Genesis is the narrative of our origins. How do we moderns read it? How do we approach the past and how do we approach our elders?

מעשה אבות סימן לבנים

The stories of our patriarchs are signs for their children.

הפתגם מבוסס כנראה על דברי חז"ל בבראשית רבה: "אמר לו הקב"ה (לאברהם): שב, אתה סימן לבניך

In Bereshit Rabba 48: As he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day. Rabbi Berekhiah said in Rabbi Levi’s name: It is written: he sat. He wished to rise, but God said to him: Sit—you are a symbol to your children. As you sit while the Shekhinah (God’s Presence) is standing, so will your children sit and the Shekhinah stand. When Israel enters synagogues and study halls and recites the Shema’, they sit in My honor, and I will stand over them.

והוא יושב פתח האהל כחום היום רבי ברכיה משום ר' לוי אמר ישב כתיב בקש לעמוד א"ל הקדוש ברוך הוא שב אתה סימן לבניך מה אתה יושב ושכינה עומדת כך בניך יושבין ושכינה עומדת על גבן כשישראל נכנסים לבתי כנסיות ולבתי מדרשות וקורין קריאת שמע והן יושבים לכבודי ואני על גבן שנאמר (תהלים פב) אלהים נצב בעדת אל

http://bit.ly/2e6JQTJ 

it all started when two rebbes sat in a sukkah ....

Source Notes

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a cathedral in time – a tabernacle in space

1.

Judaism is a religion of time aiming at the sanctification of time. Unlike the space­minded man to whom time is unvaried, iterative, homogeneous, to whom all hours are alike, quality­less, empty shells, the Bible senses the diversified character of time. There are no two hours alike. Every hour is unique and the only one given at the moment, exclusive and endlessly precious.

Judaism teaches us to be attached to holiness in time, to be attached to sacred events, to learn how to consecrate sanctuaries that emerge from the magnificent stream of a year. The Sabbaths are our great cathedrals; and our Holy of Holies is a shrine that neither the Romans nor the Germans were able to burn; a shrine that even apostasy cannot easily obliterate: the Day of Atonement. According to the ancient rabbis, it is not the observance of the Day of Atonement, but the Day itself, the “essence of the Day,” which, with man’s repentance, atones for the sins of man.

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Note: Maimonides, Laws of Repentance 1:3

The essence of Yom Kippur brings attonement for thos who repent as it says: “For on this day shall atonement be made for you, to cleanse you; from all your sins shall ye be clean before the LORD. Leviticus 16:30

""כי ביום הזה יכפר עליכם  עצמו של יום הכיפורים מכפר לשבים שנאמר

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Jewish ritual may be characterized as the art of significant forms in time, as architecture of time. Most of its observances–the Sabbath, the New Moon, the festivals, the Sabbatical and the Jubilee year–depend on a certain hour of the day or season of the year. It is, for example, the evening, morning, or afternoon that brings with it the call to prayer. The main themes of faith lie in the realm of time. We remember the day of the exodus from Egypt, the day when Israel stood at Sinai; and our Messianic hope is the expectation of a day, of the end of days.

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Moed – Holiday

Ohel Moed – Ten of Meeting

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In the Bible, words are employed with exquisite care, particularly those which, like pillars of fire, lead the way in the far­ flung system of the biblical world of meaning. One of the most distinguished words in the Bible is the word kadosh, holy; a word which more than any other is representative of the mystery and majesty of the divine. Now what was the first holy object in the history of the world? Was it a mountain? Was it an altar? It is, indeed, a unique occasion at which the distinguished word kadosh is used for the first time: in the Book of Genesis at the end of the story of creation. How extremely significant is the fact that it is applied to time: “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy.” There is no reference in the record of creation to any object in space that would be endowed with the quality of holiness.

This is a radical departure from accustomed religious thinking. The mythical mind would expect that, after heaven and earth have been established, God would create a holy place–a holy mountain or a holy spring–whereupon a sanctuary is to be established. Yet it seems as if to the Bible it is holiness in time, the Sabbath, which comes first. When history began, there was only one holiness in the world, holiness in time. When at Sinai the word of God was about to be voiced, a call for holiness in man was proclaimed: “Thou shalt be unto me a holy people.” It was only after the people had succumbed to the temptation of worshipping a thing, a golden calf, that the erection of a Tabernacle, of holiness in space, was commanded.

