1-2 Tishri 5787
Link to HAFTARAH ● Link to MIDRASH
FROM THE TORAH
FIRST DAY
Genesis 21:1-34
ISAAC IS BORN TO ABRAHAM AND SARAH
21:1-8
The Eternal attends Sarah as He promised. She conceives and bears a son to Abraham in his old age at the time that God foretold. Abraham names him Isaac [Yitzchak], and he circumcises Isaac his son at the age of eight days, as God had commanded him (cf. Genesis 17:12). Abraham is 100 years old when Isaac his son is born to him. Sarah says, “God has caused me laughter [tz’chok], and whoever hears of it will laugh [yitzchak] with me. Who would have told Abraham that Sarah would nurse children, that I would bear a child in his old age!” The child grows up and is weaned, and Abraham makes a great feast on the day that Isaac is weaned.
SARAH REJECTS HAGAR AND HER SON
21:9-16
Sarah observes Abraham’s other son, whom Hagar the Egyptian has borne to him (cf. Genesis 16:1-16), playing [metzachek]. She demands of Abraham: “Expel that servant and her son, so that the son of that servant does not inherit with my son, with Isaac!” Abraham does not approve of so treating his son, but God deters him from objecting for the sake of either his son or his servant, and instead encourages him to do whatever Sarah says, “for your offspring shall be recognized through Isaac” (Genesis 21:12), and the son of the servant “I shall make into a nation, as he is your offspring” (ibid. 13).
Abraham rises early in the morning and places bread and a skin of water over Hagar’s shoulder, together with the boy, and sends her away. She wanders about in the wilderness of Beersheba until their water is exhausted. She puts the child down under one of the bushes and removes herself a bowshot’s distance to avoid seeing him die. Distraught, she weeps.
GOD INTERVENES FOR HAGAR AND HER SON
21:17-21
God hears the sound of the child, and His angel calls to Hagar from heaven and tells her not to fear, that God has heard the child’s voice: “Arise and lift up the boy, hold him with your hand, for I shall make him into a great nation!” God opens her eyes so that she sees a well of water. She goes and fills the skin with water and lets the lad drink. God is with the lad. He grows up and lives in the wilderness, where he is a bow shooter. He settles in the Wilderness of Paran, and his mother takes for him a wife from the land of Egypt.
COVENANT OF ABRAHAM AND AVIMELECH
21:22-34
At that time Avimelech (cf. Genesis 20:1-18), together with Phichol his army chief, observes to Abraham: “God is with you in all that you do” (Genesis 21:22). He bids Abraham swear by God that he will not deal falsely with him, and that he will show him and his land of sojourning the same consideration that Avimelech shows him. Abraham so agrees.
Abraham complains to Avimelech that his servants had seized a certain well of water. Avimelech claims not to have known anything about it and that he had learned of it only that day. Abraham gives Avimelech sheep and cattle, and the two of them make a covenant. But when Abraham sets aside seven ewes, Avimelech asks Abraham why. Abraham says that Avimelech’s taking those seven ewes from him constitutes “testimony that I dug this well.” For that reason they named that place Beersheba [Be’er Shevah = “Well of Oath” or “Well of Seven”], for there the two of them took an oath. Then Avimelech and Phichol return to the land of the Philistines.
He plants an eshel in Beersheba, and there he calls upon the Name of the Eternal, Everlasting God. Abraham dwelled in the land of the Philistines for many days.
SECOND DAY
Genesis 22:1-24
BINDING OF ISAAC
22:1-14
After these events, God puts Abraham to a test. “Abraham,” He says; and he says, “Here I am.” He says: “Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and you go to the land of Moriah, and offer him up there for a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I shall tell you.” So Abraham arises early in the morning, saddles his ass, and takes two of his servants with him, along with Isaac his son. He splits wood for the burnt offering, gets up, and heads for the place of which God spoke.
On the third day, Abraham raises his eyes and sees the place from afar. Abraham says to his servants, “You stay here with the ass, while I and the boy go yonder. We will worship, then we will return to you.”
Abraham takes wood for the burnt offering and places it upon Isaac his son. In his hand he takes kindling and a knife, and the two of them walk together. Isaac speaks to Abraham his father: he says, “Father?” He says, “Here I am, my son.” He says, “Here are the kindling and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham answers, “God will see for Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son,” and the two of them walk together.
When they arrive at the place which God had told him, Abraham builds the altar there and arranges the wood. He binds Isaac his son and places him upon the altar, over the wood. Abraham opens his hand and takes the knife to slaughter his son. But an angel of the Eternal calls to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” and he answers, “Here I am!” He says, “Do not put your hand upon the boy, do not do anything to him! For now I know that you fear God, for you have not withheld your son, your only one, from Me.” When Abraham looks up, he sees before him a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham goes and takes the ram and offers it up for a burnt offering in place of his son. Abraham names that place, “Vision of the Eternal,” as is said today, “In the mountain of the Eternal He may be seen.”
BLESSING OF ABRAHAM AND HIS OFFSPRING
22:15-19
The angel of the Eternal calls to Abraham from heaven a second time: I Myself swear, says the Eternal, that because you have not withheld your only son, I shall bring blessing upon you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven and the sand upon the shore of the sea. Your offspring shall dispossess the gate of its enemies. All the nations of the earth shall be blessed through your offspring because you have heeded My voice.
Then Abraham returns to his servants. They set out together for Beersheba, and Abraham stays in Beersheba.
OFFSPRING OF NACHOR
22:20-24
After these events, Abraham learns that Milcah has borne eight sons to Nachor his brother (cf. Genesis 11:26-29): Utz the firstborn, Buz his brother, Kemuel father of Aram, Keshed, Chazo, Pildash, Yidlaf, and Bethuel, who begat Rebecca. Reumah, Nachor’s concubine, also bore Tevach, Gacham, Tachash, and Ma’acha.
MAFTIR FOR FIRST AND SECOND DAYS
Numbers 29:1-6
On the first day of the seventh month you shall observe a sacred convocation. Perform no work of service. It shall be for you a Day of Teruah, a celebration marked by the sound of trumpets. You shall present a burnt offering for a pleasant aroma to the Eternal: one bull of the herd, one ram, and seven year-old lambs without blemish, and their meal offering of fine flour mixed with oil, three-tenths of a measure for the bull and two-tenths of a measure for the ram and one-tenth of a measure for each of the seven lambs. Bring also one goat for a sin offering to seek atonement for you. You shall perform these in addition to the New Moon burnt offering and its meal offering, the regular burnt offering and its meal offering, and their libations, in accordance with their prescription, for a pleasant aroma, a fire offering for the Eternal.
FROM THE PROPHETS
Haftarah for the First Day of Rosh Hashanah
I Samuel 1:1-2:10
There was a man from Ramathaim-Tsophim, in the hill country of Ephraim: Elkanah son of Yerocham son of Elihu son of Tochu son of Tsuf, an Ephrathite. Elkanah had two wives: Hannah and Peninah. Peninah had children. Hannah had no children. When Elkanah went up from time to time to worship and sacrifice to the Eternal of Hosts at Shiloh, he would give Hannah twice the portion that he would give to Peninah and each of her children, because he loved Hannah and the Eternal had closed her womb. Peninah provoked her rival wife regarding her barrenness, and especially on those occasions at the House of the Eternal, so much so that Hannah wept and would not eat. To her Elkanah would say: “Why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why are you sad of heart? Am I not better to you than ten sons?”
There, at Shiloh, the Eternal’s Kohanim were Chophni and Pinchas, sons of Eli. Once, after her family’s eating and drinking there, Hannah expressed her pained spirit in prayer to the Eternal, and she vowed that if the Eternal of Hosts would recognize His servant’s affliction and grant her a son, then she would give him to the Eternal all the days of his life, and no razor would come upon his head. This prayer she offered from her heart, moving her lips, but not making a sound that could be heard. Eli the Kohen had been sitting upon his seat by the doorpost of the temple. As he observed her, he thought that she was intoxicated and admonished her to refrain from wine. She responded in defense that she had consumed no liquor, that she hoped he would not consider her wicked, but that “I have been pouring out my soul before the Eternal” (I Samuel 1:15)! Eli wished her well—“Go in peace!” he said (I Samuel 1:17)—and he prayed that the God of Israel would grant her request. Thereupon she went on her way, ate some food, and her face was no longer sad.
