Old School: Part 4
April 30, 2023Pastor Patrick presented "Fulfillment" as the fourth of God's Old Testament promises (the four "I wills") in our current series, "Old School." A video of the message is here.
[Conversation Starters will begin again with the start of the next official life groups session this summer.]
The phrase in Exodus 6:7 of the 4th (and 5th) "I will" is: "And I will take you as my people, and I will be your God." The operative word in the Hebrew is the verb "take" (laqach, לָקַח). As you might imagine, it occurs frequently in the Old Testament, nearly 1,000 times. It's various translations in various contexts include: take, accept, bring, get, married, receive, and more. By far, "take" is the most common translation at nearly half of those nearly 1,000 occurences.
Prager points out that the language here is very similar to the language of the marriage contract. It's an intimate taking. A man TAKES a woman and the woman ACCEPTS his proposal. As it turns out, the metaphor of the relationship between a married man and woman is often employed to describe the relationship of God and Israel. See Hosea 2:21, for exmaple.
It's interesting to note that the Hebrew word for take uses the same three letters as the word for part/portion. To take (as with God or in marriage) is in some way to become a part of the other.
Another point that Prager makes regarding this verse is that God is telling the Israelites that they are His people only in so far as God is their God. This seems very much in keeping with Patrick's description of the Godly Community in which we should seek membership.
One writer suggested that this fourth promise is that God will "adopt" you into His family. I thought that was a nice image. See Ephesians 1:5 and Galatians 4:4-7.
"Hallel" (הַלֵּל) of the Jewish faith is a collection of Psalms: 113-118. This Hallel is joyfully recited at various Jewish services and holidays. This includes the Passover Seder where different portions of the Hallel are recited at two different parts of the Seder (the Maggid and the Haggadah) and the balance is included in the Grace After the Meal. The Seder additionally includes another Hallel, the "Great Hallel," from Psalm 136. This Hallel is often refered to as the prayer of thanksgiving. The word hallel also means praise, and it's primal root means "to shine." You could think of it as shining a light on something. Living a full, Godly life shines light on God.
Living a Hallel Life means living in joy and faith for divine redemption according to these Psalms whose themes are: the Exodus, the giving of the Torah at Sinai, the future resurrection of the dead, and the coming of the Messiah.
The word is also used to praise other people. For example, the Egyptian officials praised/commended Sarai (Abraham's wife) to the Pharoah for her beauty as the two entered Egypt (Genesis 12:15). They "shone light on her" to the pharoah.
Be careful... The transliteration of the root for hallel is often written as halal. Halal is also an entirely different word in Arabic and in the Quran means "permissible," often in regard to dietary laws. Being kosher food for Jews is not the same as halal for Muslims; there are differences. More broadly, the h-l-l root has many meanings both positive and negative across Hebrew, Aramaic, and Arabic.
Bonus
At our Family Dinner this weekend, we talked about bar mitzvahs. We have two boys hitting the age of 13 recently, and they have been reading a book in school about a family that helps save a Jewish boy during the Holocaust. In the story, they talk about the boy having his bar mitzvah on the boat to America.
A Bar Mitzvah (בַּר מִצְוָה) is a celebration ceremenoy when a boy turns 13 years of age. A girl has a bat mitzvah when she turns 12. The age, particularly for girls, may be different across different denominations. It is often celebrated on the Sabbath closest to the birthday. The words mean "Son/Daughter of the Commandments." The "bar" part, for son, is actually Aramaic. Son in Hebrew is ben (בֵּן). Daughter is bat (בַּת) in Hebrew.
References to this ritual do not occur until the Middle Ages. There is no reference to the modern event in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), the Talmud, or the Mishnah. (The Talmud does use the phrase bar mitzvah, but the meaning is simply "one subject to the law.") Most current forms involve both a ceremony in the synagogue for which years of preparation are typically required (to read some scripture in Hebrew, for instance), the giving of blessings, etc. followed by a party/meal "in celebration of the event." It's also fairly common for both parts to be done in the home
It's interesting to note that celebrations of bat mitzvahs (for girls) did not start until the 1920s.
It is never too late. If one missed out on his/her bar/bat mitzvah, it may be done later at any age.
Whether or not there's a bar mitzvah ceremony in the synagogue or party, a Jewish child becomes an adult in the eyes of Judaism (Talmud) at 13 (boy) and 12 (girl). This means they are now expected to know the commandments and follow them. They are responsible for their own behavior. Up till this time, the parents are responsible. In the Bible, the coming of adulthood for a boy was 20 at which point he was deemed ready for war and taxation. This is usually referenced in the scriptures when a census is called (e.g., Numbers 1:45, 14:29, and 32:11).
There is a tradition in some circles for the parents to say this blessing at the bar/bat mitzvah, "Blessed is He (God) who has now freed me from the responsibility of this boy/girl."
These new adults are now able to participate more in the Jewish services and can count towards the 10 people required for a minyan (i.e., quorum) for certain official acts.
Gifts are given to the boy/girl at the bar/bat mitzvah celebration. Choosing a gift should be given some thought. It's a significant, religious event for a very young person who's interests are in flux. Such things are appropriate: money, Jewish ritual objects, jewelery (e.g., Star of David), Torah art, charitable gifts (given to a charity in the person's name), relevant books (Jewish study, fiction, humor, history/culture, and cookbooks).
When it comes to money, there is an interesting tradition, and that is, to give money in multiples of 18. This is because the Hebrew word for "life" (chai, as in l'chaim, "to life!") has a numerical value of 18. Each letter of the Hebrew alphabet has a value; it's how numbers are written (there were no digits in Biblical Hebrew). Chai is חי. The first letter (on the right) is chet which has a value of 8 (8th letter of the alphabet) and yud on the left has a value of 10. Click here for a chart of the values. Also of note, when it comes to writing 15 or 16, the combination of 10+5 and 10+6 in letters would be God's name, so it's often changed to 9+6 or 9+7.
The New Testament doesn't talk much about "coming of age." Probably the most well known related verse is I Corinthians 13:11, "When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways."
Click here for a cute 5-minute video of youngsters explaining bar/bat mitzvahs.