Its Raining Words


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

According to legend, the poem that consists of this week’s entire Torah episode, Nitzavim VaYelech’ is recited one day before Moses dies. The second opening stanza of his swan song reads:

May my discourse come down as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
Like showers on young growth,
Like droplets on the grass.

Dvarim 32:2 (JPS Bible)

The King James Bible translates:

Drop as rain doth My doctrine;
Flow as dew doth My sayings;
As storms on the tender grass,
And as showers on the herb.

And the Aramaic of Pseudo-Jonathan:

My doctrine shall be soft as rain; let it be received as the dew, and my word be as the breath of the rain that breathes upon the grass, and as the showers of the latter rain upon the herbage.

What awaits here beyond the metaphor of rich rain in the parched desert of a bitter old man? Note the three different choices of translation for the image of ‘rain on the grass’: Storm, Droplets, Breath of rain.

There is a whole vocabulary in the Torah devoted to kinds of speech: songs, doctrine, hymns, teachings, prophecies, words. The Hebrew word used here is ‘LEKACH’ f- ’sacred teaching’, or ‘discourse’ or ‘doctrine’, a word that is derived from the primitive root for ‘take’ and by extension here to ‘take what has been given’: in other words, to receive. Perhaps some types of wisdom are received by us as we welcome rain – receiving a gift that nourishes our life. But also, how often we do carry umbrellas when gifted with rain? So it is with the sacred teachings. Or do we dance and sing in THAT rain? What does wisdom feel like to us - Storms, droplets, breath of rain, other?

Though the King James gives a sense of possible violence to the words Moses will deliver( “storms”), all the other translations convey gentleness, a discourse like a soft Spring rain-like benevolence of this “doctrine” which rains softly on tender ground, is the feminine noun ‘emrah’.. If we hear ancient echoes of the story of creation, we are no doubt meant to: On the third day of creation God brings forth the grass and herbs, and the same word is used there and here: ‘deshe’.
There are certain ways to telling story that manage to open our heart, fill our eyes with tears, and wet our appetite for the exploration of mystery. Such is Moses’s last poem and such is all great art.

It was a Christian saint—Benedict—who spoke of listening “with the ears of the heart.” Just a few days before Rosh HaShana, here is an opportunity to examine our private reservoirs of received rains: what is the wisdom that we, like grass lawns, have received and absorbed? And what are the new ones we yearn for? The secret power of speech, the words we always remember, the songs that reach our heart and stay there, deeply listened to, celebrated as rain to a thirsty lawn.

Written On Stone


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

There’s a movie out now, called ‘THE TEN’, written and directed by David Wain, a Jewish funny guy. The movie is a modern midrash of sorts on the ten commandments, taking wild spins off of each commandment in relation to modern life. Or something like that. In between each segment, Paul Rudd narrates, clumsily, standing inside a studio with two GIANT replicas of the two tablets of the law. This is not a film review but lets just say that we walked out disappointed. All these big stats (Wynona doing ‘Do not Steal” was a good casting choice…) but so little of actual substance to say about the bible beyond gags.

What, we wondered, what be a modern day adaptation of the Ten Commandments that would really compel us to think about the place of that ancient text in our modern lives? How would those two slabs of stone be represented today besides the classic old THOU SHALL on fake rocks?

In this week’s Torah episode, KI TAVO, an ancient monument to the words written in stone is erected, serving as a reminder for the people of the covenant with the divine at Sinai. The monument is to be built as they enter the Promised Land – the first permanent installation of a people no longer on the move. What’s odd about this art piece is the instruction to inscribe the words of the law on stone – but it isn’t clear which words, how many, and what size stone.

The Book of Words, chapter 27:8, describes the instruction ‘And on those stones you shall inscribe every word of this Teaching most distinctly. (JPS) The King James translation offers: ‘And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly. ‘Others translate as ‘inscribe clearly’ or ‘explain well’.

Our favorite translation is the Aramaic Pseudo-Jonathan: And you shall write upon the stones all the glorious words of this law in writing deep and plain, to be well read, and to be interpreted in seventy tongues.

Wow – not just the Hebrew words but also the translations! Does this text mean this literally?

