Martial Arts and Mishpatim

 

Hebrew- 

Bad Transliterations

            https://www.pealim.com/dict/1481-lehitatesh/

            https://www.pealim.com/dict/310-legahek/

            https://www.pealim.com/dict/5111-letzachkek/

            https://www.pealim.com/dict/2120-lishog/

            https://www.pealim.com/dict/854-lirok/

 

קָדְשׁוֹ

Kedsho

Kadsho

Kodsho

Kodshu

Korbon  

 הִנְחִילָנוּ

Khinheelanu

Khinhalanu

Hinkheelanu

Hinkhalunu

Hakunamatata

 

 

בְּאַהֲבָה

Be’uhuva

Be’ihiva

Be’ahava

Be’ohava

Be’hive

 

 

 

 קִדְּשָׁנוּ

Keedshanu

Reedshanu

Meedshau

Heedshanu

Needataco

 

 

בְּמִצְוֹתָיו

Bemitzotav

Bemitzvotav

Bemitzvotaiv

Bemeayotav

Bemitzanavim

 

    לְמִקְרָאֵי  

Lemik’rah’ey

Lemi’kerah’ey

Lemi’kerah’ai

Lemi’kerah’ah

Lemi’kerah’ee

 

 

  לִיצִיאַת

La’tziat

Leezee’at

Leezee’as

Lo’tzooat

Leetzee’at

 

 

 

 מִצְרָיִם

Mutzram

Mitzram

Mitzrai’im

Mu’tze’rai’im

Metzamnflfn

 

 

 

זִכָּרוֹן

Zekaron

Zakaron

Zecharon

Zacharon

Zekaro

 

 

 

 לְמַעֲשֵׂה

Lumu’usu

Layma’asey

Lama’asah

Le’ma’asah

Le’ma’asey

 

 

 בְרֵאשִׁית

Beraysheet

Beray’asheet

Veraysheet

Vera’asheet

Vereayshees

 

 

 בָחַרְתָ

 Bacharta

Baharta

Vaharta

Vacharta

Vacahareta

 

 

  קְדַּשְׁתָּ

Kadashta

Kadshecha

Kodshecha

Keedashta

Ke’dashta

וְהָאֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים

Vaha’achashdarpanim

Veha’ahashdarpanim

Veha’achashdarfanim

Veha’achashdarpanim

Veha’chushdurpunum

 

 

 

SHEMOT (Exodus)  24:-

 Adonai said to Moshe, "Come up to Adonai, you, and Aharon, Nadav, and Avihu, and seventy of the Zakenim/leaders of Yisra'el; and worship from a distance.  Moshe alone shall come near to Adonai, but they shall not come near, neither shall the people go up with him."  Moshe came and told the people all the words of Adonai, and all the laws; and all the people answered with one voice, and said, "All the words which Adonai has spoken Na’ahseh/ will we do." 

Moshe wrote all the words of Adonai, and rose up early in the morning, and built an altar under the mountain, and twelve pillars of stones for the twelve tribes of Yisra'el….He took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, "All that Adonai has spoken, Na’she V’nishmah/we will do and we will listen to it.”

Then Moshe, Aharon, Nadav, Avihu, and seventy of the Zakenim of Yisra'el went up. They saw the God of Yisra'el. Under God’s  feet was like a paved work of saphir  stone, like the sky in terms of clarity.  Adonai didn't lay a hand on the nobles of the children of Yisra'el. They saw God, and then ate and drank. 

Adonai said to Moshe, "Come up to me on the mountain, and stay here, and I will give you the tables of stone with the law and the commands that I have written, that you may teach them."  Moshe rose up with Yehoshua, his attendant, and Moshe went up onto God's Mountain.   He said to the Zakenim, "Wait here for us, until we come again to you. Behold, Aharon and Hur are with you. Whoever is involved in a dispute can go to them."

Moshe went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain….The appearance of the glory of Adonai was like devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Yisra'el. Moshe entered into the midst of the cloud, and went up on the mountain; and Moshe was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

They saw the God of Israel?

Ask the Mepharshim what they think that means.

Rashi:

They peeped in their attempt to catch a glimpse of the Supreme Being, and thereby made themselves liable for death. But it was only because God did not wish to disturb the joy caused by the Giving of the Torah, that God  did not punish them instantly, but waited (postponed the punishment) for Nadab and Abihu until the day when the Tabernacle was dedicated, when they were stricken with death, and for the elders until the event of which the text relates as explained  in Tanchuma. (Midrash Tanchuma, Beha'alotcha 16).

