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Parsha Bamidbar Part 2
3:1 Now these are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the
day that the LORD spoke with Moses in mount Sinai. 2 And these are
the names of the sons of Aaron: Nadab the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar, and
Ithamar. 3 These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests that
were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest’s
office. 4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered
strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no
children; and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the
presence of Aaron their father. 5 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 6 ‘Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron
the priest, that they may minister unto him. 7 And they shall keep
his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tent of
meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. 8 And they shall keep
all the furniture of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of
Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. 9 And thou shalt give
the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given unto him from the
children of Israel. 10 And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons,
that they may keep their priesthood; and the common man that draws nigh shall
be put to death.’
The Leviim are the workers and maintainers of the
holy items first in the Mishkan and then from the time of Melech Shlomo onwards
the Mikdash until the destruction of the Second Temple.
11 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 12 ‘And
I, behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel instead
of every first-born that opens the womb among the children of Israel; and the
Levites shall be Mine;
It was originally designed for the Bechorim but
when some sinned with the Egel HaZahav and the Leviim did not participate in
the golden calf, they lost their status to the Leviim.
13 for all the first-born are Mine: on the day that I
smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I hallowed unto Me all the
first-born in Israel, both man and beast, Mine they shall be: I am the LORD.’
It is I who spared the Bechorim of Yisrael when I
passed-over the houses of the Bnei Yisrael in Mitzrayim. Therefore every Bechor
is MINE.
14 And the LORD spoke unto Moses in the wilderness of
Sinai, saying: 15 ‘Number the children of Levi by their fathers’
houses, by their families; every male from a month old and upward shalt thou
number them.’ 16 And Moses numbered them according to the word of the
LORD, as he was commanded.
First the Bnei Yisrael were numbered from the age
of 20 to 60 years for military service. The Leviim would be numbered from the
age of a viable child of 30 days upwards for learning, training and service in
the Mishkan/Mikdash.
17 And these were the sons of Levi by their names:
Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari.
These were the three sons of Levi and the
sections of the tribe.
18 And these are the names of the sons of Gershon by
their families: Libni and Shimei. 19 And the sons of Kohath by their
families: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. 20 And the sons of
Merari by their families: Mahli and Mushi. These are the families of the
Levites according to their fathers’ houses. 21 Of Gershon was the
family of the Libnites, and the family of the Shimeites; these are the families
of the Gershonites. 22 Those that were numbered of them, according to
the number of all the males, from a month old and upward, even those that were
numbered of them were seven thousand and five hundred. 23 The
families of the Gershonites were to pitch behind the tabernacle westward;
Next to the tribes of
Yosef and Benyamin.
24 the prince of the fathers’ house of the Gershonites
being Eliasaph the son of Lael, 25 and the charge of the sons of
Gershon in the tent of meeting the tabernacle, and the Tent, the covering
thereof, and the screen for the door of the tent of meeting, 26 and
the hangings of the court, and the screen for the door of the court—which is by
the tabernacle, and by the altar, roundabout—and the cords of it, even
whatsoever pertains to the service thereof.
The curtains were
coverings and protection from the elements but were heavy they had to be packed
and put into the wagons.
27 And of Kohath was the family of the Amramites, and
the family of the Izharites, and the family of the Hebronites, and the family
of the Uzzielites; these are the families of the
Kohathites: 28 according to the number of all the males, from a month
old and upward, eight thousand and six hundred, keepers of the charge of the
sanctuary. 29 The families of the sons of Kohath were to pitch on the
side of the tabernacle southward;
This is how Korach
became a neighbor of the rebellious members from Gad and Reuven.
30 the prince of the fathers’ house of the families of
the Kohathites being Elizaphan the son of Uzziel, 31 and their charge
the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of
the sanctuary wherewith the priests minister, and the screen, and all that
pertains to the service thereof; 32 Eleazar the son of Aaron the
priest being prince of the princes of the Levites, and having the oversight of
them that keep the charge of the sanctuary.
They were in charge of
the most holy articles in the Mishkan/Mikdash.
33 Of Merari was the family of the Mahlites, and the
family of the Mushites; these are the families of Merari. 34 And
those that were numbered of them, according to the number of all the males,
from a month old and upward, were six thousand and two
hundred; 35 the prince of the fathers’ house of the families of
Merari being Zuriel the son of Abihail; they were to pitch on the side of the
tabernacle northward; 36 the appointed charge of the sons of Merari
being the boards of the tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars
thereof, and the sockets thereof, and all the instruments thereof, and all that
pertains to the service thereof; 37 and the pillars of the court round
about, and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords. 38 And
those that were to pitch before the tabernacle eastward, before the tent of
meeting toward the sunrising, were Moses, and Aaron and his sons, keeping the
charge of the sanctuary, even the charge for the children of Israel; and the
common man that drew nigh was to be put to death.
They were next to Yehuda,
Zevulun and Yissachar. The Leviim of all sections were to keep the average
person from the holy items.
39 All that were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and
Aaron numbered at the commandment of the LORD, by their families, all the males
from a month old and upward, were twenty and two thousand.
A census was taken of
the Leviim.
40 And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Number all the
first-born males of the children of Israel from a month old and upward, and
take the number of their names. 41 And thou shalt take the Levites
for Me, even the LORD, instead of all the first-born among the children of
Israel; and the cattle of the Levites instead of all the firstlings among the
cattle of the children of Israel.’ 42 And Moses numbered, as the LORD
commanded him, all the first-born among the children of Israel. 43 And all
the first-born males according to the number of names, from a month old and
upward, of those that were numbered of them, were twenty and two thousand two
hundred and threescore and thirteen. 44 And the LORD spoke unto
Moses, saying: 45 ‘Take the Levites instead of all the first-born
among the children of Israel, and the cattle of the Levites instead of their
cattle; and the Levites shall be Mine, even the LORD’S. 46 And as for
the redemption of the two hundred and three score and thirteen of the
first-born of the children of Israel, that are over and above the number of the
Levites, 47 thou shalt take five shekels apiece by the poll; after
the shekel of the sanctuary shalt thou take them—the shekel is twenty
gerahs. 48 And thou shalt give the money wherewith they that remain
over of them are redeemed unto Aaron and to his sons.’
A lottery was formed and
the first-born picked a piece of paper or stick. If it was written on it Levi,
they were redeemed but if blank they had to pay 5 Shekels.
49 And Moses took the redemption-money from them that
were over and above them that were redeemed by the Levites; 50 from
the first-born of the children of Israel took he the money: a thousand three
hundred and threescore and five shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary. 51 And Moses gave the redemption-money unto Aaron and to
his sons, according to the word of the LORD, as the LORD commanded Moses. 4:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses
and unto Aaron, saying: 2 'Take the sum of the sons of Kohath from among the
sons of Levi, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
The Leviim were to serve from 30 to 50 years with the heavy moving
of holy items and then they would retire to either singing, guard duty or just
gardening at home.
3 from thirty years old and upward even until fifty years old, all
that enter upon the service, to do work in the tent of meeting. 4 This is the
service of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting, about the most holy
things:
The Gematria of Koach or strength is 28. A Levi at the age of 30
is strong for carrying the holy items on his shoulder and at 50 one’s strength
starts to wane not for an archer or leader of soldiers but for the carrying of
holy items.
