TERUMAH, EXODUS 25:1–27:19, Rosh Chodesh Adar, Shabbat Shekalim

 TERUMAH, EXODUS 25:1–27:19, Rosh Chodesh Adar, Shabbat Shekalim

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At 25: 2, Hashem speaks to Moshe:

דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, וְיִקְחוּ-לִי תְּרוּמָה:  מֵאֵת כָּל-אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִדְּבֶנּוּ לִבּוֹ, תִּקְחוּ אֶת-תְּרוּמָתִי

“Speak to the children of Israel, and have them take for Me an offering; from every person whose heart inspires him to generosity, you shall take My offering”.

When the B'nei Yisrael give from their heart they are transformed into the Am Yisrael, the People of Israel, the Jewish people.

Rabbi Wein has something to say about the aspect of voluntary giving associated with the building of the Mishkan:

Fund raising -  https://www.rabbiwein.com/blog/post-1739.html

“The demand of the Torah is not only to give from our heart but to give our heart itself to the exalted cause and spiritual greatness of the tabernacle/mishkan. It is not a donation that the Torah asks of us, rather it is a commitment of self that is demanded. The tabernacle/mishkan has long ago disappeared from our physical view but its lessons remain relevant and important to us today as when they were taught millennia ago”.

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There is a connection between Rosh Chodesh 1Adar which falls on Friday and the current Parshah. This connection is in regard to the construction of the Mishkan. According to the Talmud (Tractate Megillah 22b), women are forbidden to engage in work on Rosh Chodesh. Rashi comments: Women must refrain: spinning, weaving, and sewing—the skills that women contributed to the building of the Mishkan.

There is a Midrash, (Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, Chapter 45), as paraphrased explores this further: Aaron argued with himself, saying: "If I say to Israel, 'Give me gold and silver,' the men will bring it immediately; but behold if I will say to them, 'Give me the earrings of your wives and your sons,' the matter will immediately fail,"

"And Aaron said to them, 'Break off the golden rings.'" The women heard this, but they were unwilling to give their earrings to their husbands. The women said to them: "You want to make a graven image, a molten image (the Golden Calf) without any power in it to deliver.

"The Holy One, blessed be He, gave the women their reward in this world and the world to come. What reward did He give them in this world? That they should observe the new moons more stringently (not work) than the men. What reward will He give them in the world to come? They are destined to be renewed like the new moons, as it is said: "Who satisfies the years with good things; their youth is renewed like the eagle."

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There is a message in this week’s Torah portion Terumah which applies to our children and grandchildren.

The Torah portion concerns in part the building of the Mishkan, the portable dwelling place for HaShem that we carried during our wandering in the desert.

In the most sacred part of the Mishkan there was the Ark of the Covenant in which was contained the stone tablets, the Ten Commandments.  This Ark was a wooden box covered inside and out with gold. It had a golden cover on which stood two winged angelic beings called Cherubs, Cheruvim in the Hebrew plural. The cover and the Cherubs were fashioned out of one block of pure gold. 

Because we Jews do not believe in idols or religious statuary, the presence of Cherubs in this holiest of places requires some explanation.  In Hebrew, the word Cherub is written כְּרוּב.  The letter כְּ is often translated “as” or “like”.  In Aramaic, רוּב is understood to mean “child”, so we get “like a child”.

 HaShem spoke to Moses from between the two Cheruvim. It is the Cheruvim that stood watch over the Ten Commandments.

Rashi explains that the Cherub or Cheruvim had the face of a child.  Their function was to guard or keep safe the most sacred of our religious objects.  And that means the Torah.  HaShem has placed the care of our Torah in the hands of our children and grandchildren.  

Young ones: Please do a good job.

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In Parshat Terumah, 25:8, Hashem says to Moshe:

וְעָשׂוּ לִי, מִקְדָּשׁ; וְשָׁכַנְתִּי, בְּתוֹכָם

 “Let them make Me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them.”

