Between Pesach and Shavuot
Author: Esther Ehrman, Sivan 5771/June 2011The First Seven Weeks of the Exodus
Celebration, fear and panic must all have dominated the behaviour of the 600,000 Israelite families that so abruptly left the House of Bondage that they had known as their home all their life. They do not know what awaits them on their journey and, when confronted by the desert, live in constant fear of their lives. Yes, they have witnessed the hand of the Almighty in Egypt, but no one is privy to the future. They will be praised for their trust, later (lechetech acharay ba midbar, eretz lo zarua – you followed me in the desert, a barren land' (Jer.2,2). And so, when they murmur and complain that there is no drinking water, no regular food, when they see the Egyptian chariots behind them and later, the Amalekites attacking them, the Almighty supplies their needs and saves them from their enemies.
All of this happens during seven eventful weeks that it takes them to reach Mount Sinai. The Torah gives us a graphic account of these weeks. We recall this tense period by counting every day of the seven week Omer. Here is a brief reminder of the sequence of events:
They start off in Goshen, in Sukkot and Etham, 'at the edge of the wilderness' (Ex.13,20) , before camping near the Red Sea at Pi Ha Hirot facing the Baal Tzefon, where the Egyptians overtake them (v.9) They want to go back, 'It is better for us to serve Egypt than to die in the wilderness' (Ex 14, 12). Immense relief, triumph and gratitude follow once they have safely crossed and witnessed the end of the Egyptian host, all powerfully captured in the Shirat HaYam.
Three days later, they reach Midbar Shur, the Wilderness of Shur, and there is no water to drink, 'What shall we drink? And Moses cries out...'(Ex 15, 24-5), and G-d shows Moses the wood that will make the water drinkable.
Their next camp is in Elim, where there are twelve springs and seventy date palm trees, but this proved to be a short respite.
Six weeks into their journey, 'on the fifteenth day of the second month' (Ex16,1) they reach Midbar Sin, the Wilderness of Sin, between Elim and Sinai. It is not clear what the people have been eating so far, but it was not the meat or bread. that they remembered eating, 'Would that we had died by the hand of G-d in Egypt...for you have brought us out into this wilderness to have the whole multitude die of hunger' (Ex.16,3). The people are not rebuked. Now they are given the Manna. They complain about the situation; they do not question 'the hand of G-d'. It is their readiness to obey the Almighty, not their faith, that will be tested when they are to collect sufficient Manna for the Sabbath.
Their last camp is in Refidim, where, once again, there is no water. 'Give us water, that we may drink'; their complaint seems to be against Moses and he cries out to G-d, who instructs him to strike the rock for water. Moses sees this as a challenge to the Almighty by the Israelites and reports them as saying 'Is G-d in our midst or not?' (Ex.17,7).
At this point, almost at Sinai, in Refidm, Amalek attacks. We will be told, later (Deut.25,17) that this cowardly attack was against on the weak and tired , but we are not told of any complaints, or any regret about being here. The Almighty helps, but we are not told that Moses asks how to solve the problem. He knows that if his hands are raised, the enemy will be weakened; and the Israelites fight. They seem to be ready to reach 'the Mountain of the Lord' Horeb, which is where Yithro comes to meet Moses.
Seven fraught weeks from the day of the their Exodus, the Israelites are now at Mount Sinai.
Do we have the final say on laws of the Torah?
Author: Esther Ehrman, Sivan 5771/June 2011The Midrash learns some answers from the Book of Ruth
In Chapter 4 of Ruth Rabba, the Midrash addresses issues that seem to contradict the important Torah injunction, 'You shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it' (Deut. 4 v.2). One is the issue that Moabites are excluded from the Israelite community, 'An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord' (Deut, 23 v.4); another is instituting the two days of Purim and reading the Book of Esther.
The Midrash takes the last verse of the Book of Leviticus, 'These are the commandments which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in Mount Sinai' to be the defining parameter of laws that are not to be tampered with.
