁמַעְתָּם--פֶּן-תֹּאמַר, הִנֵּה יְדַעְתִּין. גַּם לֹא-שָׁמַעְתָּ, גַּם לֹא יָדַעְתָּ--גַּם, מֵאָז לֹא-פִתְּחָה אָזְנֶךָ
(Yeshayah 48:1,6-8)
Monday, December 12, 2016
The Birth Of Yisrael
In the beginning, in the kingdom of Yisrael, it was said as follows, by E: Avraham begot Yishmael and Yitzchak, and Yitzchak was taken. In stead of Yitzchak, Avraham begot Zimran and Yokshan, and Medan and Midian, and Ya'akov and Esav. And Ya'akov begot Reuven, Dan and Naftali, and Yissachar and Zevulun, and Yosef and Benyamin. Note that Yehudah was not mentioned.
When the kingdom of Yehudah started to arise, in Yehudah it was said as follows, by J: Avraham begot Yishmael and Yehudah, and Reuven, and Gad and Asher. Yehudah begot Er and Onan, and Shelah, and Shim'on and Levi. Er and Onan died, and Yehudah begot in their stead, the twins: Edom, the one with the scarlet thread on his hand, and Yaakov, who outwitted (akav) his brother in the womb (Hoshea 12:4) (Y. Zakovitch, Jacob, p. 18-19). In addition, he begot a daughter, Dinah.
Yisrael, as we read about it in the Torah, was born when the kingdom of Yisrael was destroyed. It was said as follows, by RJE: Avraham begot Yishmael and Yitzchak. And he begot Zimran and Yokshan, and Medan and Midian, and Ishbak and Shuach. (The latter two names are obtained from Ya'akov and Esav through appropriate substitution of the letter Ayin, and reordering of the letters.) And Yitzchak begot the twins Esav and Ya'akov, and Ya'akov begot his twelve sons, the seven mentioned above, plus Shim'on and Levi, plus Yehudah, plus Gad and Asher. And he begot a daughter, Dinah.
Yisrael, as we read in the Torah, had twelve sons, and a daughter, but Esav was not among the sons. Even though Esav, the kingdom of Edom, was in the end converted to Judaism. And today, the area of Edom is part of the State of Israel. History is full of surprises. Esav was (most prophetically) included in the J vision of Yehudah, and, it must be noted, Reuven, Gad and Asher were not. Asher was a problematic area at the time of J, the southern part of Phoenicia, as it is today, with Hezbollah. Although, the southern tip of Asher is in Israel. Gad, however, at the eastern shore of the Jordan river, is totally outside of the current border. Interestingly, Reuven, the firstborn of Yisrael, according to the standard story, is also outside of modern Israel. It is at the Jordanian side of the northern part of the Dead Sea shore, to the South of Gad.
Every religious person knows that Yisrael had twelve sons, and that Yehudah was among the sons. That is simple. Few know that he had seven sons, and that Yehudah was not among them. That is a secret, which has become known in modern times. Very few know that Yisrael was the son of Yehudah. There is a connection between Yehudah and Yisrael, but the connection is opposite to what might seem. That is a secret of secrets.
When the kingdom of Yehudah started to arise, in Yehudah it was said as follows, by J: Avraham begot Yishmael and Yehudah, and Reuven, and Gad and Asher. Yehudah begot Er and Onan, and Shelah, and Shim'on and Levi. Er and Onan died, and Yehudah begot in their stead, the twins: Edom, the one with the scarlet thread on his hand, and Yaakov, who outwitted (akav) his brother in the womb (Hoshea 12:4) (Y. Zakovitch, Jacob, p. 18-19). In addition, he begot a daughter, Dinah.
Yisrael, as we read about it in the Torah, was born when the kingdom of Yisrael was destroyed. It was said as follows, by RJE: Avraham begot Yishmael and Yitzchak. And he begot Zimran and Yokshan, and Medan and Midian, and Ishbak and Shuach. (The latter two names are obtained from Ya'akov and Esav through appropriate substitution of the letter Ayin, and reordering of the letters.) And Yitzchak begot the twins Esav and Ya'akov, and Ya'akov begot his twelve sons, the seven mentioned above, plus Shim'on and Levi, plus Yehudah, plus Gad and Asher. And he begot a daughter, Dinah.
Yisrael, as we read in the Torah, had twelve sons, and a daughter, but Esav was not among the sons. Even though Esav, the kingdom of Edom, was in the end converted to Judaism. And today, the area of Edom is part of the State of Israel. History is full of surprises. Esav was (most prophetically) included in the J vision of Yehudah, and, it must be noted, Reuven, Gad and Asher were not. Asher was a problematic area at the time of J, the southern part of Phoenicia, as it is today, with Hezbollah. Although, the southern tip of Asher is in Israel. Gad, however, at the eastern shore of the Jordan river, is totally outside of the current border. Interestingly, Reuven, the firstborn of Yisrael, according to the standard story, is also outside of modern Israel. It is at the Jordanian side of the northern part of the Dead Sea shore, to the South of Gad.
Every religious person knows that Yisrael had twelve sons, and that Yehudah was among the sons. That is simple. Few know that he had seven sons, and that Yehudah was not among them. That is a secret, which has become known in modern times. Very few know that Yisrael was the son of Yehudah. There is a connection between Yehudah and Yisrael, but the connection is opposite to what might seem. That is a secret of secrets.
בַּבֶּטֶן, עָקַב אֶת-אָחִיו; וּבְאוֹנוֹ, שָׂרָה אֶת-אֱלֹהִים
(Hoshea 12:4)
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