Aside from the simple preposterousness of this task— that’s a lot of stones and a lot of writing—there seems to be some kind of Sinai recap going on here. Stone tablets, broken tablets and scattered stones, stones now reassembled to compose the peoples’ version of Mosaic tablets – on their own terms.

SO maybe you are on a beach these last days of summer, or somewhere in nature where you can pick up a rock, or a pebble. We invite you to re-enact this biblical verse and use the stone to remember one word, or image, or memory from the Bible that sticks with you, that inspires you, that, like the Ten Commandments were meant to be – serves as a moral moment of memory for your path. Make your own monument, in any of the seventy languages and more that your heart may speak…

Shabbat shalom

The Wedding Dress


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

A man hates his wife. It starts as a private domestic dispute, but quickly becomes a big problem and a public court case. In this week’s Torah Episode, “Ki Tetze” – a collection of laws and regulations in no particular order, this is but one of many sad scenarios that the biblical law makers described, proscribing the appropriate judicial steps to resolve the dispute. Quite often we are faced with a reading of Torah text that is deeply against our modern sensibilities and social values, though it may have represented the norms of our ancestors thousands of years ago. This particular case described a woman who is accused by her husband of not being a virgin at the time of their wedding. If she is found guilty by the court, she will be executed for this crime. This is one of those biblical passages that makes us clearly aware of the historical gap and moral difficulty that the Torah offers us today. But at the same time, it is important to note that in many cultures in the world, the sanctity of maidenhood is still a big deal and in some cases still punishable by death, or at least by ostracism.

This harsh torah text reads as dry legalistic data, but one word pops up at us, a word that can be translated differently and shed a painfully human light on this scenario.

The Book of Words describes the procedure in court, when, following the husband’s accusations, the father of the bride speaks up, and presents his evidence:

22: 17 This man has made false charges, saying: I did not find any signs of virginity in your daughter; and yet here are the signs of my daughter's virginity.' And they shall spread the garment before the elders of the city.

What is this garment that is dramatically spread before the elders?

The Hebrew for ‘garment’ is ‘simla’ – translated elsewhere as ‘cloth’, ‘fabric’, ‘clothing’, or ‘material’. But the word is most often used to describe a very specific garment – a dress, and in this case, a wedding dress.

We have not found another English translation that uses the term ‘dress’ in this gruesome context, as most prefer to keep this image vague and perhaps not as disturbing. But it does appear to be a fairly accurate description of what the father of the bride is showing to the judge: bloodied evidence, kept for just an emergency.

As the book of words comes towards its end and the entry into the Promised Land (and the new year) seems closer, we take stock of all that our ancient law and lore has to offer, including this soiled wedding gown and all of its promises of a happy future gone wrong. What do we do with this information? Perhaps commit to making sure that such brutal behavior remains clearly the stuff of the past, and not the guidelines for modern policy making, as some in our society would like to see. And perhaps this dress shows up this week to remind us of how much we have yet to do for justice in the world - clearly marking our journeys of evolution thus far and the desired progress forwards, to a reality where sexual maturity and intimate domestic difficulties are dealt with more love than fear, and with more creativity, not just procreativity, in mind.

Well, meanwhile, Shabbat shalom..

Powerbook


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

This week’s Torah episode is entitled ‘Shoftim’ – ‘Judges’ and indeed the focus is the establishment of the basic bureaucracy - authorized leadership, judicial matters, and the establishment of the Jewish Monarchy. The official Biblical party line in regards to Royalty is one of ambivalence – on the one hand the recognition of this symbolic importance, and on the other – fear of too much control in the hands of the few. From the get go, the future kings are warned - not too many horses, or wives, please, Your Majesty, and oh, also – Judaic literacy is highly recommended. In the Book of Words, chapter 17:18 the following instruction appears, and with it, the premiere of the first Torah Scroll in history, linking power to religion and absolutely ignoring any future possibilities for the separation of Synagogue and State:

‘When he is seated on his royal throne, he shall have a copy of this Teaching written for him on a scroll by the priests of the tribe of Levy.’ (JPS translation)

This is the first mention of the Holy Book being used by a human in a ritualized form. But what exactly is the king holding in his royal lap? The Hebrew for ‘copy of this teaching’ is Mishne Torah – translated as ‘copy of the teaching’, or ‘Duplicate of the Law’, or ‘repetition of the instruction.’ Some use ‘book’ and some use ‘scroll’, but all translators agree that we have no idea what the is the actual content of this ‘data bearing device’. Further complicating the story is the fact that this is regarded as a copy of the original, and the big question is – what and where is the original version of the Torah???