The significance of the law 'An Ammonite or a Moabite shall not enter the congregation of the Lord' is that King David is the great grandson of Ruth and Ruth is a Moabitess. A king of Israel may not be of Moabite descent. The Midrash stresses that the law excludes, 'A Moabite, but not a Moabitess, an Ammonite, but not an Ammonitess . Why were these nations excluded? For two reasons. One, that when the Israelites were wandering in the desert, these people were hostile, 'they did not bring bread and water to the Israelites (Deut. 23 v,5). Moreover, The king of Moab, Balak, hired Balaam to curse the Israelites (Num.ch.22). The Midrash explains that in both these cases, the women were not involved. It is not fitting for women to do so, it befits a man to do so, le isha she lo le hotzi, ve le ish le hotzi. And, as to hiring Bilaam, it is the man who hires, not the woman, la ish litein s'char ve lo la isha. Incidentally, Maimonides picks up on this. Commenting on Deut 23,4, he says that the Moabite women did sell bread and water to the Israelites, so the reason for Moab's exclusion is the hiring of Balaam. It was the Ammonites who refused bread and water; the question of Balaam does not apply to them. It was therefore permissible, the Midrash states, for Boaz to have children by Ruth the Moabitess, now that Ruth had converted, had, as the Midrash puts it, 'left the fields of Moab'. This whole train of thought was prompted by the verse 'And so Naomi returned and Ruth the Moabite, her daughter-in-law with her, returned from the fields of Moab' (Ruth 1 v.22) and 'Boaz said to his servant..."to whom does that young woman belong?" (Ruth 2 v.5). The Midrash reading of Moses' injunction against the Moabites has made the story acceptable.
The Midrash takes another verse, 'Boaz arrived from Beth Lechem. He said to the harvesters "The Lord be with you". And they answered him "May the Lord be with you" ' (Ruth 2, v.4) as starting point for a different approach to permitting something that has not been permitted. There are three things, explains the Midrash, where the Heavenly Court accepts a decree made by the earthly court. One is based on the verse cited, namely the use of the Name of G-d in a greeting; another is tithing; another is the Book of Esther.
In the case of the Book of Esther, the problems are due to the fact that Purim is not a Biblical festival and that reading the Book (Scroll) of Esther may not be accepted as canon. Both problems seemingly contradict the injunction not to add or take away from the word of the Torah. The Midrash tells that Mordechai and Esther sent letters to all the provinces of Ahasuerus, asking whether the Jews would accept the two days of Purim. The reply was negative; it was bad enough to be under the duress of Haman... A second letter was sent. In the end, the Midrash states, G-d inspired them and they realised that the story of Amalek has to be told in all three parts of the TeNaCh (Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim). As Haman is a descendant of Amalek, Haman's persecution of the Jews is, in a way, an Amalekite persecution. We have a strict injunction 'not to forget' Amalek (Deut 25, v 17-19). and we find an allusion in the text of the Book of Esther, about the events that occurred ' Are they not written in the book of chronicles', (Book of Esther 10 v,2), a reference to Ketuvim, the third section of the TeNaCh (Bible). Which is why the Jews took upon themselves (kibelu) the festival and the reading of the Scroll on the festival. The text, says the Midrash, has kibelu in the plural – they decreed; but that is just how the text is read; the letters spell kibel in the singular. (kiyemu ve kibel[u] ha yehudim aleyhem...Esther 9 v.27, the Jews took kibel[u] upon themselves). The plural indicates that the Jews decreed and the singular shows that G-d accepted the decree.
The Midrash has taken pains to show that we have a say in the observance of the Law, whether by new interpretations, as in the law on the exclusion of Moabite men only or by a justified decree, as in the case of the Book of Esther. However, as is clear from the Midrash, the final say is the sanction that is learnt from the Torah.
Handing on the Divine Blessing given to Abraham – a difficult process
Author: Esther Ehrman, Heshvan 5772/November 2011Toldot, with Ramban
In the Genesis narrative of the patriarchs, we learn that G-d blessed Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Was there one blessing, handed on from father to son? Were there separate blessings for each of the patriarchs? Was the process of receiving blessings a matter of merit? Were the blessings part of the Covenant that the Almighty decreed? All these questions are raised by the text in the Section of the Book of Genesis referred to as 'Toldot', Generations, (Ch.25,19 – Ch.28,9) because the opening statement is 'And these are the generations (toldot) of Isaac, the son of Abraham'. The answers are, in part, a matter of interpretation. The Ramban (Nachmanides, 13th century) offers a number of comments.
When G-d tells Abraham to leave the homeland and the family of his origins (Gen.Ch.12,1 ff), the Almighty says:
'Leave your country, your kindred and your father's house for a land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
And I will bless those that bless you and curse whoever curses you; and in you will all the families of the earth be blessed'.
