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Pinchas (parsha)
Encyclopedia
Pinchas, Pinhas, or Pin’has (פנחס — Hebrew
for “Phinehas
,” a name, the sixth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 41st weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the eighth in the book of Numbers
. It constitutes Jews generally read it in late June or July.
As the parshah sets out laws for the Jewish holiday
s, Jews also read parts of the parshah as Torah readings for many Jewish holidays. is the Torah reading for Rosh Chodesh
on a weekday (including when the sixth or seventh day of Hanukkah
falls on Rosh Chodesh). is the maftir
Torah reading for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. is the maftir Torah reading for the first two days of Passover
. is the maftir Torah reading for the intermediate days (chol hamoed
) and seventh and eighth days of Passover. is the maftir Torah reading for each day of Shavuot
. is the maftir Torah reading for each day of Rosh Hashanah
. is the maftir Torah reading for the Yom Kippur
morning (Shacharit
) service. is the maftir Torah reading for the first two days of Sukkot
. is the Torah reading for the first intermediate day of Sukkot. is the Torah reading for the second intermediate day of Sukkot. is the Torah reading for the third intermediate day of Sukkot. is the Torah reading for the fourth intermediate day of Sukkot, as well as for Hoshana Rabbah. And is the maftir Torah reading for both Shemini Atzeret
and Simchat Torah
.
announced that because Phinehas had displayed his passion for God, God granted Phinehas God’s pact of friendship and priesthood
for all time. God then told Moses
to attack the Midian
ites to repay them for their trickery luring Israelite
men to worship Baal-Peor.
God instructed Moses and Eleazar
to take a census
of Israelite men 20 years old and up, and Moses and Eleazar ordered it done. The census showed the following population
s by tribe
:
totaling 601,730 in all.
The text notes parenthetically that when Korah
’s band agitated against God, the earth swallowed them up with Korah, but Korah’s sons did not die. God told Moses to apportion shares of the land according to population among those counted, and by lot. The Levite
men aged a month old and up amounted to 23,000, and they were not included in the regular enrollment of Israelites, as they were not to have land assigned to them.
Among the persons whom Moses and Eleazar enrolled was not one of those enrolled in the first census at the wilderness of Sinai
, except Caleb
and Joshua
.
, saying that their father left no sons, and asking that they be given a land holding. Moses brought their case before God, who told him that their plea was just and instructed him to transfer their father’s share of land to them. God further instructed that if a man died without leaving a son, the Israelites were to transfer his property to his daughter, or failing a daughter to his brothers, or failing a brother to his father’s brothers, or failing brothers of his father to the nearest relative.
and view the Land of Israel
, saying that when he had seen it, he would die, because he disobeyed God’s command to uphold God’s sanctity in the people’s sight when he brought water from the rock in the wilderness of Zin
. Moses asked God to appoint someone over the community, so that the Israelites would not be like sheep
without a shepherd
. God told Moses to single out Joshua, lay his hand on him, and commission him before Eleazar and the whole community. Joshua was to present himself to Eleazar the priest, who was to seek the decision of the Urim and Thummim
on whether to go out or come in.
due God at stated times. The text then details the offerings for regular days, the Sabbath, Rosh Chodesh, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shmini Atzeret
.
of Passover. In the Hebrew Bible
, Passover is called:
Some explain the double nomenclature of “Passover” and “Feast of Unleavened Bread” as referring to two separate feasts that the Israelites combined sometime between the Exodus
and when the Biblical text became settled. (See, e.g., W. Gunther Plaut
. The Torah: A Modern Commentary, 456. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981. ISBN 0-8074-0055-6.) and indicate that the dedication of the firstborn also became associated with the festival.
Some believe that the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” was an agricultural festival at which the Israelites celebrated the beginning of the grain harvest. Moses may have had this festival in mind when in and he petitioned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go to celebrate a feast in the wilderness. (Plaut, at 464.)
“Passover,” on the other hand, was associated with a thanksgiving sacrifice of a lamb, also called “the Passover,” “the Passover lamb,” or “the Passover offering.” ( 21, 27, 43, 48; 5–6; 17–18; 6–9, 11, 13.)
and and 5, and direct “Passover” to take place on the evening of the fourteenth of Aviv (Nisan
in the Hebrew calendar
after the Babylonian captivity
). and confirm that practice. and and direct the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” to take place over seven days and and direct that it begin on the fifteenth of the month. Some believe that the propinquity of the dates of the two festivals led to their confusion and merger. (Plaut, at 464.)
and 27 link the word “Passover” (Pesach, פֶּסַח) to God’s act to “pass over” (pasach, פָסַח) the Israelites’ houses in the plague
of the firstborn. In the Torah, the consolidated Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread thus commemorate the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt
. ( 3, 6.)
The Hebrew Bible frequently notes the Israelites’ observance of Passover at turning points in their history. reports God’s direction to the Israelites to observe Passover in the wilderness of Sinai
on the anniversary of their liberation from Egypt. reports that upon entering the Promised Land
, the Israelites kept the Passover on the plains of Jericho
and ate unleavened cakes and parched corn, produce of the land, the next day. reports that King Josiah
commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover in Jerusalem as part of Josiah’s reforms, but also notes that the Israelites had not kept such a Passover from the days of the Biblical judges
nor in all the days of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah
, calling into question the observance of even Kings David
and Solomon
. The more reverent however, reports that Solomon offered sacrifices on the festivals, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And reports King Hezekiah
’s observance of a second Passover anew, as sufficient numbers of neither the priests nor the people were prepared to do so before then. And reports that the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity observed Passover, ate the Passover lamb, and kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy.
associates Shavuot with the first-fruits (בִּכּוּרֵי, bikurei) of the wheat harvest. (See also ) In turn, set out the ceremony for the bringing of the first fruits.
To arrive at the correct date, instructs counting seven weeks from the day after the day of rest of Passover, the day that they brought the sheaf of barley for waving. Similarly, directs counting seven weeks from when they first put the sickle to the standing barley.
sets out a course of offerings for the fiftieth day, including a meal-offering of two loaves made from fine flour from the first-fruits of the harvest; burnt-offerings of seven lambs, one bull, and two rams; a sin-offering of a goat; and a peace-offering of two lambs. Similarly, sets out a course of offerings including a meal-offering; burnt-offerings of two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs; and one goat to make atonement. directs a freewill-offering in relation to God’s blessing.
and ordain a holy convocation in which the Israelites were not to work.
reports that Solomon offered burnt-offerings on the Feast of Weeks.
Although instructs that the spring month of Aviv (since the Babylonian captivity
called Nisan
) “shall be the first month of the year,” and also reflect an “end of the year” or a "turn of the year" in the autumn harvest month of Tishrei
.
and both describe Rosh Hashanah as an holy convocation, a day of solemn rest in which no servile work is to be done, involving the blowing of horns and an offering to God.
speaks of "in the beginning of the year" (בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, b’Rosh HaShanah) in Tishrei, although the Rabbis traditional interpreted Ezekiel
to refer to Yom Kippur
.
reports that in the Persian era, when the seventh month came, the Israelites gathered together in Jerusalem, and the priests offered burnt-offerings to God, morning and evening, as written in the Law of Moses.
reports that it was on Rosh Hashanah (the first day of the seventh month) that all the Israelites gathered together before the water gate and Ezra
the scribe read the Law from early morning until midday. And Nehemiah
, Ezra, and the Levites told the people that the day was holy to the Lord their God; they should neither mourn nor weep; but they should go their way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those who had nothing.
likely refers to Rosh Hashanah when it enjoins, "Blow the horn at the new moon, at the full moon of our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob."
Much as Yom Kippur, on the 10th of the month of Tishrei
, precedes the Festival of Sukkot, on the 15th of the month of Tishrei, speaks of a period starting on the 10th of the month of Nisan
preparatory to the Festival of Passover, on the 15th of the month of Nisan.
and and present similar injunctions to observe Yom Kippur. and and set the Holy Day on the tenth day of the seventh month (Tishrei). and and instruct that “you shall afflict your souls.” makes clear that a full day is intended: “you shall afflict your souls; in the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening.” And threatens that whoever “shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from his people.” and and command that you “shall do no manner of work.” Similarly, and call it a “Sabbath of solemn rest.” And in God threatens that whoever “does any manner of work in that same day, that soul will I destroy from among his people.” and and describe the purpose of the day to make atonement for the people. Similarly, speaks of the purpose “to cleanse you from all your sins,” and speaks of making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, the altar; and the priests. instructs that the commandment applies both to “the home-born” and to “the stranger who sojourns among you.” and and command offerings to God. And and institute the observance as “a statute forever.”
sets out detailed procedures for the priest’s atonement ritual during the time of the Temple
.
instructs that after seven Sabbatical years, on the Jubilee year
, on the day of atonement, the Israelites were to proclaim liberty throughout the land with the blast of the horn and return every man to his possession and to his family.
In the Haftarah
for Yom Kippur morning, God describes “the fast that I have chosen [on] the day for a man to afflict his soul.” make clear that “to afflict the soul” was understood as fasting. But goes on to impress that “to afflict the soul,” God also seeks acts of social justice: “to loose the fetters of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke,” “to let the oppressed go free,” “to give your bread to the hungry, and . . . bring the poor that are cast out to your house,” and “when you see the naked, that you cover him.”
Sukkot’s agricultural origin is evident from the name "The Feast of Ingathering," from the ceremonies accompanying it, and from the season and occasion of its celebration: "At the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field" ; "after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress." It was a thanksgiving for the fruit harvest. (Compare .) And in what may explain the festival’s name, Isaiah
reports that grape harvesters kept booths in their vineyards. (Isaiah
) Coming as it did at the completion of the harvest, Sukkot was regarded as a general thanksgiving for the bounty of nature in the year that had passed.
Sukkot became one of the most important feasts in Judaism, as indicated by its designation as “the Feast of the Lord” or simply “the Feast.” ( 65; ) Perhaps because of its wide attendance, Sukkot became the appropriate time for important state ceremonies. Moses instructed the children of Israel to gather for a reading of the Law during Sukkot every seventh year. King Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem on Sukkot. And Sukkot was the first sacred occasion observed after the resumption of sacrifices in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.
In the time of Nehemiah
, after the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites celebrated Sukkot by making and dwelling in booths, a practice of which Nehemiah reports: “the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua.” In a practice related to that of the Four Species
, Nehemiah also reports that the Israelites found in the Law the commandment that they “go out to the mountains and bring leafy branches of olive
trees, pine
trees, myrtle
s, palms
and [other] leafy trees to make booths.” In God told Moses to command the people: “On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willow
s of the brook,” and “You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” The book of Numbers, however, indicates that while in the wilderness, the Israelites dwelt in tents. Some secular scholars consider (the commandments regarding booths and the four species) to be an insertion by a late redactor. (E.g., Richard Elliott Friedman
. The Bible with Sources Revealed, 228–29. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003.)
Jeroboam
son of Nebat, King of the northern Kingdom of Israel
, whom describes as practicing “his evil way,” celebrated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, one month after Sukkot, “in imitation of the festival in Judah.” “While Jeroboam was standing on the altar
to present the offering, the man of God, at the command of the Lord, cried out against the altar” in disapproval.
According to the prophet Zechariah, in the messianic era, Sukkot will become a universal festival, and all nations will make pilgrimages annually to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast there.
Rabbi Johanan
taught that Phinehas was able to accomplish his act of zealotry only because God performed six miracles: First, upon hearing Phinehas’s warning, Zimri
should have withdrawn from Cozbi
and ended his transgression, but he did not. Second, Zimri should have cried out for help from his fellow Simeonites, but he did not. Third, Phinheas was able to drive his spear exactly through the sexual organs of Zimri and Cozbi as they were engaged in the act. Fourth, Zimri and Cozbi did not slip off the spear, but remained fixed so that others could witness their transgression. Fifth, an angel
came and lifted up the lintel so that Phinehas could exit holding the spear. And sixth, an angel came and sowed destruction among the people, distracting the Simeonites from killing Phinheas. (Babylonian Talmud
Sanhedrin 82b.)
Rabbah bar bar Hana
said in Rabbi Johanan's name that had Zimri withdrawn from his mistress and Phinehas still killed him, Phinehas would have been liable to execution for murder, and had Zimri killed Phinehas in self-defense, he would not have been liable to execution for murder, as Phinehas was a pursuer seeking to take Zimri’s life. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 82a.)
But based on and 11, the Mishnah
listed the case of a man who had sexual relations with an Aramaean woman as one of three cases for which it was permissible for zealots to punish the offender on the spot. (Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:6; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 81b.)
The Gemara
told that after Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi, the Israelites began berating Phinehas for his presumption, as he himself was descended from a Midianite idolater, Jethro. The Israelites said: “See this son of Puti (Putiel, or Jethro) whose maternal grandfather fattened (pittem) cattle for idols, and who has now slain the prince of a tribe of Israel (Zimri)!” To counter this attack, the Gemara explained, God detailed Phinehas’s descent from the peaceful Aaron the Priest in . And then in God told Moses to be the first to extend a greeting of peace to Phinehas, so as to calm the crowd. And the Gemara explained to indicate that the atonement that Phinehas had made was worthy to atone permanently. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 82b.)
