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Todays Parsha #20: Tetzaveh (You Will Charge/Command)

Special Preview Features!
1) Special tie in to the Purim Special, coming next week!
2) Member Q&A request for Calendar Unitya special insider look.
The Calendar Challenges Begin for 2016!
Adar Madness and Esther Appreciation Month
Shalom everyone! Now after months of festival hibernation, the calendar has come
around again to celebrate great Biblical events and get ready for the Moedim. Purim, at
least as I have it in the Wheel of Stars calendar, is next week. That means this Shabbat
(February 19th-20th) is known as Shabbat Zakor, the Sabbath of Remembrance, in
Jewish tradition. It is the second of a total of five special Sabbaths, which began with
Shekalim on February 5-6, as this was the Shabbat before the start of Adar. Just so you
also know, the following week was not a special rabbinic Shabbat, but the one after that,
this one, is.
In truth though, this little known practice of the rabbis, while I think is very admirable,
shows little need for being required in Scripture, which is why I have not emphasized
this group over the last 5 years on this program.
Now however the situation is different, because I am trying to do justice to some very
ancient disputes that are manifesting only in our times. And so I am put in a very ironic
position, for while I have always strived to cut through traditionsboth Jewish and
Christianand get back to the original faith, I find myself in this one instance having to
make up my own tradition as the vehicle to get past all these issues! The difference
though may be that at least I am admitting up front that I am making this up right
nowtoday in factand am not claiming it goes back to Sinai or Adam.
The other reason for taking this approach is that, if I am to make up my own tradition, I
should turn to the experts among my people who made up theirs. While not always
Biblical, what the rabbis came up with was a cohesive way forward in light of no longer
having a Temple or priesthood as they once did. With different details and similar
circumstances then, I find myself having to work within the strictures of the prevailing
assumptions of our times, some of which may not be correct. In doing so I do not want
to be seen as hypocritical with people saying something like, Oh so all our traditions
are bad but yours that you make up are all fine and dandy Andrew?
My answer is that I am trying to respond admittedly quickly to a pervasive problem, but
at least I admit my answer is not an ancient one or the only correct one, and I also freely
admit that I may be subject to future correction and revision on this tradition as
conditions warrant. Try getting the Orthodox or the Catholics to admit to the same
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possibilities for change on their traditions and see how that goes. In short, I know this is
a work in progress and it is the product of a flawed human being subject to future
improvement, namely me.
So, how do I invent my own tradition by in part using an older rabbinic one for help?
The answer is to turn to their special Shabbats which in this year fall in the following
manner:
1) Zakor, February 19th: Deuteronomy 25:17-19, 2 Samuel 15:2-34, Luke 15:1132.
2) Purim Parah, February 26th: Exodus 17:8-16, Numbers 19:1-22, Ezekiel 36:1638, Yochanan 11:45-53.
3) Ha-Hodesh, March 4th: Exodus 12:1-20, Ezekiel 45:16-46:18.
4) Ha-Gadol, March 18th1: Malachi 3:4-24, Hebrews 13:1-8.
What I propose for all of you to prayerfully consider doing, and you will hear me make
this request also on the Purim Special, is this:
Each special Shabbat has a particular theme running through it that is tied to its
Scripture readings, so I thought why not further tie those themes into the connections
between Esther and Moshe? I cant really do all of this for you watching me now, but I
can suggest ways to further the discussion with family, friends or anyone else you may
regularly fellowship with on Shabbat, in addition to watching this program, which I
greatly appreciate! Before or after you begin watching me, you might want to frame
these extra topics in your mind for discussion.
For example, Shabbat Zakors Torah reading of Deuteronomy 25:17-19 recalls the
cruelty of Amalek and how he is to be blotted out from under heaven. The Israelites are
warned there, Dont forget! but of course they do, and the problem results in a curse
since the villain of Purim, Haman, is a direct descendant of Amalek (Esther 3:1)! So if
the Israelites had heeded this order from Father Yah when Moshe told them, one could
argue they would have avoided near genocide in Persia a thousand years later!
For an interesting NT spin on this as well, consider that Herod the Great, like Haman,
was also a descendant of Amalek, so here maybe another slaughter of the innocents
could have been avoided in the first century CE if Moshes warnings had been heeded
in 1407 BCE.
The following week, Purim Parah is all about the red heifer sacrifice. I see some very
great symbolism between that queen of sacrifices coming out of a rare and beautiful
cow that is the loveliest in all the land and the most beautiful Queen of Persia who is
willing to sacrifice herself to literally save her entire race from genocide! Think about
how Mordechai had to persuade Esther to do this, how she hesitated and how in the end
1

There is a skipped week between Ha-Hodesh and Ha-Gadol because the former is the Shabbat before
the Abib NM and the latter is the Shabbat immediately preceding Pesach two weeks later. There is
another skipped week also between Shekalim and Purim Parah, because the former is the Shabbat
before the start of Adar and the latter is the Shabbat before Purim itself.

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she demonstrated the rarest and noblest of qualities of selflessness and being willing to
lay down her life for her people, just like Yshua did but in a completely different
context. I think that would be a great discussion! Too bad I cant be in a bunch of places
all at once.
The third special Shabbat, Ha-Hodesh, is the Shabbat before the start of Abib. As such
it represents a re-ordering of time, as the new month (moon) is being pointed at by the
Shabbat immediately before it. This also relates to how the Jewish people had a new
birth of freedomliterally new life from the prospects of nearly certain death, which is
core meaning of Purim.
For special extra discussions on this Shabbat, I think it would be great to delve into the
Torah reading of Exodus 12:1-20 which details the instructions behind the earlier
deliverance of Israel from Egypt. These preparations, in turn, are the antithesis of the
death preparations that Haman makes to wipe the Jewish people out! Looking at some
of the background I give in this special about Persian politics (Greece is the Word, Parts
1 and 2) I think can inform folks to parallels on how Moshe had to deal with the hearthardened Pharaoh. Finally, the Haftorah reading in Ezekiel 45:16-46:18 deals with the
prince in Israel making sacrifices for atonement of his peoplea very interesting
prototype for Messiah indeed! What other parallels may there be between Exodus 12
and Ezekiel 45-46, and also the NT itself?
The final Shabbat before Pesach, called Ha-Gadol (the Great) focuses on the willingness
of Father Yah to grant gifts of life, deliverance and of course by His Ruach ha Kodesh.
The central reading, Malachi 3, brings us close to many of the themes in Esther. It
begins by talking about how Father Yah will use hardship to refine His people like
metal through a furnace. But Father Yah also explains to Malachi that He is determined
not to have Israel destroyed regardless as to how dark the hour looks, as it again did in
Esthers Persia. He also makes the point both to Malachi and in the circumstances in
Esther that He is an Elohim of justice Who will bring ultimate justice to those who
would destroy Israel. After this discussion, everyone will now be ready to bridge the
gap to Pesach (or Rabbinic Purim, depending on ones point of view).
Then, when Rabbinic Pesach comes around, I am encouraging all of you who feel the
Ruach leading you to do so to consider having that afternoon to evening seder late on
the 14th and early into the 15th of Iyar as the Second Passover allowed in Numbers 9.
Specifically, Numbers 9:10 allows this exception if a person either gets unclean or is on
a long journey, so I figure since many of us feel we are in exile anyway so long as we
live outside of Israel, why not tap that journeyman status to our advantage? It is our
very exile of course that allows issues of confusion to creep in to our faith walk anyway,
so I say we can do both passovers.
After that, when we get to the Fall Feasts, things get more complicated. But if I can find
a way to help minimize the gaps there, I will definitely let all of you know.
END PART 1
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PART TWO: THE TORAH PORTION

