Eikev
Encyclopedia
Eikev, Ekev, Ekeb, or Eqeb (עֵקֶב — Hebrew
for “if [you follow],” the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 46th weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the third in the book of Deuteronomy. It comprises Jews in the Diaspora
generally read it in August.
told the Israelite
s that if they obeyed God’s
rules, God would faithfully maintain the covenant
, would bless them with fertility
and agricultural
productivity, and would ward off sickness
.
ing their gods. Moses told the Israelites not to fear these nations because they were numerous, for the Israelites had but to recall what God did to Pharaoh
and the Egyptians
and the wonders by which God liberated
them. God would do the same to the peoples whom they feared, and would send a plague against them, too. God would dislodge those peoples little by little, so that the wild beasts would not take over the land
. Moses directed the Israelites to burn the images of their gods, not to covet nor keep the silver
and gold
on them, nor to bring an abhorrent thing into their houses.
God made the Israelites travel the long way in the wilderness
for 40 years to test them with hardships to learn what was in their hearts and whether they would keep God’s commandments. God subjected them to hunger and then gave them manna
to teach them that man does not live on bread
alone, but on anything that God decrees. Their clothes
did not wear out, nor did their feet swell for 40 years. God disciplined them as a man disciplines his son.
Moses told the Israelites that God was bringing them into a good land, where they might eat food
without end, and thus when they had eaten their fill, they were to give thanks to God for the good land that God had given them. Moses warned the Israelites not to forget God, not to violate God’s commandments, and not to grow haughty and believe that their own power had won their wealth, but to remember that God gave them the power to prosper. Moses warned that if they forgot God and followed other gods, then they would certainly perish like the nations that God was going to displace from the land. Moses warned the Israelites not to believe that God had enabled them to possess the land because of their virtue
, for God was dispossessing the land’s current inhabitants because of those nations’ wickedness and to fulfill the oath that God had made to Abraham
, Isaac
, and Jacob
.
until that day. At Horeb
they so provoked God that God was angry enough to have destroyed them. Moses ascended the mountain, stayed on the mountain 40 days and nights, and ate no bread and drank no water. At the end of the 40 days, God gave Moses two stone tablets
that God had inscribed with the words and the covenant that God had addressed to the Israelites. God told Moses to hurry down, for the people whom Moses brought out of Egypt had acted wickedly and had made a molten image. God told Moses that God was inclined to destroy them and make of Moses a nation far more numerous than they. Moses started down the mountain with the two tablets in his hands, when he saw how the Israelites had made themselves a molten calf
. Moses flung the two tablets away, smashing them before their eyes, and threw himself down before God, fasting another 40 days and nights. And God gave heed to Moses. God was angry enough with Aaron
to have destroyed him, so Moses also interceded for Aaron. Moses burned the calf, broke it to bits, ground it into dust, and threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
Moses reminded the Israelites how they provoked God at Taberah
, and at Massah
, and at Kibroth-hattaavah
. And when God sent them from Kadesh-barnea
to take possession of the land, they flouted God’s command and did not put their trust in God.
When Moses lay prostrate before God those 40 days, because God was determined to destroy the Israelites, Moses prayed
to God not to annihilate God’s own people, whom God freed from Egypt, but to give thought to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and ignore the Israelites’ sinfulness, else the Egyptians would say that God was powerless to bring them into the land that God had promised them. And God agreed not to destroy them.
Thereupon God told Moses to carve out two tablets of stone like the first, come up to the mountain, and make an ark
of wood. God inscribed on the tablets the Ten Commandments
that were on the first tablets that Moses had smashed, and Moses came down from the mountain and deposited the tablets in the ark.
became priest
in his stead. From there they marched to Gudgod, and on to Jotbath
.
s to carry the ark of the covenant, to stand in attendance upon the Tabernacle
, and to bless in God’s Name, and that was why the Levites were to receive no portion of the land, as God was their portion.
, and befriending the stranger. Moses thus instructed the Israelites to befriend the stranger, for they were strangers in Egypt. Moses exhorted the Israelites to revere God, worship only God, and swear only by God’s name, for God was their glory, who wrought for them marvelous deeds, and made them as numerous as the star
s.
Moses exhorted the Israelites to love God and always keep God’s commandments. Moses asked the Israelites to note that they themselves witnessed the signs that God performed in Egypt against Pharaoh, what God did to Egypt’s army
, how God rolled upon them the waters of the Sea of Reeds, what God did for them in the wilderness, and what God did to Dathan
and Abiram
when the earth swallowed them. Moses instructed them therefore to keep all the law so that they might have the strength to enter and possess the land and long endure on that land flowing with milk and honey. Moses extolled the land as a land of hills and valleys that soaks up its water from the rains, a land that God looks after.
Then Moses told them words now found in the Shema
prayer : If the Israelites obeyed the commandments, loving God and serving God with heart and soul, God would grant the rain in season and they would gather their grain, wine, and oil. God would provide grass for their cattle and the Israelites would eat their fill. Moses warned them not to be lured away to serve other gods, for God’s anger would flare up against them, God would suspend the rain, and they would soon perish. Moses urged them to impress God’s words upon their heart, bind them as a sign on their hands, let them serve as a symbol on their foreheads, teach them to your children, and recite them when they stayed at home and when they were away, when they lay down and when they got up. Moses instructed them to inscribe God’s words on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates, so that they and their children might endure in the land that God swore to their fathers as long as there is a heaven over the earth.
Moses promised that if they faithfully kept all the law, loving God, walking in all God’s ways, and holding fast to God, then God would dislodge the nations then in the land, and every spot on which their feet tread would be theirs, and their territory would extend from the wilderness to Lebanon
and from the Euphrates
to the Mediterranean Sea
.
and 28 refer to the “children of Anak” (יְלִדֵי הָעֲנָק, yelidei ha-anak), refers to the “sons of Anak” (בְּנֵי עֲנָק, benei anak), and and refer to the “Anakim” (עֲנָקִים). John A. Wilson suggested that the Anakim may be related to the Iy-‘anaq geographic region named in Middle Kingdom Egyptian
(19th to 18th century BCE) pottery bowls that had been inscribed with the names of enemies and then shattered as a kind of curse. (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament
. Edited by James B. Pritchard
, 328. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. ISBN 0-691-03503-2.)
reports a parallel story of golden calves. King Jeroboam
of the northern Kingdom of Israel made two calves of gold out of a desire to prevent the kingdom from returning to allegiance to the house of David
and the southern Kingdom of Judah
. In Exodus
the people said of the Golden Calf, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Similarly, in Jeroboam told the people of his golden calves, “You have gone up long enough to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Jeroboam set up one of the calves in Bethel
, and the other in Dan, and the people went to worship before the calf in Dan. Jeroboam made houses of high place
s, and made priests from people who were not Levite
s. He ordained a feast like Sukkot
on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a month after the real Sukkot), and he went up to the altar at Bethel to sacrifice to the golden calves that he had made, and he installed his priests there.
likened the second word of eikev (“if” or “because”) to the word akeivai (“footsteps”) in Psalm
which the midrash interpreted to mean: “Why should I fear in the days of evil? The iniquity of my footsteps encompasses me.” The midrash taught that people sometimes fail to observe minor commandments, thus trampling those commandments beneath their heels. The midrash thus taught that the Psalmist feared the day of judgment because he may have trampled minor commandments. (Midrash Tanhuma
Devorim Eikev 1.)
Another midrash played on two possible meanings of the second word of eikev, “as a consequence” and “the end.” Israel asked God when God would grant reward for the observance of commandments. God replied that when people observe commandments, they enjoy some fruits now, but God will give them their full reward in the end, after death. (Deuteronomy Rabbah
3:1.)
Another midrash played on two possible meanings of the second word of eikev, “as a consequence” and “heel.” The midrash interpreted the words “upon Edom I cast my shoe” in and to mean that God says that when Israel repents, then God will tread with God’s heel, so to speak, on Israel’s enemy Edom. And the midrash taught, in the words of that “it shall come to pass, because (eikev) you hearken.” (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:2.)
Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani interpreted the words “that the Lord your God shall keep for you” in teaching that all the good that Israel enjoys in this world results from the blessings with which Balaam
blessed Israel, but the blessings with which the Patriarchs
blessed Israel are reserved for the time to come, as signified by the words, “that the Lord your God shall keep for you.” (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:4.)
Rabbi Bibi ben Giddal said that Simeon the Just
taught that the law prohibited a Jew from robbing a non-Jew, although a Jew could take possession of a non-Jew’s lost article. Rav Huna
read to prohibit a Jew from robbing a non-Jew, because provided that the Israelites were to take from the enemies that God would deliver to them in time of war, thus implying that the Israelites could not take from non-Jews in time of peace, when God had not delivered them into the Israelites’ hands. (Babylonian Talmud
Bava Kamma 113b.)
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In God promised to “send the hornet (צִּרְעָה) before you, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaan
ite, and the Hittite
, from before you,” and in Moses promised that “the Lord your God will send the hornet (צִּרְעָה) among them.” But a Baraita
taught that the hornet did not pass over the Jordan River with the Israelites. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish reconciled the two sources, explaining that the hornet stood on the eastern bank of the Jordan and shot its venom over the river at the Canaanites. The venom blinded the Canaanites’ eyes above and castrated them below, as Amos
says, “Yet destroyed I the Amorite
before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath.” Rav Papa
offered an alternative explanation, saying that there were two hornets, one in the time of Moses and the other in the time of Joshua
. The former did not pass over the Jordan, but the latter did. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 36a.)
Chapter 3 of tractate Avodah Zarah
in the Mishnah
, Jerusalem Talmud
, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of not deriving benefit from idols
in (Avodah Zarah 3:1–10; Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah ch. 3; Babylonian Talmud Avodah Zarah 40b–49b.)