The sanctity of time came first, the sanctity of man came second, and the sanctity of space last. Time was hallowed by God; space, the Tabernacle, was consecrated by Moses. While the festivals celebrate events that happened in time, the date of the month assigned for each festival in the calendar is determined by the life in nature. Passover and the Feast of Booths [Sukkot], for example, coincide with the full moon, and the date of all festivals is a day in the month, and the month is a reflection of what goes on periodically in the realm of nature, since the Jewish month begins with the new moon, with the reappearance of the lunar crescent in the evening sky. In contrast, the Sabbath is entirely independent of the month and unrelated to the moon. Its date is not determined by any event in nature, such as the new moon, but by the act of creation. Thus the essence of the Sabbath is completely detached from the world of space. The meaning of the Sabbath is to celebrate time rather than space. Six days a week we live under the tyranny of things of space; on the Sabbath we try to become attuned to holiness in time. It is a day on which we are called upon to share in what is eternal in time, to turn from the results of creation to the mystery of creation, from the world of creation to the creation of the world.

The Sabbath (FSG Classics) Paperback – July 28, 2005 by Abraham Joshua Heschel

2.

After the destruction of the Second Temple there … was no High Priest, no sacrifice, no divine fire, no Levites singing praises or crowds thronging the precincts of Jerusalem and filling the Temple Mount. Above all there was no Yom Kippur ritual through which the people could find forgiveness.

It was then that a transformation took place that must constitute one of the great creative responses to tragedy in history. Tradition has cast Rabbi Akiva in the role of the savior of hope. The Mishna in Yoma, the tractate dedicated to Yom Kippur, tells us in effect that Rabbi Akiva could see a new possibility of atonement even in the absence of a High Priest and a Temple. God Himself would purify His people without the need for an intermediary. Even ordinary Jews could, as it were, come face to face with the Shekhina, the Divine Presence. They needed no one else to apologize for them. The drama that once took place in the Temple could now take place in the human heart. Yom Kippur was saved. It is not too much to say that Jewish faith was saved.

Every synagogue became a fragment of the Temple. Every prayer became a sacrifice. Every Jew became a kind of priest, offering God not an animal but instead the gathered shards of a broken heart. For if God was the God of everywhere, He could be encountered anywhere. And if there were places from which He seemed distant, then time could substitute for place. “Seek God where He is' to be found, call on Him' where He is close” (Is. 55:6) -— this, said the sages, refers to the Ten Days of Repentance from Rosh HaShana to Yom Kippur (Yevamot 105a). Holy days became the surrogate for holy spaces. Yom Kippur became the Jerusalem of time, the holy city of the Jewish soul.

Koren Sacks Yom Kippur Mahzor (Hebrew and English) Hardcover – August 15, 2012 by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks  pp xv-xvi

During Sukkot, we add a prayer: “May the All Merciful establish (raise) for us the fallen Sukkah of David”

הרחמן הוא יקים לנו את סוכת דוד הנופלת

The notion of the “fallen Sukkah” come from the prophet Amos (9:11)

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old;

 בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, אָקִים אֶת-סֻכַּת דָּוִיד הַנֹּפֶלֶת; וְגָדַרְתִּי אֶת-פִּרְצֵיהֶן, וַהֲרִסֹתָיו אָקִים, וּבְנִיתִיהָ, כִּימֵי עוֹלָם

From the first day of Elul until the last day of Sukkot we read Psalm 27 every day.

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,
to behold the graciousness of the LORD, and to visit early in His temple.  or He concealeth me in His pavilion (lit. Sukkah) in the day of evil;
He hideth me in the covert of His tent; He lifteth me up upon a rock.