ANSWERS TO LAST WEEKS STUDY QUESTIONS (Terumah):
1) In addition to symbolizing the light of Yshua and each of the seven days of the
week, what is another way to look at what the menorah represents according to
authorities in the first century CE?
Josephus tells us several mystical levels for what the menorah represents
VEASITA MENORAT ZAHAV TAHOR MIKSHAH TEYESEH HAMENORAH
YERECHAH VEKANAN GEVIEYHA KAFTOREYHA UFRACHEYHA
MIMENAH YIHYU (25:31) = Make a menorah out of pure gold. The menorah shall be
formed by hammering at its base, stem and decorative cups, spheres and flowers must
be hammered out of a single piece of gold. The spheres that are mentioned here are
interesting because of this reference to the relationship between the menorah and the
planets given by Josephus and Philo:
145

[The menorah] was made with its knops, and lilies, and pomegranates, and
bowls (which ornaments amounted to seventy in all;) by which means the shaft
elevated itself on high from a single base, and spread itself into as many
branches as there are planets, including the sun among them. 146 It terminated in
seven heads, in one row, all standing parallel to one another; and these branches
carried seven lamps, one by one, in imitation of the number of the planets. These
lamps looked to the east and to the south, the lampstand being placed obliquely.
(Josephus, Antiquities 3:145-146)
Philo agrees
221

But the long discussion which some people start with respect to each of these,
must be postponed to a subsequent opportunity. Thus much alone we must
remind our readers of at this moment, that the sacred candlestick and the seven
lights upon it are an imitation of the wandering of the seven planets through the
heaven. (Philo, The Heir of Divine Things 1:221)
It is important though to point out that neither Josephus nor Philo would then think its
okay to consult the stars for oracles or horror-scopes or bow down to them as the pagans
did.
2) From these same authorities, another clue in this answer may relate to a lost
detail in Moshes time growing up in Egypt. What is it?
182

And when he ordered twelve loaves to be set on the table, he denoted the
year, as distinguished into so many months. By branching out the lampstand
into seventy parts, he secretly intimated the Decani, or seventy divisions of
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the planets; and as to the seven lamps upon the lampstands, they referred to
the course of the planets, of which that is the number. (Antiquities 3:182)
In Josephus day the DECANI concept was a very robust astronomical system,
which included, as he says, the 70 divisions of the planets. However, originally,
the DECANI wasnt about planets at all but about 36 special stars that were
tracked through the sky. Each star was on duty for 10 days each, so when the
36th star was done, the Egyptians added 5 days of chaos between the years and
then watched the stars carefully for what we call the sidereal year to recycle and
begin the count all over again. There is more to it than that, but I am simplifying
to give the gist of the process.
Josephus and Philo both give us a lot of data about Moshe receiving advanced
astronomical training, including one account that Moshe was a priest at the
temple of On (Heliopolis) which had one of the finest astronomical schools in
the country.
3) 2 Chronicles 5:1-3, Psalm 74:1-7 and other passages seem to put the Temple
directly on Mount Zion. However our Haftorah section in 1 Kings 5-6 (and its
parallel account in 2 Chronicles 3), put the Temple on Mount Moriah. Is this a
contradiction, and if not, how do we resolve this matter more precisely?
Both Zion and Moriah refer to mountains and are separately also general place
names for the same area of Jerusalem. Abraham for example attempts to
sacrifice Isaac in the LAND of Moriah, but not necessarily ON MOUNT
MORIAH ITSELF. The text of Genesis 22 seems to suggest that there were
simply many mountains in that neighborhood and Isaac was bound on one of
them, which also could be Mount Zion itself.
Mount Moriah and Mount Zion are each referred to as being part of Jebus, also
known as Salem and later Jerusalem. The Jebusite fortress will later be named
the City of David or Davids Citadel according to Josephus. Also, where Zion
is used as a general place name and not just the mountain, Mount Moriah is
considered to be a small piece in the northeast corner of Zion.
The two mountains are separated by the Valley of the Cheesemakers (not making
this up) and one possible way of resolving the alleged contradiction is to suggest
that the Ark was kept in Davids Citadel or Zion until it could be put into the
Temple which was on Mount Moriah. One possible reference to that prospect is
found here
Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the
leaders of the fathers' households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in
Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of YHWH from the city of David,
which is Zion. (1 Kings 8:1)
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This seems to suggest that the Ark of the Covenant was kept in the city of
David/Zion and BROUGHT UP TO WHERE SOLOMON WAS, dedicating the
Temple on Mount Moriah. What do YOU think?
4) The Temple Mount and Antonia Fortress area are only encompassed by the two
mountains of Zion and Moriah. TRUE or FALSE? Please note that technically
this does NOT include the Mount of Olives, by his own definition:
70

These legions had orders to encamp at the distance of three quarters of a

mile from Jerusalem, at the mount called the Mount of Olives, which lies
opposite the city on the east side, and is parted from it by a deep valley,
interposed between them, which is named Kidron. (The Jewish War, 5:70)
According to Josephus, the answer is FALSE:
136

The city of Jerusalem was fortified with three walls, on such parts as were
not surrounded with impassable valleys; for in such places it had but one wall.
The city was built upon two hills which are opposite to one another, and have a
valley to divide them asunder; at which valley the corresponding rows of houses
on both hills end. 137 Of these hills, that which contains the upper city is much
higher, and in length more direct. Accordingly, it was called the ``Citadel,'' by
King David; he was the father of that Solomon who built this temple at the first;
but it is by us called the ``Upper Market Place.'' But the other hill, which was
called ``Acra,'' and sustains the lower city, is of the shape of a moon when she is
horned; 138 opposite this there was a third hill, but naturally lower than Acra,
and parted formerly from the other by a broad valley. 139 However, in those
times when the Asamoneans reigned, they filled up that valley with earth, and
had a mind to join the city to the temple. They then took off part of the height of
Acra, and reduced it to be of less elevation than it was before, that the temple
might be higher than it. (The Jewish War, 5:136-139)
Please note this may confirm what I suggested in answer #3. Acra is clearly the
same as Davids Citadel/Zion and it needed connecting to the Temple, which was
because the Temple was on Moriah. Or perhaps notwhat do YOU think?
5) What clue do we get in the Epistle to the Hebrews that gives us a pretty good
idea when it was most likely written by Paul?
And if he were on earth, he would not be a priest because there are priests
(there) who offer gifts in accordance with Torah: (namely) they who minister in
the emblem and shadow of the things in heaven: as it was said to Moshe when
he was about to build the tabernacle, See and make everything according to the
pattern which was showed you in the mount. (Hebrews 8:4-5 AENT)
45) Present tense, clearly indicating the Temple in Jerusalem was standing when
this Epistle was written. Combine this with the evidence we saw last week from
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Hebrews 2 and I think this is a lock for Paul as author.

1) Meaning of Parsha title/summary of contents.
Tetzaveh means you will charge/command, which opens with requirements
for worship that are so important that failure to comply is simply not an option. If
these needs are not met, nothing good will ever come about from that nation of
Israel. We then get a lot of details about the designs of the priestly garments (ch.
28) and how the priests themselves are to be consecrated (ch. 29). The remaining
11 lines in ch. 30 concern instructions for building the altar.
Read Parsha (English-Exodus 27:20-30:10). Play by Play commentary. (Full
reading and Midrash.)

Ve'atah tetsaveh et-beney Yisra'el veyikchu eleycha shemen zayit zach

katit lama'or leha'alot ner tamid.

