Shlach
Encyclopedia
Shlach, Shelach, Sh'lah, Shlach Lecha, or Sh’lah L’kha (שְׁלַח or שְׁלַח-לְךָ — Hebrew
for "send”, “send to you”, or "send for yourself" ) is the 37th weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish
cycle of Torah reading
and the fourth in the book of Numbers
. It constitutes Jews in the Diaspora
generally read it in June. Its name comes from the first distinctive words in the parshah, in . Shelach (שְׁלַח) is the sixth and Lecha (לְךָ) the seventh word in the parsha.
The parshah tells the story of the scouts who discouraged the Israelite
s, commandments about offerings, the story of the Sabbath
violator, and the commandment of the fringes.
told Moses
to send one chieftain
from each of the 12 tribes of Israel to scout the land of Canaan
, and Moses sent them out from the wilderness of Paran
. Among the scouts were Caleb
son of Jephunneh from the Tribe of Judah
and Hosea son of Nun
from the Tribe of Ephraim
. Moses changed Hosea’s name to Joshua
. They scouted the land as far as Hebron
. At the wadi Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grape
s so large that it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them, as well as some pomegranate
s and fig
s.
At the end of 40 days, they returned and reported to Moses, Aaron
, and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh
saying that the land did indeed flow with milk
and honey
, but that the people who inhabited it were powerful, the cities were fortified and very large, and that they saw the Anak
ites there. Caleb hushed the people and urged the people to go up and take the land. But the other scouts spread calumnies about the land, calling it “one that devours its settlers.” They reported that the land’s people were giants
and stronger than the Israelites. The whole community broke into crying, railed against Moses and Aaron, and shouted: “If only we might die in this wilderness!”
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, and Joshua and Caleb rent their clothes and exhorted the Israelites not to fear, and not to rebel against God. Just as the community threatened to pelt them with stones, God’s Presence appeared in the Tabernacle
. God complained to Moses: “How long will this people spurn Me,” and threatened to strike them with pestilence and make of Moses a nation more numerous than they. But Moses told God to think of what the Egyptians
would think when they heard the news, and how they would think God powerless to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land
. Moses asked God to forbear, quoting God’s self-description as “slow to anger and abounding in kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression.” In response, God pardoned, but also swore that none of the men who had seen God’s signs would see the Promised Land, except Caleb and Joshua, and that all the rest 20 years old and up would die in the wilderness. God said that the Israelites’ children would enter the Promised Land after roaming the wilderness, suffering for the faithlessness of the present generation, for 40 years, corresponding to the number of days that the scouts scouted the land. The scouts other than Caleb and Joshua died of plague.
Early the next morning, the Israelites set out to the Promised Land, but Moses told them that they would not succeed without God in their midst. But they marched forward anyway, and the Amalek
ites and the Canaanites dealt them a shattering blow at Hormah
.
to God, the person presenting the offering was also to bring flour
mixed with oil
and wine
. And when a resident alien wanted to present an offering, the same law would apply. When the Israelites ate bread
of the land, they were to set the first loaf aside as a gift to God.
If the community unwittingly failed to observe any commandment
, the community was to present one bull
as a burnt offering with its proper meal offering and wine, and one he-goat
as a sin
offering, and the priest
would make expiation for the whole community and they would be forgiven. And if an individual sinned unwittingly, the individual was to offer a she-goat in its first year as a sin offering, and the priest would make expiation that the individual might be forgiven. But the person who violated a commandment defiantly was to be cut off from among his people.
on the Sabbath day, and they brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the community and placed him in custody. God told Moses that the whole community was to pelt him with stones
outside the camp, so they did so.
(in Hebrew, ציצת or tzitzit) on each of the corners of their garments. They were to look at the fringes, recall the commandments, and observe them.
(19th to 18th century BCE) pottery bowls that had been inscribed with the names of enemies and then shattered as a kind of curse. (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament
. Edited by James B. Pritchard
, 328. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. ISBN 0-691-03503-2.)
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Sotah 34b.)
Rabbi Isaac said that the spies’ names betrayed their lack of faith, and that Sethur’s name (in ) meant that he undermined (sathar) the works of God. And Rabbi Johanan
said that the name of Nahbi the son of Vophsi (in ) meant that he hid (hikbi) God’s words. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 34b.)
Raba
noted that literally reads “they went up into the South, and he came to Hebron,” and deduced from the change in the number of the pronoun that Caleb separated himself from the spies’ plan and prostrated himself in prayer on the graves of the patriarchs
in Hebron. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 34b.)
Interpreting the names Ahiman
, Sheshai
, and Talmai
in a Baraita
taught that Ahiman was the most skilful of the brothers, Sheshai turned the ground on which he stepped into pits, and Talmai turned the ground into ridges when he walked. It was also taught that Ahiman built Anath, Sheshai built Alush
, and Talmai built Talbush. They were called “the children of Anak” (the giant) because they seemed so tall that they would reach the sun. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 10a.)
A Baraita interpreted the words “and Hebron was built seven years before Zoan
in Egypt
” in to mean that Hebron was seven times as fertile as Zoan. The Baraita rejected the plain meaning of “built,” reasoning that Ham would not build a house for his younger son Canaan
(in whose land was Hebron) before he built one for his elder son Mizraim
(in whose land was Zoan, and Genesis lists (presumably in order of birth) “the sons of Ham: Cush
, and Mizraim, and Put
, and Canaan.” The Baraita also taught that among all the nations, there was none more fertile than Egypt, for says, “Like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.” And there was no more fertile spot in Egypt than Zoan, where kings lived, for Isaiah
says of Pharaoh
, “his princes are at Zoan.” And in all of Israel, there was no more rocky ground than that at Hebron, which is why the Patriarchs buried their dead there, as reported in But rocky Hebron was still seven times as fertile as lush Zoan. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 112a.)
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The Gemara
interpreted the words “between two” in to teach that the scouts carried the large cluster of grape on two staffs. Rabbi Isaac said that the scouts carried the grapes with a series of balancing poles. The Gemara explained that eight spies carried the grape-cluster, one carried a pomegranate, one carried a fig, and Joshua and Caleb did not carry anything, either because they were the most distinguished of them, or because they did not share in the plan to discourage the Israelites. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 34a.)
Rabbi Johanan said in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai that the words “And they went and came to Moses” in equated the going with the coming back, indicating that just as they came back with an evil design, they had set out with an evil design. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in Exodus and 17, and Leviticus and and and 15, and Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod
to Ono
, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris
extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasang
s by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
Rabbi Johanan said in the name of Rabbi Meir
that the spies began with a true report in and then spoke ill in , because any piece of slander needs some truth in the beginning to be heard through to the end. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a.)
Rabbah
interpreted to report that Caleb won the people over with his words, for he saw that when Joshua began to address them, they disparaged Joshua for failing to have children. So Caleb took a different tack and asked, “Is this all that Amram
's son [Moses] has done to us?” And as they thought that Caleb was about to disparage Moses, they fell silent. Then Caleb said, “He brought us out of Egypt, divided the sea, and fed us manna. If he were to ask us to get ladders and climb to heaven, should we not obey? And then Caleb said the words reported in “We should go up at once, and possess the land, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a.)
Rabbi Hanina bar Papa
read the spies to say in not “they are stronger than we” but “they are stronger than He,” questioning God’s power. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a, Arakhin 15a.)
The Mishnah
noted that the evil report of the scouts in caused God to seal the decree against the Israelites in the wilderness in The Mishnah thus deduced that one who speaks suffers more than one who acts. (Mishnah Arakhin 3:5; Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15a.)
Rav Mesharsheya said that proved that the spies were liars, for though they might well have known that they saw themselves as grasshoppers, they had no way of knowing how the inhabitants of the land saw them. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a.)
Rabbi Simeon son of Rabbi Ishmael interpreted the term “the Tabernacle of the testimony” in to mean that the Tabernacle was God’s testimony to the whole world that God had in forgiven Israel for having made the Golden Calf
. Rabbi Isaac explained with a parable. A king took a wife whom he dearly loved. He became angry with her and left her, and her neighbors taunted her, saying that he would not return. Then the king sent her a message asking her to prepare the king’s palace and make the beds therein, for he was coming back to her on such-and-such a day. On that day, the king returned to her and became reconciled to her, entering her chamber and eating and drinking with her. Her neighbors at first did not believe it, but when they smelled the fragrant spices, they knew that the king had returned. Similarly, God loved Israel, bringing the Israelites to Mount Sinai, and giving them the Torah, but after only 40 days, they sinned with the Golden Calf. The heathen nations then said that God would not be reconciled with the Israelites. But when Moses pleaded for mercy on their behalf, God forgave them, as reports, “And the Lord said: ‘I have pardoned according to your word.’” Moses then told God that even though he personally was quite satisfied that God had forgiven Israel, he asked that God might announce that fact to the nations. God replied that God would cause God’s Shechinah
to dwell in their midst, and thus says, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” And by that sign, God intended that all nations might know that God had forgiven the Israelites. And thus calls it “the Tabernacle of the testimony,” because the Tabernacle was a testimony that God had pardoned the Israelites’ sins. (Exodus Rabbah
51:4.)
