Some explain the double nomenclature of "Passover" and "Feast of Unleavened Bread" as referring to two separate feasts that the Israelites combined sometime between the Exodus
The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the Bible), namely ...
and when the Biblical text became settled. and indicate that the dedication of the firstborn also became associated with the festival.
Some believe that the "Feast of Unleavened Bread" was an agricultural festival at which the Israelites celebrated the beginning of the grain harvest. Moses may have had this festival in mind when in and he petitioned Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...
to let the Israelites go to celebrate a feast in the wilderness.[Gunther Plaut, ''Torah: A Modern Commentary'', page 464.]
"Passover," on the other hand, was associated with a thanksgiving sacrifice of a lamb, also called "the Passover," "the Passover lamb," or "the Passover offering."
, , and an
5 and direct "Passover" to take place on the evening of the fourteenth of
Aviv
Aviv ( he, אביב) means "barley ripening", and by extension "spring season" in Hebrew. It is also used as a given name, surname, and place name, as in Tel Aviv. The first month of the year is called the month of Aviv in the Pentateuch. The mo ...
(
Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month i ...
in the
Hebrew calendar
The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. ...
after the
Babylonian captivity
The Babylonian captivity or Babylonian exile is the period in Jewish history during which a large number of Judeans from the ancient Kingdom of Judah were captives in Babylon, the capital city of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, following their defea ...
). , , , and confirm that practice. , , and , , and direct the "Feast of Unleavened Bread" to take place over seven days and and direct that it begin on the fifteenth of the month. Some believe that the proximity of the dates of the two
festivals
A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...
led to their confusion and merger.
an
27link the word "Passover" (, ) to God's act to "pass over" (, ) the Israelites' houses in the
plague
Plague or The Plague may refer to:
Agriculture, fauna, and medicine
*Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis''
* An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural)
* A pandemic caused by such a disease
* A swarm of pe ...
of the firstborn. In the Torah, the consolidated Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread thus commemorate the Israelites' liberation from
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...
.
The Hebrew Bible frequently notes the Israelites' observance of Passover at turning points in their history. reports God's direction to the Israelites to observe Passover in the wilderness of
Sinai on the anniversary of their liberation from Egypt. reports that upon entering the
Promised Land
The Promised Land ( he, הארץ המובטחת, translit.: ''ha'aretz hamuvtakhat''; ar, أرض الميعاد, translit.: ''ard al-mi'ad; also known as "The Land of Milk and Honey"'') is the land which, according to the Tanakh (the Hebrew ...
, the Israelites kept the Passover on the plains of
Jericho
Jericho ( ; ar, أريحا ; he, יְרִיחוֹ ) is a Palestinian city in the West Bank. It is located in the Jordan Valley, with the Jordan River to the east and Jerusalem to the west. It is the administrative seat of the Jericho Gover ...
and ate unleavened cakes and parched corn, produce of the land, the next day. reports that King
Josiah
Josiah ( or ) or Yoshiyahu; la, Iosias was the 16th king of Judah (–609 BCE) who, according to the Hebrew Bible, instituted major religious reforms by removing official worship of gods other than Yahweh. Josiah is credited by most biblical s ...
commanded the Israelites to keep the Passover in Jerusalem as part of Josiah's reforms, but also notes that the Israelites had not kept such a Passover from the days of the
Biblical judges
The biblical judges ''šōp̄êṭ''/''shofet'', pl. ''šōp̄əṭîm''/''shoftim'') are described in the Hebrew Bible, and mostly in the Book of Judges, as people who served roles as military leaders in times of crisis, in the period before an ...
nor in all the days of the
kings of Israel
This article is an overview of the kings of the United Kingdom of Israel as well as those of its successor states and classical period kingdoms ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty and Herodian dynasty.
Kings of Ancient Israel and Judah
The Heb ...
or the
kings of Judah
The Kings of Judah were the monarchs who ruled over the ancient Kingdom of Judah. According to the biblical account, this kingdom was founded after the death of Saul, when the tribe of Judah elevated David to rule over it. After seven years, David ...
, calling into question the observance of even Kings David and Solomon. The more reverent , however, reports that Solomon offered sacrifices on the festivals, including the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And reports King Hezekiah's observance of a second Passover anew, as sufficient numbers of neither the priests nor the people were prepared to do so before then. And reports that the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity observed Passover, ate the Passover lamb, and kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy.
Shavuot
refers to the Festival of
Shavuot
(''Ḥag HaShavuot'' or ''Shavuos'')
, nickname = English: "Feast of Weeks"
, observedby = Jews and Samaritans
, type = Jewish and Samaritan
, begins = 6th day of Sivan (or the Sunday following the 6th day of Sivan in ...
. In the Hebrew Bible, Shavuot is called:
*The Feast of Weeks (, );
*The Day of the First-fruits (, );
*The Feast of Harvest (, );
[.] and
*A holy convocation (, ).
associates Shavuot with the first-fruits (, ) of the wheat harvest. In turn, set out the ceremony for the bringing of the first fruits.
To arrive at the correct date, instructs counting seven weeks from the day after the day of rest of Passover, the day that they brought the sheaf of barley for waving. Similarly, directs counting seven weeks from when they first put the sickle to the standing barley.
sets out a course of offerings for the fiftieth day, including a meal-offering of two loaves made from fine flour from the first-fruits of the harvest; burnt-offerings of seven lambs, one bullock, and two rams; a sin-offering of a goat; and a peace-offering of two lambs. Similarly, sets out a course of offerings including a meal-offering; burnt-offerings of two bullocks, one ram, and seven lambs; and one goat to make atonement. directs a freewill-offering in relation to God's blessing.
and ordain a holy convocation in which the Israelites were not to work.
reports that Solomon offered burnt-offerings on the Feast of Weeks.
Sukkot
And refers to the Festival of Sukkot, calling it "the Feast of Ingathering." In the Hebrew Bible, Sukkot is called:
*"The Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths)";
*"The Feast of Ingathering";
*"The Feast" or "the festival";
65
; ; .
*"The Feast of the Lord";
[; .]
*"The festival of the seventh month"; and
*"A holy convocation" or "a sacred occasion."
Sukkot's agricultural origin is evident from the name "The Feast of Ingathering," from the ceremonies accompanying it, and from the season and occasion of its celebration: "At the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field";
"after you have gathered in from your threshing-floor and from your winepress." It was a thanksgiving for the fruit harvest. And in what may explain the festival's name,
Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
reports that grape harvesters kept booths in their
vineyards
A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...
. Coming as it did at the completion of the harvest, Sukkot was regarded as a general thanksgiving for the bounty of nature in the year that had passed.
Sukkot became one of the most important feasts in Judaism, as indicated by its designation as "the Feast of the Lord"
or simply "the Feast."
Perhaps because of its wide attendance, Sukkot became the appropriate time for important state ceremonies. Moses instructed the children of Israel to gather for a reading of the Law during Sukkot every seventh year. King Solomon dedicated the
Temple in Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusa ...
on Sukkot. And Sukkot was the first sacred occasion observed after the resumption of sacrifices in Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity.
In the time of Nehemiah, after the Babylonian captivity, the Israelites celebrated Sukkot by making and dwelling in booths, a practice of which Nehemiah reports: "the Israelites had not done so from the days of Joshua." In a practice related to that of the
Four Species, Nehemiah also reports that the Israelites found in the Law the commandment that they "go out to the mountains and bring leafy branches of
olive trees,
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
trees,
myrtles,
palms and
ther Ther may refer to:
*''Thér.'', taxonomic author abbreviation of Irénée Thériot (1859–1947), French bryologist
* Agroha Mound, archaeological site in Agroha, Hisar district, India
*Therapy
*Therapeutic drugs
See also
*''Ther Thiruvizha
''T ...
leafy trees to make booths." In , God told Moses to command the people: "On the first day you shall take the product of trees, branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and
willow
Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...
s of the brook," and "You shall live in booths seven days; all citizens in Israel shall live in booths, in order that future generations may know that I made the Israelite people live in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt." The book of Numbers, however, indicates that while in the wilderness, the Israelites dwelt in tents. Some secular scholars consider (the commandments regarding booths and the four species) to be an insertion by a later
redactor
Redaction is a form of editing in which multiple sources of texts are combined and altered slightly to make a single document. Often this is a method of collecting a series of writings on a similar theme and creating a definitive and coherent wo ...
.
King Jeroboam of the northern Kingdom of Israel, whom describes as practicing "his evil way," celebrated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, one month after Sukkot, "in imitation of the festival in Judah." "While Jeroboam was standing on the
altar
An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paganism ...
to present the offering, the man of God, at the command of the Lord, cried out against the altar" in disapproval.
According to the prophet
Zechariah, in the messianic era, Sukkot will become a universal festival, and all nations will make pilgrimages annually to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast there.
Milk
In three separate places — and and — the Torah prohibits boiling a kid in its mother's milk.
In early nonrabbinic interpretation
The parashah is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:
Exodus chapter 31
Josephus
Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...
taught that when the Israelites brought together the materials with great diligence, Moses set architects over the works by the command of God. And these were the very same people that the people themselves would have chosen, had the election been allowed to them: Bezalel, the son of Uri, of the tribe of Judah, the grandson of Miriam, the sister of Moses, and Oholiab, file son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
told how in the 2nd century BCE, many followers of the pious Jewish priest
Mattathias
Mattathias ben Johanan ( he, מַתִּתְיָהוּ הַכֹּהֵן בֶּן יוֹחָנָן, ''Mattīṯyāhū haKōhēn ben Yōḥānān''; died 166–165 BCE) was a Kohen (Jewish priest) who helped spark the Maccabean Revolt against t ...
rebelled against the
Seleucid
The Seleucid Empire (; grc, Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν, ''Basileía tōn Seleukidōn'') was a Greek state in West Asia that existed during the Hellenistic period from 312 BC to 63 BC. The Seleucid Empire was founded by the ...
king
Antiochus IV Epiphanes
Antiochus IV Epiphanes (; grc, Ἀντίοχος ὁ Ἐπιφανής, ''Antíochos ho Epiphanḗs'', "God Manifest"; c. 215 BC – November/December 164 BC) was a Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire from 175 BC until his deat ...
. Antiochus’s soldiers attacked a group of them on the Sabbath, and when the Pietists failed to defend themselves so as to honor the Sabbath (commanded in, among other places, ), a thousand died. reported that when Mattathias and his friends heard, they reasoned that if they did not fight on the Sabbath, they would soon be destroyed. So they decided that they would fight against anyone who attacked them on the Sabbath.
In classical rabbinic interpretation
The parashah is discussed in these
rabbi
A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...
nic sources from the era of the
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
and the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the center ...
:
Exodus chapter 30
The Rabbis taught in a
Baraita
''Baraita'' (Aramaic: "external" or "outside"; pl. ''Barayata'' or ''Baraitot''; also Baraitha, Beraita; Ashkenazi: Beraisa) designates a tradition in the Jewish oral law not incorporated in the Mishnah. ''Baraita'' thus refers to teachings "o ...
that upon entering a barn to measure the new grain one should recite the blessing, "May it be Your will O Lord, our God, that You may send blessing upon the work of our hands." Once one has begun to measure, one should say, "Blessed be the One who sends blessing into this heap." If, however, one first measured the grain and then recited the blessing, then prayer is in vain, because blessing is not to be found in anything that has been already weighed or measured or numbered, but only in a thing hidden from sight.
Rabbi Abbahu taught that Moses asked God how Israel would be exalted, and God replied in the words of (about collecting the half-shekel tax), "When you raise them up," teaching that collecting contributions from the people elevates them.
Rabbi Eleazar taught that God told David that David called God an inciter, but God would make David stumble over a thing that even school-children knew, namely, that which says, "When you take the sum of the children of Israel according to their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul into the Lord . . . that there be no plague among them." Forthwith, as reports, "
Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...
stood up against Israel," and as reports, "He stirred up David against them saying, 'Go, number Israel.'" And when David did number them, he took no ransom from them, and as reports, "So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed." The
Gemara
The Gemara (also transliterated Gemarah, or in Yiddish Gemo(r)re; from Aramaic , from the Semitic root ג-מ-ר ''gamar'', to finish or complete) is the component of the Talmud comprising rabbinical analysis of and commentary on the Mishnah w ...
asked what meant by "the time appointed." Samuel the elder, the son-in-law of
Rabbi Hanina, answered in the name of Rabbi Hanina: From the time of slaughtering the continual offering (at dawn) until the time of sprinkling the blood.
Rabbi Joḥanan said it meant at midday. Reading the continuation of , "And He said to the
Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
that destroyed the people, 'It is enough (, ''rav''),'" Rabbi Eleazar taught that God told the Angel to take a great man (, ''rav'') from among them, through whose death many sins could be expiated. So
Abishai son of
Zeruiah Zeruiah ( sometimes transliterated Tzruya or Zeruya) was a sister of King David. According to both and the Babylonian Talmud, Zeruiah was a daughter of Jesse and sister of Abigail, to whom reference is made in 1 Chronicles () and Samuel 2 (). Zer ...
then died, and he was individually equal in worth to the greater part of the
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), a ...
. Reading , "And as he was about to destroy, the Lord beheld, and He repented," the Gemara ask what God beheld. Rav said God beheld Jacob, as reports, "And Jacob said when he beheld them."
Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...
said that God beheld the ashes of the ram of Isaac, as says, "God will see for Himself the lamb." Rabbi
Isaac Nappaha Rabbi Isaac Nappaha (Hebrew ''Rabbi Yitzhak Nappaḥa'', רבי יצחק נפחא), or Isaac the smith, was a rabbi of the 3rd-4th centuries (second generation of Amoraim) who lived in the Galilee. Name
He is found under the name "Nappaha" only in t ...
taught that God saw the atonement money that reports God required Moses to collect. For in , God said, "And you shall take the atonement money from the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tent of meeting, that it may be a memorial for the children of Israel before the Lord, to make atonement for your souls.'" (Thus God said that at some future time, the money would provide atonement.) Alternatively, Rabbi Joḥanan taught that God saw the Temple. For explained the meaning of the name that Abraham gave to the mountain where Abraham nearly sacrificed Isaac to be, "In the mount where the Lord is seen." (Solomon later built the Temple on that mountain, and God saw the merit of the sacrifices there.) Rabbi
Jacob bar Iddi and Rabbi
Samuel bar Naḥmani differed on the matter. One said that God saw the atonement money that reports God required Moses to collect from the Israelites, while the other said that God saw the Temple. The Gemara concluded that the more likely view was that God saw the Temple, as can be read to say, "As it will be said on that day, 'in the mount where the Lord is seen.'"
The first four chapters of Tractate Shekalim in the Mishnah,
Tosefta
The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah.
Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...
,
Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the law of the half-shekel head tax commanded by .