Early the next morning they worshipped before the Eternal and returned home, to Ramah. Elkanah was intimate with Hannah his wife, and the Eternal remembered her. In the course of time Hannah conceived and bore a son, naming him Samuel [Shemuel], as “I asked for him (or possibly: I have borrowed him) [Sh’iltiv] from the Eternal [muEl ≈ from God]” (I Samuel 1:20)!
The time came for Elkanah and his household to sacrifice to the Eternal and for him to present his votive offering. But Hannah asked her husband to let her defer going up until the child would be weaned. Then she would bring him up to appear before the Eternal, and there he would remain forever. Elkanah encouraged his wife to do what seemed right to her, to remain until the child would be weaned, and he prayed that the Eternal would fulfill His promise. Thus she continued to nurse him until she weaned him.
Upon weaning him, while he was still young, she brought him up with her to Shiloh, taking three bulls, an ephah of meal, and a skin of wine, and brought him to Eli. “I am the woman,” she said, “who was standing with you to pray to the Eternal for this child. The Eternal granted my request, so I have granted him to the Eternal. For all of his life shall he be granted to the Eternal.” So he bowed down to the Eternal.
Hannah prayed:
My heart exults in the Eternal,
I am dominant over my adversaries,
I rejoice in Your salvation!
None is Holy as the Eternal,
there is no Rock like our God.
The Eternal is a God of knowledge:
instead of proud talk,
He will appraise the facts!
The bow of the mighty
is shattered in pieces,
and stumblers
are girded with strength.
Those filled with bread
are made to labor for it,
while the hungry
are hungry no more.
The barren woman bears seven children,
while the mother of many is left weak.
The Eternal brings death and grants life;
He brings down to Sheol and brings up.
The Eternal makes poor and makes rich;
He makes low and makes high.
He sets up the poor from the dust,
and brings up the needy from the refuse-heap,
to seat them with princes
and grant them a seat of honor;
for the earth’s supports
are established by the Eternal.
He protects the position of His faithful,
and the wicked are silenced in darkness;
no man will prevail by might.
The Eternal judges the ends of the earth
and breaks into pieces
those who strive against Him;
He grants strength to His king,
raises the horn of His anointed!
—
Haftarah for the Second Day of Rosh Hashanah
Jeremiah 31:1-19
Thus says the Eternal:
The people that remains of the sword,
Israel,
shall find good rest
in the wilderness.
From afar the Eternal appeared to me:
I love you with an everlasting love,
therefore do I draw you to Me in lovingkindness.
I will yet build you,
you shall be built,
O virgin of Israel,
coming out with timbrel, dance and laughter!
You will yet plant vineyards
upon the mountains of Samaria,
and make full use
of what you plant!
The day will come
when the watchmen
on the hills of Ephraim
will call:
Let us go up to Zion,
to the Eternal our God!
Shout at the head of all nations:
Save, O Eternal, Your people,
the remnant of Israel!
Behold, I shall bring them from the north,
gather them from the ends of the earth,
among them the blind and the lame,
she that is pregnant or labors, together,
a great congregation,
returning to this place.
If they come weeping,
I shall guide them in supplication;
I shall lead them to rivers of water
in a straight path, without their falling,
for I have become a Father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn!
Hear the word of the Eternal,
O nations near and far:
The Scatterer of Israel
shall gather him up;
now He shall care for them
as the shepherd, his flock,
for the Eternal has redeemed Jacob
and saved him
from arms stronger than his own.
They shall come and sing in the height of Zion,
streaming to the goodness of the Eternal:
the grain and the wine and the oil,
the offspring of the flock and the herd—
their life shall be as a watered garden.
The virgin shall rejoice in dance,
the young and the old together,
and I shall turn their mourning into joy,
comforting them and gladdening them
from their sorrow.
I shall satisfy the Kohanim with the fatness of their offerings,
and My people will be satisfied with My goodness.
The Eternal has said:
A voice is heard in Ramah,
lamentation and bitter weeping;
Rachel is weeping for her children,
she refuses to be comforted for them,
for they are no more.
But the Eternal also says:
Hold back your voice from weeping,
your eyes from tears,
as your effort shall be rewarded,
and they shall return from the land of your enemy.
There is hope for your future,
says the Eternal,
hope for your children’s return.
I do hear Ephraim bemoaning himself:
You have chastised me, I feel it,
like a calf untrained;
bring me back, and I shall repent out of shame,
as You, my Teacher, are the Eternal, my God!
And what do I say?
Is not Ephraim My beloved son,
the child of My delight?
For as often as I rebuke him,
I remember all that he is and has been,
and so do I yearn for him
with all of My feeling;
therefore shall I treat him with compassion—
says the Eternal.
FROM TALMUD AND MIDRASH
Talmud Rosh Hashanah 8a-8b
“The New Year for Years”
“There are four New Years…
(among them) the First Day of Tishri
is the New Year [Rosh Hashanah] for Years…”
(Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1)
Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak relates “the New Year for Years” to Judgment, in accordance with the verse, “…continually the eyes of the Eternal your God are upon It [antecedent: Eretz = “Land” or “Earth”] from the beginning of the year [reysheet hashanah] until the end of the year” (Deuteronomy 11:12), which we interpret: From the New Year [Reysheet Hashanah] It is judged for what will be by its end. (Rashi: The Holy One, blessed be He, judges in Tishri what will befall “It,” namely, all the inhabitants of the Olam [“Earth” or “World”] until the following Tishri.)
And whence do we derive that “the beginning of the year [reysheet hashanah]” is Tishri?
From the verse:
“Blow on the New Moon a Shofar,
on the Invisible Moon [Keyseh] for our Festival Day!”
(Psalms 81:4)
And on which Festival is the New Moon invisible?
You must say that is Rosh Hashanah (the First Day of Tishri)—
And the verse continues regarding that day:
“As it is a law for Israel,
judgment by the God of Jacob!”
(Psalms 81:5)
Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 23:1
Rosh Hashanah
“On Rosh Hashanah
we read in the Torah:
‘On the First Day of the Seventh Month (Tishri),
you shall have a day of rest,
Remembrance by the Blast of a Horn
(Zichron Teruah),
a holy convocation.
You shall do no work of service.
You shall bring a fire offering
to the Eternal.’ (Leviticus 23:24-25)*”
(Mishnah Megillah 3:5)
But whence do we learn
that Rosh Hashanah is a Day of Judgment?
“On Rosh Hashanah
all the inhabitants of the world
pass before Him as in a line,
as was said:
‘The Creator is able to scan their hearts at once,
evaluating all of their deeds.’ (Psalms 33:15)”
(Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:2)
But whence do we learn
that Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment,
is the same as the First Day of Tishri?
Rabbi Eliezer teaches:
The world was created on the twenty-fifth day of Elul;
while Rav teaches in Zichronot for Rosh Hashanah:
“This day is the beginning of Your works (of creation),
a remembrance of the First Day [of Tishri!],
‘the New Moon Festival
when the Shofar is blown,
a law for Israel, judgment by
the God of Jacob’ (Psalms 81:4-5)
over the nations
whether for war or for peace,
whether for famine or for plenty,
whether for death or for life,
wherein all creatures will be considered
whether for life or for death!”
(Talmud Yerushalmi Rosh Hashanah 1:3)
Now the teachings can be combined to imply
that while the world was created on the twenty-fifth day of Elul,
the beginning of God’s works of creation, i.e., the first person,
was created (on the Sixth Day of Creation, cf. Genesis 1:26-27,31)
on the First Day of Tishri, viz., Rosh Hashanah,
which is the Day of Judgment!
