Monday, February 28, 2011
Week Six : Creation
The LDS Church has only one official statement of doctrine on the creation of man. In 1909, the First Presidency issued a statement entitled "The Origin of Man." It was republished in the Ensign, February 2002, pg. 26.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
How to Read Jewish Commentary
[NOTE: everything written inside of brackets [ ] is MY OWN or explanations selected by ME to clarify what someone else has written
[This commentary is taken from a Hillel website. Hillel is the international Jewish college student organization, like LDS Institute. It is named for Hillel, a rabbi from the time of Jesus. Born in Babylon traditionally c.110 BC , died 10 AD in Jerusalem, Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud. Renowned within Judaism as a sage and scholar, he was the founder of the House of Hillel school. Hillel lived in Jerusalem during the time of King Herod and the Roman Emperor Augustus.]
Parshat Bereshit
[ a parsha is the weekly portion of Torah to be read: Bereshit is the name of this first portion : it is the first word of the parsha ]
All Beginnings are Hard
Jewish tradition teaches that "kol hatchalot kashot/all beginnings are hard" (Midrash Mechilta [ a rabbinic commentary from the 3rd-4th cent AD]). We might well then expect that the Torah's first weekly section, (Parshat Bereshit) would recount the difficulties of the beginning of beginnings, the first beginning, the act of creation. This week's text is filled with mystery and challenges, especially on a campus environment. The parsha raises as many questions as it gives answers and often seems to teach us by what it chooses not to reveal rather than by what it does reveal. It is a parsha that speaks to and about people who are at the junction of faith and history, of science and future promise. The Hebrew text is so pregnant with meaning that it can fill whole libraries dedicated to speculation, Midrashic [midrash is commentary on scripture] thought and interpretation.
It seems only fitting that in a section dealing with beginnings we address the text's very beginning. The first verse in Parshat Bereshit appears to be straightforward. It reads:
Genesis 1:1
"Bereshit bara Elokim et ha'shmayim v'et ha'aretz".
This verse contains no more than 6 (or if you count the conjunctive vet as a word, 7) words. Yet once again the beginning is hard. Scholars have long argued over how to translate the first word of the first verse. The text is often translated as "In the beginning G-d [Remember, many Jews will not write or erase or even say "God" so instead they write 'G-d'] created the heaven(s) and the earth" or even "when G-d began to create the heavens and the earth". What then appears to be a simple phrase may not be so simple. The word "bereshit" is commonly assumed to be in the "smichut" or genitive case: thus we would translate it as "In the beginning of - what? The absence of a noun has forced Bible scholars to ask: What was there before creation? If there were nothing, from what would G-d have formed the something? Why is the verb "barah" (to create out of nothing) in the past tense rather than in some other tense? Does this mean that G-d finished creation? Some Kabbalists [Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious Creator and the mortal and finite universe (His creation)]. found a way around this problem by seeing the nothing as the "ayin" or verbal gerund form of "there-being-nothingness" and the something as the "yesh" or gerundive form of "there being-ness". These are concepts best understood in quantum mechanics or higher forms of physical mathematics.
Your Genesis Navigator
1. The rabbis teach us that the letter bet, which is open on one side and closed on the other side, is the first letter in the Torah as a reminder that we should not look up nor down nor back, but only forward, from creation onward. What scared them?
2. Is creation an ongoing process or a completed process? If it is completed, might the discoveries of creation be ongoing?
3. Might God have created several worlds in several dimensions at the same time? Thus we who live in a three dimensional world are unaware of other creations that may be for example, four of five dimensional?
4. If the statement "All beginnings are hard" is true? How was creation hard for God? What does our view of creation tell us about ourselves?
A Word
Many of these same questions intrigued our classical commentators. For example, "Sefer Ha'Agadah" [Sefer Ha-Aggadah (The Book of Legends) is a classic compilation of aggadah from the Mishnah, the two Talmuds and the Midrash literature. It was edited by Bialik and Ravnitky and was first published in 1908-11 in Odessa, Russia] quotes Rabbi Samuel be Rabbi Isaac as saying that the "thought of creating Israel preceded all else". In other words, thought precedes action. As such, we are forced to ask the question "how does G-d think?" Does thinking define life? If so, how does a baby think without the gift of language? How do animals think?
When seen from this perspective, Bereshit becomes a series of challenges. Each act of creation forces us to join faith to philosophy. It is a text, like the new academic year that teaches us to question and to believe.
In next week's parsha, Noah, we see that even G-d wondered if creation had been such a good idea, when God brings the flood that nearly destroys the entire world. The message then may be, that none of us should ever be too sure of ourselves, that creation once done can be a double-edged sword. All beginnings are hard, but as Pirke Avot teaches: "It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to desist from doing it."
