Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisades Shabbat Parashat Yitro | שבת פרשת יתרו February 3, 2018 | Shevat 18, 5778 Is Har Karkom The Mountain of God? TORAH STUDY This Week: Shabbat Parashat Yitro Next Week: Shabbat Sh’kalim u-M’varchim Sh’mot 13.17-17.16, pages 432-450 Parashat Mishpatim Sh’mot 21.1-24.18, pages 456-480 FIRST ALIYAH: Yitro arrives at Sinai—but when did he Additional reading, Sh’mot 30.11-16. Pages 523-524 arrive? Is there a case to be made that this incident occurred many months later? Is there a case to be made that it happened FIRST ALIYAH: What is so innovative and unique about the before God’s appearance on Sinai? opening verse of thos week’s parashah? SIXTH ALIYAH: If the people have already been warned SEVENTH ALIYAH: What exactly is the significance of this against ascending the mountain, why does God insist to Moshe parashah? What does the text mean when it refers to these that he go down and warn them yet again? chapters as “the Book of the Covenant”? The haftarah, Yishayahu 6.1-13 begins on Page 452. The haftarah, M’lachim Bet 11.17-12.17 begins on Page 1277. For haftarot, we follow S’fardi custom. IS HAR KARKOM MOUNT SINAI? THE TESTIMONY OF ARCHAEOLOGY Historical reconstruction through physical evidence is one of the main goals of archaeology; chapters of unwritten history are revealed by archaeological remains. In the case of biblical archaeology, traditions conveyed by texts add another—and dominant—element to the field of study. The edge between history and myth, however, is never easy to delineate, and both archaeological findings and biblical texts should not be just read, but also deciphered. The biblical story of Exodus may be considered as eternal truth dictated by God, as a fairy tale, or as history. To my team and me, it appears as a synthesis of oral tales that, passed for years from storyteller to storyteller, probably underwent adaptations and modifications prior to being put into writing. We consider the biblical descriptions of sites, geography, and topography, with numerous specific details, to have derived from real memories of the terrain and landscape, despite opposed exegetic tendencies of today. Travelers and storytellers of the past transmitted ancient tradition in a similar manner as happens today among many tribal populations around the world, where each storyteller may have distinct versions of tales, deriving from main contextual cores. Many of Har Karkom’s archaeological remains are not buried, and they have been visible for ages. No doubt, they were better preserved 3,000 years ago than today; they may have been read, interpreted, and deciphered by travelers well before present-day archaeologists. But every relic which does not have a clearly recorded history may generate myths, and archaeological remains may either be testimonies to the truth of epic tales, or inspirations for the creation of such tales. The study of biblical archaeology, when the site involved concerns a place such as Mount Sinai, presents the difficulty of confronting attitudes and philosophies that discourage every attempt to reconstruct history in the modern sense of the word. (Continues on Pages 4 and 5) CBIOTP STANDARDS & PRACTICES 1. Men must keep their heads covered in the building and must 6. The use of recording equipment of any kind is forbidden on wear a talit when appropriate. Women may choose to do either sacred days. or both, but it is not mandatory. 7. Also forbidden are cell phones, beepers and PDAs, except 2. Anyone accepting a Torah-related honor must wear a talit, for physicians on call and emergency aid workers (please use regardless of gender. vibrating option). 3. Only one person at a time may take an aliyah. 8. No smoking at any time in the building, or on synagogue 4. No one should enter or leave the sanctuary during a K’dushah. grounds on Shabbatot and Yom Kippur. One should not leave the sanctuary when the Torah scroll is being 9. No non-kosher food allowed in the building at any time. carried from or to the ark. 10. No one may remove food or utensils from the shul on 5. No conversations may be held in the hallway outside the Shabbatot. An exception is made for food being brought to sanctuary, or while standing in an aisle alongside a pew. someone who is ailing and/or homebound. THE IMAHOT: Присоединяйтесь к нам дл Following is the text adopted by the Ritual Committee освящение и обед for use by the Prayer Leader in reciting the Amidah, and This week’s kiddush and luncheon those wishing to insert the Matriarchs in their Amidot: are sponsored by L~xGr OC(S t ])2 x Cz y H(SL~x])DvCL~xGr OCx t H(SL~xGr OCL{ t SrFCG v <| { C.