“The Torah, this mitzvah which I command you is not beyond unnatural or beyond you. It is not in heaven that we say who will go up to heaven to bring it down for us to teach us so that we can do it. It is not across the seas so we might say who will cross the sea and…
Author: Jeremy Rosen
The Land of Israel
This book of Devarim keeps on referring to how special the land of Israel is. Its produce “A land of grain wheat and barley, wine, figs, pomegranates, olive oil and honey,” “A land flowing with milk and honey.” In Egypt and in Babylon produce came from irrigation. In Israel rains were the only source of fresh water and so the…
First Fruits
In the declaration on bringing the first fruits to be dedicated at the Tabernacle or Temple, one says “My father was a wandering Aramean.” It is true that the Midrash interprets it differently, to suggest that Laban the Aramean tried to kill our father Jacob.” This is clearly homiletics, not the literal translation. In the Pesah Hagadah, this quote is…
Warnings
There’s a very unusual ceremony in this week’s part of the Torah. When the tribes cross over the river Jordan and settle on the West Bank they were commanded to gather on the two Mountains Gerizim and Eyval which can be found near the city now called Nablus. To this day, they are considered holy by the Samaritans. Their Temple…
Consequences
This week’s reading continues the recapitulation of the biblical laws first given in Exodus. But whereas last week’s dealt mainly with government and social affairs, this week we deal mainly with personal morality. How the individual should behave, rather than the State. The transition is marked by the law of the captive woman. If a man goes to war and…
Sons Do Not Die for the Sins of Their Fathers
“Fathers shall not be punished for their sons, nor shall sons be punished for their fathers. Each person shall be punished for his own crimes.” Deuteronomy 24.16. On the face of it this quote from this week’s reading, is a biblical response to Sumerian and Assyrian law. They did indeed put children to death for crimes their parents committed and…