Where Jerusalem began?

Standing on the Ophel at Mount Moriah's Temple Mount looking south, the Kidron Valley falls east toward Silwan. Increasingly visible is the new excavation area above the Spring House at the City of David. Most of the green grassy area shown in the picture below hides the archaeology beneath the surface. The landfill is a product of thousands of years of garbage dumping firstly by residents of the original City of David, and later by Israel’s deniers.

Mount Moriah - Looking South to Kidron Valley

The Excavation area (in the center) is the progressive work over the past five years to remove tens of thousands of cubic feet of dust, dirt and garbage to reveal the bedrock and provide public access to the archaeological features a few meters below. 

Jacob's Stairway from the Upper (Gihon) Pool to the Upper Ridge

From the south side looking North to the Ophel and Temple Mount, the highlighted excavations on Mount Moriah's eastern slopes are actually located on its bedrock. The Citadel of Daivd (walls) discovered by archaeologists Eli Shukron and Ronny Reich appear to be a Middle Bronze Age construction north of Jacob's Stairway which runs from the Upper Pool to the Upper Ridge.

Many attempts have been made to artistically render the City of David and The Spring House over the Gihon Spring. As more features are discovered the renditions become more accurate.

Ancient City of David built on Mount Moriah 

Spring House and Upper Gihon Pool

Lower Mount Moriah - Steep Face from Upper Gihon Pool and Spring House to Upper Ridge

I write on this subject to highlight that parts of the Upper Gihon Pool pre-date the Spring House structure by as much as 1000 years and its walls by several hundred years. I maintain the southern walls (of Jacob's Ladder) rising to the Upper Ridge, immediately above the Upper Gihon Pool were built by Jacob to emphasize its sanctity. In the above image, the Pool (contained between walls that climb the mountain face to the Upper Ridge) can be seen adjacent to the south west corner of the Spring House and in its modern iteration (view from the north east) below:

Today - The Gihon Spring House (view from north east corner)

This recently snapped image (below) captures the present excavation on the underground climb from the Upper Gihon Pool to the Upper Ridge, which is where the group are posing. The visible sandbags follow the contour of the bedrock as it falls to the valley floor. On the right (north) of the sandbags are a series of well placed significant boulders, remnants of the southern wall stairway (not connected to the Spring House of Citadel of David). When this wall was first built The Spring House was not yet in existence. 

Upper Pool to the Upper Ridge - Jacob's Stairway

The steps and walls of Jacob's Stairway terminate as it meets the foot of the Upper Ridge. This is an important distinction that suggest the wall may have been designed to emphasize the Upper Ridge.

The Upper Ridge was recently the highlight of a worldwide guessing contest to discover the meaning or purpose of strange markings carved into its bedrock. This section of the floor is located to the left (south) of Jacob's Stairway and can be seen in the following image with archaeologist Eli Shukron.

Eli Shukron at The Upper Ridge

To the north (right) adjacent to the room with V markings (see the steel cabinet in the far right of the above image) is arguably the most well preserved in-situ artifact at the City of David and in Israel. Every time I see it I shudder when considering its importance, I believe it is and will be determined to be the monument (matzevah - Genesis 28:22) that Jacob erected to confirm his covenant with God and take his name Israel. Further along in the next room to the north is a very interesting configuration that includes a slightly raised platform and a channel chiseled in the bedrock for liquid (most likely blood) to run from sacrifices offered at the back of the room to its front.

Steel Case - The Matzevah

Matzevah (monument) of Jacob - Genesis 28:22

Adjacent and further north is a room that appears to have operated as a small animal holding pen. In addition an oil press, a grain press and numerous other elements make this Upper Ridge at the Gihon an area that was certainly used for large scale sacrificial use.

The floor plan of the entire upper ridge illustrated below identifies each of these rooms. Increasingly possible is the prospect that the Ark of the Covenant may have rested in a tent behind (west) these rooms in the 37 years before it was located in the temple.

Rooms on the Upper Ridge above Upper Gihon Pool

From left to right - the room with marking, the room with matzevah, the room with blood channel and the room with holding pen. More on this Upper Ridge at the Gihon can be discovered at this link - Hypothesis for Upper Ridge.

Bottom left - Early Bronze Age Cave House

In archaeological terms this area and other rooms discovered at the Upper Gihon Pool confirm it to be an active early Bronze age II site. For the uninitiated this is arguably the most exciting news because its continuous use from this era confirms that Noah's son Shem, Malchitzedek may have used it as his base for worship at Salem where it is said he presided. This timeline would confirm the Biblical view that Salem is the origin of Jerusalem and the continuous site of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David.

Finally I am beginning to conceive the original structure integrated into the natural mountain face may have once been a Ziggurat (a Stariway) rather than a wall. If the matzevah at the Upper Ridge is indeed Jacob's then this 'stairway to heaven' would be consistent with his dream. It can be envisaged looking to the sandbags (in the previous image) on the climb from the Upper Gihon Pool to the Upper Ridge.

Understand Good and Evil!