Reading , "''This'' they shall give . . . half a shekel for an offering to the Lord," to indicate that God pointed with God's finger,
Rabbi Ishmael
Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha Nachmani (Hebrew: רבי ישמעאל בן אלישע), often known as Rabbi Yishmael and sometimes given the title "Ba'al HaBaraita" (Hebrew: בעל הברייתא), was a rabbi of the 1st and 2nd centuries (third gener ...
said that each of the five fingers of God's right hand appertain to the mystery of Redemption. Rabbi Ishmael said that God showed the little finger of the hand to Noah, pointing out how to make the
Ark, as in , God says, "And ''this'' is how you shall make it." With the second finger, next to the little one, God smote the Egyptians with the ten plagues, as ( in the KJV) says, "The magicians said to Pharaoh, 'This is the finger of God.'" With the middle finger, God wrote the Tablets of the Law, as says, "And He gave to Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him . . . tables of stone, written with the finger of God." With the index finger, God showed Moses what the children of Israel should give for the redemption of their souls, as says, "''This'' they shall give . . . half a shekel for an offering to the Lord." With the thumb and all the hand, God will in the future smite God's enemies (who Rabbi Ishmael identified as the children of
Esau
Esau ''Ēsaû''; la, Hesau, Esau; ar, عِيسَوْ ''‘Īsaw''; meaning "hairy"Easton, M. ''Illustrated Bible Dictionary'', (, , 2006, p. 236 or "rough".Mandel, D. ''The Ultimate Who's Who in the Bible'', (.), 2007, p. 175 is the elder son o ...
and
Ishmael
Ishmael ''Ismaḗl''; Classical/Qur'anic Arabic: إِسْمَٰعِيْل; Modern Standard Arabic: إِسْمَاعِيْل ''ʾIsmāʿīl''; la, Ismael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions; and is cons ...
), as says, "Let your hand be lifted up above your adversaries, and let all your enemies be cut off."
A Midrash taught that God considers studying the sanctuary’s structure as equivalent to rebuilding it.
The Mishnah taught that any sacrifice performed by a priest who had not washed his hands and feet at the laver as required by was invalid.
Rabbi Jose the son of Rabbi Hanina taught that a priest was not permitted to wash in a laver that did not contain enough water to wash four priests, for says, "That Moses and Aaron and his sons might wash their hands and their feet thereat." ("His sons" implies at least two priests, and adding Moses and Aaron makes four.)
The Mishnah reported that the High Priest Ben Katin made 12 spigots for the laver, where there had been two before. Ben Katin also made a machine for the laver, so that its water would not become unfit by remaining overnight.
A Baraita taught that Josiah hid away the anointing oil referred to in , the Ark referred to in , the jar of
manna
Manna ( he, מָן, mān, ; ar, اَلْمَنُّ; sometimes or archaically spelled mana) is, according to the Bible, an edible substance which God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert during the 40-year period follo ...
referred to in , Aaron's rod with its
almonds and blossoms referred to in , and the coffer that the Philistines sent the Israelites as a gift along with the Ark and concerning which the priests said in , "And put the jewels of gold, which you returned Him for a guilt offering, in a coffer by the side thereof
f the Ark and send it away that it may go." Having observed that predicted, "The Lord will bring you and your king . . . to a nation that you have not known," Josiah ordered the Ark hidden away, as reports, "And he
osiahsaid to the Levites who taught all Israel, that were holy to the Lord, 'Put the Holy Ark into the house that Solomon the son of David, King of Israel, built; there shall no more be a burden upon your shoulders; now serve the Lord your God and his people Israel.'" Rabbi Eleazar deduced that Josiah hid the anointing oil and the other objects at the same time as the Ark from the common use of the expressions "there" in with regard to the manna and "there" in with regard to the Ark, "to be kept" in with regard to the manna and "to be kept" in with regard to Aaron's rod, and "generations" in with regard to the manna and "generations" in with regard to the anointing oil.
The Mishnah counted compounding anointing oil in the formula prescribed in and using such sacred anointing oil in a way prohibited by as 2 among 36 transgressions in the Torah punishable with excision (, ). The Mishnah taught that for these transgressions, one was liable to excision if one violated the commandment willfully. If one violated the commandment in error, one was liable to a sin offering. If there was a doubt whether one had violated the commandment, one was liable to a suspensive guilt offering, except, taught
Rabbi Meir
Rabbi Meir ( he, רַבִּי מֵאִיר) was a Jewish sage who lived in the time of the Mishnah. He was considered one of the greatest of the Tannaim of the fourth generation (139-163). He is the third most frequently mentioned sage in the Mishn ...
, in the case of one who defiled the Temple or its consecrated things, in which case one was liable to a sliding-scale sacrifice (according to the means of the transgressor, as provided in ).
Rabbi Judah taught that many miracles attended the anointing oil that Moses made in the wilderness. There were originally only 12 (about a
gallon
The gallon is a unit of volume in imperial units and United States customary units. Three different versions are in current use:
*the imperial gallon (imp gal), defined as , which is or was used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Austra ...
) of the oil. Much of it must have been absorbed in the mixing pot, much must have been absorbed in the roots of the spices used, and much of it must have evaporated during cooking. Yet it was used to anoint the Tabernacle and its vessels, Aaron and his sons throughout the seven days of the consecration, and subsequent High Priests and kings. The Gemara deduced from , "This (, ) shall be a holy anointing oil unto Me throughout your generations," that 12 existed. The Gemara calculated the numerical value of the Hebrew letters in the word , ("this") to be 12 (employing
Gematria
Gematria (; he, גמטריא or gimatria , plural or , ''gimatriot'') is the practice of assigning a numerical value to a name, word or phrase according to an alphanumerical cipher. A single word can yield several values depending on the cipher w ...
, where equals 7 and equals 5), indicating that 12 logs of the oil were preserved throughout time.
Exodus chapter 31
Rabbi Joḥanan taught that God proclaims three things for God's Self: famine, plenty, and a good leader. shows that God proclaims famine, when it says: "The Lord has called for a famine." shows that God proclaims plenty, when it says: "I will call for the corn and will increase it." And shows that God proclaims a good leader, when it says: "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'See I have called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri.'" Rabbi Isaac taught that we cannot appoint a leader over a community without first consulting the people, as says: "And Moses said to the children of Israel: 'See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri.'" Rabbi Isaac taught that God asked Moses whether Moses considered Bezalel suitable. Moses replied that if God thought Bezalel suitable, surely Moses must also. God told Moses that, all the same, Moses should go and consult the people. Moses then asked the Israelites whether they considered Bezalel suitable. They replied that if God and Moses considered Bezalel suitable, then surely they had to, as well. Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Joḥanan that Bezalel (, whose name can be read , , "in the shadow of God") was so called because of his wisdom. When God told Moses (in ) to tell Bezalel to make a tabernacle, an ark, and vessels, Moses reversed the order and told Bezalel to make an ark, vessels, and a tabernacle. Bezalel replied to Moses that as a rule, one first builds a house and then brings vessels into it, but Moses directed to make an ark, vessels, and a tabernacle. Bezalel asked where he would put the vessels. And Bezalel asked whether God had told Moses to make a tabernacle, an ark, and vessels. Moses replied that perhaps Bezalel had been in the shadow of God (, ) and had thus come to know this.
Rav Judah taught in the name of Rav that indicated that God endowed Bezalel with the same attribute that God used in creating the universe. Rav Judah said in the name of Rav that Bezalel knew how to combine the letters by which God created the heavens and earth. For says (about Bezalel), "And He has filled him with the spirit of God, in wisdom and in understanding, and in knowledge," and says (about creation), "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding He established the heavens," and says, "By His knowledge the depths were broken up."
Rabbi Tanḥuma taught in the name of
Rav Huna
Rav Huna (Hebrew: רב הונא) was a Jewish Talmudist and Exilarch who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the second generation and head of the Academy of Sura; he was born about 216 (212 according to Gratz) and died in 296-297 (608 of ...
that even the things that Bezalel did not hear from Moses he conceived of on his own exactly as they were told to Moses from Sinai. Rabbi Tanḥuma said in the name of Rav Huna that one can deduce this from the words of , "And Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses." For does not say, "that ''Moses'' commanded ''him''," but, "that ''the Lord'' commanded ''Moses''."
And the
Agadat Shir ha-Shirim taught that Bezalel and Oholiab went up Mount Sinai, where the heavenly Sanctuary was shown to them.
Tractate
Shabbat
Shabbat (, , or ; he, שַׁבָּת, Šabbāṯ, , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the week—i.e., Saturday. On this day, religious Jews remember the biblical storie ...
in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Sabbath in an
29 (20:8–11 in the NJPS); ; ; ; ; ; ; and (5:12 in the NJPS).
Reading the words "everyone who profanes
he Sabbath
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
shall surely be put to death" in (in which the verb for death is doubled), Samuel deduced that the Torah decreed many deaths for desecrating the Sabbath. The Gemara posited that perhaps refers to willful desecration. The Gemara answered that is not needed to teach that willful transgression of the Sabbath is a capital crime, for says, "Whoever does any work therein shall be put to death." The Gemara concluded that thus must apply to an unwitting offender, and in that context, the words "shall surely be put to death" mean that the inadvertent Sabbath violator will "die" monetarily because of the violator's need to bring costly sacrifices.
The
Sifra
Sifra (Aramaic: סִפְרָא) is the Halakhic midrash to the Book of Leviticus. It is frequently quoted in the Talmud, and the study of it followed that of the Mishnah. Like Leviticus itself, the midrash is occasionally called "Torat Kohanim", ...
taught that the incidents of the blasphemer in and
the wood gatherer in happened at the same time, but the Israelites did not leave the blasphemer with the wood gatherer, for they knew that the wood gatherer was going to be executed, as directed, "those who profane it
he Sabbath
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
shall be put to death." But they did not know the correct form of death penalty for him, for God had not yet been specified what to do to him, as says, "for it had not
etbeen specified what should be done to him." With regard to the blasphemer, the Sifra read , "until the decision of the Lord should be made clear to them," to indicate that they did not know whether or not the blasphemer was to be executed. (And if they placed the blasphemer together with the wood gatherer, it might have caused the blasphemer unnecessary fear, as he might have concluded that he was on death row. Therefore, they held the two separately.)
A Midrash asked to which commandment refers when it says, "For if you shall diligently keep all ''this commandment'' that I command you, to do it, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave to Him, then will the Lord drive out all these nations from before you, and you shall dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourselves." Rabbi Levi said that "this commandment" refers to the recitation of the ''Shema'' (), but the Rabbis said that it refers to the Sabbath, which is equal to all the precepts of the Torah.
The
Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva taught that when God was giving Israel the Torah, God told them that if they accepted the Torah and observed God's commandments, then God would give them for eternity a most precious thing that God possessed — the
World To Come
The world to come, age to come, heaven on Earth, and the Kingdom of God are eschatological phrases reflecting the belief that the current world or current age is flawed or cursed and will be replaced in the future by a better world, age, or p ...
. When Israel asked to see in this world an example of the World To Come, God replied that the Sabbath is an example of the World To Come.
The Mishnah taught that the two Tablets of the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses in were among ten things that God created on the eve of the first Sabbath at twilight.
Rabbi Meir taught that the stone Tablets that God gave Moses in were each 6 handbreadths long, 6 handbreadths wide, and 3 handbreadths thick.
Rabbi
Simeon ben Lakish (Resh Lakish) taught that the Torah that God gave Moses was of white fire and its writing of black fire. It was itself fire and it was hewn out of fire and completely formed of fire and given in fire, as says, "At His right hand was a fiery law to them."
Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman taught that when God passed the two Tablets to Moses (as reported in ), the Tablets conveyed to Moses a lustrous appearance (as reported in ).
Rabbi Eleazar taught that from the words of , "tablets (, ) of stone," one may learn that if one regards one's cheeks (, ) as stone that is not easily worn away (constantly speaking words of Torah, regardless of the strain on one's facial muscles), one's learning will be preserved, but otherwise it will not.
[Babylonian Talmud Eruvin 54a]
in, e.g., ''Koren Talmud Bavli: Eiruvin'' • Part Two, commentary by Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz), volume 5, page 15. Jerusalem: Koren Publishers, 2013.
Reading "the finger of God" in , Rabbi Ishmael said that each of the five fingers of God's right hand appertain to the mystery of Redemption. Rabbi Ishmael said that God wrote the Tablets of the Law with the middle finger, as says, "And He gave to Moses, when He had made an end of communing with him . . . tables of stone, written with the finger of God."
Exodus chapter 32
A Baraita taught that because of God's displeasure with the Israelites, the north wind did not blow on them in any of the 40 years during which they wandered in the wilderness.
Rabbi Tanḥum bar Hanilai taught that Aaron made the Golden Calf in as a compromise with the people's demand in to "make us a god who shall go before us." Rabbi Benjamin bar Japhet, reporting Rabbi Eleazar, interpreted the words of , "And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it," to mean that Aaron saw (his nephew)
Hur lying slain before him and thought that if he did not obey the people, they would kill him as well. ( mentions that Moses appointed Hur to share the leadership of the people with Aaron, but after Moses descended from Mount Sinai, Hur's name does not appear again.) Aaron thought that the people would then fulfill the words of , "Shall the Priest and the Prophet be slain in the Sanctuary of God?" and the people would then never find forgiveness. Aaron thought it better to let the people worship the Golden Calf, for which they might yet find forgiveness through repentance. And thus Rabbi Tanḥum bar Hanilai concluded that it was in reference to Aaron's decision-making in this incident that can be read to mean, "He who praises one who makes a compromise blasphemes God."
The Sages told that Aaron really intended to delay the people until Moses came down, but when Moses saw Aaron beating the Golden Calf into shape with a hammer, Moses thought that Aaron was participating in the sin and was incensed with him. So God told Moses that God knew that Aaron's intentions were good. The Midrash compared it to a prince who became mentally unstable and started digging to undermine his father's house. His tutor told him not to weary himself but to let him dig. When the king saw it, he said that he knew the tutor's intentions were good, and declared that the tutor would rule over the palace. Similarly, when the Israelites told Aaron in , "Make us a god," Aaron replied in , "Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them to me." And Aaron told them that since he was a priest, they should let him make it and sacrifice to it, all with the intention of delaying them until Moses could come down. So God told Aaron that God knew Aaron's intention, and that only Aaron would have sovereignty over the sacrifices that the Israelites would bring. Hence in , God told Moses, "And bring near Aaron your brother, and his sons with him, from among the children of Israel, that they may minister to Me in the priest's office." The Midrash told that God told this to Moses several months later in the Tabernacle itself when Moses was about to consecrate Aaron to his office. Rabbi Levi compared it to the friend of a king who was a member of the imperial cabinet and a judge. When the king was about to appoint a palace governor, he told his friend that he intended to appoint the friend's brother. So God made Moses superintendent of the palace, as reports, "My servant Moses is . . . is trusted in all My house," and God made Moses a judge, as reports, "Moses sat to judge the people." And when God was about to appoint a High Priest, God notified Moses that it would be his brother Aaron.
