Tanach Thoughts

After my recent post on the titular topic, I noticed that Yehoshua 14:15 explicitly states that Chevron was originally named Kiryat Arba after Arba, father of the three main giants who lived in Chevron (Achiman, Sheshai and Talmai). That means that when Avraham was dealing with Efron in Chevron, it likely still hadn't been renamed! Which of course strengthens my suggestion that Chevron was named after Efron. I would suggest that the variant Chevron, which contains the root Chaver (חבר, friend), was chosen because it symbolized the hand of friendship that Efron had extended Avraham, and naming the city after the former was a way of showing thanks to him for that. I was also reminded of two parallels: Goren Aravnah and Shomron. Goren Aravnah or Goren A rnan (the threshing-floor of Aravnah/Arnan) was some sort of threshing compound on the top of what was to become the Temple Mount in the time of David, originally owned by a Yevusi man named Aravnah (in Shmuel) or Arnan (in Chronicl...

A strange thought passed through my mind during kriat ha'Torah today: What if Chevron was named after Efron? Explanation: The Hebrew letters Ayin (ע) and Chet (ח) sometimes get mixed up in variant Semitic dialects, including Hebrew and Aramaic. So, for example, the midrash notes  that in the Galilee people pronounced the proper noun Chivim ( ח ויא, Hivites) as Ivim ( ע ויא, Ivites)  (this midrash is originally in Beresheet Rabbah, however the version brought in Sefaria is distorted and has אויא with an Alef instead of עויא) . Similarly, the letters Peh (פ) and Bet (ב) also get mixed up. For example, in Bavli Shabbat 57b a braita is quoted, where it says that a woman may go out with a ס ב כה (hairnet) on Shabbat. However, in the parallel Tosefta, it says a woman may go out with a ס פ כה ( link ). And there are many other examples for both, and from different time periods. So, if we change the letters Ayin and Peh (well, Pheh in this case) in Efron (עפרון) with Chet and Bet (Ve...

May this post be in merit of Dror Yisrael ben Rut Miriam (דרור ישראל בן רות מרים) for a successful operation tomorrow and a speedy recovery. "Torat Chaim". "Torat Netzach". Terms that sometimes seem too abstract for my taste. Not everything always seems relevant to our lives, and yet, everything is Torah and therefore everything is the core of life and the essence of infinity. These terms hit hard with the war in Israel, with regards to the parshas we're reading now. Suddenly, every parsha seems to be speaking volumes about dilemmas - moral, practical, halachic, spiritual - we all seem to be facing. For example, Avraham not stopping to think twice before leading his small battalion against a quadruple-sized army to save his close relative Lot - Lots of Israelis did just that during the first few weeks of the war. They dropped everything and marched to war to save their brothers. And how about Yishmael's arc? Yitzchak and Yishmael can only get along when Yish...

One of my interests is researching idolatrous practices mentioned in Tanach and later Jewish sources. For the last three years or so, I've been conducting an on-and-off search for the possible identity of a deity hinted at in this section of the Talmud, tractate  Bava Metzia 86b : "The Gemara continues its analysis of the verse: “Let now a little water be fetched and wash your feet” ( Genesis 18:4 ). Rabbi Yannai, son of Rabbi Yishmael, said that the guests said to Abraham: Are you suspicious that we are  Arabs who bow to the dust of their feet ?" It is reasonable to conclude that the sages were aware of an Arabian pagan cult that practiced some form of dust worship. Last year I discovered that one of my professors shares this interest in researching idolatry and even wrote his doctorate on idol worship mentioned in Talmudic literature, although he was focused on particular pagan religions (Greece, Rome, and a couple of others) and didn't analyze this quote. But I did...

This past Shabbat is called "Shabbat Chevron" because in this week's parsha portion, Avraham buys the Machpela Cave and buries Sarah (and at the end, he himself is buried there as well). Tens of thousands of Jews come to Chevron and Kiryat Arba on this Shabbat. My yeshiva goes there every year as well (except for last year, because of Corona, of course). I didn't go with them; decided to rest with at home. I wanted to share a thought I had shortly before Shabbat. Rashi on Beresheet 37:14 writes : "FROM THE VALE OF HEBRON — But was not Hebron situated on a hill, as it is said ( Numbers 13:22 ) “And they went up into the South and they came unto Hebron” why then does it state that Jacob sent him from the עמק, (the vale, the deep part) of Hebron? But the meaning is that Jacob sent him in consequence of the necessity of bringing into operation the profound (עמוקה) thought of the righteous man who was buried in Hebron ( Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 22 ) — in order that th...