 

Whether it be a Mishkan or a Temple I think we no longer need a structure or a building to house the presence of God. We have the Land of Israel which performs that sacred obligation.  Israel is the sanctuary that Hashem commanded us to build.  Israel is the מִקְדָּשׁ , a safe haven for us Jews as well as a private place for the presence of God.

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In this week’s Torah portion we receive detailed instructions regarding the construction of the משכן, the portable sanctuary, a dwelling place for Hashem’s presence.  A major component of theמשכן  is the Ark or Tabernacle:

The Ark is protected by two Cherubs.  These are winged-liked unearthly creatures that have the faces of children.  It is thought just as the Cherubs protect the Ark.

Today it is our children serving in the IDF who are protecting the nation, the Torah and our Jewish way of life.

The IDF has a religious women's combat group:

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-843074

In 2024 3,500 religious women joined the IDF, 350 of them opted for the role of a combat soldier.

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The Menorah is also part of the Mishkan. In the abstract it resembles a tree, perhaps the Tree of Life.  And when it branches are lit by Aaron the Kohen Gadol, the Menorah resembles Hashem’s Torah that gives light to us Jews and to the world at large.

There is a controversy as to the design of the Menorah's arms:

The Rambam says that they are straight.

The State of Israel has them rounded.

Pays your money; makes your choice.

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THE TACHASH

In Parshat Terumah we read about the offerings donated for the construction of the Mishkan. One of these offerings were Tachash skins.

 At 26:14 we are instructed that the roof of the Mishkan is to be made up of animal skins, red dyed ram skins and the uppermost layer is to be composed of “tachash” skins.

וְעָשִׂיתָ מִכְסֶה לָאֹהֶל, עֹרֹת אֵילִם מְאָדָּמִים, וּמִכְסֵה עֹרֹת תְּחָשִׁים, מִלְמָעְלָה

"And you shall make a covering for the tent of ram skins dyed red and a covering of tachash skins above”.

 

Additionally, in the Book of Numbers at Chapter 4 we learn that Tachash skins were used to wrap sacred objects and ready them for transport.

 

It is puzzling that the Sages and the Commentators do not know what the Tachash is.  It seems so obvious.

 

Since the Tachash forms the uppermost layer of the Mishkan roof the animal’s hide must have been tough and maybe sort a weather proofing material.

 

One Rabbi in the Talmud at tractate Shabbat 28a speculates that it came from an animal with a single horn. The Prophet Ezekiel at 16:10 has the Tachash being made into is disturbing skin.  

The Tachash is a hippopotamus.  They certainly roamed in Egypt and once roamed about in Israel.  

I want to explore a little more about the tachash:

 

Not Just Another Pretty Face

From learning about its purpose we can assume that Tachash skins offered some sort of protection. waterproof, weather-resistant, tough, and very durable. The skins also provided protection against narrows and missiles. 

But what animal is the Tachash? 

There is much speculation as to its identity: a unicorn or a one-horned rhinoceros, antelope, manatee, dolphin

In the Talmud Shabbat 28a the Tachash is identified as being similar to a multi-colored animal called a sasgona, סַסְגּוֹנָא, because it glistened with different colors. It was also identified as a tela ilan, תלא  אילן  another multicolored creature.

 A sure bet is that the Tachash is a Hippopotamus.

For one thing, a hippopotamus is not what you would call a thin-skinned creature.  Its skin is so thick that it is almost bullet proof, and at 1 ½ inches thick most certainly arrow proof.

A hippo is multicolored: The hippo's upper parts are purplish-grey to blue-black, while the under parts and areas around the eyes and ears can be brownish-pink.  Their skin secretes a natural sunscreen substance which is red-colored.

The Talmud, Shabbat 28a says that the Tachash was multicolored:

שיש בו גבוונין הרבה

“…in that it was multicolored…”

A hippopotamus’ upper parts are purplish-grey to blue-black, while the under parts and areas around the eyes and ears can be brownish-pink.  When out of the water they will secrete a red oily coating that protects its skin from drying out.

