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Todays Parsha #39: Chukkat (statute)


PART 1: THE LAST AND CURRENT TORAH PORTIONS

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (Korah):

1) When Moshe rebuked the rebels and the rebels shouted back, they both used a
phrase which, when turned to its opposite became a popular Jewish song. What
was the phrase and what is the song with its opposite meaning?

The phrase was, Was it not enough? Moshe asks, Is it not enough that you are in
charge of sacred objects that you should want the priesthood as well? The rebels
answer, Was it not enough that you took us out of Egypt that we now have to die in
the wilderness?

The popular Jewish song is the Passover song, DAYENU, which means, It would
have been enough for us. Abbreviated lyrics are as follows:

1)If He had brought us out of Egypt.
Dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu
2)If He had executed justice upon the Egyptians.
Dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu
3)If He had executed justice upon their gods.
Dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu
4)If He had slain their first born.
Dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu
5)If He had given to us their health and wealth.
Dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu, dai-enu

2) In Samuels critique during this Haftorah portion, he mentions something of local
politics that ends up being a huge hint about an event of cosmic proportions. What is that
hint and how does it do this?

12 'But when you saw Nahash, king of the Ammonites, marching on you, you said to
me, "No, we must have a king to rule us"-although Yahweh your God is your king.
(1Sa 12:12 NJB)

Nachash also means serpent and so in a sense Israel went back to the serpent of
Eden who deceived them (or wanted to) and reject YHWH as their King!

3) If you know the answer to #2, where is the first place in Tanakh that this event
happened?

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Eden of course, where the serpent tempted Adam and Eve but was cursed by
YHWH for doing so.

4) If you know the answer to #3, how does that first event turn straight to Yshuas birth?

The seed of a woman in Genesis 3:15 will crush the head of the serpent. This tells us
to expect a virgin birth because the mans seed is not involved in the production of
the One who has victory over that serpent, or Satan.

5) Samuel also takes another page from Moshes playbookwhat is it?

15 Moses flew into a rage and said to Yahweh, 'Disregard their cereal offering! I
have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.'
(Numbers 16:15 NJB)

Samuel said to all Israel, 'I have faithfully done all that you asked of me, and have
appointed you a king. In future, the king will lead you. As for me, I am old and
grey, and in any case you have my sons. I have been your leader ever since I was
young until today. Here I am. Bear witness against me before Yahweh and before
his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Have I wronged
or oppressed anyone? Have I taken a consideration from anyone for looking the
other way? If so, I will make amends.' They said, 'You have neither wronged nor
oppressed us nor accepted anything from anyone. 'He said to them, 'Yahweh is your
witness and his anointed is witness today that you have found nothing in my hands?'
They replied, 'He is witness.' Samuel then said to the people, 'Yahweh is witness, he
who raised up Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors out of Egypt. (1
Samuel 12:1-6 NJB)

AND NOW FOR THIS WEEKS PORTION

1) Meaning of this weeks Torah portion and summary of contents:

Chukkat means statute and the portion opens with the requirements of the
famous red heifer, that perfect red young cow that is so sacred, nothing else will do
to inaugurate the entire sacrificial infrastructure. Not surprisingly then, the
requirements for finding and then preparing for such a massively important sacrifice
are detailed and intricate. Other purity laws follow after which we are confronted
with the sad news of Moshes sister Miriam dying. Ironically, instead of Moshe
getting compassion from the Israelites on this occasion they immediately rise up in
rebellion against him once more! In response to this latest threat, YHWH assembles
all of Israel and tells Moshe He will cause water to come from a rock that Moshe
will strike with his staff. The problem is of course Moshe doesnt wait for the
official command to do so and impulsively strikes the rock twice. The waters come
out and Israel is refreshed, but Moshe and Aaron are punished for not being more
patient. YHWH tells them plainly that neither of them will enter into the Promised
Land.

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After these events, the Israelites ask permission to pass through the lands of their
Edomite cousins, but their king refuses. This time though, YHWH does not punish the
Edomites because He is primarily incensed with Israel, so He simply orders them around
Edom to a place called Mount Hor. It is there that YHWH exacts the first part of His
punishment against Moshe and Aaron, by having Aaron die on that mountain.

The final chapter (21) ends as the first one in this portion did. Israel asks for
deliverancethis time from the Canaanites, YHWH delivers and then Israel complains
again, resulting in punishment. Are we learning yet?

Read Parsha (English-Numbers 19:1-22:1). This week we will read the entire
portion.

Vayedaber Yahweh el-Moshe ve'el-Aharon lemor.

Zot chukat hatorah asher-tsivah Yahweh lemor daber el-beney Yisra'el
veyikchu eleycha farah adumah tmimah asher eyn-bah mum asher lo-alah
aleyha ol.


1) Play by Play commentary where appropriate.