A
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
noted that in the incident of the Golden Calf, in , Aaron told them, "Break off the golden rings that are in the ears of ''your wives''," but the women refused to participate, as indicates when it says, "And all the people broke off the golden rings that were in their ears." Similarly, the Midrash noted that says that in the incident of the spies, "the ''men'' . . . when they returned, made all the congregation to murmur against him." The Midrash explained that that is why the report of about the daughters of Zelophehad follows immediately after the report of about the death of the wilderness generation. The Midrash noted that says, "there was not left a ''man'' of them, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh," because the men had been unwilling to enter the Land. But the Midrash taught that says, "then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad," to show that the women still sought an inheritance in the Land. The Midrash taught that in that generation, the women built up fences that the men broke down.
The
Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer
Pirkei de-Rabbi Eliezer (also Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer; Aramaic: פרקי דרבי אליעזר, or פרקים דרבי אליעזר, Chapters of Rabbi Eliezer; abbreviated PdRE) is an aggadic-midrashic work on the Torah containing exegesis and re ...
expounded on the exchange between God and Moses in after the sin of the Golden Calf. The Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer told that after the incident of the Golden Calf, God told Moses that the Israelites had forgotten God's might and had made an idol. Moses replied to God that while the Israelites had not yet sinned, God had called them "''My'' people," as in , God had said, "And I will bring forth ''My'' hosts, ''My'' people." But Moses noted that once the Israelites had sinned, God told Moses (in ), "Go, get down, for ''your'' people have corrupted themselves." Moses told God that the Israelites were indeed God's people, and God's inheritance, as reports Moses saying, "Yet they are Your people and Your inheritance."
Did the prayer of Moses in change God's harsh decree? On this subject, Rabbi
Abbahu
Rabbi Abbahu ( he, אבהו) was a Jew and Talmudist of the Talmudic Academies in Syria Palaestina from about 279-320 and is counted a member of the third generation of Amoraim. He is sometimes cited as Rabbi Abbahu of Kisrin (Caesarea).
Biograp ...
interpreted David's last words, as reported in , where David reported that God told him, "Ruler over man shall be the righteous, even he that rules through the fear of God." Rabbi Abbahu read to teach that God rules humankind, but the righteous rule God, for God makes a decree, and the righteous may through their prayer annul it.
Rava employed to interpret , which says: "And Moses besought () the Lord his God" in connection with the incident of the Golden Calf. Rava noted that uses the term "besought" (), while uses the similar term "break" () in connection with vows. Transferring the use of to , Rava reasoned that meant that Moses stood in prayer before God until Moses annulled for God God's vow to destroy Israel, for a master had taught that while people cannot break their vows, others may annul their vows for them. Similarly, Rabbi Berekiah taught in the name of
Rabbi Helbo in the name of
Rabbi Isaac that Moses absolved God of God's vow. When the Israelites made the Golden Calf, Moses began to persuade God to forgive them, but God explained to Moses that God had already taken an oath in that "he who sacrifices to the gods . . . shall be utterly destroyed," and God could not retract an oath. Moses responded by asking whether God had not granted Moses the power to annul oaths in by saying, "When a man vows a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, ''he'' shall not break his word," implying that while he himself could not break his word, a scholar could absolve his vow. So Moses wrapped himself in his cloak and adopted the posture of a sage, and God stood before Moses as one asking for the annulment of a vow.
The Gemara deduced from the example of Moses in . that one should seek an interceding frame of mind before praying.
Rav Huna
Rav Huna (Hebrew: רב הונא) was a Jewish Talmudist and Exilarch who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the second generation and head of the Academy of Sura; he was born about 216 (212 according to Gratz) and died in 296-297 (608 of ...
and
Rav Hisda were discussing how long to wait between recitations of the ''
Amidah
The ''Amidah Amuhduh'' ( he, תפילת העמידה, ''Tefilat HaAmidah'', 'The Standing Prayer'), also called the ''Shemoneh Esreh'' ( 'eighteen'), is the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. Observant Jews recite the ''Amidah'' at each o ...
'' prayer if one erred in the first reciting and needed to repeat the prayer. One said: long enough for the person praying to fall into a suppliant frame of mind, citing the words "And I supplicated the Lord" in . The other said: long enough to fall into an interceding frame of mind, citing the words "And Moses interceded" in .
A Midrash compared Noah to Moses and found Moses superior. While Noah was worthy to be delivered from the generation of the Flood, he saved only himself and his family, and had insufficient strength to deliver his generation. Moses, however, saved both himself and his generation when they were condemned to destruction after the sin of the Golden Calf, as reports, "And the Lord repented of the evil that He said He would do to His people." The Midrash compared the cases to two ships in danger on the high seas, on board of which were two pilots. One saved himself but not his ship, and the other saved both himself and his ship.
Interpreting on the "tablets that were written on both their sides,"
Rav Chisda
Rav Ḥisda ( he, רב חסדא) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Kafri, Asoristan in Lower Mesopotamia near what is now the city of Najaf, Iraq. He was an amora of the third generation (died c. 320 CE at the age of ninety-twoMoed Kattan 28a) ...
said that the writing of the Tablets was cut completely through the Tablets, so that it could be read from either side. Thus the letters ''
mem
Mem (also spelled Meem, Meme, or Mim) is the thirteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including Hebrew mēm , Aramaic Mem , Syriac mīm ܡ, Arabic mīm and Phoenician mēm . Its sound value is .
The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek m ...
'' and ''
samekh
Samekh (Phoenician ''sāmek'' ; Hebrew ''samekh'' , Syriac ''semkaṯ'') is the fifteenth letter of the Semitic abjads, including the Hebrew alphabet.
Samekh represents a voiceless alveolar fricative . Unlike most Semitic consonants, the pro ...
'', which each form a complete polygon, left some of the stone Tablets in the middle of those letters standing in the air where they were held stable only by a miracle.
Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman told that when the Israelites exclaimed, "This is your God, O Israel" in , Moses was just then descending from Mount Sinai. Joshua told Moses (in ), "There is a noise of war in the camp." But Moses retorted (in ), "It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery; neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome, but the noise of them that sing do I hear." Rabbi Samuel bar Nahman interpreted the words, "but the noise of them that sing do I hear," to mean that Moses heard the noise of reproach and blasphemy. The men of the
Great Assembly
According to Jewish tradition the Men of the Great Assembly ( he, כְּנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה) or Anshei Knesset HaGedolah (, "The Men of the Great Assembly"), also known as the Great Synagogue, or ''Synod'', was an assembly of 120 sc ...
noted that reports, "They had made a molten calf, and said: 'This is your God that brought you up out of Egypt.'" That would be sufficient provocation, but continues, "And wrought great provocations." The men of the Great Assembly thus concluded that demonstrates that in addition to making the Golden Calf, on that occasion the Israelites also uttered reproaches and blasphemy.
A Midrash explained why Moses broke the stone Tablets. When the Israelites committed the sin of the Golden Calf, God sat in judgment to condemn them, as says, "Let Me alone, that I may destroy them," but God had not yet condemned them. So Moses took the Tablets from God to appease God's wrath. The Midrash compared the act of Moses to that of a king's marriage-broker. The king sent the broker to secure a wife for the king, but while the broker was on the road, the woman corrupted herself with another man. The broker (who was entirely innocent) took the marriage document that the king had given the broker to seal the marriage and tore it, reasoning that it would be better for the woman to be judged as an unmarried woman than as a wife.
Rabbi Eleazar taught that one could learn from the words of , "carved on the tablets," that if the first two Tablets had not been broken, the Torah would have remained ''carved'' forever, and the Torah would never have been forgotten in Israel. Rav
Aha bar Jacob
Rav Aha bar Jacob (or R. Aha bar Ya'akov; he, רבי אחא בר יעקב) was an Babylonian rabbi of the third and fourth generations of Amoraim.
He was one of the disciples of Rav Huna. He was also one of the prominent Jewish leaders of Papu ...
said that no nation or tongue would have had any power over Israel, as one can read the word "carved" (, ) in as "freedom" (, ). (Thus, for the sake of the original two Tablets, Israel would have remained forever free.)
[
A Baraita taught that when Moses broke the Tablets in , it was one of three actions that Moses took based on his own understanding with which God then agreed. The Gemara explained that Moses reasoned that if the Passover lamb, which was just one of the 613 commandments, was prohibited by to aliens, then certainly the whole Torah should be prohibited to the Israelites, who had acted as apostates with the Golden Calf. The Gemara deduced God's approval from God's mention of Moses' breaking the Tablets in . Resh Lakish interpreted this to mean that God gave Moses strength because he broke the Tablets.
A Midrash taught that in recompense for Moses having grown angry and breaking the first set of Tablets in , God imposed on Moses the job of carving the second set of two Tablets in .
The Rabbis taught that and bear out ]Ecclesiastes
Ecclesiastes (; hbo, קֹהֶלֶת, Qōheleṯ, grc, Ἐκκλησιαστής, Ekklēsiastēs) is one of the Ketuvim ("Writings") of the Hebrew Bible and part of the Wisdom literature of the Christian Old Testament. The title commonly use ...
, "A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together." The Rabbis taught that refers to Moses. For there was a time for Moses to cast away the Tablets in , and a time for him to restore them to Israel in .
Reading the report of that Moses "took the calf . . . ground it to powder, and sprinkled it on the water, and made the children of Israel drink it," the Sages interpreted that Moses meant to test the Israelites much as the procedure of tested a wife accused of adultery ().
The Rabbis taught that through the word "this," Aaron became degraded, as it is said in , "And Aaron said: '. . . I cast it into the fire, and there came out ''this'' calf,'" and through the word "this," Aaron was also elevated, as it is said in , "''This'' is the offering of Aaron and of his sons, which they shall offer to the Lord on the day when he is anointed" to become High Priest.
A Midrash noted that Israel sinned with fire in making the Golden Calf, as says, "And I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf." And then Bezalel came and healed the wound (and the construction of the Tabernacle made atonement for the sins of the people in making the Golden Calf). The Midrash likened it to the words of , "Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals." The Midrash taught that Bezalel was the smith whom God had created to address the fire. And the Midrash likened it to the case of a doctor's disciple who applied a plaster to a wound and healed it. When people began to praise him, his teacher, the doctor, said that they should praise the doctor, for he taught the disciple. Similarly, when everybody said that Bezalel had constructed the Tabernacle through his knowledge and understanding, God said that it was God who created him and taught him, as says, "Behold, I have created the smith." Thus Moses said in , "see, the Lord has called by name Bezalel."
Rav Nahman bar Isaac derived from the words "if not, blot me, I pray, out of Your book that You have written" in that three books are opened in heaven on Rosh Hashanah
Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...
. Rav Kruspedai said in the name of Rabbi Joḥanan that on Rosh Hashanah, three books are opened in Heaven — one for the thoroughly wicked, one for the thoroughly righteous, and one for those in between. The thoroughly righteous are immediately inscribed definitively in the book of life. The thoroughly wicked are immediately inscribed definitively in the book of death. And the fate of those in between is suspended from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur. If they deserve well, then they are inscribed in the book of life; if they do not deserve well, then they are inscribed in the book of death. Rabbi Abin said that tells us this when it says, "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous." "Let them be blotted out from the book" refers to the book of the wicked. "Of the living" refers to the book of the righteous. "And not be written with the righteous" refers to the book of those in between. Rav Nahman bar Isaac derived this from , where Moses told God, "if not, blot me, I pray, out of Your book that You have written." "Blot me, I pray" refers to the book of the wicked. "Out of Your book" refers to the book of the righteous. "That you have written" refers to the book of those in between. A Baraita taught that the House of Shammai
The House of Hillel (Beit Hillel) and House of Shammai (Beit Shammai) were, among Jewish scholars, two schools of thought during the period of tannaim, named after the sages Hillel and Shammai (of the last century BCE and the early 1st century CE) ...
said that there will be three groups at the Day of Judgment — one of thoroughly righteous, one of thoroughly wicked, and one of those in between. The thoroughly righteous will immediately be inscribed definitively as entitled to everlasting life; the thoroughly wicked will immediately be inscribed definitively as doomed to Gehinnom
The Valley of Hinnom ( he, , lit=Valley of the son of Hinnom, translit=Gēʾ ḇen-Hīnnōm) is a historic valley surrounding Ancient Jerusalem from the west and southwest. The valley is also known by the name Gehinnom ( ''Gēʾ-Hīnnōm'', ...
, as says, "And many of them who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life and some to reproaches and everlasting abhorrence." Those in between will go down to Gehinnom and scream and rise again, as says, "And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried. They shall call on My name and I will answer them." Of them, Hannah said in , "The Lord kills and makes alive, He brings down to the grave and brings up." Reading the description of God in as "abundant in kindness," the House of Hillel taught that God inclines the scales towards grace (so that those in between do not have to descend to Gehinnom), and of them David said in , "I love that the Lord should hear my voice and my supplication . . . The cords of death compassed me, and the straits of the netherworld got hold upon me," and on their behalf David composed the conclusion of , "I was brought low and He saved me."
Exodus chapter 33
Reading , Rabbi Simlai Rabbi Simlai ( he, רבי שמלאי) was a talmudic rabbi who lived in Palestine in the 3rd century (second generation of amoraim).
He was born in either Lod or Babylonia. He later moved to the Galilee, where he served as an aide to Rabbi Ya ...
taught that when the Israelites gave precedence to "we will do" over "we will hear," 600,000 ministering angels came and set two crowns on each Israelite man, one as a reward for "we will do" and the other as a reward for "we will hearken." But as soon as the Israelites committed the sin of the Golden Calf, 1.2 million destroying angels descended and removed the crowns, as it is said in , "And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from mount Horeb."
The Gemara reported a number of Rabbis' reports of how the Land of Israel did indeed flow with "milk and honey," as described in an
17
, and , , and , and , , an
, and . Once when Rami bar Ezekiel visited Bnei Brak
Bnei Brak or Bene Beraq ( he, בְּנֵי בְּרַק ) is a city located on the central Mediterranean coastal plain in Israel, just east of Tel Aviv. A center of Haredi Judaism, Bnei Brak covers an area of 709 hectares (1752 acres, or 2.74 squ ...
, he saw goats grazing under fig trees while honey was flowing from the figs, and milk dripped from the goats mingling with the fig honey, causing him to remark that it was indeed a land flowing with milk and honey. Rabbi Jacob ben Dostai said that it is about three miles from Lod
Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephe ...
to Ono, and once he rose up early in the morning and waded all that way up to his ankles in fig honey. Resh Lakish said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey of Sepphoris
Sepphoris (; grc, Σέπφωρις, Séphōris), called Tzipori in Hebrew ( he, צִפּוֹרִי, Tzipori),Palmer (1881), p115/ref> and known in Arabic as Saffuriya ( ar, صفورية, Ṣaffūriya) since the 7th century, is an archaeolog ...
extend over an area of sixteen miles by sixteen miles. Rabbah bar Bar Hana said that he saw the flow of the milk and honey in all the Land of Israel and the total area was equal to an area of twenty-two parasang
The parasang is a historical Iranian unit of walking distance, the length of which varied according to terrain and speed of travel. The European equivalent is the league. In modern terms the distance is about 3 or 3½ miles (4.8 or 5.6 km).