The Mishnah deduced from that the Israelites in the wilderness inflicted ten trials on God, one of which was the incident of the spies. (Mishnah Avot 5:4; see also Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15a.) And the Mishnah deduced further from that those who speak ill suffer more than those who commit physical acts, and thus that God sealed the judgment against the Israelites in the wilderness only because of their evil words at the incident of the spies. (Mishnah Arakhin 3:5; Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15a.)
Because with regard to the ten spies in God asked, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation?” the Mishnah deduced that a “congregation” consists of no fewer than ten people. (Mishnah Sanhedrin 1:6; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 2a.) Expounding on the same word “congregation,” Rabbi Halafta
of Kefar Hanania deduced from the words “God stands in the congregation of God” in Psalms
that the Shekhinah
abides among ten who sit together and study Torah. (Mishnah Avot 3:6.)
Noting that in the incident of the spies, God did not punish those below the age of 20 (see ), whom described as “children that . . . have no knowledge of good or evil,” Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani taught in Rabbi Jonathan
’s name that God does not punish for the actions people take in their first 20 years. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 89b.)
Rav Hamnuna
taught that God’s decree that the generation of the spies would die in the wilderness did not apply to the Levites, for says, “your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from 20 years old and upward,” and this implies that those who were numbered from 20 years old and upward came under the decree, while the tribe of Levi — which 23, 30, 35, 39, 43, and 47 say was numbered from 30 years old and upward — was excluded from the decree. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 121b.)
A Baraita taught that because of God’s displeasure with the Israelites, the north wind did not blow on them in any of the 40 years during which they wandered in the wilderness. The Tosafot
attributed God’s displeasure to the incident of the spies, although Rashi
attributed it to the Golden Calf
. (Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 72a.)
Rabbi Akiba interpreted to teach that the generation of the wilderness have no share in the world to come and will not stand at the last judgment. Rabbi Eliezer
said that it was concerning them that said, “Gather my saints together to me; those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 110b.)
The Mishnah deduced from that the spies have no portion in the world to come, as the words “those men . . . died” in indicated that they died in this world, and the words “by the plague” indicated that they died in the world to come. (Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:3; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 108a.)
Rabbah in the name of Resh Lakish deduced from that the spies who brought an evil report against the land died by the plague, and died because of the evil report that they had brought. (Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15a.)
Tractate Challah
in the Mishnah, Tosefta
, and Jerusalem Talmud
interpreted the laws of separating a portion of bread for the priests in (Mishnah Challah 1:1–4:11; Tosefta Challah 1:1–2:12; Jerusalem Talmud Challah 1a–49b.)
Tractate Shabbat
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Sabbath in and 29; (20:8–11 in the NJPS); and (5:12 in the NJPS). (Mishnah Shabbat 1:1–24:5; Tosefta Shabbat 1:1–17:29; Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 2a–157b.)
Already at the time of the Mishnah, constituted the third part of a standard Shema
prayer that the priests recited daily, following and (Mishnah Tamid 5:1; Babylonian Talmud Tamid 32b.) The Mishnah instructed that there is a section break in the Shema between reciting and reciting during which one may give and return greetings out of respect. And similarly, there is a section break between reciting and reciting emet veyatziv. But Rabbi Judah
said that one may not interrupt between reciting and reciting emet veyatziv (“true and enduring . . .”). The Mishnah taught that the reciting of precedes the reciting of in the Shema because the obligation of applies day and night, while the obligation of to wear tzizit applies only during the day. (Mishnah Berakhot 2:2; Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 13a.)
The School of Rabbi Ishmael taught that whenever Scripture uses the word “command (tzav)” (as does), it denotes exhortation to obedience immediately and for all time. A Baraita deduced exhortation to immediate obedience from the use of the word “command” in which says, “charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him.” And the Baraita deduced exhortation to obedience for all time from the use of the word “command” in which says, “even all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord gave the commandment, and onward throughout your generations.” (Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 29a.)
Rav Hisda
taught that one walking in a dirty alleyway should not recite the Shema, and one reciting the Shema who comes upon a dirty alleyway should stop reciting. Of one who would not stop reciting, Rav Adda bar Ahavah
quoted to say: “he has despised the word of the Lord.” And of one who does stop reciting, Rabbi Abbahu
taught that says: “through this word you shall prolong your days.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 24b.)
In the heart lusts. A midrash catalogued the wide range of additional capabilities of the heart reported in the Hebrew Bible. The heart speaks (Ecclesiastes
), sees , hears (1 Kings
), walks , falls , stands (Ezekiel
), rejoices , cries (Lamentations
), is comforted ), is troubled , becomes hardened , grows faint , grieves , fears , can be broken , becomes proud , rebels (Jeremiah
), invents , cavils , overflows , devises , desires , goes astray , is refreshed , can be stolen , is humbled , is enticed , errs , trembles , is awakened (Song of Songs
), loves , hates , envies , is searched , is rent (Book of Joel
), meditates , is like a fire , is like a stone , turns in repentance , becomes hot , dies , melts (Joshua
), takes in words , is susceptible to fear , gives thanks , covets , becomes hard , makes merry (Judges
), acts deceitfully , speaks from out of itself , loves bribes , writes words , plans , receives commandments , acts with pride (Obadiah
), makes arrangements , and aggrandizes itself . (Ecclesiastes Rabbah
1:36.)
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
, there are 2 positive and 1 negative commandments
in the parshah.
(Maimonides. Mishneh Torah
, Positive Commandments 14, 133, Negative Commandment 47. Cairo
, Egypt, 1170–1180. Reprinted in Maimonides. The Commandments: Sefer Ha-Mitzvoth of Maimonides. Translated by Charles B. Chavel, 1:21–22, 140–41; 2:46–47. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 4:94–119. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-457-7.)
for the parshah is Joshua
, instructing them to view the land and Jericho
, and they went to the house of a harlot
named Rahab
. That night, the king of Jericho received word that Israelite men had come to search out the land, and the king sent a demand to Rahab to deliver the men who had come to her house. But Rahab hid the men among stalks of flax on her roof, saying that when it was dark the men had left, and she did not know where they went. The king’s men left the city in pursuit of the spies on the road to the Jordan River, and the people of the city shut the city gate after them.
Rahab promptly went up to the spies on the roof and told them that she knew that God had given the Israelites the land, and that the people lived in terror of the Israelites, having heard how God dried up the Red Sea
before them and how the Israelites had destroyed the forces of Sihon
and Og
. So Rahab asked the spies to swear by God, since she had dealt kindly with them, that they would also deal kindly with her father's house and give her a token to save her family from the coming invasion. The spies told her that if she would not tell of their doings, then when God gave the Israelites the land, they would deal kindly with her. She let them down by a cord through her window, as her house was on the city wall. She told them to hide in the mountain for three days. They told her that when the Israelites came to the land, she was to bind in her window the scarlet rope by which she let the spies down and gather her family into her house for safety, as all who ventured out of the doors of her house would die. She agreed, sent them on their way, and bound the scarlet line in her window.
The spies hid in the mountain for three days, and the pursuers did not find them. The spies returned to the Israelite camp and told Joshua all that had happened, saying that surely God had delivered the land into their hands and the inhabitants would melt away before them.
Whereas in the parshah, the spies were well-known men , in the haftarah, Joshua dispatched the spies secretly. Whereas in the parshah, Moses sent a large number of 12 spies , in the haftarah, Joshua sent just 2 spies. Whereas in the parshah, many of the spies cowered before the Canaanites , in the haftarah, the spies reported that the Canaanites would melt before the Israelites. Whereas in the parshah, the spies reported their findings publicly , in the haftarah, the spies reported directly to Joshua.
. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 569. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications
, 2002. ISBN 1-57819-697-3.)
The rebellious generation and their Wilderness death foretold in are reflected in which is in turn the first of the six Psalms recited at the beginning of the Kabbalat Shabbat prayer service
. (Reuven Hammer
. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
for Shabbat and Festivals, 15. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
is the third of three blocks of verses in the Shema, a central prayer in Jewish prayer services. Jews combine , and to form the core of K’riat Shema, recited in the evening (Ma’ariv) and morning (Shacharit) prayer services. (Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, 30–31, 112–13, 282–83. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2007. ISBN 0-916219-13-5. Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 97–98, 333–34, 607.)
Reuven Hammer noted that Mishnah Tamid 5:1 recorded what was in effect the first siddur
, as a part of which priests daily recited (Reuven Hammer. Entering Jewish Prayer: A Guide to Personal Devotion and the Worship Service, 76–82. New York: Schocken, 1995. ISBN 0-8052-1022-9.)
Observant Jewish men (and some women, although the law does not require them to do so) don a tallit daily, often at the very beginning of the day, in observance of and say an accompanying blessing (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 188–89.)
Jews recite the conclusion of in the Kedushah section of the Mussaf
Amidah
prayer on Sabbath mornings. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 405.)
, Sephardi Jews
each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parshah. For parshah Shlach, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Hijaz, the maqam that expresses mourning and sadness. This maqam is appropriate in this parshah because it is the parshah that contains the episode of the spies and the punishment on Israel.
(31:29–30 in NJPS) (not punishing children for fathers’ sin). (not punishing children for fathers’ sin); (God lifted up God’s hand).