2) Point out key Hebrew words/terms. Color Commentary:

VAYEDABAR YAHWEH EL-MOSHE VEEL AHARON LEMOR (19:1) =
And Yahweh spoke to Moshe and Aaron sayingAccording to the Talmud
(Gittin 60 a-b) this portion starts out actually on the first day of the first month of
the second year after the Exodus, in the sense that this was when the Tabernacle
was built, but it didnt need to be mentioned directly until needed for purification
after Miriams death in 20:1.

FARAH ADUMAH TEMIMAH (19:2) = cow with pure red = according to the
Talmud (Parah 2:5), the cow cannot have more than one red hair on its whole
body. 2 or more, and it is invalid. This is why the red heifer is so hard to find.
About the year 2000, rabbis in Israel thought they had come very close to finding
such an animalbut it had FOUR non-red hairs so it was no good!

OL (19:2) = yoke. Referring primarily to a yoke for a beast of burden it can
metaphorically refer to sin as a collar around our neck as if we were the beast of
burden (Lamentations 1:14).

NIDDAH (19:9) = sprinkling water, actually the water of
purification/separation that separates a man from defilement. NIDDAH in
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another sense refers to purification or separation procedures for women whbo are
menstruating or have just given birth.

SHEBA (19:16) = seven days. However, because this is referring to the interval
of time people are unclean from a corpse dying in a tent, this is where we get the
term sitting shivaa 7 day period of mourning. Since everything in that tent is
defiled, it would be natural to bring food to the bereaved, as we do today.

MAYIM CHAYIM (19:17) = living waterin this case from the sense that water
is flowing freely and not stored. Yshua is also drawing on this imagery when he
talks about living waters in contrast with the WELL water or still water of the
Samaritan woman. That is in part why he says in Yochanan 4: Y'shua answered
and said to her, "All who drink from these waters will thirst again. But everyone
who drinks from the waters that I give to him will not thirst forever. But those
waters that I give to him will become in him a spring of water that will spring
up into life that is eternal." (verses 13-14-AENT)

KADESH (20:1), the place that Miriam dies of course means sacred or Set-
Apart. Perhaps this was meant to honor Miriam though she had recently rebelled
against her brother Moshe. After all, she also had her moments, like prophesying
in Exodus 15. This is also the point in the text where 38 years are skipped over.
From the moment Miriam dies, we are in the start of the 40
th
year after the
Exodus, because Aaron will die shortly after this on 1 Ab, at the age of 123. The
countdown is also on as we get closer to Moshes death on either 1 Shevat or 1
Adar, depending on how one interprets Deuteronomy. I opt for the earlier death
date and the idea that all of Deuteronomy is on the last day of Moshes life.

MATTEH (20:7) = staff, but this word metaphorically also means TRIBE. Each
tribe of Israel was represented by a leader who in turn carried a staff that has his
tribe or name inscribed on it. Both Moshe and Aaron have staffs that are
inscribed and point to their responsibility as leaders. The same can be said of
Judah in Genesis 38, where his staff and cord denote his
status/standing/responsibility for his family. As a result, when Yshua says, take
up your STAFF-not crossthis is what he means. Take up your
responsibilities, rise to the occasion as a leader, and then, follow me. The word
ZQAP comes from a root that means erect, to elevate and by extension could
apply to crucifixion, where a nailed body is elevated. However when Yshua uses
the word here it does not mean cross because he is not ON the cross when he
says it! To take up ones elevation though is to accept responsibility and rise to
the occasion against hardships, hence take up your STAFF.

VAYEREM MOSHE ET-YADO VAYACH ET-HASELA BEMATEHU (20:11)
= And with that Moshe raised his hand and struck the cliff twice with his staff.
Most Rabbis believe the text should be interpreted as struck the cliff a second
time because there is a very similar event that happens in Exodus 17 40 years
earlier, so there is one strike with water coming out then and another such strike
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now, but in both cases Moshe sinned and struck the rock without invoking
YHWH first.

MERIBAH (20:13) = strife. As the text says, because they contended with
YHWH there. There may be two places though with this name according to ISBE
dictionary:

2498 Meribah, quarrel or strife. (1.) One of the names given by Moses to
the fountain in the desert of Sin, near Rephidim, which issued from the
rock in Horeb, which he smote by the divine command, "because of the
chiding of the children of Israel" Ex 17:1-7 It was also called Massah
(q.v.). It was probably in Wady Feiran, near Mount Serbal. (2.) Another
fountain having a similar origin in the desert of Zin, near to Kadesh Nu
27:14 The two places are mentioned together in De 33:8 Some think the
one place is called by the two names Ps 81:7 In smiting the rock at this
place Moses showed the same impatience as the people Nu 20:10-12 This
took place near the close of the wanderings in the desert Nu 20:1-24 De
32:51.

UVEYAD CHAZAKAH (20:20) = a strong show of force, expressed through the
idiom of a strong hand.

CHARAM (21:1) =utterly destroy, dedicated to destruction. From which we get
the word HEREM, where YHWH orders whole villages put to the sword and
burned.

