Paintings by Michal MeronWith texts selected from the JPS TANAKH

Edited by Alon Baker

Introductory notes by Dr. Ellen Frankel

B E R E S H I T Bereshit 1.16.8

11

In the beginning, God created the world out of chaos. God declared all these creations good, and then Godrested on the first Shabbat. The first human beings, Adam and Eve, lived peacefully in the Garden of Eden,

until they disobeyed God's commandsDo not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Eviland

were expelled from paradise. Their suffering continued when their son Cain killed his brother Abel. Ten

generations later Noah was born.

God said, Let there be light; and there was light. God saw that the light was good ... God said, Letthere be an expanse in the midst of the water, that it may separate water from water. God made theexpanse, and it separated the water which was below the expanse from the water which was above theexpanse. And it was so ... God said, Let the water below the sky be gathered into one area, that thedry land may appear. And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of waters Hecalled Seas ... And God said, Let the earth sprout vegetation: seed-bearing plants, fruit trees of everykind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it. And it was so ... God said, Let there be lights in theexpanse of the sky to separate day from night; they shall serve as signs for the set timesthe days andthe years; and they shall serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth. And it wasso. God made the two great lights, the greater light to dominate the day and the lesser light to dominatethe night, and the stars ... God said, Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and birdsthat fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky. ... God said, Let the earth bring forth every kindof living creature: cattle, creeping things, and wild beasts of every kind. And it was so ... (Gen. 1.324)

Whe

n God

began to cre

ate heaven and earth ...(Gen 1.1)

And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; butas for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it; for as soon as you eat of it, you shalldie. (Gen. 2.1617)

The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in theeast, and placed there the man whom He hadformed. And from the ground the Lord God causedto grow every tree that was pleasing to the sightand good for food, with the tree of life in the middleof the garden, and the tree of knowledge of goodand bad. (Gen. 2.89)

A river issues from Eden to water the garden, and it then divides and becomes four branches. Thename of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is.(The gold of that land is good; bdellium is there, and lapis lazuli.) The name of the second river is Gihon,the one that winds through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Tigris, the one thatflows east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. (Gen. 2.1014)

B E R E S H I TBereshit

12

And God said, Let us make man in our image,after our likeness. They shall rule the fish of thesea, the birds of the sky, the cattle, the whole earth,and all the creeping things that creep on earth.(Gen. 1.26)

The Lord God said, It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a fitting helper for him.... So theLord God cast a deep sleep upon the man; and, while he slept, He took one of his ribs and closed up theflesh at that spot. And the Lord God fashioned the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman;and He brought her to the man. (Gen. 2.1822)

The two of them were naked, the man and his wife, yet they felt no shame. Now the serpent was theshrewdest of all the wild beasts that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God reallysay: You shall not eat of any tree of the garden? The woman replied to the serpent, We may eat of thefruit of the other trees of the garden. It is only about fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden that Godsaid: You shall not eat of it or touch it, lest you die. And the serpent said to the woman, You are notgoing to die, but God knows that as soon as you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be likedivine beings who know good and bad. When the woman saw that the tree was good for eating and adelight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable as a source of wisdom, she took of its fruit and ate.She also gave some to her husband, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened and they

Because you did this, more cursed shall you be than all cattle and all the wild beasts: On your bellyshall you crawl and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life. (Gen. 3.14)

13

And the Lord God said, Now that theman has become like one of us, knowinggood and bad, what if he should stretch outhis hand and take also from the tree of lifeand eat, and live forever! So the Lord Godbanished him from the garden of Eden, totill the soil from which he was taken. Hedrove the man out, and stationed east of thegarden of Eden the cherubim and the fieryever-turning sword, to guard the way to thetree of life. (Gen. 3.2224)

perceived that they were naked; and they sewedtogether fig leaves and made themselvesloincloths. They heard the sound of the Lord Godmoving about in the garden at the breezy time ofday; and the man and his wife hid from the LordGod among the trees of the garden ... The LordGod called out to the man and said to him, Whereare you? He replied, I heard the sound of Youin the garden, and I was afraid because I wasnaked, so I hid. Then He asked, Who told youthat you were naked? (Gen. 2.253.11)

