Readings for Saturday, February 3, 2024
Yitro (Jethro)
18:1-20:23 Shemot (Exodus)
Yitro is the
fifth sedrah in the Book of Shemot or Exodus. The sedrah takes its name from the second
Hebrew word in the first sentence of the reading. “And (there) heard Jethro (Yitro), the priest
of Midian, the father-in-law of Moshe.”
The sedrah divides into two parts - the Visit from Yitro (or Jethro in
English) and the Revelation at Mount Sinai.
The centerpiece of the Revelation at Sinai is the giving of the Ten
Commandments. To ensure a common point
of departure, please note that the term “Ten Commandments” does not appear in
the sedrah. The Hebrew term is “Aseret
Ha-Dibrot” or “Aseret Ha-d’varim” which may be translated variously as the Ten
Words, Statements or Pronouncements.
This makes the English term, Decalogue, more accurate. However, we shall stick to the term Ten
Commandments because of its universality and ease of linguistic usage.
The Visit From Yitro (18:1-27)
The sedrah opens with arrival of Yitro, Moshe’s
father-in-law, in the Israelite camp. He
brings with him Moshe’s wife, Zipporah and his two sons, Gershom and
Eliezer. They had disappeared from the
Torah after the quickie circumcision that saved Moshe from death. Here the text says, “after she had been sent
home.” But there is no previous mention
in the Torah as to how or why she and the boy(s) were sent home. All we know for sure is that they were with
Yitro while Moshe was on his mission to free the Israelites. There are some commentators who contend that
this re-union actually took place after the Revelation at Sinai and that it is
put here to contrast the behavior of the non-Jews towards the Jews i.e., the
evil of Amalek versus the virtue of Yitro.
In other words, being non-Jewish is not synonymous with being
anti-Jewish. In his commentaries, Rashi
presents both views without comment. One
reason to accept the text as written is that accepting the alternative view
would mean that the family of Moshe would have missed out on the most important
event in Jewish History - the Sinaitic Revelation. There may have been a reason to keep Moshe’s
family out of his way while he was working in Egypt. But it strains credulity that he would have
wanted them to miss the events at Sinai, either in his role as a father or as
the leader of the Israelites. Regardless
of your view about the timing, Moshe greets Yitro warmly. In fact, he spends more time with him than he
does with his family. Yitro marvels at
the greatness of God and all that has happened.
In what can only be described as a textbook dissertation on delegation,
Yitro tells Moshe that he is being overworked.
He then helps Moshe set up a “court system” where lesser judges will
hear most of the cases and Moshe will only have to deal with the really
difficult ones. He also tells Moshe the
three characteristics he should look for in these judges. Through the example of the decent and wise
Yitro, the Rabbis want us to learn that Jews do not have a monopoly on virtue
or wisdom. Yitro’s departure is shrouded
in almost as much textural turmoil as his arrival. For while the Torah describes Yitro’s
departure at this point in the text, there are further details of his leave
taking in Bamidbar (Numbers), the fourth book in the Torah. Yitro must have been a truly uncommon person
since the sedrah that describes the giving of the Ten Commandments bears his
name.
The Revelation
at Sinai (19:1-20:23)
Approximately seven weeks after the Exodus from Egypt and
six weeks after the Miracle at the Sea, the Israelites are encamped at Mount
Sinai, the site of the Theophany, the appearance of God. Which mountain in the Sinai Peninsula is the
real Mount Sinai? We do not know. While the Bible can be very specific in its
geographic description of some events (at least from the point of view of the
authors), the Torah provides little information as to the location of this most
famous piece of real estate. There are
numerous commentaries as to why. Some
say it has to do with a fear that the site would become a place of veneration
that might eclipse Jerusalem. Some say
it is because we should focus on Sinai as state of mind and not as hunk of
rock. (For an interesting look at the
question of Biblical real estate, you might want to read Walking the Bible
by Feiler.) The description of the
events leading to the giving of the Decalogue is not a clean narrative. It will take us several sidrot to get Moshe
up and down the mountain. God and Moshe
work to prepare the people for the Revelation at Sinai. God gives His reasons for what He is
doing. But before going forward, Moshe
must get the agreement of the elders.
