Tanach Thoughts

In Yechezkel it's stated a number of times that the only branch of kohanim that remained loyal to Hashem were the sons of Tzaddok. It has been interpreted by some to mean that from that point on, only the sons of Tzaddok can be Kohanim Gedolim (High Priests). The cult in the Dead Sea were big fans of the sons of Tzaddok, and apparently were very much against the House of Chashmonai for taking the High Priesthood for themselves, apparently stealing the sons of Tzaddok's right to the post. So who was Tzaddok? Most believe that Tzaddok refers to the KG in the time of Shlomo. After the KG Evyatar sided with Adoniyah, Shlomo fired him and sent him to Anatot ( Melachim 1:2:26-27 ), and Tzaddok stepped in his stead ( ibid. 35 ). Another option is Tzaddok II, a descendant of the first ( Divrei Hayamim 1:5:38 ). A third option was suggested by Rabbi Tanchum Hayerushalmi in his commentary on Chaggai 1:1: "עם אותו יהושע בן יהוצדק הכהן, מפני שהוא יורש הכהונה, שהרי יהוצדק אביו היה כהן ...

 I started this blog for, among other things, tracking my family tree project, but haven't actually made an update on that in awhile. So here's the update: I've finished Yehudah, Binyamin and almost all of the tribeless, except for people I noticed I had forgotten while working on other tribes. All that's left for V1, which is in Hebrew, is Levi and the last of the tribeless. About a 1/3 of Levi is already complete. Now to the main subject of the post: There's an interesting gemara in Temurah 16a: "תנא הוא עתניאל הוא יעבץ ומה שמו יהודה אחי שמעון שמו עתניאל שענאו אל יעבץ שיעץ וריבץ תורה בישראל" "A tanna taught in a baraita : The same person is known as Othniel and he is also known as Jabez. And what is his actual name? Judah, brother of Simeon, is his name. He was known as Othniel, as God answered [ ana’o El ] his prayer. He was also known as Jabez [ yabetz ] because he advised and spread [ ya’atz veribetz ] Torah among the Jewish people." I...