Rabbenu Nissim (Commentary on Rif Rosh Hashanah 3a) explains: Where it is taught in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 10b) that Rabbi Eliezer also says that the world was created in Tishri, he is relating to the completion of creation, which is defined by completion of the creation of the first man, which was on the sixth day of creation. Counting from the first day of creation (25 Elul) to the sixth day of creation, then, the completion of creation is on the First Day of Tishri! But Rav calls Rosh Hashanah “the beginning of Your works (of creation),” not the “completion of creation” as Rabbenu Nissim explains Rabbi Eliezer. Perhaps what is meant is a completion of creation that allows its beginning, much as we call the completion of an academic degree a “commencement.”
Much happened for the first man on that Rosh Hashanah:
In the first hour, he came into God’s thought;
in the second hour God consulted with the ministering angels;
in the third hour He gathered his dust;
in the fourth hour He kneaded him;
in the fifth hour He gave him shape;
in the sixth hour He set the golem erect;
in the seventh hour He installed its soul;
in the eighth hour He admitted it into the Garden of Eden;
in the ninth hour He commanded it;
in the tenth hour it transgressed His command;
in the eleventh hour it was judged; and
in the twelfth hour it went out in a convocation of amnesty
from before the Holy One, blessed be He.
“Forever, O Eternal One,
Your word stands in the heavens,
Your steady judgment for every generation,
when You established the earth to stand.
On that very day they stand for Your judgments,
all of them as Your servants.”
(Psalms 119:89-91)
The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Adam:
This shall be a sign for your descendants,
“a remembrance of the First Day [of Tishri!], …
‘judgment by the God of Jacob’ (Psalms 81:5).”
Just as you came before Me in judgment on this day
and you went out in a convocation of forgiveness for your offense,
thus shall your children in remembrance
enter into judgment before Me on this day
and go out in a convocation of forgiveness.
When?
“On the first day of the seventh month…
a holy convocation!” (Leviticus 23:24)*
*The ancient Torah reading for Rosh Hashanah, Leviticus 23:23-25, prescribed in Mishnah Megillah 3:5 as above, has been replaced by Genesis 21 for the First Day (cf. Tosefta Megillah 4:6) and by Genesis 22 for the Second Day (cf. Talmud Megillah 31a).
Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 23:6
Definitions
“Blow a Shofar
on the New Moon
(and)
on the Full Moon [Keyseh] of our Festival Day,
as it is a law for Israel,
a judgment of the God of Jacob!”
(Psalms 81:4-5)
Rabbi Berechia provides the following interpretation:
“Blow a Shofar
on the New Moon
(which is)
on the Covered Moon [Keyseh] of our Festival Day,
as it is law for Israel
judgment by the God of Jacob!”
Every month begins with a New Moon, which is covered (invisible) of course, but of these months only two contain our Festival Days. One of these, Nisan, has its Festival Day (Pesach) in the middle of the month, but the other has its Festival Day (Rosh Hashanah) on the first day of the month, the New Moon, or as we can also call it, “the Covered Moon [Keyseh] of our Festival Day” (Psalms 81:4)!
When? “In the seventh month (Tishri), on the first day of the month, you shall observe a sabbath, a commemoration marked by the blowing of a shofar, a holy convocation” (Leviticus 23:24).
Why is that month called “Tishri?” “Judgment by the God of Jacob” (Psalms 81:5)! as the word tishri means “forgive,” that is to say, “Forgive our transgressions!”
Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 23:8-9
Restarting
“Men of low estate are vanity,
men of high estate are a lie;
in the scale they weigh nothing,
together, lighter than nothing!”
(Psalms 62:10)
Said Rabbi Nachman: For the vanities and lies that Israel commit in this world, Abraham our Father is capable of expiating them all. How do we know? Abraham lived in Hebron (Genesis 13:18), which was “the city of Arba” (Genesis 35:27), that is, the city of Abraham, “and ‘Arba’ was the great man among the giants” (Joshua 14:15)! “In the scale they weigh nothing,” that is to say, they are not weighted with sin, because Abraham achieves expiation for them, in the month whose zodiacal sign is the scale, the month of Tishri!
“Sound at the New Moon a Shofar!”
(Psalms 81:4)
“At the New Moon”: Take a new approach to what you do!
“Shofar”—its root [shin fey reysh] means “improve”: Improve what you do! Says the Holy One, blessed be He: If you improve your deeds before Me, then I shall treat you like this Shofar. Just as breath starts in the Shofar at one end and moves to the other, I shall vacate My throne of judgment and move to My throne of mercy. Full of mercy for you, I shall convert each measure of judgment to a measure of mercy. When? “In the seventh month” (Leviticus 23:24):
“In the seventh month,
on the first day of the month,
shall you observe complete rest,
a sacred convocation,
remembrance with the Blowing of the Shofar!”
(Leviticus 23:24)
Why “in the seventh month?”
The root of seventh [seen veyt ayin] can mean “saturate”—in the month that is saturated with commandments, among them Shofar, Atonement, Lulav, and Aravah (willows).
The root of seventh [seen veyt ayin] can mean “fulfillment”—in the month in which there is fulfillment of all plantings, among them wine, grains and fruits.
The root of seventh [sheen veyt ayin] can mean “promise”—Rabbi Berechia called it the month of promise, in which the Eternal promised our Father Abraham, “By Myself I swear, says the Eternal, that because you have done this thing and have not withheld your only son, I shall indeed bless you…and your offspring…and through you all the nations of the world…” (Genesis 22:16-18).
What called forth the Eternal’s promise to Abraham? Said Rabbi Biva son of Rabbah in the name of Rabbi Yochanan: Our Father Abraham entreated before the Holy One, blessed be He, “It is well understood by You, that when You said to me, ‘Take your son, your only one…’ (Genesis 22:2), that I was prepared to say something in response to You, namely, that previously You said to me, ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be continued’ (Genesis 21:12), but now You say to me, ‘Take your son…’ (Genesis 22:2)! So although it was in my heart to say something in response to You, yet I conquered my impulse and did not respond to you with my words of judgment; so also, then, when the offspring of Isaac fall prey to evil deeds and transgressions, may there be remembered to You and for their sake the binding of their Father and thereby may Your mercies be abundant upon them, so that the measure of judgment be turned into the measure of mercy!” When would that occur? In “the month of promise” by God to Abraham!
Talmud Rosh Hashanah 16b
Three Books in Three Reflections
1 Rabbi Kruspedai taught in the name of Rabbi Yochanan:
Three books are opened on Rosh Hashanah: one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for those in between. The thoroughly righteous are immediately inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life. The thoroughly wicked are immediately inscribed and sealed in the Book of Death. While the judgment of those in between is suspended from Rosh Hashanah until the Day of Atonement. If, during that time, they are found to be righteous, they are inscribed for Life. If not, they are inscribed for Death.
In support Rabbi Abin offered the verse:
“Let them be blotted out from the Book of Life
and not inscribed with the righteous.”
(Psalms 69:29)
“Let them be blotted out from the Book…” ̶ These are the wholly wicked inscribed in the Book of Death.
“…of Life…” ̶ This refers to the wholly righteous who are inscribed in the Book of Life.
“…and not inscribed with the righteous.” ̶ This refers to those in between whose judgment is suspended from Rosh Hashanah until the Day of Atonement.
2 Rav Nachman son of Isaac offered a different verse to support Three Books,
the words of Moses to the Eternal:
“…And if not,
blot me out from Your Book
which You have written.”
(Exodus 32:32)
“…And if not, blot me out…” ̶ This is the Book of the Wicked.
“…from Your Book…” ̶ This is the Book of the Righteous.
“…which You have written.” ̶ This is the Book of Those In-between.
3 The respective views of Shammai and Hillel are taught in a baraitha:
The School of Shammai teach that there are three classes of people on the Day of Judgment: The wholly righteous, the wholly wicked, and those who are in-between.
The wholly righteous are inscribed and sealed immediately for eternal life, and the wholly wicked are inscribed and sealed immediately for gehinnom, as was said, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to eternal life and some to shaming and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2).