Haftarat Bereshit

Thus said God the Lord, Who created the heavensand stretched them out, Who spread out the earthand what it brings forth, Who gave breath to thepeople upon it and life to those who walk thereon:I the Lord, in My grace, have summoned you, andI have grasped you by the hand. I created you,and appointed you a covenant people, a light ofnationsopening eyes deprived of light, rescuingprisoners from confinement, from the dungeonthose who sit in darkness. I am the Lord, that isMy name; I will not yield My glory to another,nor My renown to idols. See, the things oncepredicted have come, and now I foretell new things, announce to you ere they sprout up. Sing to theLord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earthyou who sail the sea and you creatures in it,you coastlands and their inhabitants! (Isa. 42.510)

B E R E S H I T Bereshit

14

Now the man knew his wifeEve, and she conceived and boreCain, saying, I have gained amale child with the help of theLord. She then bore his brotherAbel. Abel became a keeper ofsheep, and Cain became a tillerof the soil. In the course of time,Cain brought an offering to theLord from the fruit of the soil; and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock.The Lord paid heed to Abel and his offering, but to Cain and his offering He paid no heed. Cain wasmuch distressed and his face fell. And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you distressed, and why is yourface fallen? Surely, if you do right, there is uplift ... Cain said to his brother Abel ... And when they werein the field, Cain set upon his brother Abel and killed him. The Lord said to Cain, Where is your brotherAbel? And he said, I do not know. Am I my brothers keeper? Then He said, What have you done?Hark, your brothers blood cries out to Me from the ground! Therefore, you shall be more cursed thanthe ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brothers blood from your hand. (Gen. 4.111)

The Lord saw how great was mans wickedness on earth, and how every plan devised by his mindwas nothing but evil all the time. And the Lord regretted that He had made man on earth, and His heartwas saddened. The Lord said, I will blot out from the earth the men whom I createdmen togetherwith beasts, creeping things, and birds of the sky; for I regret that I made them. But Noah found favorwith the Lord. (Gen. 6.58)

(Ashkenazim read Isaiah 42.543.10) (Sephardim read 42.543.21)

B E R E S H I T Noah 6.911.32

15

This is the line of Noah.Noah was a righteous man; he was blameless in his age; Noah walkedwith God. (Gen. 6.9)

Then the earth became corrupt.God commanded Noah, the only

upright man in his generation, to

build an ark to save himself, his

family, and two of every living thing,

for a flood was about to destroy the

earth. Noah did so. After forty days

of rain, water covered the earth,

drowning all life, except those inside

the ark. A year later, the survivors

emerged upon dry land. God sent a

rainbow, a promise that no great

flood like this would come again.

Then human beings decided to

challenge God by building a tower

to heaven, but God babbled their

language, and they scattered

throughout the world. Ten generations

later, Abram was born. He married

Sarai, and they settled in Haran.

The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with lawlessness. When God saw howcorrupt the earth was, for all flesh had corrupted its ways on earth, God said to Noah, I have decidedto put an end to all flesh, for the earth is filled with lawlessness because of them: I am about to destroythem with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood ... For My part, I am about to bring the Floodwaters upon the earthto destroy all flesh under the sky in which there is breath of life; everything onearth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you, and you shall enter the ark, with yoursons, your wife, and your sons wives. And of all that lives, of all flesh, you shall take two of each into

B E R E S H I TNoah

16

And on the seventh day the waters of the Flood came upon the earth ... The rain fell on the earthforty days and forty nights. That same day Noah and Noahs sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, went intothe ark, with Noahs wife and the three wives of his sonsthey and all beasts of every kind, all cattleof every kind, all creatures of every kind that creep on the earth, and all birds of every kind, every bird,every winged thing. They came to Noah into the ark, two each of all flesh in which there was breath oflife. Thus they that entered comprised male and female of all flesh,

as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him

in. (Gen. 7.1016)

ark to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female. From birds of every kind, cattle of every kind,every kind of creeping thing on earth, two of each shall come to you to stay alive. For your part, takeof everything that is eaten and store it away, to serve as food for you and for them. Noah did so; justas God commanded him, so he did ... For in seven days time I will make it rain upon the earth, fortydays and forty nights, and I will blot out from the earth all existence that I created. And Noah did justas the Lord commanded him. Noah was six hundred years old when the Flood came, waters upon theearth. Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons wives, went into the ark becauseof the waters of the Flood. (Gen. 6.117.7)