HORMA (21:3) = same root, but here probably means accursed or perhaps
taboo, hence the reason for the city being set aside for destruction.

VERAAH OTO VACHAY (21:8) = and will look on it and live. This was
certainly not paganism! Rather the copper serpent was meant as a memorial
against the sin of Israel, much as Aarons budding staff did the same thing. It was
not the snake image or the staff that mattered, but what they represented in the
mind of the Israelites.

OBOTH (21:10) = water skins and ARNON = roaring stream (21:13)I see a
pattern here

BESEFER MICHAMOT YAHWEH (21:14) = in the Book of the Wars of
Yahweh. This is a lost book that perhaps is a second witness from which events
of Exodus and/or Deuteronomy are recorded. This could be an accounting of
straight history, whereas the versions that we have also include the theological
commentary of Moshe and Yahweh.
CHAQAQ (21:18) = scepter, but also to cut into, inscribe in stone, and therefore a
decree or covenant. The scepter then is not just about kingly or tribal power. Its
about being worthy of that power by following YHWHs covenant inscribed in
the scepter.
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CHESHBON (21:25) = Cheshbon is the place where the 300 year clock of Judges
11:26 begins. This is one of the best clues for resolving the so-called counting
contradiction between 1 Kings 6:1 and the chronological data from Joshua and
Judges. There MUST be 300 years from this event to Jephtahs 6 years as judge,
which means Jephtahs rule is 340 years total from the time of the Exodus.
Paying careful attention to details like this resolves all alleged confusions and
contradictions.

AM-KEMOSH (21:29) = People of Kemosh. This was a region in Moab where
the war-god Chemosh was worshipped. Interestingly enough these same people
later will steal relics from Jerusalem and dedicate them to their false god. Such is
recorded on the Mesha Stele, also known as the Moabite Stone, dated to about
850 BCE. The Moabite Stone has the earliest Paleo-Hebrew style (Moabite
language and Paleo are very similar) to the four letter name for Yahweh known
outside of Scripture. The inscription reads in part

14.And Kemosh said to me, "Go, take Nebo from Israel," so I
15.went by night and fought against it from the break of dawn until noon,
and I
16.took it and slew all, seven thousand male citizens and foreign men
seven thousand men, female citizens, foreign
17.women and female slaves. For Ashtar Kemosh I put it to the ban. And
I took from there the vessels
18.of YHWH, and I hauled them before Kemosh.

JERICHO (22:1) relating to yareakh, the moon. So in a sense this is Moon City.
Another possible meaning is fragrance.


Torah Question of the Week:
Was Jephtahs Daughter Sacrificed?


END PART 1

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PART 2: THE HAFTORAH

Torah Question of the Week:
Was Jephtahs Daughter Sacrificed?
(We will read the Haftorah portion FIRST, then answer this question)


This haftorah portion from Judges 11:1-33 deals with one of the most difficult to
understand occasions in the entire Tanakh. Reading literally it seems that Jephtah
sacrifices his daughter to fulfill a vow to YHWH, as compensation for YHWH giving
him victory in war.

How can this be? Dont we have the example of Abrahams sacrifice of Isaac being
prevented by YHWH for the express reason of showing YHWHs superiority to
false gods that require this to give their pagan subjects victory? How then could
such an evil thing be a reward to YHWH.

It seems really curious that YHWH would want to destroy those who worship
Molech for putting their children into flames and yet Jephtah felt required to do the
same thing. What is going on here?

Some will say this proves the barbarity of Israel during the time of the Judges when
everyone did what was right in their eyes. Surely this was true, however, that
apostasy seemed to coincide with worshipping false gods and not with respect to
YHWHs worship. So that answer, at best, is not complete.

Others will suggest that Jephtah was obviously wrong to do this horrible thing and
that as punishment his daughter his honored for four days each year and he dies an
ignominious death about 6 years later. Emotionally satisfying to be sure, but there
are other problems.

For example, the daughter doesnt object to being killed but only asks for two
months reprieve. For another, no one around Jephtahhe made the vow in front of
witnesseshas seen fit to contradict him. Those facts would again suggest that
what Jephtah did was normal in his time, leading back to the first explanation.

However, where do we get any hint that human sacrifice was an option for Israel
prior to the time of the Judges? The answer, I believe, is nowhere! Even at the
height of their apostasywhen worshipping the golden calfno humans were
sacrificed but they simply did normal burnt offerings to it. The Israelites also
hated pagan cults that engaged in this practice, both before and after this time
period. We should also look at this:

2 "You shall also say to the sons of Israel: 'Any man from the sons of Israel or from
the aliens sojourning in Israel awho gives any of his 1offspring to Molech, shall
surely be put to death; bthe people of the land shall stone him with stones. 3 'I will
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also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people,
because he has given some of his 1offspring to Molech, aso as to defile My sanctuary
and bto profane My holy name. 4 'If the people of the land, however, 1should ever
disregard that man when he gives any of his 2offspring to Molech, so as not to put
him to death, 5 then I Myself will set My face against that man and against his
family, and I will cut off from among their people both him and all those who play
the harlot after him, by playing the harlot after Molech. (Lev 20:2-5 NAU)

So again, why would Jepthtah think this would be okay? The text is clear he
fulfilled his vow, but perhaps HOW Jephtah fulfilled it has been misunderstood.
Did he really slit his daughters throat and roast her corpse on a fire?

