![Figures The erection of the Tabernacle and the Sacred vessels](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Figures_The_erection_of_the_Tabernacle_and_the_Sacred_vessels.jpg)
Vayakhel, Wayyaqhel, VaYakhel, Va-Yakhel, Vayak'hel, Vayak'heil, or Vayaqhel ( –
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
for "and he assembled," the
first word in the parashah) is the 22nd
weekly Torah portion
It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion to be read during Jewish prayer services on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. The full name, ''Parashat HaShavua'' ( he, פָּרָשַׁת הַשָּׁבוּעַ), is po ...
(, ''parashah'') in the annual
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
cycle of
Torah reading
Torah reading (; ') is a Judaism, Jewish religion, religious tradition that involves the public reading of a set of passages from a Sefer Torah, Torah scroll. The term often refers to the entire ceremony of removing the scroll (or scrolls) fro ...
and the 10th in the
Book of Exodus
The Book of Exodus (from grc, Ἔξοδος, translit=Éxodos; he, שְׁמוֹת ''Šəmōṯ'', "Names") is the second book of the Bible. It narrates the story of the Exodus, in which the Israelites leave slavery in Biblical Egypt through t ...
. The parashah tells of the making of the
Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
and its sacred vessels. It constitutes The parashah is made up of 6,181 Hebrew letters, 1,558 Hebrew words, 122
verses, and 211 lines in a Torah scroll (, ''
Sefer Torah
A ( he, סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה; "Book of Torah"; plural: ) or Torah scroll is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). The Torah scroll is mainly used in the ritual of Tora ...
'').
Jew
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
s read it the 22nd
Sabbath
In Abrahamic religions, the Sabbath () or Shabbat (from Hebrew ) is a day set aside for rest and worship. According to the Book of Exodus, the Sabbath is a day of rest on the seventh day, commanded by God to be kept as a holy day of rest, as G ...
after
Simchat Torah
Simchat Torah or Simhat Torah (, lit., "Rejoicing with/of the Torah", Ashkenazi: ''Simchas Torah'') is a Jewish holiday that celebrates and marks the conclusion of the annual cycle of public Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle. Simch ...
, generally in March or rarely in late February. The
lunisolar
A lunisolar calendar is a calendar in many cultures, combining lunar calendars and solar calendars. The date of Lunisolar calendars therefore indicates both the Moon phase and the time of the solar year, that is the position of the Sun in the E ...
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. I ...
contains up to 55
week
A week is a unit of time equal to seven days. It is the standard time period used for short cycles of days in most parts of the world. The days are often used to indicate common work days and rest days, as well as days of worship. Weeks are ofte ...
s, the exact number varying between 50 in common years and 54 or 55 in leap years. In leap years (for example, 2019, 2022, 2024, and 2027), parashah Vayakhel is read separately. In common years (for example, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2026), parashah Vayakhel is usually combined with the next parashah,
Pekudei
Pekudei, Pekude, Pekudey, P'kude, or P'qude (—Hebrew for "amounts of," the second word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 23rd weekly Torah portion (, ''parashah'') in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. It is the 11t ...
, to help achieve the number of weekly readings needed (although in some non-leap years, such as 2025, they are not combined).
Readings
In traditional Sabbath Torah reading, the parashah is divided into seven readings, or , ''
aliyot''.
First reading – Exodus 35:1–20
In the first reading (, ''aliyah''),
Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
convoked the
Israelite
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
s to build the Tabernacle. Moses started by reminding them of
God's
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
commandment to keep the Sabbath of complete rest. Then Moses told them to collect gifts of materials from those whose heart so moved them – gifts of
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
,
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
,
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
, colored
yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufact ...
s, fine
linen
Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant.
Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...
,
goats
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of Caprinae, goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a membe ...
hair, tanned ram skins,
acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
wood,
olive oil
Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...
,
spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices a ...
s,
lapis lazuli
Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color.
As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
, and other stones. Moses invited all who were skilled to make the Tabernacle, its furnishings, and the
priests' vestments.
Second reading – Exodus 35:21–29
In the second reading (, ''aliyah''), the Israelites brought the gifts that Moses requested.
Third reading – Exodus 35:30–36:7
In the third reading (, ''aliyah''), Moses announced that God had singled out
Bezalel
In Exodus 31:1-6 and chapters 36 to 39, Bezalel, Bezaleel, or Betzalel ( he, בְּצַלְאֵל, ''Bəṣalʼēl''), was the chief artisan of the Tabernacle and was in charge of building the Ark of the Covenant, assisted by Oholiab. The secti ...
and
Oholiab
In the Hebrew Bible, Oholiab ( ''ʾĀholīʾāḇ'', "father's tent"), son of Ahisamakh, of the tribe of Dan, worked under Bezalel as the deputy architect of the Tabernacle and the implements which it housed, including the Ark of the Covenant. He ...
to endow them with the skills needed to construct the Tabernacle. And Moses called on them and all skilled persons to undertake the task. The Israelites brought more than was needed, so Moses proclaimed an end to the collection.
Fourth reading – Exodus 36:8–19
In the fourth reading (, ''aliyah''), the skilled workers fashioned the Tabernacle's curtains, loop, clasps, and coverings.
Fifth reading – Exodus 36:20–37:16
In the long fifth reading (, ''aliyah''), they made the Tabernacle's standing, gold clad, polished boards each with 2 tenons, and their 2 silver sockets, bars of acacia-wood overlaid with gold, rings of gold, veil of the covering, 4 pillars of acacia-wood overlaid with gold, screen for the door held by 5 gold clad pillars, and sockets of brass. Bezalel made the ark, cover, and 7 golden oil lamps pushed over against the golden lampstand which partially covers the table.
Sixth reading – Exodus 37:17–29
In the sixth reading (, ''aliyah''), Bezalel made
menorah and
incense
Incense is aromatic biotic material that releases fragrant smoke when burnt. The term is used for either the material or the aroma. Incense is used for aesthetic reasons, religious worship, aromatherapy, meditation, and ceremony. It may also be ...
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 paga ...
.
Seventh reading – Exodus 38:1–20
In the seventh reading (, ''aliyah''), Bezalel made the altar for
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly exi ...
s, laver, and enclosure for the Tabernacle.
Readings according to the triennial cycle
Jews who read the Torah according to the
triennial cycle
The Triennial cycle of Torah reading may refer to either
* The historical practice in ancient Israel by which the entire Torah was read in serial fashion over a three-year period, or
* The practice adopted by many Reform, Conservative, Reconstruct ...
of Torah reading may read the parashah according to a different schedule.
![Sargon of Akkad on his victory stele](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Sargon_of_Akkad_on_his_victory_stele.jpg)
In ancient parallels
The parashah has parallels in these ancient sources:
Exodus chapter 35
Noting that
Sargon of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad (; akk, ''Šarrugi''), also known as Sargon the Great, was the first ruler of the Akkadian Empire, known for his conquests of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th to 23rd centuries BC.The date of the reign of Sargon is highl ...
was the first to use a seven-day week, Professor
Gregory S. Aldrete Gregory S. Aldrete (born 1966) is a Professor Emeritus of history and humanistic studies at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay.
He was the Frankenthal Professor of History and Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, where he had ...
of the
University of Wisconsin–Green Bay
The University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UW-Green Bay, UWGB, or Green Bay) is a public university in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with regional campuses in Marinette, Wisconsin, Marinette, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, Manitowoc, and Sheboygan, Wisconsin, Shebo ...
speculated that the Israelites may have adopted the idea from the
Akkadian Empire
The Akkadian Empire () was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia after the long-lived civilization of Sumer. It was centered in the city of Akkad (city), Akkad () and its surrounding region. The empire united Akkadian language, Akkadian and ...
.
Inner-biblical interpretation
The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these Biblical sources:
Exodus chapters 25–39
This is the pattern of instruction and construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings:
Exodus chapter 35
opens, "And Moses assembled" (, ''vayakhel Mosheh''), in an echo of which says, "the people assembled" (, ''vayikahel ha'am'').
![Shabbatcandles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ec/Shabbatcandles.GIF)
The Sabbath
refers to the Sabbath. prohibits kindling fire on the Sabbath. reports that when the Israelites came upon a man gathering
wood
Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...
on the Sabbath (apparently with the intent to fuel a fire), they brought him before Moses,
Aaron
According to Abrahamic religions, Aaron ''′aharon'', ar, هارون, Hārūn, Greek (Septuagint): Ἀαρών; often called Aaron the priest ()., group="note" ( or ; ''’Ahărōn'') was a prophet, a high priest, and the elder brother of ...
, and the community and placed him in custody, "because it had not been declared what should be done to him." Clearing up any uncertainty about whether the man had violated the law and what punishment should be given, God told Moses that the whole community was to
pelt him with stones outside the camp, which they did.
Commentators note that the Hebrew Bible repeats the commandment to observe the Sabbath 12 times.
reports that on the seventh day of Creation, God finished God’s work, rested, and blessed and hallowed the seventh day.
Observance of the Sabbath is one of the
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
. commands that one remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy, and not do any manner of work or cause anyone under one’s control to work, for in six days God made heaven and earth and rested on the seventh day, blessed the Sabbath, and hallowed it. commands that one observe the Sabbath day, keep it holy, and not do any manner of work or cause anyone under one’s control to work — so that one’s subordinates might also rest — and remember that the Israelites were servants in the land of Egypt, and God brought them out with a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm.