Maimonides (Rambam) elaborates on the fundamental Jewish tenet of free will*, the fact the Almighty grants each individual the capacity to choose between good and evil. Rambam rejects outright and unequivocally the notion of predestined virtue or sinfulness; he asserts that it is possible for all people to be righteous like Moshe, or wicked like Yerovam ben Nevat” (5:2)

Of all the evil characters that span the pages of Tanach, the 24 books of the Bible, why would Rambam choose Yerovam as the person to juxtapose Moshe? Rambam is one of the most knowledgeable Jewish scholars ever to have lived, so his choice of Yerovam deserves investigation.

Most people know who Moshe (Moses) was, that he was chosen by God and led the enslaved descendants of Jacob out of Egypt. Over 40 years he forged them into Israel, the Jewish nation and transcribed and made Torah, the nation’s constitution. The story of the exodus is re-told at Passover every year by Jewish families and remains the most popular of all Jewish holidays among the secular and religious. However, in the Haggadah the book from which the story is retold Moses name is never mentioned. A great Rabbi taught me that the reason is each Jewish child has the same opportunity as Moses to feed directly from God’s manifestation. Therefore, the Haggadah was written to open, on this holy night a window for the participant to be enjoined in the same way and to rise to the same stature as leader of the Jewish nation.

Some 400 years after Moses, King Solomon died and  his son Rehavam was challenged by Yerovam for national leadership. Incredibly Yerovam led the northern tribes to a revolt and promoted two golden bull idols, their gods to compete with the temple Solomon built in Jerusalem. The idols, reminiscent of those that once elicited a similar revolt in which Moses brother in-law was killed and his brother threatened, existed north of Jerusalem. Moses grandson once served as a priest in the presence of one of these idols when the rear-guard tribe of Dan promoted their worship among the northern tribes. The political power vested in these gods was enough for Yerovam to advantage his revolution and successfully split the kingdom. In Beit El (north of Jerusalem), Yerovam built an altar and a temple for his divided nation to serve these gods and he prevented pilgrims heading south to Jerusalem.

Rambam connected free choice with these characters because they epitomise the breadth of its manifestation. Jewish nationalism may orient toward righteousness, but it accommodated Yerovam and Rehavam becoming leaders of the divided nation. The tribes of Israel split, they followed different teachings, they prayed in different temples, they bordered their lands and went to war. Ever since this time, the nation Israel has never reconciled. The nation that had once been redeemed from Egypt was and remains to this very day locked in its second exiled state.

A man from Yehuda (south) that came as a Prophet from Shomron (north) once froze Yerovams right arm as he revealed that his altar would be destroyed by a King from the future. That King, Yoshiyahu discovered the last surviving Torah scroll written by Moshe, it was open at the curses that foretold the impending destruction of the temple. Yoshiyahu repented deeply, he immediately defiled and destroyed Yerovam’s altar, traveled the nation destroying its idols and re-instituted Passover including the most glorious Pesach celebration in Jerusalem. Yoshiyahu’s efforts were so genuine that for the first time since Yerovam some of the northern tribes began to return to Jerusalem. Then Yoshiyahu became overwhelmed, he buried the Ark of the Covenant in a secret chamber and denied Pharaoh Neco permission to travel through Israel to attack the advancing Assyrians. Neco’s army killed Yoshiyahu piercing his body with 300 arrows. Twenty two years later the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the divided nation led into captivity.

I believe Rambam chose Yerovam because the concepts so deeply imbued in his choice speak through these events and this prophecy to this very day. I wrote extensively about it connecting it with Yerovam’s Beit El obfuscation that he so cleverly used to divide the nation. Once this obfuscation is removed the nation will finally return to its center, ultimately from exile and eventually it will unify its views and fulfill its longstanding cultural and national commitments. That time is approaching.

* fifth and sixth chapters of his Hilkhot Teshuva,

Israel Rising from the Ashes - 75 Years

Holocaust survivors one day after liberation in May 1945.
 Photo: National Archives and Records Administration.

We became polarized around the meaning of “Team Jewish”. Was Jewish a nationality? Did it include all members of Israel our nation? Did the concept sufficiently incorporate all who consider themselves members of the tribe? And what about Jewish continuity? I began to reflect - what does belonging to the Jewish team actually mean for the culturally diverse, some of whom cling to the thinnest of assimilated threads? Notwithstanding attempts by Jewish establishments to accommodate the estranged, orthodox, conservative and reform aggregate their communities under the Jewish banner. However, some follow no religion at all and many don’t know or don’t even admit to being Jewish.

The immediate assumption was that every member of the tribe is a member of the “Jewish Team”, but that convenience didn’t cut it for me. That would make one mighty big unmanageable team and certainly members from the strictly orthodox league would not play on the same field as conservatives, reformers or abstainers. According to their rules some may not even be Jewish! What is it that exists in the annals of Jewish history that had kept this fledgling nation alive and strengthened it through the most difficult challenges to rise and rise again? Something had to fit with the “Team” ideal that would accommodate all its members whether or not they agreed with each others practices.

The notion of automatic player admission to “Team Jewish” simply would not fit. Perhaps a broader “Club Jewish” concept would work, but who would select the team? Unifying Jewish opinions for team selection would be impossible, it would lead to more segmentation and would certainly do more harm than good. For the most part religious Judaism, in its multiple forms through its various organizations is a club open for anyone to qualify and join. Club-Jewish may fit the mold for diversity, but the club constitution and team selection would remain problematic. Many inconsistencies are imbued through different Jewish practices, some are cultural others more religiously technical, but there is one practice that remains stoically entrenched and central to each sub-community:- The Torah scroll at the front of their clubhouses, written in the same millennial tradition.