The Rabbis told the story that God, Daniel
, and Nebuchadnezzar
conspired to keep Daniel out of the fiery furnace
. God said: “Let Daniel depart, lest people say that Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah
were delivered through Daniel’s merit instead of their own.” Daniel said: “Let me go, so that I will not become a fulfillment of the words (in ), ‘the graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire.’” And Nebuchadnezzar said: “Let Daniel depart, lest people say that the king has burned his god in fire.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 93a.)
The Gemara
deduced from the command of “you shall not bring an abomination into your house, lest you be a cursed thing like it,” that whatever one might bring into being out of an idolatrous thing would have the same cursed status. (Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 58a.)
Rabbi Johanan
in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai noted the word “abomination” in common in both and Proverbs
and deduced that people who are haughty of spirit are as though they worshiped idols. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 4b.)
(Shiv'at Ha-Minim) that noted to praise the Land of Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive-oil, and date-honey. But first fruits could not be brought from dates grown on hills, or from valley-fruits, or from olives that were not of the choice kind. (Mishnah Bikkurim 1:3.)
Rabbi Awira told — sometimes in the name of Rabbi Ammi
, and sometimes in the name of Rabbi Assi
— that the angel
s asked God whether God was not showing favor to Israel. And God asked the angels how God could not show favor to Israel, when required them to bless God when they had eaten and were satisfied, but the Israelites bless God even when they have eaten only the quantity of an olive or an egg. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 20b.)
Rabbi Johanan deduced from that people who are haughty of spirit are as though they had denied the fundamental principle of God’s existence. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 4b.)
In the heart becomes proud. A midrash catalogued the wide range of additional capabilities of the heart reported in the Hebrew Bible. The heart speaks (Ecclesiastes
), sees , hears , walks , falls (1 Samuel
), stands (Ezekiel
), rejoices , cries (Lamentations
), is comforted (Isaiah
), is troubled , becomes hardened , grows faint , grieves (Genesis ), fears , can be broken , rebels (Jeremiah
), invents , cavils , overflows , devises , desires , goes astray , lusts , is refreshed , can be stolen , is humbled (Leviticus ), is enticed , errs , trembles , is awakened (Song of Songs
), loves , hates , envies , is searched , is rent (Joel
), meditates , is like a fire , is like a stone , turns in repentance , becomes hot , dies , melts (Joshua
), takes in words , is susceptible to fear , gives thanks , covets , becomes hard , makes merry (Judges
), acts deceitfully , speaks from out of itself , loves bribes , writes words , plans , receives commandments , acts with pride (Obadiah
), makes arrangements , and aggrandizes itself (2 Chronicles
). (Ecclesiastes Rabbah
1:36.)
In Moses foretold that “A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you . . . like me,” and Rabbi Johanan
thus taught that prophets would have to be, like Moses, strong, wealthy, wise, and meek. Strong, for says of Moses, “he spread the tent over the tabernacle,” and a Master taught that Moses himself spread it, and reports, “Ten cubit
s shall be the length of a board.” Similarly, the strength of Moses can be derived from in which Moses reports, “And I took the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them,” and it was taught that the tablets were six handbreadths in length, six in breadth, and three in thickness. Wealthy, as reports God’s instruction to Moses, “Carve yourself two tablets of stone,” and the Rabbis interpreted the verse to teach that the chips would belong to Moses. Wise, for Rav
and Samuel both said that 50 gates of understanding were created in the world, and all but one were given to Moses, for said of Moses, “You have made him a little lower than God.” Meek, for reports, “Now the man Moses was very meek.” (Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 38a.)
taught that Moses prostrated himself before the Israelites and said to them the words of “You are to pass over the Jordan,” noting that he would not. Moses gave the Israelites the opportunity to pray for him, but they did not. The midrash compared this to a king who had many children by a noble lady. The lady was undutiful to him and he decided to divorce her. He told her that he was going to marry another wife. She asked who, and he told her. She summoned her children and told them that their father intended to divorce her and marry the other woman, and asked the children if they could bear being subjected to her. She thought that perhaps they would understand what she meant and would intercede with their father on her behalf, but they did not understand. As they did not understand, she commanded them only for their own sake to be mindful of the honor of their father. So it was with Moses. When God told him in “You shall not go over this Jordan,” Moses spoke to the Israelites and stressed the words in “You are to pass over.” (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:11.)
A Baraita taught that because of God’s displeasure with the Israelites, the north wind did not blow on them in any of the 40 years during which they wandered in the wilderness. Rashi
attributed God’s displeasure to the Golden Calf, although the Tosafot
attributed it to the incident of the spies in (Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 72a.)
Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai taught that because the generation of the Flood transgressed the Torah that God gave humanity after Moses had stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights (as reported in and and 18, 25, and ), God announced in that God would “cause it to rain upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights.” (Genesis Rabbah 32:5.)
A midrash explained why Moses broke the stone tablets. When the Israelites committed the sin of the Golden Calf, God sat in judgment to condemn them, as says, “Let Me alone, that I may destroy them,” but God had not yet condemned them. So Moses took the tablets from God to appease God’s wrath. The midrash compared the act of Moses to that of a king’s marriage-broker. The king sent the broker to secure a wife for the king, but while the broker was on the road, the woman corrupted herself with another man. The broker (who was entirely innocent) took the marriage document that the king had given the broker to seal the marriage and tore it, reasoning that it would be better for the woman to be judged as an unmarried woman than as a wife. (Exodus Rabbah
43:1.)
noted that the verse employs superfluous words to describe the Tablets. Rav Joseph reasoned that the two mentionings of the Tablets teaches that both the Tablets and the fragments of the Tablets that Moses broke were deposited in the Ark. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 14b; Menachot 99a.) Rav Joseph deduced from this that a scholar who has forgotten his learning through no fault of his own (through old age, sickness, or trouble, but not through willful neglect) is still due respect (by analogy to the broken pieces of the tablets that the Israelites nonetheless treated with sanctity). (Babylonian Talmud Menachot 99a.)
Resh Lakish deduced from the interjection of the apparently parenthetical words, “which you broke,” in that God was thereby saying to Moses that Moses did well to break them. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 14b.)
Rabbi Hanina deduced from that everything is in the hand of Heaven except the fear of Heaven, for says: “What does the Lord your God ask of you, but only to fear the Lord your God.” The Gemara asked whether the fear of Heaven was such a little thing that says “only.” Rabbi Hanina said in the name Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai that God has in God’s treasury nothing but a store of the fear of Heaven, as says: “The fear of the Lord is His treasure,” and thus the fear of Heaven must be a great thing. The Gemara responded that for Moses, the fear of Heaven was a small thing, for he had it. Rabbi Hanina illustrated with a parable: If a man is asked for a big article and he has it, it seems like a small article to him; if he is asked for a small article and he does not have it, it seems like a big article to him. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 33b.)
Rav Awira (or some say Rabbi Joshua ben Levi
) taught that the Evil Inclination has seven names. God called it “Evil” in saying, “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Moses called it “the Uncircumcised” in saying, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart.” David
called it “Unclean” in Solomon
called it “the Enemy” in Isaiah
called it “the Stumbling-Block” in Ezekiel
called it “Stone” in and Joel
called it “the Hidden One” in (Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 52a.)
Rabbi Joshua ben Levi
said that the men of the Great Assembly were so called because they restored the crown of the divine attributes — the enumeration of God’s praise — to its ancient completeness. For in Moses called God “the great, the mighty, and the awesome.” Then when Jeremiah
saw foreigners despoiling the Temple, he asked where God’s awesome deeds were, and thus in he omitted “awesome.” And then when Daniel saw foreigners enslaving the Israelites, he asked where God’s mighty deeds were, and thus in Daniel
he omitted the word “mighty.” But the men of the Great Assembly came and said that these circumstances showed God’s mighty deeds, because God suppressed God’s wrath, extending longsuffering to the wicked. And these circumstances showed God’s awesome powers, for but for the fear of God, how could the single nation of Israel survive among the many nations. The Gemara asked how Jeremiah and Daniel could alter words established by Moses. Rabbi Eleazar
said that since Jeremiah and Daniel knew that God insists on truth, they did not want to ascribe false attributions to God. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 69b.)
Reading the words, “love the stranger, in giving him food and clothing,” in Akilas the proselyte asked Rabbi Eliezer
whether food and clothing constituted all the benefit of conversion to Judaism
. Rabbi Eliezer replied that food and clothing are no small things, for in Jacob prayed to God for “bread to eat, and clothing to put on,” while God comes and offers it to the convert on a platter. Akilas then visited Rabbi Joshua
, who taught that “bread” refers to the Torah (as in Wisdom — the Torah — says, “Come, eat of my bread”), while “clothing” means the Torah scholar’s cloak. A person privileged to study the Torah is thus privileged to perform God's precepts. Moreover, converts’ daughters could marry into the priesthood, so that their descendants could offer burnt-offerings on the altar. The midrash offered another interpretation: “Bread” refers to the showbread
, while “clothing” refers to the priestly vestments. The midrash offered yet another interpretation: “Bread” refers to challah
, while “clothing” refers to the first shearings of the sheep, both of which belong to the priests. (Genesis Rabba
h 70:5.)
The Gemara deduced from that it is a positive commandment to fear the Lord. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 56a.)
