Par'shot Chol HaMoed Pesach v'Sh'mini Shel Pesach

[alon]

This week’s readings:

Date of reading- 7 April 2018/22 Nissan 5778

Name of Par’shah- Chol HaMoed Pesach & Sh’mini Shel PesachChol HaMoed Pesach

Par’shah- Exodus 12.21-15.26; Numbers 28.16-25

Haftara- Joshua 5.2-6.1; Isaiah 10.32-12.6

Brit Chadashah- John 19.31-20.14

D’rash: Since this Shabbat is Pesach there is not going to be a separate par’shah. However for our synagogue what I’ve done is combine two par’shot- Chol HaMoed Pesach and Sh’mini Shel Pesach- into one long reading which I will do for them on the last day of unleavened bread. For the forum I’m simply going to divide that reading in two parts; one this week and one next. What I want to focus on here are a few things not typically covered in Haggadot.

Let’s start with a look at our Seder Plate, used during the celebration of Passover. On it is a beytzah בֵּיצָה– an egg roasted with fire. Another name for this egg is chagigah חֲגִיגָה; literally “festivity” or “celebration.” Biblically the Passover offering was called pesach. The early rabonim used the term chagigah for a special “festival offering.” The root word of chagigah is chag חַג, meaning a  “festival” or “celebration.” We wish someone a “happy holiday” by saying “chag sameach “חַג שָׂמֵחַ,” and happy Passover is “chag pesach sameach.”

The zeroah זְרוֹעַ or shankbone of a lamb we know to represent the unbroken legs of Yeshua, as it is said:

John 19:33, 36 (ESV) But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. … For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”

Psalm 34:20 (ESV) He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.

The egg is not a pagan offering representing springtime, new life, or fertility as many would suggest. Rather on each of the shalosh regalim it is a mitzva to go up to Yerushalayim and celebrate in the Temple. And no one should come to the Temple empty-handed. So in addition to the paschal lamb (korban pesach) they would bring a special festival sacrifice, a korban chagigah. The korban chagigah was usually offered on the 14th of Nissan along with the korban pesach. It is this separate offering, distinct from the paschal lamb that is represented by the fire-roasted egg.


Devarim 16:1 (OJB) Be shomer [watchful, observant] of the month of Aviv [springtime, i.e., Nisan], and perform the Pesach offering unto Hashem Eloheicha; for in the month of Aviv Hashem Eloheicha brought thee forth out of Mitzrayim by lailah [night].

The “month of Aviv; the month of ears, because at this time the ears of wheat are ripening. Later ordinances distinguish between the the “Egyptian Passover” and the “Permanent Passover” as enjoined on the Nation after they came into the land. Customs have also changed, especially after the destruction of the Temple until we have the seder we practice today. Meshiachim in particular have changed much of the Haggadah to reflect the relationship between Pesach and Yeshua HaMoshiach.


Exodus 12:3 (ESV) Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household.

The 10th day is four days before the Pesach observance. Very possibly this points back to the promise of Elohim to Avraham at the time of His giving the father of His people a covenant of grant (one based on past faithfulness and with no stipulation “if you will, then I will”):

Genesis 15:13, 16 (ESV) Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. … And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

In four days the children would get attached to the lamb as they would a pet. The odor of the lamb would permeate the house, so that even a city dweller would be reminded that Avraham, Yitzach and Ya’akov were shepherds. And the lingering smell after the lamb was sacrificed would be a reminder of the high cost of sin.

Exodus 12:21-22a (ESV) Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin.

Note no one asked for details on how or why this was to be done. It was a common practice at the time to make a covenant in this manner. The lamb is slain in the doorway and the blood caught in a trough and basin carved right into the threshold. To step on this trough or basin was an insult. This was a serious covenant whereby anyone crossing that threshold while the blood was fresh on the doorway was as a member of the family. It could be said this was the time when the Hebrews were betrothed to their Elohim. Always set apart for Elohe Yisroel, they were at this time joined as family.

The hyssop brush they used was not the plant we know as hyssop. More likely it was the caper, a bushy plant which grows throughout the mideast and was thought to have healing properties. It is well known today as a very healthy and tasty edible plant; as well as bush tucker in emergencies or just when living off the land.