אַחַת, שָׁאַלְתִּי מֵאֵת-ה'--    אוֹתָהּ אֲבַקֵּשׁ
שִׁבְתִּי בְּבֵית-ה',    כָּל-יְמֵי חַיַּי;
לַחֲזוֹת בְּנֹעַם-ה',    וּלְבַקֵּר בְּהֵיכָלו

כִּי יִצְפְּנֵנִי, בְּסֻכֹּה--    בְּיוֹם רָעָה:
יַסְתִּרֵנִי, בְּסֵתֶר אָהֳלוֹ;    בְּצוּר, יְרוֹמְמֵנִי

Musical notes:

Achat Sha’alti mei’eit Adonai otah avakeish (2x)

Shivti b’veit Adonai kol y’mei chayai

Lachazot b’no’am, b'no'am Adonai ul’vakeir b’heichalo (2x)

This melody, written by Israel Katz. See The Chazzan’s Tisch here and Velveteen Rabbi here for an Hebrew/English version and some background into Israel Katz the composer.  Here’s the track I play on the podcast 1:10 seconds in and available on iTunes here

Cho Rachman (Rebuilt) composed and sung by Shlomo Carlebach on his 4th LP, In The Palace Of The King (Vanguard, 1965) and available on Amazon here.

Source Notes

1.

The Messiah will come only in an age which is either totally pure or totally guilty and corrupt.

  אין בן-דוד בא אלא בדור שכולו זכאי או כולו חייב

סנהדרין צח,א

2.

The Messianic Idea in Judaism by Gershom Scholem 1971 pp 10 -17.

Apocalyptic Jewish Messianism

The elements of the catastrophic and the visions of doom are present in peculiar fashion in the Messianic vision. On the one hand, they are applied to the transition or destruction in which the Messianic redemption is born—hence the ascription of the Jewish concept of “birth pangs of the Messiah”  חבלו של משיח to this period. But, on the other hand, it is also applied to the terrors of the Last Judgment which in many of these descriptions concludes the Messianic period instead of accompanying its beginnings….

This catastrophic character of the redemption, which is essential to the apocalyptic conception, is pictured in all of these texts and traditions in glaring images. It finds manifold expression: in world wars and revolutions, in epidemics, famine, and economic catastrophe; but to an equal degree in apostasy and the desecration of God’s name,…

The pages of the Talmud tractate Sanhedrin which deal with the Messianic age are full of most extravagant formulations of this kind. They drive toward the point that the Messiah will come only in an age which is either totally pure or totally guilty and corrupt.

Little wonder that in one such context the Talmud cites the bald statement of three famous teachers the third and fourth centuries: “May he come, but I do not want to see him.” Sanhedrin 98b.

Attempts to eliminate apocalypticism completely from the realm of rabbinic Judaism have not been lacking since the Middle Ages…

this denial of apocalypticism set out to suppress exceedingly vital elements in the realm of Judaism, elements filled with historical dynamism even if they combined destructive with constructive forces.

Apocalyptic thinking always contains the elements of dread and consolation intertwined. The dread and peril of the End form an element of shock and of the shocking which induces extravagance. The terrors of the real historical experiences of the Jewish people are joined with images drawn from the heritage of myth or mythical fantasy. This is expressed with particular forcefulness in the concept of the birth pangs of the Messiah which in this case means the Messianic age. The paradoxical nature of this conception exists in the fact that the redemption which is born here is in no causal sense a result of previous history. It is precisely the lack of transition between history and the redemption which is always stressed by the prophets and apocalyptists. The Bible and the apocalyptic writers know of no progress in history leading to the redemption. The redemption is not the product of immanent developments such as we find it in modern Western reinterpretations of Messianism since the Enlightenment where, secularized as the belief in progress, Messianism still displayed unbroken and immense vigor. It is rather transcendence breaking in upon history, an intrusion in which history itself perishes, transformed in its ruin because it is struck by a beam of light shining into it from an outside source. The constructions of history in which the apocalyptists (as opposed to the prophets of the Bible) revel have nothing to do with modern conceptions of development or progress, and if there is anything which, in the view of directed to what history will bring forth, but to that which will arise in its ruin, free at last and undisguised.

3.

