(Also on thispage: lists of relevant emails etc)
Gemini:
You've provided a lot of interesting material about your two book ideas, one on the Hebrew Chumash and the other on a broader Biblical interpretation. Here's a breakdown of the key points for each:
Hebrew Chumash Book:
Structure: Organized by Parsha (weekly Torah portion) with thematic references scattered throughout.
Content: Focuses on patterns, connections, and deeper meanings within the Chumash.
Target Audience: People intrinsically interested in the Chumash, seeking a deeper understanding beyond the literal text.
Themes:
Applying Kabbalistic notions to the Chumash for new interpretations.
Connecting Halachic ideas to the Chumash for a richer understanding.
Perush HaChumash L'Chumash (commentaries on the Chumash by later scholars).
Examining parallels and patterns across different generations in the Chumash stories.
Reconciling seemingly contradictory interpretations of Chazal (Rabbinic Sages).
Deriving the essence of Kabbalah and its teachings from the Chumash.
Learning Mishna and Gemara through the context of the Chumash.
Recognizing the importance of free-willed choice in the narrative.
English Book on the Bible:
Structure: Organized thematically, not by Biblical order.
Content: Explores the Bible as a guide to living a harmonious life, focusing on Jewish interpretations and contrasting them with Christian beliefs.
Target Audience: A wider audience interested in the Bible, both Jewish and non-Jewish, who see it as an inspired work.
Themes:
Biblical Humanism: Recasting the message as human-centered, with a focus on ethical behavior.
Divine-Human Interaction: Exploring how God interacts with humanity through stories and events.
The Power of Words: Examining the significance of words in the Bible and their impact on lives.
Mitzvot and Holidays: Understanding them as responses to human actions and challenges.
Prophetic Dreams and Interpretations: Analyzing dreams in the Bible and their influence on decisions.
Karma and Personal Responsibility: Recognizing consequences of actions and the importance of free will.
Quantum Kabbalistic Cosmology: Achieving personal growth by overcoming limitations.
Both books offer unique perspectives on Biblical texts.
The Hebrew book delves deeper into traditional Jewish scholarship and interpretation.
The English book aims for a broader audience, contrasting Jewish and Christian views.
There could be some overlap in themes between the two books, potentially allowing for cross-referencing.
...
The revised structure you propose for your Chumash book is much more reader-friendly. Here's a breakdown of the strengths:
Story-based: Focusing on specific Chumash stories as a starting point will make the book more relatable and engaging.
Layered Interpretation: Including insights from Chazal, mystical teachings, and philosophical lessons adds depth and caters to different learning styles.
Life Lessons: The practical takeaways from each story will resonate with readers seeking to apply Biblical wisdom to their lives.
Divine-Human Interaction:
This theme has strong potential, encompassing sub-themes like prophecy, testing, and cause-and-effect.
Consider exploring how God communicates with humans and how their responses influence events.
Free Will and Choice:
This theme highlights the power of human decisions throughout the Chumash narratives.
Show how choices have consequences and how characters shape their destinies.
Rivalry and Conflict:
The concept of rivalry as a recurring theme is intriguing.
Explore the progression from sibling rivalry (Cain & Abel) to national conflicts, highlighting different forms of competition and their impact.
Mitzvot as Response:
This theme connects the commandments to specific human actions.
Explain how the commandments provide guidance and solutions to recurring challenges.
Deception and Identity:
Delving into stories with mistaken identities like Rivkah and Rachel can highlight the importance of truth and clear communication.
Balancing Themes: While "Quantum Kabbalistic Cosmology" seems interesting, consider if it aligns with the overall focus on Chumash stories.
Target Audience: Tailor the complexity of the philosophical discussions to your intended readers.
Source Integration: Ensure proper citation for any insights or interpretations drawn from Chazal or other sources.
Overall, your revised approach has a strong foundation. By focusing on Chumash stories and drawing on various interpretive layers, you can create a valuable resource for those seeking deeper understanding of the text and its relevance to their lives.
The unique perspective of the Biblical accounts: Revelation vs human records of events: A basic principle when reading chumash is to realize that since it is a divine document, unfiltered through human psyche, (some of) what it tells you is something that humans could not have known. Humans could not have been present at the creation, yet it tells of that.