While God may have the power to make us do anything, He will only reveal
Himself to the Israelites if they are willing participants. Not for the last time, the Israelites promise
to obey even before they know what is required of them. Such is their faith in God. Once commitment has been reached, Moshe, at
God’s direction, sets the physical parameters for the meeting with God. God will “come down” into their midst. But the Israelites are limited as to how
close they may come to the mountain. To
paraphrase the Psalmist, we come near unto God, but there is a limit as to how
much of the Divine we may absorb. Like a
father, God can draw us close to him in love while still being able to keep the
distance necessary to judge us. The
Israelites are told to wash their clothes (cleanliness is next to Godliness)
and to remain pure during the three day waiting period. At the end of three days, “Moshe led the
people out of camp toward God, and they took their places at the foot of the
mountain.” In this verse we see a major
part of what makes the Revelation at Sinai unique. All of the people are present. God does not reveal himself to one person or
to some small elite. He reveals himself
and His laws to the entire nation. And
the entire nation accepts the Revelation.
How we as individuals understand what the authors are describing will
determine, in no small measure, how we view what is contained in the
Torah. “And God spoke all these words,
saying” introduces us to the Ten Commandments.
There will be no attempt to explicate them since the information is
overwhelming. But here is a list that
will at least provide us with some commonality with a couple of comments:
I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of
Egypt out of the house of bondage (20:2).
You shall have no other Gods beside me (20:3-6).
The first two commandments are given in the first person
singular. The other eight are given in
the third person singular. This has led
some commentators to speculate that the Israelites actually only heard the
first two commandments from God.
Overwhelmed by the experience, they then heard the other eight from
Moshe as God gave them to him.
You shall not take God’s name in vain (20:7). This is not about cussing. Also, it is the only one of the ten that
carries an implication of punishment.
Remember the Sabbath Day (20:8-11). Compare this to the version in Devarim.
Honor your father and your mother (20:12). Why “honor” and not “love”?
You shall not murder (20:13). This is not an argument against capital
punishment or for pacifism.
You shall not commit adultery (20:13). The Biblical definition is different from the
one we use now.
You shall not steal (20:13). Some contend that the real issue here
originally was kidnapping.
You shall not bear false witness (20:13). Perjury would undermine a society based on
the rule of law.
You shall not covet (20:14). This is the only one of the ten that deals
with thoughts instead of behavior.
The notes in your Chumashim will provide copious
commentaries on the deeper meanings of each of these commandments. Furthermore, the Oral Law is an attempt to
give further definition to the Biblical commandments including the ten listed
above. After hearing the commandments,
the text says the Israelites “saw” the thunder and the blare of the horn. By saying that the people “saw” what we would
normally describe as “hearing,” some commentators say we are being given a
picture of the Israelites’ total involvement in the Revelation at Sinai. The people tell Moshe that they are afraid
that they will die because of the encounter, but Moshe reassures them that God
has revealed His laws to them so that they will live by them, not so they will
die. Having presented the Decalogue, God
continues his dialogue with Moshe. The
sedrah ends with three more commandments, all of which relate to the
sacrificial rites. They read like a
prelude to next week’s portion, which is a lengthy compendium of rules and
regulations. The final verse has come to
be interpreted as a command for modesty and appropriate attire when worshipping
God, which stands in stark contrast to our modern concepts of taste and
fashion.
Themes:
Commandments:
25. The commandment that one believe in God (20:2).
26. The prohibition against worshiping as divine anything
other than God (20:5).
27. The stricture against making a graven image (20:4).
28. The prohibition against bowing down to worship an
idol (20:5).
29. The stricture against bowing down to worship an idol
in the usual ways its adherents do (20:5).
30. The prohibition against uttering God’s name for a
vain or immoral purpose (20:7).
31. The obligation to hallow the Sabbath by maintaining
its holiness (20:8).
32. The prohibition against working on the Sabbath
(20:8).
33. The obligation to honor ones’ parents (20:12).
34. The prohibition against murder (20:13).
35. The stricture against adultery (20:13).
36. The prohibition against theft (20:13).
37. The prohibition against giving false testimony
(20:13).
38. The prohibition against coveting a neighbor’s
property or spouse (20:14).
39. The prohibition against making idolatrous images
(20:20).
40. The prohibition against constructing an altar of hewn
stones (20:22).
41. The obligation to approach God’s altar with small
dignified steps, lest one’s genitals be exposed (20:23).
From Biblical Literacy by Rabbi Joseph Telushkin
The breakdown shown above varies from the Ten
Commandments concept that most people equate with the experience at Mount
Sinai. In the popular counting method
the commandments shown above, 26 through 32 are included in commandments 2, 3
and 4 in the Decalogue.
Reciting the Ten Commandments
During the days of the Temple, the Ten Commandments were
recited as part of the morning service.
When Christianity was attempting to establish its own identity, its
leaders rejected the commandments except for the Ten Commandments. One of their reasons was that these ten must
be the only important ones since they were the ones recited as part of the
service. In an attempt to combat this misconception
and to emphasize the importance of all the mitzvoth, the Rabbis banned the
recitation of the Ten Commandments as part of the service. They are only read as part of the service
when they appear in Shemot and Devarim.