Before answering, we need to look a bit more deeply at the rashness of this vow.
Here is what Biblical commentator Adam Clarke had to say about this aspect:

[The vow] must have been the vow of a heathen, or a madman. If a dog had met
him, this could not have been made a burnt-offering; and if his neighbor or friend's
wife, son, or daughter, &c., had been returning from a visit to his family, his vow
gave him no right over them. Besides, human sacrifices were ever an abomination to
the Lord; and this was one of the grand reasons why God drove out the Canaanites,
&c., because they offered their sons and daughters to Molech in the fire, i.e., made
burnt-offerings of them, as is generally supposed.-Adam Clarkes Bible
Commentary

So whatever fate actually happens to Jephtahs daughter, whether she is put into
His service or killed, Jephtah could not have enforced his will on just about anyone
else who came out of his door. So if the high priest was visiting his house are we
really going to believe Jephtah would make him a burnt offering? And as Clarke
rightly points out, not all animals were fit for sacrifice either, so if a runaway pig
happened to dash through Jephtahs open house and then out his door to see him,
are we to expect a BLT party and pork rinds for all with YHWH also gratefully
receiving the pig?

Its for these reasons and some others, that I question the idea of Jephtahs
daughter as a sacrifice. The people in the time of the Judges are not of the best
character, to be sure, but I dont see this level apostasy being applied to YHWH
worship, only to pagan worship and by forsaking YHWH. So, there must be another
answer. I believe the great scholar E.W. Bullinger hit on that answer:

The Hebrew prefix "" that is translated in the above passage as "and" is often used
as a disjunctive, and means "or", when there is a second proposition. Indeed this
rendering is suggested in the margin of the A.V. [Authorized Version =KJV]
Bullinger goes on to give examples from the Bible where the same word has been
translated as "or".

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According to him, the right translation of this passage is: "whatever comes out of
the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of
Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, or I will offer it up as a burnt offering."
Jephthah's daughter, being the first that came out of the house, was thus, according
to Bullinger, dedicated to God. He also says: "In any case, it should have been
unlawful, and repugnant to Yahweh, to offer a human being to Him as a burnt-
offering, for His acceptance. Such offerings were common to heathen nations at that
time, but it is noteworthy that Israel stands out among them with this great
peculiarity, that human sacrifices were unknown in Israel."- Wikipedia and E.W.
Bullinger, Did Jephtah Really Sacrifice His Daughter? An Analysis of Judges
11:31

In analyzing this text further, I also agree with Adam Clarke who said:

The translation of which [Judges 11:31], according to the most accurate Hebrew
scholars, is this: I will consecrate it to the Lord, or I will offer it for a burnt-
offering; that is, "If it be a thing fit for a burnt-offering, it shall be made one; if fit
for the service of God, it shall be consecrated to him." That conditions of this kind
must have been implied in the vow, is evident enough.

So basically the first thing which is SUITABLE as a burnt offering according to
Torah would be offered but if NOT it would be given to YHWHs service (as a
human, like Samson and Yochanan the Immerser are dedicated to YHWH). And if
it was a pig or a dog or something that could not go on the altar, it wouldnt count.
Jephtah would simply wait for the next creature that was kosher to present itself.

But in the end this is still a rash vow, if for no other reason that Jephtah could not
enforce his will on everyone; only perhaps his family and servants could be off-
loaded to YHWHs service, not anyone else. Or perhaps his exuberance got the
better of him, thinking he was cornered (which he was) that such was the only way
to get out alive. Yet I still say Jephtah had to base his hopes for deliverance on the
Torah rather than away from it. If he intended to sacrifice possibly his daughter, he
would ask that of Molech who was the false god literally next door. To ask it of
YHWH was simply a non-starter.

So the vow, while not perfect and not from the most righteous place, is nevertheless
not an invitation to barbarity.


1) Haftorah portion (English- Judges 11:1-33) and discuss common themes with the
Torah portion.

VeYiftach haGil'adi hayah gibor chayil vehu ben-ishah zonah vayoled
Gil'ad et-Yiftach.

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Vateled eshet-Gil'ad lo banim vayigdelu vney-ha'ishah vayegarshu et-
Yiftach vayomru lo lo-tinchal beveyt-avinu ki ben-ishah acheret atah.

2) Our linguistic commentary

JEPHTAH [Yiphtach-11:1] = he opens. But he is from GILEAD (or Galeed
Genesis 31:46 and also Judges 11:1), which means witness. So Jephtah opens
to the witness of YHWHs will.