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Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
for "send”, “send to you”, or "send for yourself" ) is the 37th 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 fourth 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 in the Diaspora
Jewish diaspora
The Jewish diaspora is the English term used to describe the Galut גלות , or 'exile', of the Jews from the region of the Kingdom of Judah and Roman Iudaea and later emigration from wider Eretz Israel....
generally read it in June. Its name comes from the first distinctive words in the parshah, in . Shelach (שְׁלַח) is the sixth and Lecha (לְךָ) the seventh word in the parsha.
The parshah tells the story of the scouts who discouraged the Israelite
Israelite
According to the Bible the Israelites were a Hebrew-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited the Land of Canaan during the monarchic period .The word "Israelite" derives from the Biblical Hebrew ישראל...
s, commandments about offerings, the story of the Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
violator, and the commandment of the fringes.
Summary
The scouts
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...
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 send one chieftain
Tribal chief
A tribal chief is the leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies with social stratification under a single leader emerged in the Neolithic period out of earlier tribal structures with little stratification, and they remained prevalent throughout the Iron Age.In the case of ...
from each of the 12 tribes of Israel to scout the land of Canaan
Canaan
Canaan is a historical region roughly corresponding to modern-day Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and the western parts of Jordan...
, and Moses sent them out from the wilderness of Paran
Desert of Paran
The Desert of Paran or Wilderness of Paran , is the place in which the Hebrew Bible says the Israelites spent part of their 40 years of wandering: Then the Israelites set out from the Desert of Sinai and traveled from place to place until the cloud came to rest in the Desert of Paran...
. Among the scouts were 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...
son of Jephunneh from the Tribe of Judah
Tribe of Judah
According 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....
and Hosea son of Nun
Nun (Bible)
Nun , in the Hebrew Bible, was a man from the Tribe of Ephraim, grandson of Ammihud, son of Elishama, and father of Joshua. He grew up in and may have lived his entire life in the Israelites' Egyptian captivity, where the Egyptians "made life bitter for them with harsh labor at mortar and bricks...
from the Tribe of Ephraim
Tribe of Ephraim
According 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....
. Moses changed Hosea’s name to 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...
. They scouted the land as far as Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
. At the wadi Eshcol, they cut down a branch with a single cluster of grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
s so large that it had to be borne on a carrying frame by two of them, as well as some pomegranate
Pomegranate
The pomegranate , Punica granatum, is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub or small tree growing between five and eight meters tall.Native to the area of modern day Iran, the pomegranate has been cultivated in the Caucasus since ancient times. From there it spread to Asian areas such as the Caucasus as...
s and fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s.
At the end of 40 days, they returned and reported to Moses, Aaron
Aaron
In the Hebrew Bible and the Qur'an, Aaron : Ααρών ), who is often called "'Aaron the Priest"' and once Aaron the Levite , was the older brother of Moses, and a prophet of God. He represented the priestly functions of his tribe, becoming the first High Priest of the Israelites...
, and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh
Kadesh
This article is about Kadesh in the lands of the Amurru, bordering on Damascus Syria up to Hammath; see also Kadesh or Kedesh Kadesh was an ancient city of the Levant, located on or near the headwaters or ford of the Orontes River...
saying that the land did indeed flow with milk
Milk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
and honey
Honey
Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...
, but that the people who inhabited it were powerful, the cities were fortified and very large, and that they saw the Anak
Anak
According to the Book of Numbers, during the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, Anak was a well known figure, and a forefather of the Anakites who have been considered "strong and tall," they were also said to have been a mixed race of giant people, descendants of the Nephilim...
ites there. Caleb hushed the people and urged the people to go up and take the land. But the other scouts spread calumnies about the land, calling it “one that devours its settlers.” They reported that the land’s people were giants
Giant (mythology)
The mythology and legends of many different cultures include monsters of human appearance but prodigious size and strength. "Giant" is the English word commonly used for such beings, derived from one of the most famed examples: the gigantes of Greek mythology.In various Indo-European mythologies,...
and stronger than the Israelites. The whole community broke into crying, railed against Moses and Aaron, and shouted: “If only we might die in this wilderness!”
Moses and Aaron fell on their faces, and Joshua and Caleb rent their clothes and exhorted the Israelites not to fear, and not to rebel against God. Just as the community threatened to pelt them with stones, God’s Presence appeared in the Tabernacle
Tabernacle
The Tabernacle , according to the Hebrew Torah/Old Testament, was the portable dwelling place for the divine presence from the time of the Exodus from Egypt through the conquering of the land of Canaan. Built to specifications revealed by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, it accompanied the Israelites...
. God complained to Moses: “How long will this people spurn Me,” and threatened to strike them with pestilence and make of Moses a nation more numerous than they. But Moses told God to think of what the Egyptians
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...
would think when they heard the news, and how they would think God powerless to bring the Israelites to the Promised Land
Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is the Biblical name for the territory roughly corresponding to the area encompassed by the Southern Levant, also known as Canaan and Palestine, Promised Land and Holy Land. The belief that the area is a God-given homeland of the Jewish people is based on the narrative of the...
. Moses asked God to forbear, quoting God’s self-description as “slow to anger and abounding in kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression.” In response, God pardoned, but also swore that none of the men who had seen God’s signs would see the Promised Land, except Caleb and Joshua, and that all the rest 20 years old and up would die in the wilderness. God said that the Israelites’ children would enter the Promised Land after roaming the wilderness, suffering for the faithlessness of the present generation, for 40 years, corresponding to the number of days that the scouts scouted the land. The scouts other than Caleb and Joshua died of plague.
Amalek
The Amalekites are a people mentioned a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. They are considered to be descended from an ancestor Amalek....
ites and the Canaanites dealt them a shattering blow at Hormah
Hormah
Hormah , also known by its Canaanite name Zephath in an unidentified city in the Hebrew Bible, mentioned as one of the cities captured by Joshua...
.
Offerings
God told Moses to tell Israelites that when they entered the Promised Land and would present an offeringKorban
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...
to God, the person presenting the offering was also to bring flour
Flour
Flour is a powder which is made by grinding cereal grains, other seeds or roots . It is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many cultures, making the availability of adequate supplies of flour a major economic and political issue at various times throughout history...
mixed with oil
Olive oil
Olive oil is an oil obtained from the olive , a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin. It is commonly used in cooking, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and soaps and as a fuel for traditional oil lamps...
and wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
. And when a resident alien wanted to present an offering, the same law would apply. When the Israelites ate bread
Bread
Bread is a staple food prepared by cooking a dough of flour and water and often additional ingredients. Doughs are usually baked, but in some cuisines breads are steamed , fried , or baked on an unoiled frying pan . It may be leavened or unleavened...
of the land, they were to set the first loaf aside as a gift to God.
If the community unwittingly failed to observe any commandment
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
, the community was to present one bull
Bull
Bull usually refers to an uncastrated adult male bovine.Bull may also refer to:-Entertainment:* Bull , an original show on the TNT Network* "Bull" , an episode of television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation...
as a burnt offering with its proper meal offering and wine, and one he-goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
as a sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
offering, and the priest
Kohen
A Kohen is the Hebrew word for priest. Jewish Kohens are traditionally believed and halachically required to be of direct patrilineal descent from the Biblical Aaron....
would make expiation for the whole community and they would be forgiven. And if an individual sinned unwittingly, the individual was to offer a she-goat in its first year as a sin offering, and the priest would make expiation that the individual might be forgiven. But the person who violated a commandment defiantly was to be cut off from among his people.
The Sabbath violator
Once the Israelites came upon a man gathering woodWood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
on the Sabbath day, and they brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the community and placed him in custody. God told Moses that the whole community was to pelt him with stones
Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a form of capital punishment whereby a group throws stones at a person until the person dies. No individual among the group can be identified as the one who kills the subject, yet everyone involved plainly bears some degree of moral culpability. This is in contrast to the...
outside the camp, so they did so.
The fringes
God told Moses to instruct the Israelites to make for themselves fringesTzitzit
The Hebrew noun tzitzit is the name for specially knotted ritual fringes worn by observant Jews. Tzitzit are attached to the four corners of the tallit and tallit katan.-Etymology:The word may derive from the semitic root N-TZ-H...
(in Hebrew, ציצת or tzitzit) on each of the corners of their garments. They were to look at the fringes, recall the commandments, and observe them.
Numbers chapter 13
and 28 refer to the “children of Anak” (יְלִדֵי הָעֲנָק, yelidei ha-anak), refers to the “sons of Anak” (בְּנֵי עֲנָק, benei anak), and and refer to the “Anakim” (עֲנָקִים). John A. Wilson suggested that the Anakim may be related to the Iy-‘anaq geographic region named in Middle Kingdom EgyptianMiddle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...
(19th to 18th century BCE) pottery bowls that had been inscribed with the names of enemies and then shattered as a kind of curse. (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament
Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament edited by James B. Pritchard is an anthology of important historical, legal, mythological, liturgical, and secular texts from the ancient Near East. William W...
. Edited by James B. Pritchard
James B. Pritchard
James Bennett Pritchard was an American archeologist whose work explicated the interrelationships of the religions of ancient Israel, Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon...