In the incident of the
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 follow ...
(, ''man'') in , Moses told the Israelites that the Sabbath is a solemn rest day; prior to the Sabbath one should cook what one would cook, and lay up food for the Sabbath. And God told Moses to let no one go out of one’s place on the seventh day.
In , just before giving Moses the second
Tablets of Stone
According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tablets of the Law (also Tablets of Stone, Stone Tablets, or Tablets of Testimony; Biblical Hebrew: לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית ''lûḥōt habbǝrît'' "tablets of the covenant", לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן ' ...
, God commanded that the Israelites keep and observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, as a sign between God and the children of Israel forever, for in six days God made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day God rested.
In , just before issuing the instructions for the
Tabernacle
According to the Hebrew Bible, the tabernacle ( he, מִשְׁכַּן, mīškān, residence, dwelling place), also known as the Tent of the Congregation ( he, link=no, אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד, ’ōhel mō‘ēḏ, also Tent of Meeting, etc.), ...
, Moses again told the Israelites that no one should work on the Sabbath, specifying that one must not kindle fire on the Sabbath.
In , God told Moses to repeat the Sabbath commandment to the people, calling the Sabbath a holy convocation.
The
prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
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 ...
taught in that iniquity is inconsistent with the Sabbath. In , the prophet taught that if people turn away from pursuing or speaking of business on the Sabbath and call the Sabbath a delight, then God will make them ride upon the high places of the earth and will feed them with the heritage of Jacob. And in , the prophet taught that in times to come, from one Sabbath to another, all people will come to worship God.
The prophet
Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
taught in that the fate of
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
depended on whether the people abstained from work on the Sabbath, refraining from carrying burdens outside their houses and through the city gates.
The prophet
Ezekiel
Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible.
In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is acknow ...
told in how God gave the Israelites God’s Sabbaths, to be a sign between God and them, but the Israelites rebelled against God by profaning the Sabbaths, provoking God to pour out God’s fury upon them, but God stayed God’s hand.
![Second Book of Chronicles Chapter 6-2 (Bible Illustrations by Sweet Media)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Second_Book_of_Chronicles_Chapter_6-2_%28Bible_Illustrations_by_Sweet_Media%29.jpg)
In ,
Nehemiah
Nehemiah is the central figure of the Book of Nehemiah, which describes his work in rebuilding Jerusalem during the Second Temple period. He was governor of Persian Judea under Artaxerxes I of Persia (465–424 BC). The name is pronounced ...
told how he saw some treading winepresses on the Sabbath, and others bringing all manner of burdens into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, so when it began to be dark before the Sabbath, he commanded that the city gates be shut and not opened till after the Sabbath and directed the Levites to keep the gates to sanctify the Sabbath.
Exodus chapter 38
2 Chronicles
The Book of Chronicles ( he, דִּבְרֵי־הַיָּמִים ) is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Chronicles) in the Christian Old Testament. Chronicles is the final book of the Hebrew Bible, concluding the third sect ...
reports that the bronze altar, which reports Bezalel made, still stood before the Tabernacle in
Solomon
Solomon (; , ),, ; ar, سُلَيْمَان, ', , ; el, Σολομών, ; la, Salomon also called Jedidiah (Hebrew language, Hebrew: , Modern Hebrew, Modern: , Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: ''Yăḏīḏăyāh'', "beloved of Yahweh, Yah"), ...
's time, and Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings on it.
reports that Bezalel made the bronze laver and its base from "the mirrors of the serving women who did service at the door of the tent of meeting."
1 Samuel
The Book of Samuel (, ''Sefer Shmuel'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Samuel) in the Old Testament. The book is part of the narrative history of Ancient Israel called the Deuteronomistic history, a series of books (Josh ...
reports that
Eli's sons "lay with the women who did service at the door of the tent of meeting."
In early nonrabbinic interpretation
The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these early nonrabbinic sources:
Exodus chapter 35
1 Maccabees
The First Book of Maccabees, also known as First Maccabees (written in shorthand as 1 Maccabees or 1 Macc.), is a book written in Hebrew by an anonymousRappaport, U., ''47. 1 Maccabees'' in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001)The Oxford Bible Comme ...
tells a story related to the Sabbath. 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.
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 d ...
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
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The Tor ...
, the sister of Moses, and Oholiab, file son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan.
Classical rabbinic interpretation
![Book of Exodus Chapter 21-2 (Bible Illustrations by Sweet Media)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Book_of_Exodus_Chapter_21-2_%28Bible_Illustrations_by_Sweet_Media%29.jpg)
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 cente ...
:
Exodus chapter 35
The
Seder Olam Rabbah
''Seder Olam Rabbah'' ( he, סדר עולם רבה, "The Great Order of the World") is a 2nd-century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia. It adds no storie ...
taught that Moses descended from
Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai ( he , הר סיני ''Har Sinai''; Aramaic: ܛܘܪܐ ܕܣܝܢܝ ''Ṭūrāʾ Dsyny''), traditionally known as Jabal Musa ( ar, جَبَل مُوسَىٰ, translation: Mount Moses), is a mountain on the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. It is ...
on the 10th of
Tishrei
Tishrei () or Tishri (; he, ''tīšrē'' or ''tīšrī''; from Akkadian ''tašrītu'' "beginning", from ''šurrû'' "to begin") is the first month of the civil year (which starts on 1 Tishrei) and the seventh month of the ecclesiastical year ...
–
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur (; he, יוֹם כִּפּוּר, , , ) is the holiest day in Judaism and Samaritanism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, the first month of the Hebrew calendar. Primarily centered on atonement and repentance, the day's ...
– 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.
The
Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael taught that sets forth laws of Sabbath observance here because in God directed, "And let them make Me a sanctuary," and one might have understood that they could build the sanctuary both on weekdays and the Sabbath. The Mekhilta taught that God's direction in to "make Me a sanctuary" applied on all days other than the Sabbath. The Mekhilta posited that one might argue that since the
Temple
A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...
service occurs even on the Sabbath, then perhaps the preparation for the service, without which the priests could not perform the service, could occur even on the Sabbath. One might conclude that if the horn of the altar broke off or a knife became defective, one might repair them on the Sabbath. teaches, however, that even such work must be done only on weekdays, and not on the Sabbath.
Rabbi
Judah haNasi
Judah ha-Nasi ( he, יְהוּדָה הַנָּשִׂיא, ''Yəhūḏā hanNāsīʾ''; Yehudah HaNasi or Judah the Prince) or Judah I, was a second-century rabbi (a tanna of the fifth generation) and chief redactor and editor of the ''Mis ...
taught that the words "These are the words" in referred to the 39 labors that God taught Moses at Mount Sinai. Similarly, Rabbi
Hanina bar Hama
Hanina bar Hama (died c. 250) ( he, חנינא בר חמא) was a Jewish Talmudist, halakhist and aggadist frequently quoted in the Babylonian and the Jerusalem Talmud, and in the Midrashim.
He is generally cited by the name R. Hanina, but somet ...
said that the labors forbidden on the Sabbath in correspond to the 39 labors necessary to construct the Tabernacle.
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
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 laws of the Sabbath in an
29 (20:8–11 in the NJPS); and (5:12 in the NJPS).
The Mishnah taught that every act that violates the law of the Sabbath also violates the law of a festival, except that one may prepare food on a festival but not on the Sabbath.
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
Alphabet of Rabbi Akiva ( he, אלפא-ביתא דרבי עקיבא, ''Alpha-Beta de-Rabbi Akiva''), otherwise known as Letters of Rabbi Akiva ( he, אותיות דרבי עקיבא, ''Otiot de-Rabbi Akiva'') or simply Alphabet or Letters, is a mi ...
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 par ...
. 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.
Reading the words "everyone who profanes
he Sabbathshall surely be put to death" in (in which the verb for death is doubled),
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 bibl ...
deduced that the Torah decreed many deaths for desecrating the Sabbath. 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 ...
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.
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 "ou ...
read the words "You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day" in to teach that only on the Sabbath is kindling fire prohibited, and one may kindle fire on a
Festival day, including for purposes other than food preparation.
Rav Huna
Rav Huna (Hebrew: רב הונא) was a Jewish Talmud, Talmudist and Exilarch who lived in Babylonia, known as an Amoraim, amora of the second generation and head of the Talmudic Academies in Babylonia, Academy of Sura; he was born about 216 (212 ...
and
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), ...
reconciled the prohibition of kindling fire on the Sabbath in with the priests' sacrificial duties. The Mishnah taught that the priests could lower the
Passover sacrifice
The Passover sacrifice ( he, קרבן פסח, translit=Qorban Pesaḥ), also known as the Paschal lamb or the Passover lamb, is the sacrifice that the Torah mandates the Israelites to ritually slaughter on the evening of Passover, and eat on the ...
into the oven just before nightfall (and leave it to roast on the Sabbath), and the priests could light the fire with chips in the pile in the Temple chamber of the hearth (just before nightfall). Interpreting this Mishnah, Rav Huna cited the prohibition of "You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations." Rav Huna argued that since says only "throughout your habitations," the priests could kindle the pile in the Temple chamber of the hearth (even on the Sabbath). Rav Chisda demurred from Rav Huna's argument, as it would allow kindling even on the Sabbath. Rather, Rav Chisda taught that permits only the burning of the limbs and the fat (of animals sacrificed on Friday before nightfall). Rav Chisda explained that this burning was allowed because the priests were very particular (in their observance of the Sabbath and would not stoke the fire after nightfall).
