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December 2006
1. By tradition, the eight Chanukah candles are lit from the left to the right. Don't be disturbed if you forget, as there have been various candle lighting practices over the years. According to the “Jewish Book of Why”, the current one evolved to give equal weight to the right and left sides, to show that God's presence is everywhere. The candles are inserted from right to left (like Hebrew is written), then lit from left to right. Thus the last or newest candle, “tonight's candle”, is always the first one lit. The very useful ninth candle, which lights all the other candles, is called the Shamash, meaning “servant” or “helper”.
2.
The attempt to explain and unravel the meaning of Biblical passages is called Midrash. Midrash also refers to a specific exposition or rabbinic commentary on a Biblical story, usually emphasizing a lesson or point of law. Finally, the word Midrash is applied to the entire collection of literature to which this interpretive activity gave rise. The rabbis of old, assuming that no word of the Biblical text was superfluous, generated a vast midrashic literature, including much of the Talmud. However, the work is never done and Midrash continues to be created, as we interpret the Scriptures in the light of modern experiences. The word itself derives from a Hebrew root meaning "to inquire, study, investigate”. A synagogue is to serve as a “Beit Midrash”, a house of study, as well as a house of prayer (Beit Tefila) and a house of assembly (Beit Knesset).
3. Khazaria was a land in southern Russian, north of Armenia , spreading above the Caspian and Black Seas . In the mid-700s a powerful king, wanting to choose a religion for himself and his court, invited representatives of several religions to visit his country. According to tradition, King Bulan chose to become a Jew and many in his kingdom followed suit. There were sporadic contacts between this isolated land of Khazaria and others in the Jewish world of the time. The kingdom lasted for about two hundred years, until the late 900s, when it was conquered by an expanding Russian state, then centered in Kiev . So, yes, there has been Jewish royalty outside the land of Israel . As for the other possibilities, Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew word for Germany , the original heartland of today's Eastern European Jews. Ethiopia does have a tradition of emperors with Jewish roots, dating back to the time of the Queen of Sheba. Though Ethiopian rulers were accorded the title “Lion of Judah”, they were not known to be practicing Jews. Yemen , an ancient land at the southwest corner of the Arabian Peninsula , has had a large Jewish population for many centuries but no tradition of Jewish royalty.
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November 2006
1. In the early years of the tenth century, the Moors had been established in Southern Spain for two centuries. Their caliph then sought to outdo the rival Abbasid caliphate of the east and make his capital of Cordoba the “ Baghdad of the West”. Under his direction, books were imported and scholars were actively recruited. Like Bagdad, Cordoba developed a magnificent library and likewise became a center of Islamic and Jewish learning. Al Andalus ( Andalusia ) became home to a Jewish “Golden Age” in the early middle Ages. Culture flourished not only in Cordoba, but in Granada, Seville, and throughout southern Spain. Vilnius, Lithuania was also a center of great Jewish learning, but not until hundreds of years later, in the 1700 and 1800s.
2. The Mishna, a code of laws governing Jewish life, was committed to its present form about 200 C.E. It is organized into sixty three topical areas, or tractates. The first chapter of the marvelous tractate “Pirke Aboth”, or Sayings of the Fathers, gives the direct line of descent of the Oral Torah from the Revelation at Sinai in an unbroken chain to the then contemporary Judaism. The chain starts of course with Moses, then includes his handpicked successor, Joshua. After Joshua came the elders, who were the Biblical Judges down through Samuel, when the monarchy was established. The elders handed the knowledge to the prophets, who are also celebrated in the Bible. Last came the Men of the Great Assembly. This included the scribes and teachers who continued the work of Ezra after the return from the Babylonian Exile and built the Judaism of the period that created the Mishna.
3. Thanks to the Wikipedia for these following descriptions. The Song of Songs is read publicly on the Sabbath of Passover , often in Ashkenazic communities. There is also a widespread custom to read it at the end of the Passover seder. In all Jewish communities Lamentations is universally read on Tisha b'Av, the Ninth of Av, to mark the people's sadness over the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The scroll of Ecclesiastes is read publicly in some communities on the Sabbath of Sukkot. And finally a gimme….everybody reads the Book of Esther on Purim , so we all can get worked up over the wicked Haman. Please note only Esther (on Purim ) and Lamentations (on Tisha b'Av) are generally recited in all Jewish communities. The practice to read the other three books on the three Pilgrimage Festivals is widespread but by no means universal, especially for Sephardic or Hasidic Jews.
