V’ahavta   וְאָהַבְתָּ

The following verses are commonly referred to as the V’ahavta according to the first word of the verse immediately following the Shema, or in Classical Hebrew V’ahav’ta meaning “and you shall love…”. They contain the command to love God with all one’s heart, soul, and might (Deuteronomy 6:5). The Talmud emphasizes that you will, at some point, whether you choose to or not, and therefore uses “shall” – future tense – love God.

Devarim 6.5 “And thou shalt love the L-RD thy G-D with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

Devarim 6.6 “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart; […]”.

Yochanan: upon thy heart: Meditate upon them continually; (as if they were a precious secret told between two lovers, as it says, “love is stronger than death.” Shir HaShirim 8.6) as the passuk (Y’hoshua 1.8) says, “And you shall meditate upon them day and night.” And as Melek David said,

“But his delight is in the law of the L-RD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.” Tehillim 1.2 – וּבְתוֹרָתוֹ יֶהְגֶּה, יוֹמָם וָלָיְלָה. Yeehegeeh יֶהְגֶּה (to meditate) is related to the words Haggadah, Aggadah and Maggid מַגִּיד to tell or relate; to wit, to inspire, or even to “illuminate”. (a traditional Jewish religious itinerant preacher, skilled as a narrator of Torah and religious stories).

Y’hoshua 1.8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate וְהָגִיתָ (vehagitha) therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shalt make thy ways prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה

Shir HaShirim 8.6 Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is cruel as the grave; the flashes thereof are flashes of fire, a very flame of the L-RD.

Shir HaShirim 8.7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, he would utterly be contemned.” {S}

Jewish Journal

CHARLESTON, SC – FEBRUARY 24: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at the South Carolina Democratic Party “First in the South” dinner on February 24, 2020 in Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina holds its Democratic presidential primary on Saturday, February 29. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

 

Democratic presidential front-runner Bernie Sanders announced he will boycott this week’s American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference because of the “bigotry” of leaders it hosts. If Sanders wants to boycott bigotry, he should look closer to home: at his anti-Semitic political cheerleaders.

Last Labor Day weekend, Sanders was the headliner in Houston at the 56th annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America, where the theme was, “What’s your super power for social good?”

Some misguided “super powers” suggested at the conference for “social good” include actual bigotry laced with anti-Semitism: the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks a “one-state solution” with a “right of return”  for Palestinians so they outnumber Jews; the elimination of Israel from “the river to the sea,” as ally Marc Lamont Hill, a professor and author, declares; and violent hate, including a book, “Reliance of the Traveller,” which I bought in the conference bazaar for $39.99, sanctioning jihad as “war against non-Muslims” and “war upon Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians.”

To my chagrin, as someone who voted for Sanders in the 2016 primary, these anti-Semites enjoy growing influence on Sanders, building a disturbing coalition with anti-Israel groups such as Jewish Voice for Peace, IfNotNow and Code Pink. Sanders’ supporters say they are “only anti-Zionist,” and Sanders denies his allies are anti-Semitic. But when you cheer a plan to destroy the state of the Jewish people, it is anti-Semitism. Hate of the Jewish state is anti-Semitism.

In Houston, activist Linda Sarsour slipped into the Grand Ballroom to cheer “Uncle Bernie,” as she calls Sanders. She has backed Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who condemned “Satanic Jews” and said he was “anti-Termite,” not an “anti-Semite.” The year before, at the same conference, I heard Sarsour say it’s a “problem” to “humanize”  Israelis.

Then, Sanders campaign manager Faiz Shakir stepped onto the main stage. At the Think Progress website of the Center for American Progress, Shakir was editor when anti-Semitism became national news. Think Progress writer Zaid Jilani had tweeted Jews are “Israeli Firsters,” which Shakir acknowledged as “terrible, anti-Semitic language.”  Sanders campaign official Matt Duss, then a Think Progress writer, came under fire for anti-Semitism. Later, working at the ACLU, Shakir defended BDS as “free speech.”

In Houston, anti-Semitic imams and activists cheered Sanders’ call BDS free speech.

That weekend, Sanders champion Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), who supports BDS, spoke. In Tlaib’s congressional office in early 2019 after her swearing-in, comedian Amer Zahr, a new Sanders surrogate, put a Post-it Note with “Palestine” written on it on a map of the Middle East where Israel sits. He once claimed Jewish Americans believe Israel is “their ISIS.”  Soon after, Sanders supporter Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) declared U.S. support for Israel is “all about the Benjamins.”