Another aspect of added value of the Torah’s ‘stories’ due to their being are told from the divine perspective is knowledge of matters that even if a human were present they could not have known, eg granting the reader access to the inner motivations of the protagonists, and the truth about events which otherwise were likely contentious amongst the protagonists of the story. An important example is knowing what was in human hearts and minds during some event eg the brothers reaction to Joseph’s receiving the coat and telling of the dreams. In this case not only would we not have known this if we were witnessing the event, but even the protagonists were perhaps not aware of their own feelings and thoughts as described by the Torah (the jealousy and hatered that the brothers had in their hearts towards Joseph might have been not consciously-known to them). A newspaper account or historian’s analysis of the events could be very different. (There are also aspects which were known to the protagonists which are not in the sotires themsleves, but may be available to us aspart of the Oral Tradition)
So in this second edition of the sefer I am try to find some application of the vorts I wrote in the first edition, but it may be that the vort is more correct and interesting than my initial attempts to find applicaiotns, and so in order not to distract the reader interested only in the vort, I placed the applicaiotns in a specially-marked section after it.
1. Set up according to parsha;
2. with individual vorts which belong to a theme marked as such, with a note re the page numbers of other vorts on that theme scattered throughout the book in various pashas. In this way readers have the choice to read the others or not. And the themes will be listed at the front or back of the book, and so the reader has the choice whether to read it by parsha or - by flipping pages - to read it by theme.
3. A separate section on the chagim (and maybe on shabbos, so it can be read from on any given shabbos, rather than just on shabbos breishis, or on the shabbos on which the parsha contains psukim re shabbos.);
4. a section which can also serve as a haggadah (besides having specific hagadah-related vorts also has references to page numbers of the vorts appropriate for that night which are scattered throught the book).
A book about:
1. the Bible. [Not by parsha. It can have material about chumash and Jewish belief etc, differences with Chr belief, as well as vorts based on the chumash.]
2. Jewish metaphysics or Jewish biblical theology: [based on patterns and themes from the bible, illustrated by individual vorts.]
3. our lives: a guide to how to live in tune with the divine energy affecting us [eg using the the principles we see in the lives of the protagonists of the Biblical stories].
chumash book themes: difference between content in version for frum jews bs for general audience etc
Items like the arba olamot, and the melachot shabbat in the creation account are very interesting only for a very specific group of people, certainly not a general audience.
....
My new book: “Biblical Humanism”: Recasting biblical message of Judaism as humanism: this is actually Fromm’s you shall be as gods, and ironically, the part I didn’t like! But actually I am not saying what he did, I say that Judaism’s central message is humanism, not that that’s all it is. It is a casting of humanism in the context of a divine creation, moral responsibility and god as judge etc.but actullt humanism is a recasting of the bible without god!
Vayipach
Avraham, vayera, veahavta lereacha kamocha etc
Naso: birkat cohanim: why god say ‘tell cohanim they should bless’ ? bec real blessing is when humans fargin others and can bless. And why is it god telling humans to bless and say ‘god bless you”? Bec humans are tzlem elokin ruach etc, and when their ego is lowered, ie they want to bless another, the ruach elokim operates, and they can bless, it is really god blessing.
Jews are mamlechet cohanim vegoi kadosh, so by using the word goi we are told that this is meant in the context of the world, among the other naitons, ie we are cohanim to the rest of the world, in other words our mission is to bless the others, or be a blessing to them. SHlomo Carlebach: we were chosen to tell all others that they are chosen. AR: adam is humanity, not Jew. Ruach elokim, tzelem, all humans, not just Jews. So our mission it to tell this to all nations, that is why it is the opening of the Torah.
AR: Can one say that all the things in the torah which are before matan torah and are not directed at specific individuals (eg avraham, who had commandments specifi to him and his family) are meant for all humanity? Ie creation account, eden, flood, even maybe malchitzedek etc.
"Be mindful of your self-talk, it's a conversation with the Universe, shaping your destiny": wu wei quote, on page of Yurttutan who presents my article re Einstein fw etc on his site: see explanaiotn on other site, inside
....
Wu Wei (chinese, literally “non-doing”) is an important concept of Taoism and means natural action, or in other words, action that does not involve struggle or excessive effort. Wu wei is the cultivation of a mental state in which our actions are quite effortlessly in alignment with the flow of life.
