The Covenant

What is the true Messiah supposed to do?

To answer this question we only need to look to the Tanach, the Jewish prophets, that form part of the 52 books of the Tanach; to save you time as I know that’s in short supply these days I have summarized below the six key tasks that the Jewish Messiah must grapple with AND accomplish in his lifetime –

1. Lasting world peace – Isiah (chapter 2, v4)
2. Spreading knowledge on worldwide scale that the God of Israel is the true God. – Isiah (chapter 11, verse 9)
3. Bringing an end to idol worship by all other peoples of the earth. – (Isiah chapter 2, verse 18)
4. Ingathering of the Jewish exiles from around the globe  – see Isiah (Chap 11, verse 12)
5. Rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem to its form glory – Ezekiel chapter 47
6. The resurrection of the dead – Isaiah 26, v19:-

יִֽחְי֣וּ מֵתֶ֔יךָ נְבֵלָתִ֖י יְקוּמ֑וּן הָקִ֨יצוּ וְרַנְּנ֜וּ שֹׁכְנֵ֣י עָפָ֗ר כִּ֣י טַ֤ל אוֹרֹת֙ טַלֶּ֔ךָ וָאָ֖רֶץ רְפָאִ֥ים תַּפִּֽיל׃ 

“Oh, let Your dead revive!
Let corpses arise!
Awake and shout for joy,
You who dwell in the dust!—
For Your dew is like the dew on fresh growth;
You make the land of the shades come to life.”

AND A TECHNICAL POINT….

The Jewish Messiah will not come until Elijah the prophet makes an appearance – as stated in the Book of Malaki:

“Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of GOD”

That as yet has not occurred.

QUESTION – WHAT ABOUT THE MESSIAH PERFORMING MIRACLES – SURELY THAT’S NEEDED?

ANSWER – There is no mention in the Tanach of the need for the Messiah to perform any miracles in order to convince people as to his authenticity – the proof will be in his ability to fulfil the prophecies as set out above.  Actions speak louder than rods being turned into snakes – a feat which the Egyptians also were able to achieve.

Of course, you may say to yourself that’s all fine and good but for thousands of years being and identifying as Jewish has just caused one hardship suffering prejudice and even death. The other religions in particular Islam and Christianity dominate the world stage, have countries whose whole system is based on their particular religion, have billions signed up to their religion  – yet the Jewish people can barely hang onto one country the size of Wales and account for 0.2% of the 8 billion people in the world today!  

Fear not my friends – Judaism is not a head count – our “success” is not based on how many millions or billions we are.

QUESTION – From where do we learn that Judaism is not a head count?

ANSWER From Elijah the Prophet – In around the 9^th century BCE we encounter Elijah the Prophet in the Book of 1 Kings ch18 – verses 22-41.

Elijah reproaches the Jewish people for their idol worshipping lifestyle and in particular their affinity for Baal Worship which was being promoted by Queen Jezebel and her husband King Ahab.

Elijah in his reproach to the Jews says to them “…how long will you continue to hold onto your idol worshipping practices? If God is King then follow Him, if Baal is the true King then follow Baal. On Mount Carmel it is recorded in the Tanach that the only way to resolve this question was to demonstrate the power of the true God  – so it is told that the priests of Baal were requested to pick an animal place it on an alter and pray for fire to come and consume the animal but without them using any fire or touching the animal– and guess what – nothing happened despite a lot of wonderful heartfelt praying!

Elijah the prophet put an animal on a separate altar – not only that but Elijah went so far as to douse the animal in water and surround the alter with a trench of water– Elijah prayed and almost immediately a fire came down from the heavens and consumed the animal and all the water as well.  Jezebel said – “give it time – the Jews will come back to Baal” and she was sadly correct the majority of the Jews in that time went over to the practice of Baal worship – but the Tanach confirms that 7000 precious Jewish people refused to follow Baal (1 Kings 19:18)– we are not a headcount!

QUESTION – HAS GOD FORSAKEN THE JEWISH PEOPLE?

ANSWER – NO – IF HE HAD WE WOULD NOT BE HERE!