ERETZ TOB (11:3) = good land. The land itself is named Tob but it is a
wordplay that the quality of the land is also good. One gets the sense that injustice
has been done to Jephtah because of his illegitimate birth getting him excluded,
and of course that wasnt his fault directly. So he goes from the land that
witnessed this injustice to the land of Tob, because he is good.

AMMONITES (11:4). These are sons of Lot, Abrahams nephew (Genesis
19:38) so this is a family feud.

MIZPAH (11:11) = watchtower. Because YHWH is witnessing the pact between
Jephtah and the elders of Gilead (witness also), this is in a sense a sentry tower
presiding over the pact that the land there is named after.

SIHON (11:19) = name means, striking down, and this is exactly what happens
to their king when he opposes YHWH.

3) Renewed Covenant portion: (English) Yochanan 3:1-21 (all the way through with
applicable footnotes.)

4) Highlight common themes in Aramaic (terms in footnotes which I will read)

5) Apply these themes/issues to modern issues in the Netzari faith. (The nature of
making vows is problematic. Yshua warned us to let our yes be yes and our no
be no, for all else is from evil. In Jephtahs case we see what happens when an
evil vow is made in the name of YHWH, and that the one who rashly made it
feels obligated to carry out an evil act that YHWH never endorsed in the first
place.)

6) Relate to all or part of an Appendix portion of AENT or footnotes from a portion
(Read Born from the Beginning in the appendix, p. 748-750).

STUDY QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED NEXT WEEK FOR THIS
PORTION:

1) There are two great rabbis/teachers who are praised in both the Talmud and the
NT. Rabbi Gamaliel, Pauls teacher, is one of them. Who is the other?

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2) If you know the answer to question #1 tell me: What is this other rabbi/teacher
most famous for in the Talmud?

3) Do we know the ultimate fate of this mysterious teacher, according to the
Talmud?
4) What is the possible relationship between this teacher and the Last Supper?

5) The copper snake that heals Israel from the plague was not an act of pagan
worship because YHWH commanded it be done. What was the purpose of the copper
snake and did Israel thoroughly understand that purpose?


Torah Thought for the Week:
Moshes 38 year Vacation?


Recently we looked at the fact that Moshe has a total of 78 missing years from his life.
These years parse out to 40 years in the beginning and 38 missing years from the Torah
while they are wandering in the wilderness. It is in fact in this Torah portion that the gap
presents itself.

In Numbers 20:1, Miriam, the sister of Moshe, dies. By the end of the 21
st
chapter (also
of course in this portion) Aaron dies on Mount Hor, and when we cross check this portion
with the summary account in Numbers 33, we find out that Aaron died at age 123. Since
he was 83 years old at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 7:7), this means we have now
entered the 40
th
year since the deliverance from Egypt.

What seems so extraordinary about this huge gap is how ORDINARY the text is about it.
It barely acknowledges any gap at all. It is only when we dig deeper and put the clues
together that we realize the gap even exists. Its kind of like the Scripture version of
dark matterwe dont see it but we see the effect it has on other parts of the text.

Another odd fact about this timewe only get a list of stops along the way, no mention
of Moshe or the Israelites except as a monolithic group that, well, Ill let the Torah speak
for itself here

These were the stages of the journey made by the Israelites when they left Egypt in their
companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses recorded their starting-
points in writing whenever they moved on at Yahweh's order. The stages, from one
starting-point to another, were as follows: 3 They left Rameses in the first month. It was
the fifteenth day of the first month, the day following the Passover, when the Israelites
confidently set out, under the eyes of all Egypt. 4 The Egyptians were burying those of
their own people whom Yahweh had struck down, all the first-born; Yahweh had carried
out his judgement on their gods. 5 The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Succoth.
6 Then they left Succoth and encamped at Etham which is on the edge of the desert.
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7 They left Etham, turned back to Pi-Hahiroth, opposite Baal-Zephon, and encamped
before Migdol. 8 They left Pi-Hahiroth, crossed the sea into the desert, and after
marching for three days in the desert of Etham they encamped at Marah.
9 They left Marah and reached Elim. At Elim there were twelve springs of water and
seventy palm trees; they encamped there. 10 They left Elim and encamped by the Sea of
Reeds. 11 They left the Sea of Reeds and encamped in the desert of Sin. 12 They left the
desert of Sin and encamped at Dophkah. 13 They left Dophkah and encamped at Alush.
14 They left Alush and encamped at Rephidim; the people found no drinking water
there. 15 They left Rephidim and encamped in the desert of Sinai. 16 They left the
desert of Sinai and encamped at Kibroth-ha-Taavah. 17 They left Kibroth-ha-Taavah and
encamped at Hazeroth. 18 They left Hazeroth and encamped at Rithmah. 19 They left
Rithmah and encamped at Rimmon-Perez. 20 They left Rimmon-Perez and encamped at
Libnah. 21 They left Libnah and encamped at Rissah. 22 They left Rissah and encamped
at Kehelathah. 23 They left Kehelathah and encamped at Mount Shepher. 24 They left
Mount Shepher and encamped at Haradah. 25 They left Haradah and encamped at
Makheloth. 26 They left Makheloth and encamped at Tahath. 27 They left Tahath and
encamped at Terah. 28 They left Terah and encamped at Mithkah. 29 They left Mithkah
and encamped at Hashmonah. 30 They left Hashmonah and encamped at Moseroth.
31 They left Moseroth and encamped at Bene-Jaakan. 32 They left Bene-Jaakan and
encamped at Hor-Gidgad. 33 They left Hor-Gidgad and encamped at Jotbathah. 34 They
left Jotbathah and encamped at Abronah. 35 They left Abronah and encamped at Ezion-
Geber. 36 They left Ezion-Geber and encamped in the desert of Zin, that is, at Kadesh.
37 They left Kadesh and encamped at Mount Hor, on the borders of the land of Edom.
38 The priest Aaron went up Mount Hor on Yahweh's orders and died there in the
fortieth year of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day
of the month. 39 Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on
Mount Hor. (Numbers 33:1-39 NJB)