Exodus 12:25 (ESV) And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service.

And here we have a reminder of the covenant. It is a commandment to keep this service as a reminder each year. But what of those who for some reason cannot? Those living in a divided home for example. Well, I would encourage those people to do the best they can. If you cannot have a convocation or a seder at least mark the days somehow. If you cannot cleanse the home of leaven, at least you should eat no leaven for seven days. I used to try to find a demonstration seder I could attend which was as close to Pesach as possible. Regardless how, do as much as you can the best way you can.


Exodus 12:26-27 (ESV) And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

Children will ask and/or want to know. This reflects the importance of teaching history and dutiful worship to children. It’s why the Bible records past events and presents them in theological historiography; it’s better learned this way than just giving a list. A Midrashic example of this principle of young minds inquiring and our taking advantage of this stage in their development to teach is found in the Haggadah with the four questions. The only way to remember is if we are told. We must tell our children or they will forget. To this day Jews tell story as if it happened to them.


Exodus 12:31 (ESV) Then he summoned Moses and Aaron by night and said, “Up, go out from among my people, both you and the people of Israel; and go, serve the Lord, as you have said.

Pharaoh granted what Moshe asked at first, 3 days to worship their Gd. But that time had passed; this offer was off the table.

Exodus 12:32 (ESV) Take your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone, and bless me also!”

His asking this indicated Pharaoh’s complete capitulation to the Gd of Moshe. He may have been asking for a blessing from Moshe’s Gd, however it is more likely he was saying it would be a blessing for Moshe to go, and take his Gd with him!


Exodus 12:42 (ESV)  It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

H8107 watching, (TNK vigil)- shimmur/ shimurim שמר, שמרים observation, celebration, night watch, watching, guard, guarding care (Rabbinic) vigil

Traditionally on 14 Nissan just before sundown is when the Pesach Seder begins:

Exodus 12:18 (ESV) In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening.

"At evening," the time of transition from the 14th to the 15th. It then goes through most of if not all the night, very possibly due to verse 42. Pesach means to spare or grant immunity. We reflect on the fact that HaShem guarded the Hebrews this night and spared them, granting immunity from the Destroyer.

Now since verse 18 specifies the feast of Unleavened Bread, our halacha is the Pesach seder can be eaten at any time on 15 Nissan. This especially works out as at times either a demonstration seder or a communal seder is done on Erev Pesach and families have their sederot the day of the 15th. We also have the problem of three congregations in three different cities, and so if the Rabbi is going to officiate at the different sederot they must be spread out.

However if possible I recommend having your seder starting the evening of the 14th at sundown, lighting the candles just before dark, then extending the seder itself into the evening of the 15th:

Numbers 9:1-3 (ESV) And the Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the first month of the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Let the people of Israel keep the Passover at its appointed time. On the fourteenth day of this month, at twilight, you shall keep it at its appointed time; according to all its statutes and all its rules you shall keep it.”

“At twilight” again seems to say we are going into the 15th to keep Passover, the observance of which starts just as the 14th is ending. So Pesach starts on the 14th of Nissan and goes through the 15th. And everything in the observance is meaningful. The sacrificial lamb we all know points to Yeshua, the Lamb of God; Se HaEohim: (John 1:36). His blood, like that of the pesach lamb is the only guarantor of the safety of His people. The lamb was to be roasted whole with no bones broken:

Exodus 12:46 (ESV) It shall be eaten in one house; you shall not take any of the flesh outside the house, and you shall not break any of its bones.

John 19:33, 36 (ESV) But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. … For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.”

Note too it was not boiled (mixed with water) nor eaten elsewhere or at another time. Yeshua alone was the Pesach Lamb; He alone sustains us, and He only died once for us.

The undividedness of the paschal lamb pointed to Yeshua’s later complete surrender to Avinu and to our deliverance. It also is a picture of our undivided union with Him and each other:

1 Corinthians 10:17 (ESV) Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

The hyssop (or caper) is symbolic of purification; and the unleavened bread of course the haste with which they left. However it also had another meaning:

1 Corinthians 5:7-8 (ESV) Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

So leaven is said to be a symbol of malice and wickedness that we must remove from our lives. This does not mean (as the church often teaches) that the Old Covenant was malicious or evil; nor that the “New Testament” represents a covenant where all is love and just warm fuzzies all around. Odd they’d teach something so patently antiSemitic and malicious using this text. This is talking about renewing our minds, getting rid of those things we dwelt on when in an unsaved state.

