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The Most Long-Lasting Schism in the History of the Jewish People”: in Leviticus 23:11 השבת a Fresh Look At
Andrews University Seminary Studies, Vol. 56, No. 1, 47–62. Copyright © 2018 Andrews University Seminary Studies. A PROPOSED SOLUTION TO “THE MOST LONG-LASTING SCHISM IN THE HISTORY OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE”: IN LEVITICUS 23:11 השבת A FRESH LOOK AT Bradford Maris Berrien Springs, Michigan Abstract The term “S/sabbath” in Lev 23:11 provides the temporal orientation in verses 9–22 for both the sheaf elevation ritual of verses 10–14, on the following day, and the new grain offering ritual (Festival of Weeks), seven weeks thereafter. However, identity of the S/sabbath itself is contextually indeterminable in chapter 23, and has been disputed throughout the centuries. The various theories, all based upon cessation of human labor, contend for either a weekly Sabbath linked to the festival, or one of the two festival days that prohibit all occupational work, or a “Sabbath week.” Yet, none can demon- strably establish its claim as the specified S/sabbath over against the other theories. The only antecedent with requisite specificity for the term S/sabbath in verse 11 is derived from Exod 12:15, where the mandates the “cessation of leaven,” specifically שבת hiphil of the verb on the first day of the festival (Abib 15). This proposal, versus either the weekly Sabbath theory or the Sabbath-week theory, is corrobo- -complete,” modify“ , ְּתִמיֹמת rated by the essentiality of the adjective seven Sabbaths,” in Lev 23:15, which is rendered“ , ֶׁשַבע ַׁשָּבתֹות ing superfluous in the weekly Sabbath-based theories. Keywords: Sabbath, shabbat, ceremonial Sabbath, Sabbath week, wave sheaf, elevated sheaf, Festival of Unleavened Bread, Shavuot, Festival of Weeks, Pentecost, omer, tamim, Leviticus 23:11, Leviticus 23:15, Exodus 12:15. -
The Two Screens: on Mary Douglas S Proposal
The Two Screens: On Mary Douglass Proposal for a Literary Structure to the Book of Leviticus* Gary A. Rendsburg In memoriam – Mary Douglas (1921–2007) In the middle volume of her recent trio of monographs devoted to the priestly source in the Torah, Mary Douglas proposes that the book of Leviticus bears a literary structure that reflects the layout and config- uration of the Tabernacle.1 This short note is intended to supply further support to this proposal, though first I present a brief summary of the work, its major suppositions, and its principal finding. The springboard for Douglass assertion is the famous discovery of Ramban2 (brought to the attention of modern scholars by Nahum Sar- na3) that the tripartite division of the Tabernacle reflects the similar tripartite division of Mount Sinai. As laid out in Exodus 19 and 24, (a) the people as a whole occupied the lower slopes; (b) Aaron, his two sons, and the elders were permitted halfway up the mountain; and (c) only Moses was allowed on the summit. In like fashion, according to the priestly instructions in Exodus 25–40 and the book of Leviticus, (a) the people as a whole were allowed to enter the outer court of the Taberna- * It was my distinct pleasure to deliver an oral version of this article at the Mary Douglas Seminar Series organized by the University of London in May 2005, in the presence of Professor Douglas and other distinguished colleagues. I also take the op- portunity to thank my colleague Azzan Yadin for his helpful comments on an earlier version of this article. -
Torah Talk for Va'era 5781 Exod 6:2-9:35
Torah Talk for Va’era 5781 Exod 6:2-9:35 (end) Ex. 6:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, “You shall soon see what I will do to Pharaoh: he shall let them go because of a greater might; indeed, because of a greater might he shall drive them from his land.” Ex. 6:2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, by My [ ֥לֹא נוֹ ַ ֖ד ְﬠ ִתּי ָל ֶֽהם] Isaac, and Jacob as El Shaddai, but I did not make Myself known to them name YHWH.a 4 I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners. 5 I have now heard the moaning of the Israelites because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Say, therefore, to the Israelite people: I am the LORD. I will free you from the labors of the Egyptians and deliver you from their bondage. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and through extraordinary chastisements. 7 And I will take you to be My people, and I will be your God. And you shall know that I, the LORD, am your God who freed you from the labors of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession, I the LORD.” 9 But when Moses told this to the Israelites, they would not listen to Moses, their spirits crushed by cruel bondage. -
Jacob Milgrom, June 7, 2010 1
