Messianics For Torah

I was listening to some shiurim here yesterday on the topic of the destruction of the Temple, and came across some interesting points.

• The core reason for the destruction of the Temple was sinas chinam (baseless hatred).
• The the underlying cause for sinas chinam is lack of bitachon (trust) leading to discontent and insecurity.
• Discontent and insecurity leads to jealousy, strife, and a false sense of injustice, which, summed up, is sinas chinam.
• Thus, the cure for the exile is pure and simple trust, faith, and contentment.

Sound familiar? Our master taught us:

עַל־כֵּן אֹמֵר אֲנִי לָכֶם אַל תִּדְאֲגוּ לְנַפְשְׁכֶם לֵאמֹר מַה־נֹּאכֵל וּמַה־נִּשְׁתֶּה וּלְגוּפְכֶם לֵאמֹר מַה־נִּלְבָּשׁ הֲלֹא הַנֶּפֶשׁ הִיא יְקָרָה מִן־הַמָּזוֹן וְהַגּוּף יָקָר מִן־הַמַּלְבּוּשׁ׃

וְאִם־כָּכָה מַלְבִּישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת־חֲצִיר הַשָּׂדֶה אֲשֶׁר הַיּוֹם צּמֵחַ וּמָחָר יֻשְׁלַךְ לְתוֹךְ הַתַּנּוּר אַף כִּי־אֶתְכֶם קְטַנֵּי אֱמוּנָה׃

Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, saying, “What will we eat, and what will we drink?” or about your body, saying, “What will we wear?” Is not life more precious than food, and the body more precious than clothing?

If God so clothes the grass of the field, which sprouts today and tomorrow is cast into the oven, will he not do so for you, little ones of faith? (Matthew 6:25, 31)

For fun, compare this teaching from Eliezer ben Hyrcanus two generations later, who was accused during his life of being a follower of our master Yeshua:

כל מי שיש לו פת בסלו ואומר מה אוכל למחר אינו אלא מקטני אמנה

Anyone who has bread in his basket and asks, “What will I eat tomorrow?” is nothing but one of the little ones of faith. (b.Sotah 48b)

Which Generation was Worse?

Furthermore, consider this question: which generation had a better spiritual condition, the generation that witnessed the destruction of the first Temple or the generation that witnessed the destruction of the second Temple?

• The sages identify the cause for the first Temple’s destruction as murder, adultery, and idolatry. Huge and terrible sins! (Although it was not as if everyone woke up in the morning saying, “Gee, I think  I will go kill someone, sleep with my neighbor’s wife, and then worship a stone.” The real problem was that these great sins were tolerated by society.)
• During the days of the second Temple, people were largely occupied with Torah and commandments. As stated above, the problem was hatred. (To be more precise, however, “hatred” is really too strong of a word to translate sinah. A better translation would be quarreling or strife. (See m.Sanhedrin 3.5)

At first glance, it would seem that murder, adultery, and idolatry are obviously worse sins than mere quarreling. But the commentators say: How can we prove conclusively that the second Temple generation was worse than the first Temple generation? The generation that saw the destruction of the first Temple saw it rebuilt again during their lifetimes. As for the second Temple’s destruction, we are still waiting for it to be rebuilt, thousands of years later!

How, then, is mere quarreling worse than the murder, adultery, and idolatry? The answer is that the sins of the first generation were external, but internally, they were righteous. The second generation had the outward appearance of righteousness, but internally, they were corrupt. This is known as hypocrisy, and it is a very dangerous condition. It is much better to be openly and admittedly guilty than to be internally sinful but convince yourself and others that you are righteous. It is much easier for one who is openly sinful to repent than one whose sins are hidden.

Our master identified this condition so precisely. Having secret sins revealed is somewhat like passing a kidney stone. There are few things more painful and yet so necessary.

Unclean Animals and Impure Hearts

The sages say that the condition of hypocrisy is illustrated by the swine. Among land beasts, there are two conditions that must be met in order for them to be clean animals:

• They must have hooves that are split.
• They must ruminate (chew their cud).

Notice that rumination is an internal characteristic, but split hooves are external. Thus, chewing the cud can be seen to represent internal purity, and split hooves can be seen to represent external. Our master also connected hypocrisy with ritual purity:

פָּרוּשׁ עִוֵּר טַהֵר בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה אֶת־תּוֹךְ הַכּוֹס לְמַעַן תִּטָּהֵר גַּם־מִחוּץ׃

Blind perush! First purify the inside of the cup, so that the outside may also be purified. (Matthew 23:26)

The pig, therefore, represents the worst kind of uncleanness. Though it would appear to be a clean animal, it is in fact quite unclean.

The sages puzzle over Leviticus 11, which speaks of clean and unclean animals. First, the Torah gives us the two requirements for clean animals, which I listed above. Afterward, the Torah lists four specific animals and tells us why they are unclean. Since the Torah does not waste words, why go through the seemingly redundant step of listing four animals which we should already know are unclean?

The four animals listed are:

• gamal (camel): chews cud, no split hooves
• shafan (rock badger or hyrax): chews cud, no split hooves
• arnevet (hare or rabbit): chews cud, no split hooves
• chazir (swine): split hooves, doesn’t chew cud

What, then is the significance of these four animals that they should be mentioned even though we already know they are unclean?

The sages explain (Vayikra Rabbah 13.5) that these four animals are symbolic for the four kingdoms that would rule over Israel in the future:

• Camel: Babylon
• Rock Badger: Persia/Media
• Rabbit: Greece
• Swine: Rome

Our master also referred to the Romans as swine:

אַל־תִּתְּנוּ אֶת־הַקֹּדֶשׁ לַכְּלָבִים וְאַל־תַּשְׁלִיכוּ פְנִינֵיכֶם לִפְנֵי הַחֲזִירִים פֶּן־יִרְמְסוּם בְּרַגְלֵיהֶם וּפַנוּ וְטָרְפוּ אֶתְכֶם׃

Don’t give the sacrificial meat [kodesh] to the dogs and don’t cast your pearls before the swine, lest they trample them with their feet and turn and tear you apart. (Matthew 7:6)

I will have to explain some other time why I believe this to be Rome. A couple of interesting point on this saying. Notice the mention of the pigs’ feet, which appear to be kosher. Signficant? “Tearing apart” may also be a reference to kashrut, as the Torah explains that that which is torn (treif) should be cast to the dogs (Exodus 22:31).

Amazing correlations can be drawn between the characteristics of each animal and the kingdom they represent. But notice the pattern of kosher signs: the first three animals all chew their cud but do not have split hooves. The swine is the only animal listed that has split hooves but does not ruminate.

Furthermore, rumination represents contentedness and trust. Ruminating animals can be said to be happy with what they have. Contrast this with scavengers and carnivores, who are never satisfied and must aquire their sustenance by taking life away from others. This is the condition of a person without contentment and trust in God.

Thus, the condition of the Jewish people at the time of exile correponds with the nation that conquered them. The first destruction was caused by Babylon (the camel) because the Jewish people had outward sins even though they were inwardly pure. The second destruction was caused by Rome, because the Jewish people exibited external purity but were inwardly corrupt.

The Hypocrisy of Esau

Rome, in Jewish literature, is referred to as Edom. Although there is not a direct genetic or ancestral connection between the two, the sages saw Rome as the inheritor of spiritual legacy of Esau and his descendants. The relationship between the Jewish people and the Romans is similar to the relationship between Jacob and Esau. Notice how Esau was a hunter, always famished and insecure. The sages say that although Esau was wicked, his father liked Esau because he tried to appear righteous by asking technical questions:

אמר רבי אבהו שודני צידני צד בבית צד בשדה בבית היך מתקנין מילחא בשדה היך מתקנין תבנא

Rabbi Abbahu said: He was a trapper at home and a trapper in the field. At home, [he would ask,] “How do you tithe salt?” In the field, [he would ask,] “How do you tithe straw?” (Bereshit Rabbah 63:10)

This is exactly the behavior that our master criticized at the time prior to the second Temple’s destruction:

כִּי מְעַשְּׂרִים אַתֶּם אֶת־הַמִּנְתָּא וְאֶת־הַשֶׁבֶת וְאֶת־הַכַּמֹּן וַתַּנִיחוּ אֵת הַחֲמוּרוֹת בַּתּוֹרָה אֶת־הַמִּשְׁפָּט וְאֶת־הַחֶסֶד וְאֶת־הָאֱמוּנָה וְהָיָה לָכֶם לַעֲשׂוֹת אֶת אֵלֶּה וְלֹא לְהַנִּיחַ גַּם־אֶת־אֵלֶּה׃

For you are tithing the dill, the mint, and the cumin, but you have neglected the heavier matters of the Torah: justice, kindness [chesed], and faith. You should have done the one without neglecting the other. (Matthew 23:23)

What then must we do?

• Be cleansed from secret sins, and do not use technical details of Torah as a smokescreen for a corrupt soul.
• Place simple trust and faith in God and be content and secure with what you have.
• Avoid jealousy, quarrel, and strife; focus on the unity of klal Yisrael (the entire Jewish people).

When we accomplish this, we will see the redemption come and the exile end. May it happen today!

NOTE: In case you are wondering why I posted the Hebrew (Delitzsch) of the Matthew texts, it is because there are Semitic elements in them that are not reflected in most translations, but are necessary in order to understand them properly. Take, for example, “that which is holy” = “kodesh” = “sacrificial meat.” Delitzsch does a good job of bringing them out.