Prepared by Rabbi Peter Tarlow, Director, Texas A&M Hillel. http://www.hillel.org/jewish/archives/bereshit/bereshit/2002_bereshit.htm
[This commentary is taken from a Hillel website. Hillel is the international Jewish college student organization, like LDS Institute. It is named for Hillel, a rabbi from the time of Jesus. Born in Babylon traditionally c.110 BC , died 10 AD in Jerusalem, Hillel was a famous Jewish religious leader, one of the most important figures in Jewish history. He is associated with the development of the Mishnah and the Talmud. Renowned within Judaism as a sage and scholar, he was the founder of the House of Hillel school. Hillel lived in Jerusalem during the time of King Herod and the Roman Emperor Augustus.]
Parshat Bereshit
[ a parsha is the weekly portion of Torah to be read: Bereshit is the name of this first portion : it is the first word of the parsha ]
All Beginnings are Hard
Jewish tradition teaches that "kol hatchalot kashot/all beginnings are hard" (Midrash Mechilta [ a rabbinic commentary from the 3rd-4th cent AD]). We might well then expect that the Torah's first weekly section, (Parshat Bereshit) would recount the difficulties of the beginning of beginnings, the first beginning, the act of creation. This week's text is filled with mystery and challenges, especially on a campus environment. The parsha raises as many questions as it gives answers and often seems to teach us by what it chooses not to reveal rather than by what it does reveal. It is a parsha that speaks to and about people who are at the junction of faith and history, of science and future promise. The Hebrew text is so pregnant with meaning that it can fill whole libraries dedicated to speculation, Midrashic [midrash is commentary on scripture] thought and interpretation.
It seems only fitting that in a section dealing with beginnings we address the text's very beginning. The first verse in Parshat Bereshit appears to be straightforward. It reads:
Genesis 1:1
"Bereshit bara Elokim et ha'shmayim v'et ha'aretz".
This verse contains no more than 6 (or if you count the conjunctive vet as a word, 7) words. Yet once again the beginning is hard. Scholars have long argued over how to translate the first word of the first verse. The text is often translated as "In the beginning G-d [Remember, many Jews will not write or erase or even say "God" so instead they write 'G-d'] created the heaven(s) and the earth" or even "when G-d began to create the heavens and the earth". What then appears to be a simple phrase may not be so simple. The word "bereshit" is commonly assumed to be in the "smichut" or genitive case: thus we would translate it as "In the beginning of - what? The absence of a noun has forced Bible scholars to ask: What was there before creation? If there were nothing, from what would G-d have formed the something? Why is the verb "barah" (to create out of nothing) in the past tense rather than in some other tense? Does this mean that G-d finished creation? Some Kabbalists [Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Rabbinic Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an eternal and mysterious Creator and the mortal and finite universe (His creation)]. found a way around this problem by seeing the nothing as the "ayin" or verbal gerund form of "there-being-nothingness" and the something as the "yesh" or gerundive form of "there being-ness". These are concepts best understood in quantum mechanics or higher forms of physical mathematics.
Your Genesis Navigator
1. The rabbis teach us that the letter bet, which is open on one side and closed on the other side, is the first letter in the Torah as a reminder that we should not look up nor down nor back, but only forward, from creation onward. What scared them?
2. Is creation an ongoing process or a completed process? If it is completed, might the discoveries of creation be ongoing?
3. Might God have created several worlds in several dimensions at the same time? Thus we who live in a three dimensional world are unaware of other creations that may be for example, four of five dimensional?
4. If the statement "All beginnings are hard" is true? How was creation hard for God? What does our view of creation tell us about ourselves?
A Word
Many of these same questions intrigued our classical commentators. For example, "Sefer Ha'Agadah" [Sefer Ha-Aggadah (The Book of Legends) is a classic compilation of aggadah from the Mishnah, the two Talmuds and the Midrash literature. It was edited by Bialik and Ravnitky and was first published in 1908-11 in Odessa, Russia] quotes Rabbi Samuel be Rabbi Isaac as saying that the "thought of creating Israel preceded all else". In other words, thought precedes action. As such, we are forced to ask the question "how does G-d think?" Does thinking define life? If so, how does a baby think without the gift of language? How do animals think?
When seen from this perspective, Bereshit becomes a series of challenges. Each act of creation forces us to join faith to philosophy. It is a text, like the new academic year that teaches us to question and to believe.