, 328. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969. ISBN 0-691-03503-2.)
In inner-biblical interpretation
Numbers chapter 13
and Deuteronomy both tell the story of the spies. Whereas says that God told Moses to send men to spy out the land of Canaan, in Moses recounted that all the Israelites asked him to send men to search the land, and the idea pleased him.Numbers chapter 15
prohibits kindling fire on the Sabbath. reports that when the Israelites came upon a man gathering wood on the Sabbath (apparently with the intent to fuel a fire), they brought him before Moses, Aaron, and the community and placed him in custody, “because it had not been declared what should be done to him.” Clearing up any uncertainty about whether the man had violated the law, God told Moses that the whole community was to stone him outside the camp, and they did.In classical rabbinic interpretation
Numbers chapter 13
Resh Lakish interpreted the words “Send you” in to indicate that God gave Moses discretion over whether to send the spies. Resh Lakish read Moses’ recollection of the matter in that “the thing pleased me well” to mean that agreeing to send the spies pleased Moses well but not God. (Babylonian TalmudTalmud
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....
Sotah 34b.)
Rabbi Isaac said that the spies’ names betrayed their lack of faith, and that Sethur’s name (in ) meant that he undermined (sathar) the works of God. And Rabbi Johanan
Yochanan bar Nafcha
Rabbi Yochanan ;...
said that the name of Nahbi the son of Vophsi (in ) meant that he hid (hikbi) God’s words. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 34b.)
Raba
Rava (amora)
For the third generation Amora sage of Babylon, with a similar name, see: Joseph b. Hama .Abba ben Joseph bar Ḥama, who is exclusively referred to in the Talmud by the name Rava , was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora, born in 270. He is one of the most often-cited Rabbis...
noted that literally reads “they went up into the South, and he came to Hebron,” and deduced from the change in the number of the pronoun that Caleb separated himself from the spies’ plan and prostrated himself in prayer on the graves of the patriarchs
Patriarchs (Bible)
The Patriarchs of the Bible, when narrowly defined, are Abraham, the ancestor of all the Abrahamic nations; his son Isaac, the ancestor of the nations surrounding Israel/Judah; and Isaac's son Jacob, also named Israel, the ancestor of the Israelites...
in Hebron. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 34b.)
Interpreting the names Ahiman
Ahiman
Ahiman is the name of two persons in the Bible:* One of the three giant sons of Anak whom Caleb and the spies saw in Mount Hebron when they went in to explore the land...
, Sheshai
Sheshai
Sheshai was a clan of Anakim living in Hebron named for a son of Anak in the Holy Bible . The clans were driven out of the city by Caleb and the Tribe of Judah .The two brothers of Sheshai were Ahiman and Talmai....
, and Talmai
Talmai
Talmai is a name in the Bible referring to a number of minor people. Its Aramaic version was connected to the Greek Ptolemy , and, later, to the Italian Bartolomeo, English Bartholomew etc....
in 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 Ahiman was the most skilful of the brothers, Sheshai turned the ground on which he stepped into pits, and Talmai turned the ground into ridges when he walked. It was also taught that Ahiman built Anath, Sheshai built Alush
Alush
Alush was one of the places, the last before Rephidim, at which the Israelites rested on their way to Mount Sinai . It was probably situated on the shore of the Red Sea. It means a crowd of men. A particular event that occurred here was the story in the Exodus where water flowed from a rock....
, and Talmai built Talbush. They were called “the children of Anak” (the giant) because they seemed so tall that they would reach the sun. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 10a.)
A Baraita interpreted the words “and Hebron was built seven years before Zoan
Tanis, Egypt
Tanis , the Greek name of ancient Djanet , is a city in the north-eastern Nile delta of Egypt. It is located on the Tanitic branch of the Nile which has long since silted up.-History:...
in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
” in to mean that Hebron was seven times as fertile as Zoan. The Baraita rejected the plain meaning of “built,” reasoning that Ham would not build a house for his younger son Canaan
Canaan (Bible)
Canaan, according to the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible, was a son of Ham and grandson of Noah.- Descendants of Canaan:According to the Table of Nations in Genesis 10 , Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanite tribes who occupied the ancient Land of Canaan: all the territory from Sidon to...
(in whose land was Hebron) before he built one for his elder son Mizraim
Mizraim
Mizraim is the Hebrew name for the land of Egypt, with the dual suffix -āyim, perhaps referring to the "two Egypts": Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt....
(in whose land was Zoan, and Genesis lists (presumably in order of birth) “the sons of Ham: Cush
Biblical Cush
Cush was the eldest son of Ham, brother of Mizraim , Canaan and the father of Nimrod, and Raamah, mentioned in the "Table of Nations" in the Genesis 10:6 and I Chronicles 1:8...
, and Mizraim, and Put
Phut
Phut or Put is the third son of Ham , in the biblical Table of Nations .Put is associated with Ancient Libya by many early writers...
, and Canaan.” The Baraita also taught that among all the nations, there was none more fertile than Egypt, for says, “Like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.” And there was no more fertile spot in Egypt than Zoan, where kings lived, for 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...
says of Pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
, “his princes are at Zoan.” And in all of Israel, there was no more rocky ground than that at Hebron, which is why the Patriarchs buried their dead there, as reported in But rocky Hebron was still seven times as fertile as lush Zoan. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 112a.)
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...
interpreted the words “between two” in to teach that the scouts carried the large cluster of grape on two staffs. Rabbi Isaac said that the scouts carried the grapes with a series of balancing poles. The Gemara explained that eight spies carried the grape-cluster, one carried a pomegranate, one carried a fig, and Joshua and Caleb did not carry anything, either because they were the most distinguished of them, or because they did not share in the plan to discourage the Israelites. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 34a.)
Rabbi Johanan said in the name of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai that the words “And they went and came to Moses” in equated the going with the coming back, indicating that just as they came back with an evil design, they had set out with an evil design. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a.)
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis’ reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with “milk and honey,” as described in Exodus and 17, and Leviticus and and and 15, and Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod
Lod
Lod is a city located on the Sharon Plain southeast of Tel Aviv in the Center District of Israel. At the end of 2010, it had a population of 70,000, roughly 75 percent Jewish and 25 percent Arab.The name is derived from the Biblical city of Lod...
to Ono
Ono, Benjamin
Ono - a town of Benjamin, in the "plain of Ono" ; now Kiryat-Ono, 5 miles north of Lydda , and about 30 miles northwest of Jerusalem. Not succeeding in their attempts to deter Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Sanballat and Tobiah resorted to stratagem, and pretending to wish a...
, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris
Tzippori
Tzippori , also known as Sepphoris, Dioceserea and Saffuriya is located in the central Galilee region, north-northwest of Nazareth, in modern-day Israel...
extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasang
Parasang
The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of itinerant distance comparable to the European league.In antiquity, the term was used throughout much of the Middle East, and the Old Iranian language from which it derives can no longer be determined...
s by six parasangs. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 111b–12a.)
Rabbi Johanan said in the name of 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...
that the spies began with a true report in and then spoke ill in , because any piece of slander needs some truth in the beginning to be heard through to the end. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a.)
Rabbah bar Nahmani
Rabbah bar Nachmani was a Jewish Talmudist known as an amora, who lived in Babylonia, known throughout the Talmud simply as Rabbah.Rabbah was born into a priestly family, and studied at both the academies in Sura and Pumbedita...
interpreted to report that Caleb won the people over with his words, for he saw that when Joshua began to address them, they disparaged Joshua for failing to have children. So Caleb took a different tack and asked, “Is this all that Amram
Amram
In the Book of Exodus, Amram Arabic عمران Imran, is the father of Aaron, Moses, and Miriam and the husband of Jochebed.-In the Bible:In addition to being married to Jochebed, Amram is also described in the Bible as having been related to Jochebed prior to the marriage, although the exact...
's son [Moses] has done to us?” And as they thought that Caleb was about to disparage Moses, they fell silent. Then Caleb said, “He brought us out of Egypt, divided the sea, and fed us manna. If he were to ask us to get ladders and climb to heaven, should we not obey? And then Caleb said the words reported in “We should go up at once, and possess the land, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a.)
Rabbi Hanina bar Papa
Hanina ben Pappa
For another Jewish Amora sage also of the Land of Israel, same 3d Amoraic generetion & with a similar name, see Hanina b. Papi.For the Babylonian Amora sages of the 5th generetion, see Rav Papi or Rav Papa....
read the spies to say in not “they are stronger than we” but “they are stronger than He,” questioning God’s power. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a, Arakhin 15a.)
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...
noted that the evil report of the scouts in caused God to seal the decree against the Israelites in the wilderness in The Mishnah thus deduced that one who speaks suffers more than one who acts. (Mishnah Arakhin 3:5; Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15a.)
Rav Mesharsheya said that proved that the spies were liars, for though they might well have known that they saw themselves as grasshoppers, they had no way of knowing how the inhabitants of the land saw them. (Babylonian Talmud Sotah 35a.)
