6th Grade at the Braun Religious School: Class notes for December 18

b. Resting (naḥ / נָח), or silent. The resting shva does not make a sound, but signals the consonant above is the end of a syllable, just like an apostrophe.

2) At the start of a word, the shva is always a na / נָע, a vocalized shva.

3) There will not be two shva next to each other in the start of a word (i.e. under letters #1 and #2), not ever. There will not be three shva in a row next to each other (unless you are looking at a transliteration from Arabic) .

4) At the end of the word, the shva is always a naḥ / נָח a resting shva.

5) When there are two shva next to each other (under two consecutive consonants), the first is resting and the second is vocalized as in יִשְׁפְּטוּ yish’petu and תִּשְׁמְעוּ tish’me-oo. Exception to the rule: at the end of the word, there can be two letters with a shva under them and both are resting, as with the wordנֵרְדְּ , neyrd, which means frankincense .

6) A shva under a letter with a dagesh (that dot in the middle of a Hebrew letter) is almost always a na / נָע.

7) A shva under the first of two identical letters is almost always a na / נָע, as in the word הַלְלוּיָהּ --ha-le-lu-yah.

8) A shva combined with another vowel is called a chataf. While the chataf segol remains an “eh” sound and the chataf patach remains an “ah” sound, the chataf kamatz is pronounced with an “oh” sound.

Of course, I am forgetting something as there are other rules and exceptions with the shva. They should only come up as your Hebrew reading, speaking and comprehension reach a more advanced level.

Question #1: When Judah and his remaining brothers finished dedicating the Temple, things were great except for one major problem. What was it?

A-- It was violent raids by Hellenized Jews who wanted Judah to lose to the Greeks. These were Jews who wanted the Torah to disappear so the Jews could be like everyone else. They hated hearing Greeks say “You are Jewish? Isn’t today that Yom Kippur? How come you are eating on a fast day?” In revenge, they began to use the same guerrilla tactics against the Maccabees that Judah had used. They ambushed the Maccabees’ caravans, set fire to Judah’s soldiers’ tents, and killed horses in the night. This was their revenge on the Maccabees for being unable to blend in perfectly with the Greek world. It took a year to stop all the raids.

B--It was the economy. After years of war, crops were neglected, shops were ruined, and the ports were empty. Local Idol worshippers stopped coming to Jerusalem, since with the destruction of the Altar to Zeus in the Temple, with its many layers of encrusted pig blood, guts and fat, they no longer felt wanted. Merchants no longer came to trade, and all the gold and silver had gone into the Temple instead of into coins for buying and selling. It took four years to fix the economy and get trade going.

C-- It was a giant fortress called the Acra. This massive fort, a castle inside a castle, was well stocked with food and weapons and was just outside of the Jerusalem walls. It was also filled with Hellenized Jews and Seleucid Greek soldiers who would shoot arrows or other weapons at anyone who got too close. It made travel to Jerusalem difficult. Every time Judah tried to lay siege to the thing and knock it down, he would have to leave to do battle elsewhere. It would be ten years before the Maccabees finally got inside and got rid of the threat it posed.

Question #2: What did Judah do that led to disaster 250 years later?

A-- He Offended the Romans. A famous gladiator named Pantheras wanted to face Judah Maccabee in a duel. Judah refused and had the man escorted to the borders of the Jewish country and told him never to return. But Pantheras had been honored with freedom by the Emperor of Rome directly, and so the refusal to duel was taken as an insult against the Roman Empire, one the empire never forgot. In time, Rome would destroy Jerusalem.

B-- Offended the Persians. An emissary from Persian Emperor Xerxes came and asked that Judah make an alliance. When the ambassador asked Judah to bow to a golden medallion with Xerxes’ face on it as a sign of good faith. Judah ripped off the medallion, smashed it to bits with the haft of his sword, swept it into a bag and gave the shattered parts back to the ambassador. The shattering of the Persian emperor’s image was taken as an insult against the Persian Empire, one the empire never forgot. In time, the Persians would destroy Jerusalem.