5 when the camp sets forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and
they shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony
with it; 6 and shall put thereon a covering of giraffe skin, and shall spread over
it a cloth all of blue, and shall set the staves thereof.
Only Aaron and sons could be careful enough to remove the cloth
and fold it up from the Holy of Holies and the Leviim would take the staffs
thereof.
7 And upon the table of showbread they shall spread a cloth of
blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the pans, and the bowls, and the jars
wherewith to pour out; and the continual bread shall remain thereon.
In the desert the bread had to be moved delicately keeping the
same height and special talent was needed for this by only certain Leviim.
8 And they shall spread upon them a cloth of scarlet, and cover
the same with a covering of giraffe skin, and shall set the staves
thereof. 9 And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of
the light, and its lamps, and its tongs, and its snuffdishes, and all the oil
vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it. 10 And they shall put it and
all the vessels thereof within a covering of giraffe skin, and shall put it upon a bar.
They took all the vessels that they emptied out and put them into
the giraffe skin tying the four corners together in such a way that it went on
to the poll. Knowing the security required it appears to me that it would have
been either doubled tied above the polls or tied once under the poll and then
doubled tied on top but I have no memory of this from my Gemara learning nor
oral tradition. Think of this in modern terms you are told that your request to
visit your grandparents has been granted but in order to make life easier for
them, you are to take your face towel, bath towel, pillow, blanket and use your
sheet to make a sack tied up for putting into the car so that granny will not
have extra wash to do.
Even Rashi has no tradition:
Into a covering of Tachash skin: A type of [large] sack.
Tachash is giraffe skin.
11 And upon the
golden altar they shall spread a cloth of blue, and cover it with a covering
of giraffe skin, and shall
set the staves thereof. 12 And they shall take all the vessels of ministry,
wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, and put them in a cloth of blue, and
cover them with a covering of giraffe skin, and shall put them on a bar.
All the vessels
used in the Holy: That is, within the Mishkan [as opposed to the
courtyard], which is holy. These are the incense vessels with which they
ministered on the inner altar.
13 And they shall
take away the ashes from the altar, and spread a purple cloth thereon. 14 And
they shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about
it, the fire-pans, the flesh-hooks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the
vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of giraffe skin, and set the
staves thereof.
This appears to me
to be like a stretcher carried on the shoulders of the Leviim.
15 And when Aaron
and his sons have made an end of covering the holy furniture, and all the holy
vessels, as the camp is to set forward--after that, the sons of Kohath shall
come to bear them; but they shall not touch the holy things, lest they die.
These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tent of meeting. 16
And the charge of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest shall be the oil for the
light, and the sweet incense, and the continual meal-offering, and the
anointing oil: he shall have the charge of all the tabernacle, and of all that
therein is, whether it be the sanctuary, or the furniture thereof.'
An energetic deputy and
replacement for the Cohain HaGadol to oversee the holiest of items.
17 And the LORD spoke unto Moses
and unto Aaron, saying: 18 'Cut ye not off the tribe of the families of the
Kohath from among the Levites; 19 but thus do unto them, that they may live,
and not die, when they approach unto the most holy things: Aaron and his sons
shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service and to his burden; 20
but they shall not go in to see the holy things as they are being covered, lest
they die.'
Since they are dealing with the
most holy the chance of death is great. They might glance at the Shechina and their souls will
be attracted like a moth to a light and hence expire. Therefore the Cohanim are told and
I assume the Leviim of the dangers of dealing with the holiest items from the
Teva, Menorah, Shulchan with the bread on it, etc.
Parsha Naso
This is the longest
single Parsha in the Torah. We continue from last week with the duties of the
Leviim and that of the sons of Gershon and Merari. We also have Parsha of the
wife that brings upon herself suspicion, the Sotah. The jealous husband in our
case as some foundation to suspect his wife and not because he is messed up
psychologically and jealous of every man that moves upon the face of the earth.
This is followed by the Nazir. It is said that if one sees a Sotah trial, he
should refrain from wine and other strong drinks. The Parsha continues with the
blessing of the Cohanim and the gifts to the Mishkan of the princes of the
tribes.
4:21 And the LORD spoke unto Moses saying: 22 'Take
the sum of the sons of Gershon also, by their fathers' houses, by their
families; 23 from thirty years old and upward until
fifty years old shalt thou number them: all that enter in to wait upon the
service, to do service in the tent of meeting. 24 This
is the service of the families of the Gershonites, in serving and in bearing
burdens: 25 they shall bear the curtains of the
tabernacle, and the tent of meeting, its covering, and the covering of sealskin
giraffe that is above upon it, and the screen for the door of the
tent of meeting; 26 and the hangings of the court, and
the screen for the door of the gate of the court, which is by the tabernacle
and by the altar round about, and their cords, and all the instruments of their
service, and whatsoever there may be to do with them, therein shall they
serve. 27 At the commandment of Aaron and his sons
shall be all the service of the sons of the Gershonites, in all their burden,
and in all their service; and ye shall appoint unto them in charge all their
burden. 28 This is the service of the families of the
sons of the Gershonites in the tent of meeting; and their charge shall be under
the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.
Three brothers of Leviim
needed three Cohanim as supervisors. Aaron took charge here as not much damage
could be done to the cloth if folded correctly.
29 As for the sons of Merari, thou shalt
number them by their families, by their fathers' houses; 30 from
thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old shalt thou number them,
every one that enters upon the service, to do the work of the tent of
meeting. 31 And this is the charge of their burden,
according to all their service in the tent of meeting: the boards of the
tabernacle, and the bars thereof, and the pillars thereof, and the sockets
thereof; 32 and the pillars of the court round about,
and their sockets, and their pins, and their cords, even all their
appurtenance, and all that pertains to their service; and by name ye shall
appoint the instruments of the charge of their burden. 33 This
is the service of the families of the sons of Merari, according to all their
service, in the tent of meeting, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the
priest.'
The raising and lowering
of the boards and holding them together required the energy and use of cables
and pulleys so that they would not crash and be injured either the boards of
the Leviim. There for Ithamar a younger man had to be in charge.
34 And Moses and Aaron and the princes of
the congregation numbered the sons of the Kohathites by their families, and by
their fathers' houses, 35 from thirty years old and
upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for
service in the tent of meeting. 36 And those that were
numbered of them by their families were two thousand seven hundred and
fifty. 37 These are they that were numbered of the
families of the Kohathites, of all that did serve in the tent of meeting, whom
Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of the LORD by the hand
of Moses. 38 And those that were numbered of the sons of
Gershon, by their families, and by their fathers' houses, 39 from
thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered
upon the service, for service in the tent of meeting, 40 even
those that were numbered of them, by their families, by their fathers' houses,
were two thousand and six hundred and thirty. 41 These
are they that were numbered of the families of the sons of Gershon, of all that
did serve in the tent of meeting, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to
the commandment of the LORD. 42 And those that were
numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, by their families, by their
fathers' houses, 43 from thirty years old and upward
even unto fifty years old, every one that entered upon the service, for service
in the tent of meeting, 44 even those that were
numbered of them by their families, were three thousand and two hundred. 45 These are they that were numbered of the families of the
sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron numbered according to the commandment of
the LORD by the hand of Moses. 46 All those that were
numbered of the Levites, whom Moses and Aaron and the princes of Israel
numbered, by their families, and by their fathers' houses, 47 from
thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered
in to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens in the tent of
meeting, 48 even those that were numbered of them,
were eight thousand and five hundred and fourscore. 49
According to the commandment of the LORD they were appointed by the hand of
Moses, every one to his service, and to his burden; they were also numbered, as
the LORD commanded Moses.