The Ten Commandments may be found in the supplementary readings of the prayer
book (Siddur) and may be recited individually.
Tanya on the Ten Commandments
Interestingly enough, one of the daily selections from
the Tanya that is read at this time addresses the issue of what commandments
were uttered directly by God to the Israelites and which were uttered by God to
Moshe who then presented them to the Israelites. The author contends that the first two
commandments were those given directly by God and that they encapsulate the
entire Torah as well as the 613 commandments.
To paraphrase the argument would do it an injustice. By quoting this section in its entirety, I
hope you will get a sense of what scholarly, traditional Rabbinic commentary
sounds like.
“It is well known that the positive commandment to
believe in G-d’s unity, and the admonition concerning idolatry, which form the
first two commandments in the Decalogue: ‘I am G-d…’ ‘You shall have no other gods…’
comprise the entire Torah. For the
commandment ‘I am G-d’ contains all the 248 positive precepts, while the
commandment ‘You shall have no other gods’ contains all the 365 prohibitive
commandments. That is why we heard only
those two commandments…directly from G-d, while the other eight commandments
were transmitted by Moses, as our Sages have said, for they are the sum total
of the whole Torah. Thus, we actually
heard the entire Torah from G-d Himself; for all the commandments are contained
within these two, as are particulars within a generalization. Therefore just as one’s love of G-d motives
him to obey these two commandments even at the expense of his life, it may also
serve to motivate him to observe all the commandments. The Mechilta* illustrates this idea by the
parable of a king who entered a land, and was requested by the populace to
provide them with a system of laws. To
this the king replied: ‘first accept me
as your king; afterwards I will issue my decrees.’ In the same way, belief in the One G-d
constitutes the foundation upon which all the other commandments are built. But why should the two commandments regarding
G-d’s unity be considered the sum total of the entire Torah, all the other
commandments being merely an extension of them?
The explanation is based on a deeper understanding of the concept of the
unity of G-d. G-d’s unity means not only
that there is but one creator, but that G-d is the only existing being. All of existence is absolutely nullified
before Him, and completely one with Him.
Therefore when one acts in defiance of G-d’s Will as expressed in the
commandments, he sets himself apart from G-d as though he were a separate and
independent entity. This constitutes a
denial of G-d’s unity, and the transgressor is therefore considered an
idolater.”
*Mechilta (Tractate) is a Midrash to Shemot (Exodus).
Why Five and Five?
Why does Moses come down from the mountain holding two
stone tablets, each containing five commandments? Nobody knows, which means we can speculate to
our heart’s content. The most popular
view is that the first five govern the relations between God and man; the
second five govern the relations between man and man. However, the plain reading of the text of the
commandments would indicate that, based on this concept, commandments one
through four should have been on the first tablet and commandments five through
ten should have been on the second tablet since the fifth commandment talks
about honoring thy father and thy mother.
The five and five division would indicate that the Author of the
commandments intended to shroud the parent-child relation with the cloak of
divinity. Father and mother are
embodiments of the Divine One.
Traditionalists who have invoked this image lay great stress on the
level of fealty that children owe their parents. What they miss is the duty that this image
places on the parents. If parenting is,
in effect, an act imbued with Divine power, then parents have an obligation to
show the wisdom, patience and loving kindness that we expect from God.
Why Ten?
Why did Moses only bring two tablets with the Ten
Commandments down from Mount Sinai since God had actually given him so many
more? According to Professor James
Kugel, the ten may be a form of a mnemonic with each of the ten serving as a
reminder for a whole category of laws.
For example, the fourth commandment concerning the observance of the
Sabbath served as a reminder for all the commandments concerning holy days and
festivals “and the prohibition of false oaths might bring to mind all other
commandments concerning courts and courtroom behavior.” Another explanation is that God and Moses
knew that the Israelites would have been overwhelmed if Moses had brought down
an armload of tablets containing over 600 rules and regulations. The first ten were merely the first lesson in
a long series of “classes” that would occur over the next four decades as Moses
unveiled the laws of God during the wanderings through the wilderness.
Shavuot
The holiday of Shavuot, or the Feast of Weeks, is
connected with the giving of the Ten Commandments. The “third new moon” mentioned at the start
of chapter 19 refers to the month of Sivan.
The “third day” mentioned in 19:11 corresponds to the sixth of Sivan
which is the date given for observing Shavuot.
We count the Omer for seven weeks starting from the second night of
Pesach. So on the fifty-first day after
the Exodus, we commemorate the Sinaitic Revelation. This corresponds to the timeline we have followed
in the Torah. The Decalogue is recited
on the holiday. The actual commands
about observing Shavuot actually will come in subsequent chapters.