Notice how its always they leftthen they arrived at? Again where is Moshe here? If
we accept the common teaching that Moshe wrote the entire Torah except for the little bit
in Deuteronomy after he dies, then this may bring us to an unsettling conclusion: By
writing they leftthey arrived Moshe is not including himself! Could he have been
somewhere else.

Now granted, there may be a very prosaic explanation for this before I get into the
possibility of Moshe taking a 38 year vacation. Moshe often referred to himself in the
third person, so the Torah mostly says He (Moshe) said/did so maybe he does include
himself after all.

The thing is though, the Torah and some very old folk traditions also give us plenty of
reason to think Moshe might want to get away from it allfor a very long time. Just
looking at the Torah we have these statements

22 Moses went back to Yahweh and said, 'Lord, why do you treat this people so
harshly? Why did you send me? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh and spoke to
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him in your name, he has ill-treated this people, and you have done nothing at all
about rescuing your people.' (Exo 5:22-23 NJB)

5 Moses flew into a rage and said to Yahweh, 'Disregard their cereal offering! I
have not taken so much as a donkey from them, nor have I wronged any of them.'
(Num 16:15 NJB)
and Moses was angry with them. (Exo 16:20 NJB)

Frustration dogs Moshe wherever he goes. In spite of his great humility which is
repeatedly stressed in the Torah, Moshe does flash anger, despair, grief and all the rest.
There is no respite for him from the moment he is called to service to the moment he
dies, where he works all day in toil and frustrationthat last day of his life we now call
the book of Deuteronomy. If there was ever anyone who accumulated enough vacation
time to take a four decade sabbatical, it was Moshe. And, even if Moshe did NOT take
that vacation, I am pretty sure he felt like he WISHED he could.

Nevertheless, lets assume he did. I think somewhere in the legends that are told about
himif there is a kernel of truthwe may see the seeds of this vacation planted in his
early years and hinted at further in the Torah itself. Most you recall my favorite Moshe
legend I believe, from the historian Josephus.

Moses, therefore, when he was born, and brought up in the foregoing manner, and
came to the age of maturity, made his virtue manifest to the Egyptians; and
showed that he was born for the bringing them down, and raising the Israelites;
and the occasion he laid hold of was this:

The Ethiopians, who are neighbors to the Egyptians, made an inroad into their
Ethiopians followed after them in the pursuit, and thinking that it would be a mark
of cowardice if they did not subdue all Egypt, they went on to subdue the rest
with greater vehemence; and when they had tasted the sweets of the country, they
never stopped the prosecution of the war; and as the nearest parts had not courage
enough at first to fight with them, they proceeded as far as Memphis, and the sea
itself; while not one of the cities was able to oppose them.

The Egyptians, under this sad oppression, betook themselves to their oracles and
prophecies; and when God had given them this counsel, to make use of Moses the
Hebrew, and take his assistance, the king commanded his daughter to produce
him, that he might be the general of their army. Upon which, when she had made
him swear he would do him no harm, she delivered him to the king, and supposed
his assistance would be of great advantage to them. She withal reproached the
priests, who, when they had before admonished the Egyptians to kill him, was not
ashamed now to own their want of his help.

