The Concepts משיח and ברית חדשה In Judaism
in Light of The Dead Sea Scrolls
Introduction
It is ironic, but true, that the final refutation of Christianity is to be found in the Dead Sea scrolls, the very source that modern Christian researchers so hoped would provide support for the tenets of their beliefs.
Indeed, many of the terms and concepts we are familiar with from Christianity are to be found in the Dead Sea scrolls and it makes little sense to deny this fact. For those who have a proclivity to do so, combined with only rudimentary knowledge of the Holy Language, it would be easy enough to interpret the terms and concepts as they are found in the Dead Sea scrolls as meaning what Christians mean by them. Orthodox Jews, for their part, would prefer to dismiss היחד as "צדוקים", which they were, or worse as "מינים", which they were not, in order not to be faced with the cognitive and religious dissonance of encountering what appears to be quasi-Christianity in their writings and having to deal with the fact that very devoted Jews wrote in those terms.
The approach to פרשנות in this work will not be another Jewish aping of "exegesis" and "hermeneutics". This will be a work of true פרשנות, i.e., examination of Hebrew text in terms of analysis of the Hebrew language based on our age-old tradition of how to read Hebrew and delve into the פנימיות of that which is written. We will reiterate and demonstrate once again, בע"ה, in the course of this work why performing החלופים is essential to understanding Hebrew text. More proofs and demonstrations of this are to be found in my works entitled נקבה: הקרבנות והכפרות, and מאוצר אור החלופים: פרשת מקץ, which can both be found on:
http://tinyurl.com/5zxoy
We will be intrepid in our research. While it will be demonstrated that Christianity has misunderstood the terms and concepts that it has arrogated from Judaism, it will also be demonstrated that tenets of the Christian faith that are dismissed out-of-hand by Orthodox Judaism do indeed rest on firm religious bases. Those bases are not, to be sure, that which Christianity imagines them to be, but they are not spurious and cannot be ignored.
It has proven futile for Jews and Christians to argue the legitimacy of their faiths based on interpretation of texts. Such argumentation must, at best, conclude with: "Let's agree to disagree on how to interpret the meaning." Neither side is left either finally refuted, or finally vindicated.
For its part, Orthodox Judaism will have to surrender some of its most cherished illusions about the supremacy of the פרושים vis-a-vis הצדוקים and some of its most deeply entrenched misunderstandings of who and what משיח is and when משיח arrives if we are to return to the true understanding of משיח that we forgot.
We will examine terms and concepts that are specifically Jewish, those that are specifically Christian and those shared by both religions in light of the חלופים. In the above-mentioned works that I have written,
נקבה: הקרבנות והכפרות and מאוצר אור החלופים: פרשת מקץ it has been demonstrated not only that the performance of the חלופים is sine qua non for the correct reading of תורה, but also that היחד were Masters of the חלופים, employing them in all of their writings. We will see their stunning mastery once again, בע"ה, in this work.
While מאוצר אור החלופים: פרשת מקץ was written in a predominantly rationalistic style so that scientists and mathematicians would be able to relate to the work, this work is intended for the morally/spiritually inclined and will present the material as such wholly unabashedly, unapologetically and uncompromisingly.
Let us turn, then, to the terms and concepts in light of the חלופים so that they may begin to speak for themselves.
The reader is urged to pay the חלופים presented for each term and concept the utmost attention. Each חלוף essential for a comprehensive understanding of the mega-concept, which is the numerical value that all of the חלופים for a word or phrase share. Please note the progression of one חלוף to the next. Every effort will be made to group the חלופים together such that the progression of one to the next is readily apparent.
It must be stressed that there is not "final", utmost, or uppermost חלוף for any value. Each and every one is of equal value in understanding the entire concept and each and every one is operative in any and all cases.
The חלופים exist on a level from which grammar and syntax are proceed. Most often they do not produce grammatically whole sentences, but rather reveal aspects of a mega-concept that is a given value. Despite the fact that the חלופים are usually not whole sentences following the laws of grammar with which we are familiar, for they are the building blocks language, we will see that they speak far more clearly than loquacious prose. If I were to attempt to write out all of the information that are provided by the חלופים in grammatical and syntactical prose this work would be far, far longer, but its impact would be immeasurably reduced.