Similarly, the Gemara asked whether the words in “And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife” did not convey that Eleazar’s son Phinehas descended from Jethro, who fattened (piteim) calves for idol worship. The Gemara then provided an alternative explanation: could mean that Phinehas descended from Joseph, who conquered (pitpeit) his passions (resisting Potiphar
’s wife, as reported in Genesis ). But the Gemara asked, did not the tribes sneer at Phinehas and (as reported in Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 82b and Sotah 43a) question how a youth (Phinehas) whose mother’s father crammed calves for idol-worship could kill the head of a tribe in Israel (Zimri, Prince of Simeon, as reported in ). The Gemara explained that the real explanation was that Phinehas descended from both Joseph and Jethro. If Phinehas’s mother’s father descended from Joseph, then Phinehas’s mother’s mother descended from Jethro. And if Phinehas’s mother’s father descended from Jethro, then Phinehas’s mother’s mother descended from Joseph. The Gemara explained that implies this dual explanation of “Putiel” when it says, “of the daughters of Putiel,” because the plural “daughters” implies two lines of ancestry (from both Joseph and Jethro). (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 109b–10a; see also Exodus Rabbah
7:5.)
A midrash
interpreted in which God gives Phinehas God’s “covenant of peace,” to teach that Phinehas, like Elijah, continues to live to this day, applying to Phinehas the words of “My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, and of fear, and he feared Me, and was afraid of My name.” (Numbers Rabbah
21:3.)
Reading the words of that Phinehas “made atonement for the children of Israel,” a midrash taught that although he did not strictly offer a sacrifice to justify the expression “atonement,” his shedding the blood of the wicked was as though he had offered a sacrifice. (Numbers Rabbah 21:3.)
(1 Samuel
); (8) a second time by Saul ; (9) once by David
; and once in the time of Ezra
(Ezra
). (Midrash Tanhuma
Ki Sisa 9.)
Noting that speaks of “after the plague” immediately before reporting that God ordered the census, a midrash concluded that whenever the Israelites were struck, they needed to be counted, as a shepherd will count the sheep after a wolf attacks. Alternatively, the midrash taught that God ordered Moses to count the Israelites as Moses neared death, much as a shepherd entrusted with a set number of sheep must count those that remain when the shepherd returns the sheep to their owner. (Midrash Tanhuma Pinchas 4.)
Rava
found support in for the proposition that sometimes texts refer to “sons” when they mean a single son. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 143b.)
A Tanna
in the name of Rabbi
deduced from the words “the sons of Korah did not die” in that Providence set up a special place for them to stand on high in Gehinnom
. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 14a, Sanhedrin 110a.) There, Korah’s sons sat and sang praises to God. Rabbah bar bar Hana told that once when he was travelling, an Arab showed him where the earth swallowed Korah’s congregation. Rabbah bar bar Hana saw two cracks in the ground from which smoke issued. He took a piece of wool, soaked it in water, attached it to the point of his spear, and passed it over the cracks, and the wool was singed. The Arab told Rabbah bar bar Hana to listen, and he heard them saying, “Moses and his Torah are true, but Korah's company are liars.” The Arab told Rabbah bar bar Hana that every 30 days Gehinnom caused them to return for judgment, as if they were being stirred like meat in a pot, and every 30 days they said those same words. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 110a–b.)
A Baraita
taught that the Serah
the daughter of Asher
mentioned in both and survived from the time Israel went down to Egypt to the time of the wandering in the Wilderness. The Gemara taught that Moses went to her to ask where the Egyptians had buried Joseph. She told him that the Egyptians had made a metal coffin for Joseph. The Egyptians set the coffin in the Nile
so that its waters would be blessed. Moses went to the bank of the Nile and called to Joseph that the time had arrived for God to deliver the Israelites, and the oath that Joseph had imposed upon the children of Israel in had reached its time of fulfillment. Moses called on Joseph to show himself, and Joseph’s coffin immediately rose to the surface of the water. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 13a.)
Interpreting and the Gemara noted a dispute over whether the land of Israel was apportioned according to those who came out of Egypt or according to those who went into the land of Israel. It was taught in a Baraita that Rabbi Josiah
said that the land of Israel was apportioned according to those who came out of Egypt, as says, “according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.” The Gemara asked what then to make of which says, “Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance.” The Gemara proposed that “unto these” meant adults, to the exclusion of minors. But Rabbi Jonathan
taught that the land was apportioned according to those who entered the land, for says, “Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance.” The Gemara posited that according to this view, taught that the manner of inheritance of the land of Israel differed from all other modes of inheritance in the world. For in all other modes of inheritance in the world, the living inherit from the dead, but in this case, the dead inherited from the living. Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar
taught a third view — that the land was divided both according to those who left Egypt and also according to those who entered the land of Israel, so as to carry out both verses. The Gemara explained that according to this view, one among those who came out of Egypt received a share among those who came out of Egypt, and one who entered the land of Israel received a share among those who entered the land. And one who belonged to both categories received a share among both categories. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 117a–b.)
Abba Halifa of Keruya asked Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba why reported that 70 people from Jacob’s household came to Egypt, while enumerated only 69 individuals. Rabbi Hiyya reported that Rabbi Hama bar Hanina taught that the seventieth person was the mother of Moses, Jochebed
, who was conceived on the way from Canaan to Egypt and born as Jacob’s family passed between the city walls as they entered Egypt, for reported that Jochebed “was born to Levi
in Egypt,” implying that her conception was not in Egypt. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 123b–24a.)
The Gemara taught that the use of the pronoun “he (hu)” in an introduction, as in the words “These are (hu) that Dathan
and Abiram
” in signifies that they were the same in their wickedness from the beginning to the end. Similar uses appear in to teach Esau
’s enduring wickedness, in 2 Chronicles
to teach Ahaz
’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Ahasuerus
’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Abraham
’s enduring righteousness, in to teach Moses and Aaron’s enduring righteousness, and in to teach David’s enduring humility. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 11a.)
The Gemara asked why the Tannaim
felt that the allocation of the Land of Israel “according to the names of the tribes of their fathers” in meant that the allocation was with reference to those who left Egypt; perhaps, the Gemara supposed, it might have meant the 12 tribes and that the Land was to be divided into 12 equal portions? The Gemara noted that in God told Moses to tell the Israelites who were about to leave Egypt, “And I will give it you for a heritage; I am the Lord,” and that meant that the Land was the inheritance from the fathers of those who left Egypt. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 117b.)
in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud and chapter 7 of tractate Bava Batra in the Tosefta
interpreted the laws of inheritance in and (Mishnah Bava Batra 8:1–8; Tosefta Bava Batra 7:1–18; Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 108a–39b.)
Rabbi Joshua
taught that Zelophehad’s daughters’ in petitioned first the assembly, then the chieftains, then Eleazar, and finally Moses, but Abba Hanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer
taught that Zelophehad’s daughters stood before all of them as they were sitting together. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.)
Noting that the words “in the wilderness” appeared both is (where Zelophehad’s daughters noted that their father Zelophehad had not taken part in Korah
’s rebellion) and in (which tells the story of the Sabbath violator), Rabbi Akiva teaches in a Baraita that Zelophehad was the man executed for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 96b.)Another view in the Talmud is that Rabbi Akiava was wrong to reveal the stick gatherer's name as it is not mentioned in the Torah. Others say Zelophead died attempting to enter Israel as one of the Maapilim after the sin of the spies.
Rabbi Hanina
(or some say Rabbi Josiah
) taught that when Moses found himself unable to decide the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, reports the punishment of Moses for his arrogance when he told the judges in “the cause that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.” Rav Nahman
objected to Rabbi Hanina’s interpretation, noting that Moses did not say that he would always have the answers, but merely that he would rule if he knew the answer or seek instruction if he did not. Rav Nahman cited a Baraita to explain the case of the daughters of Zelophehad: God had intended that Moses write the laws of inheritance, but found the daughters of Zelophehad worthy to have the section recorded on their account. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 8a.)
A Baraita taught that Zelophehad’s daughters were wise
, Torah student
s, and righteous
. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.) And a Baraita taught that Zelophehad’s daughters were equal in merit, and that is why the order of their names varies between and . (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 120a.) According to the Gemara, they demonstrated their wisdom by raising their case in a timely fashion, just as Moses was expounding the law
of levirate marriage
, or yibbum
, and they argued for their inheritance by analogy to that law. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.)
The Gemara implied that the sin of Moses in striking the rock at Meribah
compared favorably to the sin of David. The Gemara reported that Moses and David were two good leaders of Israel. Moses begged God that his sin be recorded, as it is in and and David, however, begged that his sin be blotted out, as Psalm
says, “Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.” The Gemara compared the cases of Moses and David to the cases of two women whom the court sentenced to be lashed. One had committed an indecent act, while the other had eaten unripe figs of the seventh year in violation of Leviticus The woman who had eaten unripe figs begged the court to make known for what offense she was being flogged, lest people say that she was being punished for the same sin as the other woman. The court thus made known her sin, and the Torah repeatedly records the sin of Moses. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 86b.)
Noting that Moses asked God to designate someone to succeed him in soon after the incident of Zelophehad’s daughters, a midrash deduced that when the daughters of Zelophehad inherited from their father, Moses argued that it would surely be right for his sons to inherit his glory. God, however, replied (in the words of Proverbs
) that “Whoever keeps the fig-tree shall eat its fruit; and whoever waits on the master shall be honored.” The sons of Moses sat idly by and did not study Torah, but Joshua served Moses and showed him great honor, rose early in the morning and remained late at night at the House of Assembly, and arranged the benches and spread the mats. As he had served Moses with all his might, he was worthy to serve Israel, and thus God in directed Moses to “take Joshua the son of Nun” as his successor. (Numbers Rabbah 21:14.)
The Gemara noted that in listing the several festivals in and the Torah always begins with Passover. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 2b.)
Tractate Beitzah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud
, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws common to all of the Festivals
in 43–49; and (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Tosefta Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:1–4:11; Jerusalem Talmud Beitzah 1a–49b; Babylonian Talmud Beitzah 2a–40b.)
Tractate Pesachim
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in 43–49; and (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Tosefta Pisha 1:1–10:13; Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a–121b.)
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Rosh Hashanah in and (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1–4:9; Tosefta Rosh Hashanah 1:1–2:18; Jerusalem Talmud Rosh Hashanah 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashanah 2a–35a.)
Tractate Yoma
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Yom Kippur in and and (Mishnah Yoma 1:1–8:9; Tosefta Kippurim (Yoma) 1:1–4:17; Jerusalem Talmud Yoma 1a–57a; Babylonian Talmud Yoma 2a–88a.)
Tractate Sukkah
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Sukkot in and (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1–5:8; Tosefta Sukkah 1:1–4:28; Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 1a–33b; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 2a–56b.)
The Mishnah taught that a sukkah can be no more than 20 cubit
s high. Rabbi Judah
, however, declared taller sukkot valid. The Mishnah taught that a sukkah must be at least 10 handbreadths high, have three walls, and have more shade than sun. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 2a.) The House of Shammai
declared invalid a sukkah made 30 days or more before the festival, but the House of Hillel
pronounced it valid. The Mishnah taught that if one made the sukkah for the purpose of the festival, even at the beginning of the year, it is valid. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 9a.)
The Mishnah taught that a sukkah under a tree is as invalid as a sukkah within a house. If one sukkah is erected above another, the upper one is valid, but the lower is invalid. Rabbi Judah said that if there are no occupants in the upper one, then the lower one is valid. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:2; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 9b.)
It invalidates a sukkah to spread a sheet over the sukkah because of the sun, or beneath it because of falling leaves, or over the frame of a four-post bed. One may spread a sheet, however, over the frame of a two-post bed. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:3; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 10a.)
It is not valid to train a vine, gourd, or ivy to cover a sukkah and then cover it with sukkah covering (s’chach). If, however, the sukkah-covering exceeds the vine, gourd, or ivy in quantity, or if the vine, gourd, or ivy is detached, it is valid. The general rule is that one may not use for sukkah-covering anything that is susceptible to ritual impurity (tumah) or that does not grow from the soil. But one may use for sukkah-covering anything not susceptible to ritual impurity that grows from the soil. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:4; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 11a.)
Bundles of straw, wood, or brushwood may not serve as sukkah-covering. But any of them, if they are untied, are valid. All materials are valid for the walls. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:5; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 12a.)
Rabbi Judah taught that one may use planks for the sukkah-covering, but Rabbi Meir
taught that one may not. The Mishnah taught that it is valid to place a plank four handbreadths wide over the sukkah, provided that one does not sleep under it. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:6; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 14a.)
Noting that required the priests to offer 70 bulls over the seven days of Sukkot, Rabbi Eleazar taught that the 70 bulls correspond to the 70 nations of the world. And Rabbi Eleazar taught that the single bull that required the priests to offer on Shemini Atzeret corresponds to the unique nation of Israel. Rabbi Eleazar compared this to a mortal king who told his servants to prepare a great banquet, but on the last day told his beloved friend to prepare a simple meal so that the king might enjoy his friend’s company. (Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 55b.) Similarly, a midrash taught that on Sukkot, the Israelites offered God 70 bulls as an atonement for the 70 nations. The Israelites then complained to God that they had offered 70 bulls on behalf of the nations of the world, and they ought thus to love Israel, but they still hated the Jews. As says, “In return for my love they are my adversaries.” So in God told Israel to offer a single bull as sacrifice on its own behalf. And the midrash compared this to the case of a king who made a banquet for seven days and invited all the people in the province. And when the seven days of the feast were over, he said to his friend that he had done his duty to all the people of the province, now the two of them would eat whatever the friend could find — a pound of meat, fish, or vegetables. (Numbers Rabbah 21:24.)
Noting that the number of sacrifices in decreases each day of Sukkot, a midrash taught that the Torah thus teaches etiquette from the sacrifices. If a person stays as a friend’s house, on the first day the host entertains generously and serves poultry, on the second day meat, on the third day fish, on the fourth day vegetables, and so the host continually reduces the fare until the host serves the guest beans. (Numbers Rabbah 21:25.)
