I am posting early but at the usual time later today, expect a posting from Ninalyn who signed up for this week’s posting. As I was working on a post about some archeology articles from Ha’Aretz I noticed a few parallels with this week’s Parsha and one thing led to another… and requesting the shelter for Jewish voices created here.
From Reddit by randokomando, translated as “Yisrael, his seed is scattered,” from the Israel stele.
This week’s Parsha includes the story of the birth of Peretz, son of Tamar and Judah, from whence stems the Davidic line. Just as David’s own origin story is complicated, his progenitor Peretz’s story is also a soap-worthy drama. Tamar had been betrothed to two of Judah’s sons who both died. He didn’t want to give her the third so she disguised herself as a prostitute and had relations with Judah himself. When she was discovered to be with child, she was sentenced to death (according to some interpretations of the text) for supposedly committing adultery because she was promised to raise up the seed of Judah’s son though Judah had no intentions of letting her marry his last son. When she then reveals that he is the father by showing him the staff and insignia that she had secured as payment, Judah fesses up to his sin. His ability to admit his wrongdoing is one of the attributes that made him worthy to have the kings and eventually the messiah descend from him. Although in Chanukah times, Kohanim from the tribe of Levi temporarily seized the crown, or asserted it, temporarily, out from under the Greek Empire.
David’s story is complicated twice over. Yishai (Jesse), his father, had separated from his wife because he feared he wasn’t a real Israelite. His grandmother was the convert Ruth and some said Moabites weren’t allowed to convert or marry into Israel. The Book of Ruth would later establish that this rule applied to Moabites not Moabitesses and so he was “kosher” and the marriage was valid after all. In the meantime, his wife wasn’t agreeing to be separated so, channeling Tamar, she secretly traded places with his concubine to conceive David, leading some to think, when his mother fell pregnant, that she had been fooling around. She wasn’t sentenced to death like some say Tamar was, but she and her son David were considered damaged goods and everyone shunned them. Plus he was that unusual red color that we know now stems from a genetic mutation (adaptive for northern migration or living indoors). Imagine their surprise when the Prophet Samuel decided that David was
Mosaic of King David from Gaza synagogue 508 Common Era
Gaza coast
to be the anointed one.
The lesson the sages teach us is to compost and recycle because you never know where the next great thing will come from, sometimes what seemingly is drekh is actually beyond compare and just what the world needs. Given the birth of Peretz as one of the founders of the Davidic dynasty in this week’s Parsha, it seems an appropriate week to mention that:
David and Solomon’s Biblical Kingdom May Have Existed After All, New Study Suggests
“Monumental structures at Gezer have been redated to the early 10th century B.C.E., which means maybe Solomon built them after all, biblical archaeologists say. But colleagues remain skeptical.” See www.haaretz.com/…
”For example, take the fiery destruction of the Late Bronze Age incarnation of Gezer, known to archaeologists as Stratum 12 of the site (meaning there are at least 11 more versions of the town above it). It was suspected that this devastation was wrought by the Egyptian Pharoah Merneptah who boasted of taking Gezer and other towns in Canaan in a famous victory stele – also known as the Israel Stele because it includes the first extrabiblical mention of the Israelites.”
Photograph below is from Wikipedia commons, a photo of the Merneptah or Israel stele. Photo credit to 𐰇𐱅𐰚𐰤
Once the Rosetta Stone was found, hieroglyphics were discovered to be a phonetic and not a pictorial system of language as had previously been thought. The section that refers to Israel has been translated to say ‘Y-s-rl, his seed is scattered.” Seems like you could take that two ways: ken yirbu.
Israel or Merneptah stele including the words about “Israel” excerpted, highlighted and translated above
And in other news:
Lost Biblical Monument in Jerusalem Is in Plain Sight, New Theory Claims
“Study suggests the monumental fortifications surrounding Jerusalem’s Gihon Spring may be the enigmatic ‘Millo’ that the Bible claims Solomon built.”
www.haaretz.com/…
“The nature and location of the Millo, a structure that the Hebrew Bible links to different Israelite kings in the early First Temple period, has long been the subject of speculation. Now, a new theory suggests that archaeologists may have unknowingly discovered the Millo decades ago, and that this enigmatic term referred to a defensive complex that protected the ancient water spring of Jerusalem for centuries.”
May redemption spring forth and peace break out (peretz)! To that end, numerous endeavors in the Gaza Strip were undertaken before the ceasefire that recently concluded. A Tanya was printed on the beach. The Shema prayer was called from a mosque to let any hostages who might hear it know that the IDF was near. Soldiers prayed in the ancient ruins of a Gazan synagogue built in the year 508.