Those in-between descend to gehinnom, whence they push their way up, as was said, “I shall bring the third into the fire, and I shall refine them as one refines silver and test them as one tests gold; one shall call upon My Name, and I shall answer him; I shall say he is My people, and he shall say the Eternal is my God” (Zechariah 13:9)!
It was concerning them that Hannah said:
“The Eternal brings death and grants life;
He brings down to Sheol and brings up” (I Samuel 2:6)!
The School of Hillel teach that the Master of Lovingkindness tilts the balance of judgment towards lovingkindness.
It is of them that David spoke when he said:
“I love that the Eternal should hear my voice” (Psalms 116:1),
and it was for them that David composed the entire passage:
“Because He has inclined His ear to me, I will call upon Him…
The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of She’ol found me…
The Eternal is gracious and merciful…
I was brought low, and He saved me…
Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Eternal has treated you well…
You have saved my soul from death…” (ibid. 2-8)!
Talmud Rosh Hashanah 32b
When Hallel is not recited
Rabbi Abbahu taught:
The ministering angels wondered before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, why do Israel not recite the Hallel Songs of Praise (cf. Psalms 113-118) before You on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, as they do on other festivals? He said to them: Would you have the King sitting on the throne of judgment with the books of life and the books of death opened before Him—while Israel sings a song?!
Talmud Rosh Hashanah 8b
Honor or Indictment?
Judgment or Mercy?
“Blow on the New Moon a Shofar,
on the Invisible Moon [Keyseh] for our Festival Day!
As it is a law for Israel,
judgment by the God of Jacob!”
(Psalms 81:4-5)
Our Rabbis taught in a baraitha: The verse, “As it is a law for Israel, (it is) judgment by the God of Jacob,” teaches that the Heavenly Court does not enter into “judgment” until the Earthly Court has fulfilled the “law” of sanctifying the New Moon.
NOTE: When the Beit Din sanctified Rosh Chodesh, the beginning of every month, they depended upon the testimony of witnesses to report the first appearance of the crescent of the New Moon. Since the moon completes its revolution in approximately 29½ days, witnesses would be received on the 30th day following the previous Rosh Chodesh. If two witnesses came and their testimony was accepted, the Beit Din would sanctify the 30th day as Rosh Chodesh. If they did not come or their testimony was not accepted, the 31st day became Rosh Chodesh by default.
Another baraitha is taught on the same verse: “As it is a law for Israel” implies only “Israel,” so whence do we derive a law for all nations? A law for all nations is the Oral Torah inference from saying [talmud lomar] the following (apparently redundant) words, “judgment by the God of Jacob!” In that case, assuming that Israel is covered under a law for all nations, what is the Oral Torah inference from saying [talmud lomar] the preceding (apparently redundant) words, “As it is a law for Israel?” Those words’ preceding teaches that “Israel” is judged first (before the other nations)! This lesson is in accordance with the interpretation of Rav Chisda regarding Solomon’s prayer at the Dedication of the Temple, “May my words be considered by the Eternal our God in judgment of His servant and in judgment of His people on a daily basis” (I Kings 8:59): First He judges “His servant” (Rashi: referring to Solomon himself) the king and thereafter “His people,” the community! Why in this order: king before community? If you wish, I could say: It is not appropriate for the king to be made waiting outside while the community is first being judged. Or if you wish I could say: To prevent His monumental anger (Rashi: over the sins of the community).
Talmud Rosh Hashanah 11a-11b
Judgment for Good:
Sarah, Rachel, Hannah, Joseph and Israel
“The Eternal attended [pakad] Sarah…
and she conceives…”
(Genesis 21:1-2)
“God remembered [vayizkor] Rachel…
and she conceives…”
(Genesis 30:22-23)
“The Eternal remembered her [vayizk’recha]…
and Hannah conceives…”
(I Samuel 1:19-20)
It was on Rosh Hashanah that Sarah, Rachel and Hannah, all conceived by divine intervention. Rabbi Elazar teaches how the common language of attendance and remembrance establish their common connection with Rosh Hashanah:
Rosh Hashanah is called “remembrance,” as was said, “In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, shall you observe complete rest, a sacred convocation, remembrance [zichron] with the Blowing of the Shofar” (Leviticus 23:24)! Hence the euphemism “remember” was applied to the conceptions of Rachel and Hannah, indicating that they became pregnant with Joseph and Samuel, respectively, on the Day of Remembrance, which is Rosh Hashanah! Moreover Sarah shares in common with Hannah “attendance,” as was said, “The Eternal attended [pakad] Hannah, and she conceives…” (I Samuel 2:21), thereby indicating for Sarah that she became pregnant with Isaac on Rosh Hashanah!
Maharsha (Rabbi Samuel Edels, 16th-17th cent., Ukraine): Rosh Hashanah is called the Day of Remembrance because all things come before the Judge to be remembered, whether for good or for bad. These women, who were by nature and fate barren, were remembered for good on Rosh Hashanah so that their nature and their fate were changed.
And it was on Rosh Hashanah that the man Joseph went out from the prison house in Egypt. Where do we learn this? We begin with what is written:
“Blow a Shofar on the New Moon
when the moon is still invisible on our Festival Day,
as it is a statute for Israel,
an ordinance from the God of Jacob;
He established it as testimony in Joseph (the nation)
when He (God) went forth triumphantly over the land of Egypt…
I removed his shoulder from the burden [seyvel];
his hands are freed from the basket!”
(Psalms 81:4-7)
Then we interpret those words:
He established it as testimony regarding Joseph (the man) that he (Joseph) went forth from the prison house to become ruler over the land of Egypt when the Shofar is blown…on our Festival Day…on Rosh Hashanah!
Thus He continues for Joseph:
“I removed his shoulder from the burden [seyvel];
his hands are freed from the basket!”
(Psalms 81:7)
Here also is evidence that on Rosh Hashanah all of our fathers’ servitude, of the nation of Joseph, synonymous with Israel—their burden [seyvel] in Egypt—came to an end—for such was the word of His promise to Moses:
“Say to the Children of Israel:
I shall bring you out from under the burdens [sivlot] of Egypt!”
(Exodus 6:6)
Talmud Sanhedrin 89b
Jealous Words Provoke the Test
“After these events [devarim], God puts Abraham to a test.”
(Genesis 22:1)
The word for “events” [devarim] can also mean “words”:
Said Rabbi Yochanan in the name of Rabbi Yosi ben Zimra: It was “after these words [devarim]” of Satan, as is written, “The child (Isaac) grows up and is weaned, and Abraham makes a great feast on the day that Isaac is weaned” (Genesis 21:8). Said Satan before the Holy One, blessed be He: You have been gracious to this old man at the age of 100 with fruit of the womb, but of all the feast that he has made he has not offered to You even one sacrifice! The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: Did he do this for anything other than his son? Yet, if I were to say to him, “Sacrifice your son to Me,” without delay he would sacrifice him!—Immediately (“after these words” of Satan), “God puts Abraham to a test!”
Rabbi Levi said: It was “after these words” of Ishmael to Isaac. Ishmael said to Isaac: I am greater than you, for while you were circumcised only at the age of 8 days, I was circumcised when I was 13 years old! Isaac replied: For one part of my body you impugn me? If the Holy One, blessed be He, were to say to me, “Sacrifice all of yourself to Me,” I would not refuse!—Immediately (“after these words” of Ishmael), “God puts Abraham to a test!”
Talmud Sanhedrin 89b
Divine Diplomacy
He says: “Take, please [na], your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac,
and you go to the land of Moriah,
and offer him up there for a burnt offering
on one of the mountains that I shall tell you…”
(Genesis 22:2a)
Said Rabbi Shimon son of Rabbi Abba: “Please” [na] is the language of entreaty, not of direct command. The Holy One, blessed be He, was saying to him: I have put you through many trials, and you have stood through them. Why one more? So that no one can say: The first ones were not really trials!
