Pages

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

VAYETZE 28:10-32:3

 VAYETZE 28:10-32:3

      


                       

 

This week's Parshah is Vayeitzei.

Among other things we learn:

Jacob journeys from Beersheva to Charan.

 On the way he dreams of a ladder connecting heaven and earth.

 Hashem appears to him and promises that the land upon which he lies will be given to his descendants.

 Jacob works for his uncle Laban who agrees to give him Rachel as a wife, but Jacob must work for seven years in order to get this prize.  On the wedding night they pull a bait and switch, and Jacob ends up with Leah, and has to do an additional seven years of sheep herding

 Between Rachel, Leah and two handmaidens, Jacob fathers 13 children

 After 14 years plus an additional six, a prosperous Jacob and his family secretly leave Charan.

-----------------------------------------------

 

 At 28:10-11 we learn:

“And Jacob left Beersheba, and he went to Haran”.

וַיֵּצֵא יַעֲקֹב, מִבְּאֵר שָׁבַע; וַיֵּלֶךְ, חָרָנָה

Beersheva served as the launch point for Jacob’s Father and Grandfather.  So when Jacob leaves Beersheva to go to Haran it is reminiscent of Lech Lecha at 12:1 - “And the Lord said to Abram, "Go forth from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house….”

------------------------------------------------------------

 


­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

In the Parshah at 28:11, Jacob arrives at a place where he has a mystical experience in which he sees a ladder extending to heaven: 

“And he arrived at the place and lodged there because the sun had set, and he took from the stones of the place and put at his head, and he lay down in that place”.

וַיִּפְגַּ֨ע בַּמָּק֜וֹם וַיָּ֤לֶן שָׁם֙ כִּי־בָ֣א הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ וַיִּקַּח֙ מֵֽאַבְנֵ֣י הַמָּק֔וֹם וַיָּ֖שֶׂם מְרַֽאֲשֹׁתָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁכַּ֖ב בַּמָּק֥וֹם הַהֽוּא

The word “place”, מָּק֔וֹם is used three times in this verse.  Perhaps it is another name for Hashem as used in the Passover Haggadah or maybe a reference to the location of the future Temple, a place where Hashem will show you.

יִּפְגַּע could be translated as “meet” or “encounter”; מָּקוֹם  could be understood as “God”.

Jacob had an encounter with Hashem.  On Shabbat we have a similar encounter.  Isn’t Torah great?

Then there is Led Zeppelin: 


-------------------------




--------------------------------------------


Some people are slow in fulfilling a vow, and need to be reminded.  Jacob was one such person.

In the Parshah, after Jacob has his mysterious dream and Hashem’s promise, he erects a monument and makes a vow (28:21-22) –

“and this stone, which I have set up for a memorial, shall be God's house;”

  וְהָאֶבֶן הַזֹּאת, אֲשֶׁר-שַׂמְתִּי מַצֵּבָה--יִהְיֶה, בֵּית אֱלֹהִים


Did Jacob promise to build the Temple, the Mikdash?

I will come back to my father's house in peace, and Hashem will be my God.”

וְשַׁבְתִּי בְשָׁלוֹם, אֶל-בֵּית אָבִי; וְהָיָה יְהוָה לִי, לֵאלֹהִים

Twenty years later Hashem reminds Jacob of his vow (31:13)

“I am the God of Beth el, where you anointed a monument, where you pronounced to Me a vow. Now, arise, go forth from this land and return to the land of your birth”.

אָנֹכִי הָאֵל, בֵּית-אֵל, אֲשֶׁר מָשַׁחְתָּ שָּׁם מַצֵּבָה, אֲשֶׁר נָדַרְתָּ לִּי שָׁם נֶדֶר; עַתָּה, קוּם צֵא מִן-הָאָרֶץ הַזֹּאת, וְשׁוּב, אֶל-אֶרֶץ מוֹלַדְתֶּךָ.ְ

Jacob is commanded to return to the land of his birth, an interesting twist on Lech Lecha.