The Sixth Remembrance
There are six events that the Torah commands us to
remember (in Hebrew, Zachor).
Collectively these are known as the Six Remembrances (Shaysh
Zechriot). They are found in the prayer
book (Siddur) after the Shacharit (Morning Service) and are recited daily after
the conclusion of the service itself.
The first five remembrances come from Devarim. The sixth remembrance is a direct quote from
this sedrah. “Remember the Sabbath Day
and keep it holy” (20:8). There are many
Rabbinic commentaries about the central role that Shabbat plays in the Jewish
existence. We are to remember Shabbat
throughout the week and not just on the seventh day. According to the Rambam, “by remembering Shabbat
every day of the week we are constantly affirming our belief that God created
the world in six days, that He rested on the seventh day, and that He continues
to direct and monitor all events.”
According to the Talmud, desecrating Shabbat is equivalent to idol
worship while “the observance of Shabbat is equivalent to the observance of the
entire Torah.” In the days before Big
Box Chain Stores, small town merchants would go home at lunchtime. They would put a sign on the door saying that
they would be back in an hour. In that
way passers-by would know that even if they were gone, the merchant was still
in business. So it is with the Jew. Even if he is not able to honor all of the
commandments, when he remembers the Sabbath he is saying that he is a faithful
servant to the Lord; he is putting up his sign saying that he is still in
business. One way of Remembering the
Sabbath during the week is to take care of your mundane affairs in an orderly
efficient way so that they do not intrude on your thoughts during Shabbat. The second part of the commandment does say,
“Six days you shall labor and do all your work.…”
Why?
People are always asking why things happen. To paraphrase Victor Frankel, if people know
the “why” of it they can survive the “what” of it. Yitro is one of those rare instances where
God does tell us why things happen. Why
did He deliver us from Bondage? Why did
He rescue us at the sea? Why is He
giving us the Torah? “Indeed, all the
earth is Mine, but you be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
(19:5-6). God has done all that He has
so that we can be a nation of priests, a holy nation. Or to put it in other words, we exist to
teach the world God’s law through the example of our lives. The laws of the Torah are the guidebook for
that teaching. Being Jewish becomes an
awesome responsibility since when we stumble we not only stub our own toe but
we shake the body of all mankind.
The Exodus - The Jewish Twist
The Exodus from Egypt has become a popular motif for
different liberation movements. These
have included everything from the American Revolution to the Abolition Movement
to the Civil Rights Campaigns of the 1960’s.
But for the Jews, the Exodus (the release from bondage) was not an end
in and of itself. Rather, for the Jews,
the whole purpose of the Exodus was to be able to go to Sinai. In other words, we traded the heavy yoke of
human bondage for the lighter “yoke of the Torah.” The Jewish concept of freedom is a strange
one. For our freedom is found in
accepting the mitzvoth and trying to live our lives within their framework.
Yitro
Who was Yitro? Why
is the sedrah that describes the seminal event in the history of the Jewish
People named for him? We know a lot
about him, yet we know only a little about him.
We know that Yitro was the father-in-law of Moshe and the father of
Tziporah. He was Midianite. But we are not sure where Midian was. The Midianites may have lived on the Sinai
Peninsula or somewhere in the area that today compromises Jordan and Saudi
Arabia. He may have been a chieftain or
high priest. In fact, Jonathan Kirsch,
in his book called Moses: A Life,
contends that Moses got his religious training from Yitro while he lived with
Midianites after fleeing Egypt. Yitro is
actually known by six other names in the TaNaCh including Yeter (addition),
Hovav (to love), Ruel (friend to God), Chever (friend), Kaynee (zealous) and
Putiel (“the name that tells the world that he had given up his
idol-worshipping). There is a great deal
of controversy over when Yitro actually came and found Moshe. There is also some dispute as to when he left
the Israelites. Apparently he did not
stay with them. He went back to his own
people; some say to preach the word of God.
He obviously was a man of merit.
He took Moshe in when he was a pathetic fugitive fleeing Pharaoh. He took care of Moshe’s family when Moshe
returned to Egypt. This enabled Moshe to
concentrate on his mission without having to worry about domestic matters. He brought the family to Moshe once it was
safe. And Moshe, the great lawgiver,
listened to Yitro. If Moshe Rabbeanu
could listen to Yitro, Yitro must have been a man with sage advice to
give. We could all learn from this
example. For if a man as wise as Moshe
could take advice from others, none of us should think we know it all or should
ignore the words of others.