When He said to him, “Take your son,” Abraham replied: But I have two sons! Then He said to him, “Your only son,” and he replied: Each one is the only son of his respective mother! Then He said to him, “Whom you love,” and he replied: Both of them are beloved to me! Finally, He said to him, “Isaac!” But why all of this? In order to attenuate the shock.
Mishnah Ta’anit 16:1
Instruction or Fear
“…and you go to the land of Moriah,
and bring him up there for a burnt offering
on one of the mountains that I shall tell you.”
(Genesis 22:2b)
What is the meaning of Moriah? Different views are expressed by Rabbi Levi bar Chama and Rabbi Chaninah. One said: The mountain from which emanates Instruction (Hora’ah) to Israel. And one said: The mountain from which emanates Fear (Morah) to the rest of the world. (Mount Moriah is the place where the Temple would be built!)
Mishnah Nazir 9:5
Razor or Fear
“Hannah vowed that if the Eternal of Hosts
would recognize His servant’s affliction and grant her a son,
then she would give him to the Eternal all the days of his life,
and no morah would come upon his head.”
(I Samuel 1:11)
Samuel was a Nazirite—according to Rabbi Nehorai, who argued that morah here, presumably meaning “razor,” was part of the promise by Hannah that her son would be a Nazirite from the womb—even though she does not use the term “Nazirite”—but similarly to the case of Samson, of whom it is said, “No morah shall come upon his head, for he shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb…” (Judges 13:5)!
Rabbi Yosi asserted that morah is not a razor but the fear (morah) of flesh and blood. Therefore Hannah would be saying, “No fear [morah] of mortals would come upon his head!”
[Morah in both references is spelled with the Hebrew letter hay at the end, while morah meaning “fear” is usually spelled elsewhere with the Hebrew letter aleph at the end yet once, in Psalms 9:21, with hay at the end.]
Rabbi Nehorai retorted: When the Eternal sent Samuel to anoint a king to replace Saul, consider that Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears, he will kill me!” (I Samuel 16:2) So clearly there was the fear [morah] of flesh and blood upon him!
Genesis Rabbah 56:2
Faithful Skeptic
“The Eternal assures Abraham that his own progeny would yet inherit him.
He takes him outside and says,
‘Look to heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them…
Thus [ko] shall be your offspring!’”
(Genesis 15:5)
Later:
“Abraham says to his servants,
‘You stay here with the ass,
while I and the boy go yonder…,’”
literally, “while we shall go to the end of ‘thus’ [neylecha ad ko].”
(Genesis 22:5)
Abraham’s words, “…while I and the boy go to the end of ‘thus’ [ad ko],” rose above a practical instruction to servants. In those words Abraham was expressing the paradox he recognized between God’s promise to him of a successor and His demand to bring up Isaac for a sacrifice on Mount Moriah. As Rabbi Joshua son of Levi taught, he was saying/thinking, “We shall go and see what shall become of “Thus [ko] shall be your offspring,” that is, what shall be the end/denouement of God’s promise to me which started with the word, “Thus [ko]”: Thus shall be your offspring, as numerous as the countless stars in heaven! Really?
Genesis Rabbah 56:8
What About the Covenant?
“Abraham opens his hand and takes the knife to slaughter his son.”
(Genesis 22:10)
These words were reported at a later time:
“The messengers [malacheem] weep bitterly over Jerusalem’s defeat:
The highways are destroyed, wayfarers have ceased,
He has abrogated the covenant,
He has despised the cities, He regards no man!”
(Isaiah 33:7-8)
But:
As Abraham opens his hand to take the knife, his eyes weep tears that fall into the eyes of Isaac. These tears are the product of a father’s compassion. Nonetheless his heart rejoices to fulfill the will of his Creator. But the angels [malacheem] assemble in protest above! What do they cry? “The highways are destroyed, wayfarers have ceased, He has abrogated the covenant, He has despised the cities…” (Isaiah 33:8a). Is His desire no more in Jerusalem or in the Temple, which He intended to bequeath to the descendants of Isaac? And if no merit stands for Abraham in the sight of the Holy One, blessed be He, then surely “…He regards no man” (Isaiah 33:8b)!
Said Rabbi Acha: Abraham began to wonder. Yesterday You said, “Your offspring shall be recognized through Isaac” (Genesis 21:12). Then You turn around and say, “Take, please, your son…” (Genesis 22:22). And now You tell me, “Do not put your hand upon the boy…” (Genesis 22:12)!
Then the Holy One, blessed be He, reassured him: “I will not violate My covenant…” (Psalms 89:35a), “I will uphold My covenant with Isaac…” (Genesis 17:21a), “…That which is brought forth from My lips I shall not alter” (Psalms 89:35b). When I said, “Take, please, your son.…” (Genesis 22:2a), I did not say, “Slaughter him!” but, “Bring him up” (Genesis 22:2b)! Out of affection I said it, in order that I could behold him. Now that you have brought him up and fulfilled My request, bring him down! Such is written: “They built shrines to Baal…which I never commanded, never decreed, it never came up upon My heart” (Jeremiah 19:5)!
Yerushalmi Ta’anit 2:4
To the End of Redemption
It is taught in a baraitha that Abraham said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, You know that at the time You said to me, “Bring him up there for a burnt offering” (Genesis 22:2b), I said in response, “Yesterday You said to me that through Isaac offspring shall be called yours (Genesis 21:12), but now You tell me to offer him up as a burnt offering! Yet I have conquered my impulse in order to do Your will. Therefore, may it be Your will, that at the time when Isaac’s children might enter into danger and there is no one who will advocate on their behalf, that You will remember the binding of Isaac their Father and be filled with mercy for them!”
Zichronot (Remembrance) in the Rosh Hashanah Machzor: “There is no forgetfulness before Your throne of glory, and may You mercifully remember today the binding of Isaac for the sake of his offspring!”
“When Abraham looks up,
he sees, behind, a ram
caught in the thicket by its horns.”
(Genesis 22:13)
What is the meaning of “Abraham sees behind?” Said Rabbi Yudah son of Rabbi Simon: Abraham sees the future (“behind,” viz. where your eyes cannot see, indicates the future because the future cannot be seen by most people). What does he see? Your children (like the horns of the ram caught in the thicket) will be caught up in their sins and entangled in sufferings, but ultimately they will be redeemed by the horns of this ram, as was said, “The Lord God will blow the Shofar (ram’s horn) and will advance with tempests of wind” (Zechariah 9:14)!
Rabbi Huna in the name of Rabbi Chinenah bar Yitzchak: All that day Abraham observed the ram, first caught in a tree, extricated, then ensnared in a bush, extricated, then entangled in a thicket, then extricated and freed. Said the Holy One, blessed be He, to Abraham: Similarly, your children shall in the future be caught in their iniquities, ensnared in kingdoms, from Babylonia to Media, from Media to Greece, from Greece to Edom (Rome). He asked the Holy One, blessed be He: Shall it be that way forever? He replied: In the end they shall be redeemed by the horns of this ram. “The Lord God will blow the Shofar and will advance with tempests of wind” (Zechariah 9:14)!
Talmud Berachot 31a-31b
What we learn from Hannah and Eli
“Hannah was speaking from her heart, moving her lips,
but not making a sound that could be heard.
Eli thought that she was intoxicated
and admonished her to refrain from wine.
She responded in defense:
No, my lord, I am a woman of troubled spirit,
I have not drunk wine or shaychar;
rather I am pouring out my soul before the Eternal.
Consider not your maidservant as a wicked woman…
Eli responded by wishing her:
Go in peace,
and may the God of Israel grant your request…!”
(I Samuel 1:13-17)
Rav Hamnuna said:
How many significant lessons of prayer may be drawn from these verses of Hannah!
“She was speaking from her heart”:
In praying, one should direct one’s heart (not merely utter the words).
“Only her lips were moving”:
In praying, one should form words with the lips.
“Her voice was not heard”:
One should not raise the voice to be heard in silent prayer.
“Eli thought that she was intoxicated”:
It is forbidden for an intoxicated person to offer the prayer.