If you need a proof text, consider some verses from Chapter 40 of the Book of Job in which a monstrous primeval land animal who has enormous strength and is called a “Behemoth” is described and this creature resembles a hippopotamus:

40:15 - Behold now the Behemoth that I have made with you; he eats grass like an ox.

40:17 - His tail hardens like a cedar; the sinews of his testicles are knit together.

40:18 - His limbs are as strong as copper, his bones as a load of iron.

40:21 - He lies under the shadows, hidden in the reeds and the swamp.

The hippopotamus is large, very large; males weigh more than 4000 lb. The hippopotamus spends much of its time in lakes, swamps and rivers. Before becoming locally extinct they inhabited Egypt and the region known as the Levant, which includes Canaan.  Think of the Hula Valley and the area south of Tiberias.  Archaeological evidence exists of its presence in the Levant, dating to less than 3,000 years ago.

Hippos measure 10 to 17 feet in length, including a tail of about 1 to 2 feet in length. The testes of the males descend only partially.  Their diet in nature consists almost entirely of grass. They are considered to be extremely aggressive 

On an interesting note the most powerful land animal on Earth, the Behemoth/Hippopotamus is paired in the Book of Job with another primeval monstrous animal, the Leviathan. It is the most powerful sea creature on Earth and is thought by many to be a whale.  Whales and hippopotamuses share a common origin. The most recent theory of the origins of the Hippopotamus family suggests that hippos and whales shared a common semiaquatic ancestor that branched off from their common ancestor around 60 million years ago. This ancestral group then split into two branches around 54 million years ago.

And in the World to Come, as many believe, just as the skin of the Leviathan will serve as a tent for the righteous, perhaps it is only fitting that the skin of the hippopotamus served as a tent for us when we wandered in the Wilderness.

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ISHABBAT SHEKELIM

This Shabbat we celebrate the special Shabbat of Shekalim.

Shabbat Shekalim ("Sabbath of Shekels" שבת שקלים) requests each adult male Jew contribute half of a Biblical shekel for the upkeep of the Tabernacle, or Mishkan (משכן). The Torah portion Exodus 30:11-16 (the beginning of Parashat Ki Tisa) is read. This Shabbat takes place on the Shabbat before or on 1 Adar.

The Torah reading is as follows:

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying - “When you take a census of the Israelites by number, each man must give Hashem a ransom for his soul when they are counted, so there not be a plague among them when they are counted. This they shall give, everyone who goes through the counting: half a shekel according to the holy shekel. Twenty gerahs equal one shekel; half of [such] a shekel shall be an offering to Hashem. Everyone who goes through the counting, from the age of twenty and upward, shall give an offering to Hashem. The rich shall give no more, and the poor shall give no less than half a shekel, with which to give the offering to Hashem, to atone for your souls. You shall take the silver of the atonements from the children of Israel and use it for the work of the Tent of Meeting; it shall be a remembrance for the children of Israel before Hashem, to atone for your souls."

 

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MISHPATIM, EXODUS 21:1–24:18

 MISHPATIM,  EXODUS 21:1–24:18

The Parshah of Mishpatim contains 53 mitzvot—23 positive commandments and 30 prohibitions.

Among other things we learn that Hashem has legislated a series of laws for us Israelites:

 Laws of the indentured servant and slaves.

Penalties for murder, kidnapping, assault and theft.

An Eye for An Eye.

 Granting of loans.

Laws warning against mistreatment of foreigners.

Observance of the seasonal festivals.

 Prohibition against cooking meat with milk.

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                            Slave Market in Cairo, Egypt & Nubia. David Roberts, between 1845 and 1849.

