Hebrew Literacy Program

מִשְׁנָה אֲבוֹת פֶּרֶק ב.ג

The following was written by Reform Judaism in Israel…

Firing the Defense Minister at time of war, on the heels of his declaration that he intends to draft 7,000 ultra-orthodox haredim - is dangerous conduct which is completely unacceptable.

The time has come for the Government of the State of Israel to stop enabling evasion from military service, spitting in the face of those who serve & have been carrying the burden of the war on their shoulders for over a year.

Minister Galant has expressed within the government the voice of hostage families & the demand for equal sharing of the burden. Instead of advancing these critical issues during times of grave security threats to Israel, the Prime Minister has chosen to fire the Defense Minister & to deepen the schism within our people.

It is important to remember & heed the words of Moses to Gad & Reuven:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר מֹשֶׁ֔ה לִבְנֵי־גָ֖ד וְלִבְנֵ֣י רְאוּבֵ֑ן הַאַֽחֵיכֶ֗ם יָבֹ֙אוּ֙ לַמִּלְחָמָ֔ה וְאַתֶּ֖ם תֵּ֥שְׁבוּ פֹֽה׃
“Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here?" ~Numbers 32.6

Yesterday, Thursday May 9th 2024, in the 929 Project the daily chapter was Psalm 23. I’ve been struggling with mental health issues more than usual. I don’t believe in coincidences. As I told a local community the last time I gave a presentation in their congregation: “Coincidence is just Gods way of remaining anonymous.”

In one of the images is a cropped screenshot of the Sefaria App. Psalm 23 with the Masoretic Hebrew text next to the Revised JPS (RJPS) Translation.

ברוך אתה ה“ אלוהינו, מלך העולם, שומע תפילה.
Praised are you Eternal One our God, master of the World, who hears prayer.

Many people know of the Text of Esther as “the Megillah” but it’s actually the final of 5 scrolls in the Tanakh called Megillot. This first one is the Song of Songs. Most often called the Song of Solomon based on a translation of the first verse. It’s still read by some Jewish communities on the Shabbat of Passover. It’s always been a very controversial text because of its graphic sexual imagery. Pictured here is the beginning of שִׁיר הַשִּׁירִים in a project I’ve been working on for several months documenting all the Masoretic variants in the entire Tanakh.