Hi ...
s by six parasangs.
Rav Judah taught in the name of Rav that as Moses was dying, Joshua quoted back to Moses the report of about how Joshua stood by the side of Moses all the time. Rav Judah reported in the name of Rav that when Moses was dying, he invited Joshua to ask him about any doubts that Joshua might have. Joshua replied by asking Moses whether Joshua had ever left Moses for an hour and gone elsewhere. Joshua asked Moses whether Moses had not written in , "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. . . . But his servant Joshua the son of Nun departed not out of the Tabernacle." Joshua's words wounded Moses, and immediately the strength of Moses waned, and Joshua forgot 300 laws, and 700 doubts concerning laws arose in Joshua's mind. The Israelites then arose to kill Joshua (unless he could resolve these doubts). God then told Joshua that it was not possible to tell him the answers (for, as tells, the Torah is not in Heaven). Instead, God then directed Joshua to occupy the Israelites' attention in war, as reports.
Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani taught in the name of Rabbi Jonathan that the report of helped to illuminate the words of as a blessing. Ben Damah the son of Rabbi Ishmael's sister once asked Rabbi Ishmael whether one who had studied the whole Torah might learn Greek wisdom. Rabbi Ishmael replied by reading to Ben Damah , "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate therein day and night." And then Rabbi Ishmael told Ben Damah to go find a time that is neither day nor night and learn Greek wisdom then. Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani, however, taught in the name of Rabbi Jonathan that is neither duty nor command, but a blessing. For God saw that the words of the Torah were most precious to Joshua, as says, "The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one man speaks to another. And he would then return to the camp. His minister Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tent." So God told Joshua that since the words of the Torah were so precious to him, God assured Joshua (in the words of ) that "this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth." A Baraita was taught in the School of Rabbi Ishmael, however, that one should not consider the words of the Torah as a debt that one should desire to discharge, for one is not at liberty to desist from them.
A Midrash taught that , "And he who waits on his master shall be honored," alludes to Joshua, for Joshua ministered to Moses day and night, as reported by , which says, "Joshua departed not out of the Tent," and , which says, "Joshua . . . said: 'My lord Moses, shut them in.'" Consequently, God honored Joshua by saying of Joshua in "He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim
In the Hebrew Bible, the Urim ( he, ''ʾŪrīm'', "lights") and the Thummim ( he, ''Tummīm'', meaning uncertain, possibly "perfections") are elements of the ''hoshen'', the breastplate worn by the High Priest attached to the ephod. They are ...
." And because Joshua served his master Moses, Joshua attained the privilege of receiving the Holy Spirit, as reports, "Now it came to pass after the death of Moses . . . that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the minister of Moses." The Midrash taught that there was no need for to state, "the minister of Moses," so the purpose of the statement "the minister of Moses" was to explain that Joshua was awarded the privilege of prophecy because he was the minister of Moses.
Rav Nachman
Rav Nachman bar Yaakov ( he, רב נחמן בר יעקב; died 320) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amora of the third generation.
It is generally accepted that references to Rav Nachman in the Talmud refer to Rav Na ...
taught that the angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
of whom God spoke in was Metatron
Metatron ( ''Meṭāṭrōn'', ''Məṭaṭrōn'', ''Mēṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭaṭrōn'', ''Meṭaṭrōn'', ''Mīṭṭaṭrōn'') or Mattatron ( ''Maṭṭaṭrōn'') is an angel in Judaism mentioned three times in the Talmud in a few br ...
(). Rav Nahman warned that one who is as skilled in refuting heretics as Rav Idit should do so, but others should not. Once a heretic asked Rav Idit why says, "And to Moses He said, 'Come up to the Lord,'" when surely God should have said, "Come up to Me." Rav Idit replied that it was the angel Metatron who said that, and that Metatron's name is similar to that of his Master (and indeed the gematria (numerical value of the Hebrew letters) of Metatron () equals that of Shadai (), God's name in and elsewhere) for says, "for my name is in him." But if so, the heretic retorted, we should worship Metatron. Rav Idit replied that also says, "Be not rebellious against him," by which God meant, "Do not exchange Me for him" (as the word for "rebel," (, ) derives from the same root as the word "exchange"). The heretic then asked why then says, "he will not pardon your transgression." Rav Idit answered that indeed Metatron has no authority to forgive sins, and the Israelites would not accept him even as a messenger, for reports that Moses told God, "If Your Presence does not go with me, do not carry us up from here."
A Baraita taught in the name of Rabbi Joshua ben Korhah that God told Moses that when God wanted to be seen at the burning bush, Moses did not want to see God's face; Moses hid his face in , for he was afraid to look upon God. And then in , when Moses wanted to see God, God did not want to be seen; in , God said, "You cannot see My face." But Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani said in the name of Rabbi Jonathan that in compensation for three pious acts that Moses did at the burning bush, he was privileged to obtain three rewards. In reward for hiding his face in , his face shone in . In reward his fear of God in , the Israelites were afraid to come near him in . In reward for his reticence "to look upon God," he beheld the similitude of God in .
The Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer told what happened in after Moses asked to behold God's Presence in . Moses foretold that he would behold God's Glory and make atonement for the Israelites' iniquities on Yom Kippur. On that day, Moses asked God (in the words of ) "Show me, I pray, Your Glory." God told Moses that Moses was not able to see God's Glory lest he die, as reports God said, "men shall not see Me and live," but for the sake of God's oath to Moses, God agreed to do as Moses asked. God instructed Moses to stand at the entrance of a cave, and God would cause all God's angels to pass before Moses. God told Moses to stand his ground, and not to fear, as reports, "And He said, I will make all My Goodness pass before you." God told Moses that when he heard the Name that God had spoken to him, then Moses would know that God was before him, as reports. The ministering angels complained that they served before God day and night, and they were unable to see God's Glory, but this man Moses born of woman desired to see God's Glory. The angels arose in wrath and excitement to kill Moses, and he came near to death. God intervened in a cloud to protect Moses, as reports, "And the Lord descended in the cloud." God protected Moses with the hollow of God's hand so that he would not die, as reports, "And it shall come to pass, while My Glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with My hand." When God had passed by, God removed the hollow of God's hand from Moses, and he saw traces of the , as says, "And I will take away My hand, and you shall see my back." Moses began to cry with a loud voice, and Moses said the words of "O Lord, O Lord, a God full of compassion and gracious . . . ." Moses asked God to pardon the iniquities of the people in connection with the Golden Calf. God told Moses that if he had asked God then to pardon the iniquities of all Israel, even to the end of all generations, God would have done so, as it was the appropriate time. But Moses had asked for pardon with reference to the Golden Calf, so God told Moses that it would be according to his words, as says, "And the Lord said, 'I have pardoned according to your word.'"
Rabbi Jose ben Halafta employed to help explain how God can be called "the Place." Reading the words, "And he lighted upon the place," in to mean, "And he met the Divine Presence ()," Rav Huna asked in Rabbi Ammi's name why assigns to God the name "the Place." Rav Huna explained that it is because God is the Place of the world (the world is contained in God, and not God in the world). Rabbi Jose ben Halafta taught that we do not know whether God is the place of God's world or whether God's world is God's place, but from , which says, "Behold, there is a place with Me," it follows that God is the place of God's world, but God's world is not God's place. Rabbi Isaac taught that reading , "The eternal God is a dwelling place," one cannot know whether God is the dwelling-place of God's world or whether God's world is God's dwelling-place. But reading , "Lord, You have been our dwelling-place," it follows that God is the dwelling-place of God's world, but God's world is not God's dwelling-place. And Rabbi Abba ben Judan taught that God is like a warrior riding a horse with the warrior's robes flowing over on both sides of the horse. The horse is subsidiary to the rider, but the rider is not subsidiary to the horse. Thus says, "You ride upon Your horses, upon Your chariots of victory."
Exodus chapter 34
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai, Joḥanan ben Zakkai explained why God carved the first two Tablets but instructed Moses to carve the second two in . Rabban Joḥanan ben Zakkai compared it to the case of a king who took a wife and paid for the paper for the marriage contract, the scribe, and the wedding dress. But when he saw her cavorting with one of his servants, he became angry with her and sent her away. Her agent came to the king and argued that she had been raised among servants and was thus familiar with them. The king told the agent that if he wished that the king should become reconciled with her, the agent should pay for the paper and the scribe for a new wedding contract and the king would sign it. Similarly, when Moses spoke to God after the Israelites committed the sin of the Golden Calf, Moses argued that God knew that God had brought the Israelites out of Egypt, a house of idolatry. God answered that if Moses desired that God should become reconciled with the Israelites, then Moses would have to bring the Tablets at his own expense, and God would append God's signature, as God says in , "And I will write upon the tablets."
In , Moses foretold that "A prophet will the Lord your God raise up for you . . . ''like me''," and Rabbi Joḥanan thus taught that prophets would have to be, like Moses, strong, wealthy, wise, and meek. Strong, for says of Moses, "he spread the tent over the tabernacle," and a Master taught that Moses himself spread it, and reports, "Ten cubits shall be the length of a board." Similarly, the strength of Moses can be derived from , in which Moses reports, "And I took the two tablets, and cast them out of my two hands, and broke them," and it was taught that the Tablets were six handbreadths in length, six in breadth, and three in thickness. Wealthy, as reports God's instruction to Moses, "Carve yourself two tablets of stone," and the Rabbis interpreted the verse to teach that the chips would belong to Moses. Wise, for Rav and Samuel both said that 50 gates of understanding were created in the world, and all but one were given to Moses, for said of Moses, "You have made him a little lower than God." Meek, for reports, "Now the man Moses was very meek."
The Sifre taught that shows Attributes of God that people should emulate. enjoins people "to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways." The Sifre taught that to walk in God's ways means to be, in the words of , "merciful and gracious."
The Jerusalem Talmud saw God's Attribute of forgiveness in . The Jerusalem Talmud taught that if, on the Day of Judgment, the greater part of one's record consists of honorable deeds, one will inherit the Garden of Eden, but if the greater part consists of transgressions, one will inherit Gehenna. If the record is evenly balanced, Rabbi Yosé ben Ḥaninah read not to say "forgives sins," but rather "forgives [a] sin." That is to say, God tears up one document recording a sin, so that one's honorable deeds then will outweigh one's sins and one can inherit the Garden of Eden. Reading , "To You, O Lord, belongs steadfast love. For You requite a person according to his work," Rabbi Eleazar argued that does not say "his deed," but "like his deed," teaching that if a person is lacking in good deeds, God will give the person one of God's own, so that the person's merits will outweigh the person's sins. The Jerusalem Talmud noted that this is consistent with Rabbi Eleazar's reading of the words "abounding in steadfast love" in . Rabbi Eleazar read to teach that God tips the scale in favor of mercy so that a person can inherit the Garden of Eden.
The Babylonian Talmud reconciled apparent inconsistencies in God's Attributes in . Rav Huna contrasted the description of God in two parts of . Rav Huna asked how, in the words of , God could be simultaneously "righteous in all His ways," and "gracious in all His works" — how can God be simultaneously just and merciful? At first, God is righteous, and in the end, gracious (when God sees that the world cannot endure strict justice). Similarly, Rabbi Eleazar contrasted two Attributes reported in . Rabbi Eleazar asked how it could be simultaneously true that, in the words of , "to You, O Lord, belongs mercy," and "for You render to every man according to his work." At first, God "render[s] to every man according to his work," but at the end, "to You, O Lord, belongs mercy." Similarly, Ilfi (or others say Ilfa) contrasted two Attributes. reports that God is "abundant in goodness," and then says, "and in truth." Ilfi asked how both could be true. At first, God exhibits "truth," and at the end, "abundant . . . goodness." Rabbi Joḥanan said that were it not written in , it would be impossible to say such a thing took place. But teaches that God drew a prayer shawl around God's self like the leader of congregational prayers and showed Moses the order of prayer. God told Moses that whenever Israel sins, they should recite the passage in containing God's 13 Attributes, and God would forgive them. The Gemara interpreted the words "The Lord, the Lord" in to teach that God is the Eternal (exhibiting mercy) before humans sin and the same after they sin and repent. Rav Judah interpreted the words "a God merciful and gracious" in to teach that with the 13 Attributes, God made a covenant that Jews will not be turned away empty-handed when they recite the Attributes, for soon thereafter, in , God says, "Behold I make a covenant."
A Baraita reported that Rabbi Elazar said that one cannot read "absolve" in to apply to all transgressions, as "will not absolve" is also stated in , as well. Rabbi Elazar resolved the apparent contradiction by teaching that God absolves those who repent and does not absolve those who do not repent. Therefore, both "repentance" and "absolve" were mentioned at Mount Sinai.
Reading the Attribute "long-suffering" (, ) in , Rabbi Ḥaggai (or some say Rabbi Samuel bar Naḥmani) asked why it says , , using a plural form (meaning "faces" or "countenances") rather than , , using the singular form. The Rabbi answered that this means that God is long-suffering in two ways: God is long-suffering toward the righteous, that is, God delays payment of their reward (until the World To Come); and God is also long-suffering toward the wicked, that is, God does not punish them immediately (waiting until the World To Come).
The Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer told that God spoke to the Torah the words of , "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." The Torah answered that the man whom God sought to create would be limited in days and full of anger, and would come into the power of sin. Unless God would be long-suffering with him, the Torah continued, it would be well for man not to come into the world. God asked the Torah whether it was for nothing that God is called (echoing ) "slow to anger" and "abounding in love." God then set about making man.
Expanding on , "And God said to Moses . . . ," Rabbi Abba bar Memel taught that in response to the request of Moses to know God's Name, God told Moses that God is called according to God's work — sometimes Scripture calls God "Almighty God," "Lord of Hosts," "God," or "Lord." When God judges created beings, Scripture calls God "God," and when God wages war against the wicked, Scripture calls God "Lord of Hosts" (as in and ). When God suspends judgment for a person's sins, Scripture calls God "El Shadday" ("Almighty God"), and when God is merciful towards the world, Scripture calls God "Adonai" ("Lord"), for "Adonai" refers to the Attribute of Mercy, as says: "The Lord, the Lord (Adonai, Adonai), God, merciful and gracious." Hence in , God said "'I Am That I Am' in virtue of My deeds."
In a Baraita, the House of Shammai taught that on the great Day of Judgment at the end of days, people will be divided into three groups: wholly righteous people, wholly wicked people, and middling people. The House of Hillel taught that the God Whom describes as "abundant in kindness" will tilt the scales in favor of kindness, so that middling people will not have to pass through Gehenna.
Jose ben Halafta, Rabbi Jose interpreted the words "forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty" in to teach that a person who sins once, twice, or even three times is forgiven, but one who sins four times is not forgiven. Rabbi Jose cited for support , where God says, "for three transgressions of Israel," God would not reverse God's forgiveness, and , which says, "God does these things twice, yea thrice, with a man."