Wikipedia

Appeasement in a political context is a diplomatic policy of making political or material concessions to an enemy power in order to avoid conflict.[1]

The term is most often applied to the foreign policy of the British Prime Ministers Ramsay Macdonald, Stanley Baldwinand Neville Chamberlain towards Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy[2] between 1935 and 1939.

Their policies have been the subject of intense debate for more than seventy years among academics, politicians and diplomats. The historians' assessments have ranged from condemnation for allowing Adolf Hitler's Germany to grow too strong, to the judgment that they had no alternative and acted in their country's best interests. At the time, these concessions were widely seen as positive, and the Munich Pact concluded on 30 September 1938 among Germany, Britain, France, and Italy prompted Chamberlain to announce that he had secured "peace for our time."[3]

The setting is Jerusalem, approximately in the year 70 C.E.; the city is in the grip of a terrible famine, and it is surrounded by powerful Roman legions, under the command of Vespasian.

“Abba Sikra, the head of the ‘Biryonim,’ the extremist Jewish militants, was the brother-in-law of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai. Ben Zakkai sent a message to Abba Sikra, ‘Come to me in secret.’ The latter came. Rabban Yochanan spoke, ‘How long are you going to continue to destroy the world by famine?’ He answered, ‘What can I do? The situation is out of my control. If I say anything opposing the ideas of my “comrades,” they will kill me.’ ”

“Rabban Yochanan told his brother-in-law to devise a plan which would be most likely to enable ben Zakkai to leave the city, to negotiate with the Romans, and bypass the tight guard of the Biryoni troops. Abba Sikra proposed that Rabban Yochanan pretend to be seriously ill, then have the word spread that he was on his death-bed and, finally, that he had died. His students would then pretend to carry his coffin for burial outside the city.”

“With his students Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Yehoshua acting as pall-bearers, the coffin approached the Biryoni-manned guard-post just within the wall of Yerushalayim. The guards wanted to plunge their swords into the coffin to make sure that they were not being tricked, but the students said, ‘The Romans will say that they’re stabbing their leader!’ The guards then wanted to push the coffin hard, to see if anyone inside would cry out. Again, the students quick-wittedly told them that if they did that, the hated Romans would say, ‘The Jews are pushing the body of their leader!’ The Biryoni guard opened the gate and reluctantly let the small burial party through.”

Meeting with Vespasian

“When the Jewish party reached the Roman camp, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai emerged from the coffin and greeted the general, ‘Peace be unto you, O King! Peace be unto you, O King!’ To which Vespasian responded, ‘You have incurred the death penalty twice. First, you have called me King, and I am not the King! Second, if I am indeed the King, why have you not come out to me earlier, to how me the proper respect?!’ ”

“Ben Zakkai answered, ‘I knew you had to be a king, because our prophets have foretold that the Temple will fall only into the hands of a king. And the reason I haven’t come out to you until now is that we are plagued by violent extremists within the city, who would not let me come out!’ ”

“Vespasian responded, ‘If there were a snake curled around a barrel of honey, would you not break the barrel (that is, set fire to the walls of the city) in order to get rid of the snake?’ ”

“Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was not able to respond to this. (At this point, Rabbi Yosef, and some say Rabbi Akiva, comment that sometimes ‘G-d makes the wise foolish;’ for Ben Zakkai should have responded that he had hoped to defeat the militants without having to destroy the walls of the city, and then to make peace with the Romans.)”

“At this point, an Imperial messenger arrived from Rome, and announced, ‘Arise! For the Emperor has died and the Senators have decided to make Vespasian, General of the Legions of Rome, the new Emperor!’ ”

“Vespasian, in the act of rising, had put one boot on, but was unable to get the second one on, nor was he able, at this point, to take the first one off. Rabban Yochanan, witnessing the new Emperor’s discomfiture, told him not to be concerned, because the source of the problem was that he had just received wonderful news, and the natural response of the body, under those circumstances, is to swell. The cure would be to have someone whom Vespasian disliked come before him, which would induce the opposite reaction in the body, to shrink back, so his foot would be restored to its normal size. (It is interesting to note that the presence of the Jewish leader was not having the effect of someone distasteful to the new Emperor; apparently, Vespasian had developed some grudging respect for the Jewish scholar.)”