He waited still another seven daysand sent the dove forth; and it didnot return to him any more ... Godspoke to Noah, saying, Come outof the ark, together with your wife,your sons, and your sons wives.Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds, animals, and everything thatcreeps on earth; and let them swarm on the earth and be fertile and increase on earth. So Noah cameout, together with his sons, his wife, and his sons wives. Every animal, every creeping thing, and everybird, everything that stirs on earth came out of the ark by families. (Gen. 8.1219)

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking of every clean animal and of every clean bird,he offered burnt offerings on the altar ... God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fertileand increase, and fill the earth ... Every creature that lives shall be yours to eat; as with the green grasses,I give you all these. You must not, however, eat flesh with its life-blood in it. But for your own life-bloodI will require a reckoning: I will require it of every beast; of man, too, will I require a reckoning for humanlife, of every man for that of his fellow man! Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his bloodbe shed; for in His image did God make man. Be fertile, then, and increase; abound on the earth andincrease on it ... I now establish My covenant with you and your offspring to come, and with every livingthing that is with youbirds, cattle, and every wildbeast as wellall that have come out of the ark, everyliving thing on earth. I will maintain My covenantwith you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by thewaters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood

to destroy the earth. (Gen. 8.209.11)

17

All existence on earth was blotted outman, cattle, creeping things, and birds of the sky; they wereblotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark. And when the watershad swelled on the earth one hundred and fifty days, God remembered Noah and all the beasts and allthe cattle that were with him in the ark, and God caused a wind to blow across the earth, and the waters

subsided. The fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky werestopped up, and the rain from the

sky was held back;the waters thenreceded steadilyfrom the earth. Atthe end of one

hundred and fifty days the waters diminished, so that in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day ofthe month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat ... At the end of forty days, Noah openedthe window of the ark that he had made and sent out the raven; it went to and fro until the waters haddried up from the earth ... He waited another seven days, and again sent out the dove from the ark. Thedove came back to him toward evening, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! Then Noahknew that the waters had decreased on the earth. (Gen. 7.238.11)

Shout, O barren one, you who bore no child! Shout aloud for joy, you who did not travail! For thechildren of the wife forlorn shall outnumber those of the espousedsaid the Lord. Enlarge the site of

your tent, extend the size of your dwelling, do not stint! Lengthen theropes, and drive the pegs firm. For you shall spread out to the right

and the left; your offspring shall dispossess nations and shall peoplethe desolate towns. Fear not, you shall not be shamed; do not

cringe, you shall not be disgraced. For you shall forget thereproach of your youth, and remember no more the shameof your widowhood. (Isa. 54.14)

B E R E S H I T Noah

Haftarat Noah(Ashkenazim read Isaiah 54.155.5) (Sephardim read 54.155.10)

Everyone on earth had the same language and the same words.And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a valley inthe land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another,Come, let us make bricks and burn them hard.Brick servedthem as stone, and bitumen served them as mortar.And theysaid, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower with its top inthe sky, to make a name for ourselves; else we shall be scatteredall over the world. The Lord came down to look at the cityand tower that man had built, and the Lord said, If, as onepeople with one language for all, this is how they havebegun to act, then nothing that they may propose to dowill be out of their reach. Let us, then, go down andconfound their speech there, so that they shallnot understand one anothers speech. Thusthe Lord scattered them from there over theface of the whole earth; and they stoppedbuilding the city. That is why it was calledBabel, because there the Lord confounded thespeech of the whole earth; and from there theLord scattered them over the face of the wholeearth. (Gen. 11.19)