The Covenants to Abraham and our forefathers have not been broken replaced or withdrawn nor will they ever be…. other religions claim that our God’s promises to our Forefathers have now been replaced with a “new covenant” – again not true – see Isiah 59 v21:-

וַאֲנִ֗י זֹ֣את בְּרִיתִ֤י אוֹתָם֙ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה רוּחִי֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָלֶ֔יךָ וּדְבָרַ֖י אֲשֶׁר־שַׂ֣מְתִּי בְּפִ֑יךָ לֹֽא־יָמ֡וּשׁוּ מִפִּ֩יךָ֩ וּמִפִּ֨י זַרְעֲךָ֜ וּמִפִּ֨י זֶ֤רַע

זַרְעֲךָ֙ אָמַ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה מֵעַתָּ֖ה וְעַד־עוֹלָֽם׃ {ס}        

And this shall be My covenant with them, said GOD: My spirit that is upon you, and the words that I have placed in your mouth, shall not be absent from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children—said GOD —from now on, for all time.

In Bereshit Rabbah we are told the following story, chapter 8:-

G-d dictated the verse “Let us make man” to Moses, Moses objected and said “Why should you give the heretics an occasion for error?” And Hashem said “Write as I dictate and if anyone desires to err, let him do so”.

Lets break it down in simple terms:-

1. A thing which is good ought to exist.
2. A thing which is bad ought not to exist.
3. Something which is both good and bad should or should not exist depending on which trait predominates.

“let us make man” – it is better for some to err (in G-d’s “view”) as the great moral lesson of – the great should not disdain from the advice of the small, predominates, as G-d “consulted” with His own creations of heaven and earth though He had no need to do so.

Rabbi Joseph Albo goes onto to state that in his opinion the words “let us make man” are used in order to make allusion to another point more profound and at the same essential.

The existence of the heavenly creatures (the celestial beings) have individual continuity – this indicates that there is a being with power to endow individual things with permanent existence as in the case of celestial beings – we shall call this Specific Permanence

At the same time there is a power that has caused the existence of us terrestrial beings to exist as a species and for that species to perpetuate but not to allow individuals to have permanent existence – we shall call this Species Permanence.

The above analysis leads to the erroneous opinion that there are “two creative Powers” – God forbid.

So why make man? To disprove the concept of “two powers” – how so?

This is achieved by uniting the “two powers” in Man namely that the general power that gives Species Permanence and the particular power that gives Specific Permanence.

Man shows from his combined and complex nature that all existences both celestial and terrestrial are the product of ONE being that possesses ALL POWERS.  Man has general qualities (Species Permanence) due to his matter and Man has permanence due to his SOUL. (Specific Permanence).

“And God said let us make man” God (Elokim) has all powers both general and particular – uniting the two in agreement and made Man in whom is combined these two seemingly contradictory qualities.

Thus, the creation of Man points to a single Being in whom all powers are united absolutely and shows that the Maker of man as a species and the Maker of man as an individual are one and the same.

We can therefore go onto surmise that Gods knowledge embraces particular things as well as general things.

Why does Hashem say “Moses Moses!  – his name is mentioned twice by God to show He knows Moses the individual in in his individuality and secondly as part of a species.

Just as God calls out Moses the individual we too should call out to God both when we are alone and as part of a congregation – in either case we can reach out to God without the need for any agent or prophet to intercede on our behalf – in fact this is what God wants more than anything for us to unite in Achdus and to call His name –  and to call His name even when we are completely alone – at both moments God is there for us – we must not be afraid of what the other people think.

From where do we see that we must not be afraid to heed the call of God but embrace the situation and adapt – as adaptation is the key to survival – the answer is found in this week’s Torah portion where we learn about the birth of Moses, his survival as an infant and escape from Egypt, within a few sentences Moses is now in Midian, married and settled into the life of shepherd tending to the flocks of his father-in-law  THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN EVERYTHING CHANGES AGAIN and Moses sees the burning bush and decides to go and investigate– within the space of just three short chapters – Moses transforms from a Prince of Egypt to a wanted man, to a shepherd and finally a prophet.

At each stage, at each decisive moment, God is with Moses on his journey to complete the Divine Plan – Moses had the unique quality of knowing when to react and make a change something which we today are deaf to and afraid of – we are stuck in our ways not prepared to change – we love our houses, our cars and so forth.