“Vespasian said to Rabban Yochanan, ‘I will leave now, to return to Rome. But I will dispatch someone to take my place. Before I go, ben Zakkai, you may make a request, which I will grant you.’ ”

“Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai responded with this historic three-fold request:

1) that the Romans guarantee the safety of the scholars of Yavneh, where the new Sanhedrin (Jewish Supreme Court) would be located

2) that the Romans guarantee the survival of the family of Rabban Gamliel, a descendant of the House of David

3) that the Romans allow their physicians to restore the health of Rabbi Tzaddok, who had fasted for forty years to pray for the safety of the City and the Temple (apparently, Rabban Yochanan felt that the presence of Rabbi Tzaddok would be necessary to guarantee the maintenance of the Jewish spirit in the face of the overwhelming catastrophe about to befall the nation)”

“(Here again, Rabbi Yosef, and some say Rabbi Akiva, comment that sometimes ‘G-d makes the wise foolish;’ for Ben Zakkai should have requested the preservation of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, and that the Jewish People should be given a “second chance” to prove their loyalty to Rome.)”

“But the Talmud, in defense of Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, explains his thinking; namely, that events had gone too far for such a request to be honored. In order, therefore, to preserve the Torah, for that is the ‘reason for being’ of the Jewish People, it would have to be located somewhere else, ‘temporarily,’ if that was G-d’s will.”

And that was the beginning of the 2,000 year dislocation of the Jewish People and the Torah, from their Land, although there never was a time that the Land was totally empty of its Jewish sons and daughters.

See: https://www.ou.org/holidays/the-three-weeks/the_fateful_meeting/

מקור חז"לי נוסף המביא את אגדה זו הוא החיבור אבות דרבי נתן,[8] הקדום לתלמוד הבבלי, שגם בו מופיע הסיפור על כך שהקנאים אינם מוכנים לפשרות, שרבי יוחנן מתחזה למת ותלמידיו מוציאים אותו מירושלים, שם הוא פוגש את המצביא, מודיע לו על קיסרותו על סמך אותו פסוק שבבבלי, ומבקש ממנו את יבנה, לאחר שהקיסר נותן לו רשות לבקש. בגרסה זו מופיעים כמה הבדלים. אספסיאנוס מתואר באופן חיובי יותר, כמי שלא רוצה להחריב את ירושלים, ומבקש בקשה קטנה כדי להשלים. הנתק בין הקיצוניים לרבי יוחנן גדול יותר, מכיוון שלפי המסופר בבבלי, אחיינו ראש הביריונים מסייע לרבי יוחנן לצאת מירושלים, ולפי המסופר באבות דרבי נתן "רבי יוחנן מדבר לקנאים והם לא שומעים לו והוא יוצא מעצמו". באבות דרבי נתן אספסיאנוס מלכתחילה מתייחס לרבי יוחנן יפה, מכיוון שמרגליו הודיעו לו שרבי יוחנן תמך בשלום איתו, בעוד שבבבלי המצביא מקבל אותו בכתף קרה, מוכיח אותו ומתווכח איתו. הבדל נוסף הוא שבעוד שבבבלי מיד בתחילת הפגישה רבי יוחנן מודיע לו על קיסרותו, באדר"נ ההודעה היא רק בסוף הפגישה. וגם בקשת רבי יוחנן באדר"נ קצת שונה: "איני מבקש ממך אלא יבנה, שאלך ואשנה בה לתלמידי ואקבע בה תפילה ואעשה בה כל מצוות האמורות בתורה." בקשה זו, כפי שניתן לראות, אינה מתייחסת כלל לשושלת רבן גמליאל (אם כי רבי יוחנן בעצמו הוא חלק ממנה), ואף אולי אינה מתייחסת ליבנה כאל מרכז קיים, כי חכמיה לא מוזכרים כלל. בנוסף, בבבלי קיימת ביקורת על רבי יוחנן על כך שלא ביקש מהקיסר את ירושלים עצמה, בעוד שבאדר"נ אין כלל ביקורת. גדליה אלון בעקבות מדרש איכה רבה, שם מסופר כי בעת הבקשה היה רבי יוחנן כלוא בגופנא. ובעקבותיוסף בן מתתיהו היו בגופנא וביבנה ריכוזים של אסירים יהודים (מעין מחנות מעצר שלאחר המרד), משער כי בקשתו של רבי יוחנן הייתה להיות מועבר ליבנה, היות ששם היו כלואים תלמידים וחכמים. אפשרות נוספת היא שההעברה ליבנה לא הייתה תוצאה של בקשה, אך הקמת בית הדין שם נבעה פשוט מנוכחותו של רבי יוחנן. לעומת גדליה אלון שסובר שאין אזכור נוסף לכך שביבנה התקיים מרכז רוחני לפני חורבן בית המקדש. שטיינזלץ בפירושו בתלמוד שם, מתאר כי יש מקורות שונים שדווקא מאמתים את כך שיבנה כבר הייתה מרכז רוחני.

