Nebi Samuel and Questions

Nebi Samuel photo by Batya Medad

Last week I went on a tour which included Nebi Samuel. Our guide, who's a Bible teacher, explained why she went against her usual practice and called Nebi Samuel by that non-Hebrew term. She said that there are serious doubts as to its being the burial spot of Samuel the Prophet.

In the Bible it's written that Samuel the Prophet retreated retired to Ramah, where he lived, died and was buried. Most experts believe that Ramah is north of Jerusalem, south of Shiloh. That's not the location of Nebi Samuel.

In the 6th century, some Christian explorers, who didn't get very far from Jerusalem, came across that hilltop and decided that it must be the Ramah of Samuel the Prophet. They built a church there and publicized their "discovery." That was the beginning of Nebi Samuel. Later on the Muslims adopted it and the Jewish prophet as their own. They even renovated the church into a mosque.

Here we are fifteen hundred 1,500 years later, and most people take for granted that Samuel the Prophet must be buried in Nebi Samuel, even though there's no real proof. Before Israel's victory in the 1967 Six Days War, few Jews knew the Land and the Bible in order to discover true locations of biblical sites. Now is the time to examine more carefully. We live here in the Biblical Land and study the Bible, Tanach.

It's a great privilege to be a Jew alive today and living in the Holy Land, which Gd gave us and our religion, Judaism, was established.

 All photos by Batya Medad, yes, me

Rosh Chodesh (The Real) Adar Thursday and Friday

The official name for the upcoming Jewish Month is Adar Sheni/Bet, meaning the second Adar. That's because in ancient days, before there was a "set calendar," the months were announced when the first sliver of the "new moon" had been sighted.

In those days, if at the end of Adar, when it definitely didn't look like winter was over, they'd declare the new month to be an additional Adar. For "Jewish Leap Years," that name stuck. We have Adar Alef/Rishon/First and Adar Bet/Sheni/Second.

I'm a troublemaker, and I don't find those names good. I honestly think that now since we have a set calendar, we should be calling the extra month Shevat Bet/Sheni/Second, and it should come before a solitary Adar. But since I'm no Talmud Chacham, scholar, you'll only read this on my blog. Nobody I've ever mentioned it to knows of any Jewish scholar/sage who's said anything similar.

I hope you don't mind that I've written something that contradicts accepted Jewish theology.

Back to "business."

For well over a decade, I've been inviting women to join me at Tel Shiloh, Shiloh Hakeduma, for morning Rosh Chodesh Prayers. We sing Hallel out loud, but otherwise our prayers are silent, between us and Gd.

As we walk to and from the location believed to be where the Biblical Tabernacle had rested for three-hundred-sixty-nine years, we check out the latest discoveries, exchange Torah Words and more. Sometimes we celebrate special events together, too.

Rosh Chodesh Adar Bet we will doven together on Thursday, March 7, 2019, 8:30am.

כולן מוזמנות, תפילת נשים, ראש חודש אדר ב' , ל' אדר א', יום ה' ,7/03/2019 , 8:30, בשילה הקדומה, תל שילה

Shiloh Hakeduma is an officially recognized archaeological site, and there's even something more important. Biblical scholars and archaeologists agree that Shiloh, where I live, is the same as the Biblical Shiloh.

Here in Shiloh, yes, barely a mile from my house is the very place where the barren Hannah prayed for a son who would be dedicated to the Jewish People. He was Shmuel Hanavi, Samuel the Prophet.

Shiloh Hakeduma, Ancient Shiloh, is open on weekdays. You can just walk around or arrange for an official tour. There are also interesting events, especially during Passover and Succot. For more information, contact them directly at visit@telshilo.org.il, or call 02-5789111.

For more information about our Women's Rosh Chodesh Prayers, email shilohmuse@gmail.com, with "Rosh Chodesh" as subject.

I hope you'll be able to join us.

Chodesh Tov!
Have a Wonderful Month!
Adar is the Month of Joy 
and Very Pleasant Surprises!

Chodesh Tov! Lesson From Biblical Shiloh, Prayer and Human Nature

Chodesh Tov, Everyone!
It's the first day of Rosh Chodesh Marchesvan, the Jewish Month of Cheshvan when winter truly begins. Winter here in the Holy Land doesn't always mean freezing snow. It's supposed to mean blessed rain, at the right time, the right quantities, gifts or rewards from G-d for our proper behavior.

Today some friends and I went to Shiloh Hakeduma, Ancient Shiloh, Tel Shiloh, the location of many Biblical stories, narratives that are being confirmed consistently by archaeologists working here to discover our past.

Shiloh has always been a location for prayer.  I, davka, prefer praying in Shiloh than in the more popular (non-synagogue) prayer sites. I just don't get "turned on" by graves, and the  Kotel littered with "Santa letters" is a "turn off." And since the Israeli Government has inexplicably allowed the Muslim Waqf to dictate what Jews can or can't do on our holiest spot, the Temple Mount, the next holiest, to my count when eliminating tombs and cemeteries, is Shiloh, specifically the area where it's believed the Mishkan, Holy Tabernacle had stood for close to four hundred 400 years when Shiloh was the administrative and spiritual capital of the Jewish Nation. That was just before the era of Kings and the building of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

One of the most well-known Shiloh stories from the Biblical era, is the story of Chana, Hannah. Chana was barren. She was married to Elkana, who had a second wife, Penina (Pearl) who did have children. Despite her inability to give him children, Elkana loved Chana more than he loved Penina. The situation was difficult for both women. Chana would have given anything for a child, and Penina was jealous of the favoritism Elkana bestowed on Chana.