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

BEOHEL MOED MICHUTS LAPAROCHET ASHER AL-HA-EDUTH YAAROCH
OTO AHARON UVANAV MEEREV AD-BOKER LIFNEY YAHWEH CHUKKAT
OLAM LEDOROTAM MEET BENEY YISRAEL (27:21) = Aaron and his sons shall
arrange for the lamps to burn from evening until morning in YHWHs presence in the
Tent of Meeting, outside the cloth partition that conceals the (ark) of the Testimony.
This is a rule for all time that this oil shall come from the Israelites. What is interesting
here is the word MOED (meeting, appointed time) has the same root as EDUTH
(testimony). So the Tent of Meeting is also a Festival Tent or the word EDUTH
can be thought of as a meeting for testimony.
VEATA TEDABER EL HOL-CHOCHMEY LEV (28:3) = speak to everyone that is
wise of heart. This specifically refers to men who can control their emotions and make
decisions based on facts rather than feelings. But this is also a gift from Abba YHWH,
as the next part of this same line reveals.
VEHEM YIKCHU ET-HAZAHAV VEET HATCHELET VEET HAARGAMAN
VEET TOLAAT HASHANI VEET HASHESH (28:5) = they will take the gold, the
sky blue, the dark red and the crimsons wool and the line. This is an excellent image
for Yshua. It starts with GOLD (his crown, or what one of the Magi brought at his
birth) and then his tzit-tzit or as High Priest wearing the same color for the turban, then
dark red (his purple, (purple royal robe), the crimson (shed blood) and the linen (purity,
resurrection clothes).
VELEKACHTA ET-SHTEY AVNEY-SHOHAN (28:9) = and take for yourself two
sardonyx stones. Each stone that a tribe is given is supposed to resemble their tribal
banner. In the case of Levi, the sardonyx stone is one resembling its banner with
alternating red and white bands in the gemLevis banner according to longstanding
tradition was divided into thirds of red, black and white, respectively, according to
Bemidbar Rabba 2:7. You can see this popular conception of the Levite banner in many
depictions of Moshe, including the 1956 version of the Ten Commandments with
Charlton Heston, where the babys swaddling clothes are these exact colors.
UFITACHTA ALEYHEM SHMOT BENEY YISRAEL (28:9) = (Lit.) and open them
(the stones) with the names of the sons of Israel. The proper reading of UFITACHTA is
and you open in Hebrew, which makes little sense in the context of the rest of the
sentence. However, in ancient Egyptian, this same word means ENGRAVE, and thats
how most translations render the meaning/intention of this word. That being the case,
this shows a strong influence of ancient Egyptian thought upon the writer of the Torah,
which of course is Moshe himself. A later editor would not have chosen this word
which is technically incorrect for Hebrew usage; nor would a later editor be conversant
in the ancient Egyptian language, which had fallen into disuse and had its meanings
forgotten for millennia until Jean Francoise Champollion deciphered it again in 1822
CE.
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RAVUA YIHYEH KAFUL ZERET ORKO VEZERET ROCHBO (28:16) = When