There will, however, be cases in which it will be necessary to comment on some of the חלופים demonstrated. In that minority of cases a supralineal number will be found at the end of the חלוף and the comment(s) will appear after the list of חלופים for the term or concept (in the actual work, we will not use that device here).
In some cases it will be necessary to demonstrate חלופים for letters that appear as part of radicals and words, or parts of words in order to elucidate the underlying structure. For instance: חלופים for the value of the word משיח taken as a whole will be demonstrated. We will also demonstrate חלופים for ש"מ, י"ח, ש"ח, ש"י, מ"י ו-מ"ח, in order to see many levels of meaning that are operative in the word משיח.
We will demonstrate חלופים, and thus depths of such terms as:
רוח הקֹדש
משֻלש (trebled or trinity)
בתולה
אם
צלב
כפר
קרבן
ברית
ברית חדשה
הברית החדשה
and more.
Perhaps the very best place to start is with the radical י-ש-ע. Much ado has been made about the root י-ש-ע in its various inflections in the Christian tradition, and rightfully so. The concept of ישועות figures prominently in Judaism as well and is to be found a number of times in the extant Dead Sea Scrolls. We shall see some of the depths of the root י-ש-ע taken individually, and in conjunction with the letters
ה, ו, י, ל, מ, נ ו-ת that form the inflections of the root י-ש-ע. We will see that neither the Pharisaic/Rabbinic nor the Christian traditions plumbed the depths of these words or revealed their true Messianic meaning. However, it will be demonstrated that היחד did understand the root י-ש-ע, its inflections and its connections to the concept of משיח in a far more profound and holy way than did either הפרושים or the Christians.
י-ש-ע is infinitely more than the Christian "salvation"., While we will see the root used to mean "salvation" and "deliverance" in the Dead Sea scrolls, we will see that it meant far more, even when it appears to mean "salvation" and "deliverance".
The Pharisaic/Rabbinic tradition of Judaism did not, indeed could not, pass on the true מסורת of just what ישועה is. Indeed, it was the misunderstanding and partial understanding on the part of the Pharisees, and subsequently that of their students the Rabbis, that opened the door to Christianity and their taking of the concepts further afield still until they were distorted almost beyond recognition. We will, בע"ה, return to the Torah-true intent of these words and concepts as understood by נביאי ישראל and as recorded for posterity, ברוח הקֹדש, by היחד.
We will consider every inflection of the root י-ש-ע that is to be found in the extant Dead Sea scrolls. Additionally, we will consider those inflections of the root י-ש-ע in consideration of the words contiguous to them in the passages. In so doing, we will demonstrate how the depths of the concept that is 380, the value of the root י-ש-ע was woven into the ostensible meaning of the texts of היחד. We will concentrate on the forms of the root most familiar to us from the Jewish and the Christian traditions.
The concept of י-ש-ע in the Dead Sea scrolls is entirely Jewish, and upon examination of the texts of היחד will be seen to be wholly concerned with the ultimate returning to השם ישתבח שמו on the part of עם ישראל. ישועה will be seen, likewise, to be the ultimate promise of peace that will exist between ישראל and הגוים. We will encounter the concepts of ישועה that were plagiarized and distorted by the Christians in their pristine and original form.
We will, בע"ה, likewise, consider every site in the extant Dead Sea scrolls in which the appellations משיח and משוח and their inflections appear and analyze them both as discreet terms and in relation to the words contiguous to them. We must consider terms in relation to the other terms contiguous to them when considering Hebrew texts because Divinely inspired Hebrew is an alphanumeric/moral lattice and the "weave" must be perceived in order to appreciate the wonder of the work.