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There was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine wassevere in the land. As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, I know what a beautifulwoman you are. If the Egyptians see you, and think, She is his wife, they will kill me and let you live.Please say that you are my sister, that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may remainalive thanks to you. When Abram entered Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful the womanwas. Pharaohs courtiers saw her and praised her to Pharaoh, and the woman was taken into Pharaohspalace. And because of her, it went well with Abram; he acquired sheep, oxen, asses, male and femaleslaves, she-asses, and camels. But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his household with mighty plagueson account of Sarai, the wife of Abram. Pharaoh sent for Abram and said, What is this you have doneto me! Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? Why did you say, She is my sister, so that I tookher as my wife? Now, here is your wife; take her and begone! And Pharaoh put men in charge of him,and they sent him off with his wife and all that he possessed. From Egypt, Abram went up into theNegeb, with his wife and all that he possessed, together with Lot. Now Abram was very rich in cattle,

B E R E S H I T Lech Lecha 12.117.27

The Lord said to Abram, Go forth from yournative land and from your fathers house to the

land that I will show you. (Gen. 12.1)

God called Abram to leave his home and go to the land of Canaan. So Abram and Sarai, together with theirnephew Lot, settled in Canaan. God blessed Abram, promising him countless descendants, and made a covenant

with him. But Sarai was barren. She gave Abram her maid Hagar to bear a child in her place, and Hagar gave birth

to a son, Ishmael. God promised Abram that Sarai too would soon bear a son. Then God changed Abram's name

to Abraham, and Sarai's name to Sarah. When Ishmael was thirteen and Abraham was ninety-nine, Abraham

circumcised himself, his son, and all the males of his household.

B E R E S H I TLech Lecha

silver, and gold. And he proceeded by stages from the Negeb as far as Bethel, to the place where histent had been formerly, between Bethel and Ai, the site of the altar that he had built there at first; andthere Abram invoked the Lord by name. Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents,so that the land could not support them staying together ... Abram said to Lot, Let there be no strifebetween you and me, between my herdsmen and yours, for we are kinsmen. Is not the whole land beforeyou? Let us separate: if you go north, I will go south; and if you go south, I will go north. ... So Lotchose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus they parted fromeach other; Abram remained in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the Plain, pitching

his tents near Sodom. Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked sinners against the Lord. (Gen.

Now, when King Amraphel of Shinar, King Arioch of Ellasar, King Chedorlaomer of Elam, and KingTidal of Goiim made war on King Bera of Sodom, King Birsha of Gomorrah, King Shinab of Admah, KingShemeber of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar ... Now the Valley of Siddim was dotted withbitumen pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah, in their flight, threw themselves into them, whilethe rest escaped to the hill country. [The invaders] seized all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah andall their provisions, and went their way. They also took Lot, the son of Abrams brother, and his possessions,and departed; for he had settled in Sodom. A fugitive brought the news to Abram the Hebrew ... WhenAbram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he mustered his retainers, born into his household,numbering three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan ... He brought back all thepossessions; he also brought back his kinsman Lot and his possessions, and the women and the rest ofthe people. When he returned from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings with him, the king of Sodomcame out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh ... He blessed him, saying, Blessed be Abram of God MostHigh, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your foes intoyour hand. (Gen. 14.120)

Some time later, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. He said, Fear not, Abram, I am ashield to you; Your reward shall be very great. But Abram said, O Lord God, what can You give me,seeing that I shall die childless ... When the sun set and it was very dark, there appeared a smoking oven,and a flaming torch which passed between those pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant withAbram, saying, To your offspring I assign this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the riverEuphrates: the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, theAmorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites. Sarai, Abrams wife, had borne him nochildren. She had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said to Abram, Look,the Lord has kept me from bearing ... So Sarai, Abrams wife, took her maid, Hagar the EgyptianafterAbram had dwelt in the land of Canaan ten yearsand gave her to her husband Abram as concubine.He cohabited with Hagar and she conceived; and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistresswas lowered in her esteem. And Sarai said to Abram, The wrong done me is your fault! I myself putmy maid in your bosom; now that she sees that she is pregnant, I am lowered in her esteem. The Lorddecide between you and me! Abram said to Sarai, Your maid is in your hands. Deal with her as youthink right. Then Sarai treated her harshly, and she ran away from her. An angel of the Lord found herby a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the road to Shur, and said, Hagar, slave of Sarai,where have you come from, and where are you going? And she said, I am running away from mymistress Sarai. And the angel of the Lord said to her, Go back to your mistress, and submit to her harshtreatment. ... The angel of the Lord said to her further, Behold, you are with child and shall bear a son;you shall call him Ishmael. (Gen. 15.116.11)