Numbers chapter 14
A Baraita taught that when Moses ascended to receive the Torah from God, Moses found God writing “longsuffering” among the words with which describes God. Moses asked God whether God meant longsuffering with the righteous, to which God replied that God is longsuffering even with the wicked. Moses exclaimed that God could let the wicked perish, but God cautioned Moses that Moses would come to desire God’s longsuffering for the wicked. Later, when the Israelites sinned at the incident of the spies, God reminded Moses that he had suggested that God be longsuffering only with the righteous, to which Moses recounted that God had promised to be longsuffering even with the wicked. And that is why Moses in cited to God that God is “slow to anger.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 111a–b.)Rabbi Simeon son of Rabbi Ishmael interpreted the term “the Tabernacle of the testimony” in to mean that the Tabernacle was God’s testimony to the whole world that God had in forgiven Israel for having made the Golden Calf
Golden calf
According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai...
. Rabbi Isaac explained with a parable. A king took a wife whom he dearly loved. He became angry with her and left her, and her neighbors taunted her, saying that he would not return. Then the king sent her a message asking her to prepare the king’s palace and make the beds therein, for he was coming back to her on such-and-such a day. On that day, the king returned to her and became reconciled to her, entering her chamber and eating and drinking with her. Her neighbors at first did not believe it, but when they smelled the fragrant spices, they knew that the king had returned. Similarly, God loved Israel, bringing the Israelites to Mount Sinai, and giving them the Torah, but after only 40 days, they sinned with the Golden Calf. The heathen nations then said that God would not be reconciled with the Israelites. But when Moses pleaded for mercy on their behalf, God forgave them, as reports, “And the Lord said: ‘I have pardoned according to your word.’” Moses then told God that even though he personally was quite satisfied that God had forgiven Israel, he asked that God might announce that fact to the nations. God replied that God would cause God’s Shechinah
Shekhinah
Shekinah is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, especially in the Temple in Jerusalem.-Etymology:Shekinah is derived...
to dwell in their midst, and thus says, “And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them.” And by that sign, God intended that all nations might know that God had forgiven the Israelites. And thus calls it “the Tabernacle of the testimony,” because the Tabernacle was a testimony that God had pardoned the Israelites’ sins. (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...
51:4.)
The Mishnah deduced from that the Israelites in the wilderness inflicted ten trials on God, one of which was the incident of the spies. (Mishnah Avot 5:4; see also Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15a.) And the Mishnah deduced further from that those who speak ill suffer more than those who commit physical acts, and thus that God sealed the judgment against the Israelites in the wilderness only because of their evil words at the incident of the spies. (Mishnah Arakhin 3:5; Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15a.)
Because with regard to the ten spies in God asked, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation?” the Mishnah deduced that a “congregation” consists of no fewer than ten people. (Mishnah Sanhedrin 1:6; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 2a.) Expounding on the same word “congregation,” Rabbi Halafta
Halafta
Halafta was a rabbi who lived in Sepphoris in the Galilee during the late 1st and early 2nd century CE. He was the father of Jose ben Halafta, and one of the latter's teachers of halakha....
of Kefar Hanania deduced from the words “God stands in the congregation of God” in Psalms
Psalms
The Book of Psalms , commonly referred to simply as Psalms, is a book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Bible...
that the Shekhinah
Shekhinah
Shekinah is the English spelling of a grammatically feminine Hebrew word that means the dwelling or settling, and is used to denote the dwelling or settling divine presence of God, especially in the Temple in Jerusalem.-Etymology:Shekinah is derived...
abides among ten who sit together and study Torah. (Mishnah Avot 3:6.)
Noting that in the incident of the spies, God did not punish those below the age of 20 (see ), whom described as “children that . . . have no knowledge of good or evil,” Rabbi Samuel bar Nahmani taught in 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...
’s name that God does not punish for the actions people take in their first 20 years. (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 89b.)
Rav Hamnuna
Hamnuna
Hamnuna is the name of several rabbis in the Talmud.* Hamnuna Sabba . Mid third century of the common era. A pupil of Rav . After Rav, he became the head of the rabbinical academy at Sura. The Talmud contains many halakhic rulings, aggadot and prayers from him...
taught that God’s decree that the generation of the spies would die in the wilderness did not apply to the Levites, for says, “your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from 20 years old and upward,” and this implies that those who were numbered from 20 years old and upward came under the decree, while the tribe of Levi — which 23, 30, 35, 39, 43, and 47 say was numbered from 30 years old and upward — was excluded from the decree. (Babylonian Talmud Bava Batra 121b.)
A Baraita taught that because of God’s displeasure with the Israelites, the north wind did not blow on them in any of the 40 years during which they wandered in the wilderness. The Tosafot
Tosafot
The Tosafot or Tosafos are medieval commentaries on the Talmud. They take the form of critical and explanatory glosses, printed, in almost all Talmud editions, on the outer margin and opposite Rashi's notes...
attributed God’s displeasure to the incident of the spies, although Rashi
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzhaki , or in Latin Salomon Isaacides, and today generally known by the acronym Rashi , was a medieval French rabbi famed as the author of a comprehensive commentary on the Talmud, as well as a comprehensive commentary on the Tanakh...
attributed it to the Golden Calf
Golden calf
According to the Hebrew Bible, the golden calf was an idol made by Aaron to satisfy the Israelites during Moses' absence, when he went up to Mount Sinai...
. (Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 72a.)
Rabbi Akiba interpreted to teach that the generation of the wilderness have no share in the world to come and will not stand at the last judgment. Rabbi Eliezer
Eliezer ben Hurcanus
Eliezer ben Hurcanus or Eliezer ben Hyrcanus , a Kohen, was one of the most prominent tannaim of the 1st and 2nd centuries, disciple of R. Johanan ben Zakkai and colleague of Gamaliel II, whose sister he married , and of Joshua ben Hananiah...
said that it was concerning them that said, “Gather my saints together to me; those who have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 110b.)
The Mishnah deduced from that the spies have no portion in the world to come, as the words “those men . . . died” in indicated that they died in this world, and the words “by the plague” indicated that they died in the world to come. (Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:3; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 108a.)
Rabbah in the name of Resh Lakish deduced from that the spies who brought an evil report against the land died by the plague, and died because of the evil report that they had brought. (Babylonian Talmud Arakhin 15a.)
Numbers chapter 15
The Mishnah exempted the meal-offering that accompanied the drink-offering in from the penalty associated with eating piggul, offerings invalidated for improper intent. (Mishnah Zevachim 4:3; Babylonian Talmud Zevachim 43a.) And the Mishnah ruled that these meal-offerings required oil but not frankincense. (Mishnah Menachot 5:3; Babylonian Talmud Menachot 59a.)Tractate Challah
Hallah (Talmud)
Hallah is the ninth tractate of Seder Zeraim of the Mishnah and of the Talmud. This "Hallah" was separated from bread dough made from the five species of grain and put aside for a Kohen in Biblical times and the time of the Jewish Temple...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta
Tosefta
The Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
, and 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...
interpreted the laws of separating a portion of bread for the priests in (Mishnah Challah 1:1–4:11; Tosefta Challah 1:1–2:12; Jerusalem Talmud Challah 1a–49b.)
Moed
Moed is the second Order of the Mishnah, the first written recording of the Oral Torah of the Jewish people . Of the six orders of the Mishna, Moed is the third shortest. The order of Moed consists of 12 tractates:# Shabbat: or Shabbath deals with the 39 prohibitions of "work" on the Shabbat...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Sabbath in and 29; (20:8–11 in the NJPS); and (5:12 in the NJPS). (Mishnah Shabbat 1:1–24:5; Tosefta Shabbat 1:1–17:29; Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 2a–157b.)
Already at the time of the Mishnah, constituted the third part of a standard Shema
Shema Yisrael
Shema Yisrael are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services...
prayer that the priests recited daily, following and (Mishnah Tamid 5:1; Babylonian Talmud Tamid 32b.) The Mishnah instructed that there is a section break in the Shema between reciting and reciting during which one may give and return greetings out of respect. And similarly, there is a section break between reciting and reciting emet veyatziv. But 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...
said that one may not interrupt between reciting and reciting emet veyatziv (“true and enduring . . .”). The Mishnah taught that the reciting of precedes the reciting of in the Shema because the obligation of applies day and night, while the obligation of to wear tzizit applies only during the day. (Mishnah Berakhot 2:2; Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 13a.)
The School of Rabbi Ishmael taught that whenever Scripture uses the word “command (tzav)” (as does), it denotes exhortation to obedience immediately and for all time. A Baraita deduced exhortation to immediate obedience from the use of the word “command” in which says, “charge Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him.” And the Baraita deduced exhortation to obedience for all time from the use of the word “command” in which says, “even all that the Lord has commanded you by the hand of Moses, from the day that the Lord gave the commandment, and onward throughout your generations.” (Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 29a.)