folded over [the breastplate] shall be a span long and a span wide. A span is the
distance between the tips of the thumb and pinky fingers in an outstretched hand. It is
fixed to half a cubit, or 9 English inches. So when the 1 Samuel 17:4 for example says
that the giant Goliath was 6 cubits and a span tall, that translates to 6.5 x 18 inches,
which is equivalent to 117 inches or 9 feet, 8 inches tall. Incidentally, the largest
modern human according to the Guinness Book of World Records was 8 feet, 11 inches
tall.
Note on 28:16-20: This is one of the most important reasons why both Josephus
surviving Greek translation of his work (he says three times that he originally wrote in
Hebrew or Aramaic) and the Greek translation of Tanakh broadly known as the
Septuagint, can be so critical in understanding the original Hebrew terms. By analyzing
the way the original Hebrew text was rendered in Greek, we can put to rest many longstanding issues in rabbinic debate as to which Hebrew term was linked to each of the 12
stones.
Note on 28:21: There is absolutely no consensus at all on what the phrase according to
their births really means. Some say it is straight chronological order; others say it was
according to Jacobs wives and still others believe certain names were transposed
without any good reason given for why they believe this.
Note of 28:28: There is little consensus on what the phrase lace the lower rings of the
breastplate to the lower rings of the ephod with a twist of sky blue wool means
precisely. However, Josephus believes that the entire space between all four rings was
interwoven with techelet thread.
VENASA AHARON ET SHEMOT BNEY-YISRAEL BE CHOSHEN HAMISHPAT
AL-LIBO BEVOO EL-HAKODESH LZIKARON LIFNEY YAHWEH TAMID.
(28:29) =Aaron shall carry the names of the sons of Israel on the breastplate of decision
over his heart when he enters into the sanctuary. From Aarons view point, he would
say his carrying the names was a way to join with his brethren and this is what Levi
means, to join. However, another word that sounds the same way but is spelled
differently also means my heart in Hebrew. Also this is the beginning of the
Yahrzeit tradition where Jews light candles on the Hebrew anniversary of the death of
a loved one, even as Aaron carried the names of the tribes into the sanctuary. The
Yahrzeit ritual is also re-imagined on Yom Kippur with the Yitzkhor service that people
go to in order to honor deceased parents and pledge charity in their name. Yitzkhor
means Yah remembers and the same word for remember (ZAKOR) is in this line.
URIM AND THUMIM COMMENTARY from Bible.ort.orgI just cant add to these
excellent observations
Usually translated as 'lightings and perfections,' since the message shone forth and was
then perfected by the High Priest. The Urim and Thumim would be consulted like an
oracle; the High Priest would meditate on the stones until he reached a level of divine
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inspiration. He would see the breastplate with inspired vision, and the letters containing
the answer would appear to light up or stand out. With his divine inspiration, the High
Priest would then be able to combine the letters to spell out the answer (Yoma 73b;
Ramban; Bachya on Numbers 28:21; cf. Handbook of Jewish Thought 6:36).
Some say that the word Thumim has the connotation of pairing, since it was the
inspiration that allowed the priest to arrange the letters to spell out a message (Bachya
on Numbers 28:21). Others say that the message was called Thumim (perfect) because it
was irrevocable (Midrash HaGadol; cf. Yoma 73b).
Josephus writes that when the Israelites went to battle, the stones would shine forth with
great splendor as a sign of victory (Antiquities 3:8:9).
The Septuagint translates Urim and Thumim as dylosis khai alytheia, where dylosis
denotes pointing out, manifestation, or explanation, and alytheia means truth.
According to this, the root of Urim may be yarah, to teach.
As far as the nature of the 'Urim and Thumim' that were placed in the breastplate, some
say that they consisted of mystical divine names of God (Targum Yonathan; Rashi;
Rashbam; Ramban; Zohar 2:234b). Some say that these names were placed inside the
fold of the breastplate (Rashi). Others, however, maintain that they were placed on the
outside of the breastplate and that the priest would meditate on these names to attain
inspiration (Me'or Eynayim 46).
According to others, the Urim and Thumim were the engraved stones themselves
(Lekach Tov; Ralbag; Otzar HaGeonim, Berakhoth 6; cf. Josephus, Antiquities 3:8:9),
but some emphatically reject this (Radak, Sherashim). Some maintain that the Urim and
Thumim were the borders of the tribes (Bekhor Shor; Hadar Zekenim) or astrological
signs (Ibn Ezra; cf. Ramban, Ralbag).
VEASITA AL-SHULAV RIMONEY TCHELET VEARGAMAN VETOLAAT
SHANI AL-SHULAV SAVIV UFAAMONEY ZAHAV BETOCHAM SAVIV (28:33)
= On the bottom of the robe place pomegranates made of sky blue and dark red and
crimson wool, all along its lower border. In between these pomegranates all around
there shall be gold bells. The pomegranate is very important as a Tabernacle and
Temple motif for several reasons. It is the only fruit that wears a crown, so it is
associated with kingship. When you press the leaves of the crown down, it forms a
Star of David. Also the rabbis believed each pomegranate had 613 seeds. I never
counted them but it does look like a lot.
In recent years, November 2011 I believe, Israeli archaeologists revealed one of these
small pomegranate bells had been found in a Jerusalem sewer. It dated from the late
first century, just prior to the Temple being destroyed in 70 CE.
VESHIBATSTA HAKTONET SHESH (28:39) = knit the tunic out of linen. The word
KETONET is argued by some Rabbis to refer to a coat of varied textures and lengths
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with intricate patterns. It is the same argument that is given about Josephs coat, if it
was a multi colored or multi-textured coat because the same word is involved.
MIGBAOT (28:40) = hats. These were smaller head-coverings worn by all regular
priests; they may have been the original version of todays kippot or yarmulke.
LEKACH PAR ECHAD BEN BAKAR (29:1) = Take one young bull. The term BEN
denotes a bulls firstborn son, and this is further interpreted to refer to a bull in its
second year, because if it were younger, it would be called a calf.
VELECHEM MATZOT (29:2) = and unleavened bread. It is an important but often
overlooked detail that matzah has a far greater role than just beating eaten at Pesach. All
offerings of this type are from unleavened bread, and it is from this that metaphor like
a little leavening leavens the whole mass come from as the introduction of leaven will
render the sacrifice useless. Also noting that olive oil is used in this offering and Yshua
was betrayed at Gethsemane, a place that means olive press at the start of Pesach,
when unleavened bread was blessed by him!
VEHIKRAVTA ET-HAPAR LIFNEY OHEL MOED (29:10) =bring the young bull
near to the Tent of Meeting. This is sort of a play on words. The bull is an OFFERING
or QORBAN, and this word is from QARAB, to draw near. But they bring the bull to
the place where Abba YHWH draws near (i.e. MEETS) with them.
VELAKATCHTA MIDAM HAPAR VENATATAH AL-KARNOT (29:12) = Take the
blood of the bull and place it on the horns of the altar. The Hebrew word QEREN
means both horns and ray of light and shortly after this is done, light from fire is
used to consume the animal.
VELAKATCHTA ET-HAAYIL HASHENI VESAMACH AHARON UVANAV ETYEDEYHEM AL-ROSH HAAYIL (29:19) = take the second ram and have Aaron and
his sons place their hands on its head. Its actually a very kind gesture, one of affection
and gratitude that the animal is about to give up its life for the sins of the man.
TENUPHAH (29:24) = waving or swinging motion for an offering. According to
tradition, the waving is done in the four compass directions, then up and down. The
person, facing east, waves in the order of: right, left, front, up, down and back.
TERUMAH (29:27) = uplifted. As we saw last week, terumah means contributions
but can also mean elevated offerings; the latter meaning applies to offerings given to
priests.
SHIVAT YAMIM (29:30) = seven days. These seven consecutive days for the high
priest who replaces Aaron putting on the vestments supersedes even the Shabbat,
because there cannot be a break between the last day of Aaron and the first day of his
replacement, in this case, Eleazar. A similar exception to the work rule on Shabbat
applied in the Jericho campaign to both the army and the priests who were walking
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around with the ark, leading to Yshua saying in Matthew 12:5, Have you not read in
the Torah in that the priests desecrate the Shabbat day in the Temple and yet they are
innocent? This is because where Abba YHWH gives a direct command to do a certain
task at a certain time, not even Shabbat may prevent that task from happening. Again
going back to the Jericho campaign, the other rules of Shabbat were still in effect, hence
the command not to strip Jericho of booty for personal gain, but put it in the treasury.
Also see Exodus 29:35.
Special Note: The Torah requirement that Yshua is referencing is in itself not a direct
statement. It is implied by Exodus 29:30 as already explained and possibly is also a
reference to 2 Chronicles 23:4-8, which talks about priests and Levites going about their
work on the Shabbat day. The assumption that they are innocent rests on the fact that
no rebuke is recorded for them doing so.
VEASITA LE-AHARON ULVANAV KACHAH KECHOL ASHER-TZIVITI
OTACHAH SHIVAT YAMIM TEMALE YADAM (29:35) = Do all that I have
instructed you for Aaron and his sons. Their installation will take seven full days. The
interesting part about this detail is that there is a similar command for this process but it
takes eight days, not seven (Leviticus 8-9). One possible answer, if this is the same
ordination, is to synchronize the details with this part of Exodus with the line in
Leviticus that talks about the sons of Aaron not leaving the Tent of Meeting for seven
days and Moshe completing the process on day 8.
However, if the text in this part of Exodus is a present circumstance and not a command
that is carried out later, then there have to be two separate ordinations of the sons of
Aaron, because this part of Exodus is before the 1st day of the 1st month in the following
year (Exodus 40:1, 17) whereas the ordination in Leviticus is happening when Moshe
anoints the Tabernacle (compare Exodus 40:9 to Leviticus 8:10). One possible
explanation is that if these are two separate ordinations, then this one is taking place at
the start of the old Hebrew year in the Fall, because the previous 1 Abib Israel was still
in bondage in Egypt. Then, when the year turned the next spring, a separate ordination
was done for the start of the sacred year.
VENATATAH OTO LIFNEY HAPAROCHET ASHER AL-ARON HAEDUT
LIFNEY HAKAPORET ASHER AL-HAEDUT ASHER IVAED LECHA SHAMAH
(30:6) = place this (altar) in front of the cloth partition concealing the Testimony Ark
before the cloth partition concealing the Testimony area where I commune with you.
The image of the altar surrounded by the cloth partition and also being between the
table and the menorah, is a beautiful model of the Universe! We saw last week the
symbolism where the curtain is the sky, the menorah holds the seven planets and the
twelve loaves of bread are symbolic of the 12 major constellations. All these thing face
front, that is to say, east, towards the rising sun.
VECHIPER AHARON AL-KARNOTAV ACHAT BASHANAH (30:10) = Once a
year Aaron shall make atonement on its horns. So here is the earliest reference to Yom
Kippur, which clearly has not happened yet and must refer to the same year they left
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Egypt or 1447 BCE because the next spring had not happened yet. If so, then what I
suggested for 29:35 may have just found additional evidence for dating this time to
early Tishri, just before Yom Kippur started. In that year, Yom Teruah hit at sunset on
Sunday, September 1st.
Torah Question of the Week:
What is the calendar clue given in Exodus 27:21 that Aaron will start lighting the
Ner Tamid (eternal light) from evening until morning?

END PART 2

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PART THREE: Q&A SPECIAL TEACHING!