When God calls out “Moses Moses” – meaning I know you Moses I know your qualities and your flaws – Moses replies “Heneni” – “Here I am”  meaning  “ I am ready” – he was telling God I was ready from day one from birth.

The Rambam asks:

What is the difference between Moses’ prophecy and that of all the other prophets?

The Rambam proceeds to give several examples of Moses’s prophetic superiority such as:

1. Divine insight is bestowed upon all the other prophets in a dream or vision. Moses, our teacher, would prophesy while standing awake, as [Numbers 7:89] states: “When Moses came into the Tent of Meeting to speak to Him, he heard the Voice speaking to him.”

• Divine insight is bestowed upon all the other prophets through the medium of an angel. Therefore, they perceive only metaphoric imagery and allegories. Moses, our teacher, would prophesy without the medium of an angel, as [Numbers 12:8] states: “Mouth to mouth I speak to him,” and [Numbers 12:8] states: “He gazes upon the image of God” – i.e., there was no metaphor. Rather, he would perceive the matter in its fullness, without metaphor or allegory.

Moses’s appreciation of prophecy would not be through metaphor, but through open revelation, appreciating the matter in its fullness.

• All the [other] prophets are overawed, terrified, and confounded [by the revelations they experience], but Moses, our teacher, would not [respond in this manner], as [Exodus 33:11] relates: “[God spoke to Moses…] as a man speaks to a friend” – i.e., just as a person will not be awe-struck from hearing his friend’s words.

• So too, Moses’ mental power was sufficient to comprehend the words of prophecy while he was standing in a composed state.

• All the [other] prophets cannot prophesy whenever they desire. Moses, our teacher, was different. Whenever he desired, the holy spirit would envelop him, and prophecy would rest upon him. He did not have to concentrate his attention to prepare himself [for prophecy], because his [mind] was always concentrated, prepared, and ready [to appreciate spiritual truth] as the angels [are]. Therefore, he would prophesy at all times, as [Numbers 9:8] states: “Stand and hear what God will command you.”
  
  

He was promised this by God, as [implied by Deuteronomy 5:27-28]: “Go and tell them: `Return to your tents,’ but you stand here together with Me.”

•  This should be interpreted to mean: When prophecy departs from all the [other] prophets, they return to their “tents” – i.e., the needs of the body like other people.

Therefore, they do not separate themselves from their wives. Moses, our teacher, never returned to his original “tent.”

Moses separated himself from women and everything of that nature forever. He bound his mind to the Eternal Rock. [Accordingly,] the glory never left him forever. The flesh of his countenance shone, [for] he became holy like the angels.

The Rambam on prophecy that it is one of the foundations of the Jewish faith that God conveys prophecy to man.

Prophecy is bestowed only upon a very wise sage of a strong character, who is never overcome by his natural inclinations in any regard. Instead, with his mind, he overcomes his natural inclinations at all times…..

Further the Rambam writes in relation to such a person that “becomes” a prophet that

“He will advance and separate himself from the masses who proceed in the darkness of the time…..his mind should constantly be directed upward, bound beneath God’s throne of Glory, striving to comprehend the holy and pure forms and gazing at the wisdom of the Holy One, blessed be He….. ultimately this person will merit that:

“the divine spirit will immediately rest upon him.

Further, when the spirit rests upon him, his soul becomes intermingled with the angels called ishim, and he will be transformed into a different person and will understand with a knowledge different from what it was previously.

He will rise above the level of other wise men, as the prophet, Samuel told Saul [I Samuel 10:6]:

“The spirit of God will descend upon you and you shall prophesy with them. And you will be transformed into a different person”.

I believe what the Rambam is teaching us is that in order for us to change we need to work hard on ourselves unlike Moses (The Father of all prophets) to whom change/transformation came naturally and without hesitation. The latter though should not dishearten us but to the contrary the Rambam provides us with the formula for success and it is upon us to follow his words of advice.