A Baraita taught that when Moses ascended to receive the Torah from God, Moses found God writing "longsuffering" among the words with which describes God. Moses asked God whether God meant longsuffering with the righteous, to which God replied that God is longsuffering even with the wicked. Moses exclaimed that God could let the wicked perish, but God cautioned Moses that Moses would come to desire God's longsuffering for the wicked. Later, when the Israelites sinned at the incident of the spies, God reminded Moses that he had suggested that God be longsuffering only with the righteous, to which Moses recounted that God had promised to be longsuffering even with the wicked. And that is why Moses in cited to God that God is "slow to anger."
The Seder Olam Rabbah taught that Moses descended from Biblical Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai on the 10th of Tishrei — Yom Kippur — and announced that God had shown the Israelites God's pleasure, as says, "You will forgive our crimes and sins and let us inherit," and after that, all the Israelites presented themselves in the assembly that Moses called in , and Moses commanded them to build the Tabernacle.
Tractate Beitzah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws common to all of the festivals in
43–49
; ; ; ; ; ; ; and ; .
Tractate Bekhorot in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud interpreted the laws of the firstborn in
12–13
; and ; and and . Elsewhere, the Mishnah interpreted to allow money in exchange for redemption of a first-born son to be given to any Kohen, priest (, ); that if a person weaves the hair of a firstborn donkey into a sack, the sack must be burned; that they did not redeem with the firstborn of a donkey an animal that falls within both wild and domestic categories (a ); and that one was prohibited to derive benefit in any quantity at all from an unredeemed firstborn donkey. And elsewhere, the Mishnah taught that before the Israelites constructed the Tabernacle, the firstborns performed sacrificial services, but after the Israelites constructed the Tabernacle, the Priests (, ) performed the services.
Reading , "And every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb," and , "and the firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb," the Mishnah noted that the Torah states this law twice, and deduced that one is therefore not obligated under this law unless both the animal that gives birth is a donkey and the animal born is a donkey. The Mishnah thus concluded that a cow that gave birth to a calf like a donkey and a donkey that gave birth to a foal like a horse are exempt from their offspring being considered a firstborn.
Rabbi Akiva interpreted to prohibit plowing prior to the Shmita, Sabbatical year () that would reap benefits in the Sabbatical year and to prohibit reaping in the year after the Sabbatical year produce that grew in the Sabbatical year. Ishmael ben Elisha, Rabbi Ishamel argued, however, that applied to the Sabbath, and limited its prohibition to plowing and reaping not elsewhere required by commandment.
Tractate Sukkah (Talmud), Sukkah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of Sukkot in ; and ; ; ; and ; and .
Tractate Pesahim, Pesachim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of the Passover in
43–49
; ; ; ;
and .
The Mishnah noted differences between the first Passover in
; ; ; ;
and . and the second Passover in . The Mishnah taught that the prohibitions of that "seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses" and of that "no leaven shall be seen in all your territory" applied to the first Passover; while at the second Passover, one could have both leavened and unleavened bread in one's house. And the Mishnah taught that for the first Passover, one was required to recite the Hallel () when the Passover lamb was eaten; while the second Passover did not require the reciting of Hallel when the Passover lamb was eaten. But both the first and second Passovers required the reciting of Hallel when the Passover lambs were offered, and both Passover lambs were eaten roasted with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. And both the first and second Passovers took precedence over the Sabbath.
The Mishnah taught that they buried meat that had mixed with milk in violation of and and .
Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Simeon ben Yoḥai taught that because the generation of the Flood transgressed the Torah that God gave humanity after Moses had stayed on the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights (as reported in and and
18
and ), God announced in that God would "cause it to rain upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights."
In medieval Jewish interpretation
The parashah is discussed in these Middle Ages, medieval Jewish sources:
Exodus chapter 32
Rashi reported an interpretation by Rabbi Moshe ha-Darshan that since the Levites were submitted in atonement for the firstborn who had practiced idolatry when they worshipped the Golden Calf (in ), and calls idol worship "sacrifices to the dead," and in Moses called one afflicted with tzaraat "as one dead," and required those afflicted with ''tzaraat'' to shave, therefore God required the Levites to shave as well.
The compared Moses to Noah and found Moses superior. For when God told Moses in , "Now therefore let me alone, that My anger may grow hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation," Moses immediately asked whether he could possibly abandon Israel for his own advantage. Moses protested that the world would say that he had killed Israel and did to them as Noah did to his generation. For when God bade Noah to save himself and his household from the Flood, Noah did not intercede on behalf of his generation, but let them perish. It is for this reason that Scripture names the waters of the Flood after Noah, as says, "For this is as the waters of Noah to me." Thus, Moses sought mercy for his people, and God indeed showed them mercy.
Reading "The Lord spoke . . . in the Sinai Desert . . . on the first of the month . . . 'Take a census,'" Rashi taught that God counted the Israelites often because they were dear to God. When they left Egypt, God counted them in ; when many fell because of the sin of the Golden Calf, God counted them in to know the number who survived; when God came to cause the Divine Presence to rest among them, God counted them. On the first of Nisan
Nisan (or Nissan; he, נִיסָן, Standard ''Nīsan'', Tiberian ''Nīsān''; from akk, 𒊬𒊒𒄀 ''Nisanu'') in the Babylonian and Hebrew calendars is the month of the barley ripening and first month of spring. The name of the month i ...
, the Tabernacle was erected, and on the first of Iyar, God counted them.
Bahya ibn Paquda, Baḥya ibn Paquda taught that because God showed special goodness to the Israelites among the peoples, taking them out of Egypt and bringing them to the land of Canaan, God put them under an obligation of service, beyond the universal service expected of all peoples. This consists in obedience to commandments that have their basis in revelation alone, beyond moral duties called for by reason. Baḥya taught that whoever assumed service for the glory of God was favored by God with special bounties, and God held them to an obligation of additional service beside the service due from others. Baḥya cited as an example when Moses said in , "'Whoever is on the Lord's side? Let him come to me.' And all the descendants of Levi gathered themselves together to him." God then showed the Levites additional favor and chose from among them Aaron and his sons to be priests. God charged the Levites with particular precepts in addition to those God gave to the rest of the nation, and promised them a great reward in the life hereafter.
Exodus chapter 34
Rashi taught that it was on the first day of Elul that God told Moses, in the words of , "In the morning you shall ascend Mount Sinai," to receive the second tablets, and Moses spent 40 days there, as reported in , "And I remained upon the mountain just as the first days." And on Yom Kippur, God was placated toward Israel and told Moses, in the words of , "I have forgiven, as you have spoken."
Rabbeinu Tam identified the Thirteen Attributes of God in as follows: (1) , : mercy before one sins; (2) , : mercy after one has sinned; (3) , : power in mercy; (4) , : compassionate; (5) , ''VeḤanun'': and gracious; (6) : slow to anger; (7) : and abundant in kindness; (8) : and truth; (9) : preserver of kindness for thousands of generations; (10) : forgiving iniquity; (11) , : and willful sin; (12) , : and error; (13) , : and pardoning.
Reading God's description of God's attributes in , Baḥya ibn Paquda argued we can see that God possesses these attributes from the evidence of God's deeds towards God's creations and from the wisdom and power that God's deeds reflect. But Baḥya cautioned that one must be careful not to take descriptions of God's attributes literally or in a physical sense. Rather, one must know that they are metaphors, geared to what we are capable of grasping with our powers of understanding, because of our urgent need to know God. But God is infinitely greater and loftier than all of these attributes.
Interpreting the Attributes of God in , Judah Halevi argued that all characterizations of God, except for the four-letter Name of God, the Tetragrammaton, are predicates and attributive descriptions, derived from the way God's actions affect the world. People call God "merciful" if God improves the condition of someone whom people pity. People attribute to God "mercy" and "compassion," although Halevi saw these Attributes as weaknesses of the soul and a quick movement of nature. Halevi argued that this cannot actually be applied to God, who is a just Judge, ordaining poverty for one and wealth to another. God's nature, Halevi argued, remains unaffected, having no sympathy for one, nor anger for another. God decides according to law, making some people happy and others miserable. God appears to people, as we observe God's actions, sometimes (in the words of ) as a "merciful and compassionate God," and sometimes (in the words of ) as "a jealous and revengeful God," while in reality God never changes. Halevi divided all Attributes (apart from the Tetragrammaton) into three classes: creative, relative, and negative. And he identified as creative Attributes those derived from God's effect on the world, such as making poor and rich, lifting up or casting down, "merciful and compassionate," "jealous and revengeful," "strong and almighty," and the like.
Similarly, Maimonides equated knowledge of God's Attributes with knowledge of God's works. Because in , God taught Moses Attributes that refer solely to God's works, Maimonides inferred that God had promised to give Moses a knowledge of God's works. Maimonides thus concluded that the ways that Moses wished to know, and which God taught him, were God's actions. Maimonides equated these with what the Sages called "Attributes" (, ), noting that the Talmud spoke of the 13 "Attributes" of God. And the Mishnah also used the term in reference to man, saying, for example, "There are four different sorts (, ) among those who go to the house of learning," and, "There are four different traits (, ) among those who give charity." Maimonides argued that the Sages did not mean that God really possesses Attributes, but that God performs actions similar to human actions that in humans flow from certain Attributes and certain mental dispositions, whereas God has no such dispositions. Although Moses was shown all God's goodness, that is, all God's works, mentions only the 13 Attributes, because they include those acts of God that refer to the creation and the government of mankind, and to know these acts was the principal object of the prayer of Moses. Maimonides found evidence for this in the conclusion of the prayer of Moses in , "that I may know You, that I may find grace in Your sight, and consider that this nation is Your people." That is, Moses sought understanding of God's ways in governing the Israelites, so that Moses might act similarly. Maimonides concluded that "the ways" used in the Bible are identical with the "Attributes" used in the Mishnah, denoting the acts emanating from God in reference to the universe.
The , however, found in God's Attributes components of God's essential Name. In the , Rabbi Simeon taught from the Book of Mystery that the Divine Name has both a revealed and a concealed form. In its revealed form, it is written as the four-letter Name of God, the Tetragrammaton, but in its undisclosed form it is written in other letters, and this undisclosed form represents the most Recondite of all. In the , Rabbi Judah taught that even the revealed form of the Name is hidden under other letters (as the name ADoNaY, , is hidden within ADNY, ) in order to screen the most Recondite of all. In the letters of God's Name are concealed 22 Attributes of Mercy, namely, the 13 Attributes of God in and nine Attributes of the ''Zeir Anpin, Mikroprosopus'', the lesser revealed aspect of God. They all combine in one composite Name. When people were more reverent, the priests openly enunciated the Name in the hearing of all, but after irreverence became widespread, the Name became concealed under other letters. At the time when the Name was disclosed, the priest would concentrate his mind on its deep and inner meaning, and he would utter the Name in such a way as to accord with that meaning. But when irreverence became common in the world, he would conceal all within the written letters. The taught that Moses uttered the 22 letters in two sections, first in in the Attributes of God, and second in , when he uttered nine Attributes of Mercy that are inherent in the ''Mikroprosopus'', and which are radiated from the light of God. All this the priest combined together when he spread forth his hands to bless the people pursuant to , so that all the worlds received God's blessings. It is for this reason that says simply "saying" (, ), instead of the Imperative mood, imperative form "say" (, ), in a reference to the hidden letters within the words of the Priestly Blessing. The word , has in its letters the numerical value of 248 minus one ( equals 1; equals 40; equals 6; equals 200; and 1 + 40 + 6 + 200 = 247), equal to the number of a man's bodily parts, excepting the one part on which all the rest depend. All these parts thus receive the Priestly Blessing as expressed in the three verses of .
In modern interpretation
The parashah is discussed in these modern sources:
Exodus chapter 30
reports that "the shekel is twenty gerahs." This table translates units of weight used in the Bible into their modern equivalents:
Exodus chapter 31
Noting that commands the Israelites to observe the Sabbath at the end of the instructions for the Tabernacle and then commands the Israelites to observe the Sabbath just before the account of the Tabernacle's construction, Gunther Plaut concluded that the Sabbath was the bridge that connected the building of the Tabernacle with its deeper purpose.
Nahum M. Sarna, Nahum Sarna noted that the injunction to observe the Sabbath in is practically repeated verbatim in , with an addition not to kindle fire on the Sabbath.
In 1950, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of Conservative Judaism ruled: "Refraining from the use of a motor vehicle is an important aid in the maintenance of the Sabbath spirit of repose. Such restraint aids, moreover, in keeping the members of the family together on the Sabbath. However where a family resides beyond reasonable walking distance from the synagogue, the use of a motor vehicle for the purpose of synagogue attendance shall in no wise be construed as a violation of the Sabbath but, on the contrary, such attendance shall be deemed an expression of loyalty to our faith. . . . [I]n the spirit of a living and developing Halachah responsive to the changing needs of our people, we declare it to be permitted to use electric lights on the Sabbath for the purpose of enhancing the enjoyment of the Sabbath, or reducing personal discomfort in the performance of a mitzvah."
Exodus chapter 33
Nathan MacDonald (Bible Scholar), Nathan MacDonald reported some dispute over the exact meaning of the description of the Land of Israel as a "land flowing with milk and honey," as in an
17
an
, an
and
an
an
MacDonald wrote that the term for milk (, ) could easily be the word for "fat" (, ), and the word for honey (, ) could indicate not bees' honey but a sweet syrup made from fruit. The expression evoked a general sense of the bounty of the land and suggested an ecological richness exhibited in a number of ways, not just with milk and honey. MacDonald noted that the expression was always used to describe a land that the people of Israel had not yet experienced, and thus characterized it as always a future expectation.
Everett Fox noted that "glory" (, ) and "stubbornness" (, ''kaved lev'') are leading words throughout the book of Exodus that give it a sense of unity. Similarly, Propp identified the root — connoting heaviness, glory, wealth, and firmness — as a recurring theme in Exodus: Moses suffered from a heavy mouth in and heavy arms in ; Pharaoh had firmness of heart in ;
28
and ; Pharaoh made Israel's labor heavy in ; God in response sent heavy plagues in ;
and , so that God might be glorified over Pharaoh in
an
and the book culminates with the descent of God's fiery Glory, described as a "heavy cloud," first upon Sinai and later upon the Tabernacle in ; ; ;
and .
Exodus chapter 34
Propp reported a common scholarly view that contains the Jahwist, Yahwist's (J) Covenant and that the revelation of God's Name in corresponds to the comparable scenes from the Elohist (E) in and the Priestly source (P) in . Propp thus argued that is one long, full Name for God. Propp speculated that might have been God's revelation of a chant that Israelites could use in future crises to remind God of God's transgenerational mercy.