5.

The Fast of Gedalia

After the destruction of the First temple, Gedalia was appointed by Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon as governor of Yehud province.  This province was the last refuge for Jews to remain in Judaea.  It’s formation was the only thing that stood in the way of making the destruction of the Second Jewish Commonwealth utterly complete. On hearing of the appointment, the Jews that had taken refuge in surrounding countries returned to Judah. But the zealots were incensed since only total destruction could bring the rupture and necessary disruption to force God’s hand and bring the ultimate redemption.

Ishmael, and the ten men who were with him, murdered Gedaliah, together with most of the Jews who had joined him and many Babylonians whom Nebuchadnezzar had left with Gedaliah (Jeremiah 41:2-3). The remaining Jews feared the vengeance of Nebuchadnezzar (in view of the fact that his chosen ruler, Gedaliah, had been killed by a Jew) and fled to Egypt. Although the dates are not clear from the Bible, this probably happened about four to five years and three months after the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple in 586 BCE. (see)

The day that was chosen to assassinate Gedaliah was the Jewish New Year and by tradition a fast of Gedaliah is held on the day after Rosh Hashanah.

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Closing song: “Lo Alecha” by an early 70’s Jewish group called Kol B’Seder made up of Jeff Klepper and Dan Freelander and available on iTunes Jewish Music for the Masses: Jeff Klepper Live In Concert

An exploration of the major themes of Rosh Hashanah; Malchiot, Zichronot and Shofarot in the context of Ancient Near Eastern New Year festivities and rites.

Source Notes:

What’s new about the Jewish New Year

The three components of Rosh HaShannah

Malkhiot – Kingship - מלכיות

Zikhronot -  Remembrances - זכרונות

Shofarot – Shofar Blast - שופרות

1.

Source in the Mishnah

one says avot and gevurot and kedushat Hashem, and [then] includes malkhiot with kedushat hayom, and [then] blows [the shofar; then] zikhronot and [then] he blows; [then] the ‏shofarot‎ and [then] he blows [a third time];

We may not have less then ten [verses] of malkhiot‎, ten of zikhronot‎ and ten of shofarot‎‎.  (Mishneh Rosh Hashanah 4: 5-6)

2.

Source in the Torah

Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall be a solemn rest unto you, a memorial proclaimed with the blast of horns, a holy convocation.

 דַּבֵּר אֶל-בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, לֵאמֹר:  בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁבִיעִי בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ, יִהְיֶה לָכֶם שַׁבָּתוֹן--זִכְרוֹן תְּרוּעָה, מִקְרָא-קֹדֶשׁ

Leviticus 23:24

Rashi: a remembrance of Scriptural verses dealing with remembrance and Scriptural verses dealing with the blowing of the shofar (R.H . 32a)

זכרון פסוקי זכרונות ופסוקי שופרות

Where is the source for Malkhiot – Kingship – מלכיות ?

        Where is the source for the New Year?

             Where is the source for repentance and new beginnings?

Review of Last year’s session….

The Kingship of God is the core message of Judaism.

3.

מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים

I give thanks before You, Living and Eternal King

4.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱ-להֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעולָם 

Blessed art You Lord our King…

5.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' הא-ל הָקדוש

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' המֶלֶךְ הָקדוש

6.