When it comes to official representations, translations, and usage of the sacred teachings by appointed leaders – these questions are both historical – and very current. A recent Gallop poll claims that over 1/3 of Americans believe that the Bible is the Word of God, to be taken literally, preferably as the Authorized Version – the 17th century King James Bible ( to be found in a bedside table drawer in a hotel near you)

The King James translation actually adds a curious twist to our verse, very much in line with the original Hebrew, clarifying this theological challenge:

‘And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites. ‘

Just to make sure, the king does indeed have access to the Holy Word – but the Religious Authorities are in control and have custody of the original…William Tynedale, the original translator of the King James version, was executed for his ’subversive’ contribution to the first ever English Language version of the Bible, and it is not difficult to discern some subtext in his translation of this potent verse. The tension in the 17th century between Church and State seems to have only gotten more complicated as the centuries advance and more and more copies, repetitions, and doubles of the Word are quoted or misquoted by world leaders who clutch gospels to their bosoms.

Imagine for a moment that you are the king (or queen) in this passage. What is it like for you to hold this sacred text and touch it? What is your connection to it and which of the biblical stories is the right one for you to read or have read for this occasion? Given a choice – what ONE word from Scripture would you cherish above all others and share with us, your loyal subjects today?

Soulmate


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

Onwards towards the Promised Land trudge Moses and the people, and the closer the land gets, the louder and longer are the anti assimilation speeches. 'Beware', the old leader warns the eager tribes – 'do not be seduced by the ways of the land, by native gods, local flavors and paths off the highway'. The fear of assimilation, then and now, is not unique to the Jewish people, who, like other nations, strive to celebrate their uniqueness in a salad bar reality of options. But when is this fear of the other way too much? In this week's Torah episode, Re'eh, the fear of seduction by other religious models is extreme enough to remind us, uncomfortably, of historical witch hunts and the more recent McCarthy hearings. Instructed to prevent idolatrous propaganda the people are ordered by Moses to suspect and report anyone and everyone - including closest family members and friends.

One such list of potential suspects caught our eye, especially one item on the list – an expression that denotes deep intimacy and is translated differently in various contexts, offering us a glimpse into the definition of friendship – and its potential perils.

The Book of Words, Chapter 13, verse 7 lists those who should be reported and killed for heresy - 'If your brother, your own mother's son, or you son or daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your closest friend entice you in secret, saying "come, let us worship other gods who neither you nor your fathers have experienced" (NJPS translation)

Forget for the moment how upsetting this list is and what betrayal of kinship it required here, fundamentalism style. We want to only focus on the expression 'closest friend'. The Hebrew is more complex – using the word NEFESH – SOUL and the word RE'A – most often translated as 'friend', 'ally', 'colleague' or 'neighbor'. A footnote in the NJPS Bible adds – 'Literally - your friend who is as yourself.'

Similarly, Richard Friedman translates 'Your friend who is as your own self' and Everett Fox chooses 'Your neighbor who is (one) like your (very) own self.'

The emphasis here is on the mirror image – focusing on the word 'soul' - suggesting that your friends' soul is as your own, and the shared is greater than the separate. Even then, especially then, we are warned of being influenced or led astray by other. Whether it is your neighbor, best friend, partner or lover – the emphasis here (more than on the list of flesh and blood relatives) is on the soul linkage between two people, and the challenge of distancing self from the influence of cherished other.

Reading this biblical text verbatim in 2007 is ethically unacceptable. And so, we choose to read this narrative as a psychological allegory - an invitation to deeply examine our private path of spiritual progress, where, guided by our own soul, even the closest people and even our 'soul mate' may be kindly asked to leave, if only for a while. Sometimes – you simply have to close your eyes and go inside, into our private innermost soul, into the state of living we call 'the promised land'.

