Blessing of Torah.
Hebrew:
Baruch atah YHVH eloheinu melech
ha-olam, asher kideshanu b'mitzvotav, v'tzivanu la'asok b'divrei Torah.
V'ha'arev na YHVH eloheinu et divrei toratecha befinu uvfi amecha beit Yisrael.
V'niyeh anachnu v'tze'etze'einu v'tze'etza'ei amecha beit Yisrael kullanu yodei
sh'mecha v'lomdei toratecha lishmah. Baruch atah YHVH hamelamed Torah le'amo
Yisrael. Baruch atah YHVH Eloheinu melech ha-olam, asher bachar banu mikol
ha'amim venatan lanu et torato. Baruch atah YHVH, notein haTorah.
English
translation: Blessed are You, YHVH our
Elohim, King of the universe, who has made us set apart through His
commandments and commanded us to actively study Torah. Please YHVH, our Elohim,
sweeten the words of Your Torah in our mouths and in the mouths of all Your
people Israel. May we and our offspring, and the offspring of Your people, the
House of Israel, may we all, together, know Your Name and study Your Torah for
the sake of fulfilling Your desire. Blessed are You, YHVH, Who teaches Torah to
His people Israel. Blessed are You, YHVH our Elohim, King of the universe, ,
Who chose us from all the nations and gave us the Torah. Blessed are You, YHVH,
Giver of the Torah.
The
title of this parasha “b’ha’alotcha” stems from the Hebrew word “alah” which
means to ascend or “to go up.” In its hiphyl form means that which causes to go
up or ascend.
Num 8:2 “Speak to
Aharon, and say to him, ‘When you set up the lamps, let the seven lamps give
light in front of the lampstand.’ ”
ב דַּבֵּר,
אֶל-אַהֲרֹן, וְאָמַרְתָּ, אֵלָיו: בְּהַעֲלֹתְךָ, אֶת-הַנֵּרֹת, אֶל-מוּל
פְּנֵי הַמְּנוֹרָה, יָאִירוּ שִׁבְעַת הַנֵּרוֹת.
|
2 'Speak unto Aaron, and say unto him: When
thou lightest the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the
candlestick.'
|
We must learn to ask questions – this is
the Hebrew way. Yahshua stated that in order to receive the kingdom we needed
to become like children.
Luk 18:17 “Truly, I say to you, whoever does not
receive the reign of Elohim as a little child, shall certainly not enter into
it.”
What do little children
do a lot? Ask questions, sometimes lots of questions.
The title verse
of our parasha is translated into English as “when you set up (or light) the
lamps” – the question we need to ask is why the Hebrew verb(hidlik) for kindling
or setting up the lamps of the Menorah is not used? Also obvious is that this menorah was not so
high that it required Aaron to “ascend” to kindle the menorah. Is there some
other meaning implied here? No dimensions are ever given of the size of the
menorah, because how can anyone measure the revelation of YHVH. We do know it
was made form one talent of gold (about 50 kg) so it could not have been so
difficult to kindle its lamps. (Shemot 25:31-40)
“Be ha a lot cha” contains an infinitive Hebrew verb
which in this Torah portion comes with a preposition (“b’” incorrectly
interpreted as “when”) and a second person masculine personal pronoun suffix
(cha). An infinitive verb has no limits
with regard to person. Gender, number or tense, it does not need to agree
grammatically with any other word in the sentence.