The family/clan made the pilgrimage to Shiloh for all of the Holidays to pray there. One year Chana made an extra effort to pray to G-d. She prayed silently with all of her soul and might. Only her lips moved,  because G-d can hear what's in our hearts and minds, there's no need to shout. Chana's yearning for a child wasn't for her own personal selfish maternal needs. She understood the chaos and lack of leadership among the Jewish People and wanted to bring a son into the world to be a leader in G-d's name. She promised that if G-d would give her a son, that son would be brought to Shiloh to be trained by the priests there to lead the nation.

Eli, the High Priest, blessed her after hearing her story, and the next year Chana gave birth to a son. When he was weaned, she brought him to Shiloh and entrusted him to be educated by Eli.

Her subsequent "thank you prayer" to G-d is what is known as תפילת חנה Tefillat Chana, Hannah's Prayer, 1Samuel Chapter 2.

The line that fascinates me the most is:

ה  שְׂבֵעִים בַּלֶּחֶם נִשְׂכָּרוּ, וּרְעֵבִים חָדֵלּוּ, עַד-עֲקָרָה יָלְדָה שִׁבְעָה, וְרַבַּת בָּנִים אֻמְלָלָה.

5 They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry have ceased; while the barren hath borne seven, she that had many children hath languished.

I actually disagree with how it's generally understood. For those who aren't familiar with Hebrew, please look at all those dots and symbols on the bottom of and sometimes the tops of the Hebrew letters. They are the vowels. Without vowels, the letters can be pronounced frequently as different words meaning different things. The one I'd give a different meaning to is  שִׁבְעָה shiv'ah, seven, which I'd pronounce as sav'ah, satisfied.

Chana was satisfied with her one son; that's all she had prayed for. When more children were born to her, that was wonderful, but that isn't what she had asked for. Numbers weren't her priority. I've been telling people my theory for a few years already, and most people agree once they think about it, because the Bible was written without vowels.

The accepted commentary from the midrash for the next few words, that the mother of many was miserable, a better definition than the "languished" in the translation above, is usually explained that with each new child born to Hannah, one of Pearl's died. I can't imagine Hannah gloating over this. Today, at the Tel, when I told one of the women about my reading of שבעה she continued and said that Penina's personality was to be miserable. She wasn't happy even with her many children. The אֻמְלָלָה feeling miserable/depressed is an antonym for being satisfied with life, Chana's emotional state.

Some people manage to always see the best and be happy, while others are always finding fault in their situation. Chana does begin the story unhappy, wanting a child, but instead of being jealous wishing bad on others, she prayed to G-d, knowing that her fertility was in G-d's hands. She made her deal with G-d and didn't renege. Her precious first born son was sent to serve G-d, and he was Shmuel HaNavi, Samuel the Prophet who anointed Israel's first two kings, Saul an David. He did what he was born to do. He changed the world. Shmuel, like his mother accepted that they were just tools of G-d.

We all must learn to stop saying "I want..." and learn to hear what G-d wants us to do and be satisfied with it.

Chodesh Tov and Shabbat Shalom

Why Uman, When The Traditional Biblical Place for Prayer is Here in Shiloh?

My family isn't taking a plane to Uman for Rosh Hashanah or any other time.  In recent years I know of many, many Israeli men of all ages and backgrounds who leave their families davka for the Jewish Holidays. I also know of quite a few women who have gone there at other times.

Every year, thousands of men (in 2007, over 40,000!) leave their families and travel to Rebbe Nachman's gravesite in Uman, a military city located in the Ukraine, to spend Rosh Hashana with "the Rebbe."

We pray much closer to home.  I go with friends, just a mile or so from my house to Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel Shiloh every Rosh Chodesh to pray.  In all honesty, I generally avoid praying at graves and tombs.

That's where the Mishkan, Holy Tabernacle rested (was located) for close to four hundred years, from when Joshua established Shiloh as the administrative and spiritual Capital of the Jewish People until Eli the High Priest's sons lost the Aron, Holy Ark in battle.

Eli was succeeded by Samuel the Prophet, the son of Chana (Hannah) who prayed for a son at Shiloh.  She didn't want a son for personal, maternal reasons.  She told G-d that she would raise that son to serve G-d and the Jewish People. It was Samuel who anointed the first two Jewish Kings, Saul and David.

The holiness of Shiloh remains to this day, and people of all religions come from all over the world to pray here.  Archeologists and enthusiastic volunteers have been working hard to discover and uncover more of Ancient, Biblical Shiloh.