Laws of slavery are the very first laws given to the newly freed Israelites following the Ten Commandments. They are found in the collection of laws in Exodus Chapters 21–23. Those who have just left slavery themselves are told by God what to do when acquiring a slave.  When Hashem freed us from our Egyptian masters, God acquired the right to be our master; that right precludes any human being from acquiring Israelites as slaves.  (Reuven Hammer "The Torah Revolution")

Our exodus from Egypt can be considered as a Slave Revolt. It should be no surprise then that the very first decrees given by God to the newly freed Israelites are rules relating to Hebrew slaves. They are found in Exodus 21:1-11.  The first six relate to the treatment and emancipation of a male Hebrew slave and the following to a female.  Additional verses that relate to setting free slaves that are injured are found at 21:26-27.

https://youtu.be/C-zlSq4mWiE?si=JXANKJOizxib1wQB

Slavery is a system in which principles of property law are applied to people. Slavery allows a slave master to own, buy and sell individuals. A slave is a form of property. In our Talmud class on tractate Bava Basra at 149b it was made clear that a Canaanite slave was considered property that can be passed on from generation to another.

Slaves are unable to withdraw unilaterally from such an arrangement and they work without pay. The evil of slavery is so obvious, it seems unnecessary to even to mention it. But do not forget that slavery and human trafficing still exists. Depending on your definition, 20- 40 million people are in some form of slavery today.

PLEASE NOTE: Although the Chumash mentions slavery as an established institution, a Jew has only one master, and that is God.

                       

When we were slaves in Egypt, Hashem freed us from servitude, from Egyptian bondage. Because we are a people of compassion and moral justice, slavery and having slaves is not part of our social fabric.

                           

This is borne out in the Haftorah portion which is from Jeremiah in part Chapter 34:8-22.

It is 586 BCE.  Nebuchadnezzar is breathing down our neck.  The Kingdom of Judah is about to fall.

We are given an opportunity by Hashem to avert the destruction of Jerusalem, if only we free our slaves. Slave holders take a sacred oath in the Temple to do this, but renege on their word…

Result: The Temple is destroyed; the Kingdom is lost; we go into Exile.

What a bunch of fools we were!

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In Parshat Mishpatim at 21:23 we are taught “עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן שֵׁ֖ן תַּ֣חַת”, "An eye for an eye".

This is a principle that is sometimes referred to as reciprocal justice or measure for measure ( מדה קנגד מדה) or in Latin, lex talionis, the law of retaliation or possibly equitable retribution. On its face this principle seems pretty straight forward: A person who has injured another person is to be penalized to a similar degree by the injured party.

I think the original intention of “An eye for an eye” may have been two-fold:

· To prevent excessive punishment at the hands of either an avenging private party or his Family or Clan or Tribe. It served to prevent feuds and vendettas.

· To ensure that the standard of care for a wealthy perpetrator, who may wish to buy his way out, be the same as for an improvised person.

At the time when we received the Torah at Mt. Sinai there was a Babylonian legal code present in Mesopotamia called the Code of Hammurabi. Included in this code was the principle of “An eye for an eye”. What the law would have been in Egypt I do not know. I do know that 500 years later at the time of the Judges, as shown in 1:5-7 and Chapters 20 and 21 the law of retaliation was still in force.

Looking at the Book of Numbers, Chapter 35: 31-32 except for the crime of intentional or unintentional murder it may have been possible for a monetary payment, כֹפֶר to be acceptable in place of bodily punishment. It is a stretch though.

Sometime later, it is hard to say when, the lex talionis was "humanized" by the Rabbis who interpreted "an eye for an eye" to mean reasonable monetary compensation. The Rabbis of the Talmud interpreted it that way. And it is so today.

Question: Is this dangerous ground?  Is the reinterpretation of lex talionis an example of the ability of Judaism to adapt to changing social and intellectual ideas?

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In Chapter 23, verse 20 Hashem says Moses:

הִנֵּ֨ה אָֽנֹכִ֜י שֹׁלֵ֤חַ מַלְאָךְ֙ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ לִשְׁמָרְךָ֖ בַּדָּ֑רֶךְ וְלַֽהֲבִ֣יאֲךָ֔ אֶל־הַמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֲכִנֹֽתִי

“Behold, I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.”

