Dear B’nai Shalom members, families, and friends:
In a recent Shabbat drasha (sermon) and the preceding shiur (class), I spoke about elements of Hebrew that indicate specific meanings in words we learn in the Torah that can be misunderstood and misinterpreted when relying on translations of those verses in other languages.
Torah is to be understood based on the meaning of the Hebrew text as the true meaning and genuine point or theme of a statement which is often lost in the translation.
For example: If one were to ask a Bible scholar of a non-Jewish background what the sixth commandment of the Ten Commandments tells us, we likely would be told: “Do not kill.” This is a mistake. What it actually prohibits is “MURDER.”
The Commandment tells us: “Lo Tirtzach” which means: “Do not murder” as opposed to “Lo Taharog,” which means “Do not kill.”
There should be no misunderstanding that we are told that MURDER is against the Torah commandments and NOT the simple concept of KILLING.
Therefore the commandment should be understood as: “Do not murder.”
There are, in fact, times when we CAN kill, and actual times when, in fact, we are COMMANDED to kill.
In protection of one’s self, in protecting others, and certainly in a war that is sanctioned by the Torah, killing is permitted.
The examples of misunderstanding the true meaning of the Torah versus the way the passages are understood do not need to be as dramatic as murder or killing.
We Jews call the Chumash the “Chamisha Chumshei Torah” while in English they are erroneously known as the “Five Books of Moses.” Moses in only included in the last four books, beginning with the Parsha of Shemot.
Certainly one may try to explain the translation as indicating that the ENTIRE doctrine was DELIVERED by Moses but nonetheless, the phrase “Chamisha Chumshei Torah” is an indication of the five books of the Torah and does not give erroneous credit to Moses as the supposed author of the Torah.
In the Shabbat prior to my penning this article, in B’nai Shalom and in shuls all over the world, we began to read the Sefer (the book) of Shemot. This book is known as “Exodus” in English but “Shemot,” means “names” in Hebrew. This is because the first parsha of the Book of Shemot speaks of the names of the Hebrews – the children, the grandchildren, and generations beginning with Jacob and Joseph and his brothers, who traveled down to Egypt to avoid the famine in the land of Canaan.
Calling the second book of the Torah “Exodus” itself can be a mistake because the actual description of the Exodus from Egypt took place only in the first four parshiyot of the twelve parshiyot included in Sefer Shemot.
The Ramban says a better name for this Sefer (book) is “Sefer HaGeulah,” the “Book of Redemption” because the Jews’ redemption is the theme of the entire book. Ramban is not suggesting that the ACTUAL name of the Sefer be changed but he emphasizes that the concept is a theme that foreshadows the eventual redemption of the Jewish people.
This naturally is our ongoing, underlying foundational theme for all Jews everywhere living throughout the world.
It is our ongoing hope that Hashem will speedily respond to our tefillot (prayers) and will bless us with a positive answer to our requests to be able to celebrate that true redemption, permitting us to experience the blessing of all of us returning to Eretz Yisrael, and beginning an age of peace and harmony that will reign throughout the world.
With Torah blessings always,
Rabbi Dr. Yaacov Dvorin