This past week, Sanders said it is “an honor”  to be endorsed by Emgage PAC, where chief executive Wa’el Alzayat defended Omar’s anti-Semitism. The Sanders team also won the support of Council of American-Islamic Relations leader Zahra Billoo, whom the Women’s March dropped from its board amid backlash for her saying Israel does not have “the right to exist.”  Former Council of American-Islamic Relations staffer Hoda Katebi, a former member of Students for Justice in Palestine, a group that harasses Jewish students on campuses, campaigns for Sanders. In Houston, Hatem Bazian, a UC Berkeley lecturer and cofounder of Students for Justice in Palestine and American Muslims for Palestine, anti-Israel groups pushing BDS, was among early Sanders supporters,

Sanders also enjoys the growing support of Ali Abunimah, founder of Electronic Intifada, a propaganda machine against the “inherently racist Israeli regime,”  though he recently published an article that Sanders doesn’t oppose Israel enough: “Good, but not perfect.”

When Uncle Bernie throws out words like bigotry, he ought to look a little closer at the anti-Semitic company he keeps.

---

Asra Q. Nomani is a former Wall Street Journal reporter and codirector of the Pearl Project, which investigated the murder of her friend and colleague Daniel Pearl and now investigates anti-Semitism. @AsraNomani

B”H

Talmudi Megillat HaN’Choshet

(Studies in the Copper Scroll)

From Wikipedia-

While most of the Dead Sea Scrolls were found by Bedouins, the Copper Scroll was discovered by an archaeologist.^[4] The scroll, on two rolls of copper, was found on March 14, 1952^[5] at the back of Cave 3 at Qumran. It was the last of 15 scrolls discovered in the cave, and is thus referred to as 3Q15.^[6] The corroded metal could not be unrolled by conventional means, and John Marco Allegro arranged for Professor H. Wright Baker, of the College of Technology at Manchester, England, to cut the sheets into 23 strips in 1955

and 1956.^[7]

****

Megillat ha’Nechoshet, (The Copper Scroll) has intrigued scholars and laymen alike for it’s content, myth, legends, and potential disclosure of an immense amount of wealth seeming to have been enscribed thereon.

What is the Copper Scroll? Is is a “treasure map” or just a hoax? Is it a religious document and not an administrative – quasi civil document of the Second Temple era? If it is a religious document which comports with the practice of the Qumran Communities adherence to shunning wealth, then the Copper Scroll should be given serious theological consideration as to why and how it fits into the Qumran Communities theology and end times (eschatological) out-look upon their immediate circumstances within that Second Temple era.

Copper was used in the construction of the Tabernacle for the: Brazen Altar, (Exodus 38.4), foot of the altar (38.8), rings (27.4), pins (27.19) and sockets (38.10). As well, the Copper Serpent (Numbers 21.6-9) was a healing agent for those who looked upon it. Hezekiah crushed the Copper Serpent (Mishneh Pesachim 4.6) and hid the Book of Remedies (M.Pesachim 4.6) as it became used in avodah zarah idol worship. In short, it is the base of or foundation necessary for burnt offerings. Copper, “precious as gold” was weighed by Ezra, the Priests, as well as the Levites (Ezra 8.27), who wrote all the weight of the free-will offering to the L-RD. (8.34) Copper is thus identified primarily seven times in the Jewish Bible (TaNaCh) of lessor or lower importance in metallurgy and the value of metals as the basis upon which to build the Mishkan.

So, what, if any thing happened to the “treasures” of the Copper Scroll? Do they still exist or are they lost to antiquity? Although the answer may be found in the writings of the Jewish historian Josephus; siman (signs) do not attest to the veracity of the “location” treasure themselves.

For theological reasons, I prefer to suggest that the treasure map theory is a “wisdom mystery” couched in the Dead Sea Scrolls themselves. From my research paper on the Dead Sea Scrolls: As can be seen by 1Q21 “The Words of Levi”

 (The Dead Sea Scrolls, A New Translation, Wise, Michael; Abegg, Martin, Jr.; and Cook, Edward; Harper Collins Publishers, San Francisco, 1996 pp.251-52):

“Then he gave me the blessings of the Priesthood…”. “Consider, my sons, my brother Joseph, who teaches writing and discipline and wisdom. …. So wisdom is a great fortune of glory, and a fine treasure for all who possess it. If mighty kings come with many people, and an army, horsemen, and many chariots with them, and if they seize the wealth of the lands and nations, plundering everything in them, they still could not plunder the storehouses of wisdom, nor could they find its hidden riches. 4Q213 Frag. 6+7 (Wise 257)

According to Michael Wise in The Dead Sea Scrolls, A New Translation; “Copper was used for the safekeeping of nonliterary records, Roman public laws, and even the private discharge papers of Roman Military veterans. More to the point, copper and bronze were common media of choice for the archival records of temples in the Roman period.