Maimonides
cited verses in the parshah for 12 positive and 6 negative commandments
:
(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
, Positive Commandments 39, 41, 42, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51, 160, 164, 170, 248; Negative Commandments 157, 325,326, 327,328, 329. Cairo
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 1:50–53, 55–60, 170–71, 173–74, 179–80, 256–57; 2:148–49, 298–301. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4.)
, there are six positive commandments in the parshah.
(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 4:171–203. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-457-7.)
, the haftarah for the parshah is When the parshah falls after the Seventeenth of Tammuz, Jews read for the haftarah the first of three readings of admonition leading up to Tisha B'Av
, Jeremiah
, his theophany
, and his anointing of Elisha
. God’s hand was on Elijah, and he ran from King Ahab
to Jezreel
. Ahab told Queen Jezebel
how Elijah had killed all the prophets of Baal
, and Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah that she intended to have him killed by the next day in recompense. So Elijah ran for his life to Beersheba
in the Kingdom of Judah
, left his servant there, and went a day's journey into the wilderness. Elijah sat down under a broom tree
, asked God to take his life, and lay down and slept. An angel touched Elijah and told him to arise and eat, and Elijah found at his head a cake and a jar of water, and so he ate, drank, and went back to sleep. The angel again touched him again and told him to arise and eat, and he did and on the strength of that meal journeyed 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb
, the mount of God.
When he came to a cave and lodged there, God asked him what he was doing there. Elijah said that he had been moved by zeal for God, as the Israelites had forsaken God’s covenant, thrown down God’s altars, and killed God’s prophets, leaving only Elijah, and they sought to kill him, too. God told Elijah to stand on the mount, and God passed by. A great wind rent the mountains, and broke the rocks in pieces, but God was not in the wind. Then an earthquake came, but God was not in the earthquake. Then a fire came, but God was not in the fire. And then came a still small voice, which asked him what he was doing there. Elijah repeated that he had been moved by zeal for God, as the Israelites had forsaken God’s covenant, thrown down God’s altars, and killed God’s prophets, leaving only Elijah, and they sought to kill him, too. God told him to go to Damascus
and anoint Hazael
to be king over Aram
, to anoint Jehu
to be king over Israel, and to anoint Elisha to succeed Elijah as prophet. God foretold that any who escaped the sword of Hazael would be killed by Jehu; any who escaped the sword of Jehu would be killed by Elisha; and God would leave alive in Israel only the 7 thousand who had not bowed to Baal. So Elijah found Elisha, who was plowing with one of his 12 yoke of oxen, and Elijah cast his mantle on Elisha. Elisha left the oxen, asked Elijah for permission to kiss his parents goodbye, killed the oxen and distributed their meat to the people, and went to follow Elijah.
, while immediately before the haftarah (in ), Elijah killed the prophets of Baal to stem the Israelites’ following of Baal. Targum Jonathan
to Exodus 6:18 thus identified Phinehas with Elijah.
the son of Hilkiah
, a priest in Anathoth
in the land of Benjamin
, to whom God’s word came in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah
the son of Amon
as king of Judah
, in the reign of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim
, and through the eleventh year of the reign of Josiah’s son Zedekiah
, when Jerusalem was carried away captive.
God’s word came to Jeremiah to say that before God formed him in the womb, God knew him, sanctified him, and appointed him a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah protested that he could not speak, for he was a child, but God told him not to fear, for he would go wherever God would send him, say whatever God would command him to say, and God would be with him to deliver him. Then God touched Jeremiah’s mouth and said that God had put words in his mouth and set him over the nations to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. God asked Jeremiah what he saw, he replied that he saw the rod of an almond tree, and God said that he had seen well, for God watches over God’s word to perform it.
God’s word came to Jeremiah a second time to ask what he saw, he replied that he saw a seething pot tipping from the north, and God said that out of the north evil would break forth upon all Israel. For God would call all the kingdoms of the north to come, and they would set their thrones at Jerusalem’s gate, against its walls, and against the cities of Judah. God would utter God’s judgments against Judah, as its people had forsaken God and worshipped the work of their own hands. God thus directed Jeremiah to gird his loins, arise, and speak to the Judean people all that God commanded, for God had made Jeremiah a fortified city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the land of Judah, its rulers, its priests, and its people. They would fight against him, but they would not prevail, for God would be with him to deliver him.
God’s word came to Jeremiah to tell him to go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem that God remembered the affection of her youth, her love as a bride, how she followed God in the wilderness. Israel was God’s hallowed portion and God’s first-fruits, and all that devoured Israel would be held guilty and evil would come upon them.
(Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 15a), and as Jews read Lamentations on Tisha B’Av, this probably accounts for why a selection from Jeremiah begins the series of haftarot of admonition. (Michael Fishbane
. The JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot, 262. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002. ISBN 0-8276-0691-5.)
(“additional”) prayer commemorates the special communal offerings that instruct the priests to make on days of enhanced holiness. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 402. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications
, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
After the morning blessings, some Jews recite the description of the continual (תָמִיד, Tamid) offering in among other descriptions of offerings. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 219–21.)
The laws of the daily offering in provide an application of the second of the Thirteen Rules for interpreting the Torah in the Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael
that many Jews read as part of the readings before the Pesukei d’Zimrah prayer service
. The second rule provides that similar words in different contexts invite the reader to find a connection between the two topics. The words “in its proper time” (בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ, bemoado) in indicate that the priests needed to bring the daily offering “in its proper time,” even on a Sabbath. Applying the second rule, the same words in mean that the priests needed to bring the Passover offering “in its proper time,” even on a Sabbath. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 243.)
Jews read the description of the additional (Mussaf) Sabbath offering in among the descriptions of offerings after the Sabbath morning blessings and again as part of the Mussaf Amidah
prayer for the Sabbath. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 233, 410.)
On Rosh Chodesh
(the first of the month), Jews read the description of the Rosh Chodesh offering in among the descriptions of offerings after the morning blessings and again on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh as part of the Mussaf Amidah prayer for the Sabbath. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 234, 411.)
The Passover Haggadah
, in the concluding nirtzah section of the Seder
, perhaps in a reference to the listing of festivals in calls Passover “the first of all festivals.” (Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 125. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
, Sephardi Jews
each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For parshah Pinchas, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Saba, the maqam that symbolizes a covenant (berit). It is appropriate, because in the very opening of this parshah, God told Phinehas that due to his heroic acts, he was granted an eternal covenant of peace with God.
.jpg)
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 “Phinehas
Phinehas
-Biblical figures:*Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the High Priest*Phinehas, son of the High Priest Eli. He was a priest at Shiloh, and died when the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant-Other :*Pinchas, the 41st weekly Torah portion....
,” a name, the sixth word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 41st 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 eighth in the book of Numbers
Book 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....
. It constitutes Jews generally read it in late June or July.
As the parshah sets out laws for the Jewish holiday
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
s, Jews also read parts of the parshah as Torah readings for many Jewish holidays. is the Torah reading for Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh or Rosh ḥodesh is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the appearance of the new moon. The new moon is marked by the day and hour that the new crescent is observed...
on a weekday (including when the sixth or seventh day of Hanukkah
Hanukkah
Hanukkah , also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE...
falls on Rosh Chodesh). is the maftir
Maftir
Maftir properly refers to the last person called to the Torah on Shabbat and holiday mornings: this person also reads the haftarah portion from a related section of the Nevi'im ....
Torah reading for Shabbat Rosh Chodesh. is the maftir Torah reading for the first two days of 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...
. is the maftir Torah reading for the intermediate days (chol hamoed
Chol HaMoed
Chol HaMoed, a Hebrew phrase meaning "weekdays [of] the festival" , refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. During Chol HaMoed the usual restrictions that apply to the Biblical Jewish holidays are relaxed, but not entirely eliminated...
) and seventh and eighth days of Passover. is the maftir Torah reading for each day of Shavuot
Shavuot
The festival of is a Jewish holiday that occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan ....
. is the maftir Torah reading for each day of 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...
. is the maftir Torah reading for the Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
morning (Shacharit
Jewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
) service. is the maftir Torah reading for the first two days of 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...
. is the Torah reading for the first intermediate day of Sukkot. is the Torah reading for the second intermediate day of Sukkot. is the Torah reading for the third intermediate day of Sukkot. is the Torah reading for the fourth intermediate day of Sukkot, as well as for Hoshana Rabbah. And is the maftir Torah reading for both Shemini Atzeret
Shemini Atzeret
Shemini Atzeret is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei. In the Diaspora, an additional day is celebrated, the second day being separately referred to as Simchat Torah...
and Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simḥath Torah is a celebration marking the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle...
.
After the sin of Baal-Peor
GodNames 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...
announced that because Phinehas had displayed his passion for God, God granted Phinehas God’s pact of friendship and priesthood
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....
for all time. God then told Moses
Moses
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...
to attack the Midian
Midian
Midian , Madyan , or Madiam is a geographical place and a people mentioned in the Bible and in the Qur'an. It is believed to be in northwest Saudi Arabia on the east shore of the Gulf of Aqaba and the northern Red Sea...
ites to repay them for their trickery luring 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...
men to worship Baal-Peor.
Another census
| Tribe | !! !! Change !! % Change | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manasseh | 32,200 | 52,700 | +20,500 | +63.7 |
| Benjamin | 35,400 | 45,600 | +10,200 | +28.8 |
| Asher | 41,500 | 53,400 | +11,900 | +28.7 |
| Issachar | 54,400 | 64,300 | +9,900 | +18.2 |
| Zebulun | 57,400 | 60,500 | +3,100 | +5.4 |
| Dan | 62,700 | 64,400 | +1,700 | +2.7 |
| Judah | 74,600 | 76,500 | +1,900 | +2.5 |
| Reuben | 46,500 | 43,730 | -2,770 | -6.0 |
| Gad | 45,650 | 40,500 | -5,150 | -11.3 |
| Naphtali | 53,400 | 45,400 | -8,000 | -15.0 |
| Ephraim | 40,500 | 32,500 | -8,000 | -19.8 |
| Simeon | 59,300 | 22,200 | -37,100 | -62.6 |
| Totals | 603,550 | 601,730 | -1,820 | -0.3 |
God instructed Moses and Eleazar
Eleazar
Eleazar , was a priest in the Hebrew Bible, the second Kohen Gadol - succeeding his father Aaron. He was a nephew of Moses.-Life:...
to take a census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of Israelite men 20 years old and up, and Moses and Eleazar ordered it done. The census showed the following population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
s by tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
:
- ReubenTribe of ReubenAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Reuben was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Reuben was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government...
: 43,730 - SimeonTribe of SimeonAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Simeon was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BC, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...
: 22,200 - GadTribe of GadAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Gad was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BC, the Tribe of Gad was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes. No central government existed,...
: 40,500 - JudahTribe of JudahAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Judah was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes....
: 76,500 - IssacharTribe of IssacharAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Issachar was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...
: 64,300 - ZebulunTribe of ZebulunAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Zebulun was one of the Tribes of Israel....
: 60,500 - ManassehTribe of ManassehAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Manasseh was one of the Tribes of Israel. Together with the Tribe of Ephraim, Manasseh also formed the House of Joseph....
: 52,700 - EphraimTribe of EphraimAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Ephraim was one of the Tribes of Israel. The Tribe of Manasseh together with Ephraim also formed the House of Joseph....
: 32,500 - BenjaminTribe of BenjaminAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin בִּנְיָמִין was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BCE, the Tribe of Benjamin was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes...
: 45,600 - DanTribe of DanThe Tribe of Dan, also sometimes spelled as "Dann", was one of the Tribes of Israel. Though known mostly from biblical sources, they were possibly descendants of the Denyen Sea Peoples who joined with Hebrews...
: 64,400 - AsherTribe of AsherAccording to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Asher! was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...
: 53,400 - NaphtaliTribe of NaphtaliThe Tribe of Naphtali was one of the Tribes of Israel.Following the completion of the conquest of Canaan by the Israelite tribes after about 1200 BCE, Joshua allocated the land among the twelve tribes...
: 45,400
totaling 601,730 in all.
The text notes parenthetically that when Korah
Korah
Korah or Kórach Some older English translations, as well as the Douay Bible), spell the name Core, and many Eastern European translations have Korak...
’s band agitated against God, the earth swallowed them up with Korah, but Korah’s sons did not die. God told Moses to apportion shares of the land according to population among those counted, and by lot. The 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"...
men aged a month old and up amounted to 23,000, and they were not included in the regular enrollment of Israelites, as they were not to have land assigned to them.
Among the persons whom Moses and Eleazar enrolled was not one of those enrolled in the first census at the wilderness of Sinai
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...
, except Caleb
Caleb
Caleb is a male given name. A character called Caleb is named in both the Bible and Quran.-Caleb:When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised to them by God, after having fled slavery in Egypt, Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan to report on what was...
and 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 daughters of Zelophehad
The daughters of Zelophehad approached Moses, Eleazar, the chieftains, and the assembly at the entrance of the TabernacleTabernacle
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...
, saying that their father left no sons, and asking that they be given a land holding. Moses brought their case before God, who told him that their plea was just and instructed him to transfer their father’s share of land to them. God further instructed that if a man died without leaving a son, the Israelites were to transfer his property to his daughter, or failing a daughter to his brothers, or failing a brother to his father’s brothers, or failing brothers of his father to the nearest relative.
Moses’s successor
God told Moses to climb the heights of AbarimAbarim
Abarim is a mountain range across Jordan, to the east and south-east of the Dead Sea, extending from Mount Nebo — its highest point — in the north, perhaps to the Arabian desert in the south...
and view 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...