The question then is: Who or where is this Angel?

We have to wait until Chapter 5, verses 13-14 of the Book of Joshua to maybe come up with an answer:

“And it was when Joshua was in Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and saw, and, behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand; and Joshua went to him, and said to him, Are you for us, or for our adversaries?

And he said, No, but I am the captain of the host of the Lord; I have now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and prostrated himself, and said to him, What does my lord say to his servant?”

We repeat the verses from our Parsha as part of the Wayfarer's Prayer.

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At 24:12, Moses ascends Har Sinai and remains there for forty days and forty nights.

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, עֲלֵה אֵלַי הָהָרָה--וֶהְיֵה-שָׁם; וְאֶתְּנָה לְךָ אֶת-לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן, וְהַתּוֹרָה וְהַמִּצְוָה, אֲשֶׁר כָּתַבְתִּי, לְהוֹרֹתָם

“And the Lord said to Moses, "Come up to Me to the mountain and remain there, and I will give you the stone tablets, the Law and the commandments, which I have written to instruct them."

In Chapter 32 when Moshe does descend, it will be suprise-suprise.

YISRO, EXODUS 18:1-20

  YISRO, EXODUS 18:1-20

BS”D

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Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, with his brother, Aaron, standing to his right and Israelites waiting at the foot of the mountain, miniature illuminated manuscript, c. 1322.

In this Parsha we have the revelation of God, not to a single individual, but to an entire nation. I'm pretty sure that I was there, but I don't remember seeing you.😀

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Beginning at Chapter 20 at Mt. Sinai we hear the 10 Commandments spoken by Hashem.  It is not until much later in Chapter 31 that Hashem inscribes the 10 Commandments into two stone tablets and gives them to Moshe to bring down to the people.

Most likely they were written in a script called Paleo-Hebrew and not in the square script that we today are familiar with and is called Ashura script.  Paleo-Hebrew was the script used through out the land of Canaan during the Late Bronze Age, about 1,500 BCE when the Ten Commandments were given.  Ashura script developed much later, perhaps a thousand years later and originated out of Mesopotamia and not Canaan.

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In Parshas Yisro we receive the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai, a high point in our relationship with Hashem.. The third one of these Commandments at 20:6-7 is:

לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת-שֵׁם-יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ, לַשָּׁוְא: כִּי לֹא יְנַקֶּה יְהוָה, אֵת אֲשֶׁר-יִשָּׂא אֶת-שְׁמוֹ לַשָּׁוְא.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, for the Lord will not hold blameless anyone who takes His name in vain.”

What does this Commandment mean to you?

It seems to me that in our common culture, taking God’s name in vain has been much trivialized…perhaps a sign of the times where things are taken casually or made light of.

לַשָּׁוְא which appears twice means “for nothing” or a misuse.

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The Ten Commandments begin at 20:2 with Hashem stating his bonafides: “I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage”.

Then there is a list of responsibilities and obligations, things that we are required to do or not to do through verse 20:14.  In turn if we do our part Hashem will do His as stated previously in Chapter 19:

19:5, וִהְיִיתֶם לִי סְגֻלָּה מִכָּל-הָעַמִּים,

“…you shall be My own treasure from among all peoples…”

19:6, וְאַתֶּם תִּהְיוּ-לִי מַמְלֶכֶת כֹּהֲנִים, וְגוֹי קָדוֹשׁ

“you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation”.

This clearly a contract between a sovereign and a people, not between a sovereign and an under lord, but between a sovereign and a multitude.

I'm no Priest, but I do live in the Holy Nation.

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In the Parshah at 18:2: וַיִּקַּח, יִתְרוֹ חֹתֵן מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-צִפֹּרָה, אֵשֶׁת מֹשֶׁה--אַחַר, שִׁלּוּחֶיהָ 

 “So Moses' father in law, Jethro, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after she had been sent away”,

I want to focus on what “to be sent away” may possibly mean. 

