A Critical Analysis - Rabbi Dr. David Gottlieb

okay well I'll change this with y'all but you'll see the point of grammar that I want to pick up on attendance of my uncle cam you all of you are standing today now item is plural it's a team call him they're all towards a finish a meal ok am your God would your yours plural rush ahem your heads shift take em your tribes Zeke the FM your elders with shelter ahem and your officers call israel tabacum your children shake em your wives that's the end of section 1 now begir ha ha singular up-tempo little of a sentence I should care about her never got that heart knock knock em about her neck hole your camps a fit of it circle your would I tell her you're worse all the use our art singular there the opera Hall to make you pass overhaul singular razor share my locker I'll calc a singular it's a Voki Michelle ho / Los oh sure sure Luke Iroquois in hog is establishing with you today LeMond hockey voz ha I don't know um to stablish you to the state terms of people who yell a collar him he'll be for you singular my god kasha dibello cuz he spoke to you singular his brother Sekou your father's your singular hey bear i'm isaac and jacob below now that's the end section two now back below if hemlock em and not only with you plural alone I mean to curse the piece as those all those are establishing this covenant ki ashay stop Omar yo what the hell okay no he has a you know po Yamato hey yo he who is with us today he was not with us today is included in the init and the color so you have a sandwich it's plural say you look blue so it would be nice to explain it alright written that way yet the English will he be no clue because in English why you are does double for both singular and plural for english for you doesn't get this at all he's totally missing the whole the whole point of the past okay now i want to introduce you to a philosophical idea and blue sky static and i clear i'll show you that the text is directly addressing just falafel idea 3300 plus years ago our ancestors made a covenant with the creator of the universe what is that got to do with me what relevance does that have to me let's suppose that my father decided to work for eighteen t he signed a contract and he lived up to that contract till the end of his life what I have to work for AT&T surely not he signed a contract leprechaun she found him I wouldn't be bound by his contract what has the Covenant that God made with the Jewish people 3300 plus years ago got to do with me okay so this is the first of all it's a good question it's not a silly question it's a good very good question and it depends upon how you look at what happened there the truth is God put the proposition for the people and every last one of them said yes but the question is what's the significance of the S is the yes each one of us is pledging allegiance if so it has nothing do with me or is it that God is making a covenant with a people any people can continue to exist even those individual members died and replaced by new members that's what what some in some place is called a corporate entity let's say that General Motors signs a contract was a year to supply them with jeeps for 25 years at a certain price now you know what happens with public companies first of all the shares are traded on stock market and the CEO and other offices replaced over time let's suppose the 18 years later there isn't a single shareholder who was there 18 years before let's suppose all the leadership of the company has been changed could they now say well we're not bound by that country because we didn't sign the contract we weren't there when the country was made no because it's the same corporation corporation is a corporate entity surprise surprise there are other corporate entities as well the United States and in Mexico sign a treaty governing the operation of their mutual border no and let's say that scientist 1906 ok say today this is 2015 come on that was 109 years ago I had nothing to do with me no nobody who was alive data life today not the president metal legislators none of us today with so just a bit irrelevant no because the nation is the same nation if such a thing is making agreement with a nation just something else where you making agreement with the and individual or even all the individuals of a nation that nothing to do with the nation as a nation so the crucial question is when God made this covenant that's been referred to in this paragraph was that a covenant with the individuals our covenant with the nation and now if you look at singular pro I'm going to take you through it again I'm going to skip one little section I'll come back explain it later but the basic structure of the piece is designed to address that question start at the end of the top I can be said I'm coker I am cookin you all of you this refers to individuals is plural you as a community of a lot of people and standing for God leaders and all the rest your children your your wives that's to the beginning of post-acute verse 10 now that's the plural section now just skip the end of post-acute we'll come back and explain that 11 to pass you into a covenant with a sham here it's singular so the verse the verses are saying you are a group of let's say a million two hundred thousand adults I'm asking each one of you whether you agree but don't make a mistake the purpose of each one of you agreeing is to create a covenant with the people the people as a singular that's why it switches beginning of 11 to the singular and it tells you to make a covenant with you which a sham is is grant is cuz established with you today 12 in order to establish you to him as a people it says that so the old point of talking to 1,200,000 dividuals is in order to establish a covenant with the people as a singular thing that makes it as a singular corporate entities can you say me carefully because I'm they're not part of a nation if he's not yet making a comment with them sweet right good try