Author: vspatz

General writing and archives at Vspatz.net. Most frequent writing on Jewish topics, at songeveryday.org and Rereading4Liberation.com.

Noach: A Path to Follow

Alan Lew presents the Tower of Babel story (Genesis/Breishit 11:1-9) as the third step in an emotional path that also includes the expulsion of Adam and Eve from Eden and the conflict between Cain and Abel. Exploring this path, as outlined in Be Still and Get Going: A Jewish Meditation Practice for Real Life,* suggests new ways of reading these and other Torah texts and applying their insights in our lives.
Continue reading Noach: A Path to Follow

Noach: Language and Translation

And all the earth was one language, one set of words. And it happened as they journeyed from the east that they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to each other, ‘Come let us bake bricks [havah nilb’nah l’veinim] and burn them hard [v’nis’r’fah lis’reifah].’ And the brick served them as stone, and bitumen served them as mortar. Continue reading Noach: Language and Translation

Noach: Great Source(s)

‘…I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall serve as a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember my Covenant between Me and you and every living creature among all flesh, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh….’ Continue reading Noach: Great Source(s)

Noach: Something to Notice

Before the first yearly portion, Breishit [“in the beginning”], ends, Noah and his sons are introduced (Breishit/Genesis 5:28-32). Similarly, the second portion, Noach [Noah] — which is highlighted by the Flood (6:9 – 9:17) and Tower of Babel (11:1-9) stories — closes with an introduction of Abraham and Sarah (then called “Abram” and “Sarai”) and their family members (11:26-32).
Continue reading Noach: Something to Notice

Breishit: Great Source(s)

The letter [bet] at the beginning of the word [breishit], is an allusion to 2 phenomena, G’d’s largesse on the one hand, His providing us with unlimited potential, whereas man by defining words in the Torah narrows down, limits the potential, in a sense limiting G’d’s input in the physical universe….The oral Torah, i.e., man’s interpretation of the letters of the Torah, imposes limitations on G’d’s largesse. When man defines letters in the written Torah, however broad such a definition may be, it excludes whatever is beyond man’s definition.
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Breishit: Language and Translation

Language issues in early chapters of Genesis/Breishit include differentiating between “adam” — which may or may not carry a specific gender — and “ish” and “ isha,” who are always gendered.

Genesis/Breishit 1:27 involves a notable shift from singular to plural pronouns as ha-adam (a singular something) is created in what appears to be (plural) variety: “male and female.” Older translations use “man.” “Human” or “humankind” is favored in newer ones. “The earthling” — a gender-neutral term reflecting the relationship of ha-adam to adamah, “earth” — might be more profitably used.
Continue reading Breishit: Language and Translation

Breishit: Something to Notice

The word “havel” — vapor, mist, steam; futility, vanity — features prominently in the book of Ecclesiates/Kohelet, beginning with the second verse:

The words of Koheleth son of David, king in Jerusalem.
Utter futility! [havel havalim] — said Koheleth —
Utter futility! [havel havalim] All is futile! [ha-kol havel] Continue reading Breishit: Something to Notice

Vezot Ha-Berakhah: Language and Translation

Several translators/commentators note Moses’ use of the expression “Presence in the Bush” — or as Fox has it “Seneh-bush dweller” — to bless Joseph. “Seneh” — samech nun hey — appears in the story of Moses meeting God in the “thorn bush” in Exodus/Shemot 3:1-6. It’s next use is here in verse 33:16:

With the bounty of earth and its fullness
And the favor of the Presence in the Bush [shochni s’neh]

This way of naming God is unique to this verse. The Torah: A Women’s Commentary adds a note that “the later concept of God’s Presence as the Shechinah comes from the same root as the expression “shochni.” For example, God promises, “And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them [v’shachanti b’tocham] in Exodus/Shemot 25:8.