The goal of spiritual practice for the human being is, according to Lao Tzu, the attainment of this purely natural way of behaving, as when the planets revolve around the sun. The planets effortlessly do this revolving without any sort of control, force, or attempt to revolve themselves, instead engaging in effortless and spontaneous movement.
....
In this teaching David James Lees and Alexandra Lees discuss the popular Wu Wei Wisdom teaching: 'Be mindful of your self-talk, it's a conversation with the Universe.'
David explains the origin, nature and impact of your self-talk on your health, wellbeing and life potential; your powerful energetic relationship with the Universe and Cosmos; and how this teaching relates to the modern-day concept of the 'Law of Attraction'.
People will not buy a haggadah of just my stuff, so maybe make it an insert of the book, or just a seciotn of the book, but it is a large part of my vorts.
It can even have drawings: they can illustrate themes such as mida kneged mida and dream interpretation which is related , as outlined above..
Start with a diagram of Yosef's dreams: brothers selling borther as slave to egypt juxtaposed to the jewish people as slaves in egypt (this is three themes; dream interpretation and mida kneged midah, and also the effect of interpretation of a navi).
A bubble showing what brothers are thinking, bowing and how it is wrong since the sheaves are in the dream, and then they had to bow (this is three themes: dream interpretation and mida kneged midah, and also the effec tof interpretaiotn of a navi).
Drawing of pharoah laughing at ridiculousness of M"R old man stuttering and his older brother = self-delusion, hardneing of heart.
Juxtaposing the mida kneged mida reasons for the plagues with the corresponding aspect of the plague (m kneged m)[and also the tanin swallowing the others juxtaposed to the cows swallwoing the others etc]
Pharaoh with bubble of what he is thinking as he pursues BY into the split sea.
...
Principles:
A basic principle is mida kneged mida, so one should examine one's life-events to trace this and try to decipher what is the message.
Deliberate misleading: look behind the scenes, go to a deeper level (I need to figure out what would have been the case if the Biblical protagonist had done this...)....
One main central theme of the book applies an essential message of chumash: that the future unfolding of events – and of divine-human interactions - depends on our free-willed responses to situations. Response affects future:
every time a response is required - whether verbal or action - it is an opportunity, and a maximally-positive response will effectuate a positive future;
always judge lekaf zchus, otherwise the negative interpretation boomerangs to you;
interpret dreams positively and this helps in actualizing them positively;
be supporting maximally of the dreams of others, help them to achieve it rather than shooting it down verbally or taking action to obstruct it.
Mitzvos (7 of bnei noach, 10 comandments...) were established in response to humanity's actions. Mitzvot specific to the Jewish People and then Holidays were established in response to Bney Yisrael's actions.
things happen over and over again, until resolved (eg sibling rivalry, but also the parallel stories), so we need to pay attention to the patterns in our lives and find out thereby what the challenge is that we are meant to face, the obstacle to overcome inside us, the direction of growth that is being pointed out to us.
we can create channels for our descendants and the bney yisrael as a whole, so at moments of decision, remember it is destiny & eternity that is affected and this can give us the strength to make the effort and self-sacrifice.
what the story of yosef dream tells us about astrology; avodah zarah vs human FW, especially as guided by hashgachah pratit.
problem of evil
what monotheism is really about
listen carefully to what is said and what is happening during important nexus, try to go out of yourself at that moment because there are messages in what is happening that you can miss due to self-involvement at that instant.
...
Adapting the themes to be part of the overall idea of:
The divine-human interaction;
Karma (MkM);
Joseph dreams & astrology: present it as a jewish secret of how to overcome astrological influences (via earnest FW difficult ethical choice, while attaching to divine guidance etc). And it is part of the metaphysic, and of how the natural world, the supernatural world and humanity interact.
chr vs J'm: Differences between Jewish belief and Christian/Pagan beliefs: don't mention the others, only present the jewish way, as part of the metaphysic, and readers of various religions will see the differences.
Deception and mistaken identities in chumash (‘things are not necessarily as they seem'): Maybe this is a message that events in our lives also may seem one way but actually be otherwise.
The method of darshening by seeking the context of a word elsewhere in the chumash, and of tying stories together based on common phrases etc, might be a hint to how to interpret event in out lives - if we wrote out an extensive detialed diary of our days, what patterns would we see which could be a divine hint to us?