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October 2006
1. The Yom Kippur morning Haftarah encourages us to overcome our discomfort and look at fasting in a constructive way. Isaiah maintains that fasting and inward self-mortification are by themselves of no value, but that the fasts the Lord desires are “to let the oppressed go free…share your bread with the hungry…clothe the naked…do not ignore your own kin”. We fast so we can understand the hunger of others …and then hopefully do something about it. As Arthur Waskow paraphrases this passage, it is this “outward help to others that God demands and recognizes as the deed that brings atonement”. The notion of a “Second Isaiah” comes from the observation that there are two distinctly different styles in the single book of Isaiah, the first extending through the first 39 chapters. The “Second Isaiah”, the putative author of the remaining chapters, completes the book, exhibiting much more lyricism and far less concern with past history.
2. Many of the pirates of the Caribbean were Sephardic Jews who turned to piracy to get revenge after Spain brutally expelled their families in 1492. The following story comes via the modern descendents of the famous pirate Jean Lafitte, who was indeed a Sephardic Jew. His family, originally named “Lefitto”, crossed the Pyrenees from Spain and settled in France , where Jean was born in about 1780. He moved to French Santo Domingo during the Napoleonic period. However, a slave rebellion forced him to flee to New Orleans . Eventually, Jean became a pirate, but he always called himself a privateer because that label has a more legal ring to it. In 1814, the British sought his aid in their pending attack on New Orleans , but Jean passed their plans to the Americans and helped General Andrew Jackson beat them in 1815. A grateful Jackson , not yet president, saw to it that Lafitte and his family became American citizens. So today there is a Louisiana town and national park named for him. In his heyday, he ran not just one pirate sloop but a whole fleet of them simultaneously. He even bought a blacksmith shop in New Orleans , which he used as a front for fencing pirate loot. And he was one of the few buccaneers who didn't die in battle, in prison or on the gallows.
3. Yiddish literature began with women, probably because they were not able to read Hebrew like many of the Jewish men of Central Europe in the middle ages. They started with prayers and bible stories, followed in the mid-1500s by a popular series of folk tales. However, the real flowering of Yiddish took place, after the Jewish world opened up in the 1800s. The hilarious tales of Mendele Mosher Seforim (Mendele the Book Peddler) marked the beginnings of a huge outpouring of original literature in the 1860s. It did not abate until the Nazis invaded Poland . We all can learn about this incredibly durable language from Aaron Lansky's remarkable true-life adventure, “Outwitting History”. In 1979, Lansky dropped out of a graduate Jewish studies program at the prestigious McGill University in Montreal to pursue what he felt was his calling – saving the world's remaining Yiddish books. He ultimately succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. Thanks to wonders of digitization and the work of the Yiddish Center , the New York Times wrote recently that “Yiddish is now, proportionately, the most in print literature on earth”.
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September 2006
1. The bells at the ends of the wooden rollers have a very practical purpose – to alert the congregation when the Torah is being taken from the ark. Even in the back row of the synagogue people can hear this familiar sound and know that the Torah service is beginning. These beautiful decorative covers for the wooden rollers are called “rimonim”, which means “pomegranates” in Hebrew, for their resemblance to this fruit. We commonly call these coverings “crowns”, but this term really refers to the single, larger ornament which covers both rollers and literally “crowns” the entire Torah scroll.
2. “Jewish Wisdom”, another of Rabbi Joseph Telushkin's wonderful works on Judaism, opens with an explanation of the four probing questions from the Talmud's tractate Shabbat. These are the four that are to be asked each of us when we go before the heavenly court for judgment. The first and most important question is “Did you conduct your affairs honestly?”. The Talmud clearly asserts the primacy of ethics and fairness here. In another passage, it is written “If one is honest in business dealings and people esteem him, it is accounted to him as though he had fulfilled the whole Torah”. The next question should be no surprise - “Did you set aside regular time for Torah study?”. Next is “Did you work at having children?”. And finally, “Did you look forward to the world's redemption?”.
3. The prophets are a limitless source of memorable quotations, like these four:
And what does the Lord require of you,
But to do justice, love mercy,
And walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8
Let justice well up as waters,
And righteousness as a mighty stream. Amos 5:24
Watch, I shall bring them back
From the land of the north;
And gather them in from the ends of the earth. Jeremiah 31:8
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts.
The whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah 6:3
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July 2006
1. Bathsheba was a wife of King David and the mother of Solomon. Leah and Jacob were the parents of Judah, ancestor of the best known of the twelve tribes. Mary was the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Jochabed, wife of Amran, was the mother of Moses. Mark wonders why so many people know Jesus's mother and so few know the name of Moses' mother? His answer: because life's not fair!
2. The beloved Rabbi Hillel almost always seemed to carry the day in his debates with the austere Shammai. There is a legend that, when asked if it were possible to state the essence of Judaic Law while standing on one foot, Hillel responded with the Golden Rule, saying "What is hateful to you, do not to your fellows; that is the whole Law; the rest is mere commentary. Now go learn!" This learned and saintly man, who lived from 30 B.C.E. to 10 C. E., is credited with laying the foundation for modern rabbinic teachings.
3. The Haskalah took root first in Germany in the early 1800's. In all of Western Europe , overall scholarship and an appreciation of the rights of all people were rapidly gaining ground. Unlike the other Western European countries at that time, only Germany had a very large and comparatively wealthy population of Jews, many of whom were involved with the larger gentile German society. In Eastern Europe and much of the Mediterranean basin, the bulk of Jewry was much poorer and quite isolated culturally.
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June 2006
1. As nomadic shepherds, the Patriarchs wandered all over the “fertile crescent” – all except Isaac, who stayed put within the confines of Israel . The first Patriarch, Abraham, emigrated from “ Ur of the Chaldees”, an ancient city near the Persian Gulf . His travels took him through Haran , in modern Syria , all the way down through Canaan, where he ultimately settled around Beersheba and bought burial land near Hebron . He and Sarah also took refuge from the local famine for a time by fleeing to Egypt . His son Isaac simply stayed in Canaan , and fathered Esau and Jacob. Recall that Jacob, or Israel as he was later known, left his father and went to stay with his uncle Laban in Haran , which is well beyond Damascus.
2. The “five pillars of Islam” are typically arranged in the priority order shown below. The order starts naturally enough with the profession of faith. After each, the required frequency is indicated; at least as this non-Muslim can best understand it.
C. Witnessing (Shahadah), stating one's belief in God, and Mohammed as His messenger. No frequency is specified but my understanding is that many observant Muslims do this daily.
E. Prayer (Salat), expressing gratitude to God and asking for mercy. Muslims are to pray five times a day, at specified times, repeating specific prayers while facing Mecca.
B. Charity (Zakah), giving support to the poor and the clergy. A contribution should be made at least annually. It should be noted that taxes alone do not satisfy this obligation. Rich and poor alike are to help society in some way.
D. Fasting (Sawm), abstaining from food, drink, and sex from dawn until sunset. Every year during the lunar month of Ramadan, Muslims must fast from dawn until sundown. People who are sick, elderly, or on a journey, and women who are menstruating, pregnant or nursing, may make up an equal number of days later in the year if they are healthy and able.
A. Pilgrimage (Hajj), assembling in Mecca , where Mohammad lived. This is a once-in-a-lifetime obligation for Muslims who are physically and financially able to do so.
3. For a wine, to be certified as “kosher”, it must fulfill all the requirements noted in the original questions, except that the grapes need not be grown is Israel . How else could there be any of the excellent New York and California kosher wines? Thus to become kosher, the equipment used must be dedicated exclusively for the making of kosher wine, must only involve Sabbath-observant Jews in its preparation, and must be produced from grapes of just one variety. And if the wine is to be “Passover kosher”, in addition it must be free of yeast or leavening products.
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May 2006
1. All but one of the events cited in this question happened on that one momentous day back in May 14, 1948. Only the UN General Assembly vote for a partition plan for Palestine preceded the other events mentioned. The vote was taken on November 29, 1947 and, thanks in a large part to U.S. President Harry Truman's urging, passed 33-13. Nonetheless the tension and guerilla warfare continued in the region until May 14, when a series of events unfolded quickly though not unexpectedly. And the sequence was the same as in the question. Though the British colonial mandate over Palestine was due to end by the 15 th , the Union Jack was lowered in Jerusalem early on the morning of Friday the 14 th . Hours later, Arab armies were on the attack, with soldiers from Egypt , Syria , Iraq , Lebanon , and highly trained crack Jordanian troops. The actual establishment of the new state of Israel was marked by David Ben Gurion's reading of the Scroll of Independence in the Tel Aviv Museum at 4PM that afternoon. Very soon after, President Truman recognized the new country. So as we remember the birth pangs of our country during Patriot's Day this April, we can also be reminded of Israel 's struggle as well.