My search continued deeper and deeper looking for something that could resolve the problem of team selection, then it struck me. At first I thought the idea is so removed from reality, that it just wasn’t possible, but that led me to the exact place that resolved the problem. A mystical idea of Kabbalah that has forever produced selection of “Team Jewish”! Opinions vary about the number of members that constitute the team, but this minor detail should not get in the way of the establishment as most views converge. Team Jewish are the super-Jews, Tzadikim Nistarim (Hebrew: צַדִיקִים נִסתָּרים) the "hidden righteous ones". This elite group of 36 Jews are thought to exist in the world at all times, without them the world would fall. Any Jew can be selected for team-Jewish, but no-one ever know whether they’ve been selected for the team - could it be you? You may not know it and neither would anyone else, but “Club-Jewish” can be assured of the presence of these special Team Jewish members at all times.

Despite the occasionally rowdy membership, Club-Jewish has survived because of its magnificent team who blitz the competition in every game. These pillars, on which the world stands silently blaze their brilliance every day, whether in business, science, the arts, religion, charity or politics this team keeps Club-Jewish in business for the benefit of its members. It reminds me of a childhood saying at my non-Jewish school, modified here ever so slightly - ‘Jesus saves, but (Pele) Team-Jewish scores on the rebound!’ Now that's a team any self-respecting club would be proud to support.

75 years after the last devastating attempt to destroy the Jewish Club, the team settles the score to proudly unite its members as they go about their humble business. Everyday they tackle, defend, attack, pass and score. As Club-Jewish members increasingly recognize, respect and regard the diversity of their multitudinous culture they settle back to barrack their team and the home ground advantage of Israel, their Jewish nation state continues to pay handsome dividends.

Passover Seder's Fifteen Steps.

The Hebrew calendar is unusual because Nisan is the first month, associated with Passover or Pesach the holiday of redemption. But, its opposite end, the seventh month, Tishrei is the Jewish new year including the holiday of Sukkot. Kabbalah teaches equal in opposites, so what about Sukkot can we learn about Pesach?

There is a teaching that the lower feminine waters (of the Gihon Spring) complained to God, “We too want to be close to You!” God consoled them, saying; “There will come a time when you, too, will be close, when your waters will be poured upon the altar during Sukkot, to celebrate.” At Sukkot the Levite priests sang spiritual songs that kept Jerusalem wide-eyed till dawn as they stood upon the “fifteen steps of descent from the Israelite courtyard to the women’s courtyard, that correspond to the fifteen ‘Songs of Ascents’ composed by King David.  But, the priests descended those fifteen steps?

Rav Chisda asked “a certain rabbi” why King David composed these fifteen Songs of Ascents to begin with. The rabbi replied that when King David began excavating the foundation of the Temple’s altar, the waters of the subterranean deep rushed upwards and threatened to engulf the world. Then, King David composed fifteen Songs of Ascents, and the depths safely subsided. If so, Rav Chisda protested, why are they not called Songs of Descent, to reflect the subsiding waters.

Replied the anonymous rabbi, this is what occurred: When the deep surged upwards, King David thought to inscribe God's Name on a piece of earthenware and cast it into the waters. His teacher, Achitofel, ruled it permissible reasoning; if according to Torah, for the sake of matrimonial harmony, God commands us to write His Name on parchment and to erase it by placing it into a container of water for an alleged unfaithful wife to drink and redeem herself, then it is certainly permissible for King David to cast the divine Name into the surging waters to bring peace to the entire world!

King David immediately wrote and cast The Name into the waters, which then subsided sixteen levels. Surprised, the King realized the earth’s irrigation would be reduced, so he voiced fifteen Songs of Ascents that brought the waters back up to a safe and desirable level.

In his commentary on the Talmud, Maharsha adds that the divine Name King David wrote was with the letters Yud-Hei, which equates the numerical value fifteen. The Name is associated with the final redemption of the Jewish people. The two priests who descended these steps on the way to draw the water on Sukkot would pause on the tenth step, to divide the steps in two parts, ten and five, corresponding to the Yud (ten) and Hei (five) respectively.

Maharal quotes the verse from Isaiah 26:4, “For in God (Yud-Hei) is the strength of the worlds.” Our sages stated that all creation comes into being via these two divine “letters,” Yud and Hei. These letters comprise “form” that comes from the Yud, and “matter” that comes from the Hei. These reflect the spiritual worlds united with the material.

This, then, is the Kabbalistic secret behind the fifteen Songs of Ascents corresponding to the Temple steps that directed people to the higher world, from the more material, “feminine” women’s courtyard, toward the more spiritual, “masculine” aspect, the Israelite courtyard and ultimately the exclusive domains of the high priests. When a redeemed Israel left the entrapment of Egypt (Mitzrayim) they first journeyed through the lowest waters, the bottom of Yam Suf meaning Reed or some say Sea at the End where they cast their souls, comprising God's name, into the waters and from where they ascended as a nation.