One of the Rabbis asked why were the Leviim so much less in
numbers than the other tribes? The answer is back in Rashi in Chapter 2 of
Shemos. The Egyptians afflicted them and they multiplied. The Leviim were
always religious authorities and therefore HASHEM and Pharaoh exempted them
from affliction meaning that they increased naturally and not phenomenally.
5:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2
'Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and
every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is unclean by the dead; 3 both male
and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they
defile not their camp, in the midst whereof I dwell.' 4 And the children of
Israel did so, and put them out without the camp; as the LORD spoke unto Moses,
so did the children of Israel.
There should be no Tuma and
contamination in your camp. These people are sent to quarantine and not the
nation unto lockdown.
To banish from the
camp: At the time of their encampment, there were three camps: within the
hangings [of the courtyard of the Mishkan] was the camp of the Shechina. The
encampment of the Levites surrounding it-as described in the portion of
Bamidbar Sinai (1:50)-was the Levite Camp; from there until the edge of the
camp of the divisions, on all four sides, was the Israelite camp. Anyone
afflicted with tzara’ath was expelled from all [three] of them. One with a
discharge was allowed into the Israelite camp, but banned from the [other] two.
And one defiled by a dead body was permitted even into the Levite [camp], and
is banished only from the [camp] of the Shechina. Our Sages derived all this
from the verses [as appears] in Tractate Pesachim (67a, b).
5 And the LORD spoke unto
Moses, saying: 6 Speak unto the children of Israel: When a man or woman shall
commit any sin that men commit, to commit a trespass against the LORD, and that
soul be guilty; 7 then they shall confess their sin which they have done; and
he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, and add unto it the fifth part
thereof, and give it unto him in respect of whom he hath been guilty. 8 But if
the man have no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the
restitution for guilt which is made shall be the LORD'S, even the priest's;
besides the ram of the atonement, whereby atonement shall be made for him. 9
And every heave-offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel,
which they present unto the priest, shall be his. 10 And every man's hallowed
things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
What was the trespass? Entering
the sacred area and for a woman in the state of her menses or other Tuma.
Another possibility is eating untithed food.
11 and the LORD spoke unto
Moses, saying: 12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: If any
man's wife go aside, and act unfaithfully against him, 13 and a man lie with
her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, she being defiled
secretly, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken in the act;
The Torah is speaking of a
woman who suddenly changes her behavior or finds a long lost male cousin in the
near-by town that she must visit.
14 and the spirit of jealousy
come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; or if the
spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not
defiled;
This is not the case of
selfish, immature husbands who treat the wife as a possession and are willing
to kill her at each and every suspicion.
15 then shall the man bring his
wife unto the priest, and shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of
an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense
thereon; for it is a meal-offering of jealousy, a meal-offering of memorial,
bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 And the priest shall bring her near, and
set her before the LORD. 17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen
vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall
take, and put it into the water. 18 And the priest shall set the woman before
the LORD, and let the hair of the woman's head go loose, and put the
meal-offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal-offering of jealousy;
and the priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that causes the
curse. 19 And the priest shall cause her to swear, and shall say unto the
woman: 'If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to
uncleanness, being under thy husband, be thou free from this water of
bitterness that causes the curse; 20 but if thou hast gone aside, being under
thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee besides
thy husband-- 21 then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath
of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman--the LORD make thee a curse
and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to fall away,
and thy belly to swell; 22 and this water that causes the curse shall go into
thy bowels, and make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to fall away'; and the
woman shall say: 'Amen, Amen.' 23 And the priest shall write these curses in a
scroll, and he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness. 24 And he
shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and
the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 25 And
the priest shall take the meal-offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand,
and shall wave the meal-offering before the LORD, and bring it unto the altar.
26 And the priest shall take a handful of the meal-offering, as the
memorial-part thereof, and make it smoke upon the altar, and afterward shall
make the woman drink the water. 27 And when he hath made her drink the water,
then it shall come to pass, if she be defiled, and have acted unfaithfully
against her husband, that the water that causes the curse shall enter into her
and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away;
and the woman shall be a curse among her people. 28 And if the woman be not
defiled, but be clean; then she shall be cleared, and shall conceive seed. 29
This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes aside,
and is defiled;
I have brought down the story
of the Chida (Rabbi Chaim David Azulai, HaCohain) where he read this to a woman
who deigned adultery and as she left his house her body swelled and she died on
the spot.
There is another story that is
not related to a Sotah but a husband who converted to one of the Christian
Dominations. The Chatam Sofer (Rabbi Moshe Sofer) wrote him a summons to court
that would get his arrogant self to come. He was explained that since he left
Judaism why should he care if he gave his wife a Jewish Divorce. The arrogant
husband said, “I don’t believe in your nonsensical Torah so why should I?” The
Rabbi explained that she was his wife and he should set her free to marry
somebody else who continues her religion. The husband was stubborn. So Rabbi
Sofer had no choice but to explain to him that he should humor her that lived
with him and give her a Get. The husband again refused. The Rabbi warned that
there are two ways to free a woman either by a Get or the death of the husband.
The husband stormed out and the Chatam Sofer repeated over and over again while
he was in ear-shot. “By the death of the
husband”.
The man walked out of the Beit
Din and either had a massive cardiac attack or cerebral hemorrhage and died on
the spot.
NEVER EVER underestimate the
power of a Rabbi or Beit Din for when things are done for the sake of heaven,
heaven intervenes in everyday activities.
…6:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 Speak
unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When either man or woman shall
clearly utter a vow, the vow of a Nazirite, to consecrate himself unto the
LORD, 3 he shall abstain from wine and strong drink: he shall drink no vinegar
of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquor of
grapes, nor eat fresh grapes or dried.
The Rabbis state that when one
sees a woman who is lewd, he should either become a Nazir or at best refrain
from strong drink so that his head does not become light (lusty).
In the Gemara, we see that the
Sages first place vows Nedarim, Nazir and finally Sotah in Seder Nashim (women)
close to one
another.
4 All the days of his Naziriteship shall he eat nothing
that is made of the grape-vine, from the pressed grapes even to the
grapestone.
A minimum of a month.