Ibn Ezra:  They did not see God literally, but in a prophetic vision. The same is true of Isaiah’when he says “I beheld Adonai seated on a high and lofty throne ,” (Isaiah 6:1). This is made clear in Ezekiel's vision (Ezekiel 1:1), saying that what he had seen originally was merely visions of God. The term here “God of Israel” refers to the Creator “in whose hand is every living soul,”  (Iyov 12:10).  One who is enlightened will understand.

Nachmanides: Ibn-Ezra says they saw him in the prophetic vision. See his comment. The straightforward sense of the expression of the “God of Israel” is that the merit of their father Israel was with them, giving them the privilege of seeing this, for the elders saw more in this vision than the rest of the people down on the ground,  who saw the great fire  of God’s presence, but only through the dense clouds.  

Gersonides: In this moment they saw that he was God of the entire universe and not just the lower material world.

Maimonides (Mar Hirsch’s Translation):  In  Hebrew, the word Lirot, to see, has multiple meanings, including to comprehend and to experience.  You see? Or did you not see that coming?  Well too bad, I don’t see it that way.  This seeing was a moment of comprehending  God.  To think it meant they used  physical sight to look at God’s physical body means you are a very silly person not even worthy of serving falafel.   What it meant is when they saw the paving of saphir stone, which is transparent and has no color? That they had a glimpse into  the very first moments of creation, and how the very first matter had no set form or color. They understood that God gave all things form, and that all creation and destruction follow at God’s will.   This is what the elders of Israel understood at the moment of “seeing.”

--summary of his essay in part one of “Guide for the Perplexed.”

 

 

SHEMOT 21:22-25—Every Translation is a Commentary

 

Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and JPS English

וְכִֽי־יִנָּצ֣וּ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְנָ֨גְפ֜וּ אִשָּׁ֤ה הָרָה֙ וְיָצְא֣וּ יְלָדֶ֔יהָ וְלֹ֥א יִהְיֶ֖ה אָס֑וֹן עָנ֣וֹשׁ יֵעָנֵ֗שׁ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֨ר יָשִׁ֤ית עָלָיו֙ בַּ֣עַל הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וְנָתַ֖ן בִּפְלִלִֽים׃

When men fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no disaster ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact from him, to be given based on judgement.

וְאִם־אָס֖וֹן יִהְיֶ֑ה וְנָתַתָּ֥ה נֶ֖פֶשׁ תַּ֥חַת נָֽפֶשׁ׃

But if disaster ensues, the penalty shall be life for life,

עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן שֵׁ֖ן תַּ֣חַת שֵׁ֑ן יָ֚ד תַּ֣חַת יָ֔ד רֶ֖גֶל תַּ֥חַת רָֽגֶל׃

eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

כְּוִיָּה֙ תַּ֣חַת כְּוִיָּ֔ה פֶּ֖צַע תַּ֣חַת פָּ֑צַע חַבּוּרָ֕ה תַּ֖חַת חַבּוּרָֽה׃ (ס)

burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.

 

Septuagint (Greek Translation of the Bible used in early Christianity):

“And if two men strive and strikes a woman with child, and then she miscarries a child  imperfectly formed, he shall be forced to pay a penalty; as the woman’s husband may lay upon him, he shall pay with a valuation. But if it be perfectly formed he shall give… life for life.”                     

 

Questions on the two translations of Exodus 21:22-25

1.    What is the disaster that the translation from the Hebrew is concerned with happening or not?  It’s not a miscarriage, so what is it?

2.    What is the difference the translation from the Greek translation known as the Septuagint concerned with?

3.    Between the Hebrew and Greek,  who  is of most importance to whom in this set of verses- the mother or the fetus?

4.    What modern issue that is at the forefront of American politics does this verse connect to?

 

 

Topics for Jewish Young Adults: Divorce and Civil Rights

 

Divorce is a Mitzvah:

Divorce American Style- Torah and Divorce- How Halacha Changes-  On Being a Jewish Feminist- Bizmaneinu- Gittin- The Beit Din- Sofrim-  Eydim- Takanot-   Agunot- Reform vs. Orthodox- One Family’s Story

 

 

WARM-UP

 

1.    a-Brainstorm : What words come to mind when you hear the word divorce?

 

b-How does Hollywood think of divorce? 

 

WATCH: Film trailer--   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHi-a1n8t7M

 

c- What do you need for a civil divorce?

 

2.   What is a Mitzvah really?  Mitzvah vs. Mitzve

3.   Mitzvah is what jews do: Divorce is normative.

4.   What do you need for Judaism’s divorce? Activity:

 “Everybody Knows”.