Helices: coming back, at a higher level: similar to the above.
The Role of other nations and their prophets; our interaction with them
Hebrew book: not "Themes" but patterns, for people who are
a. intrinsically-interested in the chumash and
b. getting a deeper understanding not just of the story but of the interconeciotn of kabbalah, torah shebischsav, halacha, etc,
c. and the interconneciotn of historical unfolding, how what is done in one generaiotn is influenced by what happned earleir and influences what happens later, or that certian patterns play themselves out over time in different ways (like gilgul of groups rather than of individuals).
So instead of "themes" as in the English version, can do sections:
1. Applying kabbalistic notions to the chumash in order to learn from the text new translaiton/inteprretaitons, ie k'c ideas shedding light on the pshat of chumash... like 4 worlds idea helps us to better understand the word "tzelem", and also "bara". And we can read the stories as contianing remazim to the things taught by chazal, eg vort "Remazim bapsukim harishonim le EY, hagalut ve hageulah"
2. Applying halachik ideas to the chumash, eg seeing the mlachot in the creaiotn account helps us better understand breishis, and also maybe better understand what 'shviso' means and helps see all the creative acts in a unified maner? and connect it to the description of the building of th mishkan perhaps.
3. perush hachumash lachumash etc, helps us understand the chumash by seeing how it is cas later, or understood by M"R, and then by the nevi'im etc
4. via parallels, seeing one story in the light of another, perhaps as a pattern playing itself out over different generations (like sibling rivalry as the story of chumash breishis, the yosef and mordechai stories, and list others)
5. Chazal differ in their interpretaitons, but they must all come from the oringinal understnading, andperhaps there was one deeper level that eventually split into many different ones, and given these pieces we can try to sew them back into the original one, eg by finding the unifying underlying feature in various conflicting interpretations we can arrive at a deeper understanding: by finding the unifying underlying feature in various conflicting interpretations we arrive at a deeper understanding: eg: rashi brings several different seemingly unrelated explanations of what breishis means it ties in to tov me'od, and so this tying of the vairous interpretaiotns to their essential similarity shed slight on the meaning of 'breishis' - 'avur oneg', feelings of gratitude, which is what underlies the vairous explanations brought by Rashi] .
6. try to deduce what would be the essence, ie if we are told there is kabalah, and we know there are basic priciples and philosophical notions missingfrom the pshat of chumash, and we try to learn it ourselves, and then see what kabbalah says, and then in the light of how that is different than what you would have thought, and what that teaches you about how to interpret chumash, re-look at the chumash.
learn a halacha from the chumash(as I tried to do re eved ivri), ie using context etc, and then use the 'midos she hatorah idreshes bahem', and then learn mishna, then gemara, and see how these various results differ and what we can learn from this, and then re-look at the chumash.
Rambam talks of contradiciotns as pointing to secrets, and I point to non-sequitars eg shabbos as a pointer to finding a new layer in the creation account's details (Perhaps the reason for the detail in breishis is to help betzelel in constructing the mishkan?!).
Use an amira of chazal to shed light further, like the new verison of vort re shabbos shmita and E"Y
Use an insight from one story to apply to another: eg recognizing that the exile from gan eden was NOT because of eating of the etz ha;da;at but rather to prevent eating from the etz ha'chayim can maye teach us how to better interpret other galut episodes? or other stories in general?
AR: think through which are the deepest things I learned in life, about events, history, my life, myself etc, and try to articulate lessons/principles, and then see whehter there are chumash/chazal etc stories or teachings which are relevant (maybe I was influenced y them and that';s how i arrived at them?)
...
Basic principle: The Essence is free willed choice (universe created via FW choice, and then Eden account), and the moments when we struggle inside against our negative impulse etc and our nature are the essence of our lives. The Torah doesn't recount all of history (in an open way), but rather the nexii of inportant FW'ed decisions and their effects.
What we decide in these moments of inner struggle determines the future in ways that automatic responses do not (and whatever occurs automatically is of no interest, which is why the account of the creation of the universe is juxtaposed to the emergence of FW).
In that sense it is indeed "all about us", ie "bishvili nivra ha'olam'. But of course we need to focus on ego reduction, self-devleopment towards compassion etc, and this is the essence of giluy shchinah, as in Vayera.