The Human View
versus the Divine View
In the famous opening scene of the sedrah, we see the
overworked Moshe wearing himself out answering the people’s questions and
resolving their disputes. Yitro’s
solution is to set up a series of lesser courts to hear simpler questions and
resolve elementary disputes. Moshe would
only have to resolve the disputes that nobody else could settle. God must have seen the same problem - an overworked
Moshe having to answer all of the questions and solve all of the disputes. But He came up with a different solution. He gave the people the Law at Sinai. In other words, God gave the Israelites the
rules of the game. Since God had
provided the rules to the people Moshe would only have to teach them the
meaning. But for the most part, they
would be able to solve their problems.
In modern parlance, Yitro’s solution was to create a bureaucracy to
control people’s behavior. God’s
solution empowered the people so that they would know how to behave without
having to ask. In other words, God
created a system where the people would study and use the knowledge to act in
the proper manner. The people would be
independent, not leader dependent. This
view would be consistent with the Jewish emphasis on study, Torah and teachers.
Distractions
Two young men came to the house of a famous sage. They asked if they might join his circle of
students and study with him. The sage
considered the request, and after questioning them about the knowledge of
Torah, Talmud and other texts, he deemed them as worthy of joining his
group. “Of course,” the sage said, “you
will eat at my table while you are here.”
The first student was overjoyed at the prospect of taking his meals with
such a renowned scholar that he could not say “yes” fast enough. The second student stood silent and after a
few minutes said that he would need to ponder this condition. He would, he said, come back with an answer
in the morning. That night, while the
first student slept soundly anticipating his first meal and study session with
the sage, the second student poured over the Torah looking for an answer. In the morning, he packed his bag, went down
to the Sage’s study and said that he would have to decline the offer since he
could not eat his meals with the sage.
The Sage was dumbfounded. How
could the young man turn down this generous offer? The young man opened a Chumash to “Yitro” and read out the lines “and
Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to eat bread with the father-in-law
of Moshe before God” (Ex.18:12). Why,
the young student asked, doesn’t the Torah say they ate in the presence of
Moses? After all, they were eating the
food with Moses. Besides which all
things that men do is before God, so why mention God and not Moses? Drawing on the commentaries of others, the
young man provided the answer. The
priests and Aaron were probably impressed with the fact that they were eating
in the presence of such a Tzaddik - Moses.
Those eating with Moses could see him.
He was real i.e., before their eyes.
It would be only natural that they would become impressed with the fact
that they were eating with such a great personage and lose some of the
consciousness that no matter where or with whom they ate, they were always
eating in the presence of God. By not
mentioning Moses but by mentioning God, the authors of the Torah were reminding
us that while Moses may have been the leader during the Exodus, he was but a
temporal tool fulfilling the will of God.
God, not Moses, is the benefactor and source of all gifts, something
which it is easy to lose sight of especially in situations like the one
described in the eating scene in this Torah portion. The young man was rejecting the offer because
he was afraid that eating with the Sage would give him a false sense of
self-importance and distract him from seeking the presence of the
Almighty. The Sage smiled, impressed
with the student’s sensitive nature and academic acumen. He bid the lad stay and study but he promised
him that he could dine with whomever he wished.
The young man stayed, studied and when the Sage passed on he became his
designated replacement. As they say back
home, just because you dine with a big-dawg, don’t forget The Big-Dawg.
Deliver a Clear, Unambiguous Message
Before rendering a decision, a certain judge would always
ask the person seeking relief if he had delivered a clear, unambiguous message
to the accused. If the answer was in the
affirmative (and the judge was sure that such a message had been delivered) he
always found for the person seeking relief.
If the answer was in the negative (well I sort of said, or maybe I told
him) then the judge always denied the prayer for relief. A friend asked the judge why the outcome of
the case always hinged on this particular issue. “Because,” the judge replied, “in Yitro we are told ‘and thou shalt make
known to them the way in which they should walk, and the work which they should
do’ (Ex.18:20).” The judge illustrated
his point with a well-known story. Two
friends, both of outstanding character, were preparing for a journey. The first announced that he would be
traveling in his fine coach pulled by four strong horses. Why did he need four horses? If his coach got stuck in the mud, he would
need the strength of four horses to pull him out so that he could be on his way
to perform acts of righteousness. The
second man said he would be traveling in cart pulled by one horse. His friend was shocked. “If you only have the one horse, what will
you do if you get stuck in the mud? How
will you get out?” The second traveler
replied. “You are right, if I get stuck
in the mud with one horse I will not be able to get out. Therefore, my task is to see to it that the
horse knows exactly where to go so that we will not get stuck in the mud in the
first place.” As a Sage once said, some
people are experts at asking for forgiveness.
Others are experts at looking for the right path so that they can avoid
the need to ask forgiveness.