This Week’s sedra – Vayechi

17 Tevet 5854

Isaiah 52:2 

“Shake off the dust”

הִתְנַעֲרִ֧י מֵעָפָ֛ר ק֥וּמִי שְּׁבִ֖י יְרוּשָׁלָ֑͏ִ  

Arise!!, shake off the dust!!,

Many will be familiar with opening line from this section of Isaiah as Jewish people say this every Shabbat in Lecha Dodi – but what does this mean? What dust is it referring to? For this we shall look at the opening verse from this weeks Torah portion.

Genesis 47:28

וַיְחִ֤י יַעֲקֹב֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֔יִם שְׁבַ֥ע עֶשְׂרֵ֖ה שָׁנָ֑ה  

“Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt…”

What is the connection between these verses? 

Based on speech by Rabbi Issac Bernstein ZTL

“Maser Avot Siman L’banim (MASL)” loosley translated means that those events that happened to our forefathers are a sign of what is to to come. 

In the opinion of Karl Marx – “history repeats itself” – in Jewish philosophy M.A.S.L says otherwise – it is unique and unparrelled – in that according to this principle God judged the Avot (i.e. the founding fathers of Judasim – Abraham, Issac, Jacob and the sons of Jacob) exceptionally finely and that their actions within the Book of Genesis echoed/and echoes throughout Jewish history to the present day, as a consequence of the choices the Avot made the results would have ramifications for the Jewish people for all time.

For example, the Ramaban on Gen 16:6 concerning the episode when Abraham let Sarah do as she pleased with Hagar (another of Abrahams wifes) -  Sarah in turn sent Hagar away:-

“AND SARAI DEALT HARSHLY WITH HER, AND SHE FLED FROM BEFORE HER FACE”

Ramban on this states that:

“Our mother did transgress by this affliction, and Abraham also by his permitting her to do so. And so, G-d heard her [Hagar’s] affliction and gave her a son who would be a wild-ass of a man, to afflict the seed of Abraham and Sarah with all kinds of affliction.

From the above we see that our persecution at the hands of Ishmael’s (i.e. the Arabs) descendants is according to the Ramban a punishment for the actions of our forefather and foremother as a result of the way they mistreated Hagar.

The fate of the Jewish people and its ultimate salvation have all been dictated by our forefathers and foremothers.

It is for this reason that a study of the book of Genesis is very important – the stories of our forefathers are not just “stories” but specifically chosen episodes highlighed in order to teach us something about our predicament  – M.A.S.L.

From this weeks Torah portion we read:- 

AND JACOB LIVED IN THE LAND OF EGYPT SEVENTEEN YEARS.

On this the Ramban states:

Jacob’s descent into Egypt equates to our present exile at the hand of the “fourth beast” (in Daniel’s vision concerning the Four Kingdoms, the fourth beast symbolizes Rome. See Daniel 7:7) following the destruction of the Second Temple.

Jacob’s descent to Egypt parrellels the destruction of the 2nd Temple – how so?

These are the key events in Jacobs life at this point of the Torah:-

1. The sale of Joseph by his brothers caused them to go down to Egypt
2. Jacob went down to Egypt there on account of the famine, mistakenly Jacob thought the Egyptians would love him in the same degree as Pharaoh loved Joseph.
3. Jacob hoped to leave Egypt as soon as the famine would cease in the land of Canaan, just as they said, “To sojourn in the land we have come, for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is heavy in the land of Canaan. *Above, 47:4”.
4. But Jacobs hope failed to materialise, instead the exile prolonged itself and Jacob died there.
5. Following his death Jacob’s bones were taken out from Eygpt accompanied by all the elders and courtiers of Pharaoh, who instituted severe lamentation for him.

The above sequence of events has been paralled in the history of the Jewish people – M.A.S.L.

We ourselves have caused our falling into their clutches, as the Hasmonean rulers during the Second Temple era made a covenant with the Romans, and Agrippa, the last king during the Second Temple, fled to the Romans for help – paralled to point 1 above – just as Joseph fell into the pit at the hands of his brothers – we too have fallen due to our rulers decisions as exhibited by Agrippa.