In next week's parsha, Noah, we see that even G-d wondered if creation had been such a good idea, when God brings the flood that nearly destroys the entire world. The message then may be, that none of us should ever be too sure of ourselves, that creation once done can be a double-edged sword. All beginnings are hard, but as Pirke Avot teaches: "It is not incumbent upon you to finish the task, but neither are you free to desist from doing it."
Prepared by Rabbi Peter Tarlow, Director, Texas A&M Hillel. http://www.hillel.org/jewish/archives/bereshit/bereshit/2002_bereshit.htm
Week Five : Jewish Footnotes on Genesis 1 (Bereshit)
sea monsters
Or 'whales,' or 'dragons.' Taninim in Hebrew; see Exodus 7:9. The Midrash states that it alludes to a pair of particularly great sea creatures, the Leviathan and its mate. See Isaiah 27:1, Psalms 74:14, 104:26, Job 3:8, 40:25.
with our image and likeness
Moreover, of all creation, only man resembles God in having free will (Maimonides, Yad, Teshuvah 5:1).
Be fertile...
Some say that this is a commandment (cf. Chinukh), while others maintain that it is a blessing (see Tosafoth, Yevamoth 65b, s.v. VeLo; Maharsha, Sanhedrin 59b, s.v. VeHarey).
God
For the rest of chapter 2-4, the Torah uses two names, Adonoy Elohim, usually translated as 'the Lord God.' In the earlier chapter, only the name Elohim (usually translated 'God') was used. According to tradition, Elohim denoted a creation with unmitigated justice, whereas the name Adonoy denotes an admixture of mercy. Since there is no simple, contemporary way to translate Adonoy Elohim, we translate it as 'God'.
Notes selected from http://bible.ort.org/ , an online bar/bat mitzvah tutor
Or 'whales,' or 'dragons.' Taninim in Hebrew; see Exodus 7:9. The Midrash states that it alludes to a pair of particularly great sea creatures, the Leviathan and its mate. See Isaiah 27:1, Psalms 74:14, 104:26, Job 3:8, 40:25.
with our image and likeness
Moreover, of all creation, only man resembles God in having free will (Maimonides, Yad, Teshuvah 5:1).
Be fertile...
Some say that this is a commandment (cf. Chinukh), while others maintain that it is a blessing (see Tosafoth, Yevamoth 65b, s.v. VeLo; Maharsha, Sanhedrin 59b, s.v. VeHarey).
God
For the rest of chapter 2-4, the Torah uses two names, Adonoy Elohim, usually translated as 'the Lord God.' In the earlier chapter, only the name Elohim (usually translated 'God') was used. According to tradition, Elohim denoted a creation with unmitigated justice, whereas the name Adonoy denotes an admixture of mercy. Since there is no simple, contemporary way to translate Adonoy Elohim, we translate it as 'God'.
Notes selected from http://bible.ort.org/ , an online bar/bat mitzvah tutor
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Week Four : Genesis 1
Some Jews have found an interesting pattern in the Genesis 1 creation account. You can find this pattern described in both the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) and Jewish Theological Society (JTS) footnotes and in the writings of Friedrich Weinreb, especially "The Roots of the Bible."
Here is a handy form to use in studying this pattern.
A clean PDF of this form is available here. You will need to add a vertical line down the middle.
An understanding of the mythical Hebrew idea of the universe helps you to understand some of the language of Genesis 1. Here is a drawing of that mythological world.
Here is a handy form to use in studying this pattern.
A clean PDF of this form is available here. You will need to add a vertical line down the middle.
An understanding of the mythical Hebrew idea of the universe helps you to understand some of the language of Genesis 1. Here is a drawing of that mythological world.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Week Three : the Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is also known as Tanak. This is an acronym made by taking the first letter from each of the three subdivisions of the Bible mentioned by Jesus in Luke 24:44 :
And he said unto them, These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms, concerning me.
T = Torah (Law)
N = Nevi'im (Prophets)
K = Ketuvim (Writings)
This is a list of the books of the Hebrew Bible in order. You can download a PDF of this list here.
Torah : the Law
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Nevi'im : The Prophets
The Former Prophets
Joshua
Judges
Samuel
Kings
The Latter Prophets
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
The Twelve
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Ketuvim : The Writings
Psalms
Proverbs
Job
Song of Solomon
Ruth
Lamentations
Ecclesiastes
Esther
Daniel
Ezra-Nehemiah
Chronicles
And he said unto them, These [are] the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms, concerning me.
T = Torah (Law)
N = Nevi'im (Prophets)
K = Ketuvim (Writings)
This is a list of the books of the Hebrew Bible in order. You can download a PDF of this list here.