Success in Business
Two friends announced to their Rebbe that they were going
into business together. The Rebbe asked
if they had drawn up a partnership contract.
No, they replied. They were
lifelong friends. They trusted each
other. Besides which, they were men of
the Torah and knew the words “Lo Teg-nohv, Thou shalt not steal.” But the Rebbe knew that nothing could ruin a
friendship faster than two friends going into business together, especially if
the business did not do well. So he convinced
them to let him draw up articles of partnership. The friends agreed as long as the agreement
was simple and did not contain a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo. The Rebbe took out a pen and paper and wrote out
the letters Aleph, Bet, Gimel and Dalet.
He passed the paper and pen two the two friends for their
signature. The two laughed. How could they sign a partnership agreement
that was nothing but the first four letters of the alphabet? The Rebbe explained. The Aleph was the first letter in the Hebrew
word “Eh-moo-nah - Above-board.” The Bet
is the first letter in the Hebrew word “Bra-chah - Blessing.” The Gimel is the first letter in the word
“G’nay-vah - Cheat. The Dalet is the
first letter in the Hebrew word “Da-loot - Destitute.” So the A-B-C’s of success are “If your
transactions are Above-board - the Blessings will come to you; if you Cheat - then you may expect to be Destitute.” The two men cheerfully signed. The sign on their store read, “The A-B-C
Company.” They prospered in business and
in their friendship.
Who Blew the Horn?
The sound of the Ram’s Horn or Shofar played a critical
role in the people’s preparation for the revelation at Sinai. “When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast,
they may go up on the mountain” (19:13).
“On the third day, as morning dawned, there was thunder, and lighting,
and a dense cloud upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the horn”
(19:16). “The sound of the horn grew
louder and louder. As Moses spoke, God
answered him in thunder “(19:19). No man
could make thunder and lighting and dense clouds. Only God could make them and certainly only
God could use them as communication tools.
But the sounding of the Shofar is a human activity. Yes, God could sound a Shofar. After all, God is God and He can do
anything. So why would He choose to use
an instrument that a man might use as part of announcing the impending drama on
the mountain? Could this be a way of
saying that God can only give the Commandments, but man must accept them and
perform if they are to have ultimate meaning?
When you sit in the services next year and hear the sound of the Shofar,
ask yourself, who is really sounding the Shofar. Is it the person on the bimah? Is it God?
Or is it the two of them acting in some sort of joint venture?
The Moses Room
In one of his commentaries on this week’s reading Rabbi
Jonathan Sacks mentions The Moses Room, one of the meeting rooms in the House
of Lords. Its name comes from “a large
fresco called ‘Moses Bringing Down the Tables of the Law from Mount Sinai’”
that hangs in the room - a fresco that was inspired by the events in
“Yitro.” The irony is that the
Parliament building was built at a time when Jews were not allowed to sit in
the House of Commons and when Queen Victoria had refused to appoint a
Rothschild to the House of Lords. This
would appear to be part of an on-going pattern of the world loving things
Jewish but without wanting Jews around!
Tenth Commandment: A Lubavitch view courtesy of Rabbi Pinchas
Ciment
Commandment number ten teaches us "You shall not
covet your friend's house; or his wife, servant, ox, donkey, or anything that
belongs to your friend." Or in
simple English, don't desire his beautiful home, wife, dream job, nifty sports
car or anything else that is his.
It's one thing not to steal the stuff; but not even to
desire it? Is G-d perhaps being somewhat
unreasonable with this one? Is He being
realistic? Surely He doesn't think we're
angels - He created us! Come to think of
it, why does the text of this commandment first list a variety of specifics -
house, wife, servant, etc., and then still find it necessary to add the
generalization, "and all that belongs to your friend"?
One explanation offered by the rabbis is that this comes
to teach us a very important lesson for life - a lesson which actually makes
this difficult commandment much easier to carry out. What the Torah is saying is that if you
should happen to cast your envious eye over your neighbor's fence, don't only
look at the specifics. Remember to also
look at the overall picture.
Most of us tend to assume that the grass is greener on
the other side. But we don't always
consider the full picture, the whole package.
So he's got a great business and a very healthy balance sheet. But is he healthy? Is his family healthy? His wife looks great at his side when they're
out together, but is she such a pleasure to live with at home? And if he should have health and wealth, does
he have nachas from his children?
Is there anybody who has it all?
As the Yiddish proverb goes, everybody has his own pekkel. We each carry a backpack through life, a
parcel of problems, our own little bundle of tzorris. When we are young, we think that difficulties
are for "other people." When
we get older we realize that no one is immune.
