"Brit-Am Now"-638
1. This week's portion
2. Rabbi Siegel Speaks on Unity of Judah and Joseph
3. Brit-Am Hebrew Book Makes an Impact
4. Biblical Sources
5. Noel Rude: Appreciation

1. This week's portion
"VaYigash", Genesis chs.44 to 47
"THEN HE CAME NEAR "
Deals With (amongst other matters):
Near Confrontation between Judah and Joseph
concerning the fate of Benjamin.
Joseph reveals himself to his brothes
Reconciliation
Jacob and all his clan come down into Egypt
The Tribal and Clan heads found nations and Tribes of their own
Settlement in Goshen
Israelites were herdsmen.

Haftorah
This week's commentary includes a note on the Haftorah.
This note will be found at the end of the Commentary.
"VaYigash"
The Haftorah is  a short extract from the Prophets that is also read in addition to the Torah reading.
Usually we do not comment on the Haftorah but refer our subscribers to the Brit-Am Commentary
on the Prophets.
This week is different and includes an interesting observation by the deceased Rabbi of Chabad concerning
the re-union of Judah with Joseph.

2. Rabbi Siegel Speaks on Unity of Judah and Joseph
"Steve in NC" pointed out to me that in these week's Torah talk
Rabbi Siegel spoke on a topic of interest to Brit-Am, i.e. the re-unification
of Judah and Joseph.
For all we know Rabbi Siegel may or may not agree with Brit-Am but the teaching is also relevant
to us.
The Principles involved are derived from the Bible.
Here are extracts from the talk. The expression "Jewish Nation" may be understood to refer to the
Israelite People as a whole:

Parshas Vayigash
Yechezkel 37:15
by Rabbi Dovid Siegel

<<This week's haftorah is devoted to the Jewish nation's future unification.
it opens with Hashem [the ALMIGHTY] instructing the Prophet Yechezkel to take two pieces
of wood and inscribe them with names of the Jewish kingdoms, Yehuda and
Yosef. Hashem then said, "Bring them near one another to appear as one and
they shall unite in your hands." Radak interprets this to mean that
Yechezkel should hold the pieces alongside each other and they will
miraculously unite into one solid piece of wood. He explains that this
refers to the future miraculous unification of the Jewish kingdom. The
individual pieces of wood represent the individual kingdoms of Israel.
Although Hashem unconditionally granted Dovid Hamelech's [KING DAVID] dynasty the
kingdom of Israel this did not preclude fragmentation. In fact, soon after
Shlomo Hamelech's [KING SOLOMON] passing the kingdom suffered a severe split.
Yeravam ben Nvat, a descendent of the tribe of Yosef led a powerful rebellion against
the Judean dynasty and gained control over most of the Jewish nation. The
split was so intense that the seceding camp of Yosef totally severed ties
with its brothers never to return to them. Yechezkel prophesied that these
kingdoms will eventually reunite and form one inseparable unit. The
unification will be so perfect that it will leave no trace of any previous
dissension. The entire nation's sense of kinship will be so pronounced
that it will be likened to one solid piece of wood, void of all factions
and fragmentation.

<<Yechezkel continues and states in Hashem's name, "And I will purify them
and they shall be a nation to Me and I will be G-d to them...My Divine
Presence will rest upon them ... forever." (37:23,28) These verses predict
the final phase of unity- Hashem's unification with His people. In the
Messianic era all aspects of unity will be achieved. The entire Jewish
nation will become one inseparable entity and Hashem will reunite with His
people. This unification will resemble that of the Jewish people, an
everlasting and inseparable one.

<<It is important to note the order of this unity. The first phase will be
our nation's unification and after this is achieved Hashem will return to
His people. Sefer Charedim [The name of An EARLY SOURCE BOOK] sensitizes us
to the order of this development.
He reflects upon Hashem's distinct quality of oneness and explains that it
can only be appreciated and revealed through His people's harmonious
interaction. Hashem's favor and kindness emanates from His perfect oneness
and reveals this quality in full. When the Jewish people function as a
harmonious body they deserve Hashem's favor and kindness. They project and
reflect Hashem's goodness and express His oneness and bring true glory to
His name . However, if the Jewish people are fragmented and divided they
display- Heaven forbid- division in Hashem's interactive system...

<<Indeed,
it can be said that when Hashem's people unite as an inseparable entity
His identity and perfect quality of oneness will be recognized throughout
the world. (adapted from Sefer Charedim chap. 7)

<<In truth, the foundation for this unity was laid in this week's sedra [Torah Portion].
....Yosef and Yehuda,
the two powers to be, embraced one another and displayed a true sense of
kinship. Unfortunately, irrevocable damage already occurred that would
ultimately yield a severe split in the Jewish kingdom. Yosef's descendant,
Yeravam would eventually severe relations with Yehuda's descendant
Rechavam and establish his own leadership. (see Gur Aryeh to Breishis
48:7) However, groundwork was already established to reunite these
kingdoms and return the Jewish nation to its original perfect unity.

<<...The ten lost tribes representing the kingdom
of Yoseif will be divided from the Judean kingdom for over two thousand
years. This will result in Hashem's removing His Divine Presence from
amidst His people and throughout their long dark exile they will have no
direct contact with Him. However, the time will eventually arrive for the
Jewish people to reunite and become one inseparable entity. This
miraculous unity will immediately lead to a second unity, that of Hashem
and His people. In response to their total unification Hashem will return
His Divine Presence and rest amongst His people us and "The spirit of
Israel will be restored to life".

<<This lesson is apropos for our times where so much potential diversity
exists. We pray to Hashem that we merit total unification thereby yielding
Hashem's return to us resting His Divine Presence amongst us.

For more information about such talks:
From: Rabbi Dovid Siegel <rdsiegel@torah.org>
Subject: Haftorah - Parshas Vayigash
Sender: haftorah-owner@torah.org
To: haftorah@torah.org
Reply-to: kollel@mcs.com, genesis@torah.org
Torah.org: , The Judaism Site
Please send mail to gabbai@torah.org for subscription assistance.

3. Brit-Am Hebrew Book Makes an Impact
Our book in Hebrew ("Achim Acharim") that can be viewed or downloaded
Achim Acharim
from our web site or obtained for free  within the State of Israel upon request is making an impact.
Potentially important people are interested and have asked to speak with us.
For that matter anyone who is interested is potentially important in our eyes.

4. Biblical Sources
(a) Hebrew-English
MECHON-MAMRE.ORG
hey there yair and brit-am readers, i saw that people are lookingfor a good translation of Tanach.  there is a GREAT website, MECHON-MAMRE.ORG, they have all of Tanach hyperlinked by book and further by chapter, also there is an option of mp3 downloads of each chapter so you can hear an authentic reading of it, and learn how the Lashon Kodesh(the holy language/tongue) sounds.
-asher

(b) English Version
From: Eric Schendel
Subject: Bibles
Yair,

Re the thread referenced below, there are a couple of modernized versions of the KJV that are in the public domain and can be downloaded.  They still retain "thee" and "thou" but eliminate many other archaic words that are difficult to understand today while preserving the poetic beauty of the KJV (and, personally, I believe use of "thou" has benefits, as "thou" was singular" and "ye" or "you" plural, so there is room for more specificity).

The two versions you might consider are the Webster Bible (1833) and American Standard Bible (1901), both of which can be downloaded.  For more information, visit the following:
http://bibledatabase.org/bibles.html
http://ebible.org/bible/asv/
The World English Bible is another possibility, but it is no longer like the KJV and I'm not sure it is finished:
http://ebible.org/bible/web/.
Like you, I view the KJV not only as a work of art but also as part of the history of Joseph in exile, so I would be saddened to see you abandon it. However, the Webster Bible is so close that it may be a worthwhile change, and even the ASV is still essentially the KJV (except for its obnoxious use of "Jehovah" for HaShem, which, I suppose, could be easily replaced by "LORD" using a test editor).

Eric

(c) Dissatisfied with KJ
The King James version, far from being "reasonably accurate" has over 30 thousand errors in it.  Please do some research on this matter yourself and you will find it is correct.
I would suggest using the Stone Edition Artscroll Tanach instead.
Be well.
Julia

(d) The Brit-Am Commentary
Our commentary is not intended to give a translation of Scripture
nor a comprehensive explanation.
We aim to gain a brief overall view so that in partnership with the reader
we may gain general insight and progress.
We are concentrating on points of especial relevance to
Brit-Am studies though where other matters come up we also speak of them.

I agree with Tyndale that there is a definite Hebrew aspect to the English tongue
and the King James brings this out quite often despite whatever faults it may have.

At one stage I used to supplement my income by translating from English to Hebrew and
from Hebrew to English.
I also have a "professional" interest (it helps in Brit-Am studies) in Hebrew and in language in general.
The KJ translates Biblical expressions and often captures unique twists of language
whereas other versions just translate the meaning.

5. Noel Rude: Appreciation
re Jerusalem News-395

Greetings!

Always enjoy your posts but would like especially to commend you for today's
piece on conspiracy theories.  There is so much wasted time and misdirected
energy put into those lost causes, and so much else that we should be
learning--the Brit-Am message, for example, and we should be following
Intelligent Design (at www.discover.org and elsewhere because if there's no
Hebrew God of history then nothing else matters).

Thanks,

Noel Rude

Brit-Am Comment:
In Jerusalem News-395 we spoke against Secular Humanism
and Conspiracy Theories.
What we said there is still pertinent:
Conspiracy


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