B E R E S H I T Lech Lecha

(Isaiah 40.2741.16)

Abram threw himself on his face; and God spoke to him further, As for Me, this is My covenantwith you: You shall be the father of a multitude of nations. And you shall no longer be called Abram,but your name shall be Abraham, for I make you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make youexceedingly fertile, and make nations of you; and kings shall come forth from you ... God further saidto Abraham, As for you, you and your offspring to come throughout the ages shall keep My covenant.Such shall be the covenant between Me and you and your offspring to follow which you shall keep:every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and thatshall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And throughout the generations, every maleamong you shall be circumcised at the age of eight days ... And God said to Abraham, As for your wifeSarai, you shall not call her Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. I will bless her; indeed, I will give you ason by her. I will bless her so that she shall give rise to nations; rulers of peoples shall issue from her.Abraham threw himself on his face and laughed, as he said to himself, Can a child be born to a man ahundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety? And Abraham said to God, O that Ishmaelmight live by Your favor! God said, Nevertheless, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shallname him Isaac; and I will maintain My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his offspringto come. As for Ishmael, I have heeded you. I hereby bless him. I will make him fertile and exceedinglynumerous. He shall be the father of twelve chieftains, and I will make of him a great nation. But Mycovenant I will maintain with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year. And whenHe was done speaking with him, God was gone from Abraham. Then Abraham took his son Ishmael,and all his homeborn slaves and all those he had bought, every male in Abrahams household, and hecircumcised the flesh of their foreskins on that very day, as God had spoken to him. Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and his son Ishmael was thirteen years oldwhen he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin. Thus Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcisedon that very day; and all his household, his homeborn slaves and those that had been bought fromoutsiders, were circumcised with him. (Gen. 17.327)

Why do you say, O Jacob, whydeclare, O Israel, My way is hid fromthe Lord, my cause is ignored by myGod? Do you not know? Have younot heard? The Lord is God from ofold, Creator of the earth from end toend, He never grows faint or weary,His wisdom cannot be fathomed. Hegives strength to the weary, fresh vigor to the spent. Youths may grow faint and weary, and young menstumble and fall; but they who trust in the Lord shall renew their strength as eagles grow new plumes:they shall run and not grow weary, they shall march and not grow faint. (Isa. 40.2731)

Haftarat Lech Lecha

B E R E S H I T

57

Vayechi 47.2850.26

On hisdeathbed, Jacob blessed Joseph's two

sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, adopting them

as his own sons. He also gave blessings to his other

sons, foretelling the destinies of their descendants.

Before he died, Jacob asked to be buried in the family

burial cave, where his grandparents, parents, and wife

Leah were buried. So Joseph and his brothers brought

Jacob's body back to Canaan and buried him there.

When Joseph was about to die, he asked his brothers

to carry his bones back to Canaan when they

finally went out of Egypt.