([{$ THE KAMINSKY FAMILY OxJ{[DrZvU |L LGr ~ x O CHG{ x ZzDy[¹HZJ { zY yL LGr ~ x OCG t [{ {8¹HPGz{ { [zD|C to mark Alan’s 60th birthday OxQ)%R)LzOwUOCC x [)3 { Gz | H[)$y%|GO)F{%|GOC{ x GGCx { OzH (and his chanting of the haftarah!) CLDx y Q(])D{CLFz xT|J[xN)IHOr0 z G | G xS ) ZHPL z D)KPL y F{ yTvJ G{DvG|Cz$)Q:R| z U|Q zO PwG x L xSD z L xSD z yO OC)% x 5HFLWHWKLVRQO\EHWZHHQ5RVK+DVKDQDKDQG<RP.LSSXU P L y,J| | G[wW~xT z$ ( S ~Dz x ]oNzH P L y,J| | $XxW{J.wO~wQ P L y,J | zO ( S[z ~ x N oI This week’s Shabbat Booklet P L y,JPL | Gr y O ¡C t / zSU| | Q zO is being co-sponsored by P{G{[zD|CRxE{QL{SrFCG v <| { C.([{$RxE{Q(|UL~y:)Q([xI)U.wO~wQ NADIA AND JOE MASSUDA G[{ {8][ | zIUz w H in memory of Nadia’s late father, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MONDAY TO REGINA MINSKY ז״ל ,LIETO MENACHE may his memory be for a blessing WEDNESDAY TO GLORIA KIRSCH HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MYRNA & ARNOLD EDELMAN Tomorrow morning, join us in celebrating the Mitzvah of Tefillin and then have a bagel brunch! Once again, it's time for THE WORLD WIDE WRAP Join with thousands of men and women around the world in donning tefillin. Even if you perform this mitzvah every weekday morning, this event is special because it is global. WHEN: Tomorrow morning beginning at 9:30 a.m. WHERE: The sanctuary in our new building, 1585 Center Avenue IS HAR KARKOM MOUNT SINAI? THE TESTIMONY OF ARCHAEOLOGY (Continued from Page 2) of the myth? Whatever the case may be, there The biblical narration is a story, but every type of were too many parallels between biblical accounts reading and interpreting sees the story differently: and archaeological finds to dismiss them as mere from fantasy to history, from myth to revelation. coincidences. Also, rock art correlates with the biblical The first archaeological considerations that accounts. Such a wealth of connections is unusual, suggested a relation between Har Karkom and the and perhaps stretches the limits of pure coincidence. biblical Mount Sinai relied on analogies between field Nevertheless, not all the religious structures have findings and biblical descriptions. biblical parallels. At Har Karkom, a large quantity Near an inhabited site at the foot of the mountain of cult sites show different expressions of religious dated about the Fourth to Third Millennium B.C.E., relations between people and the site. They fall a group of 12 pillars were found in front of a stone within a vast span of time and should not all be platform. When this monument was discovered, in attributed to the same populations. No doubt, several 1983, it brought to our minds, for the first time, the tribes in the course of centuries saw Har Karkom as a hypothesis that there might be some connection sacred mountain and worshipped there. between Har Karkom, and the mythical Mount Sinai The archaeological discoveries at Har Karkom of the Bible. This site recalls the passage referring to and in the surrounding areas provide a complex Moses in Exodus 24.4: “He rose early in the morning image of desert tribal lifestyle, of their beliefs and and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and put cult practices, social organization, and economic up 12 pillars, for the 12 tribes of Israel.” Here, an altar resources. Some of the findings may offer analogies and 12 pillars are at the foot of the mountain, near with biblical accounts. This area, however, also retains the remains of a Bronze Age Complex (BAC) camping significant testimonies of other cult episodes, which site. It raised the question: Was there a possible may be far removed from the biblical narration. relation between this site and the biblical description? The compilers of the book of Exodus provided a The plateau of Har Karkom has two prominent hills wealth of topographical details when they described as two summits. On the top of one is a rather unique the Mountain of God, much of which corresponds feature for a mountain in the region: a small rock strikingly with the physical features of Har Karkom. shelter. The book of Exodus describes a similar detail The cult of this mountain persisted for many at the top of Mount Sinai: “The Lord said, ‘Here is generations, and in more than one case large groups a place beside me. Stand on the rock and when My of people camped at its foot. We cannot say if one of glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock these consisted of Asiatics fleeing Egypt, but we can and cover you with my hand until I pass by’“ (Exodus say that much of the archaeological evidence seems 33.21-22).