Each year Jews the world over renew the months that will follow by ascending through 15 steps of the Pesach seder (the Passover meal). They pause after the tenth step during which they re-enact eating the pascal lamb sacrifice that saved them from disaster. Then, they continue the last of five steps with the festive meal of the seder. From the digestion of the holy Pesach meal, they are infused and elevated. Six months later they descend 15 steps at Sukkot when they unite the Lulav (Palm) and Willow branches of the lower waters. At that time meals are eaten and elevation is by the encompassing Sukkah, the natural hut Jews live in during that week each year.

Christians adjust their calendar to tie Easter to Pesach and Jews dedicate the water festival of Sukkot for all the nations. We are living in the years considered to be the millennial hour, the time of transition, at the doorstep of Moshiach (Mesiah) and Israel's final redemption. The 15 steps of the Pesach seder compliment Sukkot’s 15 holy steps of the Temple. With the realization of this inner beauty, perhaps we will live a peace that is the Jewish dream. Then those who live and celebrate in Jerusalem will no longer need to utter the Seder's redundant concluding words "next year in Jerusalem"!

Is "God” your diminished substitute?

In Jewish written tradition “God” does not exist, any use of it is borrowed from a foreign language. The bleeding influence of international culture and language has distorted Jewish thinking and left many with misunderstandings of their culture and religion. Nowhere is this more evident than foreign language texts that have diminished the highest supernal order - “The Name” - “HaShem” - “יהוה” - the unpronounceable Tetragrammaton.
The confusion is mired because “The Name” is also Judaism’s indistinguishable reference to “Without End” - “Ein Sof” a term for The Infinite. However, ancient Jewish offshoots and early Christians who translated the Bible, conveniently collapsed these confounding complexities in the theistic term that became “God”. Since the printing press Jews progressively lost touch with their holy Hebrew tongue allowing their anti-theology to infuse with Christian and Islamic catch-all terms. This obfuscated important Jewish distinctions made in the origin Biblical text incorporates essential, albeit diminished spiritual forms intrinsic to and emanating from “The Name”. As Jews lost touch with these concepts Jewish assimilation increased, usually among progressive thinkers willingly exploring new nation languages and cultures.
Although the “God” reference has become widely accepted, it has different meanings to different cultures. I once asked a Christian friend whether he prays to the same “God” that Jews pray to, adamantly he replied - yes, of course! But, I often wonder whether concepts of “The Name” have truly been lost on prayer-filled communities devoid of intellectual understanding who emotionally pray to their deity. Then I begin to question what good comes from it? I’m not talking about the good communities who gather and make efforts the world over to support or initiate many helpful causes, I’m talking about the quality and benefit of their meditative practice.
Since the destruction of the Jewish temple the absence of devout holy practice promoted rushed forms of worship with compromised benefits. The ladder of Jewish prayer to unify the Names of spiritual entities with and in “The Name” is a ritual meditation that once occupied priests each, entire day. But, millennial transformations now ensure many Rabbi’s are on their errands after 30 minutes and on the Sabbaths a few hours at most. Nevertheless, within these modern windows of time, a serious practitioner can make a huge, positive and meaningful impact to their outlook and function in society. One cannot expect to obtain the benefits of Jewish prayer when they are confounded by the influences of other teachings. Its correct practice will open the mind of the practitioner enabling the flow of Wisdom. To some this may sound like a familiar Buddhist theme, but the path to Wisdom is a wisdom and one must choose before beginning the journey. If you have chosen Judaism to access your innate wisdom, beware of the foreign influences that would otherwise divert you and diminish your experience. “The Name” is the source of Its Wisdom and Its Emanations are the ancient holy Hebrew language Torah or Bible. There is no substitute! Participation in Jewish liturgy is no easy accomplishment, for many it’s a practice of absorbing meditations that infiltrate every aspect of daily life. Every wakeful hour is accounted and the regimen for the devout well documented. The practitioner can opt-in or out of any or all to their direct benefit or detriment dependent on their personal level of satisfaction. For new practitioners, those who were not born to religious families or the religious who are dissatisfied I highly recommend you consciously discover or re-discover Jewish meditation. For many this aspect of Judaism is hidden and it will take some effort to reveal, but it can be re-discovered and is easily accessible through a simple beginners book like Jewish Meditation. If “God” is substitute for “The Name” remember Its manifestations are the only existence for Jews who are about to celebrate their national monotheistic ritual. Pesach or Passover marks the conscious recognition of and exit from foreign influences that disrupt a Jew’s connection to Wisdom. It begins with your effort to understand that which distinguishes “The Name” above all. From this you can obtain concepts of time, chronologically ordered history and the root of Jewish customs, then your existing perspectives may surprise you and new perspectives invigorate your innermost core - a happy and kosher Pesach!

The Exiled State - Shaping the Narrative!

Praying at Joseph's Tomb - Shechem - Nablus

Christianity adjusts solar dating for Easter to permanently coincide with the lunar dating of Passover. This holiday lasts 7 days, but outside of Israel an additional day is celebrated, which emphasizes the present state of exile and the future redemption of Jewish people. Israel’s national and mystical history associated with this day is as deep as heaven’s spiritual oceans, but a study of the Biblical texts reveals the extent of the nation’s ancient connection to its land.