The Gemara told that
Rav Joseph's wife used to kindle the Sabbath lights late (just before nightfall). Rav Joseph told her that it was taught in a Baraita that the words of "the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, departed not," teach that the pillar of cloud overlapped the pillar of fire, and the pillar of fire overlapped the pillar of cloud. So she thought of lighting the Sabbath lights very early. But an elder told her that one may kindle when one chooses, provided that one does not light too early (as it would not evidently honor the Sabbath) or too late (later than just before nightfall).
A Baraita taught that a disciple in the name of
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 ...
noted that the words "in all your dwellings" (, ''b'chol moshvoteichem'') appear both in the phrase, "You shall kindle no fire throughout your habitations upon the Sabbath day," in and in the phrase, "these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings," in The Baraita reasoned from this similar usage that just as the law prohibits kindling fire at home, so the law also prohibits kindling fire in the furtherance of criminal justice. And thus, since some executions require kindling a fire, the Baraita taught that the law prohibits executions on the Sabbath.
Rabbi Hama bar Hanina interpreted the words "the plaited (, ''serad'') garments for ministering in the holy place" in to teach that but for the priestly garments described in (and the atonement achieved by the garments or the priests who wore them), no remnant (, ''sarid'') of the Jews would have survived.
![Foster Bible Pictures 0072-1 Things that Were Made To Go into the Tabernacle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Foster_Bible_Pictures_0072-1_Things_that_Were_Made_To_Go_into_the_Tabernacle.jpg)
Rabbi Levi read regarding "the middle bar in the midst of the boards, which shall pass through from end to end," calculated that the beam must have been 32 cubits in length, and asked where the Israelites would find such a beam in the desert. Rabbi Levi deduced that the Israelites had stored up the cedar to construct the Tabernacle since the days of
Jacob
Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. J ...
. Thus reports, "And every man, with whom ''was found'' acacia-wood," not "with whom ''would be found'' acacia-wood." Rabbi Levi taught that the Israelites cut the trees down in
Magdala
Magdala (Aramaic: מגדלא, ''Magdala'', meaning "tower"; Hebrew: , ''Migdal''; ar, المجدل, ''al-Majdal'') was an ancient Jewish city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, north of Tiberias. In the Babylonian Talmud it is known as Magda ...
of the Dyers near
Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...
and brought them with them to
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, and no knot or crack was found in them.
The Rabbis taught in a Baraita that the Tabernacle's lower curtains were made of blue wool, purple wool, crimson wool, and fine linen, while the upper curtains that made the tent spread were made of goats' hair. And they taught that the upper curtains required greater skill than the lower, for says of the lower ones, "And all the women that were wise-hearted did spin with their hands," while says of the upper ones, "And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun the goats." It was taught in Rabbi Nehemiah's name that the hair was washed on the goats and spun while still on the goats.
Rabbi Isaac deduced from that we must not appoint a leader over a community without first consulting the community. In Moses said to the Israelites: "See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri." Rabbi Isaac read to indicate that God asked Moses whether Moses considered Bezalel suitable. Moses replied that if God thought Bezalel suitable, then surely Moses would have to, as well. God told Moses nonetheless to go and consult the Israelites. Moses asked the Israelites whether they considered Bezalel suitable. And they replied that if God and Moses considered him suitable, surely they had to, as well.
Rabbi Johanan Yohanan, Yochanan and Johanan are various transliterations to the Latin alphabet of the Hebrew male given name ('), a shortened form of ('), meaning "YHWH is gracious".
The name is ancient, recorded as the name of Johanan, high priest of the Se ...
taught that God proclaims three things for God's Self: famine, plenty, and a good leader.
2 Kings
The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...
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
Samuel bar Nahmani said in the name of Rabbi Johanan that Bezalel (, whose name can be read , ''betzel El'', "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 (, ''betzel El'') and had thus come to know this.
Rabbi Tanhuma taught in the name of Rav Huna 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 Tanhuma 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.
A
Midrash
''Midrash'' (;["midrash"]
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. he, מִדְרָשׁ; ...
interpreted in light of
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 good name is better than precious oil." The Midrash taught that name of Bezalel was better than precious oil, as proclaims his fame when it says, "See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel." (God proclaimed the name of Bezalel as the Divine architect, while Moses proclaimed the priest as such by anointing with oil.)
Reading the words, "see, the Lord has called by name Bezalel," in a Midrash explained that Israel sinned with fire in making the
Golden Calf
According to the Bible, the golden calf (עֵגֶל הַזָּהָב '' ‘ēgel hazzāhāv'') was an idol (a cult image) made by the Israelites when Moses went up to Mount Sinai. In Hebrew, the incident is known as ''ḥēṭə’ hā‘ēgel'' ...
, 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."
identifies Bezalel's grandfather as Hur, whom either
Rav
''Rav'' (or ''Rab,'' Modern Hebrew: ) is the Hebrew generic term for a person who teaches Torah; a Jewish spiritual guide; or a rabbi. For example, Pirkei Avot (1:6) states that:
The term ''rav'' is also Hebrew for ''rabbi''. (For a more nuan ...
or Samuel deduced was the son of Miriam and
Caleb
Caleb (), sometimes transliterated as Kaleb ( he, כָּלֵב, ''Kalev'', ; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev), is a figure who appears in the Hebrew Bible as a representative of the Tribe of Judah during the Israelites' ...
. A Midrash explained that mentions Hur because when the Israelites were about to serve the Golden Calf, Hur risked his life on God's behalf to prevent them from doing so, and they killed him. Whereupon God assured Hur that God would repay him for his sacrifice. The Midrash likened it to the case of a king whose legions rebelled against him, and his field marshal fought against the rebels, questioning how they could dare rebel against the king. In the end, the rebels killed the field marshal. The king reasoned that if the field marshal had given the king money, the king would have had to repay him. So even more so the king had an obligation to repay the field marshal when he gave his life on the king's behalf. The king rewarded the field marshal by ordaining that all his male offspring would become generals and officers. Similarly, when Israel made the Golden Calf, Hur gave his life for the glory of God. Thus God assured Hur that God would give all Hur's descendants a great name in the world. And thus says, "see, the Lord has called by name Bezalel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur."
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."
Exodus chapter 36
Doing the math implied by and the Gemara deduced that in earlier generations, a boy of eight could father children. reports that "Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord had commanded Moses," when they built the Tabernacle. And reports that Caleb fathered the Hur who fathered Uri who fathered Bezalel. reports that "wise men . . . wrought all the work of the Sanctuary," so Bezalel must have been at least 13 years old to have been a man when he worked on the Tabernacle. A Baraita taught that Moses made the Tabernacle in the first year after the Exodus, and in the second, he erected it and sent out the spies, so the Gemara deduced that Bezalel must have been at least 14 years old when Moses sent out the spies, the year after Bezalel worked on the Tabernacle. And reports that Caleb said that he was 40 years old when Moses sent him to spy out the land. Thus, the Gemara deduced that Caleb was only 26 years older than his great-grandson Bezalel. Deducting two years for the three pregnancies needed to create the three intervening generations, the Gemara concluded that each of Caleb, Hur, and Uri must have conceived his son at the age of eight.
Exodus chapter 37
A Midrash taught that the righteous learn from God's example in creating the world that in beginning any work they should start with light. Thus when God told Moses to build the Tabernacle, Bezalel pondered with what thing he should begin. He concluded that he had better start with the Ark (in which the Israelites would deposit the Torah, the light of the world). And thus commences the report of the construction of the Tabernacle's furnishings, "And Bezalel made the Ark."
Similarly, a Midrash taught that when God told Moses to make the Tabernacle, he came to Bezalel and conveyed the command, and Bezalel asked what the purpose of the Tabernacle was. Moses replied that it was so that God might make God's
Shechinah
Shekhinah, also spelled Shechinah ( Hebrew: שְׁכִינָה ''Šəḵīnā'', Tiberian: ''Šăḵīnā'') is the English transliteration of a Hebrew word meaning "dwelling" or "settling" and denotes the presence of God, as it were, in a plac ...
to dwell there and teach the Torah to Israel. Bezalel then asked where the Israelites would keep the Torah. Moses replied that when they had made the Tabernacle, they would then make the Ark. Then Bezalel said that since it would not be fitting for the Torah to be without a home, they should first make the Ark and then the Tabernacle. On that account, associates Bezalel's name with the Ark, saying, "And Bezalel made the Ark."
Reading the words, "Bezalel made the Ark of acacia-wood," in a Midrash taught that God heals with the very thing with which God wounds. Thus, Israel sinned in
Shittim (so called because of its many acacia trees), as says, "And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit harlotry with the daughters of Moab" (and also worshipped the
Baal of Peor). But it was also through Shittim wood, or acacia-wood, that God healed the Israelites, for as reports, "Bezalel made the Ark of acacia-wood."
A Baraita taught that
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 ...
hid away the Ark referred to in the anointing oil 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 follow ...
referred to in Aaron's rod with its
almond
The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...
s and blossoms referred to in and the coffer that the
Philistines
The Philistines ( he, פְּלִשְׁתִּים, Pəlīštīm; Koine Greek (LXX): Φυλιστιείμ, romanized: ''Phulistieím'') were an ancient people who lived on the south coast of Canaan from the 12th century BC until 604 BC, when ...