“He admonished her to refrain from wine”:
Rabbi Elazar infers that one who observes something unseemly in another
should bring it to their attention.
“Hannah responded in defense: No [lo], my lord…”—
Said Ulla—or possibly Rabbi Yosi son of Rabbi Chaninah—
She said to him, “Not [lo] lord!”:
You are not lord in this matter, the Holy Spirit is not resting upon you,
in that you suspect me of this.
Or she said to him, “Not [lo] lord!”:
You are not lord in this matter,
neither the Holy Spirit nor the Divine Presence is resting upon you,
in that you judge me with a presumption of guilt
rather than with a presumption of innocence.
Do you not see that I am behaving as a woman of troubled spirit
and not necessarily as a drunkard?!
Rabbi Elazar infers that one who is suspected of something unseemly that is not true
should defend himself and let his accuser know that he is not guilty of the accusation.
“Consider not your maidservant as a wicked woman”:
Rabbi Elazar infers from this that a drunkard who recites the prayer
is as wicked as an idolator.
How does he reach that conclusion?
The word for “wickedness” [beleeya’al] that Hannah uses here
is the same word for “wickedness” [beleeya’al]
that is applied to idolatry in the Torah (cf. Deuteronomy 13:14).
Therefore Hannah feared that Eli regarded her as wicked as an idolator
for reciting the prayer when drunk!
Rabbi Elazar infers further that one who suspects something of another that is not warranted
should appease the one whom he has accused,
as “Eli responded by wishing her: Go in peace…”—
but not only that!—
he should also give the accused a blessing, as did Eli,
“…and may the God of Israel grant your request!”
Midrash Samuel 3:6-7
Precocious Child
“Hannah brought Samuel up with her when she weaned him,
taking three bulls, an ephah of meal, and a skin of wine,
and she brought him to the House of the Eternal at Shiloh,
and the boy was a child.”
(I Samuel 1:24)
He was a child of two years.
“By his doings [b’ma’alalav] does a child make himself known [yitnaker]…”
(Proverbs 20:11a)
Samuel came and found them standing by their offerings. He said to them: Why are you not sacrificing? They said to him: We are waiting for the Kohen to arrive, as is written, “He shall slaughter the bull before the Eternal (Leviticus 1:5)!” No, no—said he—go ahead and slaughter—
“When a man among you brings an offering…
he shall slaughter the bull before the Eternal…”
(Leviticus 1:1-5)
̶̶̶—and we have learned in the Mishnah that shechitah is kosher when performed by laymen and by women and by slaves, even for the holiest of sacrifices (cf. Mishnah Zevachim 3:1)!
So, when Eli arrived, finding that they had engaged in sacrificing, he asked them: Who permitted you to perform the sacrifice? They told him: A child. Whereupon he demanded that they bring the child to him:
“They slaughtered the bull,
then they brought the child to Eli.”
(I Samuel 1:25)
He was ready to punish him, interpreting the verse, “By his misdeeds [b’ma’alalav] does a child mislead [yitnaker]” (Proverbs 20:11a)! Then his mother arrived and threw herself down at the feet of Eli:
“’I am the woman,’ said she,
‘who was standing with you to pray to the Eternal.’”
(I Samuel 1:26)
He said to her: Did I not pray for you, whereby your prayer was answered? Let him die, and I will pray for another! To which she replied, “I prayed for this child, and the Eternal granted my request” (I Samuel 1:27), so in any case the child is neither mine nor yours. “Moreover, I have granted him to the Eternal; for as long as he lives he shall be granted [shaul] to the Eternal…” (I Samuel 1:28a)! As she said those words, the Holy Spirit was breaking out over her: “For as long as he (Samuel) lives, he is Saul [Shaul] (the first king of Israel) to the Eternal!” She foresaw: The duration of Saul would be bound inextricably with the duration of Samuel.
“…and he bowed down there to the Eternal.”
(I Samuel 1:28b)
Who bowed down?
Among the Biblical commentators—Rashi, Radak, Metzudat David, and Abarbanel—three possibilities are entertained: Elkanah was acknowledging divine acceptance of Hannah’s prayer or was simply taking leave of the House of God, Eli was expressing gratitude for Samuel’s birth, or Samuel as a young child was fulfilling what his mother had taught him to do. What does the Midrash (above and below) suggest?
Rabbi Isaac noted that the merit of worshipful bowing is shown in everything. Abraham and Isaac completed their visit to Mount Moriah safely by the merit of bowing, as is written: “We shall bow down in worship and then we shall return to you” (Genesis 22:5). Israel was redeemed from Egypt “by the Eternal’s ‘passover’ of their houses as the people bowed down in worship” (Exodus 12:27). The Torah was given by merit of bowing when “He invited Moses and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and Seventy of the Elders of Israel, to ascend to the Eternal but from afar to bow down in worship” (Exodus 24:1). The Temple was built in association with the merit of bowing down, as is written, “Exalt the Eternal our God and bow down to the place of His feet” (Psalms 99:5). Even the dead will not come to life without the merit of bowing down, as is written: “Come, let us bow down and bend the knee [nichra’ah]” (Psalms 95:6), which must be interpreted (since bending the knee would normally precede bowing down), “Come, let us bow down and open the ground [nichrah, wherein hey replaces ayin]!” And, finally, even the exiles will not return without the merit of bowing down, as is written: “On that day, with the blowing of the Great Shofar, those who were lost in the land of Assyria and those who were dispersed in the land of Egypt shall come back and bow down to the Eternal in the holy mountain, in Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:13)!
Yalkut Shimoni I Samuel 2 80
Hannah’s Tefillah
“Hannah prayed…”
(I Samuel 2:1a)
From this we learn that women are required to offer the Tefillah (“Prayer”), that is, the Shemoneh-Esrey, the traditional Eighteen Benedictions, also known as the Amidah, that constitute the engine of each of the three daily services, and which are understood synonymously with the use of the word “pray.”
That Hannah’s “Prayer” constituted the traditional Shemoneh-Esrey
is reflected in the words that she prayed:
First Benediction
“My horn is high in the Eternal” (ibid. 1a) – The animal’s horn is his shield:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, Shield of Abraham!
Second Benediction
“The Eternal brings death and grants life” (ibid. 6a) – He turns death into life:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who bring the dead to life!
Third Benediction
“None is Holy as the Eternal” (ibid. 2a) – The Eternal is uniquely holy:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, the Holy God!
Fourth Benediction
“The Eternal is a God of knowledge” (ibid. 3b) – He is the Source of knowledge:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who bestow upon man knowledge!
Fifth Benediction
“Stumblers are girded with strength” (ibid. 4b) – The sinful are supported to return:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who desire repentance!
Sixth Benediction
“He brings down to Sheol and brings up” (ibid. 6b) – He allows the sinful to arise:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who abundantly forgive!
Seventh Benediction
“I rejoice in Your salvation” (ibid. 1b) – We shall enjoy Your saving us:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, Redeemer of Israel!
Eighth Benediction
“He sets up the suffering from the dust” (ibid. 8a) – You restore the languishing:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, Healer of the sick!
Ninth Benediction
“Those filled with bread” (ibid. 5a) – You make times of plenty:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who bless the years with produce!
Tenth Benediction
“He protects the position of His faithful” (ibid. 9a) – You forget not where they are:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who gather the scattered of His people Israel!
Eleventh Benediction
“The Eternal judges the ends of the earth” (ibid. 10a) – You are the Judge of all:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, King who love righteousness and judgment!
Twelfth Benediction
“The wicked are silenced in darkness” (ibid. 9a) – You will put an end to wrongdoers:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who break the enemies and subdue the wicked!
Thirteenth Benediction
“He grants strength to His king” (ibid. 10b) – You will revive the place of his rule:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, Builder of Jerusalem!
Fourteenth Benediction
“He will restore the power of His anointed one” (ibid. 10b) – Restore the power of David:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who enables the saving power of the offspring of David!
Fifteenth Benediction
“There is no Rock like our God” (ibid. 2b) – We can depend on You:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, who listens to prayer!