Nobody has it all. So if you find
yourself coveting your fellow's whatever, stop for a minute to consider whether
you really want "all that is your fellow's." When we actually see with our own eyes what
the other fellow's life is all about behind closed doors, what's really inside
his backpack, we will feel grateful for our own lot in life and happily choose
our very own pekkel, with all its inherent problems.
Commandment number 10 is a piece of good advice as
well. Be wise enough to realize that
you've got to look at the whole picture.
When we do, this difficult commandment becomes more easily
observable. Not only is it sinful to
envy what other people have; it's foolish.
Because life is a package deal.
Abarbanel’s
Questions
Michael Carasik, the author/translator of The
Commentator's Bible includes “Abarbanel’s Questions” in his commentaries on the
weekly Torah readings. According to
Rabbi Dr. Meir Tamari these questions provide the basis for the Socratic Method
that this famous Sephardic Jew used to develop his commentaries on the
TaNaCh. A few of his questions are
included here for two reasons. First,
they lead us to “understand the kinds of questions that commentators think need
answering about the text.” Second, they
are thought provoking and should provide stimulation for the novice as well as
for those who have read these portions several times. There are too many to include them all but
here a few to get you started.
“Why was the Torah given only now, and not to Adam or
Noah, Abraham or Jacob?” “Why was the
Torah given in the wilderness rather than in Egypt, when He took the people for
His service and began to give them the commandments?” “Why do the people agree to do ‘all that the
Lord has spoken’ when He has not yet spoken it?” “Why was the Torah given with ‘thunder and
lightning’ and not in the ‘still small voice’ that Elijah heard in Kings
19:12?” “Why do some of the first five
commandments mention ‘the Lord’ and some ‘the Lord your God’ while none of the
last five mention God at all?” “How can
a just God ‘visit the guilt of the parents upon the children’?”
The Observant
and Observing the Fourth Commandment
"Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work;
but the seventh day is a Sabbath unto the Lord your God.” The fourth commandment is a two-edged sword. It is a command to rest, but one is to work
for the rest of the week. According to
the sages, earning a livelihood, along with family, study and prayer are the
way to keep a person from evil. Among
the Observant are those who do not work in the conventional sense of that term. They spend their time in study while being
supporting by others. They contend that
their study is the most important form of work.
But this claim is inconsistent with the text and tradition. We are forbidden to work on Shabbat. But study is such a critical part of Shabbat
observance that we read the Torah in public and the Dvar Torah is as essential
to a Kiddush as are cholent or challah. So
study and work are not synonymous which means that the Observant need to either
get a job or realize that they are neither fulfilling the letter nor the spirit
of the 4th commandment.
Who should Rest?
The commandments for the Jews to refrain from work and to
rest are universal in their households.
No less an authority than the Stone Chumash states “It is also forbidden
to allow minor children or to ask gentiles to do anything for one on the
Sabbath that one is forbidden to do himself” or herself. (Note on Page 2410.) In other words, the practice of “the Shabbos
Goy” should be an anathema to do those who truly wish to “Remember the Sabbath
day to sanctify it.”
Modesty and Attire
This magnificent portion filled with Divine pyrotechnics
and the giving of the basic law code ends by commanding us not expose our
“nakedness” when ascending the steps of the altar. In these times of “relaxed” dress codes, this
serves as reminder that when we come before the Lord, modesty and proper attire
is the Biblical expectation. As we saw
with the royal weddings in Great Britain, when people come into the company of
temporal lords and rulers, they dress for the occasion. Should we do less when coming before the Lord
of Lords?
The Jews of Yemen
In 1949, the Israeli government began the rescue of the
Jews of Yemen. From June of 1949 until
September of 1950, the barely born Jewish state airlifted almost 50,000 of
their co-religionists to safety. Popularly
known as “Operation Magic Carpet,” its official name was “Operation on Wings of
Eagles.” The name came from two Biblical
sources. First was “Ye have seen what I
did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you
unto myself” (Exodus 19:4) which comes from this week’s Torah portion. The second was “But they that wait upon the
LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they
shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” which comes
from the Book of Isaiah, the prophet who provides us with this week’s haftarah
portion. For the Jews, history and
tradition are not prisons. Rather they
are an anchor that connects with our past while inspiring us to deal with the
present and greet the future.
Ten
Commandments in Public Places
A few years ago, a judge in Alabama wanted to hang a copy
of the 10 Commandments in his courtroom.