--------------------------------------------------------------------



In this week's Parshah, the 4th Aliyah (30:14), Reuven finds a plant called the דודאים. Reuven gives it to Leah his Mother.  Rachel who is childless is desperate for this plant. The two women barter:  Leah trades the דודאים for the opportunity to sleep with Jacob. What is this plant?  What is going on here?  Did it work?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------



We also find the דודאים in the Song of Songs 7:14 -

 הַדּוּדָאִים נָתְנוּ-רֵיחַ, וְעַל-פְּתָחֵינוּ כָּל-מְגָדִים--חֲדָשִׁים, גַּם-יְשָׁנִים; דּוֹדִי, צָפַנְתִּי לָךְ.

"The mandrakes have given forth fragrance. And on our doorways are all manner of sweet fruits, both new and old, which I have hidden away for you, my beloved."

Because mandrakes contain Hallucinogens, and the shape of their roots often resembles human figures, they have been associated with a variety of magical practices throughout history. 

--------------------------------------------------------------

 

Rachel hiding idols,  Giovanni Battista Tiapolo, 1726-29

At 31:34, Rachel has hidden her father’s household idols that are called teraphim, תְּרָפִים.

וְרָחֵל לָקְחָה אֶת-הַתְּרָפִים, וַתְּשִׂמֵם בְּכַר הַגָּמָל

“Now Rachel had taken the teraphim, and put them in the saddle of the camel…”

What going on?  Did Rachel take the teraphim in order that Lavan not have idolatrous paraphernalia, or did she wanted to use them herself?

Five hundred years later we encounter teraphim again in 1 Samuel 19: Before he became king, David’s wife uses their large size teraphim as part of a ruse to protect David from King Saul’s soldiers  

Does this mean that there was a place for teraphim in every household?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Tuesday, November 3, 2020

VAYEIRA 18:1-22:24,

 

VAYEIRA 18:1-22:24

 


So you think that you had a busy week: In this week's Parshah, Abraham is visited by three angels and is promised a son. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed.  Sarah gives birth to Isaac at the age of 90, Hagar and Ishmael are banished.  Gd orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.

------------------------------------------------

Abraham is visited by three angels:

What exactly are Angels?

At 18:1 Abraham senses that his visitors are special, and he runs to them.

וַיִּשָּׂ֤א עֵינָיו֙ וַיַּ֔רְא וְהִנֵּה֙ שְׁלשָׁ֣ה אֲנָשִׁ֔ים נִצָּבִ֖ים עָלָ֑יו וַיַּ֗רְא וַיָּ֤רָץ 

“And he lifted his eyes and saw, and behold, three men were standing beside him, and he saw and he ran toward them…” 

In this instance Abraham’s visitors are described as men, אֲנָשִׁ֔ים.

At 19:1, They are described as Angels or messengers, מַּלְאָכִים

וַיָּבֹאוּ שְׁנֵי הַמַּלְאָכִים סְדֹמָה

“And the two angels came to Sodom…”

Of the three Angels or messengers from Hashem, one had the task of informing Abraham of the future birth of Isaac, and the remaining two had the task in assisting the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.

 Much later on, at 28:12 Jacob has a vision of Angels going up and down on a ladder.  These are referred to as מַלְאֲכֵי. Likewise at  32:2 when Jacob enters Canaan he is greeted by מַלְאֲכֵי.

Still later on at 32:25, Jacob wrestles with a supernatural being, who is called a man, אִישׁ .

In the Chumash, Angels are nameless.  It is only in the Book of Daniel that Angels are named: Gabriel and Michael. 

---------------------------------------------------------

The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are destroyed:

At 19: 24 and 25 we learn about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah:

וַֽיהֹוָ֗ה הִמְטִ֧יר עַל־סְדֹ֛ם וְעַל־עֲמֹרָ֖ה גָּפְרִ֣ית וָאֵ֑שׁ מֵאֵ֥ת יְהֹוָ֖ה מִן־הַשָּׁמָֽיִם

“And the Lord caused to rain down upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire, from the Lord, from heaven”.

וַיַּֽהֲפֹךְ֙ אֶת־הֶֽעָרִ֣ים הָאֵ֔ל וְאֵ֖ת כָּל־הַכִּכָּ֑ר וְאֵת֙ כָּל־יֽשְׁבֵ֣י הֶֽעָרִ֔ים וְצֶ֖מַח הָֽאֲדָמָֽה

“And He turned over these cities and the entire plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and the vegetation of the ground”.