Sixteenth Benediction
“Indulge not in proud talk” (ibid. 3a) – Focus rather on what God expects of us:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, whom alone we serve in reverence!*
*As when Kohanim are prepared for the Priestly Benediction
Seventeenth Benediction
“Let no arrogant word come out of your mouth” (ibid. 3a) – Be content with His truth:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, whose Name is Good and to whom it is good to give thanks!
Eighteenth Benediction
“May He grant strength to His king” (ibid. 10b) – to be employed for the benefit of all:
Blessed are You, O Eternal, Maker of peace!
SHABBAT SHALOM!
SHANAH TOVAH!
—
Pesikta d’Rav Kahana 24:16
Merciful Father
“If they come weeping,
I shall guide them in supplication;
I shall lead them to rivers of water
in a straight path, without their falling,
for I have become a Father to Israel,
and Ephraim is my firstborn!”
(Jeremiah 31:8)
Rabbi Levi and Rabbi Isaac:
The Holy One, blessed be He, charged Jeremiah: Call upon Israel to repent! When he delivered the Prophecy to them, they answered him: Rabbenu Jeremiah, how can we do teshuvah? How could we come before the One who knows all that we have done? Have we not angered Him? Have we not provoked Him? Those mountains and hills upon which we engaged in idolatry—are they not living witnesses? The Prophets attest: “Upon the mountaintops they sacrifice…” (Hosea 4:13) and “Let us lie down in humiliation, let our disgrace cover us” (Jeremiah 3:25)!
Rabbi Levi: Jeremiah delivered their response before the Holy One, blessed be He, and He charged him to say to them: Indeed I indicted you in My Torah, saying, “I shall turn My face against those who go astray after idols and cut that person off from among his people” (Leviticus 20:6), but “far be it from Me to carry out My verdict upon you, for I am merciful and will not maintain My anger forever” (Jeremiah 3:12)!
Rabbi Isaac: Jeremiah delivered their response before the Holy One, blessed be He, and He charged him to say to them: When you come to Me to repent, remember before Whom you are coming. You are drawing near to your Father who is in heaven, as the Prophet attested: “For I have become a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn” (Jeremiah 31:8)!
Lamentations Rabbah Proem 24
Ancestral Objections
Rabbi Samuel bar Nachman taught:
When the Temple was destroyed, Abraham was deeply dismayed. He came before the Holy One, blessed be He, weeping and pulling out his hair, rending his garments, with ashes upon his head. At the site of the destroyed Temple he mournfully appealed to the Holy One, blessed be He: Why am I treated differently from every other nation and brought to such shame and contempt?
The ministering angels, upon seeing him, arranged themselves in many rows to comfort the mourner, saying: “Highways lie desolate, travelers are no more, a covenant has been broken, cities rejected, people diminished” (Isaiah 33:8)!
What did they mean by “Highways lie desolate?” The ministering angels were saying to the Holy One, blessed be He: The highways to Jerusalem which You maintained so that the pilgrims would not cease using them—how they have become desolate!
“Travelers are no more”: The roads that Israel used to travel for the Festivals—how the travelers have ceased traveling on them!
“A covenant has been broken”: Master of the Universe, the covenant of Abraham, their Father, has been renounced, the covenant by which the world is populated and by which the world recognizes You as God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth!
“Cities rejected,” literally, “He has rejected cities”: The ministering angels said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “You have rejected Jerusalem and Zion after You chose them,” as is written, “Have You indeed rejected Judah? Does Your soul loathe Zion? Why have you stricken us so that there is no cure” (Jeremiah 14:19)?
“People (Enosh) diminished,” literally, “He has not held Enosh important”: You have not held people (enosh) of Israel to be even as important as the generation of Enosh, “who began [huchal] to call upon the Name of the Eternal” (Genesis 4:26b) but which we interpret, “for whom it was profane [huchal] to call upon the Name of the Eternal” because they preferred idolatry (Genesis Rabbah 23:7)!
At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, engaged with the ministering angels and asked them why they arranged themselves in many rows to comfort the mourner. They explained: Because of Abraham, Your loyal one, who has come to Your House lamenting and weeping! Why have You paid him no attention? He answered them: Since the day that my loyal one departed from Me to his eternal home, he has not come to My House. But now, “What is My beloved doing in My House” (Jeremiah 11:15)?
Said Abraham before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, why have You exiled my children and delivered them into the hands of the nations, who torture them and kill them? Why have You destroyed the Temple, the place where I offered Isaac my son as a burnt offering before You (cf. Genesis 22:1-19)? The Holy One, blessed be He, replied: Your children have sinned, have violated the entire Torah, every one of its words and letters! Thus is it written: “All of Israel have transgressed Your Torah, gone astray, disobeyed You, wherefore You have imposed upon us the promised curse which is written in the Torah of Moses, servant of God (cf. Deuteronomy 28:15-68), as we have sinned against Him” (Daniel 9:11)!
Then Abraham demanded: Master of the Universe, say who testifies against Israel that they have violated Your Torah? Let the Torah come forth, says the Holy One, and offer its testimony against Israel! Whereupon the Torah came forth to testify against them. Abraham said to her: My daughter, you are coming forth to testify against Israel that they have transgressed your commandments, but do you not feel ashamed? Recall how the Holy One, blessed be He, passed you around to every nation and tongue and not one of them wanted you, until my children arrived at Mount Sinai and received you with honor. So now you would testify against them on the day of their calamity?! When the Torah heard this, it stepped aside and did not testify against them.
Then the Holy One, blessed be He, announced: Let each of the twenty-two different letters that are found in the Torah come forth and testify against Israel! Immediately they came forth, and the Aleph presented itself first to testify against Israel that they have violated the Torah. When it was Abraham’s turn to cross-examine the Aleph, he said to her: Aleph, you are the first of all the letters, and you have come to testify against Israel on the day of their calamity. Recall the day when the Holy One, blessed be He, was revealed on Mount Sinai, and He began His revelation with you: “I (Anochi, which starts with the letter Aleph) am the Eternal your God…” (Exodus 20:2). No nation or tongue would receive you except for my children, and today you are coming to testify against my children?! Whereupon the Aleph stepped aside and did not testify against them.
Then the next letter, Beyt, came forth to testify against Israel, and Abraham said to the Beyt: My daughter, you are coming to testify against my children, who are diligent in studying (if not fully observing) the words and letters of Torah, of which you are the first letter: “In the beginning (B’reysheet, which starts with the letter Beyt) God created…” (Genesis 1:1). Whereupon the Beyt stepped aside and offered no testimony.
Gimmel then stepped forward to testify against Israel. Said Abraham: Gimmel, you have come to testify against my children that they have transgressed the Torah. Is there any nation that upholds the commandment of tzitzit, of which you are the first letter, except for my children? I refer to the verse, “Tassels (Gedileem, which starts with the letter Gimmel) shall you make for yourself on the four corners of your garment…” (Deuteronomy 22:12). Whereupon the Gimmel stepped aside and offered no testimony.
When the other letters observed that Abraham had silenced the first three, they too were ashamed and stepped aside and did not testify against Israel.
Abraham then addressed the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe, when I was one hundred years old, You gave me a son, and when he was mature of mind, as a young man of thirty-seven years, You said to me: Offer him up to Me as a burnt offering. I complied with your command, suppressing my paternal love, treating him as if I were cruel, not offering him any mercy, binding him myself—and You do not remember this to my credit and therewith show mercy to my children?
At this point Isaac entered the conversation and said: Master of the Universe, when Abba said to me, “God will provide a lamb for the burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8), I did not delay the fulfillment of Your words but willingly I allowed myself to be bound upon the altar and stretched out my neck under the knife—and You do not remember this to my credit and therewith show mercy to my children?