My friends and I generally come to pray on Rosh Chodesh, the first of the Jewish Month, but the next one is Rosh Hashanah, the beginning of the Jewish Year.  So we'll join the big T'fillat Chana, Hannah's Prayer event being run by Shiloh HaKeduma on August 28.  Contact Shiloh HaKeduma for more information about it.  At present I only have a Hebrew poster to post here with information.

Pilgrimage to Shiloh, Like in Ancient Days

Centuries before Jews trekked to Jerusalem for prayer, Jewish pilgrims came to the Mishkan Tabernacle in Shiloh to pray to G-d on chaggim, holidays and whenever they could.  Yes, the Shiloh where I live is the same Shiloh, which was the spiritual and administrative Capital of the Jewish Nation for almost four hundred years, from the time of Joshua until Shmuel Hanavi, Samuel the Prophet.

We were provided with an
excellent tour guide.

Yesterday,  a group of women came from all over Israel to visit and pray at the ancient site, Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel Shiloh.  They have been in touch with me via social media, mostly facebook, and we have been planning this trip for months.

outside a local store

They traveled from various parts of the country by bus and car for the opportunity to pray where Chana prayed and see the modern Jewish community that has grown on the same site where our ancestors lived and visited.

No doubt that it was due to the holiness of the spot, but everyone managed to find the strength and agility to hike all over Tel Shiloh.

 

The highlight, of course, was the chance to pray and say T'hillim, Psalms to G-d in the very spot most experts, archeologists and Biblical scholars believe the Mishkan had once stood.

Everyone agreed that the visit was spiritually exhilarating, despite all their time traveling.

Joe Bazer's Biblical Flutes

Afterwards, we spent some time in the Visitors Center, where you can buy drinks, snacks, local crafts and souvenirs, including  wine and olive oil from the area.

Pilgrims can't leave hungry, especially Jewish pilgrims to Shiloh.  The last stop of the group was the local dairy restaurant, pizza place, where everyone ordered a delicious meal, and we even skyped with a member of the group who presently lives abroad.  Thank G-d for modern technology.  Of course, the entire group is due to modern technology, internet and social media.  Almost all of us are writers, bloggers and photographers, so there should be more posts in various sites and blogs in the internet about this visit.

For information about Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel Shiloh, contact visit@telshilo.org.il or call 02-994-4019.  They cater to both groups and individual visitors besides running large public events during Jewish Holidays.

Women are invited to join me for Rosh Chodesh Prayers at Shiloh HaKeduma at Tel Shiloh.  The next one will be:

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh
Rosh Chodesh Sivan

Friday, May 10, 2013

1 Sivan 5773, 8:30am

Tour of Tel & Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים
ראש חודש סיון בתל שילה
יום ו' 10-5 א' סיון תשע"ג 8:30
יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל
נא לבוא, לפרסם ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

Biblical Parallels, Aaron and King Saul

Regular readers and neighbors who attend Torah/Bible classes with me are well aware of how little regard I have for King Saul, the first king of the Jewish Nation.  Numerous times I've written about his great sin of allowing Agag, the Amalek king to live and making an uncalled for ceremony to G-d with his livestock, instead of following G-d's instructions to execute Agag and kill the livestock.  For this sin, he was severely punished; his right to rule was taken from him.  Simply put, G-d fired him; he was no longer allowed to be king.

Yesterday, Shabbat, as I read the Parshat Shavua, Torah Portion of the week, Ki Tisa, I was hit by the parallels in the story of Aaron, the "Golden Calf" and King Saul and his illegal religious ceremony.

In this week's Bible Portion, the people began to panic because they had expected Moses to return from his meeting with G-d.  They pressured Aaron to assist them in constructing a "golden calf" to worship.  Aaron's delaying tactics were ineffective, and G-d was furious with the people, as was Moses when he was greeted by the sight of the subsequent ceremony.  Moses mediated between G-d and the people, defending them, and no real immediate punishment was meted to Aaron.  It's very possible that the death of his sons, Nadav and Avihu for the "strange fire" while worshipping G-d was his punishment.

When Samuel the Prophet confronted King Saul over his disobeying G-d by leaving Agag and the livestock alive and uncalled for ceremony, Saul's excuse was that "the people pressured him."  Nothing of that sort is recorded in the Bible.  Of course, the Bible isn't a minute by minute record.  Could it have been that King Saul thought that he'd be excused, just like Aaron the Priest was?

Now this is all my opinion, my guess-work.  When I mentioned it at our שיעור נשים women's Study Class yesterday, the Bible teacher who was giving it had never heard these parallels mentioned before.

A simple reading of the Bible makes it very obvious that G-d doesn't accept Saul's excuse, whether true or fabricated.  Considering that there is no textual back-up for it and G-d's anger and subsequent punishment of Saul, the chances are that King Saul lied.

Saul was supposed to be a leader, to propagate G-d's commandments to the Jewish People.  Aaron's role was spokesperson and assistant to Moses.  G-d expected, demanded more of Saul; therefore this sin lost him his position.

It could also be said that a more expanded comparison of the two Biblical stories would make Samuel, the Prophet the parallel of Moses, because Samuel brought G-d's instructions to Saul.  King Saul was never the true leader of the Jewish People, but that's for another post.