The Weekly Shtikle - Mishpatim

A special Weekly Shtikle mazal tov to my niece Rochel Leah (née Shonek) Greenwald and her husband Shua on the birth and brith of their son, Reuven Pinchas. Mazal tov to the extended Greenwald, Shonek and Bulka families and may the little one grow to be a merit for his namesake and follow in his ways.

Today, 23 Shevat, marks the 4^th yahrtzeit of my Oma Jakobovits. The shtikle is dedicated le'iluy nishmasah, Chayah Sarah bas Zechariah Chaim, z"l.

With the devastating news coming from Eretz Yisrael this week, there has surely been much anguish and tze'akah on a national scale. Apropos of these recent developments, I made an intriguing discovery regarding this word as it appears in our parsha and in numerous other occurrences throughout the Torah. (For a deeper look into the parsha connection, see this week's heart-wrenching video installment from Noam Jacobson.)

A Concordance lookup shows 19 instances of the root tza'ak in total in the Torah, two of which are very close to each other in the week's parsha (22:22 and 26). In both instances - regarding the persecution of widows and orphans and the improper withholding of a garment as collateral - the pasuk speaks not only of the outcry of the victim but also HaShem's heeding those cries. This reveals a fascinating nuance in the precise translation of Targum Onkelos. The word used for tze'akah is kevilteih, a kuf-beis-lamed root. The targum of eshma/veshamati, and I will heed, is ekabeil, seemingly "I will accept." Sure enough, it is the exact same root, kuf-beis-lamed.

I feel this observation is significant enough in its own right. But it gets more interesting. The very first mention of tza'ak, (Bereishis 4:10), when HaShem describes the blood Hevel crying out, the same translation is found – kavlin. There are various other instances as well. However, there are also numerous cases where a different word is used. When the Egyptians cry out to Paroah (Bereishes 41:55), when the officers do the same (Shemos 5:15) and regarding the betrothed girl (Devarim 22:27) the word tzivcha is used. This seems to denote a simple scream. There is a clear pattern. In all of those cases the cries are directed at humans. Even Esav's cry when he finds out his blessings have been stolen (Bereishis 27:34) are interpreted to be just an exclamation and not a prayer of any sort. So all of these are rendered with the tzadi-vuv-ches root.

The initial examples cited are all cries to HaShem, even if metaphoric (such as blood.) These are assigned a special word. Perhaps we can interpret this choice of root, nearly identical to that of HaShem's listening, as a means of indicating that these cries are always accepted by HaShem. By definition a call to HaShem will always be answered, whereas screaming to mere mortals can often prove futile and fruitless.

There is yet another root commonly employed by Onkelos in similar situations. Any time Moshe cries out to HaShem (Shemos 8:8, 14:15, 17:4) the root tzadi-lamed-yud is used. This is to be interpreted plainly as prayer.

There is still more analysis to be done on this topic. There is another root, zayin-ayin-kuf which is used periodically. This seems to be unique to Targum Onkelos. There might be other patterns used by the other targumim. Finally, the passage relating the apparent death of Paroah (2:23-24) does not contain the exact word tze'aka. However, the kuf-beis-lamed root is used for both shav'asam and na'akasam. Nevertheless, I believe some solid patterns in Onkelos have been uncovered.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup

Dikdukian: Tricky Vowels

Dikdukian: Answer vs. Torture
Dikdukian: Give it to me
Dikdukian: Ha'isha viladeha

Dikdukian: Jewish Milk

Dikdukian: Three Strikes and you're out

Dikdukian: The Ox and his Friend

Al Pi Cheshbon: 10,000 Kikars

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Yisro

At the beginning of this week's parsha we are once again given the reason behind the naming of Gershom (18:3-4): "Ki ger hayisi b'eretz nochria", because I was a stranger in a strange land. Here, the explanation of Eliezer's name is given as well, "Ki elokei avi b'ezri, vayatzileini micherev Paroah", apparently referring to Moshe's escape from execution at the hands of Paroah. At first glance, these names seem to be out of order. The cause for the naming of Gershom seems to have been preceded by that of Eliezer. Moshe was a stranger in Midyan after he escaped from the hands of Paroah. My Rebbe in Eretz Yisrael, R' Yeshaya Greenwald suggests that perhaps there is a different explanation behind Gershom's name. In the years leading up to Gershom's birth, Moshe realized that although he seemed at home in Egypt as a prince and leading quite a good life, he was nevertheless a stranger in a strange land. So Ki ger hayisi... is in fact referring to Moshe's years in Mitzrayim rather than those in Midyan. This explanation is supported by the fact that Moshe says "Ki ger hayisi," in the past tense, even while he is still living in Midyan (2:22).

Another interesting point concerning the naming of Gershom and Eliezer: For Gershom it says "vesheim ha'echad Gershom". And than for Eliezer, "vesheim ha'echad Eliezer". One would have expected the use of ordinal numbers such as "Sheim Harishon... vesheim hasheni" in this case. Why are they both referred to as "ha'echad"? R' Greenwald suggests that the answer may lie in the Midrash on the pasuk (2:21) "Vayoel Moshe," which states that Moshe made a pact with his father-in-law to give his first son to Avodah Zarah (or some manifestation thereof.) Therefore, Gershom was the "ben ha'echad," the one son for Avoda Zarah and Eliezer was the "ben ha'echad" laShem.

Perhaps the answer to the second question could be used to answer the first. Since Moshe had this pact with Yisro, he didn't want to mention any specific praise of HaShem which would convey to Yisro that he had not kept to the deal. Therefore, Gershom was given a more generic, religion-less name while Moshe waited until his second child to mention the praise of HaShem for saving him from Paroah's sword but it indeed did come first.

Have a good Shabbos.

 

Eliezer Bulka

WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: By the Thousands

Dikdukian: Many Who Fear God

Dikdukian: Letzais

Dikdukian: On top of Old Smokey

Dikdukian: Ram veNisa by Eliyahu Levin

 

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The Weekly Shtikle - Beshalach

The second to last of the many episodes that make up this week's parsha is the confrontation at Masah uMerivah. The double name seems somewhat anomalous. Indeed, the pasuk (17:7) does explain that there were two aspects to this episode but more explanation is needed to understand the nature of the two.

B'nei Yisrael quarreled with Moshe saying (17:3), "Give us water so that we may drink!" Moshe counters "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test HaShem?" Ibn Ezra explains that there were two distinct groups involved in this episode. The first group were truly in need of water and this led to their altercation with Moshe. However, there was another group that still had water which they brought from Alush (their previous stop as per Bemidbar 33:14). They wanted to challenge HaShem to see if He would provide water. To the first group, which had at least some semblance of a legitimate complaint, Moshe answered "Why do you quarrel with me?" To the second, he charged, "Why do you test HaShem?"

The site is therefore aptly named Masah uMerivah after the two separate aspects of the confrontation. However, notes Ibn Ezra, the second group surely angered HaShem more than the first. Thus, in Sefer Devarim (6:17) we are warned "Do not challenge HaShem as you did at Masah." Merivah is not mentioned.

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Happy 18th Birthday, Dikdukian!

Dikdukian: Ba'al Tzefon

Dikdukian: Exceptions Ahoy

Dikdukian: Midash, HaShem...

Dikdukian: Leave us Alone

Al Pi Cheshbon: Chamushim

AstroTorah: The Gemara's Aliens? by R' Ari Storch

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The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com

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