5 All the days of his vow of Naziriteship there shall no
razor come upon his head; until the days be fulfilled, in which he consecrates
himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, he shall let the locks of the hair of
his head grow long. 6 All the days that he consecrates himself unto
the LORD he shall not come near to a dead body. 7 He shall not make
himself unclean for his father, or for his mother, for his brother, or for his
sister, when they die; because his consecration unto God is upon his
head. 8 All the days of his Naziriteship he is holy unto the
LORD. 9 And if any man die very suddenly beside him, and he defile
his consecrated head, then he shall shave his head in the day of his cleansing,
on the seventh day shall he shave it. 10 And on the eighth day he
shall bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door
of the tent of meeting. 11 And the priest shall prepare one for a
sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering, and make atonement for him,
for that he sinned by reason of the dead; and he shall hallow his head that
same day. 12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his
Naziriteship, and shall bring a he-lamb of the first year for a guilt-offering;
but the former days shall be void, because his consecration was
defiled. 13 And this is the law of the Nazirite, when the days of his
consecration are fulfilled: he shall bring it unto the door of the tent of
meeting; 14 and he shall present his offering unto the LORD, one
he-lamb of the first year without blemish for a burnt-offering, and one
ewe-lamb of the first year without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram
without blemish for peace-offerings, 15 and a basket of unleavened
bread, cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, and unleavened wafers spread with
oil, and their meal-offering, and their drink-offerings. 16 And the
priest shall bring them before the LORD, and shall offer his sin-offering, and
his burnt-offering. 17 And he shall offer the ram for a sacrifice of
peace-offerings unto the LORD, with the basket of unleavened bread; the priest
shall offer also the meal-offering thereof, and the drink-offering
thereof. 18 And the Nazirite shall shave his consecrated head at the
door of the tent of meeting, and shall take the hair of his consecrated head,
and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of
peace-offerings. 19 And the priest shall take the shoulder of the ram
when it is sodden, and one unleavened cake out of the basket, and one unleavened
wafer, and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazirite, after he hath shaven
his consecrated head. 20 And the priest shall wave them for a
wave-offering before the LORD; this is holy for the priest, together with the
breast of waving and the thigh of heaving; and after that the Nazirite may
drink wine. 21 This is the law of the Nazirite who vows, and of his
offering unto the LORD for his Naziriteship, beside that for which his means
suffice; according to his vow which he vows, so he must do after the law of his
Naziriteship.
He then has to bring an atonement Korban and shave his hair. Why all
this? Because he has played holier than though. The last known Nazir was David
HaCohain, the Chief Rabbi of Haifa and he was a permanent Nazir and acted holy
as he was a Cohain. Rabbi Shimon Ha Tzaddik never ate a Korban of a Nazir
except one simple shepherd. One day the Shepherd saw at the water hole how
handsome he was with his locks of hair. He said to himself, “Empty one, you
want to glorify your beauty and pursue women.” Immediately, he vowed Nazir so
that his hair will grow wild, he will refrain from drink. Seeing that the young
shepherd had done so to fight his Yetzer and for a holy purpose, Rabbi Shimon
at of his Korban.
22 And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying: 23 'Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying: On this wise
ye shall bless the children of Israel; ye shall say unto them:
This is the Priestly Blessing that is said daily in Israel and twice on
fast days. In the diaspora it is said only on Yomim Tovim.
24 The LORD bless thee, and keep thee; 25 The LORD make His face to shine
upon thee, and be gracious unto thee; 26 The LORD lift up His countenance upon
thee, and give thee peace.
After each sentence the people shout ‘Amen’. G-D explains why the daily
blessing:
27 So shall they put My name upon the children of Israel, and I will bless
them.'
Simply, they are MY people and I shall bless those who bless and seek ME.
7:1 And
it came to pass on the day that Moses had made an end of setting up the
tabernacle, and had anointed it and sanctified it, and all the furniture
thereof, and the altar and all the vessels thereof, and had anointed them and
sanctified them; 2 that the princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers'
houses, offered--these were the princes of the tribes, these are they that were
over them that were numbered. 3 And they brought their offering
before the LORD, six covered wagons, and twelve oxen: a wagon for every two of
the princes, and for each one an ox; and they presented them before the
tabernacle. 4 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:
These were the six wagons that carried Yacov to
Mitzrayim 211 years earlier. 210 of exile and one more year until the Mishkan
was dedicated.
5 'Take it of them, that they may be to do the service
of the tent of meeting; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man
according to his service.' 6 And Moses took the wagons and the oxen,
and gave them unto the Levites. 7 Two wagons and four oxen he gave
unto the sons of Gershon, according to their service. 8 And four
wagons and eight oxen he gave unto the sons of Merari, according unto their
service, under the hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But
unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the holy things
belonged unto them: they bore them upon their shoulders.
The holiest of items were carried by hand. The
Leviim carrying the Aron HaKodesh would switch with a Levi coming from behind
the one bearing and replacing him and it would go on after a number of minutes
of carrying. Same with the Shuchan (table) and other items.
10 And the princes brought the dedication-offering of
the altar in the day that it was anointed, even the princes brought their
offering before the altar. 11 And the LORD said unto Moses: 'They
shall present their offering each prince on his day, for the dedication of the
altar.' 12 And he that presented his offering the first day was
Nahshon the son of Aminadab, of the tribe of Judah; 13 and his
offering was one silver dish, the weight thereof was a hundred and thirty
shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, after the shekel of the
sanctuary; both of them full of fine flour mingled with oil for a
meal-offering; 14 one golden pan of ten shekels, full of
incense; 15 one young bullock, one ram, one he-lamb of the first
year, for a burnt-offering; 16 one male of the goats for a
sin-offering; 17 and for the sacrifice of peace-offerings, two oxen,
five rams, five he-goats, five he-lambs of the first year. This was the
offering of Nahshon the son of Aminadab.
Each Nassi (Prince) of the Tribe would bring the
same as the next one making for Naso to be the longest in the Torah with 186
Pasukim because one tribe was not lesser than the next.
18 On the second day Nethanel the son of Zuar, prince of
Issachar, did offer: … 24 On the third day Eliab the son of
Helon, prince of the children of Zebulun: … 30 On the fourth day
Elizur the son of Shedeur, prince of the children of Reuben: … 36 On
the fifth day Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai, prince of the children of
Simeon: … 42 On the sixth day
Eliasaph the son of Deuel, prince of the children of Gad: … 48 On the
seventh day Elishama the son of Ammihud, prince of the children of
Ephraim: … 54 On the eighth day Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur, prince
of the children of Manasseh: … 60 On the ninth day
Abidan the son of Gideoni, prince of the children of Benjamin: …
66 On the tenth day Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai, prince of the children
of Dan: … 72 On the eleventh day Pagiel the son of
Ochran, prince of the children of Asher: … 78 On the
twelfth day Ahira the son of Enan, prince of the children of Naphtali: … 84 This was the dedication-offering of the altar, in the day
when it was anointed, at the hands of the princes of Israel: twelve silver
dishes, twelve silver basins, twelve golden pans;
This is public bookkeeping for inspection of the nation
so nobody would claim fraud or the Cohanim pocketing something.
85 each silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty
shekels, and each basin seventy; all the silver of the vessels two thousand and
four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary; 86 twelve
golden pans, full of incense, weighing ten shekels apiece, after the shekel of
the sanctuary; all the gold of the pans a hundred and twenty shekels; 87 all the oxen for the burnt-offering twelve bullocks, the
rams twelve, the he-lambs of the first year twelve, and their meal-offering;
and the males of the goats for a sin-offering twelve; 88 and
all the oxen for the sacrifice of peace-offerings twenty and four bullocks, the
rams sixty, the he-goats sixty, the he-lambs of the first year sixty. This was
the dedication-offering of the altar, after that it was anointed. 89 And when Moses went into the tent of meeting that He might
speak with him, then he heard the Voice speaking unto him from above the
ark-cover that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two
cherubim; and He spoke unto him.