5.    SOURCES

6.   The Big Ideas:

·       Divorce is not a simcha, but it is a mitzvah.  

·        It is normal, normative, and important. It is not a sin.

·       Judaism is a religion for kids and adults. Many adults think Judaism is a religion for kids because they stopped studying it as kids.  But Much of Judaism only applies to adult life, such as divorce.

·       Judaism is concerned with all areas of human life, not just holidays and prayer.

·       American popular culture is rooted in a European Christian perspective of divorce, that divorce is a sin.  Judaism sees it as mitzvah: a way to make the world just and holy.

 

Vocabulary terms:  Dayan, Get, Eyd, Sofer, Shaliach, Beit Din,  Shtar,

 

 

EVERYBODY KNOWS THIS STUFF. BUT IS EVERYBODY RIGHT?  MARK TRUE OR FALSE!

1.     Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce you need witnesses, just like at a wedding.

 

2.    Everybody knows that  ...the husband has to wear a tallit during the ceremony.

 

3.    Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce, after the ceremony, the ex-wife and ex-husband are told not to speak to each other. Ever.

 

4.    Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce the ceremony is only a few minutes long.

 

5.    Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce, the Reform movement says a civil divorce is good enough in our day.

 

6.    Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce Chasidic and other very Orthodox rabbis don’t perform or accept divorce.

 

7.    Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce Judaism sees divorce as a sin.

 

8.    Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce for the past 1000 years, rabbis have forbidden divorcing a wife against her will.         

 

9.    Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce the get, or bill of divorce, has to be on parchment.

 

10.                    Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce  before the wife accepts her Get,  she has to wash her hands first.

 

11.  Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce before the wife accepts her Get, she has to take off any rings or bracelets.

 

12. Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce the couple must be face to face for the entire ceremony.

 

13. Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce,  traditionally, the wife is the one who gives the get to the husband.

 

14.Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce  only rabbis can serve in a beit din for divorce.

 

15. Everybody knows that for a Jewish Divorce  only men may write a get.

 

 

 

 

In the fertile crescent of 3500 years ago, a man could divorce his wife without any restrictions.  He needed no court, did not have to make a settlement, or share custody of children with her.   The Torah made a powerful change in the world- putting a limit on a Jewish man’s ability to divorce his wife.  It was not perfect, and we will discuss how Judaism continually made efforts to strengthen women’s rights in a divorce. Yet even in this early part of Judaism’s history,  Divorce is a Mitzvah.  Check out the complicated area of the Torah where we hear the most about divorce (Devarim 24:1-4):

 

When a man finds a wife and marries her, should she find no favor in his eyes because of an ervat davar,  he writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house;

And then she marries another man, and the latter man comes to hate her and he writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out, or he dies;

Then her former husband cannot marry her again… that is something Adonai thinks is disgusting.

 

What does this set of verses see as normal?

What is an ervat davar? See the Mishnah in Gittin 9:10

What does a husband have to do to divorce his wife in this period of time?

What is the concern of this set of verses in the Torah? Is it divorce or something else?

 

 Yirmiyahu (Jeremiah in English)  the prophet used Divorce as a metaphor for the sins of our ancestors in ancient times (including idol worship, enslaving those they were supposed to free,  and bloodshed) and how they made a breach in our connection to God. He says this is how God saw the sins of the Jewish people in the Kingdom of Judah at the end of the 6^th Century, not learning from the fate of the Kingdom of Israel (yes, there were two Jewish kingdoms for centuries) :

ח  וָאֵרֶא, כִּי עַל-כָּל-אֹדוֹת אֲשֶׁר נִאֲפָה מְשֻׁבָה יִשְׂרָאֵל, שִׁלַּחְתִּיהָ, וָאֶתֵּן אֶת-סֵפֶר כְּרִיתֻתֶיהָ אֵלֶיהָ; וְלֹא יָרְאָה בֹּגֵדָה יְהוּדָה, אֲחוֹתָהּ--וַתֵּלֶךְ, וַתִּזֶן גַּם-הִיא.	3: -8 And I saw, when, for even though as cheating Israel had committed adultery, I had sent her away and given her a bill of divorcement, that treacherous Judah her sister was not afraid; and she also went and was unfaithful!