According to Josephus, …. The Romans pursued a definite policy to retrieve treasure hoards that citizens of Jerusalem had secreted during the siege. As always, the key to their recovery lay with the interrogation of prisoners. One such, Pinchas, was an official treasurer of the Temple. The historian tells us that this man delivered up to the Romans “‘the tunics and girdles worn by the priests… many other treasures also were delivered up by him, with sacred ornaments (War 6.390-91). (Wise, pp. 190-91)

Megillat ha’Nechoshet begins:

[First Cache]

“In the ruin in the Valley of Achor, under the steps with the entrance at the East at a distance of 40 cubits a strong-box of silver with it’s vessels, 17 talents in weight. KEN

[Fourth Cache]

“In the ruin-heep of Kohlit: vessels of tribute of the master of nations, and ephods. All of this belongs to the tribute and the seventh treasure, a second tithe rendered unclean. Its opening is in the edge of the aqueduct on the north six cubits to the immersion bath, XAG.” (CHAG)

[Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh Caches]

Forty two talents lie under the stairs in the salt pit.HN (HEN) Sixty five bars of gold lie on the third terrace in the cave of the old Washers House.QE (TA’AH) Seventy telents of silver are enclosed in wooden vessel that are in the cistern of a burial chamber in Matia’s courtyard. Fifteen cubits from the front of the eastern gates, lies a cistern. The ten talents lie in the canal of the cistern.DI (DAY)

[Fifteenth Cache]

Dig down sixteen cubits under the eastern corner to find forty talents of silver.TR (TAPH)

[Eighteenth Cache]

Fourteen talents of silver can be found in the pillar on the northern side of the big cistern in Kohlit. SK (SOOK)

Here, the Greek characters are transliterated into Hebrew: Ken, Chag, Hen, Ta’ah, Day, Taph, Sook (Yes, Their Festival [in] Booths [to play, tap or beat] Tamborines [is] Enough [for] Anointing)

“Thus the scroll is not a ‘free’ literary prose creation; instead, it is a work designed according to a fixed and defined (preset) structure. Even if none of the 60 items is complete in containing entries for all seven subjects or ‘fields’ that exist in the scroll, the form of the description was preset, and the author was not permitted to express himself freely. Indeed, Wolters has shown that the Copper Scroll could have been written in seven columns, a fact that emphasizes that we cannot regard this as a text with a free form but a text with a rigid structure.”

Copper Scroll Studies George J. Brooke, Philip R. Davies A&C Black, Oct 27, 2004 – Religion – 362 pages

“All Sevens Are Precious”

The Copper scroll according to Al Wolters was written in seven columns

Wolters identifies seven subjects or fields that exist in the Copper scroll

seven places that Greek characters appear on the Copper scroll. Here, the Greek characters are transliterated into Hebrew: Ken, Chag, Hen, Ta’ah, Day, Taph, Sook (Yes, Their Festival [in] Booths [to play, tap or beat] Tamborines [is] Enough [for] Anointing)

The seven locations (listed in the Copper Scroll possessing Greek letters) are thought to be by some scholars to “represent the quantities of treasure buried at the site. Or, “Another recent suggestion is that they are abbreviations of names of priestly families responsible for the treasure at that particular site.” Meir Bar Ilan (referencing Shekalim 3.2) states that “the Greek letters were used as private signs.”

However, this Mishneh states first, that Aleph, Bet, Gimmel were the “siman” (or signs) “used for the half-shekel levy imposed on the public;” whereas the Greek letters, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, appear in the Mishneh only as a secondary opinion (of Rabbi Ishmael). In Rabbi Ishmael’s rules of hermenuetics, heyqesh – comparison, the matter of whether Hebrew or Greek characters were used for designation of the registrant who had paid the treasurer the Temple tax (shekel) imposed upon them is resolved because when one compares the Hebrew to the Greek, the characters only make sense as a coherent sentence in Hebrew. As signs (siman) for the Temple tax (shekel) they make perfect sense.

Since only seven locations possess Greek characters and according to Al Wolters, Megillat HaNechoshet the Copper Scroll was written in seven columns, the numeral seven plays a significant role in our “discovery” concerning the treasures from Qumran.

For instance, this could tell us who composed the scroll or which priestly family might have contributed to the half shekel levy during the Hashmonean Dynasty.

ZAYIN is the seventh letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet which means a sword or sceptre

(as in the symbol for royal authority) – As for example –

Esther 5.2 “When the king saw Esther the queen standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight; and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. So Esther came near, and touched the top of the scepter.”

The seventh letter of the alef-bet is zayin. Its design is the form of a sword. The top of the zayin is the handle, and the vertical leg is the blade. Another interpretation of the zayin’s design is that it represents a crown and a scepter. The zayin thus alludes to power and authority.

seven days shall you eat unleavened bread – matzah – Parsha Bo – Shmoth 12.8, 15-20 introduces the lesson of matzah unleaven bread; the complete nullification of leaven (or leavening agents, that is nullification of the individual’s ego or pride) from one’s home commemorated annually with Pesach – Passover. Thus, every year BEGINS with a nullification of leavening agents from our midst!