Exodus 12:11 (ESV) In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover.

Eating the meal in haste, standing and ready to go signified the people’s faith their Elohim would deliver them. Salvation is not possible without faith and trust in Elohei Yisroel.

And finally, that YHWH-m’Kaddesh, God Who Sanctifies (Exodus 31:13) had set this people apart as His own, redeeming them on this night is illustrated in the command “Consecrate to me all the firstborn.” (Exodus 13:2).

I will add the second half next week. Shalom, v'Chag Pesach Sameach!

Note: I should mention there is considerable debate about whether or not the egg is of pagan origins. I posted the best explanation I could find, however it is from Orthodox sources. Many Messianic rabonim do believe the egg to be a pagan symbol; which you may want to consider if making your own seder plate.

[Elizabeth]

One thing that struck me as I was reading this with my kids is that likely those of the mixed multitude had just suffered the loss of their loved one. Maybe they were only one in their whole family who ever got to know or care about G-d. Nevertheless, they just humbled themselves and followed G-d.

While many blame G-d for their grief and pain, these chose Him as their G-d acknowledging His sovereignty and apparently seeing His goodness in how He gave Pharaoh chance after chance. They didnt hold Him unjustly accountable, but saw the hope in fearing Him. It's just one more place we see the the painful nature of our redemption as those born into a fallen world. Yet, G-d is always faithful to let us choose, and as long as there is someone who will choose Him, we have to be ready to endure suffering in this life because that is hope; the one that will choose Him.

I think one of the saddest days for the earth will be when either all the believers are killed off or raptured (I believe in the rapture but think if you endure that long, you'll be one of the very few.) Its the end of so much hope. It's amazing that by the end people will have been given choice after choice to repent and they simply won't out of the stupidity of arrogance and rebellion. Nevertheless, we can praise G-d in the choice He continuously gives even when we feel like it's time to say enough is enough. We can know that we just don't see what He does, and He must somewhere see hope. Beyond that, there is justice in that finally there will be no room to blame G-d. When He says enough is enough, they will see they have no one else to blame for their damnation. And that is the kind of love our G-d has. They will know what Yeshua did for them and they will know He did all He could except choose for them. It's the wisdom of our G-d that they will finally know it.

I love that G-d shows us here we do have a choice, even in pain and suffering, we can choose to somehow hope or pray to find hope. Maybe our hope is only in that we or someone else can still repent, but ultimately that's what it's always been.  We just have to thank G-d that if we're still suffering, there's still that hope somewhere somehow for someone.

I tell my kids that if they ever find themselves in a place that they can't find hope, then it's all probably in them because they are the ones who have G-d. We all need to get our kids ready for that place; to suffer waiting on the behalf of the salvation of others. In the least, they're more likely to teach their own kids that, and so on and so forth. Someone someday will have to endure through it if it's not them or us. Praise G-d He has showed us where all this is going, but what a way we have to go to get there. We really do need to concentrate on preparing our children for that future.

Moderators privilege: I'm putting this here because I already posted the 2nd half of the combined par'shot. But I wanted to say, Elizabeth, that is both insightful and profound. So I happily plagiarized it!    Well, actually I added the idea to my notes here and will be reading it to the congregation next Erev Shabbat service. However you are now listed in my credits, for whatever it's worth ... 

As always, appreciate your insights!

Dan

[alon]

2nd Half:

Exodus 12:27 (ESV) you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.

Scripture is silent on the attitude of the Hebrews as the firstborn of Egypt were being destroyed. This is our only indication of how they felt when told what was to happen. They did not express joy, nor were they vindictive, saying “you are about to get yours!” They solemnly worshiped Ro’eh Yisroel, the Shepherd Of Israel (Psalm 80:1); trusting His judgement and at the same time in silent awe of that judgement.