Torah Question of the Week:
What is the calendar clue given in Exodus 27:21 that Aaron will start lighting the
Ner Tamid (eternal light) from evening until morning?
The evening referred to here is late afternoon, not sunset per se, and it shows a
transition in responsibility being taken from the sun and given to Aarons
descendants. It is their job to maintain light on earth after the main light of the day has
gone down. The word for sun is SHEMESH and the word for minister is SHAMASH in
Hebrew, same word. This hints that the sons of Aaron mimic the sun itself and this is
confirmed when both the tribe of Levi and the priests themselves are divided into 24
courses each, one for each hour of the solar day.
Member Q&A Special Teaching:
The Right Way to Search for Calendar Unity
Last summer I had the great honor of hearing one of my favorite Hebrew Roots teachers
and he had a powerful message that I very much appreciated and received. He talked
about the need for us to get back to reverence and Set-apart thinking in the way we treat
Father Yah, the King of Kings. Along the way in that teaching, he could not help but
comment on all the calendar division in our movement and confessed that he had in a
sense lost track of all the controversies and different flavors of calendar stuff out there,
metaphorically kind of threw up his hands as he expressed bewilderment on how to
move forward there.
I told him privately though that I understood exactly what he was saying and I shared a
lot of what he was feeling too, but I also explained the need to keep searching His Word
for ultimate Truth and why I would continue to do whatever I could to bring unity based
on Scriptural accuracy to this issue. He was glad that someone was trying to do this,
even if the ultimate answer as yet was unclear. He agreed we as a body of Messianic
believers needed to continue the search for truth without being attached to resolution or
outcome.
Now here we are about half a year later and of course calendar interest, along with its
expected frustration, has come around yet again. In expressing much of the same
concerns as my friend did before, I received the following email which I thought worthy
of sharing with all of you and responding to for your collective benefit. Here is what he
said:
Shalom All,
Around the world, there are 3 main groups of people, who are each currently
starting their biblical year in different ways. There are those who begin by
relying on the aviv barley sightings from Israel, those who use the Jewish
calendar based on the calculations of Hillel II, and those who use the vernal
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equinox in some way. I am sure that each group wishes to keep s calendar
correctly, but clearly, these differences are causing friction, tension and even
division in His people.
Q: What does this tell us?
A: It is obvious to me at least, that at least two groups, and perhaps all
three, are in error we cannot ALL be keeping s calendar correctly ! This
is a particular concern to me, and probably others as well.
Q: Should we be OK with error?
A: Personally, I only want to do s will I want to do things His way I
want to walk in His ways (Deut 10:12), so if I am one of the groups that is
wrong, I want to know this, & I want to fix it. I believe that the Ruach (Spirit)
that should be dwelling inside of us, should always be motivating us to want to
understand and apply the Word of it should give us the desire to dig into
the Word, to learn it, and practise it in our lives.
A famous person once said there is only one really effective way to destroy
truth assume that you already have it!
I believe that it should be possible, to gather together believers who are
willing to examine what tells us about this matter He is the only authority.
If we follow the suggested guidelines below, we should be able to work out the
method wants us to use.
I have been working on a method that we can use to collectively working out
what ' s will is for us in this very important subject. I have attached two pdf
documents (so that the formatting will be OK) for your perusal. The first one is
titled "Start of the Biblical Year - World Group 17 May 2015", which is the
copy I am asking you to personally record your comments & answers, while the
second one titled, "Start of the Biblical Year - World Group with PG answers 12
May 2015", contains an exact copy of the 1st document, with my comments &
answers.
I am inviting (and challenging) you to participate in this "experiment", to see if a
group of willing believers, can work out as a world group, when wants us to
begin His Biblical Year. When you have completed your analysis, please return
a pdf copy to me, so that I can collate all the results, which I will be happy to
forward to all the participants. I pray for Father to guide all our efforts in
attempting to do His will, His way.
Here is in part what I wrote back to him, and we can then continue the overall
discussion from there:
The gist of what I will be saying on the program is that things are not what they
seem, in that in many cases various calendar proponents have not defined their
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terms nor have they sought to see how almost all of the calendar schools today
preserve fragments of ancient memories that, while valid, are not the whole
story.
I perceive, for example, that you put me in the broad category of "an equinox
guy", but there's way more involved than just that as the barley will show the
effects of the Vernal Equinox, and the patterns of the rising sun each morning
will tell us how to harvest the barley. So it's not that I deny the barley outright,
only some extreme applications that overly emphasize the barley to the
exclusion of other evidence, and the same applies across the board to crescent
moons and other issues.
My point is that you should know, as should any others that you are
communicating with on this matter, that my calendar is INCLUSIVE to the
strongest points of its competitors. I believe we are commanded in Genesis and
Job to also incorporate the stars into our calendar processes, and that the woman
in Revelation 12:1-2 shows us the hierarchy with the crown of 12 stars on her
head, clothed in the sun, moon at her feet and earth below the moon. This gives
us the order of operations: 1) Stars, 2) Sun (which is a star), 3) Moon, 4) Earth
(barley), and they ALL work TOGETHER for Father Yah's glory. Please also
see Genesis 37:5-12.
If you are having these questions and thinking about calendar in zero-sum,
mutually exclusive ways, this to me is the issue I want to address FIRST before
getting into any formalized debate, though as I indicated above I most likely
have no time for such a debate anyway. We need to see how all the pieces fit
together, work together and came together over a period of thousands of years
through different Biblical people at different times in history. We also need to
see clearly how some aspects of what was done before (e.g. Enoch, and that's a
long story) are not to be used NOW after Moshe was ordered to change the
calendar system in Exodus 12:1-2. Hope this helps and thanks for making these
excellent points in your email. Be well!
Moving forward from these points of general process then, let us drill down together to
see how these broad concepts manifest in the granular real world work that is calendar.
What I would like to do right now is give a series of typical broad talking points that I
have received from various calendar groups over the years and then show how in most
cases I can express agreement for the overall idea while having a different method for
bringing it about in actual practice. The purpose of this exercise is to demonstrate that it
is not a zero sum game, as I said in the letter above, between calendar schools, but that
historical context can show how all the pieces fit together. In so doing I also hope to
show that, in my own way, I honor nearly all of the current calendar theories for
preserving a legitimate historical memory, even if in my opinion that memory is a
fragment that needs to pieced together with other such fragments to reveal the whole
picture. Lets begin!
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 I believe that the state of the barley sets the year.

Answer: Already dealt with in my response to the original email but heres a few
additional thoughts on the matter from the perspective of my calendar. Barley is the
result of spring, not the cause of spring! So yes, in the sense that the barley is green
every year in Abib, this is true.
However, in terms of what Exodus tells us, that first Pesach the barley crop was ruined
(Exodus 9:31) so it could not be used in and of itself to set the year. Further, in the 42
years that followed where we know Israel kept Pesach in the wilderness, not once is the
barley mentioned as the determining factor for when the Hebrew year began.
In fact, the pattern is the opposite. Father Yah Himself determined the first month of
the year without requiring Moshe to check the barley (Exodus 12:1-2). In Numbers 9,
when the issue of defilement at this time of year threatened to keep some men from
doing the Feast, the barley was not mentioned as setting the year there either, nor with
the Pesach Joshua kept at Gilgal in Joshua 5.
So if the barley did not have a direct role in setting the year for the first 42 years of the
Biblical calendars existence, who decided to work it in later on as the sole determining
factor in absence of Scripture support? Has one figure ever been shown to have gone on
a barley hunt? Is there a single reference to how and where to check for the percentage
of greenness and which regions to do so in which order? If not, I would respectfully
submit all that is the tradition of man, attempting to follow the Torah as they understand
it. The barley must be green, as these folks say, but that is determined by the sun and
stars first. Still, barley is a legitimate sign when put into its proper place in the overall
process.
I believe the Hebrew Month is proclaimed by the waxing crescent, or sliver, as it is
sighted over Jerusalem skies.
Answer: We know in Torah law that no serious matterespecially one about life and
death, will be decided on the testimony of a single witness (Deuteronomy 19:15). If
such is the case with the death of a person, why would the same concept not also be true
about the death of a day, week, month or year?
Now granted, we are not used to thinking about in our western viewpoints time in this
manner, but from a Biblical viewpoint, the day, the week, the month and the year all
die and give birth to their next unit of time, and this is in the actual Scripture:
"Prepare war against her; Arise, and let us attack at noon. Woe to us, for the day
declines, for the shadows of the evening lengthen! "Arise, and let us attack by
night and destroy her palaces!" (Jeremiah 6:4-5 NAU)