Let us turn, then, to our demonstration of the root י-ש-ע (a very partial sampling will be offered at this juncture):
ישע = 380 = ממש = מספר = עיר המלכה = בעבור המלכה =
למד דבר מלכה = אתם עבור המלכה = 1379 = 380 = שבחי הכלה =
ישבח הכלה…
We see that the radical י-ש-ע is equal to the phrases שבחי הכלה and ישבח הכלה. In order to make this a grammatically correct phrase we will need the word את, which is the form indicating the direct object. Therefore, the phrases שבחי את הכלה and ישבח את הכלה are equal to the phrase ישע את. Notice that the command form in the feminine singular is numerically equal to the future tense for the masculine singular. One of the most important elements of the concepts related to Mashi'ach that the Christian tradition overlooked entirely was the feminine aspect of God Itself. The Pharisaic/Rabbinic tradition came closer to the mark in teaching about the שכינה and the fact that ישראל is the Bride of ה יתברך. Yet they did not comprehend and promulgate that there is a feminine element of משיח. Most believing Jews are awaiting one man who is the משיח. There is much confusion to dispel and much suffering as a result of that confusion to alleviate.
Yes, there is a feminine element in the root י-ש-ע that has not been revealed either in the Pharisaic/Rabbinic Jewish or the Christian traditions. We will see a good deal more of this feminine Aspect in this work.
If we look at the word ישע with a ה ידיעה or the suffix ה, indicating the possessive in the singular feminine, we see that:
ישעה = 385 = הישע = שפה = עשיה = שכינה = ישע בבשרך =
1384 = 385 = ממש בבשרך …
While the concept of the female aspect of the Godly presence is certainly a central theme in Pharisaic/Rabbinic Judaism, it is not connected by them to the radical י-ש-ע or to language, as we see above. The concept עולם העשיה exists in the "Kabbalah", but again, the concept is related neither to language nor to the root י-ש-ע and its Messianic meaning.
The Female, Christians will come to see, is not one young Jewish woman who becomes pregnant with a "savior". The Female that we will become more familiar with is the female aspect of God Itself, The Queen, The Bride and It's relation to ישראל and to הגוים.
Yet this is not nearly all.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat
קיץ ה'תשס"ד
It is ironic, but true, that the final refutation of Christianity is to be found in the Dead Sea scrolls, the very source that modern Christian researchers so hoped would provide support for the tenets of their beliefs.
Indeed, many of the terms and concepts we are familiar with from Christianity are to be found in the Dead Sea scrolls and it makes little sense to deny this fact. For those who have a proclivity to do so, combined with only rudimentary knowledge of the Holy Language, it would be easy enough to interpret the terms and concepts as they are found in the Dead Sea scrolls as meaning what Christians mean by them. Orthodox Jews, for their part, would prefer to dismiss היחד as "צדוקים", which they were, or worse as "מינים", which they were not, in order not to be faced with the cognitive and religious dissonance of encountering what appears to be quasi-Christianity in their writings and having to deal with the fact that very devoted Jews wrote in those terms.
The approach to פרשנות in this work will not be another Jewish aping of "exegesis" and "hermeneutics". This will be a work of true פרשנות, i.e., examination of Hebrew text in terms of analysis of the Hebrew language based on our age-old tradition of how to read Hebrew and delve into the פנימיות of that which is written. We will reiterate and demonstrate once again, בע"ה, in the course of this work why performing החלופים is essential to understanding Hebrew text. More proofs and demonstrations of this are to be found in my works entitled נקבה: הקרבנות והכפרות, and מאוצר אור החלופים: פרשת מקץ, which can both be found on:
http://tinyurl.com/5zxoy
We will be intrepid in our research. While it will be demonstrated that Christianity has misunderstood the terms and concepts that it has arrogated from Judaism, it will also be demonstrated that tenets of the Christian faith that are dismissed out-of-hand by Orthodox Judaism do indeed rest on firm religious bases. Those bases are not, to be sure, that which Christianity imagines them to be, but they are not spurious and cannot be ignored.
It has proven futile for Jews and Christians to argue the legitimacy of their faiths based on interpretation of texts. Such argumentation must, at best, conclude with: "Let's agree to disagree on how to interpret the meaning." Neither side is left either finally refuted, or finally vindicated.