A midrash taught that the Israelites were counted on ten occasions: (1) when they went down to Egypt ; (2) when they went up out of Egypt ; (3) at the first census in Numbers ; (4) at the second census in Numbers ; (5) once for the banners; (6) once in the time of Joshua for the division of the land of Israel; (7) once by Saul
; (8) a second time by Saul ; (9) once by David
; and once in the time of Ezra
(Ezra
). (Midrash Tanhuma Ki Sisa 9.)
in the Mishnah, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud and the first two chapters of tractate Berakhot in the Tosefta
interpreted the laws of the Shema in and (Mishnah Berakhot 1:1–3:6; Tosefta Berakhot 1:1–2:21; Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 1a–42b; Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 2a–26a.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in and 17, and and and and 15, and Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod
to Ono
, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris
extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar bar Hana
said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasang
s by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
Interpreting the words “to walk in all His ways” in the Sifre
taught that to walk in God’s ways means to be (in the words of ) “merciful and gracious.” (Sifre to Deuteronomy 49:1.) Similarly, Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina asked what means in the text, “You shall walk after the Lord your God.” How can a human being walk after God, when says, “[T]he Lord your God is a devouring fire”? Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina explained that the command to walk after God means to walk after the attributes of God. As God clothes the naked — for says, “And the Lord God made for Adam
and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them” — so should we also clothe the naked. God visited the sick — for says, “And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre
” (after Abraham
was circumcised in ) — so should we also visit the sick. God comforted mourners — for says, “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac
his son” — so should we also comfort mourners. God buried the dead — for says, “And He buried him in the valley” — so should we also bury the dead. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 14a.)
, there are 6 positive and 2 negative commandments
in the parshah.
(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 4:304–57. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-457-7.)
for the parshah is The haftarah is the second in the cycle of seven haftarot of consolation after Tisha B'Av
, leading up to Rosh Hashanah
.
), Jews sometimes quote the Scriptural basis for the Blessing after Meals, immediately before the invitation (zimun), and quote it again at the close of the second blessing (for the Land of Israel
). (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 159, 165. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
The opening sentence of the Amidah
quotes Moses’s characterization of God in as “the great, the mighty, and the awesome.” (Reuven Hammer. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
for Shabbat and Festivals, 35a–b. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
The Passover
Haggadah
, in the magid section of the Seder
, quotes (Menachem Davis. The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments, 44. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9. Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 90. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
is the second of three blocks of verses in the Shema
, a central prayer in Jewish prayer services. Jews combine , and to form the core of K’riat Shema, recited in the evening (Ma’ariv) and morning (Shacharit) prayer services. (Hammer, at 30–31, 112–13, 282–83.)
(blessings). (circumcise your heart). (God loves); (God’s loving kindness); (remember God’s wonders); (their idols became a snare); (God led the people through the wilderness); (God loves).
Tamid 5:1. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner
, 3–7, 167, 458–59, 662, 664–67, 869. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
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Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
for “if [you follow],” the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 46th weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
cycle of Torah reading
Torah reading
Torah reading is a Jewish religious ritual that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the Torah scroll from the ark, chanting the appropriate excerpt with special cantillation, and returning the scroll to...
and the third in the book of Deuteronomy. It comprises Jews in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
generally read it in August.
Blessings of obedience
MosesMoses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
told the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s that if they obeyed God’s
Names of God in Judaism
In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title; it represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relationship of God to the Jewish people and to the world. To demonstrate the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for...
rules, God would faithfully maintain the covenant
Covenant (biblical)
A biblical covenant is an agreement found in the Bible between God and His people in which God makes specific promises and demands. It is the customary word used to translate the Hebrew word berith. It it is used in the Tanakh 286 times . All Abrahamic religions consider the Biblical covenant...
, would bless them with fertility
Fertility
Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
and agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
productivity, and would ward off sickness
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
.
Taking the land
Moses directed the Israelites to destroy all the peoples whom God delivered to them, showing no pity and not worshipWorship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
ing their gods. Moses told the Israelites not to fear these nations because they were numerous, for the Israelites had but to recall what God did to Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
and the Egyptians
Egyptians
Egyptians are nation an ethnic group made up of Mediterranean North Africans, the indigenous people of Egypt.Egyptian identity is closely tied to geography. The population of Egypt is concentrated in the lower Nile Valley, the small strip of cultivable land stretching from the First Cataract to...
and the wonders by which God liberated
The Exodus
The Exodus is the story of the departure of the Israelites from ancient Egypt described in the Hebrew Bible.Narrowly defined, the term refers only to the departure from Egypt described in the Book of Exodus; more widely, it takes in the subsequent law-givings and wanderings in the wilderness...
them. God would do the same to the peoples whom they feared, and would send a plague against them, too. God would dislodge those peoples little by little, so that the wild beasts would not take over the land
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
. Moses directed the Israelites to burn the images of their gods, not to covet nor keep the silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
and gold
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...
on them, nor to bring an abhorrent thing into their houses.
God made the Israelites travel the long way in the wilderness
Wilderness
Wilderness or wildland is a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. It may also be defined as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet—those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with...
for 40 years to test them with hardships to learn what was in their hearts and whether they would keep God’s commandments. God subjected them to hunger and then gave them manna
Manna
Manna or Manna wa Salwa , sometimes or archaically spelled mana, is the name of an edible substance that God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert according to the Bible.It was said to be sweet to the taste, like honey....
to teach them that man does not live on bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
alone, but on anything that God decrees. Their clothes
Clothing
Clothing refers to any covering for the human body that is worn. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic and is a feature of nearly all human societies...
did not wear out, nor did their feet swell for 40 years. God disciplined them as a man disciplines his son.
Moses told the Israelites that God was bringing them into a good land, where they might eat food
Food
Food is any substance consumed to provide nutritional support for the body. It is usually of plant or animal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals...
without end, and thus when they had eaten their fill, they were to give thanks to God for the good land that God had given them. Moses warned the Israelites not to forget God, not to violate God’s commandments, and not to grow haughty and believe that their own power had won their wealth, but to remember that God gave them the power to prosper. Moses warned that if they forgot God and followed other gods, then they would certainly perish like the nations that God was going to displace from the land. Moses warned the Israelites not to believe that God had enabled them to possess the land because of their virtue
Virtue
Virtue is moral excellence. A virtue is a positive trait or quality subjectively deemed to be morally excellent and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being....
, for God was dispossessing the land’s current inhabitants because of those nations’ wickedness and to fulfill the oath that God had made to Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
, Isaac
Isaac
Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
, and Jacob
Jacob
Jacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
.
The golden calf
Moses exhorted the Israelites to remember how they had provoked God to anger in the wilderness from the day that they left EgyptAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
until that day. At Horeb
Biblical Mount Sinai
The Biblical Mount Sinai is the mountain at which the Book of Exodus states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God...
they so provoked God that God was angry enough to have destroyed them. Moses ascended the mountain, stayed on the mountain 40 days and nights, and ate no bread and drank no water. At the end of the 40 days, God gave Moses two stone tablets
Tablets of stone
The Tablets of Stone, Stone Tablets, Tablets of Law, or Tablets of Testimony in the Bible, were the two pieces of special stone inscribed with the Ten Commandments when Moses ascended Mount Sinai as recorded in the Book of Exodus...
that God had inscribed with the words and the covenant that God had addressed to the Israelites. God told Moses to hurry down, for the people whom Moses brought out of Egypt had acted wickedly and had made a molten image. God told Moses that God was inclined to destroy them and make of Moses a nation far more numerous than they. Moses started down the mountain with the two tablets in his hands, when he saw how the Israelites had made themselves a molten calf
Golden calf
According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai...
. Moses flung the two tablets away, smashing them before their eyes, and threw himself down before God, fasting another 40 days and nights. And God gave heed to Moses. God was angry enough with Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
to have destroyed him, so Moses also interceded for Aaron. Moses burned the calf, broke it to bits, ground it into dust, and threw its dust into the brook that came down from the mountain.
Moses reminded the Israelites how they provoked God at Taberah
Taberah
Taberah is one of the locations at which, according to the Book of Numbers, the Israelites passed through during their Exodus journey. The biblical narrative states that the place received its name, which means burning, because Yahweh had set fire to the Israelites there, as vengeance against...
, and at Massah
Meribah
Meribah is one of the locations which the Torah identifies as having been travelled through by the Israelites, during the Exodus, although the continuous list of visited stations in the Book of Numbers doesn't mention it...
, and at Kibroth-hattaavah
Kibroth Hattaavah
Kibroth-hattaavah is one of the locations at which, according to the Book of Numbers, the Israelites passed through during their Exodus journey...
. And when God sent them from Kadesh-barnea
Kadesh (South of Israel)
Kadesh or Qadhesh in Classical , also known as Qadesh-Barneʿa , was a place in the south of Ancient Israel. The name "Kodesh" means holy. The name "Barnea" may mean desert of wandering...
to take possession of the land, they flouted God’s command and did not put their trust in God.
When Moses lay prostrate before God those 40 days, because God was determined to destroy the Israelites, Moses prayed
Prayer
Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...
to God not to annihilate God’s own people, whom God freed from Egypt, but to give thought to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and ignore the Israelites’ sinfulness, else the Egyptians would say that God was powerless to bring them into the land that God had promised them. And God agreed not to destroy them.
Thereupon God told Moses to carve out two tablets of stone like the first, come up to the mountain, and make an ark
Ark of the Covenant
The Ark of the Covenant , also known as the Ark of the Testimony, is a chest described in Book of Exodus as solely containing the Tablets of Stone on which the Ten Commandments were inscribed...
of wood. God inscribed on the tablets the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
that were on the first tablets that Moses had smashed, and Moses came down from the mountain and deposited the tablets in the ark.
Aaron’s death
The Israelites marched to Moserah, where Aaron died and was buried, and his son EleazarEleazar
Eleazar , was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second Kohen Gadol - succeeding his father Aaron. He was a nephew of Moses.-Life:...
became priest
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
in his stead. From there they marched to Gudgod, and on to Jotbath
Jotbathah
Jotbathah or "Jotbath" is one of the stops of the Israelites on the Exodus journey.It name may mean goodness derived from the Hebrew Jatahh or Tubb, implying therefore Good, both Natural and Moral....