C-- Made a treaty with the Romans. If the enemy of my enemy is my friend, then the young Roman empire was the friend of the Maccabees and the enemy of the Syrian Greeks. Judah Maccabee himself sent a delegation to make a treaty with Rome, which until the treaty had no idea about this little Jewish nation. Rome continued to grow and eventually made the small Jewish country Judah fought to free into a part of the Roman empire. In time, when Jews tried to rebel against Rome, Rome would destroy the rebellion and Jerusalem with it.

Question #3: How did Judah Maccabee die?

A-- At peace, in his old age with the Shema on his lips, 50 years after the first Hanukah. Judah knew his time had come, so he took one long trip back to Modin, his home town. In the small house that his father and mother raised him in, he held one last meal, his family gathered around. When the meal was done, he blessed each of his children and grandchildren. He laid down on his bed and charged all his family to follow the Torah and keep the Jewish people free. He then said the Shema and died as the last letter left his lips, finally at peace.

B-- From Heart disease, 23 Years after the First Hanukah. When peace was truly established in the years following the first Hanukah, Judah threw great meals each Sabbath and huge banquets on Pesach, Sukkot and Shavuot. The book of Maccabees even mentions his breaking-the-fast after one Yom Kippur that feed one thousand of the residents of Jerusalem. No longer climbing through mountainous lands and living on lean army rations, Judah enjoyed a little too much of the good life, and became very overweight. His death 23 years was sudden and swift, and believed now to have been a massive heart attack brought on from eating too much while flour and fried foods.

C-- In Battle, two years after the first Hannukah. The Syrian Greeks did not stop trying to conquer the Jewish people, and a man even more dangerous than Antiochus the Fourth came to power. His name was Demetrious Soter, and he commanded a massive army of 20,000 men, all with one purpose---to kill Judah Maccabee. When Judah’s small army saw the massive forces coming at them, many of the soldiers fled. Judah’s best troops died fighting at his side, but not even Judah Maccabee could beat 20,000 Greek soldiers with only 800 troops. His death sparked new outrage in the land of Israel, and the battle for Jewish freedom continued.

Question #4: How did the last Maccabee brother, Shimon, die?

A) At peace, in his old age with the Shema on his lips. Shimon knew his time had come, so he took one long trip back to Modin, his home town. In the small house that his father and mother raised him in, he held one last meal, his family gathered around. When the meal was done, Shimon blessed each of his children and grandchildren. He laid down on his bed and charged all his family to follow the Torah and keep the Jewish people free. He then said the Shema and died as the last letter left his lips, at peace.

B) In Battle, like Judah, his slain enemies heaped about him, all of them broken and defeated. The Syrian Greeks did not stop trying to conquer the Jewish people, and a man even more dangerous than Antiochus the Fourth came to power. His name was Demetrious Soter, and he commanded a massive army of 20,000 men, all with one purpose---to retake Jerusalem. Shimon met him with an army of 5,000 men at Beit Horon, and stopped Demetrious in a muddy field the Maccabees flooded to slow the Greek army down. The Greek Troops eventually retreated, but Shimon died fighting in the muddy field he made to stop the invasion.

C) He was poisoned by his daughter’s husband, along with everyone else in the family. Shimon ruled for many years, and had a large family. His daughter married a man named Ptolemy Abubus, who the Greeks had appointed governor of the nearby city Jericho. At first, Ptolemy was content running one city, but soon he wanted to take over the country. He invited his wife’s family to a special banquet for Tu Bishvhat, drugged the wine, and slaughtered Shimon, his sons, and everyone else from Shimon’s family. Only Shimon’s youngest son, Jonathan, survived of all his family, as he was not at the party.

6th Grade at the Braun Religious School

Saturday, December 17, 2022

Class notes for December 18

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