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TORAH READING

Devarim

DevarRIM is not only the name of this week’s Torah portion, but the name of the entire last book of the Torah. Its Greek name, Deuteronomy, means "repetition of the Law," and in fact, the last book of the Torah does repeat many laws found in the first four books. The book consists of a number of Moses’s final addresses to the Israelites. He speaks to them in the eleventh month of the Israelites’ 40th year in the wilderness, or in other words, just days prior to his death. He talks about the initial journey, the challenge of ministering to so many people, and the need to create a hierarchy of leaders to help in the adjudication of disputes. He recalls the people’s fear in learning about the land and its inhabitants, the resentment they felt at having been taken from Egypt, and God’s subsequent punishment of them in permitting entry into the land only of their children. Moses reminds them of the Amorite military fiasco and the 38 years that they were consigned to the wilderness. Certain people occupied territories they were not to touch, including those of Esau’s descendants, the Moabites, and the Ammonites. Moses remembers the Israelite victories over Sihon, King of Heshbon, and Og, King of Bashan. Moses also notes that he encouraged Joshua, his successor, to have no fear of battle, for the Lord will battle for him and the Israelites.

A SHABBAT THOUGHT

Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.

~~ Lyndon Baines Johnson ~~

WEB OF THE WEEK

www.israeliposters.co.il

Support Israel and beautify your own home with these wonderful posters from Israel, depicting aspects of Judaism and Israeli life

Bereaved Israeli kids go to Camp Ramah

Camp Ramah is welcoming bereaved Israeli children for the second year in a row.

More than 90 Israeli children who have lost parents or siblings in wars or terrorist attacks will spend 10 days in the Conservative movement's summer camps in late July and early August.

Forty-three will be hosted at Ramah's California branch in Ojai. It is the second year this camp has participated in the respite initiative, sponsored by Friends of the Israel Defense Forces. The group has been sending Israeli children touched by war to Jewish camps in the United States since 2003.

This year, organizers say, there were so many applicants that an additional group of 50 youngsters and counselors will go to Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, in Massachusetts.

The California delegation is being funded by a variety of donors. The group going to the Berkshires is sponsored by Cheryl and Haim Saban. [From the JTA]

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Dear CyberRav,

On another subject, in B’midbar 26:23, it says, "Puvah, the Punite family." The vav got changed to a nun. Is this an example of a possible scribal error? I think there are other cases where nun and vav get mixed up (and there's usually a note saying, "read it THIS way"). On the other hand, in keeping with the traditional approach, there should be a reason for having this name spelled with a vav and then again with a nun. Can you think of one? Maybe I can find one somewhere, or maybe one will come to me.

This is No NUNsense

THE ANSWER

Dear This is No NUNsense

You’re right—it is no "nunsense" and it certainly isn’t nonsense. Every single letter in the Torah has to be correct and even so much as a nun switching into a vav would render the Torah unfit. What an interesting question you have raised on B’midbar 26:23. Having checked a number of commentaries, no one raises the possibility of the one locution or the other being a scribal error. Puvah is also mentioned in Genesis 46:13 as one of the sons of Yissachar. However, in Judges 10:1, where we might have expected a reference to Puvah, we get the name Puah, and the same is true in I Chronicles 7:1. Moreover, the name Puah (i.e., not Puvah) is found in the Samaritan Pentateuch and the Septuagint. But no one suggests that our text has dropped an alef or added a nun. In fact, if you look into B’midbar 26:20, you will find that Shelah is of the Shelanite clan. Was a nun added? No one suggests it. I think the entire issue may just be a grammatical quirk as the difference between referring to a person from New York as a New Yorker, but then referring to someone from Minneapolis as a Minneapolitan. Why isn't it a Minneapoliter and a New Yorkitan--it's just the way the language evolves.

"Enough" is not suicide, but rather a sense of resignation that is associate with imminent death.

Dear CyberRav,

Me again! Wow, that was thorough, and that gives me more perspective on spellings and names. That last answer is interesting: Sure, there are traditions with the language that aren't necessarily logical. I also wanted to find an answer that said that it's spelled that way to make the gematria work out to something significant. As I try to remain sane, I will not try to figure out the hidden message in the way those names are spelled in the Torah. But I will assume there is one. I have the commentary of Baal HaTurim, because he seems to like gematria. When I looked up that verse, I found an explanation (although not involving gematria):

He says that the name should have been spelled Puvahite, but the Torah spells it Punite to indicate that all of Israel turns (ponim) to this family to learn its Torah teachings. A commentary on that commentary says that the tribe of Issachar would explain halakhah to anyone who was not sure. That's consistent with what I remember about Yissachar and Zevulun: Zevulun made money through sea commerce to support the Torah learning of Yissachar. So Yissachar were learned. The commentary mentions another commentary that says that most of the members of the Sanhedrin were from Yissachar. Now, there is nothing that explains why the family of Puvah is singled out as the scholars, as oppose to other families in the tribe. Maybe this verse is the only evidence.

It's been a while since I have been able to focus on a detail like this.

This is No NUNsense

Shabbat Shalom Everyone!

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