The 9th and 10th proof text for Malchiyot:

The 9th proof text brought for malchuyot (kingship) is the verse from Zechariah  14, 9 used to close the Aleinu prayer. [Some believe Aleinu was written by Tanna Rav in 3rd century Babylonia for Rosh Hashanah services.]

 וְהָיָה ה' לְמֶלֶךְ, עַל-כָּל-הָאָרֶץ; בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא, יִהְיֶה ה' אֶחָד--וּשְׁמוֹ אֶחָד

And the LORD shall be King over all the earth; in that day shall the LORD be One, and His name one.

The 10th and last proof text:

שְׁמַע, יִשְׂרָאֵל: ה' אֱ-לוהֵינוּ, ה' אֶחָד

Hear Oh Israel the Lord your God, the Lord is one.

7.

The whispered [subversive] proclamation said out loud...

ברוך שם כבוד מלכותו לעולם ועד

Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.

8.

אבינו מלכנו א'ן לנו מלך אלא אתה

“Our father. our king we have no king other than you.

[author: Rabbi Akiba - Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 25b  highpoint of Selichot services leading up to Yom Kippur and of the Yom Kippur service itself and the closing prayer at the Neila service]

9.

Biblical rejection of a human king

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said: 'Give us a king to judge us.' And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
And the LORD said unto Samuel: 'Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee; for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not be king over them.
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, in that they have forsaken Me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
( see Samuel I 8: 4-22)

   כִּי לֹא אֹתְךָ מָאָסוּ, כִּי-אֹתִי מָאֲסוּ מִמְּלֹךְ עֲלֵיהֶם. כְּכָל-הַמַּעֲשִׂים אֲשֶׁר-עָשׂוּ, מִיּוֹם הַעֲלֹתִי אוֹתָם מִמִּצְרַיִם וְעַד-הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה, וַיַּעַזְבֻנִי, וַיַּעַבְדוּ אֱ-לֹהִים

10.

The New Year

The four new years are: On the first of Nisan, the new year for the kings and for the festivals; On the first of Elul, the new year for the tithing of animals; Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon say, on the first of Tishrei. On the first of Tishrei, the new year for years, for the Sabbatical years and for the Jubilee years and for the planting and for the vegetables. On the first of Shevat, the new year for the trees according to the words of the House of Shammai; The House of Hillel says, on the fifteenth thereof.

[Mishnah Rosh Hashanah 1:1]

Rabbi Chisda said, 'They only taught [that the year begins in Nissan] this in regard to Jewish kings. But for the kings of the nations of the world, we count from Tishrei, (Babylonian Talmud 3a)

א"ר חסדא

לא שנו אלא למלכי ישראל אבל למלכי אומות העולם מתשרי מנינן 

11.

Babylonian New Year - Akitu - Akkadian: rêš-šattim, "head of the year") 21 Adar - 1 Nisannu.

There were twelve days of public ritual which according to Henri Frankfort in his seminal work: Kingship and the Gods, was a time of purification, of renewal of the vegetation. It was also a time of dramatic reenactments, it was at this time that the destinies of both gods and mankind were fixed, and the king began his reign on new year’s day.

Highlights:

4th day - During the day the Epic of Creation Enuma Elish would be recited. The Enuma Elish, is most likely the oldest story concerning the birth of the gods and the creation of the universe and human beings. It then explains how all the gods united in the god Marduk, following his victory over Tiamat. The recitation of this Epic was considered the beginning of preparations for the submission of the King of Babylon before Marduk on the fifth day of Akitu.

5th day - The submission of the king of Babylon before Marduk. The king would enter to the Esagila accompanied by the priests, they would approach all together the altar where the high priest of the Esagila impersonates Marduk then he approaches the king, begins to strip him of his jewelry, scepter and even his crown then he would slap him hard while the altar would kneel and begins to pray asking for Marduk's forgiveness and submitting to him saying: "I have not sinned O Lord of the universe, and I haven't neglected your heavenly might at all"... Then the priest in the role of Marduk says: "Don't be afraid of what Marduk has to say, for he will hear your prayers, extends your power, and increases the greatness of your reign". The removal of all worldly possessions is a symbol of the submission the king gives to Marduk. After this the king would stand up and the priest would give him back his jewelry, scepter and crown then slaps him hard again hoping for the king to shed tears, because that would express more the submission to Marduk and respect to his power. When the priest returns the crown to the king that means his power was renewed by Marduk, thus April would be considered not only the revival of nature and life but also to the State as well. [i]

12.