Baruch J. Schwartz, Funeral of Jacob Milgrom, June 7, 2010 1 ל"ז JACOB MILGROM RABBI, PROFESSOR, TEACHER AND MENTOR My master and teacher, Jacob: After thirty years together, it’s time to say good-bye. Each year, on a Shabbat morning towards the end of the winter, the cycle of Torah reading arrives at the words, “The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying” (Leviticus 1:1). Customarily, at this point the congregation begins to doze off and finally to fall asleep. You, however, came awake. In the sacrificial offerings, in the bodily impurities and the abhorrent acts, in the lesions on skin, garments and walls, in the minutiae of prohibited fowl and in the precise definitions of forbidden sexual acts, in Aaron’s annual ritual of atonement and in the unauthorized fire of Nadab and Abihu, in assessments, proscriptions and tithes, you discovered an intriguing and inspiring world. In the details, you found perfection. You found internal logic, you found a comprehensive and systematic Torah, and you found God Himself. Throughout the greater part of your life you applied yourself to the sacred task of revealing the hidden light in the priestly writings, meticulously building of its prescriptions and prohibitions a structure certain to withstand the test of time. No longer do the worshipers fall asleep when they arrive at the book of Leviticus, and this they – all of us – owe to you alone. Your work – your books, commentaries and essays – have not only paved a new way; they have shown the way for the rest of us, bequeathing a lasting legacy to future generations as well. -
Why Does Eleazer Sprinkle the Red Cow Blood? Making Sense of A
The Journal of Hebrew Scriptures ISSN 1203-1542 http://www.jhsonline.org and http://purl.org/jhs Articles in JHS are being indexed in the ATLA Religion Database, RAMBI and THEOLDI. Their abstracts appear in Religious and Theological Abstracts. The journal is archived by the National Library of Canada, and is accessible for consultation and research at the Electronic Collection site maintained by the The National Library of Canada. VOLUME 6, ARTICLE 9 WILLIAM K. GILDERS, WHY DOES ELEAZAR SPRINKLE THE RED COW BLOOD? MAKING SENSE OF A BIBLICAL RITUAL 1 2 JOURNAL OF HEBREW SCRIPTURES WHY DOES ELEAZAR SPRINKLE THE RED COW BLOOD? MAKING SENSE OF A BIBLICAL RITUAL WILLIAM K. GILDERS EMORY UNIVERSITY 1. INTRODUCTION Numbers 19 is a prescriptive ritual text that sets forth procedures for dealing with the impurity that occurs when a human being dies. The chapter consists of two units of instruction for the performance of ritual complexes (sets of ritual actions) directed against death impurity. The first part of the chapter (vv. 1-10) is concerned with the preparation of ash by burning a slaughtered “red” cow along with various substances.1 The second half of the chapter (vv. 11-22), not treated in this paper, prescribes how the ash is to be used. חטאת In Num 19:9, the red cow is apparently designated a ,offering חטאת purification offering”), but it is unlike any other“) indeed, quite unlike any other sacrifice.2 The animal is not brought to the cult shrine, the Tent of Meeting, to be offered on the altar. Instead, it is slaughtered outside of the Israelite encampment and entirely burned there, no part of the animal being offered on the altar. -
The Perfect Priest: an Examination of Leviticus 21:17-23 Jared Wilson George Fox University
Digital Commons @ George Fox University Seminary Masters Theses Seminary 1-1-2013 The perfect priest: an examination of Leviticus 21:17-23 Jared Wilson George Fox University This research is a product of the Master of Arts in Theological Studies (MATS) program at George Fox University. Find out more about the program. Recommended Citation Wilson, Jared, "The perfect priest: an examination of Leviticus 21:17-23" (2013). Seminary Masters Theses. Paper 7. http://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/seminary_masters/7 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Seminary at Digital Commons @ George Fox University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Seminary Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ George Fox University. GEORGE FOX UNIVERSITY THE PERFECT PRIEST- AN EXAMINATION OF LEVITICUS 21:17-23 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GEORGE FOX EVANGELICAL SEMINARY IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (THEOLOGICAL STUDIES) BY JARED WILSON PORTLAND, OREGON FEBRUARY 2013 Copyright © 2013 by Jared Wilson All rights reserved To Courtney, Jeremiah, Micah, Jedidiah, and Adley Contents Preface....................................................................................................................................... iv Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... vi Chapter One ............................................................................................................................. -
