The Bent Time

Shalom,

This Shabbat we will read two Torah portions: Aharei Mot and Ke’doshim in the book of Leviticus.    

In the Torah portion of Aharei Mot, G-d promises that if the Children of Israel keep the laws of the Torah in the land of Israel and will not do abominable actions, they will dwell in the holy land securely and the land will not vomit them out.

וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם אַתֶּם, אֶת-חֻקֹּתַי וְאֶת-מִשְׁפָּטַי, וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ, מִכֹּל הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵלֶּה:  הָאֶזְרָח, וְהַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכְכֶם

כִּי אֶת-כָּל-הַתּוֹעֵבֹת הָאֵל, עָשׂוּ אַנְשֵׁי-הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם; וַתִּטְמָא, הָאָרֶץ

וְלֹא-תָקִיא הָאָרֶץ אֶתְכֶם, בְּטַמַּאֲכֶם אֹתָהּ, כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת-הַגּוֹי, אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם

“And you shall keep My statues and My laws and you shall not do any of these abominations, the citizen and the stranger who dwells within you… and you shall not do any of these abominations… and that land shall not vomit you out in your contaminating it like it vomited out that nation that was before you.”  (18:26-28).

G-d told this to the Children of Israel when they were in the desert and still had not reached the land of Israel. 

At that time the nations of Canaan were still dwelling in the land of Israel.

They were still not vomited by the land of Israel.  

Question: 

Why then does the Torah speak in the past tense:  “…like it already vomited out that nation that was before you”?   

…כַּאֲשֶׁר קָאָה אֶת הַגּוֹי אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵיכֶם

Rabbi Aharon Kotler answers the question.

The Torah reminds us of a big *TRUTH – The Creator of the world is beyond time.

The name of the Creator of the world – Y/H/V/H – tells us:

הָיָה, הֹוֶה, יִהְיֶה

He was, He is, He will be.

Therefore, for the Creator of the world there is no difference between the future and the past. 

The time is completely “bent” into the present from the past and from the future. 

The Creator already knows that the land will vomit out the nations that dwell upon it because of their abominable actions.

HEBREW CORNER

* The word ‘Truth’ in Hebrew is אמת (EMET). 

It consists of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet – א,
the middle letter מ, and the last letter ת. 

Notice: If we take out the first letter א, we get the word מת, meaning – ‘Dead‘. 

If we take out the last letter ת, we get the word אם,
meaning – ‘On condition‘. 

It alludes that the Real Truth must be whole, not missing any element of it. 

Shabbat Shalom

Yoel & Orly

PS. 

This week Orly and I had another interview on the Israeli TV channel – ILTV, where we discussed the history of Hebrew and its revival be Eliezer Ben Yehuda. 

Here is the link to the YouTube recording of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usuXSpFzmr4 

As the holiday of Shavuot approaches, we are planning to make some surprise offers to you. 

Stay tuned to our messages! 

Many ask us for permission to redistribute our newsletters. By all means, please do feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you wish! 

Access the archive of our previous posts at:

https://www.ulpanor.com/category/blog/

Subscribe to our newsletters on our website at the bottom of the home page:

www.ulpanor.com