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
Levite
Levites (or Levi) (, he, ''Lǝvīyyīm'') are Jewish males who claim patrilineal descent from the Tribe of Levi. The Tribe of Levi descended from Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The surname ''Halevi'', which consists of the Hebrew defi ...
s who taught all Israel, that were holy to the Lord, ‘Put the Holy Ark into the house that Solomon the son of
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
, 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.
Exodus chapter 38
A Midrash explained the mirrors of the women who "performed tasks" (, ''ha-tzovot'') at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting in The Midrash told that when the Israelites were suffering hard labor in Egypt, Pharaoh decreed that they should not sleep at home or have sexual relations with their wives. Rabbi Shimon ben Halafta told that the Israelite women would go down to draw water from the river, whereupon God caused them to draw up small fish in their pitchers. The Israelite women would sell some of the fish, cook some of them, buy wine with the proceeds, and go out to the work fields to feed their husbands. After they had eaten, the Israelite women took their mirrors and looked into them together with their husbands. The wives would say that they were better looking than the husbands. The husbands would say that they were better looking. And in this way, they aroused their sexual desire and became fruitful and multiplied, as reports, "And the children of Israel were fruitful and swarmed and multiplied and became exceedingly mighty." It was through the use of these mirrors that the Israelites were able to continue to have children even under the demands of harsh labor. When God told Moses to make the Tabernacle, all of the men came to contribute. Some brought silver, some brought gold or brass, onyx, and other gems to be set. They readily brought everything. The women brought the mirrors and presented them to Moses. When Moses saw the mirrors, he was furious with the women, saying that whoever brought the mirrors should be punished, asking what possible use they could have in the Tabernacle. God told Moses not to look down on them, for it was those mirrors that raised up all of the hosts of children born in Egypt. God thus directed Moses to take them and make from them the washbasin and its base for the priests.
In medieval Jewish interpretation
The parashah is discussed in these
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...
Jewish sources:
Exodus chapter 35
In the
Zohar
The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...
, Rabbi Jose expounded on "And let every wise-hearted man among you come and make all that the Lord has commanded." Rabbi Jose taught that when God told Moses in "Get you wise men and men of discernment," Moses searched all of Israel but did not find men of discernment, and so in Moses said, "So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and full of knowledge," without mentioning men of discernment. Rabbi Jose deduced that the man of discernment (''navan'') is of a higher degree than the wise man (''hacham''), for even a pupil who gives new ideas to a teacher is called "wise." A wise man knows for himself as much as is required, but the man of discernment apprehends the whole, knowing both his own point of view and that of others. uses the term "wise-hearted" because the heart was seen to be the seat of wisdom. Rabbi Jose taught that the man of discernment apprehends the lower world and the upper world, his own being and the being of others.
In modern interpretation
The parashah is discussed in these modern sources:
Exodus chapters 35–39
![Cassuto](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Cassuto.jpg)
Noting that repeats material from the 19th century
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
n-
Argentine
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...
explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
Julius Popper
Julius Popper (December 15, 1857 – June 5, 1893), also known in Spanish language, Spanish as Julio Popper (), was a Wallachia, Wallachian-born Romanian-Argentine engineer, adventurer, and explorer. Popper was one of the perpetrators of the Sel ...
argued that was a later addition, and the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
Abraham Kuenen
Abraham Kuenen (16 September 1828 – 10 December 1891) was a Dutch Protestant theologian.
Kuenen was born in Haarlem, the son of an apothecary. On his father's death it became necessary for him to leave school and take a humble place in the busi ...
and the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
biblical scholar
Biblical studies is the academic application of a set of diverse disciplines to the study of the Bible (the Old Testament and New Testament).''Introduction to Biblical Studies, Second Edition'' by Steve Moyise (Oct 27, 2004) pages 11–12 Fo ...
Julius Wellhausen
Julius Wellhausen (17 May 1844 – 7 January 1918) was a German biblical scholar and orientalist. In the course of his career, he moved from Old Testament research through Islamic studies to New Testament scholarship. Wellhausen contributed to t ...
agreed. But the mid-20th-century
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
-
Israeli
Israeli may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel
* Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel
* Modern Hebrew, a language
* ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008
* Guni Israeli ...
scholar
Umberto Cassuto
Umberto Cassuto, also known as Moshe David Cassuto (16 September 1883 – 19 December 1951), was an Italian historian, a rabbi, and a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Ugaritic texts, Ugaritic literature, in the University of Florence, then at the ...
, formerly of the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
, argued that this conjecture was ignorant of ancient Eastern literary style. Cassuto noted that the theme of the founding and building of a shrine was a set literary type in early Eastern writings, and such passages often first recorded the divine utterance describing the plan for the sanctuary and then gave an account of the construction that repeated the description given in the divine communication. Cassuto cited the
Ugaritic
Ugaritic () is an extinct Northwest Semitic language, classified by some as a dialect of the Amorite language and so the only known Amorite dialect preserved in writing. It is known through the Ugaritic texts discovered by French archaeologis ...
epic of King Keret, which tells that in a dream, the king received from the god
El instructions for the offering of sacrifices, the mustering of an army, the organizing of a military campaign to the land of King Pabel, and the request that Pabel's daughter or granddaughter be given him as a wife. After the instructions, the epic repeats the instructions, varying only the verb forms to the past tense, adding or deleting a conjunction, substituting a synonym, or varying the sequence of words – exactly as does. Cassuto concluded that was thus not a later addition, but required where it is by the literary style. Professor
James Kugel
James L. Kugel (Hebrew: Yaakov Kaduri, יעקב כדורי; born August 22, 1945) is Professor Emeritus in the Bible Department at Bar Ilan University in Israel and the Harry M. Starr Professor Emeritus of Classical and Modern Hebrew Literature at ...
of
Bar Ilan University
Bar-Ilan University (BIU, he, אוניברסיטת בר-אילן, ''Universitat Bar-Ilan'') is a public research university in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan, Israel. Established in 1955, Bar Ilan is Israel's second-largest academic i ...
wrote that the detailed account must have held a fascination for ancient Israelites who viewed the Tabernacle as highly significant, as the structure that allowed God to reside in the midst of humankind for the first time since the
Garden of Eden
In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...
. And the 20th century
Reform
Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill#The Yorkshire Associati ...
Rabbi
Gunther Plaut
Wolf Gunther Plaut, (November 1, 1912 – February 8, 2012) was an American Reform rabbi and writer who was based in Canada. Plaut was the rabbi of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto for several decades and since 1978 was its senior scholar.
L ...
cautioned not to approach with modern stylistic prejudices, arguing that a person of the ancient Near East – who was primarily a listener, not a reader – found repetition a welcome way of supporting familiarity with the text, giving assurance that the tradition had been faithfully transmitted.
Exodus chapter 35
Plaut noted that this important chapter in Israel's wilderness story – the order to construct the Tabernacle – begins in with the words "Moses then convoked" (, ''vayakheil Mosheh''), heralding the conclusion of the cycle of apostasy and reconciliation that started in with a word with the same spelling and root, "the people gathered themselves" (, ''vayikheil ha-am''). In the people assembled to rebel against God's desires in the incident of the Golden Calf, but in with an assembling (, ''vayakheil'') that God approved, God demonstrated God's forgiving grace.
[W. Gunther Plaut. ''The Torah: A Modern Commentary: Revised Edition''. Revised edition edited by David E.S. Stern, page 611.]
Plaut noted that the command to observe the Sabbath in preceded the account of the Tabernacle's construction just as it had been commanded at the end of the original instructions in so the Sabbath was the bridge that connected the building of the Tabernacle with its deeper purpose.
[ Professor ]Nahum Sarna
Nahum Mattathias Sarna (Hebrew: נחום סרנא; March 27, 1923 – June 23, 2005) was a modern biblical scholar who is best known for the study of Genesis and Exodus represented in his ''Understanding Genesis'' (1966) and in his contributions t ...
, formerly of Brandeis University
, mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = NECHE
, president = Ronald D. Liebowitz
, pro ...
, wrote that the injunction to observe the Sabbath in practically repeats verbatim, with an addition not to kindle fire on the Sabbath. The wording of this prohibition led the Rabbis of the Talmud to understand that fire may not be kindled on the Sabbath itself but may be lit before the Sabbath if not refueled on the Sabbath. The Karaites rejected this interpretation and spent the day without lights (although some later adherents did accept the Rabbinic practice). Sarna wrote that it was probably to demonstrate opposition to the early Karaite view that the Rabbis mandated lighting candles on Friday nights, and to that end, the Geonim
''Geonim'' ( he, גאונים; ; also transliterated Gaonim, singular Gaon) were the presidents of the two great Babylonian Talmudic Academies of Sura and Pumbedita, in the Abbasid Caliphate, and were the generally accepted spiritual leaders o ...
(the post-Talmudic heads of the Babylonian academies) instituted the recital of a blessing over them.
Plaut argued that includes the words "throughout your settlements" to make clear that the injunction not to kindle fire on the Sabbath applied not only to the primary prohibition during the building of the Tabernacle, but also in general. Thus reporting a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath, recorded a violation of
In 1950, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards
The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards is the central authority on halakha (Jewish law and tradition) within Conservative Judaism; it is one of the most active and widely known committees on the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly. With ...
of Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside North America, is a Jewish religious movement which regards the authority of ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions as coming primarily from its people and community through the generatio ...