2. One of the closing verses of Ehad Mi Yode'cha is “ Four are the Matriarch mothers of Israel ”. And of course, these four are Sarah, Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel. Genesis relates the stories of each of them. First, we learn how Sarah finally conceived her only child Isaac (at the ripe old age of ninety!). Rebecca and Isaac also had trouble conceiving, but in time she became the mother of twins, Esau and Jacob. The younger twin Jacob went to work for his uncle Laban and returned to Canaan years later as the husband of Leah and Rachel. Leah was very fertile and bore six sons ( Reuben, Simeon, Levi , Judah , Issachar, and Zebulon) and Jacob's only daughter, Dinah. The lineage of Leah's fourth son, Judah, includes King David and his successors, who ruled Judea for almost five hundred years during the First Temple period. Jacob's most beloved wife, Rachel, also had trouble conceiving but did have two sons, the famous Joseph and then Benjamin. While giving birth to Benjamin, the youngest of Jacob's twelve sons, Rachel died and was buried in Bethlehem at the site now known as Rachel's Tomb. Tradition holds that all the other matriarchs and patriarchs are interred at the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron . Some suggest that in fact we should have six matriarchs. During their infertile times, both Leah and Rachel "gave" Jacob their handmaids to increase the children attributed to them. Bilhah (Rachel's maid) gave Jacob sons Dan and Naphtali and Zilpah (Leah's maid) gave him Gad and Asher.
3. It is indeed impressive how much of everyday English speech can be traced to Shakespeare and to the Bible. The playwright's insights into human nature come through crystal clear to us more than four hundred years after he wrote. It is even more amazing that the Bible's wisdom also resonates so deeply, across our much different cultures and a temporal distance of more than two thousand years. Of the examples given, A. matches to 4. - "There is nothing new under the sun." (Ecclesiastes 1:9); B matches to 3 - "Man does not live by bread alone." (Deuteronomy 8:3); C matches to 1 - "A voice crying in the wilderness..." (Isaiah 40:3); and D matches to 2 - "Pride goes before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18).
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April 2006
1. The Ethiopian Jews have faithfully conserved their traditions from early times, apparently much more so than the larger collections of Ashkenazi or Sephardi Jews from further north. They only celebrate the holidays specifically mentioned in the Torah – like Passover and Sukkot. No doubt their early contemporaries in Israel shared just this basic set of holidays. The other colorful but later additions – like Chanukah and Purim - are simply not part of their traditions. The celebration of these holidays developed later, during Talmudic times in the first millennia CE, by which time the regular commercial ties between Israel and Ethiopia had ceased to operate. Ethiopia 's Christian communities similarly preserve very well the practices of earlier times.
2. Only the second of the statements is true. The first Passover does mark, in a very real sense, the creation of the Israelite people since it defined the “community” as those who took part in this observance. In fact, Exodus 12:19 states that the person who eats leavened food during this time “shall be cut off from the community of Israel ”. The commandments about the observance of Pesach (such as the obligation to eat matzah) are not the first ones in the Torah, but they do include the first COMMUNAL mitzvot, like the requirement to eat together. The very first mitzvah, found in Genesis 1:28, is simply to procreate. Chapter 12 of Exodus stipulates that the meal be held on the fifteenth of the month, at the time of the full (not the new) moon. In the Hebrew calendar, the “day” begins at dusk and the months are lunar months, so Pesach was then and is now celebrated on the evening of the first full moon in spring. We should recall that the very first Passover took place while the Israelites were still in Egypt , just before the tenth plague and the Exodus itself, so the first Passover did not take place in Canaan . This is the Pesach Mitzraim, the Passover in Egypt . However, the Exodus ended forty years later with the celebration of the second Passover at Gilgal, just outside Jericho , as recounted in Joshua 5:12.
3. Louis Brandeis, for whom the outstanding university is named, was the first American Supreme Court Justice. He was nominated by Woodrow Wilson and served with distinction from 1916 to 1939. He was one of those rare people who was just plain brilliant, right from his early years on through to his retirement at age 83. He graduated from Harvard Law School at 20, having compiled the highest scholastic average in the school's history. President Herbert Hoover added a second Jewish Justice, Benjamin Cardozo, towards the close of his term in 1932. Cardozo was likewise a first rate justice, having served on the State of New York's Supreme Court for 18 years before his elevation to the nation's highest court. Unfortunately he died in 1938, and was succeeded by the renowned Felix Frankfurter, whom President Franklin Roosevelt appointed in 1939. Frankfurter had been a Harvard Law professor for 25 years, and went to serve almost as long on the Court, retiring in 1962. President John Kennedy appointed the noted Chicago labor lawyer Arthur Goldberg. Once President Kennedy called his home and his elderly mother answered and asked “Who's this?”. “It's the President”, the Chief Executive replied. “The president of which shul?”, Mrs. Goldberg wanted to know before Arthur finally got to the phone. Goldberg's tenure was brief for in 1965 he was chosen to be US Ambassador to the UN. He was succeeded that year by Abe Fortas, nominated by President Lyndon Johnson. He resigned in 1969, the last occupant of the “Jewish seat” on the Court. There were no Jews on the bench until 1993 when President Clinton nominated Ruth Ginzburg, followed by Stephen Breyer in 1994. Both of them still serve today, thankfully.