Rav Hisda
Rav Chisda
Rav Chisda was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the third generation , mentioned frequently in the Talmud.-Youth:...
taught that one walking in a dirty alleyway should not recite the Shema, and one reciting the Shema who comes upon a dirty alleyway should stop reciting. Of one who would not stop reciting, Rav Adda bar Ahavah
Adda bar Ahavah
Adda bar Ahavah or Adda bar Ahabah is the name of two Jewish rabbis and Talmudic scholars, known as Amoraim, who lived in Babylonia.-The amora of the second generation:...
quoted to say: “he has despised the word of the Lord.” And of one who does stop reciting, Rabbi Abbahu
Abbahu
Abbahu was a Jewish Talmudist, known as an amora, who lived in the Land of Israel, of the 3rd amoraic generation , sometimes cited as R. Abbahu of Caesarea . His rabbinic education was acquired mainly at Tiberias, in the academy presided over by R. Johanan, with whom his relations were almost...
taught that says: “through this word you shall prolong your days.” (Babylonian Talmud Berakhot 24b.)
In the heart lusts. A midrash catalogued the wide range of additional capabilities of the heart reported in the Hebrew Bible. The heart speaks (Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes
The Book of Ecclesiastes, called , is a book of the Hebrew Bible. The English name derives from the Greek translation of the Hebrew title.The main speaker in the book, identified by the name or title Qoheleth , introduces himself as "son of David, king in Jerusalem." The work consists of personal...
), sees , hears (1 Kings
Books of Kings
The Book of Kings presents a narrative history of ancient Israel and Judah from the death of David to the release of his successor Jehoiachin from imprisonment in Babylon, a period of some 400 years...
), walks , falls , stands (Ezekiel
Book of Ezekiel
The Book of Ezekiel is the third of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and preceding the Book of the Twelve....
), rejoices , cries (Lamentations
Book of Lamentations
The Book of Lamentations ) is a poetic book of the Hebrew Bible composed by the Jewish prophet Jeremiah. It mourns the destruction of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple in the 6th Century BCE....
), is comforted ), is troubled , becomes hardened , grows faint , grieves , fears , can be broken , becomes proud , rebels (Jeremiah
Book of Jeremiah
The Book of Jeremiah is the second of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, following the book of Isaiah and preceding Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve....
), invents , cavils , overflows , devises , desires , goes astray , is refreshed , can be stolen , is humbled , is enticed , errs , trembles , is awakened (Song of Songs
Song of songs
Song of Songs, also known as the Song of Solomon, is a book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. It may also refer to:In music:* Song of songs , the debut album by David and the Giants* A generic term for medleysPlays...
), loves , hates , envies , is searched , is rent (Book of Joel
Book of Joel
The Book of Joel is part of the Hebrew Bible. Joel is part of a group of twelve prophetic books known as the Minor Prophets or simply as The Twelve; the distinction 'minor' indicates the short length of the text in relation to the larger prophetic texts known as the "Major Prophets".-Content:After...
), meditates , is like a fire , is like a stone , turns in repentance , becomes hot , dies , melts (Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
), takes in words , is susceptible to fear , gives thanks , covets , becomes hard , makes merry (Judges
Book of Judges
The Book of Judges is the seventh book of the Hebrew bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its title describes its contents: it contains the history of Biblical judges, divinely inspired prophets whose direct knowledge of Yahweh allows them to act as decision-makers for the Israelites, as...
), acts deceitfully , speaks from out of itself , loves bribes , writes words , plans , receives commandments , acts with pride (Obadiah
Book of Obadiah
The canonical Book of Obadiah is an oracle concerning the divine judgment of Edom and the restoration of Israel. The text consists of a single chapter, divided into 21 verses, making it the shortest book in the Hebrew Bible....
), makes arrangements , and aggrandizes itself . (Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Ecclesiastes Rabbah
Ecclesiastes Rabbah or Kohelet Rabbah is an haggadic commentary on Ecclesiastes, included in the collection of the Midrash Rabbot. It follows the Biblical book verse by verse, only a few verses remaining without comment. In the list of the old sedarim for the Bible four sedarim are assigned to...
1:36.)
Commandments
According to MaimonidesMaimonides
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...
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
Sefer 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 2 positive and 1 negative commandments
Mitzvah
The primary meaning of the Hebrew word refers to precepts and commandments as commanded by God...
in the parshah.
- To set aside a portion of doughDoughDough is a paste made out of any cereals or leguminous crops by mixing flour with a small amount of water and/or other liquid. This process is a precursor to making a wide variety of foodstuffs, particularly breads and bread-based items , flatbreads, noodles, pastry, and similar items)...
for a Kohen - To have tzitzit on four-cornered garments
- Not to stray after the whims of one's heartHuman heartThe human heart is a muscular organ that provides a continuous blood circulation through the cardiac cycle and is one of the most vital organs in the human body...
or temptations one sees with his eyeHuman eyeThe human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
s
(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 14, 133, Negative Commandment 47. 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, 1:21–22, 140–41; 2:46–47. London: Soncino Press, 1967. ISBN 0-900689-71-4. Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 4:94–119. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1988. ISBN 0-87306-457-7.)
Haftarah
The haftarahHaftarah
The haftarah or haftoroh is a series of selections from the books of Nevi'im of the Hebrew Bible that is publicly read in synagogue as part of Jewish religious practice...
for the parshah is Joshua
Book of Joshua
The Book of Joshua is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land....
Summary
Joshua secretly dispatched two spies from ShittimAbila (Peraea)
Abila – also, Biblical: Abel-Shittim or Ha-Shittim – was an ancient city east of the Jordan River in Moab, later Peraea, near Livias, about twelve km northeast of the north shore of the Dead Sea; the site is now that of Abil-ez-Zeit, Jordan. Abel-Shittim , is found only in Num...
, instructing them to view the land and 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 they went to the house of a harlot
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
named Rahab
Rahab
Rahab, was, according to the Book of Joshua, a woman who lived in Jericho in the Promised Land and assisted the Israelites in capturing the city...
. That night, the king of Jericho received word that Israelite men had come to search out the land, and the king sent a demand to Rahab to deliver the men who had come to her house. But Rahab hid the men among stalks of flax on her roof, saying that when it was dark the men had left, and she did not know where they went. The king’s men left the city in pursuit of the spies on the road to the Jordan River, and the people of the city shut the city gate after them.
Rahab promptly went up to the spies on the roof and told them that she knew that God had given the Israelites the land, and that the people lived in terror of the Israelites, having heard how God dried up the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
before them and how the Israelites had destroyed the forces of Sihon
Sihon
Sihon, according to the Old Testament, was an Amorite king, who refused to let the Israelites pass through his country. The Bible describes that as the Israelites in their Exodus came to the country east of the Jordan, near Heshbon, King of the Amorites refused to let them pass through his...
and Og
Og
Og, according to the bible, was an Amorite king of Bashan who, along with his army, was slain by Moses and his men at the battle of Edrei...
. So Rahab asked the spies to swear by God, since she had dealt kindly with them, that they would also deal kindly with her father's house and give her a token to save her family from the coming invasion. The spies told her that if she would not tell of their doings, then when God gave the Israelites the land, they would deal kindly with her. She let them down by a cord through her window, as her house was on the city wall. She told them to hide in the mountain for three days. They told her that when the Israelites came to the land, she was to bind in her window the scarlet rope by which she let the spies down and gather her family into her house for safety, as all who ventured out of the doors of her house would die. She agreed, sent them on their way, and bound the scarlet line in her window.
The spies hid in the mountain for three days, and the pursuers did not find them. The spies returned to the Israelite camp and told Joshua all that had happened, saying that surely God had delivered the land into their hands and the inhabitants would melt away before them.
Connection to the Parshah
Both the parshah and the haftarah deal with spies sent to scout out the land of Israel, the parshah in connection with the ten scouts sent to reconnoiter the whole land , and the haftrah in connection with the two spies sent to reconnoiter Jericho. Joshua participated in both ventures, as a scout in the parshah ( 16), and as the leader who sent the spies in the haftarah. In the parshah, God complained about how the Israelites did not believe the “signs” (’otot) that God had sent , and in the haftarah, Rahab asked the spies for a true “sign” (’ot) so that she might believe them.Whereas in the parshah, the spies were well-known men , in the haftarah, Joshua dispatched the spies secretly. Whereas in the parshah, Moses sent a large number of 12 spies , in the haftarah, Joshua sent just 2 spies. Whereas in the parshah, many of the spies cowered before the Canaanites , in the haftarah, the spies reported that the Canaanites would melt before the Israelites. Whereas in the parshah, the spies reported their findings publicly , in the haftarah, the spies reported directly to Joshua.
In the liturgy
Some Jews read how the generation of the Wilderness tested God ten times in as they study Pirkei Avot chapter 5 on a Sabbath between Passover and Rosh HashanahRosh 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...
. (Menachem Davis. The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation, 569. 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.)
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....
. (Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer
Reuven Hammer is a Conservative Jewish rabbi, scholar of Jewish liturgy, author and lecturer. He is a founder of the Masorti movement in Israel and a past president of the International Rabbinical Assembly. He served many years as head of the Masorti Beth Din in Israel...
. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom
Siddur Sim Shalom may refer to any siddur in a family of siddurim, Jewish prayerbooks, and related commentaries on these siddurim, published by the Rabbinical Assembly and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism....
for Shabbat and Festivals, 15. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0-916219-20-8.)
is the third of three blocks of verses in the Shema, a central prayer in Jewish prayer services. Jews combine , and to form the core of K’riat Shema, recited in the evening (Ma’ariv) and morning (Shacharit) prayer services. (Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, 30–31, 112–13, 282–83. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2007. ISBN 0-916219-13-5. Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 97–98, 333–34, 607.)