At this point Jacob entered the conversation and said: Master of the Universe, did I not spend twenty years in the house of Laban, and when I left his house, wicked Esau accosted me and sought to kill my children so that I risked my own life for their sake (cf. Genesis 33:1-3)? Now they have been delivered into the hand of their enemies like sheep to the slaughter after You raised them like tender young chicks and I suffered for their sake the pain of raising children, having suffered that pain for their sake most of my days—and You do not remember this to my credit and therewith show mercy to my children?
Then Moses entered the conversation and said: Master of the Universe, was I not a faithful shepherd of Israel for forty years, running before them like a horse in the desert, and when the time came for them to enter the Land, You decreed that my bones would fall short in the wilderness? Now that they have been exiled, You have sent me to lament and weep for them, suggesting the well-known proverb: From my master’s good fortune I derive no benefit, but I suffer from his bad fortune!
Whereupon Moses said to Jeremiah: Go ahead, and I shall follow and bring home the exiles and prevent anyone from harming them! Jeremiah objected: It is impossible to walk along that road because of the dead that lie upon it. But Moses insisted, and thus they walked, until they arrived at the rivers of Babylon. When the exiles saw Moses, they said to each other: The son of Amram has come out from his grave to redeem us from the hand of our oppressors!
But the divine voice was heard: No, for that was My edict! Moses had to explain to them: It is impossible to reverse your fortune, for the edict has already been imposed, but may the Omnipresent bring you back speedily! And he left them there. Thereupon they raised their voices with loud weeping until their weeping reached on high, as is written: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat, and we wept, in remembering Zion” (Psalms 137:1).
When Moses returned to the Patriarchs, they asked him: What has the enemy done to our children. He described to them all of the various murderous cruelties that were committed against men, women and children. Master of the Universe, he said, You have written in Your Torah, “Of oxen or sheep, you may not slaughter it and its child on the same day” (Leviticus 22:28), yet our enemies have already killed many many children together with their mothers, and You remain silent!
At that moment Rachel our Mother came before the Holy One, blessed be He, and said: Master of the Universe, it is well known to You that Jacob Your servant loved me with a great love and worked for me under Abba for seven years, and when those seven years were complete, and the time had come for me to marry my intended, my father determined to replace me for my husband with my sister (cf. Genesis 29:9 ff.). His decision hurt me so very much that when I learned of it, I told my intended and gave him a secret sign between us, so he would know if my father attempted to substitute my sister for me on the wedding night.
Well, my compassion for my sister, who would have been set aside and humiliated if we had to carry out our plan, overpowered my passion for my beloved. So that night, when my father did substitute my sister for me in the wedding bed, I gave her the secret sign so that my beloved Jacob would think that my sister was me, Rachel. In addition, I hid under their bed so that when Jacob spoke with her, she would remain silent and I would answer for her, making him think that she was me by the sound of my voice. Thus I showed her my lovingkindness and suppressed my envy.
So, if I, mere flesh and blood, of dust and ashes, did not treat my actual rival with envy but protected her from shame and reproach, then You, ever-living and compassionate King, why are You envious of idolatry, which has no validity to begin with and cannot be considered Your rival, why do You, because of it, exile my children into the murderous hands of their enemies? Immediately the mercies of the Holy One, blessed be He, welled up, and He said: Because of you, Rachel, I shall bring Israel back to their home!
As the Prophet said:
“Thus declares the Eternal:
A voice is heard in Ramah:
Mourning, bitter weeping;
Rachel is weeping for her children,
she refuses to be comforted
for her children who are lost.
Thus says the Eternal:
Restrain your voice from crying
and your eyes from tears,
for there is a reward for what you have done—
declares the Eternal—
they shall return from the land of the enemy!
And there is hope for your future—
declares the Eternal—
Your children shall return to their home!”
(Jeremiah 31:15-17)
Leviticus Rabbah 2:3
Why Ephraim?
“Is not Ephraim My beloved son,
the child of My delight?”
(Jeremiah 31:19a)
Both Rabbi Joshua ben Levi and Rabbi Joshua bar Nachman interpreted “Ephraim” to denote an honorable rank: courtier and nobleman, respectively. Rabbi Pinchas taught that our Father Jacob, on his deathbed, chose to honor his son Ephraim: In the future, the Chief of Tribes, the Head of the Academy, the most outstanding of my descendants, shall be associated with your name—for example, “son of Tochu son of Tsuf, an Ephrathite” (I Samuel 1:1b) in reference to Elkanah, father of Samuel, and “David was the son of a certain Ephrathite man from Bethlehem, Judah” (I Samuel 17:12a).
Yalkut Shimoni II Psalms 816
Complaint and Consolation
“Is not Ephraim My beloved son,
the child of My delight?
For as often as I speak [dabree] against him [bo]
(as often as I rebuke him [dabree bo]),
I remember all that he is and has been,
and so do I yearn for him
with all of My feeling;
therefore shall I treat him with compassion—
says the Eternal.”
(Jeremiah 31:19)
̶
“A Psalm concerning Yedutun…
I lift up my voice to God,
and I cry out!”
(Psalms 77:1-2a)
What is Yedutun?
When the Holy One, blessed be He, warned the Prophets of calamities that would befall Israel, they protested bitterly before Him, they complained “concerning Yedutun,” that is, concerning the punishments [datot] and the edicts [deeneen] that He previewed to them, raising up their voice, “I lift up my voice to God,” and “crying out!”
“I stand upon my watch [al-mishmartee]…”
(Habakkuk 2:1a)
“I cry out to You of violence…”
(Ibid. 1:2b)
“For the vision is yet
for the appointed time [lamoed]…”
(Ibid. 2:3a)
“When I mention it, O God, I moan…”
(Ibid. 4a)
Similarly do you find in the Prophet who said, “I am standing upon high alert [al-hamishmar],” painfully vigilant, as evidenced by my cry to you, of the violence to come! Why? Because the vision is yet for the forewarned [lamuad], i.e., for the Prophets.
“My soul refuses to be comforted.”
(Psalms 77:3b)
“Let me know, Eternal One, my end,
and what is the measure of my days,
so that I would know thereby how transient I am!”
(Psalms 39:5)
Why does it (“my soul”) refuse to be comforted? Because it does not know how long it will have to be vigilant for the violence to come (“Let me know, Eternal One, my end…”). Let me know how much longer, the timing of Your plan, and then I shall be comforted. Suppose that a man needs to discipline his son. He tells him that the punishment will consist of ten stripes. After the first stripe, he tells him that there will be nine more. After the second stripe, eight more, and so on. As long as his father lets him know how many stripes remain, the son is consoled. But when is he not consoled? When his father does not tell him how many stripes remain. This is why Israel complained to the Holy One, blessed be He, “My soul refuses to be comforted!” Because I do not know the timing of Your plan: “Let me know, Eternal One, my end” of Your plan to keep me vigilant for the violence to come!
“When I mention it, O God [ezkerah Elohim], I moan…”
(Psalms 77:4a)
Interpret for Consolation:
“When I mention God [ezkerah Elohim], I moan…”
When Israel mentions the Holy One, blessed be He, they yearn for Him with all of their feeling (“their insides moan for Him”), as may be inferred from the verse, “My Beloved reaches through the window, my stomach quavers (my insides moan for Him)” (Song of Songs 5:4). And when the Holy One, blessed be He, mentions Israel, His insides moan for them, as can be learned from the verse:
“Is not Ephraim My beloved son,
the child of My delight?
For as often as I speak of him [dabree bo],
I remember all that he is and has been,
and so do I yearn for him
with all of My feeling
(My Insides moan for him)!”
(Jeremiah 31:19)
Leviticus Rabbah 2:3
“My words”
“For as often as [midey] I speak [dabree] of/against him [bo],
I remember all that he is and has been,
and so do I yearn for him…”
(Jeremiah 31:19)
Rabbi Yudan interpreted in the name of Rabbi Abba bar Kahana:
“From the sufficiency of [midey] My speaking [diburee] in him [bo],
I remember all that he is and has been,
and so do I yearn for him…”
When My words of Torah have found their way into Israel,
I know their past and their present,
and so I yearn for their future.
L’SHANAH TOVAH TIKATEVU!
Sedra Summary 