 

Yishaiyahu (Isaiah in English) the prophet used divorce  to explain that while the people had broken the brit  with God, the rift in the relationship between God and the Jewish people was not as final as divorce, but a result of bad choices:

 

א  כֹּה אָמַר יְהוָה, אֵי זֶה סֵפֶר כְּרִיתוּת אִמְּכֶם אֲשֶׁר שִׁלַּחְתִּיהָ, אוֹ מִי מִנּוֹשַׁי, אֲשֶׁר-מָכַרְתִּי אֶתְכֶם לוֹ; הֵן בַּעֲוֺנֹתֵיכֶם נִמְכַּרְתֶּם, וּבְפִשְׁעֵיכֶם שֻׁלְּחָה אִמְּכֶם.

50: 1 This is what Adonai says: Where is the bill of your mother's divorce, that I used to send her away? Or which of My creditors did I sell you to? For your sins were you sold, and for your wrongdoing was your mother sent away.

 

The message of both prophets is worth its own study.  What matters is that both of them used the serfer Keritut/bill of divorce as a metaphor that they knew was  common and understandable.  The sin here is not divorce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ervat Davar:  Two views of three teachings.

The Mishnah , Masechet Gittin (subject-volume on divorce documents) 

Chapter 10, Mishnah 9

The Hebrew term of Ervat Davar means “a thing of nakedness” or “an obnoxious thing”,  but figuratively it is  a polite term for evidence of adultery. Adultery is sexual activity with someone who is not your spouse or who is married to someone else.   לא תנאף!Lo Tinaf!  Do not cheat on your spouse!  is the seventh of The Ten Commandments.  Cheating on one’s spouse is seen as a spiritual and ethical crime in Judaism. But Judaism has several interpretations of what Ervat Davar can mean as a reason for divorce. And those three teachings can be seen as negative or positive, depending on how much Torah you know.  Let’s take a look at these two views of three teachings.

 

Mishnah Gittin 10:9
The College of Shammai say: A man may not divorce his wife unless he finds in her an Ervat Davar as it says (in Devarim 24) “Because he has found some unseemly matter [ervat davar] with her (and he writes her a scroll of divorce).”	בֵּית שַׁמַּאי אוֹמְרִים, לֹא יְגָרֵשׁ אָדָם אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן מָצָא בָהּ דְּבַר עֶרְוָה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כד), כִּי מָצָא בָהּ עֶרְוַת דָּבָר.
And the College of Hillel say:  Even if she ruined his meal, as it says (same place) “Because he has found an ervat davar with her.”	וּבֵית הִלֵּל אוֹמְרִים, אֲפִלּוּ הִקְדִּיחָה תַבְשִׁילוֹ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שם), כִּי מָצָא בָהּ עֶרְוַת דָּבָר.
Rabbi Akiba says:  Even if he finds another woman more beautiful than her, as it says (there) “And it comes to pass, if she has no gracefulness in his eyes.”	רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא אוֹמֵר, אֲפִלּוּ מָצָא אַחֶרֶת נָאָה הֵימֶנָּה, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שם), וְהָיָה אִם לֹא תִמְצָא חֵן בְּעֵינָיו:

 

Interpretation One (by Rabbi Perry Netter): This Mishnah shows the wisdom of our sages who saw how basic love and respect are to a marriage.  Beit Shammai has the least flexible interpretation: even if there is no respect, love or passion left in the marriage, only if one partner commits adultery is there grounds for divorce.  Beit Hillel is far more understanding. Dinners get burned all the time- anyone who cooks regularly knows this.  But when  a burnt burger makes  him think of divorce, when the sound of his voice sets her on edge,  this is a marriage that is making both partners miserable.  For Beit Hillel, that misery is grounds for Divorce. 

 

And what of Rabbi Akibah, known for the long romance with his wife? In his view, this is a marriage where there is no desire to be together, no longing when they are apart. There is no sharing of hopes and dreams, no partnership.  The husband and wife are not in love.  Or rather that is half true-  the husband is in love with someone else. It is wrong to trap people in a loveless marriage, and Rabbi Akiba would say that the remedy for this situation is divorce.

 

Interpretation Two  ( Dr. Levavi-Finklestein):  this Mishnah shows  just how little power the rabbis gives to women in a divorce.  The first opinion is only slightly horrible, allowing the man to make accusations of adultery.  The second is worse, saying that an error in the kitchen is enough to let a man divorce his wife.  The third opinion is worse, saying that if he finds another woman more attractive that is grounds enough to divorce his wife- essentially for any reason at all!

 

___________________________________________________

 When seeing these two views,  it is hard to believe they are talking about the same thing.   Dr Levavi-Finkelstein's research talks about Josephus, Hamurabi, impurity, and bodily fluids, and in the end can only see the Rabbis as going from bad to worse. R. Netter talks about love, affection, romance, and human nature.   I suggest R. Netter is not only the better reading for middle school students, it the better reading for anyone.