Reclaiming
my Ibo Heritage by Yehudis Litvak
https://aish.com/reclaiming-my-igbo-jewish-heritage/
Simhah Tamar’s persistent quest for truth led her from
North Carolina to Sderot Israel.
Growing up in the African American community in Camp Lejeune, North
Carolina, Simhah Tamar had felt that she was born into the wrong family. She
knew that her ancestors belonged to the Igbo people of Nigeria and were brought
from West Africa to America by slave traders. But she didn’t know about the
Igbo people’s oral tradition that taught they were descended from Eri, son of
Gad, who was the son of the Patriarch Jacob, and that they considered
themselves Jews.
When Simhah Tamar was very young, her grandmother became a Christian. “In
hindsight, she was trying to keep the family together,” says Simhah Tamar. “She
had 26 grandchildren, and she was trying to keep us all cohesively as a group,
so she made all the grandchildren go to church.” From the age of four, Simhah Tamar
attended the local African Methodist church regularly. At Sunday school, she
learned about the Bible. She was struck by the differences between the Old
Testament and the New Testament. “I was questioning everything because I knew
something wasn’t right in that system,” she says.
When she was nine, Simhah Tamar’s Sunday school teacher suggested that she
write down all of her questions and take them to her grandmother. “I took these
questions to my grandmother, one at a time. She absolutely answered every one
of them. She is my heart!
“The first question was, who are
those people in the New Testament and why aren’t they doing what Jews do? So
she gave me the long of it, and I asked, ‘How can you change the Bible? I don’t
like it, Grandma! I can’t do it! I want to be with the people in the Old
Testament.’”
By age 11, after two years of discussing theological questions, Simhah
Tamar’s grandmother said to her, “Go talk to the pastor and he will hear
everything that we discussed, and then you don’t have to go back to church
anymore. You’re not crazy. We used to be Jews of Africa. You go on and be the
Jewish person of the family.”
“With that, I bowed out,” says
Simhah Tamar.
Once she left the church, Simhah Tamar began exploring Judaism. “I had a
makeshift education in Torah since I was 15 years old,” she says. She read
books about Judaism and tried to learn more.
Along the way, Simhah Tamar married a Jew of mixed Hungarian and African
descent. They had a son. Later, they got divorced.
Simhah Tamar’s Jewish learning has been a lifetime-long process. There
were no synagogues in her town. The closest she could find was an alternative
church that had rejected the Christian doctrine. “It was not Jesus-oriented at
all,” she says. “As a matter of fact, they taught that Jesus was not the
messiah. And they taught Torah. We kept all of the feasts.”
The church leaders distinguished between Jews and non-Jews, encouraging
the Jewish congregants to keep some level of Shabbat and eat kosher food.
Knowing what my grandmother taught me, that we were Jews of Africa, I was
like, okay, sounds good to me,” says Simhah Tamar.
But the church encountered strong opposition from mainstream Christianity.
The Protestant community called them a cult and the church was forced to
disband.
After that, Simhah Tamar joined a Conservative congregation in Arlington,
VA. But she was disappointed with the level of Jewish education and observance
at the synagogue and began looking for more Jewish learning online.
One Shabbat, Simhah Tamar was watching a Torah lecture on her laptop when
she heard about the prohibition of driving on Shabbat. She recalls, “I was
shocked. I’ve always driven on Sabbath. No one told me differently.”
But something in the rabbi’s words spoke to Simhah Tamar. The drive from
her home to the Conservative synagogue took about 45 minutes, and she’d always
had negative feelings about the drive. She searched for more information about
Shabbat and learned what she could.
When Simhah Tamar informed her Conservative rabbi of her decision to begin
keeping Shabbat, the rabbi discouraged her. At that point, Simhah Tamar lived
alone, with her son grown up and out of the house, and the rabbi was concerned
that Simhah Tamar would be lonely on Shabbat. Simhah Tamar responded, “I have
my Torah, and I will be fine.”
But Simhah Tamar wanted to go to synagogue for Yom Kippur. She arranged to
stay with a family that lived within a walking distance from her Conservative
congregation. She brought along food for breaking the fast.
As she was putting the food into her host family’s refrigerator, she
noticed bacon sitting on the refrigerator shelf. That was when she decided she
needed to leave the Conservative synagogue and look for a like-minded community
elsewhere. There were no other synagogue options in the area. “I studied Torah,
kept Shabbat, and observed the Festivals from my home,” says Simhah Tamar. At
the same time, she began thinking about moving to a larger community.
It is never easy to leave one’s birthplace and family behind. For Simhah
Tamar, the move was made even more complicated by the burst of the real estate
bubble and high interest rates, which made it impossible for her to sell her
house in Virginia.
In addition, Simhah Tamar wasn’t sure where to move. As she debated her
next steps, she did more research about her heritage.
Simhah Tamar searched for more information about her ancestors. A book she
came across, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano,
written in 1757 by a freed Igbo man who was kidnapped and enslaved as a child,
described the customs and traditions of the Igbo people. Simhah Tamar
recognized some of them as also practiced in Judaism, such as
circumcision, Rosh Chodesh (new moon), Shavuot, and ritual
washing of hands before meals.
Simhah Tamar recalls her reaction, “I said, wait! Those are my people! I’m
not in the wrong family. I was never in the wrong family. These people are
doing things that the people of the Old Testament do. I think this is my God!”
With time, Simhah Tamar discovered other similarities between the Igbo
traditions and Judaism, such as Hebrew words used in the Igbo language.
According to Simhah Tamar’s research, the Igbo people practiced Judaism in
West Africa for a thousand years, until the arrival of Christian missionaries
from Europe, beginning in the 17th century CE. The land came
under British control in the beginning of the 20th century.
Though lacking written records, the Igbo passed down Torah teachings,
which they called Omenana, orally from generation to generation.
In the 19th century, slave traders operated in West
Africa. They kidnapped people, including children, and took them to America,
where they sold them as slaves. Simhah Tamar learned that her ancestors were
among a large group of Igbo people captured and brought to Virginia on seven
ships. For several generations, they were enslaved, until slavery was finally
abolished in America after the Civil War.
Meanwhile, Simhah Tamar was faced with another challenge. In 2003, the call
center she’d worked for had outsourced the work to India, and Simhah Tamar
found herself unemployed.
“Ever since then, it was pulling
teeth to get a job that would allow me to work around Shabbat,” says Simhah
Tamar. “I never had this problem. I was shocked.”
She tried applying to large call centers, hoping that it would be easier
to get religious accommodations there. “They wouldn’t do it,” she says. “They
would blatantly discriminate against me.” She complained to the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
“I ended up with ten Equal
Employment Opportunity charges against ten large call centers in America,” says
Simhah Tamar. All ten were eventually dismissed, but she didn’t give up,
attempting to take the cases to federal court.
“By 2016, I was back in the EEOC.