No other nation is privileged to have retained such a well preserved written record and language as that of the Jewish people. Its Torah (Bible) records its story, as transcribed by Moses some 3400 years ago documenting the historical and legal whilst retaining the mystical construct that predated its authorship. At a minimum it records the continual practices by at least the ancestral Levite priests who to this very day carry forward rituals through their family lineage. During Passover and each of the past 3400 years these direct ancestors of Moses and his brother Aharon, Israel's first high priest, have participated in annual religious services to bestow blessing upon the world.

In the period that followed ancient Israel's exodus and those that fled Egypt, the self described chosen people undertook the difficult task building their national commitment to a closer, unified, monotheistic state through common customs, practices and religious belief. Their initiation lasted 40 years until all males who were over 20 years at the exodus had passed on. Other than leaders Joshua and Caleb no other male remnants were permitted to enter the permanent land of Israel.

The fledgling nation crossed over the Jordan River first making their way to the city of Shechem (modern Nablus), in the land that was once occupied by Kanaan a nephew of Egypt’s founder Ham. This was Israel’s northern entry point where some 300 years prior, Jacob (who adopted his name Israel) had once settled. At that time his sons led by Levi and Shimeon, in almost premeditated preparation for their future nations arrival, massacred the Prince of Shechem and his kingdoms 24000 male adult inhabitants, a revenge act for his rape of their sister. It was also the location Joseph was sold by his brothers before being transported as a slave on a caravan to Egypt. On arrival from Egypt the new nation Israel buried Joseph’s bones that they had carried on their journey.

One would expect such well documented history to sufficiently establish an indigenous entitlement of a people to its land, however the the modern narrative of Nablus is arguably the world’s greatest imperial fraud and ongoing denial. Notwithstanding, the depth of Israel’s connection to Shechem, its enemies hate every undeniable historical fact for fear that exposure will overturn their ambit Nablus claim. Whilst most cannot reconcile detailed matters already past, the dynamic digital era assists. But, writers and editors who painstakingly recall the past, re-write it to suit their insurgent desires and no more so than @Wikipedia.

In Wikipedia’s world, rules of editorial engagement are defined in an effort to promote accurate representation, but the abuse and misuse by the commons is common. The editorial prize in a popular or politically charged subject like Nablus ensures attention by editors who manipulate the truth to meet the ideological demands of their peers and benefits come quickly to those who succeed. Editorial support aggregates to the ideological victor who receives commendation for their targeted editorial contribution and participation. The ideologically charged Nablus narrative is evident in its Wikipedia page, supported by its primary editor Al Ameer son. This editor has been awarded no less than 20 awards from his fellow contributors, he is a member of the ‘Early Muslim Military History Task Force’ and helped promote Yasser Arafat to Featured Article status.

Like Emperor Hadrian's Roman name Syria-Palestina that replaced Judea, editorial defenders of Wikipedia’s Nablus narrative open their article with this disclaimer; “This article is about the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, and its predecessor, the Roman city of Flavia Neapolis. For the biblical city of Shechem, at the same location, see Shechem.” From here on the authors deny Shechem a place in their Nablus narrative, suppressing its Biblical and archaeological importance, in order to deliver the indoctrination of Roman origin. The Wikipedia narrative denies the city its Israelite origin and promotes the perpetual suffering their denial imposes.

Joseph’s Tomb and its Torah inscribed twin mountain backdrop are fundamental to Israel’s connection to its land. Wikipedia’s Shechem entry describes the 2000 year history preceding its Roman occupation, connecting it to the Egyptian archaeological record when events catalyzed the unification of Israel’s tribes out of which the modern Israeli nation grew. Shechem, after whom the city was named, raped Joseph’s same age sister Dinah to whom daughter Asenath was born and who, many years later, with permission from Egypt’s Pharaoh married Joseph. The marriage of Joseph (by mother Rachel) and Asenath (by Rachel’s sister Leah's daughter Dinah), unified Israel’s matriarch’s, and made Shechem Joseph’s father-in-law, another aboriginal fact the Nablus editors ignore.

Whilst displacement of a city’s narrative denies its history, it also serves those affected to strengthen their ancient tribal connection against the growing weight of public opinion. This is the common trait of natives displaced in South Africa, North America and Australia and is not uncharacteristic of the rights of Israelis to their origin city in the land they first occupied. The Israelite people are so deeply rooted in their land, there is no place some ambit historical claim can deny them. Therefore, its enemies defer to deceit and denial in order to defend their occupation of Israel’s land and to continue the exile of its people.

Its time Jews the world over realize their rights, the same rights those that exile them afford to themselves and others. The time for applying double standards to Israel has finally passed over, exiled, banished forever and modern technology is playing its part!

Beit El of Binyamin on which border - Yehuda or Ephraim?