.
Levites’ duties
God set apart the LeviteLevite
In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their inheritance"...
s to carry the ark of the covenant, to stand in attendance upon the Tabernacle
Tabernacle
The Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
, and to bless in God’s Name, and that was why the Levites were to receive no portion of the land, as God was their portion.
Exhortations to serve God
Moses exhorted the Israelites to revere God, to walk only in God’s paths, to love God, to serve God with all their heart and soul, and to keep God’s commandments. Moses noted that although heaven and earth belong to God, God was drawn to love their fathers, so that God chose the Israelites from among all peoples. Moses described God as supreme, great, mighty, and awesome, showing no favor and taking no bribe, but upholding the cause of the fatherless and the widowWidow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood or occasionally viduity. The adjective form is widowed...
, and befriending the stranger. Moses thus instructed the Israelites to befriend the stranger, for they were strangers in Egypt. Moses exhorted the Israelites to revere God, worship only God, and swear only by God’s name, for God was their glory, who wrought for them marvelous deeds, and made them as numerous as the star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
s.
Army
An army An army An army (from Latin arma "arms, weapons" via Old French armée, "armed" (feminine), in the broadest sense, is the land-based military of a nation or state. It may also include other branches of the military such as the air force via means of aviation corps...
, how God rolled upon them the waters of the Sea of Reeds, what God did for them in the wilderness, and what God did to Dathan
Dathan
Dathan was an Israelite mentioned in the Old Testament as a participant of the Exodus.He was a son of Eliab, the son of Pallu, the son of Reuben. Together with his brother Abiram, the Levite Korah and others, he rebelled against Moses and Aaron...
and Abiram
Abiram
Abiram, also spelled Abiron, |father]] is exalted") is the name of two people in the Old Testament. One was the son of Eliab, who, along with his brother Dathan, joined Korah in the conspiracy against Moses and Aaron. He and all the conspirators, with their families and possessions, were swallowed...
when the earth swallowed them. Moses instructed them therefore to keep all the law so that they might have the strength to enter and possess the land and long endure on that land flowing with milk and honey. Moses extolled the land as a land of hills and valleys that soaks up its water from the rains, a land that God looks after.
Then Moses told them words now found in the Shema
Shema Yisrael
Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services...
prayer : If the Israelites obeyed the commandments, loving God and serving God with heart and soul, God would grant the rain in season and they would gather their grain, wine, and oil. God would provide grass for their cattle and the Israelites would eat their fill. Moses warned them not to be lured away to serve other gods, for God’s anger would flare up against them, God would suspend the rain, and they would soon perish. Moses urged them to impress God’s words upon their heart, bind them as a sign on their hands, let them serve as a symbol on their foreheads, teach them to your children, and recite them when they stayed at home and when they were away, when they lay down and when they got up. Moses instructed them to inscribe God’s words on the doorposts of their houses and on their gates, so that they and their children might endure in the land that God swore to their fathers as long as there is a heaven over the earth.
Moses promised that if they faithfully kept all the law, loving God, walking in all God’s ways, and holding fast to God, then God would dislodge the nations then in the land, and every spot on which their feet tread would be theirs, and their territory would extend from the wilderness to Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
and from the Euphrates
Euphrates
The Euphrates is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia...
to the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
.
Deuteronomy chapter 9
NumbersBook of Numbers
The Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
and 28 refer to the “children of Anak” (יְלִדֵי הָעֲנָק, yelidei ha-anak), refers to the “sons of Anak” (בְּנֵי עֲנָק, benei anak), and and refer to the “Anakim” (עֲנָקִים). John A. Wilson suggested that the Anakim may be related to the Iy-‘anaq geographic region named in Middle Kingdom Egyptian
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...
(19th to 18th century BCE) pottery bowls that had been inscribed with the names of enemies and then shattered as a kind of curse. (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament edited by James B. Pritchard is an anthology of important historical, legal, mythological, liturgical, and secular texts from the ancient Near East. William W...
. Edited by James B. Pritchard
James B. Pritchard
James Bennett Pritchard was an American archeologist whose work explicated the interrelationships of the religions of ancient Israel, Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon...
, 328. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. ISBN 0-691-03503-2.)
Deuteronomy chapter 9
1 KingsBooks of Kings
The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...
reports a parallel story of golden calves. King Jeroboam
Jeroboam
Jeroboam was the first king of the northern Israelite Kingdom of Israel after the revolt of the ten northern Israelite tribes against Rehoboam that put an end to the United Monarchy....
of the northern Kingdom of Israel made two calves of gold out of a desire to prevent the kingdom from returning to allegiance to the house of David
Davidic line
The Davidic line refers to the tracing of lineage to the King David referred to in the Hebrew Bible, as well as the New Testament...
and the southern Kingdom of Judah
Kingdom of Judah
The Kingdom of Judah was a Jewish state established in the Southern Levant during the Iron Age. It is often referred to as the "Southern Kingdom" to distinguish it from the northern Kingdom of Israel....
. In Exodus
the people said of the Golden Calf, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Similarly, in Jeroboam told the people of his golden calves, “You have gone up long enough to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” Jeroboam set up one of the calves in Bethel
Bethel
Bethel was a border city described in the Hebrew Bible as being located between Benjamin and Ephraim...
, and the other in Dan, and the people went to worship before the calf in Dan. Jeroboam made houses of high place
High place
High Place, in the English version of the Old Testament, the literal translation of the Hebrew במה .This rendering is etymologically correct, as appears from the poetical use of the plural in such expressions as to ride, or stalk, or stand on the high places of the earth, the sea, the clouds, and...
s, and made priests from people who were not Levite
Levite
In Jewish tradition, a Levite is a member of the Hebrew tribe of Levi. When Joshua led the Israelites into the land of Canaan, the Levites were the only Israelite tribe that received cities but were not allowed to be landowners "because the Lord the God of Israel himself is their inheritance"...
s. He ordained a feast like Sukkot
Sukkot
Sukkot is a Biblical holiday celebrated on the 15th day of the month of Tishrei . It is one of the three biblically mandated festivals Shalosh regalim on which Hebrews were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem.The holiday lasts seven days...
on the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a month after the real Sukkot), and he went up to the altar at Bethel to sacrifice to the golden calves that he had made, and he installed his priests there.
Deuteronomy chapter 7
A midrashMidrash
The Hebrew term Midrash is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible....
likened the second word of eikev (“if” or “because”) to the word akeivai (“footsteps”) in Psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
which the midrash interpreted to mean: “Why should I fear in the days of evil? The iniquity of my footsteps encompasses me.” The midrash taught that people sometimes fail to observe minor commandments, thus trampling those commandments beneath their heels. The midrash thus taught that the Psalmist feared the day of judgment because he may have trampled minor commandments. (Midrash Tanhuma
Tanhuma
Midrash Tanhuma is the name given to three different collections of Pentateuch haggadot; two are extant, while the third is known only through citations. These midrashim, although bearing the name of R. Tanḥuma, must not be regarded as having been written or edited by him...
Devorim Eikev 1.)
Another midrash played on two possible meanings of the second word of eikev, “as a consequence” and “the end.” Israel asked God when God would grant reward for the observance of commandments. God replied that when people observe commandments, they enjoy some fruits now, but God will give them their full reward in the end, after death. (Deuteronomy Rabbah
Deuteronomy Rabbah
Deuteronomy Rabbah is an aggadic midrash or homiletic commentary on the Book of Deuteronomy. Unlike Bereshit Rabbah, the Midrash to Deuteronomy which has been included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot in the ordinary editions does not contain running commentaries on the text of the Bible,...
3:1.)
Another midrash played on two possible meanings of the second word of eikev, “as a consequence” and “heel.” The midrash interpreted the words “upon Edom I cast my shoe” in and to mean that God says that when Israel repents, then God will tread with God’s heel, so to speak, on Israel’s enemy Edom. And the midrash taught, in the words of that “it shall come to pass, because (eikev) you hearken.” (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:2.)
Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani interpreted the words “that the Lord your God shall keep for you” in teaching that all the good that Israel enjoys in this world results from the blessings with which Balaam
Balaam
Balaam is a diviner in the Torah, his story occurring towards the end of the Book of Numbers. The etymology of his name is uncertain, and discussed below. Every ancient reference to Balaam considers him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beor, though Beor is not so clearly identified...
blessed Israel, but the blessings with which the Patriarchs
Patriarchs (Bible)
The Patriarchs of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, the ancestor of all the Abrahamic nations; his son Isaac, the ancestor of the nations surrounding Israel/Judah; and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites...
blessed Israel are reserved for the time to come, as signified by the words, “that the Lord your God shall keep for you.” (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:4.)
Rabbi Bibi ben Giddal said that Simeon the Just
Simeon the Just
Simeon the Just was a Jewish High Priest during the time of the Second Temple...
taught that the law prohibited a Jew from robbing a non-Jew, although a Jew could take possession of a non-Jew’s lost article. Rav Huna
Rav Huna
Rav Huna , a Kohen, was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the second generation and head of the Academy of Sura; He was born about 216, died in 296-297 ).-Youth:...
read to prohibit a Jew from robbing a non-Jew, because provided that the Israelites were to take from the enemies that God would deliver to them in time of war, thus implying that the Israelites could not take from non-Jews in time of peace, when God had not delivered them into the Israelites’ hands. (Babylonian Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
Bava Kamma 113b.)
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
ite, and the Hittite
Biblical Hittites
The Hittites and children of Heth are a people or peoples mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. They are listed in Book of Genesis as second of the twelve Canaanite nations, descended from one Heth...