good try I think it's better than that there's a good try it's a logical try and then the verse ends 13 back to plural and not only with you individuals does this covenant apply but applies to future generations as well that's st. individuals is because it's made with the corporate entity called the people future individuals are going to be bound by it as well I mean it's gold the way it's written so much gold the other I I thought of this many many years ago and I was hesitant to do anything with it because I said variations be seen with Laura are very common and I don't have a global explanation for all of them maybe it's not right for me to use this explanation for this one so I spoke to our amazement bench of any time one of my teachers he says oh that's probably good but it is fine says the book says what it says it does that means are these other places catia what did he do whatever the meantime it's probably good now I think this switch for gear ha means this I care a convert to what does he attached himself he has attached yourself to any particular individuals and you're not joining a club of individuals he's attaching himself to the Jewish people he's becoming a part of the Jewish people not precisely with the text is saying that's where the shift to the Jewish people as a singular people is made that's why the shift is appropriate to make their here i'm interested in the third the third verse but i'll just read through the first two just have the backup my keys of all our it would be when you come to the land chef Michele gile don't say la lahaa now call it the better she was going to give you as an inheritance you're still a possession of have you shopped about you inhabit it but I'll Cocteau me wishes pre-call Capri Adama Asia Tavia me I'd to her you should bring for the first of all the fruits of the land lay musicians giving you sounds of a tenor put in a basket fellow fellow co and she'll look at how you can share you fresh over carefully so changeable shop go to the place which is here will choose to dwell there that's background it's bringing the bickering the firstfruits to the temple of our saw elico hain you shall come to the coin I share year am rahane who will be in those days Your Honor toy love you should say to him he got it the idea of Michelle macaque I have declared this day to a shame your God ki bossy l horrid says change by shallow saying losses long I've come to the land which a shim swore to our Father our forefathers to give to us I think verse 3 has in it to difficulties first of all is a phrase in verse 3 that could be wholly erased and nothing will be lost what phrase is that I mean want to say it's kind of kind of implied rescue is going to lay it on the altar mission right that's well yeah I think I think you're God faces a different problem if it right not why not why not our God right it's it has a content which seems to be out of place but I mean is there's afraid and that's the other question that I want to base comfortable a mission sports or for piracy no I think if you there's a difference between saying I don't know why he bothered to mention it versus saying if you erase the words no content is lost if you raise those words that content is lost you just don't know why moment bother stating something that's obvious I mean no content we lost at all the meaning of the whole remains exactly the same how about the coin who will be in those days what other choice do you have you can't go to a co in designing your days so that's absolutely obvious so that be the case done saving doesn't any qualifications conditions nothing how do you say something is obvious they say something which is which has no extra content at all this far no talks about this and I'm going to elaborate a bit and maybe in a few things he didn't say but this is basically his idea first of all he points out that is a parallel to that phrase will be in those days in another verse and that parallel and way makes it worse because there's an a reasonably good explanation for it in that other verse but doesn't see that that explanation would apply in this verse let me show you where that is yeah page 10 27 verse 8 if a matter of judgment is hidden from you between blood and blood between verdict or verdict plug-and-play matters of dispute in your cities some question has arisen their various size to the debate and the authorities your cities are divided you shall rise up and ascend to the place that I shave your guards will choose you shall come to the Kohanim levites of the judge will be in those days kohanim vice and the judge will be in those days and again the critic says oh yeah and what choice did I have go to judge's down on my days you shall inquire and they will tell you the where the judgment shall do according the word they will tell you so here the Talmud comments and says even if the judge in your days is not equal to the judges of older days prior days and maybe you'll say I know what real judges are I know what the real quality is and these fellows don't have it and I'm not confident that if I go to them I'm going to get a judgment that's that's genuine soul letters telling you I know you don't feel like that I'm telling you you're no right to protest the fact that you have the judges in your days is not an accident God arranged that the judges of your days should be the judges that are right for you famous phrase in the thumb but is your taqwa door okay shmoop adoro if that was one of the judges and smooth was one of the Duchess the gap between your package will is enormous she was compared to Moses and Aaron certain respect a gift uh well he was a judge an effective warrior had certain shortcomings and weaknesses which showed up and the tablet says you've talked in his generation has full authority just like school had in his authority now of course you're talking first is working method but no one should say if I I know what a great judge was and this guy doesn't compare and therefore I