6th Grade at the Braun Religious School: There's no interest for it --nd other lessons for Thursday Feb 8th

First step: Personal loans up to $6K (Emergencies, help with simchas, etc) JFLC has indeed made progress. We currently have 40 loans out in the community; a total of $205,000 has been loaned since October.

Open to Jews and non Jews. Repaid monies go to new loans.

Second step: SBL’s, 2025

2) But I thought you can’t see God? Commentary and text.

3) You be the judge: Leroy aks: Can Suny Levy teach her kid TDK?

Let me introduce Master Sunny: https://www.facebook.com/sunnysmartialarts/

-- judge team breakouts. Give three reasons for your verdict. 2 minute decision making, then come back.

4) What else is in this parsha? Mark the list!

5) Text: Every translation is a commentary

THE LIST OF TORAH MITZVOT in PARSHAT MISHPATIM- whadaya think?

Clearly mark down on the list one mitzvah for each of the below questions. Mark two if it’s a tie in your opinion. The list goes on to the 2^nd side of the page! Read the questions first, then go through the list.

1. Which do you think is the hardest mitzvah in this list to observe? Mark with an “H!”

2. Which is the easiest to perform? Mark as “Easy.”

3. Which commandment do you think is the strangest of them all? Mark with a three question marks (???)

4. Which speaks/calls to you the loudest? Mark with the word “ME”.

5. Which do you think clearly no longer applies to us in our days? Mark with “NLA”

6. Which do you think is even more important in our days? Mark with “TODAY!”

a. To purchase a Jewish indentured servant in accordance with the prescribed laws

b. To marry the Jewish maidservant

c. To redeem Jewish maidservants sold to non-Jews.

d. The owner must not sell his Jewish maidservant.

e. Not to withhold food, clothing, or intimate relations from one's spouse.

f. The courts must execute by hanging those who deserve it.

g. Not to hit one's father or mother

h. The court must implement laws against the one who assaults another or damages another's property.

i. The court must carry out the death penalty of beheading for those who have earned it.

j. The court must judge the damages incurred by a goring ox.

k. Not to benefit from an ox condemned to be stoned.

l. The court must judge the damages incurred by an open pit.

m. The court must implement punitive measures against the thief.

n. The court must judge the damages incurred by an animal eating someone else’s property.

o. The court must judge the damages incurred by fire.

p. The courts must carry out the laws of an unpaid guard.

q. The courts must carry out the laws of the plaintiff, admitter, or denier.

r. The courts must carry out the laws of a hired worker and hired guard.

s. The courts must carry out the laws of a borrower.

t. The court must fine one who seduces a maiden.

u. The court must not let a summoner of the dead live.

v. Not to insult or harm a sincere convert with words

w. Not to cheat a sincere convert monetarily

x. Not to afflict any orphan or widow

y. To lend to the poor and destitute

z. Not to press them for payment if you know they don't have it

aa. Not to intermediate in any loan, guarantee, witness, or write a promissory note that involves interest

bb. Not to curse judges

cc. Not to blaspheme (shame and abuse) the name of God.

dd. Not to curse the head of state or leader of the Sanhedrin

ee. Not to prioritize one tithe (donation) to the next, but separate them in their proper order

ff. Not to eat meat of an animal that was mortally wounded (roadkill).

gg. Judges must not accept testimony unless both parties are present.

hh. Transgressors must not testify.

ii. The court must not execute through a majority of one judge; at least a majority of two is required.

jj. A judge who presented an acquittal plea must not present an argument for conviction in capital cases.

kk. To decide by majority in case of disagreement

ll. Not to pity a poor man in judgment

mm. To help another remove the load from a beast which can no longer carry it

nn. A judge must not decide unjustly the case of the habitual transgressor.

oo. The court must not kill anybody on circumstantial evidence.

pp. Judges must not accept bribes.

qq. To leave free all produce that grew in the Sabbatical (seventh) year.

rr. To rest on the Sabbath

ss. Not to swear in the name of an idol

tt. Not to turn Israelites to idolatry

uu. To celebrate on the three Festivals of Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot

vv. Not to slaughter the Passover lamb while in possession of leaven

ww. Not to leave the fat of a sacrifice overnight

xx. To set aside our Bikkurim/first fruits of the season and bring them to the Temple

yy. Not to eat meat and milk (cooked) together.

zz. Not to make any treaty with the seven nations God said are to be booted out of the land, or with any idol worshiper

aaa. Not to let idol worshippers dwell in our land

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

Dear Rabbi:

So I was talking with my cousin Mendel about how awesome my Taekwondo teacher is. I told him how skilled Master Levy is, how she is normally all serious, but every so often is really funny. She’s also very strong and fast and can break bricks with her bare hand. She knows how to use two swords at once. She’s a 7^th degree black belt.

He said that the she’s forbidden to do all that because it’s not modest for a woman to teach martial arts. I ignored that, because in his part of the Jewish world, women don’t wear pants or touch men outside their immediate family, unlike in our side of Judaism where all that is seen as normal and OK.

But then I mentioned how both of her daughters teach at her school. Her daughters are 2^nd degree black belts. Every so often they spar and it’s amazing how fast they move when they fight. “Oh no. Is she Jewish?” my cousin asked? “Yes actually,” I said “the do-jang is closed on Saturdays and holidays like Yom Kippur.”

“Well then,” he said, “her children aren't allowed to train with her. If they hit her, the Torah says they’re Choyev Misa --they get the death penalty. It’s in Shemot 21:15, וּמַכֵּ֥ה אָבִ֛יו וְאִמּ֖וֹ מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃ -- One who hits his father or his mother shall be put to death.”

I was shocked. Is this true? Does the Torah really say this? And even if it does, is this the way we apply that Torah rule today?

Signed,

Leroy “Iron Fist” Katznelson

7^th grade

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 “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

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 often used in early Christianity):

“And if two men strive and strikes a woman with child, and then her child be born 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.”

Triathlete, Talmud professor, and one of Mar Hirsch’s teachers, the talented Rabbi Dr. Josh Kulp of the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem explains: “The Greek translators of the Bible translated "אסון- ason" as "exe’ikonis’menon" which literally translates as "from the image," invoking the notion of "betzelem elohim"--human beings were created in God's image. The translator may have translated in this way due to the similarity between the Hebrew "ason" and the Greek "soma" meaning human life. Thinking the word meant "human life," the translator shifted it to a more theologically evocative word.”

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) If the Hebrew was Judaism’s understanding of the text, and the early Christians were using the Greek translation, who is of most importance to whom in this set of verses?

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

6th Grade at the Braun Religious School

Wednesday, February 7, 2024

There's no interest for it --nd other lessons for Thursday Feb 8th

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