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. . . . 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.”
Professor Carol Meyers
Carol Lyons Meyers (born 1942) is an American feminist biblical scholar. She is the Mary Grace Wilson Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at Duke University. Meyers' field of research is focused on biblical studies, archaeology in the Middle ...
of Duke University
Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...
noted that both women and men provided the materials to which and refer, as an
29
make clear, including fabrics made and donated by women craftspersons (as indicated in ).
Jeffrey Tigay, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, argued that the word , ''avodah'', in translated as "service" in the New Jewish Publication Society translation (as well as in
3
and ) is better rendered "labor" (referring to construction), as the materials contributed were for the construction of the Tabernacle, not for the worship that would be conducted there afterwards.
Exodus chapter 37
speaks of "a talent of pure gold." This table translates units of weight used in the Bible into their modern equivalents:
Commandments
According to Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
and Sefer ha-Chinuch
''Sefer ha-Chinuch'' ( he, ספר החינוך, "Book of Education") is a Jewish rabbinic text which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th-century Spain. History
The work's enumeration o ...
, there is one negative commandment in the parashah:
*The court must not inflict punishment on the Sabbath.
Liturgy
Following the Kabbalat Shabbat prayer service and prior to the Friday evening (''Ma'ariv
''Maariv'' or ''Maʿariv'' (, ), also known as ''Arvit'' (, ), is a Jewish prayer service held in the evening or night. It consists primarily of the evening ''Shema'' and ''Amidah''.
The service will often begin with two verses from Psalms ...
'') service, Jews traditionally read rabbinic sources on the observance of the Sabbath, starting wit
Mishnah Shabbat 2:5.Mishnah Shabbat 2:5
in turn, interprets the laws of kindling lights in
Haftarah
Parashah Vayakhel
When parashah Vayakhel is read alone, the haftarah
The ''haftara'' or (in Ashkenazic pronunciation) ''haftorah'' (alt. ''haftarah, haphtara'', he, הפטרה) "parting," "taking leave", (plural form: ''haftarot'' or ''haftoros'') is a series of selections from the books of ''Nevi'im'' ("Prop ...
is:
*for Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
:
*for Sephardi Jews
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...
:
Ashkenazi – 1 Kings 7:40–50
Both the parashah and the haftarah in report the leader's erection of the holy place, Moses' building of the Tabernacle in the parashah, and Solomon's building of 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 ...
in the haftarah. Both the parashah and the haftarah note particular metals for the holy space.
Sephardi – 1 Kings 7:13–26
Both the parashah and the haftarah note the skill (''chokhmah''), ability (''tevunah''), and knowledge (''da‘at''), of the artisan (Bezalel in the parashah, Hiram in the haftarah) in every craft (''kol mela'khah'').
Shabbat Shekalim
When Parashah Vayakhel coincides with the special Sabbath Shabbat Shekalim, (as it does in 2019), the haftarah is
Parashah Vayakhel–Pekudei
When parashah Vayakhel is combined with parashah Pekudei, the haftarah is:
*for Ashkenazi Jews:
*for Sephardi Jews:
Shabbat HaChodesh
When the parashah coincides with Shabbat HaChodesh ("Sabbath fthe month," the special Sabbath preceding the Hebrew month of Nissan
, trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...
– as it does in 2013 and 2017), the haftarah is:
*for Ashkenazi Jews:
*for Sephardi Jews:
On Shabbat HaChodesh, Jews read in which God commands that "This month issan
Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...
shall be the beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year," and in which God issued the commandments of Passover. Similarly, the haftarah in discusses Passover. In both the special reading and the haftarah, God instructs the Israelites to apply blood to doorposts.
Shabbat Parah
When the parashah coincides with Shabbat Parah (one of the special Sabbaths prior to Passover – as it does in 2018), the haftarah is:
*for Ashkenazi Jews:
*for Sephardi Jews:
On Shabbat Parah, the Sabbath of the red heifer, Jews read which describes the rites of purification using the red heifer (''parah adumah''). Similarly, the haftarah in Ezekiel 36 also describes purification. In both the special reading and the haftarah in Ezekiel 36, sprinkled water cleansed the Israelites.[ ]
Notes
Further reading
The parashah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:
Ancient
*The Ba‘lu Myth. Ugarit
)
, image =Ugarit Corbel.jpg
, image_size=300
, alt =
, caption = Entrance to the Royal Palace of Ugarit
, map_type = Near East#Syria
, map_alt =
, map_size = 300
, relief=yes
, location = Latakia Governorate, Syria
, region = F ...
, 2nd millennium BCE. In ''The Context of Scripture, Volume I: Canonical Compositions from the Biblical World'', pages 260–61. Edited by William W. Hallo
William Wolfgang Hallo (March 9, 1928 – March, 27, 2015[Ba'al
Baal (), or Baal,; phn, , baʿl; hbo, , baʿal, ). ( ''baʿal'') was a title and honorific meaning "owner", "lord" in the Northwest Semitic languages spoken in the Levant during antiquity. From its use among people, it came to be applied t ...](_blank)
).
Biblical
* (keeping the Sabbath); (universally observed Sabbath).
*Psalms
The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh, and a book of the Old Testament. The title is derived ...
(washing, altar); (sacrifices); (cherubim);
11
(Tabernacle, courts); (courts); (God's sanctuary); (court of the Tabernacle); (God's sanctuary); (incense); (God's sanctuary).
Early nonrabbinic
*Philo
Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo's deplo ...
''Allegorical Interpretation''
3:33:101
17:97–98. Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
, Egypt, early 1st century CE. Reprinted in, e.g., ''The Works of Philo: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition''. Translated by Charles Duke Yonge
Charles Duke Yonge (30 November 1812 – 30 November 1891) was an English historian, classicist and cricketer. He wrote numerous works of modern history, and translated several classical works. His younger brother was George Edward Yonge.
Biogra ...
, pages 61, 262. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1993. .
*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 d ...
, ''Antiquities of the Jews
''Antiquities of the Jews'' ( la, Antiquitates Iudaicae; el, Ἰουδαϊκὴ ἀρχαιολογία, ''Ioudaikē archaiologia'') is a 20-volume historiographical work, written in Greek, by historian Flavius Josephus in the 13th year of the re ...
'
3:6:1
Circa 93–94. Reprinted in, e.g., ''The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged, New Updated Edition''. Translated by William Whiston
William Whiston (9 December 166722 August 1752) was an English theologian, historian, natural philosopher, and mathematician, a leading figure in the popularisation of the ideas of Isaac Newton. He is now probably best known for helping to inst ...
, pages 85–95. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1987. .
Classical rabbinic
*Seder Olam Rabbah
''Seder Olam Rabbah'' ( he, סדר עולם רבה, "The Great Order of the World") is a 2nd-century CE Hebrew language chronology detailing the dates of biblical events from creation to Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia. It adds no storie ...
, chapter 6. 2nd century CE. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Seder Olam: The Rabbinic View of Biblical Chronology''. Translated and with commentary by Heinrich W. Guggenheimer, pages 73–78. Lanham, Maryland
Lanham is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Prince George's County, Maryland. As of the 2020 United States Census it had a population of 11,282. The New Carrollton station (the terminus of the Washington Metro's Orange Li ...
: Jason Aronson
Jason Aronson was an American publisher of books in the field of psychotherapy. Topics dealt with in these books include child therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, object relations therapy, play therapy, depression, eating disorders, persona ...
, 1998. .
*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 ...
: Shabbat 1:1–24:5
Beitzah 5:2
Megillah 1:5.
Land of Israel, circa 200 CE. Reprinted in, e.g., ''The Mishnah: A New Translation''. Translated by Jacob Neusner
Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books.
Life and career
Neusner was born in Hartfor ...
, pages 179–208, 298, 317. 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 ( ...
Shabbat 1:1–17:29. Land of Israel, circa 250 CE. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, volume 1, pages 357–427. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002. .
* Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael 82:1. Land of Israel, late 4th century. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Mekhilta According to Rabbi Ishmael''. Translated by Jacob Neusner
Jacob Neusner (July 28, 1932 – October 8, 2016) was an American academic scholar of Judaism. He was named as one of the most published authors in history, having written or edited more than 900 books.
Life and career
Neusner was born in Hartfor ...
, volume 2, pages 258–62. 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 ...
: Terumot 31b; Shabbat 1a–113b; Shekalim 2a, 48b; Beitzah 47a; Nazir 21a, 25b–26a; Sotah 16b; Sanhedrin 27b; Shevuot 1b. Tiberias
Tiberias ( ; he, טְבֶרְיָה, ; ar, طبريا, Ṭabariyyā) is an Israeli city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Fo ...
, Land of Israel, circa 400 CE. In, e.g., ''Talmud Yerushalmi''. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, volumes 7, 13–15, 20, 23, 34–36, 44, 46. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2010–2020. 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. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2009.
*Genesis Rabbah
Genesis Rabbah (Hebrew: , ''B'reshith Rabba'') is a religious text from Judaism's classical period, probably written between 300 and 500 CE with some later additions. It is a midrash comprising a collection of ancient rabbinical homiletical inter ...
94:4. Land of Israel, 5th century. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Genesis''. Translated by Harry Freedman
Harry Freedman (''Henryk Frydmann''), (April 5, 1922 – September 16, 2005) was a Canadian composer, English hornist, and music educator of Polish birth. He wrote a significant amount of symphonic works, including the scores to films such as '' T ...
and Maurice Simon, volume 2, page 871. London: Soncino Press, 1939. .