To be sent away has an emotional connotation of finality or divorce or banishment. At Genesis 21:14 where Abraham sends Haggar away, there is no question as to his intent:

וַיַּשְׁכֵּם אַבְרָהָם בַּבֹּקֶר וַיִּקַּח-לֶחֶם וְחֵמַת מַיִם וַיִּתֵּן אֶל-הָגָר שָׂם עַל-שִׁכְמָהּ, וְאֶת-הַיֶּלֶד--וַיְשַׁלְּחֶהָ; וַתֵּלֶךְ וַתֵּתַע, בְּמִדְבַּר בְּאֵר שָׁבַע.

“And Abraham arose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away; and she went, and became lost in the wilderness of Beer-sheba”.

Getting back to Moshe and the Parshah, it is only in 18:2 and not before that we learn that Zipporah had been sent away.   We have to read into the text in order to make sense out of 18:2.

 Not only is the phrase found at 18:2, but it is also found at  18:27 –

 וַיְשַׁלַּח מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-חֹתְנוֹ; וַיֵּלֶךְ לוֹ, אֶל-אַרְצוֹ. 

“And Moses sent his father-in-law away; and he went to his own land”.

Ask yourself: Why would Moshe be prompted to banish his father-in-law as he done previously to his wife?

The answer may be found in  a conversation between Moshe and Yisro.

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Some verses from the Book of Numbers 10: 29-32 shed some light on what may have transpired in the Parshah:

Moses says: “…We are traveling to the place about which the Lord said, I will give it to you. Come with us and we will be good to you, for the Lord has spoken of good fortune for Israel.

 Yitro replies: He said to him, I won't go, for I will go to my land and my birthplace.

Moses answers: He said, Please don't leave us, for because you are familiar with our encampments in the desert and you will be our guide. And if you go with us, then we will bestow on you the good which God grants us.

There is another clue as to what is happening. At 18:24, Moses seems to comply with what Yitro is telling him:

וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע משֶׁ֖ה לְק֣וֹל חֹֽתְנ֑וֹ וַיַּ֕עַשׂ כֹּ֖ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָמָֽר

"Moses understood his father in law, and he acted to all that he said".

 וַיִּשְׁמַ֥ע means that Moses heard or listened or understood.  On its face this conversation seems to refer to setting up of a judicial system.

But it might mean something more, and Moshe got the picture.  His father-in-law was a Midianite who had no desire to throw in with the Jews.

And in our Parshah: “And Moses sent his father in-law away; and he went to his own land”.

We all know that Moshe had a temper. I’m thinking that Moshe understood and was so upset with Yitro’s response, that Moshe threw him out never to return.

Sam Cooke, not Rav Kook, has a different point of view on "sending":

https://youtu.be/tcrU3ddNeIg

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This brings up another question: We would like to believe that Yisro converted to Judaism when he arrived at our encampment. After all, Yisro was impressed by all that Hashem had done for us:

At 18:1 - Now Moses' father in law, Jethro, the Priest of Midian, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, His people that the Lord had taken Israel out of Egypt.

At 18:9-12

9 - Now Moses' father in law, Jethro, a Priest of Midian, heard all that God had done for Moses and for Israel, His people that the Lord had taken Israel out of Egypt.

10 - Jethro said, "Blessed is the Lord...

11 - Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the deities...

12 - Then Moses' father in law, Jethro, sacrificed a burnt offering and a peace offering to God,...

This is interpreted by some as a celebration of his conversion.  But did he really convert?  In all what follows in the Chumash, the Midianites have been our enemy and not a friend.

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The Haftorah portion concerns parts of Chapters 6, 7 and 9 (for Ashkenazim).

In this week's Haftarah portion at 6:1-3 we read the Prophet Isaiah's vision of heavenly beings:

“Seraphim stood above for Him, six wings, six wings to each one; with two he would cover his face, and with two he would cover his feet, and with two he would fly.  And one called to the other and said, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory."