Although the important aspect is FW'd choice, nevertheless, some aspects are pre-determined: as with genetics, so too spiritually: what you are or how you act and what you do can affect events: The Name you give your children or to a place etc determines some aspect of their lives or the future of that place, so it is determined for them, but it was based on YOUR free choice. So you must exert your own FW when you face situaiotns created by other people's FW'ed choice, and YOUR choices will affect others.
....
Chumash book: tying the themes together, and forming a unified metaphysic, and guide to spiritual living (deep principles)
The book should present three levels: torah shebichsav, torah she'b'al'peh; our lives. ie:
a chumash story;
the spiritual/metaphysical/kabbalistic principle it exemplifies;
the lesson for us regarding how to incorporate this principle in our lives.
Not just that chumash + Oral torah teaches us how to live, but that our lives, individual plus collectively, with all its details, and all our communal existence wiht its intricate difficultes and challenges and the self-understandings gained from how we respond to events and interpersonal aspects etc, all are part of Torah. 1. Mishpatim is mystical. 2. all of the shutim on life are part of Torah 3. Torah (J'm) resides in our civilization not in a book
…….
A book which reads not so much as parshat hashevuah but rather more as an overall analysis of specific aspects, traces certain themes, for a wider audience Jewish and otherwise who are interested in the Bible at least as an inspired (not just literary) work, but who don't follow the parsha.
Hebrew version: there are lots of supposedly secular Israelis who are now interested in these things, as Americans were years ago. Perhaps we could try to find a Hebrew publisher who is interested.
Prophetic visions, revelations, inspiration & dreams: interpretation, action & actuation
The effect of one's words:
Relating different stories
· how the protagonists (actually heroes) grew beyond their initial midot, and how their earlier stories are related to their later ones;
· the light one story casts on another;
· the psychological motivations of the protagonist or the divine message of the story as revealed by the subtext or internal logic of a story,
· relationships between seemingly unrelated sections of the chumash (relating different stories, connection between the ten commandments and Eden etc)
principles of divine operation ('derech hashem'): examples of known midot, and proposed new ones:
examples of mida kneged mida: re the 10 makot; the effect of the words of the navi [Effect of the actions and words of the Biblical protagonists on the later events which befell them. (Avraham, Yitzchak, Yakov, Yosef, other shvatim, Moshe, and also Pharaoh [re the the plagues etc])
not having more than one of the avot etc in contact in a given period,
Hashem as 'divine provocateur',
cultivating the avot and Moshe Rabbenu as sanegorim, etc.
Major theme of the hoped-for chumash book
(Yakov after the sulam) after a revelation, how they acted (including Bil'am), how they interpreted the messages given to them (for example Rivka interpreting what she heard as a mission not just information), also 'the power of words', Yakov's words re Rachel and other examples including eg Elisha, re the child, and the woman's actions/interpretation re the oil.
.....
relating nistar, torah she'bichtav & torah sheba’al peh
Conneciton of toshba and she'bichsav maybe is theme of cyclical events and energies, and holidays are return of the past energies as mentoined in the chumash.
Elements of torah sheba’al peh which can be tied to the wording of torah she'bichtav (the shabbos and yom kippur articles and others)
elements of nistar or kabalah which are closely tied to the wording of torah she'bichtav
elements of torah sheba’al peh which can be tied to the wording of torah she'bichtav
hints in the creation and gan eden accounts to fundamental mitzvoth
Plays on words (mischakei milim); remazim
We are enslaved by the forces in our genes and environment, in our awareness and by our instincts, by Nature, by society and by the will of those seeking power over us. As a result we may experience existential despair and the sense of lack of meaning and purpose in our lives. However we can quantumly transcend our inner limitations and the cosmic tyranny of Nature, rise above determinism and randomness - and Fate - via acts of free will, guided by kabbalistic principles enshrined in the inner meanings of Biblical stories.
In a universe whose light was created via "let there be!", beware the power in words YOU utter!
The hidden wheels of the universe: the mechanisms of the celestial-human interaction as gleaned from the Bible's stories.