Zachor remember the seventh day to sanctify it Exodus 20.8

Shomer guard or keep the seventh day Deuteronomy 5:12

“all sevens are precious”

Pesach and Sukkot are seven day festivals

“Ye shall dwell [“B’Simcha”] in booths seven days; all that are home-born in Israel shall dwell in booths.”

For, “The Joy of the L-RD is your Strength” – Nechemiah 8.10,

“And all the congregation of them that were come back out of the captivity made booths, and dwelt in the booths; for since the days of Joshua the son of Nun unto that day had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.” Nechemiah 8.17

the Challah (Bride) at her wedding goes around her Katan (groom) seven times

under the Chuppah (wedding canopy) seven blessings are said

they the Challah and Katan celebrate for seven days

Tehillim (Psalms) 119.164 states, “Seven time a day have I Praised You.” Mishnah Berachoth 1.4 relates that from this passuk (verse), “the Sages instituted seven blessings of the Shema” (Devarim 6.4).

There are also seven “lower sefiroth”- the Lower Shekinah (“spheres of illumination”) found in Sefer Yetzirah – the Book of Creation.

there are seven weeks between Pesach and Shavuot

seventh year – shmitta the Year of Release and Land Laying Fallow

seventh year – Hakhel Deuternomy 31.10 The King’s Assembly (National Address) (Chapter of the King) Biblically speaking, even the King is subject to the Torah in a Biblically permissable, yet limited Monarchy. Deuternomy 17.18-20 Disempowered King: Monarchy in Classical Jewish Literature (3.3 The King’s Subjugation to the Torah) By Yair Lorberbaum.

seven years times seven years is 49 years before the 50th Jubilee (Yovel) Year of Liberty

Zachor remember the seventh day

Zaqen aged, elder

WATCH: DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF THE OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE BY ISRAEL – with Dr. Mordechai Kedar

This eye-opening and empowering presentation analyzes the claim of some Arabs, that only in recent years began calling themselves Palestinians, that Israel expelled them from their historic homeland in 1948 and now allegedly illegally occupy the land that has belonged to Palestinians for thousands of years. Dr. Mordechai Kedar, presents an eye-opening review and full context of the controversy, shedding light on the true reality of the situation, of a people who claim that their nation is under “occupation”.

NOTE: Under international law, an “occupation” is only when a sovereign state overtakes the territory of another sovereign state.

NOTE: Palestine was never a state; the land in question was never sovereign territory of any country, thus it cannot be “occupied.”

NOTE: Israel and the Jewish people have (1.) a legal right, ie. the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine, the San Remo Conference, etc., (2) a moral right, due to winning disputed lands in wars of self defense, (3.) a 4,000 year historical legacy and (4.) a Biblical claim to ALL of the land Israel. Thus, it should be clear that the Jews of Israel are proud owners of, and not occupiers, of the lands in question.

NOTE: The first time any Arab political entity ever called itself “Palestinian” was with the creation of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1964, 16 years after the rebirth of the modern State of Israel. A central aim of this vital lecture is to encourage participants to uncover all the facts, see both sides of this complicated issue, and evaluate the strength of the competing arguments for yourself. Based upon this rigorous analysis, you will have a more informed point of view and be able to more effectively present it to others. ●

ABOUT DR. MORDECHAI KEDAR: Dr. Mordechai Kedar holds a Ph.D. from Bar-Ilan University and a scholar of Arabic literature and senior lecturer in the Department of Arabic Studies at Bar-Ilan University. Dr. Kedar is a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies and is an academic expert on the Israeli Arab population. He served for 25 years in IDF Military Intelligence, where he specialized in Islamic groups, the political discourse of Arab countries, the Arabic press and mass media, and the Syrian domestic arena. Dr. Kedar is an expert on the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist groups.

Dr. Kedar drew worldwide attention with a June 2008 al-Jazeera interview in which he challenged the moderator’s assertion that “You cannot erase Jerusalem from the Quran,” by pointing out that Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Quran.

Dr. Kedar can be reached at kedar.tour@gmail.com

Former Likud MK and Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick was released Tuesday afternoon after lengthy police questioning following his arrest on the Temple Mount.

Glick was arrested Tuesday morning while visiting the Temple Mount with two US congressmen.

Police claim he violated the rules of the visit.

Responding to Glick’s arrest, Yamina candidate Sara Beck said: “A state of affairs wherein under Israeli sovereignty Jews cannot visit the Temple Mount without police supervising their every move is ridiculous and absurd. The policy of persecuting and restricting only Jews directly encourages extreme Muslim elements.”

“It would be better if the State of Israel stood in the way of incendiary and violent elements of our society and not of peaceful Jews seeking to fulfill their commandments.”

Last year, the Palestinian Authority accused Glick of “breaking in” to the Temple Mount together with dozens of “settlers.”