The destruction had two elements: The raining down of fiery sulfur and an earthquake that overturned the cities.  Where were these cities located? 

Sodom and Gomorrah were located in the Jordan Valley, a geologic rift zone characterized by earthquakes.  I would guess they were close to what is now the Dead Sea.  In the Dead Sea today there are seeps of natural asphalt or bitumen.

And we learned at 14:16  that in the battle of the fives kings and four kings there were pits of asphalt:

 וְעֵמֶק הַשִּׂדִּים, בֶּאֱרֹת בֶּאֱרֹת חֵמָר

 “The valley of Daemons was full of bitumen (asphalt) pits”

 It must have been a forbidding, foul-smelling place.  I’m guessing that anaerobic bacteria lived off of the sulfur contained in the asphalt, producing hydrogen sulfide that has a rotten egg smell and native sulfur.  This is the phenomenon that place in Louisiana and Texas where there are economic salt and sulfur deposits. 

With the raw materials on-hand plus an earthquake, you have the elements of destruction. Sulfur is easily ignited,, hydrogen sulfide is a deadly gas and for good measure sulfuric acid is able to be produced, culminating in an acid rain…what a catastrophe!

------------------------------------------------------------

 Lot and His Daughters (or Let's Hop on Pop):

 

                                                 Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1528

Lot was Abraham’s nephew, the son of Abraham’s deceased brother Haran.  Sara was his Aunt.  Terach was his grandfather.  Lot like the rest of the family was a Sumerian.  He chose to live in Sodom.  The question is why?

On its face, Sodom was not a place for any of Abraham’s family, who for want of a better term were straight-laced.  And Sodom at the very least was a city of questionable morality, I speculate that unlike the rest of the family, Lot belonged to that group of Sumerians who in matters of sexual intimacy were lax if not indulgent.

When Sodom’s townspeople wanted to have “their way” with Lot’s guests, he volunteered his daughters in their stead. At first I thought this repugnant,  but on refection I am of the opinion that the daughters were part of the scene and not horrified as to what might have happened.

Furthermore when the daughters are in the cave with their father, at  19:31, one says:

אָבִ֣ינוּ זָקֵ֑ן וְאִ֨ישׁ אֵ֤ין בָּאָ֨רֶץ֙ לָב֣וֹא עָלֵ֔ינוּ כְּדֶ֖רֶךְ כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ

 "…Our father is old, and there is no man on earth to come onto us, as is the manner of all the earth”.

I think that the daughters were not concerned whether or not mankind had been destroyed, but were simply behaving in the manner of the erstwhile Sodom population.  And Lot went along with the program.

Five hundred years later we learn in Devarim 25:4-5 about the sweeping prohibition against marrying an Ammonite or Moabite, offspring from the incest between Lot and his daughters:

 “No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted into the congregation of the Lord; none of their descendants, even in the tenth generation, shall ever be admitted into the congregation of the Lord.” 

------------------------------------------------------



Hagar and Ishmael are banished:  

In the Parshah, 21:10,  at the behest of Sarah, Abraham sends Hagar and Ishmael away”

וַתֹּ֨אמֶר֙ לְאַבְרָהָ֔ם גָּרֵ֛שׁ הָֽאָמָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את וְאֶת־בְּנָ֑הּ כִּ֣י לֹ֤א יִירַשׁ֙ בֶּן־הָֽאָמָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את עִם־בְּנִ֖י עִם־יִצְחָֽק

“And Sarah said to Abraham, Drive out this handmaid and her son, for the son of this handmaid shall not inherit with my son, with Isaac."

This is tantamount to divorcing Hagar and disinheriting Ishmael who would have normally not only shared with Isaac, but perhaps would have taken a double share.

Question arise as to why Sarah did not want Ishmael to remain in her home?

And why should Ismael not share the inheritance with Isaac?

Are there racial, religious or ethnic  implications for Jews in Israel today?

Rabbi Riskin addresses these questions, firstly looking at why Sarah was so upset with Ishmael.  At 21:9 -

  וַתֵּרֶא שָׂרָה אֶת-בֶּן-הָגָר הַמִּצְרִית, אֲשֶׁר-יָלְדָה לְאַבְרָהָםמְצַחֵק

“And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, making sport.”