Quantum Kabbalistic guide to a more successful(?) tuned-in? life:
for Bible-lovers
Interpreting/decoding the hidden divine message encoded in the patterns of Your life, with Biblical stories as the key
What God is teaching us through the Biblical stories, and how we can apply it to flow more harmoniously through life
Chumash book title: "Biblical guide to a Harmonious Life": "God's physics as revealed by biblical narrative: "The Cosmic M.O.
"God may be talking to me, but i don't understand what he's saying"
"Translating for God"
"God and I have communication issues"
"The Bible is a Manual for life... but I never understand manuals!"
Being in synch with the spiritual cosmos...dynamics.." "Creating harmony in human-divine relationship)...."
"With God as with people: Improve your communicaiton EQ, improve your conneciotn"
Biblical messages for attaining Karmic harmony in your life.
"Beyond Astrology"
Transcending the bonds that constrain your life"
think of what possible benefit the book can be and base the title on that...how a persons life can be transformed positively, what the effect would be:
examples "living inspired" "life is a test" "Endless light"
How to decide on the title:
look through themes and find general pattern of the themes and reflect that in the title;
or find a main theme and refelct it in title;
or title should be something general etc.
Title: "Jews don't believe in the bible"
("Judaism as a cloud"resides in the cloud , they disagree") "Judaism is what Jews do"
(beLIEf)
AR: also will inter alia be an explanation to Ch's why J's don;t interrpet Chumash as they do, we look to see if our interpretaitons fit with chazal about chumash and if they fit with halachot etc. And why J;s don;t accept later figures/prophets.
Preface: I'll be telling you what I believe is the Jewish belief. But even I don't aways agree with what I (Jews don't agree. Even with what I just said. But you are reading MY book, so I'll tell you what I believe.)
Intro: explain the title (or should this be ch 1?)
........................................
Outline for an English-language popular-oriented book "Quantum kabbalistic dream interpretation"
..................................
Example of a title & approach: Review of a book by Guy Finley:
Whether we know it or not, we create the content and the quality of our own lives moment-to-moment. In fact, you are creating and experiencing your destiny even as you read this. Which means that what you think of being your future is really the choices you are making -- and experiencing -- right now. To understand this truth is to unlock the treasure of your True Self, and gain the abundance of a mind and heart that cannot compromise yourself, or anyone else.
Think for a moment about this next question. Your answer to it will determine your destiny. Which would you rather have: a life whose unhappiness is offset by temporary pleasures won at the cost of your health and relationships with others, or a life that is permanently enriched by being able to transform whatever makes you unhappy into true spiritual abundance?
If you have chosen the latter of these two distinct paths through this life of ours then Guy Finley's book Design Your Destiny: Shape Your Future in 12 Easy Steps may well prove to be the most significant book you will ever read.
Design Your Destiny will show you how to take charge of the strong and subtle forces that, until now, have been secretly deciding your life choices without your consent. And once you take back rightful control of your own life, newfound powers of self-command will be yours to use as you wish. And as the wise ones have taught all through the ages: the one who commands him or herself, commands the world.
As you work with the down-to-earth practices described in this book, you'll marvel as:
Fears, doubts, and worries about tomorrow start to fade away
You enjoy new enthusiasm and real love for life
Your present moments fill with assurance, wisdom, and strength
The problems of the past lose their grip on your heart and mind
Stress and insecurity are replaced by relaxed confidence
Design Your Destiny will provide you with all of the instructions you need to make the journey to the invisible world within, and take possession and command of your own thoughts and feelings. What an adventure awaits you once you gain the powers needed to design your own destiny!
Partly based on my chumash vorts, partly philosophy etc
"For Bible-believers."
Maybe I should video myself talking about all these topics, to send to publisher. say I will adapt it to a book.
Ch1: (Why) Jews don't believe in the Bible".
Ch2: (Why) Jews don't want to be saved.
Ch3: (Why many) Jews don't believe in Hell.
Ch4: (Why many) Jews don't believe God talks to them.
Ch5: (Why) Jews don't believe anyone was greater than Abraham/Moses.
Ch6: Why Jews won't turn the other cheek.
Why bad things happen to good Jews
Why so many people hate Jews
Why Jews don't spread their message.
