Spiritual and
Ethical Issues in the Historical Books of Tanach;
JOSHUA, JUDGES, SAMUEL, KINGS (Nevi’im Rishonim) These four books ostensibly are merely the history of Israel from the entry into the Promised Land until the destruction of the Temple and the temporary loss of independent statehood. In fact they are actually, in a specifically Jewish sense, the most deeply religious and spiritual books of the Bible. One does not have to be specifically Jewish to see or feel the religion and spirituality in the revelations of the prophetic writings or in the words of the Tehillim. They speak to all people, as evidenced by the fact that the Bible is still the world's bestseller and there are millions of non-Jews who regularly recite the Psalms. However, it is specifically and intrinsically Jewish to understand that G-d is revealed in the prosaic material, in the political, social and military events in the lives of ordinary men and women, kings and leaders that are described in the Nevim Rishonim. Here are described the ideology and religious thoughts in Judaism, while in Chronicles we have the purely historical. Righteousness & Kingship
[9] Why on Shavuot [3]? Of all the Chagim, only Shavuot in the Torah does not have a fixed date. Rather it comes 7 full and complete weeks after the offering of the Omer; only the Torah She'b'al Peh fixed the Chag on the 6th of Sivan. "And you shall count from the day after the Shabbat, from the day you brought the Omer seven full weeks..." (Vayikra23:15). The Sadducees read this verse telling about the offering of the Omer and the counting until Shavuot as starting from the Sunday after the first day of Pesach. That meant that Shavuot, 7 weeks later, would fall every year on a different date depending on what day of the week Pesach started and not always on Vav Sivan. The Rabbis reading "the Shabbat" in the above verse according to the Oral Law understood it as referring not only to Shabbat but also in certain circumstances to the Chag, which was also a day of rest. So the Omer had to be brought on the 16 of Nissan, the day after Pesach irrespective of which day of the week that was. And then, 7 weeks later on the 6th of Sivan was Shavuot. According to the Pharisees, therefore, the Oral Law fixed the date for Shavuot every year irrespective of what day of the week Pesach fell; so we practice today. However, there was more to this argument. According to Torah She'b'al Peh the reaping of the Omer could be on Shabbat when Pesach fell on a Friday; "Since this offering is fixed it overrides Shabbat" (Rambam 7). This being possible when the months were fixed according to witnesses and not, as today, according to a calendar which precludes such a possibility. The date of the bringing of the Omer was of paramount importance to all Israel since the grain of the new harvest only became permitted for use once the Omer was offered. In view of this it was necessary to demonstrate the validity of the Oral Law in this respect. So the Rabbis made the reaping of the Omer the occasion of a large public ceremony. "The reaper says to the crowd, "Is it dark [since the Omer has to be reaped at night even as we count Omer at night]? And the crowd answered yes. Is this a sickle? And the crowd answered yes. Is this a box [to gather the reaped barley]? And the crowd answered yes. Is it Shabbat [where appropriate]? And the crowd answered yes. Shall I reap? And the crowd answered reap" Each question was repeated 3 times and each time the crowd answered loudly 'yes'" (Rambam Hilkhot Temidim Umusafim 7:3-21). Now this relationship between the Oral Law and Shavuot is paralleled by the teaching of Torah She'b'al Peh regarding David's ancestry and the legitimacy of Ruth's conversion and marriage. The question revolved round the possibility of accepting converts from Moav, since the Torah had written: " An Amonnite and Moabite shall not enter the congregation of Hashem, even the tenth generation shall not enter the congregation In that they did not welcome you with bread and water… And they hired Bilaam to curse you... You shall not seek their welfare nor their peace" (D'varim 23:4-7). Torah She'b'al Peh teaches that the text clearly referred only to the men and thereby this excluded the women of Moab from the restriction. In the course of the years this halakha was forgotten so that in the days of Ruth there were those like the kinsman who refused to accept even the women from Moab; the Bet Din of Boaz clarified the Din according to the Oral Law. So Ruth's conversion and her marriage were valid. Then later in the days of David, the Bet Din of Do'eg the Edomite was confronted with the same problem. The principle of Torah She'b'al Peh that a Moabite was forbidden but a Moabitess was permitted - Moavi but not Moaviya - had to be reaffirmed so the Prophet Samuel wrote Megilat Ruth to make the halakha clear by telling of David HaMelech's kosher ancestry. "The Avnei Nezer wrote that Sefer Devarim stood midway between the Written Torah and Torah She'b'al Peh. Simcha Bunem taught that one should devote much time to its study since it was written in the human speech of Moshe. Therefore its laws, morals and recounting of Israel's wanderings are easily grasped and followed by human beings. That is true also of the Oral Law so that its halkhot, agadot, midrashim, musar and hashkafa are more accessible and understandable to us than the hidden majesty and secrets of the Words of G-d in the Written Law" (Shem Mi Shmuel). This is the 82nd installment in Dr. Tamari’s series on “Tanach and its messages for our times” [The
Parshat Emor Homepage]
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