Rabbi Riskin sees מְצַחֵק as not just “amusing himself”, but probably Isaac being sodomized by Ishmael, the older brother overpowering the weaker brother.

And in the previous Parshah at 16:12 Rabbi Riskin translates – “…  יָדוֹ בַכֹּל, וְיַד כֹּל בּו…”

“…his hand grasps for everything…”

וְהוּא יִהְיֶה, פֶּרֶא אָדָם--יָדוֹ בַכֹּל, וְיַד כֹּל בּוֹ; וְעַל-פְּנֵי כָל-אֶחָיו, יִשְׁכֹּן.

 And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren.' 

Rabbi Riskin interprets this verse differently: “his hand is in everything and a hand in all.”

Ishmael is not a person who shares.  And given an opportunity he will overpower his brother.  He will take it all.

Since 1947 we have always been willing to share, but Ishmael has always wanted it all.  If Rabbi Kahane had his way, Ishmael and his Egyptian mother will have been banished, sent away. 

------------------------------------------------------


 

----------------------------------------------

Hashem orders Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac:

Abraham came to Canaan when he was 75 years old.  He is now 137 years old when Hashem orders him to sacrifice Isaac.

For more than 60 years he has been gathering followers and bringing the concept of monotheism to the people of Canaan.  Isaac has been destined to carry on this work.

What is to be gained by testing Abraham’s loyalty so late in the game?  Perhaps, it is Isaac and not Abraham who is being tested.

---------------------------------------------

Just prior to the beginning of the Binding of Isaac and after the incident at Beersheba, at 21:34 – “And Abraham lived in the land of the Philistines many days”.

Then at 22:2 Abraham is commanded to go to the Land of Moriah and on a mountain that God will show him he is to offer up Isaac as a sacrifice.   

A question is raised as to just where is the Land of Moriah?  All we know is that the party starts out by donkey, from the land of the Philistines and on the 3rd day they see the place at a distance (22:4).   

My guess is that they started out from the coast plain, followed a corridor through the foothills, going eastward until they reached the Judean Mountains.  A donkey can average 3.5 miles per hour, so by the 3rd day could have gone more than a 100 miles.  The mountain in the Land of Moriah could have been the Temple Mount as per 2 Chronicles 3:1 or not.

I would speculate that Moriah, מוֹרִיָּה means “God instructs” and could be the Temple Mount.

-------------------------------------



The Akedah As Interpreted In The Muslim World

In Chapter 22 we have the Akedah, the Binding of Isaac. These passages are central to our belief system; we read them every morning.

However, there are approximately two billion Muslims in the world who hold differently. The vast majority of the Muslim world distort the Chumash and hold that it was Ishmael and not Isaac who was to be sacrificed.

Muslims erroneously believe that the episode begins prior to the birth of Isaac: Abraham tells Ishmael that he has had a vision regarding the sacrifice. Ishmael agrees to be sacrificed. No binding is necessary. As one of the rewards for his righteousness, Abraham is told that he will have another son, Isaac. Go figure.

---------------------------------------------

According to Rav Kook, A careful reading of the Torah’s account clearly indicates that Lot did not deserve to be saved on his own merits alone.

At 19:29:

 וַיְהִי, בְּשַׁחֵת אֱלֹהִים אֶת-עָרֵי הַכִּכָּר, וַיִּזְכֹּר אֱלֹהִים, אֶת-אַבְרָהָם; וַיְשַׁלַּח אֶת-לוֹט, מִתּוֹךְ הַהֲפֵכָה, בַּהֲפֹךְ אֶת-הֶעָרִים, אֲשֶׁר-יָשַׁב בָּהֵן לוֹט

“And it came to pass, when Hashem destroyed the cities of the Plain, that Hashem remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.”

While it is true that Lot rejected the cruel nature of the people of Sodom, that was not enough. Unlike his uncle Abraham, Lot presented no alternative vision, and did not properly contest the Sodomite ideology of cruelty.

Likewise for Jews it is not enough to reject ideologies that contradict the Torah’s ethical ideals.  It is insufficient to only engage in negative criticism. Jews must present a positive outlook, based on a vision of chessed as did the Patriarch Abraham.

(adapted from “Gold from the Land of Israel” by Chanan Morrison 

, pp. 46-48. Adapted from Ein Eyah vol. II, p. 250)