Not only had I not received protection, but this time I was told, ‘We need to
know what kind of a Jew you are… You don’t have to answer. We will just dismiss
the charge and end the call.’”
Until then, Simhah Tamar was debating whether to move to New York or to
Israel. The more Torah she learned the more she noticed the emphasis on the
holiness of the Land of Israel. She had already filed an Aliyah application,
but Israel was so far from her family and from everything known and familiar.
At that point, says Simhah Tamar, “I finally understood the consistent
unemployment discrimination by large call centers. God was kicking me out of
the country that my ancestors came to in chains!” That’s when Simhah Tamar made
her decision “to go home” – to move to Israel.
Once the decision was made, things began to move. “The house that would
never sell, sold within five days of ‘coming soon’ for full asking price! I got
the hint and thanked God,” recalls Simhah Tamar.
In 2020, in the midst of COVID, Simhah Tamar moved to Sderot, in southern
Israel. She wishes she had done that sooner, but ”God has His perfect timing. I
love it here! I am making up for lost time.”
Even though Simhah Tamar had considered herself Jewish from a young age,
she knew that due to the lack of definitive proof of her Jewish ancestry, she
would need to complete the formal conversion to Judaism that is recognized by
the Orthodox Jewish community and by the Israeli Rabbinate.
Immediately upon her arrival in Israel, Simhah Tamar sought out a Moroccan
rabbi who could help her with the conversion. At an outdoor makeshift COVID
minyan, she met one of her neighbors, who turned out to be a Moroccan rabbi. “I
was overjoyed,” she recalls.
The rabbi was happy to help. He put Simhah Tamar in touch with
English-speaking rabbis who run a conversion program.
Simhah Tamar enjoyed her studies in the conversion program, which was
“more in depth” than her previous Jewish learning. She completed the program
and received her conversion certificate in 2021. She finally felt that she had
come full circle and was Jewish without any doubt.
Simhah Tamar was teaching English in local schools, seeking out ways to be
involved in the community, when the war broke out on Oct 7.
That morning, as she was eating breakfast, Simhah Tamar heard automatic
weapon fire. She says, “Since I grew up in a military town, home of the largest
land amphibious base unit for the United States Marine Corps in North Carolina,
I am familiar with war weapons. I went to the sliding glass door to make sure I
heard what I heard.”
From the direction of the Sderot Police station, Simhah Tamar heard the
second round of fire. She recalls, “I closed the wall to wall sliding glass
door, unplugged my wifi-booster, checked the deadbolt as well as the lock on
the front door, closed the room darkening blinds on the guest bedroom and
office.” She went to the safe room in her home that served as a bomb shelter.
Due to the life-threatening nature of the events, Simhah Tamar turned on
her phone and saw a message from her landlady warning her not to leave the
house because there were terrorists in Sderot.
Instead of going to the synagogue as she had planned, Simhah Tamar spent
the next two days in the safe room. She says, “An hour or so after entering the
safe room, non-stop rockets began, then the power was cut. Two days later, the
Iron Dome had intercepted an incoming missile from Gaza, and my apartment
building was hit by shrapnel. The entire north side of the building's windows
blew out. There was a flash fire and tremendous smoke that entered the living
room/dining room and kitchen. The shrapnel then hit the paving stones on the
patio which then hit a propane tank. When the propane tank exploded it rocked
the room. The fire from the propane tank entered the already shockwave
shattered windows. We were evacuated on October 9th.”
Despite the circumstances, Simhah Tamar remained calm. She says, “A few
years before making Aliyah, I dreamed this apartment and the
evacuation. I knew everyone in our building would not even get a scratch. The
social workers were baffled by my thankful joy!”
Naturally, Simhah Tamar’s family in America was very concerned. They even
offered to mortgage their property in order to get her a ticket back to
America. Simhah Tamar absolutely refused. “I told them throughout history,
Israel has been the safest place to be in the world.”
After evacuation, she spent some time in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, and
her teaching job was put on hold.
Since April 4th, Simhah Tamar is happily back in Sderot
teaching. She is working on creating her own English curriculum.
Simhah Tamar is thrilled about the Jewish awakening taking place among the
Igbo people in West Africa. Today, there are about 35,000 Igbo people living in
southern Nigeria. Though most of them consider themselves Christian, since the
1990s there has been a growing movement of returning to their roots and
rediscovering Judaism.
With the expansion of global communication, the Igbo people are able to
access Jewish educational resources and to connect with Jewish communities
around the world. Today, there are over 70 synagogues in Nigeria. Several
thousand of the Igbo people practice Orthodox Judaism. Many of them went
through the formal conversion procedure, like Simhah Tamar, and are currently
recognized as Jews by Jewish communities worldwide.
A Jewish visitor would be comfortable in a Nigerian synagogue. The
services consist of traditional Jewish prayers, in Hebrew. They read from a
Torah scroll, which looks just like Torah scrolls everywhere else. The men wear
tefillin and tallit.
And yet, visitors note the unique atmosphere in these synagogues: the
warmth, the hospitality, and the special joy of rediscovering a long-lost
treasure. The Igbo people pray from the bottom of their hearts, occasionally
using traditional Igbo tunes to sing the familiar prayers. Visitors find the
experience powerful and meaningful.
I met a couple who were
older than I. Hadassah and Yosef. Ibo Jews living in Israel and she wrote me of
her Nigerian Roots.
SECOND AND THIRD STORY
IN THE NEWS (INYANAY DIYOMA).
Milestone: Morrie Markoff,110, https://www.timesofisrael.com/morrie-markoff-jewish-supercentenarian-and-oldest-man-in-us-dies-at-110/
Inyanay Diyoma
June 8th And 9th
Day 246 and Day 247 start of week 36
Amazing Rescue Story
Noa Argamani was held
above ground in the house of a medical doctor and his son a report for Al Jazeera.
They kept her prisoner for 8 months and a day. Her boyfriend was also captured
and is held elsewhere. What made Noa a household name in Israel was the fact
that her mother has terminal cancer and is in the last few days of her life.
Shabbos was also the birthday of her father. All the time she was in captivity,
she prayed to be rescued for her father’s birthday. He was always worried in
interviews of being a widower with no child as she was his only child. He
always said, “I am afraid to be a lonely man”.
The undercover force, including male and female
combat soldiers, came in a vehicle full of belongings similar to those the
displaced residents in the Gaza Strip had and responded to the residents’
questions that they had escaped from Rafah and were looking to rent an
apartment in the market area.
Two trucks apparently
delivering furniture rumbled down the central Gaza street.
One parked in front of
the doctor’s apartment and the other behind over 200 meters back on the same
street. [Two US Football Fields] At the precise moment, men sprang out of the
trucks one entered the house where Noa was held and the other the men led by Police
Pakad (Army Captain) Arnon Zamora HY”D that held three captives. A small blast
opened the door of the house and Arnon took a number of bullets and he and his
men shot back. The other there was shooting but they were knocked out.
Almog Jan was rescued a
few hours after his father returned his soul to the CREATOR. It could be that
the exchange was arranged in heaven – your soul for the safe return of your
son.*
The rescue operations lasted a
little more than half an hour from the moment the forces broke into the
buildings until the helicopters took off for Israel. The rescue time included,
among others, the arrival of additional rescue vehicles after a truck carrying
three of the hostages got stuck due to a problem with the gear.