, saying that when he had seen it, he would die, because he disobeyed God’s command to uphold God’s sanctity in the people’s sight when he brought water from the rock in the wilderness of Zin
Zin Desert
thumb|250px|The Wilderness is in the southThe Wilderness of Zin/Desert of Zin is a geographic area mentioned by the Torah as containing Kadesh-Barnea within it; and it is therefore also referred to as the "Wilderness of Kadesh"...
. Moses asked God to appoint someone over the community, so that the Israelites would not be like sheep
Domestic sheep
Sheep are quadrupedal, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Like all ruminants, sheep are members of the order Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates. Although the name "sheep" applies to many species in the genus Ovis, in everyday usage it almost always refers to Ovis aries...
without a shepherd
Shepherd
A shepherd is a person who tends, feeds or guards flocks of sheep.- Origins :Shepherding is one of the oldest occupations, beginning some 6,000 years ago in Asia Minor. Sheep were kept for their milk, meat and especially their wool...
. God told Moses to single out Joshua, lay his hand on him, and commission him before Eleazar and the whole community. Joshua was to present himself to Eleazar the priest, who was to seek the decision of the Urim and Thummim
Urim and Thummim
In ancient Israelite religion and culture, Urim and Thummim is a phrase from the Hebrew Scriptures or Torah associated with the Hoshen , divination in general, and cleromancy in particular...
on whether to go out or come in.
Offerings
God told Moses to command the Israelites to be punctilious in presenting the offeringsKorban
The term offering as found in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the worship of Ancient Israel is mainly represented by the Hebrew noun korban whether for an animal or other offering...
due God at stated times. The text then details the offerings for regular days, the Sabbath, Rosh Chodesh, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Shmini Atzeret
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...
.
Passover
refers to the FestivalJewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
of Passover. In the Hebrew Bible
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
, Passover is called:
- “Passover” (Pesach, פֶּסַח) ( 21, 27, 43, 48; NumbersBook of NumbersThe Book of Numbers is the fourth book of the Hebrew Bible, and the fourth of five books of the Jewish Torah/Pentateuch....
4–6, 10, 12–14; Deuteronomy 5–6; JoshuaBook of JoshuaThe 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....
2 KingsBooks of KingsThe 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...
EzekielBook of EzekielThe 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....
EzraBook of EzraThe 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...
2 ChroniclesBooks of ChroniclesThe 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...
5, 15, 17–18; 6–9, 11, 13, 16–19); - “The Feast of Unleavened Bread” (Chag haMatzot, חַג הַמַּצּוֹת) ( 21; ); and
- “A holy convocation” or “a solemn assembly” (mikrah kodesh, מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ) ( 25).
Some explain the double nomenclature of “Passover” and “Feast of Unleavened Bread” as referring to two separate feasts that the Israelites combined sometime between the Exodus
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...
and when the Biblical text became settled. (See, e.g., W. Gunther Plaut
Gunther Plaut
Wolf Gunther Plaut, CC, O.Ont is a Reform rabbi and author. Plaut was the rabbi of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto for several decades and since 1978 is its Senior Scholar....
. The Torah: A Modern Commentary, 456. New York: Union of American Hebrew Congregations, 1981. ISBN 0-8074-0055-6.) and indicate that the dedication of the firstborn also became associated with the festival.
Some believe that the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” was an agricultural festival at which the Israelites celebrated the beginning of the grain harvest. Moses may have had this festival in mind when in and he petitioned Pharaoh to let the Israelites go to celebrate a feast in the wilderness. (Plaut, at 464.)
“Passover,” on the other hand, was associated with a thanksgiving sacrifice of a lamb, also called “the Passover,” “the Passover lamb,” or “the Passover offering.” ( 21, 27, 43, 48; 5–6; 17–18; 6–9, 11, 13.)
and and 5, and direct “Passover” to take place on the evening of the fourteenth of Aviv (Nisan
Nisan
Nisan is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days...
in the Hebrew calendar
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar , or Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today predominantly for Jewish religious observances. It determines the dates for Jewish holidays and the appropriate public reading of Torah portions, yahrzeits , and daily Psalm reading, among many ceremonial uses...
after the Babylonian captivity
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
). and confirm that practice. and and direct the “Feast of Unleavened Bread” to take place over seven days and and direct that it begin on the fifteenth of the month. Some believe that the propinquity of the dates of the two festivals led to their confusion and merger. (Plaut, at 464.)
and 27 link the word “Passover” (Pesach, פֶּסַח) to God’s act to “pass over” (pasach, פָסַח) the Israelites’ houses in the plague
Plagues of Egypt
The Plagues of Egypt , also called the Ten Plagues or the Biblical Plagues, were ten calamities that, according to the biblical Book of Exodus, Israel's God, Yahweh, inflicted upon Egypt to persuade Pharaoh to release the ill-treated Israelites from slavery. Pharaoh capitulated after the tenth...
of the firstborn. In the Torah, the consolidated Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread thus commemorate the Israelites’ liberation from Egypt
Ancient 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...
. ( 3, 6.)
The Hebrew Bible frequently notes the Israelites’ observance of Passover at turning points in their history. reports God’s direction to the Israelites to observe Passover in the wilderness of Sinai
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...
on the anniversary of their liberation from Egypt. reports that upon entering the Promised Land
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...
, the Israelites kept the Passover on the plains of Jericho
Jericho
Jericho ; is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian territories. It is the capital of the Jericho Governorate and has a population of more than 20,000. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently...
and ate unleavened cakes and parched corn, produce of the land, the next day. reports that King Josiah
Josiah
Josiah or Yoshiyahu or Joshua was a king of Judah who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Jewish scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after...
commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover in Jerusalem as part of Josiah’s reforms, but also notes that the Israelites had not kept such a Passover from the days of the Biblical judges
Biblical judges
A biblical judge is "a ruler or a military leader, as well as someone who presided over legal hearings."...
nor in all the days of the kings of Israel or the kings of Judah
Kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah ruled the ancient Kingdom of Judah after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David became king of a reunited Kingdom of Israel. However, in about 930 BC the united kingdom split, with ten of the twelve Tribes of Israel...
, calling into question the observance of even Kings 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 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...
. The more reverent however, reports that Solomon offered sacrifices on the festivals, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And reports King Hezekiah
Hezekiah
Hezekiah was the son of Ahaz and the 14th king of Judah. Edwin Thiele has concluded that his reign was between c. 715 and 686 BC. He is also one of the most prominent kings of Judah mentioned in the Hebrew Bible....
’s observance of a second Passover anew, as sufficient numbers of neither the priests nor the people were prepared to do so before then. And reports that the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity observed Passover, ate the Passover lamb, and kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy.
Shavuot
refers to the Festival of Shavuot. In the Hebrew Bible, Shavuot is called:- The Feast of Weeks (חַג שָׁבֻעֹת, Chag Shavuot) ( see also (חַג הַשָּׁבֻעוֹת, Chag haShavuot));
- The Day of the First-fruits (יוֹם הַבִּכּוּרִים, Yom haBikurim) ;
- The Feast of Harvest (חַג הַקָּצִיר, Chag haKatzir) ; and
- A holy convocation (מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ, mikrah kodesh)
associates Shavuot with the first-fruits (בִּכּוּרֵי, bikurei) of the wheat harvest. (See also ) In turn, set out the ceremony for the bringing of the first fruits.
To arrive at the correct date, instructs counting seven weeks from the day after the day of rest of Passover, the day that they brought the sheaf of barley for waving. Similarly, directs counting seven weeks from when they first put the sickle to the standing barley.
sets out a course of offerings for the fiftieth day, including a meal-offering of two loaves made from fine flour from the first-fruits of the harvest; burnt-offerings of seven lambs, one bull, and two rams; a sin-offering of a goat; and a peace-offering of two lambs. Similarly, sets out a course of offerings including a meal-offering; burnt-offerings of two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs; and one goat to make atonement. directs a freewill-offering in relation to God’s blessing.
and ordain a holy convocation in which the Israelites were not to work.
reports that Solomon offered burnt-offerings on the Feast of Weeks.
Rosh Hashanah
refers to the Festival of Rosh Hashanah. In the Hebrew Bible, Rosh Hashanah is called:- a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns (זִכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה, Zichron Teruah) ;
- a day of blowing the horn (יוֹם תְּרוּעָה, Yom Teruah) ; and
- a holy convocation (מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ, mikrah kodesh) .
Although instructs that the spring month of Aviv (since the Babylonian captivity
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity was the period in Jewish history during which the Jews of the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon—conventionally 587–538 BCE....
called Nisan
Nisan
Nisan is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days...
) “shall be the first month of the year,” and also reflect an “end of the year” or a "turn of the year" in the autumn harvest month of Tishrei
Tishrei
Tishrei or Tishri , Tiberian: ; from Akkadian "Beginning", from "To begin") is the first month of the civil year and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year in the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian. It is an autumn month of 30 days...
.
and both describe Rosh Hashanah as an holy convocation, a day of solemn rest in which no servile work is to be done, involving the blowing of horns and an offering to God.
speaks of "in the beginning of the year" (בְּרֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, b’Rosh HaShanah) in Tishrei, although the Rabbis traditional interpreted 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...
to refer to Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
.
reports that in the Persian era, when the seventh month came, the Israelites gathered together in Jerusalem, and the priests offered burnt-offerings to God, morning and evening, as written in the Law of Moses.
reports that it was on Rosh Hashanah (the first day of the seventh month) that all the Israelites gathered together before the water gate and 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...
the scribe read the Law from early morning until midday. And Nehemiah
Nehemiah
Nehemiah ]]," Standard Hebrew Nəḥemya, Tiberian Hebrew Nəḥemyāh) is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work rebuilding Jerusalem and purifying the Jewish community. He was the son of Hachaliah, Nehemiah ]]," Standard Hebrew Nəḥemya, Tiberian Hebrew Nəḥemyāh) is the...
, Ezra, and the Levites told the people that the day was holy to the Lord their God; they should neither mourn nor weep; but they should go their way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those who had nothing.
likely refers to Rosh Hashanah when it enjoins, "Blow the horn at the new moon, at the full moon of our feast day. For it is a statute for Israel, an ordinance of the God of Jacob."
Yom Kippur
refers to the Festival of Yom Kippur. In the Hebrew Bible, Yom Kippur is called:- the Day of Atonement (יוֹם הַכִּפֻּרִים, Yom HaKippurim) ( and ) or a Day of Atonement (יוֹם כִּפֻּרִים, Yom Kippurim) ;
- a Sabbath of solemn rest (שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן, Shabbat Shabbaton) ( and ); and
- a holy convocation (מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ, mikrah kodesh) ( and ).
Much as Yom Kippur, on the 10th of the month of Tishrei
Tishrei
Tishrei or Tishri , Tiberian: ; from Akkadian "Beginning", from "To begin") is the first month of the civil year and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year in the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian. It is an autumn month of 30 days...
, precedes the Festival of Sukkot, on the 15th of the month of Tishrei, speaks of a period starting on the 10th of the month of Nisan
Nisan
Nisan is the first month of the ecclesiastical year and the seventh month of the civil year, on the Hebrew calendar. The name of the month is Babylonian; in the Torah it is called the month of the Aviv, referring to the month in which barley was ripe. It is a spring month of 30 days...
preparatory to the Festival of Passover, on the 15th of the month of Nisan.
and and present similar injunctions to observe Yom Kippur. and and set the Holy Day on the tenth day of the seventh month (Tishrei). and and instruct that “you shall afflict your souls.” makes clear that a full day is intended: “you shall afflict your souls; in the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening.” And threatens that whoever “shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut off from his people.” and and command that you “shall do no manner of work.” Similarly, and call it a “Sabbath of solemn rest.” And in God threatens that whoever “does any manner of work in that same day, that soul will I destroy from among his people.” and and describe the purpose of the day to make atonement for the people. Similarly, speaks of the purpose “to cleanse you from all your sins,” and speaks of making atonement for the most holy place, the tent of meeting, the altar; and the priests. instructs that the commandment applies both to “the home-born” and to “the stranger who sojourns among you.” and and command offerings to God. And and institute the observance as “a statute forever.”
sets out detailed procedures for the priest’s atonement ritual during the time of the Temple
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem or Holy Temple , refers to one of a series of structures which were historically located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem, the current site of the Dome of the Rock. Historically, these successive temples stood at this location and functioned as the centre of...
.
instructs that after seven Sabbatical years, on the Jubilee year
Jubilee (Biblical)
The Jubilee year is the year at the end of seven cycles of Sabbatical years , and according to Biblical regulations had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the territory of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah; there is some debate whether it was the 49th year The Jubilee...
, on the day of atonement, the Israelites were to proclaim liberty throughout the land with the blast of the horn and return every man to his possession and to his family.
In the Haftarah
Haftarah
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 Yom Kippur morning, God describes “the fast that I have chosen [on] the day for a man to afflict his soul.” make clear that “to afflict the soul” was understood as fasting. But goes on to impress that “to afflict the soul,” God also seeks acts of social justice: “to loose the fetters of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke,” “to let the oppressed go free,” “to give your bread to the hungry, and . . . bring the poor that are cast out to your house,” and “when you see the naked, that you cover him.”
Sukkot
And refers to the Festival of Sukkot. In the Hebrew Bible, Sukkot is called:- “The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths)” ( 16; ZechariahBook of ZechariahThe Book of Zechariah is the penultimate book of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, attributed to the prophet Zechariah.-Historical context:...
18, 19; ); - “The Feast of Ingathering” ;
- “The Feast” or “the festival” ( 65; );
- “The Feast of the Lord” ( JudgesBook of JudgesThe 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...
); - “The festival of the seventh month” ( NehemiahBook of NehemiahThe Book of Nehemiah is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, it concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedication of the city and its people to God's laws...