Egypt there was theSed Festival

The Egyptian Sed Festival held in the Fall and celebrated the continued rule of a pharaoh. The ancient festival might, perhaps, have been instituted to replace a ritual of murdering a pharaoh who was unable to continue to rule effectively because of age or condition. … They primarily were held to rejuvenate the pharaoh’s strength and stamina while still sitting on the throne, celebrating the continued success of the pharaoh.   The Sed-festival developed into a royal jubilee intended to reinforce the pharaoh’s divine powers and religious leadership.

13.

When was Kingship introduced to the Jewish New Year?

In the critical view, the Pentateuchal legislation in which the festival appears belongs to the Priestly Code (P) and, therefore, to the post-Exilic period, when the Babylonian influences had become particularly pronounced. The older critical views consider the whole institution to be post-Exilic, pointing out, for instance, that there is no reference to it in the lists of the feasts in Deuteronomy (16: 1—17). More recently, however, Sigmund Mowinckel has advanced the suggestion that there existed in pre-Exilic Israel an autumnal New Year festival on which God was “enthroned” as King (analogous to the Babylonian enthronement of *Marduk).

(Encyclopedia Judaica; Louis Jacobs article “Rosh Hashannah’)

14.

Earliest significance to Tishrei 1 -10 (Leviticus 25)

14. Then shalt thou make proclamation with the blast of the horn on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye make proclamation with the horn throughout all your land.
    15. And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof; it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
15. And if thy brother be waxen poor with thee, and sell himself unto thee, thou shalt not make him to serve as a bondservant.
    40. As a hired servant, and as a settler, he shall be with thee; he shall serve with thee unto the year of jubilee.
    41. Then shall he go out from thee, he and his children with him, and shall return unto his own family, and unto the possession of his fathers shall he return.
    42. For they are My servants, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt; they shall not be sold as bondmen.
16. For unto Me the children of Israel are servants; they are My servants whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
17. In the Talmud Tishrei 1 -10 (Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashana 8b)

According to the Talmud, servants were formally freed on the 1st of Tishri, but were allowed to remain on the homesteads of their former masters and to enjoy themselves for ten days, until Yom Kippur, when the trumpet was blown (Lev. xxv. 9) as a signal for their departure, and for the restoration of the fields to their original owners (R. H. 8b).

15.

Significance of remembering the sound of the Shofar (Exodus 21)

16. If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve; and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.
    5. But if the servant shall plainly say: I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free;
    6. then his master shall bring him unto God, and shall bring him to the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever.

Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 22b

Now, why was the ear chosen to be bored out of all the organs of the body? According to Rabban Jochanan ben Zakkai The Holy One Blessed be He said said: The ear that heard on Mount Sinai, “For the children of Israel are slaves to Me ” (Lev. 25:55) and not slaves to slaves… and [then] went and acquired a master for himself, [this ear] shall be bored.

 “You shall not steal” (Exod. 20:13) and [then] went and stole, shall be bored. And if [the text is referring to] one who sold himself [into servitude, the reason is that]

רבן יוחנן בן זכאי היה דורש את המקרא הזה כמין חומר מה נשתנה אזן מכל אברים שבגוף אמר הקב"ה אזן ששמעה קולי על הר סיני בשעה שאמרתי (ויקרא כה, נה) כי לי בני ישראל עבדים ולא עבדים לעבדים והלך זה וקנה אדון לעצמו ירצע

Conclusion

17.

Eric Fromm – You Shall be as Gods pp73 – 75

“Obedience to God is also the negation of submission to man.”

“The idea of serfdom to God was, in the Jewish tradition, transformed into the basis for the freedom of man from man.  God’s authority thus guarantees man’s independ