The paratroopers, who were operating not far from
the site, jumped in to help and, with cover from the Air Force, were able to
overcome the technical fault in the truck. Two battalions in APC’s entered the
area.
A helicopter spotted an Arab with an RPG and he
was taken out. Many armed Arabs came to lynch the stuck truck. They were
stopped with a precision bomb 15 meters (45-50 feet) from the truck.
Dozens of Arabs armed to the teeth with knives,
axes, pitchforks, clubs and anything that was not tied down came to lynch the
stuck soldiers. Helicopters took out up to 100 combatants.
Noa was taken by troops towards the sea and
rescued by helicopter. Arnon and his force with the three captives were
evacuated by helicopters under fire. Arnon HY”D died of his wounds on the way
to the hospital.
Amazing Rescue perhaps from the
prayers of a dying mother. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-frees-4-hostages-after-8-months-captivity-in-daring-daytime-raid-in-central-gaza/
Eliran Mizrachi with PTSD gets
called up again and commits suicide.
Israel has issued orders to call up 380,000
reservists. It can only mean that we are going into Gaza more thoroughly and
Lebanon to finish up the job.
Eliran fought with the Engineering Corps 4
months straight in Gaza. He was inured along with a buddy and designated PTSD.
He received a call-up 8 notice (unlimited reserve duty). He committed suicide.
His family demanded a military funeral and headstone. I guess this bureaucratic
mess will have to go through the court system for justice to be done. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-805518 The family
managed to prove to the IDF that the deceased had spoken to his commander regarding
service. https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-805994
Tephillin were a dark color 2,000
years ago by aging but not dyed black as modern Halacha has it. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391537
Squad commander falls rescuing
hostages. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391265
Noa visits her mother before she
dies. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391268
The heat and humidity is something
fierce. For the first time in 56 or 57years, I wore a white without Tzitzis at
night. If it were day would have worn them. Last week from poor sleep in the
heat and a lot of exercise I fell asleep when learning with Rabbi Mimran and
while learning before this writing also fell asleep. Yes I am a work-a-holic
and work until I drop – guilty with no appeal.
On Friday night and Shabbos morning
I spoke to my friend Col. Avi. He told me that the soldiers saw the Lebanese
UAV filming them. They told their commander and he brushed it off but minutes
later one dead and ten injured by the second UAV. I told him that all the COS,
perhaps Defense Min., Intel leaders of the last 10 years who know of the tunnel
that killed the Bedouin Scout should be investigated. There were a few more
examples but those are good enough for starters.
Noa was held in the house of a
reporter. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391303
Col. Richard Kemp difficult to
rescue two places at once. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391303
*Yossi Jan dies hours before his son
is rescued. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391295
Gaza University used to shoot
mortars at 98th Division. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391299
IDF takes out Hezballah launch site.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391271
Op-Ed Greenfield Democrats panic
over Jewish Vote. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391238
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of
Foreign Affairs Israel Katz have decided to appoint MK Danny Danon (Likud) as
Israel's Ambassador to the UN. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391317
Ganz expected to resign from the government tonight
(Sunday). It was supposed to have taken place last night but due to the rescue
it was postponed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391311
I have my own personal
views on politics. I have been getting a tremendous amount of negative
feed-back from readers on one candidate. And only one or two negative views on
the personality of the other but they do not plan to vote at all. 8years ago
and 4years ago I had no feed-back.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/uk-denies-warship-in-red-sea-targeted-by-houthis/
80years ago, the US at Normandy
fought for Victory. Now the USA wants an Israeli Defeat: A new CIA analysis
states that Prime Minister Netanyahu is unlikely to agree to US demands
regarding the war in Gaza, including accepting the proposed ceasefire deal. CNN published
the analysis while Israel faces steadily increasing pressure from the Biden
administration to accept the deal and bring the war in Gaza to an end. The
decision to reject American pressure represents another step in the growing
divide between Netanyahu and Biden, which has been eroding relations between
the two countries for several months already. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391245
June 10th
Day 248
White House considered or is
considering separate deal with Hamas. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391366
European Voters wake up to Globalism
and mass Islamic Immigration. The right wins a lot of representatives in the
European Parliament. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391335
https://www.timesofisrael.com/colombia-says-it-will-halt-coal-sales-to-israel-over-war-in-gaza/
This does not mean we have to
believe the doctor. https://www.timesofisrael.com/probe-launched-into-violent-police-arrest-of-doctor-as-he-treated-tel-aviv-protester/
Over
the last few hours, the IAF struck and eliminated Hamas terrorists, including
Nukhba Forces operatives, in the central Gaza Strip.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391357
US – Saudis almost ready for a deal.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391363
Body cameras in Rafah. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391247
And https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391233
Me too unless you’re a Jew. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391215
Stand with us: Students against
genocide by supporting genocide. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391362
UAV’s at the Galil: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391367
Arab infiltrates IDF Headquarters in
the Shomron. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391356
June 11th
Day 249
About a month or two ago, rumors
started circulating that Biden was going to drop out of the race on June 13th.
I state this today because that is the mostly likely update day that I will
write. Heat and humidity is wicked in Israel today and by the weekend who
knows.
Soldiers threw a small explosive
into a booby-trapped apartment but it did not go off until they were in with 4
dead and one seriously wounded. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391422
Rachel, the mother of hostage Hersh
Goldberg-Polin, spoke with Arutz Sheva - Israel National News about
the reports that the US is considering a deal directly with Hamas to release
hostages with American citizenship. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391406
Ariel target intercepted over Haifa
Beach. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391420
The Ministry of Defense has published a first
draft of a law aimed at extending reservist service for some soldiers. The law
is intended to extend the period during which reservist service for soldiers in
combat units, allowing soldiers to be called to serve until the ages of 41, 46,
or up to the age of 50 depending on the role. DURING MY SERVICE, IT WAS STANDARD FOR SOLDIERS TO SERVE TO
54 OR 55 AND THEN LOWERED TO 50. FINALLY, COMBAT WAS LOWERED TO 45 AND
PARAMEDICS TO 50. I WAS RELEASED AT THE AGE OF 48 A FEW WEEKS BEFORE MY
DAUGHTER MARRIED. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391423
Dr. Itai Pessach of Sheba Hospital in Tel
Hashomer, who is in charge of medical treatment for the four Israeli hostages who were rescued on Saturday, told CNN in
an interview on Monday that they were beaten while in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
“It was a harsh, harsh, experience, with a lot of abuse, almost every day,” he
said, adding, “Every hour, both physical, mental, and other types, and that is
something that is beyond comprehension.” https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391414
Polls not favorable either to Ganz
or Netanyahu. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391410
New Draft Bill passes first reading.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391409
https://www.timesofisrael.com/man-jailed-in-belgium-for-25-years-over-rwandan-genocide/
https://www.algemeiner.com/2024/06/10/harvard-student-group-attends-pro-hamas-protest-white-house/
More Oct. 7th details: "Shooting started everywhere. I
ran to the stage, turned off the music, and announced to the crowd that the
party was over. I immediately instructed the police officers to open all the
emergency exits and start evacuating the people from the party." https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391375
Terrorist bodies will be held in
Israel. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391402
Sinwar also cold towards his own
people. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391425
50 rockets toward the Golan. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391433
Several at the Galil. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391367
Border Police officers eliminated one of the
armed terrorists who infiltrated the Shvut Rachel farm in Binyamin and set fire
to a residential trailer, along with three other terrorists who were with him
and tried to escape. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391431
UCLA Rabbi attacked. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391424
5th IDF Drone shot down. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391378
The latest Op-Ed of
Diane Weber Bederman: As soon as I hear a song with a church in it, I don’t
think of Israel. Coming from a family that escaped the Inquisition, the mention
of church has certain not positive connotations in the back of my mind. But I
do remember the quiet of Modiin before the city was built or the Negev. Or even
Yehuda and Shomron as G-D’s country so every once in a while, I agree to
disagree with Diane Bederman’s last Op-Ed.