Richard Elliott Friedman observed that the Yahwist's formula in emphasizes the merciful — mercy, grace, and kindness — over the just side of God. In contrast, Friedman noted, the Priestly source never uses these or several other related words, emphasizing rather the just side of God. Friedman argued that this then is an important example of the pervasive way in which the Bible became more than the sum of its parts when the Redactor combined the sources, bringing the two sides together in a new balance in the final version of the Torah, conveying a picture of God Who is torn between justice and mercy, which Friedman argued has been a central element of the conception of God in Judaism and Christianity ever since.
Israel Meir Kagan, The Chofetz Chaim told a parable to explain the teaching of Rav Judah (see "In classical rabbinic interpretation": "Exodus chapter 34" above) that God would not turn Jews away empty-handed when they recite the 13 Attributes of God in . The Chofetz Chaim told that there was once a wealthy businessman whose poor nephew pleaded with him for a job. The businessman gave the nephew a job, and wrote out a list of tasks describing the nephew's responsibilities. The businessman exhorted the nephew to review the list every day. After a while, the businessman summoned his nephew to ask him what he was doing for the business. The nephew said that he had done everything that the businessman had asked. The businessman pressed the nephew for details. The nephew replied that every day, he recited the list of tasks that the businessman gave him and remembered the list by heart. The businessman asked whether the nephew had done any of the tasks. The nephew answered sheepishly that he thought that since his uncle was the boss, it would be enough for him simply to repeat the list aloud. The businessman called the nephew a fool and explained that the list was only to remind the nephew what to do. Similarly, taught the Chofetz Chaim, the 13 Attributes, while given to Jews to be recited as a prayer, are fundamentally guidelines for how to walk in God's ways.
Phyllis Trible noted that the adjective "merciful" (, ), used in as one of God's Attributes, is tied to the noun "womb" or "uterus" (, ). Trible wrote that the Hebrew noun for "compassion" or "mercy" (, ''rahamim'') thus connotes both a "mode of being and the locus of that mode," as in the Hebrew the concrete meaning of "womb" expanded to encompass the abstractions of "compassion," "mercy," and "love," the verb "to show mercy" (, ), and the adjective "merciful" (, ).
Julius Wellhausen conceived of early Israelite religion as linked to nature's annual cycle and believed that Scripture only later connected the festivals to historical events like the Exodus from Egypt. James Kugel reported that modern scholars generally agreed that Passover reflects two originally separate holidays arising out of the annual harvest cycle. One Festival involved the sacrificing and eating of an animal from the flock, the sacrifice, which arose among shepherds who sacrificed in the light of the full moon of the month that marked the March equinox, vernal equinox and the end of winter (as directed in ) to bring Divine favor for a safe and prosperous summer for the rest of the flock. The shepherds slaughtered the animal at home, as the rite also stipulated that some of the animal's blood be daubed on the doorposts and lintel of the house (as directed in ) to ward off evil. The rite prescribed that no bone be broken (as directed in ) so as not to bring evil on the flock from which the sacrifice came. Scholars suggest that the name derived from the verb that means "hop" (as in an
26
, and theorize that the holiday may originally have involved some sort of ritual "hopping." A second Festival — the Festival of Unleavened Bread — involved farmers eating unleavened barley bread for seven days when the winter's barley crop had reached maturity and was ready for harvest. Farmers observed this Festival with a trip to a local sanctuary (as in and ). Modern scholars believe that the absence of yeast in the bread indicated purity (as in ). The listing of Festivals in and appear to provide evidence for the independent existence of the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Modern scholars suggest that the farmers' Festival of Unleavened Bread and the shepherds' Passover later merged into a single festival, Passover moved from the home to the Temple, and the combined festival was explicitly connected to the Exodus (as in ).
Commandments
According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 4 positive and 5 negative Mitzvah, commandments in the parashah:
*To give a half shekel annually[.]
*A Kohen must wash his hands and feet before service.[.]
*To prepare the anointing oil[.]
*Not to anoint a stranger with anointing oil[.]
*Not to reproduce the anointing oil
*Not to reproduce the incense formula[.]
*Not to eat or drink anything from an offering to an idol
*To let the land lie fallow in the Sabbatical year[.]
*Not to cook meat and milk together
Maimonides, however, attributed to this parashah only the following 4 positive and 3 negative commandments:
*To give a half shekel annually
*A Kohen must wash his hands and feet before service.
*To prepare the anointing oil
*Not to reproduce the anointing oil
*Not to anoint a stranger with anointing oil
*Not to reproduce the incense formula
*To let the land lie fallow in the Sabbatical year
In the liturgy
Some Jews read the descriptions of the laver in and Aaron's incense offerings in and after the Sabbath morning blessings.
Some Jews sing of the Sabbath's holiness, reflecting , as part of the ''Baruch El Elyon'' song () sung in connection with the Sabbath day meal.
Most Jewish communities (except those who follow the practices of the Vilna Gaon, Chabad, and some Yemenites) recite the account of the Sabbath's significance in as the final reading concluding the blessings of the ''Shema Yisrael, Shema'' before the punctuating half-''Kaddish'' and the prayer in the Friday Sabbath evening (''Jewish services, Maariv'') prayer service. The exhortation to "observe" (, ושמרו) the Sabbath that this reading concludes reflects God's command in to "keep My Sabbaths," even to the exclusion of other apparently worthy causes. Again, Jews recite the account of the Sabbath's significance in as part of the paragraph of the prayer in the Sabbath morning (''Jewish services, Shacharit'') prayer service. And once again, many Jews recite the account of the Sabbath's significance in as part of the paragraph of the Kiddush, ''Kiddusha Rabba'' blessing for the Sabbath day meal.
The second blessing before the addresses God about "your people" Israel, as Moses does in .
Jews recite the account of how Moses brought down two Tablets of stone reported in as part of the prayer in the Sabbath morning (''Shacharit'') prayer service.
Some Jews refer to the inscription on the two Tablets of stone reported in as they study ''Pirkei Avot'
chapter 5
on a Sabbath between Passover and Rosh Hashanah
Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...
. And thereafter, some quote as they study ''Pirkei Avot'
chapter 6
on a succeeding Sabbath between Passover and Rosh Hashanah.
God's characteristics of graciousness and compassion in are reflected in and in turn in the prayer in the morning () and afternoon (''Jewish services, Mincha'') prayer services. Similarly, Jews call on God's characteristic of forgiveness in with the words "forgive us, our Guide" in the weekday prayer in each of the three prayer services. And again, Jews cite God's characteristic of "steadfast lovingkindness ()" in in the section of the service for Shabbat.
Jews recite three times the 13 Attributes of mercy in over and over again during Selichot prayers. And the custom of the Ari, accepted in most but not all communities, is to recite them after removing the Torah from the Torah ark, Ark on Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, and Hoshana Rabbah.
During the prayer in the Sabbath morning () prayer service, Jews refer to the "crown of splendor" that God placed on Moses in .
The weekly maqam
In the Weekly Maqam, Sephardi Jews each week base the songs of the services on the content of that week's parashah. For Parashat Ki Tisa, Sephardi Jews apply Maqam Hijaz, the maqam that expresses mourning and sorrow, as the parashah contains the episode of the Golden Calf, a sad and embarrassing episode in the history of the Israelite people.
Haftarah
Generally
The haftarah for the parashah is:
*for Ashkenazi Jews:
*for Sephardi Jews (as well as some Ashenazic communities such as Frankfurt am Main):
Connection to the Parashah
Both the parashah and the haftarah in First Kings describe God's prophet confronting idolatry to restore worship of God, the parashah in Moses' anger at the Golden Calf, and the haftarah in the prophet Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Baal. In both the parashah and the haftarah, the prophet was on a mountain; the prophet invoked the names of Abraham and Isaac in prayer to God; sound () is observed; the prophet called on the Israelites to choose between God and the false god; and God manifested God's choice.
On Shabbat Parah
When the parashah coincides with Shabbat Parah (the special Sabbath prior to Passover — as it does in 2021, 2023, 2026, and 2028), the haftarah is .[ On Shabbat Parah, the Sabbath of the red heifer, Jews read , which describes the rites of purification using the red heifer (). Similarly, the haftarah in Ezekiel also describes purification. In both the special reading and the haftarah in Ezekiel, sprinkled water cleansed the Israelites.][; .]
Notes
Further reading
The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:
Biblical
* (20:5 in NJPS) (punishing children for fathers' sin);
43–49
(Passover); (Passover); (three pilgrim festivals).
* (three pilgrim festivals).
* (drinking the accursed thing); (Passover); (Attributes of God; punishing children for fathers' sin); (sacrifices to another god; zealots kill apostates; zealots rewarded with priestly standing; plague as punishment; leader makes atonement); (Passover, Shavuot); (Sukkot).
* (5:9 in NJPS) (punishing children for fathers' sin);
(Golden Calf); (second set of tablets); (three pilgrim festivals); (''no'' capital punishment of children for fathers' sin); (Sukkot).
* (cult object from molten jewelry); (Sukkot).
* (Sukkot); (golden calves); (northern feast like Sukkot).
* (keeping the Sabbath); (universally-observed Sabbath).
* (31:29–30 in NJPS) (''not'' punishing children for fathers' sin).
* (idols from molten jewelry); (''not'' punishing children for fathers' sin); (Sukkot).
* (God's Attributes).
* (Sukkot).
* ("Show me Your ways"); ("Teach me Your way"); (cassia); (ransom to God); (God's book); (blot out of the book of the living); (God drove out the nations before them); (God drove out the nations before them); ("Teach me . . . Your way"); (holy anointing oil); (God's covert; God covering with God's limb); (Israel as God's inheritance); (God's rest); (God spoke to Moses from a cloud); ("The Lord is full of compassion and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy"); (God's truth); ("Teach me . . . the way"); (anointing oil); (God's book); (God's Attributes); (God's separate treatment of Israel).
* (Sukkot).
* (Sukkot).
* (Sukkot); (Sukkot); (three Pilgrim festivals).
Early nonrabbinic
*Philo
''Allegorical Interpretation'' 2
15:54–55
15:46, 31:95, 32:101, 48:140–42
44:159–60
4:13, 5:15–16, 41:136, 46:158, 48:169
5:2–3, 12:53–55
24:109–10
6:26
15:66–67, 24:96
2:7–8, 15:84–85, 31:170–71
4:19–20, 35:167–68, 38:186–39:189, 41:196
17:88–90, 29:165
2:7–10, 17:108–09
2:49:270–74
3:22:124–27. Alexandria, Egypt, early 1st Century CE. In, e.g., ''The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition''. Translated by Charles Duke Yonge, pages 43, 55, 61, 66, 129, 133, 145, 148–49, 153, 156, 167, 193, 212, 215, 253, 261, 269, 277, 290–92, 329, 336, 341, 350, 515, 606. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993.
*Epistle to the Romans, Romans 1st Century. ("I will have mercy on whom I have mercy").
*Gospel of Mark, Mark (Passover). Circa 70 CE.
*Gospel of Matthew, Matthew (Passover). Circa 70–100 CE.
*Gospel of Luke, Luke (Passover). Circa 80–150 CE.
*Gospel of John, John (Sukkot).
Classical rabbinic
*Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; he, מִשְׁנָה, "study by repetition", from the verb ''shanah'' , or "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah ...
Sheviit 1:1–4
Challah 4:9
s:Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Shabbat, Shabbat 1:1–24:5; s:Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Pesachim, Pesachim 1:1–10:9
Shekalim 1:1–4:9
Yoma 3:10
s:Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Sukkah, Sukkah 1:1–5:8; s:Translation:Mishnah/Seder Moed/Tractate Beitzah, Beitzah 1:1–5:7
Megillah 3:4
4:10
s:Translation:Mishnah/Seder Nezikin/Tractate Avot/Chapter 5/6, Avot 5:6
13–14
Zevachim 2:1
9:7
Menachot 9:2
Chullin 8:4
Bekhorot 1:1–7
Temurah 7:4
Keritot 1:1–2
Land of Israel, circa 200 CE. In, e.g., ''The Mishnah: A New Translation''. Translated by Jacob Neusner, pages 68–69, 157, 179–208, 229–58, 269, 279–99, 321, 324, 686–88, 721, 751, 781, 788–89, 835–37. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988.
*Tosefta
The Tosefta (Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: תוספתא "supplement, addition") is a compilation of the Jewish oral law from the late 2nd century, the period of the Mishnah.
Overview
In many ways, the Tosefta acts as a supplement to the Mishnah ( ...
: Challah 2:9; Shabbat 1:1–17:29; Pisha (Pesachim) 1:1–10:13; Shekalim 1:1–3:1; Kippurim (Yoma) 1:18, 2:1, 4:9, 13–14
Sukkah 1:1–4:28
Yom Tov (Beitzah) 1:1–4:11
Megillah 3:1, 36; Sotah 3:10, 6:6, 11; Bava Kamma 7:4; Sanhedrin 4:9, 13:3; Avodah Zarah 3:19, 4:6; Menachot 1:12, 7:1; Parah 4:4. Land of Israel, circa 250 CE. In, e.g., ''The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction''. Translated by Jacob Neusner, volume 1, pages 339, 357–427, 471–539, 546, 548, 564–604, 644, 652, 700–01, 841, 856, 860; volume 2, pages 986–87, 1160, 1182, 1189, 1273, 1276, 1409, 1433, 1754. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002.
*Mekhilta of Rabbi Ishmael, Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael 81:1. Land of Israel, late 4th Century. In, e.g., ''Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael''. Translated by Jacob Neusner, volume 2, pages 251–57. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988.
*Jerusalem Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud ( he, תַּלְמוּד יְרוּשַׁלְמִי, translit=Talmud Yerushalmi, often for short), also known as the Palestinian Talmud or Talmud of the Land of Israel, is a collection of rabbinic notes on the second-century ...
: Peah 3a, 8a, 10a, 22b, 31b; Sheviit 1a, 4a; Bikkurim 1a, 23a; Shabbat 1a–113b; Eruvin 33b; Pesachim 1a–86a; Shekalim 1a–61b; Yoma 21b, 23b, 30a, 49b, 55a, 57a; Sukkah 1a–33b; Beitzah 1a–49b; Rosh Hashanah 7b; Taanit 10a, 22b, 26a; Megillah 33b, 40a; Chagigah 2b–3a, 4a, 8a, 19a; Yevamot 62a, 68a; Nedarim 9b, 12b; Nazir 25b; Sotah 39a, 40a; Kiddushin 24a; Sanhedrin 30a, 40b, 46a, 48b, 56b, 61a, 64a; Shevuot 21a; Avodah Zarah 19a, 25a, 26a; Horayot 13a–b. Tiberias, Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. In, e.g., ''Talmud Yerushalmi''. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, volumes 3, 6a, 12–15, 17–27, 30, 33, 35, 37, 40, 44–46, 48–49. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2006–2020. And in, e.g., ''The Jerusalem Talmud: A Translation and Commentary''. Edited by Jacob Neusner and translated by Jacob Neusner, Tzvee Zahavy, B. Barry Levy, and Edward Goldman (professor), Edward Goldman. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009.