For its part, Orthodox Judaism will have to surrender some of its most cherished illusions about the supremacy of the פרושים vis-a-vis הצדוקים and some of its most deeply entrenched misunderstandings of who and what משיח is and when משיח arrives if we are to return to the true understanding of משיח that we forgot.
We will examine terms and concepts that are specifically Jewish, those that are specifically Christian and those shared by both religions in light of the חלופים. In the above-mentioned works that I have written,
נקבה: הקרבנות והכפרות and מאוצר אור החלופים: פרשת מקץ it has been demonstrated not only that the performance of the חלופים is sine qua non for the correct reading of תורה, but also that היחד were Masters of the חלופים, employing them in all of their writings. We will see their stunning mastery once again, בע"ה, in this work.
While מאוצר אור החלופים: פרשת מקץ was written in a predominantly rationalistic style so that scientists and mathematicians would be able to relate to the work, this work is intended for the morally/spiritually inclined and will present the material as such wholly unabashedly, unapologetically and uncompromisingly.
Let us turn, then, to the terms and concepts in light of the חלופים so that they may begin to speak for themselves.
The reader is urged to pay the חלופים presented for each term and concept the utmost attention. Each חלוף essential for a comprehensive understanding of the mega-concept, which is the numerical value that all of the חלופים for a word or phrase share. Please note the progression of one חלוף to the next. Every effort will be made to group the חלופים together such that the progression of one to the next is readily apparent.
It must be stressed that there is not "final", utmost, or uppermost חלוף for any value. Each and every one is of equal value in understanding the entire concept and each and every one is operative in any and all cases.
The חלופים exist on a level from which grammar and syntax are proceed. Most often they do not produce grammatically whole sentences, but rather reveal aspects of a mega-concept that is a given value. Despite the fact that the חלופים are usually not whole sentences following the laws of grammar with which we are familiar, for they are the building blocks language, we will see that they speak far more clearly than loquacious prose. If I were to attempt to write out all of the information that are provided by the חלופים in grammatical and syntactical prose this work would be far, far longer, but its impact would be immeasurably reduced.
There will, however, be cases in which it will be necessary to comment on some of the חלופים demonstrated. In that minority of cases a supralineal number will be found at the end of the חלוף and the comment(s) will appear after the list of חלופים for the term or concept (in the actual work, we will not use that device here).
In some cases it will be necessary to demonstrate חלופים for letters that appear as part of radicals and words, or parts of words in order to elucidate the underlying structure. For instance: חלופים for the value of the word משיח taken as a whole will be demonstrated. We will also demonstrate חלופים for ש"מ, י"ח, ש"ח, ש"י, מ"י ו-מ"ח, in order to see many levels of meaning that are operative in the word משיח.
We will demonstrate חלופים, and thus depths of such terms as:
רוח הקֹדש
משֻלש (trebled or trinity)
בתולה
אם
צלב
כפר
קרבן
ברית
ברית חדשה
הברית החדשה
and more.
Perhaps the very best place to start is with the radical י-ש-ע. Much ado has been made about the root י-ש-ע in its various inflections in the Christian tradition, and rightfully so. The concept of ישועות figures prominently in Judaism as well and is to be found a number of times in the extant Dead Sea Scrolls. We shall see some of the depths of the root י-ש-ע taken individually, and in conjunction with the letters
ה, ו, י, ל, מ, נ ו-ת that form the inflections of the root י-ש-ע. We will see that neither the Pharisaic/Rabbinic nor the Christian traditions plumbed the depths of these words or revealed their true Messianic meaning. However, it will be demonstrated that היחד did understand the root י-ש-ע, its inflections and its connections to the concept of משיח in a far more profound and holy way than did either הפרושים or the Christians.
י-ש-ע is infinitely more than the Christian "salvation"., While we will see the root used to mean "salvation" and "deliverance" in the Dead Sea scrolls, we will see that it meant far more, even when it appears to mean "salvation" and "deliverance".