Reuven Hammer noted that Mishnah Tamid 5:1 recorded what was in effect the first siddur
Siddur
A siddur is a Jewish prayer book, containing a set order of daily prayers. This article discusses how some of these prayers evolved, and how the siddur, as it is known today has developed...
, as a part of which priests daily recited (Reuven Hammer. Entering Jewish Prayer: A Guide to Personal Devotion and the Worship Service, 76–82. New York: Schocken, 1995. ISBN 0-8052-1022-9.)
Observant Jewish men (and some women, although the law does not require them to do so) don a tallit daily, often at the very beginning of the day, in observance of and say an accompanying blessing (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 188–89.)
Jews recite the conclusion of in the Kedushah section of the Mussaf
Mussaf
Mussaf is an additional service that is recited on Shabbat, Yom Tov, Chol Hamoed, and Rosh Chodesh. The service, which is traditionally combined with the Shacharit in synagogues, is considered to be additional to the regular services of Shacharit, Mincha, and Maariv.During the days of the Holy...
Amidah
Amidah
The Amidah , also called the Shmoneh Esreh , is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. This prayer, among others, is found in the siddur, the traditional Jewish prayer book...
prayer on Sabbath mornings. (Davis, Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals, at 405.)
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 Shlach, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Hijaz, the maqam that expresses mourning and sadness. This maqam is appropriate in this parshah because it is the parshah that contains the episode of the spies and the punishment on Israel.
Biblical
(Nephilim). (God lifted up God’s hand); (pillar of fire); (pillar of fire); (20:5 in JPS) (punishing children for fathers’ sin); (punishing children for fathers’ sin). (inquiry of God on the law). (inquiry of God on the law); 27:1–11 (inquiry of God on the law). (the scouts); (5:9 in JPS) (punishing children for fathers’ sin); (rebellion).- 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...
(pillar of fire); (God lifted up God’s hand); (pillar of fire). (God clears from hidden faults); (God’s delight); (his seed shall inherit the land); (shall inherit the land); (not by their own sword did they get the land); (earth filled with God’s glory); 22 (Zoan; they didn’t believe); (that generation should not enter); (God full of compassion, gracious, slow to anger, plenteous in mercy); 39 (spurning the desirable land; they went astray); (God causes princes to wander in the waste); (with God’s help, victory over the nations); (God gracious, full of compassion; slow to anger, of great mercy); (God’s delight).
Early nonrabbinic
- PhiloPhiloPhilo , known also as Philo of Alexandria , Philo Judaeus, Philo Judaeus of Alexandria, Yedidia, "Philon", and Philo the Jew, was a Hellenistic Jewish Biblical philosopher born in Alexandria....
. Allegorical Interpretation 3:61:175; On the Birth of Abel and the Sacrifices Offered by Him and by His Brother Cain 33:107; On the Posterity of Cain and His Exile 17:60; 35:122; On the Giants 11:48; On the Migration of Abraham 12:68; 21:122; On the Change of Names 21:123; 46:265; On Dreams, That They Are God-Sent 2:25:170; On the Virtues 32:171; Questions and Answers on Genesis 1:100. AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt, early 1st Century C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by Charles Duke YongeCharles Duke YongeCharles Duke Yonge was an English historian, classicist, and cricketer. He wrote numerous works of modern history, and translated several classical works.-Life:...
, 70, 107, 137, 144, 155, 259, 265, 351, 360, 364, 400, 657, 813. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1993. ISBN 0-943575-93-1. - 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...
15:1–7; 57:2. 1st Century C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, Edited by 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,...
, 2:322–23, 371. New York: Doubleday, 1985. ISBN 0-385-18813-7.
- 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,...
1:8:3; 3:14:1–15:3; 4:1:1–3. Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition. Translated by William WhistonWilliam WhistonWilliam Whiston was an English theologian, historian, and mathematician. He is probably best known for his translation of the Antiquities of the Jews and other works by Josephus, his A New Theory of the Earth, and his Arianism...
, 39, 99–102. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 1987. ISBN 0-913573-86-8.
Classical rabbinic
- MishnahMishnahThe Mishnah or Mishna is the first major written redaction of the Jewish oral traditions called the "Oral Torah". It is also the first major work of Rabbinic Judaism. It was redacted c...
: Berakhot 2:2; Challah 1:1–4:11; Sanhedrin 1:6; 10:3; Eduyot 1:2; Avot 3:6; 5:4; Horayot 1:4; 2:6; Zevachim 4:3; 12:5; Menachot 3:5; 4:1; 5:3; 9:1; Arakhin 3:5; Keritot 1:1–2; Tamid 5:1. 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...
, 5, 147–58, 585, 605, 640, 679, 685, 691, 694, 705, 726, 739–40, 742, 751, 813, 836–37, 869. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4. - ToseftaToseftaThe Tosefta is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah.-Overview:...
: Challah 1:1–2:12; Sotah 4:13–14; 7:18; 9:2; Sanhedrin 13:9–10; Eduyot 1:1; Horayot 1:4; Bekhorot 3:12; Arakhin 2:11. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:331–40, 848–49, 865, 873; 2:1190–91, 1245, 1296, 1479, 1500. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2. - SifreSifreSifre refers to either of two works of Midrash halakhah, or classical Jewish legal Biblical exegesis, based on the biblical books of Bamidbar and Devarim .- The Talmudic-Era Sifre :The title "Sifre debe Rab" is used by R. Hananeel on Sheb. 37b, Alfasi on Pes...
to Numbers 107:1–115:5. Land of Israel, circa 250–350 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Sifré to Numbers: An American Translation and Explanation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 2:133–84. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986. ISBN 1-55540-010-8. - SifraSifraSifra is the Halakic midrash to Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah, as appears from Tanḥuma, quoted in Or Zarua, i. 7b. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim" , and in two passages also "Sifra debe...
34:4. Land of Israel, 4th Century C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Sifra: An Analytical Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:214. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55540-205-4. - 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 10a; 12b–13a; 20b, 24b, 75b; Peah 8a; Terumot 39a; Maaser Sheni 57b; Challah 1a–49b; Orlah 5b, 41b; Shabbat 1a–. Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 1–3, 7, 10–12. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2005–2011. - Mekhilta of Rabbi IshmaelMekhiltaThis article refers to the Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. There is a separate article on the Mekhilta de-Rabbi ShimonMekhilta or Mekilta is a halakic midrash to the Book of Exodus...
Pisha 1, 5; Beshallah 1–2; Vayassa 3; Amalek 1–3; Bahodesh 9. Land of Israel, late 4th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:6, 30, 126, 131, 137, 247; 2:6, 16, 22, 92. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55540-237-2. And Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael. Translated by Jacob Z. Lauterbach, 1:2–3, 26, 117–18, 124, 129, 237; 2:255, 266–67, 273, 341. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1933, reissued 2004. ISBN 0-8276-0678-8. - Mekhilta of Rabbi SimeonMekhilta de-Rabbi ShimonThe Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon is a Halakic midrash on Exodus from the school of R. Akiba, the "Rabbi Shimon" in question being Shimon bar Yochai. No midrash of this name is mentioned in Talmudic literature, but medieval authors refer to one which they call either "Mekilta de-R. Simeon b. Yoḥai," or...
12:3; 20:1, 5; 37:1; 44:1; 45:1; 54:2. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai. Translated by W. David Nelson, 40, 81, 85, 160, 184, 193, 248. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2006. ISBN 0-8276-0799-7.
- 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 11b, 12b, 24a–b, 32a; Shabbat 9b, 15a, 20b, 22a, 23b, 27b, 32a–b, 68b, 89a–b, 96b, 132a, 137a, 153b; Eruvin 83a, 92b; Pesachim 6a, 37a, 38a, 50b, 77a, 93b, 101a, 119b; Yoma 7a, 10a, 15b, 26b, 36b, 44a, 57a, 61b; Sukkah 9a, 35a–b, 41b–42a; Beitzah 12b, 21a; Taanit 22a, 24a, 29a; Megillah 7b, 31b; Moed Katan 9a, 19a; Chagigah 5b, 9b, 14b; Yevamot 4b, 5b, 9a, 46b, 72a, 90b; Ketubot 6b, 16b, 25a, 72a, 111b–12a; Nedarim 12a, 20b, 25a; Nazir 58a; Sotah 11b, 17a, 22a, 30a, 32b, 34a–35a, 46b; Gittin 46a, 61a; Kiddushin 29a, 33b, 37a–b, 46b, 53a, 73a; Bava Kamma 2a, 13a, 71a, 92b, 94a, 110b, 114b, 119b; Bava Metzia 61b; Bava Batra 4a, 15a, 73b–74a, 117b, 118b–19a, 121a–b; Sanhedrin 6b, 8a, 12a, 19b, 41a, 43a, 61b, 64b, 78b, 88b, 90b, 99a–b, 104b, 107a, 108a, 109b–10b, 111b, 112b; Makkot 13b, 17b, 18b, 23b; Shevuot 7b, 10a, 11b, 13a, 22a, 26b, 29a, 39a; Horayot 2a, 3b, 4b–5b, 7a–9a, 13a; Zevachim 8b, 18b, 39b, 41a, 45a, 47a, 78a, 90b, 91b, 111a; Menachot 5b–6a, 9b, 12b, 14a, 15b, 18b, 20a, 27a, 28a, 38a, 39b, 40b, 41b–43a, 44a–45a, 51a, 53b, 59a, 66a, 67a, 70b, 73b–74a, 77b, 79a, 90b–92a, 104a, 107a, 109a; Chullin 2b, 14a, 23a, 89a, 95b, 104a, 135b–36a; Bekhorot 12b, 30b; Arakhin 11b, 15a; Temurah 3a; Keritot 2a, 3a–b, 7b, 8b–9a, 25b; Meilah 10b, 15b; Niddah 47a. 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
- Avot of Rabbi NatanAvot of Rabbi NatanAvot de-Rabbi Nathan , usually printed together with the minor tractates of the Talmud, is a Jewish aggadic work probably compiled in the geonic era . Although Avot de-Rabbi Nathan is the first and longest of the "minor tractates", it probably does not belong in that collection chronologically,...