Torah : the Law
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Nevi'im : The Prophets
The Former Prophets
Joshua
Judges
Samuel
Kings
The Latter Prophets
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
The Twelve
Hosea
Joel
Amos
Obadiah
Jonah
Micah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
Malachi
Ketuvim : The Writings
Psalms
Proverbs
Job
Song of Solomon
Ruth
Lamentations
Ecclesiastes
Esther
Daniel
Ezra-Nehemiah
Chronicles
Week Two : Types and Shadows
UNDERSTANDING SCRIPTURE
These ten 'rules' are from Robert J. Norman's excellent blog : "Contemplations"
I have added some comments and some scriptures as examples.
1. All things given by God to man from the beginning of the world typify Christ.
2 Nephi 11:4
2. All things are in a likeness and bear record of Christ.
Moses 6:63
3. All prophets are of Christ and testify of Him.
Jacob 4:4-7
3 Nephi 15:6,10; 20:24
Luke 24:44
4. Look for Patterns : The first shall be last, and the last shall be first in all things that the Lord creates by the power of his spirit.
D&C 29:30
D&C 45:7
Look for 3-fold patterns
2 Cor 12:2
5. The Covenant is the Standard or the Ensign to which the Lord will gather the elect.
D&C 45:9-10
It has always been the 'Everlasting Covenant.'
Gen 9:16
The blessings and curses of the covenant are always contingent upon faith, obedience and repentance.
D&C 29: 42, 49
Alma 12:28-34
6. Once the elect are gathered to the covenant, they are tested in the covenant. The model for this testing is Abraham.
D&C 101:3-4-5
7. Scriptures are a history of the covenant. God makes covenants with people one on one.
Ex 2:24
Lev 26;42
Abraham Gen 12, 15
Isaac Gen 26:1-5
Jacob Gen 28: 10-22
8. The Temple and other sacred places designated by the Lord are where the Covenant is administered. The rituals for covenant making may change over time, but the promises are constant : Land and Seed :
Gen 15
9. The Plan of Salvation is the same, but it is administered according to the conditions of the children of men.
D&C 46:15
10. The lives of the Prophets are both real and allegorical or typical, at the same time.
Is.8:18
These ten 'rules' are from Robert J. Norman's excellent blog : "Contemplations"
I have added some comments and some scriptures as examples.
1. All things given by God to man from the beginning of the world typify Christ.
2 Nephi 11:4
2. All things are in a likeness and bear record of Christ.
Moses 6:63
3. All prophets are of Christ and testify of Him.
Jacob 4:4-7
3 Nephi 15:6,10; 20:24
Luke 24:44
4. Look for Patterns : The first shall be last, and the last shall be first in all things that the Lord creates by the power of his spirit.
D&C 29:30
D&C 45:7
Look for 3-fold patterns
2 Cor 12:2
5. The Covenant is the Standard or the Ensign to which the Lord will gather the elect.
D&C 45:9-10
It has always been the 'Everlasting Covenant.'
Gen 9:16
The blessings and curses of the covenant are always contingent upon faith, obedience and repentance.
D&C 29: 42, 49
Alma 12:28-34
6. Once the elect are gathered to the covenant, they are tested in the covenant. The model for this testing is Abraham.
D&C 101:3-4-5
7. Scriptures are a history of the covenant. God makes covenants with people one on one.
Ex 2:24
Lev 26;42
Abraham Gen 12, 15
Isaac Gen 26:1-5
Jacob Gen 28: 10-22
8. The Temple and other sacred places designated by the Lord are where the Covenant is administered. The rituals for covenant making may change over time, but the promises are constant : Land and Seed :
Gen 15
9. The Plan of Salvation is the same, but it is administered according to the conditions of the children of men.
D&C 46:15
10. The lives of the Prophets are both real and allegorical or typical, at the same time.
Is.8:18
Week One : Old Testament Story Line
The second handout for Week One was written by Margot J. Butler for a Church Education Symposium held at BYU in August, 1991.
I recommend drawing the images in this story line in the left hand margins of the "Chronology" section of your LDS Bible Dictionary next to the events they represent.
I recommend drawing the images in this story line in the left hand margins of the "Chronology" section of your LDS Bible Dictionary next to the events they represent.
Week One : Names of God
There are two handouts for Week One.
The first introduces the problem of why it is so hard to find Christ in the Old Testament.
It also lists some Hebrew and Greek names for God used in the King James Translation (KJV).
You can download a PDF of this handout by clicking here.
The first introduces the problem of why it is so hard to find Christ in the Old Testament.
It also lists some Hebrew and Greek names for God used in the King James Translation (KJV).
You can download a PDF of this handout by clicking here.
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