Posted by Navah on Nov 14, 2021 in The Patriarchs' Saga
The inheritance tensions were central to the development of Israel as a nation. First, we witnessed Avraham’s concerns that he would remain childless and his trusted servant Eliezer would inherit him, despite the Covenant YHVH made with Avraham. Then, the strife between Avraham’s wife Sarah and her maidservant: Who would be the matriarch of the family, and who would inherit Avraham: Ishmael or Yitschak. By sending away Ishmael, Sarah secured the line of...
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Posted by Navah on Nov 8, 2021 in The Patriarchs' Saga
The motive of a mother advocating on behalf of her son is found in two biblical stories of the matriarchs of the nation of Israel. After Yitschak was molested by Ishmael, Sarah urged Avraham to send Hagar away along with her son, so only her son Yitschak would inherit, according to the promise. After Sarah’s ultimatum that Hagar and her son be expelled, Avraham became grieved, but YHVH advised him to listen to his wife. Rivkah, the new matriarch of the family, too...
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Posted by Navah on Oct 31, 2021 in The Patriarchs' Saga
The story of offering Yitschak as a human sacrifice is perhaps the most discussed part of the entire Scripture. Avraham had longed to have a son such as Yitzchak for twenty-five years. When he was finally born, his love for him must have grown from year to year. But when he was suddenly commanded to sacrifice his son with his own hands, he must have felt in a state of uncertainty. And who would not have? But Avraham did not hesitate or challenge the command or even ask for...
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Posted by Navah on Oct 23, 2021 in The Patriarchs' Saga
Ishmael and Israel are the sons of Avraham and the founding fathers of two great nations. Each of them fathered twelve sons, who became the backbones of two peoples: Arabs and Israelites. While Ishmael and Israel took two quite different and even opposite turns in their development as nations, they share some common traits. As sons of the common ancestor Avraham, they have much in common. Both nations are regarded as Semites, the descendants of Shem son of Noach, and as...
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Posted by Navah on Oct 18, 2021 in The Patriarchs' Saga
Readiness to do the will of the Most High and patience in the endurance of doing it are virtues of faith that have been intentionally or negligently left out. In this introduction to Readiness and Patience as Virtues of Faith we would like to clarify certain ideas that have not been entertained at all or too little, and whose depths have not been perceived. In order to clarify this issue in its entirety, we must initially make some inquiries about two colossal minds in the...
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Posted by Navah on Jan 27, 2021 in The Appointed Times of YHVH, The Patriarchs' Saga
According to the tradition, Avraham celebrated Passover with an unleavened bread. While the term Peisach, Passover, was first used for the Passover lambs slaughtered by the Israelites in Egypt, Avraham did celebrate a feast, in which he ate an unleavened bread, hundreds of years before the Festival of the Unleavened Bread was even constituted at Sinai. So, was the law of Passover and the Festival of the Unleavened Bread given to Avraham, before it was given to Israel in...
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Posted by Navah on Dec 15, 2020 in The Patriarchs' Saga
Who are the mothers of the tribes of Israel and what do we know about them? We know much about Sarah, Rivkah, Leah, and Rachel, the recognized and honored matriarchs of Israel. Sadly, little honor is given to the other wives of the patriarch Ya’akov, the forgotten Bilhah and Zilpah, to the point that they are rarely mentioned and hardly recognized as matriarchs of Israel, as Leah and Rachel are. But how much do we know about the unknown mothers of the tribes of...
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Posted by Navah on Nov 26, 2020 in The Patriarchs' Saga
How many people know that the unloved wife of Ya’akov Leah spoke prophetically and thus destined the priesthood of her third son Levi? All the other eleven children of Ya’akov were named by their mothers, as it is written “And she called his name”. The exception is with the youngest of Ya’akov’s sons whom Rachel called Ben-Oni “son of my sorrow”, but Ya’akov called him by the name Binyamin “son of the right hand”. But in Gen 29:34,...
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Posted by Navah on Nov 25, 2020 in Hebrew Study, The Patriarchs' Saga
The patriarch Avraham made two mistakes in his life, even three. Two of these mistakes cost his descendants a great deal of trouble. Had Avraham listened carefully to words of the Creator the history of the world would have been quite different. And I shall make you a great nation, and bless you and make your name great, and you shall be a blessing! And I shall bless those who bless you, and curse him who curses you. And in you all the families of the earth shall be grafted...
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Posted by Navah on Apr 8, 2020 in The Patriarchs' Saga
There is a secret Yoseph (Joseph) kept all his life. He was the favorite son of his father Ya’akov from his beloved wife, who dreamed two prophetic dreams about the family. But those dreams were not the secret Joseph kept in his heart. What was that secret Joseph kept, because the Torah tells us nothing about it? Ya’akov’s sons sold Yoseph in slavery in Egypt and he would not see him for 22 years until they were once again united. We should notice a...
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Posted by Navah on Jan 5, 2020 in The Patriarchs' Saga
Who are the forgotten matriarchs of Israel, and why have they been forgotten in the first place? Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel are the matriarchs of Israel and they have their honorable place in the nation’s history, as every Shabbat in the synagogues around the world the Jewish women are blessed in the name of “Sarah, Rebekah, Leah, and Rachel”: “May the Lord make you like Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah!” But why only in the names of the four...
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Posted by Navah on Nov 15, 2019 in The Patriarchs' Saga
Two apostles have made seemingly contradicting statements whether Avraham was declared righteous by works of faith or his faith alone was reckoned for righteousness. From the very beginning, righteousness was the state in which man was first created in the image of the Creator, but it was lost due to his works in opposition to His will. Yes, there was readiness expressed in the will of Adam, but his works made him lose his stand before the Creator and consequently to lose...
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