Category: literary analysis

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

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.

Haazinu: A Path to Follow

As we near the end of Deuteronomy/Devarim and prepare to begin the cycle again, I think it’s worth taking a few moments to notice the differences between translations/commentaries. Even when the English does not appear to vary much, each translation/commentary shifts the focus slightly. Take, e.g., Devarim/Deuteronomy 32:2:

May my discourse [likchi] come down as the rain [matar],
My speech distill as the dew,
Like showers [se’irim] on young growth,
Like droplets [re’vivim] on the grass. — Plaut/JPS (also Plaut/Stein)
Continue reading Haazinu: A Path to Follow

Haazinu: Something to Notice

The Song of Moses, Devarim/Deuteronomy 32:1-39, also known as Shirat Ha’azinu [“Give Ear”], ranges over past, present and future in Israel’s relationship to God. In outlining the poem’s structure, Nechama Leibowitz cites Moses Mendelssohn‘s Biur and an early 20th Century article published in German.
Continue reading Haazinu: Something to Notice

The Drash Not Given: “Emissary” and the Akedah

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Introduction

I know that it’s a little peculiar to insist on linking the Akedah, the “binding of Isaac,” with “Emissary,” the pilot episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I feel I should begin these remarks by saying that. In addition, I am fully aware that the wormhole entities, AKA “the Prophets of Bajor,” to whom we are introduced in this television series are not meant to reflect the God of Genesis. Nonetheless, I am absolutely convinced that Deep Space Nine‘s “Emissary” episode has more to teach about the Akedah, about God-human communication and about teshuvah [“repentance” or “return”].
Continue reading The Drash Not Given: “Emissary” and the Akedah