, from before you,” and in Moses promised that “the Lord your God will send the hornet (צִּרְעָה) among them.” But a Baraita
Baraita
Baraita designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. "Baraita" thus refers to teachings "outside" of the six orders of the Mishnah...
taught that the hornet did not pass over the Jordan River with the Israelites. Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish reconciled the two sources, explaining that the hornet stood on the eastern bank of the Jordan and shot its venom over the river at the Canaanites. The venom blinded the Canaanites’ eyes above and castrated them below, as Amos
Book of Amos
The Book of Amos is a prophetic book of the Hebrew Bible, one of the Twelve Minor Prophets. Amos, an older contemporary of Hosea and Isaiah, was active c. 750 BCE during the reign of Jeroboam II, making the Book of Amos the first biblical prophetic book written. Amos lived in the kingdom of Judah...
says, “Yet destroyed I the Amorite
Amorite
Amorite refers to an ancient Semitic people who occupied large parts of Mesopotamia from the 21st Century BC...
before them, whose height was like the height of the cedars, and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit from above and his roots from beneath.” Rav Papa
Rav Papa
For the Amora sages of the Land of Israel,of the 3d Amoraic generetion, see Hanina b. Papi or Hanina ben Pappa.For another Babylonian Amora sage of the 5th Amoraic generetion, see Rav Papi....
offered an alternative explanation, saying that there were two hornets, one in the time of Moses and the other in the time of Joshua
Joshua
Joshua , is a minor figure in the Torah, being one of the spies for Israel and in few passages as Moses's assistant. He turns to be the central character in the Hebrew Bible's Book of Joshua...
. The former did not pass over the Jordan, but the latter did. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 36a.)
Chapter 3 of tractate Avodah Zarah
Avodah Zarah
Avodah Zarah is the name of a tractate in the Talmud, located in Nezikin, the fourth Order of the Talmud dealing with damages...
in the Mishnah
Mishnah
The Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
, Jerusalem Talmud
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of not deriving benefit from idols
Idolatry in Judaism
Judaism strongly prohibits any form of idolatry. Judaism holds that idolatry is not limited to the worship of an idol itself, but also worship involving any artistic representations of God. In addition it is forbidden to derive benefit from anything dedicated to idolatry...
in (Avodah Zarah 3:1–10; Jerusalem Talmud Avodah Zarah ch. 3; Babylonian Talmud Avodah Zarah 40b–49b.)
Daniel
Daniel is the protagonist in the Book of Daniel of the Hebrew Bible. In the narrative, when Daniel was a young man, he was taken into Babylonian captivity where he was educated in Chaldean thought. However, he never converted to Neo-Babylonian ways...
, and Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadrezzar II
Nebuchadnezzar II was king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who reigned c. 605 BC – 562 BC. According to the Bible, he conquered Judah and Jerusalem, and sent the Jews into exile. He is credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and also known for the destruction...
conspired to keep Daniel out of the fiery furnace
Fiery furnace
Fiery furnace may refer to:* The fiery furnace in which Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into in Daniel 3* Fiery Furnace , a region of Utah's Arches National Park* The Fiery Furnaces, a rock band...
. God said: “Let Daniel depart, lest people say that Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are characters in the biblical Hebrew book of Daniel Chapters 1 – 3, known for their exclusive devotion to God. In particular, they are known for being saved by divine intervention from the Babylonian execution of being burned alive in a fiery furnace...
were delivered through Daniel’s merit instead of their own.” Daniel said: “Let me go, so that I will not become a fulfillment of the words (in ), ‘the graven images of their gods you shall burn with fire.’” And Nebuchadnezzar said: “Let Daniel depart, lest people say that the king has burned his god in fire.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 93a.)
The Gemara
Gemara
The Gemara is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra; from Aramaic גמרא gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by...
deduced from the command of “you shall not bring an abomination into your house, lest you be a cursed thing like it,” that whatever one might bring into being out of an idolatrous thing would have the same cursed status. (Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 58a.)
Rabbi Johanan
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai noted the word “abomination” in common in both and Proverbs
Book of Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs , commonly referred to simply as Proverbs, is a book of the Hebrew Bible.The original Hebrew title of the book of Proverbs is "Míshlê Shlomoh" . When translated into Greek and Latin, the title took on different forms. In the Greek Septuagint the title became "paroimai paroimiae"...
and deduced that people who are haughty of spirit are as though they worshiped idols. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 4b.)
Deuteronomy chapter 8
The Mishnah taught that first fruits were brought only from the Seven SpeciesSeven Species
The Seven Species are seven agricultural products - two grains and five fruits - that are listed in the Hebrew Bible as being special products of the Land of Israel....
(Shiv'at Ha-Minim) that noted to praise the Land of Israel: wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olive-oil, and date-honey. But first fruits could not be brought from dates grown on hills, or from valley-fruits, or from olives that were not of the choice kind. (Mishnah Bikkurim 1:3.)
Rabbi Awira told — sometimes in the name of Rabbi Ammi
Rabbi Ammi
Ammi, Aimi, Immi is the name of several Jewish Talmudists, known as amoraim, who lived in the Land of Israel and Babylonia. In the Babylonian Talmud the first form only is used; in the Jerusalem Talmud all three forms appear, Immi predominating, and sometimes R. Ammi is contracted into "Rabmi" or...
, and sometimes in the name of Rabbi Assi
Rabbi Assi
Assi II was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the third generation, 3rd and 4th centuries, one of the two Palestinian scholars known among their contemporary Jewish Talmudical scholars of Babylonian as "the judges of the Land of Israel" and as "the...
— that the angel
Angel
Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...
s asked God whether God was not showing favor to Israel. And God asked the angels how God could not show favor to Israel, when required them to bless God when they had eaten and were satisfied, but the Israelites bless God even when they have eaten only the quantity of an olive or an egg. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 20b.)
Rabbi Johanan deduced from that people who are haughty of spirit are as though they had denied the fundamental principle of God’s existence. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 4b.)
In the heart becomes proud. A midrash catalogued the wide range of additional capabilities of the heart reported in the Hebrew Bible. The heart speaks (Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
), sees , hears , walks , falls (1 Samuel
Books of Samuel
The Books of Samuel in the Jewish bible are part of the Former Prophets, , a theological history of the Israelites affirming and explaining the Torah under the guidance of the prophets.Samuel begins by telling how the prophet Samuel is chosen by...
), stands (Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
), rejoices , cries (Lamentations
Book of Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
), is comforted (Isaiah
Book of Isaiah
The Book of Isaiah is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, preceding the books of Ezekiel, Jeremiah and the Book of the Twelve...
), is troubled , becomes hardened , grows faint , grieves (Genesis ), fears , can be broken , rebels (Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
), invents , cavils , overflows , devises , desires , goes astray , lusts , is refreshed , can be stolen , is humbled (Leviticus ), is enticed , errs , trembles , is awakened (Song of Songs
Song of songs
Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
), loves , hates , envies , is searched , is rent (Joel
Book of Joel
The Book of Joel is part of the Hebrew Bible. Joel is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Minor Prophets or simply as The Twelve; the distinction 'minor' indicates the short length of the text in relation to the larger prophetic texts known as the "Major Prophets".-Content:After...
), meditates , is like a fire , is like a stone , turns in repentance , becomes hot , dies , melts (Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
), takes in words , is susceptible to fear , gives thanks , covets , becomes hard , makes merry (Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
), acts deceitfully , speaks from out of itself , loves bribes , writes words , plans , receives commandments , acts with pride (Obadiah
Book of Obadiah
The canonical Book of Obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of Edom and the restoration of Israel. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible....
), makes arrangements , and aggrandizes itself (2 Chronicles
Books of Chronicles
The Books of Chronicles are part of the Hebrew Bible. In the Masoretic Text, it appears as the first or last book of the Ketuvim . Chronicles largely parallels the Davidic narratives in the Books of Samuel and the Books of Kings...
). (Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Ecclesiastes Rabbah or Kohelet Rabbah is an haggadic commentary on Ecclesiastes, included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot. It follows the Biblical book verse by verse, only a few verses remaining without comment. In the list of the old sedarim for the Bible four sedarim are assigned to...
1:36.)
In Moses foretold that “A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you . . . like me,” and Rabbi Johanan
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
thus taught that prophets would have to be, like Moses, strong, wealthy, wise, and meek. Strong, for says of Moses, “he spread the tent over the tabernacle,” and a Master taught that Moses himself spread it, and reports, “Ten cubit
Cubit
The cubit is a traditional unit of length, based on the length of the forearm. Cubits of various lengths were employed in many parts of the world in Antiquity, in the Middle Ages and into Early Modern Times....
s shall be the length of a board.” Similarly, the strength of Moses can be derived from in which Moses reports, “And I took the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them,” and it was taught that the tablets were six handbreadths in length, six in breadth, and three in thickness. Wealthy, as reports God’s instruction to Moses, “Carve yourself two tablets of stone,” and the Rabbis interpreted the verse to teach that the chips would belong to Moses. Wise, for Rav
Abba Arika
Abba Arika was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the 3rd century who established at Sura the systematic study of the rabbinic traditions, which, using the Mishnah as text, led to the compilation of the Talmud...
and Samuel both said that 50 gates of understanding were created in the world, and all but one were given to Moses, for said of Moses, “You have made him a little lower than God.” Meek, for reports, “Now the man Moses was very meek.” (Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 38a.)
Deuteronomy chapter 9
Rabbi TanhumaTanhuma bar Abba
Tanhuma bar Abba was a Palestinian amora of the 5th generation, one of the foremost haggadists of his time. He was a pupil of Ḥuna bar Abin , from whom he transmits halakic as well as haggadic sayings . He received instruction also from Judah ben Shalom Tanhuma bar Abba (Hebrew: תנחומא בר אבא)...
taught that Moses prostrated himself before the Israelites and said to them the words of “You are to pass over the Jordan,” noting that he would not. Moses gave the Israelites the opportunity to pray for him, but they did not. The midrash compared this to a king who had many children by a noble lady. The lady was undutiful to him and he decided to divorce her. He told her that he was going to marry another wife. She asked who, and he told her. She summoned her children and told them that their father intended to divorce her and marry the other woman, and asked the children if they could bear being subjected to her. She thought that perhaps they would understand what she meant and would intercede with their father on her behalf, but they did not understand. As they did not understand, she commanded them only for their own sake to be mindful of the honor of their father. So it was with Moses. When God told him in “You shall not go over this Jordan,” Moses spoke to the Israelites and stressed the words in “You are to pass over.” (Deuteronomy Rabbah 3:11.)