*Midrash Tanhuma
Midrash Tanhuma ( he, מִדְרָשׁ תַּנְחוּמָא) is the name given to three different collections of Pentateuch aggadot; two are extant, while the third is known only through citations. These midrashim, although bearing the name of ...
Vayakhel. 5th–10th centuries. Reprinted 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 339–89. Monsey, New York
Monsey (, yi, מאנסי, translit=Monsi) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Ramapo, Rockland County, New York, United States, located north of Airmont, east of Viola, south of New Hempstead, and west of Spring Valley. The ...
: 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 cente ...
Shabbat 20a
Eruvin 2b
Yoma 66b
72b
75a
Beitzah 4b
36b
Rosh Hashanah 34a
Megillah 7b.Chagigah 10a–b
Kiddushin 37a
Makkot 21b
Shevuot 26b
Zevachim 59b
Bekhorot 41a.
Babylonia, 6th century. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Talmud Bavli''. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 volumes. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Medieval
*Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
. ''Of the Tabernacle and Its Vessels, and of the Priestly Vestments''. Monkwearmouth
Monkwearmouth is an area of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in North East England. Monkwearmouth is located at the north side of the mouth of the River Wear. It was one of the three original settlements on the banks of the River Wear along with Bisho ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, 720s. Reprinted in ''Bede: On the Tabernacle''. Translated with notes and introduction by Arthur G. Holder. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1994. .
*Exodus Rabbah
Exodus Rabbah (Hebrew: שמות רבה, ''Shemot Rabbah'') is the midrash to Exodus.
Contents
Exodus Rabbah is almost purely aggadic in character.
It contains 52 sections. It consists of two sections with different styles, dubbed "Exodus Rabba ...
48:1–50:5. 10th century. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbah: Exodus''. Translated by S. M. Lehrman, volume 3, pages 546–61. London: Soncino Press, 1939. .
*Solomon ibn Gabirol
Solomon ibn Gabirol or Solomon ben Judah ( he, ר׳ שְׁלֹמֹה בֶּן יְהוּדָה אִבְּן גָּבִּירוֹל, Shlomo Ben Yehuda ibn Gabirol, ; ar, أبو أيوب سليمان بن يحيى بن جبيرول, ’Abū ’Ayy ...
. ''A Crown for the King''
9:105–06.
Spain, 11th century. Translated by David R. Slavitt, pages 14–15. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. .
*Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
. ''Commentary''
Exodus 35–38.
Troyes
Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...
, France, late 11th century. Reprinted 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 487–505. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994. .
*Rashbam
Samuel ben Meir (Troyes, c. 1085 – c. 1158), after his death known as "Rashbam", a Hebrew acronym for RAbbi SHmuel Ben Meir, was a leading French Tosafist and grandson of Shlomo Yitzhaki, "Rashi".
Biography
He was born in the vicinity of Troye ...
. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Troyes, early 12th century. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Rashbam's Commentary on Exodus: An Annotated Translation''. Edited and translated by Martin I. Lockshin, pages 425–29. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1997. .
* Abraham ibn Ezra. ''Commentary on the Torah''. France, 1153. Reprinted 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 730–46. New York: Menorah Publishing Company, 1996. .
*Maimonides
Musa ibn Maimon (1138–1204), commonly known as Maimonides (); la, Moses Maimonides and also referred to by the acronym Rambam ( he, רמב״ם), was a Sephardic Jewish philosopher who became one of the most prolific and influential Torah ...
. ''The Guide for the Perplexed
''The Guide for the Perplexed'' ( ar, دلالة الحائرين, Dalālat al-ḥā'irīn, ; he, מורה נבוכים, Moreh Nevukhim) is a work of Jewish theology by Maimonides. It seeks to reconcile Aristotelianism with Rabbinical Jewish the ...
''. Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
, Egypt, 1190. Reprinted in, e.g., Moses Maimonides. ''The Guide for the Perplexed''. Translated by Michael Friedländer
Michael Friedländer (29 April 1833 – 10 December 1910) was an Orientalist and principal of Jews' College, London. He is best known for his English translation of Maimonides' '' Guide to the Perplexed'', which was the most popular such transla ...
, pages 29–31, 393, 397. New York: Dover Publications, 1956. .
*Hezekiah ben Manoah Hezekiah ben Manoah, or Hezekiah bar Manoah, was a French rabbi and Bible commentator of the 13th century. He is generally known by the title of his commentary, Chizkuni ( he, חזקוני).
In memory of his father, who lost his right hand through ...
. ''Hizkuni''. France, circa 1240. Reprinted in, e.g., Chizkiyahu ben Manoach. ''Chizkuni: Torah Commentary''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 3, pages 645–50. Jerusalem: Ktav Publishers, 2013. .
*Nachmanides
Moses ben Nachman ( he, מֹשֶׁה בֶּן־נָחְמָן ''Mōše ben-Nāḥmān'', "Moses son of Nachman"; 1194–1270), commonly known as Nachmanides (; el, Ναχμανίδης ''Nakhmanídēs''), and also referred to by the acronym Ra ...
. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Jerusalem, circa 1270. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Ramban (Nachmanides): Commentary on the Torah.'' Translated by Charles B. Chavel, volume 2, pages 595–608. New York: Shilo Publishing House, 1973. .
*Zohar
The ''Zohar'' ( he, , ''Zōhar'', lit. "Splendor" or "Radiance") is a foundational work in the literature of Jewish mystical thought known as Kabbalah. It is a group of books including commentary on the mystical aspects of the Torah (the five ...
2:194b–220a. Spain, late 13th century.
*Bahya ben Asher
Bahya ben Asher ibn Halawa (, 1255–1340) was a rabbi and scholar of Judaism, best known as a commentator on the Hebrew Bible.
He is one of two scholars now referred to as Rabbeinu Behaye, the other being philosopher Bahya ibn Paquda.
Biogra ...
. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Spain, early 14th century. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Midrash Rabbeinu Bachya: Torah Commentary by Rabbi Bachya ben Asher''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 4, pages 1418–38. Jerusalem: Lambda Publishers, 2003. .
*Jacob ben Asher
Jacob ben Asher (c. 1269 - c. 1343), also known as Ba'al ha-Turim as well as Rabbi Yaakov ben Raash (Rabbeinu Asher), was an influential Medieval rabbinic authority. He is often referred to as the Ba'al ha-Turim ("Master of the Columns"), after ...
(Baal Ha-Turim). ''Commentary on the Torah''. Early 14th century. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Baal Haturim Chumash: Shemos/Exodus''. Translated by Eliyahu Touger; edited and annotated by Avie Gold, volume 2, pages 929–57. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 2000. .
*Isaac ben Moses Arama Isaac ben Moses Arama ( 1420 – 1494) was a Spanish rabbi and author. He was at first principal of a rabbinical academy at Zamora (probably his birthplace); then he received a call as rabbi and preacher from the community at Tarragona, and later ...
. ''Akedat Yizhak (The Binding of Isaac)''. Late 15th century. Reprinted in, e.g., Yitzchak Arama. ''Akeydat Yitzchak: Commentary of Rabbi Yitzchak Arama on the Torah''. Translated and condensed by Eliyahu Munk, volume 1, pages 519–35. New York, Lambda Publishers, 2001. .
Modern
*Isaac Abravanel
Isaac ben Judah Abarbanel ( he, יצחק בן יהודה אברבנאל; 1437–1508), commonly referred to as Abarbanel (), also spelled Abravanel, Avravanel, or Abrabanel, was a Portuguese Jewish statesman, philosopher, Bible commentator ...
. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Italy, between 1492–1509. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Abarbanel: Selected Commentaries on the Torah: Volume 2: Shemos/Exodus''. Translated and annotated by Israel Lazar, pages 404–20. Brooklyn: CreateSpace, 2015. .
*Abraham Saba Abraham Saba (1440–1508) was a preacher in Castile who became a pupil of Isaac de Leon. At the time of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain he took refuge in Portugal, where he met with further misfortune; for scarcely had he settled in Oporto w ...
. ''Ẓeror ha-Mor (Bundle of Myrrh)''. Fez
Fez most often refers to:
* Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire
* Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco
Fez or FEZ may also refer to:
Media
* ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...
, Morocco, circa 1500. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Tzror Hamor: Torah Commentary by Rabbi Avraham Sabba''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 3, pages 1221–28. Jerusalem, Lambda Publishers, 2008. .
*Obadiah ben Jacob Sforno
Ovadia ben Jacob Sforno (Obadja Sforno, Hebrew: עובדיה ספורנו) was an Italian rabbi, Biblical commentator, philosopher and physician. A member of the Sforno family, he was born in Cesena about 1475 and died in Bologna in 1550.
Bio ...
. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Venice, 1567. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Sforno: Commentary on the Torah''. Translation and explanatory notes by Raphael Pelcovitz, pages 474–85. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1997. .
*Moshe Alshich
Moshe Alshich he, משה אלשיך, also spelled Alshech, (1508–1593), known as the ''Alshich Hakadosh (the Holy)'', was a prominent rabbi, preacher, and Bible, biblical commentator in the latter part of the sixteenth century.
The Alshich wa ...