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March 2006
1. Amos was one of the true prophets. Describing himself as a simple shepherd and tender of fig trees, he is called away and told by the Lord “Go prophesy to My people Israel (Amos 7:15)”. Though he was from the town of Tekoa in the southern kingdom of Judah, most of his prophesies are set in the northern kingdom of Israel, especially in the shrine at Bethel, not too far north of Jerusalem. There he confronted Amaziah, the priest of Bethel , predicting the fall and exile of the sinful kingdom. A few decades later the Assyrians did in fact plunder the northern kingdom and send its population into exile. Speaking through Amos, the Lord found no comfort in the sacrifices and rituals offered in his name. In Amos 5:22-23, He says “I will pay no heed to your gifts of fatlings. Spare Me the sound of your hymns….”. The God of Israel demands justice above all; through Amos, He addresses the House of Israel in 5:10-12 as “You takers of bribes, you who subvert in the gate the cause of the needy”. Amos derides the empty rituals of the Temple and has only scorn for those who oppress the poor. He remains perhaps the earliest, and most forceful, spokesmen for social justice.
2.
The Jewish social groups of Medieval times answered the then current religious requirement that certain objects must be "owned" by those participating in a ceremony. A bride had to be married in "her own" dress and had to be given a ring the groom had "purchased". Likewise for a proper circumcision rite, rabbinic interpretation required that the mohel have his own instruments. In the poor Azhkenazic communities, most families did not have the resources to comply, so they "bought" - albeit on temporary basis - the items to fulfill these requirements. Later on the group conveniently bought them back. This system obviously worked well when items were needed neither continuously (e.g. a burial shawl) nor simultaneously by all members of the community (e.g. Passover dishes). More recently, it is worth noting that the design of Boston 's largest private umbrella social service agency, the United Way , was strongly influenced by the formation of the first independent federation of Jewish agencies, established in Boston in 1895. We should remember these charitable traditions in these difficult times.
3. Five of the books of Ketuvim (the Writings) share with the Five Books of Moses (the Torah) the distinction of being read completely during the synagogue service each year. These books are traditionally called the five scrolls (megillot) since each is written on its own scroll. Thus we hear "the whole megilla" on the customary holiday for each. The Book of Esther is read on Purim. The Song of Songs, with its sensuous love poems, is recited on Passover, followed by the Book of Ruth, the story of the first Jewish convert, on Shavu'ot. The Book of Lamentations is read on Tisha b'Av, when we lament the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem . And on Sukkot, the Book of Ecclesiastes complete the cycle of the megillot.
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February 2006
1. The Joseph story begins with Chapter 37 and concludes at Chapter 50, the final one of the Book of Genesis. Rabbi Mintz's Torah study group cited three “downs” in the life of Joseph - 1) when he was thrown into the pit by his envious brothers as recounted in Genesis 37:23, 2) when he was taken “down” to Egypt by the traders 37:28, and 3) when he was thrown down into prison because of the accusations of Potiphar's wife 39:20. The “ups” of Joseph's amazing career included 1) when he was put in charge of Potiphar's household 39:5, 2) when he was put in charge of Pharoah's court 41:40, and 3) when he asked that his bones be carried “up” from Egypt to Canaan in Genesis 50:25. "Aliyah" carries this sense of “up”. The more familiar meaning is to go “up” to the bimah to read Torah, but it also it means moving to Israel . Both meanings involve going to a higher place.
