A-Drop-of-Rain
-hebraicstudies.net-
Please do NOT visit this site on שַׁבָּת - Shabbat or on the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts!
Re Tanakh versions:
Throughout
this site I may use any of three versions of the Tanakh: 1. “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS-1917), 2. “Mechon-Mamre.org” (MEC), and 3. “Sefaria.org” (SEF), three brilliant versions, However, the
JPS-1917 is my preferred version!
Colour coded
details of our beloved TaNaKh:
1. Torah =
History & Law, 2. Nevi’im = The Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim = all other Writings.
*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical
books - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot, or
Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of
Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and history
of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I & II.
Please Note: Some alterations
or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim (God), having been corrected like it once was pre
the “Masoretic Text”.
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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which
I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM
IT, that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem,
which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).
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“My doctrine shall drop as the rain”.
Davarim - Deuteronomy
32:2.
With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
In that splendid
song with which Moses addresses the congregation, he invites the people to
think of the Torah, which is their blessed covenant with אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, as if it were
‘like the rain that waters the ground so that it brings forth its produce’.
Let us briefly turn to Deuteronomy Chapter 32, verse
2: (all verses are from
JPS-1917 version of the Torah).
“My doctrine shall
drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew; as the
small rain upon the tender grass, and as the showers upon the herb”.
Let - ‘My doctrine
shall drop as the rain’. Just as the rain is one thing, yet it falls on trees,
enabling each to produce tasty fruit according to the kind of tree it is the
vine in its way, the olive tree in its way, and the date palm in its way so the
Torah is one, yet its words yield Scripture, Mishnah, laws, and lore. Like showers upon the grass. Just as showers fall upon
plants and make them grow, some green, some red, some black, some white.
אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s Word is like
rain in a dry land. It brings life. It makes things grow. There is much we can
do of our own accord: we can plough the earth and plant the seeds. But in the
end our success depends on something beyond our control. If no rain falls,
there will be no harvest, regardless the preparations we have made. So it is
with
“My power and the might of my hand hath
gotten me this wealth”. Deuteronomy 8:17.
This emphasis on
difference is a recurring theme in Hebraism. For example, when Moses asks אֱלֹהִים - Elohim to appoint his successor, he uses an
unusual phrase:
“Let
יְהוָה -
the LORD, the אֱלֹהִים - Elohim
of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation”. Numbers 27:16.
Why is this
expression (“אֱלֹהִים
of the spirits of all humankind”) used? (Moses) said to Him: יְהוָה - LORD of the universe, You
know each person’s character, and that no two people are alike. Therefore,
appoint a leader for them who will bear with each person according to his or
her disposition.
One of the
fundamental requirements of a leader in Hebraism is that he or she is able to respect
the differences between human beings. This is a point emphasized by Maimonides
in ‘Guide for the Perplexed’.
Man is, as you know,
the highest form in creation, and he therefore includes the largest number of
constituent elements. This is why the human race contains such a great variety
of individuals that we cannot discover two persons exactly alike in any ‘moral
quality’ or in ‘external appearance’ ... This great variety and the necessity
of social life are essential elements in man’s nature. But the well-being of
society demands that there should be a leader able to regulate the actions of
man. He must complete ‘every shortcoming’, ‘remove every excess’, and ‘prescribe
for the conduct of all’, so that the natural variety should be counterbalanced
by the uniformity of legislation, so that social order may be well established.
The political
problem as Maimonides saw it is how to regulate the affairs of human beings in
such a way as to respect their individuality while not creating chaos.
It is said that if
one sees a crowd of Israelites, one says: “Blessed be He who discerns secrets,
because the mind of each is different from that of another, just as the face of
each is different from another”.
We would have
expected a blessing over a crowd to emphasise its size, its mass: human beings
in their collectivity. A crowd is a group large
enough for the individuality of the faces to be lost. Yet the blessing stresses
the opposite, that each member of a crowd is still an individual with ‘distinctive
thoughts’, ‘hopes’, ‘fears’, and ‘aspirations’.
There is no single
role-model of the religious hero or heroine in Tanach. The patriarchs and
matriarchs each had their own unmistakable character. ‘Moses’, ‘Aaron’, and ‘Miriam’
each emerge as different personality types. ‘Kings’, ‘priests’, and ‘prophets’
all had different roles to play in the Israelite society. Even among the
prophets, “No two prophesies were in the same style”. ‘Elijah’ was zealous, ‘Elisha’
gentle. ‘Hosea’ spoke of love, ‘Amos spoke of justice. ‘Isaiah’s’ visions were
simpler and less opaque than those of ‘Ezekiel’.
The same applies to
even to the revelation at Horeb itself. Each individual heard, in the same
words, a different inflection:
“The voice of
יְהוָה
- the LORD is powerful; the voice of יְהוָה - the LORD is full of majesty”. Psalm 29:4.
That is according to
the power of each individual, the ‘young’, the ‘old’, and the ‘very small ones’,
each according to their power (of understanding). אֱלֹהִים -
Elohim said to them,
“Know that I am יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - the LORD your Eloheichem”. Deuteronomy 29:5.
The revelation has a particular way of producing meaning, which lies in its calling upon the unique within me. It is as if a multiplicity of persons were the condition for the plenitude of “absolute truth”, as if each person, by virtue of his or her own uniqueness, were able to guarantee the revelation of one unique aspect of the truth!
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Please Note: “hebraicstudies” links are located
down the page!
This site was originally created, for those who desired to return to our blessed and wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least two or three times a day (if possible) and always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance, for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him, blessed be He! However this site has become very much a teaching site with hundreds of studies!
Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, said the following through a number of
our prophets...
“The More Torah,
the More Life”,
For Elohim is the One who gave us our ... “Life!”
May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom =
Peace of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה= the LORD
of hosts, be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat,
as well as the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and
continue saying your daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s - Prayers and
regular בְּרָכָה - Be’ra’chah’s - blessings before
food and drinks, etc!
שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!
Enter ...