Goddess


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

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This week in the Book of Words, secrets are hidden in plain view, covering up the Pagan history of the Hebrew Bible and the presence of the Goddess of Fertility Herself. It somehow feels appropriate to frame this weekly Storah on the portion known as “Ekev” with a nod to a modern incarnation of that divine being – Auntie Mame:

‘I have a little secret I'd like to impart.
That I hope doesn't give you too much of a start;
Tho' it's shocking, it's completely true.
I know it isn't gossip, or rumor, of course,
For I've had it from quite a reliable source
And I'd like to pass it on to you.

The man in the moon is a lady,
A lady in lipstick and curls;
The cow that jumped ovah cried,
"Jumpin' Jehovah,
I think it's just one of the girls.’

Sometimes, indeed, secrets are revealed in the most surprising places. In this week’s Torah Episode, for instance, a lengthy list of God-given fortunes is promised to the people Israel, provided they obey the laws. But there is more to this vision of prosperity than meets the eye – the man in the moon is indeed a lady:

The Book of Words 7:13 ‘He will favor you, and bless you, and multiply you: He will bless the issue of your womb and the produce of your soil, your new grain and wine and oil, the calving of your herd, and the lambing of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to assign to you.’ (NJPS translation)

The Hebrew word for CALVING is the big hidden secret here, although the original Hebrew words for ‘grain’, ‘wine’, and ‘oil’ are also worthy of mention. ‘calving’ is a funny word, most English translation use the word ‘increase’ denoting the fertility of the animals. But the word used in the Torah is ASHTAROT – the name of the ancient Goddess of the Near East – known also as Ishtar or Astarte. At a later mythic twist she will also become known as Esther. So, how and did the Canaanite Goddess become ‘calving’ or ‘increase’? Classic interpreters avoid this word, but modern scholars such as Robert Alter wax poetic in their footnotes. Even the favorite current translation among Conservative Jews, the Etz Chayim, comments: ‘Grain – Dagan, Wine – Tirosh, and Yitzhar- Oil…each of these words is connected to a pagan deity - especially Calving – Ashtoret - the Canaanite fertility goddess.’
It would appear that for the ancient Hebrews, familiar with the religious vocabulary of the land, the allusion to the ancient blessing of the Mother Goddess is both repressed AND represented in those promises of the Hebrew male God. But, there inside the man in the moon – is the ancient moon goddess herself, named but forgotten as Jumpin’ Jehovah successfully controls the new religious paradigm that will be known as Monotheism.

If the Torah would have wanted us to forget the ancient ways in which both Masculine AND Feminine symbols guided our ancient spiritual lives – Ashtarot would not have still been waiting for us inside the words. But here she is – a reminder that for all of us, guided by god or goddess, none or more, there is the promise of profound protection, nurturing, and abundance – the products of a deep commitment to a life of truth.

Or, as Auntie Mame would chant it: ‘LIVE, LIVE, LIVE!’

Shababt shalom, from Lauviticus

VaEtchanan


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

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The swan song of Moses continues this week, as the Book of Words rolls on and the aged leader narrates the history of his people, and his own roller coaster of a journey. Standing on a mountaintop overlooking Canaan, he begins chapter 3 with a heart wrenching plea to enter the Promised Land. Access, however, will be denied, and the depth of Moses’ despair is echoed in the first word of this week’s episode, named for this prayer, ‘Va’etchanan’ – ‘And I pleaded’. But there is more to that word in its original Hebrew than this translation, one of many, conveys. A closer look intensifies this moment, and reveals, perhaps, a glimpse at the inner paths of the human soul as it engages in the mysterious act called ‘prayer’.
The Book of Words, chapter 3, verse 27: ‘And I besought the LORD at that time;’ (JPS translation) The Artscroll Stone Torah translates as ‘And I implored’, the Fox translation is ‘pleaded’, others translate as ‘begged’ ‘entreated’, ‘supplicated’, and ‘beseeched.’ The Aramaic translation elaborates: ‘And I prayed and sought mercy in that hour’.
The Hebrew word Va’etchanan, is singular – only appearing in this rare moment, when Moses is literally on the edge, desperate to fulfill his last wish and complete the journey. The word stems from the root of a Hebrew word that describes, poetically, both verbal and physical meanings of this verb: to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior; to favor, bestow; causatively to implore , and also -to pitch a tent; generally to encamp (for abode or siege)’