This important blessing, which will be handed on to the two other patriarchs, is generally seen as universal. The Ramban takes it to refer to a rather more local situation, writing that it is an assurance given to Abraham that he will no longer be persecuted on account of his belief in G-d, as he had been in Ur of the Chaldees. (Such persecution is not in the text; its source is a Midrash).
When the initial blessing was given, there was no mention of the land (Canaan), As the narrative proceeds, we learn that G-d made a covenant, twice reported: inCh 15,18: (In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: Unto your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates) and Ch 17, 2ff ('I am El Shaddai...and I will make a covenant between me and you....and I will give to you and to your seed after you, the land wherein you are a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their G-d.).
Ramban comments on the use of the name El Shaddai. While this name implies power, the Almighty, it refers, he tells us, to that aspect of the Divine that enables 'hidden' miracles which he understands to be 'natural' miracles, such that they occur according to the laws of nature and are not obvious as miracles to all. Thus, the conquest of Canaan allows the Israelites to take possession of the land. It is a miracle, but not a miracle like the Ten Plagues. Ramban further refers to a later dialogue (Ex.6,3) where the Almighty tells Moses that He had revealed Himself to the Patriarchs only by the name, El Shaddai and not by the tetragrammaton Name.
A final component is added to the gifts accorded to Abraham by G-d, as a reward for the faith that Abraham demonstrated by his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac Ch.22,16, namely, ultimate victory over the enemy ('..because you have done this thing...that in blessing I will bless you and in multiplying I will multiply your seed as the stars in the heaven and as the sand that is on the sea shore; and you seed shall possess the gate of its enemies. And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed'). This is an assurance, Ramban explains, that no future sin will cancel the blessing and that the people will ultimately rise again after defeat by an enemy, an assurance, he says, of the redemption.
If we now turn to the section of Toldot, we find that Isaac, son of Abraham, receives all but the last component of these blessings. He receives them directly, from G-d. As in the days of Abraham, a famine in the land makes the patriarch leave, evidently planning to go to Egypt. G-d stops Isaac when he gets as far as Gerar and says (Ch 26.2 ff) 'Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I will tell you of. Sojourn in the land and I will bless you, for to you and your seed I will give all these lands and I will fulfil the oath that I sware to Abraham your father. And I will make your seed to multiply as the stars of heaven and I will give to your seed all these lands. And in your seed will all the nations of the earth be blessed'. The merit that calls forth this multiple blessing is due to Abraham, 'Because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statues and my laws (ve yishmor mishmaroti, mittzvotai, chukotai ve toratai) (ibid v.5).
The promise of the land here is again associated with a covenant. Ramban comments that the phrase, 'I will fulfil the oath that I sware to Abraham your father' is itself an oath. It is the only occasion that G-d swore to give the land to Isaac's descendants and it underlies the phrase, 'the land that I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob' (Deut.Ch.34,4).
G-d, Ramban explains, made the oath to each one of the patriarchs 'to let it be known that each one was worthy of the covenant being made with him alone'. Indeed, the Almighty will bless the third Patriarch, again directly. When Jacob is on his way to the house of his uncle, Laban, he has a dream of a ladder going up to heaven, with angels ascending and descending Gen. 28, 12 ff). At this point G-d speaks to Jacob in the dream and says:...the land on which you are lying, to you I will give it and to your seed; and your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad, to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and in your seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed'. Three components of the Abrahamic blessing are mentioned, to multiply his seed, to give the land to them and to bless the nations through them; there is no mention of victory over enemies. Given that this blessing was given,directly and separately to each of the Patriarchs, what is the significance of the blessings that Isaac gives to each of his two sons, Esau and Jacob in the section Toldot?
Immediately prior to the Divine communication to Isaac at Gerar, the Biblical narrative had related the birth of his twin sons, Esau and Jacob, and the Divine prophecy given to their mother, Rebecca, that 'two nations are in your womb...and one nation will be stronger than the other nation and the older shall serve the younger' (Ch.25,23). This prophecy would seem to add a new component to the Abrahamic gifts, namely power; not power over an external enemy, but power over a sibling and his descendants, rather like the superior status that Joseph will be granted over his siblings.
Ramban here comments that Rebecca did not inform Isaac of the prophecy, perhaps because she believed him to be a great prophet who would know about it, or perhaps because she was embarrassed to say that she had gone to 'seek ( Ramban says, to pray) the Lord' without discussing it with her husband.