The Pharisaic/Rabbinic tradition of Judaism did not, indeed could not, pass on the true מסורת of just what ישועה is. Indeed, it was the misunderstanding and partial understanding on the part of the Pharisees, and subsequently that of their students the Rabbis, that opened the door to Christianity and their taking of the concepts further afield still until they were distorted almost beyond recognition. We will, בע"ה, return to the Torah-true intent of these words and concepts as understood by נביאי ישראל and as recorded for posterity, ברוח הקֹדש, by היחד.
We will consider every inflection of the root י-ש-ע that is to be found in the extant Dead Sea scrolls. Additionally, we will consider those inflections of the root י-ש-ע in consideration of the words contiguous to them in the passages. In so doing, we will demonstrate how the depths of the concept that is 380, the value of the root י-ש-ע was woven into the ostensible meaning of the texts of היחד. We will concentrate on the forms of the root most familiar to us from the Jewish and the Christian traditions.
The concept of י-ש-ע in the Dead Sea scrolls is entirely Jewish, and upon examination of the texts of היחד will be seen to be wholly concerned with the ultimate returning to השם ישתבח שמו on the part of עם ישראל. ישועה will be seen, likewise, to be the ultimate promise of peace that will exist between ישראל and הגוים. We will encounter the concepts of ישועה that were plagiarized and distorted by the Christians in their pristine and original form.
We will, בע"ה, likewise, consider every site in the extant Dead Sea scrolls in which the appellations משיח and משוח and their inflections appear and analyze them both as discreet terms and in relation to the words contiguous to them. We must consider terms in relation to the other terms contiguous to them when considering Hebrew texts because Divinely inspired Hebrew is an alphanumeric/moral lattice and the "weave" must be perceived in order to appreciate the wonder of the work.
Let us turn, then, to our demonstration of the root י-ש-ע (a very partial sampling will be offered at this juncture):
ישע = 380 = ממש = מספר = עיר המלכה = בעבור המלכה =
למד דבר מלכה = אתם עבור המלכה = 1379 = 380 = שבחי הכלה =
ישבח הכלה…
We see that the radical י-ש-ע is equal to the phrases שבחי הכלה and ישבח הכלה. In order to make this a grammatically correct phrase we will need the word את, which is the form indicating the direct object. Therefore, the phrases שבחי את הכלה and ישבח את הכלה are equal to the phrase ישע את. Notice that the command form in the feminine singular is numerically equal to the future tense for the masculine singular. One of the most important elements of the concepts related to Mashi'ach that the Christian tradition overlooked entirely was the feminine aspect of God Itself. The Pharisaic/Rabbinic tradition came closer to the mark in teaching about the שכינה and the fact that ישראל is the Bride of ה יתברך. Yet they did not comprehend and promulgate that there is a feminine element of משיח. Most believing Jews are awaiting one man who is the משיח. There is much confusion to dispel and much suffering as a result of that confusion to alleviate.
Yes, there is a feminine element in the root י-ש-ע that has not been revealed either in the Pharisaic/Rabbinic Jewish or the Christian traditions. We will see a good deal more of this feminine Aspect in this work.
If we look at the word ישע with a ה ידיעה or the suffix ה, indicating the possessive in the singular feminine, we see that:
ישעה = 385 = הישע = שפה = עשיה = שכינה = ישע בבשרך =
1384 = 385 = ממש בבשרך …
While the concept of the female aspect of the Godly presence is certainly a central theme in Pharisaic/Rabbinic Judaism, it is not connected by them to the radical י-ש-ע or to language, as we see above. The concept עולם העשיה exists in the "Kabbalah", but again, the concept is related neither to language nor to the root י-ש-ע and its Messianic meaning.
The Female, Christians will come to see, is not one young Jewish woman who becomes pregnant with a "savior". The Female that we will become more familiar with is the female aspect of God Itself, The Queen, The Bride and It's relation to ישראל and to הגוים.
Yet this is not nearly all.
Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat
קיץ ה'תשס"ד