A Baraita taught that because of God’s displeasure with the Israelites, the north wind did not blow on them in any of the 40 years during which they wandered in the wilderness. Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
attributed God’s displeasure to the Golden Calf, although the Tosafot
Tosafot
The Tosafot or Tosafos are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes...
attributed it to the incident of the spies in (Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 72a.)
Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai taught that because the generation of the Flood transgressed the Torah that God gave humanity after Moses had stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights (as reported in and and 18, 25, and ), God announced in that God would “cause it to rain upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights.” (Genesis Rabbah 32:5.)
A midrash explained why Moses broke the stone tablets. When the Israelites committed the sin of the Golden Calf, God sat in judgment to condemn them, as says, “Let Me alone, that I may destroy them,” but God had not yet condemned them. So Moses took the tablets from God to appease God’s wrath. The midrash compared the act of Moses to that of a king’s marriage-broker. The king sent the broker to secure a wife for the king, but while the broker was on the road, the woman corrupted herself with another man. The broker (who was entirely innocent) took the marriage document that the king had given the broker to seal the marriage and tore it, reasoning that it would be better for the woman to be judged as an unmarried woman than as a wife. (Exodus Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah is the midrash to Exodus, containing in the printed editions 52 parashiyyot. It is not uniform in its composition.- Structure :In parashiyyot i.-xiv...
43:1.)
Deuteronomy chapter 10
Reading the words, “which you broke, and you shall put them,” in Rav JosephRav Yosef b. Hiyya
Rav Yosef b. Hiyya was a Jewish Amora sage of Babylon, of the third generation of the Amora era. He was a disciple of R. Judah ben Ezekiel, and R...
noted that the verse employs superfluous words to describe the Tablets. Rav Joseph reasoned that the two mentionings of the Tablets teaches that both the Tablets and the fragments of the Tablets that Moses broke were deposited in the Ark. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 14b; Menachot 99a.) Rav Joseph deduced from this that a scholar who has forgotten his learning through no fault of his own (through old age, sickness, or trouble, but not through willful neglect) is still due respect (by analogy to the broken pieces of the tablets that the Israelites nonetheless treated with sanctity). (Babylonian Talmud Menachot 99a.)
Resh Lakish deduced from the interjection of the apparently parenthetical words, “which you broke,” in that God was thereby saying to Moses that Moses did well to break them. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 14b.)
Rabbi Hanina deduced from that everything is in the hand of Heaven except the fear of Heaven, for says: “What does the Lord your God ask of you, but only to fear the Lord your God.” The Gemara asked whether the fear of Heaven was such a little thing that says “only.” Rabbi Hanina said in the name Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai that God has in God’s treasury nothing but a store of the fear of Heaven, as says: “The fear of the Lord is His treasure,” and thus the fear of Heaven must be a great thing. The Gemara responded that for Moses, the fear of Heaven was a small thing, for he had it. Rabbi Hanina illustrated with a parable: If a man is asked for a big article and he has it, it seems like a small article to him; if he is asked for a small article and he does not have it, it seems like a big article to him. (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 33b.)
Rav Awira (or some say Rabbi Joshua ben Levi
Joshua ben Levi
Joshua ben Levi or Yehoshua ben Levi was an amora who lived in the land of Israel of the first half of the third century. He headed the school of Lydda in the southern Land of Israel. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan bar Nappaha and Resh Lakish, who presided over the school in Tiberias...
) taught that the Evil Inclination has seven names. God called it “Evil” in saying, “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” Moses called it “the Uncircumcised” in saying, “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart.” David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
called it “Unclean” in Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
called it “the Enemy” in Isaiah
Isaiah
Isaiah ; Greek: ', Ēsaïās ; "Yahu is salvation") was a prophet in the 8th-century BC Kingdom of Judah.Jews and Christians consider the Book of Isaiah a part of their Biblical canon; he is the first listed of the neviim akharonim, the later prophets. Many of the New Testament teachings of Jesus...
called it “the Stumbling-Block” in Ezekiel
Ezekiel
Ezekiel , "God will strengthen" , is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, Christianity and Islam, Ezekiel is acknowledged as a Hebrew prophet...
called it “Stone” in and Joel
Joel (prophet)
Joel was a prophet of ancient Israel, the second of the twelve minor prophets and the author of the Book of Joel. He is mentioned by name only once in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, in the introduction to his own brief book, as the son of Pethuel...
called it “the Hidden One” in (Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 52a.)
Joshua ben Levi
Joshua ben Levi or Yehoshua ben Levi was an amora who lived in the land of Israel of the first half of the third century. He headed the school of Lydda in the southern Land of Israel. He was an elder contemporary of Johanan bar Nappaha and Resh Lakish, who presided over the school in Tiberias...
said that the men of the Great Assembly were so called because they restored the crown of the divine attributes — the enumeration of God’s praise — to its ancient completeness. For in Moses called God “the great, the mighty, and the awesome.” Then when Jeremiah
Jeremiah
Jeremiah Hebrew：יִרְמְיָה , Modern Hebrew:Yirməyāhū, IPA: jirməˈjaːhu, Tiberian:Yirmĭyahu, Greek:Ἰερεμίας), meaning "Yahweh exalts", or called the "Weeping prophet" was one of the main prophets of the Hebrew Bible...
saw foreigners despoiling the Temple, he asked where God’s awesome deeds were, and thus in he omitted “awesome.” And then when Daniel saw foreigners enslaving the Israelites, he asked where God’s mighty deeds were, and thus in Daniel
Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel is a book in the Hebrew Bible. The book tells of how Daniel, and his Judean companions, were inducted into Babylon during Jewish exile, and how their positions elevated in the court of Nebuchadnezzar. The court tales span events that occur during the reigns of Nebuchadnezzar,...
he omitted the word “mighty.” But the men of the Great Assembly came and said that these circumstances showed God’s mighty deeds, because God suppressed God’s wrath, extending longsuffering to the wicked. And these circumstances showed God’s awesome powers, for but for the fear of God, how could the single nation of Israel survive among the many nations. The Gemara asked how Jeremiah and Daniel could alter words established by Moses. Rabbi Eleazar
Eleazar ben Pedat
Eleazar ben Pedat was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, in the Land of Israel, of the 4th generation . He was his father's pupil and the assistant lecturer of R. Assi...
said that since Jeremiah and Daniel knew that God insists on truth, they did not want to ascribe false attributions to God. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 69b.)
Reading the words, “love the stranger, in giving him food and clothing,” in Akilas the proselyte asked Rabbi Eliezer
Eliezer ben Hurcanus
Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Eliezer ben Hyrcanus , a Kohen, was one of the most prominent tannaim of the 1st and 2nd centuries, disciple of R. Johanan ben Zakkai and colleague of Gamaliel II, whose sister he married , and of Joshua ben Hananiah...
whether food and clothing constituted all the benefit of conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism
Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people...
. Rabbi Eliezer replied that food and clothing are no small things, for in Jacob prayed to God for “bread to eat, and clothing to put on,” while God comes and offers it to the convert on a platter. Akilas then visited Rabbi Joshua
Joshua ben Hananiah
Joshua ben Hananiah was a leading tanna of the first half-century following the destruction of the Temple. He was of Levitical descent , and served in the sanctuary as a member of the class of singers . His mother intended him for a life of study, and, as an older contemporary, Dosa b. Harkinas,...
, who taught that “bread” refers to the Torah (as in Wisdom — the Torah — says, “Come, eat of my bread”), while “clothing” means the Torah scholar’s cloak. A person privileged to study the Torah is thus privileged to perform God's precepts. Moreover, converts’ daughters could marry into the priesthood, so that their descendants could offer burnt-offerings on the altar. The midrash offered another interpretation: “Bread” refers to the showbread
Showbread
Showbread , in the King James Version: shewbread, in a biblical or Jewish context, refers to the cakes or loaves of bread which were always present on a specially dedicated table, in the Temple in Jerusalem as an offering to God...
, while “clothing” refers to the priestly vestments. The midrash offered yet another interpretation: “Bread” refers to challah
Challah
Challah also khale ,, berches , barkis , bergis , chałka , vánočka , zopf and kitke , is a special braided bread eaten on...
, while “clothing” refers to the first shearings of the sheep, both of which belong to the priests. (Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabba
Genesis Rabba is a religious text from Judaism's classical period. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical interpretations of the Book of Genesis ....
h 70:5.)
A midrash taught that the Israelites were counted on ten occasions: (1) when they went down to Egypt ; (2) when they went up out of Egypt ; (3) at the first census in Numbers ; (4) at the second census in Numbers ; (5) once for the banners; (6) once in the time of Joshua for the division of the land of Israel; (7) once by Saul
Saul
-People:Saul is a given/first name in English, the Anglicized form of the Hebrew name Shaul from the Hebrew Bible:* Saul , including people with this given namein the Bible:* Saul , a king of Edom...
; (8) a second time by Saul ; (9) once by David
David
David was the second king of the united Kingdom of Israel according to the Hebrew Bible and, according to the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, an ancestor of Jesus Christ through both Saint Joseph and Mary...
; and once in the time of Ezra
Ezra
Ezra , also called Ezra the Scribe and Ezra the Priest in the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible he returned from the Babylonian exile and reintroduced the Torah in Jerusalem...