This was only one of the periodic attempts to place the Decalogue in
public places. Setting aside the
question of separation of church and state one wonders what version these
people want to use. We all know that
there is a variation between the versions in Exodus and Deuteronomy. But there are also differences between the
versions used in Jewish, Protestant and Catholic scriptures. These variations are more than just a matter
of linguistics. They point to a
different view of the world, history and the role of the Jewish people.
http://www.biblicalheritage.org/Bible%20Studies/10%20Commandments.htm
Haftarah
Isaiah 6:1-7:6
and 9:5-6 (Ashkenazim)
Isaiah 6:1-6:11
(Sephardim and Chabad Chassidim)
The Book: Isaiah is one of the Three Major
Prophets. The other two are Jeremiah and
Ezekiel. The term major refers to the
fact that their books are longer than those of the other prophets. Isaiah is also the first of the Later
Prophets, those coming after the books that start with Joshua and end with
Second Kings. The book of Isaiah is
attributed to at least two and possibly three authors. Traditionally, the first thirty-nine chapters
are attributed to a historic figure described in the beginning of the
book. Chapters forty through sixty-six
are attributed to a second, anonymous author.
Isaiah’s name in Hebrew is Yeshayahu, which is a form of a word meaning
help or deliverance. The name is
certainly consistent with the teachings of this prophet. The historic or First Isaiah lived during the
eighth century, B.C.E. He began
preaching around 740 B.C.E. His public
career lasted for some forty to sixty years spanning the reign of four Kings of
Judea beginning with Uzziah and ending with Hezekiah. He was married to a woman he refers to as
“the prophetess” and he had two sons.
Apparently he was related to the royal family which meant he could
address his teachings directly to those in power. According to tradition, Manasseh, whose reign
was both long and wicked, murdered Isaiah.
Isaiah lived in a time of great political turmoil. Assyria was the leading power of the
day. He witnessed the destruction of the
Kingdom of Israel and the exile of the ten tribes. He encouraged the Judeans not to make a
military alliance with the Egyptians who were the enemies of the
Assyrians. Rather, he urged the Judeans
to trust in the Lord for their deliverance.
Isaiah lived in a time of affluence and economic inequality. He chastised the people for failing to care
for the disadvantaged. God would punish
them for this as well as their other moral shortcomings. The Isaiah of the Exile or the Second Isaiah
is thought to have lived during the sixth century B.C.E. during the period of
the Babylonian Captivity. His message
was one of comfort, hope and a vision of universal peace. The book of Isaiah describes a unique
relationship between God and the children of Israel. They are to carry His message to the people
of the world. By following the teachings
of Torah, they will show the world what God means by holiness. At the same time, Isaiah provides a picture
of God as the God of all mankind. Isaiah
transforms Him from the deity of the Israelites to the Supreme Being for all
the people of the world. Isaiah provides
us with the Messianic Vision i.e., the Coming of the Moshiach. And last but not least, Isaiah is the prophet
of world peace. It is the words of
Isaiah that we read in the prayer book each week, “Nation shall not lift up
sword against nation. Neither shall men
learn war anymore.” The teachings of
Isaiah, regardless of how many of them you think there are, are rich and
textured. The book of Isaiah provides us
with more Haftarot than any other prophet so we will have ample opportunity to
explore his teachings as the year goes by.
The Message: This is a richly textured reading with too
many messages for this brief guide. That
is one of the beauties of the prophets.
They are able to load so much into so few words. The reading opens with historic references to
the beginning of Isaiah’s active prophecy.
There are those who contend that the information in chapter six should
have come at the start of the Book of Isaiah.
For us, the most striking part of the haftarah comes in 6:1-3 with a
description of the “heavenly court where the angels pay homage to God.”
“Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, “Holy,
Holy, Holy
Adonai tz’vah-ot Is
the Lord Master of Legions
M’lo chal ha-aretz k’vodo” The whole world is filled with his glory”
(Isaiah (6:3)
This angelic declaration is part of the daily prayer
service. It can be found in the section
just before the recitation of the Shema.
It can also be found in the section of the Amidah called the Kedushah. When we recite these words we actually rise
on our toes to emulate the angels. The
word holy is repeated three times because God is holy in heaven, holy on earth
and holy for all times. The concept of
being holy is a central point in Judaism.
We find variants of the three letters that are its root in other words
including Kiddush, Kedushah and Kaddish.
The idea of being holy has to do with being separate. In following the laws of the Torah we
separate ourselves from others. Yet in
being separate we provide an example for the behavior that God expects of all
mankind. The haftarah concludes with a
coda from chapter 9. The portion from
chapters six and seven includes a message of impending doom. To soften the blow and provide hope for the
future, the Rabbis chose to have the reading end with the message of the
Messianic Vision.
Theme-Link:
The Torah portion describes the collective revelation at Sinai. The haftarah describes Isaiah’s personal
revelation as he begins his role as a prophet.
The sedrah (19:5-6) and the haftarah (6:3) reinforce the importance of
being “holy.”
Copyright; February, 2024; Mitchell A. Levin
1/30/18
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