. ''Commentary on the Torah''. Safed
Safed (known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as Tzfat; Sephardi Hebrew, Sephardic Hebrew & Modern Hebrew: צְפַת ''Tsfat'', Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation, Ashkenazi Hebrew: ''Tzfas'', Biblical Hebrew: ''Ṣǝp̄aṯ''; ar, صفد, ''Ṣafad''), i ...
, circa 1593. Reprinted in, e.g., Moshe Alshich. ''Midrash of Rabbi Moshe Alshich on the Torah''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 2, pages 607–14. New York, Lambda Publishers, 2000. .
*Shlomo Ephraim Luntschitz Shlomo Ephraim ben Aaron Luntschitz (1550 – 21 April, 1619) was a rabbi and Torah commentator, best known for his Torah commentary ''Keli Yekar''.Although most write this as ''Keli Yakar'', "the second word should be ''Yekar''" (יְקָר), as t ...
. ''Kli Yakar''. Lublin
Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of t ...
, 1602. Reprinted in, e.g., ''Kli Yakar: Shemos''. Translated by Elihu Levine, volume 2, pages 345–71. Southfield, Michigan
Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618.
As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its ...
: Targum Press
Menucha Publishers is an Orthodox Jewish English-language publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally founded as a distributor for Targum Press, in 2011 after Targum's shutdown, Menucha established itself as an independent publish ...
/Feldheim Publishers, 2007. .
*Avraham Yehoshua Heschel. ''Commentaries on the Torah''. Cracow, Poland, mid 17th century. Compiled as ''Chanukat HaTorah''. Edited by Chanoch Henoch Erzohn. Piotrkow, Poland, 1900. Reprinted in Avraham Yehoshua Heschel. ''Chanukas HaTorah: Mystical Insights of Rav Avraham Yehoshua Heschel on Chumash''. Translated by Avraham Peretz Friedman, pages 199–202. Southfield, Michigan
Southfield is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, the city had a population of 76,618.
As a northern suburb of Detroit, Southfield shares part of its ...
: Targum Press
Menucha Publishers is an Orthodox Jewish English-language publishing company based in Brooklyn, New York. Originally founded as a distributor for Targum Press, in 2011 after Targum's shutdown, Menucha established itself as an independent publish ...
/Feldheim Publishers
Feldheim Publishers (or Feldheim) is an American Orthodox Jewish publisher of Torah books and literature. Its extensive catalog of titles includes books on Jewish law, Torah, Talmud, Jewish lifestyle, Shabbat and Jewish holidays, Jewish history, b ...
, 2004. .
*Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influent ...
. ''Leviathan
Leviathan (; he, לִוְיָתָן, ) is a sea serpent noted in theology and mythology. It is referenced in several books of the Hebrew Bible, including Psalms, the Book of Job, the Book of Isaiah, the Book of Amos, and, according to some ...
'', 3:34. England, 1651. Reprint edited by C. B. Macpherson
Crawford Brough Macpherson (1911–1987) was an influential Canadian political scientist who taught political theory at the University of Toronto.
Life
Macpherson was born on 18 November 1911 in Toronto, Ontario. After graduating from the Univ ...
, page 431. Harmondsworth, England: Penguin Classics, 1982. .
*Edward Taylor
Edward Taylor (1642 – June 29, 1729) was a colonial American poet, pastor and physician of English origin. His work remained unpublished for some 200 years but since then has established him as one of the foremost writers of his time. His po ...
. "18. Meditation. Heb. 13.10. Wee Have an Altar." In ''Preliminary Meditations: First Series''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Early 18th century. In Harold Bloom
Harold Bloom (July 11, 1930 – October 14, 2019) was an American literary critic and the Sterling Professor of Humanities at Yale University. In 2017, Bloom was described as "probably the most famous literary critic in the English-speaking wor ...
. ''American Religious Poems'', pages 21–22. New York: Library of America, 2006. .
*Chaim ibn Attar
Chaim ibn Attar or Ḥayyim ben Moshe ibn Attar ( ar, حاييم بن موشي بن عطار, he, חיים בן משה בן עטר; b. - 7 July 1743) also known as the Or ha-Ḥayyim after his popular commentary on the Torah, was a Talmudist ...
. ''Ohr ha-Chaim''. Venice, 1742. Reprinted in Chayim ben Attar. ''Or Hachayim: Commentary on the Torah''. Translated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 2, pages 894–909. Brooklyn: Lambda Publishers, 1999. .
*Yitzchak Magriso. ''Me'am Lo'ez
''Me'am Lo'ez'' ( he, מעם לועז), initiated by Rabbi Yaakov Culi in 1730, is a widely studied commentary on the Tanakh written in Judaeo-Spanish. It is perhaps the best known publication in that language.
History
''Me'Am Lo'ez'' marked on ...
''. Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...
, 1746. Reprinted in Yitzchak Magriso. ''The Torah Anthology: Me'am Lo'ez''. Translated by Aryeh Kaplan
Aryeh Moshe Eliyahu Kaplan ( he, אריה משה אליהו קפלן; October 23, 1934 – January 28, 1983) was an American Orthodox rabbi, author, and translator, best known for his Living Torah edition of the Torah. He became well known as ...
, volume 10, pages 175–248. Jerusalem: Moznaim Publishing, 1991. .
*Nachman of Breslov
Nachman of Breslov ( he, רַבִּי נַחְמָן מִבְּרֶסְלֶב ''Rabbī'' ''Naḥmān mīBreslev''), also known as Reb Nachman of Bratslav, Reb Nachman Breslover ( yi, רבי נחמן ברעסלאווער ''Rebe Nakhmen Breslover'' ...
. ''Teachings''. Bratslav
Bratslav ( uk, Брацлав; pl, Bracław; yi, בראָצלעוו, ''Brotslev'', today also pronounced Breslev or '' Breslov'' as the name of a Hasidic group, which originated from this town) is an urban-type settlement in Ukraine, located i ...
, Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
, before 1811. Reprinted in ''Rebbe Nachman's Torah: Breslov Insights into the Weekly Torah Reading: Exodus-Leviticus''. Compiled by Chaim Kramer; edited by Y. Hall, pages 282–91. Jerusalem: Breslov Research Institute Breslov Research Institute is a publisher of classic and contemporary Breslov texts in English. Established in 1979, BRI has produced the first English translation of all the works of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov (1772–1810) and selected works of Re ...
, 2011. .
*George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...
. ''Adam Bede
''Adam Bede'' was the first novel by Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), and was published in 1859. It was published pseudonymously, even though Evans was a well-published and highly respected scholar of her time. The novel has remained in print ev ...
'', chapter 1. Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons, 1859. Reprinted, e.g., edited by Carol A. Martin, page 9. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008. (Paraphrasing Adam says “Why, it says as God put his sperrit into the workman as built the tabernacle, to make him do all the carved work and things as wanted a nice hand. And this is my way o’ looking at it: there's the sperrit o’ God in all things and all times — weekday as well as Sunday — and i’ the great works and inventions, and i’ the figuring and the mechanics.”).
*Samson Raphael Hirsch
Samson Raphael Hirsch (; June 20, 1808 – December 31, 1888) was a German Orthodox rabbi best known as the intellectual founder of the ''Torah im Derech Eretz'' school of contemporary Orthodox Judaism. Occasionally termed ''neo-Orthodoxy'', his ...
. ''The Pentateuch: Exodus''. Translated by Isaac Levy, volume 2, pages 664–94. Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
: Judaica Press
Judaica Press is an Orthodox Jewish publishing house founded in New York City in 1963 by S. Goldman, and then taken over by his son Jack Goldman in response to the growing demand for books of scholarship in the English-speaking Jewish world. In ...
, 2nd edition 1999. . Originally published as ''Der Pentateuch uebersetzt und erklaert''. Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, 1867–1878.
*Samuel David Luzzatto
Samuel David Luzzatto ( he, שמואל דוד לוצאטו, ; 22 August 1800 – 30 September 1865), also known by the Hebrew acronym Shadal (), was an Italian Jewish scholar, poet, and a member of the Wissenschaft des Judentums movement.
Early ...
(Shadal). ''Commentary on the Torah.'' Padua
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
, 1871. Reprinted in, e.g., Samuel David Luzzatto. ''Torah Commentary''. Translated and annotated by Eliyahu Munk, volume 3, pages 894–95. New York: Lambda Publishers, 2012. .
*Samson Raphael Hirsch. ''The Jewish Sabbath''. Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
, before 1889. Translated by Ben Josephussoro. 1911. Reprinted Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is a city in Kentucky, United States that is the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, Fayette County. By population, it is the List of cities in Kentucky, second-largest city in Kentucky and List of United States cities by popul ...
: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014. .
*Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter
Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter ( he, יהודה אריה ליב אלתר, 15 April 1847 – 11 January 1905), also known by the title of his main work, the ''Sfas Emes'' (Ashkenazic Pronunciation) or ''Sefat Emet'' (Modern Hebrew), was a Hasidic rabbi ...
. ''Sefat Emet''. Góra Kalwaria
Góra Kalwaria (; "Calvary Mountain", yi, גער, ''Ger'') is a town on the Vistula River in the Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is situated approximately southeast of Warsaw and has a population of around 12,109 (as of 2019). ...
(Ger), Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, before 1906. Excerpted in ''The Language of Truth: The Torah Commentary of Sefat Emet''. Translated and interpreted by Arthur Green
Arthur Green ( he, אברהם יצחק גרין, born March 21, 1941) is an American scholar of Jewish mysticism and Neo-Hasidic theologian. He was a founding dean of the non-denominational rabbinical program at Hebrew College in Boston, where he ...