I think this may be a picture of the final judgement. Many think there will be a cheer going up as the unrepentant are cast into the abyss; that Gd will thunder at them as they are condemned. I think He will quietly, sorrowfully, yet purposefully give their sentence, just as He passed quietly through Mitzrayim that night. I think the condemned will wail, just as the Egyptians on that fateful midnight. And I think we will stand silent, trusting our Shofet, our Judge (Psalm 75:7) as family, friends and all others are condemned; both awed and at the same time dismayed, shamefully thinking of times we could have done more.


Exodus 12:38, 48-49 (ESV)   A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. … If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you.”

There were Gentiles with the Hebrews; however one law is applied. Gentiles were therefore present at the foot of Sinai when the commission to write was given to Moshe. They were there and accepted Gd’s law. I can’t believe all had fully converted at the time, given the often torturous paths many of us take into Messianism today. So there is only one law of the One True Gd, and it applies to all of us.

Note too that then as today those Gentiles left family and friends behind to follow a Gd they knew little of. But they trusted this Gd above the gods they knew. Think back on how much you have learned since coming into Messianic Judaism. It is evident you and I hardly knew the God we thought we worshiped. Some didn’t know Him at all, being originally brought to faith in Messianism. But often ostracized and maligned, we followed the truth and, more importantly have stayed with it in spite of immense pressures to return to our old ways.


Exodus 13:6, 9 (ESV)  Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the Lord. … And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

Any time we see seven we have to suspect it is indicative of creation. No leaven for seven days means the world was created pure, kadosh, set apart to Elohim and graciously given to man to dwell there. Elohim rested on the seventh day. So too the seventh day of Unleavened Bread is a Shabbat for us. It is a sign to us and to the world that we follow Elohe Yisroel. However the first day is also a Shabbat. It is the day Elohim started His creation (actually a recreation) of our universe, as well as the day He came to reclaim that creation from ha’satan, the enemy of our souls.


Exodus 13:16 (ESV)  It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt.”

It is likely this is an idiom fo remembrance. It would later be incorporated by the sages as a form of worship; the laying of teffillin.


Exodus 14:1-4 (ESV)  Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

Pharaoh would see the Hebrews with their backs to the water and no apparent escape, and would think their Gd a poor general to lead them into a trap.

H3513 kâbad, kaw-bad’; or כָּבֵד kâbêd, harden; to be heavy, in a bad sense burdensome, severe, dull; or in a good sense numerous, rich, honorable; causatively, to make weighty (in the same two senses):—abounding with, more grievously afflict, boast, be chargeable; be dim, glorify, be (make) glorious (things), glory, (very) great, be grievous, harden, be (make) heavy, be heavier, lay heavily, (bring to, come to, do, get, be had in) honour (self), (be) honourable (man), lade, more be laid, make self many, nobles, prevail, promote (to honour), be rich, be (go) sore, stop.

Exodus 12:5 (ESV)  When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

The Egyptians now realize the Hebrews have left them for good; they are not coming back. Also their fear has turned to remorse. I think they knew in their hearts beforehand the Hebrews were leaving and wanted them to go! But now they regret what they have done and are probably ashamed of their fears.

Exodus 14:8 (ESV) And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.

Several times the text says Gd hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Gd doesn’t just make someone’s heart hard so He can punish them. Here however we get an idea what is really meant. Pharaoh is reacting as Gd knew he would to events which Gd orchestrated. His heart was in this case hardened when he saw the Israelites going out, as he saw it defiantly. He knew if he let them go he’d lose them as slaves. As well he’d be laughed at by the pagan world because all his gods could not defeat One Gd, the Gd of slaves! It would also have ramifications for the peace and safety of Egypt. Others might now think him vulnerable; his gods weak and his kingdom diminished in stature.


Exodus 14:18 (ESV)  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

So were the Egyptians about to be saved? Would they now worship the Gd of the Hebrews? No. However in mideastern thought it means they would acknowledge that the Gd of their former slaves was mightier than their gods; at least this time. And since they believed theirs to be the greatest of gods, this newly awoken Gd must be the greatest of all the gods. Egypt still worshiped their own gods, and prayed to them the Hebrew Gd would never bother them again!


Exodus 14:15 (ESV) The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.