The acts of pitching a tent and begging for kindness may seem like two very different actions, but they meet here, portraying a moment of deep devotion and full commitment.
The expression ‘making a pitch’, familiar from sports, business deals, and philanthropic efforts, may be a modern one, but it also applies powerfully to this ancient moment. Moses is making his last pitch, camping in his tent of protest before the Highest Authority.

But the protests and prayers are to no avail. Sometimes, Promised Lands have to remain a desired distance. The hero’s journey, depicted here by the personal story of Moses, ends at the edge of the possible.

Mystical writings discuss Moses’ denied entry as ‘The mystery of the locked garden’, exploring a deeper layer of this story’s spiritual meanings and applications. There’s something about this moment of deep yearning, of fragile impermanence, regardless of the result, that we all know.
Next time you make a pitch, for whatever is your version of a promised land, learn from the old man, and go at it as about to bend reality, pitching a new tent on the summit of possibilities. And, forget about the result, it doesn’t have to end like it did for Moses. And how DOES this story end? Stay tuned for further installments…

Word


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

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The fifth and last book of Moses opens with his proclamation – THESE ARE THE WORDS… But this, of course, is the inadequate English translation of an original Hebrew concept that means more than merely an abstract verbal notion. In Biblical Hebrew, the same word for ‘words’ – DVARIM - can also mean ‘objects’ or ‘things’. Not terribly surprising in a culture where the world is created by word – by Divine speech. Instant weight is built into these final words of the prophet – words that bear gravity and will be henceforth considered as if ‘written in stone’. In this context, and perhaps in others, we are reminded of the power of words to shape reality, for better or worse.

The official English name of this book – Deuteronomy – meaning ‘the Secondary Torah’ originates from the Latin, and refers to this book’s repetition of the previous two books. But a closer read reveals more than a repetition. Moses’ swan song is a mixture of rant and litany, complete with harsh lashings, pithy poetry and words that mean more than meets the eye.

Take for example the question ‘HOW’, asked by an angry Moses as he recounts his early burn-out days, before delegating an elaborate judicial system that will ease his burden of leadership:

How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? Dvarim 1:12

The Hebrew word for ‘how’ is Eycha, at first glance merely a question, but at closer read, a loaded lament. Eycha is the first word of the Scroll of Lamentations – the English name of the Biblical book that is originally named after that first word - The scroll of Eycha. The ‘how’ in that context is a scream in the face of destruction: How lonely sits the destroyed city of Jerusalem, how could this have happened? This coming week, on the Ninth of Av (July 23) , Jews will sit on the floor of their synagogues and read this lament to candlelight. The ‘how’ has extended to include every known calamity in Jewish history, and also to offer each of us time to ponder very personal reckonings of difficult questions about the world and about our lives - big questions that we don’t normally dare ask.

But Eycha is more than an angry or heartbroken question that is perhaps directed towards God – it is in fact an answer to a question asked by God much earlier in the story. Right after Adam & Eve eat from that fruit and hide in the garden, God’s voice calls to them: Ayecha? Where are you? It is the same word, spelled a little differently - and almost the same terrible question.

In some congregations it is customary to chant Moses’ question – only this one verse in the Torah potion of ‘Dvarim’ - in the same sad trope as that of the Eycha Scroll, thus mentally preparing the community for the upcoming 24 hour fast. This quaint custom, highlighting one word in a ritualistic way, links Moses, and us, through the spoken and chanted word, to a destroyed Jerusalem and an Eden left behind.

In his commentary on the first verse of Dvarim, Rashi, the French Torah interpreter wrote: ‘These are the words - all Israel were gathered to hear the repetition from the mouth of Moses himself and make sure there are no contradictions.’