Isaiah saw a Seraph which is a heavenly being that flies around the Throne of God exclaiming:

 קָד֧וֹשׁ | קָד֛וֹשׁ קָד֖וֹשׁ יְהֹוָ֣ה צְבָא֑וֹת מְלֹ֥א כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ כְּבוֹדֽוֹ

Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory”.

These words are the Kedushah, probably the most important part of the Amidah where we attempt to emulate the Angels.  The Kedushah is also said in the first prayer prior to reciting the Shema and towards the conclusion of the morning service as part of the Uva L'tzion prayer and at the conclusion of Shabbat.

Then at 6:5 the Prophet exclaims that he is not fit to have seen what he has seen:

“Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips...Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar.  And he touched my mouth with it, and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away”,

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The Haftarah portion this week is from the Book of Isaiah. He introduces us to the Judean King, Achaz. Most of us do not know him, he ruled in Judah between 734–714 BCE.

Historically, Achaz was one of the strongest and most determined leaders of Judah. At that time the Assyrian Empire was on the rise, Two local kingdoms, Aram and Israel (that’s right Israel, the northern kingdom) tried to force Achaz to join an alliance in opposition to Assyria.

According to Isaiah 7:6, when Achaz refused, they attempted to force Judah to join their anti-Assyrian coalition, or annex it and put their own man on the throne.
נַעֲלֶה בִיהוּדָה וּנְקִיצֶנָּה, וְנַבְקִעֶנָּה אֵלֵינוּ; וְנַמְלִיךְ מֶלֶךְ בְּתוֹכָהּ, אֵת בֶּן-טָבְאַל 

“Let us go up against Judah and provoke it, and annex it to us; and let us crown a king in its midst, one who is good for us.”

Long story short: Achaz appealed to Assyria for help; Assyria complied and Israel and Aram were whipped. However in turn Judah lost its independence and became a vassal kingdom of Assyria.

For the next 600 years until after the Maccabees, we were a subject kingdom or province of Assyria, Egypt, Babylonia, Persia, Ptolemy, Seleucids and lastly Rome.

Although we have enemies such as Iran that want to destroy us, it sure is good, now, to be free in our Land.  We should remember Achaz and not appeal for help to entities such as the USA, UN and EU lest we become a vassal state for years to come.

There is another, much more important lesson to learn: When Judea was embattled with Israel it was Jew against Jew. We must never let that happen again!

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TU B'SHEVAT

On Wednesday evening, the 12th of February we will celebrate Tu B’Shevat.  Tu B’Shevat is the time that helped Jewish farmers establish exactly when they should bring their fourth-year produce of fruit from recently planted trees to the Temple as first-fruit offerings.

It will be a grand evening showing gratitude to the Creator for what He has given us and what we have.

 

The Kabbalists in 16th century Tzfat, who originated the Tu B’Shevat Seder, gave a prominent place to almonds in their Tu B’Shevat celebration.  Almond trees were believed to be the first of all trees in Israel to blossom. Carob, also known as bokser or St. John’s bread, is another popular fruit to eat on Tu B’Shevat.  Carob could survive the long trip from Israel to Jewish communities in Europe where its popularity began. It is still true today.  “Bokser” comes from the German Bockshornbaum, which means “ram’s horn tree.”  Bokser is a seed pod that resembles a dark horn.  It is a favorite of mine.

Once, many years ago I had reason to visit a coal mining operation in Harlan County, Kentucky.  For this visit I stayed at a Holiday Inn in nearby Middlesboro and bought my food at the local Kroger’s super market.  While making my selections I was amazed to see a bunch of bokser and I purchased a handful.  The clerk at the check-out wanted to know what this strange looking item was and I filled her in.  This part of Kentucky was not what one would call “Jew-Acres”.  You would have to travel hours to Louisville or Lexington to find a substantial Jewish population.  For me finding bokser in Middleboro served as a reminder that Hashem was looking out for me, no matter where events would take me.