Three cryptic chapters written by the Prophet Shmuel (Samuel) at the end of The Book of Judges relate to the earliest period after Yehoshua (Joshua) led Israel in the conquest of their land and the establishment of the temporary mishkan (sanctuary) at Shilo. After Yehoshua and the elders of that generation, only the rear-guard tribe of Dan had not conquered and settled their allotment. It was then that these most gruesome chapters occurred. Strikingly the inter-relationships of each chapter emphasizes the competitive warring culture especially among the tribe of Yehuda (Judah), Binyamin (Benjamin) and Ephraim, with particular emphasis to the location of Beit El.

Simply, Beit El means House of God, but it was more than 400 years after the events of these chapters that they were compiled into a book at around the time the tribes of Israel finally agreed to a single site for their temple in Jerusalem. These chapters capture the preceding political, economic and social upheaval to define the temple's penultimate location on Binyamin’s southern border with Yehuda or its northern border with Ephraim.

The chapters begin with Micayhu (Micah) a man who lived with his mother in the Mountain of Ephraim close to Ephraim's southern boundary with Binyamin (18:2). There Micah developed a unique religion devoted to a significant silver idol. It was not a copy of nation gods rather it incorporated the name of God written by Moses and once used to recover the coffin of Joseph from the water of the Nile river in Egypt. He recruited a Levite boy, from the tribe of Yehuda who had lived in Beit Lechem (in the territory of Yehuda) to serve as his priest. The Levite boy Jonathan ben Gershom ben Menashe [Bava Basra (109b)] was the disenfranchised grandson of Moses and was well known to all the tribes. The superscript ‘n’ in Menashe was written by Prophet Shmuel to emphasize the evil actions of the Levite, expecting that with repentance the ‘n’ would be removed to revert the (Hebrew) letters to the name of his paternal grandfather Moshe (Moses).

The second chapter explains how the tribal leaders of Dan were unable to conquer their difficult allotment in the south along the coastal route occupied by Philistine Egyptian allies. Absent support from the other tribes they were embittered, so they traveled through Israel from Ashkelon (south) to conquer and declare Laish in the north (near the Golan) their land. Along the way, they stopped at Micah’s Beit el - house of god where they recognized the Levite. They took him and the idol and located it’s religious center further north close to the temporary sanctuary of Moses at Shilo (also referred to as Beit El). Most tribes, busy settling and defending their land, had abandoned their prescribed tri-annual religious pilgrimage to Shilo as such they were losing touch with the religion prescribed by Moses.

The chapters conclude when a Levite from the mountain of Ephraim (Shilo) went to Beit Lechem (Yehuda) to reconcile and recover his unfaithful concubine. On their return toward sunset, they passed Yevus (Jerusalem also known as Beit El - previously Luz)  because it was occupied by the heathen. They continued north through Binyamin to Gibeah where they sought overnight accommodation with an old resident. That night some Binyamite residents demanded the concubine, the Levite capitulated, they gang raped her and left her on the doorstep of the old residents home, where she died during the cold night. The incensed Levite took her back to Mountain of Ephraim where he dissected her body in 12 pieces and despatched a piece to each tribal leader demanding they support his request to force the leaders of Binyamin to hand over the perpetrators. When the Binyamite leaders refused, Israel’s eleven other tribes united in a civil war that killed more than 25,000 male members of the tribe of Binyamin, which was almost eradicated.

The juxtaposition of these three locations, Beit El at Shilo, Beit el of Micah and Beit El at Yevus provide further evidence of the cryptic message left by Prophet Shmuel. These tumultuous events underlie the vicious competition for the economic and spiritual benefits that would come by locating the nation's one and only temple on the southern (tribe Yehuda) or northern (tribe Ephraim) border of the land of Binyamin that separated them. The ultimate socio-dominant tribe would prevail in its conquest and Binyamin, wedged between the shoulders of Yehuda to its south and Ephraim to its north, would play a vital role and pay a hefty price. Competition and lobbying amongst the tribes to establish the site of a permanent temple plagued Israel, so much so that it took more than 400 years before King David was able to declare its location, after that King Solomon built it. The immediate response following King Solomon was upheaval. Yerovam ben Nabat divided the nation, re-established Beit el in the Mountains of Ephraim and directed almost half the nation to worship alien gods under his rule. At that time Yerovam ben Nabat led the 10 northern tribes to secede and plunged Israel into its protracted state of exile. To this day, thousands of years later the tribes are yet to be reunified.

Impressive and enormously complex, is the connection made by Prophet Shmuel, at the time of King David through Jonathan the Levite boy from Beit Lechem of Yehuda. This was none other than Moses grandchild and in a nation where bloodline counts, he was construed by the Prophet with the evil root in the soul of Ephraim's brother Menashe. Later, he or his reincarnate was named Shebu’el who repented and was appointed King David’s treasurer. However, under King Solomon the treasury was immediately headed by none other than Yerovam ben Nabat. Through Jonathan, Shmuel intricately connected Judges to Kings, to deliver the key that Jonathan who served David also became the false prophet in Shomron (after King Solomon) at the time of King Yerovam ben Nabat. Shmuel brilliantly emphasizes the economic woe these treasurers brought on the nation in pursuit of their false temples.