); and - “A holy convocation” or “a sacred occasion” .
Sukkot’s agricultural origin is evident from the name "The Feast of Ingathering," from the ceremonies accompanying it, and from the season and occasion of its celebration: "At the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field" ; "after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress." It was a thanksgiving for the fruit harvest. (Compare .) And in what may explain the festival’s name, 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...
reports that grape harvesters kept booths in their vineyards. (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...
) Coming as it did at the completion of the harvest, Sukkot was regarded as a general thanksgiving for the bounty of nature in the year that had passed.
Sukkot became one of the most important feasts in Judaism, as indicated by its designation as “the Feast of the Lord” or simply “the Feast.” ( 65; ) Perhaps because of its wide attendance, Sukkot became the appropriate time for important state ceremonies. Moses instructed the children of Israel to gather for a reading of the Law during Sukkot every seventh year. King Solomon dedicated the Temple in Jerusalem on Sukkot. And Sukkot was the first sacred occasion observed after the resumption of sacrifices in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.
In the time of Nehemiah
Nehemiah
Nehemiah ]]," Standard Hebrew Nəḥemya, Tiberian Hebrew Nəḥemyāh) is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work rebuilding Jerusalem and purifying the Jewish community. He was the son of Hachaliah, Nehemiah ]]," Standard Hebrew Nəḥemya, Tiberian Hebrew Nəḥemyāh) is the...
, after the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites celebrated Sukkot by making and dwelling in booths, a practice of which Nehemiah reports: “the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua.” In a practice related to that of the Four Species
Four Species
The four species are four plants mentioned in the Torah as being relevant to Sukkot. Karaite Jews build their Sukkot out of branches from the four specified plants , while Talmudic Jews take three types of branches and one type of fruit which are held together and waved in a special ceremony...
, Nehemiah also reports that the Israelites found in the Law the commandment that they “go out to the mountains and bring leafy branches of olive
Olive
The olive , Olea europaea), is a species of a small tree in the family Oleaceae, native to the coastal areas of the eastern Mediterranean Basin as well as northern Iran at the south end of the Caspian Sea.Its fruit, also called the olive, is of major agricultural importance in the...
trees, pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
trees, myrtle
Myrtle
Myrtus is a genus of one or two species of flowering plants in the family Myrtaceae, native to southern Europe and north Africa. The plant is an evergreen shrub or small tree, growing to 5 m tall. The leaf is entire, 3–5 cm long, with a fragrant essential oil. The star-like flower has five...
s, palms
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...
and [other] leafy trees to make booths.” In God told Moses to command the people: “On the first day you shall take the product of hadar trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willow
Willow
Willows, sallows, and osiers form the genus Salix, around 400 species of deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere...
s of the brook,” and “You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.” The book of Numbers, however, indicates that while in the wilderness, the Israelites dwelt in tents. Some secular scholars consider (the commandments regarding booths and the four species) to be an insertion by a late redactor. (E.g., Richard Elliott Friedman
Richard Elliott Friedman
Richard Elliott Friedman is a biblical scholar and the Ann and Jay Davis Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of Georgia. He joined the faculty of the UGA Religion Department in 2006. Prior to his appointment there, he was the Katzin Professor of Jewish Civilization: Hebrew Bible; Near...
. The Bible with Sources Revealed, 228–29. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2003.)
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....
son of Nebat, King of the northern Kingdom of Israel
Kingdom of Israel
The Kingdom of Israel was, according to the Bible, one of the successor states to the older United Monarchy . It was thought to exist roughly from the 930s BCE until about the 720s BCE, when the kingdom was conquered by the Assyrian Empire...
, whom describes as practicing “his evil way,” celebrated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, one month after Sukkot, “in imitation of the festival in Judah.” “While Jeroboam was standing on the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
to present the offering, the man of God, at the command of the Lord, cried out against the altar” in disapproval.
According to the prophet Zechariah, in the messianic era, Sukkot will become a universal festival, and all nations will make pilgrimages annually to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast there.
Numbers chapter 25
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
taught that Phinehas was able to accomplish his act of zealotry only because God performed six miracles: First, upon hearing Phinehas’s warning, Zimri
Zimri (prince)
Zimri was the Prince of the Tribe of Simeon during the time of the Israelites in the desert. At Shittim he took part in the Heresy of Peor, taking as a paramour a Midianite woman, Cozbi...
should have withdrawn from Cozbi
Cozbi
Cozbi כזבי בת צור is a biblical character in . She was the daughter of Zur, a prominent Midianite, and was romantically involved with the Israelite Zimri, son of Salu...
and ended his transgression, but he did not. Second, Zimri should have cried out for help from his fellow Simeonites, but he did not. Third, Phinheas was able to drive his spear exactly through the sexual organs of Zimri and Cozbi as they were engaged in the act. Fourth, Zimri and Cozbi did not slip off the spear, but remained fixed so that others could witness their transgression. Fifth, an 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...
came and lifted up the lintel so that Phinehas could exit holding the spear. And sixth, an angel came and sowed destruction among the people, distracting the Simeonites from killing Phinheas. (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....
Sanhedrin 82b.)
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 in Rabbi Johanan's name that had Zimri withdrawn from his mistress and Phinehas still killed him, Phinehas would have been liable to execution for murder, and had Zimri killed Phinehas in self-defense, he would not have been liable to execution for murder, as Phinehas was a pursuer seeking to take Zimri’s life. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 82a.)
But based on and 11, 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...
listed the case of a man who had sexual relations with an Aramaean woman as one of three cases for which it was permissible for zealots to punish the offender on the spot. (Mishnah Sanhedrin 9:6; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 81b.)
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...
told that after Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi, the Israelites began berating Phinehas for his presumption, as he himself was descended from a Midianite idolater, Jethro. The Israelites said: “See this son of Puti (Putiel, or Jethro) whose maternal grandfather fattened (pittem) cattle for idols, and who has now slain the prince of a tribe of Israel (Zimri)!” To counter this attack, the Gemara explained, God detailed Phinehas’s descent from the peaceful Aaron the Priest in . And then in God told Moses to be the first to extend a greeting of peace to Phinehas, so as to calm the crowd. And the Gemara explained to indicate that the atonement that Phinehas had made was worthy to atone permanently. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 82b.)
Similarly, the Gemara asked whether the words in “And Eleazar Aaron’s son took him one of the daughters of Putiel to wife” did not convey that Eleazar’s son Phinehas descended from Jethro, who fattened (piteim) calves for idol worship. The Gemara then provided an alternative explanation: could mean that Phinehas descended from Joseph, who conquered (pitpeit) his passions (resisting Potiphar
Potiphar
Potiphar or Potifar is a person in the Book of Genesis's account of Joseph. Potiphar is said to be the captain of the palace guard and is referred to without name in the Quran. Joseph, sold into slavery by his brothers, is taken to Egypt where he is sold to Potiphar as a household slave...
’s wife, as reported in Genesis ). But the Gemara asked, did not the tribes sneer at Phinehas and (as reported in Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 82b and Sotah 43a) question how a youth (Phinehas) whose mother’s father crammed calves for idol-worship could kill the head of a tribe in Israel (Zimri, Prince of Simeon, as reported in ). The Gemara explained that the real explanation was that Phinehas descended from both Joseph and Jethro. If Phinehas’s mother’s father descended from Joseph, then Phinehas’s mother’s mother descended from Jethro. And if Phinehas’s mother’s father descended from Jethro, then Phinehas’s mother’s mother descended from Joseph. The Gemara explained that implies this dual explanation of “Putiel” when it says, “of the daughters of Putiel,” because the plural “daughters” implies two lines of ancestry (from both Joseph and Jethro). (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 109b–10a; see also 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...
7:5.)
A midrash
Midrash
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....
interpreted in which God gives Phinehas God’s “covenant of peace,” to teach that Phinehas, like Elijah, continues to live to this day, applying to Phinehas the words of “My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, and of fear, and he feared Me, and was afraid of My name.” (Numbers Rabbah
Numbers Rabbah
Numbers Rabbah is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the book of Numbers ....
21:3.)
Reading the words of that Phinehas “made atonement for the children of Israel,” a midrash taught that although he did not strictly offer a sacrifice to justify the expression “atonement,” his shedding the blood of the wicked was as though he had offered a sacrifice. (Numbers Rabbah 21:3.)
Numbers chapter 26
A midrash taught that the Israelites were counted on ten occasions: (1) when they went down to Egypt (Deuteronomy ); (2) when they went up out of Egypt (Exodus ); (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 SaulSaul
-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...
(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...
); (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
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...
Ki Sisa 9.)
Noting that speaks of “after the plague” immediately before reporting that God ordered the census, a midrash concluded that whenever the Israelites were struck, they needed to be counted, as a shepherd will count the sheep after a wolf attacks. Alternatively, the midrash taught that God ordered Moses to count the Israelites as Moses neared death, much as a shepherd entrusted with a set number of sheep must count those that remain when the shepherd returns the sheep to their owner. (Midrash Tanhuma Pinchas 4.)
Rava
Rava may refer to:* Bishnuprasad Rabha* Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama , a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, always known by the honourific name Raba/Rava* Rava , an island in the Croatian part of the Adriatic sea...
found support in for the proposition that sometimes texts refer to “sons” when they mean a single son. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 143b.)
A Tanna
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
in the name of Rabbi
Judah haNasi
Judah the Prince, or Judah I, also known as Rebbi or Rabbeinu HaKadosh , was a 2nd-century CE rabbi and chief redactor and editor of the Mishnah. He was a key leader of the Jewish community during the Roman occupation of Judea . He was of the Davidic line, the royal line of King David, hence the...
deduced from the words “the sons of Korah did not die” in that Providence set up a special place for them to stand on high in Gehinnom
Gehenna
Gehenna , Gehinnom and Yiddish Gehinnam, are terms derived from a place outside ancient Jerusalem known in the Hebrew Bible as the Valley of the Son of Hinnom ; one of the two principal valleys surrounding the Old City.In the Hebrew Bible, the site was initially where apostate Israelites and...
. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 14a, Sanhedrin 110a.) There, Korah’s sons sat and sang praises to God. Rabbah bar bar Hana told that once when he was travelling, an Arab showed him where the earth swallowed Korah’s congregation. Rabbah bar bar Hana saw two cracks in the ground from which smoke issued. He took a piece of wool, soaked it in water, attached it to the point of his spear, and passed it over the cracks, and the wool was singed. The Arab told Rabbah bar bar Hana to listen, and he heard them saying, “Moses and his Torah are true, but Korah's company are liars.” The Arab told Rabbah bar bar Hana that every 30 days Gehinnom caused them to return for judgment, as if they were being stirred like meat in a pot, and every 30 days they said those same words. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 110a–b.)
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 Serah
Serah
Serah bat Asher was, in the Tanakh, a daughter of Asher, the son of Jacob. She is counted among the seventy members of the patriarch's family who emigrated from Canaan to Egypt, and her name occurs in connection with the census taken by Moses in the wilderness. She is mentioned also among the...
the daughter of Asher
Asher
Asher , in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher.-Name:The text of the Torah argues that the name of Asher means happy/blessing, implying a derivation from the Hebrew term osher ; the Torah actually presents this in two variations—beoshri...
mentioned in both and survived from the time Israel went down to Egypt to the time of the wandering in the Wilderness. The Gemara taught that Moses went to her to ask where the Egyptians had buried Joseph. She told him that the Egyptians had made a metal coffin for Joseph. The Egyptians set the coffin in the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
so that its waters would be blessed. Moses went to the bank of the Nile and called to Joseph that the time had arrived for God to deliver the Israelites, and the oath that Joseph had imposed upon the children of Israel in had reached its time of fulfillment. Moses called on Joseph to show himself, and Joseph’s coffin immediately rose to the surface of the water. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 13a.)
Interpreting and the Gemara noted a dispute over whether the land of Israel was apportioned according to those who came out of Egypt or according to those who went into the land of Israel. It was taught in a Baraita that Rabbi Josiah
Rabbi Josiah
Rabbi Josiah was a Tanna of the 2nd century, the most distinguished pupil of R. Ishmael. He is not mentioned in the Mishnah, perhaps because he lived in the south , and his teachings were consequently unknown to the compiler of the Mishnah, Judah ha-Nasi, who lived at Tiberias and Beth-she'arim in...
said that the land of Israel was apportioned according to those who came out of Egypt, as says, “according to the names of the tribes of their fathers they shall inherit.” The Gemara asked what then to make of which says, “Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance.” The Gemara proposed that “unto these” meant adults, to the exclusion of minors. But Rabbi Jonathan
Rabbi Jonathan
Rabbi Jonathan was a Palestinian tanna of the 2nd century and schoolfellow of R. Josiah, apart from whom he is rarely quoted. Jonathan is generally so cited without further designation; but there is ample reason for identifying him with the less frequently occurring Jonathan b. Joseph Rabbi...
taught that the land was apportioned according to those who entered the land, for says, “Unto these the land shall be divided for an inheritance.” The Gemara posited that according to this view, taught that the manner of inheritance of the land of Israel differed from all other modes of inheritance in the world. For in all other modes of inheritance in the world, the living inherit from the dead, but in this case, the dead inherited from the living. Rabbi Simeon ben Eleazar
Simeon ben Eleazar
Simeon ben Eleazar was a Jewish Tanna sage of the fourth generation, and one of Rabbi Meir's disciples. He is cited in the Mishnah merely few times, but on the Tosefta and Baraitas' portions that are quoted in the Talmud his name is mentioned many times...
taught a third view — that the land was divided both according to those who left Egypt and also according to those who entered the land of Israel, so as to carry out both verses. The Gemara explained that according to this view, one among those who came out of Egypt received a share among those who came out of Egypt, and one who entered the land of Israel received a share among those who entered the land. And one who belonged to both categories received a share among both categories. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 117a–b.)