, 9:2; 20:6; 34:1; 36:4, 7. Circa 700–900 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan. Translated by Judah Goldin, 54, 96–97, 136, 149, 152. New Haven: Yale Univ. Press, 1955. ISBN 0-300-00497-4. The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan: An Analytical Translation and Explanation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 71, 136, 202, 217, 219. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1986. ISBN 1-55540-073-6. - Solomon ibn GabirolSolomon ibn GabirolSolomon ibn Gabirol, also Solomon ben Judah , was an Andalucian Hebrew poet and Jewish philosopher with a Neoplatonic bent. He was born in Málaga about 1021; died about 1058 in Valencia.-Biography:...
. A Crown for the King, 27:334–35. Spain, 11th Century. Translated by David R. Slavitt, 44–45. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-511962-2. - 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 13–15. 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, 4:147–88. 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...
. 2:50; 3:11, 38. 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, 115, 147, 169. 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 ....
1:11; 2:19; 3:7; 4:14, 20; 7:4; 8:6; 9:18; 10:2; 13:15–16; 14:1, 3–4; 15:24; 16:1–17:6; 18:3, 6, 21; 19:20–21; 20:23; 21:10. 12th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Numbers. Translated by Judah J. Slotki, 5:18, 57, 79, 112, 130, 183, 229, 275, 339, 344; 6:534, 564, 566, 573, 584, 670, 673–707, 709, 715, 735, 738, 769–70, 820, 836. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2. - Benjamin of TudelaBenjamin of TudelaBenjamin of Tudela was a medieval Jewish traveler who visited Europe, Asia, and Africa in the 12th century. His vivid descriptions of western Asia preceded those of Marco Polo by a hundred years...
. The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela. Spain, 1173. Reprinted in The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela: Travels in the Middle Ages. Introductions by Michael A. Singer, Marcus Nathan Adler, A. Asher, 91. Malibu, Calif.: Joseph Simon, 1983. ISBN 0-934710-07-4. (giants).
- MaimonidesMaimonidesMoses 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...
. The Guide for the Perplexed, 1:30, 39, 65; 3:29, 32, 34, 39, 41, 46. CairoCairoCairo , 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, 1190. Reprinted in, e.g., Moses Maimonides. The Guide for the Perplexed. Translated by Michael FriedländerMichael FriedländerMichael Friedländer was an Orientalist and principal of Jews' College, London. He is best known for his English translation of Maimonides' Guide to the Perplexed, which was the most popular such translation until the more recent work of Shlomo Pines, and still remains in print.Friedländer was...
, 39–40, 54, 97, 320, 325, 329, 339, 348, 363, 366. New York: Dover Publications, 1956. ISBN 0-486-20351-4. - 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...
3:156b–176a. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.
Modern
- Thomas HobbesThomas HobbesThomas Hobbes of Malmesbury , in some older texts Thomas Hobbs of Malmsbury, was an English philosopher, best known today for his work on political philosophy...
. LeviathanLeviathan (book)Leviathan or The Matter, Forme and Power of a Common Wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civil — commonly called simply Leviathan — is a book written by Thomas Hobbes and published in 1651. Its name derives from the biblical Leviathan...
, 3:36. 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:...
, 464. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. ISBN 0140431950.
- Samson Raphael HirschSamson Raphael HirschSamson Raphael Hirsch was a German rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the Torah im Derech Eretz school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism...
. Horeb: A Philosophy of Jewish Laws and Observances. Translated by Isidore Grunfeld, 9–12, 180–86, 196–203. 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. - Thomas MannThomas MannThomas Mann was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and 1929 Nobel Prize laureate, known for his series of highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novellas, noted for their insight into the psychology of the artist and the intellectual...
. Joseph and His BrothersJoseph and His BrothersJoseph and His Brothers is a four-part novel by Thomas Mann, written over the course of 16 years. Mann retells the familiar stories of Genesis, from Jacob to Joseph , setting it in the historical context of the Amarna Period...
. Translated by John E. WoodsJohn E. WoodsJohn E. Woods is a translator who specializes in translating German literature, since about 1978. His work includes much of the fictional prose of Arno Schmidt and the works of contemporary authors such as Ingo Schulze and Christoph Ransmayr...
, 577. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. ISBN 1-4000-4001-9. Originally published as Joseph und seine Brüder. Stockholm: Bermann-Fischer Verlag, 1943. - Abraham Joshua HeschelAbraham Joshua HeschelAbraham Joshua Heschel was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century.-Biography:...
. Man's Quest for God: Studies in Prayer and Symbolism, 36. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1954. - 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:...
. “Of Hems and Tassels: Rank, authority and holiness were expressed in antiquity by fringes on garments.” 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...
. 9 (3) (May/June 1983). - Mayer Rabinowitz. “An Advocate's Halakhic Responses on the Ordination of Women.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1984. HM 7.4.1984a. Reprinted in Responsa: 1980–1990: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by David J. Fine, 722, 727, 733 n. 28. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2005. ISBN 0-916219-27-5. (defining a minyan based on the community who heard the spies’ evil report).
- Joel RothJoel RothJoel Roth is a prominent American rabbi in the Rabbinical Assembly, which is the rabbinical body of Conservative Judaism. He is a former member and chair of the assembly's Committee on Jewish Law and Standards which deals with questions of Jewish law and tradition, and serves as the Louis...
. “On the Ordination of Women as Rabbis.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1984. HM 7.4.1984b. Reprinted in Responsa: 1980–1990: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by David J. Fine, 736, 750, 782 n. 82. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2005. ISBN 0-916219-27-5. (defining a minyan based on the ten spies who brought the evil report). - Jacob Milgrom. The JPS Torah Commentary: Numbers: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation, 100–28, 387–414. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1990. ISBN 0-8276-0329-0.
- Baruch A. Levine. Numbers 1–20, 4:345–402. New York: Anchor Bible, 1993. ISBN 0-385-15651-0.
- 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, xix, 54, 59, 84, 88, 103, 106–07, 110–12, 121–26, 137, 145, 147, 150–51, 164, 188–90, 194, 201, 210, 212, 232. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993. Reprinted 2004. ISBN 0-19-924541-X. - Shoshana Gelfand. “May Women Tie Tzitzit Knots?” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 1997. OH 14:1.1997. Reprinted in Responsa: 1991–2000: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, 3–8. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2002. ISBN 0-916219-19-4.
- Elie Kaplan Spitz. “Mamzerut.” New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2000. EH 4.2000a. Reprinted in Responsa: 1991–2000: The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement. Edited by Kassel Abelson and David J. Fine, 558, 562–63, 576, 580–81. New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2002. ISBN 0-916219-19-4. (evolution of interpretation of visiting the sins of the father on the children, the punishment of Sabbath violation, and the blue thread of the tzitzit).
- Ari Greenspan. “The Search for Biblical Blue.” 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...
. 19 (1) (Feb. 2003): 32–39, 52. - Alan Lew. This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation, 38–39, 41–43. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 2003. ISBN 0-316-73908-1.
- Rose Mary Sheldon. “Spy Tales.” Bible Review. 19 (5) (Oct. 2003): 12–19, 41–42.
- John Crawford. “Caleb the Dog: How a Biblical Good Guy Got a Bad Name.” Bible Review. 20 (2) (Apr. 2004): 20–27, 45.
- Aaron WildavskyAaron WildavskyAaron Wildavsky was an American political scientist known for his pioneering work in public policy, government budgeting, and risk management....
. Moses as Political Leader, 129–33. Jerusalem: Shalem Press, 2005. ISBN 965-7052-31-9. - Suzanne A. Brody. “I’m still groping” and “Espionage Reports.” In Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems, 16, 96. 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, 48. Brooklyn: Shaar Press, 2007. ISBN 1-4226-0609-0. - Tzvi Novick. “Law and Loss: Response to Catastrophe in Numbers 15.” Harvard Theological ReviewHarvard Theological ReviewHarvard Theological Review is a journal of theology, published by Harvard Divinity School. It was founded in 1908.-External links:* * * * at the Internet Archive...
101 (1) (Jan. 2008): 1–14.
Texts
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