*Midrash Tanhuma, Tanḥuma Ki Sisa. 5th–10th centuries. In, e.g., ''The Metsudah Midrash Tanchuma: Shemos II.'' Translated and annotated by Avrohom Davis, edited by Yaakov Y.H. Pupko, volume 4 (Shemos volume 2), pages 206–338. Monsey, New York: Eastern Book Press, 2004.
*Babylonian Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the center ...
Berakhot 7a–b
10b
30b
32a–b
55a
62b
63b
Shabbat 10b
30a
33a
69b–70a
86a
87a
89a
119b
132a
Eruvin 22a
54a
96a
Pesachim 2a–121b
Shekalim 2a–22b
Yoma 3b
22a
28a
32b
36b–37a
43b
45a
66b
85b–86b
Sukkah 2a–56b
Beitzah 2a–40b
Rosh Hashanah 9a
16b
17b
Taanit 8a
21b
27b
28b
Megillah 6b
10b
15a–b
19b
25a–b
29b–30a
31a
Moed Katan 3b–4a
9a
15a
16b
18b
Chagigah 6b
11b
12b
16a
Yevamot 6b–7a
49b
62a
72a
Ketubot 30a
31a
34a
106a
Nedarim 10b
32a
33a
38a
Nazir 47a
Sotah 13b–14a
Gittin 60b
Kiddushin 17a
29a–b
33b
Bava Kamma 34b
50a
52b
55a
71a
92a
112a
119a
Bava Batra 10b
15a–b
75a
Sanhedrin 7a
13a
27b
35b
38b
56b
60b
63a
74a
78b
83b
102a
108a
110a
111a
Makkot 8b
11a
12a
13a
14b
23a–24a
Shevuot 10b
15a
39a
Avodah Zarah 8a
10b
44a
53b
Horayot 4a–b
6b
11b
Zevachim 15b
18a
19b
21a
112b
Menachot 5b–6a
21b
35b
36b
53b
72a
84b
87b–88a
89a
99b
101b
Chullin 62b
106b
114a
115a
139b
Bekhorot 3a
6a
50a
51b
Arakhin 4a
15b
16b
Temurah 14b
16a
Keritot 2a
3a
5a–6b
Meilah 19a
Niddah 40a
41a
Sasanian Empire, 6th Century. In, e.g., ''Talmud Bavli''. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 volumes. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2006.
Medieval
*Exodus Rabbah 39:1–47:9. 10th Century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Exodus''. Translated by Simon M. Lehrman, volume 3, pages 458–545. London: Soncino Press, 1939.
*Solomon ibn Gabirol. ''A Crown for the King''
26:322–23
Spain, 11th Century. Translated by David R. Slavitt, pages 42–43. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
*Rashi. ''Commentary''
Exodus 30–34
Troyes, France, late 11th Century. In, e.g., Rashi. ''The Torah: With Rashi's Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated''. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, volume 2, pages 423–86. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994.
*Rashbam. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Troyes, early 12th century. In, e.g., ''Rashbam's Commentary on Exodus: An Annotated Translation''. Edited and translated by Martin I. Lockshin, pages 384–424. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997.
*Yehuda Halevi, Judah Halevi. ''Kuzari''. s:Kitab al Khazari/Part One, 1:97; s:Kitab al Khazari/Part Two, 2:2, 26, 80; s:Kitab al Khazari/Part Four, 4:3, 15. Toledo, Spain, Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. In, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. ''Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel.'' Introduction by Henry Slonimsky, pages 68–69, 83, 105, 132, 211, 221–22. New York: Schocken, 1964.
*Abraham ibn Ezra. ''Commentary on the Torah''. France, 1153. In, e.g., ''Ibn Ezra's Commentary on the Pentateuch: Exodus (Shemot)''. Translated and annotated by H. Norman Strickman and Arthur M. Silver, volume 2, pages 628–729. New York: Menorah Publishing Company, 1996.
*Maimonides. ''Guide for the Perplexed'', part 1, chapters s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER IV, 4, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER VII, 8, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER XV, 15, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER XVI, 16, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER XVIII, 18, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER XXI, 21, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER XXXVII, 37, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER XLVI, 46, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER XLVIII, 48, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER LIV, 54, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER LXIV, 64, s:The Guide for the Perplexed (Friedlander)/Part I#CHAPTER LXVI, 66; part 2, chapter
32
part 3, chapter
Cairo, Egypt, 1190. In, e.g., Moses Maimonides. ''The Guide for the Perplexed''. Translated by Michael Friedländer, pages 3, 17, 21, 26–27, 30–31, 52–53, 61, 65, 75–76, 96, 98, 221, 245, 248, 287, 304, 323, 346, 358, 371, 380, 385, 392–93. New York: Dover Publications, 1956.
*Hezekiah ben Manoah. ''Hizkuni''. France, circa 1240. In, e.g., Chizkiyahu ben Manoach. ''Chizkuni: Torah Commentary''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 3, pages 611–44. Jerusalem: Ktav Publishers, 2013.
*Nahmanides, Nachmanides. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Jerusalem, circa 1270. In, e.g., ''Ramban (Nachmanides): Commentary on the Torah.'' Translated by Charles B. Chavel, volume 2, pages 510–94. New York: Shilo Publishing House, 1973.
*Zohar, part 2, pages 187b–193b. Spain, late 13th Century. In, e.g., ''The Zohar''. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 volumes. London: Soncino Press, 1934.
*Bahya ben Asher. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Spain, early 14th century. In, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbeinu Bachya: Torah Commentary by Rabbi Bachya ben Asher''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 4, pages 1311–417. Jerusalem: Lambda Publishers, 2003.
*Jacob ben Asher (Baal Ha-Turim). ''Commentary on the Torah''. Early 14th century. In, e.g., ''Baal Haturim Chumash: Shemos/Exodus''. Translated by Eliyahu Touger, edited and annotated by Avie Gold, volume 2, pages 881–927. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2000.
*Isaac ben Moses Arama. ''Akedat Yizhak (The Binding of Isaac)''. Late 15th century. In, e.g., Yitzchak Arama. ''Akeydat Yitzchak: Commentary of Rabbi Yitzchak Arama on the Torah''. Translated and condensed by Eliyahu Munk, volume 1, pages 483–519. New York, Lambda Publishers, 2001.
Modern
*Isaac Abravanel. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Italy, between 1492–1509. In, e.g., ''Abarbanel: Selected Commentaries on the Torah: Volume 2: Shemos/Exodus''. Translated and annotated by Israel Lazar, pages 369–403. Brooklyn: CreateSpace, 2015.
*Abraham Saba. ''Ẓeror ha-Mor (Bundle of Myrrh)''. Fes, Fez, Morocco, circa 1500. In, e.g., ''Tzror Hamor: Torah Commentary by Rabbi Avraham Sabba''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 3, pages 1147–220. Jerusalem, Lambda Publishers, 2008.
*Niccolò Machiavelli. ''The Prince'', s:The Prince#Chapter VI: Of New Princedoms Which a Prince Acquires With His Own Arms and by Merit, chapter 6. Florence, Italy, 1532.
*Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Venice, 1567. In, e.g., ''Sforno: Commentary on the Torah''. Translation and explanatory notes by Raphael Pelcovitz, pages 444–73. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997.
*Moses ben Jacob Cordovero, Moses Cordovero (the Ramak). ''Tomer Devorah (The Palm Tree of Deborah)''. Venice, 1588. In, e.g., Moshe Cordevero. ''The Palm Tree of Devorah''. Translated by Moshe Miller. Southfield, Michigan: Targum Press, 1993. (advocating the imitation of God through the acquisition of the Divine Attributes of ).
*Moshe Alshich. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Safed, circa 1593. In, e.g., Moshe Alshich. ''Midrash of Rabbi Moshe Alshich on the Torah''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 2, pages 563–606. New York, Lambda Publishers, 2000.
*Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz. ''Kli Yakar''. Lublin, 1602. In, e.g., ''Kli Yakar: Shemos''. Translated by Elihu Levine, volume 2, pages 273–344. Southfield, Michigan: Targum Press/Feldheim Publishers, 2007.
*Avraham Yehoshua Heschel. ''Commentaries on the Torah''. Kraków, Cracow, Poland, mid 17th century. Compiled as ''Chanukat HaTorah''. Edited by Chanoch Henoch Erzohn. Piotrków Trybunalski, Piotrkow, Poland, 1900. In Avraham Yehoshua Heschel. ''Chanukas HaTorah: Mystical Insights of Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel on Chumash''. Translated by Avraham Peretz Friedman, pages 191–98. Southfield, Michigan: Targum Press/Feldheim Publishers, 2004.
*Thomas Hobbes. ''Leviathan (Hobbes book), Leviathan'', s:Leviathan/The First Part#Chapter XII: Of Religion, 1:12; s:Leviathan/The Third Part#Chapter XXXIV: Of the Signification of Spirit.2C Angel.2C and Inspiration in the Books of Holy Scripture, 3:34, s:Leviathan/The Third Part#Chapter XXXVI: Of the Word of God.2C and of Prophets, 36, s:Leviathan/The Third Part#Chapter XL: Of the Rights of the Kingdom of God.2C in Abraham.2C Moses.2C the High Priests.2C and the Kings of Judah, 40; s:Leviathan/The Fourth Part#Chapter XLV: Of Demonology and Other Relics of the Religion of the Gentiles, 4:45; s:Leviathan/The Fourth Part#A REVIEW AND CONCLUSION, Review & Conclusion. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson, pages 181, 431, 437–38, 460–61, 503–04, 672, 676–77, 723. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982.
*Chaim ibn Attar. ''Ohr ha-Chaim''. Venice, 1742. In Chayim ben Attar. ''Or Hachayim: Commentary on the Torah''. Translated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 2, pages 814–93. Brooklyn: Lambda Publishers, 1999.
*Yaakov Culi and Yitzchak Magriso. ''Me'am Lo'ez''. Istanbul, Constantinople, 1746. In Jacob Culi and Yitzchak Magriso. ''The Torah Anthology: Me'am Lo'ez''. Translated by Aryeh Kaplan, volume 9, pages 267–355. Jerusalem: Moznaim Publishing, 1990. And Yitzchak Magriso. ''The Torah Anthology: Me'am Lo'ez''. Translated by Aryeh Kaplan, volume 10, pages 3–174. Jerusalem: Moznaim Publishing, 1991.
*Moses Mendelssohn. ''Jerusalem (Mendelssohn), Jerusalem'', § 2. Berlin, 1783. In ''Jerusalem: Or on Religious Power and Judaism''. Translated by Allan Arkush; introduction and commentary by Alexander Altmann, pages 120, 122–23, 129. Hanover, N.H.: Brandeis University Press, 1983.
*Nachman of Breslov. ''Teachings''. Bratslav, Ukraine, before 1811. In ''Rebbe Nachman's Torah: Breslov Insights into the Weekly Torah Reading: Exodus-Leviticus''. Compiled by Chaim Kramer, edited by Y. Hall, pages 232–81. Jerusalem: Breslov Research Institute, 2011.
*Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]
''The Jewish Cemetery at Newport''
Boston, 1854. In Harold Bloom. ''American Religious Poems'', pages 80–81. New York: Library of America, 2006.
*George Eliot. ''Adam Bede'', chapters s:Adam Bede/Chapter XXX, 30, s:Adam Bede/Chapter L, 50. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1859. Reprinted, e.g., edited by Carol A. Martin, pages 297, 440. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. (referring to the Haftarah's account in , Dinah writes Seth: "to seek a greater blessing elsewhere would be like laying a false offering on the altar and expecting the fire from heaven to kindle it." Echoing the report of that "Moses' anger waxed hot," Dinah tells Adam, "even the man Moses, the meekest of men, was wrathful sometimes.").
*Shlomo Ganzfried. ''Kitzur Shulchon Oruch''
ch. 140
Hungary, 1864. Translated by Eliyahu Touger, volume 2, page 587. New York: Moznaim Publishing, 1991.
*Samson Raphael Hirsch. ''The Pentateuch: Exodus''. Translated by Isaac Levy, volume 2, pages 576–664. Gateshead: Judaica Press, 2nd edition 1999. Originally published as ''Der Pentateuch uebersetzt und erklaert''. Frankfurt, 1867–1878.
*Samuel David Luzzatto (Shadal). ''Commentary on the Torah.'' Padua, 1871. In, e.g., Samuel David Luzzatto. ''Torah Commentary''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 3, pages 867–93. New York: Lambda Publishers, 2012.
*Emily Dickinson. s:To pile like Thunder to its close, ''Poem 1247 (To pile like Thunder to its close)''. Circa 1873. s:Because that you are going, ''Poem 1260 (Because that you are going)''. Circa 1873. s:God is indeed a jealous God —, ''Poem 1719 (God is indeed a jealous God —)''. 19th Century. s:No man saw awe, nor to his house, ''Poem 1733 (No man saw awe, nor to his house)''. 19th Century. In ''The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson''. Edited by Thomas H. Johnson, pages 547, 551–52, 698, 703. New York: Little, Brown & Co., 1960.
*Samson Raphael Hirsch. ''The Jewish Sabbath''. Frankfurt, before 1889. Translated by Ben Josephussoro. 1911. Reprinted Lexington, Kentucky: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014.
*Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter. ''Sefat Emet''. Góra Kalwaria (Ger), Poland, before 1906. Excerpted in ''The Language of Truth: The Torah Commentary of Sefat Emet''. Translated and interpreted by Arthur Green, pages 129–34. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1998. Reprinted 2012.
*Louis Ginzberg
''Legends of the Jews'', 3:119–44
Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1911.
*Abraham Isaac Kook. ''The Moral Principles''. ''The Lights of Holiness''. Early 20th Century. In ''Abraham Isaac Kook: the Lights of Penitence, the Moral Principles, Lights of Holiness, Essays, Letters, and Poems''. Translated by Ben Zion Bokser, pages 148, 207. Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press 1978.
*Hermann Cohen. ''Religion of Reason: Out of the Sources of Judaism''. Translated with an introduction by Simon Kaplan; introductory essays by Leo Strauss, pages 79–80, 94, 110, 169, 206, 209, 222, 395. New York: Ungar, 1972. Reprinted Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995. Originally published as ''Religion der Vernunft aus den Quellen des Judentums''. Leipzig: Gustav Fock, 1919.
*Alexander Alan Steinbach. ''Sabbath Queen: Fifty-four Bible Talks to the Young Based on Each Portion of the Pentateuch'', pages 64–67. New York: Behrman's Jewish Book House, 1936.
*Benno Jacob. ''The Second Book of the Bible: Exodus''. London, 1940. Translated by Walter Jacob, pages 828–1007. Hoboken, New Jersey: KTAV Publishing House, 1992.
*''The Sabbath Anthology.'' Edited by Abraham E. Millgram. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 1944; reprinted 2018. ().
*Morris Adler, Jacob B. Agus, and Theodore Friedman. "Responsum on the Sabbath." ''Proceedings of the Rabbinical Assembly'', volume 14 (1950), pages 112–88. New York: Rabbinical Assembly of America, 1951. In ''Proceedings of the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative Movement 1927–1970'', volume 3 (Responsa), pages 1109–34. Jerusalem: The Rabbinical Assembly and The Institute of Applied Hallakhah, 1997.