Abba Halifa of Keruya asked Rabbi Hiyya bar Abba why reported that 70 people from Jacob’s household came to Egypt, while enumerated only 69 individuals. Rabbi Hiyya reported that Rabbi Hama bar Hanina taught that the seventieth person was the mother of Moses, Jochebed
Jochebed
According to the Torah, Jochebed was a daughter of Levi and mother of Aaron, Miriam and Moses. She was the wife of Amram, as well as his aunt. No details are given concerning her life. According to Jewish legend, Jochebed is buried in the Tomb of the Matriarchs, in Tiberias.-Birth of Moses:The...
, who was conceived on the way from Canaan to Egypt and born as Jacob’s family passed between the city walls as they entered Egypt, for reported that Jochebed “was born to Levi
Levi
Levi/Levy was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi ; however Peake's commentary suggests this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...
in Egypt,” implying that her conception was not in Egypt. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 123b–24a.)
The Gemara taught that the use of the pronoun “he (hu)” in an introduction, as in the words “These are (hu) that 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...
” in signifies that they were the same in their wickedness from the beginning to the end. Similar uses appear in to teach Esau
Esau
Esau , in the Hebrew Bible, is the oldest son of Isaac. He is mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and by the minor prophets, Obadiah and Malachi. The New Testament later references him in the Book of Romans and the Book of Hebrews....
’s enduring wickedness, in 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...
to teach Ahaz
Ahaz
Ahaz was king of Judah, and the son and successor of Jotham. He is one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew....
’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus
Ahasuerus is a name used several times in the Hebrew Bible, as well as related legends and Apocrypha. This name is applied in the Hebrew Scriptures to three rulers...
’s enduring wickedness, in to teach Abraham
Abraham
Abraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
’s enduring righteousness, in to teach Moses and Aaron’s enduring righteousness, and in to teach David’s enduring humility. (Babylonian Talmud Megillah 11a.)
The Gemara asked why the Tannaim
Tannaim
The Tannaim were the Rabbinic sages whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE. The period of the Tannaim, also referred to as the Mishnaic period, lasted about 130 years...
felt that the allocation of the Land of Israel “according to the names of the tribes of their fathers” in meant that the allocation was with reference to those who left Egypt; perhaps, the Gemara supposed, it might have meant the 12 tribes and that the Land was to be divided into 12 equal portions? The Gemara noted that in God told Moses to tell the Israelites who were about to leave Egypt, “And I will give it you for a heritage; I am the Lord,” and that meant that the Land was the inheritance from the fathers of those who left Egypt. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 117b.)
Numbers chapter 27
Chapter 8 of tractate Bava BatraBava Batra
Bava Batra is the third of the three tractates in the Talmud in the order Nezikin; it deals with a person's responsibilities and rights as the owner of property. It is part of Judaism's oral law...
in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud and chapter 7 of tractate Bava Batra 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 inheritance in and (Mishnah Bava Batra 8:1–8; Tosefta Bava Batra 7:1–18; Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 108a–39b.)
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,...
taught that Zelophehad’s daughters’ in petitioned first the assembly, then the chieftains, then Eleazar, and finally Moses, but Abba Hanan said in the name of Rabbi Eliezer
Eleazar ben Azariah
Eleazar ben Azariah , was a 1st-century CE Palestinian tanna . He was of the second generation and a junior contemporary of Gamaliel II, Eliezer b. Hyrcanus, and Joshua b. Hananiah, and senior of Akiba...
taught that Zelophehad’s daughters stood before all of them as they were sitting together. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.)
Noting that the words “in the wilderness” appeared both is (where Zelophehad’s daughters noted that their father Zelophehad had not taken part in Korah
Korah
Korah or Kórach Some older English translations, as well as the Douay Bible), spell the name Core, and many Eastern European translations have Korak...
’s rebellion) and in (which tells the story of the Sabbath violator), Rabbi Akiva teaches in a Baraita that Zelophehad was the man executed for gathering sticks on the Sabbath. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 96b.)Another view in the Talmud is that Rabbi Akiava was wrong to reveal the stick gatherer's name as it is not mentioned in the Torah. Others say Zelophead died attempting to enter Israel as one of the Maapilim after the sin of the spies.
Rabbi Hanina
Chaninah
Chaninah, also called Haninah, Chananiah, etc. was a Tanna of the 2nd century, contemporary of Judah ben Bathyra, Matteya ben Ḥeresh, and Jonathan . Who his father was is not stated; nor is anything known of his early years. He was named after his grandfather, Hananiah, and educated by his uncle,...
(or some say Rabbi Josiah
Rabbi Josiah
Rabbi Josiah was a Tanna of the 2nd century, the most distinguished pupil of R. Ishmael. He is not mentioned in the Mishnah, perhaps because he lived in the south , and his teachings were consequently unknown to the compiler of the Mishnah, Judah ha-Nasi, who lived at Tiberias and Beth-she'arim in...
) taught that when Moses found himself unable to decide the case of the daughters of Zelophehad, reports the punishment of Moses for his arrogance when he told the judges in “the cause that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.” Rav Nahman
Rav Nachman
Rav Nachman bar Yaakov was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the third generation, and pupil of Samuel of Nehardea. He was chief justice of the Jews who were subject to the exilarch , and was also head of the school of Nehardea...
objected to Rabbi Hanina’s interpretation, noting that Moses did not say that he would always have the answers, but merely that he would rule if he knew the answer or seek instruction if he did not. Rav Nahman cited a Baraita to explain the case of the daughters of Zelophehad: God had intended that Moses write the laws of inheritance, but found the daughters of Zelophehad worthy to have the section recorded on their account. (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 8a.)
A Baraita taught that Zelophehad’s daughters were wise
Wisdom
Wisdom is a deep understanding and realization of people, things, events or situations, resulting in the ability to apply perceptions, judgements and actions in keeping with this understanding. It often requires control of one's emotional reactions so that universal principles, reason and...
, Torah student
Student
A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...
s, and righteous
Righteousness
Righteousness is an important theological concept in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism , Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.) And a Baraita taught that Zelophehad’s daughters were equal in merit, and that is why the order of their names varies between and . (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 120a.) According to the Gemara, they demonstrated their wisdom by raising their case in a timely fashion, just as Moses was expounding the law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
of levirate marriage
Levirate marriage
Levirate marriage is a type of marriage in which the brother of a deceased man is obligated to marry his brother's widow, and the widow is obligated to marry her deceased husband's brother....
, or yibbum
Yibbum
Yibbum , or levirate marriage, in Judaism, is one of the most complex types of marriages mandated by Torah law by which, according to the law, the brother of a man who died without children has an obligation to marry the widow...
, and they argued for their inheritance by analogy to that law. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 119b.)
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...
compared favorably to the sin of David. The Gemara reported that Moses and David were two good leaders of Israel. Moses begged God that his sin be recorded, as it is in and and David, however, begged that his sin be blotted out, as Psalm
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
says, “Happy is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is pardoned.” The Gemara compared the cases of Moses and David to the cases of two women whom the court sentenced to be lashed. One had committed an indecent act, while the other had eaten unripe figs of the seventh year in violation of Leviticus The woman who had eaten unripe figs begged the court to make known for what offense she was being flogged, lest people say that she was being punished for the same sin as the other woman. The court thus made known her sin, and the Torah repeatedly records the sin of Moses. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 86b.)
Noting that Moses asked God to designate someone to succeed him in soon after the incident of Zelophehad’s daughters, a midrash deduced that when the daughters of Zelophehad inherited from their father, Moses argued that it would surely be right for his sons to inherit his glory. God, however, replied (in the words of 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"...
) that “Whoever keeps the fig-tree shall eat its fruit; and whoever waits on the master shall be honored.” The sons of Moses sat idly by and did not study Torah, but Joshua served Moses and showed him great honor, rose early in the morning and remained late at night at the House of Assembly, and arranged the benches and spread the mats. As he had served Moses with all his might, he was worthy to serve Israel, and thus God in directed Moses to “take Joshua the son of Nun” as his successor. (Numbers Rabbah 21:14.)
| Festivals | Verses | Bulls | Rams | Lambs | Goats | Totals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sabbath | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| New Month | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 11 | |
| Passover (Daily) | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 11 | |
| Shavuot | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 11 | |
| Rosh Hashanah | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 10 | |
| Yom Kippur | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 10 | |
| Sukkot Day 1 | 13 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 30 | |
| Sukkot Day 2 | 12 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 29 | |
| Sukkot Day 3 | 11 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 28 | |
| Sukkot Day 4 | 10 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 27 | |
| Sukkot Day 5 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 26 | |
| Sukkot Day 6 | 8 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 25 | |
| Sukkot Day 7 | 7 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 24 | |
| Shemini Atzeret | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 10 | |
| Annual Totals+ | !! 113 !! 37 !! 363 !! 30 !! 543 | |||||
| +Assuming 52 Sabbaths, 12 New Months, and 7 days of Passover per year | ||||||
Numbers chapter 28
Tractate Tamid in the Mishnah and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the regular offerings in (Mishnah Tamid 1:1–7:4; Babylonian Talmud Tamid 2a–33b.)The Gemara noted that in listing the several festivals in and the Torah always begins with Passover. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 2b.)
Tractate Beitzah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, 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 common to all of the Festivals
Jewish holiday
Jewish holidays are days observed by Jews as holy or secular commemorations of important events in Jewish history. In Hebrew, Jewish holidays and festivals, depending on their nature, may be called yom tov or chag or ta'anit...
in 43–49; and (Mishnah Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Tosefta Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:1–4:11; Jerusalem Talmud Beitzah 1a–49b; Babylonian Talmud Beitzah 2a–40b.)
Tractate Pesachim
Pesahim
Pesahim is the third tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Passover as well as the Passover lamb offering...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in 43–49; and (Mishnah Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Tosefta Pisha 1:1–10:13; Jerusalem Talmud Pesachim 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Pesachim 2a–121b.)
Numbers chapter 29
Tractate Rosh HashanahRosh Hashanah (Talmud)
Rosh Hashanah is the name of a text of Jewish law originating in the Mishnah which formed the basis of tractates in both the Babylonian Talmud and the Jerusalem Talmud of the same name. It is the eighth tractate of the order Moed...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Rosh Hashanah in and (Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1–4:9; Tosefta Rosh Hashanah 1:1–2:18; Jerusalem Talmud Rosh Hashanah 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashanah 2a–35a.)
Tractate Yoma
Yoma
Yoma is the fifth tractate of Seder Moed of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. It is concerned mainly with the laws of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, on which Jews atone for their sins from the previous year...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Yom Kippur in and and (Mishnah Yoma 1:1–8:9; Tosefta Kippurim (Yoma) 1:1–4:17; Jerusalem Talmud Yoma 1a–57a; Babylonian Talmud Yoma 2a–88a.)
Tractate Sukkah
Sukkah (Talmud)
Sukkah is a book of the Mishnah and Talmud. It is the sixth volume in the Order of Moed. Sukkah deals primarily with laws relating to the Jewish holiday of Sukkot...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Sukkot in and (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1–5:8; Tosefta Sukkah 1:1–4:28; Jerusalem Talmud Sukkah 1a–33b; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 2a–56b.)
The Mishnah taught that a sukkah can be no more than 20 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 high. Rabbi Judah
Judah ben Ilai
Judah bar Ilai, also known as Judah ben Ilai, Rabbi Judah or Judah the Palestinian , was a tanna of the 2nd Century and son of Rabbi Ilai I. Of the many Judahs in the Talmud, he is the one referred to simply as "Rabbi Judah" and is the most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishnah.Judah bar Ilai...
, however, declared taller sukkot valid. The Mishnah taught that a sukkah must be at least 10 handbreadths high, have three walls, and have more shade than sun. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 2a.) The House of Shammai
House of Shammai
The House of Shammai was the school of thought of Judaism founded by Shammai, a Jewish scholar of the 1st century...
declared invalid a sukkah made 30 days or more before the festival, but the House of Hillel
House of Hillel
The House of Hillel , also known as the Academy of Hillel, founded by the famed Hillel the Elder, is a school of Jewish law and thought that thrived in 1st century B.C.E.Jerusalem. The House of Hillel is most widely known for its hundreds of disputes with the Beit Shammai, founded by Shammai, a...
pronounced it valid. The Mishnah taught that if one made the sukkah for the purpose of the festival, even at the beginning of the year, it is valid. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:1; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 9a.)
The Mishnah taught that a sukkah under a tree is as invalid as a sukkah within a house. If one sukkah is erected above another, the upper one is valid, but the lower is invalid. Rabbi Judah said that if there are no occupants in the upper one, then the lower one is valid. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:2; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 9b.)
It invalidates a sukkah to spread a sheet over the sukkah because of the sun, or beneath it because of falling leaves, or over the frame of a four-post bed. One may spread a sheet, however, over the frame of a two-post bed. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:3; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 10a.)
It is not valid to train a vine, gourd, or ivy to cover a sukkah and then cover it with sukkah covering (s’chach). If, however, the sukkah-covering exceeds the vine, gourd, or ivy in quantity, or if the vine, gourd, or ivy is detached, it is valid. The general rule is that one may not use for sukkah-covering anything that is susceptible to ritual impurity (tumah) or that does not grow from the soil. But one may use for sukkah-covering anything not susceptible to ritual impurity that grows from the soil. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:4; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 11a.)
