This is the Truth Network. Oh, it's amazing to me! Last week we talked about Sukkot and its connection to the rainy season, and that the rains would start. And last Tuesday, right, Rabbi, you, you, what we talked about happened, and the rainy season in Israel is on. It was pouring.
It was drenching, so thank God. Yes, we experienced the the cleansing first really, really major storm of the rainy season. There had been some trickles, depending upon which city you were in, varying degrees of intensity. But this time, it really, really poured. Thank God.
Yes, thank God.
So today, we're going to find out actually what a suit coat. Like how that works from Isaiah, right?
Okay, so so the first thing, of course, inevitably is, what's a sukkah? And we turn for a definition to Isaiah chapter four. I'm reading the last two verses, verses five and six. It's a short chapter in the common reckoning. The Portrayal that we read altogether, maybe just to understand the background, is this is the promise for those who remain in Jerusalem.
Chapter three is a devastating prophecy of rebuke and retribution, and then we get to chapter four, and we. Read in particular from verse two and on of the salvation that follows. That is, maybe taking it from verse two. Really, verse one relates more to chapter three. Verse two: In the day shall the plant of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be excellent and comely for them that escape of Israel.
And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion, and he that remains in Jerusalem, shall be called holy. Everyone in Jerusalem that is written to life, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion. This again pertains to the themes in chapter three, and shall purge the blood of Jerusalem from its midst by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning. And here we get to the culmination. Verses five and six: The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion and upon her assemblies a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.
Nothing about the sukkah there, but verse six: and upon all the glory shall there be a canopy, and there shall be a tabernacle, a sukkah. For a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
So this tabernacle, for a shadow in the daytime from the heat and a place of refuge, is the sukkah. That's the Hebrew text, sukkah. And of course, inevitably, in considering then what. The suka means linguistically. The root letters of suka, I realize it's a little bit elusive, are soch or sakeh, samech, kaf, kaf, which means covering over.
And the critical dimension to appreciate here is, it's not covering over with a roof. A roof, in Hebrew, is derivative of a completely different root. A roof is a gag, not even linguistically related. And the critical dimension to appreciate here is that when you dwell in a sukkah, you are not dwelling under a roof, because the identity of the sukkah is something temporary, something. To be blunt, something flimsy.
We actually talked about this in a different context a while ago, and I'll reinvoke that in a moment. But first, just to consider what we're reading here in Isaiah, that the sukkah provides protection to some degree from the heat and The sun, from the rain and storm.
Well, to some degree. Indeed, in legislating the definition of a sukkah for the holiday of Sukkot, if it doesn't provide predominant shade, doesn't qualify. Conversely, if it provides so much protection that even if There's a storm, no rain can penetrate. It also doesn't qualify. That's a roof.
That's not a sukkah. That's like dwelling inside a house. And so the sukkah gives you a feeling of, on the one hand, feeling God's protection, but as a relatively flimsy shelter. To not have that feeling of complete resilience, immunity from the challenges of the rain and storm, and alternatively, again from the sun and heat, to have some modicum of protection to give us a sense that. We're always vulnerable, and like the sukkah, the protection is coming from God.
But to simultaneously be cognizant of what's out there, from which we need to be protected.
So. Again, as as I've seen them, they're they're mostly made out of greenery and that kind of thing, and since I know there's some sense of this, as I'm trying to, you know, spiritualize it to extent that I guess I love to do that, you know that that the The tabernacle, or God is going to tabernacle inside of us to some extent. That might even be our hearts. It certainly is discussed that way in Christianity. And so it's kind of fascinated that that, as you describe that, I'm naturally thinking about, you know, that place where hopefully I meet with God in my heart.
Um. It, it, you're exactly right. It's, it's flimsy. I'm sensing that, but you know, inevitably, what comes to mind in your invoking tabernacle in the sense of a sanctuary with God is Psalm seventy-six. Because in Psalm seventy-six, we also read about the Sukkah, and there is a very clear structure of biblical couplet.
I think we've invoked Psalm seventy-six before, but it certainly would be appropriate for us to mention it again now. That is, in Psalm seventy-six, we read. I'll take you from the beginning to the chief musician on strings. There are different ways of understanding exactly what the opening. Words that serve as musical instruction mean a psalm of Asaph, a poem in Judah.
Is God known? His name is great in Israel. In Salem, Shalem is His sukkah. Read it tabernacle. Read it booth.
Read whatever you want. The Hebrew says sukkah. And his habitation or dwelling place in Zion. That's Meonah.
So of course, inevitably, we appreciate that Salem Shalem is Zion. This is the proof text that when we encounter Shalem Salem as a place. Designation, which besides Psalm seventy six, we only do one other place, and that one other place is Genesis chapter fourteen verse eighteen. It's referring to Jerusalem. That's the same place, Zion.
Zion is nowhere else. But in the same style of biblical poetry, we appreciate that the sukkah corresponds to the dwelling place or habitation, the meonah, but it's not the same word. And if we ask ultimately what is being accentuated by this change of words, you know, inevitably when we consider the import of the biblical couplet, we still need to ask ourselves, even if there is a correspondence between elements in the two parts of the couplet, what each element is adding.
So the sukkah, I'll submit, is adding the theme of flimsiness, and and of course it's in that vein. And here's where I'll invoke another verse that I know we've discussed previously, but it is so supremely relevant here when we consider the promise in Amos chapter nine, verse eleven. On that day, God says, "I will raise up the sukkah of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and I will raise up its ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old." So the greatest, most important dynasty. In all of world history, is called a sukkah. We have the House of Windsor, the House of God knows who else, Stuart, whatever you want.
Yeah, okay, fine. And and you have the sukkah of David. Only sukkah. Not the house of David.
So, of course, we do have elsewhere verses that speak of the house of David. We appreciate that. Why specifically in this verse of such colossal import? Because this is God's promise of restoration. The last verses in Amos are breathtaking, exhilarating, words of consolation, which is why we've discussed them already.
So why the Sukkah of David rather than the house of David?
So you may recall, I shared with you a comment of one of the great rabbinical scholars of the 16th century, Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague, who asks this very question, and he makes. The observation, which one could regard as pedestrian, but it's simultaneously pedestrian and profound. The difference between the flimsy temporariness of the sukkah and the permanence of a house when they fall down. When a house falls down, all you have left is rubble. What you can, what can you do with rubble?
Nothing, just cart it out and start building again. And there is no continuity because rubble is basically useless. All you have is ruins in a state of destruction, and all you can do is clear away the rubble and start building again. And what about Asuka? Asuka falls down, no problem, just put walls back up again.
It's flimsy, it's temporary. It's made to fall down. Since it's made to fall down, it can just as easily fall down as you can stand it right up.
So the metaphor of the Sukkah of David, God says, "I know it looks pretty bad. It looks like it's in a complete state of ruin. Here are my words of consolation to you. It's not the house of David that is fallen." It's the sukkah for David that is falling, and just as it fell down, so I will stand it right back up. And there's continuity; it's really the same place.
Because those walls again were meant to fall down, and they're meant to be stood right back up again.
So when we consider in this vein that additional stratum. That is added in Psalm seventy-six. It's not just God's habitation in Zion; it is also His Sukkah. Ironically, and this is perhaps a particularly profound nuance that you note in the Hebrew, His Sukkah is in Salem. Except the Hebrew doesn't say Salem.
Salem is a poor. English transliteration. The Hebrew reads Shalem. Shalem is clearly a place name, as it is when we read about Malki Tzedek being the king of Shalem in Genesis chapter fourteen, verse eighteen. But Shalem is also a word that has meaning as a common noun, that which is complete.
One can even understand it as the adjective complete.
So, precisely in this realm that is described as completeness, you have not a house, not that which would, if anything, be evocative of completeness. You have a sukkah, this flimsy booth. That can get knocked down, but just as readily can be stood back up, and that tension, and it is a tension between between complete and the sukkah, is built into this formulation in Psalm seventy six, with of course inevitably profound import for us. Maybe the greatest completeness lies in flimsiness. It is a song based upon an ancient tradition that we have.
In Hebrew, there is nothing more complete than a broken heart.
So, it is precisely in this realm of completeness that you have the flimsiness. Apropos of what you said, that we are all summoned, on some level, to make that temple in our hearts, and of course, it is in precisely this vein that we note in Exodus chapter twenty-five, verse eight, when we read. The imperative, and it is a lasting, everlasting, ongoing imperative to build a sanctuary to God. The formulation is, "They shall make for me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in them, not in it, in them." Obviously, the sanctuary is not making a house for God, because God doesn't dwell in houses. And as King Solomon so aptly expressed it in his prayer of dedication of the Holy Temple, indeed, veritably at the beginning of that prayer of dedication of the Holy Temple, the heavens and heavens, heavens.
Cannot contain you. How much more so this house that I have built? God doesn't dwell in the house. God doesn't dwell in the sanctuary. But when we heed God's summons to erect consecrated space, says God, I dwell in you, not in it.
Wow, I love that that song. There was nothing as complete as a broken heart, and it speaks to what I've heard of. I guess they call it the master of shuvah, or the idea that the one who Essentially, what I'll call the prodigal son—the one who went and went crazy—and but then returned to God, drifted, drifted far. I drifted far. You know, indulged all these evil desires, but yet came back to God.
Um, has this broken heart, but broken heart because he broke God's heart. Um. That that I really see in King David himself, that he, you know, there was nobody more upset about David's sin than David, you know, and not from a standpoint of, of, you know, what people think, but but what God thinks. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, just I I feel compelled to note here that that is what King David says in.
Psalm fifty one, maybe the the words that strike most at the heart of what you just said. In verse five, I know my rebelliousness, my rebellious sins, and my sin. This is critical. My sin is before me always. And you know, whenever I share thoughts about this verse, I think at first brush, people's natural inclination is, "Oh my goodness, how depressing!
My sin is before me always. I'm always seeing that sin before my eyes." And my response, and this is definitely foundational in our tradition, just the opposite. King David is engaged in never-ending dialogue with God. All the time, my sin is before me always. I am not shoving this under the rug; it is clear and present, and part of that ongoing dialogue.
And as a result, when anything happens, King David interprets it in terms of. This ongoing exchange, because of his sin, and because of his need to come to terms with it, in his interfacing with God, right? And it's God's goodness that exceeds David's sin, and he's that's almost like. How can I not be amazed by God at this? And how can I not also be merciful to somebody who's throwing rocks at me?
You know, his whole his whole life is like, is such a humility of that very idea that he clearly, like you say, he was in constant communication with God. C.S. Lewis. I don't know if you are familiar with a writer in England. The way he puts it, and I like it a lot.
He says, "You know, we often need to get a good whiff of our inner cesspool." Absolutely, and that's kind of what David is saying: is that you know, I am not this. Don't put me up on this pedestal. Put God up on the pedestal. And you're apropos of nothing being more complete than a broken heart. Just consider what verse verse 19 again.
Just to stress the point, in case anyone missed this, Psalm 51 is all about David coming to terms with his sin. The way the psalm begins, a psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him when he had come into Bathsheba. That's the title. Talk about. Papering over sin, King David puts it in the headline.
I am not papering this over at all. And verse nineteen, the offerings to God are a broken spirit, a broken and crushed heart. O God, you will not despise. Nothing more complete than a broken heart. I I love it.
I love it, and and the connection to the suco. Wow! Again, I'm amazed, and you know, just that the ramifications of all that, and and you know, my understanding is that to a great extent, a suco I see it as a something that's alive, as opposed to a house that's. You know, that stone, that kind of thing, but it's greenery and it's these kind of things that it's made of, right? That's true.
That is that. That also inevitably pertains to the ingathering festival. That is when you ingather. We read in in Leviticus, in chapter twenty three, when you ingather from your Threshing floor and from your wine press, that's when Sukkot takes place.
So you take the leftovers from the threshing floor and the wine press. You know the the leftover greenery, and that's the thatch for thatching the roof. Maybe thatching would be a better translation of what the root of le sakich means, because it doesn't mean to cover with a roof. Again, it means to thatch it. And right, the the produce of the land, our provides that catch.
You know, inevitably, what what also comes to mind here, since you mentioned the connection with Sukkot, is Sukkot was in the Holy Temple a time. Of celebration like no other. They would literally dance all night. And one of the circles was, you mentioned the expression "baal teshuvah," literally "master of return," of those who were, I guess you could say, prodigal sons who had returned to God. And they're celebrating, giving thanks to God, and we have a deeply enshrined idea in our tradition.
This is not a biblical verse, but it is expounded on biblical verses in a Talmudic exposition. In the place where the Baal Teshuvah, those who have returned to God, stand, even the utterly righteous can stand. That is, there. There is a kind of inner circle. Those who have drifted far away, that came back, and that even transcends those who have never drifted at all.
Yeah, and I, you know, having attended celebrations where people danced all night, especially when they were dancing to God. Or in a sense, celebration of worship. Isn't going to happen in a Baptist church, I don't guess, but but we do these. Essentially, they're men's camps that that I that I do, and and we dance for hours and hours and worship. And there's a sense of love in the room.
That happens, and this is all men, and and and and there's no explaining it. Like I, so I can imagine what those festivals would have been. I can just get a small taste of what that must have felt like, um, for these people that, again, they're they've come together, they've they've gone through. You know the other festivals, and now you know you're coming into the the celebration that we've we've gone through the tough stuff, and and here we are at this place of the final festival of the year. Right, is my understanding.
Right, so the the final. Festival as ordained by the Torah, and we have we can talk about the Festival of Lights and the Festival Lots. But the idea of that is, it's at the end of the year, as expressed in Exodus. We are now going to Tabernacle. We are going to Sukkot with God.
We actually have this. Fellowship, to speak back to what you were talking about, were a never-ending conversation with God. Wouldn't I love that? That is happening at least during this period of time, which would lead people to be dancing, no doubt. Right, right.
And like I'll say, this is again ingathering. What's the greatest ingathering? When God ingathers all His children, however wayward they may have been. And that's again, that's a theme of Sukkot, that in gathering of coming together, ultimately, in celebrating with God. Of course, you talk about men's camp.
Obviously, the this dancing is not in any way erotic. It is not mixed. No, no, no. It is a circle, a circle of men, hand to hand, dancing in devotion to God. Yeah.
Yeah, and and it it even I was just you know thinking of you know Exodus six, you know where he's the last of the four cups right, is that I'm going to take you to be my people, um and and that's the picture to some extent right right yeah beautiful I love it and so when when. When you celebrate that personally, I'm very curious. You build your sukkot, and you. What is that? What is that like?
So I got to admit that with advancing age, we have a relatively easy job of it. That is, the sukkah is pretty much there. We just have to make some relatively small modifications. Yeah, there are different. Techniques in construction of the sukkah, but it's still definitely that sense of temporariness, and and we have at this stage of life we have our oldest grandsons coming to help and doing the the stringing together and the construction work.
So it's it's also the bridge of generations.
Well, that's neat, isn't it? And it's almost you know it's. It's part of the festival, right? I'm sure is actually the building of the suco, and well, well, describe it. It's not, of course, it's before the festival begins because you need to have the suco when it starts, but it confers upon.
This is something maybe we'll talk about some other time, but the five days. It really less than five days. Between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, Yom Kippur is the tenth, Sukkot is the fifteenth.
So basically, you just have a four-day period for doing all of the final preparations for the festival after the fast of the Day of Atonement. It makes that period almost surreal. That is, everyone is. Completely engaged in the hustle and bustle of preparing for the festival. Yeah, that's so cool, and I wish that that you know.
I guess you're you're well aware that for Christians, Christmas is you know. Not that I wouldn't prefer it to be Easter, but nonetheless, it's Christmas, and there's a lot of hustle and bustle that gets into the preparation of what that's going to be, including Thanksgiving and whatever. But it seems like the older I've gotten, the further they've moved that back.
So people are putting their Christmas trees up now.
Some people put them up in October. You know, they're doing all these things, and you know, in my day, you know, I loved it. You know, when You know, just a week or two before Christmas—that's when you put up. You know, that's when you did all the stuff, and it did it make it a surreal holiday because it was the closeness of the hustle and the bustle. I, I get it, but and I love that yours is preserved in that way that it's just five days.
Because when it goes on for weeks and weeks and weeks, it's it's it gets kind of crazy. Imagine that.
Now go ahead.
Now, just so inevitably, where does this lead us in terms of again what the message of Sukkot is, and as we noted last time, the universalism of that message. Because ultimately, Sukkot is a holy day not just for Israel, but as we read in Zechariah chapter fourteen, for the whole world.
So, so where does this catch us in terms of a message for the whole world? Inevitably, again, the period of in gathering—that time when you might be inclined to feel most invulnerable—because you've got it made, you have your full account, all the produce of the previous year, and you leave the comfort of your home. To feel vulnerable, to feel God's providential protection in the flimsiness of a sukkah, and that flimsiness again is what connects to that completeness of shalom, selam. It's precisely through recognizing that we aren't in any way. Quarantined off from the rest of the world, but we have God's protection over us.
That gives us that feeling of the connectedness that ultimately is the basis of the completeness. It's connectedness to the world. You know, you sit in the sukkah, certainly in our neck of the woods, in our neighborhood. Since everyone is in Sukkot, everywhere around you, so you don't have any soundproofing. You're singing; everyone else is singing.
Everything is kind of like happening in tandem, and that sense of being connected with everything that's going on around. And simultaneously, again, there's that completeness in the flimsiness, and they are intertwined. Interleaved with the realization that perhaps, again, the ultimate sense of completeness should come when it's all flimsy. Wow, yeah, that's something I haven't experienced, but I can imagine that the neat that you know. In America, as you you know, our neighbors are however many feet away.
They're they're ways away, and they're in a house.
So you know, the interaction is is minimal. If any, you know, the the one neighbor to, you know, our left, I bet we've seen him four times in the seven or eight years we'd lived there. I guess I guess that's rural America. That's supposed to urban America, and so I. You know the thought of if no seriously if we were all out in our backyards or wherever and we were and they were singing and we were singing that would give you a sense of community that really is what I'm sure God wants to be with all of us in that final ingathering and the joy of what that will be because like you say of the of the the fact that it's not a house.
That it's that people aren't quarantined off. I like the way you put that; they're not separated by, you know, solid walls or that kind of thing. You know, it's like you say; it's not just the roof of the issue; it's also the the lack of walls. You know, you mention the idea of community. This is something that I always feel it's important to stress, and I suspect.
In our detached world today, maybe even more so, because people have all their social media connections, which means they're completely unconnected. Right? There's nothing more unconnected than social media connections. That's for sure. We we lose our sense of what the significance of community is, not just from our perspective, from God's perspective.
And you know, I like to focus in this in this vein. Admittedly, I'm going to look at it in what I suppose can be described as a a typical Jewish lens, in which we see everything in God's word in terms of its practical ramifications. Because we live God's word.
So when, as a case in point, we encounter in Numbers chapter fifteen in verse sixteen, this follows on the on the heels of having enunciated this principle in the previous verse as well—the unification of practice. In verse sixteen. One Torah, one teaching, and one mishpat, one judgment, shall there be for you, and for the stranger who sojourns with you. And I read that, and I say, Oh God, God is clearly intent on establishing some threshold. Exactly, what threshold, of course, needs to be further delineated, but some threshold of conformity of practice—first, all to be doing the same thing.
Now, again, I emphasize some threshold because obviously this is not erasing any credence for individual expression, but nonetheless, on the level of judgment, on the level of teaching, one teaching, one judgment. Why? And my response. I think intuitively is very simple, because God is intent on establishing a confessional community, a community of faith, and without some basic threshold of conformity and practice, you don't have a community.
So God says, meet that threshold, be communal, establish that community of faith. And of course, it's in that vein that when one considers the whole identity of the center of worship of God in the Holy Temple, well, there are the pilgrimage festivals; everyone comes together. In our tradition, the synagogue, and I know this is a fraught issue. In translations of Christian scripture, how do you understand Ekklesia? I'm not sure I'm pronouncing this correctly, but it is rigorously the translation of the Hebrew eight keneset, which is literally.
The place of assembly, where people come together, which is the original Hebrew formulation for synagogue. That is, if one were to ask, that is the predominant motif that people come together, and the answer is yes. Obviously. You need to ask: Come together for what? There is warning in our tradition of coming together in the places of assembly of the ignorant, let alone the lawless.
So we appreciate not every place of coming together is going to be an appropriate place to which to gravitate. But there is a stress on come together, don't be by yourself. And I always like to stress in this regard because, if I may say, I know people, very dear Christian friends, who've expressed to me their. And disenchantment with the local church, and they establish prayer groups someplace else. And I say, if you're not part of the community, it's bad for you.
It's bad for the community, and it's bad for the world. It's bad for you because you're supposed to be part of a community. Because human beings are naturally social creatures, and for you to be in isolation ultimately is destructive for you. It's obviously destructive for the community because if you say that the community doesn't live up to my standard, and as a result, I'm separating myself from the community.
So if everyone who is at that high standard separates from himself from the community, who's left in the community? The world. Because ultimately, I know we've we've focused on this verse in the past as well. The formulation in Isaiah chapter forty-nine, verse six: I have given you as a light of the nations that my salvation will be to the end of the earth. How is God's salvation going to get to the end of the earth if we separate ourselves and make ourselves each into islands unto ourselves?
Is precisely through connecting the community, contributing with the community, having a sense of community that we are able to fire the world. As I would say to any brother Christian, like, wait a minute. You know how can you love one another, like if you're not in community, like community is is an opportunity. Like we are in a community. I mean, clearly, when I was in that accident, you've been praying for me.
What an amazing thing we we come together weekly as as possible, and and the idea I feel like completely loved by you and I love you and so. You know what could I do to help your family? What can you do to help my family? You know that was God said it's not good for man to be alone. I mean, it's pretty clear.
You know, one of the very first things that happens. You know, and so to me, wow. And and I, you know, it's just an opportunity for us to really reflect on our values when we begin to isolate. What are we doing? Because.
There, God, as you said, God built us for community, and that's why I like that. I really like the idea of the sukkot and the people singing, and this idea of your neighborhood is a community because you're all in that one Torah. They they have one, essentially, and they have one judgment, and the idea is that really undoes the curse of Babylon. I mean, the curse of Babylon was they changed the language, and the people are no longer in unity, and you end up with. But obviously, when they were in unity, they were lawless.
Right. That was. In Babylon, the problem was establishing, and the formulation that we read, after all, in Genesis chapter eleven, is one language, and just one set of ideas, one set of words, one set of. Thinking, that is the unanimity. Especially, the unanimity when leads God out of the picture, is the most destructive thing of all.
Ironically, I think we may have discussed this. It was pointed out to me a number of years ago that the architecture of the European Parliament building. Is very clearly reminiscent of medieval representations of the Tower of Babel, and unfortunately, that was evidently not accidental. We are establishing a homogeneity, and of course, this is a homogeneity that leaves God completely out of the picture. The European so-called constitution.
Made no mention of God, and while that is a coming together, that's a coming together that stamps out the soul, that eviscerates the spirit, and that, for all intents and purposes, outlaws God. That's not what we mean by community, of course. But simultaneously, the antidote to that is not okay. Let's completely scatter and end any sense of community whatsoever, and have everyone become an island unto oneself. Rather, on the contrary, we have we have to redeem the notion of community.
And of course, in this regard, one can't help but note in Isaiah chapter two, verse two. I know it was a verse that we've returned. To invoking over and over again, it will come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of the Lord's house will be established at the head of mountains and uplifted above hills, and all nations will stream to it.
So, of course, on the one hand, I always like to stress it's not. That we have any notion of converting everyone to Judaism, that only Israel comes. No, it's all the nations, and they come as nations. We have absolutely no agenda to transform the entire world to a monolith of Israel. But simultaneously, note too, they don't come as undifferentiated humanity.
Isaiah could have said, "And all people, all individuals, will stream to it," and he doesn't. All nations will stream to it. Nations have a role to play. Nations are, in the ideal, means, through which every individual will be able to find, and define, his or her place, and actualize oneself as an individual in the context of a greater whole, and that nation. Becomes a component of a still greater whole, the world at large, that ultimately converges here, the mountain of the Lord's house.
And to take that down another floor, a little deeper, from my perspective, maybe, and beautifully, I think, as I listen to what you're saying, the whole idea of nations came out of families. Right, the nations at one point in time were identified by certain people. You know whether it was, you know, Midian. You know became, you know, the Midianite, whatever you want to say. That that they literally families, and that God created us to be in families.
You know, as a microcosm of nations that would then grow. It's the nation of Israel, but Israel was a guy. You know, and he had a huge family, twelve kids, and you know it was amazing. You know, and and and and all these things happened as as from the standpoint of to begin with, you know, how are we doing with our family? You know, because there are we making ourselves an island to ourselves and our family.
So the beautiful thing is God's redeeming all of those things. That families become nations, and and and like you say, the communities within your family. But you know, it's it's a beautiful thing, and and when you see, you know, like what it what it talks about, you know, when the oil's going down Aaron's beard and down his down his robes, and and and as the unity of brothers, like oh my gosh, when you really experience that, and and you see the anointing from heaven that's coming. That that what we can look forward to, as a result of these promises from God, is absolutely spectacular. I certainly agree.
I I definitely see the the connection, on all these different strata, of coming together. You know, since I must just comment, since you just invoked Psalm one hundred thirty three, right? Psalm one hundred thirty three is a perfect specimen for emphasizing an additional dimension here that connects directly with Isaiah chapter two. How so?
Well, again, how are all the nations coming together in Isaiah chapter two, verse two? They're streaming to the mountain of the Lord's house, the Jerusalem. And what do we read in Psalm 133? Of course, you first reference the first verse, that is, the portrayal of how good and how pleasant it is for brothers also to dwell together. But then there is this additional layer that is.
First, cast as a metaphor with respect to Aaron, and then, the, if you will, the the analogy is given its analog. Like the fine oil upon the head runs down upon the beard, Aaron's beard, which runs down upon the edge of his robes, like the dew, of Hermon, Mount Hermon. Which runs down upon the mountains of Zion. There it is, that Zion connection, all the time. Wow!
What for there? For there, the Lord commanded the blessing, life unto eternity.
So, what's the connection? Of course, the connection. Oh, yeah. This is coming together. That is, in particular.
You know the the cursory observer might look at the dew of Hermon and say, "Well, the whole focus point focus is on on the Hermon that is this lofty mountain, which is the highest mountain in the land of Israel, and the dew is coming down on Mount Hermon, and and." That's the focus of our attention. That's not the focus of our attention. The dew of Hermon runs down upon the mountains of Zion.
Now, exactly how that's going to work, if you will, topographically, geographically, I'm not so sure. Of course, I could say, well, you know, the dew of Hermon ultimately feeds into the Jordan River and feeds into the aquifer, and we read, after all. At the end of Ezekiel, about the the waters gushing forth from Jerusalem, so you know this theme of waters that that clearly is conveying something, even literally with respect to life giving waters, the waters that gush forth from Jerusalem at the end of Ezekiel are going to heal the Dead Sea, right? But but what's Most directly germane here is just appreciating how everything ultimately has to be convergent on this place, on Jerusalem. Why?
Well, inevitably, of course. On the one hand, all the prayers, all the supplications, as we read in particular in King Solomon's prayer of dedication of the Holy Temple. Converge on Jerusalem, as it were. Jerusalem is that portal linking earth with heaven, and everything converges on Jerusalem and ascends heavenward. And correspondingly, all the blessings for the whole world come into the world through Jerusalem.
Which is why we've noted this in Ezekiel. In chapter thirty-eight, verse twelve, that refers to those who dwell upon the navel of the earth. Ezekiel is referring to Jerusalem. What's the navel? Most translations, by the way, don't say navel.
I guess the translators felt that navel was unseemly, but Ezekiel didn't. He used the word navel. The navel is where the umbilical cord connects that sustains the entire developing embryo. Yeah, and so I got. I mean, the connection back to Psalm one thirty three and this idea of streaming, and the word Jordan itself means to descend, right?
And that descend from Dan that could also be this, right? Yeah, right, Dan, because Dan is in the north, and and of course you see all these things descending from the anointing. That would again come back to, like you, you know, the the do of Herman. It's it's it's abs. I you know the connection to the prophecies just is spectacular to me.
And I hope for all those listening, as I know this episode went really long, but I hope you see how spectacular. The in gathering, like to take from the where we started to to the to where we are, like how beautiful, right? How beautiful are these promises? How worthwhile that we hold on to the Torah? How worthwhile that we hold on to the love of God and the love one another?
However, that works in your personal, you know, community. These are these are critical to where it's headed. I just feel compelled. I know we're going long, but I have to append one final thought with respect to what we said about Babylon Tower of Babel. Oh yeah, and I think we've discussed this previously, but it's just so germane to note it here that even if I'm Babbling myself because we may have already discussed this.
I feel compelled to repeat it, and that is the implications of not just Isaiah chapter two verses two and three, but also verse four. That is. Verse two again, it will come to pass in the end of days that the mountain of the Lord's house will be placed at the head of mountains and uplifted above the hills, and all nations shall stream to it. Verse three, and many peoples will go and say, "Go and let us ascend; let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For out of Zion Will go forth Torah, teaching, and the word of God from Jerusalem. And what exactly follows next?
Verse four. And he will judge among the nations and rebuke many peoples, and they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation; neither shall they learn war any more. And you know the second half of verse four: "They will beat their swords into plowshares and the spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." Gives the name to that big wall next to that big building in Midtown Manhattan: the United Nations.
The Isaiah wall has those words in the second half of verse four inscribed in many languages. I don't know how many languages, but certainly many languages.
Well, as I'm sure I need not point out to either you, Pastor Rabbi, or anyone who's listening to this podcast, they failed. They failed spectacularly. And why did they fail? They failed because they began in the middle of verse four instead of in verse three. Instead of with from Zion goes forth Torah, the teaching of God, and the word of God from Jerusalem.
Because inevitably, while universal peace and brotherhood sounds like a wonderful goal, we need to ask, how do you get there? As long as I want to get over here and you want to get over here, then inevitably either I knock you out of my way or you knock me out of your way, and there'll never be peace. There can be at most be a temporary cease fire, but never peace. What makes peace not only possible but inevitable when we recognize there is only one goal? We are indeed all coming together.
When we come to that universal realization, we have different missions, unquestionably. God, in His infinite love of His children, gives us each a unique mission, a path appropriate to our point of origin, whence we come, in order to come to Him. But there is only one goal, and that's to come to Him. And when the world recognizes there is only one goal. Then, of course, inevitably strife becomes stirred.
I want you to advance in your mission, as you want me to advance in my mission, because they both subordinated to the same single goal, and then peace becomes inevitable. We can only get to being swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks, and nation not lifting up sword against nation nor learning war anymore, only when. Everyone comes to this utmost realization. Out of Zion goes forth Torah, the word of God from Jerusalem. With bristling, yeah, and I, I can see.
Unfortunately, people here bristling, certain Christians certainly, and and I would say this is. God said this. Like, do you believe him? Like, do you trust him? Do you love him?
He said this. This is his. This is his design, not my design, right? And and and it may not make a lot of sense if you're, you know, in Australia or something, right? This minute, I I understand.
However. Here's here's his instruction, and how many times has he taught me in my life, Robbie? Do it my way. Your way will in in death it just does, and you know.
So, hey, you know, try to see that. Oh my gosh, that this is not, um. It's not a that you know here Israel is the know all and be all whatever no no no God is the know all and be all absolutely right and He's the one who's explaining the process to us and hey we you know it's up to us to to discern you know exactly what what this is but what Rabbi says it could not be more accurate. From my perspective, like here, here is the formula, right? And yes, you know, I believe a lot of things different than what Rabbi believes as far as what goes on within that formula.
But nonetheless, I am not arguing with Isaiah. I mean, you know, I mean, there it is; it's pretty clear. And and the beauty of it is, as you begin to, from my standpoint, really unpack. Jesus's teachings, unpack Paul's teachings, unpack John's teachings. I come to the same conclusion as these were clearly very Jewish people, and so I can't tell you how much I look forward to this.
I know it's been really long, but it's been worthwhile from my standpoint. Really. Beautiful understanding, and I hope that everybody can receive it. They will someday, clearly. Again, we don't have the same mission, but we have the same goal.
That's an extraordinary statement, and I think it's it's of profound significance. Of course, on the most basic plane, that means that we have this profoundly powerful platform, right in God's word. Upon which we stand together, right as one. Exactly, Amen. Shalom, my friend.
Shalom. God bless. You get to say Shalom from Zion. Yes, I love that. I love that.