In an article I wrote after Pesach 2012 I deconstructed the cryptic Jonathan element of Shmuel’s message. Together these time separated 'Jonathans' spanning Judges and Kings, the period in which the Mishkan stood, make it abundantly clear that Shmuel intentionally wrote them as the key to decode his message and reveal the importance of the ultimate location of the permanent Beit El. The repetitive theme of these distinct time periods and the events that relate to Beit El and Beit el amplify the nation's great need to decipher the ultimate location in order to once again be unified.

Israels Forthcoming Miracle!

My friend Eliyahu recalled his experience during the early 90’s when he miraculously escaped a posting to a military unit of the Russian Army destined to train Syrian ground troops in Damascus. The Assad Alawite military regime had become the extended arm of Russian resistance to rebels in Chechnya. Locking down Sunni radicals in Syria would prevent their recruitment by Chechens intent on striking hard against Russian interests. The Russians were delaying them down - in Syria. President Obama’s policies changed the character of the Syrian lock-down, now Russia struggles openly to keep the Assad regime alive and Chechen allies at bay. 

Having failed to shake Russian economic ties to Iran, President Obama’s Russian opposition moved to Ukraine where Americas developing options were limited by entrenched Russian political support juxtaposed against a weak EU consensus. As Putin reads Obama’s every move, his dispatch of Russian troops to Ukraine raised, to a crescendo Obama’s convergence toward an Obama / Kerry peace in the Middle East. Such a prospect would strike disaster for Russian dominance of Chechen rebels, who may rapidly obtain support from Syrian rebels that would otherwise be victorious against Assad.

The elevated risk provides an economic boom to US and Russian defense industries, while Israel and its Palestinian Authority nemesis provide the reactionary sparks necessary to keep gargantuan diplomatic maneuvers generating much needed heat. A little while back I wrote an article that the late Ariel Sharon, preemptively stopped these potential machinations spilling over into complexities that could have led to World War III, in Israel’s back yard. He built a separation barrier, a land demarcation preventing the amassing of Arab refugees spilling over into Israel. Instead Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey received hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of refugees from Syria. 

Israel’s relatively simple ‘Palestinian’ problem is no longer the focal point of this wider conflict. Prime Minister Netanyahu has influenced Obama to prioritize and engage the Iranian / Russian issue, elevating it as the most volatile and vile relationship. Now, its too late for Obama to turn back. Although risks are significant and could quite easily spill over to serious regional conflict, the theater is likely be on Russian soil. As US - Russian brinkmanship approaches the red zone and Israel turns on its massive new supply of natural gas to Europe, the time for an Obama sponsored peace is premature. Frustrations will become increasingly evident as Israel’s political divide dig their heels, insisting on the core, fundamental issue - Israel is the one and only Jewish State, something their so called peace partners cannot accept! 

Now is the time for the world to recognize and make way for the perpetual Israel/Jewish State, not racial inequality as its detractors promote, but equality under a sovereign democracy. As Israel powers on economically and Jewish immigrants return from Ukraine, France and other volatile regions, the major world powers may be readying themselves for a serious military escalation that could shake financial markets and destabilize governments. However, Israel the global anomaly, will be the brightest light and warring nations will scratch their heads wondering how these global affairs were organised to enable Israels’ miraculously favorable outcome.

Under The Ashera - the idolators tree!

How old was Jacob’s daughter Dinah at the time she was raped by the Prince Shechem? It's important to resolve because it infers and emphasizes the urgency of Jacob's desire to first return to Beit El, the place to which he became obligated during his original exile. On his return after a 20 year hiatus from the holy land, was Beit El his intended destination or did he first inhabit Succoth and Shechem as the Torah simply expresses? Perhaps that took place many years later as the Torah can be chronologically construed. In an earlier article I promoted the view of Rabbi Menachem Leibtag who supports the latter.

The sages say (Sofrim 21:9) Dinah was 6 years old when she gave birth to Aesnath; progeny of that rape. We are told (Berakhot 9:3, 14a) the embryos of Dinah and Joseph were miraculously swapped, which would imply they were born in the same year. In a contradictory explanation we are told (Sechel Tov B:34:3) Dinah was 8.5 years and Jacob 99 which extends the standard chronology 2 years. Now, Joseph was born in 2199 and Jacob emigrated to Canaan six years later in 2205. Whilst living in Shechem Joseph, at 17 (2216) was sold to slave traders. To experience Jacobs destination mindset, we must reconcile these conflicts.

In a short paragraph (Vayishlach 33:17) between re-entering the land and the story of Dinah, beginning with their arrival in Shechem we are told of Jacob’s temporary travel and dwellings in Succoth (mentioned 3 times). Then, between the story of Dinah in Shechem and their planned return to Beit El, another short paragraph (35:4), we are told Jacob took all their idolatrous deities and hid them under a tree that was near Shechem (the Hebrew word asher is used 3 times). Jacob’s father Isaac was specifically commanded by his father Abraham not to be exiled. Therefore, just imagine how disconcerting Jacob’s imminent exile would have been at the time he made his covenant to return to the place he named Beit El. Now we can begin to understand how important it was for him to first complete God's instruction to return to Beit El (35:1) after first stopping along the way to hide (but not destroy) the deities in Shechem. 