Between Grief and Anticipation
Center for Jewish Leadership and Ideas Parashat Emor (Leviticus 21:1-24:23) – Iyyar 5775 Between Grief and Anticipation: Counting the Omer Rabbi Shai Held Over the course of Jewish history, a time of breathless anticipation becomes simultaneously a period of profound grief. To understand why is to discover Judaism’s deepest yearnings as well as its greatest disappointments. Parashat Emor describes a period of anticipation leading up to Shavuot, the Festival of Weeks, so called because it takes place seven full weeks after the offering of the first fruits of the barley harvest.1 The Israelites are instructed: “And you shall count off seven weeks from the day after the sabbath,2 from the day on which you bring the sheaf of elevation3; they shall be complete. You shall count until the day after the seventh A time of breathless anticipation sabbath, fifty days; then you shall present an becomes simultaneously a period of offering of new grain to the Lord” (Leviticus profound grief. 23:15-16). On Pesah, the Israelites celebrate 1 Actually, the Festival in question is not named in Leviticus, but is referred to as Hag Ha-Shavuot in Exodus 34:22 and Deuteronomy 16:10. Elsewhere it is called the Feast of Harvest (Hag Ha-Katzir, Exodus 23:16), and The Day of First Fruits (Yom Ha-Bikkurim, Numbers 28:26). 2 “The Sabbath” is understood by Jewish tradition to refer, in this context, to the first day of the holiday. 3 The omer ha-tenufah, or “sheaf of elevation,” is an offering consisting of two loaves of leavened bread from the new wheat crop. -
Homosexuality and Halakhah: a Second Look at the Sources
Homosexuality and Halakhah: A Second Look at the Sources Parshat Aharei Mot-Kedoshim, Leviticus 16:1-20:27| By Mark Greenspan “Same-Sex Relationships” by Rabbi Elliot Dorff, (pp. 657- 672) in The Observant Life Introduction Most of the sources quoted in this week's Torah Table Talk are the same ones that appeared a year ago for this Torah portion. Since that time I have officiated at a same-sex marriage ceremony based on the guidelines suggested by the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards. As a halakhically committed Jew I continue to wrestle with this issue but the matter became clearer to me when I viewed it from the perspective of the couple who approached me and asked to marry them. This is not a theoretical or philosophical issue; it’s about real people and real lives. In this case one of the brides was a student at whose bat mitzvah I officiated and whose family visited Israel with me years ago. The couple grappled seriously with the role that Judaism would play in their lives and they wanted to be married in a synagogue. I would like to tell you that my decision was based solely on the merits of the three responsa quoted below but that was not the case. It was a personal decision on my part. Of course I would not have made that decision without the backing of the Conservative Movement and the Committee of Jewish Laws and Standards of the Rabbinical Assembly. But the truth is there are problems with each of the decisions as I understand them. -
Durham E-Theses
Durham E-Theses Codes as Constitution: The Development of the Biblical Law-Codes from Monarchy to Theocracy HU, HUIPING How to cite: HU, HUIPING (2009) Codes as Constitution: The Development of the Biblical Law-Codes from Monarchy to Theocracy , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/133/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 Abstract As a result of influence from assyriology and the sociology of law, the Hebrew legal texts have commonly been categorised in recent study as ancient law- codes analogous to the cuneiform codes recovered from the ancient Near East. This has not led, however, to a more constructive and decisive stage in the study of biblical law, and conceptual and methodological problems have been imported from each field. The current interpretative models of the texts, in terms either of legislative, or of non-legislative functions, fail to provide a coherent explanation for their formation. -
Remember the Land Making Space for New Grain