You decide: God’s Country
Whenever I listen to the lyrics of “God’s Country,” I think of Israel. This Country Western song was
written about America’s heartland but the values are the same. And it makes
sense as America’s Constitution is firmly rooted in the teachings of the Hebrew
Bible.
Each time I hear it, I think of the
extraordinary, young American Cowboys, including Joshua Waller, John Plocher, Ezekiel Strain, Yosef
Strain, Luke Hutslar and Samuel Wearp, with their trademark wide-brimmed hats,
leather belts with heavy metal buckles, jeans and rugged boots, who came to
Israel right after the October 7 barbaric massacre of Israeli men, women and
children by Muslims from Gaza. The group of cowboys hail from Bible Belt states
in the United States: Montana, Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee: God’s Country.
The article: https://dianebederman.com/gods-country/
If you click her post
the link and song is inside. As for rugged boots and belts, I think more of
Arnon Zamora HY”D, who led the rescue, or Rafael Kauders HY”D, the later a man with the bad kidneys who
shouldn’t have been in the army, who gave their all for Am Yisrael and Eretz
Yisrael. – I ran this by Diane so that she would not be offended.
June 12th and June 13th
On Shabbos I spoke with Col. Avi and
he was livid about the exemption of Yeshiva Students from serve while 12,000 of
the men in his vicinity had been injured in some way. I did not state my
opinion that true Torah Scholars help the army more with their learning and prayers
than my border patrolling. It is a matter of Emunah (faith) and not practical
evidence in this world.
What we agreed on is that our
leaders are showing weakness to Hezballah. I could hear the fighter aircraft
strain in the morning while 3 or more squadrons
215 rockets. https://www.timesofisrael.com/170-rockets-fired-at-north-after-most-senior-hezbollah-officer-killed-in-idf-strike/
Operation in Rafah continues. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391470
Released captive Noa meets captured
boy friend’s mother. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391444
CENTCOM Chief visits Israel.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391442
Not JFK. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/putin-fleet-warships-cuba-direct-warning-biden-experts-say
Intelligence unit security breach. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391485
June 14th
Day 250 & 251 Part 2 and Day 252
Regarding the enlistment or drafting
of Charedim. Rhonda K. E. wrote me that she disagreed with my assessment.
Perhaps there has to be clarification. Being in the IDF could ruin the chance
of a Shiduch for a Charedi. After marriage they could enlist or volunteer. Before
that, they do not make the standard Charedi mold and would only be offered a
quality B or C maiden for a wife.
If somebody wants to work to support
his family or has to work like I did, then he should be in the IDF no matter
what his civilian status is. But real Torah Scholars like a Rav Kanjievsky,
Rabbi Landau, etc. should be exempt like Medical Students and certain pre-IDF
academics. We need Torah and Prayers to protect us.
Still the IDF is establishing a
Charedi Brigade.
What the generals think
about Lebanon. A number have expressed their opinions of declaring war on
Lebanon itself and blockade them by land, air and sea. If necessary knock out
their electrical production.
The Barrage of Hezballah
has expanded in area and numbers in the north. Biden is holding Netanyahu back
but as he does nothing his popularity tanks. We have a Bas Mitzvah on the Golan
Heights in two weeks that might have to change venue.
Today and tomorrow are dangerous
days for seniors. I went out a few minutes to water my upstairs porch plants. I
am full of perspiration in a country that is usually arid and the temperature
is approaching 37C or 100F. Seniors and toddlers are told to stay inside.
Drinking water is not enough in this heat but also keeping cool.
Two soldiers and two civilians
injured by rockets from Lebanon.
Northern Commander: Evacuation of
some of the towns a mistake. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391541
Lebanon: Two die in Tyre Area. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391533
US
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) wrote a letter to President Joe Biden calling on him
to revoke Al Jazeera Network's White House press credentials after it
was revealed that three Israeli hostages were held in the home of one of its affiliated journalists.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391479
A
team of special forces of ‘Mista’arvim’ was sent to the area of the local
market of Nuseirat and, dressed as local Arabs, they gathered intelligence from
the field. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391532
Officer who killed two from his unit
not to be charged. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391501
Rocket Launcher in Gaza destroyed. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391539
Scientists predict that between now
and September, a white dwarf star will spew visible material in a Nova to a newer
star. This will be bright but not a supernova. https://www.aol.com/once-lifetime-cosmic-explosion-likely-155213411.html
Iran installing more centrifuges. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391534
MDA prepares for massive power
outages. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391486
Nasrallah realizes that the IDF can
kill him. https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-806019
Muslim growth rate in Israel slows
to 2%. https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-806188
Malawi VP dies in crash. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-805873
Israeli Mafia one girl died in
Ashkelon two days ago and two men in Rehovot were injured both incidents a car
explosion. https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/two-wounded-in-rehovot-car-explosion-police-say-blast-likely-caused-by-accident/
Drone ID’s and eliminates armed
terrorist. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391488
https://www.foxweather.com/earth-space/mars-nasa-rover-solar-flares-coronal-mass-ejections
Shabbos times: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/shabat
Four senior terrorists in Jenin die.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391514
Without Love, I am nothing at all.
Health warning on Loneliness.
https://www.aol.com/news/us-surgeon-general-warns-dangers-152600705.html
Fanatic Charedi who destroyed
500,000NIS in ‘non-kosher’ wigs is in the cooler and most likely will face
civil suit. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391509
French Right might join forces. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391483
Charedi Brigade to be established. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391512
Former
Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland, a vocal Republican critic of
Donald Trump who's aiming to flip a Democrat-held Senate seat in his blue
state, apparently has the support of the former president. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RHPHOB2d2U
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-youngkin-meet-first-time-gop-eyes-winning-virginia-november
LA Jewish School censors pro-Hamas
Jews in newspaper. https://www.timesofisrael.com/la-jewish-day-school-censors-two-student-newspaper-articles-on-israel-hamas-war/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/son-of-former-israeli-ambassador-found-decapitated-in-north/
US
and Israeli intelligence officials, who confirmed that since October 7 the US
has increased its intelligence collection on Hamas, and is sharing an
"extraordinary" amount of intelligence with Israel. US even
considered raid to free hostages. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391543
Have a healthy,
peaceful, restful and productive Shabbos environment,
Rachamim Pauli