(Ezra
Book of Ezra
The Book of Ezra is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Originally combined with the Book of Nehemiah in a single book of Ezra-Nehemiah, the two became separated in the early centuries of the Christian era...
). (Midrash Tanhuma Ki Sisa 9.)
Deuteronomy chapter 11
Already at the time of the Mishnah, constituted the second part of a standard Shema prayer that the priests recited daily, following and preceding (Mishnah Tamid 5:1; Babylonian Talmud Tamid 32b.) The first three chapters of tractate BerakhotBerakhot (Talmud)
Berachot is the first tractate of Seder Zeraim, a collection of the Mishnah that primarily deals with laws relating to plants and farming...
in the Mishnah, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud and the first two chapters of tractate Berakhot in the Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
interpreted the laws of the Shema in and (Mishnah Berakhot 1:1–3:6; Tosefta Berakhot 1:1–2:21; Jerusalem Talmud Berakhot 1a–42b; Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 2a–26a.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in and 17, and and and and 15, and Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
to Ono
Ono, Benjamin
Ono - a town of Benjamin, in the "plain of Ono" ; now Kiryat-Ono, 5 miles north of Lydda , and about 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Not succeeding in their attempts to deter Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Sanballat and Tobiah resorted to stratagem, and pretending to wish a...
, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris
Tzippori
Tzippori , also known as Sepphoris, Dioceserea and Saffuriya is located in the central Galilee region, north-northwest of Nazareth, in modern-day Israel...
extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar bar Hana
Rabbah bar bar Hana
Rabbah bar bar Hana was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the second generation. He was the grandson of Hana and the brother of Hiyya. He went to Palestine and became a pupil of Rav Yochanan, whose sayings he transmitted...
said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasang
Parasang
The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance comparable to the European league.In antiquity, the term was used throughout much of the Middle East, and the Old Iranian language from which it derives can no longer be determined...
s by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
Interpreting the words “to walk in all His ways” in the Sifre
Sifre
Sifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
taught that to walk in God’s ways means to be (in the words of ) “merciful and gracious.” (Sifre to Deuteronomy 49:1.) Similarly, Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina asked what means in the text, “You shall walk after the Lord your God.” How can a human being walk after God, when says, “[T]he Lord your God is a devouring fire”? Rabbi Hama son of Rabbi Hanina explained that the command to walk after God means to walk after the attributes of God. As God clothes the naked — for says, “And the Lord God made for Adam
Adam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
and for his wife coats of skin, and clothed them” — so should we also clothe the naked. God visited the sick — for says, “And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre
Mamre
Mamre , full Hebrew name Elonei Mamre , refers to a Canaanite cultic shrine dedicated to the supreme, sky god of the Canaanite pantheon, El. Talmudic sources refer to the site as Beth Ilanim or Botnah. it was one of the three most important "fairs", market place or caravanserai, in Palestine...
” (after Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
was circumcised in ) — so should we also visit the sick. God comforted mourners — for says, “And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac
Isaac
Isaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
his son” — so should we also comfort mourners. God buried the dead — for says, “And He buried him in the valley” — so should we also bury the dead. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 14a.)
Commandments
According to Sefer ha-ChinuchSefer ha-Chinuch
The Sefer ha-Chinuch , often simply "the Chinuch" is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th century Spain...
, there are 6 positive and 2 negative commandments
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
in the parshah.
- Not to derive benefit from any ornamentation of an idol
- Not to take any object from idolatry into our possession, to derive benefit from it
- The precept of blessing the Almighty for the food we receive
- The precept of love for converts to Judaism
- The precept of reverent awe for the Eternal Lord
- The precept of prayer to the Almighty
- The mitzvah of associating with Torah scholars and adhering to them
- That whoever needs to take an oath should swear by the Name of the Eternal Lord
(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 4:304–57. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-457-7.)
Haftarah
The haftarahHaftarah
The haftarah or haftoroh is a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im of the Hebrew Bible that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Jewish religious practice...
for the parshah is The haftarah is the second in the cycle of seven haftarot of consolation after Tisha B'Av
Tisha B'Av
|Av]],") is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 655 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date...
, leading up to Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah
Rosh Hashanah , , is the Jewish New Year. It is the first of the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im which occur in the autumn...
.
In the liturgy
In the Blessing after Meals (Birkat HamazonBirkat Hamazon
Birkat Hamazon or Birkath Hammazon, , known in English as the Grace After Meals, , is a set of Hebrew blessings that Jewish Law prescribes following a meal that includes bread or matzoh made from one or all of wheat, barley, rye, oats, spelt...
), Jews sometimes quote the Scriptural basis for the Blessing after Meals, immediately before the invitation (zimun), and quote it again at the close of the second blessing (for the Land of Israel
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
). (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 159, 165. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
The opening sentence of the Amidah
Amidah
The Amidah , also called the Shmoneh Esreh , is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. This prayer, among others, is found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book...
quotes Moses’s characterization of God in as “the great, the mighty, and the awesome.” (Reuven Hammer. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom may refer to any siddur in a family of siddurim, Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries on these siddurim, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism....
for Shabbat and Festivals, 35a–b. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
The Passover
Passover
Passover is a Jewish holiday and festival. It commemorates the story of the Exodus, in which the ancient Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt...
Haggadah
Haggadah of Pesach
The Haggadah is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. Reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the Scriptural commandment to each Jew to "tell your son" of the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus in the Torah...
, in the magid section of the Seder
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder is a Jewish ritual feast that marks the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted on the evenings of the 14th day of Nisan in the Hebrew calendar, and on the 15th by traditionally observant Jews living outside Israel. This corresponds to late March or April in...
, quotes (Menachem Davis. The Interlinear Haggadah: The Passover Haggadah, with an Interlinear Translation, Instructions and Comments, 44. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005. ISBN 1-57819-064-9. Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 90. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
is the second of three blocks of verses in the Shema
Shema Yisrael
Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services...
, a central prayer in Jewish prayer services. Jews combine , and to form the core of K’riat Shema, recited in the evening (Ma’ariv) and morning (Shacharit) prayer services. (Hammer, at 30–31, 112–13, 282–83.)
Biblical
(blessings of health and fertility); (driving out the Canaanites); (the Golden Calf);Early nonrabbinic
- Pliny the ElderPliny the ElderGaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian...
. Natural History 26:3, 5. 1st Century C.E. (Egyptian diseases).
- JosephusJosephusTitus Flavius Josephus , also called Joseph ben Matityahu , was a 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian and hagiographer of priestly and royal ancestry who recorded Jewish history, with special emphasis on the 1st century AD and the First Jewish–Roman War, which resulted in the Destruction of...
. Antiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the JewsAntiquities of the Jews is a twenty volume historiographical work composed by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the thirteenth year of the reign of Roman emperor Flavius Domitian which was around 93 or 94 AD. Antiquities of the Jews contains an account of history of the Jewish people,...
4:8:2–3. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William WhistonWilliam WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8. - MatthewGospel of MatthewThe Gospel According to Matthew is one of the four canonical gospels, one of the three synoptic gospels, and the first book of the New Testament. It tells of the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth...
(not live by bread alone).
Classical rabbinic
- MishnahMishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
: Berakhot 1:1–3:6; Bikkurim 1:3; Sotah 7:8; Avodah Zarah 1:9, 3:1–10;
Tamid 5:1. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner
Jacob Neusner
Jacob Neusner is an American academic scholar of Judaism who lives in Rhinebeck, New York.-Biography:Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Neusner was educated at Harvard University, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America , the University of Oxford, and Columbia University.Neusner is often celebrated...
, 3–7, 167, 458–59, 662, 664–67, 869. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
- SifreSifreSifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
to Deuteronomy 37:1–52:1. Land of Israel, circa 250–350 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Sifre to Deuteronomy: An Analytical Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1987. ISBN 1-55540-145-7.
- Jerusalem TalmudJerusalem TalmudThe Jerusalem Talmud, talmud meaning "instruction", "learning", , is a collection of Rabbinic notes on the 2nd-century Mishnah which was compiled in the Land of Israel during the 4th-5th century. The voluminous text is also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud de-Eretz Yisrael...
: Berakhot 1a–42b, 72b, 88b; Peah 23a; Kilayim 30a; Sheviit 42b; Terumot 12a; Challah 18b; Pesachim 28a; Yoma 2b, 5b, 50b; Sukkah 20b; Avodah Zarah ch. 3. Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1–3, 5, 6b–7, 11, 18, 21–22. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005–2011. - Babylonian TalmudTalmudThe Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
: Berakhot 2a–26a, 32a–b, 33b–34a, 35a–b, 36b–37a, 38a, 40a–41b, 44a, 48b, 51b, 55a; Shabbat 31b, 32b, 82b, 105b, 108a; Eruvin 4a; Pesachim 36a, 49b, 53a, 87b, 101b, 104a, 119a; Yoma 3b, 11b, 69b, 72b, 74b, 75b, 79b, 81b; Sukkah 5b, 26b, 35a, 52a; Rosh Hashanah 7a, 8a–b, 17b; Taanit 2a, 3b–4a, 6a–b, 7b, 9b, 26b; Megillah 19b, 21a, 25a, 31a; Chagigah 12a–b; Yevamot 78b; Ketubot 47b, 111a; Nedarim 7b, 32a, 38a; Sotah 4b–5a, 11a, 33a; Gittin 62a; Kiddushin 29b–30b, 36a, 58a; Bava Kamma 113b; Bava Batra 9b, 14b, 19a, 21a, 110b, 121a; Sanhedrin 4b, 56a, 90b, 93a, 99a, 110a, 113a; Makkot 7b; Shevuot 30b; Avodah Zarah 15a, 21a, 40b–49b, 52a, 54b; Horayot 13a; Zevachim 16a; Menachot 28b, 31b, 37b, 43b, 84a–b, 99a; Chullin 84b, 120b, 135b, 140a; Bekhorot 6b, 44b; Arakhin 4a; Temurah 3b, 28b, 30b; Niddah 16b, 70b. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Medieval
- RashiRashiShlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
. Commentary. Deuteronomy 7–11. TroyesTroyesTroyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 5:83–118. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89906-030-7. - Judah HaleviYehuda HaleviJudah Halevi was a Spanish Jewish physician, poet and philosopher. He was born in Spain, either in Toledo or Tudela, in 1075 or 1086, and died shortly after arriving in Palestine in 1141...