What blessings did Jacob and Esau receive from their father?
To Jacob, believing him to be Esau, Isaac says (Gen.Ch.27, 27 ff): '..see the smell of my son is as the smell of the field that the Lord has blessed. Therefore, G-d give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and an abundance of corn and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Cursed be everyone that curses you and blessed be he that blesses you.'
To Esau, Isaac says (Ch.27,39 ff) 'Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. And by your sword you shall live and you will serve your brother. And it shall come to pass that when you have dominion (ka asher tarid – when you make moan, according to Ramban), you will break his yoke from your neck'.
To Jacob, telling him to go to Laban to find a wife, Isaac says (Ch.28,3 ff): 'And G-d Almighty (El Shaddai) bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may be a multitude of peoples, and give you the blessing of Abraham (birkat Avraham) to you and to your seed after you, that you may inherit the land wherein you are a stranger (mi gureicha) that G-d gave to Abraham'.
The last of these is, as Isaac says, 'the blessing of Abraham'. It has the element of multiplying and the gift of the land. It does not mention the element of being a blessing to the nations, but Isaac had already included this in his first blessing to Jacob. However, he had included it then, believing he was speaking to Esau, in other words, wanting to pass this part of the blessing to his first born son. If being a blessing to the nations is the major Abrahamic blessing, then Jacob has perhaps a dubious entitlement. The fact that the Almighty will grant this blessing to Jacob directly avoids any ambiguity.
So, what about the two blessings that Isaac gives to his two sons? They seem to be very much alike.
To both, Isaac says that they will be blessed with dew from heaven and with the fatness of the land.
Ramban comments that Isaac was able to give these blessings to both of them because there is an abundance of dew and good land. Ramban links the extra 'abundance of corn and wine' in the blessing Jacob receives, to the later blessing that Isaac knowingly gives to Jacob, 'meaning that he should have the plentifulness of corn and wine in the land of Canaan, which was Abraham's gift, while Esau would have the dew and the fat places of the earth in other lands'. 'But in the matter of lordship, that will be his and you shall serve him', Ramban interprets.
Ramban interprets the phrase in the blessing to Esau 'and by the sword you shall live' (Ch.27,40): 'the purport of the blessing is that he survive his battles and be victorious and not fall by the sword of the enemy'. However, Ramban continues: 'It is for this reason that, immediately following this Isaac says "and you shall serve your brother", meaning, you will not prevail over him. Instead, he will prevail over you'.
Actually, what seem to be the basic elements, the dew and the fatness of the land, sibling relationship, do not figure in the Abrahamic blessing. And two specifics of that Abrahamic blessing do not figure here, neither the land nor the multiplying of descendants. As already said, Isaac does bless Jacob with being a blessing to those who bless him and cursing those that curse him. (Ramban notes that the order is inverted at this point and comments that blessing had already been mentioned and it here ends the sentence, so that cursing comes in the middle. According to the exegetical rule,, 'general, detail, general' (klal u prat u klal), the general dominates, which here means that the blessing entails a plural, all those who bless, while the curse in the middle applies only to a single, isolated person).
Why is Isaac concerned with personal life – dew and fatness of the land – and with the sibling rivalry? And why the need for Esau to 'live by the sword' and to have nations serve him and bow down to him? It would seem that Isaac's blessing are, first and foremost, personal blessings. He has himself experienced the problem of a rejected sibling, Ishmael and, perhaps, wishes it to be clear that only the 'bechor' the first-born, has the entitlement. As elsewhere in the Book of Genesis, the biological first-born has to give way before the merit of a younger sibling (Cain and Abel, Reuben and Judah or Josef). Isaac's 'blindness' is perhaps not just physical.
As to Isaac's concern for the military prowess of Esau and his descendants, it is again possible that Isaac's experience comes into play. His father Abraham had military success while what we are told of Isaac's life was the episode of the 'sacrifice' and dealings with his sons. So, beyond the prosperity he would like to wish his sons, he wishes Esau power – over his brother and over nations. Isaac, however, does not have the real say in the matter. The prophecy given to Rebecca cannot be gainsaid. The Almighty, who had given the blessings to Abraham, to him and to his rightful descendants, ensures that these blessings, the land, a people that multiplies and is, above all, a blessing to the nations of the earth, is inherited, not automatically, but appropriately, by those who deserve it.