don't have except this authority no that's not true that's what this phrase will be in your days and 10 27 says but a 1069 it doesn't seem like that's an appropriate explanation that's 69 you don't want bringing the fruits to the first fruit to the Cohen what happens in those roots well he goes to urgent ceremony waving ceremony and then he eats them I don't know what qualifications you need what ballet training so you know so the waving will be fluid and graceful we're not talking about something which seems to require special qualities special abilities so so it's not obvious how to make the phrase on 1069 the current will be in your days give a context similar to what it says on 1027 about the judge yeah it says um bye I'm 1027 it says he shall come to the Kohanim believe rights right leg is effects that's one specific thing but it doesn't mention the Levite ears mean you could be coming to tell you that go on and don't have to come from that chart particularly or it just it seems to be one Cisco hannun and levites this one just this kahan not quite sure about the implication the Kohana identified as descendants of Aaron and Aaron is a Levite so there's nearly no choice that they won't come to the tribe of leggy because what's referred to over there is more general and it's not restricted to go on it now restricted to go on here is restricted to go on Kohanim by definition are from the Levites and you want to mention the Levites know if you don't mention the Levite then you will say it's gone and only khan and the rest of levites are excluded on Amanda judges if it said client and the judges there will be no preference for Levites the the truth is you can go to any judge though the reason the Tory gives precedence over there is because kohanim are supported by the by the population Levites are supported by the population and they have opportunities to study Torah that are more extensive than so they are the first choice for four leaders at first choice for scholars and as I restricted did it that's why that's why it says that over there III want to I think I mean the Suarez says that on 1069 and has the same content that's 1027 he just needed a little background to to explain it and it's tied to the other question I was rated the other question is the when the farmer brings his first fruits he makes the declaration to the Coenen says he says to the coin I brought this before Hashem your God and I question was why would he say your God not our guy why would he look we have a phrase that were very familiar with we call God God of Abraham god of Isaac and God of Jacob those are the only three people in the history of the world whose names were borrowed for a designation of God God is never called god of Moses kind of errand got it David got us Solomon gosh will sorry Dave you got closer just overcast oh oh so that I'm gonna say doesn't meet Rush you know it says that King David said to God you know you're known as got a baby I'm got Isaac Isaac Jacob I want you to be known as God of David so God says to David's well I tested the patriarchs and they passed at this so David said test me too how's it okay okay gave him a destiny fields across the board cincy God says you should also have a separate room useful why nice to see that fourth wheel to teach my ways the foot before yeah that fish mal had great potential gang Oh a visit I think was he said a particular vehicle that doesn't mean there before okay you want to it was supposed to be a fourth wheel that look you may be no source that I don't know I just tell you what I know I've never heard such a tee but it could be in a couple of other places I don't know where there's a lot of tradition i'm not aware of at any rate the question is what's going on what does the what is this distinction of God being noticed they got its own so not together so somebody else I think there's a very deep point here we'll start with a point which is really brought by the frittata kin them filling in the deep background now there are words in the Hebrew language we are used to describe God and man Sally so-called righteous cos it that means exactly yeah sure straight the words they used to describe both God in it we ought to be surprised about that Hebrew is a language that describes things essentially as they really are Hebrew is the language out of which the world was built other languages are conventional Hebrew was not conventional he be described as they really are is it really possible that the creator of the universe on the one hand and a creature a created thing should share a quality I should really have the same or similar enough quality to deserve the same word in Hebrew that ought to be something that's surprising now if you raise the surprise then you might remember that one of the six seven thirty Commandments is that we should cultivate those divine qualities and the way the Talmud let me just put it they put it very very strikingly mahu Rock'em Avatara home just as he well let me see if I can do it more literally what is he merciful you to be merciful what is he gracious you to be gracious it's giving you a template that you should be like God so okay now we have to bite the bullet the tradition says this but we should still be surprised and yet that's what it means in Genesis when it says we've created a telomere leukemia they were created with the form of the divine that means that yes we do share something essential with God whatever that ultimately comes to and how to cash it out but that I general idea is being expressed that means they were being can become God like godly godly i think is short for godlike because you can actually have qualities similar qualities to God's qualities now this is a matter of degree some people have it more in some people have less there are three people in the history of the world whose lives embodied godlike qualities to such a depth to such an extent and consistency that God wanted to be known by their names as if to say I am God