. KuzariKuzariThe Kitab al Khazari, commonly called the Kuzari, is one of most famous works of the medieval Spanish Jewish philosopher and poet Rabbi Yehuda Halevi, completed around 1140. Its title is an Arabic phrase meaning Book of the Khazars...
. 1:97; 2:14, 47–48, 56. ToledoToledo, SpainToledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 68–69, 89, 111–12, 119. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4. - Benjamin of TudelaBenjamin of TudelaBenjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...
. The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela. Spain, 1173. Reprinted in The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Travels in the Middle Ages. Introductions by Michael A. Singer, Marcus Nathan Adler, A. Asher, 91. Malibu, Calif.: Joseph Simon, 1983. ISBN 0-934710-07-4. (Anak).
- ZoharZoharThe Zohar is the foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah and scriptural interpretations as well as material on Mysticism, mythical cosmogony, and mystical psychology...
3:270a–. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.
Modern
- Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
. LeviathanLeviathan (book)Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil — commonly called simply Leviathan — is a book written by Thomas Hobbes and published in 1651. Its name derives from the biblical Leviathan...
, 2:26; 3:40; 4:45. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. MacphersonC. B. MacphersonCrawford Brough Macpherson O.C. M.Sc. D. Sc. was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto.-Life:...
, 319, 504–05, 672, 676–77. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950. - Samson Raphael HirschSamson Raphael HirschSamson Raphael Hirsch was a German rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism...
. Horeb: A Philosophy of Jewish Laws and Observances. Translated by Isidore Grunfeld, 35–43, 47–50, 175–80, 187–89, 376–77, 406–16, 448–52, 471–78, 525–30, 544–47, 565–67. London: Soncino Press, 1962. Reprinted 2002 ISBN 0-900689-40-4. Originally published as Horeb, Versuche über Jissroel’s Pflichten in der Zerstreuung. Germany, 1837.
- Abraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac KookAbraham Isaac Kook was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the British Mandate for Palestine, the founder of the Religious Zionist Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, Jewish thinker, Halachist, Kabbalist and a renowned Torah scholar...
. The Moral Principles. Early 20th Century. Reprinted in Abraham Isaac Kook: the Lights of Penitence, the Moral Principles, Lights of Holiness, Essays, Letters, and Poems. Translated by Ben Zion BokserBen Zion Bokser-Biography:Bokser was born in Lubomi, Poland, and emigrated to the United States at the age of 13 in 1920. He attended City College of New York and Rabbi Isaac Elhanan Theological Seminary, followed by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America and Columbia University...
, 176. Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist Press 1978. ISBN 0-8091-2159-X. - Thomas MannThomas MannThomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
. Joseph and His BrothersJoseph and His BrothersJoseph and His Brothers is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph , setting it in the historical context of the Amarna Period...
. Translated by John E. WoodsJohn E. WoodsJohn E. Woods is a translator who specializes in translating German literature, since about 1978. His work includes much of the fictional prose of Arno Schmidt and the works of contemporary authors such as Ingo Schulze and Christoph Ransmayr...
, 788. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943. - Abraham Joshua HeschelAbraham Joshua HeschelAbraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.-Biography:...
. Man's Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism, 36. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1954. - Bob DylanBob DylanBob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. “Gates of EdenGates Of Eden (song)"Gates of Eden" is a song by Bob Dylan that appears on his fifth studio album Bringing It All Back Home, released on March 22, 1965 by Columbia Records. It was also released as a single as the B-side of "Like a Rolling Stone". Dylan plays the song solo, accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and...
.” In Bringing It All Back HomeBringing It All Back HomeBringing It All Back Home is singer-songwriter Bob Dylan's fifth studio album, released in March 1965 by Columbia Records. The album is divided into an electric and an acoustic side. On side one of the original LP, Dylan is backed by an electric rock and roll band - a move that further alienated...
. Columbia RecordsColumbia RecordsColumbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, 1965. (“Aladdin and his lamp sits with Utopian hermit monks side saddle on the Golden Calf”). - Martin BuberMartin BuberMartin Buber was an Austrian-born Jewish philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of religious existentialism centered on the distinction between the I-Thou relationship and the I-It relationship....
. On the Bible: Eighteen studies, 80–92. New York: Schocken Books, 1968.
- Moshe WeinfeldMoshe WeinfeldMoshe Weinfeld , Professor Emeritus of Bible at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and recipient of the 1994 Israel Prize for Bible.-Biography:...
. Deuteronomy 1-11, 5:357–455. New York: Anchor BibleAnchor Bible SeriesThe Anchor Bible project, consisting of a Commentary Series, Bible Dictionary, and Reference Library, is a scholarly and commercial co-venture begun in 1956, when individual volumes in the commentary series began production...
, 1991. ISBN 0-385-17593-0. - Joel RothJoel RothJoel Roth is a prominent American rabbi in the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the rabbinical body of Conservative Judaism. He is a former member and chair of the assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards which deals with questions of Jewish law and tradition, and serves as the Louis...
. “Homosexuality.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1992. EH 24.1992b. Reprinted in Responsa: 1991–2000: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, 613, 615. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2002. ISBN 0-916219-19-4. (interpreting the term “abhorrence”). - Elliot N. DorffElliot N. DorffElliot N. Dorff is a Conservative rabbi. He is a professor of Jewish theology at the American Jewish University in California , author and a bio-ethicist....
. “Artificial Insemination, Egg Donation and Adoption.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1994. EH 1:3.1994. Reprinted in Responsa: 1991–2000: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, 461, 462, 464. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2002. ISBN 0-916219-19-4. (children among life’s chief goods). - Neil GillmanNeil GillmanNeil Gillman is an American rabbi and philosopher, affiliated with Conservative Judaism.-Biography:Gillman was born in Quebec City, Canada. He graduated from McGill University in 1954. He was ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1960. He received his Ph.D...
. Sacred Fragments: Recovering Theology for the Modern Jew, xxiv-xxv. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1994. ISBN 0-8276-0352-5. (arguing that for many Jews, the traditional images that characterized Judaism are like the irreparably shattered Tablets, and modern Jews must carve out their new set of interpretations, without discarding the old). - Jacob MilgromJacob MilgromJacob Milgrom was a prominent American Jewish Bible scholar and Conservative rabbi, best known for his comprehensive Torah commentaries and work on the Dead Sea Scrolls.-Biography:...
. “‘The Alien in Your Midst’: Every nation has its ger: the permanent resident. The Torah commands us, first, not to oppress the ger, and then to befriend and love him.” Bible Review. 11 (6) (Dec. 1995). - Jeffrey H. Tigay. The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation, 88–115, 438–46. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1996. ISBN 0-8276-0330-4.
- Elliot N. Dorff. “Assisted Suicide.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1997. YD 345.1997a. Reprinted in Responsa: 1991–2000: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, 379, 380. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2002. ISBN 0-916219-19-4. (implications for assisted suicide of God’s ownership of the universe).
- Elie Kaplan Spitz. “On the Use of Birth Surrogates.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1997. EH 1:3.1997b. Reprinted in Responsa: 1991–2000: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, 529, 536. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2002. ISBN 0-916219-19-4. (promise of abundant offspring).
- Suzanne A. Brody. “Fall-able.” In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, 104. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007. ISBN 1-60047-112-9.
- Esther JungreisEsther JungreisEsther Jungreis is the founder of the international Hineni movement in America. A Holocaust survivor, she has made it her life's mission to bring back Jews to Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
. Life Is a Test, 18, 128, 208, 261–62. Brooklyn: Shaar Press, 2007. ISBN 1-4226-0609-0.
- Jonathan GoldsteinJonathan Goldstein (author)Jonathan Stuart Goldstein is an American-Canadian author, humourist and radio producer. Goldstein is known for his work on the radio programs This American Life and WireTap.-Biography:...
. “The Golden Calf.” In Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! is a book written by author and radio presenter Jonathan Goldstein. The book is a comedic retelling of the Old Testament stories such as Adam and Eve, Samson, Noah, and David and Goliath. Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible! also includes a story narrated by Joseph,...
115–28. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009. ISBN 978-1-59448-367-7.
Texts
Commentaries
- Academy for Jewish Religion, New York
- Aish.com
- American Jewish University
- Anshe Emes Synagogue, Los Angeles
- Bar-Ilan University
- Chabad.org
- eparsha.com
- G-dcast
- The Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash
- Jewish Agency for Israel
- Jewish Theological Seminary
- Miriam Aflalo
- MyJewishLearning.com
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- Orthodox Union
- OzTorah, Torah from Australia
- Oz Ve Shalom — Netivot Shalom
- Pardes from Jerusalem
- RabbiShimon.com
- Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
- Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld
- Reconstructionist Judaism
- Sephardic Institute
- Shiur.com
- 613.org Jewish Torah Audio
- Tanach Study Center
- Teach613.org, Torah Education at Cherry Hill
- Torah from Dixie
- Torah.org
- TorahVort.com
- Union for Reform Judaism
- United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth
- United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism
- What’s Bothering Rashi?
- Yeshivat Chovevei Torah
- Yeshiva University