It was due to a severe famine that Jerusalem was captured by the Romans (paralled to point 2) , and the exile has continued to this very day (parallel to point 3) , with its end seemingly unknown (parallel to point 4), unlike the other exiles for example it was known that the Babylonian Exile would last for a period of seventy years, (Jeremiah 25:12; II Chronicles 36:21).

We are today still in exile under Rome – We say, “Our bones are dried up, we are completely cut off.” *See Ezekiel 37:11.

But in the end they will bring us from all the nations as an offering to the Eternal, and they will be in deep sorrow as they will behold our glory – paralelled to the sorrow the Egyptians felt following the death of Jackob – point 5 above and realise the mistake they made in attacking and persecuting us.

Whilst we had the Second Temple spiritually speaking we as a nation were “alive” as soon as we lost the Temple we were “dead” and became dried bones. 

When the Messiah arrives in all his majesty at that point there will be amongst other events, an ingathering of the exiles and a revivial of the dead – it will be at this moment that WE WILL SHAKE OURSELVES FROM THE DUST THAT WE ARE” – HITNARI M’AFER KUMI” – the dust of the bones of Jacob will be shaken and brought to life – the Jewish people will at the right time shake off the dust of the their bones and shall arise and become ALIVE once more.

By Jonathan Zeckler

Based on Chapter 44 of Sefer Haikarim

My earlier blogs concerned the Covenant made between Abraham and Gd and how God would save us be there for us at all times.

But what did God promise the Jewish people concerning the Messiah/the redeemer – the saviour of mankind? For this we need to look to Isaiah - Chap.59 v20-21:

“And a redeemer will come to Zion; and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob…..And as for me this is my Covenant with them, saith the Lord: My spirit which is upon thee, and My words which I have put in thy mouth…”

These words are absolutely true when considered from every angle – how so?

The author of the promise is God.

God cannot fail – as He is the cause of all causes (this theme will be explored in another blog PG)

Isaiah the receiver in this case cannot lie – his words have been tested many times and accepted by all faiths.

What did Isaiah prophesise?

1. The coming of Sennacherib and he foretold his defeat.
2. The captivity of Jeruslem via the King of Babylonia
3. The fall of Babylon
4. The success of Cyrus
5. The building of Jerusalem through Cyrus

All of the above came true…so if Isaiah prophesises redemption then that too will come true, therefore G-d says:-

“And My words which I have put in thy mouth”

Meaning, inasmuch as all the words which I have put in your mouth (Isaiah) have been fulfilled, they are all a sign of the covenant that the redeemer will come.

The verse goes onto say ”…..nor from the mouth of your children, nor from the mouth of your children’s children—said GOD —from now on, for all time”—tradition cannot lie because God promises that the tradition will be continuous from father to son without interruption.

So we can safely conclude that the covenant of the coming of the Messiah promised by the prophets stands to this day.

by JONATHAN ZECKLER

Based on “Sefer Haikarim, Ch45”

The word covenant in Hebrew is BRIT – it is applied to affirmation or oath or something which is performed by two persons to bind them to each other (in love and friendship).

They make a certain sign the existence of which points to the covenant — like a witness to an event.

Gen 9, v12

And G-d said (to Noah) “This is the token of the covenant (i.e. the rainbow) that I make between you and Me…”

Similarly, Lavan said to Jacob:

Gen31,44

“Now come let us make a covenant…then he raised a heap of stones….this heap is witness…”.

We find in the Bible the method of making a covenant was that they cut an animal in two parts  and the covenanting parties passed between the pieces.

 See Jeremiah 34v18 – “I will make the parties who violated my covenant who did not fullfill the terms of the covenant that they made before Me, like the calf that they cut in two so as to pass between the halves

Similarly, when G-d made a covenant with with Abraham Gen15 v9-10, when Hashem made a covenant with Abraham He said to him: “ Take me heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old and a ram of three years old ….and he divided them in the midst, and laid each half over against the other…”

An aside – Rashi on the above explains:-

The nations that worshop stars are compared to bullocks, rams and goats…Daniel 8.20  – “the ram which you saw having two horns  – they are the Kings of Media and Perisa, and the rough hegoat is the king of Greece” and Israel is likened to a dove – see Song of Songs 2 “my dove in the clefts of the rock..”

