Friday Shabbat Shalom

Yup, you read it correctly—I used the term “man.” It’s the way the JPS Tanakh (Bible) translates Deuteronomy 8:3 from this week’s Parashat Eikev, and it is of course the way we all know the phrase from the King James Bible translation. Why? I don’t touch iconic—especially if I want to get your attention!

One of the challenges translators of Scripture must deal with are subtle grammatical shifts and oddities within the Hebrew text of the Pentateuch. These subtleties challenge prevailing conceptions and conventions in other languages, and within the Hebrew language itself. They complicate the translator’s mandate to simplify and clarify, while remaining faithful to the text.

This Shabbat we begin the last of the Five Books, the Book of Deuteronomy or Devarim ("words" in Hebrew). The Book is primarily a review ( Deuter – Greek for “repetition”) of the previous 4 books, with Moses exhorting the Israelites to remember what was set down over the previous 40 years.

This Shabbat we finish the reading of the fourth book of the Torah, Numbers/ Sefer Bemidbar , and with the end of the book, ends the story of the Exodus, the travelling through the wilderness, and the complaints of the Israelites (though, in fact those never quite end).

There is one verse in this week’s Torah portion that is profound in meaning and it has only four words . In fact, it is so short that many readers or listeners just miss it. It’s one of those verses that a few minutes or hours later you suddenly say – “What did the Torah say there?"

This week’s combined Torah portion, Chukat-Balak , includes the story of the non-Jewish prophet Balaam (called Bilam in Hebrew) and his talking donkey . The portion of Balak opens with the king of Moav, (Balak), having heard what happened with the nations who fought against Israel.

Rabbis, including this rabbi, welcome the opportunity to write a Dvar Torah in which one of the most “beloved” of Biblical villains appears in his own eponymous Torah portion-- Korach. Born a Levite with great yichus (his great-grandfather was Levi, founder of the Tribe of Levi), along with wealth, intellect, ability and skill, Korach was greatly admired and looked up to by many Israelites.

As Jewish parents, grandparents, and teachers, we need to find ways to transmit the values of the Jewish tradition to each generation. In Parashat Shelach, Moses sends leaders to scout the land of Canaan in order to find a way to enter it and leave the desert behind them. These leaders return and tell Moses that while the land is flowing with milk and honey, it is inhabited by giants. Their fears overcame their better judgment and they exaggerated what they saw in order to instill fear in others.