How can we be sure that the words we’ve received, the teachings, laws, and legends are exactly what we need in order to lead the healthy and helpful lives we all yearn for? Rashi paints the picture of a community demanding to see the words formed out of the mouth of the lawmaker – concrete evidence of authority and integrity. Nowadays, all we have are the inherited words – once spoken, now printed, solid artifacts; words truly turned into things, but at the same time - transcending space and time.

Stay tuned to a book full of words that probe and ponder, heal and reveal, reviewing the ongoing journey of a people towards a future where –here’s hoping - the land is a promise, the temple never topples, and every word counts.

Carnal


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

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For the past few weeks, billboards in NY and LA portray the disturbing image of a young woman’s face, fenced in; smeared mascara, a black tear running down her cheek. ‘CAPTIVITY’ is the only word on the poster, promoting some new movie. Whatever this motion-picture is about, the picture alone is a stark and painful reminder of how many women, worldwide, are held captive by greed, abuse, power and cruelty. In Jerusalem, this past week, the fifth annual conference held by Kolech – An Orthodox Women’s Forum, called for the formation of alternative and more liberal ‘batei din’ –courts of Jewish law. Under Israeli law, marriage and divorce are handled by the rabbinate’s religious courts, where Orthodox and nowadays – Ultra Orthodox – is the Law. In the cases of divorces and marital financial settlements, those laws represent an archaic and problematic system that rarely favors the woman. Backed by an impressive array of moderate Israeli rabbis, this feminist organization is part of a growing movement to free women – and men – from the captivity of notions and norms that belong to the past and prevent us from a freer and just future. Whatever the result of this campaign – the call alone is an important reminder of how the problems must be clearly addressed and the dirty laundry aired in order to clean the slate and implement change.

Similarly, in this week’s Torah Episode, Matot-Massey, the last of the Book of Wilderness, a terrible tale of captivity and violence demands attention – a big pile of very bloody, dirty, laundry. We examine this tale, cautiously, through the various translations of one loaded Hebrew term, describing ‘carnal relations with a male.’

The context: 12,000 Hebrew soldiers launch war on the Midianties – another dark chapter in the long saga of desert politics. They kill all the men, returning triumphant to camp, carrying their booty of property and captive women and children. Moses, himself married to a woman of Midyan, is furious, and demands retribution for the seduction by the women of Midyan several chapters ago. Seemingly of his own mind (God doesn’t intervene), he orders the following:

Chapter 31 verses 17- 18: “Slay every male among the children, and also slay every woman who has known a man carnally. But spare every young woman who has not had carnal relationships with a man." (JPS translation) Richard Friedman translates as ‘known a male for male intercourse’. The Artscroll Stone translation is even worse – expanding the list of executed women to include ‘every woman fit to know a man by lying with a male’. Is it virgins or potential virgins who are guilty of ‘intercourse’ and worthy of death?

The Hebrew term here is MISHKAV ZACHAR - usually discussed in a homosexual context but clearly here separating girls from women, making virginity the critical selection marker. The fulfillment of this terrible decree is not described, but when the booty is tallied up several verses later, 32,000 virgins are accounted for (as well as, among others, 675,000 sheep)

In many of the contemporary editions of the Bible, translators and commentators pause here, sharing shock, insight and indignation. Robert Alter writes: ‘It is painfully evident that this is an instance in which biblical outlook sadly failed to transcend its historical contexts.’

But historical interpreters of Torah, such as Rashi and the Pseudo Jonathan translation don’t express any moral dilemma. They expand the story by quoting a Talmudic narrative from tractate Yevamot that explains how Moses knew which of the Midyanite girls was or wasn’t a virgin: ‘but every female child you shall present before the High Priest, who will be wearing his Crown of Holiness, and he and look upon her: she who is not a virgin will be pallid in the face, but she who is a virgin child will blush in the face, like fire; them you shall spare. ‘

Sometimes dirty laundry is more like many, many skeletons in the ark. This lesser known and somewhat repressed and terrible moment in the career of Moses and the annals of the wanderings of Israel through the wilderness of Sinai is perhaps just another reminder of how much of our present is carried over from our past. How much of the Jewish collective consciousness is still formed and informed by these narratives in which a woman is but seduction, danger, property? Where sex is a threat and ethnic cleansing, human traffic and murder of children is condoned? How many billboards and hostile rabbinic courts still hold us captive to this hostile past?