Bundles of straw, wood, or brushwood may not serve as sukkah-covering. But any of them, if they are untied, are valid. All materials are valid for the walls. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:5; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 12a.)
| Day | Verse | Bulls |
|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | 13 | |
| Day 2 | 12 | |
| Day 3 | 11 | |
| Day 4 | 10 | |
| Day 5 | 9 | |
| Day 6 | 8 | |
| Day 7 | 7 | |
| Total | !! 70 |
Rabbi Judah taught that one may use planks for the sukkah-covering, but Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir or Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishna. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation . According to legend , his father was a descendant of the Roman Emperor Nero who had converted to Judaism. His wife Bruriah is...
taught that one may not. The Mishnah taught that it is valid to place a plank four handbreadths wide over the sukkah, provided that one does not sleep under it. (Mishnah Sukkah 1:6; Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 14a.)
Noting that required the priests to offer 70 bulls over the seven days of Sukkot, Rabbi Eleazar taught that the 70 bulls correspond to the 70 nations of the world. And Rabbi Eleazar taught that the single bull that required the priests to offer on Shemini Atzeret corresponds to the unique nation of Israel. Rabbi Eleazar compared this to a mortal king who told his servants to prepare a great banquet, but on the last day told his beloved friend to prepare a simple meal so that the king might enjoy his friend’s company. (Babylonian Talmud Sukkah 55b.) Similarly, a midrash taught that on Sukkot, the Israelites offered God 70 bulls as an atonement for the 70 nations. The Israelites then complained to God that they had offered 70 bulls on behalf of the nations of the world, and they ought thus to love Israel, but they still hated the Jews. As says, “In return for my love they are my adversaries.” So in God told Israel to offer a single bull as sacrifice on its own behalf. And the midrash compared this to the case of a king who made a banquet for seven days and invited all the people in the province. And when the seven days of the feast were over, he said to his friend that he had done his duty to all the people of the province, now the two of them would eat whatever the friend could find — a pound of meat, fish, or vegetables. (Numbers Rabbah 21:24.)
Noting that the number of sacrifices in decreases each day of Sukkot, a midrash taught that the Torah thus teaches etiquette from the sacrifices. If a person stays as a friend’s house, on the first day the host entertains generously and serves poultry, on the second day meat, on the third day fish, on the fourth day vegetables, and so the host continually reduces the fare until the host serves the guest beans. (Numbers Rabbah 21:25.)
According to Maimonides
Maimonides
Moses ben-Maimon, called Maimonides and also known as Mūsā ibn Maymūn in Arabic, or Rambam , was a preeminent medieval Jewish philosopher and one of the greatest Torah scholars and physicians of the Middle Ages...
cited verses in the parshah for 12 positive and 6 negative commandments
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
:
- To judge in cases of inheritanceInheritanceInheritance is the practice of passing on property, titles, debts, rights and obligations upon the death of an individual. It has long played an important role in human societies...
s . - To offer the continual sacrifices daily .
- To offer an additional sacrifice every Sabbath
- To offer an additional sacrifice at the beginning of each new month
- To rest on the seventh day of the Festival of Passover
- Not to do work on the Festival of Shavuot
- To offer an additional sacrifice on the Festival of Shavuot
- To hear the sound of the shofarShofarA shofar is a horn, traditionally that of a ram, used for Jewish religious purposes. Shofar-blowing is incorporated in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.Shofar come in a variety of sizes.- Bible and rabbinic literature :...
on Rosh Hashanah - Not to do work on Rosh Hashanah
- To offer an additional sacrifice on Rosh Hashanah
- To offer an additional sacrifice on Yom Kippur
- To fast on Yom Kippur
- Not to do work on Yom Kippur ( 31; )
- Not to do work on the first day of Sukkot
- To offer an additional sacrifice on the Festival of Sukkot
- To offer an additional sacrifice on the day of Shemini Atzeret, for this day is a pilgrimage festival in itself
- Not to do work on the eighth day of Sukkot
- Not to transgress in matters that one has forbidden himself
(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
, Positive Commandments 39, 41, 42, 45, 47, 48, 50, 51, 160, 164, 170, 248; Negative Commandments 157, 325,326, 327,328, 329. Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 1:50–53, 55–60, 170–71, 173–74, 179–80, 256–57; 2:148–49, 298–301. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4.)
According to Sefer ha-Chinuch
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 six positive commandments in the parshah.
- The precept of the laws of inheritance
- The precept of the regular olah offering, sacrificed every day
- The precept of the musaf offering on the Sabbath
- The precept of the musaf offering on Rosh Chodesh
- The precept of the musaf offering on the Shavuot Festival
- The precept of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah
(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 4:171–203. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-457-7.)
Haftarah
When parshah Pinchas comes before the Seventeenth of TammuzSeventeenth of Tammuz
The Seventeenth of Tammuz is a minor Jewish fast day commemorating the breach of the walls of Jerusalem before the destruction of the Second Temple. It falls on the 17th day of the Hebrew month of Tammuz and marks the beginning of the three-week mourning period leading up to Tisha B'Av.The day...
, the haftarah for the parshah is When the parshah falls after the Seventeenth of Tammuz, Jews read for the haftarah the first of three readings of admonition leading up to 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...
, 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....
Summary
The haftarah in tells the story of the prophet Elijah’s flight from King AhabAhab
Ahab or Ach'av or Achab in Douay-Rheims was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri according to the Hebrew Bible. His wife was Jezebel....
, his theophany
Theophany
Theophany, from the Ancient Greek , meaning "appearance of God"), refers to the appearance of a deity to a human or other being, or to a divine disclosure....
, and his anointing of Elisha
Elisha
Elisha is a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an. His name is commonly transliterated into English as Elisha via Hebrew, Eliseus via Greek and Latin, or Alyasa via Arabic.-Biblical biography:...
. God’s hand was on Elijah, and he ran from King Ahab
Ahab
Ahab or Ach'av or Achab in Douay-Rheims was king of Israel and the son and successor of Omri according to the Hebrew Bible. His wife was Jezebel....
to Jezreel
Jezreel Valley
-Etymology:The Jezreel Valley takes its name from the ancient city of Jezreel which was located on a low hill overlooking the southern edge of the valley, though some scholars think that the name of the city originates from the name of the clan which founded it, and whose existence is mentioned in...
. Ahab told Queen Jezebel
Jezebel (Bible)
Jezebel was a princess, identified in the Hebrew Book of Kings as the daughter of Ethbaal, King of Tyre and the wife of Ahab, king of north Israel. According to genealogies given in Josephus and other classical sources, she was the great-aunt of Dido, Queen of Carthage.The Hebrew text portrays...
how Elijah had killed all the prophets of Baal
Baal
Baʿal is a Northwest Semitic title and honorific meaning "master" or "lord" that is used for various gods who were patrons of cities in the Levant and Asia Minor, cognate to Akkadian Bēlu...
, and Jezebel sent a messenger to tell Elijah that she intended to have him killed by the next day in recompense. So Elijah ran for his life to Beersheba
Beersheba
Beersheba is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the seventh-largest city in Israel with a population of 194,300....
in the 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....
, left his servant there, and went a day's journey into the wilderness. Elijah sat down under a broom tree
Broom (shrub)
Brooms are a group of evergreen, semi-evergreen, and deciduous shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the legume family Fabaceae, mainly in the three genera Chamaecytisus, Cytisus and Genista, but also in many other small genera . All genera in this group are from the tribe Genisteae...
, asked God to take his life, and lay down and slept. An angel touched Elijah and told him to arise and eat, and Elijah found at his head a cake and a jar of water, and so he ate, drank, and went back to sleep. The angel again touched him again and told him to arise and eat, and he did and on the strength of that meal journeyed 40 days and 40 nights to Mount Horeb
Mount Horeb
Mount Horeb, Hebrew: , Greek in the Septuagint: , Latin in the Vulgate: , is the mountain at which the book of Deuteronomy in the Hebrew Bible states that the Ten Commandments were given to Moses by God. It is described in two places as the Mountain of God or perhaps Mountain of the gods...
, the mount of God.
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
and anoint Hazael
Hazael
Hazael was a court official and later an Aramean king who is mentioned in the Bible. Under his reign, Aram-Damascus became an empire that ruled over large parts of Syria and Palestine....
to be king over Aram
Aram (Biblical region)
Aram is the name of a region mentioned in the Bible located in central Syria, including where the city of Aleppo now stands.-Etymology:The etymology is uncertain. One standard explanation is an original meaning of "highlands"...
, to anoint Jehu
Jehu
Jehu was a king of Israel. He was the son of Jehoshaphat, and grandson of Nimshi.William F. Albright has dated his reign to 842-815 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 841-814 BC...
to be king over Israel, and to anoint Elisha to succeed Elijah as prophet. God foretold that any who escaped the sword of Hazael would be killed by Jehu; any who escaped the sword of Jehu would be killed by Elisha; and God would leave alive in Israel only the 7 thousand who had not bowed to Baal. So Elijah found Elisha, who was plowing with one of his 12 yoke of oxen, and Elijah cast his mantle on Elisha. Elisha left the oxen, asked Elijah for permission to kiss his parents goodbye, killed the oxen and distributed their meat to the people, and went to follow Elijah.
Connection to the parshah
The parshah and haftarah both address protagonists who showed zeal on behalf of God against apostasy by the Israelites. and 13 report that God laud’s Phinehas’s zeal for God (be-kan’o ’et kin’ati and kinnei’ le-’lohav), while in and 13 Elijah tells God of Elijah’s zeal for God (kanno’ kinnei’ti la-YHVH). Immediately before the parshah (in ), Phinehas killed Zimri and Cozbi to stem the Israelites’ following of Baal-Peor in the Heresy of PeorHeresy of Peor
The heresy of Peor is an event related in the Torah at Numbers 25:1-15. Back references to the event occur in Numbers 25:18 and 31:16, Deuteronomy 4:3, Joshua 22:17, Hosea 9:10; Psalm 106:28...
, while immediately before the haftarah (in ), Elijah killed the prophets of Baal to stem the Israelites’ following of Baal. Targum Jonathan
Targum Jonathan
Targum Jonathan - otherwise referred to as Targum Yonasan/Yonatan is the official eastern targum to the Nevi'im. Its early origins, however, are western i.e. from the Land of Israel, and the Talmudic tradition attributes its authorship to Jonathan ben Uzziel...
to Exodus 6:18 thus identified Phinehas with Elijah.
Summary
The haftarah in begins by identifying its words as those of JeremiahJeremiah
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...
the son of Hilkiah
Hilkiah
Hilkiah was a Hebrew Priest at the time of King Josiah. His name is mentioned in II Kings. He was the High Priest and is known for finding a lost copy of the Book of the law at the Temple in Jerusalem at the time that King Josiah commanded that the Holy Temple be refurbished . His preaching may...
, a priest in Anathoth
Anathoth
Anathoth - the name of one of the cities given to "the children of Aaron" , in the tribe of Benjamin . Since the Israelites often did not change the names of the towns they found in Canaan, the name of this town may be derived from a Canaanite goddess, ‘Anat...
in the land of Benjamin
Tribe of Benjamin
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tribe of Benjamin בִּנְיָמִין was one of the Tribes of Israel.From after the conquest of the land by Joshua until the formation of the first Kingdom of Israel in c. 1050 BCE, the Tribe of Benjamin was a part of a loose confederation of Israelite tribes...
, to whom God’s word came in the thirteenth year of the reign of Josiah
Josiah
Josiah or Yoshiyahu or Joshua was a king of Judah who instituted major reforms. Josiah is credited by most historians with having established or compiled important Jewish scriptures during the Deuteronomic reform that occurred during his rule.Josiah became king of Judah at the age of eight, after...
the son of Amon
Amon of Judah
Amon was the king of Judah who succeeded his father Manasseh of Judah on the throne according to the Bible. His mother was Meshullemeth, daughter of Haruz of Jotbah. He was married to Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Bozkath....
as king 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 the reign of Josiah’s son Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim
Jehoiakim .On Josiah's death, Jehoiakim's younger brother Jehoahaz was proclaimed king, but after three months pharaoh Necho II deposed him and replaced him with the eldest son, Eliakim, who adopted the name Jehoiakim and became king at the age of twenty-five...
, and through the eleventh year of the reign of Josiah’s son Zedekiah
Zedekiah
Zedekiah or Tzidkiyahu was the last king of Judah before the destruction of the kingdom by Babylon. He was installed as king of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, after a siege of Jerusalem to succeed his nephew, Jeconiah, who was overthrown as king after a reign of only three months and...
, when Jerusalem was carried away captive.
God’s word came to Jeremiah to say that before God formed him in the womb, God knew him, sanctified him, and appointed him a prophet to the nations. Jeremiah protested that he could not speak, for he was a child, but God told him not to fear, for he would go wherever God would send him, say whatever God would command him to say, and God would be with him to deliver him. Then God touched Jeremiah’s mouth and said that God had put words in his mouth and set him over the nations to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant. God asked Jeremiah what he saw, he replied that he saw the rod of an almond tree, and God said that he had seen well, for God watches over God’s word to perform it.
God’s word came to Jeremiah a second time to ask what he saw, he replied that he saw a seething pot tipping from the north, and God said that out of the north evil would break forth upon all Israel. For God would call all the kingdoms of the north to come, and they would set their thrones at Jerusalem’s gate, against its walls, and against the cities of Judah. God would utter God’s judgments against Judah, as its people had forsaken God and worshipped the work of their own hands. God thus directed Jeremiah to gird his loins, arise, and speak to the Judean people all that God commanded, for God had made Jeremiah a fortified city, an iron pillar, and brazen walls against the land of Judah, its rulers, its priests, and its people. They would fight against him, but they would not prevail, for God would be with him to deliver him.