Find parallels between what happens in the creation account, and:
the themes I find in chumash (laws of divine-human interaciton);
how the world works (spiritual physics).
the first word "breishis" is disconnected from the rest of the sentence, it is mysterious, as is the world and what happens to us; the torah starts with mystery to let us know tat all is mystery to us, as God told Iyov, when God references this creation event.
creation is with words, and we see in chumash stories the importance of words, and this tells us that in our lives in this world also.
God's ruach hovers, and brings order to chaos, and that is our task as well. And in chumash the stories illustrate that all is from God, God watches and cares and intervenes, directing small events as well as overall history (which is reasonable since God created it all, and so is powerful enough to do so, and because God created it all for a reason and saw it was good, and wants to keep it that way!).
Adam gives animals names, and we see the importance of names in the chumash stories, and so too in our lives..
snake deceives chava, and deception and mistaken identity are all over in the chumash, and we need to understand that htis happens in our lives and the lives of nations.
At one level the 6-day creation account is an introduction to the Torah: is saying that the God who created the universe and humanity is the one who later on is communicating with us, directing history, approtioning lands to nations, and commanding us to do all the mitzvos. God's brings order to chaos, and that is our task as well, as per the traditional understanding of the final words of the creation(shabbat) account - "asher bara elokim la'asot' - which God created (for us) to do (complete)
what is the eden story all about? just as the creaiton account is an intro to the mitzvot part of Torah, the eden story is intro to the story part: That is, the Eden account tells us that humans chose to choose freely, they chose to accept the burden of moral action, and the God who placed Adam & Eve in the Eden test-situaiton is the one who placed all the rest of the people and naitons in the chumash stories in test-situations, where their free will is the key, and they are expected to choose the good. In this way the Eden account is precursor to all the
The stories in chumash illustrate that all is from God, God watches and cares and intervenes, directing small events as well as overall history - which is reasonable in light of the creation & Eden accounts since God created it all, and so is powerful enough to do intervene at will, and because God created it all for a reason and saw it was good, and wants us to keep it that way!
...
H created Adam, and then commanded him re not eating from the tree of Knowledge, but deliberately didn;t create woman at the same time and made sure to command adam before she was on the scene, and made sure not to tell Eve about the tree, leaving it to adam to do so. And creates a snake and deliberately places it in Eden to tempt Eve.
Also there is the mention in some sources of a love-triangle, the snake desired Eve, etc, so there was a type of rivalry.
And this sort of rivalry, and being set up by God follows in all the stories: firstit is rivalry of siblings, then of nations. In Exodus the children-rivals grow to be naitons and there is war between them, ie the J people as a nation (complainign about food, giving in to temptaiton of egel hazahav, bnos moav etc) or between nations midian moav amalek etc , and later in tanach between tribes of Israel etc.
(and kinah gaavah taavah are much of the basis for the conflicts in the stories).
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The below outline is too philosophical, I want the book to be based on chumash stories. Maybe to start with the story, then my interp'n of it, and chazal/mystical, and the phil'l teaching based on it, and the life-lession?
CH 6: Other nations: each nation has its mission, destiny, no need for anyone else to be jewish. The nations had great prophets etc. (But not valid if they claimed God told them to tell the Jews to not keep the Torah as taught by M"R.)
Ch 7:The power of words and names: physics cause effect, etc, but fawareness is fundamental... at crucial jjunctures the power of the effect of a very difficult FW''ed choice, not just any FW'ed choice.... can detemrine the reso f history, push it onto a different track
Some events predetermined, but how we get there is up to us... Joseph: Jews would b ein mitzrayim, and even 'eved' etc, but in good way... etc
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the Chumash English book
The book is planned to have individual ma’amarim, but arranged around a set of themes. The first example of each theme will be used to express the theme, and then ma’amarim in later parshiot will refer to these themes.
I was thinking of a book which reads not so much as parshat hashevuah but rather more as an overall analysis of specific aspects, traces certain themes, for a wider audience Jewish and otherwise who are interested in the Bible at least as an inspired (not just literary) work, but who don't follow the parsha.
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The Writing of the Torah: 24:4 MR wrote “vayichtov” all the words of God 24:7 MR took the book “sefer (haBris)” ;When were the creation accounts and stories of the Avot written down by Moshe Rabbenu?; Historical Records available to Moshe;Revelation vs human records of events: The added value of the Torah’s ‘stories’ is that they are told from the divine perspective; The unique perspective of the Biblical accounts: