V'etchanan 5785 - Crossing over the Jordan... a fundamental flaw?
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Share(כ) וְאֶתְכֶם֙ לָקַ֣ח יהוה וַיּוֹצִ֥א אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִכּ֥וּר הַבַּרְזֶ֖ל מִמִּצְרָ֑יִם לִהְי֥וֹת ל֛וֹ לְעַ֥ם נַחֲלָ֖ה כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃
(20) but you יהוה took and brought out of Egypt, that iron blast furnace, to be God’s very own people, as is now the case.
alternate translation: ".... to be, this very day, a people of inheritance for God."
alternate translation: ".... to be, this very day, a people of inheritance for God."
what does this mean - לְעַ֥ם נַחֲלָ֖ה ? ׁWhat can our "nachal" be other than a literal piece of land?
what are we being commanded to extirpate?
from where are all of these primitive, archaic impulses arising?
what are we being commanded to extirpate?
from where are all of these primitive, archaic impulses arising?
the shoresh: √נחלֹ
(יד) וְאֹתִ֞י צִוָּ֤ה יהוה בָּעֵ֣ת הַהִ֔וא לְלַמֵּ֣ד אֶתְכֶ֔ם חֻקִּ֖ים וּמִשְׁפָּטִ֑ים לַעֲשֹׂתְכֶ֣ם אֹתָ֔ם בָּאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֥ר אַתֶּ֛ם עֹבְרִ֥ים שָׁ֖מָּה לְרִשְׁתָּֽהּ׃
(14) At the same time יהוה commanded me to impart to you laws and rules for you to observe in the land that you are about to cross into and occupy.
What do we "occupy"? Can our experience of wandering, searching for freedom and justice and home, be an existential search rather than a fundamentalist insistence on "that" land?
I've been thinking a lot about how Judaism, and Jews, have historically thought about "crossing the Jordan" and "taking the inheritance that God has given" to us.
I've been wondering about how we can transform our understanding of this from a fundamentalist concrete interpretation to a more figurative abstract one.
What is our "our inheritance" isn't a piece of land, but an imaginal place?
Mahalia Jackson: How I got over
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9iQUIwAgus&list=RDt9iQUIwAgus&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_v7Myv0K8M&list=RDv_v7Myv0K8M&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9iQUIwAgus&list=RDt9iQUIwAgus&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_v7Myv0K8M&list=RDv_v7Myv0K8M&start_radio=1
וְאַתֶּם֙ הַדְּבֵקִ֔ים בַּיהוה אֱלֹהֵיכֶ֑ם חַיִּ֥ים כֻּלְּכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃
while you, who held fast to the LORD your God, are all alive today.
(ט) רַ֡ק הִשָּׁ֣מֶר לְךָ֩ וּשְׁמֹ֨ר נַפְשְׁךָ֜ מְאֹ֗ד פֶּן־תִּשְׁכַּ֨ח אֶת־הַדְּבָרִ֜ים אֲשֶׁר־רָא֣וּ עֵינֶ֗יךָ וּפֶן־יָס֙וּרוּ֙ מִלְּבָ֣בְךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל יְמֵ֣י חַיֶּ֑יךָ וְהוֹדַעְתָּ֥ם לְבָנֶ֖יךָ וְלִבְנֵ֥י בָנֶֽיךָ׃
(9) But take utmost care and watch yourselves scrupulously, so that you do not forget the things that you saw with your own eyes and so that they do not fade from your mind as long as you live. And make them known to your children and to your children’s children:
Jordan river
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjT60DtLuvw&list=RDGjT60DtLuvw&start_radio=1
(כה) כִּֽי־תוֹלִ֤יד בָּנִים֙ וּבְנֵ֣י בָנִ֔ים וְנוֹשַׁנְתֶּ֖ם בָּאָ֑רֶץ וְהִשְׁחַתֶּ֗ם וַעֲשִׂ֤יתֶם פֶּ֙סֶל֙ תְּמ֣וּנַת כֹּ֔ל וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֥ם הָרַ֛ע בְּעֵינֵ֥י יְהֹוָה־אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ לְהַכְעִיסֽוֹ׃
(25) When you have begotten children and children’s children and are long established in the land, should you act wickedly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in any likeness, causing your God יהוה displeasure and vexation,
"long established in the land".... what does this mean?
(ב) יהוה אֱלֹהֵ֗ינוּ כָּרַ֥ת עִמָּ֛נוּ בְּרִ֖ית בְּחֹרֵֽב׃ (ג) לֹ֣א אֶת־אֲבֹתֵ֔ינוּ כָּרַ֥ת יהוה אֶת־הַבְּרִ֣ית הַזֹּ֑את כִּ֣י אִתָּ֔נוּ אֲנַ֨חְנוּ אֵ֥לֶּה פֹ֛ה הַיּ֖וֹם כֻּלָּ֥נוּ חַיִּֽים׃ (ד) פָּנִ֣ים ׀ בְּפָנִ֗ים דִּבֶּ֨ר יהוה עִמָּכֶ֛ם בָּהָ֖ר מִתּ֥וֹךְ הָאֵֽשׁ׃
כַּבֵּ֤ד אֶת־אָבִ֙יךָ֙ וְאֶת־אִמֶּ֔ךָ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר צִוְּךָ֖ יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן ׀ יַאֲרִיכֻ֣ן יָמֶ֗יךָ וּלְמַ֙עַן֙ יִ֣יטַב לָ֔ךְ עַ֚ל הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לָֽךְ׃ {ס}
Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that you may long endure, and that you may fare well, in the land that the LORD your God is assigning to you.
?? why is it האדמה here and not ארץ?