TORAH FROM JTS www.jtsa.edu/torah A Different Perspective | דבר אחר Making Space for New Grain Dr. Ofra Backenroth, Associate Dean of The בחקתי תשע"ט Behukkotai 5779 Davidson School and Assistant Professor of Jewish Education, JTS Remember the Land From the beginning, recreate your world in the morning Rabbi Daniel Nevins, Pearl Resnick Dean of The the earth, the plants and all the lights Rabbinical School and Dean of the Division of and then from dust, in the likeness of humans Religious Leadership, JTS wake up tomorrow morning Spring is my favorite season because it draws me outdoors, enticing me to and start from the beginning. leave the city and enjoy the rivers, fields, and mountains of this glorious —Naomi Shemer, “Haggigah Nigmeret” (“The Party Is Over”) earth. Even near the city I often find myself in nature, biking along the Hudson and up the Palisades past waterfalls and nesting eagles. Returning Naomi Shemer, one of the most famous songwriters and performers in to the land reminds me of the many blessings of our world, filling me with Israel, is known for her thoughtful songs that touch upon universal gratitude and awe. It also causes foreboding since the signs of stress on the themes. In this song, she speaks about the need for rejuvenation. Every natural systems that make our lives possible are everywhere evident. While morning is an opportunity for a new experience. As successful as our this era of anthropogenic climate change may be new, the concern that days might be, there is always a need to go back to the beginning and human conduct could lead to ruin and exile from the earth is found already start again. -
Pants, Persians, and the Priestly Source
CHAPTER 16 Pants, Persians, and the Priestly Source The first significant critical1 attempts to overturn the consensus established by Wellhausen that the Priestly source (P) is later than the Deuteronomic source (D) were made by Y. Kaufmann. As observed by Menahem Haran,2 in order to show that P was preexilic, Kaufmann analyzed biblical cultic institutions in a manner that did not differ methodologically from Wellhausen.3 More recent * Author’s note: To Baruch I extend the blessing of Darius: Utā taya kunavāhi, avataiy Aurmazdā ucāram kunautuv. In other words, mimma mala teppušu Uramazda ina qātēka lusteššer. My friend and colleague Baruch Levine has long been in the forefront of the modern critical study of Torah-literature. The Priestly source (P) in particular has occupied much of his scholarly attention. This paper, which approaches the problem of the dating of P from the perspective of realia, is offered in tribute to our honoree. An earlier version of this paper was presented to the international meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in Leuven, Belgium, in August 1994. 1 Unlike Kaufmann, the Orthodox Jewish scholar David Z. Hoffmann was doctrinally commit- ted to the Mosaic authorship of the Pentateuch. Nonetheless, Hoffmann’s work engaged the Wellhausen thesis seriously and made contributions that remain significant from a critical standpoint. See B. Levine apud S. D. Sperling, Students of the Covenant: A History of Jewish Biblical Scholarship in North America (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1992), 20. 2 M. Haran, “The Character of the Priestly Source,” in Proceedings of the Eighth World Congress of Jewish Studies, Panel Sessions, A: Bible Studies and Hebrew Language (hereafter P8WCJS; Jerusalem: Magnes, 1983), 131–138, esp. -
Torah (/ˈtɔːrəˌˈtoʊrə/; Hebrew: הרָוֹתּ, “Instruction, Teaching”)
Torah Sefer Torah at old Glockengasse Synagogue (reconstruction), Cologne ,Instruction“ ,ּתֹוָרה :Torah (/ˈtɔːrəˌˈtoʊrə/; Hebrew Teaching”), or the Pentateuch (/ˈpɛntəˌtuːk, -ˌtjuːk/), is the central reference of the religious Judaic tradition. It has a range of meanings. It can most specifically mean the first five books of the twenty-four books of the Tanakh, and it usually includes the rabbinic commen- Silver Torah Case, Ottoman Empire Museum of Jewish Art and taries. The term Torah means instruction and offers a way History of life for those who follow it; it can mean the continued narrative from Genesis to the end of the Tanakh, and it can even mean the totality of Jewish teaching, culture and generation to generation and are now embodied in the practice.[1] Common to all these meanings, Torah con- Talmud and Midrash.[2] sists of the foundational narrative of the Jews: their call According to rabbinic tradition, all of the teachings found into being by God, their trials and tribulations, and their in the Torah, both written and oral, were given by God covenant with their God, which involves following a way through Moses, a prophet, some of them at Mount Sinai of life embodied in a set of moral and religious obliga- and others at the Tabernacle, and all the teachings were tions and civil laws (halakha). written down by Moses, which resulted in the Torah we In rabbinic literature the word “Torah” denotes both the have today. According to a Midrash, the Torah was cre- Torah that is ated prior to the creation of the world, and was used as the“ ,תורה שבכתב) five books, Torah Shebichtav -blueprint for Creation.[3] The majority of Biblical schol תורה) written”), and an Oral Torah, Torah Shebe'al Peh Torah that is spoken”).