Perhaps by opening these stories up for new and critical interpretations we expose the wounds and begin a process of healing. As the Orthodox Women’s Forum demonstrated this week – airing dirty laundry is a crucial step towards having clean sheets. We leave this fourth book of Moses behind this week, and with it, hopefully, the continued journey towards the utopian vision of promised lands and new beginnings, wrestling with our mixed bag of memories.

But tell us, how, from now on, do we look Moses in the eyes?

Massacre


Verse per verse: The Weekly Storah

By Lauviticus

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Just when you thought things can’t get wilder in the Book of Wilderness, sex, politics, and fanatic violence tip the scales. What else is new. Last week’s Torah episode ends with a cliff hanger – a bloody ‘coitus interruptus’ between a Hebrew leader and a princess of Midyan. It is likely that this public sex act pushed pious buttons not only for its crossing of boundaries between Hebrew and Heathen but also because it represented an idolatrous moment – the ‘Hieros Gamos’ - symbolic union of Male and Female, as celebrated, often, in the pagan world. The two pay with their lives for this moment of passion and/or devotion. Pinchas, a Levite, the man for whom this weekly Torah portion is named, pierces them both with a spear, instantly stopping what seemed to have been an out of control orgiastic party. The next thing we find out is that 24,000 people are dead – victims of a mysterious ‘plague’.

Wait, what plague? There is no clear explanation in this context, and we wonder if this may be not just a case of odd translation but, possibly, an even older version of a ‘intra-translation’ - a political ‘cover up’, where mass murder is disguised as a disease. Was it an epidemic? Is it Divine retribution? Who were killed and who did the killing? We will probably never know, but what strikes us as relevant is the way some events are named and remembered, and the way that those in power get to tell the story and to title inconvenient tragedies, then and now.

Chapter 26, verse 19 comes in after it is all over, with one of the shortest and most chilling verse in Torah: ‘And it came to pass, after the Plague:’

Every single Biblical translation we’ve checked uses the word ‘Plague”, indicating a ‘force-major’ of some sort. But the Hebrew word MAGEFA could also be translated as ‘affliction’ or ‘calamity’ or any form of ‘fatal interruption’. It could also mean ‘the killing’.

As soon as the plague is done, Moses is instructed to count the people, taking stock, perhaps of losses. Rashi, the 11th century French interpreter of Torah remarks:’ This is like a shepard who counts his sheep after the wolf has attached the flock.’

This is a sad image, especially coming from the pen of a man who has witnessed the horrendous repercussions of the first crusade. Rashi seems to imply that the dead Hebrews are victims of a terrible misfortune, but what is one to do with the preceding two verse in which a revenge on Midyan is ordered, a counter attack to balance out the ‘plague’? Could the dead 24,000 have been the victims of a war, or even an intra tribal civil war, severely repressed? The killing by Pinchas, blessed by God, seems to indicate that some sort of bloodshed took place that day.

In his commentary on this verse, Richard Friedman writes ‘ the plague is a direct, unannounced consequence of the violation of the holy place..’ and as such, whether the bloodthirsty act of fanatics like Pinchas or a mysterious Divinely ordained wiping out of the bad guys – many people died, enough to be noted, counted, and remembered. So, who’s to say? In a world where torture is sometimes referred to as ‘interrogation’ and murdered political prisoners are labeled ‘missing’, this possibly twisted truth, is, sadly, no news. It is likely that more happened here, at this biblical moment in time, than anybody wishes to really remember. This makes us think of Albert Camus, and his book ‘the plague’, where he claims that perseverance in the face of tragedy is a noble struggle even if it ultimately fails to make an appreciable difference.

But can we make a difference, and change the course our story is taking? We believe that we may not be able to alter the inherited, abusive text, but we do have the obligation to ask the hard questions, acknowledge the skeletons in our closet, and make room for a future healed of this abuse. We’d like to walk a path where the Pinchas archetype is not honored anymore. And so we continue to wrestle with the Book of Wilderness, slowly making our way to the Promised Land of high hopes. Stay tuned for next week where more difficult questions arise and an ancient journey takes us one step closer to where we’d really like to be.