The Hebrews with their backs to the sea and the armies of Mitzrayim approaching were crying out to Moshe, who in turn apparently cried out to Gd. However at times even prayer and supplications are evidence of a lack of faith! You prayed for deliverance, so why now do you just want to live, even if that means going back into slavery? Go forward! Trust in El’Shaddai, Almighty God (Genesis 17:1).

The Mitzrayim army was ordered into the midst of the waters by the hubris of Pharoah, and the soldiers went in bound by military honor. However the Hebrews had to go through this corridor of seabed bounded on both sides by waters which, by all rights should be occupying their escape route even then. And they had to do it trusting Elohe Yeshuathi, God of (my) Salvation (Psalm 18:46). I remember Rav S gave a good teaching on how this may have happened with Abishter using natural phenomenon. Here is another:

EH Palmer in his book “Desert of the Exodus” gives an interesting explanation of the Hebrews flight through the sea. I’ll summarize: Lakes and inland seas often experience a phenomenon where a strong wind blowing in at ebb tide can drive back the waters to seaward. These waters may be several feet higher than landward in some instances. Any unevenness in the sea bed may be exposed and blown dry. So the Hebrew people could have crossed on dry ground. As in this instance it was an east wind which may have blown back the waters, a sudden reversal to westward early in the return would bring the waters back forcefully. It would seem that the waters did begin to return as the Egyptians were in the midst of the seabed. Where there had been dry ground before, now mud was “clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily.” (Exodus 14:25a). Then the waters rushed in and drowned them. In verse 30b we see “Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.” This supports the wind reversal theory, as had it not the bodies would have been adrift at sea, not lieing blown up on the beach.

The point is regardless how Elohei Avoteichem, the Lord God of Your Fathers (Exodus 3:15) accomplished this, it was an absolute act of faith and trust. This was a column of over six million Hebrews, plus livestock; old, young, and laden with their possessions and the spoils of Mitzrayim. Can you imagine being in the rear of that train, mumbling “H-u-u-u-r-r-ry u-u-p … !” At any rate, I don’t know if any of them thought about it, but this was a type of tevilah for the entire people based on their being called out by YHWH-Tsidkenu, God Our Righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6) and their following in faith where He led. 


Egyptian documents from the time just after the exodus say that indeed their status was diminished in the eyes of the world and they were attacked, losing a lot of real estate. It was 17 years before Egypt even attempted to recover the Sinai, and 22 before the move on Syria. This allowed the Hebrews the time to wander the 40 yrs. in the desert unmolested by the Egyptians.


Joshua 5:2, 5 (ESV) At that time the Lord said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” … Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised.

Those not circumcised in the wilderness needed to be so they could celebrate Pesach. While they were betrothed to the Most High at the Passover, the wedding feast wouldn’t happen until they inherited the land. This was not a feast they would have wanted to miss, regardless the high price of admission for the men!

Joshua 5: 6a, 8 (ESV) For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; … When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their places in the camp until they were healed.

For the first time the Hebrews are called a nation (goy) instead of a people (am). A nation is a people with a land.

Joshua 5:10 (ESV) While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho.

G'zerah Shavah (Equivalence of expresions)
The second rule of Hillel ties the observance of Pesach to their entry into ha’Eretz with the exodus from Mitzrayim.


Joshua 5:13-15 (ESV) When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

H 7812 worshiped שחה shâchâh, shaw-khaw'; to depress, i.e. prostrate (especially reflexive, in homage to royalty or God):—bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.

Jewish tradition is this was the archangel Michael. However the title here, “commander of the army of the Lord” and fact Yehoshua worships Him and is not corrected indicates this is Gd Himself, probably manifest as Yeshua. Add to that again we have G'zerah Shavah in the expresion “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy,” which is strikingly similar to what Moshe was told in Exodus 3:5 when he approached the burning bush. Clearly this is Gd and not just any of the malachim (messengers/angels). Furthermore the beginning of the conquest of Canaan, the beginning of the exodus, and the commissioning of both Moshe and Yehoshua are all tied together in the command “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.”

Dan C

Mekorot: JPS Study TNK, Rico Cortes, Chabad, Rev. K Schaefer, EH Palmer, Israel HaLevi Bender, A Edersheim, Prof. P Shir, Rav S, Elizabeth, my father and others


Note: I did make a significant addition to the first post as well.