SONG OF SONGS:
2. How fair are your feet in sandals, O
daughter of nobles! The curves of your thighs are like jewels, the handiwork of
a craftsman.
3. Your navel is [like] a round basin, where no mixed
wine is lacking; your belly is [like] a stack of wheat, fenced in with roses.
4. Your two breasts are like two fawns, the twins of a
gazelle.
SEVENTY SOULS THAT DESCENDED TO EGYPT: Elon
TALMUD
SHEVUOTH: Daf 31 – Distancing Oneself
from Falsehood and Liability for False Oaths
BOOK OF JEREMIAH: Chapter 31
Week 31 in
the Jewish calendar is the week of Rosh
Chodesh Iyar, Yom HaZikaron and of Yom
Ha’Atzma’ut. The verses of Shir
HaShirim of this week all relate to praises made by the other nations
towards the Jewish people. It speaks of how they want to cleave to the Jews.
This seems so rare and out of context, and yet that is exactly what happened
after Yom Ha’Atzma’ut. For the first
time in a long time, the Jews were widely admired. This admiration, which
started in great part in 1948, continues until this day.
It is
interesting that Rashi notes that
while the Jewish people praised G-d from top to bottom, beginning with the
head, the praises of non-Jews to the Jewish people are from bottom to top, beginning
with the feet. The initial praises after Israel’s War of Independence related
to its deeds, military might, associated with the feet.
The third
verse for this week also appears to be a reference to Iyar, as it speaks of “twins of a gazelle,” perhaps a reference to
Yissachar and Zebulun, whose partnership was like that of twins.
Of the
seventy souls of the Jewish people that descended to Egypt, the thirty-first
mentioned is Elon. Elon means oak tree. Oak trees are particularly majestic, large, strong and enduring. Elon Moreh is another name for Shechem.
As explained in Week 1 of Book 2, Shechem is the first place
visited by Avraham, Yaakov, as well as Yehoshua when entering the Land of
Israel. Even in modern times, the first settlement established in Judea and
Samaria after the Six Day War was Elon Moreh, which is another biblical name
for the city Shechem. Shechem is the gateway to the Land of Israel. Therefore,
it is appropriate that Elon be mentioned this week.
Daf Lamed Alef (Folio 31) of Shvuot continues to discuss matters
regarding an oath taken by a witness in a Jewish court and staying away from
false mattes. It also discusses people that are excluded from liability for a
court oath. It discusses cases when mistakes were by accident or on purpose (Shogeg uMezid). The return to the Land
of Israel is often discussed in Jewish law in the context of three oaths made
by the Jewish people during exile, one of which was not to return to Israel by
force. There is much debate on whether the Jews indeed violated this oath by
returning to the land, and if so, given the context in which it took place, whether
they could be “liable” for it.[1]
Almost all opinions deem that returning to the Land was not a violation.
Chapter 31 of the Book of Jeremiah
contains a similar theme to the above. It speaks of openly of a time when the
Jewish people would be able to return to its land, to build and be built:
1. So says the Lord: In the wilderness, the people who
had escaped the sword found favor; He [therefore] went to give Israel their
resting place.
2. From long ago, the Lord appeared to me; With
everlasting love have I loved you; therefore have I drawn you to Me with
loving-kindness.
3. Yet again will I rebuild you, then you shall be
built, O virgin of Israel; yet again shall you be adorned with your tabrets,
and you shall go out with the dances of those who make merry.
4. Yet again shall you plant vineyards on the
mountains of Samaria, indeed planters shall plant [them] and redeem [them].
5. For there is a day, the watchers shall call on the
mountains of Ephraim; Rise! Let us go up to Zion, to the Lord, our God.
6. For so says the Lord to Jacob, "Sing [with]
joy and shout at the head of the nations, make it heard, praise, and say, 'O
Lord, help Your people, the remnant of Israel!'
7. Behold I bring them from the north country and
gather them from the uttermost ends of the earth, the blind and the lame
amongst them, the woman with child and she who travails with child all together;
a great company shall they return there.
8. With weeping will they come, and with supplications
will I lead them, along brooks of water will I make them go, on a straight road
upon which they will not stumble, for I have become a Father to Israel, and
Ephraim is My firstborn.
9. Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare
it on the islands from afar, and say, "He Who scattered Israel will gather
them together and watch them as a shepherd his flock.
10. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and has saved him
out of the hand of him who is stronger than he.
11. And they shall come and jubilate on the height of
Zion, and they will stream to the goodness of the Lord, over corn, wine, and
oil, and over sheep and cattle, and their soul shall be like a well-watered
garden, and they shall have no further worry at all.
12. Then shall the virgin rejoice in the round dance
with music, and the young men and the old men together, and I will turn their
mourning into joy and will comfort them and make them rejoice from their
sorrow.
13. And I will refresh the soul of the priests with
fat, and My people-they will be satisfied with My goodness, is the word of the
Lord.
14. So says the Lord: A voice is heard on high,
lamentation, bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, she refuses to be
comforted for her children for they are not.
15. So says the Lord: Refrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears, for there is reward for your work, says the Lord, and
they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
16. And there is hope for your future, says the Lord,
and the children shall return to their own border.
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