*Umberto Cassuto. ''A Commentary on the Book of Exodus''. Jerusalem, 1951. Translated by Israel Abrahams, pages 392–451. Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Hebrew University, 1967.
*Abraham Joshua Heschel. ''The Sabbath''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1951. Reprinted 2005.
*Morris Adler. ''The World of the Talmud'', pages 28–29, 50–51, 91–92. B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations, 1958. Reprinted Kessinger Publishing, 2007.
*Robert C. Dentan, "The Literary Affinities of Exodus Xxxiv 6f." ''Vetus Testamentum'', volume 13 (1963): pages 34–51.
*Jacob Liver
"The Half-Shekel Offering in Biblical and Post-Biblical Literature."
''The Harvard Theological Review'', volume 56 (number 3) (1963): pages 173–98.
*Bob Dylan. ''Gates of Eden (song), Gates of Eden''. Columbia Records, 1965. (Golden Calf).
*James Muilenburg. "The Intercession of the Covenant Mediator (Exodus 33:1a,12–17)." In ''Words and Meanings: Essays Presented to David Winton Thomas''. Edited by Peter R. Ackroyd and Barnabas Lindars, pages 159–81. Cambridge: University Press, 1968.
*A. Carlebach
"Rabbinic References to Fiscus Judaicus."
''The Jewish Quarterly Review'', New Series, volume 66 (number 1) (July 1975): pages 57–61.
*Peter Craigie, Peter C. Craigie. ''The Problem of War in the Old Testament'', page 27. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1978.
*Phyllis Trible. ''God and the Rhetoric of Sexuality'', pages 31–59. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1978. (God's feminine merciful quality, or ''rachum'').
*Elie Munk. ''The Call of the Torah: An Anthology of Interpretation and Commentary on the Five Books of Moses''. Translated by E.S. Mazer, volume 2, pages 426–503. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1995. Originally published as ''La Voix de la Thora''. Paris: Fondation Samuel et Odette Levy, 1981.
*Herbert C. Brichto. "The Worship of the Golden Calf: A Literary Analysis of a Fable on Idolatry." ''Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, Hebrew Union College Annual'', volume 54 (1983): pages 1–44.
*Jacob Milgrom. "'You Shall Not Boil a Kid in Its Mother's Milk': An archaeological myth destroyed." ''Bible Review'', volume 1 (number 3) (Fall 1985): pages 48–55.
*Pinchas Hacohen Peli, Pinchas H. Peli. ''Torah Today: A Renewed Encounter with Scripture'', pages 91–94. Washington, D.C.: B'nai B'rith Books, 1987.
*Mark S. Smith. ''The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel'', pages xx, 10, 59, 69, 80–81, 101, 108, 112–13, 125, 134–35, 151, 162. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1990.
*Harvey J. Fields. ''A Torah Commentary for Our Times: Volume II: Exodus and Leviticus'', pages 77–85. New York: UAHC Press, 1991.
*Nahum M. Sarna. ''The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation'', pages 195–222. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991.
*Lawrence Kushner. ''God Was in This Place and I, I Did Not Know: Finding Self, Spirituality and Ultimate Meaning'', pages 31–32, 41. Jewish Lights Publishing, 1993. (the Place; the Golden Calf).
*Nechama Leibowitz, Nehama Leibowitz. ''New Studies in Shemot (Exodus)'', volume 2, pages 535–643. Jerusalem: Haomanim Press, 1993. Reprinted as ''New Studies in the Weekly Parasha''. Lambda Publishers, 2010.
*Aaron Wildavsky. ''Assimilation versus Separation: Joseph the Administrator and the Politics of Religion in Biblical Israel'', pages 3–4. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction Publishers, 1993.
*Walter Brueggemann. "The Book of Exodus." In ''Interpreter's Bible series, The New Interpreter's Bible''. Edited by Leander E. Keck, volume 1, pages 917–56. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994.
*Judith S. Antonelli. "The Golden Calf." In ''In the Image of God: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah'', pages 213–20. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, 1995.
*Ellen Frankel. ''The Five Books of Miriam: A Woman's Commentary on the Torah'', pages 136–41. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996.
*Marc Gellman. "Gluing the Broken Commandments Back Together." In ''God's Mailbox: More Stories About Stories in the Bible'', pages 68–72. New York: Morrow Junior Books, 1996.
*Gunther Plaut, W. Gunther Plaut. ''The Haftarah Commentary'', pages 203–15. New York: UAHC Press, 1996.
*Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden. ''Teaching Torah: A Treasury of Insights and Activities'', pages 140–47. Denver: A.R.E. Publishing, 1997.
*Robert Goodman. "Shabbat." In ''Teaching Jewish Holidays: History, Values, and Activities'', pages 1–19. Denver: A.R.E. Publishing, 1997.
*Baruch J. Schwartz. "What Really Happened at Mount Sinai? Four biblical answers to one question." ''Bible Review'', volume 13 (number 5) (October 1997).
*Mary Doria Russell. ''Children of God (novel), Children of God: A Novel'', page 428. New York: Villard, 1998. (seeing only God's back).
*Susan Freeman. ''Teaching Jewish Virtues: Sacred Sources and Arts Activities'', pages 85–101, 228–40. Springfield Township, Union County, New Jersey, Springfield, New Jersey: A.R.E. Publishing, 1999. (
34–35
.
*Ellen Lippmann. "The Women Didn't Build the Golden Calf — or Did They?" In ''The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions''. Edited by Elyse Goldstein, pages 164–71. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 2000.
*''Exodus to Deuteronomy: A Feminist Companion to the Bible (Second Series)''. Edited by Athalya Brenner, pages 136–41. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000.
*Martin R. Hauge. ''The Descent from the Mountain: Narrative Patterns in Exodus 19–40''. Sheffield: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Press, 2001.
*Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg. ''The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus'', pages 398–460. New York: Doubleday, 2001.
*Lainie Blum Cogan and Judy Weiss. ''Teaching Haftarah: Background, Insights, and Strategies'', pages 164–72. Denver: A.R.E. Publishing, 2002.
*Menachem Davis. ''The Schottenstein Edition Siddur for the Sabbath and Festivals with an Interlinear Translation'', XXVII. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2002. (Sabbath as a source of holiness).
*Michael Fishbane. ''The JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot'', pages 128–34. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002.
*Katharine Doob Sakenfeld. ''The Meaning of Hesed in the Hebrew Bible: A New Inquiry''. Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2002.
*Rodger Kamenetz. "The Broken Tablets." In ''The Lowercase Jew,'' page 40. Evanston, Illinois: Triquarterly Books, 2003.
*Alan Lew. ''This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation'', pages 53–55, 136. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 2003.
*Jack M. Sasson.
Should Cheeseburgers Be Kosher? A Different Interpretation of Five Hebrew Words
" ''Bible Review'', volume 19 (numbers 6) (December 2003): pages 40–43, 50–51.
*Robert Alter. ''The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary'', pages 486–513. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2004.
*Karla M. Suomala. ''Moses and God in Dialogue: Exodus 32–34 in Postbiblical Literature''. Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers, 2004.
*Jeffrey H. Tigay. "Exodus." In ''The Jewish Study Bible''. Edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, pages 179–91. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
*Jane Liddel-King
"The Golden Calf."
''European Judaism (journal), European Judaism: A Journal for the New Europe'', volume 38 (number 2) (autumn 2005): pages 142–46.
*''Professors on the Parashah: Studies on the Weekly Torah Reading'' Edited by Leib Moscovitz, pages 145–49. Jerusalem: Urim Publications, 2005.
*W. Gunther Plaut. ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary: Revised Edition''. Revised edition edited by David E. Stern, David E.S. Stern, pages 581–610. New York: Union for Reform Judaism, 2006.
*William H.C. Propp. ''Exodus 19–40'', volume 2A, pages 317–19, 358–71, 534–623. New York: Anchor Bible Series, Anchor Bible, 2006.
*Suzanne A. Brody. "Bloody Water." In ''Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems'', page 83. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007.
*Esther Jungreis. ''Life Is a Test'', pages 86, 98–99, 144–46, 208–09. Brooklyn: Shaar Press, 2007.
*James Kugel, James L. Kugel. ''How To Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now'', pages 30, 109, 151, 254–55, 257, 262, 281–84, 291, 315, 324–25, 404, 423, 439, 524–25, 606. New York: Free Press, 2007.
*Kenton L. Sparks
“‘Enūma Elish’ and Priestly Mimesis: Elite Emulation in Nascent Judaism.”
''Journal of Biblical Literature'', volume 126 (2007): 637–42. (“Priestly Mimesis in the Tabernacle Narrative (Exodus 25–40)”).
*Pekka Lindqvist. ''Sin at Sinai: Early Judaism Encounters Exodus 32''. Eisenbrauns, 2008.
*Dmitri Slivniak
"The Golden Calf Story: Constructively and Deconstructively."
''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', volume 33 (number 1) (September 2008): pages 19–38.
*Gloria London. "Why Milk and Meat Don't Mix: A New Explanation for a Puzzling Kosher Law." ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', volume 34 (number 6) (November/December 2008): pages 66–69.
*''The Torah: A Women's Commentary''. Edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea Weiss (rabbi), Andrea L. Weiss, pages 495–520. New York: Union for Reform Judaism, URJ Press, 2008.
*Thomas B. Dozeman. ''Commentary on Exodus'', pages 663–756. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009.
*Jonathan Goldstein (author), Jonathan Goldstein. "The Golden Calf." In ''Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bible!'' pages 115–28. New York: Riverhead Books, 2009.
*Reuven Hammer. ''Entering Torah: Prefaces to the Weekly Torah Portion'', pages 125–30. New York: Gefen Publishing House, 2009.
*Rebecca G.S. Idestrom
"Echoes of the Book of Exodus in Ezekiel."
''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', volume 33 (number 4) (June 2009): pages 489–510. (Motifs from Exodus found in Ezekiel, including the call narrative, divine encounters, captivity, signs, plagues, judgment, redemption, tabernacle/temple, are considered.).
*Amichai Lau-Lavie. "Mounting Sinai: Parashat Ki Tisa (Exodus 30:11–34:35)." In ''Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible''. Edited by Gregg Drinkwater, Joshua Lesser, and David Shneer; foreword by Judith Plaskow, pages 109–12. New York: New York University Press, 2009.
*Bruce Wells. "Exodus." In ''Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary''. Edited by John H. Walton, volume 1, pages 257–64. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009.
*Julie Cadwallader-Staub. ''Joy''. In ''Face to Face: A Poetry Collection''. DreamSeeker Books, 2010. ("land of milk and honey").
*Jonathan Sacks. ''Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible: Exodus: The Book of Redemption'', pages 249–76. Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2010.
*Stefan Schorch
"'A Young Goat in Its Mother's Milk'? Understanding an Ancient Prohibition."
''Vetus Testamentum'', volume 60 (number 1) (2010): pages 116–30.
*Idan Dershowitz
"A Land Flowing with Fat and Honey."
''Vetus Testamentum'', volume 60 (number 2) (2010): pages 172–76.
*Joe Lieberman and David Klinghoffer. ''The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath''. New York: Howard Books, 2011.
*James W. Watts
"Aaron and the Golden Calf in the Rhetoric of the Pentateuch."
''Journal of Biblical Literature'', volume 130 (number 3) (fall 2011): pages 417–30.
*William G. Dever. ''The Lives of Ordinary People in Ancient Israel: When Archaeology and the Bible Intersect'', page 244. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012.
*Shmuel Herzfeld. "Growing Our Congregation: The Numbers Game." In ''Fifty-Four Pick Up: Fifteen-Minute Inspirational Torah Lessons'', pages 123–27. Jerusalem: Gefen Publishing House, 2012.
*Daniel S. Nevins
"The Use of Electrical and Electronic Devices on Shabbat."
New York: Rabbinical Assembly, 2012.
*''Torah MiEtzion: New Readings in Tanach: Shemot''. Edited by Ezra Bick and Yaakov Beasley, pages 411–77. Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2012.
*Adam Kirsch
"Ancient Laws for Modern Times: When is a tent just a tent and not like a bed or a hat? To update Jewish laws, the rabbis reasoned by analogy."
''Tablet Magazine''. (February 26, 2013). (Shabbat).
*Adam Kirsch
"Leave the Jewish People Alone: Rabbis left enforcement of their Talmudic decrees to communal standards and voluntary commitment."
''Tablet Magazine''. (March 5, 2013). (Shabbat).
*Adam Kirsch
"Written in the Stars (Or Not): To overcome fated lives, the Talmud's rabbis argued, perform virtuous acts according to Torah."
''Tablet Magazine''. (March 12, 2013). (Shabbat).
*Adam Kirsch
"Navigating the Talmud's Alleys: The range of problems and the variety of answers in the study of Oral Law lead to new pathways of reasoning."
''Tablet Magazine''. (March 18, 2013). (Shabbat).
*Amiel Ungar
"Tel Aviv and the Sabbath."
''The Jerusalem Report'', volume 24 (number 8) (July 29, 2013): page 37.
*Martin Sieff
"The spirit of Elijah: Great leaders have replicated his courage against all odds."
''The Jerusalem Report'', volume 24 (number 23) (February 24, 2014): page 48.
*Ester Bloom
"The Crazy New App for Using Your iPhone on Shabbos."
''Jewniverse''. (October 1, 2014).
*Anthony R. Petterson
"The Flying Scroll That Will Not Acquit the Guilty: Exodus 34.7 in Zechariah 5.3."
''Journal for the Study of the Old Testament'', volume 38 (number 3) (March 2014): pages 347–61.
*Jonathan Sacks. ''Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible'', pages 105–09. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2015.
"The Crazy New Invention for Using Electricity on Shabbat."
''Jewniverse''. (April 21, 2015).
*"The Hittites: Between Tradition and History." ''Biblical Archaeology Review'', volume 42 (number 2) (March/April 2016): pages 28–40, 68.
*Jean-Pierre Isbouts. ''Archaeology of the Bible: The Greatest Discoveries From Genesis to the Roman Era'', page 120. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, National Geographic, 2016.
*Jonathan Sacks. ''Essays on Ethics: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible'', pages 131–36. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2016.
*Kenneth Seeskin. ''Thinking about the Torah: A Philosopher Reads the Bible'', pages 101–12. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society, 2016.
*Shai Held. ''The Heart of Torah, Volume 1: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Genesis and Exodus'', pages 203–12. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017.
*Steven Levy and Sarah Levy. ''The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary'', pages 65–67. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017.
*Joep Dubbink
“‘Don’t Stop Me Now!’ — Exod 32:10 and Yhwh’s Intention to Destroy His Own People.”
In Viktor Ber, editor. ''Nomos and Violence: Dimensions in Bible and Theology''. Vienna: LIT Verlag, 2019.
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