Jacob lived seventeen years in the land of Egypt, so that the span of Jacobs life came to one hundredand forty-seven years. (Gen. 47.28)

Noticing Josephs sons, Israel asked, Who are these? And Joseph said to his father, They are mysons, whom God has given me here. Bring them up to me, he said, that I may bless them.... So heblessed them that day, saying, By you shall Israel invoke blessings, saying: God make you like Ephraimand Manasseh. Thus he put Ephraim before Manasseh. (Gen. 48.820)

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B E R E S H I TVayechi

Reuben, you are my first-born, my might andfirst fruit of my vigor, exceeding in rank andexceeding in honor. Unstable as water, youshall excel no longer; for when youmounted your fathers bed, you broughtdisgracemy couch he mounted!(Gen. 49.34)

Simeon and Levi are a pair; theirweapons are tools of lawlessness.Let not my person be included intheir council, let not my being becounted in their assembly. Forwhen angry they slay men, andwhen pleased they maim oxen.Cursed be their anger so fierce,and their wrath so relentless. Iwill divide them in Jacob, scatterthem in Israel. (Gen. 49.57)

You, O Judah, your brothersshall praise; your hand shall beon the nape of your foes; yourfathers sons shall bow low to you.Judah is a lions whelp; on prey, myson, have you grown. He crouches,lies down like a lion, like the king ofbeastswho dare rouse him? Thescepter shall not depart from Judah, northe rulers staff from between his feet; sothat tribute shall come to him and the homageof peoples be his. He tethers his ass to a vine,his asss foal to a choice vine; he washes hisgarment in wine, his robe in blood of grapes. Hiseyes are darker than wine; his teeth are whiter thanmilk. (Gen. 49.812)

Zebulun shall dwell by the seashore; he shall be a havenfor ships, and his flank shall rest on Sidon. (Gen. 49.13)

59

Issachar is a strong-boned ass, crouching amongthe sheepfolds. When he saw how good was

security, and how pleasant was the country, hebent his shoulder to the burden, and became

a toiling serf. (Gen. 49.1415)

Dan shall govern his people, as one ofthe tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpentby the road, a viper by the path, thatbites the horses heels so that his rideris thrown backward. (Gen. 49.1617)

Gad shall be raided by raiders, buthe shall raid at their heels. (Gen. 49.19)

Ashers bread shall be rich, andhe shall yield royal dainties.(Gen. 49.20)

Naphtali is a hind let loose, whichyields lovely fawns. (Gen. 49.21)

Joseph is a wild ass, a wild ass bya springwild colts on a hillside.

Archers bitterly assailed him; they shotat him and harried him. Yet his bow

stayed taut, and his arms were made firmby the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob

there, the Shepherd, the Rock of IsraeltheGod of your father who helps you, and Shaddai

who blesses you with blessings of heaven above,blessings of the deep that couches below, blessings

of the breast and womb. The blessings of your fathersurpass the blessings of my ancestors, to the utmost

bounds of the eternal hills. May they rest on the head ofJoseph, on the brow of the elect of his brothers. (Gen. 49.2226)

Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he consumes thefoe, and in the evening he divides the spoil. (Gen. 49.27)

60

Haftarat Vayechi(1 Kings 2.112)

B E R E S H I T Vayechi

His sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, thefield near Mamre, which Abraham had bought for a burial site from Ephron the Hittite. After buryinghis father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his brothers and all who had gone up with him to bury hisfather. (Gen. 50.1314)

When Davids life was drawing to a close, he instructed his son Solomon as follows: I am going theway of all the earth; be strong and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walkingin His ways and following His laws, His commandments, His rules, and His admonitions as recordedin the Teaching of Moses, in order that you may succeed in whatever you undertake and wherever youturn. Then the Lord will fulfill the promise that He made concerning me: If your descendants arescrupulous in their conduct, and walk before Me faithfully, with all their heart and soul, your line onthe throne of Israel shall never end! Further, you know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me, what he didto the two commanders of Israels forces, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether: he killed them,shedding blood of war in peacetime, staining the girdle of his loins and the sandals on his feet with bloodof war. So act in accordance with your wisdom, and see that his white hair does not go down to Sheolin peace. But deal graciously with the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, for they befriended me when I fledfrom your brother Absalom; let them be among those that eat at your table. You must also deal withShimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim. He insulted me outrageously when I was on my way

to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord: I willnot put you to the sword. So do not let him go unpunished; for you are awise man and you will know how to deal with him and send his gray hair

down to Sheol in blood. So David slept with his fathers,and he was buried in the City of David. (1 Kings 2.110)