.  The Brit-Am 
 Movement of the Lost Ten Tribes 


Brit-Am Now no. 1437
The Lost Ten Tribes of Israel Movement
30 December 2009, 14 Tevet 5770
Contents:
1. Kerry Smith: Video Clip of Statue of Joseph
2. Peter Kleyheeg: Was the Coat of Joseph Merely a Long Sleeved Robe?
3. Jay: Earnest Klein's Etymological Dictionary Says "Long Sleeves"
Ginsberg says "Coat of Many Colors".
4. Murray Allatt: "A captivating and enthralling dialogue"
5. New Article:
Scottish Tartan and the Temple Garments

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1. Kerry Smith: Video Clip of Statue of Joseph
From: Kerry Smith <ksmithtn@comcast.net>
Re: Joseph's Tomb in Egypt
http://britam.org/tartan2.html#Rohl
Hi Yair...

I'm a longtime reader, & enjoy your site/updates.

I just saw your comments re: Joseph & David Rohl's statue. The BBC did a documentary that interviewed David Rohl about Joseph's tomb in Egypt a few years ago. I have uploaded the part that covered the statue they found in his tomb to my YouTube page. You are welcome to link to it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCPGgTE27Xk
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Brit-Am Comment:
The video clip is well worth viewing.
The original statue was that of a prominent dignitary (with his own small palace) in Egypt. He was of Israelite or Canaanite origin or at least from the area of Ancient Canaan. He did have red hair and fair skin and his dress bore a pattern similar to that shown by Rohl. This however is not enough to identify the figure depicted as Joseph the Patriarch which is what Rohl claims.

2. Peter Kleyheeg: Was the Coat of Joseph Merely a Long Sleeved Robe?
Peter Kleyheeg (from Australia) wrote:
Re
Brit-Am Now no. 1435
#1. Answers to Criticism of the Brit-Am Understanding of the Coat of Joseph
http://britam.org/now2/1435Now.html#Answers

Shalom Yair.
I feel the need to throw in my 10 cents regarding the "commentary" made by TG regarding the coat of Joseph.
As you so rightly pointed out that there are hundreds of commentaries on Joseph's coat, and yet we forget the most important commentary of all, and that is the Tanach itself.
It states in Hebrew  [veaseh lo kotonet pasim] strictly translated as: He made for him a tunic of wrists.
Without adding to, we could translate this as A-- fine linen/wool tunic or long sleeved robe.
Nowhere in the text is the word colour, patchwork or any pattern mentioned, so why do we have to interpret words to suit ourselves.
By the way ::: I love your Australian "tongue in cheek" comment and may I direct TG to Ps.111:10, Pro. 9:10.

Peter K.

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 Ps.111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom;
      A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.
      His praise endures forever.

Pro. 9:10. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom,
   And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
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Brit-Am Reply:
Peter Shalom,
Thank you for your support.
You bring a translation of Genesis 37:10 from the Hebrew as:
"he made for him a tunic of wrists" instead of
"he made for him a coat of many colors" .
You suggest that we should understand the expression "Cotonot Pasim" as
"A-- fine linen/wool tunic or long sleeved robe".

This brings us back to the meaning of the Hebrew words and the varying interpretations they lend themselves to.

The Brit-Am approach (which really is that of leading Rabbinical Authorities and Commentators) is to regard the Hebrew text as the sacred words of the Almighty. Every word used is there for a reason. The different nuances of a certain word or group of words may all have significance at one and the same time. This approach is not just one based on faith but may be justified objectively by an examination of the text.
"Cotonet" means some type of garment. Nearly everyone seems to agree on this point.
"Pas" according to the Concordance of Iben Shishan [Hebrew] means "restuah" i.e. "strip" as in Cotonet Pasim (Genesis 37:3].
The Cotonet Pasim was therefore made out of strips (pieces) or bore a striped design.
"Pas" can also connote "piece", "part of", end, trim, finish, etc.
The word "pas" is used for the part of (or piece of) the hand in Daniel 5:5.
A related expression "pisat yad" means "wrist" in Talmudic Literature.
One interpretation is that "cotonet pasim" meant a garment reaching to the ends (pasim) of the body i.e. the ankles and hands.
You suggest it meant a robe whose sleeves reached to the wrists apparently based on Daniel 5:5 where "pas" is part of the hand.
It can mean "stripe" or line (e.g. "Pas Lavan" quoted by Iben Shushan from Breishit Rabah).
You said:
# nowhere in the text is the word colour, patchwork or any pattern mentioned #
Pasim is mentioned. The question is what does Pasim mean?
There is a certain logic in considering Pasim to refer to the design on the garment rather than the cut or tailoring aspects of the garment itself.
The word Pas (singular) or Pasim (plural) may also be related to the word "Pas" or "Pasah" meaning spread and the spreading of color
as in the cease of the signs of leprosy (Leviticus chapter 13). Pasah meaning the spreading of color is spelt with a "Sin" (for the "s" sound)
and not with the "samech" (as in the word Pas meaning stripe) but "sin" and "samech" can interchange (e.g. Tosefta, Yom HaKipurin 1;9).
It may be than another meaning of "pas" connotes "color".
It does mean stripe or thick line.
The Talmud (Shabat 10b) said it meant "stripe".
This means the design was either black and white or colored.
Iben Shush in his Hebrew-Language Dictionary (HaMilon HaHaHadash) in the entry:
"Cotonet Pasim" says # According to the accepted meaning of Genesis 37;3: A garment made of different colored stripes#.
http://www.britam.org/tartan.html
We saw that most of the Classical Commentators did say that the garment was of different colors in addition to which
several mentioned stripes while others said squares or both stripes and squares.
See the Table below:
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The Different Eplanations:

Different Colors:
Abraham ben Moshe ben Maimon (Maimonides),The Septuagint, 
Rabbi Yonah iben Janach , Radak, Aryeh Kaplan

Different Colored Stripes (Possibly interlocking)
Talmud (Shabat), Radak , Rabbi Yonah iben Janach ,

Different Colored Squares (Interlocking Lines)
Gersonides, HaNatziv, Nachmanides

Different Colors as well as Long Sleeves
Aryeh Kaplan

Different Colored Lines and Squares as well as Long Sleeves
HaNatziv, Nachmanides,

Connoting Rank and Status
HaNatziv, Nachmanides, Daat Sofrim, Daat Mikra, Sforno.



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In accordance with Rabbinical Tradition, the special qualities of the Hebrew Langauge, and the opinions of Nachmanides and HaNatziv we would say that a correct interpretation of what the reality was is to be found through a synthesis of the above opinions:

The coat was of several colors, of interlocking lines making square shapes, and it denoted rank and status.
Such garments were known in the region of Ancient Canaan in the time of Joseph and afterwards and were considered (by the Egyptians) as typical of dignitaries coming from there.

3. Jay: Earnest Klein's Etymological Dictionary Says "Long Sleeves"
Ginsberg says "Coat of Many Colors".
Re
Brit-Am Now no. 1436
#1. Brit-Am Answers More Criticism from TG about the Coat of Joseph
http://britam.org/now2/1436Now.html#Brit

From: Jay
Shalom Yair:

My understanding of Earnest Klein's Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language is that Joseph's coat was just a tunic with long sleeves.  "Many colors" and "striped" seem to be later comments.  Mr. Klein defines one form of the word. "ps"  describes long sleeves only and that the other translation as "striped"  is of Post Biblical Hebrew. I understand that the word in Genesis 37 is psim (plural?).  Maybe this refers to long sleeved plus having long legged or reaching to the ground. 

Louis Ginsberg notes in Book II of Legends of the Jews that Joseph's coat could be folded such that it could be concealed between the palms of one's hands. (See Strong's 6446 and 6447.) Mr. Ginsberg does not give a specific reference but I doubt he dreamed this up on his own; I believe he must have heard this from a rabbi early in his life.  I once surmised that  "many colors" referred to iridescence although I have not found any evidence that this is possible.  Yet, cloth made of fine threads of nylon or silk, so fine to fit into ones palms would indeed display many colors in sunlight.
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Brit-Am Reply:
Ginsberg researched numerous sources for his work.
He brings sources that the coat was one of many colors:
e.g. # Jacob gave Joseph a coat of many colors, so light and delicate that it could be crushed and concealed in the closed palm of one hand. #
## they [the brothers of Joseph] besmeared his coat of many colors.[8] #
# It was Issachar's advice to tear Joseph's coat of many colors #
(The Legends of the Jews by Louis Ginzberg Volume II, Joseph).

The Cotonet Pasim was of a tartan-type design. Nachmanides links it to the
"Cotonet Tashbets" (Garment of Interlocking Squares Design in Exodus 28:4 translated in the NKJV as
"a skillfully woven tunic".
The King James translates "Cotonet Tashbets" as a "BROIDERED COAT".
See the picture we have uploaded.
The word Pasim connotes interlocking lines
as well as being cognate with the Hebrew root "Pasah" that indicates the spreading of color.

4. Murray Allatt: "A captivating and enthralling dialogue"
Re: Brit-Am Now no. 1436
#1. Brit-Am Answers More Criticism from TG about the Coat of Joseph
http://britam.org/now2/1436Now.html#Brit

Yair,

A captivating and enthralling dialogue with TG. I know iron sharpens iron. I
don't think iron on stubble has quite the same effect. Are you practicing to
have the patience of Job? An admirable display of tolerance.

Regards

5. New Article:
Scottish Tartan and the Temple Garments
http://britam.org/tartan3.html




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