, pages 135–38. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1998. . Reprinted 2012. .
*Alexander Alan Steinbach. ''Sabbath Queen: Fifty-four Bible Talks to the Young Based on Each Portion of the Pentateuch'', pages 68–70. New York: Behrman's Jewish Book House, 1936.
*Benno Jacob
Benno Jacob (7 September 1862 – 24 January 1945) was a liberal rabbi and Bible scholar.
Biography
Jacob studied in the Rabbinical Seminary and University of his native Breslau (now Wrocław, Poland). He served as a rabbi between the years 18 ...
. ''The Second Book of the Bible: Exodus''. London, 1940. Translated by Walter Jacob, pages 1007–31. 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. Reprinted 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
Umberto Cassuto, also known as Moshe David Cassuto (16 September 1883 – 19 December 1951), was an Italian historian, a rabbi, and a scholar of the Hebrew Bible and Ugaritic texts, Ugaritic literature, in the University of Florence, then at the ...
. ''A Commentary on the Book of Exodus''. Jerusalem, 1951. Translated by Israel Abrahams, pages 452–68. 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. B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundations, 1958. Reprinted Kessinger Publishing, 2007. .
*Gerhard von Rad. "The Tent and the Ark." In ''The Problem of the Hexateuch and Other Essays'', pages 103–24. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1966. LCCN 66-11432.
*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 505–29. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1995. . Originally published as ''La Voix de la Thora''. Paris: Fondation Samuel et Odette Levy, 1981.
*Victor (Avigdor) Hurowitz
"The Priestly Account of Building the Tabernacle."
''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', volume 105 (number 1) (January–March 1985): pages 21–30.
*Pinchas Hacohen Peli, Pinchas H. Peli. ''Torah Today: A Renewed Encounter with Scripture'', pages 95–98. Washington, D.C.: B'nai B'rith Books, 1987. .
*Craig R. Koester. ''Dwelling of God: The Tabernacle in the Old Testament, Intertestamental Jewish Literature, and the New Testament''. Washington: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 1989. .
*Harvey J. Fields. ''A Torah Commentary for Our Times: Volume II: Exodus and Leviticus'', pages 86–94. New York: UAHC Press, 1991. .
*Nahum M. Sarna. ''The JPS Torah Commentary: Exodus: The Traditional Hebrew Text with the New JPS Translation'', pages 222–31. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1991. .
*Nechama Leibowitz, Nehama Leibowitz. ''New Studies in Shemot (Exodus)'', volume 2, pages 644–88. Jerusalem: Haomanim Press, 1993. Reprinted as ''New Studies in the Weekly Parasha''. Lambda Publishers, 2010. .
*Walter Brueggemann. "The Book of Exodus." In ''Interpreter's Bible series, The New Interpreter's Bible''. Edited by Leander E. Keck, volume 1, pages 957–74. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1994. .
*Judith S. Antonelli. "Women's Wisdom." In ''In the Image of God: A Feminist Commentary on the Torah'', pages 221–30. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson
Jason Aronson was an American publisher of books in the field of psychotherapy. Topics dealt with in these books include child therapy, family therapy, couple therapy, object relations therapy, play therapy, depression, eating disorders, persona ...
, 1995. .
*Ellen Frankel. ''The Five Books of Miriam: A Woman’s Commentary on the Torah'', pages 142–45. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1996. .
*Gunther Plaut, W. Gunther Plaut. ''The Haftarah Commentary'', pages 217–21. New York: UAHC Press, 1996. .
*Robert Goodman. "Shabbat." In ''Teaching Jewish Holidays: History, Values, and Activities'', pages 1–19. Denver: A.R.E. Publishing, 1997. .
*Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden. ''Teaching Torah: A Treasury of Insights and Activities'', pages 148–54. Denver: A.R.E. Publishing, 1997.
*''Exodus to Deuteronomy: A Feminist Companion to the Bible (Second Series)''. Edited by Athalya Brenner, pages 34, 38–39. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 2000.
*Edward L. Greenstein
“Recovering ‘The Women Who Served at the Entrance.’”
In Gershon Galil and Moshe Weinfeld, editors. ''Studies in Historical Geography and Biblical Historiography: Presented to Zecharia Kallai'', pages 165–73. Leiden: Brill, 2000.
*Carol Meyers
Carol Lyons Meyers (born 1942) is an American feminist biblical scholar. She is the Mary Grace Wilson Professor Emerita of Religious Studies at Duke University. Meyers' field of research is focused on biblical studies, archaeology in the Middle ...
. “Women at the Entrance to the Tent of Meeting.” In ''Women in Scripture: A Dictionary of Named and Unnamed Women in the Hebrew Bible, the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books and New Testament''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
*Nancy H. Wiener. "Of Women and Mirrors." In ''The Women's Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions''. Edited by Elyse Goldstein, pages 172–78. Woodstock, Vermont: Jewish Lights Publishing, 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 461–98. New York: Doubleday, 2001. .
*Lainie Blum Cogan and Judy Weiss. ''Teaching Haftarah: Background, Insights, and Strategies'', pages 138–51. Denver: A.R.E. Publishing, 2002. .
*Michael Fishbane. ''The JPS Bible Commentary: Haftarot'', pages 135–46. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2002. .
*Alan Lew. ''This Is Real and You Are Completely Unprepared: The Days of Awe as a Journey of Transformation'', pages 53–55. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 2003. .
*Martha Lynn Wade. ''Consistency of Translation Techniques in the Tabernacle Accounts of Exodus in the Old Greek''. Society of Biblical Literature, 2003. .
*Robert Alter. ''The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary'', pages 514–25. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2004. .
*Jeffrey H. Tigay. "Exodus." In ''The Jewish Study Bible''. Edited by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, pages 191–97. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. .
*''Professors on the Parashah: Studies on the Weekly Torah Reading'' Edited by Leib Moscovitz, pages 150–54. 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 611–26. New York: Union for Reform Judaism, 2006. .
*William H.C. Propp. ''Exodus 19–40'', volume 2A, pages 624–722. New York: Anchor Bible Series, Anchor Bible, 2006. .
*Suzanne A. Brody. "Successful Campaign." In ''Dancing in the White Spaces: The Yearly Torah Cycle and More Poems'', page 84. Shelbyville, Kentucky: Wasteland Press, 2007.
*James Kugel, James L. Kugel. ''How To Read the Bible: A Guide to Scripture, Then and Now'', pages 289, 291, 486. 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)”).
*''The Torah: A Women's Commentary''. Edited by Tamara Cohn Eskenazi and Andrea Weiss (rabbi), Andrea L. Weiss, pages 521–44. New York: Union for Reform Judaism, URJ Press, 2008. .
*Thomas B. Dozeman. ''Commentary on Exodus'', pages 756–59. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2009. .
*Jill Hammer. "Listening to Heart-Wisdom: Parashat Vayakhel (Exodus 35:1–38:20)." In ''Torah Queeries: Weekly Commentaries on the Hebrew Bible''. Edited by Gregg Drinkwater, Joshua Lesser, and David Shneer; foreword by Judith Plaskow, pages 113–16. New York: New York University Press, 2009. .
*Reuven Hammer. ''Entering Torah: Prefaces to the Weekly Torah Portion'', pages 131–34. 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.).
*Bruce Wells. "Exodus." In ''Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary''. Edited by John H. Walton, volume 1, pages 264–65. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009. .
*Jonathan Sacks. ''Covenant & Conversation: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible: Exodus: The Book of Redemption'', pages 277–301. Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2010. .
*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 245. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2012. .
*Shmuel Herzfeld. "Inspirational Snapshots from Eretz Yisrael." In ''Fifty-Four Pick Up: Fifteen-Minute Inspirational Torah Lessons'', pages 128–34. 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 480–530. Jerusalem: Maggid Books, 2012. .
*Michael B. Hundley. ''Gods in Dwellings: Temples and Divine Presence in the Ancient Near East''. Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2013. .
*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.
*Amanda Terkel
"Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin GOP Senator, Fights for a Seven-Day Workweek."
''The Huffington Post''. (January 3, 2014, updated January 23, 2014). (A Congressional candidate said, "Right now in Wisconsin, you're not supposed to work seven days in a row, which is a little ridiculous because all sorts of people want to work seven days a week.").
*Ester Bloom
"The Crazy New App For Using Your iPhone on Shabbos."
''Jewniverse''. (October 1, 2014).
*Jonathan Sacks. ''Lessons in Leadership: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible'', pages 111–14. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2015.
"The Crazy New Invention for Using Electricity on Shabbat."
''Jewniverse''. (April 21, 2015).
*Raanan Eichler
"The Poles of the Ark: On the Ins and Outs of a Textual Contradiction."
''Journal of Biblical Literature'', volume 135, number 4 (Winter 2016): pages 733–4.
*Jonathan Sacks. ''Essays on Ethics: A Weekly Reading of the Jewish Bible'', pages 137–43. New Milford, Connecticut: Maggid Books, 2016.
*Shai Held. ''The Heart of Torah, Volume 1: Essays on the Weekly Torah Portion: Genesis and Exodus'', pages 213–20. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017.
*Steven Levy and Sarah Levy. ''The JPS Rashi Discussion Torah Commentary'', pages 68–70. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2017.
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