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The word Jeremiah uses for decline is panah, which in Hebrew means to turn,
banish or pass away. As such it is a perfect metaphor not only for physical death but
for cycles of calendar time working their way through.
But was this actually how Moshe himself perceived calendar time, through concepts
like that in Jeremiah? I believe the answer is a resounding yes, first because both Moshe
and Jeremiah are from Levitical stock and priests and Levites were charged with
proclaiming all the Moedim throughout the year (Leviticus 23:4), and second, that
Moshe himself makes these connections through the word panah in Psalm 90, which he
wrote:
The Prayer of Moshe, man of Elohim: , You have been our refuge In all
generations. Before the mountains were born, Or You had brought forth the
earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are El. You turn
man back to dust, And say, Return, O children of men.
For a thousand years in Your eyes Are like yesterday that has past, Or like a
watch in the night. You have swept them away, they are as a sleep, like grass
that springs up in the morning. At evening it is cut down and withered.
For we have been consumed by Your displeasure, and by Your wrath we are
alarmed. You have set our sins before You, Our secret sin in the light of Your
face. For all our days have passed away (panah) in Your wrath, we spend our
years like a whisper.
The days of our lives are seventy years; or if due to strength, eighty years, yet
the best of them is but toil and exertion; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
(Psalm 90:1-10)
So, since these units of time do die or pass away, it stands to reason we also need
witnesses to mark or establish that passing as fact, just as we would take the
testimony of multiple witnesses to establish a grave sin has happened in Israel. It is
these very same witnesses that, over time, became separated from the original whole
system by various calendar schools that sought to emphasize one witness, while
ignoring the others that Scripture requires.
Therefore, with respect to the 24 hour Hebrew day, running sunset to sunset, we
have multiple witnesses to establish its death and the next ones birth. The first of
these witnesses is sunset, the second is darkness and the third, if possible, are the
three twilight stars. Many listening to me say these words think that is rabbinic
tradition for the last criteria, but I believe that tradition is a fragmentary memory of
setting time by the stars that was recorded in Genesis, Psalms, Job and elsewhere,
though I am trying to keep this particular study to a manageable length and will
defer the extensive documentation behind that belief at this time. Either way, sunset
and darkness will definitively establish that Day 1 has died and Day 2 has been
born.
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The same concept I believe holds true for the Shabbat, since that is also a day. On
Friday, wherever you live, the sun will go down and the darkness will fall, so those
two witnesses tell you Shabbat is beginning and they will also tell you Shabbat has
ended and the new week has begun.
In terms of the Hebrew month, or New Moon, the idea still holds true but may be a
bit harder for some to understand why. The moon actually becomes new over a
period of two days, which is why it was normal for King Saul to hold a new moon
festival over two days while waiting for David to arrive (1 Samuel 20).
Similarly the Talmud also reflects this ancient practice as the rabbis in several cases
(Pesach and Yom Teruah being just two) they decided to extend sanctity over a two
day period to cover the lunar timing. What the rabbis though appear to have
forgotten though is which of the two days was in fact the day, whereas I believe
the Scripture clearly answers this with the first day being it. In other words, Day 2
exists to confirm that Day 1 is the correct day by pointing back to Day 1.
As a result, there is a historical memory of the crescent moon being part of the series
of witnesses that certify the beginning of the lunar month, because astronomically
speaking sometimes the waxing crescent will be the same evening as sunset after
conjunction and sometimes it will be 1-2 evenings later.
Either way however, it explains why it became normal to have a 2 day process for
certifying the moon is new. The Talmud explains how the Sanhedrin had its own
secret methods of observation and calculation but also opened the process up to the
public by accepting testimony of the new moon.
But once again, over time, some of this information became lost or confused and the
memory of the waxing crescent remained alone in the minds of many, as is still the
case today, so let me be clear in my answer here: The waxing crescent is an
indicator of the New Moon but it is a backwards marker that says the month has
already startedthe final witnessnot a forwards marker saying the month just
started with its appearance. This must be true, or in most cases we will have our full
moon feasts of Pesach and Sukkot miss the full moon they were meant to capture on
their respective 14th or 15th days of the months in which they occur. Theres
obviously a lot more on this topic, but I will leave it at this extent for the moment.
I believe the Hebrew lunar month begins with the conjunction, or the time every
29.53 solar days (on average) that the sun, earth and moon form a straight line
and the light of the sun prevents the moon from being seen from our position on
earth.
Now some of you out there who know me will say, Andrew, thats your point of
view! but you would only be partly correct because it depends on the method behind
the proclamation.
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You see, there are well-meaning folks out there who love what I do and say they are
conjunctionists just like me, but the question is always how does one reckon with
lunar conjunction over that of the waxing crescent?
For quite a few people out there that I know personally, the answer is to follow an
ancient Samaritan practice that proclaims sunset before conjunction as the start of the
Hebrew month. The Talmud in fact records the Samaritans doing exactly that, lighting
the special lamps that proclaim the month a day early to throw off Israel. It also tells us
however, that even in very ancient times the rabbis knew better and had their month
begin a day later, which is still on many occasions the day before the waxing crescent is
seen over Jerusalem skies. The people in Israel, for that very reason, learned to also wait
for word from the Sanhedrin before they knew for certain the month had in fact started.
The next important question then is, do I believe the rabbis or the Samaritans had the
start of the Hebrew month down correctly? In this case, the short answer is, I believe the
rabbis were right. The correctness of this process though is best demonstrated through a
lot of math and analysis that we dont have time for right now, so forgive me please for
deferring that part of the discussion.
In any case, the Samaritan process I have dubbedbecause I need a title for
everythingCOB, an acronym for conjunction only backwards whereas I am sunset
after lunar conjunction, or SAC. Those are two different processes that will throw off
timing as much as the divergence between conjunction and crescent.
Still, and this is my final point on this topic, both positions find broad support in
Scripture, which proclaims that all of Father Yahs cycles must start in darkness, when
the sun, moon and stars get out of the way, so we do not lapse into paganism
(Deuteronomy 4:19-20). Now lets proceed to our fourth and final example.
I believe the Hebrew year is meant to be set according to the timing of the Vernal
Equinox.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that equinoxes and solstices are directly
referred to in Scripture by several different examples. Genesis 8:22 lists seedtime and
harvest which basically means fall and spring equinoxes, respectively, because in
Israel we sow seed in fall to reap barley and wheat in the spring. However other terms
in that passage cold and heat, summer and winter form a double witness to the
solstices that happen at that time of year. The Hebrew terms teshuvah and tekuwfa are
both used to describe turns rather than ends of the year, showing that the Scripture
divides the solar year in halves by equinoxes rather than math, and these turns are only
given in Scripture at the start of spring and fall. Psalm 19 also describes a very accurate
vision of a solar orbit, and other Scriptures divide the year exclusively into months of
12, which means it must be solar and not lunar (1 Kings 4;7, 1 Chronicles 27).