of Abraham you want to know what I'm like go learn about Abraham because Abraham expressed me in the world and Isaac and Jacob I think you're getting the power of the idea when I first this occurred to me it is a WoW idea it's a it's a big idea and that is something which to be a paradigm in that way that's not given to everyone and you can now understand why King David said I want to be part of the club I want God to be known King as God of David also and God said to hit look there's a certain consistency is certain struggle certain challenges you have to face and he didn't face it now that's an absolute distinction Abram Isaac Jacob the one end everybody else on the other hand notice that Moses didn't make it Moses make it we require a lot of analysis to understand why what the difference is but I'm just pointing it out and David didn't make it so now there's also relative differences different people achieve this to a different degree you do have times in the Tanakh when a will say to be ashame your God by which he's saying you have it more than I do you for me are a picture of something godly that I don't have and I'm inspired by you I learned from you something about how to be a godly person that's what's indicated when ace is to be ashame your gut now let's come back to our context the farmers going to come to the Cohen and he's gonna say to the cone of shame your god what is he saying he's saying to the coin you express a certain godliness that's I don't have I'm giving you that credit now the very same sentiment that we had on 1027 about the prob out the judge can come marching back in okay if it woke up Italian who was a coin as a gigantic scholar and I can't think sorry hmm sure the coin he set up a color for learning kocham to prepare for the racemic dash he rolled a commentary on the sunset free which is the rabbinic comments are under kako bonus here in a comet a Nikolic with a hollow hose because he's repairing huge repairing for the further base to make that was a Cohen miss Ellison if I drew my first fruits to the cup of time how are we over joyed to say Hashem el que ha Shem your gun but to Philip Cowan down the street you know I can can't trust that he's any better so two tours telling you know bro who didn't leave us to accident historical circumstance because road was set up the Kohanim for the generation just like he said up the judge of the generator and it is going to be right to say now I take it you're all with me this I've said for many many years now and decades occurred to me maybe about a year ago that there is one piece of direct confirmation for the idea of imitating God you can use this as a quiz for black hearted people who are scholars but this that might not have occurred at that because it is fitting it to my framework of ideas where is the first place in the Torah where we are told to do something to be similar to God what was he told to do be similar God told not to do something yeah i'm talking about being told to do something you know God is like this so you should be like that yeah just show you shot it holy say yeah that's not the first place you're right good for you it does say keycard Oh Shawny because I am holy very good but that's way off in Leviticus as the middle of the third chapter 19 um first book I'm totally being told that God says to two people do this because that's what I do gospel show what because I do this yeah scheper good for you what about you ah it says you should stop doing melaka on shabbos just as god stop delima local shop to creating a shot wow these ideas will be for decades but once I was meditating on on the shabbos and I thought to myself wait a minute that's not obvious either he stopped so we should stop well what's the soul why should I pattern myself after the creator of the universe that's not obvious and here the tours tell you ABC he created the world for six days and stop the seventh day you engage in physical activity for six days and stopping its heavily just like he stopped okay that's it just like an editor is telling us to do that so I think this embodies pretty obviously embodies a very great great idea that there's no into the to the development in the in the direction of sharing to high quality and that's what's going on here when you're speaking up to the coin okay now I'll tell you something else these are things which I don't do so often because they're a little bit more specialized take a look on page questions yeah i'll talk about doing far what God says about shabbat says another question says that good your sleeves with daughters your son's cookie forgotten crushed l0l keep going that's one for the second time you mentioned in Moses was mentioning I'm not sure for faith-based operates a nun dimensions but an ox and clunky and then pull handle yeah I have to look it up i'm sure the commentaries talk about about half that would have to look at him home but take a look on page 5 45 beginning of the book of leviticus now you can look at this e to the Hebrew or the english by a crow l moshe by the bear a Shem I love Mayo homeboy blame or he called to Moses and a Shem spoke to him for the tent of meeting saying boys and girls that's weird that's weird you would never write anything like that you would never write it that way what's weird about it will come to the office really small but Ellis to this is the call to most nothing you've got white wine attend not much worse than I spoke to me from the times and da fazenda time yo keV is no question I'm raising is much worse than that you would never write a sentence like this oh it was it would say I shall call to Moses and spoken yeah you would better than this subject sentence in the middle he called mother who's that oh I don't know let's think on let's keep reading oh and a sham spoke maybe he somebody else a cold in the century called out and have nanochips book it's weird of course I share was the one and if you read this as following on the end of the book of Exodus so