Dead Sea research could unearth geological secrets of the earth's past

Can't see images? Click here... Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works  with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money,  and spiritual engagement Happiness Without Approval  If you seek approval, ask yourself why you want it in the first place. The answer is that you view approval as pleasurable and giving you happiness. Realize how much needless suffering your approval-seeking causes you. This will motivate you to master an attitude that allows you to feel happy even when people fail to show you honor and approval. It is ironic that something one wants for happiness causes so much unhappiness. By giving up the demand for approval, you will ensure yourself greater happiness in life. Love Yehuda Lave Dead Sea research could unearth geological secrets of the earth's past Researchers have long pondered how the less dense salty warm water on the top of the lake "snows" downward to the bottom where there is the more dense, cold water. The American Geophysical Union released a new study that explains why salt crystals pile up on the Dead Sea's floor. The results of these findings could help scientists understand how large salt deposits have formed in the past. The Dead Sea is known for being the lowest point of land in the world as well as one the world's saltiest bodies of water. The lake is nearly 10 times saltier than average ocean water. Researchers have long pondered how the less dense salty warm water on the top of the lake "snows" downward to the bottom of the lake where there is the more dense, cold water. This scenario ostensibly defies the law of physics, where something less dense falls downward into a more dense area. "Initially you form these tiny fingers that are too small to observe... but quickly they interact with each other as they move down, and form larger and larger structures," said Raphael Ouillon, a mechanical engineer at the University of California Santa Barbara and lead author of the new study. The scientists proposed that as waves and motion disturb the lake, some of the warm water enters and mixes with the cool water. While the warm water quickly dissipates and becomes cool, some of the salt precipitates. This salt then forms crystals and sinks to the bottom. The study used a computer simulation to confirm their suspicions: that movement in the water causes the salt to slowly accumulate and create "salt fingers" at the bottom of the lake. "We know that many places around the world have thick salt deposits in the Earth's crust, and these deposits can be up to a kilometer thick," another lead researcher, Eckart Meiburg, said. "But we're uncertain how these salt deposits were generated throughout geological history." One example is the Strait of Gibraltar, which was once closed off and later dried out, leaving thick deposits of salt. Based on this study of the Dead Sea, researchers believe the salt reached the bottom of the lake via the same method. The Opening of the Academy Awards in 1961 Host Bob Hope opens the 33rd Academy Awards in 1961, and Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis present the Oscars® for Documentary (Feature) to Larry Lansburgh for "The Horse with the Flying Tail" and Documentary (Short Subject) to James Hill for "Giuseppina." Introduced by Academy President Valentine Davies. The crimes of Palestinians against history, religion and civilization By Victor Sharpe Jewish antiquities and holy relics dating back 3,000 years deliberately destroyed by Arabs on Jerusalem's Temple Mount.   Joseph Goebbels, Nazi Germany's Minister of Propaganda, infamously said: "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." He told lies about the hapless European Jews and millions of Germans and other Europeans eagerly believed them and willingly participated in the Holocaust. Another such miscreant, the late and unlamented Egyptian born arch-terrorist, Yasser Arafat, spewed many canards, but one which has been repeated relentlessly by the Arabs who call themselves Palestinians is that there were no Jewish Temples on Jerusalem's Temple Mount, thus rejecting the Hebrew Bible and faith based history that Jews and Christians revere. Other Palestinian Arab 'notables' such as the once Chief Palestinian Justice, Sheik Taysir Tamimi, had declared the Jewish Temples "never existed." And even the Palestinian so-called moderate whom the Leftists and gullible liberals love to love, Sari Nusseibeh, made the preposterous and malicious claim that "the historical ties and attachments of the Palestinians precede any Israeli claim to Jerusalem." Well, when Islamic preachers teach children that Abraham, Moses and Jesus were not Jews but Muslims you have to conclude that it's loony tunes time. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the most sacred site of the Jewish people and of the Jewish faith. It is the very place King David made his capital some 3,000 years ago and where he built the sanctuary for the Ark of the Covenant. It is where his son, King Solomon, built the first Temple, destroyed centuries later by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, and where the Second Temple was completed in 515 BCE by Zerubbabel; centuries later to be destroyed by Rome in 70 CE. The very name, Jerusalem, Yerushalayim in Hebrew, and interchangeable with Zion, has always been the source of Jewish yearning and prayer down the dark centuries of exile and persecution. For those Jews not living in the ancestral homeland, (and there were always Jewish communities in the land maintaining whatever numbers they could sustain under successive alien occupations), their prayers expressed the longing to return to Zion and to rebuild the eternal Jewish capital. It is not by accident that wherever in the world a synagogue stands, it faces Jerusalem. At the conclusion of Israel's defensive war against Arab aggression in June, 1967 and the reunification of Jerusalem, which had been divided since the 1948 illegal Jordanian occupation of the eastern half of the city, the leftwing Israeli Defense Minister, Moshe Dayan, committed a profound and calamitous error. Dayan believed that showing friendship to the Muslim aggressors by giving the Waqf – the erstwhile Jordanian Muslim religious authorities – the keys to the Temple Mount, they would reciprocate and Jews, Muslims and Christians would worship in peaceful harmony on the Mount. It was a monumental mistake, for the Islamic Arab Waqf predictably chose to immediately discriminate against any signs of Jewish and Christian prayer on the Temple Mount. The holiest Jewish site in the world under the Waqf practically became judenrein (absent of Jewish life). Giulio Meotti, a journalist with the Italian newspaper, Il Foglio, wrote in 2012: "The Waqf is now attempting to deliberately destroy all archaeological evidence of Jewish presence on this site, while using terror and intimidation to impose its exclusive claim to the Temple Mount. The Waqf has removed every visible sign of ancient Jewish existence upon the site. At the entrance, a Waqf sign says 'The Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard and everything in it is Islamic property.' "Today Jews are barred from praying on the Mount and are not even allowed to carry any holy articles or Bibles with them. With Muslim Arab observers supervising visits, Israeli police, to their shame, have frequently arrested Jews for various "violations," such as singing hymns or reciting a prayer even in a whisper. "This week, a Jewish woman was arrested following claims by police and Waqf officials that they noticed she was praying on the Temple Mount. Why is it a crime for a Jew to pray to God on the Temple Mount? And why is the State of Israel complicit in enforcing this anti-Semitic rule?" Since that earlier article by Mr. Meotti, Jewish pilgrimage onto the Temple Mount now takes place regularly, but outward signs of prayer are still forbidden for fear of offending the Muslims. An Indian Hindu friend of mine expressed to me his astonishment that Jews are not allowed to build their Temple again on their holiest site. He pointed out that growing up in India, people always knew that Jerusalem is to the Jews what Mecca is to the Muslims and Varanasi is to the Hindus. Tragically, Israeli leaders are still terrified of upsetting the Muslim and Arab world and this very timidity and fear allows for triumphalist and tyrannical Islam to commit unspeakable crimes against civilization and history. What do I mean by that? Consider: What may well be one of the worst ongoing crimes against human history and civilization is the ruthless and relentless destruction of Jewish and Christian antiquities by the Muslim Arab authorities, the Waqf, who, as I earlier pointed out, were foolishly given permission to control the Temple Mount in 1967. Remember the Taliban destruction of the 2,500 year old statues of Buddha in Afghanistan? It is the same Muslim arrogance and hatred for all other religions. Remember Islamic State (ISIS) and its wholesale destruction of antiquities in Iraq and Syria? Anything non-Muslim is fair game to such barbarians. On the Temple Mount, the Islamic Waqf soon began using heavy bulldozers to dig up the ground in order to build yet another mosque, in addition to the two existing mosques Muslim Arab conquerors had built over the site of the two Biblical Jewish Temples. Despite Israeli protests, they are still building under the Mount, and in the process deliberately desecrating tons of precious archaeologically rich soil. One archaeologist described the disturbed sites as "an archaeological crime" and "an assault upon Jewish and Christian history." Funded by the City of David Foundation, and directed by Professor Gabriel Barkai, Israeli and other archeologists and volunteers desperately began searching and sifting through the tons of earth and rubble which had been unceremoniously dumped by the Muslim Arab Authorities in the nearby Kidron Valley. The intrepid archaeologists and their helpers from around the world uncovered thousands of rare and important artifacts from the First and Second Temple periods, as well as from Roman and Byzantine periods, among them a rare bulla dating from the First Temple Period. But each precious find, ripped and torn from its age old location upon the Temple Mount by Palestinian Arabs, fatally compromises what archaeologists can tell us: a most grievous and barbarous sin against history and civilization. The catastrophe is continuing even now as the Muslim Waqf and Palestinian Authority continue remorselessly desecrating and gleefully destroying evidence of Judeo-Christian civilization and faith upon Jerusalem's Temple Mount. In 2003, after witnessing the Waqf's horrific destruction of Jewish antiquities and ancient buildings on the Temple Mount, Israel sealed off the area behind the Gate of Mercy or Golden Gate to prevent a recurrence of such barbaric vandalism. According to Jewish tradition, Sha'ar HaRachamim (the Gate of Mercy) is the gate through which the Messiah will come. Centuries ago, during the time of Suleiman and the subsequent 400 year old Ottoman Turkish occupation of the land, Muslim authorities deliberately have buried their dead in front of the gate in the belief it would prevent the Messiah's coming. Ezequiel Doiny is author of "Obama's assault on Jerusalem's Western Wall." In a recent article published in Israel National News and dated February 22, 2019, he reported that hundreds of Arabs, ostensibly arriving for Friday prayers and likely encouraged by the Palestinian Hamas terror organization which occupies Gaza, violently breached the area behind the Golden Gate. They forced their way into the site that had been protected for 16 years from earlier Muslim depredations upon the Temple Mount. Their acts of desecration had at that time led to the appalling and horrifying destruction of priceless archaeological remains. The horror may be beginning again. An earlier fateful and egregious concession to the Palestinians was made in 1996 when, for the sake of peaceful relations, Israel allowed the Muslim Arab Waqf to build yet another mosque in the Salomon Stables area of the Temple Mount. Here, repeated again and again by Israeli authorities in fruitless attempts to calm ravening mobs of rioting Palestinians, concessions have only led to more and more Arab violence, destruction and demands. http://www.templemount.org/stables.html In the same article, Mr. Doiny reported on further despoliations and atrocious behavior by the Islamic Waqf and the Palestinian Authority: On December 15, 2017, Nadav Shragai wrote in Israel Hayom that, "King Herod's grand Third Palace is being systematically destroyed by the Palestinian Arabs, who are stripping its stone and building homes around it. The site is in Area A, meters from Israeli-controlled territory, but the Israeli government can do nothing...Here is a lesson that teaches us how the Palestinian Arabs today treat non-Muslim remnants of the past...It is unclear how much of this beauty remains." The so-called Oslo Peace Accords require Israel and the Palestinian Authority to abide by the terms agreed upon. Israel conforms to the agreements while the PA blatantly continues to flout them while at the same creating illegal facts on the ground. The U.N and the EU consistently look away, ignoring the outrages, and even funding illegal Arab construction in Israeli administered Area C. Area A, B and C consist of parts of the tiny territory, which constitutes the very Jewish Biblical heartland known from the Bible as Judea and Samaria. It is also still regrettably known by the name given to it during its illegal 19 year old Jordanian Arab occupation; the West Bank. This Jordanian invasion took place during the Arab-Israel War of 1948 during which Jewish villagers along with residents of Jerusalem's Old City were brutally driven out of their homes and lands by the British officered Arab Legion. The ancient Jewish Quarter of the Old City was ravaged, 58 Jerusalem synagogues – some centuries old – were destroyed or ruined, others were turned into stables and chicken coops. Slum dwellings were built abutting the Western Wall and the Jewish gravestones on the ancient Mount of Olives were desecrated, many used by the Arab Legion as latrines. The malign Jordanian occupation lasted 19 long years until 1967 when the territory was finally liberated during the Six Day War. Yaron Rosenthal, director of the Kfar Etzion Field School, finds it difficult to hide his anger at what has happened to Herod's Third Palace. "Israel sees how one of the grandest palaces ever built in the Holy Land is being destroyed, and is standing by helplessly, because under the Oslo Accords the site, which is 30 meters from Area C, was made the responsibility of the Palestinians. It's time for Israel to say, 'No more.' With all due respect to the Oslo Accords, we will not let you destroy important archaeological remains linked to the history of the Jewish people in their land; remains that are part of the cultural fabric of this country," On Jan 6, 2018, Hebrew University archaeology doctoral student, Haggai Cohen Klonymus, described to the Israel News Company (formerly Channel 2 TV) how Palestinian tractors and bulldozers arrived at an archaeological site where the ancient city of Archelaus once stood. "The Palestinian Arabs completely leveled the compound in order to locate hidden archaeological treasures to sell in the antiquities black market. Just as ISIS destroyed sites in Iraq and Syria that were thousands of years old, the same situation is occurring here. This is a deliberate and systematic destruction of an archaeological site....It's just a tragedy." In 2000, the Palestinians destroyed Biblical Joseph's tomb. Writing for the Los Angeles Times, Sidney Brounstein wrote: "Where is the outrage? Imagine what would have happened if Jewish police stood by and allowed a Muslim holy place to be destroyed! Does the destruction of a Jewish holy place by an Arab Muslim mob while Palestinian police stand by (after promising to protect it) deserve no more than inclusion in a list of other damage done by rioters? Is this an acceptance of attacks on Jews and things Jewish as a normal part of life?" The answer is increasingly, yes! As Ezequel Doiny writes: "It makes a mockery of any thought of giving Palestinian Arabs any control of Jewish or Christian holy places. The destruction of dozens of such places in the Old City of Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967, when the Jordanian Arabs illegally occupied the eastern half of the City, along with excluding Jews entirely from their most holy sites, was clearly of a piece with the current destruction. While Israel preserves Al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock, Arabs have proven that they cannot be trusted to respect Jewish Holy sites." Let me end by repeating what I wrote earlier: "The catastrophe is continuing even now as the Muslim Arab Waqf and Palestinian Authority continue remorselessly desecrating and gleefully destroying evidence of Judeo-Christian civilization and faith upon Jerusalem's Temple Mount." One can only shudder at what discoveries of profound spiritual and historical importance have already been destroyed and lost. Let me also add: Where is the conscience of the civilized world? Where is the thunderous shout of 'NO MORE' from the world's non-Muslim heads of state? Where, indeed! © Victor Sharpe 2019 Victor Sharpe is a freelance writer with many published articles and essays in leading national and international conservative websites and magazines. Born and educated in England, he is now a U.S. citizen. He has been a broadcaster and has authored several books including a collection of short stories under the title The Blue Hour. His highly acclaimedfour-volume set of in-depth studies on the threats from resurgent Islam to Israel and Judeo-Christian civilization is titled Politicide. The attempted murder of the Jewish state. Who Were Dathan and Abiram? The Eternal Antagonists of the Bible By Leibel Gniwisch Dathan and Abiram, descendants of Reuben, are mentioned in the Torah in conjunction with Korah's rebellion. According to Jewish tradition, however, that wasn't their only rodeo. Midrash and Talmud tell us that their antagonism to Moses began at the very outset of Jewish slavery in Egypt and continued unabated until their premature passing. The Maharal of Prague, Rabbi Judah Lowy, writes that in the fight between good and evil, the warring sides must be balanced. In order to keep things even, when G‑d created great leaders like Moses and Aaron, He chose to fashion equally compelling antagonists.1 The Midrash confirms that Dathan desired to usurp Moses, and Abiram to usurp Aaron.2 In Egypt During the Egyptian slavery, Dathan and Abiram served as Israelite overseers who had to report each day's work to Egyptian taskmasters. Many of the overseers were whipped in the Jews' stead and were ultimately rewarded by being appointed as the first Jewish elders.3 Dathan and Abiram, however, were less noble;4 according to the Talmud they were wicked from beginning to end.5 We are first introduced to the brothers when Moses, who was raised in Pharaoh's palace, ventured outside to witness his people's suffering: Moses grew up and went out to his brothers and looked at their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian man striking a Hebrew man of his brothers. 6 According to one opinion in the Midrash,7 the Hebrew victim was none other that Dathan. The Egyptian had been secretly assuming Dathan's identity at night to be intimate with his wife. Now that Dathan had found out, the taskmaster intended to kill him.8 To save the unfortunate man's life, Moses killed the Egyptian using G‑d's four-letter name and buried him in the sand.9 The next day, Moses went out again and saw two Jews arguing.10 Midrash, once again, identifies Dathan and Abiram as the squabblers.11 Some commentators12 posit that the two stories above are connected. They say that Dathan wanted to end his marriage when he found out what the Egyptian had been doing with his wife. His brother Abiram13 vehemently disagreed and this led to the argument. In the course of their skirmish, Dathan raised his hand to strike his brother, prompting Moses to admonish, "Why would you hit your fellow?!"14 Our sages teach us that although no blows were dealt, the verse calls Dathan "wicked" for the mere act of lifting his hand with the intent to hit.15 Dathan and Abiram were not pleased with the meddlesome youth.16 "Who made you a man, a prince, and a judge over us? Do you plan to slay me as you have slain the Egyptian?" Moses, they fumed, was neither an appointed judge nor a minister with executive power.17 Intent on having Moses executed, Dathan and Abiram slandered him to Pharaoh.18 Moses miraculously survived the attempt on his life and escaped to Midian. In this episode, we begin to see the extent of the animosity they felt toward Moses, and the lengths they were willing to go to ensure his complete removal. Read: The Prohibition Against Physical Violence: Lifting a Hand During the Exodus According to Targum Yonathan, when the Jews were finally freed from Egypt, Dathan and Abiram remained behind.19 We know that they were obsessed with Egypt, evidenced by their descriptions of the country.20 But according to another tradition, Dathan and Abiram simply didn't get the memo! Moses had told Pharaoh that the Israelites were departing for a mere three days,21 but the truth—that they were planning to leave with no return—was spread clandestinely only through the Israelite community. Because Dathan and Abiram were known informants, no one told them the real plan, and they continued to believe that the Exodus was temporary. They decided that this three-day trip wasn't worth their effort so they stayed behind.22 An interesting question is borne of this interpretation—when and how did the pair eventually rejoin the Israelites in the desert? According to the Midrash,23 they joined Pharoah's chase but defected to the Israelite camp when they saw the sea split. Be'er Mayim Chaim24 makes the fascinating contention that the sea split a second time just for Dathan and Abiram, to allow them to catch up with the Israelites.25 Spoiled Manna and Bird Food The next time we bump into these characters is when the Jews run out of food in the desert. They complain to Moses and he promises them manna, bread from heaven. G‑d wanted to train the Israelites in the art of faith, so no one was to keep the manna from one day to the next;26 it would fall daily. Dathan and Abiram, however, did not heed Moses' warning and kept their portion overnight.27 The manna became wormy and then spoiled, defying the natural order where food first rots and then the worms come. Why is the order important? G‑d wanted the miracle to be witnessed, and had the manna first become putrid, Dathan and Abiram might have thrown it out.28 Popular Jewish lore records another episode surrounding Dathan, Abiram, and the manna: That first Friday after the manna began to fall, Moses29 told the Israelites to gather a double portion for the manna would not fall on the Sabbath.30 Dathan and Abiram went outside late Friday night and spread out the extra portion of manna they had gathered, hoping the rest of the Israelites would wake up, see the manna, and believe Moses had been wrong. But a miracle occurred to protect Moses' integrity—birds swooped in and consumed every last morsel of manna before any other Israelites awoke.31 Some say32 that this is the source for the custom of feeding the birds on the Sabbath that this Torah portion (Beshalach) is read.33 Further Reading: Music, Language of the Soul During the Incident of the Spies As the Israelites neared the Promised Land, Dathan and Abiram sowed doubt in their hearts, once again defying G‑d and His messenger on earth. At the request of the Israelites, Moses sent spies to scour the Holy Land with the simple task of reporting on the size and might of the enemy. The news they brought back was bleak, "The people who inhabit the land are mighty and the cities are extremely huge and fortified. We even saw the offspring of giants there!" The spies assured the Israelites that even G‑d could not defeat the Canaanites; "We are doomed to die if we enter Canaan," they said.34 The Israelites lamented that entire evening, and when morning came Dathan and Abiram called a gathering. "Appoint us instead of Moses and Aaron and we will take you back to Egypt!" they roared. "We would rather be living slaves than dead freedmen!"35 Moses and Aaron were devastated by their remarks for they displayed a complete lack of faith in the Almighty. G‑d would look after the Israelites as per His word, they assured the people. G‑d was angry as well. "How long will this people provoke Me? How much longer will they not believe in Me after all the signs I have performed in their midst?"36 As punishment for their obstinance, the Israelites were doomed to wander the desert for the next 40 years until everyone from that generation had passed. They had lost their right to the land; their children would inherit it instead. Korah's Rebellion The grossest example of Dathan and Abiram's hostile attitude is their treatment of Moses during Korah's rebellion. Korah, son of Izhar, was Moses' and Aaron's cousin and a Levite who served in the Tabernacle; he even carried the Ark of the Covenant.37 For a while, Korah was upset at Moses because he hadn't been appointed to a distinguished position among the Levites.38 Those feelings festered among Korah's small group of cohorts but were never aired publicly because Moses was too popular among the people. After the incident of the spies, people began to lose faith in Moses' leadership and Korah was ready to launch his coup.39 He parlayed with his neighbors to the north, the tribe of Reuben, and played to their insecurities, "You're of the firstborn tribe," Korah told them. "Shouldn't you be the priests and the Levites? Why did Moses appoint only his tribesmen?"40 His gamble paid off; 250 of the greatest Reubenites joined his cause, inspiring the adage, "Woe for the wicked, woe for his neighbor."41 Dathan and Abiram, Reubenites themselves, jumped at the opportunity to further antagonize Moses, and became leaders in the mutiny.42 When Moses no longer felt like he could talk to Korah, he tried to reason with Dathan and Abiram. "Please come to my tent for a meeting," he pleaded.43 "Even if you gouged our eyes, we would not meet with you, Moses," they retorted. "Is it not enough that you have brought us out of Egypt, a prosperous land, to have us die in the desert? You want to exercise authority over us as well!?"44 These remarks greatly distressed Moses and he prayed that G‑d punish the participants of the rebellion.45 The next day, Moses warned everyone to stay away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram lest they be inadvertently struck. Suddenly, the ground began to open and a huge chasm formed under Korah's tent. Korah, Dathan, Abiram, their families, and all their belongings began to be pulled toward the hole as if by magnets. And like that... they were gone.46 That is how the story of the world's greatest pair of Jewish villains came to an end—in dust and smoke. Korah: The Rebel of the Bible Why Didn't They Die? In Parshat Beshalach47 the Torah says, "And the Israelites left Egypt chamushim." Rashi first translates chamushim simply—the Israelites were armed in anticipation of attacks in the desert—and then introduces a Midrashic interpretation that relates the word chamushim to chomesh, a fifth.48 The Midrash49 records that a whopping 80 percent of the Israelites died in Egypt during the plague of darkness because they did not believe in the promise of redemption; only the remaining fifth (chomesh) merited to be freed. As demonstrated above, Dathan and Abiram—who called Egypt "a land flowing with milk and honey," an epithet usually reserved for Israel—were at the forefront of the movement to return to Egypt, and even stayed behind when the Israelites escaped! Clearly, they were not supportive of the Exodus; why were they chosen for survival? A few answers are given: Rabbi Asher son of Yechiel, the Rosh,50 explains that as antagonistic as they were to Moses and the idea of a promised land, they retained the faith that an Exodus was possible, even if undesirable. Those who perished during the plague of darkness denied that redemption could happen at all. Based on the writings of Rabbi Judah Lowy, the Maharal of Prague, we may be able to contend that G‑d kept Dathan and Abiram alive so Moses had worthy antagonists while traveling through the desert. This way, the realms of good and evil could be balanced. Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin (Maharil Diskin)51 answers that despite all of their flaws, at the end of the day, these Dathan and Abiram were among the group of Israelite overseers who got whipped instead of their brothers and sisters. This alone was enough to save them and have the sea split in their honor. FOOTNOTES 1. Gevurot Hashem 19. 2. Midrash Tehillim 106:6. 3. Rashi, Exodus 14:4. 4. See Rabbi Chanoch of Bialystok, Eitz Yosef on Exodus Rabba 5:20, although Dathan and Abiram were included among the elders, they were wicked while the others were righteous. 5. Megillah 11a. 6. Exodus 2:11. 7. Midrash Genesis Rabbah 1:28. Rabbi Mordechai Yafeh, in his gloss on Midrash Rabbah, Yefeh Toar, comments that this is inferred from the fact that Dathan knew Moses killed the Egyptian. 8. Rashi, Exodus 2:11. However, Rashi does not make the claim that Dathan was this woman's husband. 9. Exodus 2:12 and Rashi ad loc. Other sages contend that Moses struck the Egyptian with his fist or a brick, Exodus Rabbah 1:29. 10. Exodus 2:13. 11. Rashi, Exodus ibid. 12. Rabbi Reuben Zunz (d. 1673), Yalkut Reuveni. 13. Another tradition posits that Abiram was Dathan's wife's brother. This can better explain why Abiram was upset at Dathan's decision to divorce his wife. However, this tradition is problematic because the verse (Numbers 26:9) says they were both children of Eliav. 14. Exodus ibid. 15. Rashi ibid. 16. Rabbi Bachya Ibn Pekuda, Exodus 2:14, posits that Moses was not yet 13 years old; the Midrash (Exodus Rabba 1:30) has alternative traditions putting Moses at 20 or 40 years old. 17. Rabbi Naphtali Tzvi Yehudah (Netziv) Berlin, Ha'amek Davar, Exodus loc. cit. 18. Rashi, Exodus 2:15. 19. Exodus 14:3 says, "Pharaoh will say livnei Yisrael, 'They are astray in the land; the wilderness has closed in on them.'" The literal translation of livnei Yisrael is "to the Israelites." This doesn't make sense since they would have already left Egypt then. Rashi ad loc. and most other commentators explain that in this instance livnei Yisrael means "about the Israelites." However, the great first-century Talmudist Rabbi Yonathan ben Uzziel writes that Pharoah was talking to Dathan and Abiram who had stayed behind in Egypt. 20. See e.g. Numbers 16:13; ibid. 14:4 and Rashi ad loc. 21. Exodus 8:23. 22. Rabbi Joseph Almosnino, Eidut B'Yehosef. 23. Socher Tov (Buber) Exodus 14. 24. Be'er Mayim Chaim (Rabbi Chaim of Tchernovitz, d. 1817), Exodus 14: 29; Maharil Diskin (Maharil Diskin al HaTorah, Exodus 14:3) writes this in the name of "A Chassidic Rebbe (admor) in the name of a Midrash." He may be referring to the Socher Tov of the previous note although the second splitting is not mentioned there clearly. 25. As for the question, why would such a miracle happen to these rabble-rousers? See the section "Why Didn't They Die?" in this article. 26. Ibn Ezra, Exodus 16:19. 27. Exodus 16:20. 28. Exodus Rabbah 25:10. Although most commentators (Rashi included) explain that the verse should be read, "it became wormy after becoming spoiled." 29. Exodus 16:22–23 30. Because the manna had to be cooked which cannot be done on Shabbat. Alternatively, Rabbi Moshe Alshich writes that unlike rain which had already been established as a natural phenomenon, the manna was created anew each day and, because G‑d rests on Shabbat, the manna couldn't be recreated. 31. Hasidic masters (Sha'ar Bat Rabim in the name of the Seer of Lublin). Taamei Haminhagim, p. 531. 32. Taamei Haminhagim ibid. Others (e.g. Rabbi Jacob Sofer, Kaf HaChaim, Orach Chaim 324:11) say it is to thank the birds for singing at the splitting of the sea. 33. This custom is mentioned by Magen Abraham, Orach Chaim 324:11 and he rules against it because one is prohibited from feeding wild animals on the Sabbath. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, in his Shulchan Aruch Harav, agrees (Orach Chaim 324:8). The Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (Hisvaaduyos 5749, vol. 2, p. 270, note 118) echoes this but says one should still speak with his children about being kind to animals. Others (Rabbi Yechiel Epstein, Aruch Hashulchan 324:3; Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Chazon Ovadia Shabbat, vol. 3, p. 24 et. al.) support the custom. Leaving the food out before the Sabbath begins is allowed. 34. Numbers 13. 35. Ibid. 14:3 and Rashi ad loc.; Midrash Tehillim 106:6. 36. Ibid. 14:11. 37. Numbers Rabbah 18:3. 38. Particularly, Elzaphan son of Uziel was appointed overseer of the Levitical family, Kehat. Korah felt that he, being the son of the elder Izhar, should have been appointed instead. See Rashi, Numbers 16:1. 39. Nachmanides, loc cit. 40. Rabbi Eliezer of Worms, Rokeach, Numbers 16:1. 41. Rashi, Numbers 16:1. Eventually, the remainder of the Israelites joined Korah when he turned to them with a message of equality, "Do you think I am in it for myself? Moses took the throne for himself and gave the High Priesthood to his brother Aaron! Don't we all deserve to serve in the Tabernacle?" Numbers Rabbah 18:10. 42. Rabbi Abraham Meir Rosen, Biur Ha'amarim on Midrash Tanhuma, Korah 2. 43. Numbers 16:12. Targum Yonathan ben Uziel says Moses wanted to meet them at the court in the Tabernacle. 44. Numbers 16:12–14. 45. Ibid. 15 and Rashi ad loc. 46. Ibid. 26–33. 47. Exodus 13:18. 48. Ibid. 49. Mechilta 13:19. 50. Rosh al HaTorah, Exodus 10:2. 51. Maharil Diskin al HaTorah, Exodus 14:3. By Leibel Gniwisch Pool Shark tricks See you tomorrow Love Yehuda Lave Rabbi Yehuda Lave PO Box 7335, Rehavia Jerusalem 9107202 LIKE TWEET FORWARD You received this email because you signed up on our website or made purchase from us. Unsubscribe