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Now I have a really good friend and colleague, a sweet man and a gifted scholar and
leader, who agrees 100% with everything I just wrote above, and yet he has a radically
different method for following that mandate!
What my friend does is simple: If the lunar year has run out and the last day of the 12th
month is before spring, just add a leap month! Simple, right? The problem is, from my
viewpoint at least, that is exactly the problem. Its too simple.
See, the issue is, its not just about the barley at the start of the Hebrew year. Its also
about being on time through festivals and other month-timings that must match the right
seasons as well, so we need to make sure our figs, our pomegranates and, most
importantly, our grapes are harvested with Sukkot coming at the right time.
There are many examples in Scripture with using a word for season that is eth which
is always tied to the right harvest of the right agricultural products throughout the year.
If we simply always add a leap month for every last day that is before Vernal Equinox,
then our Sukkot will fall after the right time to harvest grapes for what is a grape harvest
festival! It will also throw off the late fall and winter harvests for things like olives and
various nuts to get Israel in the best position to plan for the next spring.
That is why in the Scripture, many of the original names for the Hebrew months are
meant to only count in the right season. Abib, or ripening, must happen when the
barley is ready, not before or after. The same is true of the months of Ethanim (Tishri,
see 1 Kings 8:2) which means month of steady flowing of water and Bul (Heshvan,
see 1 Kings 6:38) which means both flood and produce, hence the produce that
comes about after heavy flooding. But if we dont get Abib right, there wont be months
of steady flowing for our Ethanim/Tishri and there wont be months of produce
coming from heavy rains for our Bul. Timing really matters2!

For those of you who are curious, the last original month name that is preserved in Scripture, Ziv (1
Kings 6:1, 2 Chronicles 3:1-2), also has this function. It means brightness, referring specifically to the
brightness that comes from the blooming of flowers in mid-spring. This has caused some authorities to
wonder why the other eight months of the Hebrew year are not given in the Scripture. The answer I
believe may be as simple as for these other months no separate title was needed and it was merely
known as a number. I say this because when we combine the solar information in these four months
given, it provides a complete template for counting the rest of the months on time and in season. So if
our Abib is always when barley first ripens, our Ziv is always when the flowers of the field peak in their
bloom, our Ethanim is when the rains of fall begin and our Bul is when the rainy season peaks in terms
of its effect on providing large harvests, if all those factors coincide in a year, you can be 100% certain
that the right months have been matched to their seasons. In previous teachings we have also seen how
the four divisions of Levites represented these seasons as Kohen (spring, because they proclaim the
feasts of the year), Gershom (summer) because of their role in building up the Tabernacle, which
represents the sun at is highest point or summer solstice, Kohath (fall), because they are in charge of the
Ark of the Covenant which has a mercy seat or kippur, and Yom Kippur is in the fall, and Merari
(winter), because of their role in taking the Tabernacle down, representing the suns lowest point, or
winter solstice.

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And finally, this kind of agricultural synchronicity with the original names of the
Hebrew months extends to the last one of the year, Adar, which in Canaanite means
darkness and in other ancient Semitic dialects, eclipse as the winter is characterized
with having shorter days with less daylight than the rest of the year.
Therefore, I conclude that we need to get our definitions straight with both talking
points and the actual methods to carry them out first before we can hammer out any
systematic agreement between even the majority of Hebrew Roots believers, in my
opinion. Only then, when all the relevant historical and astronomical data is properly
weighed, can we move forward with bridges of understanding, because only then will
we all be on the same page.
Thats my story folks, and I am sticking to it.
END PART 3

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PART FOUR: THE HAFTORAH

4) Haftorah portions (English), and discuss common themes with Torah
portion. (Ezekiel 43:10-27)