God’s word came to Jeremiah to tell him to go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem that God remembered the affection of her youth, her love as a bride, how she followed God in the wilderness. Israel was God’s hallowed portion and God’s first-fruits, and all that devoured Israel would be held guilty and evil would come upon them.
Connection to the special Sabbath
The first of three readings of admonition leading up to Tisha B'Av, the haftarah admonishes Judah and Israel in And then in the haftarah concludes with consolation. The Gemara taught that Jeremiah wrote the book of LamentationsBook 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....
(Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 15a), and as Jews read Lamentations on Tisha B’Av, this probably accounts for why a selection from Jeremiah begins the series of haftarot of admonition. (Michael Fishbane
Michael Fishbane
Michael A. Fishbane is a scholar of Judaism and rabbinic literature. Formerly at Brandeis University, he is currently the Nathan Cummings Professor of Jewish Studies at the Divinity School, University of Chicago....
. The JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot, 262. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002. ISBN 0-8276-0691-5.)
In the liturgy
The MussafJewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
(“additional”) prayer commemorates the special communal offerings that instruct the priests to make on days of enhanced holiness. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 402. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications
ArtScroll
ArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York...
, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
After the morning blessings, some Jews recite the description of the continual (תָמִיד, Tamid) offering in among other descriptions of offerings. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 219–21.)
The laws of the daily offering in provide an application of the second of the Thirteen Rules for interpreting the Torah in the Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael
Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael
The Baraita of Rabbi Ishmael is a baraita which explains the 13 rules of R. Ishmael, and their application, by means of illustrations from the Bible. The name is inaccurately given also to the first part of the Baraita, which only enumerates the thirteen rules...
that many Jews read as part of the readings before the Pesukei d’Zimrah prayer service
Jewish services
Jewish prayer are the prayer recitations that form part of the observance of Judaism. These prayers, often with instructions and commentary, are found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book....
. The second rule provides that similar words in different contexts invite the reader to find a connection between the two topics. The words “in its proper time” (בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ, bemoado) in indicate that the priests needed to bring the daily offering “in its proper time,” even on a Sabbath. Applying the second rule, the same words in mean that the priests needed to bring the Passover offering “in its proper time,” even on a Sabbath. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 243.)
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...
prayer for the Sabbath. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 233, 410.)
On Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh
Rosh Chodesh or Rosh ḥodesh is the name for the first day of every month in the Hebrew calendar, marked by the appearance of the new moon. The new moon is marked by the day and hour that the new crescent is observed...
(the first of the month), Jews read the description of the Rosh Chodesh offering in among the descriptions of offerings after the morning blessings and again on Shabbat Rosh Chodesh as part of the Mussaf Amidah prayer for the Sabbath. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 234, 411.)
The Passover 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 concluding nirtzah 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...
, perhaps in a reference to the listing of festivals in calls Passover “the first of all festivals.” (Joseph Tabory. JPS Commentary on the Haggadah: Historical Introduction, Translation, and Commentary, 125. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8276-0858-0.)
The Weekly Maqam
In the Weekly MaqamThe Weekly Maqam
In Mizrahi and Sephardic Middle Eastern Jewish prayer services, each Shabbat the congregation conducts services using a different maqam. A maqam , which in Arabic literally means 'place', is a standard melody type and set of related tunes. The melodies used in a given maqam aims effectively to...
, Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For parshah Pinchas, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Saba, the maqam that symbolizes a covenant (berit). It is appropriate, because in the very opening of this parshah, God told Phinehas that due to his heroic acts, he was granted an eternal covenant of peace with God.
Biblical
(laying on hands). (sons of Korah); 43–49 (Passover); (Passover); (three pilgrim festivals); (Urim and Thummim); (program of sacrifices); (sacrifices to another god; zealots kill apostates; zealots rewarded with priestly standing; plague as punishment; leader makes atonement); (foreign women and apostasy); (three pilgrim festivals). (holidays); (inquiry of God on the law). (census); (Eleazar’s family in charge of the sanctuary); (laying on hands); (Levites make atonement so that there be no plague because of children of Israel coming near to the sanctuary); (Passover, inquiry of God on the law); (inquiry of God on the law); (children of Israel not coming near to the sanctuary); (holidays). (Phinehas, war with Midian); (daughters of Zelophehad) (Joshua); (Baal Peor); (foreign women and apostasy); (three pilgrim festivals); (Sukkot).- JoshuaBook of JoshuaThe 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....
(daughters of Zelophehad); (Tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh; Baal Peor); - JudgesBook of JudgesThe 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...
; (Sukkot). - 1 SamuelBooks of SamuelThe 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...
(Urim). (banishment of AbiatharAbiatharAbiathar , in the Hebrew Bible, son of Achimelech or Ahijah, High Priest at Nob, the fourth in descent from Eli and the last of Eli's House...
, competitor for the priesthood with ZadokZadokZadok was a high priest of the Israelites in Jerusalem after it was conquered by David.Zadok may also refer to:*Rabbi Zadok, tanna of the 1st-century CE*Zadok the Priest, an 18th-century coronation anthem by Handel...
of the line of Phinehas); (Sukkot); (northern feast like Sukkot). (permanent priesthood). - EzekielBook of EzekielThe 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....
(program of sacrifices); (Sukkot). - HoseaBook of HoseaThe Book of Hosea is one of the books of the Hebrew Bible. It stands first in order among what are known as the twelve Minor Prophets.-Background and Content:...
(Baal Peor). - ZechariahBook of ZechariahThe Book of Zechariah is the penultimate book of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew and Christian Bible, attributed to the prophet Zechariah.-Historical context:...
(Sukkot). (I afflicted my soul with fasting); (God amidst the sound of the horn); 28–32 (Dathan and Abiram; Baal Peor; Meribah); (God will destroy the wicked). (Sukkot); (Phinehas); (Phinehas). - NehemiahBook of NehemiahThe Book of Nehemiah is a book of the Hebrew Bible. Told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, it concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, a Jew who is a high official at the Persian court, and the dedication of the city and its people to God's laws...
(Sukkot). (the line of Phinehas); (Phinehas as chief of the sanctuary guards). (Sukkot); (Sukkot); (three Pilgrim festivals).
Early nonrabbinic
- 1 Maccabees1 MaccabeesThe First book of Maccabees is a book written in Hebrew by a Jewish author after the restoration of an independent Jewish kingdom, about the latter part of the 2nd century BC. The original Hebrew is lost and the most important surviving version is the Greek translation contained in the Septuagint...
chs. 1–16. (parallel to Phinehas). - 4 Maccabees4 MaccabeesThe book of 4 Maccabees is a homily or philosophic discourse praising the supremacy of pious reason over passion. It is not in the Bible for most churches, but is an appendix to the Greek Bible, and in the canon of the Georgian Bible...
18:12. - 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,...
3:10:1–4; 4:6:12–13; 4:7:1–2. 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. - Instruction for Catechumens, and A Prayer of Praise of God for His Greatness, and for His Appointment of Leaders for His People, in “Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers,” in James H. CharlesworthJames H. CharlesworthJames H. Charlesworth is the George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature and director of the Dead Sea Scrolls Project at Princeton Theological Seminary. He is noted for his research in Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, the Dead Sea Scrolls,...
. The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, 2:687–88. New York: Doubleday, 1985. ISBN 0-385-18813-7. - Pseudo-PhiloPseudo-PhiloPseudo-Philo is the name commonly used for a Jewish pseudepigraphical work in Latin, so called because it was transmitted along with Latin translations of the works of Philo of Alexandria but is very obviously not written by Philo...
28:1–4. - JohnGospel of JohnThe Gospel According to John , commonly referred to as the Gospel of John or simply John, and often referred to in New Testament scholarship as the Fourth Gospel, is an account of the public ministry of Jesus...
7:1-53 (Sukkot). - Targum JonathanTargum JonathanTargum Jonathan - otherwise referred to as Targum Yonasan/Yonatan is the official eastern targum to the Nevi'im. Its early origins, however, are western i.e. from the Land of Israel, and the Talmudic tradition attributes its authorship to Jonathan ben Uzziel...
to Exodus 6:18 (Phinehas was Elijah).
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...
: Pesachim 1:1–10:9; Yoma 1:1–8:9; Sukkah 1:1–5:8; Beitzah 1:1–5:7; Rosh Hashanah 1:1–4:9; Taanit 4:2; Megillah 3:5; Sotah 7:7; Bava Batra 8:1–8; Sanhedrin 9:6; Shevuot 1:3; Zevachim 10:1; Menachot 4:2–3, 8:7–9:2; Tamid 1:1–7:4. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob NeusnerJacob NeusnerJacob 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...
. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4. - 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 43b; Sheviit 5b; Orlah 2b; Pesachim 1a–; Yoma 1a–57a; Sukkah 1a–33b; Beitzah 1a–49b; Rosh Hashanah 1a–. Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1, 6a, 12, 21–23. 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 54b; Shabbat 21b, 24a–b, 36a, 64a, 80b, 97a, 103b, 131b, 133a; Eruvin 40a, 63a–b; Pesachim 2a–121b; Yoma 2a–88a; Sukkah 2a–56b; Beitzah 2a–40b; Rosh Hashanah 2a–35a; Taanit 2b–3a, 17b, 26a; Megillah 11a, 14a, 20b, 21b, 28a, 29b, 30b–31a; Moed Katan 9a, 19a, 20a, 27a; Chagigah 6a–b, 7b, 9a, 16a, 17a–18a; Yevamot 78b, 90b, 100b, 104b; Ketubot 13b, 52b; Nedarim 78a; Nazir 23b, 30a; Sotah 12a, 14a, 22b, 40b, 43a, 46a; Gittin 85a; Kiddushin 33b, 66b; Bava Kamma 42b, 82b, 88b, 92b, 111a, 112a; Bava Metzia 52b; Bava Batra 75a, 106b, 108a–39b, 141a, 143b, 147a; Sanhedrin 8a, 11b, 13b, 16a, 34b–35a, 40b, 43b–44b, 64a, 82a–b, 105b–06a, 110a; Makkot 7b, 12a; Shevuot 2a, 9a–11a; Avodah Zarah 8b, 19b, 44b; Horayot 6a, 10b, 12b; Zevachim 6b, 12a, 84a, 89a, 101b, 110b, 118a; Menachot 44b–45b, 46b, 49b, 52a, 65a, 72b, 84b, 87a–b, 89a, 91b, 93b, 99b, 103b, 104b, 107a; Chullin 60b, 134b; Bekhorot 5b, 17a; Arakhin 3b, 13b; Temurah 14a–b, 29a; Keritot 4a, 28b; Meilah 11b, 13b; Tamid 2a–33b; Niddah 26a. 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. Numbers 25–30. 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, 4:319–67. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. ISBN 0-89906-029-3. - 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...
. 2:25–26, 80. 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, 101, 133. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4. - Numbers RabbahNumbers RabbahNumbers Rabbah is a religious text holy to classical Judaism. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletic interpretations of the book of Numbers ....
21:1–25. 12th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Numbers. Translated by Judah J. Slotki. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
- 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...
3:213a–241b. pain, 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...
, 3:40, 42. 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:...
, 506, 572. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0-14-043195-0. - 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, 136–41, 225–31, 487, 492–93, 512–13. 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.
- Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
. Poem 112 (Where bells no more affright the morn —). Circa 1859. Poem 168 (If the foolish, call them "flowers" —). Circa 1860. Poem 597 (It always felt to me — a wrong). Circa 1862. In The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, 53, 79–80, 293–94. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1960. ISBN 0-316-18414-4. - 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:...
. “Magic, Monotheism, and the Sin of Moses.” In The Quest for the Kingdom of God: Studies in Honor of George E. Mendenhall. Edited by H. B. Huffmon, F.A. Spina, A.R.W. Green, 251–265. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 1983. ISBN 0-931464-15-3. - Marc Gellman. “The Announcing Tool.” In Does God Have a Big Toe? Stories About Stories in the Bible, 85–88. New York: HarperCollins, 1989. ISBN 0-06-022432-0.
- Mary DouglasMary DouglasDame Mary Douglas, DBE, FBA was a British anthropologist, known for her writings on human culture and symbolism....
. In the Wilderness: The Doctrine of Defilement in the Book of Numbers, 55, 58, 86–87, 103, 108, 111–12, 114, 116, 121–23, 130, 135–36, 138, 141–42, 144–45, 147, 162, 170, 180, 182–83, 188, 190–92, 194, 197, 200, 203, 206, 235–36. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Reprinted 2004. ISBN 0-19-924541-X.
- Tal Ilan. "How Women Differed." Biblical Archaeology ReviewBiblical Archaeology ReviewBiblical Archaeology Review is a publication that seeks to connect the academic study of archaeology to a broad general audience seeking to understand the world of the Bible and the Near and Middle East . Covering both the Old and New Testaments, BAR presents the latest discoveries and...
, 24:02. Mar./Apr. 1998. - William H.C. Propp. “Why Moses Could Not Enter The Promised Land.” Bible ReviewBible ReviewBible Review was a publication that sought to connect the academic study of the Bible to a broad general audience. Covering both the Old and New Testaments, Bible Review presented critical and historical interpretations of biblical texts, and “reader-friendly Biblical scholarship” from 1985 to...
. 14 (3) (June 1998). - Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, XXVII. Brooklyn: Mesorah PublicationsArtScrollArtScroll is an imprint of translations, books and commentaries from an Orthodox Jewish perspective published by Mesorah Publications, Ltd., a publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York...
, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3. (the Sabbath and the Festivals). - Suzanne A. Brody. “A bonanza.” In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, 100. 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, 266. Brooklyn: Shaar Press, 2007. ISBN 1-4226-0609-0.
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
- Ohr Sameach
- 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?
- Yeshiva University
- Yeshivat Chovevei Torah