The star worshipers were therefore alluded to as eventually perishing. Israel the dove would last forever.

In the sequel Abraham sees in a prophetic vision the glory of Hashem passing between the pieces Gen15,17 – “And it came to pass that when the sun went down  there was thick darkness behold a smoking furnace and a flaming torch that passed between the pieces.”

So why make a covenant?

The purpose behind making a covenent between friends, is because the covenant creates a permanent bond between the parties for the pupose of cementing and binding the two to each other – they are now “one body” and each should take of each other as of himself.

This is why the animal is cut in two and both parties pass between the parts as a sign that just as the two parts of the animal when alive formed a living being and each part of the animal felt the pain of the other and only death separated those two parts so to the parties making the covenant are to be as one body while living and nothing but death parts them.

If one party to the covenant sees the other in danger then that party must risk even death to save the other party.

Each must disclose any evil plots against the other and assure the other that they will come to help as required and be jealous for him as he would for himself.

Each should reveal to the other their inner most secret thoughts – for a friend is like a person’s self.

“thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself…”  Lev19,18.

The essence of perfect love is that the lover becomes one with the loved.

Ahava and Echad have the same numerical value i.e. 13. Meaning that the loved is not different than himself.  Hence he should trust him and reveal his secrets to him as he reveals them to himself.

Hence,  as soon as Hashem makes the covenant with Abraham he reveals to him the evil that will soon befall Abrahams heirs – “Know of a surety that your seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them and they shall afflict them 400 years; and also that nation whom they shall serve I WILL JUDGE..” Gen15,13-14

Then in the immediate seqeul “In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham saying “Unto thy seed I have given this land…”

Hashem having disclosed the downfall of the Jewish people then reveals that He would help the Children of Israel and rescue them from their persecutors.

The meaing of the coventant between the pieces therefore, is that Hashem will be with us in distress and sypmthise with us – as the Rabbis say in Megillah 29a – “the Shekinha suffers in the suffering of Israel  – as it says in Ps 91,15: “I will be with him in trouble”.

Therefore, the covenant of Hashem with Abraham created “one body” which cannot be broken or replaced or even separated by death, this due to the eternal nature of G-d which as a consequence of the bond in turn means that the Children of Israel are eternal regardless of the attacks or their nature as part of the People of Israel is Hashem and He will always due to the bond save us even if it appears all is lost. However, it is incumbent on the Jewish people to keep up their end of the deal and ensure they remain loyal to God and His commandments. Hashem is our rock our salvation and upon him we, we the dove, entrust ourselves.

The Everlasting Covenant –

It was and is inevitable that the Jews would and will stray and the nations of the world say that we broke the covenant as mentioned above  – therefore, the divine Wisdom (Hachochma Haelyonit) determined to make a permanent covenant with Abraham and his seed- so that they would be His people and that they would merit His Inheritance and that HE should be their God always.

After the vision of the parts comes the commandment of the circumcision – Gen 17,7 – for Abraham and all his descendants – the circumcision acts the sign to an everlasting covenant, namely that Hashem would be a God to us (See Rashi) –  the Brit Olam.

To this day the Children of Israel – carry this sign on their body – a proof of the union between Hashem and the seed of Abraham who maintain His covenant – by us keeping this commandment in every generation it shows that the Divine bond is still with us.

When one is gravely ill as long as there is a sign of life then there is hope – we see doctors today never give up hope unless there is no sign of life – as long as there is a sign there is hope.

Similarly, the nations of the world write of the Jewish people, write of the State of Israel, wishing that our cousins will do as they promise and throw us into the sea – they say that God has abandoned us and formed new covenants with other people – they say we are without hope, that our expectation is lost and that we are cut off.

But when we see the sign of the covenant being maintained from year to year (as per the commandment of God – Gen 17:9-12) in an unbroken chain from Abraham – this points to the existence of the bond between the Divine and us  – therefore, we know that we have the strength to live, survive, overcome and ultimately claim that which Hashem promised us in the following verse Gen 17:8 –

“And I will give unto you and unto your seed……the land of Cannan for an everlasting possession and  I will be to them for a God”

The Children of Israel and the State of Israel will return to its original strength and will cleave to Hashem.