Atah ven-adam haged et-beyt-Yisra'el et-habayit veyikalmu

me'avonoteyhem umadedu et-tochnit.
Ve'im-nichlemu mikol asher-asu tsurat habayit utchunato
umotsa'av umova'av vechol-tsurotav ve'et kol-chukotav vecholtsurotav vechol-torotav hoda otam uchtov le'eyneyhem
beyishmeru et-kol-tsurato ve'et-kol-chukotav ve'asu otam.
5) Renewed Covenant Portion (English) Philippians 4:10-20 (extemporaneous
commentary). It is important to understand that this is one of the prison
epistles of Rav Shaul, and that affects a great deal in terms of the way he
expresses himself here.
6) Highlight common themes in Aramaic (in footnotes as appropriate).
7) Apply these themes/issues to modern issues in the Netzari faith. (Here we see
the sweet aroma from the time of Moshe applied symbolically to the
community of the first generation of believers. If this was true 30 years after the
resurrection, it is surely true for us today.)
8) Relate to all or part of an Appendix portion from AENT (Read: Priesthood, p.
926-928).
STUDY QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED NEXT WEEK
1) How can we know the exact measurement of a cubit? Is there more than one kind?
2) Because the size of hands and arms varies from person to person, it is impossible to
posit a consistent length of a cubit over the full period of Biblical history? True or
False? Why or why not?
3) How specifically might the true length of a cubit been accurately passed down
throughout the generations if in fact it were a completely fixed measurement?
4) In our Haftorah portion we got detailed measurements of the Temple from Ezekiel
that seems to be echoed both in Zechariah 2 and Revelation 11. However, there is
another secret place in the NT where one of these measuring details is linked to a
famous miracle. Where is this secret place and what is the detail?
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5) Without really lecturing or overtly persuading them, how is Paul using the
challenges of his own experience to in effect teach the Philippians?
Torah Thought for the Week:
A New Twist on an Old Parable
Sometimes my research takes me into such unexpected places that a finding of mine just
must be reported, whether it came from the Scripture readings in a given week or not.
Over the last year and a half, I have been reviewing my previous research on which
books of the NT circulated in various times, places and languages. Some of you may
have heard my oft repeated maxim of eastern languages go east and western languages
go west. For me the issue about Aramaic and Greek is not as simple as which came
first universally as it is about what language would have prevailed in a particular place
and time and which overall tradition represents a more accurate and authentic picture of
the early days of the faith. In other words, over the last few years considerations of
authenticity have kind of trumped primacy or precedence.
In the AENT also I had put together a chart with estimates on the probable order and
years of composition for each NT book, and I wanted to re-visit that research as well.
All of these trends brought me back to tracking more precisely the missions of Peter and
Paul and estimating when certain books would have been sent to a place and in what
language. I did this by basically tracking down, as much as I was able to, the historical
periods of various Jewish and Roman officials mentioned in the book of Acts which in
turn allowed me to find the years of Pauls conversion and his various trips to Jerusalem
as mentioned in Acts and Galatians.
When I was finally done, the last bit of this research led me to a special parable that
Yshua gaveone that absolutely proved he could predict the future with perfect
precision. It took a while for the import of this discovery to sink in but when it did it
was very profound: Yshua knows details about who will be high priests for many years
after his death! To see why, lets call up the parable
(Luk 16:19) Now there was a certain rich man, and he would wear purple linen.
And every day he would luxuriously make merry.
(Luk 16:20) And there was a certain poor man whose name was Lazar.
And he would lay at the gate of that rich man, while being afflicted with
sores. (Luk 16:21) And he was longing to fill his stomach from the crumbs that
fell from the table of that rich man. Even the dogs would come and lick his
sores. (Luk 16:22) Then it happened that this poor man died and the Messengers
carried him to the bosom of Awraham, and also that the rich man died and was
buried.
(Luk 16:23) And while he was tormented in Sheol, he lifted up his eyes and
gazed from afar upon Awraham and upon Lazar at his bosom. (Luk 16:24) And
he cried out in a loud voice and said, 'My father Awraham, have compassion on
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me and send Lazar that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and to moisten
my tongue for me. For behold I am tormented in these flames.'
(Luk 16:25) Awraham said to him, 'My son, remember that you received
your good things during your life, and Lazar his bad things. And now
behold he is comfortable here and you are tormented. (Luk 16:26) Besides
all these things, a great chasm is placed between you and us so that those who
desire to pass over from here to you are not able. And neither are those from
there able to pass over to us.'
(Luk 16:27) He said to him, 'If so, I beseech you my father that you send
him to my father's house. (Luk 16:28) For I have five brothers. Let him go
and witness to them that they will not also come to this place of torment.'
(Luk 16:29) Awraham said to him, 'They have Moshe and the prophets, let them
hear them.' (Luk 16:30) But he said to him, 'No my father Awraham, but if a
man from the dead should go to them, they will repent.'
(Luk 16:31) Awraham said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moshe and the
prophets, they would also not listen and believe him if a man from the dead
should rise they would not believe him.'"
This takes a little while to piece together but please bear with me as I believe it is well
worth the effort to do so. First thing that we notice is that the poor man is named Lazar
or, as it is better known in Greek, Lazarus. However, as we have also seen from
previous studies, Lazar is a short form for Elieazar, and that is the mans true name.
Whether this is the same Lazarus-Elieazar whom Yshua rose from the dead in
Yochanan 11 I really cannot determine precisely at this time. However, there may be
another amazing historical precedent at work here.
The rich man is described as someone wearing purplea color for royalty or power that
was worn by famous Jews like Mordechai (Esther 8:15) and Daniel (Daniel 5:29). Of
course the Romans put a purple rob on Yshua to mock him as well, but this is not the
image I think Yshua has in mind with this parable. Instead, I believe Yshua is
deliberately targeting for rebuke, not just any rich man, but the most powerful Jew in all
of Israel. To see why, consider these aspects to the rich man in the parable:
1) His taste for purple linen, in addition to revealing his status as we just
mentioned, is also a sign of high luxury.
2) He calls Abraham my father, leaving no doubt that he is a Hebrew and not a
Gentile.
3) The rich man, and this is perhaps the most telling detail of them all, has five
brothers.
4) The rich man entreats Abraham to let Lazar go back and warn these five
brothersall of whom are presumably of the same status and beliefs as himso
that they are not destroyed in Gehenna.
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5) The response Abraham gives is that these five brothers have rejected Moshe
and the Prophets, so they will not listen to even a deceased man like Lazar risen
from the dead.
So who is this rich man with five brothers whom Yshua feels is bound for torment for
not listening to Moshe and the Prophets? There can only be one answer: Yosef bar
Caiaphas, the high priest who tried Yshua!
Yshua has, in my opinion, predicted that five brothers from the same family will be
high priest in the waning days of the Second Temple! Incidentally, one of these five
brothers will be named Elieazar, but for now, lets see a hint of this also given in Acts
(Act 4:5) And on the next day, the leaders and the elders and the scribes
assembled, (Act 4:6) and also Khanan the High Priest and Qayapa and
Yochanan and Alexandros and those who were from the line of chief priests.
So Khanan (Annas) and Qayapa (Yosef Caiaphas) are here with two others from the
high priestly line, Yochanan and Alexander. Either of these two men could have
replaced them later on. While we know nothing of these men listed, there was a Yonatan
ben Ananus (a son of Khanan) who becomes high priest and that high priest was just the
start of Yshuas prophecy.
To be more specific, when Khanan was deposed as high priest in 15 CE, his son
Elieazar, perhaps the source of the parody, took over for a year, 16-17 CE. After that,
Khanan got the Romans to agree to promote his son-in-law Yosef, the son of Qayapa, to
be high priest. When Yosef then married Khanans daughter, he gained five brothers in
law!
Yosef came to power in a troubled period, and it is believed by many scholars that his
father-in-law helped keep him in power. That much was clear all through Yshuas
ministry.
But in 36 CE, 6 years after the resurrection, the second brother-in-law to Qayapa takes
over his position, our Yonatan ben Khanan who may have been hinted at in Acts under
the similar name of Yochanan. I dont know this to be a fact of course, but there are a
number of pieces to this puzzle that, taken together, seem beyond the realm of
coincidence.
After Yonatan then had served from 36-37 CE, he stepped down. He will be offered the
priesthood again in 43 CE, but will decline the office. But serving in between these
times is a man with a curious Greek name. In fact, unlike most other, priests, this one
does not have a Hebrew equivalent that has come down to us, but it is nevertheless still
a familiar Greek name:
(Luk 1:3) It seemed good also to me because I have attended carefully to all of
them that everything I should write down in its order for you, noble Tawpeela.
(AENT)
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Tawpeela is of course Aramaic for Theophilus and the ossuary of this high priests
granddaughter has been found mentioning his name as well:
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/27926007?sid=21105448747031&uid=3739616
&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256
Does this mean that Lukes Theophilus is that of the high priest, the son of Khanan?
There is no way to know for sure, but I believe it anyway. Lukes form of address to
Theophilus surely indicates this man has a very high ranking status. And the first thing
Luke wants to explain to his friend Theophilus is the priestly lineage of Yochanan the
Immerser! Who else but a high priest would care about the Immerser being a
descendant of Aaron from the 8th course of Abijah? I think Luke knows his audience
very well, and if he were friends with a high priest it would more than explain why
Luke would want to send his massive Luke-Acts literary work to just a single man.
But lets move on for a moment. After Theophilus served as high priest he was followed
by two more of his brothers: Matthias (43 CE) and Khanan ben Khanan (63 CE). Five
brothers in all, sons of Khanan Senior, father in law to Caiaphas himself!3
In looking at the parable then this way, one gets the sense that Yshua had basically
declared the high priest who would hand him over to the Romans for crucifixion as
being hopeless, as many other believers in the faith would die under his assistant, a man
named Saul of Tarsus who operated with authority from this same high priest (Acts 4:6,
7:1-2, 9:2) to persecute the Way to the death.
And perhaps four of the brothers, also tied to wrong understandings and wrong oral
traditions, were also thought to be doomed. However, I choose to believe that one of
the five brothers, Theophilus himself, did come to faith in Yshua and this might have
been why he was replaced, having served from 37 to 41 CE. Then I think it is plausible
Theophilus residing with the Messianics caused his family to forget his Hebrew
name, but he remained powerful enough to be worthy of Lukes attention.
This would not be the first time I thought however that Luke was hiding high priests.
Some of you may recall my study on all the high priests, from Aaron to Phinehas ben
Shmuel who was on duty when the Second Temple burned.
In any case, at that time I put forth my reasoning for believing that the Shimon who
blessed Yshua in the Temple in Luke 2 was none other than Shimon ben Boethus, the
high priest at that time. I thought then and still do now that to Luke it was more
important that people believed in Mashiyach than just celebrating the actual titles of the
believers. That may be why Luke is vague on purpose here:
(Act 6:7) And the Word of Elohim spread and increased the number of disciples
3

There is another high priest named Khanan (Ananias) who is mentioned in Acts 23:2 as the one who
orders Rav Shaul struck. However, this is the son of Nebedus, not from the same family as Khanan and
Qayapa.

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in Urishlim greatly, and many people of the Yehudeans were obedient to the
faith. (AENT)
And yet, even if Lukes Theophilus isnt the high priest of the same name who bucked
the trend of error and doubt shared by his four brothers, father and brother-in-law, it still
remains remarkable to me that Yshua knew more about Caiaphas own future than the
high priest did himself.
Im Andrew Gabriel Roth and thats your Torah Thought for the Week! Next week we
will be exploring Ki Tissa, or Exodus 30:11-34:35, our Haftorah portion will be 1 Kings
18:1-39 and our Renewed Covenant Reading will be from 1 Corinthians 3:1-8. Stay
tuned!

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