This chronological retelling emphasizes Beit El’s importance to Jacob and suggests Dinah was indeed older than 6 when they returned to Shechem after a few years living in their temporary dwellings. During this time I maintain they lived no more that six months at Beit El where Jacob began to fulfill his BeitEl promise, constructing protective walls around the matsevah (monument). Then, after Deborah, who was sent by Jacob’s mother to accompany their return, passed away Jacob continued his journey to his parents home in Hebron. Along the way, outside of Bethlehem Rachel died whilst giving birth to Jacob's last child Benjamin. The balance of time was spent in Hebron where Jacob grieved for Rachel and his mother Rebecca who had also passed away.

We are left to speculate the reasons that compelled Jacob to return to Shechem. His entourage who suffered through family tragedies, had once hidden their idolatrous deities near the tree in Shechem. Perhaps they longed to return to their deities, perhaps Rachel’s death in someway connected them to the deities, some of which she had stolen from her father. Perhaps Jacob, who unknowingly cursed Rachel to die for that act felt compelled to return to the place they had been hidden.

Tragedy followed them to Shechem. From there Jacob’s growing family fell back into exile, to Egypt where the tragedies lasted 210 years. Then, Moses forged a nation during their 40 year journey and Joshua brought them back to Shechem where they buried Joseph and erected the monumental stones on which the Torah was written in 70 languages. The Jewish nation that started with Jacob 380 years earlier stood on mount Ebal and Gerizim, in the heart of Shechem to recognize their blessings and curses in the hope these tragic events they had brought through idolatry were behind them forever.

Today the matsevah on which Jacob made his covenant and to which he returned to assume his name Israel, can be found at the City of David and although many are still confused as to its authenticity, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind!

Under The Ashera - the idolators tree!

There remains a conflict of opinions regarding the age of Jacob’s daughter Dinah at the time she was raped by the Prince of Shechem. Its important to resolve because it infers with it the emphasis and urgency with which Jacob desired to first return to Beit El, the place to which he became emotionally obligated during his original exile. On his return, was Beit El his intended destination or did Jacob first inhabit Shechem as the Torah’s simply expresses. Or, perhaps that took place many years later as the Torah can be chronologically construed. In an earlier article I promoted the view of Rabbi Menachem Leibtag who supports the latter.

The sages say (Sofrim 21:9) Dinah was 6 years old when she gave birth to Aesnath; progeny of that rape. We are told (Berakhot 9:3, 14a) the embryos of Dinah and Joseph were miraculously swapped, which would imply they were born in the same year. In a contradictory explanation we are told (Sechel Tov B:34:3) Dinah was 8.5 years and Jacob 99 which extends the standard chronology 2 years. Now, Joseph was born in 2199 and Jacob emigrated to Canaan six years later in 2205. Whilst living in Shechem Joseph, at 17 (2216) was sold to slave traders. To experience Jacobs destination mindset, we must reconcile these conflicts.

In a short paragraph (Vayishlach 33:17) between re-entering the land and the story of Dinah beginning with their arrival in Shechem, we are told of Jacob’s temporary travel and dwellings in Succoth (mentioned 3 times). Then, between the story of Dinah in Shechem and their planned return to Beit El, another short paragraph (35:4), we are told Jacob took all their idolatrous deities and hid them under a tree that was near Shechem (the Hebrew word asher is used 3 times). Jacob’s father Isaac was specifically commanded by his father Abraham not to be exiled. Therefore, just imagine how disconcerting Jacob’s pending exile would have been at the time he made his covenant at the place he named Beit El. Now we can begin to understand how important it was for him to first return to Beit El after stopping along the way to hide (but not destroy) the deities in Shechem. 

This chronological retelling emphasizes Beit El’s importance to Jacob and suggests Dinah was indeed older than 6 when they returned to Shechem after a few years living in their temporary dwellings. During that time I maintain they lived six months at Beit El constructing the protective walls around the matsevah (monument) and sacred spaces Jacob dedicated. Then after Deborah, who had previously been sent by Jacob’s mother to accompany their return, passed away Jacob continued his journey to his parents home in Hebron. Along the way Rachel died, outside of Bethlehem whilst giving birth to Jacob's last child Benjamin. The balance of time was spent in Hebron where Jacob grieved for Rachel and his mother Rebecca who had also passed away.

We are left to speculate the reasons that compelled Jacob to return to Shechem. His entourage and the people that journeyed with them and suffered through family tragedies, had once hidden their idolatrous deities near the tree in Shechem. Perhaps they longed to return to their deities, perhaps Rachel’s death in someway connected them to the deities, some of which she had stolen from her father. Perhaps Jacob, who unknowingly cursed Rachel to die for her act felt compelled to return to the place they had been hidden.

The tragedies were to follow them to Shechem. From there they drove Jacob’s growing family back into exile to Egypt where the tragedies lasted 210 years. Then, Moses forged a nation during their 40 year journey and Joshua brought them back to Shechem where they buried Joseph and erected the monumental stones on which the Torah was written in 70 languages. The Jewish nation that started with Jacob 380 years earlier stood on Shechems mountains Ebal and Gerizim to recognize their blessings and curses in the hope these tragic events they had brought through idolatry were behind them forever.

Today the matsevah on which Jacob made his covenant and to which he returned to assume his name Israel, can be found at the City of David and although many are still confused as to its authenticity, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind!