בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

I have finished preparing the 160 Perakim of the "Minhag Kadum", of 160 words each, on average. I scheduled them to appear on Sunday mornings. The only exceptions are the Perakim 157-160, which will appear in the course of the week before Nissan 1, 5778, as this is a normal, short, instance of "three years," of 37 months. In the case of an instance of 38 months, the Perakim 157-160 are to be used in the extra month. Of course, after Perek 160, Perek 1 is read, in the week before Nissan 1, starting the new cycle.

Preparing the 160 Perakim gave me a chance to validate the decisions I made, comparing them with Richard Elliott Friedman's latest book; an experience which left me very happy.

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה

The Historical Truth

We have stated that the Halacha is according to J, as opposed to E. The case is similar to the case of Beit Hillel and Beit Shammai. Beit Hillel ruled only after considering Beit Shammai, and therefore the Halacha is according to Beit Hillel. However, if you are looking for the absolute truth of a matter, consider Beit Shammai.

Is it not strange that such differences of opinion exists between J and E? Is it not a sign that Yetziat Mitzrayim and the wanderings through the Midbar did not happen? My answer is that of course "it happened." However, the differences of opinion do point to something. Yetziat Mitzrayim happened to (ancestors of) E, and the wanderings through the Midbar happened to (ancestors of) J. And the ancestors of E were different from the ancestors of J!

In other words, if you are looking for the historical truth of Yetziat Mitzrayim, look in the sources of E. If you are looking for the historical truth of the wanderings through the Midbar, look in the sources of J. You have to look deep, though.

Warnings

The prophet Jeremyahu (7:22) warns:

For I did not speak with your fathers and I did not command them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Mitzrayim about matters of offering and sacrifice.

And the prophet Yeshayahu (1:11) said similarly:

Hear the word of Hashem, rulers of Sedom: give ear to the Torah of our God, you people of Amora. To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says Hashem.

The Torah of Hashem, is not the Torah of Ezra. Rather, the Torah of Hashem is the Torah Kedumah.

A sad and bitter voice, indeed.

Some Edits Undone

Some edits, by an editor related to P, which bothered me, are undone in the below two (similar) fragments, from Yeremyahu 3:14-17 and 23:3-4. The text flows without them.

שׁוּבוּ בָנִים שׁוֹבָבִים נְאֻם-יְהוָה, כִּי אָנֹכִי בָּעַלְתִּי בָכֶם; וְלָקַחְתִּי אֶתְכֶם אֶחָד מֵעִיר, וּשְׁנַיִם מִמִּשְׁפָּחָה, וְהֵבֵאתִי אֶתְכֶם, צִיּוֹן. וְנָתַתִּי לָכֶם רֹעִים, כְּלִבִּי; וְרָעוּ אֶתְכֶם, דֵּעָה וְהַשְׂכֵּיל. בָּעֵת הַהִיא, יִקְרְאוּ לִירוּשָׁלִַם כִּסֵּא יְהוָה, וְנִקְווּ אֵלֶיהָ כָל-הַגּוֹיִם לְשֵׁם יְהוָה, לִירוּשָׁלִָם; וְלֹא-יֵלְכוּ עוֹד--אַחֲרֵי, שְׁרִרוּת לִבָּם הָרָע

וַאֲנִי, אֲקַבֵּץ אֶת-שְׁאֵרִית צֹאנִי, מִכֹּל הָאֲרָצוֹת, אֲשֶׁר-הִדַּחְתִּי אֹתָם שָׁם; וַהֲשִׁבֹתִי אֶתְהֶן עַל-נְוֵהֶן. וַהֲקִמֹתִי עֲלֵיהֶם רֹעִים, וְרָעוּם; וְלֹא-יִירְאוּ עוֹד וְלֹא-יֵחַתּוּ וְלֹא יִפָּקֵדוּ, נְאֻם-יְהוָה

The Flood Story of D

There was a time that the Torah Kedumah was combined with D and the Deuteronomistic history books. At that time, the following was added to the Torah Kedumah. It was likely a response to P, the competing priestly Torah, with H, the holiness code, being the competitor of D.

And Hashem said to Noah, "Come, you and all your household, into an ark, for I have seen you as virtuous in front of me in this generation. Of all the pure animals, take seven pairs, male and female, and of the animals that are not pure, two, male and female. Also of the birds of the skies seven pairs, male and female, to keep the seed alive on the face of the earth. "Because in seven more days I will rain on the earth, forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe out all of the substance that I have made from on the face of the earth." And Noah did according to all that Hashem had commanded him. And Noah and his sons and his wife and his son's wives with him came to the ark from before the waters of the flood. And seven days later the waters of the flood were on the earth. And there was rain on the earth, forty days and forty nights. And Hashem closed it for him.

And the flood was on the earth for forty days, and the waters multiplied and raised the ark, and it was lifted from the earth. And the water grew strong and multiplied very much on the earth, and the ark went on the face of the waters. And the waters had grown very, very strong on the earth, so they covered all the high mountains under the entire heavens. Fifteen cubits above, the waters grew stronger, and they covered the mountains. Everything that had breathing spirit of life in its nostrils, everything that was on the ground, died. And He wiped out all of the substance that was on the face of the earth, from human to animal to creeping thing and to birds of the skies, and they were wiped out from the earth, and just Noah and those who were with him in the ark were left.

And the rain was restrained from the skies. And the waters went back from the earth, going back continually. And it was at the end of forty days, and Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made. And he let a dove go from him to see whether the waters had eased from the face of the earth. And the dove did not find a resting place for its foot, and it returned to him to the ark, for waters were on the face of the earth, and he put out his hand and took it brought it to him to the ark. And he waited still another seven days, and he again let a dove go from the ark. And the dove came to him at evening time, and there was an olive leaf torn off in its mouth, and Noah knew that the waters had eased from the earth. And he waited still another seven days, and he let a dove go, and it did not come back to him ever again. And Noah turned back the covering of the ark and looked, and saw that the face of the earth had dried.

About the phenomenon of competing Torahs, the prophet fulminated:

אֵיכָה תֹאמְרוּ חֲכָמִים אֲנַחְנוּ וְתוֹרַת יְהוָה אִתָּנוּ אָכֵן הִנֵּה לַשֶּׁקֶר עָשָׂה עֵט שֶׁקֶר סֹפְרִים

(Yeremyahu 8:8)

A Minhag Kadum

We propose to kind of reestablish a Minhag Kadum, in the separate blog, by having a background reading of the Torah Kedumah, which is the Torah of Yetsira, being as much from the left as from the right, starting at the beginning of Nissan, until the end of Adar (Beth) three years later, i.e., a triennial cycle. The reading of the Torah Kedumah takes maximally 38 months, which is 160 weeks, and then the cycle starts anew.

As noted before, the Torah Kedumah, the Torah of the world of Yetsira, has 25600 real words, which is 100*2^8, which is 160*160 (noting that 160=5*2^5).

Therefore, the natural division of the Torah Kedumah is in units of 160 words, and there are 160 readings of this kind!

There are two instances of long three years of 38 months, in 57 years. The other three years are all normal, 37 months. In a normal cycle, we read the final batch of readings the last Shabbat of Adar (Beth). In a long cycle, of 38 months, there is no such need.

We will post the weekly readings, every week, with a translation into English. The format of a post that contains a reading is Kedumah N (X) Y, where N is the index and goes from 1 to 160, and X is the number of words until now, that is, by approximation X = 160*N. The value of Y is the exact number of words in the reading, being around 160. A reference to a reading has the form Kedumah n: y, which shall mean word number y of Kedumah n.

Finally, the closed paragraph sign is represented by a new line. and open paragragh sign by a new line plus a carriage return, that is, by an open, blank, line.