over there the very end God is mentioned so it could be but you starting a new book and you go to put our shams name in there anyway if you left the champagne out altogether then you say okay goes back to the previous sentence the exodus but you're not doing that you're putting a champagne if I put a chance name in the middle so the the Midrash comments here to tell you that every time Shem spoke to Moses there was a career before him a calling out sorry crea calling out calling out beforehand before he spoke so it's two separate the vehicle Moshe he called to Moses from the speech otherwise if it had said by a crush a mimosa by a bear would be Moses ABC but that's not what happened what happened was as Moses at a response and then a sham communicates them the the they calling out to him is a prelude and it's separate that's what it meant to communicate actually the Midrash says this is true everywhere it's written here but it's written here to explain to you that this is a pattern it wasn't just happening here ok if that's true then we will have to ask ourselves why would that be expressed here if it's true everywhere it could have been written elsewhere indeed could have been written first time God spoke to Moses and then maybe that would have been more inclusive so I have to understand why it's why it's with you now you asked about the little olive little olive in velcro is explained many ways but it's explained in one mojesh to the following way what would happen if you erase the Aleph what word would you get yeah if you pronounce it the same way he cropped or could be by a car as the vowels are not written in the Torah scroll right just a little that's the letters by a car is that a word that's used somewhere in the total you seem to know considerable amount you recommend that word anyway this is bilham the evil non Jewish prophet verse for God happened upon Billa look at Dalit six lines down in Hebrew the middle line with after the dots ye car a car and Hebrew means something that just happens I happenstance an accident it means when you use a verb like that in this context what you mean to say is God did speak to him but there's nothing essential demanding he crawled when you call out to someone addressing invite him into it into a into a conversation and then something essential about it by a car means it's accidental god someone has happened since these are the him there was there's nothing in him that demands that God speak to him he used as a tool but there's nothing that that demands it savings true with with loved ones i'm not mistaken also this resort to think so according to the year i just appears but not by you cross so here's Moses taking dictation god says to moses okay we're starting a new book first verse are you crying L Moshe what was it says to God please please don't write that don't write that don't single me out don't make it appear as if I'm special and I deserve the special relation with you right by a car just like you're right about pillow right about the right bait car make it accidental you use me as a tool but don't don't put me in that pedestal God says don't tell me how to write my book well Moses as usual is not satisfied he continues to protest so guys mr. Moses I'll compromise with you I already small okay we're big I school now I believe this may be flippant up my part well I believe that that this shows you it doesn't pay to fight with God because what Moses was trying to achieve God trumped him in spades what was Moses trying to hide hi trying to hide his greatness so God writes my he crawled the olive is there pretty right to small earth to indicate that in addition to being as great as he was he was also very humble so he expresses even more greatness to Moses right sighs I don't fight with God y'all gonna win that's right to my Trump fine small event or there are many small letters I don't know how many times an olive but there are many small letters in the Torah and large letters yes there's some that a larger than usual and some that are smaller than usual the dollar avocados is largely usual now why is this here what's going on this is the beginning of the book that dictates sacrifices now let me tell you something that's very important there's no word for sacrifices in Hebrew the english word sacrifices is utterly foreign distortion because sacrificing is i'm giving something up i'm losing something there's no word for that in Hebrew the two words that are used in Hebrew for what you present in a and the temple are carbon carbon comes from a root which means to draw close and min ha which refer which means a gift but a gift doesn't stress that I'm losing something it generally I'm giving something sacrifice in English means I've lost something and that is utterly foreign to the to the tourist point of view of what these this performance involves now Moses says you're starting the book with the laws of how to draw close to you through whom would it be logical to dictate the laws of how to draw close to God the person who's closest to God he would be the best choice now you're going to write viagra that you singled me out essentially for this purpose right don't do that don't do that guy says watched a fight with me and not only that but here the emphasis of the small Allah Fisk is Moses humility that's the reason why he singled out to explain how to grow close to God because that's the key to growing close to God key to growing close to God his humility particularly that's why they stress to the fact that Mount Sinai was just lowest of all the mountains that tour is like water it flows downhill it goes to the people who are humble so God crafted into this sentence all of what he wanted to express visa V Moses and it's encapsulated in the little olive and this is where we know that God called out to Moses before he spoke tin every time because that's why he did call out to be called out there because he was ideal vehicle to communicate God's words to the people you