2. Tu B'shvat is often called the Festival of Trees; it is the Jewish Arbor Day and is a very propitious time for the planting of trees, especially fruit trees, in the Land of Israel. The holiday is not mentioned in the Torah or anywhere in the Bible and so there is no direct connection to Abraham. But by the time of Hillel in the first century of the Common Era, the date was fixed as the fifteenth of Sh'vat, or at the middle of the lunar month when the moon is full. The Kabbalists or mystics of Safed loved this day and contributed much to its observance, which – like any good Jewish celebration – involved much wine and many blessings. Finally, because it sounds similar, it is sometimes confused with Tisha B'Av (the 9 th of the month of Av). The latter day, however, is quite the opposite; it's an early summer day of mourning marking the destruction of both the First and Second Temples . Given this background, of the words listed the five most appropriate are blessing, fruit, full moon, wine, and Kabbalist.
3. The French Emperor Napoleon controlled the European heartland completely by 1810, but like Hitler in the next century, wanted to consolidate his hold by an invasion of Russia . This campaign began in 1812. As he marched east through Poland and Russia , he passed through Vilnius , the modern day capital of Lithuania . He found this city “more Jewish than Jerusalem “. There were certainly many more Jews there than in Jerusalem in 1812, since Jerusalem was depopulated of Jews during the Turkish rule. On the other hand, Vilnius , or Vilna, was home to many thousands of Jews and had developed an intense, flourishing Ashkenazi Jewish culture for many centuries. On Phillips Street on Boston 's quaint Beacon Hill you will find “t he Vilna Shul”. This lovely synagogue was built in 1919 by Jews from Vilna, who fled that region during the waves of immigration in the early 1900s. It is the last intact example of over fifty synagogues that once adorned Boston , and is now beginning to flourish once again.
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January 2006
1. Reverend Martin Luther King had a very special affection for Jewish people, and the feeling was mutual. In fact, during the heyday of the civil rights movement in the 50’s and 60’s, it is estimated that Jews contributed about half of the support funds – far out of proportion to their numbers in the general population or even the progressive community. It is worth noting that Dr. King also had a special connection with the Boston area. He received his doctorate at Boston University. His use of nonviolent civil disobedience to achieve social goals earned him a Nobel Prize as he further developed this great tradition. To better understand the life and message of this remarkable messenger, and enjoy a nice breakfast to boot, please come by Beth Elohim around 8AM on Monday, January 16 th. It is worth noting that the idea of nonviolent resistance has additional Massachusetts roots - in the writings and actions of Concord’s Henry David Thoreau. Not too many paid heed until the Indian independence movement, when India’s great Mahatma Gandhi brought it to entire the world’s attention.
2. The Five Books of Moses, the Torah, are at the center of the Jewish faith, so naturally the names of these Books have been a center of attention throughout the ages. The English names are familiar enough, but not - at least to most of us - the original Hebrew names. As noted in the initial question, the Hebrew name is usually taken from the first significant word in the text of that Book. Genesis begins with the word B'reishit, which is its Hebrew name meaning "in the beginning". Exodus opens with a listing of the names of Jacob's sons, and so is known as Sh'mot, Hebrew for '”names” as in its initial passage "These are the names of the sons of Israel…". The Hebrew name of the priestly Book of Leviticus is its first word, Va-yikra, or 'he called'. In the initial verse of this book, the Lord calls to Moses giving him instructions on proper sacrifice. The Book of Numbers is a chronicle of Israel's journey through the desert. Its Hebrew name, B'midbar, means "in the wilderness”, in this case the deserts of Judea and Sinai. In the opening passages, the Lord speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, telling him to take a census (i.e. determine the “numbers”) of the whole Israelite community. The Book of Deuteronomy consists of several long speeches by Moses just before his death. The Hebrew name D'varim, meaning "words", comes directly from the first lines, "These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan…". A rose by any other name may indeed smell as sweet, but it's hard to conceive of the Torah without these names.
3. Of the group listed, Moses is the oldest. Given the Biblical and historical clues, it is believed he lived sometime around 1300 B.C.E. (Before the Common Era). Buddha and Confucius both were born in the sixth century B.C.E., Buddha in India and Confucius in China; Lao Tse was also born in China in this same century, but much less is known about his life. This century apparently was a time of general turmoil throughout the ancient world, including the destruction of the First temple in Jerusalem. A little earlier, in the seventh century B.C.E., Zoroaster, known to Greeks as Zarathustra, was born into the priestly tribe of the Magi in Persia (modern Iran). His followers ultimately migrated to India, where they are known as Parsees (Persians). Mohammed was born over a millennium afterwards in 569 C.E., and a little over a century later his followers controlled an empire. Also, many scholars now believe Jesus’ birth occurred a few years earlier than was once supposed, probably in 6 B.C.E.
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