So Moses, at the persuasion both of Thermuthis and the king himself, cheerfully
undertook the business: and the sacred scribis of both nations were glad; those of
the Egyptians, that they should at once overcome their enemies by his valor, and
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that by the same piece of management Moses would be slain; but those of the
Hebrews, that they should escape from the Egyptians, because Moses was to be
their general; but Moses came ahead of the enemies, and took and led his army
before those enemies were apprized of his attacking them; for he did not march by
the river, but by land, where he gave a wonderful demonstration of his sagacity;
for when the ground was difficult to be passed over, because of the multitude of
serpents, (which it produces in vast numbers, and indeed is singular in some of
those productions, which other countries do not breed, and yet such as are worse
than others, in power and mischief, and an unusual fierceness of sight, some of
which ascend out of the ground unseen, and also fly in the air, and so come upon
men at unawares, and do them a mischief,)

Moses invented a wonderful stratagem to preserve the army safe, and without
harm; for he made baskets, like to arks, of sedge, and filled them with ibis, and
carried them along with them; which animal is the greatest enemy to serpents
imaginable, for they flee from them when they come near them; and as they flee
they are caught and devoured by them, as if it were done by the harts; but the ibis
are tame creatures, and only enemies to the serpentine kind: but about these ibis I
say no more at present, since the Greeks themselves are not unacquainted with
this sort of bird.

As soon, therefore, as Moses was come to the land which was the breeder of these
serpents, he let loose the ibis, and by their means repelled the serpentine kind, and
used them for his assistants before the army came upon that ground. When he had
therefore proceeded thus on his journey, he came upon the Ethiopians before they
expected him; and, joining battle with them, he beat them, and deprived them of
the hopes they had of success against the Egyptians, and went on in overthrowing
their cities, and indeed made a great slaughter of these Ethiopians. Now when the
Egyptian army had once tasted of this prosperous success, by the means of Moses,
they did not slacken their diligence, insomuch that the Ethiopians were in danger
of being reduced to slavery, and all sorts of destruction; and at length they retired
to Saba, which was a royal city of Ethiopia, which Cambyses afterward named
Meroe, after the name of his own sister.

The place was to be besieged with very great difficulty, since it was both
surrounded by the Nile on all sides, and the other rivers, Astapus and Astaboras,
made it a very difficult thing for such as attempted to pass over them; for the city
was located in a retired place, and was inhabited after the manner of an island,
being surrounded with a strong wall, and having the rivers to guard them from
their enemies, and having great ramparts between the wall and the rivers,
insomuch, that when the waters come with the greatest violence, it can never be
drowned; which ramparts make it next to impossible for even such as have
crossed over the rivers to take the city.

However, while Moses was uneasy at the army's lying idle, (for the enemies dared
not come to a battle,) this incident happened:-- Tharbis was the daughter of the
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king of the Ethiopians; she happened to see Moses as he led the army near the
walls, and fought with great courage; and admiring the subtilty of his
undertakings, and believing him to be the author of the Egyptians' success, when
they had before despaired of recovering their liberty, and to be the occasion of the
great danger the Ethiopians were in, when they had before boasted of their great
achievements, she fell deeply in love with him; and upon the prevalence of that
passion, sent to him the most faithful of all her servants to discourse with him
about their marriage.

He thereupon accepted the offer, on condition she would procure the delivering
up of the city; and gave her the assurance of an oath to take her to his wife; and
that when he had once taken possession of the city, he would not break his oath to
her. No sooner was the agreement made, but it took effect immediately; and when
Moses had cut off the Ethiopians, he gave thanks to God, and consummated his
marriage, and led the Egyptians back to their own land. (Antiquities, 2:238-253)

And then in Numbers 12, after the death of Tzipporrah, we get this reference

Miriam, and Aaron too, criticised Moses over the Cushite woman he had married.
He had indeed married a Cushite woman. 2 They said, 'Is Moses the only one
through whom Yahweh has spoken? Has he not spoken through us too?' Yahweh
heard this. 3 Now Moses was extremely humble, the humblest man on earth.
4 Suddenly Yahweh said to Moses, Aaron and Miriam, 'Come out, all three of
you, to the Tent of Meeting.' They went, all three of them, 5 and Yahweh
descended in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the Tent. He called
Aaron and Miriam and they both came forward. 6 Yahweh said: Listen to my
words! if there is a prophet among you, I reveal myself to him in a vision, I speak
to him in a dream. 7 Not so with my servant Moses; to him my whole household
is entrusted; 8 to him I speak face to face, plainly and not in riddles, and he sees
Yahweh's form. How, then, could you dare to criticise my servant Moses?
9 Yahweh's anger was aroused by them. He went away, 10 and as soon as the
cloud left the Tent, there was Miriam covered with a virulent skin-disease, white
as snow! Aaron turned to look at her and saw that she had contracted a virulent
skin-disease. 11 Aaron said to Moses: 'Oh, my Lord, please do not punish us for
the sin we have been foolish enough to commit. 12 Do not let her be like some
monster with its flesh half eaten away when it leaves its mother's womb!'
13 Moses pleaded with Yahweh. 'O God,' he said, 'I beg you, please heal her!'
14 Yahweh then said to Moses, 'If her father had done no more than spit in her
face, would she not be unclean for seven days? Have her shut out of the camp for
seven days, and then have her brought in again.' 15 Miriam was shut out of the
camp for seven days. The people did not set out until she returned. 16 Then the
people moved on from Hazeroth and pitched camp in the desert of Paran.
(Numbers 12:1-16 NJB)

Some rabbis think this was a slur against Tzipporah, but she is a Midianite, not a Cushite.
That is why most authorities believe Tzipporah had died. But what if this Cushite wife in
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Numbers 12 was the reuniting of Moshe with his FIRST WIFE, according to Josephus,
the Ethiopian princess he calls Tharbis?

