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Rabbi Gordon - V'Zot Haberachah: 3rd Portion

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Rabbi Gordon - V'Zot Haberachah: 3rd Portion

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Topics: Vezot Hab'rachah, Parshah
Vezot Hab'rachah Parshah
Rabbi Yehoshua Gordon directed Chabad of the Valley in Tarzana, CA until his passing in 2016.
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Dr. Brian Sandridge October 20, 2011

part 3 and final. Where are Efrayim and Menashshe? Where are two brotherly nations that have gored the nations to the ends of the earth? Where are the oldest mountains, and rocks on the planet?
First, the only two nations that can be seen as brothers are the USA and Great Britain. Together they have gored the nations to the ends of the earth. Jacob said Efrayim would be a company of nations and be more powerful than his elder brother.Many have run with that as the British Commonwealth. BUT not so, they are the elder. Artzot haBrit is USA in Hebrew. We are 50 semi-sovereign states, a true commonwealth. But, Jacob said, the elder too shall be great. One nation in all of history has that name GREAT Britain. Yosef, and Joshua both went ahead of Israel to make a place. So too did General Allenby in conquering Jerusalem and Palestine from the Turk. Reply

Dr. Brian Sandridge October 20, 2011

Part 2: So if it is established that Efrayim and Menashshe as well as the other descendents of the 10 tribes of Israel, as the Northern Kingdom was called, are yet to be re-unified with Judah and his associated tribes (Ezekiel 37:15=>) then they must a) still be in existence and thus b) be amnestic of their own identity. How is it possible to be amnestic of being a Tribe of Israel? Recall that their dispersal was due to the irreversible apostasy that resulted from the policy of substituting false religion instead of the Temple at Jerusalem. They were often at war with the southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin. Even we know virtually nothing about our great great grandparents, how much less recollection would they have of Israel a thousand years. Yet, it is possible that tribal cohesiveness was maintained despite the amnesia of their origin.
So if they exist in the world now, which they must since Ezekiel 37 has yet to occur, who/ where are they? Reply

Dr. Brian Sandridge October 20, 2011

Ezekiel 37:15=> In light of Amos 9:9, and Ezekiel 37:15 through the end of the chapter; it seems that Yosef through Efrayim and Menashshe MUST still exist independent of the Jewish People. Calling any of the tribes listed here or in Genesis "Jews" is a tremendous anachronism.
The term "The Jewish People" makes sense only after the Southern Kingdom was exiled to Babylon where a parallel system of prayer, synagogue and rabbi substituted for sacrifice, Temple and Priest. Even with the building of the Second Temple this parallel structure was maintained as demonstrated by the seamless continuation of Judaism in the Diaspora before and after the Roman destruction.
"The Jewish People" can only refer to those of the Southern Kingdom: Judah, Benjamin, Simeon and many Levites. Surely many descendents of refugees from the North who had fled the Assyrian conquest and exile, were melded in to The Jewish People. BUT, they were melded in as INDIVIDUALS, not as tribes. Or Amos 9, Ezekiel 37 make no sense. Reply

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