Torah Reading

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1. "Hak'hel:" The Septennial National Assembly

   Rabbi Elchanan Samet

   Why is the mitzvah of Hak’hel only mentioned in Moshe’s final days? What is the purpose of Hak’hel? This article debates the matter, with special focus on the Rambam’s view, and discusses the division of the Torah into parashot in relation to the mitzvah of Hak’hel.

2. The Teshuva Revolution

   Part 1

   Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky

   The events of Shivat Tzion are cyclical. Although three different sets of events are recorded in our sefer, each mirrors the others. The similarity dramatizes the striking parallel between the events of the early chapters of Ezra, in which the Jews are restored to their homes and engage in a religious revival by rebuilding the altar, and Nehemya’s repopulation and inspiring Torah reading. The details differ and some sixty years separate the two events, but the fundamental challenges of Shivat Tzion remain the same.

   Whereas Ezra was highly esteemed as a scholar and role model, his political acumen was no match for that of Nehemya. Throughout the events which until this point had emphasized matters of security, Ezra stood outside the limelight. Now that things have settled down considerably and Nehemya is finally ready to turn to religious matters, Ezra once again steps forward and plays a prominent role alongside his colleague.

   As we make our way through the Torah reading ceremony, it becomes clear that Ezra’s ritual is intended to recreate the Hakhel ceremony. Hakhel is a septennial recreation of the Revelation at Sinai. Thus, the Torah reading ceremony is a transformative event of Shivat Tzion, and even of Jewish history. It is evident that there was mass ignorance on the part of the remnant in Judea. Had Ezra not ascended from Babylonia, it is not at all self-evident that the Judean community would have ever learned the basics and recommitted themselves to a Torah-based lifestyle. The comparison to Sinai is thus certainly not an exaggeration.

3. The Great Prayer and Confession

   Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky

   After reading the Torah and celebrating Sukkot in spectacular fashion, the people remain behind, mourning and fasting for their sins. Those who had intermarried separate from their foreign spouses, and the community recites confession. The Levites proceed to offer a whirlwind tour of Biblical history, Notwithstanding the Jews’ unfaithful behavior, God remains compassionate and continues to provide.

   Perhaps the most conspicuous aspect of the prayer of the Levites is the extent to which they draw upon earlier scriptural sources. The ideal is to anchor our prayers, as our actions, in those of the outstanding scholars of the current and previous generations. The prayer exemplifies the key role played by religious commitment born of deep understanding. As the curtain closes on the prophetic period, a new emphasis on the Torah tradition rises to the fore.

   It was the leadership of the Shivat Tzion community that helped to renew the community’s commitment to Mosaic law as the touchstone for Jewish life and Jewish learning. Above all, this is the legacy of Ezra-Nechemia.

   Our invocation of Nechemia during our daily prayers hints to the larger idea that the miracles of the exodus are not isolated events, but are but one piece of the compassion with which God graced His people throughout the course of history.

4. The End of Nehemya

   Rabbi Tzvi Sinensky

   Chapter 11 reports that a tenth of the Jewish population of Judea was selected by lottery to live in Jerusalem, with an eye toward ensuring the city’s ongoing security. The Jerusalem lottery was a random, rather than Divine, mechanism for determining who was to live in the holy city, consistent with the tenor of desacralization running throughout the period of Shivat Tzion.

   The celebratory dedication of Jerusalem’s walls closely resembles the celebration in the third chapter of Ezra. Buried among the many similarities, however, is a basic difference. In Nehemya, the joy is unmitigated. In Ezra it is muted by the sobbing of those who had witnessed the First Temple’s grandeur. Thus, Nehemya is to be viewed as having brought Ezra’s work to a point of greater completion.

   Nehemya’s final chapter neatly summarizes many of his major concerns throughout his tenure in Judea, and it brings his story full circle. The differences between the events of Nehemya chapter 1 and chapter 13 neatly capture the enormity of the governor’s achievements. At the book’s opening, there is an existential crisis. The walls of Jerusalem are burnt to the ground, and the community’s survival is far from assured. By the end, the wall has been completed and the community’s safety secured. Nehemya has turned his attention to matters of ethics, the Temple, and religious practice. However, for all his accomplishments and efforts, Nehemya concludes his sefer with his work incomplete. The battle for the hearts and minds of the people was destined to continue in Sefer Malakhi, a work written some years following Ezra and Nehemya’s careers.

5. Targum Onkelos

   Dr. Avigail Rock

   In this first lesson of the series Targum Onkelos is examined. There is no doubt that Targum Onkelos succeeded, for over a millennium, in maintaining its honored place in the Jewish community as the authoritative translation of the Torah.  In every publication of the Torah with commentaries, Targum Onkelos maintains its place of honor, and throughout the Jewish world, the weekly study of the Targum is a halakhic obligation.

   The challenges, difficulties and limitations of any translation of the Bible are visited as well as the specific overarching principles of Targum Onkelos that include:

   • Simple translation of the text without details from the Midrash
   • Avoids the anthropomorphization of God
   • Explanation – not translation – of metaphors
   • Explanation – not translation – of biblical poetry
   • Varying translations of similar terms in different contexts in order to avoid the desecration of God’s name
   • Maintain the dignity of the leaders of the Jewish nation, often concealing questionable actions
   • In accordance with Halakha

6. …and he uncovered himself within his tent

   Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky

7. …and he uncovered himself within his tent

   Rabbanit Dr. Michal Tikochinsky