The fact is, we dont know from Torah what Moshes early life was like anyway, so even
if this Cushite wife is not Tharbis, the possibility that she was a first love of his from
somewhere still remains, and it doesnt sound that unlikely on the face of it either though
it lays beyond our abilities to prove.

I think its important to re-connect with the fact that Moshe was a human beingan
extraordinary one to be surebut even the most humble man can run out of patience.
Even the most committed man can despair. And I am pretty confident, just from what
Torah says, that those kinds of bad days were not exactly rare.

Lets look at what we are sure of and see why. Moshe grows up an Egyptian prince, and
all ancient sources outside of Scripture say he never fit in and was always viewed with
suspicion. He strives many years for respectability and even when he comes home a
victorious general he is still hated, and hes left behind his wife on top of it.

Fleeing for his life, Moshe finds a little more peace in Midian. He marries, has children
and tries to forget Egyptbut YHWH has other plans. Reluctantlyvery reluctantly
he accepts his new mantle of purpose to go and free his people. Pharaoh treats him like
dirt even after so many plagues. His own people curse him and call him a sword put in
Pharaohs hands to kill us.

Okay, some of you may think, maybe things will change once he gets the Israelites out of
bondage. Well, yes, they do changethey get WORSE! Heres a highlight reel

Wah! We have to make bricks without straw!
Wah! We dont have enough bread!
Wah, okay, we have bread but its boring! We want meat!
Wah! Uh, okay, ease up on the meat.
Wah! Moshe, whyd you leave us for so long! We miss you! (uhwhat?)
Wah! Well die in the desert!
Wah! Okay, we wont die in the desert, but it would be better if we did!
Wah! Uh, can we go back to Egypt?

Honestly, Meg Ryan doesnt cry this much! Could we blame Moshe for wanting a
version of Club Med after the stresses of that job? So maybe Tharbis is exactly what
he needs. A chance to remember what things were like before all this stuff started? And
besides everyone else thinks they can do a better job, so why not let them try?

The other way I like to think of this possibilityand no, I am not saying this happened
is that YHWH asked a direct question

11 and Yahweh said to Moses: 'How much longer will these people treat me with
contempt? How much longer will they refuse to trust me, in spite of all the signs I
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have displayed among them? 12 I shall strike them with pestilence and disown
them. And of you I shall make a new nation, greater and mightier than they are.'
(Numbers 14:11-12 NJB)

Now some of you might say, Wait! Andrew, Moshe interceded here. He did NOT
withdraw! True enoughhe did. But he was only partly successful

20 Yahweh said, 'I forgive them as you ask. 21 But -- as I live, and as the glory of
Yahweh fills the whole world- 22 of all these people who have seen my glory and
the signs that I worked in Egypt and in the desert, who have put me to the test ten
times already and not obeyed my voice, 23 not one shall see the country which I
promised to give their ancestors. Not one of those who have treated me
contemptuously will see it. (Numbers 14:20-23 NJB)

In other words it went like this, Okay Moshe, you win. I wont kill them. Instead, Ill
just---KILL them!but slowly. If that doesnt merit an Oy vey! I need a break! from
Moshe, I honestly dont know what will.

Bottom line, of course, we will never know. If Moshe took a break for his own heart, to
return to the one he loved, we could hardly blame him for doing so. We see these stories
in life all the time. The great man, the mighty leader, just a man after all, looking for
love and appreciation in a harsh world. Whether Moshe found that love early on in life or
only just after Tzipporah died, the bottom line is, according to Torah, he DID find it and
he took her to his heart in the most kosher way possible.

I doubt that there are many peopleespecially among the men listening nowwho
couldnt relate to Moshes need to take a break with his new kosher love, the one person
in the world who could life those ponderous burdens off of his shoulders.

But whether this lady was Tharbis or not, I think we all owe her a debt of gratitude. At
the end of the day, she strengthened Moshe and enabled him to stay the course to the very
end. She was in his corner when his brother, sister and a good chunk of his nation turned
their backs on him.

So maybe at the end of the day it was a 38 year vacation after all but Moshe didnt leave
Israel to wander alone. Instead, he found someone else to wander with to put joy back in
his life and purpose back into his heart. Thats why Solomon put it so well

9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and
has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep
warm. But how can one keep warm alone? (Ecclesiastes 4:9-11 NIV)

Thank you Tharbis, or whoever you really were, for making such a difference.

Im Andrew Gabriel Roth and thats your Torah Thought for the Week!
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Next week we will be exploring Balak, or Numbers 22:2-25:9. Our Haftorah portion will
be Micah 5:6-6:8 and our Renewed Covenant portion will be 2 Peter 2:1-22! Stay tuned!